Ash to Become a Masked Wrestler in Next Pokemon Episode

Ash Ketchum’s dream of becoming a Pokemon master is taking a short detour as he looks to pursue a career inside the squared circle in next week’s episode of Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon.

A preview for next week’s episode has revealed that Ash will team up with the Masked Royal, a famous Pokemon trainer who participated in Battle Royal battles. These four Pokemon free-for-all battles take place inside a Pokemon ring and last until one trainer loses all of their Pokemon. A synopsis for the episode reveals that, while watching the Masked Royal compete in a Battle Royal, Ash joins the fray when he sees the Masked Royal’s opponent engage in some dirty tactics.

Unfortunately for fans of Pikachu Libre, it looks like Ash will be bringing his Torracat into the tag team battle instead of his trusty Pikachu. Torracat and the Masked Royal have a history together, as Torracat evolved into its current form in a one on one battle against the Masked Royal’s Incineroar.

Oddly enough, the preview also shows Professor Kukui sneaking away shortly before the Battle Royal is set to begin. Kukui is a known fan of Masked Royal (we’ve seen the Masked Royal’s mask in Kukui’slaboratory, and Kukui shaves his goatee and chest so he looks just like the Masked Royal…only without a mask) so we’re not really sure why Kukui would just disappear right before the Masked Royal enters the ring. Also, you’d have to wonder how Kukui would react to Ash cozying up to another surrogate father figure after all the time that Ash and Kukui have spent together.

Needless to say, fans are pretty thrilled about Ash teaming up with the mysterious Masked Royal, one of the more popular characters in the anime:

New episodes of Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon air every Thursday in Japan. Dubbed versions of the episodes air a few months later on Disney XD.