Protagonist of the Pokémon animated series, Ash Ketchum (aka Satoshi in Japan) becomes the strongest trainer after 25 seasons by winning the Masters Eight Tournament of the Pokémon World Coronation Series in the latest anime series, Pokémon Ultimate Journeys. While Ash did win two tournaments – the Orange League from the Orange Islands season, as well as the Alola League in Pokémon: Sun and Moon, this tournament holds more attraction. Throughout this tournament, Ash had to battle familiar trainers throughout the franchise such as: Iris, Bea, Volkner, Korrina, Steven, and Cynthia. In his final battle, Ash, Pikachu and team pull off the upset and triumph over Leon and his team.

Ash winning the World Champion title is a pop culture milestone of the Pokémon series. Fans who have been waiting for Ash’s biggest moment can celebrate this wonderful moment. Taito Okiura, vice president of marketing for The Pokémon Company International had the following to say about the milestone moment:

Ash Ketchum’s determination and perseverance to achieve his goal of becoming the world’s top Pokémon Trainer over the course of 25 seasons represents the very best of what it means to be a Trainer. We cannot wait to celebrate this moment with Pokémon fans when the newest season of ‘Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series’ and this adventure-defining episode air around the world in the coming year. This is a season fans won’t want to miss!

Where does Ash go from here? With the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet release, could we see a new protagonist in the next Pokémon series or will Ash continue his journey?

To watch the episode, you can watch it below with the “CC” (closed captions) turned on for English subtitles.

Updated on November 13, 2022: The original subtitled video posted was removed. A replacement short video placed to see the highlights of the episode.