The Pokemon Company has released Pokemon: Path to the Peak Episode 1, the first installment of a new animated series revolving around Pokemon Trading Card Game.
Pokemon: Path to the Peak was first revealed during this week's Pokemon Presents showcase, where we also got to see an adorable new Detective Pikachu Returns trailer and finally got a Scarlet and Violet DLC release date (for part one, at least).
The new animated show follows Ava, a young girl who's starting at a new school after her family moves from their old town.
It's club week at the new school, and it's not long before Ava falls in with the Pokemon Trading Card Game club, which is also called "TM10".
If you're a Pokemon fan, you'll probably already know what that refers to, but if not, it's most often the TM for the move Hidden Power (although it's actually Ice Fang in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet).
Ava quickly meets Joshua, an avid Pokemon TCG player, and I don't want to spoil what happens next just in case you want to give the episode a watch for yourself.
It's only around ten minutes long, and there's some pretty cute animation and characterization, although it might put you off if you're not a fan of earnest dialogue. This isn't one of those self-referential postmodern animations, after all.
Per the official Pokemon website, Pokemon: Path to the Peak will consist of four episodes overall.
The first one dropped today, and the next is due on August 16th, after which the following two will launch one week apart (so August 23rd and August 30th).
It looks like all of the episodes will be uploaded to YouTube as well, so you'll be able to follow along with Ava's progress as she discovers her innate talent for Pokemon card battling.
