Pokémon Live!: Difference between revisions

At the mysterious Gym, some Trainers come to challenge the Gym Leader, but they are all defeated by his super-robot Pokémon, [[MechaMew2]], whose only technique is that it can copy the attacks of its challengers and use it against them. After the Trainers leave in defeat, the Gym Leader, revealing himself to be Giovanni, gloats about how MechaMew2, based on the powerful Mewtwo he once owned, will soon have a complete collection of attacks ("[[It Will All Be Mine]]"). Noticing that the only attacks it hasn't learned yet are {{m|Thunder Shock}} and {{m|Thunderbolt}}, he orders Jessie, James, and Meowth to go capture Pikachu.

In the forest, Team Rocket digs up one of their pit traps, intending for "the twerps" to fall into it. However, Ash and friends simply pass by it, singing "My Best Friends", without any problems. When Jessie and James come out of hiding to see what went wrong, they find that they left the supports in, and they make the mistake of pulling them out and falling into the trap themselves. Frustrated Meowth walks off to get a rope.

Meanwhile, Delia and Professor Oak approach the run-down old building where the Snorlax lecture is being held. As they're entering, Delia admits that she fears she's losing touch with her son as he's growing up; the Professor replies that she shouldn't worry so much, as things never stay the same for long ("[[Everything Changes]]"). Just as they finish singing, {{tc|Team Rocket Grunt|Rocket Grunts}} come out and surround them, and take them to Giovanni. It turns out the Snorlax lecture was actually a trap devised by Giovanni to lure Professor Oak into his clutches so he couldn't interfere with his plan. The boss also recognizes Delia as an old friend of his, who insists everything between them was in the past ("[[Everything Changes]] (Reprise 1)").

Back in the forest, Ash, Misty, and Brock get lost, because Brock accidentally threw the map away while talking to a female Trainer earlier. They then come upon a deaf Trainer, who agrees to share his map with them if "the guy with the weird hair" agrees to battle with him. Ash accepts the challenge, only to find that the deaf Trainer has Jigglypuff in his arsenal. Jigglypuff's song puts all but its Trainer to sleep, and it starts drawing on their faces as the deaf Trainer leaves them his map. After they leave, Misty wakes up and cleans Jigglypuff's drawings off Ash's face, while singing to herself about her feelings for him and fears of rejection ("[[Misty's Song]]"). Ash soon wakes up, wondering whose voice he just heard singing, to which Misty answers by saying he probably just heard a side effect of Jigglypuff's song. With the map in possession again, the trio continues their journey.

At Cerulean Blue Lagoon, Ash declares to Misty and Brock that he's going to use Pikachu in the battle against the Gym Leader. As they sing and dance to "[[Pikachu (I Choose You)]]", Team Rocket comes up behind them in their {{p|Magikarp}} submarine and, while they're not looking, snatches Pikachu. When he sees that Pikachu has vanished, Ash tells Misty and Brock to split up and search for it, convinced that Team Rocket has captured his friend. Misty, however, suggests that maybe Pikachu has instead left Ash on its own free will, given his apparent habit of ignoring his friends. With that, she leaves Ash to ponder her words ("[[The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)]]").

At Giovanni's Gym, Delia and Professor Oak are hanging in cages above his battle arena. After a failed attempt to break free, the Professor asks Delia why Giovanni recognized her. She explains that, when she was a teenager, she used to hang out with a gang of troublemakers (who later became Team Rocket, which conflicts with their back-story given on Japanese-only audio dramas) led by Giovanni; she eventually left them when she met Ash's father, and she has never told this to her son, because she fears he wouldn't understand. After this flashback, Giovanni enters to boast to them about his MechaMew2, during which he sings his dark reprise of "[[You & Me & Pokémon]]". Immediately following this, Jessie, James and Meowth show up with the captured Pikachu (while singing "[[Double Trouble]]"), and Giovanni orders to them to have it attack MechaMew2. Pikachu instead responds to Jessie and James's orders by shocking them, during which they flip a switch that causes Delia and the Professor’s cages to open and allow them to escape. Giovanni realizes he'll need Pikachu's Trainer for it to listen to, and tells Jessie and James to bring him the Trainer.

In the woods, Misty admits to Brock that she didn't really mean it when she said Pikachu probably chose to leave Ash; she only said it because she wanted him to realize he's alienating his friends by ignoring them. As she wonders why guys like Ash can't notice pretty girls like herself more often, Brock remarks that it's the opposite problem with him, where he notices girls too often, especially Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy ("[[Two Perfect Girls]]"). Misty instead ignores him and continues to pine for Ash. Elsewhere in the woods, Delia continues discussing her past with the Professor and how she can't bring herself to tell Ash about it, and Ash tries to face up to the fact that he may have to go on without Pikachu ("[[I've Got a Secret]]").

Eventually, the groups all come together, and Professor Oak tells Ash that Team Rocket's leader is holding Pikachu hostage. Delia then confesses to Ash about her past acquaintance with Giovanni, but to her surprise, Ash understands completely. Just then, Team Rocket shows up on scooters, demanding Ash to come with them. To their surprise, he agrees to do so, while Delia says to the others that she has realized that maybe change isn’t such a bad thing ("[[Everything Changes]] (Reprise 2)").

After Team Rocket brings Ash to him, Giovanni releases Pikachu and then introduces MechaMew2 to him. He then allows Ash to have the Diamond Badge for the duration of the fight, saying he'll retrieve it afterwards, because "[he] just can't win". Ash orders Pikachu to Thunder Shock, then Thunderbolt MechaMew2, but to his surprise, the mechanical beast suffers no damage, and Giovanni proclaims that he's won now that MechaMew2 has learned every single attack. He then orders MechaMew2 to attack the both of them, but suddenly the real Mewtwo appears and sends an attack of its own to its mechanical counterpart. Nothing seems to happen, but to Giovanni's surprise, MechaMew2 begins speaking and rebels against him, saying Mewtwo has taught it the value of love and goodness, and therefore can no longer let Giovanni's evil scheme to go forth. Grabbing Team Rocket's leader by the neck, it prepares to perform a {{m|Self-Destruct}}, despite Giovanni's attempts to offer a compromise, and promptly explodes. Afterward, Mewtwo explains to Ash that it used a collection of Ash's happy memories to turn MechaMew2 against its creator, and then leaves just as Misty, Brock, Delia, and the Professor arrive. Ash, finding the Diamond Badge still in his pocket, declares that he won the battle, and decides to give it to Misty as a belated birthday gift ("[[Finale]]").