As you all may know, the protagonist of the Pokémon anime, Ash Ketchum, is leaving the show after a mini series. Ash has been with us for...a long time. Jokes about eternal ten year old aside, this kid has been with us for over twenty years. So it's going to be a huge change with us not following Ash anymore. Im hoping the new protagonists are good, but even then there may be just that lack of flare that the original protagonist brought us.

    In commemoration of Ash's farewell, let's look back on what he's done.

Kanto

    This was obviously Ash's beginning series, and he kinda sucked Ngl. I feel as though this and another series is the reason Ash used to get a lot of hate. He was a dumb kid who didn't know how to properly battle or train his Pokémon, but even then this series is what got a lot of people hooked on the show and Pokémon in general. Seeing him learn the ropes of battling, typing, and becoming friends with his Pokémon and human allies was fun to watch! It's where a lot of iconic moments happened, stuff that is still talked about to this day. His league placement of 16 however was very lacking, but it makes sense for this being his starting journey. Luckily though, the Orange Islands, if you believe in their canonicity or not, was a great redeemer for Ash.

Johto

    Not much changed however, but it was still fun to see Ash catch new Pokémon while we slowly moved away from his old ones. Plus, this is the series where we finally got to see Ash defeat his original rival, Gary, once and for all in a super satisfying conclusion. And he showed admirable progress in his league victory, raising himself up to top 8.

Hoenn

    This was the series where we saw Ash truly rise up. Despite his attitude and ego, Ash showed that he was getting better and better. Ash displayed crazy development with this region showing his first victory against Legendary pokemon such as Articuno and some of the Regi Trio, as well as facing the Battle Frontier, trainers who were said to be on the same level as Elite four trainers. While he did finish top 8 again, it was still a satisfying step up compared to Johto and Kanto, showing how far he's come.

Sinnoh

    I will not lie, this is my personal favorite of the series. Ash was just such an awesome character in this. He obviously matured, yet still had that lovably goofy aura about him. The whole story with him, Chimchar, and Paul was absolutely glorious and is some of the best writing in the series. It was clear Ash was becoming better than he ever was, as well as humble due to him helping and learning from his friends such as Dawn. His victory over Paul was glorious and still remains one of the best battles in the shows history. And yes, even that extremely controversial Tobias fight, and ending in the top 4, was showing Ash had come a long way by defeating TWO legendary Pokémon.

Unova

    Yes yes, we all know this series wasn't the best for Ash. The series wanted to be a soft reboot for the franchise, but they ended up kinda hurting Ash's character and image. Even then, some examples like his Charizard returning did show that he still held some of his previous growth. It's just that he had to lose it due to bad reboots.

Kalos

    It's an understatement to say how many people love this version of Ash. Our boi truly felt like a master of his craft, showing his skill and strategy with almost every fight. It also showed great character building such as the romance with Serena and, of course, the legendary Ash-Greninja which continues to be the coolest concept the anime has made. However, it was due to this love that his loss at second place during the league really made the anime gain massive hate, and caused a lot of people to dump the show entirely. Even still, Ash showed he is not one to back down, even when the odds are stacked against him like a busted Mega Charizard X.

Alola

    While this series had a rocky start due to the art style change, it won people's hearts due to the writing and character building of Ash and his friends. Seeing him form a pseudo family with the Alola gang and a father figure in professor Kikui was heartwarming, as well as his bond with the Pokémon of this region. This was the first time we saw Ash had not one, but two legendary Pokémon on his team and battle with! But that all falls short when this was the region where Ash WON a Pokémon league! An internet breaking moment that only got even more broken when Ash became the official champion of Alola! If that doesn't spell progress then I don't know what will.

Journeys

    I will not lie by telling you Journeys was very controversial. Yet, Ash's story in this was still fantastic. His internet breaks, his victories over new and old opponents, it felt like every episode tied to Ash was a callback to how far he's come. Yes, the writing could've been a lot better, but this was the point where we saw Ash become the very best. He made it to the world tournament, defeated multiple champion tier opponents such as the fan favorite Cynthia, and rose to the top to defeat the World Champion himself, Leon. Ash, in a moment that will stay in internet history, became the Pokémon Master that he always dreamed of, rising to the strongest Pokémon trainer in the world.

     Ash's journey was rocky. It had its downs, but yet also had its ups. You may hate the anime and say all this is bull crap due to "plot armor" and "bad writing" and what not. Still, you can't deny that this ten year old, whose journey started with him waking up late and getting a disobedient Pikachu, has made his impact on you and a lot of peoples lives.

    Thank you Ash Ketchum, for the memories you've made. Rest well champion, you have earned it.