Twitch Plays Pokémon (TPP) is a social experiment in which commands representing buttons on an original 3DS (up, down, left, right, A, B, X, Y, start, select, control stick, and touch screen coordinates) are entered into a chat on Twitch, and then translated into a game of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire via an IRC bot. In short, over 10,000 people are fighting over a controller. Throughout its life, Twitch Plays Pokémon has spawned hilarious characters, memorable moments, and even a religion.
Twitch Plays Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, the third run of "Season 2", takes the mob back to the land of water and trumpets, but with a twist. Using new technology, the stream will for the first time play a randomized version of a Gen 6 game. Unlike Twitch Plays Pokemon's previous randomized runs, the new randomizing software means an entirely new set of challenges, with evolutions now being randomized as well. Would a Torchic evolve into a Delphox? Could a Metang become a Registeel? Only time, RNG, and the chat's inability to leave the grass will tell.
The run officially got underway on July 12th, 2015, and ended on July 26th.
See also here
for the archived progress of the game, here for the archived status of the run, or here for live updates, which have been archived here. There is also a recap page, found here.
Twitch Plays Pokémon Alpha Sapphire contains examples of:
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Team Flare grunts seem to be frolicking about around Hoenn, despite the base game happening before X and Y.
- Anticlimax: After all the time done to get the Dusk Stone and evolve !!!!r in the hopes of getting a strong Fire or Ghost type Pokemon, the Lampent evolved into a Flareon.
- A certain regular trainer on Route 117 proved to be too much of a challenge when !!!0999 qq was first in the area, but was positioned such that she could be avoided by going through tall grass. Eventually, the Mob got through the area for good without ever actually managing to beat this trainer, only to happen to pass through during the postgame. Cue Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Anyone Can Die: The PC has claimed many Pokemon throughout the run, sometimes for the sake of depositing/withdrawing/releasing !!!!r.
- Artificial Stupidity: Wally's Mega Lucario kept spamming Solar Beam multiple times towards the slower female Jellicent, who had Dive to dodge Lucario's attack.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: The é character has factored prominently in a number of Pokémon's names.
- Babies Ever After: !!!0999 qq's Jellicents were able to breed and hatch two Frillish by the end of the run.
- Betting Mini-Game: Makes its return of playing alongside a run since Twitch Plays Pokémon Black 2, now using Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as the base game. Players would bet on one of four Lv. 9 CPUs in one-stock, items on, low damage ratio matches and see what the AI does to win or lose.
- Dead Character Walking: Won two contests by using their fainted Pokemon as contestants.
- Dedication: Unofficially the run is dedicated to DekuNukem, who was leaving the Twitch Plays Pokémon team following the run. It would also be the final run using his 3DS streaming software. Also unofficially dedicated to former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata upon news of his death, as well as prominent community member Pioxys, who left partway through the run. Pioxys came back near the end though.
- Flock of Wolves: Team Aqua seems to be this, up to and including Archie, who has a Mega Camerupt.
- Primal Kyogre itself has Drought, Groudon's signature ability (unique to it until the invention of Hidden Abilities and still the only one who gets it as a regular ability), so Team Magma actually has more use for it than Team Aqua anyway.
- The Gambling Addict: The mob, as per-usual, tend to stop inputting so they can bet on their fighting character.
- Game-Breaking Bug: Deku initially disabled the C-stick, having been assured that it wasn't necessary to complete the game. It's actually necessary to navigate when Soaring on Latios/Latias, so this resulted in 999 being stuck in the air for over an hour.
- The Ghost: Because of unchanged dialogue, Pokemon whose trainers talk about may not even show up in-battle, such as Wally's "Gallade".
- Here We Go Again!: The run is not considered finished until the chat defeats the Elite 4 for the second time.
- Later-Installment Weirdness: Unlike Pokemon X and Omega Ruby, this run never used any of the Wi-Fi features. It is also the only 3DS run to have simultaneous betting.
- Lie to the Beholder: While trainer overworld models, names, and dialogue have not changed from the base game, most trainers have a different class (e.g. a Bug Catcher being a Lorekeeper, complete with Zinnia's battle music and in-battle model). Once the chat had beaten the first Elite 4, the majority of the trainers changed classes again.
- Luck-Based Mission: Depending on what evolutions occur, the run could be over quickly, or drag on for quite a while.
- Non-Indicative Name:
- Because Gen VI uses the Pokémon's default name as a potential starting point for nicknames, the random evolutions have resulted in a Gothorita named Wynaut8uuutg, and a Roserade (formerly Ivysaur) named Shroomisho p, among others. Compare to Omega Ruby who merely had "Whismur V" who retained the name from an Whismur to an Exploud and Zigzagoony the Linoone (i.e. the same evolutionary line).
- The mob have a Wigglytuff named Chansey. It was originally nicknamed "Chanseyfdff" when captured as a Chansey, then had its name changed using the Name Rater well after it had already evolved to Wigglytuff.
- Team Aqua has Team Magma members (complete with their signature clothes) on their side, and their leader Archie has his team comprised of Ground-types, which Magma specializes with.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: While it is the norm of players accidentally or deliberately cancelling evolutions throughout runs, it became more of a frustrations in this run due to the random evolutions. Some players demanded forced evolutions to be implemented in order to see what Pokemon it will evolve to.
- Ultimately averted. Every Pokémon that had been in the party did eventually reach the highest evolutionary level possible given their level when they'd last been in the party.
- Obvious Rule Patch: Patches to make the game more difficult are added to avoid the run from finishing quickly. There were plans to remove the Exp. Share if such speeds happen.
- Old Save Bonus: Money earned from PBR are transferred to use in this run's betting game.
- Olympus Mons: Downplayed with Lugia and Ho-oh, who are commonly found as part of a normal Pokemon trainer's team and as random encounters respectively, due to a coding bug.
- Poor, Predictable Rock:
- !!!0999 qq's team mostly consists of Water and/or Ghost types, which became a problem during the gym battle with Liza and Tate, who had electrical attacks. However, her team did work out in the end against Steven's Fire team.
- To make up for the fact that any Pokémon can have moves of just about any type, every trainer has a type specialty, and thus it takes seeing only one or two mon to be able to predict entire teams.
- Power of Friendship: The chat made all six Pokemon maximize their affection level, by using Contests, in order to gain a chance of beating the second Elite 4 (in the form of earning more crits and free "focus bands").
- Put on a Bus: Unlike other Fire staters, where they've been either released or manages to be on the Hall of Fame, !!!!r was simply boxed before the seventh badge to after the second win against the Elite 4 (10 Days). Downplayed, as he kept being a focus point throughout the run, the goal was getting a Dusk Stone to evolve him while others use him as an excuse to use the PC.
- Recurring Location: Hoenn by this point. Alpha Sapphire is the third run to feature the region after Emerald and Omega Ruby.
- Schizophrenic Difficulty:
- The battles with Brendan (except the last one) and Wally have been more difficult than the rest of the game until the first Elite 4. Even then, Steven was defeated in two attempts.
- Due to randomized typings, the gyms' difficulties can be rather all over the place. After speeding through the first three gyms quicker than ever before, they hit their first wall with the fourth gym being Dragon-type (though they had enough of a head start and the combination of the Gen VI Exp. Share and a route with wild Audino that they were still quicker to 4 badges than any previous run). Then they swept Rock-type Norman with a single Pokémon. Wallace, the final gym leader, also managed to be easier than the previous two gym leaders despite having a Lugia.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The chat spent hours battling Valerie multiple times in Mt. Pyre in order to obtain a Dusk Stone (a 5% drop) to evolve !!!!r. It turns out that item drops were bugged by the randomizer, making the sidequest pointless. As a compromise, two Dusk Stones (and no more) were added to the bag by Deku.
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Spiritual Successor: Possibly to Platinum, which was similarly character-driven rather then progress-driven. - Take Your Time: For the most part, the chat is doing some side content during the impending fall of a meteorite.
- Total Party Kill: The chat managed to release the Day 2 team except for Corsola.
- The Unpronounceable: !!!0999 qq. Her Pokemon fare better, since some consist of their Pokemon species name (when caught) plus some random symbols after it, like Wingull9xx88 the Jellicent.
- Unintentionally Unwinnable: Managed to lock themselves in a secret base by putting a fence at the only exit available. Once they've left the base with an escape rope note , the chat noticed that there is no way to enter the base at all without overwriting it with a new base.
- Villains Out Shopping: Team Magma, Aqua, or Flare members are found where regular trainers would be enjoying their day in, wearing casual clothes in the overworld but changing to their uniform during battle.
- World of Chaos: Randomized runs always tend to be this, especially with randomized evolutions (though happening at the same levels as normal evolutions).
