Editorial: Twitch Plays Pokemon Part 1

By now most of the gaming community has seen the phenomenon that is Twitch Plays Pokemon. A user who remains anonymous created a way for thousands of people to control the same character and play through Pokemon Red and Blue. This has created a huge cult following with hilarious pop culture references. It has had millions of views, and arguably one of the better video game streams in recent gaming history. Overcoming bots, spammers, and a thirty second delay players have been able to get through an impressive portion of the game. Here are the highlights from the first few days.

Red begins his journey with a Pidgey, the Helix Fossil, and a Charmander named ‘ABBBBBBBBK’, commonly referred to as ‘Abby’. They also catch a Rattata early on, and due to the chaotic rules of the game, it was named ‘JLVWNOOO’ OR ‘Jay Leno’. As progress ensues, Pidgey is incredibly able to evolve into Pidgeotto. Because Red frequently opens the item bag consults the Helix Fossil for guidance, it has been compared to the Magic Conch in Spongebob. Helix Fossil worship becomes the driving force of the game. With the help of Abby, Jay Leno, Pidgeotto, they were able to beat Misty and obtain two badges in the first two days. Soon the team was joined by Drowzee, a Farfetch’d nicknamed ‘Dux’, and another Rattata. Red arrives at the third gym, with the notorious Lieutenant Surge. Abby was able to defeat Raichu with only five health points left! After the battle Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot, their first fully evolved Pokemon! The team gets carried by Pidgeot as he becomes the clear leader and is nicknamed ‘Bird Jesus’.

Hours go by on day three, as a ledge becomes the first big obstacle. Through a mixture of strategy and plain luck they are eventually able to overcome it, but their next test would be even greater. The way is barred by trees, and Red must learn the move Cut in order to continue. This took awhile for obvious reasons, but finally Dux overcame the tree obstacles. Finally, they are able to reach the fourth gym and defeat Erika. Once again being saved by Bird Jesus, showing his mastery over grass. Shortly after, Red obtains an Eevee. Players knew that they would eventually need a water type to surf. Talk begins about how Vaporeon is the obvious choice. Trying to deposit Eevee in the storage bank, Red accidentally released Abby and Jay Leno into the wild. This caused a major setback. They are at last able to make Eevee evolve, but into Flareon instead of Vaporeon. The rage of the players went viral, and Flareon becomes one of the most hated Pokemon of all time. They blamed Flareon for their loss, and dubbed him ‘The False Prophet of Dome’. If Lord Helix is their god, then of course the Dome Fossil represents the great Satan. After that, Red spends twelve hours trying to get through the Team Rocket hideout maze. After spending over twelve hours in the same spot, the democracy versus anarchy feature came into play. It rightly divides the community in half.

Day five begins with the political tug of war between anarchy and democracy. Democracy bringing some order, while anarchy keeps the chaos. The creator of the stream came up with a voting feature in order to see which prevailed. The worshipers of the Lord Helix screamed to maintain anarchy. Due to frustration of the players, democracy was allowed to get through mazes. Shortly after they approach the Pokemon Storage Box again, and the players fear another release massacre. Only this time just Flareon is released and the players rejoice and the false prophet was defeated. The loss of Abby and Jay Leno was brought to justice.

The first encounter with Giovanni proved fatal. Bird Jesus loses to Kangaskan, and they have to start from the beginning to come back for the win. The Silph Scope is acquired, and his rival Blue is easily defeated. Two Zubats were caught. One named ‘Ashbat’ and the other named ‘Xwing’. They are even able to get a hold of a Hitmonlee, named “C3KO”. Unfortunately all three were accidentally released using the evil PC. Rattata, learning Dig is now called ‘Digrat’. He helps them escape from every situation possible. Drowzee is now referred to as ‘The Keeper’. They are able to complete the Pokemon Tower, however the Ghost type Pokemon renders most of the party useless. This forces them to level more. The Keeper was taught the move psychic, only to have it replaced by headbutt at the next level. Frustration levels are at an all time high. Though they are eventually able to get to the end, Digrat evolves into ‘Bigrat’. He defeats Marowak, causing him to become a fan favorite. The Pokeflute is soon after used to wake up and catch Snorlax. The end was unsatisfying because anarchy caused them to run away safely.

After that they are met by the next gym leader Koga. The prophet Bird Jesus overcomes easily. After that they enter the safari zone and catch a ton of Pokemon. A level thirty-two Venomoth nicknamed ‘ATV’ was added to the team. A prophecy was made that Lapras would be one to lead them to the awaited resurrection of the Lord Helix. It was obtained and surf was taught in triumph. They come onto another encounter with Giovanni. Two attempts were taken, but Bird Jesus came through once more. Also the great Master Ball was obtained and the debate began on who it will be used on. On reaching Sabrina, they went into the battle with only two healthy Pokemon. Needless to say, the first encounter was lost. The Second time, Bird Jesus again brought the victory for the sixth badge.

We have briefly delved into the highlights of the first ten days of Twitch Plays Pokemon, and there are many more to come to be certain. I plan on giving the rest in my next post. I recommend tuning into the Twitch channel, and also taking a look at the Reddit page dedicated to it. I wish you all a prosperous week, and hope you enjoy this article and the stream.