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Pokémon Officially Returns Next Month With Ash and Pikachu’s New Adventure
Pokémon: Indigo League, the original 1997 anime series following Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, is officially returning to streaming on Disney+ from 7 August. The move gives long-time fans the chance to revisit the franchise's earliest episodes set in the Kanto region, while introducing younger viewers to where the phenomenon began, nearly three decades after it first aired.
The series follows 10-year-old Ash as he leaves Pallet Town hoping to become a Pokémon Master, only to oversleep and miss out on choosing one of Professor Oak's traditional starter Pokémon. He is instead paired with a famously stubborn and disrespectful Pikachu, an awkward pairing that grows into one of animation's most enduring friendships.
In short
- Pokémon: Indigo League returns to Disney+ on 7 August.
- Series marks the anime's original 1997 debut season.
- Follows Ash and Pikachu's earliest, rocky partnership in Kanto.
Explained simply
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise that emerged in the 1990s and became a worldwide phenomenon. At its heart is an anime series that first aired in 1997, following a young trainer named Ash Ketchum who travels across a region called Kanto to capture and train creatures called Pokémon whilst pursuing his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.
Ash's companion is Pikachu, a creature that generates electricity. Though initially reluctant to work with Ash, Pikachu grows increasingly devoted to him over time, and their developing friendship became essential to the story's appeal and helped popularise the franchise worldwide.
The original series holds fundamental importance as the starting point for one of modern entertainment's most successful franchises. For longtime fans, it represents a chance to revisit the episodes that sparked their interest decades ago, whilst younger audiences can now discover where one of the world's biggest entertainment phenomena began.