Over the course of its twenty years on the air, the Pokémon anime has introduced a revolving door of friends who joined Ash on his journey to become a Pokémon master. Of course, for longtime fans, none of those particular characters have been as iconic as the original duo, gym leaders Brock and Misty. In the two latest episodes of the series, the beloved characters returned for a nice dose of nostalgia topped off with a few extra references for those who remember the original games as well.
During the episodes, both Brock and Misty strike poses calling back to their original battle sprites from the first batch of games. One Japanese Twitter user was kind enough to take screenshots of both the anime as well as the games for comparison:
タケシもカスミも再現あってすごい #anipoke pic.twitter.com/ST0IZTzJBQ
— ふてぃあ*スマキャラ缶バッジ販売中!! (@wofal_haitei) September 21, 2017
Also, in a brief flash of animation, you can catch a brief glimpse of Misty in what appears to be her swimsuit from the first games:
Misty is the cutest. #anipoke pic.twitter.com/PRKDNjUI5M
— J-LIST (@jlist) September 16, 2017
The Pokémon franchise has been on something of a nostalgia trip recently with the most recent film, Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, acting as re-imagining of the start of Ash and Pikachu’s journey together. Fans will be able to catch that film on November 5, though it remains to be seen when these most recent episodes of the anime will find their way out of Japan.
Source: Polygon