Pokémon has featured many fascinating stories within its games, but not all of them get properly animated. This is because the anime focuses on Ash Ketchum and his adventures, many of which are exclusive to him. As a result, some of the cooler moments from the game have been lost in fans' collective memories. Luckily, the Pokémon Evolutions miniseries seeks to rectify this in celebration of the franchise's 25th anniversary.
Pokémon Evolutions takes key events from the games and presents them with beautiful new animation. The series has already done at least one episode for each of the four newest generations. A trailer recently dropped for the next four episodes, which will cover the four oldest generations. Here's everything to know on the story so far and the release date for the new episodes.
Pokémon Evolutions: The Story So Far
Pokémon Evolutions is not necessarily about telling an overarching story. Instead, it features vignettes from each set of main-series games. These scenes are presented with a level of detail that couldn't be accomplished with the games' limited graphics, and this new animation is a greatly appreciated means of showing off some of their best moments with the love and attention they deserve.
Some fans have been quick to point out that Pokémon Evolutions is similar to another miniseries, Pokémon Generations. Like Evolutions, Generations retells the events of significantly important scenes from the games. However, the latter takes a few creative liberties in telling its story. This can lead to things like reducing the player characters' involvement or telling the story from Looker's perspective, regardless of his actual presence. For now, Evolutions seems more determined to tell the games' story as faithfully as possible.
In this endeavor, Evolutions has covered key moments from Galar, Alola, Kalos and Unova. The first episode, "The Champion," covers the battle with Eternatus and the beginning of Leon's match with Victor. While Leon is preparing for his title match, he flashes back to the events of the second Darkest Day. This includes both his battle and Victor's battle, as well as the appearances of Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternamax Eternatus. As in the game, things turn out fine, so Leon turns his focus to battling Victor and having a champion's time doing it.
Episode 2, "The Eclipse," focuses on Lillie, Lusamine, Nebby and Necrozma. It features the scene of Lusamine rejecting her daughter and using Nebby's power to open the Ultra Wormhole. Following this, Lillie takes Nebby to the Altar of the Moone and evolves Nebby from a Cosmoem into a Lunala. Shortly afterward, an injured Lusamine comes out of an Ultra Wormhole followed by Necrozma. The Prism Pokémon battles Lunala, takes over its body and becomes Dawn Wings Necrozma. The episode ends with Selene sending out a Pokémon to battle.
Episode 3, "The Visionary," follows Lysandre's plans to use the ultimate weapon. Like in the games, Calem teams up with Xerneas to defeat Lysandre. The sore loser then turns the ultimate weapon on Team Flare Secret HQ to grant everybody present eternal life. The episode ends with one final, prerecorded message from Lysandre.
The fourth and latest episode, "The Plan," is an overview of Ghetsis' machiavellian scheming. This includes raising N to be the king of Team Plasma, convincing trainers to release their Pokémon, using N to tame Zekrom and toppling the Pokémon League. The episode ends on a major cliffhanger where Hilda confronts N.
Pokémon Evolutions' Final Episodes: Trailer and Release Date
The last four episodes of Pokémon Evolutions will feature scenes from Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto, and are expected to release on a weekly basis throughout the month of December. Episode 5, "The Rival," is due to release on Dec. 2. Fans can see these new episodes, as well as those previously mentioned, on the official Pokémon YouTube channel and Pokémon TV.
If the upcoming adventures are anything like their predecessors, they will be a highly worthwhile watch. Episodes 5-8 are especially anticipated since the earlier generations' games had even more limited graphics than the newer ones. Whatever these new episodes of Evolutions bring to the table, they are guaranteed to be a welcome update to the stories Pokémon fans love.
