Pokémon
From The TV IV
| Pokémon | |
 | |
| Premiere | April 1, 1997 |
| Finale | |
| Airs | Thursdays at 7PM (TV Tokyo)
Saturdays at 9:30AM (CN) |
| Creator | Satoshi Tajiri, Tsunekazu Ishihara |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Style | 30-minute anime fantasy adventure |
| Company | Oriental Light and Magic |
| Episodes | 759 (through season 16) |
| Seasons | 17 |
| Status | Japan: Currently airing season 17
USA: Currently airing season 16 |
| Origin | Japan |
Pokémon is a long-running anime series based on a popular series of video games created for the Nintendo Game Boy. The Pokémon franchise centers around a world populated by a myriad of strange creatures called Pokémon, all having strange powers and abilities. Human beings who live in this world try to catch these creatures, training them to do battle with other Pokémon. The motto is "Gotta Catch 'Em All!"
The Pokémon television series follows the adventures of a new Pokémon Trainer, Ash Ketchum. Ash would like to become a Pokémon Master, catching as many Pokémon as possible and winning every competition he can enter. At the start of his journey he is given Pikachu, a small yellow Pokémon with electrical powers. He also makes various human friends along the way, and they join in him traveling to different cities and towns, where Ash challenges the top Trainer in each municipality to win badges, which will let him progress to the Pokémon League Championships.
Over the course of the series Ash has caught many different Pokémon and traveled to at least three different regions in the Pokémon world. The cast of people and Pokémon has changed over the years; but Ash, along with Pikachu at his side have always remained the center of the story. The series has spawned at least ten movies (with an eleventh due Summer 2008), multiple shorts, and two spinoff series: Pokémon Chronicles and Pokémon Sunday.
In the English-speaking world the series was first localized by 4Kids Entertainment, then Pokémon USA. Under their direction each season starting with season 3 receives a unique name for marketing purposes. In Japan the series only has three titles; starting with season 6 the series is known as Pokémon Advanced Generation, a reference to the switch in the video games to the Game Boy Advance handheld system. The new series started in 2006 is known as Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, after the new games released for the Nintendo DS at the same time.
Contents |
Cast
| Japanese Voices | English Voices | Character | Duration | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Cast | ||||||||||||||
| Rika Matsumoto | Ash Ketchum | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Veronica Taylor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Sarah Natochenny | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Ikue Ōtani | Ikue Ōtani | Pikachu | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Mayumi Iizuka | Misty | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||
| Rachael Lillis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | |||||||
| Michele Knotz | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Yuuji Ueda | Brock | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Eric Stuart | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Bill Rogers | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Midori Kawana | May | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | ||||||||
| Veronica Taylor | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Michele Knotz | 9 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Fushigi Yamada | Max | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||
| Amy Birnbaum | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Kayzie Rogers | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Megumi Toyoguchi | Emily Jenness | Dawn | 10 | 11 | 12 | |||||||||
| Tomokazu Seki | Ted Lewis | Tracey Sketchit | 2 | 5 | 8 | |||||||||
| Megumi Hayashibara | Jessie | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Akiko Hiramatsu | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Rachael Lillis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Michele Knotz | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Shinichiro Miki | James | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Ted Lewis | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Eric Stuart | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Jimmy Zoppi | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Inuko Inuyama | Meowth | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Nathan Price | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Maddie Blaustein | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Jimmy Zoppi | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Unshou Ishizuka | Narrator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Rodger Parsons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||
| Mike Pollack | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Supporting/Recurring Cast | ||||||||||||||
| Unshou Ishizuka | Stan Hart | Professor Samuel Oak | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Stuart Zagnit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||
| Jimmy Zoppi | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Masami Toyoshima | Delia Ketchum | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 12 | |||||||
| Veronica Taylor | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Michele Knotz | 9 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Ayako Shiraishi | Nurse Joy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||
| Yuriko Yamaguchi | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||
| Kikuko Inoue | 101 | |||||||||||||
| Megan Hollingshead | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||
| Bella Hudson | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Michele Knotz | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Chinami Nishimura | Officer Jenny | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| Megan Hollingshead | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||
| Jamie Davyous Owens | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Emily Williams | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Season numbers in red indicate a recurring or guest role in that season. | ||||||||||||||
1 temporary
Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV Tokyo | |||
| Season One | April 1, 1997 | January 27, 1999 | 83 |
| Season Two | February 4, 1999 | October 7, 1999 | 35 |
| Season Three Pokémon: The Johto Journeys | October 14, 1999 | July 27, 2000 | 41 |
| Season Four Pokémon: Johto League Champions | August 3, 2000 | August 2, 2001 | 52 |
| Season Five Pokémon: Master Quest | August 9, 2001 | November 14, 2002 | 65 |
| Season Six Pokémon: Advanced | November 21, 2002 | August 28, 2003 | 52 |
| Season Seven Pokémon: Advanced Challenge | September 4, 2003 | September 2, 2004 | 40 |
| Season Eight Pokémon: Advanced Battle | September 9, 2004 | September 29, 2005 | 53 |
| Season Nine Pokémon: Battle Frontier | October 6, 2005 | September 14, 2006 | 47 |
| Season Ten Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl | September 28, 2006 | October 25, 2007 | 52 |
| Season Eleven Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl Battle Dimension | November 8, 2007 | December 4, 2008 | 52 |
| Season Twelve Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl Galactic Battles | December 4, 2008 | December 24, 2009 | 52 |
| Season Thirteen Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl Sinnoh League Victors | January 7, 2010 | September 9, 2010 | 34 |
| Season Fourteen Pokémon: Black and White | September 23, 2010 | September 15, 2011 | 48 |
| Season Fifteen Pokémon: Black and White Rival Destinies | September 22, 2011 | June 14, 2012 | 36 |
| Season Sixteen Pokémon: Black & White: Adventures In Unova | October 11, 2012 | April 18, 2013 | — |
| Season Seventeen Pokémon: Dekorora Adventures | April 25, 2013 | — | — |
Feature Films
| Title | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Pokémon: The First Movie | July 18, 1998 |
| Pokémon: The Movie 2000 | July 17, 1999 |
| Pokémon 3: Spell of the Unown | July 8, 2000 |
| Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest | July 7, 2001 |
| Pokémon Heroes | July 13, 2002 |
| Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker | July 19, 2003 |
| Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys | July 22, 2004 |
| Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew | July 16, 2005 |
| Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea | July 15, 2006 |
| Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai | July 14, 2007 |
| Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior | July 19, 2008 |
In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
- Characters: A listing of characters in the series
- Movies and Specials: A listing of movies and television specials based on the series
DVD Releases
Pokémon started out as volume releases for the first and third seasons. Most of these discs contain three episodes. The second season consists of three discs, each with twelve episodes. The fourth season was released with six episodes on all save the last disc, which has ten. Season five saw the first Pokémon boxsets, with three sets containing the entire season. Season six was released as individual volumes, each containing five episodes, and then a re-release in two boxsets. The seventh and eighth seasons only have volume releases, but the ninth consists of two boxsets. The tenth season was released as four volumes, later joined into two boxsets. The first two seasons have been re-released as boxsets, and special tenth anniversary discs were released as well.
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season Sets | |||
| Adventures on the Orange Islands Season Two | May 20, 2008 | 3 | purchase |
Soundtrack Releases
| Title | Release Date | Music By | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtracks | |||
| Pokémon: 2BA Master | June 29, 1999 | 13 | |
External Sites
- Official website for Pokémon (Japan)
- Official website for Pokémon (US)
- Official TV Tokyo website for Pokémon
