Transformers Meets Pokémon In This Forgotten 2000s Action Series With 52 Episodes

Published Aug 8, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. Transformers and Pokémon come together in this forgotten 2000s action cartoon with 52 episodes. If you go to a list of all the animated cartoons that came out during your young TV-watching years, you'll probably be surprised by how many you totally forgot about. In the 2000s alone, dozens of cartoons have become forgotten over the years. For every SpongeBob SquarePants, there's a Sheep in the Big City. For every Codename Kids Next Door, there's a Fillmore! Not every show can have a lasting legacy, particularly when it's shouldered out by similar series. Medabots was one such show. Based on the RPG video game franchise, Medabots was an anime series that began airing in 1999 and ran for 52 episodes before ending in 2001. The series closely follows the storyline of the games, which are set in a future where robots known as "Medabots" engage in Robattles at the behest of their owners. The winners of the Robattles can then choose parts from the losing Medabot to add on to their own Medabot. It's every Medabot owner's dream to become champion of the World Robattle Tournament, and Ikki Tenryou, a 10-year-old boy, is no different. With his Hercules beetle-inspired Medabot named "Metabee", Ikki sets out to become the best battler ever. It's a classic story, and one that was all the rage in the 2000s. Though it did not last as long as shows like Pokémon or Digimon, you might be surprised by how much you remember characters and scenes from the series, particularly if you are a fan of Japanese RPGs. Plenty Of Pokémon Fans Will Remember Medabots From The 2000s The setup for Medabots is quite similar to Pokémon​​​​​. A young trainer sets out on an adventure with a trusted creature to battle other creatures, all with the goal of becoming a World Champion. Medabots puts its own spin on things by introducing the concept of acquiring parts from vanquished foes. Turning RPGs into TV shows was a recipe for success in the era, so it's not surprising that a video game franchise like Medabots would attempt to cash in. Pokémon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Beyblade are all popular TV series based on either video games or toys, many of which are multimedia franchises. Medabots, like many of those forgotten series, relies on its gimmick more than anything, and it's not a bad gimmick. However, it's not a total mystery why it ended up being forgotten while shows like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon continued, and are still going on in Pokémon's case. Medabots Is A Bigger Franchise Than You Probably Realize Though Medabots is more or less a forgotten series, and not wildly popular in the United States, it's actually a very big franchise. There are eight mainline Medabots video games with many spinoff and side games for the Nintendo systems. There's also a manga that is still running. Medabots may not be on the level of Pokémon, or Yu-Gi-Oh!, or even Digimon, but it still appears to have a loyal following; loyal enough that it's an ongoing franchise. You don't have to be the biggest show around to still make a space for yourself, apparently. Release Date 2001 - 2001-00-00 Network TV Tokyo Directors Shigeki Takagi, Masayuki Yoshihara, Hisaki Furukawa Writers Ryota Yamaguchi, Masashi Sogo Cast Junko Takeuchi Metabee (voice) Eri Sendai Arika Amazake (voice) Hiroshi Shimizu Mr. Uruchi (voice)