Pokémon (anime)

Pokémon (ポケモン), abbreviated from the Japanese title of, is a long running Japanese children's anime television series, which has been adapted for the international television markets. It is based on the Pokémon video game series and is a part of the franchise.

The Pokémon anime is split up into five chronologically sequential series in Japan, split up by the version of the video game series the anime takes inspiration from: the original series, the Advanced Generation series, the Diamond & Pearl series, the Best Wishes! series, and currently the XY series which began in October 2013. In the international broadcasts, these five series are split into 17 separate seasons.

These anime series are accompanied by spin-off programming, consisting of Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories featuring characters in the anime that are not its current cast of main characters, and the live action variety and Pokémon-related news shows of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon Sunday, Pokémon Smash!, and Pokémon Get TV, premiering in late 2013.

Plot
After he turns ten years old, Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in Japan), who has wanted all his life to become a Pokémon Master, is allowed to start his journey in the world of Pokémon. However, when he sleeps in too late the day he is to receive his first Pokémon, Professor Oak, the local Pokémon researcher, has already given away the three Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle) he has been entrusted with to give to new Pokémon Trainers, but he does have one more Pokémon that he gives to Ash: a Pikachu. Determined to make it on his journey anyway, Ash does his best to befriend Pikachu, but Pikachu does not trust him and will not even return to his PokéBall, even attacking Ash with its unique electric powers. It is only after Ash protects Pikachu from a group of angry Spearow that Pikachu realizes how much Ash cares for him, leading him to save Ash. Afterward, they both see a mysterious unidentifiable Pokémon that spurs both of them to work towards Ash's goal.

Along the way, Ash meets up with many other friends, both human and Pokémon, 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 (Kasumi) and Pewter City Gym Leader and Pokémon Breeder Brock (Takeshi), all while thwarting the plans of the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, who want to steal Ash's Pikachu and any other rare Pokémon they come across, following Ash all over the world. When Ash and Misty travel to the Orange Islands (without Brock), they meet and travel with Pokémon Watcher and artist Tracey Sketchit (Kenji), before meeting up with Brock once more as they travel to the Johto region.

When Ash heads for the Hoenn Region in the Advanced Generation series, Misty stays behind to become the full-time Cerulean City Gym Leader, but he gains new companions in Pokémon Coordinator May (Haruka) and her younger brother Max (Masato), and together they face off against the rival Teams Magma and Aqua. After returning to Kanto to participate in the Battle Frontier challenge, Ash later travels with Brock to the Sinnoh Region in the Diamond & Pearl series, with May and Max going on their own paths. Ash and Brock then meet Dawn (Hikari), another Pokémon Coordinator, who travels with them as they go through Sinnoh where they must defeat Cyrus and his Team Galactic.

In the Best Wishes! series, Ash, his mother 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 (Dent) as they discover the evil plans of Team Plasma, a criminal organization that wants to free Pokémon from people's ownership so that they can rule the world unopposed. After the Unova Pokémon League tournament, Ash, Iris, and Cilan travel throughout the eastern side of Unova to prepare for the Pokémon World Tournament, after which they meet N who is instrumental in defeating Team Plasma. After this, Ash, Iris, and Cilan travel through the Decolore Islands on Ash's way back to Pallet Town, meeting the investigative reporter Alexa (Pansy) 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 soon after the former reunites with his mother, receiving a new outfit from her.

In the XY series, after Alexa informs Ash that her sister, a Gym Leader, is currently absent, Ash travels to Lumiose City where he meets up with boy-genius Clemont (Citron) and his younger sister Bonnie (Eureka), unaware that Clemont is in fact Lumiose City's Gym Leader, a fact he tries his best to hide. Ash also meets up with Serena, a girl from Vaniville Town who Ash met earlier in his childhood at Professor Oak's Summer Camp in Pallet Town where he had helped her after she hurt her leg from falling due to being startled by a wild Poliwag.

TV series
In Japan, Pocket Monsters has been broadcast under its original title and under four subtitled titles, with the subtitled versions denoting a change in the setting matching the different versions of the video games, rather than being divided into distinct seasons (a change in season is usually denoted by a change in the theme songs, but the title never changes). The current series being broadcast is. In its international broadcasts, Pokémon's episodes have been split up into smaller seasons for the international releases, running a fixed number of episodes, using a specific opening sequence for each new season, and a new subtitle. The current international season airing is Pokémon the Series: XY.

Beginning with the Galactic Battles season, the anime began broadcasting in widescreen high definition.

Movies
During each season of the main series, a starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. There have been 17 movies and two feature length TV broadcasts (the first of which was released outside of Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns", the second titled "Pokémon: The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon"). 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 and series.

Specials
In addition to the main series and the 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 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 eight additional OVAs were broadcast on numbered All Nippon Flights, as well as sold by DVD exclusively. In addition, two 3D shorts were shown during the tour of Japanese theme park Poképark.

Full-length TV specials

 * A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.
 * A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.


 * 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, a fact which the Japanese title reflects.
 * 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, a fact which the Japanese title reflects.


 * An hour-long TV special commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pokémon in the United States. It aired on Kids' WB the sister station of Cartoon Network. 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.
 * An hour-long TV special commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pokémon in the United States. It aired on Kids' WB the sister station of Cartoon Network. 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.

Normal-length TV specials

 * 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.
 * 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.




 * 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.


 * 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 controls 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 this anime. Which seemed as if it was implying there would be a full series, but such a series was never created.
 * 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 controls 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 this anime. Which seemed as if it was implying there would be a full series, but such a series was never created.


 * 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.
 * 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.



Shorts

 * 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 Ukulele Pichu and captures it.
 * 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 Ukulele Pichu and captures it.

Winter Vacation
is a series of winter themed Pikachu-centered shorts that went directly to video from 1999 (the end of '98) to 2001 (the end of 2000). 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.

is a series extending from the short movie "Pikachu and Pichu", and it has two units. The first story included in "Pikachu's Winter Vacation 2001", and the second story included in the game "Pokémon Channel".

ANA flights shorts

 * The first short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2004.
 * The first short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2004.


 * The second short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2005.
 * The second short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2005.


 * 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.
 * 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.


 * The fourth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2007.
 * The fourth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2007.


 * The fifth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2008.
 * The fifth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2008.


 * The sixth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2009 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light DVD in Japan.
 * The sixth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2009 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light DVD in Japan.


 * The seventh short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2010.
 * The seventh short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2010.


 * The eighth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2011.
 * The eighth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2011.

3D shorts

 * The first Pokémon 3D short that was shown as the PokéPark in Japan in 2005, and it also shown when PokéPark was in Taiwan in 2006.
 * The first Pokémon 3D short that was shown as the PokéPark in Japan in 2005, and it also shown when PokéPark was in Taiwan in 2006.


 * The second Pokémon 3D short that was shown in Japan in 2007.
 * The second Pokémon 3D short that was shown in Japan in 2007.

Planetarium specials

 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2004.
 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2004.


 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2006.
 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2006.


 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2008.
 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2008.


 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2011.
 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2011.


 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2014.
 * This short movie was shown in a planetarium in Japan in 2014.

Pokémon Chronicles
Pokémon Chronicles is a label created by 4Kids which is used for a collection of several as yet undubbed specials. The vast majority of the episodes making up Chronicles were taken from what was known in Japan as, which aired as part of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. The remaining portions of Chronicles consisted of the Pocket Monsters Crystal TV special, and installments from the Pikachu's Winter Vacation OVA series.

Pokémon Origins
Pokémon Origins is a television special that aired on TV Tokyo on October 2, 2013, and presented a story directly lifted from the original Pocket Monsters Red and Green video games (Red and Blue internationally).

Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station
was 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 Nyarth (Meowth). The show ran from October 15, 2002, to September 28, 2004, when it was replaced by Pokémon Sunday.

Pokémon Sunday
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. Like the shows before it, Pokémon Sunday is a sort of variety which 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!
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. 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
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.

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 Softx), and ShoPro. Kunihiko Yuyama has served as the series' executive director since the original series. The latest series, Pokémon: XY, began broadcast in Japan on October 17, 2013, 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. New episodes are first broadcast on American channel Cartoon Network and later its international affiliates. The Disney XD channels for the UK and Ireland (also handled by CITV Channel, ITV4, and Pop) and continental Europe handle broadcasting throughout Europe (Germany also has ProSieben Maxx). In Canada, the series has aired on YTV for over 16 years. Partway through XY, in 2014, it moved to Teletoon. In Australia, the show was originally shown on Network Ten from October 1998 until February 2012, and was later moved to both Eleven and the local version of Cartoon Network.

When the series started its broadcast in the United States, it was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and was syndicated until being moved to the Kids WB block on The WB. In the 9th season, after The WB branding went defunct, Pokémon's production was taken over by The Pokémon Company and TAJ Productions, until the tenth film and 11 movie were released, and DuArt took over.

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. 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 the MV Sewol all have caused cancellations or indefinite 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.