Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness redirects here. For the games, see Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon episodes
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness
PMD Explorers of Time Darkness.png
ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness
First broadcast
Japan September 9, 2007
United States August 17, 2008*
September 1, 2008*
English themes
Opening Craggy Coast
Pokémon Exploration Team Theme
Ending Treasure Town
Pokémon Exploration Team Theme
Japanese themes
Opening Craggy Coast
Pokémon Exploration Team Theme
Ending Treasure Town
Pokémon Exploration Team Theme
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 松井亜弥 Aya Matsui
Storyboard 湯山邦彦 Kunihiko Yuyama
Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director 玉川明洋 Akihiro Tamagawa
No additional credits are available at this time.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness (Japanese: ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness) is an animated adaptation of the spin-off games Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.

It was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 2007, as part of Pokémon Sunday. It was also streamed online in Japanese on September 13, 2007.

It was released in North America on DVD on August 17, 2008 as part of a limited edition Pokémon pack which included the DVD, a Dialga and Palkia Onyx Nintendo DS Lite, a carrying case, and a mini-poster of Grovyle. It was later aired on Cartoon Network on September 1, 2008, as a part of a Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension marathon. In the United Kingdom, it was released on DVD as part of a goodie bag with an event. It was also available in the United Kingdom at Woolworths stores, coming free with a purchase of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.

This episode was released on the Japanese and English Pokémon YouTube channels on July 3, 2015 and October 22, 2015, respectively, for the release of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. This episode was also made available on Pokémon TV.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Blurb

Welcome to a world...where Pokémon, and ONLY Pokémon, live. A world where Pokémon can talk -- just like we do. Meet a boy who has mysteriously turned into a Piplup!

This Piplup soon meets a Chimchar, who dreams of joining a brave Exploration Team. And at that magical moment, an exciting new adventure begins!

Join us... After all, a whole new world of mystery and exploration awaits! Life is full of adventure, so get ready to explore!

Plot

Grovyle steals a Time Gear, and as he makes off with it, time freezes in that area. Meanwhile, Chimchar, who is anxious to start an Exploration Team by joining Wigglytuff's Guild. As he walks toward the entrance, Team Razor Wind is blasted out by Wigglytuff's Hyper Voice (because of arguing about the reward for their mission), and members of the Wigglytuff Guild notice Chimchar's footprints, thinking he's an intruder. This scares Chimchar into running away from the beach, where he meets an unconscious Piplup. After he wakes up, Piplup, claiming to be a human, is scared to find out that he has turned into a Pokémon. Chimchar thus convinces Piplup to go with him to meet Wigglytuff and start an Exploration Team, in the hopes that he'll find out what has happened to him.

They then enter the Wigglytuff Guild, and after causing a slight ruckus (the guild thought that they were intruders), they are able to talk to Wigglytuff himself. After Chatot, Wigglytuff's right-hand man, explains the strangeness going on in their world with the Time Gears being stolen, Piplup and Chimchar receive an Exploration Team Starter Kit as well as Rescue Team Badges, officially joining the guild as Team Poképals. That night, Piplup and Chimchar rest in the guild. When Chimchar accidentally rolls on top of Piplup, Piplup receives a vision of the future: in this case exactly what the third member of his rescue team will buy at Treasure Town.

The next day, after the guild oath recital, Piplup and Chimchar receive their first rescue mission: they must go into Labyrinth Cave and retrieve a Gabite Scale in order to cure a young Shinx's sister's sickness. To help them on this presumably dangerous mission is guild veteran Sunflora. They first go to Kecleon's to stock up on items, and it is there that Piplup's vision is fulfilled: Sunflora buys a Joy Ribbon, Defense Scarf, and Power Band for Piplup, Chimchar, and herself, respectively, exactly as it happened in Piplup's vision. Team Razor Wind spots them and secretly decides that they should go retrieve the Gabite Scale, since Team Poképals is too inexperienced. Team Poképals then enters the cave, but it's not long before Chimchar gets attacked by a wild Golbat swarm. After Sunflora attacks them with Razor Leaf, she explains the usefulness of the items; the Power Band made her attack stronger, and the Defense Scarf saved Chimchar from injury. As they proceed, Piplup almost falls into a pit, but Chimchar grabs his hand and saves him. This triggers another one of Piplup's visions of the future: a stone bridge collapses into a pit. When they come to the bridge, Chimchar insists on crossing it, but Piplup remembers his vision and stops Chimchar from crossing it. The bridge then collapses, and Chimchar is thankful.

A bit deeper into the cave, they find a beat-up Team Razor Wind, who explain that they had just been challenged and defeated by Gabite when they asked for his scale. Team Poképals then heads further in to find the Gabite. When they ask and beg for his scale, he refuses and insists that they battle him for it, to which Piplup agrees.

Gabite starts by using Sand Tomb. Chimchar tries to use Ember, but the attack can't break through. Piplup then uses Bubble, which clears the storm. Gabite then uses Dragon Claw on Chimchar and Piplup, knocking them down. In response, Sunflora uses Razor Leaf, which due to the Power Band is very strong. She then prepares to use Petal Dance, but before she can execute the attack, Gabite uses Attract, leaving Sunflora heartstruck and unable to fight. Noticing Sunflora cannot battle, Piplup uses Peck. Gabite laughs at the attack's puny power and knocks Piplup down again with Dragon Claw. Seeing Piplup go down, Chimchar uses Fury Swipes on Gabite and Piplup uses what he thinks is Bubble. However, Chimchar comments that the attack is actually Bubble Beam, which Piplup learned through experience from the Joy Ribbon. Piplup then uses BubbleBeam one more time on Gabite, knocking Gabite out. Sunflora is freed from her love trance, and the team then regroups and recuperates. However, Gabite slowly gets back up. The team prepares for battle once again when Gabite tells them not to worry: he had a worthy and exciting battle with them. He then presents them with one of his scales as their reward, thus completing their mission.

Back at the guild, Shinx is overwhelmed that his sister has gotten better, and thus thanks Team Poképals with a Luxray Fang as their reward. Chatot, however, swipes the fang, stating that it is a guild rule that all rewards go to Wigglytuff, to which Chimchar and Piplup are dismayed. Loudred, another member of the guild, then barges in and claims big news: Grovyle the Thief has stolen another Time Gear. Piplup then tells Chimchar that he would like to stay on Team Poképals, calling Chimchar his partner, in hopes that he will find out more about what has happened to him. Chimchar then excitedly approves and the two partners shake hands.

Major events

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Comparison with the game

  • The Time Gear that Grovyle steals is actually the second one he steals in the game.
  • The opening scenes at the beach and at the guild are very similar to the game.
  • The visions triggered by the Dimensional Scream do not start so early in the game.
  • The guild does not take items given as payment, though it does take 90% of money received.
  • The Japanese Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2 website revealed a code that allows players to obtain a mission that is similar to the special, with Gabite being the boss of the dungeon.
  • The music used in the special, like the previous special, is similar to the game's.
  • Sunflora does not join the player's team in the games.
  • The "Morning Words of Encouragement" are said inside the guild, not out.
  • Sunflora does not say "oh my gosh!" that much in the game.
  • Grovyle's identity is not known until after Uxie's Time Gear is stolen, not the one shown.

Cast

English Japanese 出演
Piplup Bella Hudson Pochama Kurumi Mamiya ポッチャマ 間宮くるみ
Chimchar Bill Rogers Hikozaru Kappei Yamaguchi ヒコザル 山口勝平
Sunflora Rachael Lillis Kimawari Hiroko Emori キマワリ 江森浩子
Corphish Billy Beach Heigani Nobutoshi Canna ヘイガニ 神奈延年
Chatot Maddie Blaustein Perap Daisuke Sakaguchi ぺラップ 阪口大助
Diglett Digda Akio Suyama ディグダ 陶山章央
Chimecho Kether Donahue Chirean Kimiko Koyama チリーン こやま きみこ
Loudred Marc Thompson Dogohmb ドゴーム
Wigglytuff Sarah Natochenny Pukurin Yū Kobayashi プクリン 小林ゆう
Grovyle Dan Green Juptile Masaki Terasoma ジュプトル てらそま まさき
Gabite Billy Beach Gabite Kenta Miyake ガバイト 三宅健太
Kecleon brothers Chad Kessler Kecleon brothers Kiyotaka Furushima カクレオン兄弟 古島清孝
Zangoose Dan Green Zangoose Tsutomu Densaka ザングース 伝坂 勉
Scyther Bill Rogers Strike Yōhei Nishina ストライク 仁科洋平
Sandslash Tom Wayland Sandpan Chikara Ōsaka サンドパン 逢坂 力
Shinx (brother) Rachael Lillis Kolink (brother) Yuka Nishigaki コリンク(兄) 西墻由香
Shinx (sister) Kether Donahue Kolink (sister) Hinako Sasaki コリンク(妹) 佐々木日菜子

Staff

Executive producers
エグゼクティブプロデューサー
  • 石原恒和
  • 中村光一
Animation supervisor
アニメーション監修
  • Yōichi Kotabe
  • 小田部羊一
Planning
企画
  • Takaaki Kii
  • Kenjirō Itō
  • 紀伊高明
  • 伊藤憲二郎
Producers
プロデューサー
  • Takemoto Mori
  • Kunimi Kawamura
  • 盛 武源
  • 川村久仁美
Associate producer
アソシエイトプロデューサー
  • Masakazu Kubo
  • Chōji Yoshikawa
  • 久保雅一
  • 吉川兆二
Animation producers
アニメーションプロデューサー
  • Toshiaki Okuno
  • Shūkichi Kanda
  • 奥野敏聡
  • 神田修吉
Assistant producers
アシスタントプロデューサー
  • Yūko Shimamura
  • Masami Tanaka
  • Takeshi Nomoto
  • 島村優子
  • 野本岳志
Coordinators
コーディネーター
  • Hizuki Misono
  • Aya Ozawa
  • 御園日月
  • 小澤 綾
Director
監督
  • Kunihiko Yuyama
  • 湯山邦彦
Screenplay
脚本
  • Aya Matsui
  • 松井亜弥
Storyboard
絵コンテ
  • Kunihiko Yuyama
  • 湯山邦彦
Assistant director
演出
  • Yūji Asada
  • 浅田裕二
Animation director
作画監督
  • Akihiro Tamagawa
  • 玉川明洋
Pokémon created by
「ポケットモンスター」原案
  • 田尻 智
  • 増田順一
  • 杉森 建
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Time Expedition and Darkness Expedition original staging
「ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊」オリジナル設定
  • Seiichirō Nagahata
  • Shin'ichirō Tomie
  • Hironori Ishigami
  • Emiko Tanaka
  • Fuyuhiko Koizumi
  • Hisashi Nagai
  • Misako Okibe
  • 長畑成一郎
  • 冨江慎一郎
  • 石神宏紀
  • 田中絵美子
  • 小泉冬彦
  • 永井 壽
  • 沖邊美佐紀
Staging assistance
設定協力
  • GAME FREAK inc.
  • The Pokémon Company
  • 株式会社チュンソフト
Colorist
色指定
  • Kayo Ōshima
  • 大島嘉代
Special effects
特殊効果
  • Yūji Asada
  • 浅田裕二
Art director
美術監督/設定
  • ?
  • ?
Director of photography
撮影監督
  • ?
  • ?
CGI
  • OLM Digital
  • OLM Digital
CGI director
CGI監督
  • Minoru Tokushige
  • 徳重 実
Editor
編集
  • Toshio Henmi
  • 辺見俊夫
Music
音楽
  • Moririn Tada
  • モリリン多田
Original score (partial)
一部原曲・作曲
  • Arata Iiyoshi
  • Hideki Sakamoto
  • Keisuke Ito
  • Ryoma Nakamura
  • Ken-ichi Saito
  • 飯吉 新
  • 坂本英城
  • 伊藤圭介
  • 中村龍馬
  • 斉藤健一
Sound recording producer
音響プロデューサー
  • Michiyoshi Minamisawa
  • Takeshi Nishina
  • 南沢道義
  • 西名 武
Sound director
音響監督
  • Masafumi Mima
  • 三間雅文
Recording studio
録音スタジオ
  • HALF H・P STUDIO
  • HALF H・P STUDIO
Production manager
制作担当
  • Shōji Ōta
  • 大田昌二
Animation production
アニメーション制作
  • OLM Team Ota
  • OLM Team Ota
Production
制作
  • 小学館プロダクション
Executive production & writing
製作・著作
  • Shogakukan Production
  • Chunsoft
  • The Pokémon Company
  • 小学館プロダクション
  • 株式会社チュンソフト
  • The Pokémon Company

Trivia

Errors

  • When Chatot is explaining about why bad Pokémon kept appearing, he said the Time Gears have been broken. But the Time Gears were not broken, instead they were stolen.
  • Although the Shinx sister and Gabite were supposed to be female and male, respectively, they are stylised with the opposite gender differences. Shinx's feet were not light blue and Gabite lacked a groove in his fin.
  • After Piplup counters Gabite's Sand Tomb, Sunflora exclaims that Sand-types are weak against Water-type moves, meaning Ground. Also, Gabite is part Dragon-type, therefore, it would do normal damage.

Dub edits

In other languages


Related articles

Bulbanews
Bulbanews has an article related to this subject:
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon episodes
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.