It was April 1, 1997 when Ash Ketchum first appeared on screens and began his incredible adventure in the wide world of Pokemon. Joining him in front of any other trainer or little monster was Pikachu that became an icon of the franchise. But what was the reason that pushed the authors to this choice?
As Ash Ketchum prepares to step down from his protagonist role in the anime, Pikachu will remain a central Pokémon in the new installment of the series given the incredible popularity it has garnered over the years. It seems, therefore, that the decision to support the protagonist with a small monster, different from the three starters of the Kanto region, has paid off greatly for the anime’s writers, as this also underlines Producer Kunihiko Yuyama in an interview published in Animedia Magazine.
Aside from finally gutting the Pokémon series’ true goal: strive to become a Pokémon master, the producer explained why Pikachu was chosen as Ash’s partner during production of the original series. “I think about Pikachu as a combination of cuteness, strength and the ability to get laughs. I chose from the start to exclude one of the three starters as Ash’s companion because I felt the choice would make many viewers sad. Because of this, he ended up alongside Pikachu, a decision I’m glad I made‘ Yuyama recalled, then talked about the complicated beginning of Ash and Pikachu’s relationship.
“Pokemon aren’t always what people expect them to be. They are creatures that have different reasons and motives that affect their interactions with humans. This is the type of themes or relationships shown in anime‘ With these words the producer began to speak Centrality of communication between two different species like Pokémon and humans about the more than 1000 episodes that make up the series to date.
As always, let us know what you think in the comments. Finally, we leave you all the Pokemon that Team Rocket’s Jessie and James have caught over the 25 years of the series.
