The next season of the Pokémon anime is a globe-trotting adventure that will take place in every region from the mainline Pokémon games. Yet Ash Ketchum and his new companion will be based in the Kanto region, as new details about the series have revealed that Ash will be working with a new Pokémon Professor in Vermilion City.
Ash Ketchum recently won the Alola League, which led to speculation that he would be retiring as the protagonist of the series or that the Pokémon anime would receive a reboot. It turns out that the next season of the Pokémon anime is changing its format and will involve adventures in every different region. Ash will focus on Pokémon battles and his new companion (who is subtly named Go) will try to catch all of the Pokémon.
Ash and Go's adventures will be based in Vermilion City, where they will operate out of the Sakuragi Laboratories building. According to Serebii, Ash will be dealing with a new Pokémon Professor named Professor Sakuragi and his lab will be the hub for the next season. Sakuragi has a daughter named Koharu (seen below) who owns a Yamper. It's said that Koharu is a childhood friend of Go, suggesting that they are both natives of the Kanto region.
It might seem strange to use a new Professor in the Kanto region, as Professor Oak has been part of the Pokémon anime since the first episode. However, the change is likely due to real-life circumstances. Professor Oak's long-time voice actor in Japan, Unsho Ishizuka, passed away in 2018. Kenyu Horiuchi stepped in for the role of Professor Oak, but it's possible that the staff of the show want to respect the passing of Ishizuka. It seems they may gradually phase Professor Oak out of the show, at least for the time being.
It's possible Ash and Go will be based in the Kanto region because of some kind of technology that will allow them to travel great distances. This would also explain the laboratory setting. Fans won't have long to find out, as the next season of the Pokémon anime debuts in Japan on Nov. 17, 2019.
Source: Serebii