Pokemon Journeys Brings Hop to the Anime at Last
Pokemon Journeys has kicked off its final climax as Ash Ketchum makes his way through the Masters Tournament with the series' airing in Japan, and the anime has finally introduced Leon's brother Hop to the anime with the newest episode! The newest iteration of the series eschewed the traditional route of having Ash explore whatever the newest region of the video games was and opted to have him going through the entire Pokemon world with a huge new tournament. But that also means that many of the new characters introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield's Galar region haven't gotten their proper anime due yet.
The newest episode of the series recently airing in Japan officially kicked off the Masters Tournament between Ash and the other final seven competitors of the World Coronation Series. It means everyone has gathered in one place to see it all go down, and that includes Leon's brother Hop. As one would expect from one of the newest rivals from the games, Hop immediately challenges Ash to a battle upon their first meeting and that also ends in pretty much the same way you'd expect too:
With this episode, we might have recorded the shortest Pokémon battle in the history of the anime: Ash vs Hop, at only 11 seconds long 😶#アニポケ #anipoke pic.twitter.com/SWs6InZO7Q
— Somanshu Aikat (@SomanshuAikat) June 17, 2022
Episode 115 of Pokemon Journeys has recently aired in Japan, and with it has started the Masters Tournament. Fully introducing the final eight competitors of the tournament, Ash and Goh stumble upon Hop right outside of the stadium. When the two of them come face to face, Hop challenges Ash to a battle despite knowing that Ash was one of the actual eight trainers. But this battle ends immediately when Pikachu takes out Hop's Wooloo with a single attack in just a matter of seconds.
Hope's laidback nature comes from the games as well as while he loses to Ash, he still keeps a huge smile on his face and he and Goh watch the start of the tournament together and eventually see Leon take on the first match of the final tournament. Hop likely won't be playing a critical role in the rest of the series as it continues, but at least now he'll be one of the many faces enjoying it all from the sidelines with Ash and Goh.
How do you feel about Hop finally coming to the anime? Are you excited to see this big rival making it to the series in full? What are you hoping to see from Hop before it comes to an end? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!
