Is Ash’s journey done for good?

Question

So, my daughter has been watching through all the final seasons that had Ash in it. (All the Journey titles) I’ve caught some and it made me realize that they are kinda a “long goodbye” type series in the sense that he gets to visit pretty much all of his old friends, people and Pokémon alike. (Pidgeot! Lapras! Alola! Tracey! Plus SO many more!) And the final battle against Leon welled up some epic childhood nostalgia inside me saying, “well, this is it.” So my question is has Game Freak, Nintendo or related definitively said that Ash will return or that he’s finished his journey? Don’t get me wrong, Horizons has been a breath of fresh air, but there’s something special about Ash and his Pika pal.

Comments

I think the writers of the show left the door open for Ash to potentially appear again in the future, but as of currently, I'm 98% sure there's no confirmation on if he will. Basically, the focus on the anime is on new characters and stories, but it's not a definite no to Ash appearing again.

That's just my thoughts at least. But unless we get confirmation, I don't think this is definitively answerable.

Answer 1

Although Ash has been retired from the role of main protagonist as of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, Senior Marketing Director of The Pokémon Company International, Andy Gose, has not ruled out the possibility of him reappearing at some point due to him still being around in the world of Pokémon.

Source

[Interview]

So, is this really the end of Ash? Will we see him reappear at some point?

Gose: We’ve said farewell. Ash is still in the world. Anything is possible, I suppose. In the world of Pokémon, there’s so many possibilities.

Okiura: We hope Ash and Pikachu continue in their journey. Their journey is ongoing somewhere in the Pokémon world. It’s totally up to our fans’ imagination. For the time being, we would love to focus on the new story of the Liko and Roy. “Horizons” invites a new beginning.

Source

His journey is confirmed over for now, but not confirmed for being over forever.

Comments

That’s a bit of a bummer….but I get it. Nearly 30 years is a long time to be 10 years old! What I gather from that is he’s retired….until sales dip. Hahahaha.

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Who know’s, maybe he’ll age a bit if he comes back.