Welcome back to Pokemon Movies in Review, a weekly recap of the entire Pokemon cinematic universe. This week we’re revisiting Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, the eighth movie in the series and one of the most beloved by fans. This movie is singularly responsible for promoting Lucario to A-list status while also introducing the Great War that would eventually become a major storyline in Pokemon X and Y. Lucario and the Mystery of Mew gave Ash the Force-like power of Aura, an ability that was later revisited several times in the anime, making it one of the only character developments from a Pokemon movie that has ever survived past the credits. Yes, Ash becomes a Jedi Knight in this movie, and as clickbaity as that sounds, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew is actually a pretty overt homage to Star Wars.
A long time ago on a battlefield far, far away, two armies stage for what will undoubtedly be a catastrophic showdown. A (Jedi) knight named Sir Aaron has a plan to end the conflict once and for all, but first, he traps his young apprentice (padawan) Lucario in a magic staff. Sir Aaron intends to sacrifice himself, so he banishes the Pokemon in order to keep it safe.
Centuries later, Ash and his friends Brock, Max, and May attend a festival at Cameron Palace celebrating the legend of Sir Aaron. After winning the tournament, Ash is named this year's Aura Guardian and given Sir Aaron’s staff. Lucario bursts out of the staff and attacks Ash, believing he is Sir Aaron because, according to Lucario, they both share the same Aura. This is the first of three times that Lucario kicks Ash’s ass in this movie.
Aura is, unquestionably, Pokemon’s version of the Force. Later in the movie, Aura is described as “the living essence that’s inside every creature”. Lucario learned how to tap into the power of Aura from Sir Aaron, and throughout the film we’re given several glimpses into Lucario's training. One scene depicts Sir Aaron teaching Lucario how to dodge attacks while blindfolded - a direct nod to Luke’s training with Yoda on Dagobah. If it wasn’t obvious enough, Lucario is constantly declaring “The Aura is with me” as a non-subtle twist on “May the Force be with you.”
Meanwhile, a group of Pokemon are having their own party in the attic of the palace with a playful (and kleptomaniacal) Mew. One of the festival attendees, a famous adventurer named Kidd, stalks the Mew in hopes of following it back to its home - an ancient source of great power known as the Tree of Beginning. Kidd sends a pair of Weavile to put a tracker on Mew, which spooks the Mythical Pokemon, causing it to teleport back to the Tree of Beginning with Pikachu and Meowth. Max, who saw Mew disappear with Pikachu, runs to tell Ash what happened. Ash and his friends then set out to rescue Pikachu from the Tree of Beginning alongside Kidd and a reluctant Lucario.
During their journey, Ash discovers that Lucario hates humans because he believes that Sir Aaron betrayed it by trapping it in the staff. He doubts that Ash truly cares about Pikachu, which is enough to send Ash into a violent rage. It’s bizarre to see a human try to fight a Pokemon, especially one as powerful as Lucario. Without Pikachu around to fight his battles for him, Ash isn’t much of a threat to anyone. It made me think back to Mewtwo and his dream of Pokemon liberation. If pocket monsters ever decided they were sick of listening to people, we’d be in a lot of trouble.
Ash learns more about his connection to Aura throughout their journey and eventually develops a bond with Lucario once he understands the Pokemon’s pain, and Lucario realizes that Ash really does love Pikachu. Lucario has a wide range of Aura powers, including Aura Vision - which allows him to see without using his eyes, over great distances, and into the past - and a powerful attack called Aura Sphere. Ash also learns how to use some Aura abilities thanks to Lucario. Thus, the padawan becomes the master.
When the heroes reach the base of the Tree of Beginning, a lot of things happen quickly. The Legendary titans, Regirock, Registeele, and Regice, try to stop them from entering, but Lucario is able to fight them off. Once inside, the tree’s “white blood cells” attack the party and absorb them. Seeing how upset this makes his new friend Pikachu, Mew communes with the tree and is able to free Ash and his friends. Unfortunately, all of this action has thrown the tree’s immune system out of whack, and now both the tree and Mew are dying. In order to save them, Lucario sacrifices its Aura to the tree, healing it. In its final moments, Lucario sees Sir Aaron in vision, who explains that he similarly sacrificed his Aura to the tree in order to stop the war. He trapped Lucario in order to stop him from following him to the tree, knowing it would have given its life too. The tree is saved and vanishes, his soul reunited with Sir Aaron. In the final moments of the film as the heroes lament Lucario’s passing, Ash announces that Lucario isn’t gone: “Its Aura is with me.”
Lucario and the Mystery of Mew released more than a year before Gen 4 and the in-game introduction of Lucario. I can’t imagine Lucario would have gone on to make appearances in games like Super Smash Bros., Pokken, and Pokemon Unite had it not been for the popularity of this movie. Ash’s Aura powers became a bit of a recurring plot device throughout the anime series, and Riley, the Aura Guardian in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, is thought to be a descendant of Sir Aaron. The influence of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew can’t be overstated, but that said, there's something disturbing about this movie that I just can’t get over.
The movie begins with a huge misunderstanding between Lucario and Sir Aaron. Lucario spends most of the movie resenting Sir Aaron and despising humans because it believes that Sir Aaron betrayed the kingdom. Misunderstanding and poor communication then become a theme that runs throughout the entire movie. Mew escapes with Pikachu because it believes it’s being attacked, even though Kidd wasn’t trying to hurt it. This leads Ash to journey to the Tree of Beginning, even though Pikachu isn’t in danger. Likewise, the tree’s defense system tries to absorb Ash and his friends because it sees them as a threat, even though they aren’t there to hurt the tree. This leads to Lucario sacrificing itself to save the tree, which was never actually in danger in the first place.
Lucario is regarded as a hero, but in reality, it died for absolutely no reason. This movie has no villains. Kidd turns out to be a helpful adventurer who never intended to hurt Mew, and even Team Rocket, who follow the heroes into the tree to rescue Meowth, never do anything villainous. Sir Aaron went to great lengths to protect Lucario, but for what? So it could be resurrected a thousand years later and die the next day for no reason? It would be one thing if Ash’s Aura powers became a pillar of his story, but a few nods to it in the anime aren’t enough to justify Lucario dying. I totally get why people love this movie, but I had a hard time watching Lucario die over a big misunderstanding.
A few stray thoughts before we go:
- This is now the third movie in a row where people are captured by big blobs, that has to mean something. It’s also the third movie to feature an out-of-control defense system.
- Last week I discovered Rayquaza is pronounced Ray-Kway-Za. This week I learned Bonsly is pronounced bon-slee instead of bon-sly. Later research proved that the English dub of the movie actually got it wrong, it is supposed to be bon-sly, because he’s sly.
- My favorite part was when Mew pulled out the music box to cheer up Pikachu and it played the Jigglypuff song.
- We really need a Pokemon Total War game. I love the Onix wearing armor.
- Brock wears a priest outfit to the party because he’s an incel.
Next week we’re revisiting Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, so set sail, me hearties. It’s time for a Pokemon pirate adventure.