While we were all taking in the news about Rescue Team DX and the Sword/Shield Expansion Pass, the first trailer for the next Pokémon movie was released in Japan, titled Pokémon Coco. The trailer doesn't show off much but we can gleam a few facts from it. The entire trailer is set in a forest that will presumably be the main setting of the movie. A shrine can be seen in one shot which will likely be important somehow. It kind of reminds me of the Ilex Shrine in Johto, which makes me wonder if Celebi will be involved somehow (especially since the recent movies have been focusing a lot on older legendaries). We also catch a brief glimpse of Ash right before that, which shows off a new outfit that looks like the ones he wore in I Choose You and Power of Us, suggesting that this will be a sequel to those. The primary focus of this trailer, however, is on a young boy that appears to be roughly Ash's age, decked up in tribal markings and an almost Tarzan-esque outfit. There's also a shot of a baby with the same hair color as this boy. My guess is that the boy is the titular Coco and that he was left in the woods as a baby (the baby in the trailer likely being him in a flashback) and raised by Pokémon, similar to Tommy/Tomo from an early episode of the original series anime. I haven't actually watched any of the Pokémon movies in years, but this trailer actually has me fairly intrigued. Spoiler: Screenshots
I'm actually very interested in this movie. I really loved I Choose You and The Power of Us movies. Something that would be interesting, and I got this kind of vibe from The Power of Us, is if the movie is mostly about the other kid, Coco, I guess, while Ash is more of a side character. I think it would be cool if that was the direction that they went with future movies, with having Ash being a consistent part of all the movies, but he's no longer the main character. It's hard to explain, but I still would love to see it.
The new legendary that was announced for the expansions is a grass type, so maybe the shrine has something to do with that? I'm guessing that he might have been raised by Rillaboom, since he is very Tarzan-like and "Koko" was the name of a famous gorilla that could speak with sign language.
It looks interesting, but there really is no good way to tell what it will be about. I think I will like the change in scenery of a forest for the anime. I know that some parts of the anime were entirely in a forest, but this jungle seems like it will be fun.