This week has been unexpectedly busy for me, so today I’m just going to share something easy and fun…

I’m sure there’s isn’t anyone who likes Pokemon who never once wished that any or all of them were real. A while back I came across a contest for Photoshopped images made to look like real live pokemon (using real animals as models). You can see the full selection of 100+ entries on the site here (I’d say half are good, half are not so good). I’ve selected fifteen of my favorites to post below (with a picture of the actual pokemon to the left).

Cubone

I believe the animal used is a gopher

Rapidash

Ivysaur

Luvdisc

Arbok

Umbreon

Moltres

A fire bird flying over water XD (obviously the bird used is a heron)

Shaymin

I can’t see any other animal but a hedgehog (or echinda) being used for Shaymin

Hippowdon

Glameow

Staryu

Such an easy one XD

Torterra

Blastoise

Houdoom

Pikachu

Lots of animals were used for Pikachu but I think this chinchilla looks the best

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Posts will resume next week when my work schedule should be going back to normal. Until then, hope you enjoyed the real live pokemon and have a great weekend~

Everyone interested in the new Pokemon games, Black and White, has more or less dabbled in some part of the games by now. Even in the anime blogsphere, lots of reviews and daily gaming logs have been popping up. But since I’ve already written a review of the game when I got the Japanese version, and I don’t have that much to add after playing the English version, I decided to focus this post on the specific conflict of the games’ storyline. It’s a conflict that has intrigued players because it does something unexpected – it questions the very morality of the Pokemon world…

The antagonists in Black and White are Team Plasma, led by Ghetsis and their appointed “king” N. Their goal is to liberate pokemon from the cruel treatment of human trainers. There are many events throughout the game that feature Team Plasma questioning the morality of pokemon training and how cruel it is for the pokemon to battle and be confined in pokeballs. Although it turns out that Ghetsis’ real goal is to rule the world using pokemon just for Team Plasma, N truly believes in the idea of liberating pokemon.

Many players have likened Team Plasma to a kind of PETA of the Pokemon world. But the controversy of Pokemon and its similarities to cruel animal sports like cockfighting has been around since the franchise began nearly fifteen years ago even though it’s only now being discussed “officially” within the franchise through Black and White.

So my question is, does what Team Plasma (and no doubt real life anti-Pokemon enthusiasts) say about Pokemon condoning animal cruelty, hold any merit?

I’ll start with addressing the whole pokeball thing. One of the issues brought up by Team Plasma is the cruelty of catching pokemon and confining them into pokeballs. The Pokemon anime stresses numerous times that if certain pokemon don’t want to be captured, or if their capture would be bad for the habitat they live in, as is the case with legendary pokemon, then it’s not considered good training to selfishly capture them. For the sake of gameplay, the Pokemon games can’t emphasize this issue like the anime does, but they do make it so that captured pokemon will not obey a trainer until they respect them (which can be done by earning gym badges).

As for pokeballs being cruel confinement, the anime shows that when in a pokeball, a pokemon is in a sort of “suspended animation” though they can be conscious of what’s going on around them. There’s no evidence that they’re being squished, starved, or cruelly restrained in any way like real animals in cages. The anime also shows many pokemon easily coming out of their pokeballs at will, so you can’t really call it confinement. And if a pokemon doesn’t like to go inside pokeballs – Ash’s Pikachu being a prime example – they’re not forced to. Again, for the sake of gameplay enjoyment, the Pokemon games can’t touch on this issue like the anime does, but pokemon are show to be put inside pokeballs for their own safety so they can quickly be withdrawn from battle or safely and easily travel around with their trainer. Thus, often times in the games and anime, only pokemon that are mostly used in battles stay in pokeballs while those that are pets, companions, or helpers to humans rarely do.

But the main reason why some believe the franchise advocates animal cruelty is because of the huge emphasis on pokemon battles. Anyone who really knows about pokemon battles knows that they’re nothing like the cruel bloodsports of cock, dog, or other animal fighting. First of all, pokemon want to battle. Unlike fighting animals who are raised in such a way that they know nothing but fighting, pokemon are capable of making choices. I feel that pokemon battles are much more similar to sports like wrestling and boxing than animal fighting; like wrestling and boxing, pokemon battles revolve around violence and the competitors get hurt naturally, but the competitors know that they’re in the game and enjoy it for whatever reason. In the case of Pokemon, it’s because the pokemon and trainers enjoy growing stronger and developing new strategies and attacks. Animal fighting on the other hand always revolves around money, and often illegal drugs and gambling.

As I mentioned, pokemon battling revolves around skill and strategy using the unique effects of pokemon attacks and abilities, and even if one loses, lessons are learned for both trainer and pokemon as they grow stronger. Animal fighting is the opposite of this – all that’s emphasized is to make your animal as vicious as possible to tear its opponent to shreds, and if it loses a fight, get rid of it.

Numerous times in the games and anime, if a pokemon doesn’t want to battle or doesn’t respect its trainer enough, it won’t obey him/her and never is it considered good training to force a pokemon to battle or cruelly punish it for being difficult to handle. Pokemon battles revolve around a pokemon obeying the precise commands of its trainer rather than doing things on its own, and the sole reason for this is because there’s mutual love and trust between the trainer and pokemon. No such bond exists in real world animal fighting. If a pokemon is too weak to battle, a good trainer will heal it with an item or bring it to a Pokemon Center. If a fighting cock is too weak, its abandoned without any treatment for its injuries.

In conclusion, unlike cock and dog fighting that revolve around money with no regard for the well being of the animals, pokemon battles revolve around trust and love between trainer and pokemon, with both desiring to grow stronger together, and like wrestling and boxing, they enjoy the thrill of violent competition despite the pain. Pokeballs give trainers a place to keep their pokemon safe and easily portable, but it’s not considered okay to force pokemon to go inside them, or to force them to do anything for that matter without considering their feelings.

So to Team Plasma or anyone else who believes training pokemon is a cruel practice, I have the above to say to them. I can understand how it seems cruel at first, but after examining the message of love and trust in the Pokemon world for twelve years, I can safely say that cruelty is something that the franchise certainly does not condone. And people who berate Pokemon for being violent disregard its much more uplifting and obvious theme…

…cuteness~

ポケモン・歴代主人公 by ムリエのデカパン

Pokemon Black and White, the latest games that begin the franchise’s 5th generation, just had their U.S. release yesterday. Ever since I’ve become an older Poke-fan, when new games come out I tend to reflect on the franchise’s past and how it’s evolved (no pun intended) over the years. Pokemon just recently had its 15th anniversary, and even after all this time, it’s still so popular even outside Japan – the recent mall tours to promote the new games, as well as the fact that there were lines at stores when the games were released yesterday, are just some evidence that Pokemon is certainly more than a passing fad. So how has it gone from the days of Red & Blue to the Black & White of today…

Below I’ll be taking a look at each generation of the Pokemon games, particularly how the fandom has changed along with the games:

Generation I

Years: 1996-1999
Main series games: Red, Blue (GameBoy), Yellow (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium (N64)
Region: Kanto
Total pokemon: 151

The generation that started it all, and naturally the one that people have the most fond and nostalgic memories of. Since it was the first, this generation defined Pokemon’s popularity, especially outside Japan, and it’s the one that nearly everyone around my age has played a bit even if they later lost interest in Pokemon. Sure, since Red and Blue (Green in Japan) were the first games and quite innovative ones for a system like the GameBoy, they had a ton of glitches and limitations, but at the same time that gave them a lot of character that players won’t soon forget. The original 151 pokemon have had the longest amount of time to endear themselves into the hearts of millions, again even those who outgrew actually playing Pokemon. Whether it’s purely for nostalgia or not, from what I’ve seen, the majority of people believe Generation I to be the best.

———

Generation II

Years: 1999-2001
Main series games: Gold, Silver, Crystal (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium 2 (N64)
Region: Johto
Total pokemon: 251

Despite being the shortest generation with the fewest new pokemon, many of the nostalgic fans from Generation I continued to follow Pokemon into its second generation. Despite the Johto games having a ton of new features, they still had enough old-school worth (and glitches!) to appeal to fans of the original games since the new things were more of improvements rather than complete overhauls. Nintendo implemented a feature that allowed players to transfer their Generation I pokemon into the Generation II games, as well as putting the Kanto region in the games together with the new Johto region, further increasing the connection between the two generations. Also, Pokemon Crystal become the first game where you could choose to play as a female protagonist, indicating that the creators were finally reaching out to us female fans XD The 100 new Johto pokemon held a lot of charm for fans, though not as much as the original 151.

———

Generation III

Years: 2002-2006
Main series games: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen (GameBoyAdvance), Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD (GameCube)
Region: Hoenn
Total pokemon: 386

The longest and most unpopular of the Pokemon generations. There are many reason why Generation III defined Pokemon’s period of losing its former glory. Even though it introduced a ton of new pokemon and new features by moving up to the GameBoyAdvance system, one of the biggest blows is that there was no way for players to transfer their pokemon from the first two generations into the new games. Fans were outraged that their hard trained pokemon would become useless now. Another major complaint was the designs of the Generation III pokemon, with many fans calling them “ugly” or “unoriginal,” perhaps because Satoshi Tajiri, the original creator of Pokemon, stopped working on the Pokemon designs starting with these games. Yet another blow came from the anime side, with the main female character, Misty, being replaced with a new character. And of course, many fans that grew up with the original games had simply reached an age in these years where all but the most dedicated become too old for Pokemon. None of this affected yours truly however, whose love for Pokemon never wavered, but most fans my age never made it to Generation III. Even the remakes of Red and Blue – FireRed and LeafGreen – weren’t enough to save Generation III from being a let down. And just an FYI, the “Gotta Catch ‘em All!” slogan retired in this generation, probably because of the amount of pokemon and inability to catch all of them unless you have many different games.

———

Generation IV

Years: 2006-2010
Main series games: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver (DS), Pokemon Battle Revolution, My Pokemon Ranch (Wii)
Region: Sinnoh
Total pokemon: 493

After four years of Pokemon’s popularity dwindling in Generation III, especially among older fans, the release of Diamond and Pearl rekindled interest in the franchise like never before. I was pleasantly surprised at how many past fans who had cast away Pokemon were compelled to get into it again with the DS games. I believe a couple of things are to thank for this, one being that Nintendo rectified the mistake they made last time and allowed players to transfer pokemon from the previous Generation III games into the Generation IV games. And secondly, the DS’s online capabilities; with these games, fans can now battle and trade with people online, even those in other countries! The 107 new Sihhon pokemon were also better received than the Hoenn ones. Vastly updated graphics and other new features, as well as the DS remakes of the old fan-favorites Gold and Silver – HeartGold and SoulSilver – made the fourth generation a blast for the franchise. The only major complaint here was the lack of a good console game, with Pokemon Battle Revolution being poorly received.

———

Generation V

Years: 2010-?
Main series games: Black, White (DS)…and more to come!
Region: Unova
Total pokemon: 649

And here we are now. Rather than give the games a complete overhaul like they did in Generation III, Black and White are still on the DS, and even though they have many new features, it’s not an overwhelming amount. Most of them are just improvements, such as better graphics and new items. Once again you can transfer pokemon from the previous generation into Black and White, and all the online capabilities that made the Generation IV games great are still intact. In fact, there’s even more online features in Black and White, such as the Dream World and C-Gear, that I have yet to explore. So far, Generation V is off to a great start and I hope it continues!

———-

So what can we conclude? I believe the DS and its online features helped restore Pokemon from a “semi-popular” franchise to a “decently-popular” franchise. The ability to transfer pokemon all the way from Generation III into the new Black and White games are another major plus. Because of this, I’ve been using pokemon I’ve had since 2003 in the current games of 2011. I don’t know of any other game that allows you to keep using characters over the years like that. This obviously makes you become very attached to them, and if I were to lose these old pokes of mine it would be like losing an old friend.

And of course, no matter how much the games have advanced over the generations, their overall style, gameplay, and setting remain the same – a charming and thrilling world where sentient, magical creatures live alongside humans, and the power and mysteries surrounding them are waiting to be discovered – not to mention all the challenging strategy involved in pokemon battles! Despite being marketed as a children’s game, there’s a lot of wisdom, universal, mature messages, and uplifting life lessons in Pokemon games, especially in the later games like Platinum and Black & White. Of course, we all know that Pokemon is an “Everyone” game and not a “Children’s” game ;)

During February and March, mall tours promoting Pokemon Black and White are being held at various shopping centers across the U.S. in anticipation of the games’ release on March 6th. This weekend, the tour hit a mall not too far from me in Arcadia, CA. Being the hopeless Pokemon fan than I am, I of course had to go check it out…

Reshiram and Zekrom welcome visitors!

Couldn’t resist taking this picture ^^

The tour started at 10am, though there were already people lined up when my friend and I arrived around 9:30am. Besides buying merchandise at the Pokemon Center booth, the tour was completely free and was conducted as a “stamp rally.” Everyone participating received a pamphlet that had information and images about the games, as well as a page where they would need to get a total of five stamps from booths set up at different locations in the mall. Once they got all five stamps, they could spin a wheel and get a free prize.

A page in the pamphlet about some of the new pokemon

The page that needed to be stamped (with my completed stamps)

At each of the five stamp rally booths, there was also a certain Pokemon BW-related activity going on:

Information Booth

The booth most people started with to pick up their pamphlet and get their first stamp. Besides finding out information about the tour, this booth also gave out movie tickets for the dubbed version of the 13th Pokemon movie being screened at a theater in the mall. Since I’d already seen a fansubbed version of the movie (and I haven’t liked the dub since they changed the voices several years ago), I didn’t care to see it. I heard that the tickets ran out quickly and that you could exchange your ticket stub for a large promo trading card with Celebi and Zorua on it. I would have gotten a ticket just for the trading card but I realized too late XD

Activity Zone

The Activity Zone booth had a few events going on. At various intervals throughout the day, one of the three new starter pokemon (or to be precise, someone in a costume XD) would make an appearance and you could get your picture taken with them. You could also get your picture taken by a staff member against a green background and then go online and imprint the picture on a few different Pokemon backgrounds.

Backgrounds you could get your photo imprinted on

I didn’t care to do any of the photo-related things, and there was supposed to be something going on with the TV screen at this booth, but I didn’t see anything when I was there.

Nothing on the TV, just people lounging around playing Pokemon on their DS

The main attraction here was being able to spin the wheel for a free prize after you got all five stamps, which I’ll get to later on.

GameStop

For some odd reason there were two GameStop stores at this mall but they were both giving away the same stamp.

The event going on at this booth was a Celebi you can download into any of your fourth generation games (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver) via wireless Mystery Gift. If this Celebi is transferred into Heart Gold or Soul Silver, you’ll be able to access a battle with Team Rocket’s boss Giovanni. And if the Celebi is later transferred into your copy of Black or White, you’ll be able to get Zorua. It was funny because when I was getting the download, hardly anyone else knew how to do it. I had to show a few people how to use Mystery Gift in their games and get the Celebi. Apparently not as many people as I thought are experienced in getting similar Pokemon downloads from stores like GameStop and Toys R Us.

Game Demo

The fourth booth I went to was letting people play demos of the English versions of Black and White.

View of the game demo booth from the 2nd floor

The line was very long, and since I’ve already played through my Japanese copy of Black, I didn’t feel much of a need to try a demo of the English version. So I just got my stamp here and moved on. I wonder if they’ll still have this booth at the tours that will be held after the games come out on March 6th. Can’t imagine it’d attract a lot of attention then ~_^

Liked the design on this side of the booth

Pokemon Center

This was the most popular booth since it was the place where you could buy exclusive Pokemon BW merchandise!

The line was very long because each person was taking the time to pick out what they wanted to buy and then had to wait until their payment transaction by cash or credit card was completed. Something went wrong with the credit card machine right when it was my turn to pay, but thankfully I had just enough cash to pay for what I bought.

People waiting in line to buy their poke-loot

Plushies!

And more plushies!

View of the Pokemon Center booth from the 2nd floor

The photos below are the signs that showed all the available things to buy – T-shirts, plushies, and figures.

Unfortunately the T-shirts were all youth sizes that wouldn’t fit me (c’mon, they must know by now that adults want Pokemon shirts too XP) So I instead blew my money on plushies and figures.

My haul: plushies of Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivey…

…and figures of Reshiram, Zekrom, Pikachu, Zorua, and Zoroak (along with the styluses I won later)

Spin the Wheel

After getting the five stamps, my friend and I headed back to the Activity Zone to spin the wheel that would determine which free prize we would get. We soon found out that the staff wasn’t quite prepared for the amount of people that showed up at the tour – first we waited in an incredibly long line to get a wristband that would let us spin the wheel at a certain time. After waiting for who knows how long, we realized that they scrapped that idea and just had everyone wait in line to spin the wheel right away (instead of wristbands, they just stamped our hand to show who already got to spin). In order to prevent blocking traffic in the mall, we then ended up waiting in another line outside. Luckily we were in the parking structure but unlucky people at the end of the line weren’t covered when it started raining! After about an hour, it was finally our turn to spin.

The prizes all featured Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivey – a stylus with one of the three on it, a patch of one of them, a phone charm with all three of them, or a free plushie of one of them. Since I already bought all three plushies, and I had no use for a patch or stylus, I really wanted the phone charm. But alas, I won a stylus and so did my friend (she gave me hers =P) A little boy waiting in line next to me wanted to trade his Tepig stylus for my Oshawott one, which I did XD

Took one final photo with the big Reshiram and Zekrom blow-up dolls XD

———-

To sum up my thoughts, the tour was fun and a fantastic way to promote what’s probably the most unique generation of Pokemon. It still amazes me that even after all these years, Pokemon is still so popular with such a variety of ages, and even an event like this would draw in more people than anticipated. I had brought my DS to perhaps battle people (and show off my Japanese copy of Black, though most people were too engrossed in their own DS to notice XD) but by the time I was done getting all the stamps and waiting in lines, I was pretty much spent. There were a few Pokemon cosplayers at the tour, but not many. There were lots of families with kids, groups of teenagers, and of course older, veteran fans like me. My only complaints about the tour was a slight lack of organization which resulted in very long lines (and probably lack of any activity with that TV in the Activity Zone), and I also would have liked merchandise that featured a better variety of the new Pokemon. I know they’re important and all, but the three starters and two version mascots were kinda hogging the spotlight.

Anyway, the last Pokemon event I went to was almost four years ago, so it was great having this one. I hope there will be further events for this incredible franchise that I can go to ^^

BLACKWHITE by ほう

It’s now a little over a month until Pokemon Black and White make their American debut on March 6th (and, for the first time, Europe will be getting the games two days before America on March 4th). Bits of info have been trickling in about the English release, particularly the English names of characters, places, items, and other aspects of the games…

On this post I’ll be discussing my thoughts on some of the English B&W names, particularly the pokemon themselves of course. I’m not going to discuss every single name – just the ones I feel are worth mentioning. If I don’t mention one of the English names here, I’m neutral to it and didn’t have anything to say about it.

Credit for the info and pictures on this post goes to Bulbapedia and Pokebeach.

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One of the first notable translations is that the new region the games take place in, Isshu, will be called Unova in English, marking the first time one of the Pokemon regions has been renamed.

The Unova region

I’m trying to figure out why they would change the region’s name this time when all the others have kept their Japanese names (honestly I think “Isshu” is easier for English speakers to say than “Unova”). It’s probably because these are the first games that take place in a region not based on a real region in Japan. In this case, it’s based on New York City.

Bianca and Cheren

The English names of the games’ two rival characters are also worth noting. Cheren keeps his Japanese name while Bel is renamed Bianca. “Cheren” is Bulgarian for “black” while “Bel” means “white” in Slavic and “Bianca” means “white” in Italian. Perhaps the English translators thought “Bel” is too similar to the French name “Belle,” meaning “beautiful,” but still wanted to follow the black and white theme of the Japanese names.

Professor Juniper

The region’s first female professor, Professor Araragi, will be named Professor Juniper, keeping up the tradition (in all languages I think) of Pokemon professors being named after trees.

And now we get to the most important English names – the 156 new pokemon. Official sources have revealed about 27 so far. However, a list of English names for all the new pokemon has been circulating and it’s now believed to be at least 99% true, as it contained accurate names that weren’t officially revealed until after the list was made. Going by that list, approximately 21 of the new pokemon keep their Japanese name, or some very slight variation of it.

Below is my commentary on the names I feel like mentioning. Again, there’s still that 1% chance that some of these names turn out to be fake. If that happens later on, feel free to laugh at me. But I don’t think so…they all sound very legit to this long-time Pokemon fan.

Snivy, Servine, Serperior

We’ll begin with the Grass starter pokemon. Snivy and Servine are good while Serperior (serpent+superior) would be good if there wasn’t already a completely unrelated pokemon named Rhyperior (rhino+superior). Did the translators forget about Rhyperior or did they just not care about the similarity?

Tepig, Pignite, Emboar

Next is the Fire types. Tepig (tepid+pig) is okay though, like Serperior, there’s already an unrelated pokemon named Grumpig (I’m sure they could have thought of a different pig-related word to use). However, the English names for its evolutions – Pignite and Emboar – are perfect.

Oshawott, Dewott, Samurott

And lastly, the Water types. Oshawatt (ocean+water+otter) takes some getting used to. Dewott and Samurott are okay…but for Samurott (samurai+otter) I can’t help but think, “Rotting samurai anyone?” XD

Patrat, Watchog

Patrat (patrol+rat) and Watchog (watch+groundhog) – pretty cute names. Watchog is actually a direct translation of the Japanese name, Miruhog (“miru” means “see” or “watch”). These guys are kinda cute it’s just…those eyes 0_0

Lillipup, Herdier, Stoutland

The name Lillipup for a “little pup” is a bit plain for my taste =P Herdier (herd+terrier) is good and similar to the Japanese name (Haderia). Stoutland I assume comes from “stout” and either “Newfoundland” (a breed of dog, though Stoutland’s attributes are of other breeds) or “lander,” which is German for “terrier.”

Purrloin, Liepard

Purrloin (purr+purloin) and Liepard (lie+leopard)…adorable names XD

Unfezant

Unfezant (unpleasant+pheasant) – I’m not a big fan of names that are insulting to the pokemon (like Purugly from the fourth generation).

Zebstrika

Zebstrika is similar to its Japanese name, Zebraika. But I think they should have translated it as “Zebrike” (zebra+spike/strike) instead. Zebstrika is kinda hard to say.

Woobat, Swoobat

Woobat and Swoobat – good names, but we already have a line of unrelated bat pokemon whose names also end in “-bat.” I’m sure they could have thought of something else. These guys are pretty silly looking but they kinda grow on you after a while.

Throh, Sawk

The Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan of this generation. These names will take some getting used to. The names remind me of Seel, Dewgong, and Jynx from the original 150 pokemon; pronounced like real words but spelled with a slight difference.

Liligant

Liligant – pretty name for a pretty pokemon~

Cofagrigus

Cofagrigus (coffin+sarcophagus). Yes, the word “fag” is in it…ha, ha.

Minccino

Minccino (mini+chino cloth) – not sure why they didn’t keep its Japanese name, Chillarmy (chinchilla+charming). The Japanese name just seems simpler.

Gothita, Gothorita, Gothitelle

I love the names of the Gothic trio :3 Almost like the Japanese names but a bit friendlier to the English tongue.

Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure

These guys are three of the most unique new pokemon, so I’m glad their English names do them justice ^^ Litwick (lit+wick), Lampent (lantern+lament), and Chandelure (chandelier+lure).

Axew

Axew (axe+chew) – sorry, it just sounds so much like “achoo!” XD

Braviary

The Japanese name, Wargle, already used English words (warrior+eagle) so I don’t know why they needed to change it to Braviary (brave+aviary).

Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon

Three of the coolest new pokemon have been given equally cool English names. Deino is dino(saur)+ein (German for “one”), Zweilous is zwei (German for “two”)+jealous or perilous, and Hydreigon is hydra+drei (German for “three”)+dragon. This is similar to the translations of the names of the three legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, except with German numbers instead of Spanish.

—–

I’ve already written a review of Pokemon Black and White after playing the Japanese version of Black. But I’m sure I’ll write another related post after I get my English copy of White :3

イッシュ地方、新しい冒険へ by 蒼井

Pokemon Black and White mark the beginning of the 5th generation of the Pokemon franchise, introducing a new region and 156 new pokemon. They’re also the first games that are on the same console as the previous generation, the Nintendo DS, though they contain many advanced features that previous games do not have. Already B&W are top sellers, selling a record 2.6 million copies in just two days and having over a million preorders. The games have now sold 3,761,217 copies in sixteen days, ranking them the highest among Japanese game sales in the past two weeks.

I’ve finally played through enough of my copy of Pokemon Black to write a proper review of it…

One of the first things that fans noticed upon the release of the games is that they’re a lot more story-centered than previous ones. All the Pokemon games have featured a rival for the player and an evil organization that the player must defeat. These characters will usually appear just a few times throughout the game, while the main plot remains for the player to collect all the gym badges and compete in the Pokemon League. Black and White however, feature two rivals/childhood friends, Cheren and Belle, who play relatively significant roles in the story and reoccur to battle the player many more times than previous characters.

Cheren and Belle have already developed quite a fan base =P

❤❤❤ by 白井 風都＠ついった

In addition, B&W’s signature evil organization, Team Plasma, are also more complex, featuring a better variety of characters, from their preachy leader Geechisu and enigmatic “king” N, to the mysterious six sages and N’s bodyguards, Dark Trinity. Like Team Galactic from the 4th generation, Team Plasma is portrayed as having somewhat righteous ideals but twisted ways of acting on them. Team Plasma believes that pokemon suffer under human control and must be free, while the rest of the characters try to convince them that pokemon and humans form lasting bonds that help each other grow stronger together. Team Plasma wants to separate pokemon and humans and create a “black and white” world. I thought Cyrus’ conflict in Platinum was pretty deep for a Pokemon game, but the conflict involving Team Plasma is just as interesting.

Team Plasma grunts

Taking the story-oriented feel of the games even further, instead of the games’ main story ending with the player defeating the Pokemon League Champion, as it has for all the previous games, in B&W the player must have a final confrontation with N and Geechisu instead. Only after defeating them in one of the most difficult series of battles (having to capture your version’s respective Dragon-type legendary, defeat N, and then defeat Geechisu all without saving your game in between) will you be able to take on the real Champion. In addition to Cheren, Belle, and Team Plasma, the eleven new gym leaders of Isshu also have at least a small role in the games’ story outside their gym, which again adds to the games’ heavy focus on story and characters.

The 11 Isshu gym leaders (Shaga’s beard seriously makes him look like an Arrancar from Bleach XD)

Despite all the focus on story, B&W are definitely not lacking when it comes to the typical gameplay we expect of Pokemon games – catching, training, and battling pokemon while traveling to different cities and taking on each gym leader. The first thing to note is that there’s a whopping 156 new pokemon in B&W, more than even the very first games introduced, bringing the total number up to 649. As with all generations, there are always fan complaints about the designs of the new pokemon. I personally am not fussy when it comes to pokemon and think the 5th generation as whole has some of the better designs.

The 649 pokemon (I separated the new B&W pokemon with red lines)

*Image credited to Veekun. Click the image for a larger version*

Another difference is that only new pokemon are available in the game until after you complete the main story. After that, many new areas will open up and give you access to pokemon from previous games, as well as areas exclusive to each version (Black City in Black and White Forest in White). Of course, along with new pokemon there are also new attacks, abilities, and items, but thankfully not an overwhelming amount. Also, Pokemon Musicals replace Pokemon Contests, though I don’t have much interest in either. Another plus is that it’s a lot easier to raise up your pokemon in B&W, especially in the later stages of the games. There are a lot more areas with more trainers to battle, you can battle a number of trainers more than once, and you even receive the Lucky Egg early in the game. After you complete the main story, the eastern part of Isshu that opens up contains a ton of trainers and pokemon at much higher levels (LV60s), so that too is great experience.

The very first improvement in B&W that fans will notice is the fantastic graphics. The DS’s 3D engine is used to its fullest in these games. A number of areas such as the skyscrapers and alleyways in Hiun City and the Sky Arrow Bridge that overlooks the ocean, are all rendered in an amazing 3D that I don’t think has ever been seen in a DS game. There are more 3D rendered cut scenes in B&W as well. Just about all of the gyms also make use of the 3D engine and feature fun puzzles, such as being shot out of cannons, riding on roller coasters, and searching for specific books in a library.

The player in Hiun City and Sky Arrow Bridge

The graphics for the pokemon battles have greatly improved. The pokemon sprites are now constantly moving throughout the battle and the camera zooms in and out accordingly during attacks. The battle music is more dynamic as well, changing to a dramatic tone when your pokemon is low on HP or your opponent sends out their final pokemon. In addition to the familiar single and double battles, the 5th generation introduces triple and rotation battles. I haven’t gotten into these very much yet as you’ll only encounter a few in the main story.

A triple battle

With my high intermediate/low advanced Japanese skills, I was able to play through the game while absorbing a good amount of the story and without getting stuck anywhere. These are also the first Pokemon games where you’re given the option to have the text in kanji instead of kana, though I opted to stick with kana XD Since the games haven’t been released outside of Japan yet, it’s hard to comment on their connectivity to foreign versions, but one would assume it’ll be the same as the 4th generation. Also like the 4th generation, you’re able to permanently transfer your pokemon from the previous generation into B&W using the Pokeshifter that becomes available after the main story. Unfortunately unlike previous games, they won’t be able to hold any items or have certain HM moves (it sucks, but it’s probably due to the fact that TMs and HMs have been changed in B&W).

There are many more new features to explore in these games, such as the Dream World, Battle Subway, C-gear, High Link, and uploading your game online. I haven’t gotten around to using these features yet, so I’ll most likely touch on them when I review the US release of the game in spring of next year.

伝説の一戦 by イーブイ松本

In conclusion, Black and White have the potential to be the best Pokemon games in the franchise thus far – not only do they have the usual aspects of the games that we know and love, but the addition of a focused story, developed characters, and amazing graphics make them worth the hype. Looking forward to reliving the excitement of these games again with the US release! =D

あしたはきっと by 鳥男＠シマママ！

Inspired by 2DT’s recent post, I’ve realized that I have yet to write my own post in the Diary of an Anime Lived series. Now I finally feel up to the challenge…

…so here we go.

As I’ve explained in my Anime Autobiography, my springboard into anime fandom began in my middle school years with Pokemon. Up until that point, I was purely a child, still enamored with innocent, childish things like cartoons and games. Middle school however, presented me with the world of preteens and their desire to grow-up quickly and cast away the things they loved in their childhood. At 14 years old, I was already considered a few years too old for Pokemon. But despite the constant peer pressure to become a typical teenager, some slight encouragement from a few choice friends and family members helped me stick with Pokemon, and eventually anime, which was what I really wanted. Just as the Pokemon franchise was taking off in those years, and Ash was beginning his Pokemon journey in the anime, I too began my bumpy journey out of childhood and into adolescence with Pokemon as my constant companion (though “obsession” is probably a better word =P)

don’t cry, smile! by KL

The three years of middle school went by, and as I was ready to start high school, I made the bold decision not to be shy about my anime fandom any longer. I covered my school notebook in anime pictures, and much to my pleasant surprise, managed to make friends who shared my interest and even found an anime club. Also around this time, the first generation of Pokemon was coming to a close and the second generation was taking off. Once again, Ash and company ended one journey to begin another in a new land, just as I ended my journey of uncertainty in middle school to start afresh with a new outlook in high school.

High school is where the person I am today really started to form. My anime fandom was growing and growing, but still I couldn’t deny my love for Pokemon and continued to follow the games and anime. As I was exploring who I really was and forming my first long-lasting social bonds, the third generation of Pokemon came with yet another new land to explore and new friends to meet. And still I grew together with the franchise as it was always an important “friend” in my own journey.

シンオウの思い出 by いす

After a couple of years at community college in the mid-2000s, I made the decision to head off on my biggest journey…well, it’s “big” for someone who had lived a relatively sheltered and routine life – going off on my own to a university. As if to coincide with my biggest journey, the fourth generation of Pokemon, the most highly anticipated one, was taking off. Once again Pokemon, my fellow journeying companion of seven years now, was closing one journey and beginning a very exciting one, and I was doing the same. Yeah, I’m sure by now you see the pattern I’m going for here…

Now we’re in the dawn of the fifth Pokemon generation (which officially begins in less than a week). Ash, with a new look, will be exploring another new land and making new friends. But this will be the first time that my journey alongside Pokemon will not be related to my status as a student. Actually, it’s been over a year since I’ve graduated college. But despite this, once again I feel that the beginning of this upcoming Pokemon journey coincides with a new journey of mine – namely that the current job I’ve had for about a year will be cutting my hours, so I’ll most likely have to search for something better. Up until now I’ve been dividing the stages in my life based on my school status (i.e., “when I was in high school,” “my college years,” etc). Now I can no longer do that. In a few years from now, I’m curious to see how this generation’s Pokemon journey will find me counting down the stages of my life.

想い出はパール！ by うさお

Pokemon has shown me time and again that one journey in life leads to another. Just as the ending of one Pokemon journey is bittersweet, soon enough you’re faced with another one with new friends (and foes) to make, new places to explore, new things to do, and most importantly, new changes to contend with. The words that Pokemon League Champion Shirona says upon the end of Satoshi (Ash) and Shinji’s (Paul) rivalry in the Sinnoh League ring true for a lot of our journeys:

“When one life meets another life, something is born.”

Even though there are separations and disagreements, and even though the meetings may seem short and insignificant, the act of meeting alone brings fourth things we don’t always realize. How long will Pokemon and I continue to journey together? Will I ever lose interest in Pokemon and continue my journey alone? Only time will tell.

And with that, I’ll wrap things up with some of my favorite lines from the very first Pokemon opening, “Mezase Pokemon Master”:

オレはこいつと　旅に出る
I’m going off on a journey with this guy.
きたえたワザで　勝ちまくり
I’ll keep on winning with the techniques I’ve forged,
仲間をふやして　次の町へ
Making friends, then heading off to the next city.

いつもいつでも　うまくゆくなんて
There’s no guarantee
保証はどこにも　ないけど
That things will always go well,
いつでもいつも　ホンキで生きてる
But I’ll always keep living truthfully.
こいつたちがいる
These guys are with me.

ありがとうダイヤモンドパール！ by じっぺ

Thanks guys. Let’s keep journeying…together.

“biribiri”

I came up with this idea a while back and have been wanting to try it out. It’s a pretty random project I know, but I thought it would be fun. Turns out, I had a blast making it, so I hope you’ll derive at least some amusement from it too…

Note: I based my choices on similarities between the characters and pokemon in terms of looks, attributes, personality, etc,.

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*fiery wings

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*mysterious helmets

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*red and slash-happy

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*clean, blue dragons

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*wandering purifiers

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*Kabuto and Kabuto

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*happiness

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*love

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*nyan~!

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*hamster!

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*Transform!

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*Voltorb’s Japanese name is “Biridama”

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*teleportation ftw!

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*Wonder Guard ftw!

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*they can sense auras

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*gotta take off their masks to see their true selves

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*aliens

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*time travelers

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*espers

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*gods

Yeah, this was pretty silly, but I sure had fun with it – I actually laughed to myself while editing some of the pictures for this post XD I’ll probably think of more to add later on, but I’m gonna stop here.

Feel free to leave a comment to give me feedback or come up with some of your own.

Last updated: 05/15/10
Last night a magazine scan of the three starter pokemon and two protagonists for the upcoming 5th generation games, Pokemon Black & White, was leaked…

First impressions – I’m pleased with them. I’ve heard fans say that they look more “tropical” than the others, which probably has to do with the new region that the games will take place in.

The Grass one, Tsutaja, kind of reminds me of Treecko (thin, bipedal, and sly looking). And the Fire one, Pokabu, reminds me of a Fire version of Turtwig (a chubby quadruped with a leaf-like growth on his head, though in Pokabu’s case they’re ears and not leaves). The Water one, Mijumaru, is my favorite of the three so far. His face is just so sweet ~^^~ I can’t wait to see their evolutions. I’m imagining a cool raging, flaming boar for Pokabu.

In addition to the three starters, the scan also revealed the two new playable protagonists in the game…

Apparently they’re going to be older than the past protagonists. I usually like the female’s design better but I think I might like the male’s better this time. The girl’s hair is just kinda…big.

And for those who missed them, last month two other new 5th generation pokemon that will be featured in the upcoming 13th movie, were revealed, Dark-types Zorua and Zoroark…

These two together with the three starters now brings the total number of known pokemon up to 498. We’ll be well over 500 by the end of the year.

UPDATE: 05/15/10

Pokemon Sunday showed gameplay footage of what pokemon battles will look like in Black & White. For the first time, pokemon sprites will move throughout the duration of the battle. The camera also zooms in and out during attacks (the footage starts at 1:15 on the video below).

The video also shows some footage of the gameplay field. In Black & White, the field is more 3-D and your character can talk to people without having to press the A button.

Getting more and more excited!

Source: PokeBeach.com. Visit PokeBeach for all the latest Black & White news

The second part of my review of Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the latest and very popular Pokemon games. My first review covered the basics about the game, as well as the first half of the story in the Johto region. This second review will cover the rest of the main story after that, as well as a few extra additions…

Picking up where my last review left off, after you get all the Johto badges, you’re able to battle the Elite Four. I think the Elite Four in these games are actually the easiest in terms of level, with their pokemon only being between LV40-50. The hardest one to beat is probably Lance and his three Dragonite.

Other than that, as long as your pokemon are in the late LV40s and you nail each trainer’s weakness, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. By the time I got to the Elite Four, my team was already in the LV40s so I didn’t have to do too much extra training before taking on the Elite Four, which is something I usually have to do in other games.

After you beat the Elite Four, the end credits will roll. I should point out that the animation for the end credits in HGSS is the best yet.

Field sprites of all the gym leaders and some other characters, as well as a variety of pokemon, make appearances and do amusing little things during the credits.

The next major part of the game is taking the S.S. Aqua to Kanto.

The S.S. Aqua

After you take the ship to Kanto the first time, you can take it again on certain days of the week and battle all the trainers again. Their pokemon remain in the late LV30s/early LV40s range so it’s good experience.

And now we get to the Kanto region. First thing I’ll point out is that it’s awesome seeing the Kanto gyms, cities, and routes in full 3D splendor on the DS for the first time.

Pewter City in HGSS

Unlike Johto, the Kanto gyms haven’t changed too much. The music is again made of updated melodies of the old tunes, and uses different music for trainer and wild pokemon battles than in Johto. Since my guidebook only goes up to Johto, I used an online walkthrough to help me in Kanto, especially for getting through the caves.

After the Magnet Train is running again, you can also use that to travel between Kanto and Johto, since the S.S. Aqua only sails two times a week. But the easiest way to get from one region to another is to Fly to the border at the Pokemon League gate because you can Fly to either region when you’re there.

The main thing to note about getting the Kanto badges in HGSS is that, besides Blue, you can battle the gym leaders in any order you want. You’re required to do more traveling to get to some gyms, but basically you don’t have to battle one to get to another. Because of this, all the Kanto gym leader’s pokemon are around the same level – LV47-60.

One somewhat negative thing I have to say about the Kanto region is that it was too…easy. As you go through Kanto, your pokemon should reach at least the late LV50 range. However, all the trainers in the region besides the gym leaders never get any tougher than the LV30s or LV40s. Thus, I was plowing through all the trainers I encountered with minimal effort. The gym leaders themselves are pretty easy too, since your pokemon are getting stronger while all their pokemon remain in the LV50s and all you have to do is nail their weakness. The only tough battle I had in Kanto was the final gym leader, Blue.

Once you get all eight Kanto badges, you’re able to battle an upgraded Elite Four. They’re now much tougher than they were before, with some new pokemon and levels ranging from LV58 to LV75. I transferred some of my LV60-ish pokemon from Plantinum to battle them and even then it was still hard..

Around this time, you’ll probably start noticing that, if you recorded trainers’ phone numbers in your Pokegear, they’ll start calling you for a rematch. They can be quite helpful, since their pokemon’s level increases each time you battle them. Some will give you items instead. And unfortunately some just call you to tell you something pointless. The phone calls can get kind of annoying so I should probably delete all the number except for the trainers who want to battle or give items. You can also get the phone numbers of all the gym leaders if you meet them outside their gym and you can battle them again on certain days of the week.

And of course, your final challenge is to beat Red, the protagonist from the very first Pokemon games.

Red’s sprite in HGSS

You’ll have to get through Mt. Silver to reach him. Unfortunately, you need a lot of HMs to get there, so you might want to sacrifice the sixth pokemon in your party for an “HM slave.” I followed a walkthrough carefully for Mt. Silver, and even then it was a bit hard. Red himself has the same team he had in the original games, all LV80-88. He was pretty tough, even for the LV70-LV80 pokemon I transferred from Platinum to battle him (the Hail weather condition is in affect during the battle). Once you beat him, the end credits will roll again and other things will be unlocked. I believe you can battle him again each time you beat the Elite Four.

After completing the main story of the game, I decided to check out the Pokeathlon and get my Pokewalker going.

The Pokeathlon poster

I never got into the Pokemon Contests that were introduced in the 3rd generation games. The Pokeathlon however, is much simpler and doesn’t require you to tweak your pokemon’s stats or moves in order to do well. In the Pokeathlon, you use a team of three pokemon to compete in various events that test their Speed, Jump, Skill, Stamina, and Power. All of the 493 pokemon species has predetermined strengths or weaknesses in each of these five categories.

The Shooting Snow event in the Pokeathlon

I’m not going to go through each of the ten Pokeathlon events. All of them require use of the touch screen and stylus only, which can actually give your hand quite a workout. I’ll just say that most of the events are not too hard or too easy, and the only ones I had trouble with were the Goal Roll and Pennant Capture. I eventually got first place in all five categories either on my first or second try, and I didn’t have to use any Aprijuice on my pokemon. You can continue to compete in the Pokeathlon in order to unlock items and commemorative rooms. Basically it’s a fun little addition to the main gameplay.

And lastly we have the Pokewalker. This extra device allows you to transfer one pokemon from your game and take it on a “stroll” through different routes that are gradually unlockable.

The Pokewalker

Like the Pokemon Pikachu device from years ago, the Pokewalker can be hooked to a belt or bag and count the number of steps you take. The steps give you watts, which allow you to search for pokemon and items on the route. The items and pokemon that you get on the Pokewalker can be transferred back to your HGSS game. The pokemon you’re strolling with can also go up a level if you get enough steps.

Encountering a pokemon in the Pokewalker

I guess the Pokewalker’s purpose is to encourage exercise. I suppose it could work, and the fact that it’s kind of easier to get certain pokemon and items on the Pokewalker may indeed encourage players to take walks with it. Like the Pokeathlon, though nothing that special, it’s an enjoyable addition to the main game.

There are a few more minor things to cover in HGSS, like catching Mewtwo, Suicune, or other legendary pokemon, the Battle Frontier, etc,. But this review is getting a bit too long so I’m going to stop here. Like I said in my last review, Heart Gold & Soul Silver are the longest and most elaborate Pokemon games thus far. From what I’ve seen, even those who are not major fans have been enjoying it :)

Screen shots on this post are credited to Bulbapedia and fan art credited to this pixiv user.