Pokémon heads for Kitakami and a meeting with Ogerpon
A new key visual and promotional video for the Pokémon anime send the Rising Volt Tacklers to Kitakami, where Navi meets the legendary Ogerpon.
The Pokémon anime is going back to Kitakami. On 18 September the series' official account published a new key visual and a new promotional video for the current Wonder Voyage arc, both built around the legendary Pokémon Ogerpon.
What the new visual shows
The poster is split down the middle. The Rising Volt Tacklers stand in the centre, with Kitakami's legendary Pokémon on the right: Ogerpon, the Loyal Three - Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti - and Pecharunt lurking behind them. On the left are Paldea's four Treasures of Ruin: Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien and Chi-Yu. The strapline above them reads 'legend after legend'.
That is a heavy hint at where the story is going. The teaser video shows the Rising Volt Tacklers arriving in Kitakami village for its festival, Navi coming face to face with Ogerpon, and the Loyal Three running amok through the celebrations.
Episode 151 is the Ogerpon episode
The official site lists episode 151, 'Navi and the mysterious masked child', for broadcast on Friday 25 September. Its synopsis has the Rising Volt Tacklers arriving for the Kitakami festival, Navi and Ditto making friends with a masked child, and that child turning out to be the legendary Pokémon Ogerpon.
The same broadcast carries a giveaway campaign tied to the new visual, with 50 winners, and the artwork unveiled this week is on display as a panel at the Legend Research event running in Tokyo's Nihonbashi and Yaesu districts.
A Japanese broadcast first
This is a Japanese announcement: Pokémon airs on the TV Tokyo network on Fridays at 18:55 JST, and broadcast times differ in some regions. No international release details for these episodes were published with the visual, so there is no UK or US streaming date to report from it.
Our opinion
Kitakami is a region the games already finished with, so handing it a full anime arc years later is a calculated bit of fan service - and a canny one, because Ogerpon is the rare legendary whose story is about being feared for the mask rather than worshipped for the power behind it. Pairing that with Navi, the newest and smallest member of the crew, gives the episode a natural emotional anchor instead of another tournament bracket. The risk is the poster's own promise. Splitting the frame between Kitakami's legends and Paldea's Treasures of Ruin sets up a clash the series now has to actually deliver, and 'legend after legend' is a strapline that will look thin if the arc ends with a festival food stall and a handshake. Watch it anyway: the Loyal Three running wild through a village festival is a far better idea than another training montage.