It's not the same.
...Also isn't that one dude a Gym Leader? I mean, I guess Misty and Brock were too but it's interesting that they're going back to that trope...
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[quote]...Also isn't that one dude a Gym Leader?[/quote]Yep. I watched the first episode subbed a while back out of curiosity, and they explain it as Ash doesn't know he or his little sister are part of a Gym (the series starts in Luminose City) and they have some sort of respect for how he feels about his Pikachu. So I suppose they follow him for that. I'm skeptical that he'll be a permanent follower, though. Also [spoiler]He almost beats Pikachu with a newly caught Pokemon. Total B.S. since Pikachu should seriously be level 99 or 194839734 by now. Ridiculous that anything is a challenge for it, still.[/spoiler]
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[spoiler]Someone should freaking tabulate every single pokemon Pikachu has fought over the anime, trying to estimate the relative level based on how much trouble it gives Pikachu in the fight, and calculate what level he should be currently as a result.[/spoiler]
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New but old, like the Megas and the Origins animu. Yeah, he's a gym leader. A step down from traveling with the Unova champion