'Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles' Dub Confirmed, Will Be Heading To Netflix Next Month
International Pokémon fans can rest easy. Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles has not only been confirmed for its world premiere at the Pokémon World Championships in London in the United Kingdom on August 19, and will release on Netflix globally outside of Asian markets on September 23. Its presence was first felt on July 11, when Bulbapedia contributor Abcboy was given search recommendations of related titles on the service to this miniseries. This of course means it maintains its separate status and is not integrated into the first drop of the twenty-fifth season Pokémon Ultimate Journey.
Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles is a series of four special episodes known in Japan with the subtitle Arceus: the One Called God. They were released there on Amazon Prime Video on January 21 and 28 of this year to tie into the release of the video game Pokémon Legends Arceus happening on the latter date. On a return trip to Sinnoh, Ash and Goh team up with old friends Dawn, Brock, and Cynthia when Arceus warns them that Team Galactic is threatening to resurface in search of their disappeared leader.
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Pokémon special episodes have a spotty history of getting dubbed. Two such specials in 2011 during Black & White featured Dawn and Brock respectively back home following their journeys with Ash in the Diamond & Pearl series. In Dawn’s, she’s figuring out her next step and helping out a rookie trainer, while Brock needs to help his brother pass inspection for the Pewter Gym. These never got dubbed. Two weeks before the XY series premiered in 2013, a special where Brock and Black & White companion Cilan team up without ever learning they have mutual friends. In March 2014 a special focused on Iris, another Black & White companion, saw her battle Blackthorn City Gym Leader Clair and catch a Gible. These also were never dubbed, were passed over when gearing up for the XY series, and according to Brock’s current English voice, Bill Rogers in 2015, TPCi had no interest in going back to them.
Speaking of the XY series, things start looking up, as all four specials focused on Mega Evolution are dubbed. This made sense as it has bearing on and introduces characters that would be brought into the main series, such as eventual Kalos Champion Alain. The series has two more specials. One is a meeting of Bonnie and Clemont, two of Ash’s companions from that series and Cilan, in what is currently his final appearance in the anime. The other is a telling of a legend involving Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde. Only the latter, titled “The Legend of X, Y, and Z!” was dubbed, and it was the episode that closed out a 10 year run on Cartoon Network in 2016.
From the moment these specials aired, everyone in the fandom was unsure if these episodes would get dubbed, especially with the unique initial release and the fact that it would now essentially be much closer to the November release of the ninth generation games, Scarlet and Violet, but to their credit, they didn’t pass it up, and that’s what matters. It’ll be great to have these episodes in English.
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Source: Pokémon