Pokémon in Canada: Difference between revisions

As mentioned below, Canadian copies of Pokémon games come with bilingual (English/French) packaging and manuals, with the French text primarily using English names, despite the existence of French-language copies for the province of Quebec.

While federal laws require bilingual packaging and instruction manuals to be included with the sale of all video games in Canada, Pokémon games were available in English only until the release of {{game|HeartGold and SoulSilver|s}}, which received a French release for the province of {{wp|Québec}} in addition to the regular English release. This was due to an agreement between Québec's government and major video game publishers requiring any video games in Québec to be offered in French if available in French elsewhere in the world. French-language games contain exactly the same content as those from {{pmin|France}}, with the packaging slightly modified to include elements such as a "Play in French" logo (upper-left corner), although they retain their {{wp|PEGI}} ratings rather than changing them to those of the {{wp|ESRB}}. As they are from France, the games are incompatible with some North American event distributions and features. For example, the manuals for the French-language HeartGold and SoulSilver warn that [[Pal Park]] is incompatible with North American [[Generation III]] games, and due to the French versions of [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Versions|Diamond, Pearl]] and [[Pokémon Platinum Version|Platinum]] being unavailable in Canada, Pokémon from said games cannot be transferred to French Generation V games, and the [[creation trio]] is unobtainable in the French [[Pokémon Dream Radar]] (unless European French copies of the Sinnoh games are used). However, recent event distributions have been compatible with both English and French games, in addition to other European languages if imported. Despite the content of the games being almost identical to that of the releases from France, the Canadian French versions of the games for Nintendo DS have their own country code in the serial numbers, CDF (instead of USA for English North America, or EUR for Europe, etc).  

===In Québec French===

The Québec dub of Pokémon is actually a modified version of the dub from {{pmin|France}}. While the Canadian dub uses most of the same dialogue as the European French version, all of the character names in the show are redubbed to match the names used in the English version (for example, "{{an|Misty}}" is used instead of "Ondine" and "{{p|Charmander}}" instead of "Salamèche"). Despite the changes to character names, other proper names such as the names of cities remain the same as in the European French version (for example, "Carmin sur Mer" is used instead of "[[Vermilion City]]" or a translated equivalent such as "Ville de Vermilion"). All dubbing and other modifications required for the Canadian French version of the anime were conducted by '''Covitec''' in the province of {{wp|Québec}}.

The Québec dub aired on '''{{wp|Télétoon (Canadian TV channel)|Télétoon}}''', a French-language children's network based in {{wp|Montréal}}. Although Télétoon has removed Pokémon from its schedule, it still occasionally airs the [[Pokémon movie]]s. Approximately around ''[[Pokémon: Master Quest]]'', the Canadian French version of the dub ceased to be produced and distributed, although the movies continued to be released to French-speaking Canadians until ''[[M07|Destiny Deoxys]]''. The Canadian French version of the Pokémon anime currently does not air on any channel.

The Québec dub was released on VHS and DVD by '''Imavision Distribution Inc.''', but their license to distribute the series has expired and their Pokémon titles have gone out of print. The movies were distributed on VHS and bilingual DVD (with both French and English audio tracks) by {{wp|Warner Brothers}}, although no movies have been released to Canadians in French since [[VIZ Media]] took over the distribution of the films.

Possibly because of the Québec dub's retention of English character names, France-translated Pokémon media (such as the French-language games and TCG) tend to not perform as well in Québec as in France due to their use of [[List of French Pokémon names|France's localized names]]. Although the official French-Canadian ''Black'' and ''White'' website specifically references the French dubs of ''[[M14|Black: Victini and Reshiram]]'' and ''[[M14|White: Victini and Zekrom]]'' by name, any further French-language airing of the anime in Canada (whether another localized dub or the version from France) has yet to be seen.

Cards for the [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]] have been sold in Canada since the introduction of the {{TCG|Base Set}}. English-language cards are imported from the United States to be sold in Canadian stores. Originally, only English-language cards were available, but many French-speaking parents felt this was unfair to their children, who also did not have a French-language Pokémon video game. As a result, [[Wizards of the Coast]], which had recently started selling Pokémon cards in {{pmin|France}}, began to import these French-language cards for sale in Québec; however, distribution of French cards became less widespread after a few early sets, as the French cards were not as sought-after by collectors as their English and Japanese equivalents. Today, both English- and French-language cards are recognized as tournament legal in [[Play! Pokémon|official tournaments]].

Currently, English-language cards are sold nationwide. In Québec, French-language cards are sold alongside the English ones (somewhat less commonly), mostly at retailers such as [[wikipedia:Wal-Mart|Wal-Mart]] and independent gaming stores such as [http://www.levalet.com Le Valet d'Coeur] that import games directly from France; the two McDonald's TCG promotions in the province have also been in French.