Pokémon 3: The Movie is a 2000 Japanese anime film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama as the third film in the Pokémon franchise. The film stars the voices of Rica Matsumoto, Ikue Ōtani, Mayumi Iizuka, Yūji Ueda, Koichi Yamadera, Megumi Hayashibara, Shin-ichiro Miki, Ai Kato, Masami Toyoshima, Akiko Yajima, and Naoto Takenaka.
Like its predecessors, it is preceded by a short film, this one titled Pikachu & Pichu, which marks the debut of the mischievous Pichu Bros., who help Pikachu reunite with his trainer after being separated (without Ash even knowing, due to him preparing a party to celebrate the day Pikachu and he first met). This was also the first Pokémon film to premiere in an IMAX theater. The realistic crystallization and Unown created a 3D effect in the film. This was also the last Pokémon film to be released internationally by Warner Bros. until the release of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu in 2019. The Japanese opening theme is OK! 2000 by Rica Matsumoto, and the Japanese ending theme is The Day a Rainbow Was Born (Niji ga Umareta hi) by Kumiko Mori. The English opening theme is Pokemon Johto by PJ Lequerica, and the English ending theme is To Know the Unknown by Innosense.
Plot
Pikachu & Pichu
Pikachu and his friends are left on a skyscraper in a Big City by their trainers, who go off to prepare an unknown surprise for the Pokémon. Pikachu meets the Pichu Brothers, saving the younger one from falling off an opposite building. A group of Murkrow chase Pikachu off a flagpole, and he uses a group of Hoppip to reach the other side, sending Meowth who is window-cleaning, flying into a billboard. The Pichu Bros. assist Pikachu to return to his friends but they end up going on a journey across the city to the Pichu Bros' playground. On the way, they get chased by a Houndour whom they later encounter again. The angry Houndour chases the three around until he nearly knocks the playground over. Pikachu, the Pichu Bros., Houndour and their assortment of friends manage to save the playground. Pikachu realizes it is nearly six o'clock and he must return to his friends before Ash, his trainer, does. Pikachu and the Pichu Bros. use a tire to get to the building, sending Meowth flying again. The three arrive in the nick of time, the Pichu Brothers departing. Ash, Misty and Brock arrive and take the Pokémon into a room where a party has been laid out for them in celebration of the first anniversary of Ash and Pikachu's meeting.
In 2009, the short's Japanese narrator, Sakai Noriko was arrested for drug possession and substance abuse. Ever since then, the short has not been released on any home media format and was even excluded from the 2010 Pikachu The Movie Premium boxset.
Spell of the Unown
In the town of Greenfield, research scientist Professor Spencer Hale conducts research on the elusive Unown. He and his assistant, Skyler, discover a site of ruins, but Hale is sucked into the dimension of the Unown.
His disappearance leaves his young daughter Molly alone, her mother having disappeared previously. Molly finds a box of tablets containing Unown images and begins assembling the letters, which summons the Unown themselves. The Unown, sensing Molly's desires, use their powers to make Molly's wishes come true, transforming her manor house into a crystal-like palace which spreads across the town and cuts her off from the world. An illusionary Entei is created to represent Molly's father. Various people come to help sort out the Unown, including Professor Oak and Delia Ketchum (Ash's mother).
Meanwhile, Ash and his friends meet and befriend a trainer named Lisa. They come into Greenfield in the process and agree to join in the rescue mission to save Molly. However, Entei kidnaps Delia, following Molly's request for a mother as well. Entei's powers hypnotize Delia into thinking she is Molly's mother. Ash, Misty, Brock and their Pokémon head out to the mansion to save Delia, communicating with Oak and Skyler thanks to a PokéGear device given to them by Lisa. Team Rocket try investigating the mansion, but Entei blasts them into the depths of the mansion. Molly watches Ash's Bulbasaur and Chikorita in action through a television and falls asleep, imagining herself being a Pokémon Trainer. Seeing Ash on TV, Delia snaps out of her trance; however, Entei creates a dream version of Molly as an adult and takes her to battle the three. Molly first fights Brock, but Molly's dreamed-up Pokémon are stronger than his; Molly then has a more friendly fight against Misty in an underwater battle.