Take the Pokemon Test! Take the Pokemon Quiz Cool Pokemon Stuff!Pokemon Toys,Games, Books, Music, DVD, Video and Software About Pokemon Pokemon ( Pokemon?, IPA although frequently mispronounced [po ä, ki, man]), is a multi-billion dollar media franchise controlled by video game giant Nintendo, and created by Satoshi Tajiri at least by 1995 (it celebrated its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006, although the franchise was copyrighted in the USA as Pokˆ©mon by 1995). The original Game Boy video games have since been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, and other media. The name, Pokˆ©mon, is the romanized contraction of the Japanese brand, ’ÄúPocket Monsters’Äù ( Poketto MonsutŸÅ?), as such contractions are very common in Japan. Nintendo originally literally translated Poketto MonsutŸÅ ’Äì indeed, a "Pocket Monsters" game was created in early 1995. A naming conflict caused Nintendo to rebrand the franchise as "Pokˆ©mon" in early 1996. The game’Äôs catchphrase, in the Japanese language versions of the franchise is (Pokˆ©mon Getto Daze! - Let's Get Pokemon!)" ; in the English language versions of the franchise, it used to be ’ÄúGotta catch ’Äôem all!’Äù, although it is now no longer officially used (except by Hasbro and in the title sequence to Pokˆ©mon Chronicles). The concept of the Pokemon saga stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime in Japan, and one which Pokemon's creator Satoshi Tajiri had enjoyed as a child. Tajiri’Äôs formula took off in Japan and was adapted (and translated) in 1998 for the American market, with the release of Pokˆ©mon Red and Blue. These games allowed players to catch, collect, and train hundreds of creatures, known as Pokˆ©mon; and battle them against each other to build their strength. These Pokˆ©mon could then ’Äúevolve’Äù into more powerful Pokˆ©mon and learn new and stronger techniques. Pokˆ©mon never bleed or die in battle, only faint ’Äì this was a very touchy subject to Tajiri, as he didn’Äôt want to further fill the gaming world with "pointless violence". Pokemon is also the collective name for all of the fictional species within the Pokemon universe. To date, the franchise has a grand total of 409 unique species that lie at the heart of the series, a figure which has grown substantially from the 150 monsters in the original Pokˆ©mon Red and Pokˆ©mon Blue games. The word Pokˆ©mon remains unchanged whether referring to the singular or plural (as is the case with deer or sheep), and the same applies to each species name. In December 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of Pokˆ©mon, announced that it has agreed not to renew the Pokˆ©mon representation agreement. Pokemon USA Inc., a subsidiary of Japan's Pokˆ©mon Co., now oversees all Pokˆ©mon licensing outside of Asia.
