What better thing to do in a world full of catchable monsters than go on a never-ending quest? The movies and television show of Pokémon revolve around the exploits of Ash Ketchum, a young wannabe Pokémon Master who's eager to tackle new challenges, capture new Pokémon, and defeat the latest round of gym leaders. Join him in a massive slew of movies and television episodes alike as Ash saves the world from the evil forces of Team ________. (The blank depends on where you are in the story.)
Because the movies only somewhat figure into the show, and sometimes contradict what's happening in the anime, these placements are approximations at best. The arcs of the anime have been included for clarification if you're dead-set on watching everything in order. If this is too confusing, it's easiest to just watch the movies that correspond to whichever region Ash is currently visiting in the anime.
Flashbacks that are important to the formation of the world from the movies have been included in this timeline, such as the creation of the universe by Arceus in Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Flashbacks in the television episodes - which tend to only be important to that episode - are not included on this list. (If you want to get that nitty-gritty with your watching, I recommend this massive list of events.)
There are several movies that do not fit into the chronology - I Choose You!, The Power of Us, and Secrets of the Jungle - as these take place in an alternate universe from the anime and the other movies. These films are placed under Release Order only.
The Pokémon animated universe is based upon the game series of the same name. Creating a document that covers both versions of the franchise would be way too large, so they've been separated into two pages.
(This list will likely be revisited and revised. There is, understandably, a lot to sort out. At the moment it doesn't include a bunch of minor specials.)
In-Universe Chronological Order
- Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009, film - intro only)
- Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005, intro only)
- Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram and Pokémon the Movie: White - Victini and Zekrom (2011, film - intro only)
- Pokémon 4Ever (2001, intro only)
- Pokémon: Indigo League (1997, animated television)
- Mewtwo Strikes Back iterations:
- Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998, film)
- Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (2019, film)
- Pokémon: Adventures on the Orange Islands (1999, animated television)
- Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999, film)
- Pokémon: The Johto Journeys (1999, animated television)
- Pokémon 3: The Movie: Entei - Spell of the Unown (2000, film)
- Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2000, film)
- Pokémon: Johto League Champions (2000, animated television)
- Pokémon: Master Quest (2001, animated television)
- Pokémon 4Ever (2001, film)
- Pokémon: Advanced (2002, animated television)
- Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias (2002, film)
- Pokémon: Advanced Challenge (2003, animated television)
- Pokémon: Advanced Battle (2004, animated television)
- Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker (2003, film)
- Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (2004, film)
- Pokémon: Battle Frontier (2005, animated television)
- Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005, film)
- Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon (2006, film)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (2006, animated television)
- Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006, film)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension (2007, animated television)
- Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007, film)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles (2008, animated television)
- Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2008, film)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors (2010, animated television)
- Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009, film)
- Pokémon: Black and White (2010, animated television)
- Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions (2010, film)
- Pokémon: Black and White: Rival Destinies (2011, animated television)
- Pokémon: Black and White: Adventures in Unova (2012, animated television)
- Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram and Pokémon the Movie: White - Victini and Zekrom (2011, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (2012, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013, film)
- Pokémon: Black & White: Adventures in Unova & Beyond (2013, animated television)
- Pokémon: XY (2013, animated television - episodes 1 to 37)
- Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014, film)
- Pokémon: XY (2013, animated television - episodes 38 to 48)
- Pokémon: Kalos Quest (2014, animated television - episodes 1 to 33)
- Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015, film)
- Pokémon: Kalos Quest (2014, animated television - episodes 34 to 45)
- Pokèmon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016, film)
- Pokémon: XY & Z (2015, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (2016, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Adventures (2017, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Mon - Ultra Legends (2018, animated television)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series (2019, animated television)
- Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (2020, animated television)
- Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (2021, animated television - episodes 1 - 4)
- Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles (2022, animated television)
- Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (2021, animated television - episodes 5 - 46)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series - Distant Blue Sky! (2022, animated television - single episode)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series - To Be a Pokémon Master (2023, animated television)
- Pokémon Horizons (2023, animated television)
- Pokémon: Indigo League (1997, animated television)
- Pokémon: Adventures on the Orange Islands (1999, animated television)
- Pokémon: The Johto Journeys (1999, animated television)
- Pokémon: Johto League Champions (2000, animated television)
- Pokémon: Master Quest (2001, animated television)
- Pokémon: Advanced (2002, animated television)
- Pokémon: Advanced Challenge (2003, animated television)
- Pokémon: Advanced Battle (2004, animated television)
- Pokémon: Battle Frontier (2005, animated television)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (2006, animated television)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension (2007, animated television)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Galactic Battles (2008, animated television)
- Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors (2010, animated television)
- Pokémon: Black and White (2010, animated television)
- Pokémon: Black and White: Rival Destinies (2011, animated television)
- Pokémon: Black and White: Adventures in Unova (2012, animated television)
- Pokémon: Black & White: Adventures in Unova & Beyond (2013, animated television)
- Pokémon: XY (2013, animated television)
- Pokémon: Kalos Quest (2014, animated television)
- Pokémon: XY & Z (2015, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (2016, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Adventures (2017, animated television)
- Pokémon the Series: Sun & Mon - Ultra Legends (2018, animated television)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series (2019, animated television)
- Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (2020, animated television)
- Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (2021, animated television)
- Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles (2022, animated television)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series - Distant Blue Sky! (2022, animated television - single episode)
- Pokémon Journeys: The Series - To Be a Pokémon Master (2023, animated television)
- Pokémon Horizons (2023, animated television)
- Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998, film)
- Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999, film)
- Pokémon 3: The Movie: Entei - Spell of the Unown (2000, film)
- Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2000, film)
- Pokémon 4Ever (2001, film)
- Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias (2002, film)
- Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker (2003, film)
- Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (2004, film)
- Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2005, film)
- Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon (2006, film)
- Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2006, film)
- Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (2007, film)
- Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2008, film)
- Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009, film)
- Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions (2010, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram and Pokémon the Movie: White - Victini and Zekrom (2011, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (2012, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (2015, film)
- Pokèmon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (2016, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (2017, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us (2018, film)
- Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (2019, film)
- Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle (2020, film)