Pokémon: The Johto Journeys is the third season of Pokémon, and the first season of Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: Gold and Silver (ポケットモンスター 絹と銀, Poketto Monsutā: Kin to Gin). It originally aired in Japan from October 14, 1999 to July 27, 2000 on TV Tokyo and in the United States from October 14, 2000 to August 11, 2001 on The WB (Kids' WB). The season follows the adventures of the ten-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum and his electric mouse partner Pikachu as they collect Gym Badges in the fictional Johto region so they can compete in the Johto League competition. The episodes were directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and produced by the animation studio OLM. The Japanese opening song is "OK!" by Rika Matsumoto for 41 episodes. The ending songs are "Meowth's Party" (ニャースのパーティ, Nyasu No Pāti) by Inuko Inuyama, Megumi Hayashibara, and Shin'ichiro Miki for 25 episodes, "Exciting Pokémon Relay" (ポケモンはらはらリレー, Pokémon Hara Hara Rirē) for 10 episodes, and "Exciting² Pokémon Relay (Hard Version)" (ポケモンはらはら²リレー むずかし版, Pokémon Hara Hara² Rirē Muzukashi Ban) by Rikako Aikawa for 5 episodes, and "Takeshi's Paradise (タケシのパラダイス, Takeshi no Paradaisu) by Yuji Ueda for one episode. The English opening song is "Pokémon Johto" by the musical group called Johto, its short version did serve as the end credit song, while each episodes close with Karaokemon with 5 short songs in each music video, "You & Me & Pokémon", "Pikachu (I Choose You)", "Song of Jigglypuff", "All We Wanna Do", and "Two Perfect Girls". In 2000, during the show's run in the United States, it was ranked as the #1 program among boys 2–11 years old.[1]