FINALLY! Episodes 24 & 25 Write-Ups, Updates, Sun & Moon, and 5 Year Anniversary?!

It’s been TOO long!

Hey, everyone!  PAPAYA here, back again for a long awaited blog post.  It’s actually insane what took place in the process of editing Episodes 24 and 25.  I’ve had those files saved in my laptop since August 25, 2015 (yeah, I know).  However, earlier this year, that very laptop finally gave out after 6 years.  It really signified the end of an era, since that laptop made it entirely possible for FireGold to exist in the first place.  Luckily, I was able to track down a tech guy who was able to send all the files from the old laptop to my new, refurbished laptop!  Thus, preserving FireGold’s hard work and sound effects, and enabling the latest FireGold episodes to be edited and posted.  Let’s get to them!

Episode 24, of course, takes place directly after the events of Gold vs. Silver #74057832.  That little dig at Silver from Gold’s opening narration was inspired one night while I was watching the original Rush Hour movie.  There’s a scene where Chris Tucker’s character mocks Jackie Chan’s character similarly to how you hear Gold mock Silver.  Team Rocket’s worthlessness was heavily on display here.  It still amazes me to this day how they really ARE that weak in the games.  Either way, this has some of my favorite gags so far:  Gold battling Rattata, Gold being silly with the switches, and the exchange between Gold and the Squidward sounding Rocket.  It was also fun to reference the moment when you tried to catch a trainer’s Pokemon.  Eventually, Gold gets the Card Key from the Director guy and finally makes his way to the top of the Tower.  Draftmaster came up with the idea to voice the final Rocket executive as Goldmember on the spot.  CUE CLICHÉ CLIFFHANGER!!!!

24’s bloopers also happen to be one of my favorites thus far.  Never a dull moment when Draftmaster has a tough time executing his lines!

The milestone Episode XXV starts off WHERE?!  Of course right after 24!  Gold quickly takes care of Goldmember Rocket and Team Rocket is no more!  From here, the Director gives Gold the key to finding the legendary Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Wing!  From there, we made a reference to two of our Halloween specials, Lost Halloween and Forgotten Halloween.  For those that missed it, Forgotten Halloween was another crossover special we did with The Red Squirtle in 2013 paying homage to the Pokemon creepypasta story called "Forgotten Red."  It only released on iTunes and PodOmatic after something came up behind the scenes that prevented a YouTube release.  I may release it on YouTube this Halloween for those who didn't know about it.  Creepy Unown echos galore!  Eventually, Gold finds Ho-Oh, the Pokemon he used in the Forgotten Halloween special.  OF COURSE he catches it!  Too bad his party is full and he has yet to capitalize on using his PC.  From there, shenanigans ensue at the dreaded Ice Path!  The resourceful Gold uses Noctowl to avoid more than a few headaches along the way.  Eventually, he arrives in Blackthorn City only to find Violet the Random B*tch waiting for him YET AGAIN!  The sound I used for Violet being destroyed was Jago's Ultra Combo on Fulgore from Killer Instinct 2.  As you could probably tell by the "Ultraaaaaaa Coooomboooooooo!"  My gosh, we have made it to the 8th gym city after 25 episodes!  I honestly can't believe it.

THE FUTURE!  As I finish this blog post, it’s in fact the 5^th month of June since we began this crazy endeavor!  We have yet to decide what the 5^th anniversary special will be about.  However, I can say that I have Episodes 26 and 27 written!  You can also expect another edition of GoldCast with us discussing the upcoming 7^th generation of Pokemon!  It's highly likely, however, that we may deliver a 5 Year Anniversary special a little late this year, due to scheduling conflicts at FireGold, Inc.  Nevertheless, we shall deliver it to you!  

ALSO!  For those that may have missed it, our resident Black and White fanboy, Carl, recently posted his reaction to the Sun & Moon gameplay showcase at E3 2016!  Click the link below to check it out!    
  
Carl's Sun & Moon E3 Reaction!

And, that'll do it for now!  We thank you all for sticking with us for so long.

-PAPAYA

Episode 23 Write-Up! And MOAR!

Hello, everyone!  PAPAYA here, back once again for another post!  If you didn't know already, Episode 23 is out!  Apologies once again for the delay.  With that, let's get right to it.

Fun fact:  This episode was done in ONE TAKE!  Very few errors took place while recording this episode, hence the lack of bloopers at the end.  I believe this is the only time Draftmaster actually did well saying his lines!  As you might have expected, the episode begins right where Episode 22 left off.  Gold has little trouble disposing of the Impostor Guy and his army of Koffings.  I still get a kick out of Teddy's idea to have the whiny employee from the Goldenrod Department Store be the Impostor in the Radio Tower.  From there, we poke fun at the little things you witness in Goldenrod, from the train not coming in to the Name Rater.  It was actually Draftmaster's idea to rename Typhlosion "Tommy Oliver."  No idea why, but we figured, "Why not?!"  Hence, the title of the episode.  Eventually, Gold finds his way to the Underground and finds his good friend, Violet the random B*tch again!  I thought this would be a good time to have her reappear since we could have her just standing behind the door that requires the Basement Key.  After Gold unleashes a proverbial can of whoop ass on Violet, he finds out that he indeed was not hallucinating at the Station as Silver appears again!  It was quite fun to put together Typhlosion's little Mighty Morphin segment with the 8 bit Power Rangers theme in the background.  Will Silver EVER pose even a SLIGHT threat to our hero?!  Time will tell.  Actually, no.  I will tell you.  Nope, probably not!

UPDATES!  As I type this out, I have not written the next episodes out yet.  Right now, I plan to remain focused on the last few weeks of my college semester and then we'll go from there.  I'm going to predict that we at FireGold, Inc. will meet up again at some point in late May.  Rest assured, we still plan to do a GoldCast talking about Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire!  Speaking of which, that podcast will now be found exclusively on the YouTube channel.  Also, there will most likely be at least one new FireGold episode out before the 4 year anniversary this coming June 24th!  I'm also thinking of doing some new things for the YouTube channel.  May be game related, since I have a video capture card.  I'll be sure to update you guys as we go along!

And yes, that's about it!  Until next time, blog you all later!

-PAPAYA

Episodes 21+22 Write-Ups, 2015, New Facebook Likes, Upcoming Plans, and MOAR!

Happy 2015, everyone!  PAPAYA here, finally back with a new post.  It's been a crazy time for yours truly this past month and I'm glad I finally have time to once again write one of these out.  We hope you've enjoyed our latest episodes and the little Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire advertisement featuring our very own Carl.  With that, let's begin with our latest installments of the FireGold series!

Episode 21 kicks right off with Gold finally entering the Mahogany Gym!  We first hear Gold and Tipster Nerd bickering, continuing the gag that is so fun for me and Draftmaster to concoct.  From there, Gold begins to destroy all the trainers in the gym before battling Pryce.  I also couldn't help but to include some puns pertaining to the ice themed gym (Chill, break the ice, etc).  I really wish there was a way to just jump on that neutral floor in front of Pryce, it would've been so much easier.  How the gym battle went down was essentially a reflection of my experiences in this gym back then.  If you had a Typhlosion, you had no trouble wrecking Pryce.  Once Gold leaves, he's suddenly called by Professor Elm.  Gold's ring tone was the Break the Targets theme from Smash Bros Melee.  I was excited for Smash Bros 4 at the time of editing this episode.  I forgot to have Draftmaster say it was Elm in the call, but I know you all knew who it was based on playing these games.  If not...then it was Elm.  Yes, ELM.   DA JOHTO PROFESSOR!  From there, the Mahogany civilians are freaked out by Team Rocket's return through the Radio Stations across Johto.  Gold gets freaked out by the panic from these folks and flies away with Noctowl.  I still can't get enough of Arch Canine saying "I can't find my dentures!" in all that commotion.  TOO good.

So, in Episode 22, we find that Gold somehow arrived in Goldenrod!  The irony!  Before we explored the Radio Tower battles, I had to make sure we touched upon the giant PokeMart in the city, since we hadn't before.  From there, I came up with Gold's phenomenal shopping adventure!  If anyone played the game like I did back then, you too went to the 5th floor, got yourself a Thunderpunch TM, taught it to Typhlosion, and made everyone mad at you when you battled them via link cable and destroyed their Feraligatrs with it!  I wasn't going to have Gold go away without buying this TM.  We decided to briefly bring back the Narrator this time to explain the forgotten game mechanic of teaching Pokemon moves.  Why?  FORSHADOWING?  Silver's Monologue Adventures, Part 4?!?!  After the shopping, it was time to begin tackling each moment in the Radio Tower.  Well, almost.  We reach the end to find that Nightwalker, the disgruntled employee character Teddy came up with on the spot while recording, is indeed working with Team Rocket!  What will materialize in the battle between Gold and Nightwalker?!  Only time will tell...in Episode 23!

Now, onto something that has really taken us at FireGold, Inc., by MAJOR surprise.  Beginning in the late December last year, we began to notice a huge flux of likes on our Facebook page.  Around 75 in a week.  We have no idea why, but it just happened.  Now, as if that was any indication, as I type this out (and the number is rapidly growing), we have had 275 new likes within these past TWO days!  I absolutely have no idea how this is happening, but it's absolutely amazing!  To all the new followers visiting our blog for the first time, welcome!  And thank you for taking the time to give our page a like!

Finally, upcoming plans!  Episode 23 is recorded and ready to be edited!  I plan to release it within the next few weeks!  We also plan to get together once again in that time span to record some more episodes of FireGold and GoldCast!  As for the GoldCast discussions, the topics will most likely be the Generation 3 remakes and Smash Bros. 4!  Should be interesting to see what each of us bring to the table in these discussions.

And, yes!  That's about it!  Until next time, blog ya all later!

-PAPAYA

Updates, Plugs, Smash 4 3DS Thoughts, 5 Year Red Squirtle Milestone, and MOAR!

Hello, folks!  PAPAYA here, back with another post!  I should be studying for exams right now, but procrastination is hitting me real hard tonight.  We would like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding.  With that, let's begin!

More FireGold episodes are on the way!  We were able to record some episodes back in August before college began again.  My goal is to have Episode 21 released before the end of September!

Have you been listening to our new podcast, GoldCast?  If you haven't, you've missed out on hearing our thoughts on the Generation 6 games and our anticipation for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire!  Episodes 1 and 3, respectively, are available on iTunes, PodOmatic, and our YouTube channel!  We may be recording more GoldCast episodes once Smash Bros 4 and the Gen 3 remakes are released.  I'd love to have us all give our thoughts on those upcoming games upon release.

Speaking of Smash Bros 4, WOW!  I am blown away with how smooth the fighting is on the 3DS demo!  If it's this good on a little game card like that, it looks like we are in for a doozy on October 3rd.  It's just a shame that I have to wait till then to fight as PACMAN.  Seriously, Nintendo, WTF?  I've played as Rockman plenty of times on Mahhvel vs. Capcom so I can wait to play as him in Smash!  Yes, this complaint will be void in less than two weeks.  I know.  Still, though.  PACMAN!

As I type this out, it's 12:52 am on September 25, 2014.  Does anyone know the significance behind this day?  Anyone?  NO?  Well, it's the FIVE year anniversary of Red Squirtle!  As someone who's been listening to them since October 2009, it's absolutely mind-blowing to think that they've been on the interwebs for that long.  Largely because of this podcast, Draftmaster and I became really good friends in the latter years of high school.  Heck, it's the main reason why he and I created FireGold back in 2011!  For this, I personally thank the guys at Red Squirtle for their ongoing series.  Your series has had such a positive impact on my life.  It has been a tremendous ride all these years listening to the podcast.  Here's to many more episodes in the future.  Let's all celebrate Red Squirtle on this day!

That about wraps it up for now!  Until next time, you all take care!

-PAPAYA

3rd Anniversary & GoldCast!

Hello, all!  PAPAYA back once again for another blog post!  There's a lot going on here at FireGold, Inc as of late.  So, without any further ado, let's get right into it!

First off, we'd like to thank you all once again for listening and supporting the Pokemon FireGold podcast for the past 3 years!  We've had a lot of fun writing, recording, editing, and posting these first 20 episodes for you.  We are excited to continue on for quite some time!  As for the special itself, we ultimately decided to go with a similar route as last year's with a twist.  Instead of Gold being kidnapped while playing Nintendo 64, he ends up getting knocked out by his ceiling fan after a sudden earthquake!  From there, he hallucinates the first events of the Gen 6 adventure.  An aftershock hits and end hallucination!  It was quite a blast recording this one, as evident in the bloopers.  We hope you enjoyed the special as much as we did.

Speaking of Gen 6, I segue to a BIG announcement!  We have decided to concoct a brand new podcast endeavor called GoldCast!  In this GoldCast, we will be shooting the breeze on a plethora of topics.  Pokemon, music, movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, and much more will be discussed at a moment's notice!  Episodes will be solo (one person), tag team (2 people), triple threat (3 people), and roundtable (all 4 of us) discussions!  You can also expect special guests accompanying the FireGold members on random occasions!  We've opened up another podcast feed for GoldCast on PodOmatic due to limited storage space remaining on the FireGold feed.  The GoldCast feed is found on that url below!

http://goldcastone.podomatic.com

Feel free to download episodes there!  I shall announce whether or not GoldCast was accepted at iTunes for downloading episodes on our Facebook and Twitter pages when the news becomes available.  Be sure to follow us on both pages if you haven't already!  Also, just like all FireGold episodes, all GoldCast episodes will be posted on our YouTube channel!

Our first GoldCast discussion is up on the GoldCast PodOmatic feed and the YouTube channel NOW!  The first topic is none other than the Generation 6 games.  Will we all agree on Gen 6?  Some opinions discussed may surprise you.  Enjoy!  And remember:  It's all subjective!

GoldCast #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dns73mlZt_4&list=UUlMZMboTkWbkay3PD8ImUxg

And, yes!  That's about it for now!  Until next time, blog ya all later!

-PAPAYA

Episodes 19 & 20 Write-Ups and Anniversary Update!

Hey, everyone!  PAPAYA here, back once again to give you the write-ups of the latest two installments of FireGold!  Hard to believe we've completed 20 episodes right before our 3 Year Anniversary.  Thank you all again for listening throughout all the insanity!  Now, onto business.

Episode 19 picks up right where 18 left off with Gold going on a massive password scavenger hunt.  He encounters all the Rocket Grunts and Scientists that we encountered back in the Gen 2 days and easily defeats them all.  Could those Rockets been more of a pushover for Gold?  Thanks to a random table, his mind immediately goes into Cinnabar Volcano Burger mode.  Thought it was a good time to bring back that old gag from the first episode upon seeing the table there while writing the script.  Gold eventually gets both passwords and finds the door that leads to the Rocket Executive's room.  Before he gets in the room, Silver appears out of nowhere to annoy himself for even approaching Gold to begin with!  This probably means we shall get another Silver Monologue Adventure really soon!  All depends on DM.  Could this Rocket Executive have had more pathetic Pokemon?  Wow, you talk about the pushover of pushovers.  This is precisely why I implemented a laugh track after he introduced each of his Pokemon into battle.  From there, a talking Murkrow gives Gold the Password of Passwords!

For the 20th episode, it needed to go straight into the action.  Gold runs a long way back to the main door he needed to open all along.  After overcoming memory loss, Gold succeeds but runs into another Grunt and Executive.  Nanananananana...Lanceman...returns!  While Lance takes care of the useless Grunt guy, Gold battles the female Executive, voiced by Arch Canine.  At least she had slightly better Pokemon than the previous Grunts.  Heavy emphasis on the "slightly."  After a revealing of Team Rocket's not-so-sinister plot, Lance and Gold infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Hideout and find the machine supported by 6 Electrodes.  I remember playing the games back then and always getting hit with stupid Self Destruct by all the Electrodes.  Annoying as hell, I had Gold experience the same thing, only simultaneously!  Gold comes out of the Hideout mystery a hero...but without Cinnabar Volcano Burgers.  Will he ever eat some of his favorite meal again?!  Only time will tell.  For this PokeCenter healing gag, I had to shake things up a bit.  After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with Gold telling a lie about a bomb only to find that he now needs a passcode to heal his Pokemon!  I originally planned to include a buzzer sound effect when Gold guessed wrong but when DM came in with the voice, I believed it was the funnier option.  How did Nurse Joy end up choosing Gold's least favorite number of 101 as the passcode?  Conspiracy much?!  Gold then heads to the Gym only to find Carl still there playing the latest installment of Pokemon games.  After destroying his 3DS, Gold has enough and blast-kicks Carl into the next region!  Surprisingly, we didn't mess up that much while recording this episode, hence the lack of bloopers.

Now, onto the updates!  FireGold's 3rd Year Anniversary is coming up fast on June 24!  We have something planned for you all this year, a new podcast endeavor!  More details on that will be revealed as we approach the Anniversary.  That's NOT all!  We also want to give you guys an opportunity to do what our loyal follower, Mongo, did last year.  It's another way for us to thank you for listening throughout these 3 years!  Anybody, give us any ideas you have for a separate special involving any character from FireGold you'd like!  It can even be an entire script outline!  Whatever comes to mind for you, inform us of your ideas in one of the following 3 ways:

1.  In the comment section below!
2.  Our email at pdafiregold@gmail.com!
3.  Our Facebook wall or through private message!

We look forward to your responses!  Oh yeah, by the way.  The deadline is Saturday, June 14, 2014!  That's right!  You have TWO weeks!

And, si!  That's all for now.  Until next time, blog you all later!

-PAPAYA

Episodes 17+18 Write-Ups, Updates, and MOAR!

Hey, everyone!  PAPAYA here, back once again for yet another set of write-ups!  April saw us releasing Episodes 17 and 18, so let's talk about them!

Gold makes to-do lists?  The episode picks back up with Gold flying back to that damn Lighthouse to deliver the mysterious Secret Potion to Jasmine for her sick Pokemon.  Once Amphy is cured, Jasmine finally returns to her Gym after all the hassle Gold had to go through.  When it comes to this gym battle, there really wasn't much I could do with it to try to create a tight, back and forth battle.  I mean, if you had Typhlosion in your party back in the Gen 2 days as I often did, you wouldn't have had any problem at all dominating the battle as Gold did here.  Aw, well.  Easier time editing for me!  After the battle, we hear that Gold heads to the PokeCenter and finds Nurse Joy knocked out by the Fat Man who looks VERY similar to our favorite character, Carl!  He challenges Gold to a fight, which leads to Gold kicking his arse, Bruce Lee style!  The sequence of Gold exhibiting his superior martial arts skills is exactly the way it went down in a scene from Bruce Lee's movie "Way of the Dragon," hence the Fisherman guy bringing up Lee's name right after.  Gold then heads for Mahogany by once again disregarding the rules of the Official Pokemon League Bylaws and Regulations Rulebook and flying to a new city.  Once he arrives, he easily gets sidetracked by local candy bars being on sale.  Who can blame him?  Candy is GOOD.  Unfortunately, his enthusiasm causes him huge barf problems and he then ends up in his worst nightmare:  Being physically tended to by Nurse Joy!  I mean, at least she didn't take him into the inner sanctum of the PokeCenter, carve him of all his appearance, and turn him into another Joy...  All creepypasta theories aside, we then find that someone is blocking the door to the Mahogany Gym.  Since in the games this person also closely resembles our wonderful friend, Carl, I decided to make him be the one blocking the door!  He leads Gold to the Lake of Rage all while playing a certain installment of the latest generation of Pokemon.  How did he know about it, much less get his hands on a 3DS and a copy of X if it's supposed to be 2000?  And how did he access a wireless internet connection to battle and trade online?  Your guess is as good as mine!

Now, onto Episode 18.  If you noticed the background music being a little too loud in certain spots throughout most of the episode, I apologize for that.  It clearly wasn't my best music editing here.  However, I digress.  I decided to shake the opening narration up a bit here by having our good buddy, Carl, interrupt Gold!  Carl's "narration theme," if you will, was an 8 bit version of Metallica's song "Carpe Diem Baby."  As Gold would, he kicks Carl out of his private space through a window, Bruce Lee style!  The episode picks up with Gold in hot pursuit of the Lake of Rage and the shiny Gyarados.  As it occurs in the game, Gold finds a familiar Rocket asking for a fee to pass through.  Will that Rocket ever get the saying of "make like a tree..." right?!  Time may or may not tell.  To avoid battling two Pokemaniacs and further editing hassle, I had Gold trick them into going to that same passageway for "free Pokemon."  Gold then reaches the Lake of Rage and jumps in for a night time swim!  This was a way to have him get in the water without having to use Surf.  Then, out of nowhere, like a bullet, from the night, the shiny Gyarados attacks!  After a tough battle that included Typhlosion escaping fire vs. water logic, Gold manages to catch the 6th Pokemon in his party!  We then meet Lance the Batman Guy!  I concocted this idea after YEARS of thinking how much Lance's sprite resembled Batman to me as a youngster.  I have no idea why but I decided to mimic the voice of Snake from The Simpsons for the character.  I don't know, it just stuck with me and the others while recording.  Pitch his voice down just a bit and you get what you heard in the episode!  Totally oblivious of Batman and Sherlock Holmes, Lance leads our hero back to Gotham to investigate a mysterious mystery in the local shop.  It turns out to be yet another Team Rocket conspiracy!  So, naturally, Gold defeats all the Rockets with virtually no problem.  After getting his Pokemon healed by Lance just because he's Lanceman, Gold then discovers A DOOR.  A door that requires a password.  Here, I brought out a Spongebob reference from one of the old school episodes, "Survival of the Idiots."  Ah, good ol' Spongebob from 1999-2004.  Good times.  After defeating the same Rockets yet again, Lance informs Gold that indeed TWO passwords are needed.  How will Gold obtain them, and when?  You shall find out in the next episode!

Speaking of the next episode, that leads me to the updates for the immediate future.  Episodes 19 and 20 are recorded!  Draftmaster, Arch Canine, and I got together during spring break and recorded these four episodes all in the same day.  We are hoping to release both sometime in May.  One thing for certain is that they'll be released long before our 3rd Year Anniversary rapidly approaching on good ol' June 24!  As far as the Anniversary goes, I have a few ideas for what we may do but nothing is set yet.  This is your opportunity to provide us with any ideas you may have, similarly to last year!  After all, it is our way of thanking YOU for listening and supporting FireGold throughout these years!  So, if you have anything you'd like for us to discuss/perform for a 3rd year special, feel free to leave a comment below!  You can also tell us via email (pdafiregold@gmail.com) and on our Facebook page!  Further updates on the Anniversary will be provided for you in the next blog post.

And, yes!  That is about it!  Until next time, blog ya all later!

-PAPAYA