During this week’s “Pokemon Presents” presentation, some fans noticed that The Pokemon Company appears to have used fan-created music in official marketing materials.

Musician ND Music created their video “Area Zero (Cinematic Arrangement)” over 8 months ago and posted it to YouTube. The song is a dramatic recreation of the Area Zero theme composed by Go Ichinose and Toby Fox.

During the teasers for upcoming Pokemon Scarlet and Violet content, some fans noticed similarities between the music heard in the video, and the ND Music arrangement. ND Music themselves spoke out and was surprised to hear what they believe to be their music, but went on to say they: “I’m not particularly upset, but rather confused and surprised that an unofficial creation would be included in official content, especially coming from TPC.” (TPC = The Pokemon Company)

You can check out the scene in the “Pokemon Presents” VOD below at the 27:00 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QiLe4pTHAE

Compare this to ND Music’s “Area Zero (Cinematic Arrangement)” below.

Obviously ND Music doesn’t have a monopoly on vaguely ancient and hymnal singing, but there certainly appear to be similarities. What do you think?