The benefit of rotating between friends, otherwise known as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:traveling companions in Ash Ketchum's case, is that their returns make for pleasant surprises. The Pokemon anime takes advantage of this every now and then, writin🍌g in a character return arc wherever appropriate to inject some nostalgia into its narrative.
Of course, ho⭕w successful ✤they are as individual anime arcs can depend on a few things. These include how iconic those characters were, how long it had been before said characters last appeared in the anime, and how smoothly their appearances were handled without feeling forced. Given that criteria, these are all the instances of characters returning to the anime so far, ranked from worst to best.
Note: This will only cover traveling companions, so return arcs for characters such as Gary, Cynthia, and Volkner will not be included.
10 𒆙 Tracey - Various
Tracey Sketchit is considered by many to be one of the more forgettable main characters in the anime. After his one-season tenure as a traveling companion, the anime's writers tried to instead plant his likeness in mundane situations alongside his mentor, Professor Oak. They couldn't really pull off that either and his last physical appearance was in the Black & White anime.
An in-universe explanation could be that he has since moved on to bigger things after a stint under Professor Oak's wing, but it's likely the people in charge just totally forgot about him. Fans probably wouldn't mind getting an update on his whereabouts.
9 🔜 Kiꦗawe, Sophocles, Lana, & Mallow - Journeys
The Alola gang got a reunion arc just a few episodes after their season ended, so it wasn't as much of a throwback as the anime's other such arcs. Still, it was nice to see most of the gang and what they had been up to since Ash left.
Lillie was notably absent, only being present in spirit thanks to a letter sent to Lana, but otherwise, most of the gang welcomed Ash and new companion Goh with open arms. The one exception was Kiawe, who noticed Goh's tenseness around Ash's old friends and challenged him to a battle. Fortunately, while Goh easily would have lost to Kiawe's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Inferno Overdrive Z-Move had the battle not been intervened, he earned Kiawe's trust as Ash's travelling companion.
8 B🎐rock - Black ꩵ& White
This meeting occured in a special episode not dubbed for international viewers outside of Japan. In Johto, Cilan had a fateful encounter with Brock after fishing up a Gyarados that injured several Pokemon,👍 including his Pansage. In the process of helping the people around them, they bonded over their expertise in their 🦹respective fields.
Brock showed his growing experience as a Pokemon Doctor at the Pokemon Center, flirting with Nurse Joy in the process. Cilan helped a little girl and her Pikachu perfect a Thunderbolt, showcasing his knowledge as a Pokemon Connoisseur. Through Cilan and Pansage's bravery in dealing with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the raging Gyarados (and the Pikachu), both were reminded of Ash's bravery, though neither mentioned him or each other by name.
7 🌞 ꧒ Cilan - X&Y
In another special episode, Cilan travelled to Kalos to enter a fishing contest that Clemont and Bonnie also happened to be a part of. While Clemont aimed to win with an invention that did all the fishing for him, Cilan noted that you couldn't truly enjoy fishing without doing it yourself.
Despite an initial clash of ideals, the three got along and headed for the subway, where they encountered multiple problems with the train. Both Cilan and Clemont used their technological know-how to fix it up, but they had a brush with danger when their cart started careening into a dead end. Fortunately, both were reminded of Ash's bravery (which is a recurring theme in most Ash-less specials) and found a way out.
6 🐈 Misty - Advanced Generation
OG traveling companion Misty had two guest appearances of note during the Advanced Generation series of the anime. While the first one was kind of ham-fisted into the middle of Ash's Hoenn travels, it was still quite eventful. Among other things, Misty released her Togepi after it 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:evolved into a Togetic and wanted to protect the Togepi Paradise where many other Togepi⛦ resided.
What fans remember more fondly is her second go-round with Ash's Hoenn squad. After getting separated from the rest of the group, thanks to a fiasco with Team Rocket, Misty and Max talked about their roles as younger siblings, and promised each other to be there for their older sisters: the Sensational Sisters (Daisy, Violet, and Lily) and May, respectively.
5 🔯 Dawn - Black & White 🐈
Dawn's first return arc was surprisingly long, lasting eight total episodes, and that at least made for a ton of memorable moments. Among other things, she travelled to Onix Island and competed in the World Tournament Junior Cup along with Ash and his traveling companions.
One of the major highlights of this arc was her cameraderie with Iris. They instantly hit it off after being stuck together at Onix Island, discovering unfamiliar Pokemon and seeing eye to eye when it came to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ash's relative immaturity. Of course, there would be no love on the battlefield a few episodes after that, when Iris's then newly-caught Dragonite completely wiped Dawn's Mamoswine out of the Junior Cup.
4 Misty & Brock - Sun & ಌMoon
After a long absence from Brock and an even longer one from Misty, they returned as recurring characters in the Sun and Moon anime. Longtime fans got to witness some old-school, original trio shenanigans again, such as Brock flirting with women and Misty being petrified at the sight of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Bug-type Pokemon.
That said, it was just as nice to see evident progress in their respective journeys. Brock was getting closer to his dream of becoming a Pokemon Doctor, and he even scored a potential love interest in Olivia. Misty was doing better than ever as a Water-type Trainer and Gym Leader, even becoming a mentor of sorts to fellow Water-type enthusiast Lana after Ash's Alola friends visited Cerulean Gym.
3 ꧅ 🎉 Dawn - Journeys
Dawn's second return arc was nine years in the making, and it was a great throwback to the Diamond and Pearl seasons. Her interaction with Ash may have been a bit too limited for some fans' liking, but it was great to see her still going strong as a coordinator, and what she had learned while traveling alongside Ash and Brock.
She spent most of her time with supporting character Chloe, finally giving her some much-needed character development. She introdꦛuced her to the whole phenomenon of contest battles and taught her to live life more spontaneously - "no need to worry", as it were. This is all without mentioning their interactions with Cresselia and Darkrai, which were quite eventful in ♑and of themselves.
2 𓄧 May - Diamond & Pearl ꦫ
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Wallace Cup is one of the best arcs of the Diamond & Pearl anime in general, thanks in large part to the returning May playing a huge narrative role. Not only was it a celebration of May's journey as a coordinator, but it pit her against the series' new coordinator, Dawn. Even though she ultimately lost to the Sinnoh native in a slightly controversial result, May showed the world she was still the coordinator to beat in any contest.
Unfortunately, where May is currently is a bit of a mystery. She hasn't physically appeared in the anime since the end of this arc in 2008, making her drought the longest from any main character so far (aside from her brother Max).
1 🌜 Iris - Journeys 🍬
Iris's return to the anime was highly anticipated, this being her first appearance since her tenure during the Black & White seasons of the anime. The once overly headstrong Dragon-type expert returned as the Champion of Unova, and both her battling prowess and social intelligence were much improved from her time as a travelling companion.
That was showcased in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:her battle against Ash that pit dragons against dragons, with Iris's Dragonite fully in sync with its trainer and her once-Axew now fully evolved into a Haxorus. Above all else, though, it was Ash's Dragonite that stole thꦯe show, with a little help from a pep talk with Iris. This was only a one-episode arc, but it was an instant classic nonetheless.