Mewtwo Returns

DVD cover

Mewtwo, its heart having been softened by the selfless example of Ash Ketchum back in the eastern Kanto region, has now traveled to the western region of Johto in search of a place unreachable to the prying eyes and harsh judgments of humans for the sake of the band of cloned Pokémon, whose welfare Mewtwo is entirely concerned with. Mewtwo eventually finds the perfect hideaway: a huge mountain named Mount Quena, surrounded by steep cliffs that are practically impossible to scale, but in its crater is a freshwater lake and a forest that is home to many Bug Pokémon. This is a perfect fit for Mewtwo's band, so they settle in the top of Mount Quena and begin a new, safe life. Mewtwo, feeling that clones do not belong in the outside world because they were not born in it, watches over as their guardian. Mewtwo seems particularly close to the Pikachu and Meowth clones, spending most of its private time with them, possibly reflecting how important their templates were in its change of heart.

Giovanni, however, is determined to possess Mewtwo once again, and has been planning a militaristic assault upon wherever Mewtwo has settled to take the Pokémon back for himself. He at last locates Mewtwo in its new mountain retreat, so the Team Rocket Combat Unit heads toward Mount Quena.

Ash and his friends—on their Pokémon journey as always—are passing through an area around Mount Quena called Purity Canyon, which is known as Johto's greatest natural wonder. Unfortunately, they miss the only bus that goes through the area and an unpredicted typhoon forces them to stay at a lodge at the foot of the mountain with a woman who could not board the full bus. On the road, the bus is swept up high powerful winds, but is set down by Mewtwo's powers, much to the confusion of its riders. In Mewtwo's lair, Pikachutwo questions this action, which Mewtwo explains was to prevent rescuers from jeopardizing the clones' seclusion. Meowthtwo suggests it may also have been done out of compassion, of which Mewtwo says it has none for humans.

Back at the lodge, Pokémon naturalist Luna Carson explains that the only ways through the valley are a canoe ride down the river or the monthly bus service. Later, Luna serves them fresh water from Purity River, and everyone but Ash is amazed by its taste. With no other option for transportation, the group leave that night, taking the canoes downstream. Along the way, they come across the Bug Pokémon Ledian, Kakuna, Weedle, Pinsir, and Beedrill, the last of which causes Misty to frantically paddle back upstream. Back at the lodge, Brock suggests they scale Mount Quena, but Luna warns that is impassible despite featuring beautiful Clarity Lake in its crater. A knock on the door brings new lodge inhabitants: medical researcher Cullen Calix and a spunky girl from the Pokémon Institute, Domino. Cullen says he is studying the medicinal properties of Purity River water and wants to explore Mount Quena, which Luna laments would bring tourists and destruction to the ecosystem.

Suddenly, Team Rocket announces their presence with firecrackers and their motto. James grabs Pikachu with an electricity-absorbing whip and escapes with Jessie, and Meowth in their rocket-powered balloon, but the turbulent winds cause them to lose control and push them toward Mount Quena. The group equips climbing gear and chases after them, avoiding gusty winds and even a falling boulder. Team Rocket's balloon swings by and hooks their climbing rope, dragging the group into the air. Domino spots Mewtwo in Mount Quena through her binoculars and transmits a video feed to none other than Giovanni. Upon seeing the approaching Combat Unit, Domino climbs up the rope past the others, lands in the balloon's basket, and reveals herself to be in league with Team Rocket as elite Agent 009, also known as The Black Tulip for her use of the flowers as weapons. Domino pops the balloon with one and sends everyone else plummeting onto the mountain while she returns via paraglider to Giovanni's large helicopter to report on Mewtwo's status.

Pikachu and Team Rocket end up separated from the others and quickly encounter the clones. Pikachu's clone attacks Pikachu for suddenly appearing, but Mewtwo forces it to stop. Agitated by the approaching humans, Pikachutwo rallies the other clones to fight back against the invading Combat Unit. Mewtwo stays behind with other clones and contemplates whether to stop the fighters from endangering themselves or letting them act freely. Ash and the other humans land unharmed, but separated from Pikachu by a lake. They use Bulbasaur and Chikorita's Razor Leaf to make a canoe and oars out of a fallen tree, and with it they traverse the lake to reach the island at the center of Mount Quena's crater. They enter a natural sanctuary in the island, where Cullen discovers that the water inside could have a profound impact on medicine. Luna fears that any future human presence could taint the purity of the water and destroy the habitat.

Some of the clones imprison Jessie and James in a cave and head off with Pikachu and Meowth to fight Team Rocket's forces. However, as soon as the Pokémon land ashore, a Team Rocket helicopter appears and stuns the clones with energy blasts. An airship drops Team Rocket Poké Balls that capture most of the clones, and just as Pikachutwo is about to be caught by one, Pikachu deflects it with an electric attack. He also shocks Pikachutwo in order to invigorate it and escape, which Meowth emulates by scratching Meowthtwo's face. The four Pokémon flee from the helicopter's blasts, but find themselves trapped against a hill. A Shadow Ball saves the group from an incoming stun blast, revealing Mewtwo floating in the air behind the helicopter. Mewtwo frees the clone, disintegrates their Poké Balls, and throws another Shadow Ball, but the helicopter evades the attack.

Giovanni emerges on a platform to speak with Mewtwo, but the Pokémon refuses to go along with Giovanni's plans. The helicopter deploys two machines that surround Mewtwo and give it a powerful electric shock. Mewtwo pushes the machines into rock walls with its psychic power and defies Giovanni once more. Giovanni turns his attention to the island harboring the rest of the clones for phase two of the operation. Along with paragliding Team Rocket Grunts, Domino flies over using a jetpack and eventually comes across Ash's group, who are quickly restrained by metal rings to prevent their interference. Domino subdues the island's Pokémon with stunning tulips and restraining rings and reports her findings to Giovanni, who challenges Mewtwo to stop him. Mewtwo declares that it will protect the clones and telekinetically brings the other Pokémon to the island with it.

Soon, Domino, Mewtwo, and Giovanni meet on the island, at which point Giovanni tells Mewtwo that it must surrender. Mewtwo replies that it would rather leave this world than serve him, but Giovanni threatens to subject the other clones to experiments that would cause them to perish. Mewtwo then agrees. Giovanni reactivates the machines from earlier and tells Mewtwo to enter the energy field between them, which will harness Mewtwo's power and bend its will to his. Domino demonstrates Team Rocket's threat by firing blasts from her tulip at Pikachutwo. With Mewtwo trapped by the force of the machines' energy and his operation successful, Giovanni makes plans to build a Team Rocket laboratory on the island to create an army of powerful clone Pokémon. Mewtwo ceases its struggle just as Giovanni states that it will be his tool to rule the world. The other characters and Pokémon are then locked away in a prison cell, where Ash is reunited with Pikachu.

Outside, construction is well under way on the Team Rocket base. In a phone call, Giovanni tells Domino that Mewtwo's brain waves are resisting the machine's influence at a rate that would destroy its body before giving in. The industrial waste from the base attracts the ire of Mount Quena's resident Bug Pokémon: hundreds of Ledian, Butterfree, and Beedrill, whose lake water is now polluted. When the welders inside the facility are taken out by Butterfree's Sleep Powder, a dropped blowtorch ignites the fuel cells below and causes enormous chain explosions, one of which destroys the cell bars and frees the human and Pokémon prisoners. Luna and Cullen head toward the spring to check its purity.

Domino throws black tulips at a group of Ledian, but several Scyther slice the weapons up. She then uses a rod-like tulip to fend off an attacking Scyther and vault over the Ledian swarm. After being forced to mop the floor earlier, Jessie and James enjoy Domino slipping and falling head-first into a bucket of water.

Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, Pikachutwo, Meowth, and Meowthtwo find Mewtwo. Everyone but Misty tries to free Mewtwo by tackling one of the machines, but it only tips over and maintains the energy field. Mewtwo resorts to using the last of its power to overload the machines. Pikachu and Pikachutwo use Thunderbolt on one of them, which explodes. The field breaks, and Mewtwo collapses to the ground. The other machine appears to malfunction and self-destruct. Before they can take Mewtwo to the spring to recover, Giovanni appears with Team Rocket and claims that Mewtwo belongs to him. Brock and Misty release all their Pokémon to fight, and the clone and Bug Pokémon show up as well. Meowth flees the scene with Jessie and James while Ash takes Mewtwo away by himself.

As Ash, Bulbasaur, and Chikorita transport Mewtwo to safety, Mewtwo asks why Ash is helping it. Ash replies that Mewtwo saving Pikachu is one reason, and at Mewtwo's questioning, goes on to say that you do not need a reason to help someone in trouble. Mewtwo reflects that Ash may be one-of-a-kind, but Ash says that everyone is. They reach the heart of the mountain, and despite Cullen's protests that Mewtwo may contaminate the spring, Ash throws Mewtwo in because it needs the water's healing power most. Since the water heals it like it does other Pokémon, Mewtwo realizes that it does belong in this world. A blast from a helicopter announces Giovanni's sudden presence, but a rejuvenated Mewtwo rises from the water to protect the land it calls home. Mewtwo causes a great blue light to shoot up from the entire lake and pierce the heavens.

Mewtwo overlooking a city at night

Night has fallen, and Team Rocket wake up from unconsciousness in a dry crater. Underground, Mewtwo explains to the other humans that it has moved the lake and spring inside Mount Quena for greater protection. When Mewtwo decides to erase the memories of everyone involved, Meowth and the other Pokémon object, arguing that the past forms part of a living creature's identity and it is entitled to it. Misty and Brock add that forgetting the past does not change it and everyone deserves to know where they came from. Mewtwo changes its mind, stating that we should be able to look to the past just as much as the future, and the shame of others' wrongdoing is theirs alone. A group of Butterfree spread powder enhanced with Mewtwo's psychic abilities to erase the memories of the Team Rocket operatives as well as Luna and Cullen, whose well-meaning desire to research the spring may put it in jeopardy. Like the Team Rocket trio before them, Ash and his friends board a Pikachu balloon to leave Mount Quena. Mewtwo earnestly thanks them for their help and departs with all the cloned Pokémon to live elsewhere as natural Pokémon in the wild.

Some time later, as Ash, Misty, and Brock walk through a city, Ash hears Mewtwo's voice, but is uncertain whether it was real or just a memory. The narrator concludes the movie with the rumors of a Pokémon who traverses a faraway city at night.

• Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket encounter Mewtwo again.
• Ash and his friends meet Giovanni for the first time.
• Mewtwo erases itself from Giovanni and his underlings' memories.

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni
• Luna Carson
• Cullen Calix
• Domino
• Luka Carson
• Team Rocket Grunts
• Various characters from Mewtwo Strikes Back (flashback)

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Chikorita (Ash's)
• Goldeen (Misty's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Poliwhirl (Misty's)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Geodude (Brock's)
• Golbat (Brock's)
• Pineco (Brock's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Mewtwo (M01)
• Pikachu (clone)
• Meowth (clone)
• Charizard (clone)
• Bulbasaur (clone)
• Squirtle (clone)
• Psyduck (clone)
• Vulpix (clone)
• Nidoqueen (clone; ×5; ×4 offspring)
• Gyarados (clone)
• Golduck (clone)
• Tentacruel (clone)
• Seadra (clone)
• Vaporeon (clone)
• Venusaur (clone)
• Sandslash (clone)
• Pidgeot (clone)
• Hitmonlee (clone)
• Rhyhorn (clone; ×6; ×5 offspring)
• Scyther (clone)
• Blastoise (clone)
• Wigglytuff (clone)
• Ninetales (clone)
• Vileplume (clone)
• Dewgong (clone)
• Rapidash (clone)
• Butterfree (multiple)
• Ledian (multiple)
• Kakuna (multiple)
• Beedrill (multiple)
• Scyther (multiple)
• Mew (cameo and flashback)
• Various characters from Mewtwo Strikes Back (flashback)

Main article: Mewtwo Returns (manga)

Baby Nidoqueen and Rhyhorn

• This special was released between EP178 and EP179 in Japan.
• In reruns on Kids Station and on VOD services such as Prime Video and Hulu, the special is split into three episodes listed as part of the original series between EP178 and EP179, with each part including the regular opening and ending animations, title cards, and next episode previews.
• Before being blasted off by the typhoon, Team Rocket said: "How many times must our plans be destroyed, before they're allowed to be tried? The answer my friend, is blowin' in the wind!", referencing the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind".
• This was the first time that an animated series-related release, other than openings and segments, used digital coloring.
• During the conversation between Ash's Pikachu, Pikachutwo, and Mewtwo (immediately following Pikachu's arrival on the island), James comments, "This is like the sequel to a movie I missed." Breaking the fourth wall, this comment is essentially true, since Mewtwo wiped James's memory of the events of Mewtwo Strikes Back.
• Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back is used extensively in this special.
• The cloned Nidoqueen and Rhyhorn are shown to have produced offspring. Even if Nidoqueen was able to produce Eggs, the babies would all be the first member of the female evolutionary line. This may be due to animation physics or their nature as clones, but the fact that nobody questioned their existence (or know about the clones yet) would suggest it was simply an error.
• When the clones are captured by Team Rocket's Poké Balls, they become white energy instead of red, as usual. This may be attributed to the nature of clones or the Balls themselves.
• When Domino tosses out electric net-like lines, they electrocute both Rhyhorn and Nidoqueen clones. However, if clones keep the same type combinations as their originals, their Ground type should make them immune. This may be due to animation physics or the nets being made with advanced technology.
• At the end, Ash says "This time we'll both be able to remember." This may mean that Mewtwo informed him of their previous encounter. However, this is dub-only.
• At the end, Mewtwo overlooks a city whose buildings are similar to New York City's Empire State Building and MetLife Building.
  • This ending is later referenced in the credits of Genesect and the Legend Awakened, when another Mewtwo is last seen overlooking a city at night.
• The United Kingdom VHS release refers to the special as Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns - The Movie.
• In Mean With Envy, Brock comments that an ice sculpture of Giovanni looks "awfully familiar", implying that the events of this special are canon to Pokémon the Series, as this is the only time when Brock has ever met Giovanni.
• The design of Giovanni's airship would later be used as a basis of the Team Rocket airship in the Pokémon Adventures manga.
• A post-credits scene in Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution shows Mewtwo and the clones arriving at Mount Quena, foreshadowing the events of this special.

Errors

• When the clones are first shown on Mount Quena, Blastoisetwo's lower jaw is blue instead of beige.
• While riding on Blastoisetwo's back on their way to the battle, Meowth and Meowthtwo's feet are a darker brown than usual.
• Giovanni and Domino emerge from the helicopter side-by-side, but the next shot shows Domino farther back and the platform appears to have changed shape. When the camera angle changes again, she is back in her original position.

Dub edits

• The dub adds Mewtwo's beginning monologue of the first movie's events, whereas the original had the montage with no commentary.
• Domino only calls Mount Quena a "remote area in Johto" in the dub.
• Mewtwo's opening lines are mostly different in the dub. After pondering its existence, Mewtwo originally explains who it and the Pokémon accompanying it are, and their origins. In the dub, Mewtwo says it feels it has no right to judge their habitat as beautiful because the clones are artificial. Similarly, the dub implies that the clones were victims of discrimination, while the Japanese version states that they chose to avoid the outside world.
• The dub states that the bus trips are monthly instead of weekly.
• The meal Brock planned to make was changed from pancakes with lots of syrup to "spicy pizza pancakes."
• There were several differences when Meowth reads the Mount Quena guidebook.
  • Both versions mention Mt. Quena's volatile typhoons, but the dub adds that severe blizzards and thunderstorms also occur.
  • Meowth identifies the storm as a typhoon instead of Jessie.
  • The guidebook advises not to go to Mt. Quena in the dub, while the original states that tourists generally avoid it completely.
  • Meowth's Blowin' in the Wind reference was only in the dub. He originally says "Everyone, all together now…" implying that blasting off has become routine.
• Luka Carson is not identified as Luna's older sister in the dub.
• Brock's comment about getting "real close" under the frying pan was originally about using it as a "love-love umbrella," a term for an umbrella shared by lovers in Japan.
• Luna originally offers to let them in for a shower and change of clothes, but does not mention the chances of going to Mount Quena on foot.
• Instead of denying a soft spot for humans after saving them, Mewtwo thinks about the possibility in the original.
• Luna adds that the lodge was built ten years ago.
• Ash says the water tastes okay in the original, but his mother's chocolate milk tastes better. In the dub, Ash instead says it "tastes like something's been swimming around in it."
• Luna calls Mount Quena the highest mountain in Johto in the dub, whereas she only states that the steep cliffs prevent human activity from accessing the area in the original.
  • She also claims that only Pokémon that can survive in the extreme conditions can live up on the mountain, when in the original, she mentions that water flows into Purity Lake through the river.
• The scene in which Mewtwo talks with Pikachutwo and Meowthtwo about their next actions has some differences:
  • Mewtwo's attitude is changed from normal to rude and dismissive.
  • Pikachutwo originally compares their Mt. Quena hideout to being locked up in a jail cell, something not expressed in the dub.
  • Luna's specification that researching native Pokémon is her full-time job and manning the bus stop is part-time are dub-only.
• The dated slang used by Domino when formally introducing herself to Luna was dub-only.
• In the Japanese version, Cullen specifies that he wants to study Purity Lake to verify if it was responsible for the river's famous purity, something not directly stated in the dub.
• When escaping, Jessie makes a reference to the Frank Sinatra song "Fly Me to the Moon," something not very apparent in the dub.
• Giovanni mentions that Mewtwo's companions are "unnatural" in the dub. He originally is not surprised by their presence and mentions that even Mewtwo would desire companionship.
• The dub removes the modified Team Rocket motto Domino says in her introduction.
• Domino originally mentions that she is an A-Class Numbers member of Team Rocket, while the dub replaces this with her codenames 009 and Black Tulip.
  • Only in the dub does Domino confirm that she works for the Pokémon Institute.
• Jessie originally asks why their hot air balloon has no safety devices at all, when in the dub she considers an alternate mode of transportation.
• Mewtwo's reason for scolding Pikachutwo is changed from having an unnecessary battle with Pikachu to starting a fight in the first place. In addition, when Mewtwo states that the clones and originals are both living things, the dub adds a reference to the events of the first movie.
• In the original, Mewtwo hoped that the Team Rocket trio would just forget about the clones, but their crashing into Mt. Quena made that impossible, something the dub does not directly indicate.
• Pikachutwo's questioning of its role and existence is more of a rant in the dub.
  • In addition, Jessie and James's reasons for sympathizing with the clones were completely different between the versions. In the Japanese, they sympathized with wanting to go out into the world and be free. In the dub, Jessie only seems to sympathize with being a misfit, with James agreeing in a variation of their motto.
• In Pikachutwo's warning to evacuate before Team Rocket arrives, it adds that the experiments they planned to do on them involved cloning, which the Japanese version does not specify.
  • Pikachutwo also says that this is their chance to strike, something implied but not directly stated in the dub.
  • Mewtwo's comment about evacuating and finding another hideout omits the reference to the humans as their parents.
• Cullen deduces that Purity Lake is the source for Purity River in the dub when he originally states that he found Purity Lake.
• Luna's warning that disrupting the balance of the water would affect the Pokémon's sensibility and personalities in addition to their health was cut in the dub.
• Meowthtwo originally expresses interest in the moon before Meowth warns him to forget it and flee before the Poké Balls capture them, but this was not directly indicated in the dub.
• Mewtwo grunting when using attacks was cut from the dub.
• In the dub, Giovanni mentions having put a "considerable investment" on the machines used to contain Mewtwo. In the original line, he merely tells Mewtwo that the power of humans is nothing to look down upon.
• The exchange of words between Mewtwo and Giovanni in the next scene was notably changed in the dub. Mewtwo says that Giovanni will not be able to defeat it and Giovanni replies that Mewtwo's Psychic powers cannot influence machines. Mewtwo originally asks if Giovanni thinks heartless machines will be able to defeat it and Giovanni replies that the machines are designed to capture Mewtwo, not defeat it.
• Prior to locking them up, Domino originally gave a thinly veiled threat that she and her men would kill Ash, Misty, Brock, Luna, and Cullen for seeing too much if they dare try to resist their captivity. This was toned down in the dub.
• The scene with Team Rocket in the jail cell is completely different between the two versions: Originally, Jessie and James note they have yet to say their catchphrase when blasting off, so they decide to use it while waiting for Meowth's return. In the dub, they decide to rehearse a new motto in the event of Meowth's desertion, only to use a variation of their blast-off catchphrase.
  • The shot of when Jessie and James say "Looks like Team Rocket's never blasting off again!" and the camera zooms out to view Mount Quena was shortened by six seconds in the dub.
• Domino's report has her mentioning Ash's name to Giovanni in the Japanese version, something omitted in the dub.
• Giovanni mentions that depending on Mewtwo's next move, the cloned Pokémon will either live or die in the Japanese version, while the dub has him demanding to know whether Mewtwo intends to let its clone Pokémon battle him alone.
• Instead of Meowth asking to keep his aid to the clones a secret from Giovanni, in the dub he decides to follow Mewtwo's example of selflessness in aiding the clones.
• Mewtwo's and Giovanni's references to death (opting to die over serving Giovanni and threatening to subject the clones to deadly experiments, respectively) were toned down to a softer "leave this world."
• Mewtwo specifies in the Japanese version that Giovanni's after it, not the other clones when deciding to submit, something not made clear in the dub.
• In the dub, Giovanni intends to turn the island into a new laboratory, whereas he talks about a secret base in the original.
• Giovanni claims that he will pursue world domination with Mewtwo leading his army of cloned super-Pokémon in the dub, while he originally says Mewtwo will look forward to the day his army is complete.
• When Giovanni and Domino talk about Mewtwo's weakened state, Domino originally says that Mewtwo's death would be the loss of everything they have worked so hard for. Likely to avoid a reference to death in the dub, Domino says that it would take years to clone Mewtwo again.
• When angry Bug Pokémon start attacking Team Rocket and Giovanni's Persian grows restless, Giovanni shushes it in the dub, whereas he asks it what is wrong originally.
• When Domino launches several tulips at the Bug Pokémon in the original version, she calls out what can be translated as "Shoot blindly!" or "Disorderly shot!", as if it was the name of an attack like a Pokémon would use. In the dub, there was no dialogue in this scene.
• In the original version, James mentions that Giovanni catching him and Jessie dawdling would look very bad, while in the dub, James says that Giovanni will ask for their expense report as a drastic measure.
• In the dub, Giovanni yells "No!" when Ash moves Mewtwo, but he originally orders his men to go after them.
• In the original, Giovanni says that they must kill all the cloned Pokémon when they prevent him and his men from pursuing Ash and Pikachu. In the dub, he only says that he will "crush them".
• The dub omits Ash's explanation that Mewtwo needs to be completely submerged into Purity Lake if it is to heal since a sip of water might not be enough.
• Mewtwo's soliloquy when being submerged was originally reiterating its questions about itself, and then deciding that it was a living being that deserves to live in this world as much as anyone else.
• After Mewtwo moves the lake into hiding in the dub, Ash says that he wants to tell Professor Oak about this. Originally, Ash awes how amazing Mewtwo's powers are.
• Mewtwo realizing it should not eliminate the shame of the past and protect it from those who do want to silence it was dub-only. Originally, it only said that the clone Pokémon have every right to live in the natural world and they should pursue their own journey.
• When leaving, Meowth originally said the moon was full and the weather was perfect for flying, while in the dub, he tells the clones to say "hello" if they ever fly by their balloon.
• Ash implies that Mewtwo told him about what happened in their prior meeting in the dub, but he only says he would like to meet it again in the original.
• Mewtwo does not mention going from time and space to Ash if it ever hears him in the original, instead mentioning that Ash should turn around if he mentions its name.
• Cullen originally said he was staying behind to continue his research, instead of whether he and Luna had anything in common besides research like in the dub.
• When Ash hears Mewtwo's voice in the big city, it says "I will remember you, always" in the dub, when it originally says "I am here," a reference to the special's Japanese title.
• The narrator's closing line says nothing about moonlight in the Japanese version, instead wondering if the rumors of a mysterious Pokémon in living a city somewhere are true or not.

• Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns at IMDb