Battle! Mewtwo (Pokemon X/Y)
There is a wonderfully nostalgic feeling when you encounter Mewtwo near Pokemon Village in X/Y. Same cry, same dirty tricks (what up, Recover), same tendency to bust out of your Poke Balls without any consideration for your frustration levels. The accompanying piece of music begins with an industrial feel to it, a sort of ‘science-y’ flavor that suits the artificially engineered Mewtwo well. Then, at about the one minute mark, you hear it: the gen 1 capture theme has been mixed into this track, and just like that, you’re transported back to the late 90s. Spiky, bleach-blonde hair, Barbie Girl playing on the radio, and rumors abound about how to locate the mysterious ‘Pikablu’, oh how we missed it!
If you’re so inclined, you can set this track to all of your wi-fi battles against live competition, too, and that just makes the whole thing really hit home. You’ve gone from link cables and a drawer filled with double A batteries to the luxury of battling from your own home, against opponents all around the world. It’s a definite nostalgia kick, which is quickly dampened by the slimy tactics people abuse online. Come on guys, Smogon standard rules, they exist for a reason.