Aim to Be a Pokémon Master (Japanese: めざせポケモンマスターMezase Pokémon Master) is the first Japanese opening theme of the original series, with a cover by Whiteberry being the fourth. An arrangement made to commemorate the anime's 20th anniversary replaced Alola!! as the second opening theme of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon.
The type symbols appear in a circle, and the series logo appears on the screen. The final evolutions of the three starters, Pikachu, Ash and an unnamed Lass are seen. This is followed by three scenes showing random Generation I Pokémon.
Ash is then seen with a Poké Ball. After that, he is riding on the back of a Lapras with Pikachu while a Gyarados and Dragonair are seen jumping out and in the water. Next, Ash and Pikachu are looking at Pallet Town. It cuts to a scene with them walking, and then Ash throws a Poké Ball with a Pidgeot inside. The Pokémon then begins battling with a Fearow.
Ash appears looking at the screen, when Misty and Brock appear on either side of him. This is followed by Jessie and James rising up in front of them. Koffing, Meowth and Ekans jump up next, followed by Gary holding a Poké Ball. Ash and his friends are seen running from the rain. This is followed by a short clip of Nurse Joy, Professor Oak, Officer Jenny and Delia Ketchum.
The next scene shows Ash and his friends in Viridian Forest. Then, Ash and Pikachu are seen running with an Arcanine and a Rapidash. The latter Pokémon jumps up, and the three Legendary birds are seen flying in the sky. A clip of Mewtwo and Mew in space is shown, followed by Ash in a stadium holding a Poké Ball. His friends appear with him.
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Episodes in which the fourth variant ended (EP039 - ???) and the fifth started (??? - EP080)
EP001 - EP002: The original animation. During the Pokémon images scene, there's a picture of a Kadabra, but it reads "Foodin" on it.
EP003: The Kadabra error is corrected, and an actual Alakazam picture is put in its place.
EP004 - EP038: The TCG types symbol background keeps rotating after the "Pocket Monsters" logo appears in the title screen, and after the executive production credits appear on the final shot.
EP039 - ???: After the "Pokémon Shock" incident of EP038, the opening was changed to be broken up into four images per screen. This change was also applied to reruns of the first 37 episodes.
??? - EP080: A shot where Ash throws a Poké Ball is slowed down, removing part of the scene where the spinning Poké Ball covers the entire screen, and Ash holding another one was edited to remove one frame where it glows over the entire screen. Two frames were also removed from the battle between Ash's Pidgeot and Fearow. Several frames were removed from the scene starring Zapdos.
The elemental logos shown before and during the title logo animation are the symbols for the seven TCG typesat the time.
The song can be heard in the instrumental version of High Touch!.
The image of Porygon was interestingly not removed after the EP038 incident.
At one point of The Road to Humilau!, Ash and Cameron hum this theme in the Japanese version. However, it was not kept in the English dub.
An instrumental version of the original version of this song appears in both the Japanese and English versions of Pokémon Pinball when the player is attempting to catch or evolve a Pokémon.
A scene in which Ash stands in a stadium was used as part of a bumper with Brock's voice saying "We'll Be Back After These Messages!" when the 4Kids dub was first aired in syndication in 1998 in America.
Errors
When Meowth, Ekans, and Koffing jump onscreen, Meowth's right fang disappears for a split second.
When Ash and his friends are running from the rain, Poliwrath's eyelid is white instead of blue.
This story is about a boy, Satoshi and Pocket Monsters, and Their friendship, adventures and meetings.
Synopsis
Ash is holding a Poké Ball towards the screen. The logo appears, followed by Pikachu fighting a Tyranitar and using Thunderbolt. Ash and his friends are then seen jumping into the water. There, a Mantine, Lanturn, Lapras, and Lugia swim alongside them. Ash turns his hat and faces left.
This is followed by Ash and Pikachu running with Ho-Oh flying in the background. The Trainer looks at a stadium and clips of his Pokémon appear on the screen. A scene then follows, showing Ash and the others looking at a city in which the Legendary beasts, Celebi, Mewtwo and Mew are seen.
Ash and the others are then shown walking into a cave where Misdreavus and Crobat appear. Ash and the others stood at a bridge. Then, the Pichu Brothers are under it. After that, Ash tried to chase after his Pokémon. Then, Team Rocket chased after Ash and his friends. Finally, Ash and his friends chased after Team Rocket with Togepi in front of them.
Four Pokémon and five people are on top and Larvitar stood in front of them. Ash and Pikachu ran up a flight of stairs together with the Legendary birds and reached the Plateau. Ash and Pikachu stood in front of many Pokémon. Ash, Misty, Brock and Ash's Pokémon stood together.
The fact that this, the fourth Japanese opening, is a cover of the first one is mimicked in the English dub, where Born to Be a Winner, the fourth opening, borrows heavily from the first one.
This is the first opening theme to not be performed by Rica Matsumoto.
This is the first Japanese opening to be made up almost entirely of episode clips.
This is the only Japanese opening featuring humans in which Team Rocket does not appear.
Lyrics
The lyrics for all versions of the song are identical with the exception of formatting, backup singers, and the ad-libs shown in parentheses below.
The original 1997 version includes all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」. However, it is still displayed in the lyrics on-screen during the opening animation. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなかなかなか、なかなかなかなか 大変だけど」 and the second and third line of the third stanza are formatted without spaces.
The Whiteberry cover includes all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」. The initial 「ポケモン ゲットだぜーッ！」 is included only in the TV size version and not in the full version. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなか なかなか なかなか なかなか 大変だけど」.
The 20th Anniversary version includes only the 「ポケモン ゲットだぜーッ！」 and 「ピカチュウ～！」 ad-libs, the latter of which is formatted with an exclamation mark. The first line of the second stanza is formatted as 「なかなか なかなか なかなか なかなか大変だけど」. The last two lines of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas are displayed as one line. In SM042 and SM043, Misty, Brock, and Professor Oak say the 「きゃ～～～！！」, 「待ってる」, and 「そりゃそうじゃ」 ad-libs respectively, although they are not displayed in the lyrics on-screen.
The 1998 movie version and its 2019 remaster include all ad-libs except for 「待ってる」.
The 2001 movie remix, 2002 movie remix, and the 20th Anniversary Ballad ver. do not include any of the ad-libs.
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (Eek!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Farewell, bye-bye, Masara Town I'm leaving on a journey with him (Pikachu!) Racking up wins with the moves we've trained Making friends, and then off to the next city (We're waiting!)
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (Eek!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Farewell, bye-bye, Masara Town I'm leaving on a journey with him (Pikachu!) Racking up wins with the moves we've trained Making friends, and then off to the next city (We're waiting!)
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Even if in fire, in water, in grass, in forests In ground, in clouds, in that girl's skirt (You're persistent!)
It's very, very, Very, very difficult but I'm sure I'll get you! Pokémon, I'll get you!
Tired from battling, good night, good night If I close my eyes, it all comes back (Pikachu?) How flames burned, winds blew Cries echoed, in that battle
An enemy yesterday is a friend today Though there is such an old saying... (What do you mean by "old"?!) A friend today is also a friend tomorrow Yeah, and for all eternity
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Dreams will someday become reality Though someone sang that... Like a bud that will someday bloom My dream will come true
Always and forever doing well Though there's no guarantee of that... (That's true!) Forever and always, I'll live true Because they're here
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
Ah! I aim to be a Pokémon Master I want to be, I have to be I know I'll be one!
EP001 - EP038
EP039 - EP080
The hand drawn logo
The CGI logo
Kadabra on the first variant
Alakazam on the next variants
Meowth's missing fang
Poliwrath's white eyelid
Hindi
Tamil
