Pokémon in the United Kingdom

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Pokémon in United Kingdom
Pokémon logo English.png
United Kingdom Flag.png
Flag of the United Kingdom
Language English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Ulster Scots, Irish, Cornish
Continent Europe
Original anime airdates
EP001 1999
AG001 2004
DP001 February 4, 2008
BW001 February 27, 2011*
June 4, 2011*
XY001
SM001
JN001
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise first reached the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1999 with the release of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions and the airing of the anime.

Pokémon video games

All Pokémon games that have been released in the United States have also been released in the United Kingdom except Hey You, Pikachu!, with the addition of the Europe and Japan-exclusive Pokémon Tetris. The UK release dates tend to be some time after the American release dates, with the exception of Pokémon Dash, PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure and Pokémon Black and White, which were released in the UK before the US.

Games that are released in the United Kingdom are inconsistent with British English spelling. For example, spelling variations such as color and center are not changed to colour and centre for the UK releases.

Event Pokémon have been released in the UK sporadically. An event in 2005 known as "The Hunt for Deoxys" was held at Vue cinemas for two days each across the country, where players of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokémon Emerald were able to download the AuroraTicket. The recent introduction of Wi-Fi events has allowed UK players access to many previously unavailable event Pokémon. Prior to this, very few event Pokémon were made available to UK players, and when events at malls and other stores were held, many parts of the country were overlooked.

Pokémon Black and White are currently being represented in the United Kingdom by the X Factor finalists One Direction, a boy band.[1] The group is promoting the latest Pokémon games through television commercials and concerts, and have been life-long Pokémon fans. They are one of a number of acts representing Nintendo as ambassadors in the United Kingdom, which has also include Jedward, JLS and The Saturdays.

Pokémon anime

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
CITV's current logo

The anime currently airs on CITV. The Best Wishes series and B&W Rival Destinies is currently broadcast on Disney XD. Whereas Pokémon was previously aired on Sky One.

Pokémon manga

Pokémon manga translated into English is distributed in the United Kingdom by VIZ Media.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game, although declining in popularity, is still being sold throughout the UK.

When first released, the game was very popular among UK children. Like in many other countries, the TCG was eventually banned in most schools, because of "classroom distraction". Conflict between students regarding Trading Cards also resulted in the cards being banned from some schools. Its popularity faded out as it was replaced by other popular crazes such as Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

Pokémon merchandise

The United Kingdom receives most of the same Pokémon merchandise that is available in the United States, such as plush toys which have been released in major department chains, though merchandise given away in fast food restaurants has become non-existent, as the Pokémon movies are no longer shown at cinemas. Despite Pokémon's decline in popularity, merchandise can be found in UK stores, such as GAME and W H Smith.

References

The Pokémon franchise around the world
The Americas: BrazilCanadaLatin AmericaUnited States
Asia: Greater ChinaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeSouth AsiaSouth KoreaThailandVietnam
Europe: AlbaniaBelgiumBulgariaCroatiaCzech RepublicDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreece
HungaryIcelandIrelandItalyLatviaLithuaniaNetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPoland
PortugalRomaniaRussiaSerbiaSlovakiaSpainSwedenUkraineUnited Kingdom
Middle East: Arab worldIsraelTurkey
Oceania: AustraliaNew Zealand


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