Pokémon in Finland

The Pokémon franchise first reached on October 21, 1999 in the form of the first English Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. The Pokémon animated series followed shortly after with the first broadcast of Pokémon! Minä valitsen sinut! in Finnish on MTV3 on November 6, 1999. Finland was the first Nordic country to air the Pokémon animated series. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden followed after in spring 2000.
==Pokémon video games==
All of the core series and spin-off Pokémon games have been released in English in Finland, usually the same day as the release in the rest of Europe. The first ones were , which arrived in Finnish stores on October 21, 1999. 
As in the rest of Europe, Pokémon Trozei! was sold under the title Pokémon Link! and Pokémon Rumble Blast was sold under the title Super Pokémon Rumble.
All games have their instruction booklets translated into both Finnish and Swedish. The only game released in Finnish is Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, but only the interface had been translated and the cards themselves remained in English.
Stores known for distributing Pokémon events in Finland are , , , , and Pelimies.
==Pokémon animation==
Generally, episodes of the Pokémon animated series air on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings on , a Finnish commercial TV channel.
Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension has aired in Finnish on . When Jetix was replaced by Disney XD, Disney XD began to show reruns of Battle Dimension as well. Disney XD has also aired the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth movies.
MTV3's net-TV known as Katsomo started to upload the 11th season beginning on 11 May 2010 and finished the season in July 2010. New episodes were downloaded Mon-Fri by 18:00. 
The 12th season was broadcast by MTV3 from September 2010 to August 6th 2011. Katsomo started to upload the 13th season since 18 April 2011 and finished on August 11th 2011. New episodes were uploaded Mondays and Thursdays by 18:00.
Like some other European channels, MTV3 showed the first two episodes of Pokémon the Series: Black & White as a "sneak peek" before the seasons actual airing. These episodes were shown on 22 and 25 April, respectively. The season officially started airing on August 13, 2011.
Sub Juniori has started to return the first ten seasons of the series since 12 April 2010. Currently, it is broadcasting the reruns of Pokémon: Advanced.
Many episodes were not aired in Finland for unknown reasons. The last episode of the first season and the entire second season were skipped; and only about a half of the Johto Journeys, Johto League Champions, and the last 12 episodes of Master Quest were shown. This happened also to Pokémon Advanced, as only the first 26 episodes were shown.
This changed during Advanced Challenge, as it was the first-ever season to be shown completely in Finland. Every season after that has been broadcast in their entirety as well.
In Finland, the animated series is available on Netflix.
Season 	Original broadcaster 	Debut episode 	Final episode 	Episodes
Pokémon: Indigo League 	MTV3 	Pokémon! Minä valitsen sinut!November 6, 1999 	Kasvatuskeskuksen salaisuusMarch 10, 2001 	52
Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands 	MTV3 	Prinsessat nokakkainMarch 17, 2001 	Ystävä vai vihollinenDecember 8, 2001 	26 (the Orange Islands sagawas completely skipped)
Pokémon: The Johto Journeys 	MTV3 	Näpit irti Totosta!December 15, 2001 	Miksei sadetta kuulu?June 8, 2002 	26 (the last 15 episodeswere unaired)
Pokémon: Johto League Champions 	MTV3 	Miten käy Goldenrodissa?November 9, 2002 	Kovaa teetäMay 3, 2003 	26 (the second halfwas unaired)
Pokémon: Master Quest 	DVD only 	The first 52 episodes of Master Quest were unaired 	The first 52 episodes of Master Quest were unaired	The first 52 episodes of Master Quest were unaired
Pokémon: Advanced 	MTV3 	Unownin jäljilläFebruary 29, 2004 	Nuzleaf pulassaMay 26, 2005 	38 (the last 14 episodeswere unaired)
Pokémon: Advanced Challenge 	MTV3 (some episodes onlyin Subtv Juniori)	Siemeniä kerrakseenMarch 25, 2006 	TuomionpäiväDecember 22, 2006 	52
Pokémon: Advanced Battle 	MTV3 	Viisas ClamperlJune 9, 2007 	Pasta la VistaMay 31, 2008 	52
Pokémon: Battle Frontier 	MTV3/Sub Juniori 	Kiista kummituskylästäJune 14, 2008 	KotiinpaluuDecember 25, 2008 	47
Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl 	MTV3/Sub Juniori 	NeitsytmatkallaJune 3, 2008 	Ryhmähenki haiseeAugust 12, 2008 	51
Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension 	Jetix 	Pelon kyyneleitä!February 14, 2009 	Uneton Canalave Cityssä!July 11, 2009 	52
Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles 	MTV3/Disney XD 	Kierroksia Rotomiin!June 7, 2010 	Gible kiipelissä!March 30, 2011 	52
Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors 	Disney XD 	Kotikenttäetu haltuun!February 28, 2011 	Suloiset muistot kestävät!June 15, 2011 	34
Pokémon: Black & White 	MTV3 	Zekromin varjossa!April 22, 2011 	Taistelu maanalaisesta!May 26, 2012 	48
Pokémon BW: Kilpailevat kohtalot 	MTV3 	Elesa, sähköistävä salinjohtaja!July 6, 2013 	Unova selviytymiskriisissä!December 22, 2013 	49
Pokémon BW: Seikkailut Unovassa (ja kauempana)	MTV3 	Kaunottaret ottelemassa maineesta ja kunniasta!February 16, 2014 	Unelma jatkuu!October 11, 2014 	45
Pokémon-sarja: XY 	MTV3 	Kalos, paikka jossa unelmat ja seikkailut alkavat!May 4, 2014 	Puolustaja Bonnie!February 1, 2015 	48
Pokémon-sarja: XY Kalos-seikkailu 	MTV3 	Polkuja esityskumppanuuteen!December 5, 2015 	Katseet kohti tulevaa!May 7, 2016 	45
Pokémon-sarja: XYZ 	Pokémon TV 	Operaatio Z!May 12, 2016 	X:n, Y:n ja Z:n legenda!May 19, 2017 	48
Pokémon-sarja: Sun & Moon 	Pokémon TV 	Alola uudelle seikkailulle!August 26, 2017 	Kun alueet törmäävät!March 23, 2018 	43
Pokémon-sarja: Sun & Moon – Ultraseikkailuja 	Pokémon TV 	Kohtaaminen unessa!June 22, 2018 	Toinen Naamio-Royal?March 29, 2019 	48
Pokémon-sarja: Sun & Moon – Ultralegendoja 	Pokémon TV 	Lillier ja Sauva!January 3, 2020 	Kiitos, Alola! Matka jatkuu!June 20, 2020 	54
Pokémon: Matkat – Sarja 	Netflix 	Pikachu astuu kuvaan!November 27, 2020January 1, 2021 	Läheltä piti... kirjaimellisesti!July 1, 2021 	48
Pokémon: Mestarimatkat – Sarja 	Netflix 	Kouluttaako vaiko eikö kouluttaa?September 10, 2021January 28, 2022	Selkkaus rinnakkaismaailman porteilla!July 8, 2022	45
Pokémon: Huikeat matkat – Sarja 	Netflix 	Haamupikajuna!January 6, 2023 	Kaukainen sinitaivasNovember 24, 2023 	58
 	Netflix 	Riipus, joka aloittaa kaiken: osa yksi!March 7, 2024 	Ongoing 	Ongoing
===Dubbing===
The aired episodes were originally dubbed in Finnish by Oy PVP-Voice Ab from Seasons 1 to 7, a dubbing company known of its numerous dubbings on different cartoons. Seasons 5 to 7 were recorded in a former small municipality of (nowadays part of the town of ) in Southwest Finland instead of capital Helsinki. SDI Media has dubbed the series since Pokémon: Battle Frontier; Season 8 was dubbed by Dubberman.
A unique feature of the Finnish dub (and other Nordic dubs) is that the names of Pokémon moves have been left in English. This hasn't always been the case, but this came into effect when the Seasons 9 and 10 were aired in Finland. The reasons behind the change are a bit hazy, but it has been assumed that this is because the Pokémon games and TCG are published in English in Finland as well. At the same time, it has been inconsistent whether are translated or not. Until Season 8, the names of the moves were said in Finnish. The Finnish dub is currently the only ongoing dub of the Pokémon animated series in an Uralic language, following the cancellation of the dub after Season 12.
====Cast and crew====
In the Finnish dub, several different voice actors have appeared. Sari Ann Moilanen was the original voice actress for Ash Ketchum in first and third seasons and the first four movies, though now he is voiced by Hanna Leino. Kiti Kokkonen is the most recent voice actress of , and also Jessie's voice actress in some seasons before Season 11, though both of these characters have had a few other voice actresses in some point: Misty has also been voiced by Outi Alanen, Marjut Heikkinen (also May's voice actress in Seasons 9 and 11, as well as Fennel in BW036) and Pauliina Virta, while Jessie has been voiced by Mari Laari, Karolina Blom and Susa Saukko. Kiti Kokkonen has, though, also been the first of Misty's voice actresses. Brock was originally voiced by Juha Paananen in the first six seasons and after that by Jari Salo. Paananen made a surprise comeback in the beginning of Season 12 with voicing Canalave City's Gym Leader Byron in two episodes.
Velimatti Ranta is James's original voice actor. Other voice actors for James are Anssi Känsälä, Antti Jaakola, Saku Mäkynen and Peter Pihlström, who is his current voice actor. has been voiced by Pauli Virta and currently by Arto Nieminen.
 has been voiced by Aksa Korttila in Seasons 6, 7, and the most of Season 8, while Elise Langenoja has voiced Max from Seasons 6 to 8. Mirjami Heikkinen is the voice actress for , while ' voice actress is Saara Aalto. is voiced by Petrus Kähkönen, who has previously voiced some recurring characters and characters of the day. Gary Oak has been voiced by Pasi Ruohonen, among other voice actors. Pasi Ruohonen had also voiced the narrator for many years, but starting with Season 18 the narrator is voiced by Markus Bäckman. is voiced by Alina Tomnikov, is voiced by Henri Piispanen (who had previously voiced Shamus and ), and is voiced by Henni-Liisa Stam (except the last 3 episodes of Pokémon the Series: XY, where she was substituted by Saara Lehtonen). Stam had also voiced May in the last seven episodes of Season 8, and some minor characters.
In Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, is voiced by Ella Tarvonen, is voiced by Vili Orava, is voiced by Saara Lehtonen, is voiced by Susa Saukko (also Jessie's current voice actress), and is voiced by Yasmine Yamajako, who previously voiced Alexa and . is voiced by Markus Niemi. is voiced by Ilkka Villi, whose previous major roles include Stephan, Colress, and .
Also, the Eleven to Fourteen bracket winner in Pokémon Trading Card Game , Miska Saari, has voiced Shane, the character of the day in the episode That's Just Swellow.Ilta-Sanomat. "Pokemon-mestari tv-sarjaan" (August 24, 2006)
The theme songs have been sung in Finnish by following singers:
*Anssi Känsälä (Pokémon Theme, (movie version only), Born to Be a Winner)
*Mika Turunen (Pokémon Johto)
*Jari Salo (Believe in Me, I Wanna Be a Hero, This Dream, Unbeatable)
*Antti Matikainen (, , We Will Be Heroes, We Will Carry On!, , )
*Marika Tuhkala (Battle Cry - (Stand Up!))
*Raili Raitala (, )
*Saara Aalto & Petrus Kähkönen (It's Always You and Me)
*Samuel Harjanne ()
*Jon-Jon Geitel (Be a Hero)
*Tero Koponen & Salli Helminen (Stand Tall)
*Heljä Heikkinen & Antti L. J. Pääkkönen (Under The Alolan Sun)
*Elias Kaskinen, Katja Aakkula & Mikko Laiho (Under The Alolan Moon)
===Pokémon movies===
All the movies up to the twenty-third movie (excluding Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea), as well as the animated series specials Mewtwo Returns and The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon have been dubbed in Finnish. The fifth, sixth, and seventh movies were dubbed by a completely different dubbing group and cast, similar to .
===Shorts and special episodes===
Out of all the Pikachu shorts, Pikachu's Vacation, Christmas Night, Kanga Games, Pikachu's Rescue Adventure, Winter Games, Stantler's Little Helpers and Pikachu & Pichu have been dubbed in Finnish, as well as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!.
==Pokémon manga==
Some series, published by VIZ Media, are sold in English by Fantasiapelit, a company that also has other Pokémon merchandise, such as TCG cards, in their product range.
On July 25, 2014, Finnish publisher Pauna Media started publishing the and the of Pokémon Adventures under the combined title Pokémon Adventures: Red, Blue & Green. The first volume was published on July 25, 2014. There were plans to release the entire series, but the original publishing schedule of one volume per month didn't hold up, and only the first five volumes have been released, with no new releases having been announced in years.
Three movie adaptations, , , and have been licensed by another publisher, Sangatsu Manga. The mangas were published on January 13, March 11, and May 6, 2016, respectively.
No Pokémon manga has been translated into , Finland's other national language.
==Pokémon Trading Card Game==
Many card sets of Pokémon Trading Card Game, starting with , have been sold in Finland in many different kiosks and convenience stores. Lehtipiste stores, the most common being R-Kioski, are known as one of the most reliable places to find Pokémon Trading Cards. s are also sold in Finland.
The cards sold in Finland are in English, and the price of one booster pack is typically around five or six Euros.
At least one Masters division , Tom Roos, is from Finland. Roos's deck was later printed in promotional form and named .
==External links==
*The official Finland Pokémon website (partial website)
*Pokémon at Nintendo.fi
*Netflix
*Viaplay
*The official Finnish forum
==Trivia==
*Saara Aalto, the Finnish voice actress for , gained international recognition by finishing in second place in the thirteenth season of , and representing Finland in the in 2018.
*Henri Piispanen, the Finnish voice actor for , represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024 as a featuring artist for Windows95man.
==References==
==Related articles==
*List of Finnish Pokémon themes