Pokémon: The Movie 2000

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Pokémon: The Movie 2000
The promotional image used for the poster and DVD cover
Directed by	Michael Haigney Kunihiko Yuyama
Produced by	Kubo Masakazu Kawaguchi Takashi
Written by	Takeshi Shudo
Starring	Veronica Taylor Rachael Lillis Ted Lewis Ikue Ootani Addie Blaustein Stan Hart Kayzie Rogers Dan Green
Distributed by	Kids WB!, Nintendo, Toho, Shogakukan, Oriental Light and Magic
Release date(s)	Japanese: July 17, 1999 Domestic: July 21, 2000
Running time	102 min
Language	English
Preceded by	Pokémon: The First Movie
Followed by	Pokémon 3: The Movie
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (劇場版ポケットモンスター 幻のポケモン ルギア爆誕, Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Maboroshi no Pokemon Rugia Bakutan^?, lit. "Pocket Monsters the Movie: The Phantom Pokémon, Lugia's Explosive Birth"; officially POCKET MONSTERS REVELATION - LUGIA in Japan) is the second Pokémon feature-length film, complementing the Orange Islands saga of the series.

It was released in movie theaters by North America on July 21, 2000, and was produced by Kids WB!, Nintendo, and 4Kids Entertainment. The movie featured two new Pokémon, Lugia and Slowking, and was the ending of the second season of the Pokémon anime.

The movie earned less at the box office than its predecessor, Pokémon: The First Movie, despite increased promotion and better critical reception.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure 1.2 The Power of One 2 Cast 3 Featured Pokémon 4 Release 5 Toys from Burger King 6 Ratings 7 Trivia 8 External links

[edit] Plot

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 has two parts: The feature presentation and the 20 min. short.

[edit] Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure

Legendary Pokémon: Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres

New Pokémon: Elekid, Ledyba, Hoothoot, Bellossom

Region: Orange Islands

Villains: Legendary Birds & Lawrence III the Collector

Like the previous movie, the animated short focused more on Pokémon dialogue and little human interaction. As with before, the faces of the main human characters are unseen. When Togepi falls down a dark hole, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Marill, Venonat and Psyduck give chase and find themselves in a giant tree that once was Pikachu’s old home. With help from Pikachu’s friend, Elekid, the Pokémon find Togepi but she has been mistaken for an Exeggcute. The Pokémon head off into the depths of the tree to find the missing Exeggcute to get Togepi back, meeting a trio of dancing Bellossom along the way. A deadly storm hits the area and Pikachu and his friends try to protect the Exeggcute and Togepi from being blown away. The tree Pokémon lend a hand and Snorlax saves everyone with his great strength. The storm passes and a Chansey appears, revealing she had the missing Exeggcute all along. The Exeggcute are reunited and it suddenly evolves into an Exeggutor using a Leaf Stone. Pikachu and his friends say farewell to Elekid and the others and head back to their trainer. Meanwhile, Meowth tries to find his way to a campsite but ends up getting caught in Pikachu’s mishaps and gives up. There is an error in the part when the Bellossom trio dance, the Poliwhirl says "Poliwrath" instead of "Poliwhirl".

[edit] The Power of One

Legendary Pokémon: Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno & Lugia

New Pokémon: Slowking & Lugia

Region: Orange Islands and Kanto

Villain: Lawrence III

It is said by a legend that there is a balance between the forces of fire, ice, and lightning, represented by the three Legendary Bird Pokémon: Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.They each have their own island. However, if the balance were to be disrupted, a power struggle would ensue, and the great Guardian Lugia would be summoned in an attempt to quell the fighting. Lugia lives underwater and never ascends to land unless Moltres, Zapdos and Articuno are fighting. However, in the end, Lugia alone would be unsuccessful, and the world will “turn to ash”.

It is the ambition of a collector of Pokémon items, whose name is not mentioned in the movie (although the name “Lawrence III” is given in pre-release sources and the junior novelisation. The movie’s closed-captioning claims the name is “Geraldan” - the original Japanese had the name “Jirarudan”), to add Lugia to his collection. To do so, he uses his airship to create huge ice-blasts and manages to successfully capture Moltres, and inadvertently causes the power struggle to begin.

Meanwhile, Ash Ketchum and company are traveling throughout the Orange Islands when a storm takes them off course to Shamouti Island. There, they take part in a festival where Ash, being the festival’s “Chosen One”, would have to retrieve three orbs from the three nearby islands and return them to the shrine - a task that becomes prophetic in nature as the story moves on. In Pallet Town, Delia and Professor Oak sense the impending danger, and they, along with Professor Ivy, set forth for the Orange Islands.

Despite the advice of the festival maiden Melody (Furuura), Ash and the ship captain Maren (Michiko) depart immediately for Fire Island for the first orb. Blaming herself for what could happen to Ash, Melody (along with Misty and Tracey) takes off after him. After obtaining the first orb, the two groups meet, and along with Team Rocket, whose plan to steal Pikachu was interrupted, to learn that Zapdos is looking for Moltres. This victory was short-lived when Zapdos energy is absorbed making it weak, leaving it and along with the rest of the characters, to be captured by the collector.

Having learned of the legend from Melody, and how the collector would soon capture Articuno, the group sought to free Moltres and Zapdos from their confinement. When they are freed, however, they begin to destroy the airship that they are in. Before Lawrence III could capture Articuno, the airship is forced to crash land on Lightning Island, home of the second orb. As the three legendary Titans proceed to destroy each other and cause meaningless random destruction, the characters are saved by Lugia, who takes them to the island shrine where the three orbs are to be placed.

Once there, the Slowking that guards the shrine tells the main characters that Ash is truly the Chosen One that legends had foretold (“The world shall turn to Ash” is a reference to Ash the person, although it was previously misinterpreted by most. Ash, upon hearing this, jokes he wished his mother had named him Bob.) However, Ash must still obtain the third orb from Ice Island, with the three birds standing between them and their goal. Encouraged by Charizard, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, Ash and Pikachu, with the help of Team Rocket and Lugia, manage to obtain the third orb. As they return, however, Lugia is suddenly captured by the collector, and, in an attempt to break free from its restraints, Ash is tossed into the water between the two islands. After he is rescued by Misty and Tracey, Ash manages to bring the third orb to the shrine, and Melody plays Lugia’s Song, restoring the world to normal.

With the entire ordeal over, Ash and company leave Shamouti Island in his adventure to become a Pokémon Master.

[edit] Cast

Character	Japanese voice	English voice
Satoshi/Ash	Rika Matsumoto	Veronica Taylor
Kasumi/Misty	Mayumi Iizuka	Rachael Lillis
Kenji/Tracey	Tomokazu Seki	Ted Lewis
Pikachu	Ikue Ootani	Ikue Ootani
Togepi	Satomi Koorogi	Satomi Koorogi
Musashi/Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara	Rachael Lillis
Kojirou/James	Shinichiro Miki	Eric Stuart
Nyasu/Meowth	Inuko Inuyama	Madeleine Blaustein
Ookido-Hakase/Professor Oak	Unshou Ishizuka	Stan Hart
Uchikido-Hakase/Professor Ivy	Keiko Han	Kayzie Rogers
Hanako/Delia	Masami Toyoshima	Veronica Taylor
Jirarudan/Lawrence III	Takeshi Kaga	Neil Stewart
Lugia	Kōichi Yamadera	Dan Green
Furuura/Melody	Akiko Hiramatsu	Amy Birnbaum
Michiko/Maren	Kotono Mitsuishi	Tara Jayne
Fushigidane/Bulbasaur	Megumi Hayashibara	Tara Jayne
Zenigame/Squirtle	Rikako Aikawa	Eric Stuart
Lizardon/Charizard	Shinichiro Miki	Eric Stuart
Koduck/Psyduck	Rikako Aikawa	Michael Haigney
Mariru/Marill	Mika Kanai	Kayzie Rogers
Elder	Chikao Otsuka	Phillip Bartlett
Yadoking/Slowking	Masatoshi Hamada	Lex Lang

[edit] Featured Pokémon

There are many Pokémon in the movie, though most only have cameo appearances. These are the most notable:

• Articuno - the legendary ice Pokémon, Ash must go to Ice Island (which appears to be the most dangerous island) and retrieve the Ice Orb. Articuno was the only legendary bird in this movie not captured or controlled by Lawrence III.
• Zapdos - the legendary electric Pokémon, Ash must go to Thunder island to retrieve the Thunder Orb. In the movie, Pikachu talks to Zapdos through Thundershock attacks.
• Moltres - the legendary fire Pokémon, Ash must go to Fire Island to retrieve the Fire Orb. Moltres’s first appearance was in the Pokémon animated TV series.
• Lugia - the legendary Pokémon that awakens because the three legendary bird Pokémon go into a rage and attempt to destroy one another. Like most Pokémon, Lugia cannot speak, but it can, like Mewtwo, speak telepathically with the humans. In the movie, Lugia helps Ash retrieve the three element stones.
• Slowking - the evolved form of Slowpoke. The Slowking in the movie is one of the few Pokémon that can speak English, and it constantly warns others not to disrupt the harmony of fire, ice and lightning.
• Elekid - the pre-evolved form of Electabuzz that helps Pikachu and his pals find Togepi. He is only in the Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure animated short.
• Ledyba - A swarm of Ledyba are seen carrying Pikachu and the other Pokémon at the beginning of the animated short.

[edit] Release

When Pokémon: The Movie 2000 was released, select movie theaters would dispense exclusive cards. The first week, the card was a replica of the Ancient Mew card that featured in the movie. The consecutive weeks were random between the legendary birds.

During the Japanese release, the first run of Ancient Mew had ‘Nintendo’ spelled as ‘Nintedo’. This was corrected for future runs (and the US release) of the card.

[edit] Toys from Burger King

The following Pokémon promoted Pokémon: The Movie 2000 through toys at Burger King, regardless of whether or not they were in the movie.

• Bulbasaur
• Charmander
• Squirtle
• Butterfree
• Pidgeot
• Pikachu
• Clefairy
• Zubat
• Diglett
• Meowth
• Psyduck
• Poliwhirl
• Moltres
• Articuno
• Zapdos
• Togepi
• Elekid
• Marill
• Lugia

[edit] Ratings

• USA:G
• Canada:G
• Japan:U
• UK:PG
• Australia:G

[edit] Trivia

• When Team Rocket, Ash and Pikachu are in the shrine where the last treasure is, Jessie's hair becomes a different shade of purple.
• Brock makes an approximately 5-second cameo appearance in Professor Ivy’s transmission to Professor Oak, running back and forth - most likely due to the hectic situation at the time, as hinted by Professor Ivy. He also appears in the credits when Professor Oak calls her again; this time, Brock is trying to gain attention.
• Donna Summers sang the ending song of the movie, also titled “The Power of One”. “Weird Al” Yankovic also provided an original song, “Polkamon”, which played during the ending credits. The last song played during the credits was “Flying Without Wings” by Westlife.
• In the American version, Melody learned Misty's name despite not being introduced.
• Lawrence III’s first Pokémon item was an ancient Mew Card.
• When Oak and Delia are watching a videocast of the global weather news, the bottom left corner of his computer desktop displays the icons of the original seven types from the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
• When Team Rocket are holding on to Lugia’s leg and realize they are slowing it down, James says, “We should try Weight Watchers!” referring to an exercise program which, as the name suggests, helps people lose weight. Jessie replies with “It’s too late for that!” to which Meowth replies “I hear it’s never too late if you stick to the program!” which is one of the slogans for Weight Watchers. They then let go of Lugia in an intended act of self-sacrifice.
• After Melody jokes about Ash and Misty getting married (shortly before Zapdos arrives), Jessie comments: “When you get involved with the opposite sex, you’re only asking for trouble,” to which James replies “Yes, and that’s the kind of trouble I stay out of.” Meowth then jokes that “You two don’t need the opposite sex ’cause you got each other.” James maybe be referring to the fact that he fled from his arranged engagement to a girl names Jessiebell. Meowth may be poking fun at their tendency to cross-dress as a part of their schemes, or the vague romantic tension that occasionally surfaces between them.^{[citation needed]} This marks the first time the word ‘sex’ is uttered in the Pokémon series, although it refers to physical sex, the distinction between males and females, rather than sexual intercourse. The second time is when Brock uses the term “Battle of the Sexes” in the season seven episode, “The Bicker The Better!”.^{[citation needed]}
• The movie breaks the fourth wall at least two times. When Team Rocket does their motto, Jessie says, “Prepare for more trouble than you’ve ever seen!” James says, “Make it double - we’re on the big screen!” Ash says, “I’m gonna have to catch this on video!” At the end of the movie, Team Rocket is upset that they did something good that no one saw, but Slowking says a lot of people out there were watching, and points to the screen, and seemingly out to the viewer(s).
• Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres also cause an event similar to this in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. When the player befriends the three birds, a disturbance is mentioned in their friend area, Legendary Island, an area similar to Shamouti Island. There, the player witnesses the creation of the Vortex Stone, an item allowing them to access a dungeon known as the Silver Trench, where he/she can befriend Lugia onto their rescue team.

[edit] External links

• Pokémon: The Movie 2000 at the Internet Movie Database
• Dogasu's Backpack's English/Japanese comparison of Pokémon: The Movie 2000