The Steves discuss the sixth generation of Pokemon as they look back on Pokemon X and Y and the Kalos Region.
What's making us happy?
Pokémon X and Y Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves discuss the sixth generation of Pokemon as they look back on Pokemon X and Y and the Kalos Region.
What's making us happy?
Pokémon X and Y Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett
Stephen:Martin. And this is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome
Steve:to a lifetime of happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy, but hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. This
Stephen:November, we are preparing for the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Games by revisiting some of our favorite regions and games in the world of
Steve:Pokemon. So grab your poke balls and your favorite partner, because today we're going back to where I finally sucked you into my Pokemon Mania, the Callus Region with Pokemon. And why? The memories. Yes. But before we get into that, what's been making you happy? My love. Speaking of memories,
Stephen:Well, it's Grey's Anatomy, my
Steve:darling. Yes. And it's on, it's what season? I put 100th, but I think that was just a guess. Yeah, I think it's
Stephen:like 19th or 20th, somewhere in there. It's been a long time. It's firing on all cylinders. There was a kind of soft reboot this year mm-hmm. where they actually focused really hard on a brand new group of interns coming in. And the interns are fully formed characters. They're excellent actors. I'm severely impressed. It really brought back the teaching of the teaching hospital. There's still plenty to do for all of our favorites. Christopher Vernoff, who is the show runner, ever since she took over Grey's Anatomy, has gone back to what everybody loved about it. So I am extremely happy with the show. And as long as they wanna keep it on the air, I will keep watching. Yes. I was very
Steve:excited to see other Asian, aka Magnus, Spain from Shadow Hunters.
Stephen:Yes. That would actually be Harry Shum Jr. And you know, he was great on Glee, but then he really proved himself to me as an actor on Shadow Hunters when he was playing Magna Spain and now on Grey's Anatomy. I'm really impressed with his character. So this has been a wonderful start to a season of a show that I really love, and I'm excited to see where it goes from. Yes.
Steve:I'm also very excited to see where my drag queens are going cuz we are living in the prime age of drag queen television. Oh, drag queens everywhere. And I couldn't be happier. Me either. We currently are watching RuPaul's Drag Race UK season four. Yes. As well as Draga Titans.
Stephen:Ugh. And I love the Bula Brothers. Dr. And Swan are fantastic. And the, It's a whole different, so if you're used to your RuPaul's Drag Race, it is a completely different animal with the drag yellow queens and
Steve:I, I don't know whether it was someone on Draga side or the way I heard it compared, but like RuPaul's Drag Race is a female impersonation or a female emulation contest. While ragula is more about the art of Dragon, like the horror behind it, or the creepiness, or the the EC factor.
Stephen:And I can see that a little bit, but I will say that some of our best of the Rupa, Paul Queens are the ones that are able to transcend all of that. Yeah. And really show the art form. Like got Mick. Yes. And or even the ones that are just fully entertaining, like. Like that, bring something extra to the stage and things where, you know, your Dracula are the ones that are a little bit kookier and a little bit more off the beaten path, and probably were a lot more bullied in school. And they're the ones that go for a little bit of the darker side where Dracula highlights horror fil.
Steve:And glamor. Yes. And so anyone who watches RuPaul's Drag Race and enjoys the art of drag, definitely try something new and check out Draga. Titans on Shutter. Shutter. Yep.
Stephen:Shutter is now the official home for Draga
Steve:and well worth the subscription all on its own.
Stephen:Yes, 100%. Even though you know me and I love some trashy horror movies,
Steve:Now what we also love is some good old fashioned not trashy Pokemon games.
Stephen:Yes. And so in the end,
Steve:I won. You won? Yes. When we first started dating, you knew that I was a Pokemon fan, and I knew being that you were a video game fan, that it was safe to share that with you, but I never expected, and I am so happy that I was able to get you on this bad bandwagon with me.
Stephen:So by the time Pokemon was coming out, I was already 17 years. And so I like, I was under the impression back then mm-hmm. that it was a game for children. Yes. And because there are video games that are geared towards younger generation, and I incorrectly assumed that Pokemon was one of those games because of the people that I knew that were playing it. And again, this was 96, 97. the beginning of the internet, really taking shape there, like, and I grew up in rural West Virginia. Mm-hmm. This is not an area where there's video game stores around or lots of people playing. So I was not exposed the way, like if it came out now Yeah. And the internet is the way it is, I would see it and be like, Oh, it's for every. But my experience were, you know, eight year olds that I knew that were playing it
Steve:like me, and I always love. Now, whenever we talk about Pokemon around Dar niece and nephew, how they point out that they tried so hard to get you into Pokemon when they were little. Yes. And you wouldn't, And I make sure to point out that I have my own ways of convincing you that luckily they don't have access to Yeah.
Stephen:That like whenever they were younger, Mom and dad would always buy them the new Pokemon game when it came out. And you know, one would get one version, one would get the other. And the, again, this also fed into my belief that Pokemon games were for children. Mm-hmm. because it went from my cousin Craig and Ryan to Logan and Madison children in the six to 10 age range. So it just kept thinking in my. I'm too old for this. And so you were one of the first adults that I ever met that was like, No, I love Pokemon. Yeah. And so, you know, DS games aren't that expensive. Yeah. And they're like 40 bucks. Yes. And so X and Y was coming out spur of the moment we went to the midnight release.
Steve:Yes. And how did playing the first game. How did you feel
about
Stephen:it? Well, I, as we said, I knew it was important to you and I wanted to give it a shot, and for me it was a way to know more about you by experiencing something you love and having a hobby that we could share together.
Steve:But did you end up liking the game itself? I
Stephen:did, even though I did not play it correctly. I guess there is no wrong way to play Pokemon. I played it how I.
Steve:any other RPG game, you find your strong one and if it beats everything, you wind up with your level one Hunter del Fox, aka dark phoenix and nothing else. Yes.
Stephen:And you just keep going. And I like, I didn't understand the whole catch'em all. It was, Oh, that one looks cool. I'll catch that. The whole catch them all thing. I was like, I don't see the point. That one looks stupid and it's easy to beat. I don't want that one. I don't want to be associated with a weak one. I didn't get the catch'em all thing. So in the end, my PKA decks, like I had seen,
Steve:I told you which ones were virgin exclusive and made you catch those, but yeah. But that was just
Stephen:so you could steal them later. Yes.
Steve:Which you did. I did. And then I gave them back once I threw a fit. Yes. Now the game itself was released worldwide on October 12th, 2013 being the first international release of a Pokemon game, and it was for the Nintendo 3D S since it's to release, it's sold over 16.2 million units as of March of this year, making them the second best selling game for the Nintendo 3D S just behind Mario carte seven, and just ahead of Pokemon Sun and Moon and
Stephen:this one. Was the kind of the first time that it had more of a 3D look
Steve:to it? Yes. It went from pixels where you walk in an up, down, left right grid to being able to go diagonally and having 3d. Around you. So getting to see, see and it kind of see a Pokemon in 3d. Yeah. And I was
Stephen:used to more games that looked like that. So me jumping in at this point probably was the best option for me. Yes.
Steve:And you can't talk about a Pokemon game without going through its story. Yep. Now, in this game, you have your friends and rivals. There are actually four, which is virtually unheard of. You have Shauna, Trevor Hino, and your rival of the opposite. Now after playing through it, do you remember any of those four? I do not. I remember Tierno being a little chunky monkey guy and I appreciated the body positivity as a little chunky monkey guy myself, Uhhuh But that's the only thing that I remember about him at all. And Shauna and Trevor, I just, I don't, Yeah, I do remember the bad guy's, Team Flare and their leader LaSandra, who always, I hear the name and think it's a girl, but it's a guy. It's that big. Fire haired looking dude. Yeah. And their ultimate goal is to create a beautiful and better world while making money and eliminating those who don't live up to their standards.
Stephen:So it's always with the bad guys that the first part of their plan sounds fantastic. Yes. And then you hear what they're going to do once they get it or what they're doing to make it happen. And you're. Yeah. And that's why you're the bad guys. Yes. Like this, who doesn't want a beautiful and better world, except that they're going total apocalypse with survival of the fittest. And in this one elimination of the unfitest.
Steve:Yes. That's a little less admirable than the beautiful and better world part. Yeah. But how did they stack up as bad guys for you? Like were you excited to take him on and bring him down? So
Stephen:first of all, I was shocked that it wasn't Team Rocket. I was. Assuming because Team Rocket was in the cartoon, that Team Rocket was always the bad guy. Kind of like Bowser in his kids. Yeah. Or Gannon. I thought Team Rocket was the villain. Yeah. I didn't realize at that point that it changed because my only experience was the anime. Yes. From watching it with you on Saturday morning. I was
Steve:shocked. Yes. Well, I enjoyed them as adversaries. It is when they start, like, I love, like with Team Rock, how it's simple. They want to get Pokemon and they'll steal'em. Yeah. But this one is when like the, their motivations become a little more convoluted with how they're gonna achieve their goal. And I like that. Where like in a like a little gray area of a villain where you can see what they wanted was admirable. It was just their execution along the way. Something just didn't add up with logic.
Stephen:And this was another one where I was shocked. your starting Pokemon weren't Squirtle and Charmander and Bulbo. So, and Bobba sword, because every new
Steve:region has a whole new set of starters.
Stephen:I had no idea that shocked the hell outta me because, you know, in the TV show, they're pretty much focused on the originals. And so I just assumed that, and, and even as a Pokemon version, I had heard of Charmander and Squirtle and things, so I just assumed. So whenever it got to this, I was like, I don't know about this. Yes. And
Steve:I'm sure that made the the choice much harder. You really were like, Well, without Charmander, am I gonna choose the fire type?
Stephen:Well, and even at that point, like I wasn't totally in on fire type. I think it was the design of the evolution and things that I was like, I like the look of Finnegan. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go. And that one, it was, And when you, I asked you originally, I was like, Okay, so how does this work? And you were like, Well, fire beats grass. Grass beats water. Water beats fire. And I was like, Okay, that makes sense. I like that. I like the design of fire. I like what it can do. I'm gonna go fire type. And this is. Sent me on the way with my Finnegan to Brisson to Del Fox, which was Fire slash Psychic, which as our listeners know, I love Xmen, so obviously a Fire Psychic Wizard Pokemon. I was going to rename Dark Phoenix the first time, play through where they gave you the opportunity to, Do you wanna rename this Pokemon? I was like, Sure. This sounds. It did not help me learn the actual names of the Pokemon at
Steve:all. It does not. That is the downside to nicknames. Yeah,
Stephen:so that was the one and only game where I did that. Thank God for Pokemon Go. And I was like, Oh, I'm actually starting to learn these.
Steve:Yes. Meanwhile, I of course remember my favorite type water type with Croy to froggier to the water dark grin ninja. That was a really cool design
Stephen:grin Ninja is one of those amazing third gen or third evolution designs that also, now that you see it and stuff like that, I'm like, How is that not. one of the big ones like Grin is such a great design and I like its powers and things like that. I'm like, that is a really good one. It is
Steve:unlike chest spin, poor chest spin in its evolutions. Callin and the grass fighting type chestnut, which just yeah, was not very visually appealing or combatively, very viable or
Stephen:fun to play as. And so this is also what started me with, well, I'm never picking grass. Yeah. Like that they're dumb and I, no offense to the. Tight fans that are listening.
Steve:Yes. Well, before I know it, I'll be fighting you with my brido, the cute little grass kitten Pokemon, and I
Stephen:will be setting you on fire and watching you
Steve:burn. Oh no. I'll have to make sure I catch a water type at some point. Now, also notable in most Pokemon games, in addition to the starters, people also remember the games because of their legendaries, especially the ones you see on the box art, where you have Sirius in X, which was the deer. Mm-hmm. and Ive. Bird bat, which was for why. Yeah. And Theny guard, which is a, A worm. I think it's worm. I think so it's something wormy. And then they have the mythical dancy, which was distributed online only. And I call that the Lady Rock Pokemon.
Stephen:Now I did like Yt. I like the design on that one. I've had it looked very cool.
Steve:Yes. And Zerus was very fun, being that it was a fairy type, which we'll get into in a little. but other highlights of the evolution. And we talked last time how oftentimes, especially the Pokemon, you meet on Route one. Mm-hmm. are not long lasting battle savvy. You'll never find them in an Uber, an overpowered tier on smoking. And if you're a Pokemon fan, you know what I mean? And if you're a lamo who just tips his to hose in it, you're like, What's smoking? I don't know. But that's a
Stephen:word you made
Steve:up. Yes. But I love talent flame because it's the bird you find on Route one eventually evolves into a fire flying Pokemon that was actually really useful, not only in battle, it battled competitively rather well, but it also had a useful hidden ability, flame body and that also helps you reduce the time that you need to hatch eggs By half
Stephen:you, you ha you talk about abilities that have nothing to do with attacking, and I'm just
Steve:confused. It's okay. I'll teach you next Gen.
Stephen:I. I, I, and I know that there are. Defensive abilities and things,
Steve:and flame body in battle does have a use. Whenever you attack it with a physical attack, there's a 30% chance it's gonna leave you burned. But there is the unknown thanks to the internet secondary factor of having the time it takes to hatch eggs. Gotcha. Now other highlights for you?
Stephen:Of course it would beil. Because we have a new evolution and this would be the fairy type EV that has stars in
Steve:its eyes. Yes. I also remember it just last being a really cool one. They've been talking about having like a, a ghost night type Pokemon forever, and I thought it was really. Clever that rather having it be like a suit of armor that was possessed, which you see in so many other Monstery type games. Mm-hmm. that they actually made it where the sword was the Pokemon and the shield was the Pokemon, and that it can go between offensive and defensive. It was good battle competitively when you were battling it, but it was also just a fun design,
Stephen:which is better than that stupid Pokemon. That's a set of keys.
Steve:Yes. Clunky was not your favorite.
Stephen:No. So other ones that aren't. Best Pokemon, but I love the designs. Yeah. Pan M Yeah. Your panda Pokemon. Yes. Furrow, which was the kind of poodle Pokemon Yes. Where
Steve:you can give it haircuts to change its design. Yeah.
Stephen:And then I also like fantom. And punk kaaboo because they're, Who doesn't love a Halloween Pokemon?
Steve:Exactly. And we were just reading up on those today in an article about dark Pokemon e entries. Yes. And the polka decks. Punk kaaboo, I love especially because while it's like a little ghost jack-o-lantern type, it sings joyously as it steals your soul because the act of stealing your soul just makes it so happy. It just sings while it does
Stephen:it. So it would be Sarah Sanders. Come little
Steve:children, I'll take the away. That's basically exactly it. Yes, Yes. and as we alluded to with Zerus and sson, this was also the first game since generation two to introduce a new Pokemon type in fairy, which
is
Stephen:just crazy to
Steve:me and has not been done
Stephen:since, and it has not been done since. But this one makes complete sense because there were so, That were quote unquote normal, which I think is lazy. Yes. That you're like, obviously they're fairy type. Yeah. Because with those, we're talking about Cliff Ferry,
Steve:it's like literally in its name.
Stephen:Yep. Toga P, which I can see. Yeah. Snu, which I think is a stretch. Yeah. Jiggly Puff. Perfect. That makes sense Mr. Mime. Sure. Guard of war, which is our plant. Drag queen. Not a plant.
Steve:Not a plant. No. But I can see where you think it looks planty, but it's not a grass type it. Well,
Stephen:it
Steve:looks like a plant. It's
Stephen:psychic fairy. Yeah. But it looks like a plant. And then there are a couple others that were in there, but. Those were kind of some of the ones that switched from being
Steve:normal. Yes. And I think that, you know, logically it's the perfect fit for Pokemon, but also the execution did really well. They, they Pokemon creators at Game Freaks stated that they were designed to be dragon killers because, Dragons were ruling the, the meta game at the time that everyone knew that like if it's a dragon type Pokemon, that it's gonna be overpowered and you need to have it in your team. And so they made this so that dragons had a very, like above average defensively, but also offensively check against dragons. They're also weak to fire and poison and steel while strung against fighting bug dragon and dark.
Stephen:And I think that obviously that just makes sense that they are strong against dark, because you think of fairies as the defender of light. Yeah. So I kind of love that. I also think it's kind of interesting that they're strong against a bug, because in a lot of things, when you think of fairies like Tinkerbell, They're almost bugs. Yes. So I find that kind
Steve:of, and it's interesting because if I'm remembering correctly, the attacks aren't super effective against bug types. Mm-hmm. So it's not like they go out killing bugs super effectively, but it's that when beg bug types attack them, it does half damage, which that makes, So it's more sense, it is more of a defensive advantage when it comes to bug type than it is an offensive advantage because these. Yes, exactly. Yeah. And so I think that they did a really good job introducing it. I can understand with how much it shakes up the gameplay. They can't just go introducing a new type every generation. But if they were to introduce a new type, what type would you like to see that you think would fit well in the Pokemon world?
Stephen:So let's go through some of the ones that we have now. We've got fire, grass, water, ghost, psychic fairy fighting. Peca, Peka Electric,
Steve:What else? I wasn't able to keep up with all them, but I know that there's a total of, I think 14 or 15 types. And so I would say while fair's very close to it, I think that I see a lot of other games, light
Stephen:type, and that's what I was gonna say. If you have a dark type, why not have a light type? And for me, like, and I understand I didn't list normal type and. What I would try to do as game freak in the Pokemon company is find a way to eliminate normal type. Yeah. Because that just seems a, Well, God, we made one, we couldn't fit it in
Steve:anywhere. Yeah. And they are doing a better job, I think in the newer versions of making normal types, be more of like a secondary type that provides a benefit of being immune to ghost type. Mm-hmm. while normally just pure normal Pokemon, seem to be rarer and rarer as we go on in Generat. But hopefully that is a sign that one day they'll introduce a new type or two that will completely eliminate the need for normal Pokemon.
Stephen:Yeah, like I like the idea of a light type that would be fun. Mm-hmm.
Steve:And also, I mean, there's so many water type Pokemon out there that it exists, that if they were trying to balance game play, I don't know what type you would do, but something that would kind of split up the water types. Mm-hmm. I am not an expert. I don't know how I would do that. But if you can take like half the water types and make them like salt water, Pokemon, and the other half, like, you know, fresh water, Pokemon, or do something to like change them. Mm-hmm. and again, that's not the execution I would wanna see, but that's the first idea that came to mind. But do something to split that because if
Stephen:it, if there's too many in one group mm-hmm. I definitely can see why there would need to be a split there. And you're right, I. I forget what game we were playing and I was like, there's a lot
Steve:of water type. There's 147 water type Pokemon, which makes it 15.9% of all Pokemon. Wow.
Stephen:And if you're talking that there are 800 and some Pokemon Yeah, right now that exist and 140 of.
Steve:are water almost
Stephen:150, almost 150 are water and there are 14 or 15 types and 15% are all one type. Mm-hmm. that's a lot. And you would have to see how you could break that up to, to, yeah. Like maybe it would be water. And aquatic type. Mm-hmm. because there are some water types that have nothing to do with actually being in the
Steve:water. Yes. And so, you know, the, the comparatively speaking, I mean, with it being. Over 120 water type Pokemon, the closest or just under a hundred. You have people that are Pokemon, that have normal type or flying type or like the second and third most popular type. Yeah. At like almost 40 less. Yeah. So, so it is a significance. I don't know the fix for it. We'd love to hear what you think. So make sure you let us know as we recap in the end of the episode, head get in touch with us, but there's. Battle gimmick. Yeah.
Stephen:And so that was something I learned in this, that they add something to make battles more interesting. And this one was the mega evolution?
Steve:Yes. And this was the first one that really was a swing for the park. Uhhuh, like past games had triple battles. Which would switch things up, you know, it was never game changing and only a handful of trainers throughout the game would actually challenge you to these triple battles. It was more something that you could take online if you wanted. Right. But this was the first one where like it redefined what they would do in generations to come in terms of having one sort of super power up ability. Mm-hmm. This one is a burst of power and a cool form to match for certain.
Stephen:So not everyone could do it correct,
Steve:but it was a way to take some old favorites, like Mega Charizard, mega bla akin and turn them even more powerful. While also taking, I love Mal Isle, which was a useless Pokemon one from Ruby and Sapphire and its mega evolution. Turns it Uber and of course Lic Caria was the first mega evolution you get and you never forget your first
Stephen:Now there are, of course gym
Steve:leaders. Yes. As we spoke about, I can't remember all of them off the top of my head except Ka. I know cuz she's the fading fighting sky skater girl who gives you your first mega stone Uhhuh and Biola, because she's a cute little bug photographer.
Stephen:Now, I of course, knew and remembered Olympia, the psychic leader because I enjoy, because of Xmen Eing Gray, the Psychic Gems and the psychic Pokemon and things like that. I just find them enjoyable because it was another way for me to. Something I already loved and find a way to bring that into this new thing. I'm learning how to.
Steve:Yes. And while we didn't really touch in it last week in our canto episode, Canto is based on Japan, Correct? This one is based on France. Could you tell?
Stephen:Yes. Whenever you see the outlying larger map, it absolutely is France. It's
Steve:clear. Yes. And memorable locations. I remember as Lumio City actually felt like a city, and that
Stephen:was the one that was kind of built. Almost a circular grid. Yeah. And in this game you got around on roller skates, correct? Yes, correct. And I remember because Luo City was so big and you could go, it was built like a wheel and you could go in the Spurs to get into the inner rings and stuff. Skating was the best way to get around because it is a big city.
Steve:Yes, it is. I also remember the battle chateau by the daycare. So oftentimes in these games, the post game has like a battle. Factory, Frontier Tower, Tree Stadium, whatever. But this one was a place where even like throughout the the game, you were able to kind of power up there and it was helpful that it was right by the daycare. So you could drop off your Pokemon debris. You can. P Battle a little bit at the Chateau and it was just fun being able to like raise the ranks in this like upper echelon of society. It was kinda like the hell fire club for Pokemon, but What
Stephen:do you mean breed? You drop off two Pokemon and when you get'em back you get this egg and the person that runs the daycare center has no idea how it happened. Yes. Well that's
Steve:because while it, the Pokemon Games. People of all ages, that does include some little ones where they don't want Pokemon to be the thing that causes the kids to go, rather than being like mom and dad. Where do babies come from? They don't wanna be like mom and dad. Where do Pokemon come from? Now, when a Pinster loves the hair cross very
Stephen:much people lose special body parts.
Steve:Yes. I also loved the glittering cave because as I mentioned last episode, generally caves, I'm like, Meh, because they're brown. You see one, you see'em all. But the glittering. Glitter. Gorgeous and gorgeous. Any other standouts
Stephen:for you? For me it was snowball city because it was just this giant winter wonderland that kind of felt like you got to visit the North
Steve:Pole. Yes. And I also love the winding woods, cuz you gotta love your haunted forest where you can get your punka boos and all your horror ghosts. Yeah. And one thing that this game introduced that was a big upgrade from in Heart, Golden Soul Silver. There were occasionally times where you could take like, 2D picture of you and your team. This one you can actually get like a chance to like, aim the camera and look around the 3D sceneries, which I think thought was a really nice way for them to kind of show off the 3D graphics, which were new and improved at the time.
Stephen:Yeah, and it, it was almost very much, you know I'm busy doing poker battles, but first let's take a, let's take a selfie. Exactly. Now, again, it wouldn't be a Pokemon game without an Elite four and the champion. With this one we had malva for fire. Mm-hmm. Wickstrom for steel Dr for Dragon and Sea Bowl for water. And then Diha the champion with the mega garde war. Now, I had talked before about how in the Cantos region the Elite Four were kind of more the interesting ones. Now with this one you have Wickstrom, which is Steel Andras. But you've got malva and sea bold, which are fire and water. So that's kind of like interesting that you're elite for are not that there's wrong with anything, but water and fire almost seem like the
Steve:basic types. I do remember them being slightly easier to battle because those are things that you have common checks for. Game that are plentiful, but you know, Was it a good mix and a challenge? Yes. Were most of them memorable? Not really. I know that just C Sebo stands out because gimme a tall, blonde drink of water and I am water, literally just wet. And so, Looking at you, babe. I know.
Stephen:Just the one you said that
Steve:and you said you love Dr.
Stephen:I just, I like because dragon types aren't as common throughout the game. Mm-hmm. and so to battle so many Right in a row, I find
Steve:interesting. Yeah, that was fun. Diana's probably the, my least memorable champion throughout the series. Meanwhile the post game had the Looker Bureau, which was actually like more story uhhuh. And so oftentimes you don't get a lot of story in the post game. It is more just about. Catching'em all, catching legendaries, catching new Pokemon that were just unlocked. But this one actually had you working with liquor to like investigate mysteries throughout the area and I thought that that was really well done. And he's shown up once or twice since then. So here's hoping for more liquor in the future. Cuz I love a good mystery with Pokemon. Yes. And it had the Battle Institute. Wow. A place to battle for battle points, to trade for items. How unheard of
Stephen:Yeah. Now there were some other new things. Where you. Feed and Pet. Your Pokemon, You
Steve:mean your Toma? Oh yeah. No Pokemon. Yes. that it is very much like a, It was very much like Tomagotchi, except it was called Pokemon and Me, and it was a place where you can bond with them. I mean, benefits were small. They include a higher critical hit innovation ratio, as well as other small things like shrugging off status effects occasionally, or possibly surviving a fatal blow with one hp. But the most useful part of Pokemon on Me was normally, There are a lot of Pokemon, You have to have friendship to evolve. Right? And normally that can be a quite arduous process. If you're trying to evolve the Pokemon Young. You have to do a lot of running around while it's holding a soothe bell, while you're also using in battles. So it's getting experience points to level it up, but not enough to level it up too much where you're missing some of the power full moves that it learns as it's evolution in Pokemon. You can just spoil the fuck out of it until it loves you and then battle it and it evolves and it made it much easier. Yeah,
Stephen:I remember that one. And. I will fully admit that Pokemon, that require the power of friendship to evolve. Yeah. Annoy me to no end like it, it. I have always been a solitary gamer. Mm-hmm. So you have these Pokemon that, Oh, you have to trade it to evolve. What? I grew up in the middle of nowhere. I would've been screwed.
Steve:I know, but I've got your
Stephen:back, babe. I know, but it just like, some of those things were not meant. For kids that live in the hills.
Steve:Yes. Also not meant for kids necessarily, was super training, which was an easy mini game to help max out your EVs,
Stephen:which is something I don't
Steve:believe in, which is fine because if you are a competitive battler, you know about EVs or after values as well as. IVs are individual values. The Pokemon are naturally born with. Yeah. Originally these were all very secret. You're not, don't, not even like you can go through the first two or three games without even anyone mentioning them, even though they're embedded in the code and affect your battle. Right. So it's just an extra layer so that if you're fighting online competitively against, you know, let's say you have a level 100 U2 and they have a level 100 U2 with the same nature as they actually are different based off of the way that you raise their EVs slightly. And so, but that's a lot of times that slightly is enough to give you a competitive veg battle. So it's great for competitive play. Now I have to admit that I will, in the post game work on getting a team with maxed out EVs. Does that mean that I take them online and do competitive battling? No, because do not. I am a sore loser and I don't like fighting battles where I could. So I just prefer to battle in the game. I like that Pokemon is easy. It's not about the challenge for me. Yeah, it is about the joy of catching them all the story and the story and seeing them evolve.
Stephen:That's exactly why I play the idea, like no offense to anybody that plays competitively, that is wonderful for you. That is not why I play. It's the same thing where people say, Oh, I wish Nintendo consoles had trophies like PlayStation or Xbox, and. No
Steve:thanks. Yeah, I'm fine without those. Yeah, I'm also fine without Sky Battles. Another gimmick, this generation where you get to fight against other Pokemon with a flying type in the sky. And I remember being so pissed as I would go through a map or a route and I'm trying to fight all the trainers and one of them is like, Let's have a flying battle. And you're like, Fuck, I don't have a flying Pokemon Manami who uses a flying Pokemon besides talent flame in this scheme? and having to go and like find a flying type Pokemon so that you can fight them. It just. It was a good idea. Mm-hmm. But it one that like, I'm glad didn't come back or become a thing.
Stephen:No, because you know, everybody's like group of Pokemon is gonna be individual to them. Some people play the whole game without a flying Pokemon. Don't make something that requires a niche Pokemon.
Steve:Yes, exactly. Now something that was available for all but not used to. The extent that I feel like it could have been was hoard encounters. As you can tell by the name is when you would battle large groups of Pokemon all at once. Do you have any memory of doing hoard encounters in this game?
Stephen:I remember who encounters, but that was in college. Okay. Yes. So that, that might
Steve:be different. A little different. That was just when you were hanging out with Ronnie. Yes. No. Hor encounters would be when you would occasionally in the, in certain areas in the wild encounter four or five or six Pokemon at a time where you would be fighting with your one Pokemon against all five or. I
Stephen:remember this whenever they changed it a little bit in Archus.
Steve:Yes. But this one I remember being challenged once because I was using like an egg. I had just hatched. And like in a low level area. And no matter like when it's more of an even playing field, I remember it being difficult, but in general, especially since Pokemon X and Y was the first one to enable the automatic ex p sharing across the entire party, which I enjoy. It was very rare to be. At the same level as the Pokemon you're fighting. So when you have your level 99 Dow Fox fighting against six G, Dude, it ain't nothing but a thing. Nope.
Stephen:Now, one of the things I loved most about this, because it's Pokemon X and Y was playing Pokemon Z.
Steve:No, it didn't exist. What? Yes. Since it was formerly never announced. We'll never know. There wasn't gonna be an assumed third version with Z because I
Stephen:remember you talking about it all the time and you're like, Yeah, it's what they did. There was Pokemon, red, blue, and yellow. There was this, this, and this. Of course there's gonna be X, Y, and Z. It just makes sense. There's one letter right after it. Yes. It never happened.
Steve:It never did. And potential reasons include poor sales numbers. I mean, yeah, it's the second best selling 3D S game, but game Freak might have learned after five generations that their third versions never sell as well as the first two. With that, I say Boohoo cares, I enjoy them. So you should make them specifically to delight me and
Stephen:I, I have a theory on that now that, you know, we had Sword and Shield. And instead of having Crown, we have the crown tundra. Yeah. Which is deal. See?
Steve:Yes. And that makes more sense to have the dlc now. I, I like that rather than doing the souped up versions of the games for sure. But another rumor speculated that it could have been political. Most regions are based on countries and like we mentioned, X and Y were inspired by. And the Paris terrorist attacks were occurring around the time the third installment would've been planned or released. And they guessed that Game Freak didn't want the association with the terrorist attacks. I think that's a weak reason I do. Another stronger reason is it's resources and time. I mean, we got Omega, Ruby, and Sapphire around one year later and it might have been either or a situation. And so choosing which one would give you better sales numbers, which makes sense. Right?
Stephen:And they were also quickly headed towards Sun and Moon. And as soon as you release one game, most likely you've already started development on the following game. Yeah, And they may have also, because while it's not a Nintendo studio per se, they may have also, by the time 20 13, 20 14, came around, knew that the switch was in development and it's time to. Finishing up three Ds cuz we're all moving forward
Steve:together. It's possible. Now, before we wrap up with our final thoughts, I also did some research and found some fun trivia about this game. Did you tell. Well in K, the squid Pokemon evolves by holding the 3D S upside down which is unheard of, and it's the only one of its type, but it's actually a reference to an old April Fool's joke that if you hold your Game Boy upside down while lick at tongue levels up, that it evolves into Luigi, like as
Stephen:in
Steve:Luigi, Mario. Yep. Yeah, that was an April Fools Day joke that Nintendo and Game Freak put out. So they did it as kind of a nod to their own joke. Gotcha. Now also Fly Gone was a Pokemon that a lot of people wanted to have a mega evolution and it was actually planned, but the designers couldn't think of a good design, so they just gave up on it. And there was a little bit of history I was talking to you about last night. Would you like to share it?
Stephen:Sure. So the Japanese translation potentially hints at the. Openly trans person in the Pokemon universe. In the battle mansion, the player fights against a beauty trainer and the original translation when you defeated her was, I was a karate king a half year ago. The power of medical science is awesome, wouldn't you say? And in the English it was changed to? Yes. Amir? Half year ago I was a black belt. Quite the transformation, wouldn't you say? Obviously. America has a much harder time with the trans community and things, and Nintendo of America was probably more concerned about backlash than Nintendo of Japan was. Yes.
Steve:However, either way it is a step forward and I look forward to becoming more can in the future. Correct. And be as a, a country and as a world embrace the gender spectrum a little bit more. Correct. Now, a little bit piece of tidbit I thought you would love with your Greek mythology, boner uhhuh. is that Heop tile and Helios stem from Greek mythology. Tell us all
Stephen:about Helios. Helios is an ancient Greek titan who is the personification of the sun. Which that makes sense. It's right in the name.
Steve:Yes. And these Pokemon Live in the desert and soak up energy from the sun. I love that. Yes. And also you love your little bit of dark Pokemon knowledge. Yes. In Anna Star City, there's an old man who's depressed because of the death of his wife. He asked the player to lend him any Pokemon level five or under to help keep him company. After defeating the elite four, the player can return to the home to find the old man has passed away and left the Pokemon behind in a Pokemon ball with a letter thanking the. As well as leaving him a com comment jar, which you could sell for cash. Mm-hmm. the letter says how the Pokemon you lent him, kept him smiling until the very end.
Stephen:So that one's not as dark. That one is very actually sweet. Yeah. But Pokemon can be dark, which we'll get to whenever we talk about sun and moon. Yes.
Steve:Now the launch. When it came out was a special torch that would ultimately evolve into mega bla akin. The reason behind having that be that specific Pokemon is likely due to the fact that the Pokemon of director of the game, Juni Chi Masu, is very vocal about that being his favorite Pokemon So he coded it and so everyone got it at lunch. I understand that. Yes. Now, despite having a gym leader named Viola, You can't name your character with that name because we're live now in Pokemon, in the world of online play, and it's likely because vile means and translates into rape in French. So they didn't want someone to have the player name that has the phrase rape in it. Right.
Stephen:And just so you're not thinking. Wait a minute. What about the French word? Voila. That is V O I L A. Yes. Just so that you are not confused.
Steve:Yes. And last bit, a little fun is when you surf with most Pokemon, you get this mysterious black creature you're riding around on that's been around since red and blue. But in this game, It's like that for everyone that you surf on except Lepro, where they actually coded in La Cross's, Sprites so that you get to see your player holding onto the neck of a lepro, surfing around on its back, which is a cute little touch. Yes, very much so. And so final thoughts on x
Stephen:and y? So it was my first iteration into Pokemon. As I said, I did not catch them all because I didn't realize that was the point of it. I thought it was like an RPG and you just fought to win. I played better after that. It will always stick out to me and I will remember it fondly. But I'm excited for what we talk about next because I really appreci. The following game,
Sun
Steve:and Moon. Yes. And that is what we'll talk about next week. But in the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the episode, what you think of mega evolutions or the. Fairy type or anything else we discussed in this episode. You can do that by getting in touch with us directly via email at happy life pod gmail.com,
Stephen:or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy
Steve:Life Pod. And until next time, everybody stay happy and catch'em all.