that looks as good as it's competitors in the anime market.The story so far is simple: Ash becomes Professor Katsuragi's assistant, along with his new friend Gou. They go to different cities and regions to explore and discover new things about Pokemon. Simple premise, right? Well, I think it's far more interesting than the linear style of most other seasons, where you get the badges, battle in the league, lose, and move on to the next region. However, it also solves the problem many people had with Sun and Moon: the lack of adventure.One of the biggest issues people had with Sun and Moon is that it lacked that adventurous atmosphere the Pokemon series is all about. Ash was basically stuck in one place the whole time, and the best episodes were the ones where the school traveled to different islands, or to Kanto, or when they went to solve the Necrozma issue. The writers must've heard the criticism, because now Ash explores some familiar (and less familiar) locations every episode! It makes every episode feel fresh and new, even if we've seen many of these places before, because now it's from the viewpoint of "What's that strange phenomenon?" or "What's that cool event they have there?" and it keeps things fresh.That also brings me to another point: This show is accessible to newer fans. A kid who got introduced to Pokemon thanks to Pokemon Go or either or the Switch games, or heck maybe one of the more recent anime, will simply have no idea what Tangrowth or Alomamola are, and they definitely wouldn't wanna go through over 1000 episodes just to see what Ash has accomplished before this series. What the show does is make sure a kid who doesn't have any knowledge of any prior Pokemon series or game can get into this show and enjoy it! That doesn't mean the older fans are left hanging, Ash and Pikachu didn't seem to reset their abilities despite the reboot the series got. Ash's Orange Islands league trophy, along with his Alola league trophy and a Masked Royal action figure are displayed proudly in his room, and so far Ash seemed like a much more competent trainer than he was in the first few episodes of most seasons. Pikachu didn't reset either, defeating strong Pokemon early on in the series, unlike that one time it lost to a level 5 Snivy. The series is friendly to new and old fans alike.Since the show has only started, I can't talk much about the characters, since they didn't have time to be fleshed out. As mentioned before, Ash appears to be more competent than you'd expect at this point in the series. However, he still acts like a kid or a preteen, unlike the more mature Ash we saw in X&Y. He's just a kid who likes Pokemon and is good at Pokemon battles and he's a blast to watch.We also have Gou, a new character. What I like about this series is that instead of the main cast consisting of Ash, a cute girl and a guy who can cook, we just have two buddies going on adventures together. The Pokegirl of this region, Koharu, takes on a secondary role, and so we can focus on the bond between Ash and Gou, which is just wholesome. They're very similar in personality, with the main difference between them being that Gou is much less social than Ash, and has trouble making friends. Ash, as an extroverted trainer with experience, helps Gou, who has a lot of knowledge but lacks experience who also has some trust issues, open up and shows him all these pocket monsters have to offer, all the while becoming his first real friend. Their dynamics range from wholesome to hilarious, and I hope to see both of them help each other grow.While Koharu isn't my favorite, she's definitely a lovely girl from the screentime she got, and I'm sure as the show progresses we'll get more of her. Professor Katsuragi is really sweet as well, I hope to see more of him. It's also important to mention that the Pokemon are brimming with personality, something which I felt was lacking in Sun and Moon. Gou's Scorbunny is energetic and has a kind heart, Mr. Mime is an actual troll and it's amazing, and the list goes on. I feel like it adds a lot of charm to the series.overall, this show is really fun and really good, I wait for a new episode every week and I'd definitely recommend the series to people who dropped the Pokemon anime in the past. Why did I give it an 8? Because we're very early into the show, so I can't say it's perfect quite yet. Who knows, my opinion on it might change in the future, but right now it's a good and pretty show that will probably get even better as time goes on.