If you’ve not been keeping up with Ash Ketchum’s Pokémon adventures as of late, you may have missed the headline-grabbing news.
Finally, following two decades of disappointment and failure, the 10-year-old Trainer and his followers can at long last celebrate a well-earned Pokémon League victory. Having fallen at the last hurdle in previous tournaments, Ash managed to clinch the win in his final face-off against reigning champion Professor Kukui last month, though that excitement quickly turned to fear, thanks to a deluge of rumors speculating that the series’ star was headed for retirement.
We now know that not to be the case, of course, thanks to promotional material for this year’s Sword and Shield tie-in confirming the character’s return, but fans should by no means expect business as usual when the next season kicks off. This time around, Ash will be sharing top billing with co-star Gou, a new arrival to the series dead set on achieving one goal: to Catch ‘Em All. How the two heroes’ paths will potentially cross in the series has been the source of huge speculation among viewers, with some believing that they won’t meet at all but rather, have separate stories.
Ultimately, we won’t know for sure what The Pokémon Company’s plans are until the new season kicks off and fortunately, we won’t have long to wait. In revealing the episode names of the Sun and Moon anime’s final few episodes, the studio has inadvertently put an end date of October 27th on the current saga. This gives Ash and co. around one month of rest and respite before beginning their whistlestop tour of the entire Pokémon world in November.
The final three episodes are as follows:
- “Conclusion! Gaogen vs Nyaheat!!
- Alola’s Strongest Z! Cap Kapu-Kokeko vs Pikachu!!
- Sun, Moon, and Everyone’s Dream!!
A Western release date for Pokémon’s next anime season is still forthcoming, though fans have plenty to tide them over until it arrives. Pokémon Sword and Shield are out November 15th for Nintendo Switch and will officially mark the beginning of Generation 8.
