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Pokémon

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File:Pikachu.png
Pikachu, the most well-known of all Pokémon

Pokémon (Japanese: ポケモン) is a video game franchise, created by Satoshi Tajiri and published by Nintendo for several of their systems, most importantly the Game Boy. It has been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, and much more. The name Pokémon is a contraction of Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター). The franchise has 386 unique monsters (387 including currently known Pokémon from future games, excluding the unofficial Missingno and 'M Block) that lie at the heart of the Pokémon series.

The Pokémon games are simple role-playing games which allow players to catch, collect, and train pets with various abilities, and battle them against each other to build their strength and evolve them into more powerful Pokémon. Pokémon battles are based on the non-lethal Eastern sport of fighting insects; the Pokémon never bleed or die. The game's catchphrase used to be "Gotta catch 'em all!", although now it is no longer officially used.

ANA Boeing 747 in Pokémon special colours

The Pokémon characters have become pop-culture icons, with a Pikachu balloon in the Macy's parade and thousands of merchandise items. The satirical cartoon South Park spoofed Pokémon in Episode 312, entitled 'Chinpokomon', in which the bosses behind the creation of the toys were revealed to be Japanese ultranationalists bent on avenging Japan's defeat in World War II.

Due to the unprecedented popularity of the franchise, Nintendo formed a subsidary company called The Pokémon Company to handle the franchise. The subsidary handles everything from publishing the games in Japan to running the official merchandise stores, the Pokémon Centers. The Pokémon Company in turn has a U.S. based subsidary called Pokémon USA.

About the creator

Pokémon was created by a Japanese man named Satoshi Tajiri. As a child, he lived in a suburb of Tokyo and loved to collect insects, hunting them in ponds, fields and forests, constantly looking for new insects and coming up with new ways to attract insects like beetles. He was so attracted to insects, in fact, that his peers used to call him "Dr. Bug."

Satoshi did not like school. His father wanted him to be an electrical utility repairman but this is not what Satoshi wanted. In the late 1970s, the fields and ponds Satoshi loved as a child were paved over by apartments and parking lots. His idea for Pokémon grew, as he wanted to give modern children the chance to hunt for creatures as he did. Satoshi got into games when he was at technical school, spending all his time in arcades. He was such a big fan that one local arcade gave him a Space Invaders machine to take home!

In 1982, Satoshi and his friends formed a games magazine under the name of Game Freak. This name still appears at the start of Pokémon games. One of his Game Freak friends was Ken Sugimori, who drew all of the Pokémon images. In 1991, Satoshi discovered the Game Boy. When he first saw Link Cables, he imagined insects creeping along them, and the Pokémon idea was born. The game was given some initial funding and concept work from another game design studio, "Creatures."

Satoshi went to work for Nintendo and spent the next six years working on Pokémon. He made friends with Shigeru Miyamoto, the genius behind Mario. (In the Japanese versions, Ash is named "Satoshi" and his rival is named "Shigeru.")

Video games

When Pokémon was first released in Japan in 1996, it was named Pocket Monsters. Another company had trademarked this name in North America, so Nintendo had to change the game title when they released it there. Many Japanese players had already shortened the game name to 'Pokémon' and this name was used.

The initial games, Pokemon Red and Green/Blue, introduced the concept of becoming a Pokémon Trainer and catching all 151 original Pokémon.

The Pokémon games are classified as role-playing games because they have elements similar to other RPGs, such as a top-down tile-based point-of-view, item management, and a turn-based battle system with familiar elements like hit-points and status effects. They do not focus on plot and character development in the manner of Final Fantasy and many other RPGs. Instead, Pokémon games focus on the collection and training of creatures which are sent into battle against opponents (either AI-controlled or other fellow humans). Depending on the game in the series, there may be 151 (Red, Blue/Green, and Yellow) or 251 (Gold, Silver, and Crystal) available Pokémon, and in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, there is a set of 202 with 67 from previous games, though there are 386 in total. A player's Pokémon can be traded with other players via the Game Boy Link Cable; this forms an integral part of the game as some Pokémon can only be collected by trading with another version.

One of the pleasing and noteworthy aspects of the Pokémon games in particular is that, unlike many other series, once a character obtains or catches one Pokémon creature she or he may use literally that one for the rest of the entire game - while fun, catching others is strictly optional. Select battles will certainly be easier with Pokémon type A or B, however simply fostering one and using it, and winning the game, is technically possible.

A Pokémon game begins in the hero(ine)'s hometown, where by chance the renowned Professor of the game's region (Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn) lives and does his research on Pokémon. It is from him that one can receive his or her first Pokémon to train. Along the way one will encounter a rival who has also received a starting Pokémon from the same professor. The goal of the game is to collect the eight badges from the eight Gym Leaders scattered throughout the region. The badges allow the player to challenge the Elite Four and the champion trainer of the region. To do this, the player must capture and train a team of Pokémon that will ensure victory, and also complete in side quests such as thwarting the plans of the criminal organization in the area such as Team Rocket. After defeating the Elite Four and the Champion, the player is allowed to continue training and collect Pokémon.

File:Pokeball.jpg
A Poké Ball

To capture wild Pokémon, the player must carry Poké Balls. When a wild Pokémon is encountered that is to be captured, it must first be weakened with a Pokémon in the player's collection and then a Poké Ball tossed at it to catch it. The player might not be successful, but with each Poké Ball tossed there is another chance.

A subculture exists which is devoted to the study of Pokémon battling and strategy. Usually research centers around Internet bulletin boards most notably GameFAQs forums. The Pokémon games have also inspired the Poké Battles form of fiction.

Different aspects of battle mechanics include:

The Pokémon games are (in system order, then in release order):

Game Boy (monochrome) era

  • Red and Green were initially released in Japan on February 27, 1996.
  • Blue was released in Japan on October 27, 1996. It featured improved graphics and sounds.
  • North America would finally get its first releases of Pokémon, Red and Blue, on September 30, 1998. The North American versions were actually the Japanese Red and Green with the new changes and graphics that the Japanese Blue had.
  • On September 12, 1998, Pokémon Yellow was released in Japan. It was initially known as "Pocket Monsters Pikachu," as it was based on the (by this time very popular) animated cartoon series. In this game, the player's character would start with Pikachu instead of being able to choose between Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle.
  • On October 1, 1999, Pokémon Red and Blue were released in Europe, identical to the US versions.
  • On October 25, 1999, North America received its version of Pokémon Yellow, named "Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition." It would remain much the same as the Japanese version.

The first game in the series has no fixed name for the player's character or rival character. The player can choose from a list of default names or type one in manually. In the TV show the protagonist is named Satoshi (after the creator, Satoshi Tajiri) whilst the rival is named Shigeru (after Shigeru Miyamoto), in the English version the names were changed to Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. Many comics and other media use the names featured in the TV series, however the Pokémon Special (Pokémon Adventures for the English version) comic uses the name Red for the protagonist and the name Green (Blue in the English version) for the rival.

A third Pokémon Special character named Blue (Green in the English version), is represented as a girl in a short, black dress. She wears white gloves and has long, brown hair. Her design is based on an unused character seen in a piece of official artwork for the original Pokémon games. The artwork features the protagonist, the rival and the unused female character along with the three starter Pokémon. It is rumoured that she was originally intended to be an alternate playable character. The Japanese fans may confuse Blue with Buena, the radio hostess from Pokémon Crystal, due to the fact that the latter's Japanese name, Aoi, means "blue". However, the two clearly do not share any other resemblances. In the recent remakes of the original games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, there is the option to play as a female character, who greatly resembles the unused character for the original games. In the

File:RBGY Pokémon Trainer.png

Pokémon Special comic the Blue character later appears with the same clothes and design as seen in the Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen games.

Pokémon Special also introduces a fourth protagonist named Yellow, to tie in with the Pokémon Yellow game (just as the Red, Green and Blue games each had their own characters in the comic). Yellow is a completely original character exclusive to the comic. She is accompanied by two Pikachu (this is a loose tie-in with the Yellow game, in which the protagonist is followed by a Pikachu, an idea taken from the TV series).

The Gold, Silver and Crystal games reveal the true name of the original protagonist to be Red and the true name of the original rival to be Green (Blue in the English version).

File:Rarecandy.jpg
Pokémon Trading Card Game illustration of Rare Candy (item first found in Monochrome era games)

Game Boy Color era

  • On November 21, 1999, Pokémon Gold and Silver were released in Japan. These two games introduced a total of one hundred brand new Pokémon and the new region of Johto, and had limited compatibility with the previous versions.
  • North America received Gold and Silver on October 11, 2000.
  • Pokémon Crystal, the ultimate version of Gold and Silver, was released in Japan on December 14, 2000. Many fans feel this version is what Gold and Silver should have been in the first place. It was the first version to allow players to choose if they wanted to be a male or female character, and the Japanese version of Crystal included (in a first for a handheld system) the ability to go head to head online over Japanese cell phone networks. Japanese players also had the opportunity to catch Celebi, a Pokémon otherwise only available through Nintendo promotions, through these same networks.
  • On July 21, 2001, North America received Pokémon Crystal. However, the North American version did not include the online component, and, thus, did not possess the ability to catch Celebi.
File:Pokemon Johto map.png
A map of Johto

The plot of Gold, Silver, and Crystal takes place three years after the first series. Again, the characters' only official names are colors, but now there are no pre-set names for the rival. This series also introduces the first playable female character, Crystal (Pokémon Crystal only, Gold and Silver only had a male character).

Game Boy Advance era

File:BrendanandMay.PNG
Main characters from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
  • The series had its first major overhaul when Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were released in Japan on November 21, 2002. These games featured a major graphics overhaul to accommodate the new features of the Game Boy Advance. They were also the first versions to feature two-on-two battles.
  • Ruby and Sapphire were released in North America on March 18, 2003. The European release followed on July 25th, 2003.
  • On January 29, 2004, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were released on Japan. They are remakes of the original two Pokémon games, Red and Green (Blue outside of Japan), but with many additions including the Sevii Islands. These games can trade Pokémon with Ruby, Sapphire, and Colosseum so new players can finally get the older monsters. FireRed and LeafGreen also come bundled with a Wireless Adapter, allowing trading and battling between these two games via a wireless connection. The games were released in North America on September 9, 2004 and in Europe on October 1, 2004.
  • A final game of the Ruby and Sapphire series has also been announced. Titled Emerald, it will be to Ruby and Sapphire what Yellow was to Red and Blue, or what Crystal was to Gold and Silver. It will have several new features, including a new battle arena (the Battle Frontier), the same wireless support that FireRed and LeafGreen will have, and a new form of Pokémon #386, Deoxys. It was released in Japan on September 16, 2004.

The Game Boy Advance games mark a new beginning in the series, as they are incompatible with previous versions. In addition, the Ruby and Sapphire versions take place on an entirely different continent and have no storyline relation to the previous games in the series; they were a way for new players to get into the series.

The player can be either a male or female character. The character not chosen to play as becomes the player's rival. Like previous games the player can input his or her own name for the character, however for the first time the rival's name is always set. The male's set name is Brendan (Yūki in the Japanese version) and the female's set name is May (Haruka in the Japanese version). The Pokémon Special (Pokémon Adventures in English) comic however carries on its character naming tradition by calling the male Ruby and the female Sapphire.

Nintendo DS era

At a recent press conference promoting the launch software of Nintendo's newest handheld, the Nintendo DS, Nintendo has announced that the next games in the Pokémon series, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, were in the works for the handheld. No other information on the games is available. Also in development is a racing game called Pokémon Dash, which should be available shortly after the console's launch. Nintendo also recently announced that people can bring the Nintendo DS to screenings of the upcoming 8th Pokémon movie in order to download new content. It is not known however if the content is tied in to the upcoming games.

Codes and glitches

There are many glitches which can be triggered in the Pokémon games, especially the Red and Blue versions. The Missingno. glitch works only in the Red and Blue versions, where a player can trigger one of many glitch Pokémon to appear. While some can cause the game to crash, most will not and will only temporarily do strange things to the saved game (except for the Pokémon Hall of Fame). These glitch Pokemon are generally all known as Missingno. (one of the glitchy Pokémon's names), though one of its forms is called 'M. They can be used as a cheat to make hundreds of item duplicates. There is also a glitch called Glitch City that can be triggered in the Red, Blue and Yellow Pokémon games, involving the Safari Zone. When the Glitch City trick is done by a player, the player will be able to go to a city made of jumbled pixels (see picture).

Another trick used often is Pokémon Cloning, available in the Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal versions in two different forms. In addition, there is at least one real glitch that lets you obtain Mew - or any other Pokémon, including Missingno. - in the Red, Blue or Yellow versions (this is, of course, in addition to the many fake codes for Mew; see "Fake codes", below). There are also several other glitches that work but have little to no practical reward, like standing on a bush, opening up an invisible PC and fishing on a statue.

Fake codes

There exists a vast number of fake glitches for Pokémon. The creation of such codes exist as a trick for gullible children. The majority of the fake glitches attempt to fool people into thinking they can capture "Unobtainable Pokémon" (present in each game) as they would a normal Pokémon.

For example, many fake codes, supposedly give the player a Mew. There are even rumors that Mew is available in the Japanese Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow versions. One such rumor claims that Mew was originally given from the Game Freak PokéDex designer in Celadon City once you caught 150 Pokémon; another claims that the trick to find Mew by surfing to a truck east of the S.S. Anne actually worked in the Japanese games. Both of these rumors have been proven false. However, the truck is still in Fire Red and Leaf Green: a Lava Cookie (an item which heals a Pokemon of any status effect) is hidden near the truck, the only one available in Fire Red or Leaf Green until the store on the second island gets them, late in the game.

There are also a number of codes for real Pokémon that are only in future editions of the game; and "Pokégods", which are non-existent Pokémon (usually super-powerful). The credibility of such codes may be increased, in some cases, by falsified screenshots from the in-game Pokédex - however, it is highly unlikely that such Pokémon actually exist. Four such examples are codes for obtaining Togepi, Ho-oh, Steelix and "Pikablu" in the Red, Blue or Yellow versions ("Pikablu" being what some young American gamers insisted was the name of Marill before the Gold and Silver versions were released).

Although such codes were excessively common for the Red, Blue (and to some degree Yellow) versions, numbers of false glitches for later games dropped significantly.

The "unobtainable" Pokémon

Six of the Pokémon (Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Ho-oh, and Lugia, are special, extremely rare, and nearly impossible to get for Game Boy Advance players. They can all be obtained by using a Gameshark or similar cheating device, or from special Nintendo personnel at special events.

File:Celebi sitting on the Ilex Forest Shrine.png
Celebi sitting on the Ilex Forest Shrine
  • Mew can be found in the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions using the "Mew glitch", which is detailed in a guide on the GameFAQs Pokémon Blue FAQ page. Additionally, it is possible to get a ticket in Pokémon Emerald, and use this to travel to World's Edge Island, where Mew can be caught. Other than those two methods, there are no ways to obtain Mew without using a cheating device or obtaining it directly from Nintendo. Mew is currently unobtainable worldwide for the Game Boy Advance games.
  • Celebi can be caught with the GS ball (only obtainable in the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal through a cell phone network service), or by using a cheating device. It is also available on the Japanese version of the Colosseum bonus disk, which was available with preorders. Celebi is currently unobtainable outside of Japan, except in Gold, Silver, and Crystal.
  • Jirachi can only be obtained legitimately with the Pokémon Colosseum bonus disk (which was available with preorders) in North America, which allows a player to trade this Pokémon into the Ruby and Sapphire games. Europeans can get it by finishing Pokémon Channel, after which Jirachi will be downloadable to the GBA games.
  • Deoxys can be caught on Birth Island to the south of Kanto in the FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald games, provided the player has an AuroraTicket, which is a bonus for pre-ordering a ticket to see the 7th movie in Japan. Deoxys is currently unobtainable outside of Japan, except through Nintendo promotions, involving the use of the Mystery Gift function.
  • Ho-oh and Lugia can be caught on Navel Rock to the south of Kanto in FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald if the player has a MysticTicket, which can obtained by using Mystery Gift near a Joyspot. Ho-Oh and Lugia are not promotional in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, in which they can be found in the Tin Tower and the Whirl Islands, respectively, if the player has a Gold Wing or Silver Wing respectively (both in-game items). Lugia is currently unobtainable outside of Japan except for in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, however Ho-oh can be caught in Pokémon Colosseum by "snagging" and "purifying" all 48 Pokémon and then beating Mt. Battle with a in-game team.

In addition, there is a "glitch" Pokémon in the original Pokémon games, Missingno., the presence of which usually indicates that the cartridge has been corrupted, though several game cheats involve invoking it.

Other Pokémon games

Since the introduction of the Pokémon games, there have been many released that didn't belong to the main series. Some of these games were released for the Nintendo 64, some for the GameCube and others were on the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance systems, and one game for the PC (based on the Pokémon Trading Card Game) with two versions. But there were also several games for the handheld-console Pokémon Mini. Some of them aren't RPGs like their Game Boy cousins. Some are interesting puzzle games, other are spin-offs, giving an interesting twist to the Pokémon games. Some are not even video games. Pokémon characters are also featured in the fighting games Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee as playable characters, items, and trophies.

File:Pokémon Colosseum characters.png
Pokémon Colosseum characters

These games include:

A Pokémon trading card game (or TCG for short) was made which allows players to trade Pokémon amongst themselves. Like other TCGs, the Pokémon Trading Card Game also allows players to stage a battle between their Pokémon, much like in the anime and the video games. To attack, the player must have sufficient energy cards, like in other TCGs, which in a way mimics the limited PP characteristic of the video games.

Pokémon has also been featured in a portable Tamagotchi-like game, where the player could shake it and Pikachu gained voltage, and a Pokémon board game, two versions of MONOPOLY, UNO and numerous other toys.

Manga

There are various Pokémon manga series, three of which were released in English by Viz Communications:

Controversy

Many Protestant Christian groups in the United States believe Pokémon to be Satanic in origin. After the US release of Pokémon Yellow, there was a sudden widespread criticism of it passed through Christian congregations primarily by word-of-mouth. Most people believe these claims to be nonsense, and note that they are spread as urban legends. While this criticism has been a widespread phenomenon in the United States, little about it has been committed to print. It would be incorrect to state that the Christian religious community has an official opinion on this, but its widespread nature makes it a legitimate topic of study.

Pokémon has been criticised by some members of the Jewish community for its use of the swastika, the most widely known symbol of Nazism. Nintendo says that this is a matter of cultural misunderstanding, as the swastika used to be used in East Asian cultures as a symbol for "good fortune" by the Buddhist religion. If a Japanese map of any major city is examined, little clockwise swastikas, or "manji", where Buddhist temples are located, can be seen. Many Jewish groups hold that it is inappropriate to use this symbol on children's toys.

The manji was shown only on a Japanese version card and was excluded from the North American release with due consideration of the cross-cultural issue. However, these Jewish members attacked the Japanese version distributed in the U.S. by unauthorized import. As a result of this controversy Nintendo stopped using this symbol even in the Japanese version. [1] This raised a public backlash in Japan for being intolerant towards the symbols of the Buddhist religion for the sake of avoiding controversy.

Many Islamic religious speakers in the Arab-Muslim nations of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt hold that Pokémon is part of a "Jewish conspiracy" to corrupt Muslim children. They claim that the word "Pokeman" is a Japanese word which means "I am Jewish" (this claim is patently false). One Saudi Arabian Sheikh (Sheikh Abdel Moneim Abu Zant) has written "The Pokémon craze is a Jewish plot aimed at forcing our children to forgo their faith and values and to distract them from more important things such as scientific ambitions." The Anti-Defamation League has spoken out against these conspiracy theorists. [2]

Parallels have frequently been drawn between Satanism and Pokémon. This is covered at Satanism and Pokémon.

An image of the controversial card may be seen here.


Lawsuits

There was an Internet rumour that Uri Geller, an Israeli psychic-magician who claims to bend spoons with his mind (though not in controlled laboratory conditions), sued Nintendo over the Pokémon "Kadabra" ("Yungerer" in Japanese) which he supposedly claimed was an unauthorized appropriation of his identity. The Pokémon in question has psychic abilities and carries bent spoons. The name is a pun; the katakana letter 'n' (ン) looks quite like the letter 'ri' (リ). According to the rumour, Geller sued for the equivalent of 100 million dollars, but lost. This rumour was quickly exposed as a fake.

A parents' group is suing Nintendo of America and other manufacturers of collectible cards (such as baseball card makers), claiming that the collectible nature of randomly purchased cards constitutes illegal gambling.

Two other parents also set up a site named Pokémon Kills after their son choked on a Burger King Poké Ball toy. The toy had two pieces. The top red lid piece could easily fit over the mouth of a child. Burger King issued a voluntary recall of the toys in exchange for food.

See also

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