When did the first Pokémon animated television episode premiere in Japan?

The first Pokémon animated television episode premiered in Japan on April 1, 1997.

The series was initially broadcast simply as Pocket Monsters, with Ash Ketchum and Pikachu beginning their journey in the fictional world of Pokémon. The first season is known internationally as Pokémon: Indigo League, although that English title was not used for the original Japanese broadcast.

Japan’s first season originally ran on TV Tokyo and contained 82 episodes in its Japanese version. The international English release had fewer episodes because some installments were edited, withheld, or grouped differently for broadcast.

The premiere followed the 1996 Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green. This timing helped Pokémon expand from a successful handheld game into a multimedia franchise involving television, films, merchandise, and trading cards. The series’ long-running partnership between Ash and Pikachu became one of the franchise’s most recognizable elements.