Sarah Natochenny

Sarah Natochenny (/ˈnætəˌtʃɛni, ˈnætoʊ-/) is an American voice actress. She is best known for voicing Ash Ketchum and various other characters in the English dub of Pokémon, Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou ( Alya ) in Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, as well as Alicia in the video game Bullet Witch. She has also edited documentaries for networks such as MS NOW and worked as an assistant editor on the films Life of Crime, Cold Comes the Night, Worst Friends, and Cruise.

Natochenny was born in the Forest Hills neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough. She is of Russian-Jewish descent and is fluent in both English and Russian. At the age of 12, she won a bronze medal in rhythmic gymnastics at the Junior Olympics. She graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 2005, and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute's Young Actors Program, as well as the Upright Citizens Brigade and Magnet Theatre in New York City.

At the age of 18, Natochenny replaced Veronica Taylor as the voice of Ash Ketchum on the English-language dub of Pokémon, starting with the show's ninth season in 2006, as a result of Pokémon USA bringing their English dubbing work in-house over to TAJ Productions and stepping away from 4Kids Entertainment, who have been dubbing the anime since it first premiered in the West in 1998. They would proceed to do the same thing with all of the other voice actors and their characters. She likened getting the role to "being struck by Pikachu's Thunderbolt" and called it "the most exciting moment of [her] life". She also voices various other characters on the show. She faced some fan backlash for replacing Taylor as Ash, which affected her struggles with depression: "One [bout of depression] that wasn't circumstantial but was kicked off by the reaction I got when I first started. You're doing what you love, and you finally book your first huge role on a show that you loved as a child and people are like, 'You're terrible.' That's really painful to experience." Despite this, she would continue voicing Ash and other various characters on the show, including Ash's own mother, Delia Ketchum, although there would be some criticism that it didn't improve for them and some division between fans on who the better voice actress for Ash was. Her voice for Ash would also evolve over time, having her voice be more distinct, slightly more mature, and eventually a more feminine/childlike sound to differentiate herself from Veronica Taylor's voice for Ash, leading to a more positive reception of her voice over time. This would last until 2023, when Ash Ketchum officially left the series at the end of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series after more than a quarter-century long run. Despite this, Natochenny still voices various characters and Pokémon in Pokémon Horizons: The Series, taking a step back into voicing some smaller roles in the show after more than 17 years of voicing Ash Ketchum in the anime, lasting 9 seasons longer than Veronica Taylor did in the anime under 4Kids, who finished her run after 8 years.

Natochenny voiced Alicia in the 2006 video game Bullet Witch. In 2009, she appeared in videos on the comedy website CollegeHumor. In 2019, she won the Outstanding Animation or Gaming - Demo, Best Voiceover award from the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences. In 2020, she co-starred in the live action pilot I Adore Dolores, which was one of No Budge's top picks of the year. She also appeared in three videos for Vanity Fair, talking about the dubbing process and improvising as never-before-seen characters.

Natochenny has appeared on multiple episodes of The George Lucas Talk Show.^{[citation needed]} She is also a film editor, having worked as the primary editor on documentaries for networks such as MS NOW and an assistant editor on the films Life of Crime, Cold Comes the Night, Worst Friends, and Cruise.

Natochenny describes herself as Russian-American and discussed speaking fluent Russian in a 2020 interview with ComicsBeat. She splits her time between Los Angeles and New York City. She has been open about her past struggles with depression.

Natochenny has a cat named after Pikachu. Inspired by a Pokémon episode that dealt with death, Natochenny and fellow voice actress Lisa Ortiz co-founded Voices for Fosters, an organization dedicated to helping rescued animals find permanent homes and advising people on how to foster them. Their website states, "Our goal is to bring the joy of pet companionship to people who didn't think they had the time, end euthanasia and improve care standards for all animals."