Pokémon the Movie: Black And White

Pokémon The Movie: White—Victini and Zekrom and Pokémon The Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram (known in Japan as Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom and Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram) are a pair of Pokémon movies that together are the 14th movie in the franchise. It follows Ash, Iris, and Cilan meeting the legendary Pokémon known as Victini at the site of an ancient kingdom. The main antagonist is Damon, a descendant of the People of the Earth who wants to restore their kingdom, and will use whatever means necessary to do so.

The White movie got a limited theatrical release in the US starting on December 3; the Black movie was shown on Cartoon Network the following week.


 * Action Mom: Juanita.
 * American Kirby Is Hardcore / Wolverine Publicity: Compare one of the Japanese posters to its English equivalent.
 * Anti-Villain: Damon; Type III.
 * The Chosen One: Ash and Damon are chosen by their respective Legendaries.
 * Cute Shotaro Boy: Damon when he was younger.
 * Darker and Edgier
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Zekrom, in the White movie.
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: Damon's Gothitelle in Black.
 * Gilded Cage: Victini is unable to go beyond the barrier surrounding Eindoak Town. The area is certainly beautiful, and Victini has plenty of friends among the local wild Pokemon, but it's been trapped there for 1,000 years.
 * Guttural Growler: Zekrom.
 * Heel Face Turn: Damon realizes his mistake and attempts to help save Ash and Victini.
 * Heroic Second Wind: Victini, being the Victory Pokemon, gives this to Ash's Pokemon during Eindoak Town's Pokemon competition, making it so that Tepig and Scraggy are the ones delivering Curb Stomp Battles instead of receiving them from a Samurott and a Hydreigon, respectively.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: The dub is more notable here than usual -- J Michael Tatum as Damon and Leah Clark as Carlita! In both versions, Nana Mizuki plays Victini.
 * Hot Mom: Juanita in the flashback.
 * Light Is Not Good: Reshiram, in the White version.
 * Merchandise-Driven: See One Game for the Price of Two.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Damon after he realizes that his plan will destroy the world.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: In Japanese, Damon is named Dread Grangil.
 * Ominous Floating Castle: The Earth Sword
 * One Movie For The Price Of Two: The movies are almost identical, with only a few minor, cosmetic differences. Given that it's Pokémon, this worked surprisingly well.
 * Only the Worthy May Pass: Only The Chosen One can progress beyond a certain point in the caverns beneath the castle. Anyone else will just keep going around in circles.
 * Single Tear: When Ash thinks he's about to die from cold and oxygen loss.
 * Space Is Cold: When the castle rises up it gets so cold that Ash's tear freezes solid before it hits the ground.
 * Sweet Tooth: Victini is a huge fan of Cilan's macarons.
 * Talking to Himself: Both Reshiram and Zekrom are voiced by Marc Thompson in the English version.
 * Vocal Dissonance: Carlita's Hydreigon in the Japanese version has a cry that sounds like a very high-pitched shriek. In the English dub, this was replaced with a slightly deeper growl. (In both cases, the cry sounds vaguely like its name in the respective language, similar to Charizard with its Japanese name. No word on whether other foreign dubs will use its English cry or dub it again.)
 * Also, Samurott Pokémon Speaks in a gruff woman's voice in the dub. It could well be female, but a female voice wouldn't be the first thing to come to mind when thinking of a bearded samurai sea lion.
 * Despite technically being genderless, Reshiram speaks with a distinctly masculine voice in both the Japanese and English versions, contrasting its feminine appearance.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Damon wants to restore the Kingdom of the Vale to its former glory, blissfully unaware (until his plan is underway) that the resulting Dragon Force upheaval would cause catastrophic damage to the land. He is quick to do everything in his power to repent once the truth is revealed to him.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: The unimportant People of the Vale disappear half-way through the flying castle sequence and aren't shown evacuating with everyone else, though the end credits show them celebrating with everyone else.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Reshiram and Zekrom. Despite what the trailers would imply, the dragon mascot of each movie only appears for about 15 minutes, with Damon's dragon getting (a bit) more screen time. Most of the movie focuses on Ash, Pikachu and Victini (along with Cilan and Iris).
 * You Gotta Have Black-and-White Hair: Damon's hair coloring is wildly improbable, even for this series. The flashback scene implies it's natural.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: The unimportant People of the Vale disappear half-way through the flying castle sequence and aren't shown evacuating with everyone else, though the end credits show them celebrating with everyone else.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Reshiram and Zekrom. Despite what the trailers would imply, the dragon mascot of each movie only appears for about 15 minutes, with Damon's dragon getting (a bit) more screen time. Most of the movie focuses on Ash, Pikachu and Victini (along with Cilan and Iris).
 * You Gotta Have Black-and-White Hair: Damon's hair coloring is wildly improbable, even for this series. The flashback scene implies it's natural.