At a press conference in Tokyo today, a group of celebrities showed up to promote two new Pokémon movies. The films, Celebi: Toki wo Koeta Sogu and Pikachu no Doki-Doki Hide-and-Seek, are set for simultaneous release, and represent yet another wave of Pokémania just around the corner.

The press conference featured appearances by Kunihiko Yuyama, director of Celebi, and Shiro Sano, voice for Team Rocket's Vicious(Celebi's villain). Also appearing at the conference were Kumiko Endo and Anne Suzuki, two popular Japanese celebrities, who are, respectively, the narrator to Pikachu Hide-and-Seek and the voice of nurse Miku. The four, seated on a stage decorated in a forest theme mirroring the movie's setting in the Pokémon forest, fielded questions about the movie and offered their perspective on being in the cast.

Each of the actors was very enthusiastic about the movie and their roles; Ms. Suzuki "felt like she was dreaming" to be cast in the role, her first as a voice actress, and Ms. Endo was similarly enthusiastic, saying she "was going to enjoy being surrounded by Pokémon". Mr. Sano, for his part, was also looking forward to the experience; however, his daughter was unimpressed with the fact her father was going to be in the movie, saying "So? You'll just be a bad guy anyway."

Pikachu no Doki-Doki Hide-and-Seek and Celebi: Toki wo Koeta Sogu are scheduled for release across Japan on July 7th, 2001. It is not known at this time whether the movies will reach North America, but given the success of previous releases, there is at least a reasonable chance.