The Legend of Thunder

The Legend of Thunder! (Part 1) (Japanese: ポケットモンスタークリスタル・ライコウ　雷の伝説, Hepburn:  Raikou - The Legend of Thunder!) is the 1st episode of Pokémon Chronicles.

Episode Plot

Two trainers meet on a battlefield, ready for a one-on-one battle. One of the trainers sends Hitmonlee, while his opponent a Typhlosion. Hitmonlee starts with Jump Kick, though Typhlosion blocks the attack. Hitmonlee uses Rolling Kick, hitting Typhlosion. The opponent, however, is surprised Typhlosion is still standing, so Typhlosion's trainer claims he and Typhlosion learned some things through the solo matches. Hitmonlee goes to use Mega Kick, but gets burned and defeated by Typhlosion's Flamethrower. The trainer is pleased and high-fives Typhlosion for the victory. The opponent is sad, but promises to the trainer he will learn from this defeat. The boys, before leaving, exchange their Pokégear numbers. Many Pokémon live in the area, but there is a special, strong one, named Raikou.

A Team Rocket plane flies over the area and lands on a platform. A scientist greets the two members, Hun and his new partner, Attila, who come out of the plane. The scientist shows them a crystal, which is supposed to control electricity itself. The scientist orders his team a demonstration: they release electricity, which is absorbed into the crystal. The scientist claims no matter how powerful the electricity is, the crystal will attract and absorb it. Hun and Attila know well they will use the crystal to gain unlimited power, a fact which the scientist believes it will work. Elsewhere, Typhlosion's trainer, Jimmy, travels on the road and finds the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy heals Jimmy's Pokémon and advises he could stay and relax a bit, since the next town is quite far away. Jimmy takes Nurse Joy's advice and grooms Typhlosion, who thinks it did well today in the battle.

Suddenly, Jimmy hears a girl, who talks to a person named Jackson how well she performed in the battle show with Misdreavus, who looks at Jimmy and Typhlosion. Jackson sees Jimmy and tells to the girl he came. The girl is glad Jimmy is here, who blushes at seeing the girl, Marina. Marina greets Typhlosion, who evolved from Cyndaquil Prof. Elm gave to Jimmy. Marina goes to hang up, but Jackson stops her, as he wants to talk to Jimmy. Jimmy leans in and Jackson claims Marina is her girlfriend. Jimmy starts blushing, claiming he has no crush on Marina and hangs up on Jackson. Later, as Misdreavus and Typhlosion are eating, Marina asks Jimmy for his Pokégear number. Jimmy claims he is not much one for telephone calls, even if Marina claims Jimmy missed her. Marina asks Jimmy does he notice anything different on her. Jimmy claims he doesn't, upsetting Marina, since someone even claimed she looked like a supermodel.

Jimmy sees Marina still wants to become an actress, so Marina goes to recite a poem she wrote, but Jimmy does not want to hear it. Marina thinks Jimmy is afraid of her, or at least she believes Jimmy has a crush on her. Jimmy denies that, even if Typhlosion is smiling at Jimmy, knowing that is not the truth. Marina decides to talk about training, letting Jimmy know that every battle she had wanted to make it a performance. She wants to keep people and Pokémon happy and have fun, feeling it makes her happy as well. Jimmy reminds Marina of the kids in the neighborhood back home, admitting he wants to become a great Pokémon trainer to help them out. Marina thinks if Jimmy trains hard enough, he can become even stronger than the Champion, Lance. Jimmy doubts that, but Marina shows Jimmy a notebook, in which stamps of Lance are placed. Marina hopes she can team up with Lance and become stars of the planet.

Jimmy reminds Marina being a trainer and a star are two different things. Marina doubts that and to prove that, she decides to battle Jimmy. Jimmy goes to claim to be a one-on-one, but Marina chooses a two-on-two battle. Marina sends Little Pink, a Jigglypuff, while Jimmy sends Beedrill. Marina recognizes Beedrill, since Jimmy caught it as a Weedle and had it evolve. Little Pink uses Sing, but Beedrill uses Agility, using its wings to repel the sound waves made by sing. Beedrill uses Twinneedle, but Little Pink inflates itself, causing itself to float. Jimmy wonders why Jigglypuff dodged the move, so Marina admits Little Pink went through hours of rehearsal of dancing. Beedrill uses Pin Missile, hitting Little Pink, who is defeated. Marina calls Little Pink back. Jimmy asks Marina not to have Pokémon dance anymore, since it is embarrassing to watch, but Marina thinks Jimmy is joking.

Marina sends Wani-Wani, a Croconaw. Jimmy sends Typhlosion, for even if it has a type disadvantage, Typhlosion and Jimmy want to challenge themselves to learn more. Marina thinks they are being overblown, but notices a storm approaching. To finish the battle quickly, Wani-Wani uses Water Gun on Typhlosion, who endures the attack and strikes with Quick Attack. Before the attack, lightning strikes. Jimmy and Marina watch the clouds, seeing this is no ordinary lighting. Suddenly, the Pokémon go in a direction, so Jimmy calls Typhlosion back and Marina her Wani-Wani. However, Little Miss goes into the woods, so Jimmy and Marina go after her. Elsewhere, Team Rocket set up the crystal. Attila notices on the radar the Pokémon are coming. Hun asks if "the one is here" and is told it has not arrived yet. Attila asks if "the one" even exists, since it is only reported to exist within legends and stories. Hun thinks that as well, but it is said that Pokémon arrives to help other ones in need.

Attila goes to take some Pokémon. A Raichu emits electricity to attack Attila and his machine, but the electricity is absorbed into the crystal, which hits every Pokémon around with electricity. Little Miss comes and finds Team Rocket. Marina grabs Little Miss and, along with Jimmy, sees these crimes Team Rocket had done and decide to fight them. Hun claims Attila should be subtle and do something to make sure "the one" appears faster. With a flash of thunder, a Raikou appears, so Jimmy and Marina see Raikou is not just a mere legend. Raikou rescues the Pokémon and faces Team Rocket. Jimmy and Marina notice Team Rocket members aren't scared of Raikou at all. Attila releases the cuffs to grab Raikou, who dodges. Raikou uses Thunder, but the electricity is absorbed by the crystal. Hun and Attila are pleased, as the crystal will absorb electricity and soon they will use the electricity to strike at Raikou.

Raikou repeats the attack, though the crystal absorbs the power. Raikou repeats the attack, which causes the crystal to repel the attack back to Raikou, hurting it. After a while, Raikou is too exhausted and falls down. Attila goes to catch Raikou, but Jimmy appears, ordering Raikou to be left alone. Attila and Hun claim Raikou is theirs and advise Jimmy to leave. Jimmy does not listen to them and sends Typhlosion, while Attila his Skarmory and Hun her Steelix. Hun warns Jimmy once more to leave, but Jimmy is determined not to leave Raikou to them.

Debuts

Character

• Jimmy
• Marina
• Jackson
• Attila
• Hun
• Lance (fantasy)
• Professor Sebastian

Pokémon

• Typhlosion (Jimmy's)
• Jimmy's Beedrill
• Misdreavus (Marina's)
• Croconaw (Marina's)
• Lance's Dragonite (fantasy)
• Lance's Gyarados (fantasy)
• Furret

Item

Pokégear

Trivia

• This special was later released on DVD for Japan, as well as Taiwan and mainland China.
• This special marks the first time that any characters based on game protagonists have appeared besides Ash, who is based on Red.
• This special has the longest time between the original airings in Japanese and English, taking three and a half years to air dubbed.
• This is the only movie-length anime special that hasn't aired in Finland.

Mistakes

• In one scene, Hun commands Skarmory to use Fury Attack, but Skarmory is Attila's Pokémon.
• When Raikou is put into the cargo hold, there is no sign of Marina, though she had been knocked down when Raikou collided with her after the bubble exploded.
• Attila incorrectly refers to multiple Caterpie as Caterpies.
• In the Hindi dub, Misdreavus was once mispronounced as "Misdrees."

Dub differences

• The dub of The Legend of Thunder is one of the most heavily edited episodes of Pokémon, most likely due to TV time constraints:
  • All of the music is replaced, besides the three seconds of Jigglypuff's song.
  • Hun was male in the Japanese version, but has a female voice in the dub.
  • The Trainer that Jimmy battles at the beginning had a name in Japanese, Shinji. The scene in which Shinji introduces himself and swaps Pokégear numbers with Jimmy is cut in the dub.