Pokémon Origins

Pokémon Origins
256px Japanese Poster for Pokémon Origins, featuring the trainers, Red and Blue, and the Pokémon, Charizard.
ポケットモンスター THE ORIGIN (Poketto Monsutā Ji Orijin)
Genre	Action Adventure
Anime television film
Directed by	Itsuro Kawasaki (act I) Yukio Kuroda (act II) Hideya Takahashi (act III) Daiki Tomiyasu (act IV)
Music by	Shota Kageyama Hiroaki Hayama
Studio	OLM, Production I.G & Xebec; SDI Media (English dub)
Network	TXN (TV Tokyo), BS Japan, Kids Station
English network	Pokémon TV
Released	October 2, 2013 (2013-10-02)
Runtime	90 minutes

Pokémon Origins, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: The Origin (ポケットモンスター THE ORIGIN, Poketto Monsutā Ji Orijin), is a Japanese anime television film based on Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. Unlike the on-going television series, this special features the settings and characters from the original video games Pokémon Red and Blue, and is largely more faithful to the games' mechanics and designs. Like the on-going television series, it was not owned by Media Factory (brand company of Kadokawa Corporation). Animation is handled by Production I.G, Xebec, and OLM, Inc., and the film is split into four parts, each directed by a different director from these studios. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo on October 2, 2013, ten days before the release of the X and Y video games, and began streaming internationally on Nintendo's Pokémon TV service from November 15, 2013 to December 2, 2013.

Story

See also: Plot of Pokémon Red and Blue

Serving a more faithful adaptation of the Pokémon Red and Blue games, the story follows a young boy named Red who begins a journey with his Pokémon partner, Charmander, as he seeks to capture all the known Pokémon in the Kanto region, and gradually evolves both his Pokémon, and his way of thinking about them.

Cast

See also: List of Pokémon characters

Character	Japanese voice actor	English voice actor
Red	Junko Takeuchi	Bryce Papenbrook
Blue (Green)	Takuya Eguchi	Lucien Dodge
Professor Oak (Professor Okido)	Katsuji Mori	Kyle Hebert
Brock (Takeshi)	Tomokazu Sugita	Johnny Yong Bosch
Giovanni (Sakaki)	Rikiya Koyama	Jamieson Price
Lance (Wataru)	Tokuyoshi Kawashima	Kirk Thornton
Reina	Yui Ishikawa	Christine Marie Cabanos
Mr. Fuji	Minoru Inaba	Kirk Thornton
Red's Mother	Satsuki Yukino	Laura Post
Pokémon Center Nurses		Dorothy Elias-Fahn (Episode 1), Cristina Vee (Episode 2)
Team Rocket Members		Doug Erholtz (Green Hair), Spike Spencer (Blue Hair), Grant George (Fat)
Lass, Red's Nidoran♂, Cubone		Cristina Vee
Ghost Marowak		Laura Post
Brock's Onix		Keith Silverstein
Mew		Christine Marie Cabanos
Various characters		Wendee Lee, Erin Fitzgerald, Matt Mercer

Acts

Act	Title	Original airdate	English airdate
I	"Red" "Reddo" (レッド)	October 2, 2013	November 15, 2013
Two young trainers, Red and Blue, are called over by Professor Oak, who gives them a Pokédex, asking them to complete it with data from Pokémon all across the Kanto region. In exchange, he gives each of them a Pokémon partner, with Red choosing a Charmander and Blue choosing a Squirtle. After fighting several battles, catching wild Pokémon and acquiring data for his Pokédex along the way, Red soon comes up against Blue and is completely overpowered by his Squirtle. As Red feels dejected over his defeat, he meets a man who teaches him about the bond between trainers and Pokémon before directing him to a nearby town, Viridian City, where he can heal his Pokémon. Later arriving at Pewter City's Gym, he discovers the man he met before, the Gym Leader Brock, who offers to face him in a gym battle. After learning that his Fire-type Charmander is ineffective against Brock's Rock-type Geodude, Red manages to beat it with his Nidoran♂. However, Brock soon fights back with his Onix, who beats most of Red's Pokémon. Coming to understand the bond between trainers and Pokémon, Red manages to beat Onix with his Charmander, earning himself a Boulder Badge from Brock.
II	"Cubone" "Karakara" (カラカラ)	October 2, 2013	November 18, 2013
After facing many more battles and earning two more Gym Badges, Red arrives in Lavender Town, where he hears many rumors about ghosts roaming around a Pokémon Tower, a Pokémon cemetery. Before heading to the Tower, Red goes to a Pokémon House for abandoned Pokémon, where he meets a girl named Reina, along with a Cubone who became orphaned after his mother, a Marowak, was killed by the nefarious Team Rocket. He soon learns that the owner of the Pokémon House, Mr. Fuji, has gone by himself to the Pokémon Tower, which has been overrun by Team Rocket. Red decides to go to the Tower to search for him whilst Blue, overhearing his conversation, decides to go as well. They both soon encounter a ghost, which is soon revealed by a Silph Scope that Blue obtains from Team Rocket to be the ghost of Cubone's mother. Cubone, who had run out from the Pokémon House to come to the tower, reunites with his mother, allowing her to pass on, before helping Red drive out Team Rocket and rescue Mr. Fuji. As thanks, Mr. Fuji gives Red a Pokéflute and some mysterious stones before he resumes his journey.
III	"Giovanni" "Sakaki" (サカキ)	October 2, 2013	November 20, 2013
After Red has obtained two more badges and evolved his Pokémon into Charizard, he and Blue encounter the secretary of the president of the Silph Company, which had been taken over by Team Rocket, who are trying obtain the Master Ball, a Poké Ball capable of capturing any Pokémon. Red infiltrates the Silph Company, freeing all the imprisoned scientists and Pokémon, receiving a Lapras in gratitude. Red soon comes up against Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, who beats him with his Nidoqueen before escaping. Continuing his journey and earning more badges, Red arrives in Viridian City, where he discovers the final Gym Leader is none other than Giovanni himself. Giovanni first sends out a Rhyhorn, who effortlessly beats most of Red's Pokémon, but Red manages to pull off a double knockout with his Hitmonlee. Red then sends his Charizard against Giovanni's Rhydon, managing to defeat it. Respecting Red's strength, Giovanni disbands Team Rocket's operations and awards Red with the final Gym Badge needed to enter the Pokémon League.
IV	"Charizard" "Lizārdon" (リザードン)	October 2, 2013	November 22, 2013
Red finally arrives at the Pokémon League on the Indigo Plateau, where he battles against and defeats the Elite Four. However, he discovers that Blue has beat him to the title of Pokémon League Champion. In order to obtain the title for himself, Red challenges Blue to a battle. The match soon boils down to a showdown between Red's Charizard and Blue's Blastoise, with Charizard managing to win out. They are then visited by Professor Oak, who immortalizes Red and his Pokémon in the history of league champions. Afterwards, Red continues his journey and manages to catch all 149 known Pokémon. Upon returning home, however, Red learns that Blue was badly beaten by a mysterious Pokémon not listed amongst those Red encountered. Recalling a diary he encountered during his travels, Red deduces this to be an artificially made Pokémon named Mewtwo. After receiving advice from Oak about the stones Fuji had given him, Red goes to confront Mewtwo, finding him to be incredibly powerful. As both Red and Charizard become determined not to give up, the stones they received, revealed to be Mega Stones, begin to glow, resulting in a Mega Evolution that evolves Charizard into Mega Charizard X, allowing them to defeat and capture Mewtwo. Upon realizing there is still a Mew to be found, Red becomes determined to fully complete his Pokédex, unaware that Mew is right outside.

See also

• Pokémon
• Pokémon (anime)
• List of Pokémon episodes

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Pokémon Origins (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia