Pokemon Journeys Reveals Leon and Sonia as Children

Pokemon Journeys: The Series is now making its way through a new arc based on the Pokemon Sword and Shield games, and the newest episode gave us a glimpse at the fan favorite characters, Leon and Sonia, as children. The anime has begun adapting the Darkest Day story from the Sword and Shield games as Ash and Goh have gone back to the Galar region in order to discover why Pokemon are suddenly Dynamaxing across the region without warning. The two of them have split up for this phase of the journey, however, but are working with both Leon and Sonia in different ways.

As Ash Ketchum and Leon fly across Galar in order to stop as many raging Dynamax Pokemon as they can, Goh is working along with Sonia to research more about the mysteries of the Darkest Day legend. As Goh and Sonia get closer to one another through this time together, Sonia revealed that she and Leon actually are childhood friends.

Although this beat was revealed in the original games, this was the first time their childhood friendship had been mentioned in Pokemon Journeys. As Sonia explains, she and Leon grew up with one another and both dreamed of being Pokemon trainers in the future. Sonia even taught Leon how to battle when they were younger.

But she reveals that a distance formed between the two of them once Leon became a trainer officially and revealed how much talent he had for it. As he began to thrive, he was pulled away from her and a distance formed between the two slowly. So to continue to be by his side, Sonia chose a different path than becoming a trainer.

Knowing she would probably never be able to defeat Leon in battle, she decided to work with Pokemon a different way and started out on her journey to becoming a Pokemon Professor. After making their debuts in previous episodes, Pokemon Journeys: The Series is finally showing more in depth looks at these Galar fan favorites!

What did you think of this look at Leon and Sonia's childhood together in the newest Pokemon Journeys: The Series' newest episode? What do you think of the anime's take on the Darkest Day arc from Pokemon Sword and Shield? What are you hoping to see before the arc comes to an end? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!