Tag Archives: pokemon

Rave Cards

Age: 23

Date Collected: 04/27/2026

Context:

My roommate and friend of three years has been involved in the rave scene for about 5 years now. More specifically, he helps out one of the largest hard techno organizations in the country. He occasionally DJs, mixes, and knows a lot of people in the scene. The organization he works for and the scene he is involved in are more underground; they throw warehouse raves around the Los Angeles area. He was showing me his collection of items he’s gotten from raves and festivals, and these unique cards really stuck out to me.

Text:

My friend was telling me about the deep culture and really interesting community of LA’s hard techno scene. The organization he works with, 6 AM, recently started giving out custom Pokémon-style playing cards at shows. They don’t have any official name yet, but my friend calls them rave cards.

The cards are unique to each event; new ones are made for each night they have shows. Most cards feature a performer, headliner, or crew member specifically from the show you attended. They also feature brief descriptions such as “type: human” or “age: unknown” to build lore about the performers. The special attacks listed are either inside jokes, the DJ’s popular songs, or just funny facts about the character. They range in rarity, with headliners and special guests being rarer and more desirable. Those rare cards are typically printed with foil or holographic coloring to make them stand out visually from the rest. Performers returning to perform at a 6 AM event receive multiple evolutions on their cards. So my friend has some performers with multiple evolutions. You can see that the yNOTI cards are a first and second evolution. There are also other cards, like quest cards and curse cards. For example pictured above, one card jokingly curses ravers for an ever-growing bathroom line that stretches for miles. Another quest card challenges ravers to meet new people and high-five them. My friend says there’s no real benefit or reward to completing the challenges, or to being cursed. It’s just for fun to mix things up.

To get the cards, you need to find “KL,” the organization’s marketing guy, somewhere at random in the crowd. When you find him at a show, ask him for a card, and he’ll fan a deck of cards faces down, and you get to pick one card. The cards are all free, but “he only prints about 50 per event, so you have to find him quick.” He also doesn’t give them out before 2 A.M. because the event hasn’t really started yet, and it would be unfair to give them all away so early. There’s no special quote or saying he says because the sound systems are pretty loud and conversations are hard to hear. “You only get one per show. Once you pull your card for the night, you can’t switch with him or try again that night.”

My friend told me that KL makes the cards himself. He comes up with the designs himself and has a card maker at home; he creates all of them himself. My friend doesn’t think that the idea is completely original. But it might be pretty close to being new or original. KL makes cards for crew members’ birthdays, as well as making enough for the crew. One of our friends who got one made for them didn’t even know about it till they were given out on her birthday. KL pulls the pics from Instagram or online and edits them to fit whatever vibe he is feeling. My friend explained that all the cards are KL’s ideas; he doesn’t really ask the artists or headliners what they want on them. KL definitely takes pride in this and sees it as art. My friend explained that only people who are really into the scene will get cards, because most people don’t know to find KL or that the cards even exist.

My friend has amassed quite a collection; he has about 25 cards, and they only started this new trend last year. People collect these cards and trade them with one another at shows. But again, this is fairly unique to one organization operating mainly in LA. My friend can’t think of any other companies really doing this, definitely not “mainstream” rave companies. We tried finding stuff online about this, but it’s pretty hard to find and also unique to the hard techno scene. Other raves he has been to don’t really have those cards; they have other things.

But he does have a card from another popular DJ, Vendex. That DJ plays in the hard techno scene and is really on top of trends and personal branding. Vendex designed and makes his own Yu-Gi-Oh!- style playing cards, which he personally hands out at events to fans and friends. My friend has one of these, which is one of the coolest stories behind a card he’s got in both of our opinions. He met Vendex outside an event. Vendex was unmasked, and they talked for a while about the genre, scene, and equipment. After, Vendex gave him the card and followed him on IG. My friend has also gotten real Pokémon cards handed to him by other ravers at events. So maybe that friendly community interaction inspired KL to make custom cards.

Analysis:

I got to document a tradition that’s only just beginning to develop, which was really cool to me.

KL rightly sees himself as an artist. He is a true folk artist creating art that is unique to his community. These cards mainly hold value to ravers because they loved that night’s set. But, it could also be because they love the DJ or the card itself. Although he gets paid by the organization, KL doesn’t make any commissions off the cards themselves. They’re for the love of the game and to build lore, community, and excitement. Aside from being an artist, KL is kind of recording the history of his organization. The cards are marked with days, specific performances, inside jokes, and the performers or crew themselves. This memorializes significant events and gives people ways to remember fun events. Also, the only way you could get them is if someone tells you who KL is, you find him, then ask him. Although the cards themselves are physical, the ways you get them and learn about them are not.

These cards are also a fantastic example of bricolage folk art. They recombine elements like Pokémon cards, taking them from a commercial purpose, giving them a memorial and independent meaning. In fact, my friend told me that he’s been given Pokémon cards many times at events long before Pokémon came on the scene. Maybe, that pre-existing folk custom is what incentivized KL to make his cards. Unlike other folk art or collections, these cards create a hierarchy and bestiary of characters, jokes, and people. It shows what’s popular at a certain time, who or what the community values, and what’s worth preserving. As well as categorizing them by type and highlighting what makes each unique. Also, what’s interesting is that the cards are static. You might be pissed you pulled a “low” card or a non-trending artist. But then, 5 months later, that original, pre-fame card is so much more special and valuable once the artist blows up. Similarly, the evolution system rewards and reinforces performers to stay loyal to the company. Of course, the DJs don’t really care much about the cards, but it’s a small thing that does help.

The cards are also anonymous; the backs are unique to each show, but fanned out and in the flashing lights, you can’t possibly tell them apart. The act of choosing one is something like divination. You don’t actually pick the card, with the smoke lingering from the fog machines, neon lights, and dark, heavy atmosphere, you feel like the card has selected you. Especially when you get the one you wanted. I’ve been to shows with my friend, but never picked a card. We typically get there fairly early, around midnight, but even then, the atmosphere feels unreal. It feels magical. The cards only enhance that atmosphere.

Comparing the 6 AM cards to Vendex’s is also interesting. Because 6 AM’s is made by an individual who has minimal connection to the characters he creates and the cards he produces. He doesn’t do it so much for branding, instead its more for the love of the game and to reward people involved in the scene. They’re anonymous and fairly impersonal. The person who draws the card decides the value from context. Vendex’s cards, on the other hand, align more with personal encounters, narratives, and personal branding. He personally creates them and gives them out after meeting people. That’s an important difference from the 6 AM cards. The story of how you met him, the conversation you had, and in my friend’s case, being followed on IG was as important as the card itself.

The cards are difficult to make mainstream. The company branding and personal images aren’t something that a company can easily profit off of selling. KL giving these out for free in a limited number and only to people who showed up somewhat resists the capitalist tendencies to commodify folklore. That is especially important when a lot of the organization’s other marketing strategies (merch, purchasable mixes, and branded collabs) are all monetized. The cards are by the people, for the people.

Lavender Town Tone

Background: The informant is a 25 year old male who lives in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. The informant has been playing video games for about 15 years, is on video game chat platforms, and watches videos reviewing games over the year.

Context: The informant and collector was discussing new video games over the year when at the informant’s apartment. The conversation shifted to Pokémon, given the release of the new Pokémon game.

Me: So, you mentioned Lavender Town? It sounds familiar but what is it?

MC: Basically, Lavender Town is an area in Pokémon Red and Green, you know, like the first of the games. This town is, as you might guess from the name, completely in shades of lavender and has music, as each town has unique music in each Pokémon game, that had very high frequencies. I think it was something along the lines of only children and teens were able to hear the high pitch because we lose the ability to hear certain frequencies as we grow older.

Me: And, this town has a special significance in the game? 

MC: Not for good reasons.

Me: What happened?

MC: After the game was released, in the 1990s, there was a sudden peak in suicides for younger children, around elementary school. Of course, there was a huge fan theory that it as the lavender high tone that was affecting children, causing them to commit suicide and develop illnesses, terrible headaches and stuff. This would always happen right after the children reached the town. So now, Lavender Town is infamous for, well, causing children to die.

Me: And, did Pokémon do anything about it?

MC: Yeah, I believe they changed the music, lowered the tone. But, the idea of the original Lavender Town is still out there. Ask any person who played the original Pokemon games, they will know the Lavender Town Tone. Even newer players, most likely.

Analysis:

Informant: From his words, he never expressed that he didn’t believe in the idea of the  Lavender Town Tone. In fact, he seemed to readily accept it and not question it, and is confident that other gamers also know.

Mine: The Lavender Tone is a longstanding legend about the Pokémon Red and green games. Nobody knows if it’s true or not, but it caused enough damage that they did change the frequency, perhaps admitting to some truth value in the matter. While gaming folklore commonly fades away, especially with the plethora of new games being released each year, it’s amazing how the Lavender Tone has remained for nearly three decades. Still, after searching online, it remains part of the gaming history and consciousness. It’s interesting how folklore can arise based on authored material, simply because of the effects in the real world or the massive outcry a game causes. In my opinion, I could see the frequency being a complete mistake by the sound designer as they wouldn’t be able to hear the sounds. I’m not sure if the game simply happened to be released at the wrong time and was blamed, or if the tones did play a role in the matter? I suppose that’s why it’s a legend – the truth value is questionable.

Purge the Legendary Pokemon

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/21/2019
Primary Language: English

1:

The Pokemon video game franchise has a long history of fan-circulated legends and hoaxes. One such hoax was created during the 4th Generation of Pokemon games, utilizing Pokemon Diamond for Nintendo DS. A false pokemon named Purge, whose graphics did not resemble anything close to any other Pokemon found in the game, was featured in a number of videos on Youtube. These videos purported the existence of Purge as well as building on the lore of how to obtain it.

2:

The Informant was an avid Pokemon player in primary school, as was her twin brother. The two would watch a large number of videos on Youtube about secret/fake Pokemon and try to use their instructions in order to unlock the secret Pokemon for their selves. The Informant said that she and her brother also talked to other children on the playground about these hoaxes (as though they were not hoaxes). One such way that they discussed how to obtain Purge was to “evolve a Bidoof in a specific way on some particular route, and you have to be holding a specific item”. She identified Purge as being the Fake Pokemon that she was the most invested in.

3:

This tradition in particular is founded in Internet Culture because of the nature of sharing screen recordings of the supposed gameplay. Doctored screenshots and gameplay footage being shared across epistemic groups have the ability to spread like wildfire, and the members of those groups are supposedly people who deeply enjoy the popularity they receive from the group that they belong to (in this case, the fanbase of the Pokemon video game franchise). When the informant was voraciously consuming this sort of content, she was still in primary school and had enough free time to spend hours on investigating digital legends.

Pokemon Truck

Nationality: African American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Game Design
Residence: Smyrna, GA
Performance Date: April 26, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Collected in my empty apartment. I began by simply asking, “What do you know about the truck from Pokemon?”

The informant is a big fan of the Pokemon franchise, and is very immersed in gaming culture. He has played many Pokemon games of different varieties, and loves the first generation of Pokemon (which includes the game he is referencing), though it’s not his favorite.
Informant: “There is a truck in Pokemon Red, I believe, either Red or – well, the first generation of games. So Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, all that good stuff. Umm, and apparently if you go to that truck and look under it, you can get Mew.

Interviewer: “What do you mean ‘Look under it?’”

Informant: “Like, y- you, if you, I guess if you just interact with the truck, you can battle and catch Mew.”

Interviewer: “Do you know what city it’s in?”

Informant: “It’s, ooh, I wanna say it’s one of the port cities so…. [inhales] I wanna say it’s one of the cities where you board the S.S. Anne, making it either… the city with Lieutenant Serge, which I cannot remember for the life of me.

Interviewer: “Vermillion?”

Informant: “Ver… million… Possibly, that’s probably it.”

Interviewer: “Um, where did you hear about this, and when?”

Informant: “Oh I have no idea when I heard this. I guess it was just, like, when I was still playing Pokemon Red, it was just a rumor that always went around.”

Interviewer: “Through word of mouth?”

Informant: “Mm, yeah, well or on the Internet.

Interviewer: “So you saw it on the Internet?”

Informant: “Yeah.”

Interviewer: “How old were you?”

Informant: “I don’t know. Probably a kid.”

Interviewer: “Is it real?”

Informant: “No… Well, no. First off, you can’t access the truck in the game by yourself. You have to, like, glitch over to it. Which is probably how… it kept people thinking it was real, cause they couldn’t test it out themselves. Um, yeah, but no, even if you glitch over to it and press A, it doesn’t do anything. However, uh, you can glitch the game and get Mew, just not through the truck.”

Interviewer: “For real? You can get Mew?”

Informant: “M-hm. I did it. I was 100 percenting all the games and I got all 151 Pokemon in the first game.”

Interviewer: “How?”

Informant: “Um, that is a question… I do not know the answer to. Uhh, it’s really complicated, so I forgot it, but I know it involves entering and exiting buildings and flying… to certain places. Yeah.”

Interviewer: “But it has nothing to do with the truck?”

Informant: “No. [Sudden realization] OHH!! I do remember! Okay so… above Cerulean City, there was, like, this path on the way to Bill’s house, and there was a bunch of trainers. And when you get to one of the trainers, it’ll, like, you know, exclamation point above their head when they see you. When you do that, you press Start, and then fly somewhere else. And then a bunch of other stuff. And that’s how you unlock Mew.”
This version of the truck myth has to do with finding Mew. The informant does not believe the truck has any real significance, though he is aware of the rumors. He does, however, know a real way to get Mew, proving that it is possible to get Mew in the game, even if it’s not through the truck. Like other versions, the truck is in Pokemon Red.

Pokemon Truck

Nationality: Peruvian Jewish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student at the University of Southern California, majoring in Narrative Studies
Residence: Hollywood, FL
Performance Date: April 21, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Mandarin, and a little Hebrew

Collected privately in an empty hallway while his friends played a horror game in the other room, which he returned to after the interview. I began by simply asking, “Do you know any word-of-mouth secrets for video games?” Then I specified, “What do you know about the truck from Pokemon?”

The informant is well-versed in gaming culture, and knows a lot about Pokemon, but has never played some of the older games.
Informant: “So, uhh, rumor used to have it that you could get Mew in the first gen Pokemon games Red and Blue by walking up to a truck next to the, umm, next to the boat in Vermillion City. And I think y- you needed to get over a fence, and, like, press A on it, like, a hundred times, and then Mew would fight you. I think there’s also a version of it where you use Teleport at a Pokemon Center on a bike, and it teleports you to the truck, and Mew is there. There are a few different versions I’ve heard, but those are the two I remember.”

Interviewer: “Did you try any of them?”

Informant: “I never played Pokemon Red.”

Interviewer: “Do you know people who tried any of them?”

Informant: “Uhh, yeah.”

Interviewer: “But it didn’t work?”

Informant: “Didn’t work [laughs].”

Interviewer: “So it’s not real?”

Informant: “Not as far as I know? Maybe they were doing it wrong.”
This version of the truck myth has to do with finding Mew. The informant does not really believe the myth, but has no proof denying it. Like other versions, the truck is in Pokemon Red, but the informant includes all generation 1 Pokemon games.