So I finally finished watching the final Journeys episode. I have not been a big fan of the Journeys series, and Ash being crowned world champion hasn't changed it. Journeys was a shitshow massacre. There were too many unnecessary episodes and incidents. So keeping this "theme" in mind, the final episode also started off with the most pointless raid battle of the century - Ash and Goh against Lugia. Apart from fantastic music, it did nothing for the series finale. Best part of the battle was when Lugia shattered Goh's pokeball as he tried to catch it - eat that Goh!
The next sequence of event showed how Chloe is now a research fellow at the lab - another pointless character with pointless ventures with her eevee and what nonsense.
I will not miss Goh at all and I am not at all sad or emotional that his journey in the anime is over. Good riddance. The only thing sad and nostalgic about the scene Ash and Goh parted ways was that it reminded of the scene Ash, Brock and Misty parted ways many many years ago.
But there was something very very emotional revealed, not in this episode specifically - but from the Pokemon Team. It is now officially confirmed, after 25 years of being entwined with so many memories and emotions from our childhood - Ash Ketchum is leaving the pokemon anime with an 11 episode story to mark the end of his mammoth journey - a journey that has left huge impact on the lives and memories of millions of kids from the 90 and early 20th century.
There was so much more I had wished to see from Ash's arc - the return of bond phenomenon with Greninja, return of Ash's charizard, sceptile and infernape for a significant battle, reuniting with some of his released pokemons, A proper reunion with the significant companions who isn't dawn! So much more.
I had said after the XYZ series, pokemon and Ash's journey should have ended there. I still stand by that notion. That was his peak. Alola was good, but my word journeys has made a whole mess! I think that is playing at the back of my mind as I am struggling a bit to come to terms with the fact that Ash will no longer be appearing on our screens every week.
11 more episodes and the a significant memory filled portion from our childhood will be eternally put to rest. It is a difficult moment to process, I am sort of at loss for words as I anxiously wait for the final 11 episodes that will put Ash's journey to a rest.
The moment that shaped our memories for years to come, the moment that defined a generational sensation that would bring us joy and sorrow and overwhelming emotions...the moment that marked what would truly be a journey to remember. Thank you Ash ketchum, thank you pikachu.
Screenshot from the first episode of the pokemon Anime
