New Pokemon leak reveals a surprise first for the next chapter of the anime series – and it fixes a complaint fans have had for over 25 years

The next Pokemon series has seemingly been confirmed – and it's introducing a story beat that Ash and his friends dodged for decades on their journey.

Mega Voltage, the next chapter in the Pokemon Horizons branch of the ongoing new anime series, will involve a timeskip for Liko, Roy, and Captain Pikachu (H/T Screen Rant).

As you can see below, the show is reportedly dropping in Japan on April 11 and the new poster shows off the fresh designs of its main characters – and even some (spoilery) evolutions for their parties.

It's been a longstanding complaint among the Poke-fandom that Ash remained a 10-year-old boy through the entirety of his saga from Pallet Town prodigy to Pokemon Master. That remained right up until his farewell in 2023, despite switching voice actors from Veronica Taylor to Sarah Natochenny in 2006.

Since then, new protagonist Liko has picked up the baton in the Paldea region with her own Pokemon, Sprigatito.

Now, we're going to get a mega – pun intended – Pokemon first. Finally, Pokemon is accelerating through the years to bring us a timeskip instead of encasing its leads in temporal amber, forced to be the same age for eternity.

Pokemon Horizons' first season aired across 2023 and 2024, with its second season, Search for Laqua, currently ongoing on Netflix in the US and on BBC in the UK. Remarkably, we're hitting the 28th season of the Pokemon anime, with new episodes of Netflix's Pokemon Concierge also planned for this year.

For more, you'll need our complete guide on how to watch Pokemon in order. Then, dive into the best anime and best Pokemon games to experience right now.