Aim to Be a Pokémon Master (Japanese: めざせポケモンマスターMezase Pokémon Master) is the first Japanese opening theme of the original series, with a cover by Whiteberry being the fourth. An arrangement made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon the Series replaced Alola!! as the second opening theme of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. Another arrangement made to commemorate the series's 25th anniversary titled Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -with my friends- (Japanese: めざせポケモンマスター -with my friends-Mezase Pokémon Master -with my friends-) replaced One, Two, Three as the second and final opening theme of Pokémon Journeys: The Series.
Aim to Be a Pokémon Master is the most re-used theme song in the history of Pokémon the Series, having no fewer than ten versions including the original:
Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -with my friends- from THE FIRST TAKE digital single
Opening animation: TV OP 1
Synopsis
Mew
The type symbols appear in a circle, and the series logo appears on the screen. The three fully evolved Kanto first partner Pokémon, Pikachu, Ash, and an unnamed Lass are seen. This is followed by three scenes showing random Generation I Pokémon.
Ash is then seen with a Poké Ball. After that, he is riding on the back of a Lapras with Pikachu while a Gyarados and Dragonair are seen jumping out and in the water. Next, Ash and Pikachu are looking at Pallet Town. It cuts to a scene with them walking, and then Ash throws a Poké Ball with a Pidgeot inside. The Pokémon then begins battling with a Fearow.
The next scene shows Ash and his friends in Viridian Forest. Then, Ash and Pikachu are seen running with an Arcanine and a Rapidash. The latter Pokémon jumps up, and the three legendary birds are seen flying in the sky. A clip of Mewtwo and Mew in space is shown, followed by Ash in a stadium holding a Poké Ball. His friends appear with him.
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Episodes in which the fourth variant ended (EP039 - ???) and the fifth started (??? - EP080)
EP001 - EP002: The original animation. During the Pokémon images scene, there's a picture of a Kadabra, but it reads "Foodin" on it.
EP003: The Kadabra error is corrected, and an actual Alakazam picture is put in its place.
EP004 - EP038: The TCG types symbol background keeps rotating after the "Pocket Monsters" logo appears in the title screen, and after the executive production credits appear on the final shot.
EP039 - EP080: After the "Pokémon Shock" incident of EP038, the opening was changed to be broken up into four images per screen. This change was also applied to reruns of the first 37 episodes.
EP039 - EP080: A shot where Ash throws a Poké Ball is slowed down, removing part of the scene where the spinning Poké Ball covers the entire screen, and Ash holding another one was edited to remove one frame where it glows over the entire screen. Two frames were also removed from the battle between Ash's Pidgeot and Fearow. Several frames were removed from the scene starring Zapdos.
An instrumental version of the original version of this song appears in both the Japanese and English versions of Pokémon Pinball when the player is attempting to catch or evolve a Pokémon.
A scene in which Ash stands in a stadium was used as part of a bumper with Brock's voice saying "We'll Be Back After These Messages!" when the 4Kids dub was first aired in syndication in 1998 in America.
This story is about a boy, Satoshi and Pocket Monsters, and Their friendship, adventures and meetings.
Synopsis
Ash is holding a Poké Ball, then throws it across an open field. The Poké Ball opens, transitioning to the series logo followed by Pikachu fighting a Tyranitar. Pikachu dodges the Tyranitar's Hyper Beam and uses Thunderbolt. Ash and his friends are then seen jumping into the water. Various Pokémon are seen swimming by, such as Mantine, Lanturn, Lapras, and Lugia. Ash turns his hat and holds a Poké Ball towards the screen, while the camera turns towards his side view.
Ash and Pikachu are running across a field with a Ho-Oh flying in the background. He then looks at a stadium and clips of his Pokémon attacking appear on the screen: Cyndaquil uses Flamethrower, Totodile uses Water Gun, Bayleef uses Razor Leaf, and Noctowl uses Foresight. Then, Ash and his friends have a view of the city.
Ash and the others are then shown walking into a cave where Crobat and Misdreavus appear. Ash and the others stand at a bridge with Hoppip floating above them. Then, the Pichu Brothers are shown running below the bridge. After that, a scene of Ash chasing after his Pokémon is shown, followed by Team Rocket chasing after Ash and his friends, and finally, Ash and his friends chasing after Team Rocket with Togepi using Metronome in front.
Igglybuff, Smoochum, Magby, and Cleffa appear with Nurse Joy, Delia Ketchum, Tracey, Professor Oak, and Officer Jenny behind them. Larvitar then appears in front of all of them. Ash and Pikachu are then seen running up a flight of stairs in space together with the legendary birds. They reach a colosseum, where Ash and Pikachu stand confidently in front of many Pokémon. Ash makes a valiant gesture towards the sky while Pikachu jumps happily. The camera zooms out to show Ash with his friends and Pokémon.
The fact that this, the fourth Japanese opening, is a cover of the first one is mimicked in the English dub, where Born to Be a Winner, the fourth opening, borrows heavily from the first one.
This is the first Japanese opening theme to not be performed by Rica Matsumoto.
This is the only version of Aim to Be a Pokémon Master to not be performed by Rica Matsumoto.
This version of the opening features the first appearance of Ash-Greninja outside of Pokémon the Series: XY. Prior to this point, all of Greninja's appearances in Pokémon Journeys: The Series depicted its basic form, even in flashbacks to scenes which originally featured Ash-Greninja.
This is the first opening animation since High Touch! to feature all of Ash's traveling companions up to this point.
The Pokémon that appear during なかなか なかなか なかなか なかなか 大変だけど lines appear in the order in which they were caught, with the exception of the Pokémon in the JN138 variant, as Mimey and Muk are the first two shown while Kingler was caught before them.
The lyrics for all versions of the song are identical with the exception of formatting, backup singers, and the ad-libs shown in parentheses below.
The original 1997 version includes all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」. However, it is still displayed in the lyrics on-screen during the opening animation. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなかなかなか、なかなかなかなか 大変だけど」 and the second and third line of the third stanza are formatted without spaces.
The Whiteberry cover includes all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」. The initial 「ポケモン ゲットだぜーッ！」 is included only in the TV size version and not in the full version. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなか なかなか なかなか なかなか 大変だけど」.
The 20th Anniversary version includes only the 「ポケモン ゲットだぜーッ！」 and 「ピカチュウ～！」 ad-libs, the latter of which is formatted with an exclamation mark. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなか なかなか なかなか なかなか大変だけど」. The last two lines of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas are displayed as one line. In SM042 and SM043, Misty, Brock, and Professor Oak say the 「きゃ～～～！！」, 「待ってる」, and 「そりゃそうじゃ」 ad-libs respectively, although they are not displayed in the lyrics on-screen.
The 2023 version includes all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」.
The 1998 movie version and its 2019 remaster include all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」.
The 2001 movie remix, 2002 movie remix, and the 20th Anniversary Ballad ver. do not include any of the ad-libs.
In the 2023 version, backup singers sing the line "With my friends" at the same time as Rica Matsumoto sings 「仲間をふやして 次の町へ」.
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (Eek!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Farewell, bye-bye, Masara Town I'm leaving on a journey with him (Pikachu!) Racking up wins with the moves we've trained Making friends, and then off to the next city (We're waiting!)
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (Eek!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Farewell, bye-bye, Masara Town I'm leaving on a journey with him (Pikachu!) Racking up wins with the moves we've trained Making friends, and then off to the next city (We're waiting!)
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (You're persistent!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Tired from battling, good night, good night If I close my eyes, it all comes back (Pikachu?) How flames burned, winds blew Cries echoed, in that battle
An enemy yesterday is a friend today Though there is such an old saying... (What do you mean by "old"?!) A friend today is also a friend tomorrow Yeah, and for all eternity
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Dreams will someday become reality Though someone sang that... Like a bud that will someday bloom My dream will come true
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Trivia
Outside of Japan, the song is available for streaming in Hong Kong on Apple Music, and the 20th anniversary version is available in Indonesia on Spotify.
EP001 - EP038
EP039 - EP080
The hand drawn logo
The CGI logo
Kadabra on the first variant
Alakazam on the next variants
Meowth's missing fang
Poliwrath's white eyelid
