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<!-- If you hate Pokémon, this is not the place to express it. We are an encyclopedia, not a hate site, personal weblog, or Uncyclopedia. Thanks. -->
'''''Pokémon''''' (ポケモン ''Pokemon''<!--Don't accent THIS one-->, / pronounced {{IPA|'poʊ.kɛ.mɑn}}/, although frequently, and even intentionally mispronounced /{{IPA|poʊ.ki.'mæn}}/), is a ] franchise, created by ] and published by ] for several of their systems, most importantly the ]. It has been ] into ], ], ], ]s, and much more. The name Pokémon is a ] of the words "'''po'''<nowiki>c</nowiki>'''ke'''<nowiki>t</nowiki> '''mon'''<nowiki>sters" (</nowiki>ポケットモンスター ''Poketto Monsutā''), which is its Japanese name.

'''Pokémon''' is also the collective name for the fictional creatures within the ''Pokémon'' universe. The franchise has 386 unique ]s 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 the almost unobtainable ] - from the original games.

==Origins==
]The concept of ''Pokémon'' evolved from ] collecting, a simple pastime many Japanese children (including Pokémon's creator, ], as a child) had enjoyed in the past. First introduced in Japan as Pocket Monster Red and Green in ], the franchise arrived in the west in ] as Pokemon Blue and Red. The ''Pokémon'' games allowed players to catch, collect, and train ] 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 ] in the English versions of the franchise used to be "Gotta catch 'em all!", although it is now no longer officially used.

==Generations== <!-- Please don't delete/rename this header; it is linked to from a number of places -->
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 ] or its successors (including the ]), beginning with ]. 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; a handful of Pokémon from a subsequent generation appear in the ], manga, or ] 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 ]

===First generation===
Introduced in ]. It introduced the original 151 Pokémon, as well as the basic concepts of trading and battling Pokémon. In Japan, the first generation included Pokémon Green, Blue, and Red, as opposed to only Red and Blue being released in America. In Europe and America, this generation of the games was completed by the game Pokémon Yellow Special Pikachu Edition - which had the player starting with a Pikachu which refused to go into his Pokéball, and featured the famed Team Rocket members of Jesse, James, and Meowth, both concepts which had appeared in the Pokémon Anime Television Series. These versions of the games revolved around the country of Kanto, and also featured a rival trainer who the player faced a numerous number of times, as well as the aforementioned Team Rocket, although the games concentrate on the entire organization of Team Rocket rather than just Jessie, James, and Meowth, who do not even appear in Red and Blue.

===Second generation===
Introduced in ]. This generation introduced an additional one hundred Pokémon, the ability to pick Berries which featured healing properties, as well as the concept of equipping Pokémon with items, breeding Pokémon, baby Pokémon and wild (random placement) single appearance Pokémon such as Suicune, Entei and Raikou (the 3 Legendary Dogs), which would appear randomly around the newly created land of Johto.
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 - which depending on the radio station chosen would reduce/increase the rate at which the player encountered wild Pokémon, and even 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 also related to the appearance and evolution of Pokémon on specific days and times; as well as a Day and Night system in which from 6am to 6pm the Sun shone; but from 6pm to 6am the land became dark, the games were also the first to feature
Two new Pokémon types, the Steel and Dark types, were also introduced.
This generation of the games was completed with Pokémon Crystal which was the first of the games to feature Pokémon which when encountered or fought against would perform an entertaining battle dance, signposts which would indicate the entering of a route, town and occasionally building or cave. Crystal version also featured a slight alteration of the occurrence of the 3 Legendary Dogs, in which Suicune would appear around the land but could not be fought but ran off and the non-player-character Eusine would be encountered (a rival trainer looking to catch Suicune too), this finished when Suicune was encountered at Tin Tower (the tower upon which Ho-oh could be found). However the other 2 Dogs had to be found in the normal way.

===Third generation===
Introduced in ], this generation added another 135 Pokémon, as well as Pokémon Abilities (always-on special innate abilities), Pokémon Contests , and two-on-two Pokémon battles. However this generation saw the loss of the Night and Day system of the previous generation, 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. The third game in this series is Pokémon Emerald which saw a return of the mobile phone system of the previous generation but with the modification of the ability to contact Pokémon Gym Leaders for rematches, but the inability 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 GBA (Gameboy Advance). These versions also introduced the ability to grow berries independent of reappearance each which had set times for their flowering. The versions also featured the ability to make 'Secret Bases' in trees of caves in which dolls, tables, chairs, plants etc could be placed.

===Fourth generation===
Slated to be introduced in ] for the ]. A handful of new Pokémon from this generation have made cameo appearances in the seventh and eighth Pokémon movies ('']'' and '']'', respectively), as well as promotional materials for '']'' and Pokémon: Fushigi no Dungeon Blue & Red. In addition, the anime has also featured the capture of three out of the five currently known fourth generation Pokemon. The currently known fourth generation Pokemon are: Manyula, Ussohachi (Bonsly in english), Lucario, Manene, and Gonbe (Munchlax in English).

==Video games==
]''.]]
''Main article: ]''

The original ''Pokémon'' games were Japanese ]s with an element of ], and were created by ] for the ]. 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 . This makes it the second biggest-selling games franchise ever (after Nintendo's ] series).

The first games in the series were ] (''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 (150 at the time, 151 including one that could not be obtained during regular gameplay), 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 ] Badges by beating the eight ''Gym Leaders'' and then defeating the ], 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 '']'' and '']'' were followed by '']'' (in Japan, Red and Green were followed by Blue which was subsequently followed by Yellow). '']'' and '']'' were followed by the exclusively ] version, '']''. The ] first saw the release of '']'' and '']''. The most recent full fledged game has been '']'' and '']'' which are remakes of Red and Blue. A third version of Ruby and Sapphire, called '']'', was released on ], ].

The series has also diversified into various spin-offs, such as ] games, ]s, simulated ], and ]. A handful of these spinoffs are remade in subsequent "generations"; for example, '']'' is very similar to '']'' but with newer Pokémon, and '']'' is largely identical to '']'' but for the compatibility with ].

The most recent game to be released was ] for the ]. It came out on October 3rd, 2005. A number of Pokémon games are currently in development. They include:
*'']'' - ], 2006
*''] Red Rescue Force'' and ''Blue Rescue Force'', for ] and ] respectively, 2005

===Appearances in Super Smash Bros.===
Two of the most popular Pokémon, ] and ], were chosen to appear as two of the 12 characters in Nintendo's party/fighting game '']'', which was released in 1999 for the ]. Pikachu appeared as an initially available character while Jigglypuff was an unlockable one. The pair returned in the 2001 ] sequel, '']''. 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: ] and ].)

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.

The next ] game expected to feature Pokémon will be on the ] in which ] has already announced the new ]. However, details of this game are still relatively unknown.

===Pokémon on the Nintendo Revolution===
''Pokémon'' for the new ] has currently not been announced by ]. However, ] has produced a demo for the ] (exclusive only to major game related companies such as ] and ]) 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 as well as many other sites.

== Anime Series ==
]
''Main article: ]''

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

===The Original Series===
The first, and the more familiar one, ''Pokemon'' or ''Pocket Monsters'' (often referred to as ''Pokemon: Gotta Catch Em All'' to distinguish it from the later series) tells the adventures of ] (Satoshi in the original Japanese version) as he travels through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto to become the greatest Pokemon Master. This series is based on the first and second generation games. Accompanying Ash on his journeys were Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, and Misty, the baby sister of the Gym Leaders from Cerulean City.
In the original series Ash's main rival yet friend was a trainer, also from Pallet Town, named Gary. Gary, whose grandfather was none other than Profeser Oak, the man in charge of giving new trainers their first Pokémon, was well known and acompanied by 'cheerleaders'. The names of Ash and Gary were taken from the two people which produced the franchise - Ash was given his name from creator Satoshi Tajiri, whilst Gary was given his name in mark of the act Shigeru Miyamoto played in helping Satoshi Tajiri to launch the series (Gary in Japanese is Shigeru).

==="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 takes on the role of a teacher and mentor for a younger, beginner Pokémon trainer in this series. This series is based on the third generation games. After this series Ash will go back to his home region of Kanto and visit new areas around there with the current team and Misty will meet him through this part of the journey as they go to the Kanto contests and the Battle Frontier.

===Spin-off Series===
A spin-off series, entitled ''Shu-kan Pokémon Ho-so-kyoku'' 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, '']'', combines the episodes from this series as well as various other made-for-TV specials (originally unrelated to ''Housoukyoku'') that have aired in Japan but not translated for English release.

===The Future===
With the planned release of the fourth generation games for ], a follow-up to the ''Advanced Generation'' saga based on those games is expected. It is said to be titled ''Pokémon Ranger''.

===Others===
There is also a television program in Japan titled '']'', 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 ] in the United States. In other countries the English language adaptations air on the following channels:
*] in ]
*] in the ]
*] in ]
*] in ]
*]'s ] and ]/] in ]
''Housoukyoku'' originally aired on ] but has since ended its run, while '']'' can be seen in the ] on ] as of ], ''Sunday'' is seen only on ] and likely will not air in the US or Canada.

== Card game ==
]
''Main article: ]''

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a ] based on Pokémon, first introduced to North America in ], and in Japan at an earlier date. Initially, it was published by ], the company most famous for '']''.

However, with the release of '']'' and '']'' ] ], ] took back the card game from Wizards of the Coast and started publishing the cards themselves. The latest incarnations of the card games is known as '''Pokémon-e Trading Card Game''', the cards of which (for the large part) are compatible with the ] ].

In 1998, Nintendo released a ] version of the trading card game. 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.

== Manga ==
There are various ''Pokémon'' ] series, four of which were released in ] by ], and seven of them released in English by ].

=== Manga released in English ===
* '']'' (''The Electric Tale of Pikachu'' a.k.a ''Dengeki Pikachu''), a ] manga created by Toshihiro Ono. It was divided into four ], 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.
* '']'', a sho-nen manga based on the video games.
* '']'' (a.k.a. Pokémon: PiPiPi Adventures), a ] manga
* '']'' (newspaper style comics, not released by Chuang Yi)
* '']'' (a.k.a. Satoshi to Pikachu, not released by Viz)
* '']'' (not released by Viz)
* '']'' and ''Pokémon Pocket (not released by Viz)
* '']'' (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''.
* '']''

== Pokémon Live ==
]
{{main|Pokémon Live!}}

A live action show called '']'' toured the ] in late ]. It was based on the popular ], and was well-liked among some fans of the ] (in spite of some continuity errors relating to the anime). In late ], it was scheduled to tour ], but was cancelled for unknown reasons.

==Cultural Influence==
], numbered 25 in the ], is probably the most well-known Pokémon species.]]

''Pokémon'', being a popular franchise, has undoubtedly left its mark on ]. The ''Pokémon'' characters themselves have become pop-culture icons; examples include the ] balloon at a ], thousands of merchandise items, and in 2005, a theme park in ]. The prone-to-offend cartoon '']'' spoofed ''Pokémon'' in Episode 310, entitled "]" ("chinpoko" is Japanese slang for penis), in which the executives behind it were revealed to be Japanese ultra nationalists bent on avenging Japan's admitted defeat in ]. Several shows such as '']'' have made references to ''Pokémon'' (among other anime series) in their series.

Because of the unprecedented popularity of the franchise, Nintendo formed a subsidiary company called The Pokémon Company to handle the franchise. The subsidiary handles everything from publishing the games in Japan to running the official merchandise stores, the Pokémon Centers. The Pokémon Company in turn has a U.S. based subsidiary called Pokémon USA, of which a minority owner is ], the international distributors (outside Japan) (excluding Korea whose distributor is ]) of the popular ] series.

== Controversy and Criticism ==
''See also ] and ] for specific controversial Pokémon designs, and ] for controversies related to specific episodes.

As with other pop culture icons, ''Pokémon'' has received its fair share of controversy and critisism.
=== Religion ===
====Christianity====
Some ] ] groups in the United States believe ''Pokémon'' to be ] in origin. After the US release of '']'', there was a sudden widespread criticism of it passed through ] congregations primarily by word-of-mouth. The claimed parallels between Pokémon and Satanism include:

* Pokémon parallel ]s. They are captured and must be invoked to perform tasks.
* Magical "]s" (gym badges) are necessary to control many of them.
* "Magical" stones are used to evolve certain Pokémon
* Pokémon "evolve." ] precludes literal ], therefore Pokémon denies some forms of Biblical interpretation.
* Many Pokémon have ] or ] powers. These powers are not derived from ] and therefore must stem from Satan.
* Many Pokémon embody or practice ] ] and ] concepts. For example, some practice ], which some Christian groups denounce as gateway to ] religions. The game world also incorporates Asian traditions about ] forces.
* Pokémon stands for "pocket Monsters". They said that it was created in Japan 20 years ago (in fact, Pokemon was created in Japan but not 20 years ago) by a child who met a demon.

Also, when the main theme song for the television show is sung in English, the lyrics "gotta catch em all" are alleged to say "I love Satan" or "oh Satan" when ], which is known as "backmasking". This has left some Christians and Christian organizations believing that Pokémon subliminally encourages Satanism. However, backmasking in general is highly controversial and debatable, leaving room for much skepticism.

Still, most people (including many Asian Christian congregations) dismiss these claims to be nonsense, and attribute many of the alleged protests to ]. The surprisingly small amount of original protests (as opposed to reports of protests) seem to reinforce this belief. It would be incorrect to state that the Christian religious community is of a single mind in this matter, since most mainstream sects of Christianity are utterly indifferent to Pokémon.

The alleged outcry was enough to move the ] to comment, in an official statement on ] ]:

:''The Vatican has announced that the trading-card and computer-game versions of Pokémon are "full of inventive imagination," have no "harmful moral side effects" and celebrate "ties of intense friendship." Whether that extends to the TV show, ] didn't say. The New York Post, quoting a Thursday story in The Times of London, says The Vatican made its announcement on its satellite TV station, Sat2000, run by the Italian Bishops' Conference.''-from the ]<!-- ''See the ] sub-section in the ] section for more information''-->

There are also allegations, particularly among Christians, against "Pokémon" citing liberal views on morality. These include the immodest dress of some of the female characters in the show, the use of the phrase "kick your ass" (in actuality, "kick your Grass", referring to a type of Pokémon) in the lyrics of a song in the show, though the phrase was later removed and replaced with different lyrics, and a certain character, ("James"), wearing women's clothes in several episodes of the show, giving some the impression that he is a ].

* A private interview with Nintendo revealed that James must sometimes wear a 'costume' in order for a plan to catch Pikachu to work, or to Give Ash or his friends something to make sure they win something.

==== Judaism ====
''Pokémon'' has been criticised by some members of the ] community for its use of the ], the most widely known symbol of ], which they hold is inappropriate for children's toys. Nintendo says that this is a matter of cultural misunderstanding, as the swastika has been used in ]n cultures as a symbol for "good fortune" by the ] ] for thousands of years. Even today in Japan, the swastika is not necessarily associated with Nazism, and most maps not only in Japan but also in Korea and Taiwan use little clockwise upright swastikas, ], to indicate the location of Buddhist temples. Moreover, Buddhist and folklore artifacts frequently bear swastika ornaments; a ] of interwoven tilted swastikas is commonly seen in the ] subway system.

The manji was shown only on a Japanese version card and was excluded from the North American release. However, these Jewish groups attacked the Japanese version distributed in the U.S. by unauthorized import, even though the ] symbol is reversed (i.e., clockwise rather than counter-clockwise) in relation to the ] or Hakenkreuz used by the Nazi party. As a result of this controversy Nintendo stopped using this symbol even in the Japanese version. This raised a public backlash in Japan for being intolerant towards the symbols of the Buddhist religion for the sake of avoiding controversy.

==== Islam ====
Pokémon has only belatedly made its way to the Islamic world, at this point, in ]. The driving point behind this factor is the belief that the trading card game promotes ] with cards. This declaration is been made official by ], the most influential conservative religious group in Saudi Arabia. In most other moderate Islamic countires it poses no threat.

Despite assurances from the Nintendo that the trade name stands for "Pocket Monsters," the video games and related items have been stripped from store shelves in Saudi Arabia and turned away at ports. Schools in Saudi Arabia have set up collection points to turn in clothing decorated with Pokémon figures.

A fatwa, or religious edict, issued by a Saudi sheik urges all Muslims to beware of the game, noting that most of the cards bear "six-pointed stars, a symbol of international ] and the state of ]." ]

=== Health ===
''Main article: ]''

On ],], 685 Japanese children were admitted to hospital with convulsive ]. It was determined that the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon,「でんのうせんしポリゴン」(''Dennou senshi Porygon'', or "Electric Soldier Porygon"). In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly-alternating blue and red color patterns. It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if they haven't had any previous history of ]. As a consequence, many video game makers (including ]) added warning labels to their ] products (or made pre-existing labels more prominent), warning that exposure to video games may trigger seizures in individuals vulnerable to ].

===Other===


== Miscellaneous ==
] (JA8962), in Pokémon special colors, landing at London (]) Airport. Pictured on the plane are Clefairy, Pikachu, and Togepi.]]
A mammalian ] was named "Pokemon" (no aigu accent on the e) by its discoverers. This name is apparently an ] for "POK Erythroid Myeloid ONtogenic" factor (a cancer causing agent), so the name could be either a ] or simply coincidence. The name has since been changed to "]" officially.

== See also ==
=== Miscellanea ===
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=== Criticism ===
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== External links ==
===Official Websites===
*
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===Fansites===
* ''(often shortened to "PUK")''
* ''(Recently optimized)''
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* ''(often shortened to "Bulbagarden")''
* ''(often referred to as "Serebii.net")''
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*(french site)

===Other Websites===
{{wikibookspar||Pokémon}}
* ''(a ] focusing on the Pokémon franchise)''
*

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Revision as of 15:52, 23 December 2005

sweaty balls on misty's head

Pokémon: Difference between revisions Add topic