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Judging by the new Gen 9 merchandise I guess Ash is staying. Is honestly both funny and weird how the Anime staff chose this whole World Tournament plot. When you think about it, the Sword/Shield games plot actually made things easier for the Anime. After all, they tell you the Galar Gym leader are on par with the Elite 4. The staff could have easily chose to follow the game plot with Ash taking on the Gym Challenge and since they are strong, it wouldn't be crazy to see Ash struggle against them. Hell, we got a mini depression arc when Ash lost to Bea. So yeah, there was no need to have fight the strongest trainers in the world to get to Leon. The Anime staff just decided everyone was tired of the gym formula and took another route. Which makes me wonder what they'll do for the next anime season
