Sarah Natochenny has been voicing Ash Ketchum and various other characters in the Pokémon anime series since 2006. Natochenny replaced Veronica Taylor, who had been voicing the character since the first season. In a series of Twitter posts, Natochenny has shared various thoughts on voicing the character during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and thanked her fans for their support.
My source of joy – no joke – the only real human source I pull from, is the joy I see in the comments from fans. Your joy and excitement is the joy and excitement I channel into Ash Ketchum.
— Sarah Natochenny (@sarahnatochenny) January 13, 2021
Pokémon is currently on its 23rd season, Pokémon Journeys: The Series, which follows Ash, Pikachu, and Goh as they travel across all the regions. The latest season reworks certain plot devices, with Ash obtaining more Pokémon than ever before. Fifty-one episodes have been released so far in Japan, with 36 being dubbed into English. Natochenny does an excellent job at voicing the character. It is sometimes hard to differentiate both voices of the character.
The latest animated film, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, released in Japan on Christmas Day. It is likely that we’ll see a dubbed version sometime throughout the year, as the franchise turns 25 years old next month.
2021 will be a big year for the Pokémon series. New Pokémon Snap is scheduled to launch on April 30, with rumored Diamond and Pearl remakes potentially happening this year as well. What would you like to see this year?