Pokémon has released the first episode of its new four-part animated series Pokemon: Path to the Peak.
As discussed during the latest Pokémon Gifts event, the series highlights the competitive realm of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It revolves around a new player named Ava as she discovers her inherent talent for the game. The first episode premiered at the 2023 Pokémon World Championships and is available now on the official Pokémon YouTube Channel. As detailed on Anime News Network, the English dub is being produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment, has also worked on the popular 2021 Pokémon Evolutions series.
The story of Path to the Peak begins when Ava moves to a new town with her parents. While unpacking, she discovers her mother’s old Pokémon deck. After a series of catastrophic events at the school’s club day, Ava attracts the attention of Joshua, an experienced PTCG player, who invites her to join the school’s Pokémon club. While Ava lost her first battle, she developed a new perspective and approach after choosing Grass-type Oddish as her Partner Pokémon, who came to life in her imagination. After Ava beat each member of the club, Celestine, the school’s star player, taunted her about how she could never win in a “real competition”. Here’s how Ava found out about the Pokémon TCG Regional Championship.
Pokémon Gifts launches new projects
The Pokémon World Championship holds competitions not only for the PTCG but also for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon Unite. This year, the event was held at the Pacifico Yokohama convention complex in Yokohama, Japan from August 11-13. To help promote the World Championship, Pokémon released a promotional video brilliant animation from CoMIX Wave Films, the studio that produced the iconic animated film, Your Name, by acclaimed director Makoto Shinkai.
Path to the Peak isn’t the only miniseries that Pokémon fans are looking forward to. WIT Studios (Attack on Titan) is producing an additional series called Paldea Winds, which revolves around a trio of trainers who embark on an adventure with their partners, Fuecoco, Meowscarada, and Quaxly. While the announcement trailer contains no verbal dialogue, coaches Ohara, Alquis and Hohma’s respective views are expressed in phrases; “Something I Won’t Let Go,” “Something Never Changed,” and “Something I Never Expected” Episode 1 is scheduled to premiere on YouTube on September 6.
Pokemon: Path to the Peak will release new episodes throughout August. Episode 2 is slated to release on August 16.
Source: YouTube, Anime News Network
