In December 1997, during the TV Tokyo boradcast of a popular animated series, over 700 children came down with epileptic-like seizures: seizures that would later be attributed to intense flashing exhibited by that particular episode of the show (the incident involved the Pokémon Porygon [Polygon] and involved puternice red-blue flashing for 5 seconds). As a result, the episode was removed from both Japanese and (later) American broadcasts. Now, in 1998, the same show that took Japan by storm (in more ways than one) has arrived in the United States at the same time as the game upon which the show is based.

Pokémon, short for Pocket Monster, is the story of young Ash and his quest to become a Pokémon master. Particularly, he wants to become a better trainer than his archrival: Gary Oak. To do that, he must travel the world in search of over 150 known species of Pokémon: creatures of varying shapes, sizes, colors, and abilities. He soon finds companions to travel with him, and also traveling with him is his first Pokémon: Pikachu, an electric mouse Pokémon with a number of surprises. In his path are his own inexperience and the efforts of the infamous Team Rocket [j]Rocket Gundan (Jessie and James), who steal rare Pokémon and who have their collective eyes on Ash's Pikachu in particular.

It is an exciting adventure combined with trying moments, lots of Pokémon combat, and plenty of laughs (such as the fact that all the Pokémon nurses look exactly the same, like they're all part of a big family). And better yet, with the games, you can try to become a Pokémon trainer yourself. Both the show and the game are simply fun.