On Second Thought - Pokemon The Movie 2000: The Power Of One

By Derek Fro

On today's "On Second Thought" I'll be looking at the sequel to yesterday's pick, Pokemon The Movie 2000: The Power Of One, obviously released in 2000. Yes, if you haven't figured out by now, I'm going to be looking at all of these movies in order. (Well, the first eight anyways). Now, I will mention that I absolutely love this movie, and I had been waiting to see it again for years and years, so I'll try not to look through nostalgia goggles when I review it.

The movie begins with our antagonist, Lawrence III reading out the ancient Shamouti Prophecy. This legend details how the three titans of Fire, Ice, and Lightning must be kept in perfect harmony, or else the beast of the sea will be awakened, and the world will turn to Ash. (Note that in the original Japanese script, they don't say Ash, just an "exceptional trainer". Thanks for removing all subtlety, 4Kids). Anyways, a computer tells Lawrence the true identities of the titans mentioned in the Shamouti Prophecy, being the three legendary birds- Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Lawrence walks over to the computer (Which is mounted in front of his chair) and sits down. The chair raises up on a pillar and into a domed ceiling featuring classical art, and travels through a cylindrical shaft before arriving at the top of a tower.

The shot then zooms out and reveals to us that Lawrence is in fact piloting a huge circular airship, known as the Hikōkyū (Literally "Flying Palace"), which looks pretty damn badass if I do say so myself. It shows us that the airship is nearing Fire Island, where Moltres resides, as Lawrence begins shooting ice bullets out of the lower cannons on the ship, freezing the land on the island and causing Moltres to emerge and fight him. He weakens the legendary Pokemon by shooting it (I have to say, it's pretty awesome to see them taking risks by doing something violent in Pokemon) eventually, Moltres tires, and Lawrence releases some kind of electrified circles of metal- These shock Moltres and capture it in some sort of electrical cage, then return it to the airship. Lawrence comments on how easy it was to catch the first titan, and moves towards Lightning Island.

The film then takes us to Ash, Misty, and Tracey, who are enjoying themselves on a cruise to the Orange Islands in order to give Professor Oak the GS Ball (They don't outright state this, but I'm trusting Bulbapedia when they say that this was the reason Ash went to the islands in the first place(Note: He never actually gives Oak the GS Ball in the movie, nor is it ever mentioned or seen)). Ash decides to let his Pokemon out so they can enjoy the weather, and the others follow suit. We see that Team Rocket is following the trio as usual, this time in their Magikarp Submarine. Soon enough both groups get caught up in a tropical storm of some kind and wind up in the middle of the Orange Islands, on Shamouti Island.

We flash back to Pallet Town, as Professor Oak bikes down a road toward Ash's house, while Delia and Mr. Mime are doing some gardening. They begin to talk, but soon the weather begins to go out of whack, as it starts snowing in what I assume is either spring or summer, accompanied by an Aurora Borealis. Delia wonders why it's beginning to snow, as Oak's bike is carried off by a pack of migrating Diglett, and he tries to figure it out as well.

We now cut back to Shamouti Island, where Ash and crew meet with the local villagers, who are celebrating in some sort of festival in which they find the trainer who will fulfill the Shamouti Prophecy. They somehow come to the conclusion that this is Ash in like 5 seconds and invite him to some sort of theater so they can explain to him what he needs to do. This years new Festival Maiden, Melody, explains to Ash that he needs to travel to Fire, Ice, and Lightning Island and gather three elemental orbs, then return them to Shamouti Island, where Melody will play a special song and end the festival. Without thinking about it at all, Ash sets out to complete his duties right away, with the captain Maren and Pikachu following close behind.

Eventually, the three arrive on Fire Island, and Pikachu guides Ash to the location of the Fire Orb. We see that Tracey and Misty got a ride to the island with Melody on her boat, unexpectedly carrying Team Rocket as stowaways. The group catches up with Ash just in time to see that Zapdos has arrived on Fire Island. Pikachu and Zapdos somehow talk by shocking each other, and even more amazingly, Meowth is able to translate it. He mentions that Zapdos is saying that he wishes to claim the island as his own, since Moltres has disappeared. Soon after, we see the Hikōkyū descend from the clouds, and absorb Zapdos' electricity using lighting rods mounted on the bottom dome. This tires Zapdos out, and sure enough, electrical diamonds come out and capture Zapdos, mistakenly capturing both Melody's boat and all of the people on the island as well.

On board the airship, we see that Moltres and Zapdos are being held in their respective electric cages, and being put on display as if they were trophies. Ash and the crew are being held captive in a cage dangling above the ground. Lawrence then descends on his chair into the main room, and politely frees the captured trainers, while explaining to an upset Ash that he isn't a Pokemon trainer, rather, a self-suited "collector". He then returns to his command tower and lets the trainers roam freely on his ship.

This proves to be a mistake, as Ash and crew notice the tablet that contains the Shamouti Prophecy and read it. Ash, being the polite guy he is, lashes out (Rather than simply trying to tell Lawrence about what's going on), having noticed that the titans of fire, ice, and lighting are obviously the legendary birds, and that this is why the weather is going out of control. He commands his Pokemon to attack the cages, and the others follow suit. The Pokemon eventually destroy both the cages, releasing the two legendary birds onto the ship. Moltres and Zapdos immediately begin to battle with each other, and destroy most of the ship in the process. They escape to the outside, and Lawrence notices them flying away. The now destroyed ship crashes onto Lightning Island, as Ash and crew quickly flee the crumbling wreckage. Part of the propeller hits the Lightning Island shrine and sends the Lightning Orb flying toward Ash, who catches it and begins heading towards Shamouti Island.

Ash is able to easily reach the island, due to the sea being frozen as a result of Articuno's dominance of the region. Once on the island, he places the Orbs into their respective places and looks towards Ice Island, noticing that the three legendary birds are now dueling with each other above the ocean. Suddenly, a large waterspout shoots out of the sea, and washes away to reveal Lugia, the beast of the sea. We see that back on Lightning Island, Lawrence is somehow okay, and is viewing the battle through a telescope. He zooms in on Lugia and comments on how his prize will soon belong to him. The movie then promptly forgets that he exists for the next half hour.

Lugia heads towards Ash and using his psychic powers, tells him that he needs to immediately head toward Ice Island and get the last Orb to stop the fighting. He then returns to the fight and gets pretty destroyed, falling into the ocean. Ash sets out on a sled hauled by the odd combination of Squirtle and Charizard, but not for long as Team Rocket comes up behind him on a propeller driven life raft. They spout some nonsense about how they saw the good in things, and they want to help Ash get to Ice Island, so Ash gets on the boat and they head off. They don't even bother to stop once they reach the island, they simply drive it up the mountain and into the shrine. Ash quickly grabs the Orb and they depart back down the slopes.

However, they don't make it very far, as the violent battle of the legendary birds sends their raft flying, only for them to be caught by Lugia, who heads off in the direction of Shamouti Island. Team Rocket, now dangling on Lugia's leg, make the decision that they're too heavy and decide to let go, falling into the ocean and somehow living. Just before Ash and Lugia reach the island, Lawrence makes one final attempt to catch Lugia and shoots some more electrical cages at him. Lugia easily escapes the cages and uses Aeroblast to destroy what's left of Lawrence's ship. Ash and Lugia then return to the island, where he places the last Orb into the altar, and Melody plays the song. This causes the birds to return to their respective islands, Lugia to return to the sea, and the weather to clear up and return to normal. Everyone celebrates.

We see one final scene, of Lawrence on the shores of Lightning Island, walking among the wreckage of his airship. He picks up an Ancient Mew Card, and remarks that it was what started his collection, then vows to continue his collecting, but on a more modest scale.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. I don't really understand how many critics regard it as the worst of the series, sure, it has it's problems- but at least 4kids didn't mangle this one in the translation. Most of the problems I have stem from the hero-villain relationship, and the lack of character development overall. The movie seems to like forgetting about the villain- We see him in the beginning, then he goes missing for a half hour. The we see him capture Zapdos and crash the ship, and then another half hour without a villain. It just doesn't make sense. There was a lot of potential for an interesting villain there, but we don't get anything.

Then theres the Hero-Villain relationship. Lets see... There is none. Nobody ever speaks with Lawrence about anything, he just announces that he's a collector and leaves. The movie doesn't bother to give him even one lousy scene of dialogue with the heroes- you know, to establish why he's capturing the Pokemon, or why Ash thinks its wrong, or ANYTHING AT ALL. Lame.

That being said, I still find the flick pretty enjoyable. It's got awesome music, awesome design, and a fair amount of action. It's not really a story masterpiece- but then again, what Pokemon movie is? (Hey, it's leagues better than the all over the place plot of the first movie).

I give it an 8/10. I enjoy it.