Pokémon Live!

Story

Act 1

The show opens up with a big-screen commercial. A mysterious Gym Leader appears on the screen, inviting trainers to battle him for the one-of-a-kind Diamond Badge. He gives instructions for downloading a map to his secret gym, so trainers can compete for this rare and special badge.

The story begins on a typical day in Pallet Town, and Ash Ketchum is awakened by his mom, Delia, and Professor Oak, who invite him to attend a lecture on Snorlax behaviors (by the mysterious Professor Xalrons, which is "Snorlax" spelled backwards). Ash declines, and jokes about the rumor of Delia and the Professor having a secret relationship. As Oak acts tries to get over that remark, Delia says that she wants to do things with Ash again like they used to. Ash just says he isn't a baby anymore, and should be ready if he runs into Team Rocket today. After they leave, Ash jumps out of bed and dances to the theme song wearing nothing but his shorts.

Just then, Misty and Brock enter his room, ready for today's adventure, which causes Ash to stop dancing and get into his clothes. Ash changes the subject to that of the Diamond Badge, while Brock accidentally sits on the under-the-covers Pikachu, who zaps at him for that. Ash has already downloaded the special map and is ready to compete for the Diamond Badge. Misty is upset, however, because Ash had promised to take her to the movies for her birthday three weeks ago. Ash promises he'll make it up to her somehow, insisting that his friends are important, but so are Pokémon. After the cued live debut of You & Me & Pokémon, the three heroes set off for the mysterious gym.

Meanwhile, several trainers approach the mysterious Gym Leader, each bringing their prized Pokémon, hoping to win the rare Diamond Badge. But the Gym Leader gives them some big trouble, and it's in the form of his super-Pokémon, which he calls MechaMew2. The monstrosity copies Alakazam's Psychic and Venusaur's Poison attacks. When a trainer tries Self-Destruct with his Electrode, MechaMew2 does nothing, since its challenger has already fainted.

After the trainers leave in defeat, the Gym Leader reveals his true identity - Giovanni, the diabolical leader of Team Rocket, with a new scheme for world domination. He has built Mechamew2, based on the powerful Mewtwo he had late in the Kanto adventures and Pokémon - The First Movie. This "mechanical marvel" has only one attack: Learn, which allows it to memorize, copy, and return the attacks of any Pokémon that it battles. Giovanni has advertised the Diamond Badge competition everywhere, luring trainers to battle him, in order for MechaMew2 to learn every possible attack. It's learned almost all the possible attacks, with two exceptions: Thundershock and Thunderbolt - two attacks that Ash's Pikachu happens to use! So, Giovanni then orders Jessie, James, and Meowth to bring him Pikachu, so MechaMew2’s collection of attacks will be complete.

Jessie, James, and Meowth rush to the forest and dig a pit trap, which they plan to use to capture Pikachu. After digging the pit, they hide in the bushes as Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu walk right over the trap without falling in. After they pass, Team Rocket investigates the hole and realizes that they left the supports still in. When Jessie and James stupidly pull out the supports, they both fall into their own trap. A very frustrated Meowth runs off to get a rope to pull them out.
Meanwhile, Misty still feels that Ash is ignoring her as Ash is trying to find his way to the gym, while Brock is trying to pick up all the female trainers in the forest. Ash insists that they stick together by launching into the live version of My Best Friends.

In the meantime, Professor Oak and Ash's mom are approaching the old, run-down building where the Snorlax lecture is supposed to be held. Ash's mom confesses that she feels that she's losing touch with her son. The Professor reassures her, saying that things never stay the same for long. Suddenly, several of Team Rocket's grunts rush out of the shadows and surround Oak and Delia. There is no Snorlax lecture here; it was just a trap by Giovanni to lure Professor Oak into his clutches so he couldn't interfere with his latest scheme. Before he can taunt them with a reprise of Everything Changes, Giovanni recognizes Ash’s mom, saying how long it’s been since he saw her last. Delia insists that anything between them was in the past, but Giovanni just remarks that she has changed as well. I'll get back to you on that.

Back in the forest, Ash and company are totally lost and alone. When Ash finally gets around to asking Brock for the map, Brock sheepishly tells him that he threw it in the river when he asked one of the girl trainers for directions earlier. Misty gets angry with both of the boys, but then they meet a deaf Pokémon Trainer. Brock finally makes himself useful and communicates with the trainer, who agrees to let them share his map on one condition: he and "the guy with the weird hair" must have a battle first, to which Ash agrees. The deaf trainer sends out Jigglypuff, who instantly starts singing and puts everyone who isn't deaf to sleep. When Jigglypuff finishes, it's obviously upset that no one but its trainer (who obviously didn't hear it due to being deaf) stayed awake to hear the song, and starts drawing on their faces, but Jigglypuff is stopped by the trainer and leaves his map with the trio.

Night falls rather quickly, and Misty wakes up to notice how cute sleeping Ash looks with Jigglypuff’s scribbles all over his face. She then launches into her song about wanting to tell him that she loves him but can't due to her fear of rejection. While wiping Jigglypuff's marks off of his face. After she finishes singing, Ash wakes up, wondering aloud who was singing such a beautiful song. Misty ALMOST tells him that she loves him, but gives it a miss and goes straight on to the next part of the path, with the deaf trainer's map and marker smudges still on Brock's face.
Jessie & James, still deep in their pit, are soundly sleeping due to Jigglypuff’s song when Meowth arrives with a rope to pull them out. Meowth, greatly annoyed by his companions' incompetence, starts complaining about them, and is still whining when Jessie and James wake up and climb out and make like they're gonna throw him into the pit. They're equally annoyed with him and his badmouthing them for a while, but sadly realize that Meowth is correct: they are total failures! Meowth then tries to cheer them up; they may be failures, but they’re as perfect at being failures. Jessie & James feel much better about themselves, and they set out to find Pikachu once again, with Meowth wondering if he should have taken up psychology.

Ash and friends have by now arrived at Cerulean Blue Lagoon. Brock asks Ash which Pokémon he’ll use to battle the mysterious gym leader, to which Ash responds with Pikachu. But as the heroes dance to music, appropriately titled Pikachu (I Choose You), Team Rocket appears in their Magikarp submarine and they quickly capture Pikachu in a net. By the time Ash realizes that Pikachu has disappeared, Team Rocket is long gone.

Act 2

Act 2 begins with a scream of "And now for something completely different Dexter, Ash's Pokédex, explains that his role is vital to Ash's success. To ensure that he doesn't screw up on his job, he has enlisted some assistants, called the “Dextettes”, to help him remember all the necessary information about the characteristics of Pokémon.

Back in the story, our heroes return to the forest, with Ash positive that his favorite Pokémon has been kidnapped by Team Rocket again, and suggesting that they split up to find Pikachu. Misty suggests that maybe Pikachu left Ash of his own will because of the trainer's new habit of ignoring his friends (as in, forgetting his own girlfriend's birthday). Or maybe she's just sick of having to put up with his attitude. With that, she runs after Brock, leaving Ash to ponder her words. Of course, I highly doubt Ash really thinks Pikachu's run off, but he's not listening; he's just gotten an opportunity to belt out "The Time Has Come".

Over at the now-not-so-mysterious Gym, Delia and Professor Oak are locked in giant cages located in Giovanni's battle arena. Professor Oak, queasy from the helicopter ride, says to Delia that he won't let Giovanni hurt her, then attempts to open his cage. He then asks what was what with Giovanni's earlier line about seeing Delia again. So Delia tells Professor Oak about her less-than-perfect past and her acquaintance with Giovanni: When she was a teenager, she used to hang out with an unpleasant crowd, a member of which was Giovanni, who started a gang that became Team Rocket. Delia says she straightened her life out once she met Ash’s father. Oak asks if she had ever told Ash the truth about her past, but Delia fears that he wouldn't understand. Giovanni comes in at the end of the backstory-telling, and boasts and gloats to them about the whole plan he described in his song earlier. Not to mention he also bites at good people with a sinister parody of "You & Me & Pokémon".
Jessie and James then arrive in their Boss's arena, bringing the captured Pikachu with them, while singing a shortened version of "Double Trouble". Hoping to finally complete his plan for world domination, Giovanni tells them to "challenge" MechaMew2, using Pikachu (because he can't battle himself). Jessie & James order Pikachu to "do that thing you always do to us" on MechaMew2, but he refuses to listen. He shocks them instead, and the electricity somehow causes the cages to break open, allowing Oak and Delia to escape in the confusion. Giovanni doesn't care about their escape, only thinking of his scheme. Obviously, Giovanni doesn't realize Delia and Oak are most likely to alert the police first. But he does realize that Pikachu's trainer is necessary to make the electric mouse battle. Jessie, James, and Meowth rush off to do their Boss's bidding (again), singing a reprise of "Double Trouble".
Meanwhile, Misty and Brock are searching fruitlessly for Pikachu, and Brock asks Misty if she really believes that Ash’s Pokémon ran away. After all, Ash may ignore his friends sometimes, but he always treats his Pokémon well. Misty sighs, saying that she doesn’t believe Pikachu ran away, but she wanted Ash to realize that he’s alienating his friends. She then croons about Ash forgetting her birthday by asking why some guys never notice girls. But Brock, not giving a hoot about Misty's problem, instead strays off track to treat the viewers to the live unveiling of "Two Perfect Girls".

Not too far away, Delia and Professor Oak, rushing through the forest to escape, are continuing their discussion about her past. She is afraid to tell Ash, even though she wants him to know the truth about what happened years ago. Obviously, Giovanni has nothing to worry about, because they're not even bothering to alert the police at all. In a nearby part of the forest, Misty yearns to tell Ash her love for him, but as mentioned before, she is also afraid. These fears are expressed in a new song called "I've Got a Secret". Not far away, Ash sings as well, but he isn't hiding anything; he just believes he should get on with his life without Pikachu.

Soon, all three groups come upon each other in the forest. Oak tells Ash that Giovanni is the mysterious gym leader, and he has Pikachu in his hideout. Ash is furious, determined to get his Pokémon back and win the Diamond Badge. Somehow, Ash already knows who Giovanni is, despite the fact that they never actually met until much later on in Mewtwo Returns (hence why Giovanni still remembers Mewtwo - this show came out before Mewtwo Returns even aired in Japan). But before he gets going, Delia quickly tells Ash of her past, despite that she's still afraid of what he'll think of it. Instead, Ash understands, and is even more determined to defeat Giovanni.

Suddenly, Jessie and James appear on scooters, ordering Ash to come with them. They are utterly shocked when Ash agrees to come with them, and follows them calmly without a fight. As they leave, Ash’s mom is surprised that her son understood her situation, and doesn’t think less of her because she had a bad past. She realizes that Ash growing up might not be such a bad thing, that maybe change can be good.

Jessie and James gleefully enter Giovanni's arena, announcing that now they’ve also got Ash! After a few moments of this, Giovanni grows a bit annoyed and orders them to leave. They go "blasting off again" out of the arena (and the story), and somehow crash their scooters. Meowth shakes his head and follows them off the stage. Joyfully reunited with Pikachu, Ash prepares to battle Giovanni for the Diamond Badge, while the Team Rocket leader sneers that he doesn't stand a chance by way of another new song titled "You Just Can't Win". Giovanni mockingly gives Ash the Diamond Badge before the battle, saying he'll retrieve it after Ash loses. Determined to win, Ash orders Pikachu to Thundershock, then Thunderbolt MechaMew2. The mechanical Pokémon doesn't appear to have felt the effects of either attack, and Ash is speechless as Giovanni proclaims utter victory, since his Pokémon has now learned every single attack.

Having conquered the world, the Boss orders MechaMew2 to get Ash to change his name to "the late Ash Ketchum", when suddenly, Mewtwo himself makes a grand entrance. Ash doesn't remember him, but Giovanni does. Mewtwo attacks his mechanical counterpart with a strange new attack that appears to be a collection of Ash's happy memories. MechaMew2 "Learns" this attack but nothing happens. Giovanni is furious that his Pokémon isn't reacting when MechaMew2 starts talking. The attack it just learned from Mewtwo was "love, friendship, and caring." Having learned these virtues, MechaMew2 turns on his masters and grabs Giovanni around the neck, MechaMew2 prepares to use a final attack on Giovanni and the whole building: Selfdestruct. Giovanni tries to bargain with his creation, offering a partnership, but MechaMew2 explodes. And somehow, Ash, Pikachu, Mewtwo, and even Giovanni survive. MechaMew2's scarifice was in vain.
Ash asks Mewtwo how the mechanical Pokémon was defeated, and Mewtwo says that it took Ash's memories and love to defeat the creature. Mewtwo then makes his dramatic exit as Ash's friends come in, asking what just happened here. Reaching into his pocket, Ash pulls out the Diamond Badge, saying that he won after all. Then, much to the delight of Ash/Misty fans everywhere, he gives it to Misty, calling it a late birthday present. Everyone's so happy they sing the last song: "Finale", which mixes "You & Me & Pokémon" with the chorus of "My Best Friends".