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Possible Returns

Iceshadow3317

Fictional Writer.
5,648
Posts
13
Years
Hey guys, I know many people are not liking Sun and Moon anime, but a lot of other people are. It really depends on point of view. Anyway, it has been a while since I have posted anything like this, but I thought it was interesting to bring up.

Before I say anything, I just want people to know that I really don't know what is going on on this twitter account. I just know he is drawing a lot.

Now let us get to what I wanted to talk about....

About two years or so ago one of the pokemon anime animators reavealed a small bit of animation that he was working on that contained Lusmine being taken over by Niheliago, as well as Lillie and Ash looking at her. As we know that was real. Now he has returned and is drawing a lot of stuff.

Gary with Eevee, Serena with Eevee, May with Eevee, Virgil with Eevee, Dawn, Dawn's mother, and a picture of Looker and Anabel.

Right after he drew these, he said 'Series Layout Start', I don't know if he was referring to everything he had just drawn or if he was starting work on the next series. Also, he posted a ton of art all at once. He went days without posting anything and suddenly he posted a lot.

I will not post photos because there are so many, but here is a link to his twitter:
https://twitter.com/animator1965

So what do you all think? This very well could just be random art, as he said something along the lines of "Thanks for coming." in one of his tweets.

As I said, this may be nothing at all, but I thought it would be interesting to bring up. Even if it isn't, he has a lot of great art that looks amazing.
 
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CodeHelmet

Banned
3,375
Posts
6
Years
Hey guys, I know many people are not liking Sun and Moon anime, but a lot of other people are. It really depends on point of view. Anyway, it has been a while since I have posted anything like this, but I thought it was interesting to bring up.

Before I say anything, I just want people to know that I really don't know what is going on on this twitter account. I just know he is drawing a lot.

Now let us get to what I wanted to talk about....

About two years or so ago one of the pokemon anime animators reavealed a small bit of animation that he was working on that contained Lusmine being taken over by Niheliago, as well as Lillie and Ash looking at her. As we know that was real. Now he has returned and is drawing a lot of stuff.

Gary with Eevee, Serena with Eevee, May with Eevee, Virgil with Eevee, Dawn, Dawn's mother, and a picture of Looker and Anabel.

Right after he drew these, he said 'Series Layout Start', I don't know if he was referring to everything he had just drawn or if he was starting work on the next series. Also, he posted a ton of art all at once. He went days without posting anything and suddenly he posted a lot.

I will not post photos because there are so many, but here is a link to his twitter:
https://twitter.com/animator1965

So what do you all think? This very well could just be random art, as he said something along the lines of "Thanks for coming." in one of his tweets.

As I said, this may be nothing at all, but I thought it would be interesting to bring up. Even if it isn't, he has a lot of great art that looks amazing.

I'm not sure if it's a hint of what's to come but let's break this down logically. If it turns out to be true, what is the motivation behind doing this? It's likely to promote one or two things(if not both). The first one is Movie 21 wherein Eevee seems to take a central role. The other motivation is the Let's Go! games that are rumored to be in the works where Pikachu and Eevee are the central Pokemon(possibly hinting at a Pokemon Yellow remake or sequel where they're the starter Pokemon). If either one of those are the motivation behind this, then it makes some sense. Now let's look at the characters.

Gary has an Umbreon so why would he have another Eevee? Same goes with May when she has a Glaceon(furthermore, good luck getting her VA to return). Again, the same goes for Serena since she has a Sylveon but seeing as Serena doesn't have a complete team yet(looking at you writers....), it's plausible she might get a 2nd one. Despite that, it doesn't feel right and hence the only one that makes sense is Virgil. I haven't even mentioned Dawn or her mother since Eevee just wouldn't fit with her imo. Furthermore if Dawn was to get one, what would she evolve it into? Jolteon(eh no got Pachirisu for that), Flareon(eh no got Quilava), Vaporeon(nope, Piplup), Glaceon(got Mammoswine), Sylveon(got Togekiss), hence that leaves just Espeon, Umbreon and Leafeon(which we've seen before).

Something tells me that if this ultimately leads to something, it's a foreshadowing of a possible new Eevee Evolution. What type it will be I don't know but why go to the trouble of having old characters with new Eevee's?
 

Mayy

The Princess of Hoenn
22
Posts
5
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen May 22, 2021
It's most likely just fan art I'm guessing.
 
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2,688
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  • Seen Aug 29, 2020
I don't think it's fanart since it's one of the animators who did the drawings.

That being said, I'm doubtful that May's going to come back, considering her VA, KAORI, pretty much pulled a Hillary Duff and is now a J-Pop singer instead of a voice actress.

Of course, they could be trying to get more Eevees if they do return. Not like they can't have more than one. If Misty can have a Staryu and Starmie, I see zero reason why those guys can't have another Eevee (heck, in Gary's case, he could even evolve it into Espeon).

If he is actually starting on a new series, then it means we really should hope that Misty and Brock head over to Alola soon as promised, because time is short starting now.
 

CodeHelmet

Banned
3,375
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6
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I don't think it's fanart since it's one of the animators who did the drawings.

That being said, I'm doubtful that May's going to come back, considering her VA, KAORI, pretty much pulled a Hillary Duff and is now a J-Pop singer instead of a voice actress.

Of course, they could be trying to get more Eevees if they do return. Not like they can't have more than one. If Misty can have a Staryu and Starmie, I see zero reason why those guys can't have another Eevee (heck, in Gary's case, he could even evolve it into Espeon).

If he is actually starting on a new series, then it means we really should hope that Misty and Brock head over to Alola soon as promised, because time is short starting now.

Misty had the Staryu line in full because that is what she has in the games as a Gym Leader(just like Brock having Geodude and Onix). If they are starting a new series, it could be a hint that not only are Brock and Misty making another return(if they follow through on SM43) but other past characters as well(including our Haruka/Kaori but most notably of all Serena).
 
2,688
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18
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  • Seen Aug 29, 2020
Misty had the Staryu line in full because that is what she has in the games as a Gym Leader(just like Brock having Geodude and Onix). If they are starting a new series, it could be a hint that not only are Brock and Misty making another return(if they follow through on SM43) but other past characters as well(including our Haruka/Kaori but most notably of all Serena).

They'd really need to cut a deal with KAORI to bring May back, though, knowing how Japan has a tendency to retire from existence any characters whose VAs either quit the field or die (like what happened to Colonel Campbell after Takeshi Aono died).
 
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50,218
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13
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They'd really need to cut a deal with KAORI to bring May back, though, knowing how Japan has a tendency to retire from existence any characters whose VAs either quit the field or die (like what happened to Colonel Campbell after Takeshi Aono died).

I know that in the Japanese version of the OR/AS animated trailer, May was voiced by Kana Hanazawa which is a different VA entirely. Sure, it was a trailer related to the games and not the anime, but she would make a decent substitute for KAORI, assuming if they had to recast the role.

Bianca also had different VAs to her normal anime ones in her B2/W2 animated trailer appearances (such as the English dub of that trailer having Eileen Stevens voice her instead of her usual English anime VA, Erica Schroeder) so it's something that's not unheard of before. Same also goes for the Japanese, where she had Shizuka Ito in the anime and Ayana Taketatsu in the B2/W2 trailer.

Elesa also had different VAs between the main anime, the B2/W2 trailer, and Pokemon Generations. In Japanese she was voiced in those respectively by Yumiko Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and China Kitahara. Same also went for English, where she was voiced by Eileen Stevens (anime), Sarah Natochenny (B2/W2 trailer) and Mela Lee (Generations).

It also happened with Iris. In the main anime she was voiced by Aoi Yuuki and Eileen Stevens for Japanese and English respectively, but in Generations she was instead voiced by Rina Hidaka and Cherami Leigh.

Granted, the B2/W2 and OR/AS animated trailers as well as Generations relate to the games, an entirely separate universe from the anime, but you get the idea. But then, even if May returned to the anime, they could have Kana Hanazawa fill in for KAORI.
 
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2,688
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18
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I know that in the Japanese version of the OR/AS animated trailer, May was voiced by Kana Hanazawa which is a different VA entirely. Sure, it was a trailer related to the games and not the anime, but she would make a decent substitute for KAORI, assuming if they had to recast the role.

Bianca also had different VAs to her normal anime ones in her B2/W2 animated trailer appearances (such as the English dub of that trailer having Eileen Stevens voice her instead of her usual English anime VA, Erica Schroeder) so it's something that's not unheard of before. Same also goes for the Japanese, where she had Shizuka Ito in the anime and Ayana Taketatsu in the B2/W2 trailer.

Elesa also had different VAs between the main anime, the B2/W2 trailer, and Pokemon Generations. In Japanese she was voiced in those respectively by Yumiko Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and China Kitahara. Same also went for English, where she was voiced by Eileen Stevens (anime), Sarah Natochenny (B2/W2 trailer) and Mela Lee (Generations).

It also happened with Iris. In the main anime she was voiced by Aoi Yuuki and Eileen Stevens for Japanese and English respectively, but in Generations she was instead voiced by Rina Hidaka and Cherami Leigh.

Granted, the B2/W2 and OR/AS animated trailers as well as Generations relate to the games, an entirely separate universe from the anime, but you get the idea. But then, even if May returned to the anime, they could have Kana Hanazawa fill in for KAORI.

Come to think of it, they did replace Giovanni's voice actor after he died during Battle Frontier for the main anime, though I suspect that was so they could keep JJM on the show.

I'm still not sure about it, though, considering that, as pointed out, the games and animes are different canons, so it's unclear whether they'd replace voice actors with their game versions, and unlike with Giovanni, May really doesn't have much of a direct influence on the plot of the entirety of the anime barring the generation she had direct relevancy in, and to a lesser extent Sinnoh (Giovanni at least has Team Rocket pursuing Ash for who knows how long as a reason to keep him going).
 
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50,218
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Come to think of it, they did replace Giovanni's voice actor after he died during Battle Frontier for the main anime, though I suspect that was so they could keep JJM on the show.

I'm still not sure about it, though, considering that, as pointed out, the games and animes are different canons, so it's unclear whether they'd replace voice actors with their game versions, and unlike with Giovanni, May really doesn't have much of a direct influence on the plot of the entirety of the anime barring the generation she had direct relevancy in, and to a lesser extent Sinnoh (Giovanni at least has Team Rocket pursuing Ash for who knows how long as a reason to keep him going).

I guess the Giovanni example was only to like you said, keep Team Rocket around. Even if that wasn't their plan, Giovanni would have been written out of the anime following Hirotaka Suzuoki's death in 2006, when Battle Frontier was still running and Kenta Miyake replaced him when DP started.
 

CodeHelmet

Banned
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6
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I guess the Giovanni example was only to like you said, keep Team Rocket around. Even if that wasn't their plan, Giovanni would have been written out of the anime following Hirotaka Suzuoki's death in 2006, when Battle Frontier was still running and Kenta Miyake replaced him when DP started.

Even if they weren't to use the old VA, I found out this morning that Disney XD has decided to do another hiatus with regards to the English Dub. Phineas&Ferb has taken over for the weekend and I believe they have something else planned for the weekend of June 2nd(what that is I don't know). What I do know is that starting June 9th, Big Hero 6 intends to take their 9am time slot on Saturdays. Meaning S&M is moving to a new time slot or its going on a long hiatus yet again.

I'm also throwing it out there that the 2nd Season of Sun&Moon will end on Episode 72 or Mallow's brother Episode and start up Season 3 with the Ula'Ula arc. I mean why else would they go on a long break(again) if they weren't trying to extend or lengthen the course of the Anime(while at the same time giving them the excuse to play all the Episodes at once like they did to open Season 2). It would explain why in Australia that they started doing re-runs. Meaning if I'm right, Sun&Moon doesn't have much longer to go and if anyone is to return, its going to happen during Season 3 of the English Dub or in the next 10-15 Episodes on Japanese. It'd also make sense with what the OP posted regarding all this fanart potentially hinting at a new series involving past characters or as promotion for the new Let's Go Eevee games(wherein they'd likely have a season in Kanto again).
 
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50,218
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13
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Even if they weren't to use the old VA, I found out this morning that Disney XD has decided to do another hiatus with regards to the English Dub. Phineas&Ferb has taken over for the weekend and I believe they have something else planned for the weekend of June 2nd(what that is I don't know). What I do know is that starting June 9th, Big Hero 6 intends to take their 9am time slot on Saturdays. Meaning S&M is moving to a new time slot or its going on a long hiatus yet again.

I'm also throwing it out there that the 2nd Season of Sun&Moon will end on Episode 72 or Mallow's brother Episode and start up Season 3 with the Ula'Ula arc. I mean why else would they go on a long break(again) if they weren't trying to extend or lengthen the course of the Anime(while at the same time giving them the excuse to play all the Episodes at once like they did to open Season 2). It would explain why in Australia that they started doing re-runs. Meaning if I'm right, Sun&Moon doesn't have much longer to go and if anyone is to return, its going to happen during Season 3 of the English Dub or in the next 10-15 Episodes on Japanese. It'd also make sense with what the OP posted regarding all this fanart potentially hinting at a new series involving past characters or as promotion for the new Let's Go Eevee games(wherein they'd likely have a season in Kanto again).

This is exactly why I don't like the move to Disney XD in the US. It's because of those stupidly long hiatuses.

Kinda annoying that SM is being replaced by Phineas & Ferb reruns and then Big Hero 6. If a new timeslot isn't announced, then this unfortunately means a hiatus.
 

CodeHelmet

Banned
3,375
Posts
6
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This is exactly why I don't like the move to Disney XD in the US. It's because of those stupidly long hiatuses.

Kinda annoying that SM is being replaced by Phineas & Ferb reruns and then Big Hero 6. If a new timeslot isn't announced, then this unfortunately means a hiatus.

It gets worse in that it appears their reruns at the 4pm slot are being replaced as well if their schedule listed on their official site is anything to go by. It's a good thing I started watching the Japanese dub because I don't know when it will be before it appears in English(and it's rarely as good too).
 
2,688
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18
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  • Seen Aug 29, 2020
It gets worse in that it appears their reruns at the 4pm slot are being replaced as well if their schedule listed on their official site is anything to go by. It's a good thing I started watching the Japanese dub because I don't know when it will be before it appears in English(and it's rarely as good too).

Well, at least I managed to watch Episode 42 and 43 and see Misty again via Pokémon.com's streaming site at this time.

Even if they weren't to use the old VA, I found out this morning that Disney XD has decided to do another hiatus with regards to the English Dub. Phineas&Ferb has taken over for the weekend and I believe they have something else planned for the weekend of June 2nd(what that is I don't know). What I do know is that starting June 9th, Big Hero 6 intends to take their 9am time slot on Saturdays. Meaning S&M is moving to a new time slot or its going on a long hiatus yet again.

I'm also throwing it out there that the 2nd Season of Sun&Moon will end on Episode 72 or Mallow's brother Episode and start up Season 3 with the Ula'Ula arc. I mean why else would they go on a long break(again) if they weren't trying to extend or lengthen the course of the Anime(while at the same time giving them the excuse to play all the Episodes at once like they did to open Season 2). It would explain why in Australia that they started doing re-runs. Meaning if I'm right, Sun&Moon doesn't have much longer to go and if anyone is to return, its going to happen during Season 3 of the English Dub or in the next 10-15 Episodes on Japanese. It'd also make sense with what the OP posted regarding all this fanart potentially hinting at a new series involving past characters or as promotion for the new Let's Go Eevee games(wherein they'd likely have a season in Kanto again).

Well, I'm not watching Disney XD anyways since I don't have cable (and even if I did, I'm effectively on boycott against Disney thanks to rank stupidity they did last year up to today). Still, it being on hiatus definitely isn't a good sign. Didn't even know that Big Hero 6 got a TV show, though. At least I don't have to worry about Star Wars: Rebels, which was not a good show at all (I'm sorry, but I fail to see how the heroes really managed to earn their victories when the Empire by and large is depicted more like Jessie James and Meowth in their most incompetent moments?).

And as far as Sun and Moon's longevity, I'm pretty sure we'll expect it to end soon after they formally announce Generation VIII. To be honest, after Zeraora was unveiled, I'm actually a bit surprised that they HAVEN'T announced Generation VIII or even teased it by now. I know that we've only got Hapu left now, since Ash, if he hasn't already passed his trial with Nanu, is most likely going to do so next week. And then, we're probably going to get the Pokémon League set up by the headmaster of the school, as SM043 earlier implied. Then we'll see if the writers learned their lesson from how they botched up the Kalos league regarding Ash. And hopefully they'll also have Misty and Brock appear in Alola, like what SM043 also indicated, and for Misty in particular to actually resume her Water Pokémon Master goal instead of being forced back into the gym again (I could care less at this point if she rejoins Ash, just that she is actually allowed to pursue her goal).

This is exactly why I don't like the move to Disney XD in the US. It's because of those stupidly long hiatuses.

Kinda annoying that SM is being replaced by Phineas & Ferb reruns and then Big Hero 6. If a new timeslot isn't announced, then this unfortunately means a hiatus.

No kidding, though like I said, I don't really watch Disney XD for a variety of reasons, so it's not like I'm going to be missing out on much anyway.
 
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Iceshadow3317

Fictional Writer.
5,648
Posts
13
Years
It's most likely just fan art I'm guessing.

I know I haven't really kept up with this, but this twitter account, the one linked, is one of the offical animators of the pokemon anime. As I stated, this guy was also one of the people who shared a small clipit of video about a year ago with Ash, Lillie, Pikachu and UB-01 Lusamine. So it isn't fan art.


As for voice actors, some of them, I know Dawn, Gary, and Brock as well as a number of other voice actors still work for them. They just do pokemon and secondary characters though.



A Theory:

After thinking about how they would continue the anime since we have another year of Gen 7. I had a theory come to mind that I didn't think about. And forgive me if some one has mentioned it.

It seems like they are building up the Rainbow Rocket Arc with Giovanni talking to Nanu. I don't know what he said, but he played a pretty big part in it.

We know the Rainbow Rocket Arc deals with alternate worlds or other times. So how about this.

When Giovanni starts messing with the wormholes. This could be a way to bring back almost every character in the anime in some way. Instead of Rainbow Rocket coming to us, what about if Ash and them chased Giovanni through the worm holes?

This could bring back Gary, May, Virgil, Dawn and everyone else I mentioned in the first post. This could take place in alternate worlds were the regions have fallen apart. It could also be a far larger arc than it was in the games.

Ash would have to battle everyone evil team leader again and team up with his old friends.

This would also eventually lead us to the Ultra Recon Squad and Ultra Necrozma, being the grand final of the Alola Saga.
 
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CodeHelmet

Banned
3,375
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I know I haven't really kept up with this, but this twitter account, the one linked, is one of the offical animators of the pokemon anime. As I stated, this guy was also one of the people who shared a small clipit of video about a year ago with Ash, Lillie, Pikachu and UB-01 Lusamine. So it isn't fan art.


As for voice actors, some of them, I know Dawn, Gary, and Brock as well as a number of other voice actors still work for them. They just do pokemon and secondary characters though.



A Theory:

After thinking about how they would continue the anime since we have another year of Gen 7. I had a theory come to mind that I didn't think about. And forgive me if some one has mentioned it.

It seems like they are building up the Rainbow Rocket Arc with Giovanni talking to Nanu. I don't know what he said, but he played a pretty big part in it.

We know the Rainbow Rocket Arc deals with alternate worlds or other times. So how about this.

When Giovanni starts messing with the wormholes. This could be a way to bring back almost every character in the anime in some way. Instead of Rainbow Rocket coming to us, what about if Ash and them chased Giovanni through the worm holes?

This could bring back Gary, May, Virgil, Dawn and everyone else I mentioned in the first post. This could take place in alternate worlds were the regions have fallen apart. It could also be a far larger arc than it was in the games.

Ash would have to battle everyone evil team leader again and team up with his old friends.

This would also eventually lead us to the Ultra Recon Squad and Ultra Necrozma, being the grand final of the Alola Saga.

Hmm even if you might be on to something with regards to your theory(and that Arc would freaking rock), it doesn't salvage or make me forget the horrid plot decisions of the school, lack of Trial Captains and basically having five sidekicks that do just about nothing unless the writers remember they exist.
 
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First off, I highly doubt that they are adapting the RR storyline because TR in the anime has not yet disbanded like they did in the games. Second, I also highly doubt that May is ever returning again because of her VA.
 

CodeHelmet

Banned
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First off, I highly doubt that they are adapting the RR storyline because TR in the anime has not yet disbanded like they did in the games. Second, I also highly doubt that May is ever returning again because of her VA.

They have precedent for using different VA's for several characters, including May(although her instance was for ORAS promotion and technically could be construed as the character "Sapphire" as opposed to May). Its very rare for an Anime to bring back an old character with a different VA but who's to say it won't happen? I mean there is a possibility that Kaori could come back for a guest appearance(I mean its a paycheck....).
 
247
Posts
7
Years
  • Age 24
  • Seen Jan 22, 2023
They have precedent for using different VA's for several characters, including May(although her instance was for ORAS promotion and technically could be construed as the character "Sapphire" as opposed to May). Its very rare for an Anime to bring back an old character with a different VA but who's to say it won't happen? I mean there is a possibility that Kaori could come back for a guest appearance(I mean its a paycheck....).
Japan really doesn't like to replace VAs. I've heard conflicting reports about Kaori. I've heard some reports that she's sick, and I heard other reports that she quit voice acting entirely. Either way, May is very unlikely to ever come back to the series.
 
123
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7
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  • Age 29
  • Seen Jan 24, 2019
Rainbow Rocket is being merged into the Necrozma arc, hence Giovanni being interested in Necrozma.
 
2,688
Posts
18
Years
  • Seen Aug 29, 2020
Japan really doesn't like to replace VAs. I've heard conflicting reports about Kaori. I've heard some reports that she's sick, and I heard other reports that she quit voice acting entirely. Either way, May is very unlikely to ever come back to the series.

Maybe not (and I personally agree she probably isn't going to come back for even a cameo due to KAORI's situation), but on the other hand, it is suspicious that the animator would actually include May among the concept art. Gary and Serena's VAs are still active, and we know thanks to the 43rd episode of Sun and Moon that Misty and Brock are probably going to appear in Alola before Sun and Moon ends. Besides, while rare, Japan HAS replaced voice actors before (though I doubt May would meet the qualifications for replacement). Just look at Giovanni: They replaced his VA after his old one croaked, when they could have easily just written him out.
 
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