Pokémon in South Asia

Pokémon in South Asia
Flags of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Language	Hindi Tamil Telugu Bengali English
Continent	Asia
Original anime airdates
EP001	May 12, 2003[1] May 19, 2014 August 7, 2016
AG001	May 9, 2006 September 16, 2015 December 31, 2017
DP001	November 9, 2009 November 16, 2009 November 12, 2018
BW001	June 17, 2013 July 2, 2014 November 3, 2014 July 3, 2021
XY001	May 9, 2015 March 20, 2021
SM001
JN001	2021 October 29, 2021
HZ001

The Pokémon franchise (Hindi: पोकेमोन, Tamil: பொகெமொன், Telugu: పోకీమాన్, Bengali: পোকেমন, Urdu: پوکيمون) made its debut in the Indian subcontinent in 2003, with the broadcast of the first anime episode in both English and Hindi on Cartoon Network India, after which it was moved to several channels. Since 2016, it has been aired on Super Hungama (formerly known as Disney XD India and Marvel HQ). In Pakistan, the anime aired on Cartoon Network Pakistan. Currently, Pokémon is broadcast on Super Hungama, Hungama TV, and Disney Channel India.

Pokémon games

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Pokémon games and some Pokémon merchandise, as well as other Nintendo products such as consoles and games, are available on online retail stores. Pokémon Smile is the only Pokémon game to be localized into Hindi.

In the past, most games in Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were sold by the Japanese Nintendo division. In Afghanistan, Nintendo Europe dealt with sales until 2021, when distribution halted in that country due to the ongoing invasions of the Afghan capital Kabul.^[2]

Samurai released in India NES in 1987 under the name Samurai and they distributed this console until 1994. Later consoles like SNES, Game Boy, and Nintendo 64 were also distributed officially from mid-90s to early 2000s but with small effort. Around early 2000s, Active Boeki began distribution of Nintendo consoles with more effort. The Nintendo GameCube and GBA were released in India and in 2008, the Wii and Nintendo DS hit the Indian market with help of Samurai and HCL.^[3] From 2012 to 2017, Sunder Electronics delivered the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS from Maxsoft which was supported by Active Boeki.^[4] Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were available in India just a week after its release in the United States.^[5] Nintendo Switch wasn't released in India but third-party publishers have distributed games officially for this platform in this country.

Pokémon anime

Bulbanews has multiple articles related to this subject:

• Anime in Indian subcontinent shifted to Pogo
• Anime in India shifted back to Cartoon Network
• Pokémon anime going strong in India
• Pokémon anime viewed by nearly 100 million in India
• 'Pokémon the Series: XY' debuts in India

The Pokémon anime is available in the following South Asian territories: Afghanistan (until 2021), Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Seasons

Cartoon Network and Pogo TV

Cartoon Network India and Pakistan logo

Pokémon: Indigo League premiered on Cartoon Network India on May 12, 2003 as a part of its Toonami block. Following the first season, Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands made its Indian debut in late 2003 and ended its run in mid-2004. In the same year, Pokémon: The Johto Journeys and Pokémon: Johto League Champions premiered on Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network sold DVDs of Pokémon in Hindi dub middle in 2004. A separate Cartoon Network feed affiliated with Cartoon Network India was launched for the Pakistani audience in 2004, and was also later made available in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Due to this affiliation, both channels broadcast the anime simultaneously. With Pokémon: Master Quest, Cartoon Network India introduced two additional dubs, Tamil and Telugu. The original series concluded its first complete run in mid-2005.

The first two seasons of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, Pokémon: Advanced and Pokémon: Advanced Challenge, made their South Asian debut in 2006. While 2008 marked the first run for Pokémon: Advanced Battle and Pokémon: Battle Frontier in the respective territories. Unlike its predecessors, the ninth season aired on Cartoon Network Pakistan two weeks after its Indian debut.

Furthermore, Cartoon Network introduced a one-hour block, Dastaan-e-Pokémon, that aired reruns from the first seven seasons.

The first season of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl premiered in Pakistan on November 9, 2009, making it the first season to air on the network before its debut on Cartoon Network India, which aired it a week later. Cartoon Network Pakistan skipped 23 episodes, from O'er the Rampardos We Watched! to A Stand-Up Sit-Down!, due to unknown reasons and wrapped up the season in mere five weeks. However, the episodes were aired in their correct order during reruns. In early 2011, after an eight-year run on Cartoon Network India, the channel dropped Pokémon anime after finishing Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension's first run.

Pogo TV logo

Later on, the anime was picked up by Cartoon Network India's sister channel, Pogo. The channel aired Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles and Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors in 2011. However, The Fleeing Tower Of Sunyshore! and Teaching the Student Teacher! were skipped and aired later during reruns. In 2013, Pogo premiered the fourteenth season of the anime and some creative changes were made along with it, including new voice actors for the narrator and Delia Ketchum and several moves retained their English names. The Dragon Master's Path! and Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia! were skipped, but they were later broadcast during reruns.

On June 27, 2014, Cartoon Network India announced through its official Facebook page that Pokémon would be returning to Cartoon Network. The channel began airing Pokémon: Black & White until Meowth's Scrafty Tactics, from July 2 to August 6. During 2014, Cartoon Network India introduced several blocks like PokéHours, Poké-New Year, Karo Haasil to promote Pokémon: Black & White through audiences. It later finished the season's first run by airing it at a late-night time slot. Pokémon the Series: Black & White premiered on Cartoon Network Pakistan in the same year.

Disney India

Hungama TV logo

Around the beginning of 2014, Disney bought the rights to Pokémon. However, Disney did not acquire the rights for the anime's previous dubs, so the anime was re-dubbed. The re-dubs have more Hinglish words and sentences that the Cartoon Network dub, mirroring the recent trends in spoken Hindi in urban India.

Red Pokémon logo used for some seasons

With Pokémon, I Choose You!, Hungama TV began airing the original series on May 19, 2014. Unlike Cartoon Network and Pogo, since Hungama TV has no English audio feed, the anime aired only in Hindi. Starting with the second season, the channel began to include the Who's That Pokémon? segment in episodes. As with the Cartoon Network airings, several episodes were skipped or aired out of order. Starting from the third season, the channel also started using a red logo for Pokémon, instead of the yellow one used internationally. Some episodes of the third season were aired with additional Tamil and Telegu dubs, but not all episodes were dubbed in those languages until Johto League Champions started. From Two Hits and a Miss to The Joy of Water Pokémon, Hungama TV often skipped parts of the episode before the title card, which were later restored during reruns on Disney XD. With the fifth season, Hungama TV aired the anime continuously until You're a Star, Larvitar in June 2015. Disney XD began airing reruns of episodes that had already aired on Hungama TV with the first 10 episodes of Pokémon: Indigo League on August 7, 2016.

Disney XD logo

The remaining original series episodes would later be aired as part of the sixth season starting on August 31, 2015, while the Hoenn portion of Pokémon: Advanced aired on Hungama TV from September 16, 2015 to November 18, 2015. From February 15, 2016 to April 28, 2016, episodes from Pokémon: Advanced Challenge premiered on Hungama TV. In addition, throughout the anime's run on Hungama, a number of new blocks were introduced that were dedicated exclusively to the series, including PokéThon, PokéVaar, and PakdoThon. Although Disney XD India had previously aired the first seven seasons after Hungama TV, new episodes moved to Disney XD India with episodes of Pokémon: Advanced Battle until Like a Meowth to a Flame from May 7, 2018 to May 31, 2018. Although Disney XD has an English audio feed unlike Hungama, the anime aired in Hindi on both the English and Hindi audio feeds. The channel later completed the season's first run in October 2018.

Marvel HQ logo

On May 24, 2017, Prasad Barve announced that he will reprise his role as Ash for the tenth season.^[8] Disney XD aired episodes from two new seasons, Pokémon: Battle Frontier and Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl starting from the same day, November 12, 2018. For unknown reasons, Disney XD wrapped up both the seasons together in just one week, skipping Home is Where the Start Is! which was aired later during reruns. The tenth season had a complete cast change comprising of completely different voice actors in the Hindi version while the Tamil and Telugu versions continued using their old cast. In spite of the changes to the cast, every main character except Ash has been voiced by similar-sounding actors in the re-dubs and the Cartoon Network dub. Beginning on January 20, 2019, Disney XD was rebranded as Marvel HQ in India, although the channel continues to air the Pokémon anime. From May 13, 2019 to May 24, 2019, Marvel HQ aired episodes from the eleventh season Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension until Fighting Fear with Fear, from where they used their old voice actors in the Hindi dub and changed the voice actors in the Tamil dub. Starting from this season, the channel stopped using the red logo for Pokémon and now uses the original yellow logo. The season re-aired on Hungama TV from August 10, 2019 to August 30, 2019, thus marking the return of the anime on the channel since 2016, and it completed the remaining episodes of the season, which didn't air on Marvel HQ.

Disney International HD logo

On July 8, 2019, the English dub of the twelfth season, Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles, started airing on Disney International HD, while Hungama TV and Marvel HQ continued to air the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs of the previous seasons of the anime. The thirteenth season, Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors, aired on Marvel HQ from September 2, 2019 to September 13, 2019, in all three regional dubs. From November to December 2019, Hungama TV aired the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu versions of Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles till A Rivalry to Gible On. The season re-aired on Marvel HQ from October 31 to November 27, 2020, and the remaining episodes, which didn't air on Hungama TV, were completed in the overnight slot.

The fourteenth season, Pokémon: Black & White, premiered on Marvel HQ on July 3, 2021. The channel completed the initial run of the season on 4 July within 2 days by airing episodes back-to-back on the "Pokémon Overnight" programming block and started reruns of the season weekdays in the morning slot from 5 July. The title card and Who's That Pokémon? segments of all episodes were skipped. Both title card and Who's That Pokemon? was later restored in short Hungama Reruns (some episodes) during October to november.Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies premiered for the first time in South Asia on Marvel HQ on September 18, 2021 with Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader and Dazzling the Nimbasa Gym. Unlike previous seasons, this time the English dub aired on the English audio feed and the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs on their respective audio feeds; although initially, this was the case only till The Mighty Accelguard to the Rescue, the remaining episodes of the season were also aired in English audio during reruns on Super Hungama. Title cards were aired this time but not Who's That Pokémon? segments. The season resumed airing on the channel with the remaining episodes from September 27, 2021 and completed its initial run on October 28, 2021. In the mid of the season run, Marvel HQ introduced a block, Pokémon Season, in which they promoted, the reruns of the previous seasons in the morning and evening slots named as Super Mornings and Super Evenings respectively, the airings of the fifteenth season as New Episodes and also teased the upcoming movie premieres on the channel, like the seventeenth and the eighteenth movies.

Super Hungama logo

Disney Channel India logo

On March 1, 2022, Marvel HQ was rebranded to Super Hungama. The channel continues to air the anime^[9]. Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond premiered on Disney Channel on June 3, 2022 with Beauties Battling for Pride and Prestige, A Surface to Air Tag Battle Team and A Village Homecoming. The channel continued airing the season from June 10, 2022 and completed its initial run on July 14, 2022. The season re-aired on Super Hungama from August 15, 2022.

Pokémon XY logo used in India

The first two episodes of Pokémon the Series: XY, Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin and Lumoise City Pursuit, debuted on Hungama TV on May 9, 2015 without a prior announcement. The network announced more new episodes from Pokémon the Series: XY, which later aired alongside the channel's first run of the earlier seasons. Similar to previous instances, the episode title cards were skipped and a new logo was used for the series. After a month-long hiatus, Hungama TV resumed airing new episodes on August 1, 2015, skipping A Conspiracy to Conquer and Breaking Titles at the Chateau which were aired later during reruns on Marvel HQ. It completed the initial run of the season on November 14, 2015. The season re-aired on Marvel HQ from March 20 to March 31, 2021, and some of the episode titles cards were restored during the re-runs.

POP

POP logo

The English dub of Pokémon Journeys: The Series began airing on Mondays, Thurdays, and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. on POP in Pakistan starting in 2021.

Voot

In India, the Disney dubs of the anime episodes and the first 21 movies are available on Voot, a streaming service by Viacom 18, making it the first time the anime has been available through a streaming service in India. Episodes from the first and second season are available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu; while episodes from the third to eighth seasons were only available in English and Hindi. The Hindi dub of the last episodes of the eighth season premiered on the service before it aired on Disney XD. Scenes such as recap of previous episodes, Who's That Pokémon? and Pokémon Trainer's Choice segments and "To Be Continued" shots are skipped, although the scenes deleted during TV airings are restored on Voot. In November 2019, Voot split its children content from the main service into a separate service called Voot Kids, which requires a separate subscription and has only kids content and additional parental control features. A number of titles, including the Pokémon anime, are now available only on Voot Kids.

Earlier, only the first eight seasons were available to stream on Voot Kids. However, starting from October 15, 2021, episodes from the ninth, tenth and eleventh seasons are also made available on Voot Kids in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Starting from April 2022, seasons three to eight are also made available in Tamil and Telugu audio feed in Voot Kids with few episodes one by one every few days.

YouTube

A Hindi dub of Pokémon Journeys: The Series premiered on Pokémon Asia Official (Hindi) YouTube Channel on October 29, 2021, which was previously named as Pokémon India. The original cast from Disney was mostly retained. However, voices of many of the appearing Pokémon were changed from the English dub for the first few episodes.

The Tamil, Telugu and Bengali dubs of Pokémon Journeys: The Series are premiered on their respective YouTube Channels, Pokémon Asia Official (Tamil), Pokémon Asia Official (Telugu) and Pokémon Asia Official (Bengali), on 14th January, 2022.

Pokémon movies and specials

On November 14, 2006, Cartoon Network India aired Mewtwo Returns as a part of its Children's Day programming.^[10]

Cartoon Network began airing Pokémon Chronicles on June 11, 2009. That year, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew also premiered on both Cartoon Network India and Pakistan. Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea premiered on Cartoon Network Pakistan in 2009, but would not debut on Cartoon Network India until the following year. Cartoon Network India has aired several Pikachu shorts; however, they were not aired alongside their accompanying movies. Christmas Night and Kanga Games were aired together as Pikachu's Winter Vacations. Winter Games and Pikachu & Pichu were also aired together.

In 2011, Cartoon Network and Pogo TV aired The Rise of Darkrai. Starting in 2014, the movie aired on Tata Sky's CN+ service. That year, Cartoon Network Pakistan also aired Giratina and the Sky Warrior and Arceus and the Jewel of Life, as well as Zoroark - Master of Illusions in 2012. However, that dub has not been released in India, with those three movies being aired later as a part of the Hungama/Marvel HQ dub run.

Hungama TV has so far aired the first eight movies and the tenth through sixteenth movies, with Marvel HQ airing the seventeenth and eighteenth movies. Seventeenth movie was the first one to premiere on Marvel HQ before Hungama. Many scenes, including the opening and ending themes, are often skipped. Despite the fact that Hungama TV airs material provided by TPCi for the anime episodes, the Hindi dub for the first eight movies used footage from the Japanese version. While Cartoon Network and Pogo used to keep the name of the movie the same as the English dub, Disney India come up with dub names for the movies and new logos. Marvel HQ (formerly Disney XD India) and Disney Channel India also airs the Hungama dub of the Pokémon movies. Zoroark: Master of Illusions was due to air on Hungama TV on December 22, 2019, with promos for the Hindi dub being aired, but the premiere was cancelled for undisclosed reasons. The movie, however, later premiered on the channel on January 25, 2020.

Black—Victini and Reshiram premiered for the first time in South Asia on Hungama TV on June 20, 2020. Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice premiered on Hungama TV on June 27, 2020. Genesect and the Legend Awakened premiered on Hungama TV in India on 7 November 2020.^[11]

Mega Evolution Special I aired on November 21, 2015 on Hungama TV and on March 30, 2021 on Marvel HQ.

Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction premiered on Marvel HQ on October 15, 2021, with the channel previously teasing the release of the movie in the promo of Pokémon Season. For the first time, both the opening and ending themes were kept intact for this movie and although Marvel HQ aired the promo of the movie in English as well, the movie aired only in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Hoopa and the Clash of Ages premiered on Marvel HQ on November 4, 2021.

I Choose You! was listed for released in Indian cinemas in 2019^[12], which would have made it the first animated Pokémon movie to be released in theaters in India. However, it was ultimately not released in Indian theatres.

Detective Pikachu was released in Indian cinemas in both English and Hindi on May 10, 2019.^[13]

Starting from October 15, 2021, the first 21 movies of Pokémon anime were made available for streaming on Voot Kids. The first through eighth and tenth movies are available only in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, movies eleventh through eighteenth are available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu while the ninth and the nineteenth through twenty-first movies are available only in English. The Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs of the eighteenth movie premiered on the service even though the movie was yet to be premiered on TV at that time. All the deleted scenes, including the opening and ending themes from the earlier movies, are restored.

Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution released on Netflix India on February 27, 2020 in English, Hindi, and Japanese making it first time a Pokémon movie premiered on a streaming service. The Hindi dub of the movie used the Disney dub voice actors.

Secrets of the Jungle premiered on Netflix India on October 8, 2021 in English and Hindi.

• Mewtwo Ka Badla.png

  Mewtwo Ka Badla

• Ash Pikachu aur Lugia in Danger.png

  Ash Pikachu aur Lugia in Danger

• Unown ka Tehelka.png

  Unown ka Tehelka

• Khatre ka Jungle.png

  Khatre Ka Jungle

• Soul Dew ka Raaz Latias and Latios.png

  Soul Dew Ka Raaz: Latias and Latios

• POKEMON MOVIE 6 HINDI LOGO.png

  Jirachi Ka Wonder

• Deoxy aur Tori ki Story.png

  Deoxy aur Tori ki Story

• Lucario ki Toofani Shakti.png

  Lucario ki Toofani Shakti

• Darkrai - Dost ya Dushman.png

  Darkrai - Dost ya Dushman

• Giratina aur ek Mahaa Yodhha.png

  Giratina aur ek Mahaa Yodhha

• Arceus Aur Jeevan Ka Jewel.png

  Arceus Aur Jeevan Ka Jewel

• Zoroark Mayajaal Ka Ustaad.png

  Zoroark Mayajaal Ka Ustaad

• Victini Aur Reshiram.png

  Victini Aur Reshiram

• Kyurem Ka Muqabala.png

  Kyurem Ka Muqabala

• Genesect Aur Mewtwo Ek Shaandar Kahani.png

  Genesect Aur Mewtwo: Ek Shaandar Kahani

• Dabang Diancie Aur Diamond.png

  Dabang Diancie Aur Diamond

• Hoopa And The Magic Rings.png

  Hoopa And The Magic Rings

• 

  Pokémon Detective Pikachu

• Mewtwo Ka Hamla Evolution.png

  Mewtwo Ka Hamla Evolution

• Jungle Ka Raaz.png

  Jungle Ka Raaz

Cast and crew

Hindi dub

Tamil dub

Telugu dub

Music

Main article: List of Hindi Pokémon themes

Main article: List of Tamil Pokémon themes

Main article: List of Telugu Pokémon themes

Like most dubs based on the English dub, the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu dubs under both Cartoon Network and Disney generally dub the original English openings into the respective language. Songs used in episodes have also been dubbed.

From the middle of the second run of the season, Cartoon Network replaced the opening Black and White with an original Hindi song.

Hungama TV has made a Pokérap as an ending theme for the anime series and the movies. They also made Pokéraps for the Orange Islands, Johto, and Hoenn arcs to promote upcoming seasons of Pokémon.

Although Hungama TV normally skips the Japanese opening and ending themes of the movies entirely, a few seconds from the instrumental version of バトルフロンティア （映画バージョン） Battle Frontier (Movie Version) were used on a loop, serving as the opening theme for its dub of the eighth movie. An instrumental version of This is a Beautiful World was used as the ending theme to the eleventh movie.

With the release of first 21 movies on Voot Kids on October 15, 2021, all the deleted scenes, including the opening and ending themes from the earlier movies, are restored on the service. The Japanese openings and endings of the first and second movies are dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, while the same for the remaining movies are all left undubbed, with some of them either using an instrumental version of their respective themes, or others keeping the Japanese or English themes intact. The Voot Kids Hindi version of the seventeenth movie used the Hindi versions of We Will Be Heroes, Battle Cry - (Stand Up!) and We Will Carry On! as the opening theme and the Tamil and Telugu versions used an instrumental version of Pokémon Theme (Version XY) as the opening, although the opening version of the movie aired on Marvel HQ used the instrumental version of Pokémon Theme (Version XY) as opening theme for the Hindi version as well.

For the Hindi dubs of Secrets of the Jungle on Netflix India and Pokémon Journeys: The Series on Pokémon Asia Official (Hindi) YouTube Channel, the opening and ending themes were not dubbed.

Pokémon manga

English-translated Pokémon manga was distributed in India by Chuang Yi. It is also available on online stores such as Amazon.

This section is a stub. You can help Bulbapedia by expanding it.

Pokémon merchandise

• Pokémon was an instant hit in India and was one of the number one kids shows on TV. Due to its huge popularity, many pirated Pokémon products are sold in India.^[16]
  • In fact, a popular belief among fans in the early 2000s was that original trading cards are not available in any store in India.
• Pokémon Rakhis were available in India, with Pikachu and the starter Pokémon of Unova region.
• Pokémon collectibles were available for free in Cheetos snack packs.^[17]
• On the Toonami block, Cartoon Network hosted a contest titled "Toonami-Game On Video Game Championship" in 2006, with Pokémon merchandise given out as prizes.^[7]
• Pokémon toys were available as toy gifts of McDonald's Happy Meals. These toys were spoons featuring Pikachu and other starters.^[18] Different set of small figures of Pikachu, Meowth, Psyduck, Torchic, Totodile, Squirtle, Magikarp, and Vulpix were made available in Happy Meals in November 2018. Unlike the previous promotion, it was advertised by McDonald's.^[19]
• Pokémon Black and White merchandise is available in India from Reliance Home video and games.
• Pokémon XY merchandise is launched in India by Dreamtheatre, available in physical stores and online sites such as Flipkart and Snapdeal.
• Pokémon merchandise like books, toys, etc are available on on-ground shops as well as online sites.
• Holi Pichkaris (Water Guns) were available during 2014 and 2015^[20].
• Pokémon Kites were available for sale^[21].
• A Pokémon contest was held by Hungama TV in 2015, which gave out Pokémon merchandise as prizes.^[22]
• Pokémon XY Products/toys with the original logo are distributed by Funskool India.^[23]
• Pokémon Evolution Cards and 3D figurines of Pikachu, the Kanto starter Pokémon, and Jigglypuff were distributed with the breakfast cereal Chocos.
• Pokémon cards and cutouts are distributed with Cadbury Gems and other products.

External links

• The Pokémon Company official website (India)
  • Pokémon India on Facebook
  • Pokémon Asia Official (Hindi) on YouTube
• Cartoon Network India official website
• Cartoon Network India official Facebook page
• Pogo TV official website
• Hungama TV official website
• Voot

References

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