In the landmark year of 2006-07, the world of Pokémon has gotten even better, but more importantly, so has the world around it. When watching an episode from first season or seeing an old Pokémon item in a collectible store, the memories are bittersweet and a reminder of what we had to go through in order to have come this far. Fortunately, each new era for Ash and friends is also a new era for their fans. With the controversy behind us and the era of Diamond and Pearl to look forward to with new games, new Pokémon, a new series, and of course the 10th anniversary, it's an exciting time to be a Pokémon fan...as it should have always been.

*September 2006: "...I loved Odan...I'm sure of it...I had no doubts, no fears...but what was it I loved? His eyes? His hands? His mouth? They're gone. If that was all it was, I should morn him and go on. It was more than that..." That was what Dr. Beverly Crusher said when Trill Ambassador Odan's host body was killed in a shuttle accident and the symbiont was temporarily implanted in the body of Dr. Crusher's longtime colleague Commander William Riker ("The Host", Star Trek:TNG). When the eighth season of Pokémon (Advanced Battle) drew to a close, fans knew that Ash and friends were on their way to the Battle Frontier with a new season to look forward to, as usual, and with the hope that the US-deemed 10th Anniversary "Mastermind" special with its painfully different dubbing was just a "mirage". However, as rumors of a WB/Cartoon Network shuffle swept through forums and fan sites, and online campaigns to save the dub began, viewers worried about the future of Pokémon in America. Suddenly, all the complaints about the US-dubbed version with its censorship and inaccuracies seemed unimportant compared to losing the voices that had become as familiar as the faces we know and love. But despite the differences, we are also fortunate that everything else we love Pokémon won't change...the characters, the animation, the storylines. Like most fans, I've have my complaints about the US version too...ideally, I'd love see Pokémon in its original Japanese with English subtitles in complete, uncut season-by-season DVD boxsets, but until then, the dub is our Pokémon. I can only imagine how the actors who will no longer be a part of Pokémon must feel, and I admit I don't understand all the legal gibble-gabble, so as a fan, I'm torn between both sides of the issue. I don't want the voices to change, but I still want to wake up on Saturday morning and see Ash and Pikachu continue their journeys, with the first eight seasons forever living on in reruns, as classic television shows do...anything else just wouldn't be the same.

¹VH-1's "I Love the 90's Part Deux" feature "Then and Now", hosted by former Baby Spice inaccurately listed Pokémon as merely a part of the past ('Then', 1999) as opposed to 'Now' (2005)