Pokémon-chan

Pokémon-chan is a Japanese shōjo manga series based off of the Pokémon video game franchise. The manga was serialized in several shōjo magazines from 2006 to September 2019, using several different titles. None of the manga was released outside Japan.

An anime television series, called Pocket Mon-chan began airing on TV Tokyo in December 2008; the adaptation lasted for 12 episodes. When released in North America, the first anime was localized as Three Pokémon Roommates.

A second anime series, Pocket Mon-chan B&W, based off of Pokémon Black and White, began airing on TV Tokyo in 2012. NickFamily Studios licensed the series in 2017. A previous English dub produced by Jetix Cymru for the Japanese licensors localized it as simply Pokémon-chan, despite the rest of the footage being mostly uncut. It was the only Pokémon-chan anime series not to have an accompanying manga version, the first Comedynime series to be legally available in North America, and, as of 2019, the only Comedynime series to receive an English dub.

A third anime series, Pocket Mon-chan XY, based off of Pokémon X and Y, began airing on TV Tokyo in 2015; Jetix Cymru localized it as Pokémon-chan XY. When the North American license was switched to NickFamily Studios in 2017, the English title was kept, but less cuts to the source material began to be made.

A fourth anime series, Pocket Mon-chan Sun & Moon, localized as Pokémon-chan Sun & Moon, was confirmed to be in production at OLM and Studio Aura as early as August 2018, to air on TV Tokyo stations starting in June 2019. Though NickFamily Studios has the master broadcast and home media license for the season, The Pokémon Company International has the master merchandise rights internationally. The season is listed at 12 episodes.

In March 2019, the mangaka confirmed that the Sun & Moon arc was ending early and the manga would transition into a story arc based on Sword and Shield. An OVA adaptation of the upcoming arc (a first for Pokémon-chan) has been confirmed to be in production at OLM and Studio Aura, and is set for release some time after the anime version of Pokémon-chan Sun & Moon ends its Japanese run. Studio Aura later announced alongside a release date of October 2019 that the OVA would be the last anime material based on the manga. Three volumes of four episodes each were released throughout the Fall 2019 anime season, starting in October.

In September 2019, OLM, Inc. and Studio Aura announced that they were collaborating on a spin-off ONA, Pocket Mon-chan Gaiden: Iwanko-chan (Pokémon-chan Gaiden: Rockruff Roommates in English). The ONA began release on March 22nd, 2020 in Japan, with a TV broadcast via TV Akihabara starting on April 2nd, 2020. Disney XD premiered an English dub on April 5th, 2020, after Beyblade: Rising.

In April 2020, it was announced that a final season of the anime, titled Pokémon-chan: Final Arc, would begin airing in April 2021. The season premiered on April 7th, 2021 after Beatcats!!. Studio Aura's side of the production would move from Studio Aura F to the newly-formed Studio Aura K, so that Studio Aura F would work on other shoujo anime series. In December 2020, it was announced that Nickelodeon Family would take over the first-run airing rights from Disney XD in the United States as a result of the success of Disney+; the first half of the 2021 anime series would air as part of Nicktoons Family's SaturdayZone block in July 2021, whereas the second half would air as part of NFGo! beginning January 2022. In May 2021, it was announced that Final Arc would be split into two cours, with the first cour ending in July 2021 and the second beginning in October 2021. This practice was also done with fellow Studio Aura series Monster Coins ReStart!.

In September 2021, Nickelodeon Family announced that they were working with OLM and Studio Aura to co-produce a spin-off series that takes place after Final Arc. According to Nickelodeon Family's announcement, the series, titled Pokémon-chan Gaiden: Pikaworld, would only be broadcast on television in the United States, with the series being a Flare+ exclusive in all other territories excluding Japan, where it will stream on Niconico.

In April 2022, Studio Aura announced that they had ordered another Pokémon-chan Gaiden series, titled Pokémon-chan Gaiden: Moving Out. The series would premiere in April 2023 in the United States and stream on Crunchyroll and Flare+ as it airs. Studio Aura later confirmed alongside a two-cour airing that the series would be the last Pokémon-chan Gaiden series and last Pokémon-chan TV series overall, due to Studio Aura wanting to focus on their newer IPs, such as Cardrise Showdown. It was announced in May 2022 that a four-episode finale OVA, titled Pokémon-chan: Epilogue, would begin release following the end of Gaiden: Moving Out.

In May 2019, it was announced that Nickelodeon Family would begin airing reruns of the anime franchise, starting with Pokémon-chan XY, in July 2019.

Bang Zoom! Entertainment provided the ADR production for the English dubs.

Characters

 * 1: The supporting character later appeared in the next series.

Main

 * Pikachu-chan (voiced by Ikue Ōtani (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English) )
 * Eevee-chan (voiced by Mika Kanai (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English, Three Pokémon Roommates) Erica Mendez (English, since 2012) )

Pocket Mon-chan

 * Pachi-chan (voiced by Chinami Nishimura (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English) )

Pocket Mon-chan B&W

 * Emol-chan (voiced by Mika Kanai (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English) )

Pocket Mon-chan XY

 * Fenne-chan 1 (voiced by Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Eileen Stevens (English) )

Pocket Mon-chan Sun & Moon

 * Poppli-chan (voiced by Rikako Aikawa (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English) )

Pocket Mon-chan Sword & Shield

 * Scor-chan (voiced by Ayaka Saitō (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English) )

Pocket Mon-chan Gaiden: Iwanko-chan

 * Iwanko-chan/Ruff-chan (voiced by Aya Hirano)

Premise
Three Pokémon, including Pikachu-chan (a Pikachu) and Eevee-chan (an Eevee), become roommates for one summer.

Episodes
TBA.

Home media
In January 2019, NickFamily DVD Distribution announced a Region 1 DVD release of Three Pokémon Roommates, which was released on April 27th, 2019.

Trivia

 * Excluding Pocket Mon-chan Gaiden: Iwanko-chan/Pokémon-chan Gaiden: Rockruff Roommates, nicknames for Pokémon in Pokémon-chan were chosen using names from the English translations of the games and anime series, rather than the original Japanese games.

TBA.