Pokémon in France

The Pokémon franchise first reached  in September 1999 with the airing of Le départ on French television. The release of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions in the French language followed on October 8, 1999.

Pokémon video games
All of the core series Pokémon games have been released in France. All of the spin-off Pokémon games have been released in France as well, including Pokémon Project Studio Red and Blue. The only Pokémon game that hasn't been released in France is Pokémon Conquest, though its English version has been sold in and. As in the rest of Europe, Pokémon Trozei! is sold under the title Pokémon Link!. All Pokémon games sold in France have been translated into the French language.

With some exceptions such as, most of the Pokémon species names are completely localized into the French language. For more information on these translated names, see list of French Pokémon names.

Pokémon anime
The French dub of the Pokémon anime has been recorded and produced by two different companies. Studio La Dame Blanche recorded the and the, while the  is currently recorded and produced by Sunstudio. The French dub is based on the English dub by 4Kids Entertainment and The Pokémon Company International. Like the Pokémon species names, most characters in the anime were renamed in the French dub. However, a modified version of the dub up to Master Quest was recorded by the same cast for export to French, using English character and Pokémon names.

Pokémon currently airs on Disney XD France (formerly Fox Kids France and then Jetix France), ' and '. Previously, the anime also aired on 's children's programming block, Tfou.

The first four episodes of the Pokémon, la série XY: La Quête de Kalos aired on May 1, 2015 with the special episode Mega Evolution Special I on . Pokémon, la série : XYZ premiered on April 13, 2016, with the airing of the first four episodes of the season.

In France, the anime is available on Netflix.

Movies and specials
The special episode Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness was released in France with the title . The special was available on a DVD which was given away with preorders of the games Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. The DVD contained both a French dub of the special as well as the Japanese version with French subtitles.

Home releases
The home video release of the European French dub of Pokémon has been handled by several companies. The earliest home releases of the original series were distributed by TF1 Vidéo, though these releases are now out of print. Currently, the original series of the anime is distributed by Editions Atlas, which has released the episodes as a series titled . The Planète Pokémon collection begins at EP001 and ends at EP157. The collection includes Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!, which, like in the Region 1 English releases, are sequenced between EP064 and EP065.

Currently, Pokémon: Advanced Battle and Pokémon: Battle Frontier are available in boxed sets which are distributed by Zylo. These releases come in carrying cases with a handle. The Pokémon movies are currently distributed by France Télévisions Distribution.

Music
All theme songs used in the French dub of the Pokémon anime are translated versions of the English themes used by 4Kids Entertainment and The Pokémon Company International.

Two Pokémon soundtrack albums have been released in France. The first, , is a translation of Pokémon 2.B.A. Master. A special edition version of this soundtrack was released with a five-track bonus disc containing two remixes of Pokédance, two remixes of the English Pokémon (Dance Mix), and a rerecorded version of La Chanson d'Ondine sung by Barbi Schiller. The second album to be released in France was , a translation of Totally Pokémon. Voyage à Johto contained two bonus tracks: the opening theme Voyage à Johto and Pikachu (À l'attaque) sung by the group Les MiniGirls.

One single was released in France as well: , a translated version of the single.

Cast and crew
Many voice actors and actresses have contributed to the production of the French dub of the Pokémon anime. All of the voice actors are based in.

The director of the dub is Jean-Daniel Nicodème, who also provides the voice of the narrator, Wattson (known in France as Voltère) and Crasher Wake (Lovis in French). Jean-Marc Anthony Kabeya performs the vocals for many of the theme songs.

Ash Ketchum (whose first name became Sacha in French) is voiced by Aurélien Ringelheim. (known as Ondine) is voiced by Fanny Roy, who also provides the voice for Tate (Levy). Tracey Sketchit (Jacky Léon) was voiced by Bruno Mullenaerts.

(Pierre) has usually been voiced by Antoni LoPresti; in a few episodes in the original series, Laurent Chauvet (now known as Laurent Sao) voiced the character.

(Flora) is voiced by Maia Baran. Her brother, Max, is voiced by Guylaine Gibert, who also provides the voice of Officer Jenny (Agent Jenny). Lydia Cherton provided the voice of Nurse Joy (Infirmière Joëlle) before she moved to France.

(Aurore) is voiced by Alexandra Corréa. Her rival, Zoey (Zoé), is voiced by Claire Tefnin.

Jessie is voiced by Catherine Conet, who also provides the voice of Delia Ketchum. James has been voiced for the entire series by David Manet. (Miaouss) was voiced by Nessym Guetat from EP002 to AG145. Starting from AG146, he has been voiced by Philippe Tasquin because Guetat had moved to France. The boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni, is voiced by Patrick Deschamps.

Gary Oak (Régis Chen) has been voiced by Jean-Marc Delhausse and Lionel Bourguet. Gary's grandfather, Professor Oak (Professeur Chen), is also voiced by Delhausse. One of Ash's other rivals, Paul, has been voiced by Alessandro Bevilacqua (DP002-DP052) and Gauthier De Fauconval (DP053-Present).

(Rachid) is voiced by Maxime Donnay, and is voiced by Beatrice Wegnez.

Other notable voice actors from the French dub of the Pokémon anime include Marie Van Renterghem as Cassidy (Cassidi), Romain Barbieux as Harley, and Gregory Praet as.

M04 and M07 were dubbed in France instead of Belgium, with only Nessym Guetat as Meowth reprising his role. Ash was voiced by Charles Pestel, Misty by Anouck Hautbois, Brock by Pascal Nowak, Jessie by Chantal Baroin, and James by Thomas Roditi. M06 was also dubbed in France, with a completely different cast from M04 and M07, including Valérie Nosrée as Jessie and Luc Boulad as James.

Pokémon Generations was dubbed at Deluxe Media Paris, with voice direction by Nathanel Alimi. The dubbing cast included Donald Reignoux as, Charles Pestel as Tabitha, and Pascal Nowak as Burgh, among others.

Pokémon Trading Card Game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game reached France on November 18, 1999 with the release of the TCG Base Set. As in North America, the Pokémon Trading Card Game was originally distributed by Wizards of the Coast and later by The Pokémon Company International after Wizards lost their license to distribute the TCG.

France has received all of the same expansion sets that have been released in North America except for TCG Gym Heroes, TCG Gym Challenge, TCG Skyridge, TCG Base Set 2, TCG Legendary Collection, TCG Southern Islands, TCG EX Team Rocket Returns, and TCG Arceus. The most recent expansion set to be released in French is TCG Lost Thunder (Tonnerre Perdu).

French-language cards are recognized as tournament legal for Play! Pokémon. Despite the differences in Pokémon and character names, cards from France are exported to for sale in the province of  and other French-speaking regions.

Pokémon manga
Many Pokémon manga have been translated into European French.

Magical Pokémon Journey was translated as Pikachu Adventures! by Glénat. Only the first five volumes were translated, after which the series was discontinued due to copyright issues. Most of the human characters receive unique names: Hazel is named "Marin" and Almond is named "Armand". This manga was published in a left-to-right format with reversed artwork, as that is the format which French comics are typically published. Glénat also published a translation of Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All (translated as ), although only the first two volumes were translated, as the series did not perform well in France.

Pokémon Adventures was first translated into French by Glénat using the title . Originally, Glénat split each volume into two separate monthly issues, and then later republished the rounds in their original volume format. Only the first six volumes were published, as Glénat suddenly had to discontinue their edition due to copyright issues. and were renamed to "Sacha" and "Régis", the names used for  and  in the. was renamed to "Olga", and to "Jamy". Other characters such as Professor Oak receive their names from the French versions of the games. This manga was published in a left-to-right format with reversed artwork. Beginning in 2011, the of Pokémon Adventures started being translated into French by publisher Kurokawa under the title . The rounds are being collected directly from the magazine publication and are unique from VIZ Media's translation of the chapter. The first French volume was released on September 8, 2011. Kurokawa's translation of the retains the original right-to-left Japanese reading order. In April 2014, it was announced by Kurokawa that they would be rereleasing the and the  in a set of three omnibus volumes, beginning on June 12, 2014 with volume one. This release, while continuing to use the "Pokémon: La Grande Adventure!" name, features an entirely new translation more faithful to the original Japanese version and consistent with Kurokawa's release of the Black & White chapter. Following the completion and success of these story arcs, Kurokawa began releasing an omnibus French translation of the and a French translation of the  mini-volumes published in Japan.

Kurokawa has also translated four of the movie manga adaptations into French - ('),  ('),  (') and  (').

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team was translated with the title . Unlike the other manga published in France, Pokémon Donjon Mystère: Les secouristes de Ginji was translated directly by Nintendo of France. It was the first manga in France that was published in the original right-to-left format with artwork unaltered from the Japanese version. It was published in two volumes of three chapters each which were given away in issues 52 and 53 of Nintendo Magazine.

Pokémon merchandise
Many different types of Pokémon toys, plush dolls, games, and other collectibles have been released in France. Many Pokémon toys which are manufactured by Jakks Pacific in North America, such as the Sinnoh Region Playset, are distributed in France by. Additionally, world-renowned German puzzle manufacturer has released several Pokémon-themed puzzles in France.

The Pokémon anime novelization series was translated into European French by. Beginning in 2012, a new series of chapter book adaptations was released by. These novels are adapted from the and the  of the anime and were not based directly on any previous novels. There are currently 33 novels in the series as well as one choose-your-own-adventure novel.

Hasbro's Pokémon Battling Coin Game received a French release in the late 1990s, known under the title . In the early 2000s, collectible cardboard discs called Pokémon Be Yaps were available. Other collectibles available in France include the Pokémon Advanced Action Cards and Pokémon Trading Cards series 1.

For a period of time after the game's release, there were special merchandise items available for purchase on Nintendo's official French website: A red t-shirt or polo shirt featuring the Pokémon Platinum logo, a rubber ball featuring Giratina's Origin Forme, and a Giratina bookmark. However, these items are no longer available.

Community
The biggest Pokémon fan sites based in France are PokéBip, Pokémon Espace, Eternia, Pokémon Trash and Pokémon-France. Pokégraph is the biggest French community of Pokémon drawing and artwork. Additionally, the French language member of Encyclopædiæ Pokémonis, Poképédia, is also based in France.

Events


An event called Pokémon Masters 2005 was held in Paris from September 17-18, 2005. It was organized by many fan sites, including Pokémon-France, and was sponsored by official companies including Nintendo and. The event included championship battles for and a Pokémon Trading Card Game championship tournament (the latter of which was the official introduction of Pokémon Organized Play in France). Additionally, the event featured a demo of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (which would be released in Europe two months later, in November 2005), displays of anime and game merchandise, and distributions of the.

Similar events were held previously on October 30–31, 2004 (titled Pokélord Masters 2004; named after Pokémon-France's previous name, Pokélord) and subsequently on December 2–3, 2006 (titled Festival Pokémon). Ten different event Pokémon were distributed at Festival Pokémon in commemoration of the Pokémon 10th Anniversary:, , , , , , , , and. All ten Pokémon have an OT of 10ANNIV and ID 06227, and are identical to the from Toys"R"Us in Paris earlier in the year.

A temporary store is opened in Paris from June 4, 2014 through June 21, 2014. The store featured an exhibition of illustrations from the Pokémon games, interactive events for fans, and the opportunity to purchase merchandise brought over from the Japanese Pokémon Center shops.

Related articles

 * List of French Pokémon names
 * List of French Pokémon themes