The Pokémon The panel at San Diego Comic Con just revealed the first trailer for the English release of the newly rebooted series, Pokémon Horizons. Those in the panel were also able to watch the first ten minutes of the first episode.
After it was revealed that Ash Ketchum would be withdrawing from the anime following his World Coronation Series victory, news for the next series, featuring two new heroes, began to roll in. The last English news on the series was on March 24, 2023, when the English title “Pokémon Horizons” was revealed, along with a localized version of the characters’ names, Riko and Roy. The series got off to a stellar start in Japan, earning rave reviews for its bold take on the traditional Pokémon anime 25 years after Ash starred.
Pokémon Horizons English dub trailer introduces two new heroes
The trailer introduces Riko, a young girl sent to school in the Kanto region from the Paldea region who is rather shy and reserved, and the outgoing Roy, who lives on a small island with her grandfather and dreams of the larger world. The trailer also introduces the new professor, Friede, who operates a spaceship and is sent to protect Riko from the Mysterious Adventurers, a new group of useless people here to harass Pokémon’s new heroes. Friede and his team added a whole new dynamic to the series by giving its children characters adults they could rely on, something Ash Ketchum and friends rarely get.
So far, 13 episodes of the series have been broadcast in Japan, and the fan response has been very positive. The rebooted series is using a more arc-based approach, as opposed to the indie-style episodes that were a mainstay of Ash’s era in the anime. Both Riko and Roy have been shown to possess mysterious artifacts (the crystal pendant and the ancient Poké Orb, respectively) that help advance the plot of the series, as the villains attempt to obtain these items and the heroes attempt to determine exactly what they are and what powers they use. While the original Pokémon anime certainly used story arcs from time to time, they still outperformed the stand-alone episodes that many would consider “extras.”
The trailer ends with “coming soon” and not a date, so unfortunately, there’s still no clear timetable for exactly when English-speaking fans will be able to enjoy Pokémon Horizons. With the final episodes of Ash being released on September 8, it looks like the series will live up to its original promise of a 2023 dub release. Fans should stay tuned for more news about it. Pokémon Horizon when it was released.