>>55899878The Kanto battle theme being so "out of nowhere" got me thinking: What if Ash was meant to return by now, and the song was meant for him?
I mean, think about it. Horizons was experimental. They probably expected it to do poorly, or at the very least expected outrage after Ash retired. So, they planned for Ash to come back the very next year, and they were going to reveal it with big nostalgia-pandering. Kanto music, probably team rocket, the whole shebang.
Depending on how well/poorly Horizons was received, Ash would either tag along as a new friend or take over entirely as the new lead.
However, Horizons unexpectedly met expectations for the pokemon anime. Furthermore, there weren't any rabid fans going crazy because Ash didn't come back.
So, Ash's return was scrapped entirely and they decided to use the Kanto music for the currently most popular character Dot's battle.
