Veronica Taylor goes full circle 

International rapper and manga author Shao Dow speaks to Veronica Taylor, the English voice of Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum, to hear how she has built her TCG collection and what exactly she signs on fans’ cards

If, like me, you grew up watching the Pokémon animated series, then firstly, pat yourself on the back. You are part of the Golden Era.

And if, like me, you find yourself talking to Veronica Taylor, AKA the original voice of Ash Ketchum from the English series, you’ll likely burst into nostalgia and backwards cap-filled tears the moment she starts speaking as the main character’s voice.

Nostalgic sobbing notwithstanding, I managed to pull myself together long enough to ask the voice of my childhood some important questions that I thought you’d enjoy reading too (thank me later).

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon card game. Do you actively collect the cards?

I just happened to acquire them. In all honesty, when we started working on the show in 1998, I didn’t know that it’d be something we’d still be talking about 30 years later. I didn’t think of it as something that needed to be looked at as a collector thing, just an incredible, fun acting thing.

What’s one of your favourite stories for why people collect the cards?

Lately, I’ve met people who are now older, or maybe we could say in the “second phase” of collecting. A lot of them have begun collecting again to bring back that joy they had when they were little, I often hear “I had this card and it was lost or was stolen by a bully or my mom threw it out”, people have lost things through time and they’re so connected to them that when they find it at a card show somewhere, it has this nostalgic, good feeling to it.

Do you have any favourite cards that have special value or meaning to you?

Yeah, I love the art on them. I was at a Comic Con in Memphis and I met Yuka Morii, an artist who makes clay sculptures. She has created art for Pokémon cards, so I love to find her cards when I’m opening packs. I just recently realised that all of the artist names are at the bottom of the cards. It’s very small, but when you’re looking for that, you can then check out the artist and find out what else they’ve done.

That’s just another cool thing, we all get together and become friends because of our love of Pokémon and then it just branches out from there in the most surprising ways.

I have no idea what anything is worth, I just love the pictures, you know? I would pretty much bet you that I have nothing of value, except, they’re incredibly valuable to me.

This is an abridged version of Shao Dow’s article. To read the full version, join our membership and download the first issue for free. Scroll to the bottom of the page to enter your details. 

Bio: International rapper, anime protagonist and super nerd, Shao Dow hosted the 2024 and 2025 European Bandai Card Games Fest. He enjoys collecting One Piece Cards, though is still in the process of learning to play. He lives in London, but seems to spend more time in airports.