It won’t be long before Pokémon Journeys, the new season of the eternal Pokemon anime series, debuts worldwide on Netflix, but there’s still more we don’t know about the show. At least one more mystery’s been cleared up, though, and that’s who will be playing Raihan, Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Galarian dragon-type gym leader.
According to a report in Famitsu, Raihan (known as Kibana in Japan) will be played by voice actor Tatsuhisa Suzuki. Suzuki is a veteran performer, who also played Makoto Tachibana in Kyoto Animation’s Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club – and Ban in The Seven Deadly Sins. Game players will also know him as the voice of Final Fantasy XV‘s Noctis, Final Fantasy XIV‘s Aymeric de Borel, and NieR: Automata‘s Eve. He even sings as vocalist of the band OLDCODEX and has contributed music to various anime series, including God Eater, the Netflix-based Ultraman series, and Heaven’s Lost Property.
As for Raihan himself, he’ll likely play a role in Pokémon Journeys similar to his in-game role. Raihan runs the Hammerlocke gym in Galar and made it up to the top eight in the Pokémon World Championships. Thus, he considers the reigning champ Leon as a rival, though he’s never beaten him in their 10 matches so far. Raihan specializes in dragon-type Pokémon. His signature Pokémon is the Duraludon.
The first 12Â Pokemon Journeys episodes will appear on Netflix June 12, 2020 in the United States and on Canadian channel Teletoon on May 9, 2020. The series suspended production in Japan due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, so delays beyond the first 12 episodes are likely.
