- Obvious, but questions about the Pokémon Anime (i.e. episode titles, air dates, characters, etc) - You're also welcome to ask questions about this section and even suggest ideas you may have. - Questions that are not permitted here are "Where can I watch episode ___?" And for those who do ask, a given answer with a link to an illegal site that contains Pokémon episodes will lead to a given infraction for Illegal Content. ​

What is the Pokémon Anime? Pokémon (Pocket Monsters) is a series of video games originally thought up by Satoshi Tajiri based around the adventures of a boy or girl (The playable characters) who set out to try and become a Pokémon Champion. The Pokémon animé is a television series based off of these games in order to promote them further. The animé series follows the adventures of a boy named Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) from Pallet Town (Masara Town) with his trusted companion Pokémon, Pikachu as he tries to achieve his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. Why doesn't the animé follow the story of Pokémon Special? The animé was created before Pokémon Special and as a result doesn't follow this manga's story. How old is Ash? Is he still 10-years-old? Or is he 11? Ash is a ten-year-old boy. This was re-confirmed by the narrator at the beginning of the Japanese debut of the series Pokémon Best Wishes. What is the "official" gender of Ash's Pikachu? Ash's Pikachu is 100% male. Will Ash ever become a Pokémon Master? Will he age? Will he ever be replaced? According to Masamitsu Hidaka, the former Director of the animé and a current storyboard artist, if Ash does become a Pokémon Master it would signify the end of the show. It was also stated that he wouldn't be replaced nor would he ever age. How old are the other main characters? Are any of them older than Ash? The only main character confirmed to be older than Ash is Brock (Takeshi) who is 15-years-old. Misty (Kasumi), May (Haruka), Dawn (Hikari) are also 10-years-old. Tracey Sketchit (Kenji) doesn't have a revealed age and Max (Masato) is 7-years-old. The age of Iris and Dento are currently unknown. What is a "Pokémon Master"? The term has never been explained in the animé at any point. When will the animé end? It is unknown when the animé will end. Most fans believe it will be when the games it is based off of stop being made. Will Misty ever return as a main character? According to Masamitsu Hidaka, she will not return as a main character. Who is Ash's father? What about Dawn's? Ash's father is a Pokémon Trainer traveling on his own who may or may not appear later on in the series. It is unknown who Dawn's father is. Why can Pikachu's electric attacks harm Pokémon that are immune to them? Pikachu's first win against a Pokémon that was immune to its electrical moves was Brock's Onix. While it may have looked as though Pikachu's electric-type moves affected Onix, in perspective it was Pikachu's attack that set off the sprinkler system which caused Onix to be drenched in water. Another famous victory that Pikachu gained was its battle against Rhydon, which rose the well-known quote, "Pikachu, the horn!" As Rhydon's weakness is its horn - a certain type of metal. In other cases, Ash's Pikachu is considered to "far exceed its evolutionary level," or so it was said by Meowth, which leads to the case that this Pikachu in particular is relatively "a special case." Why did the voices change? In 2006, 4Kids Entertainment lost the rights to the animé and the dubbing had to be handled by Pokémon of America (Now The Pokémon Company International). The voice actors were changed because they couldn't work on the new dub due to alleged contract reasons. Does the animé use numeric levels? No, the animé doesn't use numeric levels. The idea was brought up during the 9th episode of the Original Series "The School of Hard Knocks" (Pokémon Victory Manual) while the animé was originally made only to be up to the end of Kanto. Why don't characters catch Legendary Pokémon? Takuto did. In the anime, it is said that the capture of a Legendary Pokémon may lead to great catastrophe. This has been shown in the case of Lawrence III in Pokémon 2000 trying to capture the three Legendary Birds (Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres). At the same time, it has been shown that a capture of a Legendary Pokémon may not cause any harm; an example being, Brandon, who owns the three Regis. In the case of the main characters, it is said that if Ash obtains a Legendary he will be too powerful or he may focus so much on the Legendary Pokémon, that there will be less focus on his other five. While there is no exact answer for why the main characters don't catch any Legendaries, there are a various amount of reasons why they shouldn't or may not ever. What do you mean by "Original Series"? Are there any more series? "Original Series" is simply a term used to describe the time when Ash was traveling through Kanto, the Orange Archipelago, and Johto. Episodes within this series are labeled as "EP###" most of the time. The "Advanced Generation" is a term used to describe Ash's adventures though Hoenn and Kanto, while he was challenging the Battle Frontier, and the episodes are usually labeled as "AG###". The "Diamond and Pearl" series is a term for Ash's adventures in Sinnoh. The episodes in this series are labeled as "DP###". "Best Wishes" is a term for Ash's adventures through Isshu and the episodes are labeled as "BW###". ​

What was the first episode aired in Japan and America? When did they air? The first episode aired in Japan was EP001 "Pokémon - I Choose You!", which aired on April 1, 1997. The first episode aired in America was EP015 "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" (Battle of the St. Anne!) on September 7th, 1998. How long was the Kanto saga, the Orange Archipelago saga, and the Johto saga? The Kanto saga took place between EP001 "Pokémon - I Choose You!" and EP081 "Pallet Party Panic" (Masara Town! Setting Off on a New Journey!). The Orange Archipelago took place between EP082 "A Scare in the Air!" (Blimp Accident?!) and EP116 "The Rivalry Revival" (Rival Showdown! Satoshi VS Shigeru!). Shigeru is Gary for those who were wondering. The Johto saga took place between EP117 "Don't Touch That 'Dile" (Wakaba Town! Where Winds of a New Beginning Blow!) and EP274 "Hoenn Alone!" (Parting With Pikachu…!). Wakaba Town is New Bark Town. What's so important about Ho-Oh? There is no significant meaning behind Ho-Oh. It is mainly a plot device to show that Ash is special. Some believe it is used to symbolize the start of a new adventure; seen when Ash started his journey, and again when he left to Hoenn with Pikachu alone. What happened to the GS Ball? The GS Ball was a device to have Ash go to Johto in the first place. The writers originally intended for Celebi to be in the GS Ball but dropped that idea and instead put Celebi as the star of the fourth movie. ​

How long was the Hoenn saga? What about the Kanto Battle Frontier? The Hoenn saga was between EP275/AG001 "Get the Show on the Road!" (A New Land! A New Adventure!!) and EP419/AG145 "Pasta La Vista" (Fighting Dojo! Satoshi VS Haruka!). The Kanto Battle Frontier began with EP420/AG146 "Fear Factor Phony" (Esper VS Ghost!! Midnight Duel!?) and concluded with EP466/AG192 "Home Is Where the Start is" (End of a Journey, and Then the Start of a Journey!). Esper is the Japanese term for Psychic-type Pokémon and Ghost is Haunter's Japanese name.​

How long was the Sinnoh saga? The Sinnoh saga began with EP467/DP001 "Following A Maiden's Voyage!" (Setting Off! From Futaba Town to Masago Town!!) and concluded with EP657/DP191 "Memories are Pearls! Friendship is a Diamond!". Futaba Town is Twinleaf Town and Masago Town is Sandgem town. Was there an arc between Diamond and Pearl and Best Wishes? No, the Diamond and Pearl series lasted four years since it first aired and was followed right after by Best Wishes. This is about the same time it took the Advanced Generation and Battle Frontier arc to finish. ​

How long is the Best Wishes series? Has it aired in English yet? Best Wishes aired on September 23, 2010 in Japan. The saga begins with BW001 "To The Isshu Region! Zekrom's Shadow!!" but has yet to end. The air date for its English premier was February 12, 2011 as a one hour special. What happened to Brock? Brock is no longer a main character in Best Wishes. After the Diamond and Pearl Saga, Brock decided to head back to Pewter and work on becoming a Pokémon Doctor.​