Pokémon originally launched as a Japanese anime television series on 1 April 1997, when Pokémon – I Choose You! introduced the world to a ten-year-old trainer from Pallet Town and the Pikachu who refused to get in his Poké Ball. The English dub followed in September 1998, and Pokémania has been in full swing ever since — the show has now run for more than 1,300 episodes across 28 seasons, spawned 23 feature-length movies and dozens of specials and shorts, and is broadcast in well over a hundred countries.
The series ties in directly with the main Pokémon video games — each new generation of games brings a new region, a new travelling party and a fresh roster of Pokémon to the anime, so the seasons map neatly onto the games you were playing at the time. Ash Ketchum’s journey took him through Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola and Galar before he finally became World Champion and passed the torch; Pokémon Horizons picked up the story in 2023 with new heroes Liko and Roy and the Rising Volt Tacklers.
In Japan the show is organised into long-running series (the original series, Advanced Generation, Diamond & Pearl and so on), while English-speaking broadcasters split it into roughly year-long seasons of 40–52 episodes with their own titles and logos. Our guides follow the English season structure, because that is how most of us watched it — and how the DVDs, box sets and streaming services are organised — but every episode guide lists the Japanese episode numbers, titles and air dates alongside the English ones.
- 28seasons (25 + 3 Horizons)
- 1,300+episodes since 1997
- 9regions travelled by Ash
- 23theatrical movies
Click any season below to explore its story arcs, characters and companions, Gym battles and tournaments, opening and ending themes, a complete episode list with original synopses, home media releases, dub changes and trivia.
The Original SeriesSeasons 1–5 · Kanto, the Orange Islands & Johto · Japan 1997–2002
Advanced GenerationSeasons 6–9 · Hoenn & the Kanto Battle Frontier · Japan 2002–2006
Diamond & PearlSeasons 10–13 · Sinnoh · Japan 2006–2010
Black & WhiteSeasons 14–16 · Unova & the Decolore Islands · Japan 2010–2013
XYSeasons 17–19 · Kalos · Japan 2013–2016
Sun & MoonSeasons 20–22 · Alola · Japan 2016–2019
JourneysSeasons 23–25 · Galar and a tour of every region · Japan 2019–2023
HorizonsA new cast · Seasons 1–3 · Paldea & beyond · Japan 2023–present
Looking for a specific episode or arc? Browse all our anime posts for banned episodes, episode guides and more, or head over to the Pokémon movies index to see how each film fits into the season it was released alongside.