What Happened To Brock After He Left The Pokemon Anime?

Now that he’s returning in a Pokémon Journeys: Arceus special, what becomes of Brock after his journey in the Pokémon anime draws to a close? Trainers of all experience levels will remember the episode where Ash Ketchum met Brock in the Pokémon anime series. Making his debut in episode 5, Brock is balancing duties at Pewter City’s gym with caring for his gaggle of younger siblings, but he still manages to easily beat a rookie Ash in battle. By training up his Pikachu, however, Ash eventually wins the Boulder Badge… with a little help from the gym’s sprinkler system. Confessing that he’d rather make Pokémon breed than fight (it didn’t sound as weird at the time…), Brock joins Ash and Misty on their journey through Kanto.

The Pokémon anime series first tried dropping Brock in season 2’s “Adventures in the Orange Islands” arc, presumably due to constant HR complaints from Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy. Fortunately for Brock-heads, his replacement (Tracey Sketchit) proved woefully unpopular, and the Pewter City rock specialist was parachuted back into the Pokémon anime in time for season 3’s journey through Johto. Brock would remain among Ash Ketchum’s Pokémon companions from The Johto Journeys in 1999 through to season 13 over a decade later, finally departing at the end of Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors to study toward becoming a Pokémon doctor.

Brock leaves Pewter gym in the capable hands of his brother, Forrest, then leaves to attend Pokémon medical college. However, the ex-companion couldn’t stay away forever. Brocks’ next onscreen appearance comes during a special episode of the Pokémon anime series’ season 16, “Black & White: Adventures In Unova & Beyond.” Still studying to become a Pokémon physician, Brock is on placement out in the field. He bumps into another former Ash companion, Cilan, whose Pansage has just been absolutely trounced by a raging Gyarados. Brock heals Cilan’s downed grass-type Pokémon, before the two trainers team up to cure Gyarados, calming its aggressive attacks. Brock then goes away again until the Pokémon anime’s season 20’s “Sun & Moon.”

In “Alola, Kanto!” Ash returns to his home region and unexpectedly reunites with both Brock and Misty. At this time, Brock remains a Pokémon doctor in-training, and the classic characters stick around for an extra episode to fight an exhibition match at Cerulean Gym. Brock makes another comeback several seasons later in “Sun & Moon: Ultra Legends,” where he’s still learning the ropes of Poké-medicine, and still making largely unwanted advances toward random women. But Brock’s latest Pokémon anime appearance comes in the four-part Pokémon Journeys special aired in January 2022 to coincide with the release of Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Although the episode has yet to premiere outside of Japan, it seems Brock gets another emotional reunion with Ash Ketchum but, more importantly, he has finally been promoted to a fully-qualified Pokémon doctor, and currently works at a Pokémon center in the Sinnoh region.

Brock Harrison may no longer feature regularly alongside Ash Ketchum in the Pokémon anime, but by fulfilling his goal of becoming a medical master, he carries forward the same values of determination and kindness toward Pokémon that were developed during those earlier animated journeys through Kanto, Johto, etc. Regular check-ins with familiar faces like Brock show that even if Pokémon trainers aren’t getting any older 20 years down the line, they’re still moving forward as characters.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3623 Articles Published)

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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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