There’s a lot that’s been happening in the world lately, so much in fact that you may have missed out on a major cultural event in the land of television. On September 8th, 2023 American viewers were treated to the finale of Ash Ketchum’s journey to be a Pokémon Master. It was exactly 25 years to the day from when the “Pokémon” anime series premiered in the US and it closed out an era that so many of us grew up with. But the adventures in the world of “Pokémon” didn’t end there, because a new series, “Pokemon Horizons” was set to debut with new protagonists and a fresh start! The first batch of episodes debuted on Netflix in March of this year and the rest are coming soon!
If you fell away from the “Pokémon” series for a while, you’re easily forgiven. It’s kind of a chore to stay up to date with a series that has run for two and a half decades. Some of us who watched the show growing up in the late ’90s now have kids of our own of various ages. So if you wanted an excuse or an entryway to get back into the series, this is your chance.
“Pokémon Horizons” features two main characters, Liko and Roy, as they travel through various regions of the Pokémon world, including the most recent area, Paldea. This is the region featured in the “Pokémon Scarlett & Violet” titles from 2022. Switching up the main character is a pretty huge departure for a franchise that has been so reliant on being formulaic. Then again, that has been one of the major sticking points over the last several years amongst fans; Pokémon has become too stale. This hasn’t hurt sales in the slightest of course, but it seems as if that criticism has been taken to heart and is playing out in different ways.
Netflix is releasing the next group of “Pokemon Horizons” episodes on May 10th. If you haven’t watched the series yet, you still have time to catch up before the next part of it starts streaming. And in case you were wondering what Pokémon would be like without Pikachu around, well, no worries, they’ve already got you covered. It may not be Ash’s Pikachu hanging out with the cast but it’s Captain Pikachu now alongside his trainer, Professor Friede. I guess some things don’t completely change or evolve in the world of Pokémon.
You can’t stop the Pokémon juggernaut, after all it is estimated to be the biggest media franchise in the world. All you can do is let it embrace you like a warm shock from a yellow electrified mouse… wearing a captain’s hat.
