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I'm not sure what they are planning but it would be absolutely catastrophic if they permanently got rid of Ash and Pikachu as you said they are cultural icons, not only that but Pikachu is THE pokemon mascot more than any other it would be weird for the anime not to have THE mascot.
I don't think that they will get rid of him (put all shipping aside for this next part) I don't see how or why they would permanently get rid of Ash, Dawn, Goh(kinda), and Chloe but mainly Ash, Dawn, and Chloe these 3 have the biggest money makers in pokemon(Pikachu, Piplup, and Eevee)(also Lucario if you count him) getting rid of Ash or rebooting him(hard) completely removes all the lore and characters that would have these shillable pokemon. They would need to completely reconstruct new characters with these mons which would not only be risky if the characters fail but also piss off the fans. there is no world where removing Ash or the Ashverse is good for business, yes they can move away from him as the MC but he would always be the "MC" pokemon must follow him to a minimum extent for Pikachu.
we all know that the TTV prez said there would be more Ash, and Rica said "if it continues it does" the narrator said basically "it's not over until I say" and the description of "what the future holds for Ash" I don't think that a FEMC or an anime without Ash/pika(or Ashaverse) would reach the same audience or market as standalone series's. Even if Ash were back with specials or movies(AU or not) it would not have the same reach they basically have written themselves into a large corner, one where the only way out is if Rica stops doing VA work(for whatever) or the anime ultimately ends(permanent). regardless of what we know now something is up, things are not as they seem
