Portal:Pokémon

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The Pokémon Portal
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Introduction to Pokémon

Pokémon (ポケモン, Pokemon?, IPA: [ˈpoʊ.keɪ.mɑn]) is a media franchise owned by video game giant Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri around 1995. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative videogame-based media franchise in the world, falling only behind Nintendo's Mario series. Pokémon properties have since been merchandised into anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, and other media. The franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary on February 27, 2006, and as of December 1, 2006, cumulative sold units of the video games (including home console versions) have reached more than 155 million copies

The name Pokémon is the romanized contraction of the Japanese brand, "Pocket Monsters" (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā?), as such contractions are very common in Japan. The term "Pokémon", in addition to referring to the Pokémon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the 493 fictional species that have made appearances in Pokémon media as of the recent release of the newest Pokémon role-playing games (RPGs) for the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. As with the words deer and sheep, the singular and plural forms of the word "Pokémon" do not differ, nor does each individual species name; in short, it is grammatically correct to say both "one Pokémon" and "many Pokémon". Nintendo originally translated Poketto Monsutā literally, but a naming conflict with the Monster in My Pocket toy line caused Nintendo to rebrand the franchise as "Pokémon" in early 1996. The game's catchphrase in the Japanese language versions of the franchise is "ポケモンGETだぜ! (Pokémon Getto Daze! - Let's Get Pokémon!)"; in English language versions of the franchise, it was originally "Gotta catch 'em all!," although it is now no longer officially used except in the spin-off anime series Pokémon Chronicles.

In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of Pokémon, announced that it had agreed not to renew the Pokémon representation agreement. Pokémon USA Inc., a subsidiary of Japan's Pokémon Co., now oversees all Pokémon licensing outside of Asia.

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Selected Pokémon

The Torchic (アチャモ, Torchic ? Achamo in original Japanese language versions) is one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise. A Torchic is one of the three Pokémon that players choose from at the beginning of the story in the Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, and Pokémon Emerald versions of the series. As do all Pokémon, Torchic fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series.

The name Torchic is a combination of the words torch, a flame or light used to see in darkness, and chick, a common name for infant chickens. The Japanese name for Torchic, Achamo, is a combination of aka (赤, aka?), a term referring to both baby and the color red, and shamo (軍鶏, shamo ?), a breed of Japanese bird, originally bred for fighting or hunting. The name Torchic refers to both the overall species, and to individual Torchic within the games, anime, and manga series.

Torchic are small, clumsy birds, with yellowish feathers and orange bodies. They are often seen hopping erratically behind their Pokémon trainers. Although seemingly innocuous, Torchic often fight by spitting flames from the pits of their stomachs. more...

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Did you know?

The newest release in the video game series, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl was released on April 22, 2007. So this month's Did You Know? is all about it!

... that the red Gyarados from Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal is mentioned in the beginning of the game?
... that Diamond and Pearl are the first Pokémon games to feature Wi-fi capabilities?
... that over 100 new Pokémon have been added, bringing the new total to 493?
... that for the first time Normal, Dark, and Ghost-type legendaries are available in the forms of Regigigas, Darkrai, and Giratina?