Pokémon

Pokémon (ポケモン Pokemon, pronounced /'poʊ.kɛ.mɑn/, although frequently, and even intentionally mispronounced /poʊ.ki.'mæn/), 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 name Pokémon is a portmanteau of its Japanese name, “Pocket Monsters” (ポケットモンスター Poketto Monsutā).

Pokémon is also the collective name for the fictional creatures within the Pokémon universe. The franchise has 386 unique monsters that lie at the heart of the Pokémon series (391 including currently known Pokémon from future games). These figures have grown from the 151 monsters - including #151 Mew - from the original Pokémon Red/Blue games.

As of 2006, Pokémon USA Inc., a subsidiary of Japan's Pokémon Co., will oversee all Pokémon licensing outside of Asia.

Origins

The concept of Pokémon evolved from insect collecting, a simple pastime many Japanese children (including Pokémon's creator, Satoshi Tajiri, as a child) had enjoyed in the past. First introduced in Japan as a pair of Game Boy games—Pocket Monster Red and Green—in 1996, the franchise arrived in the west in 1998 as Pokémon Red and Blue. The Pokémon games allowed players to catch, collect, and train hundreds of cute and monstrous pets, known as Pokémon (short for Pocket Monsters), with various abilities, and battle them against each other to build their strength and evolve them into more powerful Pokémon. The Pokémon creatures never bleed or die, only faint. This was a very touchy subject to Tajiri, as he didn't want to further fill the gaming world with pointlessly violent games.

The game's catchphrase in the English versions of the franchise used to be “Gotta catch 'em all!”, although it is now no longer officially used. Some still use the catchphrase.

Generations

All of the licensed Pokémon properties overseen by the Pokémon Company are divided roughly by generation. There have been four generations, defined by the Pokémon which appear therein. Each of these generations has been first introduced in a pair of Pokémon video games for the Game Boy or its successors (including the Nintendo DS), beginning with Pokémon Red and Blue. Each generation introduces a slew of new Pokémon and a handful of new general concepts, usually without replacing any old Pokémon or concepts.

These generations are roughly chronological divisions by release; a handful of Pokémon from a subsequent generation appear in the anime, manga, or trading card game before the main Game Boy games which demarcate the generation are released, but the anime, manga, and even (of late) the card game divides itself into sagas or generations by the same scheme as the games.

Some of the general concepts were introduced elsewhere, before being introduced in the games. Two-on-two battles appeared in the anime long before appearing in the games, and Pokémon Abilities are similar to Pokémon Powers, introduced long before in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

First (“Game Boy”) generation

Started with Pokémon Red and Blue. The 1st generation introduced the original 151 Pokémon, as well as the basic concepts of trading and battling Pokémon. In Japan, the first generation included Pokémon Red, Green, and later Blue, while other regions started with Red and Blue, but never got a Green. This generation was completed by the game Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, loosely based upon the anime, in which the player started with a Pikachu who refused to go into its Poké Ball.

These versions of the games revolved around the country of Kanto. This generation also introduced the idea of a rival trainer whom the player faced a number of times, as well as a team of evil Pokémon trainers; however, Pokémon Red and Blue focus on the entire mostly-faceless organization of Team Rocket, while besides the normal Team Rocket trainers, Jessie, James, and Meowth (also recurring characters from the anime) also appear only in Pokémon Yellow.

These games were compatible with the N64 game Pokémon Stadium.

Remakes of the first two games, called Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, were released in the 3rd “Advance” generation.

Second (“GBC”) generation

Beginning with Pokémon Gold and Silver, this generation introduced an additional one hundred Pokémon, the “Mystery Gift” function with the GBC's IR port, customization of the protagonist's bedroom, the ability to pick Berries with healing properties, and Apricorns which could then be given to a character who would fashion them into custom Poké Balls, as well as the concepts of equipping Pokémon with items, Pokémon genders, breeding Pokémon, baby Pokémon and wild (random placement) one-per-game Pokémon such as Suicune, Entei and Raikou (3 new Legendary Pokémon), which would appear randomly around the newly created land of Johto. The games also introduced two new types of Pokémon, the Steel and Dark types.

The game also featured the newly created Pokégear which consisted of

• A mobile phone to communicate with in-game trainers for conversation or the potential of a rematch
• A radio, where the radio station chosen would influence the rate at which the player encountered wild Pokémon. There is also a station stating where certain Pokémon could be found.
• A watch function including time and day of the week and the ability to change between Summer Time or Mean Time. This feature is also related to the appearance and evolution of Pokémon on specific days and times, and is part of a Day and Night system in which the sun shone from 6am to 6pm, but from 6pm to 6am the land became dark.

This generation of the games was completed by Pokémon Crystal, which was most notably the only GBC-exclusive Pokémon RPG and the first which allowed the player to choose the protagonist's sex. It was also the first to feature Pokémon who would do a battle dance when encountered, and signposts indicating the entering of a route, town and occasionally building or cave. Crystal version also featured a slight alteration of the encounter with the 3 Legendary Pokémon, in which the player would eventually encounter Suicune and be able to catch it. However, the other two still had to be found in the normal way.

These games were compatible with Pokémon Stadium 2 (with the exception of Crystal).

Third (“Advance(d)”) generation

Starting over by hearkening back to Red and Blue, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire added another 135 Pokémon from the Hoenn region, as well as Pokémon natures (30 distinct Pokémon personality types), Pokémon Abilities (always-on special innate abilities), Pokéblocks and Pokémon Contests , and two-on-two Pokémon battles. However, this generation saw the loss of the Night and Day system, although the time mechanic did exist to the extent that a clock appeared and that certain Pokémon would only evolve into certain Pokémon at specific times of the day or night. These versions also introduced the ability to grow berries in certain places, each which had set lengths of time for their flowering, and the ability to make “Secret Bases” in trees or caves in which dolls, tables, chairs, plants, and other objects could be placed.

The third game in this series was Pokémon Emerald, which updated the PokéNAV's Trainers Eyes feature for a return to the mobile phone system of the previous generation (but modified, allowing players to contact Pokémon Gym Leaders for rematches, but no longer allowing them to remove NPC trainers). Emerald version also saw a return of the Pokémon battle dance when encountering an enemy Pokémon. These 3 versions all appeared on the Game Boy Advance. The Emerald version also shipped with the GBA wireless adapter for wireless battles.

This generation was rounded out on handhelds by Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen for the GBA, enhanced remakes of the first two Pokémon games, including a playable female character (based on concept art for a playable female the original designers considered but were unable to implement), new items and regions, move tutors, and all the features of the 2nd and 3rd generations, excluding the day/night system and (except in Japan) e-reader compatibility.

All five GBA games are compatible the storage program Pokémon Box: Ruby & Sapphire for Nintendo GameCube, and also with Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. The first Pokémon RPGs for home consoles, these titles introduced the desert country of Orre, as well as corrupted shadow Pokémon, and “Snag”ging, the ability to steal/rescue them from their trainers and eventually “purify” them.

Fourth generation

Slated to be introduced in Pokémon Ranger: the Road to Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS. A handful of new Pokémon from this generation have made cameo appearances in the seventh and eighth Pokémon movies (Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys and Mew and the Wave Guiding Hero: Lucario, respectively), as well as Pokémon XD and Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon Blue & Red. In addition, the anime has also featured the capture of three out of the five currently known fourth generation Pokémon. The known fourth generation Pokémon are: Manyula (evolution of Sneasel), Bonsly (pre-evolution of Sudowoodo), Lucario, Manene (pre-evolution of Mr. Mime), and Munchlax (pre-evolution of Snorlax). Popular Japanese magazine Coro Coro has stated that their mid-February issue will reveal a new Pokémon, most likely one that will be related to the new movie, Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea, as there has been debate over whether the “Prince of the Sea” is actually the only Pokémon (other than Pikachu) so far guaranteed to appear in the film, Kyogre.

Video games

The original Pokémon games were Japanese RPGs with an element of strategy, and were created by Satoshi Tajiri for the Game Boy. These role-playing games (and their sequels, remakes and English language translations) are still considered the “main” Pokémon games, and the games which most fans of the series are referring to when they use the term “Pokémon games.”

These games have sold over 100 million copies to date. Accumulative sold units (including home console versions) reach 143 million copies. This makes it the second biggest-selling games franchise ever (after Nintendo's Mario series). [1]

The first games in the series were Pokémon Red and Blue' (Red and Green in Japan, followed by a Blue, and a special edition Yellow version). These games were nearly identical, save for the fact that each version had a select group of Pokémon that the other version did not. The ultimate goal of these games was to catch at least one member of all the different species of Pokémon (151, though the 151st could only be caught in-game in the Japanese version), and to do so, players had to trade for Pokémon not available in the version they had. While battling monsters is nothing new to RPGs, many players found themselves nearly addicted to finding, fighting, and capturing every Pokémon in the game. Another, perhaps easier, goal was to finish the game's storyline by becoming the Pokémon League Champion. This was done by collecting eight Gym Badges by beating the eight Gym Leaders and then defeating the Elite Four, plus the current League Champion.

Each generation of Pokémon games so far has followed a pattern of two complementing versions followed later by at least one other version with some extras. Pokémon Red and Blue were followed by Pokémon Yellow (in Japan, Red and Green were followed by Blue which was subsequently followed by Yellow). Gold and Silver were followed by the exclusively Game Boy Color version, Crystal. The Game Boy Advance first saw the release of Ruby and Sapphire. The most recent full fledged game has been FireRed and LeafGreen which are remakes of Red and Blue. A third version of Ruby and Sapphire, called Pokémon Emerald, was released on May 1, 2005.

The series has also diversified into various spin-offs, such as pinball games, virtual pets, simulated photography, and racing. A handful of these spinoffs are remade in subsequent “generations”; for example, Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is very similar to Pokémon Pinball but with newer Pokémon, and Pokémon Stadium 2 is largely identical to Pokémon Stadium but for the compatibility with Pokémon Gold and Silver.

The most recent game to be released was Pokémon XD for the GameCube. It came out on October 3rd, 2005. A number of Pokémon games are currently in development. They include:

• Pokémon Diamond and Pearl - Nintendo DS, 2006
• Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon Red Rescue Force and Blue Rescue Force, for GBA and DS respectively, 2005
• Pokémon Trozei - Nintendo DS, 2006

Appearances in Super Smash Bros.

Two of the most popular Pokémon, Pikachu and Jigglypuff, were picked to appear as two of the 12 characters in Nintendo's beat-'em-up game Super Smash Bros., which was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64. Pikachu appeared as an initially available character while Jigglypuff was an unlockable one. The pair returned in the 2001 GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee. They kept their positions, Pikachu was still an initial character while Jigglypuff was still an unlockable character, but two new Pokémon also appeared (joining Jigglypuff as unlockable characters: Mewtwo and Pichu.)

In both games, many different Pokémon can be used in a match by throwing the Pokéball item. A randomly-chosen Pokémon is released from the Pokéball, using one of its attacks to affect other players.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the player can collect many different trophies of a variety of characters from numerous Nintendo games, including several Pokémon characters.

Nintendo has also stated that a version of Super Smash Bros. will appear on their forthcoming codenamed Nintendo Revolution console, tentatively titled Super Smash Bros. Revolution/DX. Whilst the appearence of any Pokémon characters has not been explicitly confirmed, they are highly likely to be featured in the game (considering the abundance of Pokémon references in the first two games in the series).

Pokémon on the Nintendo Revolution

A Pokémon game for the new Nintendo Revolution has currently not been announced by Nintendo. However, Nintendo has produced a demo for the Nintendo Revolution (exclusive only to major game related companies such as GameSpot and IGN) known as the “Big Pokémon Hunter” game where the goal was to zoom with the controller and find different Pokémon. The review of this demo is currently available at GameSpot as well as many other sites.

Anime series

There are several Pokémon anime series based on the video games.

The Original Series

The first, and the most familiar, is Pocket Monsters or simply Pokémon (often referred to as Pokémon: Gotta Catch Em All to distinguish it from the later series), which details the adventures of Ash Ketchum as he travels through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto on a quest to become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time. This series is based on the first and second generation games. Accompanying Ash on his journeys were Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader; Misty, the youngest of the Gym Leaders sisters from Cerulean City; and Tracey Sketchit, an artist and “Pokémon watcher”. In the original series Ash's main rival was another trainer from Pallet Town, Gary Oak. Gary (whose grandfather was none other than Professor Oak, the man in charge of giving new trainers their first Pokémon) was well known and acompanied by a squad of cheerleaders. The names of Ash and Gary were derived from the characters' Japanese names, Satoshi and Shigeru. These names, in turn, were taken from the two people who produced the franchise - Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri and gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who helped Tajiri to launch the series.

“Advanced Generation”

The saga continues into Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation (in Japan) where Ash and company travel to Hoenn, a southern region in the Pokémon World. Ash catches a Snorunt, a Treecko, and a Tailow, all of which evolve: Snorunt into Glalie, Treecko into Grovyle and Tailow into Swellow. Ash takes on the role of a teacher and mentor for a beginner Pokémon trainer in this series named May. Her brother Max accompanies them, and though he isn't a trainer, he knows massive amounts of handy information. Brock (from the original series) soon catches up with Ash, but Misty has returned to Cerulean City to tend to her duties as a gym leader. This series is based on the third generation games.

Afterward, Ash goes back to his home region of Kanto and visits new areas around there with the current team. Misty meets with them through this part of the journey as they go to the Kanto contests and the Battle Frontier. This part of the series is loosely based upon Pokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald.

Spin-off Series

A spin-off series, entitled Shu-kan Pokémon Ho-so-kyoku (also referred to as Pokémon Hoso) is a spinoff of the first, and tells the adventures within the continuity of Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation, starring many of the recurring characters in Pocket Monsters. The English adaptation of this series, Pokémon Chronicles, combines the episodes from this series as well as various other made-for-TV specials (originally unrelated to Housoukyoku) that have not previously been released in English.

Others

There is also a television program in Japan titled Pokémon Sunday, a live action Pokémon-themed variety show hosted by the Pokémon Research Team.

English Language Adaptations

In the English language release, the original series was split into four separate series spanning five seasons while Advanced Generation was split into separate series. Two series from Advanced Generation have been aired, with the third series currently airing in the United States and elsewhere.

The English adaptation can be seen on Kids WB in the United States. In other countries the English language adaptations air on the following channels:

• YTV in Canada
• Toonami UK in the United Kingdom
• RTÉ Two in Ireland
• RTL 2 in Germany
• TF1 and Jetix in France
• Kids Central in Singapore
• Channel Ten's Cheez TV and Cartoon Network/Toonami in Australia

Housoukyoku originally aired on TV Tokyo but has since ended its run. Whilst Chronicles can be seen on YTV in Canada and in the United Kingdom on Toonami UK (as of May 2005), Pokémon Sunday can only be seen on TV Tokyo.

Card game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on Pokémon, first introduced to North America in 1999, and in Japan at an earlier date. Initially, it was published by Wizards of the Coast, the company most famous for Magic: The Gathering.

However, with the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Game Boy video games, Nintendo took back the card game from Wizards of the Coast and started publishing the cards themselves. With the “Expedition” expansion, they introduced the Pokémon-e Trading Card Game, the cards in which (for the most part) are compatible with the Nintendo e-Reader. Nintendo discontinued its production of e-Reader compatible cards with the release of EX FireRed & LeafGreen.

In 1998, Nintendo released a Game Boy Color version of the trading card game in Japan. It was also released in the US and Europe in 2000. This game included digital versions cards from the original set of cards and the first two expansion (Jungle and Fossil), but also included several cards exclusive to the game.
A sequel to this game exists, but was not released outside of Japan.

Manga

There are various Pokémon manga series, four of which were released in English by Viz Communications, and seven of them released in English by Chuang Yi.

Manga released in English

• Pokémon (The Electric Tale of Pikachu a.k.a Dengeki Pikachu), a sho-nen manga created by Toshihiro Ono. It was divided into four tanko-bon, each with four separate titles in North A