Pokémon (Japanese: ポケモン, Hepburn: Pokémon), abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā) and currently advertised in English as Pokémon the Series (ポケモン・ザ・シリーズ, Pokémon za Shirīzu), is an anime television series, part of The Pokémon Company's Pokémon media franchise, which premiered in Japan on April 1, 1997, on TV Tokyo. The anime franchise consists of seven sequential series in Japan, each based on a main installment of the Pokémon video game series. In the international broadcasts, these series are split across 23 television seasons, with the 23rd season streaming on Netflix in the United States as of June 12, 2020.[3] Each of the series follows Ash Ketchum[a], a young trainer of fictional creatures called Pokémon. Joined by his partner Pokémon Pikachu[b] and a rotating cast of human characters, currently Goh and Chloe,[c] Ash goes on a journey to become a "Pokémon Master" and compete in various Pokémon-battling tournaments called known as the Pokémon League. The anime series is accompanied by spin-off programming; including Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories; and the live-action variety and Pokémon-related news shows; such as Pocket Monsters Encore, Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon☆Sunday, Pokémon Smash!, Pokémon Get☆TV, and Meet Up at the Pokémon House? The Pokémon anime series was largely credited for allowing anime to become more popular and familiar around the world, especially in the United States, where the two highest-grossing anime films are both Pokémon films.[4] It was also considered to be one of the first anime series on television to reach this level of mainstream success with Western audiences,[5][6] as well as being credited with allowing the game series to reach such a degree of popularity, and vice versa.[7][8] Pokémon is regarded as the most successful video game adaptation of all time,[9] with over 1,000 episodes broadcast and adapted for international television markets, concurrently airing in 169 countries worldwide, and one of the most widely watched shows on Netflix, as of 2016.[10][11] Its current season, Pokémon Journeys, streams on Netflix, a internet channel watchable in the United States and broadcasts on normal television in some countries internationally.