Just in time for the school holidays, the official Pokémon TV channel on YouTube has made the original (and best) Pokémon movie, known to all simply as Pokémon: The First Movie, available to watch.
Seriously, it’s just there, on YouTube – waiting for you to give it a click. Not even region blocked within Australia or anything. No catch, no strings, just classic Pokémon action.
Go on, take a look:
Signs indicate that this isn’t a permanent addition to the channel – so enjoy it while you can. As an added brilliant bonus, it is designated as a YouTube Kids upload, meaning there are no goddamn ads.
If you aren’t as ancient as I am (because I saw this thing in cinemas back in the day) here is a synopsis to get you up to speed:
The adventure explodes into action with the debut of Mewtwo, a bio-engineered Pokémon created from the DNA of Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. After escaping from the lab where it was created, Mewtwo is determined to prove its own superority. It lures a number of talented Pokémon Trainers—including Ash and his friends—into a Pokémon battle like never before. Mewtwo vs. Mew. Super-clones vs. regular Pokémon. It’s the ultimate showdown…with the very future of the world at stake!
For Pokéfans, it was a monumental event. Seeing Pokémon on the big screen felt surreal – even if it included the worst cover of the original Pokémon theme song. It also has a killer scene at the start where a hiker pulls of a spectacularly illegal Pokémon technique – throwing out three Pokémon to take on Ash’s Pikachu. Dick move, guy.
So if you have a spare hour and fourteen minutes (yeah, this was back before films pushed two and a bit hours) it’s definitely a great trip down memory lane.
Or, show it to the kids I guess.
I have no idea how long it will be freely available to watch, but a few sources mention that its release is “limited”, so don’t drag your feet if you are interested.
Did you enjoy the first Pokémon movie? Did we even figure out what was up with the weird hybrid Pokémon? Tell us all about it in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
