It has been a wild ride for “Pokémon” hero Ash Ketchum. Ever since the anime series first debuted in America in 1998, audiences have been treated to the highs and lows of Ash’s journey to become a Pokémon master. Across 25 years, we’ve watched him making friends and bonding with Pikachu, only to come up short time and again to become a champion.
While that eventually changed for Ash, we know his time in the series is coming to an end. His farewell will more than likely hit people right in the nostalgia bone, with a now-confirmed character’s return. Or we guess it’s a squad of characters; the Squirtle Squad.
Long time fans will remember season 1 episode “Here Comes the Squirtle Squad.” Savvy viewers realized Ash would have to acquire the three starting Pokémon from the video games at some point, and this had to be the time for Squirtle to join. As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. Ash managed to befriend the leader of a bunch of rebellious, abandoned Squirtle, and the rest is history. The water-type Pokémon accompaned Ash through part of his Johto journey before eventually returning to the Squirtle Squad once again.
Thanks to some internet sleuths, we know the titles of the upcoming episodes for Ash’s final season. One of them is titled “Burn! The Squirtle Squad.” You also may remember after putting their mischievous hijinks to an end, the squad of Squirtle went along with Officer Jenny to become a team of firefighters. This plot was later revisited, and was ultimately what led Squirtle away from Ash, so that he could reteam with the squad to give them more direction as their leader.
With “Burn” in the title of the upcoming episode, it’s safe to say that could easily be a throwback to the firefighting nature of the Squad. Seeing them back could be fun, a nice revisit given everything Ash has done over two and a half decades of adventures. We had to say good-bye to a number of beloved Pokémon and human friends that Ash travelled with, but none of them rocked the shades the Squirtle Squad did.
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