"Pokémon Anime Ages Up Main Cast After Nearly 30 Years"

After an impressive 26-year journey in the Pokémon anime, Ash Ketchum, the perpetual 10-year-old protagonist, has finally retired. In a surprising shift, The Pokémon Company is now allowing its new protagonists, Liko and Roy, to grow up in the series *Pokémon Horizons*. This development was announced through a recent reveal in the CoroCoro magazine, which introduced the next arc, "Mega Voltage," and confirmed a time skip that will age Liko and Roy by approximately three years. Accompanying this news are new designs for the main characters, showcasing Liko, Roy, and Dot as taller and more mature:

All the new arch 5 pages from coro coro today!
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.reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; }Liko and Roy share the same universe as Ash Ketchum, though he is currently absent from the anime. This implies that Ash, along with other beloved characters like Misty, Brock, May, Dawn, and Serena, have also aged three years off-screen. The prospect of seeing a grown-up Ash Ketchum has fans buzzing with speculation about his potential return in this or a future season.

The "Mega Voltage" arc will also see the return of Mega Evolutions, aligning with the reintroduction of this mechanic in the upcoming game *Pokémon Legends: Z-A*. Additionally, Liko's Floragato has evolved into Meowscarada, and Roy now possesses a shiny Mega Lucario.

One notable absence in the reveal is Friede, the captain of the Rising Volt Tacklers. His partner Pikachu appears with Friede's goggles, which seem to be cracked, sparking concerns among fans about Friede's fate.

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The "Mega Voltage" arc is set to premiere in Japan on April 11 of this year, though fans in the United States will have to wait longer for the English dub, which lags behind. We've given *Pokémon Horizons* Season 2 a moderate rating of 5/10, critiquing its reluctance to fully embrace its potential. With the time skip, there's hope that new energy will be injected into the adventures of the Rising Volt Tacklers.