Pokémon: a guide to joining the party 20 years late

It’s never too late to become a Pokémon fan.

The original games came out 20 years ago and spawned a franchise that stretches across cartoons (the show has over 900 episodes), movies (19 of them), a card game (that has 68 sets), and more. In total, the Pokémon brand earns $1.5 billion annually. The game series alone has sold over 200 million copies, and that will likely increase this holiday when Pokémon Sun and Moon come out. It’s a lot of media, and it can be intimidating for a Pokémon newbie to know where to start.