Since the debut of the anime adaptation of Satoshi Tajiri's Pokémon Games, Toho has produced the theatrical films based on the franchise since 1998 in Japan: five based on the original series Pokémon anime, four based on the Advanced Generation series, four based on the Diamond and Pearl series, with the tenth film commemorating the tenth anniversary of the anime, three based on the Best Wishes series, and three based on the XY series, beginning with Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction. There are also two television specials that were broadcast on TV Tokyo and ten short films.
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Theatrical films, with little exception, center on and feature Pokémon (typically legendary ones) that have yet to officially debut in the games, often with the Pokémon causing some sort of disaster with its powers or being pursued by someone with less-than-noble tendencies. Ash and his friends will often befriend a Pokémon during the movie and must, at the end, say goodbye to their new friend.
The locations in which the movies take place have been, since Pokémon Heroes, based on a real-world location outside Japan. Topics explored are typically deeper than those explored in the episodes aired on TV, with the battle between greedy people who would use Pokémon for evil and those like Ash who are friends and partners to their Pokémon being a central issue in several movies.
As with the franchise's TV anime series, the theatrical films and the first two TV specials were all licensed in North America by Warner Bros. with first three films, Miramax Films with four films and Viz Media since Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
Films from the original series were met with unfavorable reviews in terms of U.S.A. dubbing.
Future
On December 15, 2016, the 20th Pokémon movie along with its teaser trailer was announced to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon anime TV series. The movie will be titled 劇場版ポケットモンスター キミにきめた！ (Pocket Monsters the Movie: I Choose You!) and will be a reboot to the original Pokémon series. The teaser poster was also revealed showing Ho-oh (who appeared in the first episode of Pokémon).
TV Specials
These special films, which run longer than the normal half-hour and are not usually separated into more than one episode in either the original or the dub, are often considered TV Pokémon movies, not counting towards the running total. They never appear in theaters, but are instead broadcast on the same networks that the regular anime is broadcast for their premieres. Though they may air around the same time as other episodes of the anime, usually in the anime's normal timeslot, they are not assigned episode numbers.
Pikachu Shorts
Pikachu shorts are anime shorts that are commonly shown at the start of the Pokémon movies, but have also been expanded to fulfill other purposes.