PLAYING CARDS

There were four Pokémon trading cards included with the purchase of a ticket. They are: Pikachu, Mewtwo, Electabuzz, and Dragonite. If you bought the home video, you found Promo #14 Mewtwo inside.

PREVIEWS

Previews on the home video included a variety of Warner Brothers videos, "Switching Goals" with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, "The Iron Giant", "Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders", and "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker".

SOUNDTRACK

The soundtrack for the movie includes "Don't Say You Love Me" by M2M, "Vacation" by Vitamin C, and "It Was You" by Ashley Ballard. Also featured are songs by N'Sync, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears.

PIKACHU'S VACATION

"Pikachu's Vacation" opens with Ash and company letting all their Pokémon loose in an all-Pokémon park. The Pokémon begin to party, until Togepi starts to cry. Bulbasaur gets a fruit for Togepi, but Psyduck eats it. Bulbasaur puts Togepi to sleep using its "Bulba-Bye".
Snubbull, Marril, Raichu, and Cubone enter the scene. They make a lot of noise, so Pikachu wants them to be quiet for Togepi. Togepi wanders off, almost to fall off a log. Pikachu chases Togepi. Meanwhile, Snubbull and Squirtle mince words, and Bulbasaur confuses Snubbull with its eyes. Squirtle and Marril end up having a water race. Marril beats Squirtle, thanks to a wayward Goldeen.
Pikachu and Raichu then have an electric showdown. They spark at each other, and then they race around cheek to cheek. They knock around a couple Pokémon, including Meowth, Arbok, and Weezing, who had been resting on a hill. They run over Charizard's tail, so it chases them off a cliff and under a Snorlax. Charizard ends up tripping and getting its head stuck in a tube. All the meanwhile, Meowth, Arbok, and Weezing had been napping above the tube. Meowth isn't happy about the noise Charizard is making, so he leans over and yells at them, only to be fried by Charizard's flames.
A rope is tied onto Charizard's leg, and all the good Pokémon pull on it. They just aren't strong enough, so Pikachu pleads with Snubbull and its friends help out. They join in the effort, except for Cubone, who is known as "the Lonely Pokémon". Cubone eventually joins, proving that even the meanest Pokémon are essentially good creatures. Charizard is freed, sending them all flying. Charizard lands on Meowth, who was in the process of throwing a bomb. The bomb goes off under Charizard, baking Meowth just as Psyduck lands on Charizard's belly.
The Pokémon all cooperate and rebuild the playground that Charizard destroyed, until Ash and friends return to get their Pokémon. It makes for a rather happy moment, but the Pikachu short was really just filler until the movie started.

MEWTWO STRIKES BACK

The movie opens in a jungle with many scientists looking for a Mew fossil. The scientist narrates that Giovanni is funding his efforts to clone Mew. Meanwhile, Mew is skirting about behind them, watching the proceedings. In the scientist's laboratory, many technicians work to replicate Mew's newly-found fossil.
After the opening credits, the movie re-opens in the laboratory with Mewtwo questioning his existance and shots of Mew flying around in the sky. Soon, he bursts from his container, kills all the scientists, and destroys the lab. As Mewtwo stands in the rubble, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, appears and makes a deal with Mewtwo.
The scene is in the Viridian City Gym. Mewtwo is covered in armor to focus his power. Giovanni has Mewtwo beat an Onix, a herd of Tauros, an Alakazam, a Magneton, and then Gary's Arcanine and Nidoking. Mewtwo realizes that Giovanni is just using him for his power, so he destroys Team Rocket Headquarters and flies to the exploded laboratory. Shots from the previous few scenes were included in the animé show.
More opening credits appear, and then the next scene is of Ash, Misty and Brock having a picnic. Soon, a trainer who looks like a pirate challenges Ash to a match. Ash's Bulbasaur defeats the trainer's Donphan with Solarbeam, and then Squirtle beats his Machamp with Bubble. Pikachu finishes off the rest of the angry trainer's Pokémon. There is something mysterious watching the match...
The mysterious something (obviously Mewtwo) has a hypnotized Nurse Joy send an invitation to Ash to join him and other great trainers on his New Island. Dragonite tears through the sky and delivers it to Ash. Of course, Ash accepts, but Team Rocket intercepts the message and decides to bust in on the party to steal Pokémon.
Ash and company, along with the other great trainers, get to Old Shore Wharf to sail to New Island. Unfortunately, Mewtwo conjures a storm which raises Mew from the ocean floor in a bubble and cancels the boat trip. The harbor manager tells a legend about the winds of water wiping out all but a few Pokémon, and the tears of the remaining Pokémon brought back the dead. The cancellation and the prophecy don't stop Ash or a few other determined trainers. Team Rocket (disguised as Vikings) take Ash halfway to the island. They capsize, and Ash and company use Squirtle and Staryu to make it the rest of the way. Ash joins the other trainers and the hypnotized Nurse Joy in Mewtwo's great hall.
Mewtwo appears and says he's going to steal all the trainers' Pokémon. Naturally, the trainers are upset and try to fight him. Mewtwo casually casts aside a trainer and turns his Gyarados' own Hyper Beam against it. Mewtwo releases Nurse Joy from her hypnosis.
All the meanwhile, Mew has been following Team Rocket into the gigantic fortress built by Mewtwo. Team Rocket's scenes in the cloning room serve to explain the plotlines and the cloning of Mewtwo.
Mewtwo talks some more about his plans to take over the world, killing all slave Pokémon and their trainers. Ash says that he and his Pokémon are friends (warm fuzzy moment), and he challenges Mewtwo to a match: his Charizard and the other trainers' Blastoise and Venusaur against Mewtwo's own. The Venusaur and Blastoise are easily beaten by Mewtwo's, but then Ash's Charizard gets to battle. Charizard puts up a good fight, but Mewtwo's Charizard is too fast for it.
After the battle, Mewtwo uses special flying black PokéBalls to capture all the trainers' Pokémon. Pikachu stays out the longest, but is eventually subdued. The PokéBalls go through a machine while Team Rocket looks on. Clones of all the Pokémon appear in tubes of ooze. The Pokémon are given back to their trainers. Ash enters with the real Pokémon and says he won't let Mewtwo take over the world. He charges Mewtwo. Mewtwo flings him into the air, but Mew appears at the last second to save him. Ash is left on a high-up column far away from the ground while Mewtwo yells at Mew about being superior and all that.
Mewtwo challenges the trainers to another match: their Pokémon versus all of his clones, with no special powers to be used. This means pure physical attacks, without fire, water, electricity, et cetera. The Pokémon go at it, Bulbasaur on Bulbasaur, Gyarados on Gyarados, Psyduck on Psyduck. Mewtwo also begins a fight with Mew, and both fling huge balls of psychokinetic energy at each other.
Misty, Brock, Nurse Joy and the others talk about how Pokémon battling like this is wrong, and that they should all be friends instead of hurting each other. This scene totally ruins an otherwise great movie. Meanwhile, Ash makes his way down the column and charges Mewtwo once again. Mewtwo and Mew simultaneously throw energy balls, and they collide right where Ash is standing. Ash is left either dead or turned to stone (there is much arguing on that topic). The Pokémon and their clones all realize that Ash sacrificed himself for them, so they all become friends and stop battling. They cry over Ash, and their tears resurrect him (just like in the legend).
Mewtwo realizes that not all humans are bad, and neither are their Pokémon. He gives up on his idea of dominating the world. He and Mew take all the clones somewhere, and he wipes everyone's memory of the events that occurred.
The movie ends with Ash on the dock at Old Shore Wharf, catching a glimpse of Mew in the sky. He makes a reference to seeing Ho-Oh in the first episode of the animé. Then, it cuts to Team Rocket alone on the beautiful and fully restored New Island. They decide that they need a vacation, so they stay there for a while. The End.

On the home video, after the credits roll by, a preview for "Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One" plays. It shows several scenes and shots of new and legendary Pokémon, including Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Bellossom, and Elekid.