It’s garbage. The whole thing is just trash.

And yet! None of this matters. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but there’s a part near the end of the movie...you probably know what I’m talking about, right?

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The Pokémon become exhausted trying to fight one another:

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But Mew and Mewtwo don’t care. They’re still fighting at this point, still trying to take each other down. Meanwhile, all the Pokémon around them tear each other to pieces.

Ash, heartbroken at what he’s seeing, tries to put a stop to the madness. By which I mean that Ash, the eternal genius, decides to run into the attacks of two of the most powerful Pokémon ever:

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Ash then turns into stone. Pikachu, bless its tiny little rodent heart, tries to bring Ash back to life:

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He can’t.

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Touched by Ash’s courage, every single Pokémon in the room starts crying. And that’s when Pokémongets all DBZ on us: through the collected power of everyone’s tears, Ash somehow comes back to life. It’s like a Spirit Bomb, except it’s made out of tears instead of energy:

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I know, it’s silly deus ex machina. I don’t care. Seventeen years later, after I have become a grown-ass adult, Pokémon can still make me cry. It doesn’t help that the Pikachu, with all its cuteness and sassiness, reminds me of my real-life cat. Though I’m sure my cat wouldn’t shed a single tear if I died right in front of her. She’d probably just try to eat me instead, the heartless monster. It’s no wonder the fantasy of Pokémon is so potent!

I was ready to hate rewatching the first Pokémon movie. I was ready to detail every single flaw I could find, to rip it apart. Instead, the movie reminded me of everything sweet and absurd that I love about Pokémon, and why, after twenty years of games and movies, I keep coming back for more.

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You can watch the first Pokémon movie on YouTube here.