Two Of Ash's Oldest Pals Are Returning In The Pokémon Sun And Moon Anime

the ol gang is back!

Don't know why they don't just retain them as main characters for good...

In their original series outfits, to boot! The nostalgia pandering is strong with this one.

Wait, that sentence really gives "unpleasable fanbase" vibes, so I'd better re-elaborate on it a bit. Their inclusion makes less sense here than in the actual I Choose You movie, which is pure nostalgia pandering.

The good side of this, however, is that the Pokémon Anime always includes episodes and arcs meant to advertise remakes and such.

[in a Cracked-esque caption: "As if we needed another reminder of HeartGold and SoulSilver being a thing. Them existing was already enough advertising."]

Yes, I'm talking about the "return to Kanto in UltraSun and UltraMoon" speculation.

Ash must be in his mid 30's by now lol

The "thumbnail" of this article gives away that it's Misty and Brock, which I'd normally complain about, but who else would it'd be anyway...

Nice. The original trio is back. The increasingly weird companions in these shows started getting on my nerves after a while.

@Nintendofan83 So... Man-child confirmed?

@olrodlegacy I believe it's to keep the series fresh. Heard on Did You Know Movies that new female protagonists are included to 'give male viewers new eye candy' as girls can wear different outfits such as bathing suits. I'm not kidding, you can look it up on the DYKM episode on the Pokemon anime.

That aside, I've always found the Pokemon anime so forgettable. Digimon's where it's at.

Wonder if Team Rocket are still exist...

What about Sharena? when will we see her again I wonder?

I heard about this yesterday, it's nice to see the only gang back Hopefully Serena comes back too

@Anti-Matter They are, at least Jessie, James and Meowth. They are relegated to occassional appearances, though, at least that was the case with XY. Refuse to watch SM.

Yes. Misty and Brock made the original show for me. I've never cared for Ash.

aw, thought they were going to be int he new movie, which last time I checked didn't look too good.

I've never watched the show myself, only watched my kids watching the show, but Brock and Misty were always my favorite. Well not so much my favorite as I disliked everyone after them.

Misty is still boring and Brock is okay, although the general artstyle used is still pretty eh, imo. Pokemon is still a pretty bottom tier show tbh.

Hopefully Butch and Cassedy gets an cameo too.
There is so much they could (and should) do with this, but moste likely this will be a "we have not forgotten you" like Charizard was in BW. Brock should get custody over his siblings from his neglecting parents.

Maybe Giovanni could be interested in establish businesspartners in Alola?

old costumes? WTF?

I'm starting to believe we're going to be returning to Kanto in Ultra Sun and Moon. Those games have finally caught my interest.

Nostalgia will ultimately mean little to English-speaking audiences as the voices will be different to that of the 4Kids cast.

@crimsontadpoles : Ash absolutely ruins the show for me. I recently bought the Blu-ray boxset that includes the first three movies, and all of the movies begin well enough, right until the moment that Ash walks in to ruin it all.

Now I need to watch the new anime, pronto!

If Ash is going back to Kanto in the anime, then we're probably going back to Kanto in the game.

Is it just me or is the original 1998 anime look better than the new sun and moon anime?.....
The new anime style just looks lazy in my opinion regardless of it's production quality...

Lillie goes to Kanto in the Sun and Moon games, Ash is going to Kanto in the Sun and Moon anime. Hopefully this means either Ultra Sun/Moon or the Switch game will be returning to Kanto.

Misty should have looked like this:

Who cares about those losers? Where's the Samurai kid?

I'm already working my way through Power Rangers so I don't think I'll ever get round to watching all of Pokemon, much as I'd like to.

I seriously have no idea why people are bashing on the art style of the new season. It looks really good in my opinion, and the animation seems more fluid and more dynamic than ever.

@Randomname19 Well, that's the 3-year older Misty from the games. And if Ash is this the same age, the others should be as well. Not to mention the games and the anime are two different universes.

Remember people, the anime returned to Kanto during the Battle Frontier saga too.

It doesn't necessarily mean the games will take place in Kanto.

I assume this was planned well before the movie

And I also think the movie was just merely a one off, alternate version of events that wasn't retconning Misty and Brock out of existence

What about Gary and Tracy? All of Ash old comrades should return.

@Meowpheel But technically, Fire Red and Leaf Green were the newest games during that series. (I think. I was kind of young at that point.)

From what little I've seen of the new season, the art style isn't bad (not amazing, but not bad). The animation in general seems more fluid, though I'm still at risk for drowning in Ash's eyes....

@PlanetaryNebulae Hm good point.

I still think we shouldn't read too much into this. After all, they've been going on a gen 1 nostalgia rampage since gen 6.

Ugh, I can't like the new art style ...
The old one was more detailed and nicer, at least for me. But it's a general trend in cartoons nowadays, sadly.

Hard to have nostalgia when Misty looks like an alien now. I'll admit to not being a fan of the new art style for this season anyways, but seriously, Misty barely looks like the same person...

@Anti-Matter Yep, Team Rocket is in Alola as well. They only occasionally try to steal Pikachu these days, but they do continue to show up in every episode. Jessie has Wobbuffet and has caught a Mimikyu, while James has caught a Marenie that acts quite a bit like Victreebel, Cacnea, and Carnivine did before. They also have a weird and somewhat creepy subplot involving a wild Bewear.

I'm used to Ash's current voice, as well as Brock's from the Diamond and Pearl saga, but I have a feeling Misty's voice is going to sound pretty weird to me at first, since she's barely shown up at all since they switched English voice casts. Come to think of it, I believe the only appearance Misty has had since the switch was in the "Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon" special, which was the very first thing they did with the new voice cast.

wtf is this trash art style?

But I'll check it out for Misty. At least Brock has returned a couple of times, Misty though... -.-

No one ages in this universe...talking about nonsense.

OoO