What would the future of the Pokemon world be like without humans to raise and train them? Ash and Pikachu find out for themselves in a new six-minute Pokemon short film called A Ripple In Time.
The new animated short debuted on The Pokemon Company's Japanese YouTube channel on Friday. The movie is part of a collaboration between Pokemon and New York-based contemporary artist Daniel Arsham. It's being directed by veteran Pokemon anime director Kunihiko Yuyama who now helms the series as creative director.
At first glance, A Ripple In Time looks like a Pokemon animated short that got scrapped from Pokemon 4Ever or another early 2000s film on account of Ash's original outfit as well as Misty and Brock cheering on Ash in the stadium, but the short is in fact completely new. During a battle with Cubone, Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack inadvertently hits a spectating Celebi. The Mythical Pokemon then uses its powers to transport Ash and Pikachu to a distant future in which humans have gone extinct, only some species of Pokemon have survived, and the world has been overrun with flora and decrepit statues of Pokemon with quartz crystals growing out of them. The short contains English subtitles and you can check it out below.
The quartz crystal Pokemon statues that Ash and Pikachu pass by are not random. Arsham used them in the short to promote his exhibition series of the same name that is being held in five art galleries across Tokyo including Nanzuka Underground, Sogetsu Plaza, and Nanzuka 2G. Each gallery will feature a variety of Pokemon-themed artwork based on bronze metalurgy and quartz crystal among other media like painting. The first exhibition and Nanzuka Underground will feature exclusive and limited edition official merchandise based on Arsham's pieces like the resin crystallized Charmander figure (available in pink and white) and the crystallized Mew card (available in purple and white).
The exhibition is also tied to the upcoming release of the book Arsham's Pokedex. It's a coffee table format book that shows off the sculptures featured in the exhibition series. The exhibition starts on February 22 and the book, as well as the other merchandise, are available for preorder in limited quantities on the Pokemon x Daniel Arsham online store.