If you know me, you’ll see that I’m a big fan of Pokémon. But honestly, I never realized just how deep it went.
I’ve discussed the series for years, even when it was part of the 2025 TV schedule and other times when it wasn’t. The franchise is beloved for many reasons, from the anime to the games to, of course, its movies. One film that I’m sure many fans of all ages are familiar with is Pokémon: The First Movie.
official Pokemon channel, I decided to check it out for the first time since 2023, and realized just how much this movie taught me about death at a young age. What do I mean by that? Well, keep reading to find out.
I’ve Always Loved The Movie
Yes, I love Pokémon, obviously, but I have to say that Pokémon: The First Movie is probably my favorite of the franchise’s movie.
There have been numerous films in the Pokémon franchise. Most of which were made for television or released in Japan and then brought to America for distribution on Cartoon Network or elsewhere. For me, many of the films I liked were from the generations I grew up with.
Generation 3 and 4, which often involved The Rise of Darkrai, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, and more.
Even so, I think The First Movie is one of those films that surpasses any film from your generation of Pokémon. It’s the defining film of the type of content we like to see from the franchise, where it’s mainly happy-go-lucky, but it’s not afraid to explore darker themes.
As we grow older, we realize that some of the movies we enjoyed as children contain adult topics that we didn’t fully grasp at the time. And death is very much a part of that, as well as the evolution of life.
But the topic of death and life didn’t come from Mew-Two and the clones of all the Pokémon for me. It came with Ash.
best anime series to start with. This isn’t Attack on Titan.
However, the closest we really get is when Ash is turned to stone in The First Movie, when he puts himself between a psycho blast that Mew-Two sent towards Mew. It petrifies him, and then, of course, we see the classic scene of Pikachu crying over Ash’s body and trying to bring him back to life by shocking him with electricity.
Watching this as an adult, I realize that this was the moment that I learned as a child what death truly was. That we are not all meant for this mortal coil forever.
The idea that Pikachu wouldn’t see not only his trainer again, but his friend and companion, was something that hit me hard, and I don’t think I ever truly understood that until now. After watching this film, I began to realize that life truly does come to an end, and sometimes it’s because of our own decisions.
Keep in mind that the first time I watched, I was about eight years old, and it was on my brother’s old VHS tape. However, that still hit me hard, and it’s only now that I’ve realized just how significant it is.
Ash finally winning the championship was a major one, which came decades after this film. Watching Ash set Butterfree go is another example I could use.
But to me, seeing every single Pokémon cry set me off.
I do consider myself a pretty emotional person. I will cry at just about anything. Nothing really scares me as much anymore, not even the best horror films, but crying? Give me an emotional death in any dark anime, and I will be sobbing for hours.
However, I think this was the origin, this anime movie that honestly told me that every kind of species could feel this sense of sadness; this grief that surpassed even human emotion, and traveled into these Pokémon who didn’t even know who Ash was, just because Pikachu felt this intense grief for him.
That’s the kind of serious storytelling I wasn’t really expecting from Pokémon, and something I only understand now.
The Pokémon anime continued, and he spent twenty-something years being a perpetual pre-teen with his buddy, Pikachu.
I genuinely believe that because of that, I blocked it out. My mind was so overwhelmed with the idea of grief that, because Ash was brought back from stone, I ended up just blocking out the fact that I literally learned about mortality from a Pokémon movie.
But I’m almost glad I did. That might have ruined the series for me as a child, and I may not have become the fan I am today. I now have at least a greater respect for it than I ever did before.
I’m Kind Of Shocked A Pokémon Movie Is The One That Did It
Genuinely, like…I really didn’t think this would be the movie to do it out of everything that I have watched in my life.
I’m a self-proclaimed cinephile who has watched some of the most depraved films of all time because I just wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I’ve wasted hours viewing over-hyped horror movies. I’ve seen some of the best films that’ve gone on to win the most prestigious awards in the movie industry.
Yet the one film that touched me when it comes to mortality and death was Pokémon: The First Movie. That’s hilariously heartfelt in so many ways.
I think it’s just sort of a testament to the power of what we watch as kids – something we don’t understand until we get older. We may not think that this one show or movie shaped us into who we are today. But as we revisit said shows or movies, everything starts to click into place.
And I’m proud of it. Go little me for finding that connection.
Even so, it makes me want to revisit older movies/shows that I’ve loved and see the connections I made because of them about life when I was a kid. It might be time for another marathon.