TRAINER'S EYE #83 - "Toxtricity Citrus Supremacy" ft. LIME KING

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by LIME KING, a Pokemon Trainer from Australia and winner of the Pokemon Cypher 2023 contest.

LIME KING shares his experience with Pokemon, starting with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. He shares how he would play those generation of games for hours due to having to spend time at the dance studio. LIME KING shares his insight and opinions on Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum and gives his thoughts on the remakes, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Despite LIME KING initially resistant to being at a dance studio, LIME KING eventually embraced dancing with hip-hop and shares his experience traveling around the world teaching students the art of hip-hop dancing. LIME KING's interest in dancing eventually led him to try rapping. What best could be described as a mix of screaming while rhyming, LIME KING has a unique style that is better heard from brief samples within the interview.

Finally, LIME KING gives insight into his thought process for creating his lyrics and how he approached his Cypher submissions. Despite entering the contest as a complete unknown, LIME KING became a crowd favorite and the eventual winner of the Pokemon Cypher contest.

Listen to how the world of Pokemon, Dance, and Hip-Hop came together to drive this Pokemon Trainer's journey!

Trainer's Eye is a series where the stories are real and people still play this game. From PVP to Shiny Hunting, each person's Pokemon GO journey is unique and we dive into each journey here on As The Pokeball Turns!

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay
LIME KING - POKEMON CYPHER 2023 SUBMISSION
LIME KING - Pocket Monster (Pokemon Cypher 2023 Round 2 Winner)
Check Out LIME KING's latest song

Connect with LIME KING: Linktree

Transcript

David Hernandez: 0:00

My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns. Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns. Our journey takes us to Australia where we meet a Pokemon trainer and the winner of the Pokemon Cypher 2023 contest. The Pokemon Cypher is a high quality music video that mixes Pokemon and Hip Hop. For the second time, a contest was hosted by Shofu to allow one lucky winner to participate in this special event. The winner not only needed strong rap skills, but also vast knowledge when it came to the world of Pokemon. Little did he or anybody else know, the two finalists would not be from the states, But would be from across the ocean. My guest is here to share his story with Pokemon and his experience to win the contest and meet a group of people he admired growing up. Here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon. This is Lime King. Today, I'm joined by a dancer, a rapper, a Pokemon fan, and someone here to Muk in everyone's rae. Lime King, welcome to the show.

LIMEKING: 1:44

Markit, everyone. This is an insane start. Uh, hello! I'm so happy to be here. I don't know what else to say. I, I, Markit, Yeah, you're valid. You're valid as fuck.

David Hernandez: 1:58

I mean, I couldn't use e calf because that's your thing. So I had to kind of bring my own spin to it.

LIMEKING: 2:03

I appreciate the text and rendition. It's, I love it.

David Hernandez: 2:07

Well, LIMEKING, first off want to say congratulations. You won the 2023 Rap Cypher hosted by Shofu. And for those who don't know, you have a very unique sound. And my first question would be is like, you know, how did it feel to win it? you came in as somebody who people didn't know and then you instantly won the crowd over. Like, how does it feel to kind of win something like that?

LIMEKING: 2:26

it's an experience that, so hard to describe in words. It is. I feel like, to really understand, you need to have seen me in real life, like, low key shitting myself. Because I'm just like, did this just happen? the thing is with, like, a lot of these American livestreams, like, I'm there, and then I have to go to work. So, like, literally, I was, like, looking at my phone, realized I won, was like, She's like, oh shit, shit, shit, like I just got like a flight paid for get to meet with the people I've been listening to all my life and then it's like, oh shit. I gotta leave and work in five So then i'm like working i'm like doing my shit and then it's like I can't concentrate I just want something this huge and I mean like i've been a fan of the cypher Um for y'all who don't know about the cypher this shit started like 2013 So this was back when I was a young and youngin. So like, that's where, my nostalgia for like, the rap shit, the nostalgia for the game itself just kinda came together. it's a very strange like, oh I felt like everything led to this moment. And being such a small creator, compared to my competitors, it was just like, I guess I'm the shit now? It's strange like I always kind of saw Myself as someone who always did just what they wanted to do And I guess I have some level of skill to back things up now. It's very strange and it's questionable thing. It's like, oh, do I have ego now? in terms of just like the whole experience is just really like A feeling of, oh, I am talented, I am this, I am that. And the people that I've seen as talented as skilled has kind of backed me up on that and said like, yes, you do have these sort of things. And not to mention, I, I will mention, say his name every time. D I've never met him, he's never messaged me once, but he paid for my flight over there. they didn't expect anyone international to compete. And, they were like, I don't know, like, you might have to pay for yourself. And then Twitch donations came through. there were like, two bands dropped within, like, half an hour, and he was a band. He paid for my flight, and I thank him every time.

David Hernandez: 4:33

So you didn't have to swim the rest of the

LIMEKING: 4:35

I didn't have to swim! I might have been able to afford to go to like Hawaii or some shit But and then I have to do some free stuff with maybe some backstroke and then get tired damn.

David Hernandez: 4:46

I remember watching that and everybody was in shock because they were wanting the same things like Australia flights to anywhere is not cheap, especially to the US.

LIMEKING: 4:55

oh, it was it was crazy on a lot of reasons because I mean also things just happened to work out because There is a competition we go to almost every year for dance in arizona and so Where we was filming was austin So it's like, oh shit, not only do I have my flight paid for, for this thing, but it's now less to fundraise for my crew and the kids I teach to go overseas. That was the big thing for me. It's like, you know, like, so when I talk about Dee, I don't think about him paying for me. Mainly I think about him paying my kids for them to live their dreams. And that's the big one. That's the big one.

David Hernandez: 5:34

Let's dive into that a little bit. So for those who are the intro. I also mentioned you were a dancer. Now, there's not much that outside of your submission videos, you really don't touch much with the dancing, the Pokemon, but you're a professional dancer. You travel to different competitions. Is that how it works?

LIMEKING: 5:47

Yeah So, I mean the one I was going over for I just mentioned is called hip hop international I guess fitting where you kind of put a routine together and compete with people around the world I dance in a crew called sweet feet. We've been doing fairly good. We've got a name for ourself that way. There's also like other crews named like, shout out Tricky Treats, shout out Splat Pack, shout out the Hot Chili Steppers. yeah, there's a lot of like, there's a lot of crews in my city that like, are high level enough to compete in all these competitions. And so like, a lot of us as like, the teachers there, able to teach these kids. And. They're crazy enough and hardworking enough to get sent over. But yeah, most of the time I keep my dance shit and my rap shit fairly different I mean there is a lot of crossover, because the reason I rap is cause I've been listening to the music I dance to. But like, I go by Hadley through the dance shit, because I mean that's the government, that's how they've been knowing me since I was like 12. and now I guess it's the rap shit and the Pokemon shit under LIMEKING.

David Hernandez: 6:45

Now, in regards to just your rapping. So, when I heard you, it threw me and everybody else off. But for me, you sound like, disturbed if they decide to go hip hop. How did you kind of find your style to become the way you rap that you do?

LIMEKING: 6:59

So, the way I rap came from the dance. The only way I can explain how dancers look at other dancers is like, You know when there's like, that goal, that score, and it's just the most guttural roar that happens there. Just like, terms of like, cheering. So like, with a lot of dance shit, if y'all in the circle, y'all in the cypher, and you see some cool shit, that's the sort of reaction you see and that's the sort of reaction you get. So that's why, when I do it, it gets down here. And it's just like, ooooh! And it's just like, I don't even know how it comes, and it just It's really just a guttural way of speaking, but the thing is I can't switch between them. It's just a matter of like MCing and hosting the dance battles because when I started doing that I started reacting like that I started hosting and emceeing for dance events and Funnily enough one of the first events that I actually hosted was called Pokemon mystery dungeon. So it was, it was actually an event where they like, get a bunch of people that like, never danced before in their life, and they like, get them trained up by like, high level teachers and dancers and whatever style. So that was the first one I did, and see how everything just kinda comes together? But yeah, it's literally just from hosting events and getting this. I see myself as a wrestling announcer more than a rapper sometimes. and you start to realize like the links, like, when you hear Pokemon cries, it's like, oh yeah, this Pokemon, I definitely have to do some song about this Pokemon. Like, as soon as Annihilape dropped, Like, as soon as you have to punch a motherfucker 20 times to get this guy to evolve, I'm like, yeah, this guy is my man's. This guy is my man's.

David Hernandez: 8:46

Is that your favorite Pokémon? Annihilape? Mmm.

LIMEKING: 8:48

I mean, like, my favorite Pokemon are just, like, the Pokemon I see sick as fuck, right? So it's like, there's Annihilape, there's Scrafty, There's Toxtricity. I mean, you gotta talk about Gengar, I feel like I'd be a Poison type gym leader, in terms of, as Australian would say, hard cunts. A lot of those guys are in the Poison type. You know, like, I would pull up with a Toxtricity, I'd pull up with a Croagunk, I'd pull up with a Revaroom. Honestly, I'll pull up with a Garbodor. Garbodor? Sick as fuck. I don't care what anyone says. He might be trash, but he my trash, man. I'mma Restochesto that bitch, and we all gonna be good.

David Hernandez: 9:28

Well, let me ask you this, since you said you'd be a poison type gym leader, what six Pokemon would you have?

LIMEKING: 9:33

okay, so, I know that my main will be Toxtricity cause out of every Pokemon I've ever encountered, That was the guy that I was like, This guy's just sick. I want, I just want this man's on my side. I'll hit that boy up with an air balloon, Cause we know that 4x weakness. Stall-Wall Garbodor, that's my second boy. we'll get him in there, again, Restochesto type shit. I wanna Revaroom cause I just fucking, I just like Revaroom Like,

David Hernandez: 10:00

It's such a good Pokemon.

LIMEKING: 10:01

such a good Pokemon. And the fact that you can like, pull up, drift, and the motherfucker that can gunk shot. that's mad. That's hard as

David Hernandez: 10:10

You know what we need? We need Pokemon to do a Fast and Furious type game with Revaroom.

LIMEKING: 10:15

Like as soon as Revaroom came out I was like bro Mario Kart has had so many crossover DLCs

David Hernandez: 10:22

Oh.

LIMEKING: 10:23

like as if you're not gonna pull up with a Pikachu and then a Revaroom cart

David Hernandez: 10:28

With a bandana on its

LIMEKING: 10:29

with a Bandana on its head might

David Hernandez: 10:32

we go.

LIMEKING: 10:33

Even like in the different culture with a macho library picture. Oh, dude.

David Hernandez: 10:37

Yes, there

LIMEKING: 10:37

god. Anyway, so that's my three gotta go with a Toxicroak dry skin that bitch. And then probably a Dragalge so we can like surf up, have a little double battle situation. Get that boy healed up a bit. and then, oh, I got to go with clog. The clog, the Clogsire. I used that man. I was like, this Fuecoco nice, but like as soon as I saw Paldean Wooper, I was like, this, this guy's just going to be my man. and that's gonna also work with the water absorb, get him tanked up too. So, yeah, I think that's my full team of six.

David Hernandez: 11:10

When I first saw a Paldean Wooper I didn't know I needed this in life because I used to like Wooper in gen 2 and then I saw the Evolution I'm like, oh it looks like a whale. This is perfect because I like whales.

LIMEKING: 11:20

yeah. Cause I mean, like, they dropped Wigglet and I'm like, Hmm, you know, like, that's, to me, a Wiglet is just a Diglet with a foreskin.

David Hernandez: 11:32

Yama

LIMEKING: 11:32

And like, they did like, Toadstool. That's all. Like Tentastool and shit. I'm like, okay, I guess I understand this shit, but when they drop the clog, dude That man's was hard. He's just a Dopey fuck and it gives me vibes of like Gudetama, the egg yolk. He's this lazy egg yolk in Japan like it's just something about the lazy guys. He's like one of the Pokemon that I feel like there is no reason to like this, Pokemon, but like in terms of like, you just see this man's like personality and you're like, yeah, you have to. I feel like that's the same with Croagunk, like you see that man still in the game and you're like, Oh, this is a frog. You see that man walk? He's yours. He's

David Hernandez: 12:20

Oh, you walk.

LIMEKING: 12:21

Oh, bruh, like, you remember in the anime and he had to fucking lean to that shit? that, like, that shit went so hard. I feel the same thing about Snom. He's just a little guy and he's just that little cutie. Yeah, it's just like that sort of vibe, the instance that it, that encapsulates that shit. Same with Bidoof. I get that vibe from Doof.

David Hernandez: 12:42

Just do the face. Just look at it. It's just a blank stare.

LIMEKING: 12:45

Yeah. Yeah, bro. I'm pressing B anytime that guy's trying to evolve, man.

David Hernandez: 12:49

Well, clearly you have a lot of experience with Pokemon. So what was your first experience with Pokemon? Like when did it all start?

LIMEKING: 12:54

So, when, like my Pokemon journey is literally this, like the same time as my dance journey. If anything before that, because My sister is like, full ballerina, contemporary dancer, still doing that shit to this day, uh, professionally. Yeah, yeah, shout out to um, I forget the Ellie Goulding song, that she's in the music video for, shout out that shit. but, I was the studio brother, so if y'all know about dances, you know that when the sister is in the class, and they don't want to spend that much money on petrol, that you're just at their dance studio. just waiting, and you need something to do. And I remember my mother was so pissed off because I was an annoying ass kid, an annoying ass kid. She's like, alright. My sister had the DS Lite at the time, and so, okay, when she's in, you can play. And I'm like, I don't want to play Nintendogs. It's a cool game, but I don't want to play this shit. But then Diamond and Pearl dropped, and I got my copy of Diamond. And I got attached at the hip to that game, man. I had a Turtwig named Twingy. I had a Shinx, and I still remember that man to this day. I call that man like, All Black because I knew about Luxray, because as soon as I heard about, Torterra, and I'm like, dude, I'm gonna have a Torterra named Twiggy at this point, man. I was final evolution of Shinx. And like, oh, this man's Batman. I'm gonna call this man's All Black. So literally ever since then, I just got stuck into those games, stuck into those games. Anytime there was a mainline, and because of how everything dropped, I got experiences like, Johto experience, because I came in like way later, so then I caught, pretty sure I was like dumb, and then I got the heart gold, and I'm like, oh yeah, I'm set bro,

David Hernandez: 14:33

Oh, yeah, it's a good combination. Yes.

LIMEKING: 14:35

that like, that like series, that like pattern of games was like really influential for me, and it's like, Literally one of the main reasons why, like, even though I pick Pokemons as being, like, cool as fuck, I'm like, Azumarill, huge power, dude. As soon as I found out that shit, I was like, this guy is the beast. And then when he came up more, when he got the fairy type thing, Mmm, that shit just got up, that just got up. So my Pokemon journey, even though, like, I talk about this competitive shit, I feel like that's just the chess master in my mind, just naturally, I feel like I'm a nerd for the game, like a Harry Potter, like, nerd. I'm so into like, the lore, like, all the nerd shit, like, I was the guy with the movies, and I'm like, oh, you need me to translate this shit at Alfruins? I gotchu. You know, like, I was like that, I was like, oh yeah, there's like, all about this guy, and this guy, and this guy. Like in terms of competitive play Yeah, I would be able to like whoop my friends ass, but if I was gonna play competitive I was never that shit, you know, like I just like seven strats and like building up different strats and be I guess seeing a pokemon's ability and being like, oh I can do this. It's like when Dachsbun drop. It's like, oh, I got a lava plume this guy in doubles it's just different shit like that. I guess if I was to summarize my whole Pokemon journey, it's literally, that's it. That is literally it. I was just stuck in those games so much that I just became a nerd.

David Hernandez: 16:03

it sounds like you are above the casual fan because you know, about the competitive side a little bit. So you're not somebody who has like four of the same type in one Pokemon, but you're like not advanced enough to like, say like a VGC, you're kind of like in that little middle C, so I like you're on the cusp of being competitive, but not really, because you're familiar with it, obviously.

LIMEKING: 16:21

Yes, I'm a big, big, advocate in like playing the Pokemon you connect. with, right? I've seen this shit with like, fighting games. So they like, talk about how, People's play styles match certain characters, but also like certain things and certain things just make things different. So even though like I'm not a four type person on the same team I've hit up a three type, you know Like it's a rule of thumb rule of thumbs like thumbs can break you've seen people in cast all the time half the time It's a thumb. Anyway, like if you just find a Pokemon cool as fuck put a bitch on your team I guess have the strategy To make things more viable and that's literally it.

David Hernandez: 17:02

Now you said, Gen 4 was what got you hooked into the franchise. What was it about Diamond that really hooked you in? Like, was it just a storyline? Was it the Pokemon?

LIMEKING: 17:10

I think it was a combination of those sort of things and I feel like I always played this game like again This was a time where I played it because I was exceedingly bored at a dance studio, right? So it was the saving grace At the time and then That kind of turned into like, the experience, the enjoyment, and all these other sort of things. Because I mean like, Diamond is a great game. Great game. Gen 4 is one of my favorite generations in general. And I try to look at it without the nostalgia in the back and still think like, This was a good fucking gen. This was a good generation. It's just a good game. There's just a lot of things memorable about that generation. Because I remember loving, loving that. And I mean like, Cynthia still scares me to this day. Like, that was menace. That was a menace. look, so many people I talked to who played Legends Arceus, they came into that bit, like, it was like, oh, why is Volo, testing me now? Like, this is gonna be a sweep. And then you hear the music. And it's like, oh, it's kind of like showing that Volo is like the ancestor of Cynthia. You just play that And like that piano those chords they're struck into my soul Brother, they're there Yeah, yeah, and it's like there's just so much emotion in that game. I feel like it was a good balance between Gen 2 and, Gen 3, sorry, and Gen 5. Because Gen 3, Hoenn's a great fucking game, when you slide in there, in terms of storing a lot of things and experience. I mean, a bit too much water. Uh, I'll still have that opinion. And then you go to like, black and white, and then it's like, trying to be all philosophical and shit. And then it's just like, I guess I was at an age where it kind of went, zhoom. I actually, I'm playing, I just finished a Whiterun recently and I finally could like, understand a lot more shit. But I felt like Gen 4 was that middle ground, you could lot, a lot.

David Hernandez: 19:07

Yeah, Gen 4 was like that, not too philosophical like Gen 5 was, but also more exploration, because I remember Gen 4 was very diverse when it came to, like, you got the mountains, you had the icy peak, you had the caves, you kind of had a bit of everything, which is why it had eight 8 gems in that game.

LIMEKING: 19:21

mm, mm, mm. Exactly, exactly. I mean, I'ma, I'ma still remember, like, having to get a Fire type because I got so annoyed how many Snover I pulled up.

David Hernandez: 19:32

Oh,

LIMEKING: 19:32

When you came up to that ice puff. going up to that, um, seventh gym,

David Hernandez: 19:35

Mm hmm. Uh, Snowpoint City, I think, yeah.

LIMEKING: 19:38

City. But yeah, it's just like, their gyms were memorable too, you know? that sliding ice puzzle, same gym, was amazing. and I'm pretty sure, that was like the, the, that electric type eighth gym?

David Hernandez: 19:49

Yes.

LIMEKING: 19:50

that? Yeah, yeah, bro. That man's was cold. I just came an ice gym. That man's was cold! Like,

David Hernandez: 19:58

Ha ha ha ha ha

LIMEKING: 19:59

like, there's just so many things I can geek about that region in particular. And I mean, yeah, there is that, again, that nostalgia that's gonna be in there. But, it's just a good mix. And then, when I got Platinum, dude. And I got to walk on side? that's still one of

David Hernandez: 20:16

uh twisted world was it called the dimension world something like that,

LIMEKING: 20:19

Dimension or something like that? I just remember like in terms of Entering a region and having that experience of like, oh this place is cool That's probably the one of the most profound In my mind in terms of like pokemon locations, bro, it's not only like the area It's the exploration, like, seeing your sprite turn, like, you don't see that in any of the games yet, you know? And you

David Hernandez: 20:43

still

LIMEKING: 20:44

still see it! And so, like, you see a lot of, like, just nostalgia, and people just still talk about that. it's a beautiful region of the game. And it just sticks in people's heads. There's not a lot of areas that, test that. If anything, can you think of one that tests that?

David Hernandez: 21:01

For what the dimension world?

LIMEKING: 21:02

Yeah, for what that gave. Exactly, exactly. But like,

David Hernandez: 21:07

No, I couldn't think of another for world now

LIMEKING: 21:08

hmm. Yeah, bro, like, I knew when I pulled up to, I forget the new legendary's you can correct that later. Terapagus, Telophagus, something like that. those caves were like beautiful and all the crystal structures were like, all that, but nothing Nothing can beat that. Nothing, bro.

David Hernandez: 21:26

Now. Did you have a heavy a chance to play their remakes brilliant diamond and shining pearl?

LIMEKING: 21:30

Should we, should we talk about those? I don't know. It's like,

David Hernandez: 21:34

Gen 4 is your favorite, so

LIMEKING: 21:36

yeah It's like, but then I, there's a bit of it that understands because it's like I grew up on the shit I grew up on and there's certain elements that like, oh you made this choice for something That's linked to a nostalgia. Because I came in at a time where I didn't have to repeat a region. You know, it was really that time was the first time I repeated a region and that's the reason I don't have Let's go Pikachu and Eevee, you know, like was more so like just

David Hernandez: 22:01

Mmm.

LIMEKING: 22:03

the original games as they is And it's like the chibi art style it's like it's for everyone I don't really fuck with it that much but I understood it

David Hernandez: 22:12

Well, let me ask you this, because for me, Gen 3 was one of my favorites, and I got to experience that with ORAZ. I loved ORAZ. I actually enjoyed it as a game, and it kind of fulfilled what I would hope it would be. So it sounds like for you, the remakes for Gen 4 didn't live up to what you imagined it would be for a remake compared to the originals. Mm hmm.

LIMEKING: 22:31

ORAS was a great fucking game. I think it's because they had a lot more consideration like, when ORAS added the um, Alpha and Omega, right? Like, they added the mega shit into the game and added, like, a lot more shit to the original thing. They added so much.

David Hernandez: 22:49

Plus, you could fly on Latios and Latias. We couldn't do those in Gen 3.

LIMEKING: 22:52

How sick is that? How sick is that? And so, they added so much more. But I feel like Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it was like a lack of a lot of things. We was just talking about Snowpoint Gym, right?

David Hernandez: 23:05

right?

LIMEKING: 23:05

consider the fact that they let you walk diagonally now. People just went in a straight line, walked a bit diagonal, cheesed the whole gym, went straight to the gym leader, right? And it's just things like that, that they didn't consider, so I remember being like, Oh, this is one of my favorite puzzles in the whole fucking game. And I honestly miss that they, like, don't have those sort of puzzles in the most recent games, They just show what it's like. Oh, okay. I could just cheese the whole thing because of a lack of consideration.

David Hernandez: 23:32

which is unfortunate because, it's such a beloved generation. It was such revolutionary within Pokemon's history.

LIMEKING: 23:38

And then I just decided to fuck it. mean We have cheebies, dude. That's why I love Looking into the I think it's called like pearlescent. Translucent. There's this ROM of the game where it's like, they fix a lot of things, allow every pokemon in there. It's this fan made game. But dude that, and it, the most common thing they were told to add is to get rid of the chibis. And so they're literally getting all the models from the other games, and all the trainer sprites are different things. they can like reuse 3d models from like other games to like, un chibi things, but they're literally un chibi ing gym leaders, like, rivals now and they're putting a lot more work into that. it's a really cool thing to see and I might, I might run through that shit again if they do that.

David Hernandez: 24:22

You've been listening to As the Pokeball Turns. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. You know, we talked a little bit about how you got to enter the cipher. You of course want it. I want to talk about, you know, round one, just to get some context, people listening. So round one, you can pick five different beats, Dragon's Den, Dusknoir, Poe Town 2, Staring Down, and Normal Battle. Those are the five to choose from for every entry for the first round. You went with the Dusknoir beat, which is your first entry. Why did you choose that one out of all five?

LIMEKING: 25:08

it was on my short list. It was either gonna be that or Poe Town, I'm pretty sure. I was like, listening to the I was just picking, I just needed to pick one. And then I just started writing to both. And said like, oh, what, what comes out of both? I was writing to Potown. was a bit iffy on it, I was like, ah, okay, okay. Let's go over and try and write some more shit to Dusknoir. and the first, thing I, I wrote was back in this piece like I'm Ditto with Rockruff and it was like

David Hernandez: 25:45

Yes.

LIMEKING: 25:46

and honestly that just like it just made it because I was like I just sat down and I'm like the amount of time that I waited to get that own tempo so I can get that fucking dusk form it was just like oh it just works it just works and then it kind of spiraled from there

David Hernandez: 26:04

So what's one thing that's interesting is how you see Pokemon and how you write to your lyrics. For example, I'm not going to be able to look at Wigglet the same way again now that you said foreskin. I just not going to leave me like what goes into your writing style when you try to make a rap because you got such a unique creative way to bring out the visuals and be able to use Pokemon in such different ways.

LIMEKING: 26:25

I mean here's the thing because half the time I have the bar in mind But then most of the bars that people like gravitate towards in that same fashion is The ones I had to change to make shit work. so Muk on her ecaf" from the second submission that was a throwaway. That was literally a throwaway

David Hernandez: 26:55

That was a throwaway?

LIMEKING: 26:57

that was a throwaway because I thought of like the entrance that I did. You I feel like Flygonbitch doesn't look like I'm buggin And I needed something to rhyme with buggin And it was just like, okay, bendin backwards while she's suckin I probably need an Ekans bar in there. Talk about my snake, and then I thought of the, the joke. That's how I got the Muk. And then I was like, oh, I guess I, because it's the backwards whole thing, I have the e cap. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't thinking, I was thinking about FlyGod. That was the bar I was thinking about, and it just kind of happened like that.

David Hernandez: 27:28

So the ecaf wasn't the focus of the bar, it was actually the Flygon. But ecaf the one that people remember the most, which is crazy.

LIMEKING: 27:35

the one, and like, if you think about the step process that I got there, it was fourth in line, but it's the most memorable. And it's on a lot of things. Same thing with Hitting my Swords Dance! right? the set, that was a throwaway. I, I just, I needed space. I was thinking about, Tinkatink how I grew up with a hammer, Tinkaton how I'll be serving the rock.

David Hernandez: 28:06

the dog on the rock, yeah.

LIMEKING: 28:07

And so I was like, I need something to rhyme with rock! And I'm like, COCK! SWORDS DANCE! AIGHT! MOVE ON!

David Hernandez: 28:13

And that's the one they remember the

LIMEKING: 28:15

That's the one they

David Hernandez: 28:16

You've got a whole bunch of other guys, throwing their cock like sword dances now, ever since then.

LIMEKING: 28:20

Yeah, exactly. Don't ask me about that shit. I'm scarred. I'm scarred. Everyone's yeah, swing your, swing your cock for Lime King! like, so, honestly, like, anytime I get a Discord notification, I'm sweating. I'm sweating! I'm sweating! I barely accept messages on here anymore. There's some weird motherfuckers out here. Anyway, anyway,

David Hernandez: 28:41

it's the internet. Yes. It's very

LIMEKING: 28:42

internet, it is the internet. But yeah, like, for me, I guess, like, when you talk about perspective, it's literally just like that. It's just the things that I had to shift around and make work that created the perspective. If anything, I just bumped the camera and it changed the zoom and I'm like, I guess I'll go with that.

David Hernandez: 28:59

So since we're on this topic, let's talk about round two, because obviously you passed around one. You go to round two. This is wrong. The topic of lines. The one that stuck with me the most is the Vivillon line. And it's such a deep lyric. It's the deepest lyric, in my opinion, on that whole second. Part. And it sounds like it was intentional, the way you designed it with, you had the 666 Pokedex, which is Vivillon,

LIMEKING: 29:28

Same thing

David Hernandez: 29:30

it's not intentional.

LIMEKING: 29:31

Same sort of thing. It came from Alolan Dugtrio, three blondes on my tip. That's why the dig dig dig came up. I said dig dig, and then I was like 666. and then it's just like, Oh, what's Pokemon 666? Look at it. V V Villain, and I'm like, Oh, and the V And the V I V I Holy shit, like, it just works. And so I can V V Villain it, And keep the pattern going.

David Hernandez: 29:53

So was the vi'cause that's a Roman numeral for six. Was that also intentional?

LIMEKING: 29:56

that was intentional.

David Hernandez: 29:57

So was that also intentional to tie it into the, the trio, because it's weight is also six. Six. Six

LIMEKING: 30:02

I will say yes. I think about all these things when I rap.

David Hernandez: 30:09

This man's a mastermind. He's crazy.

LIMEKING: 30:11

He's crazy! He's crazy! Like, I'm not so deep into a game to consider weight. Like, I ain't using heavy slam dama, So like, when I looked into that shit, it was way after. And honestly, people were like, Oh, Alolan Dugtrio, bro? And I'm like, yep, I thought of that. I thought of that. I definitely thought of that.

David Hernandez: 30:31

that's incredible. And maybe it's maybe you just maybe it's your subconscious just thinking about it.

LIMEKING: 30:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David Hernandez: 30:36

as a rapper and a writer. It just comes out naturally. You don't have to think about

LIMEKING: 30:39

Yeah, I subconsciously thinking about the weight of Alolan forms. Yeah. Because I know now that three, it's 33.3 for Dugtrio.'cause the whole deal is threes and they just doubled it for Alolan.

David Hernandez: 30:51

And Lime King, here's the thing. Think about when you read your first verse, you talk shit in your sleep. It's right there. You

LIMEKING: 31:03

right there. I right there. See, see, see, it just makes sense.

David Hernandez: 31:10

Well, you know, since we're on the round two, you were clearly the cloud favorite. Everybody loved you after your first round. You were very memorable. Coming into round two, before you even designed the rap that we're talking about, did you feel like you had some pressure going in? Did you feel like you had to live up to some expectations? when you're writing your second round verse.

LIMEKING: 31:27

I don't know. It, it was like when I was writing that shit, it was more so the fact of, oh, this could happen. So when I wrote the first one, it was a piss take cause like, my friend that I first was watching the original Pokemon Cypher with, it was like, okay, I'ma just write their shit, like send something in, see what happens. But this was when it came to round two, like you was talking, it was like, oh, this could happen. I saw the reaction for the first one, I was like, this could be G. If y'all know Matt Houston, he was hitting me up being like, Ay yo, you could do this. And so I had like, a lot of the people on the side, Already like, patted my back and was like, Ay yo, I like, I fuck with you regardless of what happens. But we can get you out here. So that pushed me, that PUSHED when I started writing, I honestly wrote the first half and I was like, Oh shit, this really could happen. exactly what you said, like, after I wrote that The Vivillon line, I was like, Oh shit, this could happen, this could happen, this could happen. And so I just grinded, grinded, grinded, and I got it. just looking into that, and like the work I put into it, I like, worked hard, wrote that The Villain line, worked harder to ensure my spot.

David Hernandez: 32:36

I know earlier you mentioned how you, after you won it, you felt validated. It seems like now you started to believe in yourself, but second round, because it sounds like you applied yourself more and it shows because, I think your second verse or second round submissions way more. to it. There's a lot more depth to it. You know, we've talked about a couple of the lines and some of the ones we haven't talked about, like Arvid in the sandwich, strength in the cut. you know, doing this now, does you feel like you feel proven as a rapper or do you still like, you feel like you're trying to improve yourself more?

LIMEKING: 33:01

I mean, like, I never think about improving. it's just that if you do something enough you're going to improve there are some people that like there are in the cut. They just eat anything anything in life where they're just like, okay We have to drill this. I had a homie. He's into muay thai and he just does like a thousand kicks a thousand kicks every day and i'm like Maybe it's just because rap is an art. There's an art to it But i'm just like I just want to do cool shit I just want to do the things that I think are cool And because of that and the things I learned trying to do cool shit. It just evolves I don't think i'd be heading into Rapping about pokemon if I just didn't think rapping was cool or that pokemon was cool. I just thought they're both cool. Let's combine them and that's literally as simple as it is. I don't feel as if I Need to like, put effort into improving because I know, I guess, my curiosity, and my dedication into doing what I think is cool, will naturally allow me to improve. In a way, that is different, and outside of the box to most of the people, that I would even consider my competition. Because it is such a me thing. Because I think it's cool.

David Hernandez: 34:11

And I guess that kind of goes back to your dancing program because dancing, it's known as the expression of the body within. And it sounds like you kind of adapt what you did with dancing into both Pokemon and rapping, and you just fuse those in whatever you want to call

LIMEKING: 34:23

Mmm. It exactly, exactly it. I mean like, When you dance and listen to rap for that long You just like I want to join in like when the beat keeps on playing in the background You kind of just want to Still keep going, you know like if the if the hype travels if like if you're listening to a song and you're like Oh, fuck you. Fuck you. You want to keep that head nodding, right? And so you just try and keep your own head nodding And that's

David Hernandez: 34:45

And if you hear the beat, you just try to rap to it, even though you probably ain't that, well, I ain't that good at it. You're better than I am, but still you're just making a

LIMEKING: 34:51

Hey, we don't know that yet. We don't know that yet.

David Hernandez: 34:53

Nah, we know that yet.

LIMEKING: 34:54

Come on. me a pokemon ball right now Come on let's, well let's, hey, let's make one. Let's make one. What do we want to make a, what do we want to viral about? Anything a Pokemon, anything. Let's go, let's do this.

David Hernandez: 35:10

bout. Okay, uh anything with Pokemon. Let's do Cynthia.

LIMEKING: 35:15

Cynthia, I think about the all black, I think about how she was just like one of the most ruthless champions. I think about the god chomp. Cynthia all black with a chomp. We gonna make a bite. there's a bunch of different things we can do. Cynthia, cause when I got the chomp you don't want to touch me. Cause of the rough skin. Uh, yeah there's a lot of different things like that. There's a lot of Hey look! Look! You got a bar now. You got a bar now. Cynthia. Pull up all black with a chomp. When I got it, you don't want to touch me because of the dry skin, baby

David Hernandez: 35:48

yeah, okay.

LIMEKING: 35:50

It's like get your body drag them across the ground different things like that. Yeah

David Hernandez: 35:54

I'm trying to get something. What's the ice berry called? I was trying to think of a bar with that.

LIMEKING: 35:57

the ice bear. Oh the one that decreases

David Hernandez: 36:02

uh, some of the times Garchomp would have that berry to reduce the ice damage.

LIMEKING: 36:06

Yatcha Berry. Ooh, but like, Yatcha Berry, how I'm taking these ice? Yatcha Berry, I'm writing that down. Yatcha Berry, how I'm taking these ice. That shit hot. Hey, that's another one. That's another one! It's literally like that. It's literally that. This is how we sit down. Hey, what do I want to rap about? Sometimes I just like, you know those, Pokemon Showdown randomized teams? I just play that for a bit, see what pops up, and then I just

David Hernandez: 36:33

You just make bars out of those

LIMEKING: 36:35

And it just, you just, it just kind of, it just kind of clicks sometimes.

David Hernandez: 36:38

that's kind of a cool exercise if anybody's trying to Pokemon rap is just use that as a kind of a Not a framework, but just as a way to kind of do an exercise

LIMEKING: 36:45

Hmm, exactly, exactly. you always need inspiration for things in the art sphere. So. Play the game you love, play the game you love, to get inspiration, pretty easy.

David Hernandez: 36:57

So next time Shofu has a cypher release I'll be on there and I was gonna practice my Lime King expression impression know, gonna

LIMEKING: 37:05

hey, how you was doing that shit before, maybe.

David Hernandez: 37:08

I can't I'll put my vocal cords I keep doing

LIMEKING: 37:13

Yeah, if next time, if they do another Cypher thing, to be like, hey, I have, I heard this guy scream in and say, Yahtzee Bear, how I'm taking his eyes. I'm like, I'm a no, I'm a no.

David Hernandez: 37:26

Oh my gosh. Well, let's keep going then. So, you know, you talked about earlier how you had to go to work when you were trying to see if you're going to win or not during that time is between you breeding boy and ham. Eventually it was just you and breeding boy. Did you feel one way or the other that you were going to win at that point? Like, what was it like watching that? And did you stay up all night trying to watch it? Cause it was pretty late. I'd imagine over in Australia.

LIMEKING: 37:48

it was the opposite. So it was about 11 a. m. when they like finally announced it. I ended up missing when I was on stream because it was like 4 a. m. So I stayed up, watched mine, went to bed, work up. Got announced as the winner. Had to go to work So like a lot of the entries I like Skipped because you know don't skip out on your sleep kids And it was it was just literally the time frame of everything. There's only until the very end that I kind of saw everyone that I kind of got broken down to so like when it got broken down to five. That's when I woke up. So that was I think like area, um, aerial

David Hernandez: 38:27

What a way to wake up too. That's

LIMEKING: 38:29

Yeah, to find out I was in top five, like I was sleeping on myself. was

David Hernandez: 38:33

I'm surprised you could sleep.

LIMEKING: 38:35

I mean like, I stayed up. I just wanted to see my shit on stream, see how they reacted. They were hella positive about it. And I'm like, I can sleep in peace. Come back and then Yeah, I was like, oh shit, I'm top five good? Damn, So I literally like, okay, phew, I don't have to stay up this whole time.

David Hernandez: 38:53

And then eventually you won. You got to go fly out to Austin. You said you were at, what was it like to be around the whole crew that you grew up watching? That must've been kind of a dream come

LIMEKING: 39:03

It was so surreal because, First of all, connecting flights fucked me up, because I did a whole US trip for a month, and because I was finishing in New York, they had my flight going to, well I went from Sydney, to Tokyo, to Chicago, to Austin.

David Hernandez: 39:18

Oh, jeez. Yeah. You went the other way.

LIMEKING: 39:21

Yeah, I went all these ways because the fastest way to get back home, that I could get on like the days I needed, was going through Japan. Which is like, okay I understand that, but I literally had to go up, left, and then back down. So it was, it was an interesting experience on that flight. So I came through with a day and a half worth of travel. at Austin Airport. I'm just there, I felt like I looked like a dope fiend. Cause I was just like, you know, like the sweaty fucking shirt after you get off a flight. And you're just like, And then I just hear, And this black truck pulls up, And a chauffeur's screwing me out of a truck. The doors open and there's just like the whole group crammed in this one van. I was like, oh shit, this is everyone. I was like dapping everyone up real quick and I was like, oh shit, this is insane. And then I ended up next to like Tanooks. And then we just went off talking for ages. But I was still like fucking delirious as shit. The place we was all staying, which was like they went out like half an hour out desert way So that they could like get one of those like hire one of those massive houses Out in the middle of the desert to film a lot of shit So a lot of like the snippets and the vlogs you saw was in this fuck off mansion at the back of some place I like crashed as soon as I got there. Everyone was like, oh, it's the first night. Everyone's here You let's party. Let's drink up. And I'm like bro. I was just Sitting down for a day and a half. I need to go bed. I need to go bed So I just crashed I woke up and people are still partying because I woke up hell early because of jet lag I'm like, all right, let's go. Let's go. Let's just start

David Hernandez: 41:00

Well, I'm going to say, I'm sure the jet lag probably fucked your body system up because you went from, you're all time all the way to Eastern. And now you're in central. It's too many time zones to go through

LIMEKING: 41:08

so many fucking time zones, brother And like because of how hard we was working in that house the jet lag stayed until I left that house You

David Hernandez: 41:17

really. So you never got over, you never recovered from

LIMEKING: 41:20

like, to put this into perspective, the budget that they spent on the 2019 cypher is less than what they spent at the house. So it's like, I think they were talking about how they filmed that shit over like a three day period. There was just so much more work to do this. They hired a production company for different things. And I was like, oh shit, this is fully professional and shit. And so everyone was there for like a week and a half and it was literally work work work if you weren't Shooting videos y'all was there in a house with rappers You was rapping you was making this making that and while you have a fucking mention at your back you're filming videos It was it was just like one on one on one And so it's just that whole experience just work work rapping Rapping rapping it was a tiring fucking experience, but bruh, that was beautiful

David Hernandez: 42:13

That's awesome, man. You got to live your dream out, starting from just watching it to now being a part of it, both with Pokemon as well as just kind of being your idol. It's kind of crazy.

LIMEKING: 42:21

it's very crazy. It's always weird to think that, like, I would have deep and meaningful conversations with people I've idolized. not just, like, talking shot, but, like, real deep shit and be like, wow. Wow, this is, like, day two, and we're already talking like this. Like, that, that house gave me, like, lifelong friends. For real, for real.

David Hernandez: 42:40

So, you know, we talked about, you know, your Pokemon experience. You talked about, you know, you being on a cypher. So what's next for Lion King? What can people look forward to?

LIMEKING: 42:47

I don't even know what to say because like I said before I keep on focusing on cool shit And so what I think is cool will happen later, and it will change so like the shit I have now I have like so many things I think are cool and like I'm working on working on definitely more music's coming out definitely more Pokemon music's coming out Definitely more collaborations with the homies at the Cypher coming out. it's just really like, now I can put in that work and make a career purely off the art. Purely off a dance, purely off the music. And then, I might head into streaming, who knows if that's gonna happen.

David Hernandez: 43:25

Ooh,

LIMEKING: 43:27

gonna happen, that's, that's like, I thought only within like the week. So that's fresh, fresh info. it's really just what I think is cool. The dance is going to be up. I know that I'm going to try and be out in America way more often, not only to like compete through the dance, but now just like rap and like film shit with my homies, you know? There's just a lot of shit I can't want to do in this life that I'm going to do because I have the people watching me now and people fucking with me now. So who knows what that's going to be?

David Hernandez: 43:54

The citrus supremacy continues see what happens with

LIMEKING: 43:57

yeah, yeah, so like you know about Lime King You don't know about Lemon Lord about the Grapefruit Duke about the Kumquat Contessa But the Tangelo fellow that Yuzu guru there is a lot. There a lot and they're just like the youngins in my city that are also hella creative and a whole also just want to do cool shit That we kind of do that shit together

David Hernandez: 44:21

Well, Lime King, thank you for coming on the show. Before you take your detour to Route 134, if people want to connect with you, if they want to listen to your music, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

LIMEKING: 44:33

Hey, yo, i'm guessing he's gonna put My Twitters, my Youtubes, my Instagrams in the description. Lime King, my dance shit is under Hadley. My crew is Sweetfeet, represent, Sweetfeet. Wasted when we can. Buggy Bump is crew. The Kapowa Rangers. there's a lot of different squads I'm, about. Dub DFA, Bit of Realist. check out my shit. If you like it, stay. Uh, if you don't, you can fuck off, I don't care. it's just a mutual exchange, you know. So, be with it, be with it. Is that a nice way to unplug? Anything I'm forgetting?

David Hernandez: 45:03

you go. I think you got everything. I'll make sure to include links to everything. He said in the description of zip in the description of today's episode, make sure to check out him on fire starter. they did a small album to warm up to the cypher. If you haven't checked it out, link will also be in the description of this episode. Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns. If you want to support the show, consider becoming a Patreon by either clicking the link in the description or going to patreon. com slash as the pokeball turns. Now, if you aren't able to support the show financially, you can always support the show by sharing it with your Pokemon community, because this show wouldn't exist without listeners like you. Now, here's a sneak peek for the next episode of As the Pokeball Turns.