Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness (Japanese: ポケモン不思議のダンジョン　時の探検隊・闇の探検隊 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness) is an adaptation of the spin-off games .
It was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 2007, as part of Pokémon Sunday. It was also streamed online in Japanese on September 13, 2007.
It was released in North America on DVD on August 17, 2008 as part of a limited edition Pokémon pack which included the DVD, a and Onyx Nintendo DS Lite, a carrying case, and a mini-poster of . It was later aired on on September 1, 2008, as a part of a Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension marathon. In the United Kingdom, it was released on DVD as part of a goodie bag with an event. It was also available in the United Kingdom at stores, coming free with a purchase of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and .
This episode was released on the Japanese and English Pokémon YouTube channels on July 3, 2015 and October 22, 2015, respectively, for the release of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. This episode was also made available on Pokémon TV.
==Blurb==
Welcome to a world...where Pokémon, and ONLY Pokémon, live. A world where Pokémon can talk -- just like we do. Meet a boy who has mysteriously turned into a Piplup!
This Piplup soon meets a Chimchar, who dreams of joining a brave Exploration Team. And at that magical moment, an exciting new adventure begins!
Join us... After all, a whole new world of mystery and exploration awaits! Life is full of adventure, so get ready to explore!
==Plot==
 steals a Time Gear, and as he makes off with it, time freezes in that area. Meanwhile, , who is anxious to start an Exploration Team by joining Wigglytuff's Guild. As he walks toward the entrance, Team Razor Wind is blasted out by 's (because of arguing about the reward for their mission), and members of the Wigglytuff Guild notice Chimchar's footprints, thinking he's an intruder. This scares Chimchar into running away from the beach, where he meets an unconscious . After he wakes up, Piplup, claiming to be a human, is scared to find out that he has turned into a Pokémon. Chimchar thus convinces Piplup to go with him to meet Wigglytuff and start an Exploration Team, in the hopes that he'll find out what has happened to him.
They then enter the Wigglytuff Guild, and after causing a slight ruckus (the guild thought that they were intruders), they are able to talk to Wigglytuff himself. After , Wigglytuff's right-hand man, explains the strangeness going on in their world with the Time Gears being stolen, Piplup and Chimchar receive an Exploration Team Starter Kit as well as Rescue Team Badges, officially joining the guild as Team Poképals. That night, Piplup and Chimchar rest in the guild. When Chimchar accidentally rolls on top of Piplup, Piplup receives a vision of the future: in this case exactly what the third member of his rescue team will buy at Treasure Town.
The next day, after the guild oath recital, Piplup and Chimchar receive their first rescue mission: they must go into Labyrinth Cave and retrieve a Gabite Scale in order to cure a young 's sister's sickness. To help them on this presumably dangerous mission is guild veteran . They first go to 's to stock up on items, and it is there that Piplup's vision is fulfilled: Sunflora buys a , , and for Piplup, Chimchar, and herself, respectively, exactly as it happened in Piplup's vision. Team Razor Wind spots them and secretly decides that they should go retrieve the Gabite Scale, since Team Poképals is too inexperienced. Team Poképals then enters the cave, but it's not long before Chimchar gets attacked by a wild swarm. After Sunflora attacks them with , she explains the usefulness of the items; the Power Band made her attack stronger, and the Defense Scarf saved Chimchar from injury. As they proceed, Piplup almost falls into a pit, but Chimchar grabs his hand and saves him. This triggers another one of Piplup's visions of the future: a stone bridge collapses into a pit. When they come to the bridge, Chimchar insists on crossing it, but Piplup remembers his vision and stops Chimchar from crossing it. The bridge then collapses, and Chimchar is thankful.
A bit deeper into the cave, they find a beat-up Team Razor Wind, who explain that they had just been challenged and defeated by when they asked for his scale. Team Poképals then heads further in to find the Gabite. When they ask and beg for his scale, he refuses and insists that they him for it, to which Piplup agrees.
Gabite starts by using . Chimchar tries to use , but the attack can't break through. Piplup then uses , which clears the storm. Gabite then uses on Chimchar and Piplup, knocking them down. In response, Sunflora uses , which due to the Power Band is very strong. She then prepares to use , but before she can execute the attack, Gabite uses , leaving Sunflora heartstruck and unable to fight. Noticing Sunflora cannot battle, Piplup uses . Gabite laughs at the attack's puny power and knocks Piplup down again with Dragon Claw. Seeing Piplup go down, Chimchar uses on Gabite and Piplup uses what he thinks is Bubble. However, Chimchar comments that the attack is actually , which Piplup learned through experience from the Joy Ribbon. Piplup then uses BubbleBeam one more time on Gabite, knocking Gabite out. Sunflora is freed from her love trance, and the team then regroups and recuperates. However, Gabite slowly gets back up. The team prepares for battle once again when Gabite tells them not to worry: he had a worthy and exciting battle with them. He then presents them with one of his scales as their reward, thus completing their mission.
Back at the guild, Shinx is overwhelmed that his sister has gotten better, and thus thanks Team Poképals with a Luxray Fang as their reward. Chatot, however, swipes the fang, stating that it is a guild rule that all rewards go to Wigglytuff, to which Chimchar and Piplup are dismayed. , another member of the guild, then barges in and claims big news: Grovyle the Thief has stolen another Time Gear. Piplup then tells Chimchar that he would like to stay on Team Poképals, calling Chimchar his partner, in hopes that he will find out more about what has happened to him. Chimchar then excitedly approves and the two partners shake hands.
==Major events==
* A human boy finds out he has turned into a .
* Piplup forms Team Poképals along with a .
* Piplup learns .
* Team Poképals completes their first mission.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
* Team Poképals
** 
** 
* Wigglytuff's Guild
** ()
** ()
** 
** 
** 
** ()
** ()
** 
** 
** ()
* Team Razor Wind
** 
** 
** 
* Treasure Town
** (brother)
** Shinx (sister)
** brothers
** 
* 
* Thieves
** ()
** ()
** 
** 
** 
* Others
** 
** 
** 
** (multiple)
==Comparison with the game==
* The Time Gear that steals is actually the second one he steals in the game.
* The opening scenes at the beach and at the guild are very similar to the game.
** However, the part where 's stone gets stolen by and is omitted.
* The visions triggered by the Dimensional Scream do not start so early in the game.
* The guild does not take items given as payment, though it does take 90% of money received.
* The Japanese Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 website revealed a code that allows players to obtain a mission that is similar to the special, with being the boss of the dungeon. 
* The music used in the special, like the previous special, is similar to the game's.
* Sunflora does not join the player's team in the games.
* The "Morning Words of Encouragement" are said inside the guild, not out.
* Sunflora does not say "oh my gosh!" that much in the game.
* 's identity is not known until after 's Time Gear is stolen, not the one shown.
==Cast==
English 	English 	Japanese 	Japanese 	出演 	出演
 	Bella Hudson 	Pochama 	Kurumi Mamiya 	ポッチャマ 	間宮くるみ
 	Bill Rogers 	Hikozaru 	Kappei Yamaguchi 	ヒコザル 	山口勝平
 	 	 	 	 	
 	Rachael Lillis 	Kimawari 	Hiroko Emori 	キマワリ 	江森浩子
 	Billy Beach 	Heigani 	Nobutoshi Canna 	ヘイガニ 	神奈延年
 	Maddie Blaustein	Perap 	Daisuke Sakaguchi 	ぺラップ 	阪口大助
 	 	Digda 	Akio Suyama 	ディグダ 	陶山章央
 	Kether Donahue 	Chirean 	Kimiko Koyama 	チリーン 	こやま　きみこ
 	Marc Thompson 	Dogohmb 	 	ドゴーム 	
 	Sarah Natochenny	Pukurin 	Yū Kobayashi 	プクリン 	小林ゆう
 	 	 	 	 	
 	Dan Green 	Juptile 	Masaki Terasoma 	ジュプトル 	てらそま　まさき
 	Billy Beach 	Gabite 	Kenta Miyake 	ガバイト 	三宅健太
brothers 	Chad Kessler 	Kecleon brothers	Kiyotaka Furushima	カクレオン兄弟 	古島清孝
 	Dan Green 	Zangoose 	Tsutomu Densaka 	ザングース 	伝坂　勉
 	Bill Rogers 	Strike 	Yōhei Nishina 	ストライク 	仁科洋平
 	Tom Wayland 	Sandpan 	Chikara Ōsaka 	サンドパン 	逢坂　力
(brother) 	Rachael Lillis 	Kolink (brother)	Yuka Nishigaki 	コリンク（兄） 	西墻由香
Shinx (sister)	Kether Donahue 	Kolink (sister) 	Hinako Sasaki 	コリンク（妹） 	佐々木日菜子
==Staff==
Executive producersエグゼクティブプロデューサー 	
* Tsunekazu Ishihara
* Kōichi Nakamura	
* 石原恒和
* 中村光一
Animation supervisorアニメーション監修 	
* Yōichi Kotabe	
* 小田部羊一
Planning企画 	
* Takaaki Kii
* Kenjirō Itō	
* 紀伊高明
* 伊藤憲二郎
Producersプロデューサー 	
* Takemoto Mori
* Kunimi Kawamura	
* 盛　武源
* 川村久仁美
Associate producerアソシエイトプロデューサー 	
* Masakazu Kubo
* Chōji Yoshikawa	
* 久保雅一
* 吉川兆二
Animation producersアニメーションプロデューサー 	
* Toshiaki Okuno
* Shūkichi Kanda	
* 奥野敏聡
* 神田修吉
Assistant producersアシスタントプロデューサー 	
* Yūko Shimamura
* Masami Tanaka
* Takeshi Nomoto	
* 島村優子
* 野本岳志
Coordinatorsコーディネーター 	
* Hizuki Misono
* Aya Ozawa	
* 御園日月
* 小澤　綾
Director監督 	
* Kunihiko Yuyama	
* 湯山邦彦
Screenplay脚本 	
* Aya Matsui	
* 松井亜弥
Storyboard絵コンテ 	
* Kunihiko Yuyama	
* 湯山邦彦
Assistant director演出 	
* Yūji Asada	
* 浅田裕二
Animation director作画監督 	
* Akihiro Tamagawa	
* 玉川明洋
Pokémon created by「ポケットモンスター」原案 	
* Satoshi Tajiri
* Jun'ichi Masuda
* Ken Sugimori	
* 田尻　智
* 増田順一
* 杉森　建
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Time Expedition and Darkness Expedition original staging「ポケモン不思議のダンジョン　時の探検隊・闇の探検隊」オリジナル設定 	
* Seiichirō Nagahata
* Shin'ichirō Tomie
* Hironori Ishigami
* Emiko Tanaka
* Fuyuhiko Koizumi
* Hisashi Nagai
* Misako Okibe	
* 長畑成一郎
* 冨江慎一郎
* 石神宏紀
* 田中絵美子
* 小泉冬彦
* 永井　壽
* 沖邊美佐紀
Staging assistance設定協力 	
* Game Freak, inc.
* The Pokémon Company
* Chunsoft	
* GAME FREAK inc.
* The Pokémon Company
* 株式会社チュンソフト
Colorist色指定 	
* Kayo Ōshima	
* 大島嘉代
Special effects特殊効果 	
* Yūji Asada	
* 浅田裕二
Art director美術監督／設定 	
* ?	
* ?
Director of photography撮影監督 	
* ?	
* ?
CGI 	
* OLM Digital	
* OLM Digital
CGI directorCGI監督 	
* Minoru Tokushige	
* 徳重　実
Editor編集 	
* Toshio Henmi	
* 辺見俊夫
Music音楽 	
* Moririn Tada	
* モリリン多田
Original score (partial)一部原曲・作曲 	
* Arata Iiyoshi
* Hideki Sakamoto
* Keisuke Ito
* Ryoma Nakamura
* Ken-ichi Saito	
* 飯吉　新
* 坂本英城
* 伊藤圭介
* 中村龍馬
* 斉藤健一
Sound recording producer音響プロデューサー 	
* Michiyoshi Minamisawa
* Takeshi Nishina	
* 南沢道義
* 西名　武
Sound director音響監督 	
* Masafumi Mima	
* 三間雅文
Recording studio録音スタジオ 	
* HALF H・P STUDIO	
* HALF H・P STUDIO
Production manager制作担当 	
* Shōji Ōta	
* 大田昌二
Animation productionアニメーション制作 	
* OLM Team Ota	
* OLM Team Ota
Production制作 	
* Shogakukan Production	
* 小学館プロダクション
Executive production & writing製作・著作 	
* Shogakukan Production
* Chunsoft
* The Pokémon Company	
* 小学館プロダクション
* 株式会社チュンソフト
* The Pokémon Company
==Trivia==
* This episode aired between DP045 and DP046 in Japan.
* Daisuke Sakaguchi also played 's in Strategy Tomorrow - Comedy Tonight!.
* Kiyotaka Furushima reprises his role as the brothers from the previous special.
* The episode is animated by Team Ota, which had not worked on the since All That Glitters is Not Golden.
* The episode is storyboarded by Kunihiko Yuyama, who usually handles the movies.
* The episode has music producers, which are usually only found in the movies, both short and long.
* Most of the background music in the episode was taken from the game score, which was composed by Arata Iiyoshi and others. Unlike , the music was not arranged by Miyazaki Shinji.
* Also, when Team Poképals battles , the music from the battle with is used.
* As with the previous Mystery Dungeon special, the episode ends with To be continued. Unlike the previous special, however, this episode really did get a sequel.
* This special appeared first in parts of Europe before the United States. The same thing happened with the Pokémon Chronicles series.
** The special aired in the US on Labor Day as part of a Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension marathon.
* Maddie Blaustein and Rachael Lillis return to voice Chatot and Sunflora and Shinx, respectively. 
**This was Blaustein's last role in the Pokémon series before her death on December 11th, 2008.
**This was also Lillis's last role, as she did not reprise the role of Sunflora in the next special.
=== Errors ===
* When Chatot is explaining about why bad Pokémon kept appearing, he said the Time Gears have been broken. But the Time Gears were not broken, instead they were stolen.
* Although the Shinx sister and Gabite were supposed to be female and male, respectively, they are stylised with the opposite gender differences. Shinx's feet were not light blue and Gabite lacked a groove in his fin.
* After Piplup counters Gabite's , Sunflora exclaims that Sand-types are weak against moves, meaning . Also, Gabite is part , therefore, it would do normal damage.
=== Dub edits ===
==In other languages==
==Related articles==
Category:Pokémon Mystery Dungeon episodes
Category:Episodes written by Aya Matsui
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kunihiko Yuyama
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Akihiro Tamagawa
de:Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Erkundungsteams Zeit und Dunkelheit
es:EE06
fr:Pokémon Donjon Mystère : Explorateurs du Temps et de l'Ombre (dessin animé)
it:Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Esploratori del Tempo e dell'Oscurità
ja:ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊 (アニメ)
zh:寶可夢不可思議迷宮 時之探險隊／暗之探險隊（動畫）