#050 Pokemon, The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (With Marquis Woolford)

0:00 [Music] and you're listening to radio [Music] [Applause] [Music]

0:56 this is silk radio a Pokemon podcast episode 50 that's right we've made it to 50 episodes of self radio thank you to everybody listening all the fans the listeners everyone that's liked our Facebook and given us the iTunes ratings and helped us in this long for you I mean 13 I think yeah thank you so much I couldn't be happier yes that was Veronica Taylor Ash Ketchum I am her themself III I'm living a dream right now a childhood dream realized and come true I'm hosting a Pokemon show that people actually listen to and Ash

1:41 Ketchum just introduced it so thank you so much thank you Briana who actually met Veronica Taylor and thank you to all the co-hosts and guest hosts that have made this show so entertaining if I did it myself people would have stopped listening a long time ago Thank You Craig Phil Jeremy Antwone Briana Justin Steve Andrew and even John thank you so much and I'm looking forward to another 50 episodes here with me to discuss Pokemon the first movie Mewtwo strikes back is what the [ __ ] else are we gonna talk about for our 50th episode special is none of the people I just listened we have a 2020 time published author

2:28 Marcus Wolford for the first time on self radio thank you thank you it is definitely an honor to be here for the 50th episode to discuss something that I'm very passionate and once again shoutouts in having a sketch on him heard themselves the voice I just that alone lets me know that were part of something amazing and it's all about Pokemon especially the first movie it's one of the most important things that I experienced I was it was critical for my my life at the time considering how much Pokemon meant to me when it first came out the series will get more into that later I just want to say again that Nathan thank you for allowing me talk about something that you know how

3:14 much I love and let's get into it thank you yeah it's great to have you here Marquis for the listeners you can hear more of him if you like this unfair enough podcast he's all over that our other series this is a secret room multimedia production no affiliation with Game Freak Nintendo the Pokemon company or any other Pokemon affiliated property this is a fan production and this is not for children we cannot stress that enough if you're a child and you're listening that's on you so Pokemon the first movie why waste time let's get into it let's get into it in Japanese it was Pocket Monsters the movie use counter-attack which of course was renamed here in America and most the

4:00 places in the world I believe Pokemon the first movie but then when you watch it the title screen says Mewtwo strikes back was released in Japan on July 18th 1998 and in America November 10th 1999 along with the short Pikachu's vacation which we already covered and I don't know episode 20 something I was a freshman in high school hi 99 that's the year I graduate from high school so that was November 19 I was my first year in college and okay cool is my first year in high school your first year in college well what's crazy is for me and shots awesome I'm an Rashad Rashad who's still a good friend of Mines was one of my first friends in college and our first

4:45 year in college at the University of Buffalo 99 was literally Pokemon and this was back when Pokemon wasn't it was popular but it was there was a lot of backlash from like the black church so in general Pokemon had this weird cultural phenomenon back in 99 but for me every shar wé I believe I spoke about this in another podcast and fair enough we were actual poem on we would have actual Pokemon battle I would Gleek and he would be he was shoot bottle top 17 we would do this in front of the cafeteria and clearly ha and you know all these girls are walked past us and we we would just be playing a poker we were then committed to like we watching the show we will sit there in our dorm room girls will come over like what are you watching like it's Pokemon

5:31 dude when I was in like eighth grade me and Justin another self radio host would walk out into the woods and they have these epic Pokemon adventures there's no shame in it after 19 like we literally I wasn't 19 I wasn't like eighth grade girls are walk passes we were like we had like full-on beards a mustache they'd be like they're like losers and you know it's a testament to how that was probably the last time Nathan that I was innocent because you know I stopped watching Pokemon and being invested when I started noticing girls and it's kind of sad because Pokemon was the last vestige of my childhood they might have a scent because ash would he created was this crazy commitment to these characters to these these these creatures that made you feel something I can't wait to talk

6:17 about the Bowie because I remember seeing it in theaters and I took my daughter who was four at a time and I cried we both did you know watching a movie did anybody come back to life spoiler alert anyway well I tell you it wasn't even just you know I want to talk about the score and I want to talk about you know we talked about the movie I want to talk about the build-up and everything that led to making me feel something and rewatching it you know it's funny because it's a little dated that's super interesting that it was when you got into girls that you got out of Pokemon for me it wasn't exactly getting into girls that made me fall out of Pokemon I just kind of fell out of Pokemon and what got me back into Pokemon though was after going through this horrible breakup that happened right after high

7:02 school I turned to my big brick gray Gameboy and my pokemon red version popped it in I specifically remember like the feeling of like revisiting that game for the first time as you know as an older teen but then I would tell you why I walked away from Pokemon and why I never got into the games why I he just did know more specifically it wasn't just the girls there was a pivotal turning point it was when Ash lost to Gary in the league in the league oh and I remember it felt like when the bills yeah for suppose like my me and my friend was chard you know which we can call him i right now we were so emotionally invested in watching Pokemon like we would push aside college parties to watch the new episodes we were seeing

7:47 the song and when we watched the episodes we can't wait the next week so when he lost I was done I was I was pissed off I was not happy Wow okay that made me turn away from Pokemon because I remember watching it like as if I was watching the Super Bowl or watching so at the end when he lost and then we was so bad he was sledding down the hill with Gary you know like frolicking and everything maybe next season I invested a whole year I had pokey battles when we would have our pokey battles there was this game called uh it was a I think it was Sega Genesis no that's ridiculous it was a Playstation maybe the chances before it was called a legacy of kain soul rebirth and then the game this vampire but going to the spectral world I remember the

8:38 game had that scarf so he would go to the spectral world that existed alongside our reality a spiritual world so in order for me rashard to comfortably have our pokey battles we would first had to enter the spirits we will go to the special room so we would wave our hands off this so we would be around people and I'll let you over shy guy talk to you to say go to a special world anyway they are they like we hear y'all may hear us we're doing it it would be so obnoxious and that's what I loved about that time when we were going to the special round we would have pokey battles and we would bump into people and I won't leak at him and he was shoot bottle tops ever you roll around or when you spit the spit from out of you don't

9:23 do that in the secret room yeah well goggle glee key you know and not the fan of the show Glee respect you around well yeah well yeah sure I probably should've went to special real first the point is we would have these very intense we would sweat sometimes these heavy battles would be a testament to our love for Pokemon because we were so you and I were speaking earlier about the idea of going through the world of Pokemon and we went we were there I had I bought golf balls which I painted in two different types of pokeballs great balls ultra balls pokeballs and carried them around this is in eighth grade carried them around with me I specifically remember them all spilling out in shop class one day and I wore my link cable around my neck like a

10:10 [ __ ] necklace for like Game Boy trading hey yeah it's it's oh it's a phenomenon day you know some almost 20 years later we're talking about in these various forms let's talk about the movie yeah I got a lot of notes that I took because the movie there's a lot there yet go back and watch Pokemon first movie Mewtwo strikes back because especially now Nathan with everything happening with an alien and Kapernick and all this idea patriotism the race cuz it even the movie starts with this whole idea of slavery mu-2 continuously speaks about how he's a slave and how he was created to be a slave and I'm watching it again recently like whoa and that's the whole premise of the movie

10:55 that he doesn't want to be a slave it is and if you if you dig a little deeper it gets even more intense because in Japan they actually released alongside the movie a radio drama so it's all in Japanese so listening to it's not going to be much good if you don't know Japanese the iPhone app Google Translate there you go you can find translations online too but it details the origins and creations of Mewtwo and then they also adapted that storyline into a 10 minute prequel all right prologue right the movie right called the origins of Mewtwo can't we so can we get into it so yeah yeah absolutely let's talk about first this sad little girl amber yeah you watch the origins of Mewtwo the whole movie starts with this just

11:41 this young girl who she says something where she said the stars are the lights that twinkle all night just so we won't feel alone in the dark basically it's mr. Fuji the scientists that you see creating Mewtwo in the movie his daughter was amber rice and she died but she was like 4 years old right but do you hear what she says because when I wash there recently she said the stars are the lights when she's explaining to a young beauty - yeah whatever star what happens is he's he's trying to clone make a cloning right the whole premise is that his virtual world where he's incubating these clones and is the psychology of these these these entities that have a natural spirit a soul so the whole reason he's involved is because he wants to make a clone of

12:27 his daughter who died and then Giovanni the leader of Team Rocket of course is funding it he says yeah so he's he's funding it on the grounds that sure I'll fund your cloning research if you make me a clone of MU you just want a man as so he starts making this Mewtwo clone and Mewtwo and amber two are communicating telepathically where their bodies are still asleep in there Vegeta tubes as I like to call them you know the tank like Luke Skywalker's in Empire Strikes Back your traditional science fiction you know incubation tube that juice that you can apparently you know float in and breathe through and be alright and it does make your release

13:17 alien it's really good for your pork see what the nerve hurt on Tatooine so what did she say it's it's so poetic and it hits you hard especially if you watch the movie with the origin of Mewtwo first because immediately if you're watching this movie this young girl says that the stars are lights that twinkle all night just so we won't feel it alone in the dark and it's so poetic did it hit you hard and I remember now why this movie initially starts to pull it to heart screens with the score and with these characters that are more sympathetic but if you go back to the to the show at least there were times like when Ash had to protect our Mandir his flame we couldn't go out or he would die yeah that's no snow episode it wasn't

14:04 rain let us know we didn't go back the rain they found Charmander in the rain and his fire was giving a leaf and yeah exactly that's a soul being like like blown away at the level of you know emotion that was even in the show and even give that out of the cartoon you know normally so that's one of the reasons why even I was older I came back to Pokemon this dis character ash really cared about these characters and so the movie expands that level of motion even more with this sympathetic four-year-old that apparently is in blank ash definitely cares yes that's definitely a trade of ash is that he cares he cares a little to a fault sometimes we have a lot more ash castle rooms in the world and a lot less team rocket's and so continuing with the poetry of the that initial

14:51 prologue if you will when the little girl fades away when amber fades away beyou - he says she's her body's not strong enough right he's a human but because he's a really powerful Pokemon he's able he's there's also a Charmander - a Bulbasaur - and a squirtle - yep they all sad they all floated away and you know it's this isn't like happy-go-lucky gotta catch them all this was like you got a four year old and little ghost Pokemon dying and so when she died again carrying with the sense of emotion and sentiment new to says these tears with good are they when he cries in response to amber dying and that as his character begins to arc she gave him an introduction to the world and his introduction was complete from birth to death

15:37 so when amber dies it begins his transformation into this this wrecking force because it's the last moment of vulnerability that he'll allow for and it's ironic if you consider it's a foreshadowing to the end of the movie that he mentions tears but it was one of those lies that was like he was a cute little you know character but when he said these tears what are they good for for those of us who have lost people that you know we cry for there's that anger and so when he said that it was like that's what he first became a badass he was just like these tears was war and it's also cuz he doesn't understand anything that's going on [ __ ] me Sears that's what it begins that's yeah that was his initial trauma

16:23 and in the Japanese version like in the English version he wants to destroy all of humanity and in the Japanese version that's not there he never talks about destroying all humanity he is sort of being a dick but he never talks about destroying humanity he's just pissed at humanity and he he's super powerful and not gonna take it anymore and he wants the tested strength test his clone strength so he gets all the strongest but couldn't train serve is the initial kind of like you know if you watch Gardens of the galaxy - when you see group become you know a Petula's team it's like that sense of like I wanna destroy the world initially it's kind of like you know just extending the methyls this was a spark of something that even as you watch the movie he walks away from but

17:10 you can see that initial sense it the go back said like I'm a slave is that in the manga do they kind of talk about how he was created initially served they did actually make a manga the guy who did the electric tail of Pikachu Toshihiro onna which we've talked about several times on this show he did a [ __ ] manga based on em you to strike back and I had to dig deep to find it online but it is so cool because his art style is just so much cooler I'll highlight some of the differences as we go through the plot of the movie as the movie begins we see dr. Fuji exploring South America right or that's in the prologue he's exploring South America looking from you write the manga he actually befriends mu and then sort of betrays mu he's in the

17:56 lab though and I guess if you watch the origin mu - it's when amber dies is that what sparks him to start waking up - right right and that's when Mewtwo wakes up and just sort of starts destroying the lab all around him and dr. Fugees like we dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokemon and we succeeded and that he dies yeah it was very classic you know high drama anime Japanese you know entertainment but one thing that really struck me is that one point Mewtwo somewhere between when amber dies and he's you know transforming from a smaller Mew to the mutant form and his final transformation was like Mewtwo but younger more right Shirley would you

18:42 know for altas purposes we that's a evolves and that sequence from when Amber dies to when he has his conversation with me I just realized that but somewhere along the lines he says Who am I and what was really profound about that statement I recently was watching the amazing spider-man 2 and at the end of the movie there was a line that the teacher says that struck me to the core especially as a writer it's 20 time published alter to be the teacher says that there are only nine authorities in all of literature and then she says no in actuality there's only one story in all of literature and

19:27 that is Who am I mmm so profound I like it and it resonates when that is the crux of this journey that moved to embark upon because he effectively has a powerful God and he was created in the same way that Lucifer was to serve and he didn't like it that's what happens next as Giovanni sort of flies by in his black bird or whatever and he lands approaches mewtwo like amidst all this flame don't be for gays II what are you doing he's like the slime what's wrong with you huh Jesus could you give a creepier you know get these little kids running around with like half shirts and [ __ ] you know Jesse Cena business and uh

20:16 I don't know preparation for my color booking I've been looking at a lot of weird stuff on the internet you gonna forgive me but yes uh basically he's like hey em you - why don't you come be partners with me Mewtwo refuses but he's like look I can help you focus your powers mm-hmm Mewtwo's like show me so he makes this metal armor which back in the day images of this leaked onto the internet before we knew anything about the movie and that was Mew 3 as far as we knew when images of Mewtwo in the armor popped up we're like proof that Mew 3 exists he's in the anime in Japan so soon we find out it's just Mewtwo with Giovanni's how badass he was and before we go any further one thing I think that's really notable write as mu 2 is

21:02 emerging from the back to taint shot of Star Wars he looked at his hand and there's just revulsion because the humans are high-fiving his [ __ ] and so he looks at their hands and then he looks at his hand there's a moment where the camera pans it's a close huh and he just really looks at his hand and he's just like ill and he's got these three bulbous fingers and for me being the student of literature and a nerd than I am it it drew me back to John Milton's Paradise Lost now as an English major Paradise Lost is one of the greatest works of literature that I ever read because for those that don't know it's the retelling the extrapolation of Genesis is story from the Bible availment Eve and irony of Paradise Lost is that John bill and actually introduced the character of

21:50 Satan to the to existence because in the Old Testament he's the surface the serpent yeah so people take for granted their Satan as a character at this point yet nobody said that that serpent was Satan in the Bible that's just like yeah he created a narrative and you know and as a writer that really speaks to me that he added to the lesser condom you know biblical or so anyways in paradise laws there's a moment where Eve when she's first created she looks at a reflection and she is immediately drawn to that and in this speaks to the sense of narcissism and impossible lesbianism and so many things that you can look at but the pond then looking at Adam she didn't like what she saw she saw a hierarchy and herself as a casts off and so there's there was something that was

22:37 so profound about Mewtwo's recognition of his form and him trying to reconcile what he was in relation to man and it just reminded me of something that was as profound as the creation and it is it became biblical you know as a mixture of was a chiasma if you will a crossing pattern in poetic terms of Eve and Lucifer and Jesus and Thor Gilgamesh is this epic because who's the hero in pokémon Mewtwo strikes back is it ash or is it Mewtwo well I guess we'll talk about that at the end without spoiling the ending as if people haven't already seen the movie so Giovanni puts the armor on Mewtwo but that doesn't actually make him stronger it's actually they're suppressing his powers

23:24 Mewtwo you see this montage of Mewtwo just mowing through he was like older that was what the Giovanni he was definitely like a loser for a bear hunter character sure was like yeah you know we talked about it and wow that's a great comparison thank you I used magneto as a comparison in a previous episode but Lex Luthor's a better comparison for the way I view Giovanni it just definitely you know he came off as this they you know we joked about her earlier you know you like you said to montage he just empower Moo and we knew bleh oh man don't don't get too comfortable Mewtwo I remember as I was watching it again I don't remember the first time on a one channel so it was probably the same I remember at some point I was like oh hell naw Mewtwo they trying to enslave you yeah we get it I mean right as I said into my mine he's sailing you trying to

24:10 enslave me I was like okay thank you giovanni says he was created to serve humans and he's just like [ __ ] that [ __ ] you said we're gonna be partners and burns the place to the ground like he realizes the armors dampening his powers like what's the word restricting I don't know I can't think of the word you know their abilities and it's such the thing is I think anybody recognizes on some level that there's a weight to this story of this character and in the gravitas of how his his lines are delivered you know the power of his voice you know we're going from a show and in you know a 8-bit video game you know in the show is all I'm gonna save you shots out to a special Veronica teller but when you hear Mewtwo speak

24:58 I'm here to find out why I'm here like Hugo Weaving he's he's intense the whole beginning isn't it let's you know late with any good animated movie go back to transformers or GI Joes it's in that same vein that this is for real we're seeing deaths I love the way that's all handled in the manga to that whole scene with Mewtwo confronting him he's like look I know this is suppressing my power so you guys can just use me take it off and he's like no I'm not gonna take it off so Mewtwo's like okay fine I just want to know is what I'm doing right and Giovanni's like what destruction and fighting and plundering everyone does it in history there is no right or wrong just winners and losers so Mewtwo goes back to his quarters or whatever you know and Giovanni calls dr. Fuji and he's like I want you to make me more

25:44 armor that suppresses his thoughts cuz he's thinking too much which I love that like addition to the story like it adds a whole nother layer of how [ __ ] up that is and at that point dr. Fuji is like I can't do this anymore and he goes and takes the armor off Mewtwo and is like burn the lab to the ground and Meucci psych I can't you created me and he's like do it they're gonna [ __ ] make more you they're gonna make suppress your thoughts burn the [ __ ] lab to the ground so they can't and get the [ __ ] out of here so he burns the lab to the ground by request of dr. Fuji and kills dr. Fuji and the whole the whole thing which I just thought was Toshihiro Ohno adds such another level I think what is basically a children's story in the anime you know and I think it's dope well that's the beauty of anime is that you know you go back to shows like Full Metal Alchemist and you look at the you

26:29 know the intensity the premise of all these shows I mean one thing that I don't know if today's audiences understand about an enemy in Japanese culture they're not allowed to show certain sexual and violent depictions in live media they can only do it in anime form and so as a culture they learn to sublet and to produce things in our very high drama violent sexual and powerful and on levels that if you don't understand now why these genres are so heartfelt and so amazing like maybe you never will but for those who do just to say that the point of this whole discussion is why pokemons a particular Mewtwo strikes back upon the first movie is such a critical important cultural

27:15 contribution you know we talked about before how at the time when Pokemon first debuted there was a lot of backlash you know for my experience the black church especially was very vehement about Pokemon being a devil and that was like that wasn't hand-in-hand with Pokemon I don't know you know younger people don't know that you couldn't say Pokemon and black culture and not you know that was the pre Illuminati like polka naughty and you know 90s culture if you were talking about Pokemon that was probably another reason why I kind of you know shied away from it because it was not okay it was it was up there with like homosexuality and crack addiction like you but no Pokemon that's a devil it's not the devil there was a Japanese kid who liked animals and plants he mush them together in her

28:01 pocket boss yeah what was i dolla tree - [ __ ] - she's everything as much as my Pokemon as much as going to Disneyland and my fruity pebbles is little characters everywhere what the [ __ ] you want me to do Christianity is ideology hate it cross swing it on my neck what am I supposed to be doing out here I worshipped it is already dude over here I like this little dude they got catchy song and cool characters with dope ass powers that that interaction with one another you got to have a balance of fire and water and icing come on man speaking of scientific we get to say that as we cut from the title card -

28:48 ash misty and Brock relaxing right right cooking and this doing come out of nowhere and challenges him to a battle - brownie at this point we if you if you like me were watching this series and you had enjoyed the first season lb8 ash losing but then the movie comes out you are Noah - is about it's implied you ash is like yeah you're too tired to battle he's like no I almost hired to do work I'm always down to battle he's work that's another thing you can't he's always down to battle come on ma'am is it a work he like let's get out here Team Rocket older hate him as use yeah and we get our first glimpse of donphan this is another elephant Pokemon 2nd gen

29:35 not out yet mm-hmm which was cool oh it was a lot of Pokemon dad you know I remember that was part of the excitement of Washington the first time net so watching this show you know there was always those Pokemon that were silhouetted or the Pokemon that you would hear about and you know again for today's listeners you gotta understand it this was the earliest earliest days that internet so there wasn't something that you could just google and find out just as easily as you can today yeah he had to go by word of mouth and you know for me I didn't own a reliable computer it wasn't something that I had access to and a lot of people didn't especially where I came from the information was word of mouth I know that stay even on the internet it was I'd stay after school at the school to use their computers and look Pokemon stuff up that was one of the things I was most excited about for this movie was seeing donphan on this screen because I knew it was gonna happen

30:22 it was orgy of seeing like amazing Pokemon and some of my favorites blast toys i if you would dedicate a whole series of last toys and I'd be okay with it oddly during this battle they play this really awful pop song cover some of the music now of the theme song yeah we got really yeah he threw out I don't know if I noticed like the R&B score of the Pokemon movie you go back to what may Pokemon Pokemon it was this Japanese cartoon with a really soulful intro it was one of the most soulful songs like a different theme song in Japan of course but like yeah these things right so introduced into American culture with the movie actual like a English theme

31:08 song of Pokemon is one of is one of the best TV theme songs it's great and it's so much more epic than the version they use in the movie which should have the more epic version they seemed weird and at the same time it seemed like it was pandering it's like oh it was the thing I if I watched Pokemon because it was a dope story like I I I thought Brock was Mexican I don't know if I you know he sees Anthony but I don't know I don't know if I'm as a black man the exception but I don't have to see black people and stuff to like it I understand it's like in America for example a black man only makes up roughly 5% of the population so if you took like a random smattering the people

31:54 like well I don't know three we're traveling the world Baddeley pocket Busters I'm into it because there's no black person there or they're not listen to our be music I'm still in so I don't understand I guess maybe the brothers it was I think reason why people at that point what pop music was pandering what is that would it's all pop music volume on oh I already got Roberta Flack so you know d'etre yeah if you look at the soundtrack though it's all Christina Aguilera 98 degrees in sync it's kind of creepy [ __ ] horrible I was growing and growing up I hated that like I was like I was happy to be seeing Pokemon on the big screen but I was also like what are you guys doing with my franchise cuz I was in it before the anime came out I loved the game and I was reading about it on the

32:42 internet and like I was like this I want to see you guys handle this better not make stupid jokes and like lack of funds and I'm a very horrible pop music that I'm some like entity that has to be pander to a man should be the black nerd it did they do something that's like blatantly cuz they're like listen you [ __ ] won't appreciate it unless we just like see it on a track you go to church like you're caught in the middle as a black nerd because it don't have to be race Oh these get racy like you go back to like transformers and GI Joe and characters

33:28 like the you know obligatory you know I'm a rapid robot like why the attorney tune so you came all the way oh here's a way to turn it to a boombox a rat what you thought or to go to transformers let's say transformers is the biggest offender remember GI Joe in they made in the movie GI Joe they gave robe light like one of the you know be story lines and he's wrapping to Cobra Commander your life can see but you can walk with me all right oh yeah that was like literally 28 minutes of the movie is Cobra you might be a snake but we be on the same right what are you doing it like it was is you're watching is a black person I

34:16 guess you realize to go back to Pokemon day there's this underlying level of insult yeah it's unnecessary like I enjoyed it without I mean but the song I don't know because in initially the anime it brought me in because it was you know don't get me but so this score was definitely something that made you raise an eyebrow line mmm-hmm that seems out of place but beyond that is so we got you know as thoroughly trouncing to do did me have a chest hair didn't have like was like a pirate it was weird he's like 42 like so come on Team Rocket of course is watching because they have nothing better to do

35:02 than this creepy like blow your mind that after all this time their motivation is still to get Pikachu like I don't know you forget that that's their obsession and it's like there are other Pikachu's yeah there are their failures but I think that's part of the charm of their character it seemed almost like they should up the ante which is we going further in a movie it does so something different of them so sympathetic are for them but it pissed me off at least more recently like um they need to be there sometimes they're just special e in the movies they're kind of just there to be there cuz they're characters they're like well we have to put them in even though they have nothing to do with the plot I don't like them as foils because I remember watching the anime they were sometimes my favorite part oh me too but when you had that powerful to me moment with ash

35:51 is gonna go save Pikachu for cloning their moment right there for me so they're watching and they there's also somebody else watching Ashe through like surveillance there's a lot of voyeurism one right he's a ten year old boy and whoever's in this like mysterious light house watching Ashe Center it's like a lighthouse castle with windmills and like he sends out a dragon air hmm with a little mailbag yeah do remember the cards you would get for going to see it at the theater you'd get either the dragon air or a Dragon Knight I'm sorry dragon knight with the mailbag a Pikachu as you say you two or electabuzz is it vaguely kind of registers but the Dragon Knight shows up with invitations basically inviting strong trainers to take part in this

36:37 tournament on new Island I love Charlie the Chocolate Factory yeah you know what I love the way that this is handled in the manga too in the manga ash is actually at the Pokemon League in the audience just watching a Pokemon League tournament going on Ash Misty and Brock are they're like spectating and after somebody wins the tournament in his crown champion this black vortex opens up in the sky Mewtwo comes down riding on the back of the Dragon Knight and Mewtwo's totally his face is wrapped in scarves you can't see that he's a Pokemon it just looks like a man and he challenges the champion to a battle pulls out his charizard blastoise and venusaur with the strange markings totally destroys him and then as he's flying away the dragon eye just empties a bag of invitations to the whole crowd ins like whoever thinks their boss enough come

37:24 challenge me on new Island and that's definitely a different story right but it's just it's the same story but you know it's one of those things where the book is always better so you and I are coming at it from two couldn't be more opposing viewpoints to arrive at a common ground that it's a badass series and it was a great movie so in the movie after he gets the invitation Denis lighting alright yeah Mewtwo there's trainers like storming this Harbor to like take the boat to new island and Mewtwo with his second a second of ability mr. telepathic and telekinetic telekinetic yeah yeah he's he's he's pretty much the Phoenix yeah you know the comment that's a great comparison and

38:11 telekinetic abilities and it's just that in addition to just you know being a [ __ ] badass and he stirs up a storm like storm he's a Darth Vader so he stirs up this storm so basically only the trainers who are so dedicated as to [ __ ] the boat and go through the storm with Pokemon really not only a badass moment but to see like the Gyarados and you know them just jumping on a different uh it was it Salil they you know they're like we're [ __ ] going to the island you know they're like no don't go and then like the wait ages two three Pokemon even more powerful ones as late well there's a no brainer water other than Ash Misty and Brock there's four other trainers that set out and three of them make it to the island the other one a girl on her fear oh never

38:57 seen again that's unfortunate cannot also when you're talking about you too you know churning the ocean can I just point out I don't know if it's intentional but it reminded me of spectra gadget we would have masks with just the right hand oh yeah he's kind of just waving his little freaky little you know middle fingers and or macking me and so many cultural references well I should do a drinking game also the movie you the whole intro with Mewtwo and Giovanni and the laboratory wasn't originally gonna be in the movie it's because of the porygon incident you know about the porygon incident right the seizures no it was also part of why it was oh man yeah why was a problem so because it gave people seizures so my one kid had a seizure a

39:46 lot of a lot of people I just went to Pokemon it was the animation technique they did and I had to see it it's me will see more like an urban legend laughs you know what happens no it happens I know listen I know it happened but I feel like ass is like Darwinism if your seizure of upon you by maybe you don't deserve a Japan that you couldn't if you were gonna blink it was it was blinking red and blue lights and now there's a law that you have to blink them at a certain slope which is great like I guess it's a weeding out in the sense but then I'm the same person they get sick from our PlayStation VR and I hate myself for it well that's the thing is there were children that were just watching TV that didn't right they're about to have seizures right so I feel bad parents didn't know they had to tell their kids to be careful or having some

40:34 regardless it's the 90 year old medial defensive about Pokemon that's not good to say yeah give me a [ __ ] seizure to here in America I remember you know I can't be sympathetic not that I don't believe it happened although I certainly did I thought it was overhyped um I just remember back in the day you made me remember that it was you'll get a seizure I know I became a buzzword for the devil and give you seizures and it was a lot and I remember thinking like have you watched an episode I used to sell my mother watch the episode with Charmander or or just watch just Pikachu be the devil come on it could have been any show it was a specific animation technique and because of that but it was one of the first the vanguard of the Japanese invasion of the

41:21 television think about it was in the 80s and then at that point it got huge mana babies oh no anime I mean we're anime stand track because of the oh you know the the seizure incident mm-hmm Pokemon was taken off the air for three months oh and that screwed with the timing because there were certain episodes of the anime that basically detailed Mewtwo his origin story that were supposed to air before the movie came out but that got Pokemon pushed back so the movie came out before those anime episodes aired so they added the scenes with Mewtwo's origins so originally you weren't supposed to see Mewtwo until ash does and that's why you only see his hand like doctor claw in that scene because originally they were trying to

42:07 hide his identity a little bit I did it it was a national Pokemon instead of a Mon sure I've got to say you're pokey knowledge is quite impressive it's thank you this is no it's it's you know it's remarkable I you know continuing on with the movie where are we babe get over to the they get on the boat they make the stupid Minnesota Vikings joke what the [ __ ] hey come on what I guess in my notes yeah Minnesota doesn't exist what do you want to give his fan service tomorrow when what are my keys Minnesota like 100 cuz be there for you close the defendant ash might be right down the street like he's aware he can say Buffalo it was it was a cheap pop

42:55 but I to me that was like hearing a Minnesota Vikings joke in a Star Wars movie I'm like come on Minnesota doesn't exist in this universe it definitely broke the fourth wall and I think that for no other reason it was to remind you that this was a movie it was something to pull you out that this was not a regular episode you know it's like when a spoiler alert Optimus Prime it was a joke for the parents taking their kids did 20 year-old college dorks that was in there like uh you know after a ball rip so you know it's definitely something that made you snap a way to say oh it's true out here like okay all right ash you testing out your hat 15

43:44 ash come on you you you you trial today let's go I'm invested because that just made him seem cockier because it was like fired it pulled you out of Pokemon that old it's a movie anything you happened there switching it up there debuting new Pokemon they mentioned in the real world they given us this dope you know that let's let's lock in yeah so let's get into the battle ash and friends get there Jessie and James who were of course the Vikings disguised as a Vikings get there was also awakened and who was that I feel like he was just chillin at the bottom of she they well

44:31 you know do all Pokemon have gender or thumb it seems a little arbitrary at least only certain Pokemon but uh some don't all right but anyway no sort of follows team rocket well Jessie and James but why or where like this ancient creature just all right it was a confluence of circumstances I don't guess maybe the psychic activity of Mewtwo starting although there may be such massive psychic activity all right that it welcome you up but it's like all right fair enough it follows Jessie and James as they like sneak in through the storm drains kinda and then and they didn't see it at all no they didn't and ash and friends are met by oh we didn't mention that Nurse Joy right is missing the nurse from the town where the vomit was dead Brock is a

45:17 flaming pervert witch - no it's okay we've mentioned it plenty of times but I just want to note that that is an homage to a trope in anime we have these pervy characters and if you're on the fence of the Pokemon is a legit anime there certain tropes and to me that character is that skeevy respectful that master roshi a woman would be lucky to have her Brock in her life like if you're a noise joy out in the world or officer Jimmy give Baraka chance like Brock would do you well into another nurse joy or officer Jimmy came along he'd be loyal I think once he had an opportunity to

46:03 listen so what led us down this path was nurse Joy's Missy we gotta find good and they're met by Mewtwo's subservience its Nurse Joy in an address and what and a hat and Mewtwo's psych him psychically controlling her they find out later what about the weird a Transylvanian chick what was that all about yeah Miranda the the girl with the blue hair is a prophecy this movie didn't need a [ __ ] prophecy the next one's got a prophecy in it this movie I didn't need a [ __ ] problem she went Giovanni or wish she was hanging out passing old bras she was just there we'll talk about her a little bit more at the end so she

46:48 is a character that has like No we'll talk about her in a minute name she does not do weird she confessed without refer to her eyes so ash misty and Brock are met by this Nurse Joy character at the the foot of the stairs and they're led up into me to his lair this beautiful castle as I said with windmills it's it's on top of an island which is like raised out of the water and when they first saw their Allah you Nurse Joy she's like no I'm not oh oh okay all right we didn't realize right that was a better disguise than any of Team Rocket's disguises I was kind of [ __ ] it is her so they bring them up to this huge they open this like big HR Giger doorway into this big room where there's

47:34 three other trainers whose names are Misha Fergus and Cory it's in the credits another Dickie dude there's always gotta be one hey the guy the wife-beater yeah I don't know I don't know what the appropriate turf is about this all like forget about it right I guess Italian this Italian would be the appropriate term hashtag racist stereotype if I was gonna be PC about it either way he to see my douchey right off the rim right uh so she brings them there and she's like go ahead and get yourself acquainted have some food there's food on the table my Master's intentions will be clear soon or something it won't be long until and at no point does ash in cold feet like this is weird I just felt

48:20 like everything was really creepy but you know anna has such a hard-on for better landing the ambience and the the environment of it yeah they definitely did get that creepy feel the lighting and it's really quite as a two-year-old you know cautious if you just go to like castles issue caution is thrown to the wind and also the guy this dude thinks his Pidgeotto as a pigeon because he I'm sorry he thinks his pitch it's a pidgeotto it was a bougie uh he says Pidgeotto but it's a pigeon Pidgeot whatever right well three different point one and then later Team Rocket calls a Scyther and Alakazam

49:07 so just me I was like oh [ __ ] I thought I was wrong I was like all right it's a lot of point you want to remember and I don't know him all's but I play pong keep on going I was like huh it was four but you know what's funny I'm glad you said that cuz I just brought it off as like it was still wet it sounds like maybe yeah spoons so it was awesome to see so many badass Pokemon gathered together in the Great Hall I wouldn't have mine that they just start naming them all they named a few but I won't let go let's get them all you know cuz I love name and omen hearing their names cuz I'm Michigan well it was let's see Cory who is the guy he has a pigeon that he calls Pidgeotto a Scyther a venusaur

49:53 whose name was brute hey don't listen my pokemons go I've changed the names to all my flow yeah you know a lot of name your publicist don't don't question that's like question what's my name a kid is there and that's a woman name of America Ferrera out there this imagine do they call her Erica America USA Leigh how did that work so come on yeah I mean ask for like [ __ ] for not having names so there's our pigeon Scyther Hitmonlee Venus or Rhyhorn and sandslash that was Cory's crew the dude and the wife beater whoo that's got to be Fergus there's no way that's Cory that's Fergus come on over yeah he had a Vaporeon Tentacruel Gyarados Golduck

50:39 middle Queen and seeking gives me the creeps up and they're like chilling in the fountain like really cool ambiance I guess yeah it was like [ __ ] bad-ass uh then the woman who I guess Nisha had a Wigglytuff rapidash nine tails I love nine tails rabadash dugong and vileplume nobody's just like a badass my little pony dude wanted to build My Little Ponies rabadash is on my Pig you know why suddenly the lights go out a Biba blue light shoots down the center of this big massive spiral staircase enter mu2 because joy explains he's the most powerful pokémon on earth is like [ __ ] you and just sends

51:26 him oh no he goes quiet human from now on I am the one who makes the rules and Nurse Joy says it in unison with him and then mutants like I got I don't have a need for you anymore and he's just like spell over and she's like like Falls and Brock catches her I think and he mentions he's like I've erased your memory of the last few weeks right which raises an eyebrow why was that necessary why'd you after is my memory listen I I was just born don't judge me listen I'd love to figure this world out working through [ __ ] alright alright listen we're not regarded talking about we're not going to talk about what happened last Thursday now I understand where that

52:13 goes god damn it god damn it erase that [ __ ] he's like Rick from wicked Morty when he erased Morty's memories take you for Grammys yeah - you need to stop erasing people's memories doesn't like certain things you know Mewtwo is a oh [ __ ] I don't want you to remember to have erased a [ __ ] so he's kind of creepy like right off the RIP he's using people's puppets so maybe that's why I asked just never remembers anything cuz Mewtwo's just erased his brain so many times that it's starting to degrade and he's starting to forget [ __ ] he's like 90 euro Professor Xavier you know 90 or Professor Xavier was doing some freaky [ __ ] so so Team Rocket finds their way to the laboratory right the Charizard and everything's being made and Jesse pulls

52:59 a Riker and leans on one of the computer consoles and sets it off it actually activates it grabs me out and pulls him through the gene sequencer or whatever to be cloned and they pull it out but not before it makes this this whole clone why does it team I don't Jessie and James know what's going on if Giovanni's the one who's there it's like why did I get us meat if they work from GM you know what cuz they're like the invader zim of Team Rocket Giovanni's like fine you guys try to get the [ __ ] - it'll keep them away from our important projects nobody tell them about Mewtwo is like is James like his like nephew he's like a hospital for street they were like both street kids

53:44 Jessie and James were both kind of like street kids that didn't that were running around so James is like a little boy though he was he came from a rich family and he ran away or something so he became a little bullet hole in javonni to him under his wing yeah they've served their purpose those like all right whatever Jesse's his drag mother and yeah and she introduced him to Giovanni I don't know I understand their obsession with Petri when there's other Pikachu's like I mean the only reason why Ash's Pikachu is so adult was because of his convention was have you ever watched invaders him they're like invaders I know oh well Zim is he belongs to an alien race of conquerors they go out in conquer worlds and he he's so full up his up his own ass ass thinking he's the [ __ ] and the leaders are like you

54:29 he keeps [ __ ] [ __ ] up like destroying their bases on accident and stuff and doesn't get the ease a nuisance and the leaders are like fine yes you're right we do totally have this really important mission for you it's on this shitty planet Earth yeah it's really important so you don't [ __ ] it up so they send him to earth just to get rid of him they don't give a [ __ ] about Earth and he's there thinking it's so important that he conquers earth see and I think that's team rocket's like we got to catch this Pikachu and Giovanni's like sure whatever I'll keep you away when I was too old for cartoons you know I'm 36 for those listening if you want to do the math and certainly the reference I mean Team Rocket you know they're in this situation where they're seeing

55:17 these clones you know it was weird it was creepy and then what came next day uh Mewtwo pretty much explains everything like I'm gonna destroy humanity at least in the English version weird to me was alright I'm gonna kill the humans ashes like what are you gonna do what our Pokemon he's like alright I'm gonna kill him but then didn't he kind of switch his plan where he was gonna keep them alive like what was his alter the wild Pokemon he was gonna let survive no no no one who were there late member when he captured them in the balls and then Oh to make clones them right but then let's say that Team Rocket wasn't wait no did he make clones of them he did and then he let them go right well but what was he gonna do Team Rocket wasn't big there's so much okay he's busted up the machine they so what

56:03 happens is they try to attack him which is just pointless oh you shooting about 45 people kept running at the telekinetic like how many times you got ashes that you know man that's - goes ash goes [ __ ] this I want to challenge you to a real Pokemon battle you say you're the most powerful pokémon master [ __ ] battle me to a real Pokemon battle because she was like okay and then he doesn't [ __ ] battle him in a real Pokemon battle a real Pokemon battle will be Mewtwo with his Pokemon against ash with his Pokemon instead he's like alright I'll have my charm at Charizard fight her Charizard and then my venusaur fight his Venusaur and then my Blastoise fight his Blastoise no that doesn't live a real Pokemon battle that's not what ash [ __ ] challenged you - they say this first of all if you remember knew -

56:49 makes the [ __ ] rules that's not real because obviously there's their frustration but it's a movie and we switching it up because first of all if you'll be mad at that I gotta let you know that one of my biggest [ __ ] pet peeves and all of science fiction is [ __ ] clones I have never seen the clone storyline that I love and I mean I don't know this because clones are playing podcast FairPoint podcast the search for Klaus FairPoint podcast anyway yeah yeah alright to that you know but here's the thing weather is spider-man in the Clone Saga cockroaches or whether it was attack of the clones in the Star Wars prequels or just the idea of how [ __ ] creepy

57:35 the idea of clones are when you introduce the notion of clone pokemons with their scarring I don't mind doing this but now there has to be some way to determine that these clones are somehow superior right which to me was weird later on when he shuts down they're extra abilities been bid how are they gonna be superior cuz they're just more badass there's a lot of inconsistencies in yeah I know climatic battle but I'm gonna say that the reason why the mirror battling was necessary because if you've watched battle at the battle done traditionally in the movie just like when Duke was injured by serpent or and GI Joe the animated movie where you're seeing the animated movie in the tradition of animated movies they're changing it up

58:21 they're breaking a formula they're doing things that you didn't think would happen in the series I thought charizard blastoise a fetus or was the most badass pokemons I could imagine but there are even badder versions the clones because that's what Mewtwo is he's a clone it's trying to just like he's more badass and it's a testament to the fact that are you because there's nothing more badass than love well yeah so they these tears what are they good for to film you to to feel humanity is the greatest gift of them all I don't know he'd be with all day yeah moo moo shows up well Mews been there the whole time but basically here Lee floating around and again as he make big but

59:08 still invested emotionally in the in the Japanese version Mew is just like no real Pokemon are better mu2 is like not a clones are better music now real Pokemon and this one music strength doesn't come from this or whatever comes from your heart but we allow ourselves to believe that in the same world where amber is still alive that new represents the innocence of Mewtwo that like some sure the psychic echo is that innocence that perpetually lives with because I'm getting emotional right now thing the amber are we just gonna like just ignore that this little girl is dead Scott Daniel yeah and this is Owen this happens Mew shows up right after ash does is he comes out of the smoke LED cuz he runs off to save Pikachu when it

59:54 captures it as when our first it was pretty fun left behind him he's leading all the real poker hard rock late I think got a boner on us all day but not in the gay way just now there's anything but like in a man way like you know there's all that phallic imagery I was proud to be a man like as grew up in that moment like ash could have been a little boy out there run around chasing badges but in that moment he [ __ ] nut it up and then what's weird though is so they all start fighting right so um home and there's so much to talk about here so late battle like you got like it got wood pikachu versus dark Pikachu it was like the slap in eternity other Pikachu

1:00:39 refuses to fight right and then the dark Pikachu just keeps hitting it so Oldham we're watching them fight and [ __ ] there's some epic score play know some cheap ripoff of taking my picture by filter plays ok that was a weird mix because I just no I don't understand it was like brothers but they were beaten as [ __ ] I had to look up who that was - it was blessed Union of souls does that sound familiar to you it they were a one-hit wonder I was like why does that sound maybe exactly I was like why does that sound familiar to me so I had to look it up they sing that you forgot about this song they sing the song uh she likes me

1:01:25 for me not because I hang with Leonardo or that guy that played in Fargo I think his name was Steve that's like a song my dad played when I was in some like hole-in-the-wall bar way drunker than I should have been it was like 97 something like that it was a it was a big song or did that means I was using a fake ID and I should have been but it was it was oh it was a moment that was definitely charged no pun intended you know I've seen the Pokemon go at it and here for me was one of the biggest moments of [ __ ] you have all of the humans realizing that Pokemon fight

1:02:10 cookie box is not okay oh my god I was like wait does that mean that there's no more Pokemon oh my god earlier they do well do address that if you so let me hold on let's yeah they do which is Mb would have to do yeah so let's use X I'm gonna bring some actual quotes from the [ __ ] movie nurse Joyce says Pokemon aren't meant to fight not like this it's useless what can come out of it Brock is like why can't you to understand it's not right to force Pokemon to fight this way I was prepared for trouble but not for this now I can see how horrible fighting really is I promise never to fight again if you will these are actual lines of dialogue franchise built around competitive

1:03:00 fighting WWE the movie but let's really think about mate what they may have actually done in their brilliance because how does the movie end how does the whole see was right so the entire growth of the characters movie the movie takes an opportunity to [ __ ] on itself it's pretty much trolling itself the fans the trainer recited Pokemon and there's that moment I was like wait and my TAS over and join us because for me that was always one of the greatest things that I had to defend about Pokemon was when you know your older sister or an adult or anybody that

1:03:46 wasn't a fan may be like why do they make the animals fight why they can't fight themselves it's a sport well first of all a human don't have an Electra whip or a [ __ ] cent store what the [ __ ] you be why do you was a it's cuz it's fun is the real reason cuz it's a cool thing to watch and it's fun but like in ability they want to use the Pokemon that's how Pokemon grow so like it's their natural naturally a Pokemon once you seek out a trainer it helps them grow it's like watching a round you know cut its horns on another round yeah although sometimes but it's also a sport they're sentient creatures and raise a sport right but sometimes I it's a little condescending when you know at least if I was Pokemon and you

1:04:34 know trainers like what the [ __ ] what else he's all gonna do I got four tags you know what what is your real role other did it tell be was obvious what you thought will do alright so Marquis doesn't like coaches I mean our poll you are [ __ ] is that is that a part of me killing a traitor their trainer it's the union between the two of them like putting helps both of them grow you teach me and I teach you PO okay but we gotta catch'em on you their innate abilities to survive I feel like why like in a while Pokemon it is like know what I do know is fired electricity but that's the thing is it's your training

1:05:20 it's like martial arts you know what I had to just is one of the biggest things twenty years later it always bothered me I was like [ __ ] I guess you know suspicion of disbelief well I do wrestlers or UFC fighters have to train people can't just fight on their own well yeah but the is a former amateur wrestling manager my role was to be outside the ring to encourage my wrestler but you know it was for show because it was a part of the show there so I didn't have a real practical you know why do UFC fighters or boxers for you know is they're gonna go up against other people who are probably going to spend some time training okay wait I think I got it so you may have said this but it is usual narcissistically I was

1:06:06 listening to my own thoughts listen I'm aware but I'll go back and play this later once it's published and I'll be like oh yeah you did you say that so it's like a boxer so when you're in the midst of battle you're just like oh I forgot everything that knew how to instantly do because I'm about to [ __ ] myself and you hear somebody throwing laughs oh [ __ ] I forgot ahead I'll throw a left yeah yeah cuz again this dude is literally shooting fire to my face okay yeah all right well thank you making this whole

1:06:53 podcast answered the purpose other than like I don't know talking and like a Pikachu like well Pikachu's your stones but like a Charmander can't evolve if it doesn't go out and fight and battle and like Forge this union with a trainer so like it's it's part of their culture to that evolution means death for the previous form yeah that's life Jesus Christ we've expressed for this yeah how it goes massages as much listen all right no oh my god that was insane you sound like

1:07:39 women I guess I am kind of cold and Vulcan whoa okay all right I don't know we've no with that but I guess I'm a little too Vulcan for my own good [ __ ] Boyer's was it was more self-deprecating than that it was that I don't have social skills maybe pears cured about the better part no is there something that again resonates with the circle of life and and and and just I did that you know get real for a second I look at my young daughters and I see these amazing creatures these people that are going to grow into you know shitty humans and grownups and you know they're gonna be

1:08:25 like all these very honest of you well I mean I'm a shitty human growing up in but kids are adorable they're you know you look at you look at a Pikachu versus riot shoe or you know a Charmander versus a Charizard and you know even Mew versus Mewtwo there's an innocence that

…