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All good things must come to an end, and good is exactly what Pokémon Origins has been. I’ll get to my thoughts on the series as a whole in a bit, but first let’s take a look at the final episode itself. As far as ends go, it was a satisfying one. As is typical up to this point, Episode 4 starts off by zooming through cool and interesting material, this time the entirety of Red’s battles with the Elite Four. Luckily, Red’s encounter with the current champion wasn’t skipped, as Red comes face to face with Blue, who just earned the title. The match-up is exceptionally well-done, with the two adept trainers slugging it out until their starters are the last Pokémon standing. Red’s victory ultimately comes from his more nurturing, caring relationship with his Pokémon, as even though Charizard should be easily outstripped by Blastoise, the Fire-type is able to pull ahead. I would have been happy enough with this as the final battle of the series, but the animators had one last card to play.
Red’s journey continues beyond the Elite Four, as he goes on to complete his Pokédex as promised. Rushing back to show Professor Oak, he finds out that Blue was hurt in a battle with a mysterious, new Pokémon. Blue’s words describing the encounter echo in Red’s mind, until it finally dawns on him that the Pokémon is Mewtwo, who he had read about in a book. Rushing off to capture the one-of-a-kind Pokémon, Red heads into Cerulean Cave for the ultimate face off. This battle totally didn’t disappoint. Mewtwo’s attacks are powerful to the point of being insurmountable, brushing aside Red’s legendary Pokémon like they were so many twigs. Down to his last Pokémon, Red sends out his trusty companion Charizard, and that’s when things got really interesting.
Breaking from the framework of Pokémon Red and Blue, the show brings Mega Evolutions into the mix. During the course of the fight, Charizard, too, finds itself being overpowered by Mewtwo, but on the verge of defeat it evolves into Mega Charizard X. The tables flipped, Mega Charizard whales on Mewtwo, soundly thrashing the Pokémon and leaving it open for Red to capture. Fast, potent, and brutal, this last match was easily the most exciting in all of Origins and the perfect way of capping off the series. Before the credits begin to roll, though, Red remembers that there’s one last Pokémon he still hasn’t caught: Mew. Whether this leads to another series in the future is unknown, but it was nice to see that Red’s spirit of adventure will never be satisfied, as he gets ready to embark on another journey.
As a whole, Pokémon Origins is a very fun, mostly faithful adaptation of the story of Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. While I think Nintendo and The Pokémon Company should have presented all of Red’s adventure for viewers (which I think might have been the case in Japan, because there seem to be much longer, English subtitled videos of the show on the Internet), what is here is still very satisfying. Blue never quite came around as the show hinted at in the second episode, which was disappointing, but that’s just the character’s personality, I suppose. All in all, this was a great way to celebrate Pokémon’s anniversary. Hopefully, we’ll see a disc compilation of the episodes available in stores soon, as this is easily worth adding to any collection alongside the traditional Pokémon anime. All four episodes are still up on Pokémon TV, so if you’ve been waiting to sit and watch it all as a marathon, now’s your chance!
