Mewtwo Returns: Difference between revisions

title_ja_trans= Mewtwo! I Am Here|

broadcast_us=December 5, 2001 |

screenshot=Mewtwo Returns.png |

'''Mewtwo Returns''' (Japanese: '''ミュウツー！{{tt|我|われ}}ハココニ{{tt|在|あ}}リ''' ''Mewtwo! I Am Here'') is the first feature-length special of the [[Pokémon anime]]. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 30, 2000. It was then released on DVD in the US on December 5, 2001.

{{OBP|Mewtwo|original series}}, its heart having been softened by the selfless example of [[Ash Ketchum]] back in the eastern [[Kanto]] region, has now traveled to the western region of [[Johto]] in search of a place unreachable to the prying eyes and harsh judgments of humans for the sake of the band of cloned Pokémon, whose welfare Mewtwo is entirely concerned with. Mewtwo eventually finds the perfect hideaway: a huge mountain named [[Mount Quena]], surrounded by steep cliffs that are practically impossible to scale, but in its crater is a freshwater lake and a forest that is home to many {{t|Bug}} Pokémon. This is a perfect fit for Mewtwo's band, so they settle in the top of Mt. Quena and begin a new, safe life. Mewtwo, feeling that clones do not belong in the outside world because they were not born in it, watches over as their guardian. Mewtwo seems particularly close to the [[Pikachutwo|Pikachu]] and {{p|Meowth}} clones, spending most of its private time with them, possibly reflecting how important their templates were in its change of heart.

{{an|Giovanni}}, however, is determined to possess Mewtwo once again, and has been planning a militaristic assault upon wherever Mewtwo has settled to take the Pokémon back for himself. He at last locates Mewtwo in its new mountain retreat, so the Team Rocket Combat Unit heads toward Mt. Quena.

Ash and {{ashfr}}—on their Pokémon journey as always—are passing through an area around Mt. Quena called Purity Canyon, which is known as [[Johto]]'s greatest natural wonder. Unfortunately, they miss the only bus that goes through the area and an unpredicted typhoon forces them to stay at a lodge at the foot of the mountain with a woman who could not board the full bus. On the road, the bus is swept up high powerful winds, but is set down by Mewtwo's powers, much to the confusion of its riders. In Mewtwo's lair, Pikachutwo questions this action, which Mewtwo explains was to prevent rescuers from jeopardizing the clones' seclusion. Meowthtwo suggests it may also have been done out of compassion, of which Mewtwo says it has none for humans.  

Back at the lodge, Pokémon naturalist [[Luna Carson]] explains that the only ways through the valley are a canoe ride down the river or the monthly bus service. Later, Luna serves them fresh water from Purity River, and everyone but Ash is amazed by its taste. With no other option for transportation, the group leave that night, taking the canoes downstream. Along the way, they come across the Bug Pokémon {{p|Ledian}}, {{p|Kakuna}}, {{p|Weedle}}, {{p|Pinsir}}, and {{p|Beedrill}}, the last of which causes {{an|Misty}} to frantically paddle back upstream. Back at the lodge, {{an|Brock}} suggests they scale Mt. Quena, but Luna warns that is impassible despite featuring beautiful Clarity Lake in its crater. A knock on the door brings new lodge inhabitants: medical researcher [[Cullen Calix]] and a spunky girl from the Pokémon Institute, [[Domino]]. Cullen says he is studying the medicinal properties of Purity River water and wants to explore Mt. Quena, which Luna laments would bring tourists and destruction to the ecosystem.

Suddenly, {{TRT}} announces their presence with firecrackers and their {{motto}}. [[James]] grabs {{AP|Pikachu}} with an electricity-absorbing whip and escapes with [[Jessie]], and {{MTR}} in their rocket-powered balloon, but the turbulent winds cause them to lose control and push them toward Mt. Quena. The group equips climbing gear and chases after them, avoiding gusty winds and even a falling boulder. Team Rocket's balloon swings by and hooks their climbing rope, dragging the group into the air. Domino spots Mewtwo in Mt. Quena through her binoculars and transmits a video feed to none other than Giovanni. Upon seeing the approaching Combat Unit, Domino climbs up the rope past the others, lands in the balloon's basket, and reveals herself to be in league with Team Rocket as elite Agent 009, also known as The Black Tulip for her use of the flowers as weapons. Domino pops the balloon with one and sends everyone else plummeting onto the mountain while she returns via paraglider to Giovanni's large helicopter to report on Mewtwo's status.

Pikachu and Team Rocket end up separated from the others and quickly encounter the clones. Pikachu's clone attacks Pikachu for suddenly appearing, but Mewtwo forces it to stop. Agitated by the approaching humans, Pikachutwo rallies the other clones to fight back against the invading Combat Unit. Mewtwo stays behind with other clones and contemplates whether to stop the fighters from endangering themselves or letting them act freely. Ash and the other humans land unharmed, but separated from Pikachu by a lake. They use {{AP|Bulbasaur}} and {{AP|Chikorita}}'s {{m|Razor Leaf}} to make a canoe and oars out of a fallen tree, and with it they traverse the lake to reach the island at the center of Mt. Quena's crater. They enter a natural sanctuary in the island, where Cullen discovers that the water inside could have a profound impact on medicine. Luna fears that any future human presence could taint the purity of the water and destroy the habitat.

Outside, construction is well under way on the Team Rocket base. In a phone call, Giovanni tells Domino that Mewtwo's brain waves are resisting the machine's influence at a rate that would destroy its body before giving in. The industrial waste from the base attracts the ire of Mt. Quena's resident Bug Pokémon: hundreds of Ledian, {{p|Butterfree}}, and Beedrill, whose lake water is now polluted. When the welders inside the facility are taken out by Butterfree's {{m|Sleep Powder}}, a dropped blowtorch ignites the fuel cells below and causes enormous chain explosions, one of which destroys the cell bars and frees the human and Pokémon prisoners. Luna and Cullen head toward the spring to check its purity.

Night has fallen, and Team Rocket wake up from unconsciousness in a dry crater. Underground, Mewtwo explains to the other humans that it has moved the lake and spring inside Mt. Quena for greater protection. When Mewtwo decides to erase the memories of everyone involved, Meowth and the other Pokémon object, arguing that the past forms part of a living creature's identity and it is entitled to it. Misty and Brock add that forgetting the past does not change it and everyone deserves to know where they came from. Mewtwo changes its mind, stating that we should be able to look to the past just as much as the future, and the shame of others' wrongdoing is theirs alone. A group of Butterfree spread powder enhanced with Mewtwo's psychic abilities to erase the memories of the Team Rocket operatives as well as Luna and Cullen, whose well-meaning desire to research the spring may put it in jeopardy. Like the Team Rocket trio before them, Ash and his friends board a Pikachu balloon to leave Mt. Quena. Mewtwo earnestly thanks them for their help and departs with all the cloned Pokémon to live elsewhere as natural Pokémon in the wild.

Some time later, as Ash, Misty, and Brock walk through a city, Ash hears Mewtwo's voice, but is uncertain whether it was real or just a memory. The Narrator concludes the movie with the rumors of a Pokémon who traverses a faraway city at night.

* {{Ash}}, {{an|Misty}}, {{an|Brock}}, {{AP|Pikachu}}, [[Jessie]], [[James]], and {{MTR}} meet {{OBP|Mewtwo|original series}} again after the events of ''[[M01|Mewtwo Strikes Back]]'', and this time are allowed to remember the encounter (although it is never revealed whether or not they now remember their original meeting with it), while the memories of Giovanni, his soldiers, Luna, and Cullen are erased.

* Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu meet {{an|Giovanni}} for the first time. Ash does not battle him, though Misty and Brock assist the cloned Pokémon in fighting him off-screen while Ash takes Mewtwo to the spring.

* {{p|Mewtwo}} ({{OBP|Mewtwo|original series|original series}})

* {{p|Nidoqueen}} (clone)

* {{p|Rhyhorn}} (clone)

* {{p|Ninetales}} (clone)

{{cast|Johto|Misty's Togepi|disp=Togepi|Satomi Kōrogi|Togepi|Satomi Kōrogi|トゲピー|こおろぎさとみ}}

{{cast|Johto|James|Eric Stuart|Kojirō|Shin'ichirō Miki|コジロウ|三木眞一郎}}

{{cast|Johto|Mewtwo (original series)|disp=Mewtwo|Dan Green|Mewtwo|Masachika Ichimura|ミュウツー|市村正親}}

{{cast|Johto|Officer Jenny|Lee Quick|Junsar|Chinami Nishimura|ジュンサー|西村ちなみ}}

[[File:Baby Nidoqueen and Baby Rhyhorn.png|thumb|250px|right|Baby Nidoqueen and Rhyhorn]]

* This special premiered in Japan between the episodes ''[[EP178|The Grass Route]]'' and ''[[EP179|The Apple Corp!]]''

* Before being blasted off by the typhoon, Team Rocket said "How many times must our plans be destroyed, before they're allowed to be tried? The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind!" which is a reference to the Bob Dylan song "{{wp|Blowin' in the Wind}}".

* This was the first time that any part of the anime franchise, other than openings, used digital coloring.

* During the conversation between Ash's Pikachu, Pikachutwo, and Mewtwo (immediately following Pikachu's arrival on the island), James comments "This is like the sequel to a movie I missed." [[Breaking the fourth wall]], this comment is essentially true, since Mewtwo wiped James's memory of the events of ''[[M01|Mewtwo Strikes Back]]''.

* When Domino tosses out electric net-like lines, they electrocute both Rhyhorn and Nidoqueen clones. However, if clones keep the same type combinations as their originals, their {{t|Ground}} type should make them immune. This may be due to anime physics or the nets being made with advanced technology.

** This ending is later referenced in the credits of ''[[M16|Genesect and the Legend Awakened]]'', when another {{OBP|Mewtwo|Best Wishes series}} is last seen overlooking a city at night.

* When the clones are first shown on [[Mount Quena]], {{DL|Mewtwo (original series)|Blastoisetwo}}'s lower jaw is blue instead of beige.

* While riding on Blastoisetwo's back on their way to the battle, {{MTR}} and {{DL|Mewtwo (original series)|Meowthtwo}}'s feet are a darker brown than usual.

* {{an|Giovanni}} and [[Domino]] emerge from the helicopter side-by-side, but the next shot shows Domino farther back and the platform appears to have changed shape. When the camera angle changes again, she is back in her original position.

* The dub adds Mewtwo's beginning monologue of the first movie's events, whereas the original had the montage with no commentary. Something similar occurs in [[AG120]].

* Domino only calls [[Mount Quena]] a "remote area in Johto" in the dub.

* Mewtwo's opening lines are mostly different in the dub. After pondering its existence, Mewtwo originally explains who it and the Pokémon accompanying it are, and their origins. In the dub, Mewtwo says it feels it has no right to judge their habitat as beautiful because the clones are artificial. Similarly, the dub implies that the clones were victims of discrimination, while the Japanese version states that they chose to avoid the outside world.

* Domino originally threatens to kill Ash, Misty, Brock, Luna, and Cullen for seeing too much despite having no use for humans anyhow. This was toned down in the dub.

* Domino tells other Team Rocket members to "shoot blindly" at the Bug Pokémon, which is omitted in the dub.

* When Bug Pokémon swarm Giovanni, he orders to have them all killed in the original. This was likely changed in the dub to tone down the violence.

* In the original version, Mewtwo mentions the act of breaking through the trap devices had him surpass his limits, while in the dub, he mentioned he may have destroyed himself.

[[Category:Side-story episodes]]

[[fr:Le retour de Mewtwo]]