Pokémon animated series

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The Pokémon animated series (Japanese: テレビアニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズ TV Anime "Pocket Monsters" Series) is the mainline animated for the Pokémon franchise that airs on television in . It is based on the core series Pokémon games originally created by Satoshi Tajiri. 
The television series premiered with Pokémon - I Choose You! on April 1, 1997 on TV Tokyo in Japan, and has since aired nearly every week with the exception of a four-month hiatus after the Porygon incident and a seven-week hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The English dub premiered with Battle Aboard the St. Anne on September 7, 1998 in in . The series has aired in 197 countries and regions in over 30 languages. Several s and other have been produced as tie-ins to the series.
==Terminology==
In English, The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) generally describes the series as some variation of the "Pokémon animated TV series", depending on the context. The Pokémon Company (TPC) refers to it similarly, but does not avoid using the term "anime" to describe the series, unlike TPCi. Prior to , most of these terms were synonymous with .
In Japanese, the Pokémon animated series is titled Pocket Monsters, but is typically called some variation of the TV Anime "Pocket Monsters" Series to distinguish it from the core series games or the movie series. The official abbreviation for the series is (Japanese: アニポケ Anipoké).アニメ「ポケットモンスター」公式 (@anipoke_PR) on Twitter These terms may also be used to refer specifically to Pocket Monsters (1997), Pocket Monsters (2019), or Pocket Monsters (2023), depending on the context.
Some examples of how the series has been described are listed in the table below:
English (TPCi)	English (TPC)	Japanese
* Pokémon animated television seriesAbout Us - The Pokémon Company International
* Pokémon animated TV seriesWATCH POKÉMON ANIMATION ANYTIME, ANYWHERE WITH FREE POKÉMON TV APP - The Pokémon Company International Official Press Site
* animated Pokémon TV seriesCreator Profile: The Creators of Pikachu | Pokemon.com
* animated TV series Pokémon
* Pokémon TV seriesMeet the Director and Assistant Director behind Pokémon: Twilight Wings | Pokemon.com
* Pokémon animated seriesPokémon Offers Sneak Peek of First ‘Pokémon Horizons: The Series’ Episode and Behind-the-Scenes Look at Production During Comic-Con International Panel - The Pokémon Company North America Official Press SitePokémon Horizons: The Series influencer gift box, excerpt: "Liko is a girl from the Paldea region and the first female protagonist in the Pokémon animated series."
* animated Pokémon seriesTHE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL AND NETFLIX TEAM UP FOR U.S. PREMIERE OF “POKÉMON JOURNEYS: THE SERIES” - The Pokémon Company North America Official Press Site
* Pokémon animationPOKÉMON REVEALS NEW ANIMATED SERIES AND STORYLINE - The Pokémon Company North America Official Press Site
* animated television series
* animated TV series
* animated seriesAsh Ketchum’s 10 Most Iconic Traveling Companions | Pokemon.comPOKÉMON REVEALS MORE CHARACTERS FOR NEW ANIMATED SERIES - The Pokémon Company North America Official Press SitePokémon Content Guidelines for Online Streaming Platforms – Pokémon Support
* TV seriesMeet Sou Kinoshita, the Screenwriter behind Pokémon: Twilight Wings | Pokemon.com
* animation	
* Pokémon TV animated series
* animated TV series "Pokémon"Why We Created “Pokémon Sleep” | The Pokémon Company
* animated TV showsPokémon in Figures | The Pokémon Company (archived)
* TV Anime series PokémonWhat is Pokémon? | The official Pokémon Website in Singapore
* Pokémon TV anime series
* Pokémon anime TV series
* Pokémon TV anime
* "Pokémon" animated seriesPokémon Singapore on FacebookPokémon Asia ENG on YouTube
* Pokémon anime seriesEncounter special Pikachu wearing Ash's cap during Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour! | Apps | The official Pokémon Website in SingaporeLinks: Official Pokémon content in India | The official Pokémon Website in India
* TV Anime series
* TV anime
* animeInternational Business | The Pokémon Company	
* テレビアニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズTV Anime "Pocket Monsters" SeriesTV Tokyo: To all fans of the Pokémon TV animated series「テレビアニメ放送1000回!!ゼンリョク!ポケモンスクール」イベントリポートを更新！ | テレビアニメ「ポケットモンスター」1000回放送記念！
* TVアニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズTV Anime "Pocket Monsters" Seriesアニポケ25周年記念ベストアルバム「ポケモンTVアニメ主題歌 BEST OF BEST OF BEST 1997-2023」商品概要（2023年2月1日(水)発売） | アニメ「ポケットモンスター」 | ソニーミュージックオフィシャルサイト
* アニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズAnime "Pocket Monsters" SeriesAmazon Prime Videoで、アニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズ全話配信中！｜ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト
* テレビアニメ「ポケットモンスター」TV Anime "Pocket Monsters"
* TVアニメポケットモンスターTV Anime Pocket Monsters新オープニング＆新エンディングテーマソングマキシシングルＣＤ発売!!｜ポケットモンスター ADVANCED GENERATION
* アニメ「ポケットモンスター」Anime "Pocket Monsters"
* TVアニメポケモンTV Anime Pokémon
* ポケモンTVアニメPokémon TV Anime
* アニメ「ポケモン」Anime "Pokémon"松丸亮吾が作詞、思わずラップに挑戦したくなる！アニメ「ポケモン」新ED曲 | テレビ東京・ＢＳテレ東の読んで見て感じるメディア テレ東プラス
* アニメポケモンAnime Pokémonあにてれ：ポケモン☆サンデー
* ポケモンアニメPokémon Anime
* テレビアニメTV animeピカチュウ誕生秘話（1ページ目）｜株式会社ポケモン ｜ The Pokémon Company (archived)
* TVアニメTV animeアニメ｜ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト
* アニメanime
==Episodes==
In Asia (including Japan), the Pokémon animated series consists of episodes across eight series, with the first being Pocket Monsters (1997) and the newest being Pocket Monsters (2023).ポケモン第１話！全部見せますスペシャル！！(テレビ東京、2013/12/31 05:40 OA)の番組情報ページ | テレビ東京・ＢＳテレ東 7ch(公式)ポケモンアニメがついに！放送1000回を迎えます！！ | テレ東 リリ速（テレ東リリース最速情報） | テレビ東京・ＢＳテレ東 7ch(公式)ポケモン、最新アニメシリーズの「テレビアニメ　ポケットモンスター　オリジナル・サウンドトラック」収録曲58曲の全曲配信が決定！本日より全曲試聴トレイラーも公開！ | 株式会社ソニー・ミュージックレーベルズ レガシープラスのプレスリリースTV Anime Series | The official Pokémon Website in Singapore電視動畫系列 | 台灣寶可夢官方網站Pokemon TV Anime series - YouTube In Asian regions that use season numbers, the seasons are numbered consecutively across all of the series, with the first season of Pokémon Horizons: The Series being numbered as season 26.The Pendant That Starts It All: Part One | Pokémon Horizons | S26 EP1 | @disneyindia (archived)Mentari TV on Facebook寶可夢地平線：系列Pokémon Horizons The Series - mewatch
Original series poster Amazon.jpg|Pocket Monsters (1997)
AG series poster.png|
DP Series.png|
BWseries.png|
XY series poster 2.png|
S&M series poster.png|
Pocket Monsters 2019 poster.png| (2019)
Pokemon 2023 First Broadcast Poster.jpg| (2023)
In the West, the Pokémon animated series consists of two animated series: , which consists of 1,224 episodes across 25 seasons focusing on Ash Ketchum and , and , which focuses on Liko and Roy.Pokémon Brand Sheet (August 2023) (archived)Pokémon Parents Official Website | Pokémon AnimationCelebrate the Best of Pokémon the Series on Pokémon TV | Pokemon.com The seasons within each animated series are numbered separately, with the first season of Pokémon Horizons: The Series being numbered as season 1.Cover artwork for digital home video releases of Pokémon Horizons: The Series It was initially shown under the title Pokémon; the term Pokémon the Series was introduced in 2013 with the debut of , with the episodes from the prior 16 seasons being retroactively grouped into five series in certain and video-on-demand releases.
Pokémon the Series logo.png|
Season 26 logo.png|
Each episode is roughly 25 minutes long. Individual episodes generally follow the structure of a , the , the title card, the first half of the episode, an eyecatch, a sponsor listing, the second half of the episode (ending with a "To Be Continued" message), the , a bonus segment, and a preview for the next episode. In the English dub, the sponsor listings, bonus segments, and next episode previews are typically removed, reducing the runtime of each episode to around 21 minutes long. Prior to Fear Factor Phony, the Japanese version did not use a cold open and instead had an introductory scene after the opening theme and before the title card; the English dub had already begun using a cold open since A Goldenrod Opportunity by moving the introductory scene to the beginning of the episode before the opening theme.
==Characters==
Initially, from until , the main story of the Pokémon animated series revolved around the character Ash Ketchum, whose main goal was to become a Pokémon Master. By the time he left the series at the end of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Ash had become one of the longest-running protagonists in Japanese anime history.https://screenrant.com/all-time-longest-running-anime/https://www.cbr.com/longest-running-anime-ever/ During his adventures, Ash interacted with several characters present in the from Generation I to Generation VIII, with joining his Pokémon journey.
Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the following series, told the story of the character Liko and her adventures with the other members of the Rising Volt Tacklers, who searched for the location of the lost paradise Laqua and the whereabouts of the Six Heroes, a group of Pokémon that belonged to a legendary Trainer named Lucius. This saga featured a completely new cast of characters unrelated to Ash's adventures, as well as bringing a more linear plot. On her journey, Liko encountered and interacted with some characters from Generation VIII to Generation IX such as Kabu, the Gym Leaders of Paldea and the Elite Four of that region.
===Main characters in the Pokémon animated series===
	
	
	
==Availability==
In Japan, new episodes have been broadcast every Friday evening at 6:55 PM on stations since October 9, 2020, and is also broadcast in syndication on other channels. Episodes are also made available on demand on YouTube, Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, NicoNico, and several other platforms,放送・配信情報｜ポケットモンスター　テレビ東京アニメ公式 and have been physically released on rental DVD by Shogakukan. The series premiered with Pokémon - I Choose You! on April 1, 1997 in a Tuesday evening time slot on TV Tokyo, and has only went on hiatus after the Porygon incident from 1997–1998 and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Previous time slots for new episodes of the animated series are listed in the table below:
Episodes 	Dates 	Timeslot
EP001–EP038 	April 1, 1997 – December 16, 1997 	Tuesdays at 6:30 PM
EP039–XY113 	April 16, 1998 – March 24, 2016 	Thursdays at 7:00 PM
XY114–SM090 	April 7, 2016 – September 13, 2018 	Thursdays at 6:55 PM
SM091–JN039 	October 7, 2018 – September 29, 2020	Sundays at 6:00 PM
JN040–present	October 9, 2020 – present 	Fridays at 6:55 PM
In the United States, new episodes are made available exclusively on Netflix every few months. Episodes are also made available on demand or for purchase on Netflix, Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, Hulu, and several other platforms, and have been physically released on DVD by VIZ Media.Where to Watch Pokémon Episodes & Movies | Pokemon.com The series premiered with the 15th episode Battle Aboard the St. Anne on September 7, 1998 in , with new episodes being aired every weekday starting from the first episode Pokémon - I Choose You! on the following day. Previous broadcasters for new episodes of the animated series are listed in the table below:
Episodes 	Dates 	Broadcaster	Type
EP001–EP043 	September 7, 1998 – October 30, 1998	Multiple 	
EP044–AG145 	February 13, 1999 – July 8, 2006 	() 	
AG146–XYS05 	September 8, 2006 – January 28, 2017	 	
SM001–SM146 	December 5, 2016 – March 7, 2020 	 	
JN001–present	June 12, 2020 – present 	Netflix 	
Internationally, the animated series is aired on various local broadcasters and available on various video-on-demand platforms, including Netflix. Pokémon.com publishes a guide on where to watch Pokémon animation in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Latin America, and Brazil. As of 2024, the series has aired in 197 countries and regions in over 30 languages.Videos | The Pokémon Company"THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL SEES SALES SOAR IN 25TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR FOR POKÉMON TRADING CARD GAME AND TOYS IN EUROPE" - The Pokémon Company International Official Press Site
==Music==
The music for the animated series is currently produced and distributed by . Prior to its acquisition by , the series' music was produced by the record label Pikachu Records under Media Factory. In the English dub, much of this music is replaced by original compositions.
===Opening and ending themes===
:Main articles: List of Japanese opening themes, List of Japanese ending themes, List of English opening themes
Most episodes of the animated series feature an opening theme and an ending theme, with the first opening theme being Aim to Be a Pokémon Master performed by Rica Matsumoto and the first ending theme being One Hundred Fifty-One performed by Unshō Ishizuka. In the English dub, these songs are replaced with shorter, original opening themes, with the first being the Pokémon Theme performed by Jason Paige. Shortened or instrumental versions of these songs are typically used in place of the original ending theme. These English songs are subsequently dubbed into other languages for most of the dubs based on the English dub.
===Background music===
The background music for the animated series consists of both original compositions for the show and arrangements of tracks from the video games. The composer was Shinji Miyazaki until the end of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, for Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and for Pokémon Horizons: The Series. These tracks have been released in the following albums:
* Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Best 1997-2010 Vol.1
* Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Best 1997-2010 Vol.2
* Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack
* Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Volume 2
* Pocket Monsters: Liko and Roy's Adventure Original Soundtrack
In the English dub and those based on it, the score is often replaced with new tracks by John Loeffler, John Siegler, Manny Corallo, John Lissauer, and Ralph Schuckett until the end of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, or by Ed Goldfarb, Akhil Gopal, Steve Mayer, and Geoff Li since Pokémon the Series: XY.
==Staff==
The series, along with the tie-in movies and specials, are primarily produced by the Japanese animation studio OLM. Episodes of the series have been animated by OLM Team Ota from EP001–AG170 and AG173, OLM Team Iguchi from AG171–AG172 and from AG174–DP136, OLM from DP137–DP163, OLM Team Kato from DP164–HZ045, and OLM Team Kumemura from HZ046–present. Until the fifth season episode A Crowning Achievement, the series was animated using ; from Here's Lookin' at You Elekid! onwards, all episodes are digitally animated. While much of the series and movies' production takes place in Japan, some parts of the production have been performed by OLM Asia in Malaysia, or outsourced to other studios in Korea or China.
Over the course of the series, Masamitsu Hidaka, Norihiko Sudō, Yūji Asada, Tetsuo Yajima, Daiki Tomiyasu, Maki Kodaira, Jun Ōwada, and Saori Den have served as directors. TV Tokyo, , and are the executive producers for the series, while the Pikachu Project is the for the movies. The copyright for the series and movies are held jointly by Nintendo, Creatures, Game Freak, TV Tokyo, ShoPro, and JR Kikaku.
While the staff working on the animated series has changed over time, a few individuals and entities have been credited on the series across its entire run:
Created By 	
* Satoshi Tajiri	
* 田尻智
Production Supervisor 	
* Tsunekazu Ishihara	
* 石原恒和
Published by 	
* Shōgakukan Inc.
** 
** CoroCoro Comics
** 
**	
* 小学館
** ちゃお
** コロコロコミック
** 小学一年生
** 幼稚園
Color Keys 	
* Noriyuki Yoshino	
* 吉野記通
Sound Recording Director 	
* Masafumi Mima	
* 三間雅文
Music Assistance 	
*	
* テレビ東京ミュージック
Production Assistance 	
* East Japan Marketing & Communications, Inc.	
* ジェイアール東日本企画
Casting Assistance 	
*	
* 81プロデュース
Backgrounds 	
*	
* スタジオじゃっく
Sound Recording Producer 	
* Michiyoshi Minamisawa	
* 南沢道義
Recording Coordination 	
* Nobuhira Hirano	
* 平野延平
Sound Effects Supervisor 	
* Daisuke Jinbo	
* 神保大介
Music & Sound Effects Production	
*	
* HALF H・P STUDIO
Executive Production 	
* TV Tokyo
* 
*	
* テレビ東京
* MEDIANET
* ShoPro
In the West, The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) currently oversees production and distribution of the series in partnership with Iyuno, with lines for the English dub also being recorded at and Okratron 5000.Ortiz, Lisa (June 12, 2020). "Enter Pikachu!". Pokémon Journeys: The Series. Season 23. Episode 1. Netflix. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024. 4Kids Entertainment initially licensed the series in the United States,"10-K". Yahoo. March 31, 1999. p. 6. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2024. producing the English dub in conjunction with TAJ Productions from seasons one to five. 4Kids was then the sole producer from seasons six to eight, after which the show was produced by TPCi (then known as Pokémon USA) and TAJ Productions for seasons nine and ten. From seasons eleven through twenty-two, the dub was produced by TPCi with . Since the beginning of the twenty-third season, the dub is produced by TPCi with Iyuno.
==Adaptations==
The Pokémon animated series has spawned a wide variety of adaptations into many and other : these include the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Ash & Pikachu, and ; ; ; ; and . There have also been tie-ins featuring characters from the animated series in video games, TCG cards, and other : these include the games , Pokémon Puzzle League, and Pokémon Masters EX; a number of ; and lines of and .
==Trivia==
* Animator Masaaki Iwane once stated that the animated series was originally slated for a 1½-year run, which corresponds approximately to the length of the Kanto region saga (had it not been delayed due to the Porygon incident).ポケモンアニメは当初1年半の予定だった？ - ぽけあに Due to its popularity during the run, however, the show was extended and continues to be one of the longest running video game-based anime series.
* In 2001, an average episode of the series cost approximately US$100,000 to produce.Rutenberg, Jim (January 28, 2001). "Violence Finds a Niche in Children's Cartoons". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
* During the early episodes of the , Japanese text was seen quite frequently on signs and buildings as well as objects. This usually resulted in the English dubbed version (and thus, foreign dubs based on it) painting out the text or converting it to English.
** During , the animators acknowledged the practice of painting out the Japanese text in the English dub. As a result, they used made-up symbols slightly similar to the Latin script instead of Japanese text, so it would be universal to all languages and would not have to be edited for the English localization.
** During and , the animators used a new style of symbols that appear to be blocky letters without a resemblance to any alphabet. However, most of these were still edited out for the English dub until Pokémon: Battle Frontier.
** From and onward, a full writing system was specifically created for the animated series. This language consists of three different fonts: a font used for titles, big signboards, etc.; another font used as less remarkable text accompanying the title font; and another font used only occasionally as a minor text filler. Each font has 26 unique symbols, and each one of those symbols represents a letter from the modern Latin script.
*** This text usually has meanings, as the symbols converted from the Latin script are written as romanized Japanese; sometimes its meanings are related to the context in which it is used, but sometimes the text contains hidden messages, like mentioning Wobbuffet in a magazine seen in BW001.
*** This writing system would start being used occasionally in the as part of the scenario, starting from Pokémon Sun and Moon.
==In other languages==
==References==
==External links==
* Official website (Japanese)
* Anime on Pokemon.co.jp (Japanese)
* Animation on Pokemon.com
==Related articles==
* Differences between the Pokémon games and animated series
*
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