Pokémon is coming to Twitch for the streaming platform’s longest-running programmed event to date.
Twitch has partnered with The Pokémon Company International on the event, called Pokémon: The Series, which will span 16 movies and 19 television seasons (adding up to 932 episodes) of the Japanese animated franchise. The marathons (yes, this event entails multiple marathons) will begin on August 27 and run through 2019.
The Twitch event will kick off with Pokémon’s first season, Pokémon: Indigo League, at 10 am PT on the 27th, and make it all the way through to Pokémon the Series: XYZ, which first aired in 2016 in the US. Movies will include Pokémon: The First Movie (1998) through 2015’s Pokémon The Movie: Hoopa And The Clash Of Ages.
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Additionally, Twitch’s Pokémon: The Series event will feature various interactive elements. Through customized Twitch Extensions, viewers will be able to find and collect Pokémon “badges,” for example, which will show up onscreen during various points of the marathons. The handles of those that come closest to catching them all will appear on a leaderboard.
Twitch’s director of business development, Jane Weedon, cited the “warm embrace the series received when we celebrated the brand’s 20th anniversary” as part of the company’s decision to stream its Pokémon: The Series event — along with the popularity of Pokémon games on the platform. One game, for instance, once brought in over 100,000 Twitch users playing together.
Twitch users in the US, Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Australia will all be able to tune in on the TwitchPresents channel, with sister channels dubbing the content in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese. Past Twitch television marathons have covered Power Rangers, Doctor Who, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
