Pokemon Movies In Order
Since its inception in the mid 90s, Pokemon has been one of the most successful video game franchises in history. Second only to Nintendo’s Mario, Pokemon is notable for trading cards, TV shows, movies, and video games. The franchise started with a video game Game Boy, and the rest is history. The trading card mania kicked off shortly after the release of the video games, and spawned a large industry behind it. Much like Beanie Babies, individual Pokeman cards were selling for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars a card.
The Pokemon movies in order starts in 1998 and spans every year till present date. It encompasses four full series, and a new fifth series which began on July 2014 with the release of “Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction”. Each series contains one movie per year for a total of four movies. The original series which began in 1998 and ended in 2002 is the only one to have five movies in it. Its movies focused on the original anime, while subsequent released were about the Advanced Generation, Diamond and Pearl, and the Best Wishes series. The fifth installment is based off of the XY series. It’s recommend that you watch each series in order, as they are in chronological order.
Pokemon has been wildly successful over the years with merchandise ranging from toys to game to cards. The trading card spin off is what defined this franchise to the world. By the end of the late 1990s, the trading card game had taken America by storm. Millions of people gave value to the cards, and similar to Magic the Gathering, many people started exchanging the cards for large amounts of money. Each card had varying properties that allowed you to play the game with fellow enthusiasts. The more valuable the card, the better stats the card usually had.
| Movie Order | Series |
|---|---|
| Pokemon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1999) | Season 1 (Original Series) |
| Pokemon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One (2000) | 1 |
| Pokemon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown (2001) | 1 |
| Pokemon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest (2002) | 1 |
| Pokemon Heroes: Latios and Latias (2003) | 1 |
| Jirachi Wish Maker (2004) | Series 2 (Advanced Generation) |
| Destiny Deoxys (2005) | 2 |
| Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2006) | 2 |
| Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (2007) | 2 |
| The Rise of Darkrai (2008) | Series 3 (Diamond & Pearl) |
| Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2009) | 3 |
| Arceus and the Jewel of Life (2009) | 3 |
| Zoroark: Master of Illusions (2011) | 3 |
| White - Victini and Zekrom (2011) | Series 4 (Best Wishes!) |
| Black - Victini and Reshiram (2011) | 4 |
| Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (2012) | 4 |
| Genesect and the Legend Awakened (2013) | 4 |
| Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014) | Series 5 (XY) |
The original Pokemon video games started as RPGs. They were available in 1996 and developed for the hand held Game Boy system. After skipping 1997, there would be a new release of a Pokemon themed game every single year until present day. They would go on to develop games for Nintendo based systems including N64, Nintendo DS, Wii, and the 3DS. After 18 years of history, we can finally say that this franchise is one of the most successful video game franchises in history.
The Pokemon franchise has established itself as one of the most sought after games in the world. The continued release of movies, trading cards, and video games is a testament to its success. If you’re just getting into the series, I recommend you watch all of the movies in their chronological order. However, at the very least you should at least start each series from the beginning. Check out the above chart, see which movies belong to which series, and determine the order you wish to watch them in.
