Having seen most of the anime offerings that pokemon has given us, I decided to rank them. Mostly on their animation quality. Or if they were a waste of time or not.

>1) the movies
Overall, each of the movies has more soul and effort put into its creation than a typical episode in the pokemon anime. Some of these are fantastic (Power of Us) while others are more mediocre. But even the meh/terrible films are still more preferable than watching 100 bland filler episodes.

>2) spinoff stuff
Pokemon Origins. Pokemon Generations. Pokemon Mega Evolution Specials. All of these are more enjoyable than the main pokemon anime. A nice change of pace from Ash and his filler bullshit.

>3) XY anime, and maybe BW anime
Here is where I stand on the animation quality of each gen's seasons.
>animation quality: kanto = johto < hoenn = sinnoh < unova < kalos
XY was the last serious attempt they made to go for high grade animation and you can see it especially in the gym battles. Then SuMo and SwSh threw all that progress away for a mediocre artstyle with meme faces.

>4) tie: Orange Islands and SuMo
So far, the only two seasons where Ash has won anything. Yes, yes, I know they're backwater championships. But it beats watching a season full of filler, just to see Ash get destroyed again in the finals.

>5) the other seasons
Not worth your time. Not unless you happen to be a massive waifufag for Misty, May, or Dawn. Or a nostalgiafag for the original series. The worst of these was definitely the DP anime, where Tobias comes out of nowhere with legendaries to annihilate Ash in the finals. It's still the biggest FUCK YOU the shit writers have ever pulled out of their asses.