Pokémon movies are weird. They usually follow a strict recipe: Ash finds a legendary, a villain wants to catch it, and then everything explodes in a flurry of CGI beams. But when Hoopa and the Clash of Ages hit theaters in 2015, things felt different. It wasn’t just another "save the world" story. It was basically the Pokémon version of The Avengers, throwing every heavy hitter from Lugia to Rayquaza into a blender just to see what would happen.
Honestly? It was chaotic.
People either love it for the pure spectacle or hate it because the plot has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. If you grew up with the DS games or spent your Saturday mornings watching the Kalos adventures, this movie was the peak of the "Primal" era. It was the moment The Pokémon Company decided to stop being subtle about power scaling and just let the gods of the universe scrap in the middle of a desert city.
The Problem With Being Too Powerful
Hoopa is a nightmare for writers. Think about it. You have a Pokémon that can literally reach its hand through a hoop and pull anything—a mountain, a donut, or a Primal Groudon—from the other side of the planet. How do you write a coherent story when the protagonist’s friend is a literal teleportation god?
The movie tries to fix this by splitting Hoopa in two. You've got the tiny, "Confined" Hoopa who just wants to eat donuts and be cute, and then there’s the "Unbound" shadow. This shadow is basically the manifestation of Hoopa's ego and rage, trapped in a Prison Bottle for a hundred years.
It's a classic trope.
When the bottle inevitably breaks, the movie stops being a travelogue and becomes a kaiju film. The "Clash of Ages" part of the title isn't a joke; we aren't just talking about one or two Legendaries. We are talking about a full-scale war.
That Legendaries Scene: Fan Service or Fever Dream?
Let’s talk about the desert battle. It’s easily the most ambitious sequence in any Pokémon film, even if it makes zero sense if you think about it for more than ten seconds.
Shadow Hoopa summons:
✨ Don't miss: Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett: Why Fans Are Still Divided Over the Daimyo of Tatooine
- Primal Groudon
- Primal Kyogre
- Dialga
- Palkia
- Giratina
- Kyurem
Then, because Ash is Ash, he gets the "good" Hoopa to summon his own backup. Suddenly, we’ve got a Shiny Mega Rayquaza, Latios, and Latias flying around Dahara City like it’s a competitive VGC match on steroids.
It’s visually stunning. Seeing Primal Groudon stomp through a modern skyscraper while Dialga fires a Roar of Time overhead is exactly what 10-year-olds (and 30-year-olds) want to see. But the power levels are all over the place. In the games, these creatures are world-enders. In Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, they kind of just feel like Shadow Hoopa’s puppets.
There’s a specific moment where Rayquaza uses Dragon Ascent to weave through the city streets that still stands out as some of the best animation the OLM studio has ever produced. It’s fluid. It’s fast. It captures the sheer scale of Mega Evolution in a way the TV show rarely could.
Why Dahara City Matters
Dahara City itself is clearly modeled after Dubai. You’ve got the massive towers, the desert heat, and the feeling of sudden, artificial wealth. The lore says the city grew prosperous because Hoopa used its rings to bring gold and resources to the people.
It’s a bit dark if you dwell on it.
The city literally worshipped a Pokémon for its ability to steal things from elsewhere. When the people got too greedy and Hoopa got too cocky, the "Unbound" form destroyed everything. This backstory is told through some pretty effective flashbacks that give the movie more emotional weight than your average Pokémon flick. It’s a story about boundaries. Or, more accurately, what happens when you don't have any.
The Voice Acting and the "Ale Hoopa Ring" Problem
If you watched the English dub, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Hoopa’s catchphrase.
"Ale Hoopa Ring!"
🔗 Read more: Why Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Actors Still Define the Modern Spy Thriller
It’s polarizing. Some fans find it charming, others find it grating enough to watch the movie on mute. Hoopa (in its Confined form) is voiced by Lori Phillips in the English version, and she leans hard into the "mischievous toddler" vibe. It fits the character, but it marks a shift in how Pokémon movies were being handled. They were becoming much more kid-centric compared to the darker, more philosophical tones of Mewtwo Strikes Back or Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
The Japanese version, The Archdjinni of the Rings: Hoopa, feels slightly more epic in scope, but the core issue remains: the dialogue is mostly just characters screaming names of attacks.
Technical Glitches in the Narrative
Wait, why didn't Groudon just walk home?
One of the funniest things about Hoopa and the Clash of Ages is the ending. After the big climactic battle, the legendary Pokémon are freed from the mind control. Most of them just fly away. Lugia dives into the ocean. Rayquaza goes to the ozone layer.
But Groudon? Groudon can’t fly.
The movie literally ends with Primal Groudon—a literal god of the earth—trudging slowly across the ocean floor or walking across a desert to get back to Hoenn. It’s a massive plot hole that the community has turned into a meme. It highlights the problem with "summoning" movies; once the spectacle is over, the logistics of getting everyone home are a nightmare.
Also, the "Time-Space Distortion" that threatens the city at the end feels a bit forced. It’s like the writers realized the battle was over but they still had twelve minutes of runtime to fill, so they invented a literal "wall of deletion" that Ash and Hoopa had to outrun.
Legacy of the 18th Movie
Does it hold up? Sort of.
💡 You might also like: The Entire History of You: What Most People Get Wrong About the Grain
If you view it as a tech demo for what the 3DS era of Pokémon looked like at its peak, it’s great. It showcased the "Mega Evolution" gimmick better than almost any other piece of media. It also introduced Hoopa Unbound, which remains one of the most uniquely designed Pokémon in the entire Pokédex.
But as a story? It’s thin.
Compare it to Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, which came out a year later. Volcanion had a tighter script and a more focused emotional core. Hoopa, by comparison, feels like a giant toy box that someone dumped out on the floor.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you just want to see a Shiny Rayquaza fight a Shadow Hoopa.
What You Should Take Away
If you're revisiting Hoopa and the Clash of Ages or watching it for the first time, keep your expectations in check regarding the plot. Focus on the animation of the Primal reversions and the sheer absurdity of the lineup.
- Watch the Japanese version if you want a slightly more serious tone and better atmospheric music.
- Pay attention to the background lore of Dahara City; it’s one of the better-realized locations in the Pokémon world.
- Don't think about the physics of the rings too hard. You'll just get a headache.
- Look for the Easter eggs. The movie is packed with cameos from previous films if you look closely at the crowd scenes and the "summoning" sequences.
The best way to experience this era of Pokémon is to pair the movie with a playthrough of Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire. The synergy between the games and this film was the strongest the franchise had ever seen at that point.
To get the most out of the experience, try to find the "Hoopa's Surprise Appearances" shorts that were released alongside the movie. They are short, slapstick clips that show Hoopa messing with other Pokémon (like Pikachu and Lugia) using its rings. They actually do a better job of establishing Hoopa's personality than the first twenty minutes of the actual film. Once you've finished the movie, check out the competitive history of Hoopa Unbound in the Smogon tiers; seeing how this "movie god" actually performs in the games adds a whole new layer of appreciation for its design and power.