There have been various animated Pokémon projects over the years, be it the ongoing Pokémon Horizons series or standalone films, but one of the most heartwarming and feel-good stories (that’s not Pokémon Concierge) around can actually be found on YouTube — just without an English dub.
Until now, that is. The 14-minute Pokémon: Dragonite and the Special Delivery has finally been dubbed for Western audiences and is streaming for free on the official channel, although fans in certain territories, including Singapore, won’t be able to view it without a VPN or other workarounds.
While expected (and a common practice among Japanese companies), the region lock is a bit of a bummer because the short features beautiful visuals, both within its main Paldea setting, first introduced in the Scarlet and Violet video games, and across other regions. It was originally released to commemorate the series’ 29th anniversary during Pokémon Day last year, with Riko Fukumoto (Love Me, Love Me Not) starring as protagonist Hana and CoMix Wave Films, the outfit behind Makoto Shinkai‘s films, producing.
Taku Kimura (Star Wars: Visions) directed and storyboarded the short, while Kentaro Nana wrote and supervised the script. Tasuku Watanabe was responsible for art direction, joined by Asuka Dokai (Snorunt’s Summer Vacation) as character designer, Maho Aoki (Astro Note) as animation director, and Evan Call (Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End) as composer.
“This animated short features Hana, a girl from Paldea who dreams of becoming an ace mail carrier, just like her hero, Dragonite. When she comes across a letter with no address, she makes it her mission to find the sender,” reads the synopsis for Pokémon: Dragonite and the Special Delivery.
“Along with her partner, Fuecoco, Hana searches the city — and succeeds. The sender is Rio, a young boy who wants to wish a happy birthday to his father, who is working far away in the Kanto region. But his father’s birthday is today… Can Hana find a way to make Rio’s birthday wish for his father come true?”
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
