Pokémon in Poland

Pokémon in Poland
Flag of Poland
Language	Polish
Continent	Europe
Original animated series airdates
EP001	September 4, 2000
AG001	October 2, 2006
DP001	December 1, 2008
BW001	January 2, 2012
XY001	September 1, 2014
SM001	March 5, 2018
JN001	July 1, 2021
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise first reached Poland in 1999, when Pokémon Red and Blue Versions were released. On September 4, 2000, Pokémon, wybieram cię! premiered in Poland.

Pokémon games

All Pokémon games sold in Poland are in English. Poland, from the 1990s, was in the distribution network of the Austrian company Stadlbauer. In 1999, Lukas Toys became the general distributor. On October 15, 1999, Stadlbauer also signed an agreement with Optimus. The company decided to use the popularity of anime to advertise games in Poland. In 2001, Optimus gave up the sale of Nintendo products, and in 2007, Lukas Toys has been replaced by Stadlbauer Poland. After Pokémon Black and White, Stadlbauer ended cooperation with Nintendo. Since March 2014, ConQuest Entertainment is the Polish distributor.

For Pokémon GO, content of some push notifications, as well as most of Adventure Sync settings, are translated into Polish. The rest of the game remains in English, however.

Pokémon anime

On September 4, 2000, Polsat started to air the Pokémon anime on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. The first 104 episodes aired without any breaks until mid 2001. At the end of 2001, the next 52 episodes started to air.

After a short break, Johto League Champions aired from September to December 2002. This season was moved to an earlier timeslot, when most Polish children were in school. Likely due to this, and because of a lack of payment to the Polish voice actors, there were no new episodes until 2004.

New episodes were shown on Sunday mornings (and later also on Saturdays) until April 2005. Some of the recurring characters like Tracey, Nurse Joy, and Officer Jenny had their voice actors changed in this new season. Shortly after this, on May 19, 2005, TV 4 started to air the series and, without any breaks, showed the first 260 episodes, on afternoons from Monday to Thursday, followed by the first airing of Pokémon: Advanced on September 11, 2006. New episodes ended in December 2006 and only reruns were shown until August 2008. Seasons seven to nine were never aired in Poland.

Reruns of the first three seasons have also aired on Fox Kids (later renamed Jetix) until September 2006. However, this version was censored (compared to the episodes shown by Polsat and TV 4, which were based on the 4Kids dub) and several scenes were cut.

Jetix started to air brand-new Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl episodes on December 1, 2008. This season infamously recast the entire series with completely new voice actors. Airing of this season ended in January 2009 and there have been no reruns since.

In February 2009, Jetix aired the first 26 episodes of Battle Dimension, with most of the original cast restored. The next 13 episodes aired in April. The last 13 episodes were at first planned for May, later moved to August, but ultimately did not air until November 2009 on Disney XD. The eleventh movie also premiered in November.

From May to August 2009, Polsat aired the sixth season on Sunday mornings. They have ceased to air any episodes from the original series.

Galactic Battles debuted on Disney XD on July 3, 2010. The twelfth movie aired first time on October 2, 2010. On March 7, 2011, the first episode of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors aired on Disney XD; this season is the first to have episode title card in Polish rather than English (previously the Polish version was only spoken), this also applies to "To Be Continued" text. Also, the English season logo has the Polish season name under the logo as a subtitle. It's also the first one with credits showing staff and voice actors responsible for dubbing. The thirteenth movie premiered on August 27, 2011.

Black & White debuted on Disney XD on January 2, 2012, while Rival Destinies started on November 4, 2012. The fifteenth season is the first to have season logo fully in Polish rather than English. Reshiram version of fourteenth movie aired on May 27, 2012, while the Zekrom version debuted in DVD format on October 25, 2012. The fifteenth movie aired on June 23, 2013. The first episode of Pokémon Black & White: Adventures in Unova aired on October 7, 2013. The sixteenth movie aired on September 7, 2014.

In September 2014, Disney XD aired the first 16 episodes of Pokémon the Series: XY. After two months on November 3, 2014, Disney XD started airing the next 16 episodes (without XY024). In January 2015, the last 16 episodes of Pokémon the Series: XY were aired. The seventeenth movie aired on October 3, 2015. Two days after, 5 October 2015, Disney XD began to air first 24 episodes of XY: Kalos Quest. On February 18, 2016, Disney XD began airing the last 21 episodes of XY: Kalos Quest.

In Poland, the anime is available on Netflix, but only it was with Polish subtitles. However, on September 13, 2016, the dubbed version of eighteenth movie was added alongside with dubbed version of XY, XY: Kalos Quest, and Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction. Before March 31, 2020, despite having the first season dubbed, Indigo League was only available with Polish subtitles.

On January 16, 2017, Disney XD began airing the first 20 episodes of XYZ. On April 1, 2017, Netflix uploaded the full season of XYZ, including the episodes that didn't air on Disney XD. On January 1, 2018, Netflix released Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel.

In March 2018, Disney XD began airing the first ten episodes of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon. However, on April 1, 2018, Netflix released the full season of Sun & Moon. On January 1, 2019, Netflix released I Choose You. On April 1, 2019, Netflix released the full season of Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures. The Power of Us was released on Netflix, January 1, 2020. Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution was released on Netflix on February 27, 2020. The Polish dub of Indigo League was released on Netflix on March 31, 2020, four years after being only available with subtitles. This season retains the original dub, however some episodes have recorded a few new lines and The Kangaskhan Kid was fully redubbed. The first 27 episodes of Sun & Moon: Ultra Legends were released on Netflix, April 1, 2020. The second half of Ultra Legends was released on July 2, 2020.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series was released on Netflix on July 1, 2021. On October 8, 2021, Netflix released Secrets of the Jungle. Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series was released on Netflix on September 2, 2022. Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles was released on Netflix on September 23, 2022. The first 12 episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series were released on Netflix on January 6, 2023.

Movies

In 2001, Mewtwo Strikes Back and The Power of One premiered in Polish cinemas and later both movies were also released on VHS and DVD. In 2002 Spell of the Unown: Entei and Mewtwo Returns were released directly to VHS and DVD. All movies were distributed by Warner Bros. Poland. All movies also later aired on HBO and HBO 2. The first movie also aired on Cinemax and Cinemax 2 in 2008 and 2009.

Movies are often aired on SPI owned channels Filmbox, Filmbox HD, Filmbox Extra and Filmbox Family, spanning from the fourth to the seventh. However, these movies are not dubbed into Polish, instead there are voice-overs giving Polish translations of the English dub.

On May 31, 2019, Detective Pikachu premiered in Polish cinemas. The film, like those in the franchise before it, was distributed by Warner Bros. Poland.

Dubbing

Seasons one to four were dubbed by Studia En-Be-Ef based in Warsaw for Twin Media Power Video. Translators were only credited in some episodes of the fourth season and they include Katarzyna Precigs and Dorota Brewińska. The fifth season is credited as the work of Twin Media Power Video and the sixth season was dubbed by GMC Studio. Translators of the sixth season are Dorota Brewińska, Maria Horodecka, and Elżbieta Kowalska.

The first two movies were dubbed by Studio Sonica as well as Barbara Robaczewska. The third movie and Mewtwo Returns were dubbed by Master Film. The cast was mostly the same as in the En-Be-Ef version, however unknown voice actor was replaced by Adam Bauman for the role of Giovanni, Anna Bielańska by Krystyna Kozanecka for the role of Delia Ketchum and, most notable, Wojciech Majchrzak by Jacek Kopczyński for the role of Tracey in the second movie, and Józef Mika in the third movie.

Later, the voice-over version of the first three movies were created. They were all read by Piotr Borowiec in Master Film. The next two movies were read by the same lector in Studio Sonoria. Movies six and seven had voice-over made by Genetix Film Factory and were read by Radosław Popłonikowski (who also voiced some minor characters in the first season of the dub, most notable Koga) and Jacek Brzostyński respectively.

The leading role of Ash Ketchum was given to Hanna Kinder-Kiss. Misty was dubbed by Iwona Rulewicz (who also provided voice of Vivian Meridian when Misty left the series), while the third main character, Brock, was voiced by Marek Włodarczyk, who also voiced Gary Oak.

Tracey was voiced by Wojciech Majchrzak in the second season, who also provided voices of many others minor characters, most notably Professor Elm at the beginning of the fifth season. He was also dubbed by Jacek Kałucki in the third season and Ireneusz Machnicki starting in the end of the fifth season. However, Jacek Kopczyński replaced Majchrzak in the second movie, Józef Mika in the third movie, Arkadiusz Detmer in the fifth season, and Aleksander Gawek in the sixth season.

Jessie, James, and Meowth were dubbed by Dorota Lanton, Jarosław Budnik, and Mirosław Wieprzewski respectively. Their boss Giovanni was dubbed by unknown voice actors in the first six-season and Adam Bauman in the dub of the first movie and Mewtwo Returns. Voice of narrator was provided by Mikołaj Klimek.

May was dubbed by Julita Kożuszek-Borsuk and Max by Joanna Domańska in the sixth season of anime.

Other notable voice actors in En-Be-Ef, Twin Media, GMC, Sonica, and Master Film dubs of the anime include Małgorzata Maślanka as Officer Jenny in the first four seasons and movies, and Katarzyna Łukszyńska in the next two seasons, Anna Bielańska (seasons 1–4, movies) and Agata Rzeszewska (seasons 5–6) as Nurse Joy, Grzegorz Pawlak (seasons 1–4, movies) and Jacek Kałucki (seasons 5–6) as Professor Oak and Olga Borys as the voice of Duplica, Aya (first season only), Jessiebelle and other minor characters.

The tenth season was dubbed by Sun Studio Polska and translated by Anna Wysocka and Anna Izdebska. Sun Studio decided to ignore previous cast of the series and choose all new actors for every character. Ash was then voiced by Grzegorz Drojewski, who received mixed opinions about his work from Polish Pokémon fans. Some of them stated his voice is now more suitable for Ash than previous, because in tenth season he was considered by fans to be older and shouldn't be longer voiced by female, some others Drojewski is sounding too masculine, unsuitable to this role and Hanna Kinder-Kiss voice is commonly linked with Ash. Brock was voiced by Waldemar Barwiński, Jessie by Izabela Dąbrowska, James by Marcin Przybylski, Meowth by Łukasz Lewandowski, Professor Oak by Janusz Wituch, Gary Oak by Karol Wróblewski (who also voiced Conway), Nurse Joy and Delia Ketchum by Joanna Węgrzynowska and Officer Jenny by Katarzyna Owczarz (who also voiced Zoey). Piotr Bąk provided the voice of narrator. Magdalena Krylik was chosen for the role of Dawn.
From this season onwards most of the moves, locations and items names got consistent naming scheme. During Original Series and Advanced there was no proper terminology list used, as a result this created an enormous inconsistency of naming convention for the same move or location between episodes. During the time of Diamond and Pearl series, an official list was created and endorsed by TPCi, that is still used to this day in the dub of the anime, some of it being used in the first two sets of Diamond and Pearl TCG, the magazine Pokémon. Trenuj ze mną!, and in the Polish posts on the official Pokémon GO website at some point (later returned to using English names instead).

The next season, as well as the eleventh movie, was dubbed by Studio Eurocom, who worked on majority of Jetix dubs. Most of original actors returned to their respective characters, however there were few exceptions. Jessie was still voiced by Izabela Dąbrowska, Professor Oak by Janusz Wituch and Gary Oak by Karol Wróblewski (even though original Gary voice actor, Marek Włodarczyk, was providing the voice of Brock in this season). Beata Wyrąbkiewicz replaced Magdalena Krylik in the role of Dawn, and Joanna Domańska (who returned to voice Cassidy) began to provide the voice of Officer Jenny. Zoey was voiced by Monika Wierzbicka. Dub of this season was directed by Tomasz Marzecki and it was translated by Anna Wysocka, Maciej Wysocki and Kamil Pozorski (famous member of the Polish Pokémon fandom, known under the nickname AtoMan).

Since season 12 and twelfth movie onwards, Sun Studio Polska, known now as SDI Media Polska, was brought back to dubbing. The voice cast in the twelfth season stayed almost identical to the past season. Except for Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny and Zoey, which were now dubbed again by voice actresses from the tenth season and Delia Ketchum was voiced by Katarzyna Pysiak. Waldemar Barwiński, who voiced Brock in Season 10, returns as Looker. Barry, who was voiced by Jakub Szydłowski in season 11 (and later in season 13), was voiced by Artur Pontek (who also was the voice for Paul during that time). Grzegorz Drojewski, who voiced Ash in Season 10, would return as Khoury, Buck and many other minor characters in the series.

During the Black & White series, Iris is voiced by Justyna Bojczuk (she also voiced Leona) and Cilan is voiced Robert Kuraś. At the beginning of this series, Delia Ketchum was voiced by Anna Sroka, but at the end of the series she was voiced by Anna Gajewska (and voices her to this day).

During the XY series, Serena is voiced by Dominika Sell, Clemont is voiced by Maciej Falana, and Bonnie is voiced by Natalia Jankiewicz. Magdalena Krylik, who voiced Dawn in Season 10, returns as Alexa. During this series onwards, Officer Jenny is voiced now by Brigida Turowska.

In the Sun and Moon series, Kiawe is voiced by Mateusz Narloch (he also voiced few minor characters in older series), Lana is voiced by Zofia Modej, Mallow is voiced by Aleksandra Kowalicka, Sophocles is voiced by Antoni Scardina (who also voiced Alvin), Lillie is voiced by Zuzanna Jaźwińska, Rotom Pokédex is voiced by Maksymilian Michasiów (who also voiced few roles during XY series) and Professor Kukui is voiced by Jan Staszczyk. Between the season 21 and 22, Indigo League was rerelased on Netflix with some new voice lines recorded and The Kangaskhan Kid being fully redubbed. Some characters like Misty, Brock or Professor Oak were voiced again by respective voice actors (in case of Professor Oak, he was voiced by his first voice actor, Grzegorz Pawlak instead of the recent one, Janusz Wituch). With exception of Jessie, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, which were voiced by Izabela Dąbrowska, Joanna Węgrzynowska and Katarzyna Owczarz (which came back after BW series) respectively. Seymour's lines were redubbed by Jarosław Domin.

In Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Goh is voiced by Piotr Janusz, Chloe is voiced by Julia Kunikowska (she also voiced Pikala in previous series), Professor Cerise is voiced by Mateusz Kwiecień (who also voiced a referee in M20 and commentator in M21), Chrysa and Ren being voiced by Magdalena Herman-Urbańska (who previously voiced Risa) and Przemysław Niedzielski, respectively. Mikołaj Klimek, who voiced the narrator in almost every season, died in July 2020; his final episode was JN008. Following Klimek's death, Jan Aleksandrowicz-Krasko took over as the narrator. With the return of Gary Oak in season 24, he is voiced now by Jakub Gawlik.

Music

In 2000, the soundtrack album Pokémon 2.B.A. Master was translated into Polish under the title Pokémon, Złap je wszystkie!. Additionally, the album Totally Pokémon was recorded but never released on CD. Some of the songs were used in the Polish Pokémon Karaokémon segment.

Pokémon Trading Card Game

The cards of Pokémon Trading Card Game available in Polish stores were sold in English for ten years. However, on January 12, 2010, TM Toys began to distribute Polish-language versions of the Diamond & Pearl expansion, and beginning June 1, 2012 distribution of Polish language versions of the Mysterious Treasures expansion followed. TM Toys has stated they currently have no plans to release further Polish language expansions. Starting from May 18 2017, cards in English language are being sold in Tesco stores.

Pokémon manga

The Pokémon Adventures manga was released in Poland in 2001 by Japonica Polonica Fantastica. Unlike the anime, it was translated directly from the Japanese version. The complete first volume was released in the form of four A4 comic books. However, due to the low popularity of the series in Poland, a collected volume was never released and no subsequent volumes were translated.

• 

  Issue 1:
  Tajemniczy Mew

• 

  Issue 2:
  Poszukiwany: Pikachu

• 

  Issue 3:
  Starmie Niespodzianka

• 

  Issue 4:
  Przystanek Snorlax

Pokémon merchandise

In 2000, the Polish translation of German book Der offiziele Game Boy Spielberater: Pokémon Gelbe, Rote und Blaue Edition was sold in kiosks under the Polish name Oficjalny Przewodnik do Gier Game Boy: Pokémon Żółta, Czerwona i Niebieska Edycja, which included a full walkthrough of the Generation I games, Pokémon movesets, locations and type chart.

In 2001, the publisher Egmont Polska released The Official Pokémon Handbook by Maria S. Barbo under the Polish name Wielka księga Pokémon. Złap je wszystkie! (ISBN 8323710724). The book has 155 pages in the size of 155 × 230 mm. It also includes a small Togepi! Book containing the description of new Pokémon: Togepi and Mew, a poster full of Togepi, the introductions of eight Gyms, and the profiles of Ash, Misty, Brock, and Team Rocket.

Some books from the Pokémon anime novelization series were also translated into Polish.

On February 27, 2020, the publisher Blue Ocean Polska released the first Polish Pokémon magazine Pokémon. Trenuj ze mną!, which is issued quarterly. This magazine is based on the Pokémon Official Magazine, which focuses on Pokémon games, anime, and PTCG. Each issue includes a Fun Pack, which is a downsized PTCG Booster Pack, only containing three cards (no Energy cards).

On February 25, 2021, the first 2021 issue was going to be released, but because of late release of the Battle Styles expansion to Europe due to COVID-19-related issues, the magazine was not released until March 25, 2021. For reasons independent of Blue Ocean Polska, the December 9, 2021 issue was not released until March 10, 2022. Due to the intended issue number, 4/2021, having changed to 1/2022, might indicate that the issue 4/2021 could have been canceled.

The magazine's first special issue, 1/2022, has been issued on May 26, 2022. It is irregularly issued. Instead of a Fun Pack, each special issue contains a different item, e.g. a slap band, a sports bag, or a set of washable tattoos.

Pokémon and grammar

Because of the Polish language's orthography and grammar, Pokémon are mostly written without the acute (´) above e, are mostly referred to as male, and are inflected as follows:

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Pokemon	Pokemony
Genitive	Pokemona	Pokemonów
Dative	Pokemonowi	Pokemonom
Accusative	Pokemona	Pokemony
Instrumental	Pokemonem	Pokemonami
Locative	Pokemonie	Pokemonach
Vocative	Pokemonie!	Pokemony!

Trivia

• In the Polish dub, Meowth's name is pronounced as "Miau", and its Polish pronunciation differs the most out of any other Pokémon. The only instance of English pronunciation are the first episodes of Diamond and Pearl.
• Due to inconsistency of naming convention in the original series and Pokémon: Advanced, the move Tackle has the most Polish names used than any other move, with a total of 38.
• An official Pokémon Day was held in 2011.
• Poland shares its distributor, ConQuest Entertainment, with the rest of the Visegrád Group, i.e. the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

External links

• The official Poland Pokémon website (single page)

Related articles

• List of Polish Pokémon themes

References

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