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Pokémon is a multi-billion dollar media franchise controlled by video game giant Nintendo, and created by Satoshi Tajiri at least by 1995 (it celebrated its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006, although the franchise was copyrighted in the USA as Pokémon by 1995). The original Game Boy video games have since been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books and other media. The game’s catchphrase and slogan, in the English language versions of the franchise, used to be "Gotta catch ’em all!", although it is now no longer officially used (except by Hasbro and in the title sequence to Pokémon Chronicles).

Pokémon is also the collective name for all of the fictional species within the Pokémon universe. To date, the franchise has a grand total of 649 unique species that lie at the heart of the series, a figure which has grown substantially from the 150 monsters in the original Pokémon Red and Blue games. The word Pokémon remains unchanged whether referring to the singular or plural (as is the case with deer or sheep), and the same applies to each species name.

Contents 1 Pokémon games 1.1 The Video Games 1.2 The Trading Card Game 2 Pokémon Media 2.1 Pokémon Anime 2.2 Pokémon Manga 3 Pokémon controversies 4 History 5 Pokémon-Related Articles 6 Trivia 7 References

Pokémon gamesEdit

The Video GamesEdit

Main articles: Pokémon games and List of Pokémon games

The Pokémon games have always been released in pairs, along with a third game released later. Every time two new pairs are released, they are considered two new generations.

The Trading Card GameEdit

Main article: Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon video game series, first introduced in Japan, then North America in 1999. It was published by Wizards of the Coast, the company which publishes Magic: The Gathering. Sets continue to be published, although not by Wizards of the Coast.

Pokémon MediaEdit

Pokémon AnimeEdit

Pokémon anime was created in 1998 for both the United States and Japan. It originally aired on Kids WB but now it airs on Cartoon Network.

Pokémon MangaEdit

Pokémon controversiesEdit

Main article: Pokémon controversy

The Pokémon series has been subject to controversy since its creation. Various religious (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) and activist (animal rights) groups have expressed concerns over the franchise due to prominent themes found in the games. These controversies have even caused the series to be banned in some countries.

• The Pokémon Jynx was highly controversial due to its resemblance to characters from The Little Black Sambo, critics insisting that the species enforced a negative stereotype against African Americans. Due to this, Nintendo later altered the design of Jynx to be purple instead of pitch black.
• One episode was removed from television after it caused seizures to many children, some of which had no history of seizures. This episode is one of the prime reasons why Nintendo changed the name Pocket Monsters to Pokémon once it reached Western territories due to the widespread media coverage of the event. Another episode was aired once and then removed because it showed a character pointing a pistol at Ash Ketchum.
• All products related to Pokémon have been banned from Saudi Arabia due to supposedly supporting other religions, which is strictly against Muslim doctrine.^[1]

HistoryEdit

Pokémon was introduced in Japan in 1996. Two years later, Nintendo of America brought the series over to America. Pokémon's first stop in the country was Topeka, Kansas. The city changed the name of the city to ToPikachu in celebration of the popular species of Pokémon. In March of 2010, Topeka, Kansas mayor Bill Bunten proclaimed that they city's name would be changed to Google, Kansas for that month in hopes that Google would experiment their fiber optics experiment there. Local TV station WIBW Jim Ogle stated that "if Topeka could change its name for a small doll that sounds like I sneezed, it could certainly do the same for Google."

Pokémon-Related ArticlesEdit

• List of Pokémon

Trivia Edit

• The first Pokémon designed and created was Rhydon.

ReferencesEdit

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