Pokemon the First Movie

[00:00:00] Get ready to catch some nostalgia. This week we're diving into Pokemon the First Movie, the film that made us all believe in the power of friendship, battles, and of course, Pikachu.

[00:00:13] Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast, I'm Danielle.

[00:00:27] And I'm Jackie, and we're just two best friends and ex-blockbuster employees re-watching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s.

[00:00:37] This week we're talking about Pokemon, the First Movie, the 1998 film that brought the beloved franchise to theaters and made us all want to be Pokemon trainers.

[00:00:49] But before we dive in, let's get into some housekeeping.

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[00:01:24] Well, make sure to check out our No More Late Fees merch and with our nostalgic throwbacks and designs for every fan from that era.

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[00:01:37] So, Pokemon, the First Movie.

[00:01:40] Ash and his friends are invited to a mysterious island to battle a genetically engineered Pokemon who seeks revenge against humanity.

[00:01:49] The story explores themes of friendship, identity, and compassion, making it more than just a simple Pokemon battle.

[00:01:57] Oh, and let's not forget that unforgettable Pikachu versus Pikachu moment.

[00:02:02] It stars Veronica Taylor as Ash, Jay Geode as Mewtwo, Rachel Lillis as Misty, and Eric Stewart as Brock.

[00:02:15] It was directed by Kuniiko Uyama and Michael Hagne.

[00:02:20] It was written by Takashi Shudo, and you can currently watch it on Prime.

[00:02:27] But before we start, let's get into our Ratings Rewind.

[00:02:31] So, you know the drill. Before we get into any movie, we'll reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give.

[00:02:38] Then at the end, we'll see if our current selves agree with the initial rating.

[00:02:42] Our scale consists of would buy it, would buy it again.

[00:02:46] The best would play on repeat.

[00:02:48] Five-day rental.

[00:02:50] Would watch again.

[00:02:52] Two-day rental.

[00:02:54] Okay, but nothing to write home about.

[00:02:56] And same-day rental.

[00:02:59] It's like Team Rocket.

[00:03:01] It's trash.

[00:03:02] All right, Jackie.

[00:03:03] Let's start with your rating.

[00:03:06] I watched a lot of the show.

[00:03:09] Johnny is six years younger than I am, so he was key demographic back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

[00:03:16] But I never watched the movie.

[00:03:19] Well...

[00:03:21] No surprise here.

[00:03:22] Now, we all know that I am a Sailor Moon fan.

[00:03:26] But time periods.

[00:03:29] This was out of my time period.

[00:03:31] I had kids that I babysat that I knew were like really into this.

[00:03:37] And gun to head, if you told me to name three Pokemon, I would be dead.

[00:03:45] Because I didn't know.

[00:03:48] Now, fast forward to Jackie and I, grown-ass women in the streets.

[00:03:57] The streets.

[00:03:59] Pokemon hunting.

[00:04:02] Because I got swept into the Pokemon craze.

[00:04:06] Not once!

[00:04:08] But twice!

[00:04:09] Because there was a gap.

[00:04:11] When it first came out, I was doing it.

[00:04:12] And then I came to visit Jackie one year.

[00:04:15] And we were at the state capitol collecting Pokemon.

[00:04:21] Me...

[00:04:21] How to catch them all, Danielle?

[00:04:22] Danielle...

[00:04:23] Me, Jackie, her husband, and our friend Mark.

[00:04:26] What a time to be alive.

[00:04:28] And then immediately after, I was barely alive.

[00:04:33] Because I had...

[00:04:34] I was really sick.

[00:04:35] And I had to go to the hospital when I got home.

[00:04:38] That's true.

[00:04:39] That was an unfortunate trip.

[00:04:41] Yes.

[00:04:42] But you powered through.

[00:04:43] I powered through to Pokemon hunt, but not eat food.

[00:04:47] Yeah.

[00:04:47] I was sick and not eating.

[00:04:50] Anywho...

[00:04:51] Well...

[00:04:51] I just want to make it clear.

[00:04:52] I've never seen the Pokemon movie.

[00:04:56] I don't know if I said that.

[00:04:58] Now, I will say, out of all the movies we've watched on this show,

[00:05:02] I wasn't as annoyed as I've been with some of the other movies we had to watch.

[00:05:08] So...

[00:05:10] Big ups to Pokemon for not being...

[00:05:13] Although I was watching it, and so Shayla was like...

[00:05:17] I was at Shayla's when I was watching it.

[00:05:18] She was upstairs and she came down.

[00:05:19] She's like, what?

[00:05:20] What are you watching?

[00:05:22] And I was like, girl...

[00:05:24] Jackie got me out here watching this Pokemon.

[00:05:26] The things we do for the podcast.

[00:05:29] Yeah.

[00:05:29] Well, the box office for this wonderful gem.

[00:05:33] Jesus Christ.

[00:05:34] I just saw the worldwide growth.

[00:05:36] Right.

[00:05:36] The budget for this movie was $5 million.

[00:05:41] And it grossed worldwide $163.6 million.

[00:05:48] That is a lot of Pokemon card money.

[00:05:52] This first movie was the highest grossing anime film in the US until Demon Slayer broke the record in 2020.

[00:06:01] Hmm.

[00:06:01] I don't know what Demon Slayer is.

[00:06:03] I don't either.

[00:06:04] I guess it's fine.

[00:06:05] I know what a Demon Knight is, but I don't know what a Demon Slayer is.

[00:06:09] Yes.

[00:06:09] Don't know.

[00:06:10] Except Buffy.

[00:06:11] It held the record for the highest grossing opening for an animated film that debuted in November outside of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

[00:06:19] Very specific.

[00:06:20] There's lots of asterisks.

[00:06:22] Very specific.

[00:06:22] Yeah.

[00:06:24] And it surpassed Mortal Kombat as the highest grossing video game adaptation worldwide.

[00:06:30] Which I'm not really surprised.

[00:06:33] Look, I'm not hating on Mortal Kombat and I'm actually very excited for when we have to do this.

[00:06:38] Because you know I'm going to be like saying Street Fighter characters and everyone's going to be like,

[00:06:44] that's not Mortal Kombat because why not?

[00:06:48] Okay.

[00:06:48] So there was a, the movie was released with a short film called Pikachu's Vacation before the feature.

[00:06:57] And it gave fans a double dose of Pokemon goodness.

[00:07:01] I was thinking that like as a parent, I would have been pissed if like I took my kids to the theater to see a movie,

[00:07:11] paid all the money, bought all the snacks, and the runtime was like an hour and 10 minutes.

[00:07:16] Yeah.

[00:07:17] Like, so I'm glad they added a couple extra episodes.

[00:07:21] Like at least get us to the 90 minute mark.

[00:07:24] Yeah, because it was pretty short.

[00:07:26] It was.

[00:07:26] So we'll talk about this more, but the English language adaptation for this movie, it was released in 99 while the original movie was released in 98.

[00:07:38] And there is some controversy about the translation to good old English, but really to the American population.

[00:07:46] And lastly, it has also sold 10 million home video units in the United States, including 4.2 million VHS sales that earned $58.8 million in the year 2000.

[00:08:04] Crazy.

[00:08:04] Crazy.

[00:08:05] That.

[00:08:06] That.

[00:08:06] And you know, I'm not surprised because we always knew when some, like we always knew a Pokemon kid when they came into the blockbuster.

[00:08:15] It was very apparent.

[00:08:16] And to think that a Pokemon kid is a Power Rangers kid, you're wildly mistaken.

[00:08:26] Sometimes there's crossover, but there are two distinct camps.

[00:08:31] Yes.

[00:08:31] I just had a dormant memory triggered and it's a Blockbuster story.

[00:08:38] So when I very first started working at Blockbuster, there was this manager and he was, I want to say

[00:08:45] he was a couple years older than me.

[00:08:47] So like late teens, early twenties.

[00:08:50] And he dressed up as Ash Ketchum for Halloween.

[00:08:55] And then he just never stopped wearing the gloves, the fingerless gloves.

[00:09:01] Like he just wore them every day to work.

[00:09:03] And I don't, I don't, I never asked him about it.

[00:09:08] Why?

[00:09:09] Like, you know, that's the first thing I would have said.

[00:09:12] Why are you wearing those again?

[00:09:14] Don't know.

[00:09:16] Yeah.

[00:09:16] I just remembered that, that he always wore those fingerless gloves, but it was only after

[00:09:22] he dressed up as Ash for Halloween.

[00:09:25] Because it was a part of his plan.

[00:09:26] He's like, how can I incorporate these gloves?

[00:09:30] Because Blockbuster was very strict about our, our like, I say costume, but uniform.

[00:09:35] And by the way, I don't know if I've ever talked about it, but I fucking hated our uniform.

[00:09:40] It was not like, it was not helpful for my figure in any way.

[00:09:47] Like I could not, I mean, I could, I could pull a guy, but I couldn't pull a guy, you know,

[00:09:52] like, I'm in this frumpy blue, which is not my color.

[00:09:57] Again, I can rock about any color, but blue just wasn't.

[00:10:01] And khaki pants that go up to my navel.

[00:10:04] It couldn't even wear like jegging kinds, you know?

[00:10:08] Yeah.

[00:10:09] Nightmare.

[00:10:09] It, it, it, yeah.

[00:10:12] And like the thick polyester collared shirt, they were itchy, they were gross.

[00:10:20] And then you had to tuck your shirt in.

[00:10:22] So also not doing anything for my figure.

[00:10:26] And I'm like, I am bending over, stretching.

[00:10:30] Like I am getting a full body workout every day at work, putting movies away.

[00:10:35] And like still have to wear that itchy, heavy ass shirt.

[00:10:42] And then there would be other employees that ran hot.

[00:10:46] And so they would crank down the AC.

[00:10:49] So then I'd be freezing.

[00:10:51] Yeah.

[00:10:51] And so that's why I secretly ordered once I was a manager and had access,

[00:10:56] I would order myself long sleeve shirts, which we were not supposed to do,

[00:11:00] but I didn't give a shit.

[00:11:02] Why could you order them if you weren't supposed to do it?

[00:11:05] I think they were supposed to be only for like Northern states.

[00:11:10] Right.

[00:11:10] That actually get cold.

[00:11:13] It's just so stupid.

[00:11:14] Like I know it's some random ass man who makes these rules because they don't think about

[00:11:20] any kind of other circumstances.

[00:11:21] Cause like, why does it matter?

[00:11:24] Why does my arm meat need to be out for it to matter what I'm wearing?

[00:11:29] Yeah.

[00:11:30] But, oh God, I hated that, that outfit so much that I didn't, that's, I think that's why

[00:11:36] I didn't keep my shirts.

[00:11:37] Cause the one, it was over.

[00:11:38] I was ready to burn those motherfucking shirts to the ground.

[00:11:42] I think I only have the one I have because it was like buried somewhere else.

[00:11:48] Yeah.

[00:11:49] And so it didn't get tossed with the rest of them.

[00:11:53] Also, we had to buy our shirts if we wanted more than two, I think.

[00:11:58] Yeah.

[00:11:59] So that was the other thing.

[00:12:00] Like after a while, the blue starts to fade and then you have to go buy more shirts.

[00:12:06] So it's like, am I in a pyramid scheme where I'm giving money to have a job?

[00:12:12] That's what it is.

[00:12:13] And when people left, they asked them to return their shirts.

[00:12:18] Bitch, fuck off.

[00:12:19] You got taken my secondhand shirt.

[00:12:22] And so there would be just a pile of like faded old other person worn shirts in the back.

[00:12:30] It was so bizarre.

[00:12:32] And that wasn't even, cause we had a really thrifty boss.

[00:12:39] Are you talking about joy or money?

[00:12:42] He would pick up a staple off of the counter and be like, this cost me 25 cents.

[00:12:49] Stop wasting my stuff.

[00:12:50] Like he, like he would give us one pen to share for signing receipts because we lost too many pens.

[00:12:59] Like he had so many arbitrary rules to save money.

[00:13:05] I'm like, bro.

[00:13:05] Before we get into the cast and crew and the rest of the fun facts, let's hear a message from our pod pals.

[00:13:19] When's the last time you watched a Disney Channel original movie?

[00:13:22] I'm Gabby.

[00:13:23] And I'm Natalie.

[00:13:24] And this is Once Upon a Deacombe, the podcast where we rave and sometimes roast all of your favorite Disney Channel original movies.

[00:13:31] From the 90s to today with classics like High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls.

[00:13:35] We'll dive into all of the iconic moments, cheesy one-liners, and of course the questionable fashion choices from years gone by.

[00:13:43] And we don't hold back from the real discussions either.

[00:13:46] What did Smart House predict about AI?

[00:13:48] And what can Halloween Town teach us about being a female icon?

[00:13:51] If you're all about the nostalgia and ready for a rewatch, you'll love Once Upon a Deacombe.

[00:13:56] Now streaming on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.

[00:14:00] New episodes every single Tuesday.

[00:14:01] Cast and crew, we did get a director cameo.

[00:14:11] Michael Hagne was the voice of the system when Ash, Misty, and Brock entered the fairy center.

[00:14:18] And originally, this film was supposed to introduce a new Pokemon named Gopher.

[00:14:24] Very creative name.

[00:14:26] Gopher.

[00:14:27] This is the oddest ability I have ever heard.

[00:14:32] Gopher was able to inflate his lower stomach in order to float up to higher ground.

[00:14:39] Was he an air balloon Pokemon?

[00:14:41] I don't know.

[00:14:44] So ultimately, the Pokemon company decided against using this Pokemon in any of their films or games

[00:14:50] because they felt it was too comical and didn't add anything to the competitive balance.

[00:14:56] Right.

[00:14:57] It's like, watch my Olympic work.

[00:15:03] Like, what the fuck?

[00:15:07] So weird.

[00:15:09] Let's get into this movie where I have lots of questions.

[00:15:14] I don't have answers for you.

[00:15:16] But the questions will be asked.

[00:15:20] Nonetheless.

[00:15:21] So we are shown a lab and there is a specimen of Pokemon floating in like this big glass tube.

[00:15:31] And he becomes, or he awakens, and he's like having these internal discussions with himself,

[00:15:40] which always come back to, what is my purpose?

[00:15:45] Like the, the Me Too movement.

[00:15:49] This is where Hath was born.

[00:15:52] What is my purpose?

[00:15:54] And then he becomes pissed because he's been created in a lab.

[00:16:02] They found DNA of the ancient Mew Pokemon.

[00:16:07] And so they, they genetically modify it to create Mewtwo, who is the most powerful Pokemon of all time.

[00:16:16] He is a psychic Pokemon, but still he, he's having a essential, essential crisis.

[00:16:23] But just to give it some layers.

[00:16:25] So as English viewers, we kind of got fucked over, right?

[00:16:30] So the Japanese version of this film, it received very positive reviews from critics.

[00:16:37] Especially it got praised for that the film's emotional impact and exploration of ethical topics such as cloning, genetic modification, and existentialism.

[00:16:50] However, the English language version received negative reviews from film critics.

[00:16:56] It had a lot to do with the poorly dubbed voice acting because the animators were having a hard time with, you know, the language maybe when it was translated, translated to English maybe being longer.

[00:17:10] So that was an issue.

[00:17:12] As well as the inclusion of anti-violence message, despite the overall concept of what the series is, which is a bunch of these animals fighting each other.

[00:17:21] And after you release them from a cage, that's a ball.

[00:17:24] I also have questions about that.

[00:17:26] Does the ball have like a little living room?

[00:17:30] Is it like the TARDIS where it's bigger on the inside than the outside?

[00:17:34] I've never gotten clarity on the Pokeball.

[00:17:36] Well, and Ken came in towards the beginning where they, Pikachu has a bowl of food and he's chowing down.

[00:17:41] He's like, but what about all the other Pokemon that are in the balls?

[00:17:44] How do they get fed?

[00:17:45] I'm like, I don't know.

[00:17:47] Pikachu is always out.

[00:17:49] Like it's giving favorite child.

[00:17:52] Pikachu hates the ball.

[00:17:54] And so he pretty much refuses to go in it.

[00:17:57] That's why he's always out.

[00:18:00] Anywho.

[00:18:01] Pikachu is a diva.

[00:18:03] Very much so.

[00:18:04] Further retrospective criticism of the English language version has been targeted against the removal of most of the ethical topics from the Japanese version of the film, such as the part of Me Too's.

[00:18:17] I know it's meow.

[00:18:19] Is it meow?

[00:18:20] It's meow.

[00:18:21] I'm just going to say Me Too.

[00:18:23] Me Too's origin story.

[00:18:25] So like the, when they removed these elements from the English version, it left Me Too seeming very cold and like he's just a villain for no reason.

[00:18:37] But like.

[00:18:38] Almost like he's seeking revenge.

[00:18:41] Right.

[00:18:41] Yeah.

[00:18:42] But in all honesty, he's trying to find his purpose.

[00:18:47] He's trying to understand why he's here, which is, I think every human being feels the same way.

[00:18:53] And then also trying to understand that he's not an original, that he's been cloned.

[00:19:01] And.

[00:19:02] And not even cloned, but like genetically modified.

[00:19:05] Right.

[00:19:05] Like, so he's like, not, he's an abomination to nature.

[00:19:11] There's nobody else like him.

[00:19:13] So he doesn't even have the bond to, to like, to be able to bond with other species.

[00:19:19] Yeah.

[00:19:20] So that is just some stuff.

[00:19:23] But like you were saying, he is having this awakening and then all the scientists around him as he's floating in this glass are just so happy that they have made a scientific breakthrough.

[00:19:40] But not the consequences of like, this is a higher being in the sense that like it, it's psychic.

[00:19:49] It can understand.

[00:19:49] It can speak.

[00:19:50] And so on.

[00:19:52] And it has more power than like you, like you cannot control this creature you've created.

[00:19:58] Right.

[00:19:59] I kept saying Mewtwo needs a magneto helmet.

[00:20:03] Right.

[00:20:04] Well, no, everybody else.

[00:20:07] Well, yeah.

[00:20:08] Everyone else does because he would be the Charles Xavier in this, in this particular situation because he's psychic.

[00:20:16] Let me not get nerdy on you.

[00:20:18] Okay.

[00:20:18] I'm nerdy and different.

[00:20:20] Different.

[00:20:22] Different genres.

[00:20:23] Yeah.

[00:20:24] So yeah, Mewtwo breaks out.

[00:20:28] He disappears.

[00:20:29] And then we're introduced to Ashingang.

[00:20:32] And then they are informed of like this.

[00:20:36] They're invited to this tournament.

[00:20:38] Thank you.

[00:20:39] Yes.

[00:20:40] Yes.

[00:20:40] But before that even happened, like the thing about Mewtwo, like him, he didn't just leave,

[00:20:47] like he roasted everybody, all the scientists, he killed them.

[00:20:51] Yep.

[00:20:51] And then it's just like a weird thing transition that happens where all of a sudden he's in an

[00:20:55] armored suit with some man telling him that they're going to work together.

[00:21:00] And I'm like, where the fuck did this man come from?

[00:21:03] He's like, come with me and I'll help you.

[00:21:05] I don't know.

[00:21:05] It was super weird.

[00:21:07] And then he finds out the man is just trying to control him.

[00:21:09] And he's like, you were built for me.

[00:21:12] Mega maniacal situation here.

[00:21:14] And he's like, ah, now fuck that.

[00:21:16] And he breaks through his like thing or whatever.

[00:21:21] Yeah.

[00:21:21] Because I feel like that happened first because then he goes to plotting to make that tournament.

[00:21:26] Right.

[00:21:26] Yeah.

[00:21:27] But it was, I understand like us missing it because it's just like, it was so weird, Jackie.

[00:21:32] I was like, what's happening?

[00:21:34] Where did this man come from?

[00:21:35] And according to my chat GPT notes, so it could have made this up.

[00:21:41] Listeners confirm, please.

[00:21:43] Giovanni is the name of the man he meets.

[00:21:46] And apparently Giovanni is the shady boss of Team Rocket.

[00:21:52] That could be.

[00:21:54] He seemed like a big bad, but then he's never addressed.

[00:21:57] Like we never see him again.

[00:21:59] Yeah.

[00:22:00] And then Team Rocket, I knew of, like I never again watched, really watched a Pokemon episode,

[00:22:08] but I knew of them because of the Pokemon game and I've seen them and it's just.

[00:22:14] Prepare for trouble and make it double.

[00:22:16] I don't know what it is about these Japanese shows where they always have like a big villain,

[00:22:25] but then there's like these lower level villains that are consistently there, but they get nowhere.

[00:22:31] Kind of like Zed and Rita on Power Rangers.

[00:22:34] There's Murky and Lurky from Rainbow Brite.

[00:22:38] It's just like, what are you doing?

[00:22:42] So Team Rocket is similar and they have a Pokemon too that they have.

[00:22:48] He's out all the time too.

[00:22:49] He's never in the balls.

[00:22:50] Yes.

[00:22:51] So can you explain their motivation?

[00:22:55] Like, are they trainers as well?

[00:22:59] Like what's their obsession with Ash and Pikachu?

[00:23:02] Pikachu.

[00:23:03] Well, I think so.

[00:23:08] This is all speculation because I don't have an answer for your question, but I think they've, they know Pikachu is special because Pikachu can kind of communicate with his people, which Mouth can also do with Team Rocket.

[00:23:21] Like Mouth fucking talks.

[00:23:23] Like he's the only Pokemon that actually talks, but Pikachu has a way of communicating with Ash.

[00:23:30] And I don't know what their beef with Ash is, but I think it's just like, yeah, they're trying to collect like the more unique Pokemon or like the really strong Pokemon.

[00:23:43] I'm assuming to give to Giovanni.

[00:23:47] I'm typing in what is Team Rocket's motivation?

[00:23:54] Let's see what comes up.

[00:23:57] Okay.

[00:23:59] While its main focus is stealing or capturing rare and strong Pokemon and subsequently selling them, it's also funds and conducts, cruel experimental research on Pokemon.

[00:24:10] At times it has even killed Pokemon.

[00:24:14] Their oath as posted on the wall of one of their many bases is steal Pokemon for profit.

[00:24:20] Okay.

[00:24:21] Sucks.

[00:24:22] I was right.

[00:24:23] Yeah, you were.

[00:24:25] Look at me.

[00:24:26] No one thinks.

[00:24:27] They're the devil.

[00:24:29] And somebody wrote when I watched the Pokemon series, I was confused at what Team Rocket actually was.

[00:24:37] Are they mad scientists and Pokemon transhumanists?

[00:24:41] Are they criminals and petty crooks who want power?

[00:24:45] Are they generic villains?

[00:24:47] What motive could they possibly have for what they do?

[00:24:54] Somebody wrote motivated by money.

[00:24:57] The ideology known as mafia.

[00:25:00] Oh, so Team Rocket's part of the mafia.

[00:25:03] Yeah.

[00:25:03] Also known as cream.

[00:25:06] Cash rules everything around me.

[00:25:09] I don't care for that.

[00:25:11] The Wu-Tang Clan.

[00:25:16] Oh, man.

[00:25:17] These answers are hilarious.

[00:25:19] I will look at them another time.

[00:25:21] But I was very confused.

[00:25:23] And also, what did the girl with the red hair?

[00:25:28] Yeah, Jessie.

[00:25:29] What kind of moose gel is she using to have that swirly pop thing at the end of her hair stick up as so?

[00:25:38] I ain't never seen that before.

[00:25:42] Not on a white lady.

[00:25:44] Okay.

[00:25:46] So, we see, like, it's just a cutaway scene to the bottom of the ocean.

[00:25:54] And this little kitty cat is sitting in a bubble, just happy as can be, floating to the surface.

[00:26:01] So, we know that Mew isn't really extinct.

[00:26:07] He was just chilling in his bubble at the bottom of the sea.

[00:26:11] Like Avatar.

[00:26:14] I love that show so much.

[00:26:16] Sorry.

[00:26:16] Okay.

[00:26:18] So, now, Mew is just floating around.

[00:26:21] We just get cutaway shots of him zooming through the sky.

[00:26:25] We don't know what, where he's going, what he's doing.

[00:26:27] But he's got the zoomies.

[00:26:29] Ash and friends go to the very creatively named New Island.

[00:26:35] Or they're attempting to get to New Island to go and be a part of that battle that they were invited to.

[00:26:42] But there is a crazy storm.

[00:26:45] And so, they're all, like, in the ferry station.

[00:26:49] And everyone is kind of like, there are very few people that are willing to try and brave the storm to get out to New Island.

[00:26:57] Also, there is a missing nurse.

[00:26:59] Brock is fucking horny as shit.

[00:27:02] Because every female he encounters, he's like, hey.

[00:27:06] Ah.

[00:27:07] Ooh.

[00:27:08] I'm like, what is your deal, Brock?

[00:27:12] And he has no eyes.

[00:27:13] He never has any eyes.

[00:27:15] No, because I also find it weird that this is taking place.

[00:27:19] Like Ash and Misty have eyes.

[00:27:22] Yeah, I don't.

[00:27:24] And the nurses have eyes.

[00:27:26] Brock?

[00:27:26] Brock.

[00:27:27] Okay.

[00:27:29] Pokemon.

[00:27:30] Because it's super weird.

[00:27:32] I'm putting eyes.

[00:27:34] See what comes up.

[00:27:36] Why the hell are Brock's eyes always closed?

[00:27:42] Why are his eyes always closed?

[00:27:44] Does the man have some type of condition?

[00:27:46] Or does his eyes contain a hidden power?

[00:27:50] Somebody wrote,

[00:27:51] It's a trope called fox eyes.

[00:27:53] And it's often used in anime to show that a character is wise, experienced, and can be relied upon.

[00:28:00] Not Brock.

[00:28:00] And somebody said,

[00:28:01] I just thought Brock was ripped from smoking that hoppy up.

[00:28:07] Yeah, hear me.

[00:28:09] You heard me.

[00:28:10] Okay, sorry.

[00:28:11] It took me a second.

[00:28:13] He's a ditto in disguise.

[00:28:15] The real Brock raised him and died from an illness.

[00:28:17] What?

[00:28:19] What?

[00:28:19] So ditto is a shape-shifting Pokemon that takes the shape of any other person or Pokemon.

[00:28:26] Oh.

[00:28:27] I read somewhere in a book about manga that the closed eyes is a racist stereotype of Koreans in Japanese anime slash manga.

[00:28:38] Thus, Brock is supposed to be Korean while the typical anime character is Japanese.

[00:28:44] Fuck, man.

[00:28:46] Anime character designs are stereotypes of Western people.

[00:28:49] Big eyes, nose, mouth.

[00:28:51] Justice for Brock then.

[00:28:54] Fuck.

[00:28:55] Fuck.

[00:28:55] I knew it was something.

[00:28:57] Yeah.

[00:28:57] But glad good old Reddit had something.

[00:29:01] Tell us if you know if that's not accurate.

[00:29:04] But okay, now we know.

[00:29:06] Damn.

[00:29:07] So now they're going across the sea because they're like, we have Pokemon that are water Pokemon.

[00:29:14] They can get us there.

[00:29:16] But not these fools.

[00:29:17] They ain't got no big Pokemon.

[00:29:18] No.

[00:29:20] And they take a boat ride from a very thinly veiled team rocket.

[00:29:27] Right.

[00:29:28] Like who?

[00:29:30] It's not even that one, you randomly in the storm are in this boat.

[00:29:37] Yeah.

[00:29:37] Two, why do you sound like you are?

[00:29:40] German?

[00:29:41] They're Viking.

[00:29:43] They're supposed to be Vikings.

[00:29:44] Yeah, but they sound German and they say Farfignougan at one point.

[00:29:48] I thought they said they were from like Finland or some random weird thing.

[00:29:53] But like you guys should know by now that Team Rocket is always on your job.

[00:29:58] You should know what they look like.

[00:30:00] How dumb are you?

[00:30:02] There is a joke that like I didn't get.

[00:30:05] Sadly, I had to read it or read it on IMDb.

[00:30:09] But they're like asking them where they're from and they said whatever Scandinavian countries they said.

[00:30:17] And then Ash goes, oh, I thought they were, I thought they lived in Minnesota, which is because the football team is the Minnesota Vikings.

[00:30:29] Yeah, it was, it was super random.

[00:30:32] And then like they can't even survive the sea and they fall out and then they realize it's sea rocket.

[00:30:41] So then now they're like drowning and Misty pulls a star Pokemon.

[00:30:49] I guess they can swim.

[00:30:51] And saves Brock.

[00:30:53] And then Ash is with his squirtle.

[00:30:57] His squirtle is saving him and Pikachu.

[00:31:01] Yeah.

[00:31:02] And I'm like, it doesn't even seem like they swim that far away.

[00:31:07] But like all of a sudden they're right there.

[00:31:10] Like where was this island?

[00:31:12] Also something before they left the island when they're still in the ferry station with the girl that's like, don't go out there.

[00:31:17] This is the worst storm I've seen ever.

[00:31:20] She tells some sort of story about how.

[00:31:25] All the Pokemon cried one time and like cleared up the weather or something like she told some sort of story that was way more prolific in the Japanese version and was like a throwaway line in this movie.

[00:31:39] Oh.

[00:31:41] Now I'm going to watch the Japanese version.

[00:31:43] Yeah, I was thinking that too.

[00:31:45] But then like it comes back around in the end when all of the Pokemon cry.

[00:31:51] Right.

[00:31:52] And it brings Ash back to life.

[00:31:54] Spoiler alert.

[00:31:55] Yeah.

[00:31:56] That was like, your boy dead.

[00:31:58] He's made of stone.

[00:32:02] He's about to be Ash.

[00:32:04] Nobody step on him.

[00:32:05] And Chad GPT in the description of this scene decided to throw its opinion in there.

[00:32:13] These kids are just the worst at following warnings about dangerous weather.

[00:32:19] No lies.

[00:32:20] Yeah.

[00:32:21] But yeah, they find themselves on the island.

[00:32:25] And then they are there.

[00:32:28] They run into.

[00:32:30] I don't know.

[00:32:31] A lady of the night saying, oh, my master has been waiting for you.

[00:32:36] And you can come, you know, join the rest of the people.

[00:32:39] The rest of the trainers.

[00:32:40] And there's only three other people.

[00:32:41] And they realize that this them surviving the storm was a test because when Me Too was sitting in their chair doing this with their three little finger nubs.

[00:32:57] I don't know what you call it.

[00:32:58] Make the storm happen was hilarious.

[00:33:02] Because I'm like, all right, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

[00:33:07] Is Me Too, is Mewtwo an X-Men?

[00:33:12] Because he has psychic abilities like Jean Grey and Dr. Charles Xavier.

[00:33:18] He can fly and control the weather or they can because I'm not sure if it's a he-she.

[00:33:25] So I'm going to say they.

[00:33:26] They can fly and control the weather like storm.

[00:33:30] Yep.

[00:33:30] I'm just saying like, what else?

[00:33:33] What else?

[00:33:34] Shoots out like sparkly things like Jubilee.

[00:33:38] Yeah.

[00:33:39] One of the bubbles.

[00:33:41] Didn't he turn Ash to stone?

[00:33:44] I was the, I don't know.

[00:33:46] Ash came between both of them.

[00:33:48] So both Mewtwo and Mew one.

[00:33:52] I don't know what it is.

[00:33:53] Just Mew.

[00:33:54] Mew Mew.

[00:33:55] Mew Mew.

[00:33:57] But yeah.

[00:33:58] Yeah.

[00:33:59] Interesting.

[00:34:01] So yeah, now they meet.

[00:34:03] And Mewtwo is so dramatic.

[00:34:08] So dramatic.

[00:34:08] You want to talk about an entrance.

[00:34:10] That entrance took forever.

[00:34:13] Like he, first of all, did he build this island or fix, make the fixtures because that spiraling thing that he had to, or sorry, they had to ascend?

[00:34:25] I have no clue.

[00:34:28] Or descend down.

[00:34:30] Like, I'm like, what, what the fuck is happening?

[00:34:34] Yeah.

[00:34:35] And I'll, yeah.

[00:34:37] It's all very strange.

[00:34:39] There's lots of running and never really getting anywhere.

[00:34:44] It does really feel like they're just running in circles.

[00:34:48] Yeah.

[00:34:48] A lot of the time.

[00:34:49] So Mewtwo reveals his big plan is to collect all of the Pokemon from all of the trainers that showed up and create clones of them and create like super Pokemon.

[00:35:04] You know what I would have appreciated more for him to say to the Pokemon?

[00:35:14] Y'all need to free yourselves.

[00:35:16] These people should not be capturing you and training you.

[00:35:20] Let's free, like, no clones, whatever, but let's free you.

[00:35:26] And turning, using his psychic ability to turn on his Pokemon for them to attack them.

[00:35:31] And then Pikachu being the only one, true of heart, down for Ash for whatever, fighting them off and, like, his lightning kind of whipping them out of the psychic trance.

[00:35:44] And then you would be more of like, okay, I get where, like, he's an anti-hero, he's a villain, but I get it because he's just trying to free the animals.

[00:35:53] He doesn't understand them not being free after his experience.

[00:35:58] He tells them, like, you're all enslaved and, like, but he, like, blames the Pokemon.

[00:36:07] Like, they had any fucking choice.

[00:36:09] They were just out playing in a field and then all of a sudden got bonked in the head with a Pokeball and is sitting in, like, a genie lamp for the rest of their lives.

[00:36:17] Right.

[00:36:19] It's not their fault, per se.

[00:36:22] But what he does instead is said, I'm going to capture y'all, take your DNA, make better versions of you, and then have them beat you up.

[00:36:32] Yes.

[00:36:33] Bro, I'm in slavery.

[00:36:35] I don't need to be beaten up.

[00:36:38] Get these kids.

[00:36:40] Unsupervised children.

[00:36:42] And I would have appreciated if, like, could we make them a different color or something when they're, like, the supercharged Pokemon?

[00:36:52] Like, make them slightly different so that, like...

[00:36:55] They put spots on them or something.

[00:36:57] It was weird.

[00:36:58] I thought there were sweat stains.

[00:37:00] Yeah.

[00:37:00] Like, it was...

[00:37:02] It was really weird.

[00:37:04] But, like...

[00:37:06] Yeah.

[00:37:06] And so...

[00:37:07] But Ash is like, Pikachu, fucking run.

[00:37:11] And, like, Pikachu's trying his damnedest and then he gets sucked into the machine and Ash goes in the machine and is fighting the machine like, you are not taking my fucking Pikachu.

[00:37:23] First and foremost, does Pikachu have asthma?

[00:37:26] And Pikachu is the only Pokemon who's out, like, all the time.

[00:37:31] But you out of shape, bruh?

[00:37:33] Why are you breathing so hard?

[00:37:36] Did he go...

[00:37:37] Because he does that a lot.

[00:37:39] He was...

[00:37:40] Like, he was having this hard time.

[00:37:42] Well, I mean, he's got tiny little legs.

[00:37:45] And then every time he's lightning, the boy was tired.

[00:37:49] He was tired.

[00:37:51] He was trying his damnedest.

[00:37:54] If I was any other of Ash's Pokemon, I would be very upset because...

[00:38:00] What's this, bruh?

[00:38:01] You didn't go hard for none of the other ones.

[00:38:04] I didn't see you go into the machine for Squirtle.

[00:38:09] You got...

[00:38:10] Right together, they died together.

[00:38:11] Right now.

[00:38:12] Nah.

[00:38:13] But you're right.

[00:38:14] He does get Pikachu.

[00:38:15] And I love that Team Rocket and this whole thing.

[00:38:18] They somehow have made it to the island and they're just watching this shit.

[00:38:21] They find the secret lair of where he can, like, make these clones.

[00:38:26] And so now he has the clones.

[00:38:28] But then when Ash breaks that machine, he's able to get the original.

[00:38:31] So they all come downstairs.

[00:38:34] And I'm just like, what's with all this talk, Mewtwo?

[00:38:38] If you about this shit or not, like, whoop everybody's ass and call it a day.

[00:38:42] Like, what's with all these monologues and shit?

[00:38:44] Wrap it up already.

[00:38:47] You just be talking.

[00:38:50] Yeah.

[00:38:51] So now all the Pokemon are fighting each other.

[00:38:55] Except for Pikachu.

[00:38:56] Pikachu refuses to fight.

[00:38:59] So then clone Pikachu is like, I'll fight.

[00:39:02] And, like, zaps him.

[00:39:05] Talk about the slaps.

[00:39:06] The bitch slaps.

[00:39:09] Hehehehe.

[00:39:10] Because I think it's, like, the platypus looking one.

[00:39:14] That's, or the duck.

[00:39:15] I don't know what that is.

[00:39:16] Golduck?

[00:39:16] Yeah.

[00:39:17] That slaps the shit out of the other.

[00:39:19] Like, it's a bona fide pimp slap.

[00:39:23] And then Pikachu's clone does the same shit.

[00:39:27] And you just see, like, a single tear running down Pikachu's face.

[00:39:34] Like, what is going on?

[00:39:37] This is wild.

[00:39:39] And also, why are the clones fighting their clones?

[00:39:41] Why not fight another different Pokemon?

[00:39:44] Yeah, because if you know anything about Pokemon, like I do, you don't fight, like, fire with fire.

[00:39:51] It's like water is...

[00:39:54] Opposites.

[00:39:54] Yeah, exactly.

[00:39:55] So, yeah, I don't know why the clones are just in fighting.

[00:40:00] And then, like you said, Mew shows up and starts, like, fighting with Mewtwo.

[00:40:05] And then...

[00:40:05] Where did he come from?

[00:40:07] Where did Mew come from?

[00:40:08] I told you.

[00:40:09] A bubble under the sea.

[00:40:14] He's just been chilling.

[00:40:16] Oh, you know what?

[00:40:19] When you said that, I was thinking about Mewtwo.

[00:40:22] I must have missed this part where he was sitting in the water.

[00:40:28] Because I'm like, where the fuck did this cat thing come from?

[00:40:32] It happened at the very beginning of the movie.

[00:40:34] And it's a very short scene.

[00:40:36] But it's just like...

[00:40:37] Oh.

[00:40:37] He rises up in his little bubble that he's been chilling in since the Egyptian times, I guess.

[00:40:47] Interesting.

[00:40:48] And when he comes out, he's just like...

[00:40:50] I'm telling you.

[00:40:51] Avatar.

[00:40:51] He's just like Aang.

[00:40:53] He comes out of the water.

[00:40:54] He's just happy-go-lucky.

[00:40:56] Having a good time.

[00:40:56] Not trying to be about that, you know, real fighting stuff.

[00:41:00] He's just like, oh, let's play.

[00:41:01] And that's the vibes that it gives.

[00:41:04] That he's just playing around at first.

[00:41:05] But then Mewtwo is like, fuck you.

[00:41:08] And then shit gets serious.

[00:41:11] Yeah.

[00:41:11] And then Ash gets in the middle of it.

[00:41:14] And gets turned to stone.

[00:41:16] And all of the Pokemon start crying.

[00:41:19] Because Pikachu is trying to revive him.

[00:41:22] And it's very sad.

[00:41:23] Yeah.

[00:41:24] It was touch and go.

[00:41:26] I was like, yo, they're going to have the balls to kill a kid during this.

[00:41:31] The main character of Pokemon.

[00:41:36] Ashes to ashes.

[00:41:42] So then that's where that one throwaway line at the beginning comes back to play.

[00:41:48] Because Pokemon tears can bring people back from stone, apparently.

[00:41:54] So then Ash is all better.

[00:41:56] And that's when Mewtwo has a change of heart.

[00:42:01] That says he realizes that being a dictator isn't as fun as he thought.

[00:42:06] Lies.

[00:42:07] I believe.

[00:42:08] It's a wonderful thing.

[00:42:12] But he realizes that everyone can find their purpose and coexist.

[00:42:18] And not everything has.

[00:42:21] Feel the world.

[00:42:21] Make it a better place.

[00:42:24] For you and for me.

[00:42:27] And the whole Pokemon race.

[00:42:32] I see children crying.

[00:42:38] And turn to stone.

[00:42:43] Make it a better place for you and Pikachu.

[00:42:49] Beautiful.

[00:42:50] But.

[00:42:51] And he also monologues about how.

[00:42:55] Fighting is not the way to solve things.

[00:42:58] Bitch, have you seen Pokemon?

[00:43:00] The TV show?

[00:43:02] Because that's all we be doing.

[00:43:03] That's the American version.

[00:43:05] And apparently the Japanese didn't be bringing all that shit.

[00:43:09] Fighting is a part of life.

[00:43:13] Yeah.

[00:43:14] So at the end, Ash and team are back at the docks.

[00:43:19] He also wipes their fucking memories.

[00:43:22] yeah so they have no clue what has just happened that pokemon tears are magic and can bring you

[00:43:29] back to life that the actual mew is not extinct and has been just dormant in a bubble

[00:43:38] and then they just go on their merry way ready for the next adventure can we talk about how he

[00:43:45] was ready to smoke the nurse at one point like he was like oh you served your purpose i don't

[00:43:50] need you anymore and he was he didn't even say he's gonna wipe her memory he's like oh you're

[00:43:54] gonna be dead like he said he was gonna kill her yeah and brock was like no i recognize her she's

[00:44:01] the hot nurse from the fairy place or whatever yeah they don't know how they got there and they're

[00:44:08] just like okay well it is what it is and then they're like oh the storm is gone first of all

[00:44:13] why was the storm still brewing he the mewtwo wasn't doing the things anymore oh my god

[00:44:20] well that's pokemon the first movie the pokemon 2000 movie started playing right after and i was

[00:44:29] like oh end credit scenes because i didn't know it started and i was like wait what's happening

[00:44:34] this seems like a whole new plot i forgot about the part at the end where all the clones just fly away

[00:44:41] yeah like okay yeah uh i i hope i answered some of your questions i i yeah yeah we got we got some

[00:44:56] answers let's see what fun facts we missed what we got um producers and director michael hagney

[00:45:04] had trouble matching animated lip movements the script was written twice to ensure all dialogue

[00:45:10] matched up they said they were very happy mewtwo was a psychic pokemon because his mouth rarely moved oh so

[00:45:17] it is the heat okay which saved them work for making dialogue match his mouth movements okay

[00:45:26] michael hagney said that the opening segment was inspired by a bath he took

[00:45:33] i don't i don't i don't i don't have words i guess inspiration strikes anywhere i kind of feel like that didn't need to be said sir ever so we know that most of these animated films or children's movies have some sort of tie in with a toy right so burger king had a pokemon ball

[00:45:59] toy toy and it was recalled on december 11 1999 a 13 month old kira murphy from california actually passed away

[00:46:09] when half of her pokeball toy became stuck over her mouth and nose causing her to suffocate she was later found

[00:46:17] deceased in her in her play pen oh how terrible and then 12 days later a second child in kansas survived the similar incident

[00:46:26] so on december 28th 1998 1999 burger king issued a recall of the toys adults were urged to discard or return both pieces of the toy

[00:46:38] customers returning the toy were given a small order of french fries in return and nearly a month after the recall another child suffocated from the toy

[00:46:46] the dead children's families settled their lawsuits on undisclosed terms i how did they miss the recall

[00:46:56] maybe they just feel like they thought it wasn't gonna happen to them you know i i think they do a lot more

[00:47:04] work now to like make sure that they do put the ages on the toys and they are they also have like three little holes

[00:47:13] if it's anything like that shape they typically have three little breathing holes so that it doesn't get

[00:47:19] suction to the face oh so sad so sad so sad the original dvd release with the snap case contains

[00:47:27] numerous features that were removed from later reprints such as the origin prologue and the pikachu's

[00:47:34] vacation short film other options such as dolby digital 5.1 sound has been removed leaving only the

[00:47:41] 2.0 stereo mix available among other features that means that original one is probably worth a lot

[00:47:47] yeah i'll have to keep an eye out for it the american edit of the film contained cgi effects that were not

[00:47:54] included in the japanese cut and some of these included the realistic looking clouds okay so

[00:48:05] i am a connoisseur of the pokemon theme song okay it fucking slaps yeah i could not sing along because

[00:48:14] they changed the beat the tune yeah in this movie and so i'm there i'm trying to sing along it's not

[00:48:23] happening and i was so upset also i've seen people at weddings just randomly play the pokemon theme song

[00:48:31] and it hits every time like the entire crowd is just singing along i'm gonna be the very best like no one ever was

[00:48:48] if you're not watching this video

[00:48:54] i'm just staring to catch them is my real test to train them is my cause i will travel across the

[00:49:06] land searching far and wide each pokemon to understand the power that's inside pokemon gotta catch them all

[00:49:19] i know it's my destiny you teach me and i'll teach you pokemon that wasn't the whole thing i i cut it up for you

[00:49:35] my favorite parts it was the remix it was the remix you're welcome well the pokemon cards given away in movie theaters for the

[00:49:48] us of a release of the film were electabuzz pikachu mewtwo and dragon knight the home video release included

[00:49:57] mewtwo trading cards as well a narrator and mewtwo's voice were added in the american versions first segment

[00:50:04] to help better explain the movie to people who may not have had much knowledge of pokemon for example

[00:50:11] parents who took their children to see the movie that did not help like i don't recall anything that was

[00:50:17] helpful about understanding what pokemon are i don't know anything that was going on

[00:50:32] all right so if you have any feedback on today's episode or you are a diehard pokemon fan and we got a lot

[00:50:42] of shit wrong no problems no problemo hit us up at no more late fees on instagram facebook tiktok twitter

[00:50:49] youtube and threads and all right jackie what was your present day weight rating i'm gonna go two day

[00:50:57] rental i'd much rather just watch the series this didn't slap for me got it got it got it i'll say two

[00:51:06] as well because again it was it was an easy watch i didn't know what the fuck was going on but i didn't

[00:51:13] hate it either i just had a thought and so i need the assistance of our listeners no i would like

[00:51:23] to compose the entire pokemon theme song by people calling in and singing it and then we'll splice different

[00:51:30] people singing it together and create the whole thing and it'll be so amazing so if you'd like to

[00:51:37] join us in on that fun hit us up at 909-601-6653 you can also twitter set the twitters hem us at the

[00:51:47] threads you can text us at that number and hopefully you will be featured on a future episode singing the

[00:51:53] pokemon theme song you know what i'm not gonna yuck no one's yum danielle what movie are we watching

[00:52:01] next week oh well it's it's out cold jackie that's what it is jackie has finally done it everybody we are

[00:52:08] doing out cold next week so make sure you don't miss it in the mountain mountain mountain mountain

[00:52:17] and as always be kind and rewind