Pokemon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel

Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, known in Japan as Pokémon the Movie XY&Z: Volcanion and the Exquisite Magearna is a 2016 Japanese anime film produced by OLM, the third and final film in the Pokémon: XY series, and the nineteenth Pokémon film overall. This film is written the screenplay by Jared Bush which is translated with Japanese by Atsuhiro Tomioka with John Musker and Ron Clements as the directors. It was released in Japan on July 16, 2016. It was scheduled for release in some North American and European territories later that year. The movie premiered in the US on Disney XD on December 5, 2016. The movie premiered in the UK on CITV on November 19, 2016. The movie was released on DVD in the United States on March 21, 2017. The movie was released on DVD And Blu-Ray in the UK on May 15, 2017.

Plot
On his way to becoming a Pokémon Master, Ash Ketchum and his companions continue on with their journey. But suddenly, a large mass enveloped in white smoke descends from the sky and lands in front of the group. Surrounding the area with white smoke, is a powerful Mythical Pokémon called Volcanion. Coming from the remote Nebel Plateau, Volcanion lives with Pokémon harmed by humans, and thus holds great distaste towards them. Ignoring the concerns of Ash and his friends, Volcanion immediately tries to leave, but a mysterious force binds Volcanion and Ash to each other. Finding themselves unable to separate, Ash is dragged along as Volcanion continues on his mission. In a city where large cogs and gears run continuously, a corrupt councillor of the Azoth Kingdom has obtained the ultimate invention: the Artificial Pokémon Magearna. She was created 500 years ago and since lost, until the councillor found and kidnapped her from the Nebel Plateau. The councillor plans to use Magearna's mysterious power of her "Soul Heart" to take control of the mechanical kingdom. Now forced to work with each other, Ash and Volcanion must save Magearna from the corrupt councillor before he takes control of the Azoth Kingdom. In the end, Volcanion accepts Ash and the others as friends.

Cast
Guest characters:


 * Volcanion is the Steam Pokémon, who watches over the Nebel Plateau and is distrustful of humans. He is voiced by Somegoro Ichikawa in Japanese and Dwayne Johnson in English.
 * Magearna is an artificial Pokémon created in the Azoth Kingdom, which she fled to prevent misuse of her power. She is Volcanion's best friend. She is voiced by Yuka Terasaki in Japanese and Katie Crown in English.
 * Alva is a sadistic councilor of the Azoth Kingdom and the main antagonist, who desires the power of Magearna's "Soul-Heart" for his own ends. His main Pokémon is a Shiny Gengar. He is voiced by Koichi Yamadera in Japanese and Jemaine Clemont in English. In the English dub trailer, he was voiced by Jeremy Irons.
 * Kimia is the Princess of the Azoth Kingdom, who prefers to look forward rather than behind. She is skilled with a variety of machinery. She is assisted by an alternate-colored Gardevoir, who can Mega Evolve. She is voiced by Mayu Matsuoka in Japanese and Tilda Swinton in English.
 * Raleigh is the Prince of the Azoth Kingdom and Kimia's younger brother. He is friendly and well-meaning. He is naive due to his fixation with history. He is accompanied by a Slurpuff. He is voiced by Shoko Nakagawa in Japanese (who also celebrated her tenth anniversary in the film series and the franchise) and Anton Starkman in English.
 * Nikola is a scientist of the Azoth Kingdom half a millennium in the past who created Magearna. He is the ancestor of Kimia and Raleigh. He is voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura in Japanese and Bill Paxton in English.
 * Levi and Cherie are Alva's henchman and henchwoman, who control his Mega Evolved Pokémon army. They were voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor (Levi) and Daisy Ridley (Cherie) in English.
 * Flamel is Kimia's personal assistant. She is voiced by Jennifer Aniston in English.
 * Zygarde is Legendary Pokémon. He is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch in English.

Production
A teaser of the film was first revealed after the screening of Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages in Japan. Its temporary title and featured Pokémon was later revealed in the January issue of the CoroCoro Comic on December 15, 2015. It was temporarily titled Pokémon the Movie XY&Z. In the March 2016 issue of the CoroCoro Comic, the 7th Generation Pokémon Magearna was revealed and announced as another one of its stars. As part of the promotions for the film, The Pokémon Company hosted a general election for fans to vote which of the 720 Pokémon is their favorite Pokémon, which ran from April 16, 2016 to May 8, 2016.

Music
The songs were written by Mark Mancina, Paul McCartney and Lin-Manuel Miranda, while the score was written by Mancina. The movie's ending song is titled "Post ni koe o nageirete" (lit.Mailing out My Voice) by YUKI.

Box office
This film ranked 4th on the Japanese box office grossing ¥323,901,600 ($3.09 million) in its first weekend on 366 screens with 289,971 admissions. On its third day of release (Marine day), it grossed a total of ¥475,547,600 ($4.6 million) with a total of 430,987 admissions. This film grossed second lowest in the opening weekend in its film franchise.