Pokémon: Difference between revisions

Pocket Monsters redirects here. For the first installment of a gag manga series based on the franchise, see Pokémon Pocket Monsters. For the IRC channel, see #pocketmonsters.

If you were looking for the species, see Pokémon (species).

International logo of the Pokémon franchises

Pokémon (Japanese: ポケットモンスター Pocket Monsters, ポケモン Pokémon for short) is a series of video games primarily for Nintendo handheld game systems, as well as the overarching franchise based on these games. Though many things differ depending on a specific canon's interpretation of the series, what remains constant is the focus on creatures known as Pokémon, which can be captured, trained, and used to compete against one another in battle or, more recently, other activities.

Etymology

Much as happens with many other words and phrases borrowed from English, the Japanese name for the series, Pocket Monsters, became contracted into "Pockemon" during the development of the original games, likely as much for convenience when referring to it as to save on screen real estate, considering the small size of the Game Boy's screen. The official romanization of "Pockemon" at this time was derived from the contraction of Pocke't and Monster, and can be seen explicitly in Primeape Goes Bananas, even in the dub.

The "Pokémon" name used today came about during the translation of the games for an English audience during 1997 and 1998. Whereas in Japan, Pocket Monsters was easily able to be trademarked, the release in America would prove difficult had this name been used, due to the unrelated Monster in my Pocket franchise. Thus, an alternate romanization of the contraction was used, with an accent over the e to indicate its specific pronunciation, poh-kay-mon. Despite this issue, however, the fact that Pokémon is short for Pocket Monsters has been referenced in English, with an NPC in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum asking the player what Pokémon is short for after thinking about the name of the Pokétch, itself a contraction.

Franchise

Main article: History of Pokémon

Pokémon as a series was originally conceived by Satoshi Tajiri, as a way to instill in children of the modern, more urbanized Japan the same enjoyment that he felt as a young boy collecting insects near his hometown of Machida. Initially Capsule Monsters, CapuMon for short, Tajiri pitched the series to Nintendo due to the inspiration he drew from the link cable, picturing an insect crawling across it between two Game Boy systems.

Charizard's Red and Green sprite

With help from Shigeru Miyamoto, the series began development, with the concepts of the original games, Pokémon Red and Green, going into production between 1990 and 1995. At last, in early 1996, the first games in the series were released, and Tajiri's dream had become reality. Though compared to other games of its time, Pokémon was very limited, with comparatively poor graphics and sound, the series was an overnight success, and Red and Green were quickly followed by an upgraded third version, Pokémon Blue.

An anime was produced, with the intention of covering the journey players took through the Kanto region in the games over the course of a year and a half. About halfway through this run, however, tragedy struck, and an episode of the anime was found to be responsible for epileptic seizures in more than 600 children due to a flashing strobe effect. Happily, however, no one died of these seizures, and after a brief hiatus to address the problem, the anime returned to the air to complete the Kanto run.

Game Freak, however, encouraged by the success of their first trio of games, had already begun development on a sequel to them. With the franchise still running strong, and an upcoming introduction of it to the United States, popularity soared. Rather than releasing their sequels immediately, however, Game Freak instead chose to draw from the story of the anime, which differed from the games in that its protagonist was given a Pikachu instead of the standard starter Pokémon received in Red, Green, and Blue, and created a fourth, Special Pikachu Edition, of the Kanto story to buy some more time for development on the announced sequels.

Several manga series were also produced in this early time, including Pokémon Adventures, which Tajiri has stated is closest to his original idea of the world the series takes place in.

Eventually, however, the much-awaited sequels were finally released. Pokémon Gold and Silver, which went on to become the most popular games in the series, revamped the Pokémon world, bringing it into full color and addressing many of the issues that had been present in the original games, especially glitches and the type imbalance. The anime, manga, and other wings of the franchise followed as well, bringing their characters into the second generation.

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.

Concept

The basis of Pokémon is reminiscent of insect collecting, which the creator, Satoshi Tajiri, enjoyed as a child.

At a glance, most Pokémon species are based off of ordinary animals, and sometimes plants. They are also inspired by yōkai, which are very popular in Japanese pop culture. This is evident from the extensive powers Pokémon exhibit, as well as their ever-growing, in-game mythology.

Franchise

Also called Pocket Monsters in Japan and some other countries, Pokémon is a mega-franchise including video games, an anime, a Trading Card Game, many manga series, a miniatures game, and much more merchandise. The concept of Pokémon was first created by Satoshi Tajiri and all Pokémon games are published by Nintendo Inc., Ltd for their video game systems, including the Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, and Wii. The games include strategy games and RPGs where the player becomes a "Pokémon Trainer" who encounters, captures, trains, and collects many Pokémon creatures; puzzle games; and pinball games. They were first released in 1996 in Japan, and were first released in the USA in 1998. Since then, as of 2009 the Pokémon Franchise has sold more than 193 million units worldwide, second only to Mario with more than 210 million units sold worldwide and leaving even the next two closest franchises, Tetris and The Sims in the dust with 125 million and 100 million, respectively.

Many sub-games have been released but three games managed to become series in and of themselves; the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, the Pokémon Ranger series, and the Pokémon Stadium series.

Collectively

Pokémon inhabit virtually every corner of the world: in forests, in deserts, in the sea, in the sky, and even in bustling cities. All Pokémon are hatched from eggs and most can reproduce, save for legendary Pokémon, and other exceptions. In the wild, Pokémon sometimes fight one another. This can be for play, for food, or for defense. Pokémon, like all living creatures, are not immortal, although people new to Pokémon may have that misconception.

Individually

An individual Pokémon may be encountered in the wild, caught, trained, and battled with. In the games, individual Pokémon have many characteristics including stats, IVs, species, Level, EVs, Nature, personality value, Experience, and known moves.

Species

Main article: Pokémon (species)

Pokémon species are "kinds" of Pokémon, such as Bulbasaur or Zubat. Individual Pokémon of certain species can change into other species by evolving, such as a Bulbasaur evolving into an Ivysaur. There are currently 493 officially released Pokémon species.

Design themes

The species of Pokémon for each generation are all designed in a similar fashion, though it is easily overlooked, especially to newcomers. The original 151 of Generation I were all very simple in appearance. At the time, the games were a very simple adventure and somewhat lacking in substance regarding the story. Generation II implemented much more creative features, emphasizing a more in-depth plot. Species in Generation III became more extravagant as the games took place in more exotic locations. Then there was Generation IV. Although not quite the same leap as before, the designs hold a dark elegance, symbolizing the themes of mysticism.

See also

• History of Pokémon
• List of Pokémon