Pokémon in the Arab world

Pokémon in the Arab world
	; Flag of the Arab League
	; Flag of the Arab League
Language	Arabic
Continent	Arab world
Original animated series airdates
EP001	2000
AG001	December 24, 2005
DP001	Never aired
BW001	Never aired
XY001	Never aired
SM001	Never aired
JN001	February 27, 2021 (UAE only); July 1, 2021 (Other territories)
HZ001	February 27, 2024 (UAE only); February 27, 2025 (Other territories)

The Pokémon franchise reached the Arab world in 2000, with the first broadcast of "!بوكيمون، لقد اخترتك انت" in Arabic on the television channel MBC. To date, none of the Pokémon video games have received official Arabic translations or releases from Nintendo in the region. Nevertheless, copies of the games imported from North America and Europe were distributed in various places, particularly within the GCC countries, as early as 1998.

Upon its initial run, the franchise was a huge commercial success in the region, but later became the subject of a major controversy regarding the TCG and the animated series.

Production on the Arabic dub was initially done in Syria, while later seasons were dubbed in Lebanon.

Currently, the animated series is available on Netflix, with new episodes of Pokémon Horizons: The Series being released. Older seasons are availble on Pokémon TV's YouTube channel.

Localization

The word Pokémon is written as بوكيمون and pluralized as بوكيمونات. Pokémon are always referred to as either male or female, since Arabic has no neutral grammatical gender.

While almost all characters, Pokémon, and locations have kept their English names in the Arabic version, some objects in the franchise received Arabic names. The Poké Ball, for example, has been dubbed as كرة البوكي (Kurt Al-Poké), the Poké Flute received the name مزمار البوكي (Mizmar Al-Poké) and so on. Team Rocket was changed to: عصابة الرداء الأبيض 'isabat Ar-Redda Al-Abiadh. Additionally, the name of Pallet Town has been translated as قرية شورباك Qaryat Shoreback. However, these names were not carried over when the Arabic localization was revived after a long hiatus, and the newer dubs are more faithful to the English localization.

Controversy

Background

Similar to the Pokémania phenomenon in the United States, the launch of the Pokémon franchise in the Arab world in 2000 triggered a wave of popularity, approaching the level of a cultural phenomenon. Stores quickly became flooded with a wide range of Pokémon merchandise, and the animated series rapidly appeared on television channels throughout the region.

However, this surge in interest also led some parents and school teachers to express concerns over children's excessive attachment to the series. Critics pointed out the franchise's commercial nature, arguing that it primarily encouraged children to spend their money on toys, trading cards, and other related products. Some accused the franchise of promoting "un-Islamic values," such as violence and gambling,^[3] while others claimed it advanced anti-creationist ideas such as the theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest, with some alleging it sought to promote atheism among Muslim youth.

Meanwhile rumors started circulating that the franchise was part of a Zionist conspiracy,^[4]^[5] and that Pokémon names were actually Hebrew words intended to insult Islam.^[6]^[7] Media outlets began reporting on these claims, further fueling the controversy. Consequently, Pokémon products, particularly the trading card game, were banned in schools, while several television stations removed the animated series from their airwaves as the franchise was blacklisted.

The controversy garnered significant public attention, prompting the Japanese embassy in Saudi Arabia to issue statements clarifying the franchise's Japanese origins and denying any connection to political or religious ideologies.^[8]

Fatwa against the franchise

In March 2001, following months of controversy and public backlash, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, issued a fatwā banning the Pokémon franchise. The fatwā claimed that the franchise promoted Zionism by displaying a six-pointed star that resembled the Star of David as well as other religious symbols such as crosses they associated with Christianity and triangles they associated with Freemasonry in the TCG. It also claimed the games encouraged gambling due to the inclusion of gambling elements, which is in violation of Muslim doctrine.^[9]^[10]^[11]

High Muslim authorities in Qatar and Egypt then joined the ban.^[12]^[13]^[14] As this happened during the second Intifada, a Jordanian newspaper printed a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sitting in a tank and laughing at an Arab man chasing a Pokémon.^[15]^[16] This is meant to convey that Arabs are distracted from their conflict with the Israelis by popular franchises, with Pokémon as an example of such "distractions."^[17]

The initial banning quickly wiped away Pokémon merchandise, especially the card game, from markets in Saudi Arabia. Despite this, Pokémon video games quickly returned to the market, but with less demand from local consumers. Some Pokémon merchandise, such as the Expedition Base Set, reappeared in certain stores a few years later, but newer sets were never brought. Games from Generation III on were completely unaffected by the ban.

Bulbanews

Bulbanews has an article related to this subject:

BattleZone to hold first National Championships in United Arab Emirates

A fatwā was also issued in the U.A.E. emirate of Dubai, however no bans officially occurred.^[18] Although the U.A.E. takes its Islamic identity seriously like most Arab states, actions based solely on fatwā would violate its federal constitution. Regardless of this, the licensed local distributor ceased importing Pokémon cards into the U.A.E. until the early 2010s, when the TCG experienced a resurgence among local players. In 2016, the U.A.E. became the first Arab country to be officially sanctioned by The Pokémon Company International to hold official Play! Pokémon events.

Pokémon video games

Before the earliest Pokémon games, Nintendo products did not have much presence in Arab countries, as most faced various political and economical challenges that made such products unattractive markets at the time. Throughout the 1980s, most demographics considered 8-bit home computer products a preferable choice for gaming before their gradual decline. However, by the early 1990s, as particular economies in the GCC countries thrived, various independent distributors based in those countries pushed to introduce gaming consoles after they became popular and competitive commodities in Western markets, including Nintendo's products. Although the video game market grew in the GCC countries, for many years there was little effort for standardization among distributors and retailers, causing a discrepancy as both PAL and NTSC hardware and software were sold off the same shelves. Consequently, by the time Pokémon Red and Blue launched the first time in 1998, units available were imported from both Europe and North America. To this day, Nintendo-published products, including Pokémon video games, remain the only gaming products to be imported from both regions into the GCC, despite other publishers focused on importing units solely from Europe.

Nintendo (and by extension Nintendo of America) have long considered the GCC markets as part of the greater Asia, thus officially opting to localize NTSC-U North American (NA) products for these markets de jure by the late 1990s, albeit both PAL and NTSC^[19] Nintendo products de facto continued to co-exist. Itochu Corporation's Dubai branch was originally assigned to officially distribute Nintendo's NA products within the GCC markets,^[20] before ending its collaboration in 2000. By the early 2000s, Active Boeki, distributor for Southeast Asian countries, gradually took over NA distribution duties. It took a while to release Pokémon games due to the 2001 fatwā issued against it. However, no official bans against the games were made in any country. Working alongside the local resellers, in 2010 Active Boeki founded Dubai-based affiliate Active Gulf to represent them alongside Nintendo and The Pokémon Company within the GCC markets. Although the NA Wii and Nintendo DS hardware did have localized packaging made for the U.A.E., the NA Nintendo 3DS became the first Nintendo console officially released under Active Gulf, and it launched in all GCC countries on the same day as the United States in March 2011. The NA launch of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were the first Pokémon games authorized by The Pokémon Company to be distributed specifically by Active Boeki for the GCC and Southeast Asian markets.

In August 2016, the GCAM introduced the official video game age rating system for Saudi Arabia; Pokémon Sun and Moon were the first Pokémon games released under Saudi Arabia's official age rating, although Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were the first to feature the age rating hard-printed on the case cover. In January 2018, the NMC introduced the official video game age rating system for the United Arab Emirates; Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! were the first Pokémon games released under the U.A.E.'s official age rating. In 2021, most of the NMC's functions were taken over by the Media Regulatory Office. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl became the first games to be rated by the MRO.

In the 1990s, Nintendo Co., Ltd. were involved with distribution in Africa,^[21] although it did not specifically focus on Arabic-speaking countries in North Africa. In 2002, Nintendo of Europe took on executive control to supply Nintendo's PAL products for various low-key distributors within the GCC and other Arab countries in the Levant region and Egypt. In the case of the latter two, the markets remain mixed for gaming in general, including Nintendo and Pokémon, due to on-going political and economical challenges. Regardless, NOE continues to import its products into all these countries to this day.

In 2024, Nintendo of Europe took over sales in Saudi Arabia from NCL/NOA, with distribution now being handled by AIC Trading.^[22]

Pokémon animation and live action

The Arabic dub

The Arabic dub of Pokémon is based on the English version produced by 4Kids Entertainment. The series was initially dubbed into Arabic in 2000 by the Syria-based "Venus Center" (مركز الزهرة), with distribution rights held by "KM Productions". However, due to the controversy in 2001, Venus Center, a company known for its conservative values, decided to sever ties with the Pokémon franchise and ceased production after Season 2. Following this, Km Productions transferred the dubbing responsibilities to their studios in Lebanon.

In 2001, "Super M Productions" studios, located in Beirut, took over dubbing from episode 106 onwards, covering Seasons 3 and 4 between 2001 and 2002. Production was then put on hold for almost three years before resuming in 2005, when Super M began dubbing Season 6 from episode 263. The episodes of Season 5 (Master Quest), spanning episodes 210 to 262, were skipped for unknown reasons.

The Arabic dub production was eventually canceled around 2006 due to a variety of factors, including 4Kids Entertainment losing its dubbing rights and Lebanese company failing to reach an agreement with the new rights holders.

Later, the four Pokémon movies distributed by Miramax: Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, Heroes: Latios & Latias, Jirachi: Wish Maker, and Destiny Deoxys—were dubbed into Arabic. These films featured a completely new cast of voice actors compared to the series and were released directly on DVD.^[23]

In 2019, Netflix acquired the distribution rights for Pokémon in the region and revived the Arabic dub, beginning with Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution. This marked the first new Pokémon media dubbed into Arabic in over a decade. Netflix also released Pokémon Journeys: The Series followed by Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, The Arceus Chronicles, Pokémon Concierge and Pokémon Horizons: The Series.

The new dub was produced in Lebanon by "Image Production House Studios",^[24]^[25] in partnership with the Iyuno-SDI Group. Several voice actors from the earlier Super M Productions returned to reprise their roles, ensuring continuity in the dub.^[26]

Season	Dubbing studio	Original broadcaster	Time slot	Debut episode	Final episode	Episodes
Pokémon: Indigo League			Daily at 12pm GMT	!بوكيمون، لقد اخترتك انت 2000	مركز تدريب البوكيمونات 2000	52
Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands			Daily at 12pm GMT	نجمة مهرجان التسوق 2000	تجمد تشاريزارد 2000	52
Pokémon: The Johto Journeys	Super M Productions		Daily at 5pm KSA time/ 2pm GMT	حرب البوكيمون المائية November 25, 2001^[27]	البحث عن الشهرة 2002	52
Pokémon: Johto League Champions	Super M Productions		Daily at 5pm KSA time/ 2pm GMT	فرصة ذهبية January 1, 2003^[28]	البوكيمون ماتشوك 2003	52
Pokémon: Master Quest	None	None	None	Unaired	Unaired	None
Pokémon: Advanced	Super M Productions		Daily at 6:30am Lebanon time	الانون المجهول December 10, 2005^[29]	مشكلة واتسون 2006	52
رحلة البوكيمون: المسلسل			Thursday to Saturday 4:35pm UAE time (e-Junior TV)	!دخول بيكاتشو February 27, 2021 (e-Junior TV) July 1, 2021 (Netflix)	!النجاة بأعجوبة July 1, 2021 (Netflix)	48
رحلة سيد البوكيمون: المسلسل				!أن نتدرب أو لا نتدرب September 2, 2022	‏مواجهة عند بوابات وورب!‏ September 2, 2022	42
رحلة البوكيمون القصوى: المسلسل				!القطار الشبح November 24, 2023	!إنها بداية شيء مهم November 24, 2023	42
بوكيمون: أن تكون سيد بوكيمون				!مناطق المغامرات القديمة November 24, 2023	!السماء الزرقاء البعيدة November 24, 2023	12
آفاق البوكيمون: المسلسل			Fridays 4:35pm UAE time (e-Junior TV)	قلادة البداية، الجزء الأول February 27, 2024 (e-Junior TV) February 27, 2025 (Netflix)	من مكان بعيد جداً January 3, 2025 (e-Junior TV) February 27, 2025 (Netflix)	45
آفاق البوكيمون: الموسم 2 - البحث عن لاكوا				HZ046	HZ089	44
آفاق البوكيمون: الموسم 3- ربيع الأحلام				HZ090	File:HZ136.png HZ136	47

The animated series initially premiered in 2000 exclusively on "MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center)", a free-to-air, pan-region satellite channel.^[30]^[31] Due to its massive popularity, it quickly spread to other regional channels, mostly government-owned stations in diffrent countries such as Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Algeria, and Morocco..

However, in 2001, following a wave of controversy and boycotts, many TV stations took the series off air to avoid public backlash. MBC ended their contracts with KM Productions, and the broadcasting rights were taken over by a Saudi Arabia private network, the "Arab Radio and Television Network (ART)".

From Season 3 onwards, the series mainly aired on "ART Teenz", a children's channel within the ART Network,^[32] and on "New TV (تلفزيون الجديد)", an independent Lebanese satellite channel that primarily targets a Christian Arab audience. The series was also syndicated occasionally on few other channels the like government-owned TV stations in some countries like Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, meaning no official ban was issued in these countries.

New TV began airing the series in 2004, with reruns of the first four seasons airing every morning at 6:30 AM local time, and by December 2005, Season 6 started airing exclusively on the channel.^[33]^[34]^[35]^[36] The season would later air the following fall on ART Teenz.^[37]

MBC 3, another prominent children' s channel in the region as well as a part of the "MBC" network, would sometimes broadcast different Pokémon movies (M02 to M07) in the English dub with Arabic subtitles, with the most recent one being POKÉMON Detective Pikachu in 2022.

Movie	Broadcast date
Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One	December 3, 2009
Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown: Entei	August 22, 2006
Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: The Voice of the Forest	February 23, 2007
Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias	February 13, 2008
Pokémon: Jirachi: Wish Maker	May 14, 2010
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys	June 30, 2010
POKÉMON Detective Pikachu	July 16, 2022

e-Junior began airing episodes of the English dub of Pokémon Journeys: The Series on January 1, 2021. On February 27, to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary, an Arabic audio track was added, marking the first time since the dub's cancellation in 2006 that new Pokémon episodes were dubbed into Arabic and aired on television.^[38] In 2024, to celebrate Pokémon Day, Pokémon Horizons: The Series premiered exclusively on the channel featuring both an English and an Arabic audio track.^[39] The channel also occasionally airs reruns of older Pokémon seasons in the English dub, as well as hosting a number of Pokémon movies on their VOD service "e Junior On Demand".

In 2021, following the Arabic dubbing and subsequent release of Pokémon Journeys: The Series on Netflix, several Arabic satellite TV channels aired pirated copies of this dub, due to governments' lack of interest in reinforcing broadcasting and copyright regulations.

Country	Channels aired
Country	Pan region via satellite	Local stations
Algeria	MBC (S01 to S02 first run) ART Teenz (S03 to S04 first run, S01 to S02, S06 syndicated reruns) New TV (S06 first run, S01 to S04 syndicated reruns)	Television Algérienne (S01 to S03)
Bahrain		Bahrain TV (Spacetoon block)
Egypt		Egyptian Second Channel (S01 to S02)
Iraq		Al Iraqiya (S01) Shabab TV
Jordan		Al-Urdunniyya (S01 to S03)
Kuwait		Kuwait Television (S01 to S02)
Lebanon		inn (S01) New TV (S01 to S06) MTV Lebanon
Libya
Morocco, Western Sahara		2M (Terrestrial broadcast only) (S01 to S06 Arabic dub, S01 to S10 French dub)
Oman		Oman TV (S01 to S02)
Qatar		Qatar Television (S01 to S02)
Saudi Arabia		MBC (S01 to S02) ART Teenz (S01 to S06) ART Ein (S01 to S04)
Sudan
Syria		Channel 1 (Syrian TV channel) (S01 to S02)
Tunisia		Tunis 7 (S01 to S03)
United Arab Emirates		Emarat TV Dubai TV (S01 to S02) Ajman TV e-Junior (S23; Pokémon Horizons: The Series Dual audio: Arabic and English, S24 to S25 English dub only)
Yemen		Yemen TV (S01 to S02)

Dub edits

Some names were changed, such as Prof. Oak to Prof. Akai, Pallet Town to The Village of Shoreback and Team Rocket to The White Robe Gang.
- In EP157, The Team Rocket duo Butch and Cassidy were dubbed The Black Robe Gang as rivals to the Team Rocket trio (The White Robe Gang), with both "gangs" operating under the leadership of Giovanni.
- Prof. Oak and Pallet Town reverted to their original names starting from EP106, while Team Rocket's name reverted in the Miramax and Netflix dubs.
In EP006, Clefable was referred to as Ariala, its prototype name.
Due to the Arabic language having no neutral grammatical gender, Pokémon appearing in the series are often gendered randomly. Though they're mostly referred to with masculine language, there are exceptions, such as Snorlax in EP041.
- In Pokemon Journeys: The Series, Chloe's Eevee is sometimes referred to as a female and sometimes referred to as a male.
In EP110 and EP116, the song 2.B.A. Master was replaced by Pokémon Karaokémon.
The Pokemon Johto opening footage along with the season 01 theme song were reused in seasons 04 to 06, with the cold open playing after the opening theme and before the title card, similar to the Japanese version.
Starting from EP158, the Who's that Pokémon? segment was removed and replaced with only the logo of the series appearing on the screen.^[40] It was restored starting from JN001.
- Also starting with EP158, episodes titles are no longer visually localized and are only pronounced vocally.
None of the songs featured in M04 to M07 were dubbed to Arabic, and the instrumentals are used instead.
During seasons 01 and 02, some episodes' story-lines were altered to align with the cultural and religious regulations of Arab countries.

Venus Center's censorship

Much like 4Kids Entertainment's tendency to edit some parts of the animated series to make it more appropriate for an American audience, Venus Center also adopts a similar approach by modifying their works to cater to an Arab audience. This typically involves the removal or alteration of scenes featuring any display of affection or partial nudity, as well as scenes depicting any non Islamic religious symbolism like the Christian cross.

A prime example of this censorship is EP020, where the plot of the episode was altered by creating new story lines to avoid elements related to the supernatural, spirits, ghosts, and other aspects of Japanese mythology, with several scenes being cut completely. Another example is EP022, where one scene was removed because it featured a character holding a card that had a six-pointed star that resembles the Star of David. This resulted in these two episodes being re-dubbed when S01 was added to Netflix in 2017.

Due to the conservative nature of Arab culture, forms of affection and romance are deemed inappropriate, particularly in children's programming. Consequently, Brock’s interactions with female characters such as Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny are often cut or dubbed into a normal conversation without him displaying any kind of romantic interest. Because Netflix and Pokémon TV only add the Arabic dub as a secondary audio track to the English episode, these edits are easily noticeable, as there are several scenes where Brock's mouth is moving but the dialogue is not dubbed, and instead one of the other characters is speaking, sometimes this causes the audio to become out of sync, this can be seen in other episodes such as EP058, EP100 and EP103.

In contrast to "Venus Center"'s dub, "Super M Productions" dub remained faithful to the English version, with the dialogue being translated almost word for word. The voice actors were even instructed to imitate the performance of the American actors when delivering their lines.^[41]

Cast

Main characters


Characters	Venus Center _{(EP001-EP105)}	Super M Productions _{(EP106-EP209, EP263-AG040)}	Miramax _(M04-M07)	Netflix _{(EP020;EP022 redub M22-M23, JN001-Present)}
The Narrator	Marwan Farhat (مروان فرحات)	Jihad Al Attrash (جهاد الأطرش) _{(EP106-EP209)} Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي) _{(EP263-AG040)}	Pierre Dagher (بيير داغر) _(M07)	Raymond Francis (ريمون فرنسيس)
Ash Ketchum	Buthaina Shaya (بثينة شيا)	Mona Majzoub (منى مجذوب) _{(EP106-EP209)} Antoinette Akiki (انطوانيت عقيقي) _{(EP263-AG040)}	Unknown voice actor	Rana Al Rifai (رنا الرفاعي)
Misty	Majd Zhazha (مجد ظاظا)	Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي) _{(EP106-EP209)} Asmahan Bitar (أسمهان بيطار) _{(EP263-EP273)}		Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)
Brock	Rafat Bazoo (رأفت بازو) _{(EP005-EP075)} Adel Abo Hassoon (عادل أبو حسون) _{(EP076-EP083)}	Nabil Assaf (نبيل عساف)	Unknown voice actor	Hicham Abou Sleiman (هشام أبو سليمان) _(M22) Gilles Youssif (جيل يوسف) _{(JNS02-JN147)}
Tracey Sketchit	Ayman Al-Salek (أيمن السالك)	Tariq Kaakati (طارق كعكاتي)
May		Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Unknown voice actress
Max		Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	Unknown voice actor
Dawn				Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)
Goh				Lama Maraachli (لمى مرعشلي)
Chloe				Ghadir Bazzi (غدير بزي)
Jessie	Fatima Saad (فاطمة سعد)	Claudia Marchalian (كلوديا مرشليان) _{(EP106-EP157)} Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار) _{(EP158-EP209; EP263-AG040)}	Unknown voice actress	Asmahan Bitar (أسمهان بيطار)
James	Zeyad Errafae'ie (زياد الرفاعي)	Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	Unknown voice actor	Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)
Meowth	Adel Abo Hassoon (عادل أبو حسون)	Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)	Unknown voice actor	Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)
Nurse Joy	Amal Saad Alden (امال سعد الدين) _{(EP002-EP092)} Laura Abou Assaad (لورا أبو أسعد) _{(EP097-EP102)}	Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا) _{(EP106-EP157)} Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار) _{(EP159-EP207, EP267-AG040)}		Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)
Officer Jenny	Fadwa Souleimane (فدوى سليمان) Laura Abou Assaad (لورا أبو أسعد) _{(EP101-EP102)}	Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار) _{(EP106-EP157)} Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي) _{(EP169-EP165)} Asmahan Bitar (أسمهان بيطار) _{(EP267-AG036)}	Carole Abboud (كارول عبود) _(M07)	Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)
Professor Oak	Marwan Farhat (مروان فرحات)	Ismail Nanoua (إسماعيل نعنوع) _{(EP111-EP147)} Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي) _{(EP160-EP195)} Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان) _{(EP266-AG017)}		Saad Hamdan (سعد حمدان)
Gary Oak	Amal Saad Alden (امال سعد الدين)	Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)		Fadi Abboud (فادي عبود)
Delia Ketchum	Anjy Al-Yousif (أنجي اليوسف)	Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)		Souhair Naser El Deen (سهير ناصر الدين)
Giovanni	Rafat Bazoo (رأفت بازو)	Ismail Nanoua (إسماعيل نعنوع) _(EP157) Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي) _{(AG002-AG027)}		Ibrahim Madi (إبراهيم ماضي)

Venus Center

Actor	Main roles
Buthaina Shia (بثينة شيا)	Ash Ketchum
Majd Zhazha (مجد ظاظا)	Misty
Rafat Bazoo (رأفت بازو)	Brock Giovanni
Zeyad Errafae'ie (زياد الرفاعي)	James
Fatima Saad (فاطمة سعد)	Jessie
Adel Abo Hassoon (عادل أبو حسون)	Meowth Lt. Surge Bruno
Marwan Farhat (مروان فرحات)	Narrator Professor Oak The Pokédex Koga Butch Blaine
Amal Saad Alden (آمال سعد الدين)	Nurse Joy Gary Oak Sabrina Todd Snap
Fadwa Souleimane (فدوى سليمان)	Officer Jenny Erika Cassidy
Ayman Al-Salek (أيمن السالك) (uncredited)	Tracey
Anjy Al-Yousif (أنجي اليوسف) (uncredited)	Delia Ketchum
Laura Abou Assaad (لورا أبوأسعد) (uncredited)	Nurse Joy Officer Jenny

Super M Productions

Actor	Main roles
Jihad Al Attrash (جهاد الأطرش)	The Narrator (EP106-EP206) The Pokédex (EP106-EP206) Professor Elm
Mona Majzoub (منى مجذوب)	Ash Ketchum (EP106-EP206)
Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)	Misty (EP106-EP206) Officer Jenny (S04)
Nabil Assaf (نبيل عساف)	Brock
Claudia Marchalian (كلوديا مرشليان)	Jessie (S03)
Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	James Max
Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)	Meowth
Tariq Kaakati (طارق كعكاتي)	Tracey
Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Officer Jenny (S03) Jessie (S04-S06) Nurse Joy (S04-S06) May
Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)	Gary Oak Professor Oak (S04) The Narrator (EP263-AG040) The Pokédex (EP263-AG040) Giovanni (S06)
Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)	Nurse Joy (S03)
Naji Shamil (ناجي شامل)	Additional voices
Ismail Nanoua (إسماعيل نعنوع)	Professor Oak (S03) Giovanni (S03)
Wissam Sabbagh (وسام صباغ)	Additional voices
Jamal Hamdan (جمال حمدان)	Additional voices

Netflix

Several cast members from Super M Productions returned to their roles: Joumana Zonji as Misty, Abdo Hakim as James, Hassan Hamdan as Meowth, Jihan Malla as Nurse Joy and Iman Bitar as Officer Jenny, Fadi Rifai and Asmahan Bitar who voiced minor characters in the original dub now voice Prof. Cerise and Jessie respectively.

Actor	Main roles
Rana Al Rifai (رنا الرفاعي)	Ash Ketchum
Lama Maraachli (لمى مرعشلي)	Goh
Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)	Professor Cerise
Ghadir Bazzi (غدير بزي)	Chloe
Raymond Francis (ريمون فرنسيس)	The Narrator
Asmahan Bitar (أسمهان بيطار)	Jessie Cynthia
Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	James
Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)	Meowth
Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)	Nurse Joy
Hassan Hamdan (حسان حمدان)	Leon
Leila Shammas (ليلى شماس)	Chrysa Allister
Ghassan Haddad (غسان حداد)	Ren Quillon
Sam Ghosen (سام غصن)	Mewtwo
Ziad Abu Mounzer (زياد ابو منذر)	Rose
Souhair Naser El Deen (سهير ناصر الدين)	Delia Ketchum Danika Horace
Youmna Bou Hanna (يمنى بوحنا)	Bea
Nada Nasr (ندى نصر)	Sonia
Ibrahim Madi (إبراهيم ماضي)	Giovanni Ash's Rotom Phone Professor Amaranth Wikstrom
Imad Feghaly (عماد فغالي)	Lance
Rozy Al Khawly (روزي خولي )	Opal
Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Officer Jenny Dawn Iris
Raleen Dagher (رالين داغر)	Goh's Rotom Phone
Gilles Youssif (جيل يوسف)	Brock
Fadi Abboud (فادي عبود)	Gary Oak Alain
Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)	Misty
Saad Hamdan (سعد حمدان)	Professor Oak
Dalia Khalifeh (داليا خليفة)	Diantha
Shadi Shamas (شادي شمص)	Steven Stone
Rania Mroueh (رانية مروة)	Koko in M23
Ali Saad (علي سعد)	Dada in M23
Mahdi Fakhreddin (مهدي فخر الدين)	Dr. Zed in M23

Pokémon Concierge

Actor		Character
IPH Studios	Masrya Media	Character
Mariana Khalil (ماريانا خليل)	Haidy Amir (هايدي أمير)	Haru
Jana Mghames (جنى مغامس)	Ganna Osama (جني أسامة)	Alisa
Jihan Malla (جیهان ملا)	Nahla Yassine (نهلة ياسين)	Watanabe
Fadi Abboud (فادي عبود)	Moataz El Shazly (معتز الشاذلي)	Tyler
Mirna Hosseini (ميرنا حسيني)	Omar Sameh (عمر سامح)	Nao
	Ahmed Shoman (أحمد شومان)	Dan
	Nour Al-Haggar (نور الحجار)	Kent

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Actor	Main roles
Jana Mghames (جنى مغامس)	Liko
Abed Khalifeh (عبد خليفة)	Roy
Ahmad Kamal (أحمد كمال)	Friede
Josef Akiki (جوزيف عقيقي)	Amethio
Zainab Reslan (زينب رسلان)	Dot
Layal Al Akhras (ليال الاخرس)	Mollie
Daena Almonjed (دينا المنجد)	Orla
Mario Kassab (ماريو كساب)	Murdock
Samir Chamas (سمير شمص)	Ludlow
Fadi Al Khatib (فادي الخطيب)	Zirc
Rosy Yazigi (روزي يازجي)	Onia
Romeo Warcha (روميو ورشا)	Spinel
Fouad Shamas (فؤاد شمص)	Sidian
Nariman Bitar (ناريمان بيطار)	Coral
Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)	Chalce Lucca
Charbel Ayoub (شربل أيوب)	Hamber
Mohammad Sami (محمد سامي)	Gibeon Rotom Phone

Songs

The Season 01 opening was written and recorded by Rasha Rizk (رشا رزق), with additional vocal support from Tarek Alarabi Tourgane (طارق العربي طرقان) and Bassam Al-Hassouni (بسام الحسوني). The first version of the theme song, which uses the lyric (على خير الصنيع), was used for the first 12 episodes ("Pokémon - I Choose You!" to "Here Comes the Squirtle Squad"), and then replaced by a "more grammatically correct" second version with the lyric (سلاحي المنيع) for the remaining episodes ("Mystery at the Lighthouse" to "Charizard Chills"). Both versions of the song were performed by Rasha Rizk, which she confirmed herself in a Q&A.^[42]

Pikachu's Jukebox songs were also written and recorded by Rasha Rizk.

When the dub was moved to Lebanon, new versions of the Pikachu's Jukebox songs were recorded for the remaining episodes of the Orange Islands arc by the new cast of voice actors, except for the song 2.B.A. Master, which was replaced by Pokémon Karaokémon in the episodes "The Stun Spore Detour" and "The Rivalry Revival". Pokémon Karaokémon songs were also recorded.

An Arabic version of Pokémon Johto was also recorded and used for the initial broadcast of Season 03, but it was then replaced by the Season 01 theme during reruns and on the DVD release, likely due to the original theme song being more popular. This combination of the Pokémon Theme and the footage of Pokémon Johto was reused for all the subsequent seasons dubbed by "Super M Productions", The opening footage for these seasons were replaced due to them being 45 seconds instead of 01 min, making them incompatible with the season 01 theme song.

When the series was released on Pokémon TV in 2025, Arabic versions of Pokémon World, Born to Be a Winner and a new version of Pokémon Johto were used.

Trivia

In an interview with Rasha Rizk and Tarek Alarabi Tourgane in 2020, she revealed that the process of writing the Arabic version of the Pokémon Theme was very difficult, as 4Kids Entertainment specifically requested for the song to be translated verbatim, which was challenging due to major differences between English and Arabic. She also mentioned that 4Kids Entertainment wanted a young male vocalist to perform the song similar to Jason Paige. As several "Venus Center" employees recorded different demos for the song, the studio eventually decided to just use Rasha Rizk's version.^[43]

Home media and digital release

See also: List of Arabic Pokémon home video releases

Physical Media

Season 01 was released on VHS in different countries in the region, by various local home media distributors such as: MEGASTAR in Saudi Arabia, IVC: International Video Co. (شركة الفديو الدولي) in Kuwait, Flash Video Film in Egypt and Video Master in Bahrain.
Flash Video Film later released Season 03 on VHS.
UAE-based distributor Al Wadi released Season 01 and Season 03 on DVD. For S03, this release follows the television definition and contains all 52 episodes from EP106 to EP157.
M04 to M07 were also released on DVD by Miramax International featuring an Arabic and an English audio, although the exact release dates are currently unknown, and due to limited DVD prints and low sales, these movies have become very difficult to obtain.

Season 01 VHS covers as released by IVC in Kuwait.
Season 01 VHS covers as released by Tihama in Saudi Arabia.
Season 03 VHS covers as released by Flash Video Film in Egypt.

Digital

In 2019 Netflix acquired the distribution rights for the franchise in the region and released:

Arabic Title	Artwork	Release date
بوكيمون: ميوتو يضرب مجددًا - التطور		February 27, 2020
رحلة البوكيمون: المسلسل		July 1, 2021
بوكيمون الفيلم: أسرار الأدغال		October 8, 2021
رحلة سيد البوكيمون: المسلسل		September 2, 2022
بوكيمون: سجلات آركياس		September 23, 2022
رحلة البوكيمون القصوى: المسلسل		November 24, 2023
بوكيمون: أن تكون سيد بوكيمون		November 24, 2023
المدبرة والبوكيمون		December 28, 2023 (Season 1 Part 1) September 4, 2025 (Season 1 Part 2)
آفاق البوكيمون: المسلسل		February 27, 2025
آفاق البوكيمون: الموسم 2 - البحث عن لاكوا		2026
آفاق البوكيمون: الموسم 3- ربيع الأحلام		Currently in production.

Season 01 is also currently available on Netflix under the title "دوري إنديغو".
Seasons 01 to 04 and season 06 are currently available on Pokémon TV's YouTube channel.

Pokémon movies

Throughout the years, the first few Pokémon movies were released in some capacity in several Arab countries, usually on special events or around holidays like Eid Al-Fitr. Prior to 2021,^[44] all of the movies that were distributed in American theaters by Warner Bros, were also released in theaters in certain Arab countries by Warner Bros. Pictures Middle East agent Shooting Stars LLC (also known as Joseph Chacra & Sons in Lebanon).

POKÉMON Detective Pikachu was released theatrically on May 9, 2019 in the United Arab Emirates,^[45] and the rest of the Middle East on June 13, 2019.^[46]

Movies availability

Network/service	Area serviced	Movies
Netflix	All Arab countries except Syria	Currently: بوكيمون: ميوتو يضرب مجددًا - التطور (February 27, 2020 - Present) بوكيمون الفيلم: أسرار الأدغال (October 8, 2021 - Present) Formerly: !فيلم بوكيمون: إخترتك أنت (January 1, 2019 - April 1, 2022) !فيلم بوكيمون: معاً أقوى (January 1, 2020 - April 1, 2022)

Live-action series

A Pocketful of Adventures (مغامرات متنوعة) was released with English and Japanese audio and Arabic and English subtitles on the MBC-owned streaming platform Shahid on May 18, 2024.^[47]

Pokémon merchandise

After the Pokémon animated series started airing in the Arabic language, it became one of the most popular anime series in the Arab world. Therefore, the demand for Pokémon-related merchandise among Arab children was high. Thus, several video game retailers began to sell a wide variety of Pokémon merchandise. Additionally, many restaurants offered promotional toys with their meals, such as Burger King in 2000. Due to the controversy in 2001, however, a lot of the merchandise was withdrawn from main retail shops. After the controversy subsided, many game stores started selling Pokémon goods again without incident.

As of the 2010s, various distributors import certain official Pokémon merchandise from either Europe or North America, such as Poké Dolls and other kinds of toys from Toys "R" Us outlets. Many high-end bookstore chains, especially those that rely heavily on imported materials, may sell an assorted variety of books and magazines. For example, a Kinokuniya outlet situated in The Dubai Mall^[48] (the sole Kinokuniya outlet in the entire region), retails children's magazines, video game guides, game books, film novelizations, as well as most of the Pokémon manga series, available in both English and Japanese, with the latter being distributed exclusively via this store.

In early 2013, Active Gulf, Nintendo's officially licensed distributor in the Middle East, have collaborated with their retail partners to locally sell authentic packs for the Pokémon Battle Disc Game.^[49]

Many smaller toy and variety stores found in the grey market may often sell unlicensed and counterfeit products, with many of them imported from China. It is also possible to find pirated trading card packs, but in much smaller volumes than when initially released, prior to the 2001 controversy.

Events

Conan in The Land of Pokémon

Conan in The Land of Pokémon was an unofficial Kuwaiti musical stage-play. It was a crossover of the Pokémon animated series and Detective Conan, created by Spacetoon, likely to expand both franchises. The play features stage actors portraying characters from both series and lip syncing to a voice over done by the Arabic dub voice actors. The voice over was recorded in Venus Center studios in Syria. The play was produced by Al Salam theater and opened in Kuwait on December 23, 2000 playing for the 2 days of Eid Al-Fitr.

Written by: Alaa Aljaber
Directed by: Jaber Muhammedi
Artistic supervision: Abdel Aziz El Moslem
The cast of actors features: Hourya Arafat, Soliman Al Marzooq, Mohammad Al Shoaiby, Ahmed Bassem, Fahd Bassem, Mahmoud Boushahri, Mahmoud Boushahri, Dana Abdullah, Yasser Abdel Karim.^[50]

The plot of the play is about Team Rocket impersonating Ash to poison nature and water, with Conan having to investigate this.

A 56 min cut of the play was released on VHS by IVC: International Video Co. in Kuwait and was also broadcast on the Kuwait Television.

Pokémon Live!

Despite ending its run in the United States in January 2001, Pokémon Live! was invited to perform on an open stage in Al Mamzar Park, Dubai, U.A.E. for the whole month of March that same year, coinciding with the annual Dubai Shopping Festival.^[51] While the musical was mostly identical to its performance elsewhere, the female actors had a slight change to their wardrobe which covered their exposed abdomens and thighs, likely to abide with Dubai's public dress code. Since the musical featured the same cast from its American run, it was performed solely in English. The musical, albeit received very positively by its audience, ended its run just days before the 2001 controversies began in the region overall.

Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions