Is Ash Ketchum a Pokémon Master?

Over the past decades, Ash Ketchum has fought countless Gym Leaders in the Pokémon world, escaped robots and the plots of Team Rocket. In one of the films he was even turned to stone and brought back to . life with the help of Pikachu's tears. But did he ever become the Pokémon League Champion? A lot of people have been asking me that question, so here's the answer.

 

In episode 139 of the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime series, in the tropical region of Alola, Ash finally took the title of Pokémon Champion, thus winning the championship earned him the title of Pokémon Master.

The "Manalo Conference", the championship won by Ash, was a formidable combination of characters from the series who returned to compete for the grand prize. At the event, the current rival Gladion was joined by several friends, such as Professor Oak's cousin - Samson Oak, Guzma the boss of School Team, and even Jesse and James from Team Rocket. Eventually it came down to Gladion vs. Ash. Over the course of two episodes, the trainers used their strongest Pokemon. But towards the end of the battle, Ash's Pikachu and Gladion's Zoroark both lost consciousness at the same time, forcing both opponents to rely on their Leykenrocks. In the end, Ash was able to defeat Gladion, earning the coveted title.

It's been a long and arduous road for Ash, who started out in 1997 with the original Indigo League. Since then, Ash repeatedly competed and managed to reach the highest places in all the Pokémon leagues he competed in, but lost before he was able to achieve the championship. While learning significant lessons along the way, Ash eventually managed to get closer and closer to the title of Pokemon Master. It took Ash competing in 7 different Pokémon leagues in order to succeed and achieve the title he had dreamed of since the day he left Pallet Town.

In the original Kanto Region Championship, Ash only made it to the top 16 after his Charizard refused to fight. Ash technically won the Orange League Championship later on, but since it wasn't an official Pokémon League and was part of the filler episodes, no one considered this to be Ash's goal achievement. Even the Pokémon world doesn't recognize this league, so the victory feels hollow especially after facing Gary again. In the Giotto and Hoan League he reached the last 8 places, while in the Sino League he managed to reach the last 4 contestants, but he returned to being only in the Top 8, in the Yonova League. The previous league that Ash competed in - the Kalos League - brought Ash to second place, after an exhausting battle during which he lost, but with a lot of perseverance and desire Ash finally managed to reach first place and become a Pokémon Master.

If you like fighting tournaments is the pokemon universe you may also enjoy the tournaments in the Tekken Universe! Give it a try!

That's it for this time. Hope you enjoyed this little article like I enjoyed making it!