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YMMV / Pokémon Live!

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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: The show makes it clear that Delia left Giovanni for Ash's father, however fans are more likely to reinterpret Giovanni as Ash's dad, which was originally planned. Not helping are comments that imply they had sex at least once, as well as the show writer saying in an interview that the implication was intentional.
  • Awesome Music:
    • You Just Can't Win for all the fans who would've liked to see Ash and Giovanni actually face each other. This was the closest they'd come to a fight until the Best Wishes series 13 years later. The song is made even cooler in context, as it takes place after MechaMew2 defeats Pikachu, so Ash tries to fight Giovanni himself.
    • Team Rocket's Rockin' (Double Trouble) is pretty damn awesome. As is Giovanni's Villain Song.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
    • Two Perfect Girls has no plot relevance and seems to be in the show because it was on the CD soundtracks, and to showcase Brock's awesome dancing skills.
    • What Kind of Pokémon are You?, a song performed by a man representing Dexter, Ash's PokéDex.
    • Psyduck's cameos, which are used to change sets.
  • Epileptic Trees: The show having Giovanni be Ash's father in an earlier draft, as well as the finished product having him date Delia before she met her husband, gave credence to the "Giovanni is Ash's father" theory for the main anime. An interview with the writer of the show revealed this was intentional, stating the intent was to imply Giovanni was Ash's biological father before Delia met the man she eventually married.
  • Evil Is Cool: Giovanni, Team Rocket, and even the Rocket Grunts completely steal the show.
  • Fanfic Fuel: Delia being a Former Teen Rebel and dating Giovanni in the past. It gets used in a lot of fan-works and brought up in "Giovanni is Ash's dad" theories.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Giovanni's claim that he'll tell the sun to shine on "only him" at first is just standard fare villainous gloating, but it's not just an empty claim. MechaMewTwo, knowing both Sunny Day and Rain Dance, can control the weather.
  • Ham and Cheese: Darren Dunstan's performance as Giovanni is reminiscent of Raul Julia in the Street Fighter live-action film.
  • Harsher in Hindsight: "My Best Friends" talks about how Ash, Misty and Brock will adventure together forever, which is awkward since Misty and (much later) Brock were Put on a Bus and stopped traveling with Ash. It became Heartwarming in Hindsight with their return appearances in the Sun/Moon anime, though.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Delia's reluctance to watch Ash grow up, since Ash in the anime is eternally 10.
    • "My Best Friends" is a little awkward since Misty and Brock have left the show.
    • During Giovanni's Villain Song, he refers to MechaMew2 as a Mechanical Marvel, which later became a movie title, and Magearna's status as an artificial Pokémon made by humans also brings the musical to mind. Spoofed here.
    • Giovanni being played by Darren Dunstan, who dubbed Maximillion Pegasus, Yu-Gi-Oh!'s first Arc Villain, becomes this when you realize that Giovanni's dub actor in the anime, Ted Lewis, also did the voice of Yami Bakura, the Big Bad of the latter series who at one point puts Pegasus in a coma while stealing his Millennium Eye.
  • Just Here for Godzilla: A lot of people watch copies of the show either for Andrew Rannells or because of the unique plot points (Giovanni and Delia having a history, MechaMew2, Ash fighting Giovanni himself, etc).
  • Magnificent Bastard: Giovanni, as always, is the charismatic leader of Team Rocket out to conquer the world. Building the MechaMew2 robot after failing to capture Mewtwo, Giovanni lures trainers to his gym with his Diamond Badge, having MechaMew2 copy various Pokémon's attacks and using them against its opponents. Having defeated hundreds of trainers with this tactic in a single day, Giovanni plans to use the attacks copied by his mechanical marvel to gain world domination. Also having had a romance with Delia Ketchum when they were teenagers, Giovanni lures her and Professor Oak into a trap, kidnapping them to force them both to witness his victory. Luring Ash to him after acquiring his Pikachu, Giovanni easily defeats the Pokémon and orders MechaMew2 to kill Ash once and for all. Despite Mewtwo suddenly stepping in and saving the day, Giovanni still proved to be a cunning mastermind prideful of his own manipulation skills.
  • Memetic Mutation: Joking about Andrew Rannells playing James is commonplace, especially since he hated working on the show.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Giovanni orders MechaMew2 to attack Ash, a 10 year old boy whom he knows is the child of his ex-girlfriend, directly.
  • Narm:
    • Most of the songs are well-sung, and many are quite heartfelt, but as soon as the word "Pokémon" pops up, you can't help but laugh a little bit.
    • The entire show thanks to the Dawson Casting and plot elements that feel lifted from a fanfic (such as MechaMew2 and Delia's secret past). It gets this even more in hindsight as the plot revolves around Ash growing up and him staying with Misty and Brock, which the anime itself moved on from.
    • "I've Got A Secret" is a perfectly fine ballad about keeping secrets, until Misty sings "But he shares it all with Pokémon" and that kills the momentum.
  • Only the Author Can Save Them Now: If Mewtwo had not shown up, there is no way that Ash would have been able to beat Giovanni on his own.
  • Realism-Induced Horror: Delia is scared of Ash confronting Team Rocket, not only because of the fear that he might be hurt, but because she used to date Giovanni and doesn't know how he'll take the news. It's implied she worries he'll hate her like he does the rest of Team Rocket.
  • Relationship Writing Fumble: Originally, Giovanni was Ash's father, rather than Delia dating him before she met Ash's father. However, they still have a lot of subtext and innuendo together in the finished product, and as a result it's easy to see Giovanni still being Ash's biological father. This turned out to be invoked by the writer, whose intent was to suggest he was Ash's father rather than outright say it.
  • Retroactive Recognition: Yes, that's Tony-nominated Broadway star Andrew Rannells as James; he'd also play Harley in the Pokémon anime and Noah and Leon in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Yu-Gi-Oh fans may also recognize Giovanni as Darren Dunstan, the English dub actor for Maximillion Pegasus.
  • Rooting for the Empire: Some viewers wanted Giovanni to win, especially since Team Rocket gets the best songs.
  • So Bad, It's Good: Again, it probably would have been just plain good if Pokémon hadn't been involved.
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: An interview Game Informer held with the writer of the show lampshaded that a big part of the musical's plot is a ten-year-old dealing with the concept of his mom's previous boyfriend being a renowned criminal.

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