Pokemon movies were my entire childhood! Every week I'd make it a habit to beg my dad to go to my local video rental store to pick out a Pokemon movie to rent for the week. And then when we returned the movie, I'd pick out another one! It's actually really weird that my parents never bothered to buy me any of the movies BUT they did buy me nearly the entire 1st season of Pokemon on VHS. Go figures I guess. Well today, I'm gonna talk about my favorite Pokemon movies over the years. Admittedly there's a select few I've never seen like the Genesect movie & The Power Of Us BUT for the most part I've seen nearly all of them.

First off, some honorable Mentions!

1. Pokemon Giratina & The Sky Warrior

I watched this movie A LOT when I was younger. I've always been enamored by Giratina. I thought that the reverse dimension was cool BUT the villain wasn't original let alone memorable to put it simply. The plot follows our villain who used to be a disciple under one of our main characters of whom used to research into the reverse dimension & Giratina. This research led to a falling out between them & now the Disciple wants to kill Giratina & throw the world into chaos because of a grudge? Seriously? Anyways, it was one of my favorites as a child since it features one of my all time favorite Pokemon but watching it as an adult I realized this movie wasn't all that good to begin with BESIDES being the origin story of Giratina. I literally can't remember what Ash & Gang were even doing in the movie.

2. Pokemon 4 Ever

Another movie I watched quite a bit as a kid but upon rewatching it as an adult I realized I don't like it as much as I remember. This movie follows a time traveling child who has befriended Celebi. Upon facing danger, Celebi warps them to Ash & Gang's current time. During this time, a Team Rocket Member has invented Pokeballs with the ability to turn any Pokemon 'evil' & increases their strength tenfold. He plans to capture Celebi through such means... I love this movie because it's the only time 'Shadow Pokemon' exist outside of their origin game. The Shadow Celebi scene is awesome & the end of movie plottwist was wholesome BUT I cannot remember anything in this movie besides the ending & the Shadow Pokemon. Therefore, I consider this movie to be forgettable & not one of my favorites.

3. Pokemon Heroes

I ALMOST put this movie in my top five but it just barely misses out. Ash & Gang are in a town much reminiscent to Venice Italy for a water racing competition. Ash gets stalked by a shapeshifting Latias. Later, two team Rocket members kidnap Latios in order to obtain the mythical Soul Dew throwing the town into chaos & it's up to Ash, Misty & Brock to save the town before it floods killing hundreds of lives. While this film isn't the first time Ash has gotten a taste of romance, I won't deny his relationship with Latias was adorable. Yes, you heard me right, Ash was Romantically involved with a Pokemon. This movie was beautiful, memorable AND cool as all heck! Our villains kicked ass & we were introduced to 'undead' Pokemon. The fossilized remains of Pokemon were reanimated in order to pursue Ash & Gang to put it simply. I loved this movie BUT I love five other films more.

Now my top five!!!

1. Pokemon The Rise Of Darkrai

This movie made me fall in love with Darkrai!!! Also, this movie was the highest stakes of any other movie, that being, the entire universe was at stake. This movie follows Ash & Gang as they've traveled to a new town in Sinnoh. Upon arriving, the town is undergoing weird phenomenon such as collapsing buildings, energy spikes & nightmares? Although many see Darkrai as the town protector, he's suddenly gone berserk upon the realization that Dialga & Palkia, the gods of Time & Space, are clashing with each other & the end of the universe is on the rise. Because Darkrai was put at the forefront as a misunderstood & mislabeled antihero due to being the God of Nightmares, it was a Rollercoaster for the watcher seeing the many conflicts Darkrai feels. It's like Shadow the Hedgehog lol. He's labeled as a villain due to his origins when in reality he's a hero at heart. I vividly remember this movie beginning to end & I won't deny that I've shed tears on more than one occasion.

2. Pokemon Destiny Deoxys

Honestly, this movie is so underrated & quite a bit of the fanbase agrees with me. This movie follows Ash & Gang as they've arrived in a futuristic city run almost entirely on electricity. Deoxys later invades the town, cutting off the power & turns the robots against the humans resulting in Ash & newly acquired friends to secretly evade Deoxys all the while figure out why Deoxys is taking everyone captive. I love this movie for so many reasons. The setting for one! It's unlike ANY destination Pokemon has tackled before. The plot, Pokemon has never dared to tackle a 'Rise against the machines' plot ever again after this meaning this movie is one of a kind. Is it wrong to say I loved the Munchlax subplot? Plus, it's a movie where you realize there weren't any 'bad guys' just misunderstood people.

3. Pokemon Lucario & The Mystery Of Mew

Honestly, I think this is my all time favorite Pokemon movie, I just couldn't pick between my top three. This movie follows Ash & Gang as they take part in a battle tournament during the towns annual festival honoring their deceased hero, Sir Aaron. Ash wins said tournament gaining the honor of being the festival's 'hero' and accidentally releases late Sir Aaron's Lucario of whom was unknowingly sealed within a staff for decades! Lucario, coming to terms that his original trainer is deceased, Ash & Gang ask Lucario to accompany them to the Tree of Beginning where Meowth & Pikachu were kidnapped. Along the way, Lucario follows a trail of breadcrumbs learning why his original trainer betrayed him, sealing him within a staff for years.
The fact that Pokemon made Riley the Lucario Trainer within the game series, the game equivalent to Sir Aaron in the anime, due to how much Sir Aaron was loved in the movie should tell you everything you need to know. This movie also cemented that Ash would eventually get himself his very own Lucario in the future. This movie is a classic 'broken soul learns to trust again' story that is priceless & a tug at your heartstrings. It's not often that a non-mythical or non legendary Pokemon gets the spotlight in a movie. Also, this movie is iconic for so many reasons! Especially how the Regi Legendaries sound AWESOME here!!! I even left a small video above for you guys to hear the Regi cries!

4. Pokemon The Movie 2000

One of two Pokemon movies I'd rent over and over and OVER again in my childhood. 2000 is the second ever Pokemon film & a memorable one at that. This movie follows Ash & Gang as they've traveled to an island in Kanto just in time for their annual festival honoring the Kanto legendary birds: Articuno, Zapdos & Moltres as well as their guardian & God of the Sea: Lugia. A Pokemon Collector has brought chaos to the world by stealing the legendary birds one by one for his personal collection. It's up to Ash & Gang to stop this collector before he can capture Lugia, Rescue the Kanto birds & prevent the end of the world. This movie is a straight up classic! It's one of few movies where Team Rocket were contributing to good, Ash has his first taste of romance with Misty, there's so many iconic quotes too. Lugia is also one of the coolest legendaries in existence, fight me! The plot was also very linear & wasn't complex at all. Some people argue that a linear plot is a bad thing but sometimes I just wanna watch a movie & not have to think.

5. Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back

Yeah... I'm guilty... I love the OG movie the most. I mean who DOESNT like this movie!? Its so iconic that even people who HASNT seen the movie know what happens. This movie even recived a remake if that says anything. I rented this movie so often from my local video store that they gave it to me. GAVE IT TO ME! This movie follows the creation of Mewtwo, a clone of mythical Pokemon Mew. Ash & Gang are invited to a remote island alongside a bunch of other Ace trainers to fight the best of the best. Upon arriving, the group realizes they weren't invited there due to their battle prowess but rather Mewtwo had set up a trap to kidnap all of their Pokemon instead and turn them against humanity. I can guarantee this movie is the reason why Mewtwo & Mew are so popular in the fanbase. This movie is chock full of iconic scenes, quotes & nobody can forget how Ash had died in this movie bringing a tear to our eyes. The death scene was so iconic, it was repurposed into another movie, I Choose You, many years later. I Choose You is a retelling/ the highlights of Ash's journey in Kanto WITHOUT Misty or Brock.

So what about you? What's your favorite Pokemon Movie?