Gotta win 'em all! After more than 20 years, Ash Ketchum is finally being considered a Pokemon Master

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was! 

When young Ash Ketchum first left Pallet Town in 1997 with a recalcitrant Pikachu from Professor Oak at his side, he had one goal on his mind: to become a Pokémon Master. After more than two decades of chasing that dream in the anime television series of the multimedia franchise, Ash finally secured the title (technically, it depends on who you ask, but we'll get back to that) as well as a shiny trophy for himself after winning a league championship, ComicBook.com confirmed.

The current iteration of the show takes place in the Aloa Region, a chain of tropical islands based on those that make up the state of Hawaii. As more than a few folks online have pointed out, Ash did technically win the Orange League during the '90s-era run of the TV program, but according to pop culture outlets like Kotaku, "that tournament wasn’t really up to typical League standards."

Of course, many fans had to voice their excitement via Twitter. Even Veronica Taylor, the original American voice of Ash, took to social media in order to congratulate the trainer on his historic victory. To many OG fans, Taylor is and always will be the voice of the character.

While some might argue that the honor of "Pokémon Master" means catching and training every single Pocket Monster in existence (hence the brand's overall tagline of "gotta catch em' all), many consider Ash winning his first Pokémon championship as an official qualification for the lionization of "Master."

As Verlisify points out on YouTube, Ketchum has already done so much across the anime, that even if Aloan League   supremacy doesn't canonically nab him the title, his vast experiences definitely should. At this current time, the "gotta catch 'em all" definition is pretty much unfeasible anyway when you consider the fact that more and more Pokémon (evolved forms or totally new creatures) are being created for future video games, the next of which will be Sword and Shield.

The two games go on sale for the Nintendo Switch Friday, Nov. 15.