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M01

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Pokémon the First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (Japanese: ミュウツーの逆襲 Mewtwo Strikes Back!) is the first Pokémon movie. It debuted in Japanese theaters on July 18, 1998, and then made its way to North American theaters on November 10, 1999. In the United States, the movie briefly held the record for highest-grossing opening for an animated film until the release of Toy Story 2.

Mewtwo Strikes Back was shown with the Pikachu short movie Pikachu's Vacation.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Synopsis

Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, has managed to create an enhanced clone of Mew. In this, he has created Mewtwo. As the story begins, a confused Mewtwo asks himself who he is, what he is, and where he came from. Just then, Mewtwo wakes up in a test tube in one of Team Rocket's laboratories, where the scientists study him. Mewtwo breaks out of his test tube, as the head scientist, Dr. Fuji, tells Mewtwo that he was made by humans and is a clone. Mewtwo is angry that he was created by humans, not by natural causes, so he destroys the lab and kills all the scientists. Dr. Fuji says to himself that he regrets playing God before dying at the hands of Mewtwo. Then, Giovanni arrives in his private helicopter and offers to help give some value to Mewtwo's life. Mewtwo takes up the offer, and is put in a suit of armor to prevent him from rebelling against Team Rocket.

Over the next few weeks, Mewtwo does most of Team Rocket's dirty work, capturing wild Pokémon and beating any Trainers that come into the gym in Viridian City, including Gary Oak. Mewtwo has had enough and blasts off out of Team Rocket HQ and back to the island where he was born.

Upon returning to the island where he was born, Mewtwo vows to get revenge on those who created and tried to enslave him, and more importantly, to prove his worth as a living being by finding and beating his original, Mew.

Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Brock are preparing for lunch until a Pokémon Trainer known as Raymond shows up and challenges Ash, who is happy to oblige, since he enjoys one or two battles before lunch. With Pikachu jumping into battle, Ash easily beats the Pokémon Trainer. What he doesn't know is that he's being watched, not only by Team Rocket, but by a mysterious third party. Jessie, James, and Meowth, who were also watching the battle, don't have any food. Suddenly, a Dragonite flies in with a letter for Ash and friends. It projects a hologram of a mysterious woman who tells the Trainers to head to a pier in order to get to an island fortress called New Island.

Later, the gang arrive at the Pokémon Center and discover that the Nurse Joy who works there has been missing for quite a while. Miranda, the pier master tells them that she has lived on the pier all her life and that the storm is the fiercest she's ever seen.

Soon, most of the other Pokémon Trainers take off for a place called New Island. Team Rocket give Ash and friends a boat ride, but the storm proves too much for them, so they have to use Ash and Misty's Water Pokémon to get all the way to New Island.

As the heroes barely arrive at New Island, the mystery woman from the hologram letter greets them and takes them to the dining room to meet the other Trainers who arrived safely.

Meanwhile, as Team Rocket try to get inside the fortress, Mew can be seen flying around without a care in the world.

As they arrive in the dining room, Ash and friends meet three Pokémon Trainers named Neesha, Fergus, and Corey. Just then, the mystery woman introduces everybody in the room to her master, who is revealed to be none other than Mewtwo! Then, the woman faints, Brock quickly catches her, and it is revealed that the mystery woman is the missing Nurse Joy. Mewtwo starts telling the Trainers that humans are weak and cruel, and the world will fall into ruin because it is controlled by them. He also says that Pokémon are no better off, since they choose to associate with humans.

As Team Rocket get into the fortress and make their way into a laboratory, they come across a weird-looking machine, a computer, and Pokémon sleeping in giant pods. Jessie accidentally sits on the computer controls which play back a recorded message from Dr. Fuji about the fossilized eyelash of Mew that was created to form Mewtwo. Suddenly, the machine takes a piece of hair from Meowth to create a clone of him.

Mewtwo leads Ash and the other Trainers into the stadium part of the fortress and suggests that they should battle Pokémon to see who is the strongest, the clones vs. the originals. Ash's Charizard, Corey's Venusaur, and Neesha's Blastoise are no match for Mewtwo's clones, and he claims the originals with his invention called Shadow Balls.

As Misty hides Togepi, Ash tries to get his Pokémon back in their Poké Balls, but that move is all in vain since Mewtwo's Shadow Balls can also penetrate them, as well as capture Pikachu. Ash quickly follows the Shadow Balls back to Mewtwo's cloning laboratory and destroys the cloning machine, rescuing his Pokémon in the process.

Mewtwo demands to know what happened in the explosion, and Ash emerges from the smoke with his and every Trainer's Pokémon. Ash tries to punch Mewtwo, but Mewtwo's forcefield sends him flying. Just then, after hearing all the commotion, Mew flies down to encounter his clone and tell him that the originals will never be defeated by their copies when they fight without special powers. Thus, Mew and Mewtwo have a big battle that follows, which is about Pokémon fighting for the meaning of their lives, since (as Mewtwo sees it) clones have no value, and whoever wins will be the "real" Pokémon, not the worthless clone.

Ash is horrified to see all the Pokémon fighting their clones, especially Pikachu getting slapped to death by his clone. He eventually falls back down to the stadium floor, causing Misty and Brock to come to his aid. They and Nurse Joy talk about how Mewtwo and all the clones are living beings with value, as well as how when one animal invades the territory of another animal, it doesn't give up until it's driven the trespasser away. And then everyone expresses fear that the originals and clones will never give up, resulting in their deaths.

As Team Rocket also look on in horror, Meowth talks with his clone about philosophy and the moon, and how tasteful it is to be talking about the moon at a time like this.

Just as Mew and Mewtwo are about to finish each other off with huge energy blasts, Ash runs out into the crossfire and is turned to stone after being killed in the blast.

Pikachu tries to revive Ash by using Thunderbolt, but has no luck. This saddens Pikachu and everybody in the stadium, as well as leave Mewtwo amazed by Ash's sacrifice. All the tears of Pikachu, the other Pokémon, and the clones magically revive Ash and bring him back from the dead.

After witnessing all of this, Mewtwo states that it does not matter who is more powerful, that the clones and originals both have value, and nothing else about the matter. He also says that it would be best if no one knew about what happened. When Mewtwo flies off, he tells Ash that he will find a place where clones can live in peace. As a result, all the memories of this event are erased from the Trainers' minds.

Ash, Misty, and Brock instantly finds themselves back at the pier with no memory of their adventure on New Island.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket lay dormant on the empty New Island as the credits begin to roll.

Major events

Debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Cast

出演
Ash Ketchum Veronica Taylor Satoshi Rica Matsumoto サトシ 松本梨香
Pikachu Ikue Ohtani Pikachu Ikue Ohtani ピカチュウ 大谷育江
Misty Rachael Lillis Kasumi Mayumi Iizuka カスミ 飯塚雅弓
Togepi Satomi Kōrogi Togepi Satomi Kōrogi トゲピー こおろぎさとみ
Brock Eric Stuart Takeshi Yuji Ueda タケシ うえだ　ゆうじ
Jessie Rachael Lillis Musashi Megumi Hayashibara ムサシ 林原めぐみ
James Eric Stuart Kojirō Shin'ichirō Miki コジロウ 三木眞一郎
Meowth Maddie Blaustein Nyarth Inuko Inuyama ニャース 犬山イヌコ
Mewtwo Phillip Bartlett Mewtwo Masachika Ichimura ミュウツー 市村正親
Mew Kōichi Yamadera Mew Kōichi Yamadera ミュウ 山寺宏一
Corey Ted Lewis Sorao To'oru Furuya ソラオ 古谷徹
Neesha Lisa Ortiz Sweet Aiko Satō スイート 佐藤藍子
Fergus Jimmy Zoppi Umio Wataru Takagi ウミオ 高木渉
Nurse Joy Megan Hollingshead Joy Ayako Shiraishi ジョーイ 白石文子
Officer Jenny Megan Hollingshead Junsar Chinami Nishimura ジュンサー 西村ちなみ
Miranda Kayzie Rogers Voyager Sachiko Kobayashi ボイジャー 小林幸子
Giovanni Ted Lewis Sakaki Hirotaka Suzuoki サカキ 鈴置洋孝
Narration Ken Gates Narration Unshō Ishizuka ナレーション 石塚運昇

Trivia

  • This is the only movie not to take place at the position of the Japanese episodes in the timeline. The movie premiered between The Purr-fect Hero and The Case of the K-9 Caper but scenes from the movie used in the series place it after EP062.
  • The absence of Ash's Pidgeotto, who would've probably been cloned, suggests this movie somehow takes place between EP081 and EP082.
  • This is the first time in the anime that a move from a game not yet released was used. The move in question was Mewtwo's Shadow Ball, which did not become an in-game move until Generation II.
  • When Meowth goes into the cloning machine, a silhouette of him appears. Jessie and James quip, "Who's that Pokémon?" This is most likely a reference to the "Who's that Pokémon?" segments between commercial breaks in the anime series. They do the same thing for Ash's Pikachu.
  • Misty's Togepi was the only Pokémon that wasn't cloned. She was able to hide her Togepi in her bag, and unlike Brock's Vulpix, it didn't get captured.
  • While Team Rocket (as Vikings) is giving Ash and co. a ride to New Island, Brock comments that he didn't know that vikings still existed. Ash then says that they come from Minnesota, a reference to the Minnesota Vikings football team (English dub only).
  • Corey's Venusaur, Ash's Charizard, and Neesha's Blastoise, the three final forms of the starter Pokémon of Kanto, fight against Mewtwo's clone Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise before any other Pokémon fights its clone.
  • The movie had two VHS releases in Japan. The second release reanimated some background effects, such as water and clouds, with CGI effects. This version was then used for the dub.
  • Some of the Pokémon appearing on the poster didn't appear in the actual movie itself.
  • This is the only movie that Ash is not seen on the cover. Interestingly, Pikachu does appear.
  • Early in the film, Ash engages in a battle with another Trainer. In one battle, the opponent's Golem, a Ground-type Pokémon, was defeated by Ash's Pikachu's Electric attack. In the games, Ground-types are immune to Electric attacks, no matter how much stronger the Electric-type Pokémon is.
  • The official Normal and Psychic Pokédex book says that Ash was knocked out by Mew and Mewtwo, although he was really killed.
  • The movie was re-released on DVD in Japan and contained the Japanese and US audio tracks along with the complete 'Origin of Mewtwo' short.
  • The VHS release of the film had a trailer of Pokémon 2000 and came with a free trading card. The DVD release came with a Mewtwo promotional card.
  • For two weeks (until Toy Story 2 opened), it was the largest opening for an animated feature.
  • In the laboratory destruction scene, the scientists (except for Dr. Fuji) scream when Mewtwo uses his powers to destroy the lab. The last scientist emits a lower-pitched-than-usual Wilhelm scream.
  • Pikachu's Vacation is the first appearance of Snubbull and Marill, and the feature film is the first appearance of Donphan. All three Pokémon species would eventually be main characters(Tracey's Marill, Madame Muchmoney's Granbull and Ash's Donphan).
  • This was the first film confirmed as canon to the anime; in episodes 60-62 of the Pokémon TV series, scenes of Mewtwo breaking out the lab and battling at Giovanni's gym can be seen. Furthermore, the film used footage of Gary Oak battling Mewtwo. The director's commentary jokes that they had to get a 'stand-in' for Gary because his agent was asking for too much. Later, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew was made canon by DP056, DP071 & DP072
  • The other three Trainers in the movie have the evolved forms several of Ash's, Misty's, and Brock's Pokémon. These are Venusaur, Blastoise, Ninetales, Golduck, and Pidgeot.
  • The Trainer that Ash faces in the introduction to the movie wears a bandanna with a white marking similar to that of Team Aqua's logo; a symbol that does not appear again until the Generation III games and the Pokémon Advanced seasons.

Errors

  • In the English dub, three Pokémon are referred to by the wrong name. Pidgeot was called Pidgeotto, Scyther was called Alakazam, and Sandslash was called Sandshrew. In the audio commentary, 4Kids Entertainment stated that they decided to leave the Alakazam error when they noticed it as something for the children watching to notice and because they felt it was plausible in context that Team Rocket could make a mistake.
  • When the three other Pokémon Trainers are taking off, Cory is seen doing it twice, the second time on a Fearow.
  • In the beginning of the feature film, the Trainer's Machamp is shown coming out of the Poké Ball twice.
  • One scene where Fergus releases his Gyarados in the water to ride on its back, the Gyarados's lips were blue instead of the normal yellow. It is later seen with normal yellow lips.
  • Mewtwo is mistakenly colored a light blue instead of a light purple on the VHS and DVD cases.

Dub edits

  • The plot in the dubbed English version contains a "fighting is wrong" moral and portrays Mewtwo as a cold heartless villain who just wants to take over Earth.
  • During the battle between the Pokémon and their clones, the music that plays in the background is different in both versions: the Japanese version plays instrumental music very softly, while the English version plays Brother My Brother.
  • When Pikachu is repeatedly shocking Ash to try and bring him back to life, Misty says "Pikachu..." in the Japanese version, and "Please, no..." in the English version.
  • In the French dub of the movie, Misty's Staryu does not make a sound when it is released from its Poké Ball. In all other versions of the film, Staryu's "voice" can be heard twice.
Pokémon movies
Original series
Mewtwo Strikes Back • The Power of One • Spell of the Unown: Entei • Celebi: The Voice of the Forest • Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
Jirachi: Wish Maker • Destiny Deoxys • Lucario and the Mystery of Mew • Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
The Rise of Darkrai • Giratina and the Sky Warrior • Arceus and the Jewel of Life • Zoroark: Master of Illusions
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
White—Victini and Zekrom / Black—Victini and Reshiram • Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice • Genesect and the Legend Awakened
Pokémon the Series: XY
Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction • Hoopa and the Clash of Ages • Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon
I Choose You! • The Power of Us • Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
Secrets of the Jungle
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