Pokémon in the Arab world

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 the United States 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 anime.

The first season was dubbed in Syria, while later seasons were dubbed in Lebanon.

Currently, the anime is available on Netflix, with new episodes of Pokémon Journeys: The Series being released.

Localization

Old logo

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.

Controversy

Promoting "unislamic" values

A flyer warning against the Pokémon franchise, depicting Pokémon names and their supposed translation from Hebrew. These types of flyers were handed out by several fundamentalist Muslim groups in schools and mosques.

Similar to the Pokémania phenomenon experienced in America, the introduction of the Pokémon franchise to the Arab world in 2000 resulted in an unprecedented surge in popularity, almost reaching the status of a cultural phenomenon. Quickly, stores were inundated with a variety of Pokémon products, and the anime series rapidly found its way onto television stations in every country across the region.

Amidst this heightened interest in the Pokémon series, some parents and schoolteachers started to express concerns regarding children’s over-attachment to the series while others began to criticize the franchise's commercial nature, claiming that it mostly encouraged children into spending their money on toys, trading cards, and various other related products. The franchise was then accused of promoting "unislamic values" such as violence, but most importantly gambling,^[1] as well as anti-creationism ideology―such asthe theory of evolution and survival of the fittest―with some accusing the series of trying to promote Atheism among Muslim youth. Rumors started spreading that the Pokémon names in the series were in fact Hebrew words meant to insult Islam and that the franchise was a part of a Zionist conspiracy. Several media outlets started reporting these stories, further escalating the controversy. Soon after, Pokémon products, especially TCG products, started to get banned in schools, while several TV stations took the anime off air as the franchise was blacklisted.

The controversy gained major public attention to the point that the Japanese embassy in Saudi Arabia and Nintendo had to issue a statement explaining the Japanese origins of the franchise and denying any relation to any political or religious ideology.^[2]^[3]

Claims of Zionist Jewish plot

Some outspoken, fundamentalist Muslims claimed that Pokémon is a Jewish conspiracy intended to get Muslim children to renounce their faith.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] They claimed that the word "Pokémon" means "I am Jewish", generally unaware of the franchise's Japanese origin. The claims of anti-creationism were also commonly brought up.^[8]^[9]^[10]

In 2001, 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.^[11]^[12]

High Muslim authorities in Qatar and Egypt then joined the ban. 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. 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."^[13]^[14]

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 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.^[15] 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 localise NTSC-U North American (NA) products for these markets de jure by the late 1990s, albeit both PAL and NTSC^[16] 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,^[17] 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,^[18] 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.^[19]

Pokémon anime

The Arabic dub

Production

The Arabic dub of Pokémon is based on 4Kids Entertainment's English dub. The anime was initially dubbed to Arabic in 2000 by Syria-based Venus Center (مركز الزهرة), and licensed in the region by Km Productions. Due to the controversy in 2001, however, Venus Center, known for being a very conservative company^{[citation needed]}, no longer wanted to be associated with the Pokémon franchise, and ceased production after Season 02. Km Productions then moved the dubbing to their own studios in Lebanon.

Super M Productions took over dubbing the anime starting with EP106. They dubbed Season 03 and Season 04 between 2001 and 2002. Production on the dub then went on hiatus for nearly 3 years and was resumed in 2005, when they dubbed Season 06, starting with EP263. Season 05 (Master Quest) Episodes (EP210 to EP262) were skipped for unknown reasons.

Production on the dub was eventually canceled around 2006 due to various reasons, mostly due to 4Kids Entertainment losing the dubbing rights, and the Lebanese company not coming to an agreement with the new rights holders.^[20]

Sometime later the four Pokémon movies that were distributed by Miramax (Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, Heroes: Latios & Latias, Jirachi: Wish Maker, and Destiny Deoxys) were also dubbed into Arabic, but featured an entirely different cast of voice actors from the series and were released straight-to-DVD.^[21]^[22]

In 2019 after acquiring the distribution rights of the anime in the region, Netflix revived the Arabic dub of Pokémon, and it released Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, the first new Pokémon-related media dubbed into Arabic in over a decade. Netflix later released seasons 23 to 25, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, The Arceus Chronicles, and Pokémon Concierge.

The new dub was produced in Lebanon by Image Production House Studios (partners of Iyuno-SDI Group),^[23]^[24]^[25] and featured some old voice actors from the Super M production reprising their roles, to preserve continuity.

Dubbed seasons

#	Season	Dubbing Studio	Dubbed episodes
Season 01	Pokémon: Indigo Leage		52
Season 02	Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands		52
Season 03	Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands	Super M Productions	11 (part of S03)
Season 03	Pokémon: The Johto Journeys		41
Season 04	Pokémon: Johto League Champions		52
Season 05	Pokémon: Master Quest	The first 52 episodes were not dubbed
Season 06	Pokémon: Master Quest	Super M Productions	The last 12 episodes only (part of S06)
Season 06	Pokémon: Advanced		40
Season 07	Pokémon: Advanced Challenge		52
Seasons 08 to 22 were not dubbed
Season 23	Pokémon Journeys: The Series		48
Season 24	Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series		42
Season 25	Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series		54
Pokémon Horizons: The Series	Pokémon Horizons: The Series		45

Dubbed Movies

Movie	Dubbing Studio	Distribution
Pokémon 4Ever - Celebi: The Voice of the Forest	Unknown
Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias	Unknown
Pokémon: Jirachi: Wish Maker	Unknown
Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys	Unknown
Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution
Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle

Specials

Movie	Dubbing Studio	Distribution
Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles
Pokémon Concierge

Edits

The series' slogan was changed from "Gotta catch 'em all!" to !سأجمعها الأن. A more accurately translated version !إجمعها كلها was used on merchandise and home media releases of the anime.
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.
- Team Rocket's catch phrase "We're blasting off again!" was changed to We messed up again.
- 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 07, 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. ^[26] It was restored starting from JN001.
- Also starting with EP158, episodes titles are no longer localized, meaning the English title of the episode appears on the screen, and the Arabic title is 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' storylines 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 anime 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.

Misty holding a Christian cross in EP020, one of the many scenes that were removed in the original broadcast of the episode.

A prime example of this censorship is EP020, where the plot of the episode was altered by creating new storylines to avoid elements related to the supernatural, 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 for programming, 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 only adds 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. This type of censorship can also be seen in other episodes such as EP070, EP100 and EP103.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Reception, criticism and eventual cancellation

This article contains fan speculation.
There is no solid evidence for or against some parts of this article.

Both the Syrian and the Lebanese dubs received a somewhat lukewarm reception. Some fans expressed disappointment over Venus Center's dub, claiming it was not the same quality as the studio's other works. This criticism wasn't only directed towards the censorship, but also towards the mispronunciation of some of the Pokémon names in the series as well as other foreign words like the names of different cities and towns that were visited in each episode. Some fans suggest that the studio purposefully "simplified" some of the Pokémon names to be easier for Arab children to pronounce. Some examples of this include Pikachu, who was only referred to as Pika in the first few episodes, Goldeen, which became simply Golden, and Squirtle, who was called Square. Meanwhile, others speculated that it was the actors who had a difficulty in pronouncing foreign words that contain letters that aren't part of the Arabic alphabet like the letter P and the letter G. This can be seen in words like the title itself, which became Bokemon, Pallet Town, which received a completely new name (village of Shorebak), Pokémon names such as Growlithe, which was pronounced Ghroolithe, Togepi, pronounced Toojebi, and Lapras, which was pronounced Labraas.^{[citation needed]}

The criticism of the Lebanese dub was pointed towards the casting choices, as the majority of fans felt most of the new actors didn't fit the roles that they were given and didn't capture the essence of the characters as well as the previous cast.^{[citation needed]} It's most likely that this negative reception to the new dub combined with the fact that most of the newer episodes airing were filler episodes (and the overall controversy related to the franchise), leading to the series's drastic drop in popularity.

Financial constraints, with the series being banned on most TV stations, led the studio to prioritize other more profitable projects. Additionally, Pokémon toys and merchandise were either not selling very well or were outright completely banned in some countries. As such, the series was not renewed, resulting in the Arabic dub discontinuing after Season 07.

Cast and crew

Venus Center

Actor	Main Pokémon 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

Super M Productions

Actor	Main Pokémon roles
Jihad Al Attrash (جهاد الأطرش)	The Narrator The Pokédex Professor Elm
Mona Majzoub (منى مجذوب)	Ash Ketchum
Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)	Misty
Nabil Assaf (نبيل عساف)	Brock
Claudia Marchalian (كلوديا مرشليان)	Jessie
Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	James Max
Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)	Meowth
Tariq Kaakati (طارق كعكاتي)	Tracey Butch
Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Officer Jenny May Delia Ketchum Casey Liza Bugsy
Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)	The Narrator (EP263-AG092)
Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)	Nurse Joy
Naji Shamil (ناجي شامل)	Additional voices
Ismail Nanoua (إسماعيل نعنوع)	Professor Oak Giovanni
Wissam Sabbagh (وسام صباغ)	Gary Oak Falkner
Jamal Hamdan (جمال حمدان)	Kurt

By the time the production of the dub of season 06 started in 2005, several cast members had either left the company or were already committed to other projects, therefore several characters such as Ash, Misty and Meowth received new voice actors.

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.

Actor	Main Pokémon roles
Rana Al Rifai (رنا الرفاعي)	Ash Ketchum
Lama Maraachli (لمى مرعشلي)	Goh
Ghadir Bazzi (غدير بزي)	Chloe
Asmahan Bitar (أسمهان بيطار)	Jessie Cynthia
Abdo Hakim (عبدو حكيم)	James
Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)	Meowth
Raymond Francis (ريمون فرنسيس)	The Narrator
Sam Ghusen (سام غصن)	Mewtwo
Ibrahim Madi (إبراهيم ماضي)	Giovanni Ash's Rotom Phone Professor Amaranth Wikstrom
Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)	Misty
Gilles Youssif (جيل يوسف)	Brock
Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)	Professor Cerise
Leila Shammas (ليلى شماس)	Chrysa
Ghassan Haddad (غسان حداد)	Ren Quillon
Raleen Dagher (رالين داغر)	Goh's Rotom Phone
Hassan Hamdan (حسان حمدان)	Leon
Nada Nasr (ندى نصر)	Sonia
Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)	Nurse Joy
Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Officer Jenny Dawn Iris
Saad Hamdan (سعد حمدان)	Professor Oak
Fadi Abboud (فادي عبود)	Gary Oak
Souhair Naser El Deen (سهير ناصر الدين)	Delia Ketchum Danika Horace
Rania Mroueh (رانية مروة)	Koko in M23
Ali Saad (علي سعد)	Dada in M23
Mahdi Fakhreddin (مهدي فخر الدين)	Dr. Zed in M23

Crew

Studio	Venus Center	Super M Productions	Image Production House studios
Translation			Marie Thérèse Ghaya (ماري تيريز غيا)
Preparation	Hanna Yusuf (حنا يوسف)
Revision	Shafeeq Bitar (شفيق بيطار)
Proofreading	Dr. Hamoud Younis (د.حمود يونس)
Sound Engineer	Nadeem Souleimane (نديم سليمان)
Mixing	Louis Abu Asali (لويس أبو عسلي)	Jamal Mokalled (جمال مقلد)	Mary Soghman (ماري سغمان) (Pokémon Concierge)
Montage	Hassan Ateka (حسان عاتكة) Mustafa Qalaaji (مصطفى قلعجي)	Jamal Mokalled (جمال مقلد)
Engineering Supervision	Ramez Torjoman (رامز ترجمان)
Computer	Muhammad Mazen Ramadan (محمد مازن رمضان) Fahed Najem (فهد نجم)	Jalal Masoud (جلال مسعود)
Theme Song Lyrics	Rasha Rizk (رشا رزق)
Theme Song Performance	Rasha Rizk (رشا رزق) Tarek Alarabi Tourgane (طارق العربي طرقان) Bassam Al-Hassouni (بسام الحسوني)
Administrative coordination	Imad Al-Sheikh Khalid (عماد الشيخ خالد)
Financial Tracking	Muhammad Hassan Muhanna (محمد حسان مهنا Abdulqader Nabhan (عبد القادر نبهان)
Production manager	Redwan Hejazy (رضوان حجازي)		Ahmad Al-Sabbagh (أحمد الصباغ) (Pokémon Concierge)
Dub director			Rana Barakat (رنا بركات) (M22) Alaa Bitar (علاء بيطار) (S23-S24) Ghadir Bazzi (غدير بزي) (M23; Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles) Samir Fahd (سمير فهد) (S25; Pokémon Concierge)
Assistant Director	Mayada Auda (ميادة عودة)
Executive		Mohsen Awada (محسن عواضة)
Artistic supervision	Maamoon Al-Rifai (مأمون الرفاعي)	Walid Merie (وليد مرعي)
General supervision	Mannaa Hijazi (مناع حجازي)	Mufid Merie (مفيد مرعي)	The Pokémon Company International

Cast members


Characters	Venus Center _{(EP001-EP105)}	Super M Productions _{(EP106-EP209, EP263-AG092)}	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-AG092)}	Pierre Dagher (بيير داغر)	Raymond Francis (ريمون فرنسيس)
Ash Ketchum	Buthaina Shaya (بثينة شيا)	Mona Majzoub (منى مجذوب)_{(EP106-EP209)} Unknown voice actress_{(EP263-AG092)}	Unknown voice actor	Rana Al Rifai (رنا الرفاعي)
Misty	Majd Zhazha (مجد ظاظا)	Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)_{(EP106-EP209)}		Joumana Zonji (جمانة الزنجي)
Brock	Rafat Bazoo (رأفت بازو)	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)}	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)_{(EP106-EP209)}	Unknown voice actor	Hasan Hamdan (حسن حمدان)
Nurse Joy	Amal Saad Alden (امال سعد الدين) Laura Abou Assaad (لورا أبو أسعد)_{(EP097-EP102)}	Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)		Jihan Malla (جيهان ملا)
Officer Jenny	Fadwa Souleimane (فدوى سليمان)	Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)	Unknown voice actress	Iman Bitar (إيمان بيطار)
Professor Oak*	Marwan Farhat (مروان فرحات)	Ismail Nanoua (إسماعيل نعنوع)		Saad Hamdan (سعد حمدان)
Gary Oak	Amal Saad Alden (امال سعد الدين)	Wissam Sabbagh (وسام صباغ)		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)		Ibrahim Madi (إبراهيم ماضي)
Professor Cerise				Fadi Rifai (فادي الرفاعي)
Chrysa				Leila Shammas (ليلى شماس)
Ren				Ghassan Haddad (غسان حداد)
Leon				Hassan Hamdan (حسان حمدان)
Liko				Jana Mghames (جنى مغامس)
Roy				TBA
Dot				TBA
Friede				TBA
Murdock				TBA
Mollie				TBA
Orla				TBA
Ludlow				TBA
Amethio				TBA

History of the broadcast

Season	Original broadcaster	Time slot	Debut episode	Final episode	Episodes	Reruns/Syndication
Pokémon: Indigo League		Daily at 12pm GMT	!بوكيمون، لقد اخترتك انت 2000	مركز تدريب البوكيمونات 2000	52	Qatar TV Television Algérienne 2M ART Teenz ART Ein Several other TV stations
Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands		Daily at 12pm GMT	نجمة مهرجان التسوق 2000/2001	تجمد تشاريزارد 2000/2001	52	Several TV stations
Pokémon: The Johto Journeys		Daily at 5pm KSA time/ 2pm GMT	حرب البوكيمون المائية 2001	البحث عن الشهرة 2001/2002	52	Several TV stations
Pokémon: Johto League Champions		Daily at 5pm KSA time/ 2pm GMT	فرصة ذهبية January 1, 2003	البوكيمون ماتشوك 2003	52	New TV Al Andalus TV 2M ART Ein
Pokémon: Master Quest	None	None	Unaired	Unaired	None	None
Pokémon: Advanced		Daily at 6:30am Lebanon time* Daily at 10pm KSA time/ 7pm GMT*	الانون المجهول December 10, 2005* September 24, 2006*	AG040 2006	52	New TV (2006) ART Teenz (2006-2007) 2M* (2010)
Pokémon: Advanced Challenge		Daily at 6:30am Lebanon time	AG041	AG092	52	None
رحلة البوكيمون: المسلسل		Thursday to Saturday 4:35pm UAE time (e-Junior)	!دخول بيكاتشو February 27, 2021* July 1, 2021*	!النجاة بأعجوبة July 1, 2021*	48	An unauthorized broadcast on several satellite channels
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)	HZ001 February 27, 2024*	TBA	45

Season 01 premiered on MBC in 2000, and then was broadcast in syndication starting from November 27, 2000.
Seasons 01 and 02 aired between 2000 and 2001.
Season 03 premiered sometime later in late 2001.^[27]
Season 04 premiered on ART Teenz on January 1, 2003, a year after Season 03 had concluded its run. This coincided with the channel becoming permanently free-to-air.
Season 06 premiered on New TV on December 10, 2005,^[28] and later aired on ART Teenz starting from September 24, 2006 as part of the channel's special Ramadan programming.^[29]
Season 23 aired on e-Junior in February 2021 before being released on Netflix later that summer.^[30]
Pokémon Horizons: The Series premiered on February 27, 2024 on e-Junior.^[31]^[32]

The anime initially aired exclusively on MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Center), an independent, free-to-air, pan-Arab channel broadcasting via satellite.^[33] Due to its immense popularity, it spread rapidly to other channels, mainly local government-owned stations in different countries such as Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, and others. As it is customary for Arab Television channels to air new and exclusive programming during Ramadan, many of these stations like Qatar TV started broadcasting the series from November 27, 2000 (the first day of Ramadan that year) right after S01 had concluded its run on MBC.

Then in 2001, due to the controversy and boycotts that followed, many TV stations dropped the series to avoid backlash. Both MBC and Spacetoon terminated their contracts with KM productions, and the rights were picked up by a Saudi Private network, The Arab Radio and Television Network (شبكة راديو وتلفزيون العرب).

Starting with Season 03 the anime now aired mainly on ART Teenz, a children's channel and part of the ART Network, and on New TV (تلفزيون الجديد), an independent Lebanese TV channel that targets mostly a Christian Arab audience. With syndicated reruns being aired occasionally on few other channels such as ART Ein (إيه آر تي عين), Al Andalus TV (an Arabic-speaking privately-owned satellite channel broadcasting from Spain) and the government-owned channels in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, meaning no official ban was issued in those countries.^[34]

New TV started airing the series in 2004. Reruns of the first 04 seasons would air every morning at 6:30am Eastern European Time. By December 2005, Season 06 started airing exclusively on the channel,^[35]^[36], albeit with fewer people watching.^{[citation needed]} Season 06 would later air on ART Teenz the following Ramadan to a much wider audience reception.^{[citation needed]} Sometime later, Season 07 premiered on New TV. This makes New TV the only channel to have aired the Arabic dub of Season 07.

ART Teenz kept airing reruns of S03 to S06 daily from 2002 to 2007, and by 2006 the channel was airing Pokémon twice a day with S04 airing at 7:30pm Saudi Arabia Standard Time and S06 airing at SAST. Its sister channel ART Ein, a general entertainment channel, aired reruns of S01 to S04. Both channels were shut down in 2008.^{[citation needed]}

MBC 3 logo.

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.^{[citation needed]} Despite frequently broadcasting the Pokémon movies, as well as the other works distributed by KM Productions (such as the Yu-Gi-Oh! series), it's unclear why this channel has never aired the Pokémon anime series.

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

2M logo.

Moroccan channel 2M is the most recent TV channel to have officially aired the Arabic dub of the Pokémon anime, when it aired S06 in 2010. This channel also aired the Pokémon anime in French. 2M has two separate feeds: one available nationwide via terrestrial television, and one available via satellite under the branding 2M Monde. The Pokémon anime only airs on the terrestrial feed because the network only buys its broadcasting rights for within Morocco.^{[citation needed]}

Disney XD MENA started airing Pokémon the Series: XY in February 2015

Since the late 2000s, none of the Arabic-language TV stations in any country have been airing or rerunning the Arabic dub of the Pokémon anime, most likely due to broadcasting rights expiring and complicated copyrights issues between ShoPro and KM Productions.^{[citation needed]} Although the English dub of the anime did air on a few premium channels, such as Disney XD and most recently the UAE based channel e-Junior, this broadcast of the anime series is not well-known, most likely due to either a language barrier or the relatively low participation of the expensive subscription TV model in the region overall.^{[citation needed]} Regardless, Disney XD's airing of the anime is not officially recognized for the MENA region specifically.

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. The channel has a very limited reach howevever, since it's only available through a subscription-based service exclusive to the UAE.^{[citation needed]} In 2024, to celebrate Pokémon Day, Pokémon Horizons: The Series premiered exclusively on the channel featuring both an English and an Arabic audio track. 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, an unauthorized transmission of the series occurred on several Arabic satellite channels, most prominently on several Algerian networks such as Echorouk TV due to the government's lack of interest in reinforcing broadcasting and copyright regulations.^{[citation needed]} Despite being an illegal broadcast, it garnered considerable viewership, as it was the first instance in more than a decade that the series aired on a prominent free-to-air, pan-region, Arabic-language television network.

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 to S07 first run, S01 to S04 syndicated reruns)	Television Algérienne (S01 to S03) Echorouk TV (S23 unofficial)
Bahrain		Spacetoon as a seven-hour block on Bahrain TV (S01)
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 S07) MTV Lebanon Hala London (S23-S25)
Libya
Morocco, Western Sahara		2M* (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 Channel 33 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)

Songs

Rasha Rizk in 2022

The Season 01 opening was translated 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"^{[citation needed]} 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.^[37]

Pikachu's Jukebox songs were also translated 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 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 themes for seasons 04 to 07 were never dubbed. Instead, they used the Season 01 theme song along with footage from Pokémon Johto. The opening footage for those seasons was replaced due to them being 45 seconds instead of 01 min, making them incompatible with the season 01 theme song.

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.^[38]

Home media and digital release

See also: List of Arabic Pokémon home video releases

Physical Media

Season 03 VHS covers as released by Flash Video Film in Egypt.

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, this release follows the television definition and contains all 52 episodes from EP106 to EP157.
Arabic-Subtitled versions of M01 and M02 were released on VHS by the Egypt-based E.H.E and the Dubai-based HOBO Collection.

DVD cover for the Arabic release of M04.

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.
Seasons 04 to 07 didn't receive any form of home media release, and they are currently completely unobtainable. Complicating matters further are legal issues preventing any chance of re-airing or commercial distribution to alternative television networks.^{[citation needed]} KM Productions, facing the inability to profit from these seasons, made the decision to recycle the tapes and re-purpose them to store other projects, thus scrapping the Pokémon episodes and losing them completely.^[39] With no recordings of the episodes to be found on the internet since they haven't been re-aired in over a decade, the Arabic dub of these seasons is now considered by many fans to be a lost media. It's unclear whether or not Al Jadeed (formerly known as New TV), 2M, and the ART Network still have copies in their archives, but since both Al Jadeed TV and 2M TV stopped airing children's programs years ago when ART Teenz went defunct in 2008, it's most likely that they disposed of their copies as well. Out of 312 episodes dubbed to Arabic, approximately 156 episodes (from EP158 to AG092) are now potentially completely lost, and only a couple of short videos have made their way to the internet.^[40]
- Season 02 also seems to have never been officially released on home media, and it was for many years considered lost as well. However, in 2011 fan-recorded episodes were illicitly uploaded to the internet, and presently these unauthorized recordings constitute the sole means by which the Arabic dub of Season 02 can be viewed.^{[citation needed]}
- Due to low DVD sales, the Miramax dubbed movies have also become difficult to obtain.

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
آفاق البوكيمون: المسلسل		Currently in production.

The first season, titled دوري إنديغو (Indigo League), is also currently available on Netflix, retaining the original Arabic dubbing done by Venus Center, except for the episodes "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak" and "Abra and the Psychic Showdown", which were re-dubbed since they were heavily censored in the original Syrian dub.

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. 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.^[41]

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)
e-Junior on Demand	UAE	M01 (November 27, 2022 - Present) M08 (September 2, 2023 - Present) M10 (February 15, 2020 - Present) M11 (April 7, 2021 - Present) M12 (May 26, 2020 - Present) M14 (February 19, 2019 - Present) M16 (November 11, 2018 - Present) M18 (February 10, 2020 - Present) M20 (November 10, 2022 - Present) M21 (November 17, 2022 - Present)
beIN	Worldwide primarily Qatar	M04 (2016 - 2023) M05 (2016 - 2023) M06 (2016 - 2023) M07 (2016 - 2023) POKÉMON Detective Pikachu (March 12, 2021)

Pokémon merchandise

After the Pokémon anime 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.^{[citation needed]} 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^[42] (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.^[43]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Events

Conan in The Land of Pokémon

A poster promoting the play

Conan in The Land of Pokémon was a, unoffical, Kuwaiti musical stage-play. It was a crossover of Pokémon 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.^[44]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[45] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions