20 Sided Stories

POKÉMON! Pen & Paper Version

Introduction

Air Date: July 25, 2018

Sage G.C.: This podcast and series has no affiliation with Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, Creatures Inc. or anything in the official Pokémon franchise whatsoever. It is a nonprofit, fan-made parody piece created in fair use, and all product names, trademarks, and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

The bulk of what you are about to hear was recorded live by improvisers who simply love the franchise, and we thank you for joining us on our nostalgic adventure through Kanto.

If introductory information bores you, feel free to jump right into Episode 1. But, if you want a refresher on Pokémon and how this podcast works, then you’re in the right place.

[Podcast Intro music.]

Jessica Dahlgren: Thank you and welcome to 20 Sided Stories.

[Intro music fades out.]

Introduction

[Beeping as a New Game is started. Echoing click of an in-game door opening. Pokémon theme plays.]

Narrator: Hello there! Welcome to the world of Pokémon!

If you don’t know what Pokémon is, my god what giant rock have you been living under? No need to worry. We’ll catch you up on all you need to know.

This world is inhabited by creatures called Pokémon. For some people, Pokémon are pets. Others use them for fights or to study as a profession. Trainers may start their journey as young as ten years old, departing from their homes without parental supervision and traveling far and wide in search of the best Pokémon.

Training them to evolve, learn new abilities, and battle others. This includes battling and defeating Gyms as part of the Indigo League, which are led by the toughest trainers in all the region.

Many years ago, two trainers from the Kanto region took foot outside of their home in Pallet Town with an encyclopedic Pokédex from Professor Oak and a quest to catch them all. They defeated every Gym they challenged, including the Elite Four. And eventually fought each other for the title of Pokémon League champion. Their names were Red and Blue.

[Suspenseful music builds.]

While the Pokémon world is blissful and at times uncomfortably peaceful, not all is sunshine and Ho-Ohs flying over rainbows. There are still those who wish to take instead of give, and use Pokémon abusively for their own gain. Led by the notorious Giovanni a group named Team Rocket attempted to take over all aspects of industry but were foiled by Trainer Red from Pallet Town and his incredibly OP Pokémon team.

A hero of the Kanto region, Red went on to defeat his rival, Trainer Blue, becoming a legendary, Indigo League Pokémon champion.

It is said that, after catching every known Pokémon in the Pokédex, he traveled to the peak of Mt. Silver to the northwest and still trains there alone.

Trainer Red’s tale has struck inspiration into the hearts of children who grew up in Pallet Town. And every year, Professor Oak hands out new Pokédexs to aspiring trainers to follow in Red’s footsteps.

[Inspirational music plays.]

Candace: Hello! I’m Candace Carter, and I’m from Pallet Town, and I’m an Ace Trainer! That’s right! I come from the Carter family. My dad’s a politician and my mom’s a lawyer, and they want me to follow their path. But I’m gonna be like my aunt, Clair, and be the best Pokémon trainer and Gym trainer in the world.

She gave me a Vulpix that’s super rad, and I’m so excited to get started on my adventure.

Skip: Hey, Skip Svitak here! I’m from Pallet Town! A Youngster class. I’ve got a Dratini that I found in the water not that long ago, and I’m gonna take it on my adventure to become the greatest Pokémon master!

Xander: Hi. My name is Xander. I’m from Pallet Town. I…I’m a Musician. I’m not really a Pokémon trainer, but I did find a Mudkip that was injured outside the back of my trailer park. He was hit by a car and I felt bad, so I took him in. Now he follows me around.

I just go to school, even though I don’t like it, and I live in a trailer with my mom. My dad fronts a Cheap Trick cover band, and he lives somewhere out of town. I haven’t seen him in a while.

Wish we had more stuff to do…

Sage: And I, Sage G.C., will be your game master.

[Gentle guitar music.]

Providing obstacles, additional character voices, and narrating the story. There are also other voices you will hear throughout the series, played by various guests, all of whom are improvisers improvising. That’s right, aside from the added magic of music and sound design, almost everything you hear was made up on the spot.

Though, we had some help, of course. A homebrewed RPG system was created exclusively for this series with the intent of embellishing the roleplay first but still leaving room for strategy and surprises. Outside of battle, each of our three trainers has a set of stats, such as Brawn or Smarts or Charisma. If I feel that any of these stats need to be tested, you’ll hear this sound.

[Stat test chime.]

The trainer will then roll two fudge dice that will determine one of four possible outcomes. If they succeed, you’ll hear this sound.

[Success chime.]

And if they fail…

[Failure chime.]

If the result is a net, meaning an equal number of pluses and minuses that sort of cancel each other out…

[Net chime.]

The obstacle will then have to be messily solved through roleplaying and nothing else. At the discretion of the GM of course. But that’s not all. If the trainer rolls blanks, they can call upon their Hidden Power.

[Hidden Power chime.]

The result is a success, but through the magic of improv and roleplaying, they must get creative and use their Hidden Power stat and only that stat to overcome the obstacle.

[Upbeat battle music.]

But what about the battles? The heart of the Pokémon games? Well, we felt it was really important that we capture the energy of the classic anime, and keep things exciting and present tense.

So, thanks to the amazing website and community of PokémonShowdown.com, all Pokémon are acted out as they occur with our improvisers actually battling with their Pokémon team in real-time, just as you would in-game.

There was a lot to fit into this season, so we did some level-scaling in between episodes where I had everyone roll a d4 to determine miscellaneous wild Pokémon battles. No need to worry about us just grinding through tall grass encounters. This adventure is a nonstop ride and story first.

[Pokémon theme music builds.]

Narrator: A brand new Pokémon legend is about to unfold right before your very ears. Sixteen episodes of wondrous stories in a world of dreams, and adventures with Pokémon awaits. Let’s go!

[Pokémon theme fades.]

Check Us Out!

Sage: If you wanna experience the full context of everything our Pokemon series has to offer, go to 20SidedStories.com/pokemon. There we have beautiful character portraits and artwork for every episode, our custom-designed RPG system is available for free, so you can play your own POKÉMON! Pen & Paper Version, and full transcripts! Readable right on the site or as a downloadable PDF.

Be wary of spoilers, obviously, but if you wanna check it out, that’s 20SidedStories.com/pokemon.