The original Pokémon TV series is officially streaming on Disney+. Some of it, at least.
Of the 80ish total episodes that comprise the original Indigo League arc, only 27 are now available on Disney+. That's not an entirely random number — the first season of Pokémon was split into three parts when it was brought to DVD in North America, and Disney's episode count lines up with what was included on Viz Media’s first compilation.
Netflix, which has long been the streaming home for most of the Pokémon series, continues to have the first 52 episodes. That number matches how the series was originally split up for annual North American broadcast schedules.
Unlike Netflix, which goes with the specific "Indigo League" title, the episodes on Disney+ can be found under the arc's broader title, “Pokémon the Series: The Beginning.” Both streaming services skip over the original 18th episode, “Beauty and the Beach,” which only aired a few times in the U.S. after some heavy editing.
You're not entirely out of luck if you're looking for the full 80-episode arc. Those last 26 episodes are available to stream for free with ads on YouTube and Tubi, and are also included in Warner Home Video's revamped DVD release from 2014.
Disney+ was already streaming most of the more recent Sun & Moon seasons as well as a small selection of Pokémon movies, including The Rise of Darkrai and Zoroark: Master of Illusions. The addition of the original arc marks the streamer’s first major move with the franchise since acquiring the streaming license earlier this year.
Disney also picked up the broadcast rights for the original series, meaning Pokémon is officially back on Disney XD schedules.
The Pokémon TV series has become pretty closely associated with Netflix, with the streamer even producing its own original series with the franchise, Pokémon Concierge. It’s not entirely clear what else Disney plans to do with its newly acquired streaming and broadcast rights, and whether we’ll ever get the full Indigo League arc (let alone the full series) on either streaming platform.
Pokémon as a whole is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, which has naturally been a ripe occasion for announcements across all of the franchise's iterations. We're talking new TCG releases, plenty of Pokémon Go events, and even some LEGO sets.
Somewhat ironically, the mainline Pokemon games are actually skipping 2026, but we did get our hands on what I consider one of the best cozy games of the modern generation, Pokémon Pokopia. We also got our first look at Gen 10, Winds and Waves, which included a glimpse at the three new starters.
Blythe (she/her) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who, when she isn't following streaming news, spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.