The Correct Order To Watch The Pokémon Franchise

In 2025, a time when we have dozens of new anime shows every couple of months and enough fans with different tastes that it takes a lot of effort for a single show to become a viral phenomenon, it’s easy to forget just how big of a cultural movement “Pokémon” was.

Based on the already hugely popular video game property of the same name, Studio OLM’s “Pokémon” anime was an instant success not only in Japan but abroad too. It kickstarted Pokémania and became a global phenomenon, making fans out of millions of kids and paving the way for a wave of anime titles aimed at kids like “Digimon.”

The original iteration of the anime follows Ash Ketchum, a kid who — when he turns 10 — ventures out into the wilderness on a journey to catch every single Pokémon and become a Pokémon master. That’s right, a 10-year-old lives alone in the wild with no money, job, or education, and only his critters for company, all the while constantly fight bandits hellbent on kidnapping his companion Pikachu.

The impact of the original “Pokémon” anime extends well beyond its original release. Even 25 years later, the series made waves when real-life sports outlets around the world covered the results of a fictional “Pokémon” tournament and Ash’s achievements.

Whether you’re a newcomer wanting to experience Poké-fever for yourself or a veteran wanting to revisit this iconic franchise, really the only correct way to experience “Pokémon” is to go by its release dates (mostly). Taking into account the many movies in the franchise, this is the correct order to watch the “Pokémon” shows and movies:

• “Pokémon Indigo League” (1997)
• “Pokémon: The First Movie” (1998)
• “Pokémon Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution” (2019)
• “Pokémon Adventures in Orange Islands” (1999)
• “Pokémon The Movie 2000 — The Power of One” (1999)
• “Pokémon The Johto Journeys” (1999)
• “Pokémon 3: Spell of the Unown” (2000)
• “Pokémon Johto League Champions” (2000)
• “Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi- Voice of the Forest” (2001)
• “Pokémon Master Quest” (2001)
• “Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias” (2002)
• “Pokémon Advanced” (2002)
• “Pokémon: Jirachi, Wish Maker” (2003)
• “Pokémon Advanced Challenge” (2003)
• “Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys” (2004)
• “Pokémon Advanced Battle” (2004)
• “Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew” (2005)
• “Pokémon Battle Frontier” (2005)
• “Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea” (2006)
• “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl” (2006)
• “Pokémon The Rise of Darkrai” (2007)
• “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension” (2007)
• “Pokémon Giratina and the Sky Warrior” (2008)
• “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles” (2008)
• “Pokémon Arceus and the Jewel of Life” (2009)
• “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors” (2010)
• “Pokémon Zoroark – Master of Illusions” (2010)
• “Pokémon Black and White” (2010)
• “Pokémon Black – Victini and Reshiram” (2011)
• “Pokémon White – Victini and Zekrom” (2011)
• “Pokémon Black and White: Rival Destinies” (2011)
• “Pokémon Kyurem vs the Sword of Justice” (2012)
• “Pokémon Black and White Adventures in Unova and Beyond” (2012)
• “Pokémon Genesect and the Legend Awakened” (2013)
• “Pokémon XY” (2013)
• “Pokémon Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction” (2014)
• “Pokémon XY: Kalos Quest” (2013)
• “Pokémon Hoopa and the Clash of Ages” (2015)
• “Pokémon XYZ” (2013)
• “Pokémon Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel” (2016)
• “Pokémon Sun and Moon” (2016)
• “Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Adventures” (2017)
• “Pokémon Sun and Moon: Ultra Legends” (2018)
• “Pokémon Journeys” (2019)
• “Pokémon Master Journeys” (2020)
• “Pokémon Ultimate Journeys” (2021)

After that, we have the current “Pokémon” anime (which doesn’t feature Ash and is unconnected to the previous story):

• “Pokémon Horizons” (2023)
• “Pokémon Horizons — The Search for Laqua” (2024)

There are also three films set in an alternate timeline that are not considered canon to the main anime and instead have their own continuity:

• “Pokémon I Choose You!” (2017)
• “Pokémon The Power of Us” (2018)
• “Pokémon Secrets of the Jungle” (2020)

Finally, there are specials released online that are unrelated to the main story, but expand on the world of “Pokémon.” Since there is no connection between the specials, you can watch in any order you want. These are mostly available on the official “Pokémon” YouTube channel (save for the Netflix series “Pokémon Concierge”):

• “Pokémon Generation” (2016)
• “Pokémon: Twilight Wings” (2020)
• “Pokémon: Arceus Chronicles” (2022)
• “Pokémon: Hisuian Snow” (2022)
• “Pokémon Concierge” (2023)

The “Pokémon” franchise is very straightforward when it comes to continuity. There are no alternate ways to watch the series and movies; you simply have to follow the order they were released in.

Why? It’s because the “Pokémon” anime property followed the progression of the games, which introduced a new set of Pokémon with each new generation. Still, there is some continuity to the shows as well. Across the franchise, Ash says goodbye to many of his Pokémon, and even to his friends and companions, before meeting new ones. You shouldn’t, for example, jump from “Indigo League” to “Master Quest” because you’ll miss out on what happens to Misty, and how May and Max come into play.

As for the movies, though they are unconnected from the plot of the TV show, they do feature the Pokémon and companions of their respective seasons. Hence, they should be watched before you go into the next season and the next Pokémon region.

The “Pokémon” anime series has very little in terms of serialization. There are no long storylines that carry on from one season to another. That being said, they do still follow the same continuity — one that can only be properly experienced when watching the show in release order.

Take Ash’s friends, the many traveling companions he has during his journey. With every season (and every region Ash visits), the 10-year-old loses a companion and wins another one. Not watching in release order means losing track of this continuity, as well as potentially missing out on some of the best characters in the franchise. Later in the show’s run, there’s also the formation of the Ultra Guardians, a storyline that does come into play over the course of several seasons.

There is also the simple matter of the animation evolving throughout the many years “Pokémon” has been on the air. There is a clear and rather cool progression from the limited animation of the early seasons to the last few season having some legitimately impressive fight scenes (ones that are comparable to those in the best action anime out there).

Much like every other major anime franchise that gets feature film spin-offs, the many, many “Pokémon” movies are entirely disconnected to the series and not necessary to watch in order to enjoy the show. Still, they serve as big-budget adventures that showcase the might of the different Pokémon creatures as well as the wonders of the larger world of the franchise.

Though the unconnected nature of the movies means you can watch them independently of the series, they nevertheless follow the same order as the anime’s seasons. Each movie features the same generation of Pokémon critters and companions as their respective seasons, so they should be watched in the same order — that of their release. When “Pokémon: The First Movie” came out back in 1998, it featured the Pokémon we had followed for the entire first season of the anime while teasing the appearance of a few new Pokémon — ones that would make their debut in “The Johto Journeys.”

Mind you, just because the movies are unconnected from the anime doesn’t mean they should be skipped. As mentioned, the fact they don’t have to follow the story of the anime, nor have the anime follow up the movies’ storylines, gives them the opportunity to explore some wild concepts that make them entertaining to watch, be it Ash being somehow the subject of a prophecy, Latias being able to disguise itself as a human, or Ash quite literally meeting God.