Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns, released in Japan as , is a special episode of the Pokémon anime series and a direct sequel to Pokémon: The First Movie (1998). It was first broadcast in Japan on December 30, 2000 and was released on VHS and DVD in Japan on March 21, 2001. It went direct-to-video in Australia on August 17, 2001 then in the United States and Canada on December 4, 2001 and in the UK on February 11, 2002. The events of the specials take place during the fourth season of Pokémon: Johto League Champions. In the American dubbed version, the DVD (but not the VHS) features a second mini-feature in addition to the movie feature named The Uncut Story of Mewtwo's Origin. This 10-minute segment was originally part of Mewtwo Strikes Backs running length in the Japanese version, but it was cut from the U.S. release of that movie because it was deemed too dark and morose for the film's American "G" rating. The German DVD release also includes the English language track. The Japanese opening song is "OK！" by Rika Matsumoto. The ending song is "To My Best Best Friend" (ぼくのベストフレンドへ, Boku no Besuto Furendo e) by Hiromi Iwasaki, and the English opening song is "Born to Be a Winner" by David Ralfe. Plot Mewtwo, his heart having been softened by the selfless example of the human named Ash Ketchum back in his birthland in the eastern Kanto region, has now traveled to the western region of Johto in search of a location that is unreachable by the prying eyes and harsh judgments of humans for the sake of his band of cloned Pokémon, with whose welfare Mewtwo is solely concerned. He eventually finds the perfect hideaway: a huge mountain named Mt. Quena, surrounded by steep cliffs that are practically impossible to scale, but in its top is a forest and a freshwater lake that makes for a near-utopia for all the Bug Pokémon living there. This is a perfect fit for Mewtwo's band, so thus they settle in the top of Mt. Quena and begin a new, safe life with Mewtwo watching over as their guardian as he feels they cannot belong in the world as they were not born in it (he seems particularly close to the Pikachu and Meowth clones, possibly reflecting how important their templates were in his change of heart). At the end of