James Carter Cathcart, a longtime voice actor for the Pokémon anime series, has announced his retirement from script adapting and voice dubbing for Pokémon USA due to throat cancer.
Cathcart is known for voicing Professor Oak and his grandson Gary, as well as Team Rocket’s James and Meowth, since the first episode of Pokémon the Series. His other credits include voicing Vector the Crocodile in 2005’s Shadow the Hedgehog.
In a blog post earlier this week, Cathcart’s wife Martha made the announcement after revealing that Cathcart’s tumors were not responding to initial chemotherapy “as much as had been anticipated”.
Cathcart was diagnosed with throat cancer in January this year, which started on his tongue and spread to some lymph nodes in his neck. He is set to begin a new treatment plan in early May, which will include simultaneous radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
His retirement from Pokémon USA will begin at the conclusion of Series 25, which will bid farewell to long-serving protagonist Ash Ketchum. Martha wrote on Cathcart’s blog, “She’s been with the series since the first episode,” so it’s a timely decision as the series transitions to new characters and storylines.
The first episode of the new series has already aired in Japan, where we got a look at new protagonists Liko and Roy, as well as a new baby turtle species.