TRAINER'S EYE #104 - "Admission into Pokemon Colosseum" ft. KyaColosseum

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by KyaColosseum, a Pokemon Trainer who created the mod Pokemon Grand Colosseum.

KyaColosseum shares her interest in Pokemon starting with the Hoenn regions. Eventually it led to her playing the Nintendo Gamecube game Pokemon Colosseum. The game had a huge impact on her Pokemon journey where she appreciated the characters, music, and many aspects of the game.

KyaColosseum continued her interest in Pokemon playing all the main series games. However, eventually she returned to Pokemon Colosseum to create a mod of the game that updates the graphics, speed, details, and other features within the game. She shares her challenges and motivation to create the mod with some help from other Pokemon Trainers.

Finally, we test KyaColosseum's knowledge with the return of the segement, "What's That Pokemon?"

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

Connect With KyaColosseum: Twitch | Twitter

Transcript

TRAINER'S EYE #104 - KyaColosseum
===

[00:00:00] KyaColosseum: My name is Kaya, and this is my Pokémon story. Okay.

[00:00:04] 

[00:00:44] David Hernandez: Welcome to, as the Pokeball turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon. My name is David Hernandez. Today, I'm joined by the creator of a mod for one of my favorite Pokemon games, and she is here to share her Pokemon story, Kaya Colosseum. Kaya, thanks for coming on to the show,

[00:01:04] KyaColosseum: Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here.

[00:01:07] David Hernandez: one thing, you know, we were talking a little bit, I feel like you're like a, maybe an off ancestor of who I am, because we both like dogs. We both like Pokemon Colosseum, and we both like to make each other look like fools to make each other laugh. So it seems like it's kind of an interesting combination.

[00:01:22] KyaColosseum: Uh, yeah, like, Roman gladiator for the coliseum of it all, plus, like, court jester for the silliness, um, mixed with maybe a little bit of labradoodle. I think there's there's definitely a chance I've got some dog DNA somewhere deep inside me because I love giving belly rubs to my dogs a little bit too much.

[00:01:41] David Hernandez: mean, that's not a bad thing, because I give my dogs head rubs. They love the head massages, because then they'll turn their heads sideways and be like, I don't know what you're doing, but it feels kind of good, you know what I mean?

[00:01:54] KyaColosseum: Um.

[00:01:55] So, I have two dogs. Uh, one is called Peanut. He was my first he was my first pet, actually. I didn't get a pet till I was about 20. and it was for finishing university. he is a lasso apso mixed with poodle. I know everyone thinks their dog's the cutest dog in the world, but, I would put good money that my dog could go toe for toe with, like, 99 percent of dogs and come out on top.

[00:02:20] he is the grumpiest, most headstrong little bastard in the world. I love him to pieces, but he's got massive only child energy, which is a problem because about two years into having him, Um, We then got a second dog called Marceline because I was on a massive Adventure Time kick at the time and I was like, Yeah, this is this is where we're going with this name.

[00:02:46] Um, she is the opposite. She is a bundle of sunshine, but she's also loud as shit. She is a Lopso opso crossed with Yorkshire Terrier. Loud as fuck. Literally, like, a pin drops outside and she needs to let everyone know about it.

[00:03:05] David Hernandez: Hey, a pin outside. There's a pin outside. There's a pin

[00:03:07] KyaColosseum: yeah, exactly. And you know what? Her voice, it carries. she'd be great on the stage because she is a loud little bitch. Um, yeah. But she's the opposite, like, she's not grumpy at all, she always wants to play, she wants to play with Peanut specifically, when Peanut really is, like a, soul of a cat in the body of a dog, because he just wants to, flop, he wants to lay, he wants to cuddle, and he wants to do nothing else. I'm very fortunate in having two lovely, cute little dogs that I love. An extraordinary amount. Uh, I knew, obviously, I always wanted a dog. But when I got them, I didn't quite realize just how much you treat them as your own kids. How about you? What are your dogs like? 

[00:03:47] David Hernandez: So my dogs, I have.

[00:03:49] two of them i've shown pictures of them One of them is dames dukes. Yes, people who are saying dux from the first games is saying ducks completely wrong It's actually dukes. The second one is leila. They're both basenjis 

[00:04:00] . They're my own little children. they keep me busy. My boy, he keeps us tracked to make sure we go outside. And my girl makes sure that we get fed. Otherwise, I'd probably be a hermit most of my life. So

[00:04:11] KyaColosseum: They are good for that, aren't they? Like, days when I really want to bedrot, I'm like, Oh no, they, they, They want to go experience grass. They want to touch grass, for I don't want to be touching the grass. I don't want the grass. But, yeah, they make the grass. Which is good.

[00:04:26] Like, afterwards, I'm like, I'm glad I went to touch that grass. But, yeah, when I wake up, I'm like, Oh, can I just have a little bit more bedrot time, please?

[00:04:35] David Hernandez: my dog's gotten smart. He knows he can wake me up if he hits his paw on my face. So when he really needs to go outside, he lands his paw directly on my face and that instantly wakes me up no matter what.

[00:04:44] KyaColosseum: Leather boy.

[00:04:46] David Hernandez: But speaking of dogs You know, one thing that brought us all together is, you know, Pokemon, Pokemon is about animals. You've got dogs, you've got flying monkeys. You've got every kind of thing you can imagine. One thing that people don't know about you is you actually made a mod for one of my favorite games, Pokemon Coliseum. And I kind of want to start there. So what was it about Pokemon Coliseum that you enjoyed so much?

[00:05:07] KyaColosseum: so I have, like, a really, like, strong childhood memory of getting Pokémon Colosseum because I had just recently gotten Pokémon Ruby. like, that was where my obsession really started. I'd played Pokémon Gold, I think when I was about four actually, but As a four year old, I had no fucking idea what I was doing.

[00:05:29] I'd only seen the show, so I was like, Where's Where's Jesse and James and Meowth? Like, when do I fight them? so I don't even think I got past the first route. So it was a couple years later when I got Pokemon Ruby. that I actually started playing it and was like, I've got a developed enough brain to start understanding what I'm supposed to do here. Even though I, completed the entire game with one Pokemon, as, as you do as a kid.

[00:05:55] David Hernandez: Your starter, I assume, right?

[00:05:56] KyaColosseum: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Mudkip till the end of the Well, Swampert, but yeah, anyway, so, fell in love with it, and then, uh, I also fell in love with my Gamecube at the same time, because I got my Gamecube when I was six, and I found out about Pokemon Colosseum that year. I think from like, a Nintendo magazine, maybe? and so from that point onwards, it was like, my hyper fixation. I was like, I need to play this, I need to play this, I need to play this. my dad goes out to go get me the game and he comes back and he tells me that they didn't have it in. Now, I don't remember whether it's because I'd actually sent him too early, or what, but he came back instead with a copy of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, which, in retrospect, I'm very happy about because I love that game.

[00:06:35] but I just remember, like, the burning, seething need to play Pokemon Colosseum, and then when I got it, it actually lived up to expectations and exceeded them. I think what I fell in love with was, first of all, this is before I had the internet, before we had, like, the modern game, so it's the first time that I'd really seen the Pokemon in 3D.

[00:06:55] I didn't have an N64 growing up, so I didn't play the stadium games at all. so this is like the first time that I actually got to see these little 2D sprites that I'd fallen in love with in like, glorious 3D. the other thing, of course, the vibes of Colosseum are just on point. You know, it's the only Pokemon game that starts with a literal act of terrorism.

[00:07:16] Like, for that, that period in the 2000s, he was that guy. and then, like, as I got older and I played more Pokemon games, I think what I really loved about it was, first of all, I really liked the Pokemon that you got in Like, I really enjoyed them. Like, the fact that it makes you use, lesser used Pokémon, especially from Gen 2. You know, if you played Gold and Silver, or even Crystal, you were never using Mistreavus in those games, because you couldn't get Mistreavus until the last fucking area of the game,

[00:07:48] David Hernandez: right. You're not going to bring it against red either. 

[00:07:50] KyaColosseum: Literally, so there were a bunch of Pokemon that, even for people who played Gen 2, it was the first time that they'd really get to use them throughout a game. and the other thing was the music. and to this day, I think Colosseum has got one of the best Pokemon soundtracks out there.

[00:08:06] I've got so many memories of falling asleep to the, like, normal battle theme from Colosseum. you know, this is before I had, like, YouTube or anything to, to put music on, I would literally, I would turn on Colosseum, get into a normal battle, and then just, like, Collapse in that, 

[00:08:23] oh my god, just all the music from that game, Pyrite Town is

[00:08:27] David Hernandez: da da da, yep. There be's town, yeah.

[00:08:31] KyaColosseum: Yeah, FNAC is peaceful, the Hoenn remixes are fantastic, so just like, the vibes. It, the vibes are immaculate.

[00:08:41] David Hernandez: Just to add on to what you said, so, like you were right in regards to, it forced you to use Pokemon you never would have used. Because, you know, you don't have, you can't catch wild Pokemon, not all Pokemon are available in that game. For me, one Pokemon I got to use that I learned that I really enjoyed was Espeon, believe it or not.

[00:08:57] Because before Espeon, like, I never really cared for it, but Espeon was a really strong attacker in Pokemon Colosseum. And the other one for me was knocked out it was very bulky and it could, uh, take a tax a little bit. Well, especially early game, those Pokemon never would have really had any use in any other game outside of Pokemon Colosseum.

[00:09:14] And I think that's one thing I really enjoyed. Oh 

[00:09:16] KyaColosseum: yeah, absolutely. I completely agree with you on the Espeon and Umbreon of it all. I've still got the first Espeon and Umbreon that I got to level 100. Like, as a kid, on one of my cartridges, I think, it cemented them as not only, like, my favorite Eeveelutions, but two of my favorite Pokémon. I feel like the combination of, lesser used mons alongside, like, Eeveelution, like, you know, you only usually get one Eevee in a playthrough, so having access to both of them, it, it just It was iconic, wasn't it? 

[00:09:52] David Hernandez: was. And I especially enjoyed the double battle feature because Pokemon Colosseum wasn't just, you know, most of my games nowadays, you can just kind of just hit, hit a, a, a Pokemon Colosseum actually had certain strategies. You know, you think of, the guy who used an Earthquake Protect team.

[00:10:05] KyaColosseum: Dakeem.

[00:10:06] David Hernandez: Batking, there you then we had, uh, the professor who used a Rain Dance team with Raikou. And then, um, Venus, who she used nothing but status moves, which annoyed the hell out of me, but you got that kind of intricate strategies that you usually don't see in other Pokemon games.

[00:10:20] KyaColosseum: Yeah, to say that Genius and RT, which are the company that made those games, like, they never worked on a Pokemon project before, and I think they knocked it out of the park, genuinely. it's a shame because I think for the main story itself, you don't see much of it, but In the Mount Battle feature and the end game, a lot of the potential AI behavior is like, really advanced.

[00:10:44] Um, they definitely, put a lot of thought into what is possible in double battles. And, executed it really well in points.

[00:10:53] David Hernandez: Yeah, for sure, because you haven't lived until you realize that the final boss, we won't spoil it for you, but the final boss uses, uh, Slaking with, uh, Slaking and Slowking with Skill Swap, and you just see Slaking just one hit, uh, one KO each of one of your Pokemon. It was wild for me at that time. Mm

[00:11:09] KyaColosseum: Yeah, I love the fact they recognized that that was like, one of the potentials for that Pokémon, especially considering that like, competitive doubles Pokémon wasn't actually a thing yet. Y you could argue that those two games were actually the start of, the competitive format as we know it today.

[00:11:26] because for anyone who doesn't know, VGC is played in doubles format. and is actually, I definitely attribute, making Grand Coliseum as one of the things that really got me into VGC more. Because I realized when I was making it, I'd played singles for years. played a lot of OU, like, I liked it, it was a good time sink, but I don't know, I wasn't like, super passionate about it.

[00:11:48] But when I was making Grand Coliseum and I was like, I need to understand this more. Like, this being double battles, it then got me, looking at VGC for strats, and the two sort of informed the other. 

[00:12:00] David Hernandez: moving over to grand Coliseum. So, you know, you eventually made a mod of one of your favorite games, which is Pokemon grand Coliseum. what led you to want to even attempt that? Because I don't think there was another one before, right? I think you're the first one to have the mod? 

[00:12:12] KyaColosseum: I think some people had dabbled in doing little things in Colosseum before, but there wasn't, so for anyone who doesn't know, for Pokemon XT, Gale of Darkness, since 2016, there's been a mod called Pokemon XG Next Gen, which is a quality of life hack, difficulty hack, hack hack of, um, a Pokemon XG by STARS. and I remember, like, finding that in 2016 and, like, my mind being blown that it was even possible to mod these GameCube games, uh, especially to the extent that XG was modded by STARS. I remember, like, playing it, loving it, but also wanting something for Colosseum. And it must have been, I think it was the start of COVID.

[00:12:54] I think I wanted to do a Hardcore Nuzlocke of Pokémon Colosseum. And I wanted to do it, but, I don't know about you, but I've been spoilt with romhacks for so many years now that I can't go back to older games without the physical special splitting, at least.

[00:13:09] I was aware that, like, S. had made a tool that put the physical special split into Corsium.

[00:13:15] I applied it, but I then realized that even though, like, now Bi, Crunch, etc. are physical, That's all it did. So it changed every move to their respective physical or special, designation. But it didn't, for instance, add moves like Dark Pulse, or, um, I'm trying to think of other examples, or Shadow

[00:13:34] David Hernandez: it's

[00:13:34] KyaColosseum: you know, like, the kind Yeah, yeah, exactly, like the kind of coverage that, it wasn't so much about having, like, all the future moves.

[00:13:42] It was just about having at least one physical and special option for each type, because pretty much every type had a physical attacker and a special attacker. so I was like, okay, I'll ask Stars how to do it, and I'll add the moves in, and then I can do my Nuzlocke. Then I realized just how much work it was gonna be, just going through the game, cause it, it's not just adding in the moves, you've then got to add the moves to a Pokemon's level up move set. Um, and then you have to add those moves to enemy trainers, unless you want them doing moves that they shouldn't do for their stat spread.

[00:14:19] You know, it made sense when the physical special split wasn't in it, but now that it was, like, slacking shouldn't be using Shadow Ball, for instance, it should be using Shadow Claw.

[00:14:29] So I realised just how much bloody work it was gonna be. And for a bit I was like, uh, whatever, like, I'll just leave it. And then I thought, nah, like, I love this game.

[00:14:37] I really, really want to play this game. a hardcore Nuzlocke, you know, with these changes. So I was like, if I'm gonna do it, I might as well do it properly. And from that point on, I was like, right, screw it. my favorite romhacks in terms of balance are the Drayano romhacks. So, Sacred Gold, And Storm Silver, Renegade Platinum, FireRed Omega, I think was his, way back in the day. And I was like, screw it, I'm gonna do a Colosseum hack in the same vein. So, you know, like, rebalanced Pokémon, some type changes for Pokémon that I felt it was appropriate. that's kinda how I fell down a wormhole of working on this game. Pretty much every day for Six months straight.

[00:15:21] I genuinely do not know where I got the, Where I got the mental energy from to keep up with it, but Yeah, I was probably doing like, six to eight hours on Excel, a few days a week.

[00:15:35] just literally going through every trainer fight in the game, Changing their Pokemon, and trying to hit a balance, cause The one thing I really hate is like, A romhack that I feel is unfair or unbalanced.

[00:15:47] And I wanted to create one where you don't have to be, you know, I didn't want to make like a Radical Red or something that is way too hard for people who are not utterly poker brained like ourselves. But at the same time, I wanted to give some, I wanted to give a good level of challenge above the original game.

[00:16:06] Because when you go back to play the original, Like you are in the second to last area of the main story and there are still trainers using first stage Pokemon that could have evolved 10 levels ago.

[00:16:17] David Hernandez: Yes. Yes.

[00:16:19] KyaColosseum: So my first thought was just, I'm gonna, I don't wanna stray too far from what the original does in terms of what the trainers have.

[00:16:27] if a Pokemon can evolve, I will evolve it and as we go through the game, they'll get gradually better move sets. And I'd say that was like How I did the first ever iteration of Grand Colosseum, so Grand Colosseum 1. 0. As I went back to it, I was like, Uh, I don't, like, A lot of these fights are quite repetitive, Like, a lot of the same Pokémon are being used, I might as well try and get full use out of the decks. So, while I did try and stay true to a lot of the fights, especially early on, like Mirabee, for instance, in his first boss fight, I was never gonna get rid of his four Ludicolos, like that, 

[00:17:04] David Hernandez: Yeah.

[00:17:05] KyaColosseum: yeah, exactly, like, I wanted to keep all the iconic stuff, like you said earlier, Dakeem is still using Earthquake spam, it's just better now.

[00:17:13] because he's not constantly using Protect. Uh, his Marsh Swampert. You know, like, just little things like that. 

[00:17:20] David Hernandez: you know, you said a lot within the six months, because, you know, you're talking about we're talking to 2020, so it would have been Jen. I think we're at gen six at that point in the Pokemon franchise. You're bringing it back to Coliseum. You're updating all the movesets for all the trainers, all the Pokemon. That's a lot of work just to do one for each individual.

[00:17:38] Cause I know there's Mount battle, which has a hundred trainers by itself. And then all the other trains outside the whole world, which is probably at least maybe another hundred, maybe you know the exact numbers, had to some dedication and had to feel daunting just to attempt that.

[00:17:50] KyaColosseum: Yeah, I think when I got, like, up to Dakeem, I was like, oh, I have bitten off so much more than I can chew here. Because, yeah, I was a one woman team for this, pretty much. Other than the fact that when I needed help with coding, Stars was so useful, like, There were loads of changes, like the infinite TMs, for instance.

[00:18:09] And, um, Like, he taught me what I needed to do in terms of introducing fairy type into the game. which was actually, For pre gen 5 games, relatively simple, because you've got the question mark, question mark, question mark type, which I just turned into the fairy type. that was only used for Curse, so.

[00:18:26] but yeah, like, I got maybe halfway through, halfway, halfway through the trainers and thinking, this is gonna take me years. But that's when I, like, really just stepped up the number of hours a day I was spending on it. and just sort of did the marathon to the finish, for Mountain Battle specifically, I looked at it, I was like, I can't, come up with a hundred trainers that gradually increase in difficulty here, considering I've used up most of my ideas for the main game's trainers. that was when I had the bright idea of like, well, I could just have them be EV training areas instead. So that is one of the reasons why the first 60 floors of Mount Battle are in fact just areas to grind for EVs. Because it meant that I got to copy and paste a bunch of Pokémon the slots, rather than having to individually think of, Another hundred battles.

[00:19:18] David Hernandez: And it makes sense though, too, cause I remember if you play through first 60, you go through the first part and then you go through the cave, the game kind of progresses a little bit, but it's always when I got outside to the higher up heavens, I guess, at the Mount battle, that's when the game kind of stepped it up.

[00:19:33] So it kind of worked out to where, where you did it, you know, you train the Pokemon and then at that point, okay, now we're going to get serious. And now you can just have to think of 40 trainers, which can be kind of fun in its own way. Okay.

[00:19:43] KyaColosseum: Yeah, like, I have to admit, I got very lucky with how the thing was set up, but it actually did start, like, the trainers start actually being trainers once you get to the sky area. Like, 40 trainers was a lot more doable, and it meant I approached that once I did the main games. Trainers. because I wanted to see if there were any ideas that I'd left on the, cutting room floor, and introducing it there.

[00:20:06] on top of that, it was, it felt like the appropriate place to put the legendary Pokémon. Because I didn't, outside of a couple of, like, important fights, like, spoilers, but like, the Deep King, for instance, has a Mewtwo.

[00:20:19] David Hernandez: Ooh.

[00:20:20] KyaColosseum: In the most recent version, Evice has deoxys now. But outside of, like, very specific trainers, I didn't want to really give legendaries out, because I feel like legendaries should be, impactful.

[00:20:34] So I wanted to save those for the last 10 floors or so of Mount Battle. So it really felt like the final challenge of the game.

[00:20:42] David Hernandez: Now, I got to ask you this Kaya. How tempting was it to just sneak in a Shedinja with Wonderguard into one of those battles? Did you ever think about that?

[00:20:50] KyaColosseum: Swear I did. I think, I think, I have, I feel like it might be the, um,

[00:20:56] David Hernandez: Oh, I'm sorry. I Sabia. I meant Sableye with Wonderguard.

[00:20:59] KyaColosseum: oh, I mean, to be fair, with fairy type in the game, you could technically kill it. But yeah, no, I wasn't see, that was what I was on about earlier with, I wanted a balanced difficulty hack. I didn't want to just throw bullshit at the player. And put in Wondercard on Sableye would be some pop tier bullshit.

[00:21:22] David Hernandez: See, we found a difference. You actually look for Sabability. I look for bullshit.

[00:21:26] KyaColosseum: Heh heh heh heh. 

[00:21:28] David Hernandez: Hey you! Yes, you with the ears! Don't go anywhere, just taking a quick ad break. We'll be right back.


Commercial Break
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[00:21:36] 

[00:22:13] David Hernandez: Now, you know, you finish grand coliseum and you release it to the public. Were you kind of nervous at that point? Like, was there some trepidation? Like, I hope I did everything kind of right. Cause I'd be nervous to just send a hack to everybody.

[00:22:25] And it's kind of like your own work that's out there. If that makes sense. 

[00:22:28] KyaColosseum: So yes, down to,

[00:22:30] your question, yes, I was incredibly nervous. Um, and it's, it's funny you say, I hope everything's right because the very first version of the game that I, I released, like, let people download, I'd never seen this before. once I put it out there, I downloaded it myself to make sure that everything was fine. And I'd released it where literally every single fight in the game. You couldn't send out your Pokemon and the game just gave you an insta win for any battle. That was the first version. That was the first version that was released. I was like How the fuck have I made it so that every time I've tested this prior to now it's been fine and yet the one time that I release it, I release it with the most game like you literally cannot play the game that I have just spent months on.

[00:23:19] David Hernandez: I mean, you can game, but you'll be, you'll beat it pretty quick.

[00:23:23] KyaColosseum: Um, so yes, I was mortified and quickly took it down, released a hasty, like, I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. And then, uh, like, it was just messing stuff, like, what have I done, what have I done, what have I done? And we figured out that I think there was one of the Excel spreadsheets, for whatever reason, when you edited it using Excel, just broke the game.

[00:23:48] So, um, There was just like, a flag in the, the coding that just collapsed for whatever reason, so.

[00:23:54] When I figured that out, I was like, okay, if I just edit this in a Word document, which is a lot more hassle, but, will actually let me release the game, And then I think the next day, I released it without said glitch.

[00:24:07] And yeah, I was still nervous, but considering I'd just done that, I was like, well, literally, nothing worse than that can happen. So, I should be alright.

[00:24:16] David Hernandez: So, you know, after you released the fix what was the feedback like for people who experienced grand coliseum? Like what kind of comments would you give in regards to your ROM hack?

[00:24:24] KyaColosseum: I was blown away by like how much traction it was getting. like you said earlier, , there wasn't really another hack like it for Colosseum at the time. So it sort of, It became like, you know, if you wanted to play a romhack of Pokemon Colosseum, you would generally go to, Grand Colosseum. and yeah, it was like, incredibly gratifying to see that other people were enjoying it. it's got like, 62, 000 downloads, which is pretty amazing. Mental. Like, I can't, I can't really wrap my head around the fact that so many people have played it. it's really gratifying, and it made the effort that I put into it feel worth it, knowing so many people reacted positively to it.

[00:25:04] I mean, you know, there was always, always the odd comments, saying, Oh, it's too difficult, and I get it. Like, if, if you haven't played Pokemon in years and you decide to go at this hack because you hear it's got quality of life features Yeah, everyone's got different skill levels, but, you know, the VGC part, I mean, was just like, ugh, get good.

[00:25:23] Come on. Come kids.

[00:25:24] David Hernandez: So about to say, just get good training.

[00:25:26] KyaColosseum: just, just get good. Um, you know, the, the, like, you can use items in battle. You know, if you're struggling, you can revive all your pokes. Although, Colosseum is especially cruel with that, because the AI doesn't pick a target. Until after you've used your item.

[00:25:42] So I have, on Twitch and stuff, I've watched people who keep trying to revive a teammate, and the AI constantly targets the newly revived Pokemon. I'm just like, yeah, I mean, you're just gonna have to do this fight again, I'm afraid. But yeah, no, it is. I was, I was incredibly, humbled and happy about the response that it got, for sure.

[00:26:03] David Hernandez: After making this game, You mentioned how it got you more invested into VGC has making grand coliseum changed your way. You view Pokemon games nowadays. Like do you view them too easily? Do you like lean more from ROM hacks? You know,

[00:26:16] KyaColosseum: ever since I first patched my first ROM, I've always leaned towards ROM hacks. Just because, like I said, I can't really go back to those original games without, at the very least, Physical Special Split. Although these days, I'm like, uh, if you don't have Fairy Type, I'm probably not gonna play you.

[00:26:33] Like, I really love the balancing decisions that Pokemon has put in in recent years, so.

[00:26:38] David Hernandez: yeah, without fairy dragon runs rampant, basically.

[00:26:41] KyaColosseum: yeah, exactly. And it just makes, you know, it makes Pokemon like Cofable and Azumarill a lot more fun to use, I think. like I said earlier, it was Grand Coliseum that sort of got me to learn about VGC. And then, Once the COVID of it all was over and done with, I started playing Morum Showdown. And it was actually Stars who, asked me if I wanted to go down to Worlds with him as a spectator. I was like, fucking yes, absolutely. that was, like, my first taste of what a Pokémon tournament was actually like in person. And from that point on I was like, no, we need to stop competing. And so the next year for L London EUIC was my first ever tournament. And yeah, I've been, playing in earnest ever since, and going to all the tournaments that I can afford to go to.

[00:27:29] I love the vibe there, I love the fact that everyone who's there is as brainbroken about Pokemon as the next person. you know, I can have in depth discussions about how, a particular Pokemon has changed the metagame. When normally people are like, oh yeah, Pokemon, you mean like, Pikachu and stuff.

[00:27:49] Like, it's just, it's a completely, I don't know, it's, just nice to have a load of other people who share my passion. 

[00:27:57] David Hernandez: it's kind of nice to have that deeper connection because, you know, no offense to people who've just played gen one, but I always feel more connected with people who've like been Pokemon their whole lives, because it's like, where have you been my whole life?

[00:28:07] I know all the generations. I'm not as knowledgeable about VGC, although I try to be as much as I can after gen five, it gets blurry. And it's a unique experience to hear somebody have that similar conversation and, you know, be in an area where it's not just one or one, it's like my hundreds and hundreds of people.

[00:28:23] KyaColosseum: Especially with Scarlet and Violet, I think this is probably the healthiest VGC has been in a while, because like, Megas were fun, but I think a little, like, they limited team building to quite a massive extent.

[00:28:38] At Dynamax, the less said about like, but if any generation could have been taken out by COVID, I'm glad it was Gen 8, because Dynamax

[00:28:46] David Hernandez: Oh gosh.

[00:28:49] KyaColosseum: Dynamax was an absolute nightmare.

[00:28:52] David Hernandez: Shots fired. I love it. Yes.

[00:29:00] KyaColosseum: I can't wrap my head around the fact that the same company that thought Dynamax was a good idea, then came out the next gen with something as balanced as Terastalization. I'm sure any singles players listening are thinking, what the fuck is she on about? Terastalization is broken. She's an idiot. To which I say, look, doubles is different. All right? Doubles, it's comple like, there are plenty of games that you can do Like, I've won sets before where I have not had to terror, because you just don't, like, it's a very, I don't know, it's such a fun mechanic, it's almost like a custom game mode from Smokin and I just, I just love it for it, I think it's, I think it's great. Hopefully they've learned from this and continue to not do another Dynamax for Gen 10.

[00:29:46] David Hernandez: well, Kia, thank you for coming on the show. I do have one last segment before we close this podcast interview.

[00:29:52] So we're going to test your Pokemon knowledge. We're turning to the podcast is our favorite segment called. What's that Pokemon? 

[00:29:58] 

[00:30:04] David Hernandez: It's where there are 1000 Pokemon, but the only one that matters is the one I'm thinking about. What you have to do is you have to figure out what Pokemon I'm thinking about.

[00:30:12] To do this, you have 10 questions you can ask me in a yes or no format to help narrow it down. After you ask the 10 questions, you then have to make the guess of which Pokemon you're thinking of based on the information you've gathered.

[00:30:23] KyaColosseum: I'm getting embarrassed myself in front of lots of people. But okay, let's do it. Come on.

[00:30:29] David Hernandez: All right, what is your first question?

[00:30:34] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon within the first 500 Pokémon of the National Pokédex?

[00:30:41] David Hernandez: Is the Pokemon I'm thinking of within the first 500 of the national Pokedex? It is within the first 500.

[00:30:49] KyaColosseum: Okay.

[00:30:51] David Hernandez: Question number two

[00:30:53] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon a starter or legendary?

[00:30:59] David Hernandez: is the Pokemon thinking of a starter or a legendary? It is not a starter or a legendary.

[00:31:07] KyaColosseum: Okay.

[00:31:07] David Hernandez: We're on question number three.

[00:31:11] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon between The 250th and 500th Pokémon in the National Pokédex.

[00:31:19] David Hernandez: Is the Pokemon thinking of within number 250 to number 500? That's your question.

[00:31:24] KyaColosseum: Yep.

[00:31:26] David Hernandez: It is not within number. Uh, those two numbers

[00:31:29] KyaColosseum: Okay. Hmm.

[00:31:33] David Hernandez: we're on question number four. You've narrowed it down pretty well.

[00:31:38] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon a Monotype Pokémon?

[00:31:43] David Hernandez: Is the Pokemon I'm thinking of Monotype? It is not Monotype.

[00:31:49] KyaColosseum: Okay.

[00:31:50] David Hernandez: We're on question number five. 

[00:31:53] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon a Johto Pokémon?

[00:31:58] David Hernandez: Is this Pokemon I'm thinking of a Johto Pokemon? That's your question. It is a Johto Pokemon.

[00:32:09] KyaColosseum: Is this Pokémon

[00:32:12] David Hernandez: number

[00:32:12] KyaColosseum: Steel type Pokémon?

[00:32:15] David Hernandez: Ooh, if I say yes, this narrows it down. Doesn't it

[00:32:18] KyaColosseum: It does!

[00:32:20] David Hernandez: is the Pokemon I'm thinking of a steel type. It is not a steel type question. Number seven, you got three more questions.

[00:32:34] KyaColosseum: I know! A Dual type Pokémon in Johto. Hmm. I'm

[00:32:42] David Hernandez: So I'll It's within the first 500. It's not a starter, a legendary. It's not within number 250 to 500 of the national decks. It's not a monotype. It is a joda Pokemon, and it is not a steel type. We are on. Question number seven

[00:33:03] KyaColosseum: trying to think of a way to not just do one type. Um, okay. Is this Pokemon part of an evolutionary line?

[00:33:21] does it evolve within this generation?

[00:33:25] David Hernandez: Is the Pokemon not thinking of part of an evolutionary line? It is part of an evolutionary. Question number eight.

[00:33:37] KyaColosseum: so I've got eight, nine, and ten. I've got questions

[00:33:41] David Hernandez: Three questions left. Yep.

[00:33:43] KyaColosseum: Hmm Is this Pokemon part flying?

[00:33:56] David Hernandez: Is the Pokemon I'm thinking of part flying? It is not part flying.

[00:34:04] KyaColosseum: Okay, okay, okay, cool, alright. Dual

[00:34:06] David Hernandez: So we're on question number nine.

[00:34:09] KyaColosseum: Dual type, not part flying. Not steel. It is in the Johto Dex. It is part of an evolutionary line. Is this Pokemon part electric type?

[00:34:30] David Hernandez: Ooh, okay. Is the Pokemon I'm thinking of part electric? Which would narrow it down to just one, I think, or two. It is not part We're on question number 10. Let's go through the answers real quick We know it is within the first 500.

[00:34:51] We know it's not a starter or legendary Pokemon. Goodbye. Hohomugia. It is not within 250 to 500 Pokedex number. It is not Monotype. We know it's a Johto Pokémon. We know it's not a Steel type. We know it's part of an Evolutionary line. It's also not part Flying, and it's also not part Electric. We are on question number 10 before she has to make her guess.

[00:35:14] Let's see, will Kaya get this one?

[00:35:17] Question number 10.

[00:35:19] KyaColosseum: is the Pokemon part dark type?

[00:35:21] David Hernandez: Is the Pokémon part Dark type? Is that your question?

[00:35:28] KyaColosseum: That is my question.

[00:35:29] David Hernandez: It's Is part dark,

[00:35:33] KyaColosseum: Is the Pokemon Tyranitar?

[00:35:39] David Hernandez: you know, there's other part dark types, right?

[00:35:42] KyaColosseum: I do, I do know, but, uh,

[00:35:45] David Hernandez: So you're, you're going on a hunch that it might be just this one compared to the other two, especially cause we talked about dogs.

[00:35:52] KyaColosseum: You're telling me Ty yeah, my answer's Tyranitar, you've given, like, you've now told me

[00:35:57] David Hernandez: It is within the first 500. It is in the starter or legendary. It's not within the two number 250 to 500. It isn't Monotype. It is a Johto Pokemon. It's not part steel. It is part of the evolutionary lines. It is not part flying. It's not part electric and it is part dark.

[00:36:17] Your answer is Tyranitar. You got it. 

[00:36:24] KyaColosseum: Oh my god, don't, why, why would you, you, you son of a bitch, you completely bamboozled me, you tried, you tried to make me change my answer to Houndoom, but no, oh, okay, good, right,

[00:36:42] David Hernandez: It could too.

[00:36:43] KyaColosseum: Uh, yeah, of course it wasn't Merrow. He wasn't giving him Mer you were gonna Merrow. Who picks Merrow? So

[00:36:50] David Hernandez: it was Tyranitar? 

[00:36:51] KyaColosseum: because, because you just got the Creative Pro Grand Coliseum on and time Ranata is the final shadow, like the final shadow that you catch in the main game off a EV ice.

[00:37:03] And I, I thought it would be thematically appropriate for you to pick Tyra Atar As the, the Pokemon for me to guess. That is why I picked Ttar. Heh

[00:37:13] David Hernandez: Yep. That's the reason why I chose it. I told you, we got to connect the Pokemon Colosseum. And what better way than the final shadow boss, but then you face Evis. Of course I got to shoot Tyranitar.

[00:37:23] KyaColosseum: Oh, that was fun, but also INCREDIBLY stressful. Well Um, I realise now, I should have just gone, Is this Pokemon in Pokemon Colosseum? And that could have saved me a question or two. But

[00:37:37] David Hernandez: Thank you, for coming on the show before you do go, people want to check out you on Twitch. If they want to check out your ROM hack, if they just want to connect with you and do share dog pictures, where can they go by all means? Please plug away.

[00:37:49] KyaColosseum: Oh, thank you so much. Um, yeah, so I stream on Twitch, uh, three to four times a week. Uh, my Twitch handle is Kaia Coliseum because, um, you know why. Um, I do hardcore Nuzlocke's typically. That's my bread and butter. Um, Occasionally you might find me playing something like Pokemon Emerald Rogue, um, sometimes I do crowd control streams that can involve different games.

[00:38:15] I've done a Mario Party stream before. Uh, my Twitter is the same, it is at Kaeya Coliseum. If you want to download Pokemon Grand Coliseum then you can find it linked on my Twitter. Uh, the link to find it off of my is on Project Pokemon. Um, it's by me. It's, it's very, um, It should hopefully be the top search if Google's doing their job properly.

[00:38:41] Um, it will be labeled Pokemon Grand Colosseum 3. 1, where you get all the newest features, including Save Anywhere, including Fairy Type, all that good stuff. And, yeah, thank you so much for having me today. It's been so fun. I'm so glad we did this.

[00:38:56] David Hernandez: Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns. Follow all my socials and join our Discord community to stay connected by clicking any of the links in the description of this episode. Tune in next time for more episodes featuring more people, more stories, and more Pokemon. Until next time.