Pokémon: Indigo League

Pokémon: Indigo League is the first season of the Pokémon anime series and of Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā). It originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 1, 1997, to January 21, 1999. It later aired in the United States in first-run syndication from September 8 to November 20, 1998, and on Kids' WB/The WB from February 13 to November 27, 1999, concluding with the airing of the previously unreleased episode 18 on June 24, 2000. It first aired in the United Kingdom on March 29, 1999 and in Germany and Italy in September 1999.

This season follows the beginning adventures of Ash Ketchum, a 10-year-old aspiring Pokémon Trainer from Pallet Town who receives a Pikachu from Professor Oak to begin his journey. Ash aims to compete in the Kanto League by collecting Gym Badges earned from the region's Gym Leaders. Early in the season, he is joined by Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader, and Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.

The episodes were produced by Oriental Light and Magic, with Takeshi Shudo as head writer and Kunihiko Yuyama as chief director. Masamitsu Hidaka served as the supervising director for the series until the beginning of Pokémon: Battle Frontier.