The duration of each episode varies depending on the series. Traditionally, series are produced as complete half-hour or nearly half-hour programs; however, many are produced as animated shorts of 10–11 minutes, which can then paired with other shorts to fill a set time period. There are also some short series with a length of approximately five minutes; these have recently become more common in anime.
The anime franchise consists of seven sequential series in Japan, each based on a main installment of the Pokémon video game series. In the international broadcasts, these series are split across 24 television seasons, with the 24th season streaming on Netflix in the United States will be announced soon.
Each of the series follows Ash Ketchum[a], a young trainer of fictional creatures called Pokémon. Joined by his partner Pokémon Pikachu and a rotating cast of human characters, currently Goh and Chloe, Ash goes on a journey to become a "Pokémon Master" and compete in various Pokémon-battling tournaments called known as the Pokémon League.