Brock and Misty to Return to ‘Pokemon’ Anime

Ash’s original traveling companions are returning to the Pokemon anime series.

The Pokemon Company confirmed that Brock and Misty would be returning in Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon for a special episode that will air on December 23rd in Japan. The pair will return in the fittingly titled “An Alola! in Alola! Brock and Misty!” episode.

Most longtime Pokemon fans know Brock and Misty as Ash’s first traveling companions. Although the pair are both gym leaders in the Kanto region, that didn’t stop the pair from following Ash for years through multiple regions. Eventually, Misty returned to run the Cerulean City gym and Brock left to pursue a career as a Pokemon Doctor.

Few details were provided about Brock and Misty’s next appearance in the anime, although it involves the pair visiting the Alola region. The pair will also don new outfits, with Brock sporting a Hawaiian (or Alolan) shirt and Misty wearing a cute matching outfit with sandals. You can check out their new duds below:

This marks the second time that Brock and Misty have appeared in the current Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon anime. The duo also appeared when Ash and his classmates visited the Kanto region in 2017, a visit that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon anime. During that visit, Ash even got to test the strength of his Pikachu’s Z-Move against Misty’s Mega Evolved Gyarados.

The pair’s reappearance is likely a tie-in to the recently released Pokemon: Let’s Go Nintendo Switch games, which are set in the Kanto region. While it seems that the anime developers don’t want to send Ash back to the Kanto region for a third time, they have acknowledged the games with a recently introduced Eevee as a main character and several Pikachu sporting haircuts similar to those seen in the Pokemon: Let’s Go games.

A dubbed version of the Brock and Misty episode will likely be available sometime in 2019.