Pokémon Origins

Origin redirects here. For Giratina's Origin Forme, see Form differences → Giratina.

Pokémon Origins logo

Pocket Monsters: The Origin logo

Pokémon Origins (Japanese: ポケットモンスター THE ORIGIN Pocket Monsters: The Origin) is a miniseries that closely follows the plot of Pokémon Red and Green. Aesthetically it is based on the artwork, sprites, and other minor elements from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (and to a far lesser extent, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver), as well as including some unique features, such as Blue's green jacket and Mega Evolution. It stars Red as the protagonist and Blue as Red's rival.

The story is split into four episodes. It was first aired in Japan on October 2, 2013, airing in its entirety. The first episode premiered in English on Pokémon TV on November 15, 2013, with subsequent episodes following on November 18, 20, and 22, 2013; the episodes remained on Pokémon TV until December 2, 2013. All four episodes were released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on December 4, 2013. On January 30, 2014, the English dubs of all four episodes were made available on the Hulu streaming service for the United States (although after April 2015, they became Hulu Plus-exclusive), along with Amazon Instant Video. On May 28, 2014, the English dubs of all four episodes were released on the iTunes distribution service, available in standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) formats.

Episodes

Code	English title	Japanese title	US broadcast	Japan broadcast	Time between
PO01	File 1: Red	レポート1 レッド Report 1: Red	November 15, 2013	October 2, 2013	44 days
PO02	File 2: Cubone	レポート2 カラカラ Report 2: Karakara	November 18, 2013	October 2, 2013	47 days
PO03	File 3: Giovanni	レポート3 サカキ Report 3: Sakaki	November 20, 2013	October 2, 2013	49 days
PO04	File 4: Charizard	レポート4 リザードン Report 4: Lizardon	November 22, 2013	October 2, 2013	51 days
This concludes Pokémon Origins.

Differences from the games

Although the mini-series is much more like the games than the main anime, there are still some differences, mainly to enhance the plot or due to time constraints.

Red speaks.
The character dialogue is directly from Red and Blue when in the text boxes during the montages (such as the beginnings of Files 2, 3, and 4) but when actually spoken, it is retranslated.
Pallet Town is much bigger.
The two visits to Professor Oak's Laboratory for the starter Pokémon and the Pokédex are combined in Origins. Thus, Oak's Parcel is absent.
Red and Blue first battle on Route 1, instead of in Professor Oak's Laboratory. He does reference the lab battle in Origins by proposing that he and Red "test out [their] Pokémon" like in the games, but quickly changes his mind.
Brock meets Red on Route 1, whereas in the games he meets Red at the Gym like all Generation I Gym Leaders except Giovanni.
The Gym Trainers do not battle Red.
Reina has a bigger role.
There are no Channelers or any other Trainers in the Pokémon Tower.
The Silph Scope is obtained in the Pokémon Tower, instead of in the Rocket Hideout. However, a Team Rocket Grunt held it before Blue stole it from him.
Blue helps Red in the Pokémon Tower.
The ghost Marowak is calmed by her child, Cubone, instead of Red.
Giovanni is the only Trainer that battles Red inside Silph Co.
Giovanni uses fewer Pokémon.
Blue gets injured by Mewtwo.
Mega Evolution, Mega Stones and Key Stones were all added in Pokémon Origins.

Cast

Cast
Red	Bryce Papenbrook	Red	Junko Takeuchi	レッド	竹内順子
Blue	Lucien Dodge	Green	Takuya Eguchi	グリーン	江口拓也
Professor Oak	Kyle Hebert	Dr. Okido	Katsuji Mori	オーキド博士	森功至
Brock	Johnny Yong Bosch	Takeshi	Tomokazu Sugita	タケシ	杉田智和
Giovanni	Jamieson Price	Sakaki	Rikiya Koyama	サカキ	小山力也
Reina	Christine Marie Cabanos	Reina	Yui Ishikawa	レイナ	石川由依
Lance	Kirk Thornton	Wataru	Tokuyoshi Kawashima	ワタル	川島得愛
Mr. Fuji	Kirk Thornton	Elder Fuji	Minoru Inaba	フジ老人	稲葉実
Red's mom	Laura Post
Lass	Cristina Vee
Pokémon Center Nurse	Cristina Vee
Silph Co. secretary	Erin Fitzgerald
Nidoran♂	Cristina Vee
Kabutops	Lucien Dodge
Oddish	Lucien Dodge
Koffing	Lucien Dodge
Cubone	Cristina Vee
Marowak	Laura Post
Pidgey	Christine Marie Cabanos
Caterpie	Christine Marie Cabanos
Mew	Christine Marie Cabanos
Vulpix	Erin Fitzgerald
Tentacool	Erin Fitzgerald

Gallery

Red
Blue
Brock
Red's mom
Professor Oak
Giovanni
The Japanese poster
The English poster

Screenshots

Professor Oak giving a lecture
Red and Blue's rivalry
Lance congratulating Red on his victory
Brock's Geodude
Brock and some Poké Balls
Blue's Blastoise
Kanto Pokédex
Red's Charmander

Official trailers

English

By Pokemon

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Japanese

By PokemonCoJp

This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

Background information

Unlike the main anime, all of the Pokémon make generic animal noises. However, these sounds were still dubbed over and recreated by English-language voice actors in the English dub.
The sound effects and visual effects for Poké Balls (such as when a Pokémon is being sent out) differ in comparison to the effects used in the main Pokémon anime, instead being more loyal to the game. Another example is the three small stars that pop out of a Poké Ball when it has successfully caught a Pokémon.

In other languages

Language		Title
European French		Pokémon Les Origines
German		Pokémon Origins
Italian		Pokémon Le Origini
Korean		포켓몬스터 THE ORIGIN
European Spanish		Pokémon Los Orígenes