Professor
Spencer Hale, a dedicated Pokémon researcher, has been working very hard to
learn the secrets of a mysterious Pokémon called the Unown. The Unown appear as
26 individual letters of the alphabet. They have the ability to read human
dreams, thoughts and emotions and transform them into reality--a special kind of
reality. As he works, the Professor is suddenly pulled into another world, in the same way his wife disappeared two years earlier while probing the mystery of the Unown. His young daughter, Molly, is now all alone in the Hale house with neither mother nor father to comfort her.
Distraught, Molly dreams only of being reunited with her father.
The Unown sense her
loneliness and transform her simple wish into action, covering the Hale home
with a colossal wall of crystal and creating a dreamworld inside where Molly can
have her heart's desire. They send Entei, a leonine Pokémon with power and a
terrible growl but a good and gentle heart, to be her guardian and to take the
place of her father. For Molly, Entei takes the form of Spencer Hale and she
calls him Papa.
Soon, Molly longs for a mother as well. Once again, the Unown respond. They do not send Molly her real mother but instead select Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, as a surrogate and dispatch the faithful Entei to bring her to the Hale house.
Meanwhile, champion Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum, along with friends Misty and Brock and their constant companion Pikachu, is busy exploring the neighbouring Johto region en route to Greenfield. Ash is looking forward to competing in the Johto League to earn his Pokémon Master title.
Along
the way they are joined by another young trainer, Lisa, who engages Ash in a
friendly Pokémon battle and then decides to accompany the gang as they continue
toward Greenfield. Upon their arrival in the town, Ash is surprised to encounter his mother and Professor Oak, who have come to investigate the strange disappearance of Professor Hale. The group sits down to enjoy lunch together and that's when Entei strikes, swooping up Delia and rushing away with her while the stunned Ash watches in horror and bewilderment.
Inside
the Hale house great crystals begin to grow and reach up to the sky,
transforming the simple home into a sparkling palace of sheer impenetrable
walls. Molly is happy again. But poor Delia! She understands the little girl's
need but misses her own son and knows she must get back to him before this
crystal palace becomes a prison forever for herself and Molly. The question is,
how? With no solution in sight, Ash makes a brave decision. As he stands before the house with its monumental crystal reinforcements and the formidable Entei barring entry, all thoughts of the Johto League championship are forgotten.
Ash
marshals all his strength and resources to save his mother from the spell of the
Unown and keep both her and Molly in the real world where they belong. And Ash succeeds, to a point.
He
meets the challenge and breaks the spell of the Unown this time but he does not
conquer the Unown. They recede back to the mysterious realm from which they
came--for now.Like its predecessors, the movie is preceded by a 22-minute Pokémon-only short. This one is titled Pikachu and Pichu and follows Pikachu on an adventure through the big city. Cute stuff.
