A mediocre Japanese
entertainment franchise for kids which started out as a Game Boy game, and later spawned a cartoon, comics, and
trading cards. Was hugely popular in the 90s with young people until they reached puberty.
The
original Game Boy game (Pokemon Red/Blue) wasn't bad for its time (though it was ultra-kiddie) and was fairly deep compared to most other hand-held games.
The TV show on the other hand is horrible, on par with old 60s Hanna Barbara cartoons like "Superfriends". Dialogue and voice-acting bad enough to make you weep, incoherent plots that make you wonder how high the writers were when they shat the episodes out, embarrassing attempts at humor which were completely funny and made the show's "serious" moments seem like a joke. You name it.
Taking a shit would be more mentally stimulating than this show. Sadly (maybe due to the fact that it's one of the few shows that those without a single functioning brain cell can enjoy) this show is still on the air after 13 years, though its only fans now are 7 year old girls, virgins, and pedophiles who just beat off to the chick in the short shorts (the only enjoyable part of the show).
As for the card game, I never played it or any trading card game. So whether it was "good" or not I have no idea. Collecting and trading cards used to be a big part of the fad, but nowadays I think that it'd be cooler to admit you play "Magic" or
World of Warcraft than to admit you still play Pokemon trading cards.