Fans got some pretty good news when the Pokemon Company announced the new iteration of the anime, complete with the new Paldea region as its base, but fans weren't prepared for the noticeable shift in the series' protagonists. While they've always had at least two main characters, one traveling alongside Ash, it isn't often a main series will forego Ash all together.
This may feel like a massive hit in the gut for those following the anime for actual decades, but fear not, it seems that Ash isn't gone for good. Anime director and co-founder of OLM, which produces the Pokemon anime, Kunihiko Yuyama, told Otomedia that we would likely see Ash again eventually, however, he didn't give us much more than that.
Yuyama also shot down the running theory that Liko is his daughter, calling Ash "forever 10 years old." In case you're out of the loop, Ash finally completed one pillar of his journey, winning the championship, but that doesn't mean he's over just yet, as he must now figure out what he must do to continue chasing his dream to be the best that no one ever was.
If anything, the lack of the Pokemon anime's old main character may make us reminisce about the good old days of a 10-year-old boy using an electric mouse to electrocute a rock snake, punch a genetically perfect pocket monster, and jump off buildings to save his buds.