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Original Pokémon Star Rica Matsumoto Marks 30th Anniversary With Her 1st-Ever Game Stream

For those who celebrate, Happy Pokémon Day! Voice actor Rica Matsumoto released her first ever "Let's Play" stream of her playing the original Pokémon games, all to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary. The video features Matsumoto playing Pokémon Red up to the first battle with her in-game rival and leaving Pallet Town. The video is currently available on Matsumoto's YouTube channel.

While Matsumoto is best known as the voice of Satoshi (Ash Ketchum) from the Pokémon anime franchise, she named her game character Ricari. However, she kept her rival's name, Shigeru (Garry Oak), the same as the anime series. When selecting her starter Pokémon Matsumoto states, “It's so nostalgic it's making me cry,” and was a bit disheartened her partner Pokémon of 26 years, Pikachu, was not one of the starters.

As of press time Matsumoto has not announced if she will continue her "Let's Play" videos of Pokémon Red.

Pokémon to Collaborate with Nippon Professional Baseball League

The Pokémon franchise announced on Thursday that it is partnering with Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Leage for the game franchise's 30th anniversary. All 12 NPB teams will host Pokémon-themed games from April 3 to August 23. The events will also see original Pokémon x NPB merchandise featuring Pikachu wearing the home team's uniform and the team's partner Pokémon. Pokémon GO special events are also planned for the Pokémon themed games.

The event schedule is available on the Pokémon website.

Sources: Rica Matumoto's X/Twitter account, Rica Matsumoto's YouTube channel, PR Times, Pokémon via Hachima Kikō (link 2)