Pokémon

Ash Ketchum turns ten, leaves Pallet Town and gets a stubborn Pikachu from Professor Oak that won't even go in its Poké Ball at first. Misty and Brock join the trip, and Team Rocket (Jessie, James and Meowth) chase Pikachu every step of the way. Ash catches Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, lets Butterfree go to follow its flock, and collects all eight Kanto badges, some in pretty unorthodox ways. Charmander evolves all the way to Charizard and stops obeying. At the Indigo League, Ash makes the top 16 and loses to Ritchie when Charizard refuses to fight. He doesn't win, but he leaves determined to keep traveling.

1. Behind the scenesThe episode that stopped the show

   On 12/16/1997, a Porygon episode aired in Japan with a stretch of rapidly flashing red and blue lights, and many viewers suffered photosensitive seizures. The anime went off the air for four months, the episode never aired in the West, and Porygon all but vanished from the series.

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2. Behind the scenesSatoshi, Shigeru and "Ketchum"

   In Japan, Ash is named Satoshi, after Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri, and his rival Gary is Shigeru, a nod to Shigeru Miyamoto. In English, the surname Ketchum is a pun on the slogan "Gotta catch 'em all!".

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3. SetupThe golden bird in the first episode

   At the end of episode 1, Ash sees a golden Pokémon fly across a rainbow. It was Ho-Oh, a second-generation Legendary that had not even been released in the games yet, and the Pokédex can't identify it. This comes back later.

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