Hoenn, sweet Hoenn

So, as I mentioned last post, I've now obtained a vast majority of the Pokémon available to me solely through SoulSilver. The time has come, I've decided, to set out for a new land, one where fresh Pokémon roam, awaiting my cold hard judgment.

My journey into the wonderful world of Pokémon has begun once again.

I'm not even three hours into the experience, but so far, things have been going fairly according to book. I named my new character Darkade, after my Dungeons and Dragons character, a Dragonborn named Darkade Fireborn. Darkade's a pretty chill dude, considering he's the son of a Gym Leader and has prematurely gone grey. That being said, I'm currently getting acclimated to a slightly different, older, control scheme. Pressing "start" to access my inventory screams against all the muscle memory I've accrued in the 140+ hours of SoulSilvering. And having to hold the B button to run? Fucking forget about it. I know that I'm about the furthest you can get from being an astronaut, but the experience of playing Ruby must be pretty similar to what I imagine they go through when they return to Earth's gravity after months of floating around in space. Everything is just so... off.

On top of all that, this is looking to be one of the more challenging playthroughs of Pokémon I've yet experienced, for what that's worth.

See, even though I'm starting a new game, it's more in order to acquire the Pokémon I need to complete my SoulSilver Pokédex. Because of that, whenever I catch a new Pokémon I don't already own in SoulSilver, it's going straight to the PC. And every time I hit six new Pokémon, I transfer them via Pal Park and level them up in Johto/Kanto.

Of course, this constant draining of Pokémon leaves me a bit unprepared for the Hoenn journey ahead of me. My starter Pokémon, for example, is no longer a commodity I can rely on, as he's been sent to the big leagues. In fact, for a large portion of the first hour or so of the game, I've largely been relying on Oscar, my generally useless Zigzagoon. For a while my strategy when fighting a trainer was "Sand Attack like hell and hope your opponent misses you in the 10 turns it takes to knock them out." As you can imagine, I've whited out a fair amount of times.

Still, I've been trucking right along. I've just acquired my first badge from Roxanne in Rustboro after a few tears (Normal-type Zigzagoon vs. Rock-type = Darkade is out of useable Pokémon). In addition to my starting Pokémon, a Treecko named Reptile, I've managed to catch a male Taillow named Mr Bird, a female Shroomish named Wart, a male Nincada named Shinobug, a male Slakoth named Chunk, and a female Surskit named Striiiiider. I transferred these six to my SoulSilver game, and have already evolved Reptile into a Grovyle.

Speaking of SoulSilver, I'm still making some progress in that game, I evolved Kroenen into a Kabutops and Muckluck into a Glailie. This brings my Pokédex count to 307, which is still a ways off from my goal of 493, but passing that 300 mark feels like an achievement in its own right.

And there's still plenty to go. Now if you'll excuse me, I've just arrived in Dewford town and need to deliver a letter.

Progress:
SoulSilver: 145:36
Ruby: 2:37
Pokémon Count: Seen 386, caught 307
Professor Oak says: A lot of Pokémon not found in the Johto region like to congregate at the Safari Zone.

Thanks, Professor! I'll keep that in mind!

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.

For the Birds

A lot's been going on in the last week of January. To begin with, Rebecca and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I know that she's been wanting to go on vacation to Africa for a while now, so I decided to do something wild and romantic and took her to the Rainforest Café at Yorkdale Mall (you're welcome!). A few days later was the premiere screening for Petty Thieves, a short film I co-wrote and have been working on for almost two years.

To top everything off, I managed to catch both a Moltres and an Articuno in quick succession.

Talk about a good week.

Neither of the Legendary Birds were particularly difficult, but they weren't exactly a cinch. Both did take a few tries and about a hundred Ultra/Dusk balls between the two of them. But that's not important. What's important is that the mighty Moltres (Jean Grey) and Articuno (Shiva) have fallen. As I caught Zapdos (Rayden) some time ago, this means that I now possess the three Legendary Birds.

Now, if I remember my Pokémon: The Movie 2000 correctly, catching all three Birds is a fairly inadvisable thing to do. Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres are essentially guardians of nature, and to catch even one of them would be to throw the world's balance out of flux. Catch all three, and that could spell the end of the world.

But then again, and this is the important thing, do I look like I give a fuck?

So okay, maybe I've left the world in eternal chaos, but the fact remains that I now have all the first and second generation Legendary Pokémon. In fact, with the exception of the Legendaries that can be caught by trading a Kyogre and Arceus, the only one I have left to catch in SoulSilver is Latios. I'll probably give it a proper go in the next few days, but if it proves to be too frustrating I may just use my Master ball, because why not?

The fact that I've almost exhausted all the available Legendaries is just further evidence that it's almost time to make the jump to the Hoenn region of Pokémon Ruby. But in the meantime I'm still making progress in SoulSilver, mostly by leveling up and evolving Pokémon. Since last update, I've evolved:

I.M. Buizel into a Floatzel
Shelob into a Gastrodon
Dr Bong into a Bronzong
Shrub Zero into an Abomasnow
Skitty into a Delcatty
Terezi into a Lickilicky
Mr Tickle into a Tangrowth
Aloysius into a Mamoswine
Finneon into a Lumineon

... and I've also hatched another Tyrogue named JCVD, whom I evolved into a Hitmonchan. I also managed to finally get Trainer Blue (aka your generation 1 rival [aka Gary Motherfucking Oak])'s phone number, which means every Sunday night I get to really challenge myself to a fairly intense battle at the Saffron city gym.

So yes, a good week all things considered.

Pokémon Count at 133:53 hours of gameplay: Seen 381, caught 287
Professor Oak says: If you Headbutt a tree, sometimes a Pokémon might fall out! 

X and Y: Meet the Starters

As I mentioned before, one of the main factors that motivated me to dust off this old Pokéblog was the not-too-distant arrival of Pokémons X and Y. New main Pokémon entries have always been a Big Deal for me, and this time is no exception. In fact, this is probably the most excited I've been for a new Pokémon since the original Gold and Silver, since I've been itching to play Pokémon on my precious 3DS. Capturing new Pokémon and exploring new regions, all in glorious stereoscopic 3D?

Yes please.

After a new Pokémon game is announced, I generally try to go media-dark when it comes to the new Pokémon themselves. I ignore the incoming scans and teases that pop up on forums and gaming sites, showing glimpses of the new creatures we'll be meeting on our quest. Personally, I'd rather save the surprise for the game. There's nothing quite like the anticipation of the first time you see a new Pokémon evolve. I fondly remember leaning over my friend's shoulders in grade seven, watching in wonder, not knowing what to expect, as his Wartortle evolved into... into...

...holy shit, that's awesome!

Of course, the opposite can happen, such as when I played Pearl for the first time. I had taken my adorable Buneary with me everywhere I went, not knowing what magnificent creature it would evolve into, or even if it would evolve at all. After a few hours, I was told that Buneary was evolving! I excitedly sat up and watched as he evolved into... into...

What. The hell. Is that.

But yeah, I generally try to avoid peeking ahead and seeing what Pokémon I'm destined to meet. The one exception to this rule, however, is the basic forms of the new starting Pokémon.

The announcement of a new Pokémon game traditionally means we get a first peek at the new starters. Since they're usually the first new Pokémon introduced, it's pretty much impossible not to look at them, and judge the quality of the upcoming generation on those (usually) adorable little guys.

With the announcement of X and Y earlier this month, were were introduced to our new 6th generation starters: the fire-fox Fennekin, the bearded frog Froakie, and the chipmunk-with-a-hat Chespin.

Let's get a closer look, shall we?

First up is Fennekin, the requisite fire starter. As you can see, it has a simple, straightforward design, reminiscent of the Pokémon from the first generation. I have a feeling that this Pokémon will be the most popular of the three, but to be honest it kind of bores me personally. If I had to guess, I'd assume that its evolutions all look like this, but a bit more streamlined and proportioned. Think Ponyta evolving into Rapidash, or Trecko evolving into Sceptile.

Essentially, Fennekin to me represents the safe, albeit boring choice. I imagine trainers who go for Fennekin are all destined to be accountants or office workers, people who never really took a risk in life, but don't regret their decisions for a moment. Either that, or people might be picking Fennekin because they're drawn to its elegant nature, in which case they're probably furries (not that I'm judging). If you think I'm joking or being unfair with my furry comment, type Fennekin into Google Images with the safe search filter turned off. But don't do it while at work.

Next up is Froakie, who appears to be a bearded frog. Yikes.

To be honest, this guy can go either way, depending on how the "beard" is incorporated into future evolutions. If it's more of a wispy cloud that surrounds him, then great. This guy could actually become awesome, like some ghostly alligator or something. If it really is just a beard, though, then it will probably end up being terrible. I'm no expert on designing Pokémon, but I'm pretty sure that putting beards on amphibians is always a bad idea.

Okay, with this one exception.

I know I criticized Fennekin as being a bit too safe, but at the same time I'm not sure if I have the stones to take a risk with Froakie. I had speculated before that Oshawott, the ugliest of the Black and White starters, could end up being a sound investment if it grew into some bad-ass polar bear. I was so wrong. So I'll probably give Froakie a pass too, unless I'm feeling particularly daring in October.

Finally, we have Chespin. If we're strictly looking at the starters (and ignoring for the moment what they could possibly evolve into), then this little guy is by far my favourite. I mean, look at him! He's got a little hat on or something, and a big smile and beady eyes, and just.... awww...

I'm a bit more in the dark when I look at him, in terms of what he could evolve into. Chipmunk becomes squirrel becomes... marmot? Grass cap becomes tree tophat? Like Froakie, this guy can go either way, but I'm slightly more comfortable taking a risk with him, giving his solid design. The odds are high that I'll be KO'ing wild Pokémon with Chespin come October.

This is weird, guys. In my entire history as a Pokétrainer, I've never started with green.

When Nintendo revealed the Black and White starters in 2010, I wrote that there seemed to be a general decline in the quality of starters from generation to generation. I don't think that the generation 6 starters follow this trend (I'd put them up with Generation 3, maybe), although a lot depends on what they become. We'll see in a few months.

Source: http://turtle-arts.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5qvnhn

In terms of my progress catching the Pokémon that are currently available, I'm making very good progress. I've been steadily fighting Gym Leaders to level up and evolve many of my Pokémon. Since my last entry I've managed to evolve:

Murmel into an Exploud
E Honda into Hariyama
Dhalsim into Medicham
Meg into Sharpedo
Mer-Max into Wailord
Fergie into Camerupt
Hamton into Grumpig
Kavin into Alteria
Bidoof into Bibarel
Dafuq into Kricketune
and Sharuum into a Luxio and then a Luxry

In addition to that, I've been occasionally participating in the Pokéathelon, earning me several evolutionary stones. With these stones, I've evolved Bland into a Victreebel, Megavolt into a Raichu, and Snorunt into a Frosslass.

Finally, I've hatched several eggs. Some of these are multiple copies of various starters (Charmander and Mudkip). My intention is to trade them on the Global Trading Network for their equivalent starters once I collect a fair amount of them. Other eggs I've hatched, however, are the baby Pokémon, in particular:

A female Pichu named Machu
A female Igglybuff named Puff
and a male Cleffa named Affleck

This puts me well over halfway towards my goal. I'm starting to run out of Pokémon to level up, so it won't be long now before I move to Ruby!

Pokémon Count at 126:44 hours of gameplay: Seen 375, caught 275
Professor Oak says: If you Headbutt a tree, sometimes a Pokémon might fall out!

Mewby Dick

Okay, it seems that since I've been away, the amount of Pokémon I need to worry about has grown considerably - by 156, to be exact. This brings my ultimate Pokégoal from an already ambitious 493 to 649, a figure that makes me want to weep in the corner of my bedroom.

Source: http://i-am-bleu.deviantart.com/art/All-649-pokemon-216558162

Add to that the fact that come October, at least 50 new Pokémon are headed our way (though I'd be surprised if the number doesn't end up being closer to 100), and this daunting journey just got dauntinger.

So, to keep something of my sanity, I'm going to focus on my original goal, which was to collect all 493 Pokémon that existed prior to Black and White's release. Only after that will I start worrying about the Generation V Pokémon. Once October rolls around I'll probably get started on playing X/Y either way (I'm only human after all), but for the purposes of this blog, the goal for now is to fill my SoulSilver Pokédex.

Before we go further, I want to fill everyone in on the Pokémon I obtained since I had stopped blogging in 2010. As I mentioned in my last post, even though I didn't blog, I had kept playing until around March of 2011, and I had also kept detailed notes of my journey.

The most important acquisitions were no doubt the legendaries, most of them acquired via promotions at my local EB Games. Beating Trainer Red allowed me to catch a Groudon, whom I named Pangaea. I mentioned catching a Latias, and thanks to the promotions I also managed to get my hands on a shiny Suicune, shiny Entei, and shiny Raikou. I had already caught a regular Suicune previously, but hey, the more the merrier. Also, thanks to Wi-Fi events, I managed to obtain a Celebi and, most importantly, a Mew.

Obtaining a Mew is particularly exciting. Growing up with the original games, owning a Mew was that impossible dream. The green light of the distant dock. The great white whale. Everyone at school knew a best friend of a cousin or a brother's co-worker from Japan who had managed to capture one, but no one had seen one for themselves. No matter how many times they tried to use strength on the truck near the SS Anne, the great pink mouse eluded them. Now that I finally have one, it's good to know that if I ever had to meet my younger self in the style of Disney's The Kid, for all his disappointments, Young Aaron would still be happy to know that at least one of his lifelong goals was accomplished.

So that's 11 legendaries in the bag. I still have 24 legendaries to go, but I think at this point the only ones I can obtain solely through SoulSilver are Articuno, Moltres, and Latios (Diagala, Palkia, Giratina, and Rayquaza are also possible to obtain, but you need certain other Pokémon for them). I can get another eight through my copy of Pokémon Pearl when I fire that one up, plus four more from my Ruby copy. However, after those I'll have to be resourceful for the remaining few, specifically the event Pokémon.

The rest is a bit boring, but for completion's sake I'm listing it here. Feel free to skip ahead if you don't really care about which particular Pokémon I've caught, but here's a fairly straightforward list (species followed by nickname in parenthesis):

-Chatot (Dictabird)
-Carnivine (Wyndham)
-Dunsparce (Dumbsparce)
-Whismur (Murmel)
-Makuhita (E. Honda)
-Plusle (Pika Who?)
-Minun (Pika You!)
-Numel (Fergie)
-Spoink (Hamton)
-Spinda (Sad Panda)
-Absol (Bubastis)
-Larvitar (Qwantz)
-Charmander (Smaug)
-Lickitung (Terezi)
-Tyrogue (Segal)
-Mudkip (Vorinclex)

 
Additionally, I managed to catch a Finneon, Shellos, Pachirisu, Clefairy (Ariel), Spritomb, and Feebas with my Pokéwalker. I also caught another Vulpix, and traded it to my sister for a Growlithe named Gerald.

Evolution-wise, I managed to evolve:

-McLovin into a Dewgong
-The Flood into a Parasect
-Hecate into a Nidorina and then Nidoqeen
-Ash into a Ninetales
-Morrigan into a Golbat
-Laura into a Gloom and then Vileplume
-Baxter into a Venomoth
-Duffy into a Wigglytuff
-Macavity into a Persian
-Toothless into a Dragonite
-Plucky into a Golduck
-Gerald into an Arcanine
-Ursula into a Poliwhirl and then Poliwrath
-Bland into Weepinbell
-Hentai into Tentacruel
-Epona into Rapidash
-IG-88 into Magneton
-Sloth into Slowbro
-Smaug into Charmeleon and then Charizard
-Ariel into Clefable
-Hexxus into Muk
-Pubert into Kinger
-Voltaire into Electrode
-Seabiscuit into Seadra
-Jabu Jabu into Seaking
-Klaatu into Xatu
-Mallow into Quagsire
-Clegane into Houndoom
-Qwantz into Pupitar

 
...and that's just the Pokémon I caught before quitting in March. Since picking up SoulSilver again, I've actually been fairly productive, adding at least one entry to the Pokédex every day (though often more). So far, I've managed to catch:

-a level 3 male Aipom (Caesar)
-a level 5 male Heracross (Lennon)
-a level 27 male Skarmony (Toomes)
-a level 40 female Corsola (Lola)

and evolved:

Qwantz into Tyranitar
Floaty into Octillery
Sobotka into Linoone
Vorinclex into Marshtomp, and then Swampert
Nymeria into Mightyena
The Orphan into Kirlia, and then Gardevoir
Segal into Hitmontop
and finally, Murmel into Loudred


...okay. Whew! That brings us up to the absolute present. I realize that at this stage in the game I'm getting towards the end in terms of Pokémon I can catch solely through SoulSilver. For now I'm really just narrowing down those few Pokémon that have slipped through my grasp, while fighting at the Saffron city gym and Indigo Plateau in order to evolve the Pokémon I have left to evolve. I'm also sorely in need of evolutionary stones, so I should probably start hitting up the Pokéathlon soon. Once I'm finished with all that, it's on to Pokémon Ruby, but that will probably still be a few months (or dare I say... weeks?) away.

Pokémon Count at 118:11 hours of gameplay: Seen 366, caught 257
Professor Oak says: If you Headbutt a tree, sometimes a Pokémon might fall out!

Anyways, thanks for bearing with me. Now that we're all caught up, the next blog should be a bit more fun.

It's been a while, Totodile

Two and a half years ago...
The wind atop Mt. Silver bit deep into my bones, but I hardly noticed the chill. My blood coursed hot and strong that night, as my battle with the mysterious trainer known only as Red drove on into the early hours. I had fought him once before, yet had known only bitter defeat.

He had beaten me. But he had not broken me.

Since my last defeat, I had trained harder than before. I had fought Gym Leaders from across the regions Johto and Kanto, adapting and honing with each new victory. I had studied my silent foe, learning his strengths, as well as his weaknesses.

My Pokémon were strong. And they were brave. And they were hungry.

The battle with Red was not an easy one. The white snow of Mt. Silver took on a crimson hue as our Pokémon exchanged blow after blow. The earth trembled when Red's Snorlax was felled by a well-placed low kick, delivered by my faithful Electivire, Electro. Where Snorlax fell, a new canyon was born.

It is said that on that day, people looked to the skies above Mt. Silver, saw the fury of lightning dancing overhead, and knew that the gods were angry. They would have despaired had they known the truth: at that moment, Red's Pikachu had entered the battle. He looked to Moloch, my Nidoking and general-in-arms, and ended him with one whispered word.

That word was "no."

Moloch fell. Ulysses fell. Ryuk stumbled. Before Pikachu could end him as he did the others, the Dusknoir laid a curse upon the yellow beast. Ryuk was lost, but he took the foul demon with him.

In the end, Red was left with one Pokémon: the dreaded Charizard. Though the creature fought valiantly, no matter how valiantly one fights, one cannot escape its nature. Charizard is Fire type. My Feraligatr was Water type. It could only end one way.

When the smoke cleared, Red was kneeling in the red snow, looking down at his slain companions. I approached, limping slightly, though invigorated by my victory. I stood above him. Slowly, he turned his face towards me...

...yet all I could see were my own features staring back at me.

I stumbled. Was this to be my future? A life of perfection and mastery, but also one of solitude? Would battle and training be all I know? My victory evaporated before my eyes. On shaking legs, I turned, and I ran.

Present Day

Hi. Okay.

I know, I know. It's been, what? Two and a half years since my last post? You don't need to say anything. You're disappointed in me. I can understand that.

Things were going so well, too. Last time you heard from me, I caught a Zapdos, legendary thunder bird. And then, nothing. Not even a short update saying I'm still alive. That's not fair to you. I'm sorry.

My last post may have been in July of 2010, but I didn't stop then. Honest. Throughout the summer, I worked hard, evolving my team and catching new Pokémon, primarily through the Pokéwalker. I even caught a Latias named Knuckles thanks to the Enigma Stone Wi-Fi event. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to blog about these milestones, mainly because it was family vacation season and I was constantly out of the city.

The summer culminated in one of my biggest achievements: the defeat of trainer Red. As mentioned above, it was a hard battle, but I emerged victorious.

But something happened after that. I lost a lot of momentum. Having gone a month or so without publicly documenting my progress, coupled with the lack of drive that followed Red's defeat, many of my achievements felt more trivial from then on. I continued my progress, but at a much slower pace, catching only a few Pokémon a month. Finally, on March of 2011, most likely because of the arrival of the 3DS, I put down Soul Silver and didn't pick it back up again.

A lot's happened in the few years since. In summer of 2011, I quit my retail job so that I could tackle writing full time. It's been slow going, but I've had a few comic scripts published, and even wrote a short film that's being shown later this month (for more on my writing, check out my other blog). Still, all this time I've looked at "Gots Ta Catch 'Em All" with some shame at giving up. But it was more of a casual shame, one that I didn't really have the motivation to do anything about.

Until now.

Three days ago, Nintendo announced that Pokémon X and Y, the sixth generation of the series, would be released worldwide for the 3DS later this year. As I watched the Nintendo Direct feed, something within me started to awaken. A flame that had gone out two years previously began to reignite.

I fired up my old SoulSilver game, where all my old friends waited. Tokek the Feraligatr. Moloch the Nidoking. Electro. Ulysses. Ryuk.

"Hey guys," I mumbled sheepishly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

They were silent.

"Look, I know I let you guys down. But do you think... maybe... we could try again?"

"Nidoking!" replied Moloch happily. And off we went.

So yeah, I'm going to make another try at all this. I know the going's going to get tough. But hopefully by the time Pokémon X and Y are released in October, I'll be well on my way to catching all 493...

... wait. There are 649 now!?

God DAMNIT.

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!

My Pokémonth

So, as I mentioned when last we spoke, I had traversed Mt. Silver, reaching trainer Red, the ultimate boss of Pokémon SoulSilver, only to taste the bitter Apricorns of defeat. And not by some small margin, either. Were that the case, I'd simply reset my DS until getting the victory I need. But no, no amount of resets would save me. Against Red, I got motherfucking flounced, and I knew it.



Normally, the solution to this would be to battle lesser trainers, strengthening my Pokémon to more impressive levels. Only there was a problem with that: I'd beaten all of them.

So where did that leave me? I'd pretty much caught the majority of the catchable Pokémon found within my game. I still had to level up quite a few Pokémon in order to evolve them, but had no simple way to do so. I still had quite a few Pokémon to catch on the Pokéwalker, but that's more of an outside-the-game game.

It seemed that, in the game, my progress had reached something of an Indigo Plateau. Worse, I still had miles to go. Pokémon to catch. Trainer Red to beat.

So for a little while, my playing was limited to defeating Rival Adolf every Monday and Wednesday, which improved my Pokémon all too slowly. I'd tune in to Pokémon Talk on the radio every day, just in case there was a rare Pokémon I could catch, listen to Buena's Password, partake in the Pokémon draw, play that addicting Voltorb game at the Game Corner and... that was it.

All the while, of course, I'd slowly clock in steps on the Pokéwalker, trying to reclaim my 25,000 lost watts.

Now, this wasn't a completely unproductive period of time. My Pokémon grew, slowly but surely, one level at a time. I managed to make enough coins from the Voltorb Beat game that I was able to redeem them for a Porygon (named Megabyte) and a, um, female Mr. Mime (named Marcie). I also caught quite a few Pokémon while listening to Pokémon Talk. To be precise, I caught...

-a male Gulpin (named Kirby)
-a male Qwlfish (named Penance)
-a male Buneary (O'hare)
-a female Chinchou (Kim)
-a female Luvdisc (Tonks)
-a female Clamperl (Mulva)
-a male Mawile (Barq's)
-a male Ralts (The Orphan)
-a female Swablu (Kevin)
-a female Yanma (Janet)
-a female Chansey (Joy)

So, no slim pickings is what I'm saying.



Still, in this time, there wasn't much exciting happening in my Pokéjourney. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was a slightly more eventful time for me in real life. I had finally finished a full draft of a 200+ page comic script on which I had been working for the better part of a year, I had been clocking in plenty of hours at my job, and my girlfriend moved in with me. I also beat a phenomenal DS game called Infinite Space. There was also both an earthquake and a riot in my city, but those were pretty boring.

Perhaps my biggest accomplishment, though, was not only reaching my milestone of 25,000 watts on my Pokéwalker, but surpassing the shit out of it. Basically, I've been running around like a Tasmanian devil all month, and am now holding a Pokéwalker 45,545 watts strong. Only 54,455 watts left and I've unlocked every route in my game. With my Pokéwalker, I've caught a Bidoof, Shinx, Combee, Kricketot, Budew, Mime jr, Snover, Snorunt, Tropius, and Bonsly this month.



So where does that bring me now? I'm not quite ready to move on to Pokémon Ruby... not until I manage to defeat Red at least. I've very recently discovered that I can rematch Gym leaders if I catch them at the right time of the day, and so I've been pursuing that (I even got up around 6 am so that I could rematch Pryce and Claire. How's that for dedication?). So far, it's been working well for leveling up my guys. I managed to evolve Hogarth into a Metagross, Aloysius into a Piloswine, and Capt Trips into a Weezing. Hooray!



A few more levels, and I think I'll be ready to rematch Red. I'll let you know how it goes.


Oh, and I caught a Lapras as well.

Pokémon Count at 74:24 hours of gameplay: Seen 312, caught 168
Professor Oak says: If you break rocks, some Pokémon that were hiding there might come jumping out!

No shit, Professor!

Suicune is Painless

First there was Lugia. Then there was Mewtwo.

Well now you can add both Ho-oh and Suicune to the mix. Because I caught them. With my balls.

And to be quite honest, I'm not finding them to be all that challenging, at least not compared to that Lugia. Where Ulysses was concerned, I'd be constantly resetting my game because after lobbing ball after ball at the guy, he'd eventually run out of moves, use Struggle, and knock himself out. I'd have to give up after trying for a few hours each day because I'd be sick to my stomach with frustration.

Ho-oh and Suicune? Fucking easy. I probably wasted a combined 8 Pokéballs trying to catch them, which is nothing. Just goes to show that I truly am becoming a Pokémaster.

Yes, I realize I'm bragging about being “good” at a game geared towards children. Let me have this moment.


4 Legendaries caught. Who's next?

In terms of progress, I went back to Cerulean Cave the day after catching Dr. Mabuse and found an Electrizer, which I gave to Electro. I traded both him and a Reaper Cloth'd Ryuk to my sister Rachel, which means they both evolved into badass Pokémon, and Electivire and a Dusknoir, respectively. I later found a Magmarizer on Cinnibar Island, which I used to evolve Hallyne into a Magmortar.

I also caught a sweet Beldum on my Pokéwalker. I named him Hogarth. He'll unfortunately be the last Pokémon I catch on the 'Walker for a while, at least until I cover those half a million steps and start unlocking new routes again. So far I'm at 140,000.

While in Mt. Silver I caught a male Teddiursa and named him Bear Jew, and a male Sneasel named Scrat. I then got my ass handed to me by Trainer Red and decided to return to the Safari Zone, where I caught a female Misdreavus named Morticia. I also later caught a male Snubbull, whom I named Throw Mama.

Finally, I caught a level 70 Ho-oh and named it Gwaihir, and just a few hours ago caught a Suicune named Grey Wind.

Oh, and somewhere in the process, Hybird the Doduo evolved into a Dodrio, and I evolved Hogarth into a Metang.

We All Have to Start Somewhere

So, a few days ago the world got its first glimpse at the new starting Pokémon in the upcoming 6th Generation titles, Pokémon Black and White.

Now, starting Pokémon are not something I take lightly. In any game, your starting Pokémon is your first friend – your guide into the strange journey on which you are about to embark. Removing your starter from your permanent lineup is always a rite of passage (something I haven't been able to do yet, by the way). Since starters are so important, it's equally important that you have a well of interesting options to choose from.

Which is a shame, because as more games have come out, the quality of the starters has been, well...

I'll let this comic I found sum it up (click to enlarge):



With Generation 1, we had three pretty rad Pokémon to choose from. Choosing your starting Pokémon wasn't easy, because no matter which one you chose, there would be two other awesome Pokémon you'd never be able to own. While I think I've come to the conclusion that Charmander is my personal favourite, even that's by a small margin (again, going for Charmander meant missing out on a turtle with cannons strapped to his shell, and a dinosaur with a tree growing out of its back). Of the few times I've played Generation 1, my starter choice breakdown probably goes something like 50% Charmander, 35% Squirtle, and 15% Bulbasaur.



With Generation 2, the second starter lineup offered an equally impressive lineup.



For this one my breakdown might be something like 60% Cyndaquil and 40% Totodile. While I personally would never go for a Chikorita, I don't begrudge its existence. It's a little girly, sure, but I can at least appreciate that there are people who like it.

Now, with Generation 3, we start to see a bit of a decline. Suddenly, my choice of starting Pokémon is much easier: Mudkip. Even though he gets kind of stupid when he becomes a Swampert (or as my sister Rachel says, a dirty Hobo Pokémon), he's still by far the best option available. I mean, what's with that look on Sceptile's face?



And ugh, don't even get me started on Blaziken.



He doesn't even look like he's in the right game. Seriously, I'm not too sure what the designers were thinking when they came up with the look for this guy. I mean, what would have possibly inspired them to... to...

Wait...



Oh, I get it. Digimon strikes again.

Generation 4 starters are something of a Morton's Fork, in which no matter which you pick, you're kinda in the same crappy situation. Do you choose the goofy Chimchar, resulting in a pretty goofy Infernape? A slightly cooler Piplup, resulting in a crappy Empoleon? Or the bland Turtwig, resulting in the equally bland Torterra?



Whoever wins, you lose.

But let's look at Generation 5. At least, the basic evolutions.

First up, in the Grass-Type corner, we have Tsutaja.



Now, I don't hate his design, but I do have two problems, the first being that he kinda looks exactly like a green Cyndaquil. The second problem is that he has Sceptile's creepy Come Hither eyes.

Um, PASS.

Second, we have Pokablu, a Fire-Type pig.



This is a bit more like it. A simple, archetypal design with a bit of uniqueness thrown in. I'm definitely a fan.

Finally, we have the Water-Type Mijumaru.



Now this guy is a bit problematic. He seems to hover between adorable and grotesque. I really don't know what to make of him, but I have a feeling he'll either have the coolest evolution, or the lamest. I mean, look at him. It's quite possible that, even though he's apparently a Sea Otter Pokémon, he could become quite bad-ass, something akin to Iorek Byrnison. On the other hand, he could end up being a Care Bear in Whiteface.

So, at this stage I think the starters aren't bad, certainly not as bad as others seem to be saying on the internet (I've seen them referred to as “Retardachu, Queermander, & Shittle”). As for which I'll choose when I get Black or White (though probably Black, cause that's how I roll), I'm undecided. I'm going to try to avoid having the final evolutions ruined for me before playing the game, even though I know that's probably impossible. Assuming I don't know more then than I do now, I'm probably going to go Fire, although I have a feeling I might throw caution to the wind and pick Water, even if that does mean I wind up with a Retardachu.

I think I've rambled on long enough, so I'll update on my progress later. In the meantime, what do you guys think of the new starters?

Mewtwo

Another quick quick update to let you know that, whereas before I had but one legendary Pokémon, now I own Two.

Mewtwo, to be precise.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to come across him for a while. I only headed into Cerulean Cave because I heard that you could find an Electrizer there and I need one to evolve Electro, allowing him to reach his full potential for badassery. So I headed into the cave and promptly got lost. I wandered around for a while and holy shit there's a Mewtwo right there.



Now, even when I found him, I wasn't expecting to be able to actually catch him. After all, he's at level 70 and my highest Pokémon is only 57. Still, it turned out to be pretty simple, since he only had one offensive move, which hardly did any damage to my guys. I pelted him with Dusk Balls, and when that failed, pelted him with Ultra Balls until the tenth or so stuck.

Tricky? I suppose. But compared to catching Ulysses, this was a fucking cakewalk.

I named him Dr. Mabuse, and I think it's interesting to know that I caught him pretty much at the exact same moment I hit the 50-hour mark for total elapsed play time.

Unfortunately, though, I couldn't find the Electrizer. I'll have to return to the cave tomorrow.

I Got a Lot of Long PokéWalking to Do

Okay, let's start with some good news: I am now up to 126 Pokémon, which means I've now completed just over 25% of my Pokédex. I've also made mincemeat of all 16 gym trainers, of both the Johto and the Kanto varieties. I think it's fair at this point to infer that I'm a whirling dervish of Pokéjustice, sweeping up any trainer who dares come between me and my path of destruction.

Now let's move on to the bad news: due to some glitch somewhere, I had to reset my Pokéwalker. Now, I didn't lose any Pokémon in the process, but what it means is that all my progress towards unlocking all the possible routes in the device has been erased. Basically, I lost 25,000 “Watts” on the fucking thing. Considering that you unlock one Watt for every 20 steps you take, I need to walk half a million goddamn bastard steps just to cover the progress I lost. I'm really tempted to just tape the Pokéwalker to the blade of a fan and let spin for a few days, but I'm not going to go that route. I'm going to unlock those routes the honest way, step by motherfucking step.



Back to good news: I've managed to outsource some of my Pokécatching. This weekend, I made a deal with my girlfriend: she'd learn how to play Pokémon and help me catch 'em all, and in return I'd behave myself at her uncle's funeral.

One funeral – and exactly 0 sacred urns toppled – later, I slid her my copy of Pokémon Pearl, which I was going to reset anyways, and told her she could start a new game. And start a new game she did. Considering she's never played one of these games in her life, I think she's doing a good job so far (although Chimchar? Really?)

So now, while I'll be catching the Pokémon of the Johto and Kanto regions (and when I start playing Ruby again, the Hoenn region), Rebecca will be a force to be reckoned with in the Sinnoh region. Hell, she's only played for about an hour and she's already caught a Bidoof, Starly, and Shinx. Soon, they will be mine.

In terms of my game, the progress has been equally palpable. My Magby, whom I named Hallyne, evolved into a Magmar. I also evolved Nero the Spearow, Muad'Dib the Sandshrew, Resetti the Diglett, and Norm Bates the Cubone into a Fearow, Sandslash, Dugtrio, and Marowak, respectively. I also caught myself a Snorlax on my first ball (a Heavy Ball, if you must know), and named him Chien-Po. I also caught a level 2 Poochyena (Nymeria).

Finally, Ryuk the Duskull evolved into the much-less-adorable Dusclops. He kinda looks retarded now but whatever I have a Reaper Cloth so I'm going to evolve him again ASAP.



But first, I'm going to go run a few goddamn laps around the house with my Pokéwalker

I love my Duskull

A few more entries to the 'Dex. Caught a male Slugma (Magmus) and a Ditto (Mystique). I evolved my Smoochum (whom I named Blondie) into a Jynx, and my Sentret (whom I named Crockett) evolved into a Furret. I also caught a Volbeat, Natu, Carvanha, Wailmer, and Kecleon on Pokéwalker. This means I've only added about 9 Pokémon to my Pokédex in the past 4 days.

That's because I've been training the newest addition to my lineup, my Duskull.

Like Electro when he was just an Elekid, my Duskull is simply a joy to behold. He looks adorable following me around like some evil spectre of death. Of course, raising him has been something of a chore. Since he's still in his basic evolutionary stage, he's pretty weak and susceptible to KO's quite often. Still, I know that all the bumps and scratches will be worth it, and he'll realize his true potential, just like Electro and Moloch have before him.

Anyways, here's a picture I drew of my Duskull, Ryuk, devouring the souls of his enemies.



Welcome to the lineup, little man! Hope you survive the experience!

Bel Kanto

So, last week saw a few milestones on my SoulSilver cartridge. Not only did I catch my first legendary Pokémon, I also opened up a can of “it's super effective” on the Elite Four. Well just when you thought it was over, Aaron hits you up with another milestone.

I just hit the 100 Pokémon mark.

Now, this isn't a particularly hard thing to do when there are 493 of the little fuckers around, but I think it's still a reassuring marker to hit. The fact is, I've now caught over 20% of 'em all, and I don't feel like slowing down in the least.

Progress-wise, I've found that the adventure sort of loses its thrust after beating the Elite Four. I always thought it was a cool idea to have it revealed that after you think the game's over, a whole new continent is added. That being said, there's not much to do now that I'm here. I now have two more badges under my belt (Lt. Surge's and Sabrina's), but it's not quite the same. Whereas in the Johto region, I'd have to right wrongs, help the helpless, and defeat marginally evil villains, in Kanto (the second continent) it feels like I'm just here to sightsee. I've really just been going from one town to the next, getting gym badges just cause I can.



But goddamnit, I didn't come here to sightsee. I came here to catch some Pokémon.

Interestingly, even though I've added about 23 entries to my Pokédex since I last blogged, only 1 of them was from a Pokémon caught through traditional means. That Pokémon is Cubone. I named him Norm Bates, because his Pokédex entry reads like this:

It always wears the skull of its dead mother, so no one has any idea what its hidden face looks like.

I think that that entry makes Cubone officially the most fucked-up Pokémon I own thus far.



All the other Pokémon I've added have been either evolutions or caught via the Pokéwalker. As I mentioned before, beating the Elite Four unlocked new routes on the 'walker, which means I'm now the proud owner of a Wurmple, Illumise, Skitty, Horsea, Azurill, Houndour, Meditite, Castform, and Zigzagoon (phew!).

Oh, also, Nintendo has unleashed a new route for trainers to download: the Winner's Path (in lieu of the Pikachu-laden Yellow Forest). If you have Wi-Fi, download it now! If not, walk up and down your street like a creepy stalker until you find a signal! I did the latter, and have so far found a Bronzor, Duskull (which is probably my favourite Pokémon to come out of Ruby/Sapphire), and Munchlax.



And on top of those Pokémon, I've had a few others evolve: Terra evolved into Graveler, Poppet into a Skiploom and then a Jumpluff, Gobias into a Flaafy and then an Ampharos, and finally ChickenBoo evolved into a Pidgeot. I proceeded to trade Terra, Maraxus, Psycho Fox, and Swayze to my sister Rachel, where they evolved into a Golem, Machamp, Alakazam, and Gengar, respectively.

So yeah, another productive few days. Well, I mean, if you don't count Pokémon, they were horribly unproductive days. But I mean, in the world of Pokémon? Productive!

Day 27 Pokédex count: Seen 211, caught 109
Professor Oak says: Don't forget, some Pokémon only appear at certain times of the day!

I won't, Professor!