Pokemon is a series that has been consistently coming out since the late 90s and is managing to still going strong today. It’s safe to say that it is a very successful anime series, especially when you consider that the show is actually a spin-off of the games that came before it. That being said the show has been going on you might be confused about where to start. The Pokemon watch order is a question a lot of people who get into the anime will likely be asking themselves, so we’ve put together a watch order to help you out with that!
With this watch order explanation, we are only going to go over the main anime series and timeline, focusing on the adventures of Ash Ketchum and his dream to become a Pokemon master and catch em all!
With all that being said, let’s get into it!
Pokemon Plot:
The plot of the main Pokemon anime focuses on Ash Ketchum, a boy who at the age of 10 starts his journey to become a Pokemon master. His journey first starts with getting his first pokemon, a Pikachu from his town’s lead pokemon researcher, Professor Oak. At first, the pair don’t get along, with Pikachu frequently using his thunderbolt attack on Ash but after Ash protects Pikachu against a flock of flying pokemon, the two become partners and set out on ASh’s quest to defeat the gym leaders and the Elite 4 of the Kanto region.
Throughout the series, Ash is joined by several companions on his journey, the first and likely most iconic pair being Misty, the leader of the Kanto region’s water-type gym, as well as the Kanto region’s rock-type gym leader, Brock, who both join up with As after he bests them in a Pokemon battle. Those two have the longest adventures with Ash, especially Brock, but eventually both leave and Ash adventures with different sets of companions during his trip through the Pokemon world’s various regions.
Pokemon Watch Order:
For this Pokemon watch order we will be focusing on the main series, no spin-offs or movies. Luckily the Pokemon series is basically just one continuous story, so the release order of the anime is also the chronological one. We will also be going with the release dates of the first episodes when they aired in Japan because that’s when they first dropped.
- Pokemon: The Beginning/ Indigo League (1997 – 1999)
- Pokemon: Gold and Silver (1999 – 2002)
- Pokemon: Advanced Generation Ruby and Sapphire (2002 – 2006)
- Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl (2006 – 2010)
- Pokemon: Best Wishes! / Black & White (2010–2013)
- Pokemon: XY (2013 – 2016)
- Pokemon: Sun & Moon (2016 – 2019)
- Pokemon: Journeys (started in 2019 and currently airing)
Pokemon Film Watch Order:
Now we will cover the movie timeline. This will only be about the movies that connect to the main anime series. These films are canon up to Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel. Often, a movie takes place chronologically between the episodes between which it premieres in Japan. This means that, like the show, the release date of the movies also lines up with the chronological place in the anime’s timeline. These movies function a lot like filler episodes, with their events generally having no real effect on the anime’s storyline
- Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)
- Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999)
- Pokémon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown (2000)
- Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi – Voice of the Forest (2001)
- Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias (2002)
- Jirachi Wish Maker (2003)
- Destiny Deoxys (2004 )
- Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005)
- Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006)
- The Rise of Darkrai (2007)
- Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2008)
- Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009)
- Zoroark Master of Illusions (2010)
- White Victini and Zekrom (2011)
- Black Victini and Reshiram (2011)
- Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (2012)
- Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013)
- Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014)
- Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015)
- Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016)
- I Choose You! (2017)
- The Power of Us (2018)
- Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution (2019)
- Secrets of the Jungle (2020)
Where You Can Watch The Pokemon Series Online
Now that you know the Pokemon watch order, let’s find out where you can go to actually get started on the series. Here we’ve listed a few of the more popular websites and services where you can get started!
Netflix
Netflix currently carries a few seasons of the show, including the Indigo League and Journeys seasons. There are also a few movies in the catalogue.
PRICE:
Netflix has three different plans. The basic one costs 8.99 USD per month, and the most expensive one costs 17.99 USD per month.
How to Watch Pokemon on Netflix Anywhere in the World
This method works on both desktop PCs and mobile phones or tablets.
- Purchase (or start a free trial) of a VPN. I can confirm that NordVPN works for this purpose.
- In the settings, choose United States as the country.
- Fire up the VPN and wait for it to do its magic
- Once you’re connected, navigate to Netflix (browser or app)
- Search “Pokemon” in the Netflix search bar and you should see the anime pop up.
Enjoy! Please note that if your Netflix library doesn’t update to reflect the country you selected in your VPN, you may have to clear the Netflix cache first and try again.
To do this on mobile, go to settings -> apps -> Netflix -> clear cache. To do this on PC, you have to clear the cache in your web browser.
I’ve had no trouble using this method and I still use NordVPN to watch anime from various Netflix country libraries daily.
Prime Video
Prime Video currently has more recent seasons of the series, including Sun & Moon, Black & White and XY.
PRICE:
The most affordable package for Amazon Prime starts at 8.99 USD per month. You can also pay 12.99 USD per month or 119 USD per year for the most premium experience.
Now that you know the Pokemon watch order, why don’t you check out our watch order explanation for other super popular shows like Naruto!
