Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (2017) is the feature-length anime you can watch online on iFILM. It retells the origin every fan knows by heart: how a kid named Ash met a stubborn Pikachu and set off on his very first journey.

Ash oversleeps. By the time he reaches Professor Oak's lab, the three starters — Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander — are already gone. What's left is one prickly Electric-type who flat-out refuses to ride inside a Poké Ball. That mismatched duo is where the adventure begins. From there it's a chase after the legendary rainbow bird Ho-Oh, new trainers to befriend, old rivals to dodge, and the lesson that loyalty beats any trophy. Rica Matsumoto voices Ash, with Ikue Otani back as Pikachu, the same voice since the series began.

Made for the franchise's 20th anniversary, the film plays to two crowds at once: grown viewers who watched in the nineties and kids meeting Pikachu for the first time. You don't need hundreds of episodes to follow it — the story stands on its own and keeps things warm. Stream Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (2017) online on iFILM.