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Ep345: Satoshi Tajiri · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder open
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  wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats. Daily starts your day.
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  Fun and laughter come your way. Sports and trivia games galore.
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  You're tuned in to Kick Ass Daily.
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  From sports and science to history and technology, we've
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  got the coolest stories and facts waiting for you.
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  Today we're exploring the true story of Satoshi Tejiri, the kid
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  who loved catching insects so much that he turned that passion
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  into Pokémon, one of the most famous game worlds on Earth.
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  We'll look at how his childhood curiosity became a new way to
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  play, trade and connect with friends, and how careful,
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  patient game design changed the video game industry.
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  Satoshi Tejiri grew up in Japan, in Machida, a suburb of Tokyo.
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  As a child, he spent hours outdoors looking for beetles,
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  cicadas and other insects. He brought a notebook, drew what
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  he saw, and kept track of where certain bugs liked to hide.
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  He did not see this as schoolwork.
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  He did it because he was excited to learn from real life.
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  When nearby fields and wooded spots were turned into buildings
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  and roads, it became harder to find insects.
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  He did not give up on being curious, he simply found new
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  places to explore, like arcades filled with electronic games.
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  Here is a trivia question for you.
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  What was the original Japanese title of Pokémon before the name
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  was shortened? In English?
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  The answer is pocket monsters. The word Pokémon comes from
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  combining parts of those two words.
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  As a teenager, Satoshi liked to figure out how arcade games
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  worked. He took notes on patterns,
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  learned how to beat high scores, and even wrote about his
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  findings. He launched a small magazine
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  with friends called Game Freak. It was a fan made guide with
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  tips and reviews. People bought it because it was
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  clear, helpful, and accurate. This success showed Satoshi that
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  he could move from writing about games to making them.
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  Before Pokémon, Satoshi and his team made their first commercial
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  game called Mendel Palace, known in Japan as Quinny for the
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  Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a puzzle action game with
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  simple rules and clever levels. The team behind the magazine
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  Game Freak became the game studio Game Freak with Satoshi
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  as a founder. They learned how to design
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  stages, fix bugs in code, and meet project deadlines.
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  They even worked with different systems.
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  Here is a yes or no question. Did Satoshi Tejiri and Game
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  Freak develop a fast-paced action game called Pulseman for
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  the Sega Genesis? Yes, they did.
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  Pulseman released in the mid 1990s and showed that the team
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  could create slick graphics and responsive controls on hardware
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  that was not made by Nintendo. Now let's jump to the big idea.
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  Satoshi remembered the excitement of collecting insects
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  and sharing discoveries with friends.
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  He thought a handheld game could capture that feeling by letting
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  players find creatures, keep records, and interact together.
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  He looked at the Gameboy and noticed a special feature, a
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  cable that let two players connect their systems.
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  Here's a trivia challenge. What specific Gameboy feature
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  inspired the idea of trading creatures between players?
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  The answer is the link cable. That simple wire let two people
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  connect and exchange data. With that, the concept formed a
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  world where you could discover creatures, record them in a
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  digital encyclopedia, trade them with friends and have friendly
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  matches. Satoshi worked with artist Ken
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  Sujimori, who designed the look of the creatures and characters,
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  and with programmer composer Junichi Masuda, who helped build
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  the game engine and composed music.
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  Ready for another trivia question that adds a new detail?
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  Who became the main composer and later a key director at
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  Gamefreak, helping shape the sound and design of the series?
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  The answer is Junichi Masuda. He wrote many of the most famous
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  tunes players still recognize. Creating Pokémon took time and
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  patience. Development began in the early
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  1990s and lasted about six years.
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  During that period, Satoshi pitched his idea to Nintendo.
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  Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator behind games like Super Mario
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  and The Legend of Zelda, supported him and offered
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  guidance. Nintendo trusted the concept,
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  even though it was unusual for the time.
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  The team refined the trading system, polished the catching
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  and training features, and tested how 2 versions could work
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  together. They released Pocket monsters
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  Red and Green in Japan in 1996 for the Game Boy.
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  Later in 1998, the games arrived in North America as Pokémon Red
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  and Blue. Kids could compare which
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  creatures appeared in each version, and trading encouraged
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  real world social interaction. Here is a yes or no question
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  that reveals something new. Was the original Kando Pokedex
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  designed to include 151 Pokémon? Yes, there were 151 in the first
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  generation which gave players a clear goal to try to complete
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  the set, especially by trading with friends to get version
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  exclusive creatures. Did you know that a special in
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  game item called a pokeball was created as a simple,
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  understandable tool to show how capturing works with one button
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  press? It made the system friendly for
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  new players. Another fun fact, the game's
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  music used short, catchy loops to work well on the Game Boy's
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  limited sound channels, which included square waves for
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  melodies and a noise channel for percussion.
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  Junichi must suit to balance these sounds so the music felt
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  active but not overwhelming. During long play sessions,
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  Satoshi focused on exploration, discovery and communication.
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  For example, the game teaches you to talk to non player
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  characters who give hints, search tall grass to find
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  creatures, and use a map to track where you have visited.
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  Battling in the game is turn based, which means you select
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  actions and then see results. This clear structure lets
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  players think about choices, such as which move to use or
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  whether to switch a creature. The game slowly introduces
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  status effects and type advantages with safe, easy to
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  read menus. If you like solving puzzles,
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  building a team is like solving connected problems.
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  You look at your team's move sets, see what types you might
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  be missing, and plan who to train next.
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  Let's drop in another new bit as a question.
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  Did Pokémon Red and Blue communicate using infrared
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  sensors when trading on Game Boy?
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  No, the original games used the wired link cable.
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  Infrared features showed up later on certain models and in
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  later accessories, but the first trading was entirely through
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  that cable. As Pokémon grew, it expanded
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  beyond video games. There were trading cards with
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  rules that encouraged memory and counting.
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  There was an animated TV show that introduced characters like
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  Ash and Pikachu to a huge audience.
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  There were movies, guides, and toys, but it all started with a
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  clear idea. Satoshi had collection,
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  connection, and friendly competition on a simple handheld
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  system. Here is a final trivia question
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  that brings in a fresh angle. Which handheld Accessory,
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  released years after the first games let players track steps
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  and transfer special data to compatible games, encouraging
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  walking in daily life? The answer is the Poke Walker, a
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  small pedometer accessory that came with Pokémon Heart Gold and
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  Soul Silver for the Nintendo DS. It rewarded real world movement
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  within game items or creatures. Satoshi Tejiri stayed involved
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  as a director and producer in later entries guiding the series
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  Core Ideas. He cared about design choices
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  that made learning part of the fun.
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  Tutorials were short, text was clear, and the early areas were
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  built to teach rules through safe practice.
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  For example, a path with slightly stronger wild creatures
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  nudges you to train a bit more before moving ahead.
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  Towns and routes are arranged like steps, so you always feel
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  you have a reachable next goal. Another Did You Know Moment Game
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  Free kept their studios small compared to some other
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  companies. This let teams communicate
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  quickly and keep a shared vision.
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  It also meant the same core people could guide art, music,
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  and programming across multiple games, helping the series stay
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  consistent even as it added new regions, types, and features
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  over the years. Let's recap what we learned
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  today. Satoshi Tejiri was a curious kid
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  who loved finding insects and keeping careful notes.
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  When his favorite outdoor spots changed, he brought that
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  curiosity into arcades and game design.
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  He launched the Game Freak magazine, then turned it into a
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  development studio. He and his team built skills on
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  early projects like Mendel Palace and Pulseman.
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  Inspired by the Gameboy Link cable and the idea of sharing
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  collections with friends, he created Pokémon with support
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  from Nintendo and guidance from Shigeru Miyamoto, and with
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  partners like Ken Sijimori and Junichi Masuda.
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  The team released pocket monsters Red and Green in Japan,
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  and later Pokémon Red and Blue around the world.
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  The original games featured 151 Pokémon turn base matches and
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  trading that encouraged real world social play.
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  Over time, Pokémon expanded into cards, shows, movies, and new
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  game features, all built on Satoshi's clear goal.
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  Make discovery, learning, and connection feel natural and fun.
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  Thanks for listening. Keep your curiosity alive by
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  observing the world around you, asking questions, and trying
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  projects that match what you love.
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  Who knows what idea you might turn into something amazing next
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  time? Grab your breakfast.
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  Feeling fine?