21st Pokemon Movie ‘The Power of Us’ Coming to Theaters Around Thanksgiving!

The 21st Pokemon movie will be named The Power Of Us and will play in select theaters in the United States and internationally on November 24th, 26th, and 28th, and December 1st, which is around Thanksgiving break.

Like last year’s release of Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You, Fathom Events will be collaborating with Pokemon to bring the film to theaters. More information about participating movie theaters, screening dates, and ticketing will be announced soon.

The movie debuted in Japan earlier this month. It features a new art style and takes place in a different continuity than previous Pokemon films:

Pokemon the Movie: The Power of Us tells the story of Ash and Pikachu as they journey to a small seaside town filled with a diverse set of characters, including a young athlete, a compulsive liar, a shy researcher, a bitter old woman, and a little girl with a big secret.

Every year, the townspeople gather to celebrate the Legendary Pokemon Lugia, who brings the wind that saved the town from destruction many years ago. The festival is a time for celebration, with a Pokemon Catching Race and a ceremonial flame burning brightly to summon Lugia.

But when a series of incidents threatens not just the festival, but all the people and Pokemon who call the town home, it’s going to take more than just Ash and Pikachu to save the day. Will these people be able to put aside their differences and work together to rescue their town? Or will it all end in destruction?

Many who saw the film in Japan this month described it as “touching,” more about human problems, and different in style than all previous Pokemon films. That’s probably because this is the first ever Pokemon film to feature a new director. The film is also meant to appeal to the casual Pokemon fans that Pokemon GO brought to the franchise, hence the diverse cast of human characters and their “human” issues. You don’t have to be knowledgeable in Pokemon to enjoy this film, hence the film’s original Japanese title — Everyone’s Story.

The English title is an obvious throwback to the English title of the second Pokemon film, The Power of One, which also featured Lugia. Of note, the original Japanese version of that film was about everyone working together to bring the legendary treasures together. But it was the ’90s and we were in the “everyone is special” phase, so 4Kids added the “one person can make all the difference” moral and changed Ash to the “Chosen One,” which contradicted the original theme of the film in which all of the characters actively come together to help bring the world back into balance. So the English title of this new 21st movie, The Power of Us, is a pretty fitting response!

Hopefully the dub will keep Shinji Miyazaki’s original soundtrack… though TPCi has replaced all music in recent films with cheap replacements.