While many of us grew up watching live TV and waiting for our favorite shows to air (and facing devastation when we missed them), things in today’s world have certainly changed. Withmultiple streaming services available, many people simply watch the things they want to on-demand at any time, with total control over what and when they watch them. But even though there are countless streaming services around the world today, they are all missing something that many people really wanted -Pokemon.
Somehow,Pokemonhas been an impossible series to watch legally online, not even showing up on huge anime streaming services likeCrunchyroll, let alone Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+ which are often hosts to anime series. However, that is all about to change. There are enough different series and seasons ofPokemonthat the anime is getting its own streaming service in five different countries. Finally, there will be a way for people in these countries to easily and legally watch thePokemonanime online.
Where Can I Watch the Pokemon Anime Online?
There Will Finally Be an Easy, Legal Place
The company that is going to stream thePokemonanime online is called WildBrain. WildBrain is a company that hosts more than 100 FAST channels online today. They announced this past Tuesday that it has entered an exclusive agreement with the Pokemon Company to exclusivelystream 22 seasons ofPokemonon a special channel. This channel will be calledPokemonFAST, and will be available for streaming in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The United States will be the first country to getPokemonFAST, and then Canada. The other three countries will gain access to the service after those two. As the announcement only came this past week, there have been no official dates given yet for the launch ofPokemonFAST. Likely, that will be coming along sometime soon now that the official announcement has dropped, building up interest and hype for the channel before any further details are released.
The “FAST” inPokemonFAST is actually an acronym which stands for “free ad-supported television.” That makes it sound like the streaming service will likely be available for free, though as the name suggests, it will have ads. This would make it similar to services likeYouTube’s regular service. This will make the channel accessible to people regardless of their expendable income, bringingPokemoninto households legally and for free to let many people enjoy the anime.
What Pokemon Series Will be Available to Stream?
Most Series Will be Available
WildBrain also announced which seasons of thePokemonanime are going to be available onPokemonFAST. It will be the series that follow the story of Ash Ketchum andhis journey to become the Pokemon Champion. This will includeThe Beginning,Gold and Silver,Ruby and Sapphire,Diamond and Pearl,Black and White,XY, andSun and Moon. It will likely not include the latest season at this time,Pokemon Horizons: The Series, which is currently airing in Japan.
According to Lara Ilie, VP AVOD and FAST atWildBrainin the big announcement,
“We’re thrilled to be bringing Pokémon to FAST audiences as a single-IP channel for the first time ever. FAST is an important component of an omni-channel strategy to grow brands and reach fans everywhere they’re watching. As a leader in audience engagement for kids and families, we’re looking forward to leveraging our FAST expertise to reach the ever-growing Pokémon community.”
It definitely sounds like this is a major project, and one that is going to makePokemonaccessible to people more easily than ever before. WildBrain has yet to release more details such aswhether dubs, subs, or bothwill be available, and whether the viewer can freely choose what they want to watch and when, but it is just a matter of time before more information is released. In the meantime,Pokemonfans can look forward to finally having a way to legally and easily stream at least the older series ofPokemon, and with 22 series coming, they are going to be busy watching for a long time.
