The new Pokémon animated series introduces the world’s best Pokémon dad

polygon.com:

Between several miniseries and Pokémon ASMR videos, the official Pokémon YouTube has introduced a new gem to its collection. Announced at the most recent Pokémon Presents stream, Pokémon: Path to the Peakis a series that follows a girl named Ava and her journey to becoming a competitive Pokémon Trading Card Game player. It’s an earnest story that captures both the joy of being a new fan and the nostalgia of a long-term one.

The animation production is from Taiko Studios, the studio behind the short film One Small Step. Fans of the Pokémon anime will notice immediately that it’s not done in a typical anime visual style. The visuals have a slightly more 3D look that I would associate more with a Pixar movie.

The story follows Ava as she moves to a new town, and joins her school’s Pokémon club to make friends. Although I was initially skeptical of the premise — I wasn’t sure if watching a child play the TCG would make a compelling story — this is actually the series’ strength. The story explores a more relatable side to being a Pokémon fan. Pokémon don’t actually exist in this world, but the love of the series is real and we see that interest nourished by her family and friends. Better yet, the series portrays two kinds of relationships to Pokémon. Ava captures the big-eyed wonder of experiencing something new, whereas the dad embodies the love of a long-time fan.

And while the series has hinted at the mom’s secret past with Pokémon — Ava plays her mom’s deck when she competes — the dad has been an absolute star so far. In one particularly endearing clip, we get to see him embarrass Ava and belt out “Pokémon World” only to see Ava and her friends join in and sing along moments later.

Through the dad, we get to see an