MS008: Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, originally released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation the Movie: Mew and the Wave Hero: Lucario (劇場版ポケットモンスターアドバンスジェネレーション ミュウと波導の勇者　ルカリオ Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Adobansu Jenerēshon Myū to Hadō no Yūsha Rukario, lit. "Mew and the Wave Guiding Hero: Lucario"), is the eighth Pokémon anime film (An Anime Spin-Off of Miyazaki's 2001 film Spirited Away) directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. It was released in theaters in Japan on July 16, 2005, followed by the Japanese DVD release on December 22, 2005. The English dub made its worldwide DVD debut in Australia on August 16, 2006 by Magna Pacific (a now-defunct home entertainment company which closed in 2012), with the US release following on September 19, 2006, by VIZ Media. The English dub of the movie premiered in the US for the first time at the 2006 Comic-Con in San Diego, California.[1] The movie aired in the United Kingdom in July 2007 on Cartoon Network and it continues to air on CITV. While the Australian DVD has only one disc with slideshows as the sole extras, the North American DVD set comes with the redubbed The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon special included on the 2nd disc as a bonus feature, as well as a 'Making Of' feature on the first disc along with sketches similar to the slideshows on the Australian DVD. However, the Australian DVD has a widescreen presentation while the American release does not. This is also the last film to have been dubbed in English by 4Kids Entertainment, with the original cast.
The background for Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew was based on visits by Yuyama to Bavaria, Germany. Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace were used as the basis of the film's setting.
"Hajimari no Uta", the ending theme for the Japanese version of the movie, is performed by Puffy AmiYumi. The ending theme for the English dub was "We Will Meet Again" performed by John Siegler and Eric Stuart.
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew was one of the four nominees for the American Anime Awards' "Best Anime Feature" award, but it lost to Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.
==Plot==
The movie opens with the foggy landscape of Rota, with Ho-Oh flying overhead. Then it goes to Lucario, who is jumping from rock to rock. Suddenly he stops. He surveys the landscape but sees only fog and rock. He then closes his eyes and calls upon the aura. He sees the aura of everything and sees the aura past the fog. In one direction, he sees a giant army of men and Pokémon dressed in red armor. He releases the aura and turns in the other direction. He closes his eyes and calls upon the aura once more. He sees the aura past the fog and sees another giant army in the opposite direction as the first one. These men and Pokémon were wearing green armor. They were both marching toward each other for a horrible battle.
Lucario releases the aura and looks toward the sky and sees Ho-Oh flying over a cliff. As he watches Ho-Oh disappear into the fort, a Houndoom with red armor pounces over the cliff and attacks Lucario, along with two more. He runs up a cliff and toward a crystal colored light blue. He touches the crystal and calls with telepathy "Hear me Sir Aaron". The crystal glows bright and the message is transferred. Then you see a castle with Sir Aaron and Queen Rin, and a crystal near them glows brightly. Sir Aaron runs toward the crystal and touches it. He hears the message "Sir Aaron, please". "What's the matter Lucario?" says Sir Aaron, who also has the power of aura. "The two armies are about to clash, my master," says Lucario "And our kingdom is caught between them. Once the fighting starts we'll all be destroyed". There is a pause, and Queen Rin turns toward where the armies will collide, a look of despair on her face. "Once the armies reach this palace, our kingdom will fall," she says. Then it's back to Lucario, where the Houndoom finally caught up with him. They have him in a circle, and one shoots a yellow shot at him. He dodges it and runs. They follow and one shoots another beam. Again, Lucario dodges. He jumps to the face of a cliff, and one Houndoom uses Iron Tail. Lucario dodges, but this time it was very close, and the dust from the crash got in his eyes and temporarily blinded him. He jumps to the side and tries to rub the dust out, but the Houndoom again shoots a beam. Luckily, Lucario uses his aura to sense it and jumped out of the way. He is still blinded, and he has nowhere to go. All three Houndoom lower their heads and release a gigantic flamethrower. Lucario senses it, and does an acrobatic leap into the air, does a few flips, and lands in the middle of two of the Houndoom. Using his aura, he makes two aura balls from his hands and launches them at the two Houndoom. He then raises both hands and doses a big ball at the last Houndoom. Then it goes back to the castle. "I will not flee the palace when the armies attack" says Queen Rin. "My fate will be the same as the rest of my kingdom". Sir Aaron says "But your highness, there will be no survivors." He lowers his head, lifts his staff (that looks oddly like Lucario) and raises it into the air. The staff signaled Pidgeot and Aaron jumped on top of it. They fly through the fog to the oncoming armies. Skarmory from the armies attack Sir Aaron and Pidgeot in the air. Pidgeot took a few hits, but managed to get Sir Aaron safely on the ground. Then Pidgeot flew away. He turns and sees an oncoming army, with Lucario running toward Sir Aaron.
Using his aura, Lucario finds Sir Aaron. "Sir Aaron" he says with his telepathy. He stops on a ledge underneath him. "I knew you'd come." "Lucario" says Sir Aaron "What happened to your eyes?" "Don't worry about me, master" says Lucario. Sir Aaron turns around and says to Lucario "Don't call me that. I'm no longer your master. I've abandoned the queen and the kingdom. I'll never return" Lucario says "But... that's impossible" Sir Aaron starts running away. "Master, wait!" says Lucario. He runs after him, Sir Aaron turns around and throws his scepter at Lucario. The scepter glows. "Sir Aaron!" yells Lucario, but he is turned into aura energy and is stored into the scepter. As Sir Aaron runs away, Lucario sees through the diamond in the top of the scepter "Why master? Why..." The scepter glows one final time, and Lucario was sealed inside.
It then shows the tree of beginning, and you start to hear a sound, like a siren. It then goes to the castle. "That sound" says Queen Rin "It's coming from the tree of beginning. It's crying." It zooms out and you see both armies about to collide. It then zooms in on the tree of beginning, and the crystals start to glow. It goes into one of the tunnels, and you're at the mouth. Then you see Ho-Oh land on a rock, and it was actually Mew. Mew flies down away from view. Then you see the armies again. They collide. Aaron's Pidgeot flies back to the castle and hands Queen Rin Aaron's scepter. She takes it and Pidgeot flies away. She looks at the scepter "Sir Aaron". She watches in the distance the tree of life, and it glows green. Then, all the crystals in the kingdom glow green. She looks around and is in awe at the sight. Then, green pulsations go from the tree of beginning, spreading everywhere. The armies stop and stare at the glow from the tree. Rin then realizes that Aaron saved the kingdom and starts to cry.
"And then the queen understood what Sir Aaron had done. The wise knight, realizing there was only one hope for the kingdom, had gone to the Tree of Beginning, the home of Mew. The terrible forces that threatened her kingdom were suddenly transformed. All at once, anger and hatred changed into understanding and hope. Humans and Pokémon alike returned to their homes, and peace was restored to the land."
Many years later, Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max arrive at Cameran Palace to celebrate the heroic deeds of Sir Aaron. Ash wears an outfit similar to Sir Aaron's and competes in the Pokémon competition, winning after he defeats Kidd and her Weavile. That very night there is a royal ball and Ash is rewarded the hero's chair and the privilege to hold Sir Aaron's staff throughout the dance. The well disguised Jessie and James of Team Rocket join the dance too, but Meowth runs off to follow Kidd who reveals herself to be an adventurer who is trying enter the Tree of Beginning.
The protagonists' Pokémon run off into the attic to play with the toys there. Just as Mew joins in the fun, Kidd's two Weavile attack them. The Weavile are overcome by the Pokémon but Mew teleports together with Meowth and Pikachu. Max breaks into the room and upon finding out what happened, runs down to inform the others. Down below, in the ballroom, Ash poses as Sir Aaron and the fireworks are shot off. At that very moment, Lucario is released and senses Sir Aaron's aura which he find it mistaken. Lucario believes that Sir Aaron abandoned the queen long ago.
Suddenly, Max runs in and informs the rest that Pikachu and Meowth have been taken by a Mew. Team Rocket hears him and are saddened by Meowth's disappearance. Lady Ilene, the present queen says Mew has a tradition of showing up at the palace and taking things back to its' home at the Tree of Beginning. Ash and the others go in Kidd's car, with the help of Lucario, while Ash's follows them in air with his Charizard. Team Rocket hop along by cramping themselves into Kidd's trunk.
On their journey, they find a time flower which allows the finder to look at the images of the past, and they meet a Bonsly that hitches a ride with them along the way. That night, Ash tells the others how much he and Pikachu have been through, like when a flock of wild Spearow attacked him and Pikachu leaped in and Thunder Shocked them to the ground. Lucario gets up angrily and scolds that story, scoffing and saying that humans are all alike and can't be trusted. When Lucario goes as far as to saying that Pikachu didn't want Ash for a master, Ash loses his temper and tackles Lucario, until the others broke up the fight. The angry Ash is escorted away with May following right behind him, who says that what he did was so uncalled for and saying terrible things to Lucario, even when she knows that Ash was right that Lucario shouldn't have insulted his friendship with Pikachu like that, while Lucario retakes his seat, even more upset. Max tries to cheer Lucario up with chocolate, but the Pokémon gets up and walks away. The next morning, as they get to the Tree of Beginning, a time flower reveals how Sir Aaron trapped Lucario and ran off to the Tree Of Beginning, making everyone believe Lucario's point of view towards the so-called legend. Ash apologizes to Lucario for his behavior the previous night and begins to cry. Lucario lays his hand on Ash's shoulder and asks him to promise never to desert Pikachu. Ash nods, smiling, wiping the tears from his face.
At that very moment, Regirock appears and attacks everyone. Ash and Lucario split up with May, Max and Brock and a Registeel suddenly appears. The two Regis advance towards the others, who are heading to the Tree of Beginning. Ashe send out Corphish and Grovyle, to distract the Regis. Registeel and Regirock take the distraction and are lured away, while Brock, May and Max run into the Tree Of Beginning, Ash is stopped by a Regice. Once in the tree, the tree antibodies, red blobs that become Cradilies. Jessie and James are swallowed up first, but they release their Pokémon, followed by Brock, May and Max, who all release their Pokémon so that they don't share the same fate. Kidd dodges the blobs and progresses. All of a sudden, the Regis stop. The red blobs come out again, this time forming three Aerodactyl.
Ash and Lucario arrive at a huge crevice and after a difficult and long time to cross to the other side, Ash is reunited with Pikachu. But the reunion is quickly overshadowed as Kidd arrives with the other Pokémon and tells Ash that the others have been swallowed up by the blobs. Suddenly, Ash and Kidd are swallowed up by more blobs and the Regis stop the other Pokémon from saving them. Luckily, Mew talks with the tree and bring everyone back.
After exerting its powers, Mew becomes gravely ill. Finding out that the tree is dying, Ash, Kidd, Mew and Lucario head to the heart of the tree. They find Sir Aaron's suspended state, and a time flower proving Lucario's claims about Sir Aaron wrong. Ash uses Sir Aaron's gloves to use the aura and restore the tree with Lucario, knowing well that they both were doomed to die. Lucario knocks Ash back, demanding to finish the rest. The tree is restored but Lucario is very weak and on his death bed. The time flower shows Aaron saying goodbye to Lucario as he dies, claiming that he was more than his Pupil, he was his friend and that he hopes to meet him again sometime. The time flower shows Aaron pass away, and Lucario says he failed his master repeatedly to himself. Ash holds Lucario's hands and says the proved to be a guardian of aura like Aaron. Lucario dies, thanking Ash for the encouragement, and goes to see his friend. Ash and Kidd meet the others, who realize that Lucario isn't with them. Brock mentions its hard to believe Lucario's gone, but Ash says "He isn't gone... His aura is with me".
In the credits, Ash and co. return to the palace to be rewarded by Lade Ilene, Lucario and Sir Aaron share a chocolate bar in their distant place after death, Kidd leaves to meet with Butler and Dianne from a previous movie. Team Rocket continues to follow Ash and co. from their balloon. Meowth falls and holds on.
==Cast==
*Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum and May
*Ikue Ohtani as Pikachu
*Eric Stuart as Brock, James, Bonsly and Weavile
*Amy Birnbaum as Max
*Rachael Lillis as Jessie
*Maddie Blaustein as Meowth and Ash's Corphish
*Sean Schemmel as Lucario
*Jason Griffith as Sir Aaron
*Rebecca Soler as Kidd
*Pete Zarustica as Banks
*Darren Dunstan as Freddy, May's Munchlax and May's Combusken
*Kayzie Rogers as Mime Jr. 
*Bella Hudson as Chimecho, Rin, Ilene
*Suzanne Goldish as Jenny
*Mike Pollock as Narrator
=== Additional voices ===
* Rachael Lillis
* Carlos Alazraqui
* Tara Strong
* Brian Drummond
* Danny Mann
* John DiMaggio
* Bob Bergen
* David Kaye
* Bill Farmer
* Scott Menville
* John Kassir
* Warren Graff
* Lara Jill Miller
* Phil LaMarr
* Matthew Wood
* Andrea Libman
* Scott McNeil
* Corey Burton
* Trevor Devall
* Dee Bradley Baker
* Cathy Cavadini
* Fred Tatasciore
* Richard Ian Cox
* Grey DeLisle
* Tom Kenny
* Mona Marshall
* Kerry Williams
* Maddie Blaustein
* Jess Harnell
* Troy Baker
* Roger Craig Smith
* Nika Futterman
* Janice Kawaye
==Trivia==
*This was the last Pokémon film to be dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment.
**Also, it was the last Pokémon film to be narrated by Mike Pollock.
*Sean Schemmel would later voice Lucario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
*This was the last Pokémon film to be presented in the pan and scan format on a Region 1 DVD, as the following Pokémon films beginning with Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea would start being presented in widescreen for the Region 1 DVD releases.
**This is currently the only Pokémon film to remain in the pan and scan format on a Region 1 DVD, due to being reprinted from the 2006 US DVD release and the fact that the first seven films are currently presented in widescreen on recent Region 1 DVD releases.
==Gallery==
pl:F08
Category:Viz Media
Category:Toho Company Ltd.
Category:4Kids Entertainment
Category:Cartoon Network