So, Pokémon 2019 is just SwSh anime after all

[marshiyanmisuta]

We finally got our first Galar episode, yet...there was very little exposure about the region, about the city they visited, and about the local pokémon from Galar region. Based on the preview, there will be no new Galar pokémon in the next episode as well. Compared to how much focus Kanto pokémon got in the previous Kanto episodes, this is nothing. All these signs are pointing to the case that they're keeping Galar exposure at minimum and still hiding the new pokémon, probably for the future episodes that's gonna focus on them. Considering how much pokémon and other stuff Galar had, giving separate episodes to all of them means this series' gonna focus mainly on Galar, despite of promises about focusing on all other regions.

 

[RileyXY1]

I don't think that Galar will have much focus, if at all.

 

[ii kanji]

MM, I bloody hope you're right. I'm not optimistic about it though...

 

[DynamicFusion]

We finally got our first Galar episode, yet...there was very little exposure about the region, about the city they visited, and about the local pokémon from Galar region. Based on the preview, there will be no new Galar pokémon in the next episode as well. Compared to how much focus Kanto pokémon got in the previous Kanto episodes, this is nothing. All these signs are pointing to the case that they're keeping Galar exposure at minimum and still hiding the new pokémon, probably for the future episodes that's gonna focus on them. Considering how much pokémon and other stuff Galar had, giving separate episodes to all of them means this series' gonna focus mainly on Galar, despite of promises about focusing on all other regions.

Of course Galar will get more focus than the other Regions but it'll just be by 3-4 Episodes at max.

 

[Silktree]

The title is rather clickbaity since it's just a prediction based on circumstantial evidence, which can be interpreted in a completely different way. The time to promote Galar at full speed is now rather than later; they wouldn't cover the other regions at all if what they really wanted was a SwSh series. It would make more sense to leave the other regions for later and have Sakuragi live in Galar, if they wanted a SwSh series.

Also, if they maintain the current rate (3 new Pokemon per 4 episodes, to say nothing of the first episode being a flashback), then they will definitely cover all 81 Pokemon within 3 years even if they stick to Galar being visited every now and then (and some Pokemon showing up in other regions, like Corviknight). We aren't talking about a huge amount here, and if they wanted they could showcase all regional variants in one episode (they did it in SM) and the same goes for Gigantamax (many/most Mega Evolutions never appeared properly outside of Movie 16).

If Ash is meant to collect badges in Galar, then I think they missed a perfect opportunity to set it up in the latest episode.

 

[Daenerys]

The newest episode felt so weird to me because it did feel like a standard episode that you'd normally see at the beginning of a saga where Ash visits a new region, yet because it came right after 3 episodes of the new series format, it felt like I had stepped back in time to better days. I immediately wanted to make an AMV and visit Myspace and listen to Nelly Furtado's Loose album on my iPod Mini.

I really hope that as this saga/series/whatever progresses, we'll spend more time in Galar instead of meandering through older regions.

 

[Almonds]

Predictions:
1st part: Trip around the world 01. Assisting Sakuragi with the research occasionally. Setting the atmosphere.
2nd part: Trip around the world 02. Ash and Gou and Koharu character arcs.
3rd part: Ash's Galar gym quest // Gou's GO quest (as in seeking out rare pokemon and raid battles)
4th part: Galar league. I'm not entirely sure about this, but since leagues have always been a part of the pokemon anime, I'm just throwing it in here.
5th part: The search for Mew. I'm guessing this to be similar to I Choose You! where Gou finally meets Mew and challenges it to a battle - which, I don't think would actually go anywhere. Mew doesn't seem to be the pokemon to test the trainer's worth or the human-pokemon relationship and stuff like Ho-oh did.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

The title is rather clickbaity since it's just a prediction based on circumstantial evidence, which can be interpreted in a completely different way. The time to promote Galar at full speed is now rather than later; they wouldn't cover the other regions at all if what they really wanted was a SwSh series. It would make more sense to leave the other regions for later and have Sakuragi live in Galar, if they wanted a SwSh series.

Current episodes are enough proof to show that they have no interest in promoting the games. Their only reason to showcase Galar is capitalising on possible merchandise based on it, which means timing doesn't matter anymore. And if they're not planning to focus on Galar, I don't see why would they keep them under the rug.

 

[game3524]

Games or no games, it doesn't make sense to hold off promoting new Pokemon. The time to market them is when they first come out when it is still fresh and the novelty hasn't worn off.

 

[Sakuraa]

I really don't see how that sounds likely, based on what we've seen so far. I really don't see any reason to hide new Pokemon, the games are already out. Information on SwSh is easy to access. If anything, I think what we saw in EP 4 suggests that Galar won't be getting any more focus than any other regions. Heck, I'd say that the recent episode was the worst debut for a new region I'd ever seen.

 

[Rath]

There's no reason to expect this.

The world traveling was something they heavily advertised, like SM's school.

The main purpose of the anime is to advertise stuff, and the time to advertise something is when it's still fresh in people's minds.

Later on, Galar won't be "new" anymore, so it'll be too late to focus on it.

 

[Hidden Mew]

There's no reason to expect this.

The world traveling was something they heavily advertised, like SM's school.

While that's true, the Pokemon School ultimately wasn't that important to SM as a whole. It was a gimmick to make the series stand out from the start and it was an excuse for the main cast to stay primarily on one island, but Ash wasn't trying to graduate throughout SM like people initially expected. It was basically a backdrop that became less important over the course of the series. I don't know if they'll drop the world traveling aspect for PM like they effectively did for SM's Pokemon School, especially when that is the main gimmick for the series thus far, but they may eventually have Ash stay in one area for a longer period of time. I'm not sure how well traveling to different regions from one episode to another could really work for a three year series either.

I'm still feeling kind of conflicted over the anime adapted Sword/Shield. I absolutely would love to see different Galar locations in the anime, I'd love to see characters from the games featured in the show and there are plenty of new Pokemon that I'd love to see join the main cast or at least get a good episode to feature them. But at the same time, after completing the main storyline yesterday, I'm not sure how well the anime could cover it. The anime has always been more of a loose adaptation of the video games, which is fine, but I also don't think that they could capture some of the strengths of the games through the format. The anime tends to take a long time to introduce key video game characters and while sometimes that can work like with Team Galactic, I don't think that would work with some of the Sword/Shield characters. I like SM, but I don't think that its its take on Lillie was nearly as likable or interesting as video game Lillie was for me. Covering the climax of the Sun/Moon climax in one arc without a good amount of buildup didn't help matters either. Plus, I absolutely adore Hop and he does not deserve the Hau treatment. Even showing up one hundred episodes in like Barry probably wouldn't do his character justice. I still want to see Galar getting a good amount of focus at least and there's a decent chance for that at least considering how new it and the new generation of Pokemon are, but I'm also wondering if the anime doing its own thing will ultimately lead to some more effective moments than if it did try to adapt the Sword/Shield storyline.

 

[sc190191]

I'm still feeling kind of conflicted over the anime adapted Sword/Shield. I absolutely would love to see different Galar locations in the anime, I'd love to see characters from the games featured in the show and there are plenty of new Pokemon that I'd love to see join the main cast or at least get a good episode to feature them. But at the same time, after completing the main storyline yesterday, I'm not sure how well the anime could cover it. The anime has always been more of a loose adaptation of the video games, which is fine, but I also don't think that they could capture some of the strengths of the games through the format. The anime tends to take a long time to introduce key video game characters and while sometimes that can work like with Team Galactic, I don't think that would work with some of the Sword/Shield characters. I like SM, but I don't think that its its take on Lillie was nearly as likable or interesting as video game Lillie was for me. Covering the climax of the Sun/Moon climax in one arc without a good amount of buildup didn't help matters either. Plus, I absolutely adore Hop and he does not deserve the Hau treatment. Even showing up one hundred episodes in like Barry probably wouldn't do his character justice. I still want to see Galar getting a good amount of focus at least and there's a decent chance for that at least considering how new it and the new generation of Pokemon are, but I'm also wondering if the anime doing its own thing will ultimately lead to some more effective moments than if it did try to adapt the Sword/Shield storyline.

I think you're right for the most part, but they could still have had a series based in Galar without it having to be extremely true to the games, and with proper creativity could have still been really good. Typically the crises in the anime are quite different from the games as it is. Ash wouldn't have needed to be a substitute for the PC, with the same relationship with Hop and Leon, he could have developed a different type of relationship with those two. Characters being represented "better" or "worse" is really a new problem since old Pokemon games didn't flesh out personalities quite as well, but I would hate for that to be the reason that we don't get game characters in the anime anymore, because the anime has typically been what has made me love certain characters throughout the history of the franchise.

As far as an SwS anime, an idea I thought of recently would have been that it could have been the perfect time for Ash's companion to also have a battle goal for the first time (well I guess Misty and Iris kind of did, but the execution wasn't universally appreciated). Ash, winning the Alola league, could have been endorsed, and then met a trainer (preferably a girl, since there was a time when we got at least semi-equal representation) who wasn't endorsed and traveled together. The companion could battle in minor gyms and participate in other events for non-endorsed trainers, so there would have been opportunity for creativity from the writing team (because realistically Galar would have some competitions for non-endorsed trainers, considering how few actually are in the gym challenge). It would give Ash a mentor type opportunity while still being protag going for gyms, and could lead to interesting relationship with respect, but also maybe some jealousy. I just think the Galar region would have been fantastic for travel and adventure, and I can imagine a lot of interesting subplots, fun filler type ideas, etc. Just an idea, obviously it wasn't to be.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I think you're right for the most part, but they could still have had a series based in Galar without it having to be extremely true to the games, and with proper creativity could have still been really good. Typically the crises in the anime are quite different from the games as it is. Ash wouldn't have needed to be a substitute for the PC, with the same relationship with Hop and Leon, he could have developed a different type of relationship with those two. Characters being represented "better" or "worse" is really a new problem since old Pokemon games didn't flesh out personalities quite as well, but I would hate for that to be the reason that we don't get game characters in the anime anymore, because the anime has typically been what has made me love certain characters throughout the history of the franchise.

I agree that it still could have been good on its own had they gone in that direction. I just don't know if it would have been a good way to handle the characters, especially when the anime usually takes awhile to introduce important video game characters. Ash has some nice moments with Lillie, but it still never really came off as touching as Lillie's relationship with the playable character. Although, having less screentime due to the large cast probably didn't help with that. Hau is one of my favorite rivals and his appearance in SM felt like an afterthought just so that they could promote Dartrix and Decidueye. As much as I'd love to see Sword/Shield characters in the anime, the usual way the Pokemon anime handles adapting the storyline just might not fit with a game that relies on its characters like Sword/Shield do. I'm sure that we'll still see some video game characters in the new series though. I'm not sure how given the traveling format, but they'll probably show the Gym Leaders, Leon and maybe Sonia down the road. I'm less sure about the rivals given how important the Gym Challenge is for all three of them and because it's more typical for the anime to not include rival characters than Gym Leaders or Champions.

As far as an SwS anime, an idea I thought of recently would have been that it could have been the perfect time for Ash's companion to also have a battle goal for the first time (well I guess Misty and Iris kind of did, but the execution wasn't universally appreciated). Ash, winning the Alola league, could have been endorsed, and then met a trainer (preferably a girl, since there was a time when we got at least semi-equal representation) who wasn't endorsed and traveled together. The companion could battle in minor gyms and participate in other events for non-endorsed trainers, so there would have been opportunity for creativity from the writing team (because realistically Galar would have some competitions for non-endorsed trainers, considering how few actually are in the gym challenge). It would give Ash a mentor type opportunity while still being protag going for gyms, and could lead to interesting relationship with respect, but also maybe some jealousy. I just think the Galar region would have been fantastic for travel and adventure, and I can imagine a lot of interesting subplots, fun filler type ideas, etc. Just an idea, obviously it wasn't to be.

That would be an interesting idea. It would give them the chance for Ash and his companion to take part in Gyms, but just doing different kind of Gyms instead of the same ones. I really do miss the female leads having a proactive battle oriented goal, so that would have been pretty cool. It's still too early to see where they're going with this traveling format or why they chose to make more anime only characters for the main/supporting cast as opposed to using characters from the games instead, but I'm still hoping that PM will still turn out to be enjoyable even with this setup.

 

[CometCartoons]

Not really

 

[Silktree]

"Twilight Wings" will probably cram a lot of the new Pokemon into 35 minutes. Also some characters.

It was basically a backdrop that became less important over the course of the series.

The school may not have been important, but they were on Melemele for about 100 episodes overall and were never on the other islands for too long at a time.

 

[Hidden Mew]

The school may not have been important, but they were on Melemele for about 100 episodes overall and were never on the other islands for too long at a time.

That's true, but the Pokemon School was the main gimmick when they initially promoted SM. That's why people thought that Ash was going to graduate by the end of the series. Despite being set on Melemele Island for the bulk of the series, I don't think that there were a lot of episodes that took place primarily at the Pokemon School. It was more common for the cast to have adventures elsewhere on the island or be at a different location for a few episodes than it was for them to stay at the Pokemon School. It's possible that they'll still have less frequent region hopping for PM at some point as well.

 

[Silktree]

@Hidden Mew But when the school ever important? It was just part of the Melemele setting and an excuse for the cast to be together. As far as I know, graduation was never mentioned.

I just don't see why they'd pick the beginning of PM to showcase other regions if the long-term plan were just about Galar.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

I think Galar is going to get the same level of focus as the other regions. If Galar promotion was their main focus, they would have called the series "Sword and Shield" and fully embraced it. Honestly at this point I don't ever see them going back to a traditional gym circuit. Ash won a league, and I'm pretty sure from the writer's perspective all the league's are on the same level; he beats one, he might as well have beaten them all. Now they're being super vague about what Ash's goal is, but hopefully we'll get clarification in episode 9. Worst case scenario, Ash's goal remains vague for the whole series while the story just focuses on Gou's Mew quest.

I'm pretty sure the pacing of the show will slow down quite a lot after every region has been showcased. I think we'll get small batches of episodes in a given region at a time, similar to the Ula Ula/Poni Island arcs in SM. If they keep this rapid-fire region hopping throughout the series that would get really disorienting and I don't think they would be doing the individual regions any service.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I'm fine with the anime advertising Pokemon as a whole, not just the latest generation