(more of) Pokemon Red's Mundane, yet Bizarre World

[@someGuy-kl7cb]

i think something about lavender town thats so surreal but you never really question it, is the fight with the ghost. not gastly, not haunter or gengar, the ghost. the silph scope helped you identify the ghost to be marowak...but it was still a ghost. the game even outright slaps it in your face that it was a spirit. thats why it was uncapturable. its like, one of those really obvious things, but you never really question it until you really think about it. and it solves the question on the difference between ghosts and ghost-type. ghost type pokemon are just look-alikes, and genuine ghosts reflect their original typing.

[@jaschabull2365]

Yeah, it really puzzles me that so many people insist ghost type pokémon are ghosts OF pokémon, when a departed spirit has been shown, and it's still identifiable as the pokémon it was, unlike the gastlys. Not to mention, as early as gen 2, those "ghosts" proved capable of reproducing, something it seems unlikely a departed soul would be capable of (though then again, I guess some also insist pokémon breeding isn't biological reproduction, which always came off as weird to me as well).

[@ajh22895]

Also, the Celadon shop specifically implies Red's dad is alive. A sports game, Dad'll like that.

[@DeepWeeb]

It should be noted that the reasoning behind fathers being absent figures in most Pokémon games is because it's common in Japan for fathers to be all-day at work and barely see their families (even Norman, the only known dad in the series spends most of his time at the gym rather than at home)

[@nathansmiddy732]

​@@DeepWeeb My favorite example of this trope in games is Ness's father in Earthbound. You only ever talk to him over the phone, and in the credits when it shows the sprite for every character Ness's dad is represented by... a phone.

[@alexskocy9948]

​@nathansmiddy732, they do that in Smash bros ultimate too

[@professorhazard]

@@nathansmiddy732 I prefer the theory that Ness's father IS a phone, which is why Ness has psychic powers. He's half-phone.

[@philosopherkingzant2037]

​@@professorhazardDid his mom set his dad to constantly vibrate and... Well...

[@lVlegabyte]

I like the idea of in universe trainers being tired and exhausted from victory road see a maze before them. In their exhausted state of mind, make the wrong choice, get a dead end, and leave

[@qwesx]

Red: There was something disturbingly familiar about the guy in the house. Graphic artist: I drew you, Red. Red: The truth was like a green crack through my brain. Health bars and menus floating in the air, glimpsed out of the corner of my eye. the repetitious act of fighting Pokemon, time slowing down to show off the start of battle. The paranoid feeling of someone controlling my every step. I was in a computer game. Funny as Hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of.

[@BigHeadClan]

You’re in a computer game Qwesx you need to wake up, it’s the V you need to fight it.

[@morgan79737]

based Max Payne enjoyer.

[@Ajdin_1103]

*Red tried to resist* but nothing happend *Red tried to break control* but it didn't work *Red screamed for help* ... But nobody came.

[@sigiligus]

The thing I love about these games is that they are the most classically RPG-like of any Pokémon games. Pokémon would go on to essentially be its own thing, but when this was released it was just another JRPG with a unique twist that happened to be a breakout success.

[@jesusramirezromo2037]

Yhea, It's honestly something i miss

[@fenixchief7]

I get what you are saying... but Id say the first 5 gens are near carbon copies of eachother. They are all classic jrpgs and not even unique as Shin Megami Tensei already did the "monster collecting" jrpg.

[@JJMomoida]

@@fenixchief7I think that’s kinda what they were saying. Lol

[@SFTaYZa]

​@@fenixchief7That's what he said

[@Reptonious]

The devs talk about Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy being direct inspirations. It's really obvious when pointed out, I love the connection

[@alessandrospinello3150]

I think the bed in the programmers' building is a reference to the Japanese working culture, when blue collars or developers have to literally sleep in the office for weeks or even months when dealing with deadlines

[@ThatRandomFastingGuy]

Yeah that tracks. My current company has legit bedrooms that you can book to sleep in.

[@curtisleblanc5897]

But what about the workers families. :(

[@positivea9111]

@@curtisleblanc5897That’s Japan.

[@BloodDripss]

thats what women are for in japan. if they arent workinf then they are stay at home mothers who do the majority of house work and child care while the husband works 18 hrs a day for near minimum wage, so they can afford their exorbitantly expensive apartment. living in japan is a complete dystopian nightmare.​@@curtisleblanc5897

[@curtisleblanc5897]

@@positivea9111 But . . . . .that's mean. :(

[@arcuscotangens]

Ironically, the huge empty space with no landmarks in it is a landmark of Celadon City.

[@DeepWeeb]

I think it's meant to be a plaza (at least later games added a fountain to not look that barren)

[@darkroom0716]

Intereatingly enough Gen 2 has a direct mention of South America in the dex entry for Natu. Also the USA is directly referenced in Red /Blue/Yellow as well via botu the Moon Landing thing in the museum and the electric gym leader whose called "The Lightning American". I find the early gens fusion of real world and fantasy to be very intruiging, I always imagined what the rest of the world was like. I think I prefer it to the modern "Region" design where they all seem to feel more like theme parks rather than places where people live and make a living.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

Perhaps they *are* theme parks, designed to separate the kids who are way too into Pokemon from everyone else so they don't cause trouble in the wider world.

[@DeepWeeb]

Don't forget in Gen 1 that during the Silph Co. takeover one of the scientists mentions he joined Team Rocket because upper management wanted to send him to the "Tiksi branch in *Russian* no-man's-land". Japanese Pokédex entries of Pokémon Red/Green were reused exclusive for the FireRed version, which include gems such as Gastly and Raichu being able to kill Indian Elephants with their powers (in Legends this is retconned as Copperajah) and Parasect's mushrooms being used as medicine in China. And yeah, I defo feel that the hyper-focus of highlighting which place of the world they are based every new region has gotten a little too rot, especially when they try to condense full countries like France, England or Spain but somehow their content is a lot much sparse compared to denser regions set in the much-smaller Japanese regions (what is Game Freak trying to tell us 🤔) Before knowing the games were based in real-world locations were just cute trivia to know but that could go over the head of Western players, no idea if Japanese players noticed it as much beyond just thinking it was a "relatable" setting (hundreds of JRPGs take place in Tokyo, but almost none of them take place in a cartoony version of it)

[@Zeppongola]

Another example is Arcanine's dex entries, which refer to it as a legendary _Chinese_ pokemon not just in yellow, but in gold, fire red and heart gold too. Later games instead call it a legendary pokemon "in the east"

[@healthyminds9279]

Yeah it was very interesting how the first 2 gens and their cartoon merged the Pokemon world with ours, before the soft retcon that made Pokemon purely its own place.

[@JaxontheOkay]

from what i understand to be the lore intended from the first generation is that only recently in modern day did scientists discover in south america, mew, the ancestor to all pokemon, who had produced somehow countless spawn, who now inhabit the globe, a phenomena now inherited into daily culture. people revolve their lives around these creatures, making fan clubs and business around them.

[@wewerewerewolves4979]

Pokemon was set in our world , living alongside real animals but was retconned after gen 1

[@taylorswan8587]

And I can think of at least one Gen 2 reference too - the Neo era Light Arcanine card calls it a Chinese Pokémon

[@SaturnBlade]

Yep even have a book from the 90's that was. Considered canon. Shares descriptions of the Pokemon and even their anatomy

[@darkhobo]

Yeah. Mew kinda mutated (hence the name) normal animals into these special kinda new animal called pokemon. Thats why there refrences to normal animals and stuff too. Wish they would and stuck to that to be honest.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

​@@darkhoboNo, Kabutops was 2 million years old

[@GloriousGandalf]

The Pokemon world was originally closer to our world in generation one, but it was always still its own world. Pokemon aren't something that showed up one day, it's evident they've existed for millions of years. Science, technology, history, and nearly every other part of culture is somehow related to pokemon. Its world is just incredibly convergent to ours, and it's kind of the same today. Nothing was really retconned, the connections to the real world were just toned down.

[@typhoonthunder]

10:9 aspect ratio goes hard as fuck

[@LeonardoRodrigues-uj1sm]

That's actually 10:9

[@typhoonthunder]

@@LeonardoRodrigues-uj1sm fixed

[@JWStreeter]

@@LeonardoRodrigues-uj1smNo its a 10:9 ratio

[@theshooterkm]

It’s not 10:9?

[@Funewter]

Nice

[@najoheuer]

the Hotel is a relic from an early development version of the game, when each town would have a hotel instead of a pokemon center

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

There's actually an invisible PC in there that still works.

[@Jhoto]

This being the first iteration of Pokémon, I think Gamefreak was still unsure about what exactly this game would really end up being. That leaves many details in gen 1 that lead into a dead end. Ideas that were discarded. It’s charming seeing what core elements have been maintained from gen 1.

[@ianfinrir8724]

It's pretty much through dumb luck that this game came out in the first place. Game Freak's headquarters suffered a massive power outage and they lost all the information that wasn't written on paper.

[@21Kyzix12]

I don't think it is strange that they refer to real countries like Guyana in gen 1. Since they named the region Kanto, from the Japanese perspective it would already be assumed that this is in the real world (albeit an alternate version of it). If Kanto exists, then from the perspective of the developers, I would think it would be assumed that the rest of the real world also exists in the Pokemon world. The reason why it might feel jarring is because the majority of people playing Pokemon for the first time outside of Japan upon release wouldn't have realized that Kanto is a real place.

[@Frankster200277]

Was the word Kanto mentioned in game before Gen II?

[@CassieANS]

It was used in the original Japanese games when you try and look at the town map that your rival's sister is about to give you while it's still on the table. Nowhere else in Japanese and definitely never used in English.

[@brotbrotsen1100]

​@@Frankster200277Yeah i think i heard it the first time in Gen 2 but only because it was written on the map.

[@verylostdoommarauder]

I like to think that the Game Freak offices are just the Creation Pokemon from Sinnoh disguising themselves as humans.

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

I've never seen the "Cycling is fun!" bit before. I can't believe I'm still learning more about this game almost 30 years since I first played it!

[@ThommyofThenn]

The amount of dialogue in this great game is incredible!

[@renakunisaki]

There's also a glitch that can get you stuck in that state, unable to surf or dismount a bike until you go back to Cycling Road.

[@ErnieJ89]

For me it was the guy in the mall that says “I just finished pokemon” dont remember that at all, and I feel like I played this game endlessly as a kid

[@mazeppa1231]

Yeah, for me it was the dialogue in the developer's computers in celadon. I didn't remember seeing that before, and I've played the gen 1 games a lot when I was a kid.

[@renakunisaki]

I've always interpreted "playing a game instead of working" as the player character mistaking testing or graphic design for playing. The hotel does have something interesting: an invisible PC. They forgot to delete the trigger when they copied the Pokémon Center.

[@nousukas]

The Silp co. building shows you how ridiculous it is you can't walk behind a multi-storey building.

[@Gareth-410]

The Goldenrod radio tower in GS too. IIRC it blocked you from surfing behind it. How does that work? It's like an MC Escher perspective quirk.

[@bradlauk1419]

Loading docks of course.

[@winkone101]

Makes perfect sense when you accept it's not just ten stories high, but ten stories long

[@ThatRandomFastingGuy]

​@@winkone101imma say this is canon 😂

[@ninjaguyYT]

​@@Gareth-410the player is a vengeful (but weak) god who refuses to let the playable character out of his vision.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

4:50 Roughly half of all RPGs released in the 90s had dev rooms, it was practically expected.

[@m_chupon5131]

Chrono Trigger even had a whole developer ending!

[@Maximum_Nova]

The Celedon Hotel has a weird phantom PC in the northeast corner like if was a pokecenter. You have to stand as if you're facing a computer even tho you can walk on top of it

[@jeffbell4434]

Everyone already knows that bro.

[@ngotemna8875]

I didn't know that! Thank you for sharing, bro

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

ok and

[@xLoLRaven]

Meh, you guys are being dicks. The OP is pointing it out because Pretzel straight up said he didn't know anything else interesting at the location.

[@Maximum_Nova]

@@xLoLRaventhanks!

[@DeepWeeb]

The developer cameo really messed me up as a kid, being told that touching the computer could break the fabric of reality filled me fear (I was always a bit worried about my game crashing and getting corrupt back in the day) Another weird thing about Gen 1 has to be how the boundaries are set by those white cylinders, even at the sea, what are they? Btw, the Cerulean Cave really is a bizarre place: its layout is completely different between all version of Gen 1 (Green, Blue and Yellow)

[@urbynwyldcat9131]

I too have always wondered about the white cylinders. They're everywhere and nobody ever mentions them!

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

The bed being in the meeting room is probably referring to the fact that near the end of development, when crunch set in extra hard, some of the devs would work 16 or even 20 hour days and take naps in there since there weren't really any meetings going on at 2am.

[@healthyminds9279]

The bed did seem like a shot at their company management for overworking them

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@healthyminds9279I'm actually not sure about that. From what I understand, the team agreed to it because they all wanted to get the game finished and out the door. The original games were made with tons of passion but middling know-how, and it definitely shows. Especially when you find out the games were in development for nearly 5 years, though broken up because they were forced to make other games in order to bring in money.

[@jaredrobinson7071]

About the path. I feel you. So close to being in the middle, but might as well be a million miles away.

[@bradlauk1419]

'what kind of meeting room has a bed?" Well most of game freaks development was done out of the employees own houses, even through gen 2. . . So. Game freaks meeting room.

[@DeepWeeb]

They probably improvised the meeting room in the place as their break room

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

good old humble gamefreak

[@Alector12]

My favorite thing about Saffron City is the competition between the two gyms there with the fighting dojo and the now official Saffron City gym. Apparently, the gym leader and psychic prodigy Sabrina, despite her apparent dislike for battling, had utterly crushed her neigbouring gym to submission and shattered their dreams of being the cities gym. Seems like a pretty unfair system where type-matchups can be exploited like that to decide such important matters. Maybe it would be fair comeuppance if a group of dark-type specialists one day challenge Sabrina for a similar wager...

[@jaschabull2365]

I recently read that there's one episode in the anime (maybe a special episode rather than part of the main series) where Brock has to battle to defend the rock type being Pewter Gym's main type. The opponent wanted to change the type to water. Needless to say, it was an uphill battle for him.

[@benjaminoechsli1941]

​@@jaschabull2365Could they even do that? What about Misty's gym? Did that close? Or can multiple Gyms in a given region share a type?

[@AiakosVids]

@@benjaminoechsli1941 in the anime there's more than 8 gyms in Kanto and you can challenge them in any order; 8 is just the minimum amount of badges you need to enter the Pokemon League Tournament.

[@antoniocastelo8195]

Not sure if anyone commented on this, but a fun bit of trivia: Final Fantasy IV had a developer's room accessible ingame... and random encounters were against members of the staff. Not as obvious as Celadon, but it was there!

[@fridaykitty]

6:49 Don't quote me on this, but I *think* there's an invisible PC in that hotel, because it's a modified Pokémon center. I could be wrong though.

[@PretzelYT]

Someone else pointed that out, so I launched the game and noticed that it's true! There is an invisible PC. I wish I had known about that beforehand, because I definitely would have mentioned it.

[@MazeMe]

I remember reaching Cinnabar Island by flying to Pallet Town and SURFing south when I first played Pokémon Red as a kid, skipping the Seafoam Islands until after Blaine. Anyone else did this?

[@bradlauk1419]

Yes everyone

[@Frankster200277]

i did

[@chasesayshi9194]

I think it's a mistake in the recap. I'm 90% sure the 2 halves of seafoam Island are disconnected and you can't move through them in the way the video suggests

[@hlavco]

@@chasesayshi9194 No, you go in one side and out the other. That's the expected game progression.

[@ThatRandomFastingGuy]

​@@bradlauk1419I always went via Fuschia.

[@yosh9192]

Funny enough, if you use cheats or the walk through walls glitch to enter the enclosures in the Safari Zone, the pokemon simply say “!” when you interact with them, including the Voltorb. It really feels like a sneaky little message from the developers, like “hey, you aren’t supposed to be here!”

[@BobtheExile]

How come you never went over the Seafoam Islands or Power Plant? I think they'd be interesting places to discuss

[@Namingway248]

Although many real word references were eventually retconned, fire red did add one to raichu's dex entry "Its electric charges can reach even 100,000 volts. Careless contact can cause even an Indian elephant to faint."

[@paulnewton2284]

If I'm not mistaken, that was a direct translation of Raichu's entry in Red and Green. (Legends: Arceus retconning this into a Copperajah makes sense but is also kind of funny to think about.)

[@jonothanthrace1530]

Silph Co is a good example of one of the silliest things in sprite-based RPGs: tall buildings you can't properly go behind. I like to imagine that their cross-sections are all right trapezoids.

[@mkdroz91]

The Game Freak studio was always memorable, but I forgot just how much fourth wall breaking is concentrated in Celadon City. I kind of love it.

[@CassieANS]

There are definitely references to the real world in other generations. It took until generation 7 for Poliwraths Dex entry to not reference the Pacific Ocean. Raichus Dex entry still mentioned India until generation 8.

[@curtisleblanc5897]

Guyana, South America exists. They reference Russia in one of the games too, I think. And you can't forget Minnesota. The home of modern day Vikings.

[@decodyg484]

Parents conditioned me to keep the volume off on my Gameboy. To this day it almost feels I'll get in trouble if i play with sound

[@SFTaYZa]

Pavlovs dog

[@decodyg484]

@@SFTaYZa you get it

[@Dani_Salinko358]

You too huh?

[@epicdude8742]

Great vid, though I feel like Saffron was neglected. Besides the interesting worldbuilding it has with the fighting Dojo as a competing gym, I think Mr. Psychic is a very interesting character. Is he just someone with ESP? Or does he have some more significance? I like to think of him as a former gym leader, maybe a mentor to Sabrina who used to give out the TM Psychic when you beat him.

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

the fact the dojo was a former pokemon gym that got beaten is pretty interesting, the psychic gym also got an unique trainer class in it

[@adamj.cuthbert7528]

Good video. The "Guyanese" jungle where Mew was found is supposed to be Faraway Island (from Emerald). It would've been nice if you talked about Mr Fuji's connection to Mewtwo, since it's implied (and outright confirmed in Origins) that he cloned Mew (which he found on Faraway Island) to create Mewtwo. I've always found it one of the most interesting aspects of the lore. The reason Fuji looks after orphaned Pokémon in his old age is because he continues to repent for creating Mewtwo, a Pokémon with a savage heart, created through horrific gene splicing experiments.

[@LuckyFootwork]

6:49 you missed the invisible PC on the far right wall. 17:36 Lt. Surge is called the Lightning American, and there's a scientist in Silph Co. who says he's from the Tiksi branch. Tiksi being a city in Russia.

[@paulnewton2284]

The guy even says that Tiksi is in "Russian no-man's land." (It's on the Arctic coast of Siberia, so yeah.)

[@billyork6017]

The guy who did the art for the games was Ken Sugimori (杉森建) who, aside from being a fantastic watercolourist, is known for his sense of humour and goofing off to play games. He and Satoshi Tajiri (田尻智) founded the magazine "Game Freak" due to their mutual love of video games and expanded into video game development!!

[@iansrife5107]

I bet that statue maze in front of the Pokemon League is like a commemoration of all the other champions who defeated the league before you. Each little plaque probably has a name on it, and maybe even their Pokemon team.

[@negil]

The first time I played through FireRed I got completely stuck at the Safari Zone and would not have gotten through without the help from an older cousin of mine with much more Pokemon knowledge

[@Flower_Mom]

I miss how not only Pokemon but games in general used to feel odd and mysterious and experimental. I don't know if it's the game industry getting stale when gaming became more mainstream or the internet making it harder to keep anything about a game secret or just me getting older and losing that childhood sense of wonder the world used to have.

[@cartoonistanonymous]

It's definitely that last one, but that doesn't mean it isn't also the first two. Growing up, the world ages with you. Plus I found out yesterday that Space Ghost Coast to Coast is about a decade older than I had been thinking it was for over a decade and now I am become decrepit

[@Thiccies]

Not from the games itself, but in the first Pokémon movie, Ash brings up vikings being from Minnesota

[@wep_vs]

I like that part of the video where we slow down and soak in a game's environment

[@Okamikurainya]

As someone who has lived in rural towns for a majority of his life... Very often, the stores really are just the size of a PokeMart, and you have to make trips to the nearest city for more variety and certain essentials.

[@greenhowie]

This was nice and relaxing. You can really tell that they weren't 100% sure this game would become a franchise in the early days, making sure the devs got a cameo. My favourite place is always the underground path, no idea why but always feels comforting down there.

[@meinebosma]

Raichu has a couple of dex entries revering to an Indian elephant. That has a similar vibe.

[@wolfdwarf]

It's even 'worse' because it's talking about a non-Pokemon animal, and India. Then again the Pokedex is famously absurd.

[@meinebosma]

@@wolfdwarf Yeah, absurb and horrifying.

[@jfb-]

eventually they changed it to Copperajah

[@meinebosma]

@@jfb- Yeah, an interesting addition/change.

[@DoctorAutopsy]

I don't mind the walking paths being two tiles wide because you don't usually walk down the center of a trail in real life. You walk on the right hand side so people going the other direction can pass by.

[@healthyminds9279]

You just kinda blew my mind

[@slowdownex]

Yes, the markets are small and probably wouldn't contain everything that my town needs. But then again, they only have like four houses in each town here. That supply and demand is reasonable.

[@rickroller7223]

In Japan, there are multiple little stores just like PokeMarts where you can grab food and basic essentials. The department stores they have are just like Celadon's big store: they all have multiple stories, with different themes to each. So many of the buildings utilize multiple stories, expanding upward rather than outward.

[@empty5013]

a lot of pokemons world design makes so much more sense after i visited Japan, not just what you mentioned but the walkability, high urbanisatiom, bikes being common, bug catching being the primary inspiration, the prices are in yen which is why a pokeball is 200 pokedollars etc, its lovely making the connections and realising the pokemon world is a reflection of the developers lives

[@johnnytaylor5744]

14:20 I can confirm to you I used the walk through wall cheat when I messed about with cheat codes and if I recall if you press on the voltorb I believe it came up saying ! But it defo isn't an item

[@professorhazard]

Other real world location mentioned: Raichu is said to be strong enough to zap an Indian elephant unconscious, but later in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the professor's writeup says instead that it can bring down "a Copperajah, from my homeland". So that was an interesting way to confirm that he is Indian.

[@professorhazard]

The museum also has a real-world space shuttle replica in it. The Columbia, I think?

[@mkdroz91]

@22:39 I'M THE ROYAL GUARD NOW.

[@damonullerick6572]

17:22: This is doubtless widely known by now, but the Guyanese jungle referred to in that diary was retconned in Emerald with the Faraway Island event. Pretty much all references to actual places in Gen 1 can be chalked up to them not knowing they'd start a multi-billion dollar media empire, and FR/LG kept them to be absolutely 100% faithful to the originals, and for no other reason.

[@valettashepard909]

I kinda dig this channel, in part because pretzel sounds almost dead-on as an Otacon voice from metal gear. In my head I’m picturing him chatting with snake about video games on their off time c:

[@bloodblues85]

I Exeggcuted myself after reaching Lavender Town back in 1998, and I've never felt better! 😄

[@reptilemark7346]

😂😂😂😂

[@HalianTheProtogen]

There's a Gardevoir card with an attack named Black Magic, so I headcanon that magic is real, but only psychics (whether human or pokémon) and legendaries can wield it.

[@literallynothinghere9089]

I was telepathically connected to this video and came here the instant it was uploaded. The last 20 minutes were gone because I was busy. This is my dream sequel. Thanks so much Pretzel. Love you :)

[@Victini0510]

Aw I do wish you explored Seafoam :P One of the most chill places in the game

[@Podzhagitel]

i HATED seafoam islands as a kid, i always flew to pallet town in order to avoid it

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

bro rushed this one

[@sirhenrymorgan1187]

17:27 not after this Gen, but Lt. Surge is referred to as "the Lightning American!" They changed this in the remakes to "the Lightning Lieutenant!"

[@stinksmcgee]

Was having a particularly shocking nightmare and I looked for a video to fall asleep to. This is perfect for that, you have such a calm voice and a relaxing style of narration. Subscribed ❤️

[@Aldrasio]

Pokemon Red was my first experience with a game that was essentially all overworld. Before that I'd played games like Mario or racing games or the like that had either a selection of levels or a one-way path through the game. I thought it was so novel that you could just walk from one side of the map to the other through whatever path you wanted to take. After beating the game sometimes I'd just take a walk around the world because I could. Even though it wasn't truly an "open world" game, Pokemon definitely gave me a taste of what would become one of my favorite game structures for the rest of my life.

[@ClosedCasketVideo]

I got this game when it came out along with Link's Awakening DX. I was about 14 at the time and I just couldn't get into Pokemon. Kind of wish I at least got to Lavender Town, because I probably would have dug it.

[@ryandomville3621]

I don't know if you usually reference weird glitches and oversights, but one cool thing is in the Hotel in Celadon. As the design of the hotel is based on a pokemon center, there's still a flag for a pc in the same place a pc would normally be. Utterly redundant but still slightly interesting and cool.

[@PretzelYT]

Oh my gosh, I just booted up the game and you're right. If I had known about this, I totally would have mentioned it😭

[@ryandomville3621]

@PretzelYT aw man there's so much cool stuff hidden away in the corners of this game. If you get the time I'd suggest watching the "Glitchfest" series on gen 1 cause there's some hilarious crazy stuff going on!

[@Reinoiro]

I grew up playing the remakes. I was so young that until i replayed it later fire red was a bunch of loose, mysterious, unsettlingly familiar memories tied to random things in the game. Kanto, especially the latter half, is definitely not the best playing region, but almost all things about it ooze subtlty and depth that was probably never even intended My memories of fire red are exactly what this series is trying to show

[@theeducatedfool]

The Channelers make me consider the fan theory that the humans in Gen 1 have “types” like Pokémon do.

[@dominicmoisant8393]

Humans and pokemon used to be one in the same as from gen 4 lore, different trainer classes are effectively human's types

[@VincentSilverthorne]

So are trainers who don't specialize in a particular type of pokemon classified as "normal type?"​@@dominicmoisant8393

[@emilybenge_]

Been loving going through all of your world tour videos! It reminds me of how I would play video games as a kid, staying in the "safe" parts of the world like Delphino Plaza in Super Mario Sunshine or Windfall island in Wind Waker, just making my own little stories and games while I explored all the nooks and crannies. I love being able to revisit that-- its the reason I love exploration in games so much!

[@scritoph3368]

Early 2010s kiddo me was definitely shitting his pants a little about falling victim to Lavender Town Syndrome. The mean, if the TV show can give people seizures, maybe it’s not that much a stretch that “binaural beats” can make you jump off a building! I kid, but I think Pokemon Shock definitely contributed just enough evidence that it *might* be true to impressionable internet kids. (Justice for porygon btw my man did nothing wrong)

[@Morgil27]

I feel like that White Magic line was probably the english localization trying to gloss over some religious/spiritual thing from the Japanese version.

[@drygnfyre]

In the Japanese script, the old man that shows you how to catch Pokemon was drunk when you first meet him. In the localizations, he needed coffee.

[@JoBot__]

I like that the video's aspect ratio matches that of a Game Boy screen.

[@steven_r7773]

Thanks Pretzel these are two of my favorite videos ever seen on KZbin. I just wish you told us what the girl says if you tell her yes, you believe in ghosts. And the lady behind the desk in hotel, cannot talk to her? I think Legend of Zelda is another game you could do, lots of hidden quirky things, I especially like Wind Waker.

[@roscoedash6673]

Gen 5 references tons of real-world places. There are even NPCs speaking French, Spanish, and German.

[@benjaminoechsli1941]

Since Unova is based on America, I loved the homage to all the cultures and languages that have come together to form the great melting pot that is our country. I wonder if the NPCs you mentioned speak English when you change the game's language?

[@eternalux6343]

Really enjoyed this video, the South America callout in pokemon reminds me of the texas sign in seventh heaven from ff7, also that game had Costa del sol and it wasn't earth but gaia. I've cheated through walls in this game and the voltorb (along with all the other pokemon in the enclosure respond "!" In a text box, likely exclaiming surprise that you're in their cage.

[@ghostfox13]

So, did mewtwo leave cerulean cave?Did it leave, sealing the "only?" Exit behind them? Seal itself in the cave to prevent others from finding them, or did they use an unseen exit, sealing the cave to deter others from finding them, and leaving its own legends as a cautionary tale?

[@ezzardeyethief]

So the cave Mewtwo resides in is next to the City of blue mist. If you ever get a chance read the signs at the start of each city in gen 1.

[@TodPoleDotCom]

Reminder that Kanto is a real place too, so I don’t think they really thought that name dropping Guyana was weird either

[@fountainfaerie]

Was making my partner watch this with me while I'm sick, I love this so much! So cozy

[@danielmalinen6337]

You missed the part in the department store where Red says that he has a dad who likes sports games.

[@dr.shakib9961]

I can relate to you, this and Chrono Trigger really awakened my disdain towards 4th wall breaking jokes. Even as a little kid I was like "gee thanks for reminding me I'm playing a game and none of these characters exist or matter"

[@SinNun-tx5jp]

There's a couple more examples of real places named in pokemon: A gentleman in SS Anne is having a tour and already went to Paris. Lt. Surge is American There's a scientist in Sliph co. fearing of being transfered to the division in Tiksi, Russia. The pokedex says Arcanine is consider a legendary pokemon in China. I don't remember more and they were likely replaced in the remakes with less specific concepts / names.I doubt they'd have the forethought of mentioning Kalos back in the gen1 remakes in gen3

[@taylorchesser8990]

GameFreak seems to agree about that barren lot in Celadon, given that they added a fountain there in later games.

[@whisperinwind87]

you missed both seaform islands and the powerplant, I remember thinking the powerplant was really cool...

[@AtalanHero]

My fave spot as a kid was the grass patch just after exiting cycling road. You leave the building and below there’s an NPC there and some Fearow in the grass. I’ve always liked that spot

[@curtisleblanc5897]

Forget about psychic types. If dragons and elementals exist, why not magic? Also, plants with eyes and mouths.

[@kalkuttadrop6371]

Have you ever read the 1996 Red and Green Pokedex Book? There’s a translation on DYKG

[@bradlauk1419]

Obviously not. This dude's just fuckin around. It's neat content but nothing novel.

[@jakrol]

I can relate to saving in the center of the Pokeball on the floor. I always saved a few steps down from the counter. Every time. I don't know why. It just felt right. Like you're going to sleep, and you need to be indoors.

[@bmeht]

I always wondered why the royal guard left his hat behind

[@tslodemi]

These videos warm this stanky old wizard's heart. Thank you for making them.

[@thesuntitan]

Cozy AF video, hope you’ll contInue this lovely series

[@danmorris1117]

The celadon hotel is a reused pokemon center layout, and you can acess the PC where you normally would in the hotel as well its just invisible

[@tobequitefranco]

This is one of my favorite KZbin series. It’s simple but nostalgic. It It is full of meaning, just like these spots you visit.

[@dwalin619]

9:09 Wait, these are kids?! I always thought they are old men. But it´s not a beard, it´s a Game Boy. Wow...

[@ThommyofThenn]

8:20 always felt so special finally getting to the "big city" shopping center. Be sure to enjoy a lemonade while taking in the beautiful rooftop vista!

[@thebigbean8783]

I'm happy to see the sequel as I just watched the first a couple days ago

[@ezzardeyethief]

I caught my first Dratini in the Safari zone. Ever since I've just bought one. So not worth the time sink lol.

[@samdavies2069]

On.y appropriate comment for that dev isn’t pick one. Its pick none. The characters are all like canonicallly 13. Its messed up and is still in the let’s go games too

[@awesomo925]

As someone who recently re-played Firered, this is pretty awesome seeing someone comment on it in detail. My only complaint is that you don't really comment much on the routes. I really like how the route following Lavender Town has a very triumphant sound. Like it's commenting on how you just went through some dark stuff and we see the light on the other end of the tunnel.

[@RickReinster]

First time watching your channel. I loved you as "Booger" in Revenge of the Nerds!

[@jacoblangobard4640]

About the real life locations thing, i remember a pokemon film as a kid where latios and latias are in venice italy or something 😅

[@PretzelYT]

Oh man, I watched that a TON as a kid. I loved it 😭

[@shonkyhonker9347]

I adore the analysis of Pokémon game worlds. I’d love to see all regions covered, and maybe even some spin offs, like pokepark. Pokepark world is so weird in such random places. Like in the second where the post game area has a massive hole you just… can’t enter