Welcome back to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Movies in Review, a weekly recap of the entire Pokemon cinematic universe. This week we’re revisiting Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, the ninth movie in the series and the first to be produced by TAJ Productions, which introduced a brand new voice cast for the English dub. Pokemon Ranger is the last movie in the Advanced Generation and serves as a farewell to both May and Max as well as the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ruby & Sapphire generation. What makes Pokemon Ranger really stand out is the tit💞ular ranger, Jackie, who almost takes top billing from Ash as the actual star of the movie. It’s an interesting look at what the anime series could have become without Ash, and with Master Journeys teasing the end of Ash’s story, perhaps a direction Pokemon should revisit in the future.
Pokemon Ranger begins aboard a mercenary pirate submarine where a mysterious Pokemon egg has just been captured. The pirate captain Phantom believes the egg contains the Mythical Pokemon Manaphy, also known as the Prince of the Sea, who can lead him to the lost Sea Palace ꦉwhere the Sea Crown resides, a priceless artifact that metaphysically connects an ancient tribal society called the People of the Water to Water-type Pokemon. Pokemon Rangers throws a lot of lore at you right from the start, but like most Pokemon movies, it’s all pretty archetypal stuff. The Sea Palace is Atlantis, the People of the Sea are the Atlanteans, and Ash is...well, I think Ash is Aquaman.
Embedded among the pirates is Jack “Jackie” Walker, an undercover Pokemon Ranger that manages to steal the Manaphy egg and escape the submarine. Sometime later, Ash, Brock, Max, and May run into a traveling circus family called the Marina Group who are descendants of the People of the Sea. Jackie is hiꦆding among the performers as he waits for the egg to hatch so he can return Manaphy to the Sea Temple where it belongs. Of course, Phantom and his pirates manage to find Jackie, and in the chaos, Manaphy hatches. The Pokemon imprints on May, believing she is its mother, which forces Jackౠie to bring the young heroes along on his mission.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Ranger came out just a few months after the game of the same name, unsurprisingly, and incorporates elements from the game like the Capture Stylers. Rangers play an interesting role in the Pokemon universe because they’re almost an antithesis to the Pokemon Trainer. Rangers are rugged adventurers that dedicate their lives to protecting the environment and taking down criminals that abuse and exploit Pokemon. They’re somewhere between park rangers and secret agents, and Jackie is no doubt the Pokemon version of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:James Bond. It’s a bit earth-shattering to learn that there’s a more noble calling in the Pokemon universe all these years later, and it makes trainers like Ash, who is certainly a hero in his own right, look like a villain in comparison. How can anyone justify catching Pokemon and making them battle when there are heroes like Jackie out there protecting the environment and saving Pokemon lives? Even when Jackie catches a Pokemon with his Styler, it's only a temporary measure to solve an immediate problem, then he lets them be free to live life as they choose. Ash certainly admires Jackie, who becomes a mentor to him throughout the film, but it's weird to think he went right back to being a Pokemon trainer after this instead of following in Jackie’s footsteps and becoming a ranger himself.
In my re-review of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon Heroes, I joked that Ash became a dad at the end when Latias is seen flying over his boat with another Latias and Latios, but in Pokemon Ranger, May quite literally becomes Manaphy’s mom. Manaphy acts just like a human baby and May treats it as such, teaching it how to say words like “happy” and “I love you.” It’s odd to think of a baby Pokemon as a human baby that believes their trainer is their actual parent, and it's certainly made me reconsider my prolific career as a Pokemon breeder. All of those baby Pokemon I released because their IVs weren’t up to snuff thought I was their dad? I’ve abandoned my boy. Give me the blood, Lord, and let me get away.
The heroes eventually make their way to the Temple of the Sea with Manaphy, but to the surprise of no one, Phantom has followed them there. He 𓆏tries to steal the Sea Crown, a collection of giant crystals suspended in the center of the temple, but this causes the temple to start flooding. Jackie returns the crystals to the chamber and pursues Phantom as he makes his escape, but as the temple continues to fill with water, Ash realizes one piece of the crown is still missing. With a burst of heroic energy, Ash seals May and Pikachu in an escape pod and dives into the water to retrieve the crystal and fix the crown. The temple resurfaces but Ash does not, leaving his friends to believe he has sacrificed himself. However, just as Phantom returns to kidnap Manaphy once again, Ash explodes out of the water in a brilliant burst of light, apparently powered by the energy of the Sea Crown.
Last week, I wrote about Ash’s latent Aura powers that made him the Pokemon equivalent of the Jedi, but the superpowers Ash receives in Pokemon Rangers makes the Force look like a party trick. Ash blasts through the water and soars through the air like he’s got a rocket strapped to his ass, and easily chases down Phantom and his submarine. Over the last nine movies we’ve seen Ash become the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Chosen One twice, sacrifice himself and get resurrected three times (including this movie) and dabble with the power of Aura. Seeing him use actual powers like Aquaman feels like a moment the anime 🤡has been building up to for a decade, and it made me jump out of my seat and cheer. Ash’s powers eve🌊ntually wear off, but for once it was a lot of fun to see his heroism manifest in such an explosive way - even if it ultimately sidelined the actual Pokemon in the movie.
Pokemon Rangers and the Temples of the Sea offered us a glimpse into the kinds of stories that could be told if Ash didn’t need to be the sole protagonist of the series. I would have loved a sub-series of Pokemon Ranger movies that followed Jackie and his adventures across the world, and I think Pokemon could really benefit from a more mature and action-oriented series. As Ash’s victory lap arou💦nd the world continues in the modern Pokemon anime, many have started to suspect that it might be time for him to finally retire. Rather than continue on the same path with a di💃fferent trainer like Goh, I’d love to see a Pokemon Ranger show that explores the stories of the true heroes of the Pokemon universe. Friendship ended with trainers, now rangers are my best friend.
A few stray thoughts about Pokemon Ranger:
- May’s relationship with Manaphy mirrors Max and Jirachi’s relationship in Wish Maker, making this the perfect send off for the two companions
- Phantom is revealed to be wearing some kind of mecha suit at the end, seemingly for the sole reason of paying of a weird joke Jackie makes earlier about him not eating vitamins
- Just like Pokemon 2000, all of the water Pokemon show up at the end to help. This includes Kyogre, who unlike Groudon never got its own movie during the Ruby & Sapphire era
- When Jackie convinces May to reject Manaphy because it's getting too attached to her for its own good, Manaphy swims behind their ship shouting “I love you!” over and over, which is a bit much in my opinion
- If Team Rocket has no reason to be there, they should really just take a break. Is it a law that Jesse and James have to show up in every single movie no matter how irrelevant they are?
- Jackie rides away on a Zapdos, making him the coolest guy of all time
Next week&r🎃squo;s movie is The Rise of Darkrai, the beginning of the Diamond & Pearl era and the start of the trilogy th🌼at has never officially been given a proper name. You better believe I’m going to name it.