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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633197046 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 11/01/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| File size: | 35 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Pojo's Unofficial Big Book of Pokemon
By Triumph Books
Triumph Books LLC
Copyright © 2016 Triumph BooksAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63319-704-6
CHAPTER 1
20 YEARS OF Pokémon
By Bill "Pojo" Gill
Pojo breaks out the Wayback Machine and has a look back at the most important releases in Pokémon history over the last 20 years.
1996
FEBRUARY, 1996
POCKET MONSTERS RED & GREEN IN JAPAN
In February 1996, the Pocket Monsters Red & Green video games were released in Japan. They introduced the concept of collecting, trading and battling with Pocket Monsters. Thousands of people lined up in Japan to buy the games, which instantly sold out. These games eventually sold more than 10 million copies in Japan. Pokémon Blue was released in the summer of 1996 and that game was mail-order only. The games appear to be simple children's games, but they are actually very deep Role-Playing Games (RPG's). The games feature a ton of strategy and a dynamic storyline.
OCTOBER 1996
POKÉMON TCG DEBUTS IN JAPAN
Eight months later, thanks to the success of the Game Boy games, the Pocket Monsters Trading Card Game (TCG) was released. The Pocket Monsters TCG turned into a craze in Japan. TCGs were still a relatively new phenomenon in the world. Magic the Gathering debuted in 1993 and was easily the most popular TCG at the time. Magic the Gathering had a pretty strong teenager/young adult following. But common folk didn't even know that TCGs existed. Pocket Monsters / Pokemon really changed that.
The Japanese "Pocket Monsters" franchise name was changed to "Pokémon" in the United States due to copyright/trademark laws. There was already a media franchise in the U.S. named "Monsters in My Pocket".
1997
APRIL 1997
POKÉMON ANIME DEBUTS IN JAPAN
There have been many successful anime over the years, including: Dragon Ball Z; Naruto; Fullmetal Alchemist; Attack on Titan; Inuyasha; Yu Yu Hakusho; Yu-Gi-Oh!; Sailor Moon; and even Speed Racer! Pokémon is right up there with the most successful of all time. At the time we wrote this book, Pokémon was entering its 19th Season, and there are no signs of Pokémon slowing down.
The series follows the adventures of Satoshi and his Pocket Monsters. In North America, Satoshi is called Ash Ketchum, and Pocket Monsters are called Pokémon.
There have been over 900 episodes, 19 movies and dozens of TV specials based on the original game series.
The writers try to tie the anime in with the video games as much as possible. Ash will visit new Pokémon Regions (countries) at about the same time they are introduced in the new video games. The stories progress very much like a soap opera, with each episode building off previous episodes.
1998
JULY 18, 1998
POCKET MONSTERS MOVIE – MEWTWO STRIKES BACK DEBUTS IN JAPAN
This first Pokemon movie introduces Mew and Mewtwo in the Anime franchise for the first time. All movies in Japan get a theatrical release. Only a few of the films were released into theaters in the U.S., most debut on cable television or go directly to DVD.
SEPTEMBER 5, 1998
POKÉMON ANIME DEBUTS IN NORTH AMERICA
North America is introduced to Ash Ketchum and Pikachu for the first time. The show essentially takes the base plot of the video games and converts it into 83 half-hour episodes. The first season sees Ash getting Pikachu, befriending Brock and Misty and defeating the Eight Gym Leaders from the Indigo League. Team Rocket (Jesse, James and Meowth) are introduced as evildoers who Ash has to contend with for many years to come.
SEPTEMBER 28, 1998
POKÉMON RED AND POKÉMON BLUE
The Pokémon Red and Blue Role Playing Games (RPGs) were released simultaneously in North America. These are essentially the English remakes of the Pokémon Red and Green video that were released in Japan in 1996. You are a trainer trying to catch the variety of pocket monsters (Pokémon) that appear in the game. Once caught, Pokémon can be added to your party and trained to assist you. The longer you train Pokémon, the more attacks they learn, and the stronger they become. There are a total of 150 Pokémon to catch, but only 139 are available on Red, and 139 are available on Blue. In order to "Catch 'Em All" you need to use a Game Link Cable and exchange captured Pokémon with friends. Traded Pokémon actually level up faster, so it's beneficial to trade your Pokémon.
These games have sold more than 11 million copies in the U.S., and more than 31 million copies worldwide. New, factory-sealed, unopened boxes of these games currently sell for over $400 on eBay.
NOVEMBER, 1998
POKÉMON PIKACHU
The Pokémon Pikachu was also known as The Pocket Pikachu. It was an upscale step counter! Pocket Pikachu was a digital virtual pet that you kept on your belt or in your pocket.
1999
JANUARY, 1999
POKÉMON TCG DEBUTS IN NORTH AMERICA
The Pokémon Trading Card Game hit North America in January and it took the U.S. by storm! Many kids simply collected the cards like baseball cards because they liked the video games or loved the anime. But soon, people realized that a beautifully designed beast of a game lived inside. The game is still going strong 20 years later. There have been over 70 expansions since the first base set.
APRIL 26, 1999
SUPER SMASH BROS.
One of the best fighting games for the N64. The game features Pikachu and Jigglypuff as playable characters. New, sealed, unopened boxes of SSB games currently sell for over $300 on eBay.
JUNE 16, 1999
JUNGLE
The 2nd Pokémon TCG expansion is released. Introduced strong cards like Scyther, Mr. Mime and Wigglytuff.
JUNE 28, 1999
POKÉMON PINBALL
Pokémon Pinball is a Pokémon based Pinball game. Besides playing a typical pinball game, another goal is to "Catch 'em All". The original 150 Pokémon are available for capture during gameplay. This was one of the first games available for the new Game Boy Color at the time.
JUNE 30, 1999
POKÉMON SNAP
The premise of this game is that you roll through various Pokémon environments in a cart on a track, and take photographs of Pokémon for Professor Oak. We know it sounds lame, but this game is a ton of fun and extremely addictive.
SEPTEMBER 1999
POKÉMON ANIME SEASON 2
Adventures on the Orange Islands – 36 episodes. Professor Oak sends Ash to Valencia Island to help Professor Ivy. Ash meets and travels with Tracey Sketchit. Ash gathers badges to qualify for the Orange League Tournament.
OCTOBER 1, 1999
POKÉMON YELLOW
Pokémon Yellow was inspired by the anime. It is essentially an updated version of the original Red & Blue games, with a few more fun changes. You are forced to take Pikachu as your starting Pokémon. Pikachu follows you around on your adventure outside of his Poké Ball, just like in the anime. Jesse and James also appear in this version.
OCTOBER 10, 1999
POKÉMON FOSSIL
This is the 3rd Pokémon TCG expansion. Introduced strong cards like Ditto, Muk, Magmar and Articuno.
NOVEMBER 1999
ELECTRONIC I CHOOSE YOU PIKACHU PLUSH
Many popular Pokémon Plush have been available for the last 20 years. This is one of the more memorable ones. Pikachu is about 10 inches tall. He moves, lights up and talks when you squeeze his paws. This guy can currently fetch up to $100 on eBay in a new, unopened box.
NOVEMBER 8, 1999
BURGER KING PROMOTIONAL TOYS
These Pokémon Toys came with Kids Meals in late 1999. I'm guessing a lot of kids got stuffed on BK Chicken Tenders for two months because these toys were a hot item! McDonalds has also carried Pokémon Toys and cards inside of Happy Meals. But this BK promotion was the first.
NOVEMBER 10, 1999
POKÉMON THE FIRST MOVIE
The First Pokémon is released in the United States. The movie was an instant commercial success, debuting at number one on the U.S. box office charts and making $10,096,848 on its Wednesday opening day. It held the record for being the animated feature with the highest-grossing weekend in November. Worldwide, the film made $163,644,662, making it the highest-grossing anime film in the United States and the fourth highest-grossing animated film based on a television show worldwide. It was also the highest-grossing film based on a video game at the time.
1999
POKÉMON MASTER TRAINER BOARD GAME
This was the first of many board games based on the Pokémon theme. It was produced by Milton Bradly and Hasbro. The object of the game is capture Pokémon in the Kanto region. Unopened boxes of this game can currently fetch over $125 on eBay. Even open boxes can sell for almost $100! Collector Tip: Keep your eyes open for Pokémon Monopoly from 1999 as well, especially the one with Pewter Pokémon Movers.
2000
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
BASE SET 2 TCG
This set had no new cards. The popularity of Pokémon made old cards tough to obtain. Wizards of the Coast made this set so older cards were easier to collect.
FEBRUARY 29, 2000
POKÉMON STADIUM
Players are treated to Pokémon in 3D. There really is no RPG element to this game. The main catch here is that the game allows players to transfer their Red/Blue/Yellow Pokemon into the N64 Stadium using a Game Boy Transfer Pak. Once you've done that, you enter tournaments in Pokémon Stadium. The graphics are pretty good.
APRIL 10, 2000
POKÉMON TRADING CARD GAME FOR GAME BOY COLOR
This is a video game adaption of the Pokémon TCG. The game features cards from Base Set, Jungle and Fossil. In the game you play a young boy who must travel around the game world interacting with other characters and challenging them to TCG duels. As you defeat other players, you win more cards that can help make your deck even better. It is excellent adaption of the TCG.
APRIL 24, 2000
TEAM ROCKET TCG
This is the first set to include Dark Pokémon, with Dark Raichu as the first-ever secret card.
JULY 21, 2000
POKÉMON THE MOVIE 2000
The Legendary Pokémon Lugia makes its first appearance. This second Pokemon film made over $130 million dollars at the box office. The film also features the Lengedary Birds – Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos.
AUGUST 14, 2000
GYM HEROES TCG
This set first introduced Gym Leader's Pokémon and Stadium cards.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
POKÉMON PUZZLE LEAGUE
Pokémon Puzzle League is a puzzle game that falls into the Tetris-Bejeweled genres. Blocks of various colors rise from the floor, and your task is to get rid of them. The Pokémon aspect to the game is merely thematic. The game is fun and addicting, but it's not really a Pokémon Game in our opinion.
OCTOBER 14, 2000
POKÉMON SEASON 3
The Johto Journeys — 41 episodes. Ash and his friends venture into the Johto region. Ash discovers many new Pokémon from the Gold & Silver Generation. Ash battles the first four leaders of the Johto League.
OCTOBER 16, 2000
POCKET PIKACHU COLOR
This one communicates with Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal using the Mystery Gift function. The user can send watts accumulated by walking, which are then converted into items. Unlike the original Pokémon Pikachu, the user does not have to nurture Pikachu.
OCTOBER 16, 2000
GYM CHALLENGE TCG
The second part of the Gym Sets. Brought us cards for Koga and Giovanni.
OCTOBER 2000
POKÉMON GOLD & SILVER
Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver leads players into the Johto region for the first time. These are the first sequels to Red & Blue and introduce Generation II Pokémon. A total of 100 new Pokémon were introduced into the Pokémon World here. The games also mark the introduction of two new types of Pokémon: Dark type and Steel type. New, factory-sealed, unopened boxes of these games sell for about $200 on eBay
NOVEMBER 2000
HEY YOU, PIKACHU!
The game package includes the game cartridge, a Voice Recognition Unit and a Microphone. This was a very early attempt by Nintendo to include Voice Recognition into a game. You try to talk Pikachu through daily tasks, but most of the time he seems to ignore and do whatever he wants.
DECEMBER 16, 2000
NEO GENESIS TCG
This expansion features Pokémon from the Johto region for the first time. Also introduced are Baby Pokémon and two new types: Darkness and Metal.
DECEMBER 2000
POKÉMON PUZZLE CHALLENGE
This is essentially a re-release of the N64 Pokémon Puzzle League game, but on the Game Boy Color. Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is a puzzle game that falls into the Tetris-Bejeweled genres. Blocks of various colors rise from the floor, and your task is get rid of them.
2001
MARCH 28, 2001
POKÉMON STADIUM 2
This game is essentially a re-release of Pokémon Stadium, except now you can input your Gold & Silver Pokémon using your Transfer Pak. This game is for the Pokémon enthusiast who enjoys the battling aspect of the Pokémon Gold & Silver games, and wants more dueling action. Combat hasn't really changed from Stadium 1. The graphics are again great, and now you can play with 250 Pokémon instead of 150. There are also a few mini games inside for when battling gets a bit boring.
APRIL 6, 2001
POKÉMON 3: THE MOVIE - SPELL OF UNOWN
This was the first Pokémon film to premiere in an IMAX theater. This film made over $68 million at the box office. The movie features the legendary Pokémon Entei.
JUNE 1, 2001
NEO DISCOVERY TCG
Brought us powerful cards like Tyrogue and Unown C.
JULY 29, 2001
POKÉMON CRYSTAL
Pokémon Crystal is a follow-up, sister-type game to the successful Gold & Silver Games with some enhancements. For the first time in a Pokémon game, you can play as a female character! Also, Suicine appears in various areas of the Johto region.
AUGUST 18, 2001
POKÉMON SEASON 4
Johto League Champions – 52 episodes. Ash continues his adventures in the Johto Region with Misty and Brock and further progresses with battling all the gym leaders in the Johto League. The gang runs into old friends such as Pokémon photographer Todd Snap, performing Pokémon trainer Duplica, and Pokémon breeder and beautician Suzie. They also run into baseball loving Casey again.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2001
NEO REVELATION TCG
Shining Pokémon make their debut, but these were mostly for collectors.
DECEMBER 2, 2001
SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE
This was the first game on the new GameCube system to feature Pokémon, and man did folks love this game! IGN readers chose this as the 2001 Game of the Year. We believe this is the best-selling GameCube Game of all-time. The game features all the characters from the N64 SSB and adds many more. There are 25 playable characters. Mewtwo and Pichu were added as playable Pokémon in addition to Jigglypuff and Pikachu. New, unopened copies of this game can fetch over $200 on eBay.
2002
FEBRUARY 28, 2002
NEO DESTINY TCG
Dark Pokémon return bringing in strong cards like Dark Gengar and Dark Tyranitar.
MAY 24, 2002
LEGENDARY COLLECTION TCG
The 2nd reprint set. Includes strong cards from Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2005
POKÉMON SEASON 5
Master Quest — 65 episodes. Ash heads to the Whirl Islands and enters the Whirlpool cup. Ash battles Misty in the semifinals. Ash then heads back to Olivine City to battle Claire and Jasmine to finish up his Johto League badges.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2002
EXPEDITION BASE SET TCG
The set began the e-Card series where cards had a dot code that the Nintendo e-Reader could scan for lore, minigames, and the like. Packs went down to nine cards but now holo-rares would replace a common and not the normal rare.
OCTOBER 11, 2002
POKÉMON 4EVER – CELEBI: VOICE OF THE FOREST
This fourth Pokémon movie is the last to receive a theatrical release in the United States. All the Pokémon movies in Japan still receive a theatrical release. The film features time travel and the legendary Pokémon Celebi.
2003
JANUARY 15, 2003
AQUAPOLIS TCG
Crystal Pokémon make their debut, but these again were mostly for collectors.
MARCH 19, 2003
POKÉMON RUBY AND POKÉMON SAPPHIRE
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire are the third installments of the Pokémon series of RPGs. Fans waited patiently for 2-1/2 years for brand new Pokémon RPG adventures, with gameplay similar to Red & Blue. Ruby and Sapphire introduced over 135 new Pokémon and brought us what are considered "Generation III" Pokémon. Ruby and Sapphire leads players into the Hoeen region and were the first Pokémon Games for the brand new Game Boy Advance (GBA). The GBA brought a larger screen, more pixels, and 32-bit power to the Nintendo's handheld lineup. So playing Pokémon on this portable system was more beautiful than before. We believe these were the bestselling games of all time for the GBA.
MAY 12, 2003
SKYRIDGE TCG
This was the final set released by Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) as Nintendo took back their license.
MAY 16, 2003
POKÉMON HEROES: LATIOS AND LATIAS
This is the 5th Pokémon Movie. Pokémon Heroes focuses on Ash, Misty and Brock, traveling to Alto Mare, a city like Venice, Italy. There they must work with the Legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias to save the city and the world.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Pojo's Unofficial Big Book of Pokemon by Triumph Books. Copyright © 2016 Triumph Books. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
TIMELINE,20 YEARS OF POKÉMON,
VIDEO GAMES,
TOP 10 POKÉMON VIDEO GAMES EVER MADE,
TOP 10 VIDEO GAME POKÉMON FOR EVERY TYPE,
TRADING CARD GAME,
TOP 100 POKÉMON CARDS EVER PRINTED,
TOP 25 MOST VALUABLE ENGLISH POKÉMON CARDS,
TOP 5 POKÉMON TCG CARDS FROM EVERY SET,
KEY POKÉMON PHRASES FOR KNUCKLEHEADS,
ANIME,
WHO'S WHO IN POKÉMON,
An Alphabetical Index of Every Recurring Pokemon Character - Over 300!!!,
POKÉMON GO,
20 TIPS & TRICKS FOR GO FANATICS!,