List of Pokémon: XY episodes

The seventeenth season of the long running Pokémon animated series is known as Pocket Monsters: XY (ポケットモンスター エックスワイ, Poketto Monsutā Ekkusu Wai) in Japan and internationally as Pokémon: XY (advertised as Pokémon the Series: XY). The season follows the continuing adventures of Ash Ketchum and Pikachu as they explore the Kalos Region. Traveling with their new friends—Clemont and his little sister Bonnie along with Ash's childhood friend, Serena—the party discover new Pokémon and the mysterious Mega Evolution.

The season premiered in Japan between October 17, 2013 and October 30, 2014 on TV Tokyo. The season later debuted and aired in the United States between January 18, 2014 and December 20, 2014 right after a preview of the first two episodes on October 19, 2013 on Cartoon Network.

The Japanese version features five pieces of theme music. The first 27 episodes used the song "V (Volt)" (V（ボルト）, Boruto) performed by Yusuke for the opening theme and "X Strait, Y Scenery" (X海峡Y景色, Ekkusu Kaikyō Wai Keshiki, "X-Kaikyō, Y-Keshiki") performed by J☆Dee'Z as the ending theme. The second block of 21 episodes switched the opening theme song to "Mega (Volt)" (メガV（ボルト）, Megaboruto) performed by Yusuke for the opening theme and "Peace Smile!" (ピースマイル!, Pīsumairu!) performed by J☆Dee'Z for the ending theme. The final three episodes of the season feature "DreamDream" (ドリドリ DoriDori) performed by Shoko Nakagawa as the ending theme. For the international English language broadcasts, the theme song is a remixed version of the first Pokémon theme song.

Pikachu

Pikachu (Japanese: ピカチュウ) are a species of Pokémon, fictional creatures that appear in an assortment of video games, animated television shows and movies, trading card games, and comic books licensed by The Pokémon Company, a Japanese corporation. The Pikachu design was conceived by Ken Sugimori. Pikachu first appeared in Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, and later in the first internationally released Pokémon video games, Pokémon Red and Blue, for the original Game Boy.

Like other species of Pokémon, Pikachu are often captured and groomed by humans to fight other Pokémon for sport. Pikachu are one of the most well-known varieties of Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the Pokémon anime series. Pikachu is regarded as a major character of the Pokémon franchise as well as its mascot, and has become an icon of Japanese pop culture in recent years.

Concept and design

Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Pokémon series began in Japan in 1996, and features several species of creatures called "Pokémon" that players, called "trainers", are encouraged to capture, train, and use to battle other players' Pokémon or interact with the game's world. Pikachu was one of several different Pokémon designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by artist Ken Sugimori. According to series producer Satoshi Tajiri, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese sounds: pika, a sound an electric spark makes, and chu, a sound a mouse makes. Developer Junichi Masuda noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences.