On April 1, 1997, an anime TV series first aired that in today’s generation would be watched by all ages.

Pokémon is a combination of five sequential series, four spinoffs, and 18 movies. However, they do not all coincide.

The show expresses the adventures of beginning trainer, protagonist Ash Ketchum, and his friend Pikachu. Ash is on his way to collecting all gym badges and become a master.

Along his way, Ash meets many people and pokémon. Pokémon are creatures who can be trained to battle other trainers and their pokémon.

Other main characters include Misty and Brock, who also have journeys of their owns.

“One of my favorite pokémon is Charmander. Mostly because he is so cute, but also because of his amazing skills as he evolves,” said sophomore Maddie Hopkins.

There are over 700 pokémon who can, at times, be very useful to a battle, but also can be worthless to the show altogether. One includes Snorlax, that only sleeps and can rarely be woken. So putting him into battle may be useless.

Other than the characters and their development, the shows captures basic troubles and issues people could experience today, besides the powerful monsters. To high schoolers, this can be related to everyday life, which could cause them to continue watching.

Many of the issues included in the show are caused by the antagonists of Ash and his friends. They go by the name Team Rocket and have tormented the main characters since season one.

Ash shows them that he can overcome the many obstacles that they try to put in his way. To teenagers they may represent bullies that people see in the real world.

Not only has it become a valued show by many, but also depicts on multiple themes that can be found by watching and listening closely. The themes are still relevant to today’s generation.

“I believe the theme of Pokémon is to do what you want,” said sophomore Ian Lawrie. “It shows how people are able to make their own destiny.”

As the each series of the show continues to grow, dedicated fans who have learned to love and understand the characters and themes will continue to watch every episode and follow each character along on their journey.