POKéMON

Pokémon is a media franchise centered on fictional creatures called ""Pokémons"", which humans capture and train to fight each other for sport. The franchise now spans video games, trading card games, animated television shows and movies, comic books, and toys. Pokémon is the second-most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world, behind only Nintendo's Mario franchise. The main staple of the Pokémon video game series revolves around the catching and battling... of Pokémon. Starting with a starter Pokémon, the player can catch wild Pokémon by weakening them and catching them with Poké Balls. Conversely, they can choose to defeat them in battle in order to gain experience for their Pokémon, raising their levels and teaching them new moves. Certain Pokémon can evolve into more powerful forms by raising their levels or using certain items. Throughout the game, players will have to battle other trainers in order to progress, with the main goal of defeating various Gym Leaders and earning the right to become a tournament champion. Subsequent games in the series have introduced various side games and side quests, including the Battle Frontiers that display unique battle types and the Pokémon Contests where visual appearance is put on display. Pokémon was launched in 1996 and its operations are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with additional offices in Bellevue, Washington; and London, United Kingdom.More