The Pokemon anime has been going strong alongside the popular games since shortly after the initial titles were released in 1996, and both the games and anime continue in tandem today. One Pokemon fan has noted that Ash Ketchum's lengthy run of being excluded from Pokemon video games is coming to an end with his character model debut in Pokemon Masters EX.
Ash Ketchum has been the protagonist of the Pokemon anime and movies since the first episode aired in 1997, and he remains the main character in the ongoing Pokemon Journeys. The Pokemon hero has undergone several changes over the years, but despite all of these adjustments, he has been exempt from Pokemon games other than one title that represented the character as an image rather than a character model. This was with the N64s Pokemon Puzzle League that was released in 2000, which used Pokemon anime art to reflect Ash Ketchum, but Pokemon Master EX will be the first to use an official character model.
Twitter user Akilvers was one of the first to notice that the addition of the Ash Ketchum character model in Pokemon Masters EX ends the Pokemon main character's lengthy record of not being featured in Pokemon games. The first Pokemon titles focused on a Pokemon trainer named Red, who became one of the final challenges of Pokemon Gold and Silver, but Ash Ketchum was never a prominent or even side character in any titles in the series. Akilvers noted that this means Ash Ketchum isn't going to be an "Easter egg, hint, or letter" like he has been in other Pokemon games like Pokemon X and Y or Pokemon Sun and Moon.
Pokemon Masters EX players can have Pokemon character Ash Ketchum join their battles as a sync pair, and he will have Pokemon that will be familiar to fans of the anime. Ash Ketchum has been introduced to Pokemon Masters EX through multiversal methods similar to how Sinnoh was drastically changed into the Hisui region in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and he joins the likes of other sync pair heroes like Dawn, Ethan, Hilbert, and more. It's currently unclear how major of a role Ash Ketchum will play in Pokemon Masters EX, but given that he'll be acting as a sync pair, it's likely that Pokemon fans will only see him battle other trainers as he may in the anime.
Although Pokemon Yellow and Pokemon Let's Go Pickachu and Eevee Switch games follow a similar story to the one that folds out in early Pokemon anime seasons, these games also neglect to center on Ash Ketchum. One Pokemon fan responding to Akilvers noted that Team Rocket's Jessie and James received proper Pokemon video game character models about 24 years before Ash Ketchum, highlighting just how many Pokemon games have been released without the Pokemon anime protagonist included. While it has been decades since the Pokemon anime debuted, many Pokemon Masters EX fans expressed surprise at his addition to the game's roster, with one speculating that Ash will be replaced as the lead Pokemon anime character in the future.
Pokemon Masters EX is available on Android and iOS devices.