Pokémon (anime)

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The Pokémon anime metaseries, based on the video game series, was created in Japan and was then adapted for the North American television market. The series, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā^?), is a part of the Pokémon franchise.

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 three: Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation, and subsequently Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl, continue the story of Pocket Monsters, while Pokémon Sunday (formerly Shuukan Pokémon Housoukyoku) is a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters.

[edit] Airing and production of the series

The English adaptation of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment (for eight seasons), with video distribution of the series was handled by Viz for the TV series for the younger generation as well as the eighth movie forward, Kids WB! and Nintendo for the first three movies and the first special, Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie through the seventh. 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 ninth season, the American branch of The Pokémon Company, Pokémon USA, replaced 4Kids as the show producers and distributors outside of Japan, and the program has a new voice cast.

The show recently started its fourth season of Advanced Generation, titled Pokémon: Battle Frontier. Beginning on November 27, 2006, there will be a new episode Monday through Thursday for the time being. An English version of Housoukyoku has now been made, titled Pokémon Chronicles which premiered in the UK on Toonami on May 11, 2005 at 4:30 PM EST, and is currently airing on YTV in Canada. Each season also brings forth a Pokémon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pokémon animated short.

In Japan, both series are shown on TV Tokyo, with Advanced Generation airing on Thursday nights (previously Monday) and Pokémon Sunday on Sunday mornings. In the United States, Advanced Generation could previously be seen on the air on the Kids' WB! cartoon block on Saturdays, but in April 2006, Kids WB!, which continue on the newly-merged CW Network, announced the fall schedule and Pokémon was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the WB-created series Legion of Super-Heroes. The rights for Battle Frontier have been picked up by TimeWarner's corprate sibling Cartoon Network instead, and have aired on CN since September 9, 2006 at 9 am US ET/PT, with a special prime-time episode having been aired the night before (Friday, September 8 at 8:30 PM ET/PT, following the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special. [1] Recently the second and third Advance series, "Advanced Challenge" and "Advanced Battle" started airing as part of the Miguzi block on the US version of CN at 5:00 pm US ET/PT, and earlier editions of the series aired on CN's American sibling service, Boomerang, from July 31, 2006 to October 20, 2006. Cartoon Network's India service, along with their Toonami UK service, also carries Pokémon episodes. As of October 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's online service, Toonami Jetstream, features Pokémon episodes starting at the Orange League episode "The Pokémon Water War".

The newest series of Pokémon began airing in Japan on September 28, 2006 and is set in the Shin'ou region, thus based on the new Diamond and Pearl games currently released in Japan and to be released in 2007 in the USA. Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Team Rocket have all returned, while May and Max did not retun as main characters. In their place are new characters, Hikari and Shinji, based on the playable characters from the games, and an Aipom that Ash had found is joining them on their travels.

In the United States it is the fifth longest running animated TV show, only beaten by The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Arthur, and South Park. Pokémon has more episodes than any of these shows, with 445 episodes aired in the U.S. and over 470 episodes aired in Japan.

[edit] Series names

Like many anime metaseries, Pokémon and Pokémon: 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:

• Pokémon: The Animated Series - Covering the Kanto/Indigo, Orange Islands, and Johto adventures.
  • Pokémon: Indigo League - the original English series, covering the Kanto/Indigo story. The subtitle "Indigo League" is not an official name; the title is simply Pokémon.
  • Pokémon: The Adventures in the Orange Islands - covering the Orange Islands story. The subtitle "The Adventures in the Orange Islands" was not mentioned until the release of the DVD collection of the season; when being aired, it was simply mentioned as Pokémon. It is believed that this series was created as a filler so that the show could continue, as Indigo League ended before the Johto storyarc had begun.
  • Pokémon: The Johto Journeys - covering the start of the Johto journey, and ending as the protagonists reach Goldenrod City.
  • Pokémon: Johto League Champions - continuing the Johto adventures, and ending as the protagonists leave Cianwood City.
  • Pokémon: Master Quest - concludes the Johto adventures.

• Pokémon: Advanced Generation - Covering the Hoenn and Battle Frontier adventures from where Pokémon leaves off.
  • Pokémon: Advanced - Continuing from Master Quest, Advanced covers the Hoenn adventures until the protagonists leave Mauville City for the first time.
  • Pokémon: Advanced Challenge - covers the next three Hoenn gyms and the next four contests.
  • Pokémon: Advanced Battle - covers the final two gyms, two contests, the Grand Festival, the Hoenn League and the beginning of the Battle Frontier.
  • Pokémon: Battle Frontier - covers the rest of Battle Frontier facilities and the Pokémon contests in Kanto and the Kanto Grand Festival.

• Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl - Covering the Sinnoh adventures from up where Advanced Generation leaves off.

[edit] The Pokémon series

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

Throughout the run of the show the subject matter changed in a subtly yet in a large way; in the beginning the show was more comical and whimsical (light and airy), using "goofy" humor (or "cute" humor when it came to Pikachu, who would do goofy things in between important scenes (for example, in one episode when Ash is arguing with another trainer Pikachu tries to use weights meant for a Sandshrew and accidentally gets caught in a comical ball shape) mostly caused by either Ash's happy-go-lucky attitude, Ash's inexperience in the face of the challenges he fought, Team Rocket (whose plans and failures were often more outlandish and diverse than in the later show), Pikachu's antics, or the occasional breaking of the fourth wall. As the show progressed, however, and as Ash became more of a mature and leader-type character, the main course of the show became more or less serious, and its previous comical nature was (for the most part) changed into comic relief and attributed mostly to Team Rocket.

English-language episode titles tend to be a play on common words or phrases in pop culture (e.g. "I Feel Skitty", "Where's Armaldo?") rather than phrases or short sentences from other anime (e.g "Tetsusaiga, the Phantom Sword" from Inuyasha, "Byakugan vs. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" from Naruto) although early episode names were mostly translations of their Japanese counterparts.

The Japanese episode titles in the early series often included little 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.

[edit] Weekly Pokémon broadcast

Main article: Pokémon Chronicles

Weekly Pokémon broadcast / Skuukan Pokémon Housoukyoku ("Weekly Pokémon broadcast") is a closely related spinoff series that airs concurrently with the beginning part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. The main episodes are stories that star various recurring characters that appear in Pokémon, some of which account for discontinuities of the plot of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. However, instead of new episodes each week, as is the case with Pokémon: Advanced Generation, during Pokémon Weekly Pokémon broadcast other things may air, such as reruns of Pokémon episodes, television airings of the Pokémon movies, cast interviews, and live action footage.

[edit] Pokémon films

During each season of the main series, a Pokémon feature film, 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 Pokémon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote brand new Pokémon that are supposed to be in new versions of the game.

In the USA, the first three films were distributed by Kids WB! and Nintendo, the fourth through seventh were distributed by Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, the eighth is being distributed by VIZ Media, and the ninth film may be distributed by Universal Studios and Lionsgate Studios. ^{[citation needed]}

In Japan, all nine movies and beyond are distributed by Toho (Toho Co. Ltd).

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

Each Pokémon movie has its own special 'Pikachu The Movie' logo.

Image:EnteiMovie4.jpg Image:Pikachu2001.jpg

The movies, along with their corresponding animated shorts, are:

[edit] Pokémon

Pikachu's Summer Vacation

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back</dt> Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo

Features the legendary Pokémon Mew and Mewtwo. Highest grossing of all Pokémon films and of all anime films in the US. Followed up by the special Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (see Pokémon specials/OAVS below).</dd>

Pikachu's Rescue Adventure </dt>

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One</dt> Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo

Features the legendary Pokémon 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.</dd>

Pikachu and Pichu</dt>

Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown</dt> Distributed by: Kids' WB! and Nintendo

Features the legendary Pokémon Entei and the Unown.</dd>

Pikachu's Pikaboo </dt>

Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest </dt> Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Features the legendary Pokémon Celebi and Suicune. First film to be released by Miramax outside Japan.</dd>

Camp Pikachu</dt>

Pokémon Heroes - Latios and Latias</dt> Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Features the legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias. Last movie to be seen in theaters outside Japan.</dd>

[edit] Pokémon: Advanced Generation

Gotta Dance </dt>

Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker</dt> Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Features the legendary Pokémon Jirachi and Groudon. First film to have a direct to video release outside Japan.</dd>

Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys</dt> Distributed by: Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Features the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, and the alien virus Pokémon Deoxys. The first fourth-generation Pokémon, Munchlax, makes its' debut in this movie, which was also the first without a short.</dd>

Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew</dt> Distributed by: VIZ Media

Features the legendary Pokémon Mew, Regirock, Registeel, Regice, and four of the new 4th generation Pokémon, Lucario, Bonsly, Weavile and Mime Jr. First movie to feature a legendary Pokémon from a previous movie.</dd>

Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy / (Pokemon Renjā to Umi no Ōji Manafi - "Pokémon Ranger and the prince of sea - Manaphy")</dt>

The next Pokémon Movie, it has the Pokémon Kyogre, and four more of the new 4th generation Pokémon, Manaphy, Perap, Buoysel, Tamanta, and elements from the Pokémon Ranger game.

[edit] Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl

A tenth movie is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2007 and will be based on the new anime series of Diamond & Pearl.

[edit] Pokémon specials

Once in a while there would be other animated material that does not fit in with the main series or the movies.

A special cartoon 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.</dd>

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Pokémon characters

English names are given before the Japanese names in Western order (given name before surname), when possible. All Japanese names, unless otherwise noted, are romanized from katakana. For the sake of simplicity, English language names will be used in this and other articles in Wikipedia about Pokémon, unless explicitly referring to the Japanese version.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Current Main Characters

• Ash Ketchum (Satoshi): The main character of the series, Ash dreams of being the greatest Pokémon master in the world.

• Pikachu: Ash's very first Pokémon and best friend.

• Hikari: New heroine of the series when Ash comes to Sinnoh, dreams of being a great coordinator like her mom.

• Brock (Takeshi): Former Pewter Gym leader, he dreams of being the world's best Pokémon breeder.

[edit] Former Main Characters

• Misty (Kasumi): One of Ash's former travelling friends, is currently the Cerulean City gym leader. Misty had a crush on Ash throughout the entire seasons that she appeared in. Whether or not she told Ash is unknown.

• Tracey Sketchit (Kenji): One of Ash's former travelling friends, Tracey is a Pokémon watcher, and is currently Professor Oak's assistant.

• May (Haruka): One of Ash's former travelling friends through Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier, is currently in Johto competing in the contests there.

• Max (Masato): May's little brother, Max is a very smart boy, and is now back with his parents in Petalburg City, where he will soon begin his own journey.

[edit] Villains

[edit] Team Rocket

Team Rocket (Rokketo-Dan): an evil organization led by the evil Giovanni. Prior to Team Aqua and Magma disbanding, Team Rocket had operations in Kanto and Johto, although it is unknown if Team Rocket will start operations in Hoenn, and it's also unknown if it operates in Sinnoh. Team Rocket also starts saying a new motto in this series, but since the series has not been translated into english yet, there is only the Japanese version.

• Giovanni (Sakaki): The evil mastermind behind Team Rocket, is never without his Persian by his side.
• Jessie, James, and Meowth (Musashi, Kojirō, and Nyarth): Constant hindurance to Ash and his friends, these three seek to capture Ash's Pikachu.
• Cassidy and Butch (Yamato and Kosaburō): Jessie & James' rivals in Team Rocket, Cassidy & Butch are much more cunning when it comes to stealing Pokémon.
• Professor Namba: One of Team Rocket's scientists, Cassidy & Butch usually do work for him.

[edit] Team Magma

Team Magma (Magma-Dan): an evil organization reoccurring within the Pokemon: Advance generation series, led by the evil Maxie. Seemingly the goal of Team Magma is to release the beast of the earth, Groudon onto the world, creating new lands and eliminating water as it did millions of years ago. The Pokémon they used were fire-type, usually Houndoom and Mightyena, even some Golbat. The goals and ambitions are the same as their counteracting rivals Team Aqua, however the two teams despise each other. The two teams have been reported to be no more.

• Maxie (Matsuba): Maxie was the head of Team Magma
• Tabitha (Homura): Maxie's second-in-command. Like many member of Team Magma, he has a Mightyena at his side. (Known as Harland in his first English appearance)
• Brody (Bannai): Brody is another member. He is a master of disguise (along with his personal Ditto) and is known as "a man with a thousand faces". When Team Magma disbanded, Brody began to operate independently as "The Phantom Thief".

[edit] Team Aqua

Team Aqua (Aqua-Dan): an evil organization reoccurring within the Pokemon: Advance generation series, led by the evil Archie. Seemingly the goal of Team Aqua is to release the beast of the sea, Kyogre onto the world, flooding it with ocean as it did millions of years ago. The Pokémon they used were water-type, usually Crawdaunt and Walrein. The goals and ambitions are the same as their counteracting rivals Team Magma, however the two teams despise each other. The two teams have been reported to be no more.

• Archie (Aogiri): Archie was the head of Team Aqua.
• Shelly (Izumi): Archie's second-in-comand. She had a Carvanha by her side at one time. (Known as Isabel in her first English appearance)

[edit] Recurring characters

• Professor Samuel Oak (Professor Yukinari Okido): a Pokémon researcher. He is often considered the leading Pokémon expert, often giving lectures to Pokémon academies and hosting a radio show in Goldenrod City. Alongside his research, he is also authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Kanto starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. It was a special condition in which Ash obtained Pikachu from Professor Oak. (see Ash Ketchum article)

• Professor Felina Ivy (Dr. Uchikido): Professor Ivy is first heard of in the second season of the Pokémon Animé. Just after Ash Ketchum has competed in the Pokémon League, Professor Oak asks him to travel to the Orange Archipelago region and retrieve a strange Pokéball from local Pokémon expert Professor Ivy. Ash and his friends Misty and Brock make their way to Valencia Island and meet the Professor and her triplet assistants.

• Professor Elm (Professor Utsugi): a Pokémon researcher and was one of Professor Oak's students. He is authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Johto starter Pokémon: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Professor Elm often gets so caught up in his work he forgets to do many things. He also tends to run his mouth off when talking about his work.

• Professor Birch (Professor Odamaki): a Pokémon researcher, known for his field work. He is authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Hoenn starter Pokémon: Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip.

• Professor Nanakamado: a Pokémon researcher. He is authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Sinnoh starter Pokémon: Naetle, Hikozaru, and Pochama.

• Shinji: Ash's new rival in Diamond & Pearl.

• Officer Jenny (Junsā): A family of police officers (all of which are named Jenny) Like the various Nurse Joys, it is difficult to tell one Officer Jenny from another. Also like the Joys, Brock has no difficulty telling them apart. Notably in the Orange Islands, the Jennys are dressed differently from the ones in the other regions. The Japanese name, junsā, means "police officer".

• Nurse Joy (Jōi): A family of Pokémon nurses (all of which are named Joy, like Jenny.) Because of their identical appearance, it is often difficult to tell one Nurse Joy from another (with the exception of one tanned, muscular Joy in the Orange Islands, plus the Joys there are differently dressed from the ones in the other regions). Brock, however, has no difficulty telling them apart. This is most likely a homage to the games which used the same nurse sprite for each Pokémon Center the player visited. There is one Joy who is not a nurse, but instead an agent of the Pokémon Inspection Agency (responsible for certifying Gyms); she appears in an episode of Pokémon Chronicles. The Japanese name, jōi, is from joi which means "female doctor".

• Gary Oak (Shigeru): Longtime rival with the series main hero, Ash Ketchum. Stubborn, brash, and certainly anything but humble, Gary’s goal and ambition was to be number one at whatever he set his goal on. However, due to his brash and arrogant attitude, Gary Oak would often be met with failure in such big tournaments such as the Indigo Pokémon League, and The Johto Silver Conference. After losing to said rival Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak decided to pursue an active career in the footsteps of his grandfather, a Pokémon Professor.

• Richie (Hiroshi): After meeting in the Indigo Pokémon League tournament Ash and Richie soon became friends. With similarities glaringly obvious to Ash in appearance, Richie’s humble attitude and responsible demeanor set him aside from Ash. After a close, but heated match between the two at Indigo Stadium, Ash and Richie vowed to both become Pokémon Masters. The two cross paths again, and a couple of shows even focus on Richie himself as he too journeys to keep his promise to Ash of becoming a Pokémon Master.

• Delia Ketchum (Hanako): Said mother to said hero of said series. Delia Ketchum seems to more often than not play an active role in teaming with Professor Oak to make sure things are ok. Delia is a kind gentle woman, however she often scolds Ash for his reckless behavior when he often puts himself in dangerous situations. Delia herself has a Pokémon/house keeper in the form of Mr. Mime. One of the running gags of the series (in the early episodes of the English dub only) involves Delia reminding Ash to change his undergarments every time they speak.

• Ayako: Hikari's mother, who was once a great coordinator but then decided to start a family.

• Todd/Snap: Todd is a photographer boy that once tried to take a picture of Pikachu, but failed. He then joins the group for three episodes.

[edit] Voice cast

Character	Voice Actor (Japanese)	Voice Actor (English)
Satoshi / Ash Ketchum	Rica Matsumoto	Veronica Taylor (Seasons 1-8) Sarah Natochenny (Season 9+)
Kasumi / Misty	Mayumi Iizuka	Rachael Lillis (Seasons 1-8) Michelle Knotz (Season 9+)
Takeshi / Brock	Yuji Ueda	Eric Stuart (Episode 5 - Season 8) Bill Rogers (Season 9+)
Kenji / Tracey Sketchit	Tomokazu Seki	Ted Lewis (Episode 84 - Season 8) TBA (Season 9+)
Haruka / May	Midori Kawana (KAORI)	Veronica Taylor (Seasons 6-8) Michelle Knotz (Season 9)
Masato / Max	Fushigi Yamada	Amy Birnbaum (AG3 - Season 8) Kayzie Rogers (Season 9)
Hikari	Megumi Toyoguchi
Pikachu	Ikue Otani	Ikue Otani
Togepi	Satomi Koorogi	Satomi Koorogi
Yukinari Ōkido / Professor Oak	Unshou Ishizuka	Stan Hart (Seasons 1-8) Jimmy Zoppi (Season 9+)
Hanako / Delia Ketchum	Masami Toyoshima	Veronica Taylor (Seasons 1-8) TBA (Season 9+)
Joi / Nurse Joy	Ayako Shiraishi	Megan Hollingshead (Seasons 1-6) Bella Hudson (Seasons 7-8) Michelle Knotz (Season 9+) <ref>Nurse Joy was voiced by Diane Stillwell in The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon, but in Season 9 Michelle Knotz took over as her voice.</ref>
Junsa / Officer Jenny	Chinami Nishimura	Megan Hollingshead (Seasons 1-6) Bella Hudson (Seasons 7-8) Kayzie Rogers (Season 9+)
Shigeru / Gary Oak	Yuko Kobayashi	Jimmy Zoppi
Shū / Drew	Mitsuki Saiga	Pete Zarustica (Seasons 6-8) Bill Rogers (Seasons 9)
Haarii / Harley	Junichi Kanemaru	Andrew Rannells (Season 8) Bill Timoney (Seasons 9)
Musashi / Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara Akiko Hiramatsu (平松 晶子) (AG 85-92)	Rachael Lillis (Episode 2 - Season 8) Michelle Knotz (Season 9+)
Kojirō / James	Shinichiro Miki	Ted Lewis (Episodes 2 - 12) Eric Stuart (Episode 13 - Season 8) Jimmy Zoppi (Season 9+)
Nyarth / Meowth	Inuko Inuyama	Matthew Sussman (Episodes 2-28) Maddie Blaustein (Episode 29 - Season 8) Jimmy Zoppi (Season 9+)
Narrator	Unshou Ishizuka	Ken Gates (Season 1 - AG20; Season 9+) Mike Pollock (AG21 - Season 8)
Sōnansu / Wobbuffet	Yūji Ueda	Kayzie Rogers

[edit] Banned episodes

Porygon was the Pokémon featured in one of the most notable banned episodes, causing seizures in many children when it first aired.

Main article: Banned episodes of Pokémon

The Pokémon Anime has several episodes banned from Japan, the Western World, or the entire world. One episode in particular falls into the latter category: "Computer Soldier Porygon" (sometimes translated "Electric Soldier Porygon", lit. Dennō Senshi Porigon). Before the Pokémon series even debuted outside of Japan, the episode made headlines when it caused 685 children to experience seizures and seizure-like symptoms. Despite the offending scene in the episode being Pikachu's doing, Porygon (along with its evolution, Porygon2) has never been seen from again on the Anime. It is possible that Porygon2's new evolution, PorygonZ, may see the same fate as its previous forms because of this. The scene has been toned down with the strobe effects removed, but the episode has still not been aired for some reason.

[edit] DVD Release

Season two, season five (Pokémon: Master Quest) and season six (Pokémon: Advanced) of the series, were released on DVD. The second season is in three volumes while the fifth and sixth season are in two volumes.

On November 21, 2006, "Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League" will be released on DVD, although it will only contain the first 26 episodes.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Season-Box-Set-League/dp/B000I0QLF0/ref=dp_return_1/103-9810760-6782258?ie=UTF8&n=130&s=dvd</ref>

Season	# of Episodes	Release Date (R1)
1	26<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Season-Box-Set-League/dp/B000I0QLF0/ref=dp_return_1/103-9810760-6782258?ie=UTF8&n=130&s=dvd</ref>	November 21, 2006
2	36	November 12, 2002 (Volume 1)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Adventures-Islands-Rica-Matsumoto/dp/B00005QAQC/sr=1-1/qid=1163882781/ref=sr_1_1/104-6797896-8003937?ie=UTF8&s=dvd</ref> September 23, 2003 (Volume 2)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Adventures-Orange-Islands-Vol/dp/B0000ADXDM/ref=pd_sim_d_1/104-6797896-8003937</ref> November 18, 2003 (Volume 3)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000C52HI/ref=pd_cp_d_title/104-6797896-8003937</ref>
5	63	October 26, 2004 (Volume 1)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Master-Quest-DVD-Collectors/dp/B0002YLDQO/ref=cm_lm_fullview_prod_1/103-4487880-5266247</ref> February 22, 2005 (Volume 2)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Master-Quest-Collectors-Box/dp/B0002IQD2Y/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/103-4487880-5266247</ref>
6	40	October 26, 2005 (Volume 1)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AM6OB2/ref=pd_cp_d_title/103-4487880-5266247</ref> August 22, 2006 (Volume 2)<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Advanced-Box-Set-Vol/dp/B000FJI4EK/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b/103-4487880-5266247</ref>

[edit] Broadcasters

[edit] America Argentina: Cartoon Network Brazil: Cartoon Network, Rede Record, Rede Globo, Rede Família Canada: YTV. Télétoon showed it in French, although it was cancelled a few years ago. Chile: Chilevisión, Etc...TV Colombia: Caracol TV Latin America: Cartoon Network Mexico: XHGC Canal 5, Cartoon Network Panama: TVN Peru: Frecuencia Latina Canal 2, Cartoon Network United States: Syndication (September 1998-February 1999); Kids' WB! (February 1999-September 2006); Cartoon Network (on and off since October 2002, now airs full time as of September 2006); Boomerang (July 2006-October 2006); Toonami Jetstream (October 2006-Current) [edit] Asia Hong Kong: TVB India: Cartoon Network(Toonami) Indonesia: SCTV, Indosiar Iraq: Al Iraqiya Japan: TV Tokyo, Kids Station Malaysia: ntv7 Middle East: MBC (Season 1~2), ART Teenz (Season 3~4) Philippines: Past: GMA Channel 07 (Season 1~2), Present: CNPhilippines (Season 1~ongoing) Singapore: MediaCorp South Korea: SBS Taiwan: CTV, YOYO TV, STAR TV, SET TV Thailand: Modernine TV

[edit] Europe Belgium: VT4 Czech Republic: TV Nova Denmark: TV2, TV 2 Zulu, Jetix Danmark Finland: MTV3 France: TF1, Jetix France Germany: RTL II, Jetix Deutschland Greece: Star Channel Hungary: RTL Klub, A+ Ireland: RTÉ Two Italy: Italia 1 Netherlands: TV Veronica, Jetix Nederland Norway: TV 2, Jetix Norge Poland: Polsat (Season 1-5; 2000-2004), TV4 (Season 1-6; May 2005-Current), Jetix Polska (Season 1-3) Portugal: SIC Russia: Channel One Slovakia: TV JOJ Spain: Telecinco, Jetix España Sweden: TV4, Jetix Sverige United Kingdom: Toonami, Sky One, ITV, Cartoon Network [citation needed] [edit] Australia and Africa Australia: Ten Network, Cartoon Network New Zealand: TV 2 South Africa: e.tv and later seasons on Tube, SABC 2

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] See also

• Banned episodes of Pokémon
• Pokémon Media and Release Information
• List of Pokémon episodes
  • List of Pokémon Original Series episodes
  • List of Pokémon Advanced Generation episodes
  • List of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl episodes
• List of Pokémon special episodes
• List of Pokémon characters
• List of Pokémon theme songs
• Pokémon Chronicles
• List of television shows based on video games

[edit] External links

[edit] United States

• Pokemon at TV.com
• Official Pokémon USA website

[edit] Japan

• TV Tokyo Pokémon anime webpage
• TV Tokyo Diamond and pearl website
• Pokemon Japanese website
• TV Tokyo Pokémon AG anime webpage
• TV Tokyo Pokémon Diamond & Pearl anime webpage

Pokémon Media
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de:Pokémon (Anime) fr:Pokémon (série animée) he:פוקימון (סדרת טלוויזיה) ja:ポケットモンスター (アニメ)

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Categories: Anime series | Articles with unsourced statements | Anime of the 1990s | Pokémon anime | Shōnen | Creature anime | Syndicated television series | 1997 television program debuts | 1990s TV shows in the United States | 2000s TV shows in the United States | Kids WB shows