TV Tokyo first broadcast the Pokémon animated series in Japan.
The series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 1, 1997. It was produced as a television extension of the Pokémon video-game franchise and originally followed Ash Ketchum as he traveled with Pikachu through different regions. The program helped turn a successful handheld-game property into a global multimedia franchise.
The original Japanese series is known as Pocket Monsters. International broadcasters adapted and localized it under the Pokémon name, with different season divisions and release schedules. The English-language version later premiered in first-run syndication in the United States on September 8, 1998, shortly before Pokémon Red and Blue reached North American stores.
TV Tokyo is sometimes mistaken for Nintendo because Nintendo published the games and had a major role in Pokémon's business history. The network, however, was the original Japanese television broadcaster. Animation production was handled by Oriental Light and Magic, now commonly known as OLM.