Lawrence III
| Lawrence III ジラルダン Gelardan | |
 Lawrence III at his control panel | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Eye color | Violet |
| Hair color | Mantis |
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Unknown |
| Relatives | Mother (deceased) |
| Trainer class | Collector |
| Animated debut | The Power of One |
| English voice actor | Neil Stewart |
| Japanese voice actor | Takeshi Kaga |
Lawrence III (Japanese: ジラルダン Gelardan) is the main antagonist of The Power of One. He is a collector in search of rare Pokémon and ancient artifacts.
History
Lawrence III begins the second movie by reading an ancient prophecy passed down by the residents of Shamouti Island: "Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their powers combined tame the Beast of the Sea." Misinterpreting this prophecy to refer to himself as the Chosen One, and the three to the Legendary birds residing near Shamouti, Lawrence III set out to capture all three so as to draw out Lugia, what he assumed to be the Beast of the Sea.
Using the various weaponry of the Hikōkyū, Lawrence III weakened Moltres on Fire Island, and captured it using strange electrical rings, rather than a Poké Ball. Making it out to be a large game of chess, he moved next to capture Zapdos, which moved to Fire Island soon after to claim the area that Moltres had seemingly abandoned. Inadvertently, he also captured Ash, Misty, Tracey, Pikachu, Melody, Jessie, James, and Meowth, whose boat was of similar size to the Legendary birds, and brought them aboard his ship to witness his crowning glory.
He did not foresee, however, that the group, especially Ash, would not take kindly to his method of capture of the two Legendary Pokémon, and as he attempted to add Articuno to his collection in the same manner, Ash, using Charizard, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Pikachu, freed Moltres from its device. Moltres made short work of the device still holding Zapdos, and quickly, the two birds began to squabble, destroying part of the ship, escaping, and bringing Articuno into the fight.
As the prophecy said, the fighting of the Legendary birds brought Lugia out, and Lawrence III, still intent on adding it to his collection, attempted to capture it in the same manner as the other Pokémon. Though Lugia managed to escape and destroy the remains of the ship with Aeroblast, Lawrence III survived the destruction as the real Chosen One, Ash Ketchum himself, helped Lugia to tame the real Beast of the Sea, a great underwater current that runs near Shamouti Island. Finding his Ancient Mew card, Lawrence III vows to begin his collection again, but on a smaller scale, and the novelization of the movie reveals that he will not attempt to capture Lugia again.
Lawrence III had a small cameo appearance in Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, appearing in a book that Annie and Oakley were reading while in prison. He also briefly reappeared in a montage in The Rise of Darkrai, which chronicled the preceding nine movies.
Character
He travels about in his airship, known as 飛行宮 Hikōkyū (literally, "Flying Palace"), which is about the size of a small city, and gathers artifacts from around the world. Despite the scope of his collection, however, he remains rather shortsighted about the world, with his entire plot to capture Lugia reflecting this; his not taking into account the disruption of the natural forces governed by the Legendary birds leads to his downfall.
Very little is known about his past, with the only concrete information given by him in the movie. The first object in his collection was an Ancient Mew card, and it remains the only thing remaining in his possession at the end of the movie, inspiring him to continue his collection on a more modest scale. His family is equally mysterious, with his only known relative, his mother, being stated as having died.
Pokémon
This listing is of Lawrence III's known Pokémon in the anime:
Temporary
| Debut | The Power of One |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Rikako Aikawa |
| English | Rikako Aikawa |
- Main article: Moltres (M02)
This Moltres was the first of the Legendary birds that Lawrence III caught. He first fired freezing shots to the Fire Island, thus forcing Moltres to reveal itself. Then he had several shots on Moltres, weakening it. After this, he launches his electric rings, capturing Moltres. Moltres is later freed by Ash and his Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Moltres then launches its Flamethrower at Zapdos, releasing it. After this, the two Legendary birds start battling and also drop Lawrence's flying fortress.
| Debut | The Power of One |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
| English | Katsuyuki Konishi |
- Main article: Zapdos (M02)
This Zapdos was the second and also the last of the Legendary birds that Lawrence III managed to capture. After Moltres was caught, Zapdos arrived to the Fire Island, where Lawrence used his fortress' power to absorb Zapdos's electricity. Then he launched his square-shaped capture rings, imprisoning Zapdos. Later Zapdos is released by Moltres. After this, the two Legendary birds begin to battle with each other and also cause Lawrence's fortress to fall to the Lightning Island.
Voice actors
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Trivia
- Lawrence III is the first human antagonist in a Pokémon movie.
Name origin
The origin of his peculiar Japanese name is most likely from French philosopher and Stanford University professor René Girard, whose theories link problems in the modern world to legends and religious stories in the ancient world. Those who follow Girard's theories are known as "Girardins".
While most official English language media refers to him as Lawrence III (including promotional trading cards, the movie summary on Pokémon.com, and closed captioning on most releases of the movie), he has been referred to by other names in official English language media. Closed captioning on the original American DVD refers to him as Gelardan, which is the same as his Japanese name. The movie novelization calls him Lawrence III, but refers to him as Stealthius twice.
In other languages
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Korean | 라단 Ladan | Probably a shortening of Gelardan |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 吉爾露太 / 吉尔露太 Jí'ěrlùtài | Transliteration of his Japanese name |
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This movie article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
