Livestream: Discussing the music of "Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon"

Over labor day weekend, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I recorded a discussion of the music of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. The polished podcast version will come out at a later date, but the raw audio can be enjoyed here:

Pokémon Worlds 2024: A (Partial) Spectator Experience

Unlike last year’s event in Yokohama where I spent very little time at the worlds event area due to a lack of access, this year I was able to secure a Saturday spectator pass for Honolulu. As such, I was able to spend a meaningful amount of time at the tournament site.

Thursday

Booking a connecting itinerary proved significantly cheaper than flying direct out of O’Hare (unlike London and Yokohama), so I ended up starting in Madison and making the short hop to Chicago before taking the 8-hour flight to Honolulu. The travel was not particularly eventful, though I did have an interesting conversation with my neighbors on the plane, who were visiting their son in the armed forces. After landing, I took a pre-arranged shuttle to my hotel.

Once I was settled in, I went to pick up my badge at the Hilton complex a few blocks away. The ballroom was in a rather obscure location, situated on top of a parking garage and requiring use of an elevator or escalators for access. After picking up my pass, I asked a few questions of one of the customer service reps to clarify some things.

Friday

The spectator pass gave me a slot at the Pokémon Center store, which luckily did not have to be on the same day as the spectator pass (I feel bad for anyone who had a single-day pass and had the Center eat up a significant portion of their time). My slot was for 11 am, but I decided to go early to identify the entry point. When I arrived, I noticed a large line, and it quickly became apparent that the store was behind schedule (apparently their point-of-sale system was having significant connection issues).

After being herded through several areas (including the parking garage), I finally got to go into the Center around 12:30 pm. I found the store to be well-laid-out, and I definitely appreciated the live musician performing there. As far as the actual shopping, I wasn’t particularly picky, so although a few things were out of stock, I was relatively satisfied with the selection. I ended up picking up two plushes (Riolu and Crocalor) and some sleeves.

Saturday

Naturally, my goal was to spend as much time at the event as possible since this was the only day I had a badge for. I arrived before events started, and got registered for the 9 am Build-and-Battle and the Pokémon Go Scavenger Hunt (I wish I had known about having access to the tasks in the app to get a head start on Friday).

After finishing 1-2 in the Build-and-Battle, I decided to get some lunch (I had missed breakfast). I found the selections on the top level of the convention center to honestly be pretty disappointing, particularly compared to the offerings at events in the Baird Center in Milwaukee (a similarly-sized venue). The food I ordered was okay, but I certainly would have preferred a wider selection.

At 1 pm, there was a panel discussing the localization of Pokémon Horizons and the production of Path to the Peak. While it was largely information I already knew, I did appreciate the opportunity to listen to some of the folks involved. Unfortunately, no questions were taken and no recording was allowed, so I don’t have much to share other than that.

After a brief stop at the anime viewing room and art gallery, I participated in the 4pm Chaos Cup, where I also went 1-2. I still needed to cash out both my side event points and the go scavenger hunt, so I took care of those and headed back to the hotel.

Sunday

I decided to do some shopping in order to see more of the area. I visited two Book-Off locations and picked up a variety of games (including a physical copy of Super Mystery Dungeon, since my digital version crashes my 3DS on startup), and some other media. I was able to finish my shopping and return to the hotel in time to watch the (admittedly disappointing) closing ceremonies.

Monday

My flight left in the evening, so I used some time to explore a bit of Waikiki before heading off to the airport. The return trip was fairly tiring (as usual), and it was good to return home.

Overall, I had a good time at this year’s event, though it probably would have been more enjoyable if I could have spent the whole weekend at the convention enter. That said, assuming I can acquire a spectator badge next year, I do plan on attending.

Other Notes:

-Given how crowded the main tournament space was and the unusual way the Pokémon Center line was woven through the facility, I expect this is the last time the Pokémon World Championships will be held in Honolulu unless a larger convention center is built or the current one gets a significant expansion.
-The closing ceremony definitely ended on a whimper. Announcing the next two years will be in the same state, followed by no Legends Z-A information (regardless of whether it’s a “competitive” game) was a major structural issue. Even with the announcements they did make, they could have been re-ordered for a better impact.

-The anime viewing room actually did have a schedule, but that didn’t seem to be made clear on the Worlds website, which seemed to imply the room would cycle between episodes of Horizons and Pokémon: The First Movie, when in reality there were several different movies shown throughout the weekend.
-Shout out to the guy who had us guess Pokémon anatomy while we were in the parking garage waiting to get into the Pokémon Center. It made things a bit more bearable.
-I cosplayed as Michael Hunchence from  INXS as a Pokémon trainer like I have at previous events (Friday the 16^th was actually the band’s anniversary). Unfortunately, the only time I ran into an Australian was on Monday. He got a kick out of the picture I showed him.
-While the food at the event was disappointing, as usual I got some great meals out of the local restaurants:

In addition to this scrumptious entrée from Eggs n’ Things, I also ordered food from Kyochon 1991, Betty’s Burgers, Teddy’s Bigger Burgers, and Fresh Catch Kapahulu, all of them delicious.

Poke Press Digest Podcast-Episode 73-What's the best version of the English Pokémon Theme?

Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help me discuss several versions of the English Pokémon theme. Listen in as we compare and contrast renditions from the TV show, movies, and beyond. Oh, and if by some chance you were wondering how “Born To Be A Winner” fits into all of this, don’t worry, we cover that after the outro:

Links:

Pikapi Podcast

Poke Casters Network

Livestream: Discussing the music of "Pokken Tournament (DX)" w/Pikapi Podcast

Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help me discuss the music of Pokken Tournament for the arcade, Wii U, and Switch. Tune in and find out what we got out of this modestly successful game's soundtrack:

Livestream: Pokken Tournament DX livestream with Pikapi Podcast

In preparation for our upcoming music discussion, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I recorded a livestream of us playing the Switch version of Pokken Tournament. Neither of us claim to be experts, but we did try to explore a large portion of the game: 

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 72-Discussing the music of "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity"

Anne from Pikapi Podcast stops by to discuss the music of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity for the 3DS. While not the most popular entry in the series, it still comes with a wide array of impressive new tunes, giving us plenty to talk about. As usual, we have a game discussion after the outro. In our feedback section, we discuss the ongoing opportunity (or perhaps risk) of doing a remake of Pokémon 2000:

Links:
Pikapi Podcast
Poke Casters Network
Pam Sheyne Interview
Pokémon 2000 Mockup

Pokémon NAIC 2024 Side Events Review

As someone with more of an interest in socialization than competition, I typically spend most of my time at Pokémon events playing in side events away from the main tournament. This year’s NAIC was no exception, and I wanted to share my experiences.

Side Event Generals:

As usual, side events were in the back part of the tournament area, away from the main stage. Registration was handled via OpenTable (for ad-hoc events) and RK9 Labs (for scheduled everts). No physical event tickets were used for registration. 

For ad-hoc events, players would check in at a set of desks and would then be directed to a set of tables to wait for the event to fill up, at which point a judge would come over and have all the players for the event gather to be led to the appropriate table. This process worked fairly well, but I think it could have been improved by making sure that the person reading the list announces the kind of event being started and by making sure each name has at least a first name and last initial.

Scheduled events were considerably simpler. The event would be announced along with its location, and any pairings or standings would be posted in paper and on RK9 Labs itself (this was actually my first experience with getting my pairings on the website, since prior events had only really used them for the main competition).

TCG Raid:

These were run as standard four-person pods against a judge using a jumbo card as their attacker. I played three of these over the weekend (two against Toxtricity and one against Galarian Rapidash). Rather than using my Vivillion/Marowak deck (nicknamed “Spinal Tap”) as I had in prior TCG raids, I brought out my expanded “Round” deck with Seismitoad. The raids went more or less as expected, and the only thing I really wanted to mention is that using a die to keep track of shared supporter usage and the number of cards the judge has left to play during their turn (also, I recommend the judge only use their die to count the overall number of natural cards to be drawn, rather than increasing the number when a draw card is used, as it reduces the risk of losing count). We won all three encounters.

TCG Build & Battle:

I played in several of these, all of which used the Twilight Masquerade set (great aesthetic for New Orleans, by the way). At this point, this is a well-known format, and my only suggestion is that since this set contains Ace Specs, the judges should mention that the one-per-deck limit still applies, unlike the four-of-a-card limit that is waived. I was 5-1 across the two events.

TCG Ditto Draft:

Technically, this is “sealed” rather than a draft, as you are given cards to use instead of taking a card and passing the rest along. Also, the first round uses a 20-card deck, so you end up using all the cards in the pack and adding basic energy (as opposed to a pack battle, where you typically select a cards from your pack and build a 10-card deck). If you make it to the second round (this event was single-elimination), you get an additional pack and expand to a 30-card deck. I was able to make it to the finals, where I was clobbered by a Greninja ex.

VG Chaos Cup:

In this event, each seat had a rental team listed on it, and a code for retrieving that team (one participant noticed the actual in-game team differed slightly from what was on their sheet). We played three rounds, and used a different team each time (on the chance that we got the same team again, we were given the option to use a team from an adjacent table instead). The biggest difficulty I had with this was actually procedural, since I’ve never competed in VGC, and since this event was on Saturday, we were able to use some VGC docking stations, which I had seen but never used. I’m happy to report the other players were more than willing to help me with the process, which I quickly got accustomed to. I went 2-1 in this event.

VG Booster Draft Cup:

No, you’re not misreading it. This is a new side event the combines aspects of the TCG and VGC. Prior to round one, players are placed into groups (typically of four, though ours had five), open a pack of cards, take a card, then build a team based on the cards they drafted. The exact rules are too detailed to list in full (and not completely firm), but basically you were able to use any Pokémon you had a card for, its immediate evolution (FYI, Twilight Masquerade does have Eevee), or if the Pokémon doesn’t exist in Scarlet & Violet (including the DLC) and you don’t have access to Home, you can substitute a tournament-legal Pokémon of the same type. Any non-Pokémon cards you draft allow you to attach a held item to one of your team members.

I didn’t have much trouble drafting cards to create a team of six (as well as four items), thanks in part to my collection from various raids, but I soon discovered I was at a disadvantage not having that deep a knowledge of the competitive VGC field, as well as not having trained a large number of my boxed Pokémon in IVs or EVs. As a result, I went 0-3 in this event, though I still like the overall concept, and may consider it again once it is more fine-tuned (provided I have time to build up a stable of better Pokémon).

Go Scavenger Hunt:

At this point, Go scavenger hunts have been pretty well figured out, though I do have to note that one of the tasks was somewhat awkward. You could either evolve a Vigoroth with a visor (which I never saw), or get the fully-evolved Goodra from the community day (which was Sunday afternoon, near the closing time of the event). Also, it would be nice if we could get something besides wristbands and pop sockets for those intermediate rewards-I think I have more of the former than I have limbs.

Ticket Redemption:

When redeeming tickets, I make a conscious effort to pick something for myself, as well as some things that can be given away for door prizes at future league events. For myself, unfortunately the incubator I wanted was picked up by someone else while I was in line, so I got a Rapidash-themed dual deck box and a booster pack. For the league, I picked up one of all five of the playmats on offer, so look forward to that if you play at Pegasus Games in the near future.

Non-Side Event Notes:

-As with Orlando regionals, I cosplayed as “Michael Hutchence as a Pokémon Trainer” all three days, with some interesting reactions. I do plan on diversifying the musicians I cosplay as, though finding the right combinations can be difficult.

-The Pokémon Center store was about what I expected. I picked up some apparel and some sleeves.

-Being able to pick up my spectator badge at the airport was a nice bonus that I hope continues for other events.

Overall, I had a great time at NAIC 2024, and look forward to other events in the future. The additional space compared to Columbus seems to have been used to good effect, and the staff was great as always.