parent nodes: Nintendo | Pokemon | Super Smash Bros Melee
Pokémon is a video game series distributed by Nintendo; now also a syndicated animated TV cartoon series, a trading card game, and the source for a large number of toys, accessories, etc. It includes games for the Nintendo Game Boy and the Nintendo 64. Games for the Game Boy include Pokémon Blue, Red, Yellow, Green (which was never released in America), Silver, Gold, and Crystal. There is also a Pokémon Card Game for Game Boy (yes, a video game based on a collectible card game that's based on a video game) and a pinball game Pikachu Pinball, and a puzzle game. Games for the Nintendo 64 include Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Stadium 1 2 and 3, and Hey You Pikachu. In March, 2003, the much-vaunted Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire will be released to the United States.
Pokémon was the brainchild of Satoshi Tajiri, founder of the development company "Game Freak". The concept for Pokémon was loosely based on the practice in Japan among schoolchildren of collecting and training beetles for nonlethal fighting. The game got some initial funding and concept work from another game design studio, "Creatures", as Nintendo, partial owner in Game Freak was unsympathetic to the idea at the time.
"Pokémon" is actually a contraction of the English words "pocket monster" ("poketto monstaa" in Japanese transliteration). There are several other such contractions in the Japanese language, such as karaoke.
The Pokémon series is classified as a role-playing game, because it has elements similar to many other role-playing games (such as a top-down, tile based view, item management, and a turn based battle system with such familiar elements as hit points, and status effects like poison and sleep), but it does not focus on plot and character development in the manner of Final Fantasy and many other role-playing games. Pokémon games rather focus on the collection and training of many little creatures, which are battled against opponents (either AI-controlled, or live opponents). Depending on which game in the series we're discussing, there may be 151 or 250 available Pokémon, and with Pokemon Sapphire/Ruby, a set of 202 with 83 from the originals. An unusual feature is the ability to trade one's Pokémon with other players via the Game Boy Link Cable; this forms an integral part of the game as some Pokémon can only be collected by trading.
Pokémon Snap and Hey You Pikachu are not rpgs as the rest of the series are, but spinoffs involving the same characters. Pokémon Stadium allows players to transfer creatures from a Game Boy cartridge or to rent creatures from within the game.
Digimon and Monster Rancher are rival products.
Pokémon TV series
The main heroes of TV series are Ash and his companions Misty and Brock. Ash wants to become the best Pokémon trainer, and the others accompany him for other reasons.
There are also two Team Rocket members, Jessie and James, who along with their Pokémon Meowth serve as the bad guys of the series. Jessie and James were for a long time the largest divergence between the game and the television series. In the game, the Team Rocket organization is a dangerous and widespread source of crime--in the series, Team Rocket is almost exclusively represented by the bumbling, not quite so evil Jessie and James. This was rectified in the later Gameboy game "Pokémon Yellow", which incorporated several elements of the television series into the game, most notably Jessie and James who follow you around and battle you occasionally.
Controversy
Some Christian groups in the United States believe Pokémon to be Satanic in origin. After the US release of Pokemon Yellow, there was a sudden widespread criticism of it passed through Christian congregations primarily by word-of-mouth. Most people believe these claims to be nonsense: an Urban legend.
While this criticism has been a widespread phenomenon in the United States, little about it has been committed to print. It would be incorrect to state that the Christian religious community has an official opinion on this, but its widespread nature makes it a legitimate topic of study.
Frequent parallels drawn between Satanism and Pokemon
Note that these parallels may not be in accordance with a strict definition of Satanism, or even make sense. This is a point of contention to be held with their proponents, not the author.
Pokemon parallel demons. They are captured and must be invoked to perform tasks. Magical talismans are necessary to control many of them.
Pokemon evolve. Evolution denies creationism, therefore Pokemon denies God.
Many Pokemon have paranormal or psychic powers. These powers stem from Satan.
Many Pokemon embody or practice Asian concepts. For example, some practice martial arts, which some Christian groups denounce as pagan. The game world also incorporates Asian traditions about elemental forces.
Magical stones are used to metamorphose certain Pokemon into other forms.
In a similar vein, Pokemon has been criticised by members of the Jewish community for promoting Nazism due to a misinterpreted Asian symbol for "good fortune", and Pokemon paraphernilia has also been banned in Saudi Arabia for supposedly promoting Judaism with characters prominently displaying the Star of David.
Some groups in the United States also believe the show encourages children to run away from home like the main character Ash does in the game and cartoon. Others who are unfamiliar with Japanese beetle fighting claim that the game and show, which involve training of animals to fight other trainers' animals, were inspired by the practice of cockfighting. (See above to learn why this is not the case.)
Uri Geller, Israeli psychic famous for ostensibly bending spoons with his mind, has sued Nintendo over the pokémon "Alakazam" ("Un-geller" in Japanese), whom he claims is an unauthorized appropriation of his identity. The name is a pun; the katakana letter 'n' looks quite like the letter 'ri'. The pokémon in question has psychic abilities and carries bent spoons. Geller sued for the equivalent of 100 million dollars, but lost.
A parents group is suing Nintendo of America and other manufacturers of collectible cards (such as baseball card makers), claiming that the collectible nature of randomly purchased cards constitutes illegal gambling.
See also: Magic The Gathering, Digimon