Can anyone tell me what episode this is from?

[Bikini Miltank]

I'm tapping into the collective knowledge of this forum to help me solve a riddle that's bugged me for years. I've been looking for a particular episode, unsuccessfully, for a long time now. It's proven to be very difficult, in part, because of how very vague and odd my memory of it is.

I think the episode was early Johto... certainly no later than Johto, because I saw it around 2001-2.

Here is my memory. A kid appears and announces themselves: "I'm X from Y Town!" or something similar.

Oh, um, you want more? Well, here's the thing. The kid has what seems to be a British accent. And sounds... like a kid. As in, not a regular voice actor at all, but an actual British kid. The character only appeared in one scene in (I assume) the early stages of the episode.

I'm sure I watched the rest of the episode too, but this very specific memory has become detached from it. I've tried to locate the scene in question many times over the years, to no avail. I've always wanted to see it again, if only to check if it was as odd as I remember it being. I remember wondering at the time if the kid in question was a competition-winner or something similar.

In fact, since I was watching the episode in question in the UK, it occurs that this may even have been a UK-based competition, meaning that the character was overdubbed later (perhaps even for that one airing only) and thus nobody here will have the faintest idea what I'm talking about.

I know these details are vague, but I'm really hopeful that somebody here will know what I'm talking about. Please help, because I'm starting to wonder if I imagined the whole thing...

 

[Cybersai]

You're probably thinking of the British kid who battled Gary's Umbreon in, "Power Play" from mid-Johto.

 

[Bikini Miltank]

Oh my goodness, you're absolutely right!

Am I the only person who was completely thrown by that voice? To my British ears, it does sound like a genuine British accent. And I'm all but convinced that's an actual kid, not a regular voice actor. Without wishing to fall foul of the VA ban, would anyone care to speculate on just what was going on with that particular voice?

Baffled Edit: Huh, seems Kayzie Rogers is credited with the role, at least on the 'pedia. I remain sceptical...

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Ah, interesting discovery! I'd love to speculate on this and share my opinions with you.

But unfortunately, we'd be breaking the "VA ban" by doing so. Only VA facts are allowed to be discussed (except for new episodes with new characters).

I mean, it can be pretty hard to tell who-voices-who sometimes. But as far as speculation goes, I have no clue where they draw the line with the little bit of VA talk that is allowed.

 

[Garren]

I don't think this interferes with the rules, since it's merely a question of who voiced a minor one-shot.

It makes me wonder why a lot of anime dubs tend to randomly give characters foreign accents though when there is no solid reason to. I mean, what exactly made this Alakazam trainer a Brit?

 

[Bikini Miltank]

As per my understanding of the rules, debating who voiced who is okay as long as it doesn't become "X is better than Y", or "It's clearly X because X is awesome", etc. As long as we avoid getting into judgements about quality and such, I think we're fine.

Once I knew what episode it was, I did some digging to see if anyone else had mentioned this. I found this old post on Serebii, commenting on the voice and making many of the same speculations as myself. Other than that, though, I haven't been able to find much.

So, time for some informed guesswork, theorising and speculation...

1. It's a genuine British accent. I'm almost certain of this. I speak as a Brit who's witnessed hundreds of American actors almost, but not quite, nail the accent. This just sounds like the genuine article. I'm a Northerner, and this is a Southern accent, so I can't tie it down to a specific location, except to say that it has elements of Cockney. Maybe someone from the south of England could give it a listen and pitch in?

2. It's a child. When you watch a lot of cartoons, dubbed anime and so on, you get used to the sound of adults voicing children. Even Stephanie Beard (who some of you may remember as Chibiusa in the later Sailor Moon dubs), who has an unusually child-like voice, still doesn't sound quite the same as an actual child. More than the accent, that's what made this voice stand out so much. It was the audio equivalent of a real person walking into an animated scene.

3. The character in question gets a full name - Alex Davis - despite appearing for just one scene. Not even Brock has a surname. Plus, the name is unusually... mundane by the show's standards. This got me thinking that 'Alex Davis' might actually be the name of the voice artist themselves.

4. The voice doesn't really fit the character. You wouldn't normally expect a teenage boy to be given such a young-sounding voice. The gender of the voice is really hard to guess, but it's either a girl or a very young boy. This makes me wonder if there was some sort of competition to voice a character, and the winner just happened to be younger-sounding than the producers anticipated.

5. It really doesn't sound like Kayzie Rogers. Having checked the character's page on the 'pedia, it seems Rogers was added merely as a probable voice artist, with the caveat "may be wrong about English voice actor" (see the relevant edit here).

So, my current thinking is this: Back in 2001, a boy/girl called Alex Davis won a (possibly UK-based) competition to voice a character in the Pokemon anime. The episode that aired is a result of this.

As much as I like this theory, though, I haven't been able to find anything to back it up...

 

[Hestia]

Wow just listened to the voice! Definitely a real brit, and a kid. I'm from south england, but sorry, I cant really tell the exact location either. London probably?

 

[QuietDragon]

Oh my goodness, you're absolutely right!

Am I the only person who was completely thrown by that voice? To my British ears, it does sound like a genuine British accent. And I'm all but convinced that's an actual kid, not a regular voice actor. Without wishing to fall foul of the VA ban, would anyone care to speculate on just what was going on with that particular voice?

Baffled Edit: Huh, seems Kayzie Rogers is credited with the role, at least on the 'pedia. I remain sceptical...

Wow, yeah, I remember this kid too.
DEFINITELY a child. Spoke so naturally, it was odd.

You may be right. ^^

 

[FireMeowth]

Hm. I had totally forgotten about that, but now that I think about it, I remember thinking that it was the most natural British accent I've heard in the anime.
Hmm....

...Also, this is slightly off-topic, but...
that's the only time I've heard Cherrygrove mentioned in the anime. o.o

 

[Pidgeot]

Yep, it's definitely a british boy. How do I know? Cos I'm a British Boy too.

 

[Cybersai]

...Also, this is slightly off-topic, but...
that's the only time I've heard Cherrygrove mentioned in the anime. o.o

The Quagsire filler in early Johto took place in Cherrygrove city, the Officer Jenny says it by name.

 

[alex-davis]

I'm tapping into the collective knowledge of this forum to help me solve a riddle that's bugged me for years. I've been looking for a particular episode, unsuccessfully, for a long time now. It's proven to be very difficult, in part, because of how very vague and odd my memory of it is.

I think the episode was early Johto... certainly no later than Johto, because I saw it around 2001-2.

Here is my memory. A kid appears and announces themselves: "I'm X from Y Town!" or something similar.

Oh, um, you want more? Well, here's the thing. The kid has what seems to be a British accent. And sounds... like a kid. As in, not a regular voice actor at all, but an actual British kid. The character only appeared in one scene in (I assume) the early stages of the episode.

I'm sure I watched the rest of the episode too, but this very specific memory has become detached from it. I've tried to locate the scene in question many times over the years, to no avail. I've always wanted to see it again, if only to check if it was as odd as I remember it being. I remember wondering at the time if the kid in question was a competition-winner or something similar.

In fact, since I was watching the episode in question in the UK, it occurs that this may even have been a UK-based competition, meaning that the character was overdubbed later (perhaps even for that one airing only) and thus nobody here will have the faintest idea what I'm talking about.

I know these details are vague, but I'm really hopeful that somebody here will know what I'm talking about. Please help, because I'm starting to wonder if I imagined the whole thing...

Hi, a friend showed me this thread
I am Alex Davis from cherrygrove city, i won a competition in m&s and they gave me a trip to NY, to be recorded. I was 8 at the time which explains the high voice and im from canterbury, kent.
Any questions?

 

[Iteru]

I can't find anything about the competition when I try a google search :/

How did you enter the competition?

 

[mattdog98]

Hi, a friend showed me this thread
I am Alex Davis from cherrygrove city, i won a competition in m&s and they gave me a trip to NY, to be recorded. I was 8 at the time which explains the high voice and im from canterbury, kent.
Any questions?

You're kidding, right?


also anyone who can't find the video:[LINK REMOVED] :thumbup: