Pokémon in the United States

Pokémon in United States
Flag of the United States
Language	English
Continent	North America
Original anime airdates
EP001	September 7, 1998
AG001	March 15, 2003
DP001	April 20, 2007
BW001	February 12, 2011
XY001
SM001
JN001
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise first reached the United States in 1998 with the release of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions and the airing of the anime. Most English translations of Pokémon media, as seen on this wiki, are based in the United States.

Pokémon video games

Most Pokémon video games released in Japan are translated into English for the United States, although there are exceptions such as the WiiWare Mystery Dungeon games. All English-language games are exported to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries (including those that do not have their own translation of the games, such as Russia). Event Pokémon are regularly released in the United States as well.

Pokémon anime

The Pokémon anime debuted on September 7, 1998 on Kids' WB, helping to launch Pokémon into a nationwide phenomenon that lasted until the early 2000s. All English-language dubs of the Pokémon anime were performed in the United States, first by 4Kids Entertainment and later by Pokémon USA; due to Bulbapedia being an English-language wiki, most information on the English dub can be found on the pages themselves.

While the Pokémon movies are regularly released theatrically in Japan, only the first five movies and the Zekrom variant of the 14th movie have seen release in the US; all other movies have premiered on television (usually on Cartoon Network) and released straight to video or DVD.

Pokémon manga

Pokémon manga is translated into English by VIZ Media. Currently, only Pokémon Adventures and movie adaptations are translated.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

An English-language translation of the Pokémon Trading Card Game has been sold in the United States since the release of Base Set in 1999, and continues to this day. Most English sets do not correspond exactly to the Japanese sets they are translated from; they often incorporate additional cards from Japanese promotions and theme decks. English-language cards are the most widely distributed worldwide; as with the games, they are exported to other English-speaking countries, but are also often sold alongside localized translations and in countries where no local translation exists. Currently, only English-language cards are tournament legal in the United States.

Pokémon merchandise

Pokémon merchandising has been handled by various distributors in the United States. When the franchise debuted, merchandising was handled by Hasbro. Originally, toys and merchandise were simply imported from Japan, but later Hasbro created their own toys and games for distribution in the US. In 2004, rights passed to Jakks Pacific, which produced their own merchandise as well. As of January 2013, merchandise will be handled by Tomy, which will import Japanese merchandise once again.

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This article is part of Project Globe, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon franchise around the world.