What Is Pokémon?

First of all, Pokémon is the union of two words: Pocket Monsters, which is the Japannese Name. And history is that in the fantastic world of Pokémon, kids are permitted to become Pokémon Trainers -- and the best of them may some day become Pokémon Masters! That's the dream for Ash Ketchum, our young hero who embarks on his journey with a secret that gives him an edge: his special love for these amazing creatures helps him beat incredible odds and makes seemingly impossible things happen! To become a great Pokémon trainer, Ash must catch as many wild Pokémon as possible. But it's not easy, because each of the Pokémon possess special powers and abilities. To catch one, he must first challenge it in a match with a Pokémon of his own. If Ash plays it just right, the wild Pokémon will find itself captured in a PokéBall -- and part of Ash's team.

Professor Oak, a leading authority in all things Pokémon, gets Ash started with his first Pokémon, the lovable Pikachu, an electric Pokémon with truly "shocking" abilities. Misty and Brock, fellow Pokémon trainers, join them with some tricks of their own. Ash can use all the help he can get, because the notorious Team Rocket has taken notice of Pikachu's powers. They'll stop at nothing to steal the precocious Pikachu to please Team Rocket's boss and help him fulfill his diabolical plan for total domination!

It's an incredible adventure that takes our heroes around the world, underground and across the sea -- all the while discovering new and amazing things about everyone's favorite creatures – Pokémon!

It's also that infamous series that caused the seizures incident on December 16th, 1997 where 700 children were hospitalized due to a flashing effect in one of the episodes. That incident's nearly forgotten now as the series continued to air in April 1998, the dual-episode movie, "Pikachu's Summer Vacation" and "Mewtwo Strikes Back!" was released on July 18th, and the second series of the animated show is already on the drawing boards.