Pokémon Horizons General Discussion/Speculation Thread

[Ryoma Maser]

I haven't watched the anime since the midway through X&Y (I never even started XY & Z), so it's a bit weird for me to be here. Oh god when was my last post in this section?

I fell out of the anime after a while and really didn't bother returning, feeling the anime became stagnant and not really being into Ash or any of his companions (I never liked Serena sadly, I did at first before I started noticing some problems that really stuck with me and while I like the ensemble cast of Alola, I really didn't like what they did with them Looking at a dub clip of the Alola series: "Oh god, all these dub voices are so bad") recently. The Journeys series exemplified these problems for me despite not watching it since Goh was introduced and many characters took a back seat while Ash's journey sped by without really any view into it (that fact that it seemed to go really fast) and some characters weren't even used to their full potential (Looking at you Koharu/Chloe, just turned into another Eevee holder and Contest character, you had so much potential!)

Considering the way Journeys was going, I thought that Goh was going to become the new full-time protagonist with more focus on him and less focus on Ash as he goes to become World Champion despite all this negative feedback on him (I do not know the Japanese reaction however). So this coming out has pleasantly surprised me. I felt that Ash & Pikachu have really run their course and Team Rocket having fallen back on character development and relearned stuff so many times or just stagnated as characters so starting with a new protagonists is a good start, though I do appreciate they are properly sending them off with the 11 Episode Epilogue, though it still pains me to see Misty still wearing her original series garb when she's had an anime exclusive redesign and two more redesigns before her reappearance in Alola.

With this new series I am also very glad that we are moving away from constantly using Pikachu and Eevee, since while I understand that Pikachu and Eevve are mascots they've been overused to the point that I'm sick of seeing them everywhere so I'm happy that the Paldea starters are used as promotion for this new series instead of Pikachu and Eevee is wonderful. I'm also glad to see that the main character of the series is female, since I feel that the female characters have been often repeats of the same gimmick, shoved to the side or just not really used well (I sat through all of Best Wishes, so all the Iris pain even if I did like her becoming Champion in Journeys). Even in general, we don't see long running anime with female protagonists outside of some magical girl shows, especially in this genre which is mainly focus on young boys (Yokai Watch did this as well to great effect by focusing on both) Though I do not like all the theories that she is related to Ash, please I would like a fresh start even if Ash does show up as a supporting character just not his daughter or something especially with Serena like some theories are going, that was the thing I dislike the most about her was her crush.

I found these on reddit. Apparently they're from the website

Riko:

A Pokémon adoring girl hailing from the Kanto region. Transferring to the Paldea Region’s special academy to hone her skills in all manners of Pokemon care and knowledge. She has a special bond with Pokémon that few can understand. She has a frightening knack for battle and an easygoing attitude. She doesn’t talk much about her family with those around her and refuses to give her family name to any except the Professors of the campus. What secrets and mysteries could our protagonist be keeping and for what reason?

Roi:

A native of the Paldea region, with a dream to become the worlds greatest Pokémon chef in order to take over his families business and to make the dream of his Father come true. He’s known around the Academia for his kind and caring nature along with his dislike of the outdoors. Unlike Riko he’s more than happy to carry his families legacy and wishes to discover the legend of the ‘Herba Mystica’ of the Paldea Region.

Please don't have her be from Kanto. I am sick of all the Kanto stuff from all over the franchise, if this is true this is just a repeat of Ash in the Alola series and some of his various Pokémon-bonding traits which please I like something new not something we've seen many times before which is something the anime loves to do. I wouldn't mind her being from outside Paldea, but just not Kanto but I would kind of prefer she be from the region.

Otherwise, I'm excited to see this new take and I might actually tune in when the new series starts.

 

[Broseph08]

Deleted my post since it might be BS. It had a lot of upvotes so I assumed someone had doublechecked it. That's on me, my bad

 

[Konja7]

The funny thing about that is, in the Japanese version, Ash doesn't even have a family name to keep secret.

Curiously, the first time I read these "profiles", I didn't associate the description of "Riko hiding her last name" with Ash/Satoshi since Satoshi doesn't have last name in Japanese.

It's clear these profiles were created by an english speaker. So, these are extremely likely to be fake.

 

[PTOldMan]

I am sad.
I'll miss Ash and Pikachu. And I'll miss even more Team Rocket.
I just hope that this new anime series is set in the same continuity, so we could always hope to get some cameos.
This is really some big news. I've been following and cheering Jessie, James and Meowth forever, so this will be really hard to swallow.

 

[Unireon]

'Next time Satoshi makes an appearance.....
.....I will smile like if I am going to meet a good friend......
....Sadness may pay me a visit when he goes his way.....
.....But I'll attempt to be on better terms with it'

Edit: The only thing I don't like about the new Protagonists is the fandom trying to make them related to previous characters.

 

[ehh123]

Riko and Roi have some big shoes to fill, that is for sure. However, I think the best approach in reviewing this anime is to judge it on its own merits rather than compare it to the 25-year juggernaut that proceeded it.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Ash being retired is perhaps for the best. I for one hate how undeservedly overpowered he became in his final outing. Between the Riolu that became the second coming of Ash-Greninia exactly as I feared, the stupidly written way he beat Volkner, and his illogical triumphs against established Elite Four and Champion trainers, this guy has somehow managed to make Goh more personally preferable as a character to me over the course of Journeys.

So long and good riddance and hopefully these new protagonists don't instantly become shameless Naruto expies like their predecessor ended as.

 

[flowerfun]

Should we make a page for this series?

 

[kantoskies]

Man, I was really wrong when I said there was no way they'd continue the main anime without Satoshi lololol

I do have so many questions and thoughts here. This does make it seem like Satoshi's departure has been planned for awhile now, since Pocket Monsters '19 really was the perfect "last series" for him (on paper at least). I wonder if his Alola league win was done because they knew the next series would be his last. But I'm not sure what made them decide now would be the best time to end his story after all this time. Was constantly resetting his character becoming too much? Did they think 25 years was a nice number to end on? If they really did know this past series would be Satoshi's last, why wasn't it hyped up more? This does really make a lot of the missed opportunities of PM19 sting more, and I'm sad that it will be one of the last memories we have of this character.

As for this series itself, I like that they're going for the co-star angle again, I think that's the best way to move forward. I think it's inevitable that so many people are convincing themselves the new girl is Satoshi's daughter, because of course they think that, but regardless I think it's cool her hair clip looks like the symbol from his original hat. I also think it's neat that it's starting in April like the first series. I wonder if it will be in the same continuity as each previous series, and if so will they mention any old characters? Like I've said before, removing Satoshi from the show makes any nostalgia much more difficult to pull off, so I wonder if the writers will truly use this as a clean break from the past and have it be its own thing.

I'm not sure how much of this series I will watch but I'll at least give the first few episodes a try!

 

[Daren]

This does really make a lot of the missed opportunities of PM19 sting more, and I'm sad that it will be one of the last memories we have of this character.

Unfortunately, it's actually pretty common for final seasons of shows that weren't designed to end at a specific point to be disappointing for various reasons.
Pokémon atleast wanted to make JN memorable in various ways, so it's got that going for it over some other shows.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

They haven't been characters since the OG series.

How to tell someone hasn’t watched SM without saying they haven’t watched SM.

 

[nickdt]

Well...

One thing about Ash retiring/not being the main lead anymore can also have to do with Rica obviously not getting any younger... so its possible they are looking out for her to not voice Ash anymore on a regular basis... and the 2 new leads can have two younger talents taking the helm.

 

[MrMeowPuss]

I haven't watched the anime since the midway through X&Y (I never even started XY & Z), so it's a bit weird for me to be here. Oh god when was my last post in this section?

I fell out of the anime after a while and really didn't bother returning, feeling the anime became stagnant and not really being into Ash or any of his companions (I never liked Serena sadly, I did at first before I started noticing some problems that really stuck with me

I actually stopped watching around then too but I've been trying to get back into it.

Opposite to you, I actually really liked Serena, Clemont and Bonnie and just got sick of them changing companions every single region. I have always wanted the anime to act more like its own entity and not just there to copy/promote the games.

Who knows maybe they'll do that from here on out but I guess time will tell.

 

[Fairy Type Arceus]

How to tell someone hasn’t watched SM without saying they haven’t watched SM.

I mean...you're right. I watched the ending few episodes, same with xy&z. I tried the beginning of xy and couldn't really get into it. How did SM write them? If it was good, I'm surprised how poorly they were written this season, which I did mostly keep up with.

 

[Astro Pantherion]

All hail Sprigatito to become the new Pikachu! All hail Weed Cat!

 

[RileyXY1]

I’m starting to not think that Fuecoco and Quaxly are even gonna end up on the main cast.

 

[Konja7]

I’m starting to not think that Fuecoco and Quaxly are even gonna end up on the main cast.

I think Fuecoco will definitely be part of the main cast. The design of Roy fits Fuecoco too well.

 

[Antiyonder]

Yep. The nature of the beast sadly.

Execs are so success driven that they don't consider/care that success will come from unlikely material and as with a production team not counting on their works to go on long, they don't have a back door of sorts to allow for extending a story while not diminishing the quality.

I mean like Detective Conan/Case Closed. It would still be an annoyance to some, but on has to wonder if it would have been better as an episodic series only. Mainly the lead just being a prodigy instead of a high school teen who had his age reduced by a criminal organization drug.

Given how his other projects didn't last as long and he planned for Conan to end in six months, I wonder if the serialized elements was cause he thought that regular murder mysteries solved by a kid would be too uninteresting even for half a year.

That said it's probably the reason that I didn't feel as annoyed by Pokémon handling it. Aside from the floating timeline, Ash's goal is/was vague enough that you could have a particular plot (Regional league) done and still continue.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think Fuecoco will definitely be part of the main cast. The design of Roy fits Fuecoco too well.

I think that Pikachu will be his partner instead. I’m not expecting either new protagonist to have an Eevee because I think that Chloe is returning.