Are they ever gonna show Sobble and Grookey in action?

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

I know it's still early, but we've yet to see these two. The only Galar starter we've seen in movement is Scorbunny. I know that one's most likely gonna be the star of this anime, but I really want to see Sobble and Grookey in action and the only times we've seen them are in picture form in stuff like the opening with every starter being shown off.

I just want to see the personalities of these two. I really want to see what Sobble and Grookey are all about in the anime. The lack of screen time they've gotten in comparison to Scorbunny has me concerned. Will we ever see them? If so, when?

 

[CometCartoons]

They’ve always advertised the starters, sobble and grookey will get their chances.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

It's kinda amazing how less focus Galar starters got so far.

 

[nickdt]

Yes, most likely through Ash.

 

[game3524]

They will show up, but they aren’t getting the focus like starters normally do in prior series.

 

[MizuTaipu]

I'm pretty sure Satoshi will get one or both of them down the line.

 

[RustyTrubbish]

They pretty much have to since the starter Pokemon are always among the most popular Pokemon of each respective generation. I just don't think that Ash will get one this time around.

 

[RileyXY1]

They pretty much have to since the starter Pokemon are always among the most popular Pokemon of each respective generation. I just don't think that Ash will get one this time around.

Then, how else would they show them off?

 

[Henry Suarez]

It's so weird, the starters always get focus/appear very early, there's no trace of Sobble and Grookey so far, at least in the first 9 revealed episodes...

 

[Silktree]

The world would survive if they got assigned to a rival and maybe Koharu. That would explain the wait, whereas Ash getting one after his first Galar visit would feel like an afterthought.

Reminder that they have all the old starters to promote judging from the opening and poster. This isn't your average series.

 

[Sakuraa]

They obviously will be shown off at some point. Even though this series is completely different from all previous ones, I don't see Ash not getting a starter. My guess for him is Sobble. As for when they'll show up, I assume the next time Ash and Go visit Galar since it doesn't seem they be shown off in episodes 4 and 5.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm positive that Ash will still end up with at least one of them. Even though they aren't strictly focused on Sword/Shield, they obviously do want to promote those games to a certain degree in this new series. There wouldn't be a point in giving Go a Scorbunny or Koharu a Yamper if that wasn't the case. I'm not sure when they'll introduce them, but I could see them showing up whenever Ash goes to Galar again. Personally, I still really want Ash to get a Grookey. Out of all of the Galar starters, I think that fits with Ash's personality pretty nicely. Plus, it's just so cute and I'd love to see ti get more screentime in the anime. I wouldn't be against Ash getting a Sobble though. It's cute, it has been awhile since Ash had a Water type and I think it would be interesting to see how they handle its personality too.

 

[game3524]

Then, how else would they show them off?

Just like how they promote other Pokemon (individual episodes). They don't need Ash to have them to promote them.

 

[RileyXY1]

Just like how they promote other Pokemon (individual episodes). They don't need Ash to have them to promote them.

Except they wouldn't be properly showcased otherwise. With Go, they would be overshadowed by Scorbunny. And with Koharu they would do nothing except sit around and act adorable.

 

[Daenerys]

They'll definitely all appear at some point, though I'm unsure if all 3 will be showcased among the cast. Scorbunny is accounted for, but I think Ash will only get one of the other 2 Galar starters while some recurring character might get the final one; I doubt Koharu will get it though tbh.

 

[game3524]

Except they wouldn't be properly showcased otherwise. With Go, they would be overshadowed by Scorbunny. And with Koharu they would do nothing except sit around and act adorable.

Who said they have to be owned by a cast member to get showcased? Also the concept of the starters needing to be on the main cast feels dated IMO. There is so much merchandise and avenues for broad promotion, I don't think you need Ash or his friends to shill everything these days.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Judging by the marketing, I think they will be owned by main cast members. Personally I'm hoping Gou gets all three if anything. I just know Ash wouldn't evolve them if he got them, the Sobble line is too similar to the Froakie line and the Grookey evolutions aren't Ash-material imo.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Who said they have to be owned by a cast member to get showcased? Also the concept of the starters needing to be on the main cast feels dated IMO. There is so much merchandise and avenues for broad promotion, I don't think you need Ash or his friends to shill everything these days.

They'll have more screentime if they're within the main cast though. They could still get a good amount of showcase if they're owned by a rival character instead, but that would still possibly limit their screentime too much. There's a reason why each series has featured the new starters within the main cast.

Judging by the marketing, I think they will be owned by main cast members. Personally I'm hoping Gou gets all three if anything. I just know Ash wouldn't evolve them if he got them, the Sobble line is too similar to the Froakie line and the Grookey evolutions aren't Ash-material imo.

Go getting all three would be a surprising development, but I don't see it happening, if only because Ash not getting at least one of the new starters just seems so unlikely. I could maybe see Go getting a second starter instead, but even that might be a stretch. Aside from its evolutions being much cooler than I initially expected, I'm not sure if the Sobble line is that similar to the Froakie line. They could easily make it different with Ash's potential Sobble being more shy and emotional so that it could gain more confidence as it evolves. I thought that the Grookey evolutions were pretty fitting for Ash. Granted, it's really hard to tell if any of the starters could evolve in general at this point anyway, but out of the two remaining starters, I think that the Grookey evolutions would fit with Ash more so than the Sobble evolutions.

 

[game3524]

They'll have more screentime if they're within the main cast though. They could still get a good amount of showcase if they're owned by a rival character instead, but that would still possibly limit their screen time too much. There's a reason why each series has featured the new starters within the main cast.

How much of an impact does the extra screen time really have though these days? Sword and Shield did very well in terms of sales in it's debut and that is without the anime really focusing on anything concerning Galar. There is a lot of merchandise featuring Sobble and Grookey, and there isn't any promotion linking them to Ash or his friends. IMO, I think the days of mass promoting a generation like they did with generation 3 or 4 and with the new Pokemon front and center are long over.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I just know Ash wouldn't evolve them if he got them, the Sobble line is too similar to the Froakie line and the Grookey evolutions aren't Ash-material imo.

Sobble being "too similar to Froakie" doesn’t really matter- he has an uncanny amount of fire starter evolutions already and that didn’t prevent him from getting more.
And Torterra wasn’t stereotypically "Ash-material".

I'd rather Go gets an actually varied team. I think his team would be rotating anyway, and I doubt they want the starters to be rotated out a lot.

How much of an impact does the extra screen time really have though these days? Sword and Shield did very well in terms of sales in it's debut and that is without the anime really focusing on anything concerning Galar. There is a lot of merchandise featuring Sobble and Grookey, and there isn't any promotion linking them to Ash or his friends. IMO, I think the days of mass promoting a generation like they did with generation 3 or 4 and with the new Pokemon front and center are long over.

There’s a reason that Scorbunny is a secondary mascot now and Koharu has a Yamper.