Pokemon

Pokémon (Japanese: ポケモン, Hepburn: Pokémon), abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā) and currently advertised in English as Pokémon the Series (ポケモン・ザ・シリーズ, Pokémon za Shirīzu), is a Japanese anime television series, part of The Pokémon Company's Pokémon media franchise, which premiered in Japan on April 1, 1997, on TV Tokyo.

The anime franchise consists of seven sequential series in Japan, each based on a main installment of the Pokémon video game series. In the international broadcasts, these series are split across 23 television seasons, with the 23rd season streaming on Netflix in the United States as of June 12, 2020. Each of the series follows Ash Ketchum, a young trainer of fictional creatures called Pokémon. Joined by his partner Pokémon Pikachu and a rotating cast of human characters, currently Goh, Ash goes on a journey to become a "Pokémon Master" and compete in various Pokémon-battling tournaments called known as the Pokémon League.

The anime series is accompanied by spin-off programming; including Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories; and the live-action variety and Pokémon-related news shows; such as Pocket Monsters Encore, Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon☆Sunday, Pokémon Smash!, Pokémon Get☆TV, and Meet Up at the Pokémon House?

The Pokémon anime series was largely credited for allowing anime to become more popular and familiar around the world, especially in the United States, where the two highest-grossing anime films are both Pokémon films. It was also considered to be one of the first anime series on television to reach this level of mainstream success with Western audiences, as well as being credited with allowing the game series to reach such a degree of popularity, and vice versa. Pokémon is regarded as the most successful video game adaptation of all time, with over 1,000 episodes broadcast and adapted for international television markets, concurrently airing in 169 countries worldwide, and one of the most widely watched shows on Netflix, as of 2016.

Its current season, Pokémon Journeys, streams on Netflix in the United States and broadcasts on television in some countries internationally.

## Plot and characters

In the first part of the Original Series, Ash Ketchum is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon and dreams of becoming a Pokémon master, but on the day he is to receive his first Pokémon, Ash oversleeps and wakes up in a panic, running into Gary Oak, who becomes Ash's rival. Professor Oak, the local Pokémon researcher, has already given away the three Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle) he entrusts to new Pokémon Trainers when Ash finally reaches Oak's Lab. The only Pokémon that he has left is a Pikachu, which he gives to Ash. Determined to make it on his journey, Ash does his best to befriend Pikachu, but it refused to trust him and chooses to stay out of the Poké Ball, even attacking Ash with its electric powers. It is only after Ash protects Pikachu from a group of angry Spearow that Pikachu realizes how much Ash cares.

Along the way, Ash makes many human and Pokémon friends as he works his way through the ranks of the world's many Pokémon Leagues. Through the Kanto Region, Ash befriends Water Pokémon trainer and erstwhile Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty and Pewter City Gym Leader and Pokémon Breeder Brock, and all the while thwarting the plans of Jessie, James, and Meowth, low-ranking members of the criminal organization Team Rocket who want to steal Ash's Pikachu and any other rare Pokémon they come across. Giovanni, Team Rocket's Boss introduced three new high-ranking members of Team Rocket; Cassidy, Butch, and Raticate, who want to kidnap Pokémon so they can use their moves. Ash wins eight badges from Gym Leaders in the Kanto region to compete in the Indigo Conference League. Gary loses in the fourth round, placing him in the Top 32. Ash makes it to the Top 16, but loses to Ritchie in the fifth round. Also, Ritchie loses to Assunta in the sixth round, placing him in the Top 8.

When the group travels to the Orange Islands, Ash releases his Pidgeot, and Brock decides to stay with the local professor, Ivy, leaving Ash and Misty to continue traveling together. After a while, they meet and begin traveling with Pokémon Watcher and artist Tracey Sketchit. Ash defeats four Gym Leaders in the Orange Islands, and becomes the champion of the Orange League. Once they reach Pallet Town in Kanto, Tracey decides to stay with Professor Oak and Brock rejoins the group. Ash loses to Gary before leaving the Kanto region. Ash releases Lapras. Following this, the trio continues on their way to the Johto region.

In the second part of the Original Series, Ash explores the new adventures in the Johto region with Misty and Brock. Ash gives the GS Ball to the Apricorn Poké Ball maker, Kurt. Ash's quest is to defeat the eight Gym Leaders in the Johto region and participate in the Silver Conference. Team Rocket's Jessie gains a Wobbuffet as a new partner. Ash beats Gary for the first time in the Silver Conference, placing him in the Top 16, but Ash loses to Harrison, in the quarterfinals, placing him in the Top 8. But also, Harrison loses to Jon Dickson, in the semifinals, placing him in the Top 4. Finally, Ash returns to the Kanto region to set sail in the Hoenn region. Misty returns to Cerulean City in Kanto to become the full-time Cerulean City Gym Leader and she got her bike fixed that has been destroyed in the beginning of Ash's quest.

Brock follows Ash to Hoenn and Ash gains two new companions, a Pokémon Coordinator May and her younger brother Max, and together they go on an adventure. May collects five ribbons to participate in the Hoenn Grand Festival, and the Kanto Grand Festival. Misty returns and later releases her Togepi, which has evolved to Togetic. Ash defeats all eight Hoenn gym leaders and participates in the Ever Grande Conference, but he loses to Tyson (Tetsuya), in the quarterfinals, placing him in the Top 8. In *Pokémon: Battle Frontier* (Japanese: ポケットモンスター バトルフロンティア編, Pocket Monsters: Episode Battle Frontier), Ash gets seven frontier symbols in Kanto, and wins the Battle Frontier. However, Ash declines the Battle Frontier Brian title, and decides to continue his Pokémon journey. Afterwards, Ash battles with his rival, Gary. After seeing Electivire, a Pokémon from the Sinnoh region he has never seen before, Ash decides to travel to Sinnoh, and Brock joins him.

Upon arrival in Sinnoh, Ash and Brock meet Dawn, another Pokémon Coordinator, who travels with them as they go through the Sinnoh region in an adventure. Dawn earns five ribbons to participate in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Dawn loses to Zoey, placing her runner-up. Ash defeats all eight Sinnoh gym leaders to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference, but he loses to Tobias, in the semifinals, placing him in the Top 4. Afterwards, Ash, his mother Delia and Professor Oak take a holiday to the far-off Unova Region, where he meets and travels with would-be Dragon Master Iris and Striaton City Gym Leader, Pokémon Connoisseur, and sometimes detective Cilan. After winning all eight Unova badges and thwarting the sinister Team Plasma, Ash, Iris, and Cilan travel throughout the eastern side of Unova to prepare for the Vertress Conference, but Ash loses to Cameron, in the quarterfinals, placing him in the Top 8. But also, Cameron loses to Virgil in the semifinals, placing him in the Top 4. Afterwards, Ash, Iris, and Cilan travel through the Decolore Islands before Ash makes his way back to Pallet Town and meet the investigative reporter Alexa, who is from the distant Kalos Region. Having arrived back in Kanto, Iris and Cilan travel to Johto whilst Ash and Alexa head to Kalos.

Ash and Alexa arrive in the Kalos region and Ash is itching to get started in earning his Gym badges. But after Alexa informs Ash that her sister, a Gym Leader, is currently absent, Ash travels to Lumiose City where he meets boy-genius Clemont and his younger sister Bonnie, unaware that Clemont is, in fact, Lumiose City's Gym Leader; a fact he tries his best to hide. Ash also reunites with Serena, a girl from Vaniville Town whom Ash had met in his childhood. Serena earns three keys to participate in the Pokémon Showcase. Serena loses to Aria, placing her runner-up. After traveling with Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie to prepare for the Lumiose Conference by defeating all eight Kalos gym leaders, Ash competes and advances all the way to the finals, where he loses to Alain, a temporary member of the evil Team Flare due to them misleading him. Once he discovers their true intentions, however, Alain reforms and joins Ash and his friends to stop Team Flare's plans. Bidding farewell to his friends in Kalos, Ash once again returns to Pallet Town.

In *Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon* (Japanese: ポケットモンスター　サン＆ムーン Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon), Ash, Delia and her Mr. Mime are on vacation in the Alola region when Ash has an encounter with Tapu Koko, the guardian Pokémon of Melemele Island, who presents him with the Z-Ring, a device that, when paired with a special crystal, allows a Pokémon to unleash a powerful move when synchronized with its trainer. This leads him to stay in Alola and enroll at the local Pokémon school. When he decides to undertake the trials necessary to master the power of the Z-Ring, Ash's new classmates Lana, Mallow, Lillie, Sophocles and Kiawe decide to accompany him. Ash takes part in the island challenges, but Ash loses to Team Rocket members Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet in a battle for the first time in his quest. But then later, Ash finally gains his first-ever official league victory at the Manalo Conference.

In the new series, *Pokémon Journeys: The Series* (Japanese: ポケットモンスター Pocket Monsters) focuses on all eight regions, including Galar, the setting of the *Pokémon Sword and Shield* games. Pikachu's backstory as a Pichu, and Ash's backstory when he was 6 years old missing Professor Oak's camp. Goh's backstory when he was 6 years old and he did attend Professor Oak's camp, and he saw Mew. It sees Ash and Pikachu travel to each of the regions, accompanied by Goh and his Scorbunny, which later evolves into Raboot and then into a Cinderace. Currently, the supporting cast includes a girl named Chloe and her Yamper. As of now, Ash's team consists of Pikachu, Mr. Mime, Gengar, Dragonite, Lucario, and a Galarian Farfetch'd.

## Spin-off series

### *Pokémon Chronicles*

*Pokémon Chronicles* is a label created by 4Kids which is used for a collection of several as yet undubbed specials, which were first broadcast in English between May and October 2005 in the UK, and in the US between June and November 2006. The vast majority of the episodes making up *Chronicles* were taken from what was known in Japan as Template:Nihongo4, which aired as part of *Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station*. The remaining portions of *Chronicles* consisted of a TV special called *The Legend of Thunder*, and installments from *Pikachu's Winter Vacation*, originally released on video.

### Japanese variety shows

Pocket Monsters Encore

Pocket Monsters Encore (ポケットモンスター アンコール, Poketto Monsutā Ankōru) was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 19, 1999 to September 17, 2002. It ran during the second part of Pokémon: The Original Series. Pocket Monsters Encore is a variety show featuring reruns of old episodes, including Japanese and English audio tracks, except for EP035 and EP018, which were broadcast in stereo. EP022 and EP023 broadcast together. EP018 was taken out of sequence and inserted between Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!, which were broadcast in the place of EP038 and EP039. EP052 aired between EP047 and EP048 and EP053 between EP057 and EP058. The ending song is the English version of Type: Wild performed by Robbie Danzie, and it was produced for Pocket Monsters Encore and aired.

On September 17, 2002, it was replaced by the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station.

Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station

Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station (週刊ポケモン放送局, Shūkan Pokemon Hōsōkyoku) is a closely related spin-off series that aired with the beginning part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. The show was presented as an animated variety show, and showed clip shows, reruns of Pokémon episodes, television airings of the Pokémon movies, cast interviews, and live action footage, in addition to the previously mentioned Pokémon Side Story episodes. The hosts were Mayumi Iizuka as Kasumi (Misty) and Yūji Ueda as Takeshi (Brock). They were regularly joined by Kaba-chan, Manami Aihara, Bernard Ackah and Rex Jones as the comedy team "Shio Koshō", Megumi Hayashibara as Musashi (Jessie), Shin-ichiro Miki as Kojirō (James), and Inuko Inuyama as Nyāsu (Meowth). The show ran from October 15, 2002, to September 28, 2004, when it was replaced by Pokémon☆Sunday.

Pokémon☆Sunday

Pokémon☆Sunday (ポケモン☆サンデー, Pokemon☆Sandē) was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 3, 2004, to September 26, 2010. The show is the successor to the Pocket Monsters Encore and the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. It ran from the second part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation to Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl. Like the shows before it, Pokémon☆Sunday is variety show featuring reruns of old episodes as well as a number of 'Research' episodes involving live-action elements. Regular guests include Golgo Matsumoto and Red Yoshida of TIM; Hiroshi Yamamoto, Ryūji Akiyama, and Hiroyuki Baba of Robert; Becky (through September 2006), and Shoko Nakagawa (starting October 2006).

Pokémon Smash!

Pokémon Smash! (ポケモンスマッシュ!, Pokemon Sumasshu!) is the successor to the Pokémon☆Sunday series. It aired from October 3, 2010, to September 28, 2013. Like its predecessors, Pokémon Smash! is a variety show that features live-action segments and reruns of old anime episodes. It ran during Pokémon: Best Wishes Season 1 and Season 2. The theme song is "Endless Fighters" by AAA. Regular guests include Golgo Matsumoto and Red Yoshida of TIM; Shoko Nakagawa; and Hiroshi Yamamoto, Ryūji Akiyama, and Hiroyuki Baba of Robert.

Pokémon Get☆TV

Pokémon Get☆TV (ポケモンゲット☆TV, Pokemon Getto☆Terebi) is the successor to Pokémon Smash!, which premiered on October 6, 2013. Shoko Nakagawa remains as a host, and is joined by Yukito Nishii and comedy team Taka and Toshi. Just like its predecessors, it is a variety show featuring reruns of previous anime episodes and special live-action segments. It ran during Pokémon: XY.

Meet Up at the Pokémon House?

Meet Up at the Pokémon House? (ポケモンの家あつまる？ Pokémon no Uchi Atsumaru?), more commonly known as Pokénchi (Japanese: ポケんち) or Pokémon House (Japanese: ポケモンの家), is the successor to Pokémon GET☆TV, which premiered on October 4, 2015. It is hosted by Shōko Nakagawa, Otani Rinka, Hyadain, and Abareru-kun. Similar to its predecessors, it is a variety show featuring reruns of previous anime episodes and special live-action segments. It ran during Pokémon: Sun & Moon and Pokémon: The New Series.

## Airing and production

*Pokémon* is broadcast in Japan on the TX Network family of stations first on Thursday evenings; it is then syndicated throughout the rest of Japan's major broadcasters (All-Nippon News Network, Fuji Network System, Nippon Television Network System) on their local affiliates as well as on private satellite and cable networks on various delays. Production in Japan is handled by TV Tokyo, MediaNet (formerly TV Tokyo MediaNet and Softx), and ShoPro (formerly Shougakan Productions). Kunihiko Yuyama has served as the series' chief director since the original series. The previous series, *Pokémon: Sun and Moon*, began broadcast in Japan on November 17, 2016, with Tetsuo Yajima serving as director and Atsuhiro Tomioka as head screenwriter.

Internationally, The Pokémon Company International handles production and distribution of the anime with DuArt Film and Video. The anime currently airs in 169 different countries. Beginning in 2020, Netflix gained the exclusive rights to stream new episodes in the United States; the twenty-third season, titled *Pokémon Journeys: the Series*, debuted on the service on June 12. Older seasons are available on Netflix and Hulu. The series has previously aired in syndication, with new episodes premiering on Kids' WB, Cartoon Network, and Disney XD. Older season and movie repeats still air on Disney XD, as well as in Spanish on TeleXitos and Discovery Familia.

*Pokémon* was originally licensed in the United States by 4Kids Entertainment, who produced a localized English adaptation that was syndicated by The Summit Media Group. The localized version premiered on September 8, 1998, twenty days before the release of Pokemon Red and Blue. *Pokémon* was distributed on VHS and DVD by Pioneer Entertainment, which sold 25Template:Nbspmillion units of the series in 2000. Following the eighth season in 2005, the series' dub production was taken over by The Pokémon Company and TAJ Productions. Beginning with twelfth film, *Arceus and the Jewel of Life*, DuArt became the production studio, which lasted until the twenty-second season.

OLM, Inc. served as producer. Until episode 259 (episode 262 in Japan), during the fifth season, the series was animated using cel animation. Beginning with episode 260 (episode 263 in Japan), titled "Here's Lookin' at You Elekid!", all subsequent seasons are digitally animated.

In a 2018 interview, the creators of *Detective Pikachu*, which features a talking Pikachu, revealed that the original intention for the anime was to have the Pokémon talk, but OLM, Inc. was unable to come up with a concept that Game Freak were accepting of.

### International broadcast

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In Canada, the series has aired on YTV for over 16 years. Partway through *XY*, in 2014, the series moved to Teletoon.

The Disney XD channels for the UK and Ireland and continental Europe handle broadcasting throughout Europe. In the UK, it was also aired on Sky 1, ITV, ITV4, Cartoon Network and Toonami, CITV, Pop, Pop Max and GMTV. On ITV, it was originally broadcast as part of the Ant & Dec show *SMTV Live*, which featured "PokéRap" and "Pokéfight" sketches.

In Australia, the series is currently broadcast on 9Go!, which began on 4 December 2016 to onwards, This series was formerly shown on Network Ten from 5 October 1998 until 22 February 2012, and was later moved to a digital channel Eleven on 27 February 2012 until 30 April 2018, On Pay TV This show was shown on Cartoon Network in 2000 until early 2016 later moved to Boomerang for only aired *Pokémon XY: Kalos Quest* and On 2 July 2018 it moved to Disney XD until 6 January 2019 later moved to Disney Channel until mid 2019. It is licensed by Beyond Home Entertainment.

In New Zealand, the series is currently broadcast on TVNZ 2 in September 1998 until 2000 and returned in 2003 to onwards, This series was formerly shown on TV3 in 2000 until 2003.

In Germany, it was on RTL Zwei, Junior, Disney XD and ProSieben Maxx, and is currently being aired on Nickelodeon and Super RTL/Toggo plus, in Belgium on vtmKzoom and Kadet.

In Italy, it was broadcast between 1999 to 2000 on Rai 1 (First 52 episodes only), Italia 1, Jetix, K2 and Disney XD. In Romania, it was on ProTV, TVR1, Jetix, Disney Channel and Megamax.

In India, the series is broadcast by Hungama TV  and Marvel HQ. The *Pokémon* anime has an Indian audience of 96.9Template:Nbspmillion viewers, out of which 32.9Template:Nbspmillion viewers are in the 4Template:Ndash14 age range, among whom it is the top-ranked TV show.

In South Korea, the series is broadcast by Seoul Broadcasting System. The series is on several Korean networks, Tooniverse, Jei TV, CHAMP TV, ANIONE, Cartoon Network, Animax, and Korean Broadcasting System.

In Singapore, the series is broadcast by Mediacorp Kids Central beginning in 2000, followed by okto when the channel was rebranded on October 19, 2008, then Channel 5 following okto's merger on May 1, 2019. The current season airing in Singapore, *Ultra Legends*, premiered on May 2, 2020.

In China, the series has been released in dubbed Mandarin on several streaming platforms. The first episode has been watched more than 200Template:Nbspmillion times on Tencent Video, and more than 20Template:Nbspmillion times on Youku. On iQiyi, the fourth season has been watched more than 800Template:Nbspmillion times.

### Streaming and digital

*Pokémon* is currently available for streaming on Netflix in 216 regions and countries with different dubs and subtitles; all countries have at least English audio. *Pokémon* is globally one of the most widely watched shows on Netflix, as of 2016. It is also available on Hulu (in the United States and Japan), and Amazon Prime Video (in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and Austria). Nearly the entire collection is on DisneyNOW in the United States, and content is also available on Hulu, and the Pokémon TV app and website.
The Series Premired On Jetix (Toon Disney) On September 21, 2020.

## Controversies

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 Template:Nihongo4. 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 rarely been seen in future episodes, with appearances limited to 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 only appeared in a brief part of the opening sequence of *Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice*. Several other episodes have been removed from broadcast in Japan due to contemporary disasters that resemble events in the program; the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the 2014 Sinking of MV *Sewol* all have caused cancellations or indefinite or temporary postponements of episode broadcasts. In the United States, the September 11 attacks in 2001 as well as 2005's Hurricane Katrina led to the temporary removal of two episodes from syndication.

On September 1, 2006, China banned the series from prime time broadcasting (from 17:00 to 20:00), as it did Western animated series such as *The Simpsons*, to protect its struggling animation studios. The ban was later extended by one hour.

On August 18, 2016, the XYZ episode Template:Nihongo4 (*Down to the Fiery Finish!* in the English dub) faced criticism from fans when Ash lost the Kalos League against Alain. The fans specifically criticized the episode due to the misleading name and trailers that suggested that Ash would win the battle and because Ash had lost all of the Pokémon Leagues in past seasons. Fans also disliked the outcome because they believed Ash's Greninja had many advantages over Alain's Charizard, including the fact that water-type Pokémon resist Fire-type Pokémon attacks, and that the rare Bond Phenomenon Ash's Greninja was subject to was said to be far more powerful than a conventional Mega Evolution. Several animators of the series also expressed disappointment that Ash had lost. TV Tokyo's YouTube upload of the teaser of the next episode received an overwhelming number of dislikes as a result of the outcome.

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `pokemon-company`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `journeys`
3. ↑ Pokémon TV show finds new home. Anime News Network (January 27, 1999). Retrieved on August 28, 2016.
4. ↑ Pokémon Anime Moves to Disney XD in U.S. With Pokémon Sun & Moon.
5. ↑ https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/pokemon-the-series-sun-moon-ultra-legends/tv-listings/1287468/
6. ↑ https://www.cynopsis.com/04-28-20-the-daily-show-expands-to-45-minutes/
7. ↑ https://www.ontvtonight.com/guide/listings/channel/69030698/discovery-familia-us-feed.html?dt=2020-08-30
8. ↑ 10-K. *Yahoo* (March 31, 1999). Retrieved on August 28, 2016.
9. ↑ Template:Cite journal
10. ↑ 5 Detective Pikachu Facts From Our Developer Interview! (What's New, Movie, & Origin) (2018-03-05). Retrieved on March 5, 2018.
11. ↑ 4kids Pokemon Tv Series Soars in European Markets (October 19, 2000). Retrieved on June 24, 2019.
12. ↑ Template:Cite news
13. ↑ 精灵宝可梦 第1季 第001集\_1080P在线观看\_腾讯视频 (zh-CN). Retrieved on January 16, 2019.
14. ↑ 精灵宝可梦 第一季：第1集. Retrieved on May 29, 2018.
15. ↑ 精灵宝可梦 第4季. Retrieved on June 10, 2018.
16. ↑ Netflix Global Search on uNoGS.
17. ↑ Template:Cite news
18. ↑ https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2020/04/23/23rd-season-of-pokemon-journeys-the-series-to-debut-on-netflix-not-disney-xd/
19. ↑ https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/pokemon-tv-app-update-1203144960/
20. ↑ REVIEW ARTICLE: Cortical triggers in generalized reflex seizures and epilepsies. Oxford University Press (2005).
21. ↑ Template:Cite news
22. ↑ Nan, Wu (2008-02-19). China Extends Prime-time Ban on Foreign Cartoons. Retrieved on June 22, 2013.
23. ↑ Template:Cite news
24. ↑ Template:Cite news
25. ↑ Template:Cite news
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Template:Cite news
27. ↑ Template:Cite news