Pokemon Anime Reveals First Tie-In with Pokemon: Let's Go

The Pokemon anime has revealed one of the first ways it will tie into the upcoming Pokemon games.

Fans have been wondering for months how the long-running Pokemon anime will tie into Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee. Although Ash made a brief return to Kanto to see his friends Brock and Misty in Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon, it doesn't appear that he'll make an extended return to the region...even though Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee are set in Ash's home region.

However, a recent preview for an upcoming Pokemon episode revealed one of the first tie-ins to the new game. The preview showed Ash traveling to the Pikachu Valley in the Alola region and encountering a female Pikachu with bangs. You can see the female Pikachu below:

Serebii Picture: First image of a slight Let's Go tie-in to the anime of a female Pikachu in the Pikachu Valley in the episode "It's an Outbreak-chu! The Pikachu Valley!!", airing October 7th //t.co/Wo8N0aHtsd pic.twitter.com/DYShg3jLRE

— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) September 9, 2018

While most of the Internet is going nuts over the prospect of Pikachu picking up a girlfriend, this banged Pikachu also represents a subtle tie into the new games.

In Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu, players can customize their Pikachu with a variety of outfits and style choices...including the bangs seen on the female Pikachu. The options allow players to make their Pikachu truly their own (and also give their Pokemon an outfit that matches their character.)

While the Pikachu Valley first appeared in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the new Pikachu is definitely a not so subtle nod to the upcoming Pokemon games.

As for where the Pokemon games head next, it appears that they'll spend the next several months wrapping up Ash's journey through the Alola region and facing off against other elite trainers in that area's newly formed Pokemon League. Ash will likely then travel from the Alola region to the region that will appear in the new 2019 Pokemon game. Whether Ash will make an extended pit stop in the Kanto region remains to be seen, but the 2019 Pokemon movie will feature Mewtwo...so we'll have at least one more anime tie into Pokemon: Let's Go.