pop culture
Its not as daunting as it seems
The Pokemon Company
By: Akaash Sharma
Caroline Nash
Published Jan 15, 2024
Considering it is the most valuable media franchise in the world, it’s no surprise that there are constantly people trying to get into Pokémon. Between GO and the resurgence of its trading cards in the past few years, there are likely millions of people that start following Pokémon every year. It can be a daunting task though, with two dozen seasons of the show, a couple dozen movies (check out our viewing guide), over one hundred games, and over a thousand Pokémon. Arguably the best place to start is the show because that’s where the journey itself began. As confusing as it can be, we’ve got you covered below with a breakdown of the Pokemon series in order.
RELATED: Pokemon Card Value and Price Guide: How Much Are Your Cards Worth?
How to Watch the Pokémon Series in Order:
- Indigo League (1997)
- Adventures in the Orange Islands (1999)
- The Johto Journeys (1999)
- Johto League Champions (2000)
- Master Quest (2001)
- Advanced (2002)
- Advanced Challenge (2003)
- Advanced Battle (2004)
- Battle Frontier (2005)
- Diamond and Pearl (2006)
- Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension (2007)
- Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles (2008)
- Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors (2010)
- Black & White (2010)
- Black & White: Rival Destines (2011)
- Black & White: Adventures in Unova / Black & White: Adventures in Unova and Beyond (2012)
- XY (2013)
- XY: Kalos Quest (2014)
- XYZ (2015)
- Sun & Moon (2016)
- Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures (2017)
- Sun & Moon: Ultra Legends (2018)
- Journeys (2019)
- Master Journeys (2020)
- Ultimate Journeys (2021)
- Horizons (2023)
How many seasons are there in the 'Pokémon' series?
Pokémon media is available in abundance. As we mentioned, there have been multiple films, a spin-off series, and multiple mini-series too. But in terms of the main series, there are twenty-six seasons of Pokémon, with the most recent series starting just a couple of months ago.
1. Indigo League
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 82
- Season first aired: April 1st 1997
- Season last aired: January 21st 1999
Ash is given a Pikachu by Professor Oak and meets Misty and Brock on his way to trying to win the Indigo Plateau’s Pokémon League. First, he must get the required amount of Gym Badges in the Kanto region.
2. Adventures in the Orange Islands
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 36
- Season first aired: January 28th1999
- Season last aired: October 7th1999
In this season, Ash collects Gym Badges in Orange Archipelago (a.k.a. the Orange Islands) so that he can compete in the Orange League competition.
3. The Johto Journeys
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 41
- Season first aired: October 14th1999
- Season last aired: July 27th2000
The home of this season is the Johto region, which is located in the west of Kanto and is widely considered to be the best region in Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu are on their quest to collect Gym Badges so they can compete in the Johto League competition.
4. Johto League Champions
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 52
- Season first aired: August 3rd2000
- Season last aired: August 2nd2001
On his way to the Johto League competiton, Ash tries to get more Gym Badges and competes in the Pokémon Sumo Conference along the way.
5. Master Quest
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 65
- Season first aired: August 9th2001
- Season last aired: November 14th2002
Ash finally makes it to the Johto League and finds himself in some of his toughest battles yet, including one with his old rival Gary Oak.
6. Advanced
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 40
- Season first aired: November 21st2002
- Season last aired: August 28th2003
This time around, things switch up a little as Ash is joined by a somewhat new cast of Brock, May and Max as he aims to enter and win the Hoenn League competition.
7. Advanced Challenge
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 52
- Season first aired: September 4th2003
- Season last aired: September 2nd2004
This season continues the quest of the last, but with new battles like the one between Team Magma and Team Aqua getting in the way.
8. Advanced Battle
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 54
- Season first aired: September 9th2004
- Season last aired: September 29th2005
In the show’s eighth season, Ash finally makes it to the Hoenn League competition and eventually returns to Kanto to compete in the Battle Frontier. May continues to get her ribbons too.
9. Battle Frontier
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 47
- Season first aired: October 6th2005
- Season last aired: September 14th2006
The journey to find the Battle Frontier proves harder than usual for Ash and once he gets there, he has arguably the toughest battles yet ahead of him.
10. Diamond and Pearl
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 52
- Season first aired: September 28th2006
- Season last aired: October 25th2007
For the tenth season of Pokémon in Sinnoh, Ash and Brock are joined by Dawn, a novice Pokémon Coordinator who has her own goals in mind.
11. Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 52
- Season first aired: November 8th2007
- Season last aired: December 4th2008
Ash and Dawn, though on separate paths, enter the Wallace Cup competition and Professor Rowan’s Pokémon Summer Academy before going up against Pokémon Hunter J.
12. Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 53
- Season first aired: December 4th2008
- Season last aired: December 24th2009
The twelfth season of the show continues in the Sinnoh region. Ash and Dawn are still up against Team Galactic and Paul.
13. Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 34
- Season first aired: January 7th2010
- Season last aired: September 9th2010
The shortest season of Pokémon ever, Sinnoh League Victors sees Ash get his focus back on qualifying for the Sinnoh League.
14. Black & White
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 50
- Season first aired: September 23rd2010
- Season last aired: September 15th2011
Ash and his mother accompany Professor Oak on his way to Unova and when he arrives, Ash is overwhelmed by the new Pokémon there.
15. Black & White: Rival Destines
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 49
- Season first aired: September 22nd2011
- Season last aired: October 4th2012
This season, Ash finds himself against Alder, who despite a goofy front, is the Champion Master of Unova.
16. Black & White: Adventures in Unova / Black & White: Adventures in Unova and Beyond
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 45
- Season first aired: October 11th2012
- Season last aired: September 26th2013
Season 16 of Pokémon is the only season to be split up into two parts. Luckily for fans, they didn’t have to wait long though. The first part finished airing on April 18th2013 and the second part started a week later.
17. XY
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 48
- Season first aired: October 17th2013
- Season last aired: October 30th2014
In XY, Ash and Pikachu explore the Kalos region with their new friends Clemon, Bonnie and Serena. They look into the new Mega Evolutions.
18. XY: Kalos Quest
Pokémon TV
- Number of episodes: 45
- Season first aired: November 13th2014
- Season last aired: October 22nd2015
Ash continues his quest to win eight Gym Badges so that he can enter the Kalos League.
19. XYZ
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 47
- Season first aired: October 29th2015
- Season last aired: October 27th2016
Ash, Serena, Clemon and Bonnie continue to explore Kalos. Here, they encounter Team Flare and meet Alain, a Mega Evolution Trainer.
20. Sun & Moon
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 43
- Season first aired: November 17th2016
- Season last aired: September 21st2017
The twentieth season of Pokémon is the introduction to Alola and new faces Kiawe, Mallow, Lana and Sophocles pop up.
21. Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 49
- Season first aired: October 5th2017
- Season last aired: October 14th2018
Still at the Pokémon School, Ash and Pikachu explore the Aether Foundation, which might have some dark secrets under the surface.
22. Sun & Moon: Ultra Legends
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 54
- Season first aired: October 21st2018
- Season last aired: November 3rd2019
Pokémon School students are now Ultra Guardians. Ash continues to complete Grand Trials and find Z-Crystals.
23. Journeys
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 48
- Season first aired: November 17th2019
- Season last aired: December 4th2020
Ash meets Goh and Professor Cerise asks them to become official researchers. Ash continues his quest to become a Pokémon Master and he’s closer than ever before.
24. Master Journeys
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 42
- Season first aired: December 11th2020
- Season last aired: December 10th2021
One of the latest seasons of Pokémon, Master Journeys sees the crew traveling multiple regions, including the newest Galar region.
25. Ultimate Journeys
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: 57
- Season first aired: December 17th2021
- Season last aired: March 24th2023
The 25th season of the Pokémon TV series and the third season of the Journeys iteration, this entry premiered as Master Journeys was wrapping up. It follows Ash and his friends as they journey through all eight regions and Ash continues his ascendence amongst the World Coronation Series. This is a big season for fans of the series because it concludes the premise of Ash and Pikachu as the central protagonists.
26. Horizons
Pokémon
- Number of episodes: TBA
- Season first aired: April 14th2023
- Season last aired: TBA
Horizons introduces Liko and Roy as the new main characters of Pokémon. Liko is a shy girl from the Paldea region and heads to the Kanto region to begin studying at the Indigo Academy, where she meets Roy.
This series is not yet available to stream in the US, but will launch on Netflix on March 7th.
Where can I watch the 'Pokémon' series?
Up until recently, the easiest way to watch Pokémon was on the Pokémon TV app, which is one of the few apps that you can download from the Nintendo Switch eShop if you have a Switch, or just on any device otherwise. However, on January 8, 2024, they officially discontinued the service. Users who already have the app downloaded will be able to use it until March 28th of this year.
While the service did not have every season, it was a hub for a lot of the Pokémon series to be watched in one place. Hopefully, Pokémon will make some deals with streaming services to get some of this content back online and accessible. Any season that is available on Prime Video, Hulu, or Netflix, we've reflected in the above list.
For a full breakdown of where every Pokémon series is available to watch, head to the official website.
How to watch the Pokemon movies in order:
As of right now, there are 24 movies in addition to the aforementioned Pokemon series. There isn't a location where you can watch all 24, but a lot of them are available to stream on Hulu and Prime Video. While most of the movies used to be available on the official Pokemon website, now they have provided an easy guide with info on what streaming services you can use to watch the movies (and series).
For more information on the Pokemon movies in order, check out our full guide.
Slide 1 of 3
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