Review of Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle

I will have to admit: despite growing up with Pokemon, playing all of the games and religiously watching the anime up until the Unova region, I haven’t watched any of the movies or consumed any Pokemon media for a hot minute. I literally think it’s been since my 3DS broke, which was all the way back in 2021. She got me through COVID and then bailed right when the lockdowns lifted.

Anyways, my sister is still a Pokemon nerd to the max, despite approaching her thirties. One night she asked me if I wanted to watch the last Pokemon movie with Ash in it to have a strange sort of reminiscing session, and I agreed to it.

I had no idea Ash was being retired as a character until this moment, so it was kind of bittersweet. I’ll miss that child who never grew up for sure when I want to indulge in all of the childhood nostalgia.

Let’s get into the review of this movie, though, before I start rambling too much.

As Ash continues his journey, he runs into a boy who was raised by a legendary Pokemon in the jungle.

At the beginning of this movie, a legendary Pokemon, Zarude, is by the river when he discovers a human infant. A group of Zarude live in the forest, defending their mythical tree, but this Zarude feels empathy for the kid, as he will not survive on his own.

He brings the child to his clan, but they exile him, unable to bring the human into their ranks. So Zarude leaves behind what he knows to raise the child, naming him Koko and raising him in the forest. Koko is a feral child who knows how to communicate with the Pokemon, but cannot speak the language of humans.

As Ash and Pikachu come to a nearby town, they encounter a group of scientists coming into the forest. They study the jungle and are looking for something specific, and Team Rocket spies on them, deciding to infiltrate the group to find out more about what they’re really trying to do.

Koko has a fight with Zarude, and he runs away. He gets caught in a waterfall, then ends up in front of Ash. Ash takes him to the nearby town for treatment, and Koko, who wakes up and never has been in such a place, panics. Pikachu and Ash chase after him, and Pikachu is able to communicate with Koko.

Turns out he has never seen humans before, and thinks he’s a Pokemon. Ash and Pikachu take him in and give a tour of the town, but then they wander back into the forest, where they meet Zarude. Zarude confesses to Koko everything, specifically about how Koko is a human.

He brings them to the abandoned lab where Koko’s parents worked, then flees through the roof to return to the Great Tree. Realizing the connection between the scientists and Koko, Ash takes him to the scientists, where he meets with the head scientist: Zed. Zed tells them he knew Koko’s parents, who died in a tragic accident.

Koko’s pendant is taken by Zed and he scans it, trying to find information about the Great Tree. Koko flees the scene after they realize the pendant’s info is corrupted, but turns out Zed is a bad guy, as he planted trackers on Koko. Much to the shock of the other scientists, Zed reveals he wants to exploit the tree and the land.

Despite their best efforts, Zed’s machinery continues tearing down the forest. Zed fires missiles at the tree, creating holes that leak the water. Zed also confesses by this point that he caused Koko’s parents’ deaths, as he disagreed with their decision to leave the tree alone.

Zarude comes to the scene and fights with his tribe, but they are overpowered. He convinces the other Pokemon, who distrust the Zarude because of their forest monopoly, to fight against Zed. As Zarude lays dying, the other Pokemon help take down the intruders, and Team Rocket gathers the evidence to help Zed get arrested.

Koko decides to leave Zarude and explore the world with a photo of his parents. As Ash leaves, he watches as the Zarude make the springs into a geyser,then he leaves as well. Zarude also sees a shiny Celebi, having finally emerged with harmony in the forest and its Pokemon.

Overall Thoughts

I think the golden era of Pokemon movies was the Hoenn region. Nothing beats those movies if we’re going to be honest—the narrative and emotional arcs reminded me of the classic Mewtwo movie that came out when I was a kid.

This film, however, was missing that oomph factor. To me, it felt like it was just going through the motions in what a Pokemon movie should appear to be. I wanted more from it.

Koko is such an interesting character, but the villain is also just not interesting and we don’t really get a storyline for Koko that isn’t cliche. All of this is to say I’ve seen this before, it’s not unique.

Go watch this if it interests you, though.

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