Pokemon’s anime now has a ton of episodes under its belt, and through its tenure has had its fair share of heartbreaking moments. The Pokemon franchise knows just how to tug at fans’ heartstrings, and many of these fans remember the Indigo League saga of the series for these big moments specifically. Every time Ash left behind a member of his team that he’s been traveling with from the beginning, tears were welling up all over.
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It appears that the Indigo League is still just as effective after all these years as one video is going viral for bringing a young boy to tears as he watches the episode in which Ash attempts to leave his trusty Pikachu behind.
As shared by 0_0jess on Reddit, this boy watches the final scene of Episode 39 of the original series. This episode saw Ash and Pikachu come across a group of wild Pikachu living happily. Thinking that’s what would make Pikachu happy, Ash tries to leave him behind and the series begins a sad montage showing all of their big moments together thus far. Thankfully, Pikachu decides to stay with Pikachu and the two go on many more adventures far beyond that.
With how far the anime series has come with the two, it’s still great to see that the earlier (and now technically outdated) events of the anime can still carry the same amount of emotional impact as they did when fans first witnessed them years ago. It goes to show just how effective the Pokemon anime is when it’s at its peak, and why new generations of fans are getting attached to the fandom everyday!
If you haven’t kept up with the current run of the anime, the much anticipated Alolan League arc is now in full swing. Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon is described as such, “What starts as a summer vacation in the tropical Alola region turns into the next exciting chapter in Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon Master! There’s plenty for Ash and Pikachu to explore in this sunny new region, with exciting new Pokémon to discover and interesting people to learn from along the way—including the cool Professor Kukui and the fun-loving Samson Oak.
More new faces will help guide Ash’s Alolan adventure, in the form of a group of skilled Trainers—Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles—and a mysterious research assistant called Lillie. Frequent foes Team Rocket have also made the trip to Alola, looking to swipe some high-powered new Pokémon. But they have some heavy competition on the villainy front: the ruffians of Team Skull, who delight in causing chaos and may have more sinister intentions…”
