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Gary and Iris return

I'm extremely excited about this! Gary is my favourite rival and I'm happy he's returning after so long. From the brief bit he has the opening, he doesn't appear to be wearing his lab coat and he also looks like he's ready to battle. I'm really curious as to see whether he decided to participate in the PWC. I will admit that would be kind of odd, given that he seemed so sure about his new career as Pokémon researcher, but perhaps he started to miss battling. If he ends up battling Ash, I really hope it will be a 6v6 2-part episode, but I'll really take anything when it comes to Ash and Gary.

I also like that Iris is returning. I've always been kind of neutral on her, but I'm curious to see what she's been up to. Iris's Gible could make its main series debut. I'm also expecting to see Ash's Dragonite and Iris's Dragonite's personality differences on full display.

Let's also not forget that Korrina is in the opening. Her inclusion could be just a reminder of her earlier appearance in the series, but I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up again.
 
Major hype, I’m really glad to see Iris because it makes eventual May, Dawn, Serena appearances far more likely.

Gary is cool because he isn’t a game character - well, he sort of isn’t but sort of is...

I’m just excited about the precedents.
 
Just realized.... what if Gary is the new Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym (He does appear to wear his HGSS outfit...)? I could see Ash getting notified of this, traveling to the Viridian Gym and having a (PWC) Battle with him.

Again, it would be a weird move to suddenly change Gary from a researcher to a Gym Leader, but perhaps they can find a way to make it work. In a way, wouldn't it be poetic? Gary becoming the leader of the Gym that utterly wrecked him in the past...
 
L-05308 said:
Major hype, I’m really glad to see Iris because it makes eventual May, Dawn, Serena appearances far more likely.

Gary is cool because he isn’t a game character - well, he sort of isn’t but sort of is...

I’m just excited about the precedents.
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I wasn't sure regarding May (though I think in general, everyone else was "possible" if not probably) but seeing Oak here, if he does appear again, does give me some hope for May.
 
Craiden said:
I wasn't sure regarding May (though I think in general, everyone else was "possible" if not probably) but seeing Oak here, if he does appear again, does give me some hope for May.
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I think's May's chances will be dependent on whether or not her voice actress is healthy enough to perform as her in the Japanese version since her Japanese voice actress stopped performing because of an illness she had. I have also heard conflicting reports on whether or not she has returned to voice acting relatively recently. If she's healthy, May has a definite chance of returning. If not, though, then I don't see may returning in the near future, if at all, especially when there are so many other companions that can make a comeback.
 
I don’t think Gary seemingly being there for a battle is jarring. He’s a researcher, but that only means his battling career isn’t professional anymore. He can still enjoy a good fight with an old friend.

Considering Iris isn’t a main character any longer and plushies aren’t coming out of her, I wonder if Axew could have evolved? I don’t recall seeing it in her hair in the OP.
 
Even Bea is showing up again. I'm glad she's not just disappearing until Ash reaches hyper class.

Between her, Korrina, Iris and Gary, Ash's PWC run is looking a lot more interesting now.
 
Well I'll take 'Journeys curveball'. Who would have guessed that Iris would appear before Misty or Brock? She beat Gen Wunning.
 
Neo Blaze said:
Just realized.... what if Gary is the new Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym (He does appear to wear his HGSS outfit...)? I could see Ash getting notified of this, traveling to the Viridian Gym and having a (PWC) Battle with him.
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Heck, they could have even made him the the Kanto Champion (show that he is still neck and neck with Ash). Sadly, Lance was already referred to as the Kanto Champion, rather than the Jhoto Champion. In any case, these two definitely have some unfinished business, and as AG/DP have shown, Gary's Pokemon research has made him a much more competent trainer and battler.
 
Gary battling despite being a researcher definitely isn't weird when you consider that Ash is technically doing the same thing this series. Granted, Ash's status as a "research fellow" is rather... dubious, considering most of the stuff that the boys have done so far, but my point still stands.

Anyway, if it already wasn't clear before, it seems like returning characters will be a consistent thing throughout this series. Not only are we getting one of the two female companions who haven't made a reappearance yet, but we're also getting Ash's arguably most important rival ever (who was last seen in the Sinnoh series). Gary reappearing here is interesting considering the whole researcher/PWT thing that Ash currently has going for him right now, while Iris popping up is also interesting since Ash currently has two Dragon-types in his party: a Dragonite whose personality is a jarring contrast with Iris's Dragonite, and a weird but adorable abomination that Iris probably has never seen before.

So yeah, definitely looking forward to seeing these two pop up in future episodes. If we're lucky, maybe we'll even see them both together for whatever reason.
 
Beatsy Ray said:
Heck, they could have even made him the the Kanto Champion (show that he is still neck and neck with Ash). Sadly, Lance was already referred to as the Kanto Champion, rather than the Jhoto Champion.
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Ash isn't Champion-level yet, though. Lance was actually referred to as an Elite Four member in his latest appearance. Originally, they just called him the Champion because there was only one at that point. Technically, Gary could be the current Champion, but his HGSS clothes imply otherwise. I suspect that OLM want Ash to become the Indigo Champion, but who knows.
 
Silktree said:
Ash isn't Champion-level yet, though. Lance was actually referred to as an Elite Four member in his latest appearance. Originally, they just called him the Champion because there was only one at that point. Technically, Gary could be the current Champion, but his HGSS clothes imply otherwise. I suspect that OLM want Ash to become the Indigo Champion, but who knows.
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Even if Ash is the weakest Champion, he's still a Champion. The Alola League was an offical league. I thought Lance was referred to as a Champion in episode 11, but I might be misremembering.
 
Was Ash referred to as the Alola Champion when he returned to Alola? I'm honestly wondering if OLM even care.

Lance being demoted caused some controversy around these parts. The episode did establish that he'd won the PWC in Unova, though. It would be interesting if it turned out that Iris battled him there.
 
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