Charmander's voice calls out from the darkness if Squirtle is okay. The sleeping boy wakes up, and can't believe himself when he sees a talking Charmander. Charmander then points out that he's a Pokémon too. The boy takes a look at his reflection at a river besides him, and sees that it is true! He has turned into a Squirtle, and has no recollection at all how this had happened.
Acting
Sakaguchi's Charmander carries chaotic little-brother energy perfectly.
Production
Gorgeous hand-drawn Pokémon designs that the main anime wishes it had.
Writing
Surprisingly tight worldbuilding for a 22-minute pilot.
Director
Kunihiko Yuyama
Sanae Kobayashi
Zenigame (voice)
Daisuke Sakaguchi
Hitokage (voice)
Yukana
Chikorita (voice)
Nobutoshi Canna
Gengar (voice)
TARAKO
Charem (voice)
Michael Shitanda
Arbo (voice)
Tomoe Hanba
Pikachu (voice)
Mika Kikuchi
Pichu (voice)
Miki Narahashi
Airmd (voice)
Kenta Miyake
Namazun (voice)
Akio Suyama
Bulu (voice)
Kozo Mito
Madatsubomi (voice)
Kenjiro Tsuda
Hasubrero (voice)
Kiyotaka Furushima
Kakureon (voice)
Ai Satou
Garura-obasan (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This special was created to promote the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team games, which sold over 3 million copies combined.
The Mystery Dungeon subseries became a cult favorite specifically because of its surprisingly melancholic stories about identity and belonging — this 22-minute special accidentally became the franchise's most emotionally resonant animation.
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