The Pokémon Firm has introduced that Ash and Pikachu, the longtime protagonists of the Pokémon anime, are formally getting their stroll into the sundown second on the finish of the present season. Liko and Roy, two new characters accompanied by Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, will take their place later this yr. As such, some longtime followers naturally might wish to relive treasured recollections or atone for seasons they’ve missed earlier than we bid Ash farewell. The difficulty is, the Pokémon anime isn’t nicely aggregated, and discovering the episode or season you need is usually a problem. Allow us to show you how to out.
Which seasons are which?
The Pokémon anime is 25 seasons lengthy, which can sound like quite a bit, however once you divide them up with their corresponding video games and areas, it turns into far more easy to maintain observe of.
- Seasons 1-2, Pokémon Purple and Blue/Kanto
- Seasons 3-5, Pokémon Gold and Silver/Johto
- Seasons 6-9, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire/Hoenn
- Seasons 10-13, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl/Sinnoh
- Seasons 14-16, Pokémon Black and White/Unova
- Seasons 17-19, Pokémon X and Y/Kalos
- Seasons 20-22, Pokémon Solar and Moon/Alola
- Seasons 23-25 Pokémon Sword and Defend/Galar (this season is ready in a whole lot of completely different locations, however Galar is central to overarching tales)
G/O Media might get a fee
42% Off
Hisense 58-Inch ULED LED 4K Sensible TV
TV time
This 58-inch good TV has 4K visuals on a surprising ULED display screen that enhances colour, distinction, and brightness, has Fireplace TV built-in for comfort, and even contains Alexa.
The free choice for frugal followers
In the mean time, the Pokémon anime is most available in three locations: Netflix, Prime Video, and the Pokémon TV app. Nevertheless, none of those has all 1000+ episodes of the long-running present. The Pokémon TV app is the most effective place to begin, and that’s as a result of, in contrast to Netflix and Prime Video, it’s a free service. You’ll be able to obtain the app in your telephone or pill by each the iOS and Android app shops, however if you wish to watch the present on a TV there are alternatives there, too. Pokémon TV is out there on set-top bins like Roku, Apple TV, Fireplace TV, and Android TV gadgets. However if you wish to hold Nintendo exhibits within the Nintendo household, it’s additionally obtainable on the Change eShop, which is one other perk Pokémon TV has over Netflix.
The place issues get sophisticated is beginning with the third season, as Pokémon TV doesn’t have each episode of Pokémon as a part of its service. It has the primary two seasons, which can take you during Ash and Pikachu’s journeys by Kanto and the Orange Islands. Nevertheless, Pokémon TV is lacking a whopping seven seasons between season two and season 10, which takes place within the Sinnoh area and focuses on Pokémon from Diamond and Pearl. This implies it skips over the whole lot of the present’s Hoenn and Sinnoh arcs, and there’s extra skips to return as we hold going. And people aren’t the one lacking seasons there are to take care of. In complete, Pokémon TV app has 10 out of the present’s 25 seasons damaged up into three distinct blocks: 1-2, 10-12, 20-24.
Pokémon TV nonetheless has the primary 112 episodes, so there’s quite a bit to observe totally free earlier than you begin coping with any lacking seasons or want to contemplate paying for a subscription. As a result of it affords a good bit of the present totally free, it’s the best choice for the seasons it has, as you’ll have sufficient episodes to observe that try to be protected canceling a subscription for a unique service whilst you catch as much as the subsequent lacking season. So whilst you can’t see every little thing, it’s nonetheless , formally supported different to different providers for the seasons it has.
The one-stop store
When it comes to episode choice, Prime Video has the most important catalog of Pokémon episodes, however can be the costliest. The primary 22 seasons are all obtainable on Amazon, and most of them come as a part of a Prime Video subscription. There are a number of exceptions, with seasons 6-13 needing to be purchased outright slightly than coming as a part of the service. Notably, half of these can be found totally free on Pokémon TV, as of this writing.
Seasons 16 by 19, which cowl Ash and Pikachu’s journey by the Kalos area, have an additional wrinkle to this. They are often purchased outright, or you possibly can add $2.99 USD a month to your Prime subscription to achieve entry to them by paying for Prime’s Pokémon channel, which provides you entry to those seasons. It’s a bizarre detour, however if you happen to marathon these seasons inside a month you must have the ability to cancel that further subscription shortly.
Prime Video has seasons 20, 21, and 22 as nicely, however these are additionally freely obtainable on Pokémon TV, so that you don’t want to keep up a subscription to observe these.
Netflix’s exclusivity rights
In the case of the newest episodes of Pokémon, Netflix has some unique streaming rights that put it forward of the Pokémon TV app. Seasons 23-25 first aired in English by Netflix, and that’s nonetheless the association The Pokémon Firm has in the present day. That being mentioned, a few of these episodes can be found on Pokémon TV, which implies if you happen to’re with no Netflix subscription, you gained’t want one till the newest episodes. As of this writing, Pokémon TV has as much as the primary six episodes of season 24, with Netflix having unique streaming rights of the rest of the season and the primary 12 episodes of season 25. The service rolls out new episodes quarterly, with Pokémon TV getting these episodes someday later. So, Netflix is all the time barely forward of its free different.
Bringing the massive display screen to the small display screen
Whereas a lot of Ash and Pikachu’s adventures aired on tv, the duo has additionally starred in over 20 films through the years. Virtually all of those can be found by Amazon Prime. Some can be found as a part of a Prime subscription, whereas others require a rental or buy. Notable omissions embody Pokémon Heroes and Pokémon: Jirachi—Want Maker, however the remainder of them are all obtainable by the service. Jirachi—Want Maker might be bought on Vudu, for some cause. Heroes is nearly nowhere to be discovered by official means, besides on Manga TV, in accordance with Roku’s web site. As a Latias fan, this appears like violence towards me, particularly.
One factor to remember, nevertheless, is that Netflix has the Secrets and techniques of the Jungle film and the 3D animated remake of The First Film obtainable to stream proper now. So don’t hire or purchase them if you happen to’ve received a membership over there.
However what about these Ash and Pikachu particular farewell episodes?
For those who’re not seeking to atone for every little thing or go watch previous episodes, you’re most likely right here to seek out out the place you possibly can watch the 11 episodes that may present Ash and Pikachu operating into previous pals because the present provides them a correct goodbye. The primary of those episodes will air subsequent week in Japan on January 13. I think about lots of people who bounced off the present through the years are going to wish to watch these episodes, however do remember that it will likely be a while earlier than they’re obtainable in English.
Sadly, Pokémon doesn’t have any official simulcast, so there’s no authorized choice in the mean time. The Netflix rollout is over 30 episodes behind the Japanese weekly episodes proper now, with every quarterly Netflix launch consisting of round 12 episodes every, so these specials will possible not be made obtainable in English till later this yr. On the plus facet, which means that if you happen to needed to tackle the gigantamax process of rewatching all of Ash and Pikachu’s adventures earlier than these episodes are made obtainable, you’ve most likely received time.
