Pokémon Indigo League premiered in Japan in 1997 and reached American audiences in 1998 through syndication, quickly becoming a cornerstone of the franchise's early animated run under OLM, Inc. and Shogakukan, with Mainichi Broadcasting System and TV Tokyo behind its original airing. Episode 22 falls within the show's formative season, a period when the series was still establishing the rogue's gallery of wild and trainer-owned Pokémon that would define its appeal. This stretch of episodes helped cement the anime's popularity stateside, arriving alongside the trading card craze and introducing American viewers to the Lavender Town mythology that this episode draws from.
This cell holds Gengar, Gastly, and Haunter together, the three-stage Ghost line long favored by collectors for its eerie design lineage and cultural weight within Pokémon lore. Their shared presence alongside Ash and Pikachu points to a moment of observation, the ghost trio positioned as onlookers to the series' central pair. Such a grouping appeals to collectors who seek out evolutionary family reunions on film, a rarer pairing than single-character cells, preserving a specific narrative beat from the Lavender Town stretch of the original run.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm positive film frame of Pokémon Indigo League Episode 22, though evidence is limited.
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both long edges, consistent with 35mm; the strip holds a single frame, shown rotated on the panel.
Perforations
Four rounded-rectangle perforations visible per edge for this frame, evenly spaced, cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale neutral base with a faint greenish-grey tint at the margins; the dye image shows saturated colour with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; a pale blue wavy band runs along one edge of the strip, and the frame itself shows no lines, scratches, cue marks or splices.
Picture
Positive colour image of a single frame, so consecutive-shot continuity cannot be judged; the cel-animation look is not inconsistent with the Pokémon episode on record.
Era check
Not enough is visible to place the strip: no soundtrack, stock or edge print shows, though a cel-animated 35mm frame is not inconsistent with a 1998 title.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
