To commemorate the final episode of the TV series “Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon” we've got a special interview with Satoshi herself, Ms. Rica Matsumoto, entitled “Thoughts about Dr. Ookido, from whom it all began.”


A few weeks ago we here at CoroCoro Online dared to conduct an interview with the hero herself Ms. Rica Matsumoto to commemorate Satoshi's conquering of the Alola Pokemon League.


Ms. Matsumoto was all smiles during the interview and she was full of energy, just like Satoshi is right after the end of a battle...except for this one part where she couldn't keep her eyes dry after we threw her a question about “that person.”

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-- Continuing on, now that you've finally won is there anything you want to say to your partner Pikachu?

Rica Matsumoto (below, just “Matsumoto”):  Since it's been fighting together with me all this time I guess it'd have to be “Thank you for always being by my side!!” wouldn't it?


-- And now, is there anything you want to say now to the person who set this whole adventure into motion in the first place, Dr. Ookido?

Matsumoto:  ...to Dr. Ookido...? Yeah...OK. Um. Please keep looking over us. Even now.

(...after a long silence Ms. Matsumoto begins speaking again as tears start to run down her face)

But you know. I just took it for granted that he'd always be there, you know? That he'd always be there, right beside me... And now I look back and feel like I didn't thank him enough for all that he's done.

When Pokemon first began the opening and ending themes were sung by Satoshi and Dr. Ookido and so the two of us would also end up going to all these promotional events together. I had already been working as a singer by that point so I was used to being up on stage and all that. But this was Unshou (Ishizuka)'s first time singing in front of a live audience and so he was all like “I don't wanna, I don't wanna.” But then when he actually went out there and did it he told me “I didn't think the children would be that happy to hear me sing...I'm glad I did it.”

The two of us went to a lot of events like that. I really wanted to tell Mr. Unshou “Thank you so, so much for everything.”

In Pokemon, Satoshi reads the episode titles, right? And a little bit before that you've got the professor's narration. So we were the first two to go up in front of the mic (in the recording studio). At first we used to ask “So which mic do you want to use?” and after doing this a bit we'd make our decision and stick to it. So when they'd say “OK, let's get started” the two of us would always be standing in the exact same spot. But now I look over at his mic and see that he's not standing there anymore and I can't help but still let out a sigh.

It's been a year (since Mr. Unshou passed away), hasn't it? But to me it still feels like it all happened just yesterday.

Somehow it's been 23 years since Pokemon started but it doesn't feel like that at all. But at the same time, when I think back to the last 23 years it also feels like it's been even longer than that. I dunno, if I dwell on it too much then all that'll do is stress everyone out...

So anyway, I want to say something like “Please look after us.” Because Pokemon always starts off with Dr. Ookido's narration, even now. Because even now he's still alive in all our hearts.

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After that, as Mr. Matsumoto continues crying, she shouts out “May I have a tissue please!!!!!” in the loudest voice she'd end up making that day. After that, she switched back to being the always energetic Satoshi and finished the interview.

Ms Rica Matsumoto, thank you so much! Dr. Ookido means something to everyone involved in Pokemon and on that day we could feel him giving us a nice little nudge forward.

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External Links

■Rica Matsumoto's Official Fan Club Website:
https://rica-matsumoto.jp/

■Rica Matsumoto's Twitter Account:
@rica_matsumoto3

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