About Pokémon

Anime

Pokémon ( poh-keh-mohn, although frequently mispronounced poh-kee-MAN ) is a video game franchise, created by Satoshi Tajiri and published by Nintendo for several of their systems, most importantly the Game Boy. It has been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, and much more - the subject of this fanlisting is the anime and manga series.

The concept of the Pokémon saga stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime in Japan, and one which Pokémon's creator Satoshi Tajiri had enjoyed as a child. Tajiri's formula took off in Japan and was adapted (and translated) in 1998 for the American market, with the release of Pokémon Red and Blue. These games allowed players to catch, collect, and train hundreds of creatures, known as Pokémon; and battle them against each other to build their strength. These Pokémon could then "evolve" into more powerful Pokémon and learn new and stronger techniques. Pokémon never bleed or die in battle, only faint - (however they can still become confused, poisoned, paralyzed, frozen, sent to sleep and burned) this was a very touchy subject to Tajiri, as he didn't want to further fill the gaming world with "pointless violence".

Pokémon is also the collective name for all of the fictional species within the Pokémon universe. To date, the franchise has a grand total of 395 unique species that lie at the heart of the series, a figure which has grown substantially from the 151 monsters in the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games. The name can either be singular or plural (such as deer or moose), and the same applies to each species name.

The original series, Pokémon or Pocket Monsters (often referred to as Pokémon: Gotta Catch Em All to distinguish it from the later series), tells the adventures of Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in the translated version) as he travels through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto to become the greatest Pokémon Master. This series is based on the first and second generation games. For the English language release, Pocket Monsters was split into four separate series (spanning five seasons), 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.

Pocket Monsters English version - covering the Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto adventures:

  • Pokémon - the original English series, covering the Kanto and Orange Islands stories:
    • "Season 1" the Kanto stories
    • "Season 2" the Orange Island adventures
  • Pokémon: The Johto Journeys - from the start of the journey until they reach Goldenrod City.
  • Pokémon: Johto League Champions - ends as they leave Cianwood City.
  • Pokémon: Master Quest - this series concludes the Johto adventures.

These Pokémon anime series are spin-offs of the original:

  1. In Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation (Japan), Satoshi and company travel to Hoenn, a southern region in the Pokémon World. Satoshi takes on the role of a teacher and mentor for a younger, beginning Pokémon trainer in this series. Again, for the English release, Advanced Generation was split into separate series. This series is based on the third generation games. After this series Satoshi will go back to his home region of Kanto and visit new areas around there with the current team and Kasumi (Misty) will meet him part way through this.

    Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation covers the Hoenn adventures:
    • Pokémon: Advanced - continuing from Master Quest, ends as they leave Mauville City for the first time.
    • Pokémon: Advanced Challenge - covers the next three Hoenn gyms.
    • Pokémon: Advanced Battle - The Final two badges, Grand Festival, the Hoenn league, and the beginning of Battle Frontier in Kanto.
    • Pokémon: Battle Frontier - covers the rest of the Battle Frontier, the Pokémon contests in Kanto, and the Kanto Grand Festival.

  2. The second spinoff of the original series, entitled Shukan Pokémon Hosokyoku, tells the adventures within the continuity of Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation, starring many of the recurring characters in Pocket Monsters. The English adaptation, Pokémon Chronicles, combines the episodes from this series with various made-for-TV specials that have aired in Japan but not previously been translated for English release.

  3. Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl covers the Sinnoh adventures from where the Battle Frontier meta-series (Advanced Generation) leaves off. May and Max have left the group by now, and Dawn takes over May's role as co-star; TBA episodes.

Manga

There are various Pokémon manga series, some of the ones released in English being licensed by Viz Communications (North America), some by Chuang Yi (Asia).

Manga released in English

  • Pokémon (The Electric Tale of Pikachu a.k.a Dengeki Pikachu), a shonen manga (= aimed towards boys) created by Toshihiro Ono. It was divided into four tankobon (= graphic novels in the shape of paperbacks), each with four separate titles in North American and the English Singapore versions: The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pikachu Shocks Back, Electric Pikachu Boogaloo, and Surf's Up, Pikachu. The series is based mostly on the anime.
  • Pokémon Adventures, a shonen manga based on the video games.
  • Magical Pokémon Journey (a.k.a. Pokémon: PiPiPi Adventures), a shojo manga (= aimed towards girls)
  • Pikachu Meets the Press (newspaper style comics, not released by Chuang Yi)
  • Ash & Pikachu (a.k.a. Satoshi to Pikachu, not released by Viz)
  • Pokémon Gold & Silver (not released by Viz)
  • Pokémon Ruby-Sapphire and Pokémon Pocket (not released by Viz)
  • Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker (not released by Viz)

Manga not released in English

  • Pokémon Card Ni Natta Wake (How I Became a Pokémon Card) by Kagemaru Himeno, an artist for the TCG. There are six volumes and each includes a special promotional card. The stories tell the tales of the art behind some of Himeno's cards (the tale of Persian from the Jungle set is particularly popular).
  • Pokémon Getto Da ze! by Satomi Nakamura
  • Poketto Monsutaa Chamo Chamo Puritei by Yumi Tsukirino, who also made Magical Pokémon Journey.
  • Mezase!! Card Master
  • Pocket Monsters Zensho