A media franchise , also known as a multimedia franchise , is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film , a work of literature , a television program , or a video game . Bob Iger , chief executive of the Walt Disney Company , defined the word franchise as "something that creates value across multiple businesses and across multiple territories over a long period of time.”
174-451: Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games , animated series and films , a trading card game , and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon , a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages. The franchise originated as
348-604: A doujinshi magazine titled Game Freak . The title was inspired by the 1932 film Freaks , which Tajiri was fascinated with at the time. He self-published the first issue of the magazine in March 1983, at the age of 17. At the time, magazines specializing in video games did not yet exist in Japan, allowing Game Freak to fill a gap in the market . Sometime later, Tajiri was contacted by aspiring manga artist Ken Sugimori , who became Game Freak' s illustrator. Game Freak folded in
522-484: A role-playing game (RPG) for the Famicom ( NES ). The game features randomly appearing items of varying rarity, including an extremely rare item called Mysterious Hat. Tajiri did not encounter any, while Ken Sugimori, who was also playing the game, encountered two. Upon recalling this experience, Tajiri realized that the cable now made it possible to transfer things from one cartridge to another. He noted that, until then,
696-445: A turn-based system . The player may carry between one and six Pokémon in their active party; the first Pokémon in the lineup is automatically sent into battle. At the start of each turn, both sides may use a move , use an item , switch their active Pokémon out for another in their party, or attempt to flee from battle if against a wild Pokémon. Each Pokémon uses moves to reduce their opponent's Hit Points (HP) to zero, at which point
870-635: A Battle Frontier, identical to that of Platinum , where the Battle Tower was found in Crystal . After a series of battles in each venue, players encounter Frontier Brains who are challenged in the same fashion as the other battles in their respective venues, and the player will either earn a Symbol (in Emerald ) or a Commemorative Print (in Platinum ) for winning. The Frontier Brains can be challenged
1044-464: A CCG, he contacted Ishihara and offered to distribute it, signing the contract near the end of 1995. CoroCoro again proved a valuable information channel. The Trading Card Game was first announced in the November issue, the same one that announced Pokemon Blue . The issue came bundled with two promo cards: one of Purin ( Jigglypuff ) and one of Pikachu . Surveys showed that they were respectively
1218-618: A Pokémon 10 EVs in a single stat, and certain berries removing 10 EVs in a stat in return for an increase in the Pokémon's friendship value. Pokérus , a condition introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver , doubles the rate at which Pokémon gain EVs, as well as giving the Pokémon the ability to spread Pokérus to other Pokémon for a limited time. Individual values , or IVs , are additional hidden values for each Pokémon that help to determine
1392-494: A Pokémon is Stellar-type. Tera Starstorm, when changed into Stellar-type, hits all opponents in Double Battles instead of just one. Both Stellar-type moves are super effective against other Terastallized Pokémon. Like the characters in many role-playing video games , Pokémon can learn a wide variety of moves. These moves may inflict damage, induce status problems, restore health, or perform actions that in some way affect
1566-511: A Pokémon is holding a Mega Stone that corresponds to its species, that Pokémon will be able to Mega Evolve during battle. Every Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution has one Mega Evolved form, with the exception of Charizard and Mewtwo, both of which have two. A similar ability known as Primal Reversion was introduced in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire , exclusively for Kyogre and Groudon. Pokémon Sword and Shield introduced
1740-558: A Pokémon's Tera Type when it Terastallizes. In The Indigo Disk , a new type, called the Stellar type, was introduced. The Stellar type can only be brought out when a Pokémon with this Tera Type Terastallizes. While Pokémon retain their original weaknesses while in the Stellar type, all of their moves will be boosted, but only once; after a Stellar-type boosted move is used, that move loses its boost. It also applies to Pokémon who have two moves of similar typing. For example, if Dazzling Gleam
1914-470: A Pokémon's Tera Type while it is Terastallized, as well as dealing physical damage over special damage if the Pokémon's physical attack stat is higher (and vice versa). However, when not Terastallized, Tera Blast remains a Special category Normal-type move. After defeating and catching Terapagos in The Indigo Disk , a new Tera Type is unlocked, called "Stellar". Unlike most types, it only exists as
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#17327753537892088-1005: A Pokémon's statistics or weaken a foe, inflict status effects such as paralysis or poisoning, or perform other effects. Some Abilities may also grant immunities or resistances. Most Abilities can only be activated during a battle, however, some Abilities have effects outside of Pokémon battles. For example, a Pokémon with the Ability Intimidate will cause the player to encounter lower-level wild Pokémon less often. All Pokémon have six statistics that affect their performance in battle. These are HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed. These statistics can be temporarily modified during battle by Abilities, items, and moves. There are also two other statistics, Accuracy and Evasiveness, which are not affected when Pokémon level up. No Pokémon has innately higher Accuracy or Evasiveness than any other, but they can be modified during battle like other statistics. Increasing Accuracy makes
2262-606: A Q&A session in which Tajiri and Ishihara were asked about the Pokemon universe. The council was careful to have the anime be in concordance with the video game. Inevitably, there had to be differences between the two, but all agreed that the overall worldview as envisioned by Tajiri should not be disturbed. At the start of the video game, the player has to choose one of three starter Pokemon: Fushigidane, Hitokage, or Zenigame ( Bulbasaur , Charmander , or Squirtle ). The council didn't want to unfairly popularize any of them, and wanted
2436-425: A Tera Type, and thus does not have a set of strengths or weaknesses (instead retaining only the strengths of its original type(s)). When Terastallized, it grants STAB to all of a Pokémon's moves, but only once per move type. Terapagos ignores this weakness, and has STAB for all moves for the full duration of its Terastallized state. Tera Blast and Tera Starstorm (Terapagos' signature moves) become Stellar-type moves when
2610-426: A benefit on the user before executing the move. Some Pokémon can learn Z-Moves exclusive to their species using a special Z-Crystal. Hidden Machines, commonly abbreviated as HMs, can be used to teach moves to Pokémon, including some moves that they would otherwise not learn by increasing in level. HMs are often vital, or even required, to progress in the games, as they have important effects outside of battle, allowing
2784-600: A character or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and then expanding to others through licensing agreements , with respect to intellectual property in the franchise's characters and settings. As one author explains, "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products." The trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously; for instance,
2958-591: A child. The series' titular character owns a number of capsules containing miniaturized kaiju (monsters), which come out and return to their original sizes when the capsule is thrown into mid-air. Kaiju media in general were an important influence on Pokemon , as many Game Freak staff members had grown up with them. Other influences that have been cited by Tajiri include: gashapon , capsules with toy figures in them that can be drawn from vending machines; collectible cards , such as baseball cards , Ultraman cards and menko ; The Final Fantasy Legend (1989),
3132-616: A few cartridges and tested the game on his employees – they did not believe it would work in the US. At the time, role-playing games (RPGs) were not very popular outside Japan, and NoA executives believed that American children did not have the attention span for such a complex title. Americans were said to be more interested in sport- and action-oriented games, preferably with realistic graphics. Japanese people, by contrast, were alleged to care more about characters and plot. Up to that point, few Japanese properties had been successfully mainstreamed in
3306-543: A few external artists to create some test-designs for the American market. The mockups they proposed included 'graffiti style' drawings, 'beefed-up' and more muscular looking Pokemon, and a new Pikachu that looked like "a tiger with huge breasts". Arakawa concluded that it "didn't work", and by that time, the anime had begun its production in Japan, leading NoA to conclude it was too late for a graphical revamp anyway. Of pivotal importance to Pokemon ' s global expansion
3480-485: A franchise can even be created, which ultimately leads to the creation of brand worlds. Since the creation of Disneyland in 1955, bringing fictional media franchises to life through the theme parks slowly became increasingly popular as the way to perfectly blend tourism and real-life involvement with media itself. Similar to transmedia, the concept of bringing fictional media into a non-fictional space where fans can immerse themselves in real-life versions of elements from
3654-463: A game centered on capturing creatures of differing rarity. Since the Game Boy is a portable device, these creatures could then be exchanged with other players in real life using the link cable. Once the player has caught a creature in-game, it was to be stored in miniaturized form in a special capsule. This facet of the game was inspired by Ultraseven , a tokusatsu show that Tajiri had enjoyed as
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#17327753537893828-494: A lack of (experienced) staff. Nintendo consequently granted ShoPro exclusive licensor rights. This was the first time that Nintendo of Japan (NoJ) granted licensor rights to another company, aside from its overseas subsidiaries Nintendo of America (NoA) and Nintendo of Europe (NoE). A copyright council was formed, headed by Ishihara. Beginning in April 1997, the council met every Tuesday, in the conference room of Creatures' office, at
4002-466: A limited time as a special offer. It was announced in the November issue of CoroCoro , which explicitly stated that Blue was not a new game, but rather a special, limited edition to celebrate 1 million sales of Red and Green . The offer was a surprisingly big success: 300,000 units were expected to be sold, but over double was ordered. The Pokemon Trading Card Game was one of the first collectible card games (CCGs) developed in Japan. Its creation
4176-424: A modeling agency, several television shows ( Playboy's Penthouse , in 1959), and even its own television channel . Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show , direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in
4350-435: A move more likely to hit, while increasing Evasiveness makes the opponent's move more likely to miss. Another stat called "Critical Hit Rate" also exists, and affects the chance that a Pokémon's moves will land a critical hit. This stat can only be raised, not lowered, and methods of changing it are much less common than methods to change the other 7 (not including HP) stats. In Pokémon Red , Green , Blue , and Yellow , both
4524-502: A much-needed boost to Japan's economy, which was stagnating in what would later be called the Lost Decade . An example of a firm that benefited greatly from Pokemon was food manufacturer Nagatanien [ jp ] . From May 1997, the company began selling Pokemon -branded curry , furikake , and baking mixes . In December 1997, Nagatanien was hit hard by the collapse of one of its biggest sales channels, Toshoku , in what
4698-630: A nationwide concert tour, an American Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin to Kelly . A transmedia franchise however is often referred to by the simpler term "media franchise". The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work into films, like the popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films of The Twilight Saga . Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types including metaseries , which can be used to describe works such as Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . Multimedia franchises usually develop through
4872-453: A non-Japanese company. Kahn suggested to use the short version of the name, "Pok é mon," adding an acute accent (´) over the e to assist with pronunciation and "give it a little flair". NoJ president Hiroshi Yamauchi officially approved the project in late November, and subsequently announced it at Space World 1997 . However, three weeks later, the " Dennō Senshi Porygon " incident happened, which Kubo felt made even more people resistant to
5046-432: A number of game-related television shows for Fuji Television 's late-night slot. In his job as a TV producer, Ishihara befriended Tajiri, as well as Shigesato Itoi , who would later become CEO of Ape, Inc. Ishihara was also the general director of the world's first gaming encyclopedia: TV Games: Encyclopedia of Video Games ( テレビゲーム―電視遊戯大全 , Terebigēmu ― Denshi Yūgi Taizen ) . Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000) wrote that, at
5220-476: A pair of role-playing games developed by Game Freak , from an original concept by its founder, Satoshi Tajiri . Released on the Game Boy on February 27, 1996, the games became sleeper hits and were followed by manga series, a trading card game, and anime series and films. From 1998 to 2000, Pokémon was exported to the rest of the world, creating an unprecedented global phenomenon dubbed "Pokémania". By 2002,
5394-403: A pre-selection and send the approved proposals to Japan, where the council made the final decision. Many submissions were bounced at the US stage, and thus never got sent to Japan. Tilden noted that processing all license applications, and mailing all approved prototypes and their documentation to Japan, was a lot of work. Arakawa did consider streamlining the process by moving someone from Japan to
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5568-415: A rival character, who receives the Pokémon whose type is advantageous against the player's starter Pokémon. By traveling around the region, catching and evolving Pokémon, and defeating other Trainers in battle, the player increases the size and strength of their Pokémon collection. A major subplot of most games is to defeat a criminal organization, whose intents are usually trying to take over the world through
5742-563: A role-playing game written by Itoi, but it was also founded with the intent to give outside talent a chance to pitch new, innovative games. At the time, Ape was housed in the same Kanda-Sudachō office building as Nintendo, located in Tokyo . Ishihara, a friend of both Itoi and Tajiri, was involved with Ape's management (and would become its vice-president in 1991). Tajiri's relationship with Ishihara prompted Tajiri to present his idea for Pocket Monsters at Ape's office. Present during Tajiri's pitch
5916-915: A second time to more advanced versions of the Symbols or Prints (advancing from Silver to Gold). The Frontier Brains have very powerful Pokémon, often including Legendary Pokémon, making a victory even more difficult than in the main storyline. A Pokémon's type is an elemental attribute determining the strengths and weaknesses of each Pokémon and its moves. These types interact in rock–paper–scissors -style relationships: Pokémon take double damage from attacking moves of types they are weak to and half damage from moves of types they resist. In Pokémon Red , Blue , and Yellow , there were only 15 types: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, and Dragon. The Dark and Steel types were introduced in Gold and Silver , and
6090-474: A short description will be added to a player's Pokédex. Each region has its own Pokédex, which differs in appearance, species of Pokémon catalogued, and functions. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus , which takes place long before any other Pokémon games, players are tasked with assembling the first-ever Pokédex. The National Pokédex allows Pokémon from all regions to be catalogued. After its removal from Pokémon Sword and Shield , many fans were upset, due to
6264-460: A special gift to "20 to 100 people". After Kubo learned of it, he encouraged Tajiri and Ishihara to allow an official release of Blue . President Hiroshi Yamauchi initially rejected this, fearing it would confuse people into believing it was an entirely new Pokemon game. Kawaguchi then suggested an alternative, which Yamauchi agreed with; Blue would not receive a normal retail release, but would instead be made available only through mail order for
6438-443: A subsidiary of TPC, has managed the franchise in all regions outside of Asia. The original full name of the franchise is Pocket Monsters ( ポケットモンスター , Poketto Monsutā ) , which has been commonly abbreviated to Pokemon ( ポケモン ) since its launch. When the franchise was released internationally, the short form of the title was used, with an acute accent (´) over the e to aid in pronunciation. Pokémon refers to both
6612-695: A time. The Pokémon which is battling can be switched out with the other two without using up a turn. In addition to the Pokémon Gyms and other battles to advance the plot, side games and post-game areas have been introduced in subsequent editions of the Pokémon games that extend the gameplay. First introduced in Pokémon Crystal , the Battle Tower , Battle Subway , Battle Maison , and Battle Tree are game features accessible outside of
6786-482: A variety of options unique to each game. Pokémon Abilities are special attributes that were introduced in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire . Specific species of Pokémon have one to three possible Abilities, with individual Pokémon exhibiting one Ability each. Unlike the moves a Pokémon knows, its Ability cannot normally change (Except for when an Ability Patch or Ability Capsule is used). Abilities can strengthen
6960-534: A way to demonstrate the new color capabilities of the Game Boy Color system. These are Pokémon that have a different coloration than normal; in earlier games, this was often done by means of a palette swap . Encountering a Shiny Pokémon is extremely rare; the probability under normal conditions is 1 in 4,096 (1 in 8,192 prior to Pokémon X and Y ). The term "Shiny" used to be unofficial. The first time it fell into official use in an English-language game
7134-469: A yellow mouse-like species with lightning bolt-shaped tails that possess electrical abilities. The player character takes the role of a Pokémon Trainer. The Trainer has three primary goals: travel and explore the Pokémon world; discover and catch each Pokémon species in order to complete their Pokédex ; and train a team of up to six Pokémon at a time and have them engage in battles. Most Pokémon can be caught with spherical devices known as Poké Balls . Once
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7308-478: A young Pokémon, usually of the lowest stage in its mother's evolutionary line . Players have the ability to trade their Pokémon with one another by connecting two compatible games. Because of the Pokémon series revolving around catching as many Pokémon as possible, trading is considered an important aspect of Pokémon . Certain Pokémon are only able to evolve by trading, with the exception of Pokémon Legends: Arceus , where some of these Pokémon can evolve with
7482-559: Is available, which allows a player to trade a Pokémon for a random Pokémon from another player who also attempted a Wonder Trade. Certain Pokémon and items can be obtained through events. Mystery Gift , a feature introduced in Gold and Silver , allows players to receive in-game rewards during limited-time events. While some rewards are distributed with online serial codes or online functionality, others are exclusive to in-person events. Shiny Pokémon ( 光るポケモン , Shining Pokémon ) were first introduced in Gold and Silver as
7656-587: Is jointly owned by three: Nintendo , Game Freak, and Creatures . Game Freak develops the core series role-playing games , which are published by Nintendo exclusively for their consoles, while Creatures manages the trading card game and related merchandise, occasionally developing spin-off titles. The three companies established The Pokémon Company (TPC) in 1998 to manage the Pokémon property within Asia. The Pokémon anime series and films are co-owned by Shogakukan . Since 2009, The Pokémon Company International (TPCi),
7830-484: Is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term media mix gained its circulation in late 1980s and is first used to describe adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu 's Japan Sinks , but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime , with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. Some of the earlier popular Japanese franchises such as Vampire Hunter D in
8004-480: Is unobtainable in the game(s) through usual means, and was intended to be used at a later point in some post-launch activity. To participate in the promotion, CoroCoro readers had to send in a postcard, and from the entrants, 20 were selected at random. The winners then had to send in their cartridge so that Mew could be uploaded onto it. The lottery was a success and increased word-of-mouth . By September, sales of Red and Green had surpassed 1 million units. After
8178-518: Is used with the Stellar boost, then any other Fairy-type moves aside from Dazzling Gleam will also lose the boost. Evolution is a sudden change in form of a Pokémon, usually accompanied by an increase in stat values. There are several different conditions that can trigger evolution in different species; the most common is gaining enough battle experience and leveling up. There are many other factors that can determine if, when, and into what, different Pokémon will evolve. The original alternate methods were
8352-465: The Pokémon: Let's Go! games, players catch Pokémon without battling them, instead throwing Poké Balls directly, sometimes aided by berries. The Poké Ball ( モンスターボール , Monsutā Bōru , lit. "Monster Ball") is a spherical device used by Pokémon Trainers to catch wild Pokémon. When a Poké Ball is thrown at a Pokémon, the Pokémon shrink themselves to fit inside of it. Pokémon breeding
8526-1263: The Dynamax mechanic, which vastly increases a Pokémon's size and HP for three turns. While Dynamaxed, all of a Pokémon's moves get replaced with a corresponding "Max Move", which are more powerful and have secondary effects, with the exception of Max Guard, which protects against all attacks. Certain Pokémon take on a different appearance when Dynamaxed, known as Gigantamaxing . Additionally, Gigantamaxed Pokémon gain access to special "G-Max Moves", which possess different secondary effects than those of typical Max Moves. There are 32 known species of Pokémon that can perform this transformation: Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Butterfree, Pikachu, Meowth, Machamp, Gengar, Kingler, Lapras, Eevee, Snorlax, Garbodor, Melmetal, Rillaboom, Cinderace, Inteleon, Corviknight, Orbeetle, Drednaw, Coalossal, Flapple, Appletun, Sandaconda, Toxtricity, Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, Alcremie, Copperajah, Duraludon, and both forms of Urshifu . Players can fight Dynamaxed Pokémon, as well as obtain Pokémon capable of Gigantamaxing, by participating in Max Raid Battles with other players. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduced
8700-568: The Pokemon franchise were the CoroCoro Comic , released monthly, and its sister magazine Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic , released bi-monthly. Both manga magazines are published by Shogakukan , a long-time business partner of Nintendo, and have featured manga based on Nintendo properties (e.g. Super Mario-kun , Kirby of the Stars , Donkey Kong ). At the time of Pokemon ' s release,
8874-430: The Pokémon series takes place in a fictional region of the Pokémon world, typically based on a real-world location, and begins with the player receiving a starter Pokémon, usually from that region's Pokémon Professor. Players have the option to choose one of three different types of Pokémon: a Grass-type, a Fire-type, and a Water-type, though many starter Pokémon gain an additional type upon evolution. Many games include
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#17327753537899048-574: The Terastal mechanic, which gives a Pokémon a crystalline appearance and changes its type. Each individual Pokémon has a secret "Tera Type" that is unknown to the opponent. Most Tera Types correspond to a main type, but occasionally can be an unrelated type. When a Pokémon Terastallizes, its main type(s) gets replaced with its Tera Type. This also changes the weaknesses of a Pokémon to fit the new typing, and boosts any moves it has of that type. A move called "Tera Blast", learned through TMs, changes type to
9222-491: The fantasy and science fiction genres. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series , video games, or both. A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix 's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series , and can suffer from critical failures even if
9396-581: The stats of a Pokémon. Every Pokémon has IVs in every stat, ranging from 0 to 31. IVs can be inherited through breeding, as well as being randomly generated . Mega Evolution is a mechanic introduced in Pokémon X and Y and returning in Pokémon Legends: Z-A , which further increases the abilities of specific Pokémon. If the player character possesses an item called the Key Stone and
9570-423: The 1980s and Pokémon in the late 1990s, acted as benchmarks in the country's transmedia dominance. The latter in particular began as a video game available on Nintendo 's Game Boy , and crossed through the media of television, film, news, and other non-media related realms, such trading cards, merchandise, and more. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among
9744-646: The Elite Four is replaced by the Champion Cup, a single-elimination tournament that determines who gets the right to challenge the Champion). Gyms are absent in Sun , Moon , Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon , being replaced by trials that serve a similar purpose. Once the player completes the goal of conquering all 8 Gyms (or all Trials) or if the player's Pokémon are strong enough, the player then learns more about
9918-509: The Fairy type was introduced in X and Y . Some types have special properties unrelated to the damage chart; for example, Electric-types are immune to being paralyzed. When a Pokémon uses a move that is the same type as the user, there is a 50% increase in power due to "STAB", a colloquial acronym for "same-type attack bonus". When developing the types for the original games, generalized ones such as Normal and Fire were conceived before
10092-595: The Flying type was created. As a result Flying was added as a secondary type to many Pokémon, an aspect repeated in later games in the franchise. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet introduced Terastallization, which allows a Pokémon to change its type to match its "Tera Type" when activated, as well as giving the Pokémon a crystalline appearance. Terastallization also allows Pokémon to gain a STAB boost on moves of their Tera Type, while retaining STAB boost on moves of their original type(s). The move Tera Blast changes type to match
10266-455: The Game Boy as an insect cage". Ishihara emphasized, however, that the idea of trading creatures with the link cable was Tajiri's. GF and Ape agreed to merge their projects together. According to Tajiri, the two teams initially collaborated on the game, but the work proved difficult, one of the reasons being that Ape was busy developing EarthBound . Tajiri eventually figured that "rather than working with Ape, we had to do something on our own, or
10440-514: The Game Link Cable was only used for competing, but not for something else. Combining this inspiration with his memories of catching insects and other small species, Tajiri's idea would eventually evolve into a virtual recreation of his boyhood experiences, and an attempt to "regain the world that he had lost". He would later state that the game represents "the story of a boy's summer day". Tajiri and his Game Freak staff began pondering over
10614-647: The Linking Cord item. Other Pokémon require to be traded while holding an item to evolve, and Shelmet and Karrablast need to be traded with each other to evolve. In certain games, the Global Trading System (GTS) is available, allowing players to place requests for a specific Pokémon in return for another Pokémon, able to be fulfilled by players across the world. In other games, Wonder Trading (known in Sword and Shield as "Surprise Trading")
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#173277535378910788-537: The Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back ( Pokémon: The First Movie ), premiered on July 18, 1998 and became the fourth highest grossing film of the year in Japan. Ultimately, the incident did not damage the Pokemon franchise – it in fact grew further during and after the anime's hiatus. While video rental tapes were removed from shelves, all other Pokemon products continued to be sold as usual, and customer demand for them remained high. Helping matters
10962-573: The Nintendo Kanda Building in Sudachō , Tokyo . Attendees usually included Ishihara and his secretary, representatives of Nintendo, Game Freak, ShoPro, TV Tokyo, and JR Kikaku, as well as head of the anime Yoshikawa. Broadly put, every meeting had three types of agenda items: discussing Pokemon -related events and basic policies in Japan, discussing Shogakukan publication plans, and considering merchandise proposals. For merchandising,
11136-951: The North American launch of Pokémon was the release of the Game Boy Color on 23 November 1998. The American version of the Pokémon anime started broadcasting in Australia and New Zealand on September 28, 1998. Red and Blue were subsequently released there on October 23. Various territories in Asia followed: the anime series debuted in Hong Kong on November 16, in Taiwan on November 23, in Shanghai on November 24, in Beijing on January 10, 1999, and in South Korea on July 14, 1999. Outside North America, 4Kids distributed
11310-415: The Pokémon faints and is unable to battle. When an opponent's Pokémon faints, the player's Pokémon receives experience points ; when a Pokémon accumulates enough, then its level increases. If the player's Pokémon faints, they may select another Pokémon from their active party to battle; in battles against wild Pokémon, the player may attempt to flee instead. If all of a player's Pokémon faint, the player loses
11484-408: The Pokémon learns new offensive and defensive moves to use in battle. Furthermore, many species can undergo a form of spontaneous metamorphosis called Pokémon evolution , and transform into stronger forms. Most Pokémon will evolve at a certain level, while others evolve through different means, such as exposure to a certain item. The main idea behind Pokémon was conceived by Satoshi Tajiri . Tajiri
11658-516: The Special Attack and Special Defense stats were a single stat, named the "Special" stat, which determined both attack and resistance against special attacks. When Pokémon level up, their statistics increase, as determined by the Pokémon's base stat values, effort values, Pokémon Nature, and individual values. These variables working in tandem provide each Pokémon with its unique stats. Effort values , or EVs , are hidden values that affect
11832-488: The US, and if they were, it was alleged to be on account of having been properly Americanized : Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was considered a prime example of this. Visually, Pokemon was believed to be too kawaii , or cute . It was assumed that Pokemon could not succeed on cute alone – it must also be cool . In an effort to enhance the franchise's coolness, NoA considered a graphical redesign and contracted
12006-606: The US, but no person could be found who was as competent as Ishihara. The Pokémon anime was first broadcast on September 7, 1998. Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version were released three weeks later, on September 28, 1998. To localize the card game, Nintendo contracted Wizards of the Coast , the creator of Magic: The Gathering . The Pokémon Trading Card Game was officially launched nationwide on January 9, 1999, although pre-sold in select stores in December. Coinciding with
12180-595: The United States. Arakawa appointed Gail Tilden to lead the project, prompting her to leave her position at Nintendo Power magazine. Tilden said that they "decided to make an all-out effort to repeat the phenomenon in the Western world". In two press releases, NoA self-described Pokémon ' s marketing campaign as "aggressive". The localization of the Pokémon anime was done by 4Kids, and directed by Norman J. Grossfeld . Grossfeld strongly believed that
12354-433: The anime also got more girls interested in the franchise, and girls' purchases of Pokemon products increased. This has been partly credited to Pikachu, who gained widespread popularity among both boys and girls. The success of this character would later lead to the game Pocket Monsters Pikachu ( Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition ), released in Japan on September 12, 1998. An adaptation of Pokemon Blue , this version
12528-554: The anime in cooperation with Brian Lacey of Lacey Entertainment . The series was presented at MIP TV , in Cannes, France, from April 3–8, 1998. Broadcasters were initially not interested due to its Japanese origins, and preferred to wait and see how the anime would fare in the US. After its American success, Lacey received inquiries about the series throughout 1999 from multiple international broadcasters. Lacey noted that, in Europe, this
12702-550: The anime received similar levels of success. For example, in Germany , "a highly competitive kids market", Pokémon was purchased by RTL 2 . The show's popularity bolstered the entire program block, more than tripling its viewers. Andrea Lang, RTL 2's editor of cartoons and children's programs, said: "We were speechless. We've never had a comparable success". By March 1998, half a year before Pokémon ' s overseas launch, 499 million Pokémon cards had been produced. By March 1999,
12876-414: The anime should be Americanized . At NATPE 1998, he asked ShoPro for a "kind of carte blanche , to let me change the show as I think would work for this market", to which ShoPro agreed. However, no national TV station was interested in buying the anime or financing its localization. Kahn then decided to self-finance Pokémon' s production costs, despite realizing this "could very well bring down 4Kids" if
13050-416: The anime to end before they could release their new games. Kubo was ultimately able to resolve the concerns of all parties involved. An important aspect of Kubo's bargaining power was the then-ongoing Mini 4WD craze and its accompanying hit series Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! . Kubo had an important role in the creation of both, which impressed the stakeholders. To appease Ishihara, Kubo promised him that
13224-403: The anime was broadcast in 51 countries, the films were released in 33 countries, and the cards had been translated into 11 languages. In North America, the debuting Pokémon franchise quickly rose to success. Red and Blue sold 200,000 copies in its first month. By December 1998, the Pokémon anime had become the highest-rated syndicated children's show during the weekdays. This attracted
13398-434: The anime would last for at least a year and a half. This was unusually long for a debuting anime, and required a big investment. Kubo's proposal for Pocket Monsters was officially approved on September 26, 1996. For Nintendo of Japan, it was the first time they licensed a TV series. Kubo assigned independent producer Choji Yoshikawa [ ja ] to lead the project. Shogakukan Productions , commonly called ShoPro,
13572-474: The approximately 7,500 applications submitted in 1997, only about 5% was approved. By March 1998, 35 companies offered licensed Pokemon goods, and there were approximately 700 Pokemon products. Tomy manufactured Pokemon toy figures and plush dolls. Bandai made Pokemon gashapon , dolls and ramune -flavored candy in a plastic box in the shape of a Game Boy. Meiji Seika produced Pokemon chocolate snacks and pudding. The lucrative franchise provided
13746-578: The attention of two media companies: Warner Bros. , co-owner of The WB channel; and Saban Entertainment / Fox Family Worldwide , owners of the Fox Kids channel. A bidding war ensued between the parties, which was won by Warner Bros. On February 13, 1999, Pokémon launched on the Kids' WB national television block. The debut episode became the most watched premiere in Kids' WB's history. In European countries,
13920-602: The battle system, and among other things suggested Pokemon types . Ishihara also came up with the idea of the Pokedex , a portable encyclopedic device which players can use to keep track of the Pokemon they caught. Throughout the years, Tajiri had several conversations with Shigeru Miyamoto , Nintendo's top game designer who Tajiri described as a mentor figure. Although, in a 2018 retrospect, Miyamoto downplayed his role in advising Tajiri, and stated that his contributions to Pokemon were in fact limited. Miyamoto did, however, suggest
14094-418: The battle. All moves have power, accuracy, and a number of Power Points (PP). Each move is classified as one of the 18 Pokémon types. Additionally, since Diamond and Pearl , moves that deal damage are classified as either physical or special according to which stats of the attacking and defending Pokémon they use to calculate damage. The moves that one Pokémon may learn are different from another depending on
14268-953: The battle. This causes the player to lose some money and return to the last Pokémon Center they visited. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire introduced Double Battles, in which the opposing teams battle with two Pokémon at a time. Though the basic mechanics remain the same, certain moves may affect multiple targets at once, and some affect the ally as well as the opponents. Additionally, some Abilities work only in Double Battles. Multi Battles were also introduced, with four Trainers in teams of two. The third-generation games only included Double Battles against other Trainers, but Diamond and Pearl introduced Double Battles with wild Pokémon under certain circumstances. Black and White also introduced Triple Battles and Rotation Battles. In Triple Battles, both teams send out three Pokémon at once, with all three battling simultaneously. In Rotation Battles, both sides send out three Pokémon at once, but only use one at
14442-538: The company was housed in the same office building as Nintendo in Tokyo. Co-ownership of the Pokemon property, which Ishihara helped create, was subsequently assigned to Creatures. This resulted in Pokemon having three legal owners: Game Freak, the main developer; Creatures, representing producer Ishihara; and Nintendo, the publisher. Anne Allison (2006) wrote that Nintendo also bought the property after Red and Green were finished. Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000) noted that
14616-469: The council set the bar high. Fiercely protective of Pokemon ' s brand equity , Ishihara was unwilling to greenlit an item just because it had a picture of a Pokemon printed on it. To avoid the market being flooded with low-quality goods, Ishihara put very specific demands on the products he evaluated. Furthermore, in most cases, the council opted to contract one company for each product category. Because of this, most merchandise proposals were rejected: of
14790-525: The craze had ended, after which Pokémon became a fixture in popular culture , with new products being released to this day. In the summer of 2016, the franchise spawned a second craze with the release of Pokémon Go , an augmented reality game developed by Niantic . Pokémon has since been estimated to be the world's highest-grossing media franchise and one of the best-selling video game franchises . Pokémon has an uncommon ownership structure. Unlike most IPs , which are owned by one company, Pokémon
14964-528: The day after Red and Green 's release Shogakukan, which frequently surveys their target groups, determined that the Pocket Monsters manga was well received. To further promote Red and Green , the May issue of CoroCoro , released on April 15, 1996, announced the "Legendary Pokemon Offer", centered around a mysterious, secret Pokemon called Mew . Mew was a last-minute addition to Red & Green . It
15138-594: The day-in-the-life episodes of the many different Real Housewives series. Documentaries and docuseries are other highlights of the non-fiction branch of media franchises, such as the popular Planet Earth series, which serves as both a film and television transmedia franchise. Pok%C3%A9 Ball Pokémon involves catching and training fictional creatures called " Pokémon " and using them to battle other trainers' Pokémon. Each successive generation of games builds upon this concept by introducing new Pokémon, items, and gameplay concepts. Each game in
15312-473: The development, and helped with debugging . Sugimori was in charge of the graphics and character design. Masuda created all music and sound effects, and did part of the programming. The budget that Nintendo granted to Game Freak was low; thus, Pocket Monsters was initially planned as a small, compact game, based primarily around Tajiri's core idea of exchanging. However, as development progressed, GF's ideas and ambitions for Pokemon grew. They soon realized that
15486-407: The different media, regardless of the fact that they are being presented in sometimes completely different ways, such as the shared, interweaving storylines and elements of Spider-Man films, television shows, comics and video games. Espen Aarseth describes the financial logic of cost-recovery for expensive productions by identifying that a single medium launch is a lost opportunity, the timeliness of
15660-613: The end game. Examples include the Battle Palace's prohibition on choosing what moves the Pokémon uses and the Battle Factory's random rental Pokémon. Instead of prizes, the player is awarded Battle Points (BP) which can be traded for rare items or TMs. The Diamond and Pearl Battle Towers use this same system, and it is replaced by a Battle Frontier in Pokémon Platinum . HeartGold and SoulSilver also have
15834-492: The end of March 1997, six months after its launch, and one month before the debut of the next big installment of the franchise: the Pokemon anime. The success of the TV series would cause the cards' sales figure to explode: by March 1998, a total of 499 million cards had been produced in Japan. By August 1996, Kubo had become convinced of Pokemon ' s potential, and believed Shogakukan should create an anime adaptation . Nintendo
16008-441: The episode triggered a variety of adverse health effects in more than 10,000 viewers, primarily irritated eyes, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. A small part suffered a photosensitive epileptic seizure , manifested in loss of conscious and/or convulsions. Hundreds of children were brought to hospitals, although a part of them had recovered enough upon arrival and did not need to be hospitalized. No one died. Broadcasting of Pokemon
16182-725: The fictional worlds they love, adds to the overall narrative the franchise creates through its other media. Marvel's Avenger's Campus park is one of the many franchise-based theme parks created in recent times, following the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure and Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney World . Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such as Nancy Drew , Miss Marple , and other popular detectives , as well as popular comic book superheroes . Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels , particularly those in
16356-470: The film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix were produced at the same time, using the same actors on the same sets, and released on the same day. Transmedia franchises occasionally release content through certain media that is not canon to the main or greater story that the franchise is built around, meaning that the elements of said content do not truly exist in the main timeline of
16530-442: The first RPG for the Game Boy; and petting in Japan , with Tajiri noting that having Pokemon is similar to having pets . Tajiri initially named his project Capsule Monsters , which GF's staff commonly shortened to Capumon . However, it later turned out that the term Capsule Monsters could not be trademarked , and it was subsequently decided to call the game Pocket Monsters , which became Pokemon . According to Tomisawa (2000),
16704-517: The first person to show interest in a North American launch of Pokemon was Minoru Arakawa , founder and then-president of Nintendo of America (NoA). Arakawa visited Japan to participate in Shoshinkai 1996 , held November 22–24. It was around this time when he first played one of the three Pokemon titles. He thought the games were promising, but Nintendo of Japan (NoJ) had no plans at the time to release them elsewhere. He returned to America with
16878-628: The first season were secured by TV stations in South Africa , Russia , Iceland , and Finland . In Israel , the anime debuted in February 2000. For unclear reasons, Red and Blue were not officially released there. Thriving only on the strength of the TV series, The First Movie , the cards, and imported video games , the Israeli Pokémon still became a success. By the end of 2000, Pokémon games had been released in 70 countries,
17052-555: The focus on the content of the commodity to "overlapping the commodity image with the character image". The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, by Marc Steinberg, details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. Long-running franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors and directors under long-term contract. In such cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed. Spin-offs and adaptations of popular pieces of media within
17226-678: The franchise itself and the creatures within its fictional universe. As a noun, it is identical in both the singular and plural , as is every individual species name; it is grammatically correct to say "one Pokémon" and "many Pokémon", as well as "one Pikachu " and "many Pikachu". The Pokémon franchise is set in a world in which humans coexist with creatures known as Pokémon. Pokémon Red and Blue contain 151 Pokémon species, with new ones being added in subsequent games; as of January 2024, 1,025 Pokémon species have been introduced. Most Pokémon are inspired by real-world animals or mythical creatures based on real-life folklore. For example, Pikachu are
17400-429: The franchise's fandom , which is the community of fans that indulge in many of its media and are committed to interacting with and keeping up with other consumers. Large franchise-based fandoms have grown to be even more popular in recent years with the rise of social media platforms, as many fans seek to interact with one another for discussion, debate and even to create their own fan-made pieces of media revolving around
17574-405: The franchise, on websites like tumblr , Reddit and Fandom . In the case of successful transmedia franchises, each different medium should expand the target demographic and fandom, build the interest of the consumers and add to the overarching story and narrative of the franchise itself. A connection between the characters, settings, and other elements of the media franchise do still exist within
17748-415: The franchise. Canon content often times breaks continuity, leading fans to speculate or seek to confirm which media are canon and which are not, which can get confusing if the franchise does not provide an answer themselves since entire media can be non-canon to the greater story, with a popular example occurring. On the other hand, specific episodes, volumes or parts of a series can be canon while others in
17922-559: The game remains virtually open-ended, with the ultimate goal of the player being to obtain at least one member of each of the different species of Pokémon, thus completing the Pokédex . Battles between Pokémon are the central game mechanic of the Pokémon games. Within the game, they are used to train Pokémon to gain experience and become stronger, earn prize money, and to progress through the game's story. Battles can also be done between players by connecting two game systems. Pokémon uses
18096-442: The game they were beginning to envision would not be easy to make. Sugimori admitted that, at the time, no one at GF had much knowledge of RPGs. "We thought we could handle it, but as we began working, we realized it was going to be tough", he acknowledged. Pocket Monsters was suspended indefinitely, and GF turned their focus on other titles (see Game Freak § Games ). After the game's initial development phase in 1990 and 1991,
18270-478: The game's quality. A production council was formed to produce the anime. Different people appeared at different meetings, but four individuals usually present were Ishihara of Creatures, Sugimori of Game Freak, Yuyama of OLM, and independent producer Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa had the final say. The council decided on the anime's worldview, characters, general storyline, and various important details. The early meetings, which were also attended by Tajiri, usually started with
18444-411: The game(s). By 1996 , the seven-year-old Game Boy console was considered yesterday's news and near the end of its lifecycle . On the other hand, new Game Boys continued to be manufactured and sold. The console was widespread and, due to its age, affordable to children. Also, the Game Boy had experienced a small revival in Japan in 1995 due to the success of Mario's Picross . Coincidentally, this game
18618-461: The hassle of having to develop a distribution system from the ground up, i.e. finding retailers willing to sell a CCG. Ishihara was then contacted by Satoshi Kayama, director of a small firm called Media Factory . Like Ishihara, Kayama was a fan of card games. He felt that CCGs would soon rise to prominence in Japan, and had been gathering information on the possibility of developing such a game in some form. When Kayama heard that Creatures had developed
18792-408: The idea of an overseas introduction. Market research turned back negative: American kids reportedly did not like Pokémon . Arakawa ignored the study and, convinced of the franchise's potential, allocated an enormous budget to Pokémon ' s launch. The exact amount was not disclosed, but was reportedly equal to or more than $ 50 million (c. $ 93.47 million in 2023), approximately the same amount as
18966-731: The lack of a National Pokédex meaning that not every Pokémon would be transferable to Sword and Shield . Although the National Pokédex returned in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl , albeit only allowing Pokémon existing in the original Diamond and Pearl games, it has remained absent in non-remakes. Pokémon Bank is an application which allows players to store up to 3,000 Pokémon in an online cloud storage service . Players can deposit and withdraw Pokémon from both physical and downloaded versions of compatible games, allowing players to exchange Pokémon between
19140-579: The late 1980s, by which point Tajiri had become a respected game journalist in Japan's fledgling video game industry. Tajiri's knowledge of video games brought him into contact with Tsunekazu Ishihara . Ishihara had studied Arts and Science at Tsukuba University , and was trained in CGI . After working in advertising for two years, Ishihara joined a company named Sedic in 1983, which created video graphics and software, including one video game, Otocky (1987). As video games grew in popularity, Sedic also produced
19314-671: The late 1990s, this was the case for many anime in the US. Grossfeld came up with the advertising slogan "Gotta catch 'em all!" as the English equivalent to the Japanese Pokemon GETTO daze~! ( ポケモンゲットだぜー！ , Get (the) Pokémon!) . The phrase "miraculously managed to gain approval" by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which normally prohibits the use of injunctions in ads directed at children (e.g. "You must buy this!"). While
19488-491: The launch budget of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. Arakawa admitted that it was "quite a bit of money", but NoA "had been doing well for several years, so we had a lot of money to spare". He opined that if Pokémon would be as successful in the US as it had been in Japan, "an investment of 1 would turn into 100". NoA and 4Kids proceeded to devise a strategy on how to localize Pokémon for
19662-488: The legend of the region and can open the opportunity to summon, battle, and catch the mascot Legendary Pokémon at a certain location. Additionally, completing the main storyline opens up other features in the games; this is primarily done by allowing passage into otherwise inaccessible places. Many games also have facilities dedicated to battling, such as the Battle Frontier, Battle Tower, and Battle Maison. Afterward,
19836-511: The magazine it grew out of. Over the next few years, they independently developed the puzzle game Quinty , working on it alongside school or their regular jobs. However, no one within the group knew how to make the game's music . After consulting all his contacts, Tajiri got in touch with Junichi Masuda , who became the group's composer. Quinty was finished in 1989, and published by Namco . Tajiri officially incorporated Game Freak Co., Ltd. on April 26, 1989. Tajiri started to think of what
20010-473: The magazine), footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares (lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware), guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise. Non-fiction media franchises also exist in the television and film media, with reality TV being one of the most well-known examples; ranging from competition shows like The Amazing Race to
20184-540: The main CoroCoro magazine was read by one in four elementary school students. CoroCoro' s deputy editor-in-chief was Masakazu Kubo [ ja ] . On Ishihara's suggestion, Kubo commissioned the creation of a manga adaptation . Written and illustrated by Kosaku Anakubo [ ja ] , its first chapter was featured in the March/April issue of Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic , released on February 28, 1996,
20358-580: The main storyline where the player faces several Trainers in succession with a limited set of their Pokémon and receive prizes in the form of otherwise rare items. The Battle Frontier was introduced in Pokémon Emerald , replacing the Battle Tower as found in the Ruby and Sapphire games. In addition to having its own Battle Tower with the same rules as the previous ones, the Battle Frontier adds several other game mechanics that make battles unique in
20532-400: The media fictional material is unrelated. Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to... reference books . An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises , which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy , within a few years after its first publication, into such enterprises as
20706-599: The misuse of the game's legendary Pokémon. Various facilities can be found throughout the Pokémon world such as Pokémon Centers, Poké Marts, and Pokémon Gyms. At a Pokémon Center, the player can have their Pokémon healed for free and access the PC, where players can organize their collection of Pokémon, store and withdraw items, and have their Pokédex rated. Before X and Y , this is also where players can link up with other game cartridges or cards to battle or trade with other players. Poké Marts are shops where players can buy items with
20880-495: The money they win during battles; certain cities may have specialized shops, like a pharmacy or a department store. Periodically, a town will contain a Pokémon Gym, which houses a powerful Trainer known as a Gym Leader that functions as a boss . Victory against them grants the player a Gym Badge; after collecting eight Gym Badges, the player may challenge the region's Elite Four and Champion (in Pokémon Sword and Shield ,
21054-592: The most and second-most popular Pokemon at the time. On October 20, 1996, the first card set was released. Booster packs were launched the same day, containing 10 randomly inserted cards. In the West, the booster packs contained 11 cards. The original set would be titled the Base Set in English. Many more sets would follow. Despite being ignored by the media, except for the CoroCoro , the cards became an instant success upon release. 87 million Pokemon cards were shipped by
21228-547: The number of times players can move before the opponent can, and the strong style does the opposite. Once per battle in Pokémon Sun , Pokémon Moon , Pokémon Ultra Sun , and Pokémon Ultra Moon , if a Pokémon holds a Z-Crystal, a powerful object usually obtained from completing island trials, it can use an upgraded version of one of its moves, called a Z-Move. Z-Moves based on attacking moves tend to have much higher power than normal; those based on status moves usually incur
21402-569: The opposing Pokémon is sufficiently weakened, the Trainer throws the Poké Ball against the Pokémon, which is then transformed into a form of energy and transported into the device. Once the catch is successful, the Pokémon is tamed and is under the Trainer's command from then on. If the Poké Ball is thrown again, the Pokémon re-materializes into its original state. The Trainer's Pokémon can engage in battles against opposing Pokémon, including those in
21576-428: The ownership structure of Pokemon is uncommon. They wrote that "Pokemon is probably the only property in the world today for which the original rights are not concentrated in a single company", like The Walt Disney Company does with their IPs . Tajiri and Ishihara did consider merging Game Freak and Creatures at one point. However, Tajiri decided against it because he feared it would erase what he had built up since he
21750-461: The phrase "Capsule Monsters" was already registered. According to Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000), the word "capsule" could not be used in the trademark. Tomisawa (2000) states that the Game Freak staff then came up with several alternatives, before someone within the team suggested "Pocket Monsters". In March 1989, Nintendo co-founded Ape, Inc. with Itoi. Ape's principal work was Mother (1989),
21924-432: The player is presented with a choice of one of three starter Pokémon at the beginning of the game. Each starter Pokémon has a different type , being either Grass, Fire, or Water. Catching is one of the most recognizable and important aspects of the Pokémon franchise . In most Pokémon games , players aim to weaken wild Pokémon in battle to then throw a Poké Ball. In Pokémon Go , Pokémon Legends: Arceus , and
22098-571: The player to traverse certain obstacles. For example, Pokémon who learn the HM move Surf can transport the protagonist over water, which is necessary to reach island locations. When a Pokémon learns an HM move, the move cannot be deleted or replaced unless the player uses the services of an NPC known as the Move Deleter. HMs were eventually phased out in Pokémon Sun and Moon , being replaced by
22272-423: The production and release is more important than its integrity, the releases should raise brand awareness and the cross-ability of the work is critical for its success. American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings, with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA Records and having the release of A Moment Like This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100. The success resulted in
22446-514: The project would never get finished". Ape, Inc. is not credited on the final product. The development contract was signed at the beginning of 1990, with a planned delivery of the game in October. Tajiri directed the project, working under Ishihara. Ishihara was the producer – he managed the budget, staff, and work schedule, monitored the game's overall progress, and served as a liaison between Game Freak and Nintendo. Ishihara also contributed ideas to
22620-510: The protagonist to start out with a different Pokemon. Hatakeyama & Kubo (2000) wrote that, by coincidence, three people independently suggested to the council that a Pikachu should be a main character in the anime: Kubo, Yuyama, and Keisuke Iwata of TV Tokyo's Film Department. In the end, all council members agreed that Pikachu should be one of Pocket Monsters ' central icons, as they expected Pikachu to appeal to both boys and girls, as well as their mothers. This would expand its audience, which
22794-415: The release of Pokemon Red and Green , Game Freak continued to grow, and a number of new employees were hired. For training purposes, they were ordered to study and make bug fixes to the source code of Red & Green , and to create new sprites for it; the test was later dubbed Pocket Monsters Blue . It was originally not meant to be sold. Only a small number of handmade copies were made, intended as
22968-437: The release of the platform game Pulseman , upon which Tajiri decided it was time to make a serious effort towards finishing Pocket Monsters . By this point, Game Freak's experience had grown considerably. Over the years, a number of new staff members had been added to the company. One of them was Atsuko Nishida , a graphic artist who created Pikachu , among others. Ishihara used his knowledge of card games to add more depth to
23142-525: The same medium are not, such as the fact that only some of the Battlestar Galactica comics are canon, with a large amount of them breaking the continuity of the main story. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix ( wasei-eigo : メディアミックス , mediamikkusu ) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media , gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks , and other methods. It
23316-667: The show would fail. According to Kahn, they "spend a fortune" on the localization. To have it broadcast in syndication , 4Kids offered the show for free to local TV stations across the country, in exchange for a portion of the advertising revenue. NoA assisted, persuading dozens of stations to carry the series by offering to buy some of their advertisement space, spending a total of $ 5 million (c. $ 9.35 million in 2023). Despite all this, most broadcasters were still reluctant to carry Pokémon , with Grossfeld experiencing difficulties getting through their "preconceived notions or their snobbery for Western-produced animation over something from Asia". At
23490-571: The slogan into the theme. While NoA and 4Kids were allowed a fair degree of liberty in their localization of Pokémon , the Japanese copyright council, headed by Ishihara, had the last say over it. All decisions regarding adjustments and promotion had to gain final approval of the Japan side. This included all of the merchandise, for which a 'two-step system' was created. All (aspiring) licensees in North America were to send their merchandise proposals to 4Kids. Staff of both 4Kids and NoA then made
23664-493: The species of Pokémon; even those that evolve from others do not necessarily learn all the same moves that their predecessors learn. Each Pokémon may only know a total of four moves at any one time. Moves may be learned through leveling up, using TMs and HMs , breeding and move tutors ( NPCs that teach moves). In Pokémon Legends: Arceus , each move can be used in either "agile style" or "strong style". The agile style decreases accuracy, power, and effect duration while increasing
23838-418: The staff "tinkered with it from time to time", as Sugimori put it. For instance, by October 1992, a large number of Pokemon had been designed, and a poll was held that month among all staff members to gauge the popularity of the different species. Several more such votes followed to determine collectively which Pokemon should be included. Still, development had mostly come to a halt until the summer of 1994, after
24012-424: The strengths of a Pokémon in particular statistical areas. Each Pokémon can be assigned 510 EVs, with a maximum of 252 EVs in a single stat . Pokémon can gain EVs with a variety of methods, like defeating other Pokémon or using " vitamins ". Each Pokémon will give out one or more EVs in a specific stat corresponding to its species when defeated. Items can also affect a Pokémon's EVs, with vitamins being used to give
24186-436: The syllables of its name. Yuyama realized that, even in the latter style of limited communication, Otani was experienced enough to still convey the messages and emotions needed. ShoPro paid half of the production cost of Pokemon . TV Tokyo paid the other half and was granted co-ownership of the anime. The ads during the show ' s commercial breaks were managed by advertisement agency JR Kikaku [ ja ] , which
24360-460: The tagline does sound commanding, the FCC reasoned that the act of catching is at the core of Pokémon ' s play. Therefore, the phrase was allowed. The series' theme song was written by John Loeffler and John Siegler and performed by Jason Paige . In commissioning the track, Grossfeld specifically requested the song's chorus to be written around the "Gotta catch 'em all" phrase, firmly embedding
24534-452: The team got lucky. "The probability of so many great people coming together at the same time is very low", he said. Per Tajiri's explicit condition, every anime team member had to play the game extensively, including the illustrators and voice actors. The anime staff "unanimously agreed that the game was interesting" and "felt connected with each other through the world of Pokemon ", feeling positively challenged to make an anime that would match
24708-558: The time, Ishihara was particularly interested in Magic: The Gathering . While developing the Pokemon RPG, he realized that the concept behind it could be adapted into a Magic -like CCG. The Pokemon Trading Card Game was designed by Ishihara, Akihiko Miura, Kōichi Ōyama, and Takumi Akabane. All were former staff members of Ape and had previously worked on EarthBound (1994): Miura was the game's main designer, Ōyama
24882-409: The time, Ishihara was probably the most well-connected man in the industry, with a knowledge of games "beyond comparison". Ishihara was also interested in playing cards , and contributed to the development of at least three simple card games designed by Itoi and published by Ape. In 1986, Tajiri, Sugimori, and a few other enthusiasts started an informal development team called Game Freak, named after
25056-455: The time, anime had not yet found mainstream popularity in the West. Contemporary news reports cited Sailor Moon as an example of an anime that had failed to catch on with American youth. Still, with NoA's help, 4Kids ultimately succeeded in contracting 112 broadcasters for Pokémon , reaching "about 85 to 90 percent" of television households. However, many broadcasters gave it off-peak time slots, with starting times like 06:00 or 06:30. Prior to
25230-531: The total number of cards shipped reached 764 million. By March 2000, this figure would grow further to 4.255 billion cards, manufactured in both Japanese and American factories. Media franchise A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium. For the owners, the goal of increasing profit through diversity can extend the commercial profitability of the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and ownership in its consumers. Those large groups of dedicated consumers create
25404-621: The two versions without the need for a second system. Additionally, an application called the Poké Transporter allows players to upload Pokémon from Pokémon Black , White , Black 2 and White 2 to the Pokémon Bank, after which they can be imported into newer games. Intended for release on December 27, 2013, Pokémon Bank was postponed due to unforeseen traffic levels on the Nintendo Network service. Pokémon Bank
25578-634: The use of different colored cartridges for the game, in response to Tajiri's and Ishihara's musings about making each playthrough slightly different, as to 'individualize' the player's experience. According to Tajiri, "five or seven colors" were considered, but they eventually settled on two: Red and Green . Otherwise identical, each had Pokemon not found in the other, encouraging players to socialize and trade to complete their collection. Ishihara aspired to create video games of his own. As Pocket Monsters Red and Green were nearing completion, Ishihara founded Creatures, Inc. on November 8, 1995. Upon founding,
25752-456: The use of items called "evolutionary stones" or trading the Pokémon to another player. Later additions to the pool of conditions for evolution include dependence on the Pokémon's friendship level, the time of day in the game, carrying a unique item while being traded, the gender, or the area in the game where the Pokémon levels up. In each mainline Pokémon game (with the exception of Pokémon Yellow , Let's Go, Pikachu! , and Let's Go, Eevee! ),
25926-448: The wild or owned by other Trainers. Because the franchise is aimed at children, these battles are never presented as overtly violent and contain no blood or gore. Pokémon never die in battle – they faint upon being defeated, and can then be rejuvenated at a Pokémon Center. When a Pokémon wins a battle, it gains experience points . After gaining a certain amount of it, the Pokémon levels up, and its statistics rise. As its level increases,
26100-421: The world's highest-grossing media franchises . For example, Pokémon 's penetration into the American market of the franchise along with others of Japanese origin, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! , gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling , crossmedia, transmediation , media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing from
26274-407: Was Alfred R. Kahn , CEO of US-based 4Kids Entertainment , NoA's licensing agent since 1987. Convinced of the franchise's potential, Kahn agreed to invest an undisclosed sum in return for both the anime and licensing rights. Pokemon became one of the first Japanese media franchises in which both the localization of the anime and the licensing of merchandise was handled by a single company, as well as
26448-450: Was Shogakukan's production company. The animation company they commissioned was OLM, Inc. (Oriental Light and Magic), on Kubo's suggestion. Kunihiko Yuyama , one of OLM's founding members, became the anime's director. ShoPro assembled a team of five writers, plus two supporting writers. All key people involved with the production of Pokemon were well-experienced and had proven track records within Japan's anime industry. Yoshikawa felt that
26622-430: Was Takashi Kawaguchi, who worked at Nintendo's General Affairs Department and was also a manager at Ape. Kawaguchi brought the idea to Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi , who reportedly said: "This is it. This is the idea I've been waiting for." By pure coincidence, Ishihara had come up with an idea for a game similar to that of Tajiri, and around the same time was discussing it with Ape. This game, Toto , involved "using
26796-404: Was a general understanding among businesses that the anime was not canceled, but rather suspended, and many executives (correctly) expected the show to be resumed after precautions had been taken. Supermarkets and other distribution outlets responded calmly to the crisis, and did not remove Pokemon products from their sales floors. "When we started this project in Japan, one of the first things I
26970-612: Was a stark contrast compared to previous years: "I was trying to sell this sort of stuff for years and buyers would tell me they were moving away from Japanese animation shows", he said. In October 1999, the franchise was launched in the European key markets of Germany , the United Kingdom , France , and Spain . The anime started broadcasting in Denmark , Norway , and Sweden in December 1999. In 2000, broadcasting rights for
27144-481: Was a teenager. "I felt threatened by the idea of changing how Game Freak was operating, and starting back over with Mr. Ishihara", he said. "It was an identity problem. If Game Freak ceased to exist, then so would I". Tajiri noted that, since Game Freak and Creatures both focus on Pokemon , it sometimes felt more like different departments than different companies. Pocket Monsters Red and Green were finally finished in December 1995. A release date of December 21, 1995
27318-515: Was announced, but missed. After sufficient cartridges, manuals and packages had been manufactured, the pair of games ended up being published on February 27, 1996. However, the property was copyrighted in 1995, and "© 1995" is shown on the title screens and cartridges. This year is since used on the copyright notice seen on many Pokemon products, even though no actual Pokemon product was released in 1995. Nintendo had no high expectations of Pocket Monsters Red and Green , and media largely ignored
27492-724: Was born on August 28, 1965, and grew up in Machida , a suburb of Tokyo . As a child, he enjoyed discovering and catching insects and other small creatures in the various ponds and fields that surrounded his town. During Japan's economic miracle , many cities, including Machida, were significantly expanded. As a consequence , Machida's nature was largely destroyed. In his second year of junior high school , an arcade hall opened in Tajiri's neighborhood, introducing him to video games . While studying electrical engineering at Tokyo College of Technology [ ja ] , Tajiri began publishing
27666-426: Was considered a core objective of the anime. During the council's first meeting, Yoshikawa brought up the issue on whether the Pokemon in the anime could talk, and if not, how they could communicate. In the video games, each has a specific cry. In Anakubo's CoroCoro manga , most could speak. At first, the council believed there should be a mixture of Pokemon that could talk and some that could not. However, this idea
27840-607: Was directed by Ishihara, and co-developed by Ape. The popularity of Mario's Picross incited Nintendo to develop the Game Boy Pocket , a slimmer and improved version of the Game Boy, released in Japan on July 21, 1996. Because of the timing and naming, some were under the impression that the Game Boy Pocket was made to promote Pocket Monsters , but this was in fact a coincidence that would end up benefiting both. Two media channels that would play important roles in
28014-495: Was eventually discarded: the Pokemon had to make a specific cry. The council agreed that Pokemon were like animals, and while they and humans should be able to understand each other in the series, they should not speak each other's language. It was decided that Pikachu would repeatedly say its own name in various intonations. The role of Pikachu was given to Ikue Otani . During try-outs, Yuyama had Otani voice Pikachu in normal Japanese, as well as in 'Pikachu talk', in which it only said
28188-455: Was fully released on the Nintendo eShop on January 22, 2014, in Japan, February 4, 2014, in Europe and February 5, 2014, in North America. In an update released on January 24, 2017, Pokémon Sun and Moon became compatible with Pokémon Bank . The update allows players to transfer and deposit their Pokémon between Bank and Sun and Moon , though when transferred, they cannot return to
28362-418: Was halted, and new guidelines were implemented to help prevent similar events from happening. With the show on hiatus , ShoPro and OLM worked on a feature Pokemon film. By the time the incident occurred, its script was already written, and the movie was in the storyboard stage. In mid-January, the staff resumed creating new episodes. The anime series returned on April 16, 1998. The film, titled Pocket Monsters
28536-481: Was hesitant, noting that if the anime would flop, it would negatively affect the popularity of the game. Ishihara initially opposed the idea, because he thought it would overly hasten the 'consumption' of the property: he feared that if the series would end, people would assume that Pokemon has ended, and move on to the next thing. At the time, Creatures and Game Freak were planning the sequel(s) to Red and Green , Pokemon Gold and Silver , and Ishihara did not want
28710-410: Was in a 2009 event distribution of a Shiny Milotic . The Pokédex ( ポケモン図鑑 , Pokémon Zukan , lit. : Pokémon Encyclopedia ) is an electronic device designed to catalog and provide information regarding the various species of Pokémon. The name Pokédex is a portmanteau of Pokémon and index . In the video games, whenever a Pokémon is first caught, its height, weight, species type, and
28884-409: Was in turn paid by sponsors buying advertisement space. In negotiating with TV Tokyo, Kubo managed to secure the 19:00 – 19:30 timeslot on Tuesdays. Pocket Monsters premiered on April 1, 1997. By November, it had become the highest-rated program on TV Tokyo. The anime succeeded in its goal of widening Pokemon ' s audience. Although the video games and the cards remained mostly of interest to boys,
29058-545: Was influenced by Magic: The Gathering , the first CCG in history. Indeed, the Pokemon Trading Card Game can be considered a simplified version of Magic . First released in the United States in 1993, Magic had gained popularity not just in North America and Europe, but also in Asia. Ishihara was fond of playing cards , and had contributed to the development of at least three simple card games designed by Shigesato Itoi and released through Ape, Inc. At
29232-460: Was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver . Pokémon can be bred in-game at a Pokémon Day Care. These are businesses generally run by an elderly person or couple, which raise Trainers' Pokémon for a fee. If two compatible Pokémon are left there, they will eventually produce a Pokémon Egg, which the Trainer can pick up for free. After being carried by the Trainer for some distance, the Egg will hatch into
29406-461: Was its art director, and Akabane was one of its chief debuggers. While card games have a long history in Japan , a collectible card game was a relatively new concept there, and at the time not widely known. Because of this, Ishihara had difficulties finding distributors. Sometime in 1995, Ishihara pitched the card game to Nintendo. They agreed to have the cards manufactured, subcontracting an unidentified printing company. However, Nintendo did not want
29580-402: Was made to resemble the TV series more. In the early months of the franchise, Nintendo was the contractual representative for Pokemon , and thus the central contact point for all Pokemon -related licensing (the approval of branded products). Around the time that planning of the anime begun, licensing requests for Pokemon started to increase, which Nintendo had difficulties handling due to
29754-408: Was then the third-largest bankruptcy in Japan's postwar history. Nonetheless, due to their Pokemon -licensed products, Nagatanien reported net profits in fiscal years '97 and '98, despite having forecasted losses. In the evening of December 16, 1997, the Pokemon franchise was hit by a crisis related to the broadcast of the anime's 38th episode, " Dennō Senshi Porygon " (Computer Warrior Porygon). It
29928-470: Was to become Pokemon while completing Quinty , and before he officially founded Game Freak. Around this time, Nintendo announced the upcoming release of the Game Boy , a handheld console that would revolutionize the gaming industry. Tajiri learned that the device would have a link port , and with the corresponding Game Link Cable , two Game Boys could be linked together. Sometime later, Tajiri remembered an incident while playing Dragon Quest II (1987),
30102-514: Was told was that this kind of thing would never appeal to American audiences. They said, 'Because the characters are in a very Japanese style, you cannot sell them to Americans'. So from the very beginning, I never thought there would be an English version. Now, it's just as popular in the United States [as in Japan], and I realized that we shouldn't always believe the opinions of conservative marketers." Shigeru Miyamoto , August 1999 Possibly
30276-436: Was watched by approximately 4.6 million households. In the episode, the cast is transported into a virtual world, accompanied by a Porygon , a digital, human-made Pokemon. While flying through cyberspace, they are attacked by an anti-virus program which mistakes them for viruses, shooting "vaccine missiles" at the group resulting in explosions of bright, rapidly swapping red and blue flashes. The intense stimuli brought about by
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