Meeting the Voice of my Childhood: An Afternoon with Veronica Taylor -

Hey guys! Helen here.

This weekend, I had the absolute honor of meeting one of my biggest heroes at Cape Comic Con in my old college hometown of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Featured at Cape Comic Con this year was none other than the voice of many childhoods, Ms. Veronica Taylor!

For those of you unfamiliar with Veronica Taylor’s work, here’s a mini bio that I put together for your reading pleasure.

However, if you already know about the awesomeness that is Ms. Taylor, and you’d like to skip to the section of the article on my personal experience, you can click here.

Veronica Taylor served as the voice of Ash Ketchum in the 4-Kids dub of Pokémon: the television series for the first eight seasons of the show. She also provided the voice of Ash for the first seven Pokémon movies, as well as the first two Pokémon television specials. In addition to voicing Ash Ketchum, Taylor voiced many other characters in the Pokémon universe, including Ash’s mother, Delia Ketchum, and May, Ash’s travel companion in the third generation of the series. In addition to leaving a lasting mark on the Pokémon franchise, Taylor has also contributed her acting talents to the franchises of Sailor Moon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, One Piece, Sonic X, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and countless other television series.

Like many children of the 1990s, I grew up to the soundtrack of Saturday morning cartoons. Kids WB was my channel of choice because it was home to many of my favorite childhood shows, including Yu-Gi-Oh!, Scooby Doo, and my all-time favorite, Pokémon. I have many fond memories of watching the Pokémon series on Saturday mornings with my little brother over big bowls of cereal. As a kid (and as an adult), I always hoped that someday I would be lucky enough to meet some of the real people behind my favorite cartoon characters.

Fast forward to this past winter, Cape Comic Con announced that their first guest for the 2019 lineup was none other than the voice of Ash Ketchum herself, Veronica Taylor. Ater purchasing passes to the convention (two months in advance, I might add), Aaron and I loaded up the car and drove down to our old home in Cape G, where we would begin our Pokémon Journey...

We arrived at Cape Comic Con just in time for Veronica Taylor’s Q&A panel where Aaron and I managed to snag some great front-row seats just a few feet from the Pokémon Master herself. Taylor’s panel was such a treat to witness and be a part of. Her delivery during the Q&A was so genuine in the way she interacted with fans and shared her experiences.

Click to enlarge

During the panel, guests were allowed to ask questions, to which Taylor responded with a fantastic sense of humor. Just a few of her quips included discussing the dangers of stepping in toxic slime, and not recommending murder mysteries to sixth graders. (Inside story, you just had to be there.)

Taylor touched on deeper topics too, including what it was like being a mom, her passion for local history, and how Pokemon fans have changed her life over the last twenty years. Seeing Taylor in this new light made me adore her even more than I already did. As if the Q&A couldn’t get any better, throughout the course of the panel, Taylor would step into character and perform the voices of the roles she has played. During the Cape Comic Con panel, Taylor demonstrated the voices of Ash Ketchum, May, Sailor Pluto, and Robin, from One Piece.

What. A. Treat!

I’m pretty sure I smiled like a big old nerd the entire panel!

After the panel, we made our way to the vendor hall, which we toured for a while, while waiting for Taylor to return to her booth for pictures and autographs. When our turn finally came, I was prepared to have Taylor sign two carefully selected items from my Pokémon collection. The first item I had signed was a theatrical poster featuring the release of Pokémon the Movie: 2000. I felt this was a great item to have signed because the poster features Ash placed amidst a group of Pokémon circling a Pokeball, giving the illusion (I believe) that Ash and Pokémon are connected all around the globe. This image reminds me of a special quote from the movie “the world will turn to Ash”.

This poster is going to hang in mine and Aaron’s “someday” game room.

Side note: When I told Taylor the name that I wanted on the poster, she said that she recognized my name from social media! How cool to be noticed and remembered by Veronica Taylor!

Click to enlarge

The second item I had signed was my Build-a-Bear Pikachu plush, specifically his Pokémon 20th anniversary shirt. This particular Pikachu plush goes with me to all of the Pokemon events that Aaron and I attend together. He’s my favorite Pokémon prop and I always get lots of compliments whenever I bring him along with us. This particular Pikachu has been to Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions, multiple Pokémon Regional tournaments and many Pokémon movie events. Now, he’s signed by his best friend’s original voice actor, as it should be. It’s a goal of mine to have these two items also signed by Eric Stuart (Brock) and Rachael Lillis (Misty) someday!

I couldn’t meet my anime hero and not get a picture, so Aaron and I took a few great photos with Taylor in addition to numerous candid shots that Aaron took of Taylor and I together as she signed my items (See pictures below). I thought it was especially cute when it came time to take the posed photo; Taylor had spare Pokeballs to use as photo props. How fun! She is such a gem.

It was such a pleasure to talk to and spend a little time with Veronica Taylor this past weekend, not only because she is incredibly passionate about the roles that she plays but also because she’s incredibly passionate about her fans. The evidence is as clear as crystal in the way that she gave a total outpouring of love to everyone who came to her panel and who visited her table. I am incredibly blessed to have met one of my Pokémon Heroes.

Thank you, Veronica Taylor, for your “heart so true” and for “traveling across the land, far and wide” to visit us in little Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Much love to you and thank you for accompanying me on my Pokémon Journey for all these years.