Just a quick post, as I don't have much time now.
-Hop refused his brother's endorsement and doesn't want them being related to be public knowledge. He doesn't want to be a burden to Dande.
-Mary wants to go to Spikemuth with Hop and Soudo because they won't be able to get near the town if they go alone.
-Shieldmilia is starting to remember what to remember what happened in the Slumbering Weald. She saw two sillhouettes and remembers the word "celebrity".
Also, according to 5ch, Soudo, Mary, and Hop already defeated Melon before the chapter. This means G-Max Lapras has to be showcased later, which means we'll definitely get to see the League Tournament.
I'm telling you guys, there's no way this arc ends in 2022, which also means Kusaka probably knows Gen 9 is not coming in 2022. Late 2022 is either nothing or
Legends Arceus DLC.
And since we won't see the Circhester Gym Battle, we actually have enough room for the entire Spikemuth plot in volume 4. So, the next 3 or 4 chapters is everything from the Team Yell barricade to the Spikemuth Gym Battle, and after that there's news of Dynamax Pokémon rampaging around Galar, kickstarting the postgame storyline and bringing the "Darkest Day" that the preview on volume 4 promised. Maybe Mega also reappears along the way, but given how reuniting with her Pokémon causes Shieldmilia to start remembering things, I think Kusaka will wait a bit more for those last two.
All this focus around the Rivals really makes me think Kusaka will make them Pokédex Holders this time.
And by the way, The Violent Tomboy's theory about Poplar (Opal) endorsing Beet is debunked, since she explicitly says this is training to become a Gym Leader.
But three months ago, when Shieldmilia fought Makuwa (Gordie) someone, I can't remember who, theorized she would get to fight and defeat the remaining Gym Leaders in unofficial matches and this would somehow lead to her being qualified for the League at the last minute. If that is correct, I wonder if Poplar passing the torch to Beet will play a role somehow. Maybe he'll endorse her just to try to prove he can defeat someone endorsed by the Champion or just to make headlines.
Which reminds me, in the postgame story, you don't fight a Dynamax Pokémon in Ballonlea, because Beet has already defeated all of them, and instead you fight him.
By the way, one thing I noticed but didn't mention before. With volume 60 being delayed, volume 62 will be released in March, the same month as PokéSpe's 25th anniversary. Do you think we'll get anything SPECIAL to celebrate?
Mr. Rime is now nicknamed. It's Sutekkin.
So I was right about them "sutekki" instead of "tsue". But it getting a nickname makes me wonder if it'll end up becoming a permanent member of Soudo's team. Rest of SwSh arc? Sure. But what about future arcs where Soudo appears?
Honestly, I actually expect the DLC to be their own arcs. Their stories really don't fit with the current plot, which is about the Gym Challenge. Someone on Tumblr suggested Mustard might be the one who endorsed Hop because he doesn't have a Gym logo on his uniform, and this would be a way to fit DLC content in the arc. I'm not sure if a former Champion would be able to endorse a Challenger, but it's strange that they're offering no clue on who endorsed Hop other than the volumes listing him as a regular Challenger.
If the Mustard theory is correct, I expect the reveal to be in arc's final scene as a transition to the Isle of Armor arc.
And I really think USUM needs to be separated into a chapter. Otherwise they can't explain the plot that Gladion entered the Ultra Wormhole. Sword and Shield hasn’t mentioned the DLC so far, maybe it’s because of such plan.
Yeah, that scene was definitely a USUM arc tease. I'm sure the idea was always to finish with Gladio arriving at Ultra Ruin and recognize it as Hau'oli, setting up parallel worlds. Ultra Ruin is, after all, the only Ultra Beast homeworld that was not mentioned.
Although considering that BDSP/LA is imminent (According to the past, it starts serializing synchronously the fastest and the slowest start serialization after half a year), I’m not sure what they will do with the entire seventh gen.
To be honest, my main worry is how Yamamoto will be able to work on two or three arcs at once on top of the volumes coming out every three months. He already had to split B2W2's chapters into two halves. It doesn't sound like he can draw as fast as he could before. What if that is why Kusaka hasn't been able to get another magazine for PokéSpe?
At this point, I really feel like Kusaka should take a page from the Game Freak-ILCA book and get another artist for at least one of these new arcs.
I'm also worried about timeline convolution with all the chronological zigzag they've being doing since HGSS, but I'll make a proper post on what I think about the next arcs in the future arcs thread when I have time.