In this Twenty Minute Tabletop episode, Tom—who missed Pokémon in 1996 and only encountered it through buying cards for his kids—recounts being mistaken for a buyer in a WHSmith queue and helping someone get a limited new box, prompting a deep dive into Pokémon’s darker history. He covers the 1997 “Electric Soldier Porygon” seizure incident and how Porygon was effectively exiled from the anime, other pulled episodes, and unsettling Pokédex entries featuring dead children, curses, and kidnappings. Externally, he explores Uri Geller’s lawsuit over Kadabra, religious and governmental backlash including Saudi fatwas and church card-burnings, and playground myths like “Pikablu.” He then details Pokémon GO’s real-world chaos—robberies, accidents, sensitive-location controversies, minefield warnings, and privacy/CIA-adjacent funding links—before reflecting on global media clashing with local values.
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