Pokémon is a Japanese anime television series, part of The Pokémon Company's Pokémon media franchise. The anime franchise consists of eight sequential series in Japan, each based on a main installment of the Pokémon video game series. The show originally followed Ash Ketchum, a young trainer of fictional creatures called Pokémon. Starting with the 26th season, a new cast is featured, with new protagonists Liko and Roy. Pokémon is regarded as the most successful video game adaptation of all time, with over 1,300 episodes broadcast and adapted for international television markets.