Toonami jetstream has posted two episodes of Pokemon on their website. Pokemon Chronicles Episode 1: The Legend of Thunder Part 1 and Pokemon Johto League Journeys Episode 1: The Pokemon Water War are now available to watch online until 11.19.06.

This is the first time that streamed episodes of Pokemon are available online for free and legally. Recently people that have posted Pokemon episodes, clips or AMV's on YouTube have received DMCA warnings and most Pokemon content has been removed from YouTube. Toonami jetstream could be the reason for this crackdown. It appears that they will be posting more Pokemon episodes in the future. Pocket Monsters is also available online in Japan through Flets.

Don't get excited right away as there are some huge problems with the service. First, you can only watch the episodes if you live in the United States and have an American Internet Service provider. Secondly, the website only works with Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player 10. You must also have Flash 8 installed. Currently Firefox is not supported and you will receive a window stating this if you do not meet the requirements. It also states that Mac's are not supported at all. This severely limits the viewership and creates compatibility issues. The episodes are watermarked with the Toonami jetstream logo throughout the episode in the bottom right corner.

I was able to play the episodes even though I was in Canada, it brought up the warning saying the episode was only available in the United States, but suddenly started playing right after. Perhaps there is a bug in their region detection at the moment. There also doesn't seem to be any DRM (digital rights management) as the episodes are able to be ripped. Perhaps these 'bugs' will be fixed in the future. The country lock can be easily bypassed by using an American Proxy server. It's implementation seems kind of pointless and annoying to fans that would like to watch the episodes but are not in the United States.

If you meet the criteria to view the shows, you will be quite surprised how good this website is. The interface and design is quite well done and easy to navigate. Episodes have chapter selection, similar to what you would find on a DVD. The quality is very good, 480x360 and there is an option on the player that allows you to switch to full screen mode. Overall I was pleased with the presentation and quality and you cannot beat the price!

Toonami jetstream have posted an RSS feed to keep you apprised of new episodes. Toonami jetstream RSS: http://www.toonamijetstream.com/rss/jetstream.rss

You can view the episodes online at: http://www.toonamijetstream.com/

Direct links:
Pokemon Chronicles Episode 1: The Legend of Thunder Part 1
Pokemon Johto League Journeys Episode 1: The Pokemon Water War