'Pokemon' Anime Teases Next Arc In First Trailer

A new Pokemon anime preview teases the return of some fan-favorite Pokemon characters.

The Pokemon anime released a new trailer for an upcoming two episode arc featuring the return of Brock and Misty. The two characters will visit Ash in the Alola region and explore the tropical island chain with Ash and his classmates.

While details are scarce about the new episodes, we know that the gang will visit Akala Island. Not only do we see a teased romance between Brock and Akala Island's Kahuna Olivia, we also see Brock and Misty playing with the Mudbray on Kiawe's farm. It also looks like Misty and her Gyarados will end up tangling with Team Rocket, as the trailer showed the Gyarados wrapped around a giant robot.

Brock and Misty were Ash's first human traveling companions and accompanied Ash on most of his early journeys. Misty left Ash to take care of the Cerulean City gym after they returned from the Johto region, while Brock departed to become a Pokemon doctor when Ash left for the Unova region.

The two episode arc serves as an unofficial sequel to a 2017 arc in which Ash and his classmates visited Brock and Misty in Ash's home Kanto region. Not only did the arc serve as a reunion between Ash, Misty, Brock, and their respective Pokemon, it also showed the differences between Alolan and Kanto regional variants. Prior to the 2017 arc, we hadn't seen Misty in the Pokemon anime in a decade, and Brock hadn't appeared in five years.

The pair's appearance is likely an unofficial tie-in with Pokemon: Let's Go, the new Pokemon games for the Nintendo Switch. The games are set in the Kanto region, which means both Misty and Brock appear as gym leaders.

The new Pokemon arc starts on December 23rd in Japan.