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P.U.C.L. Podcast Pokémon Underground Champions League
"It's the one, the only, PUCL Podcast!"
[[File:|240px]] The Pokémon Underground Champions League's podcast art, featuring a close-up on the podcast's mascot, Suicune.
Language		English
Status	Podcast	Active
	Website	Active
Run	Podcast	December 2007 - Present
	Website	2009 - Present
Podcast debuted		December 31, 2007
Last episode published		{{{final}}}
Website opened		April 2, 2009 (Current website as presumed by the host on Episode 90; the first website was a Webs.com site.)
Website closed		{{{site_close}}}
Reason		{{{reason}}}
Creator(s)		Thaddeus Asel (a.k.a. "Thatch") and "Professor Sycamore"
Host(s)		Jane Doe
Number of Episodes		91 (as of February 27, 2012)
Forum		P.U.C.L. Forums
Mascot		Suicune
Website		PUCLPodcast.com
Feed

The Pokémon Underground Champions League, also known as P.U.C.L. (pronounced PUCK-uhl), is a Pokémon-focused podcast and fan site hosted and run by Thaddeus "Tadj" Asel, better known as "Trainer Thatch". The podcast debuted on New Year's Eve 2007, barely beginning in the same year as another Pokémon podcast, WTPT - Pokémon Radio. The podcast is known for its wacky humor, and is the successor to a short-lived podcast that debuted in March of that same year called PokéChat.

Podcast

The Pokémon Underground Champions League podcast or P.U.C.L. Podcast is known for its bizarre and eccentric humor, which includes fake commercials and interviews, a prolonged announcer intro, various cracks made towards Pokémon, their listeners, their community members (who they call "PUCLonians") and the hosts themselves; and several other recurring gags. It is also known for its many recurring co-hosts who joins host "Thatch" in many of his show's episodes, its longevity (more than four years as of their ninetieth episode on February 12, 2012), and its rivalry with the late yet more popular WTPT. Also, it is one of the few Pokémon-focused podcasts that is explicit. Despite its longevity, the podcast is considered subpar compared to other Pokémon podcasts by both Pokémon fans (outside of the show's dedicated listeners) and even host "Thatch" himself.^[1]

Recurring themes

As aforementioned, the podcast has made up many running gags and other recurring themes throughout its run. These include:

• Intro - The introduction to the show is normally goes in the following order:
  • Teaser - The podcast begins with either a humorous phrase spoken by one of the hosts or a scene skit that the hosts set up as a joke. One of the podcast's most notable teases came on episode 89 when an exhausted Sarge came in and explained to listeners that the reason why they have not made a new episode since #88 was supposedly because he and Thatch went on a $5 vacation to Mexico, ending up in a town afflicted by poverty and the Mexican Drug War. They were taken prisoner by the drug cartel in the area and eventually escaped with crack and steroids in their bodies. They ran for several days to the US-Mexico border until the effects of the drugs wore out and were attacked by a polar bear. Sarge was saved by Border Patrol, but also says that Thatch was killed by several "polar bears". He then has a moment of silence before Thatch interrupts yelling that it was a lie and that he was just lazy. The teasers are a more recent addition to the show.
  • "Theme song" of the episode - A random song is played as the theme tune for the episode, with mostly various non-Pokémon-related rock and pop music played at the beginning. Pokémon-related songs have been played before, including official songs such as the original Pokémon Theme for the English dub and parodies of popular songs such as "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO; some in their entirety. Occasionally, the intro song would just be sung by the podcast's hosts.
  • Announcer - After the intro song of the episode is played, a campy announcer (usually Thatch using an echo effect) gives an introduction to the show in a humorously prolonged and ever-changing tone. The phrase as it currently is usually starts by saying a location in the Pokémon world where the podcast is supposedly being recorded, then goes to its slogan, "It's the one, the only, PUCL Podcast!"
• Commercials - P.U.C.L. always has a commercial break filled with fake commercials during each episode, normally after the topic of the episode. The commercials start after one of the hosts says, "We will catch you on the flip-flop!" Some of the more notable "commercials" include:
  • Green Tauros - Named after the alternate coloration of Tauros, Green Tauros a parody of the popular energy drink Red Bull. Its slogan is "Green Tauros gives you hooves", a play on Red Bull's slogan, "Red Bull gives you wings."
  • Geodude Rag/Onix Scrubber/Roggenrola Roller - A generic salesman with a Brooklyn accent pushes different "cleaning" products which are hinted to be just various Rock-type Pokémon being used in a mildly abusive manner.
  • Archie - The head of Team Aqua ran for president against Maxie in 2008 and won by a vote from the show's fans. Archie's platform was that he was going to use the extra water to sell to "Planet X28" to pull the country out of the recession. It was followed by a series of presidential commercials where Archie's plans go south, and X28 becomes hostile.
• Mailbag - As typical of any Pokémon-focused podcast, e-mails and feedback are sent to P.U.C.L. and are read on the air as part of the "Mailbag" segment. Also like other Pokémon podcasts, P.U.C.L. asks a "Mailbag Question" that is answered in most e-mails for the next episode. Currently, the mailbag begins with a playing of "Mailtime" from the Nickelodeon children's show Blue's Clues before Thatch and his co-hosts read the e-mails.
• Outro/"Closing Time" - The podcast ends with Thatch giving a new "Mailbag Question" for the next episode and mentioning the e-mail address for listeners to send their feedback. After a bit of chatter, Thatch usually says, "Until next time on the PUCL Podcast, I'm Trainer Thatch," then after the co-host(s) mention their names, Thatch continues, "And here at [the PUCL Podcast or a location in the Pokémon world], it's closing time." Normally, during or after these final lines, the song "Closing Time" by alternative rock band Semisonic plays (with the first verse usually coming in right after Thatch says "it's closing time") until it fades out after the first chorus.

Rivalry with WTPT

P.U.C.L. had a rivalry with the more successful WTPT - Pokémon Radio that lasted until the latter podcast's demise in 2010. While The Pallet Tribune was much more passive about the rivalry than P.U.C.L. was, the two podcasts and their fans have gone after each other at times. These include one of the podcasts mocking the other in various episodes (P.U.C.L. and their fans usually did this), their fans writing negative podcast reviews about the other on iTunes, and most notably when the two Pokémon fan communities held a tournament to see which community was better at the Pokémon games, with WTPT's group handily winning it. Upon the announcement of WTPT's end, P.U.C.L. boasted that they've won the rivalry by default, though this boast was mocked on Twitter by another Pokémon-focused podcast that debuted during the same year that WTPT ended, as they had already surpassed P.U.C.L. in popularity in their first few months.

Website

This section is a stub. You can help Bulbapedia by expanding it.

The website is also called the Pokémon Underground Champions League, although oddly the URL of the site is PUCLPodcast.com.

Chat

The website has a chat room that is powered by xat.com.

P.U.C.L. Block

The P.U.C.L. Block is a live video show hosted by Thatch and his co-hosts.

League

The P.U.C.L. League is the competitive battling portion of the Pokémon Underground Champions League.

Staff

Current staff members

Thatch

"Pokémon Trainer", host of the P.U.C.L. Podcast, and webmaster of PUCLPodcast.com. Described on the staff section of the site as the "PUCL President".

Sycamore

"Pokémon Professor" and "PUCL Vice President". First recurring co-host of the podcast.

Sargent Nartker/"Sarge"

Recurring co-host.

The Apprentice ("App")

Site treasurer and recurring co-host.

Past staff members

All past staff mentioned here have been co-hosts on the podcast.

Infinity

Journalist, "Topic Idealist" and writer.

Speezi

Site sponsor and graphic designer.

Toast

Advisor to the P.U.C.L. Block and writer.

Ecko

Site developer.

Green Tauros Guy

P.U.C.L. Block specialist.

Aero

Writer.

Mister Thingy

Writer and "Topic Idealist".

References