The object of their obsession is "Pokemon" (pronounced POH-kay- mahn), a Japanese import from Nintendo Co. Ltd. In seven months the animated cartoon has captured the top or near-top ratings spot for kids' shows on Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons. It has morphed into a Game Boy game outselling all others at about 10,000 a day and a virtual pet that has sold almost 1 million units in its first two months.

Pokemon figures can be found on videos, T-shirts, rubber balls and key chains and as beanbags and stuffed toys. Sales of collectible Pokemon game cards, produced by Wizards of the Coast, are rivaling Wizard's better known game, Magic: The Gathering, thanks in part to shopping mall demonstrations that have drawn as many as 16,000 kids on one day. This month, Pokemon characters will show up in Oscar Mayer Lunchables and by fall they'll star in their first feature film. You can even see them painted on the nose of All Nippon Airways' 747 jets.

Such statements drive children's advocates crazy. "The whole {"Pokemon"} program is a commercial," says Katharina Kopp, senior policy analyst for the Center for Media Education. "Each show figures on one character so kids want to get that character. The plot line is the plot of the {Game Boy} game. It is very difficult for kids to distinguish between the show and the game and other products they want to buy."