I'm Summerhayes, and I love Genesect.
In the Carboniferous period, up to around 300 million years ago, the Earth had a much higher oxygen concentration. Creatures, including bugs and insects, were therefore both able and even required to evolve to large sizes. Dragonflies the size of birds and centipedes as long as cars were commonplace!
In the Pokémon world, modern-day bugs regularly grow to the size of creatures not seen in the real world since those prehistoric times. It makes you wonder, what horrors existed 300 million years ago in that universe, where Scyther and Golissipod are walking around town today?
One answer we saw in the first generation was Kabuto, a fossilized trilobite recreated with modern science. On the same island where those experiments were conducted, another creature was born; Mewtwo.
Genesect, the final mythical Pokémon of the fifth generation, combines those two experiments, reviving an unknown fossil but also upgrading it into a bug and steel type Cyborg.
Black 2
This Pokémon existed 300 million years ago. Team Plasma altered it and attached a cannon to its back.
White 2

While Genesects typing is always bug and steel, its signature move Techno Blast can be fire, ice, electric or water type depending on the drive installed in Genesect as a held item. This speaks to Genesect’s greatest strength; a wide coverage of attacking moves letting it tear through any kind of opposing team. As a mythical, it has never been legal in official tournaments but fans used it in competition to such an extent it was banned.
JAY
Genesect
Genesect has received many noteworthy cards such as Genesect GX who saw some niche play during the Sun & Moon era of the TCG thanks to its Double Drive ability to hold two Pokemon Tool cards. There is also Shining Genesect who sees play in the fanmade Gym Leader Challenge format where players play a single Pokemon Type. In this case, Shining Genesect is played in Grass GLC decks because it can do massive damage with Gaia Blaster and pull Grass energy off the Bench with its Energy Reload ability. Even now, Genesect is seeing fringe play in a popular deck thanks to it’s Ace Nullifier ability that prevents your opponent from using any ACE SPEC cards as long as Genesect has a Pokemon Tool attached.
Though, we got some World Championship winning Genesects to talk about.
The first Genesect to win a Pokemon World Championship in the TCG was actually hinted at a few episodes ago with Virizion EX. In 2014, Andrew Estrada took on the world using Virizion EX who used Emerald Slash to do 50 damage to any Pokemon that got in its way. Meanwhile, it will accelerate two Grass energy from the deck to a Pokemon on the bench. That Pokemon…Genesect EX.

Genesect EX had the ability Red Signal, able to switch one of your opponent’s Pokemon with their Active Pokemon.
Perfect as you can now aim Genesect EX’s Megalo Cannon directly at the unsuspecting Pokemon in the active.
Andrew Estrada became the Emerald King when he used Genesect EX to slash and blast his way into becoming the 2014 Pokemon World Champion for the Masters Division.

But Genesect’s World Championship titles don’t end in 2014. That is because Genesect was part of the 6th place World Championship deck in 2022 and then World Championship winning deck in 2024 in Mew VMAX Fusion deck.

So what did Genesect do in these decks? Draw and blast!
Players will flood their bench with at least three Genesect V. Put their hand down to as low as possible, draw cards with a Genesect V’s Fusion Strike System. They will then play down their hand using various cards to use another Genesect V’s ability. Rinse and repeat to draw more cards. Then they will finish off their turn by having Mew VMAX’s Cross Fusion Strike to copy Genesect V’s Techno Blast to do at least 210 damage or more thanks to cards like Power Tablet. That is exactly what Vance Kelley did to win the 2024 World Championship to overcome famed TCG play Tord Reklev and become TCG Masters World Champion.

Some Pokemon get all the love. Genesect is one of them.

Genesect met its inspiration Mewtwo in a feature length film, Genesect and the Legend Awakened, in which they experienced a similar struggle with identity as a created creature.
The name Genesect combines Genesis and Insect, and also genetic, owing to its prehistoric origins and also its subsequent scientific upgrades. Its title is the Paleozoic Pokémon, the Paleozoic time period encompassing the Carboniferous age of giant insects.
As a recovering arachnophobe, I sometimes struggle with creepy crawlies at the scale alive today. Imagining the monsters of the Pokémon world, or the giants of our own Earth’s ancient history, might be a bit too much. Combine the two, and well . . . that’s a monster I would want to stay on the good side of.
Original music for Luke Loves Pokémon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork is by Katie Groves. Funding is provided by listeners at Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and want to check out other shows by me and my friends, head to podcastiopodcastius.org.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch about upcoming Pokémon on twitter or facebook at LukeLovesPKMN, or on Bluesky @PodcastPodcast. Drop a comment if you’re watching the video, or a review on apple podcasts or spotify. That’s the end of Unova and the fifth generation. I’ll take a brief break to visit the UK, and soon we’ll be back for Kalos and the sixth generation.
Even if you don’t feel like doing any of that, thank you so much just for listening.
I love Genesect. And remember, I love you too.