New music for the week of 12/31/2012

Two new songs this week from the Japanese "Best of Best" album:

-Fantasy in My Pocket
-By Your Side (Dawn's Theme)

In the case of the second track, this is the original version of this song, not one of the remixes/alternate versions already on the station.

New music for the week of 12/24/2012

One new track this week:

-Abschied

"Abschied" is the German version (the only version officially released on CD) of the song popularly known as "Misty's Goodbye".

New Jess Turner ("It's All Inside of You") Interview

I've added an interview with Jess Turner, who performs the ending theme from the 15th Pokemon Movie. You can listen for the interview on the station, or check it out here:



In the interview, we discuss her background as an artist, the song, and some of the other stuff she's been working on.

Jess's Web Site

New music for the week of 12/10/2012

One new song this week, and it's from Pokemon Conquest:

-Valora Battle

Pokemon Black and White: Volume 3 DVD Releases 3/19/2013

The third volume of Pokemon Black and White will be released in the US on March 19th of next year:

Amazon

Volume 1 released last month, and volume 2 is scheduled for release in January. This schedule appears to be more aggressive than 2012's, possibly indicating an intention to close the "Arceus Gap".

New music for the week of 12/3/2012

One new song this week:

-Pokémon Ruby Version '120 Ways to Chill Out' OC ReMix

If you like that song, you can pick it up here.

New music for the week of 11/26/2012

Three new tracks this week. Two from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-Battle Stage
-Sinnoh Frontier Brain Battle!

And one from Pokemon Reorchestrated:

-Ending

Enjoy!

New Music for the week of 11/19/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-Super Contest - Beauty Division
-Villa - The Bossa Nova in Lilycove!
-Fight Area (Battle Frontier)

And three from Pokemon Reorchestrated:

-Present Your Badges (Indigo Plateau)
-The Final Showdown! VS Champion Rival
-Into the Hall of Fame

Oh, and Friday, holiday music starts. You've been warned!

New music for the week of 11/12/2012

Another six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-Global Terminal
-Wi-Fi Plaza
-Super Contest - Cute Division

And another three from Pokemon Reorchestrated:

-The Ghost of Pokémon Tower
-Silph Co. Under Siege
-Cinnabar Island

New Boundaries Crossed interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got another Pokemon TCG Boundaries Crossed interview debuting on the station following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. The countdown starts at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central, so be sure to listen in!

Missed it?

New music for the week of 11/5/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-Hoenn Frontier Brain Battle!
-Title (Platinum)
-Looker's Theme

And three from Pokemon Reorchestrated:

-Vermilion City
-SS Anne
-Beyond Rock Tunnel (the Road To Lavender Town)

Daylight Savings Time Ends Today

Just a reminder that Daylight Savings Time ended today in the US. For everyone that doesn't use that, this means that all the programming on PIRN has been pushed back an hour.

New music for the week of 10/29/2012

Seven new tracks this week. Three from the Pokemon Black & White 2 soundtrack:

-The Pokemon World Championships Finals!
-Title (Emerald)
-Battle Tower (Hoenn)

The first song was, as the name implies, specifically made for the Pokemon Video Game World Championships.

We also have three songs from Pokemon Reorchestrated:

-Battle! VS Trainer
-Pokémon Gym
-Battle! VS Gym Leader (& Elite Four)

And one courtesy of OC Remix:

-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team 'From Here On' OC ReMix

New Pokemon TCG Boundaries Crossed interview before tonight's Instrumental PIRN

I conducted an interview with a participant at a recent Pokemon TCG Boundaries Crossed Prerelease. We discuss several cards from the set:

-Raticate (105)
-Stoutland (122)
-Dusknoir (63)

Instrumental PIRN starts tonight at 11pm Eastern/10pm Central!

New music for the week of 10/15/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black & White 2: 

-N Battle!
-The White Tree Hollow
-Champion Iris Battle!

 And three from the brand new "Pokémon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony" fan album:

-Red and Blue (Opening Theme)
-Dreams and Adventures (Oak's Opening Speech)
-Pallet Town

The Arceus Gap-A Space in the Pokémon DVD Release Schedule

Transcript:

Hi everyone, Steven here. I wanted to take a moment to go over a series of events that occurred in the US distribution of the Pokémon anime a few years back. The story starts in April of 2009, when Warner Bros. released a two-disc set of the first three Pokémon movies on DVD. Now, there’s nothing really special about these discs-they’re just represses of the original DVDs that came out in 2000 and 2001, but keep the compilation's release date in mind for the rest of this video.

The remainder of the 2009 Pokémon DVD release list is fairly standard-six volumes of “Battle Dimension”, some “Pokémon All Stars” DVDs, and the start of the “Pokémon Elements” series. Then in early November, something interesting happens-remember that three-movie set from earlier in the year? Well, this is going off my memory, but what I recall happening is that there was a sudden shift in availability on Amazon.com-Amazon stopped selling it directly, and it was only available from third-party resellers from that point forward.

In any case, a few weeks later on November 20th, “Arceus and the Jewel of Life” debuts on Cartoon Network. Usually a DVD release follows a few months later, but that’s not what happens here in the US. In fact, the final volumes of “Battle Dimension” from October end up being the last new Pokémon DVDs in America for quite some time-leading to what I’ve termed the “Arceus Gap”.

Now, 2010 is where things start to get really interesting. While the only DVDs being released are more entries in the “Pokémon Elements” series, in May, “Pokémon the Movie 2000” shows up in the iTunes store. This wasn’t a complete surprise-the third movie was placed on iTunes in January of 2009, so it seemed like a logical progression. Just over two months later, however, “2000” mysteriously vanishes from the service. This reveals a pattern: The three-movie DVD set changed availability just before the tenth anniversary of “The First Movie”’s US theatrical debut, and 2000 was similarly pulled right before its ten-year anniversary. The theory I have here is that Warner Bros.'s rights to distribute these movies were expiring during this period, and the gap in new releases was caused by a prolonged series of negotiations, but we’ll probably never know for sure.

Finally, in November 2010, a light emerged-“Arceus and the Jewel of Life” was given a US DVD release date of February 1st, 2011. TV DVDs would resume in March 2011 with the release of the first volumes of Galactic Battles, nearly two years after that season debuted on Cartoon Network-but at least things were moving again.

While the Arceus gap may be over, there are still some lasting effects. Much like the first and second movies, the third Pokémon movie vanished from the US iTunes store right around its ten-year mark in early 2011, and all three of those movies are now out of print in the US. Also, while the movie gap has improved with the Zoroark and Victini films, the TV gap remains about the same-volume one of Black and White is scheduled to be released on DVD in November of this year, still nearly two years from when that season started.

So, that's the “Arceus Gap”. Be sure to let me know what you thought of this retrospective, and suggest any topics you might want me to talk about in the future. Thanks.

Sources:

Amazon: 

Pokemon: Battle Frontier Vol. 1 Box Set (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Battle-Frontier-Vol-Box/dp/B001675ZII/

Pokemon: Battle Frontier Vol. 2 Box Set (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Battle-Frontier-Vol-Box/dp/B001BP14F8/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl - Set One, Vols. 1-2 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Set-Vols/dp/B001BP14FI/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl - Set Two, Vols. 3-4 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Set-Vols/dp/B001CZJOZ4/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl - Set Three, Vols. 5-6 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Three-Vols/dp/B001P807QI/

Pokemon: Giratina & The Sky Warrior: http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Giratina-Warrior-Sarah-Natochenny/dp/B001QWQJ9W/

Pokemon: The First Three Movies (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Movies-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B001RPZE44/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Battle Dimension, Vols. 1 & 2 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Battle-Dimension/dp/B001VLBDC6/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Battle Dimension, Vols. 3 & 4 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Battle-Dimension/dp/B00287Z1DE/

Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl Battle Dimension, Box 3 (2009): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Battle-Dimension/dp/B002G1WPOK/

Pokemon: Arceus & The Jewel of Life (2011) http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Arceus-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B004AUCDOW/

Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl Galactic Battles 1 (2011): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Galactic-Battles/dp/B004D2GMSU/

Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl Galactic Battles Gift 2 (2011) http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Diamond-Pearl-Galactic-Battles/dp/B004K4FUXY/

Pokemon Dp Galactic Battles 5-6 (2011): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Dp-Galactic-Battles-5-6/dp/B0050MB3W2/

Pokemon - Zoroark: Master of Illusions (2011): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Illusions-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B005AU4RZY/

Pokemon Dp Galactic Battles 7-8 (2011): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Dp-Galactic-Battles-7-8/dp/B005G172OU/

Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors - Set One (2012): http://www.amazon.com/Pokémon-DP-Sinnoh-League-Victors/dp/B00634MKMI/

Pokemon Movie: Black - Victini / White - Victini (2012): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Movie-Black-Victini-White/dp/B006P0FF3Q/

Pokemon DP: Sinnoh League Victors - Set Two (2012): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-DP-Sinnoh-League-Victors/dp/B006H37PUW/

Pokemon DP: Sinnoh League Victors Set 3 (2012): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-DP-Sinnoh-League-Victors/dp/B0083SI99K/

Pokemon Black & White Set 1 (2012): http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Black-White-Set-1/dp/B008SAPC9S/

Bulbanews:

'Pokémon 3: The Movie' now available on iTunes: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/%27Pok%C3%A9mon_3:_The_Movie%27_now_available_on_iTunes

Pokémon.com updates with movie information: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon.com_updates_with_movie_information

'Pokémon The Movie 2000' now available on iTunes: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/%27Pok%C3%A9mon_The_Movie_2000%27_now_available_on_iTunes

Movie 12 to finally be released on DVD: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Movie_12_to_finally_be_released_on_DVD

TPCi not happy about Cartoon Network movie cut: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/TPCi_not_happy_about_Cartoon_Network_movie_cut

More action-packed episodes coming to DVD: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/More_action-packed_episodes_coming_to_DVD

Dub of 'Black Hero,' 'White Hero' to be released this December: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Dub_of_%27Black_Hero,%27_%27White_Hero%27_to_be_released_this_December

Bulbapedia:

Pokémon Elements http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokemon_elements

Pokémon All-Stars http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokemon_All_Stars

Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon:_Diamond_and_Pearl

Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Battle Dimension: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_%26_Pearl:_Battle_Dimension

Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Galactic Battles: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_%26_Pearl:_Galactic_Battles

DP105: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/DP105

Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Diamond_%26_Pearl:_Sinnoh_League_Victors

Pokémon: Black & White: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon:_Black_%26_White

IMDB:

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190641/

Pokémon: The Movie 2000: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257001/

Pokémon 3: The Movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266860/

PokePress Twitter Feed:

 7/20/2012: https://twitter.com/pokepress/status/18990442530

New music for the week of 10/8/2012

Three new songs this week, all from Pokemon Black & White 2:

-Colress Battle
-Route 23
-N's Theme

2nd Black and White DVD set comes to US January 22, 2013

The next volume of Pokemon Black & White DVDs has been announced for early next year:

Amazon

The first volume of Pokemon Black and White is scheduled for release on November 20th.

New music for the week of 10/1/2012

Four new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black & White 2:

-Humilau City
-Humilau City Gym
-Route 22 (Spring & Summer)

And one other:

-Mew's Theme Remix

This last one was provided to me by a YouTube user, and if you've done a cover, remix, or original Pokemon song, you can submit it to me too! Check out the details on the "About the Station" page.

New Pokemon TCG Fall Battle Roads interview following today's Top 25

I recently got a chance to do another Pokemon TCG Fall Battle Roads 2012 interview, and that will debut following today's Top 25 Countdown. In the interview, we discuss the player's Ho-Oh EX deck, and her experience at the tournament. The countdown starts at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central, so be sure to tune in!

Interview: Pokémon TCG Fall Battle Roads 2012: Rockford, IL

The following is an interview with Ricky Berliant, winner of a recent Pokémon TCG Battle Road tournament in Rockford, IL.

Ricky Berliant

Me: Hi, I’m Steven Reich, here at Top Cut Comics in Rockford, IL, at one of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Fall Battle Roads 2012. I’m here with Ricky Berliant, who is the winner of the Masters Division at today’s Battle Road tournament. Ricky, you had a Darkrai EX/Hydreigon deck, so for people who aren’t familiar, what is the basic strategy with that?

Ricky: The basic strategy is you use Hydreigon’s Ability called “Dark Trance” to move around [dark] energies (including blend), while you have Darkrai’s Ability, “Dark Cloak”, which gives Pokémon with dark energy attached to them free retreat.

Me: It’s a very popular deck, but one thing you put in there is the Sigilyph card [Dragons Exalted 52], and it’s got the “Safeguard” Ability. What does that do, and how did you end up using it in your deck?

Ricky: Safeguard is an Ability where no EX Pokémon can attack Sigilyph*. It’s useless against decks like Empoleon and Garchomp/Altaria, but he comes in handy against decks like Rayquaza, Zekeels, and so on.

Me: You went undefeated today, but is there any one game that stands out in your mind?

Ricky: One game that really stood out to me was round two. He was playing Zekrom/Eels/Mewtwo, and he was ahead by four prizes. He kept knocking out my basics using his Thunderus.

Me: How’d you end up turning that around?

Ricky: Well, I played an N [to reduce his hand size]. I also noticed he had used up all four of his Catchers already, and I felt pretty safe from there, but it still was a long road for me.

Me: All right, well thank you very much Ricky, this has been Steven Reich from Top Cut Comics in Rockford, IL, at one of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Fall Battle Roads 2012.

*Editor’s note: Giratina EX is notable exception in that its “Shred” attack ignores Abilities and other effects on the defending Pokémon.

New music for the week of 9/24/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Movie 15:

-Wait for Us, Melody Berry!
-On Top of Drifblim
-Ancient Song (The Dazzling Version)

And three from Black and White 2:

-Rebirth Mountain (Black)
-Rebirth Mountain (White)
-Legendary Sinnoh Pokemon Battle!

New Pokemon TCG Fall Battle Road interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got a new interview from a recent Pokemon TCG Battle Road tournament, and that interview will debut following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. We discuss the player's Kyurem EX/Klingklang deck, and his experience using it in the tournament. The countdown starts at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central, so be sure to tune in!

Missed it?

Learning Japanese: A Trainer's Journey

The following is an interview with Jason Simon, a player I met at Worlds 2012. He wanted to share his experience learning Japanese as a result of being a Pokemon fan, which eventually led him on a trip to Japan.

What area are you from? 
I am from Los Angeles, California, USA.

How did you get into Pokemon? 
I got into Pokémon around the time that Ruby and Sapphire were released in the United States. Pokémon Ruby Version was my first game for the Game Boy Advance.

What was it about Pokemon that got you interested in learning Japanese? 
Many aspects of the franchise inspired me to learn Japanese. At the forefront, however, would have to be the fact that the games are released there much sooner than they are released here. When I would visit a variety of news sites, I would see information on games that had just come out in Japan. Since I knew that I would not understand anything going on in the games, I decided that it would probably be best to learn Japanese so I could import the games. At the time, taking on a whole new language seemed like a better option than waiting for six months, so I went with learning the language.

How did you go about learning the language? 
First, I went to Costco and bought the Japanese version of the Rosetta Stone software to get myself into the mindset of the language. Realizing that relying on only Rosetta Stone was probably a bad idea (the program does not do a good job of teaching oral proficiency, something that is very important to me), I decided to take a few private lessons. A combination of taking private lessons, using Rosetta Stone, and immersing myself in the language by watching most of my news in Japanese helped me become fairly fluent in the language.

Did learning Japanese enhance your appreciation for Pokemon? If so, how? 
Learning Japanese greatly enhanced my appreciation for Pokemon. It also brought me closer to the franchise as a whole. After becoming proficient in Japanese, I began to import the new video games from Japan before they hit the shelves in America. Once I started importing, I began to pick up many of the Japanese Pokemon names, which, due to my knowledge of Japanese, made sense. Aside from the games, my knowledge of Japanese also made me more attentive to all of the merchandise that they release in Japan. Soon after I became proficient in Japanese, I began to investigate these products and contact Japanese-speaking wholesalers who sell these products to retailers overseas. Since I was able to communicate with them, I managed to set up accounts and began to purchase many Japanese Pokemon items. Today, I still deal with these Japanese-speaking wholesalers and sell Japanese Pokemon merchandise online. The online communities that I buy and sell on made me more aware of events such as Worlds. Worlds 2012 was my second year spectating at the event, and one of my favorite aspects of the event is speaking Japanese with all of the people who come over from Japan!

How did you end up going to Japan? What did you see that was Pokemon-related while you were there? 
My dad used to take many trips to Hong Kong, so he promised me that if I managed to fluently speak Japanese, he would take me to Japan on the way to his business trip in Hong Kong. I managed to meet his expectations, so he took me on the trip. In terms of Pokemon-related things in Japan, they are everywhere. In fact, the train I got on from the airport to the Tokyo railway station was decorated with decals promoting the Arceus movie (I went to Japan in summer 2009). Furthermore, I went to three Pokémon Centers while in Japan—Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka. Pretty much everywhere I went, there was something Pokémon-related.

What would you tell other people who might be interested in learning Japanese? 
If you want to take Japanese, be prepared for a big time commitment and a lot of work. For me to speak fluently (not perfectly, but fluently to the point where I could easily get around), it took around 3 years, from the moment I bought the Rosetta Stone disk to the instant I touched down at Narita International Airport. The language has many intricacies, which makes it easier than English at times, but most of the time much harder. I think that learning Japanese should be something that a hardcore Pokémon fan should consider; it truly opens up a whole new side to the fandom that you do not even know exists.

New Geek.Kon 2012 interview before tonight's Remix PIRN

I've got another interview from Geek.Kon 2012, and it's debuting right before tonight's Remix PIRN at 11pm Eastern/10pm Central. The interview discusses the attendee's participation in both a Pokemon Black & White tournament and a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament (overlapping, no less). The interview will also be in the regular station rotation starting tomorrow.

 Missed it? Here's another chance:
 

New music for the week of 9/17/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from the 15th Pokemon movie:

-The Start of the Recital
-Let's Go Look for the Melody Berries!
-At the Top of the Tree...!

And three from Black & White 2:

-The Deck of the Plasma Frigate
-Cheren's Theme
-Mistralton Gym

New 2-part Eric Stuart interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I recently conducted a two-part interview with Eric Stuart (voice of Brock, James, and many others for seasons 1-8), and both parts of that interview will premiere following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. The countdown starts at 5pm Eastern (4pm Central).

Missed it?

New music for the week of 9/10/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from the 15th Pokemon movie:

-Its True Power
-Castle of Ice
-The Sacred Swordsmen's Oath

And three from Black & White 2:

-Kanto Gym Leader Battle!
-Hoenn Gym Leader Battle!
-The PWT Finals!

Preview: Geek.Kon 2012

I recently got a chance to talk to Katie Hatheway, one of the staff members from this year's Geek.Kon convention near Madison, WI about this weekend's event:

How did Geek.Kon get started?

Geek.Kon started when a few members of MACS [Madison Area Costuming Society], a few anime enthusiasts, and a few tabletop gamers talked to a group of UW-Madison students and collectively agreed that it would be awesome to have a multi-genre convention right in town. Six years later, we've moved to a larger venue, and we're still going strong!

Eric Stuart (voice of Brock for seasons 1-8) is a guest at this year's convention. What will he be doing there?

Eric's doing some pretty neat stuff for us! You can catch him Friday night opening our rock concert, at Q&A panels and signings throughout the weekend, and performing again Sunday afternoon.

There's also a Pokemon video game tournament. When will that be?

That's a Pokemon Black/White tournament, and that's Saturday evening at 6pm. If you're not interested in competitive play, we'll also have a portable meetup area that will be open all weekend.

What are some of the other things going on at the convention?

We have a great tabletop gaming room this year-there will be representatives from Total Party Kill Games as well as Rio Grande, there to answer questions and show you how to play. We also have a Masked Ball Friday night with live music, a costume contest and trivia challenge, and a special screening with a shadowcast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Where can people find more information about the convention?

Go to www.geekkon.net for general information, as well as access to our community forum. We also have a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pages/GeekKon.

New music for the week of 9/3/2012

Eight new tracks on the station this week. One from Pokemon Conquest:

-Yaksha Battle

Three from Black and White 2:

-Join Avenue
-Gym Leader Battle!
-Pokemon World Tournament (PWT)

Three from Pokemon movie 15:

-Resolution Forme
-The Sacred Swordsmen are Revived!
-The Sacred Swordsmen's Lessons

And one courtesy of OC ReMix:

-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team 'The Sky Will Be Your Limit' OC ReMix

That OC ReMix track can be downloaded here.

New music for the week of 8/27/2012

Seven new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-A Fes Mission is in Session!
-Colress's Theme
-Trainer Battle!

Three from movie 15:

-Rock Cannon, Fire!
-I Told a Lie
-Let's Help the Sacred Swordsmen!

And one other addition:

-Don't Say You Love Me (Karaoke Version)

New music for the week of 8/20/2012

Seven new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black & White 2:

-Pokéstar - Defeat Theme
-Pokéstar - Purification Theme
-Castelia City Gym

Three from movie 15:

-On the Run 1
-Iris and the Dirigible
-The Sacred Swordsmen

And one from Pokemon Conquest:

-Viperia Battle

New Pokemon Worlds 2012 interview before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN

I've got an interview from last weekend's Pokemon World Championships that will be premiering before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN. The interview is with the winner of the TCG event in the Masters division, and we discuss his deck as well as the final game. Instrumental PIRN starts tomorrow at 11pm Eastern/10pm Central.

Can't wait?

"About the Station" page updated

I've updated the "About the Station" page here on the blog. The information added includes:

-How the station is programmed
-How to submit songs for consideration
-How to report technical issues with the station

New music for the week of 8/13/2012

Six new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black & White 2:

-Pokéstar Studios
-Now Filming in Pokéstar Studios
-Pokéstar - Glory Theme

And three from the 15th movie:

-The Ice Dragon Gate
-Cold Flare
-Attack

New Music for the week of 8/6/2012

Eight new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Black and White 2:

-The Sangi Ranch
-Rival Battle!
-Virbank City

Two from Pokemon Conquest:

-Battle Theme 9
-Cragspar Battle

And three from the Kyurem/Keldeo movie:

-Training with Virizion
-Training with Cobalion
-Toward Kyurem

Pokemon Black & White Volume 1 DVD set coming to America November 20th

The next set of Pokemon DVDs just showed up in a listing on Amazon:

Amazon US

This set releases November 20th. The previous set, the third volume of Sinnoh League Victors, is set for release on September 4th.

New Pokemon TCG Dragons Exalted interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I conducted an interview at a recent Pokemon TCG Dragons Exalted Prerelease, and that interview will debut on the station following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. The Countdown starts at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central.

Need it now?



Also, here's part two of the story behind "Dewott You Do", my parody of "Do Wot You Do" by INXS:

Interview: Pokémon TCG Dragons Exalted Prerelease Rockford, IL

Normally, I post interviews in audio form, however the audio from this interview contains a large number of technical issues that in my opinion render it too difficult to listen to. Rather than discard the interview, I decided I would transcribe it here.

Christian Cuevas

Me: Hi, I’m Steven Reich here at Top Cut Comics in Rockford, IL at one of the Pokémon Trading Card [Game] Dragons Exalted Prereleases. I’m here with Christian Cuevas, who is one of the participants in the Masters Division of today’s prerelease, and Christian you’ve picked out a couple cards from the set, so let’s just go through them. So the first one you’ve picked out is Terrakion EX. What does that card do and what do you like about it?

Christian: Well, Terrakion EX has two attacks. It has Rock Tumble which is for fifty, which is not affected by resistance, and then Pump-up Smash for ninety, where after you’ve done your attack, you attach two basic energy cards from your hand to your Benched Pokémon. In my opinion, this card isn’t the best, but I like its Pump-up Smash attack.

Me: Yes, that definitely sounds pretty interesting. So, there’s several Pokémon Tools in this set, and the one you’ve picked out is Giant Cape, so what does that card do?

Christian: Well, it’s simple-it just basically gives your Pokémon [an] extra twenty HP, but I believe in a tough situation it can be very useful.

Me: Yeah, definitely. It’s sort of like Eviolite, but it has a different type of effect, and you can use it on Evolved Pokémon too which is really nice. There’s a couple [of] Special Energy Cards in this set, and they’re both designed to work with one of the new features. What’s that new feature in this set, and what’s the Energy Card you’ve picked out?

Christian: Well, one of the new features is that they came out with Dragon-Type Pokémon where they really don’t have a specific Energy Type, but they use many different Types of Energy, which this card [Blend Energy Water-Lightning-Fighting-Metal] when you put it on a Dragon-Type, let’s say you need a Water Energy-you can use it that way.

Me: There’s also a companion card that has four of the other types, so those are definitely two cards to look out for. Well, thank you very much Christian-this has been Steven Reich from Top Cut Comics in Rockford, IL at one of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Dragons Exalted Prereleases.

New music for the week of 7/30/2012

Five new tracks this week. Two from Pokemon Conquest:

-Terrera Battle
-World Map 2

And three from the brand new Pokemon Black and White 2 soundtrack:

-Title
-Route 19 (Spring & Summer)
-Wild Pokemon Battle!

Song Parody: Dewott You Do (Parody of “Do Wot You Do” By INXS)

Just in time for Worlds 2012, here's a new song parody. The original song is available here:

iTunes

Amazon

Alternately, you can look through your parents' music collection. There's a decent chance of finding it. ;)

Dewott You Do

Parody of “Do Wot You Do” By INXS
With new lyrics by Steven “Yoshi” Reich (pokepress@gmail.com)

Mmm-hmm-mmm

And in reflection of games gone by-y,

I stayed awake all last night

Tr-ainers came, out from ev-ry shore

I had to go, I pleaded more

Mmm-hmm-mmm

And it’s not easy to take the ti-ime,

To make a team, or deck of mi-ine

It seems complete, but then I fi-ind,

It can’t compete, and so I gri-ind

Ooh, what have I done?

(I) put it off a little too long

I train ev-ry minute with you

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

I train ev-ry minute with you

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

And in reflection of games gone by-y,

I stayed awake all last night

Tr-ourney came, I was still unsure-ure,

Could I get by? I sweated more-ore

Ooh, can it be done?

Thought it out, uh-could I be wrong?

I plan ev-ry minute with you

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

I plan ev-ry minute with you

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

Ah-ah!

Trainer: Whaddya think Dewott? Do we have a chance?

Dewott (affirmative): Wott!

Trainer: Well, I’ve got one more slot, and no idea who to use. (Panicked) What am I gonna do?
Dewott: (Sprays water)
Trainer: (Spits out water) Hydro Pump. Thanks, I needed that. So, got any ideas?

Dewott: Wott!

Trainer: You want to try?

Dewott: Dewott!

Trainer: Alright buddy, get in there!

Ooh, this will be fun!

Now I’m up, it shouldn’t be long

I fight ev-ry battle with you

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

I fight ev-ry battle with you-ooh

No one else can move like you do

I fight ev-ry battle with you-ooh

No one else can Dewott ‘cha, Dewott ‘cha

I’ll win ev-ry battle with you-ooh

No one else can Dewott you do

Want to know how I chose the song and more info about it? Here's a handy video:

New music for the week of 7/23/2012

Just two new tracks this week, both from Pokemon Conquest:

-Battle Theme 8
-Pugilis Battle

 Of course, the real deluge starts next week (or perhaps sooner) when the Black & White 2 soundtrack comes in.

How Pokemon Radio Happens-Scheduling the Station

Ever wonder how PIRN gets programmed each day? Well, here's a helpful video that explains the process all the way from categorizing music to making the actual playlist:

New music for the week of 7/16/2012-Special midweek edition!

I got the latest CD in from Japan, and now have three new songs on the station:

-Be an Arrow
-Seven-Colored Arch
-In Your Heart, LaLaLa

Rather than make you wait until next week, they're on the station starting tomorrow!

New music for the week of 7/16/2012

Three new tracks this week. The usual two from Pokemon Conquest:

-Battle Theme 6
-Battle Theme 7

And one from the recently released (in Japan) 15th movie:

-Memories

Additionally, there's a new station ID reminding you about the social media options on the Live365 station page. That stuff really helps the station, so check it out!

New music for the week of 7/9/2012

Another two tracks from Pokemon Conquest this week:

-Battle Theme 4
-Battle Theme 5

Speaking of Pokemon Conquest, don't forget to vote in our poll over on the right-hand side of the blog!

New poll: The music of Pokemon Conquest

I've got a new poll on the blog asking you how Pokemon Conquest's music ranks among the various side DS games. Your choices are:

-It's better than Dash
-It's better than Trozei
-It's better than Ranger
-It's better than Mystery Dungeon

Select whichever ones you feel are appropriate.

(Another) New US Nationals TCG interview before tonight's Instrumental PIRN

I've got yet another Pokemon US Nationals 2012 interview (this time with the masters division TCG champion), and that will be debuting right before tonight's Instrumental PIRN block. In the interview, we discuss the player's Klinklang/Kyogre EX deck, how he went from playing Pokemon to Yu-Gi-Oh and back to Pokemon, and some of his favorite memories of the event. Instrumental PIRN starts tonight at 11pm Eastern/10pm Central.

Impatient? Need it now?

New US Nationals interview before tonight's Remix PIRN

I've got a second Pokemon US Nationals 2012 interview, and it's debuting before tonight's Remix PIRN block. I ask the player about his video game team, which Pokemon he chose, and how he might improve it in the future. The block starts at 11pm Eastern/10pm Central, as usual.

If you can't wait (or missed it), here it is:

New music for the week of 7/2/2012

Two new tracks this week, both from Pokemon Conquest:

-Battle Theme 2
-Battle Theme 3

There should also be some more interviews from Pokemon US Nationals coming up later this week.

New Pokemon US Nationals 2012 interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got our first interview from this weekend's Pokemon US Nationals debuting after Tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. The interview focuses on the Zekeels deck that she used in the tournament. The countdown starts at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central.

Missed it? No worries!

New music for the week of 6/25/2012-US Nationals special edition

I stopped by the post office before heading to Indy so I could put this song on the station:

-Look Look ☆ Here

New music for the week of 6/25/2012

Four new tracks this week. Two from Pokemon Conquest: -Opening Selection -World Map And two more from PokePark 2: -Battle Theme 2 -Chase If you have songs from Pokemon Conquest that you'd like to hear, be sure to let me know!

Another Pokemon TCG Spring Battle Roads interview following today's Top 25

I've got one more Pokemon TCG Spring Battle Road 2012 interview premiering following today's Top 25 Countdown (the countdown starts at 4pm/3c). In it, we discuss the player's Vileplume/Vanilluxe/Victini (aka VVV) deck. Be sure to listen!

In the meantime, you can amuse yourself with my idea for a Pokemon game crossover:

Missed it? Take a look here:

New Pokemon TCG Spring Battle Roads 2012 interview following today's Top 25

I've got an interview from another recent Pokemon TCG Battle Road premiering on the station after today's Top 25 Countdown (the countdown starts at 4pm/3c). In the interview, we discuss the player's Cobalion/Scizor deck.
Missed it? Here it is:

Station page working again

The good folks at Live365 have taken care of the issue with the station page not loading correctly. You should now be able to get to the station via the player on the right side of this blog. Thanks for being patient!

Second Pokemon TCG Spring Battle Road interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got another Spring Battle Road interview that will be premiering following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. The countdown starts at 5/4c, so be sure to listen! We talk about the player's unusual deck using Mew Prime.
Missed it? Catch it here:

On a side note, it seems like there are some issues connecting to the station page. It seems if you go directly here:

http://www.live365.com

And navigate to the station through the site, you can still get to it. I'm not sure where this issue is coming from, but it does seem to occur in both IE and Chrome.

New Pokemon TCG Spring Battle Roads 2012 interview before tonight's Instrumental PIRN

I've got an interview from a recent Pokemon TCG Battle Road premiering on the station before tonight's Instrumental PIRN at 11/10c. In the interview we discuss the player's Celebi/Mewtwo EX/Tornadus EX (better known as CMT) deck.

Miss it? See it here:

New John Siegler/Pokemon Live! 3-part interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I recently conducted an interview with John Siegler, a writer of Pokemon Music for the first 8 seasons of the TV show. In the interview, we discuss his work, focusing on the Pokemon Live! stage show. This interview will debut on the station following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown.

Missed it? Check it out here:

New Music for the week of 5/21/2012

Three new tracks this week, all from PokePark 2:

-Cove Town
-Train Depot
-Battle Theme 1

Sinnoh League Victors volume 3 DVD coming September 4th

After a bit of a gap, the next Pokemon DVD set will be coming out in early September:
Sinnoh League Victors volume 3 on Amazon

Pokemon 2.B.A. Master sheet music now on iTunes iBooks

In case you didn't know, every week I check iTunes for any new Pokemon music. This time I happened to notice this. It's a digital version of the old easy-piano version of the Pokemon 2.B.A. Master album (I actually have a physical copy from back in the day). Enjoy!

New Pokemon TCG Dark Explorers interview before tonight's Instrumental PIRN

I've got another Pokemon TCG Dark Explorers interview, and it's debuting before tonight's Instrumental PIRN block. Miss it? Here it is:

New music for the week of 4/30/2012

Three new tracks this week. Two from Pokemon Rumble Blast: -Overworld (w/drums) -Boss Battle And one from the OK! single: -TYPE:WILD (English Ver.)

New Pokemon TCG Dark Explorers interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got an interview concerning the next Pokemon TCG set (Dark Explorers) premiering following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. Missed it? Take a look here:

New music for the week of 4/23/2012

Two new tracks this week, both from Pokemon Rumble Blast: -Overworld -Battle Theme 1

New Pokemon VG Midwest Regionals 2012 interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got another interview from last weekend's Pokemon regional, this time from the video game event. That interview will debut on the station following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown.

 You can also check it out here:
 

New music for the week of 4/16/2012

Three new tracks this week, all from PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond: -Title Screen -Wish Palace -Restored Wish Park

New Pokemon regionals interview before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN

There will be a new Pokemon TCG regionals interview right before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN. The block starts at 10 pm CDT. You can also see it here:

New Page: Spread the Word

Want to help promote the station? I've created a new page to give you some ideas.

First Look: Pokemon Collection Blu-Ray

Neil Lumbard, frequent reviewer at DVDTalk.com, sent us his first impressions of the recently released "Pokemon Collection" Blu-Ray compilation of Pokemon movies four through seven:

Pokemon 4Ever is easily the weakest transfer on the set. It looks barely better than DVD quality from what I viewed. It is a disappointing transfer but it is at least in widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio*. It should still be a minor improvement over the widescreen DVD Echo Bridge released.

Pokemon Heroes seems to be the same transfer as the earlier Double Feature release. It's a clear improvement over the DVD release, but still not as amazing a HD transfer as one would hope for. It is still better than the transfer given to Pokemon 4Ever. Echo Bridge only gave 2.0 Dolby Digital audio and it sounds inferior to the LPCM version on the first BD release. I also noticed a slight, tiny hiss from one of my speakers (not sure if this is because of the audio-track or if I need to fix something, it is probably a fault of Echo Bridge).

Pokemon Jirachi Wish Maker is the best transfer of the bunch. Finally in widescreen. Definite improvement over DVD. Looks like real High Definition and it is not even a weak transfer. 5.1 Dolby Digital audio sounds nice.

Pokemon Destiny Deoxys is the same video as the Double Feature release. It is the second best transfer included. It's not quite as impressive as Wish Maker but still a good HD effort. Again, Echo Bridge went from a 2.0 LPCM to a 2.0 Dolby Digital. The sound is slightly inferior. I did not notice any hiss issue on this film as I did with Heroes.

The menu designs are actually somewhat nice. Echo Bridge designed something pretty decent in that regard.

The cover art bugged me by being out of order in presenting the four films but then I realized they likely intended it to be like a right to left manga presentation -- sort of a neat if unnecessary design idea. Some might consider this a "cool" aspect.

The disc itself lists the films out of order (which is irritating), and it has a generic disc label. Nothing interesting about it at all. Blue background with white text. The actual menus used for the release present the four films in chronological order though.

All of the films are in 1080p 1.78:1.

None of the short films have been included.

*The disc is ls listed as having DTS sound, but Neil confirmed that the 5.1 is in fact Dolby Digital.

New poll: Follow Your Star

Now that the Victini movie is out, I figured I'd have you tell me which version of "Follow Your Star" you prefer:

-Ideals Mix (Alex Nackman)
-Truth Mix (Kathryn Raio)
-They're about the same

Alternate version of Pokémon the Movie 2000 to be released

In a set of press releases, The Pokémon Company and The Pokémon Company International announced that a new version of the second Pokémon movie will be released this year. This version will feature Ho-oh, and will be presented in 3D.

“Following the success of Pokémon the Movie White: Victini and Zekrom and Pokémon the Movie Black: Victini and Reshiram, we decided to go back and create a new version of the classic movie from 2000,” a spokesperson for the Pokémon Company International said. “Fans have always told us that they wanted to see Ho-oh in a movie, and this seemed like the perfect way to do it.”

In case you haven't guessed, yes, this is an April Fool's Day gag. Hope you enjoyed it.

New two-part Kathryn Raio interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I recently conducted an interview with Kathryn Raio, co-performer of the Pokemon: Rival Destinies theme (she also performs the "Truth Mix" of "Follow Your Star" from Pokemon the Movie Black: Victni and Reshiram). That interview will debut following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown.

If you missed it, here's the interview:

"New" interview before tonight's Remix PIRN

The Pokemon TCG Wisconsin State Championships 2012 interview you can see in the post below will be appearing in audio form before tonight's Remix PIRN block.

Pokemon TCG WI State Championship 2012-Zekrom/Eels

Here's an interview from one of last weekend's Pokemon TCG State Championships:

Daylight savings time starts today

Daylight savings time starts today in the US. This means that the station schedule has been moved from -6 GMT to -5 GMT. In simpler terms, if you didn't change your clocks today, everything would be an hour earlier.

Want a (nearly) free Pokemon Blu-Ray?

I'm looking for some help with an upcoming Blu-Ray review:



Pokemon Collection on Amazon
Pokemon Collection at Barnes and Noble
Pokemon Collection at Best Buy
Pokemon Collection at Wal-Mart

New music for the week of 3/5/2012 + new poll

One new track this week. Somehow I missed this one a few years back:

-Me & You and Pikachu

If you like that song, you can buy it here:

iTunes

I also added a new poll about ways you listen to PIRN other than a computer. Select all that apply:

-On a vehicle's sound system
-On a phone/mobile device
-On a home stereo/surround sound system

New two-part John Loeffler interview following today's Top 25

I've got another interview with John Loeffler, and it will debut on the station following today's Top 25 Countdown. The interview covers the music from the first two Pokemon movies.

You can also catch the interview here:

New Anime Milwaukee 2012 interview before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN

I attended Anime Milwaukee this weekend, and I've got an interview from it debuting before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN. You can also see it here:

New music for the week of 2/13/2012

Two new tracks, both from Pokemon Live:

-You Can't Just Win
-Finale

2-part Walt Ribeiro interview following today's Top 25

I've got a two-part Walt Ribeiro interview that will premiere following today's Top 25 Countdown. You can also see it here:

New music for the week of 2/6//2012

Four new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Live:

-Double Trouble
-Two Perfect Girls
-I've Got A Secret

And one more from Walt Ribeiro:

-Gotta Catch Em All (For Orchestra Tribute To Pokemon Theme Song)

If you like the last one, you can buy it here:

iTunes
Amazon

One more Pokemon TCG Next Destinies interview before tomorrow's Instrumental PIRN

I've got one more Pokemon TCG Next Destinies interview, and it's debuting right before tomorrow's instrumental PIRN block.

Here's the interview in case you missed it:

New Pokemon TCG Next Desitinies interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I've got another Next Destinies interview, and it'll premiere following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. You can also check the interview out here:

New music for the week of 1/30/2012

Five new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Live:

-Pikachu
-What Kind Of Pokemon Are You?
-The Time Has Come

And two from the Toi et moi single:

-Toi et moi (A&S NY Bounce Remix)
-Toi et moi (TV Mix)

New Next Destinies Prerelease interview following today's Top 25

I conducted an interview yesterday at a Pokemon TCG Next Destinies Prerelease. That interview will premiere on the station following today's Top 25 Countdown.

Here's the interview in case you missed it:

New music for the week of 1/23/2012

Five new tracks this week. Three from Pokemon Live:

-Everything Changes
-Misty's Song
-The Best At Being The Worst

One from Pokemon Colosseum:

-Cipher Admin Battle

And one I recently found myself:

-Lugia Remix

If you like the last one, you can buy it here:

iTunes
Amazon

Pokemon TCG city championship interview following tomorrow's Top 25

There will be a new Pokemon TCG city championships interview following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. You can also see it here:

New music for the week of 1/16/2012

Seven new tracks for this week. Three from Pokemon Colosseum:

-Battle Theme 2
-Cipher Peon Battle
-Pokemon Center

An OC ReMix:

-Pokémon Ruby Version 'This Treasure' OC ReMix

And (gasp!) three songs from Pokemon Live:

-You & Me Pokemon
-It Will All Be Mine
-My Best Friends

New interview following tomorrow's Top 25

I recently conducted an interview with John Loeffler of Rave Music, the company that creates music for the dub of the Pokemon anime. That three-part interview will debut following tomorrow's Top 25 Countdown. You can also hear the interview here:

New music for the week of 1/9/2012

Four new tracks. Our GameCube journey continues with three new tracks from Pokemon Colosseum:

-First Battle
-Pre Gym
-Miror B.'s Hideout

There's also one new karaoke track:

-Song of Origin (Karaoke)

New Pokemon TCG City Championships interview following Top 25

I recently attended another Pokemon TCG City Championships event, and an interview from it will debut after today's Top 25 Countdown. You can also see it here:

New music for the week of 1/2/2012

We're going back to the GameCube ths week! Five new tracks from Melee:

-Pokémon Stadium
-Poké Floats
-Flat Zone
-Super Mario Bros. 3
-Battle Theme