Pokémon
Ash Catches a Pokémon
TV Flash files “Ash Catches a Pokémon” as hour 3 of 1220 in the TV Flash guide — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 1, episode 3, aired 1997-04-15, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, hour 3 of 82 in season 1. It aired 1997-04-15 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “Pokémon Emergency!” (S01E02). Next is “Challenge of the Samurai” (S01E04). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Pokemon: Ash, Pikachu and Misty have entered the Viridian Forest. Ash has spotted a Caterpie and thrown a Pokéball at it. Capturing it, Ash is overjoyed at his first catch. Misty, however, hates bugs and screams every time it comes near her. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is following them, ready for a fresh attempt at capturing Pikachu. Ash decides to capture another Pokémon, and manages to get a Pidgeotto. Can he, Misty, and his Pokémon, fend off Team Rocket again?
Viewer FAQ
Where does Ash Catches a Pokémon sit in the Pokémon guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 1220 — hour 3 of 82 in season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did Pokémon S01E03 air?
Ash Catches a Pokémon aired 1997-04-15 and is listed at 22 minutes.
Do I need the games first?
The TV series is one engine with the games and cards, not a homework prerequisite. U.S. breakthrough is 1998 anime syndication as childhood OS.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, and a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Anime lands in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards — catch, train, argue about types. Kids’ TV as collection ritual, gym-badge serialization, and the rare cartoon that still prints money because the adventure never quite finishes.
The work, first: a young trainer, a yellow mouse, a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Based on Game Freak/Nintendo games, the anime's U.S. TV breakthrough in 1998 (Kids' WB and syndication) detonated a multi-platform kids' empire: games, cards, films, toys, one engine. Satoshi Tajiri and Kunihiko Yuyama's world turned anime into mainstream American children's programming. Rica Matsumoto and Veronica Taylor as Ash across languages; Ikue Otani's Pikachu. Catch, train, argue about…
Filed against
- Rica Matsumoto as Ash Ketchum (JP)
Rica Matsumoto voices Ash Ketchum on Pokémon — the ten-year-old whose globetrotting checklist became a childhood operating system in Japanese, then a syndication engine abroad. Catch, train, argue about types. TV Flash files her as 1990s…
- Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum (US early)
Veronica Taylor was early U.S. Ash Ketchum on Pokémon — a ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Anime landed in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards:…
- Ikue Otani as Pikachu
Ikue Otani voiced Pikachu as a childhood operating system — a ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, anime landing in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards. Catch, train, argue about types. TV Flash files her as 1990s kids-TV…