The Pokemon Company has released its first “Poketoon” animation, a new short in the style of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons.The Pokemon Kids TV YouTube channel recently posted the four-minute animated short that follows the slapstick escapades of Scraggy and Mimikyu in a humourous episode with the remarkably lengthy title of Chase the Beans – Poketoon: The Pokemon Cartoon Animation.

In this story, Zurugguis on the hunt for food, when the trail leads to a train station. Accidentally packed into a freight car, Scraggy finds that the heart-shaped beans he’s been gobbling are actually what the playful Mimikkyu’s head is stuffed with. They’ve been leaking out of a hole in Mimikkyu’s burlap sack Pikachu disguise. While Zuruggu wants food, Mimikkya just wants to play, and causes chaos and mayhem in every frame.

The surprising 2d animation mashup was directed by Taku Inoue, with Yoshiyuki Koie as producer. The animation itself was done by Miyako Makio, Ryousuke Senbo, Shinichi Suzuki, and Shuya Yoshisato. Backgrounds were by Tsutomu Ikeda, and the music was Kei Tsuda created the music.

One of the hallmarks of animation produced for an international market is that it uses no dialog, or at most the characters make emotive sounds that fall just short of being actual speech. This short subject follows that tradition, making it understandable and enjoyable no matter what language you speak at home.

The short animation might help to fill the Pokeball-sized hole left behind by the Pokémon Anime TV series, which has been temporarily put on hold due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The latest season premiered in Japan with a one-hour special in November of last year. The new episodes follow Ash, Pikachu and new companion, Gou, on their globetrotting adventures from the Kanto to the Galar region, the setting of the Pokémon Sword and Shield games.

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SCIFI Radio Staff
SCIFI Radio Staff

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