What keeps bringing us back to Pokemon?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: It. [00:00:00] Speaker B: What's up, everybody? My name is Bryce Rankins, and this is my co host, Brian Romero. [00:00:04] Speaker C: Hello. [00:00:04] Speaker B: You're listening to episode 50 50 of Sneaky Geek. We made it. [00:00:10] Speaker C: We made it. [00:00:11] Speaker B: Episodes. 50 whole episodes. And, like, 13 bonus episodes somewhere in there as well, which is super exciting. Thank you for listening to all those episodes. If you did, if you didn't listen to all those episodes, that's okay. That's a lot of work. [00:00:27] Speaker C: We still love that. [00:00:28] Speaker B: We still love you. We still appreciate you. This episode was recorded from our live stream of our 50th episode on Twitch, which means we ripped the audio straight from the VOD, which means you're getting the direct conversation we had online on Twitch, which is available for viewing on Twitch. [00:00:44] Speaker C: Also, we have a discord and a Twitch channel. [00:00:47] Speaker B: Yes, we have both of those things. Now look us up Sneaky Geek podcast on Twitch. And look up the sneaky geek discord by just typing in sneaky geek to your local discord office. Anyway, this episode, without giving too much away, is all about Pokemon. [00:00:59] Speaker C: Pokemon. [00:01:00] Speaker B: So without further ado, this is sneaky geek. [00:01:04] Speaker C: Come catch them all with us. [00:01:14] Speaker B: Hi, everybody, and welcome to another exciting episode of Sneaky Geek, now live and in color. Except for those of you who are listening to this four days from now, when we are posting this on Spotify, in which case it is not live and it is still in black and white. My name is Bryce Rankins, and this is my lovely co host, Brian Romero. [00:01:32] Speaker C: I was going to wave. I'm still going to wave. But, like. [00:01:34] Speaker B: So this is a podcast. [00:01:36] Speaker D: And Brian, who are only listening to. [00:01:39] Speaker C: This because we have video right now. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Speaking of, this is a podcast. One of our very first guests ever has returned to our very first episode where we talked about fandoms in general, because she and I had just met at a Steven universe art and origins panel and then spent the next, like, three days going to other events, other panels, and then eventually actually going and playing Pokemon go. So it all. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Yeah, we did. You were with me. Yeah, we caught our first legendary on Pokemon go that day. Yeah. [00:02:21] Speaker B: So today we are talking about Pokemon. And with us, we have longtime friends of the podcast. More than just Shannon, we also have Dave Ziegler sporting that Santa hat, which you finally, all of you watching, finally will get to see. And then additionally, our video game historian, Nick Brado. [00:02:41] Speaker C: Yay. [00:02:42] Speaker E: Hello, everybody. [00:02:43] Speaker B: Hello. [00:02:43] Speaker E: Hello. Happy to be here. [00:02:46] Speaker B: All right, so today we are talking about, and we've been wanting to talk about Pokemon since, like, day one. We keep saying, oh, one day. We'll do a Pokemon episode. Well, it's our 50th episode. We did it. We made it to 50. [00:03:00] Speaker E: Cue the horn. [00:03:01] Speaker B: We are. Cue the horn. Anyway, that's my dj noises. Please hire me. So we are talking about Pokemon in all of its iterations, from mystery dungeon to puzzle league to snap to go to the television show, to the cards. So I've got a fair amount of Pokemon origin stuff I want to talk about, but before we do, I kind of want to get just a quick. How did you get into Pokemon? When did you get into Pokemon? Share with me a Pokemon story. That's the word. [00:03:44] Speaker E: Introduction. [00:03:45] Speaker B: Little introduction of how Pokemon relates to you and your life. Let's start with Dave Popcorn. [00:03:54] Speaker D: I was ten years old, and I was up late the night before, and I accidentally turned off my alarm clock, so I overslept. And when I got to professor Oak's lab. You like that? Thank you. [00:04:15] Speaker A: You had me in the first half. You had me. [00:04:17] Speaker E: Honestly, I was like, where is this going? [00:04:19] Speaker B: You overslept. [00:04:20] Speaker A: I was like, okay. I'm sitting here thinking, like, what was out? Okay. [00:04:25] Speaker E: I at first thought it was your Christmas experience, to be completely honest. I was like, okay, this is a present story. [00:04:31] Speaker A: He got us good. [00:04:33] Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you. I actually am a gen one player, so one of my uncles taught English in Japan for a number of years, met a lovely woman there and got married, had kids, and they go back every so often to see her family. And so they had just come back from Japan, and we were all at my grandparents house. Let's see, this has to be Memorial Day weekend, 1996, and my cousin has brought back Pokemon red. And I'm like, hey, can I try that? Because I've heard some of my students talking about it. I've seen the hype all over the place, and he's like, yeah, but don't save over my game, okay? I played 5 minutes, and I was freaking hooked. The hunter and gatherer nature of the game appealed to the collector in me. Go figure. And, yeah, I was hooked. And so when I took my debate team to the national tournament that year, I explained to my wife at the time, I have to get this game, so I have something to do on the airplane ride to Minnesota. And then I've played pretty much every version of the game since then, not always as they came out. I got out of the games around gen five and gen six, but, boy, gen seven reeled me right back in with a vengeance. So that's how I got into it. [00:06:09] Speaker E: It's awesome. So you had the privilege to play red and green, or at least the japanese iterations, it sounds like. Right. [00:06:17] Speaker D: Well, I played 5 minutes of red, the japanese version. He had both the japanese and the english version because they could read japanese. And so I just tried it on his english version just because I didn't want to screw something up while playing. Yeah. So I got blue, and I still have my blue cartridge with the mew that one of my students duplicated for me using the trade glitch. [00:06:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:56] Speaker D: Still got that bad boy in there. So thanks again for that, Jay, wherever you are. [00:07:02] Speaker B: Nick. [00:07:03] Speaker E: That's awesome. Yeah. So this actually does date back to me being about. No, I don't want to say ten. I would say seven at the time. Right, when that was seven or eight when the games were released. But I did wake up very early to a surprise. And no, it wasn't the lack of Pokemon that the professor had, but I walked downstairs and it was the year that I got the game Boy color. So it was the release of the game Boy color and the spoiled kid that I was, my father. Oh, sorry. Santa Claus brought me both red and blue. [00:07:38] Speaker D: Welcome. I did my best. [00:07:41] Speaker E: Thanks, dad. Well, yeah. So I remember vividly in our family, Santa never wrapped the presents, and the Game Boy color was just sitting there on the left side, quite literally was Pokemon red. On the right was Pokemon blue. Didn't know that they were essentially the same game, but different content. Right? Or just certain different variations of Pokemon. So I thought, I was like, oh, this is amazing. I got both Pokemon games and I interchangeably went back and forth on that holiday, swapping the carts. And I don't know why I did that instead of just playing through one for the rest of the day. I was like, okay, a little bit of red, a little bit of blue. Get my fix here. Go on. But that was my first introduction, and it was mostly word of mouth through the schoolyard where I heard about it, was exposed to it. And then, of course, when the anime came and we can get into the history later, which I know we will, that's kind of what really hooked me to be like, I need to play the games and get the experience this myself and not just hear it through word of mouth. But it was an amazing Christmas. Played the heck out of it and became obsessed. And I was definitely one of the individuals who bought into Pokemonia in the late ninety s and right into the y two k. So been a huge Pokemon fan ever since. I kind of dropped away post gen three, but I picked back up when sword and Shield came in. And then I got absolutely hooked on the trading card game, most recently when the drought happened, I think post pandemic of, like, you couldn't find any cards. That's when I got hooked into it. But now you could find the endless supply. Yeah, you could find an endless supply now, which is so funny. But yeah, that was my introduction, and blue ended up being my favorite, I think. And because blast toys was my favorite Pokemon until this guy in the background for those, this is a podcast. Fat boy over there. Good old. Yeah, yeah. Snorlax ends up. I think he's my forever favorite now as an adult. That's my spiel. [00:09:54] Speaker B: Shannon. [00:09:54] Speaker E: Shannon. [00:09:55] Speaker A: Popcorn. Popcorn. Whoever. I will say just real quick, like snorlax. Just in general, don't we all feel a little bit more like Snorlax as we grow up? Yeah, as a kid, we're like, who's this? Sleep. [00:10:08] Speaker D: I started looking like Snorlax. [00:10:12] Speaker A: For those of you, this is a podcast. And no, I think this is funny because when I was ten, I woke up, I was late. No, I started with the Pokemon show. For me, I actually was not into the games till much later, but I started with the Pokemon show as a kid, probably before I was ten, and I was really into it. My dad at the time, well, still, he is a comic book collector, owns his own store, loves that kind of nerd stuff. So when he saw I liked something that he had access to, he bought me, like, a bunch of Pokemon cards. He's like, here, you like this show? Great. He even got me like this. It was like a pokeball that opened, like, you could press the button and it would open, and there was a golden card inside. And the golden card was, those are Burger King. Were those from Burger King? Yeah. Okay. I never knew where he got it, but I knew that he was like, you like Pokemon? It's just his way. It's like a dad's way. Oh, you like something? Here, let me buy it for you and show you. I care. And I notice or whatever. So he'd buy me all this stuff, bought me all these cards that I was like, cool. And then I just put them in a big binder or whatever. But I didn't have a lot of people to talk about it with or really get into it with. I think just being like a gal in a small community, I was like, whatever. My dad sold them. He took the cards back to his store and sold them later. So I don't even have my old cards. He's like, you're not into that anymore. [00:11:50] Speaker B: So I'll do the story went from wholesome to villain origin story. [00:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah, he did. [00:11:56] Speaker E: I was going to ask you if you still had them, because the value of gen one cards is just like, unbelievable. [00:12:02] Speaker A: No, I honestly feel like you got. [00:12:04] Speaker D: To throw out the whole dad now. [00:12:05] Speaker C: He's ruined. [00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah, no, he does this. He's like, oh, you're into yugioh now. He'll buy me all a. But he's like, I don't have a case for these. Here's a pile. Other people will sell stuff to him as a comic book store owner. And he's like, oh, well, my child likes this. Let me give it to my child. Maybe they'll find something to do with it. It's a toy. It's a card or whatever. But I still can't believe he took my Pokemon cards. He also took my original. He got it a yard sale. The Nintendo like b that you can't even buy anymore. Yeah, the ones with the big cartridges. This big. And he sold that. You know, go figure. [00:12:43] Speaker E: This is more of just, like, airing grievances. I feel this turned into, hey, how did you like. Thanks, shannon. [00:12:50] Speaker A: Sharing a lot. It's okay. Now when he gives me stuff, I hide it so he can't find it to sell later. So we're all good. We're all good. [00:12:58] Speaker D: Welcome back to our festivus episode. [00:13:03] Speaker C: For. [00:13:03] Speaker A: The rest of the. But later, when I got into video games, I want to say it wasn't until college when I was dating someone into Pokemon, and he was like, hey, try this game. Try pokemon pearl. See if you like it. And I was like, this is so much fun that I got really into the games, but I was chronically, I could not finish the Pokemon games. And I think this is just, I don't know if anyone has this, but I loved it so much that I didn't want it to end. And I would play for, like 8 hours, and then I'd go to sleep, and then I'd wake up, and I'd play it, and then I'd go to sleep, and I'd wake up, and I'd be like, oh, I need a break. And then that break would be years long, and I would just never pick it up again. So I want to say it was last year or the year before I beat my very first Pokemon game. Congratulations. But I had played so many of them. I'd played Pokemon Green Pokemon, prill and Diamond. I can't remember which of the two I started with, but that was my first. And then I played sword and shield was the one I beat. I loved sun and moon. I didn't play ultrasound or moon, but I've heard those were really good as well. Yeah. So lots of fun. [00:14:15] Speaker D: The grind on those early games is real, so I don't blame you for not finishing some of those earlier games. [00:14:22] Speaker A: And I do think I was into the grind at some level, too. I didn't mind that kind of aspect, but at some point, it was just like getting towards the end and I was just. So I guess either if it was worried that it was going to end or it was just the excitement of it because of the grinding just kind of made me fall out. But I still loved it. It was still very fun. Great games. Very fun. That's my Pokemon origin story and I guess my dad's villain origin story, so thank you, brian. [00:14:53] Speaker C: Doubled up. Yeah, so I got into, I think, got both the show and the game around the same time because it just kind of started blowing up when I was in 6th, 7th grade, I think it was. So our good budy tate was super into it, and I was like, well, I usually like the things he likes, but everything else just started blowing up everywhere. I'm like, I don't know, this seems like a kid's show kind of thing. And then I watched a few things. I'm like, oh, shoot, I'm hooked. And I started playing the game and I got real into it and I got a red version. So I played through all of that. And then all our friends started playing as well. [00:15:24] Speaker B: And them, like, when we go on. [00:15:26] Speaker C: Field trips, we would leak cable up and we would battle or we would trade if we could. And then the card game came out and that blew up. A few of our friends played it every once in a while, but we were more collectors. I remember my mom was super cool about it. She'd go on her lunch break and get me booster packs at the local shop. I think I collected the cards up until, like, the third or fourth booster set, and then I kind of fell off, but then I was still playing the games. [00:15:51] Speaker D: Did you sell them later? [00:15:53] Speaker C: No, I still got most of them. They're from my dad's house, and you really need to go get them and just see what's all up in there. [00:16:00] Speaker D: Just checking. [00:16:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I still got them somewhere. [00:16:03] Speaker A: Your mom, my dad wore. Maybe your mom could convince my dad to, like, I don't know, owe me or something. [00:16:09] Speaker B: Yeah, right. [00:16:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Side tangent, my mom's great about that kind of stuff. Whenever growing up you're like, oh, I'm too cool for this now. I'm in high school. I just want to get rid of all these old toys. And my mom's like, no, you love those toys. We're keeping them. So I still have most of my toys because my mom can't fool me. [00:16:25] Speaker B: I know you're not actually cool. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah, you'll want this back. Trust me. [00:16:32] Speaker C: Exactly, nerd. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I still got a whole, like, most of my old transformers and Ninja Turtles and all that kind of stuff. But anyway, so I got into the game and the show just a little bit later than everybody else at the time. But when Gen two came out with gold and silver, Nintendo power that I was getting a couple of magazines for had a really cool deal where you got the game and the player's guide, like a discounted price. And I talked to my parents into it, like, hey, I want this to be my. It was a birthday present or something whenever it came out, and they went for it. And, yeah, so it was cool. I remember getting gold version. [00:17:10] Speaker B: Gold? [00:17:11] Speaker C: No, I got silver. I got silver in the mail with a cool player's guide and just played the hell out of it. [00:17:18] Speaker E: Gold and silver to this day, I want to say, are, in my opinion, and I know I'm jumping the gun, is just, like, the best gen overall. [00:17:28] Speaker A: Oh, no, I haven't played that one, guys. Oh, no, now I got to play that one. [00:17:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:33] Speaker E: But, yeah, I vividly remember that. That's why, just, like, when the marketing for the new gen two came out, so Brian's just opening up a whole gate of nostalgia, bringing that up. [00:17:45] Speaker C: Yeah, that's what we're here for. [00:17:47] Speaker D: But I think after that, crystal remains one of my all time favorites. [00:17:51] Speaker C: Yeah. So I fell off for a long time after that. I think I skipped third generation, third through, like, fifth or 6th, I think. And then in college, I picked it back up because, again, Tate was like, are you playing these games? They've updated so much, and they're so much fun still. And then hearing from everybody else, I'm like, okay, I guess I'll try it out. And I picked up a ds, maybe. No, I picked up one of the handheld consoles at the time and then picked up the leaf green and played through that, just kind of, like, get back into it. But now it's, like, full on color and a remake and then started out with x, and then I think I played black, too, and just. Yeah, I went through the catalog again, and at that time was just when the Alolan sun and moon came out, and I love those games. So I've basically been playing ever since. And in related Tate news, shout out to Tate. Every time a new game comes out, we always check with each other to see which one we're going to get, and we'd get the opposite one, and that way we can trade and stuff. But, yeah, pretty much every generation sense. Yeah. [00:18:55] Speaker B: Nice. [00:18:56] Speaker C: Yeah. Bryce, your turn. [00:18:59] Speaker B: My origin story, without all of the sad tragedy, is pretty similar to shannon's origin story here. So I didn't have a game Boy. I have five brothers and sisters. If I got a game Boy, we'd all have to have Game boys. So one super Nintendo worked. The super game Boy would have solved this problem, and I don't know why that wasn't the solution we all gunned for, but it was not in the cards. So I got into Pokemon pretty much through the show. That half hour commercial that came on at 07:00 a.m. Every morning just before I walked down the street to go to school. So my best friend in elementary school, Charles, he had a copy, and so I'd occasionally watch him play. I think he had a tamagotchi of pikachu. [00:19:47] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Remember those? [00:19:49] Speaker B: I know he had a rancor, and that was super cool, and I played with that one all the time, but I think maybe even Bridget might have had a tomagotchi of Pikachu at some point. But we loved the show and we watched it all the time. And then Pokemon snap came out, and I, for whatever reason, during the Nintendo 64, didn't get any of the main titles. Like, I didn't get Zelda, I didn't get Mario, I didn't get Starfox. I always got the weird offshoot stuff. So I didn't get Pokemon snap, but every single time I went to my friend garrett's house, I played the heck out of Pokemon Snap. I absolutely loved Pokemon snap. [00:20:22] Speaker C: It was so much fun. [00:20:22] Speaker B: Didn't really understand how to play the card game, so didn't really play the card game and just kind of absorb Pokemon in every other facet, which is crazy because I had a poster with all 150 Pokemon, and you could say, like, three words to describe one, and I would tell you exactly who it was. Like, I had them all memorized, and for whatever reason, I never got around to playing them. And then as an adult, I wound up getting a game boy. Advance and backwards compatibility will always drag me in. So I wound up getting Pokemon red and then right back into the Shannon origin story of I play for a bunch. And then I'd be like, I'm going to sit down for a minute. I need a break. And then three months to a year later, I'd be like, oh, yeah, I got to get to that next town. And then I'd open it up, and then I would fight for about an hour trying to figure out where the hell I was. And then the next day, I would remember where I was and I would actually get back into it, play for a while, set it down. I still have not actually beaten Pokemon red. [00:21:28] Speaker C: You busted out. [00:21:29] Speaker E: I remember you. Yeah, you do. [00:21:32] Speaker B: And then I play for a while and I make decent headway. [00:21:34] Speaker E: Yeah, we tried streaming that. I think you tried streaming that. [00:21:40] Speaker D: At one point, we were doing a. [00:21:41] Speaker E: Lot of twitch streams of like, here's my playthrough of red. [00:21:44] Speaker B: And it was not successful. I did play through all of puzzle league on the switch, like, virtual console thing they've got going on. [00:21:55] Speaker D: Wait, Pokemon puzzle league is available on the switch? [00:21:58] Speaker E: I thought it was just the trading card. [00:22:00] Speaker D: No. [00:22:01] Speaker B: So the puzzle league on the 64 is on the. [00:22:06] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm thinking puzzle challenge, which is game Boy. [00:22:11] Speaker C: And then the game Boy has. [00:22:12] Speaker B: Well, that's the trading card game. [00:22:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:14] Speaker E: Well, no, game Boy sorted. I was going to say game Boy also has an iteration of puzzle league. It's called puzle. [00:22:21] Speaker B: Sorry, the game boy virtual console. [00:22:23] Speaker E: Yeah, there you go. [00:22:25] Speaker A: Look at it. [00:22:26] Speaker E: This is a podcast to answer that. [00:22:33] Speaker A: And there is Picchu and Pikachu on the cartridge there. I love seeing old big cartridges. Like, they just don't make them like that anymore. They make them not tasty, but they just don't make them like that anymore. [00:22:51] Speaker E: To answer Shannon's question about the trading card game, I feel like when it first released in the States, everyone just wanted to trade, right? That was the gimmick. I remember there being a Pokemon trading card day at Toys r us where you actually played other people so you could bring in your cards from like 3 hours and play casually against other people. And that was when I tried to play, but I didn't really know strategy or anything. I lost everything. Yeah. Now, as an adult, though, I play a lot of the Pokemon trade card game because they basically made iteration, just like all trading card games, they made digital iterations that you could play for free on Steam and on your pc and mobile. I highly recommend it if you want to learn and get into it, and it's addicting. I love trading card games and board. [00:23:38] Speaker B: I didn't learn how to play the trading card game until 2021. I think it was like at a Wondercon or something like that? [00:23:48] Speaker C: Yeah, because I started getting back into. [00:23:50] Speaker B: It for Chitsu and it was at a con. I was like, I'm going to sit down and do a demo at Wondercon. [00:23:56] Speaker A: I have questions. Is it kind of like a deck builder? Like, do you kind of build a deck? Like you want the evolutions of your Pokemon to be able to use? Okay, so I have only played it as a game once when I was a babysitter. And I knew for a fact this was not how you played the game. [00:24:14] Speaker B: But solid babysitter points for. [00:24:16] Speaker A: Yeah, we would spend hours with games and stuff like that. They were super into Pokemon, so we loved that. But we would play the game kind of like how you would play war where you would each have a stack of Pokemon and you would flip it up and whoever had more attack power to kill the other hit points of the other person faster would win both poke cards and then you'd keep going. [00:24:40] Speaker B: That's awesome iteration. I mean, it's about as complicated. [00:24:44] Speaker D: I like that. [00:24:46] Speaker E: It's a good way to get into it, just in general for first time players, Brian and Bryce will laugh. That's how I used to play magic, the Gathering when I first started, when magic was around in the idea how to play that as well. But now I do. [00:25:01] Speaker D: I'm slow. [00:25:03] Speaker A: It's still around. Yeah, it's still huge. [00:25:05] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm getting into it now. [00:25:08] Speaker B: I learned to play Pokemon. [00:25:09] Speaker E: Yeah. Which is wild because strategy there. But yeah. [00:25:18] Speaker A: Nerd alert. [00:25:19] Speaker E: Highly recommend the Game Boy game. Pokemon trade card game for first time players. It really teaches you. I mean, that's how I learned eventually how to play it. That was my first actual way of playing the trading card game, and it was addicting. That Game Boy game is a lot of fun if you haven't played it. Not to debrail our flow. [00:25:38] Speaker D: I've never played the card game. I have collected some of the cards because Bulbasaur on the DS game or the video game, the Game Boy game, can you trade cards with other players or no? [00:25:55] Speaker E: Yes. [00:25:55] Speaker C: Like, if you had like the link. [00:25:57] Speaker E: Cable or link cable, yes, you would be able to play other players and trade packs and cards through the link cable. [00:26:04] Speaker B: And then, of course. [00:26:06] Speaker E: Now, just on that topic, for those who play it digitally now, every time you buy a physical pack of cards, you get digital codes. So it's like when you buy a pack, you get two packs, you get the digital version. But the cool thing is you don't get the exact same cards. So your digital booster pack will be completely different than the booster pack you bought in physical form. It's a great way to. I mean, that's, like, one of my favorite related news. [00:26:32] Speaker C: I haven't put mine stuff in great. [00:26:35] Speaker D: Another thing for me to get into. [00:26:36] Speaker C: Of those free packs. [00:26:38] Speaker E: Hey, when you do, let me know. I'm obsessed with Pokemon, the trade card game. Right now, at least digitally, all of us should just, like, play, but we. [00:26:46] Speaker C: Just throw in a real quick, fun question. [00:26:48] Speaker B: Real quick question. [00:26:50] Speaker C: So, those of us who started on the video games or play the video games, what's your favorite starter? Pokemon. Dave, let's go with you. [00:26:57] Speaker E: Wait, which gen or all gens? [00:27:00] Speaker C: All gens. [00:27:02] Speaker D: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The right answer is this guy. My number one favorite starter? My number one favorite Pokemon? Yeah. This was my first starter on blue, and I still have my original. Well, he's evolved into Venusaur. He's a big boy now, but bulbasaur is my guy. [00:27:25] Speaker A: In fact, this is a podcast. So, guys, it is bulbasaur, by the way. [00:27:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, we have to. [00:27:30] Speaker A: Actually, it is a podcast. This guy, he held up a very cute little. Now, this is a pop. This is a figure pop. Pop. [00:27:41] Speaker B: This is a pop. A funko pop it is. [00:27:44] Speaker D: So is this one. This also is a bulbasaur pop. This one is flocked, so he's fuzzy. [00:27:52] Speaker B: Fuzzy. [00:27:55] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:27:55] Speaker D: This one is a 3d printed bulbasaur that the guy who came to repair my washing machine gave me. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:28:02] Speaker D: Because he's a Pokemon nerd, too. [00:28:08] Speaker E: Nice. [00:28:09] Speaker A: We find each other. [00:28:11] Speaker E: It seems like everyone's pretty much bulbasaur. I don't want to take a guess on Brian's I won't steal your thunder, but I do have a nice gut guess on your favorite, but mine is, hands down. Squirtle, squirtle, squirtle, squirtle. Gang for life. Yeah, I'm a big water. If I was a trainer, I'd be water and or ice for my actual elementals for Pokemon. But, yeah, squirtle was my absolute favorite. He was my first. I picked blastoise. Come on. Who doesn't love a giant kaiju turtle with tank cannons on its back? [00:28:44] Speaker B: Super. [00:28:45] Speaker E: Come on. So badass. [00:28:46] Speaker D: It's a nice design. [00:28:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:48] Speaker E: But then the squirtle squad in the anime show made me fall in love with the glasses. [00:28:56] Speaker B: The glasses. [00:28:57] Speaker A: Genius. [00:28:58] Speaker E: Yeah. So squirrel is my favorite. Runner up would be frokie, because greninja is, like, one of my later favorite water types. Just so badass too, like shinobi Pokemon with his tongue as the scarf. Such a great design, too, but, yeah, squirrel. [00:29:15] Speaker C: Nice. [00:29:15] Speaker D: It's a great design, but it's kind. [00:29:17] Speaker E: Of mean I can't do it myself. [00:29:21] Speaker B: So this is a podcast, and everyone just tried to lick their ear? [00:29:24] Speaker E: Yeah, Brian. [00:29:27] Speaker A: I can't get close. [00:29:29] Speaker C: I'm going to even everything out. Charmander, that's my, like, from the first time and pretty much any other time, I can pick. Charmander. That's my dude. Yeah. Giant fire breathing dragon. Like, hell, yeah. All about that. [00:29:43] Speaker B: As someone who's never beaten red and still hasn't even started his copy of silver, I really can't say anything other than who I actually started with, which is plant butt, which is what I named him in the game. Plant. [00:29:57] Speaker A: But, okay. [00:30:01] Speaker B: Bulbasaur was who I picked mostly for strategy. I knew that the first several gyms, he was either going to be unaffected or strong against them, and I was like, cool, this will get me where I need to go. And then as soon as I got. I don't know, I think I have to go take Machamp somewhere. But anyway, so I'm trying to figure out where in this game I'm actually stuck. Yeah, that's half, but, yeah, my starter was Bulbasaur, but after watching a bunch of this ultimate whatever they're called, ultimate adventures. [00:30:31] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:30:31] Speaker B: I feel like we watched a little. [00:30:32] Speaker C: Bit of the show last night. [00:30:33] Speaker B: I got to try. What's the name? Grooky. Yeah. [00:30:39] Speaker C: I typically always go for firetight until Grooky came along because of all form, plays drums, and Phil didn't know I play drums, and so I was like, oh, hell, yeah, you're going to get all the starters anyways. But I'm like, no, this will be my guy for this game. [00:30:54] Speaker A: I think, in all honesty, even though I would probably maybe go with. I would go with Bulbasaur for second. I would say second. Bulbasaur is my favorite starter, but that's because I didn't start playing, like, red leaf Green wasn't my first game. Right. So for me, I would have to go with piplup. Is that piplup there? One of these is piplup. This is a podcast, guys. So I am wearing little dangly charms that I got at the Pokemon center in Japan on my earrings, which is. So. That's my little pipelup. I also have shinks on this ear, but, yeah, so he was my first. And I do agree, water types are very fun. So are grass types, but they're all great. The starters are wonderful guys. The only thing I was ever mad about ever in my life was picking litten because I'm a cat lover. And then when Litton was fully evolved, shooting fire would be out of its groin and not the mouth. That bothered me so much. You have? No, because when he's little, it's cute. The fire is coming out of his mouth. But then he's a big Sumo wrestler going like this, and the fire is shooting out his belt area. But yeah, pipeline is a good one. Come on. Giant battling penguin. That's just as cool as turtle with guns. [00:32:47] Speaker E: How many times are we going to say that? Just for the record, on this podcast. [00:32:51] Speaker B: I think we have, especially because Shannon is here, is going to happen probably a lot. And it's even worse because we're on video and now we're using visual aids and remembering. Oh, yeah, we can't do that. So back in time, this game, and obviously anybody else who's got extra little factoids can jump on in, is created by a man named Satoshi Tajiri. And he was a kid who liked nature and liked bugs. And he would go around in his local area in Japan, and he would go and collect various just little bugs, and he'd go outside and he'd play. And he was so good at it that he was kind of revered as Mr. Bug by all the kids that knew him in school. And one day they paved paradise and put in a parking lot for an arcade. And the place where he went to go and look for little bugs and stuff was now a building. And urban development had ruined his little nature place. And especially for those of us who really do need something to fidget with, there is a lot of solace that can be found in a nice little park or a little spot of nature where development hasn't happened yet. And with this new building showing up, it's like, oh, this is kind of sad. So he goes inside to see what this is and then discovers that he's absolutely in love with video games. And so he kind of goes in the reverse of what your first character in Pokemon does. At the very beginning of the game, he sets down his controller and he goes outside, walks past his mom, who's just watching tv, and goes outside. Eventually, game freak makes the game that he really wants, that recaptures his childhood in the big hit show, which is a great podcast. I recommend everybody listens. We're not sponsored by them, but that's okay. There's a whole season on Pokemon, and they talk about this and he talks about how this whole idea was getting outside, getting away from just being stuck indoors all the time. Anyway, so Satoshi Tajiri eventually creates or makes the game. And in this insane twist of events, it goes from this little game made by this company that doesn't really even do games to the largest ip in the world. Like Pikachu is bigger than Mickey Mouse. Yeah, that's insane. And now, 20 years later, after that, we have 2016, the last summer of peace in the world, the closest we've ever been to achieving world peace. Pokemon go where this game that comes from, this nostalgia for the ability to go outside and just go and play and be friends with everybody and go collect with each other and talk to each other and enjoy that now is happening in real life through Pokemon, which is just absolutely beautiful. [00:36:01] Speaker E: What's Wild is Nintendo literally had no high expectations at all for the release of this game. Coming from the game freak side, they thought red and green were just going to sell mediocre. There was nothing to be had from this title or this new franchise. A lot of it had to do with the game was kind of being released on the Game Boy at the end of its life cycle. So right before Pocket and Game Boy color came around. But overall, everyone thought this would be just a game that's released and people would play it and put it to the side. But yeah, of course, to your point, Bryce, and we'll get more into Pokemonia just blew up and it became kind of like a stay in pop culture, timeless, if you will. [00:36:48] Speaker B: The ongoing, because Pokemon is like, Pikachu is bigger than know. And Mario was like, I mean, Mario is still the mascot for Nintendo. Pikachu has eclipsed him. Star Wars, I think, is like the fifth largest ip in the world or something like that. And Mickey Mouse is somewhere within. In between those two. But Pikachu is literally number one. And I think the testament to the franchise itself, and much like what I was saying earlier, is that there's all these other ways to enjoy this franchise. And it's just so expansive that every couple of years something else will drag me back in, at least to the franchise, whether that be Pokemon snap, new Pokemon Snap, the show, a movie. Like, I was starting to fall off from watching Pokemon because we had switched to dish and we didn't get local channels anymore, so I couldn't watch KTLA. We didn't have WB on our program. And then the movie came out and it was like, I have to have this. I have to go get that movie and go see this. And so every couple of years, Pokemon just gets you and grabs you right back. And I think that's something really impressive. But talking exclusively to the origin of the actual game itself, because obviously, like Satoshi Shijiri and that whole part of the story, I think, just fascinates me. And then, as I've mentioned in multiple other podcasts, when America starts to get really afraid of the new popular thing, I also really like talking about that, and there's a whole bunch to say about that. Whether or not Pokemon is satanic, whether or not Pokemon is Japan trying to win the culture war like you can in Sieve five, whatever that happens, at least the original Pokemonia, I feel like that is Nick's kind of research wheelhouse. So, Nick, can you talk to us about that? [00:38:38] Speaker E: Oh, my gosh. Please remind me of the creator. I don't want to butcher it. [00:38:42] Speaker B: Satoshi Tajiri. Satoshi is Ash's name in the japanese version. There you go. [00:38:49] Speaker E: Satoshi's team, right? Small developers working with Nintendo to license the game. And it was released in Japan around 96, which is so funny because it was released right when the Game Boy Pocket came out. So everyone thought that was just marketing ploy to promote the new iteration of the Game Boy. Like Pocket monsters. Yes. Was the name of the reason why it's Pokemon. For those who did not know, Pokemon is Pocket monsters overall in japanese abbreviation. But it ended up benefiting both. Right. And the success just blew up from each, which is crazy. But in Japan, it was red and green versus what we received. Red and blue. And the reason we received Blue, there was an actual iteration which kind of was the equivalent to Pokemon yellow here. Pokemon Blue in Japan was the limited edition or plus up with new sprites. It was to celebrate the million copies sold of red and green, and it offered a huge success. Nintendo thought 300,000 would be expected to be sold, but over 600,000 were actually ordered for Pokemon Blue specifically. So all that hype overseas, this game had to be released globally, which it did eventually. We received Pokemon Red and Blue in North America dating back, I want to say, in 98 was when we got it, actually. Yeah. So we actually got it much later than when it debuted in 96. So two years later, us got to enjoy it. And that is when Pokemonia kind of blew up. And that was a term coined by time, USA Today and some of the big publications in the United States. The release of the games came out when the anime made its way, dubbed to the US as well. And it was just a cultural phenomenon selling out in toys, the iteration of the trading cards. It was a fever. It was a fever that didn't need more cowbell at all. Pikachu, 100%. But that was the, I guess, explosion of this franchise heading into the millennium for sure. In Y two k. The movie came out, I believe, in 2000 following the release of the games and the show. And everyone just could not get enough of Pokemon for sure. [00:41:18] Speaker B: Something that's really interesting about the show too, is unlike most shows that were popping into various channels, Pokemon didn't have a specific channel. So it was on Fox, it was on WB, it was on all these other things. So it was everywhere. You could see this on all sorts of channels. Like they went directly into syndicating. And that allowed for this just mass exposure for kids like me who didn't even have a Game Boy to memorize literally every 150 Pokemon and be able to sing. The poke wrap. [00:41:52] Speaker A: Was it the pokey wrap that did it for you? [00:41:55] Speaker B: It's a training exercise. If they had done that with historical figures, I might actually know something. But these sorts of things were just this brilliant advertisement to just push this product even further so that even if you didn't have a game Boy or cards, you still had this access. This access to what the cool thing was, which is something that's kind of rare sometimes. Like, oh, everyone's watching this cool show on Cartoon network. Not everybody has cartoon network, but this, everyone could have get it. And it's kind of a leveler. [00:42:28] Speaker C: And because it was on different channels, you can get it different times of the day. [00:42:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:33] Speaker C: Hit it in the morning. [00:42:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I watched it before school, but so many other people watched it after school. [00:42:37] Speaker C: They got home Saturday mornings too. [00:42:39] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:42:40] Speaker B: Anyway, back, sorry. [00:42:42] Speaker E: Did you know that just speaking of the show, did you know that the premiere of the first episode, ash gets a pikachu was the most. It was the most viewed debut cartoon in Kids WB history. [00:42:54] Speaker A: Really? Wow. [00:42:54] Speaker C: I mean, I believe it, but yeah. [00:42:56] Speaker E: Which is wild. That is such an iconic episode too. I just remember him running into his pjs and getting shocked religiously. And then there's that weird innuendo of, like, professor O kitting on Ash's mom. Ash, what's your mom doing today? [00:43:14] Speaker A: I never read into that. [00:43:17] Speaker E: Well, now you know, because Mr. [00:43:20] Speaker B: Mind is hanging around. We all know what he's up to. [00:43:22] Speaker E: Oh, don't even get into that. [00:43:27] Speaker A: To. I have to show you at some point after this. My favorite ship theory for Ash's mom. But not now. Maybe later. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Maybe we'll talk about it later. [00:43:36] Speaker E: Fair but, yeah, that's basically it. So the games they sold when they first debuted out here, I believe first sales were like over 200,000. The stores and gaming stores were having trouble keeping inventory in, and that kind of bled into the trading card games, too. They were essentially toys r us. And anywhere that was selling the cards, they were struggling. There was like a scarcity in terms of inventory, so they weren't able to hit their profits. [00:44:05] Speaker C: I remember when those stores didn't have the cards, it was a huge thing. And the moment stock came in, it was pandemonium. Like a mob would go. [00:44:14] Speaker B: That was three years ago when the drought happened. It was like that too. They were, like, limiting who could sell it. They started putting them in cases. [00:44:21] Speaker C: Yeah. Target had them behind glass. [00:44:22] Speaker B: Behind glass and stuff. [00:44:23] Speaker C: Yeah, almost. Black Friday status of the late 90s, early 2000s, where people were getting into. [00:44:31] Speaker B: Fights over Pikachu, was the tickle me elmo of that year. [00:44:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:35] Speaker E: Which is crazy, but yeah. In due part to Poke mania overall, Nintendo saw literally like a 250% increase in profit from what the notes said compared to the previous year, which is ridiculous, right? I think the Pokemon franchise accounted for 30% of Nintendo's revenue that year, which. Oh, man. Well, as we get to the tail end of that, by the end of 2000, when gen one was officially out, the game released in like 70 different countries, which included translations. Right? So 70 different countries, and each country had their own exact translation, which is crazy. So all the Pokemon that, you know, all were translated specifically for the countries and territories, which is amazing. I think there was a video that I saw where it was, oh, they took five different people from five different countries. And what are the names of the Pokemon in each country? And some of them are actually really hilarious. Definitely highly recommend it to YouTube of Pokemon translations. [00:45:36] Speaker D: Good to know. [00:45:37] Speaker E: Because something you may know is Pikachu sounds completely different. Speaking of, in French, Pokemonia eclipse in 2000, bleeding into the much. Once the craze kind of settled down, as we kind of evened out of 2001, heading into gen two, you started seeing more of, like, the rival titles too, or the rivals. Right. So Digimon, Monster Rancher and so forth. Anyone trying to compete yugioh as well. I think that's when it started getting convoluted. Gold and silver was, I guess, the setting sun of the initial Pokemonia. But then as new generations kept coming out, people kept returning. And I think that's kind of just the general. And the last thing I'll say is just what you've been seeing is with each generation launch, maybe with Scarlet and Shield, the franchise is here to stay. But that initial burst of when the games get released is like, you can't beat that hysteria and craziness for each debut of the new gen or new iteration of the mainline game. [00:46:42] Speaker A: If I can add to that, even the cards themselves, there was such a big hype over what was the last card, the new 151. I actually went to Japan last summer, which is very fun, but when I was there, they were very strict about who could buy the cards because that was something, know, collector dad was like, get me a pack. And it was like, even I was standing there at the Pokemon store staring at the racks, and they're like, you need to be a member to buy one pack, and you can only be a member if you're japanese. So they were very strict about certain things. And I think also because of that is because they've seen the hype with these games, right? Like, they've seen how crazy it can be. How do you add to that? When Pokemon go came out, nothing is quite that big. Even when the new Mario games come out, even when something new for Disney comes out, I've never seen hype. Like, I've seen Pokemon hype. [00:47:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And to their credit, like you were saying, when silver and gold come out, that's kind of when things start to die off. But Pokemon 2000, which is like, got Lugia right on the COVID is one of the biggest releases of a japanese film in America ever. It was huge. And it's that same theme going over and over again that we've been saying about. Like, just when you think you're out, they drag you right back in. And that is something that I think, obviously, it still doesn't reach that initial peak, at least not for a while. I do feel like we got real close in 2016, but that initial peak of Pokemonia did have that little at the end. So this is a podcast and is when I stick my arm up just a little bit and make a that I wasn't aware I was going to make, but it happened. So we're all here now. You all heard it. [00:48:35] Speaker A: We have it recorded, so you can't deny it later. [00:48:39] Speaker B: So we were talking about Pokemon. It starts to die off from. I mean, not die off, but it starts to calm down. We're not going as crazy. You're right, it does get a little diluted. Yu gi oh. Kind of comes in and takes over the card side of things. Digimon, I think, tries, but doesn't necessarily go that far. Digimon was mostly an advertisement for, like, without actually doing it very well because it gets away from itself, not to mention a dub that is just like, outrageous. But that's a whole nother podcast. But Digimon does convoluted a little bit. And I feel like there's some counterculture type kids who are like, well, I like this one because it's different and not as popular. And don't get me wrong, I love Digimon. I didn't have Pokemon in the afternoons because I didn't have WB. So Digimon was what I had for a minute. And it's fine. They can talk. That's cool. [00:49:36] Speaker E: There were some cool designs. [00:49:37] Speaker A: I don't think their evolutions were as sensical. Yes. [00:49:44] Speaker B: Seamless turns into a pile of guns. [00:49:47] Speaker E: One turns into a cactus with boxing gloves. So that was one of my favorites. [00:49:53] Speaker B: There's a cat that turns into an. [00:49:54] Speaker E: Angel, which is awesome. [00:49:57] Speaker B: There's like, what looks like a fuzzy jelly bean with. [00:50:00] Speaker D: Because everybody knows cats are the lazy agents of Satan. [00:50:04] Speaker E: Yeah, that was inaccurate. [00:50:06] Speaker A: Me looking over at. [00:50:12] Speaker E: Did any of you have Digimon, tamagotchi? Or like, that was like, digimon's big thing was digital monsters. Right? So they had to differentiate somehow. And I think they were trying to. When the Tamagotchi fad was big in the early two thousand s, I think that's how they were trying to hook on. They tried to hook onto that versus what Pokemon was doing. [00:50:39] Speaker A: Right. They were trying to be. Yeah, they were trying to be a male tamagotchi. Like a Tamagotchi for boys was essentially their goal there and then with the show, I am assuming they're trying to compete with Pokemon, but it just doesn't. [00:50:52] Speaker B: Have that kind of nearly as hard as. Okay, true. Before we move on to Dave's, how did he get grabbed and dragged back in? I have another question for you guys. What did you name your rival? [00:51:06] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [00:51:11] Speaker E: Shamelessly named them after the bullies that made fun of me in school there. [00:51:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:17] Speaker E: Don't be sad. [00:51:18] Speaker B: It's okay. [00:51:20] Speaker E: I beat them. Okay. That was my way of fighting back. [00:51:25] Speaker A: Okay, now we've got your sad story. My villain is my father. Yours is the bitten bullies at school. [00:51:32] Speaker D: But, yeah, I named mine Brian after my brother. [00:51:38] Speaker E: So, bully. [00:51:40] Speaker D: Yeah, no, see, I'm the oldest. I've always been kind of a softie. And until we were, let's see, about nine and ten, I guess. Brian was definitely the aggressor in our day to day existence. And finally I had this epiphany, one day as he was chasing me through the house, I'm like, wait a minute, I'm bigger than him. Why am I letting this happen? So I turned around and popped him one, and that changed the dynamic a little bit. We still fought a lot, but I was a lot more willing to engage at that point after know. So Brian was just the first name that popped into my head for my. [00:52:23] Speaker E: Was before I jumped onto the bully train. There was a moment when I wanted purity. Right. So I did leave him as Gary because that was one of the options. I think it was like blue Gary taking after the anime. And I think. I didn't name my character Nick. It was Ash. Right. So I wanted to have that identity to the anime. [00:52:42] Speaker B: I get it. [00:52:42] Speaker E: Yeah. Lincoln, Zelda, and the saved files for those games. And then that was not mean. Kind of a similar thing. Just nicknames in general. I just kept my pokemon the name of the Pokemon because you didn't really think of. I don't think the anime ever touched on nicknames. I think they briefly here or there. [00:53:03] Speaker B: Passively, but doing the ultimate one. Bernice, I'm going to call you dust moth. [00:53:11] Speaker E: But all the characters were like, this is my Eevee. My Eevee. That's how they differentiate. It was, like, weird. [00:53:17] Speaker B: There's a bunch of squirrels that say squirtle that are named Squirtle. [00:53:19] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. [00:53:21] Speaker A: And also in the games, they don't say their names. The only one who does, they have a cry. They all have a cry. And Pikachu's cry sounds like Pikachu. But in the show, they were all. I think part of it was that they wanted us to learn the Pokemon. [00:53:33] Speaker E: To feel connected 100%. What's funny is Charizard didn't though, too. Charizard didn't say his name at all. He was the only one that. Yeah. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Did he ever cry? Did he have a. [00:53:47] Speaker E: He was silent and. Yeah, but, yeah, purity into bullies. That was mine. Bryce. [00:53:57] Speaker A: Well, I named my rival Gary because I thought he was a piece of work in the show, but I really liked having a theme when I would name my Pokemon. I feel like this is, like a proper segue. Right? Like, how do you name your Pokemon if you nickname them? And for Pokemon Leaf Green, I went with, like, greek goddesses, and I made sure all my Pokemon that I kept in my party were women as well. I was very on that. So when I got to, if you guys are familiar, you get to a point where you get an Eevee. From the lab, the amount of times I had to reset that game, because getting a female Eevee is only a 12.5 probability, actually. And most people, they see Evie and they think, like, automatically girl, which makes me mad because it's actually very statistically difficult to get an EV girl. I would know. Yeah. I put in the work. I put in the work. Okay. And it was worth it in the end. But I thought that was the coolest naming scheme I ever came up with. And then the other themes were definitely not as fun. Although I did have a Pokemon named Zappy McDougall, and that was pretty good. That was a pretty good one. [00:55:16] Speaker E: That's awesome. [00:55:17] Speaker C: Okay. [00:55:17] Speaker D: But now that you brought it up, what did you name your female? [00:55:24] Speaker A: Yeah, you know what? I'd have to boot up the game to see if I can remember. [00:55:30] Speaker D: Okay. [00:55:31] Speaker A: Yeah. You know what? I will get back to you on that, because I know one of my Pokemon was Aphrodite, and I can't remember if that was. [00:55:40] Speaker D: Tell me it was jinx. [00:55:42] Speaker A: I don't know if it was Evie or it might have honestly been bulbasaur. I don't know. I don't remember. Yeah, I'll have to look it up. [00:55:50] Speaker B: I named my manky club of Mank. [00:55:52] Speaker A: Oh, that's good. [00:55:53] Speaker B: After clubba Lang, because he fights. And that worked for me. And I named, obviously, my bulbasaur Plant butt. [00:56:03] Speaker A: Good. [00:56:04] Speaker B: And your rival was something else as well. I had at least a few names, but then I started putting them in storage, and then it would come time to organize my storage, I'd be like, what the is that? I don't know what that is. And it'd be some stupid name that I gave it before I went to the poke center and was like, go to the professor. It's fine. So I'd go into the pc and go, I don't know who any of these Pokemon are. [00:56:29] Speaker D: Yeah. Because they only had a finite number of sprites based on the type it was. [00:56:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I had to start limiting how much I was naming my Pokemon because there's some that you remember. Like, I think ducks is a far fetched. And that's the one you trade with a guy. [00:56:47] Speaker D: That's the one you trade for. Yeah. [00:56:50] Speaker B: And a couple of those, actually. [00:56:51] Speaker C: Yeah. The ones that you trade with early on in the games usually come with a. Yeah. [00:56:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, Marcel is the. That's all I remember about. How did this. How did. We're getting back on topic here. [00:57:10] Speaker C: Well, I named my guy douchebag. [00:57:12] Speaker B: You did not. [00:57:13] Speaker A: I love that. [00:57:14] Speaker E: Shipbag. Yeah, shipbag was one. [00:57:17] Speaker A: How old were you? And you knew to call him douchebag. I'm curious about that. [00:57:21] Speaker C: I did keep it as then, you know, as I got older, I'm like, I can name him anything I want. And then I started hearing about all my other friends just coming up with random names. So I think my gold, silver, or my silver version is. I think he is douchebag. [00:57:35] Speaker B: Freaking professor Oak at the very beginning. Yeah, douchebags already come in here and pick that one. Hey, douchebag, are you a boy or a girl? [00:57:46] Speaker C: Literally? Yeah. [00:57:48] Speaker E: Oh, my God. Can we talk about that? Not to cut you off, Brian, but I'm glad Brian brought that up. Professor O is just oblivious to what is. Doesn't he say grandson and then ask, is it a boy or a girl or. No. Yeah. Wow. Really struggling with the gender identity right there. [00:58:11] Speaker A: He's a professor. Trust me, he's got his degree in something, I'm sure. [00:58:14] Speaker B: Yeah, he's absent minded theology. [00:58:16] Speaker E: Yeah, my, they. There you go. [00:58:21] Speaker C: So I think when I picked back up for x Y, black, white, that era, I think I named one of them asshole. [00:58:32] Speaker B: Before they started. [00:58:33] Speaker C: Before they start, yeah. So in the newer versions, they put. [00:58:37] Speaker D: A stop to that. [00:58:37] Speaker C: All that kind of stuff. You can get kind of creative, but they've calmed down on the more unsavory names. [00:58:45] Speaker B: My nephew douchebag was here earlier. [00:58:49] Speaker C: Sure as hell he was. [00:58:55] Speaker B: Anyways, so, Dave, the state of the games now, they dragged you back. How did they get you back? [00:59:03] Speaker D: I mentioned earlier that I kind of drifted out around Gen five and part of Gen six. Part of that was kind of the repetitive nature of every single game. You grind through to the gym, then you grind to the next one, and then you grind to the one after that. But also in my personal team rocket or Team Magma or whatever, and my personal life, things had kind of gotten a little more complicated. I was in the middle of a divorce. I was single dadding it for the first time. And frankly, I just didn't have the time to play. I was too busy herding the ziglets around on my weeks and on the weeks off where they were with their mom. I was catching up on the laundry and catching up on grading and all the things that I didn't do when the weeks they were with me because I was busy parenting. [00:59:55] Speaker B: For the uninitiated, the Ziglitz are what Dave calls his children. [01:00:00] Speaker D: Yes, all three of them. And all three of them are avid Pokemon players. You're welcome. But, yeah, they got that from me. They weren't getting that from their mother. [01:00:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:00:12] Speaker D: No shade. To my ex wife, the mother of my children, she is a wonderful person. [01:00:18] Speaker C: She's not a gamer. [01:00:21] Speaker D: She's not. Well, that's not exactly true. I will share this one story. So she got into the Zelda games with Majora's mask and the Oak arena of time on the n 64, and watching her play those games used to stress me out because she's not a gamer, and so she'd, like, jump, but just missed the ledge, or it would just stress me out, and so I would have to sit behind her while she played so she couldn't see me reacting to her playing, like, out of the corner of her eye or anything, because that would stress her out more, which would stress me out more. So anyway, yeah, understandable. But, yeah, I bought Pokemon black, and then I ended up giving it to one of the ziglets to play once they were a little older and had kind of worked up to that level, and I skipped x and y entirely. But then I saw the ads. I was at school one day on the YouTube on my prep period, and something in the algorithm decided that I needed to see the trailer for sun and moon. [01:01:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:46] Speaker D: And so I'm like, yeah, okay, sure. So I watched the trailer for sun and Moon. I was like, oh, well, now, hello there. I'm like, okay, this looks different. It looks like something I'd be interested in again. [01:02:08] Speaker A: I really liked sun and moon. [01:02:10] Speaker C: I did, too. [01:02:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Is that the island one? [01:02:12] Speaker A: Yes. It gets a lot of, like, people didn't like the Z moves, I think, and other stuff, but I thought that was fun. It was something new. [01:02:21] Speaker D: I loved the Z moves. [01:02:23] Speaker A: Yeah, that was cool. [01:02:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I get that a lot of people have a fondness for the mega evolutions because that was their first extra special regional battle thing or whatever. But one of the things I really liked about the Z moves is that it made every Pokemon viable for big battles. So one of the things that I liked about gen seven, that sun and moon was, yeah, there's still some grind, but you're not going from gym to gym. You've got these totem challenges to navigate. And so instead of having to grind through the 14 apprentice trainers at the gym, you've got to go track down the big totem monster or Pokemon and wrangle them in. Kind of like what they revisited with. Yeah, exactly. I like that they've revisited that in Scarlet and Violet with the Titan Pokemon. [01:03:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:03:27] Speaker D: And I just liked the designs. I felt like sun and Moon had really strong new Pokemon for the decks. Plus I had shoulder. [01:03:40] Speaker C: Yeah, go ahead. [01:03:41] Speaker D: I had shoulder surgery right then, and so while I'm on the rehab machine, I've got my tv tray and I'm just playing in along and just doing my sun and moon as I'm doing my rehab. [01:03:58] Speaker C: Yeah, well, and it's cool too, at the time because it was on the two ds. [01:04:02] Speaker D: That's how I got roped back in. [01:04:04] Speaker C: Yeah, it was on the two ds and the three ds. And I think those games really used the console's power more than I had. So it had better graphics and bigger memory cards, so it could do a lot more stuff. And it just made everything, it felt like a new Pokemon game rather than just rehash. [01:04:23] Speaker D: Yeah. One of the other things that I liked about this, with as much fun as I had with sun and Moon, Ultrason and Ultra Moon, I think were a big improvement. So with black and white, they get away from releasing the third game, and they do sequels, black two, white two. And they kind of skipped over that with X and Y, rumors that there was supposed to be a Pokemon. Z, I remember, didn't come to fruition. But with sun and Moon, when they released ultrasound and Ultramoon, that's the first time we've got a mechanism to catch past legendaries in the current gen. In fact, on my ultrasound game, I'm in the middle of soft resetting for a shiny mewtwo in the wormhole. So wish me luck because I've done it a lot so far and I still haven't gotten him I believe is still real. [01:05:21] Speaker A: Do you count your tribe? [01:05:23] Speaker D: I am still under ods, but I'm coming up on about 500 soft resets. [01:05:34] Speaker E: That's a whole nother grind. I can't get into the shining hunting. [01:05:38] Speaker D: Yeah, I know. [01:05:39] Speaker A: That has got to be a topic, too. I think I put it on. [01:05:44] Speaker D: Normally I don't do the. Yeah, normally I don't do the shiny, the soft resetting in the wormhole for the legendaries, but I really want a shiny mewtwo. I get you. I started to kind of mess around with that in let's go eevee. And I'm like, nah, that's even more of a pain in the butt. So I'm just going to keep. I could put on a show, do my soft resets. I don't know why. I guess this is the soft reset motion, and then someday it'll happen. [01:06:28] Speaker C: I believe in you. [01:06:30] Speaker D: Thanks, man. I appreciate that. So that's how I got roped back in and I've just been dialed in ever since. [01:06:39] Speaker A: Are you dialed into all the kind of new, like Pokemon go, for instance, also kind of changing the game. Legends RC is kind of changing the. [01:06:55] Speaker D: You know, I'm day one on go. I still have my first bulbasaur. I named him the. Thank you. And with legends Arceus, I sure would like to see them do other Legends games because the playstyle on Legends Arceus is so different from your mainline games. First of all, you can be attacked by the Pokemon, which the first time that, I mean, even now when it happens, when I'm well into the game, I've finished the main game. I'm working on finishing the Pokedex, but even now I start to panic when they. [01:07:33] Speaker B: I got to jump. I really like though. [01:07:41] Speaker D: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. [01:07:43] Speaker C: Yeah. I think the only thing with me is doing everything and completing the Pokedex takes so long and I have a decent amount of. But after a while, ADHD kicks in. I'm like, okay, what else are we going to do now though? [01:07:58] Speaker D: Having to get really good. [01:08:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:01] Speaker D: Because for those out in the audience that haven't played Legends Archeus, it takes place in the past of is it Sino? They call it something different in the game. It's his Legends Archeus, but I think it's the sino region. Yeah. And you're writing the Pokedex. And so through your encounters, you're doing research on these Pokemon and you got to get every Pokemon in the decks up to level ten in terms of research levels. And man, sometimes that's a grind. The good thing for me about it is that your shiny Pokemon appear in the overworld. So you don't got to just run, which was a total game changer, something that game freak and Nintendo had not done before. And they've carried that over into Scarlet and Violet, although I wish they would bring back the sparkle and the shiny sound. [01:08:59] Speaker E: Yeah, I'm glad we're bringing up Pokey. I guess you would say Pokey variations because that's kind of how I'm still hooked into the franchise. I did buy or get as a Christmas present Pokemon Scarlet, but I haven't beaten it yet. I think what the problem is with the mainline games for me is that I am somebody who likes challenges. Like, I will play on hard mode or hardcore. Like, I just beat Resident Evil two on hardcore. And I speed run games too. The games are, you can't escape the fact that, yes, they're made for everybody, but difficulty wise, they're skewed younger. Right. So it being too easy. I think when they brought the experience share in too. It's great because it eliminates some of the grind, but it just makes it too easy. So it kind of turned me off from the mainline titles where I'm getting having my fun is the Pokemon Go because that's a different type of repetitive. It brings out the collector in me. So I love playing go in that regard because it allows me to capture Pokemon. Right. Pokemon collect in my way while I'm out. It gives me something to do. But then for me, I've been playing League of Legends Way too much and it's the most toxic game in the world. But I love it to death. And I'm a huge moba fan. Guilty is charged. And when they released Pokemon Unite, I was hooked. I was day one unite, the amount of hours I put into that. And I still love it because it's my Pokemon, which I grew up with. I love these creatures, these characters, this universe. But in a game mode or like in a game type genre that I love, it makes me think of the franchise differently. And what they're doing now with Legends Arceus and they're definitely hearing that we need to tweak the mainline is a bit and even in know it being more open world in terms of complete at your own pace, which is kind of makes it different. Right. Breaks it up. I think you're going to see more of that, and I want more of that because that's what's keeping me engaged with the franchise overall and why I love it. Also now I'm obsessed with the trading card game because I love deck builders. And again, that's how I'm still in the game. And how I came back were these different types of new Pokemon experiences that I just think are so much fun. [01:11:25] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:11:27] Speaker D: Tell me more about Unite. Like, I'm aware of its existence, but I've never played. [01:11:33] Speaker E: Shannon. [01:11:34] Speaker A: No, it's you. [01:11:36] Speaker B: I've talked too much. It's all you. [01:11:38] Speaker A: The way none of us want to talk about Unite, but also Unite. Have you played league or familiar with. [01:11:47] Speaker E: League at all or any MOBA? [01:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. There are lanes. [01:11:57] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:11:57] Speaker D: Let's start with that. Look, old man Ziegler is old Manning right now. [01:12:01] Speaker A: Imagine. So the game is a little different in that you are working as a team to try to kind of keep control of what you could picture as like a game board. Right. Each group has their home base. Right. And then there's a lane up at the top with two other bases. And then there's a lane at the bottom with like, two other bases, and then there's this kind of jungley type space in the middle. [01:12:29] Speaker E: Just for acronym's sake. Multiplayer online battle arena. So it's an arena type game. [01:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're going through and there's Pokemon throughout the board, basically. And when you defeat a Pokemon, you kind of level up your skills, which gives you higher attack power and other things. And then there's also, like, items you can attach to the type of Pokemon you choose to play for that game, which can kind of affect the way you might want to play that character or that thing, because there are some characters on your team who are going to go into this Jungley middle area and try to get buffs for your team. And then there are going to be some people who are working on the defensive on certain lanes, like the top and the bottom to make sure that your bases don't get compromised. And basically you go through defeating Pokemon, gaining these little orbs. Do they have a name, the little balls? [01:13:29] Speaker E: Not too sure, but yeah, it's experience. [01:13:33] Speaker A: It's experience. It's points. And then you literally slam dunk them into the base. And once you get to a certain point, it's destroyed. [01:13:43] Speaker E: Each mobile is a little different, right. But the main objective is to defeat your other team or destroy the bases or like, you're destroying a base and or defeating the team in whatever the rules are. Right. Whatever that game is. So like League of Legends, you actually have to destroy the base, whereas Pokemon, it's whoever scores the most points, right, because there's like goals around the entire map. But it's super fast paced. It's almost like a mix of, I mean, it is like an action rpg. So your Pokemon have like four different attacks and you're spamming them. And each Pokemon has a different, I guess, class. So I'm a tank main. So if you played Overwatch, what I'm skilled at is defending and helping my other Pokemon who deal more damage level up faster. Snorlax is my main in Pokemon Unite, so he's just this big boy who sumo body slams. He could create like a Mr. Mime Shield, which is awesome. And he basically blocked through people. But it's free to play on switch and on mobile. Highly recommend it for anybody who hasn't played. [01:14:50] Speaker A: I highly do not recommend it. [01:14:54] Speaker E: If you want to play casually and not ranked, play casually. I don't recommend if you're competitive because, yes, to Shannon's point, there's people who are just too much or they don't know how to play. [01:15:09] Speaker A: It's a Pokemon game. It's a Pokemon game, right? So there are children. It's free. So there are children who play this game, and there are also people like us who are, like, care. Yeah. Big children, if you will. [01:15:24] Speaker D: I'd be in the big children's arena. [01:15:27] Speaker A: I think you sometimes get people who are really serious about wanting to win the game, and then other people who really are just running around killing Pokemon, trying to say, oh, I died again. And that can be very frustrating sometimes. [01:15:42] Speaker E: It's a competitive game. [01:15:43] Speaker A: It's a competitive game if you play it competitively. So playing for fun, super fun. Play with friends for fun, super fun. Competitive. [01:15:54] Speaker D: Now, do they have it broken up? Like, hey, if you want to play competitive, go over here. If you want to play, they do. Okay. [01:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're good there. And I think they introduced other modes. There's, like, threes, right? So you could play with a group of three against a group of three instead of five and five. I've had a lot of fun playing with friends, like, if I'm playing in a group with people, as long as we are just not caring about winning, because sometimes it's super infuriating. There's also a legendary. Is it always zappados? [01:16:28] Speaker E: They change it. It was Zappados when it first released, and then now it's, oh, my God, it's the dragon. It's the long dragon, the green quasa. [01:16:40] Speaker A: So at some point towards the end of the game, you can defeat the legendary and score an insane amount of points that you just have to go and slam dunk. And so that can make or break the game. So you play this game winning the entire time, and then can totally be upturned. And so it could get your blood pumping, which mostly, I don't think we think of Pokemon, and we're like, oh, yeah, I'm blood boiling. But Pokemon unite has made my blood boil. So that is my take on it. [01:17:11] Speaker E: Just like, watching Ash constantly lose in the league. And it took 30 years for him to finally become a Pokemon master. [01:17:19] Speaker B: Brian and I were talking about this. [01:17:20] Speaker A: Last night, because. [01:17:24] Speaker B: In ultimate adventures, Ash finally is, like, going to become the Pokemon master. [01:17:30] Speaker A: Nice. [01:17:33] Speaker B: And then becomes every corporation's ideal candidate. 14 years old with 30 years of experience, right. [01:17:40] Speaker C: But. [01:17:43] Speaker B: With this whole lead up, he's, like, going through these tournaments, and he's fighting in the various arenas, ranking up in this eventual to become the monarch fight with the galerian stuff. And at that point, he'll finally become a Pokemon master, which is all he's wanted since this show starts. My question is, does Ashna understand that literally, to beat this, all he has to do is get eight gym badges and go fight the elite four? Like, did this guy even go to the casino? Does he know? Because it feels like he's going well, no, because he's ten years old. [01:18:18] Speaker C: He's still ten years old. [01:18:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:18:20] Speaker C: What casino is going to let a. [01:18:21] Speaker D: Ten year old in? [01:18:22] Speaker A: Ash. [01:18:23] Speaker E: Ash. You need to put it all on red. [01:18:25] Speaker A: Ash. [01:18:26] Speaker E: Put it all on red. [01:18:27] Speaker B: Douchebag. [01:18:29] Speaker E: My great, awesome grand. [01:18:32] Speaker B: Also, Gary showed up in the episode last night, explained to me why gary, ash's rival of, like, eleven years old. Sounds like Wallace. Sean. [01:18:43] Speaker A: Is it him? [01:18:45] Speaker B: It's just some guy. [01:18:49] Speaker C: You fell victim to. [01:18:50] Speaker B: One of the famous thunders. [01:18:52] Speaker E: Oh, I'm going to be better than you, Ash. [01:18:59] Speaker B: Never go against us a douchebag when the league championships on the line. Anyway, so while we're talking about making this game more interesting for ourselves, I feel like this is an excellent segue into Shannon's topic. But before we get into that, I would like to ask another random Pokemon question I've been coming up with for the last week. That is, would you eat a salad if it was made with bulbasaur's butt leaves? [01:19:36] Speaker E: Yeah. And with magikarp chopped in kind of like a sushi salad? [01:19:41] Speaker D: Hell, yeah. [01:19:43] Speaker E: They eat pokemon. It's been established. Yeah. [01:19:46] Speaker B: Just watching the slow poke episode, and I was like, wait, slow poke? Yeah. [01:19:49] Speaker E: You eat slowpost tails? [01:19:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:19:51] Speaker B: How do you know this? [01:19:53] Speaker A: As someone who has been vegetarian for 15 years, I would absolutely eat every single Pokemon there is. Because why not? Wouldn't you want to know how they taste? Look at this one. Look at La Chonk and tell me that you wouldn't want to take a bite out of bacon. Bacon made of la chonk. Come on. [01:20:10] Speaker E: Or toros. Some like, nice burger. Yeah, it's like a bison burger. Some venison. What's the deer Pokemon? [01:20:19] Speaker D: Stantler. [01:20:20] Speaker E: Yeah. Good venison. [01:20:22] Speaker D: Fun fact, my stantler. Waldorf. Thank you. [01:20:28] Speaker A: Do you think Pokemon, certain Pokemon are so beloved that there would be a ban on eating them? Like pikachu's? [01:20:36] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. There's probably like, you can't eat a jinx. You can't eat a Mr. Mime. [01:20:41] Speaker A: Listen, I'm just. I would eat any of the Pokemon. [01:20:47] Speaker B: Including the anthropomorphic, weirdly sexual. Yeah, see, I was just going to say, excellent feet. [01:20:56] Speaker D: If you're going to eat, like, a Mr. Mime or. Well, no, not even a Mr. [01:21:01] Speaker B: Mime. [01:21:01] Speaker D: But if you're going to eat, like, some of the later generation starters, nobody's going to eat a full grown incinera, a fully evolved God, because it's like, people. Same with decidui, I guess. [01:21:18] Speaker E: Trev 80. [01:21:19] Speaker B: Wait, I was going to avoid. But wait. [01:21:22] Speaker E: Trev 81 says some thumps. Which Pokemon tastes like dolphin safe? Tuna? [01:21:29] Speaker D: Palafin. [01:21:30] Speaker E: There you go. [01:21:33] Speaker D: I guess that would be tuna safe dolphin. [01:21:35] Speaker B: It's adorable if a pikachu sleeps in your bed, but it's weird and problematic if a machamp cuddles up to you. How is that fair? Disgust. [01:21:44] Speaker E: I don't know, man. [01:21:45] Speaker A: I want a Machamp champ or got to be the best cuddler. I want you to tell me. The little kids tell me. That's okay, but listen to me. [01:22:00] Speaker E: Cradle them like a baby. [01:22:02] Speaker A: Listen. [01:22:03] Speaker D: I'm just going to keep my mouth shut because nothing that's going to come out of this is safe for work, right? [01:22:09] Speaker A: If you were having a bad day and you needed, like, a hug just to feel better, just imagine Machamp's forearmed hug making you feel, like, the safest in the world and you're going to tell me that's wrong or I'm the champ. [01:22:27] Speaker D: Bones into powder. [01:22:29] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. He'd be a good chiropractor, honestly. [01:22:37] Speaker A: Now, I guess. Where's the intelligence? Yeah, where's that line for these Pokemon range? Would that be a deciding factor? Because I honestly don't think it would, like, pigs, for example, have the same mental bearings as, like, a three year old child. Like, a lot of pets that people still eat, like, dogs and things in other parts of the world, they also have alligators, have a high intelligence. We still eat them. [01:23:03] Speaker E: I love alligators. [01:23:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Pokemon are kind of like animals, right? [01:23:10] Speaker E: I'm glad you brought this up because I don't know, you guys all felt the same way watching the anime. Is it just me or. Every single Pokemon is pretty intelligent because they're very aware of their surrounding and universe and, like, humans. Even, like, pigeons. [01:23:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:23:29] Speaker E: Even side, like, they're aware that Pokemon and humans live cohesively in this world. Right. And every expression that I see in the anime, it's like, they look very aware of, like, we are Pokemon. This is the type of Pokemon I am. And so. Yeah, now just thinking about it, what's. [01:23:50] Speaker B: The intelligence to wear sunglasses? [01:23:51] Speaker E: Yeah, they're gang. Like, squirrel squad. How do they know what a gang gang? Like a biker gang. Right. That's pretty much what they are. [01:23:57] Speaker D: Watching Team Rocket, obviously. [01:23:59] Speaker A: I think mewtwo would single handed. Well, not single handedly. He's got a bunch of Pokemon that are very intelligent on his side, including probably the Bulbasaur gang. But he would bring about, like, a squirtle gang, I think. [01:24:11] Speaker B: Show some respect. [01:24:11] Speaker A: The squirtle gang. Sorry, what did I say? [01:24:14] Speaker B: You said bulbasaur gang. [01:24:15] Speaker A: I said bulbasaur. Oh, my gosh. [01:24:16] Speaker E: I'm sure there is a friendly reminder. [01:24:19] Speaker B: That Bulbasaur can stand and use its front hands if it wants to, just so that you can all be really confused. [01:24:24] Speaker D: No anime. Shut your dirty mouth. [01:24:29] Speaker A: He's a dinosaur. So I think that there probably would be protests against us eating Pokemon from the Pokemon themselves, which would then probably change the rules a little bit. [01:24:40] Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, you can't have, like, a Pokemon ranch, I guess, could. [01:24:44] Speaker E: There are Pokemon ranches, but how do. [01:24:49] Speaker A: We know they're not? [01:24:50] Speaker D: That's true. [01:24:52] Speaker E: I was going to say sword and shield. They have farms with all the sheep Pokemon on it. [01:24:57] Speaker B: Pokemon are wool, or are those for. [01:25:01] Speaker D: Yeah, I feel like that's for the wool, though. [01:25:03] Speaker E: But now here's the age old question, too, which I've seen a lot of debate online. Is the food that people are consuming in the Pokemon universe, is it Pokemon or is it. What else is it? Are there actual animals? [01:25:15] Speaker B: Dogs? [01:25:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:25:17] Speaker E: Are there? I don't remember. Between a dog and a town door. [01:25:23] Speaker D: Mill tank. [01:25:24] Speaker E: Yeah. Well, Mill tank stands and openly shoots its utters at you like guns. So there's that and looks like enjoy it. [01:25:33] Speaker B: But still, Shannon, you can make a whole weird groin shooting Pokemon. [01:25:38] Speaker A: Oh, God. [01:25:39] Speaker C: So kind of related news, like Trevor pointed out on the chat that there's a wi game called my Pokemon ranch. [01:25:46] Speaker B: I don't know what happened in it. [01:25:48] Speaker D: But I think you can get your game into the ranch, transfer Pokemon from there into the ranch. And that was how you could get mew for gen five, I think. [01:26:05] Speaker B: Yeah, that does sound kind of like Pokemon home, Nikki. [01:26:09] Speaker D: Somebody's looking that up, I think. Yeah, kind of like Pokemon home, I think. [01:26:15] Speaker A: You know what? The Pokemon world's a little messed up, and we've known this because we do let ten year old children go out into a field of grass, catch a monster, put that monster in a tiny little ball, and then use that monster to attack other monsters and other children with their monsters across. So I think eating them isn't the biggest debate out there in the Pokemon world. I still live there. [01:26:39] Speaker B: Cuddle who you want to cuddle. [01:26:40] Speaker D: That's probably fair. So according to the crack research team, who today is me. My Pokemon ranch is similar in concept to Pokemon box. [01:26:55] Speaker E: There you go. [01:26:56] Speaker D: And allows players to transfer up to a thousand of their Pokemon from up to eight separate Pokemon diamond and Pearl Nintendo DS game cards to a ranch run by Haley, a friend of Bibi who runs the pc box system. In these. [01:27:14] Speaker B: Go. Okay. [01:27:15] Speaker A: There's also a Pokemon home where you can store, like, I think it's all of your Pokemon from the different games. [01:27:21] Speaker B: Yes. [01:27:21] Speaker E: Most recently. [01:27:23] Speaker D: I know because I'm buttoning up against it. [01:27:26] Speaker B: Well, this seems like an excellent time to cut where we were, so we'll just cut it real quick, and we will come back next week to talk a little bit more with Dave, a little bit more with Shannon on what their versions of what's got them back into Pokemon in recent years, as well as talking a little bit more about nuzlocks and all the various different ways you can play Pokemon, as well as trying to figure out what's an appropriate way to cuddle your Pokemon, depending on its size. All this and more on our next episode of Sneaky Geek. So real quick, just a quick rundown, you can find sneaky geek on Discord, you can find it on Twitch, you can find it on Instagram. Just look up sneaky Geek podcast and it's anywhere there. Please make sure you like and subscribe to our podcast on Spotify or whatever podcast host you listen to. My name is Bryce Rankins. You can find me at Bryce Rankins. This is my co host, Brian Romero. That's me over here at Brom 1137. Shannon can be found online on the Twitch and on the Instagram sort of thing. [01:28:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:28:27] Speaker B: Shannon against Shannon, underscore Anne, underscore igans. And Nick, you can be found at in underscore ice. Underscore five. [01:28:42] Speaker E: Yes, a lot of underscores following that suit. [01:28:45] Speaker D: If people really want to find me, they can go to the Liberty high school website and find my email there. [01:28:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:28:52] Speaker B: All right. Make sure you like and subscribe. We cannot wait to get you the rest of this episode. We're really excited about it. Sneaky Geek is hosted by Bryce Rankins and Brian Romero. This episode was edited by Bryce Rankins. Our logo and website were designed by Ali Nimmins. Our theme song was written and produced by Skyler Johnson. Our Twitch stream for this episode was produced by Nick Frotto. Music for today's episode was from Poke and Chill by Michael, used with permission by game chops, based on music by Janice Mason. Michael's album Poke and Chill can be [email protected] pokeandchill Copyright 2024 Sneaky Geek Media. All rights reserved. [01:30:03] Speaker A: You it's.