Twitch Plays Pokémon/Season 3

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Twitch Plays Pokémon's third season began on February 14, 2016. It is anticipated to be its first 'routine' season, consisting of four runs (after the second season was extended to five runs).

Each run is the equivalent to a season episode, and can be referred to by number (e.g. S01R03). Timestamps mentioned in this article follow the format of "#d #h #m #s" (day, hour, minute, second).

System changes

Gameplay/input changes

The run restores the anarchy/democracy "tug-of-war" system from the first original Red run where voting is allowed at any time; the bar now also displays the current percentage of democracy votes. However, like in later runs, vote inputs are displayed under each side of the bar rather than as part of the main input feed. Vote inputs count toward the percentage for 15 minutes before being removed; they may be renewed for another 15 minutes by voting again at any time.

The switching thresholds were originally set equal to the original run, where switching to democracy required an 80% supermajority and switching back to anarchy required a 51% majority (or a 49% minority voting for democracy); about four hours before the main run began, the streamer increased the democracy threshold to 90%. ProjectRevoTPP, one of the developers, has stated that at least one area will require democracy mode to complete. Unlike in previous games, it is now possible to perform simultaneous inputs (for example, "a+b") during democracy mode.

Interface/Side games

As the start of a new season, the stream interface has been thoroughly overhauled:

As with the first anniversary run, the current party is displayed to the left.
Below the party display is the chat log, which now scrolls vertically, replacing the previous horizontally scrolling chat bar. Donation messages also appear here.
At the bottom left is a side game of Pokémon Pinball, replacing the slots from previous PBR intermissions. As with the slots, tokens are used to start a game and bet on its outcome; the more points that are scored in the game, the more the payout will be (with exact multipliers varying both on the table and over time). The game's inputs are performed automatically once started and are not chat controlled.
Main game and stream statistics are displayed to the right of the Pinball screen, including the player's money, Badge count, and Pokédex completion along with the current UTC time, the stream's view count, and the current run's timestamp and input count.
At the bottom middle is a horizontally scrolling feed of various information, including subreddit pictures, donation records, an explanation of the Pinball sidegame, the five most recent stream followers, a screenshot and stats from the marioparty247 side stream, a subscription ad, and the stream's current view and follower count.
At the bottom right is a sidegame of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, played in "Congress mode" with a single democracy-mode input every 240 seconds. It is also possible for a user to bribe others to vote for a certain button (perhaps as a further satire of "Congress mode") by allocating tokens for that button such that voters who choose it will have a chance to receive those tokens.
As usual, the current list of inputs as well as the anarchy/democracy bar is displayed to the right.

2 days and 19 hours before the start of the main run, the streamer took down the Season 1-2 PBR interface and hosted the marioparty247 side channel for approximately 1 hour while the new interface was set up. After the new interface was put up, the streamer put on Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color to test the emulator and input system, followed by a continuation of the previous intermission's Pokémon Trading Card Game save file. The Twitch players completed the remainder of the save file about 19 hours before the main run started, after which the streamer put on a fan-translated English patch of Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!. The stream was switched to Anniversary Crystal's title screen 20 minutes prior to the run starting.

R01: Pokémon Anniversary Crystal

In the same manner as how Season 2 began on the one-year anniversary of the original run, Season 3 began on the original run's two-year anniversary, with a modified version of Pokémon Crystal where all 251 Generation II Pokémon can and will need to be caught to complete the run. The run started on February 14, 2016 at 21:00 UTC. At approximately 1d 0h 41mc, the new overlay crashed, showing an error screen. The stream had to be stopped for two hours while the developers fixed the issues with the overlay's script^[1]. The game later continued at 1d 2h 12m. As of approximately 9d 4h 23m, the players have finished the trial in the Dragon's Den.

New to this run is an input system dubbed "military mode"^[2], performed by inputting the commands "move", "switch", "item", or "run" with relevant parameters. These commands will be accepted only during the "Waiting!" screen and are independent of anarchy/democracy mode (the commands can be entered during either mode). However, on occasion, military mode will be put on hold while bugs are fixed.

ROM changes

Based on confirmed information so far, the game looks to be more ambitious than the previous anniversary run. The channel's streamer has stated that over $1,000 has gone towards the development of the game^[3], and the development team is known to be larger, including acclaimed creator of the hack Pokémon Brown, Koolboyman.^[4] The game features a sophisticated external AI engine programmed in Python and created by user Beesafree.^[5] The AI is known to switch out tactically (while ordinary in-game AIs will almost never do so) and has been stated as being able to predict up to 5 turns in advance. The AI also applies to wild Pokémon, who will focus on annoying or stalling the player rather than outright winning.

Aesthetic changes

New protagonists replace Ethan and Kris.
- The male character resembles Red as he appears in Pokémon Adventures's Red, Green & Blue arc.
- The female character, like in Anniversary Red, resembles the scrapped design of Leaf that was supposed to appear in the original games, which became the basis of Green's design in Pokémon Adventures.
The opening sequence and title screen have both been redesigned. For example, the opening sequence Unown now spell out "TWITCH" in place of "CRYSTAL", the top of the title screen now displays "Twitch Plays Pokémon Crystal Anniversary" with Twitch's logo rather than "Pokémon Crystal Version" with Suicune's emblem, and the title screen now has a scrolling background and silhouettes of the two new protagonists replacing the silhouette of Suicune. The title theme has been custom remixed, and the bottom of the title screen adds "2016 TPP" to the right of "©2001 Game Freak inc.".
Several songs from other Pokémon games have been imported, such as Blue's theme from Generation I and the original version of the Kanto Trainer Battle theme, used when battling the rival. Other examples include the GB Sounds version of the Poké Mart theme from HeartGold and SoulSilver, and a new arrangement of the S.S. Anne's theme.

Plot changes

The game begins in Kanto rather than Johto and appears to follow Kanto's plotline, but then diverts:
- The player not picked becomes their rival, replacing Blue.
- After talking to the captain of the S.S. Anne, the boat will leave port with the player in it, on course to Olivine City. However, Team Rocket will commandeer the ship, kidnapping the captain, leaving it to the player to stop them. The player, therefore, does not receive HM01 (Cut).
- During the invasion, the player's badges are stolen. The player then fights three Team Rocket Grunts in a row. Even if the player loses, the game will continue. The S.S. Anne collapses and the player washes ashore in Cherrygrove City. After healing their Pokémon, the player is told by the Guide Gent to see Professor Elm in New Bark Town, who gives them a Johto Starter Pokémon and asks them to see Mr. Pokémon. The plot then continues to follow Crystal's, including meeting and naming Silver.
The player must resolve the Lake of Rage incident and defeat Pryce before going to Cianwood City. Because the player does not have access to Surf, they must cut through Mt. Mortar.
If the player tries to go to Olivine City first, their passage to the Glitter Lighthouse will be blocked by Team Rocket Grunts who appear to be planning to kidnap Amphy but are being stopped by Jasmine's Steelix. The roadblock is cleared after defeating Pryce.

Gameplay changes

Like in Anniversary Red, the nickname screen automatically appears without a yes/no prompt after receiving or catching a Pokémon, and the Start button cannot be used to immediately confirm a name.
On the nickname screen, the cursor now starts off pointing at a random character instead of "A".
Before the start of every turn, the screen will display "Waiting!" as it would in a link battle, at which time the game will communicate with the external AI. The script will also accept inputs for "military mode" at this time, if it is enabled.
Some wild Pokémon locations appear to at least partially match that of Anniversary Red, with for example Cubone, Pikachu, and Exeggcute able to be found on Route 1.
The time of day mechanics appear to have been altered and/or sped up, with for example the in-game clock starting at midnight regardless of the player's choice at the start of the game, and transitioning to morning about 1 hour and 40 minutes later.
Some modifications have been made to the movepools of certain Pokémon. For example, Bulbasaur can now learn Mud-Slap at Level 15. Not all of these modifications have been discovered or revealed at this time.
NPC Trainers and Gym Leaders have different Pokémon lineups to reflect the changed flow of the story. Wild and Gift Pokémon are encountered at higher levels.
The player takes a Dome or Helix Fossil while traveling through a fully restored Mt. Moon. The player can restore their choice at the Ruins of Alph.
At least one more In-game trade has been added, adding Elyssa from FireRed and LeafGreen's Vermillion City, who, instead of offering a Farfetch'd for a Spearow, will trade the player a Gastly (named Spooks) for a Farfetch'd.
NPC Trainers can have Pokémon with nicknames. For example, a Gentleman on the S.S. Anne has a Growlithe named Fido.
Some TMs have been changed. For example, TM47 contains Thunder Wave instead of Mud-Slap.
A series of "Status Guard" held items have been added. When held they prevent their respective status condition, but it is not consumed upon use.
Randy's Spearow, Kenya, is now a Level 30 Noctowl.
The Bug-Catching Contest consolation prize is $1,000 instead of a Berry.^[6]
The fifth floor of the Goldenrod Department Store has a vendor that sells various evolution-inducing held items and type-enhancing items.
Like most Dex hacks, the game changes how trade evolutions work to make trading unessessary. For example, in Seadra's case, it merely needs to level up while holding the Dragon Scale to evolve into Kingdra.
Morty's Gym Trainers use Dark-type Pokémon.
The player finds HM04 (Strength) at the Kimono Dance Theater instead of HM03 (Surf), and receives HM03 from Lance instead of HM06 (Whirlpool).
The player can find an Egg in the Pokémon Day Care yard. For the Twitch players, this egg contained a Squirtle.
When Bill calls to inform the player they've filled out their current Box, the player has the option to immediately change to the next one.
There is now an option to empty an entire Box by releasing all its Pokémon.
An Old Amber can be found at the Ruins of Alph.

Features from later generations

The Physical/Special split from Generation IV has been implemented. The category of a move can be seen in-battle when it is highlighted.
When the player's Pokémon's HP bar turns red, the alert noise plays for a few seconds before stopping, like in Generation VI.
From HeartGold and SoulSilver, Viridian Forest has been restored as its own separate area, after having been removed in the original Generation II games. The Pewter Museum of Science has been restored as well.
From Generation IV, the background music of an area will pick up where it left off after a battle, rather than restarting.
The Coin Case appears to be able to hold up to 50,000 Coins, and some version of Voltorb Flip is known to be playable. If the player wins ten games of Voltorb Flip in a row, they supposedly win a special prize.^[7]
The Pokémon status screen has a new page describing where and when the Pokémon was caught, at what level, and gives it a characteristic.
Tackle has been confirmed to have its base power changed to 50.
The player's Pokémon will gain experience after catching a wild Pokémon.
The critical hit formula has been updated to its Generation VI version.
Several moves from later generations, such as Seed Bomb^[8] and Dazzling Gleam have been added.
The player receives a pair of Running Shoes from the Guide Gent. They function the same as they do in the other games, but the player's sprite does not have custom running animation.
Generation II's Berries have been renamed to their modern counterparts.
Eggs hatch at level 1, with the exception of the Odd Egg, which still hatches at level 5.
The Fairy-type has been implemented, as well as Fairy Wind, Dazzling Gleam*, Moonblast, and Play Rough.
- Because of this, Whitney uses a mixure of Normal and Fairy types.
- Charm has been changed to a Fairy-type move.
When using a field move, the sprite of the Pokémon using the move will appear before it is performed, similar to the cut-ins that appears from Generation III onwards.
TMs are no longer consumed upon use.
The amount of money lost when the player whites out has been changed to the formula established in FireRed and LeafGreen.^[9]