What is Pokémon?

Pokémon, short for ‘’Pocket Monsters’’, is a popular franchise that is created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori in
Japan in 1996. Since then, Pokémon has become a worldwide phenomenon, with numerous video games, anime
series, animated and live-action movies, and a TCG (Trading Card Game) merchandise.

Video Games
The first things Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori released were Pokémon Red and
Pokémon Blue games for Gameboy Colour hand consoles. These games were the
start of the main series of role-playing games and the ‘’core games’’. After the
anime series had started and Pikachu (an electrical mouse Pokémon) became the
franchise’s mascot, they released a third game named Pokémon Yellow to give the
chance to the players to choose Pikachu as their starter Pokémon.
What are starter Pokémon? Starter Pokémon are the first Pokémon that players get
while starting a new journey in a Pokémon game. There are generally three choices
which are Grass-, Water- and Fire-type Pokémon. These Pokémon help the player
capture and train more Pokémon during their journey.
The main gameplay of the Pokémon video games involves travelling through
places, capturing wild Pokémon, training Pokémon to battle with other Pokémon
trainers, and defeating eight GYM leaders to challenge four Elite trainers to
become the Pokémon champion.
The games I wrote about are also known as ‘’Generation One games’’ because every new game means new
Pokémon, so they categorize the Pokémon according to the game, the generation, in which they first appeared. There
are currently nine generations and nine regions. The regions are named respectively Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh,
Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea. Every generation includes more than one game and some of them even
include reworked versions of the older games.
A full list of Pokémon Core Games:
Generation 1 (Kanto) games are Pokémon Red (1998), Pokémon Blue (1998), and Pokémon Yellow (2000).
Generation 2 (Johto) games are Pokémon Silver (2001), Pokémon Gold (2001), and Pokémon Crystal (2001).
Generation 3 (Hoenn) games are Pokémon Ruby (2003), Pokémon Sapphire (2003), Pokémon Emerald (2005),
(Kanto Remakes) Pokémon FireRed (2004) and Pokémon LeafGreen (2004).
Generation 4 (Sinnoh) games are Pokémon Diamond (2007), Pokémon Pearl (2007), Pokémon Platinum (2009),
(Johto Remakes) Pokémon SoulSilver (2010) and Pokémon HeartGold (2010).
Generation 5 (Unova) games are Pokémon Black (2011), Pokémon White (2011), Pokémon Black 2 (2012) and
Pokémon White 2 (2012).
Generation 6 (Kalos) games are Pokémon X (2013), Pokémon Y (2013), (Hoenn Remakes) Pokémon Omega Ruby
(2014) and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (2014).
Generation 7 (Alola) games are Pokémon Sun (2016), Pokémon Moon (2016), Pokémon Ultra Sun (2017), Pokémon
Ultra Moon (2017), (Kanto Remakes) Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu! (2018) And Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee (2018).
Generation 8 (Galar) games are Pokémon Sword (2019), Pokémon Shield (2019), (Sinnoh Remakes) Pokémon
Brilliant Diamond (2021), Pokémon Shining Pearl (2021) and (Sinnoh Prequel) Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Generation 9 (Paldea) games are Pokémon Scarlet (2022) and Pokémon Violet (2022).

Combat
The combat system in the Pokémon Core Games is Turn-Based. Turn-Based combat is a strategic combat system
where players take turns to act when playing. In Pokémon games, the character players control
doesn’t fight with the opponent themselves; every trainer carries up to 6 Pokémon
(excluding an exception) to command them to battle other trainers’ Pokémon or wild
Pokémon.
In a turn, Pokémon trainers can do 4 different actions; trainers can make their
Pokémon use ‘’Pokémon moves’’ to; attack the opposing Pokémon, try to put a status
ailment on the opposing Pokémon, buff or debuff statistics of opposing or ally
Pokémon, applying other effects such as changing the weather, weakening a type of
attacks; using an item to heal HP (Hit Points), attempting to run from the battle or
attempting to catch the Pokémon with a Pokéball but the last 2 options are only usable
if the player is fighting with a wild Pokémon.
Attacking by using Pokémon moves usually damages the opponent and makes them
lose HP. The amount of HP lost is calculated according to; the Pokémon-Type advantages and
disadvantages, the base power of the attack, if the attack is physical; the attack statistic of the attacking Pokémon and
the defence statistic of the opposing Pokémon, if the attack is special; the special (All the Pokéballs from Pokémon GO)
attack statistic of the attacking Pokémon and the special defence statistic of the opposing Pokémon.

Pokémon-types are types that every Pokémon has up to 2 of them and they
affect the damage that the player’s Pokémon take from attacks. There are
18 different Pokémon-types; Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice,
Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Rock, Ghost, Dragon,
Dark, Steel and Fairy. The chart on the left shows the type advantages and
disadvantages. Red squares mean that the attack is not very effective, so
the damage given is cut in half. Green squares mean that the attack is super
effective, so the damage given is doubled. Lastly, black squares mean that
the defender is immune to the attack, so the attack can’t do any damage.
These matchups have logical explanations. For example, Fire burns Grass,
Grass drains Water and Water puts out Fire. Some Pokémon have 2 types.
In a situation like that the weaknesses or resistances get calculated
together. For example, if the player attacks an Ice-Poison-Type Pokémon
with a Fighting-Type move, the player’s attack does normal damage.
A Pokémon’s statistics are other things that influence the damage they
give or take. There are 6 Pokémon statistics; Hit Points (HP), Attack
(Atk.), Defence (Def.), Special Attack (Sp. Atk.), Special Defence (Sp. Def.) and Speed (Spe).
Hit Points basically means the durability of Pokémon. It shows how much damage that Pokémon can take before
fainting and being unable to battle. Current HP means the amount of HP that Pokémon currently has and Maximum
HP means the highest amount of HP that Pokémon can have.
 Attack is the statistic that has a role when calculating how high the damage that Pokémon give to the opponent with
a physical attack.
Defence is the statistic that has a role when calculating how low the damage that Pokémon take from the opponent’s
physical attacks.
Special Attack is the statistic that has a role when calculating how high the damage that Pokémon give to the
opponent with a special attack.
Special Defence is the statistic that has a role when calculating how low the damage that Pokémon take from the
opponent’s physical attacks.
Speed is the statistic that has a role in deciding which Pokémon acts first in a turn. Some moves ignore this statistic
and go always first or last. There is a move called ‘’Trick Room’’ that makes this statistic work vice versa for 3 to 5
turns.

What Are Pokémon?

Pokémon are the creatures with magical powers that live within the people in the world of Pokémon. People of this
fictional world, live along Pokémon, grow together with Pokémon, work together with Pokémon, protect each other
with Pokémon and battle each other with Pokémon. These creatures are mysterious and magical. Currently, there are
1015 Pokémon and every single one has characteristics that make them different from the others. Every Pokémon
has a typing of up to 2 types, 6 statistics which are effective in combat, 4 moves they can learn at a time, moves they
can learn, abilities, evolutionary lines and different sizes and weights. To be clearer, I’ll demonstrate these
characteristics in an example, Pikachu.
Pikachu is the most well-known Pokémon because it is the
mascot of the franchise. Pikachu is an Electric-Type mouse
Pokémon from Generation 1. They evolve from Pichu by
levelling up while having a high friendship level and evolve into
Raichu when exposed to a Thunder Stone. In the Alola region,
they evolve into Alolan Raichu when exposed to a Thunder
Stone. A Pikachu can have two different abilities when
encountered, Static and Lightning Rod. They have a Gigantamax
form in the Galar region. The chart shows the moves that
Pikachus can learn by levelling up. The moves written in bold
are the moves affected by the same-type attack bonus, also
known as STAB. Since Pikachu is an Electric-type, Electric-type
damaging moves gain a +50% attack boost from STAB.
Pikachu’s: base HP statistic is 35, but it can go up to 274 by
training, base Attack statistic is 55, but it can go up to 229 by
training, base Defence statistic is 30, but it can go up to 174 by
training, base Special Attack statistic is 50, but it can go up to
218 by training, base Special Defence statistic is 40, but it can go
up to 196 by training, base Speed statistic is 90, but it can go up
to 306 by training. If you want to have this much detailed
information about every single Pokémon, you can visit the
Bulbapedia website.

Anime And The TV Shows

 The Pokémon Anime, also known as Pokémon: The Series is an anime which takes place in the Pokémon universe.
This anime series is referring to currently 1,233 main series episodes, 23 movies, and several side stories. The anime
first aired on April 1st, 1997. Until Pokémon Journeys: The Series, The anime focused on the story of Ash Ketchum,
a Pokémon trainer from Pallet Town, and his journey towards his ultimate goal of being a Pokémon Master, his
many friends, and most especially his Pokémon, whom he considers his partners and friends. The following series,
Pokémon Horizons, features an all-new cast of characters and focuses on the story of two young trainers named Liko
and Roy.

In conclusion, Pokémon has become an iconic cultural phenomenon that has captured the hearts and imaginations of
millions of people around the world. Its appeal lies in its unique blend of elements, including adventure, strategy,
competition, and nostalgia. From its humble beginnings as a video game to its expansion into trading cards, anime,
and movies, Pokémon continues to evolve and grow in popularity. With new generations of Pokémon being
introduced and new ways to experience the franchise, Pokémon will remain a beloved part of popular culture for
years.