Greg Miller Played Pokmemon Legends: Z-A - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: "Greg Miller Played Pokémon Legends: Z-A"

Podcast Summary – August 28, 2025

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Overview:

The Kinda Funny Gamescast crew gathers for a special episode, with Greg Miller returning from his hands-on preview of Pokémon Legends: Z-A at the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim. The episode features a deep-dive discussion on his gameplay impressions, reflections on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch 2 version), stories from the Pokémon fandom experience with his son Ben, and the enduring appeal of the franchise. Hosts Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., and Andy Cortez (notably absent from most of the segment) keep the conversation energetic, mixing humor, nostalgia, and candid review points.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pre-Talk: Nightmares and Gym Closures

• The crew opens with banter about exhaustion and nightmares—Tim’s from watching Marc Maron's standup ("gave me nightmares" [01:14]), Blessing’s about a surreal “Pinocchio’s Lies” play (02:15).
• Highlights early camaraderie and sets the laid-back, humorous mood.

2. State of Superhero Games

• Greg teases a “Greg Way” segment about the lack of superhero video games (03:19), marking the endemic cancelations — particularly Black Panther and Wonder Woman titles.

3. Greg as The Pokémon Guy

• Tim introduces Greg as the show's “only true Pokémon fan” ([04:10]), prompting jokes about Kinda Funny’s Pokémon coverage:
  “None of those doesn't happen…not without Greg.” – Greg Miller [04:21]
• This sets up Greg’s role as spokesperson for the Pokémon deep-dive segment.

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Main Event: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Hands-On Impressions

[06:14 – 15:01]

Demo Structure & Gameplay Mechanics

• Greg’s hands-on at Pokémon Worlds: Two 10-minute, tightly scripted demo slices.
  • First Slice: Battle Zone Tutorial
    • Not “true free roam” — enclosed battle zone for a contest ascending from Rank Z upward.
    • “You need to get three wins in this area. This is all incredibly tutorial.” [07:51]
    • Stealth Element: Sneaking up on trainers for first-strike advantage—simple but effective twist.
    • Active Battle System: Replaces classic turn-based combat with action/MMO-like cooldown moves and live targeting. No more PP; attacks use cooldowns ([09:44]).
      • "To me, this is more of an MMO... but it felt so much like the show right now...like the show is so different than the game." – Greg [10:24]
    • Impression: Chaotic but enjoyable; Greg expects to appreciate it more with a custom-picked squad.
  • Second Slice: Mega Evolution Boss Fight
    • A rooftop boss battle against Mega Absol; features Lucario, dodge-rolling, and “orb” collection to trigger mega evolution and defeat the boss ([28:35]).
    • “Not souls combat, but challenging and exciting for a Pokémon game.”

Technical & Visual Impressions

• Greg found the game “crisp, vibrant, great animation” (27:49), especially compared to Violet and older titles—though Tim is “surprised you think this looks good” (27:48).
• Notes improvements especially sharp on Switch 2 hardware.

Series Evolution and Player Perspective

• Greg’s newfound Pokémon love is through his son Ben’s obsession:
  “My Pokémon obsession, which is legitimate — not the bit of me yelling at Tim about the review — is totally fueled by Ben’s obsession with Pokémon right now.” – Greg [10:24]
• The demo makes Greg feel like Ash, calling out commands in real time, aligning gameplay closer to the anime’s depiction.
• Still, he concedes the system became “chaotic” quickly; the battle system might be intimidating for series newcomers, but it’s a welcome shake-up.

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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch 2) — Greg’s First Real Pokémon Journey

[15:12 – 21:03]

Building Greg’s Pokémon Team

• Greg details his main squad:
  • Quackers (Quaquaval): Starter, “duped” by its initial cuteness but attached nonetheless.
  • Jaguar (Persian): Named by Ben; “just a strong guy” ([19:36])
  • Altaria: Became MVP for clutch performances — “saved the fucking day” ([17:04])
  • Ogerpon: From DLC, an unexpected favorite and “ride or die” team member ([19:06])
  • Belly Bolt: Reliable for electric type needs.
  • Hawlucha: Greg’s new all-time favorite, inspired by learning its luchador influences (21:03).

Notable Moment:

“When I’m walking on the beach and there’s one set of footprints, it’s because Ogerpon was carrying me. Think about it.”
– Greg, about his newfound respect for Ogerpon [19:36]

• Altaria’s rise to MVP: Assisted Greg in a crucial battle against the “university head acting as Clive”—became his “god tier” choice ([17:04]).
• Pokémon nicknames prompt nostalgia and personal connection for both Greg and Ben.
• Honorable mentions: Torkoal (first fire-type Greg embraced) and Benny Dabo (Tauros, key through early-to-mid game).

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Mega Evolutions & Pokémon Marketing

[22:15 – 24:23]

• Discussion of Mega Hawlucha and Mega Victreebel debut trailers, praising creativity and tonal variety:
  • “From a marketing perspective, I love this, because these are the type of things that make these Mega Evolutions stand out more… It adds that personality that will stick with you.” – Tim [23:55]

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Pokémon Fandom and the World Championships in Anaheim

[33:58 – 46:04]

A Core-Memory Pokémon Experience

• Greg recounts attending Pokémon Worlds with Ben — private Pokémon Center shopping, plush collecting, and exclusive merch.
• Emotional highlights:
  • Ben’s high-five parade walking into the opening ceremonies ([38:55])
  • Ben’s first Pokémon card pack, learning to play, discovering his passion through games and the TV show.

Notable Quote:

“Trying to make a core memory for your son at this Pokémon event, him coming in, getting high fives from everybody…” – Greg [38:23]

• Tim and Greg reflect on Pokémon’s multi-generational appeal—the “quicksand” effect of falling into the fandom.
  “Now that you’re at where you’re at now…it almost doubles Mickey Mouse and friends…was there a moment where you feel like you’re part of that wave now?” – Bless [49:10]

• Greg affirms:
  “100%. It’s always tickled the edge of my gaming periphery… There’s the fucking magic of Pokémon that takes it so far above…” [49:25, 60:14]

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Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (Switch 2) — In-Depth Review

[58:01 – 67:15]

Greg’s Review

• Recognizes himself as a “newcomer” — this is his “true” first Pokémon game.

• Played on Switch 2, which solves technical issues of original release; admits earlier version’s flaws.

• Praises the magic of collecting, exploring, and the “trance” of the gameplay loop despite graphical datedness and lack of voice acting.

• Assigns a score:
  “My head wants to put it in the eights, my heart wants to give it a nine. …As a critic, it means it can’t be a nine game. It’s an eight. …A great game, but there’s the fucking magic of Pokémon that takes it so far above that in terms of the time you’re having.” – Greg [59:00–60:14]

• Tim concurs, rates an 8/10 (“the game’s ugly as sin…team Star stuff is…a downside…Terastalization is…my least favorite of the gimmicks… But the end of the game is so strong.” [65:04])

• Both emphasize the power of Pokémon’s “magic” and how nothing quite captures it, despite the obvious flaws and room to improve.

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Closing Thoughts

• Excitement for Pokémon’s future: Gen 10, World Championships in San Francisco, and the upcoming “Pokémon Champions” game.
  “Next year is going to be the biggest in Pokémon history...” – Tim [48:29]
• Reflections on family, nostalgia, and the multi-faceted draw of Pokémon—cards, games, anime, collecting.
• Both Greg and Tim highlight the series’ ability to continually inspire curiosity and joy, even for adults or parents sharing it with their children.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Pokémon’s unique appeal:
  “Nobody else can make a Pokémon game that hits like Pokémon.” – Bless [67:17]
• On Pokémon’s gameplay loop:
  “It’s a trance. You just get sucked into it.” – Tim [61:18]
• On parenthood and legacy:
  “It’s a very cool time right now in the Miller household.” – Greg [63:53]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [06:14] – Greg’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A demo impressions begin
• [15:12] – Greg’s story of building his Pokémon Violet team
• [22:15] – Mega Hawlucha segment and marketing praise
• [33:58] – Pokémon World Championships Anaheim stories
• [46:04] – Ben’s Pokémon fandom and Greg’s dad perspective
• [58:01] – In-depth Pokémon Scarlet and Violet review
• [65:04] – Tim’s co-review and series criticism

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Tone & Style Notes

The episode is conversational, enthusiastic, and peppered with in-jokes. The hosts blend candid critique (graphic/VO/raid issues) with earnest affection for the franchise’s magic and social bonds. Caring, family-centered stories give the recap emotional resonance.

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For New Listeners

This episode provides an insightful, honest look at Pokémon Legends: Z-A and a heartfelt review of Scarlet and Violet, filtered through the eyes of a new (but deeply invested) adult fan and father. It encapsulates what makes Pokémon an enduring, cross-generational cultural phenomenon.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Greg Miller]

Foreign.

[Tim Geddes]

What'S up? And welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Thursday, August 28, 2025. Of course, I am your host, Tim Geddes. I'm joined today by Blessing Adioye Jr.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Good day, Tim and Greg Miller.

[Greg Miller]

Hello, Tim, how are you?

[Tim Geddes]

Bless.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm tired.

[Tim Geddes]

You tired?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I told the story on khd, but I woke up to go to the gym this morning. Gym closed for renovations. And so I came home, I got the code to lost soul side, so I just streamed an hour of that instead.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And so I didn't get my morning movement like I usually do, but do some jacks. Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

No, I'm not going to do. Yeah, this wasn't today, but I was very tired yesterday.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

For a story that I'm going to be honest with you guys, I'm embarrassed to tell you, but I'm going to. Because that's what we do here. We're open, transparent about everything. I watched Marc Maron's stand up special on hbo. Utterly fantastic required viewing. So goddamn good. Have you seen him going around doing his little.

[Greg Miller]

I've seen the eclipse of the podcast.

[Tim Geddes]

Or just destroying motherfuckers. It's been great. But the special is like, oh, it's the art behind the shit talk. It's fantastic stuff, but it's really, really, really real. To the point that I had nightmares.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh my God.

[Tim Geddes]

Stand up special gave me nightmares.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh my God.

[Greg Miller]

You don't hear that a lot in comedy.

[Tim Geddes]

You really don't. But that's just where we at. We're at in the world. You know what I mean? Sure. Just some of the things he said, I'm like, and I won't spoil anything, but it's like I just watch it out, watch it and see what happens.

[Greg Miller]

I got enough to be scared about.

[Tim Geddes]

You know, it's scary world out there. How you doing, Greg?

[Greg Miller]

I'm great, Tim. How are you?

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, you know, I've been better in a free nightmare world from stand up comedy.

[Greg Miller]

You'll get over it though.

[Tim Geddes]

I will.

[Greg Miller]

What was the nightmare? Do you want to? I want to.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, just like, you know, just.

[Greg Miller]

Just the end of the world. Yeah. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Just kind of like that. Hey, like at a certain point, like if the end of the world actually comes, what are we going to do? Yeah, I'm fucked. I'm so fucked. My Pomeranians are fucked.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Honestly? Yeah, like, just like they don't have survival instincts.

[Tim Geddes]

I'll say. It's like, like if shit hits the fan where am I going? Who am I going to?

[Greg Miller]

I mean, we're back. We're back to the zombie movie. Do you want to survive in that world?

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, that's where I'm at.

[Greg Miller]

You want to survive? Not going to be any more video games. We're sitting around a little fucking campfire roasting squirrels. I'm good.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I kind of had a nightmare last night, but it was like less scary and more stressful. It was a. I had a dream that one of my friends, they're auditioning for a role in a play that was like. About Pinocchio.

[Tim Geddes]

About Pinocchio?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, it was like a Pinocchio or maybe. Yeah, about Pinocchio's Lies. Yeah, that was the name of the play, actually. Pinocchio's Lies. And they were offered, they were offered a role that wasn't the role that they auditioned for, but they were going to pay them $80,000 on the dot. Like right now we're like, we're going to give you 80k right here.

[Greg Miller]

And.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And they're like, no, I want the other role. And for some reason, me as their friend, I was also getting the money. And so it was me looking at them being like, I love you gotta do it. You can't say no to this. We need the money.

[Tim Geddes]

We need the money, everybody. Cause this is the kind of funny gamescast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in video games, live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, and we. I really hope that you do, you're going to want to get the kind of funny membership it gets you. The shows ad free and you get a daily exclusive show. Today, the Greg Way is what it's me talking about.

[Greg Miller]

Superhero video games. Cool. Where the fuck are they?

[Tim Geddes]

Where are they? They're getting canceled left and right.

[Greg Miller]

Exactly.

[Tim Geddes]

It was nuts. Yesterday I was thinking about Wonder Woman, as I often do, and then I remembered Black Panther also got canceled.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Wait, did we. Did it come up? Cuz I also was thinking about Black Panther yesterday. I said this on KFD right before this, but I was like sitting. I was like sitting yesterday I was like, man, I. They canceled a Black Panther game. You know how well a Black Panther game would do? My God, a Black Panther game would sell phenomenal.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, Mark Merritt's right. For a chance to be part of this show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Just like true authorian did, saying birthday tax. Can't wait for the full ZA review from KF's only Pokemon fan soon. Also. It's actually the 28th this week. Greg, how do you feel?

[Greg Miller]

Good.

[Tim Geddes]

I like how it's evolved into you being the only fan. Not the only true one.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean? The only true one. No one's talked about Pokemon until I got it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

We definitely don't talk about it.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

We don't make enough Pokemon content.

[Greg Miller]

That's true.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

We don't do the streams, we don't do the conversations.

[Greg Miller]

I'm here now. We don't do the reactions. I dream all of those. None of those doesn't happen.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Shit, not without Greg.

[Tim Geddes]

Little housekeeping for you. We're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Games Daily was all about where the hell the lost souls aside, reviews are after Gamescast after this.

[Greg Miller]

Is it a reasonable conversation? Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, I got real mad. But like I also. I think Chad, you let me know. I think I did a good job of keeping composed, not showing my anger on the inside. I was fuming. It was one of those ones where one super chat like set me off. I couldn't focus for the rest of the show. Like there were so many stumbles while reading because I was just fucking mad at the one super chat that was like. How can you tell me about this game that you only played an hour of? I played an hour of the fucking game this morning.

[Tim Geddes]

He's telling you what he did.

[Greg Miller]

They gave me the code this morning.

[Tim Geddes]

God just seems really for you to.

[Greg Miller]

Come in and give a scored review after an hour. I didn't score it. I told you I played an hour was too good. Wait until you hear how much Pokemon Za I play. Z Day I play.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, totally.

[Greg Miller]

More than an hour. We'll see.

[Tim Geddes]

We'll see everyone. Then we. After this we have Prey in review. Returning to Predator review. I can't wait to talk to the boys about this one. And then after that the stream is a bussy or whatever the hell it's called. Abyssus. I don't even know what it actually is.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

A busy.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, we're going to busy. So it's a bussy.

[Tim Geddes]

And then if you're kind of funny member of course you get the Greg way. We were just talking about about superhero video games. Then thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining. Today we're brought to you by X Real but we'll tell you all about that later. For now let's start with the topic of the show today, Greg Miller played Pokemon Legends Z to A, went to Pokemon World Championships in Anaheim and is finally ready to give his official review of Scarlet and Violet.

[Greg Miller]

Hello. I'm the world's biggest Pokemon fan and I finally made it. I'm excited to finally be here. I've been bursting at the seams already talking about this. I have not talked to any of you about the game, about Worlds Violet here and there, but you know what I mean? Like, it's an exciting situation to be in, Tim. And I'm excited as the man who is now the number one Pokemon fan. Kind of funny, your man who's destined to review Za itself. Legend Z Day. Did you know that Pokemon Legend Za. I had heard Z2 when I was. I showed up to the demo and I'm standing there and they said, Pokemon Legends Z to A. I was like, oh, okay. Already a new scoop.

[Tim Geddes]

We knew when they explained what the gimmick of this game is of like doing the whole.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Of course. Ranking up Alphabet Battle.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Which I. Yeah. Which I was that recent. Or was that like a while ago?

[Tim Geddes]

That was the Pokemon presents that we just got. I'm.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That we just got. Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Cuz I don't think I. I didn't realize. Yeah. Until that. Where I was like, oh, you're going from Z to A. Because in my mind it was like an X and Y. Like.

[Tim Geddes]

Well, it is that too.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Pokemon Zygard double entendre. Don't even ask me how.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Greg, I want. I have a lot of things I want to talk to you about, but I feel like we got to start with the big one because you are the only person now kind of funny that has played the latest Pokemon game coming in just a few short months, Pokemon Legends Z to A. And like Bless was saying, I'm sure you sat there, you had a big meaty preview. Must have played at least an hour of this game. Correct.

[Greg Miller]

Of course. Oh, no, no. So they gave me. They flew me to Anaheim and sent me to Pokemon Worlds for multiple days. And I played two sections of the game and they were 10 minutes apiece. Bless.

[Tim Geddes]

So tell me all about your 20 minutes with Pokemon Legends.

[Greg Miller]

So, yeah, they were broken up into two sections. The first section being you're into a battle zone. Of course. Pokemon Legends Za. Z to is not your traditional Pokemon. It is not what we're coming off of with Scarlet and Violet. Of course, this is back to more like a Legends Arceus thing, which even then seems like it's going to be quite different. I say that seems to be because we didn't get free roam, right? We basically got dropped into this battle zone, which is this section, as you see right now on your screen, that has a red border around it. But before when we came in, there was a map and there was the red border. It was, it was nighttime. This is when the kids go out into the streets and do Pokemon battles. Everyone does. As you see, I am fighting some accountant right now. This is not my footage, but it basically is exactly what we did. You go into these battle zones. What we were set up here is an early, early, early mission here in the story, right where you are Rank Z. You're not even Rank Z. I think you're the thing below that. You're trying to get your rank up to get in there so you can be a part of it. You are going into this, you're getting ready for the Z to a royale. So you need to beat these trainers so that you can get your ticket points to get in there and get out and go. So you need to get three wins in this area. This is all incredibly tutorial. So it was that I did the three, literally, as you see here, where they're explaining of course, that as you run around in here, you need to sneak up on people. So there's this. So you have the advantage in starting the battle. If you come around a corner and they see you first, they attack you, they get a critical hit, you're off to the races right away. Whereas if you crouch down, hide behind blocks and bricks, as you're about to see, you can sneak up on the enemy and go and get there. Easy, easy. Super simple stealth. But it was a nice wrinkle to what's going on because of course, if you've been living under a rock and haven't paid attention, or maybe you're a new Pokemon fan like myself. This is not a turn based game. This is an active battle system. So our box of faces is covering up the lower left of the screen right now, which, if we could remove it, is all your Pokemon. You see their health bars. You can call them in and out as you see fit. Always having one on the field with the D pad, I believe it's actually screenshotted here. Yeah, Send out, is up, call back and is down. Then once they're out and you're targeting with zl, you can use your face buttons then to choose the attacks that you also see up there. So now you see on that screen there was thundershot, tackle, etc. You have it what's interesting about this, and this is something that I, even though I'm now gajillion hours into Violet or whatever, didn't even clock it that there is no PP attached to it. I saw Casey's IGN preview call that out. The fact that this is just all cool down. You, you're casting these spells, you're throwing these things out. That's what it's all about to go out and attack these things. You get out there, you feel up the matchup again. Callback send out at will. I saw again, I just listened to Casey's preview from ig, which is great. You should go watch it, obviously, or read it as well. And one of the things Casey called out in there was the fact that, like, oh, to me, this is more of an MMO with you cast rather than an action game, you casting. And what I thought was interesting is after playing it and really marinating, I was like, oh, this is so much like the show right now. Of course, my Pokemon obsession, which is legitimate, not the bit of me yelling at Tim about the review, is totally fueled by Ben's obsession with Pokemon right now. And so the reason I restarted Violet, like, whatever, a year ago, before the switch, and then paused to get ready for Switch 2, was the idea that Ben and I started watching the show with Ash and all them. And it's my first time ever, right, Because I was a little too old when it originally debuted in America and so on and so forth and so watching that, it's been fun to be like, oh, man. Like, the show is so different than the game and how the battles happen. And I saw Patrick Klepp recently, of course, does amazing work and has an amazing newsletter substack that's all about being a parent in this. And he's doing a similar thing where showing his daughter the games and then them being like, well, can we do this? Can we, can we dodge? He's like, well, you can't make your guy dodge that way. That's not how it actually is. Where this game, you still can't make that your character or your Pokemon that's on the field dodge. But it is the you're calling out. Just like Ash does, right? When he goes out there and has Pikachu battle again, I'm sure with voice acting, right?

[Tim Geddes]

You call out. You actually call out.

[Greg Miller]

Of course, it's still Pokemon. It is still Pokemon. It is still going to have all the, you know, tried and true shortcomings I think that you come to expect from a Pokemon game. But the Battle system, while in some ways unwieldy and like, what the fuck is going on? Like, to be tossed in there. And especially for me, as somebody who's so new to the franchise and really getting into the minutiae of it, I found enjoyable. I did found it to be chaotic, I think, you know, as I get in there and I really settle in with whatever my team will end up being, it'll be easier for me to be like, okay, cool, I'm gonna throw this person out, as you see here, that Fletcher, and go after the Weebly or whatever. And no, I should be using this. I should be using that. Call this person bat blah. For these first three battles that were for all intents and purposes brain dead because they're tutorials, it was easy enough to go. The really fun thing was when we beat the three battles and you got your tickets, they were like, all right, you know, before the demo officially ends, there will be one other person around the corner. They're high level, if you want to see what. And we all went in and got our heads kicked in or whatever. I guess someone on the floor did beat them, like in the demo. Like some Pokemon master went in there with the incredibly low level team, was able to either beat them or get them almost beaten, which I thought was pretty cool. But that was an oppressed person. That was just so many Pokemon worlds. So that was the first part of the demo run through do this battle. That second part was going after this mega evolution. This is, you know, making the headlines today because your boy Hawlucha has a mega evolution. He's got two great trailers. Yeah, great. I mean, he's the best Pokemon. Look at that little wrestler right there. You know what I mean? He's the best.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

More than Porygon.

[Greg Miller]

Yes. Oh, yeah. More than Porygon and of course, more than Shit Fuck hole and Pumpkaboo. Pumpkaboo, I do love Pumpkaboo is falling to second place, Porygon to third place.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I don't know if you heard this on kfc. I was telling Mike that I want to do a thing where each of us, we make a Pokemon party for you.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Right. Like, we choose six Pokemon that we think. All right, this should be Greg. 6. And we have you judge like, which is the most. Which six do you like the most?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, sure. I love that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Not that you have to commit to it as your.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, no. I like this little Pokemon fashion show. Yeah, Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I mean, do you have. Do you have like a. Like a foreign party in Your head. Because I feel like between Hawlucha, Porygon, Pumpkaboo.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That might be three already.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And I would toss Machamp in there.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm a champ.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. If we want to jump, I say we jump.

[Tim Geddes]

Why not? This is a free flow and fun time.

[Greg Miller]

Throw up the squad. Of course, I've been playing the shit out of Pokemon Violet. And I did want to come in and give my squad all the love they deserve and go through it. So I did throw up an image there running through the team here. This is straight screenshot from my. You will notice some things out of here. What are you wowing the levels. Oh, thank you so much.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Level 100.

[Greg Miller]

I'm not joking. I'm playing Pokemon. I really, really enjoy Pokemon.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, Ogre Pond there, that's from the dlc.

[Greg Miller]

Let's get. I mean, let's get there slowly. Okay. So I would have told you, of course, starting off if you were like, Greg, let's talk about your Pokemon. Let's talk about. And you're talking to me as I started the game, I would have said, well, Quackers is going to be at the top of the list. Of course, as you can see there, there are two people here who are code named. We have Quackers on there. Who is Quaquaval? I say that right because I'll tell you right now his name. I had to look it up. He's Quackers. He's goddamn Quack. I don't know this man's name. I mean, I. As a newcomer to the franchise, I.

[Tim Geddes]

Would, I'd say Quack Lava.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. I don't think that's definitely not. Yeah, yeah. You got an L at the end. Doesn't matter. No, I'll call him if you want. Yeah. Anyways, I started me.

[Tim Geddes]

Maybe I'd know.

[Greg Miller]

I've, you know, I've played Let's Go before and I've tinkered with other games and. Yeah, but like when, when Violet was coming out and I was like, I'm. I'm going to be all in on this. I got it. I got my team. I gave them all cute nicknames because that's what I thought you do in Pokemon. But as someone who doesn't know Pokemon, I don't know the sacred texts, this work that gets to me to such a degree of like, I know I spent how many hours with Quackers, but I couldn't tell you his God given name or anything. So I was like this up and down and like you see Quackers on there, of course, Quackaval. And then you have Jaguar. That's what Ben renamed Persian. So, yeah, this is my squad that I've rocked with for quite some time, with Ogrepon being the exception, even Hallucha for that moment. But Altaria there at the top, a level 100. This is a love affair that I began. I just didn't know I would need this blessing where I was in whatever battle in the game, just getting my head kicked. And it might have been when I was complaining about. Remember I said something and everybody made fun of me. I did a Greg way about Pokemon Violet being hard in quotes. And everybody's like, oh, everybody read it on the show, like, Greg's an idiot. And it was like, well, no, it's just one battle where it's like, I need a specific type whatever Alter what is Flying Ice. I need an Altaria. Right where I was like, I just didn't have anybody on my squad leveled up to do that. Right. And so I would have told you at the beginning of all this, Quackers, from start to finish, would be MVP of this team. But it was Alteria who came in, save the fucking day, clowned out the one thing that was, you know, giving me trouble or whatever. Oh, that was it. Beating the university head, you know, when he's. He's acting like Clive or whatever. I know you're not Clive, you stupid idiot. When I fight him outside the school, whatever, he had somebody on. Oh, the guy who Flower Drop it was doing the drop shot on me every time. That doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. But I'm Googling and I'm using my charts or whatever, and I was like, I find I do this like, he's a student. He acts like a student. He's not a student.

[Tim Geddes]

He's undercover.

[Greg Miller]

He's. He's the. He's the headmaster.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yes. Yes. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, It's.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's a thing of a different guy.

[Greg Miller]

Little story. Anyways, though, I needed. Altaira stepped in, and once Alt Area did that, it was like, you're. You're God Tier. You're with me the whole way. You're above Quackers. I'm sorry. Quackers takes me. We've all heard my complaints about Quackers before. Quacker starts. Very cute. I feel like I got duped. I was sold a false bill of good.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That's how it is.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, Pokemon Violet drops. Which one of these guys you want? When I originally started Violet, my first playthrough I did Fuecoco named him Fuego del Sol. I'm like, here we go. We're going to do some stuff. When I restarted, I was like, you know what? I got problems that he looks like a Trump duck, but he's a cute Trump duck. So, like, get on the team and let's go. And then this guy just evolved to be uglier and uglier until here we are, this configure skater. All right. I don't know, Circus. I'm like, I do not vibe with you quackers. But you've been there the whole time. Thank you. You mentioned Ogre Pond next. Come on. Ogre Pond, of course, from the first DLC here, of course we get.

[Tim Geddes]

Which is, by the way, the fact that Greg has this Pokemon from the end of the first DLC that shows how. How into this he.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, the numbers imp too. So, yeah, this isn't a joke. We can get into my obsession with Pokemon as well.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, that's. Yeah, we'll wait to get into that.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, I mean, like, for real, for what we're doing. Ogre Pond, when they're like, we got in. So it's a little bit of spoilers here for the dlc. All right, the first one. Area Zero.

[Tim Geddes]

Zero.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Part.

[Tim Geddes]

Well, Area Zero is the place in Palad.

[Greg Miller]

Don't they call it Area 0? Part 1.

[Tim Geddes]

The mystery of the Treasure. The treasure, whatever the.

[Greg Miller]

Part one of the dlc, they set this thing up that. Guess what? There was this ogre, this monster. These three Pokemon chased it off. And I'm like, oh, man, this thing's gonna look hor. We go to the fucking festival of town and this little dew drop shows up and he's running around and I'm like, I'm annoyed at first. I'm like, you're cute, but whatever. You know what I mean? And of course, I'm new to all this. I didn't expect that he's going to join the team. He's going to join the squad. He joins the squad. And I'm like, well, I'll never fucking use you. And then it was like, the next thing, I was like, you need a grass type. I go, I don't have a level. Oh, but Ogre Pond is grass type. And with the masks, I can switch him out to be also Ogre Pond. I apologize. Okay. I apologize. I did not know how cool you were. You are now one of the squad members. You are a. I'm ride or die for Ogrepon. And it was A big deal. When we got our first pack of trading cards at Pokemon World, which we'll talk about, who do we pull? Ogre Pond. He was there. He was there for me. You know what I mean? When I'm walking on the beach and there's one set of footprints, it's because Ogrepon was carrying me. Think about it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Beautiful.

[Greg Miller]

Behind Ogre Pond is Jaguar again. This is Persian. This is one. This is a level 81 on my team. Ogre pond, level 83. Quackers is 90. Alteria is 100. If you're an audio listener. Jaguar, of course, named by Ben. When I started getting my wheels here, and I was like, all right, I'm getting serious about Pokemon. Turned it on. Ben jumped in, and of course, the first thing you want to do is once he found out you could name him, he wanted to rename everybody for me. So he renamed Jaguar or Persian Jaguar, which I'm fine with and I like. And Jaguar. Just a strong guy, you know? I mean, just out there doing what he's got to do. No frills. No frills, but he's got bite. He's out there doing the moves I need.

[Tim Geddes]

This is definitely not a. A favorite, I would say, in late game content, sure. Persian. You know what I mean? Normally, like, they end up getting the cut somewhere along the line, but when you have a nickname, there's some.

[Greg Miller]

There's a history, the background, the normal moves. He's tossing. I'm like, I can use these. I like that. Okay, then you got Belly Bolt. Belly Bolt, another one who showed up, and I'm like, I don't know about this business. And he, for a while, was running neck and neck with Big Bird. Big Bird, I don't have on here. I forgot to pull him. He's the yellow Pokemon that then has, like, the tall neck. He looks like a Big Bird to me. I can find him if we need to drink Ad Break to give you his actual name or whatever. But he was another electric type Pokemon who I've been using quite a bit. And then Belly Bolt got in there, and they were kind of the Brothers of Destruction. They kind of had this thing going on where it's like, just double electric moves people up.

[Tim Geddes]

And I forgot Belly Bolt is one that is heavily featured in, like, raids and endgame stuff.

[Greg Miller]

Well, and that was why Belly Bolt still here and Big Bird isn't at the moment. Big Bird at some point, just wasn't getting it done. Belly Bolt started, I think, leveling faster. Level 80.

[Tim Geddes]

Is that what he's talking about decidedly not a bird.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, he's definitely not a bird. It's funny because in my brain when he said yellow and not long neck, I was like Ampharos. But there's no way.

[Greg Miller]

My apologies. First off, look at his little hands. He got any fingers? No, those are wings. Then he's a bird.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I mean, he's probably the closest Pokemon to Big Bird.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, exactly.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Aside from like Electabuzz.

[Greg Miller]

Again. This is where I myself where you name them on. As soon as you get him I.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Name him is a big yellow bird. Yeah, no, that's a good call.

[Greg Miller]

Proportions Belly bolts got me out of so many jams out there. Just dropping the electricity clearing the field. Gotta love him. Appreciate it. He'll always have a spot on the team. And then level 83 is Hawlucha. My favorite Pokemon. Hawlucha came on late. Someone I think finally BS me that's blue Sky Tim. And said Greg are even aware that there is a luchador wrestling Pokemon named Hawlucha. And I was like, what the fuck? And it was one of those drop everything. We're cracking the Wiki's. Where can I go find him? And immediately went and got a Hawlucha. So I've been trying to power level him up.

[Tim Geddes]

I obviously would understand leveling. You would remember this, Greg.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

But the reason that I went to Mexico. We're not talking about all the secret things I did, but it was to get Hawlucha.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, that's right. I don't remember that. I remember you had an exclusive one go right now with the announcement today. I got B.S. that's a blue sky Tim. About all this Hallucha, you know, Mega Evolution stuff. Amazing trailers. I made Ben watch it in the car on the way to school today. There's some crossover in Mexico going on where they're doing like a Hawlucha event at one of the Lucha Libre things down there you go.

[Tim Geddes]

We should go drop everything. I do want to talk about those real quick. Just because the. Can you bring up the. The Hawlucha hype trailer, Barrett? Because today they. They announced Mega Hawlucha and they did it in a really cool little animated short that this was.

[Greg Miller]

This is actual gameplay. Can we see the other one?

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, the other one. It's Halucha versus Machamp.

[Greg Miller]

So did you see this bus?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, we talked about so good super.

[Tim Geddes]

Fun little animated thing like debuting Mega Hawlucha for the first time. And I love it because in addition to this really cool Little short, Barrett. If you could switch over now to the other. The Victory Bell hype trailer. A week or two ago, they did the same thing for Mega Victory Bell. That, and it was like a super different, like, Resident Evil almost kind of. Did you see this?

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I didn't like it.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah, it's. It's a lot. It looks like many things that you don't want to talk about, but what I appreciate about them going this different route, like this kind of found footage, scary thing of them eventually crossing patents with Mega victory belt for the first time.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, I didn't see this.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, dude. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

You saw the ball sack.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, I just saw. Yeah, Victory Bell hopping around, looking like a ball sack from South Park. But this is freaky.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, this looks like. This does look like Resident Evil. I thought Bear was trolling us.

[Greg Miller]

Jesus.

[Tim Geddes]

This is the debut, and I just want to say, from a marketing perspective, I love this, because these are the type of things that make these Mega Evolutions stand out more than. As opposed to just, hey, there's 19 new mega evolutions. They all kind of feel the same, and all the gameplay stuff just kind of looks the same. But when you do this, it adds that personality that, like, this stuff will stick with you in the future. And I just think that's really cool that they're going the extra mile for this, because they don't always do that. So shout out to y' all for trying.

[Greg Miller]

Now, as I have, of course, celebrated Hawlucha across the Internet since finding him and discovering him and really bringing him to relevancy to get him into this game, so many people have come at me with Incineroar. Yeah, he's the wrestling heel Pokemon. And I look at him, and I just don't vibe the same like he. I. When I think wrestling Pokemon, obviously. Lucha Delibere, of course. But then Machamp, he's got a championship belt. He's doing his goddamn thing, I think.

[Tim Geddes]

Got a belt made of fire.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I hear you, but he just looks like. He looks like he's going to fight Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog.

[Tim Geddes]

Play. I'm not arguing.

[Greg Miller]

I'm not saying he's not cool.

[Tim Geddes]

Play him in Smash Brothers. Okay, so you see if that changes your mind at all.

[Greg Miller]

I just. I just. He doesn't scream wrestling at a glance like Hallucha and Machamp do. That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying I'm not gonna get.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Him on the team.

[Greg Miller]

I'm not gonna say I'm Gonna. I'm not gonna make a whole wrestling team.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm asking bring up Machamp, because Machamp, I've always associated with boxing, but I guess now that I'm looking at him.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, that makes sense, though, too. I understand that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But then we just saw him wrestle Hallucha here in this video.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I guess. Yeah, you're right. Like, UFC actually makes more sense because. Yeah, Machop mma. You can do it all, Machoke. Yeah, you can do it all. Mix martial art. Yes. That's what the first.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, it's crazy. Anyways, back to. Do you have anything else to say about Zahra?

[Greg Miller]

Well, I want to keep you. We're talking about my team. My one thing I do want to shout out. Two honorable mentions. All right. Number one, Torkoal. He added to the team lead. He's Only a level 74 right now in Pokemon Violet. Like him a lot. He's like, honestly, the first fire Pokemon I've really fucked with throughout this entire thing. So he's cool. We're early stages of our relationship, though. But I really want to give a shout out and an apology for not making the final, final, final cut to Benny Dabo. This is another one we renamed. He's a Tauros.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, what type of Taurus?

[Greg Miller]

Just straight towards straight normal Tauros. Another guy who got me out of so many jams where everybody's fainting, whatever. And then he would come in, do the thing, spin around, double kick him, and, like, knock him out. You're a normal boy. He's only a level 61.

[Tim Geddes]

I am the normal gym leader. Greg Miller.

[Greg Miller]

That's me, everybody. Which the most abnormal person? He's only level 61, though. But it was like, for those 61 levels, we were fucking with him hard. And then it was like, benny, I need. I need the spice, I need the moves, I need the counters. You know what I mean? I can't just have you out there doing normal stuff. So. He's been riding the bench a long time, but I'll never forget him. Wow.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I never took Greg as a normal gym leader, but I feel like now that I. Now I think about it, I can.

[Greg Miller]

See it a little bit.

[Tim Geddes]

It's actually not as insulting as it sounds, by the way, Greg.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, I don't take it as insulting. No, no, no, no, no. And I think it honestly is 100% true based on my gameplay styles. You know, I usually am that guy in a game where it's like, here's your basic weapon. And I'm like, all right. I start Pouring XP into it. And they're like, well, here's this thing that I'm like, no, I'm already. I'm already so far on the road to making this weapon the most powerful thing in the world. Why would I switch over to whatever electricity special kind of thing. This will make sense later on in a future review. Even more so. Back to Pokemon Legends. That's what we call teaser a breadcrumb for you. I think overall, I mean, I'm talking about how it works and plays. Right. I think it's worth calling out for this. I didn't want to talk about the second demo as well, but the first demo, the first thing I thought after playing so much Pokemon Violet was, holy shit, this looks great. And I think Pokemon Violet on Switch 2 runs really well and is crisp and whatever, but whatever. It's still Pokemon Violet and I think this is still Pokemon, but really crisp colors, really. And I'm playing on a tv, not handheld. Really crisp colors, really great animations. It's the same thing usual where it's not as many shadows as I'd like. It doesn't. You know, I mean they're doing. You see it in the gameplay.

[Tim Geddes]

Surprised you're saying you think this looks good.

[Greg Miller]

I thought, well, I mean, again, maybe it's this. Not only had I been playing violet at this point, I had been going backwards where we can talk about that in a second. But I. I've been. I'm gajillion hours into violet. But then I went back and was doing Legends Arus and then I was back to doing Sword and Shield as well.

[Tim Geddes]

Best looking one.

[Greg Miller]

So it was like. And I agree, actually. How's it going in terms of style?

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, 100. I don't think it holds. I think the wild areas are the only ugly things in Sword and Shield. Otherwise beautiful games.

[Greg Miller]

This one, I thought really crisp visuals really ran well. I like the bright colors of it. That's something I kind of feel like I don't get enough of in Violet is a vibrancy of it. I thought this section was really vibrant of the game. Section 2 of the demo. The next 10 minutes were a big boss fight. This was a mega evolution. I follow Zygarde pronounced Z.

[Tim Geddes]

Normally games, the Pokemon games would have, you know, red, blue and then the yellow version or there's always the third version for X and Y Gen 6. We all expected there would be Pokemon Z. We never got it. And so that's kind of what we're getting here.

[Greg Miller]

Finally getting them. As you see he takes you up to a rooftop here, where you find a Mega. A rogue Mega Evolution. Absol. Absol. Absol. I assume. Absol. Absol. And you get into this big boss battle with them. So interesting stuff here in terms of a few different things. The normal battles with the Pokemon trainers, you're throwing your Pokemon out there. They're doing the moves you command. Congratulations. That's great. Up here, in the battle with a Mega Evolution, and then also in the wild ones, you can be hit as well. Not in your trainer battles, but on the other ones. So you have to dodge roll a lot in this one. I think when I looked at screenshots of this beforehand, I was like, man, this looks basic as hell and not ugly, but, like, not visually interesting playing it. I think it was the most exciting section of the game compared to the battles, which, again, were frantic and crazy, and I don't know what I'm exactly doing, and I'm throwing out these Pokemon that aren't mine or whatever. But getting in here, there is this. All right, he's getting ready to do this. Aoe attack everybody. You run out and your Pokemon chases you. Lucario here, right, you. You also, though, have to dodge to miss his attacks. But then you're picking up this, what they call the orbs that are Mega power that are falling off him to fill up the Mega. Your Mega gauge down there so that you can mega evolve Lucario and have him go out and then do the moves to actually be able to fight him right up against it. But he got to run from this ring of death. You know that your power, your moves get more powerful as you go. You can, of course, pause, go into your menu, apply a potion, apply a spray, or whatever. But this was the part where it was like, oh, this is. Challenging isn't the right word, but I guess it is. I mean, it's not like, obviously fucking souls combat or whatever, but this was like, oh, shit, hold on a second. I'm getting it over my head, or I need to actually focus on orbs, or I need to get a heal in there or whatever. Granted, these are all first tastes. We'll see how that lasts three, four hours in when you've been doing a lot of it. But this was the one. I was like, oh, this is exciting. Okay. I like doing this a lot. Not that I didn't like the other one, but it was very much like, I fuck fucking attack this. And what's available. Just do this, do this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It's cool.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I'm really excited to play with this different gameplay style, I feel like it's the right call for the Legends franchise and like what they're doing here with ZA is interesting at the very least. I'm I don't know how much it's going to actually hold up throughout the whole game, but I do like the concept of it being way more active because I also have been playing a lot more of Scarlet and Violet recently because I never finished the second round of dlc. So I was trying to do it for this and I am like oh man. Like the turn based stuff when you're in it and you're going through like the the ranks of like all the the Elite four or just like actually fighting as trainer after trainer, it's super fun. Just at this point in the game, like going up against a bunch of random like encounters, it's like this isn't fun. I just want to run away, you know. Yeah, this is so slow. I want to keep telling you about a whole bunch of Pokemon stuff all over the place, but we're going to do that after a word from our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by Xreal as of August 25th, Xreal One Pro is finally available on Amazon and BestBuy.com plus it's back in stock now on Xreal.com a few months ago my life changed forever when I brought a pair of xreal One Pro AR glasses on a incredibly long flight to New York City. I legit could not believe how easy it was to use and how high quality my experience was. Playing games with my Steam deck and watching movies with my phone on the plane on a theater sized OLED screen right in front of my eyes without too much extra stuff or a giant goofy headset involved. No joke, this is my favorite new piece of tech in years and it has earned a permanent spot in my travel bag. It's only hard to believe it works as well as I'm saying until you try xreal AR glass glasses for yourself and then you will see that the tech is here. Connect xreal One Pro glasses to whatever you're playing like a handheld console, PC phone or home console and get a massive 150 inch virtual screen anywhere anytime for any game. Gaming on the go like a long flight, you need xreal One Next. Starting to hurt from staring down at your handheld. You need Xreal 1. It's plug and play with all your devices via USB C built in audio with sound by Bose anchoring your screen literally anywhere in the space. 1080p full HD and you can make it bigger, smaller, farther, closer, ultra wide or regular widescreen, horizontal, vertical, even 3D if you have a 3D movie. It's all built in and can be controlled by pressing a few buttons on the glasses. These are what make Xreal One Pro a must have Xreal One Pro is now available on Amazon and BestBuy.com and from August 25 through September 1, you can get $50 off if you bundled Xreal One Pro with the Xreal Beam Pro AR mobile device on Amazon or Xrail.com There is nothing better than when a sponsor of Kinda Funny is something we are legitimately obsessed with. So get yours [e-mail] Xreal that's kind of funny.com Xreal I want to hear about Pokemon World Championships Anaheim. Very jealous. You got to go. I've never been to a Pokemon World Championships. I will make my debut next year as I imagine all of us here Kind of Funny. Well, as we take over world as it takes over San Francisco. But how was Anaheim's?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, it was awesome. I was not 1000% sure what we were getting into. Of course, you know, Pokemon reached out, said, hey, do you want to come down and do this ZA preview? They of course reached out to Tim and then Tim said, I'm no longer able to. I'm no longer the number one Pokemon fan. So I'll give it to Greg. And I said, thank you for realizing what's happening here. And so yeah, got to go down there. And it was like pretty breakneck speed of what was it was all going to look like and how it was going to happen. And so got down there on Wednesday. Doors don't open till Friday, but Wednesday they gave us a private time in the Pokemon center to go buy stuff and bear if you want to page through the Pokemon World photo dump when I gave you on Instagram. Like, I, I love being a fan of things. Like I love being a fan. And what I've said from the beginning with Ben, right, is that no matter what Ben's into, I'm gonna be into, right? So inevitably, when he likes sports and it's a sport I'm not a fan of, I'm gonna be a Giants fan in a way I've never been other than just being up, oh, this is cool. I live in San Francisco. And so him and me falling in love with Pokemon at the same time has been great. But then to get to go to this Pokemon center and have it be wall to wall to wall in the convention center, you know, the WrestleMania superstore is the example of what I've been to before. Of here are all these different things. And, you know, Jordan Midler was there from vgc and we hung out all week long. But when he bumped into me there, he's like, what? Ben was scooping up all I. We bought so many goddamn Pokemon plushies, and he's scooping them up. And Miller's like, what are you looking for? And I'm like, I want a hawlucha, right? And like, five minutes later, Midler from had gone all the way to the other side of the store and come back with my little Hawlucha. He's like, I got you one. I'm like, thank you, sir. I caught that one. And so it was just this like. Like, eyes wide thing of walking through, you know, Jen got to come late a little bit after we had gotten in. We got her, and she was on the search for Gengar merch. So it was just like going and finding. And everyone there being so stoked about something else that they were finding, whether it was a skateboard or me trying to talk Ben out of trying to buy this. Ben wanted a quick ball or a beast ball that they were selling there with all the other balls. But it was like the $150 collaboration. We can't throw this ball. This is not what you want. I'm sure they'll have a stuffy pokeball. They did not have stuffy pokeballs there. So I was like, I had to lunch. I ordered one off Amazon for him on top of all the other stuff we got. But I'm getting. I got the shirt I'm wearing. We got the thing. We're getting the tour, we're doing the stuff. There's the photo ops. You know, there's this giant Snorlax I was taking photos with. There's this gigantic wall of plushies throughout the years that I was taking photos with. Like, it was so cool to be there and see people celebrating. And we were there. This is like the press influencer side or whatever. That was our thing. But then after, I think our session was like noon to 2 or 11 to 2, you could say for as long as you wanted to. And at 2, that is when they opened the store for everybody. But it was also. I was like, oh, man. So people can come in and out all week long. I'm like, oh, no. Like, you have to have a reservation, and we've been booked for months. I was like, oh, okay, okay. You know what I mean of what that was and so it was an incredible hype cycle to just be there on it and see all. You know, we've been to Anaheim Convention center so many times, Tim, for Vidcons, for psx, to see it all decked out, for Pokemon, to see all these installations. You know, there was the photo of me with the inflatable Pikachu that was right out front and all these different things, let alone the cosplay and the people and the stuff. And it was just like, oh, cool. And that was just on Wednesday, before it was really, really open. Thursday, we did a family Disney day. Wednesday's when I saw Z Day as well. And then Friday. Yeah, I got to go to the opening ceremonies and see it all kick off and start. And if, Barry, you can show the video of us entering. We came in, obviously, with the other media folks to go to our assigned seats. And it. When they opened it up, we were like, the first people in. That didn't work there. And so this is, you know, Ben coming down the aisle way here. And it's also then the people who are working the events. First time seeing a kid. Ben is, you know, three and a half. And it was this insane moment here of chain event of this woman starts the high five. Goosh. And then every person working this line high fives Ben. Like, I have been desperately trying to find the photos because, of course, I think you might see him even pop in. There's, like, real photographers here. There's one right there. Like, someone has these photos of him doing this, but, like, look at his face. Like, you want to talk about trying to make a core memory for your son at this Pokemon event, him coming in, getting high fives from everybody. The very, like, last people gave him a pat. His first, like, real pack of Pokemon cards. And so to settle in. And we settled in. We sat there for, like, an hour while people filtered in and set it in. And then they kick this thing off. And in the day and age. Tim, where E3 is dead, this was such a. Hey, you are in the. You are at the Sony press conference. The Nintendo press conference. You were at a press conference.

[Tim Geddes]

Started with a musical number. Everybody strap it and watch me dance. Yeah, they go hard real quick. I want to say the background music to that clip is as Ben's getting high five walking down the intro. It's the song Road to Viridian City.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

No, from.

[Greg Miller]

There.

[Tim Geddes]

I thought when you had that on Instagram, like, that's so awesome. Awesome. And a couple days ago, you texted me something. I'm not gonna Explicitly say what you asked. But you were asking me if I'm familiar with the song. What kind of Pokemon are you?

[Greg Miller]

What kind?

[Tim Geddes]

Of course I am. Of course.

[Greg Miller]

And I didn't say are you familiar with it. I just said, I know I'm not sexuals. I think it is.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay.

[Greg Miller]

How do you do things? You do. I get it though.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah. No, that makes sense.

[Greg Miller]

Show me secrets deep inside.

[Tim Geddes]

So good, man. But yeah, I love that this obviously is a franchise that's existed so long. And to see the world championships and next year Pokemon XP in San Francisco, where they're actually doing more than just the championships. It's being even a bigger celebration of the entire franchise. I. I love that. Road to Viridian City from the two Be a Master soundtrack is still being used. Like, it's still just as relevant now as it was 30 years ago. Like, that's so.

[Greg Miller]

Again, like, you know, I think I always love being introduced to a new fandom. Right? And I talked about this a lot with Monster Jam of coming and going to Monster Jams World Championships in Salt Lake City and finding people are like, oh my, you're into this. Like, I'm into wrestling and like pose into baseball and da da da da. It was the same vibe here where like, I'm Jordan Midler, by the way. Jordan Midler from vgc, the big man. As you know, if you haven't heard, he has been promoted. He is officially Uncle Jordan because him and Ben were inseparable this entire time. All of Wednesday. Then he came to dinner with us. Then he's like, I'd like to go to Disney. I'm like, come with us tomorrow. Jordan Miller went to Disneyland with us the entire time. Amazing. It's to the point I said this. I know you guys already know. When Ben did his Sonic Crossworlds preview this week, Middler sent to our WhatsApp group with me, him and Jen was really just so Jordan can talk to Ben. This voice memo about how good he did. Ben responded, Middle responded like, it's like, Uncle Jordan is like, he's the coolest guy. And it's to the point still when we see a Pokemon we don't know, we've been sending it to the WhatsApp group of like, hey, Uncle Jordan, which Pokemon is this? And he'll immediately respond no matter what time it is because he's a psychopath. I digress though. When I'm sitting there in the audience waiting for the start and they're playing all these old Pokemon songs, Uncle Mid or Uncle Jordan could not help himself from turning and being like, all right, this is from this. And that's what you hear. This song. Everybody. Everybody hearing right now is dead. I'm like, oh, no. I mean, that's how long it's been around. But yeah, like, we added so many of them in the Spotify one. Yeah. What just beyond is on the top of my, like, Spotify songs, which is one of the live performances. Performances they did there. But, yeah, they come out.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. Because every year for the world championships, they. Well, maybe not every year. The last couple of years, they put out like an EP of like five or six songs that are made just for that year's event. And they're all. It's essentially modern to be a master type stuff.

[Greg Miller]

Super cool. Yeah, it was awesome. And then, yeah, like, you know, they come out, they do this. Ben enraptured Barrett. If you can toss up the one about Ben taking a video or a photo or whatever. Ben asked for Jen's phone so that he could stand up and he could take. Because he saw everybody. It's like, you know, my kid is the biggest. He's a three and a half year old. Monkey see, monkey do. He saw everybody else lifting up their phones. And Ben was like, I gotta lift your phone. I got it as well. So he's up there taking it. Like, you know, this is like, unheard of. We try to get earplugs in for him. He would not stick with him. He would not deal with it or whatever. But it was awesome and amazing and, you know, it was a really short start to the whole thing. And then it was like, all right, the Pokemon World Championship has begun. And it was just like, people flooded off to go play cards, to go play the game, to go do whatever.

[Tim Geddes]

Did you get to see any of the actual competition? Because you weren't there the entire time.

[Greg Miller]

No, we. We. We were. We were there for the kickoff on Friday and left Friday afternoon. Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

Because, like, some of it is so cool. Do you see any of the clips of the trading card game with, like, the video floor?

[Greg Miller]

No, I didn't. Oh, my God.

[Tim Geddes]

It is what dreams are made of, man. Like, on the video floor, you see, like, what hands they have and, like, what are. Cards are in active play. Like, like, they just did such a great job with it. I can't wait for next year. I think they're gonna go even bigger.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. And I mean, this was humongous. And it was spot. You know, they had the Pokemon museum where I walked through and I saw every one of the games with every one of their consoles. That was Thought that was super cool. There's the. If you want to toss up the photo, Barrett, of me and Ben in front of the miradon, you know, me ride on. You know, we're talking about here.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

My motorcycle from Violet. I was fucking stoked to see him over there, just chilling out. Like, it was such a Disneyland kid in the candy store thing. And so there were so many other events going on that, like, we had been told leading up throughout the thing, like, there's this there that, and then there's, like, learn how to play. And Ben really wanted to learn how to play the card game. And so we left this section pretty early and went over there, but the line was already capped. It was like, like, maybe in 45 minutes. We're like. We're like, can we go home and play Pokemon Violet? I'm like, yeah, we can go back to the hotel and play it. Here's him ripping his first pack, but now he's playing fucking the TCG pocket on my phone.

[Tim Geddes]

Hell, yeah.

[Greg Miller]

He's going through go doing that as well. He always wants to see it. Super excited for the video games. I have not told him about Legend seed A yet Because I don't want a Donkey Kong situation. Donkey Kong I got asked about every other day for months. So we will wait. He will see Zods himself when it arrives, and we're reviewing it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Is there. Is there, like, a Pokemon thing you're most excited to introduce him to? Like, you said the part. The cartoon is like, the main way he's interacting with it, into toys and stuff.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But, like, do you look at the video games and you're like, oh, man, he's gonna absolutely love this. Or do you look at the cards?

[Greg Miller]

Or, like, is there a specific. You don't understand? He's already playing the video games. Oh, okay. So my summer break here with him for the two weeks, like, if you remember, I was leaving, and I'm like, I am going to Tahoe. I'm going to the world championships. I'm only going to pack my switch. I'm only going to play my Switch 2. I am only going to play Pokemon Violet Because I want to have it wrapped up so we can review it when I get back, and I can be all locked in and tell you about my team and yada, yada, yada. What I of course, didn't foresee was Ben seeing me playing it and be like, can I have it? I'm like, oh, well, yeah. So it's like, Ben. Like, I would do something, and then Ben would want to play it, and I would pass it. That's why I went back to rcs. That's why I went back to Sword and Shield is that I picked up the other switch, too, and I was like, all right, I want to play. I can't play my game because he's playing it. And I. We had got. Jen has Scarlet, so we started a new Scarlet thing. Didn't hit the same way. He wanted the Pokemon he's already captured. He wanted his boxes. He knows his like I am have no frame of reference for kids in video games. So I knew something was awry. This gdc, when I was talking to a developer, and they were. He's like, yeah, you need just Ben have interest. I'm like, oh, yeah, he plays Forza. He plays in, like, no, he. But, like, you play it for him. I'm like, no, no, no. He picks up the canoe, and I showed him, and he's like, my daughter is 7 years old, and she doesn't know. And I still get it in the Greg way of, like. Like, my kids the same age as Ben, but it's still just a palm on the controller trying to move the stick. Like, Ben knows games, and he knows it disturbingly well for Pokemon, especially right now, where he is, like, he knows how to go to the boxes. He knows how to switch out the team.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, I was. I went over for dinner a couple weeks ago, and Ben was playing next to me, and I was shocked at, like, seeing him navigate the menus where I'm like, that's crazy. This kid can't read, you know, definitively. This kid can't read. But, like, he knows what he's doing. And, like, it brought me back to being a dumbass kid, too. Like, yeah, but I wasn't three years old. You know what I mean? It's. It was wild. Then he was, like, stoked about catching a Scyther, and I'm like, yeah, man, me too, bro.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, my God. And, like, here's the other thing we'll talk about. All right. I'm gonna try to. I'm gonna copy this image. I'm gonna toss it into Assets. But how many weeks ago was that when you came through with for a lovely. Yeah, three weeks or whatever. And I tossed this in. I think it'll work. Maybe not. I don't know. I'm trying to copy out of an image. You let me know if it actually shares or whatever. Yeah. Here they. Here they are. Playing Pokemon together, Tim and Ben at the kitchen table. Three weeks ago, they came over. We've played a lot of Pokemon since then. We don't. And of course, kids, brains, they're empty. They got nothing clanking around like we do. You're trying to remember your fucking third grade algebra teacher. Whatever. This morning, we're putting on shoes and I asked permission. I'm like, can I bring Hawlucha I need. Because, like, this was almost another thing at the Pokemon center where it was like, I got the Hawlucha. And then Ben's like, all right, are you gonna get your own? And I was, all right. We bought him and we left. And it. Ben was like, all right, cool. But he had his team of other Pokemon he had bought. He's like, I bought. He's like, so can I have Hawlucha and you go buy your own Hawlucha. And I was like, well, no, it's. But you can keep him. It's fine. He doesn't need to be on my desk. Ben, it's totally fine. Don't worry about it. Blah, blah, blah. And he was like, okay, fine. But. So, like, today was. I had to ask permission if I could take out Barrett's response. And Assets was, Windows doesn't like it. I'm gonna try to convert it. Hold on, Let me screenshot it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Heic files?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I think so. I think Jen took it on her phone. So it's like the weird one. Or maybe Gia did. That's just a screenshot of my thing as a png. That should be easier for you. I was like, okay, whatever. Today I was like, can I bring Hollusian? He's like, yeah, no problem. I'm great. And so we're sitting there putting on shoes and put on the shirt. He's like, I like your shirt, Daddy. I'm like, thanks. And then he goes, three weeks later. Did you know that. Did you know Uncle Tim's favorite Pokemon is Scyther? And I was like, is it?

[Tim Geddes]

And he's like.

[Greg Miller]

And I'm like, yeah. He's like, yeah. I'm like, are you sure? He's like, yeah. He's like, ask him today.

[Tim Geddes]

That's funny. My favorite, but one of my faves, for sure. Yeah. That is awesome. I did say that. I really love Cyther Tim. That's so funny.

[Greg Miller]

Here's Uncle Tim showing himself Pokemon Go collection. If I. Oh, yeah, yeah. But no, no. So, like, Ben is all in on it. So it's like, I'm. If anything, what I'M excited for would be next gen, the next generation of Pokemon when it will be cool. You're getting. We got them both. You're A, I'm B, let's play side by side and the trade and do the whole thing.

[Tim Geddes]

It's going to be awesome.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Gen 10 is going to be hopefully such a great jump on point. I mean it being the 30th anniversary of Pokemon next year's 10th anniversary ago. Like, I think next year is going to be the biggest year in Pokemon history, which is, which is very exciting. And also worlds in San Francisco and also Pokemon Champions dropping like this.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

This next year will be the first time the Pokemon World Championships are played in Pokemon Champions as opposed to the latest game, which is awesome. And so, yeah, I'm very, very excited to see all that.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Obviously, like, you've been in video games for a very long time, so you obviously know the power of Pokemon and the popularity of Pokemon. But like now that you're at where you're at now and you see like, you know, I looked it up on Wikipedia of list of highest grossing IP in Pokemon's number one and almost like it by far.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Like it almost doubles Mickey Mouse and friends.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

As far as what that is. Right. Like, was there a moment for you as you're experiencing all this where it clicks into place of like, oh, this is what it. Like this makes sense now. Or like you feel like you're, I guess, a part of that wave now?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, 100%. You know, I've described it before as quicksand where it's like I've always, you know, it's always got. It's always tickled the edge of my gaming periphery where I'm like, ah, yeah, you know, I'm interested in it, but I'm never. I don't have the. So to have the show lay the groundwork for this is the world to jump into the game and be the thing about it. But then, even then I, I say it. I know and I know so many other people too is derogatory of like, it's a simple game. It's not like, you know what I mean? It's like this isn't throwing shade as much as admitting what it is. It's a very basic game. Even Violet's very basic in terms of what you're doing. The storylines aren't amazing. Why are you playing this? What's going on? There's the collecting at blah, blah. But it was like, like when it really had its hooks in me where it was like, all right, bends down and I grab the switch and I sit down and like, tonight I'm just catching. Or I'm. Or maybe I'm not. Like, the DLC is a great example of like, oh, I want to knock all this out before I. Before we come back to work and it's redacted versus redacted or redacted. You know, I mean, there's a million games to review, but I started up and be like, all right, cool. Four of these gym leaders in DLC 2 to be no big deal. But then I'm like, oh, wait, these are all new areas with all new Pokemon. And next thing I know, it's been 45, 50 minutes of me just catching Pokemon than to go off. And then I think the DLC 2 has done such a great job of delivering what I wanted out of the poke, what I want out of Pokemon, period. Which is, hey, think about the makeup of your team. And hey, here is a challenge that you have to overcome. Whether it be like we were talking yesterday, Tim, of like, you come to the one guy and he's like, cool, you can only fight me with Pokemon you've caught in this region or fight these guys with poke. And I'm like, ah, that's a nice wrinkle. That's, you know, in I. Somebody in the one, you all made fun of me for the Greg way where I was like, oh, man, Pokemon is hard, or whatever. Knowing that people would come in and hear me actually talk about this one specific battle. It was tough because all of a sudden it was like, oh, you really got to think about your party makeup. Every other time I felt like, in this game, I'm running with the squad you saw, and even if it was, oh, this is super effective against them. And my guy gets faints, this faints. Eventually we'd run into a guy who's just like, I'm fucking 20 levels higher and it's super effective. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you. And it was done. And it was like, okay, cool. Like, I got out of it. Team Star. I was always ready for these fights to be like, ah, they're gonna test me. They're metal. I need to figure. And I'd come in like, oh, this was easy. Maybe a different item, you know, variety, the end to fight the boss. But otherwise it was fine.

[Tim Geddes]

Throughout Scarlet and Violet, like, there's. In the core game, there's, I'd say only like three or four of like, the kind of, like, endgame level fights that have any type of Difficulty if you need to actually be strategic and think about what you're doing. But the entirety of the second DLC pack, the Indigo disc is a bit more focused on the battles but. But something I really appreciate. I think that this is a great game for you to. To start this journey with Greg and like to have played so much is the DLC one was like fun kind of more story based thing and the DLC 2 is very much just like here's the battles, here's the double battles. Like this is like what you could be doing if you take Pokemon very seriously. But it's also a great kind of jump on point to just catch up because every legendary ever is accessible in the, in the DLC and every starter Pokemon ever. And it just being in a very simple four biome in one area like, like it allows you to just get the most distilled like hey, let's take any of the adventure out of this. It is just a, you want water, go to the water area. You want fire, go to the little like fire, Mountainy, whatever. It's all in one place. So it's just a good area to be able to catch all the Pokemon actually find a team that you want and like it just is a really, really good. Hey, you might not have played in a long time. This is the way to, to get really into it and I, I just appreciate that make my way through it for the first time.

[Greg Miller]

Now I think this is the other thing too of you know, slight spoilers for the DLC for this game. I'm sure you've all played a million times or whatever.

[Tim Geddes]

I doubt it. I don't think that that many people played.

[Greg Miller]

I like this story here so much better as well. Of like you get it, you, you know, you go to this new town in the first one, you meet new people, you meet this kid Kieran or whatever. And then by number two, he's what I assume my interpretation of having a rival in Pokemon has always been the best. Which is like you didn't have in Violet, right? We had the girl, but she's like, she was always very nice. I like her fine. But I didn't feel like we were like rivals.

[Tim Geddes]

No for sure. And that is one of my biggest criticisms of Pokemon is like they got rid of the rival idea a long time ago. It's always your stupid little friends or whatever. They're way too nice. It's like, no, I want you to choose the, the third Pokemon that's strong against me, not the one that I'm strong Against like, what are we doing? But I also get it. Whatever they solve that here. I think that the Kieran stuff is very, very good and I want so much more of it. I know that a lot of people haven't seen this.

[Greg Miller]

I know.

[Tim Geddes]

Bless. You haven't even gotten through. You didn't play the dlc.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

No, I didn't play the dlc.

[Tim Geddes]

But you played the core game. You know that it does have some epic moments when it wants to in the area. Zero stuff is fantastic. So cool.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, really great ending.

[Tim Geddes]

I want to show a one minute video that is the one of the final battles of the dlc. So if you don't want any spoilers for this, go away for this one minute and come back. But I just need us all to see what Pokemon can be because this is so good.

[Greg Miller]

What am I pulling?

[Tim Geddes]

Pull up the epic music from YouTuber McSally's Long Play. So shout out to McSally doing a long play of the second DLC here. I just need you all to see the presentation of this and hear the song. Can we get sound out here?

[Greg Miller]

I'm not getting any sound either. Oh, that's fine. It's all about. But again, no, I think that's what I feel. Both these DLCs are of like what Pokemon could be in terms of telling. Because outside of this, again, this the team star thing and they're bullies, but they were bullied. And I'm like, what? What is this all about? I don't care. I just want to be the best. Then you get to all these people. Like I cared about having a fight here.

[Tim Geddes]

Let's look at the presentation of this.

[Greg Miller]

Imagine if I had voices.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I mean, I'm excited for just a cut scene. That's what roll mine's at for me.

[Greg Miller]

All that hard work, all of it leave you right here, right now.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Hell yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Kieran.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I love that this feels directed.

[Tim Geddes]

Hold on, keep listening. Quacker.

[Greg Miller]

Ogre Pond. This is a good team. Oh yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Like, oh my God. What the. It's so good. You see this, Greg? If you have Ogre Pond on your team team, he reacts to you having it. Because the first deal.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, of course, of course.

[Tim Geddes]

So cool. Anyway, this. I was playing this last night and I was like watching some on TV while playing on my switch with the volume of just little. And when this started, I was like, it's TV time. Like we're going all in.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, go to bed.

[Tim Geddes]

So like just. I just need to say this. Like I love there's. There's moments Throughout Scarlet Violet, the main game, and in the DLC that have this level of, like, direction to it. And it's like, I just want so much more of this. And, like, imagine that with voice acting like, imagine how hard it would go. And we've had it before. Pokemon Battle Revolution, Pokemon Stadium. It would have light, little, like, announcers.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Oh, my God going on.

[Tim Geddes]

That's all we need. That's not all we need. We need so much, but, God, I wish we had.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That would be just such a step forward for it. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Quick question from the chat that I'm.

[Greg Miller]

Also wondering, big ass, did Toby Fox.

[Tim Geddes]

Do the DLC music as well? I think so. I don't know for sure though. But that sounds like it.

[Greg Miller]

I'm pretty sure based on a comment when I was bitching. Not bitching, when Jen was bitching about Ed Sheeran doing the credits, somebody. Somebody called that out of thought.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That was definitely a moment for me where, like, I got to the Ed Sheeran credits and I think that was still when I was reviewing the game.

[Greg Miller]

I don't know that that hit.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

And I was like, I need to talk to somebody about this. Like, this game is actually special. And that was back when it was like, you know, the big conversation was about how badly that game ran and all that. Right. But I remember coming into work and I think Tim asked me how was it? And like, I forget exactly what I said, but I was definitely like, yo, this shit is fucking.

[Tim Geddes]

You sold me on the game.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, this is really good.

[Tim Geddes]

I have never been in a hype cycle for any video game as more of a hater than I was going into Scarlet and Violet. And then like, here I am now.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I think as I was recommending, I was like. I think I was shocked by my own, like, impressions. I was like, dude, this is fucking good. And I kind of can't believe it, even though it runs terribly.

[Tim Geddes]

So, Greg, I want to get to now, your review of Pokemon, Scarlet and Violet. The game came out in 2022. It is August 28, 2025. You've now beat it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Are you ready to give a score on the kind of funny scale?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I. I am. But I think it's also probably, and I know this sounds goofy, as being a professional video game Reviewer for nearly 20 years, I feel like it's almost one of those. You gotta look at this as my first Pokemon game, which I know isn't technically true. I did. Let's go. But it was something to do with Jen. Like, I don't remember anything about it really. So I just don't count that. Whereas this is the first time I'm like, like, I have the screenshot of my chart of what's powerful against what that I have open with me. And again, like, I think that's. You asked about, you know, if getting into this I understand more of the why it's this. You know what I mean? And it was the weird excitement in me of, okay, cool. Like, the photo I use is from Ben's Pokemon magazine. You know what I mean? That I picked up at the Jewel, the supermarket.

[Tim Geddes]

It.

[Greg Miller]

And so like the excitement of I'm getting ready to do this important thing. So I open up the magazine and I have it in front of me to be able to look at the types and stuff. And like. And I bought a shout out to Ignacio Rojas, of course, kind of funny best friend. I talked about one of the apps I was using for a Pokedex. He's like, no, no, no, get this one. And if you want to, you can pay, you know, six bucks or whatever for no ads like, like, I'll do that. Pay the six bucks. Because it's such a good app that I should give it a shot at. But it's like, I have my little magazine out. I have this thing out and I'm talking about master decks. That's the one I use. I have this out. I'm looking at it like, that's all new to me in, in terms of this game. And so I, I think we always talk about, like, how, oh, man, jaded people are how many. You know, Tim knows them inside and out and what he's seen and what he hasn't, like. And I'm also playing the Switch 2 Edition, which solves all the issues that I didn't really. I mean, I touched switch one for 10 hours, so I saw it ran poorly. And all that jazz I'm not trying to do but, like, talking about Switch 2, talking about all the DLC, talking about what it is. Like, like, my head wants to try to put it into the eights. My heart wants to give it a nine. Like, but again, like, am I talking about the time I'm having? Like, I. I think that's. That's what's the dissertation that would be from me in the college class of just like, no doubt, I've had an amazing time with this game. But mechanically, graphically, no VO audio. Like, that means to me as a critic, means it can't be a nine game. That means it's. I think it's an eight. Probably it's an eight. It's right there where it's like, I'm playing it sometimes, and I'm like, why am I so fucking addicted to this? Why am I so into catching these guys? Why? Fighting this thing and doing. And I. Driving your bike around and being this awkward animation of jumping in and out. It's like, there's all that real stuff going on. That's. That, I think I'm saying, is an 8. It's a. It's a great game. But then there's the fucking magic of Pokemon that takes it so far above that in terms of the time you're having, if that makes sense.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, dude, last night I was. Or the last couple days playing through the. The second dlc because I really just kind of started it up. I got to the point where you're in the terrarium and you're allowed to go face off against the elite four of the section. And the last couple days doing all four of those, I was kind of not into it. It was just like, all right, I'm just going through the motions. I know what I'm doing here. Just kind of clicking a.

[Greg Miller]

A lot, right?

[Tim Geddes]

But then by the time you start getting to the battles, I just found myself like, oh, my God, I love this so much. It's like a trance. You just get. Get sucked into it where it's like, it. I really feel like it takes a couple of your Pokemon fainting, where you're like, oh, I gotta pay attention. I gotta pay attention, and you have to pay attention. It's. It's really good.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. And that's the one criticism I would have, right? Of like, we're talking about the DLCs and how good they are. I can talk about, you know, the ending of the violet in general, going into the crater and all that jazz, but I would say so many of those hours, I wasn't. I didn't have to pay attention. It was just mash a look, and I. And I like it. Of the. What's super effective. Whatever. Do that. Blah, blah, blah. But again, there's a magic to this entire thing. Saying trance, I think, is the best way to put it where, yeah, I will be in a trance playing this game, and it is that I, you know, I don't think until the next one comes around, I'll ever get it off my switch, because it will be. Let's just go catch some stuff. Let's go. What can I.

[Tim Geddes]

Are you trying to catch them all? Is that interesting?

[Greg Miller]

No, it is interesting. It's Very, very interesting. And if it was, if we didn't have this job, I'd be all about it. It might. Because, you know, like, foolishly, when I was leaving, I was like, I'd love to come back for this games cast and have it not only beat all the DLCs beat and have caught them all, but then Ben fell in love with it and then it was a family vacation, so it wasn't like I was grinding on it nonstop. And now that I'm back, right, it was Metal Gear. It's redacted. As soon as that's done, it's redacted to Redactor. Three is on the horizon. There's so many things to do here that I'm not going to actually get back to. I probably won't get back to do more Violet stuff until way after we either review or just play Legends where it'll be like, well, that's gonna. I bet the way it'll all shake out that way down there.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But I can't tell you what a great time I've had with it, how much I love this IP now and how much I'm enjoying being a part of that. And again, like, I think I'm so spoiled being a dad where, you know, Ben came out and was like super into Ghostbusters. Yeah. You know what I mean? Superman. Yeah. Like, there was a moment like, you know, Jen grew up a Pokemon fan and like when we put on the episode, she's like, oh, this is a great one, actually. She's talking to me the way I talk to her about Ghostbusters or wrestling match or whatever. You know what I mean? And so there was that thing where I turned to her one day where he was like, this is Jen being as a mom, being an expert in something Ben loves because he will just be driving the car and he's looking out the window, mom, what's strong against rock type? You know what I mean? He's just thinking about Pokemon and Jen has the answer in a way that I'd be like, let me look at my chart. Jen knows it, right? And it's like. Like I turned to her one day after some question or whatever he was doing or what he's playing. He just got his Pokemon Crocs yesterday. Big day. I was just like, so are you just loving this? You know what I mean? You finally get this where he's into something that means so much to you, right? And she had a beautiful answer about it. But it's a very cool time right now in the Miller Household.

[Tim Geddes]

I love it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

The best case scenario.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm excited to, like, you know, when I think about my Pokemon upbringing, right? Like, I don't think I played Pokemon Blue or, like, a Pokemon Mainline game until, like, my fourth or fifth Pokemon thing, right? Like, it went from the show to the cards to Pokemon Stadium to. Then I think I got Pokemon Blue and started playing that on my cousin's Game Boy until I got it right. And, like, you know, between now and whatever the next generation of Pokemon is, let's say Gen 10 is, you know, November 2026. I wonder how many different things are going to be out by then, right? Of, like, if there's a new Pokemon pinball game or if there's, like, a new, like. Like, there's so many different ways to get into it that I'm excited to see, like, how that forms his experience.

[Greg Miller]

He cherishes the cards. That one pack he has, he put. They gave us sleeves. We got, like, a Pokemon care package, and they gave us sleeves. So he's got them all on his sleeves, and he'll just sit on the couch and go through them and put them down. I'm like, all right, man, I love that. Tim, before we get too far off, what would you score Pokemon right now in the year of our Lord 2025?

[Tim Geddes]

God, if it's hard for you to answer, it's even harder for me to answer. Yeah. Because I. When I reviewed it on the old scale we had, I'm pretty sure I gave it a four out of five that we love. Like a five out of five.

[Greg Miller]

Right? Like that.

[Tim Geddes]

I think that was, like, the origin of us saying all of that. Yeah, I. I would give it. I'd give it an eight. It's. It's great. I think, especially the Switch 2 version. It's. The game's ugly as sin, and I've. No performance updates can change that, but there's a novelty to it. I said this back then. I still feel it now playing the DLC 2. Like, it reminds me of Mario 64 in all the right ways, where just moving around fun and getting places is fun. And I like how you can climb anything. They can go anywhere. Like, they give you tools to do all that. It's very different than some of the other games, and I can even argue it's a 7.5 just because of the amount of things of the core game that I actually don't like. Like, the Team Star stuff is, I'd say, a downside to it all. Terrestrializing is maybe my least Favorite of the gimmicks that they've ever had.

[Greg Miller]

Sure. Exactly what it does. I mean granted, I'm hours in the but I'm like, am I. When I don't terrestrial size and they hit me, it's not like I'm immediately dead. So it's like is it making you.

[Tim Geddes]

It changes their type and like you get different stab. The same type, same type Attack bone.

[Greg Miller]

It's always just the most boring thing of like their last Pokemon they're gonna use it on.

[Tim Geddes]

So the animation.

[Greg Miller]

I'll leave it for my last Pokemon to get these dumb balloons on his head.

[Tim Geddes]

The raids really, really, really, really suck. They're implemented horribly with the worst lag of all time and performance issues don't fix that because it's Internet based. Like a lot, a lot of downsides to it from a core gameplay side. I'm so happy. Mega evolutions of the focus coming back, it's. Those are my favorite. I think the coolest too. So yeah, a lot of, lot of downsides. But I feel like the end of the game is so strong. Like the, the post Elite four stuff is the Area Zero stuff is so special and cool and so much of what they did. Like even just the way that the Pokemon center and the, the. The Poke Mart and the TM making thing all being just one station that you can find in each town. So much about this game that I love, but God, I really can't wait to see what this game looks like a couple iterations from now, a couple generations. Because Pokemon still feels like they're designing games for handheld consoles only like they used to on the Game Boy. And it's like, nah, man, we're competing with the big dogs. Let's get the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth team on a Pokemon game.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Tim Geddes]

Let's just do it.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

It is kind of crazy though that like, you know, Pokemon is so one of a kind. And I think there is an inherent quality to it to where even though they put out a game that. That feels messy, feels like it has. You know, Tim can go off and talk about like the list of things that could be better. There's still nobody else that can make a Pokemon game that hits like Pokemon, which is insane to me. Right. And like there's so much that goes into that obviously. Right. But like, you know, we talk about the clones, we talk about whether it's a palworld or I think there was one called Coromon that was like an indie one that I played a little bit of and like that game was cool. A was quality, right? But I think there's something to be said about what Pokemon, the Pokemon company and game freak are able to pull off with just the inherent. Damn, this shit is just fun to play. There's a gameplay loop here. There is a. There is a design aspect here that just makes it hit that nobody else is able to replicate on this level.

[Tim Geddes]

And there's something that you. It's really hard to put into words that make sense to people that don't have the nostalgia for any of this. But I will never forget seeing an Umbreon in the wild in Scarlet and Violet or Porygon or like these Pokemon that used to be like, like hard to get. Like, oh, you need to make the choice for your Eevee of what you're evolving into. You need to trade friends to get the different forms, like all that. This. I'm just in the wild. A wild Dragonite. Are you kidding me? Like, that stuff is so cool to me.

[Greg Miller]

Six year old. Well, again, like, you know, the layers to it where, like, I just hadn't thought about Pokemon in a very. In a specific way, if that makes sense. The game comes at me and I get the team and I assemble it and so one day early on when we were playing, Ben was like, do you have a Pikachu? And we looked through all the boxes. I'm like, oh, no, I don't have a Pikachu. He's like, can we get one? I'm like, sure. And I Google it and it's like, oh, oh, hold on, Ben. I gotta eat an avocado sandwich. I gotta go over here.

[Tim Geddes]

Sandwiches suck too.

[Greg Miller]

They suck. But it was like a nice wrinkle of like, oh, there's some shit you gotta pull to get the thing you want. If it's a special thing.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, let's see how much you like it when you catch every goddamn one of these fuckers. I have the whole Pokedex in Scarlet and Violet, the whole Pokedex in DLC 1, halfway through DLC 2 too, and I'm back. Blessed. You're mad stuck, man. I'm stuck.

[Greg Miller]

I gotta finish it.

[Tim Geddes]

Gotta finish it.

[Greg Miller]

Gotta catch them all.

[Tim Geddes]

We got. I know we're a little long here, but we have a lot of super.

[Greg Miller]

Chats that I wanted.

[Tim Geddes]

I want to get to here. Joshua Mitchell says, what new Megas or even regular slash regional evolutions are you hoping to see? I want to see him spread the love. I. I would love to see all of the starter Pokemon get a Mega Evolution form for their Their third stage. I think we're almost there at this point, but might as well round it all out. You guys have any answers?

[Greg Miller]

No, I don't. Sorry. I mean I got hallucination.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'm new to this region, right? Like I didn't, I haven't played Pokemon X and Y, so Mega Evolutions are a new thing for me. So I'm excited to see the ones that are in here already. Like the victory bell thing. It's such sicko shit.

[Tim Geddes]

It is.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

But honestly, I kind of want one.

[Tim Geddes]

Icy Wiener says Tim should never tell Greg about his nightmares. He'll turn them into his reality. Yeah, I know. That's just the life that I live. Alexander says KFC should do a Pokemon game stream. Winner reviews Za. I just, yeah, I, that's the thing is like I, I, I don't have a team. Despite it being like every game, I just have a different team. You know, I kind of like just jump into it and I would like with Pokemon champions coming out, like I am more interested than ever in taking it seriously and like trying to come up with these are my six.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Flying Penguin says Greg may have only played 20 minutes, but it was two vertical slices if I'm correct. Let's have Greg play the first hour and see what he thinks. Nintendo can't do that.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Yeah, can't do just the first hour.

[Tim Geddes]

Juno says three weeks early birthday tax cuz I'll be without service in the wilderness. But Greg, please tell me za is an $80. Happy early birthday there. Be careful in the wilderness. And I'm pretty sure it's 70.

[Greg Miller]

I was gonna say they did put out a thing for it.

[Tim Geddes]

King Vin says I spent all my coin on. Yeah, I spent all my coin on this super Chat. I can't afford to Switch two, but I'm not sure if it's worth buying one just yet. Do you think Zaw would be drastically worse than experience on Switch 1?

[Greg Miller]

Yes. If Nintendo's showing you anything and the Pokemon company is showing you anything.

[Tim Geddes]

Yes, yes, yes. Yel Sing says like Carnival from Brazil.

[Greg Miller]

When you hit the Google thing to let him speak.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

That's what I was going for.

[Tim Geddes]

Leprechaun says a Persian in the end game. That's crazy, right? Yeah, exactly. And then Andrew Brown says incinerar is one of the greatest VGC Mons ever. Yeah, that's the other thing. Like incinerary is super op super. It's like bayonetta and smash when everyone's just like, like it's so overused. Street Shadow says Greg Reviewing this is the best. That perspective of a dad who sees the joy in the face of their kid. Seeing the joy of a kid really changed how I judge tons of media like movies, games and shows. And then Street. Street Shadow also says, what's your favorite Pokemon game moment? Mine's the end of Silver Soul Silver and the Final Battle. Plus getting my shiny Umbreon.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Damn.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, yeah, you took it. That is the greatest moment ever.

[Greg Miller]

Period.

[Tim Geddes]

That might be the greatest moment of my life. I got married. Some great stuff's happened to me at the end of fucking Silver.

[Greg Miller]

That's really where it was at. Yeah, yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

I'll say. Finding Mewtwo for the first time. Pokemon Blue.

[Tim Geddes]

Big one.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

God. And then J Baseball says, will Greg play Coliseum when it comes to Nintendo Switch Online?

[Greg Miller]

I don't know what Coliseum.

[Tim Geddes]

Coliseum was the first GameCube Pokemon game. It was essentially a sequel to Stadium. So it's mainly focused on the battling and using your Game Boy Pokemon on tv. But there was also a full RPG campaign that was different, way more adult. And there wasn't gym battles and things like that.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Tim Geddes]

And your. Your starter Pokemon, you had Espeon and Umbreon, which is cool as okay, but I don't.

[Greg Miller]

I don't know that it'd be your vibe. Yeah, I doubt it. I doubt it.

[Tim Geddes]

But I loved it back in the day. And that's it for the super chats. Thank you so much for that. Greg, any closing words on your new.

[Greg Miller]

I'm so excited to be excited about Pokemon. I'm really looking forward to Z Day. See what that's all about. I'm looking forward to it. Is that thing where playing Z Day was fun. This is different. It's cool. But it was like, well, I'm going to be more excited for Gen 10 for sure. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Hell yeah.

[Blessing Adioye Jr.]

Hell yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Hell yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

What a time. Thank you for hanging out with us. We're about to do Prey in review. Continuing. Alien versus Predator in review. It's going to be a good time. Until next time. I love you all. Goodbye.