Canon

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If you were looking for the move whose Japanese name can be translated as Canon, see Round (move).

Canon refers to all official and undeniable information within a general series. Originally a religious term used to refer to which scriptures written "counted" in a religion, the term has expanded to have meaning in fictional series as well.

In the Pokémon franchise, notably, there are several canons, sharing several things among them, most notably the existence of Pokémon. Aside from this and the interrelation of the various species of Pokémon (such as by evolution), these worlds can vary from one another in canon and storyline either very little or very greatly.

Canon is different from fanon in that, while fanon things may be mutually agreed upon by most, and possibly all, fans, they are never officially stated.

List of canons

Games

The canon of the main series considers the following:

Anime

The canon of the Pokémon anime considers the following:

  • The events of each and every episode are canon, and occur in chronological order with the exception of EP052, which takes place before EP049.
  • All movies are canon, and usually act the same as "filler" episodes, as Ash and his friends do not obtain, evolve, or release any Pokémon, and do not get any Badges or Ribbons. The episodes a movie premieres between in Japan are the episodes that precede and follow it in chronological order, except in the case of Mewtwo Strikes Back, which occurs between EP067 and EP068 (but premiered between EP054 and EP055) and The Power of One which occurs between EP105 and EP106 (but premiered between EP104 and EP105), among a few others.
  • The Japanese version of the anime is thought by some to supersede any and all other dubs if there is conflict between them. If something is said in the translated versions that is not mentioned in the original, some may not consider it to be truly canon.

Manga

The canon of the various Pokémon manga considers the following:

Differences between canons

Characters that are well-known in the Pokémon franchise can have vast differences between the various canons. For example, in the games, Brock is a well-known Gym Leader, the toughest Trainer in the area of Pewter City, and remains as the leader of its Gym between the time of Red/Leaf's journey and Ethan/Kris/Lyra's. In the anime, however, while he is a tough Trainer, his true calling is as a Pokémon Breeder (and later on, a Pokémon Doctor), and he took the mantle of Pewter Gym Leader only because both of his parents left on their own Pokémon journeys, leaving him in the care of the Gym and their rather large family. Differences can go much further than that, with Sabrina being a kind shrine maiden in The Electric Tale of Pikachu, a misguided young woman due to the development of her powers in the anime, and a Team Rocket member in Pokémon Adventures.