Pluto TV Becomes First Confirmed Host Of 'Pokémon' FAST Channel
Pluto TV Becomes First Confirmed Host Of 'Pokémon' FAST Channel
Gotta catch all the episodes in orbit
In hosting Pokémon’s highly-anticipated FAST channel, it seems Pluto TV will be first to rise to the challenge. The free advertising-supported streaming television service is the first to make it known that it will be arriving there sometime this month, and has already been advertised on the service as “coming soon”.
The channel was first announced in August, partnering with WildBrain as its distributor to make hosting deals like this. Following its United States debut it will expand to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It will be programmed with the first 22 seasons of the original Pokémon anime, starring Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, and friends. This includes the travels through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto regions in the original series, Hoenn in the Advanced era, Sinnoh in the Diamond and Pearl series, Unova in the Black and White series, Kalos in the XY series and Alola in the Sun and Moon series. In total it will be 1,080 episodes. The official channel description reads “Explore the world of Pokémon with Ash Ketchum and his partner Pokémon Pikachu as they make new friends, meet powerful Pokémon, and aim for Ash’s ultimate goal of becoming Pokémon Master!”
It’s not the only channel with Nintendo animated series launching on the service this month. The Super Mario Bros.-based cartoons are joining together with Archie, Sonic, and Inspector Gadget on a channel called “Go Go Gadget!”. It is another WildBrain-distributed channel, one that features WildBrain-owned programming, since it acquired Cookie Jar Entertainment in 2012, after it acquired DIC Entertainment in 2008. They also have a Strawberry Shortcake & Friends channel launching this month, with said friends being Rainbow Ruby, Madeline, and Polly Pocket. There are ten other channels launching on Pluto this month that just didn’t seem as relevant, but do include series-focused channels for The Good Wife, MythBusters, and No Reservations. Other single-anime channels already present include Sailor Moon, One Piece, Naruto, and the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, While Pluto is first, arrivals for Pokémon on Samsung, LG, Roku, and Tubi (the latter being where the Black and White series is already on-demand) are still expected even if they take slightly longer. Heck even Freevee is possible.
When the FAST channel news was originally reported, it was looking like the four parts of the 147-episode Journeys series (the three seasons Journeys, Master Journeys, Ultimate Journeys, and the final chapter To Be A Pokémon Master) that followed Sun & Moon would be leaving Netflix, where it had been exclusive since debuting in 2020. Since then, the can has been kicked by one-month extensions, with it currently flagged for November 3. The original date would’ve marked a year after To Be A Pokémon Master was added, but now cuts closer to what will be the final batch of successor series Horizons’s first season on November 22. It insinuates that they could be looking to cycle out the previous series now that the current series will have a full season on hand. That situation will continue to be monitored. Japan just began the fourth arc, “Rayquaza Rising” last Friday.
Sources: GoNintendo, Cord Cutters News, What’s On Netflix