What If Pokémon Sword & Shield Anime: The Complete Series 

For all of Journeys' faults, I massively respect how Zac was able to meld things that it did well into the rewrite, like giving closure to the Aether family, all the Masters 8 cameos, as well as the final battle with Leon being the uncontested high point, while also managing to give almost every single Galar character, Gen 8 Pokémon and new form a spotlight and do the Darkest Day plotline better than Sword and Shield themselves. The amount of passion and love in this project is staggering and it deserves to be celebrated

OMG, I just realized that 151 episodes are a direct nod to the fact that 151 Pokemon were originally introduced in Kanto!

Zacian: *dumped at Oak's lab* Kanto-Kalos teams: *First time?*

This is genuinely one of the greatest pieces of fan fiction I've ever seen. You captured the spirit of the anime from OS-XY perfectly. It genuinely felt like I was watching a plot synopsis of a regular pokemon series. Great job Zac can't wait for Paldea!

I gotta say, this man did Galar way better than Journeys ever did. Although i honesty preferred the Journeys format more than just an Galar anime, but this is 👍

Was surprised by how much I was surprised. Urshifu changing forms, ash catching zacian, and ash actually becoming a champion. This was such a good What if? series, with so many twists and turns. Someone needs to animate this.

You can say all you want about the games, but you can't deny that it had the best depiction of the gym league we've seen in the franchise. It was a shame that the pokemon anime couldn't adapt it to the show. It's so great that you were able to capture the great possibilities with your videos.

Having seen every episode of this series before this compilation & the epilogue, I got to say you could easily be a writer for the anime, because you got the style down to a science. A very rare fan work that gets as great as the source material. It's not perfect & a few moments aren't all that great, but the highs are through the roof, outweigh any negatives & show a lot of passion. The fact you have a huge understanding on how the Pokémon anime works & to make a fan project that rivals the show when it gets really well made shows you have achieved high results. Plus you did Hop's character extremely well & made his arc even better to the point your version of him rivals being my favorite version of him, which is saying a lot with how he's one of my favorite rivals in the games.

Glad I finally got time to sit back and watch this amazing story unfold. This only pushes me to work on my series more, create interesting characters, storylines and more. Zac, FANTASTIC series. Can't wait to see what you do with Paldea and that story and I only hope mine is as half as good!

Beyond proud of all the work you’ve put into this project bro. The true Pokémon Sword and Shield anime ❤

Ive read countless fanfics over the years and have found some fantastic stories. This is definitely one of them. It feels realistic to the anime and how it would go about things while also being well written and extremely enjoyable.

It's sad that is gonna be the end of What If series but what an incredible time we had with the story

Everyone but Ash and Team Rocket need British VAs.

Highlights of this series: Ash being looked as a goal to many of the trainers here due to his champion status in Alola. Hop, Marine, and even Bede whether he admits it or not. This also led to Ash being comfortable of being one of the strongest to the point where he was caught off guard when everyone around him suddenly got a lot stronger. This is similar to what happened with Sawyer in the X and Y series except this one is even more intense because it was Hop and Marine who suddenly got a lot stronger. This led to Ash’s humiliating defeat to Piers which then led to Ash starting over and remembering his principles to always keep improving. Gloria had some decent development despite the fact that Gloria was clearly the smarter and more responsible of the group. Her studies in Dynamax play a crucial role in uncovering the Darkest Day as well as providing support to others. Her best performance would be during the Darkest Day where she taught everyone how to control the Dynamax as well as leading the assault against the rampaging Dynamax Pokémon. Her development with Toxtricity was great as well. Toxtricity did not trust Gloria due to the Dynamax incident and it took forever for Gloria to win it over. However, her tenacity and dedication to befriending Toxtricity won it over. We even see her understanding with Toxtricity when it rampaged again. Unlike before where Gloria defeated Toxtricity, this time Gloria chose not to attack and get through to it. Hop probably had the best developments out of any of the characters. He started off gung ho but weak as he did lose quite a bit. While losing didn’t bother him at first, it was after he was crushed by Bea, humiliated by Bede, and then failed to stop Bede is when he became lost and depressed. He tried to rethink his strategy by using different Pokémon but that only made him worse. It was only through Ash that Hop realized what he needed to do. We then see Hop’s massive improvement where he starts sweeping the competition like what Leon did in Journeys. (That doesn’t exist) This not only shows how strong Hop is which didn’t really show in the game, but also influenced he can be with Ash and Leon. Ash’s Pokémon: Unlike many times in the anime where a few of Ash’s Pokemon rarely get any wins, Torkoal, Torterra, Noivern, and Sir Fetch’d, here all of Ash’s Pokemon get at least one highlight victory. There are a few that take a little more loses than the rest being Corviknight and Centiskorch, however their big wins more than make up for it. And I’m not talking about in the beginning like Torterra. Near the end where it matters the most. Even Ash’s ace being Urshifu has an appropriate win/lost score. Urshifu definitely had some great wins but it wasn’t through bullshit means like Lucario. It was through actual effort. Speaking of Ash’s Pokémon, we got the return of Ash rotating Pokémon as well as getting redemption for those who have lousy win/lost records. Pokémon like Torterra, Noivern, and Torkoal getting some wins, Gliscor being the MVP in the battle against Bede, taking out Gardevoir who was causing a lot of trouble for Ash and getting a draw with Rapidash so Melmetal isn’t at a disadvantage against Hatterene. Also, it also showed that Ash was using his Pokémon more carefully as he chose his team based on the type of Pokémon his opponents specialize in as well as focusing on mostly his fully evolved Pokémon or Pokémon that have techniques that could be helpful like using Buizel against Melony to use the Ice Aqua Jet. Ash didn’t bring out Pokémon like just for energy cause while energy is important, you can’t win with that alone. While it does mean that we miss out on some action from some fan favorites like Rowlet, Talonflame, Staraptor, and Swellow, it does show that Ash is fighting smarter. (Now that I think about it, Ash didn’t really use any regional birds aside from Corviknight. I can understand not using glass cannons like Talonflame but Swellow can tank electric attacks.) Side Character Protrayal: There is a slight difference in how the side characters were portrayed in here compared in the game. Mainly Marine and Bede. Both had their core personalities but like Hop, their strengths were really shown here than in the games. Especially with Marine’s Grimmsnarl taking out Ash’s heavy hitters like Snorlax, Torterra, and even Incinaroar. It really showed how far they have come since the beginning. Ultimately this series was very great and I loved watching it. My only gripe is that it makes me want to have this as an actual anime which will probably never happen. Honestly, the Pokémon anime could be a lot better if the company hired Pokétubers to write the story. But regardless, great job Zach! I hope you continue with these series. And just to remind you guys about the time where Zach was sponsored by Pokémon itself which is insane!

i’m so glad Gou was integrated at least in a small way 😭😭 i love Gou so much;;and having him be a shiny hunter….while keeping his pokedex goal…even in an AU he is STILL just like me fr

It's genuinely impressive how much this feels like the actual anime. Rewatching this series has really made me appreciate how well you wrote Hop as a character. Also, as a Team Rocket fan, I really appreciate how much better written they are in this series compared to Journeys.

Gotta love Regigas and it's "These hands are rated E for Everyone" mentality during the Crown Tundra Arc

Ok. We all agree that Journeys was non canon fan fiction and this is what really happened? Good.

Cant wait to see the full series from start to end After: OML THIS WAS AMAZING!!!! ASH CATCHING ZACIAN?! URSHIFU?! HOPS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, A LOT OF ASH’S OLD POKÉMON RETURNING!!! SEEING PENNY IN THE CREDITS IS HYPEEEEE! THIS WAS AN AMAZING SERIES!

Don't be sad at the end, be glad for the journey... and look towards tomorrow. This was an amazing series, a great adventure to follow, from start to finish. The writing was great, having an animation to follow along with was nice for comprehension... it's clear you put time and effort into it. Thank you for this, Zac. I hope to see you again in Paldea!

Hop vs Bede in that tournament is the redemption Hop SHOULD'VE received in the SwSh games. I was so excited to see that chapter

wow… Zac I have no words. From the laimar region the re writing your own series. The blood sweat and tears you put into your videos never seem to not amaze me. Incredible job 💙

This series clearly shows how much you care about this anime. I used to have to read summaries of the episodes after they aired in Japan, and this series felt like I was reading through one of those official Serebii summaries way back when. This felt so legit! It's amazing how much effort, energy, and attention to detail you put into this masterpiece. I loved Journeys, I'm a fan of Horizons, and while I wouldn't necessarily choose all the same mons, they all definitely FELT like Ash Pokémon! This was so good. I don't know if you're thinking about doing a Paldea version, cos that would be super hype! But if not, I'm glad that you did at least this one! Such an amazing job, this one!

You should bee a writers for the Pokemon series. This is world's better than Pokemon Journeys and gives the games and characters as a whole the respect they deserve. This series, as a whole, needs to exist.

This defiantly was this man's peak series that he has every done; I'm sad it has ended, but the fact we got this at all make me happy. I defiantly have some other ideas as to how I would of had the anime, but this is way more solid and put together than I could ever do it. Can't wait for the Gen 9 one!

HOLY HELL!!!! that was incredible. I was so enthralled, honestly listening to that, quite a few times I had a crystal clear picture in my head of that as the anime. The battles, the humour, the Pokémon. Beyond incredible. Nice work

This…this right here is what we should've gotten for the Gen 8 anime instead of whatever Journeys was. Zac you did a phenomenal job at creating this series and although I'm sad it's now over, I'm so excited to see what else you have in store for our boy Ash. Very much well done good sir 🔥

The Sword & Shield story was the best it deserved all the love it gets 🗡️🛡️

This is the greatest what if pokemon series ever made. The arcs, the characters, the battles. You have made the perfect series my guy. Was not expecting that final catch of Zacian for Ash but it was a welcome surprise. Can't wait to see what you will do next. I hope you have a damn good one.

After this, I'm looking forward to see Ash in Paldea, but i think Zac should wait until Gen 9 is overall done and maybe even wait until Horizons is finished because he could use some ideas.

This is Peak. Why isn't this the real thing?! It's amazing, and you did such a great job! If only we went to Paldea next ...

I find it so funny that galarian yamasks evolution condition is SO BAD that a whole episode was made out of it here

I’m gonna miss this series I always looked forward for it every week this is probably my favorite thing Zac done and way better then journeys

Even as someone who had a pretty negative view of Gen 8 as a whole (outside of Arceus), I have to say you absolutely knocked this one out of the park! It served as a brilliant What If, you did a great job with the authenticity, and the writing style and structure felt like something right out of the official show! I also love how you handled the Sinnoh Festival and the evolution of Dawn's Quilava, not only did it feel authentic, but it felt like brilliant bookends, given she got it in the very similar Johto Festival back in Diamond and Pearl. You also managed to make Hop a much more engaging character, which I applaud! The story divergences and version-exclusive characters/events were mixed together and integrated beautifully (Victor, both of Calyrex's steeds, the version-exclusive gym leaders, Klara and Avery, etc), while also giving the more standalone Expansion Pack characters their own place in the greater narrative! Absolutely beautiful! If I were writing this I'd only make a couple of small changes - First, I'd give Victor the victory in the curry-making contest, since its his thing and it'd give him his moment to shine (as wonderful as Gloria is, she gets plenty of moments to shine already, while this was Victor's only real chance). Second, the Hisui temple felt rather forced, since there isn't any real reason why all of this historical Sinnoh stuff would be in Galar (so it felt a bit forced, even if they'd absolutely want Legends Arceus promo. Sun and Moon had a lot of narrative dictated by marketing obligations, Lana's Eevee being the most egregious example). I'd have them be transported to the past for an episode or two (similar to the dimensional travel in the Zeraora two-parter in Sun and Moon) via a space-time distortion and go to Hisui itself for a bit (maybe have them join someone like Mai for a short adventure). Those two things aside, this was a fantastic watch, and I had a big smile the whole way through! Keep up the great work, and we'll all see you in Paldea! I'd love to see you tackle the Sun and Moon style next, since the academy's school theme and central location in the region makes it perfect for the format!

It's really great to see how everything has come together. I like how you actually added some extra details to earlier episodes like 12 and 13 to show more of the plot. I didn't expect much more than the missing episodes being added, so that was a nice surprise. It was also nice seeing some improved animations as well. Ash and Hop catching Zamazenta and Zacian was very unexpected, but I suppose it's fitting since Gloria has Eternatus.

The lead in for what i can only assume is the next series being Ash feeling lost and unsure after gaining champion status? Literally perfect, that's what they should've done in Journeys (a statement that's getting said a lot at this point 😭)

Congrats Zac!! What an awesome series you made much love ❤

Better than Journeys.

Ash really had a great journey in galar can't wait for his paldein journey (although I still want him to have a paradox pokemon and a meowscarada).

Gonna be a crazy morning going to have to push back my walkthrough stream for this

You gotta do a Paldea arc for Ash where he teaches new students

My calculations might be a bit off to some since we might not all share the same views of what should count, but here are the win rate percentages! Pikachu (Galar) - 71% (27W, 10L, 2T) Pikachu (Overall) - 67% (140W, 65L, 9T) Rillaboom - 66% (16W, 8L, 1T) Corviknight - 57% (17W, 13L) Drednaw - 64% (16W, 9L) Centiskorch - 59% (9W, 7L, 1T) Urshifu - 64% (11W, 6L, 1T) Zacian - 50% (1T) Buizel - 42% (7W, 10L, 1T) Hawlucha - 53% (10W, 9L) Gible - 50% (3W, 3L) Infernape - 74% (18W, 6L, 1T) Melmetal - 67% (4W, 2L) Torkoal - 39% (5W, 8L, 1T) Gliscor - 35% (3W, 6L, 1T) Leavanny - 56% (4W, 3L, 1T) Heracross - 37% (3W, 5L) Scraggy - 59% (5W, 3L, 3T) Incineroar - 64% (7W, 4L) Snorlax - 75% (12W, 4L) Noivern - 36% (2W, 4L, 1T) Torterra - 39% (7W, 10L) Lycanroc - 62% (8W, 5L) Krookodile - 71% (5W, 2L) Charizard - 70% (19W, 8L) Sceptile - 55% (17W, 14L, 1T)

I am super sad that this series going to end, I loved watching it😭😭

The fact that this is 200 times better than the swsh anime js just proof how much a RU-vidr can do.

ASH CAUGHT ZAICAN!! THIS IS THE BEST WRITTEN ANIME EVER!!

The series was great, I hope you do one on Ash going to Paldea and any other future regions.

Damn In the first 5 minutes you made wobbufett do something actually useful. We haven’t seen wobbufett so useful since x and y. And making meowth have an actual fight against gmax pikachu is nice.

If I’m gonna be honest, I really like journeys, especially the ending. But It did come with the cost of actually travelling around galar. This galar region is so awesome, and I really like it. You did an amazing job Zac, and I liked the surprising twists and turns.

I’m honestly kinda sad that this series is going to end, I’ve really enjoyed watching it!

Zactoshi had inspired me to do my own What If Ash was in Galar, which i am doing right now.

OK ZAC, THAT WAS AN ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENTLY WELL EXECUTED SERIES AND THE ENDING WAS JUST BEAUTIFUL.

I just binged this series this past week and I WISH so badly that this is what we actually got. You've retroactively given me a better appreciation for Galar and its Pokemon after both the games and the anime were a letdown for me. While I'm loving Horizons as it is so far, I would absolutely love to see another series in this style from you in the future from a "what if Ash went to Paldea" angle. Keep up the great work man!

Episode 13 was Mystery Dungeon Galar Addition

thank you soo much im currently in hospital and in lots of pain but people like you who put in so much effort make me so happy and lets me forget my struggle ill deffinetly enjoy this

As much as I do love the actual pokemon journeys anime, I still love that Zac did a rewritten story for journeys, it was so well written and fun to hear 😄

OMG THE EPILOUGE WENT HARD

Incredible series by an absolutely incredible person! You’ve done an amazing job with this series Zac, I can’t wait to see what’s next! And massive props for going back through every single episode just to add the backpacks lol, that’s dedication

Now that the sword and shield anime is over you should update the ash pokemon tier list and add the sword and shield i would love to see how these pokemon stack up agaisnt the rest

If this was real I would binge watch the entire series

Great job with using the dlc as season 2/3

I know this is just fan-fiction, but it is, hands down, the most exciting fan-fiction I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to see what you have up next…but…I do want to see what you would rank each episode in 10 words or less, just as something fun

3:18:33 “BEYBLADE BEYBLADE LET IT RIP! LETS FIGHT AND HAVE A BATTLE!”

This was PEAK FICTION! I loved it all from the beginning to the end, this is FAR better than journeys and aim to be mid! And I love it! I’m psyched for paldea. Zac, you made this series GOD tier! Solid props to you bro!

I’m rlly impressed by how well made this is, from the character arcs to the editing that fills in rlly well for animation, and the pacing of everything, I rlly enjoyed this

It was four ours of my life watching the whole series and it was competly worth it, I loved how some of the older scenes were reanimated and the epilogue of the show was great with Hop and Ash capturing Zacian and Zamazenta, the gang's situation after Ash's battle with Leon and the random shots and drawings of Ash, Gloria and Hop's journey through Galar as well as Ash's individual pics with some of his pokemon and the last collective pic of his Galar team. I'm probably going to miss your fantasy sword and shield but also have high hopes for Scarlet and Violet. Keep up the good work while also having yourself "A damn good one!"

Amazing series. Truly spectacular Zac. You've made me want to do this sort of Pokémon storytelling for a while and I can see the standard is set very high! Truly a joy to watch and go through!

Hop - Norfolk Accent. Gloria - Scottish Accent. Miner - Yorkshire accent. Milo - Welsh accent Chairman Rose and Professor Magnolia - Received Pronunciation Bede - Cockney Sonia - Essex Team Yell - Brummie Marnie - Scouse Allister - Midlands Raihan - West Country Clara - Chav Master Mustard - Posh Colonel

This has gotta be one of the best pokemon fan projects of all time, Thank you for making this wonderful series.

Zac you have outdone yourself once again. I was very surprised at the ending when Ash and Hop caught the legendaries. The episode count referencing the original 151 was a nice touch. Can't wait to see what the future holds. Well done. Also I wonder what does "Next time, The Final Chapter" mean, a sendoff perhaps?

Congratulations on something that was nothing short of a fantastic and fun telling of a Galar Series, genuinely inspiring for others to write and try out the same thing! Also I ironically binged the entire series yesterday when I was working so to find the finale today was awesome! Thank you for an awesome experience, I don’t know if you still plan to do these in the future but if you do, please know that you, like Zanolith, have a real talent for storytelling. P.S. How in the hell do you do your editing? Like… seriously you animate action of your series so freaking beautifully!

This was such a perfect rewrite. This gives gen 8 the justice it deserves. I know it'll be hard to find one better than this

verry good vid it takes so much time to write this long of a story and edit it you deserver so much more recognition

Ok this series is so good! Every character is done so well (especially Hop who was basically a one time gag in journies) can’t wait to see what you do with SV! Keep up the good work

I'm enjoying the story about Ash travelling the Galar region and I'm looking forward how it all end

I love the final pic at the end & that Ash caught Dacian because look at that happy doggo like look at him I do hope you do one in Paldea next becuase that's sounds soooooo cool! other wise I had so much fun listening to this! :3

Bro is down bad for sonia

i rather watch this than pokemon journeys :)

I love being here from the very start, I love this series and everything you do ❤️

Your fan-made anime does Sword and Shield the justice that the actual anime never did. Way to go, man!

Bird up chain

Wow.. what an incredible journey! This was the anime series Sword and Shield deserved! Phenomenal job, Zac!! 👏👏👏

I hope that you make a Scarlet and Violet anime as well with Liko Roy and maybe our boy Ash, this was amazing Zac you are the best Pokétuber ❤

I don’t remember the last time I watched through anything that was 4 hours long in one sitting. This was awesome dude! It was like experiencing a real season of the anime!

2:15:05 IS THAT HISUIAN TYPHLOSION?!?!

gen 8 is my second fav and you did peak to show us this masterpiece

Silver Storm suddenly, based pick of song!

woah, this is amazing! loved all of this. the calbacks to previous adventures, the battles, all of this is amazing! incredible work!

Oh man this was AMAZING! The ending theme got me a little misty eyed, it all wrapped up so well. I’m curious, do you plan on covering Paldea or was the ending just a neat teaser?

Its funny how he keeps saying sonia like that 😂

To me this is Ashs cannon galar adventure

Fantastic job.on the series Zac! I'm really proud of all of the work you've put and had so much fun watching it all unfold!

Can we just appreciate how he explained 10-20 episodes a video in 11 minutes when in reality it would've took over 3 hours to watch them.

It was an amazing ride to the end!! The ending song was so good it gave me goosebumps, sad to see it go but this series was a ton of fun 😭

Great job! I enjoy it very much. Hope you are planning a sequel of this story with Paldea arc

i cant get over how perfectly written this is i just keep rewatching it like i truly cant stop

I've rewatched this so many times already, it's so good. I cannot wait for the Scarlet and Violet anime, anipoke writing team hire this man

Holy shit my heart is racing!! This was beyond incredible and fantastic I loved everything about the way you handled the characters and the story, making something new with the classic Pokémon format, while also adding elements from Journey And Ash's team was created perfectly, I loved every single one of them The return of almost all aces giving them the proper spotlight was beautiful And with all of that being said, I can confidently say Toxtricity is my favorite character here

If this was a real anime, it prob be my favorite, great story-writing, Zac!

this was only 4 months ago? wow. honestly, i still watch it just causally and i love this so much. i can’t wait for the rest of your scarvio anime!

I have the win rates for Ash's Galar team; Pikachu: 20 Wins 6 Losses 2 Ties 75% Rillaboom: 13 Wins 6 Losses 1 Tie 68% Corviknight: 17 Wins 11 Losses 61% Drednaw: 13 Wins 8 Losses 62% Centiskorch: 9 Wins 6 Losses 1 Tie 59% Urshifu: 15 Wins 4 Losses 1 Tie 78% Zacian: 1 Tie 50%