With X and Y coming out worldwide in a matter of months, there is of course going to be an extension to the Pokemon anime set in the region where the X and Y games take place. And according to a both disappointing yet unsurprising news story on the Anime News Network website, Ash and his Pikachu are going to return yet again as the show's protagonists. You know, I had hoped that after five generations of games and even longer seasons of the anime that they'd finally retire Ash's character and replace him with someone fresh. Because face it, Ash has pretty much become the pitiful shadow of the character he once was. But oh well. I guess the anime producers aren't capable of original thinking.