Pok�mon[a] (English: /'po?k??m?n, -ki-, -ke?

-/),[1][2][3] also known as Pocket

Monsters[b] in Japan, is a media franchise managed by The Pok�mon Company, a
Japanese consortium between Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.[4] The franchise
copyright is shared by all three companies, but Nintendo is the sole owner of the
trademark.[5] The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995,[6] and is
centered on fictional creatures called "Pok�mon", which humans, known as Pok�mon
Trainers, catch and train to battle each other for sport. The English slogan for
the franchise is "Gotta Catch 'Em All".[7][8] Works within the franchise are set in
the Pok�mon universe.

The franchise began as Pok�mon Red and Green (later released outside of Japan as
Pok�mon Red and Blue), a pair of video games for the original Game Boy that were
developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. Pok�mon has
since gone on to become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time,[9][10]
[11] with $90 billion in total franchise revenue.[12][13] The original video game
series is the second best-selling video game franchise (behind Nintendo's Mario
franchise)[14] with more than 300 million copies sold[15] and 1 billion mobile
downloads,[16] and it spawned a hit anime television series that has become the
most successful video game adaptation[17] with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes
in 124 countries.[15] In addition, the Pok�mon franchise includes the world's top-
selling toy brand,[18] the top-selling trading card game[19] with over 25.7 billion
cards sold,[15] an anime film series, a live-action film, books, manga comics,
music, merchandise, and a theme park. The franchise is also represented in other
Nintendo media, such as the Super Smash Bros. series.

In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related
licensing of Pok�mon, announced that it had agreed not to renew the Pok�mon
representation agreement. The Pok�mon Company International oversees all Pok�mon
licensing outside Asia.[20] The franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2006.
[21] In 2016, The Pok�mon Company celebrated Pok�mon's 20th anniversary by airing
an ad during Super Bowl 50 in January, issuing re-releases of Pok�mon Red and Blue
and the 1998 Game Boy game Pok�mon Yellow as downloads for the Nintendo 3DS in
February, and redesigning the way the games are played.[22][23] The mobile
augmented reality game Pok�mon Go was released in July.[24] The most recently
released games in the main series, Pok�mon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go,
Eevee!, were released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch on November 16, 2018. The
first live-action film in the franchise, Pok�mon: Detective Pikachu, based on
Detective Pikachu, began production in January 2018[25] and is set to release in
2019.[9] The upcoming and latest games in the main series, Pok�mon Sword and
Shield, are scheduled to be released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch in late 2019.
[26]
Contents

1 Name
2 Concept
3 Video games
3.1 Generations
4 In other media
4.1 Anime series
4.2 Films
4.2.1 Live-action film
4.3 Soundtracks
4.4 Pok�mon Trading Card Game
4.5 Manga
4.6 Monopoly
5 Criticism and controversy
5.1 Morality and religious beliefs
5.2 Animal cruelty
5.3 Health
 5.4 Monster in My Pocket
5.5 Pok�mon Go
6 Cultural influence
6.1 Fan community
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links

Name

The name Pok�mon is the romanized contraction of the Japanese brand Pocket
Monsters.[27] The term "Pok�mon", in addition to referring to the Pok�mon franchise
itself, also collectively refers to the 809 fictional species that have made
appearances in Pok�mon media as of the release of the seventh generation titles
Pok�mon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! "Pok�mon" is identical in the
singular and plural, as is each individual species name; it is grammatically
correct to say "one Pok�mon" and "many Pok�mon", as well as "one Pikachu" and "many
Pikachu".[28]
Concept
See also: Gameplay of Pok�mon
File:The Story of Satoshi Tajiri.webmPlay media
An animated history of how Satoshi Tajiri came to conceive Pok�mon.

Pok�mon executive director Satoshi Tajiri first thought of Pok�mon, albeit with a
different concept and name, around 1989, when the Game Boy was released. The
concept of the Pok�mon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional
world of Pok�mon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime
which Tajiri enjoyed as a child.[29] Players are designated as Pok�mon Trainers and
have three general goals: to complete the regional Pok�dex by collecting all of the
available Pok�mon species found in the fictional region where a game takes place,
to complete the national Pok�dex by transferring Pok�mon from other regions, and to
train a team of powerful Pok�mon from those they have caught to compete against
teams owned by other Trainers so they may eventually win the Pok�mon League and
become the regional Champion. These themes of collecting, training, and battling
are present in almost every version of the Pok�mon franchise, including the video
games, the anime and manga series, and the Pok�mon Trading Card Game.

In most incarnations of the Pok�mon universe, a Trainer who encounters a wild

Pok�mon is able to capture that Pok�mon by throwing a specially designed, mass-
producible spherical tool called a Pok� Ball at it. If the Pok�mon is unable to
escape the confines of the Pok� Ball, it is considered to be under the ownership of
that Trainer. Afterwards, it will obey whatever commands it receives from its new
Trainer, unless the Trainer demonstrates such a lack of experience that the Pok�mon
would rather act on its own accord. Trainers can send out any of their Pok�mon to
wage non-lethal battles against other Pok�mon; if the opposing Pok�mon is wild, the
Trainer can capture that Pok�mon with a Pok� Ball, increasing their collection of
creatures. In Pok�mon Go, and in Pok�mon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!,
wild Pok�mon encountered by players can be caught in Pok� Balls, but generally
cannot be battled. Pok�mon already owned by other Trainers cannot be captured,
except under special circumstances in certain side games. If a Pok�mon fully
defeats an opponent in battle so that the opponent is knocked out ("faints"), the
winning Pok�mon gains experience points and may level up. Beginning with Pok�mon X
and Y, experience points are also gained from catching Pok�mon in Pok� Balls. When
leveling up, the Pok�mon's battling aptitude statistics ("stats", such as "Attack"
and "Speed") increase. At certain levels, the Pok�mon may also learn new moves,
which are techniques used in battle. In addition, many species of Pok�mon can
undergo a form of metamorphosis and transform into a similar but stronger species
of Pok�mon, a process called evolution; this process occurs spontaneously under
differing circumstances, and is itself a central theme of the series. Some species
of Pok�mon may undergo a maximum of two evolutionary transformations, while others
may undergo only one, and others may not evolve at all. For example, the Pok�mon
Pichu may evolve into Pikachu, which in turn may evolve into Raichu, following
which no further evolutions may occur. Pok�mon X and Y introduced the concept of
"Mega Evolution," by which certain fully evolved Pok�mon may temporarily undergo an
additional evolution into a stronger form for the purpose of battling; this
evolution is considered a special case, and unlike other evolutionary stages, it is
reversible.

In the main series, each game's single-player mode requires the Trainer to raise a
team of Pok�mon to defeat many non-player character (NPC) Trainers and their
Pok�mon. Each game lays out a somewhat linear path through a specific region of the
Pok�mon world for the Trainer to journey through, completing events and battling
opponents along the way (including foiling the plans of an 'evil' team of Pok�mon
Trainers who serve as antagonists to the player). Excluding Pok�mon Sun and Moon
and Pok�mon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the games feature eight powerful Trainers,
referred to as Gym Leaders, that the Trainer must defeat in order to progress. As a
reward, the Trainer receives a Gym Badge, and once all eight badges are collected,
the Trainer is eligible to challenge the region's Pok�mon League, where four
talented trainers (referred to collectively as the "Elite Four") challenge the
Trainer to four Pok�mon battles in succession. If the trainer can overcome this
gauntlet, they must challenge the Regional Champion, the master Trainer who had
previously defeated the Elite Four. Any Trainer who wins this last battle becomes
the new champion.
Video games
Main articles: List of Pok�mon video games and Pok�mon (video game series)
Generations
A rival battle between a Bulbasaur and a Charmander in Pok�mon Red and Blue.[30]

All of the licensed Pok�mon properties overseen by The Pok�mon Company

International are divided roughly by generation. These generations are roughly
chronological divisions by release; every several years, when a sequel to the 1996
role-playing video games Pok�mon Red and Green is released that features new
Pok�mon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel is considered the start of
a new generation of the franchise. The main Pok�mon video games and their spin-
offs, the anime, manga, and trading card game are all updated with the new Pok�mon
properties each time a new generation begins.[citation needed] Some Pok�mon from
the newer games appear in anime episodes or films months, or even years, before the
game they were programmed for came out. The first generation began in Japan with
Pok�mon Red and Green on the Game Boy. The franchise began the seventh generation
on November 18, 2016 with Pok�mon Sun and Moon on the Nintendo 3DS.[31] The most
recent games in the main series, Pok�mon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!,
were released on the Nintendo Switch on November 16, 2018. Pok�mon Sword and Shield
will begin the eighth generation on the Nintendo Switch and are scheduled to be
released in late 2019.[32][33][34]
In other media
Ash Ketchum holding Pikachu in the pilot episode, "Pok�mon, I Choose You!".
Anime series
Main article: Pok�mon (anime)

Pok�mon, also known as Pok�mon the Series, is an anime television series based on
the Pok�mon video game series. It was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1997. As
of 2018 it has produced and aired over 1,000 episodes, divided into 6 series in
Japan and 22 seasons internationally.

The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in
Japan), a Pok�mon Master in training, as he and a small group of friends travel
around the world of Pok�mon along with their Pok�mon partners.[35]
Various children's books, collectively known as Pok�mon Junior, are also based on
the anime.[36]
Films
Main article: List of Pok�mon films

In addition to the TV series, as of January 2019, 22 animated Pok�mon films have

been directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Tetsuo Yajima, and distributed in Japan by
Toho since 1998. The pair of films, Pok�mon the Movie: Black�Victini and Reshiram
and White�Victini and Zekrom are considered together as one film. Collectibles,
such as promotional trading cards, have been available with some of the films.
Live-action film
Main article: Pok�mon: Detective Pikachu

A live-action Pok�mon film directed by Rob Letterman, produced by Legendary

Entertainment,[37] and distributed in Japan by Toho and internationally by Warner
Bros.[38] began filming in January 2018.[25] On August 24, the film's official
title was announced as Pok�mon: Detective Pikachu.[39] It was released on May 10,
2019.[9]
Soundtracks
Main article: List of Pok�mon theme songs

Pok�mon CDs have been released in North America, some of them in conjunction with
the theatrical releases of the first three and the 20th Pok�mon films. These
releases were commonplace until late 2001. On March 27, 2007, a tenth anniversary
CD was released containing 18 tracks from the English dub; this was the first
English-language release in over