Animated by: OLM, Inc.
Release Date: July 2010 (JP) / February 2011 (WW)
Running Time: 94 mins

Pokémon Movie # 13

Synopsis: The Pokémon Baccer World Cup is the most anticipated event of the year, and as hundreds flock to Crown City to watch the exciting competition unfold, Ash, Pikachu, and his friends encounter a mysterious new Pokémon they have never seen before.

But when the three Legendary Pokémon Raikou, Entei, and Suicune suddenly arrive and begin rampaging through the streets, it’s up to Ash and his companions, along with their new Pokémon friend Zorua, to uncover the secret behind the immense and powerful forces at work.

What strange and dangerous powers are afoot in Crown City? Why did Celebi suddenly return after vanishing for twenty years? And why is the mighty Zoroark unleashing its fury upon the town? The quest for these answers leads down an uncertain path filled with peril—can Ash and his companions find enough courage, strength, and friendship to unearth the mystery in time to save Crown City?

Released in 2010, Zoroark: Master of Illusions is the final film set in the Diamond and Pearl era, and moves away from showcasing that generation’s Legendary Pokémon to instead introduce two new Pokémon from the upcoming Black and White games: Zorua and Zoroark. These two fox-like Pokémon share the same evolutionary line and shapeshifting abilities, allowing them to take the shapes of both Pokémon and humans – albeit with an additional tail. After the apocalyptic interdimensional antics of the previous three movies, Zoroark: Master of Illusions is a change of pace with much lower stakes with Ash & friends fighting to prevent Grings Kodai, an Elon Musk-esque billionaire, from stealing time energy from Celebi to predict the future and make more money. The only consequence of this act is that he will destroy all of the plants and flowers in the vicinity of the time ripple, which is a lot less dire than the destruction of all humanity in the last film.

Once again, the Pokémon series takes its influence from real-world locations when it comes to designing their cities, with Crown City modelled on the Netherlands and Amsterdam, in particular. This gives the film a European aesthetic that distinguishes it from the TV series’ traditional Japanese-inspired Sinnoh region. Much like with Pokémon Heroes, which featured the Venetian-styled city of Alto Mare; the decision to mirror the architecture and design of real-world locations results in a refreshingly different vibe for the film, despite its very familiar themes of human corruption and mistaken identities. The film also introduces the sport of Pokémon Baccer, a hybrid of soccer and rugby that is played by Pokémon in stadiums. This further enhances the European ambiance, even if the sport itself is barely given any screentime. It would have been nice for this to be a more essential part of the plot, rather than something just seen in the background.

Whilst the two lead Pokémon featured are from Generation V, this film is also something of a resurgence for Generation II Pokémon with the return of Celebi and the Legendary Beasts Trio (Entei, Raikou and Suicune). Given the franchise’s penchant for cross-promotion, this focus on Johto legendaries is probably due to the real-world release of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver around this time. It was also interesting to see the shiny variants of the Legendary Beasts, even if their inclusion was purely a practical decision to ensure viewers can differentiate between Zoroark’s illusions and the real versions of these Pokémon. Kodai’s plot to frame the Legendary Beasts using Zoroark’s illusions and some CGI fakery is eerily prescient, especially in today’s current climate of deep-fakes and AI content. It is also strikingly similar to Mysterio’s plot in 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, although I would be shocked to my core if Marvel Studios’ scriptwriters were getting their ideas from random anime films.

While all Pokémon films share some degree of commonality, this film felt particularly reminiscent of The Rise of Darkrai at times, with its city under siege and misunderstood Pokémon angle. Unfortunately, Zoroark isn’t as intriguing a central character as Darkrai is, lacking the charm and presence as its predecessor. Meanwhile, Zorua follows in the familiar footsteps of Jirachi, Manaphy and Shaymin, when it comes to fulfilling the role of the plucky, cute Pokémon who needs the help from Ash and his friends. It was fun to see such an array of different Pokémon across multiple generations, and the fight sequences between Zoroark and the Legendary Beasts were extremely enjoyable to watch. The minute that Zorua was revealed to have shapeshifting powers, I was expecting them to do a bait-and-switch with Celebi – which they did – but I must admit that I did get tricked by a later “fake-out” involving Zoroark’s illusions.

The film does seem to suffer from an abundance of human supporting cast members, some of which seem to serve no real purpose beyond a few lines of exposition. Karl and Rowena, the two journalists investigating the phenomenon, lack any real personality and are used mainly to provide Ash and his friends with background information on Kodai and Crown City. Karl’s grandfather and his female friend are equally as flat and formulaic as they inform the younger generation about the disaster that occurred twenty years ago. Pokémon films can be somewhat hit and miss with their temporary supporting cast, and this particular group lacked any real spark. The opposite is true for the antagonists, however; Kodai seems to delight in being evil, as does his appropriately named henchman, Goone. There are some brutal moments where the two of them cruelly inflict damage onto the Pokémon, including a moment where Kodai is literally choking the life out of Celebi. I can’t recall ever seeing humans attacking Pokémon directly in such a manner, so it definitely stands out. There have been human villains before, but never any that have seemed so callous and aggressive.

Zoroark: Master of Illusions feels like a mixtape of Pokémon’s greatest hits; revisiting familiar themes such as the human corruption of Pokémon abilities and the ongoing battle of nature versus technology. Zoroark may lack the same presence as other “lead actor” Pokémon such as Darkrai or Lucario, but its maternal relationship with Zorua gives the film its emotional core, whilst the return of Celebi and the Legendary Beasts trio provides a welcome shot of nostalgia for this final film in the Diamond and Pearl era. In the end, it’s a film defined less by spectacle and more by sentiment, offering a gentle farewell to an era that had already given Pokémon some of its most memorable cinematic moments.

Pokémon: Zoroark – Master of Illusions is available on DVD from Amazon UK, as well as available to stream on Amazon Prime Video