Pokémon movie

A Pokémon movie (Japanese: ポケモン・ザ・ムービー Pokémon the Movie) is a theatrical film released in Japan in July, centering on and following, as the,  and. Typically, the movies' animation is done by Team Koitabashi of OLM, and each has at least one hour of footage. Nine of the movies also have a Pikachu short that is shown before the main feature, and all of them have a.

The locations in which the movies take place have been, since Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, based on real-world locations outside of Japan. Topics explored are typically deeper than those explored in the episodes aired on television, with the battle between greedy people who would use Pokémon for evil and those like Ash who are friends and partners to their Pokémon being a central issue in several movies.

When they open in Japan, they usually gross a large amount of money, typically ranking first for their premiere weekend. In 2008, one movie drew in a significant crowd despite the fact that it was released in the same weekend as a film. In the United States, only the first five movies, those associated with the original series, were released in theaters, however, the movies continue to be dubbed, being released directly to home video and, since Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, airing on within a year of the Japanese premiere.

The thirteenth movie saw a limited theatrical release in the United States as part of the "Pokémon Black Version and White Version Mall Tour". On December 3 and 4, 2011, White—Victini and Zekrom received a limited commercial release in US theaters, making it the first movie since Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias to receive a commercial theatrical release. All of the and  movies have aired in theaters in Australia and New Zealand, with the XY series movies premiering there before the United States. I Choose You! also received a limited theatrical run internationally on November 5 and 6, 2017.

To date, there have been 21 theatrical Pokémon movies and three movie-length special episodes. Additionally, the miniseries Pokémon Origins is a similar length to a movie when all the episodes are combined.

Long specials
These special episodes do not appear in theaters in either the original or the dub, but run longer than the half hour that normal episodes fill. Due to this, they are often considered television Pokémon movies, not counting towards the running total.

Relation to the main anime
Generally, Pokémon movies and long specials have little to no impact on the overall plotline of the anime and fans will argue as to whether or not they are considered true canon. Evidence going either way is sparse, with many details, such as the fact that, , and having met  and  in The Rise of Darkrai, Giratina and the Sky Warrior, and Arceus and the Jewel of Life going unmentioned when the Legendary Pokémon are seen again in The Battle Finale of Legend!. Other details introduced in movies, such as Ash's Aura abilities as well as Dawn's Lunar Wing, have in fact been referenced by the main anime. I Choose You! is a unique exception in these regards, instead being an alternate retelling of Ash's early journey, with the following movie, The Power of Us, being strongly implied to take place in that same alternate timeline.

It is possible that early on, the movies were intended to have no impact on the main anime continuity, as Mewtwo's erasure of everyone's memories at the conclusion of Mewtwo Strikes Back means that the events of the movie don't have much continuing impact on the series. However, as the series has progressed, more references to past movies have been made, with Ash recognizing a immediately in The Semi-Final Frontier!, despite having only seen one previously in Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias.

Due to this inconsistency, it will be noted in the movies' individual articles when a reference has been made to them in the main anime. The placement of the movies in the anime timeline will normally be between the episodes aired before and after the date of the movie's Japanese premiere, though often with more recent movies, this placement can vary with regard to events in the main anime.

Pokémon Origins, which is not a movie but rather a miniseries, exists within its own canon separate from the main anime series.

Trivia

 * Since Generation IV, placeholder data in the list of locations where a Pokémon can be obtained exists for movies.
 * In Generation IV, placeholder data exists for every movie between the ninth and the sixteenth, with space reserved for movies from 2006 to 2016.
 * In Generation V, placeholder data exists for every movie between the thirteenth and the present, with space reserved for movies from 2010 to 2020.
 * In Generation VI, placeholder data exists for every movie between the sixteenth and the the twentieth-first, with space reserved for movies from 2013 to 2018.
 * In Generation VII, placeholder data exists for every movie between the nineteenth and the present, with space reserved for movies from 2016 to 2021.
 * Several characters from the movies have been featured as cameos in the games Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. Their names match that of the characters they are based on in the Japanese version; however, the English translators missed those references and named them differently.
 * Ace Trainers Felix and Dana from have their teams based on those of Butler and Diane from Jirachi: Wish Maker.
 *  Jamie from is a  who analyzes battles using her laptop. She is based on  from Destiny Deoxys, and challenges the player with her.
 *  Katelyn from is based on Lizabeth from Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.