Icons (2022 TV series)/Episode 1 transcript

Prologue
Narrator: "It was supposed to be a fad."

Abdallah "AbdallahSmash026" Elayan: "A lot of people definitely thought this Game Boy RPG was going to be one of those trends that would be outdated in the next few years."

Toby Fox: "It was basically the new pet rock."

Narrator: "Yet it became one of the most recognized brands in the world."

Shigeki Morimoto: "We were very happy that the two games did as well as they did."

Toby Fox: "I went nuts. That year when I gave a Christmas list to give to my parents, it had one item on it; and that was Pokémon for Game Boy."

Narrator: "And along the way, it had its ups and downs."

Andre "Black Nerd" Meadows: "Quest had fun music, but the gameplay mainly used touchscreen, and... it really just killed it."

Narrator: "Find out where it came from, and where it's going. This is the epic story of Pokémon."

[theme plays]

Part I
Narrator: "In the early '90s, a small Japanese video game company called Game Freak is making strides on Nintendo systems."

Toby Fox - Creator, Undertale: "Game Freak was a small publisher based in Tokyo. They had come out with a number of games for both the NES and the Game Boy. But, there wasn't really anything that broke out of the mainstream for them outside of Yoshi. And their game Mario and Wario was never released outside of Japan during Nintendo's heyday."

Narrator: "But that will soon change, when co-founder Satoshi Tajiri discovers the Game Boy's link cable."

Toby Fox: "Satoshi Tajiri realized that the link cable was made, but wasn't being used to its advantage by Nintendo."

Narrator: "It's then that Game Freak decides to gamble on Tajiri's mission to make a game that takes full advantage of the link cable's technology."

Abdallah "AbdallahSmash026" Elayan - YouTube personality: "Even before the franchise as a whole became the juggernaut it is today, a lot of people definitely thought this Game Boy RPG was going to be one of those trends that would be outdated in the next few years."

Narrator: "Game Freak turns to Tajiri to make his vision come to life, at the time under the title Capsule Monsters."

Toby Fox: "Tajiri was definitely a visionary. I think he enjoyed his job, but at the same time was frustrated that Nintendo sometimes didn't take its success very seriously. Not only for the company Game Freak, but for himself, personally. But, in all, he definitely changed the industry."

Andre "Black Nerd" Meadows - YouTube personality: "Satoshi Tajiri is really the father of Pokémon if there's one man who started this whole thing, it's his child."

Narrator: "Tajiri decides his project will be a role-playing game in the vein of Dragon Quest, and utilizing concepts from his favorite show as a kid - Ultraman - and his childhood hobby of collecting insects, and has in-house artist Ken Sugimori design the characters."

Satoshi Tajiri - Creator, Pokémon (in Japanese): "For me, the excitement of playing Pokémon actually comes from the player going on a quest; having his character collect monsters and train them and have them battle other monsters in order to get stronger. That's exciting, but it has a bigger impact when it's coupled with the graphics and the music that go with it."

Toby Fox: "Ken Sugimori is a very talented character designer. His works have been largely influenced by artists like Fujiko F. Fujio. As a character designer, he always wanted to appeal to kids and to kids at heart He saw this as an opportunity to try this new handheld kids' game. He saw the Game Boy as a canvas in some form."

Narrator: "For the score, Game Freak turns to co-founder and in-house composer, Junichi Masuda."

Junichi Masuda - Co-founder/Music producer, Game Freak (in Japanese): "I had worked with Satoshi and Ken at Game Freak since 1989, and was actually one of the developers of the Pokémon game series. I actually had some experience composing music for games we did based on the Mario franchise. And that's when I joined the Pocket Monsters project."

Andre Meadows: "In my mind, Junichi Masuda brought a lot of soul into the Pokémon games. His Game Boy and Game Boy Advance musical contributions, he was really able to get players to want to go on epic journeys and imagine they were in the game."

Narrator: "With the team in place, work begins."

Toby Fox: "The original Pokémon game, at the time released in two versions - Red and Green - were designed to have kids interact with each other, hence why it was designed to take full advantage of the link cable."

Narrator: "Game Freak and Nintendo both release Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green for the Game Boy on February 27, 1996. And kids are hooked."

Toby Fox: "Pokémon Generation I was a huge hit, and created a massive franchise which includes a TV show and toy line. It didn't quite reach the heights of - say - Doraemon, but it was clearly the second most-loved kids' franchise Japan had ever seen. And, you know; compared to Doraemon, second place isn't that bad. It was enough to put Game Freak on the map. Of course, then, work on a version based on the TV show began shortly after."

Narrator: "Despite the popularity of the Red and Green versions, Game Freak decides that an expansion based on the hit Pokémon anime series can be even better."

AbdallahSmash026: "I think what attracted kids into the franchise was, not just Mewtwo being hidden until after you beat the main storyline of the first two-game story, but the cuteness of the mascot Pikachu attracted gamers to the franchise too. So, they decided to make a Yellow version just with Pikachu on it."

Narrator: "Pokémon Yellow is released in Japan on September 12, 1998 to coincide with the release of the Pokémon movie, Mewtwo Strikes Back."

Toby Fox: "You might think that a Yellow version was unnecessary due to the second generation of Pokémon games being in development, but the success of the franchise definitely proved that Pikachu and friends are here to stay. I think that word-of-mouth on the first two versions was great. They put a Game Boy in the hands of nearly every kid in Japan. Kids were ready for yet another RPG, but one they could take with them and play with their friends. Game Freak and Nintendo had really succeeded in making the mega hit that they wanted. The Pokémon brand ended up getting a lot of name recognition."

Narrator: "For Nintendo, the series proves to join the pantheon of other franchises on its roster, like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda."

Toby Fox: "The fans had come to see Pokémon, not just as a popular handheld game, but it had become a cultural phenomenon."

Narrator: "But would their success translate to another country or on a new system?"

Part II
Narrator: "After the runaway success of the first generation of Pokémon games in Japan, Nintendo to bring the franchise to the US market in 1997, but they also need help."

Toby Fox: "Nintendo was a household name, but they weren't the only company to bring the franchise to the US. They got help from Hasbro and 4Kids Entertainment. While the former was a massive toy company, 4Kids was an upstart that was getting into the kids' licensing business. But in the case of Nintendo, the resources necessary for translating a large, text-heavy RPG for the Game Boy were definitely there."

Narrator: "Nintendo's experience with translation and marketing, and their promotional push with their Nintendo Power magazine helps Pokémon find a new audience."

Toby Fox: "Nintendo Power had a huge article on the franchise, including the game and the Japanese anime series. This franchise was unlike anything that came out of Japan. I went nuts."

Narrator: "Word begins to spread, and Game Freak's monster-catcher becomes a hit all over again.

Toby Fox: The first two games became massive hits in the US, as did the anime series based on them. The latter also helped popularize Japanese anime as an art form in the United States."