The Steves discuss the eighth generation of Pokémon as they look back on Pokémon Sword and Shield in the Galar Region.
What's making us happy?
Pokémon Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves discuss the eighth generation of Pokémon as they look back on Pokémon Sword and Shield in the Galar Region.
What's making us happy?
Pokémon 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
Steve:welcome 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, while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And this
Stephen:November, we're preparing for the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games by revisiting some of our favorite regions and games in the world of Pokemon.
Steve:So grab your Pokemon balls and your curry because today we're going back to the most recent region from Pokemon Sword and Shield, the gala region.
Stephen:I Governor. We all,
Steve:we all, Yes, but before we get into that, my love, what's been making you happy?
Stephen:Bayonetta three. It's Bayonetta
Steve:three. I know you love your Bayonetta games and the new one's out, isn't it? It is out.
Stephen:And even after some last minute attempted scandal by the former voice of bayonet. The new one has released and seems to be doing extraordinarily well.
Steve:Excellent. I'm glad you're trying something new. As I'm diving back into something old or with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Dx
Stephen:and the, Is it, you know, you doing that, Is it, you know, in any relation to your inability to. For Pokemon Scarlet
Steve:and Violet to come out. I have Pokemon on the brain, what can I say? But yes, I played the original Mystery Dungeons back in for the Game Boy Color or the Game Boy Event, I think it was. Yeah. And it was fun. And this is a remake and so I'm enjoying going back to see what it was like.
Stephen:And are you having fun?
Steve:So far, so good. It's a good time taker until I get my hands on my Pokemon Scarlet.
Stephen:For those people that are wondering what area of the world is Pokemon, Scarlet and Violet gonna be based on,
Steve:Britain. Right?
Stephen:That's, that's
Steve:what you know this answer more than I do. I haven't done my research yet.
Stephen:Oh my goodness. I thought that we would've known what Country Scarlet and Vila is based on, cuz we know that Gall, it's
Steve:a Mediterranean. Ooh, I forgot. But yes, I for, I forgot. It's about, It's based off of Spain, a country that you love. I do
Stephen:love and I love the Mediterranean Coasta del Soul, most of
Steve:all. Well, hopefully they have something inspired by that region in this game. We can visit. I'm
Stephen:super excited now, but to the game that we're talking about right now, Galler from Sword and Shield. What do we love about
Steve:Galler? I loved, I mean the had some cool new Pokemon designs, but I love the wild area and the openness of it. I know that at the time they weren't ready for a fully open world Pokemon game like we are apparently getting with Scarlet and Violet. But it was a huge step up from route to route to route to route, having this giant. Wild area that you can explore. Yes. What did you love most about it? Even though I already know, Cuz you can't stop talking about how much you hate random encounters. It's
Stephen:the lack of random encounters. Yes. Yeah. The whole wild area where all the Pokemon are just out and about. Mm-hmm. Yes,
Steve:please. Yes. It was a great way to kick off Generation eight and the Sword and Shield was released on November 19th, 2019 on the Nintendo Switch.
Stephen:It. Like it feels like it was longer than three years ago.
Steve:Yes, it is. Time for a new one. Now, as of March of this year, Game Freak has sold 24.5 million copies, making it the fifth best selling Nintendo Switch game. And
Stephen:that is really impressive. And if you had been, if you've been following along with our things, you know, X and Y and Sun and Moon, they sold in the 16 million range. So this means that it's one of the better selling versions. Of Pokemon. Pokemon.
Steve:Yeah. Yeah. And I know that you didn't do the research, but knowing that it just beat out Mario Odyssey, what do you think are the four better selling Nintendo Switch games?
Stephen:So that would be Breath
Steve:of the Wild. Mm-hmm.
Stephen:number four. That would be Smash
Steve:Brothers number
Stephen:three. That would be Mario
Steve:Cart number one
Stephen:and number two, best selling Switch game. That's not cart. Breath of the wild or smash, Think c oh. Of course it's our favorite friends over at Animal Crossing.
Steve:Yes. Yes. Perfect timing for that release because non-gamers were playing that. Yeah.
Stephen:Everyone and their brother was playing Animal Crossing. Yeah. I
Steve:love Nicole by, I was like, I played it for a minute. I couldn't figure how to get a house outta my tents, so I stopped.
Stephen:This had some wonderful new changes and stuff as well. But let's get into the meat of it. Who are some characters that we meet? Well, you have your
Steve:rival and the champion. Leon's Kid, Brother Hop. Neighbor. He's your neighbor and best friend's character.
Stephen:And now I noticed whenever I was doing research on this, hop ends up having. The other Pokemon that is weak to the Pokemon you select, is that always the same that your rival has? Like say you pick fire, your
Steve:rival's gonna have grass. That's something that started with Sun Moon actually before that it always chose the one that was Adventist to yours. Interesting. So I guess they made it a little
Stephen:easier. So back in the original. Red, green, yellow, like if
Steve:I picked Squirtle, my person would pick Ball Baso.
Stephen:Interesting. Yeah. Okay, so that. I learned something new today. Yes. And
Steve:Hop was a great kid. He wasn't as like, he didn't touch my heart the same way that how did in Sun and Moon, but he definitely follows the similarities of just like a nice kid that just, you constantly are one upping,
Stephen:but this one didn't feel as much of a rival as it felt like your partner in crime. And that you both were going on the same adventure it felt, especially how things happened later on. Mm-hmm. it felt like you couldn't do this game without the other person. Like less of a r, more of a friendship. Yeah. It's like this is your best friend and you're both going for the same thing. but you need each
Steve:other. Yes, New Mile, you have BD and Marni. Two equally EMO peers.
Stephen:So BD begins as a psychic type, but is recruited later on to take over the fairy type gym. And BD has this whole character arc in the game from being rude and arrogant, semi villain in the game, and always feeling. Like this honestly feels like your rival. Yeah. Like that you're beating up on and I'm just gonna quit. And I think that you should take over for me and take over the fairy type and then still not doing well. But then whenever he challenges you and loses and the crowd still like bd bd and he is like, Wait a minute, even though I lost people are still rooting for me. Maybe I should train harder and I can do better, and it doesn't always have to be about being the best. Like there's a whole character up here and I really appreciated it.
Steve:Yes. Meanwhile, you have Marni, who's a dark type trainer and takes over for her brother. Peers as the dark type gym leader in Spike Move and Team
Stephen:Yell are absolutely obsessed with Marni and they want to do anything they can do to help her be champion. Which you automatically feel like, wait a minute, you have a whole group of people that are their whole goal. Is just to make someone else be better than you. That seems unfair.
Steve:Yes. I mean, team Yell is basically their entire goal to be super emo and yell a lot.
Stephen:I mean, yell like, Yes. That also seems like the least creative villain name.
Steve:Correct. Meanwhile be a Professor Magnolia and her assistant Sonya. Professor Magnolias Rather Forgettable didn't play a big thing in this. But you have our assistant, Sonya, who you kept on waiting to turn bad.
Stephen:I, it just seemed like that was going to be the thing, like I was waiting. Now you said Professor Magnolia and her assistant, so the professor is female in this game. How often does that happen? Not often enough. How many, like, so it's not the first.
Steve:Probably
Stephen:yes. Probably yes. It is the first time the professor
Steve:has been a woman, unless I'm forgetting someone. In which case, I'm sorry. Bay Now, the actual person who turned villain was not Sonya, it was the chairman of the Pokemon League Chairman Rose. And his secretary Oliana, who are determined to prevent an energy shortage 1000 years from now by harnessing the power of the guar particles that help Dynamex Pokemon to enslave the Pokemon attorney is now
Stephen:I have to give them a little bit of credit. So they're worried about climate change. Yeah. Basically a thousand years from now. So they're working in advance. They're not going about it the right way, but they see what's coming and they're trying to fix it. If only our leaders had shown that much forethought, but again, they're going about it the wrong way. Just like in all the other games, you're like, Oh, you're do, Oh, a beautiful
Steve:world sounds great. How are we gonna. kill everyone. Oh, not so great. Yeah,
Stephen:like again, good idea. Bad execution.
Yes.
Steve:Now we have our starter Pokemon that your journey wouldn't begin without. You have rookie who evolves in Cilla. Boom.
Stephen:Score Bonnie who becomes
Steve:Cider Race and Sabel who becomes
Stephen:Inion now. Groupie's evolution form. Looks like he's ready to play. DK Jungle beats for the Nintendo week cuz he comes for sure with his own drum. Yes,
Steve:it is perfect. Meanwhile, we have your fire starting types. Cider race who just wants to play soccer or football. Yes. And ion looks like he sells drugs outside of the high school, even though he's supposed to be like a double oh seven like sniper kind of. Except he
Stephen:doesn't look like that. I think he looks sketchy as a uh,
Steve:Yeah. Yes. This was one again, where I think I'm becoming closer to being a grass type enthusiast with the starters. Yeah. In more recent ones than the water types
Stephen:and, and. If it weren't just because I love fire so much. Yeah. The Derby crocodile that's coming for Scarlet and Violet. Yeah. I'm. Come on guys. Like we had Score Bunny last time. Score Bunny's.
Steve:Awesome. Well, by the time this comes out so should Scarlet and Vilo come out and I hear from a leaker though, you might like the fact that it has a phoenix on its head. Ooh. Allegedly. Allegedly, Allegedly. Rumored to be. We shall see if it comes to fruition, but yes, while the evolution itself. A fan art drawing based off the description looked a little dirt. It does say that it has like a phoenix on its back, so
Stephen:we'll see what happens. I just don't want it to be firefighting.
Steve:Yes, I'm sure it will not be I, I think it'd be cool if it was a fire dragon. It looks like it has that potential. That would be
Stephen:great. I appreciate that. Now with all new Pokemon games, we get new
Steve:Pokemon. Yes, we have the legendary trio zian from Sword, from Shield, and a tornado. For
Stephen:both. Now, do they just go out of their way to make them hard to pronounce for the legendary?
Steve:Not always, but in this one it was certainly an interesting choice. I guess I'm sure that there's some sort of root in their names that I didn't find in my trivia that harks back to swords and shields.
Stephen:Now, just like with sun and Moon and we had a lulin forms. Yeah, we get Arian forms. Yes. With some
Steve:regional variant. Yes, and that was fun. I scooped up swords specifically so I can get my magical unicorns ponytail and rap
Stephen:dash. And now I did enjoy that, which gave, that means it gave me farfetched. With his new evolution of surf farfetched, Right. Where he surf Fetched. Surf Fetched. Where he was a knight.
Steve:Yes. And that was a really cool design. And then you have Mr. Mime and a new evolution of Mr. Mime, Mr.
Stephen:Rhyme, which Mr. Rhyme looks like you'd see him on the streets of Len going, My good chop. I do say, Could you spare shilling? That's a good lad
Steve:pip. Yes, exactly. And he had to be, Now other highlights in the game include, I mean, I love my, my dog Pokemon, and I know that they rarely ever end up becoming competitively battle ready or whatever, right? But Yammer just has the cutest design ever, and
Stephen:I love that it's a Corgi because Queen Elizabeth. Is known for her Corgi designs. Yes. And or not Corgi designs. Corgis are the type of dog queen as Elizabeth always had.
Yes.
Steve:I also love to have the new, especially with so many emo characters in the game, having a poison electric guitarist out of ity.
Stephen:And I love that because it's purple electric poison sign me up. And I wonder if some of the emo designs are because of, you know, how. Grunge, like not grunge rock, but like the whole eighties rock and roll vibe with the emo and everything. Kind of started in London. Yeah. Well before it ever got to America.
Steve:Sure. Yes. And then we have a new drag queen for you. Yes.
Stephen:Hat And I
Steve:say yes. Yes. And I also love the design of Cub Fu from I of Armor's dlc and it's evolution. Erha Fu was kind of cool. Now, I
Stephen:also enjoyed Impo Dimp Morri and Grim Snarl as the demonic imps. And further demons that look like they come from Pokemon Hell, Yes. Those were great
Steve:designs. Yes. And you also have Appleton who looks like a living apple pie.
Stephen:I find that disturbing, not as, not as disturbing. Yes. All
Steve:creamy. The Pokemon that people eat their cream. Ew, Yes.
Stephen:Like, no. Okay. Like I, because I also don't believe, like, you know, milk tank. It produces milk. I'm used to that like cows produce milk, but I don't want people to eat milk tank for milk steaks, you know? No. Toros
Steve:probably tastes better anyway.
Stephen:No, Like Pokemon should not be killed and eaten. But I know that there's a history. That that happens?
Steve:Yes. Well, from what I understand, Al Creamy like more, it's more of that like you don't eat it alive, Like it just produces good tasting cream. When it's happy, when it's happy. Yeah, Well, it's just nice compared to many of us that don't always have the best tasting cream Babe, I can't help it. I'm sorry. We were going there now the battle gimmick of this generation. We went away from Z moves and broke your heart, and we ended up with Dynamax and gigantic X. So any Pokemon can become super size and some have special forms with unique moves. Now,
Stephen:you know, we've got. It only happens in locations like stadiums or raid battles.
Steve:So kind of balances of it out compared to Z moves, which you could use all
Stephen:the time, right? And so you've got Max move for Dynamax and they're just better versions of like your powerful move where you've got GMAX moves for the gigantic max. And those are special moves that are unique to that form and add a little something extra.
Steve:Yes. And. In terms of execution, I know that you love your Z moves. It was fun again, that every Pokemon could you know, dynamax. Yep. It was interesting how sometimes the gigantic X form wasn't as strong as the dynamax form. Yeah. But it was also just. It was another gimmick that we get used to. I'm more excited for the, the terror crystallizing coming up and adding a third or a new type. Yeah. But it was a fun part of the wild area working together to take down a form with the possibility to catch it at the end. The only thing I didn't like, which I see is gonna be improved is having to wait for each person to do their attacks. Yeah. It seems they've streamlined it a lot in the upcoming one, which is nice.
Stephen:That is nice. with the Ola. We had captains. Now we're back to gym leaders. We're back to gym leaders. Tell us about any of the standouts.
Steve:Nea. Yes, nea. I've got something to confess. A reason why? Well, I love my gym type water type trainers. And I also
Stephen:like your nod to wicket. That was great. Yes, of
Steve:course. What about you?
Stephen:Astair the creepy mast, ghost boy. We get to see him in the anime that we watched recently and that makes me appreciate him.
Steve:Yes. You also have Opal, the old bitch who loves a good pink in her fashion sense,
Stephen:and Milo. I didn't really like him or anything, but I do think that he looked like he'd be related to the urban crocodile Hunter family from Australia.
Steve:Could be. One thing that just really just disgruntled me about Opal is during her quizzes and her thing, one of them, cuz it's like pink everywhere and she's like, What's my favorite color? Pink purple. Bitch. Her favorite color is purple. She just loves pink on other people, but she loves purple Tricky. Tricky bitch. Yep. Now, this was the first time for a version exclusive gym leaders. Did you notice?
Stephen:Yeah, because I got Alastair for Ghost and Melanie for ice. And I think that sword, because again, you took sword for your rapid acid poon. So
Steve:I got B for fighting in Gordy
Stephen:for Rock, and I think you got the short end of the. Honestly, I don't think this is a good way to do it. There's no way to trade gym leaders the way you can with version exclusive Pokemon, because I end up with my magical unicorn. Mm-hmm. because we trade. I can't give you a star, or Astair or Melanie. you got screwed in the end. I got the better gym leaders. I feel. I would have to agree.
Steve:Yes.
Stephen:So I don't know if they did it to make it be unique or if they were like, maybe people will buy both versions so they can play and have all the gym leaders. I don't know the reason for it. I don't care for it.
Steve:Yes. And then rather than fighting, Elite Four members you face against Hop BD three, powered up gym leader, Rematches, all in the championship. Mm-hmm. before facing off against Leon. And similarly, it was nice knowing these people that you've been traveling together, battling against being able to be in the championship altogether. Now
Stephen:the thing that I did like with this is that they were in stadiums. Yes. That was nice because it felt more special, It felt bigger because you know, you're always talking. The game talks about, Oh, you're fighting these gyms and you know you're going along, but it feels very private. Yeah. Like you're in an enclosed gymnasium. Yeah. And you know, nobody else really knows that you did it until you've got your repeat badge on. And No. With this though, whenever you're. It's a big damn
Steve:deal. Yeah. And you, you know, you're on TV and all the fun stuff.
Stephen:Yeah, it's great. I think that this was the proper evolution of Jim Battles to become
Steve:stadium battles. Yes. Now I got a little confused before about Pokemon Scarlet and Violets region, but this in Golar is based on Great Britain. Could you tell? Yes. It looks
Stephen:just like it. And everything is very, very. Very
Steve:British. Yes. I mean I love the wild area. We already talked about that. Just its openness, its expansiveness. The fact that different Pokemon show up in different parts of the map on different times and days and weather conditions just made it feel like you could, once you got to that wild area, just spent hours and hours just catching random Pokemon before you even continue the story. Which we did. Yes. so much. And then you had Mizuki as the first big city. But
Stephen:the best thing. Is, you know, the Glenwood Tangle and ball Leah, that's the beautiful forest in wooden town because everything is all neon colors and everything. And that's where I would choose to live if I were in Galler. Actually, if there was a. you know, forest with neon colors. I would live there in the real world
Steve:too. Yeah, agreed. And then you also have Wynden, the final and giant city where you get to see their version of Big Ben and Hammerlock
Stephen:is very quintessential UK design, I think. Yes.
Steve:Now other changes in this generation was, rather than having Pokemon and Me or Pokemon Refresh or other things where you basically just get to treat them like Tomagotchi. In this one, when you make Camp Uhhuh you also make curry. So it's a chance to bond with your Pokemon. That's fun and useful cuz it lets you heal anywhere in the wild area while making those friendship EVAs go smoother.
Stephen:Yeah. At being able to set up your tent and everything. That was a really neat change. I
Steve:like that. Yes. And then you have poke jobs, which turn an enhanced version of Pokemon Pego, sending those boxed up Pokemon to Work, which. Earn your keep and we can't talk about the game as much as I would love to without talking about the big scandal that was D. Yeah.
Stephen:So this was the first Pokemon game where you couldn't catch them all.
Steve:Yes. And that made many trolls very butt hurt. But where do you stand on it? I
Stephen:loved it because, you know, it let the designers build an area with curated Pokemon that are best for the game that they're building. You, There's still plenty of Pokemon to catch. There were 400 Pokemon in the gala Polka. Mm-hmm. before dlc. Before dlc. That is more than enough. Like ain't nobody got time to catch 800 Pokemon. And if we're, but if we're being honest, in the other games, there weren't 800 Pokemon to be able to catch in that. Have the ability to bring over Pokemon from your polka bank or whatever it was called from prior. All the previous Pokemon weren't available in the wild to catch. You could just incorporate the old ones into it. Yes, you are correct. So all this did was say no, we're not letting you bring all of your old Pokemon into it. The only Pokemon that can exist here are the ones that we say exist. It was honestly a very small change, I feel. Yeah. And all it did was, in my opinion, affect the people that battled
Steve:competitively. Yeah, for sure. Cuz you can't take that Pokemon you've been using in battle for generations into the new game, but you have to start fresh, which was nice.
Stephen:Yeah. So anybody that plays just the story. didn't really be, Weren't affected at all by having only a gala poke deck instead of a
Steve:national deck. Exactly. And if your PO original favorite Pokemon wasn't in this game, it was a good chance to find a new one. Exactly. Now the post game involves the quest for the legendary dog. Now, how did you feel about not getting your box art legendary until after you beat
Stephen:the game? Okay, so I was kind of fine with this because it, whenever you think of the Pokemon. your goal is to be the very best that there ever was. Mm-hmm. and be champion. That's kind of what people think of as the game. Getting the legendary almost always feels like the afterthought. So to me, It feels appropriate that it's in the post game and not the regular game.
Steve:Yes. Instead you catch the third version, the tornadoes as part of the story cuz it's story Makes sense. Yeah. So I was fine with it as well. I was gonna catch it whether it came in in the fourth act or fifth act or whenever it came in. Yeah. Now, shock of all shocks, they have a battle tower where you can compete against randomly generated teams to earn BP to exchange for items. Mm-hmm. we've seen that before. And then instead of having a third version, this is the first generation where we got
Stephen:dlc, and I think that they finally got it right in terms of not releasing a third version or a souped up version. They released DLC and it felt like the appropriate way
Steve:to do it. Yes. Now, The, We got first the aisle of Armor, which was released in June 17th, 2020, and had us join a dojo to train up a Cub Fu into one of two shifu evolutions, as well as go hunting for diglett and special dynamic soup ingredients. This
Stephen:felt like a, We're giving you this. While you wait for the actual
Steve:dlc. I really enjoyed it. I actually think in the end I enjoyed it more than Crown Tundra. Did you play through Crown Tundra? I didn't
Stephen:do either of them. Oh, no. Yeah, because I was onto other games by that point and I didn't go
Steve:back. Yes, Crown Tundra was released October 20. Third and had us go to the frigid north to solve mysteries and hunt down legendary Pokemon to your heart's content, as well as new Dynam adventures to get even more legendaries from past versions. So it was all about finding and catching legendary Pokemon
Stephen:and you were, It also opened up more Pokemon that could be brought into the game.
Steve:Correct? Yes. Now fun trivia for the game. The game introduces Klaus, a Curious Octopus Pokemon who investigates things by punching. And a year or two later, scientists confirmed that real life octopuses do deliberately punch fish often for no reason.
Stephen:I think I know people like
Steve:that too. I know. I know. A couple octopuses. Yeah. And the glar form of Zig sagoon Leno, and the glaring exclusive evolution OB sego bear more than a striking resemblance to and are clearly inspired by kisses, black and white makeup and leather clad metal armor, bandman. Gene Simmons is notorious for taking legal actions against parodies and ripoffs of the band's likeness, but is a fan of the series and is actually cool with the designs. Yeah, it
Stephen:very much looked like Kiss Pokemon. Yes. So I think it's great that he is a fan.
Steve:Yes. And Farfetched was originally planned to receive a new evolution during the development of gold and silver, which ended up being scrapped among several other beta Pokemon. Now, although Surf Fetched is a mostly new design, it does take a couple beats off The original design, such as sporting a lighter color scheme than farfetched and now holds a leak in its feather, which is used as a weapon.
Stephen:I like it. It fit for this region, for sure.
Steve:Yes. Now, what are your final thoughts on the Gor region? It was
Stephen:my favorite Pokemon game yet. This was the type of quality of life improvements that I was looking for. Like everything that they were stepping up to. I'm like, You're getting where it needs to go. We've left pixels behind. Mm-hmm. We've moved into a 3D more world. Whenever we finally got. X and Y and sun and Moon. And this was even more of a step up from that because people kept saying, We just want an open world Pokemon game. Well, we had the open world, wild area, which everybody loved.
Steve:Yeah. And then there was Archist, which was not fully open world, but more expansive. Yeah.
Stephen:And that was where everything is entirely on the map. Yeah. Where there are no random encounters. Like you can see that they're building up to it now. You know, there could be arguments of we should have been there by now. I don't care. We're getting there and each game seems to be getting better and I appreciate that.
Steve:Exactly. And speaking of each game getting better, next week we'll be talking about the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Ugh. And I love it so much. We can't wait. We haven't played it yet, but if by the time that this comes out, the game should be out. So we'd love to hear your initial thoughts and impressions. Maybe it'll even make it into the. You can do that by emailing us at happy life podd gmail.com or
Stephen:you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. Happy life
Steve:podd and until next time, everybody, stay. Stay happy.