The first Indigo League was the first season of Pokemon, and in many fans’ opinions, the best season the anime has ever seen. The first few seasons of Pokemon were much darker and contained more sensitive material, like Pokemon harm. This isn’t touched on in recent seasons, as the series has gone in a much more happy-go-lucky direction.

Even the movies are much more toned down than “Mewtwo Strikes Back” and “Pokemon 2000.” Unsurprisingly the more serious tone in the Indigo league created a lot of memorable moments for the show that fans have remembered into adulthood. Below are some moments that prove just how incredible some of the episodes were.

14 Meeting Mr. Mime

  • Episode:
  • 64

Mr. Mime has long been a presence in the Pokemon anime, where he lives with Ash’s mom. He can often be seen helping around the house. Mr. Mime was taken in by Delia Ketchum, who confused the Pokemon for her son, and the two ended up bonding.

Mr. Mime has never been shown inside a Pokeball and seems to be living with Ash’s mom as a housemate rather than a Pokemon partner.

13 When Butch and Cassidy First Appeared

  • Episode:
  • 57

While other members of Team Rocket had been shown in the anime, there didn’t seem to be anyone on the same level as Jesse and James. Butch and Cassidy, two high-ranking members of Team Rocket, made their grand entrance in the series when Misty left her Psyduck at their fake breeding center.

In the episode, most of the cast gets put in jail, leaving Misty and Pikachu to save the day.

12 The Squirtle Squad

Episode: 12

One of the first Pokemon Ash caught in the series was a Squirtle who used to lead the infamous Squirtle Squad. The group originally started out as a pesky group of Pokemon who loved nothing more than bothering the locals, as they now have a disdain for humans after being abandoned by their trainers.

The episode shows the group begins to love humans again and become the town’s firefighting squad.

11 When Jessie’s Past Was Shown

  • Episode:
  • 39

Pokemon isn’t a series that shied away from having holiday episodes, and one even showed some of Jessie’s back story. This episode focused on her hatred for Santa Claus, who she felt betrayed her as a child as she tries to get revenge.

The story takes a heartwarming turn when Jessie learns the true fate of her childhood doll and why it was taken to Santa’s shop.

10 Sabrina’s First Gym Battle

  • Episodes:
  • 22 - 24

Sabrina broke the gym battle formula completely with the fact that she was a horror antagonist waiting to happen. Sabrina literally turned battle losers into dolls for her, look-alike doll to play with. This forced Ash to go capture a ghost-type Pokemon, where he and Pikachu were almost killed.

While Ash and Pikachu did survive all these ordeals, it still gives fans chills when it first aired.

9 The Giant Pokemon

  • Episode:
  • 72

You probably got a bit excited as a kid when you learned about the giant ancient Pokemon. In episode 72, a Giant tattooed Gengar, and Alakazam duked it out and almost went on an apocalyptic rampage. They were only stopped by a giant Jigglypuff who sang them to sleep in the nick of time.

The episode opened the series up to some big reveals connected to the ancient world of Pokemon, but since has been all but forgotten.

8 The St. Anne Crash

  • Episodes:
  • 16 - 17

Pretty early into the Indigo League, Ash and crew board St. Anne. A ship that ends up sinking with them on board after running into a rather bad storm. The friends, along with Team Rocket, must work their way out of a sunken ship that is quickly filling with water, as they were knocked unconscious and left behind while the ship sank.

The anime even has a scene where they are pronounced dead by the local Officer Jenny.

7 Ash Finding Fossil Pokemon

  • Episode:
  • 46

This episode shows a location in Kanto called the Grampa Canyon, where fossils of ancient Pokemon can be found. Thanks to Team Rocket, Ash, along with Jessie, James, and Meowth, fall into a cavern below the canyon. It’s here that they meet some very violent living fossils.

The episode showed a more primal side to these Pokemon, which isn’t really present in the later seasons.

6 When Ash and Friends Assisted a Pokemon Center

  • Episode:
  • 47

“A Chansey Operation” is the episode right after “Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon” and will hit you just as hard. This time Team Rocket has wrecked a truck full of Pokemon, overwhelming the nearby Pokemon Center; at the same time, Pikachu chokes on an apple leading Ash and friends to get involved with helping Nurse Joy.

Misty even mentions at the end of the episode that she is interested in becoming a doctor one day.

5 Clefairy Building a Spaceship

  • Episode:
  • 62

Not every memorable episode is doom and gloom. In episode 62, you will find a lot of interesting facts about the Clefairy out, including the fact that they are able to build and repair spaceships. In fact, the episode even reveals that Jigglypuff is likely another alien Pokemon type.

While the Clefairy doesn’t complete their ship, the anime shows that they do continue their efforts to return to their homeworld.

4 Ash Finding Charmander

  • Episode:
  • 11

The original series featured three back-to-back episodes about Ash collecting all the starters. Every one of these was memorable, especially in the case of the Squirtle Squad, but Charmander’s story stands out the most to fans. Charmander was actually left by its original trainer, and Ash had to save it.

Afterward, the Pokemon Center has to work to keep Charmanders flame going and Ash meets one of the scummiest trainers in the whole series Damian who initially left Charmander so that it would “grow stronger.”

3 Meowth Learning to Talk

  • Episode:
  • 70

Not only does this episode show everyone heading to Hollywood, but it also gives Meowth’s full backstory. In the story, it’s revealed that Meowth taught himself to talk in order to woo a female Meowth that he was smitten with. Meowth thought that if he could become a human, Meowzie would return his feelings.

In the present, the episode shows Meowth run into Meowzie again, who is now a street cat. After winning a battle with the help of Jessie and James, though, she once again rejects him.

2 James Going Home

  • Episode:
  • 48

James is another Team Rocket character with a backstory episode. It’s revealed in episode 48 that James comes from a wealthy family, has a Growlithe with its own mansion, and has a fiance who looks strangely similar to Jesse. James’ parents want nothing more than to marry off James to Jessebelle so that he can have kids.

Jessebelle is a pretty toxic partner and the initial reason that James felt he needed to leave home. Being forced to see her again only strengthened his resolve to be in Team Rocket.

1 The Spearow Attack

  • Episode:
  • 1

The very first episode of Pokemon is memorable for its very heavy-handed introduction of Ash and Pikachu to the series. The series begins with Ash receiving Pikachu because he overslept and missed the first three starters. Pikachu, however, is less than thrilled with being around people and shocks Ash.

This leads to Ash having to drag him on a string up what appears to be Route 1 and Pikachu eventually becoming the target of a group of Spearows. After they decide to attack the pair, Ash takes the brunt of the damage, saving Pikachu’s life and officially starting their friendship.