The Pok¨¦mon (¥Ý¥±¥Ã¥È¥â¥ó¥¹¥¿©`, Poketto Monsut¨¡?, Pocket Monsters) anime metaseries, based on the video game series, was created in Japan and then translated for the North American television market. The metaseries appeared outside Japan before the video games did, and has since spawned several movies. It is aimed at younger viewers but many other devoted fans of all ages enjoy the anime as well. Originally a single series, Pocket Monsters, it has since been spun off to two: Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation continues the story of Pocket Monsters, while Pok¨¦mon Sunday (formerly Shuukan Pok¨¦mon Housoukyoku) is a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters.

Airing and Production of the Series

The English adaptation of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment (for 8 seasons), with video distribution of the series was handled by Viz for the TV series for the younger generation, Kids WB! and Nintendo for the first three movies and the first special, and Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie forward. The series and all feature films are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, with English adaptations originally written by Norman Grossfeld and Michael Haigney. However, starting with the 9th season, the American branch of The Pok¨¦mon Company, Pok¨¦mon USA, will replace 4Kids as the show producers and distributors outside of Japan, and the program will have a new voice cast. In response to this move, a large petition has been created to save the original voice cast.

The show recently finished its third season of Advanced Generation, titled Pok¨¦mon: Advanced Battle. An English version of Housoukyoku has now been made, titled Pok¨¦mon Chronicles which premiered in the USA on Cartoon Network June 3, 2006 at 7 PM ET/PT, and is currently airing in the UK on the Toonami channel and on YTV in Canada. Each season also brings forth a Pok¨¦mon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pok¨¦mon animated short.

In Japan, both series are shown on TV Tokyo, with Advanced Generation airing on Thursday nights (previously Monday) and Pok¨¦mon Sunday on Sunday nights. In the United States, new episodes of Advanced Generation can be seen on the air on the Kids' WB cartoon block on Saturdays. However, in January 2006, Kids' WB ceased their daytime programing, and is has been stated that the entire library will move to TimeWarner corporate sibling Cartoon Network for weekday airings. Later, in April of 2006, Kids WB, which will continue on the newly-merged CW Network, announced the fall schedule and Pok¨¦mon is nowhere to be seen, most likely due to the deal that 4Kids made with Kids' WB! no longer existing due to 4Kids' loss of the license. The rights for next season of the show have been picked up by Cartoon Network instead.

Currently the second Advance series, "Advanced Challenge" is airing as part of the Miguzi block on the US version of CN at 5 PM US EDT. Cartoon Network's India service, along with their Toonami UK service, also carries Pok¨¦mon episodes.

Compared to other anime series with English adaptations, Pok¨¦mon remains close to the original, with visual edits generally coming from cutting seconds off long panning shots. This is perhaps due to its identical target demographics in both Japan and elsewhere (most other anime series tend to target a younger audience in the English compared to the original), and possibly because of its widespread negative publicity near the beginning of the series. In some cases, fans have remarked that on many occasions the English adaptation (of the earlier Kanto episodes) was better than the original, a rarity for anime series.

However, the animated feature films typically suffer from certain from small amounts of editing compared to the TV series, which fans attribute to the many traces of Japanese culture that is prevalent in the movies.[citation needed] It is also interesting to note that several scenes in the movies were either redone with 3-D effects animation for or original to its English release.

In the United States it is the 6th longest running animated TV show, only beaten by The Simpsons, Rugrats, King of the Hill, Arthur, and South Park. Pok¨¦mon has more episodes than any of these shows, with 417 episodes aired in the U.S. and counting. Over 450 episodes have aired in Japan.

Series names

Like many anime metaseries, Pocket Monsters and Advanced Generation episodes are split up into smaller series for the English release, usually 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. They are subdivided as follows:

Pocket Monsters - covering the Kanto/Indigo, Orange Islands, and Johto adventures.

Pok¨¦mon: Indigo League - the original English series, covering the Kanto/Indigo story. The subtitle "Indigo League" is not an official name; the title is simply Pok¨¦mon.

Pok¨¦mon: Orange League - covering the Orange Islands story. The subtitle "Orange League" is not an official name; while this second series has a redesigned opening, the title is still simply Pok¨¦mon.

Pok¨¦mon: The Johto Journeys - covering the start of the Johto journey, and ending as the protagonists reach Goldenrod City.

Pok¨¦mon: Johto League Champions - continuing the Johto adventures, and ending as the protagonists leave Cianwood City.

Pok¨¦mon: Master Quest - concludes the Johto adventures.

Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation - Covering the Hoenn and Battle Frontier adventures from where Pocket Monsters leaves off.

Pok¨¦mon: Advanced - Continuing from Master Quest, Advanced covers the Hoenn adventures until the protagonists leave Mauville City for the first time.

Pok¨¦mon: Advanced Challenge - covers the next three Hoenn gyms and the next four contests.

Pok¨¦mon: Advanced Battle - covers the final two gyms, two contests, the Grand Festival, the Hoenn League and the beginning of the Battle Frontier.

Pok¨¦mon: Battle Frontier - covers the rest of Battle Frontier facilities and the Pok¨¦mon contests in Kanto and the Kanto Grand Festival.

Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl - Covering the Shin'ou adventures. Picks up where Advanced Generation left off. Will feature Hikari as a main charcter. (It is unknown if this is a seperate series mini-series, the same series with Hikari joining Ash, or replacing Ash).

Pok¨¦mon/Pok¨¦mon Advanced Generation

The main series tells the story of Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) and his quest to become a Pok¨¦mon Master. However, unlike in the video games, he is given a Pikachu as his first Pok¨¦mon under unusual circumstances. Much of the series focuses on the friendship between Ash, Pikachu, and the various Pok¨¦mon and Trainers along the way.

English-language episode titles tend to be a play on common words or phrases in pop culture (e.g. "I Feel Skitty", "Due's and Don'ts"), although early episode names were mostly translations of their Japanese counterparts.

The Japanese episode titles in this series are often include few or no kanji, partly as a homage to the limited text capabilities of the Nintendo Game Boy, and partly due to the series being primarily intended for children. Kanji, with furigana, appears more regularly in Advanced Generation titles, again partly due to a growing audience and partly as a homage to the increased text capabilities of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

Pok¨¦mon Chronicles/Shuukan Pok¨¦mon Housoukyoku

Skuukan Pok¨¦mon Housoukyoku ("Weekly Pok¨¦mon broadcast") is a closely related spinoff series that airs concurrently with the beginning part of Advanced Generation. The main episodes are stories that star various recurring characters that appear in Pocket Monsters, some of which account for discontinuities of the plot of Advanced Generation. However, instead of new episodes each week, as is the case with Advanced Generation, during Housoukyoku other things may air, such as reruns of Pocket Monsters episodes, television airings of the Pocket Monsters movies, cast interviews, and live action footage from various Pok¨¦mon events. The series ended its run in September of 2004, being replaced by Pok¨¦mon Sunday.

Much of the English-language Pok¨¦mon Chronicles is based on original content from Housoukyoku, although the series is advertised as "containing all remaining undubbed parts of the series". Despite this, Chronicles is generally accepted as the English language adaptation of Housoukyoku.

Future of the Series

CoroCoro revealed that a new series that follows on from Pok¨¦mon Advanced Generation called Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl (¥Ý¥±¥Ã¥È¥â¥ó¥¹¥¿©`¡¡¥À¥¤¥ä¥â¥ó¥É£¦¥Ñ©`¥ë) will start broadcasting this fall on the TV Tokyo network. This series will feature Hikari (¥Ò¥«¥ê), the Female Trainer from Diamond and Pearl. It is currently unknown if any of the current characters return. Most fans speculate that Hikari will replace Brock due to his lack of story in recent episodes. Others say that May and Max will not return. Some go as far to even say that the whole cast will be replaced. Others, however, believe, based on a translation of the text from the picture, that Hikari will star in her own series that will run concurrently with the main series. While the future is still currently unknown at this time, most fans say that Ash isn't going anywhere. Even so, people even believe Ash will still be the main character, mostly because Ash & the Diamond character look alot like each other. It was revealed on the Serebii.net forums that Hikari will be the new main character (with a translated poster)but still, so far, no new information was given on Ash & May, meaning like Digimon, Ash & May might be side characters for the new series, but, odds are that they will still be featured in their own series alongside Hikari in her new series.

Pok¨¦mon movies

During each season of the main series, a Pok¨¦mon feature film („¡ˆö°æ! ¥Ý¥±¥Ã¥È¥â¥ó¥¹¥¿©` Gekij¨­han! Poketto Monsut¨¡), and later („¡ˆö°æ! ¥Ý¥±¥Ã¥È¥â¥ó¥¹¥¿©` ¥¢¥É¥Ð¥ó¥¹¥¸¥§¥Í¥ì©`¥·¥ç¥ó Gekij¨­ban Poketto Monsut¨¡ Adobansu Jener¨¥shon) starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. As of 2006, there have been nine movies and one feature length TV broadcast (released outside Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Mewtwo Returns"), the eighth released on July 16, 2005 in Japan. The plot of every movie has involved an encounter with a Legendary Pok¨¦mon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote brand new Pok¨¦mon that are supposed to be in new versions of the game.

Each movie until the seventh is preceded by an animated short, featuring Pikachu and other Pok¨¦mon owned by the main characters and Team Rocket. Much of the dialogue in the short is done in the Pok¨¦mon language, which consists of grunting (for larger Pok¨¦mon) or stating the name of the Pok¨¦mon, and most of the intelligible dialogue (monologue?) excluding the narration is performed by Meowth.

Each Pok¨¦mon movie has its own special 'Pikachu The Movie' logo.
The movies, along with their corresponding animated shorts, are:

Pocket Monsters
Pikachu's Summer Vacation / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤Î¤Ê¤Ä¤ä¤¹¤ß (Pikachu no natsu yasumi)
Pok¨¦mon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back / ¥ß¥å¥¦¥Ä©`¤ÎÄæÒu (Myuut¨± no gyakush¨± - Mewtwo's Counterattack)
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Mew and Mewtwo. Highest grossing of all Pok¨¦mon films and of all anime films in the US. Followed up by the special Pok¨¦mon: Mewtwo Returns (see Pok¨¦mon specials/OAVS below).


Pikachu's Rescue Adventure / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤¿¤ó¤±¤ó¤¿¤¤ (Pikachu tankentai - Pikachu's Exploration Party)
Pok¨¦mon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One / »Ã¤Î¥Ý¥±¥â¥ó ¥ë¥®¥¢±¬ÕQ (Maboroshi no Pok¨¦mon Rugia bakutan - Phantom Pok¨¦mon Revelation Lugia)
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia. Although considered by critics and fans to be the better of the two movies at the time, due to it being closer to the original, it failed to match its predecessor's box office draw. As with the first movie, many plot elements were omitted in the dub and other storylines were included but simplified.


Pikachu and Pichu / ¥Ô¥Á¥å©`¤È¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦ (Pichu to Pikachu)
Pok¨¦mon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown / ½Y¾§Ëþ¤ÎµÛÍõ (Kessh¨­ t¨­ no tei¨­ "Emperor of the Crystal Tower")
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Entei and the Unown.


Pikachu's Pikaboo / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤Î¥É¥­¥É¥­¤«¤¯¤ì¤ó¤Ü (Pikachu no dokidoki kakurenbo - Pikachu's Nervous Hide-And-Seek)
Pok¨¦mon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest / ¥»¥ì¥Ó¥£ •r¤ò³¬¤¨¤¿ÔâÓö (Serebii - Toki o koeta deai - Celebi - A Timeless Encounter)
Distributed by: Miramax Films, Walt Disney Pictures, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Celebi and Suicune. First film to be released by Miramax outside Japan.


Camp Pikachu / ¥Ô¥«¡î¥Ô¥« ÐÇ¿Õ¥­¥ã¥ó¥× (Pika Pika hoshizora Kyanpu - Sparkling Starlit Sky Camp)
Pok¨¦mon Heroes - Latios and Latias / Ë®¤Î¶¼¤Î×oÉñ −¥é¥Æ¥£¥¢¥¹¤È¥é¥Æ¥£¥ª¥¹ (Mizu no miyako no mamorigami - Ratiasu to Ratiosu - Guardian Spirits of the Water Capital - Latias and Latios)
Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Latios and Latias. Last movie to be seen in theaters outside Japan.

Pocket Monsters
Pikachu's Summer Vacation / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤Î¤Ê¤Ä¤ä¤¹¤ß (Pikachu no natsu yasumi)
Pok¨¦mon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back / ¥ß¥å¥¦¥Ä©`¤ÎÄæÒu (Myuut¨± no gyakush¨± - Mewtwo's Counterattack)
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Mew and Mewtwo. Highest grossing of all Pok¨¦mon films and of all anime films in the US. Followed up by the special Pok¨¦mon: Mewtwo Returns (see Pok¨¦mon specials/OAVS below).


Pikachu's Rescue Adventure / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤¿¤ó¤±¤ó¤¿¤¤ (Pikachu tankentai - Pikachu's Exploration Party)
Pok¨¦mon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One / »Ã¤Î¥Ý¥±¥â¥ó ¥ë¥®¥¢±¬ÕQ (Maboroshi no Pok¨¦mon Rugia bakutan - Phantom Pok¨¦mon Revelation Lugia)
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia. Although considered by critics and fans to be the better of the two movies at the time, due to it being closer to the original, it failed to match its predecessor's box office draw. As with the first movie, many plot elements were omitted in the dub and other storylines were included but simplified.


Pikachu and Pichu / ¥Ô¥Á¥å©`¤È¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦ (Pichu to Pikachu)
Pok¨¦mon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown / ½Y¾§Ëþ¤ÎµÛÍõ (Kessh¨­ t¨­ no tei¨­ "Emperor of the Crystal Tower")
Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Entei and the Unown.


Pikachu's Pikaboo / ¥Ô¥«¥Á¥å¥¦¤Î¥É¥­¥É¥­¤«¤¯¤ì¤ó¤Ü (Pikachu no dokidoki kakurenbo - Pikachu's Nervous Hide-And-Seek)
Pok¨¦mon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest / ¥»¥ì¥Ó¥£ •r¤ò³¬¤¨¤¿ÔâÓö (Serebii - Toki o koeta deai - Celebi - A Timeless Encounter)
Distributed by: Miramax Films, Walt Disney Pictures, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Celebi and Suicune. First film to be released by Miramax outside Japan.


Camp Pikachu / ¥Ô¥«¡î¥Ô¥« ÐÇ¿Õ¥­¥ã¥ó¥× (Pika Pika hoshizora Kyanpu - Sparkling Starlit Sky Camp)
Pok¨¦mon Heroes - Latios and Latias / Ë®¤Î¶¼¤Î×oÉñ −¥é¥Æ¥£¥¢¥¹¤È¥é¥Æ¥£¥ª¥¹ (Mizu no miyako no mamorigami - Ratiasu to Ratiosu - Guardian Spirits of the Water Capital - Latias and Latios)
Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Features the legendary Pok¨¦mon Latios and Latias. Last movie to be seen in theaters outside Japan.

yay,im done for the day.