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Pokemon Journeys: Sword/Shield Chapter

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Information courtesy of Dephender at Serebii


On October 23rd, the Pokémon anime will begin its "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will explore the legends and secrets of the Galar region! A new key visual has been released

A new key visual has been unveiled for the popular anime "Pocket Monsters", which air every Sunday, in order to mark its move to a Friday evening timeslot. The new key visual depicts the legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta that appear in the video game "Pocket Monsters Sword/Shield."



It was also announced that the "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will see Satoshi and Go explore the legends and secrets of the Galar region, will begin on Friday October 23rd and run for 4 weeks. We will now present a synopsis and selection of screenshots from this Sword/Shield Chapter. Make sure not to miss these story developments, which are unique to the anime?!

Sword/Shield Chapter synopsis

Pokémon that has grown gigantic are running wild?!
Satoshi and Go head to the Galar region in order to investigate an incident that has taken place there. And when they arrive, they see groups of Pokémon that have grown gigantic running wild! To resolve this crisis, Satoshi joins up with Dande, the Greatest of Them All, while Go tries solving the mystery alongside Sonia, who aims to become a Pokémon Professor. An organization that intends to bring back the Black Night, the disaster that struck the Galar region in the distant past, are working behind the scenes of this incident!

When all the mysteries are unraveled, the horrific howl of the disaster's return can be felt!
And as all of Galar becomes a site of chaos, two heroes wake from a long sleep.

We were also given details on an extravagant giveaway program taking place during the show for these four weeks, as well as on the participants of an online talk event that would take place over the same period:

The first new key visual has been unveiled! Extravagant voice actors and special guests will appear during an online "Pocket Monsters" talk event for 4 weeks straight!

It has been decided that the TV Tokyo anime "Pocket Monsters" will be moving to Fridays at 6:55pm starting Friday October 9th! A new key visual has been unveiled to mark this move to "Golden Friday". It has also been decided to hold an extravagant giveaway program during the show for these four weeks, as well as to give details on the participants of an online talk event that would take place over the same period!

The new key visual depicts Thunder and Suicune, as well as the legendary Pokémon that appear in the latest video games, "Pocket Monsters Sword/Shield". and hints towards upcoming story elements. In addition, the "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will see Satoshi and Go explore the legends and secrets of the Galar region, will begin on Friday October 23rd and run for 4 weeks! Believe it or not, the Lucario and Aceburn you can see on the key visual are actually...?! Make sure to pay attention to this story arc, which you just can't miss out on watching as it airs!

In addition, details on the first ever 4 week long online live talk event in Pokemon anime history have been made public as well! It's going to feature extravagant voice actors that provide the voices of popular characters that have become the talk of the town thanks to their appearances in the Pocket Monsters anime, starting with Satoshi's voice actor Rica Matsumoto and Koharu's voice actor Kana Hanazawa, but also including Kibana's voice actor Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Saito's voice actor Yoko Hikasa, and more! We've also prepared all kinds of segments,including a "lines I want the characters to say" segment the voice actors will try their hands on that will also feature members of the production staff like executive director Daiki Tomiyasu and sound director Masafumi Mima, comment videos from secret guests, and a riddle segment with Ryogo Matsumaru. In addition, during the 3rd and 4th installment, you'll get to enjoy exclusive commentary from the voice actors and production staff as the episodes air! Please make sure to follow this audience participation live talk that will also include an extravagant giveaway program! The event will be streamed live on the show's official Twitter and the official Pokémon Youtube channel.

Installment 1: Friday September 25th at 6:55pm-7:25pm - featuring Tatsuhisa Suzuki (voice of Kibana), Shoko Nakagawa and Abareru-kun
Installment 2: Friday October 2nd at 6:55pm-7:25pm - featuring Rica Matsumoto (voice of Satoshi), Yoko Hikasa (voice of Saito) and Noriaki Kanze (voice of Renji and Otosupus)
Installment 3: Friday October 9th at 6:55pm-7:45pm - featuring Rica Matsumoto (voice of Satoshi), Kana Hanazawa (voice of Koharu), Ryogo Matsumaru and Daiki Tomiyasu
Installment 4: Friday October 16th at 6:55pm-7:45pm - featuring Megumi Hayashibara (voice of Musashi), Inuko Inuyama (voice of Nyarth), Yuji Ueda (voice of Sonansu) and Masafumi Mima
 
When I read that title I for a second hoped it would be a Pokémon Chronicles-esque special with Victor and/or Gloria. But alas, I was mistaken.

I am curious as to how they'll pace the DD arc into just 4 episodes since with the Pokémon on the poster plus all the voice actors mentioned it sounds like a lot of stuff to get through.
 
Story developments that are unique to the anime? Eh, the summary makes the arc seem derivative.

Timaeus said:
I am curious as to how they'll pace the DD arc into just 4 episodes since with the Pokémon on the poster plus all the voice actors mentioned it sounds like a lot of stuff to get through.
Only the wolves, Lucario and Cinderace are relevant to this arc. It's a general poster, and the voice actors are mostly unrelated to this arc (their YouTube event will be finished before the arc starts).
 
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It was also announced that the "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will see
The new key visual depicts Thunder and Suicune, as well as the legendary Pokémon that appear in the latest video games, "Pocket Monsters Sword/Shield". and hints towards upcoming story elements. In addition, the "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will see Satoshi and Go explore the legends and secrets of the Galar region, will begin on Friday October 23rd and run for 4 weeks! Believe it or not, the Lucario and Aceburn you can see on the key visual are actually...?! Make sure to pay attention to this story arc, which you just can't miss out on watching as it airs!

Are they seriously acting as though we wouldn't be able to believe that the Lucario and Cinderace we see on the poster evolved from Ash's Riolu and Go's Raboot? Hopefully this rhetorical question just means they evolve at a key part of the story, or that they play an important role in the upcoming arc (which is something that was already spoiled in the opening).

Also, I understand why they're calling this the "Sword/Shield Chapter", but on paper it looks like the Sword and Shield games only get to have 4 anime episodes dedicated to them, as opposed to the normal 140+ anime episodes that all the rest of the mainline games since DP have gotten
 
I thought only the 4 episodes are labeled as "Sword/Shield Chapter"

It was also announced that the "Sword/Shield Chapter", which will see Satoshi and Go explore the legends and secrets of the Galar region, will begin on Friday October 23rd and run for 4 weeks.

That sentence makes it sound like only the 4 eps are SwSh based and then it's back to the usual.
 
Spoke with someone about the anime expanding what Leon went through in the plot. The anime could show him recovering slowly while Ash waits for their battle.
 
Are they seriously acting as though we wouldn't be able to believe that the Lucario and Cinderace we see on the poster evolved from Ash's Riolu and Go's Raboot? Hopefully this rhetorical question just means they evolve at a key part of the story, or that they play an important role in the upcoming arc (which is something that was already spoiled in the opening).

Also, I understand why they're calling this the "Sword/Shield Chapter", but on paper it looks like the Sword and Shield games only get to have 4 anime episodes dedicated to them, as opposed to the normal 140+ anime episodes that all the rest of the mainline games since DP have gotten
I guess "Sword/Shield chapter" is more of a reference to Zacian/Zamazenta (and Darkest Day plot) rather than to the games itself. But yeah, might cause that kind of confusion you mentioned.
 
Personally I wouldn't say this feels too early but rather the plot hasn't done enough to justify the build up. Like, if Ash had been competing in the Galar Cup instead of the PWC I reckon we would have met Rose, probably had a few more Eternatus cameos, met the Doggos and gotten more hints behind the backstory of the Legendary Hero already. :unsure:

But no, instead we've been faffing about at being wannabe research assistants. :annoyedVoltorb:
 
Weird that one of those have Jessie, Meowth and Wobuffet VA, but no James. However now that I think off James has more episodes apearences than Meowth and Jessie.
 
I feel like this arc was planned for around October since before the Pandemic and a few episodes have been moved around to accommodate this happening earlier in episode order.

Their may be a good reason this needs to come out before Crown Tundra.
 
I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand I'm very excited to have some more dedicated Galar time (and an actual arc), but I do feel this is a little too early (as we haven't really gotten to see Ash/Goh interact with Rose who is a primary driver of this plot). That being said, maybe as other users have mentioned, they are doing this early so they can focus on longer arcs involving the crown tundra and isle of armor.
 
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Anyways, while I was on a little timeout, something dawned on me. Not only did DP and XY have done a far better job at building up to their respective villain arcs/finales than this series (and SM) has been doing, but Best Wishes, of all series, had better build-up than this whole "arc". Say what you will about the climaxes themselves (or the rest of the series' writing), but the build-ups to those villain plots were surprisingly great. We got to see Team Rocket completing some mission and succeeding at preparing for their upcoming plans while Ash and co were off doing their things, we got to see the TRio investigating the Abyssal Ruins and spying on Meloetta in the background while the twerps were having their reunion and tournament and were (inadvertently) helping Team Rocket obtain Meloetta's song and, during Episode N, we had a fair amount of focus on N, hints at his backstory and his connection to Team Plasma, and even some clashes with Team Plasma, where we got some snippets at their plans. Meanwhile, all we had in this series were Rose's cameo, Sonia's small introduction and a brief sneak peek at the legend of the Darkest Day.

Heck, even when compared to the games (where we had Sonia being on a journey researching the Darkest Day and (along with us) learning more about the it, the heroes who stopped it and what actually happened back then, Bede collecting Wishing Stars for Rose, Rose's strong interest in Dynamaxing and stuff like Leon defeating Pokémon that are suddenly Dynamaxing for no reason (even if it was done off-screen)), this series falls short.
 
I get the feeling based on the poster that Riolu and Cinderace will evolve during this arc which will be interesting

Still feel the arc is a bit too early
According to some new visuals, Raboot is still Raboot during this arc, at least for a time.

All of this just makes me wonder what the heck are they going to do after this arc airs? They're trying to reach a climax too soon.
 
All of this just makes me wonder what the heck are they going to do after this arc airs? They're trying to reach a climax too soon.
Really easy actually. They’re going to arcs for every box legendary. It’s a great way to keep attention and also to bring back old characters. For example if the zygarde roots start to act up again ash can meet up with greninja
 
According to some new visuals, Raboot is still Raboot during this arc, at least for a time.

All of this just makes me wonder what the heck are they going to do after this arc airs? They're trying to reach a climax too soon.
Well there's still the Isle of Armor and the Crowned Tundra that could be explored later in the series.

Also several Gym Leaders and Rivals still haven't been introduced yet
 
So... Jessie, Wobbuffet and Meowth are listed, but not James. I think this kinda confirms James's VA Shin'ichiro Miki also voiced either Cinderace or Lucario and its obvious they would get chosen over James here, although there is a possibility Galarfetch'd evolves into Sirfetch'd (Miki also voices Galarfetch'd, so maybe he is also gonna voice Sirfetch'd).

Some new VA roles also it seems. So its a possibility were are gonna see some gym leaders, especially with Bea and Grapploct being confirmed. My money is on Kabu because of Centiskorch confirmed to be appearing.

Another interesting thing is just thought about: We saw in the new opening also Pikachu vs G-Max Drednaw. While that event has already happened, its possible the same Drednaw is gonna G-Max again and Nessa is gonna be involved this time.

Looking also at the segments: Ash is gonna play a bigger role than Go.
 
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