The fourth series of the Pokémon anime and is based on the events of the Generation V core series Pokémon games. It follows Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl and was succeeded by Pokémon the Series: XY. It ran from September 23, 2010 to October 3, 2013 (with a special episode on March 27, 2014) in Japan and from February 12, 2011 to December 7, 2013 in the United States.
As with both Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl before it, Pokémon the Series: Black & White begins with only Ash Ketchum, who sets out to travel through the Unova region and challenge the Unova League with his Pikachu, accompanied by a girl by the name of Iris and with one of the first Unova Gym Leaders, Cilan, who is also a Pokémon Connoisseur.
