>>55934768Yes. The XY anime was one of the few times non-pokefags were actually paying attention to the anime because it seemed to actually be doing something for once.
I have a theory XY was supposed to be the end for Ash but they got cold feet at the last minute, hence why the ending came out of nowhere and made no narrative sense. SM was transparently a result of Yokai Watch Derangement Syndrome but they finally decided to finish off Ash with that series, and Journeys was meant to be a "passing of the torch' to Goh (who failed dramatically.) Ash was clearly on his way out for a while but the money was scared to rock the boat.
What IS interesting is seeing the new anime backtracking on decisions made last time. There seemed to be a decision made to move away from region-of-the-season game shilling with Galar, but they're going right back to it near the END of the Paldea generation.