Ah, Pikachu – everyone’s favourite electric mouse that even your grandma knows about. For years, this little critter has enthralled the world, becoming the Pokémon icon in the process. But just when you thought that “pika-pi” would be immortalized in cartoon history, Pikachu starts speaking English.
Yep, we checked the sky; pigs aren’t flying. The English language really came out of Pikachu’s mouth, and not in one or two words, mind you, but in properly formed sentences. That disturbing scene was shown in a screening of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You, where Ash Ketchum shields Pikachu from what appears to be impending doom.
Hi, I am just learning that Pikachu speaks English in the new Pokemon movie and, yes, it is extremely fucking weird pic.twitter.com/k5hm5lyW7Y
— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) November 13, 2017
When Ash asks Pikachu why it never wants to go inside a Pokéball, Pikachu responds in a sickly, sweet voice, saying that it “always wants to be with him”. The crowd, at first confused, goes berserk, with one member shouting “what the f*ck”, and another heard going “No!”
We guess the weirdness was just too much for them.
In any case, there’s only one Pokémon that should be allowed to speak English, and that’s Meowth. Even if we give this scene the benefit of the doubt and say that Ash is hallucinating, and in his blurred vision, imagines Pikachu speaking, it’s still way too strange to digest. We prefer the whole “I-can-only-say-my-own-name” business.
Whatever the case may be; Pikachu’s English voice actor, Kate Bristol, had no regrets about the controversial scene whatsoever, telling the Guardian Australia that while the line was “out of the ordinary, it was still something she enjoyed.
“Personally, I did my best to mimic [Japanese voice actor] Ikue Otani as she is the master. This part in Japanese is adorable. At the end of the day Pokémon is a good time and I sure as hell enjoyed being a Pikachu for 0.5 seconds,” Bristol said.
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You will debut in theatres on Nov 23.
