Pokémon

## Pokémon **Pokémon** (ポケットモンスター, *Pocket Monsters*) is the 1997 anime adaptation of Nintendo's landmark Game Boy video game series, produced by **OLM Inc.** and broadcast on TV Tokyo. The original series — covering the Indigo League and Orange Islands arcs across 276 episodes — is the genesis of one of the most commercially successful entertainment franchises in history, with the anime directly responsible for launching the global Pokémon phenomenon beyond Japan. Ten-year-old **Ash Ketchum** sets out from Pallet Town on the day he is supposed to receive his starter Pokémon from Professor Oak — but arrives late and finds only an unruly, electricity-discharging **Pikachu** remaining. Despite their rocky start, Ash and Pikachu forge an unbreakable bond as they travel the **Kanto region**, collecting Gym Badges to qualify for the **Pokémon League** championship. Joined by the fiery trainer **Misty** and the aspiring Pokémon Breeder **Brock**, they face the constant comedic interference of Team Rocket's **Jessie, James, and Meowth**, encounter legendary Pokémon, and learn that the true journey is the friendships made along the way. The series balances episodic creature-of-the-week adventures with building emotional arcs around Ash's growth from clumsy beginner to determined trainer — culminating in iconic moments like the Lavender Town ghost episodes, the tearjerker of Pikachu's Goodbye, and the legendary battle with Mewtwo in *Mewtwo Strikes Back*.