Pokémon: The In-Depth Behind the Scenes

Greetings. It's time for a new feature that's actually been in my head for some time now. It is a Pokémon story, as you can see by the title. Now, I've been watching the show ever since it's humble beginnings on UPN (now MY50 Television) in 1998 (I must thank my brother for generally introducing me to Anime). In 1999, the peak year of Pokémon, it was moved to KidsWB (Everybody Dubba Dubba!), where it reigned there for about 8 years. At one point, there an afternoon KidsWB lineup on WGN that had Pokémon shown at, like, 4 in the afternoon. Soon, Pokémon (along with KidsWB) was moved there for good (by then, I had stopped watching because I would still be asleep. Pokémon should have stayed on at 11:00AM like in the good ol' days). In 2007, everything went downhill. 4kids lost their license to Pokémon. PUSA gave Pokémon a new voice cast (and gave us the fake hope of them keeping the original score). Pokémon was taken off of KidsWB and moved to Cartoon Network (which is probably now "Live Action and Cartoon Network"). And now, in 2008, KidsWB is now CW 4kids, no one without cable can see Pokémon, and not only that, we have yet to have dual language DVDs.

Gee. I just don't know why I wanted to gave you Fanfiction readers the heads up on everyone's favorite franchise. Rest assured, I will still watch it (and boy, do I have some catching up to do!). What it all comes down to is that Pokémon still has a big fandom in America (if not as big as it was in 1999/2000.). The fandom has gotten so big, Fanfiction is being written. Just like what I'm doing right now.

We all know the Pokémon Animé are talented voice recordings played to a almost thousands of expertly painted cels put together and run at a very fast motion. But...what if it were made like an actual production of a Tv show? What you're about to read are real facts mixed up with "real" facts. I.e. things that could have went on "behind the scenes" of Pokémon. The idea for this was conceived when an idea of Pokémon Dvd commentaries came to mind. I then started to write a summary of the "things" that could have went on as an outline for when I did "Pokémon Commentaries". Then, another idea came to me: Why not just write down detailed articles of these "things" and do "Pokémon Commentaries" later (more like whenever I felt like it)? So, I do hope you sit back, relax, and enjoy. I would just like to say, however, that the events that are in this story did not necessarily happen. That's why I took what I knew and mixed them with stuff that didn't happen. Just wanted to make that clear.

Remember: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters in it's franchise. Let's this disclaimer sink because I'm not going to say this every chapter. Whatever. Look, just read the-

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In the beginning of Pokémon...

Pokemon. The phenomenon craze that swept it's way through Japan (there known as "Pocket Monsters"), and soon the US, caused a revolution in the video gaming community. In 1995, after about five years in the making, Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green were released in Japan. Instantly, a buzz was created and everyone across the pond were wearing down their Game Boy's Buttons (and perhaps their fingers) playing an elaborate RPG that was about a young boy who wanted to capture all 150 Pokémon in order to become a Pokémon master. You know the story. These games were so popular that there were advertisements of them on Tv. Friends recommended it to other friends. Soon, a Pokémon card game was released and a huge fandom was created. In mid-1996. this huge fandom sparked the attention of Tv Tokyo.

Now, some animé are based on manga. Some are based on video games. Well, this is what they had in mind when they approached the creator of the mega franchise, Satoshi Tajiri. Satoshi, who got the idea of the video game from his childhood memory of catching bugs, was interested and gave the go ahead. The producers then started work on the scripts. If one were to read one of the first draft scripts written for the first season of Pokémon, they would find that it would be much more mature then the episodes released. The producers were going for more darker situations, being that the show was planned to be aired during prime time hours. In these versions, There were to be more nastier arguments between Ash and Misty, Misty punching Ash instead of just slapping him and Pokémon actually dying. Team Rocket were originally a supremacist group that exterminated Pokémon. When Satoshi reviewed these scripts, he said that he felt Pokémon should be for more younger viewers. After that, the scripts were toned down to the episodes we know of today. Several other concepts were considered but were scrapped. All Pokémon were originally to converse in english with their trainers. When Satoshi said that talking Pokémon should be rare in that universe, they had the Pokémon make animal sounds and say their own names. While that idea was abandoned then, the concept was still used in later episodes. The scripts were soon finished and now the task of casting the characters were at hand.

Before they were Ash, Misty, and Brock, The main characters were recognized from other projects. Ash Ketchem was known as "The Little Juice Boy" when he starred in "Sweeteria Juice" commercials at the age of 5. At the age of 9, he was just getting out of a shower when he had gotten a phone call from the producers asking if he wanted to come in to audition for the part of "Pokemon Trainer". Ash was nervous at the audition but made it out just fine and with the now famous role of Ash Ketchem.

Brock Slater was a songwriter. His career started in 1989, Brock released several hits. In 1994, he released the mega hit "Gimme Dat Pop", which earned him a contract with Pepsi. He had also a pop named after his hit song. Brock was in the recording studio at the time when he was contacted for the part of "Rock Gym Leader". It was not before the filming of episode 5 but really at the start of production period. He joined the cast 2 weeks into filming.

Misty Waterflower was not in any productions prior Pokemon but had a dream to act. She saw the blurb of the "Watergirl" auditions in the newspaper and snatched up the chance. Her dreams came true when she got the part.

The two Team Rocket members were originally just one person and a Pokemon to aid them in their evil deeds. Satoshi, who was a fan of the singing duo of the same name, joked about them being the villains of the show and somehow, the word got out. Surprisingly, they received a message from the singers saying they would accept. They found the perfect talking Pokémon to go with Team Rocket. Novelty singer Meowth was famous for playing his guitar on street corners, fascinating onlookers as being on the first talking Pokémon. The names of the characters were sometimes that of the actor's and actresses' unless otherwise noted.

Once they had got together all of the shooting locations and the cast in place, it was time to start shooting!

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Well, there you are. The birth of the Pokémon Anime. In the next chapter, we will cover the events during the filming of the first batch of episodes. I realize that the characters names are completely different in Japanese but I like I said, this didn't necessarily happen. I'd like to know what you think and any ideas you might have so please leave your reviews. 'Till the next!