Oak was a main character who appeared in almost every episode. May has not been important for a decade and a half.
They still keep him around. Oh, and his VA also voices the narrator, meaning that he had to be replaced.
In Japan, they usually prefer to retire the character outright rather than replace the VA. VA replacements are usually only done if it is absolutely necessary.
zapodaj.net
Yes but not only that, the human cast had already been replaced once before only a couple years earlier for Tri/Kizuna series. Considering that the original cast had returned for the game adaptation of Adventure back in 2011 that means that the main cast has had three sets of actors in no less than a decade.
Or it could be because Chuck's original voice was basically a famous person doing a guest voice, and he only appeared in one episode.
Main characters are Ash, his friends, and the Team Rocket trio.
Eh, not the best example since Brotherhood was made by the same studio on the same TV network only five years later. I imagine it wasn't hard for Bones to simply call up the previous actors to reprise their roles.
Seeing as how we're back in Kanto primarily anyway, I think Cassidy and Botch would be welcome additions as returning characters; I loved the TRio's on-screen rivalry with them.
"The name's Butch, dag nab it!"
