Promotional images for an upcoming season of the long-running anime based on Nintendo’s beloved video game franchise may hint at a couple of characters to feature in Pokemon‘s mainline Nintendo Switch debut. It’s possible that the Pokemon Sword and Shield professor, along with a potential rival, have been showcased as featuring in the Galar anime ahead of their official announcement for the games.
Professor Sakuragi looks to keep on-trend with past characters to have filled the vital role, perhaps most notable among which is the original Professor Oak, sporting a white lab coat and glasses in order to convey his intellect. Alongside our first image of the professor, fans were also offered a glimpse of his daughter.
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Seemingly a youngster of schooling age, presumably wearing her school uniform, Koharu is accompanied by her electric-type companion Pokemon Yamper. What’s interesting about this tidbit is that Yamper is a new Generation 8 Pokemon, first revealed by Nintendo at E3 2019, which seemingly confirms that the Galar anime will take place in the same period as upcoming Gen 8 games Pokemon Sword and Shield.
Keeping this in mind, it’s entirely possible that the two characters could feature in either or both of the Nintendo Switch games scheduled to launch on November 15, 2019. It’s also possible to speculate on whether the professor’s offspring might serve as an in-game rival, as has often been the case historically. Even if not a main rival — it might be difficult to get overly competitive with a schoolgirl, after all — she could serve a similar role to Wally. Wally fulfilled a sort of quasi-rival role, battling the protagonist but in a manner that more often saw players aim to help instead of hinder the young trainer.
Whether or not the characters will actually pan out to be the Pokemon Sword and Shield professor and rival remains to be seen, though there isn’t too long to wait to find out with the games launching in just over a month.
