Pokémon anime

The **Pokémon anime**, often referred to as just "the anime" by Pokémon fans, is a collective term referring to currently −20 main series episodes, -8 movies, and a number of side stories, all focusing on Pokémon. The great majority of these focus on Ash Ketchum, a Pokémon Trainer from Pallet Town, and his journey toward his ultimate goal of being a Pokémon Master, his many friends, and most especially his Pokémon, whom he considers his partners and friends.

Though the anime is ultimately based upon the games and draws heavily from them, many concepts which are only touched on the games are spun in a unique way, and expanded on.

As of the end of March 2020, the anime has aired in 176 different countries and regions in over 30 languages. It is available on Netflix in 217 countries with different dubs and subtitles, and all countries except Japan and South Korea have at least English audio. The Pokémon Company International usually refers to the anime as the "Pokémon animated series" or "Pokémon television series", while some event Pokémon based on Pokémon from the anime have their location set as "the Pokémon cartoon" in the English version of the games. It is also referred to formally as ***Pokémon the 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*).

## Overview

From the first episode, Ash has been the central character, making his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master known to all he meets. Though initially, he only became a Pokémon Trainer with the goal of beating his rival, Gary Oak, the many Pokémon Ash has met over his journey have shown him what being a Pokémon Master really is. Unlike most Trainers from Pallet, and indeed, unlike players of Template:Game2 and

## Pokémon anime

, Ash did not start his journey with Template:P, Template:P, or Template:P, as he arrived late to Template:An's lab to receive his starter Pokémon. Instead, Ash was given the only Pokémon Oak had left to give, a Template:AP that did not enjoy being inside his Template:I, and from there Ash learned to treat his Pokémon as partners, earning Pikachu's trust by keeping him safe from a flock of Template:P he angered.

Since then, Ash has journeyed across all seven of the regions that appear in the core series Pokémon games, as well as the Orange Archipelago, a region he visited before beginning his journey in Johto until it was closer in time to the real-world release of

## Pokémon anime

. In the regions outside of Galar, he battles against the local Gym Leaders for their Badges, as do Trainers in the core series games, to compete in the regional Pokémon League, a championship tournament, rather than five battles straight against the Elite Four and Champion. While his initial strategy was to continue using the same party over the course of his journey, letting some Pokémon go when they were required to do something or wanted to train, he has, since his journey in Hoenn, changed strategy, and now uses only those Pokémon which he has caught in the region, alongside Pikachu, to battle against Gym Leaders, with his explanation to Dawn being that he wants to prove to the young, unevolved Pokémon he meets in each new region that *they* can win if they try.

Over the course of the series, Ash has had several Template:AP who travel with him, typically across one region, who assist him in his journey as much as he assists in theirs. Template:An, the Gym Leader from Cerulean City in the games, joins him in the original series, as does Template:An, Pewter City's Gym Leader, in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Tracey Sketchit, an amateur Pokémon watcher, joins Ash during his Orange Archipelago journey, but leaves him on Ash's return to Pallet to become an assistant to Professor Oak, his hero. Template:An and Template:An, rookie Coordinators, join Ash for the duration of *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire* and *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*, respectively; in these he mentors them much as Brock and Misty did him, while Max, May's brother, who is too young to own Pokémon, looks up to Ash for the duration of *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*. Template:An and Template:An travel with Ash in *Pokémon the Series: Black & White*. Inventor Template:An, his sister Template:An, and Ash's childhood friend Template:An travel with Ash in *Pokémon the Series: XY*. Like Max, Bonnie is too young to own Pokémon, but cares for her brother's Template:TP. In *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon*, Ash attends the Pokémon School instead of traveling around the Alola region. As such, his new friends—Template:An, Template:An, Template:An, Template:An, and Template:An—are not traveling companions but classmates. In *Pokémon Journeys: The Series*, Ash's sole new traveling companion is Goh, a Trainer who aims to catch every Pokémon species in the world, with his ultimate goal being to catch the Mythical Pokémon Template:P.

The anime is produced in Japan by OLM in association with ShoPro and JR Kikaku and airs on TV Tokyo 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. Until the Porygon incident, the show aired every Tuesday at 7 PM. The show returned afterwards at the same time on Thursdays. From April 7, 2016, to September 13, 2018, it instead began five minutes earlier at 6:55 PM on Thursdays. Since October 7, 2018 to Septembre 29, 2020, the show aired each Sunday at 6 PM. From October 9, 2020, the show airs each Friday at 6:55 PM. Many fans consider the dialogue and events mentioned in the Japanese version to be the "true canon", while the various dubs are regarded to be overridden if something stated in them differs from something said in a Japanese episode.

In Japan, the anime is divided into seven series: *Pocket Monsters*, *Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation*, *Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl*, *Pocket Monsters Best Wishes*, *Pocket Monsters XY*, *Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon*, and *Pocket Monsters*. Outside of it, it has been divided into eight series: *Pokémon the Series: The Beginning*, *Pokémon the Series: Gold & Silver*, *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*, *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*, *Pokémon the Series: Black & White*, *Pokémon the Series: XY*, *Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon*, and *Pokémon Journeys: The Series*. The episodes are also further divided into seasons spanning roughly 52 episodes, and currently numbering -1. This concept of a television season was first embraced by the Japanese source with the inclusion of an explicitly second season to *Best Wishes*.

The show is mainly aimed at children, and as such, mature topics such as death are not often brought up, though sometimes they appear in some episodes, and most notably in movies. Many Pokémon that are implied to be violent or sinister in the games are also made to be less aggressive. There are generally some references meant for adults, though these are kept to a minimum especially outside of Japan.

## Movies

Main article: Pokémon movie
Since 1998 in Japan, and since 1999 in the US, a Pokémon movie has been released annually, most often focusing on a Template:Pkmn2 or Mythical Pokémon. These films are almost always a large success in Japan, and remain at least somewhat successful in Template:Pmin and other countries, having been aired on television as a special since the ninth movie, with the first five movies receiving wide releases and later films occasionally receiving limited releases.

The movies are not considered by all people to be canon to the show, with some preferring to think of them occurring in an alternate timeline. This theory comes from the fact that Template:Ash and his friends do not seem to be profoundly affected in the show by the events of the movies, which tend to have a lot of peril and drama. Others, however, see the movies as being akin to filler episodes, as none of their parties change, and no Gym Leaders are defeated nor Pokémon Contests won. This is presumably the correct interpretation, as not only have most of the events of the movies been referenced at least peripherally in the show, but also, several of the events of even *major* episodes have been forgotten by the writers of later episodes.

### *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire*

 Wishing Star of the Seven Nights: Jirachi七夜の願い星 ジラーチ*Wishing Star of the Seven Nights: Jirachi* | July 19, 2003
 Sky-Splitting Visitor: Deoxys裂空の訪問者 デオキシス*Sky-Splitting Visitor: Deoxys* | July 17, 2004
 Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero: Lucarioミュウと波導の勇者 ルカリオ*Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero: Lucario* | July 16, 2005
 style="Template:Roundybl; background:#FFF" | Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphyポケモンレンジャーと蒼海の王子 マナフィ*Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy* | July 15, 2006

### *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*

 Dialga VS Palkia VS DarkraiディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ*Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai* | July 14, 2007
 Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shayminギラティナと氷空の花束 シェイミ*Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shaymin* | July 19, 2008
 Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetimeアルセウス 超克の時空へ*Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime* | July 18, 2009
Arceus and the Jewel of Life
 style="Template:Roundybl; background:#FFF" | Ruler of Illusions: Zoroark幻影の覇者ゾロアーク*Ruler of Illusions: Zoroark* | July 10, 2010

### *Pokémon the Series: Black & White*

 Victini and the Black Hero: Zekromビクティニと黒き英雄ゼクロム*Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom* | July 16, 2011
*White—Victini and Zekrom*
 Victini and the White Hero: Reshiramビクティニと白き英雄レシラム*Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram* | Black—Victini and Reshiram
*Black—Victini and Reshiram*
 Kyurem VS the Sacred SwordsmenキュレムVS聖剣士ケルディオ*Kyurem VS the Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo* | July 14, 2012
*Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice*
 style="Template:Roundybl background:#FFF" | Extreme Speed Genesect: Mewtwo Awakens神速のゲノセクト ミュウツー覚醒*Extreme Speed Genesect: Mewtwo Awakens* | July 13, 2013
*Genesect and the Legend Awakened*

### *Pokémon the Series: XY*

 The Cocoon of Destruction破壊の繭とディアンシー*The Cocoon of Destruction and Diancie* | July 19, 2014
 The Archdjinni of the Rings: Hoopa光輪の超魔神 フーパ*The Archdjinni of the Rings: Hoopa* | July 18, 2015
 style="Template:Roundybl background:#FFF" | Volcanion and the Mechanical Magearnaボルケニオンと機巧のマギアナ*Volcanion and the Mechanical Magearna* | July 16, 2016

### *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon*

 I Choose You!キミにきめた！*I Choose You!* | July 15, 2017
 Everyone's Storyみんなの物語*Everyone's Story* | July 13, 2018
 style="Template:Roundybl background:#FFF" | Mewtwo's Counterattack Evolutionミュウツーの逆襲 EVOLUTION*Mewtwo's Counterattack Evolution* | July 12, 2019

## Other anime series

Template:Split
As the franchise progressed, other animated features, set outside the main series' canon, have been produced. These are often made to promote a new generation or game.

### Miniseries

 Pokémon GenerationsPokémon Generations | December 9, 2016 - February 2, 2017
 Pokémon EvolutionsPokémon Evolutions | September 9, 2021 - TBD

### Mystery Dungeon episodes

 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & DarknessPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness | September 9, 2007
 style="Template:Roundybl; background:#FFF" | Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & DarknessPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness | April 12, 2009

### Animated trailers

 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Animated ShortsPokémon Mystery Dungeon Animated Shorts | November 1, 2012
 Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Animated TrailerPokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer | November 16, 2014
 style="Template:Roundybl; background:#FFF" | Pokémon Masters Animated TrailerPokémon Masters Animated Trailer | June 27, 2019

## Variety shows

These are Pokémon variety shows that air on Japanese television.

 style="Template:Roundybl; background:#FFF" | Meet Up at the Pokémon House?ポケモンの家あつまる？Meet Up at the Pokémon House? | style="Template:Roundybr; background:#FFF" | October 4, 2015 — present

## Trivia

 File:Serena pink hoodie.png
* Animator Masāki Iwane 岩根正明 once stated that the anime 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). 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.
* During the early episodes of the original series, 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 Johto saga, 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 *Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire* and *Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl*, 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 *Pokémon the Series: Black & White* and onward, a full writing system was specifically created for the anime. 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 games as part of the scenario, starting from Pokémon Sun and Moon.
* Fingernails are not consistently drawn on characters, with the exception of *Pokémon the Series: XY*. Some characters have fingernails in *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon*.

## Related articles

* Staff of the Pokémon anime
* Timeline of events in the anime
* Differences between the games and anime

## References

1. ↑ *Pokémon in Figures* - The Pokémon Company (retrieved February 19, 2021)
2. ↑ *Pokémon the Series* - Unofficial Netflix Online Global Search (retrieved June 2, 2020)

## External links

* Pokémon TV Tokyo website (Japanese)
* Official Pokémon website (Japanese)
* Official Pokémon website (English)

### On Bulbagarden forums

* Pokémon anime discussion forum

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Template:Project Anime notice

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