Biography
Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands is the second season of Pokémon, and the second and final season of Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā). It originally aired in Japan from January 28 to October 7, 1999 on TV Tokyo, and in the United States from December 4, 1999 to October 14, 2000 on The WB/Kids’ WB!.
The season follows the adventures of the ten-year-old Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum (voiced in English by Veronica Taylor and in Japanese by Rika Matsumoto) and his electric mouse partner Pikachu (voiced by Ikue Ōtani) as they collect Gym Badges in the Orange Archipelago, also known as the Orange Islands, so they can compete in the Orange League competition.
The episodes were directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and produced by the animation studio OLM.
The Japanese opening song is "The Rivals" (ライバル!, Raibaru!) by Rika Matsumoto for all 36 episodes. The ending songs are "Type: Wild" (タイプ : ワイルド, Taipu: Wairudo) by Rika Matsumoto for 23 episodes, "Pokémon March" (ポケモン音頭, Pokémon Ondo) by Sachiko Kobayashi, Koffing, and Ekans for one episode, and "Riding on Lapras" (ラプラスにのって, Rapurasu Ni Notte) by Mayumi Iizuka and Rikako Aikawa for 12 episodes. The English opening songs are "Pokémon Theme" by Jason Paige for 3 episodes on Pokémon TV app only, and "Pokémon World" by Russell Velazquez for 36 episodes and for 33 episodes on Pokémon TV app only, these short versions did serve as end credit songs for three episodes on Pokémon TV app only, while each episodes close with Pikachu's Jukebox which contains six short songs in each music video, "My Best Friends", "Double Trouble", "What Kind of Pokémon Are You?", "Together Forever", "2.B.A. Master", and "Viridian City". Johto predicted the English version of "Type: Wild", the ending song from Pokémon Encore performed by Robbie Danzie.