Recap: Pokémon- Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

Hello everyone, and welcome to my look at Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel! It’s been a wild ride looking at all these movies over the years; and now I’ve arrived at the final film in the XY series trilogy. Even though I still have unfinished work with the XY series, overall; I enjoyed it, and the show was what I wanted Advanced to be when I was younger. I’ve also learned that character changes are almost as common as the setting sun, and that’s especially true of this series. Even as the years go by, some things only stick out when they first break out among general audiences. It’s why someone might recognize Captain Kirk, but not necessarily Captain Lorca. It’s why someone might know Obi-Wan Kenobi, but they might not know Kanan Jarrus. So, let’s open this up.

We get our usual world of Pokémon segment, which is centered around evolution and Mega Evolution this time around. As for this glimpse of a battle with Alain and Korrina: it can wait; I have much more interesting things to cover over the next 93 minutes.

Our proper opening is on an airship that would not be out of place in the Final Fantasy games, where the titular Volcanion is trying to escape from a pair of Pokémon Hunters known as Levi and Cherie. They also have technology known as a “Mega Wave,” which can force Pokémon to Mega Evolve so much it noticeably pains them. This is already very cruel, and it takes on new meaning after Sun and Moon. 

After that, we see Ash and Clemont have an informal battle as Bonnie and Serena do laundry before Volcanion comes crashing in, all set to the XYZ theme, “Stand Tall.” I have spoken quite a bit about how much I like the hard rock sound of the theme before, so I will continue on.

Complicating matters in this movie are Ash and Volcanion being attached to each other with electromagnetic clamps; which thankfully doesn’t last the entire movie. That’s one of the reasons I wasn’t sure about this movie when I first heard about it, but thankfully it turned out better than I thought it would be. 

Back on the airship, we see the other part of the title: the Mechanical Marvel: Magearna! I actually like the design, being a sort of clockwork fusion of a Poké Ball and BB-8 from The Force Awakens. While the prince of the Azoth kingdom, Raleigh likes the Pokémon; a councilor known as Alva has ulterior motives. I thought he was a chancellor when I saw the movie a year ago, but I guess I misheard. Billy Bob Thompson also seems to be doing a strange impression of both Saruman and Emperor Palpatine for his performance, so it’s not a stretch.

It also turns out the backstory of the movie is that Magearna and Volcanion have been in hiding for 500 years; because people wanted to hunt them down; and led to Volcanion being unwilling to trust humans as a result. Not the most uncommon backstory, but it works fine. 

Elsewhere, Raleigh’s sister, Princess Kimia is trying to get her brother away from Alva; and gets help from another woman known as Flamel. I wonder if they also know anything about the Sorcerer’s Stone. “I shouldn’t have said that, I should not have said that.”

Anyway, Ash’s Pokémon meet up with him, and Volcanion takes Magearna on its back and leads everyone on a chase around the kingdom.

Elsewhere, Bonnie and Serena search for their friends, while Clemont is in awe of everything around him! This movie has a unique kind of “arcane technology” that blends old-fashioned cogs and gears with more modern tech that wouldn’t be out of place in an Apple store.

If this sounds like a lot in that time, that’s because it is. I’ve covered the first 15 minutes of this movie in just a few paragraphs; which I have been getting really good at over the years.

Of course, Team Rocket is all to eager to help Alva, even though he’s never heard of them. That’s odd, that’s like if someone had never heard of the Joker.

I also rather like the quasi-formal outfit Ash gets from Serena. The Poké Ball newsboy hat is a nice touch: reminds me of the hat from the Diamond and Pearl games. Guess we’ll get those remakes on the Switch, if and when they get made. 

While the “Being stuck together” plot thread thankfully doesn’t last the whole movie, the cliché of a “character in a Pokémon movie not liking humans” does get heavy-handed at times. The banter between Ash and Volcanion plays like a PG-rated version of “Mad Max Fury Road” in some respects.

It also turns out the Azoth kingdom was built by someone named “Nikola,” no doubt named for real-life scientist Nikola Tesla. … Anyone else reminded of The Prestige? 

Navel Plateau is where Volcanion and Magearna once lived, and Clemont has built Ash an “Impact Suit” that kind of looks like the Mark I Iron Man armor, later the Iron Monger. As if my head canon version of him wasn’t enough like Tony Stark already. 

Team Rocket then comes in with a Heracross and a Pinsir with their Mega Wave. It’s like a Bug-Type Goraijer, later adapted into Thunder Bug-Types. Still, Volcanion ends up totally wrecking them without even breaking much of a sweat. 

Princess Kimia then sends them blasting off for the 19th time with her shiny Mega Gardevoir! Wow, I thought the last movie was fast-paced: this is like some 10-year-old playing the games after a bunch of Mountain Dew and M&M’s.

There is a trade-off to Volcanion’s power: the attacks require large amounts of water and heat to use, so there’s often need to have lots of water to make steam. As a fire/water type; that’s actually not that bad a way of representing how he’s rendered in the games.

Everyone introduces their Pokémon to the princess, but then a wounded Amura wonders into the space? Is that another experiment? Before we can answer that, another poacher that looks like he got lost on the way to the Road Warrior tries to recapture it, but Volcanion uses its mist to hide everyone as he crashes his truck on top of some rocks. In the words of Immortan Joe: “MEDIOCRE!”

As Amura’s wounds are tended to, Kimia starts to repair her aircraft; since it was damaged in the last scene. However, Ash’s impact suit isn’t waterproof, since it explodes when Volcanion tries to refill in a hot spring! Well, still works better than Justin Hammer’s prototypes. 

So, after Ash spends the night with Volcanion in a tank top and boxer shorts; he’s freed after Gulpin’s acid is able to melt through the clamps. Awesome. How did that work without burning his usual outfit, though? 

Volcanion is still unwilling to trust humans, threatening to blast Ash! Ash says to “try it!” You mean, again? He does start to get a bit less crotchety after trying Serena’s Poké Puffs, though. That’s good: that’s about a third of the movie spent like that by my count; arguing and knocking together like they were playing a game of Knuckles Chaotix.

Still, even though Volcanion is still being a stick in the mud; Ash still wants to help the Pokémon. That’s still a quality I like in a lot of characters in this vein: Goku, Luffy, Natsu, Deku from My Hero Academia: I can do this all day, fellas; even after a whole turkey dinner.

Pikachu concurs, and even though Volcanion is still reluctant, it’s not too proud to thank them. That goes with the territory: when someone gives their word, I have no choice but to hold them to it. I would expect folks to do the same for me. Old-fashioned, I know, but I like it.

It turns out that there are more electromagnetic clamps; and Levi and Cherie take all the Pokémon in the plateau hostage; even somehow harming Ash and Volcanion with Electric Terrain. If I may paraphrase the older Han Solo: “That’s not how Electric Terrain works!”

Alva has also betrayed the king and queen; and is able to tear out Magearna’s Soul-Heart! … Can this count as a murder? I know the movies tend to be darker than the main anime, but that’s cold. Alva may not be the most cruel villain in the series, but he’s on my list.

Even Team Rocket will no longer accept Alva’s plans, and Alva responds by taking Meowth hostage and hurling Jessie and James out of his airship! I know he’s a corrupt councilor, but I honestly wouldn’t put it past him to try and kill the king and queen so he can rule the kingdom himself.

As we learn more of Volcanion and Magearna’s past before the final battle; we see more of their backstory and what led to them being in hiding for 500 years.

It turns out there’s also an ancient fortress that can also be used a weapon, and the Soul Heart can awaken it through “Neo Arcane Science!” While the CGI of the fortress is somewhat odd, it reminds me of the Sword of the Vale crossed with Cecil’s airship from Final Fantasy IV.

So, the final battle involves trying to stop the fortress from destroying the Azoth Kingdom; since this is what led to Magearna and Volcanion going into hiding for 500 years!

As Levi and Cherie summon all the Pokémon that can Mega Evolve on deck, Ash, Serena and Clemont counter with all their Pokémon to fight their way inside!

The Kalos Quest theme, “Be A Hero” is playing in the Background as Ash-Greninja and Zygarde Complete Forme join the fray! The design always reminds me of the Big O. Cast in the name of Arceus: ye not guilty.

Ash and the princess confront Alva in the control room; and he has even more of those clamps with him! He may not be as cruel as Kodai in the Zoroark movie, but he’s essentially Damon from the Victini movies minus the sympathetic qualities.

The Pokémon of the plateau are able to repel the attacks, especially with the help of Zygarde Complete! Big O, it’s showtime!

Volcanion is able to break free of the clamps, and Ash breaks Alva’s staff; rendering the Mega Wave useless! Now if only I could figure out the loot box system in the new Battlefront II. Topical humor, ha!

Alva tries to escape on a jetpack, but Ash-Greninja wrecks it and sends him crashing into the forest! 

Magearna is revived, and Volcanion uses the water tanks to destroy the fortress with his Steam Eruption attack!

So, we close on Volcanion learning the value of humanity, Alva and his thugs getting arrested and all his gear getting buried like a bunch of old Atari copies of ET, Pac-Man and Chase the Chuck Wagon. Since my associate SkulShurtugalTCG asked, I think I will go with the same line as Captain America in The Avengers: “I understood that reference.”

That’s “Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel.” While this may not be my favorite movie of the franchise, or even the XY series; it’s still a solid film for the XY series to go out on. The animation is sharp and colorful, and even though the pacing is a bit schizophrenic at times; it’s one of the better video game movies I’ve seen. It’s definitely better than the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993 and most of Uwe Boll’s filmography; and I’ve been wanting to talk about it since I saw it last year. With the I Choose You movie coming to Disney XD, it’s as good a time as any.

Overall, even though we all have different takes as fans; I am glad that even with everything else going on these days, I can still find things to talk about openly. The series, especially in Generation VI still resonates with many people and helped them find things to enjoy in tough times; something that’s clearly lost on Jason Schreier. 

Still, even if I were to tell those who think that way that it’s nothing personal; they would know I wouldn’t be lying. At the end of the day: I liked this movie more than I thought I would, and that’s all that really matters.

I will be watching the I Choose You movie when it airs on Disney XD this Saturday, and you will see my initial thoughts not long after that with my full look coming around Christmas. That will be all for now. Bang.