If you stopped watching Pokémon during the Ash and Pikachu era, returning in 2026 can feel like opening the door to a different show. That feeling is justified: the franchise is celebrating 30 years since Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green launched in Japan on February 27, 1996, while the anime shifted to a new center after Ash's long journey ended. The new phase, Pokémon Horizons: The Series, was officially introduced as a new story starring Liko and Roy.
The good news is that you do not need to rewatch decades of episodes to understand the new starting point. What matters is knowing what ended with Ash, who now sits at the center of the story, and which classic elements still feel familiar.
First: the 30th anniversary belongs to the franchise, not the anime
In 2026, Nintendo is celebrating 30 years of Pokémon, using the original games released in Japan in 1996 as the milestone. The anime came later, so it does not reach its own 30th anniversary at the same time.
That distinction helps frame the change. For 25 seasons, Ash Ketchum and Pikachu were the main thread of the TV series. At the end of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys, Ash is a World Champion, and his run is closed out with the 12-episode special collection Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master, featuring reunions and a farewell to his era as the lead character.
A short timeline: from Ash to Horizons
- The Ash era: for 25 seasons, the series follows Ash, Pikachu, and changing companions through travel, leagues, battles, and discoveries across multiple regions.
- Closing the journey: in 2023, international material for Ultimate Journeys presented the 12-episode To Be a Pokémon Master collection as the conclusion to Ash and Pikachu's adventures.
- A new story: Pokémon Horizons: The Series was promoted as an adventure starring Liko and Roy. In the official Brazilian Portuguese localization, Roy is called Rain.
- The current phase: in 2026, international Pokémon communications are already promoting Season 3 of Horizons, while the official Brazilian page highlights Pokémon: Horizontes — Season 2 — The Search for Laqua. Season numbering, parts, and availability can vary by region and service.
Who are Liko and Roy?
According to the official Pokémon Horizons website, Liko is a girl from the Paldea region and a student at Indigo Academy. Her first partner is Sprigatito, and a mysterious pendant from her grandmother helps pull her into the center of the new adventure.
Roy lives on a remote island in Kanto, dreams of becoming a Pokémon Trainer, and travels with Fuecoco. He also carries an Ancient Poké Ball tied to the mysteries driving the story. In Brazilian Portuguese he is called Rain; in Spanish, Rod. That localization difference explains why returning fans may encounter different names when searching international coverage.
What actually changed from the Ash era
1. The show is no longer centered on one long-running hero
Ash was the permanent anchor: friends, regions, and goals changed, but he and Pikachu maintained continuity. Horizons starts with a new cast and distributes the lead role mainly between Liko and Roy, with more narrative weight given to the larger group traveling with them.
2. The story is more serialized from the beginning
The classic anime often mixed journey goals with more self-contained episodes. Horizons still has episodic adventures, but it introduces recurring mysteries early on: Liko's pendant, Roy's Ancient Poké Ball, the Rising Volt Tacklers, and the Explorers. The result is a stronger sense of an ongoing plot, with clues and conflicts progressing across multiple episodes.
3. The journey is not built around a single gym-and-league formula
Liko and Roy move through different regions alongside the Rising Volt Tacklers, a group that travels by airship while investigating mysteries across the Pokémon world. That structure lets the series combine exploration, training, battles, and an adventure plot without simply repeating a traditional gym campaign.
4. Pikachu is still present, but in a different role
Fans who miss the franchise's most recognizable Pokémon do not enter a world without Pikachu. Horizons features Captain Pikachu, who travels with Friede as part of the Rising Volt Tacklers. The character keeps a strong visual and emotional link to the franchise's identity without putting Ash back at the center of the story.
5. You do not need to solve the old continuity before watching
Official material describes Horizons as a new Pokémon story. For returning viewers, that matters more than debating every continuity detail: the series introduces its own cast, groups, goals, and mysteries. Knowing Ash adds nostalgia, but it is not a prerequisite for understanding Liko and Roy.
What still feels familiar to fans who grew up with Ash
Changing protagonists does not remove Pokémon's core ideas. Trainer-Pokémon partnerships, discovering new species, battles, skill development, comedy, travel across familiar and new regions, and the recurring theme of growing alongside your partners are all still present.
There are also characters and elements that bridge old memories and the new era, including Pikachu in a new role and references to familiar regions. The balance has changed: less reliance on Ash's accumulated biography, and more investment in a new central mystery.
Where should you start if you are coming back now?
The simplest entry point is the first episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series. Starting at the beginning of the new show avoids spoilers, naturally introduces Liko, Roy, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Friede, Captain Pikachu, the Rising Volt Tacklers, and the Explorers, and does not require a marathon of earlier seasons.
If nostalgia for Ash is an important part of your return, there is a second route: watch the final Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master specials first. They work as an emotional closing chapter for the previous era, but they are not required viewing before Horizons.
Do you need to know what happened to Ash to understand Horizons?
No. It is enough to know that his period as the lead character was brought to a close after a long journey that culminated in a World Championship. Horizons does not begin by demanding encyclopedic knowledge of the previous era; its starting point is Liko, Roy, and the mysteries surrounding them.
In short: this is not “Ash again with different names”
The move from Pokémon the Series to Pokémon Horizons is deeper than swapping protagonists. The anime shifts from a continuity centered for decades on Ash and Pikachu to a new cast, shared lead roles, recurring groups, and a serialized mystery that connects the journey.
For fans returning because of Pokémon's 30th anniversary, the easiest way to approach the current era is to treat it as a new entry point. Ash remains a fundamental part of the anime's history, but Liko and Roy were built so the next journey can begin without homework.
Main sources: official Pokémon Horizons website; Pokémon — conclusion of Ultimate Journeys and To Be a Pokémon Master; Pokémon — 2026 Horizons update; Nintendo — Pokémon's 30th anniversary in 2026.
