Jan. 22, 2025

TRAINER'S EYE #127 - "Written By Shaymin" ft. Blackjack Gabbiani

TRAINER'S EYE #127 -
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Season 1 Pokemon Artists & Writers

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by BlackJack Gabbiani, a Pokemon Trainer, voice actor, and fanfic writer.

Blackjack Gabbiani starts from the very beginning where they dive into their interest in Pokemon starting with Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Eventually, they develop a deep interest into the Pokemon world, specifically the Pokemon Villainous Teams and the motivations behind their action. They further elaborate on the real world inspiration that led to their creation.

Blackjack Gabbiani deep dives into their favorite Villainous Team, Team Galatic, specifically Cyrus. They give insight into the possible motivation behind his goal of creating a new world with Dialga or Palkia in Sinnoh. They also deep dive into the other villainous teams across the Pokemon franchise and how they were influenced by both their upbrining and environment.

Finally, Blackjack Gabbiani connects the Pokemon Franchise with their passion for writing, specifically Pokemon fanfiction. They touch on lesser known characters and how much potential world building is done by not on themselves, but other Pokemon fanfic writers in the space.

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

Connect with BlackJackGabbiani: BlueSky | Youtube | Website

Send us a text

Support the show

Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com

Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.089 --> 00:00:03.140
I'm Blackjack Gaviani, and this is my Pokémon story.

00:00:42.508 --> 00:00:47.398
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon.

00:00:47.838 --> 00:00:49.758
My name is David Hernandez.

00:00:50.095 --> 00:00:55.793
I'm joined by a fan ficked writer and voice actor, Blackjack Gabbiani.

00:00:56.094 --> 00:00:57.154
Blackjack, welcome to the

00:00:57.503 --> 00:00:58.793
Hi! I'm glad to be here!

00:00:59.884 --> 00:01:00.584
Absolutely.

00:01:00.613 --> 00:01:04.620
And We talked a little bit earlier about you doing fan fiction, but also the voice actor.

00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:07.290
And I hope the audience got to hear the different voices you could do.

00:01:07.861 --> 00:01:13.081
And I wanted to like ask, like, when was the first time you started doing voice acting and what led you to want to do

00:01:13.301 --> 00:01:19.400
Okay, so when I was in sixth grade, I used to go read to the first graders, and they only ever wanted to hear Calvin and Hobbes.

00:01:21.355 --> 00:01:36.176
So I was like, uh, Calvin was kind of up here like this, and Hobbes was just kind of my regular voice, and Rosalind was kind of like this, and the dad was like this, and the teacher was like this, and, yeah.

00:01:38.021 --> 00:01:40.671
I think the mom was also my regular voice, I don't remember.

00:01:40.989 --> 00:01:43.120
this was a long, long time ago.

00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:47.049
I'm actually considerably older than most of the Pokemon fanbase.

00:01:47.322 --> 00:01:53.736
Pokemon came out here in the US, the summer that I graduated high school.

00:01:54.275 --> 00:02:00.805
So, I am a bit older! Hehehehehehe!

00:02:00.930 --> 00:02:01.521
everybody.

00:02:01.521 --> 00:02:02.971
So that is no problem at all.

00:02:03.001 --> 00:02:06.551
And the fact that it started with Calvin Hobbes, I love Calvin Hobbes.

00:02:06.551 --> 00:02:07.680
I read the comics growing up.

00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:07.850
It's

00:02:08.195 --> 00:02:09.575
Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:02:09.575 --> 00:02:12.295
It's great for your imagination when you're a youngster, too.

00:02:13.790 --> 00:02:14.971
It is definitely.

00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:15.371
And

00:02:15.675 --> 00:02:19.695
about, you know, big adventures and imagination and all that.

00:02:19.695 --> 00:02:23.856
And, you know, if you want to toss the voices in for it, all's the better.

00:02:24.292 --> 00:02:28.431
I mean, I'm sure pretty, the kids were pretty entertained with you doing all the different voices

00:02:28.646 --> 00:02:29.417
Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:02:29.706 --> 00:02:39.360
I've only had one Pokémon roll, as I was saying before we started I did one episode of a Pokemon abridged that only lasted two episodes.

00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:43.590
I was the voice of Nurse Joy in the second episode in Viridian City!

00:02:45.703 --> 00:02:48.272
So you got to say like, Hey, welcome to the Pokemon center.

00:02:48.393 --> 00:02:50.393
Would you like me to heal your Pokemon back?

00:02:50.548 --> 00:02:56.469
It was something like, cause you know, Ash and Jenny, run through the door on Jenny's motorcycle.

00:02:56.854 --> 00:03:04.205
Joy says something like, Most people use the stairs! I don't remember.

00:03:04.205 --> 00:03:05.686
It was a very long time ago.

00:03:05.945 --> 00:03:06.425
I don't remember

00:03:06.475 --> 00:03:13.955
And then I can imagine, I can imagine you giving yourself a menacing voice being we hope to see you again soon.

00:03:14.395 --> 00:03:16.195
we hope to see you again.

00:03:16.885 --> 00:03:17.866
Yeah, there we go.

00:03:18.086 --> 00:03:18.415
we go.

00:03:18.425 --> 00:03:21.116
Ooh, well, that's awesome.

00:03:21.116 --> 00:03:25.355
Like the fact that you did, you know, Pokemon voice acting and, you know, it got to be a row, even though it was only two

00:03:25.591 --> 00:03:31.471
Yeah, and, and of a, a fan project, I would love to do an official Pokemon voice.

00:03:31.501 --> 00:03:32.760
Oh my, you have no idea.

00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:33.751
Um,

00:03:34.205 --> 00:03:38.175
Have you ever imagined like what kind of character your voice would be best suited for in a Pokemon

00:03:38.390 --> 00:03:39.531
yes.

00:03:39.996 --> 00:03:40.686
Ooh, let's go.

00:03:40.686 --> 00:03:41.026
Let's dive

00:03:41.151 --> 00:03:48.881
I've always wanted to play a Pokemon villain, there's one voice I do that I think really goes well with Commander Mars.

00:03:49.269 --> 00:03:51.788
And so I think, I think this one's really good.

00:03:54.734 --> 00:03:58.623
So it'd be like the main head boss, like a Giovanni or for, um,

00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:04.188
Well, if they ever actually dub the audio drama, I think I could be a pretty good Madam Boss.

00:04:04.498 --> 00:04:07.729
I kind of imagine her having like an old Hollywood sort of voice.

00:04:08.163 --> 00:04:16.108
Like, I did, one kind of demo where I was showing off voices where I was, one of the characters I picked was Lusamine.

00:04:16.249 --> 00:04:20.949
And so I did kind of like this, kind of low and a little biting.

00:04:21.088 --> 00:04:22.809
And then you can leave.

00:04:23.249 --> 00:04:25.399
It's true, it probably won't survive.

00:04:28.418 --> 00:04:29.319
Oh my gosh.

00:04:29.499 --> 00:04:31.298
Actually, I can bring up some of her actual line.

00:04:31.892 --> 00:04:32.223
Sure.

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And that's why I'm here.

00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:37.370
I'll be like a mother to all those poor Pokémon and shower them with love.

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Even Pokémon from distant worlds far from the Alola region are worthy of my love.

00:04:42.696 --> 00:04:49.997
Oh, you sweet boy! I'm already over 40! you do say such incomprehensible things.

00:04:50.437 --> 00:04:52.877
Calling me mother, I don't have any children.

00:04:52.877 --> 00:04:56.677
Especially, certainly not any wretched children who would run off and reject my love.

00:04:57.348 --> 00:05:00.367
So, tell me how you'll save that Pokémon.

00:05:01.028 --> 00:05:03.218
What can you do, Lily?

00:05:05.103 --> 00:05:08.023
Oh That's good, I like it.

00:05:08.423 --> 00:05:09.252
Thank you.

00:05:09.892 --> 00:05:15.403
And then, another one I would really like to play, and it would kind of be two characters in one, uh, is Sada.

00:05:15.403 --> 00:05:17.177
And, I need your help.

00:05:17.598 --> 00:05:21.108
I am currently at the deepest point of Area Zero in the Great Crater of Paldeia.

00:05:21.567 --> 00:05:24.608
I have been researching the unique Pokémon here for a very long time.

00:05:25.187 --> 00:05:30.867
I'm asking the two of you to lend a hand to help carry out the final step of the great Professor Sada's glorious research.

00:05:31.708 --> 00:05:33.358
But there is something we need first.

00:05:33.447 --> 00:05:35.237
Something that could be found within that lab.

00:05:35.648 --> 00:05:37.848
What we need is the Scarlet Book.

00:05:38.452 --> 00:05:39.973
dude, that's awesome.

00:05:39.983 --> 00:05:41.242
Whoa

00:05:41.903 --> 00:05:44.682
It is theoretically possible to travel to the past.

00:05:44.903 --> 00:05:50.023
However, for a being such as a human, it would not be possible to return to the present.

00:05:50.023 --> 00:05:56.802
Arvin, I If possible, I would like us to speak when we can meet face to face.

00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:04.476
Although, I, uh, asked my YouTube followers and I'm pretty sure the person they wanted me to play the most was Rika.

00:06:04.776 --> 00:06:10.908
And I, I just have her voice kind of down here like this, And she, she already kind of sounds like this,

00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:16.009
do you try to kind of give him the character's head to try to come up to with the tone you know, we don't,

00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:16.730
Absolutely.

00:06:17.704 --> 00:06:21.334
Okay, so what comes to mind whenever you try to put yourself in like Professor Sada's kind of

00:06:21.915 --> 00:06:24.175
Well, she was completely deranged.

00:06:24.194 --> 00:06:31.435
She wanted to basically create Jurassic World, for the sake of her son, who would have had none of it, and probably would have died.

00:06:31.855 --> 00:06:44.944
and the AI is trying to stop that, but she's hampered by her programming, so she has to be, she has to play this role, and, it's like she both is and isn't who she's pretending to be, you know?

00:06:44.944 --> 00:06:45.654
So, yeah.

00:06:46.254 --> 00:06:51.596
But I imagine like during the actual fight when the AI gets possessed by the security system.

00:06:52.007 --> 00:06:58.416
And I definitely got the impression that they were possessed by vengeful spirit of their creator.

00:06:59.062 --> 00:07:00.781
Oh, be surprised.

00:07:01.937 --> 00:07:06.047
that, um, that the voice would be like all distorted and stuff in editing.

00:07:06.067 --> 00:07:11.057
But, you know, again, I don't really do Pokémon voice acting except for my playthrough videos

00:07:11.632 --> 00:07:15.661
you know, it's a good, interesting point about Professor Sata because it's like a Dr.

00:07:15.661 --> 00:07:16.641
Hecker, um, Dr.

00:07:16.641 --> 00:07:17.221
Heckle, Mr.

00:07:17.476 --> 00:07:18.297
Jekyll and Mr.

00:07:18.297 --> 00:07:18.646
Hyde,

00:07:19.172 --> 00:07:19.711
Yeah, there we go.

00:07:19.711 --> 00:07:23.882
Jekyll Hyde kind of to where, exactly.

00:07:23.932 --> 00:07:32.021
But the thing is, is that, you know, they're trying to, you know, the AI is struggling trying to figure out which side it wants to be on because it's trying to obey the commands, but it's also trying to stop it.

00:07:32.156 --> 00:07:40.826
The AIs, I really got the feeling that they deeply loved and respected their creators, but had to do this because it was what was good and logical.

00:07:41.206 --> 00:07:47.507
Not even what good, it was what was logical, because they realized that caring for others is logical.

00:07:47.954 --> 00:07:48.673
It's interesting, right?

00:07:48.673 --> 00:07:53.774
Cause you know, we always think like robots would never have emotion, but in a way they kind of

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This is

00:07:54.663 --> 00:07:54.824
for

00:07:55.129 --> 00:08:03.509
This is also a series where we have, accepted ducks made of programming code as a sapient species since generation one.

00:08:03.952 --> 00:08:12.487
So, having advanced AI like that really just kind of seems like the next step in the development of technology in that world.

00:08:12.968 --> 00:08:18.809
And talking about the AIs is going to segue into my fan fix because they're who've I've been writing about mostly.

00:08:18.988 --> 00:08:21.442
over the last two Ha ha

00:08:21.723 --> 00:08:27.944
what is about the AI characters that really interest you or like really kind draw that or you know Are you inspired

00:08:28.088 --> 00:08:33.879
I've always liked characters that overcome their programming and become something more than they were meant to be.

00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:41.250
But programming was never so literal! Like, I've never really found a robot character that's really spoken to me like that.

00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:51.701
It's characters like Piccolo from Dragon Ball, or Kami White from Street Fighter, or Mitsumi from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure, which is a manga that more people need to read.

00:08:52.015 --> 00:08:56.525
It's by Shigekatsu Ihara, and it's eight volumes, and it's only about Diamond, Pearl, Platinum.

00:08:56.847 --> 00:09:02.347
The, the main character is this wild boy named Harita, who's the Lucas Exp.

00:09:02.721 --> 00:09:06.541
he grew up in the woods, and was basically raised by Pokémon.

00:09:06.846 --> 00:09:12.253
And then Mitsumi is Rowan's assistant and she's sent out to go find him.

00:09:13.477 --> 00:09:16.956
Hmm.

00:09:17.533 --> 00:09:21.913
she has heard something is up with Dialga and wants to go find it.

00:09:22.219 --> 00:09:27.145
And I'm not going to spoil something that you find out on the cover of Volume 5.

00:09:27.625 --> 00:09:30.125
Uh, like I said, it's eight volumes.

00:09:30.416 --> 00:09:42.683
But, The reason Mitsumi knew about this is because she's a former member of Team Galactic, and she ran away because she could no longer justify what they were doing.

00:09:43.134 --> 00:09:53.317
And Cyrus was kind of content to let her go as long as she didn't cause any trouble, but then they get involved with everything, and Yeah, it's It's, uh, yeah.

00:09:55.878 --> 00:09:57.457
It's a really good series.

00:09:57.457 --> 00:10:02.008
The ending's a little rushed, I think, because they were getting into HeartGold and SoulSilver at that point.

00:10:02.567 --> 00:10:05.158
And they needed to make room in the magazines.

00:10:05.197 --> 00:10:09.028
But everything that it ends with was set up in advance.

00:10:09.604 --> 00:10:12.553
So you're talking about how, you know, you enjoyed character being more than

00:10:13.053 --> 00:10:13.474
Yeah.

00:10:13.594 --> 00:10:16.073
More than what they were meant to be.

00:10:16.567 --> 00:10:25.038
So I guess in a way because the AI wasn't following instructions, you saw that became more human, I guess, for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet specifically.

00:10:25.518 --> 00:10:35.073
it was, I, I suppose, but it managed to be like a better person, not a better human, but a better person than its human creator.

00:10:35.530 --> 00:10:54.535
And I, I feel like that's really, a fascinating thing, like here's someone with the exact memories, the exact, I guess environmental input of its creator who is able to take a step back and view their goals objectively without the emotional attachment.

00:10:54.546 --> 00:11:00.682
They've seen all the emotions, they've felt all the emotions that their creator associates with this.

00:11:01.102 --> 00:11:08.610
And yet they look at the result that it would cause undue destruction and are like, this doesn't make any sense.

00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:09.921
You're going to kill everyone.

00:11:10.791 --> 00:11:12.730
And the professor was just like, nah, it's fine.

00:11:12.730 --> 00:11:13.951
Destruction is a part of life.

00:11:13.951 --> 00:11:15.020
It'll even out in the end.

00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:31.566
And then the professor dies saving their And even though it's never said, I feel like that's what, well, for one, their death gave the AI a bit more freedom to enact their plan of stopping paradise.

00:11:31.946 --> 00:11:45.400
but I also feel that the contradiction of someone who had been so dismissive of mass destruction and saying that it would be fine, that it's just a part of life, would die to save someone they loved.

00:11:45.788 --> 00:11:55.714
I feel like that really awakened something in the AIs and they were able to start, experiencing their own path in life.

00:11:56.394 --> 00:12:09.053
And one of the things that keeps coming up is whenever you talk to them about your ride dragon, they're saying, Stuff like, you know, please take it to so many places, have adventures with it.

00:12:09.658 --> 00:12:12.677
you know, make sure that it sees so much of Paldea.

00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:14.171
Because they want to see much of Paldea.

00:12:14.181 --> 00:12:17.061
They're, they're stuck in either the crater or the lab.

00:12:17.071 --> 00:12:21.400
They say, I cannot leave this place, but it's unclear what place they mean.

00:12:21.844 --> 00:12:25.474
but their existence is tied to the crystals around them.

00:12:25.854 --> 00:12:28.234
If they were to leave, they would lose power.

00:12:28.234 --> 00:12:30.988
I don't think they would die, but I think they would lose power.

00:12:31.283 --> 00:12:36.214
a thought about the ending, because I was terrified for, like, waiting for the DLC.

00:12:36.254 --> 00:12:42.293
I was terrified that it would say that they just, turned off and couldn't go on adventures of their own or whatever.

00:12:42.691 --> 00:12:48.410
or even, even because Dream Theory was big at the time, so I was worried that they could stop existing.

00:12:48.711 --> 00:13:04.990
But then, the part When you go down into the Under Depths and you encounter Terrapagos, and it, just being around it charges your orb so much that it never needs to be recharged, and thinking about how the AI took on so much terrestrial energy during the Paradise Protection Protocol stage.

00:13:05.551 --> 00:13:07.801
Like, that would have been terrifying.

00:13:07.801 --> 00:13:12.461
That scene is probably the closest to body horror this franchise has ever gotten.

00:13:13.591 --> 00:13:14.951
Well, it was! Like, when they're

00:13:15.005 --> 00:13:15.365
I know.

00:13:15.365 --> 00:13:16.355
Yeah, true though

00:13:16.811 --> 00:13:18.860
see it's even inside their mouths.

00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:26.380
And their eyes are glitching really badly, and, uh, it must have been terrifying, but that also might have saved them.

00:13:26.698 --> 00:13:31.592
Because I feel like that's a similar charge to what your terror orb takes on.

00:13:31.873 --> 00:13:38.972
So I feel like that can give them the power to leave the lab and even the crater and have their own adventures for once.

00:13:38.972 --> 00:13:41.352
And be the free adventurers they wanted us to be.

00:13:41.936 --> 00:13:47.033
it's almost like in a way They're kind of the parents who are trying to give their kids, you know, the experience they can't

00:13:47.332 --> 00:13:53.102
Yeah, yeah, well, I also also feel like the AIs loved Arvin as if he was their own son.

00:13:53.113 --> 00:13:58.493
I know the game doesn't actually say that, but I really feel like that's, that's, In there.

00:13:59.441 --> 00:14:01.250
that's the tragic part about Arvin.

00:14:01.301 --> 00:14:03.400
Like Arvin has a very tragic story.

00:14:03.410 --> 00:14:05.660
Neither one of his parents really loved him.

00:14:05.735 --> 00:14:10.826
Well, they, they did love him, but they couldn't express it.

00:14:11.395 --> 00:14:16.602
Like, it was their goal, you find out in their journal, to basically go home and be with him.

00:14:16.753 --> 00:14:19.653
It's a paradise where we three can live happily.

00:14:20.163 --> 00:14:24.322
And the three would be them, Arvin, and the Paradox Dragon.

00:14:24.739 --> 00:14:28.510
And That's what they wanted, but they couldn't stop working.

00:14:29.030 --> 00:14:31.071
They wanted to go home to Arvin.

00:14:31.441 --> 00:14:42.201
And in the epilogue, in the crystal pool scene, where you give them the white book, we know that the professor from our timeline interacted in a similar way.

00:14:42.514 --> 00:14:47.278
They received the white book from a child at the crystal pool.

00:14:47.596 --> 00:14:51.735
But, the professor from our timeline did not give up their copy of Heath's book.

00:14:52.135 --> 00:14:55.456
So this has to be a different universe that we're interacting with.

00:14:55.475 --> 00:15:00.816
Because if they had given up their copy of Heath's book, Arvin couldn't have found it at the lighthouse, so Mombastiff would have been screwed.

00:15:01.770 --> 00:15:01.994
Right.

00:15:01.994 --> 00:15:02.403
True.

00:15:02.514 --> 00:15:05.634
And the reason why I say his parents didn't love This is my perspective.

00:15:06.114 --> 00:15:09.823
He was always going to be second place to their work.

00:15:10.653 --> 00:15:14.104
He was never going to be number one, even going back home.

00:15:14.403 --> 00:15:16.283
They're not going just with Arvin.

00:15:16.293 --> 00:15:17.583
They're going with their work.

00:15:18.104 --> 00:15:22.942
And, it took an AI to kind of finally tell Arvin that he was cared for by his

00:15:23.283 --> 00:15:23.863
Mm hmm.

00:15:24.503 --> 00:15:30.327
And that's kind of where I was coming from to where, you know, yes, they may love them to the degree, but they don't love them as much as their work.

00:15:30.337 --> 00:15:31.898
They're very work holics.

00:15:31.927 --> 00:15:36.317
They're very, you know, dedicated to what they're research and what they're trying to do.

00:15:36.687 --> 00:15:38.528
And Arvin is always going to be second

00:15:38.763 --> 00:15:44.513
yeah, it feels like, like people have said this, obsession is one of the big themes of Scarlet and Violet.

00:15:45.033 --> 00:15:47.133
And that's another thing that drew me to it.

00:15:47.173 --> 00:15:49.842
I mean, I, I love obsessive characters.

00:15:50.293 --> 00:15:58.432
I've, I've spent far too long writing a backstory for the collector from the second movie.

00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:01.120
Oh, he's such an untapped character.

00:16:01.370 --> 00:16:04.120
Like I wish they had like dived into more.

00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:05.900
That's been the most frustrating part about Pokemon.

00:16:05.900 --> 00:16:10.870
It's like they have some interesting characters, but you don't really get the chance to dive into them because like a one cameo

00:16:10.890 --> 00:16:18.461
Well, most of his personality is in his image song, which only exists on the Japanese movie soundtrack.

00:16:18.721 --> 00:16:21.711
It's not even in the Japanese movie, it's just on the soundtrack.

00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:25.951
Because they got Takashi Kaga to voice him, and I guess you're not going to have him without having him sing.

00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:26.951
Right.

00:16:28.265 --> 00:16:46.234
In the prism, I want to hold the woman I've locked away.

00:16:46.234 --> 00:16:50.703
That is my

00:16:50.703 --> 00:16:51.644
Hey, I was gonna let you go off.

00:16:51.644 --> 00:16:52.634
I was like, hey, she wants to sing.

00:16:52.644 --> 00:16:53.033
Go for it.

00:16:53.033 --> 00:16:53.703
I'm not gonna stop her.

00:16:55.783 --> 00:16:56.403
But I'm sorry.

00:16:56.423 --> 00:16:56.813
Stop you.

00:16:56.813 --> 00:16:57.083
I'm sorry.

00:16:57.134 --> 00:16:57.464
Stop you.

00:16:57.464 --> 00:16:57.964
Yeah, I'm sorry.

00:16:58.144 --> 00:16:58.543
I'm sorry.

00:16:58.573 --> 00:16:59.024
Stop you.

00:16:59.024 --> 00:17:03.193
But, you know, I know we kind of started with Scarlet and Violet the recent one.

00:17:03.193 --> 00:17:06.413
There's a lot could dive into, but let's start from the origin.

00:17:06.413 --> 00:17:07.273
Let's start from the beginning.

00:17:07.804 --> 00:17:10.213
you know, what is that first initial experience of Pokemon for

00:17:10.364 --> 00:17:20.728
Um, well I was working in the school library And the whole Porygon incident, seizure thing was in the news.

00:17:21.508 --> 00:17:27.866
So, me and the brother of one of my friends, were like, what is this Pokemon thing?

00:17:27.926 --> 00:17:31.477
And so we looked it up, and we only saw Pikachu, right?

00:17:31.487 --> 00:17:33.586
Because that was the only one they were putting in their articles.

00:17:33.866 --> 00:17:35.457
And I'm like, oh, that's hella cute.

00:17:35.790 --> 00:17:40.691
So, When I saw it on TV a few months later, I was like, Oh, this is hella cute.

00:17:41.028 --> 00:17:43.867
I think the first one I saw was the Battling Eevee Brothers.

00:17:44.201 --> 00:17:51.401
Uh, which, you know, is an episode of rather suspect quality, as you recall, especially in English.

00:17:51.402 --> 00:17:54.121
Eevee, where did you go to?

00:17:54.415 --> 00:17:59.766
But, uh, but yeah, I was like, Oh, this is charming.

00:18:00.046 --> 00:18:01.838
And so I got red version.

00:18:02.166 --> 00:18:02.957
And then.

00:18:03.087 --> 00:18:04.907
a little bit playing into red version.

00:18:04.917 --> 00:18:06.157
I was like, oh, this is cool.

00:18:06.157 --> 00:18:07.518
I want to start over from the beginning.

00:18:07.518 --> 00:18:10.958
I want to see, I want to, I want to see what happens if I make different choices.

00:18:10.958 --> 00:18:13.515
And where did my first save file go?

00:18:13.798 --> 00:18:13.979
Oh,

00:18:14.358 --> 00:18:17.679
I was so used to games having three save files as a default.

00:18:18.259 --> 00:18:20.628
I didn't even question that there might only be one.

00:18:20.951 --> 00:18:22.500
Yeah, forgot about that.

00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:22.871
Yeah.

00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:25.171
I don't remember who my first starter was.

00:18:26.671 --> 00:18:26.931
Oh,

00:18:27.320 --> 00:18:28.221
It was one of the three.

00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:28.651
Yeah.

00:18:28.661 --> 00:18:28.671
Oh,

00:18:29.580 --> 00:18:33.390
I recently found my gold version again and the battery exploded.

00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:36.039
So I can't really consult that one either.

00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:38.329
but then I, played Sapphire.

00:18:38.369 --> 00:18:40.950
And by that point I was already like really in the fandom.

00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:45.585
I think second gen is when I really got involved in the fandom.

00:18:45.724 --> 00:18:48.515
I was a mod on Bulbagarden for a while.

00:18:48.515 --> 00:18:49.619
I was one of the fanfic creators.

00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:54.431
and I don't remember the first Pokémon fanfic I wrote.

00:18:54.431 --> 00:18:56.330
I honestly could not tell you.

00:18:56.770 --> 00:19:00.880
it might Oh gosh, was it about Giovanni?

00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:01.730
I don't remember.

00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:02.950
This is

00:19:03.009 --> 00:19:05.779
considering you want to be a villain, it'd probably be kind of on point.

00:19:06.454 --> 00:19:09.824
huh.

00:19:57.311 --> 00:19:58.382
I want to ask you something real quick.

00:19:58.402 --> 00:20:02.751
Because I know you said, you know, you're more on the older side of the Pokemon audience.

00:20:02.811 --> 00:20:04.261
At least that's what, you know, you feel like.

00:20:05.461 --> 00:20:10.392
So, I've had a lot of other guests who are older, when Pokemon came out, they felt like it was past them.

00:20:10.821 --> 00:20:12.442
You clearly didn't have that.

00:20:12.882 --> 00:20:17.102
What about Pokemon, you know, engaged you even at an older age?

00:20:17.142 --> 00:20:20.471
That you enjoyed, that let you be more involved?

00:20:20.896 --> 00:20:23.606
Well, I mean, I like video games.

00:20:24.537 --> 00:20:24.906
Okay.

00:20:25.017 --> 00:20:29.997
the first game just had an excuse plot, but I liked running around and finding monsters.

00:20:30.797 --> 00:20:37.186
know, it was certainly no Final Fantasy VI, or III as we knew it back then, because this was the 90s.

00:20:37.727 --> 00:20:40.056
Ha ha ha.

00:20:41.042 --> 00:20:45.742
and I just thought it was cute, the show was cute, The Rocket Trio are fantastic.

00:20:46.673 --> 00:20:47.232
Mm hmm.

00:20:47.813 --> 00:20:51.792
I feel like they appealed to the older audience the most.

00:20:51.873 --> 00:20:53.972
cause, you know, they are older.

00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:56.809
they're supposed to be like in their early twenties.

00:20:57.269 --> 00:21:10.982
and then, like, Meowth is clearly, like, he's presented like a grumpy old man, but he's also didn't really experience a childhood, so he's very immature while pretending to be the responsible adult.

00:21:11.291 --> 00:21:20.711
I mean, it's a mix of, like, very A child basically having a tragic childhood, considering, you know, you let her learn about how, like, you learned how to speak, all the rejection and everything, so it makes sense

00:21:21.586 --> 00:21:27.950
And I mean, on the one hand, she was kind of right to reject him, but on the other hand, it's like, you know, at least acknowledge him.

00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:29.250
Don't call him a freak.

00:21:29.269 --> 00:21:30.589
Just say you're not interested.

00:21:30.589 --> 00:21:32.674
Well,

00:21:32.815 --> 00:21:37.214
ha Getting flashbacks right now, Chaga stories in Pokemon are.

00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:41.720
also had a big influence on his English voice actress.

00:21:42.076 --> 00:21:45.416
if you notice, originally she was credited as Adam.

00:21:45.717 --> 00:21:54.916
but, she said that, Meowth having to be honest with himself and, you Except who he really is, encouraged her to come out.

00:21:54.926 --> 00:21:57.767
So you notice that later on she's credited as Madeline.

00:21:58.063 --> 00:22:03.153
And then I remember some of the stories I remember a lot of the ones that always get to me or the fire types, especially

00:22:03.353 --> 00:22:04.643
Oh, golly, yeah.

00:22:05.282 --> 00:22:06.442
yeah, that's it's

00:22:06.553 --> 00:22:09.613
it's interesting seeing different people's takes on that.

00:22:09.623 --> 00:22:21.724
Like there's an official manga, Electric Tale of Pikachu, where the reason that Charmander is out there is not because Damien abandoned him, but because Damien was, like, hit by a car and was in the hospital.

00:22:21.734 --> 00:22:25.065
So at the end of the issue, he, like, staggers up in bandages.

00:22:25.477 --> 00:22:29.846
really and that changes completely in anime.

00:22:30.067 --> 00:22:33.686
I, well, no, cause in the anime, Damien had just abandoned him.

00:22:33.686 --> 00:22:37.076
He was just like, yeah, he's a weakling, so I just left him out there.

00:22:37.086 --> 00:22:38.866
And Brock is like, YOU BITCH!

00:22:39.676 --> 00:22:40.166
pretty much.

00:22:40.166 --> 00:22:40.477
Yeah

00:22:41.406 --> 00:22:44.527
Brock literally beats the crap out of him in the Pokémon Center.

00:22:44.852 --> 00:22:46.301
It's fantastic.

00:22:47.281 --> 00:22:47.741
Yeah,

00:22:48.132 --> 00:22:49.511
And he was right to do it.

00:22:50.061 --> 00:22:50.571
exactly.

00:22:50.571 --> 00:22:50.912
Yeah.

00:22:50.922 --> 00:22:53.632
But in the, in the manga it's because he was hit by a truck

00:22:53.642 --> 00:22:57.561
I don't remember exactly, but he said it was an accident.

00:22:58.021 --> 00:23:02.142
But he was in the hospital and he's got like bandages and crutches and stuff.

00:23:02.461 --> 00:23:05.740
this is in the, specifically the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga.

00:23:05.741 --> 00:23:09.382
Which is based on the anime but took big liberties with it.

00:23:09.382 --> 00:23:20.329
It's It's also the one with the, uh, artist they will never, ever, ever hire again, because he wrote some, shall we say, unofficial chapters.

00:23:20.782 --> 00:23:21.093
Yeah.

00:23:23.792 --> 00:23:32.143
It's also the one that they had to tone down even in Japan, like between the magazine volumes and the bound volumes.

00:23:32.163 --> 00:23:43.539
For similar reasons, let's just say the ladies working at the Pokemon Center had, uh, Pokeball designs on very specific parts of their uniforms.

00:23:43.857 --> 00:23:44.458
If you know, you

00:23:44.682 --> 00:23:45.323
Yeah,

00:23:47.657 --> 00:23:48.077
Mm-hmm

00:23:49.807 --> 00:24:03.896
so yeah, it was, interesting, especially considering some of that stuff even gets through to the English version, but also, one thing that, they didn't even try to take out was actually, it's funny because this goes back to the battling Evie brothers.

00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:30.779
They try to have like a cult sort of presentation to their challenges and uh One of them is like writhe within the fires of damnation and uh, the other another one is like, feel the I don't know something about the thunder of damnation and ash is like well is damnation all they ever talk about if you were hit thunder salvation, you would be saved wouldn't you?

00:24:31.093 --> 00:24:31.303
Hey,

00:24:31.603 --> 00:24:35.032
And this was all Official Viz Translated Dialogue.

00:24:35.333 --> 00:24:40.487
So, yeah, that was actually one of the things about, like, like, hey, there is an older audience for this.

00:24:40.527 --> 00:24:42.487
Otherwise, they wouldn't be writing it like this, would they?

00:24:43.803 --> 00:24:53.613
But it's just something that people don't realize is out there until you actually find just something, Pokemon doesn't really, I don't say promote, but it's just not something that they really advertise, at least on the American side.

00:24:53.692 --> 00:25:04.873
well, then, like, also, you get into things like, I mean, the original plot, you know, in the very first game, even though it was, as I plot, you, you're, you're stopping the Yakuza.

00:25:05.022 --> 00:25:05.972
is what you're doing.

00:25:05.972 --> 00:25:14.287
You are an 11 year old going up against organized crime, and it's like, what, what in the heck?

00:25:14.297 --> 00:25:29.997
And they, they imply some very, very horrible things about the Pokemon world even that early on, and I know that Junichi Masuda has been like, oh yeah, this is a fantastic world.

00:25:30.027 --> 00:25:36.751
Uh, if there was any war, it was a long time ago, and it's like, Dude, you worked on Generation 1.

00:25:36.781 --> 00:25:38.682
Lieutenant Surge is not that old.

00:25:40.791 --> 00:25:44.612
And then he's like, Hi, uh, you know, people are more likely to help each other.

00:25:44.771 --> 00:25:51.991
Saying this in an interview before Generation 6 came out, which has a post game that focuses on a homeless, illiterate teenager who wears rags.

00:25:52.444 --> 00:25:56.154
Yeah, Masuda, I do not think you know what you're talking about.

00:25:56.535 --> 00:25:58.025
I think you're full of shit.

00:25:58.640 --> 00:25:59.470
Oh my gosh.

00:26:00.674 --> 00:26:04.325
like, okay, how much more likely to help each other, uh?

00:26:04.714 --> 00:26:06.045
Uh, uh, uh.

00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:09.309
Right But that's the thing though.

00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:10.470
That's what I love about Pokemon.

00:26:10.490 --> 00:26:12.880
You know, there's stuff for where it's surface level, right?

00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:16.000
You said, you know, Jen won this example you know, it's a cop out.

00:26:16.349 --> 00:26:24.210
then, you know, if you dive into it, you see a lot of more complex subtleties that can easily miss unless for those who are maybe more dedicated trying to

00:26:24.305 --> 00:26:24.815
hmm.

00:26:25.261 --> 00:26:36.464
Well, even Generation 2, with its also kind of bare bones plot, has stuff like, tradition being overridden by modern technology even though they can easily coexist.

00:26:36.674 --> 00:26:37.865
That's what Kurt does.

00:26:38.170 --> 00:26:38.589
Right.

00:26:38.934 --> 00:26:43.067
That's why the bronze tower and the tin tower are so important as well.

00:26:43.508 --> 00:26:49.458
And that's why Ecruteak looks the way it does because they're maintaining the past, even in the modern era.

00:26:49.508 --> 00:26:52.317
And, you know, there's, there's no reason those can't coexist.

00:26:52.357 --> 00:26:54.438
There's no reason we can't have all of those things.

00:26:54.438 --> 00:27:03.244
And I know the region of Japan that it's based on kind of has that more frequently than the Tokyo area that the Kanto region is based on.

00:27:03.244 --> 00:27:11.738
Um, yeah, so it's really nice to see, like, these national flavors and regional flavors, even though those regions in real life and in the game are right next to each other.

00:27:12.201 --> 00:27:17.471
I was gonna say, even if you think about Lavender Town, they replaced the Pokemon Tower with the Radio Tower,

00:27:17.521 --> 00:27:18.071
Yeah, like, who

00:27:18.092 --> 00:27:19.132
that could, that's basic.

00:27:19.951 --> 00:27:24.642
Except that, but that happens though, because it's like, well they're already dead, you know, what can you do?

00:27:24.642 --> 00:27:25.592
It's time to, you know, build something.

00:27:25.622 --> 00:27:27.561
It's out with the old, in with the new is kind of the old

00:27:27.662 --> 00:27:30.311
Yeah, but in a world where ghosts are real?

00:27:30.765 --> 00:27:31.865
And angry?

00:27:32.375 --> 00:27:33.595
That hasn't stopped anything.

00:27:33.605 --> 00:27:35.154
Have you seen the Pokemon World?

00:27:37.664 --> 00:27:39.265
Poco Ghosts is not gonna stop people.

00:27:40.085 --> 00:27:41.634
Ghosts don't even stop us here.

00:27:43.224 --> 00:27:50.765
But that's what I mean, it tackles the issue of like, you know, what part do we remember and what part do try to, you know, build up on top of over

00:27:50.849 --> 00:27:54.410
And actually, that's one of the reasons I really liked PLA.

00:27:55.823 --> 00:28:05.863
It gets into, not just the recent past with, the two clans, but also the ancient past with the Celestica people.

00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:14.809
And it was, I really wish we knew more about them because apparently they're the ones who also built the Sinjo ruins.

00:28:15.192 --> 00:28:16.887
They highly revered Arceus.

00:28:17.218 --> 00:28:18.417
Arceus ditched them.

00:28:18.617 --> 00:28:24.307
That caused Volo's bitterness, even though I really don't subscribe to the immortal Volo theory.

00:28:24.647 --> 00:28:29.817
I think it's possible that he could be extremely long lived, but I don't think he was there for the original Celestica.

00:28:29.837 --> 00:28:35.067
I think he only learned about them through his ruin exploration and through Kageta.

00:28:35.372 --> 00:28:38.005
But, Kageta seems to have been there.

00:28:38.015 --> 00:28:40.025
She actually seems to be immortal.

00:28:40.402 --> 00:28:45.852
she at this point is so mum about things because she doesn't like what happened.

00:28:46.298 --> 00:28:52.642
She also seems to think that teaching legends causes people like Volo to act out.

00:28:52.771 --> 00:28:56.518
And it makes me wonder about her own past and why is she immortal?

00:28:56.528 --> 00:28:58.228
Did she do something?

00:28:58.634 --> 00:28:59.664
What's going on here?

00:29:00.984 --> 00:29:01.305
right,

00:29:01.609 --> 00:29:06.359
But it also shows that legends aren't fixed and set in stone, you know?

00:29:06.859 --> 00:29:12.190
the two clans learned that what they had been told wasn't the full story.

00:29:12.190 --> 00:29:19.732
It's like, what they had learned had happened, yes, but not it wasn't everything that had happened.

00:29:20.089 --> 00:29:23.660
and so they both had the truth on their side.

00:29:24.096 --> 00:29:32.676
And the, Commodore learned he's, he's not gonna fuck with people from now on because he was being a grade A douchebag.

00:29:32.964 --> 00:29:38.766
And, you know, Commodore had every right to want to find a home after what had happened to his people.

00:29:38.781 --> 00:29:51.306
because, it's implied that his town was destroyed by something I've heard a theory that he may be from the town from the Lake of Rage that was scrapped from the original Gen 2.

00:29:51.736 --> 00:29:59.246
There was supposed to be a town there, so I've seen a theory that he was from there and, he lost everything, including his wife, in a Gyarados rampage.

00:29:59.571 --> 00:30:05.332
I've also seen people theorize that a Snorlax ate everything in the town and everyone starved.

00:30:05.611 --> 00:30:08.676
and that might be the Snorlax he uses, but I, I

00:30:09.037 --> 00:30:10.317
Oh, that'd be gruesome.

00:30:10.326 --> 00:30:10.886
My god

00:30:11.791 --> 00:30:17.925
Cause one of the dex entries, it might be in that game, says that Snorlax will eat the food stores of entire towns.

00:30:18.846 --> 00:30:19.635
But yeah, just,

00:30:20.191 --> 00:30:20.391
next

00:30:20.625 --> 00:30:25.066
yeah, it's just Komodo's want to protect his people turned him paranoid.

00:30:25.405 --> 00:30:29.306
And he became, frankly, evil.

00:30:29.586 --> 00:30:33.016
You know, he was going to go to war with sovereign nations if they helped you.

00:30:33.336 --> 00:30:37.516
So, he learned basically, don't fuck with nature or you'll get your ass kicked.

00:30:37.811 --> 00:30:43.741
It's kind of like, if you've ever seen Princess Mononoke, it's kind of like Lady Eboshi.

00:30:44.066 --> 00:30:45.726
Although she lost an arm for her lessons.

00:30:46.046 --> 00:30:47.435
Commodore got humiliated.

00:30:48.641 --> 00:30:49.211
my gosh.

00:30:49.921 --> 00:30:51.951
I mean, I'll take the humiliation over losing

00:30:52.145 --> 00:30:52.655
Yeah,

00:30:53.020 --> 00:30:54.760
I'd like to have both arms, honestly, so

00:30:55.006 --> 00:31:03.455
Yeah, it's like, we definitely understand, you know, she is justified in wanting to protect her people, but not to the point of trying to kill the nature god.

00:31:03.767 --> 00:31:04.616
Right, right.

00:31:04.858 --> 00:31:13.955
but then like, Kageta doesn't really seem to learn much, Volo definitely doesn't learn much, but Giratina does.

00:31:14.711 --> 00:31:31.277
Giratina learns it's been kind of a dick, and so it's own legends change, and even though it still goes and hides in the distortion world, it's implied that that's the whole plot there is the whole reason that it went and stopped Cyrus in Platinum.

00:31:32.096 --> 00:31:37.521
It's like, Oh, not this shit again! Come on! Come on, you're coming a timeout!

00:31:37.727 --> 00:31:38.527
We're not doing it.

00:31:38.527 --> 00:31:38.866
Yeah.

00:31:40.261 --> 00:31:44.041
Actually, Cyrus is one of my favorite characters in this franchise.

00:31:44.385 --> 00:31:50.326
I did an essay, a video essay about why I like him so much and it was over an hour long.

00:31:50.336 --> 00:31:50.885
Help me.

00:31:53.161 --> 00:31:57.980
Well, let's do the cliff notes and I'll try to make sure to help you out you know, why is Cyrus You know your favorite

00:31:58.355 --> 00:32:20.135
Well, he's fascinating, really, and one of the issues that I touch on at the end of the presentation is that a lot, a lot of people say they don't understand his motives, but I think makes a lot of sense because I mean, I sound great right now and everything, but I was not happy growing up.

00:32:20.726 --> 00:32:23.276
I had a lot of pressure on me.

00:32:23.641 --> 00:32:27.757
And, there were times where I really did lose hope in the world.

00:32:28.096 --> 00:32:36.067
And I feel like wanting to change that, no matter what it takes, is a very powerful motivator.

00:32:36.896 --> 00:33:01.730
And if, All your emotional expressions are negative, like Cyrus's are, if all you've ever known is disappointment and pressure, because his parents put a lot of pressure on him to be perfect, and the one person he could have relied on who noticed that he was falling apart, his grandfather, mentions, you know, maybe I should have helped him.

00:33:01.876 --> 00:33:01.886
hmm.

00:33:01.896 --> 00:33:02.287
Mm hmm.

00:33:02.564 --> 00:33:10.364
It's like, if the one person who notices that you're having a problem doesn't do anything, of course you're going to associate emotions with pain.

00:33:10.671 --> 00:33:11.580
It's gonna change for

00:33:11.830 --> 00:33:12.391
Yeah.

00:33:12.717 --> 00:33:17.166
And if you're always pressured to be perfect, what could be more perfect than a god?

00:33:18.144 --> 00:33:21.814
So I think it made absolutely perfect sense what he was doing.

00:33:22.534 --> 00:33:35.711
I mean, he's obviously insane, but I feel like there's a reason that official media, the manga I was talking about earlier, Diamond and Pearl Adventure, as well as Poku Special, give him the chance to turn his life around.

00:33:36.086 --> 00:33:41.709
He actually does realize that he was doing something wrong, and that, because he's flawed.

00:33:41.709 --> 00:33:43.598
Any world he creates would be flawed.

00:33:43.991 --> 00:33:49.169
So he stops and he tries to find another way to fix things, and he does.

00:33:49.199 --> 00:33:59.219
The story doesn't quite get him to the point where he does or where we see what he tries, but in both series, they have Charron being the subsequent threat.

00:33:59.527 --> 00:34:02.396
And, having him go up against a foe like that.

00:34:02.416 --> 00:34:06.977
Because in Diamond and Pearl Adventure they make Charon the most evil little sumbitch.

00:34:06.977 --> 00:34:12.800
He will, like, he's out there like brainwashing Pokemon and possibly people.

00:34:13.086 --> 00:34:20.934
the, the way he makes his new leadership known to the public is by sending suicide bombers to the league.

00:34:21.251 --> 00:34:25.920
they don't succeed in blowing up the league, but they had a big bomb planted under the stadium.

00:34:26.431 --> 00:34:32.690
And, like, the main characters, like, all light screen around it, and prevent it from blowing anything up.

00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:37.811
but, that does not change that he was attempting to do that, and he intended to send all those people to their deaths.

00:34:38.201 --> 00:34:39.780
I'm assuming they just got arrested instead.

00:34:40.181 --> 00:34:46.771
So with Cyrus, you know, you talked about how people don't understand But, you know, as you said, you know, he couldn't live up to standards.

00:34:47.001 --> 00:34:57.451
You know, he got turned away from the person he loved, which is what caused him to kind of have a heel turn, I guess, in a way, to where he had this motivation to, you know, For, you know, what I know it as is rid the world of emotion, rid it of everything.

00:34:58.050 --> 00:35:06.362
And in a way he just not only want to be God, he wanted to give people the idea that, or give people the opportunity to be perfect that he couldn't be as well.

00:35:06.373 --> 00:35:06.422
I

00:35:06.777 --> 00:35:07.197
Right,

00:35:07.452 --> 00:35:15.315
Because he saw emotion as kind of, I guess, weakness in a way to where, you know, it's better just to be mechanically.

00:35:15.336 --> 00:35:34.757
Perfect, you know, no emotion, nothing that could like make you go left or right, you know, course There is that god complex which I think is pretty interesting as well because then people would look up to him and kind of worship Him because it's kind of his own universe So I think that's a very interesting compelling argument and it also shows the idea that, you know, villains aren't, you know, crazy.

00:35:34.757 --> 00:35:35.697
Nobody's born evil.

00:35:35.697 --> 00:35:36.978
They have reason behind the madness.

00:35:36.978 --> 00:35:40.748
The best villains have a very solid reason behind do what they do.

00:35:40.748 --> 00:35:42.918
Hey,

00:35:42.958 --> 00:35:43.978
are not insane.

00:35:44.088 --> 00:35:47.047
Like, Lusamine is Giovanni isn't.

00:35:47.597 --> 00:35:50.568
He's greedy, he's selfish, he's evil.

00:35:50.918 --> 00:35:56.239
and then on the other hand, you also have hero characters who I think could probably be qualified as insane.

00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:56.898
Nimona.

00:35:57.239 --> 00:35:57.739
For instance.

00:35:59.768 --> 00:36:00.309
a vibe, man.

00:36:00.309 --> 00:36:00.608
I

00:36:00.728 --> 00:36:03.989
Oh, I love that girl has some issues.

00:36:04.809 --> 00:36:06.168
yeah, just wants to battle all day.

00:36:06.168 --> 00:36:06.389
Yeah.

00:36:06.389 --> 00:36:07.286
Mm

00:36:07.289 --> 00:36:13.298
Yeah, and, you know, getting into her psychology is interesting because, that is all she has in life.

00:36:13.612 --> 00:36:16.472
you know, you said earlier that Arvin's parents didn't love him.

00:36:16.893 --> 00:36:19.112
Even though they did, they just didn't express it.

00:36:19.572 --> 00:36:21.527
I don't think Nimonas actually do love her.

00:36:21.871 --> 00:36:25.362
I think they're what people interpret Arvin's parents as being like.

00:36:25.751 --> 00:36:29.271
Because her parents have basically written her out.

00:36:29.572 --> 00:36:30.882
They don't talk to her.

00:36:31.282 --> 00:36:33.842
Like, the entire game, there is no communication.

00:36:34.143 --> 00:36:37.043
we don't even get the name of her sister.

00:36:37.463 --> 00:36:39.833
A lot of people think that her parents are the Glitterati.

00:36:39.853 --> 00:36:40.672
That's not true.

00:36:40.672 --> 00:36:41.963
They're in real estate.

00:36:42.163 --> 00:36:46.052
Her parents are specifically stated to be on the board of the Rotom phone company.

00:36:46.514 --> 00:36:53.923
Well, I mean, Even if you look at that group of, uh, Demona, Arvin, the main character, and eventually Penny, they're all kind of misfits in

00:36:53.994 --> 00:36:54.813
Oh, totally.

00:36:54.853 --> 00:36:58.273
Uh, the main character has, you know, they're new to the region.

00:36:58.344 --> 00:37:00.704
They don't know anything that's going on.

00:37:01.623 --> 00:37:03.574
They're just kind of pushed into things.

00:37:03.574 --> 00:37:12.161
Like, the history teacher is like, hey, so, you know those legends I was talking about in class that are gonna destroy, that have already destroyed the region?

00:37:12.601 --> 00:37:13.721
I want you to go find them.

00:37:14.315 --> 00:37:15.496
I'll give you extra credit.

00:37:16.056 --> 00:37:17.936
I'm totally not a supervillain.

00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:20.161
Totally not.

00:37:20.346 --> 00:37:21.096
Totally not.

00:37:21.096 --> 00:37:22.246
You can trust me on that.

00:37:22.601 --> 00:37:26.811
I gave Raiford southern accent because I feel like she might be from Ori.

00:37:27.311 --> 00:37:28.302
Ori needs to be used

00:37:28.436 --> 00:37:31.327
Oh, man, I wish they'd dive into Ori.

00:37:32.166 --> 00:37:37.876
You know, just real quick, you know the one character I wish that pisses me off that they've never dived into?

00:37:38.766 --> 00:37:39.476
Wes.

00:37:39.601 --> 00:37:41.862
Oh, God! I know! What is his

00:37:41.931 --> 00:37:49.922
It bugs the hell out of me like all we know is you know He used to work for the antagonist team snag

00:37:49.952 --> 00:37:50.101
Mm

00:37:50.871 --> 00:37:55.461
for some reason he betrayed him He went and caught the snag

00:37:55.556 --> 00:37:57.786
Yeah, it's not even known why.

00:37:57.817 --> 00:38:01.907
It's like, did he realize that they were up to bullshit and he wanted to stop them?

00:38:01.907 --> 00:38:02.376
Or did

00:38:03.351 --> 00:38:04.121
even I don't

00:38:05.197 --> 00:38:05.347
I

00:38:05.391 --> 00:38:06.911
Honestly, I think it's the latter.

00:38:07.166 --> 00:38:12.516
there was the rumor that he was supposed to be the, villain from XD and they changed it, but apparently that wasn't true.

00:38:12.858 --> 00:38:17.788
I don't know but it I think cuz It would have been, I would have made perfect sense.

00:38:17.788 --> 00:38:20.668
And then, imagine Rui's the second in command at that point.

00:38:21.143 --> 00:38:21.882
Oh God.

00:38:21.884 --> 00:38:27.782
I,

00:38:28.527 --> 00:38:32.557
just the idea of how he started is so get nothing on the

00:38:32.757 --> 00:38:36.248
I feel like Colosseum would make a really good live action movie.

00:38:36.545 --> 00:38:37.135
I'll watch

00:38:37.304 --> 00:38:45.005
I mean, you'd need, you know, someone who's like 8 feet tall to play Mirror B, but Actually, I guess he's not really all that tall, it's just his

00:38:45.184 --> 00:38:46.431
No, he's He's not

00:38:46.465 --> 00:38:47.204
lot taller.

00:38:47.704 --> 00:38:57.195
He's not like a lot of the huge guys in Ori, because oh my god, what is Is there hormones in the Is that what's going on there?

00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:01.460
Hey, something's in that, uh, Fnac Waterman, and they grow big over there.

00:39:01.664 --> 00:39:02.664
Oh my lord.

00:39:02.664 --> 00:39:09.429
Oh It would be amazing to have a live action movie like that.

00:39:09.449 --> 00:39:14.590
It would be like, you know, people want live action movies to be gritty and stuff.

00:39:14.590 --> 00:39:17.099
And it's like, yeah, there's grit, there's sand everywhere.

00:39:17.489 --> 00:39:18.010
my gosh,

00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:19.940
And they could film it in Arizona.

00:39:19.940 --> 00:39:22.750
It's the first American region.

00:39:23.570 --> 00:39:27.199
It really is, although Pokemon won't acknowledge it, but still, it is the first region.

00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:30.244
hmm.

00:39:30.264 --> 00:39:30.855
that came to mind.

00:39:30.855 --> 00:39:31.574
It's like that.

00:39:31.675 --> 00:39:32.934
That's the one thing I hated.

00:39:32.985 --> 00:39:33.655
That's a lot of things.

00:39:33.715 --> 00:39:35.005
There's a couple of things I hate about Pokemon Colosseum.

00:39:35.005 --> 00:39:38.215
I still love the game, but the character development is just awful.

00:39:38.244 --> 00:39:41.385
Especially for, I would love to know more about Mirror Bee.

00:39:41.695 --> 00:39:43.875
I would love to know the rise for Venus.

00:39:44.204 --> 00:39:46.465
Dakeem, I can kind of take or leave it at this point.

00:39:46.844 --> 00:39:49.514
And then, you know, it's just, there's so much potential in that region.

00:39:49.514 --> 00:39:49.755
It's like,

00:39:50.534 --> 00:39:51.235
golly.

00:39:51.565 --> 00:39:55.014
You know, Ayn totally has to be in with Culriss at some point.

00:39:55.025 --> 00:39:55.715
He has to be.

00:39:55.764 --> 00:39:57.315
They're basically the guy.

00:39:57.815 --> 00:39:58.445
they are.

00:39:59.514 --> 00:40:01.644
more casual in his approach.

00:40:02.125 --> 00:40:03.215
He's more fancy, I like,

00:40:03.244 --> 00:40:09.105
Culriss gonna eat bagel sandwich at his desk, like on the, on that one TCG card.

00:40:09.864 --> 00:40:11.414
Yes, yes, yes.

00:40:11.992 --> 00:40:13.148
Ayn would never.

00:40:13.277 --> 00:40:15.518
Ayn probably has a very sterile work environment.

00:40:15.648 --> 00:40:19.657
But, like, their work is so identical.

00:40:20.657 --> 00:40:21.208
Oh, yeah.

00:40:21.277 --> 00:40:24.248
I just feel like the mad scientist would really get along.

00:40:24.347 --> 00:40:30.407
Um, like, uh, Ayn and Coleris and Xeroxic.

00:40:30.737 --> 00:40:34.447
you know, they'd be talking about that, the post game X and Y plot.

00:40:34.478 --> 00:40:42.737
It's like, well, of course you had to kidnap the girl and force her into the brainwashing suit, because how else were you going to get the, the policeman's attention?

00:40:43.438 --> 00:40:52.827
Charon would be off to the side like, WHAT?! You young folk are incomprehensible to You young folk are incomprehensible to me.

00:40:56.168 --> 00:41:03.427
But you see, like, all these scenarios of what characters could interact, it's why I love Masters, despite the gameplay being absolute ass.

00:41:03.978 --> 00:41:05.708
Nobody plays Masters for the gameplay.

00:41:05.708 --> 00:41:07.588
They play it because is fanfiction.

00:41:07.902 --> 00:41:08.382
Yes.

00:41:08.672 --> 00:41:13.202
If you ever want to know more about the characters and see how they would interact, play Pokemon Masters.

00:41:13.322 --> 00:41:14.121
That's all it is.

00:41:14.132 --> 00:41:15.081
Forget about the gameplay.

00:41:15.081 --> 00:41:15.692
Just go for the

00:41:15.967 --> 00:41:18.686
Unless you're a Courtney fan, Courtney was done damn dirty.

00:41:18.987 --> 00:41:24.367
Courtney's, Day With event is really, really bad, and just, I think it's really out of character.

00:41:24.836 --> 00:41:28.416
Because the whole thing is that she doesn't know how to give negative feedback.

00:41:28.739 --> 00:41:34.480
that's like, all she knows how to do is praise, and it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

00:41:36.563 --> 00:41:44.652
And then on the other hand you have a character like Chairman Rose who is better explored in his day with event than he was in the entirety of Sword and Shield.

00:41:46.842 --> 00:41:50.672
Me and Chairman Rose have a I don't, I don't agree with heel turn.

00:41:50.782 --> 00:41:53.012
I try to, but doesn't

00:41:53.532 --> 00:42:05.253
I think one of the things about Rose is that it's, he genuinely wants to help Galar, is the way I interpreted it, but he also really wants to be remembered forever.

00:42:05.592 --> 00:42:14.797
he has a line about seeing Leon as A knight in shining armor coming to save a princess from a dragon.

00:42:15.097 --> 00:42:25.847
So he has this very romantic dream in the sense, where his desire to be a romantic hero led him to be manipulated by the sorceress.

00:42:27.257 --> 00:42:27.856
Yeah.

00:42:28.063 --> 00:42:31.083
he wants to be, that's why he couldn't wait one more day.

00:42:31.297 --> 00:42:33.927
Because if it was one more day, Leon might not be the champion.

00:42:34.588 --> 00:42:40.512
And thus, his champion wouldn't be the one who defeated the Dragon.

00:42:41.507 --> 00:42:42.036
Right.

00:42:44.137 --> 00:42:49.927
I don't My always issue with Rose has always been I mean, I get what they're going for, but it feels like it kind of wasn't done

00:42:50.137 --> 00:42:51.407
Yeah, it really wasn't.

00:42:51.416 --> 00:42:55.777
He's very much in the vein of Maxie and Archie, I think, but

00:42:56.606 --> 00:42:57.126
Yes.

00:42:57.347 --> 00:42:59.717
driven than I think either them were.

00:43:00.547 --> 00:43:02.896
Well, I actually understand Maxie more.

00:43:02.896 --> 00:43:06.246
So that's just more just do Pokemon not doing their plot well, but

00:43:06.487 --> 00:43:16.134
Yeah, well, Maxie and Archie were based on a real debate over land development, or land reclamation, rather, that was going so it was based on that debate.

00:43:16.483 --> 00:43:23.103
But, you know, with the addition of fantastical monsters, and the ability to extend this to the entire planet, and so on.

00:43:24.284 --> 00:43:26.873
And that's actually something else I really like about Pokémon.

00:43:26.884 --> 00:43:32.411
How they can make stories that are fantastical, but will resonate on a personal level.

00:43:32.706 --> 00:43:34.206
that's why I loved Sun and Moon.

00:43:34.509 --> 00:43:42.885
Lily's story was very evocative because at the end of the day, you know, you put the aliens aside and all of that stuff.

00:43:42.916 --> 00:43:52.219
And what you have is a story about two kids fleeing from their abusive parent who herself is suffering from survivor's guilt.

00:43:52.664 --> 00:43:59.014
After the loss of her husband, and she, she doesn't know that he's right over there on Bean Island.

00:43:59.025 --> 00:44:00.114
She doesn't know that.

00:44:00.510 --> 00:44:01.541
and he doesn't know that either.

00:44:01.541 --> 00:44:02.590
He's lost his memory.

00:44:02.871 --> 00:44:04.472
He barely remembers his own name.

00:44:05.411 --> 00:44:15.012
And uh, she thinks he's somewhere in ultra space and similar to Scarlet and Violet the theme with Her is really her obsession.

00:44:15.436 --> 00:44:18.606
she's so fixated on getting him back.

00:44:18.606 --> 00:44:23.954
And then it twists in her mind to becoming fixated with the creatures that took him.

00:44:24.485 --> 00:44:28.644
And she dresses Lily up like one of them.

00:44:28.932 --> 00:44:31.713
And she styles herself like another one.

00:44:32.052 --> 00:44:37.632
And we Gladion would have looked like because he ran off, presumably, before that happened.

00:44:37.952 --> 00:44:44.356
And then when, when he does, she just denies he exists because everything has to be just the way Mon left it.

00:44:44.657 --> 00:44:47.818
She freezes what I presume are his Pokemon.

00:44:47.818 --> 00:44:51.590
I'm not, I'm not sure if they're ever identified, but just nothing can change.

00:44:51.989 --> 00:44:52.659
Shoo.

00:44:52.719 --> 00:45:10.123
Has to look young because she was young when he disappeared her children have to remain small They can't grow so she stunts Lily's development as a person and prevents her from being independent And so that's why she's almost completely unable to fend for herself.

00:45:10.123 --> 00:45:21.061
It has to depend on Kukui it's really an interesting story, and I feel like a lot of people missed out because they were like, Oh, the tutorial takes too long, this game is for babies.

00:45:21.302 --> 00:45:24.112
It's I mean, yeah, the tutorial does kind of take too long.

00:45:24.251 --> 00:45:25.202
But, what?

00:45:26.496 --> 00:45:39.637
well and the thing I feel like a lot of people miss out on the Fox you know, I see a lot of Christians for Scarlet and Violet, but I love the story behind it and You know the games that people rave about like X and Y bug the hell of me because I just don't get team flair

00:45:40.092 --> 00:45:43.501
Oh god, Flare comes off to me like Galactic's cutting room floor.

00:45:45.077 --> 00:45:45.836
They're bare

00:45:46.302 --> 00:45:54.371
actually that that's that's something I feel like was a mixed opportunity by having BDSP be almost identical to the original.

00:45:55.181 --> 00:46:09.911
I feel like they really could have had Sycamore as one of Rowan's assistants because we know he studied with Rowan and I really wanted there to be a part where Lissandra showed up and heard about Galactic, and then that was it and we never got any further.

00:46:10.911 --> 00:46:15.512
Because it really seems like he's heard about Galactic, and then got everything about them wrong.

00:46:19.561 --> 00:46:24.271
I wanted him to show up to visit Sycamore and just be like, Oh, okay.

00:46:24.817 --> 00:46:27.867
but see, that's why I write fanfiction, so I can actually do things like that.

00:46:27.876 --> 00:46:35.496
I haven't written that specific story, but I write a whole bunch of random bullshit.

00:46:35.943 --> 00:46:39.753
Like, if I get an idea in my head, sometimes I'll just write a little thing.

00:46:39.753 --> 00:46:42.414
Like, I wrote a recent 100 word story.

00:46:42.414 --> 00:46:46.503
where Clavel finds out about all the bullying happening at Blueberry Academy.

00:46:46.903 --> 00:46:50.353
And enrolls Clive as a new student so he can investigate.

00:46:50.923 --> 00:46:51.914
Oh, my gosh.

00:46:52.324 --> 00:46:56.773
I would, like, I even said in the notes, if someone wants to write a longer story about this, go ahead.

00:46:57.224 --> 00:47:03.876
So with a fanfic, you don't just stick to like with the plot, like how it came out, you actually sometimes go like, you know, what if kind of direction

00:47:04.085 --> 00:47:09.025
like, even with something like that, I figure it could happen after the game ends.

00:47:09.070 --> 00:47:18.291
A lot of authors, fanfic authors, will throw canon out the window, or they'll just, they'll write about entirely new characters.

00:47:18.701 --> 00:47:24.820
and then, of course, there's also what if someone, you know, is in the society and they don't want to be a trainer?

00:47:25.266 --> 00:47:25.686
Like,

00:47:25.692 --> 00:47:27.081
had that with a may in a

00:47:27.306 --> 00:47:30.507
yeah, but then she wanted to do contests and stuff.

00:47:30.516 --> 00:47:33.567
I guess at the beginning she didn't really like Pokemon at all.

00:47:34.086 --> 00:47:42.257
But, I'd like to see someone who wants to be, like we had Brock wanting to be a breeder or Gary wanting to be a professor.

00:47:43.007 --> 00:47:43.387
Mm

00:47:43.527 --> 00:47:57.918
took Gary long enough to come to that, but Also, Gary witnessed a bunch of people die, and I don't think people talk about that enough, because one of his Like, after watching Jay's ship explode, he wasn't in the anime for like 10 years.

00:47:58.887 --> 00:48:00.057
I can't, I can't blame him.

00:48:01.967 --> 00:48:04.978
Hey, that's going to cause somebody to need to step a bit.

00:48:07.637 --> 00:48:11.137
so you want to see somebody who doesn't want the interaction with Pokemon?

00:48:11.367 --> 00:48:16.128
Well, like, they could have like a pet or something, but they're not in that as a career.

00:48:16.137 --> 00:48:18.757
Like, we have athletes in that world.

00:48:19.132 --> 00:48:21.322
we have, business people.

00:48:21.342 --> 00:48:25.342
We have scientists, even though most of them are dealing with Pokemon.

00:48:25.922 --> 00:48:29.510
You know, we have educators, all kinds of stuff.

00:48:29.510 --> 00:48:30.597
Like, Salvatore.

00:48:30.860 --> 00:48:41.070
Talks about he's never really been much with Pokemon, and then when that Palmy with no voice shows up, that's supposedly his first Pokemon, I think.

00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:46.094
But Like, there's all these little angles and stuff, like, cause I, have a pet parrot.

00:48:46.427 --> 00:48:48.478
my goal is to have a nice aviary.

00:48:48.809 --> 00:48:50.909
I don't know if that's ever going to happen, but.

00:48:51.052 --> 00:48:59.773
you know, it doesn't mean that I want to work with birds professionally, but I like, yes, I like having a bunch of birds.

00:48:59.782 --> 00:49:06.739
They're fun, it is like having a toddler around, you know, for 50 plus years.

00:49:06.778 --> 00:49:13.563
Because I have an African Grey, and they can live to be 50 to 60, and she is 27! She is old enough to run

00:49:13.579 --> 00:49:20.418
I have you thought about pushing it out and just say, Hey, go start a villainous team for a Pokemon game.

00:49:20.418 --> 00:49:20.889
Come back.

00:49:24.083 --> 00:49:25.954
laughter I tell that would be something really fun.

00:49:25.954 --> 00:49:29.023
If they gave us a team where a Pokémon was actually in charge of it.

00:49:29.621 --> 00:49:30.530
That would be hilarious.

00:49:30.530 --> 00:49:31.501
That'd be fun

00:49:31.630 --> 00:49:34.193
mean, they already had something like, Calyrex.

00:49:34.563 --> 00:49:34.893
Yeah.

00:49:34.893 --> 00:49:38.023
Well, I mean, Mewtwo is the original Mewtwo in a way was one of them,

00:49:38.262 --> 00:49:40.992
yeah, yeah, but it didn't really have a team.

00:49:40.992 --> 00:50:00.534
It just had, like, a bunch of clones it made, and Yeah, it would be just, like, because Mystery Dungeon does it, but Mystery Dungeon is Mystery Dungeon, you know, everyone's a there, except for, Gengar, who used to be human, and then the player character also used to be human in, I think, most of the games?

00:50:00.534 --> 00:50:03.414
I don't think it's all of them, but, heh heh.

00:50:03.670 --> 00:50:06.190
I'm trying to think, I feel like there was a character who just.

00:50:06.525 --> 00:50:10.632
Didn't want I guess I can't I feel like there's a character somewhere.

00:50:10.851 --> 00:50:32.144
It's a minor character that had that but it's hard because To have a character like that would basically almost the opposite of n in a way You know, to where N grew up around Pokemon was able to develop a connection, but to have somebody who doesn't, you know, who doesn't want that connection, because I feel like what you're asking for is basically every side character.

00:50:33.045 --> 00:50:39.135
I think what you're kind of aiming towards is somebody who just doesn't want that relationship with Pokemon no matter what, which is the opposite

00:50:39.175 --> 00:50:40.335
not necessarily.

00:50:40.344 --> 00:50:40.565
Just

00:50:40.715 --> 00:50:41.894
Because, you know, everybody in there

00:50:42.704 --> 00:50:43.965
life it.

00:50:44.514 --> 00:50:44.925
I'm sorry,

00:50:45.114 --> 00:50:47.184
but that's, but that's most of the NPCs there though.

00:50:48.030 --> 00:50:57.730
Maybe, but even then, most of them will have a Pokemon they battle with, and that, you know, just to have a battle ready Pokemon takes a lot of effort.

00:50:58.695 --> 00:50:59.775
Not necessarily.

00:51:00.565 --> 00:51:03.554
Because keep in mind, you know, the Pokemon games are built upon battling.

00:51:03.554 --> 00:51:05.045
That's the main center component.

00:51:05.284 --> 00:51:10.135
So you are always in the more, I guess, quote unquote, competitive side of the Pokemon

00:51:10.550 --> 00:51:14.639
Like, that's your, uh, that's your perspective as the player character.

00:51:15.414 --> 00:51:16.034
In my opinion.

00:51:16.034 --> 00:51:20.855
Yes know, cause the goal is always to battle the gyms, which are usually the more tougher trainers.

00:51:21.275 --> 00:51:23.474
you've got people who don't ever try for that.

00:51:23.474 --> 00:51:24.355
They just stay in the town.

00:51:24.355 --> 00:51:26.025
They just do, random stuff.

00:51:26.070 --> 00:51:26.409
hmm.

00:51:27.074 --> 00:51:27.804
If makes sense.

00:51:28.579 --> 00:51:29.769
Yeah, I guess, I guess.

00:51:29.800 --> 00:51:39.679
Although, apparently, you can also get really tough without even trying at it, cause Arvin's always like, yeah, oh, I'm, I'm a terrible battler, you're gonna walk all over me.

00:51:39.679 --> 00:51:44.099
He kicked my ass! Hssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

00:51:45.065 --> 00:51:45.824
But you see what I'm saying?

00:51:45.824 --> 00:51:47.844
Like, I just, I'm trying to think like what that would be.

00:51:47.844 --> 00:51:48.574
And I just can't.

00:51:48.644 --> 00:51:54.235
The only one I could think of would have to be the complete opposite of an extreme that to kind of come.

00:51:54.505 --> 00:51:55.715
opinion, you know, know.

00:51:56.565 --> 00:51:57.025
I don't know.

00:51:57.074 --> 00:51:58.005
I'm trying to think on the top.

00:51:58.204 --> 00:51:59.275
You know, this is how people know.

00:51:59.275 --> 00:52:00.695
It's like, I don't really come in here planned.

00:52:00.695 --> 00:52:02.545
I just the top of my head and

00:52:02.980 --> 00:52:13.030
Well, I mean, I do feel like we're having a great discussion about character analysis, and story analysis, and the world in general.

00:52:13.409 --> 00:52:24.068
I was talking about, like, how a lot people will write about the established world, but have entirely original characters for it, and tell a story that is just entirely made up.

00:52:24.492 --> 00:52:30.085
It takes place in the world we know, but not with any of the plot elements.

00:52:30.143 --> 00:52:41.257
Like, you can have a fix set in Kanto that doesn't deal with any of the Kanto stuff and just has, like, I don't know, kids growing up in Celadon.

00:52:41.318 --> 00:52:43.318
I, I, I don't know.

00:52:43.318 --> 00:52:44.748
That's probably several fix.

00:52:44.748 --> 00:52:46.557
I'm not thinking of anything in particular.

00:52:47.605 --> 00:53:10.141
Well, I mean, that's the great part about fanfic is you can kind of write about the holes that they perceive within, you know, the world of Pokemon that Pokemon either hasn't touched or doesn't touch, you know, to their liking, you know, for example, you've touched on some of the characters who just, you want more story behind So for me, I used to try to do fanfic a couple of years it was Pokemon.

00:53:10.621 --> 00:53:15.710
And for me, it was more of the idea of what is the Pokemon's interactions on a daily basis.

00:53:16.346 --> 00:53:19.286
Because, you know, these are, you know, in a nutshell, they're animals.

00:53:19.565 --> 00:53:23.326
Animals usually have some form of conflict, especially if you read the Pokédex entries.

00:53:23.856 --> 00:53:31.608
So, I went through a stage for probably maybe two or three years to where I would write fanfics about certain Pokémon and, you know, how they related into their own world without the trainer.

00:53:31.608 --> 00:53:37.262
It's almost similar to, I think, I want to say it's probably Pokémon I think it's, not Journeys, it's Pokémon, like, Masters.

00:53:37.262 --> 00:53:40.911
It's like a brief series to where they talked about some of the more minor characters.

00:53:41.681 --> 00:53:42.831
it's just Pokémon in a way.

00:53:43.226 --> 00:53:49.742
yeah, like, uh, Evolutions and, The other ones like that, Generations.

00:53:50.353 --> 00:53:50.773
Yeah.

00:53:51.373 --> 00:53:54.463
Well, Generations was like all the games.

00:53:54.693 --> 00:53:58.123
This one, it was like, Pokemon had like a small series to where they touched on.

00:53:58.563 --> 00:53:59.762
Very small.

00:54:00.023 --> 00:54:05.773
Basically, um, do you remember the episode for the anime where they got shipwrecked had their own episode and they just had

00:54:06.242 --> 00:54:07.362
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:54:07.748 --> 00:54:08.998
Kind of like that kind of stuff.

00:54:09.007 --> 00:54:09.358
Yeah.

00:54:09.358 --> 00:54:11.597
Kind of like that stuff, but it's just Pokemon who've lived in there.

00:54:12.047 --> 00:54:45.989
For example, one story I wrote was about the Viridian forest and it was about, you know, this hierarchy and, you know, Caterpie who refused to evolve evolution is basically a society that pride itself on evolving because that's how, you know, they protect themselves as Butterfree's and whatnot, and bee drills and all that, and then they have like their own kind of worlds, and that's kind of the part that I've always been more keen into writing when I used to write more because I feel like there's more interaction within Pokemon and developing like stories behind that way just trying to build more of the flesh out for the Pokemon side of things, if that makes sense.

00:54:46.603 --> 00:54:47.074
Mm hmm.

00:54:47.083 --> 00:54:48.403
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

00:54:48.806 --> 00:54:54.657
I, do find it hard to write from that perspective because I rely so much on dialogue.

00:54:55.072 --> 00:55:01.063
so it's harder for me to write from a StrictlyPokemon perspective unless they're the sort that can communicated words.

00:55:01.583 --> 00:55:04.722
But that's interesting because, you know, we start from two different places.

00:55:04.762 --> 00:55:07.382
Obviously you start from the dialogue of the character.

00:55:07.572 --> 00:55:15.072
I start from the Pokedex entries and that's kind of the cool part about fanfic is everybody starts from a different origin, but it's all kind of encompasses Pokemon in a way.

00:55:15.407 --> 00:55:15.898
Uh huh.

00:55:16.514 --> 00:55:19.630
So What are some of your more notable ones that maybe people should check

00:55:19.784 --> 00:55:20.105
Mm.

00:55:20.563 --> 00:55:36.972
Okay, well, in addition to Obsession, which is the one about the art collector, I used his Japanese name, Gerardin, in it because when I started writing it I didn't even know he had an English name, which is Lawrence, even though I'm using English names for everyone else, so, b bear with me,

00:55:37.936 --> 00:55:40.717
No, I mean, he got, he got bad named.

00:55:41.512 --> 00:55:42.112
yeah,

00:55:42.112 --> 00:55:45.862
listen, if I say Lawrence, do you hear a bad guy in that name?

00:55:46.061 --> 00:55:46.791
Hell no.

00:55:46.922 --> 00:55:48.612
That's why I said he got shafted.

00:55:48.612 --> 00:55:51.702
He should have gotten something more, I don't know, better.

00:55:51.742 --> 00:55:52.782
He should have gotten a better name

00:55:53.336 --> 00:56:12.713
Girardin, Girardin is kind of, it's interesting because it's supposedly derived from René Girard, who was a French philosopher who's talked about things like the Ways that myths will affect the modern world, and that is kind of the role in the movie.

00:56:12.724 --> 00:56:17.315
He hears this story about how to summon Lugia, and he's like, awesome.

00:56:17.846 --> 00:56:21.286
And you look at the movie, he's the only one who believes it.

00:56:21.603 --> 00:56:24.634
Even the people having the festival on the island don't believe it.

00:56:25.083 --> 00:56:30.983
The chief, or whoever he is, even says that it's something they do for the tourists.

00:56:31.369 --> 00:56:35.329
And then everything turns out to be true and the only person who believed it was the villain.

00:56:38.278 --> 00:56:39.568
Ironically enough, right?

00:56:39.579 --> 00:56:40.489
Yeah, yeah.

00:56:40.891 --> 00:56:42.922
It's like, it's kind of like, dude.

00:56:43.320 --> 00:56:45.550
You know what the Silver Wing is, right?

00:56:46.940 --> 00:56:46.949
hmm,

00:56:47.519 --> 00:57:01.659
It's looking, like, yes, from an out of universe perspective, that hadn't been made yet, because Shudo's intention was for Lugia to only be in the movie, was surprised when it showed up in a game, even though he really should have foreseen that.

00:57:02.135 --> 00:57:07.574
And so it's like, yeah, from an out of universe perspective, yeah, stuff like the Silver Wing didn't exist.

00:57:07.824 --> 00:57:11.384
From an in universe perspective, it very much did.

00:57:13.608 --> 00:57:17.748
And it's a hell of a lot better known than a legend no one believes in.

00:57:17.748 --> 00:57:18.880
Yeah, it's

00:57:18.956 --> 00:57:23.655
kind of goes I mean pokemon does that all the time though, right to where Everybody thinks it's like urban legends, right?

00:57:23.655 --> 00:57:31.476
I think of pacifidlog town where it's built on ancestors who are trying to find the I believe the reggies no, they're trying to find uh, either reggies or

00:57:32.411 --> 00:57:37.672
and yeah, it's an interesting thing because then they're not even, brought up with like Zinnia, is it?

00:57:37.682 --> 00:57:39.333
She's not connected to that town?

00:57:39.652 --> 00:57:45.943
With the, yeah, with the whole draconoids and everything and we never know anything about them.

00:57:46.273 --> 00:57:49.597
Yes,

00:57:49.713 --> 00:57:51.083
Unfortunately, it was cool.

00:57:51.083 --> 00:57:54.554
I think I loved Delta episode, but story wise is very lacking.

00:57:54.735 --> 00:57:55.054
Yes,

00:57:55.371 --> 00:57:56.541
Anyway, you're talking about your fanfic?

00:57:57.114 --> 00:57:59.335
so I started writing it in 2001.

00:58:00.376 --> 00:58:02.817
currently it's at 38 chapters.

00:58:02.884 --> 00:58:04.844
31 of them are on archive of our own.

00:58:04.844 --> 00:58:06.543
I don't know why I haven't posted all of them.

00:58:06.849 --> 00:58:10.559
I think the only place the full thing actually is a Serebii forums.

00:58:10.561 --> 00:58:15.900
Um, Also in the first chapter his mom dies.

00:58:16.471 --> 00:58:23.451
Because the one thing I had ever heard about his backstory was that his mom died when he was young.

00:58:23.947 --> 00:58:26.117
so I had to incorporate that.

00:58:26.208 --> 00:58:28.737
So I gave her more personality.

00:58:28.748 --> 00:58:30.637
Her name is Gloria.

00:58:30.684 --> 00:58:33.222
because I had to do this angelic theme, right?

00:58:33.331 --> 00:58:36.152
Because he's got all those angel designs.

00:58:36.603 --> 00:58:36.833
Yeah.

00:58:39.663 --> 00:58:46.273
So, gosh, I used to write this on index cards when I worked at a video store.

00:58:46.293 --> 00:58:49.494
I worked at Hollywood Video, if that tells you how old I am.

00:58:50.664 --> 00:58:51.934
This story is.

00:58:52.873 --> 00:58:54.853
like the old school blockbuster basically.

00:58:54.884 --> 00:58:56.344
Oh, God, yeah.

00:58:56.344 --> 00:58:58.833
I mean, with Blockbuster, there's even one left.

00:58:58.844 --> 00:59:02.003
It's down in Bend, Oregon, and you can rent out the whole thing for parties.

00:59:02.253 --> 00:59:03.574
Hollywood's completely gone.

00:59:03.643 --> 00:59:06.204
I think that was gone by, like, 2009 or something

00:59:07.139 --> 00:59:07.298
that.

00:59:07.528 --> 00:59:08.059
I remember closed

00:59:08.528 --> 00:59:09.539
Long time ago.

00:59:09.608 --> 00:59:10.099
closed it.

00:59:10.099 --> 00:59:10.608
Yeah

00:59:11.148 --> 00:59:20.797
but, the first few chapters I don't think are very good, but I want to finish it before I do a rewrite, and finishing it may take, you know, 20 more years.

00:59:21.248 --> 00:59:21.717
I don't know.

00:59:22.588 --> 00:59:23.077
Especially

00:59:23.157 --> 00:59:24.038
your manifesto.

00:59:24.088 --> 00:59:24.518
Yeah

00:59:24.847 --> 00:59:25.467
gosh.

00:59:25.880 --> 00:59:28.329
but I think, get really good as it goes along.

00:59:28.329 --> 00:59:31.289
And in fact, I've made a friend over it.

00:59:31.550 --> 00:59:52.054
she's said that how it explores loss after his mother died and how he copes with it, but he has very poor coping skills, so he basically throws himself into this new world of art, it's something that she resonated with as someone whose mother died when she was young too.

00:59:52.625 --> 01:00:00.155
What keeps you motivated keep writing that because I mean some people get discouraged when something takes longer than two weeks and here You are years later still writing

01:00:00.204 --> 01:00:02.764
Well, that one I am taking a hiatus from.

01:00:03.405 --> 01:00:08.534
Because I got Scarlet and Violet brain rot and wanted to just write about the AIs.

01:00:08.625 --> 01:00:08.954
But,

01:00:09.335 --> 01:00:12.755
I is it really brain rock because you've got some very good insight into it.

01:00:12.914 --> 01:00:14.344
oh yeah, thank you.

01:00:14.385 --> 01:00:21.929
Um, I did just win, um, Actually two of my fics about the AIs have won prizes at Komori Con.

01:00:21.929 --> 01:00:24.329
One of them was last year and one of them was this year.

01:00:24.329 --> 01:00:25.699
It was just like a a half ago.

01:00:26.599 --> 01:00:28.230
What is Komori Kan for those who don't know?

01:00:28.364 --> 01:00:30.094
Portland, Oregon Anime Convention.

01:00:30.641 --> 01:00:33.367
the one that won, this year is called Sight.

01:00:33.418 --> 01:00:36.237
And it's honestly, I think, the best thing I wrote last year.

01:00:36.637 --> 01:00:41.505
the summary is the AI is beginning to show an interest in the world outside Area Zero.

01:00:41.536 --> 01:00:42.755
Turo can't have that.

01:00:43.246 --> 01:00:50.266
he wakes up and finds that the AI is looking at a website about the Ten Sites of Feldea.

01:00:50.675 --> 01:00:53.251
And he's basically like, no.

01:00:54.001 --> 01:00:55.081
No, you can't.

01:00:55.481 --> 01:00:55.800
No.

01:00:55.840 --> 01:00:57.110
You're staying here with me.

01:00:57.581 --> 01:01:02.311
And the AI is like, what are your intentions for me when Paradise is complete?

01:01:02.597 --> 01:01:04.838
Turo specifically does not answer that question.

01:01:05.543 --> 01:01:05.963
he avoids

01:01:06.173 --> 01:01:10.623
Yeah, he does talk, but he doesn't answer that question.

01:01:11.193 --> 01:01:18.054
for somebody, say, who's still maybe learning or wants to dive into fanfic, what advice would you give to them, especially if they want to do Pokemon?

01:01:18.054 --> 01:01:20.643
Yes.

01:01:22.289 --> 01:01:23.898
Two, read.

01:01:23.958 --> 01:01:27.889
Not just Pokémon fanfics, but read a lot.

01:01:28.159 --> 01:01:29.668
read non fiction, too.

01:01:29.728 --> 01:01:30.548
It's great.

01:01:30.871 --> 01:01:33.742
think about how things connect in the world.

01:01:33.742 --> 01:01:43.445
Think about interpersonal relationships, think about, if you're writing about a canon character, think about how they would react in different situations, and so on.

01:01:43.804 --> 01:01:51.282
something I find really interesting, and the reason that I like dialogue, and find that to be my strongest point, acting things out.

01:01:51.579 --> 01:02:03.284
I, uh, it's kind of impacted how I sleep, but acting out scenes, like have characters talk to each other or just get into a character.

01:02:03.619 --> 01:02:17.704
you know, if you're going to go to the grocery store or whatever, and you're going to deal with a bunch of people you don't know, And, you know, you could pretend to be a character, not an especially outlandish one, but like, how would Penny buy groceries, you know?

01:02:18.324 --> 01:02:32.675
What would she do when she's there looking at, I mean, she'd probably buy too sugared cereal and not have a very good diet, but, know, remind her that, Arvin is telling her she needs to eat healthier, she needs to eat a vegetable for once in her life.

01:02:32.675 --> 01:02:34.550
I don't know.

01:02:34.579 --> 01:02:35.150
say blackjack.

01:02:35.190 --> 01:02:36.860
Do you sometimes wake up and think you're Cyrus?

01:02:36.860 --> 01:02:37.760
And we got it?

01:02:37.760 --> 01:02:41.159
Okay,

01:02:41.230 --> 01:02:41.619
school.

01:02:41.896 --> 01:02:46.547
No, no, that that was, that was before Cyrus was a thing, but that, those were those days.

01:02:47.077 --> 01:02:57.681
Yeah, of course So on that note I used to do an exercise where I would change my name Whenever I introduce somebody or whenever I was introduced to somebody, I never would meet again.

01:02:58.021 --> 01:03:02.271
I would think of a random name and just try to make a character out of it.

01:03:02.282 --> 01:03:10.222
So definitely if you want to get better, do a blackjack recommends, because it's very good way to kind of dive into the character's psyche, which is so important.

01:03:10.222 --> 01:03:14.981
Cause that's what, connects us with them, but it also gives you an idea to like, what choices would they make?

01:03:15.777 --> 01:03:18.619
Mm-hmm also introducing yourself with a different name each time.

01:03:18.619 --> 01:03:19.880
Just reminds me of the TV show.

01:03:19.880 --> 01:03:20.449
Psych

01:03:20.862 --> 01:03:22.121
Oh, yes.

01:03:22.422 --> 01:03:23.311
I love Psyche.

01:03:26.251 --> 01:03:27.291
I've heard it both ways.

01:03:27.472 --> 01:03:28.291
No, John.

01:03:31.586 --> 01:03:32.612
Oh gosh.

01:03:33.192 --> 01:03:35.481
Well, Blackjack, thank you for coming on the show.

01:03:35.561 --> 01:03:36.802
Before we close this interview.

01:03:36.902 --> 01:03:38.902
I want to ask one last Pokemon question.

01:03:38.902 --> 01:03:44.965
What's If somebody was going to come challenge you, six on six, Pokemon battle, what six Pokemon are you bringing?

01:03:45.574 --> 01:03:46.565
Oh gosh.

01:03:47.105 --> 01:03:51.824
Uh, Well probably.

01:03:53.204 --> 01:04:13.735
like if we're just going me, what I would have in real life, a chatot and each color of squawkabilly and gosh, for another one, uh, I mean, I need, I need, uh, I need one more here.

01:04:13.764 --> 01:04:15.416
Um, I don't know.

01:04:15.416 --> 01:04:28.887
my favorite Pokemon is Landshaman, but I, you know, the chances of me running into one even for a Legendary slash Mythical, cause let's face it, the difference is pretty random and probably wouldn't exist in universe.

01:04:29.282 --> 01:04:39.213
even for fairly common one that, you know, people know where they gather and everything, the, the odds of me running into one and actually having one are slim to none.

01:04:39.213 --> 01:04:40.193
And so I

01:04:41.518 --> 01:04:48.697
I mean, anything happens in the Pokemon world, maybe one day you just open a book about Landshaming and all of a sudden it just pops out like, hey, this didn't happen before.

01:04:48.867 --> 01:04:50.648
It could definitely happen in your world.

01:04:50.648 --> 01:04:51.427
You never know.

01:04:51.523 --> 01:04:56.568
find a, a dry grissidia flower you can use as a bookmark and I take it

01:04:56.902 --> 01:04:57.572
go.

01:04:57.978 --> 01:04:59.637
just pops up out of the ground.

01:05:00.382 --> 01:05:02.713
Or a bookmark that's made out of the Gresidia

01:05:02.998 --> 01:05:03.918
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

01:05:03.918 --> 01:05:06.518
A dried flower as a bookmark.

01:05:07.898 --> 01:05:10.367
Awesome Why is a land shaming your favorite?

01:05:10.367 --> 01:05:10.637
Just out of

01:05:10.978 --> 01:05:12.157
Because it's freaking adorable.

01:05:12.898 --> 01:05:14.097
Oh, what about Skyform?

01:05:14.097 --> 01:05:14.248
You don't

01:05:14.338 --> 01:05:16.447
I don't, Skyfarm is trying too hard to be cool.

01:05:16.467 --> 01:05:17.077
Ha

01:05:17.128 --> 01:05:17.367
There you go.

01:05:17.418 --> 01:05:17.858
It's trying to be an EV

01:05:18.297 --> 01:05:20.737
ha ha ha ha.

01:05:21.717 --> 01:05:22.498
Uh.

01:05:23.407 --> 01:05:26.547
But Blackjack, thank you for coming on the podcast before you go.

01:05:26.547 --> 01:05:29.538
If people want to check out your fan fiction, if they want to connect with you, where can they go?

01:05:29.538 --> 01:05:30.777
By all means, please plug

01:05:30.983 --> 01:05:34.463
I'm basically, I'm Blackjack Gabbiani basically everywhere.

01:05:34.492 --> 01:05:38.920
Um, I'm on Archive of Our Own by that name.

01:05:39.137 --> 01:05:41.077
I'm on Blue Sky by that name.

01:05:41.077 --> 01:05:46.847
basically the only place I'm not is YouTube, where I'm BJG Videos.

01:05:47.086 --> 01:05:48.907
And you can check out some of my voice acting there.

01:05:48.907 --> 01:05:52.157
I have a playlist called Stuff I'm In, Hear My Voice.

01:05:53.436 --> 01:06:02.286
And then you can check out my, uh, I wouldn't recommend my, Sword and Shield playthrough because that was before I could record directly.

01:06:02.456 --> 01:06:04.416
So I was recording it with my phone camera.

01:06:07.106 --> 01:06:17.117
But if you want to see a complete jank playthrough that ended halfway through, Like, I did legitimately cancel that because it was not fun for me to play in that manner.

01:06:17.117 --> 01:06:18.916
It was more fun for me to play on my own.

01:06:19.432 --> 01:06:23.722
but I also have my Legends playthrough which was live streamed.

01:06:24.188 --> 01:06:26.018
I don't want to livestream anymore.

01:06:26.380 --> 01:06:30.300
I do like having pre recorded gameplay videos.

01:06:30.661 --> 01:06:36.639
I did, Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, And in these games, when I play them, I tend to do, like, a lot of voices.