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The Pokémon Go Obsession Has Unearthed The Best Vaporwave Offshoot Yet, Pokewave

It was inevitable.
Image via Youtube.

From Simpsonwave to hardvapour to… Pokewave? It was inevitable. With current news events hitting varied levels of terrible by the day, the release of mobile game Pokémon Go last week was a godsend to those looking to escape reality for as long as their rapidly-depleting phone batteries would allow.

As with Simpsonwave, fans of the long-running Japanese anime franchise have found a way to further lose themselves in Technicolor nostalgia with Pokewave (or, more aesthetically speaking, Pokewave), a tumblr-prime mash-up of lo-fi cartoon clips and the soothing, atmospheric sounds of vaporwave.

As Music Feeds reports, Pokewave's origins are presently unclear, but writer Tom Williams has thus far managed to trace it back to April of this year, when YouTube user Neon Ian uploaded a video titled "PSYBEAM – POKeMON WAVE," which features footage from the television series layered beneath Com Truise's "Data Kiss." Another video, "Pokewave 1997" by GreenYoshi265, goes for a more tripped-out visual display—like trying to watch old, dusty VHS tapes on acid—paired with what he or she says is a "That's My Pokemon Remix of Marble Vapour." Meanwhile, on Vine, users such as Taran are making more straightforward and short, hypnotic loops that really could just play forever.

Pokewave may not take you back to your younger years when times seemed simpler, but it's probably the next best thing… at least until the next nostalgic -wave craze comes along.