Netflix is about to mega evolve with more Pokémon content in June — just in time for fans who want to prep for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. According to What’s On Netflix, Pokémon the Series: XY and Kalos Quest will return on June 1 alongside XYZ — marking the first time the 19th season has been on the streaming platform.
Pokémon the Series: XY was the 17th season of the long-running anime, initially released in 2013. The series continues Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon master, with an assortment of new friends, including Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, to accompany him on his journey.
Kalos Quest and XYZ, released in 2014 and 2015, respectively, build upon Ash’s Kalos adventures as the forever 10-year-old protagonist attempts to collect gym badges and join the Kalos League. Altogether, the three arcs clock in at 145 episodes, so if you needed a crash course in how mega evolution and Kalos were adapted to the Poké-anime, you’re in for a treat.
Kalos became a fan-favorite saga of the animated series as the three arcs showed a rare concept seldom explored in the Pokémon anime: character development.
Throughout his Kalos region adventure, Ash begins to shed his naive nature, becoming a mentor to his new, inexperienced friends. The perpetually 10-year-old trainer began moving like a veteran who retained battle experience from prior seasons, creating more engaging storytelling, especially during the Team Flare arc.
For example, Ash Ketchum, imprisoned atop Prism Tower, unleashed a goosebumps-inducing speech aimed at the evil Lysandre and his misguided rival, Alain. Ash conducted an almost militaristic speech calling for Pokémon to live freely alongside humans in a manner that could rival Mewtwo’s oratory excellence from The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back. The beautifully drawn scene ultimately leads to the fan-favorite Ash-Greninja mega evolution, an anime-exclusive concept that would become so popular that GameFreak incorporated the idea into the promotional demo for Pokémon Sun and Moon.
Unfortunately, the Pokémon anime would forget these ambitious concepts as Ash Ketchum regressed back to his clueless self in the seasons to follow, like the shaky Pokémon Journeys and the more childlike interpretation of Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Adventures. Pokémon the Series: XY, Kalos Quest, XYZ were the first times, and arguably the last time, the animated series felt more like its own anime as opposed to a supportive piece of media to the games.
So, before Pokémon Legends: Z-A reintroduces players to Kalos and the mega-evolution phenomenon, revisit a stellar entry into Pokémon the series on June 1st.
