The Strange and Beautiful NPCs of Gen 3 Pokemon

In today's Pokemon deepdive, we explore the wonderful world of weird and silly NPCs on Pokemon on the Gameboy Advance. There is so much that goes massively underappreciated in the "everyone else" of these worlds, so let's take a journey through the ages and appreciate some of Pokemon's most interesting weirdos.
Outside of the Pokemon themselves, the actual experience of playing Pokemon is largely defined by the kinds of people you run into the world. There's an identity baked into games that makes talking to people an interesting experience. You could receive an item, maybe a tip on gameplay, or perhaps just a story from this world. Everything is covered in that Pokemon coat of paint. From the Kanto region, to the Hoenn region, to the Sevii islands- I love it.
This is my best attempt at covering as many characters as possible that I feel go unappreciated in gen 3 Pokemon. Definitely not a comprehensive list, and maybe I'll cover more from different games if that's something people want. Hope you enjoy!
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Gameplay comes from Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon, Silver, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Ruby, Pokemon Sapphire, Pokemon FireRed, Pokemon LeafGreen, Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Platinum, Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon Black 2, Pokemon White 2, Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Pokemon Sword, Pokemon Shield, Pokemon Let's Go Eevee, Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu, Pokemon Scarlet, and Pokemon Violet. #pokemon #pokemonscarletandviolet #pokemonemerald

[@droomish1]

coping hard for the sevii islands. hope everyone's doing okay

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Good video dumbo😂

[@josephjames9090]

The fact that they didn't put them in lets go when it's on the switch without the constraints of the older hardware is such a bummer i love getting gen 2 mons there it's my fav area in those games by far really rounded out Kanto nicely I'm still not fucking over it

[@Bananagin2]

Most underrated area in any Pokémon game. Great to see it get some love :)

[@bernard12324]

Thanks for the good energy, hope you’ve been smooth droom

[@nessdbest8708]

what was that ending song?

[@Iranex1]

I've always loved the guy who blocks your path in Oldale town because he found some strange footprints and doesnt want you to mess them up, but the poor guy realizes they are his own footprints and gets all sad about it

[@droomish1]

ha! I would get so mad at him on subsequent replays, thinking like "you fool. soon you will know the folly of blocking me"

[@McCullyClassic]

Well thanks for spoiling it!!

[@machina5]

​@@McCullyClassic It's been 21 years, you haven't played it, and you're watching a KZbin video *about* Gen 3 NPCs. Stop pretending to be upset about Gen 3 NPC dialogue being spoiled and go get a life.

[@mujigant]

​@@McCullyClassic What the fuck lmao

[@sharzinlalebazri5673]

​@@McCullyClassicI'm not even asking you to touch real life grass. Even seeing pictures of grass on Google would be too great of an effort for you.

[@ericjustice7661]

I really like the Winstrate family who battle you one after another. And then you finally get to face the son in victory road.

[@claymathewselevator8121]

I never realized that was their son till years later

[@robertlupa8273]

@@claymathewselevator8121 That's because the English translators didn't notice it either, so they didn't give him a matching name.

[@thisisdefinitelymyrealname]

If memory serves, the Winstrates had an entire episode dedicated to them in the Hoenn anime. That was years ago, and on a CD I got from who knows where, but I still remember how they loved to battle, and their Camerupt had Anger Point as a lore thing. But the biggest parts of that episode were at the start and end: in the beginning, the party half-dies of dehydration (despite having I think 2-3 Water-types). Towards the end of the episode, their son, who's participating in the League, is actually watching, hiding himself. His Pokemon help against Team Rocket or something like that; I don't remember too well.

[@CrystalGreymon]

@@robertlupa8273 Actually, the English version was the one that got the name right, He didn't have a matching Trainer Class which is what confuses things.

[@kitkatboard]

@@CrystalGreymon I like that his trainer class doesn't match. It feels like a pat on the back to the people who paid attention.

[@jakisrandom1]

My favourite Gen 3 NPC has got to be the one who says something along the lines of "Excuse me, sir. Do you know how can i get to [some Johto city]. Huh? What do you mean this isn't Johto", while he's on the Sevii Islands. Bro's so lost. 😂

[@Disguised_Cat]

Wasn't he on Hoenn?

[@AutumnOwlex]

Lmao that's some zoro level of being lost

[@loulou3676]

they play Johto music in the Sevii islands so that's not surprising

[@TheKyubiisaan]

@@AutumnOwlexzoro, go north of saffron city. … Ok, I climbed silph. Co! ZORO YOU WENT UP NOT NORTH

[@ochuspin]

Poor guy got on the wrong boat

[@whyccan9063]

I also find it endearing that the Slowbro NPC is also repeating the actual sentences you get from Pokémon disobedience. It's a nice little touch of "show, don't tell" in the narrative and I think the games could benefit more from things like that.

[@matthewroberts198]

A nice continuity Pokémon added was in Gen 2&4 (the sequels after 1&3 respectively) is when you travel to Cerulean, now 3yrs later Slowbro finally listens to her

[@luisadolfothewolf7042]

Something cool is that the girl with the Slowbro also appears in the Johto games during the famous Kanto post game, and says how now her Pokémon is her best partner thanks to the effort, a neat little character development arc of an NPC that they didn't have to add, but did

[@coffee-ouji]

damn, that goes hard, good for her

[@CrystalGreymon]

@@coffee-ouji Put in the effort, reap the rewards.

[@TwizzleCMx3]

I came across this when I was a kid and thought so cool they're really in depth with they're games, I love the Easter eggs in newer games from older games lik cameos almost, and also I love playin the old games and finding Easter eggs that point to something in future versions

[@SteelSquishy]

HUH?

[@flowercrown-eevee]

I remember that too. I love how they just added that in. The fact that after sometime the Slowbro now listens to her and obeys. It was something I remember quite well from those games. It was just a tiny little detail that helped tell and great story.

[@Mijzelffan]

On the Hoenn cycling road, there is a guy pointing out the Rydel stickers on your bike and he just repeats "Rydel. Rydel. Rydel" like 20 times, that npc is iconic to me

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

Love that guy. Funniest interaction with an NPC I can remember.

[@TheUsernameunknown3]

​@@TheDanishGuyReviewsuntil you accidentally hit A again and are stuck in an endless Rydel loop

[@Lambeaux0]

It being in the middle of a timed challenge as well makes it even funnier. Trying to be speedy and accidentlly getting stuck in a chain of RYDEL

[@renakunisaki]

@@TheUsernameunknown3 that's why you use B to advance text

[@spindash64]

I remember Chugga’s playthrough of Emerald, where he interrupted the speed up training montage JUST to read that out

[@ShouldaWoulda]

I remember a playground rumor about the trick master. Once he leaves his house and the note behind, you can find him somewhere else randomly on the map and he would act as a secret boss fight. I spent so long looking for that little twinkle giving away his hiding spot before i found out it wasn't true.

[@nothanks4074]

Another detail I like about Rydel is that a trainer on cycling road will point out that your bike is covered with his name and branding to a comical degree. When you first meet Rydel it seems like he's just a nice guy who's trying to help you out, but you realize later that he's been using you for free advertising. It's such a small detail in the grander scheme of the game, but it adds some character and humor to the world while also grounding it

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

I honestly thought that's where he was going with the Hoenn Bike inclusion. That random cyclist was my favourite RSE NPC growing up.

[@claymathewselevator8121]

I loved doing the Cycling Road speed challenge

[@Sherkel]

I was always so bothered trying to fit all the words onto a bike in my head that I forgot about it.

[@BakingAndGhibli]

Rydel’s out there somewhere posting “bike endorsed by the regional champion!” on his store

[@Winasaurus]

@@BakingAndGhibli That's basically what happens in Gen 2. The guy's bike shop is struggling, so he lets you borrow one as a form of advertising. Then if you've ridden it around enough (and so usually made decent in-world achievements like beaten gyms), he calls you up and is like "Wow, thanks to you, business is booming! You can keep the bike!"

[@damonrichardson1999]

I got a kick out of Team Aqua/Magma going to the museum for Captain Stern and instead of doing something flashy or crazy like taking over the museum and holding them hostage, this gang of criminals waits in line to pay the admission fee to get in! The best part is that they're all just hanging out in the lobby like "Heheh being evil is fun!" just looking at things and the one from Rustboro gives TM46 and runs away. It's just hilarious to think the villains just paid admission fair and square. Edit: I just have to add this. I started a new Normal type challenge in Sapphire and I got the guy in Mauville City that gives trendy words. He said "I'll tell you what's popular nowadays: 'CANCEL'. What does that mean? Ask your mommy or daddy". Hearing "cancel" as the random trendy word got me.

[@TheChadPad]

I never realized that. That’s awesome

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Lol, I'm pretty sure that guy just says random stuff that's "trendy" each playthrough

[@everidazed]

Yeah I remember them all lining up! I liked to think it was because their boss admired the work the museum did and demanded that while they needed to get in there, they weren't going to cause more trouble than necessary. Show some respect!

[@ChillingDusselgurr]

​@@BuryTheLight-tdsPretty sure that they know that, it's just funny to them that they happened to that particular word

[@OrionSeas]

The grunt who gives you Thief is my hero! I was doing a Psychic Type only run of Emerald a while back, and until he gave me TM 48 I didn’t have any way to hit Dark type Pokémon. My only strategy to beat him in Petalburg woods was to have my Ralts use Struggle 😅

[@L0ve1tRetr0]

I've just realised that the free potion is to entice you to talk to more NPCs. It's incredibly obvious, of course, but I never thought about it.

[@TheReZisTLust]

And it's a great showcase too. In fact Scarlets first npc, the black Tauros owner I talked to froze my game, back to back and so I learned never to talk to an NPC again. Later learned from social media Echo the dolphon my main pokemon evolved only online

[@psuedonym9999]

@TheReZisTLust cool story

[@justinfrazier9555]

This is the same reason they put items in trash cans. You'll spend the entire game searching every single one of them.

[@Hyper_Drud]

I think one of my favorite NPC interactions is between a delinquent and a female ace trainer in ORAS Mauville City. The delinquent is treating the ace trainer to dinner because she became an ace trainer after the delinquent said she’d treat her to dinner if the ace trainer became an ace. Then she tells the ace that it’s also a farewell dinner because the ace can’t be hanging out with her anymore, it’s not good for her image as an ace. All this and the ace is speaking with an accent similar to the delinquent’s, meaning she used to be one herself. There’s also a male and a female triathlete in the Battle Frontier that mention they’re gonna be parents. In my headcanon they’re a couple.

[@coffee-ouji]

that's so wholesome T0T love wins

[@alkv7604]

They're both a couple! So wholesome!

[@Winasaurus]

A similar one is a guy in the trainer school who gives you the float stone held item, which halves your pokemons weight. When he gives it to you, he's an ace trainer I think, but then if you leave the room and come back, he's a hiker, and has dialogue like "Hmm, I don't remember being this big..." Just a cute interaction of a held item actually doing it's effect. Would be fun to see that with other ones, like a guy you speak with disappearing in a puff of smoke, and if you catch him a couple of times he gives you the smoke ball or something, kinda like the trick room guy. Or maybe one of the gym people giving you their lucky punch and if you come back later they talk about being on an odd losing streak, or giving you a choice scarf and then talking about how they suddenly feel more free and are practicing multiple martial arts and not just karate.

[@ThePenisMan]

@@Winasaurus it’d be funnier if instead of branching out to more styles with a choice scarf, he REALLY sucks at every other style, but managed to excel at the art he already knows It’s a *choice* scarf after all

[@Winasaurus]

@@ThePenisMan Well I'm speaking about it as a way of teaching you what the item does, not just a pun on the name

[@capreo]

The guys in every starting town who explain the latest tech of the day and say “Science is so amazing!” are all-timers for me.

[@robxholicfoxyfan8552]

"Have you any interest in berries?" Yes. "Why would you lie to me?"

[@Madougatee]

About the girl with the Slowbro, if you find her in one of the johto games which take place 3 years later she is in the same spot and she has learned to control Slowbro after they formed a bond over time.

[@forgettableface]

She hasnt, youre for sure remembering that wrong, or maybe its different in the remakes, but in crystal She tells you she and her slowbro make an awesome combination, and tells it to use confusion. It responds with "yarah?" And she follows up by saying "..." and the conversation ends

[@0x97B55C23D18]

@@forgettablefaceIt's different in the remakes.

[@MishKoz]

I think my favorite unimportant NPC in all of Pokemon is the lady in the South gate of Lavender Town, who gives you the TM for Swift. Her dialogue goes like this: "My Pokemon's ashes are stored in Pokemon Tower. You can have this TM. I don't need it any more…" (she gives you TM39) "TM39 is a move called Swift. It's very accurate, so use it during battles you can't afford to lose." In the remakes she gives you different TMs (Return in Gen 3, Roost in Gen 7) so the latter half of her dialogue is different, but I'll always love the original line of dialog. It's like the saddest little anecdote told with the least amount of text, yet it still hits hard.

[@plantinapot9169]

Wow that goes har

[@asterie_stythia]

Imagine having your Pokemon literally die because they missed some Focus Blast or Stone Edge. That lady probably felt super guilty not teaching Swift to them instead.

[@ericwest3912]

"Why did I go on a Nuzlocke!?"

[@Maplelust]

that's just wild.

[@NaughtWalter]

The little word bank phrases in the battle frontier/tents were iconic. I SWALLOW SLUDGE TO TRANSFORM MYSELF

[@maxlimit9129]

Sounds like a Death Grips lyric

[@BJGvideos]

I HAVE A GROWTH OF SUCTION CUPS frickin body horror in my game for middle schoolers

[@OrionSeas]

Those phrases are incredible. Now I need to go take on the battle facilities again

[@OrionSeas]

Those phrases are incredible. Now I need to go take on the battle facilities again

[@SwerveStarEx]

Hell yeah! Swallow Sludge man was my favorite! Everyone loves "I AM GOING TO ENJOY AN EGG" but "I SWALLOW SLUDGE TO TRANSFORM MYSELF" was always peak for me.

[@cis22]

The Memorial Pillar is one of my favorite things in FRLG. Both for its sentimentality and its mechanical uniqueness (i.e. there's no other place in the game where you have to bring some random item to get an optional reward). I was recently reminded of the Memorial Pillar while watching clips of pokétubers and vtubers playing Scarlet/Violet and their experiences battling Larry. In English, Larry says that the real world isn't just about being true to yourself before using the move Facade. In Japanese, this wordplay is different. Larry says that he will show you a working adult's special technique and then uses Facade. The move is called Karagenki in Japanese, which could be translated into Fake Cheerfulness. That reminded me of Memorial Pillar, a small island where a trainer buried his Onix. He tells you that Lemonade was its favorite drink. If you have one in your bag, you can offer it to the grave. The trainer then thanks you and gives you the TM for Facade. As a kid, I didn't understand the wordplay. But after learning about Larry six generations later, I finally understand that the trainer gives away the TM for Facade to convey that he is still mourning.

[@itlogmanok6046]

Another classic Larry W

[@CrystalGreymon]

😭

[@syauqifirdaus2704]

somehow i can listen the sevii island soundtrack when i read this

[@TheChadPad]

That is so funny. Thank you for explaining that. So much gets lost in translation! I wonder how many jokes we’ve missed out on!

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

He gives you the TM Facade. Is he really sorry for the death of his Onix, or is he just putting on a facade?

[@Mienshaos]

Dude, I've played Emerald so many times and have read all the NPC dialogue, that I have a headcanon that Hoenn is full of hotheaded yet passionate athletes. So many of these Trainers have dialogue akin to an shonen anime protagonist, and I love their fiery vigour lol

[@ronaldfernandez1180]

Given they're next to a volcano you can just walk up to and fight atop of, I can understand the hotheadedness lmao

[@videorelaxant2780]

Its probably the heat. Hoen is tropical after all.

[@ExplodingOdin]

given that Kabu is from Hoenn, that massively tracks lol

[@Goldenblade14]

Don't forget about the bicyclist that can't get enough of his bike. RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL...

[@Lambeaux0]

​@@videorelaxant2780Hoenn is the Jersey Shore of the Pokemon world

[@eeee69]

huge fan of gabby and ty, the thing i thought was cool when i was younger was you can see their pokemon evolve in each successive battle (technically not the same category as all these other random unnamed people you can only walk up to and talk to but idc) and "yes town" kid totally slipped my mind until you mentioned him, i thought he was hilarious when i first saw him

[@claymathewselevator8121]

I enjoyed that too

[@claymathewselevator8121]

Wish Gabby and Ty showed up in the anime

[@raro991]

It's really cool that the manga has them as important side characters too, even befriended an Absol

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

The Sevii islands _DO_ have real names. They're just on the sign as you enter the island and not displayed on-screen. One: Knot Island Two: Boon Island Three: Kin Island Four: Floe Island Five: Chrono Island Six: Fortune Island Seven: Quest Island

[@petershillito]

Huh. How did I miss this???

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

​@@petershillitoTrainer tips, my man.

[@joshhelton2007]

Well I'll be damned. I've beaten these games a dozen times over and never noticed that. That's wild

[@jasonreed7522]

One of my favorite weird NPCs in Pokemon Emerald is the cyclist who fell off the Cycling Road onto the low road. Not because they are interesting but because they did the impossible and actually fell off of something in these games where the player can't fall off anything. (Not counting falling through the floor or jumping off the small 1-way ledges) I think gen 5's raised platforms are the first time you can actually genuinely fall off of something.

[@nellewoodruff6337]

My favorite NPC is the trainer in Sevii who just casually mentions that psychic abilities are something that anyone can learn. Oh, the lore potential...

[@theswordidtruth]

For all that you mentioned Pacifidlog in Emerald, I was surprised not to hear you mention the story of the kid in the northeast who makes the "High Town"/"Hai Town" joke! I always thought it was so weird that they just translated it straight, leaving it so that the joke no longer makes sense and it just feels like this random kid is making fun of you using the game's UI. (he asks you something like "where are you from?" and you can only answer yes or no. either way, he makes fun of you for saying you're from "yes town" or "no town". this was a pun because some of the developers were in a place called "high town" while working on the game. the pun here being that "hai", pronounced like "high", means "yes" in japanese.)

[@exceptionallyriso]

I always wondered what that dialogue was about, thanks for telling

[@rurintoge7425]

That line about reading everything instead of spamming the a-button to progress hit me right where I care. It's unironically one of my pet peeves with modern gamers. Granted, not every game has well-written interesting dialogue... but with the amount of times I see people complain about so-called badly written lines they'll never read (and a lot of the times it really makes me question what they consider interesting enough), it started feeling lonely lmao... So it makes me really happy to watch a video where someone just gushes over random npc lines for 30+ minutes. I love the random silly little remarks NPCs make in Pokémon.

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

Paper Mario is another game with really great dialogue.

[@Apotheosister]

You're literally so right, If you mash through the dialogue for the sake of gameplay of course you aren't gonna think the story is good! I get it, I did the same thing when I was younger, but light or character focused stories aren't bad stories!

[@IosLocarth]

I hate that as well. I see a lot of people who say stuff to the effect of "I hated X character so I skipped all the dialogue/cutscenes with them" which is always so dumb. How do you know you even hate the character if you never see what they say or do

[@TheGreatBackUpVIDEOS]

14:35 As a dev, we sometimes add basic detail beyond the camera's view because it is easier to do that. We don't always know exactly what you will be able to see in the final game, so placing a few sprites is safer than arriving in the playtesting stage and realising "oops, there's a void back here!" If it goes unused, no problem, that took a minute at most to make!

[@fishrocker95]

i don’t think he has any strange dialogue, but i’ve always been a fan of tuber ricky outside slateport city. he’s got a zigzagoon with surf and that blew my mind as a kid

[@swagbear9965]

Dude yes I remember thinking that was such a wild thing that a zigzagoon had surf.

[@shelbybayer200]

I always wondered how the hell he got Surf since you don't get until after beating Norman

[@coffee-ouji]

i love that guy, he leaves me calls every so often always saying that he couldn't catch a Tentacool, poor fella, hope he gets one eventually

[@phommonteros]

dude same!!! i thought he was so cool, i would refight him all the time just to see his linoone

[@Explodingbunny93]

​@@shelbybayer200You can breed for HM moves

[@psyxypher3881]

My favorite minor NPC in Gen III is Cooltrainer Equin in Gale of Darkness. She's sitting inside Phenac Stadium (which is defunct in that game) and simply is just hanging about, wishing she could restore it.

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

I wished her the best of luck

[@Bobobobobob741]

This is a really heartfelt video, definitely stirred some nostalgia. A personal favorite of mine is the kid in Hoenn near Verdanturf Town who calls the air "tasty". I just always thought it was a weird thing to call air.

[@droomish1]

yeah I'm 10 imagining the air tasting like tootsie rolls or something haha

[@iwx4021]

well the air is tasty to him and that’s why wally is staying in Verdanturf, because the air is healthy for him

[@loulou3676]

Air has different taste in different locations. It's most obvious near the ocean (salty and fresh) but you can also experience it eg in autumn leaves in a place where the leaves change color, or a crisp winter day, etc. I took it to mean much of the region is polluted but Verdanturf has relatively clean air. If you've lived in a big polluted city before, you really notice the difference in air quality when you go out to a small rural town.

[@Bobobobobob741]

@loulou3676 Don't get me wrong, I get it now! But as a kid, that little npc boy was much wiser and more present than I. These days, when I remember him, I stop to taste the air!

[@Saroku1000]

In japanese you say the air is tasty when the air is good (like in a forest or somewhere)

[@karlosgarcia2294]

I always remember Bugcatcher James I think it was, the second bugcatcher on the route after Pewter City. His intro says he remembers you from Viridian Forest, and I remember writing his name down, resarting a new playthrough and checking the names of the trainers in the forest to see if we had fought before. Memorable to me atleast.

[@matthewroberts198]

Ooooo yeah! My first game was Pokemon Blue and they didn't have names so when he said that, it blew my little 6yr old mind! Also watching the anime too I thought it was Samurai

[@shrimp5698]

My favorite Hoenn NPC has to be Kiri, the sweet little girl in Sootopolis who gives you daily berries. She talks about her parents and the special meaning of her name, because she was actually named after Masuda's newborn daughter. :D There's also Walda, the unhappy little girl in Rustboro, whose sidequest is so esoteric that players literally cannot solve it without the aid of a fan-made online password generator. Like, why was she even included in the game if they were gonna make it that impossible?

[@L1feIsAParade]

“Yeeeoowww ! A Pokémon nipped my backside!” -old man NPC relaxing in the sand in Lavaridge

[@gat0rcrazzi]

I loved the NPCs of this gen. There was always something about gen 3 that made the world feel so alive with these random encounters.

[@claymathewselevator8121]

Agreed

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

Every gen had stuff like this but gen 3 encounters just felt special, especially with the goofy dialogue. Can't believe IGN just gave RSE a 7.8/10 because "too much water" a 7.8 feels more insulting than a 7.5

[@sosams]

My favorite NPC has to be that Aqua grunt in Slateport waiting in the queue to the museum, and was like "if I knew this would take so long, I would've brought my Game Boy"

[@renegaderaven3777]

The Sevii isles are a pretty surreal location. As Fire Red and Leaf Green are remakes of the old games, so they had to limit your access to features in gen 3 but the Sevii Isle slowly unlock all the features like trading with Ruby and Saphire and berries. But on top of that they even set up the events in gen 2 for Team Rocket. A bonus zone done right I'd say.

[@JoeKell365]

i like Aroma Lady Rose from Ruby and Sapphire. not because of anything she says, but because she can climb the ledge on Route 118

[@VampireofEmotion]

I loved the Bard, my sister and I always made him sing 'sister eats sweets, voracious Baltoy drooling'

[@MoustachioFurioso83]

I had him too, and made him sing about his sister eating Pikachu voraciously. I guess even as a child I didn't like the electric rat much.

[@gustavolopes5094]

God that reminds me of player profiles and the guy who asks you for a funny word to tell his daughter in rustboro. I always made them say outrageous things, like "Liquid ooze satisfied your sister"

[@ShadowNinetales]

@@gustavolopes5094 I like to tell the trendy guy in Dewford fun phrases such as "adult toys", then have a giggle as everyone in his little clubhouse (or whatever it is) starts obsessing over them. Game Freak thought they could stop players from writing immature things by limiting us to preset words and phrases. Game Freak thought wrong. XD

[@ShadowNinetales]

Interestingly, I saw in another video that a weird error occurs when you make the bard sing the word "Celebi" - they somehow forgot to give him a voice clip for that word, so he falls eerily silent as he progresses through that moment in the song at an abnormally slow pace. Almost seems like good creepypasta material lol. As in, why does this guy dread Celebi so much that he can't even speak its name...?

[@AltevBaka]

I love Scarlet/Violet but one of the biggest disappointments of the game is the inability to just walk into any house and talk to whoever’s inside.

[@Espeo]

Agreed. Where's the fun in playing pokemon if you can't just invade someone's house?

[@ArtzyZero]

It made some locations absolutely pointless. Talking to NPC'S is one of my favourite things to do in games. Someone worked hard to add it all in, I want to respect that time and effort! :D

[@azusako6996]

Yeah ! I love those games but that infuriated me so much. I didn't care about the towns at all. They seem like they could have nice stories, but no, the few npcs are very useless.

[@joshhelton2007]

I didn't even know that because I refuse to spend money on those pitiful excuse for Pokemon games. Knowing this confirms my decision all the more and tells me those games are even worse than I thought. Which is pretty bad

[@deeblegreeble]

there's so few NPCs in S/V, and with the large open spaces, it honestly felt kind of barren. S/S had this feeling too, but it wasn't nearly as bad, and it was understandable for PL:A to feel somewhat empty.

[@wesleylowe4256]

I love the little effects you had on the atmosphere in RSE. In just the first 20-30 minutes you help an employee get his research back for work, reconnect an old man with his avian best friend, and also meet a couple who’s separated by rocks which you’ll come back to later and reunite using rock smash. You teach Wally how to catch Pokémon and he’s arguably one of the hardest challenges in the game for the point your at. He always gave me more trouble than the elite 4 or champion because of his more balanced team, while everyone else has themed teams and by just popping 2-3 coverage moves on your team you can steamroll them

[@droomish1]

I loved imagining where wally had been and done just based on that final squad he rolled up with. he had clearly seen the sights of hoenn, it was so beautiful

[@tortoiseknight8438]

If I recall correctly, you can get bits and pieces of updates on some characters with the pokenav. There is a point in the game where Wally goes dark and you can't contact him anymore. Later on you finally meet him again in the victory road. That in itself, is some nice storytelling if you bothered to use the function.

[@Joural0401]

One thing I find interesting os that Walley manages to get ahead of you. I always imagined that it's because we were busy fighting magma/aqua, and if he wasn't so set on battling us before taking on the elite 4, he might have been waiting for us like Blue once did

[@inakiaraquistain5731]

I always hated Wally. I thought he was pathetic, even when I was a child.

[@legendslayer6558]

​@@inakiaraquistain5731have to agree with you, never struggled at all vs him and removing him from the story doesnt change anything very much at all, not to mention his whole story is he has asthma basically and he has less personality then cardboard

[@MysticMylesZ]

I was always quite fond of the old folks chilling in a hot spring. Oh, what it must feel like to actually be there. Enjoying the hot Spring with them.

[@kitsuneprincess4637]

I'm so happy to hear someone else talk about how much they love the Sevii Islands! I've heard so many people hate on it, but it's always been one of my fondest Pokémon memories. I love the questline with Celio so much, and the one finding Lorelai!

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

That was the highlight of Fire Red and Leaf Green. Being able to find new Johto Pokemon on each new Island is great, too.

[@RexBlanchimont]

There's just something really nice about taking the time to appreciate NPC dialogue - even if a good chunk of people don't bother, it definitely helps with the world building and can create a really comfy atmosphere.

[@woutermoerman2000]

To add on to the beginning; this is why games like Pokemon Glazed strike me as super interesting and creative. You get a pokemon-translator device very early on which makes it possible to interact with pokemon in the overworld. Even though the romhack is at this point a decade old, that way of making it possible for you to interact in such a way has stuck with me.

[@Disguised_Cat]

And best of all, Glazed still holds up today! Not edgy at all (or not that much), well balanced, fun gyms... It was incredibly fun!

[@DoctorSpacebar]

"Do you like FLAMES? Do you like PUNCHES? Do you like FLAMING PUNCHES? Then I shall show you FIRE PUNCH!"

[@samfivedot]

@@Disguised_Cat the only really edgy part of Glazed is at the end where the creator added his friends as the Elite Four, and you can tell that he let them write their own dialogue because they all talk like turbo-edgelords. It feels completely different from the writing in the rest of the game Otherwise it's an excellent romhack though!

[@fartface8918]

@@samfivedot that sounds really cool

[@kuni2330]

Glazed felt like the only rom hack that really captured the same spirit as the official gen 3 games. Most rom hacks simply try too hard to go beyond what the games did, and ended up aging very poorly as a result.

[@Hex.A.Decimal]

"Sigh, I wish I could go on an adventure with some Pokemon. Crawl through some damp grass... climb rocky, rugged mountains... cross the raging seas... wander about in dark caves... And, sometimes, even get a little homesick... It must be fabulous to travel!" -Young lady at her grandpa's house in Petalburg City, RSE. And me. Me when I was 12. And now when I'm 26.

[@truesoprano2152]

One random group of NPCs that stood out to me was in Mt. Mortar in Johto where you fought a trainer who was looking for his friend, he mentioned he had a Seadra that knew Waterfall, and then once you came back with Waterfall you could find the guy with the Seadra who was looking for the previous guy. I thought that was cute and was sad there wasn't a way to reunite them.

[@mirkwood579]

This was fun- I was surprised you didn't mention some of the Team Magma and Aqua Grunts, like the guy in the Magma Hideout complaining about how his ear is burning up and his hooded outfit is so hot because he's standing next to a pool of lava, or the other guy saying that he's off in some corner because guard posts are determined by when you show up, or the Team Aqua grunt who complains that he should have brought his Gameboy Advance for the wait in line into the Museum.

[@NecromancyEnthusiast]

'I wish I was a kangaskhan baby, I'd love to be a substitute for the baby' is the kind of thing you tell a close friend when you're up late at night and ttoo tired to be very inhibited, not some random 10 year old at the zoo. As for me, I love the guy looking at his reflection in the pond in Petalburg Town and the npcs in the Rusturf Cave that are on opposite sides of the rocks you need to use rock smash on. The whismur in the tunnel are disturbed by the construction sounds so they had to stop the project, and the guy on the Rustboro side is trying to dig through them by hand so he can go see his girlfriend. And Mr. Briney and his wingull Peeko, when they returned to their house and started chasing each other around, I would often join them. Anyway, this was a great video, I love little details like this in Pokemon.

[@onlyme8780]

When you weren't constantly connected to the Internet, it was fun to explore and discover wacky NPC dialogue/connections in your free time. Now the newer games don't even have houses you can go in LOL.

[@danielgloyd4529]

Well, the degradation of the pokemon franchise is a different discussion. I completely agree with you about playing a game without being connected to the internet, though. I've been into video games since the original NES. My dad had almost every Atari system and game, and uncles had an old Comodore 64. Always had fun with most genres of games. At some point in my 20s, the internet got into full swing, and you could literally know every step by step way to play a game optimally. It ruined games for me without me even realizing it. What's the point of getting 100% on a game when you are just following someone else's instructions. Now, I always make sure I go into a game as blind as possible and definitely enjoy games again.

[@Jackoff_icial]

yeah, that broke my heart. the newer games do have some nice little npcs but nothing will ever hit like that guy whose house was full of pidgey because he was trying to make them fly him somewhere

[@TheChadPad]

Yeah that’s a shame. What’s the fun if you can’t invade people’s houses??

[@BuryTheLight-tds]

​@@TheChadPadI love how some NPCs try to kick the player out of the house for barging in and expecting an item

[@briansilva3765]

One particular NPC that stuck with me as a kid was the Old Man in the shop of the Under, in Colosseum, he asks if you can hear his story, and if you say no he will complain that kids are always in a hurry and say "Fine, I will be in a hurry too!", and just start doing a weird animation like he was a spring or something. It looks so creepy as well, and doesn't happen with any other NPC in the game.

[@AlicjaDee]

I feel the need to point out that while Return is a really good normal type move, having 102 basepower at max friendship, Frustration is never worth it. To get the most out of Frustration your Pokémon would need to have 0 friendship and anything in the game will increase it, even just walking around with the Pokémon in your party.

[@superstarsmash64]

Gamefreak should've put in a reverse pokemon-amie where to beat them to lower their friendship

[@robertlupa8273]

@@superstarsmash64 Frustration (and Return for that matter) have been removed from the game (presumebly due to the overhaul of friendship/affection in Gen 8) with no sign of coming back.

[@1BadAssArchAngelvs14]

@@robertlupa8273 Return and frustration can come back in future games it's not impossible to fix game design wise. if MMO's can redesign a Job Class mid expansion then its not impossible for return and frustration to come back.

[@gustavolopes5094]

All the more amazing Ghetsis managed to get a full power frustration.

[@AlicjaDee]

@@robertlupa8273 ah, didn't know that. I stopped playing after gen 7 so anything after that I'm only very vaguely familiar with

[@Winasaurus]

I always found the "The air is tasty here!" kid in RSE to be really strange, for years until ORAS came out and I actually read the dialogue that Wally lives there because he's sickly and the air quality there is famously good. It's also one of the few places with TONS of flowers, which I like to imagine is part of that.

[@josephfarraj8687]

I’ll never forget rich boy Winston and his full restore

[@ThunderToast97]

12:23 Thank you SO much for finally putting a rest to my 15 year NPC Mystery! For the longest time, I thought it was a warped reference to Fire Emblem 7, (especially because I had just played through it before getting Leaf Green), with the pair representing Erk and Serra. Their English names are pretty similar, and the chapter the you meet them in FE7 is in a land just above a outgoing body of water. (I know it's a stretch, but the geography and names coincidentally line up pretty closely) Plus, Erk and Serra can end up together through support pairing, and they are the most likely to end up with each other casually. Furthermore, in Let's Go, Erk says "Where's Sara? I said I'd meet her here to catch Pokémon... But all I'm catching are some weird looks." Which is funny, because it reverses their confusion from the original Japanese translation. But, if I was still huffing copium, I would think that he's catching weird looks for of being a Sage in Kanto where that is unheard-of. I liked to think that Erk and Serra were on vacation or that something happened to the FE7 world at the end of the game to turn it into a Pokémon World, what with the Dragon's Gate scenario and all, I could see it as a weird head cannon. But, yeah, definitely reading into it too much... 😅 But, it does make you wonder why their names were changed in the translation... 🤔

[@kentmichaelgalang686]

bro i cant believe you didnt talk about the mysterious pacifidlog girl at the pokecenter who, for some reason, has at least one trainer star on her trainer card leaves you wondering what she did to get it, maybe she's secretly like a retired legendary pokemon contest master despite looking so young, because all the other options are just scary

[@alexhaupt2134]

The bowl of chowder line has stuck with me for so long. The hot springs in the Sevii Islands and Lavaridge Town made me want to eat hot soup after taking a hot bath, and now every time I do that I feel so aware of how comforting a feeling it gives you. I always bathe in the evening when I have soup for that reason. It's a small habit of mine, but it's something that makes me feel connected to my senses, and it's a small connection back to these games.

[@thekoifishcoyote8762]

Huh, something new to try IRL

[@darius4405]

I grew up with fire red and I super relate to being invested in by the novelty of everything. the blip sound when you move through your party. and being confused at characters saying "eeeeeeek"

[@matthewroberts198]

My favorite NPCs in all of Pokémon was the self aware ones on Kanto's Rt.8 the line of trainers where one of them says "We must look silly standing here like this." It made me laugh cause I always wondered why they were (talk to them after and they say the guard wouldn't let them in) Another big one is route north of Cerulean and the now infamous 2 Jr. Trainers where the girl says "I wish my boyfriend was as good as you." And the guy says "Oh well. At least my girlfriend will cheer me up😅

[@Regular-Sized]

You touched on so many cool things about FRLG, but since that was your first game in the series, it was all new to you. I’m a person who grew up with Pokémon since the RBY release, so FRLG had the added effect of me constantly searching for the subtle differences between the originals and the remakes. Plus, the feeling of seeing the environment look so vibrant and crisp in comparison to RBY really had me in awe of how far Pokémon had come graphically. The Gen 3 art style is the best of any Pokémon game, and I really wish they’d go back to it at least once instead of exclusively using 3D engines.

[@saturnine41]

Great video there is a lot of charm to unpack from some of the quirky and sometimes even deep NPC dialogue. Two of my favorite come from R/S/E. The Lady trainer very early on Route 104 in R/S/E. Who says "Hello is the beginning of goodbye" and hopes to meet again. Then the old couple in Lilycove who reflect on how the sea remains vibrant even as they've grown old. As a kid I didn't think much of it, but now looking back and sometimes revisting these games 15+ years later as an adult, just hits different when now people in life have come and gone, how the world has progressed, and the new generation of youth coming up.

[@nyeonii]

I actually think about this a lot whenever I play the new games. Almost every NPC you talk to in the new games mentions Pokemon to some degree or something directly related to Pokemon. In a real world context, this would feel like a Twilight Zone episode because it makes no sense that every single person shares the same obsession with Pokemon. These older games feel so much more natural. There are NPCs who adore Pokemon of course, but there are plenty of NPCs who don’t even mention it. Like their daily lives don’t revolve around it. It feels so much more believable

[@jjab7996]

I don't think there's anything in this video I didn't know before watching it, but it's this kind of analysis that makes me fall even more in love with the games that started everything for me

[@stardmg]

My only guess with Pal Park is that at one point in an earlier build there might have been a small little cinematic bit where the camera pans up slightly as you enter the gate house, and that little bit of detail would be there to give the illusion of the world being seamless. Gen IV was the first "3D" Pokemon game after all so they were experimenting with camera angles a lot, I'd reckon. They've used this technique other games too, even as early as Gen I!

[@SamsDigitalGraveyard]

Really great video, I do kinda miss when pokemon had more NPCs that just said weird little things. I think the limitations of the earlier games really led to a kind of quirkiness that was lost when text boxes and file sizes got larger and the games became more direct with dialogue.

[@ZackeroniAndCheese]

I had the same experience on the sevii islands as you. I spent so much time hunting for Larvitars and exploring the cave that is like Lost Woods. Truely nostalgia to the max.

[@carnelianfox5010]

“My special talent is busting bricks with my forehead!” -Black Belt Nob, Rt. 115

[@SentientMeatloaf1]

One of the coolest interactions on the SEVI Islands is an out of the way swimmer trainer that is extremely easy to miss (you can see her briefly in the video at 15:34). for pretty much the entirety of the game, trainers are mostly posted right on the path in order to block your way, and the player has to go out of their way to avoid them. This trainer however will still battle you, but her sight range is so short that you have to be right next to her to trigger it, and she is so far out of the way She’s almost off the screen as you walk by. So what gives? Well, when you trigger a battle, she acts spooked and tells you to go away. Upon finishing the battle and speaking to her again, she reveals that there is a hole in her bathing suit, and she’s too embarrassed to get out of the water. It’s such a unique little encounter that you have to go out of your way to experience for no other reason than curiosity in a game that has programmed you to avoid random people outside cities since the very beginning. It tells a story that makes sense given the environmental details that lead up to this point, and how that trainer seems to be actively avoiding everyone else and hiding in her own little corner. I just wanna give whoever thought up that NPC a pat on the back because that experience was really cool

[@stonalisa3729]

Tjis video reminded me of the NPCs for another series. The NPCs in the Legend of Heroes games are even further thought out with even full character arcs for some of them throughout the games. Anton is present in each of these games starting with Trails in the Sky and is on an arc that takes course over years and several countries. Evenw ithin the games the NPCs have stories that progress within the same game. It's worth checking out

[@Exlayer-pk8hy]

Reminds me of how in Persona you can see the NPC's going through their own lives as you go through the year those games are set in. Its neat, you hear things like a boy trying to get a girl to like him but the girl is too absentminded to notice, or a mom who realizes her dog is old and doesnt have much lft while the daughter is oblivious to that.

[@riverresident4769]

I love the guy who says something like,” there’s something strange about those rocks, but I see no door,” even after you have opened the door.

[@PsychedelicPenne]

Easily the best video of yours I’ve seen so far, and I’m only halfway through. It’s more personal, vulnerable, intimate, and cozy. I love the unnecessary gravitas and extrapolating here - plus the connections to your own life and experiences. Makes these small little nothing characters and moments feel so much more important. Plus I love Gen 3! It was my first generation too. So the nostalgia angle really adds a lot for me as well, as these are the games I most know like the back of my hand.

[@DreamLionViolet]

There is an npc who is like ‘it’s hard. What’s hard? Coming up with what to have for dinner every day’ and as a adult SHE IS SO RIGHT it is so hard 😢

[@oakgreenoak]

I love how the comments are full of people talking about all the NPCs they remember. I did always love the lil Old Amber plotline and thought the Cinnabar Lab scientist was hilarious. What do you mean I took too long? I left the door and came back right in!

[@chocoboko123]

The people in the Hearthhome chapel praying really struck me as a kid... that one spot felt so out of place in a pokemon game but felt so powerful too, with no music and the bump into walls sound effect seeming to reverberate like in a cathedral. Sinnoh always felt like one of the most spiritual regions because stuff like that.

[@delilu]

that biker that just goes RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL RYDEL

[@OrionSeas]

Please tell me you counted these out

[@TheLawman23]

I also had the Bard in my Emerald playthrough, the goofy song I had him sing still sits in my memory nearly 20 years later

[@ZedaZ80]

"Sister eats sweets, voracious and drooling" pops into my head from time-to-time 😁

[@nxtlvlzeph]

it’s a shame that npcs got so shafted in the the recent gens. they don’t even have tutorial dialogue anymore, cuz all of the menus all have their own explanatory blurbs now 😭

[@LeopardMask12]

One of the most memorable lines of NPC dialogue from gen 3 for me is a kid in Fortree, the place with all the treehouses. None of the houses have windowpanes or doors. He talks about why, and then says something about "One time a Beautifly flew in the window! It was really startling!" And that stuck with me just because uh. Beautifly are, what, like four feet long?? Yeah, I'd say that'd be a pretty _startling_ thing to have randomly fly into your room!

[@twarnold14]

When discussing cool but totally unnecessary NPCs in Pokémon, I always think of Unova. The bridge village that I think also has the musicians that will build up the town song, the railway town which gets tourists on the weekend, and Lacunosa Town where all the NPCs go indoors at night. All fun. Commenting on gen 3 though, I FireRed came out during my middle school hiatus from Pokémon. I played it years later as an adult waiting for the ultra games. The Sevii Islands are so unique. They feel almost cluttered or claustrophobic without broad paths or sprawling cities. A very unique feel that makes them stand out. I never thought about them being quiet places away from the hustle and bustle, but you’re right. And as someone who has slowly moved to smaller and smaller cities, I gotta say, I like not having traffic!

[@Illunovice]

This right here is pretty much what I desire the most from the pokemon games: interactivity. This is something I've found the recent games in the series to be lacking and made me put them down early on.

[@jenanacremepie]

This is my biggest complaint with Gen 9, the open world ironically feels hollow with far less NPC interaction

[@Morgil27]

Your description of the meta aspect of the Trick Master and his dungeons also reminded me of the character Brick Road from Earthbound.

[@KoljaWolfi]

this was so cute. thank you for this free ride on the SS Nostalgia. it was an amazing trip

[@ComicDrake]

That singing dude blew my mind. I had no idea that he was in the game!

[@aleksb2238]

thank you for talking about the Sevii Islands. its a very under discussed topic to me, so many content creators brush over it

[@thedouble1269]

i remember one guy in sapphire who was outside his house. when you talk to him he says that he said he used to think that if you had enough bird Pokémon and attached them all to a string he could use them to fly, but then he learned about the hm move fly. Then, if you go inside he has like 10 wingulls and his sister is complaining about it

[@thekoifishcoyote8762]

"I'm a heartbreaker...My name...Charles"

[@twixthehyena]

I vividly remembering how the old man at the Slateport Beach talked about how littering would end up coming right back at us, and I was like "Damn... he's got a valid point."

[@nessmarsh]

The Sevii Islands were always so mysterious and mystical to me. I truly wish they would bring these islands back in a future game

[@droomish1]

they have an incredible rustic charm that delivers a lot of substance just through the landscape!! I really hope they or something like them shows up, these islands remind of long summer days as a kid

[@JuliusBriggs]

and now the modern pokemon npc: "hey, did you know the main quest is two houses down the road?" "hey, don't forget to go to the main quest two houses down the road!" "ok fine, I'll bring you there myself"

[@thekirbyguy4576]

Why does every video discussing old gen Pokemon have to turn into a war between old gen and new gen despite new gen never being brought up

[@JuliusBriggs]

​@@thekirbyguy4576 probably because the modern games are so overwhelmingly terrible that it's hard not to talk about how bad they are compared to what once was but initially I just felt like typing something humorous that popped into my head regarding the topic of NPCs when I saw the video

[@PeruvianPotato]

​@@thekirbyguy4576Fr it's like these guys have a genuine fetish for mentioning a new vs old debate in literally every Pokémon video.

[@JuliusBriggs]

@@PeruvianPotato damn and I always thought I'm just pointing out obvious and objectively true issues within the franchise I used to love with all my heart a long time ago when in reality it was just my fetish all along... yet in this instance that wasn't even my intention I'm not someone who seeks every opportunity to put down the modern games but oh boy is it an easy layup if there ever was one my bad, I forgot having opinions on the internet is a no no for some people

[@PeruvianPotato]

@@JuliusBriggs Point is that I'm not annoyed that you have a opinion. I'm annoyed when it's literally in every recent Pokémon video with varying relevance and I'm sure I'm not the only one with this sentiment

[@evangoulios9820]

In DPPt Twinleaf town, there’s an npc who blocks you from leaving the town without seeing your friend and starting the plot. If you ever choose to talk to them again this is what they say: ‘Everyone goes off on adventures, and then they gradually grow up” Gives me chills - lots of ways to interpret it - especially after coming back to a fifteen year-old save file

[@ZarBluestar]

Scarlet and violet did a huge disservice by stripping out all of our npc interactions for anyone who wasn’t “essential” Especially because the “main cast” of NPCs were some of the strongest in the franchise

[@theknightwithabadpictotall7639]

There's one Lass in the Sevii Islands that I both love and hate. She says something along the lines of "I like Bug types. Am I the only girl like that?" but every single one of her dialogues end with "Am I the only girl like that?" Love because, bug enjoyer, based. Hate because, no, you aren't the only one, please stop repeating it every sentence.

[@Winasaurus]

It's like all those people on youtube videos who write "Am I the only one who noticed ____ joke?/ gets _______ reference?", when there's literally hundreds of thousands of comments before them talking about it. And for some reason wording it as "So are just not going to talk about ______?" makes my blood boil despite basically meaning the same thing.

[@ElliesElectricGym]

yo droomish. this was a really special video. i think it is one of the best pieces of pokemon content on the internet. bravo, and thank you for caring so darn much. alright, time for me to head home to yes town now.

[@drwolfpoint]

The NPCs in the Dewford Town Hall where they talk about what is hip and trendy were always interesting to me, since you can change what they discuss by talking to the NPC in Dewford who asks you what is hip and trendy in your area.

[@BingQilin]

My favorite Gen 3 NPC is the girl in Sootopolis who said her parents named her Kiri so that she would grow healthy and warmhearted. She's named after Junichi Masuda's daughter who was born right before the release of Ruby and Sapphire in Japan. Also the NPC in Five Island who has a memorial for his deceased Onix named Tectonix and gives you Facade if you place a lemonade (its fav drink) at Tectonix' grave

[@Boamere]

This really reminded me how much Pokemon has changed, even the npcs aren’t as interesting anymore

[@mememario8964]

The "Rock smash dude" dialouge made me laugh so hard as a kid. The translaters have always been great with jokes and still hold up sometimes in newer games

[@capuchinosofia4771]

My fav npc is the old man from XY that you can give a low level pokemon to. If you come back later you will find a note about how the pokemon made him so happy on his last days. And the pokeball, with your/his pokemon, with max happiness 😢

[@combatking0]

My brother had the Bard in his Pokemon Ruby game. We got him to sing "Dude eats lady, fantastic and drooling." Totally family friendly...

[@garchompelago]

I love how the NPCs have classes and their own story or own characteristics which Pokemon team that compliments their themes. Remember Kieran, if you notice, he started with cute looking pokemon and by the end of DLC part 1, his team turns into scary looking Pokemon. Which reflects how he changed throughout the Kitakami story.

[@axeltheking4157]

… i think… i think they just evolved… sorry for being a hater but like bffr

[@Winasaurus]

@@axeltheking4157 He swaps out a fair chunk of his team, so not quite. Also it's pokemon that specifically evolve to look evil when they didn't before. Notice he ditches the furret and cormorant.

[@axeltheking4157]

@@Winasaurus cormorant 💀

[@Winasaurus]

@@axeltheking4157 ?

[@axeltheking4157]

@@Winasaurus oh r u dyslexic by chance

[@marine7859]

I'll never forget the Team Aqua grunt who's standing in line for the museum and complains about having nothing to do and that he should've brought his Gameboy Advance. I feel like the gen 3 games are really good about making their "evil team" NPCs entertaining like that with Team Aqua/Magma, a lot of them are just normal weirdos that happen to work for an ecoterrorist group, and it really shows. That one kid that says "The air is tasty here!" lingers in my memory too. I grew up in a remote little spot in a weird nook of the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by trees, and... yeah. Sometimes the air is tasty compared to the downtown smog or the low tide stench.