The Legend of Thunder



A Pokémon Made for TV Movie made to promote Pokémon Crystal version, despite the mascot of Crystal version being Suicune. Features Raikou at the center of a plot by elite Team Rocket agents involving a Power Crystal which drains Raikou's power only to be foiled by a group of meddling kids.


 * Adaptation Dye Job: In order to fit with the character, Marina's design was recolored from her game counterpart's to look more girly than tomboyish (pink instead of red, blue rather than yellow, light blue hair instead of dark blue hair, etc.)
 * Applied Phlebotinum: The Crystal System.
 * Ascended Extra: Professor Sebastian, a One Scene Wonder in the special, went on to become a more important character in the later Lake of Rage two-parter. A Rocket agent working under him there even has the same type of uniform as Atilla and Hun.
 * Bit Character: Kudo. The man has, what? Two minutes of screen time total? About half that in the dub considering that they cut the whole epilogue. (Yet, he somehow earns himself his own eyecatch...)
 * Broken Mon: Raikou. It's... leery of humans. Being continually molested by Team Rocket can't help matters.
 * Butt Monkey: Vincent.
 * Chewing the Scenery: Vincent during the "Marina's gone missing" scene.
 * Catch Phrase: In the English dub, Jimmy normally says "You rock, you rule!" to his Pokémon whenever they win a battle. In the Japanese version, it's, "Okay! Perfect!"
 * Continuity Cameo: The rival from the Gen II games makes a cameo in the Japanese opening theme.
 * Distressed Damsel: Marina
 * The Ditz: Marina.
 * Dub Name Change/Dub Induced Plot Hole: Jackson is renamed "Vincent," and Eusine is renamed "Eugene." Keep in mind that both characters retain their Japanese names (Junichi and, as mentioned above, Minaki).
 * Electric Torture: While Raikou does get shocked a lot, it at one point is also forcibly and painfully drained of its own electrical power.
 * Excited Episode Title: Dub-exclusive, as always.
 * Fan Girl: Marina is a total Lance fangirl. Or as she calls him in the dub... Fabu-Lance!!
 * Genius Bruiser: Attila.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Marina asks Jimmy if he noticed how much she has changed, and flaunts her assets towards Jimmy, who doesn't really care about that.
 * Love Triangle: Jimmy, Marina and Vincent.
 * Lower Deck Episode: Other characters besides Ash and those he knows are the main characters for this special.
 * Million to One Chance: When the Black Hole Crystal activates, Eusine Eugene explains to Jimmy and the others that their only chance of saving Raikou would most likely become a suicide mission if not timed to the right fraction of a second.
 * Moment Killer: Vincent is this when Jimmy and Marina are making eyes at each other at one point. Justified however considering that they were still in danger from the villains,
 * Jimmy's Typhlosion also counts, as when Jimmy and Marina are talking to one another later on and the conversation is getting more serious, Jimmy suddenly looks over to see Typhlosion staring at them. Typhlosion then grins and starts laughing, causing Jimmy to freak out and ask him what's so funny.
 * In the dub, at least, Jimmy was trying to dodge those serious issues at that point in the conversation. Typhlosion's glare tells the viewers its opinion on those issues.
 * Never Say Die: Amazingly, averted by the Macekred dub. Attila outright says "You want to go on a suicide mission, be my guest!"
 * Jimmy also says that Raikou will "perish" if it's not set free. Probably kept in because the proper demographic wouldn't know what "Perish" means.
 * No Pronunciation Guide: Raikou is pronounced Rye-koh . Not Rye-coo!
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: Attila and Hun, Red and Blue respectively.
 * She's a Man In Japan: Subverted with Hun, in that he's also a man in the US script - it's just that someone Did Not Do the Research and assigned a female voice actor for him.
 * Ship Tease: Mostly Jimmy and Marina, but there's quite a bit of Marina and Vincent too.
 * Special Edition Title: Only in the Japanese version
 * Superheroes Wear Capes: Jackson/Vincent wears a cape because of the way Marina idolizes Lance.
 * The Stoic: Hun's only visible emotion can only be described as "bloodlust". Anything else and he maintains a bored facade.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Vincent. In the Johto Silver Conference (where he went by the name "Jackson") he was able to fight Ash to a draw, though he kept the silly attitude and clumsiness.
 * Unknown Rival: Jimmy really doesn't consider Vincent a rival at all, at least in terms of vying for Marina's affections.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Marina.