Pokemon Cliffhanger Teases More Returning Gym Leaders

Pokemon is teasing more returning Gym Leaders to the anime with the newest cliffhanger from Pokemon Journeys: The Series! As fans have already seen with the newest iteration of the franchise, Ash Ketchum and new hero Goh have been exploring every region of the franchise and this has opened the doors to all sorts of fun returning characters and battles. The newest episode of the series took this one step further with the official return of Ash’s old travel companion Iris for a new battle, and now it’s clear that she won’t be the last returning Leader we’ll see.

Not only has it been confirmed that Ash’s biggest rival Gary Oak will be coming in an upcoming new arc for the series, the cliffhanger for Episode 65 of the series (recently aired in Japan) teased some big returns coming to Pokemon Journeys. The silhouette reveals not only a Bea rematch coming our way, but potentially Volkner, Kabu, and more. Check it out below:

With Ash enrolled in the World Coronation Series this time around rather than taking on a traditional gym challenge as seen in previous iterations of the anime, it’s allowed Ash to take on all sorts of challenging opponents. This was the reason he reunited with Iris in the newest episode too as the two of them were both on the cusp of making their way into the Ultra Class of the competition.

Defeating Iris by episode’s end, Ash officially made his way into the Ultra Class and now needs to make it to the top eight and Master Class final tournament in order to eventually have a rematch with Leon. As the cliffhanger silhouette teases, there are some powerful opponents throughout the regions (both familiar and not) that include Sunyshore Gym Leader Volkner, what seems to be Motostoke Gym’s Leader Kabu, and a couple more that are too difficult to make out clearly.

Either way, it’s clear there are some big returns coming Ash’s way as he continues to climb up the World Coronation Series ranks. But who do you think is being teased with Pokemon Journeys‘ newest cliffhanger? Which Gym Leaders would you want to see return to the anime? 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!