#based off original diamond pearl sprite

[shoppncarticles]

Generation Five Retrospective

Generation 5 saw its release in 2010, releasing on the still active and highly successful Nintendo DS system, as Pokemon Black and White versions. They’d be sure to sell well, Pokemon never tends to come up short, but it’s possible the developers realized they couldn’t just reuse the same Pokemon format with the same sets of tried and true Pokemon and regional aesthetics. They’d technically be competing with themselves since Diamond and Pearl already existed on the system. So, Game Freak took a leap, and created a Generation almost wholly detached from the previous four.

Gen 5 as a whole was wildly unique for the time. Unova, its region, was the first in Pokemon’s main series to not be based on a region of Japan, and instead took its inspiration from New York City and its surrounding land, over in America. Gen 5 also saw the largest new introduction of Pokemon to date, a whopping 156, beating out even the original set of 151 from Gen 1. This was likely in part because Gen 5 restricted all available Pokemon during its main story to those new to the region, reserving all returning ‘mons for post-game areas and trainers.

That isn’t even to mention all the changes brought about by Gen 5 as well. Gen 5 introduced Seasons, allowing the overworld to change dynamically based upon the month you were playing in. It finally allowed TMs, items used to teach Pokemon moves, to become infinite use rather than limited to their quantity. Pokemon sprites finally animated during battle continuously rather than just on entry. HM usage was drastically toned back compared to Gen 4. Routes and caves were overall more streamlined, making for easier traversal while still offering several side paths and secret areas for players to explore or revisit once progressing further in the game. Even the experience system was optimized, to give players more EXP based upon the next major boss opponent, and softly plateauing them from overleveling past that. Pokemon Black and White would even be home to Pokemon’s strongest narrative yet (in my opinion), driving most of the game’s playthrough beyond just the need to Be a Pokemon Master, and giving the player character some actual stake in the story and villainous team rather than just being a trainer who was in the right place at the right time.

And man. People hated Gen 5 when it came out. Really, truly despised it. When I say ‘people,’ I mean extremely vocal old-school Pokemon fans online who played the games when they first released in Japan and had the benefit of driving most of the discussion before the rest of the world really got their hands on the games. What happened to old my old Pokemon, they decried. Where’s Pikachu and Charizard, how come all the new Pokemon are just bootleg repeats of old ones? Roggenrola? That’s just a worse Geodude! They seriously made a TRASH BAG and ICE CREAM Pokemon?! Man, Pokemon designers are creatively bankrupt. This game is awful.

Honestly I can’t fathom this mindset whatsoever. You can criticize Trubbish and Vanillite for ‘just’ being normal objects all you want, but that kind of thing has existed in literally every Pokemon generation. Geodude is just a rock, Sunflora is just a sunflower, Luvdisc is just a heart, Drifloon is just a balloon. And so what if Gen 5 has some repeated concepts among its roster? In real life there isn’t just one Horse or one Bat or one Stone. Pokemon like Roggenrola, Timburr, Woobat, Blitzle, and more follow similar ideas to their Gen 1 counterparts, but take them in different directions that helps flesh them out as more original, and often more creative, creatures. Roggenrola isn’t just a living rock, it’s an extreme troglobite that evolved without eyes and instead a central ear. Blitzle isn’t another flaming horse, but instead an electrical zebra, playing off the animal’s striped pattern, like how Ponyta may be a play on the term 'trailblazer.'

Even as a kid who grew up with Generations 2-4 before playing 5, I saw listings of the new Pokemon on sites like Serebii and were enamored by them, designs like Galvantula, Scrafty, and Chandelure instantly captivated me. Even seeing the conceptual repeats didn't bother me, because they were still new designs that were breaking the mold from the stuff that had been used for years prior. Gen 5 felt different. It felt fresh.

I’m not the one who made this observation first, but I think the reason why people got so angry with this new Pokemon roster is that they were forced to use ‘mons they hadn't seen before, and couldn't fall back on familiar ones they understood. They couldn't just box whatever starter they were required to pick up and use a Gyarados and Pidgeot like they always had, and being forced to use new Pokemon made those players hate them just out of principle.

On one hand, I kinda get it, it may feel claustrophobic to have to use Pokemon you don't like because no other options exist. Personally though, this is more or less how I try to experience every Generation, at least the first time I play them. I want to at least give the new guys a chance to prove themselves, and on my first playthroughs I always use that Generation's newbies, and don't fallback on what I already know. After all, the rest of the Generation, its locations, its characters, and more are all new and unfamiliar, so why shouldn't the Pokemon be also? I'd love it if every new Generation was like Unova, forcing you to start fresh with all-new Pokemon, but such a philosophy would require a plethora of new design work to be done at Game Freak that just isn't practical with these games' rigid development paces. It makes Black and White all the more special, I guess.

Even beyond just the new Pokemon, Gen 5 is great in nearly all its aspects. Unova sets itself apart from previous regions by its large, flashy urban expanses and varied landscapes, combining both Hoenn's strong suits and improving upon Kanto's larger cities. Something about Unova and Gen 5 as a whole still feels incredibly modern and up-to-date for me, even over a decade after its release. Maybe it's to do with several cities' fascinations with high-tech machinery and glowing neon lighting, or all the merchandise and promotional material using sleek hexagonal black-and-white grids as backdrops for all their art.

Gen 5's also where Pokemon's got its strongest story, in my opinion. As I previously mentioned it feels like the first time the player character actually matters to the narrative, even if they're still a silent protagonist that doesn't really give input on the events that happen. Still, your Pokemon journey is given a little more context and stakes, being that you've got to beat your main rival N - who also happens to be the ruler of the local villainous organization Team Plasma - from reaching the Pokemon League and becoming the Champion, and commanding trainers across the region to give up their Pokemon, separating the connections between people and Pokemon and making both groups as distant as the colors black and white - ha. I won't give an extremely detailed plot summary - these articles are supposed to be on Pokemon designs rather than the games as a whole - but I still think it deserved mention since, alongside the strength of the new designs, such large improvements on Pokemon's general presentation and content is what makes me like Gen 5 so much all these years later.

Oh man, I didn't even get to Black 2 and White 2 yet, the first games since Gold and Silver to be direct sequels, and the first to be set in the same region. They add so much to to the Unovan experience, expanding the region with new locations and content, adding stuff like Pokestar Studios and the Pokemon World Tournament (where you can fight every previous Gym Leader and Champion in tourney brackets!!), adding old Pokemon back into the main game's areas, piling on even more post-game content to do after the credits roll, and a plethora of new and helpful UI and QoL changes. As I said before, these aren't meant to be gameplay critiques or anything, but at least come away from this article knowing that I think Black 2 and White 2 are the strongest games in the series by a wide margin.

With ALL THAT preamble out of the way, let's wrap things up in summation. Gen 5 is an extremely strong way to reinvigorate Pokemon's core style and aesthetic, and gave us a wide helping of unique, creative, and dynamic designs, and even those that retread on concepts already portrayed in the series, usually did so with a new angle or creative spark that helps them to stand separate. It was a great way to usher in a new 'era,' of Pokemon, and did an excellent job wrapping up the first, coincidentally also being the last Pokemon game portrayed in classic 2D.

I haven't tallied it up myself, but I think this Generation has the strongest density of S-B ranks of all Gens so far, wildly impressive considering its size.

My Personal Favorites

Despite all my heaping praises for this Generation, picking my top six is actually pretty easy. Then again, that's due in part to just how much I've thought about it and how much I love all these little freaks, and the ones residing at the top of my list have remained unchanged for quite a while. The newest addition though is Eelektross, who I already like a good deal before writing the reviews but found a lot of new appreciation for once getting to its article. Honorable mentions also go out to Samurott (I still like Dewott better, sorry!), Jellicent, Volcarona, Reuniclus, Leavanny, and more. There were a ton of S Ranks this time around. I could honestly make a top twelve favorites if I really wanted to...

My All-Time Favorites

And would you look at that! Wow! Four additions to my top 10! That's unprecedented! Gen 4 and even 3 only had an impact of three 'mons! Gen 5's just that good, I guess. I should mention, for the record, as time goes on my appreciation for Porygon-Z continues to grow, so consider it tied with Eelektross, just tucked off to the side out of frame.

My Black/White Team

At least in the in-game playthroughs I can show some of my other favorites some love, so let's all give appreciation to the other star members that didn't get included in the Top 6. But wait - where are my other favorites?

My Black 2/White 2 Team

There they are. Usually I don't include two separate teams depending on a game's slightly different versions, but Black/White 1 are pretty substantially different to Black/White 2, so I wanted to give both games some team compositions for fun.

The Coolest

This was THE Generation for radical Dark types - they're even more chock-full of character and badass prowess than normal. Even besides those, you've got real slick heavy hitters like the scarred, sharp-bladed Excadrill and eerily beautiful Chandelure as well. Coolest Gen 5 'mons is another category I could do twice over, but I'll spare you the excess listings.

The Cutest

Another tough contest. Most of these are pretty safe picks, I feel like anyone with a heart will agree on these guys' cuteness, but I also had to give Roggenrola a chance in the spotlight too. YES, I find the little rock pebble cute. Is that so WRONG.

The Most Creative

All those no-fun fuddy-duddies who say Gen 5 is when Game Freak ran out of ideas clearly have no idea what they're talking about. I'm sorry the Nazca-line sentry drone and shedded-skin hoodlum lizard don't tickle your inspirational bone, maybe you just need to expand your palette or something.

Also yes, I put Garbodor on my list of most creative designs. I honestly think the idea of a shambling garbage monster with an exposed rebar skeleton and squirting nozzle-fingers is quite the interesting and special design, SORRY.

My Least Favorites

I struggled to fill this one out. Besides Landorus and the monkeys, I had to go back and check what 'mons I really disliked. Pignite is kinda stretch, I'm perfectly willing to accept its existence but definitely wish it could've been better.

Also yeah, sorry elemental monkey fans, I'm still not big on them. It's nice that you like them, I'm glad they have their fans. Still not for me though.

Gen 5 in a Nutshell

In my mind, Gen 5 has several iconic Pokemon, but I think when you really get down to the nitty gritty and consider all the advertising and promotional material, these are the six that best represent what this region's got on offer, and all six are pretty strong, noteworthy designs. They've got everything, from impressive elegance, to cute charm, and appealing cool factors. And Trubbish, who's there because it's delightful and what everyone thinks of when Gen 5 comes up in discussion. I'm NOT saying Gen 5 is trash. I LIKE Trubbish and do honestly think it represents the region's feel, in a way.

Gen 1 Parallel Hall of Fame

For better or for worse, as I've stated a dozen times before, Gen 5 is well known for its repeat of Gen 1 concepts and ideas, but most of the time the end product is a pretty charming and interesting retooling of the core idea. Seen above are the six I feel do the best jobs with the ideas they're revisiting. I wouldn't say all of them are explicitly superior to their originals, but all are at least successful at standing apart and being unique, fresh designs based on old concepts.

Well, that does it then. Gen 5's all wrapped up and finished. It felt nice revisiting all these designs, putting into words what I really loved about all my favorites, and finding what I appreciated from the more unlikely specimen. I really do think Gen 5 is the best Pokemon's ever gotten... which also means that it's kinda all downhill from here. Oops. It's not all bad, the next two Generations have got some real good stuff I'm looking forward to talking about. So, always... stay tuned! There's always more where this comes from.

[Gen 5 Archive]

#pokemon #pokemon review #gen 5 #pokemon bw #pokemon bw2 #retrospective

[nintensonyreviewguy]

My Top 5 Nintendo Switch Games

Took a while longer for this to come out than I expected because of some other stuff in the way but here it is! My first video game review on Tumblr for all to see! Can’t believe it has been 6 years with the Switch as of quite recently on Friday, March 3rd. The system is still going quite strong and I have had so many wonderful adventures and enjoyed my time with each and every game that I currently own for it very much, especially the major single player games and multiplayer games with my friends over the years. I still remember the hassle it was to get one of these back in April 2017. I had to end up waiting a month more than most. It was all worth it in the very end and here’s to hoping for more good times in the future as the console continues to chug along. Looking forward to Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC as well as more for Nintendo Switch Online! I figured I would take the time to review my Top 5 Favorite Games for the system thus far. All the entries are based off of my personal experiences and are scored with a 1 to 10 star system. 1 star being the worst and 10 stars being the best. Rating System:

1. ★ - Completely Unplayable

2. ★★ - Terrible

3. ★★★ - Mediocre

4. ★★★★ - OK

5. ★★★★★ - Bittersweet

6. ★★★★★★ - Alright

7. ★★★★★★★ - Decent

8. ★★★★★★★★ - Great

9. ★★★★★★★★★ - Excellent

10. ★★★★★★★★★★ - Amazing

Reviews:

1. Pokemon Legends: Arceus 9/10 ★★★★★★★★★ 

A true contender for one of my top favorite game of all time thus far on the Switch. I know it's not very original to say, but I really feel like this is an extremely good take for Pokemon's stab at their version of Breath of the Wild. I feel like Game Freak honestly went all out for this and were given complete creative freedom and took their time with everything. The game is truly a masterpiece in my eyes that is a nothing short of a love letter to veterans of the series! The story, atmosphere, graphics, music, and characters all bundle up for a nice package of what Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl should of been with this prequel visit to the past version of Sinnoh from the fan favorite games of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum called Hisui. I remember not being that fond of Legends: Arceus at first and being intimidated by the game's style and tone. I didn't complete the game until May of last year, which is unusual as I normally find myself completing most Pokemon games within a week or less. The story is really good. The tone is something that I want to praise from the start. It was truly something when I was being told that Pokemon are vicious creatures out in the wild and that they can kill you! The characters are really fleshed out with personality as well, including actual emotions for your player character, something that wasn't present in X and Y, Sun and Moon, and Sword and Shield or that wasn't simply able to be conveyed with sprite artwork before it. I love how much of the cast is implied to be ancestors of some of the present day humans in Pokemon such as Komado being related to Professor Rowan. It is really up to the imagination of you for some of the other less obvious character parallels. Even the small handful of new Pokemon that are introduced such as Enamorus being a fourth member of the former Forces of Nature trio of Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. It makes the whole world of Pokemon feel more connected. All of this is something I wish Game Freak would do more often. The plot feels like it is something that comes out of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games with Komado banishing you from Jubilife Village toward the climax of the game and being shunned. I also didn't expect Volo (Cynthia's ancestor) to be the final boss, especially given his kind nature throughout the game. Had I not looked at accidental thumbnails on YouTube spoiling his role, I wouldn't of known the whole time until my completion of the game. There are also several references in the games that are callbacks to the games of old and even get to use for the first time such as the Red Chain, which is what Cyrus originally had woven to shackle Dialga and Palkia atop the Sinnoh's Mt. Coronet in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. My one gripe with the game is the controls aren't exactly ideal. It's the only thing that is holding it back from a perfect 10/10. I did find myself occasionally pressing the wrong button and having a hard time with shuffling through the menus quickly. But please do not let my experiences with this be a deciding factor if you are reading this and possibly looking to purchase the game. I've seen people do a lot better than myself with it all. Legends is honestly something that I believe truly caters to everyone from the casual player to a hardcore gamer (I myself find myself being a blend of both leaning toward casual). The side quests are very fun and can range from anything to a collectathon of Spiritomb Wisps to completing a Dex entry for a certain Pokemon. I found myself ending with over 60 hours in total and that's with not even completing all that the game has to offer, including getting the coveted Shiny Charm for 100% completing the Dex. The final fights of Volo, Giratina, and Arceus are all something that offer a great challenge alone. All in all, it is a game that I can highly recommend to many people, even those that want to get into Pokemon games for the first time (although I may want to lean those new and uneducated toward Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!). Thank you for sticking with me!

2. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 10/10 ★★★★★★★★★★

There's a lot about Breath of the Wild that I can say that hasn't been said elsewhere, so I'll make this review a little bit shorter than the others for sure. The latest installment in the Legend of Zelda series, at least as of this writing with Tears of the Kingdom on the way in later May, is something truly of wonder! I remember getting this as my first ever Switch game back in April of 2017, a month later than most for sure because of the console being so hard to find. The fact that they throw you out in the world after the Great Plateau and that you are able to go in any direction is something pratically unheard of back in the day for games like these. A huge props to the Director of the game, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Producer Eiji Aonuma as well as the rest of the developers for making it all into one nice giant open world. The game's objective itself is very clear. You are tasked to stop Calamity Ganon from rising once again after being held dormant inside Hyrule Castle for 100 years. You have to free the Divine Beasts from the malice that Ganon has invested them with. While not the greatest story ever written by any means, it all comes together super nicely and gets the message across! The music, while absent for most of the game in the field and only around at certain parts of the game, is there and when it happens, hits like a truck with emotional feelings you get toward all the characters in the story including Link and Zelda themselves, those that passed in the previous Calamity such as the pilots of the Divine Beasts as well as those still living. My only one criticism of the game is the lack thereof of enemy diversity. You mostly will find yourself fighting the same types of foes over and over again such as Moblins and Bokobolins. In short, I feel they nailed everything else about the game pretty much to a tee! I spent nearly 200 hours exploring all the nook and crannies with great fun and doing every single sidequest (with some help from a guide). This is coming from a Zelda fan nowadays who actually just got into the games with Breath of the Wild and only had minimal experience with Ocarina of Time for the 3DS all the way back in 2012. Something to totally pick up if you like Action-Adventure games and are new to the series or are even a returning veteran that is tired of the same old things from Zelda. The theme is all about breaking conventions and redefining the gameplay of a longstanding video game franchise, something the team over at Nintendo EPD did very well and right!

3. Pokemon Sword and Shield: 6/10 ★★★★★★★

I'm going to say something rather bold here in being that Sword and Shield are not as bad as everyone thinks. I feel that the games are constantly being berated for introducing a much hated mechanic of "Dexit", a term commonly used to associate the game with not having a National Dex. The first time that a controversal move has been done since back in the day when Ruby and Sapphire prevented trading of Pokemon from older games to the then current hardware. That being said, I feel like in order to fully enjoy the games, one has to purchase the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra Expansion Passes which add 210 older Pokemon in both of the two parts of the game for a total of 664 monsters in the games. I feel like looking back at it all, the base content has a couple of merits going for it. The Max Raid Battles introduced as a Raid Battle-like mechanic from Pokemon GO are very engaging. I found myself doing them on my own and with my younger cousin sometimes every single time that the Pokemon Company International promoted Shiny Pokemon to seldomly be featured in Raid Battles. I gathered up nearly 200 hours in Sword by the time right before Scarlet and Violet came out. Though the fact you can't see the Shiny Pokemon in the overworld like you could in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! is very upsetting. While Max Raids are much slower and more mindless compared to their sequel Tera Raid Battles in Scarlet and Violet, I feel like the simplicity is something that has it's charms. The Dynamax mechanic is pretty neat and I really like how some of the Pokemon change appearance in their giant state in a special version called Gigantamax, much like Mega Evolution from before. The designs for many of them are great such as the Kanto Starter's Final Evolutions. There are many little things about the game that I find very nice that carried over from the Generation VII games or were introduced as new altogether. The Exp. Candies, the Exp. Share always being on and not being an item, and Pokemon Box Link are part of the many things that make everything streamlined and have me feel spoiled compared to what we had back in the older days. It is truly something that once you start realizing the pleasures, you never want to go back to ways of old. The story isn't anything special. I feel Team Yell is less antagonistic and don't have as much depth. Piers, their Leader, may have been able to be executed better as a character and Rose, the main villain at the climax, was something that wasn't too surprising or exciting. Basically a beloved and highly respected authority figure that is corrupt in the end. Something I feel like I've seen before and not just with Pokemon... The player characters not having much expression to them in the few cutscenes was also a little bit of a let down. The DLC I feel adds a tiny bit more such as Regieleki and Regidrago, which I'm truly fond of for them adding to the existing Regi trio, a practice I hope is more common. Tying back to my Legends of Arceus review a couple sections above, it makes the world feel more intertwined. The amount of Regional Variants was a very solid number, unlike Scarlet and Violet's measly 4, as much as I hate to draw parallels again to a future game, especially one that has yet to release it's DLC at the time of writing. I didn't find the games as challenging as some of the other older entries. The fact there is no Elite Four and it is instead foregoed for the Champion Cup, is quite disappointing. You get your Pokemon healed between every match. The music itself is always a thing that they nail. I found myself really enjoying many of the battle themes and ambient tracks within the games. I still find myself listening to the songs on repeat to this day. Graphics themselves could of been a little bit stronger than the Sun and Moon HD version that we were given. In closing, I feel while the games are somewhat bland and don't stand out as much, they're still something that can't be ignored. For that, I give "Alright" 6 out of 10.

4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 7/10 ★★★★★★★

Animal Crossing: New Horizons will always hold that dark place in the hearts and minds of everyone as the one game that came out right in the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in March of 2020. It got popular very quickly. For me, it was a big bright spot and huge time sink of over 280 hours of fun in my life as everything I had going on in life was canceled due to the obvious elephant in the room. As unoriginal as it may sound, it really helped me through a very difficult time and I'm not just talking about COVID-19 either. I had a couple of life issues that were rearing their ugly head in when this was all going on. So, therefore, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this cute title. Now for the game itself. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game where you are a human in a sea of anthropomorphic animals and try to adapt to life on a formerly deserted island as part of a getaway package. It is a perfect escape for many people at the time! You get complete and total creative freedom on what you get to do with the island after the first 7 days of tutorials with the game somewhat holding your hand and teaching you the ropes of everything such as the brand new and essential crafting system. The biggest thing of the game is being able to transform the island by destroying and creating cliffs and rivers using a terraforming feature. This is the stuff that dreams are made of, especially for veterans! You can do just about anything you want. No Isabelle telling you that the item is too close to another thing. Other mechanics such as the bug catching, diving, fossil collecting, and fishing all remain pretty much the same, which isn't a bad thing by any means. You don't have to fix what isn't broken. It is the parts I just mentioned along with terraforming that I found the most addicting. It felt so gratifying to fill in the museum and give Blathers all of the stuff that you've collected from your various times booting up the game and doing the morning routine (or whatever time you play). Coming from someone who has never 100% the Museum and used Action Replay to fill it in for Wild World all the way back, I will have a fond memory of earning bragging rights by finishing the fossil section on my Birthday in October 2020. This is about where the positives end though. The lack of some of the special characters that series veterans have come to known and love (or hate) such as Gracie, Mr. Resetti, and even some of the villagers themselves is rather unacceptable. I mean, I totally understand Mr. Resetti, but still, Gracie and some of the other villagers as well as even the special themed items such as the Zelda and fortune cookie prizes from New Leaf, felt like a huge slap in the face and what is holding the game down from being the best that it can be and for what the series is formerly known for. The game itself fell on hard times after 2021 when things in the world slowly started to get better. Nintendo very quickly dropped support for the game by stopping with the big updates. The Happy Home Paradise DLC that released in November 2021 marks the very beginning of the end. While my Grandmother who also enjoyed the video game as much as I did and got endless amounts of hours (I'm talking over 1,000 or more) from the game, I played for a little while after the update. Being able to play with my Grandmother, Mom, and Sister will always be a special time that I will treasure. My Grandma hadn't played a video game ever before and seeing the joy on her face and getting just as engaged as I was for a time was truly something special. But perhaps, attributing to my getting of a job in February 2022 and with things getting better with COVID-19, I had stopped playing the game as quickly as I started. It's still so sad to see that Nintendo is not supporting it to this day with bigger updates. It would of been very nice. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. For all of these various reasons, I rate the game a "Decent" 7 out of 10. It is still worth picking up if you like Sims but want the game to be full of bipedal talking animals.

5. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: 8/10 ★★★★★★★★

There's a lot that I can say really good and also really bad about Scarlet and Violet. The games are really great if they are not bogged down by the various performance issues such as the framerate, the constant crashing, and other bugs and glitches that are abound in the game. Thankfully, many of these issues and gripes have been fixed in Version 1.2.0 and other patches and updates going forward. I however, will forever remember not enjoying the games as much as their predecessors of Sword and Shield. I found myself playing more in Handheld Mode than with the TV mode I am used to because of the framerate being slightly better. The game has it's high highs but it also has it low lows. I feel that what it tries to do, it does really well. Such as the story. Seriously, first Legends of Arceus then this! The Professor(s) being an AI controlled copy turning evil and corrupt is something that I didn't foresee. When exploring Area Zero for the first time with the Arven, the son of the Professor(s), Penny, and Neoma, I literally had my heart skip a beat when I heard the Professor have a glitch in her voice (I was playing Scarlet, so it was Professor Sada). I played the entire game blind for the most part. This is probably why the review is as high as it is at a 7 out of 10 (and I also would like to rate it a little bit higher than the 6/10 I was to give upon replaying the game a little bit after Version 1.2.0's release). I feel like the entire story was well executed even with Team Stars not being "evil" per say. They are pretty much like a Team Yell 2.0, and that's not too much of an improvement but still better than what we got in the previous games for sure! The music is something else that I really like! Toby Fox and the many other composers who worked on the soundtrack really hit it out of the park! I find myself playing lots of the themes on YouTube on repeat such as the battle themes and the Area Zero theme. The Professor's final battle theme with the tone it sets is truly something I will never forget! My other issues include not being able to battle the Trainers on sight like we are normally used to and not being able to rematch the Elite Four at the League. I found myself missing a lot of Trainers and having to go back. The other more major thing though was the Gym Leaders not being scaled with your progress in the game like how the Wild Area was in Sword and Shield. I made a plan of the order in which I wanted to defeat the Gym Leaders in the game only to realize that it was actually set in the end with Katy being the lowest and Grusha being the highest. The Gym challenges themselves aren't that special. I found Katy's Gym being the most frustrating and annoying with rolling the olive ball through the course. Finally, the new Pokemon themselves are truly a blend of both good designs and some, not so great. Upon looking at some of them for the first time, I thought many didn't change much when they evolved such as Tandemaus line only getting two more little mice in the second evolution and Brambleghast only becoming a bigger cactus upon evolving. Some of the designs however, are very original and stuff based off of creatures we've never seen in the Pokemon world before such as Flamigo being based on a flamingo! The new Evolutions for Girafarig, Primeape, Dunsparce, and Bisharp are particularly nice! Kingambit is my personal favorite of the select few Evolutions of some of our beloved species. I found myself getting one for the team right away. Overall, I feel Scarlet and Violet are a lot of good but missed potential. Had the game not been put down by the issues before Version 1.2.0, it would of been a strong launch. The Gym Leaders being scaled with the progression of the Badges you collect, would of made it nearly perfect. I hope to revise this score upward with upcoming Expansion Pass. Thanks for reading!

Upon revisiting the land of Paldea and later the new land of Kitakami followed eventually by a return to Unova (albeit at the Blueberry Academy located faraway from the mainland) in the DLC Expansion Pass, I would like to revise my overall score for Scarlet and Violet to an 8/10 "Great". I found myself very happy with being able to visit both Kitakami and the Blueberry Academy along both the fresh new takes and nostalgia it had to offer. While I feel that Kitakami was lackluster after the plot was finished there and left me desiring more. The Blueberry Academy on the other hand hit the nail on the head with many features that I wanted with customization of odds and ends of the game such as your Poke Ball throwing style, redecorating the League Room, and being able to glide with Koraidon or Moraidon (depending on your version of choice)! I also found myself enjoying the various throwbacks to the Generation V Pokemon Black and White (and their sequels) games set in the mainland of Unova. While the story was excuted well in both Part 1 and Part 2 (including the Epilogue) of the DLC, I feel it wasn't as strong as the main campaign itself. But that's not to say that it was terrible. The teacher Briar not being a villain as everyone would of expected and being driven by the awe of Terapagos's power like a child was the real beauty. Lore itself overall was not as strong as Legends of Arceus or games prior. In closing, I feel like Scarlet and Violet, while being a mixed bag in the community, are a step in the right direction. I look forward to seeing what the future of the Pokemon series holds and the adventures that we will all have in the years to come!

#pokemon #animal crossing #nintendo #nintendo switch #scarlet and violet #sword and shield #video games #video game review #video game recommendations #legend of zelda #legend of zelda breath of the wild #legends of arceus

[ultraternative]

Why pokemon fans should not and do not want gen 5 remakes: an essay

I said I would do it, so here I am. I'll put it under a read more just because it'll be a long one and I don't want to fill your screen without your permission. That being said, let's begin.

As I'm sure many people know, the fifth generation of pokemon games, those being black & white and their sequels, are fan favorites and beloved by many. In fact, black 2 was my second ever pokemon game, so I'm no stranger to the magic it made people feel when they played it. It was ambitious, exciting, and completely new, so I understand people wanting to go back and live it for the first time again completely revamped and with a new coat of polish.

But that's not what this is about. I'm here arguing for the opposite, and why I think it would never work.

Remakes: an underlying problem

Yes, pokemon is no stranger to doing remakes of their games. It's been around since gen 3, with firered and leafgreen, and has been going right up until not too long ago in gen 8, with brilliant diamond and shining pearl. And I understand that it's to let players newer to the franchise play older games on recent hardware, but sometimes it's hard to stay faithful to the original while introducing new mechanics to keep old players interested.

Take for instance, omega ruby and alpha sapphire. Those games were done in a way that kept the spirit of gen 3 while having the new mechanics of mega evolution and such from gen 6. And it worked, in my opinion. But then we move on to brilliant diamond and shining pearl. Maybe it's because it was outsourced to a different development studio, or maybe it's because they wanted to be too faithful to gen 4 on a new gen console, but it didn't have the same impact as the original games. And the only new things they added was fairy type existing and a revamp of the underground, pre-post-game of course. And maybe I'm biased, but the let's go games don't appeal to me because I never got into pokemon go, and the catch mechanic is entirely based on that.

Realistically, what could we expect?

Think about it. Each remake was built in the style of its most recent generation. So if we take that and translate it over to today, we could theorize the region of unova to be a semi-open world 3d environment, letting players explore the world before moving to the next goal. But that's not the spirit of gen 5. The games were fairly railroady, putting you on a path and making you stick to it. But it also had moments like the bridge leading to castelia city being a bit overly long but mesmerizing to experience that first time. The pixel sprite of your character walking along this massive structure as the camera shifts to show off the landscape, making it feel as though you were going on an adventure just as big. How would you translate that to full 3d? How could they capture that same feeling?

Because I don't think it's possible in the current day.

The number 2 and a time skip

Yeah, this is another thing I want to bring up. After the events of black and white, the characters move on with their lives and live peacefully for a while. Then the events of black 2 and white 2 happen. Unlike every other pokemon game*, gen 5 is a canonical 2 part story. Team plasma gets up to shenanigans twice there, and a different kid has to beat them up each time. And if they really want to do remakes of gen 5, I feel they would need to incorporate both the first and second games into the same game to keep the story flow consistent and so fans don't have to deal with buying another game to continue the narrative again.

Some unaware people might say "Well what about the ultra sun and ultra moon games? Aren't those continuing the narrative from the first of those games?" No, they don't. It's roughly the same story, set at basically the same time. It's like an alternate universe at that point. It's not the same.

And I know someone is gonna bring it up, so I will address it here too. I am aware that the events of gold and silver take place after the events of red and blue. However, I am arguing that since they are different generations, they do not fit in the point I am trying to make. Black and white had direct sequels in the same generation, and if they get remakes those should be incorporated. But they won't, because they don't want people getting more games in their game.

A reasonable alternative

The whole reason I started this rant was because I saw an article saying something about players noticing the names of the bike colors in gen 8 could be the names of the gen 5 remakes, and they latched onto that pretty hard. And it also mentioned that they made that connection when the game came out, long before even the gen 4 remakes, and they just wanted to bring it back up for some reason. And I seriously doubt they would tease a game that far in advance, all things considered. I think it was just some cool names for cool decals.

But another article I didn't read said something about a potential legends style game for unova, which I think would be perfectly okay. Since it was established in legends arceus that it's very clearly a prequel to explore the origins of a region, I think it's a better plan to make that game over a glorified port that can't capture the magic of the original.

(Also I would be fine with just a straight port of gen 5 no changes but bundle the first and second games together)

Closing remarks AKA the tl;dr

Just give us legends unova. Don't bother with black & white remakes. It wouldn't be the same and they wouldn't bundle the sequels with them either.

Thanks for reading.

#pokemon #gen 5 pokemon #essay #long post #196

[drawingpkmneveryday]

Pokemon 500: #194 Wooper, 02/28/2021

#pokemon #pokedex challenge #wooper #gen 2 pokemon #water type #ground type #fanart #based off original diamond pearl sprite

[hilltopsunset]

I Regret Buying Pokémon Shield

I told myself I wouldn’t do it. I’ve seen time and again the lack of innovation from main-series Pokémon games, and I insisted nothing would convince me to buy this latest atrocity. Yet here I am, reviewing the game I said I’d never purchase. I should have listened to myself. I KNEW BETTER! Strap in, ‘cause this one’s pretty long.

Pokémon has been around for a long time—like, a long, long time—and I’ve been around for every single new main-series game that’s been released since the franchise’s first arrival in North America back in 1996 with Red/Blue. I was not yet 10 years old, and I still remember the childlike excitement of finding rare, never-before seen creatures, the stress of trying to catch a wily Abra or elusive Pinsir, and the challenging first encounter with the Elite Four and the Champion, a 5-man gauntlet of trainers with powerful Pokémon rarely (if ever) seen in the game prior to that moment. It was exhilarating in a way that keeps me coming back for more, hoping to rekindle those same flames of wonder. 

While the main gist of the games hasn’t changed much over the years, one of my favorite parts of playing a new Pokémon game is seeing the improvements each game brings to the series. Many of the initial sequels made huge leaps in progress: Gold/Silver introduced a plethora of new mechanics like held items and breeding; Ruby/Sapphire introduced passive abilities and was the first to include multi-battles in the form of double-battles; Diamond/Pearl was the first generation capable of trading and battling online and brought us the revolutionary physical/special split so elements were no longer locked into one or the other. These changes all had significant impacts on how players approached battles, formed their teams, and used each Pokémon.

Those changes, combined with the addition of new Pokémon to catch, regions to explore, and enemies to fight, were enough to keep me interested. But I know I wasn’t alone in imagining all the possibilities of taking the franchise off the handheld platforms and moving the main series games over to a more powerful home console. In the meantime, each generation that followed Gen IV highlighted a new, troubling pattern that became more and more prevalent with each addition to the series.

1.       Gen V: Lack of meaningful gameplay innovation

By Generation V with Black/White, not only was Game Freak quickly running out of colors, they were quite obviously running out of ideas for significant gameplay innovation. The bulk of Black/White’s biggest changes were improvements on or adaptations to existing staples to the franchise: many new Pokémon, moves, and abilities were added, and the DS platform allowed for greater graphical quality where Pokémon could move around a bit more on-screen during battles, the camera wasn’t as rigid as it had to be in previous games due to machine limitations; perhaps most importantly, they FINALLY decided to make TMs infinite. Thank goodness. While the updates were nice, they were nowhere near as impactful on the game as previous generations’ changes were and served more as needed quality of life adjustments.

I would also argue Gen V also had the least inspired Pokémon designs (like Vanillux and Klinklang) with the worst starter choices of any Pokémon game, but that’s a discussion for another time. Excadrill and Volcarona were pretty cool, though.

 2.       Gen VI: Gimmicks as the main draw

Pokémon X/Y (See? They ran out of colors) continued this new downward trend in innovation. Mega-evolution—while admittedly pretty cool—wasn’t enough to carry the new generation into an era of meaningful improvement because it was equivalent to adding new Pokémon rather than developing innovative gameplay, ushering in a new era of gimmicks in lieu of substantial updates.

Though the gameplay innovation for X/Y was minimal, the graphic updates were substantial: Pokémon X/Y was the first generation to introduce the main series to a fully 3-dimensional world populated by 3D characters. However, since X/Y was on the 3DS, it was a ripe target for the 3D gimmick seen in almost all games on the console, which I personally used for all of 5 minutes before feeling nauseous and never using the function again.

Despite the fresh look of the new 3D models, the battle animations were, to be frank, incredibly disappointing. Pokémon still barely moved and never physically interacted with opponents, nor did they use moves in uniquely appropriate ways. To my point, for years now there’s been a meme about Blastoise opting to shoot water out of his face rather than his cannons. I was sad to see that they didn’t take the time to give each Pokémon’s animations a little more love. But I figured, in time, when or if the franchise ever moved to a more powerful machine, they would be better equipped to make it happen, right? I also convinced myself that the lack of refined animations were kind of charming, harkening back to the games’ original (terrible) animations.

 3.       Gen VII: Focus on Minigames

The main innovation (gimmick) that came with Generation VII, Sun/Moon, was the lack of HMs in lieu of riding certain Pokémon. Sun/Moon also added Ultra Beasts (essentially just new Pokémon) and Z-moves (just new moves) which only added to the number of gimmicks present in the games. These changes, which provide some mild adaptations to gameplay from previous generations, don’t fundamentally change the way players go through each game, the way that updates in the earlier generations did. I personally played through the entirety of Sun/Moon without using a single Z-move or seeing a single Ultra Beast outside the one you’re required to fight to progress the main story. Ultimately, these changes were not a significant enough experience to warrant an entirely new game that is otherwise full of more of the same stuff with slightly different creatures who have slightly different stats and occupy a slightly different world.

Though Sun/Moon was comfortably embracing the franchise’s affinity for gimmicks, it brought to the forefront yet another troubling trend: mini games. Between photography, the Festival Plaza, and Poké Pelago, the focus on and attention to detail toward mini games had grown considerably over the years. Pokémon games have always had minigames and other time-sinks—which is great! Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate having more to do than trudge through the main story. But it is apparent that, with each new generation, more time seems dedicated to development of these extras. Pokémon Contests, Secret Bases, Super Training, feeding/grooming; a lot of their larger innovations after Gen IV were centered on non-essential parts of the game, which results in diminished game and story quality overall.

Admittedly, Sun/Moon did have some of the best exploration moments of any of the Pokémon games, which I did very much appreciate. More on that later as it relates to Sword/Shield…

 4.       Generation VIII: You Can’t Be Serious

When Game Freak finally announced they were launching Generation VIII, Sword and Shield, on the Switch rather than a dedicated handheld console, I was beside myself with excitement.

And then I saw gameplay footage like this, and my heart sank.

What is the purpose of launching the game on a stronger console if they are going to continue copy/pasting their sprites and their animations? If they aren’t going to provide the Pokémon any unique flair or create more appropriate animations? It was disappointing enough seeing the same animations/models from X/Y for Sun/Moon, but that was sort of expected since the games were on the same console. But now that the game has moved to the Switch, this is unacceptable.

When I learned that they were significantly cutting the number of Pokémon available in the game, I thought for certain that would translate to more time dedicated to the ones that made the cut, to focus on adding animations and character to the critters to make them feel like real parts of the world, rather than avatars of a child’s imagination, unable to fully process how the world functions. Alas, what was I thinking?

I thought the Dynamax gimmick would be one of my biggest gripes because it’s so pointless, or maybe the Wild Area’s severe lack of organic belonging (all Pokémon are just wandering aimlessly, weather can change drastically after crossing an invisible line, trees look like they were cut and pasted out of Mario 64, you can’t even catch Pokémon if they’re too high a level) but honestly the most disappointing part of the game for me was the pitiful routes between towns/gyms. Previous installments of the game included routes full of trainers and puzzles you needed to defeat or solve before you could progress—in Sword/Shield, the only thing that ever prevents you from progressing are some Team Yell grunts barricading paths the game doesn’t want you to take yet, for literally no reason. It completely removes player autonomy and a sense of accomplishment earned through overcoming challenges—now instead of learning that you need to find an item that allows you to cut through certain trees to gain access to new areas, you simply follow the story beats and then, upon returning, the path will be open. It’s inorganic, it’s clunky, and it’s extremely lazy.

Speaking of lazy, the story itself was another massive disappointment for me. Pokémon games are not particularly known for having deep stories, but Sword/Shield takes it to a new low. Every NPC simply pushes you to battle in gyms, and every interesting story beat that occurs happens just outside the player-character’s reach. Any time something interesting happens, you are shooed away and told to let the grown-ups handle it while you just get your gym badges. There COULD have been some interesting story moments where your character gets more involved with helping fix the havoc occurring around the Galar Region, but instead we as the player are simply TOLD what happened, why it happened, and who fixed it (usually the champion, Leon).

I honestly think having the game focus on the story of Sonia, Bede, Marnie, or even Hop (was not a fan of this kid) would have been a much more interesting game, because those characters actually had some depth to them, some bigger reason for taking on the gym challenges than simply “I want to be the very best.” Albeit those stories would have required a tremendous amount of work to add depth and details, the potential for a better story is in those characters. There is just no story at all to the main character, who is ushered from gym to gym because…because? Because that’s what kids do? I’m not even really sure what the motivation is.

There are SO MANY exciting, interesting, innovative ways Game Freak could drive Pokémon into a new and exciting direction while still maintaining its charm and building on existing mechanics, but they instead choose to demonstrate their lack of interest in significant graphical and gameplay innovation. I imagine this is largely because the masses will eat up just about any Pokémon product produced so long as there’s a new bunny to catch, and Pikachu is still involved. I’m disappointed, and I wish the Galar region could meet the expectations of my 10-year old mind’s imagination.

When abilities were added, we suddenly had to consider whether our Earthquake could even hit the enemy Weezing and adapt to the tremendous changes the passive skills added, reconsidering how we faced each battle. When the physical/special split occurred, entirely new opportunities opened up and certain Pokémon who were banished to obscurity due to their poor typing and stat distribution, like Weavile, were suddenly viable. Some even became incredibly powerful, like Gyarados, who had been hit pretty hard by the Special attack/defense split. There were also already-powerful Pokémon (Gengar, Dragon-types) who became even more so through access to STAB moves that benefited off their strongest stats.

I want new games to include updates that feel as impactful as these changes. If you’re interested in how Game Freak can improve on the main gameplay, I have some fun ideas that will be fleshed out in another article: How to Breathe New Life into the Pokémon Franchise. That article will be dedicated to explaining what those changes are, why I want them, and how they can improve future games.

#pokemon #pokemon shield #pokemon sword/shield #game review #review #hilltop sunset #streamer #gamefreak #gen viii #gen 8

[dodgernic]

ok so pokemon

so the new pokemon games have been revealed and the virtual concert has happened, and I think I've had enough time to process what the hell happened.

The diamond and pearl remake is the big thing people expected to happen and happen it did, and from what I'm seeing there are really mixed opinions, the two main sides are "why does it look like that please stop immediately" and "wow they're small just like the old 2d sprites, that's so cool" I personally think that the chibi style looks good, but I think it was a bad decision to try and recreate 2d sprites in 3d, it looks like it would fit better in something like pokemon rumble than a main rpg. It's a little disappointing that the characters in battle are the best looking pokemon has been in 3d and we have the majority of the game's story and dialogue given to us by tiny characters that won't be able to emote in the same way a full sized character could.

Legends Arceus is the most exciting thing that's been announced for pokemon, an open world with battle being a natural part of the world is not only something that people have wanted for years but also the biggest change to the pokemon formula since mega evolution was added in X & Y. It is marketed as an action rpg but it looked like it was still turn based combat, hopefully a more involved battle system will be part of the final product. The trailer looked a little rough in some areas but that's probably just early footage, although after playing Sword and Shield I've set my hopes fairly low for the visuals. If they use the year they have before the release date to polish it up it'll probably be the best pokemon game since Black and White 2.

The third pokemon event is Post Malone, I don't really understand why this happened, a lot of pokemon fans are older but ultimately it is a children's game, Post Malone is definitely not a musician for children, a lot of his music has themes of drink drugs and sex, including the songs in the pokemon concert. Even if the concert did have a set list for all ages, kids have access to youtube, Circles was the second song in the concert, the music video on Post Malones youtube channel immediatly has bloody corpses in the aftermath of a battle, kids can find things online so easily and pokemon has pointed them directly at something they shouldn't see. A virtual concert set in the pokemon world is a brilliant idea, I'm about to completely disconnect from the original conversation of Post Malone but, imagine a virtual pokemon idol, characters like Dawn, May and Serena are contest stars, they perform along side their pokemon. With the rise in popularity of things like vtubers and the already popular ar concerts (Splatoon had an ar concert) they could definitely introduce a pokemon pop star and have her perform on youtube. That's way off topic but I'm absolutely on to something with that.

Overall I think Pokemon's 25th anniversary has so far had a huge divide between good and bad, hopefully the good parts that seem to be coming from Legends will bring the standard of pokemon quality up and lead to more good pokemon games in the future.

#pokemon #pokemon25 #sinnoh #diamond #pearl #brilliant diamond #shining pearl #legends #legends arceus #post malone #virtual concert #diamond and pearl #gen4 #sinnoh remakes

[ianmrid]

Pokémon!

Another pokémon generation, another great set of pokémon to choose from for my top ten. I really don't think that there are any pokémon that I think are awful - they all range from average to fantastic. Additionally, in Sinnoh, I loved the big expansion on the new evolutions to old pokémon concept - and I think this Top 10 reflects that. As is always the case, I have included both the original Gen4 sprite as well as the shiny sprite, with all sprites taken from Platinum for the sake of consistency. Gen4 also marked my first first shiny since Gen2, and although Bibarel didn't sneak into my list, I really just wanted to mention it again!

10. Roserade

The last slot on the list is always tricky as it edges out all your honourable mentions, but I couldn't have a list without Roserade. The first of several on this list that is a new evolved form of a previously establised pokémon, Roserade is a perfect example of how this can breathe new life into a pokémon family. I can't imagine ever bothering with Gen3's Roselia which was fine, but nothing too special. But with it evolving into the masquerade ball-inspired Roserade, it was always on my list. I trained one on my Pokémon Pearl team and I think it is now my favourite Grass/Poison type - sorry Venusaur! Also, the shiny is lovely; the blue and red rose-hands change to black and purple and it looks so good. If this was a top ten list of shinies, Roserade would be even higher up!

09. Honchkrow

Honchkrow gets into this list head of the regional bird of Sinnoh, Staraptor (which I also think is great), for a couple of reasons. I think Staraptor is great, but the type combination Normal/Flying just isn't as interesting as the cool Dark/Flying type of Honchkrow. Additionally, as with Roserade, I love how it takes the previously average Murkrow from trickster crows to a group of lackeys who surround the Mafia Boss that is Honckrow. It's a great evolution concept. I also enjoyed training my Honchkrow (again on my Pokémon Pearl team) to combine it's Super Luck ability, the Scope Lens held item, and the high critical hit chance move, Night Slash, to dish out a crit every three attacks or so. I don't hate the shiny either, although I wish it was a bit of a deeper purple as it does stray dangerously close to hot pink. Still at least it isn't yet another blue pokémon turning to this colour!

08. Lopunny

I feel like Lopunny isn't a pokémon that would be on many people list of favourites, and I totally see why. It is weirdly sexualised - not too surprising given it seems to be based on a Playboy bunny - with the way it hold it's arms in front of it's chest to give the impression of cleavage (which it thankfully doesn;t actually have) and the 'wolf whistle' cry that cannot just be a coincidence. I never planned to use one but I needed a male Lopunny to help hunt for a female Combee, and he ended up sticking around on my Pokémon Diamond team. A big part of this was the headcannon I had that given it is a pokémon with such a feminine design, my Lopunny was a bad-ass pokémon drag queen! I also really like the shiny with the (thankfully not hot) pink highlights. YAAASSS!

07. Floatzel

I'm not even sure exactly why I like Floatzel so much - but it really appeals to me all the same. I like the animal it is based on - the Weasel presumably, although it could easily be a stoat, ferret, or otter - and think the design with the dual tails acting as a propeller is really cool. I also like how the rubber tubing element of it's design doesn't make look clumsey or inept like a Water-type pokémon, with what is essentially a flotation device, could easiy end up. Floatzel is another pokémon that I trained on my Pokémon Diamond team and it is both quick and relatively hard hitting on both the Attack and Special Attack sides, which makes it nice and versatile, especially when playing through and requiring it to learn both Special and Physical HM moves. The shiny is nothing to write home about though, essentially a more washed out orange. Maybe they were going for a gold colour, but if so it just looks kinda off. I'll stick with the original, thanks!

06. Mismagius

After two original pokémon lines, I'm back to new evolutions to old pokémon, and also my second drag queen pokémon! Another feminine-styled pokémon, my Mismagius is male earning it the nickname Ru Pol (because Ru Poltergeist was just a little too long). Evolving from the very overlooked Misdreavus, I always planned to use Mismagius on a team and he becomes the third member of my Pokémon Pearl team to get into the Top Ten. Really great Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defence, combined with a really good movepool for great type coverage makes Mismagius an excellent pokémon that I was a big fan of before even playing through the Sinnoh games. I'm also a fan of te mustard-coloured shiny, but if I had to choose between the colour options, I think the original is slightly better suited to a spooky Ghost-type.

05. Hippowdon

This is the first pokémon in my top ten that I didn't actually train in Gen4. This is odd because if I had produced the list without playing the games and the chance to bond with various other pokémon, then I think Hippowdon would have been in the top three. Part of the issue here is how difficult/late in the game you can get one. To catch it's pre-evolved form, Hippopotas, you need to capture a certain number of Unown in order to get into the tunnel where it lives. Since I had all the Unown forms in Emerald, I was never going to do this again, so I never caught it. The fully evolved for is available in the post-game, but this is far too late. Even so, I still love it as a pokémon. I really like the design of a scary looking, Ground-type hippo with sand pouring out of it and I think the sexual diamorphism in colour between the male and female forms helps make up for the fact the male form's shiny is rather lackluster, being just a more washed out beige. One day I will definitely train a Hippowdon of my own!

04. Mamoswine

Sinnoh certainy introduced some cool (Ice-type pun not intended) Ground-types, as this is the second of three in this top ten, as well as the fourth out of five that evolve previously established pokémon. Interestingly, after Swinub appeared in my Gen2 top ten, this is the first time two members of the same evolution line have been in a list of my favourites! Mammoswine was a key member of my Pokémon HeartGold team and is such a great addition to the Swinub/Piloswine family. According to in-game cannon, it is essentially a pre-historic evolution that only happens in certain circumstances in the modern day which makes it feel like a fossil pokémon, but without the need to saddle it with the Rock-typing. Unfortunately, on the shiny side it draws the short straw of the family as it just looks a bit weird compared to Swinub's aquamarine or Piloswine's lovely golden coulouration.

03. Vespiquen

Moving into the top three, Vespiquen is another pokémon that I liked before I ever played through Sinnoh and was very keen to use on a team. It's not hard to see why I like it; it is a fearsome-looking Queen Bee with a great honeycomb design, and the fact it can be a bit of effort to obtain since it only evolves from female Combees makes it feel like a prize when you finally get one. I had earmarked Vespiquen for my Pokémon Platinum team but it ended up missing out as, despite being part Flying-type, it can't learn the HM Fly. This caused me to drop it out for Drifblim in the end, but it is another pokémon I would love to train someday. Although I definitely prefer the original colouration, the more angry-looking orangey-red of the shiny is still a great look, but the idea of shiny hunting a female Combee doesn't sound like fun at all!

02. Yanmega

Yanmega was a late choice for my Pokémon SoulSilver team, but using it there rocketed it into the top ten, as I hadn't really ever considered it muc before using it on that team. It actualy combines everything I like about my previous two entries; it is a bad-ass looking Bug-type with an amazing design, and it is also a pre-historic evolution, based on the huge dragonflies that lived back then and evolving in the same way as Mamoswine. Since it is a new evolution to Johto's Yanma, it made sense to use it in the Gen2 remakes over and above Vespiquen, which share the same typing but only really has ties to Sinnoh. Finally, Yanmega has a realy excellent shiny with the blue version looking so good and it right up their with Roserade for best Sinnoh shiny!

01. Torterra

As we reach the number one slot, it shouldn't come as much surprise to see a member of a starter pokémon line here. The starter lines are always among the best designed pokémon of any region and my favourite from Sinnoh is easily Torterra. It has an excellent design concept; a Grass/Ground-type tortoise with an entire eco-system on it's back, my Torterra was an integral part of my Pokémon Diamond team. Given how much I like a lot of starters families, it is interesting that this marks the first time a fully-evolved starter has made the list, although the first-stage evolutions have been well represented with Bulbasaur, Cyndaquil, and Mudkip all previously representing their various regions. The only downside to Torterra is that I don't love it's shiny. It certainly isn't bad, but the variation of green used just can't hold a candle to the original.

Wow, I can't believe that I am finally at the end of Generation 4. As always I will be posting all the lovely art that I had commissioned of my Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver teams before I move onto Gen5. I know these upcoming games are often considered rather devicive within the pokémon fanbase, but I also think this view has softened over time so it might actually be more of a case of fans of the franchise not enjoying new things. Eiter way, I'm excited to see how I fare with Pokémon Black and White!

#pokemon #pokemon playthrough #e plays pokemon #nintendo #game freak #generation 4 #top ten #sinnoh

[rockingcockatiel]

Game Portfolio

Introduction

This was the concept of a game I came up with wish I was unable to finish due to being unable to run the software for developing the game

This was the portfolio I made for the game to explain the idea I had for it and other games I took inspiration from

Basic concepts  

Game Identity  

2D pixel art platformer about a young adventurer trying to find treasure  

Genre  

The main genre of my game is a platformer and metroidvania combination the sub genres of it are puzzle, exploration, hack and slash, adventure and 2D.  

Audience  

The target audience of my game is teens and young children as it has a cute pixel art style along with simple mechanics that allow anyone to learn and play.  

Similar games already in the market  

Game that are like the one I'm planning on making are Celeste, The momodora series, Cave story and Katana Zero.  

Concept Explained  

Visual Style

The visual style of my game will be pixel art similar to how cave story + and momodora 3 are designed the reason for this is due to it being a simple style create and make a design for and as a solo developer; both of the developers of cave story and momodroa 3 worked independently on the game developer's, Another thing to note is that sprite based art is easier to animate as all you need to do is make a character sheet of all the characters and enemies and their different animations while this may look daunting at first as you working with the same characters and the graphics won't be overly detailed it allows for you to make all the animations just by changing a few minor aspects of the art; this also has the advantage of making the levels layout design be easier as you can reuse the same base art for it. An example of this would be if you're making a small valley for one area of the game but wanted to add a little add a hill you could take one of the other tiles use rotate it and edit it a bit so that it can appear as a hill. Another to note is the style appeals more to children than some sort of gritty gears of war style game while these games don’t have a bright colour palette when compared to other sprite-based platformers it still appeals to children by having cute characters and art style.  

Gameplay Elements  

The main element of the game would be its jumping and combat mechanics while the combat portion of the game is easy to understand as you get better weapons and higher levels you can learn combos for weapons which can allow you to deal more damage or even activate special attacks with unique animations; Another thing to note is that they can be combined together for example one of weapons allows for a combo that makes you tiny and can be activated in mid-air so if you were to turn tiny while jumping the player could jump off a wall into a tiny gap that allows them to get hidden treasure; The game will even encouraging doing this by having areas you can't have access to without certain items or weapons. Other games have done this while the games that inspire this one doesn’t use these mechanic as they mainly encourage the play to push forward and only come back to areas if they wish to buy items from shop keepers. One core platforming element of the game will be the double jump and wall jump features as it can allow the player to get to different areas if they know how to use it correctly while this feature isn't unique to the game I'm creating celeste does have its own feature in which the player is able to dash which can allow them to reach areas they couldn’t without dashing this is a core mechanic of the game as most areas can't even be beaten without dashing; A smaller mechanic of the dash feature is that the characters hair will turn blue after dashing.  

Genre  

The games genre is a combination of mainly platformer and metroidvania elements a metroidvania type game is encourages the play to backtrack, has map in which a majority of its areas are connected in one way or another with ways to teleport back to previous areas the reason I'm making my game like this is to encourage the player to invest more time into instead of completing it in one run, The game will also encourage the player to back track by having certain items or treasures being locked behind areas which require items you acquire later on in the game. The other main genre is platforming as the main aspect of the game is for the player to hunt for treasure and gear hidden throughout the games map; the reason I choose its sub genres, are because it will have certain features of those genres but it, they wouldn’t be the focus of the game an example would be the puzzle mechanic certain dungeons would require the player to activate certain buttons in specific places to unlock the vault door that leads to treasure. Momodora 3 and Cave Story+ are both games of the same main genre being Metroidvania and Platformer.  

Game Design  

Music  

The games music is going to vary between areas for example a desert like area would mainly use Arabic or Egyptian instruments, an area based of a castle or kingdom would use an orchestra, mountainous or snowy areas would have slow calm music with certain areas of the music being focused on like a drum solo. Some examples of this are Crosscode’s Bergen Village which has wind instruments being the main orchestra of the song to match the location being a mountain, Super Smash Bros (fire emblem castle siege) which is a remix of the original fire emblem theme made to match the more faster paced action of a super smash bros match , Kirby Air Ride - Sky Sands or Kirby Air Ride – Sand which uses fastest paced drumming and string instruments to make an arabic sounding beat for a racing game; Bosses in the game would also have unique themes exclusive to them. I would save my best designed music for each of the bosses. Some examples of hard video game bosses with well-designed music are Jevil from Deltarune which sounds like music that you would hear in a circus it conveys a feeling that you're going against a madman and should be prepared to expect him to throw anything at you, Cynthia in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl which instantlys goes into action instead of being a slow build up  it features a mixture of drum and bass along with pianos it tells the player that this fight will be over fight if you don’t try your hardest; and Godcat's theme from Epic Battle Fantasy 4 which is an has church orchestras along with a choir singing mixed with electro synthwave giving off the feel that you are fighting an entity that you have no chance against; These are some of my favourite video game boss theme and one of the main reason I would choose to replay a game myself is to hear the themes certain bosses or areas have a game with good or amazing music will be much more appealing than a game with bland or boring music.  

Design Pillars  

The main emotions or feelings I want the player to experience when playing my game are joy, excitement and calmness from the the simplicity of the game and it not being overly difficult.  

Miscellaneous  

Target Audience  

The reason I chose the target audience as children and teens is that my game will feature and mechanics, story and gameplay elements that appeal to them; for children it will feature bright colours and a cute or more child friendly design style; for teens the story will be one that appeals to them from having the hero’s journey so that they feel like they made the character grow along with having the main protagonists of the game being the same age as them, It will also have gameplay elements that will challenge them to get better at the game so they can show off their friends or even play it with a younger sibling so they can bound over it.  

Target Platform  

The platform I plan to release this game on is pc as to release it on a console would require a devkit for said console which would be out of budget as well as me not knowing how to develop any games. Another thing to note that there a multiple retailers' platforms on pc when compared to console which only has three being Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, while pc has multiple which are looking to host smaller developer's games on their platform  

We were also tasked with making a pitch for the game which we presented to other students

In the end I had to change a lot about the game due to the time constraints and the lack of resources I had from being a 16-bit metroidvania into a generic 2d platformer While I'm stilling working on art for the game due to being able to run unity properly I'm not fully able to develop that much of the game so it’s currently on hiatus; In the meantime I'm learning to use a simpler engine known as RPG maker Mv which I'm making a short game in I currently have no plans for what it's about other than the characters in it are based off of my friends personalities and how they act which I find easier to use to make a characters on.

Game Pitch

We were also tasked with making a pitch for a game in which we presented to other students to save on image space I'll give a rundown of what was on each slide

Details Of the game

Platform: PC 

Engine: Unity  

Genre: 2D Platformer, Metroidvania  

Classification: Casual Game  

Single player  

Dimensions: 2D

The target audience of my game

Gender: Male  

Secondary: Female  

Age: Young Teenagers 

Psychographics: Is a fan of 2d pixel art games, likes platformers or hack n slash games, Likes cute or pixel art style

The synopsis of the game

A young adventurer is sent on a quest after receiving a letter  

They go out exploring legendary treasure 

There's an evil organisation planning on dominating the solar system  

The adventurer is being deceived  

A superweapon is revealed  

Adventurer must destroy it

The genre of the game

Main Genres  

Metroidvania

2D Platformer

Sub – Genres  

Hack n Slash  

Puzzle 

Adventure

The sound design of the game

16- Bit  

Variety of Instruments  

Foley sound effects 

Main Style: Nintendocore  

Secondary Styles: Chiptune, Synthwave

Visual Style of the game

Anime- Styled  

Pastel-Neon hybrid Colour Palette 

Futuristic/Medival Era  

Cute Styled Art  

Minimalistic character and level design

How to meet the audience’s needs

Appeal to them with content they like 

Have the advertised content appear in the game  

Focus on appealing to main target audience  

Know what my target audience likes and wants in games

Similar Games in the market

Momodora 3 

Kirby Super Star Ultra  

Cave Story+  

Orange Island  

Celeste

[dragongirlafro]

so in case you hadn't heard, the beta code for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have been leaking faster than the Titanic, and a lot of beta/placeholder sprites for pokémon and characters have been unearthed. among these was this beta sprite for what we can only assume to be an Ace Trainer. Look how cute she is!

she's so cute, in fact, that i decided to make an OC based off of her. i mostly stole the wardrobe but here's the end result!

a friend asked me what her name was and i jokingly called her "Ms. Nothing", but after talking about it some more, we decided that actually sounds pretty badass! she's a Dark type Trainer/Gym Leader who has 100% accurate moves on her pokémon like Feint and Aerial Ace (get it? Miss Nothing?? eh??? ehhh???)

anyways, i really like this character and the idea behind her so i'm probably gonna tweak her outfit a bit so she looks more original.

#keegster draws #my art #artists on tumblr #i've actually made a *lot* more OC content sinslce i've been gone #i should probably post those here at some point.... 👀

[crystalelemental]

princess-of-crepes replied to your post “princess-of-crepes replied to your post “If you would have to rank...”

Yeah, they're definitely dumbing down the newer games. Again, I haven't played Sword and Shield yet, but I haven't heard great things about it either. But wow you can't turn EXP shares off? That's a yikes from me. They're literally spoon feeding you levels it seems. Not that Gen 7 was much better in that regard. I feel like many people will disagree with me on this, but I wasn't a fan of the trials. With a standard team that covers all your bases, you could easily get through all of them. What made Gen 7 stand out, as you said, was the story, but more than that, the characters I would say. Gen 6 sort of missed the mark there. It had potential, but it took itself too seriously without having anything to back up that severity. Gen 6 definitely is when the games became noticeably dumbed down. I think Gen 5 had a pretty good level/exp/difficulty scaling, and then Gen 6 just started feeding you EXP like crazy

Gen 4 was definitely a sweet spot though. HG/SS gives you such an expansive world to play with and so many characters + so much lore, it's hard not to love it. And Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is honestly peak at scaling imo. When you get to Cynthia, your team should realistically be able to take her on with some strategizing, but man, she is FAR from easy.

There’s much again.  I talk a lot.

I don’t even know if it’s necessarily dumbing down, since it’s still operating on the same fundamental principles that can make any game easy if you know what to do.  I think it’s more an issue of overly simplified.  Because all wild Pokemon are around your level, you never have to train.  Because the sharp level spike happens in rapid succession with no time to train, you quickly level from rare candies and the EXP candies you stockpiled.  The game takes significantly shorter time to beat, but offers less in the way of a developed challenge for most gym battles, and just...isn’t very engaging.

I really hate the trials, I think they’re way worse than gyms in every way.  Less interesting in concept, obnoxious boss battles that are less hard and more annoying, because the captains aren’t actually involved in anything regarding battle they’re ultimately really forgettable.  Gen 7 did one thing right, and only one thing, and that was its story surrounding Lillie’s family.  Also Ultra Beasts, because damn are those cool.

I think the reason everything since Gen 6 has been a significant downgrade is honestly graphics.  I think a lot of issues in video games, particularly as it related to deadlines and the cutting of corners, comes down to how rapidly graphics advanced, and the demand for ever more “realistic” portrayals.  When you have a game like Pokemon, that has all these models, it’s going to take forever, and a lot of the team’s time and resources go into developing the look.  As a result, there’s no time for crafting a strong story.  There’s no time to make interesting battle facilities in ORAS.  There’s no time to make a bunch of new Pokemon to add; that’s more about deadlines and constraints of resources than lack of creativity.  There’s no time to craft personalities, or edit the script, so you have a lot of superfluous and unnecessary dialogue.  It’s why Gen 6 feels so immensely rough, while Gen 7 felt pretty strong in some areas: the models were already done and carried over.  Gen 8 feels like a massive regression because for some reason, I think the models were redone again?  Like it’s honestly gotten hard to tell exactly what went wrong with this generation with all the rumors that surrounded it.  But production of better graphics means less time to focus on the actual content.  It’s why indie games make such a huge impact when one gets the right formula: they put little into graphics, and were able to better flesh out literally everything else.  And guess what.  Sprites and shit?  Still look amazing!  Like, if someone went back to early Final Fantasy, in terms of visual presentation, while not looking spectacular, they’d still hold up.  Going back to FF7 though?  Good lord does that look awful now.  Sprites work out, and we never should’ve transitioned to 3D models just because that was the gimmick of the console.  Had they stuck with sprites, I honestly feel the Pokemon games would’ve gone in a completely different trajectory than modern day.

Gen 4 is, in my mind at least, the perfect generation.  They added just the right amount of stuff in HGSS to make leveling not as much of a chore as the original Gen 2 games.  DPP was absolutely amazing, especially Platinum, and Cynthia is by far the most intense Champion battle the series has produced.  She routinely kicks my ass on my first visit to the league.  Also she’s just the absolutely coolest in design and personality and everything.  It’s just...I think even more than the scaling, it’s the sense of challenge.  Because you can get to the gyms at the same level, or even a bit over, and they’re still tough.  Roark has a Cranidos that’s just fast enough to beat an unevolved starter to the attack, and enough offensive presence to beat the Grass and Water checks you might bring.  Rock checks you bring also have to fear Pursuit, and need a Ground move to handle his own.  Or Gardenia, who has Leech Seed on Cherrim to get around the Bronzor you may have brought along, while Roserade is so overwhelmingly strong that Flying-type answers can get run over.  Every gym leader in Platinum goes in with a game plan, and as a result, it’s really hard to just walk in with type advantage at the same level and sweep.  The same can’t really be said for modern games, because you have shit like every Gigantamax Pokemon knowing status moves, despite those doing nothing in Gigantamax form.  Or Opal’s Weezing having Fairy Wind and Sludge despite being able to learn much stronger attacks by that point.  They play softball with you so much in modern games, and I honestly kinda miss when the game’s ultimate goal was to completely dunk on you if you weren’t prepared to try.  Though man, a friend of mine recently brought up that Black/White 2 was the best at that, solely because Iris had a Focus Sash on Haxorus.  In terms of taking the player seriously and aiming to completely ruin your life, nothing beat having a Dragon Dance Haxorus with a goddamn Focus Sash.  Those were the days...

#princess-of-crepes #pokemon

[vega-archives]

The Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl situation.

*Op-Ed*

The Hype

Pokemon fans tend to be among some of the most abused fan bases when it comes to classic franchises. Some would say things started going south with the release of Sun and Moon, some would say X and Y, and then, of course, there is the "Gen Wunners," as they're usually called, who tend to believe strictly in gen 1 and 2 superiority. One common thread in all Pokémon discourse is that no Pokémon fan can agree with another what constitutes a "good" Pokémon game looks like.

I was born in 1992, making me the perfect candidate to be a "Gen Wunner," and I technically wear it, while I do resent the title. that is only to preface that when Diamond and Pearl was released, I was in 9th grade and found most of the Sinnoh Pokemon to be overly designed and ugly. But to the generation of Pokemon fans younger than me, Diamond and Pearl is to them what Red and Blue is to me, meaning there are thousands of people in their early 20′s who believe this to be one of the if not the best Pokemon entry and will defend this game at all cost.

So it's 2001, and the Game Boy Advanced just launched, a console incapable of trading with the previous Game Boy. This presented a problem for Gamefreak, with older Pokemon being harder to find in Generation 3′s Ruby and Sapphire, so they made remakes of the first generation of Pokemon games as Fire Red and Leaf Green. This started a trend of remakes, the latest 2014s Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (or technically Lets GO Eevee and Pikachu). This created quite the expectation for several growing early 20 somethings. “Where is my Diamond and Pearl remake?” they collectively asked. 

The Announcement

Despite the cynical takes I’ve seen on the Pokemon 25th anniversary "Pokemon Presents," I didn't think it was nearly as bad as they claim it to be. For example, I thought the intro movie was an entertaining and nostalgic look back at almost every Pokemon game in the last 25 years. The attention to detail with the titles they chose to highlight was impressive and almost like a sign that they remember when the series was overall of higher quality. While I am a bit skeptical, another highlight for me was Pokemon Legends Arceus announcement. The idea of an open-world Pokemon Game set in a past version of Sinnoh sounds intriguing, I saw how Gamefreak handled open-world areas in Pokemon Sword and Shield and you can color me unimpressed and apprehensive.

Then they show the highly anticipated and expected, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. The trailer starts off pretty strong, with a montage of memorable scenes from the original DS game, which in hindsight only made the reveal of the games visuals all the more devastating.

Cut to a shot of the character Dawn in her starting home but wait, what's wrong with Dawn? she is now horribly disfigured. Im usually a fan of “chibi” aesthetics but this one felt immediately lifeless. The character has been foreshortened with the grace of someone using hacksaw for the first time. It seems as if no artistic consideration was put into how these characters would look in this new style. This feeling only grows as you continue to watch the trailer and see how the "chibi" style fared with all of the non-player characters, which, in my opinion, is far worse. It seems as if they were more concerned with making 3D models that matched the origional games sprites that they didnt stop to consider how these models appeared. 

Then comes the larger models used in battle, what some people claim to be the remakes saving grace (visually speaking at least). It’s understandable why people claim those models look better than the overworld models, but the improvement is minimal, to say the least. These battle models are larger and more detailed but just as stiff, lifeless and flat as the overworld models. Not to mention the Pokemon are using the same tired models they've been recycling since generation 6 and continue to battle in spaces that remind me of what a low budget high school play looks like.

Besides goofy and awkward walking animation, the trailer doesn't really have much else to say past this point. It really does feel like ILCA said, "you like Diamond and Pearl? here it is again, but we made it ugly".

The Fallout

This is when the situation begins to unfold in different pockets of social media, I primarily experienced it on Twitter. While it did seem like most Pokemon fans were rightfully disappointed in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearls appearance, both in terms of technical graphics and art style, it seemed like another group of fans seemed vehemently opposed to any and all criticism of the trailer claiming "we finally got what we wanted"

While it merely comes down to a matter of artistic preference, I don't think it's unreasonable to hold one of the highest-grossing franchises in the world to higher standards. Additionally, this is only one in a long series of disappointment from Pokemon titles, and I liked Pokemon Let's go. Die-hard fans who have been with the franchise from the beginning are scared that they'll never see what they consider to be a high-quality Pokemon game ever again.

Hope?

There might be light at the end of the tunnel after all. Like I previously stated, Pokemon Legends Arceus seems like an intriguing enough concept, although I do remain skeptical. Also, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were good Pokemon games, so while the art style might look silly and animate stiffly, the general game should be fun.

After all, I am looking forward to playing this game and will more than likely buy it at full price.

[aion-rsa]

Why Pokémon Has Endured For 25 Years

https://ift.tt/3aGzdnP

This article is presented by:

In 1996, Joseph Tobin was a professor of early education at the University of Hawaii when he decided to walk into a hobby store in Kaimuki for field research.

“They had some Pokémon stuff—the Japanese versions of the cartridges,” Tobin recalls. “People could buy them in this store before they were even available elsewhere. We interviewed the owner and decided that Pokémon would be a really interesting thing to study.”

Tobin had a pre-existing interest in Japanese culture from time spent in Japan as an exchange student and therefore continued his research in other hobby shops and toy stores throughout Honolulu. As the years progressed, he traded Pokémon cards with children who were adamant that he would not get ripped off in lopsided swaps. He followed as a colleague’s six-year-old son spent 90-plus hours with his Pokémon Blue cartridge for the Nintendo Game Boy, learning to read, understanding maps, and calculating sums in the process.

The years of Poké studies culminated in Tobin hosting an academic conference in 2000, where educators, anthropologists, and other cultural experts gathered in Honolulu to discuss this massive, yet certainly fleeting, Pokémon phenomenon. The findings and arguments of the conference were collected in the insightful and thoroughly-researched, yet tragically named, Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon.

“We thought we better hurry and get this out before the craze is over,” Tobin says.

25 years later and the Pokémon craze is nowhere near over. 

Today, Pokémon is one of the most successful, if not the most successful entertainment entities in human history. Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, having taken in an estimated $88 billion in revenue. According to eBay, there were 160 million searches on the platform for Pokémon cards last year, and they outsold even baseball cards. In December of last year, a Base set 1st edition PSA-graded 10 “shadowless” Charizard card sold on eBay for a staggering $350,100. The Pokémon games are now in their eighth generation and have sold over 340 million units. The long-running anime is in its 24th year and features more than 1,100 episodes. 

In defense of Tobin and The Rise and Fall of Pokémon’s title, the franchise, created by Game Freak and Nintendo, did seem like it was on the ropes in the early 2000s. “Pokémania” had largely died out and financial markers like the Pokémon card market had cooled. But Pokémon didn’t need a lengthy Pokémania to become one of the most successful entertainment franchises ever. To find success, all Pokémon needed was a consistent track record of innovative creators behind the scenes and a dedicated fan base of children—and eventually adults—willing to catch them all. 

“This will probably be something you hear from me and the rest of the team at Pokémon a lot. But Pokémon really is for everyone,” says Daniel Benkwitt, Senior Manager, Communications & Public Relations for The Pokémon Company International. “As long time fans will tell you, Pokémon has always been around throughout many iterations. The fans have been dedicated to Pokémon for 25 years, no matter when they came in.”

Benkwitt has a unique perspective on the nature of Pokémon’s ebbs and flows. Now working on the franchise’s 25th-anniversary celebrations, Benkwitt joined the Pokémon Company during Pokémon’s 20th anniversary—the same year that the massively popular augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go debuted.

“I was excited to work on an exciting franchise, but who knew what it was actually going to be once Pokémon Go had launched?” he says. “Truly, Pokémon Go on the 20th anniversary brought Pokémon back into the zeitgeist.”

In many ways, Pokémon Go served as a reminder of what the Poké die-hards already knew: this is Pikachu’s world and we’re just living in it. Whether it be through the series of beloved games, a highly successful card game, long-running anime, or sheer power of brand alone, Pokémon is one of the last quarter century’s big pop culture winners. 

The reasons why Pokémon survived its early fad status to blossom into a titan of entertainment are varied and innumerable, but it all starts with accessibility.

“There’s a variety of different ways and different touchpoints that fans can enter into Pokémon. My personal story is the anime,” Benkwitt says. “For a lot of folks, it was the video games, because that truly is the core of the franchise. Everything emanates out from there.”

Let the Poké Games Begin!

Pokémon Red and Green first premiered in Japan on Feb. 27, 1996. Its English counterparts, Red and Blue, would arrive in North America in 1998. Just about everything that’s appealing about the Pokémon franchise is apparent in those first two installments: exploration, training, trading, battling. The games capture creator Satoshi Tajiri’s experience of collecting insects as a boy in Japan, scaled up and fine-tuned for a larger, and eventually more Western audience. 

The games have evolved over the years, moving from a Matrix-green original Game Boy sprite display to the gorgeous, full-color three dimensions of Nintendo Switch. Along the way, new generations of fans have found their respective access points into the games and the franchise at large.

Pokémon content creator Ron Sroor is part of the next wave of Pokémon fandom, having been born after Red and Blue even debuted. He knows as well as anyone that the appeal of Pokémon has been constant, even if the heights of the franchise have waxed and waned. 

“To the people who were around at the beginning of Pokémania, it seemed like it was dying down, and it definitely was,” Sroor says. “But it never stopped being big. It was going from the biggest thing ever to just a normal, big thing.”

Like Benkwitt, Sroor came to Pokémon through the anime before coming to appreciate the larger tapestry of the franchise through the Pokémon Black and White games, which are set in a world approximating his native New York City. Now Sroor interacts with Pokémon fans via a variety of creative YouTube videos in which he discusses elements of the games like tier lists for powerful Pokémon, and shares his own artistic Pokémon renditions.

“I think the Pokémon are the draw of the franchise. They’re the perfect formula for creating creatures that aren’t too monstrous, but also not too childish or too cute,” he says. “Every single Pokémon is based on something, whether it be an animal or myth, and every location in the game or in the show or whatever is based on places in the real world.”

Cardboard Craze

Though the Pokémon series of games were the progenitor of the franchise, Pikachu and friends quickly proved too big to be contained by only one medium. The Pokémon Trading Card Game was first published by Wizards of the Coast in October 1996, just eight months after Red and Blue’s debut. These days, the Pokémon Trading Card Game (now under the auspices of The Pokémon Company) is considered one of the “Big Three” TCGs, alongside Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!. 

Competitive Pokémon TCG player Andrew Mahone recalls experiencing the first wave of Pokemania when he was in fourth grade. 

“1999—it was everywhere. Kids were playing the cards at recess, at the pool, wherever we went. I got captivated by the initial craze as it was the cultural phenomenon happening at the time. And being 10 years old, you’re the same age as the hero in the Pokémon franchise. So it really hit home with me there.”

Like many other kids of his generation, Mahone set Pokémon aside throughout his high school years and picked up a diverse array of other interests like soccer, skateboarding, and competitive running. It was during college, however, that Mahone met back up with the franchise that never truly went away, playing Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the bus to and from track meets.

Read more

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By Anthony McGlynn

“I fell in love with the franchise all over again doing that, and I played the DS game for hundreds of hours throughout my college career. When I graduated college, that’s when I was like, ‘Okay. Well, now I want something else that’s competitive to do now that I’m done with sports.’ That’s where I got into competitive Pokémon.”

Mahone attended his first competitive TCG event in 2012 and won his first regional championship in 2015. By 2017, he was making YouTube videos about the competitive Pokémon TCG scene. That channel has now evolved into his multimedia enterprise Tricky Gym, supported by Full Grip Games.

As part of the Pokémon TCG diaspora, Mahone has had a front-row seat to the game’s latest renaissance, this time likely driven by young adults looking to connect with their past while stuck indoors due to COVID lockdowns.

“We see a lot of young adults now in their mid-20s and 30s revisiting Pokémon because they have such strong nostalgic feelings for it. It came out in this very impactful time in their early childhood.”

I Wanna Be the Very Best…

One of the reasons that so many adults have warm fuzzies for the franchise is the storytelling around it. Premiering in 1997, the anime story of Ash Ketchum and his quest to become a Pokémon master has been a constant companion of the franchise through 24 years and hundreds of episodes. It also had a tremendous impact on the woman who would one day voice the young hero of Pallet Town.

“It was hard for me even as a kid to see it as a fad, because of the show,” Sarah Natochenny says. “It had heart, relatable characters, and adorable, unique creatures. This wasn’t just a game or set of toys. Pokémon had a story.”

Natochenny is an artist with eclectic talents and interests. After winning a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics in rhythmic gymnastics in 1999, she studied at the Strasberg Theater Institute for four years while also doing improv at UCB, and taking voice and dance classes on the side. In 2006, she auditioned for the role of Ash Ketchum in the Pokémon anime’s English dub, taking over for the role’s progenitor, Veronica Taylor.

“Pokémon was the biggest job I booked. It was only my second voiceover job, after a medical industrial,” Natochenny says. “I was the perfect age when Pokémon first came to America, and I loved the show and remember begging my parents for the cards. I had one deck. I have no idea where it is or whether or not there was a million-dollar card in there.”

Since 2006, Natochenny has voiced Ash, his mom Delia, along with a host of other human and Pokémon characters (Buneary being a particular favorite because it’s very cute). As part of the Pokémon 25th anniversary, Natochenny is most looking forward to wrapping up work on Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, along with some of the other planned festivities. 

“I’m looking forward to celebrating with fans and continuing to bring joy to people who grew up with my portrayal of their favorite character. I’ll also probably dance to the music that comes out, so tune in to my social media to see if those dance classes paid off,” she says. 

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25 Years of Pokémon

As Natochenny suggests, The Pokémon Company indeed has big plans—musical and otherwise—for the franchise’s 25th anniversary.

The team has been working on the celebration for over a year and has partnered with UMG and Katy Perry for a year-long musical campaign called P25 Music. Other corporate partners include Build-A-Bear Workshop, General Mills, Levi’s, McDonald’s, Jazwares, Scholastic, Mattel, Funko, PowerA, and The Wand Company (which is manufacturing a lifelike Poké Ball). And there are still more announcements to come.

“All I can say is, stay tuned because the rest of the year is going to be quite exciting with more surprises. Pokémon likes to surprise its fans,” Benkwitt says.

One thing that wouldn’t surprise its fans is if Pokémon one day observed a 50th- anniversary celebration, or even a centennial. It certainly wouldn’t surprise Tobin, who is still an early education professor, now at the University of Georgia.

“I’m not surprised that [Pokémon] has lasted this long in the sense that I think it’s really good,” he says. “It was really cleverly designed and it has a really rich narrative. I’m happy to see that it’s made it.”

Shop Pokémon on eBay today!

The post Why Pokémon Has Endured For 25 Years appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[pokemon-terra-aeris-blog]

Welcome to Pokemon Terra and Aeris

Hey! My name is Chris and I’m the creator of my Pokemon Fangame, Pokemon Terra and Aeris! This is the second time I’m writing this post because the first time something happened and it didn’t save.

Well with that being said lets get into it!

About the Creation of the Game:

The time I knew I wanted to create a Pokemon game was back in April/May. I started actually working on the game in June. Making the game was fun, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it by myself. After joining the Pokemon Amino, and various other Social medias (now we’re on Tumblr!) I created a small team. In July, I got a message from a fellow Pokemon fan game developer, that RuffledRowlit wanted to make a video about my game. Now of course I didn’t let this opportunity go to waste, and although I wasn’t ready to show off the game yet, I quickly threw together a trailer video (You can watch that here: https://goo.gl/TJHomt ) and the feedback in the comments were great! Everyone seemed to like the game, so far, and even since then, I’ve made multiple huge changes to the game.

To start off the list:

I changed the female Protagonist, as at the time the female was just rushed so she would be ready for the fan game.

I changed the rivals, they still have the same name, but their design was changed to be way better.

I changed the Antagonists from “Team Scavare” and “Team Aria” to Team Elemental.

I changed towns and routes.

I added seasons!

Pokemon will now follow the player (like in HGSS)

I changed dialoge

I changed the release date of the demo from Fall 2017 to some time in 2018 (still to be determined)

Now to get off of the boring stuff lets move onto the game!

About the Game:

Geography:

The game takes place in the Seren region. The name Seren is derived from Serenity, or Sereno from Italian. I chose this name because I think it fits into theme of Italy overall. The region is based off of Italy. And going back to what I was saying about connecting with Italy, is that, in my experience of travelling to Italy it was a laid-back, and calm place to be at. It felt like time has just stopped any there was no worries in the world. I want to represent that in my game by having all the natives be calm people (of course until the legendary shows up)

The map of Seren consists of five main islands. One huge, Three smaller ones, and one that’s inaccessible. There are also various smaller islands scattered around the ocean. The region is pretty big with about 23 towns to visit. This amount of towns may go down in the future. So far I really like the style of the map, and I’ll probably keep the style the same.

The main island is mostly covered in mountains and forests, while the other islands are more tropical/beach-y/seaside. The small island in the middle (may or may not be there in the final game) will be the elite four, white the island farthest to the left would be something similar to the battle frontier from Sinnoh.

The island the player starts on is most southern island, based off of Sicily, Italy.

Gameplay:

The game will consist of 8 gyms, and an Elite Four. This choice was made because its so close to France (aka Kalos) that I think their “trainer adventures” will be similar. 

The game consist of graphics similar to Generation 4 (Pokemon Pearl, Diamond, and Platinum, and HeartGold and SoulSilver.) 

I chose Generation 4 graphics because I want it to give a nostalgic feel to back when I got my first Pokemon game, Pokemon Pearl. I really want the music to be similar to Generation 4 and the graphics.

Any other questions please message me!

Characters:

Protagonists:

Male Protagonist: Andre

Female Protagonist: Juliana

Rivals:

Asher: Asher is a hot-headed, competitive young boy. Being about the same age as the Protagonist, he is about to embark on his own journey! He’s lives in Stella town his whole life, and now is ready to set off to explore the region. He wants to be the best out of the other two, Willow and the Protagonist. He thinks he will get better and better, almost good enough to beat the champion! He’s studied battle techniques ever since he was young, so his mom says, but sure enough he is ready for a world of adventure!

Willow: Willow is a young, “à la mode”, and cheerful girl. She’s not the competitive type like Asher, but is more excited to explore the huge region with her friends! She doesn’t really mind which Pokemon she gets in the beginning, but knows that she’ll love any one that she’ll get!

Professor:

Professor Olive: Professor Olive is a young, and beautiful Pokemon Professor. After just coming out of schooling, her father gave her the position of the Pokemon Professor in Stella town, just a few years earlier.

Features I Want in the Game:

Full art for characters and fakemon

100-200+ Fakemon

Custom Music

And a lot more! (that aren’t as important as these few)

Want to help?

Feel free to message me here, the Pokemon Amino (@PKMN Terra and Aeris) on Twitter (@PKMNTerra_Aeris), or by E-mailing us at [email protected]

Requirements:

An ability to create high quality work

Practice in the field

A social media

We’re looking for:

Artists that can draw similar to the style of Pokemon Gen 4-7

Pixel Artists that can create original sprites for new Pokemon designs and Trainers, similar to official 5th Generation Pokemon Games

Sprite animators that can animate from pre-existing sprites made.

Tileset Pixel Artists that can provide high quality original graphic to be used in the game.

Singer / Songwriter that can write music on their own, with plenty of experience in writing, composing, and performing songs.

Please message us if you are interested!

Thank you! And I’ll try to keep up on here!

#pokemon #pokemon fangame #Pokemon Terra and Aeris #fangame #italy #region #game #video game #Pokemon fan game

[unclegrimsley]

Azumarill (Pokémon) From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia. For Pokémon GO information on this species, see the game's section. ← Marill #183: Marill Pokémon #185: Sudowoodo Sudowoodo → Azumarill Aqua Rabbit Pokémon マリルリ Marilli #184 Azumarill Images on the Bulbagarden Archives Type Water Fairy Abilities Thick Fat or Huge Power Sap Sipper Hidden Ability Gender ratio 50% male, 50% female Catch rate 75 (9.8%) Breeding Egg Groups Water 1 and Fairy Hatch time 2570 - 2826 steps Height 2'07" 0.8 m Weight 62.8 lbs. 28.5 kg Regional numbers Pokédex #133 Johto #057 Hoenn #126 Sinnoh #032 Unova Central #043 Kalos Browser R-020/N-124 Oblivia Base experience yield 153 Gen. II-IV 189 V+ Leveling rate Fast EV yield Total: 3 3 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed Body style Body06.png Footprint F184.png Pokédex color   Blue Base friendship 70 External Links On Smogon Pokédex: Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII On Eevee's Pokédex Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives Azumarill (Japanese: マリルリ Marilli) is a dual-type Water/Fairy Pokémon introduced in Generation II. Prior to Generation VI, it was a pure Water-type Pokémon. It evolves from Marill starting at level 18. It is the final form of Azurill. Contents 1 Biology 2 In the anime 2.1 Major appearances 2.2 Minor appearances 2.3 Pokédex entries 3 In the manga 3.1 In the Magical Pokémon Journey manga 3.2 In the Pokémon Adventures manga 4 In the TCG 5 Game data 5.1 NPC appearances 5.2 Pokédex entries 5.3 Game locations 5.3.1 In side games 5.4 Stats 5.4.1 Base stats 5.4.1.1 Generation II-V 5.4.1.2 Generation VI onward 5.4.2 Pokéathlon stats 5.5 Type effectiveness 5.6 Learnset 5.6.1 By leveling up 5.6.2 By TM/HM 5.6.3 By breeding 5.6.4 By tutoring 5.6.5 By a prior evolution 5.7 Side game data 5.8 Evolution 5.9 Sprites 6 Trivia 6.1 Origin 6.1.1 Name origin 7 In other languages 8 Related articles 9 External links Biology Azumarill is a blue, bipedal Pokémon that has an ovoid body. The lower half of its body is white with a white, bubble-like pattern above it, which helps to camouflage it in water. It has elongated, rabbit-like ears with red insides and circular eyes. When in the water, it rolls up its ears to prevent the insides from becoming wet. Its arms and feet are short with rounded ends and no discernible digits. It has a black zigzagging tail with a blue, bubble-like tip. Azumarill has highly developed hearing that allows it to hear distances, even when it is underwater. By keeping still and listening closely, it can identity prey even in wild, fast-moving rivers. If Azumarill spots a drowning Pokémon, it will make a balloon out of air. It lives in rivers and lakes, and can live in the water all day long. In the anime Azumarill in the anime Major appearances Azumarill debuted in Love, Totodile Style, under the ownership of Trixie. A female one was used in a circus, and Ash's Totodile developed a crush on her. However, the Azumarill already had a boyfriend of sorts: a Golduck. An Azumarill is one of the friends of the Pichu Brothers. It appeared in Trouble in Big Town, Of Meowth and Pokémon (Part 1), Big Meowth, Little Dreams, and Pichu Bros. in Party Panic. It also made a cameo appearance in Giratina and the Sky Warrior. An Azumarill appeared in Tie One On!, where Jackson used it against Ash in the Silver Conference. Paul used an Azumarill in his battle at the Oreburgh Gym in Shapes of Things to Come to Roark's Geodude. However, it lost and Paul gave it away to a passing Trainer. An Azumarill appeared in PK13, in which it was about to perform a song in the Summer Festival before a wild Skarmory kidnapped it. An Azumarill appeared in The Pirates of Decolore!. It was a powerful and eager member of Croconaw's pirate gang, who had no problems with stealing food from humans. It battled Ash's Snivy and Pignite alongside Croconaw but was defeated. However, it did assist in the rescue of the Darumaka before happily joining Officer Jenny. Minor appearances An Azumarill was one of the Pokémon living at Temacu's father's lab in The Heartbreak of Brock. An Azumarill appeared in The Big Balloon Blow-Up, where it competed alongside its Trainer in the Pokémon Balloon Race. An Azumarill appeared in Dueling Heroes. An Azumarill was seen at a Pokémon Center in The Legend of Thunder!. An Azumarill appeared in Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias, where it was used by a competitor in the Tour de Alto Mare. A star Azumarill was brought to sing to all the Pokémon at Pikachu's Summer Festival. An Azumarill appeared in A Ruin with a View. A Trainer's Azumarill appeared in Off the Unbeaten Path, where it was participating in the Pokémon Orienteering. An Azumarill along with an Azurill and a Marill made a cameo in the beginning of Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea under the control of Solana's Capture Styler where they put out a fire in a forest. An Azumarill appeared in The Rise of Darkrai, along with a Marill and Azurill. An Azumarill appeared in One Team, Two Team, Red Team, Blue Team!, where it was used by a student of Pokémon Summer Academy in the second leg of the Pokémon Triathlon. An Azumarill appeared in To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!. An Azumarill made a brief appearance in An Old Family Blend!, under the ownership of a Trainer competing in the Lily of the Valley Conference. An Azumarill appeared alongside an Azurill and Marill in Zoroark: Master of Illusions. An Azumarill appeared in Mewtwo — Prologue to Awakening. Two Azumarill appeared in Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!. An Azumarill appeared in Lumiose City Pursuit!. A Trainer's Azumarill appeared in Mega Evolution Special III. An Azumarill appeared in A Fashionable Battle!, under the ownership of a Furisode Girl. An Azumarill appeared in Hoopa — The Mischief Pokémon. Three Azumarill appeared in Pikachu and the Pokémon Music Squad. A Trainer's Azumarill appeared in A Performance Pop Quiz!. An Azumarill appeared in Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel. Pokédex entries Episode Pokémon Source Entry EP153 Azumarill Ash's Pokédex Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. The evolved form of Marill. This Pokémon uses its large, highly developed ears to hear great distances, even underwater. This concludes the entries from the original series. Episode Pokémon Source Entry DP015 Azumarill Dawn's Pokédex Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. Azumarill lives in rivers and lakes, and while in water its body color and pattern confuses its enemies. This concludes the entries from the Diamond & Pearl series. In the manga Azumarill in Pokémon Adventures In the Magical Pokémon Journey manga Main article: Madam Azumarill Madam Azumarill is a ninja master and Apricot and Marimaru's teacher in the ninja arts. She is also Marimaru's mother. In the Pokémon Adventures manga Azumarill debuts in Forretress of Solitude where it was used to battle Red in his aptitude test to be the Gym Leader of Viridian City. Azumarill appears in Absolutely Azumarill, being chased by Crystal's mother, Mirei. In Fortunately for Feraligatr, Mirei was seen with an Azumarill in her possession, though whether it is the same individual as the one she chased after previously is unknown. Matt uses an Azumarill in VS. Azumarill I and VS. Azumarill II in an attempt to drown both Sapphire and Flannery in the cable car of Mt. Chimney. An Azumarill appeared in a fantasy in Pinsir Me, I Must Be Dreaming. In Weavile Wobbles But It Won't Fall Down, a Trainer at the Safari Zone owns one. An Azumarill appears with its Trainer at the Mini-game Corner in the X & Y chapter. In the TCG Main article: Azumarill (TCG) Game data NPC appearances Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity: Azumarill is the Pokémon in charge of the Request Counter, where job requests can be accepted and canceled. Pokédex entries This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II. Generation II Gold By keeping still and listening intently, it can tell what is in even wild, fast-moving rivers. Silver When it plays in water, it rolls up its elongated ears to prevent their insides from getting wet. Crystal The bubble-like pattern on its stomach helps it camouflage itself when it's in the water. Stadium 2 By keeping still and listening intently, it can tell what is in even wild, fast-moving rivers. Generation III Ruby Azumarill's long ears are indispensable sensors. By focusing its hearing, this Pokémon can identify what kinds of prey are around, even in rough and fast-running rivers. Sapphire Azumarill can make balloons out of air. It makes these air balloons if it spots a drowning Pokémon. The air balloons enable the Pokémon in trouble to breathe. Emerald It lives in water virtually all day long. Its body color and pattern act as camouflage that makes it tough for enemies to spot in water. FireRed When it plays in water, it rolls up its elongated ears to prevent their insides from getting wet. LeafGreen By keeping still and listening intently, it can even tell what is in wild, fast-moving rivers. Generation IV Diamond It lives in rivers and lakes. In water, its coloring and patterns trick the vision of foes. Pearl Its long ears are superb sensors. It can distinguish the movements of living things on riverbeds. Platinum It can spend all day in water, since it can inhale and store a large volume of air. HeartGold By keeping still and listening intently, it can tell what is in even wild, fast-moving rivers. SoulSilver When it plays in water, it rolls up its elongated ears to prevent their insides from getting wet. Generation V Black It can spend all day in water, since it can inhale and store a large volume of air. White Black 2 Its long ears are superb sensors. It can distinguish the movements of things in water and tell what they are. White 2 Generation VI X Its long ears are superb sensors. It can distinguish the movements of living things on riverbeds. Y The bubble-like pattern on its stomach helps it camouflage itself when it's in the water. Omega Ruby Azumarill's long ears are indispensable sensors. By focusing its hearing, this Pokémon can identify what kinds of prey are around, even in rough and fast-running rivers. Alpha Sapphire Azumarill can make balloons out of air. It makes these air balloons if it spots a drowning Pokémon. The air balloons enable the Pokémon in trouble to breathe. Game locations This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II. Generation II Gold Silver Evolve Marill Crystal Evolve Marill Generation III Ruby Sapphire Evolve Marill Emerald Evolve Marill FireRed Trade LeafGreen Evolve Marill Colosseum Trade XD Trade Generation IV Diamond Pearl Evolve Marill Platinum Victory Road HeartGold SoulSilver Evolve Marill Pal Park Pond Generation V Black Trade White Evolve Marill Black 2 White 2 Routes 6, 11, 20, and 22, Village Bridge, Abundant Shrine, Floccesy Ranch, Pinwheel Forest, Victory Road*, Relic Passage (Surfing in rippling water) Routes 6, 11, and 22, Village Bridge, Abundant Shrine (Rustling grass) Generation VI X Y Route 22, Friend Safari (Water) Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire Routes 102, 111, 114, 117, 120, and 123, Petalburg City (Surfing) Generation VII Sun Moon Evolve Marill In side games This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II. Generation II This Pokémon is unavailable in Generation II side games. Generation III Channel Cobalt CoastMorning, Camp StarlightFr Pinball: R&S Evolve Marill Trozei! Secret Storage 12, Mr. Who's Den MD Red MD Blue Evolve Marill Generation IV MD Time MD Darkness Blizzard Island (1F-20F), Crevice Cave (B1-B10, Lower Crevice Cave B1-B4), Mt. Avalanche (B1-B19) MD Sky Blizzard Island (1F-20F), Crevice Cave (B1-B10, Lower Crevice Cave B1-B4), Mt. Avalanche (B1-B19) MD Stormy Evolve Marill Ranger: GS Silver Falls Generation V Rumble Blast Lake: Sun-Dappled Bank MD GTI Silent Tundra (B1-B26), Dreamy Island (1F-25F), Moonlit Forest (Golden Chamber), Cape at the Edge (B1-B29), Magnagate dungeons Rumble U Aquatic Hill: The Colorful Park Generation VI Battle Trozei Safari Jungle: Stage 3Sa Shuffle Sweet Strasse: Stage 76 Rumble World Ruby Volcano: Lake of Tranquility (Center Boss, Back) Super MD Serene Village Café Connection Stats Base stats Generation II-V Stat Range At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100 HP: 100 160 - 207 310 - 404 Attack: 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Defense: 80 76 - 145 148 - 284 Sp.Atk: 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Sp.Def: 80 76 - 145 148 - 284 Speed: 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Total: 410  Other Pokémon with this total   Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable. Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable. Generation VI onward Stat Range At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100 HP: 100 160 - 207 310 - 404 Attack: 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Defense: 80 76 - 145 148 - 284 Sp.Atk: 60 58 - 123 112 - 240 Sp.Def: 80 76 - 145 148 - 284 Speed: 50 49 - 112 94 - 218 Total: 420  Other Pokémon with this total   Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable. Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable. Pokéathlon stats Speed 2/3 ★★☆ Power 5/5 ★★★★★ Skill 3/3 ★★★ Stamina 3/4 ★★★☆ Jump 2/2 ★★ Total 15/17 ★★★ Type effectiveness Under normal battle conditions in Generation VII, this Pokémon is: Damaged normally by: Normal 1× Flying 1× Ground 1× Rock 1× Ghost 1× Steel 1× Psychic 1× Fairy 1× Weak to: Poison 2× Grass 2× Electric 2× Immune to: Dragon 0× Resistant to: Fighting ½× Bug ½× Fire ½× Water ½× Ice ½× Dark ½× Notes: If this Pokémon is given a Ring Target, the effectiveness of  Dragon-type  moves is 1×. If this Pokémon has Thick Fat, the effectiveness of  Fire-type  moves is ¼× and the effectiveness of  Ice-type  moves is ¼×. If this Pokémon has Sap Sipper, the effectiveness of  Grass-type  moves is 0×. Due to the conversion to  Fairy-type , the effectiveness of  Steel-type  moves was ½×, and  Dragon-type ,  Dark-type ,  Fighting-type ,  Bug-type  and  Poison-type  moves were 1×. prior to Generation VI. Learnset By leveling up Generation VII Other generations: II - III - IV - V - VI Level Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP 1 Tackle Normal Physical 40 100% 35 1 Tail Whip Normal Status — 100% 30 1 Water Gun Water Special 40 100% 25 1 Water Sport Water Status — —% 15 2 Tail Whip Normal Status — 100% 30 5 Water Sport Water Status — —% 15 7 Bubble Water Special 40 100% 30 10 Defense Curl Normal Status — —% 40 10 Rollout Rock Physical 30 90% 20 13 Bubble Beam Water Special 65 100% 20 16 Helping Hand Normal Status — —% 20 21 Aqua Tail Water Physical 90 90% 10 25 Play Rough Fairy Physical 90 90% 10 31 Aqua Ring Water Status — —% 20 35 Rain Dance Water Status — —% 5 42 Double-Edge Normal Physical 120 100% 15 46 Superpower Fighting Physical 120 100% 5 55 Hydro Pump Water Special 110 80% 5 Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Azumarill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Azumarill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see level-up moves from other generations By TM/HM Generation VII Other generations: II - III - IV - V - VI TM Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM01 Work Up Normal Status — —% 30 Bag TM Poison VI Sprite.png TM06 Toxic Poison Status — 90% 10 Bag TM Ice VI Sprite.png TM07 Hail Ice Status — —% 10 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM10 Hidden Power Normal Special 60 100% 15 Bag TM Ice VI Sprite.png TM13 Ice Beam Ice Special 90 100% 10 Bag TM Ice VI Sprite.png TM14 Blizzard Ice Special 110 70% 5 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM15 Hyper Beam Normal Special 150 90% 5 Bag TM Psychic VI Sprite.png TM16 Light Screen Psychic Status — —% 30 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM17 Protect Normal Status — —% 10 Bag TM Water VI Sprite.png TM18 Rain Dance Water Status — —% 5 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM21 Frustration Normal Physical — 100% 20 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM27 Return Normal Physical — 100% 20 Bag TM Fighting VI Sprite.png TM31 Brick Break Fighting Physical 75 100% 15 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM32 Double Team Normal Status — —% 15 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM42 Facade Normal Physical 70 100% 20 Bag TM Psychic VI Sprite.png TM44 Rest Psychic Status — —% 10 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM45 Attract Normal Status — 100% 15 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM48 Round Normal Special 60 100% 15 Bag TM Fighting VI Sprite.png TM52 Focus Blast Fighting Special 120 70% 5 Bag TM Water VI Sprite.png TM55 Scald Water Special 80 100% 15 Bag TM Dark VI Sprite.png TM56 Fling Dark Physical — 100% 10 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM68 Giga Impact Normal Physical 150 90% 5 Bag TM Ground VI Sprite.png TM78 Bulldoze Ground Physical 60 100% 20 Bag TM Grass VI Sprite.png TM86 Grass Knot Grass Special — 100% 20 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM87 Swagger Normal Status — 85% 15 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM88 Sleep Talk Normal Status — —% 10 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM90 Substitute Normal Status — —% 10 Bag TM Water VI Sprite.png TM94 Surf Water Special 90 100% 15 Bag TM Water VI Sprite.png TM98 Waterfall Water Physical 80 100% 15 Bag TM Normal VI Sprite.png TM100 Confide Normal Status — —% 20 Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Azumarill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Azumarill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see TM moves from other generations By breeding Generation VII Other generations: II - III - IV - V - VI Parent Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP PsyduckGolduckSlowpokeSlowbroWooperQuagsire GorebyssBidoofBibarel Amnesia Psychic Status — —% 20 GolduckSeelDewgongKabutoKabutopsSurskit EmpoleonBibarelBuizelFloatzelTirtougaCarracosta AlomomolaClauncherClawitzerPopplioBrionnePrimarina Aqua Jet Water Physical 40 100% 20 Poliwhirl Belly Drum Normal Status — —% 10 ClefairyJigglypuffPoliwagPoliwhirlLaprasSpheal SealeoWalreinShellosGastrodon Body Slam Normal Physical 85 100% 15 StunfiskSkrelpDragalge Camouflage Normal Status — —% 20 SkittyPlusleMinun Copycat† Normal Status — —% 20 ClefairySeelDewgongTogeticPlusleMinun SphealSealeoWalrein Encore† Normal Status — 100% 5 MawilePlusleMinunSwirlixSlurpuff Fake Tears† Dark Status — 100% 20 PsyduckSlowpokeLaprasTogeticDelibirdCastform Future Sight* Psychic Special 120 100% 10 WooperQuagsireMarshtompSwampertShellosGastrodon TympolePalpitoadSeismitoadStunfiskClauncherClawitzer Muddy Water Water Special 90 85% 10 LaprasPolitoed Perish Song Normal Status — —% 5 Delibird Present Normal Physical — 90% 15 CorsolaMiloticAudino Refresh Normal Status — —% 20 ClefairyClefableJigglypuffWigglytuffLaprasSkitty DelcattyPopplioBrionnePrimarina Sing† Normal Status — 55% 15 PikachuDratiniDragonairDragoniteMarillWooper Quagsire Slam† Normal Physical 80 75% 20 PsyduckGolduckRemoraidOctilleryPelipperAlomomola Soak† Water Status — 100% 20 TotodileCroconawFeraligatrMarillAzumarillBidoof BibarelInkayMalamar Superpower Fighting Physical 120 100% 5 MantineWingullPelipperTympolePalpitoadSeismitoad Supersonic Normal Status — 55% 20 OmanyteOmastar Tickle† Normal Status — 100% 20 PsyduckGolduckPoliwagPoliwhirlSeelMarill AzumarillLombrePelipperSurskitMasquerainMilotic GorebyssPiplupPrinplupBuizelFloatzelDucklett SwannaAlomomolaClauncherClawitzerDewpiderPyukumuku Water Sport Water Status — —% 15 Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Azumarill in Generation VII Moves marked with a dagger (†) can only be bred onto Azumarill if it hatches as an Azurill, and cannot be obtained otherwise. Moves marked with a double dagger (‡) can only be bred from a Pokémon who learned the move in an earlier generation. Moves marked with a superscript game abbreviation can only be bred onto Azumarill in that game. Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Azumarill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Azumarill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations By tutoring Generation VII Other generations: II - III - IV - V - VI Game Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP S M US UM Aqua Tail Water Physical 90 90% 10 S M US UM Bounce Flying Physical 85 85% 5 S M US UM Covet Normal Physical 60 100% 25 S M US UM Focus Punch Fighting Physical 150 100% 20 S M US UM Helping Hand Normal Status — —% 20 S M US UM Hyper Voice Normal Special 90 100% 10 S M US UM Ice Punch Ice Physical 75 100% 15 S M US UM Icy Wind Ice Special 55 95% 15 S M US UM Iron Tail Steel Physical 100 75% 15 S M US UM Knock Off Dark Physical 65 100% 20 S M US UM Liquidation Water Physical 85 100% 10 S M US UM Snore Normal Special 50 100% 15 S M US UM Superpower Fighting Physical 120 100% 5 S M US UM Water Pulse Water Special 60 100% 20 A black or white abbreviation in a colored box indicates that Azumarill can be tutored the move in that game A colored abbreviation in a white box indicates that Azumarill cannot be tutored the move in that game Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Azumarill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Azumarill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Move Tutor moves from other generations By a prior evolution Generation VII Other generations: II - III - IV - V - VI Stage Move Type Cat. Pwr. Acc. PP 298 Splash Normal Status — —% 40 298 Charm Fairy Status — 100% 20 298 Slam Normal Physical 80 75% 20 298 BounceSM Flying Physical 85 85% 5 Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Azumarill Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Azumarill Click on the generation numbers at the top to see moves from other generations Side game data Pokémon Pinball RS PinRS184.png Acquisition: Evolve Pokémon Trozei! Trozeiani184.png Rarity: Rare Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team MDP184.png Body size: 1 Recruit rate: Evolve Friend Area: Turtleshell Pond Phrases 51%-100% HP My ears can pick up the sound of a pin dropping far away! 26%-50% HP Why is my health down to half already? 1%-25% HP I'm falling... My ears are failing me... Level up Yep! There's my level! I'll pick up the pace! Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky MDP184.png Body size: 1 Recruit rate: 0.5% IQ group: D Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs Group: Water Poké Assist: (present) Water Assist.png Water Field move: (present) Soak 2 field move.png (Soak ×2) Poké Assist: (past) Water Assist.png Water Field move: (past) Soak 1 field move.png (Soak ×1) Browser entry It attacks by spitting bubbles that make Pokémon Slowed. Pokémon Rumble Blast Attack ● Defense ●●● Speed ●●● Pokémon Battle Trozei Fairy Attack Power: ★★★★★ BT184.png Pokémon Shuffle None.png Fairy None.png Attack Power: 60 - 120 Raise Max Level.png 10 #060 Shuffle184.png Opportunist Rarely, attacks can deal greater damage than usual. Skill Swapper: Risk-Taker Pokémon GO GO184.png Base Stamina: 200 Base Attack: 112 Base Defense: 152 Egg Distance: N/A Buddy Distance: 3 km Evolution Requirement: N/A Fast Attacks: Rock Smash, Bubble Special Attacks: Play Rough, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam Evolution 298Azurill.png Baby form Azurill Normal  Fairy Sea Incense Breed holding Sea Incense ← Soothe Bell Friendship → 183Marill.png First evolution Marill Water  Fairy Rare Candy Level 18 → 184Azumarill.png Second evolution Azumarill Water  Fairy Sprites This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II. Generation II Gold Silver Crystal Spr 2g 184.png Spr b 2g 184.png Spr 2s 184.png Spr b 2g 184.png Spr 2c 184.png Spr b 2g 184.png Spr 2g 184 s.png Spr b 2g 184 s.png Spr 2s 184 s.png Spr b 2g 184 s.png Spr 2c 184 s.png Spr b 2g 184 s.png Front Back Front Back Front Back Generation III Ruby Sapphire Emerald FireRed LeafGreen Spr 3r 184.png Spr b 3r 184.png Spr 3e 184.png Spr b 3r 184.png Spr 3r 184.png Spr b 3r 184.png Spr 3r 184 s.png Spr b 3r 184 s.png Spr 3e 184 s.png Spr b 3r 184 s.png Spr 3r 184 s.png Spr b 3r 184 s.png Front Back Front Back Front Back Generation IV Diamond Pearl Platinum HeartGold SoulSilver Spr 4d 184.png Spr b 4d 184.png Spr 4p 184.png Spr b 4p 184.png Spr 4h 184.png Spr b 4h 184.png Spr 4d 184 s.png Spr b 4d 184 s.png Spr 4p 184 s.png Spr b 4p 184 s.png Spr 4h 184 s.png Spr b 4p 184 s.png Front Back Front Back Front Back Generation V Black White Black 2 White 2 Spr 5b 184.png Spr b 5b 184.png Spr 5b 184.png Spr b 5b 184.png Spr 5b 184 s.png Spr b 5b 184 s.png Spr 5b 184 s.png Spr b 5b 184 s.png Front Back Front Back Generation VI X Y Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire Spr 6x 184.png Spr b 6x 184.png Spr 6x 184.png Spr b 6x 184.png Spr 6x 184 s.png Spr b 6x 184 s.png Spr 6x 184 s.png Spr b 6x 184 s.png Front Back Front Back Generation VII Sun Moon Ultra Sun Ultra Moon Spr 7s 184.png Spr b 7s 184.png Spr 7s 184.png Spr b 7s 184.png Spr 7s 184 s.png Spr b 7s 184 s.png Spr 7s 184 s.png Spr b 7s 184 s.png Front Back Front Back 184MS.png For other sprites and images, please see Azumarill images on the Bulbagarden Archives. Trivia In Generation V, Azumarill and Marill are the only Pokémon that can have the Electric type as their sole weakness. This is because of their Hidden Ability Sap Sipper. Azumarill is the only member of its evolutionary line that was not publicly revealed prior to the generation it debuted in. Origin It may be based on a combination of a rabbit and a beach ball or possibly a personal flotation device or lifebuoy. It could be also possibly based on the swamp rabbits, which have a strong preference for wet areas (such as cypress swamps, marshland, floodplain, and river tributaries) and that will take to the water and swim. Azumarill's water-like splash pattern may reflect from the camouflage of Countershading of aquatic animals such as sharks and penguins, being that they have a dark coloration on top to match the dark water underneath and a white coloration on their under to match the sunlight from above. Name origin Azumarill is a combination of azure (a shade of blue) or azul (Spanish and Portuguese for blue), Marill, and possibly rill (a small river or brook) Marilli may be a combination of 丸い marui (round or circular) or 鞠 mari (ball) and 瑠璃 ruri (lapis lazuli). In other languages Language Title Meaning Japan Flag.png Japanese マリルリ Marilli From 丸い marui (round or circular), 鞠 mari (ball) and 瑠璃 ruri (lapis lazuli) France Flag.png French Azumarill Same as English name Spain Flag.png Spanish Azumarill Same as English name Germany Flag.png German Azumarill Same as English name Italy Flag.png Italian Azumarill Same as English name South Korea Flag.png Korean 마릴리 Marilly Transliteration of its Japanese name Hong Kong Flag.png Cantonese Chinese 馬利露麗 Máhleihlouhlaih Mandarin-based transliteration of its Japanese name. Also contains 露 louh China and Taiwan Flags.png Mandarin Chinese 瑪力露麗 / 玛力露丽 Mǎlìlùlì Transliteration of its Japanese name. Also contains 露 lù More languages India Flag.png Hindi अजुमेरिल Azumarill Transcription of English name Russia Flag.png Russian Азумарилл Azumarill Transcription of English name Related articles Madam Azumarill Azumarill (Gates to Infinity) External links ← Marill #183: Marill Pokémon #185: Sudowoodo Sudowoodo → Project Pokédex logo.png This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species. Pokémon news from Bulbanews Dec 7 Generation III Pokémon, weather coming to Pokémon GO: To be available this week... Dec 7 Ryan Reynolds cast as title role in Detective Pikachu: To provide voice, motion ... Nov 28 Johto x Alola Competition announced: First Online Competition for Ultra Sun, Ult... Nov 28 Ho-Oh available in Pokémon GO until Dec. 12: To celebrate completion of Global C... Nov 26 Farfetch'd available worldwide in Pokémon GO for 48 hours: Kangaskhan available ... Read more on Bulbanews, your community Pokémon newspaper Bulbapedia is part of BulbaGarden Bulbagarden logo.png Home BMGf bulb.png Forums Bulbapedia bulb.png Bulbapedia Bulbagarden Archives bulb.png Archives Bulbanews bulb.png Bulbanews Handbooks bulb.png Handbook IRC bulb.png Discord Categories: Generation II PokémonWater-type PokémonFairy-type PokémonDual-type PokémonPokémon in the Johto PokédexPokémon in the Hoenn PokédexPokémon in the Sinnoh PokédexPokémon in the Unova Pokédex in Black and White Versions 2Pokémon in the Kalos PokédexPokémon with a gender ratio of one male to one femalePokémon in the Fast experience groupBlue-colored PokémonBody style 06 PokémonWater 1 group PokémonFairy group PokémonPokémon with a base stat total of 410Pokémon with a base stat total of 420Pokémon with 17 max performance starsBody size 1 PokémonPokémon that are part of a three-stage evolutionary lineSingle-type PokémonPokémon that have had their type changed Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Powered by MediaWiki This page was last edited on 17 November 2017, at 07:13. 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The 12 Greatest Game titles For The DS

My task works on this equation, Nintendo DS + GameBoy Color + GameBoy Superior SP parts = GameBoy DS. When you acquire ShippingPass you do not have to fret about least purchase needs or shipping length. Picture viewing a movie recreation unfold proper on your kitchen desk! The touch controls take getting employed to, and the match is mostly easy and variety of linear, but that goddamn Temple of the Ocean King is the most off-placing. The Japanese, European, and American variations of Pokémon Sprint have no location checks, allowing the player use any language sport (although only the 1st 5 people of a Pokémon's title will be shown in the Japanese model of Pokémon Dash). Monsters can be boosted with items from your hand, and spells can influence a cepter's playing cards ahead of he even plays them. The NFC Reader/Author accent is necessary to use amiibo on Nintendo 2DS and is marketed individually. Got some minimal evaluations from websites, because idiots never know how about the possibilities menu, or care to entry the cool extras. The RPG part has you recruit thousands of gamers to your group, produce their stats and have them find out new techniques. Very entertaining genuine-time method the employs the DS stylus, Blue Dragon Plus delivers loads of gameplay with a consistent problems curve that keeps you entertained. This innovative sequel to the original Scribblenauts lets players not only tap out virtually any noun they can feel of to conjure up the item or creature it denotes, but also modify them with adjectives to alter their look and traits. Why it was selected: When you listen to game titles described as Metroidvania type, this is the ‘vania little bit. monster legends hack download The only way to aquire new tracks is to manually obtain them (The BDX Mega Pack is complete of tunes information for this match and is the best way to get BDX documents appropriate now) and insert them into your conserve file. Even when it comes to spin-offs, the Kingdom Hearts online games always appear to thrust consoles to their limitations —the massive sprites and FMV cutscenes in Chain of Memories come to mind— and Three Five 8 Times Over Two (wow that's a silly title) is no exception. Apart from customization (which requires a short whilst to learn), the solitary-participant is a little bit limited, so the longevity of this is dictated by your creativeness and how much you obtain from on the web. Why it was decided on: Ouendan's main gameplay was so well suited to the DS's touchscreen that its ‘tap the targets when the circles pass more than them' mechanic has been imitated numerous moments because. The struggle system is comparable to Abyss', letting you move close to freely. Subsequent, open up your emulator and navigate to the folder, discover the ROM, and double-tap on it to perform. The DS console is a single of the most popular match methods of all time. Even the consumer interface was formidable, altering based on which of the game's Hunters you ended up playing as. It is tough to consider of any sport on the program that at any time topped it in terms of visuals. A remake of the RPG released in the US for the Gameboy as Closing Fantasy Legend II. The remake does away with random encounters and replaces them with the system utilised in later SaGa games, where the monsters appear in the globe map stat growths are now based mostly on the gear used and there is a new multiplayer manager arena. Continuing the custom set by its predecessors, the Nintendo DS saw the subsequent era of Pokemon video games launched, this time known as Pokemon Pearl, Diamond, and Platinum. Every little thing fantastic about the prequel is also in this sport, and is also a should engage in. This is almost certainly the 1st record about video clip video games I have read through this yr that I actually concur with. Its Revolutionary Stride-Cross Battle Technique allows players to control two figures at the same time. As properly as the popular Pokemon and Mario Kart titles, we've got a variety of movie-inspired online games that involves Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. It's biggest function was the touchscreen on the lower monitor, which permitted for unique input in games and modified the way that developer's approached game layout. Right after a tiny little bit of time doing work on that venture, I remembered my needs that the DS would play outdated GameBoy online games. The considerably improved sequel to Korg DS-10, Korg DS-ten Plus isn't a audio match, it really is a transportable analog synthesizer, so it could be difficult to use unless you are common with that kind of thing or curious sufficient to attempt every single knob and change to see how this operates (or read through the handbook).