The anime's been shit since day one.
And ever since its inception, it has been created as a 22-minute advertisement for the Pokemon Games and Merchandise, and to this day that is still its #1 Priority.
The higher-ups don't actually give a shit about the anime unless something bad happens (Porygon, the backlash from Kalos League, Real Life Disasters forcing delays or cancellations) and just make sure Ash still stays the Forever-10 Protagonist along with Pikachu until the heat death of the universe, or until Pokemon stops printing money, thus making the purpose of the anime moot.
To see it as anything more than a glorified commercial beyond the age of 12 is you desperately clinging onto your childhood, hoping that one day you'll finally get the closure of Ash actually finishing his journey that you've been following since before you could even say a word.
But that day won't ever come. Not now, not in a year, not in ten, not on the day you die.
Ash Ketchum, Ten Year Old Pokemon Trainer from Pallet Town of the Kanto Region and his Currently Level 20 Pikachu are just as eternal as The Simpsons, Detective Conan and all the other shit that will never end in your lifetime.
