As The Pokeball Turns

TRAINER'S EYE #164 - "Latios Casts Luster Purge Across Pokémon Lore" ft. KuroBlitz

• David Hernandez • Season 1 • Episode 159

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We dive deep with Kuroblitz, creator of the YouTube channel known for “the lore hub of everything Pokémon-related.” What started as a curiosity about Pokémon lore became a calling for building videos that analyze Pokédex entries, region design, and mythological connections with respect to canon and Pokemon lore.

Kuroblitz shares his process for turning ideas into narrative-driven videos, how he balances storytelling with research, and why he believes the soul of the franchise lies in its mysteries. Whether he’s unpacking the tragic past of a Pokémon species or exploring an unsolved regional link, Kuroblitz helps fans see familiar creatures in an entirely new light.

Listen now and discover the side of Pokémon that doesn’t show up on the battlefield but lingers in the shadows, waiting to be understood.

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Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

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Your next Pokemon adventure begins here!

KuroBlitz:

My name is KuroBlitz and this is my Pokemon story.

David Hernandez:

Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns where every voice, every journey, and every memory brings us closer to the world of Pokemon. I'm David Hernandez I'm joined by KuroBlitz of Pokemon Theaters, as well as a fan of the Pokemon Anime Here to share his Pokemon story KuroBlitz. Welcome to as the Pokemon Turns. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

KuroBlitz:

Hello. Hello. Thank you for having me.

David Hernandez:

Absolutely. And you know, we had a chance to talk. You have a lot of, say, emotional highlights. I think people are gonna listen to, but I kind of wanna start with this. Do you remember the moment when Pokemon went from just a game to maybe something bigger for you?

KuroBlitz:

Well, kind of you need to mention that because I didn't start the Pokemon with the games. I started with the anime, but I feel like the bigger impact, it really came around the time where I was just searching about the franchise online. It lined up perfectly when I was starting, you know, school. So it was just, you know. Talking with a lot of people and like, oh, we all like this. So it was always like a bridge for companionship and connections and making friends. And I feel like, you know, that's what Pokemon always taught us, you know?

David Hernandez:

So you said, you know, you started with school, so was it like through the trading cards? Was it the anime, the Pokemon games like, how did you connect with others at that early stages?

KuroBlitz:

yeah. So basically I started, watching the, Pokemon Anime at a very early age. it was a two parter episode because they released that on Christmas Day in my country. Uh,'cause I,'cause I'm, I'm from Portugal. They released the holiday hi jinks and the Snow Way Out episode kind of weird episodes to start off, you know, this franchise?

David Hernandez:

I'm sure. I'm sure,

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. Because my, my first impression with the franchise as a whole is just seeing Ash save Santa Claus from Team Rocket.

David Hernandez:

What was it like, I guess,'cause you're from Portugal, what

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

to guess to watch that episode and have that imprinted to start your

KuroBlitz:

I,

David Hernandez:

journey?

KuroBlitz:

I just thought it, I just thought it was like a random Christmas special. Just like any other, just like any other cartoon Christmas special. Like, oh wait, no, this is actually a story. Because then Snow way out came around and it was like, you know, Ash in the Pokemon protecting themselves from the cold and the blizzard. And I'm like, okay, fair. And my parents were seeing me very interested and they bought me VHSs. They bought me trading cards and I'm like, oh, this is something bigger. I just thought it was a Christmas special. Okay. and then after the fact, uh, I do remember this very vividly because Father's Day in Portugal is always on March 19. because it's St. Joseph's Day. So on March 19 of the year 2000, my father took me to theaters. It was the first time I went to theaters. And we went to see the, the Mewtwo movie. and after we left theaters, he had a surprise for me, which was, you know, my first copy of Pokemon Blue. He regretted immediately three months later when yellow came around and then, you know, as months passed by Pokemon movie, 2000 was released on Christmas.

David Hernandez:

and

KuroBlitz:

And uh, of course they had to buy me silver. And then a year later, crystal came around and I'm like, yeah, we're gonna tell your uncle and your grandma to deal with this. We do. We didn't know how to futureproof this.

David Hernandez:

I mean, it sounds like, you know, you were going through all the games and it's like, it started with just Pokemon Blue. It started with an anime episode, and all of a sudden you're buying every single game through every generation, basically.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. And you know, my older cousin had a Nintendo 64, so with her help, I was able to, you know, play stadium and snap. And the best part of this all is that even before starting school, I was already learning English. Like that's how, that's how I learned English. It was thanks to Pokemon, all of the extensive vocabulary, like the word item. It's not something used in my country.

David Hernandez:

really, what do y'all, what outta curiosity? What do y'all use?

KuroBlitz:

Like we, we just said, like, you know, like, which means sting? It just very generalized, like the word item is not really very en rooted in, in our, in our vocabulary, well, at least not for that early age, but like, just words like, for example, trade. And then the more you start to learn English, you just realize, oh, these, these Pokemon names are just puns. And, and, and then you start to know, go online and you start to realize, wait, this is Japanese. They have different names and. It, it was just like a whole experience, like the transition period from generation two to three. and I started school in 2002. So in the summer of 2002, I got, I got internet in my house and I was like, okay, let's see what, you know, if there's like Pokemon on the internet. Old and behold, they were talking about the LaLatios and Latias movie and the Ruby and Sapphire games and I'm like, I have no idea what this is. It feels fake because it's not in stores, but I like it.

David Hernandez:

I felt the same way. This is more later on for me, when Mega Evolution was introduced, because then you had all the rumors of what Pokemon were gonna get into mega evolutions, which ones were fake, which ones were real. Um, I think people thought Mega Lapras was gonna come out. Of course, people thought Mega Ampharos was fake, which turned out to be real. It's that kind of speculative moment that really, especially in those early days, That kind of made Pokemon, I guess more, I don't wanna say anticipated, but there was more excitement about the newer Pokemon that kind of lacks today, in my opinion,

KuroBlitz:

Nowadays it does lack because you know the culture behind spoilers and the people getting like games early and you know, journalism as it is, Pokemon nowadays, unfortunately. It's losing the charm of discovery and adventure and the, figuring out the unknown, which we had, like for example in generation three, just, you know, finding the Reggies, right? We need to learn, we need to learn bryle. And I'm like. Okay, this doesn't work for a screen, but fair, I guess I'm gonna learn braille and then of course, you know, learning Japanese because, God forbid I have to wait for subtitles for the show.

David Hernandez:

show. Now I wanna touch on something that you mentioned because you said, you know, I think you said you went to a cousin's house to play Pokemon Stadium too.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah,

David Hernandez:

from what I understand, that was kind of the point to where I think that game expanded your view of the franchise. Is that correct to say?

KuroBlitz:

it was that, it was very much that because of the way that Stadium two works. because you have to basically battle the gym leaders, and they were, and like in the games, they were all six v sixes and they were not locked into just using one type. So it just put it into my head very early that being a type expert does not mean that you are a type exclusive. I feel like Lance as a character fill this role. And even Karen being, you know, a dark type expert, but she has like a Vileplume and Gengar. And this was very much rooted in me when I see, for example, dragon Tamers using Rhydons and Machamps because they are more dinosaur and lizard looking. and then, you know, the, that post game when you see like, Chris battling silver and all of the gym leaders battling each other, which funny enough was later on used for the adventures. Manga. it was just the experience of seeing Pokemon, not on your hand, but on screen. it was just a fascinating thing to behold. And the mini games when you are, you know, playing with family and friends, like in game nights, like the mini games of Stadium, it was also very invigorating. It was, it was magical. Like Pokemon was just magical.

David Hernandez:

Now another spinoff game that I was kind of excited to talk about you talked about how you pinball Ruby and Sapphire kind of cemented that love for Pokemon

KuroBlitz:

Yes,

David Hernandez:

a unique spinoff game'cause you don't hear much about the pinball games. It's very, say, I think you're probably the second guess of all time out of all the episodes I've done who've mentioned it. What was it about Poke playing Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire pinball that I guess was different from playing the main series game that kind of cemented the love for Pokemon?

KuroBlitz:

because it wasn't battles. And as someone who started with the anime, I knew for a fact that Pokemon was more than just battle. It was always more the journey, not the destination, the destination matters too, but just being around the world and seeing different avenues to, you know, tackle Pokemon besides just, you know, select moves. See if the HP bar goes into the red or try to catch or try to faint. it is also because I got pinball, Ruby and Sapphire out of sheer accident.

David Hernandez:

Oh, due to tell, I'm like,

KuroBlitz:

yeah.

David Hernandez:

this. Yeah.

KuroBlitz:

Okay. So basically, people, Ruby Sapphire was released in Europe in like late 2003 after the actual Ruby Sapphire games. So me and my cousin told his mom, so my aunt, we told them for Christmas, we want Pokemon, Ruby, and Sapphire. so the communication of seven year olds with, you know, mothers who buy the games, but we are not, but we are, but we are not there to basically tell them, what, what they should do. Right? we're like, oh, we want Pokemon, Ruby, and Sapphire Fair. But then, you know, they couldn't because they were at work. So they, couldn't but then they could. So basically what they did, it was like, it was so weird. So basically, my aunt bought my cousin Pokemon, Ruby and Sapphire. She bought both versions because she had no idea that it was only meant to be one of the two, because we said we want Ruby and Sapphire. So my aunt bought my cousin, both versions, and my mom, she told the clerk, my son wants Pokemon, Ruby, and Sapphire, and I got Ruby and Sapphire pinball. Yes. it was, it was like a funny incident. Uh, luckily for me, my birthday is very close to Christmas, so up, so during Christmas, my, cousin said, well, your birthday is soon, so what do you want the Godzilla or the whale? And I'm like, Hmm, this is a more difficult choice than the starter. Because this was like in December of 2003, I knew of these games since, you know, August of 2002. So I knew of these games since their Ja, like I knew the Pokemon names like in Japanese, like Bahama, like, it, it, yeah. So I was like, Hmm, I've known of these gang for more than 15 months and I have no idea what what to pick. I went with Ruby,

David Hernandez:

it reminds me of this is, I don't know if you, uh, that you, they released the Game Boy Player for the Game Cube.

KuroBlitz:

yes.

David Hernandez:

told my mom I wanted that and just because I wanted to be able to play my games on the TV. she thought I was talking about the Game Boy, you know, the Game Boy player of the original Game Boy.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah,

David Hernandez:

so she tried to get that for me and I was like, no, no, no, it's a Game Boy play for the game cue. So I had to go with her and that shows, I guess, our mothers loved us obviously,

KuroBlitz:

of course.

David Hernandez:

of the barrier that they face compared to maybe us nowadays, to where we may understand more of the lingo that the upcoming, you know, younger generation trainers are speaking compared to maybe our parents back in the day, in my opinion.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. but it's always an experience when, you know, share all of this passion and love with your family. That being, you know, just Pokemon or whatever hobby or anime or video game that you may have, like if you are happy and your parents are invested in your happiness, I feel like that just makes the experience a lot richer.

David Hernandez:

I want to touch on something you talked about earlier. You mentioned that Pokemon, I guess, is slowly losing or missing that sense of discovery. Can you point to like maybe a time that you felt that magic most strongly and what has changed since then?

KuroBlitz:

I feel like just the lack of recess rumors, because Pokemon was always about the discovery. So every time we were like, you know, fed new stuff and we had no idea of what it was because either mistranslation or no access to the internet. Like I'm, I'm from the time when people believe that Shadow Lugia was Lugia's evolution.

David Hernandez:

Oh, I didn't hear about that one. That's

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. Like, like maybe it was a local thing, but a lot of my friends were like, oh, Shadow Lugia has to be a Lugia evolution. And um, this was during the time we were playing pokey crate.

David Hernandez:

oh my gosh.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. So that, that's the throwback, right.

David Hernandez:

Yes, very. I haven't heard that in year. Oh my God.

KuroBlitz:

but it's a legendary Legendaries cannot evolve. Well then, you know, and then I then time passed and we were in lo and behold, right.

David Hernandez:

uh, well, actually that next generation, when you think of, well, I guess it depends on how you define Manaphy and Phionne.'cause I mean,

KuroBlitz:

that, that that is true.

David Hernandez:

that breaks the stereotype of Pokemon can't breathe. But the evolution for sure was broken with Solgaleo and Lunala, without a doubt.

KuroBlitz:

I feel like it's when the games just have a lot of extra content that it's not needed for the progression, but just for the exploration. And as I've written before, The Sevii Islands are a great example of that.

David Hernandez:

In what way?

KuroBlitz:

because there are, you, you don't need to go there. But just the fact that you go and you are exploring and you are always finding new stuff within there that it's not really necessary to progress. It's just like, oh, there are Unown here. Oh, you can get the Togepi from this person. It's, it's random, but Okay. And then ears pass by and you realize, yeah, they just needed to put some Johto Pokemon one in here.

David Hernandez:

I mean, you bring up a good point.'cause I think there was that, altering cave, I think

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

that cave that that was there. And I remember spending so many hours trying to figure out why does this cave exist? Keep in mind I didn't have internet either. I didn't have people who played Pokemon. That's gen three. That's when Pokemon kind of went very exclusive. So I

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

own imagination. I always felt that there was more to it. Now, of course, you know, hindsight, there wasn't much. It was very, it was, I think it was scrapped if I remember correctly.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

in that time period, the rumors in your imagination flourished.

KuroBlitz:

Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez:

you kind of know what you get out of a game, you know?

KuroBlitz:

Yes. And then during generation four, it's when I started to, you know, well, I, I feel like we always had this in the back of, in the back of our minds that, you know, every anime, games, cards, manga, everything is like a separate version of the same story. So this was always very interesting to me when it comes to, you know, just dissecting it. Because as you, as you grow older, there are some things that given how much information you are bestowed upon the Pokemon timeline, that just becomes murkier as time goes on

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

KuroBlitz:

just want to be loose for the sake of, you know, marketing and, uh, whatever. More. Otherwise it doesn't make any sense that we have like canonically four Regigigas in the world. And, and it was just weird to me because it's like I'm playing in gen two, like I'm playing the generation two games that happen after generation one and the Johto Beasts are in the tower and they reawaken and they roam their merry way. And then I'm playing fire red and then I'm playing Colosseum. And those games take place at the same time. And in fire Red, depending on what starter you get, the Johto Beasts are in Kanto before being reawakened in Johto. But they are also in Orre while, they're being shadow fight before the time when they should be reawakened at the tower. And I'm like, something doesn't add up.

David Hernandez:

matter. I mean, I think you see this mostly with Mewtwo. Mewtwo

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

the best example, and this is both within the anime and the video games.

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

You know, Mewtwo was created, or I'm sorry, in the anime only. Mewtwo was created by, Dr. Fuji on an island and you know, he blows it up and, you know, Pokemon first movie and then

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

Mewtwo strikes back. But then that's what confused me about that movie when they brought Mewtwo back to show the Megas. How does Mewtwo have a mega evolution if it didn't even exist when the mega evolutions first debuted? How is there another Mewtwo when those Mewtwo is actually created by humans?

KuroBlitz:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

there's that inconsistency and I'm not even gonna touch the games'cause games is another problem as it is. But you see that kind of inconsist when, when it comes to certain aspect of Pokemon that kind of, I'll say it removes the illusion at times,

KuroBlitz:

it does remove the illusion. However, I would like to make a counterpoint where it, it does remove the illusion because they are not as a video game company, they are more focused about the gameplay and not the actual story and lore that, that goes for the super fans. Just like how when you buy a spinoff or a third version or you keep up with the anime that, you know, let's be real, it's just, you know, a 20 minute ad every single week. Right? No, but like, it does break the illusion. However, it does allow for, you know, if people are really invested to try to fan fix in terms of, you know, trying to make some sense of it. it's kind of, it's kind of, you know, we're just making pretenses and excuses, but it's a good writing exercise. Like why are there two Mewtwo, why are there more than a set of legendary beasts? upon replaying Colosseum, apparently in the shadow laboratory they have DNA of all of the shadow Pokemon, including the Beasts, and I'm like, are those beast clones? because Mewtwo was able to clone a lot of other Pokemon in movie one. And I'm like, huh. Like for example, even with the movie, right? You have Dr. Fuji who would later on in some cannons become Mr. Fuji in Lavender Town. But in the anime, that never happened. And even in the anime when he was trying to revive his daughter, Amber Fuji, his laboratory was not a laboratory that was bought by Giovanni, it was another one. So to me, the laboratory that he had before Giovanni bought that super secret exclusive one, it was most likely the Cinnabar Mansion. We never went there in the anime, but we can make an inference that it might have been. And, even for example, the anime was the first cannon that, uh, made. Mewtwo and Team Rocket being connected until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, that was never really stated in any video game whatsoever. And when you go, for example, to Faraway Island, you do see like only those who will not disturb, mute and you know, pass here and you have like the letters. JI, you have the G and people are like, oh, it has to be Fuji, right? But apparently the same country is in Japanese and I always believe that it could be Fuji, but it could also be Ji, which is Elite Four Drake because they know each other in the manga cannon. And I'm like, ah, so maybe it's not Fuji, maybe it's Drake. We kind have to go back into what is the actual Japanese text of some games to see if you know some things do make sense or not. And just deciphering all of this and translating. To, to me it kept, it kept me going. That's what, you know, it keeps the magic going.

David Hernandez:

I wanted to shift gears to the anime side real quick.'Cause that's also significant for your experience with Pokemon. How did watching the Pokemon a watching Ash's Adventures influenced you as a Pokemon fan? Did it affect the way you, engaged with games or were you more invested in Ash as a character?

KuroBlitz:

I have always been invested in all sorts of Pokemon media, like the anime is important because it was always there, it was always, you know, something consistent in terms of presence, because we always had ash as a character. Ash to me as a character, he became less interest, not really less interesting, but just more stale because of how much he was around. And it's nothing against the character, you know, it was just you, a product of his time. For me, Ash became more stale, like by the end of Diamond, like by the end of Battle Frontier, the beginning of Diamond and Pearl. And it's not really anything against Ash. It was mainly because everyone else around them was more interesting than him because with his Pokemon and his rivals and his companions, we knew they were a one and done deal. So because we know they're going to last less, our investment is more. a lot of people have a great attachment to him, which is very understandable. He was around for 26 years, but part of me was like, I feel like it's best for him to, you know, go in some way, shape, or form It's not really a oh, but he can only go, he, he wins. And I'm like, that's interviews talking. Right. And, uh, I feel like because when you are writing stories, you just try to perceive the man behind the curtain and that's where the magic loses unfortunately. But for the anime, it's like, I feel like when they say that Ash will move on the moment he wins. I think that's more so by the fact that they are not confident enough to know how to write them or what they can do with him after he wins. Because with Ash you can only write battles. If anything, he is more interesting in the movies because in the movies he's a character.

David Hernandez:

But you brought up a good point because when you talked about how Ash is a character, I feel like his character actually stagnated I would say after he beat Gary, that they didn't really have a direction on Ash. Because, for the first, you know, season, you know, Pokemon was fresh, you know, I'm talking about Indigo League.

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

Ash was learning about what it meant to be a trainer. You know, he tried to force his Pokemon to do stuff that they didn't want to do. The best example is, uh, Ash and the relationship with Charizard. If anybody remembers the moment that I'll say Charmeleon turned on Ash was when Ash was trying to force Charmian to fake a battle against Paris Act

KuroBlitz:

Yes. Yes.

David Hernandez:

they were trying to get paras act devolve and that went against its nature and that Ash shall would always struggled with. the idea of the relationship between a trainer and a Pokemon, that's always been, especially for the Indigo League, just specifically that

KuroBlitz:

Hmm.

David Hernandez:

And when it came to Johto, his primary, say his primary growth was that he started listening to his Pokemon more. It became less about you do, as I say, and more of how can we work together. And that cultivated to him beating, Gary at the very end, before he lost to. Harrison. But then after that, they kind of just didn't know what to do with Ash at that point. And like you said, I think that's when you started noticing more of the Pokemon arcs come out. The more of

KuroBlitz:

Yes,

David Hernandez:

either with other characters or the other Pokemon that would come and join them. Ashby kind of came very odd. You know, you weren't as invested in my opinion. In

KuroBlitz:

Ash has a character by himself. It's not interesting. He's interesting with the people and Pokemon around him. There is a reason why Ash doesn't travel alone, because who would he talk to?

David Hernandez:

now. That's actually something I want to ask because you said you were more interested in the characters around him.

KuroBlitz:

Yes,

David Hernandez:

one character that stood out to you that was way more compelling to Ash and what made him more engaging in your opinion?

KuroBlitz:

it was May in advanced generation because she was also starting fresh and because you see her tackling a Battle Avenue, which were Pokemon contests. but it was very much different from what Ash was doing. So just the fact that it was different and refreshing, it just felt very interesting in terms of what they were approaching with her story. as time moves on all of the female characters in some way, shape, or form, they always tackle Pokemon in various different ways. The the, the guy companions are okay, they are cool, but let's, let's not be coy about it. They are just there because they don't trust Ash just traveling with a girl. You, you, you need the, you need the Brock silent and the cla to balance it out.

David Hernandez:

yeah. Yeah. Otherwise, it become too much of a love story and I don't think Pokemon is

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. The, the thing, the thing about funny, it's funny that you mentioned that because like Pokemon tried writing a love story with X and y and Retroactively rewriting Ash's best to have Serena there, which I think it, I think it was interesting at the time. The thing is, they only tried to harpoon on the idea that they met once when they were kids. And it was always from Serena's point of view. So it's like, if you want to try to write romance, it needs to be a two-way street. It cannot just be a romance born out of One moment that one girl remembered when she was seven and that's like, you know, her core character, she does a lot more and she travels and learns a lot more than, you know, becoming more than just him, which is fair. A lot of people unfortunately don't see it, but that's another story. The thing with, you know, writing romance in Pokemon, it's more so because it's not that they didn't never want it. I mean, you know, In the games, cuckoo is already married and in the anime we see him going from the relationship to a marriage to becoming a father. So if anything, they know how to write romance, but it's very surface level and it's also because it's not their priority. And I kind of blame this on the early age when it comes to the Brock gags because romance was always perceived as a joke. So the moment they tried to write romance and love, seriously, people cannot buy it because they will always go back to the Brock gags, which is unfortunate for Brock, which is unfortunate for Brock

David Hernandez:

well, and so that's kind of why, I've never liked the ash and Misty crossover. The whole shipping

KuroBlitz:

Fair.

David Hernandez:

to me because like you said. It was always to me, one sided. You could point to multiple situations to where Misty showed affection or feelings for Ash,

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

but when you try to flip it and show me, where did Ash show that same type of feelings to Misty? I could never find it. I never saw it. To me it was always more, if they ever wanted to ship somebody, I always was more of Ash and May. I always saw more chemistry between them two than any other protagonist.

KuroBlitz:

And,

David Hernandez:

anime's concerned.

KuroBlitz:

and, and even, and even for example, like even the banter that he has with, you know, Iris, like, at least he has a dynamic with her. As much as people don't like it, at least he has a dynamic with her. the same with, you know, with the Alola girls. He has chemistry with all of them. And even with Dawn, they were treated as equals because Dawn was treated as, you know, the first two tourist. So when it comes to writing love, I think it's more so because we see it in other shows when it comes to getting closure for a character. Like he has to have a girl. Right. You know, you cannot end a character in a, you know, do the quote unquote trope of having him end up with someone And I'm like, yes, but I don't think they trust themselves to, you know, go into those waters, if that makes any sense.

David Hernandez:

No, it does. It does. It does.

KuroBlitz:

the thing with Misty is interesting because I never understood the whole, oh, Pokeshipping was just a dub thing from 4Kids. And I'm like, no, the people that worked in 4Kids were poke shippers every time they had the opportunity, they would, you know, tweak the dub to give more hints towards it. But. It wasn't the dub that made Pokeshipping, exist. It existed as the idea from the anime being Japanese, because you can invent dub lines, but you cannot, you know, rearrange scenes from the anime because you cannot edit visuals. Right. You know, like, Misty is blushing. That's not the American only thing that's in the actual Japanese episode filter. And again, like all of the characters around him,'cause they have more in, they have more interesting characterizations and dynamics and trainer classes. Because they are allowed to, you know, do more and they go their merry way and then they come back and, you know, they are basically a new version of themselves. they're more proficient. They explored a lot more. And that was always something very interesting to me. It's like, the world doesn't stop for, for anyone just because the camera is not panning out to them anymore. They are doing their own stuff behind the scenes. We just don't have the privilege of seeing it. that's why I like the Chronicles side special and even, you know, the Legend of Thunder where we get to see Jimmy, Ethan Gold, the generation two protagonist. And this was always Pokemon's biggest detriment. It was the fact that they never capitalized on the world and characters they had. They were always being very keen eye on just showing what Ash was doing. When that is never done in any anime and that's never done in any hobby anime. Like if you go to see Digon and Bay Blade, the eyes are not always on Ty and Tyson or you know, Jingga and Davis. You see aspects of everyone. Heck with Naruto, you get a lot of arcs that are just about que

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

KuroBlitz:

and Pokemon never did that. And I feel like that was always their biggest detriment. Just, you know, we need to see what Ashe is doing. And I'm like, can we please avoid filler? Like I would sacrifice 10 filler episodes of Jotto just to see what Gary is doing. Let me see Gary's side of the story for a while. because that way you get more investment on the people that, you know, Ash eventually beats cause it's like, oh, he defeats this guy. I never saw him. Why should I care?

David Hernandez:

I wanna shift over to the games real quick and we'll come back to the a I wanna start with, what is your favorite Pokemon? Let's start there. Like what's the Pokemon that speaks to you the most?

KuroBlitz:

Ah, there's a lot of them, but it's Latios. I love Latios. I think it's because it was the first Pokemon that I saw when I was online and it just combines the most cool aspects of Pokemon, like Dragon and Psychic. Like you're just combining Cool with cool. And the more you learn about Latios, the more interesting it becomes because they live in groups like they, there are multiple of them, but they live in secret groups. They are able to basically disguise themselves as other humans. And even Pokemon because of light refraction, they have, you know, the ability to, not really astral projection, but they do like dream analysis, which is, you know, side sharing. They can show to you what they are looking at, even when you are not around. they have that mystique going for them, because they are a legendary, but it's not really legendary in terms of there is no story about them, but they're not really that much powerful. But they can do a lot of cool stuff. And it's probably because they are part psychic and part dragons. So you basically get the spiritual with the mystical until Ultra Necrozma. There was never that sort of type combination.

David Hernandez:

the one thing I loved about it was'cause I remember, encountering La Latinos playing Pokemon Ruby, and I was

KuroBlitz:

Ye

David Hernandez:

whoa, this is such a cool Pokemon. I don't know what it is. I use my master ball and I caught it and I always loved I think it's a still signature move. I think it's luster purge.

KuroBlitz:

Luster Purge.

David Hernandez:

Weaker at the time than psychic, but I just loved it. It just seemed like such a cool move to see and it felt something special about just seeing Latios using it.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. Yeah. And that, that was one of the reasons why I picked Ruby as a kid is because I knew the Ruby one had Latios and funny enough it kinda lined up perfectly after the fact because from Ruby and Sapphire, Ruby has some cool version exclusives, Zangoose, Shiftry

David Hernandez:

Yep.

KuroBlitz:

Mawile. and then Emerald got the Sapphire exclusives, which was Sableye, Ludicolo, Serviper

David Hernandez:

It got both I thought.'cause I think it couldn't get Surskit

KuroBlitz:

Medicham. Yeah.

David Hernandez:

Yeah Medicham, it Couldn't get access to those.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. Well, this was, this was during a time when to complete the decks of nearly 400, you needed seven games and two consoles. people like to trash talk the deck, head of Sword and Shield, and I'm like, you did not live in 2003, or you do not remember how things were in 2003.

David Hernandez:

Right, right. I think it's welcome'cause I think it becomes unreasonable to have that many Pokemon over and over and over. And plus you can do more if you kind of restrict

KuroBlitz:

I, I do recall, like, this was before I realized that the Pokemon, like, again, going back to the whole Pokemon Go era, like this was before Pokemon Go. It's like. I feel like Pokemon has enough species where can they just do whatever games and they don't need to create new Pokemon anymore. And then I realized, this is, this is a stupid idea. And then because Pokemon Go was happening and they were creating regional forms, and I'm like, yeah, they're not going to stick with what they have and rearrange them. They're just going to create more and more and more because Plushies.

David Hernandez:

Well, no, that's what they're doing now. You know, they're reconning old Pokemon into the new forms. That's the variance. You don't get as many new Pokemon as, say, gen five or even gen three. You get maybe 50 to 170 Pokemon at this point. They're relying on the nostalgia of old Pokemon, bringing'em into new forms while bringing a couple new ones. Don't get me wrong, and that's what Pokemon is now. It's not a bad thing. I think it's actually a better thing I would love it if they actually limited the decks. Because I played Pokemon Colosseum, I played where I had to force myself to use Pokemon that I wasn't able to use. I remember the days of black and white. I enjoyed being forced to

KuroBlitz:

Yeah,

David Hernandez:

I didn't normally

KuroBlitz:

same.

David Hernandez:

I wish they would lean more heavily into that and restrict the Dex even further.

KuroBlitz:

Like one, one of the best latest experience that a lot of people do agree was Legends Arceus and there are only 242 Pokemon in that game, and even the Dex distribution in Legends Arceus, it's not the same as it is in Diamond Pearl and Platinum. Because in Legends Arceus you have Paras and Parasect, and in Diamond and Pearl you have, you know, Hoothoot and Noctowl and it, it got me thinking. So what you're saying is that Hoothoot came to Sinnoh and hunted Paras and Parasect to regional extinction, like the, the birds heat this shroom because of type effectiveness. Okay.

David Hernandez:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna touch on Pokemon Go,'cause you just mentioned it. Tell me about those early days of when you started playing it. What was it like? Where did you go? Like what was the scene like Playing Pokemon Go in 2016

KuroBlitz:

It was very interesting because like, I was already working at the time and many of my friends and classmates, they were, in college, so it, we were not really drifting it, it was basically the start of us drifting apart because, you know, just, that's just how life is sometimes. But like Pokemon Go happened and, people had no idea what this was, but you know, it was just the first 151 they like, oh, let, let, let's talk to, let's talk with our girlfriend. Right. You know, the, he, he, he, he never Pokemon. Maybe he can help us. And I'm like, guys, this is a mobile game. It just has the monsters. Everything I know does not apply to this. This is brand. This

David Hernandez:

This

KuroBlitz:

is

David Hernandez:

even what you know.

KuroBlitz:

like, this only has the monsters, the functionalities, how the game works. That's also brand new. like I have no, I like the knowledge that I have does not apply to this at all. If, if you want my help, I'm on Team Mystic,

David Hernandez:

So would you and your friends like go out and

KuroBlitz:

we, yeah,

David Hernandez:

you know, raids weren't out at the time, so I guess y'all were just out catching

KuroBlitz:

yeah, yeah. We, we were just, you know, going, we were just, you know, going to every nook and cranny of the city, just, you know, catching Pokemon. And I was also, friends with people in the Portuguese community. Like, it was, there was like a big boom in forums and YouTube from 20 12 to 2017. we were just, you know, hanging out online, you know, doing podcasts, you know, the po, the Pokemon Go topic always came around because of everything that we saw in the news, right? people falling on puddles and whatever.

David Hernandez:

Whatever Now, do you think because a Pokemon Go, you mentioned how life was in transition, you know, you were all going different directions, you know, you were starting your own careers.

KuroBlitz:

Yes,

David Hernandez:

Would, did Pokemon Go kind of help you feel grounded again even as life kind of pulled you in that different direction?

KuroBlitz:

in some way, yes. Because it's also because like people are going to know move forward, but it's like at the very, at the very least, you can still, you know, get some sense of, connection.'cause it's like, oh yeah, we can still, you know, chat and if you, if you need help with the game. It's like, it's basically like a last hurrah, you know, like we are all 19, let's, you know, end childhood. The, the way it started, which is basically with Pokemon almost 10 years later, we just, you know, went our own merry way. And it's also because like in the end of the day. Life is more than this franchise. There are a lot of other franchises, like movies, games, comics that you can, you know, play, watch, read, like, if anything, that's the one thing I always advise people like, go play other games. just don't use, you know, the better aspects of those games to come back to Pokemon and Trash talk. It. No, just, just go expand your horizons and when you come back it's like, okay, maybe there's like a thing or two that this could, you know, use or implement. but I feel like a lot of people should just, go play more games and watch other shows or, just, read other manga. Like for example, and I even admit like the, the nime is, at least to me, it's more interesting that, you know, for the, for the average fan, but when they reach droughts. Of, you know, filler and you can tell they are padding for time because the game is not meant to be released this year. It's meant to really be released next year. And then, oh, Ash has seven gym badges, but we are going to release the remix of Johto, so you gotta wait one year for the league. And I'm like,

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

KuroBlitz:

and I'm like, uh, so I need to wait one year for him to get another batch. Okay, I'm going to read the Adventures Manga.

David Hernandez:

right,

KuroBlitz:

And that's how I started to read the Adventures Manga. It was because the anime was just, you know, on this filler. Hell

David Hernandez:

But that's anime anyway. Like you think of one piece, one piece goes through so many fillers. I think at that point I've read the, manga and it was

KuroBlitz:

yeah.

David Hernandez:

than watching the anime.

KuroBlitz:

Yeah. Like,

David Hernandez:

hour till actually. But you, you get what a

KuroBlitz:

no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

David Hernandez:

over.

KuroBlitz:

no. But, but no, the, the thing about narrative, narrative filler is that narrative filler, at least it's interesting because narrative filler, they actually write the character dynamics I wanted to see in Canon. The same goes. The, the, the, the same goes for bleach, like bleach, filler. It's interesting because the dynamics that they are there, I wanted to see in the actual cannon, episodes and chapters. the unfortunate part about the filler of narrow toe and bleach is that they are placed very poorly. like, they are good arcs, but they are just poorly placed and even my friends were very interested in Naruto, and I'm like, do you guys know that Naruto airs after Pokemon? And they're like, no way. Yeah. So we went to the school library and we watched Diamond and Pearl because they like, they, they liked, you know, dance contests and, you know, Paul's rivalry and whatever more. So we were watching Pokemon and they were watching Naruto and we made our whole lunch hour. It was that just being in the library, eating lunch and watching Pokemon and nato.

David Hernandez:

Now speaking of Ash, I kinda wanna go back to him real quick'cause you know, we kinda left it off to where, you know, you were engaged with the anime, you were very, you know, invested in his character. We got a chance to see Ash finally, I guess, close his arc. He

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

champion and you know, had very emotional scenes. And I wanted to know, after all the years of watching Ash grow,

KuroBlitz:

Yeah,

David Hernandez:

kind of feel to see him finally become champion and then say goodbye in his final episode?

KuroBlitz:

it was very much bittersweet because, I feel like when it comes to him becoming a world champion, I was always under the pretense that it's very clear that the show was probably. Not written to be his sendoff and it was most likely patched in the middle of the Generation eight series. But the DNA of sending him off was there, he was traveling the world. He was, you know, having a team comprised of not only generation eight Pokemon, he was remitting other people. Right? And it's like, I get what they were going for. They're trying to appeal to the more general audience, to the point where they gamified a little bit of anime locations, which I was personally not a fan, but it, it always felt bittersweet in terms of I get what they were going for. But at the same time, I feel like if you are battling in a world tournament, you should use the Pokemon that you gathered all across the world just using new Pokemon that you just caught. I have no attachment to them. If you want to catch new Pokemon, that's fine, but you know, your ash. Catch'em. Don't be predictable with just using a brand new team, just. Just mix and match, like throw your opponent off guard a little bit, please. I knew that eventually he would, he would win. And I knew it was kind of telegraphed, unfortunately. But it's more so because it's like, I knew that he, when he would win, he would, he would move on, go away. And I'm like, after all of these years, I know for a fact that whatever ending they are going to give him, it's never going to fully satisfy me. And it's not going to, it's not going to set satisfy everyone because everyone watches the anime for different things and for different people, and they expect different things from Ash. So writing a finale for a 26-year-old character, you're not going to appeal to everybody. And that's, and that's like the crux of him staying as long as he did.

David Hernandez:

And so that's what I wanna talk about.'cause you actually had a very hot take and your first video, one of your first videos, was Why Ash Should Not Get Sole.

KuroBlitz:

yes.

David Hernandez:

to ask, so, what made you want to. Like start with that. Like what was it about Sobble and that whole theme that made you want to kind of create content for that?

KuroBlitz:

Oh, so basically I always had the idea of making, not really a YouTube channel, just videos for YouTube. I just never had the free time. when the pandemic happened, my work hours were cut short, and the people that I was hanging around on Discord, they were, you know, basically trying to make several groups join into like a super collaborative one. And they were like, oh, if you, if you make a YouTube channel, we can get you in. Because I was mainly a guest in other people's, you know, shows, episodes, podcasts, whatever have you. And I'm like, oh, okay. I just, I, I, I just need to make a, a channel and a video and, and I get a pass bet. And I was like, okay. And this was like fi this was like five, five summers ago, right? So it's like, okay. What video am I gonna do? And this was, you know, this was like in July, so it was like after that six week hiatus that the anime had. So it's like, hmm. I want to talk about the other starters because it's kind of weird. We don't see them and we are 22 episodes. Then the last time we see a starter, it was probably Brock's Mudkip in episode 25 or something. But even then we see a Mudkip in the first episode of Hoenn. It was weird to me why the starters were not showing up. cause a lot of people were talking about how if Ash leaves, he should get one at least because it's established, it's a staple. And I'm like, no. If anything, I feel like the, the guy that could eventually succeed him could get all three and Ash doesn't get anything. And a lot of people want, and this was basically sparked from a conversation because a lot of people wanted Sobble because Sobble is shy and coward and Italian. It's, you know, sua in confident that's perfect for Ash. And I'm like, that's very standard and it's just copying Greninja. I don't want a second Greninja, like,

David Hernandez:

What starter would you have chosen for Ash?

KuroBlitz:

uh, none.

David Hernandez:

None. Well, I mean, if you had, if you had to pick one

KuroBlitz:

Oh, if I,

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

KuroBlitz:

if I had to pick one. Um, funny enough, I feel like Scorbunny would've been more fitting for him, and the goal would've kept Intel because Sobble from Intel, being a, a shy, Pokemon and becoming very confident and being very fitting for missions, That's more fitting for Goh than Scorbunny. I love Go Cinderace, but Cinderace being basically a blank slate of a Pokemon with the liability. It would be more fitting for, you know, Ash's final starter to be one that accesses all the types. And then, you know, Chloe could have gotten Grookey because, you know, she had like a gardening club at her school. So I feel like Grookey would've, you know, made a lot of sense for her. And a lot of people wanted ash to have RIllaboom. and I think that's born out of Infernape. I understand that. But you also have to realize that before Infernape the other two monkeys he had, they were released being a, being, being prime apal.

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

KuroBlitz:

Like Infernape is the exception, guys not the rule.

David Hernandez:

you know, you have such detail and such fondness for all the details, the minute storylines that come with Pokemon and you know, there's a lot of lore when you start digging into it.

KuroBlitz:

Yes.

David Hernandez:

we've maybe just scratched the surface to it. what's your favorite piece of Pokemon Lord to kind of analyze and what hidden detail do you think people overlook that probably should pay you more attention to?

KuroBlitz:

Oh, that's a really good question. I honestly don't know, that's like, I never really thought about it until now. I think it's more so like the cross references that they have, you know, throughout all of the what spinoffs and even the TCG they have to offer that can later on be implemented for a main cannon, like the delta species of the Hoenn expansion. They were basically what retrial became because it's the same Pokemon, but they emanate a different type. And I'm like, huh. So what other aspects of, I don't know, TCG, Pokemon, whatever have you, could they rework later in the future? I think it's because people just consume the main games and when it comes to the spinoffs and everything else, they don't really pay much attention. I think this all circles back to, you know, me playing pinball and it's like, I. I, I'm not gonna buy Colosseum just to get the Jirachi, but at least I need to get the Jirachi in some way, shape, or form. And, you know, it was in pinball.

David Hernandez:

How does it tie back into pinball? I'm curious, like how did you find that pinball ties into what you do now?

KuroBlitz:

I think it's, I feel more so because like, well, I just like pinball as like a game in general. And combining it with Pokemon, it was just like a match made in heaven. And I'm like, I feel like this could continue. Because we had one in gen two, we had one in gen three. We were meant to have one in Gen four apparently. I don't know how that would've worked with the Nintendo Ds. And when New Snap was revealed, I was so happy because I like Pokemon Snap. So the new Snap reveal was good,

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

KuroBlitz:

then when it was revealed, it was by Bandy Namco. I don't know how to feel about it because Bandy Namco made, made Pokken and they only made 1 DLC. And I feel like they should Pokken and New Snap, they should have had continuous DLCs and updates, like how Unite does, like always adding new Pokemon and new tracks like in their little world. And unfortunately it was never, it was never for that. I do recall like they were asking me like, what's the one game you would really like? And I'm like, I want a new Pokemon pinball. And I feel like Generation eight had the best opportunity to do it it, it kind of writes itself in terms of, for example, the little batteries. Like instead of having plus and minus, you could have more Pecos. Like the Zacian Swords could be the flippers, the Zamazenta Shields could be the bumpers when you have like the ball leaving the stadium, but you have to go to another way. You get like Zarude, swinging the vines and you're grabbing the ball back. like when you go to. Shoot the ball to like place where Pokemon would munch on it. It could be like Dre Oish as a jaw, just the level design. And even, you know, those mini bosses with, you know, the Gastly, the Kecleon, the Dusclops. They did so much in so much detail and they implemented all of the Pokemon, like their biology, the way they worked together, just like in, in, in an arcade game. Which, which is weird to think about. They did so much with, with basically so little, and I kind of miss that magic.

David Hernandez:

Well KuroBlitz. to thank you for coming on as a poke up ball turns, but I wanna finish on this final question. you know from, you started from snowy Christmases mornings to debating Ash's Pokemon team Pokemon has grown alongside you sparking imagination, storytelling, and friendships. Looking back, how has this journey with Pokemon shaped who you are now outside of the games?

KuroBlitz:

Oh, it basically gave me a job

David Hernandez:

It gave me employment.

KuroBlitz:

pre, pretty, pretty much. So, just for you to get an idea, when I went to high school, I underwent, the STEM course just because, you know, I just liked biology all because of Pokemon. And I had like some history lessons and philosophy here and there.'cause like, when people go to the humanities and language track, they always get history. And I'm like, I like history as a hobby, not really as a subject in school. I will take biology and I will use all of my Pokemon knowledge to. pass biology. And one subject that we always had was philosophy. And I'm like, oh, I've studied Pokemon. I, I I, I know the Mewtwo quote. I'm gonna pass, I'm gonna pass philosophy. so with all of that, basically, for seven years. after I finished high school, I got a job as a park ranger, and I'm like, yes, I'm, I'm a Pokemon trainer now, now, now I work as an archivist for the city hall. So times changed. The pandemic was not, you know, all sunshine and rainbows. I still do, I still miss those days, but, you know, hey, whatever it's needed to put food on the table. but it's just like the, the pipeline of Pokemon FTO Park Ranger. It, it's, it's, it's astronomically.

David Hernandez:

Well KuroBlitz before you go, if people want to check out your content, if they wanna connect with you, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

KuroBlitz:

Uh, sure thing. They can check me on Twitter on KuroBlitz96, and they can check me on Blue Sky and on YouTube by KuroBlitz.

David Hernandez:

Thank you for listening to As the Poke Ball Turns, if this story resonated with you, share the podcast with the fellow trainer, and don't forget to follow us. For more voices, more journeys, and more memories. I'm David Hernandez, and remember, your next Pokemon adventure begins here.

People on this episode

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David Hernandez

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Dux

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Layla

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