[Spoilers] I think it is pretty much confirmed that series is set in a different universe

[Rad Dudesman]

I was surprised at that error, since Goodra and Greninja are not officially under Ash's ownership anymore. Though, SM did have a new writing team once again and they probably forgot it.

???

Most of SM's writers also wrote for XY.

Only the Director changed.

Testuo Yajima was the Director for XY.

Then for XYZ, Daiki Tomiyasu became the Deputy Director, and he was the Director XYZ031 (the Gadget Festival episode).

Then Tetsuo Yajima left and Daiki Tomiyasu took over entirely for SM.

 

[Rad Dudesman]

One reason I disagree is that Ash always resets to some extent eventually when it becomes easier for the writers. It doesn't need to affect continuity or even be a different Universe.

Sorry, but since we know Ash mentioned his Tauros, that this happened between Johto and Hoenn. That's why he's so stupid. Ash didn't begin to display maturity until deep into the Advance Generation or early in the Diamond and Pearl arcs.

If this is in the same universe as the rest of the series, then there's absolutely no reason to believe that this took place between Johto and Hoenn instead of directly after Kalos.

If it's in the same universe, then it's a direct sequel to XYZ.

If is in a separate universe, then Ash has still traveled through the same regions as his counterpart as he's also shown to remember Flabebe when Rotom tells him to flambe the food.

The most logical conclusion would be that SM Ash is the one from Movie 20 and thus has had different experiences (in the same regions, but still) and met different people than the Ash from XY and before. In the 20th anniversary episode, he made no real reference to the past beyond "We've been traveling for a while" before going on to talk about how much he loves Alola and the people he's met there. There was also a tie-in manga that Ash and Pikachu in Alola fighting Totem Kommo-o, but remembering the beginning of their journey as it happened in the upcoming movie.

 

[Hikamaru]

???

Most of SM's writers also wrote for XY.

It's because of SM's extremely different tone that makes me often believe a new writing team was brought in.

 

[Rad Dudesman]

It's because of SM's extremely different tone that makes me often believe a new writing team was brought in.

It has a different tone because they're going for a different audience than they were with XYZ.

The writing staff is still the same (save for half of the ones that wrote XY leaving), but this is a new series, aimed at a different audience.

And what the sound director said was "the brand new adventures of Ash and Pikachu". By "not a continuation", he meant that it's supposed to viewed as its own thing and not be compared to XY, because it's a new series entirely.

 

[Twilight-kun]

I'm not going to take the word of a sound director at face value (which sound director, anyway? Junichi Masuda? In which case...maybe)

Although since I believe that there's at least four different Ash running around (OS-DP, BW, XY & SM) it's not that much of a stretch for alternate universes, so...

 

[Hikamaru]

And what the sound director said was "the brand new adventures of Ash and Pikachu". By "not a continuation", he meant that it's supposed to viewed as its own thing and not be compared to XY, because it's a new series entirely.

So going by that word, Sun & Moon is a reboot?

 

[Rad Dudesman]

So going by that word, Sun & Moon is a reboot?

It's what we'd call a soft reboot.

Tossing out all previous continuity entirely is a hard reboot.

In a soft reboot, the previous continuity is there, but it's often ignored because it's not important to the new series.

I'll let TVTropes explain it.

You have a classic property, one that's made money hand over fist for you for years, perhaps decades, but now, it's getting a little long in the tooth. Maybe it's dated, maybe recent installments have tarnished its name, maybe it's just bogged down in Continuity Lockout. Perhaps it's just not going well. Or maybe the creators just want to try something new. Resetting the thing to bring in new fans sounds like a good idea, but you're afraid the backlash among existing fans to a Continuity Reboot will be epic in its drama.

What to do? Well, instead of starting over, dip into the Troper Well and pull out a way of explaining you're not really tossing away the classic stories the fans love. No, this is an Alternate Timeline. Or a sequel set sometime after the events of the old series that mentions the things fans loved but quietly neglects or Retcons the things not so beloved. Perhaps it's a Retool where significant parts of the setting are changed and even most of the main cast are replaced going forward. Or a prequel, or a Time Skip, or even a separate adventure taking place somewhere else so you have an excuse not to mention the events of the original series, while not denying they took place.

Contrast Continuity Reboot, where the old story and continuing plot lines are explicitly abandoned and started over.

Tl;dr Instead of tossing out continuity, you just ignore it. That describes Sun/Moon pretty well. As does the retooling aspect, with the setting changing from the usual 8-gyms-then-league structure.

 

[Rad Dudesman]

I'm not going to take the word of a sound director at face value (which sound director, anyway? Junichi Masuda? In which case...maybe)

Although since I believe that there's at least four different Ash running around (OS-DP, BW, XY & SM) it's not that much of a stretch for alternate universes, so...

BW and XY Ash are explicitly the same; he met Alexa and got on the plane to Kalos with her at the end of BW, and got off the plane with her at the beginning of XY.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Didn't we cover this theory before with Best Wishes? I'm seeing this now as a desperation from older fans who want the anime to be "edgy" that caters to them only and not the kids who watch them.

 

[Twilight-kun]

BW and XY Ash are explicitly the same; he met Alexa and got on the plane to Kalos with her at the end of BW, and got off the plane with her at the beginning of XY.

To each their own

 

[Palamon]

This is not an alternate universe of the rest of the anime. Ash is the same Ash, just reset from Kalos, as usual. He left his Kalos Pokemon with Oak, as we learned in episode one of SM. Obviously not an alternate universe. This theory is literally pointless. Doesn't matter if the anime is different from the games. Okay, although Ilima not being a trial captain or even in the anime at all was annoying, but yolo.

 

[Kostas]

Yeah, I believe this isn't an alternate universe too. Also, I'm going to tell this one more time, can you please stay more on topic?

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Well, for the overall topic, I'd leave it in the gray area. On the one hand, Ash still has his Tauros and Charizard, as evidenced by his reference to them. On the other, thanks mostly to the upcoming 20th Anniversary film completely rebooting the original Kanto series via the omission of Misty, Brock, and Gary as major characters and replacing them with people no one would have any reason to be familiar with, as well as Ash apparently being unfamiliar with the various Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys in the world, that does point toward at the very least a soft reboot if not a hard one, and thus does point to Ash being different here.

 

[CodeHelmet]

I wouldn't necessarily call it an alternate dimension or universe with regards to SM(although the Avatar theory is really starting to hit home with me). Its just the same old Ash, dumbed down again because its a new region and are trying something a bit different this Generation. Their story arc just appears to deviate from the game considerably which is probably why people can't seem to follow the anime.

 

[Videreludus]

I am definitely on the idea that Sun & Moon is set in an alternate universe, since that seems to be what this generation has been promoting. With the upcoming Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon being an apparent "alternate story" I think it's fair to say 7th Gen is a reboot, and taking part in a universe completely different to the previous games.

This may explain why Ash hit the reset button even more than he has in the past, in that he not only behaves like an absolute wimp but he also now feels extremely weak, such as when Team Rocket creamed him in SM012 and Hobbes the butler even gave him trouble, to the point he can never seem to win a battle without a Z-Move. The fact he even forgot that Nurse Joys were related adds even more weight to the reset.

As some would know, I have a thing against reboots and alternate stories because it screws up the continuity.

Yeah I hate it too, would have preferred that the series continued from XYZ.

 

[Kostas]

This is the last warning, I already told you to stay on-topic but you insist. This is about discussing a theory about S/M and alternate universe/soft reboot. Not about champions, DP, Sonic (!!), and XYZ. Please behave immediately!

 

[jjc927]

Well the dub at any rate wants to show this series is in continuity with everything from episode 1 with Ash's line in episode 20 about being with Pikachu since he first got him from Oak's lab "a while ago." I kind of wish they did some more flashbacking and had Ash recount his journey from then to Alola as a nod to the long-time followers, but oh well.

 

[Alexander18]

This thread makes no sense. Sun and Moon series is set in same universe as previous seasons. Alola is canon to the other regions.

 

[CidHazard]

^ The show's under suspect of being an alternate until we get proof that it isn't...

There's a noticeable tone change from XY to SuMo, not to mention the new movie that ties into the the series ret-cons the origins of Satoshi and Pikachu... The show could easily prove it's not by having one of the XY characters return for a couple of episodes. Until then there's an argument to be made that this is an Alternate Universe.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

^ The show's under suspect of being an alternate until we get proof that it isn't...

There's a noticeable tone change from XY to SuMo, not to mention the new movie that ties into the the series ret-cons the origins of Satoshi and Pikachu... The show could easily prove it's not by having one of the XY characters return for a couple of episodes. Until then there's an argument to be made that this is an Alternate Universe.

Either that, or having Misty and/or Brock return and make their status as former friends of Ash very explicit. They have as much chances to return as Serena does (in fact, technically, they have more chances at returning due to both goals and the fact that, at least in the case of Brock, he actually outranks both Misty and Serena regarding who the fans want to return in that Japanese poll), not to mention would serve the same purpose of making clear it's set in the same universe as it would if XY characters reappear in the series, if not make it even more apparent that SuMo is not in an alternate universe in spite of what Movie 20 is implying with its plot.

And yeah, I agree. Even with the references to Ash's Tauros and Charizard, there's little to refute it being an alternate universe at this point (especially when some teaser merchandise for M20 implies he'll be capturing the same Pok?mon as in the original series, even including such Pok?mon as Lapras). We need something far more concrete, like actually having Misty, Brock, or even Gary appear in SM and actually make clear they knew Ash before then, like at the start of his journey, even travelled with him or in the case of Gary was a long-standing rival, in order for it to be made very clear it's in the same universe as the mainline anime.