(Note when I first started here they had a place to view the Pokemon TV show, but they took it down for some reason. still got a link to the original show. here it ishttp://www.epinions.com/kifm-Pokemon_The_TV_show/display_~latest_prices, click here if you want to see some really old epinions on Pokemon.

In February of 1999 Kids WB finally starting to show episodes of Pokemon and I finally got it in my area. I didn’t really understand the show that much so I decided to go out and buy Pokemon Red. Well the next season they started airing it from the beginning and I fell in love with the show and bought the Pokemon Yellow version, which is a version of the original that follows the first season of the show a little bit closer. Of course several years have past and Ash has moved from Kanto to Jhoto, and unfortunately the show has gone down hill in the last few seasons.

Story.
Pokemon happens in a world similar to our own, except instead of regular animals this world is populated with creatures called Pokemon. These creatures have super powers and can be caught in special balls and trains.

Ash Katchum is a boy who just turned 10 and is excited about becoming a Pokemon trainer. So excited he sleeps in on the day he is to get his first Pokemon from the Pokemon expert Prof. Oak. Because of this he is stuck getting a Pikachu, Pikachu while cute are hard to handle and aren't for beginners. But Ash decides to take it anyway, even when it won't go into its Pokeball. But after a few misadventures Pikachu and Ash become friends and learn to trust each other. Following them on there adventures is friends Brock and Misty, also following them are the bumbling idiots of Team Rocket Jesse and James.

Poke definitions.
Pokemon characters language that non-watchers might want to know.

Pokemon. A Pokemon is an animal monster creature with super powers. Has a trainer Ash is dedicated in catching and training these powerful creatures.

Evolution. When Pokemon start to grow up they change and go transform, or they evolve. An evolve Pokemon is stronger then an unevlovled one, but Ash finds out with his Pokemon Charizard that an evolved Pokemon is also harder to control.

Pokeball: If your going to catch them all, your going to need more then a net. You’re going to need a Pokeball. A Pokeball lets a trainer catch and store a Pokemon, but first they must battle and weaken them first. There are also special Pokeballs that let trainers catch certain Pokemon in certain citations.

Pokedex (aka Dexter): A device that gives trainers status and info on a different Pokemon, all they have to do is point the device at a particular Pokemon. A Pokedex is also doubled has a trainers ID.

Gyms and Badges.
Has a Pokemon trainer Ash dreams off competing in the different Leagues across the world. To get there though he must get a certain amount of badges by beating the Gym leaders in each country he visits. The amount varies but it's usually around 8.

Characters (cast of human characters only)
Ash. Ash is the main character of the show, is dream is to become a Pokemon master, and beat his rival Gary. While a bit strong headed and he easily makes mistakes (especially in the beginning), but he also learns from him and becomes a strong Pokemon trainer.

Misty. One of the gym leaders of the Cerulean Gym, she left the gym ran by her and her sisters to become a strong Pokemon trainer. A little while after leaving home she meets Ash who is being chased by a flock of ticked of Sperows after him and an injured Pikachu. He "borrows" her bike to get away from them. But they catch up an injured Piakchu comes to Ash's rescue and thunderbolts the spearows, and ultimately barbecues her bike. With her bike torched she swears to follow Ash to the end of the earth to get a new one, but after a while she tends to forget about the bike and they become friends. Misty wants to be a master of water Pokemon and goes gaga over every water Pokemon they meet. She is also very moody and is prone to mood swings to. Misty has been known to give Ash a few lumps on the head for letting the wrong word slip from his mouth.

Brock. Brock was Ash's first gym battle, and he beat Ash to a pulp. Later though a man named Flint helps charge Pikachu up and beat Brock. During there training Flint tells how Brock's father couldn’t make it has Pokemon trainer and left his family, a little while later Brocks mother passed away, leaving Brock to take care of a litter of kids. After beating Brock in a gym battle; Flint reveals that he is Brocks father and tells him to follow Ash and fulfill his dream of becoming a Pokemon breeder. Brock does just that providing the Pokemon with his own home made Pokemon chow and doing the cooking and cleaning for Ash and Misty. After Ash's journey in Kanto are done he stays with Prof. Ivy (to learn more about Pokemon, and because he had a major crush on her). When Ash returns home from his journeys in the Orange islands he finds Brock competing with Mr. Mime to help Ash's mom out with the housework. What happen between him and Ivy to leave her is unknown all he says when they even mention her is to not mention the name. He then joins them in the Jhoto region. (And oh one more note Brock is not blind, why they drew lines instead of eyes I don't know)

While Brock is Mr. Dependable to the group, he also has a crush on every girl he meets. While this is taken lightly in the Kanto area, he goes majorly nuts for every girl Ash and the gang run into in the Jhoto area. While this was funny at first, complete with a Misty pulling Brock's ear to get him to back down, it has gotten old. Especially since this seems to be done the same way every episode.

Tracy. Not much to say about Tracy, except he took Brock's place in the Orange Islands. Tracy is a Pokemon watcher and loves to make sketches of them. Ash and Misty met him when they where engaged in a battle with a bunch of trainers and he decided to show up and sketch them all (of course he had to do it up close and personal and got in the way of the battle). When he got wind that they knew Prof. Oak he decided to join them knowing eventually they get back to Pallet and he'd be able to meet him. After completing the Orange Islands and winding back up in Pallet town again Tracy decides to say with Prof. Oak. And help in his Pokemon studies. Not much is really known about Tracy like what Island he came from and who is parents are, he did is job filling in for Brock and then he left.

Prof. Oak. A world famous Pokemon researcher that lives in the town of Pallet. He study's and researches the Pokemon that Ash and Gary send back to him. While he cheers both Gary and Ash on he seems to have taken a favor with Ash. The reason why is due to a chance encounter with a Clebi that he had over 40 years ago.

May: Looking from the preview episode this spring about the next Pokemon series. May may be Ash's new partner in the land of Hoen. I don't know how or why Ash ditches Brock and Misty and I am sad to see them go, but the way the series is going it needs a few new faces. May is a new Pokemon trainer who is not to found of the super powered critters, and has only agreed to go on a journey for Prof. Birch to see the world. Ash gets stuck with her when once again he and Pikachu fillet a bike. (Hey if filleting girl’s bike is one way to get them to like you maybe I should find my own electric rodent to do it, naah). May's name and appearance isn’t my chance either, she has the same name and look has the female rival you get to battle if you choose a boy in Pokemon and Sapphire version. (Note she also looks like the character if you choose yourself has a girl)

Gary: Ash's rival and a stuck up jerk. At the start of the series he was a character that you love to hate, stuck up, rich, has a great looking car, and he had his own cheering squad. But after loosing to the super Pokemon Mewtwo and placing behind Ash in the Pokemon league he grows up a little. He ditches the car and the cheerleaders, while he's still stuck up he and Ash get along better. While Ash still wants to beat him he doesn’t seem to go berserk on Gary like he used to.

Team Rocket
Since episode 2 Ash has been followed by 3 incompetent members of the criminal organization of team rocket. Their main point is to steal is Pikacu. Now it use to be when these 3 showed up that it was time for some laugh's, now days it just seems like part of the formula and these guys are so annoying that it's hard to even stand them.

Jesse: The female leader of team rocket. Jesse is rude and short-tempered. She can always seem to get her way when it comes to the weak minded and spirited James; this includes getting him to cross dress. While this is true Jesse does have a nice show that shows up every now and then.

James: Is probably the sissiest male cartoon character I know, while he's not homosexual, he's not far from it either (let's face it when is phrase to block in Pokemon Puzzle League I'm felling Gitty you know he's not exactly a majo guy). He's easily pushed around by Jesse and Meowth and is forced into doing most of the humiliating stuff for the team. Whether it's giving up is prize bottle cap collection for another failed attempt on Pikachu, or being forced to cross dress James is someone to be pitied.

Meowth: Meowth prides himself has being a few Pokemon in the world that can speak English. Why and how did he learn to talk, what else would make any man turn himself into a complete fool, a girl Meowth. Of course in the end the female Meowth turn him down because he was a freak Meowth and he decided to join Team Rocket instead. Meowth tends to be sarcastic and a bit of a wisecracker. At the beginning of the series he seems to be the leader of the 3, but he slowly falls back and lets Jesse boss the team around. Oh yeah one last thing, Meowth uses a lot of energy to talk and walk. Because of this he can't use the Meowth special ability of PayDay (it allows Meowth to make his own money), and he won't every evolve until a Persian.

Saga's.

Kanto Saga.
Ash is a new trainer and eger to learn about Pokemon. But when he sleeps in he gets stuck with a hard to control Pikachu. Pikachu is shortly followed by a ticked off Misty, and an easy distracted Brock. This one follows the original 3 versions of the game series has Ash collects gym badges from the Kanto area. Watching the Kanto series and the newer Jhoto series is like watching a new and old Disney movie. The old one is a classic that you can enjoy, the new one while not bad still can't compared to the original. In the original saga Ash is eager, Misty is grouchy, and Brock does more then just flirt with the girls. We actually see Ash loose gym battles and then fight back to prove that he deserves them. We see him struggle with controlling a few of his Pokemon, the onderey Pikachu, and the out of control Charizard. But even through his own problems and dealing with Team Rocket he eventually makes it to the Pokemon league but looses to a trainer named Richi, but he gets 15th place a pretty high place for a beginner trainer.
(Note: Pokemon the 1st Movie happens at the end of this Saga)

Orange Island Adventures.
After Ash finishes the Pokemon league he gets send off my Prof.Oak to the Orange Islands to do an errand. Get the mysterious GS ball from Prof Ivy. A special gold and silver Pokeball that won't open. Ash goes off and arrives at the Island Prof. Ivy is on and gets the ball, but Brock gets his eyes caught on Ivy and her assistants. Taking care of them reminds him of taking care of his family back home so he decides to stay with her and help her with her Pokemon research (among other things.). Shortly after words they run into Tracy and Ash finds out about the Orange League. And he's out to collect the badges needed to compete in the league. Lucky for him he befriends a Pokemon named Lapras so he has a Poke ride along the islands. The series goes a little down hill, mainly because this story was just a side trip to keep people over till the Jhoto league got here. The orange islands still had a lot of funny episodes that are worth watching, even if Tracy was a poor substitute for Brock. However the episodes start getting a little bit formulaic here, and that's Jhoto's biggest weakness.
(Note: Pokemon the movie 2000Pokemon the movie 2000 happens here.)

Jhoto Region: Ash arrives at home to find that Brock is there living with his mother, he doesn’t say what happen between him and Prof. Ivy other then he doesn’t like to talk about it. Ash drops Tracy off at the Prof. Oak's office; Ash gets a welcome home, good bye party from his mom. And now he's off to follow Gary in the Jhoto region. The Jhoto region takes off from the Gold and Silver games. And has the 100 new Pokemon. For the first bit the Jhoto region was actually a pick up from the Orange Islands, Brock was back, and there was a whole new area to explore that was a lot more interesting then the orange islands. However it quickly turn into a Pokemon of the day following the Pokemon formula of. Ash bumps into a new Pokemon and there trainer, Team Rocket steal the new trainers Pokemon and Pikachu, Team Rocket goofs up and gets send flying off my Pikachu. While this was done quite a bit even in the Kanto area the series at personality and it took chances with the trainers they met, and the way Ash responded. Unlike the Kanto area Ash hardly seems to loose too at any of his Gym battle and it seems the same thing over and over again. To make matters worse since the Jhoto series is only seen on WB, they are never shown in the right order. You think the WB would be smart enough to realize that most Anime's, even ones like Pokemon have story lines, when you skipped around them it's hard to keep up. This makes it even harder to enjoy the Jhoto region because if you miss an episode on Saturday, you have to be patient and you feel basically like your playing roulette to see what episode your going to get.

(Note: Pokemon the 3rd Movie, Pokemon 4ever, and Pokemon Heroes happens during this quest.)

The only good episode that even ranks up along there with the original Kanto series that I've seen so far is an episode called waiting for a friend. In this one Ash and the gang get lost in a fog, luckily they meet a girl who is looking after a nearby mansion intill the owner comes back with her Ninetails. But when the girl actually starts to fall for Brocks usual banter Misty gets suspicious. She gets freaked out when the girl doesn’t have a reflection. After exploring the mansion Ash and Misty find a diary, along with a picture of a man that looks like Brock, and a diary detailing how is severnts to look after his ninetails, the only problem was the diary is 200 years old. What does Ash's Pokedex mean when he says that 9 nails lives a very long time.

Animation
I like the animation in Pokemon. The animators did a good job in animating the Pokemon, which is kind of a feat in the early days, since the GB Pokemon where just a bunch of sqwigly lines. They also made each Pokemon look unique which is also a great feat to. The characters are also well drawn. Has far has backgrounds, while the forest with the mountains behind background that goes along with most episode does get boring every once in a while, it's a well drawn and interesting background. The rest of the backgrounds has far has city, mountains, and desert all look interesting.

Voices.
The voices in the English dubb aren't bad. The older episodes do have problems with some of the voice cast; Misty sounds to high pitch, and Ash well sounds like a girl trying to do a guy's voice. But has the series has progress the voices have gotten better, Ash still sounds like a girl but he is now a bit more believable 10 year old, and Misty is no more annoying then she is supposed to be. Another problem is the series is an adventure series so they usually meet a different trainer every episode, and since 4 kids has a limited voice cast you can expect to have a different character have the same voice every few episodes. This gets a little distracting and takes away from the show and can't be avoided, the voice cast pulls off each character they do very well, but it still does distract you.

Final Recommendation.
If you have the cartoon network and can catch Pokemon your in for a real treat, the episodes are classic and they air in order so you won't get to confuse hopping in mid way. If you don't have CN and you have to watch them on the WB I pity you, the new ones aren't has good, but to make matters worse you can't follow along because WB skips around.

Anywise 3 stars for this series, the classic are worth 4, the new ones are worth 2 so I'll just give the series a 3 overall.

Other Pokestuff.

Here are just a few Pokemon reviews that I have written.

Pokemon Silver.
http://www.epinions.com/game-review-6FAE-BEE59E8-39F7B40F-prod2

Screw you Pikachu,
http://www.epinions.com/content_14096764548

Pokemon the trading card game for gameboy color.
http://www.epinions.com/content_56310009476

Pokemon Stadium
http://www.epinions.com/game-review-3A-262D7BBC-398CACA5-prod5

Pokemon Stadium 2
http://www.epinions.com/content_25954193028

Check out my Gameboy reviews.
Pokemon made gameboy popular again and ushered in the GBC and the GBA

GBC review.
http://www.epinions.com/content_32094916228

GBA review
http://www.epinions.com/content_93141175940


Recommended: Yes

Type of Program: Cartoon or Animated
Program Quality: Good for a few laughs
Best Suited For: 6 to 8 Years