While several fans might feel slighted by Ash's exclusion in the series going forward, the far more revealing exclusion lies in Pikachu. Pikachu is easily the most iconic Pokémon of all time, and Nintendo and the Pokémon Company have heavily leaned into it as their mascot through several avenues. In fact, the Pokémon Company at one point felt that having a dedicated mascot for the franchise was so important that they needed it to become a duopoly. This is most evident by their push to make Eevee a co-mascot via the "Let's Go Pikachu" and "Let's Go Eevee" games. Some fans believe the thought process was that Eevee might be a counterpart that young girls could connect with more, as Pikachu represented more traits that young boys would connect with.