Meandering to a Bright Future (Chinese: 捕捉你的蛇年好运Bǔzhuō Nǐ de Shénián Hǎoyùn, transl. Catch Your Good Luck in the Year of the Snake; Japanese: 色違いのアーボDifferently Colored Arbo) is a one-minute animated short based on the Year of the Snake. It was released on Weibo, Douyin, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou in mainland China on January 23, 2025, on YouTube in Japanese and Traditional Chinese and on YouTube Shorts, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok in English on January 29, 2025, and on the South Asian YouTube channels on April 14, 2025.
Plot
Several Ekans lay leisurely in a dense forest. One of them looks around and spots a Shiny Ekans coiled up on a tree's branch. After they make eye contact, it slithers up the tree. The two examine each other and then smile.
Suddenly, a trio of pompous Arbok shows up on the ground, causing the nearby Ekans to scurry away. The Shiny Ekans on the tree leans forward out of curiosity and loses its grip. It falls straight onto one of the Arbok's heads, accidentally knocking it out. Cowering and being stared at and approached by the other two Arbok, the Shiny Ekans levels up as a result and ends up evolving into Arbok, its glow catching the attention of a Serperior far away.
A short while later, the Shiny Arbok leads the other Arbok, and they slither away. The Ekans that previously climbed up the tree watches as the group heads toward the sunlight.
The Western social media uploads of this short do not include the short's title, instead only being posted with the text "Every day is an opportunity to grow—let’s make the most of it, Trainers! 🐍✨".
The descriptions of the Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese uploads of this short mention that the short is based on the Year of the Snake. The description of the English and South Asian uploads do not mention this.
