Intended as a fan-response to "the common trend of 'dark and gritty' reboots of popular franchises", the film was meant to give a mature spin on Pokémon and be in the same vein as work seen on parody website CollegeHumor.

Instead on September 14, 2010, it revealed online via a teaser segment distributed through emails sent to various media outlets, which presented itself as a recording of a "secret movie trailer screening" for a film in development.

GamesRadar+ called it "amazing", and stated that the content was "good enough for grown ups"; in a further discussion, they added they were impressed by the quality of the work, and how it addressed the similarity between the games and dog fighting.

Structured as a trailer for a non-existent film, Pokémon Apokélypse is set in the fictional Celadon City, and takes place several years after the events of the original anime series.

Enraged, Giovanni declares Ash and his friends dead, and sends his minions Jessie, James (Julia Lawton and Gharrett Patrick Paon) and Meowth to carry out the retribution.

When asked if they had any plans to produce a full movie, Majdoub stated that he would like to consider the prospects if they could receive assistance with the CGI aspects of the film, however any further production would be up to Natale.

Kotaku heavily praised the effects, undertone and music, stating that the staff loved it, though lamented that an official film of this kind would join a long line of "ill-advised live-action adaptations".

[4] Game Informer called it "absurd", stating that while it was a possible proof of concept film it was more likely completely fake, and adding "It looks goofy as hell, and Pokéfans are sure to get a couple chuckles out of it if nothing else.

Editor Carolyn Gudmundson added that she was uncomfortable with the grittiness of the production, though praised it for presenting out the inherent problem of the concept behind the games and its similarity to dog fighting.

[12] Though Game Informer criticized the original segment, they heavily praised the full film, describing it as "what the franchise could look like if Peter Jackson, Martin Scorsese, and Jerry Bruckheimer all teamed up".

[13] Topless Robot stated that while the original preview had nearly sabotaged the final production's appeal, they called it "awesome" and described it as taking "Pokémon battles to its inevitable, cock-fighting end".

[14] CinemaBlend stated that while the content was out of place with Nintendo's presentation of the series, they found the finished product still "pretty cool", further praising the effects and the approach taken towards the material.