The next season of the Pokemon anime is bringing with it some big changes to the series. It will no longer be confined to a single region, and this time around, Ash will be joined by a new character named Gou. When Ash and Go visit the Kanto region, there's another change waiting for them - a brand new Kanto region professor to assist them on their journey instead of Professor Oak.

At the time of this writing, we know that the new professor in the Pokemon anime is named Professor Sakuragi in the Japanese version. Sakuragi's English name isn't known at this point, but we will likely find out in the coming months. We also know that Sakuragi's lab is located in Vermilion City, which is the location of Ash's third gym battle against Lt. Surge. Sakuragi's daughter is also expected to play a role in the anime, perhaps filling the female companion slot occupied by characters like Misty and May in the past.

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Again, more information on Professor Sakuragi should come to light in the coming months. In the meantime, fans can check out how Sakuragi will look in the new Pokemon anime.

The new Pokemon anime is a soft reboot of the series, so it makes sense that it features a new professor in place of Professor Oak. However, that doesn't mean Professor Oak himself can't appear in the show. In fact, with Ash and Gou exploring multiple regions in the new Pokemon anime, it seems likely that they will run into many familiar faces on their journey.

The Pokemon anime likes bringing back old characters every once in awhile. For example, the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime brought back Ash's original companions, Brock and Misty, for a short time, complete with that series' revamped art style. Considering this, we wouldn't be surprised to see Misty, Brock, and a slew of other old-school Pokemon anime characters reappear in the new series at some point.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see what exactly Ash's goal will be in the new Pokemon anime series. He finally became Pokemon League Champion in the Pokemon Sun and Moon anime, so perhaps the new Pokemon anime series will see him try to claim the title of League Champion in the regions where he failed in the past. Pokemon anime fans will just have to tune in to find out.

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