Chris
Old Coot
Here's the FAQ revamped due to a few changes that've occured over time. I felt it was about damn time I went and edited the stupid thing due to complaints. Also fixed a few answers.
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"Do levels exist in the anime?"
Technically, no. The anime has to be different and more realistic compared to the games. Levels in terms of experience do exist, but not a set level like in the games.
"Why does Ash keep giving away his Pokémon?!"
Defining the term 'giving away', he has to give up a Pokémon to someone. Giving them complete ownership for nothing in return. He has only given away ONE Pokémon and that was Beedrill. Butterfree wanted to mate, so Ash let Butterfree go on to have children. Haunter was never his to begin with since he never captured it in a Pokéball. Pidgeot is in Viridian Forest, protecting a group of Pidgey and Pidgeotto from Spearow and Fearow until they can fend for themselves. Lapras was promised that it'd be returned to its family because it was only a baby. Charizard STILL belongs to Ash, it's just training in the Charizard Valley. Same goes for Primeape in the P-1 Championship town. Squirtle is under the care of Officer Jenny but still belongs to Ash. He could just arrange a time for them to join up and there ya go. Bulbasaur is keeping the peace between the Grass and Water Pokémon at Oak's lab, Ash is able to have it join him for a while whenever he'd like. So as you see, not one Pokémon was given away.
"OMG I heard Ash and Misty kiss in the last episode!! Is that true?!"
No. The show is STILL going in Japan and no one knows when it's going to end. Misty is all the way in the Kanto region and Ash is all the way in the Hoenn region. Ash has NO loving feelings for Misty. He thinks of her as a best friend. Same goes with her. Had there been any, they'd have said something before they split apart in Kanto. So keep the shipping in fanfics because Ash has no interests in love for anything other than Pokémon.
"But there are avatars on the board of him kissing Misty and about to kiss May!"
Those were edited screenshots to make PokéShippers happy.
"Is Celebi in the GS Ball?! What happened to it?!"
Alot of people get this confused with the Crystal version GS Ball. The GS Ball in the anime was merely a ploy to give Ash more of a reason to go to the Johto region. The ball was pretty much an advertisement. Celebi is not in the GS Ball, considering it's proven it's not bound in any ball. The ball remains in Kurt's posession and has been long forgotten.
"What happened to Ash's Johto Pokémon? Why'd he go to Hoenn with just Pikachu?"
All of Ash's Johto Pokémon were left behind at Prof. Oak's lab. He wanted to go to the Hoenn region with a fresh start, taking only Pikachu with him. He vowed he was only going to use Pokémon from the Hoenn region when he got there, so don't expect him to bring in any Kanto or Johto Pokémon to stay in his team.
"Will Misty ever come back?"
She joins the group in Hoenn for two episodes of Advanced Generation and heads back to Kanto. She has a few cameo appearances during Advanced Generation, but has no lines and is still in Kanto.
"Was 'The Ice Cave' episode banned because Brock caught something like SARS?"
No. The reasonings have been discussed several times by everyone, but the real reason is because Jynx is the main Pokémon and is considered as taboo to be seen in the English dub of the anime. They couldn't cut her out, so they skipped the episode completely. All Brock caught was a bad cold since he was splashed with water in very cold weather. Parents warn their kids about it all the time.
"How many episodes are there?"
Since Japan has no such thing as seasons, the whole thing is made up of three series'. Pocket Monsters (which includes Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto), Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation (which is the Hoenn region, and Battle Frontier) and Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl (which is the Shinou region). Pocket Monsters consists of 276 episodes in total (82 Kanto episodes, 35 Orange Islands episodes, and 157 Johto episodes). Advanced Generation consists of 196 episodes. There are currently 10 episodes and counting of Diamond & Pearl. There are a total of 17 TV Specials and 9 movies released, with a tenth one on the way.
"How come *insert attack name here* hurt *insert Pokémon name here* when it's not supposed to?!"
The anime tends to border from realistic and exaggeration. Say Pikachu blasts a Rock-type with an Electric attack. By game standards, most Rock-types carry the Ground-type with them as a second type. Making them invulnerable to the attacks. The anime doesn't follow this that much since it tries to give it a realistic sense. Though they goof up a good amount of times by making them work and then not work, though it could be depending on the strength of the Pokémon as well that determines if it'll hurt it or not.
"ASH IS AN IDIOT! HE DIDN'T CATCH ANY LEGENDARY POKEMON!"
Oh sure, have him breeze through Hoenn even faster than if he kept his Johto Pokémon with him. Legendary Pokémon are NOT meant to be captured or else things will be thrown out of balance or they're simply too powerful to be caught. The first three Legendary Birds for example. If one's caught, the others will try to take over the other's territory and fight over it. Entei, Raikou and Suicune were created by Ho-Oh to watch over the Pokémon of the Johto region while it soars over the Kanto region. If something were to happen to them, they wouldn't be able to protect the Pokémon they watch over. Celebi is the protector of time and the forest, it can have harmful effects if captured. Latios' power was abused when it was being used. Causing mayhem and being uncontrolable. Groudon and Kyogre are simply NOT supposed to wake up. If they do, the world will literally be destroyed from Groudon causing earthquakes and volcanoes rising and causing an eternal heat wave while Kyogre would flood the planet and cause typhoons and tsunamis. Needless to say, their power is destructive if used improperly and they're far too powerful.
"How come certain Pokémon evolve differently than in the games?"
Because the anime tries to be more realistic than the games. Sometimes it is indeed will power that causes Pokémon to evolve on their own. A certain episode from the Johto region taught us that the winds can carry tiny shards of stones used to evolve certain Pokémon. It's a possibility that such a thing could happen if a wind picks up, like in the Exeggcute/Exeggutor episode in Kanto.
"Why does Ash and co stop Team Rocket when they're capturing wild Pokémon? It's public domain and Ash and co have no right to stop them from capturing them!" - Credit for this goes to: Cless Aileron
The problem with this is that Team Rocket do it in an unlawful manner. They'll try to influence the Pokémon in the wrong ways. And if that fails, they'll do whatever illegal acts they can to capture a Pokémon. That's known as poaching Pokémon and is illegal in the Pokémon World.
"Why did those gym leaders give Ash a badge? He didn't earn them through winning a battle, which is how he's suppose to earn them!" - Credit for this goes to: Cless Aileron
Not always does a trainer receive a badge just for battling. The Gym Leaders reward the trainers with the badge when they feel they've earned the right to have it. Not always does this involve a battle, as seen in the Orange Islands. Sure, Ash may have had a few lucky breaks, but he rightfully earned those badges. It's not like the Gym Leaders toss around badges to everyone, anyways.
"Ash is such a newbie! Why is using weak moves or unevolved Pokémon or ones with type disadvantages?"
*sigh* You don't know how much I hate saying this. The anime's proved it is NOT the game. The anime is much more flexible and no moves have a set amount of damage that they inflict. A small, usually unevolved, Pokémon would have a bigger advantage over much larger Pokémon since they'd be more manuverable and faster. Though if they're struck by that Pokémon, they could take some hefty damage. Regarding type disadvantages, it's not always like the games where the type with advantage would possibly win. It also depends on the experience the Pokémon have had and how well they've been trained. Good example would be how Charizard was able to take out Scizor, Golem and Blastoise in one match when Ash battled Gary.
"We're too far behind Japan! Why doesn't 4Kids release more than 52 episodes a year?"
Simply put, 4Kids has ENOUGH projects they're working on (One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winx Club, Magical DoReMi, Mew Mew Power, Pokémon Chronicles and so forth). Plus 52 episodes covers about a year's worth of work. People fail to realize that the English airings are A LOT more generous than Japan is getting. Japan only gets one episode a week. Usually the US will get TWO episodes a week. Or sometimes FIVE DAYS of new episodes (back in the Johto days). The more episodes you demand, the longer the time you'll have to wait. And remember, 4Kids is NOT responsible for episodes. They simply dub it. They do NOT make them.
"Well then, why doesn't Kids' WB! just air the episodes we know have already been dubbed?" - Credit for this goes to: Dogasu
4Kids has no say in Kids' WB!'s scheduling. Sure, the company may have finished dubbing an episode weeks (or even months, in the case of an episode like "Jump for Joy") before, but they can't *force* Kids' WB! to air the episode right away. Kids' WB! premieres new episodes when they feel it would be best, and neither 4Kids nor anybody else can really change that.
Also note that Kids' WB! neither pays attention to or cares about any other country's airing of Pokémon. Kids' WB! doesn't feel the need to "catch up to Sky One" or "stop being behind Australia" because none of those stations affect the show in the US.
"Why does Kids' WB! keep airing nothing but reruns!? They should air new episodes!!" - Credit for this goes to: Dogasu
This complaint usually appears around the summer, when Kids' WB! will have weeks upon weeks of nothing but reruns. Every year, the show is picked up for 52 episodes, which is enough for one episode every week. However, whenever Kids' WB! airs more than that (like when they air two episodes on a Saturday, or when they'll have a new episode every day for a week), then they're just using up the episodes they can air that year. Pretty soon, the network goes through all 52 episodes, so they're forced to air reruns until new ones are ready.
However, the network will usually hold out on the last few episodes of a season so that it can air them in the weeks leading up to the new season's premiere date.
"If Celebi isn't in the GS Ball, then how come it's inside the ball in Crystal version?"
I truely am sick of this question. Time for an explanation because chances are, people who use this question to back their theories up haven't even tested it out. During the event for Crystal, when you bring the GS Ball over to the shrine, Celebi does NOT come out of it. Celebi becomes attracted to the reaction of the shrine and comes hovering down. Mind you, this was the video game. In no way do these events occur in the anime. It was a special event from NoJ to give players, with the cel phone adapters, a chance to capture Celebi. We've already seen Celebi TWICE (once in movie 4 and the other in a Hoso special) and not once was it anywhere near the GS Ball. Why would it even be in a ball that cannot be opened yet be free later on? So PLEASE, stop asking about the GS Ball and claiming the Celebi is inside it just because you haven't gotten the facts straight on the game events.
"What's with the episode plots anyway?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Many people who've watched it notice a pattern in episode plots. Ash meets someone, Team Rocket sees them and someone's Pokemon, Team Rocket wants that Pokemon + Pikachu, Team Rocket grabs Pokemon + Pikachu, Ash finds someway to destroy them, the end.
I'll admit that this is quite frankly boring and tedious. But I noticed, a lot of other shows are like this.
Anpanman is the first one I can think of.
Then there's Sonic X
All those ranger shows
Kamen Rider (Masked Rider)
etc.
This is the way shows are run this day and age I guess. At least those targeted for younger audiences. Reasons why it's run at 7PM/5PM are unknown.
"Who is Ash's Father?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Despite the many theories and proofs or hints people might find, the most concrete solid answer we have is that Ash's father is....
Not known.
You can throw out as many theories or hints, but that is the answer and will remain until the anime writers finally decide, which is probably never since they never bring it up.
"How old is everyone?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Good question. Although many people have their own general views on how old the characters really are, there's just one thing I must say:
There is no solid evidence that shows how old MOST of the characters are. However, we evidence that Ash is/was 10 and May is 10.
Therefore, we have no evidence to show how old the characters REALLY are. We just have ideas.
"Does the Japanese version swear a lot?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios and Lady Dragonair from BMG
No. From what I gathered, it's all really exaggeration or failure to find something more appropriate by fansubbers.
Though "kuso" litterally does mean sh*t, sh*t is just a really strong expression of "darn" so to speak. So is "kuso". Another is "shimata", but this translates more appropriately to "shoot" (like in "Oh, shoot!").
There are others, but in the Japanese language, there's really no words that are considered extremely bad. In fact, all words in Japan are supposedly suitable for any age. I wonder where the English language went wrong if we have to censor out words.
"OMG, they skipped *insert episode name*, the episode and the pokemon in it must have been banned!1!!1" - Credit for this goes to: EvilKeckleon
Just because a station may have skipped an episode, may not mean it had been banned for some reason. It might be just a mistake and they may air it eventually. If it has an english title, it will air eventually. It's a banned episode if it doesn't recieve an English title when it's close to it's US airing time.
And you gotta remember, 4Kids are not prudes who would ban an episode on a mere whim. They may have a script change or digitally cut or paint over something, but they may only ban an episode as a last resort. Though this is probably very rare...
"Ash's father is Giovanni!"
Wrong. Any evidence of that was hurled away when Giovanni was told of a boy named Ash was with a few humans and Pokémon during the Mewtwo TV special. No reaction to that was set off by Giovanni. Nor is there any real evidence pointing to that.
"Ash's father is Ho-Oh!"
This is by far the most ridiculous one I've hear. There's not one drop of evidence proving that a Pokémon cross-breeded with a human to give birth to Ash. Ho-Oh only reveals itself to trainers it believes are worthy and have a good heart to see it. Ash has proved that he has those qualities, hence why he's seen Ho-Oh a few times.
"Will there be any uncut DVDs including the banned episodes?"
4Kids claims they'll be putting all of their anime on uncut DVD. This is highly believed to be a lie on their part, seeing as how Al Kahn even stated in the same interview that he does not want the DVDs to be released at the same time of the cut/censored DVDs due to them possibly "competing against eachother."
Because of this, it'll be years before we even see Pokémon Uncut: Volume 1. Or even an uncut One Piece DVD.
Besides, if they started putting uncut episodes they have to end up grabbing the original Japanese episodes from episode 1 and up and would have to either dub or sub it. Considering right now they're almost done putting Johto on DVD and have started on Hoenn, that's about nearly 300+ episodes on DVD. They won't be going back to the first episode to put the whole series uncut and unedited after having finished released all of it mostly in its originaly TV aired form.
"Which are the banned episodes?"
-Pocket Monsters #018 Holiday at Aopuruko/Beauty and the Beach (Aired only once after the ban was lifted)
-Pocket Monsters #035 The Legend of Miniryuu
-Pocket Monsters #038 A.I. Warrior Porygon
-Pocket Monsters #252 The Cave of Ice!
-Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation #101 Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash*
*Note: This episode is the true 101st AG episode. Due to this episode being banned, "Man of the Sea! The Elite Four's Drake Appears!!" is often seen as being as episode AG101.
"But aren't there more banned episodes..?"
There are episodes that tend to be aired out of place or don't air as often as others. The episodes featuring Jynx will never be aired in the English dub due to problems with people and Jynx. Tentacool and Tentacruel is NOT a banned episode either. It was just on hiatus during the 9/11 incident but airs whenever it can. Barubeat and Illumise! The Dance of Love! has an English title (Love at First Flight). Therefore, it is NOT banned. KidsWB has screwed up their schedule again and is airing it out of order. They've done it during Kanto and Johto. It's no suprise they finally do it again with Hoenn.
"What are the season names and where do they take place?"
The English dub is very different from the Japanese version. The dub tends to change names every season, since Johto started. Japan has always stuck to one name and then changed it during the end of the first series. Here are the names.
Japanese Original
Pocket Monsters - Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto
Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation - Hoenn and Kanto (Battle Frontier)
Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl - Shinnoh
English Dub
Pokémon: Gotta Catch 'em All! - Kanto region
Pokémon - Orange Islands
Pokémon: Johto Journeys - Johto region
Pokémon: Johto League Champions - Johto region
Pokémon: Master Quest - Whirlcup Islands and Johto region
Pokémon Advance - Hoenn region
Pokémon Advanced Challenge - Hoenn region
Pokémon Advanced Battle - Hoenn region
Pokémon Battle Frontier - Kanto Battle Frontier
"What are the Japanese names?"
Latios, Murgatroyd, and I have compiled a list of names, attacks, and so forth in a Japanese to English reference guide. It can be found here: http://forums.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?t=49084
"What happened to Gary?" - Credit for this goes to: kirbiyu and myself
I hate this one, but users have been asking this a lot, too(mostly newbies). Towards the end of Johto, after the Silver conference, Gary, decided that he liked researching Pokémon more than raising them to battle for leagues. He told Ash that he was going to become a Pokémon Researcher, like is grandfather. He left all of his Pokémon, except for Blastoise, and left to go on a new journey.
"What is GS on that GS ball?" - Credit for this goes to: kirbiyu, Cyrren's Manga and JPL.net
Gold and Silver Ball. Like the games Gold and Silver. Notice that the ball is gold and silver, Hence the letters 'GS'
"What is Bulbasaur?"
This is something people like to debate about. It's simple to say that it's just an animal with a plant on its back. There's no way of identifying what kind of animal it represents, hence why it's name in Japan "Fushigidane" plays a role in this. Fushigidane is a play on the saying "Mysterious, isn't it?" or "Isn't is mysterious?"
"Ash's Pikachu is level *insert number here* because it was that level in GSC!"
How many times do I have to point out that Ash and Red are not the same characters? GameFreak even went out of their way to redesign Red and Green's character designs so that the anime and game characters didn't look too similar (even though the anime characters were somewhat based off of the game characters). The character you battle in Mt. Silver on GSC is RED, not ASH. Please stop mixing the characters together.
"Hey, where there any cuts in *enter episode/movie title here*?"
Head over to www.dogasusbackpack.tk Dogasu has a good chunk of info to check out involving cuts, censors, changes and whatnot involving episodes and movies, plus there's other stuff such as info on original names for attacks, locations, people, Pokémon and even articles.
How come Brock's eyes are always closed?
They're not. Like Snorlax and Munchlax, his eyes are drawn as slits. They're not closed. He just has the stereotypical Asian eyes. It's for variety's sake considering nearly every character has their eyes wide open like Caucasians yet live in a Japanese-like world. And as we've seen in several episodes, his eyes do appear open from time to time (namely when being physically beaten).
I was watching one episode of Pokemon Advanced Challenge and the Trainer's Choice said that Arbok evolved into Seviper! - Credit for this goes to Dogasu
4Kids simply made a mistake. The people in charge of translating the show into English have made tons of mistakes with the Trainer's Choice before, saying that one type of Pokémon is strong against another, when it isn't. The Arbok -> Seviper thing is just one more example of a goof-up on 4Kids' part. There's no real reason for the mistake to occur, other than the idea that 4Kids doesn't really know anything about the show they've been dubbing for the past eight years or so.
Chris' Note: Which further proves that Al Kahn's statements about only wanting shows that would make a profit are true and that they could care less how badly they mess up on shows, nor do they have any interest in them as long as they're making money out of it.
What happened to the old voices?! Why does everyone sound different?!
4Kids chose not to renew the license the show anymore and sold off what they had to PUSA. There's heavy debate about the voice changes as to whether it was PUSA that did not contact 4Kids' cast members about dubbing the show or if it was 4Kids who refused to allow the older cast dub the show under a new dubbing license. Either way, the original cast was replaced for the most part by sound-alikes, most who have even worked on the show before as minor characters. There is no way of changing this as the decision was set in stone long ago. However, the new cast do visit this forum and are willing to listen to what fans have to say and are willing to take constructive criticism so that they may improve.
ZOMG! May's going to have a Johto season!
[img139]http://pokesho.com/img_top/t_06_autumn_jpga.jpg[/img139]
She's not, folks. This is an image from a very popular, Japanese Pokemon fansite titled PokeSho. They specialize in fanart with artwork that imitates that of the show. It should be noted, however, that this is simply FAN ART and nothing more. It's fairly easy to tell the two apart, however people are still gullible enough to believe it is actual art from the show.
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If I can remember anymore questions that've been asked repeatedly, I'll edit in more.
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"Do levels exist in the anime?"
Technically, no. The anime has to be different and more realistic compared to the games. Levels in terms of experience do exist, but not a set level like in the games.
"Why does Ash keep giving away his Pokémon?!"
Defining the term 'giving away', he has to give up a Pokémon to someone. Giving them complete ownership for nothing in return. He has only given away ONE Pokémon and that was Beedrill. Butterfree wanted to mate, so Ash let Butterfree go on to have children. Haunter was never his to begin with since he never captured it in a Pokéball. Pidgeot is in Viridian Forest, protecting a group of Pidgey and Pidgeotto from Spearow and Fearow until they can fend for themselves. Lapras was promised that it'd be returned to its family because it was only a baby. Charizard STILL belongs to Ash, it's just training in the Charizard Valley. Same goes for Primeape in the P-1 Championship town. Squirtle is under the care of Officer Jenny but still belongs to Ash. He could just arrange a time for them to join up and there ya go. Bulbasaur is keeping the peace between the Grass and Water Pokémon at Oak's lab, Ash is able to have it join him for a while whenever he'd like. So as you see, not one Pokémon was given away.
"OMG I heard Ash and Misty kiss in the last episode!! Is that true?!"
No. The show is STILL going in Japan and no one knows when it's going to end. Misty is all the way in the Kanto region and Ash is all the way in the Hoenn region. Ash has NO loving feelings for Misty. He thinks of her as a best friend. Same goes with her. Had there been any, they'd have said something before they split apart in Kanto. So keep the shipping in fanfics because Ash has no interests in love for anything other than Pokémon.
"But there are avatars on the board of him kissing Misty and about to kiss May!"
Those were edited screenshots to make PokéShippers happy.
"Is Celebi in the GS Ball?! What happened to it?!"
Alot of people get this confused with the Crystal version GS Ball. The GS Ball in the anime was merely a ploy to give Ash more of a reason to go to the Johto region. The ball was pretty much an advertisement. Celebi is not in the GS Ball, considering it's proven it's not bound in any ball. The ball remains in Kurt's posession and has been long forgotten.
"What happened to Ash's Johto Pokémon? Why'd he go to Hoenn with just Pikachu?"
All of Ash's Johto Pokémon were left behind at Prof. Oak's lab. He wanted to go to the Hoenn region with a fresh start, taking only Pikachu with him. He vowed he was only going to use Pokémon from the Hoenn region when he got there, so don't expect him to bring in any Kanto or Johto Pokémon to stay in his team.
"Will Misty ever come back?"
She joins the group in Hoenn for two episodes of Advanced Generation and heads back to Kanto. She has a few cameo appearances during Advanced Generation, but has no lines and is still in Kanto.
"Was 'The Ice Cave' episode banned because Brock caught something like SARS?"
No. The reasonings have been discussed several times by everyone, but the real reason is because Jynx is the main Pokémon and is considered as taboo to be seen in the English dub of the anime. They couldn't cut her out, so they skipped the episode completely. All Brock caught was a bad cold since he was splashed with water in very cold weather. Parents warn their kids about it all the time.
"How many episodes are there?"
Since Japan has no such thing as seasons, the whole thing is made up of three series'. Pocket Monsters (which includes Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto), Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation (which is the Hoenn region, and Battle Frontier) and Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl (which is the Shinou region). Pocket Monsters consists of 276 episodes in total (82 Kanto episodes, 35 Orange Islands episodes, and 157 Johto episodes). Advanced Generation consists of 196 episodes. There are currently 10 episodes and counting of Diamond & Pearl. There are a total of 17 TV Specials and 9 movies released, with a tenth one on the way.
"How come *insert attack name here* hurt *insert Pokémon name here* when it's not supposed to?!"
The anime tends to border from realistic and exaggeration. Say Pikachu blasts a Rock-type with an Electric attack. By game standards, most Rock-types carry the Ground-type with them as a second type. Making them invulnerable to the attacks. The anime doesn't follow this that much since it tries to give it a realistic sense. Though they goof up a good amount of times by making them work and then not work, though it could be depending on the strength of the Pokémon as well that determines if it'll hurt it or not.
"ASH IS AN IDIOT! HE DIDN'T CATCH ANY LEGENDARY POKEMON!"
Oh sure, have him breeze through Hoenn even faster than if he kept his Johto Pokémon with him. Legendary Pokémon are NOT meant to be captured or else things will be thrown out of balance or they're simply too powerful to be caught. The first three Legendary Birds for example. If one's caught, the others will try to take over the other's territory and fight over it. Entei, Raikou and Suicune were created by Ho-Oh to watch over the Pokémon of the Johto region while it soars over the Kanto region. If something were to happen to them, they wouldn't be able to protect the Pokémon they watch over. Celebi is the protector of time and the forest, it can have harmful effects if captured. Latios' power was abused when it was being used. Causing mayhem and being uncontrolable. Groudon and Kyogre are simply NOT supposed to wake up. If they do, the world will literally be destroyed from Groudon causing earthquakes and volcanoes rising and causing an eternal heat wave while Kyogre would flood the planet and cause typhoons and tsunamis. Needless to say, their power is destructive if used improperly and they're far too powerful.
"How come certain Pokémon evolve differently than in the games?"
Because the anime tries to be more realistic than the games. Sometimes it is indeed will power that causes Pokémon to evolve on their own. A certain episode from the Johto region taught us that the winds can carry tiny shards of stones used to evolve certain Pokémon. It's a possibility that such a thing could happen if a wind picks up, like in the Exeggcute/Exeggutor episode in Kanto.
"Why does Ash and co stop Team Rocket when they're capturing wild Pokémon? It's public domain and Ash and co have no right to stop them from capturing them!" - Credit for this goes to: Cless Aileron
The problem with this is that Team Rocket do it in an unlawful manner. They'll try to influence the Pokémon in the wrong ways. And if that fails, they'll do whatever illegal acts they can to capture a Pokémon. That's known as poaching Pokémon and is illegal in the Pokémon World.
"Why did those gym leaders give Ash a badge? He didn't earn them through winning a battle, which is how he's suppose to earn them!" - Credit for this goes to: Cless Aileron
Not always does a trainer receive a badge just for battling. The Gym Leaders reward the trainers with the badge when they feel they've earned the right to have it. Not always does this involve a battle, as seen in the Orange Islands. Sure, Ash may have had a few lucky breaks, but he rightfully earned those badges. It's not like the Gym Leaders toss around badges to everyone, anyways.
"Ash is such a newbie! Why is using weak moves or unevolved Pokémon or ones with type disadvantages?"
*sigh* You don't know how much I hate saying this. The anime's proved it is NOT the game. The anime is much more flexible and no moves have a set amount of damage that they inflict. A small, usually unevolved, Pokémon would have a bigger advantage over much larger Pokémon since they'd be more manuverable and faster. Though if they're struck by that Pokémon, they could take some hefty damage. Regarding type disadvantages, it's not always like the games where the type with advantage would possibly win. It also depends on the experience the Pokémon have had and how well they've been trained. Good example would be how Charizard was able to take out Scizor, Golem and Blastoise in one match when Ash battled Gary.
"We're too far behind Japan! Why doesn't 4Kids release more than 52 episodes a year?"
Simply put, 4Kids has ENOUGH projects they're working on (One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Winx Club, Magical DoReMi, Mew Mew Power, Pokémon Chronicles and so forth). Plus 52 episodes covers about a year's worth of work. People fail to realize that the English airings are A LOT more generous than Japan is getting. Japan only gets one episode a week. Usually the US will get TWO episodes a week. Or sometimes FIVE DAYS of new episodes (back in the Johto days). The more episodes you demand, the longer the time you'll have to wait. And remember, 4Kids is NOT responsible for episodes. They simply dub it. They do NOT make them.
"Well then, why doesn't Kids' WB! just air the episodes we know have already been dubbed?" - Credit for this goes to: Dogasu
4Kids has no say in Kids' WB!'s scheduling. Sure, the company may have finished dubbing an episode weeks (or even months, in the case of an episode like "Jump for Joy") before, but they can't *force* Kids' WB! to air the episode right away. Kids' WB! premieres new episodes when they feel it would be best, and neither 4Kids nor anybody else can really change that.
Also note that Kids' WB! neither pays attention to or cares about any other country's airing of Pokémon. Kids' WB! doesn't feel the need to "catch up to Sky One" or "stop being behind Australia" because none of those stations affect the show in the US.
"Why does Kids' WB! keep airing nothing but reruns!? They should air new episodes!!" - Credit for this goes to: Dogasu
This complaint usually appears around the summer, when Kids' WB! will have weeks upon weeks of nothing but reruns. Every year, the show is picked up for 52 episodes, which is enough for one episode every week. However, whenever Kids' WB! airs more than that (like when they air two episodes on a Saturday, or when they'll have a new episode every day for a week), then they're just using up the episodes they can air that year. Pretty soon, the network goes through all 52 episodes, so they're forced to air reruns until new ones are ready.
However, the network will usually hold out on the last few episodes of a season so that it can air them in the weeks leading up to the new season's premiere date.
"If Celebi isn't in the GS Ball, then how come it's inside the ball in Crystal version?"
I truely am sick of this question. Time for an explanation because chances are, people who use this question to back their theories up haven't even tested it out. During the event for Crystal, when you bring the GS Ball over to the shrine, Celebi does NOT come out of it. Celebi becomes attracted to the reaction of the shrine and comes hovering down. Mind you, this was the video game. In no way do these events occur in the anime. It was a special event from NoJ to give players, with the cel phone adapters, a chance to capture Celebi. We've already seen Celebi TWICE (once in movie 4 and the other in a Hoso special) and not once was it anywhere near the GS Ball. Why would it even be in a ball that cannot be opened yet be free later on? So PLEASE, stop asking about the GS Ball and claiming the Celebi is inside it just because you haven't gotten the facts straight on the game events.
"What's with the episode plots anyway?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Many people who've watched it notice a pattern in episode plots. Ash meets someone, Team Rocket sees them and someone's Pokemon, Team Rocket wants that Pokemon + Pikachu, Team Rocket grabs Pokemon + Pikachu, Ash finds someway to destroy them, the end.
I'll admit that this is quite frankly boring and tedious. But I noticed, a lot of other shows are like this.
Anpanman is the first one I can think of.
Then there's Sonic X
All those ranger shows
Kamen Rider (Masked Rider)
etc.
This is the way shows are run this day and age I guess. At least those targeted for younger audiences. Reasons why it's run at 7PM/5PM are unknown.
"Who is Ash's Father?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Despite the many theories and proofs or hints people might find, the most concrete solid answer we have is that Ash's father is....
Not known.
You can throw out as many theories or hints, but that is the answer and will remain until the anime writers finally decide, which is probably never since they never bring it up.
"How old is everyone?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios
Good question. Although many people have their own general views on how old the characters really are, there's just one thing I must say:
There is no solid evidence that shows how old MOST of the characters are. However, we evidence that Ash is/was 10 and May is 10.
Therefore, we have no evidence to show how old the characters REALLY are. We just have ideas.
"Does the Japanese version swear a lot?" - Credit for this goes to: Latios and Lady Dragonair from BMG
No. From what I gathered, it's all really exaggeration or failure to find something more appropriate by fansubbers.
Though "kuso" litterally does mean sh*t, sh*t is just a really strong expression of "darn" so to speak. So is "kuso". Another is "shimata", but this translates more appropriately to "shoot" (like in "Oh, shoot!").
There are others, but in the Japanese language, there's really no words that are considered extremely bad. In fact, all words in Japan are supposedly suitable for any age. I wonder where the English language went wrong if we have to censor out words.
"OMG, they skipped *insert episode name*, the episode and the pokemon in it must have been banned!1!!1" - Credit for this goes to: EvilKeckleon
Just because a station may have skipped an episode, may not mean it had been banned for some reason. It might be just a mistake and they may air it eventually. If it has an english title, it will air eventually. It's a banned episode if it doesn't recieve an English title when it's close to it's US airing time.
And you gotta remember, 4Kids are not prudes who would ban an episode on a mere whim. They may have a script change or digitally cut or paint over something, but they may only ban an episode as a last resort. Though this is probably very rare...
"Ash's father is Giovanni!"
Wrong. Any evidence of that was hurled away when Giovanni was told of a boy named Ash was with a few humans and Pokémon during the Mewtwo TV special. No reaction to that was set off by Giovanni. Nor is there any real evidence pointing to that.
"Ash's father is Ho-Oh!"
This is by far the most ridiculous one I've hear. There's not one drop of evidence proving that a Pokémon cross-breeded with a human to give birth to Ash. Ho-Oh only reveals itself to trainers it believes are worthy and have a good heart to see it. Ash has proved that he has those qualities, hence why he's seen Ho-Oh a few times.
"Will there be any uncut DVDs including the banned episodes?"
4Kids claims they'll be putting all of their anime on uncut DVD. This is highly believed to be a lie on their part, seeing as how Al Kahn even stated in the same interview that he does not want the DVDs to be released at the same time of the cut/censored DVDs due to them possibly "competing against eachother."
Because of this, it'll be years before we even see Pokémon Uncut: Volume 1. Or even an uncut One Piece DVD.
Besides, if they started putting uncut episodes they have to end up grabbing the original Japanese episodes from episode 1 and up and would have to either dub or sub it. Considering right now they're almost done putting Johto on DVD and have started on Hoenn, that's about nearly 300+ episodes on DVD. They won't be going back to the first episode to put the whole series uncut and unedited after having finished released all of it mostly in its originaly TV aired form.
"Which are the banned episodes?"
-Pocket Monsters #018 Holiday at Aopuruko/Beauty and the Beach (Aired only once after the ban was lifted)
-Pocket Monsters #035 The Legend of Miniryuu
-Pocket Monsters #038 A.I. Warrior Porygon
-Pocket Monsters #252 The Cave of Ice!
-Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation #101 Shaking Island Battle! Barboach vs. Whiscash*
*Note: This episode is the true 101st AG episode. Due to this episode being banned, "Man of the Sea! The Elite Four's Drake Appears!!" is often seen as being as episode AG101.
"But aren't there more banned episodes..?"
There are episodes that tend to be aired out of place or don't air as often as others. The episodes featuring Jynx will never be aired in the English dub due to problems with people and Jynx. Tentacool and Tentacruel is NOT a banned episode either. It was just on hiatus during the 9/11 incident but airs whenever it can. Barubeat and Illumise! The Dance of Love! has an English title (Love at First Flight). Therefore, it is NOT banned. KidsWB has screwed up their schedule again and is airing it out of order. They've done it during Kanto and Johto. It's no suprise they finally do it again with Hoenn.
"What are the season names and where do they take place?"
The English dub is very different from the Japanese version. The dub tends to change names every season, since Johto started. Japan has always stuck to one name and then changed it during the end of the first series. Here are the names.
Japanese Original
Pocket Monsters - Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto
Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation - Hoenn and Kanto (Battle Frontier)
Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl - Shinnoh
English Dub
Pokémon: Gotta Catch 'em All! - Kanto region
Pokémon - Orange Islands
Pokémon: Johto Journeys - Johto region
Pokémon: Johto League Champions - Johto region
Pokémon: Master Quest - Whirlcup Islands and Johto region
Pokémon Advance - Hoenn region
Pokémon Advanced Challenge - Hoenn region
Pokémon Advanced Battle - Hoenn region
Pokémon Battle Frontier - Kanto Battle Frontier
"What are the Japanese names?"
Latios, Murgatroyd, and I have compiled a list of names, attacks, and so forth in a Japanese to English reference guide. It can be found here: http://forums.serebiiforums.com/showthread.php?t=49084
"What happened to Gary?" - Credit for this goes to: kirbiyu and myself
I hate this one, but users have been asking this a lot, too(mostly newbies). Towards the end of Johto, after the Silver conference, Gary, decided that he liked researching Pokémon more than raising them to battle for leagues. He told Ash that he was going to become a Pokémon Researcher, like is grandfather. He left all of his Pokémon, except for Blastoise, and left to go on a new journey.
"What is GS on that GS ball?" - Credit for this goes to: kirbiyu, Cyrren's Manga and JPL.net
Gold and Silver Ball. Like the games Gold and Silver. Notice that the ball is gold and silver, Hence the letters 'GS'
"What is Bulbasaur?"
This is something people like to debate about. It's simple to say that it's just an animal with a plant on its back. There's no way of identifying what kind of animal it represents, hence why it's name in Japan "Fushigidane" plays a role in this. Fushigidane is a play on the saying "Mysterious, isn't it?" or "Isn't is mysterious?"
"Ash's Pikachu is level *insert number here* because it was that level in GSC!"
How many times do I have to point out that Ash and Red are not the same characters? GameFreak even went out of their way to redesign Red and Green's character designs so that the anime and game characters didn't look too similar (even though the anime characters were somewhat based off of the game characters). The character you battle in Mt. Silver on GSC is RED, not ASH. Please stop mixing the characters together.
"Hey, where there any cuts in *enter episode/movie title here*?"
Head over to www.dogasusbackpack.tk Dogasu has a good chunk of info to check out involving cuts, censors, changes and whatnot involving episodes and movies, plus there's other stuff such as info on original names for attacks, locations, people, Pokémon and even articles.
How come Brock's eyes are always closed?
They're not. Like Snorlax and Munchlax, his eyes are drawn as slits. They're not closed. He just has the stereotypical Asian eyes. It's for variety's sake considering nearly every character has their eyes wide open like Caucasians yet live in a Japanese-like world. And as we've seen in several episodes, his eyes do appear open from time to time (namely when being physically beaten).
I was watching one episode of Pokemon Advanced Challenge and the Trainer's Choice said that Arbok evolved into Seviper! - Credit for this goes to Dogasu
4Kids simply made a mistake. The people in charge of translating the show into English have made tons of mistakes with the Trainer's Choice before, saying that one type of Pokémon is strong against another, when it isn't. The Arbok -> Seviper thing is just one more example of a goof-up on 4Kids' part. There's no real reason for the mistake to occur, other than the idea that 4Kids doesn't really know anything about the show they've been dubbing for the past eight years or so.
Chris' Note: Which further proves that Al Kahn's statements about only wanting shows that would make a profit are true and that they could care less how badly they mess up on shows, nor do they have any interest in them as long as they're making money out of it.
What happened to the old voices?! Why does everyone sound different?!
4Kids chose not to renew the license the show anymore and sold off what they had to PUSA. There's heavy debate about the voice changes as to whether it was PUSA that did not contact 4Kids' cast members about dubbing the show or if it was 4Kids who refused to allow the older cast dub the show under a new dubbing license. Either way, the original cast was replaced for the most part by sound-alikes, most who have even worked on the show before as minor characters. There is no way of changing this as the decision was set in stone long ago. However, the new cast do visit this forum and are willing to listen to what fans have to say and are willing to take constructive criticism so that they may improve.
ZOMG! May's going to have a Johto season!
[img139]http://pokesho.com/img_top/t_06_autumn_jpga.jpg[/img139]
She's not, folks. This is an image from a very popular, Japanese Pokemon fansite titled PokeSho. They specialize in fanart with artwork that imitates that of the show. It should be noted, however, that this is simply FAN ART and nothing more. It's fairly easy to tell the two apart, however people are still gullible enough to believe it is actual art from the show.
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If I can remember anymore questions that've been asked repeatedly, I'll edit in more.
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