<P> The season follows the adventures of the ten - year - old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum (voiced in English by Veronica Taylor and in Japanese by Rica Matsumoto) and his electric mouse partner Pikachu (voiced by Ikue Ōtani), as they collect Gym Badges in the fictional Kanto region so they can compete in the Pokémon League competition at the Indigo Plateau . </P> <P> The episodes were directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and produced by Oriental Light and Magic and TV Tokyo . </P> <P> On U.S. television, how the seasons are organized is changed: the first 52 episodes that aired in the U.S. (from September 1998 to September 1999) are a part of the first season, and the remaining 28 episodes (from September to November 1999) are a part of Season 2 (and "Beauty and the Beach" of Indigo League aired during Season 2), followed by 25 Adventures on the Orange Islands episodes . On DVD, Season 1 is made up of all 80 Indigo League episodes that aired in the U.S. </P> <P> The Japanese opening song is "Aim to be a Pokemon Master" by Matsumoto . The ending songs are "One Hundred Fifty - One" by Unsho Ishizuka and Pokémon Kids, "Meowth's Song" by Inuko Inuyama, "Fantasy in My Pocket" by Sachi & Juri, "Pokemon Ondo" by Sachiko Kobayashi, Koffing, and Ekans, and "Type: Wild" by Matsumoto . The English opening song is "Pokémon Theme" by Jason Paige, while each episodes close with the PokéRAP, which contains 5 different versions (each profiling about 30 Pokémon for a total of 150). </P>

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