Pokémon Chronicles, partly known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: Side Stories (ポケットモンスター サイドストーリー, Poketto Monsutā: Saido Sutōrī), is a spin-off series of the Pokémon anime, revolving around characters other than Ash Ketchum.
It first aired in Japan on December 3, 2002 on TV Tokyo and concluded on September 28, 2004. The series made its U.S. premiere on Cartoon Network on June 3, 2006, after it ended in most other countries.[1]
Four DVDs have been released in the United Kingdom, with a U.S. release still non-existent. All of the episodes have been released as extras on the first six-season box sets of Pokémon in Australia (the newer 6 DVD box sets do not have the Pokémon Chronicles episodes, while the older 14 DVD sets do). A box set containing all 22 episodes has also been released in Australia.
When shown on Shūkan Pokémon Hōsōkyoku, the episodes did not have a musical opening. Instead, they open with Brock and Misty talking (except for the Team Rocket episodes, where said characters would talk instead). Normally, it would result in Misty hitting Brock with a mallet, fan, or water gun for acting out of line. The endings would normally deal with that episode's character. When released on DVD these sequences were omitted entirely. The Japanese episodes were seen as special episodes, hence the unconventional opening. However, it was dubbed as a completely new series, so a musical opening was required. While the openings from the main series interlink scenes from the related Japanese opening with scenes from the episodes, there was no Japanese opening for Pokémon Chronicles, A new opening was created. Some of the scenes in the opening are taken from the Japanese Legend of Thunder opening, the rest are taken from episodes. There are 42 scenes in 36 seconds.
The ending is a repeat of the opening on the left of the screen, with the credits rolling past on the right. There are a few variations, however. The DVD version and first two parts of The Legend of Thunder shows footage from the battle at the start of Part Two. The ending for Pikachu's Winter Vacation on the DVD rolls over a full screen picture taken from the episode.
The original theme tune is a modified version of the "G/S Pokerap". However, there is an instrumental in the middle, where the narrator basically says what Chronicles is about:
When the series aired in America, starting with the second episode, the intro sequence was changed to a newer version, consisting of a montage of various scenes from "The Legend of Thunder" with more intense music. In the original of "The Legend of Thunder", it also features a cameo by the Johto rival, and later in another episode.
Japanese version
English version
The episodes have been released on DVD in a number of markets, excluding Region 1. English language releases are limited to Regions 2 and 4.
The complete series was released in the UK by Contender Entertainment Group in four volumes, released between 2005 and 2006. The first volume contained a feature-length version of The Legend of Thunder alongside the first Pikachu's Winter Vacation part, and "A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!". Volumes 2 and 3 were each combined into a single release and have five episodes each. Volume 4 contains seven episodes. A boxset containing the first three volumes was also released, but with slightly different packaging than the standalone creations. The DVDs do not contain any subtitles, or special features besides episode and scene selection.