Culture Cretins

Pokemon Hot Takes

• Nathan • Season 1 • Episode 8

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:14:14

If you’ve ever heard “Bulbasaur is the best Kanto starter” and thought… are we sure, this one is for you. We get unserious fast with a full Chikorita hate bit, but it turns into a surprisingly detailed episode about Pokemon taste, game design, and why some opinions stick for life. 

We walk through our biggest Pokemon hot take: Bulbasaur is arguably the worst starter pick for Pokemon Red and Blue and the FireRed and LeafGreen remakes when you judge it by real playthrough performance. We talk early fights, move options, type matchups, gym order, and why the Elite Four can be brutal for a Grass Poison line. Then we compare that with Squirtle as a practical choice, including why Blastoise’s consistency and coverage make Kanto smoother even when you still need a few smart team pickups. 

After that, we unload on Gen 5 Black and White. From the stretched pixel look and moving UI to the “regional dex only” gamble, we debate why Unova feels off, why some designs land while others don’t, and how the whole era went from bargain bin to inflated resale myth. We also get into the Rotom phone problem, the way modern Pokemon menus feel shoehorned, and why older games made the world feel more mysterious even with simpler designs. 

If you’re here for starter debates, Gen 5 arguments, FireRed LeafGreen nostalgia, and blunt Pokemon design opinions, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who will disagree, and leave a review. What’s your single hottest Pokemon take that you’ll defend forever?

Chikorita Hate Cast Cold Open

SPEAKER_01

Alright. Let's see. Do you think this X is big enough over Chikorita? I mean it it pretty well covers it. Yeah. I think we could use some more. Could probably use a cinder block too. Man. Welcome back to the Chikorita hate cast. Episode called Pokemon Hot Takes. If I saw that little freak, I would I would grill it up, put him in an omelet. That is Will's primary Pokemon hot take, is how much he hates Chikorita. I hate that little guy. Show's over. We're done. That's the whole show. Will just really wanted to go on record here. For the record, if I ever go for public office, I'd I despise this Pokemon. That's what he's gonna his platform is gonna be. Yeah, it's funny. I don't I don't even really like hate it. It's just f fun to hate. Like I'm doing it for sport, you know? The most dangerous game. Whales hunting. Actually, the most dangerous game is probably what, like, football or something with all the brain damage. Rugby. Something with a spike. Oh yeah, dude. Rugby, to me, I'm like, I don't know how those guys aren't. Dude, what about polo? Like on the side. Oh yeah, polo's super dangerous, man. What what's a good one with like like spikes? Spikes? No spikes. I mean you could say it's dangerous. Hockey. Yeah, hockey with the skates is next. Incredibly dangerous. Crazy stuff. Uh I mean lots of sports use various types of cleats, but I don't know how dangerous. If I were in a sport, I would probably use Chikorita as my shoe.

SPEAKER_03

As your shoe? Mm-hmm. I don't know, man, that I don't know how good a shoe that would be. Probably pretty good.

SPEAKER_01

Probably have some good like arch support. Maybe like So as your take.

SPEAKER_03

Explain why you don't like Chikorita.

The Ruined Chikorita Card Origin

SPEAKER_03

It all started when I was a boy. Played some violin music.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, um, yeah, I don't really I don't know if I hate it, but there there was a moment when I was younger and I had a bunch of Pokemon cards, and there's a specific Pokemon card. Me Actually, I'll see if I can find it real quick.

SPEAKER_03

Chikorita Pokemon card.

SPEAKER_01

Claymation. You know those the claymation.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. I think I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so there was this Pokemon card that I had. Dude, the software's freaking out right now. We're gonna switch to web browser view. This Pokemon card right here. And for some reason or another, I left my Pokemon cards in my pocket after school.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

My mom goes to wash my shorts. Didn't see that there were Pokemon cards in the cargo pocket. I was hauling freight. Full of my Hot Wheels, accelerators, and Pokemon cards. And Chikorita was unfortunately the one on top that got destroyed the most. And so I I I still have it somewhere. This just blue Chikorita card that was like stained by like fabric softener. Um but I I've always I I find this card very funny because it looks like he's running away from like a sandstorm or something. But now now that I'm looking at it, he's just sitting on a rock and the background's blurry. Yeah. I I always misinterpreted that. I I really thought he was running from like impending doom. Like there was a I could see that. Horde of angry people trying to kill him. And he's smiling in the face at death. He looks pretty happy. Yeah. What's the deal with that? What's the deal with that? I I also find it interesting that the claymation version has more detail than the official drawings. Yeah, the claymation one looks way better. I come to think of it, I do think this is cute. This something is wrong with this. Claymation much cuter. Yeah. This does not look right. I I don't know if it's the lack of nose or beak kind of. Well, there's just like nothing there. Chikorita's. You can see the shine on the dome. It looks like Mr. Clean. Green Mr. Clean. It's like a very low effort. This is really bad.

SPEAKER_00

And I mean, I didn't like Chikorita in the anime. It was super annoying.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah, like you have all these other guys, and then this then you have this. I mean, I don't like hate Chikorita, but I definitely don't like it. Yeah, I just don't think that like Chikorita should be like seen as a legitimate Pokemon. I mean, it looks like somebody forgot to draw some lines or something. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not removing the X. It's staying over the screen for any of you audio listeners. There is a picture of Chikorita on the screen with an X over it. Um kind of looks like a pirate's X on a map. Very crudely drawn. Very It looks like they drew the X and then drew another line because they were like, yeah, we we gotta cover up the leaf.

SPEAKER_03

I can assure you I did not draw that. Yeah. But that's that's how we're starting this.

SPEAKER_01

Um just in case uh yeah, we didn't even say it. This is uh this is Culture Creedons episode eight.

SPEAKER_03

I'm Will. I'm Nathan and uh today we're gonna be talking again for quite some time. Do some yapping today. What are your thoughts?

Why Bulbasaur Fails In Kanto

SPEAKER_00

Um okay, so I'm gonna get into my first hot take I wanted to do. And mine's gonna be a little less primal than Will's. A little more uh thought out.

SPEAKER_01

No, not it's thought out. It shakes me to my order. It's uh so this is not anything bad about Bulbasaur. I like Bulbasaur as a Pokemon, particularly in the anime. I like the design of Bulbasaur. We ranked Bulbasaur what as an S tier in our uh Pokemon third or tier rankings.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

This is strictly uh analytical based on the games. So the conventional wisdom, and even kind of the way Pokemon presents it to you, and everyone just says it like it's fact, is that Bulbasaur is the best and easiest starter for red and blue or fire red leaf green. My hot take is it most absolutely is not the best starter, nor the easiest starter for those playthrough of those games. It might even be last. And here's my reasons, and there's more than one. So, first is just the Pokemon itself and its attributes in the game. If you have ever tried to use Bulbasaur, I know a lot of people love Bulbasaur in the games. It is not good in the games. Venusaur is not good in the games. That's another Pokemon I I like. I like the design. It's not a good Pokemon in the games. Uh people like to talk about it having balanced stats as though that's a good thing, but really what it means is it's not really good at anything. It's just kind of there. And with your starter Pokemon, you need something strong. With Blastoise, you have the strong defense. With Charizard, you have the strong special attack, the high speed. Um Venusaur, you got nothing. And I'll put it this way: when you're battling the first the first battle with your rival, Gary, blue, whoever you want to call him, in Oak's lab, generally that's a really easy fight to win if you chose Squirtle or Charmander. If you chose Bulbasaur, there's a relatively good chance you're gonna lose that fight because Bulbasaur's attack is so weak, and its only attack at that point is tackle. So my point is it's not a very good Pokemon. Just for a playthrough in the games. Second point here is grass Pokemon are not very good generally, especially early in one, two, three generations. They are especially not very good in Canto. And here is where people are gonna go, what are you talking about? So, yes, Bulbasaur is strong against Brock. He is strong against Misty. While not strong against Lieutenant Surge, electric Pokemon are not strong against grass. So Thunderbolt, whatever, is not going to be that effective against Bulbasaur. All of that is true. However, what happens after the third gym? Okay, you have a grass type gym, that's not gonna help you at all. Then you have a psychic type gym, which bulbasaur is weak to, and I'm going to get into type weaknesses here in a second. You have a poison type gem, no good there, even though bulbasaur is a grass poison. You're you're never gonna have a situation after about the second gym where Bulbasaur is really strong against anything. So you go to Cinnabar, that's a fire type gym, you're weak there. You go to Viridian, that is kind of a hodgepodge, but a ground, rock, poison. Uh some good, some bad there. Okay, but here's the real problem. In the Elite Four, Bulbasaur is useless because the first member of the Elite Four, that's water, but it's mainly ice. So Bulbasaur, Venusaur, whatever is weak against the first member of the Elite Four. Second member is probably the Bruno is probably the best that Venusaur has because it's strong against the Onyx, uh, however many he has in that version of the game, generally too. And fighting type Pokemon are not strong against poison type Pokemon. That's the best he has to offer you in the entire Elite Four. In the third member of the Elite Four, Agatha, that is poison and it is ghost, and there are psychic type moves. Uh, there's it's useless against the third member of the Elite Four. Fourth is even worse. You have dragon and you have flying type Pokemon. Bulbasaur is completely useless. By the way, I love what you're doing here on the screen. Uh, but Venusaur's totally useless against Lance. Then Venusaur is not really particularly very helpful against Blue, Gary, whatever you want to call him, either. Now, I want to contrast that with who I say is the best Pokemon to choose just based on itself, not on your team's lineup, is Squirtle. And I to me, it's not even close because Squirtle is strong against the first gym. It is not weak to the second gym. You're going to have a type resistance there because it's water. Squirtle is going to learn bite, which is a dark type move in fire red and leaf green, which then makes it strong against Misty Stormy. Third gym, you got me there. It's electric type. Go get a Diglet. Okay. Fourth gym, you're weak there. Hopefully by then you've picked up a fire or a flying type Pokemon. Then Psychic type, you've got Bite again. And by then you probably have a Blastoise who is very strong. Sixth Gem, neutral there. Seventh gem, Blastoise is strong against. Eighth gem, Blastoise is strong against. Then you get to the Elite Four. You've got a neutral matchup with the water ice situation. You've got a strong matchup with the rock situation. Fighting is neutral. Third gem, same thing. Or third Elite Four member Agatha, it's neutral. But if you kept bite, you have a super effective move there. And against Lance, Blastoise is the only option where you can teach your Pokemon ice type moves. So ice is incredibly important against Lance.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, water can be helpful as well. Uh, think if think if you're going up against Aerodactyl. And then Blastoise is a good option for fighting blue dairy.

SPEAKER_01

So to me, it is not even remotely close. Blastoise is the better choice for the game, for the playthrough. It's a better Pokemon. It has a relatively good special attack, very high defense, uh, a lot better move set than Venusaur. Uh, I just think it's a lot better option for the games. I think you could make the argument for Charmander. Yes, Charmander, fire type is not incentivized at all in Gen 1 or the Gen 3 remakes. But there are times where a fire Pokemon is really helpful. You think Erica, you think Koga. Both of those are situations where you a fire type is helpful. He gets uh the flying type as a Charizard, then you're strong against the uh fighting types. Charizard's special attack is very high. Uh his flamethrower is very good in fire red, leaf green. So I think you could even make the argument that Charizard is a better option than Venusaur.

SPEAKER_00

Now, here's where I'm coming to the end of my argument that is really long, and you've probably all tuned out by now. So, types.

SPEAKER_01

Bulbasaur's evolution line. You are grass poison. So in gen 1, that makes you weak to ice, flying, fire, and psychic. You are only strong against water, ground, and rock. Okay, let's contrast that with water. Water Pokemon are strong against fire, rock, and ground. Okay, well, there's two of what grass is strong against. Water Pokemon are only weak to electric and grass. If you take a fire type Pokemon, you're weak against rock, ground, water. You're strong against steel, grass, bug, ice. So, really, no matter how you slice it, grass poison is a worse type matchup than water or fire flying. So, anyway, my point is everyone has just got it as like, oh yes, it's absolute fact, Bulbasaur is the best Pokemon to choose in Gen 1. And I don't really understand it because I I see online that it seems like everybody loves Bulbasaur the best, but I know that's not true. I know most people probably picked Squirtle or Charmander, but I'm bucking against this trend that yes, I understand it levels up faster. Yes, I understand it evolves into Venusaur at 32 instead of 36, like Blastoise and Charizard, but Bulbasaur is not the best option to choose in Canto.

SPEAKER_00

It is the worst option to choose in Canto. So that is my first Pokemon hot take.

SPEAKER_01

If you're a grad student out there right now and need a topic for a dissertation, this would be great. Yeah, you could just take it word for word and put it in the paper. Just just give me a shout-out on there. You like the uh picture of the cabbages singing in a field? Yeah, um I love that episode of the show. It's so cute. Yeah, I like Bulbazor in theory. Yes, exactly. In practice. Bulbazor. He he cannot plug up. I like fat Bulbazore. I don't like the in-game Bulbazore. He's not endearing like like anime Bulbazore is. No, I agree. He looks way better in the anime than in the game. And that's I mean, that's just the thing. It's a a good Pokemon that everyone likes, but it's not good in in-game. It just is what it is. Yeah. And what it is is trash. Yeah. And I mean, I even used Trash Shiny. I've even used it in other games like X and Y, and it's just not good. I mean, I I Grass is bad. And I mean, Charizard and Blastoise are so good, so why would you choose Bulbasaur?

SPEAKER_03

So anyway. Yup.

SPEAKER_01

Well, if you didn't like that one, you're you're probably actually you might like the next one because there's a good chance you like gen one.

Gen 5 Is Overrated

SPEAKER_01

I don't care one way or another. I like most of the gens, but there's one that I cannot stand for the life of me. Um man. I think I know what's coming. Uh I don't want to get shot, so I don't know if I shouldn't have to do that. Dude, I'm totally if you're gonna say it, I'm I think I'm totally in agreement with what you're gonna say. Alright. Let me prepare. Yeah, I I don't like Gen 5 um really at all. 100% on Gen 5. It's okay, so uh something I've noticed. Because I, you know, you've been playing since Gen 1. I've been playing since Gen 2 slash 3, right? Um and I have, you know, consistently played, like I played Gen 6, loved it. Played Gen 7, was good. 8, excellent. You know, it's it's not like a new versus old thing. Gen 5 felt so off. It was pushing the boundaries of the hardware at the time. And so you get this weird pixel stretching thing going on that makes characters warp, it makes the backgrounds warp. And I for the first time in my life, as like a when did that come out? As a youngster, I got so motion sick trying to play Pokemon Black and White that I could not, and I was so excited for this game. Like I really wanted to wanted to play the game, and that's that's the first of many issues. The balancing in the first game um is just awful. Like it's either way too hard at the beginning, way too easy, there's no Pokemon in some places, there's desert areas, there's some cool towns, some neat characters. I think the character design's pretty good, but the Pokemon design is so weak, and there's very few Pokemon. Um the UI is just moving around everywhere while you're playing, and it's that's another nauseating thing about it. So I just can't do it. And I remember when Black and White 2 came out. I love the premise of the story. It's really cool, but the execution of everything around it brings it down. It kind of has the issue that Legend ZA has, where it could be such a good game if it isn't sabotaging itself. Um, with all of these fundamental flaws. Um and I remember Black and White and Black and White 2 were bargain bin games. Like, people did not want these, they were on shelves at GameStop and EB games all the time. Like I I didn't see people buying them up at all. And suddenly, you know, when people started scalping these games around Gen 6, Gen 7, around that time. Actually, no, it was much later. I think it was after the Switch came out the prices spiked for these games because they were still relatively cheap. I think I bought White 2 from GameStop in the Box uh maybe 2019 or something like that for 30 bucks, right? And a new copy. Not even like it it wasn't even used. Um same thing with the platinum. Um so yeah, it's just spiked to like almost $200 for a copy of this game. And if you want it in the box, it's even more. And I just don't think it's good. Um it's not, it's not that good. There's some good parts about the story, but like the game itself is just not great.

SPEAKER_00

I 100% agree with you. I don't want to hijack your point.

SPEAKER_01

I want to go on play off of it. So you're coming from the perspective of you were really getting into Pokemon in Gen 3-ish and you were still playing then. I'm coming from the perspective of I quit playing after 3 and came back. So from both our perspectives, five is our least favorite. And so I have liked everything. I like Gen 5 as a game, but it's just meh to me. Everything else is like, oh, I love that game. Gen 5 is I don't like the look. Like you said, everything looks off. Everything feels off. I like that they tried to bring back moving sprites like Crystal, but it just doesn't look right. It looks really weird. Most of the Pokemon Okay, so like here's an example. So the first batch, black and white, this is the game where they decide to go back to no Pokemon except that region's decks. Okay, well, if you're going to do that, you need a strong uh group of Pokemon. Gen 5 has the worst selection of Pokemon, the worst decks of any generation, in my opinion. There are some really I love Oshuat, I like Duwat, I like Samurai, I love Hexorus. Strong Pokemon. Even the legendaries are amazing in that game. I think are awesome. But they have some very cool designs, but most of the designs are bleh. I don't like them. And I'm not gonna be the guy who's like, oh, the ice cream cone Pokemon. Like even like what is it, Musharna is the I hate that Pokemon. It's nasty. Like, I don't why would I want a blob with a knot bubble coming out of its nose? I mean let me look at actually let's just like look at the Pokemon and we'll we'll say what we like, what we don't like. Yeah, I like I actually do like Victini. Um I don't have I like the idea of a Pokedex number zero. I think that was a cool idea. Um I have no beef with the Oshuat line at all. Even Snivy, like Snivy's line is okay. I like Ted Bitty. Ted Big Line I don't really like. Yeah. Now this is I don't like these at all. Patrat horrible. I do like the little Yorkie dog. That one's yeah. I don't like the next few. Nope. I don't like these. Okay, so I like Pan Sage, Pan Seer. First forms are good. Second form. I don't like semi-sage, semi-seer, semi port. Yeah. They ruined it with the evolutions. These two, I thought I liked them, and then I was like, yeah, I don't know about this. When they started to turn them to 3D, um, this makes sense. Pigeon and New York. Evolutions are kind of yeah, but it's just kind of boring. Yeah, they're striker and Blitzel might be some of the strongest from this gen. Yes. I like those Pokemon, but they aren't very good in the game. Yeah, I think so you get them and use them, but they're not very good. Uh I hate this Pokemon. They're weird. Um I don't like these. No. No. Don't like those. Don't hate those. Despise those. Or yucky, but it's kind of funny that they're construction workers. But I don't know why they look like they're like naked men with like growths on their head. Like you have match oak, match amp. And they're just you just got a steel girder. Like this one. Yeah, I don't like those. I really don't like throw and sock. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. I mean this one's kind of cute. Actually, the this one I think is good. That's one of the better lines. And Crookedile is one of the strongest Pokemon. Like, if you use Crookedile in Gen 5, it is amazing. So there is that. Despise. I don't like Darmanin's. I think it's cute. I think this could have been like a Gen 3 or 4 Pokemon easily. Um I don't even remember Dwebble. Yeah, he's cute. Um Scrafty, I don't like. I don't like he's holding up his pants. Looks like something. I hate Sigil. I hate that. I do like this. I do, yeah. This looks like a Gen 2 design. This also looks like a Gen 2 design. However, in Gen 6, this one, Archie whatever, looks terrifying. It moves just diabolically. Yeah, it's pretty creepy looking. Trubbish. Don't like don't like our trash bag Pokemon. These are I do really like Zora and I like Zora Arc. I like these two. They're cute, yeah. I like the first one more than the second one. Same. I don't like this at all. I think this form is cute. The other two I do not like. But the third one I think is good.

SPEAKER_00

I don't like the I actually like the first ice cream cup.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I've warmed up to it. I do think that the Nellish is good. Um was cool too, having one. I do like the deer. I wish they were better. They're not very good. Yeah. Um another I like Emulga's design, but it it is just another Pikachu clone. I don't like that. Or that. Hate that. Hate them. This is one of the worst ones. But it's funny that they did make like a like a sunfish Pokemon finally. Um I don't really like these in the anime, they are good though. I will say that's a good design. Yes, I just don't like it. The color scheme's good. I don't like Frost for Odd. When I saw those for the first time, someone had traded them online to me under the name uh Metagross 2. So I thought this Pokemon was Metagross 2 when I saw it for the first time. What a rude awakening. Yeah. So that was I hate the gear Pokemon. Well, the the last two are kind of lazy. Like, make the third one different. Um the time modes. Goofy looking noses and stuff. Didn't like before, but I like it now that it's in 3D. I think it looks good. I don't have a problem with the design. I just hate it. I I did like these the episode where they were in the anime, I thought it was cool. They like takeover. Yeah. I thought that was fun, but uh I don't know. I like wick kind of, but I don't like Chandler and all that. I I don't mind it. Um I think Axe okay. It's kind of weird looking. I just don't like the color scheme of the line. I love Axorus.

SPEAKER_00

I I think Haxorus is awesome.

SPEAKER_01

But I do agree the colors are kind of weird.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um these guys, but I don't like the nose drip. I think that's gross. Yeah. Really hate this. I like the second one, but it doesn't belong in Pokemon. I'll tell you a Digimon. I do like stun. I hate stun dude. Hot take. Hate that Pokemon. It's everywhere. That is a hot take. It is people love everywhere. Dude, you're stepping on them and you're annoying. Especially in Legends E. And they're super strong too. I realized I haven't scrolled down on oh, it won't let me scroll down. I don't like hold on.

SPEAKER_03

Ooh, mean shell. Let's see. Dude, which layer did I put this in? Oh, there it is. We're gonna oh no, that did nothing.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. I was trying to expand the page and it's not doing that. Try that.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, there we go.

SPEAKER_01

Now we can see them all. Yeah, I I'm not a big fan of those either. This one in Gen 6 was so good, actually. The dragon I don't like them very well. Yeah, but the color scheme's cool. The golems are a cool idea, but I don't like them that much. I hate this one. That was a super common Pokemon card too. Like you would always get that one. Buffalo is just a Tauros clone. First one's cute here. Don't like any of these. Yep. Um, don't like heat more. These are cool. I do like um I do like this line. Yeah, me too. I but then you can't get it until so late in the game. Same with Trojagon. Like, it's like, what's the point? And you have to be such a high level to be able you can't even use it. Yeah, not cool. I don't understand the Lar Vesta obsession. I don't think it's near as good as what people think it is in its design. It's not supposed to be like a pseudo-legendary, kind of like uh you know, like a Tyranitar, but it's not to that. It's not that good. We've already talked on our legendary show. We don't like any of these. I like these. We do like Reshiram and Zekar. I also I don't usually like Kairam. He's okay sometimes. Like in 3D, I think he's cool, in 2D, I don't like the way he looks. Like if I if I saw a blush of Kairim, I'd be like, totally, that's kind of cool. Um, I think the those two are generic looking. I like base form Keldio. I don't like the ultimate form or whatever. Meluetta's okay, second Meluetta I hate, and then Genisect, I love Genisect, he's cool. So yeah. So Gen 5 is overrated. Yeah. And it's got the worst anime. It's funny because we could probably go back to the other list of Pokemon and have about the same conversation where like most of them. We're like, uh I just there's something about the way the Pokemon are drawn in Gen 5. It's okay. So here's my thing. We went from watercolor, right? To super thick lines. And then we went back to almost a pseudo-watercolor with very thin lines. So they don't have that like cartoony design to them anymore. They feel very flat. Um and even like on screen, you know, like they're moving around, popping out of the screen, but they're 2D pixel offset from the background, you know?

SPEAKER_03

I just I'm not a big fan of that.

SPEAKER_01

So not not my thing. Yeah, here's our here's two of our hottest takes. Oh no, I like bulbasaur. No, I just hate bulbasaur. Bulbasaur. Okay, you don't like bulbazor, you love bulbazor. I love it. I'll put a green surrounding. I'm looking at a bulbasaur push on my shelf right now. Really? But yeah. Man. I I got it all wrong. I'm sorry. You slandered me, bro. I'm gonna get I'm gonna get hate mail. I hope you don't get hate mail. It's gonna be worse than playing Rainbow Six Siege online with people that you don't know. Or at all.

SPEAKER_00

I have to go back and edit this out.

SPEAKER_01

Man, the whole video. Yeah, the whole bit. Well okay. Well, let's I'll I'll for the record, I'll fix this. We'll put a circle and we'll We'll put it over Bulbazore for you. We love Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur's not good, that's the point. Bulbazur. This is uh this means good.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Love that. Love that old guy. I should have put the anime bulbazor nights to him instead. This guy, this guy's a fraud. He's not even the real Bulbazaur. No, that's fake Bulbasaur. Yeah. Uh,

Why Gen 1 Gets A Pass

SPEAKER_01

okay. So I'll give another hot take that goes with Gen 5, but is not Gen 5. And everyone's gonna hate everything that I say here and uh get over it. So my hot take, one of mine, is okay, so the argument between things like some of the Pokemon in Gen 5 and Gen 1 and other gens. Okay, so I'm drawing a blank here. The gears clink a clink, clink a clank, whatever it's called. So much trouble. Yeah, I mean, everyone's gonna be like, you called it the wrong thing. I don't care. I'm not bothering to look it up right now. Okay. So everyone says, oh, well, they had the same type of Pokemon in Gen 5 or in Gen 1, so Gen 1ers are just being stupid because I agree. You know, now, and I I would say most people agree with that. Here's my thing. There's two, three points with this that I'll make quick. The first is okay, but in Gen 1, when you had, we'll take Magnemite Magnetong, for example, all you had was animal type Pokemon, by and large, monster type Pokemon, things like that. And then you had in the electric uh typing only, you had Magnemite Magneton, Voltorb Electrode. I'm not talking about Voltorb Electrode right now. I was about to say that's a topic for another time because they're technically they should be ghost type, right? Like they're just haunted Pokeballs from the Pokeball Factory. But so like Magnemite Magneton, it is very clear in the anime, like if you when they introduce Magnemite, that it's uh kind of an enigma to people. It's different, they don't really understand it. You know, it's when they make the Gen 1 Pokemon, there's only a very small number of Pokemon like that, and they're clearly set apart as different. And so when you look at the whole Pokedex, you're like, okay, that's a you know, mechanical type Pokemon. And it's people say, oh, it's just a magnet. It's not just a magnet. I mean, I get it. It's a magnet with a screw, largely a magnet, but it's two magnets, the ball, the eye, the screw, they float. It's not literally and they all move independently, too. Like it's very like weird. It's not literally just gears. Like, there's a difference. I also feel like Magnemite is drawn a little bit differently. Like I said, it doesn't have the goofy round notes. Gears have other components to them that also move around all funkily and is very like mysterious, I would say. But my take, the point I'm trying to make, is I don't think it's completely unreasonable for a person to say like Magnemite Magneton and not like some of these, you know, whatever, Rotom trash can mode, Rotom washing machine mode. And so I don't think it's completely unreasonable to like the Gen 1. And I also don't think this as goes with it, everyone wants to just lump. Okay, well, you think the designs in Gen 1 were better. Well, they had electrode. What what about that? They didn't have the Rotom Air Fryer though. Yeah, Rotomer. Whether you like Voltorb and Electrode or not, I don't like Electrode. I think Voltorb's kind of cool. I like the eyes. But anyway, whether you like them or not, the entirety of Gen 1 is not in the garbage can because there are a few designs that are simplistic. I should draw eyes like Voltorbs because I thought his eyes looked like Voltorb's eyes rock. But again, and you could say this with like Grimer and Muck, who are not two of my favorite Pokemon. I don't really like them. I never really have. But like again, you could say, well, there were only 151 Pokemon then, and this was different. It was not just in a huge grouping of whatever trash bag Pokemon. Can you imagine living in a world where you can count how many animals there are easily and identify them all easily? Oh. Awesome. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Like what? So again, my take is not I love Grimer and Muck. That is not my take. Wrong. My take is I don't think you necessarily equate some of the bad Pokemon in later generations, particularly Gen 5, with Gen 1, as though they are a one-to-one comparison. You're also limited to the hardware of the time and the scope of the game and all of the other things. Like it's it it's more of like at the time that was a passion project for the guy, you know. Now it's a corporate like machine. You had people quitting left and right on the development of red and blue, you know, or or the original games, and now you have a massive company. You could come up with better stuff if you wanted to. And and the original game was also like observations of what he had seen as a child in his garden, bugs he had collected, things like that. This one, I do think they lean into that with like, oh, you could find a pigeon, you could find this. Where am I finding this floating elephant fetus in the like in the in the real world? Like, what is this thing? Yuck. And I feel like another element of this is well, did you is this the original one or is this so ripoff? Uh Masharna or whatever is a ripoff that looks even worse of drowsy and hypno. Okay, well, I don't really like drowsy and hypno anyway, but you could argue, well, they were original. The gen fives are just ripoffs of them that look even worse. So that's my part of the thing to me. Gen 1 gets a little bit of a pass because it's original. Whereas I don't really know if I could compare those two. I have seen people compare that, they call them tapier Pokemon, that they both do dreams, they don't both do sleep. You could say, but you could also say some things are like all ghost Pokemon are the same too, or all like it's a few. I think people get fixated on the trunk. That's interesting. Yeah, I've I've I don't really see them as the same, but I've seen people compare them online as though they are the same thing. Bad take. Yeah, that's a Pokemon hot take. No, that's not even a hot take. That's a that's a bad take. Man. I I was thinking about a hot take I

Rotom Phone Fatigue

SPEAKER_01

had. Completely lost it, but another one I thought of, um, the Rotom phone. Not a big fan of that. I've it feels like it's just shoehorned into everything now. Yeah, they've leaned really heavy into the Rotom. We gotta find a way to convey information and have menus outside of a traditional menu screen. What can we do? Let's turn the Pokemon into the menu screen. I kinda get it, but it feels super forced. It was like nowhere to be found, and now it's everywhere all the time. And sometimes the Rotom can talk, and it's very unsettling to me. Yeah, and you don't have a Pokedex anymore. You have a Rotom phone, which I mean makes sense in our world where everything is done by smartphone now. And so, I mean, there's an element of me that likes it, but yeah, I I get what you're saying, that it's like everything's Rotom now. And, you know, you don't have Dexter, the Pokedex, which at the time was like, whoa, that thing is crazy. You have to play Pokopia. It is in Pokopia. That's the Pokedex you use. Oh, really? Use the Gen 1 anime Pokedex. I had that Pokedex. Man. Yes. I wish they still had it. You you at some point you gotta try this game. I think you would have a blast with the like the cuteness of the Pokemon and the references. It's not all about the building stuff. It's kind of more like exploring and kind of you you like you have to make habitats for the Pokemon to live in. It's usually like three patches of grass next to something, you know? Like a rock or like some water, and and they'll just like show up randomly and you talk to them and you do little things for them, and they make jokes and interact with each other. It's very cute. Yeah, uh the little clips and stuff I've seen of it, they the Pokemon look really good and it looks like the world, however, not so much. It kind of bums me out. Yeah, I know. Everyone's on premise makes me a little uneasy. Did I did I tell you about that? Like, there's pictures of people like people's Pokemon and notes that are like, oh, this Pokemon's so cute. I th I love my Pokemon, and then you see it in the middle of their destroyed house, and another note that's like April 1st, 1953. The house was leveled by a missile strike. It's like, what happened here? Yeah, it's very dark. No people are left. The cycling road is going to be closed for the foreseeable future. Like in the music's kinda it kind of bums me out sometimes. I haven't played enough of it yet, and I think that's part of the reason why. I just like there's some cheery aspects to it, and then I also I'm really I I don't know. There's like this OCD tendency where I have to like. Turn every grass block to like live grass because it's all of the everything is dead in the game, right? And you have to water everything. So I'm like watering every single block and every surface of every object in this map because I'm I I have to get it done. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Just amazing. Yeah, I could see that being a thing where you really get like fixated.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's very very troublesome to me. Because I I like doing it, but I get stuck doing it. You know? I haven't played the actual game. Charizard showed up though. He's pretty cool, and so did Blastoise. I haven't seen Venusaur. I hope I don't.

SPEAKER_00

That could be one of your hot takes. You don't like Venusaur.

SPEAKER_01

He's okay. I don't like that he's covered in warts like a toad. I get he is a toad. That's the whole point. That is one thing about Venusaur I don't like as much. And it's not as bad in the anime. I think he's way cooler looking in the anime than he is in the game. Like one of the giant like toads from Naruto. Like he he's kind of like gross, but like bulbasaur, you can say in a sore on the end, you could say, well, maybe that's a dinosaur and not a frog. Well, by the time you get to Venusaur, you're like, okay, that's a frog thing. So I think for Ivysaur, I think the dinosaur part is the plant on top. It's very prehistoric in nature.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Fern leaves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. And the the what's that? In Terraria, there's a boss, Plantera, and it's a it's a it's a giant pink flower with vines that chases you until you destroy it. Not good. It looks just like that, though, the flower on Venusaur's back. Wasn't it? I haven't played that. Wasn't there an episode where someone got like poisoned or a Pokemon got poisoned by the uh like the flower on the back of like an Ivysaur or Venusaur?

SPEAKER_00

Uh I remember there was an episode where I think there might have been more than one, but like where Ash and Tracy in Orange Islands and uh Jesse from Team Rocket. I feel like there's another episode, but like this, but get poisoned by a vial plume.

SPEAKER_01

That's what it was. You're right. I knew it was something earlier on because I remember renting that tape from Blockbuster, and it was that and the ghost town, um, with like in the old Wild West ghost town that they went to with all the like haunters and ghastlies. Um those were on the I think they were on the same tape.

SPEAKER_03

Were you talking about the one where there's Diglet and Electrode?

SPEAKER_01

I don't remember. It w it was like a like a Western ghost town, and it was I think it's the one with the scene from the title sequence where where Haunter like does the lick.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so yeah, that would be Lavender Town. It was called Tower of Terror is the name of the episode.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I remembered that. Like it it was like an old mining town. I don't think this is it. Like shut down like mining town, and that's that's what it was. I don't know. Maybe it was that one. I think you're thinking of the Diglet one. The Diglet electrode. Uh what is that one call? Can't remember. But the guy is a He uses Diglet to wrangle Voltorb and electrode. Electrode.

SPEAKER_01

Was it nighttime during that episode?

SPEAKER_00

Uh it might have been part of the time. That one is not it.

SPEAKER_01

Like abandoned Mineshaft and it's nighttime.

SPEAKER_03

And there's ghost Pokemon there. And it was it was an old episode. I don't know. I'll find it sometime, or it's just like lost media, or I just like made it up. We'll we'll find out. Or we'll never find out. Just more likely.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, I saw I see a picture here from Pokemon Sword and Shield. I forgot how good that game looks. I'm gonna start it again here soon.

SPEAKER_00

So there was a one hot take, which I won't go into it a lot because we talked about it a lot on the show, but one of my hot takes is that Sword and Shield are awesome.

SPEAKER_03

I think so too.

SPEAKER_00

And everyone, for some reason, hates them, even though they're awesome. And uh going along with that, that I've already talked about it on an episode, I liked Scarlet and Violet. I know everyone else hated it.

SPEAKER_03

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00

So those are some hot takes.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I think I think I can't think of anything else right now. There were some other things that I I had thought of. And now I've I've just completely lost

Handheld Gaming Feels Different Now

SPEAKER_01

it. Um some of my hot takes revolve around the hardware itself, so that's not really Pokemon related, but I just kind of I liked there being a handheld skew that fits in your pocket and a home console skew. Like the idea that I have to carry around a little purse with me to play Pokemon or a video game. Oh, you carry a purse. I do, but that doesn't matter. It just it it like it feels so goofy. Like it's it's a commitment. Like you have this thing for like I I don't know, like if your DS is in your pocket, y'all you're you're always like, oh yeah, it's there. Let me get it out and play some games. No big deal. Don't look like an idiot doing this. It's kind of casual. When you get out the switch and you're sitting somewhere, you you look like an iPad kid. Like it's it's not I don't know. Like the only time that I've I've been like comfortable doing it was like waiting at the airport or something, you know? If you're on like public transportation, you'll look like an idiot. If you're like sitting at a restaurant, you'll look like an idiot. Like it's not not a great thing that just uh I don't know. I think the light is a good size, right? But not being able to like fold it up or like have the screen protected to put in your pocket is a problem for me.

SPEAKER_00

I actually like it being larger, but I totally understand.

SPEAKER_01

I do like it while I'm playing it being larger, for sure. Like the screen. I all I almost exclusively played my Switch 1 in handheld mode. The Switch 2, I've actually played Docmore, which is surprising for me. Um I I like the way the Joy-Gons feel on this one. I I think the console's a lot more comfortable to hold overall.

SPEAKER_00

Um, I just lost my train of thought.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, what I was gonna say was I went back and played on a Game Boy Color in the last couple years and totally floors me. To me, I mean, obviously, I played it as a little kid. Yeah, it didn't feel small. And now when I go back and play it and we have I mean, my smartphone has a bigger screen than that. And like it's uncomfortable to hold because it's made for a child's hands. The original Game Boy is super heavy too. It's just so weird to me to go back and play those older, you know. It's just so little. Yeah, it it also isn't very ergonomic, like it's super like awkward. Even when I was younger, I was like, this is an awkward device. And I don't know because I haven't played this.

SPEAKER_00

My original Game Boy was Game Boy Pocket, the green one with black and white screen. Then I had a Game Boy Color, then I got a Game Boy Advance.

SPEAKER_01

The way I remember it then and the way I kind of feel now is I loved the Game Boy Pocket, didn't really like the Game Boy Color, loved the Game Boy Advance.

SPEAKER_00

And now when I I don't have the Game Boy Pocket anymore, and I don't have a functioning Game Boy Advance right now.

SPEAKER_01

And so I never had an SP. Uh, but like I'm wondering if there was something about because the color is shaped different than the pocket. And I wonder if there was just something about the color that I didn't I don't know. I think the color is actually the best version of the Game Boy. Um, the original Game Boy is pretty bulky, takes a lot of batteries. Um you have to adjust the contrast and stuff on it. The pocket is alright. So the guy that designed these, um I saw something about him recently. He he was actually brought on by Bandai um after he created the pocket. They were they were having to make the he made the Virtual Boy as well. They Nintendo kind of forced him into making that. Um he he was kind of just a guy that worked in Nintendo that would make like um gadgets in his spare time. He liked making very simplistic things that did a lot, you know. Um, or I guess things that did a lot with fairly simple hardware and cheap hardware. And at some point, you know, he comes out with the Game Boy Pocket to try to save face for Nintendo after the Virtual Boy. And then Bandai, uh, they were publishing games and making hardware at the time. They were making like tiger tiger game kind of um handhelds. They approach him and they're like, hey, we see that you've left Nintendo and you've started this small company to make handhelds. We want to see if you'll make like a like a Game Boy destroyer, right? Like something that even though we publish games on their consoles, we want to see if you we can make a rival system. So he makes this, I think it's called the Crystal Swan or something like that. It was exclusive to Japan. And it was a 16-bit handheld with a vertical screen that was like the size of the Game Boy color. And uh problem is it had a lot of like anime games and stuff on it. It it didn't really have a good battery life, but it it was very well done. Like it was ahead of anything at the time. Um but I I I saw that and I thought that was a really interesting thing. Not to go off on a tangent.

SPEAKER_03

Just thought you'd find that intriguing. Yeah. Very good. I wonder if I can find oh, here it is. Wonder Swan, that's what it is. Okay this is what it looks like.

SPEAKER_01

This thing is awesome. Yeah, I don't remember ever seeing that. Yeah, it's a it's a Japanese exclusive console. It had a lot of Final Fantasy games and stuff that eventually would come to the Game Boy advance. Um at first, a lot of these games were exclusive to this hardware though. Pretty cool. But yeah, the designer of uh Game Boy made that Game Boy Pocket.

SPEAKER_03

Man. Yeah. They're just dominating the handheld market. Back to Bulbasaur Man.

SPEAKER_01

Um Yeah, I can't think of any more right now. We could do like another like episode of our our inconveniences on Pokemon things at some point, but or some other opinion opinions, just on the fly opinions. But we'll probably talk about them as we go anyways.

SPEAKER_03

You'll hear everything. Yeah, it'll it'll all happen. Man.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, uh anything else we should discuss today? Uh we keep this a short one or should we add uh add a bonus thing to this one?

What We Have Been Playing

SPEAKER_01

What what what games have you been playing lately? What's your what's your games? The only game that I've been playing lately is Fire Red. Really? Yeah. Man. Dude, I don't want to be that guy. I haven't had time to play games lately.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, I just don't play games. I do other things now.

SPEAKER_01

Last night I stayed up until like one in the morning playing Mafia 2. Um, I played the first game recently, and I've been working on the second one. I'm probably like a little over two-thirds of the way through, and I wanted to get done with it before I leave for vacation and then a work trip. And it is super good. I I love this game. The first one I think is still a little bit better. This one leads leans a little too far into like fist fighting instead of like cinematic shootouts. But it's it's a very good um narrative-driven game. I like it a lot. There's a lot of games that I have on my plate right now where I've started it and haven't finished it. Like I think I'm in the final palace on Persona 5 Royal, and it's agonizing how long that game is. Start Pokopia, started Fire Red.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. I didn't finish Death Stranding. There's too many games.

SPEAKER_01

I had started to nothing. I had started SoulSilver and Omega Ruby, which I've I've already played Omega Ruby before, but uh and then I just quit playing them very early on. I think we were thinking about playing through them together at one point. And that's just kind of I mean, I'm doing other things now. I still wouldn't mind eventually uh eventually doing that. But if we do decide to stream Emerald, maybe maybe we do that over like an Omega Rebuke and then do that one later or something. Yeah. Kind of compare the two. Yeah, I mean I kind of feel like I like the Gen 3 versions better. Yeah, I love the trumpet sounds, but I do think that remakes are excellent games. Yeah, they're good. They do some great things. Yeah, they do a lot of really good things for sure. We need to um I don't know. Maybe maybe next month we start start streaming once every couple weeks or something, or every week once one night every week we can play some games and upload it to YouTube. I don't know. I'm thinking we can do like a Pokemon game and maybe Allen Wake. Teach me how to do this. Oh yeah. It's gonna be I'll I'll set it up. We can use Parsec or something. Part Parsec lets you just remote into my computer with a controller. So we can both control it with our controllers.

SPEAKER_00

Be fighting over what to do.

SPEAKER_01

You could. Oh, dude, we're like, I want to choose this Pokemon. I'm sure you have played the Batman Telltale game. Yeah, I have. Okay. I was about to say that would be a great one to do that with. Like a choice of the game. Oh, yeah. You have to make a choice really fast. I think that'd be fun. So maybe we could do something like that, or I don't know. But I still want to show you Alan Awake. I think you would get a kick out of that game. I've played the both Batman Telltale games, and I remember I was trying so hard to keep Joker from going bad, and I don't really know if there even was a way to do that. Like I think he was going to I think you could. Um because if you're playing the monochrome version, I really like the monochrome version of the game because you pick a color for all your tech. And then depending on if characters start to turn good or evil or start to do different things, they start to get different colors. So Joker will start to turn to Joker colors as he becomes evil, or like as he becomes a good, he'll like start mimicking Batman, you know. Yeah, like I had him do stuff like that, and he was like trying to become like Batman's sidekick and stuff, but then it just went off the rails at the end.

SPEAKER_00

But I don't know. I think that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01

That is actually a really good game, though.

SPEAKER_00

I I loved that.

SPEAKER_01

I loved those games. Did you get to the end of the second one? Yep. Yeah, I I finished the first at first. I didn't even like the first one. It it starts out kind of boring. I don't really like the crime families in Gotham, but it it becomes super good super quick, and then I immediately bought the second one with the DLC that makes it uh black and white, and I was like, I gotta play this other one too. And the second one has a lot more of Batman's uh Rogues Gallery, more more clown villain type. What did you think about okay? So I thought Alfred was being a complete diva. Oh, he's horrible. He is he's not anything like Alfred from other media. And he gives you that choice to Alfred will remember that Batman or he'll leave. And I was like, nah, dude, I'm not gonna quit being Batman because you're you know, you get your feelings hurt too easy. And so he left. And it was me and Catwoman and not Alfred. I I liked the Lady Arkham thing too. I thought that was cool. It was definitely a different twist. Yeah, I was there's no way you could have predicted that, right? There's gonna be someone who's like, oh no, I can't. Actually, I wrote the game. I'm I'm John Telltell. Come on. Come on, guy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, there's definitely some times where people tell me, like, or say they knew something beforehand, and I'm like, no, you didn't.

SPEAKER_01

It's such a weird thing to lie about. Like, what kind of clout do you think you're getting from that? Like, I I'm just gonna look at you funny. Like, I'm not gonna give you a reward.

SPEAKER_02

Man.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, I knew Mario was going to like turn into a dinosaur in the new Mario movie. Alright, buddy. That's cool. Good job.

Mario Movie Talk And Yoshi Sounds

SPEAKER_01

Man, I'm gonna go see that movie Friday. I got a ticket right before so I don't have to go when people bring their screaming children. It has a solid like four out of ten right now. So we're looking at uh we're looking at a great movie, it seems. Oh, really? It's four out of ten. But didn't that happen last time the critics like hated it and people loved it? Critics hate everything. I I don't critics thinking. Dude, you gotta go see that Project Hail Mary movie if you haven't yet. It's so yeah. It's so good. Dude. Um man, so Donald Lover, childish Cambino, um, is playing Yoshi in the movie. Um and people at the test screening were like, oh, I'm glad that they just used the Yoshi voice instead of instead of doing something different with it. Like he he just mimicked Yoshi. Like he he did he didn't do his own like stupid thing, like Seth Rogan laughing like himself as Donkey Kong, you know. Man, see, I was afraid they'd have him like he's he's actually a really good voice actor. Like he was um you know, Miles morales is based on him, right?

SPEAKER_00

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he was um he actually voiced Miles in some of the cartoon stuff. Um, and he was supposed to be him in the live action, and he was not. I think isn't isn't he Shocker in the MCU technically?

SPEAKER_00

Like we haven't seen him as Shocker yet, but that's well he the only place they had him wasn't he the guy who Spider-Man webbed to his car and he was interrogating.

SPEAKER_01

And he had the I think he has the same name as Shocker. I forgot what Shocker's name is.

SPEAKER_03

I will chase you to the ends of the earth. He's pretty good in pre-wall everything he's in, so I'm excited to see him as Yoshi.

SPEAKER_00

It's a weird world. Does he do the slow motion?

SPEAKER_03

Bring home.

SPEAKER_01

Man, I liked when Yoshi sounded like a orchestral hit instead of saying his own name. You know you know like the Mario World sound effect where it's like Man. I'll play it for you so we don't get copyright struck by Yoshi. Uh Mario World Yoshi Actually, no, we're not it's a sound effect. It's an orchestral hit which is a fair use sound effect.

SPEAKER_03

It is on every keyboard on this planet. I don't think I even knew that you use the sound. Oh, I bet this is it. Where's the sound when you jump on Yoshi? We're never seeing it, apparently. Nope. That was evil. Yeah, this is This is a fun fact. That's the sound that Yoshi used to make at his first appearance. Which is a slowed down orchestral hit. They just took they took the sound effect. I thought that was a cool, cool tidbit. Man. Reject modernity. Embrace an old Yoshi sound effect.

SPEAKER_01

Man.

Nintendo Online Wishes And Odd Choices

SPEAKER_01

Oh, we could do some like Nintendo Classics catalog stuff too. NSO. Have you ever played any of the Super Nintendo Mario games? Yoshi's on the Mario game? A little bit? Not very much. Dude, that's one of my favorites. It's very good. And then they're adding Pokemon stuff. I know Legend or no, I'm trying to say Gale of Darkness uh is on there. Coliseum isn't though, which is the first game of the two, and they go back to back. Isn't that odd?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, to put the second one and not the first one.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Classic Nintendo.

SPEAKER_01

Man. We'll have to see if we get other games. I really hope the Gen 3 games make it to the NSO, or not NSO, but the uh eShop. Since this is an anniversary thing, I doubt they will, because they're weird about it. But we'll see.

Voltron Streaming Frustrations

SPEAKER_01

I was thinking we need to review Voltron sometime, but I don't know how we're gonna get it. Yeah, I'm thinking they need to put it on streaming services so we can watch it like legally. I watched it like three or four times on Netflix, but like it's not anywhere anymore. So how do you think? I don't feel comfy sailing the seven C's or borrowing it from a library, heaven forbid. Yeah. They they don't even have all of it. You know, it came out on DVD, but the last two seasons never made it to DVD. So that is uh that's gonna be a problem. Is it is it back on anything? Is full trade legendary Defender?

SPEAKER_03

Uh left December 7th, 2024 due to expiring license contract.

SPEAKER_00

Uh I mean I wonder if Amazon will end up with it since they're doing the movie.

SPEAKER_01

Earlier seasons remained on Amazon Prime. Seasons one through six have been available on Amazon Prime before. Those are the those are the seasons they're on DVD. Seven and eight are not.

SPEAKER_03

Let me check Prime right now. Prime Video. Oh, never mind. I can't sign in.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I'm sure it's not. I usually get lied to by Google, so yeah. One time it told me something was on Netflix, and then what it failed to tell me, it was on Netflix Australia. So that did me a lot of good. Yeah, Netflix. Yeah, they're like, yeah, Netflix has all this stuff. No, stop lying. It's unbecoming of a streaming service to lie like this. It is. I mean, we're an AI. It's so sad that Netflix still has the page for this.

SPEAKER_00

I know, dude.

SPEAKER_01

You can still access the page for Foltron and it doesn't exist on their streaming service because they lost it. It has the Netflix logo above it.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's like I hate how Netflix will be like, it knows what you want.

SPEAKER_01

Like if you type something in, and it'll be like, yeah, we don't have that. Yeah, we have product images for this. We're not selling it. Like, why, dude?

SPEAKER_03

Just let me have it. Man. Let me have.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So, in case in case you were wondering, we are recording these much ahead because I will be away for a couple weeks. So that's that's why some of these episodes seem to be uh slightly coherent in theme. Uh well not theme in conversation because we're we're actually talking back to back on two days.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But I don't know. We'll see what happens in the future. I know I've I've been gone a lot of weekends. Sorry about putting you through that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Thanks, man.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'll try to heap doing that.

SPEAKER_00

He's always going all over the world.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Got a girl in every port, is the Navy saying. Not likely. I don't even know how someone would manage that.

SPEAKER_01

Like it's it's pretty easy, actually. You just get a spreadsheet. Keep up with speech. This person likes long walks on the beach. This person likes coffee. I just feel like that would be incredibly overwhelming.

SPEAKER_03

Hmm. You know what is overwhelming? What? Going outside, talking to people.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm not big on talking to people. Pretty bad. You would think that we would be doing a podcast, but we both hate it. Dude. Just like yapping.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I gotta be I gotta be cynical about something and no one wants to hear it. Yeah. Like a slight look for our very niche audience. It's like it's like Seinfeld both Pokemon. Yeah, I mean, kind of.

SPEAKER_03

Kind of. It's just us talking. Yeah. It's about nothing.

Wrap Up And Listener Challenges

SPEAKER_01

Well, I think we should wrap this one up. Why did you do that? Why did you do that? Come on. We were we were so close to the end of the episode you almost broke your computer. Better not do that next time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Or else it's your podcast. And I'm I'm making demands. Alright. I mean. You mean?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I was just gonna say you're kind of in control of all the podcast stuff. Nah. Not true. Alright. So that was some of our Pokemon hot takes. And a little more. Yeah, a little additional talk. Hope you enjoyed it. If you hate our hot takes, good. Please let us know that you hate them. Growl at us. If you like them, then great. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01

If you hate them, donate to a charity. Yeah. Alright. Sure, there's gonna be people who hate them. And charities. Yeah, that's probably true, also. If you didn't like our takes, you hate charities. Yeah. So oh well.

SPEAKER_03

Chef don't judge. See you around guys. Bye.