For a franchise as massive as Pokémon, it’s surprising that there haven’t been more forays into the world of live-action films and series. Warner Bros. produced the first mainstream attempt to do so in 2019 with Detective Pikachu, but there have yet to be any real developments on a sequel to that film. A few years ago, it was also reported that Netflix was in early development on a live-action Pokémon television series, but any movement on that also seems to have slowed.
Considering Pokémon is one of the most profitable franchises in the world, spanning from video games to animated series, trading cards, and so much more, it’s only a matter of time before the franchise makes its way into live-action again. Thankfully, as there is already so much material, that means that whoever ends up producing a new movie or series will have plenty of options to pull from. Here are some of the best Pokémon stories that should be adapted into live-action.
Update January 20, 2024: This article has been updated with more potential storylines a live-action Pokémon story should adapt.
The Original Anime
The Pokémon Company
This one is pretty obvious. The most well-known story from the Pokémon universe is that of Ash, Pikachu, and their assortment of friends traveling throughout the Kanto region. They collect gym badges, catch new Pokémon companions, and fight against the evil criminal organization, Team Rocket. It’s everything you could want from a Pokémon story, and it’s genuinely surprising that this series hasn’t gotten the live-action treatment already. Plus, with a franchise this massive and characters this memorable, there would be no shortage of major actors willing to take on the roles.
An Unequaled Classic
Considering there is so much that happens in the early Indigo League arc of the Pokémon anime, there would be many different avenues that could be taken in a live-action film. The best bet would be to focus on the young Ash Ketchum receiving his Pikachu partner and starting off on his adventure. Various episodes from throughout the series could be worked into the story, and the film could really just be the setup for a much larger series. Ash could battle and befriend Brock and Misty while also competing against his rival Gary Oak. It’s pretty straightforward, but it’s a story that is proven to work. It would certainly have a massive nostalgia factor that would get audiences interested.
Pokémon: The First Movie
This is another story that centers around Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Misty and their adventures. However, Pokémon: The First Movie has the benefit of having a much more focused story than the original Indigo League arc. It’s a much more dramatic story involving the mythical Pokémon Mew and the creation of one of the franchise’s most iconic creatures, Mewtwo. As the artificially created Mewtwo begins to question the justness of the world around him, he aims to create a new world that frees Pokémon from their ties to humanity. However, the bonds between Ash and his friends and Pokémon show Mewtwo that there is good in the world. Ultimately, it leads to an immensely emotional conclusion with Ash sacrificing himself for his friends, only to be saved by his Pikachu. It’s a story that works just as well for kids as it does adults, and telling it in live-action is sure to be a slam dunk.
Channeling Nostalgia
The only issue with adapting the story of Pokémon: The First Movie into live-action is that elements of that story were already brought into the Detective Pikachu film. That movie already starred a Pikachu character and used Mewtwo as its central antagonistic force, so doing the same thing again might come off as a bit repetitive. However, the Pokémon series as a whole has always been fairly repetitive, and yet it continues to be massively successful. So perhaps that wouldn’t be as big an issue as it may initially seem. Seeing the massive spectacle of Mewtwo and his clone Pokémon army could be a massive live-action spectacle, one that could benefit from modern CGI that could capture the epic scale and weight of fight sequences seen in other live-action cartoons turned movies like Transformers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Pokemon: The First Movie
- Release Date
- July 18, 1998
- Director
- Michael Haigney , Kunihiko Yuyama
- Cast
- Veronica Taylor , Philip Bartlett , Rachael Lillis , Eric Stuart , Madeleine Blaustein , Ikue Ootani
- Runtime
- 75
The Sinnoh Region
The Pokémon Company International
For big theatrical films, one ingredient that is becoming more and more utilized these days is spectacle. Nowhere is spectacle more present in the Pokémon series than in the Sinnoh region of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. The Sinnoh region is a fan favorite, as evidenced by the recent success of the games Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as Pokémon Legend Arceus, and it’s one that would translate incredibly well into live-action. This is the region in which the series started to delve into the lore of its universe. It introduces the legendary Pokémon Palkia and Dialga, who rule over all space and time, respectively. They work together to bind everything together, and the game’s antagonist, Cyrus of Team Galactic, aims to use his power to create an entirely new universe for him to rule.
True Fan-Service
The Sinnoh region also features the fan-favorite Pokémon duo of Arceus and Giratina, who, for lack of a better comparison, are basically the god and devil of the Pokémon world. Arceus created everything and rules ambivalently from afar, while Giratina was banished to the Distortion World long ago. The Distortion World is one of the strangest dimensions that has been explored in Pokémon, as it is an ethereal plane where time and space do not flow normally. Everything is twisted, and gravity shifts drastically from one area to the next. Through telling this story of powerful deities, a live-action Pokémon film would be able to bring a new layer of grandiosity to the big screen that many people likely wouldn’t expect from the franchise.
Pokémon Emerald
Pokémon Emerald and the Hoenn Region presents a good mix of the grand scale of the Sinnoh region with a bit of a simpler story. The central conflict of this story exists between two groups, Team Aqua and Team Magma, and at its core it is a story of extreme environmentalism. One group thinks the answer to the world’s problems is to awaken the Pokémon Groudon, who will expand the landmasses of the world, while the other believes the sea Pokémon Kyogre is the key. The tensions between the two groups leads to an immense conflict between the two legendary Pokémon that threatens to destroy the whole region.
A Story with Grand Scale
In order to stop the conflict, the story’s protagonist must delay their journey in order to awaken the sky Pokémon Rayquaza to calm the rage of Groudon and Kyogre. This makes for an adventure story with genuine stakes and danger to it. The protagonist is an average trainer who ends up being the one to save the entire Hoenn region. It’s an excellent example of the “hero’s journey” at work, which makes it a story that audiences would likely find as compelling as it is exhilarating.
Pokémon Ranger
The Pokémon Company
The Pokémon Ranger series of games took a major diversion from the core franchise in terms of gameplay. The series swapped the typical Pokémon trainer setup for the protagonist to play the role of a ranger tasked with keeping communities and towns safe from wild Pokémon. Pokémon Rangers do not capture Pokémon in Pokéballs like their trainer counterparts; instead, they opt to befriend and harness the powers of selected Pokémon to protect the natural order.
A New Approach
Pokémon Rangers have made some appearances in the animated world of the franchise. Several rangers have made brief appearances in various iterations of the show across the years, and were even given their own series, titled Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. A live-action Pokémon Ranger movie would help to diversify the franchise, and subvert audiences’ expectations of what a Pokémon can be.
Pokémon Black and White
As enticing as it may be to bring Ash Ketchum into live-action, the Pokémon series has many more great stories to tell without that character. Arguably the best story to come out of the video games is that of the fifth generation entries, Pokémon Black and White. This story is set in the Unova region, and it was billed as a soft reboot of sorts for the franchise, as it was completely separated from everything that came before it. It even went as far as having an entirely new set of about 150 Pokémon without bringing any of the existing ones into the first Gen five games. This separation from the rest of the franchise means that there’s a lot more wiggle room for the story.
A Morally Ambiguous Story
The central story of the Unova region involves the villainous organization Team Plasma. Despite their role as the villains in the games, the team is much more nuanced than the likes of Team Rocket. Plasma’s goal is to liberate all Pokémon from the captivity of the trainer-led society. They believe that Pokémon should not be captured or made to battle, and they enforce this view by stealing and releasing trainers’ Pokémon. It’s the first time in the series that the bad guys have genuinely had a good point, even if they did it incorrectly. The Unova games also introduced the character of N, who is one of the most dynamic of the entire series. N is a key figure in Team Plasma, eventually becoming their King. N is the central reasonable voice behind the group. He was an orphan raised by Pokémon and, therefore, has a very strong connection with them. When Plasma’s leader, Ghetsis, adopted him, N was propped up as the group’s voice. However, Ghetsis was merely using N to pursue his own selfish ambitions.
The story of Black and White is one of the most ambitious that the Pokémon games have ever tackled, which has made the game a longstanding fan favorite, even if they weren’t received well at first. The level of detail put into the characters, their philosophical differences, and the overall lore of the region make the Unova story stand out from the pack. It’s the most cinematic story the games have told, and it’s primed for a live-action adaptation.
Pokémon Concierge
Pokémon Concierge recently hit Netflix and has been a delight for fans of the franchise. The series is set at Pokémon Resort and revolves around trainers and Pokemon guests having a fun, relaxing vacation. It is a break from the franchise both in terms of tone and style, as it is a stop-motion animated venture.
A Relaxing Change of Pace
Pokémon Concierge shows that not all Pokémon stories have to be about battles and legendary Pokémon. In fact the franchise is so rich that it could feature a nice hang-out adventure focused on various Pokémon and their trainers relaxing. The various different Pokémon could lead to some creative visuals but also make for a more character-centric story. It can also detail the day-to-day life of the employees of the Pokémon Resort, making it both a workplace comedy and akin to a Richard Linklater movie. A vacation story with Pokémon is just to good a storyline to pass up.
