>>35301789>They're contractually required to show of all of the new Pokemon, since that's the show's entire purpose; to advertise the new games and the new Pokemon you'll see in them.That's not true at all. Firstly, 'contractually required' - there's literally no such thing. Secondly, as Masuda has already made clear, the franchise moves as a whole and the independent parts of the franchise are not 'ruled' by the game. They are all separate entities, but move together as one. The anime does not have any franchise obligations it has to fill.
And to answer your question, I'd say it most certainly is filler. The tone of the arc has been completely different from the rest of the series - it's been a lot more SOL-paced than the previous arc and we're still halfway around Alola not including another arc for the league. The anime isn't paced unusually at all when you consider we're only halfway through it in terms of episodes too - We're currently on episode 67 of the Sun and Moon anime, to put that into perspective.
In episode 67 of Pokemon X/Y, Ash was battling Clemont in Lumiose City.
In episode 67 of Best Wishes, it was the episode before Ash challenged Skyla in Misaltron City
In episode 67 of Diamond and Pearl, it was Dawn's first gym battle against Maylene in Veilstone City
In episode 67 of Pokemon Advanced Generation, Ash was 2 episodes away from battling Norman in Petalburg City
In episode 67 of Johto League, Ash was 4 episodes away from reaching Ecruteak City
In episode 67 of the original series, Ash was 13 episodes away from the Orange Islands arc
