Trivia / Pokémon Horizons: The Series

• Acting for Two:
  • For both the Japanese and English dubs, Fuecoco and the Pokédex are voiced by the same actor— Daiki Yamashita and Zeno Robinson respectively. Not coincidentally, both had previously voiced Goh in Journeys.
  • In the English dub:
    • Daman Mills voices Quaxly and Amethio.
    • Anjali Kunapaneni voices Roy and the Academy Matron.
    • Erica Mendez voices Nurse Joy and Mollie.
    • Steve Blum provides the opening narration, and also voices Lucius.
    • Edward Bosco voices Liko's Homeroom teacher and a Bisharp trainer.
    • SungWon Cho voices Sidian and a Cufant trainer.
    • Lisa Ortiz voices Onia, the Principal of Indigo Academy, Ann's Oshawott, and a Glameow Trainer.
    • Billy Boy Thompson voices a Machoke Trainer and a Sales Demonstrator.
    • Haven Paschall voices a minor student, as well as Murdock's Rockruff.
    • Sarah Natochenny voices a minor student, a handful of wild Pokémon, and Mollie's Chansey.
    • Alejandra Reynoso voices Liko and the younger version of her Grandmother, Diana.
  • In the Japanese dub:
    • Ikue Otani voices Captain Pikachu in both the English and Japanese dubs of the series, in addition to voicing Coral in the latter.
    • Kei Shindō voices Liko's Hatenna, Murdock's Alcremie, Mollie, Nemona's Pawmo, and reprises her role as Nurse Joy in the Japanese dub.
    • Kohsuke Tanabe voices Slugma and Zirc in the Japanese dub.
• Casting Gag:
  • Since Daiki Yamashita voices the Pokedex and Fuecoco in Japanese for this season, it only seems natural for Zeno Robinson to be cast in the same roles in English since both voiced Goh in Journeys.
  • Dot would not be the first time Yoshino Aoyama would voice a socially-awkward shut-in who is anonymously internet famous.
  • This isn't the first criminal mastermind David Kaye has voiced that leads a mysterious criminal organization, nor is it the first time he voiced someone associated with the color purple, yeeeeees...
  • The two students that greet each other at the bus stop are voiced by Sarah Natochenny and Haven Paschall, who had previously voiced Ash and Serena in the prior series.
  • With the revelation that Ludlow is secretly a superhero, this wouldn't the first time a character played by Larry Kenney is a powerful, muscular hero who protects the innocent.
• Crossdressing Voices: Like Ash, Max, and Sophocles before him, Roy is voiced by a woman, in this case, Yuka Terasaki in Japanese and Anjali Kunapaneni in English.
• Cross-Regional Voice Acting: As with Journeys, the English Dub of the anime uses a mix of New York and Los Angeles talent, with the latter notably including Crispin Freeman as Friede ^note  as this is a union dub unlike previous Pokémon dubs and Crispin has been a union only actor since the 2000s , Zeno Robinson as the Pokédex and Fuecoco, and David Kaye as Gibeon.
• Descended Creator:
  • Crispin Freeman was actually a script writer on the first two seasons of the original series. He voices Professor Friede here.
  • Lisa Ortiz serves as the show's voice director, in addition to providing her talents towards numerous characters.
• Died During Production: Daisuke Jinbo, the sound effects editor for both this series and the original anime passed away in July of 2023 as confirmed in these tweets by a couple of industry people who had worked with him in the past, leaving fellow ex-Swara Pro employee Kenji Koyama ^note  who had been assisting Jinbo since episode 253 of the original anime to fully take over Jinbo's position as the series' sound effects editor. That said, Jinbo's still credited in current episodes along with Koyama likely out of respect for his contributions.
• God-Created Canon Foreigner: The lead art director for the mainline Pokémon games, Ken Sugimori, personally designed Liko and Roy for the anime.
• Meaningful Release Date: Episode 18, which details the origins of Captain Pikachu, released the same day as the 58th birthday of his voice actor, Ikue Otani, who had also previously voiced Ash's Pikachu in the preceding series.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Iono's debut in the anime has her voiced by Kaede Hondo in Japanese rather than Fairouz Ai, who provided the character's voice for every other Pokémon Scarlet and Violet-related media and Pokémon Masters EX.
  • Nurse Joy's English voice actor is Erica Mendez this time around rather than Megan Hollingshead.
  • For the first time in the main show since Gen III, Rodger Parsons is replaced as the Narrator by Steve Blum.
• Playing Against Type: Ikue Otani, who played Ash's heroic Pikachu and the similarly heroic Captain Pikachu, plays Coral, a Card-Carrying Villain with a nasty personality, who works as one of The Explorer's Admins.
• Recast as a Regular:
  • Japanese:
    • Minori Suzuki voiced One-Shot Character Regina from Pokémon Journeys: The Series before being cast as Liko.
    • Prior to being cast as Roy, Yuka Terasaki had voiced a number of Pokémon including Ash's Fletchling/Flechinder and Noibat along with Korrina in Pokémon the Series: XY and Journeys, alongside a number of one-shot and Recurring Characters throughout the series starting from Pokémon the Series: Black & White.
  • English:
    • Anjali Kunapaneni voiced Danika in Pokémon Journeys's Project Mew-related episodes before being cast as Roy.
• Schedule Slip: The Dub was first announced to be coming to Netflix on Febuary 23, 2024, but was later pushed back two weeks to March 7. Oddly enough, the episodes have continued to come out on BBC iPlayer in the UK albeit only people in that country can view the episodes.
  • It was later announced that the series would have a crossover with Pokémon GO on the March 7 date, so it could be the GO crossover needing more time caused the Netflix launch to be pushed back so they'd have a simultaneous launch.
• Sequel Gap: In English Speaking areas aside from the UK, the first batch of Horizons has a release date of March 7, 2024, a gap of one day less than six months, where Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master came to Netflix on September 8, 2023.
• Short Run in Peru: The English dub of the series premiered on CBBC and the BBC iPlayer streaming service in the United Kingdom around December, with Netflix receiving their iteration of the dub on March 7, 2024 for the US release.
• Underage Casting: Sean Burgos was 35 when he voiced Roy's Grandfather, who's at least in his 60s or so.
• Word of Saint Paul: While the series is produced in Japan, Two Pokémon Company International executives, Andy Gose and Taito Okiura, said in an interview to Variety that Ash and Pikachu are still in the world but the series has moved on. While Gose said that "Anything is possible" when asked if they will ever return, Okiura stated that it's up to the imagination of fans on what they are doing.
• You Sound Familiar:
  • Both Daiki Yamashita and Zeno Robinson, who voiced Goh in Journeys, voice this season's Pokédex and Fuecoco.
  • Show Hayami had previously featured as Juan in the Japanese dub of Advanced Generation before he voiced Gibeon here.
  • Kira Buckland voices Sprigatito in this series, but she previously voiced Liza, Shauntel, Beauty, and Rising Star in Pokémon Masters.
  • Sarah Natochenny, who dubbed Ash since the ninth season of Advanced Generation onward, along with dubbing Dawn's Buneary, Cynthia's Roserade, and Ash's Staraptor among other roles, voices a minor student in the pilot episode along with several Pokémon, namely Mollie's Chansey, a Caterpie, a Diglett and a Paldean Wooper.
  • Haven Paschall, Serena's dub voice, voices another minor student in the pilot, in addition to voicing Murdock's Rockruff like she did with Ash's prior to its evolution, and singing the dubbed version of the theme song.
  • Longtime Pokémon dub VA Lisa Ortiz, who's voiced multiple characters and Pokémon since the beginning of the original anime, voices the Indigo Academy Principal in the pilot, voices Ann's Oshawott as she did with Ash's, and voices Onia.
  • Erica Schroeder, the second voice for Jessie's Wobbuffet and several other Pokémon, Marc Thompson, who voices Ash's Gengar and several other Pokémon, Bill Rogers, the second voice for Brock and a voice actor for many of the Pokémon in the series, Megan Hollingshead, the original Nurse Joy, and Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, who voiced Bonnie and Sophocles, provide additional voices for the series.
  • Billy Bob Thompson, who's voiced numerous ancillary characters in the franchise, voices the Machoke Trainer and Liko's Homeroom Teacher in the pilot, and provides additional voices.
  • Erica Mendez, who voices Mollie and Nurse Joy here, previously voiced Gardenia and Hilda in Pokémon Masters.
  • Anjali Kunapaneni, in addition to voicing Danika in Journeys, also voiced Team Magma member Courtney in Masters before taking on the role of Roy and the Academy Matron here.
  • Daman Mills had previously voiced Flint, James' Amoongus (in Journeys), and several ancillary Pokémon in the original series, as well as voicing N in Masters and several additional voices in Pokémon: Hisuian Snow. In this series, he voices Amethio and Quaxly.
  • Faye Mata voices Dot in this series, but she had previously featured as Tricia, Trinnia, and Trista in Masters.
  • SungWon Cho, the voice behind Sidian in the English Dub, previously voiced Sydney in Masters.
  • Miria Takagishi, the Japanese voice of Poppy, previously voiced Eve in the Japanese dub of Masters.
  • Mitsuki Saiga, the Japanese voice of Rika, previously voiced Drew in Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire and Elio in the Japanese dub of Masters.
  • Kotono Mitsuishi, the Japanese voice of Katy, previously voiced Domino in the Japanese dub of Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns.

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