This is how Pokémon Chronicles, the first spinoff outside the main series ends: not with a bang, but a mild whimper. There were a handful of Pichu Bros. spinoffs under this banner as well; but as for ones that fit that bill, this anime started with a disappointing use of a Legendary and ended with one. Let's open up "The Search for the Legend" and find out how it all went wrong.
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| "This is but one of the legends of which people speak..." |
It's yet another showcase for Ritchie, and while I reiterate he's not a bad character; you honestly couldn't find another character to focus on? Even by this point in the series, the anime and games had scads of them you could have used! Throw a dart and pick one!
Regrettably, that's not even the biggest missed opportunity of this episode. It centers around a hunt for Moltres; and an older trainer named Silver. (sighs)
On top of me preferring the one that's Giovanni's son; others have speculated this is Ash's biological father, but I don't buy that. The looks and personality are so diametrically opposed that it just raises further questions than it answers. I personally place more odds on Giovanni, or Samuel Oak or even Red for that matter.
The two are then accosted by two suspicious characters from the "Bogus Institute of Fake Science." So, a diploma mill like ITT Tech was then. Guess "Suspiciously Heightened Intellect Terms" and "Fully Unified Course Knowledge Source" didn't make it past censors.
In the only scene I could see coming from the games' Silver; he threatens to have their hands fed to Salamence if they touch him again. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen! Can't imagine why this anime has yet to be officially rereleased in the US.
Anyway, the search takes place at Mt. Ember; but since I never played Fire Red and Leaf Green, I'm only bringing it up because I'm probably going to get people asking if I don't. My understanding of the Sevii Islands is about as much as the target audience getting the reference to Butch and Cassidy's aliases of Satchmo and Louis Armstrong. Yes, really.
Everyone reaches the island, and they disembark before heading up the mountain. Silver continues acting like a blithe braggart (reminds me of people winging about the sandwiches in Generation IX); and despite Butch's claims; I find him harder to buy as a scientist than a con artist posing as a doctor, lawyer or pilot.
I also don't buy Cassidy's claims about wanting to use Moltres as a power source- it took over a decade for that with Eternatus; and in a much more logical way in a better story too.
The real kicker is that they want Silver to battle Moltres so they can study its flames... even though his partner is a Chikorita. Oh dear, this is going to hurt.
Bottom line- the episode is far less focused on Moltres; and more on the duel of nattering between Silver and Ritchie. Call me crazy, but this isn't really selling me on the premise of this spinoff. It's making me want to shut this off and go play Death Stranding Director's Cut; but I digress.
Night falls, and Silver makes camp for the night. Ritchie then asks Sparky if he remembers when they went through Mt. Moon. No, I don't, because that happened to Ash (not helping the case of you being his Skrull); and that actually might be a more interesting story.
Ritchie catches wind of Butch and Cassidy wanting to steal Moltres for Dr. Namba, and narrowly avoids being spotted and falling off the cliff. Yep- definitely feel more like delivering packages with Norman Reedus while chugging cans of Monster.
Silver pulls Ritchie from the ledge with Chikorita; and Ritchie warns him about what he heard. Silver doesn't even bat an eye at this, and just wants to battle Moltres. OK, that's going to be very awful given what happens later; but here is the issue I have with this character: it's entirely possible to age up a character without losing sight about what made them appealing to begin with. If I had to age up Ash or others, my model would be less like this guy and more like Goku or Luffy (about to start Punk Hazard, should be fun).
After a brief occurrence of the gag where Dr. Namba is misnamed, Ritchie and Silver sit by the fire. The two talk about their experiences; and this would have been way more effective if the first half of the episode hadn't depicted Silver as so arrogant.
Day breaks, and everyone heads to the top of the volcano. However, it turns out Moltres has been
nerfed and is less powerful than usual. The animation doesn't help- pretty sure steam from a volcano doesn't look like someone fiddling with the warp tool on Photoshop.
Silver engages Moltres to find this out the hard way, and Butch and Cassidy make their move! They started by nerfing a legendary, and they're ending with one. Honestly don't expect anything more at this stage.
Prepping a net launcher, Butch and Cassidy send out Tentacruel and Cloyster to finish the job with Moltres. Butch and Cassidy out themselves; and Silver finally realizes he's been had. Even further reason why I prefer the Silver from the games.
A second net is fired at Silver and Richie, and there's still somehow 7 minutes left of this to go. I sincerely question those who consider this better than the main anime when this finale effectively sent similar spinoffs into cold storage for years.
Chikorita cuts through the nets, and since Salamence is still in play; Silver finally realizes he's been had. Sparky sends Butch and Cassidy blasting off; and while I would normally complain about this being an anticlimax, I will give it some leeway as it makes the episode shorter.
Moltres dives into the volcano; and its strength is restored! Regrettably, it's done over another pan of a still shot. When Pokémon Snap on N64 did this scene better; you know you fell short.
Silver engages Moltres with Salamence, and the monster flies off in a puff of smoke and flames. To be fair, no worse than my lone encounter with Galarian Arcticuno via daily incense.
The volcano erupts; forcing everyone in the vicinity to evacuate. That's an underwhelming ending; and a waste of potential. We close this episode and spinoff on Ritchie heading back on a ferry, Silver staying behind to train for Moltres' return; and Ritchie to battle again. With nearly two full decades having passed since this came out; I don't think that's going to happen, and this is a year where Bleach of all anime came back after a decade at minimum.
"The Search for the Legend" is the worst kind of bookend to find- part of me does still think that this spinoff had potential; but more often that not, that potential was squandered. Making a spinoff without an "anchor" protagonist isn't the same as making one without a coherent story or consistent tone; and I'm glad later spinoffs understood this more.
Going against the grain of this spinoff's defenders; I do not think other ones should follow this model. I would prefer if Origins, Generations, Evolutions; Twilight Wings and the Detective Pikachu movie were the template for tone and structure going forward. Pokétoons and Hisuian Snow also work well as anthologies.
Post-review follow-up: most annoying character of the episode goes to Butch and Cassidy, one last time for their hare-brained scheme. Dishonorable mention goes to Silver for vastly overstating his importance to a degree where even Leon would go "Yeah, no" and taking screentime that would have been better served by the game character with the same name.
After some consideration, I have decided to do one big look at the episodes featuring the Pichu Bros. in November; which should make a fitting bookend to The Legend of Thunder. First, I need something that's a bit more apropos for the Halloween season. That will be all for now.
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