Pokémonisn’t exactly the most complicated series ever, with Ash’s goal spelled out simply: to become a Pokémon Master. The problem, though, is just what it means to be a “Pokémon Master,” something the series didn’t explain until the very last episode.
The term “Pokémon Master” has been well known since the anime began, and it even appears in otherPokémonmedia, such as the games. When fans began to question exactlywhat it meant to be a Pokémon Master, and how they’d know if Ash had reached that point, they were largely brushed off. Even Pokémon.com refused to answer this question, stating, “It is the intent of the Pokémon creators that such questions be left to the imaginations and interpretations of Pokémon fans, adding more excitement and mystery to the Pokémon universe.” So, just what does it mean to be a Master?
Pokémon Master Was a Deliberately Vague Goal
The Term Was Created to Be Vague Enough to Keep the Series Going Forever
While the Pokémon Company refused to answer, there were some possibilities that many fans considered, particularly early on. Some, for example, felt that being a Pokémon Master meant winning the tournament and becoming a champion; for others, it meant catching one of every Pokémon and finishing the Pokédex. There’s certainly reasons to think this is true; inPokémon Red, Blue,andYellow, Lance calls the player a “Pokémon Master” if they defeat him and become champion, while at least one book says that one must win the League and catch one of each Pokémon.
However, those goals don’t make sense for the anime. Ash doesn’t catch everything he sees, so he clearly doesn’t consider catching every Pokémon as part of being a Pokémon Master. And, whenAsh finally won a regional championship in Alola, he didn’t consider himself a Pokémon Master then, either, although he did seem to regard it as an important step.Even as Ash progressed to the World Coronation Series, and eventually the Masters Eight, these victories seemingly didn’t bring him much closer to being a Master.
In an interview in 2020, series supervisorKunihiko Yuyama stated that being a Pokémon Masterwas just “the silly dream of a child” and suggested it had no real firm meaning. The intention behind creating such a goal was simply to have something that could never truly be attained, and both Ash in-universe and the writers in the real world had no clear idea of what being a Pokémon Master entailed. It wasn’t until the series was coming to an end that they were forced to come up with an answer.
Ash Finally Defines What Being a Pokémon Master Means
Ash’s Personal Definition of Master is Perfect for Him
In his final episode, “The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!”, Gary asks Ash, following his return home after his big win, if he’s any closer to being a Pokémon Master now that he’s won the Masters Eight. Ash doesn’t have an immediate answer for that, and spends some time thinking about it. As he and Pikachu are caught in an afternoon downpour, they take shelter under a tree, and Ash finally says that for him, at least, being a Master means “befriending every Pokémon in the world.” And Ash doesn’t just mean a single member of each species–he wants to meet them all.
Obviously, befriending every Pokémon is a goal that he’ll never truly be able to complete. There will always be more Pokémon out there that he’s never heard of, so there’s really no way that he (or anyone else) could be a Pokémon Master.It’s a life-long quest, an unending journey, and that’s the perfect fit for Ash as he left the series.Fans can always imagine Ash out there, meeting new Pokémon alongside Pikachu, whether his adventures are being shown on screen or not. For a question that stood for so long, the answer was surprisingly simple.
In a sense, Ash’s interpretation of a Pokémon Master really is “the silly dream of a child,” if only because a child is the only one who would commit to something so impossible. But if Ash is to be treated as a 10-year-old forever, then it’s only appropriate that he has a child’s dream to look up to and work towards. There’s nothing wrong with an open-ended story, after all, and if any character out there is a good fit for one, it’s Ash. From day one,Pokémonhas been about the journey, not the destination, so perhaps it’s no surprise that the goal was really a never-ending journey all along.
