Original series

Pokémon the Series: The Beginning and Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver, collectively referred to as Pokémon (Japanese: ポケットモンスター Pocket Monsters), as Pokémon the Series: The Beginning in AsiaPokémon the Series: The Beginning at the Pokémon official site for Asia, as (Korean: 오리지널 시리즈 original series) in 포켓몬 애니 공식 채널 on Twitter (Korean)「포켓몬스터: 성도지방 이야기, 최종장」 특설 사이트 (Korean), and by fans as the original series (Japanese: unnamed saga), are the first series of the Pokémon animated series in Asia (including Japan) and the first and second series of in the West. The series is based on the events of the core series Generation I and Pokémon games, respectively. It was succeeded by . It ran from April 1, 1997 to November 14, 2002 in Japan and from September 7, 1998 to October 25, 2003 in . They were not given English names until after the release of .
During the original series, rookie Ash Ketchum begins his in the Kanto region, leaving his home of Pallet Town with the only first partner Pokémon that had left to give: a reluctant and moody . Ash's quest begins in earnest to defeat all of the Gym Leaders and get to the Pokémon League as soon as he has gained Pikachu's trust, and he is joined by two mentors, and .
After competing in the Indigo Plateau Conference and not performing as well as he had hoped, Ash journeys to the Orange Islands to receive the GS Ball from Professor Ivy, as it cannot be transported to Professor Oak by PC. During his time there, Ash competes in another Pokémon League, the Orange League, and meets a new named Tracey Sketchit. When Oak cannot figure out how to open the GS Ball on Ash's return to Pallet, the Professor sends Ash to Johto to give the special Poké Ball to Kurt. While there, Ash again competes in a Pokémon League, the Silver Conference.
Episodes in the original series are numbered with EP on Bulbapedia. For a complete episode listing, see the list of original series episodes.
==Blurb==
It’s Ash Ketchum’s tenth birthday, and he’s ready to do what many 10-year-olds in the Kanto region set out to do—become a Pokémon Trainer! Things don’t go exactly the way he planned when he ends up with a Pikachu instead of a standard first Pokémon, and winning Gym Badges turns out to be much tougher than he thought. Luckily, he’s got former Gym Leaders Brock and Misty at his side, along with a bevy of new Pokémon friends, including Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander.
==Chapters==
In Japan, the original series is officially divided into three chapters; their titles were officially rendered in English in Pocket Monsters Film Comic. These chapter titles are not used within the episodes themselves, but were retroactively titled as such in later releases, including VHS and DVD releases.
* Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター) (EP001 - EP080)
* Pocket Monsters Episode: Orange Islands (ポケットモンスター オレンジ) (EP081 - EP116)
* Pocket Monsters Episode: Gold & Silver (ポケットモンスター ) (EP117 - EP274)
The sale-only VHS Gym Battle Complete Pack: Masara Town Arc, the rental-only VHS Pocket Monsters TV Special: Masara Town Arc Recap, and promotional material for the Episode: Gold & Silver VHS and DVD release retroactively titled the first chapter as Pocket Monsters: Town Arc (ポケットモンスター マサラタウン).
The following logos were subsequently used on the official site from 2002 to 2020, though the color of the text underneath has changed over the course of several site redesigns. The 2020 site redesign replaced the individual Episode: Orange Islands and Episode: Gold & Silver logos with the generic logo.
Original series logo.png|Pocket Monsters logo
Original series Orange Islands logo.png|Pocket Monsters Episode: Orange Islands logo
Original series GS logo.png|Pocket Monsters Episode: Gold & Silver logo
==Dub seasons==
When the series was dubbed into English and other languages, it was divided between five seasons:
* Pokémon: Indigo League (EP001 - EP017, EP019 - EP034, EP036 - EP037, EP039 - EP051, EP054 - EP057)
* Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands (EP052 - EP053, EP058 - EP116, Holiday Hi-Jynx, Snow Way Out!)
* Pokémon: The Johto Journeys (EP117 - EP157)
* Pokémon: Johto League Champions (EP158 - EP209)
* Pokémon: Master Quest (EP210 - EP249, EP251 - EP274)
The titles for the first two seasons are not used within the episodes themselves, but were retroactively titled as such in later releases. On televised airings and Region 4 home video releases, the last 12 episodes of Master Quest are counted as part of Pokémon: Advanced.
Season1 logo.png|Pokémon: Indigo League logo
Season2 logo.png|Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands logo
Season3 logo.png|Pokémon: The Johto Journeys logo
Season4 logo.png|Pokémon: Johto League Champions logo
Season5 logo.png|Pokémon: Master Quest logo
Pokémon TV and Prime Video additionally divide it instead into two distinct series:
* Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, consisting of the Kanto and Orange Islands episodes. (EP001 - EP116, Holiday Hi-Jynx, Snow Way Out!)
* Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver, consisting of the Johto episodes. (EP117 - EP274)
Pokémon the Series The Beginning logo.png|Pokémon the Series: The Beginning logo
Pokémon the Series Gold and Silver logo.png|Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver logo
==Movies==
* Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back
* Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One
* Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown: Entei
* Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: The Voice of the Forest
* Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias
==Home video releases==
===North American home video releases===
* List of English language Indigo League home video releases (Region 1)
* List of English language Adventures in the Orange Islands home video releases (Region 1)
* List of English language The Johto Journeys home video releases (Region 1)
* List of English language Johto League Champions home video releases (Region 1)
* List of English language Master Quest home video releases (Region 1)
===Australian home video releases===
* List of English language Indigo League home video releases (Region 4)
* List of English language Adventures in the Orange Islands home video releases (Region 4)
* List of English language The Johto Journeys home video releases (Region 4)
* List of English language Johto League Champions home video releases (Region 4)
* List of English language Master Quest home video releases (Region 4)
===Japanese home video releases===
* List of Japanese language original series home video releases
==Gallery==
:For more images, please see artwork from the original anime series on the Bulbagarden Archives.
===Posters===
Original series poster.png|Japanese teaser poster
Original series poster 2.jpg|Japanese teaser poster
Original series poster 3.jpg|Japanese poster
Original series poster Amazon.jpg|Japanese poster
Original series.png|thumb|Episode: Gold & Silver poster
Original series poster Asia.png|Pokémon Asia poster
===Main characters===
Ash OS 1.png|Ash Ketchum
Pikacheeks.png|Pikachu
Misty OS 2.png|
Brock OS anime.png|
TraceyEP.png|Tracey Sketchit
Team Rocket trio OS 4.png|
===Rivals===
Gary OS anime.png|Gary Oak
Ritchie Artwork.png|Ritchie
===Supporting characters===
Professor Oak OS anime.png|
Nurse Joy OS.png|Nurse Joy
Officer Jenny OS.png|Officer Jenny
==Trivia==
* Originally, this series was meant to last for a year and a half, approximately as long as the Kanto saga would have lasted, had the EP038 incident not happened.
* This is the only series of in which 's is based on two different generations of the core series Pokémon games, being based on both Generations I and .
** This is also the only series of Pokémon the Series where Ash places in the Top 16 of a Pokémon League Conference, his lowest placing to date.
*This is the only series in which:
** All of its dub seasons are dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment.
** Episodes are animated traditionally or by using cels.
** No CG animation is used outside of s.
** No Mythical Pokémon appear outside of movies, although there were later-scrapped plans for a to appear during the Johto saga.
** At least one movie does not feature any Mythical Pokémon at all.
* At 274 episodes, this is the animated series's longest series.
** This series also has the most dub seasons, with five.
** This series also contains the most movies of any series, with five.
** This series also has the most banned episodes, with a total of seven.
* The first 40 episodes were originally aired in in the United States in 1998 before moving to in 1999 for the remaining 12 episodes of Pokémon: Indigo League.
* Throughout the English dub versions of the Johto saga, the narrator refers to the group as being "On the road to Johto". Though it would be more correct to say "On the road through Johto", he could have just been referring to the Johto League.
* Out of all series in the animated series, this one features the most .
** This series also features the most characters of the day of any series.
* The name of the Kanto region is never mentioned in this series.
* In the episode A Marathon Rivalry!, Ash and mention having heard of Pokéathlon during their travels in Johto during this series, despite this never being shown and the competition only being introduced in Generation IV.
* Excluding , all the Pokémon Ash catches in Kanto and the Orange Islands would later go on to gain a Mega Evolution, a regional form, and/or a Gigantamax form for their current or later stages.
==In other languages==
Pocket Monsters
Pocket Monsters Episode: Orange Islands
Pokémon the Series: The Beginning
Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver
==References==
==External links==
* Pokémon the Series: The Beginning PV
* TV Tokyo (Japanese)
==Related articles==
Category:Series of the Pokémon animated series
de:Originalserie
es:Serie original
fr:Cycle 1
it:Serie originale
ja:ポケットモンスター (1997-2002年のアニメ)
zh:寶可夢（動畫首作）