The Kantos: An Epic Poem Celebrating 25 Years of Pokémon


I t's the 25th anniversary of Pokemon and I've decided to celebrate this beloved franchise with 604 lines of poetry, four for each of the 151 original pocket monsters. Pokemon Red Version was the first video game I ever owned and I know that myself and many others the world over have long enjoyed this series. The first set of games takes place in the Kanto region and it just so happens that there’s a type of long poem called a “Canto” - never one to miss an opportunity for an elaborate pun, I set to work writing these pieces.

I hope The Kantos will be an enjoyable read for a highly specific cross section of poetry lovers and Pokemon fans! It was a fun project to complete that involved reading many Pokedex entries and squeezing in as many easter eggs to the fandom as possible.




#001

The first entry into our Pokédex:
A small blue beast adorned with turquoise flecks.

It hops both to and fro upon all fours:

It’s number one, the starter, Bulbasaur.

#002

Its grass type surely makes short work of Brock,
For it holds an advantage against rock.
With bursting bulb of pink atop its back,
Ivysaur uses razor leaf attack.

#003

The prehistoric monster now in bloom,
For water Pokémon means certain doom.
For when Venusaur charges solar beam,
It means the end for any other team.

#004

When you walk through Professor Oak’s lab door
Perhaps you’d choose a little dinosaur.
Its tail of fire tells a tale of flame;
Charmander is this orange creature’s name.

#005

When your reptilian friend evolves
Its embers gain a newfound fierce resolve.
The disposition of a moody teen:
Charmeleon is not cute - he is mean.

#006

For those trainers who walk the blazing path:
Let loose upon the routes this lizard’s wrath.
All Pokémon it faces will be charred.
Behold the blue wingspan of Charizard.

#007

From Oak’s lab, there are stories that we tell
About a water type that wears a shell.
Squirtle smashes fire types with bubble
And reduces every rock to rubble.

#008

Used as a rudder, its long furry tail
And ears help it move at high speeds like sails.
Its evolution its powers augment:
Wartortle, the water adolescent.

#009

When full grown it gains cannons on its back
To drench its opponents in its attack.
A grown tortoise who is properly plump,
Blastoise prepares its hydro pump.

#010

Take a look at what the Bug Catchers caught:
A cute baby bug equipped with string shot.
Inching its way to the top of a tree,
A many-legged larva named Caterpie.

#011

Inside a chrysalis it must be strange,
Living a life within a state of change.
If you look in any common garden
You’ll find a Metapod using harden.

#012

From its cocoon comes a creature with wings,

Flying high, a colorful kite sans strings.
It’s fully evolved and gliding with glee,
The Butterfly Pokémon: Butterfree.

#013

In the first forest lives a little thing
With a big red nose and a poison sting.
On top of its head lies a big needle
Take precautions when dealing with Weedle.

#014

It’s almost incapable of moving
While it’s in the process of improving.
Being ground bound, Kakuna will not miss,
And so begins its metamorphosis.

#015

Brought up from a larva known as Weedle
It dispatches its foes with twin needle.
Trainer Arin swears that one day he will
Defeat the Elite Four with his Beedrill.

#016

At last when you depart from Pallet Town,
You will find a small bird both beige and brown.
Pidgey may very well be your first catch
And is well-prepared to peck and to scratch.

#017

Its middle stage flies ever so faster
Yet still in flight it has much to master.
Through its feathers streams of air ebb and flow
Floating through the wings of Pidgeotto.

#018

It’s the quintessential regional bird.
This bird flies so fast that it becomes blurred.
Shooting through the sky it is hard to spot:
The supersonic flying Pidgeot.

#019

On the road to Viridian City
A rat dwells, with teeth less than pretty.
Rattata the rodent, so small and frail,
A purple rat with a long swirly tail.

#020

The bucktooth rodent, now standing upright,
Ready to give enemies a strong bite.
With tall grasses its palate it shall sate
Chewed by the hyperfangs of Raticate.

#021

This tiny Pokémon gets no glory.
It’s protective of its territory.
It darts around fast to save what it can
Despite what Spearow lacks in its wingspan.

#022

A grizzled bird with a long and sharp beak
With long, large wings and outlook so bleak.
They say it’s been around since times of old
When Fearow’s crest was a sight to behold.

#023

A purple snake with a yellow rattle,
It brings poison type attacks to battles.
As this constrictor weaves and as it bends
Be careful not to be wrapped by Ekans.

#024

With patterned hood, like eyes staring beastly
This cobra backwards, is friend to Jessie.
Its venomous bite, it’s worse than hemlock
So don’t be caught by the fangs of Arbok.

#025

An electric mouse who has bright red cheeks,
It thundershocks and volt tackles and squeaks.
The famed trainer Red said he chooses you
Hail to the mascot: Hey You, Pikachu!

#026

A bigger mouse, it’s an electric scourge.
It is the partner of Lieutenant Surge.
It shocked a machine and the circuits blew.
Danger: High Voltage. Danger: It’s Raichu

#027

To protect itself, it becomes a ball
To bounce in case of a dangerous fall.
Its climate is dry and devoid of dew
The ground type mouse Pokémon - It’s Sandshrew.

#028

It can dig at an incredible pace
To make a home in an underground place.
Against predators, its claws, they will clash:
The sharp blades of the spine-covered Sandslash.

#029 

Outfitted in a most curious garb,
It’s covered in many venomous barbs.
It appears in a hue both blue and pale
It’s the poison type, Nidoran Female.

#030

When this middle stage finds herself fighting,
She attacks foes by clawing and biting.
She handles her weight in the arena
She can take on her foes: Nidorina.

#031

Its body covered with needle-like points
And plated-armor protecting its joints,
She’s an unstoppable fighting machine.

She’s practically royalty: Nidoqueen.

#032

It’s the Pokémon of the poison pin,
The purple counterpart to its blue twin.
If one wanders off of the beaten trail
Then one may encounter Nidoran male.

#033

An aggressive beast that’s quick to attack
Covered with venomous points on its back.
He still has some time before his prime and
Nonetheless his horn is hard as diamond.

#034

He constricts foes with his powerful tail
Breaking their bones too deficient and frail.
Its almighty horn can pierce anything
That defies the well-armored Nidoking.

#035

These pink invaders from the moon on high
Use a metronome to the count down the time.
They circle around and sing songs merry
Of their adventures through space as Clefairy.

#036

Reveal an evolutionary boon;
Touch Clefairy with a stone of the moon.
It’s a cosmic sight to see if you’re able:
The fairy from outer space, Clefable

#037

A single tail starts out as white as bone

Then splits into many once she is grown.

Then many orange tails do number six

Upon the fire breathing fox, Vulpix.

#038

Don’t grab its tails. You’ll make your life much worse
And subject yourself to an age-old curse.
Ninetales lives longer than most of its peers
With wisdom to last for one thousand years.

#039

A singer with a sharpie microphone
Lets trembling loose sweet lethargic tones.
She’s got attitude and she’s got the stuff.
Give a round of applause for Jigglypuff!

#040

Inhaling, she will inflate without bound
Becoming a ball, so perfectly round.
One may think she’s just a pink ball of fluff
Underestimating Wigglytuff.

#041

The sonic scourge, who every tunnel fills,
Echoes to locate anyone who will
Listen, be it a rock or stream or trainer.
Zubat is known to be an ear strainer.

#042

This bat’s a threat, in a cave, to come by.
It will drink ‘til it’s too heavy to fly.
Golbat lives by this one simple dictum:
That’s “to drain all it can from its victim.”

#043

Sprouting up from the stature of a seed
On two small feet stands a blue bodied weed.
During the day, it’s buried underground.
At night, Oddish spreads its seeds all around.

#044

Its nectar drips from its mouth much like drool
Whose odor is foul and smells something cruel.
Clumsy dripping plant whose scents fill the room,
You will need a leaf stone to evolve Gloom

#045

Watch this Pokémon. You may catch a glance
Of an elegant movement called Petal Dance.
It emits the most noxious poison fumes.
It is Erika’s flower, Vileplume.

#046

The parasites upon her back, she feeds
And willingly she meets the mushroom’s needs.
To the tochukaso, the Paras gives
The nutrients she herself needs to live.

#047

The shroom spores guide the mind of this sad bug
Affecting its free will as would a drug.
The mushroom on its back, it does direct
Every last movement of doomed Parasect.

#048

Fuzzy purple ball with beady red eyes
With powders to poison and paralyze.
There, in the night, eating bugs, what is that?
It’s the bug type Pokémon: Venonat.

#049

Fluttering wings in Fuschia City’s Gym,
Koga’s signature floats violet and grim.
Venomoth shows its raw toxic power
casting a plague of poisonous powder.

#050

Below the surface is a mystery
That’s stumped the greatest minds in history.
You won’t find out on a Diglett Cave trek:
What does Diglett look like below the neck?

#051

They say that three heads are better than one
And so for this ground type the deal is done.
It’s a simple fact that it goes to show
Thrice better than Diglett is Dugtrio.

#052

A greedy cat that taught himself to talk
And stand upright upon two feet and walk.
Meowth went from collecting amounts of yen
To blasting off with Team Rocket again.

#053

A haughty feline with a glowing jewel
Equally sophisticated and cruel.
Persian’s more likely owned and rarely stray.
He’s the cat you’d like to have on pay day.

#054

Swimming, you find a water type in lakes,
A yellow fowl who is prone to headaches.
If it hurts, one really ought to cower
When Psyduck displays its psychic power.

#055

For a monster, it’s often confused.
Of being a Kappa, it is accused.
Listen to the recognizable cluck
And make no mistake that this is Golduck.

#056

This creature cannot abide by a cage
For it is inclined to fierce fits of rage.
A body rotund and limbs so lanky
Fury swipes fly from the paws of Mankey.

#057

Lithe prize fighter with a round piggy’s nose,
Its rage, unchecked, continually grows.
He’ll spare no opportunity to scrape.
Prepare for the boxing gloves of Primeape.

#058

Though small of stature, it has a great roar
Due to the oath, to its trainer, it swore
Orange, striped puppy of legend and myth
The loyal and friendly partner, Growlithe.

#059

This is the legendary pokémon
Gliding gallantly at the rise of dawn.
Its fire blast does brilliantly shine.
See the burning power of Arcanine.

#060

It would much prefer to swim than to stand
For it's just taken its first steps on land.
In water, it is fast - it does not drag:
The tiny tadpole known as Poliwag.

#061

To keep itself wet, it secretes a slime.
That way it has moisture all of the time.
Upon its belly is a great, big swirl.
This boxing tadpole’s name is Poliwhirl.

#062

Muscles rippling and confidence brimming,
It beats the best human swimmers swimming.
After he wins, he might enjoy a bath:
The powerful water type, Poliwrath.

#063

Eighteen hour sleeper teleporting,
Your chance to catch, it is always thwarting.
Abra’s always fleeing, ever fleeting,
So there’s little likelihood of meeting.

#064

From its brain, it can emit alpha waves
That affect how machinery behaves.
Most opponents it can simply dismiss

After Kadabra uses Kinesis.

#065

It has an impossibly high IQ,
Which sets it apart as one of the few
Who with ease could pass just any exam:
Sabrina’s spoon-bending Alakazam.

#066

It patiently practices martial arts
So someday its strength will be off the charts.
A humanoid head with ridges on top:
The superpower Pokémon, Machop.

#067

Its power is restricted by its belt
To mitigate the power its foes are dealt.
The muscles are sturdy and strong as oak

On the fighting type champion, Machoke.

#068

Bruno brought up this big, buff, and blue brute
flexing his muscles in a wrestler’s suit.
Its opponents are grappled, thrown, and clamped
Brought to submission by four-armed Machamp.

#069

A walking-upright plant with leaves for arms,
Its poison acid can and will cause harm.
Endangered insects should avoid its snout
Lest they become food for hungry Bellsprout.

#070

It has a vibrant yellow coloring
And when hungry will swallow anything.
From Weepinbell, poison damage is dealt
And as a result, its opponents melt.

#071

A simply gargantuan pitcher plant
Whose prey to its mouth it hopes to enchant.
Bugs and small creatures can just say farewell
When they fall in the maw of Victreebel.

#072

It floats through the deep like a jellyfish
Its blue bulbous head can be grabbed and squished.
What is that at the bottom of the pool?
Watch for the wrapping grasp of Tentacool.

#073

Keep an eye open when just off the pier
For the blue creature with glowing red spheres.
Best watch out in the water or else you’ll
Be snared by the stingers of Tentacruel.

#074

Unassuming boulder fitted with hands
Hid upon boulders that rest upon sands.
Throughout Rock Tunnel you may be pursued
By the first stage rock type named Geodude.

#075

Many a climber, they have told the tales
Of something rolling down the mountain trails.
Upon a rocky clime, a traveler
May find a boulder known as Graveler.

#076

A round beast, clinging to cliff faces tight,
It can easily withstand dynamite.
Powerful creature, of immense rock brawn,
It’s Golem, the megaton Pokémon.

#077

Her hooves hold a hardness that’s plenty ample

For providing force with which she can trample.
Striding Ponyta, she’s the fire horse
Who outruns opponents with blazing force.

#078

Galloping across the vast golden plain,
A gallant steed dressed with a burning mane.
With fire, she turns opponents to ash
Who can’t withstand the force of Rapidash.

#079

Devoid of thought, devoid of emotion
It dips its tail in translucent ocean,
Fishing for a friend to bite and become
More than a Slowpoke but somewhat still dumb.

#080

When onto its tail a Shellder does bite
This pink Pokémon shall double in might.
Its tidal techniques of water will flow
Washing over enemies of Slowbro.

#081

All metallic objects, it will attract.
Opponents face an electric attack.
It gives off a most polarizing sight.
See the magnetic field of Magnemite.

#082

As if many Magnemites tied in knots,

It appears with the presence of sunspots.
Radio signals shall spurn this one on;
Proof that three’s better than one: Magneton.

#083

Rustling on the forest floor it’s heard:

The shuffling steps of a flightless bird.
Though small in stature, Farfetch’d is not meek.
He will strike you with his mighty green leek.

#084

Two powerful legs and a body furred,
Speeding on the plains, a twin-headed bird.
Bound to the ground and feeding upon seed
Doduo makes up for flying with speed.

#085

While two heads sleep, one always stays awake ,
So with three times the brains, smart plans it bakes.
This flightless bird consists of a trio,
Three heads with attitude: it’s Dodrio

#086

Its head is capped with a protruding horn.
It shatters glaciers with this useful thorn.
Upon the shifting blocks of ice does kneel
The alabaster ice-type known as Seel.

#087

It lives in a frosty place it finds nice,
Where it submerges beneath plates of ice.
It boasts a pure white tail so very long:
The smiling sea lion called Dewgong.

#088

This Pokémon smells too putrid to touch.
Its horrible stench is simply too much.
It lurks in the hidden filth of night time,
Grimer, consisting of disgusting slime.

#089

It smells awful. It can cause one to faint
And everything it touches it does taint.
If one touches its sludge, they might get stuck
In the poisonous purple mass of Muk.

#090

Beneath the depths in the dark and the damp
Rests a bivalve mollusk whose foes are clamped.

Any attack it can simply repel.
They don’t stand a chance against Shellder’s shell.

#091

Some say its innards have never been seen
So most only see its shell’s brightened sheen.
A violet, spine-covered, hard-shelled oyster
With a hidden, round face known as Cloyster.

#092

To see this ghost, you will need more than hope
It’s best to come prepared with a Silph Scope.
Without this device, it will not appear,
But Gastly can still cause you to feel fear.

#093

A big floating head, with two floating hands,
It frightens people across all the lands.
Look out, trainer, wherever you saunter.
You may come across a spirit called Haunter.

#094

Agatha’s shadow and Agatha’s pet
Makes its opponents break out in a sweat.
Gengar evolves through the method of trade
And scares opponents with deadly night shade.

#095

A leviathan that’s made up of rocks,
Fearsome to trainers but a friend to Brock.
Through the winding path of Rock Tunnel roams
Onix, slithering through its earthy home.

#096

This Pokémon cooks up miserable schemes

To feast upon its enemies’ sweet dreams.
If you find yourself getting very sleepy,
Check your surroundings for long-nosed Drowzee.

#097

This yellow biped is rightly despised.
It took away a child hypnotized.
When you see Hypno’s swinging pendulum,
Turn around and go back where you came from.

#098

It balances when it’s walking sideways
Along shifting drifts of sand where it stays.
Scuttling on the beach causes clamor:
The raucous sound of Krabby’s Crabhammer.

#099

It’s claw’s huge size makes it tricky to use,
But all those caught in its vice grip will lose.
It’s Kingler’s curse: a claw far too chunky
That causes attacks to be too clunky.

#100

In the Powerplant’s bright electric halls

Beware the things that look like Pokéballs.
It draws trainers in with item-like bait.
The spherical Voltorb, it lies in wait.

#101

It stores energy inside of its body.
However, its construction is shoddy.
One should not go too near an Electrode
For this sphere is liable to explode.

#102

A multiple part many-egged montage
That dispatches its foes with a barrage.
Someday it will sprout and it will take root,
The small six-part existence: Exeggcute.

#103

Camouflaged among the plants, it does strut
Resembling a tree of coconut.
With psychic prowess one can’t just ignore,
Ambling on trunk-like legs: Exeggutor.

#104

Upon its head it wears its mother’s skull
And with her memories its heart is full.
Orphaned infant, spends its time all alone
With a femur in its hand, it’s Cubone.

#105

It’s departed from its beloved cub,
Taking out aggression with its bone club.

The baby’s mother did come creeping back.

The ghost of the tower was Marowak.

#106

Its powerful legs! They stretch and contract
As it does deliver fighting attacks.
At Saffron City’s Dojo you may pick
Hitmonlee, master of the Hi Jump Kick.

#107

Its arms deliver lightning fast volleys
That move too quickly for the eye to see.
At Saffron City’s Dojo you may plan
To become the partner of Hitmonchan.

#108

Slathered with saliva, thick and gooey

With properties both slick and gluey.
Foes faced with this Pokémon have spit flung
At them from the mouth of a Lickitung.

#109

Dressed with a warning, an ominous skull
And crossbones across its countenance dull.
This purple orb, it is always scoffing
Performing its namesake, always Koffing.

#110

This partner belongs to the trainer James.
With balls of sludge, at opponents it aims.
Its appearance, it is most displeasing:
The lavender amalgam called Weezing.

#111

It easily knocks a trailer flying
With its hard plate armor, fortifying.
Charging forth is its burden to be borne.
There’s no stopping a moving Rhyhorn.

#112

It can survive in a volcanic hill,
The top of its head adorned with a drill.
Quite essential to Giovanni’s con,
The tank of Viridian gym: Rhydon.

#113

A rare Pokémon that brings happiness,
A medical marvel that gives pure bliss.
At the nurse’s station, Chansey toiled
To ensure her egg could be softboiled.

#114

Its whole body is swathed with vines,
Its true self hidden within thick confines.
Tangela walks upon its big red shoes,
In a tangle of seaweed colored blue.

#115

In the Safari, a creature does crouch
Protecting the infant within its pouch.
She does anything to keep safe her spawn:
The maternal instincts of Kangaskhan.

#116

It spends everyday diving in the drink
And shooting down stray bugs with blasts of ink.
From its round mouth it blows bubbles with glee:
The infantile dragon called Horsea.

#117

It hooks its tail to coral while sleeping
In the reef where it finds its safe keeping.
Watch out for its back, the venom that comes
From Seadra’s many fins might make one numb.

#118

Upon the docks where fishermen do rest

There’s a common fish that’s a common pest.
No better from those waters can you glean;

At the end of my good rod bites Goldeen.

#119

In the late Autumn season’s last few weeks,
It’s seen swimming up the rivers and creeks.
See blurs of gold through the waters streaking
And there’s a chance that you have seen Seaking.

#120

It regenerates any appendage
From even the tiniest percentage.
In its center a crimson gem shines true,
Spreading out in five yellow points: Staryu.

#121

Set in the center, its jewel does glow
With the seven colors of the rainbow.
The star player of gym leader Misty,
The mysterious Pokémon: Starmie.

#122

He blocks many attacks upon the field
With his invisible barrier shield:
The peculiar pantomime pastime
Of the clown that calls itself Mr. Mime.

#123

If you should rest within the open glades,
You’d do best to avoid this bug’s sharp blades.
Adversaries are met with confusion
By Scyther’s quick double-team illusion.

#124

A siren so immaculately dressed
Her lovely kiss will put you to rest.
She sways side to side while she’s advancing
Making it appear that Jynx is dancing.

#125

Be sure to watch out during rain showers
For electricity is his power.
When you see Electabuzz start to glow,
The lightning bolts will soon surely follow.

#126

On Cinnabar Island’s ash dusted plain
You’ll encounter this favorite of Blaine.
Magmar sure enjoys playing with fire
Crossing his heated path could be dire.

#127

This stag beetle hides within grasses green
Waiting for opponents to Guillotine.
Avoid at all costs the peculiar hug
Of Pinsir, the mighty, powerful bug.

#128

If you mess with him, you’ll get a hornful
Of the sheer raw strength of this wild bull.
A monster equipped with three whipping tails,
Tauros’s stampede makes him tough as nails.

#129

For just five hundred outside of Mt. Moon,
You can buy this splashing, orange buffoon.
You cannot quite consider this fish sharp:
The floundering, whiskered Magikarp.

#130

When reaching the top of the waterfall,

Its body turns blue and its size will sprawl.
You’ll want to turn around if you get too close
To the atrocious dragon, Gyarados.

#131

Majestic, as if on a royal court -
Yet laboring, an expert in transport.
Upon its back you may find Lorelei,
For Lapras is this Elite Four’s ally.

#132

Anything at all can become the norm
When one has the aptitude to transform.
A Ditto, the failed experiment, showed
A skill for copying genetic code.

#133

Look in a back alley of Celadon
To find this ever changing Pokémon.
Eevee’s many paths of evolution
Bring a multitude of resolutions.

#134

To Eevee take and hold a water stone;
Its skin will change and slicken to the bone.
Its tail is mistaken for a mermaid.
Vaporeon, who through the river wades.

#135

To Eevee take and touch a thunderstone;
Its fuzzy fur will gain a yellow tone.
It’s known to discharge shocking lightning bolts.
Jolteon blasts up to 10,000 volts.

#136

To Eevee take and give a fire stone;
Its mane will thicken and be overblown.
It heats up to 1600 degrees.
Flareon has fiery expertise.

#137

Capable of moving in cyberspace,
It exists in a strange virtual place.
When it comes to Conversion, do count on
The computing skills of a Porygon.

#138

A fossil living beside crude oil
Resurrected from inside its shell’s coil.
By twisting its ten tentacles about,
Omanyte swims across watery routes.

#139

Onlookers, worshippers, they stare in awe
At its gnarled jowls, the four-cornered maw
Of the spiral king, the great Lord Helix -
Upon Omastar their wonder’s affixed.

#140

Creepy crawler with a shell of dark brown
Lives beneath the waters where one may drown.
Into a clawed creature he’ll surely grow:
The humble dome fossil called Kabuto.

#141

This creature of old stalks underground caves
Like a reaper haunting watery graves.
With fierce, sharpened blades, this creature it chops:
Look upon the sickles of Kabutops!

#142

Taken from amber in a space beneath,
It attacks with serrated saw-like teeth.
The Aerodactyl hails from ancient times
When beasts that ruled the Earth were in their prime.

#143

You may someday find a block in the route.
Make sure to always bring your Pokéflute.
You’ll find them laying upon their broad backs:
The sleeping Pokémon known as Snorlax.

#144

First comes the freezing bird of bitter cold,

Who roosts in Seafoam since the times old.
It builds its nest in the harsh winter snow,
The legendary bird: Articuno.

#145

Second storms the shocking bird of thunder,
Strongly sparking echoed waves of wonder.
Lightning bolts will descend upon its foes,
The Power Plant’s electric bird: Zapdos.

#146

Third blazes the flaming bird of fire
Lighting up each trainer’s deep desire.
Through Victory Road, wherein this bird lays:
The Elite Four’s gate keeper called Moltres. 

#147

In the safari, use a super rod
To add the lonely dragon to your squad.
Little creature, so small and so teeny,
Long considered mythical: Dratini.

#148

Mystical, with a calm, gentle aura,
Having effect on fauna and flora.
Elegant creature, beautiful and fair:
The azure-colored, slender Dragonair

#149

The sea guardian, ocean’s protector
Coveted by many a collector.
Dragonite assumes its powerful stance
To fight beside the Dragon Master Lance.

#150

In the depths of the Cerulean Cave,

This creation no more will be a slave.
It was an experiment, that is true,
Resulting in unstoppable Mewtwo.

#151

If you want to find it, you’ll need great luck.
Rumor has it, it lives beneath a truck.
So rare it’s considered a prize to view,
The most elusive of all: mythic Mew.


If you made it here, thanks for reading all the way to the end! What do you say, is it time for Gen 2 next?


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