Pokémon in Singapore

Pokémon in Singapore
Flag of Singapore
Languages	English
Continent	Asia
Original anime airdates
EP001	N/A
AG001	N/A
DP001	N/A
BW001	November 19, 2011
XY001
SM001
JN001
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise first debuted in Singapore around 1998.

The official distributor of Nintendo products such as the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the video games is Maxsoft Pte. Ltd., while the licensed distributor for the Pokémon manga is Chuang Yi, a publishing company based in Singapore.

Pokémon video games

All internationally released main series games have been available in Singapore since 1998, the first being Red and Blue Versions. The games are usually available within a few weeks after its US release, but with growing popularity over the years, recent games like Diamond and Pearl, and HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions have been made available immediately on its US release date. On March 6, 2011, a launch event-cum-tournament was held in conjunction with the US English release of the Black and White Versions.

Japanese versions of the games were also made available on the date of its Japanese release to cater to the minority of players in Singapore. This included the HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, and the Black and White Versions.

Spin-off Pokémon games were also available in Singapore.

Currently, there have been no in-store event Pokémon distributions in Singapore. Event Pokémon and items could only be obtained through international Wi-Fi events, such as the distribution of the Autumn 2010 Mew, the Winter 2011 Legendary Trio of Johto (Raikou, Entei and Suicune), and the Liberty Pass.

Pokémon anime

The English dub of the anime was first aired in Singapore on MediaCorp's kidscentral every Saturday at 10.30 AM, beginning with the first episode of the series, Pokémon - I Choose You!. It aired at that timeslot for several years before moving to 11 AM, and finally to the 10 AM timeslot which is still used today.

On October 20, 2008, central was replaced by okto, but the broadcast timeslot remained the same. At that time, the Diamond & Pearl series was being aired. Notably, there were also brief periods of time when previously-aired episodes of the series were being broadcast in an evening timeslot.

In Singapore, all episodes were aired in English. The episodes are usually a few months behind the US broadcast. On January 1, 2011, Dressed for Jess Success! was aired.

Beginning November 19, 2011, the Best Wishes series will debut on okto at the same 10 AM timeslot, with the first episode being aired, In The Shadow of Zekrom!.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: more information is needed

Since the introduction of the Base Set, cards for the Pokémon Trading Card Game were sold in Singapore. The cards are usually in English. In April 2011, the Black & White expansion set was made available.

Pokémon merchandise

Pokémon manga

Chuang Yi, one of the two official publishers of Pokémon manga in the English language, is based in Singapore. Chuang Yi translates many different Pokémon titles, including the popular Pokémon Adventures series, Pokémon Pocket Monsters, Magical Pokémon Journey and Phantom Thief Pokémon 7, among others. Chuang Yi's publications of Pokémon manga are well known by English-speaking fans worldwide, as they translate several series not translated by VIZ Media, as well as their continuing publication of Pokémon Adventures.

Pokémon toys

McDonald's Happy Meal promotion for March 2011

McDonald's in Singapore occasionally gives out Pokémon toys as part of their Happy Meal promotion. In March 2011, 8 different Pikachu toys were given out.

Community

Team Robo

Main article: Team Robo

Team Robo is an official Play! Pokémon organization, a group of people dedicated to promoting Pokémon in Singapore and organizing Leagues and Tournaments for the Trading Card Game and the Video Games. They oversee eight 'Pokémon Gyms' spread across Singapore, which are gathering places where Pokémon fans can interact with each other or participate in local tournaments. These 'Gyms' are usually managed by a Pokémon Professor, and a person known as a 'Gym Leader'.

Events in Singapore

Occasionally, large-scaled Pokémon-themed events will be held in Singapore, usually in shopping malls. Events are usually organised collaboratively by Team Robo and the official distributor, Maxsoft Pte. Ltd.

2010

The first large-scaled event held in Singapore was the Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver TCG Tournament, held on March 2010 at Junction 8, Bishan. The event was primarily aimed at TCG players.

Following that, in June 2010, an event was held at Millenia Walk which expanded its target audience to general Pokémon fans in Singapore. The event incorporated the Pokémon TCG National Championship 2010, the first-ever video game challenge in Singapore, and a digital art contest.

From mid-November to December 2010, Team Robo organized a Christmas-themed event at Tampines Mall. The event incorporated many small events together such as mini-games, workshops, stage shows, as well as tournaments such as the Pokémon TCG City Championship SG 2010 and the Pokémon NDS Video Game Christmas Bash. The video game challenge incorporated features of the Elite Four as well as Battle Frontier facilities, and was hence dubbed the "Battle Mall Challenge". Challengers had to defeat four Trainers in a row without losing (one on every floor of the mall and the last being the Battle Mall Captain), which would allow them to qualify for a competitive tournament (Boxing Day Challenge) held on December 26, 2010. The top few Trainers of the tournament would then be able to rematch the Battle Mall Captain competitively and stand a chance to win an event Celebi.

2011

Prior to the release of the Call of Legends (TCG) expansion set, a prerelease tournament was held in end Janurary 2011. The event took place across four different Gyms located across Singapore.

On March 6, 2011, the date of the US English release of the Black and White Versions, a launch event-cum-tournament took place at Funan DigitaLife Mall. Participants of the tournament had to form a team of 6 Pokémon while playing through 3 hours of a new game, and matches were conducted via Wonder Launcher triple battles. Wi-Fi coverage was also provided during the event for players to obtain the Liberty Pass. ^[1]

On April 17, 2011, a pre-release tournament for the Black & White (TCG) expansion set took place at four different locations in Singapore: Active Gym, E2Max Gym, Masters Gym and Ani-Play SG.

An event was held from June 13 to June 19, 2011, which took place at West Mall. The event consisted of the Pokémon TCG National Championships 2011 and the Pokémon Black & White Video Game Elite 4 Tournament. The video game tournament used rules similar to VGC 2011. Players went through several swiss rounds in the Qualifiers and the top 3 players of each day proceeded to the Final Single Elimination event, where the winner was determined.

Starting November 19, 2011, an event will be held at City Square Mall every weekend.

Trivia

• Bulbapedia user Ruixiang95 was the runner-up (2nd) during the Boxing Day Challenge held during the Pokémon NDS Video Game Christmas Bash in December 2010.^[2]
• Bulbapedia user AquaDragon was the overall runner-up (2nd) during the Pokémon Black & White Video Game Elite 4 Tournament held in June 2011.

See also

• Official Pokémon website for Singapore
• Chuang Yi's official website
• Maxsoft Pte. Ltd. - official distributor of Nintendo products in Singapore

References

This article is part of Project Globe, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon franchise around the world.