Pokémon Underground Champions League

P.U.C.L. Podcast Pokémon Underground Champions League
"It's the one, the only, PUCL Podcast!"
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)		"Thatch" et al.
Number of Episodes		327 (as of February 26, 2018)
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-centric 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, 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 and 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 supposed rivalry with the late, WTPT. Also, it is one of the few Pokémon-centric podcasts that was at one point explicit.

The P.U.C.L Podcast, due in part to its longevity, is reportedly considered above average by both their listeners and the host, Thatch.

History

Before P.U.C.L., Asel originally created a podcast called PokéChat that debuted in March 2007. The podcast ended after only a few episodes due to Asel's then-inexperience with podcasting and his dissatisfaction with the show's format.

Asel stated in an e-mail to a Bulbapedia user, "P.U.C.L. was never actually intended to be a podcast." When Diamond and Pearl were released, he had several friends playing the games in his high school during fall of the same year. He and his friends decided to try set up various Pokémon tournaments together and, jokingly, wanted to make a club out of it. They spent a couple days trying to come up with an acronym that made a "word", coming up with "Pokémon Underground Champions" or "P.U.C." (pronounced "puck") and using it for a couple of weeks. They then added "League" to the end, making the acronym "P.U.C.L." Asel treats the name as nonsensical and hopes no one takes it as serious.

He returned to podcasting after hearing WTPT and noticing that "there really were no other options for a good[,] regularly updating [P]okémon podcast." One day after he and a friend returned home from school, they came up the pseudonyms "Cool Trainer Thatch" and "Professor Sycamore" and recorded a podcast. They posted the first episode of the P.U.C.L. Podcast two weeks later, and "Thatch" has been doing new episodes of the podcast ever since.

Supposed rivalry with WTPT - Pokémon Radio

P.U.C.L. and its listener base had scuffles with the more successful WTPT - Pokémon Radio that lasted until the latter podcast's end in 2010. The "rivalry" with the other podcast began when P.U.C.L. made fun of WTPT. Eventually in the summer of 2008, Justin V. of The Pallet Tribune, then called The Pokémon Times, asked P.U.C.L. to stop ridiculing them. A flame war ignited between the two podcasts' listeners, with their bases mocking the other podcast in e-mails to their favorite podcast and writing negative podcast reviews about the other on iTunes. It reached its peak when the two Pokémon fan communities held the first of two separate tournaments to see which community was better at the Pokémon games, with WTPT's group winning both. After the tournaments, the two podcasts somewhat forgave each other and decided it would be best if they did not mention other Pokémon podcasts on their shows, and would later have a coexistence with each other. (This "rule" was broken for the first time on episode 90 when an e-mail mentioning other Pokémon podcasts was read, although no degrading comments were made.)

Upon the announcement of WTPT's end, P.U.C.L.'s fans boasted on an unofficial Facebook fan page that they've won the "rivalry" by default, which was mocked by host Steve Black Jr. of another Pokémon-focused podcast on Twitter and the nineteenth episode of that podcast. Asel has since shut down the fan page and started an official Facebook page for P.U.C.L.

100th Episode Celebration

For P.U.C.L's one-hundredth episode on July 14, 2012, Thatch hosted a 12-hour long livestream in which he cleaned a friend's house and recorded the one-hundredth episode live. Members of the P.U.C.L. community that watched the livestream earned a special badge to show that they were there. Many members from the P.U.C.L. community watched the livestream in celebration of P.U.C.L.'s milestone.

With the publishing of episode 100, P.U.C.L. became the first Pokémon audio podcast to produce and release 100 episodes.

Segments

As aforementioned, the podcast has made up many segments and running gags 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 episode 88 was supposedly because he and Thatch went on a very inexpensive vacation to Mexico that went horribly wrong which supposedly ends up with Thatch dying at the U.S.-Mexico border, only for Thatch to come in yelling that the story was a lie and that he's just lazy. Other segments include the hosts pretending to forget what their segment was going to be about, and sometimes puns revolving around the week's topic.
  • "Theme song" of the episode - A random song was once 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. Since 2013, an official PUCL theme song was recorded by the band Bocefus and the Thunder Types. The transitions between segments were also recorded by this band led by one of PUCL's announcers, Bocefus.
  • Announcer - After the intro song of the episode is played, a campy announcer (Currently the voice of former comic Sarge) 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!"
• News - After the introduction, P.U.C.L. starts with a Pokémon news segment, with the hosts recapping recent Pokémon-related events. Once, this segment started and ended with a playing of "The Mission", a piece originally composed by John Williams for NBC's news programs.
• P.U.C.L.'s Pokéquiz - Thatch quizzes his co-hosts on their innate Pokémon knowledge with 5 questions. There are up to 7 points available each week, with one of the five questions being worth 2 points and an additional bonus point being awarded if the contestants are able to correctly answer all of the questions without using their hint. The scores carry over from week to week in a race to 30 points. The co-hosts can receive additional points for their appearances on the supplementary podcasts that P.U.C.L. produces.
• Main topic - The topic of the episode segment, which provides the titles for the podcast's episodes and is discussed by the hosts.
• Interviews - Mock interviews have been a part of the P.U.C.L. Podcast since the second episode, when the Day-Care Man from Four Island was the first "interviewee" as the episode focused on breeding. These interviews happened early on in the podcast's run, but have been become less common later on, only being done on occasion when the hosts feel like it. The interviews tend to have over-exaggerated versions of various characters.
• 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:
• "Poke" of the Episode - As with any other Pokémon podcast, P.U.C.L has a segment focusing on a Pokémon of the hosts' choosing. Referencing Smogon University's competitive usage articles, the hosts also look at their chosen Pokémon's Bulbapedia article and often read off the Pokémon's stats and "Trivia" section from there. Afterwards, they discuss their personal opinions of the chosen Pokemon.
• Mailbag - Listeners of the P.U.C.L. send in e-mails and feedback and are read on the air as part of the "Mailbag" segment. P.U.C.L. then asks a "Mailbag Question" that is answered in most e-mails for the next episode. While it is still recorded as the listeners' most favorite part of the podcast, the theme song for it is no longer a playing of "Mailtime" from the Nickelodeon children's show Blue's Clues before Thatch and his co-hosts read the e-mails. Starting with episode 97, after they've read all the e-mails for the episode, the hosts award the "Green Tauros Badge" to an e-mailer who they think wrote the best e-mail of the episode based on grammar and content. The badge is added to the user's P.U.C.L. profile, provided that they have a profile on the website.
• 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 and encouragement to check out the podcast's various social media outlets, 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 Lavender Town Radio Tower [where the podcast has supposedly been recorded], it's closing time." Before a recording of a P.U.C.L. unique closing song was made, during or after these final lines, the song "Closing Time" by alternative rock band Semisonic played (with the first verse usually coming in right after Thatch says "it's closing time") until it faded out after the first chorus.

Episode list

P.U.C.L. Podcast episodes
No.	Subject/Title	Description	Publish date
1	Meet the Hosts	"Meet the hosts of the puclpodcast!"	December 31, 2007
2	Breeding	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss breeding."	2008
3	Training Guide	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss how to train your pokes to the max!"	2008
4	Random Aspects	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about random stuff. Probably the worst episode ever."	2008
5	GTS	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the GTS."	2008
6	Kanto	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the ins and outs of Kanto."	2008
7	Move Combo's	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about move combinations."	2008
8	EV Training	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about EV training."	2008
9	Pokeballs	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about Pokeballs."	2008
10	Super Smash Bros. Brawl	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the new Super Smash Bros. Game."	2008
11	Stats	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the different pokemon stats."	2008
12	A Pokemon Retrospective	"Thatch, Sycamore, and their friend Odie talk about the old days of pokemon."	2008
13	Johto	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about Johto."	2008
14	Pokemon Leagues	"Thatch and Oynotno talk about Pokemon Leagues."	2008
15	Pokemon The First Movie	"Thatch and Sycamore Talk about the Original pokemon movie. Look that Jigglypuff’s eyes are closed!"	2008
16	Hacking	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the controversial topic of hacking."	2008
17	Berries	"Thatch and Zel discuss the ins and outs of berries."	2008
18	Hoenn/Gen 3	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the region of their least favorite generation, the third."	2008
19	Pokemon Types	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss pokemon types."	2008
20	Console Games	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the games for anything but the handheld system."	2008
21	Ultimate Training Guide Part 1	"Thatch and Sycamore start their comprehensive training guide for noobs."	July 29, 2008
22	Ultimate Training Guide Part 2	"Thatch and Sycamore continue their comprehensive training guide for noobs."	August 2, 2008
23	Ultimate Training Guide Part 3	"Thatch and Sycamore complete their comprehensive training guide for noobs."	August 10, 2008
24	The Metagame	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the 4th Gen Metagame."	August 15, 2008
25	Pokemon Battle Revolution	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the battle simulator for the wii, you know, the letdown."	September 1, 2008
26	Shiny Pokemon	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about these elusive pokemon."	September 18, 2008
27	Pokemon the Movie 2000	"Thatch and Sycamore review the 2nd Pokemon Movie."	October 3, 2008
28	Pokemon Names / Large Mailbag	"Thatch and Sycamore read a large mailbag!"	November 3, 2008
29	Legendary Pokemon	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about Legendary pokemon."	November 17, 2008
30	One Year Anniversary	"Thatch and Sycamore Celebrate one year of the P.U.C.L. Podcast."	December 31, 2008
31	Trainer Card	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the trainer card and how to change its color."	January 11, 2009
32	Sinnoh	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the newest region in the pokemon games, Sinnoh."	January 31, 2009
33	Pokemon Stadium 1 & 2	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the old pokemon stadium games and how great they were."	February 9, 2009
34	Evolution	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the mechanics of evolution."	February 28, 2009
35	Events	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about all the event pokemon you can obtain."	March 17, 2009
36	Abilities	"Thatch and Sycamore Talk about all the abilities in the pokemon games."	April 8, 2009
37	Pokemon the Movie 3	"Thatch and Sycamore review the 3rd Pokemon Movie."	April 30, 2009
38	Pokemon Gold and Silver Remake Speculation	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss the speculation being made about a Gold and Silver remake and it is kind of dumb."	May 1, 2009
39	Pokemon Platinum	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the new Pokemon Platinum"	June 7, 2009
40	Pokemon on the GCN	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the games on the Gamecube and how awesome they were."	June 25, 2009
41	Pokemon Antagonists	"Thatch and Norb discuss Antagonists."	July 17, 2009
42	Gold and Silver Review	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the good old gen 2 games and how they deserve the remake they got."	July 27, 2009
43	Platinum Battle Frontier	"The hosts go over awesome stuff about the battle frontier!"	August 7, 2009
44	Pokemon Ranch	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss Pokemon Ranch and await the update that never comes."	September 4, 2009
45	Elite 4	"Thatch and Speezi talk about the ultimate four trainers in the game."	September 18, 2009
46	More Mature Games	"Thatch and Infinity talk about how awesome it would be to have more mature pokemon games."	October 8, 2009
47	Gym Leaders	"Thatch and GTG talk about gym leaders."	November 15, 2009
48	Christmas/HGSS	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about Christmas, and the upcoming games"	December 27, 2009
49	The 2nd Anniversary	"Thatch and Sycamore celebrate 2 years of PUCL with clips."	December 31, 2009
50	Items	"Thatch and Toast discuss items."	January 13, 2010
51	Berries	"Thatch and Karl talk about berries."	February 4, 2010
52	5th Generation Speculation	"Thatch and Speezi speculate about the 5th Generation."	February 18, 2010
53	Pokemon the 1st Season	"Thatch and Sarge Nartker talk about their impressions of the 1st season of the anime."	February 25, 2010
54	TM's & HM's	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss TMs and HMs."	March 8, 2010
55	RGBY Manga	"Thatch and Toast talk about the fi[r]st manga series and how awesome it is."	March 27, 2010
56	Team Rocket	"Thatch, Nartker and New Guy all talk about Team rocket and their shenanigans."	April 10, 2010
57	Pokewalker	"Thatch and New Guy discuss the pokewalker, and New Guy gets his new name!"	April 20, 2010
58	Pokemon 4 Ever	"Thatch, Sarge, and App, all talk about this horrible movie."	May 1, 2010
59	5th Generation Revelation	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the revelations of the 5th generation."	May 14, 2010
60	Changes to the Metagame	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss how the metagame has changed since HGSS. "	May 27, 2010
61	Tiers of the Metagame	"Thatch and Sycamore talk about the tiers of the metagame."	June 5, 2010
62	Anime Music	"Thatch and Sycamore talk abit about the generation 5 [games], the famous pokemon music from the ’90s and compare Pokemarts to 7-Elevens."	June 27, 2010
63	Rivals	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss rivals and even get an exclusive interview with one of Hoenn’s finest!"	July 9, 2010
64	IV's	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss the hidden number values of breeding. Tune in on how to make your pokemon stronger!"	July 29, 2010
65	Remakes	"Thatch and Sarge talk about the old games that had the chance to be relived."	August 25, 2010
66	Spin off Games	"Thatch and Toast talk about the spin off games they think mattered."	September 9, 2010
67	Pokemon Memes	"Thatch and Nartker discuss and quote some of the most memorable pokemon memes on the internet."	September 30, 2010
68	Online Communities	"Thatch and Toast Talk about Pokemon communities in an iffy sound quality."	October 30, 2010
69	Breeding Pokemon	"Thatch and Infinity talk on this legendary episode of innuendos. They discuss breeding without mistakes and ask you a question and call all Puclonians to send in their mail."	November 6, 2010
70	Pokemon Retrosode	"Thatch and GTG reminisce about the old days of pokemon and PUCL."	November 13, 2010
71	Pokemon Heros (5th Movie)	"Thatch and Nartker review the 5th movie and give their opinion on the franchise itself."	November 23, 2010
72	Mewtwo Returns	"Thatch and Nartker go over the sequel of the first pokemon movie."	December 5, 2010
73	New Stuff in Black and White	"Thatch and Sycamore discuss the things they find weird and interesting in the new Black and White Pokemon games."	December 23, 2010
74	3rd Anniversary	"Thatch and Sycamore talk [about] the past year, and how they plan on changing PUCL in the future!"	January 5, 2011
75	Pokemon History	"Thatch and Sycamore use their new mic to bring you this awesome show."	January 13, 2011
76	Love Hate Relationship	"Thatch and Sarge talk about the things they hate about the pokemon games."	February 7, 2011
77	Diamond and Pearl	"With the release of Black and White coming out what better topic than to reflect and give one more hoorah to the games that hosted the 4th generation."	March 1, 2011
78	Team Building	"Thatch and Aero discuss this long awaited topic and teach you how to build a better team of pokemon to beat your friends."	March 27, 2011
79	Pokemon Black and White	"Thatch and the Apprentice discuss the newest pokemon games, and talk about other cool PUCL events."	May 16, 2011
80	Pokemon Red and Blue	"I can’t believe we haven’t done an episode on this. App and Thatch talk about the first pokemon games released in the US."	May 28, 2011
81	Pokepark Wii	"Thatch and the Apprentice talk about the going ons in the PUCL and Pokemon worlds and then discuss the “meh” game of Pokepark Wii."	June 4, 2011
82	Pokemon the 6th Movie: Jirachi Wishmaker	"Thatch and App talk about this movie and the decline of quality between pokemon movies, thus far."	June 11, 2011
83	The Second Season Orange Islands Saga	"Thatch and Sarge go over the exciting happenings in the orange islands in the Second Season of the Anime."	June 18, 2011
84	Religion in Pokemon	"This episode Thatch and the Apprentice talk about how Religion has affected the pokemon video games. No harm was intended to anyone."	June 26, 2011
85	Things in Pokemon that make us Angry	"Thatch and the Apprentice talk about things that make them upset in the pokemon games. They also bring back interviews!"	July 4, 2011
86	Pokemon Movie 7: Destiny Deoxys	"Thatch and App discuss this next feature film and how to classify pokemon on site!"	July 16, 2011
87	Pokemon TCG	"Thatch and App talk about the TCG until App goes to rehab and a surprise guest comes in to replace him!"	July 24, 2011
88	Regions	"Thatch and Thingy talk about the pokemon regions!"	August 9, 2011
89	Odd Evolutions	"Sarge breaks to the PUCL community about the long wait. And de[c]ides to go ahead and in Thatch’s stead make an episode!"	December 3, 2011
90	Pokemon Conspiracies	"Thatch, Sarge and App bring back the PUCL Podcast with a vengeance, while talking about conspiracies and give you all one simple answer. Aliens."	February 12, 2012
91	P.U.C.L. Happenings	"Your favorite hosts ramble on about whats happening in PUCL and how there was only a two week gap between episodes."	February 27, 2012
92	Pokemon Black and White 2... 2	"Thatch[,] Sarge and App talk about all the new stuff that has been revealed for the newest pokemon games and hope they make it to them soon!"	April 27, 2012
93	Shipping	"Thatch and App discuss the odd topic of shipping and their opinions of what it is to be."	May 21, 2012
94	Pokemon Snap	"Thatch and Sarge talk about this classic game and how badly a sequel is needed."	June 3, 2012
95	Gym Leaders Part 1	"Thatch, Sarge, and App all discuss the first 2 generations of pokemon gym leaders and their legacy."	June 11, 2012
96	Gym Leaders Part 2	"Thatch, Sarge, and App all discuss the gym leaders that they did not complete last time."	June 18, 2012
97	Pokemon Conquest	"Thatch and Sarge talk about the newest pokemon spin off game, pokemon conquest. They also award the first ever email of the episode badge!"	June 24, 2012
98	League Team building	"Thatch and Sarge go over the basics of team building and award a new email of the episode badge!"	July 1, 2012
99	The Elite Four	"Thatch and Sarge talk about the Elite Four members of every region and reveal some of the PUCL 100 plans so stick around on the website if you want to find out more!"	July 9, 2012
100	The Ultimatum on Pokemon Communities	"Thatch, Sarge, and App Celebrate in Style!"	July 14, 2012
101	Dream World	"Thatch and Sarge discuss this extra 5th gen feature that apparently no one likes. Also the music sucks."	July 29, 2012
102	Dream Radar	"Thatch and Sarge haven't quite finished Ash Gray so they talk about upcoming side features!"	August 6, 2012
103	Black and White 2	"Thatch, App, and a new host discuss the new game that was just released internationally and their opinions of it."	October 20, 2012
104	Pokémon X and Y	"Thatch, Sarge and Misty discuss the newest addition to the Pokemon series!"	January 21, 2013
105	Starters	"Thatch,Sarge, and App talk about all of the starters across every generation."	February 3, 2013
106	Ash Grey	"Thatch, Sarge, and App start their conversation with this hacked Rom that is a delightful blast of nostalgia."	February 24, 2013
107	Remakes	"Thatch and Sarge discuss the plausibility of remakes, and their quality."	March 10, 2013
108	Nuzlocke	"Thatch and Sarge talk about their Nuzlocke journeys!"	March 24, 2013
109	More X and Y News	"Thatch, Sarge, and App discuss all of the X and Y news since the last episode! New Music provided by Bocefus and the Thunder-types."	June 8, 2013
110	E3 Pokemon X and Y News	"X and Y news from E3 is discussed."	June 17, 2013
111	Fan Conspiracies	"Thatch and Bocefus talk about fan conspiracies."	July 9, 2013
112	How the Pokemon World Works	"The intricacies of the Pokemon world are discussed."	July 16, 2013
113	More X and Y News	"More news about the sixth generation games."	September 16, 2013
114	Transportation in Pokemon	"Thatch and Sarge talk about transportation in pokemon."	September 29, 2013
115	Pokemon X and Y Initial Reactions	"Thatch, Bocefus, Cleary, App, Mr. Thingy, and Infinity all discuss their first impressions of the new game."	October 17, 2013
116	Pokemon X and Y review	"Thatch and Sarge discuss the brand new games after having them for 2 weeks."	October 26, 2013
117	The Metagame after X and Y	"Thatch and Scizorkick discuss the metagame and the effect X and Y are having on it thus far!”	November 9, 2013
118	Pokémon Origins	"Thatch and Sarge talk about Pokemon Origins and how awesome it was to relive the old Pokemon games!”	November 24, 2013
119	Breeding	"Thatch, Sarge, and Bocefus discuss all the changes made to breeding this past generation.”	December 8, 2013
120	Little things in X and Y	"Thatch and Sarge talk about the small aspects of X and Y they like and reveal a new tournament that PUCL is hosting next month!”	December 14, 2013
121	Future Pokemon Games Speculation	"Thatch, Sarge and Misty talk about what they think will be the next Pokemon releases.”	January 16, 2014
122	The VGC’s	"Thatch and Bocefus discuss every aspect of the Pokémon Tournaments, both VGCs and TCG.”	January 26, 2014
123	Pokemon Bank	"Thatch and Scizorkick discuss the Pokemon Bank!“	February 18, 2014
124	Twitch Plays Pokemon	"Thatch and Scizorkick join forces once again to discuss the current Twitch Play Pokemon fad.”	March 2, 2014
125	Can’t Live With ‘Em Can’t Live Without ‘Em	"Thatch, Scizorkick, and Cleary all discuss those Pokemon that they think are awesome, but are horribly unusable in the metagame.”	March 17, 2014
126	3rd Gen Remake Speculation	"Thatch, Bocefus, and Ethan (Mr.Thingy) Discuss the possibility of 3rd get remakes!”	March 31, 2014
127	Trozei and Other Topics	"Thatch, Scizorkick, and Cleary all come in to discuss the new Trozei game and various other aspects of their video game histories.”	April 14, 2014
128	Top 10 Competitive Pokemon	"Thatch, Cleary, and Dr. Shamu discuss P.U.C.L.’s favorite competitive Pokemon”	April 28, 2014
129	Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire	"Thatch, Cleary, Ethan and Dr. Shamu discuss the recently revealed remakes and what they hope to see from it.”	May 12, 2014
130	Legendaries	"Thatch, Scizor, and Ethan update the legendaries episode from 2008.”	May 19, 2014
131	Regional Devices	"Thatch, Bocefus, and newcomer Ransom discuss all the regional devices in the video games.”	May 27, 2014
132	TeamBuilding	"Thatch, Shamu and Scizor all talk about ways to build a competitive Pokemon team!”	June 3, 2014
133	Speculation of Future Pokemon Games	“Bocefus, Scizorkick, and Ethan gear up on this special episode of PUCL to discuss what games they think Game Freak and Nintendo are going to throw at us.”	June 9, 2014
134	Not Fully Evolved Pokemon	“Thatch, Ethan, and Dr. Shamu get together and do an episode on these under appreciated Pokemon.”	June 16, 2014
135	Pokemon Timeline	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Ethan gather to discuss what Pokemon fans know about the timeline.”	June 23, 2014
136	Pokemon Geography	“Thatch, Sarge, and App discuss how the real world and the Pokemon world are kind of one and the same.”	June 30, 2014
137	Non-U.S. Pokemon Games	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Shamu get together for this great unplugged American Episode of PUCL.”	July 7, 2014
138	Super Secret Chocolaty ORAS News	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Scron talk about all of the news revealed this past week.”	July 14, 2014
139	Pre-Released Pokemon	“Thatch, Scizorkick, and Dr. Shamu all talk about how Pokemon sometimes get released before Pokemon games.”	July 21, 2014
140	Top 10 Competitive Items	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Scizorkick all discuss their top 10 competitive items!”	July 28, 2014
141	Berries	“Thatch, Scron, and Ethan discuss berries, what they are, what they can do, and how to grow them.”	August 4, 2014
142	Mega Evolution	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Cleary all discuss mega evolution.”	August 11, 2014
143	Pokemon Antagonists	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Scizorkick debate which team of villains in the Pokemon game were the best at their jobs.”	August 17, 2014
144	The TCG	“Thatch has Scron and Bocefus talk about the current state of the TCG and how the TCG has been taking over their lives.”	August 25, 2014
145	To Hack or Not to Hack	“Thatch, Shamu, and Scron discuss the ethics of Hacking.”	September 1, 2014
146	OOOOOO Shiny	“Thatch, Bo, and Ethan talk about Shinies and how to become a great shiny hunter.”	September 8, 2014
147	PUCL Telethon	“Bocefus and Scizorkick host a Telethon to get Thatch back on his feet! ”	September 15, 2014
148	Female Perspective of Pokemon	“Thatch has Misty and Switzy talk about their opinions of women in the Pokemon fanbase.”	September 22, 2014
149	Pokémon Myths	“Thatch has Scron and Ethan over in the Radio Tower today to discuss some of their favorite in game legends and myths.”	September 29, 2014
150	PUCL Celebrations	“Thatch, Sarge, Bocefus, Scron, Dr. Shamu, and Ethan all get together to celebrate PUCL in this live episode.”	October 6, 2014
151	Origins of Pokemon	“Thatch, Scizorkick, and Scron get together to discuss the origin of several Pokemon designs.”	October 13, 2014
152	How X and Y Changed Pokemon	“Thatch, Cleary, and Dr. Shamu talk about how Pokemon X and Y have changed Pokemon in the past year.”	October 20, 2014
153	ORAS Hype	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Shamu talk about excited they are for these new games.”	October 27, 2014
154	Creepy Pastas	“A couple days late to Halloween Scizorkick, Ethan, and Thatch talk about these Spooky Stories.”	November 3, 2014
155	Competitive vs Casual (Writer’s Appreciation Episode)	“Thatch has Scron, Viger, Beorn, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott on the show to discuss their articles and just competitive vs casual Pokemon players on the show.”	November 10, 2014
156	Pokemon Fan Games	“Thatch, Scron, Gator, and the Indie Developer by the name of Dan Man discuss Pokemon fan games.”	November 17, 2014
157	ORAS Launch Live Show	“Thatch, Scizorkick, Scron, Ethan, Dr. Shamu, Viger, and Gator team up this episode to hang out and talk about the new Pokemon game that was released.”	November 24, 2014
158	PokéNav Plus	“Thatch, Ethan, and Viger discuss the newest tool in Pokemon, the Pokenav Plus.”	December 1, 2014
159	Super Secret Bases	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, Gator, and Mikey from pokemoncrossroads.com discuss the ins and outs of secret bases.”	December 8, 2014
160	ORAS Metagame Changes	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Misty discuss the changes made to the metagame due to the release of ORAS.”	December 15, 2014
161	2015 VGC Format	“Thatch, Scron, and SublimeManic discuss the changes to the VGC format this upcoming year.”	December 22, 2014
162	Super Smash Bros Wii U and 3DS	“Ethan, Scron, and Viger discuss the recently released Smash Bros Game.”	December 29, 2014
163	2015 Speculation	“Thatch, Scizorkick, and Viger discuss their predictions for what Game Freak might bring to us in 2015.”	January 5, 2015
164	Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Scizorkick discuss the Pokemon Pinball game. It’s addicting.”	January 12, 2015
165	Pokemon TCG for GBC	“Ethan, Bo, and Viger discuss the Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Gameboy and on the 3DS eShop.”	January 19, 2015
166	Top 10 NPCs	“Thatch, Scron, and Dr. Shamu all sit down and talk about their top 10 NPCs in the Pokemon games.”	January 26, 2015
167	Intro to Competitive Battling	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Dr. Shamu get together to put this guide of how to get competitive battling together.”	February 2, 2015
168	Top 10 Hidden Abilities	“Thatch, Ethan, and Dr. Shamu discuss their top 10 Pokemon that were made viable due to their hidden abilities.”	February 9, 2015
169	Pokemon X and Y Anime	“Thatch, Viger, and MickeyPanda get together to talk about their opinions on the recent Pokemon X and Y anime.”	February 16, 2015
170	The Pokemon Economy	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, Gator, and Illusdark8 from Radio Whirlwind get together and talk how they believe the Pokemon economy works.”	February 23, 2015
171	The Pokemon Multiverse Theory	“Thatch, Scron, and Viger get together to discuss the popular Pokemon multiverse theory!”	March 2, 2015
172	Top 10 Hated Pokemon We Like	“Thatch, Ethan, and Scron discuss their favorite Pokemon that are not popular among other fans.”	March 9, 2015
173	Eeveelutions	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Gator discuss some of the fandom’s favorite Pokemon.”	March 16, 2015
174	Top 10 Legendary Pokemon	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Scizorkick get together and talk about their top 10 favorite legendary Pokemon.”	March 23, 2015
175	Pokemon That Should Evolve	“Thatch, Viger, and Gator discuss what Pokemon they think should have an evolution.”	March 30, 2015
176	Easter Eggs	“Thatch, Scron, and Viger discuss various easter eggs they have come across in the Pokemon franchise.”	April 6, 2015
177	Type Matchups	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Viger talk about why they think type matchups work the way they do.”	April 13, 2015
178	Mewtwo	“Thatch, Shamu and Gator celebrate the release of Mewtwo DLC for Smash Bros by discussing everything Mewtwo”	April 20, 2015
179	Pokemon Rumble World	“Thatch, Shamu, and Viger all discuss the newest Pokemon release: Pokemon Rumble World.”	April 27, 2015
180	Weird Pokedex Entries	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Shamu all share some of their favorite Pokedex entries”	May 4, 2015
181	Pokemoms	“Thatch, Ethan, and Scron talk about the mothers of Pokemon and discuss many aspects of the Pokemon Franchise.”	May 11, 2015
182	Future Game Speculation	“Thatch, Ethan, and Dr. Shamu get together and talk about what they hope to see for Pokemon in the next year.”	May 18, 2015
183	Freeform Show: Things That Annoy Us	“Thatch gets together with Shamu, Misty, The Fluffiest Whimsicott, and Beorn to do a special episode where all things Pokemon are mentioned.”	May 25, 2015
184	Reminiscing Pokemon	“Thatch, Bo, and Scron get together and talk about the good old days of Pokemon.”	May 31, 2015
185	Nicknames	“Thatch, Shamu, and Viger get together and discuss the concept of nicknaming everyone’s favorite pets.”	June 8, 2015
186	Unused Dual Types	“Thatch, Ethan, and Viger discuss unused dual types and which ones they think would be interesting to have.”	June 15, 2015
187	Pokemon VGC	“Thatch and Gator welcome a special guest Goomy to talk about his experience in the VGC after placing 4th in the UK Nationals in 2014.”	June 22, 2015
188	Glitches	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Viger all talk about their favorite glitches from the Pokemon franchise.”	June 29, 2015
189	PUCLcon!! (VGC Nationals Episode)	“Thatch, Scron, Mr. Sniffles, Mr. Maximus, Reveneight, General VC, and Misty get together in a rather muggy hotel room to discuss all of the awesome things they saw at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN.”	July 6, 2015
190	Pokemon International Survey	“Thatch, Ethan, and Mr.Maximus all go through a survey that the Pokemon International Company has put out to better serve the community with Pokemon merchandise.”	July 13, 2015
191	Pokemon Clones	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Ethan gather to discuss a variety of topics. Including the legacy of Satoru Iwata, the prospects of a new game, and Pokemon Clone games such as Yokai Watch.”	July 19, 2015
192	Competitive Archetypes	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Scron discuss the basics of competitive Pokémon team archetypes.”	July 27, 2015
193	Underappreciated Pokémon	“Thatch, Viger, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss under appreciated Pokémon and how to appreciate them.”	August 3, 2015
194	Rivals	“Thatch, Viger, and Mr. Maximus discuss the variety of rivals in the game series that have shown up over the years.”	August 10, 2015
195	VGC Team Archetypes	“Thatch, Scron, and Sublimemanic talk about VGC team archetypes just in time for the Pokémon World Championships.”	August 17, 2015
196	RGB Adventures Manga	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Dr. Shamu talk about the RGB Pokémon Adventures manga.”	August 24, 2015
197	Pokémon Contests	“Thatch, Ethan, and Viger get together and talk about Pokémon contests and what they think about their return in ORAS.”	August 31, 2015
198	The Post Game	“Thatch, Ethan, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott get together and talk about the cool things to do after beating the elite four.”	September 7, 2015
199	Pokémon Go and Pokémon Z	“Thatch, Scron, and Viger go over a lot of the recent news that was revealed this week!”	September 14, 2015
200	Favorite Pokémon	“Thatch, Bocefus, Dr. Shamu, Ethan, Gator, Mr. Maximus, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott get together to produce a live episode where the gang talks about a variety of things, such as their favorite Pokémon and Scron and Viger’s quest to retrieve Thatch’s oil tanker.”	September 21, 2015
201	Pokémon Types That Don’t Make Sense	“Thatch, Mr. Maximus, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss Pokémon they think have the wrong types.”	September 28, 2015
202	Little Cup	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Viger get together and talk about little cup and how to succeed in it.”	October 5, 2015
203	Top 10 Worst Abilities	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Scron all get together to discuss the worst abilities in all of Pokémon.”	October 12, 2015
204	Starters	“Thatch, Whimsicott, and Mr. Maxiumus jump into a discussion of all of the starters to date and which one’s are awesome as well as some Pokémon news.”	October 19, 2015
205	Kalos	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and The Fluffiest Whimsicott get together and gush over the beautiful Kalos region and the things they love about it.”	October 26, 2015
206	Future Features We Want to See	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Viger get together and talk about the latest Pokémon news, including the U.S. Hoopa distribution. They also talk about features they would like to see in future episodes.”	November 2, 2015
207	Unanswered Questions in Pokémon	“Thatch, Scron, and Gator answer fan submitted questions about some mysteries that are left open ended in the Pokémon franchise.”	November 9, 2015
208	Event Pokémon	“Thatch, Ethan, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss Ethan’s return to PUCL his delta episode playthrough, the recent nintendo direct, and event Pokémon.”	September 7, 2015
209	Wondertrade and the GTS	“Thatch, Gator, and Mr. Maximus discuss the latest and greatest ways to trade Pokémon: Wondertrade and the GTS.”	November 22, 2015
210	Things That Should Be Retconned	“Thatch, Scron, Viger, Mr. Maximus, and Snag get together for a shorter P.U.C.L. episode this week due to Thanksgiving. They talk about things they want to see come back in future video games.”	November 30, 2015
211	Pokémon’s Big Year is 2016	“Thatch, Ethan, and Dr. Shamu talk about all of the awesome stuff coming in 2016.”	December 7, 2015
212	VGC 2016 Ruleset	“Thatch, Bocefus, Mr. Maximus, and Sublimemanic all have a discussion about the VGC rules for 2016 and what Pokémon to look out for.”	December 14, 2015
213	Pokémon GO Gyms and Teams	“Thatch, Scron, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss a recent interview done with Niantic about the production of Pokémon GO and their inclusion of Teams and Gyms.”	December 21, 2015
214	Is Pokémon an Esport	“Thatch, Ethan and Viger discuss whether Pokémon can be seen as an e-sport.”	December 28, 2015
215	Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon	“Thatch, Scron, and Viger give their thoughts on the latest Mystery Dungeon game. They talk about the new Patreon and new PUCL content coming this year.”	January 4, 2016
216	Nuzlockes and More	“Thatch, Mr. Maximus, and the Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss Nuzlockes and the various forms they take.”	January 11, 2016
217	Pokémon’s 20th Anniversary	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Mr. Sniffles, all join together to talk about all the awesome things Pokémon is doing to celebrate its 20th Anniversary!”	January 18, 2016
218	Fairy Type	“Thatch, Maximus, and Sublimemanic discuss how the addition of fairy type.”	January 24, 2016
219	Detective Pikachu	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Sublimemanic discuss the newly announced Detective Pikachu game as well as cover a lot of the latest news.”	January 31, 2016
220	Spin Off Capture Mechanics	“Thatch, Dr. Shamu, and Scron discuss their favorite capture mechanics from the various Pokémon spin off games.”	February 8, 2016
221	Magiana and 7th Gen	“Thatch, Ethan and Viger talk about the newly revealed Pokémon Magiana and speculate on the future of the franchise!”	February 15, 2016
222	Future Features	“With the 20th anniversary of Pokémon on the horizon, Thatch, Maximus, and The Fluffiest Whimsicott discuss features they would like to see in the next game to be announced.”	February 22, 2016
223	Pokémon Sun and Moon Announcement!	“With the announcement of new pokemon games Thatch, Scron, and Mr. Maximus join forces to discuss the newest addition to the franchise.”	February 29, 2016
224	Where in the World is Pokémon Sun and Moon	“Thatch, Whimsicott, and Gator, get together and talk about where they think Pokémon Sun and Moon might be located.”	March 7, 2016
225	What We Hope Isn’t in Sun and Moon	“Thatch, Bocefus, and Shamu discuss things that they hope don’t make it into Sun and Moon.”	March 14, 2016

Reception

P.U.C.L. sits at 279 ratings in iTunes with a solid 4.5 star rating. Currently, it has 237 five star reviews, and 23 one star reviews. After reading many of the one star reviews, it becomes clear that the WTPT Podcast attempted to sabotage P.U.C.L's iTunes rating during the flame war mentioned above.

Website

The website is also called the Pokémon Underground Champions League, but is actually located at and called on the podcast, PUCLPodcast.com. The site has been redesigned several times; the most recent site renovation, called P.U.C.L. 5.0, was completed on June 20, 2012.

Badges

"Badges" were introduced in P.U.C.L. 5.0 along with improved user profiles for users. Similar to video game achievements, they are awarded to users to do P.U.C.L.-related things, such as following the podcast and website on social networking sites, writing a P.U.C.L. Podcast review on iTunes, and winning P.U.C.L. League tournaments. Some badges require users to send an e-mail to P.U.C.L. stating that they've completed the task required to earn the particular badge, while others are given out for certain one-time-only events, such as the "PUCL 100 Badge" for watching the 100th Episode Celebrations live. Badges also have points attached to them, similar to Xbox Live Gamerscores; the top ten users with the most badge points are shown on a leaderboard on the website's sidebar.

Badges as of now represents someone's ability to enter the U.U.T.C. which is a P.U.C.L tournament. However only specific badges will allow the player accesses to the tournament, most of them gained by winning Pokémon battles against the staff members of P.U.C.L, or doing things involving there social media pages.

Badge list

P.U.C.L Badges
Name	Description	Points Value
Combee O’s Badge	Are you eating a well balanced breakfast? No Combee O’s? Then You’re Not! Earn this badge by coming to the chatbox when a mod is there 5 separate days	100
Donation Badge	Earn this badge by donating to PUCL and earn our eternal gratitude.	150
Entei Badge	When Entei barks volcanoes erupt. Staff can earn this badge by providing 3 months of service to PUCL	25
Facebook Badge	Recieve this Badge for Liking PUCL on Facebook. This badge counts towards the entrance to the 2015 U.U.T.C.	25
Feraligatr Badge	Feraligatr is a ferocious Pokémon with powerful Jaws. Earn this badge that counts toward the 2015 U.U.T.C. entrance by defeating Thatch anytime throughout the year	50
Geodude Rag Badge	It’s just a geodude and you wipe up the mess until it gets really mad. You can earn this badge by having accrues 20 posts on the forums. This badge counts towards entrance into the 2015 U.U.T.C.	10
Green Tauros Badge	Drink the Energy Drink that gives you Hooves! You can receive this badge when the hosts think you have the best email of the episode. This Badge counts towards your entrance into the 2015 U.U.T.C.	50
Hoothoot Spotlight Badge	Hoothoot Spotlights ar great for hosting movie Premiers! Earn this badge by attending a P.U.C.L. Movie Night! This badge counts toward entrance into the 2015 U.U.T.C.	30
Houndoom	Upon hearing its eerie howls, other Pokémon get the shivers and head straight back to their nests You get this Badge for defeating Cleary in the PUCL 2014 Summer League. This counts 2015 U.U.T.C. Entrance.	50
Jolteon Badge	Jolteon is the fastest of the Eeveelutions Earn this badge that counts toward the 2015 U.U.T.C. entrance by defeating Bocefus anytime throughout the year.	50
Raikou Badge	Raikou has been known to run accross the land shooting lightening bolts at will. Staff members can earn this badge by contributing to PUCL for one month.	25
Roggenrola Roller Badge	Its a roggenrola that you kinda just roll around. This Badge is can be obtained by hitting the 150 post mark on the forums. This Badge counts towards the entrance to the 2015 U.U.T.C.	40
Scizor Badge	Scizor is a Pokémon whose body is the hardness of steel. Earn this badge that counts toward the 2015 U.U.T.C. entrance by defeating Scizorkick anytime throughout the year.	50
Shuckle Badge	Shuckle is a Pokémon that loves to store berries in its shell. Earn this badge that counts toward the 2015 U.U.T.C. entrance by defeating Dr. Shamu anytime throughout the year.	50
Suicune Badge	Suicune has been seen walking across water. Staff can obtain this badge by providing 6 months of service to PUCL.	50
Twitter Badge	Receive this Badge when you have followed PUCL on twitter. This Badge Counts towards your entrance to the 2015 UUTC.	25

Chat

The website currently runs its chat through Discord.

P.U.C.L. Block

The P.U.C.L. Block was a live video show hosted by Thatch and a number of past staff members, with Infinity the show's "Conan O'Brien" aka Big Kahuna would end with either small news segments or just a story of his adventures in Pokémon.

League

The "P.U.C.L. League" is the competitive battling portion of the Pokémon Underground Champions League. It has recently been redone for the new P.U.C.L. 5.0 site redesign.

Staff

Current

Thatch

Host, webmaster, and co-founder of P.U.C.L..

Bocefus

Current Secretary of P.U.C.L., and Musical Consultant

Misty

Occasionally a co-host.

"Artist formally Known as Mister Thingy" A.K.A Ethan

Admin / Author

Scron

Editor in Chief and Recurring Cohost

Viger

PokéNews article writer and Recurring Cohost

DrShamu

Tournament Organizer and Recurring Cohost

GatorMaximus

Social Media Outreach Professional

Beorn, LordJushiro, MickeyPanda, TheFluffiestWhimsicott, and SublimeManic

The remaining members of the P.U.C.L Writing Team.

Past

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

Professor Sycamore

First recurring co-host and co-founder of P.U.C.L.

Sarge

Recurring co-host and "funny man".

The Apprentice

Recurring co-host.

Cleary

Recurring co-host.

Scizorkick

Recurring co-host

Mister Thingy

Writer/"Legman".

Infinity

Writer/"Podcast Preparation Specialist".

Speezi

Site sponsor.

Toast

Writer.

Ecko

Site developer from P.U.C.L. 2.0 to 4.0.

Green Tauros Guy

Former forums moderator.

References

This article is a part of Project Fandom, a Bulbapedia Project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every aspect of the Pokémon Fandom.