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Pokémon Sword and Shield anime speculation thread

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If this character really is a boy then they are going to have to reveal a new female character later. They need a girl on the main cast otherwise young girl fans will exit the series and Pokemon will gain the image that it's only for boys, something I don't think that the staff members want.
Looks like Pokemon is going to suffer without a female main character.
They're basically alienating half their audience. I don't think that they would want Pokemon to be seen as something that only boys should like, although they're doing a good job at that.
horrible business mistake that will cost them in the end, as young girls tune out and once people start saying that Pokemon is only for boys it would be harder for girls to get into the franchise. I don't think that Pokemon can survive appealing to just one gender.
That wouldn't save them from the inevitable decline of Pokemon's female fanbase.

I know this thread has kinda passed the topic, but I highly doubt the lack of a female traveling companion will lead to this doom and gloom decline where girls become alienated with Pokémon, and the franchise turns into a male-only thing where it is difficult or impossible for girls to enter. Like, I can see some people growing alienated, but not so much that the Pokémon’s female fanbase will just evaporate.
 
I know this thread has kinda passed the topic, but I highly doubt the lack of a female traveling companion will lead to this doom and gloom decline where girls become alienated with Pokémon, and the franchise turns into a male-only thing where it is difficult or impossible for girls to enter. Like, I can see some people growing alienated, but not so much that the Pokémon’s female fanbase will just evaporate.
Or the new male companion will be a magnet for girls to forn over.
 
Maybe in each region, they visit they will be accompanied by a female character that will fill in the role?
  1. Kanto = Misty
  2. Johto = Lyra or Kris (maybe both)
  3. Hoeen = May
  4. Sinnoh = Dawn
  5. Unova = Iris
  6. Kalos = Serena
  7. Alola = Lillie, Mallow, and Lana
  8. Galar = ???
Or, they could just create new female characters for each region or take one of the already established side characters. I wouldn't mind seeing a character like Duplica again in a bigger ole for once.
 
Maybe in each region, they visit they will be accompanied by a female character that will fill in the role?
  1. Kanto = Misty
  2. Johto = Lyra or Kris (maybe both)
  3. Hoeen = May
  4. Sinnoh = Dawn
  5. Unova = Iris
  6. Kalos = Serena
  7. Alola = Lillie, Mallow, and Lana
  8. Galar = ???
Or, they could just create new female characters for each region or take one of the already established side characters. I wouldn't mind seeing a character like Duplica again in a bigger ole for once.
I was thinking that Gloria would still be a companion, since the calendar did show Grookey and Sobble. Or a brand new character for Galar.
 
I know this thread has kinda passed the topic, but I highly doubt the lack of a female traveling companion will lead to this doom and gloom decline where girls become alienated with Pokémon, and the franchise turns into a male-only thing where it is difficult or impossible for girls to enter. Like, I can see some people growing alienated, but not so much that the Pokémon’s female fanbase will just evaporate.

It won't.

The Pokemon at the end of the day are the ones who really carry the show, not the human characters.
 
Tomorrow we will see. If this new character is really a boy and we still get a girl, then why didn't the show her before? The girls where always a huge deal for the anime.
 
Look at the ratings? It's quite clear that they are trying to change it up and try something refreshing and new for once.
 
I doubt that this Anime is being different just for the sake of being different. If we had a traditional formula with Ash traveling Galar. An Eventual BW-Style would be needed. At least this is better than that.
 
I think it could be Gloria that'll be the Female Companion for Ash in Galar, and she or an original character will have a Grookey since the logo of the Pokemon Center in Osaka has been updated to have a Grookey alongside Pikachu and Meowth.

https://i.redd.it/53l0f0e9iei31.jpg

It's obvious that Ash would not get Grookey since he's already got enough Grass Type Starters, and the Water Type Starter count do with some catching up and focus, so what better for Ash than to have Sobble.

Ash's Starter count: Grass (6), Fire (5), Water (4) (5 if you count Sobble)
 
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So, are you saying that only reason to add a female character is for eye candy?
That's what seems to be for men. However I see the female characters as something to spice things up for the series. It'll be a miss to not have a Female Companion for Galar.
 
Keep in mind that these poster was leaked rather than officially revealed. Hiding other main characters in official posters isn't really new either. The first DP poster only showed Dawn, which made fans think that Ash was going to be replaced. Another poster showed Ash, Dawn and Paul, which made fans think that he was going to be part of the main cast. I don't think Brock was revealed until the third promotional poster for DP, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them to be doing something like that with this series.

This is pretty interesting to note, I do have a bit more hope now that there is an additional companion(s), we just haven't seen them yet. I do find it kind of weird that they would do this, because why not show off both?, but if they have done it in the past I wouldn't put it past them to do it again. Maybe they wanted to just show Ash with this one new character because it's the first time since the very start that we have gotten an anime exclusive main cast member (we don't know for sure yet if this character isn't in the games, and Ash was made in representation of Red, but I don't consider them having too many similarities besides the hair and having a jerk rival), so they wanted to focus on them. If this is the case, I think it's more likely that the other companion is one of the game ones.

As others have mentioned, it could also be that the other companion is a temporary companion, and they swap them out depending on the region they are in. I would love to see them do a mix of seeing returning characters who join the main cast again and new characters.

I am very much looking forward to getting the news. This has been a long, winding road of speculation. It will be great to finally have some answers.
 
Why? We'd still have a non-traditional looking male companion, no?

I don't care one way or the other. I just thought it was insanely funny how some fans were acting like having a "non-feminine" looking female character was the end of the world. I already said that I myself am very girly, but was interested in the idea of a less feminine girl because we've had so many of them already.

If it's true he's a boy, then I still think it's cool that he looks less traditional than usual. People just aren't going to freak out about it as much though for sadly obvious reasons.
 
This is pretty interesting to note, I do have a bit more hope now that there is an additional companion(s), we just haven't seen them yet. I do find it kind of weird that they would do this, because why not show off both?, but if they have done it in the past I wouldn't put it past them to do it again. Maybe they wanted to just show Ash with this one new character because it's the first time since the very start that we have gotten an anime exclusive main cast member (we don't know for sure yet if this character isn't in the games, and Ash was made in representation of Red, but I don't consider them having too many similarities besides the hair and having a jerk rival), so they wanted to focus on them. If this is the case, I think it's more likely that the other companion is one of the game ones.

As others have mentioned, it could also be that the other companion is a temporary companion, and they swap them out depending on the region they are in. I would love to see them do a mix of seeing returning characters who join the main cast again and new characters.

I am very much looking forward to getting the news. This has been a long, winding road of speculation. It will be great to finally have some answers.

@Tomboyish Mermaid had mentioned this idea...

Depending of each Region, the two boys will have a Female Companion. Mostly old characters.
  1. Kanto = Misty
  2. Johto = Lyra or Kris (maybe both)
  3. Hoeen = May
  4. Sinnoh = Dawn
  5. Unova = Iris
  6. Kalos = Serena
  7. Alola = Lillie, Mallow, and Lana
  8. Galar = Gloria/Bea or a new Female Companion
 
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