Nintendo
Advertisement

The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon (also known as The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon: A 10th Anniversary Special or The Terrifying Mirage Pokémon in Japan) is an hour-length special episode/TV movie of Pokémon the Series. This special premiered on Kids' WB on April 29, 2006. It became available on DVD in the United States on September 19 that year as a special feature on the 2-disc Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew release, and the original dub aired on October 28 in the same year on Cartoon Network. The special was produced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. This special first aired between The Symbol Life and Hooked on Onix (two episodes of Pokémon Advanced Battle) in the United States. The special was set during the events of Pokémon Battle Frontier, taking place after May's Egg-Cellent Adventure since Ash's Pikachu knows Volt Tackle.

Plot[]

Dr. Yung, an enigmatic Pokémon scientist, has developed a new Mirage system that uses computer data to resurrect extinct Pokémon, like Kabutops and Armaldo. Ash Ketchum and his friends meet up with Misty and Professor Oak to investigate Dr. Yung's new Mirage Pokémon system. But when the mysterious Mirage Master appears with a Mirage Mewtwo, Ash is forced to fight him to stop his plans to dominate the world with his Mirage Pokémon.

Cast[]

Character Japanese voice actor English voice actor
Ash Ketchum Rica Matsumoto Kayzie Rogers
Sarah Natochenny (redub)
Max Fushigi Yamada Kayzie Rogers
Officer Jenny Chinami Nishimura
Wobbuffet Yuji Ueda
Pikachu Ikue Otani
Brock Yuji Ueda Bill Rogers
May Kaori Michele Knotz
Misty Mayumi Iizuka
Jessie
Nurse Joy
Squirtle
Megumi Hayashibara
Yuriko Yamaguchi
Tomoe Hanba
James
Meowth
Professor Oak
Shin-ichiro Miki
Inuko Inuyama
Unsho Ishizuka
James Carter Cathcart
Dr. Yung Hidenobu Kiuchi Billy Regan
Mirage Mew Satomi Korogi
Mirage Mewtwo Katsuyuki Konishi
Narrator Unsho Ishizuka Rodger Parsons

Production[]

According to The Pokémon Company International, the company wanted to give a special to American fans for Pokémon's 10th anniversary. The director of the special, Kunihiko Yuyama, said that their goal was to "convey the growth and evolution of Pokémon series over the past 10 years".[1] In Japan, the special was aired as a trial of delivering animated episodes over broadband.[2] This special marked the first time English-language production was handled exclusively by The Pokémon Company International.

Previously, 4Kids Entertainment was mostly responsible for the English dub of the anime. As a result of this change, costs were cut, and the English-language version of the special featured an all-new voice cast, replacing the original voice actors (except James Carter Cathcart, Kayzie Rogers and Rodger Parsons) for many major characters, many of whom had worked on the show for eight seasons and films. Rogers also voiced Ash Ketchum for the original version of the special, but was subsequently replaced by Sarah Natochenny. It was announced at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con that the version available on DVD would be improved from that aired on TV, with dialogue being re-recorded after the new voice cast became more familiar with their roles, and after Ash was given another new voice actor, Sarah Natochenny. The redub was included as a bonus disc on the home media release of Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

Music[]

Pokémon Go! serves as the theme song for the movie. The short version song is also played at the end credits of season 9. All the music used in the special was originally used in the Japanese movies and series, including music from Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back and Destiny Deoxys. 4Kids mostly used its own, American-composed music for the series.

Gallery[]

Reception[]

The change of the anime's voice actors and the film itself caused controversy and extremely negative reception among many fans as it is considered one of the worst Pokémon specials and movies ever made. However, some of them said that the new voice actors were considered inferior replacements to this day.

Trivia[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

Advertisement