Pokémon's Ash is finally the very best, can now presumably die happy

[This article contains spoilers for upcoming episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series.]

25 years after embarking on his quest to be the very best—and then utterly failing to do so, with a consistency that taught whole generations of children that they, too, were probably going to take it in the teeth for years before achieving even a modicum of success in life—Pokémon protagonist Ash Ketchum has finally becomes the strongest Pokémon trainer in the world. Ketchum can now, presumably, die happy, wrapped in the garlands of victory, and surrounded by the mummified remains of his beloved pocket monsters, that they might continue to fight and kill for him in Pokémon Valhalla.

News of Ketchum’s triumph was released by The Pokémon Company today, revealing that the latest episode of the Pokémon anime—its 1,219th episode in Japan—ends with Ash triumphing over his opponents at the Masters Eight Tournament of the Pokémon World Coronation Series, officially becoming the Pokémon World Champion. (Although the first part of the current season’s episodes aired in English back in October, there’s no precise word yet on when the batch of episodes containing Ash’s long-delayed win will arrive Stateside.) Screenshots released alongside the news confirmed that Ash still uses his best friend Pikachu in his championship-winning team, despite said best friend generally being considered sub-optimal in terms of move types, with a serious weakness against anything that can out-speed him. (There may, in fact, be a reason it took this kid 25 years to pull this shit off, when anyone with even a basic understanding of EVs and STAB can achieve Pokémon mastery in weeks!)

News of the win comes as the Pokémon franchise builds up steam for its next big hype cycle; we’re a week out from the release of Nintendo Switch titles Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the latest main-series games in the franchise, where you, too, can be forced to balance your loyalty to imaginary mice versus your desire to actually bring home the gold. Meanwhile, it’s not clear what Ash will do with the rest of his life, having undeniably now completely peaked at the age of 10. (35 going on 10, but still.) We, for one, can’t wait for the sequel series, where he regales his increasingly distant children with stories of the glories of his youth, the light fading from his eyes a little more with every passing day.

Congratulations, kids!