Pokemon Anime to Introduce Pokemon Sun and Moon’s Best Character

Pokemon Sun and Moon fans will finally get to see an animated version of one of the breakout stars from the Alola Region.

Earlier today, the Pokemon Company released a brief teaser for the next episode of Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon, which will pit Ash against the mysterious Masked Royal. The Masked Royal specializes in battling in Battle Royals, a type of Pokemon battle in which four trainers battle against each other all at once.

The trailer shows Ash and his Litten challenging the Masked Royal and his powerful Incineroar. There’s a lot of speculation that the Battle Royal will also be the episode where Litten finally evolves into a Torracat.

You can check out the trailer below:

Modeled after a masked luchador, the Masked Royal taught players about the Battle Royal mode in Pokemon Sun and Moon and would occasionally appear as a challenger in the Battle Royal Dome once players had reached a Master Rank.

While the games make it clear that Professor Kukui is actually the Masked Royal, many Pokemon fans like to keep kayfabe alive and pretend that the Masked Royal’s identity is a closely guarded secret. This is despite the Masked Royal sharing an identical beard style and buff physique to Kukui, along with an almost identical team of Pokemon. There’s even a sidequest in Pokemon Sun and Moon where players are tasked with getting the Masked Royal’s mask back to Professor Kukui, in which the mask is labeled as “the Professor’s Mask.”

Since Ash lives with Professor Kukui in Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon, we’ll have to see whether he’s aware of his surrogate father figure’s double identity or if he’s entirely clueless. We’ll also see whether Kukui’s wife Burnet is in on Kukui’s secret, as she somehow didn’t know about Kukui’s double life in the games.

New episodes of Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon air on Thursday evenings in Japan. Dubbed versions of the show air on Disney XD several months later.