I am Legend

Last post, I mentioned that I only had one outstanding Legendary Pokémon from SoulSilver to catch: the elusive Eon Pokémon Latios. I also mentioned that since he was the last legendary to catch, I'd probably be okay using my precious Master Ball on him if the hunt proved too difficult.

Well, it looks like I needn't have bothered, as I managed to catch him with a single Fast Ball. That's right, I'm now the proud owner of a level 35 male Latios, whom I've named Sonic (to complement Knuckles the Latias, of course).

Thanks, Sonic!

Even though this was undoubtedly the highlight of my Pokéxploits this past week, I still managed to add a few more entries to the 'dex. Using a Water Stone I won in the Pokéathelon, I evolved Namora into a Cloyster. After an hour or so in the Ruins of Alph, I managed to catch a level 20 male Smeargle named Dog Vinci. And as always, I've been diligently evolving my Pokémon; first Janet into a Yanmega, then Caesar into an Ambipom. I've started training some Pokémon that need high friendships to evolve, turning Morrigan into a Crobat, Squeeq into a Marill and then Azumarill, and O'Hare into a *shudder* Lopunny. I gotta say that friendship evolutions are a lot more work than simple level-up evolutions. Not really looking forward to shooting for an Umbreon and Espeon.

Finally, I managed to find Old Amber and a Dome Fossil in the Ruins of Alph, earning myself an Aerodactyl and a Kabuto.

This brings me to a respectable 298 Pokémon, meaning I have less than 200 to go in order to fill out my 4th generation Pokédex. While I still have several outstanding Pokémon to catch in SoulSilver, now's probably as good a time as ever to move on to Pokémon Ruby. I'll probably still be spending time in Johto/Kanto earning Stones in the Pokéathelon and hopefully catching those last few stragglers, but the next phase of my Pokéjourney is about to begin.

Wish me luck.

More like Relican't

So far, these past twelve days have mostly been devoted to fighting rematches against the various gym leaders. The results have been fairly positive; my lineup has been slowly but surely increasing in power, while I've managed to evolve other weaker Pokémon, getting closer and closer to filling out my Pokédex. I realize that my Pokémon would get stronger a lot more quickly if I didn't stick an EXP share on whichever weak Pokémon I was trying to evolve at the time, but hey, this way I'm multitasking. And since last post I've managed to evolve...

-my Gulpin, Kirby, into a Swalot
-my Wurmple, M'rrgla, first into a Silcoon and then a Beautifly
-my Dratini, Toothless, into a Dragonair
-Magmus, my Slugma, into a Magcargo
-my Snubbull, Throw Mama, into a Granbull
-my Teddiursa, Bear Jew, into an Ursaring
-Rocksteady, my Rhyhorn, into a Rhydon
-and finally Kim, my Chinchou, into a Lanturn



On top of that, I've unlocked the White Lake on my Pokéwalker, and was then able to catch a Chingling and Buizel. Two fairly useless Pokémon I no longer have to worry about.

I also managed to catch a level 40 Relicanth named Muddy via Pokémon Talk on the radio. Now, when I was told that “a wild group of Relicanth were spotted on route 12”, my first thought was “what the hell's a Relicanth?” This is particularly noteworthy since I had assumed I was familiar, at least on a face-recognition basis, with all 493 Pokémon. But I had completely forgot what a Relicanth was.

When I saw the Pokémon, though, I realized why.



I kinda feel bad for the Relicanth. It's obviously a Pokémon no one cares about, especially not the concept designers. Thankfully, it doesn't evolve into anything, which means I don't have to look at its stupid face ever again.

Finally, I can check another legendary Pokémon off my list. Yesterday, I caught a Zapdos, one of the three legendary birds from the original games. What's more, I did so on my first try, using maybe 5 Pokéballs, tops. The experience was... bittersweet.



A common complaint I've seen regarding the Pokémon franchise is their oversaturation of so-called “legendary” Pokémon as new titles are added. When the original games were released, there were only four legendary Pokémon, with a mysterious fifth super-rare. These were supposed to be the ultimate Pokémon – the ones who, according to the second Pokémon Movie, held the world together (or something). They hid in the deepest recesses of caves, in mountain peaks, etc. Catching them was a Big Deal.

Generation II, Gold and Silver, introduced 6 more legendary Pokémon. These were also very important entities, protectors of the world, majestic Pokégods walking among us mere mortals.

With Ruby and Sapphire, 10 more legendary Pokémon were introduced. They were... also kind of important? Somewhere along the storyline it's implied that one of them will bring about the end of the world. Or something.

Finally, we get Pearl and Diamond, which introduce 14 more Legendary Pokémon, bringing the total up to 35. I dunno, somewhere along the line the importance of these Pokémon got kind of lost on me. Kind of like the hatches in Lost; the first time you see one is pretty crazy, but by the time they introduce, like, the 17th one, you forgot why you cared in the first place.

Nowhere was this more evident to me than when I caught Zapdos. In SoulSilver, they seem to have more legendary Pokémon than they have locations in which they reside.

When I caught Ulysses (Lugia), he was waiting deep in the bowels of an island, summoned by mystical clerics. When I caught Gwaihir (Ho-oh), he had flown to the top of a sacred tower. When I caught Dr. Mabuse (Mewtwo), he had exiled himself to the lowest depths of a mysterious cave.

Zapdos, on the other hand, was just chilling outside of the Power Plant. Kind of like Jay and Silent Bob hanging outside the Quick Stop.



Not exactly my definition of Legendary.

Whatever. I'm not about to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth. Another Legendary caught.



Only... 30 more to go?


Pokémon Count at 78:24 hours of gameplay: Seen 327, caught 181
Professor Oak says: If you break rocks, some Pokémon that were hiding there might come jumping out!

You already said that, Professor!