After 25 years of being the protagonist of one of the longest anime series ever made, they are finally retiring Ash Ketchum as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime. They will start fresh with new characters.

I stopped following the anime eons ago, but I still feel like the end of an era.

Edit: To commemorate this event, I have two codes for eternatus for Sword/Shield. I have no use for them, so I'll post them here.

E203DK8HKG31L9PC

E203DK8E4RU43L22

It truly is.

I stopped watching the anime too during 3rd gen Pokemon season.

I've restarted from the beginning about few months ago - already past episode 200 on the original anime (Johto 2nd season).

Damn, truly a End of an era.

He's not even a Pokemon master...because he hasnt even caught 100 different types of pokemon yet....

I saw most of the first four gens but only bits and pieces gen 5 onwards. After the world championship this happening makes sense though it feels weird since him, Pikachu, Team Rocket etc have all been around the entire time I've been alive.

I don't mind, after all apart from Ash and Pikachu the rest of the cast changed over the years and in my eyes anyway became less dependent on Ash and Pikachu and we started to see more stories where companions came to the fore more often and Ash and Pikachu took a more backing role.
Taking demand into consideration I see the best way to handle things going forward would be to cater for the traditional fan base continuing to put out movies with Ash and Pikachu, while refreshing the TV series with the new characters.

So it seems like he and Pika are indeed getting a grand send off with characters like Misty etc reuniting to send them off in style, now I recall that he became World Champion but not having followed Pokémon for a fair while don't know his present  status, and how close to becoming a Master he is hopefully they will ensure that he bows out as a Pokémon Master.

I legit thought Ash stopped being the protagonist when Mei was introduced. Guess not?

Maybe they can Raichu up that little yellow eclectic rat first.
I imagine the new protagonist is going to have a different main Pokémon by his/her side.
Or is the yellow rat to much of a staple mascot for the franchise?

Yeah. Pretty huge. I doubt they'll fully do away with Pikachu though. That character is Pokémon, and everyone recognises it.

Yes, the new protagonists will have the Spain region starters, including Sprigatito, the Weed Cat.

Bow down to the new Pokémon official mascot.

Came a little later than it should have in my opinion.

The perfect time would have been at the end of Gen 6 for him to win the championship in Kalos and then ride off with Serena by his side. (Amourshipping for life!!!)

But still, it's gonna be painful to say goodbye to him, just like it was to say goodbye to Yugi and Atem. But the time has come.

Farewell, Ash. Thank you for the memories!

Oh goodness, had me doing a double take to make sure this wasn't about Evil dead.

Ash is my all time favorite, will be sad to see him finally grow up.