Gotta catch 'em all things Pokémon

[chase210]

They certainly seem to have played fast and loose with some of the translations this time round. The pokedex entries have gone a bit mad!

[Craig]

I've actually settled back into Pokemon Y and I'm loving it as a chilled relaxed game. I don't usually play games on my commute, but it's easy to just pick it up, grind a few levels and catch a few Pokemon, close the lid and pick it up later. I don't have to worry about if I have enough time to play or remembering what I was doing and it's low impact enough that it doesn't matter if the train is a bit bumpy.

I'm also using it to practice Japanese and I'm picking up a lot from it. On the one hand, you start to realise just how little people are actually saying, despite talking a lot, but you also can appreciate just how much they've designed it so you always have an idea of your next objective.

I'm going all in though. It'd be too easy for me to check out a guide every time I didn't understand a move or wanted to see what level a Pokemon evolved or learned a move. So I've bought a massive 600+ page guide (with full pokedex!) in Japanese which was pretty cheap going as it's not the current version. When looking I also found a guide for the original gold and silver, complete with a mostly unused sticker sheet!

[Suits]

Right, I'm well into this (Sun & Moon) , more so than I expected too. I've even stopped playing Skyrim re-mastered.

I think I perhaps underestimated the depth in terms of tactics, effects, items and care systems.

It's great, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm about 10 hours in and just beaten the first island Grand Trail.

I'm probably well behind par but this is my first Pokemon game and I'm learning a lot of the basic things.

I'm also tending to stick with the series 1 Pokemon when I catch them, as most of the original 150 I recognise.

Good game so far.

[chase210]

Ultra Sun and Moon are much closer to say, Pokemon Yellow than any of the other 3rd version games, or BW2. Not sure how keen I am on it.

[ratsoalbion]

I now have SIX Pokemon games in my backlog.

[chase210]

All the more to look forward to!

[kintaris]

I am incredibly biased and rose-tinted on the subject of Pokémon and it's fair to say that I am absolutely loving playing virtually the same game I already played last year

[KSubzero1000]

I've fallen out of love in Pokemon after the disappointing third gen and have only bought Pokemon White during the years since. If you wouldn't mind telling me, kintaris, what is your favourite Pokemon gen and why?

[kintaris]

I've fallen out of love in Pokemon after the disappointing third gen and have only bought Pokemon White during the years since. If you wouldn't mind telling me, kintaris, what is your favourite Pokemon gen and why?

It's a tough call. I'm probably coming at it differently than a lot of people because I skipped a few generations. I played Gen I back in the day when I was still a kid and adored it. I almost completely forgot about Pokémon after that until I was nursing my wife back to health after heart surgery and came across the X and Y anime series on Netflix. Something broke deep in us and Pokémon devoured us. We've since enjoyed Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire together, and I've dabbled with White 2 as it came free and apparently forgotten about in the back of my second hand 3DS.

So for me X and Y holds a particularly special place in my heart. Sun and Moon brought a new energy and positivity to the series as well - narratively I think it might be the strongest. If I had to try and be as impartial as possible and look at the games themselves... I'd say Sun and Moon are probably the best. It throws off some of the structural shackles of the previous generations while retaining the spirit. I'm looking forward to filling in the gaps in my history though, starting with these Gold and Silver re-releases.

I can't stress enough how emotionally connected I am to the series as a whole though (anime and games). It's been a connecting force for my wife and I in many ways. We went all the way to Japan just to celebrate it further and fell in love with the place as a result. It would take a lot for me to be completely disappointed in one of the core titles. I'm also really not a scholar of the JRPG in any sense - so far Pokémon has really been it. Maybe if I was deeper into the genre I would find more tedium in these simplistic examples.

Also, anyone with a love of video game music and at least a passing enjoyment of the series absolutely must check out Pokémon Symphonic Evolutions if it comes to town. I'm not sure I've ever had such a visceral reaction to a live concert before.

[KSubzero1000]

I'm looking forward to filling in the gaps in my history though, starting with these Gold and Silver re-releases.

Oh, you mean the Virtual Console 3DS versions? Or is there a physical reprint I'm unaware of?

[chase210]

Sun and Moon definitely is not the best. Heartgold/Soulsilver and or Black and White 2 are the best.

[ratsoalbion]

As with every long-running, multi-game series, each person will have their own favourite(s).

[kintaris]

I'm looking forward to filling in the gaps in my history though, starting with these Gold and Silver re-releases.

Oh, you mean the Virtual Console 3DS versions? Or is there a physical reprint I'm unaware of?

The virtual console ones, though I believe there's some sort of boxed version available on the Nintendo store. It might even just be a box with a code in it, which is pushing it.

Sun and Moon definitely is not the best. Heartgold/Soulsilver and or Black and White 2 are the best.

My mistake for saying "the best". I of course meant the best in terms of my experience and enjoyment. I didn't feel engaged with White 2 personally.

[Craig]

The boxed versions are indeed just a code and a disappointing magnet.

[Beck]

I'm really enjoying my time with Sun Ultra. I really wish the hand holding would stop though, I'm onto the second Island so hopefully it's coming to an end.

[chase210]

The boxed versions are indeed just a code and a disappointing magnet.

Wait a magnet? I have the boxed versions, never even noticed there was a magnet in the box.

[chase210]

So Ultra Sun isn't great. It's a good game, and better than the original Sun, but I haven't been overly impressed with it (still put 75 hours into it though)

Also Crystal VC release has proved that although it has aged better than many games of that era and before, it isn't that great anymore either. I think I preferred the gen 1 VC releases, in fact.

On the other hand, Heartgold and Soulsilver along with Black and White 2 remain the series highpoint's by a goddamn country mile. I've played through HGSS must be around 20 odd times now, never get tired of it.

[Craig]

Blimey, I don’t think I play games I *like* for 70+ hours.

[chase210]

So, I spent a large amount of 2018 doing something I'd been trying to do in each respective Pokemon generation, since I was a young man. That is to say, catching all Pokemon in each generation , and I'm finally up to to a place where I'd like to share with you guys

1st Generation, which includes Gameboy Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, stadium on thew N64 - The only Pokemon which can't be found conventionally between the games is Mew, and there's a pretty simple glitch to force a Mew encounter if you feel so inclined. The total is 151 Pokemon, pretty easy overall.

2nd Generation, which includes Gameboy games Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, and Stadium 2 on the N64 - These games require you to not only trade with each other, but also make use the trading time machine mechanic with the previous generation, since there's no way to obtain any of the Kanto starters or their evolutions (9 Pokemon) the fossil Pokemon lines (Kabuto and Omanyte and their evolutions, which is 4 Pokemon) Any of the three legendary bird trio, Mewtwo, and mew, for a total of 18 Pokemon. In addition, Celebi is uncatchable in games, at least in the originals, although it has been added in the virtual console release. In total, you need to make use of at least two generation 2 games, and one generation game. Total of 252 Pokemon. Pretty tough, but only having needing 3 or 4 games max wasn't too hard.

3rd Generation, which includes Gameboy Advance games Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Firered, Leafgreen, and Gamecube games Colosseum, XD Gale of Darkness, and Channel - This is the generation where it started to get a little silly for me. It's the first generation which had no connection to the previous generations at all. Some Pokemon are now completely inaccessible because the events to access them have now passed, including Mew, Celebi, Deoxys. Others require a large time investment, such as Ho-Oh only being accessible by purifying every single shadow Pokemon and then completing the hundred battle challenge, Lugia only being accessible by purifying it in and completing Gale of Darkness, Jirachi only through Pokemon channel. Firered and Leafgreen do connect to the Hoenn games (RSE) but only when the game has been completed along with the additional post game content. The spread of Pokemon is very strange across the games. While Ruby and Sapphire are relatively restricted to their respective Pokedex entries, Firered and Leafgreen is Kanto with a mix of a few Johto Pokemon here and there in the mostly post game, and Emerald has many Johto Pokemon added too. For example, while it is in theory possible to obtain the Johto starters (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile and their respective evolution lines for a total of 9 Pokemon) without the gamecube games, to get them via Pokemon Emerald requires you to complete the game, and have a complete Hoenn pokedex of 200 out of 202 Pokemon (since the game excludes Jirachi and Deoxys for the purpose). Thus, in order to obtain Johto starters in the GBA games alone, you would have to play through Emerald three times. For as far as I could get, I used Colosseum, Gale of Darkness, Channel, and then Firered, Emerald, Ruby, for a total of 383 Pokemon out of 386. Also fuck Feebas. In addition it would have extremest difficult if not impossible to obtain Espeon and Umbreon without colosseum. This was very difficult and somewhat tiresome, wouldn't want to repeat it.

4th Generation, which includes DS games Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heartgold, Soulsilver, The first Pokemon ranger game, and Wii games My Pokemon Ranch and Pokemon Battle Revolution - This is another long one. To get the unusual ones out of way, My Pokemon Ranch gives you access to a legit Mew to transfer to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, once you've transferred a thousand Pokemon to Ranch from your generation IV games (Only Diamond and Pearl). Ranger gives you a Manaphy, which can also be bred to create Phione. There's a load of inaccessible event Pokemon again unfortunately, including Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Darkrai, and Shaymin. In addition Regigigas is inaccessible without transferring Regirock, Regice, and Registeel from the generation 3 games. In theory, its entirely possible to get a complete Pokedex of 484 (excluding event Pokemon and Regi's) from just the generation 4 games thanks to the pretty generous Pokemon availability from all generations and the sheer amount of legendaries available in Heartgold and Soulsilver, specially because the pal park mechanic used to transfer from 3rd generation GBA games to 4th generation DS games is ridiculously limited to 6 Pokemon a day per cartridge. However the alternative is to be required to play through either Heartgold once, then Soulsilver twice, or vice versa, and this is the only way to obtain the Kanto and Hoenn starters in game (for a total of 18 Pokemon). For my purposes, I used Heartgold, Soulsilver, Platinum, Diamond, Pearl, Ranger, and Pokemon Ranch, and Emerald and Firered. Not quite as bad as Generation 3, as I find it much easier to squeeze time for DS games in then playing through Gamecube games, but it was a pain in the arse again.

[KSubzero1000]

Whoa, I admire your dedication!

What's next, Black & White?