A free Water-type compilation is out, and Pokemon Horizons is on Netflix in the US
The official channel put up a collection of Water-type moments from the first two seasons of Pokemon Horizons. The full series streams on Netflix for American viewers.
The official Pokemon channel has posted The Wonderful World of Water-Type Pokemon, a free compilation pulling Water-type moments out of the first two seasons of Pokemon Horizons: The Series. You can watch the whole thing above.
Buried in the description is the more useful fact for anyone in the United States: Pokemon Horizons is on Netflix, and both seasons are there.
Why this is worth knowing
Where to legally watch the Pokemon cartoon in America has been a moving target for years. It has bounced between services, sat behind different apps in different countries, and left a lot of people assuming there is no simple answer. "It is on Netflix" is a simple answer.
Horizons is also the natural place to start if you have been away. It is not a continuation of the Ash and Pikachu story — it begins with new main characters, Liko and Roy, so you are not walking into twenty-five years of backstory.
What a compilation reel is actually for
These collections are not episodes. There is no plot to follow and nothing gets resolved. They are a taster: half an hour of scenes built around one theme, made to be put on in the background or handed to a child who has never seen the show.
For a returning viewer they work as a sampler. If the animation and tone in a compilation land for you, the seasons behind it will too.
The timing
A Water-type reel in the middle of August is a summer pick, and it lands in the same week that Pokemon GO runs its own Water Festival from August 18 to 24. Whether that is coordinated or coincidence, the franchise is leaning wet this month.