Pokémon: Advanced Challenge

Lore & Background

Pokémon: Advanced Challenge was directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and produced by the animation studio OLM. The season aired 40 episodes in Japan and 52 episodes in the United States. The Japanese opening songs were 'Advance Adventure' by GARDEN for 30 episodes and 'Challenger!!' by Rica Matsumoto for 10 episodes. The ending songs included 'Polka O Dolka' by Inuko Inuyama and Nolsol Chorus Group for 4 episodes, 'Because the Sky is There' by Toshiko Ezaki for 7 episodes, 'Smile' for 7 episodes, 'Full of Summer!!' by Naomi Tamura and Himawari Chorus for 8 episodes, and another version of 'Smile' by Toshiko Ezaki for 1 episode. The English opening song was 'This Dream' by David Rolfe, with a shortened version used as the end credit song.

Reader's Guide

Pokémon: Advanced Challenge represents a key continuation of the Pokémon anime's third generation story arc, following Ash Ketchum's journey through the Hoenn region. The season is notable for its music variety, with multiple opening and ending themes in Japan, and a single English opening theme. Its home media release in the United States included ten DVD volumes by Viz Media between 2005 and 2006, followed by a complete collection DVD released by Viz Media and Warner Home Video on December 5, 2017. The season's significance lies in its role as the second half of the Ruby and Sapphire series, bridging the earlier Hoenn adventures with later storylines. It maintained the core cast and production team from previous seasons, ensuring continuity for longtime viewers.

Did You Know?

• The Japanese opening song 'Advance Adventure' by GARDEN was used for 30 episodes.
• The English opening song 'This Dream' by David Rolfe had a shortened version used as the end credit song.
• The season was released on 10 DVD volumes by Viz Media between 2005 and 2006.
• The complete collection DVD was released on December 5, 2017, by Viz Media and Warner Home Video.

Premise, Setting & Production

Pokémon: Advanced marks the sixth season of the long-running Pokémon anime franchise and serves as the opening chapter of the Ruby and Sapphire era. In its native Japan, the season carried the title Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation and aired on TV Tokyo from November 21, 2002, through August 28, 2003. The English-language broadcast followed roughly a year later, running on Kids' WB/The WB from November 1, 2003, to September 4, 2004. The story tracks Ash Ketchum as he journeys across the Hoenn region with the goal of challenging its Pokémon League. His companions this time around include the familiar Brock plus two newcomers: May, a young woman determined to become a Pokémon Coordinator, and her younger brother Max. Behind the camera, the episodes were directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and produced by the animation studio OLM, which handled the visual craft for the season.

Music & Soundtrack Identity

The season's audio identity was built around a set of distinct Japanese and English theme songs. In Japan, the opening theme "Advance Adventure" by the band GARDEN accompanied the first forty episodes. The closing credits alternated between two tracks: "Because the Sky is There," performed by Toshiko Ezaki and used during eighteen episodes, and "Polka O Dolka," a bouncy number credited to Inuko Inuyama (the voice actor behind Meowth) together with the Nolsol Chorus Group, which covered the remaining twenty-two episodes. For the English-language broadcast, David Rolfe composed and performed "I Wanna Be a Hero" as the opening theme. A shortened version of that same song was then repurposed to play during the end credits, giving American viewers a consistent musical bookend to every episode. This dual-language approach helped the season establish its own sonic character across both of its primary markets.

Critical Reception & Fan Debate

Reviews of Pokémon: Advanced revealed a notably split critical consensus. Themanime.org offered a positive assessment, praising the season for effectively translating elements from the video games into animated storytelling and specifically noting that May felt like a genuine, well-rounded character rather than a simple stand-in for the earlier companion Misty. On the opposite end, Movie Reviews Simbasible delivered a largely negative verdict, criticizing the new cast members as more irritating than endearing and describing the overall season as tedious, though conceding that a handful of individual episodes rose to a high standard. Writing for Pokeblog, critic Alfah landed firmly in the positive camp, awarding the season an eight out of ten. Alfah highlighted it as a strong launch for the Advanced Generation arc, emphasizing the character growth experienced by both Ash and May, while singling out Max's bratty demeanor as the season's chief weakness. Despite that caveat, Alfah declared it a definite must-watch for fans.

Home Media & Release History

The season's availability on home video in the United States unfolded over more than a decade. Initially, Viz Video partnered with Ventura Distribution to issue eight separate VHS and DVD volumes between 2004 and 2005. The DVD editions contained the full episode complement for each volume, while the VHS releases were more limited, carrying only the first three episodes from each set. Viz Media subsequently packaged the material into two three-disc boxed DVD collections, released in 2005 and 2006 respectively, with each disc holding six or seven episodes. The most comprehensive release arrived considerably later: on May 16, 2017, Viz Media and Warner Home Video jointly issued Pokémon: Advanced – The Complete Collection on DVD, gathering the entire season in a single set for American audiences. This long tail of re-releases and repackagings reflects the franchise's enduring commercial presence in the home entertainment market.