Netflix has announced that the last 12 episodes of Pokemon Journeys: The Series will be released in March. The 12 episodes feature a return to the Alola region, the anime adaptation of the Pokemon sword and shield storyline along with a showdown with the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo. Pokemon Journeys: The Series follows protagonist Ash Ketchum and his new travel companion Goh as the duo travels through the Pokemon world to research Pokemon, compete in the prestigious World Coronation Series competition, and capture every known Pokemon species. This is the fourth batch of new episodes released on Netflix, bringing the total number of episodes to 48.
Today’s announcement was met with a bit of confusion and fear, however, as Netflix and The Pokemon Company noted that these were the “final episodes” of Pokemon Travel. Netflix is unlikely to cancel their deal with The Pokemon Company as the platform became the main home of new Pokemon episodes just over a year ago. However, we’ll likely see a “re-brand” of the Pokemon anime series, similar to how the last season of Pokemon the series: Sun & Moon was called Pokemon the series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends is listed separately from the other episodes of Pokemon the series: Sun & Moon despite being a direct continuation of that series. Oddly, while The Pokemon Company’s official press release of the new episodes noted that these were the “final” episodes of Pokemon Travel, there was no mention of this on Pokemon social media posts.
There are more regions to explore, catch Pokémon, and win battles with Ash and Goh!
📅 Mark your calendars, trainers – more #PokemonJourneys: The series is coming to the US. @Netflix on 3/5! pic.twitter.com/miwMx7sEs9
– Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 5, 2021
We’ll note that The Pokemon Company added a URL for “legends.pokemon.com” earlier this year, which many believed to be related to the anime series. This could mean we will see the announcement of a “Pokemon Legends” anime series, which makes sense given that Goh recently obtained the legendary Pokemon Suicune in episodes that aired in Japan.
Clearly the end of Pokemon Travel is a big deal for Pokemon fans, even if it’s just a temporary measure. We’ll have to see if there is a disruption in Netflix’s broadcast of new episodes, or if it just leads to another re-brand of the TV series in the United States.