Pokémon Indigo League premiered in Japan in 1997 and reached American audiences in 1998 via syndication, quickly becoming a cornerstone of the global Pokémon media franchise launched by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures Inc., with animation production by OLM. The series followed trainer Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu as they traveled through the Kanto region, capturing creatures and building toward the Pokémon League tournament. Episode 22, built around an encounter with Haunter, belongs to this early run of episodes that introduced countless Pokémon species to a worldwide audience for the first time, cementing the show's place as a defining piece of 1990s children's television and franchise history.
This cell brings together Ash Ketchum, his partner Pikachu, and the Ghost-type Haunter, a combination prized by collectors for featuring one of the series' more atmospheric and unusual early Pokémon alongside the franchise's two central figures. Haunter's appearances in these formative episodes carry particular interest given its ties to Pokémon folklore and its reputation among fans as a standout design from the original generation. A cell naming this specific trio points to a moment of direct interaction between hero, companion, and creature, the kind of pairing that collectors seek out when building a representative set from the show's earliest and most historically significant season.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm positive release print of Pokémon Indigo League: Episode 22 (1998).
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shaped and cleanly punched.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of several parallel cyan-and-white lines runs along the bottom edge; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode or SDDS tracks are visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a slightly cool, greenish-grey tint; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean on the panel.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames show the same shot almost unchanged, running consecutively, and the animated style is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The cyan variable-area optical track and the clean positive base are consistent with a late-1990s 35mm theatrical release print of an animated Pokémon 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
