Pokémon (TV series)

Pokémon (TV series)
	File:Hoenn-group ash may brock max.jpg The main characters of the Advanced Generation: Brock, Ash, May, Max, along with Mudkip, Treecko, Pikachu, and Torchic.
Genre	Kodomo, Shōnen
Created by	Satoshi Tajiri
Anime
Directed by	Kunihiko Yuyama
Studio	Oriental Light and Magic, Shogakukan
Movies
	• 5 Pocket Monsters movies; • 3 Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation movies; • An upcoming Advanced Generation movie in the works
Specials
	• 2 full-length TV specials; • Assorted side-story episodes (Pokémon Hosou); • Winter Vacation shorts

The Pokémon anime metaseries, based on the video game series, was created in Japan and then translated for the North American television market. The metaseries appeared outside Japan before the video games did, and has since spawned several movies. It is aimed at younger viewers but many other devoted fans of all ages enjoy the anime as well. Originally a single series, Pocket Monsters, it has since been spun off to two: Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation continues the story of Pocket Monsters, while Pokémon Sunday (formerly Shuukan Pokémon Housoukyoku) is a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters.

The English adaptation of the series is produced by 4Kids Entertainment, with video distribution of the series handled by Viz for the TV series for the younger generation, Kids WB! (to be renamed upon formation of The CW Television Network) and Nintendo for the first three movies and the first special, and Miramax Films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie forward. The series and all featured films are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, with English adaptations originally written by Norman Grossfeld and Michael Haigney. However, starting with the 10th anniversary season, Nintendo's American branch of The Pokémon Company, Pokémon USA, who will replace 4Kids as the show producers and distributors outside of Japan, will have a new voice cast and have the stories stay closer to the original story along with literal English translations of the show titles

The show is on the third season of Advanced Generation, titled Pokémon: Advanced Battle. An English version of Housoukyoku has now been made, titled Pokémon Chronicles which is currently airing in the UK on the Toonami channel and in Canada on YTV. Each season also brings forth a Pokémon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pokémon animated short.

In Japan, both series are shown on TV Tokyo, with Advanced Generation airing on Thursday nights (previously Monday) and Pokémon Sunday on Sunday nights. In the United States, new episodes of Advanced Generation can be seen on the air on the Kids' WB cartoon block on Saturdays. However, in January 2006, Kids' WB ceased their daytime programing, and is has been stated that the entire library will move to TimeWarner corporate sibling Cartoon Network for weekday airings. Cartoon Network's India service, along with their Toonami UK service, carries Pokémon episodes.

Compared to other anime series with English adaptations, Pokémon remains close to the original, with visual edits generally coming from cutting seconds off long panning shots. This is perhaps due to its identical target demographics in both Japan and elsewhere (most other anime series tend to target a younger audience in the English compared to the original), and possibly because of its widespread negative publicity near the beginning of the series. In some cases, fans have remarked that on many occasions the English adaption (of the earlier Kanto episodes) better than the original, a rarity for anime series.

However, the animated feature films typically suffer from certain amounts of editing compared to the TV series, which fans attribute to the many traces of Japanese culture that is prevalent in the movies. It is also interesting to note that several scenes in the movies were either redone with 3-D effects animation for or original to its English release.

In the United States it is the 4th longest running animated TV show, only beating by The Simpsons, Rugrats, and South Park.

Series names

Like many anime metaseries, Pocket Monsters and Advanced Generation episodes are split up into smaller series for the English release, usually to denote the areas and adventures going on. Because of this, series are identified by the opening animation used for the episode, rather than a run of a fixed number of episodes. They are subdivided as follows:

Pocket Monsters - covering the Kanto/Indigo, Orange Islands, and Johto adventures.
- Pokémon - the original English series, covering the Kanto/Indigo and Orange Islands story. Pokémon, in turn, is often subdivided into "Season 1" and "Season 2", denoting the Kanto/Indigo and Orange Island adventures, respectively.
- Pokémon: The Johto Journeys - covering the start of the Johto journey, and ending as the protagonists reach Goldenrod City.
- Pokémon: Johto League Champions - continuing the Johto adventures, and ending as the protagonists leave Cianwood City.
- Pokémon: Master Quest - concludes the Johto adventures.

Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation - Covering the Hoenn and Battle Frontier adventures from where Pocket Monsters leaves off.
- Pokémon: Advanced - Continuing from Master Quest, Advanced covers the Hoenn adventures until the protagonists leave Mauville City for the first time.
- Pokémon: Advanced Challenge - covers the next three Hoenn gyms and the next four contests.
- Pokémon: Advanced Battle - covers the final two gyms, two contests, the Grand Festival, the Hoenn League, & the begining of the Battle Frontier.
- Pokémon: Battle Frontier - Picks up where Advanced Battle ended still in the Battle Frontier and contests in the Kanto/Indigo region.

Pocket Monsters / Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation

Ash Ketchum / Satoshi, in original and Advanced Generation variety

The main series tells the story of Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) and his quest to become a Pokémon Master. However, unlike in the video games, he is given a Pikachu as his starter Pokémon under unusual circumstances. Much of the series focuses on the friendship between Ash, Pikachu, and the various Pokémon and Trainers along the way. The main series follows the video games closely, but diverges from the video game continuity somewhat.

The original episode titles in this series are often given with little or no kanji, partly as a homage to the limited text capabilities of the Nintendo Game Boy, and partly due to the series being primarily intended for children. Kanji appears more regularly in Advanced Generation title, again partly due to a growing audience and partly as a homage to the increased text capabilities of the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. In the English version, episode titles tend to be a play on common words or phrases in pop culture (I.E "I feel Skitty", "Due's and Don'ts"), although early episode names were mostly translations of their Japanese counterparts.

Pokémon Chronicles / Shuukan Pokémon Housoukyoku

Main Article: Pokémon Chronicles

Skuukan Pokémon Housoukyoku ("Weekly Pokémon broadcast") is a closely related spinoff series that airs concurrently with the beginning part of Advanced Generation. The main episodes are stories that star various recurring characters that appear in Pocket Monsters, some of which account for discontinuities of the plot of Advanced Generation. However, instead of new episodes each week, as is the case with Advanced Generation, during Housoukyoku other things may air, such as reruns of Pocket Monsters episodes, television airings of the Pocket Monsters movies, cast interviews, and live action footage from various Pokémon events. The series ended its run in September of 2004, being replaced by Pokémon Sunday.

Much of the English-language Pokémon Chronicles is based on original content from Housoukyoku, although the series is advertised as "containing all remaining undubbed parts of the series". Despite this, Chronicles is generally accepted as the English language adaptation of Housoukyoku.

Pokémon Sunday

Pokémon Sunday is a weekly Pokémon themed variety show in which the cast, of which one is a Treecko (or rather, in a Treecko suit), answer questions posed by viewers. In one of the episodes, as an in-joke, Jessie, James and Meowth actually disguise themselves as Pokémon Sunday reporters.

Future of the Series

File:Ranger.gif

Hinata and her Plusle.

A teaser at the end of the eighth movie revealed that the next movie will bear the name Pokémon Ranger. It is possible that the television series will also use that name, as with the fifth movie, where the Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation name was revealed. The series may revolve around the upcoming games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, however an upcoming Nintendo DS game also bears the name, so the plot of the series/movie may revolve around that game instead. Hinata, the female Ranger in the game has made two appearances in the anime; one of which was an hour-long special

Pokémon movies

File:PocketMonstersMovieLogo.jpg

The Gekijōban Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation logo. A similar logo (sans "Advanced Generation"/"アドバンスジェネレーション") shows in the five Pocket Monsters movies.

During each season of the main series, a Pokémon feature film (劇場版! ポケットモンスター, romaji Gekijouhan! Poketto Monsutā), and later (劇場版! ポケットモンスターアドバンスジェネレーション, romaji Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Adobansu Jyenerēshon) starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. As of 2005, there have been eight movies and one feature length TV broadcast (released outside Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Mewtwo Returns"), the eighth released on July 16, 2005 in Japan. The plot of every movie has involved an encounter with a "legendary" Pokémon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote brand new Pokémon that are supposed to be in new versions of the game.

Each movie until the seventh is preceded by an animated short, featuring Pikachu and other Pokémon owned by the main characters and Team Rocket. Much of the dialogue in the short is done in the Pokémon language, which consists of grunting (for larger Pokémon) or stating the name of the Pokémon, and most of the intelligible dialogue (monologue?) excluding the narration is performed by Meowth.

Each Pokémon movie has its own special 'Pikachu The Movie' logo.

Spell of the Unown Celebi: Voice of the Forest Pokémon Heroes

The movies, along with their corresponding animated shorts, are:

Pikachu's Summer Vacation / ピカチュウのなつやすみ (Pikachu no natsu yasumi)
Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back / ミュウツーの逆襲 (Myuutū no gyakushū - Mewtwo's Counterattack): Features the legendary Pokémon Mew and Mewtwo. Highest grossing of all Pokémon films and of all anime films in the US. However, it has been criticized by fans because the dubbed version omits several important elements of the story. Followed up by the special Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns (see Pokémon specials/OAVS below).
Pikachu's Rescue Adventure / ピカチュウたんけんたい (Pikachu tankentai - Pikachu's Exploration Party)
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 - The Power of One / 幻のポケモンルギア爆誕 (Maboroshi no Pokémon Rugia bakutan): Features the legendary Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia. Although considered by critics and fans to be the better of the two movies at the time, due to it being closer to the original, it failed to match its predecessor's box office draw.
Pikachu and Pichu / ピチューとピカチュウ (Pichu to Pikachu)
Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown / 結晶塔の帝王 (Kesshō tō no teiō "Emperor of the Crystal Tower"): Features the legendary Pokémon Entei and the Unown.
Pikachu's Pikaboo / ピカチュウのドキドキかくれんぼ (Pikachu no dokidoki kakurenbo - Pikachu's Nervous Hide-And-Seek)
Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: Voice of the Forest / セレビィ時を超えた遭遇 (Serebii - Toki o koeta deai - Celebi - A Timeless Encounter): Features the legendary Pokémon Celebi and Suicune. First film to be released by Miramax outside Japan.
Camp Pikachu / ピカ☆ピカ星空キャンプ (Pika Pika hoshizora Kyanpu - Sparkling Starlit Sky Camp)
Pokémon Heroes - Latios and Latias / 水の都の護神 −ラティアスとラティオス (Mizu no miyako no mamorigami - Ratiasu to Ratiosu - Guardian Spirits of the Water Capital - Latias and Latios): Features the legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias. Last movie to be seen in theaters outside Japan.
Gotta Dance / おどるポケモンひみつ基地 (Odoru Pokemon himitsu kichi - Secret Base of the Dancing Pokémon)
Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker / 七夜の願い星ジラーチ (Nanayo no negai hoshi Jirāchi - Wishing Star of the Seven Nights - Jirachi): Features the legendary Pokémon Jirachi, Groudon, and Absol. First film to have a direct to video release outside Japan.
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys / 裂空の訪問者デオキシス (Rekkū no hōmonsha Deokishisu - Visitor of the Space Fissure - Deoxys): Features the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, and the alien virus Pokémon Deoxys. The first fourth-generation Pokémon, Munchlax, makes its' debut in this movie, which was also the first without a short.
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew / ミュウと波導の勇者ルカリオ(Myuu to Hadou no Yuusha - Rukario): Features the legendary Pokémon Mew, Regirock, Registeel, Regice, and one of the new 4th generation Pokémon, Lucario. First movie to feature a legendary Pokémon from a previous movie. First movie to have Nintendo DS downloadable content.
Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy / ポケモンレンジャーと蒼海（うみ）の王子マナフィ (Pokemon Renjā to Umi no ouji Manaphy): The next Pokémon Movie, it has the Pokémon Kyogre, Manaphy and a Pokémon Ranger.

Pokémon specials/OAVS

Once in a while there would be other animated material that does not fit in with the main series or the movies.

The Birth of Mewtwo/The Origin of Mewtwo

An animated adaptation of the "Birth of Mewtwo" radio drama, which was later attached to the beginning of the first movie for the Japanese video release. A small 3 minute heavily edited version was released on the US version DVDs, while the full uncut version was made available on the Mewtwo Returns DVD

Slowking's Day

A short featuring Slowking. It was never released outside of Japan, most likely due to it only being a few minutes long.

Mewtwo Returns

A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.

Raikou: Legend of Thunder

A made for television special that showcased the legendary Raikou, as well as brand new trainers. It became the first three episodes of Pokémon Chronicles.

Pikachu's Winter Vacation

A series of winter theme Pikachu-centered shorts that went directly to video.

Pikachu's Summer Festival

A short that premiered on ANA flights.

Pikachu's Ghost Carnival

The second short premiered on ANA flights.

Characters

English names are given first, followed by the Japanese names in Western order (given name before surname), when possible. All Japanese names, unless otherwise noted, are romanized from katakana. For the sake of simplicity, English language names will be used in this and other articles in Wikipedia about Pokémon, unless explicitly referring to the Japanese version.

Main characters

File:Kantogroup.jpg

From left to right: Brock, May, Max, Misty, Ash, and Pikachu.

Ash Ketchum / Satoshi - Ash Ketchum is the main character of the main anime series. Satoshi is named after Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of the Pokémon games. Ash from Pallet Town aspires to be a Pokémon Master, and together with the various friends and Pokémon that travel with him, embarks on many adventures.
Pikachu, a little yellow mouse-like creature with a lightning bolt tail and the ability to create an electrical jolt from its cheeks. It is the Pokémon that Ash receives from Professor Oak to start his Pokémon Journey.
Misty / Kasumi - a Cerulean City Gym Leader who leaves her post to become a Water Pokémon expert, until she has to return to the gym so her older sisters can go on a world tour.
Brock / Takeshi - the Pewter City Gym Leader who leaves his post to become a Pokémon Breeder, leaving the care of his gym to his father.
Tracey Sketchit / Kenji - a Pokémon Watcher who idolizes Professor Oak, and travels with Ash and Misty throughout the Orange Islands. Becomes Professor Oak's assistant when Ash, Misty, and Brock move on to Johto.
May / Haruka - a Pokémon Coordinator from Petalburg City introduced in the Hoenn saga who's starting her own Pokémon Journey. Rather than being an expert battler, like Ash, she specializes in Pokémon Contests.
Max / Masato - Younger brother of May. Although he is too young to be a Pokémon Trainer, he joins Ash and his friends in order to experience more of the world of Pokémon than what he can learn from books.
Jessie, James, and Meowth / Musashi, Kojiro, and Nyarth - A trio of agents for the criminal organization Team Rocket, this bumbling trio of thieves seeks to steal Ash's Pikachu, or whatever other Pokémon they can lay their hands on. Initially, they are antagonists, but they eventually become reduced to the series' "comic relief".

Other characters

Characters appearing more then a few times in the series include:

Professor Samuel Oak / Yukinari Ōkido-Hakase - a Pokémon researcher. He is often considered the leading Pokémon expert, often giving lectures to Pokémon academies and hosting a radio show in Goldenrod City. Alongside his research, he is also authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Kanto starter Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. It was a special condition in which Ash obtained Pikachu from Professor Oak. (see Ash Ketchum article)
Professor Felina Ivy / Uchidō-Hakase - a Pokémon researcher. She is the leading researcher in the Orange Islands. Brock served as her assistant for a year, but left under unexplained circumstances and now goes into a state of shock upon hearing her name.
Professor Elm / Utsugi-Hakase - a Pokémon researcher, and former student of Professor Oak. He is authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Johto starter Pokémon: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile.
Professor Birch / Odamaki-Hakase - a Pokémon researcher, known for his field work. He is authorized by the Pokémon League to give new trainers one of the three Hoenn starter Pokémon: Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip.
Nurse Joy / jōi - a family of Pokémon nurses (all of which are named Joy, fans joke that they may be clones) that operate the various Pokémon Centers in the world of Pokémon. Because of their identical appearance, it is often difficult to tell one Nurse Joy from another (with the exception of one tanned, muscular Joy in the Orange Islands). Brock, however, has no difficulty telling them apart. This is most likely a homage to the games which used the same nurse sprite for each Pokémon Center the player visited. There is one Joy who is not a nurse, but instead an agent of the Pokémon Inspection Agency (responsible for certifying Gyms); she appears in an episode of Pokémon Chronicles. The Japanese name, jōi, is from joi (女医) which means "female doctor".
Officer Jenny / Junsaa - a family of police officers (all of which are named Jenny; like Joy, fans joke that they may be just clones) keeping peace efficiently in the Pokémon world, often arresting members of Team Rocket. Like the various Nurse Joys, it is difficult to tell one Officer Jenny from another. Also like the Joys, Brock has no difficulty telling them apart. The Japanese name, junsaa, means "police officer".
Delia Ketchum / Hanako - Ash Ketchum's mother. Delia is very caring of her son, always reminding him to do his best. She is very talented, having won a beauty pageant and cooked a dish so popular that elite chefs at the Indigo Plateau have asked for its recipe.
Gary Oak / Shigeru - Ash's main rival since childhood, and grandson of Professor Oak. Like Ash, he journeys to become a Pokémon Master, but abandons his quest in order to follow his grandfather's footsteps. Over the course of the series, he is depicted as a villain at first, but slowly grows to be more compassionate and becomes an anti-hero instead. In the original Japanese, he is named after Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda games. His starter Pokémon was a Squirtle.
Drew / Shū - Drew is a Pokémon Coordinator and May's rival.
Richie / Hiroshi - a Pokémon Trainer who shares similar tastes in Pokémon as Ash. He has many of the same Pokémon as Ash, and also distinctly nicknames his Pokémon and labels his Poké Balls. His Japanese name, Hiroshi, is said to be a reference to the former head of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi.
Mewtwo / Myūtsū - Mewtwo is a Pokémon cloned from the Legendary Pokémon, Mew, who though humans tried to use it, but soon became friends with Ash and his friends.

Cast list

Character Name	Voice Actor (Japanese)	Voice Actor (English)
Satoshi / Ash Ketchum	Rika Matsumoto (松本梨香)	Veronica Taylor
Kasumi / Misty	Mayumi Iizuka (飯塚雅弓)	Rachael Lillis
Takeshi / Brock	Yuuji Ueda (上田祐司)	Eric Stuart
Kenji / Tracey Sketchit	Tomokazu Seki (関智一)	Ted Lewis
Haruka / May	Midori Kawana (KAORI)	Veronica Taylor
Masato / Max	Fushigi Yamada (山田ふしぎ)	Amy Birnbaum
Pikachu	Ikue Otani (大谷育江)	Rachael Lillis (Episode 1) Ikue Ootani (Episode 2 onwards(?))
Togepi	Satomi Koorogi (こおろぎさとみ)	Satomi Koorogi
Ōkido-Hakase / Professor Oak	Unshou Ishizuka (石塚運昇)	Stan Hart
Hanako / Delia Ketchum	Masami Toyoshima (豊島まさみ)	Veronica Taylor
Joi / Nurse Joy	Ayako Shiraishi (白石文子)	Megan Hollingshead (to Advanced) Bella Hudson (Advanced Battle onwards)
Junsa / Officer Jenny	Chinami Nishimura (西村ちなみ)	Megan Hollingshead (to Advanced) Bella Hudson (Advanced Battle onwards)
Shigeru / Gary Oak	Yuuko Kobayashi (小林優子)	Matt Mitler (Season 1) Jimmy Zoppi (Season 2 onwards)
Tōru / Snap (Todd)	Kappei Yamaguchi (山口勝平)	Jimmy Zoppi
Musashi / Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) Akiko Hiramatsu (平松晶子) (AG92)	Rachael Lillis
Kojirō / James	Shinichiro Miki (三木眞一郎)	Ted Lewis (Episodes 2 - 12) Eric Stuart (Episode 13 onwards)
Nyaath / Meowth	Inuko Inuyama (犬山犬子)	Madeleine Blaustein
Narrator / Narrator	Unshou Ishizuka (石塚運昇)	Phillip Bartlett (Episodes 1 - AG19) Mike Pollock (Episode AG20 onwards)

Recasting Contoversy

On March 21, 2006, it was discovered that Pokémon USA was going to recast the voices for the English-language dub of the Pokémon anime, from season 9 onwards. Pokémon USA is planning to use the special that will air on April 29, The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon, as a testing ground for the new voice actors. This caused a controversy in the Pokémon fan community as most fans opposed the recast. At the beginning of the year, 4Kids lost the merchandising rights to the franchise and dubbing was handed to TAJ Studios. However, there was a catch as there is a high possiblity for the voice actors to be replacedwith soundalikes of the old voices. Maddie Blaustein [1], Eric Stuart [2], and Veronica Taylor [3][4] confirmed the recast and urged the community to make itself heard.

Banned episodes

File:Porygon.png

Porygon was the Pokémon featured in most notable banned episode, one that caused seizures in many children when first aired.

On December 16, 1997, an episode titled "Dennō Senshi Porygon" ("Computer Soldier Porygon" or "Electric Soldier Porygon") broadcast in Japan caused several children to have epileptic seizures. A sequence in the show included a form of computer graphics which needed a certain anti-virus program in order to function properly. However, the software also caused a series of visual flashes to appear on the recording, so these were altered to make them appear computer-generated too (flashing around 10 times per second!). The resulting series of flashing lights and flickering colours inadvertently triggered the seizures in the children; Japan's Fire Defence Agency reported 685 affected people were admitted into hospitals of 30 prefectures by the following day. On March 30, 1998 TV Tokyo announced its intention to resume broadcasts.

In the episode titled "Miniryū no densetsu" ("Legend of Dratini"), the Safari Zone ranger threatens Team Rocket and Ash with a loaded gun, which was considered inappropirate because it was set to air shortly after the massacre at Columbine High School. Also in one scene, Meowth shows up with a moustache similar to Adolf Hitler. The episode was not aired outside of Japan.
In the episode titled "Aopulco no kyūjitsu" ("Holiday at Porta Vista" (Aopulco)/"Beauty and the Beach"), James uses fake breasts to enter a beauty contest. The episode was edited so that the entire bikini scene was utterly removed from the episode.
In the episode titled "Koori no dokutsu" ("The Ice Cave"), Brock is sickened with symptoms similar to that of SARS. Because it was to air during the height of the outbreak, it was prevented from airing. There has been no indication on if or when it will air. Another reason for banning was the Episode also starred the Pokémon Jynx. Jynx is viewed as a racist stereotype by many groups.
The episode titled "Yureru shima no tatakai! Dojotchi vs Namazun" ("Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash") in Advanced Generation was skipped over due to the content of the episode and its similarities with earthquakes in Niigata prefecture in October 23, 2004, becoming the first episode (after "Computer Soldier Porygon") to be banned within Japan. It now appears that the episode will never been shown anywhere in the world; an English version was also never produced, and the episode was skipped in the English language broadcast.
There were many worries about May's final contest airing due to it featuring Jynx. However, as it was now purple, people were unsure what would happen. The first indications were that the episodes were airing as Kids WB aired a commercial with Jynx and the episodes aired in the UK. However, as the first episode was airing in Britain, it emerged that Kids WB would be skipping to Berry, Berry Interesting. It is disputed whether Kids WB have just illogically skipped these episodes or whether they are banned outright.
Episode 24 (English episode 23), "The Tower of Terror" premiered in America on October 7, 1998, and ran normally three years. However, following the September 11th attacks, it was banned due to the nature of the title. More recently it has begun airing again, though rarely.
Episode 19 (English episode 18), "Tentacool and Tentacruel" premiered in America on October 1, 1998, and ran normally three years. However, following the September 11th attacks, it was banned due to having towers being destroyed. Even though banned on Kids WB, this episode was aired on Cartoon Network.
Episode 65, "Holiday Hi-Jynx" premiered in America on December 11, 1999, and continued to repeat for a few years (mostly during Christmas time). However the episode was eventually banned because Jynx's dark skin, large lips, and light hair was considered racist and sparked controversy.

Most of the banned episodes were translated into English, with most of the English production completed, but were prevented from airing. Only one of them, "Beauty and the Beach", made its way around the ban, but was only aired twice, and the tape was never given to Cartoon Network.

Pokémon Media and release information

Music

On the original Japanese language series, the opening and ending songs (and nearly all songs related to the series) are composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, better known for his work on Nintendo games such as Metroid. Nintendo disapproved of Tanaka working on the project, so he quit the company to turn his attentions completely to Pokémon. However, Tanaka's songs do not usually appear on the English translation of the show, as the songs are usually replaced with (usually unrelated) English language songs. Between the television series and the movies, he has so far written around fifty songs for the series.

Shinji Miyazaki is the composer and arranger of the original incidental music in the series, and he also arranges songs from the Pokémon Game Boy games (composed by Jun'ichi Masuda) for use in the anime. So far, two soundtrack albums from the series have been released in Japan - Pocket Monsters Sound Anime Collection, produced in 1998, and Genki!! Ippai!!, released in 2005, which includes picks of soundtracks from Pocket Monsters and Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation. Many tracks recorded prior and later specifically for the series are missing. Shinji is also responsible for the background music for all the movies, some of which is later used in the series.

4Kids' adaptation of the series features a heavily edited soundtrack on the much later episodes near the Johto saga, often featuring a combination of Shinji Miyazaki's music and in-house produced music. In comparison to the original Japanese series, scenes featuring no background music are much less common. The only dubbed material known to retain the original incidental music so far happen to be the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th movies, along with the 3rd mini-movie. The original English first season, however, has Shinji Miyazaki's soundtrack completely intact.