The Pokémon anime debuted on TV Tokyo in Japan.
Its first episode, “Pokémon, I Choose You!”, aired on April 1, 1997. The series followed Ash Ketchum and Pikachu as they traveled through the Pokémon world, adapting ideas and characters from the video games while creating an original continuing storyline.
TV Tokyo became closely associated with the series during its early years. The program was produced by Oriental Light and Magic, with chief director Kunihiko Yuyama and head writer Takeshi Shudo among its key creative figures.
The anime is sometimes dated to 1996 because the games launched that year. The television series came later, beginning in 1997, and its success helped transform Pokémon from a video-game property into a global multimedia franchise.