The 7 (-ish) characters Pokémon fans would like to see star as the anime’s protagonist

Some Pokémon fans are finally getting their wish as Ash Ketchum and his trusty Pikachu will finally be retired as the protagonists of the main Pokémon anime heading into a new era for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. But that only brings up old arguments of what other characters from across the Pokémon franchise deserve some time in the spotlight as a protagonist. 

This is something that has been a hot topic for decades now, as some fans wanted the series to progress with new characters more along the lines of Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! rather than follow the story of a single, unaging trainer. 

A conversation around “replacing” Ash with another character or characters really picked up when Pokémon Chronicles began airing in 2002 alongside Ash’s journey through Hoenn. This was a spin-off series that remained in-universe to the anime and focused on existing characters other than Ash such as Gary Oak, Brock, Misty, and more doing things completely separate from the ongoing story. 

From that point, a vocal part of the Pokémon community has called for each of Ash’s journeys to be his last—with his victory over Leon in the Pokémon World Coronation Series finally marking that end. Now the Scarlet and Violet iteration of the anime will feature two new protagonists, Liko and Roy, as they embark on a new journey.

And, while we already know the names of the two characters who will star in the Pokémon anime come April 2023, here are some memorable faces or alternative options fans may have liked to see fill Ash’s shoes if things took another turn.

Which characters would Pokémon fans like to see be the anime’s next protagonist?

Pokémon Adventures timeline

This is less of a singular character and more of a different timeline entirely, as fans for years have wanted The Pokémon Company to greenlight production on an anime iteration of the long-running Pokémon Adventures manga that has been published since March 1997. 

This story features a much different and somewhat darker take on the Pokémon franchise, and follows the main characters of each game through a story arc before moving on to the next set of protagonists—such as going from Red, Blue, and Green to Gold, Silver, and Crystal. However, each arc is connected and big moments throughout the series have seen protagonists from each story team up with each other. 

Pokémon series creator Satoshi Tajiri has even called it the “comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey” when he originally thought up the idea of Pokémon, so if that and the easy links back to each iteration of the games aren’t enough, it just isn’t going to happen. Still very worth a read-through!

Jimmy (Pokémon Chronicles)

Jimmy is the anime-verse’s equivalent to Gold and only appeared in a brief series of episodes for Pokémon Chronicles where he and his partner Typhlosion teamed up with other Johto natives to take on Team Rocket in Raikou: The Legend of Thunder.

Jimmy acted as the typical Ash replacement for the time, giving fans a somewhat different take on the same character focused on battling and all things Pokémon that, at the time, they didn’t really get since the main anime was the dominant media. 

For that reason, you can pretty much place a spin-off protag here such as Ash’s one-time rival Ritchie and it would serve the same purpose of providing a similar flavor without being exactly the same. If you really stretch this, it could even fit the characters starring in some of the shorts that everyone praises, such as Twilight Wings or the Black 2 and White 2 animation, but that is a different format and plays by different rules.

Essentially, if you have a character that is a blank slate or can fit with some of the characteristics Ash embodies, then they can work in Ash’s place. Jimmy was just the point where a lot of younger fans probably started seeing that. This spot can also be held by past companions like Brock, Misty, Serena, May, and the like who can easily fill that role—as some show in Chronicles.

Jessie, James, and Meowth (Team Rocket)

The classic trio of misfit wrongdoers is probably the easiest answer to come up with considering they have been a part of Pokémon fans’ lives almost as long as Ash and Pikachu. 

We have seen them go from somewhat mysterious villains, to a recurring gag, back to somewhat competent thieves, and everything in-between multiple times over the last 25 years. But during that time they never lost their charm and could always brighten up even a bland episode of the anime with their latest disguises, schemes, and blast-offs. 

Having Jessie, James, and Meowth star in their own anime wouldn’t be asking much considering how much brand recognition and character they have for themselves after all that time chasing after Pikachu. And who knows, maybe if the newest series does have a connection to the original we will still see them around to bridge the gap as returning characters. 

However, the most likely outcome here is we finally get some form of happy ending where the Rocket trio finally gets a big score and can retire happily to be their goofy selves without restraint as the classic characters get one last sendoff. 

Pokémon Hunter J (Pokémon Diamond and Pearl)

If you didn’t stick with the anime into Sinnoh then you likely won’t know who Hunter J is, but she was one of the most legitimately threatening recurring villains Ash and his friends would end up encountering during their travels. 

Known as a ruthless bounty hunter who was infamous for tracking down and successfully acquiring any target through the use of her hunting tech, a team of goons, and relatively strong battle prowess, J and her Salamance are some of the very few Pokémon characters shown to be almost entirely evil. This was best exemplified by her helping Team Galactic capture the Lake Guardians—though she and her crew seemingly perished in the aftermath of one such encounter. 

If J is still alive—or if the writers were willing to run a prequel of sorts—getting some form of anime around one of Pokémon’s more unique villains would be pretty cool. It could even be told from the perspective of the victims trying to fight back or maybe a team of people trying to track her down and stop her. It would be a nice change of pace and a chance to really expand the lore of the Pokémon world in a new way. 

And speaking of crime…

Looker (any iteration)

You can’t talk about interesting characters without talking about the Pokémon series’ international man of mystery—Agent Looker of the International Police. 

You really can’t go wrong with a classic crime drama starring a character that, while appearing in multiple different games and anime adaptations, is still a relatively blank slate to play with. You could pull from his existing roles in taking down Team Galactic, investigating Team Plasma, or dealing with a number of additional cases. 

This could even lead to a larger look at “Fallers” or humans that have passed through Ultra Wormholes and a story surrounding Ultra Beasts and alternate dimensions if the team got adventurous. 

But even if it was a smaller scale show that dealt more with the day-to-day actions of Looker and his partner Croagunk—that may or may not die in a case—leading up to some of those bigger moments, it would still be an interesting swap from the usual battle-centric story we get most of the time. It is something we got a glimpse of in the Generations series, but a deeper exploration would be nice.

The Pokémon 

Why pick a new main character when you can follow a Pokémon instead? This has worked in some of the games and the Mystery Dungeon animations, but has never fully been explored in a longer series that spans multiple seasons. 

Giving players a chance to see the world from the perspective of a Pokémon such as a fan-favorite Lucario training to be the very best alongside a new trainer would be a shift in narrative. It would put the focus more on the relationship between the pair rather than strictly the interactions between the trainer and the world—which just so happen to include Pokémon. 

Maybe this could only work in the style of a Mystery Dungeon or spin-off title, but that doesn’t mean it can’t work overall. Something like that has never been more than a special or story told via other mediums like the games. So why not give it a try? 

You can even keep it set in the main anime universe if necessary and focus on different Pokémon each time. Such an arc could start with Ash’s Pikachu and rotate around the cast until you get a look at Mewtwo, Lugia, and Pokémon much further down the line. It is the pick that would probably take the most work to truly make function well, but the idea is there. 

Tom Ato, Ann Chovy, and Caesar Salad (Pokémon Original Series)

It has been almost 25 years since we have last heard from Tom Ato after he and his cohorts Ann Chovy and Caesar Salad put a stop to a gang war of sorts in Kanto’s Dark City. The trio who helped thwart the violent efforts of the Yas and Kaz Gyms all those years ago have not been heard from since. 

Getting a chance to go back to the ground level of their actions and potentially see how both the Yas and Kaz Gyms rebuilt themselves from profit-focused gangs into legit operations with the goal of being recognized as official Gyms in the Indigo Pokémon League would be an interesting direction to take things. 

It could also work as a way to give more depth to the Pokémon League as an operation and how the process of becoming a Gym Leader works. We have seen brief snippets of what that job means over the years, but a ground-up look at the start of a Gym plus new leaders managing it could actually be a compelling way to build out the Pokémon world’s lore. 

The bravery of Tom Ato, Ann Chovy, and Caesar Salad should not have gone unrecognized for this long. And someone get that Pikachu more ketchup!