Pokémon (anime)



Pokémon (ポケモン),Pokemon is abbreviated from Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター), is a TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets. It is based on the Pokémon video game series and a part of the Pokémon franchise.

Originally a single series, Pokémon, it has since been made into three series, including Pokémon: Advanced Generation and subsequently Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which sequentially continue the story of Pokémon, while its spin-off Pokémon Sunday (formerly Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station) has broadcast a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters, Pokémon Chronicles or, as it is known in Japan, Pokémon Side Story.

Season 1-2
Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in the original Japanese series) has just become a Pokémon trainer in the Kanto Region. He picked Pikachu because, after breaking his alarm clock, Ash was late for his appointment and all the conventional starter Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle) were gone. He has a childhood rival named Gary (Shigeru in the original Japanese series). Ash accidentally destroys a bike belonging to a girl named Misty (Kasumi in the original Japanese series); she starts to follow him to get her bike back, but soon becomes a close friend. Misty endeavors to be a great water Pokémon trainer. Shortly thereafter, Ash battles Brock (Takeshi in the original Japanese series), the leader of the Pewter City gym. Ash initially loses to Brock's Onix, but wins the Boulder Badge in a rematch. Brock then turns over gym leader duties to his estranged father and accompanies Ash and Misty on their journey with the goal of becoming the world's greatest Pokémon breeder.

Ash's Kanto journey culminates with him collecting the necessary eight badges to compete in the Indigo League Pokémon Tournament held annually on the Indigo Plateau in Viridian City. Upon his arrival Ash shrugs off repeated suggestions that he should spend his time training and preparing for the tournament. He ultimately loses in the quarter-finals to Richie, a new rival who happens to use many of the same Pokémon as Ash, including a Pikachu named "Sparky".

After the Indigo League, Ash returns briefly to Pallet Town before setting out on a new journey to the Orange Islands where he will compete in the Orange League. Brock eventually parts company with Ash and Misty to pursue Pokémon research with Professor Ivy. At this point a new character, Tracey Sketchit (Kenji in the original Japanese series) joins Ash. Ash collects four badges and competes against the Orange League champion, Drake, a very experienced trainer. The battle comes down to Pikachu versus Drake's Dragonite with Pikachu delivering a devastating Thunder attack to score the knockout blow.

Season 3-5
Victorious in the Orange League, Ash again returns to Pallet Town where he and Misty are reunited with Brock who leaves Professor Ivy for an unknown reason. Tracey decides to stay in Pallet Town to work with his idol, Professor Oak, while Ash, Brock, and Misty head west to the distant land of Johto. Pokémon: The Johto Journeys marks the introduction of a new series of Pokémon beyond the original 151 named and frequently seen throughout the Kanto and Orange Islands regions.

In fifth season, Ash is defeated by a Pokémon trainer from the southern land of Hoenn region and decides to journey there next after a brief visit home. Before arriving in Pallet Town, Misty receives a message from her sisters requesting that she return to Cerulean City to take over gym leader duties. Brock then decides that he has been away from home too long and must return to help his father take care of his many brothers and sisters. This marks the last time to date that the original trio of friends journeys together.

Season 6-8
Back to Pallet Town, Ash receives a more modern-looking outfit from his mother and sets out for the Hoenn region with only Pikachu, choosing to leave his other Pokémon with Professor Oak.

In Hoenn, Ash meets May (Haruka in the original Japanese series) and her younger brother Max (Masato in the original Japanese series), who join in his journey. May is excited by the Pokémon Contests that take place in Kanto and Hoenn, while Max joins the group to gain experience so that one day he will have his own Pokémon and become a Gym Leader like his father Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City. Having solved his family issues, Brock returns (also in a new outfit) to accompany Ash. This season, Gary leaves his promising career as a Pokémon Trainer to become a Pokémon researcher. Misty visits the group and takes Ash, Brock, May and Max to the Togepi Kingdom. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has been sent by their boss to try and establish a branch of the organization in Hoenn. Along their journeys, Ash and his friends also come into contact with the villainous teams that are in Hoenn, Team Aqua and Team Magma. Finally, Ash participates in the Hoenn League and May in the Grand Festival.

Season 8-9
After Ash completes the Hoenn League and places in the Top 8, he returns home to Pallet Town, as do May and Max to Petalburg City and Brock to Pewter City. Ash meets up with Misty, Tracey, Professor Oak, and his mother at his homecoming celebration. Professor Birch and Max arrive in Pallet Town that same evening, and May and Brock arrive the next day. Ash and May learn of the Battle Frontier and the new contests in Kanto region and decide to travel together to compete. Brock, Max, and Misty decide to join them on their new journey; however, Misty leaves the group again in the next few episodes to return to looking after the gym.

Season 10-13
After Ash becomes champion of the Kanto Battle Frontier, May as well as Drew, Solidad and Harley travel to the Johto region to participate in the Grand Festival held there. Max returns to Petalburg City to get ready for his own Pokémon journey and Brock returns to Pewter City, once again. Ash learns of a new region called Sinnoh, where he embarks on a new journey. Ash planned to bring only Pikachu, but Aipom snuck on the boat. Brock comes back a few days later in Sinnoh and they both meet Dawn (Hikari in the original Japanese series), a new trainer who hopes to become a great Pokémon Coordinator, like her mother. Ash meets a new rival, Paul (Shinji in the original Japanese series), who prefers to capture the strongest Pokémon, leaving the weak who are released, in strong contrast to Ash's methods. During the journey, Ash encounters the Elite Four of Sinnoh Region in different places respectively, he carries on battles with them, and also receives their instructions about battle techniques. May briefly returns and travels with Ash, Dawn, and Brock to the Wallace Cup, and Ash meets Gary several times throughout their journey.

Ash and his friends also come in contact with Team Galactic, an evil organization that wants to control the Pokemon universe. Team Galactic has also recruited an evil Pokemon Hunter, known only as J, to help them capture powerful Legendary Pokemon to advance their goals. With the help of the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, as well as a detective named Looker, Ash, Dawn, and Brock manage to defeat Cyrus, leader of Team Galactic.

After Ash gets into Hearthome for his fifth badge, he runs into Barry (Jun in the original Japanese series). Dawn gets her five ribbons and enters the Grand Festival, accompanying Zoey, Nando, Jessilina, Ursala, and Kenny. After several rounds of competing, Dawn and Zoey enter the final round and carry on the final battle, and Zoey defeats Dawn again.

With the Grand Festival over, Ash has had his battle with Gym Leader Volkner and gained his eighth and final badge. Later, the Sinnoh League is held in Suzuran Island, Ash wins battles against Nando and Conway, and now he is putting up a full battle with Paul in the eighth-final.

TV series
Like many anime metaseries, Pokémon: The Original Series, Pokémon: Advanced Generation Series and Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Series episodes are split up into smaller series for the English release, usually to denote the areas and adventures going on. Because of this, series are identified by the opening animation used for the episode, rather than a run of a fixed number of episodes. In certain places, the different series are considered different shows altogether, although they involve the same storylines and characters. To date there are 13 total seasons, 12 of which have aired in the United States. The 13th season is currently airing and will conclude the Diamond and Pearl series.

In September 2010, a new series based on Pokémon Black and White game series will begin airing in Japan, with the Japanese title of Best Wishes! (ベストウイッシュ！). So far there is no further info about a western release of this series.

Movies
During each season of the main series, a Pokémon Feature Film (劇場版ポケットモンスター) starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. , there have been thirteen movies and one feature length TV broadcast (released outside Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Mewtwo Returns"). The plot of every movie has involved an encounter with a Legendary Pokémon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote new Pokémon that appear in new versions of the game.

Specials
Except main series and movies, the anime has also shown various specials and TV shorts. In English-language broadcast, these have been played or are playing as the Pokémon Chronicles or Pokémon Sunday series, alongside the The Legend of Thunder! special and several Pikachu shorts, Many of these specials centered around legendary Pokémon or one or more of the main characters that is separate from the main cast during its corresponding series, while the sporadically-made later side story episodes typically air as special episodes. Another 8 additional OVAs were broadcasted on numbered All Nippon Flights, as well as sold by DVD exclusively. Besides, two 3D shorts were shown during the tour of Japanese theme park Poképark.

Full-length TV specials

 * The Birth of Mewtwo / The Origin of Mewtwo (ミュウツーの誕生)
 * An animated adaptation of the "Birth of Mewtwo" radio drama, which was later attached to the beginning of the first movie for the Japanese video release. A small 3 minute heavily edited version was released on the US version DVDs, while the full uncut version was made available on the Mewtwo Returns DVD.


 * Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns / Mewtwo! I Am Here (ミュウツー! 我ハココニ在リ)
 * A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.


 * Raikou: Legend of Thunder (ライコウ 雷の伝説)
 * A made for television special that showcased the legendary Raikou, as well as brand new trainers. It became the first three episodes of Pokémon Chronicles. This was based on the release of Pokémon Crystal and is called as such in the Japanese title.

Normal-length TV specials

 * The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon / The Terrifying Mirage Pokémon (戦慄のミラージュポケモン)
 * An hour-long TV special commemorating the tenth-anniversary of Pokémon in the United States. It features a variety of Pokémon as artificial and stronger "mirages", including a supposedly "most powerful" Pokémon creation. Pokémon shown to be mirages were Mew, Kabutops, Omastar, Armaldo, Aggron, Aerodactyl, Houndoom, Absol, Mightyena, Machoke, Machamp, Ursaring, Magnemite, Entei, Articuno, Zapdos, and Mewtwo.


 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out Of The Gate! (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 出動ポケモン救助隊ガンバルズ)
 * A special anime based on the new video games which was shown on Cartoon Network in the USA September 8, 2006. The main characters in this special are a boy who was turned into a Squirtle, who formed a team with a naturally born Charmander and Chikorita.


 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊)
 * A sequel to the anime special based on the new video games prior to the Japanese release. The English version was shown on Action Stations! in the UK on July 18, 2008. The USA airing was on September 1, 2008 (Labor Day in the U.S.) on Cartoon Network. This special opens with Grovyle stealing a Time Gear - a circular object that can stop time. The story then switches to the main characters Piplup (who is really a boy turned Pokémon) and Chimchar. Together with Chimchar, they become the exploration group Poképals and work at helping Pokémon who are in need of rescue along with exploring dungeons for treasure. After completing their first mission, to help a Shinx's sister who is very sick, the show ends with an announcement that the Time Gear has been stolen again. Piplup decides to stay with the team in order to help rescue other Pokémon; recover the Time Gear; and find out why he has been turned into a Pokémon. The last scene includes the message "to be continued", as do all other episodes of Pokémon. Which seemed as if it was implying there would be a full series, but such a series was never created.


 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky Beyond Time & Darkness / Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Sky Expedition ~The Final Adventure Surpassing Time and Darkness~ (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 空の探検隊～時と闇をめぐる 最後の冒険～)
 * A follow-up to Explorers of Time & Darkness, this anime special sees the Poképals teaming with Grovyle to battle with Dusknoir in the Hidden Land to save the world. This was available with the DSi game on a DVD for advance purchases at GameStop in the USA, and also premiered on October 9, 2009 on Cartoon Network in the USA and the following day on YTV in Canada.


 * Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light (ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡)
 * A set of five-minute-long special episodes based on the DS game Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs which aired as part of Pokémon Sunday, it divided into two parts (Part 1 was aired on February 28, 2010, and Part 2 was aired on March 7, 2010). It shows in Oblivia Region, a Pokémon Ranger named Natsuya, receives a mission of head for the archipelago to stop a villainous team - Pokémon Pinchers' misdeeds from poaching and selling Pokémon which tasked by Professor Hastings. During his mission, he meets Ukelele Pichu and captures it.

Winter Vacation
Pikachu's Winter Vacation (ピカチュウのふゆやすみ) is a series of winter themed Pikachu-centered shorts that went directly to video. The first two were part of the Pokémon Chronicles series. This was the only Pokémon DVD not released by Viz Video but rather 4Kids' normal way of releasing DVDs, being released by 4Kids and Funimation.

ANA flights shorts

 * Pikachu's Summer Festival (ピカチュウのなつまつり)
 * The first short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2004.


 * Pikachu's Ghost Carnival (ピカチュウのおばけカーニバル)
 * The second short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2005.


 * Pikachu's Mischievous Island / Pikachu's Island Adventure (ピカチュウのわんぱくアイランド)
 * The third short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2006 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD in the USA.


 * Pikachu's Exploration Club (ピカチュウたんけんクラブ)
 * The fourth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2007.


 * Pikachu's Great Ice Adventure (ピカチュウ 氷の大冒険)
 * The fifth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2008.


 * Pikachu's Great Sparking Search (ピカチュウのキラキラだいそうさく)
 * The sixth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2009 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light DVD in Japan.


 * Pikachu's Great Amazing Amazing Adventure (ピカチュウのふしぎなふしぎな大冒険)
 * The seventh short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2010.

3D shorts

 * Pokémon 3D Adventure: Find Mew! (ポケモン3Dアドベンチャー ミュウを探せ!)
 * The first Pokémon 3D short that was shown as the PokéPark in Japan in 2005.


 * Pokémon 3D Adventure 2: Pikachu's Big Undersea Adventure (ポケモン3Dアドベンチャー2 ピカチュウの海底大冒険)
 * The second Pokémon 3D short, shown when PokéPark was in Taiwan in 2006.

Pokémon Chronicles
Pokémon Chronicles, known in Japan as Pokémon Side Story (ポケモンサイドストーリー), where it is aired as part of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station (週間ポケモン放送局) is a closely related spin-off series that aired with the beginning part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. The main episodes are stories that star various recurring characters that appeared in Pokémon, some of which account for discontinuities of the plot of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. However, instead of new episodes each week, as is the case with Pokémon: Advanced Generation, other things may air during Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station such as reruns of Pokémon episodes, television airings of the Pokémon movies, cast interviews, and live action footage.

Pokémon Sunday
Pokémon Sunday (ポケモン☆サンデー) debuted on TV Tokyo on October 3, 2004. The show is the successor to the Pocket Monsters Encore and the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. Like the shows before it, Pokémon Sunday is a sort of variety show featuring reruns of old episodes as well as a number of 'Research' episodes involving live-action elements.

Airing and production
The English adaptation of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and video distribution of the series was handled by Viz Media and Pioneer Entertainment for the TV series, Warner Bros. and Nintendo for the first three movies and the first television special, Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie through the seventh, Viz Media for movies eight to ten, and Universal Studios for the eleventh, twelfth and forthcoming 13th film. The series and all feature films are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, with English adaptations originally written by Norman J. Grossfeld and Michael Haigney for the first eight seasons. However, starting with the ninth season, The Pokémon Company International (operating as Pokémon USA at that time,) and TAJ Productions, who worked with 4Kids on the show before taking leave after Season 5, replaced 4Kids as the show's non-Japanese producers and distributors. Most of the original voice cast was also replaced, causing controversy among fans who admired the original voice actors. TAJ closed their doors, and was replaced by DuArt Film and Video for the tenth movie and Season 11 of the anime series. In the UK, Pokémon first aired on Sky1, then it was followed by airings on GMTV and CITV in the summer of 1999 including their Saturday morning show SMTV Live and proved to be extraordinarily popular, to the point were segments and sketches of the show itself were based around Pokémon (e.g. the Pokérap). As part of their relaunching of their internet site, the full first season of the anime is being shown on the pokemon.com web site in the USA.

The show (as of January 7, 2010 in Japan and June 5, 2010 in the United States) started its fourth season of Diamond and Pearl, subtitled "Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors" in the English dub. An English version of Pokémon Side Story has now been made, titled Pokémon Chronicles which premiered in the UK on Toonami on May 11, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. BST, and is currently airing the 11th season on YTV in Canada. Each season also brings forth a Pokémon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pokémon animated short. Pokémon CD's have been released in conjunction with the anime. The tracks feature songs that have been shown in the English dubbed version of the anime. However, some CDs have been released to promote and profit the anime.

A common tradition starting with 'Pokemon: Advanced Generation' is that Ash's companions, mainly the female lead in the group, are replaced in each subsequent series. It has been confirmed that Dawn and Brock will make cameo appearances during the Best Wishes! series. It is unknown if Misty, May, Max, Tracey, will appear or be mentioned in Best Wishes!

In Japan, both series are shown on TV Tokyo, with Diamond and Pearl airing on Thursday nights (previously Tuesdays) and Pokémon Sunday on Sunday mornings, the former airing in high definition starting April 2009; HD episodes began airing in the USA on October 3, 2009. In the United States, Advanced Generation could previously be seen on the air on the now-defunct Kids' WB! cartoon block on Saturdays, but in April 2006, Kids WB, which continued on the CW Network until 2008, announced the fall schedule and Pokémon was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the WB-created series Legion of Super-Heroes. The rights for Battle Frontier were picked up by TimeWarner's corporate sibling Cartoon Network instead, and aired on CN starting September 9, 2006 at 9 a.m. US ET/PT, with a special prime-time episode having been aired the night before (September 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT), following the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special. The fourth season of the Advanced Generation series, titled Battle Frontier has been airing in the United Kingdom from February 5, 2007, the show also airs in Canada. In addition, the series is also seen as such on the International Satellite Network. As of April 23, 2010, the Johto Journeys series have been airing on Boomerang. The anime was also seen on Boomerang for a brief period in 2005.

Cartoon Network's India and Pakistan services, along with their Toonami UK service, also carries Pokémon episodes. As of October 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's online service, Toonami Jetstream, featured Pokémon episodes starting at the Orange League episode "The Pokémon Water War". As from 16 November 2009 Cartoon Network India is going to air the dub of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl while Cartoon Network Pakistan is going to air it from 9 November 2009.

The currently airing series of Pokémon, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, began airing in Japan on September 28, 2006 with a three-episode arc introducing the new series' main female character Dawn (known in Japan as Hikari), based on the playable female player in the Diamond and Pearl games. The new series aired with a sneak preview on April 20, 2007 in the USA. The sneak preview aired on May 5 in Canada. A dubbed version of the 90-minute preview done in Japan, Diamond and Pearl takes place in the Sinnoh region, based on the new Diamond and Pearl games. The new series aired in prime time on Cartoon Network starting June 4 at 7:30 PM ET/PT as part of the Cartoon Network Summer 2007 programming promotion. Currently, it airs on Saturday mornings with newer episodes airing at 9:00 AM ET/PT. The summer run was confirmed in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD released on April 2 of 2007. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl has also been airing on YTV in Canada since September 8, 2007. Ash and Brock are joined by a new coordinator named Dawn, and the trio travel through Sinnoh, collecting gym badges and ribbons. Gary returned in this series.

The Pokémon Diamond and Pearl series is to end on September 9, 2010, to be replaced by a new series based on the upcoming games, Pokémon Black and Pokémon White. On June 9, 2010, a blog posted by the storyboard writer revealed that the first four episodes of the Pokémon Black and White series were finished and confirmed Ash returning. Two new characters, Iris and Dento, will be traveling with Ash- Brock and Dawn are left behind in the series and will only return as guest stars. On July 1, 2010, the official title of the 14th season is revealed and is titled Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes.

In the UK, the first eight series were aired on multiple channels, ITV1, ITV2, Five and Sky1. Battle Frontier and Diamond and Pearl were aired on Cartoon Network. The CITV Channel and ITV4 recently broadcasted the Battle Frontier episodes for the first time on free TV, on everyday as part of Action Stations!. Battle Dimension started airing in the UK on September 6, 2008, on Disney XD (née Jetix), which is advertised confusingly as "the new home for Pokémon in the UK", however episodes airing on Jetix/Disney XD have also aired on CITV and ITV4, with ITV4 sometimes premiering new episodes. Jetix/Disney XD's various European channels also started including Pokémon in their schedules from late 2008, making it the only channel to air the newest Pokémon series in some regions.

Controversy
Pokémon has had several anime episodes removed from the rotation in Japan or the rest of the world. The most infamous of these episodes was Electric Soldier Porygon (でんのうせんしポリゴン). The episode made headlines worldwide when it caused 685 children to experience seizures and seizure-like symptoms caused by a repetitive flash of light. Although the offending sequence was caused by Pikachu's actions, the episode's featured Pokémon, Porygon, has never been seen again in the anime except for one brief cameo appearance in the movie, Pokémon Heroes and in one scene-bumper later in season 1. Its evolutions Porygon2 and Porygon-Z have never appeared either. On September 1, 2006, China banned the series from prime time broadcasting (from 17:00 to 20:00), similarly to western animated series such as The Simpsons, to protect its struggling animation studios. The ban was later extended by one hour.

Japan

 * Pokémon JP official website
 * Pokémon anime website at TV Tokyo
 * Pokémon: Advanced Generation website at TV Tokyo
 * Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl website at TV Tokyo
 * Pokémon TV Anime at Pokémon JP official website

United States

 * Pokémon US official website
 * Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl website at the Cartoon Network
 * Archive of the 4Kids corporate page about Pokémon anime
 * Bulbapedia: The Pokémon Encyclopedia

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