End of Ash/Pikachu Era: Voice Actor Denies Leaked Documents

The developer of Pokémon games, GAME FREAK, recently suffered a security breach that resulted in the theft and exposure of a significant amount of data on the internet. The company confirmed this incident on October 10 by publishing a PDF file containing their apology.

The data breach involved multiple gigabytes of information, leaked on the 4chan website. This included the personal data of over 2,606 current and former employees, which includes names, email addresses etc.

Social media users have shared screenshots of various leaks, including what appears to be the source code for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and for several upcoming games. However, some individuals are also claiming that the leaked data includes documents detailing plans to end the Ash Ketchum (Satoshi, in Japanese) and Pikachu era of Pokémon.

One reason mentioned for this change is the reportedly poor relationship between Rica Matsumoto and Ikue Ōtani, the Japanese voice actors for Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, respectively.

However, Rica Matsumoto has denied these reports in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

笑笑
誰かがでっちあげてるね。
いっさいこのような事はないから安心してください。
育ちゃんとはもぉ新人の頃からだし、梨香のファンクラブツアーにもゲストにきてくれていますょ😊✨
知らない人、こんな事書いて楽しいのかな、誰も嬉しくないよ。悪趣味だし幼稚だと思うな。 https://t.co/7B5MOCNbW5

— 🌈✨松本梨香✨🌈 (@rica_matsumoto3) October 14, 2024

The rough translation of her post is as follows:

LOL
Someone is just making this up.
There’s absolutely nothing like that happening, so don’t worry.
I’ve known Iku-chan since we were rookies, and she even came as a guest on Rika’s fan club tour 😊✨
I wonder if people who write things like this enjoy it. No one’s happy about it. I think it’s in bad taste and childish.

– Rica Matsumoto

Ash Ketchum and Pikachu were last seen on March 24, 2023, in the final episode of the Pokémon series. Following this, the creators launched the Pokémon Horizons series, featuring Liko and Roy as the lead characters. While Liko and Roy have received the love they deserve, many original fans of the series are disappointed that Ash Ketchum is no longer part of it.