Ash has been a busy body lately. In the past year, he won the Pokémon World Coronation Series and will also be retiring as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime. For those who grew up with him, it’s a bittersweet transition — but we’ll hopefully get some closure in a reunion with his old pals: Misty and Brock.
Rather than a movie or special, Ash’s adventure will end with a season-ending run of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series episodes. A trailer shows the return of his long-time friend Misty as she fishes, as well as the adorable legendary dragon Pokémon, Latias. We don’t see Brock in the trailer, but an earlier release confirmed he will also return for the concluding episodes.
The Pokémon anime series regularly mixes up its staple characters since the original anime depicted Ash’s first journey in the Kanto region. It started with Tracey Sketchit, who replaced Brock for a brief stint of episodes taking place in the Orange Islands. Brock reunited with Ash and Misty to travel around the Johto region, but after that concluded, Misty was replaced by the sibling duo May and Max. Brock then left when Ash entered the Unova Region, but the original three went on to get occasional cameos and nods to their early journeys together.
The episodes will air in Japan in January, but there is no confirmed English-release date. Generally speaking, Pokémon episodes come in bulk to Netflix, so there tends to be a delay in getting new episodes in the U.S.
We don’t have too many details on the next adventure once Ash completes his. The classic duo of Ash and Pikachu will be replaced by two new heroes: Liko and Roy. We don’t know a whole lot about the two, but their designs were shown alongside the starter Pokémon from the Paldea region.