Pokémon in South Asia

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Pokémon in South Asia
Flags of Bhutan, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal.
Language	Hindi, Tamil*, Telugu*, English
Continent	Asia
Original animated series airdates
EP001	April 1, 2003
AG001	May 9, 2006
DP001	November 9, 2009 November 16, 2009
BW001
XY001
SM001
JN001
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise (Hindi: पोकेमोन Pokémon, Urdu: پوکيمون Pokémon) made its debut in the Indian subcontinent in 2003, with the first broadcast of Pokémon - I Choose You!, in both English as well as in Hindi dub on Cartoon Network India. The respective channel hosted the show for eight years straight (2003-2011) and aired the initial eleven seasons. However, the anime has been shifted to Pogo from March, 2011 in India.

Pokémon anime

The Pokémon anime is available in most south Asian countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Country	Channels aired
Afghanistan	Cartoon Network Pakistan
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Bhutan	Cartoon Network India Pogo
India
Nepal
Sri Lanka

Original series

Pokémon: Indigo League premiered on Cartoon Network India on April 1, 2003 and concluded in the same year. Initially, the show began airing on the Toonami block, available in both Hindi and English dub. During its peak, it became one of the highly rated show on the respective channel.

Following the first season of the anime, Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands made its Indian debut in late 2003. With The Rivalry Revival, it concluded in mid-2004. After almost a year of re-runs, Cartoon Network aired the new episodes of the anime with its third season, Pokémon: The Johto Journeys.

Affiliated with Cartoon Network India, a separate Cartoon Network feed was launched for its Pakistani viewers in 2004, which is also available in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Due to mutual affiliation, both channels were in sync in airing the anime. After a few months, Cartoon Network India began to air Pokémon in two additional dub languages, Tamil and Telugu along with the premiere of second last season of the Original series, Pokémon: Johto League Champions.

In mid-2005, Cartoon Network wrapped up Pokémon: Master Quest thus concluding the Original series of the Pokémon anime.

Year	Season(s) of Pokémon Original series aired
2003	Pokémon: Indigo League
2003 - 2004	Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands
2004	Pokémon: The Johto Journeys
2004 - 2005	Pokémon: Johto League Champions
2005	Pokémon: Master Quest

Advanced Generation

The first season of Pokémon Advanced Generation series debuted in 2006, on both channels. The first episode, Get the Show on the Road, premiered on May 9, 2006 on Cartoon Network India as well as on Cartoon Network Pakistan. At that time, Pokémon: Advanced was available in two different languages (English and Hindi) on Cartoon Network Pakistan and it was available in four different languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English) on Cartoon Network India.

The first season of the Advanced Generation series ended in July 2006, resulting in repeats airing on both Cartoon Network channels. After four months, both Cartoon Network channels began to air new episodes of Pokémon and through this Pokémon: Advanced Challenge debuted on November 6, 2006 as well as trailers of the seventh season appearing in Indian theaters. The seventh season ended on January 4, 2007. After the end of seventh season, Cartoon Network began to air re-runs in a new one-hour block called Dastaan-e-Pokémon.

Dastaan-e-Pokémon

Dastaan-e-Pokémon was a one-hour block, especially dedicated exclusively to Pokémon, on both of the sub-continent Cartoon Network feeds. Available in 3 different dubs, the block premiered on January 8, 2007 with the first episode of the anime, replacing Pokémon: Advanced Challenge. The block featured all of the old episodes, from the first season up to the seventh. Almost a year later, it included a brand new season to its line-up, Pokémon: Advanced Battle, and marked the first time when a season premiered with two back-to-back episodes on Cartoon Network in the Indian sub-continent. The block ended in the end of 2008, replaced by Pokémon: Battle Frontier.

The final season of the Advanced Generation series. Pokémon: Battle Frontier debuted in the month of November in 2008. Initially, it only aired on Cartoon Network India, but began to air on Cartoon Network Pakistan two weeks after its Indian debut. After the completion of the Advanced Generation series, both Cartoon Network channels began the repeat telecast of old Pokémon episodes. These reruns lasted for ten months, and ended with the debut of Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl.

Year	Season(s) of Pokémon Advanced Generation series aired
2006	Pokémon: Advanced
2006 - 2007	Pokémon: Advanced Challenge
2008	Pokémon: Advanced Battle
2008 - 2009	Pokémon: Battle Frontier

Diamond & Pearl

Pogo

The first season of the Diamond & Pearl series first aired in Pakistan on November 9, 2009 and in India on November 16, 2009. It was supposed to end on January 18, 2010 on Cartoon Network Pakistan but they ended the entire season within 35 days by skipping almost 23 episodes, from O'er the Rampardos We Watched! to A Stand-Up Sit-Down! due to unknown reasons. However, this problem was fixed in the re-runs of the season.

In early 2011, the anime switched to Pogo, a sister channel of Cartoon Network in India, which also aired the Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Galactic Battles in April. Even though the anime switched to another channel in India, Cartoon Network Pakistan continued to air the show which led to the premiere of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Galactic Battles on August 1. The finale of the twelfth season premiered on October 11, 2011 while the repeats of the same season took over the anime slot from the following day.

The last season of Diamond & Pearl series and thirteenth season overall, Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors premiered on October 3, 2011 in India. During its airing, Pogo skipped two episodes instead of following the actual production order, from The Fleeing Tower Of Sunyshore! and Teaching the Student Teacher!, due to some unknown reasons. This problem was fixed in the re-runs of the season. The last episode of Diamond & Pearl series, that is Memories are Made of Bliss! aired on October 25, 2011 in India. While it premiered on Cartoon Network Pakistan on February 1, 2012 and concluded its run with the season finale on March 19, 2012. Since April 29th 2013, Cartoon Network (Pakistan) took down their anime block, so Pokémon no longer airs.

Year	Season(s) of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl series aired
2009 - 2010	Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl
2010	Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension
2011	Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Galactic Battles Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors *
2012	Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors *

Pokémon movies

Year	Movie(s)/special(s) aired*
2006	Mewtwo Returns
2009	Pokémon Chronicles Lucario and the Mystery of Mew Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea *
2010	Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea *
2011	The Rise of Darkrai Giratina and the Sky Warrior * Arceus and the Jewel of Life *
2012	Zoroark: Master of Illusions *

Pokémon merchandise

English-translated Pokémon manga was distributed in India by Chuang Yi.

Related articles

• List of Hindi 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.