According to a translation of the Japanese synopsis for Pokemon Journeys episode 32 by Serebii staff member and forum moderator Dephender, Ash and his companion Goh will be returning to the Johto Region where they meet up with one of Goh’s old friends Tokio, who has spent years searching for Celebi. One of the Goh’s primary goals in Pokemon Journeys is to find and catch the Mythical Pokemon Mew, so having an interest in Celebi as well would track with his character.
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As some fans point out in the forum post, the idea that an episode of the anime focused on Celebi is primed to release around the same time as Pokemon The Movie: Coco, which features a shiny variant of the Mythical monster, does not seem like a coincidence. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pokemon The Movie: Coco was delayed last month, so that timing may be somewhat off now.
The same can be said for Pokemon-centric mobile games that had tie-in events prepared for the upcoming anime film’s release. DeNa’s Pokemon Masters added Jessie, James, and Meowth searching for shiny Celebi, and Niantic’s AR game Pokemon GO has also started an event centered around the iconic members of Team Rocket.
One of the defining features of the latest season of the Pokemon anime has been Ash and Goh’s propensity to hop between different Regions across the series’ history, letting it experiment with different plots and Pokemon. Social media has been keenly aware of this shake-up for the formula, leading to widespread attention and sometimes Twitter trending moments whenever Ash catches a new Pokemon, like Galarian Farfetch’d.
It will still be a few weeks in Japan before episode 32 focused around Celebi airs, and even longer until it premieres in English. Netflix has acquired the rights to publish the anime in the west, and is only releasing episodes of Pokemon Journeys in batches of 12 every quarter. Hopefully, this episode and others will be worth the wait.
Pokemon Journeys is currently available on Netflix.
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Source: Serebii Forums
