Pokemon Star Comments on Volkner's Return

The star behind Volkner has commented on the Sinnoh Gym Leader's return to the anime with an [...]

By Nick Valdez

The star behind Volkner has commented on the Sinnoh Gym Leader's return to the anime with an upcoming episode of Pokemon Journeys: The Series! Ash and Goh have been making their way through every past region of the franchise thus far as Ash has been challenging powerful opponents along the way in order to rise up the ranks of the World Coronation Series. This has pit him against some tough Gym Leader matches from his past, and it seems that the next major battle is coming Ash's way with another big return in an upcoming episode of the anime series.

Pokemon Journeys revealed that Volkner will be officially returning to the anime after 11 years away (as first teased in a previous cliffhanger) with Episode 77 of the series airing on August 20th in Japan. This means that Ash will be taking on yet another major Gym Leader from his past as he continues to rise of up the ranks of the World Coronation Series. Volkner's voice actor, Hirofumi Nojima, was excited for the return as well:

Nojima released a statement about his return (as spotted by @DogasusBackpack on Twitter) and began with, "Volkner coming back again after so long takes me back just as much as it does for you all, and so when I heard about his return I was overcome with the nostalgia that comes with the happiness of getting able to play him again."

Teasing Ash and Volkner's rematch, Nojima continued with, "[Ash and Volkner] weren't able to finish their match the first time they faced each other in the [Pokemon Diamond & Pearl] animated series and so they had to end up having two matches altogether. This time around they both get to fight each other as challengers in the [World Coronation Series], and as an actor I'm really excited to see what kind of battle the two of them will have and so I took that excitement with me into the recording booth."

Finally, Nojima teased a very different kind of Sinnoh leader with this upcoming return, "[Volkner] is normally a pretty calm and collected guy but when he steps onto the battlefield he isn't going to let his enthusiasm or spirit be overshadowed by [Ash's]. I think we end up delivering a very [Volkner-like] battle so please look forward to it!"

What do you think of Volkner returning to the Pokemon anime? Which previous Gym Leader would you want to see coming back to the anime next? 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!

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