SPOILER ALERT – Do no read ahead if you have not watched the latest episode of Pokemon!
It’s a bittersweet day for Pokemon fans.
On Friday (March 24), fans said goodbye to Ash Ketchum and Pickachu after 26 years as the anime franchise prepares to premiere a new series.
Now that Ash’s final episode has aired in Japan, we have compiled a list of all the major moments.
Keep reading to find out more…
The episode started off with Ash, Brock, and Misty all going their separate ways as Ash returns to where his adventure all started – in Pallet Town at his childhood home with his mom.
After spending the night, Ash heads back out on the road to Professor Oak’s lab, where he has a brief interaction Tracey – one of his old companions from the Adventures in the Orange Island series.
It is then revealed that Tracey’s Venonat has evolved into a Venomoth, which Ash and Pikachu are both very excited about.
After arriving at Professor Oak’s lab, Ash is sent out on a mission to look for a missing Charmander. Upon finding Charmander stuck in a cave, Ash helps the Pokemon find its way home.
This moment appears to be a nod to the first time Ash rescued a Charmander, which would eventually become his Charizard.
After rescuing Charmander, Ash and Pikachu run into former rival Gary and his Umbreon. Gary then congratulates Ash on becoming a Pokemon Champion. When Gary asks how close he is to becoming a Pokemon Master, Ash doesn’t have an answer for him.
Several episodes ago, Team Rocket – Jessie, James, and Meowth – gave up their mission on catching Pickachu and decided to go their separate ways.
However, in this final episode, they reunited once again to go after Pikachu one last time and they end up succeeding by using one of their classic electricity-proof nets, and Ash doesn’t have any Pokemons on him to help save Pikachu.
Luckily, just around is Ash’s second-ever catch Pidgeotto, who eventually became Pidgeot. (Ash previously released it in order to protect the local wild Pidgey.)
Ash previously said that he’d return to find Pidgeot after he finished with the Orange Islands, and this is now the first time they have reunited.
Pidgeot then swoops in to save the day, cutting Pikachu free, who then unleashes one final thunderbolt on Team Rocket.
Despite failing the mission to capture Pikachu, Team Rocket is happy to be together again and all fly off into the distance.
Later in the episode, Ash and Pikachu take cover under a tree during a rain story, where they are joined by a variety of Pokemon. There, Ash contemplates what it really means to be a Pokemon Master and wonders if this is the end of his journey.
As the rain clear up, a rainbow glistens through the sky – a nod to Ash’s run-in with Ho-Oh in the very first episode.
Feeling inspired, Ash and Pikachu decide to set out on a new adventure together.
As they set out on the new journey, Team Rocket is seen floating above in their Meowth Balloon.
Ash and Pikachu then come to a fork in the road, and they toss a stick up in the air, and decide to follow the path that the stick lands towards.
At that point, the words “Next Time… A New Beginning!” appear on screen and the credits roll.
While this is technically Ash and Pikachu’s final episode, the ending does set up a potential return down the line.
It has already been announced that the Pokemon Horizons series will premiere in Japan on April 14, and will premiere worldwide later in the summer.
If you missed it, Ash’s voice actor recently said goodbye to Pokemon in a touching note.
