Nearly every critic of the Digimon series has virtually the same thing to say about it, "All they did was rip off Pokemon." But is that really the case? I thought it actually was a Poke-ripoff when I first saw it debut. I mean, it's a show that also ends in '-mon' that's about a bunch of kids and monster-like companions that evolve. Can't be a coincidence, right? Well, let's see.
According to Wikipedia, The original Pokemon games (Red and Green; Green wasn't released in the US) came out in Japan in 1996. The original Digimon V-pet came out in 1997. AHAAAAAAA! Thats proof that Digimon is a Pokemon wannabe, right? Hold yer' horses. The Digimon V-Pets came out in both Japan and the United States in 1997; Pokemon didn't come to the States until 1998. So while Pokemon came first in Japan, Digimon was first in the US. If you want to talk about the anime series, however, Pokemon did indedd come first, in 1997 as opposed to 1999 for Digimon. That's probably why more people were familiar with Pokemon so long before Digimon.
But does the fact that one came after the other really matter. We should be looking deeper. Let turn to one of the most ovbious; the similar-sounding name. Actually, Pokemon is not the original name. In Japan, it was called, and still is known as 'Pocket Monsters'. 'Pokemon' only came about after it was brought to the US; probably wanted to jazz up the name or something. While Digimon an abreviation of 'Digital Monster', that term is rarely used in Japan.
Okay, release dates, names, is that all we look at? Let's look at the structure itself, starting with the anime that most of us are familiar with. Pokemon is about a young man named Satoshi (Ash in the dub) who goes on a quest to discover and document all of the Pokemon in the world. Digimon is about a group of youths who travel to an alternate plane and battle an arising evil, using help from the partners they bond with. Sounds like two very different things, eh? One thing Digimon definatly has over Pokemon is its plot, which is much more involved, and a hell of a lot darker. Not to say Pokemon's more whimsical plot is bad, but it's problem is the mere fact that the plot has hardly progressed at all in the many years its been out. You can probably miss 10-20 episodes and still not feel like you missed anything story-wise. And I've never seen Taichi, Daisuke, Takato, or any of the Digimon cast trying to "catch 'em all".
Then there's the concept of the creatures themselves. Pokemon, mostly, are much cuter than Digimon. There are plenty of cute Digimon as well, but there are also many more fearsome Digimon than there are Pokemon. In fact, I can think of very, very few Pokemon that don't have some element of cuteness. Pokemon naturally exist in the same world as humans; Digimon live in a totally different dimension. Pokemon are kept in virtual cages called Pokeballs until they're needed; Digimon roam freely. Most Digimon can speak normally; most Pokemon can only say their name, or part of it (Meowth is a very rare exception).
Then there's evolution, a common trait of both groups. Pokemon have an evolution line that is usually set in stone. There are very few Pokemon that can have multiple evolutions (i.e. Evee). Digimon, on the other hand, normally have multiple evolutionary possibilities. We don't see the so much in the anime, but in the V-pet, video and card games, this concept abounds. In the anime, Digimon can revert back to a previous stage after they've evolved. Pokemon are stuck in the stage they evolve to and cannot revert back. Plus, Digimon have many more evolutionary stages(6-8) than Pokemon (3).
All in all, I'd say that Digimon and Pokemon have enough differences between the two so that only those that are extremely ignorant would think that one is a copy off the other. I think Medabots is more like Pokemon than Digimon is. Of course, this point of view is perhaps one reason why Digimon wasn't as big a hit in the States as it was in Japan. That and the poor, poor quality of the dub. And shit like this:
