#( /plays 2 pkmn games at once instead. )

[bunnywand]

ellie plays pkmn (2003-2017)

started writing a list of when it was i did some of my recent pokemon playthroughs, and then it morphed into trying to figure out when it was i first got Every one of the (main) pokemon games i have 😳 and it took a while, but i think this is probs abt as detailed as i’m gonna be able 2 get 🤔 gonna split this up into 2 posts tho, bcos i ended up writing a Lot 😦

so ruby was the first pokemon game i ever got, for my 7th birthday 😝 i’d been into pokemon a while before this, collecting the cards + watching the anime etc, but i’d never played a pokemon game b4 ruby 😧

my cousin then gave me his old copy of red when we went to visit them the following summer, so i can more or less pinpoint the date i got it too

i then got silver for my 8th birthday, as well as firered bcos it came out the day After my bday, and then i’d have got emerald the following xmas

yellow i got given by one of my mom’s friends from work at some point, but i can’t remember how/when i got sapphire and leafgreen.. they were definitely After emerald but Before pearl tho, so i’ve put them around 2006 🤔

i can’t even begin to guess how many times i’ve played any of these games 😅 i kept my original ruby, firered and emerald saves for years, and mainly used sapphire and leafgreen to do replays, but i even deleted + started replaying ruby and emerald at some point.. firered i definitely only ever played through that once tho, cos i traded it to a friend in secondary school at some point 😔

i can start being a lot more precise once i get to gen 4 and beyond tho 😈 mainly bcos i either started getting games when they came out, instead of as presents, or bcos they’re recent enough i can still remember 😌

so pearl and platinum i got on launch, which i can remember 1) bcos i originally wanted diamond, but we went out looking on the day it released and it had sold out everywhere, so i ended up getting pearl instead 😭 + 2) bcos i preordered platinum and got a cool giratina figure w/ it, that’s unfortunately lost atm 🙁 i kept these original pearl/platinum files all the way up til 2018/2020 respectively, which is the first time i ever replayed them 😦

soulsilver i remember getting around easter 2010, and that playthrough was the only time i’d ever played through the full game up until last year 🤯 i don’t know exactly when it was i started that 2nd playthrough, but i know i definitely started a new save while i was on holiday in 2015, and i’m p sure it wasn’t too long b4 that

i can’t remember exactly when it was i got black + black 2, but i’ve got no reason to think it wasn’t when they came out 🤔 those original playthroughs are still the only time i’ve played gen 5, and i still have the save files now.. but i think they’re probably my next games up for a replay 😳

side note: from platinum up to black 2, i used my online nickname “munchy” as my trainer name in game 😝 so, while a few years ago i released + traded nearly all of my pokemon that had my deadname as the ot (except for a few special ones, like my original swampert from ruby, and some shinies i caught in emerald 🥺) i still have all my pokemon from these games!!

i got gold from a carboot sale on holiday around 2013, along w/ a pikachu game boy colour, a ps1 and crash bandicoot 2 😝 i’ve never played it tho (apart from checking it still worked, which it did!!) but i got it cos it was cheap and a nice thing 2 have 😅

y was one of the first games in a while that i didn’t get around release, bcos i didn’t have a 3ds at the time 😔 but i’m fairly sure it was the announcement for the gen 3 remakes that made me go out and get a 3ds, along w/ y finally as well 😭 and then i got omega ruby when it came out 😎

moon i got on release, and it was the last main game i got b4 figuring out my gender, so it was the last main game i used my deadname in 😦 i did start a replay of this a year or 2 ago, but i didn’t get v far b4 abandoning it, and i should probs pick it up again soon 😔

a replay of red on the virtual console was the last game i actually used my deadname in tho.. i can’t remember exactly when it was, but i know it wasn’t v long b4 i came out, cos i was pissed off i’d just completed it and now i’d have 2 restart w/ my new name 😭 altho actually i ended up deleting the file but never replaying it, cos let’s go, pikachu! came out 😧 i also got a physical copy of blue around the same time, but i never played it

and that’s my pokemon history from 2003-2017!! ☺️ gonna do another post 4 everything since then tho, otherwise this post is gonna be Way too long 😳

[danni-dollarsign]

A Critical Look at “Pokemon: Sword and Shield” From a Casual’s Perspective...

A/N: Hey! if you’re reading this, then thank you! I don’t know why, but I thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to write a pointless essay about a Pokemon game?” And then I realized today was the 1YR anniversary of SWSH, so I figured I might as well just do it! So even though I’m late and probably nobody will really care to read all this nonsense, I wrote it! If you’re interested in all the analyses of PKMN SWSH, but aren’t too invested in the technical mumbo-jumbo used by the more hardcore fans, then maybe you’ll enjoy this. 

Also, it’s worth mentioning that I’m literally just some rando on the internet saying my opinion. None of this should really be taken SUPER seriously - it’s mainly designed to provoke thought rather than try to argue any specific idea. So if I say something that you don’t agree with, you got two options: 1) Draft a constructive comment or DM to me and we can discuss calmly like adults, 2) shake your idea and ignore this. There’s really no need to get heated up over a video game essay, of all things, so let’s not do that lol. 

But other than that, yeah! If you’re interested in more stuff like this from me (in-depth analyses of Pokemon games from the perspective of a low-key casual), lemme know! I’d love to chat with anyone about this awesome series.

So, without any further ado, let’s get into the essay (warning: it’s like ~8k words).

Introduction...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokemon! Love it or hate it, Pokemon has had a huge impact on popular culture in countless countries in a number of different ways, sparking memes, dreams, and happiness everywhere! It holds a very special place in my heart - Pokemon was a game that I got to share with my two older siblings, was one of the first fandoms I got into, and was a big reason as to why I grew to love creative writing so much after writing a couple fanfictions for the games. I’ve been playing Pokemon ever since my brother gave me a copy of Pokemon: Ruby and have been a devoted fan ever since. While I may not be super into the strategy and damn near mathematical aspects of gameplay, I’d like to consider myself a relatively knowledgeable fan with enough extra knowledge to give a look at one of these games from a casual, yet analytical view. So what game other than the newest title, Pokemon: Sword and Shield, with its release anniversary being today? In this casual online essay, I hope to describe all my thoughts of Sword and Shield (which I’ll shorten down to just “SWSH”) from the perspective of the everyday Pokemon fan.

General Gameplay...

Many top-title games of Nintendo are best known for their simplicity: in Super Mario Bros, you’re a mustachioed red guy jumping on monsters to try and save some random princess (who may or may not be in this castle); in The Legend of Zelda, you’re a green elf-looking guy slashing wildly at monsters with a sword given to you by some old guy in hopes of defeating some ultimate bad guy; and in Pokemon, you’re a child wandering around the region catching monsters who also accidentally saves the world before becoming the very best (like no-one ever was). And while the games themselves have grown from that initial stylistic simplicity, some have lost that creative in-depthness in favor of being playable for children. This is probably the biggest issue with the newer Pokemon games as of late.

Regardless, let’s look into the playability of SWSH.

It’s played like your regular Pokemon game; you’re a kid who journeys to become the Champion of Pokemon Battling with your friend, catching monsters known as “Pokemon” with pocket-sized balls dubbed “Pokeballs.” But I’m sure you’re all aware of that information, and are instead asking “Well, what’s the deeper plot?” Yeah, no, that’s it. You’re a kid catching Pokemon to become champion - oh, and you also accidentally save the world from a power-hungry businessman - but that’s neither here nor there.

Plot aside, the game is a bit barebones. It’s pretty linear gameplay (literally linear - the map of the Galar region is almost exactly a straight-line waltz from Postwick to Wyndon, which is a bit weird after dealing with the giant, sprawling maps of earlier generations) where you travel from place to place, beating gyms and catching ‘mons, before getting into a couple scuffles and becoming champion. For an RPG-styled game, it comes off as much too simplistic for older fans (I’d even reason that it’s too simplistic for younger players, as well). While I will say, I don’t exactly miss the days of hopelessly wandering around a pixel city, trying desperately to figure out how to move on to the next town because the answer to the puzzle is hidden in this giant area that my little peanut-brain couldn’t figure out at the time. But it is a bit demeaning to get “Hey, do you know where to go?” and  “Hey, follow me so you don’t get lost!” and “Oh, yeah, want another tutorial on how to easily catch Pokemon for the fourth time in a row?” every two seconds in a city where there’s only two places to check out.

But we can’t really discuss the gameplay of Pokemon without discussing the highlights of the region. Ever since the transition from 2D to 3D, Pokemon games have begun a trend of gimmicks - which I like to call “battle enhancers” - that they use to add uniqueness to their games. X&Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon (and USUM) had Z-Moves, and now we have Dynamax! As we all know, battle enhancers are the strategy by which the player uses some extraterrestrial/magic stone to physically enhance one pokemon at a time for a certain period of time - in the case of Dynamax, the pokemon either grows in size or changes in form, gaining the ability to use special type-based attacks for a duration of three turns.

Honestly, I think it’s a pretty fun mechanic! Dynamax combines the good components of both Z-Moves and Mega Evolution - new forms, awesome moves, and a ticking clock. It adds a bit more strategy to the battle enhancer, where the player actually has to plan out who and when to Dynamax (though it’s really not that hard - most everyone will save it for their ace or the pokemon with the type advantage at the very end of the battle, because that’s what you do). But it’s fun and creative, making the battle a bit more exciting when you see your beloved ace become gargantuan on a field while the audience chants in excitement. Initially, I was skeptical of the battle enhancer, but once I threw myself into the game and really got into it, I felt it was fun and cool for the region. My feelings were further improved when I learned that Dynamax was inspired by the idea that the Nintendo Switch had the potential to be played on the TV as well as in a hand-held mode. The idea of turning pokemon “big” on a “big-screen” is really just so cute to me, really. Overall, it’s a fitting concept that is paired well to the game when everything is considered.

But when you look beyond the Dynamx experience to find more content in the game… there’s really not much else. Many people (including me) were ecstatic to hear about the free-roam areas in SWSH - the Wild Areas. Here, you can do all the fun grinding stuff that makes Pokemon games a bit more challenging and fun - hatching eggs, shiny-hunting, running around in circles, Dynamax dens, etc. But when looking at other Pokemon games, that’s really it. Let’s examine Pokemon: Sun and Moon, for example. This game really shines not just for its refreshing setting and compelling plot-line, but also for it’s amount of cute and quirky mini-games to be enjoyed for a good while outside of the main story. Pyukumuku Chucking, Mantine Surfing, the Alolan Photo Club, Ultra Warp Ride Travel - a good handful of mini-games that appeal to different kinds of people! All of these mini-games aren’t just tossed in there, either - they have a fitting place in the culture of the world and add to it, rather than just reiterating it. But when you look for mini-games in SWSH, you won’t really find anything aside from just battling. Sure, there’s the Battle Tower, as well, but I’ll personally say that I’ve never been a fan of the concept of post-game NPC battle buildings. For a hardcore player, they might be fun, but as a casual who can’t devote the time to really dig into understanding how IVs and competitive breeding works, they’re really no fun. Not to mention that nothing is really being added or developed with these battle buildings; they don’t add to lore, they don’t add to the culture of the region, you don’t even really gain anything from it - they’re pretty much just places to battle the occasional familiar face and that’s it. While I’m sure plenty of people adore these facilities in the games, I’ve never been too partial to them (I’d even prefer those god-forsaken casinos over another goddamn battle frontier).

But my biggest problem lies with the release of the DLC. While I’m not against the idea of DLC in general, both The Isle of Armour and The Crown Tundra left a bitter taste in my mouth when I started thinking about the issue of playability in SWSH.

I have always been more invested in the storyline of Pokemon games rather than the battling aspects. Usually I’ve always just gotten through the main story, then wandered around to find extra post-game content or mini-games, and then moved on to other games. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing - I just figure that the games have served their purpose for me upon completion, so rather than bore myself wandering around and doing things that don’t interest me, I go find another game that has more story-based content. That being said, I finished SWSH in less time than any other Pokemon game (I’d say somewhere around twenty hours, complete with me running around in circles like an idiot before rushing through content intermittently); as a result, I was no longer actively playing the game by the time the DLC was announced.

I’ll be honest and say that when I learned about all that was being offered in both sets of DLC, I felt a bit betrayed. I’m well-aware that Nintendo is a corporate business, and therefore will always prioritize financial gain over their fans’ lasting enjoyment of their titles - that’s just a fact of life. But I couldn’t help but feel like I paid a bunch of money for the bundled titles, only to play a game that hardly could be considered worthwhile or satisfying without added headcanons or fan-works, and then get told that extra content is available that may or may not add satisfaction to the experience that’s already long since ended for me. It was just a bit disappointing - and I’m not talking about the whole “Dexit” deal (I actually was on-board with the idea of having no real National Dex - I felt it added realism to the games and would force players to get to know the new Pokemon instead of just choosing the same team they always have since Gen 1 or whatever). My gripe is that I paid for a whole game, wasn’t satisfied with the result, only to hear later that the content that I might have been missing is available to pay for? That’s incredibly annoying. Not to mention that I was further disappointed after learning about the contents of the DLC, but we’ll get into that later.

Overall, the playability of SWSH is very basic, but can be enjoyable if you suspend belief and just enjoy it for what it is. When it comes to storyline, it’s not much of a game, and doesn’t sport much post-game content besides battling.

Immersion and Ambience...

Many of my friends can attest that I tend to like silly, fantastical concepts because I personally love to throw myself into the universe being offered to me. Pokemon is really no different - the games have always sported a very immersive experience for me thanks to the combination of interesting regions and evocative music (especially the music).

I think that most every Pokemon fan has a specific region, city, and music theme that sparks a plethora of nostalgic emotions to the point of near tears. For me, that’s always been Pokemon: Platinum, the Twinleaf Town theme - just staring into the rippling reflection of the pond by the player’s home, listening to that beautiful synth clarinet playing that nostalgic melody - it makes my heart beat with so much fervent passion that I hardly have the words to describe it! And I think that sense of nostalgia - regardless of whether or not those memories are old or new - has always been a strong-suit for Pokemon games. They always have the ability to inspire such deep emotions in me and other alike in a variety of ways, further adding to the ability to immerse us into the game’s world. And whether your favorite area is as simple as Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region, or as agonizing as Rock Tunnel in Kanto, it’s the spirit of certain cities/towns/routes that further add to the immersion of the world in question. But how well does SWSH hold those values? Spoiler Alert: Not very well.

SWSH, in the end, is still a Pokemon game - so the setting is very vibrant and colorful and everything that can hold my attention for long periods of time. But the problem arises when one begins to progress through the game and continuously forgets what’s where and where’s what. A lot of the map is painfully basic (again, due to the literal linear nature of the Galar region) and the cities themselves kind of lack their own real originality. There was an attempt at unique cities that’s become iconic of the Pokemon franchise, but it doesn’t really stick. I think most people would agree with me that the only real memorable areas in the main game were Slumbering Weald, Ballonlea, and Spikemuth, and each of these areas have their own set of problems that also make them a bit difficult to fully enjoy. At their core, most all Galarian cities have the same basic set-up: basic green plants (if plants are in that area at all), the same brick roads that lead either to the gym or to a route leading in/out of city to another city, and a giant gym/key building in the center of it all. And that’s really about it. No real interesting buildings except for gyms and Rose Tower (and I guess technically the hotels), no extraneous locations that aren’t directly related to the plot or to gimmicks - it’s very bare-bones and really can take you out of the experience.

In a hard contrast, I’ll give the example of Generation 1’s region set up - every city has its own personality that also matches the feel of the region as a whole. Every city is based on colors, and each city is themed after that, respectively (i.e. Vermillion City, the city of sunsets themed around the color orange, is home to the Pokemon Fan Club and the kick-ass electric-type gym that initiates feelings of excitement; Lavender Town, the noble town themed around the color purple, is home to the Pokemon Tower and spooky spirits that inspire feelings of somberness and reticence). Obviously, this isn’t very realistic, but the trick isn’t to replicate reality - it is to inspire reality. The Kanto region is incredibly creative, and therefore is easy to immerse oneself into the world because it’s become a world we are actively interested in. We know that it could never truly be real or plausible, but that hardly matters when we are so enthralled with the colors and set-up and feeling of the towns. We don’t really get much of that in Galar. It probably isn’t such a great idea for your final city - being Wyndon - to feel blank and lifeless when compared to minor cities in the region. And even when we find cities that hold that uniqueness we desire like in Spikemuth or Ballonlea, there’s really no other reason to be there longer than just beating the gym. It’s sad, really. Spikemuth is such a interesting, creative-looking town home to such cool characters, and yet there literally is only one path to get in and out of the town - the town isn’t even given small houses to investigate like literally every other city in the region. It’s a waste of potential! The fact that I can’t investigate such a promising setting that inspires me really takes me out of the world, reminding me that this is just a video game in which you move from Point A to Point B. It’s no longer a fantasy world for me to explore, but instead a line at the DMV to get my Drivers’ License. The only real good thing about this is that fanfiction writers get so much free-reign when it comes to writing about the city - the only thing we really learn about the city is that it’s underfunded and gloomy and that’s literally it. I would have really liked to see more inspired cities around the region where things outside of the main plot can be done, but hopefully this is just a problem we’ll see in this region.

Probably the most important aspect of immersion (in my opinion) is the music. With the potential to make or break a game for me, I hold a lot of expectations on the music found in video games (I’ve been classically trained in music since elementary school, and have always had a fondness for video game music). Pokemon music has always been some of the most inspiring pieces of art in my life - whether it be the kickass battle suite of Champion Cynthia, or the somber piano melody of Emma’s Theme, the music of Pokemon has always been the first thing I notice and analyze whenever playing the latest title. That all being said, I have quite a few notes to make in regards to the soundtrack of SWSH.

I’ll start with the pros, first. Generally, every main title has had its own feel when it comes to the soundtrack - DPP was jazzy and smooth, Sun and Moon was based on popular Hawaiian music meshed together with classic Pokemon synths, RSE was all about the horn section (trombones and french horns all the way!). SWSH, at the end of the day, isn’t much different. The region is inspired by the UK, so it’s no surprise to discover that the soundtrack was inspired by popular British Rock. As a result, a lot of themes went really hard, keeping a hint of individuality even when some battle themes hosted similar instruments. The biggest appeal of the soundtrack, I believe, was found in the little moments, namely the cheers of the gym battle themes. I think it’s safe to say that most people get super hyped when they hear those rhythmical chants coming to life whenever in the final leg of the battle, right when you begin to Dynamax. That’s amazingly exciting, never failing to suck me into that exact moment to gather the power of God and anime to defeat my opponent. While I wasn’t totally rocking out to every single song that came on, I was pretty satisfied with the music of SWSH, overall. It’s not too bad, and hosts a few bops that I still seek out to get my blood pumping.

But, as to be expected, there are plenty of cons when it comes to the soundtrack of SWSH. I could go over this for hours and hours, detailing complex definitions of music theory and basic song comprehension, but I’ll just make this nice and simple: it was really bland.

Note that I said “bland” and not “bad” - the music is fine in my opinion, I just wasn’t feeling the same feelings as I had in previous Pokemon titles. It all felt like Pokemon music, but not much else. It was like remembering hints of a memory long-lost, but you don’t really care about to dig deep into your mind for context. Towns had music, routes had music, pokemon and characters had battle themes, yada yada yada, nothing really to write home about. If I had to pick a song that honestly, truly invoked emotions beyond “Oh it’s battle time, now”, it would have to be the Battle Tower Theme, and that’s most likely because it was written by someone else entirely (Toby Fox, also known as the creator of Undertale and composer of super hard-hitting jams). And the worst part is that I never would have even been able to hear the Battle Tower theme because I hate battle buildings (which is more of a personal problem, I know, but still). Honestly, I would have preferred hearing that theme as compared to Champion Leon’s battle theme - I feel like his champion theme was very bland and lifeless, simply holding all the required elements of a Pokemon battle theme just because that’s what has to happen. It’s uninspired, faceless, and corporate, only to be completely foiled by the unique blast of energy found in the Battle Theme, which just screams “Prove that you’re the best!” over and over to me (also known as a big theme in the Pokemon games, especially in SWSH).

That’s not to say that every other theme in the game was terrible. I much enjoyed Marnie and Piers’ battle themes, but for a different reason. As we know, Piers and Marnie host a more “punk rock” style when compared to literally everyone else in-game, a trademark of Spikemuth citizens. With their occasionally cold and prickly (no pun intended) personalities, their themes go a bit harder into rock-land as compared to characters like Hop or Bede. There’s no conflict of style there - it’s “punk” with “rock”, loads of guitars and bass with a hint of synths to keep that Pokemon flare, and fits a bit better in the setting of the world. Mild conflict arises when we start looking at characters who aren’t rockstars or idols - let’s look at Bede’s theme, for example. While it really isn’t a bad theme (it’s actually, dare I say, a bop), I wouldn’t exactly say that the resulting pieces fit neatly together like they do for the Spikemuth duo. Bede’s theme requires a lot of synths to accentuate his more flamboyant and immature personality, but also holds ties with the rock guitars while also trying so desperately hard to sound like a Pokemon song. Now, I don’t think “Pop Synth Rock” is anything bad, per se; I just feel like the added rock elements didn’t do much to add to the musical representation of our cliche jerk-face “rival”. It feels like the rock elements were an after-thought rather than a planned layer of musicality. I could really say the same thing about Hop’s theme, but then I would have to re-listen to Hop’s theme because I always forget what it sounds like even after listening to it a second before.

A big problem is that not many of these themes hold lastingly memorable motifs/melodies, which is a personal pet-peeve of mine in games where the music is highly esteemed. In pretty much every battle theme (except the generic pokemon encounter theme, which is the same melody in every Pokemon game, only with variations added to fit the music theme of the region) is just an on-going strip of notes that sound nice when playing the game, but if you tried to pick out the specific melody-line of that character, it’s a bit of work to really find anything. Let’s look at a more concrete example: Lusamine’s battle theme from Pokemon: Sun and Moon is up on my list of most memorable battle themes, and will do well without the extra influence of young me’s nostalgia seeping in like it would with earlier generations’ battle themes. Lusamine, as we know, was the elite antagonist of the game, being the leader of this esteemed Pokemon protection group who later is revealed to be using Pokemon for her own demented goals of perfection. Almost immediately, the player hears the signature accents of the harpsichord playing the prime motif before the piece digs into a full orchestration. It doesn’t sacrifice anything for the sake of “sounding like a Pokemon song”, nor does it sacrifice anything for the sake of keeping with the musical inspiration. Instead, it focuses on being exactly what it needs to be - a musical representation of Lusamine, hosting orchestra-based instruments (piano, violas and cellos, horns, violins, light pad synths, etc…). Most anyone can pick out a handful of memorable motifs from her theme (the main horns melody line, the harpsichord melody line, the mid-section cello and piano melody line, etc…), and those remain in our unconscious. So, it’s no surprise that when she becomes the “Mother Beast” later on, when the player hears hints of those signature melody lines becoming distorted in the madness of the new battle theme, it invokes a particular emotion that fits elegantly with the subject matter of the plot right then. In short, it’s musical storytelling done right. In SWSH, we don’t have that extra omph of emotionally-nostalgic motifs; instead, we just get songs that play in the background of this video game, and that’s really it. If you don’t like the song, good news - you’ll probably only hear it once or twice, depending on who the NPC is. If you do, then you’re out of luck for the very same reasons. This game lacks a very basic hint of soul to its soundtrack, which is really such a jarring idea especially when you realize that they paired up with a composer who arguably has mastered the idea of musical motifs (Fox).

This really isn’t just SWSH’s problem, either. I also went through a similar heartbreak in S&M during the final stretch of the main game; after battling Lusamine and saving the region from the threat of Ultra Beasts (more or less, anyway), we the player go to challenge the champion, who is revealed to be Profession Kukui since there really is no true champion for the newly-made league. It’s hard to go from an exciting, powerful battle theme like Lusamine’s to some generic, cardboard-cut-out version of a champion battle theme for Kukui. It’s hard to invoke any sort of emotional appeal when there’s no real inspiration to be felt in the music; with no emotional connection, there is no emotion. It’s, once again, just music that plays in the background of a video game. A similar experience happens in SWSH with the player’s match against Champion Leon; though we have the potential to gain an emotional connection to a Leon Theme motif, we don’t get that. Instead, we just get music that is programmed to be exciting for our championship match that will undoubtedly change our lives forever. Bland, boring, anti-climatic - all for the sake of coloring in the lines. This has been an on-going problem in Pokemon games for years in which the Championship Battle Theme is less interesting than the Evil Team Battle Theme, which probably isn’t a good idea. It’s annoying when your villain has a better theme than the literal strongest trainer in the region - it ruins the chances of likability for the region’s “good guys” and overall is anti-climatic when it is finally time to become champion.

Overall, the ability to immerse someone like me in a game is very important when it comes to retaining players. While SWSH isn’t the worst Pokemon game when it comes to immersion (considering the fact that I actually beat the main game, which I can’t say for other main Pokemon titles…), Game Freak certainly could stand to learn from the game’s shortcomings.

Creature and Character Design...

The monster design is arguably one of the most controversial topics when it comes to any Pokemon game. Some people only care about the designs of Gen 1, others accept everything but Gen 5, and a select few could rant for hours on the stupidity of literally every Pokemon design in the franchise. Regardless, the design of the Pokemon native to the Galar region is an important topic of discussion when analysing the potential for enjoyment of the game. After all, I’m an artist who loves drawing all my favorite characters as well as my favorite Pokemon, so understanding the designs of these beloved figures is vital to understanding the game in general. For sanity’s sake, I’ll only be discussing new Pokemon introduced in this region, and will be ignoring all previous pokemon that aren’t regional variants.

Overall, the designs of the latest Pokemon are satisfactory. Because of my tendency to always suspend belief in fantasy works, I’ve very rarely had much to hate about Pokemon designs (not even in Gen 5, though I don’t particularly like any of them aside from the game cover legendaries). SWSH didn’t really bring much to the table when it comes to brand-new Pokemon, but the ones introduced are fitting and interesting: the Dragapult line, all three starters (even if I did laugh for literal hours at the discovery of Cinderace’s typing), Wooloo and Dubwool, Yamper and Boltund - just to name my top favorites. And I was totally invested in the designs of the game cover legendaries, Zamazenta and Zacian, since they held cultural relations with the region’s inspiration and therefore had actual meaning within the game besides just being cool mythical creatures. Nothing really outright bothered me with the designs or pokemon choices in this game; as I mentioned earlier, I was okay with the idea of no National Dex for this region, and that all the pokemon allowed in this game matched with the region well-enough.

But, of course, it’s not without faults. I found there to be a substantial lack of original legendaries in this game - we only have three real legendaries to catch in the main-game, four if you consider the DLC. We had a similar problem in Pokemon: Sun and Moon, but it was later amended with the introduction of Ultra Beasts (which can technically be regarded as legendary Pokemon, albeit from another dimension and not technically Pokemon). In SWSH, we are only given the option of catching more than two legendaries if we buy the DLC - this is remarkably disappointing for those who are interested in seeing new, unique Pokemon designs. I know many fans are constantly frustrated with Game Freak’s tendency to overuse Gen 1 Pokemon, but the fact that nobody is bothered by the running trend of being able to easily catch a bunch of previous games’ legendaries is beyond me. It’s essentially the same thing, overly relying on the fanbase’s sentimental nostalgia rather than moving forward to create new creature designs. I know for a fact that so many people would have been excited to catch Pokemon with cultural significance (maybe like elf Pokemon that resemble that of Seelie/Unseelie fairies, or more Pokemon that resemble chess pieces, or maybe more Pokemon that follow a theme of medieval artifacts - there are many possibilities), so the fact that they skimped out in favor of making people pay for nostalgia is ridiculous to me. This was a majority of the reason why I rejected buy any of the DLC content - why would I pay for Pokemon I’ve technically caught before? I mean, I guess it can be more for the kids who have never encountered the older legendaries, but then again, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for your game to have Pokemon that actually represent the new region? Instead of just stealing other games’ legendaries for the sake of saying that you have them, they could have just worked a little harder to design maybe three or six more cool legendary designs and centered those guys around the two DLC locations instead of just having Calyrex for The Crown Tundra. At the end of the day, it’s really just a cash-grab; the only reason I could ever see myself understandably buying the DLC for SWSH would be because I wanted to interact more with my favorite NPCs, but then again, I can just look at screenshots on Twitter and feel just as satisfied.

But not all is lost in terms of designs. Now let’s get into my favorite design portion of this segment and discuss the NPCs.

First, we’ll dig into the rivals. Personally, I really enjoyed the rivals of this game; while Pokemon is definitely running on a formula, I still was able to find enough about the three rival characters to genuinely enjoy their presence whenever they came on screen. I suppose we can expect to keep seeing this new Pokemon Trainer Rival Formula: Kind of Annoying but Too Sweet to Hate BFF Rival (Hop), 2 Edgy 5 U Rival (Bede), and Some Pedo’s Waifu Material Rival (Marnie).

Hop is arguably one of my favorite Pokemon rivals of all time (right up there with Gladion from S&M). He’s one of the only Pokemon characters to get a realistic character development over the course of the game’s playable story, which really humanizes him and makes up for his occasionally annoying personality. Over the course of the game, Hop goes from silently residing in his brother’s shadow to learning to stand on his own without needed any outside validation; much to my surprise, it’s not some half-hearted transition. Hop doubts himself during the challenge, as evidenced not just by his dialogue but in the way he actively changes his team to try and be more competitive like everybody else. I remember feeling so heartbroken in realization that Hop stopped using his beloved Wooloo, which is rightfully paired up with the excitable boy. The idea that Hop uses Wooloo, a normal-type cute Pokemon that generally wouldn’t be used in a competitive team, really adds more dimension to his character; when he learns to enjoy himself instead of letting his doubts overtake him, he returns to using Dubwool and his favorite team, demonstrating how he would prefer to have fun as himself than be someone he isn’t. I found that to be a really wholesome theme to his character, one that we haven’t really seen in a Pokemon game yet - it was a pleasant surprise! Hop is sweet and kind, always wanting to motivate the player even when he’s in his own internal turmoil. With all that added with his adorable babyface and goofy/awkward preteen disposition, he really makes for a likeable rival character.

The next rival to be introduced is none other than our classic Mean Boy rival, Bede. He’s a character the fanbase is a bit more accustomed to due to previous titles’ rivals (i.e. Green/Blue/Gary Oak from in R&G/B, Silver from SGC, technically also Gladion from S&M…), so are quite a few expectations placed on his character as a result. Also true to the typical Pokemon Jerk Rival, he has a complicated homelife (he comes from an orphanage, as we later learn) and has a similarly complicated parent-child relationship to the leading antagonist of the game (in this case, Chairman Rose). Bede constantly assumes himself to be better than he is and isn’t afraid to be a total prick about it, choosing to bully Hop upon winning battles against him to boost his own inflated ego (though there’s hints pointing to Bede actually having rather low self-esteem). All things considered, I liked Bede as a character about as much as one can like a mean rival archetype, but I was more than pleased to discover his transition to a more likably mean-spirited character when he later returns to the game to challenge the player after being disqualified from the challenge. While we’ve had a likeable mean rival before (namely Gladion), Bede is something of his own entity with how he actually has an attempt at character development that leads him to a mini-redemption near the end of the game. He’s really the first mean rival to have a transition from total jerk to slightly-peeved tsundere, which was probably a good idea on Game Freak’s part so that we wouldn’t be left with a character we downright hated after the way Bede quite literally destroys Hop’s confidence. It’s nowhere near as impressive as Hop’s character development (which isn’t super impressive to begin with, but let’s ignore that fact for a bit), but it’s still interesting to see in a monster-catching game about being the best you can be.

And then, of course, we get to the cute-girl rival, Marnie, also known as the place where I get a bit mad again. I’d like to say that I absolutely love Marnie; she has an adorable design and interesting personality that captures my attention whenever she has screen time. But she serves one purpose in this game, and one purpose alone - being the main cute girl rival of the game. Marnie has the potential to be a similarly interesting rival (cute design that meshes “punk” with “cute”, has a wholesome and fun dynamic with her gym leader older brother, uses a Pokemon that isn’t considered to be a “competitive” choice as her ace, has a cool/cute personality…), and yet we probably only talk to her about five times over the course of the main game. Little is done with her character - in fact, the only real thing she does in the game other than becoming the next dark-type gym leader is that she helps the player sneak into Spikemuth after the gates have been shut by the remarkably-harmless Team Yell. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I would have loved to have seen more done with her character. With the boy rivals being more fleshed out than her, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth because the female rival is the one left with a blank personality (and I’m not just saying that because she hardly smiles - that’s really one of the only things we get about her that gives her an actual personality). My frustrations are further exacerbated because this has always been an issue in Pokemon games, in which the girl rivals are so barebones for seemingly the only purpose of serving as some neckbeard’s waifu that they can input a personality they desire despite the fact that she’s canonically a minor. Why put in the time to give dimension to Hop and Bede, but not Marnie? And we know for a fact that Game Freak has to recognize the lack of personality given to Marnie, especially since they had previously come out with Lillie’s wonderfully sweet character arch in S&M and USUM. Personally, I feel that it was because they didn’t feel like having a more punkish girl character who also had traditionally feminine-coded interests (she’s known to have been distracted during the gym challenge by the boutiques) and ultimately decided to just not give her any further personality other than that, perhaps fearing that it would dissuade the gross creeper fanbase from latching onto her. But that’s really just speculation, so don’t take any of my nonsense too seriously. Really, I’d just rather we had a girl rival with more personality to match the other two rivals so it wasn’t so annoyingly unbalanced.

Moving on from the rivals, we get into the designs of the League Staff of the game. In most other Pokemon games, I’d never really been too interested in the gym leaders; they had always been more of minor bosses, just faces that you saw for a couple of seconds before pummeling their ‘mons and moving to the next city. But in this game in particular, there was a sudden transition from simple puzzle master to a full-on celebrity figure. I really enjoyed this! It was so nice to actually have some information on the gym leaders other than what type they sported; suddenly, they have personalities and interests - they become real to the player. Not to mention that there really is a gym leader for everyone to enjoy, thanks to their unique personalities and styles.

I’ll be a bit honest and say that some of their clothing designs are remarkably stupid for even an anime-based RPG game (I mean, I know we joke about Leon’s terrible sense of fashion in the fanbase, but can we just pause and ponder what Piers’ wears? I mean, a leather jacket with spandex? Metal boots and a work-out tank??? What is he wearing?!), but it isn’t exactly distracting. In Western cultures in particular, we can see a trend towards the glamourization of the “athleisure” style, or athletic wear designed more for everyday use rather than just working out. It was kind of fitting to see this be the primary style for the gym leaders, who can basically be described as hierarchical sports stars. Weird? Sure. But in the context of the world, it all fits together, and once again adds to the immersion aspect of the game.

Looking at our main antagonists, they are designed quite well. Chairman Rose is designed to be quite easy and fun to hate (at least for me) - he’s an important-looking businessman who’s very impressed with himself, paired up with a beautiful yet terrifying subordinate woman who does most all the hardwork for him (...actually, they kind of remind me of an antagonistic Cl. Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist…). They also had noteworthy battle themes that popped a bit more than other battle themes in the game.

While they hardly count as antagonists, I’d like to also make a brief mention of Team Yell. They’re more annoying than anything, which is a trend that I’m not too sure how I feel about yet. It was definitely more likable coming from Team Skull, that’s for sure. I would have liked Team Yell doing a bit more damage, having them be a bit more unruly and controversial before evening them out with the whole emotional appeal of them cheering on for Marnie in hopes of saving their ruined town. But they weren’t too terrible in my opinion.

I could talk for hours on the champion of the region, too, Champion Leon. He’s a really fun and charming character overall, less of the supremely wise and powerful champion that we’ve seen in older gens and instead being a more quirky but worthwhile opponent on the path towards the crown. But I definitely preferred him more as a character than as a champion; even though his team changes depending on your starter, it’s not too challenging of a fight if you know what you’re doing, especially when you immediately know what his ace pokemon is (something we don’t really learn in other gens about the champions). While I’m sure the idea of a powerful but transparent champion can be done, Leon doesn’t really stand up as a powerful trainer when compared to other champions in the franchise. But he’s definitely still a fun, interesting character concept that I am grateful for in this particular game.

When it comes to the designs of the primary NPCs and Pokemon, SWSH continues to talk that line just above mediocrity. Not too bad, not all that great, but definitely not something to be forgotten. I’d reason that the primary strength of this generation lies within the characters that are introduced.

Uniqueness vs. Status as a Pokemon Game...

In regards to the uniqueness - how well this game stands on its own as an individual concept rather than just another Pokemon game - I’m a bit divided. On one hand, I’m a bit saddened by the watering down of content and constant reliance on concepts from older games. But I can also see that SWSH introduced a lot of interesting ideas that have inspired so many fans for this generation. And while yes, this gen didn’t have much to offer in terms of new Pokemon, new scenarios, or new lore, I do think that it does hold its own when compared to the other games in the main series. New characters are introduced to the player, all of which having good (and bad) traits that allow for lots of fan-created content with their essence; a new look into a brand-new battle enhancer that requires a different strategy than those of previous battle enhancers; a new culture found within the Galar region that can inspire many more thoughts and theories on the Pokemon world as a whole in a number of ways. We cannot pretend that SWSH isn’t an influential game just because it wasn’t ground-breaking; even with my extreme distaste for the Black and White games, I still admit that they led to important decisions and ideas that led to the creation of games I did enjoy. So, as its own entity, I think that Pokemon: Sword and Shield really has a lot of offer and would probably be an amazing game for a younger player who’s just getting into the Pokemon universe.

But I think that a lot of us long-time fans can agree that this game doesn’t quite match up with the others in terms of giving those real “Pokemon game” feelings. The problem with big-titles like this is that the company tends to lose sight of what really makes a franchise so influential isn’t the stuff found at face-value. It’s not the creatures or NPCs or game mechanics or design or any of that garbage - it’s the feelings we get when all of those things reach that perfect harmony. It’s the rumble in my chest whenever I listen to that famous intro-sequence of my old Pokemon: Ruby game; it’s the fire in my eyes when I went back to challenge Pokemon Trainer Red for the tenth time that night back in my old Pokemon: Heart Gold game; it’s the tears I cried when I watched the only interesting character, N, leave my playable character after his emotional spiel following the defeat of Ghetsis in my long-since abandoned copy of Pokemon: White. At the end of the day, Pokemon is more of an emotion I get rather than a game I play, and I think this is an idea that few people can recognize for themselves. And while I’m aware that I literally just spent several thousand words bagging and praising this game for all those face-value aspects, I also know that when you add that extra little bit of care to your work, go a little further with a character you know someone will adore, or try something new with that new battle theme, there comes a sensation that goes beyond that of love for a silly fantasy game. I’d like to think it’s something akin to inspiration.

Conclusion...

In conclusion, Pokemon: Sword and Shield is far from perfect. With a number of faults and disappointments, I can understand why a lot of fans were less than interested in giving this game the time of day. But I also want to say that this game deserves to be understood and appreciate for what it is, for what it’s done. Who knows what sort of new ideas this game has inspired? Whether it be in the name Pokemon game or someone else’s passion project, I am confident in the potential that this game has to bring someone’s dreams to fruition. It already has inspired so much amazing fan-content from the community; after so many years of being away from the fandom, SWSH was the game that drove me right back, giving me the drive to once again indulge in my middle-school days of sketching out my latest comfort character or writing out a million headcanons in a way-too plot-heavy story. Many fan-creators in this community feel the same as me, I’m sure, so it would be untrue of me to say that this game was anything less than what it was: a fun, simple game that prides itself in its characters and potential rather than complex combat mechanics or some corkboard-plot nightmare. It’s a game meant to be enjoyed, so we must remember to find our enjoyment wherever it can be found. For me, Pokemon can’t really do much wrong, but also is held up to a level of expectations that I can’t quite understand even for myself. This, at the end of the day, is a video game from my all-time favorite franchise; so long as I can find enjoyment there in it, then it’s worth it. In a world filled with nihilism and cynicism, it’s nice to visit a land where you’re wise to try and be the very best like no-one ever was, to be the next best Pokemon Master.

[ask-shakespearehigh]

in true highschooler fashion i must know.... who are the weebs and the gamers of the cast

Aster’s Kids

(( [name]*= has responded/been mentioned/is set, but has not appeared in design))

Macbeth

Macbeth— no, he did homestuck but he doesn’t really do games and has seen one (1) anime, bc of Banquo (it was FMA:B)

Lady— she’s “too pretty to know what that (anime) is”

Banquo— he’s like. Casually anime. FMA and FMA:B, Yu Yu Hakusho, he had an Inuyasha phase briefly, and he’s big into Pokemon. He doesn’t do much console or PC gaming, but he has a DS and he plays Pokemon games, Stardew Valley (if that’s on DS???), and Animal Crossing (he likes. Chill task based games)

Macduff— will play smash and Mario Kart at parties and is decent

Duncan— nah

Malcolm— dumb shoujo anime/manga is his secret guilty pleasure

Donalbain— he plays indie games. He got Very into Undertale. He likes Bastion, One Hand Clapping, and Cave Story.

Twelfth Night

Viola— their family owns a Wii and she fucking kills it at Wii Sports. Also Mario Kart. She’d be better at Smash if she didn’t insist on always playing as Kirby.

Sebastian— same as Viola.

Antonio— he’s played overwatch. That’s about it though

Duke— he’s seen a few anime, mostly via Netflix surfing. He actually really likes Ouran.

Olivia— nah

Malvolio— nah

Taming of the Shrew

Kate— nah

Bianca— nah

Petruchio— he feels like he plays some sorta FPS

Julius Caesar

Julius— nah

Calpurnia— animal crossing sometimes

Cassius— yes he’s anime but it’s a secret and he will Never admit it

Brutus— he’s anime and Will admit it but no one has ever asked

Octavius — he plays fortnite but he hates that he does so

The Tempest

Miranda— fire emblem baybee

Caliban*

Prospero*

Much Ado About Nothing

Beatrice— probably but idk what

Benedick— same

Borachio

Others

Antony— Smash and Mario Kart at parties and stuff. Got very hyped about Dream Daddy, it was ironic at first but then.

Cleopatra— same as Lady.

Star’s Kids

Hamlet

Hamlet (Tristson) - no. Watches horatio and ophelia instead of playing bc he has “better things to do”

Ophelia (Elskerson) - beats her brothers ass in smash. Mains peach and isabelle. Has played stardew valley. Also mario kart

Horatio (Venson) - plays smash w ophelia and sometimes w yorick. Mains fox and ness. Surprisingly good at mario kart.

Laertes (Elskerson) - has gotten his ass beat in smash. Mains ganondorf and bowser but he sucks at it lol. Aggressively hype abt wii games for no reason

Yorick - hes baby but he has played smash.

Fortinbras - hes too busy studying

Rosencrantz* - yeah both but i dont rlly care abt them sorry :(

Guildenstern* - “”

Gertrude* - no

Claudius* - no

Hamlet’s Dad* - no

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo (Montague) - YES the montacrew has game nights (smash, mario kart, just dance) Benny made him watch ouran and his favorite is tamaki

Juliet (Capulet) - has played mario kart w tybalt but isnt rlly a gamer girl. She likes shoujo anime a Lot and loves cardcaptor sakura

Mercutio (Prince) - KING OF JUST DANCE!!!!!!! KING. Owned a sasuke body pillow on a dare from romeo in middle school. Benny got rid of it. Has seen princess jellyfish

Benvolio (Montague) - shounen stan for the most part. Fairy tail, naruto, dragonball etc. watches slice of life to make fun of it for being cliche. Cried really hard at the nina tucker episode of fma:b

Tybalt (Capulet) - i feel like….he plays overwatch….and mains hanzo

Paris (Bellarico) - has seen episodes of bnha and sailor moon but isnt an avid anime fan. Thinks the 90’s anime aesthetic is sweet

Escalus (Prince) - owned a gamecube growing up and loves pokemon. Slides references to them in his homework like a NERD.

Rosaline*

Othello

Othello (Cuore) - mario kart and smash (doesnt main anyone he likes trying out every character but thinks big mac is fun even tho hes not rlly good at the game) he likes pokemon but doesnt play the games. Watched the anime growing up.

Desdemona (Di’Bianca) - “”””fake”””” gamer girl energy but she’s already tracer AND widowmaker. Good luck stopping her. Sipped a grande low-fat whip caramel macchiato while watching the E3 stream.

Iago (Ilmale) - HE LIKES SONIC UNIRONICALLY BC HE GREW UP W IT. He’s seen some classic shounen anime like bleach and tried bnha. Liked bakugou.

(Michael) Cassio - played persona. Catches himself singing Last Surprise under his breath. Thinks akira kurusu is really hot. Hes right. Has yet to try anime but hes interested

Roderigo (Ingenuo) - i wanna say hes played like dating sims? But not gross creepy ones i mean like from indie artists. Undertale fucked him up real bad.

Emilia (Ilmale) - she likes women she hopped on revolutionary girl utena and keeps searching for wlw anime. Bloom into you got her messed up rn

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Puck (Robin Goodfellow) - runs a gaming channel on youtube and watches a Lot of anime. Definitely has a lot of merch

Oberon (Kingsman) - anime and game nights at his house! Owns dream daddy for the gay rights.

Titania (Queensland) - realized she was gay after watching sailor moon and the “””cousins”””. Pretty good at video games. Has the persona dancing star night game for seemingly no reason (its for ann)

Peaseblossom - LOVED princess tutu and never shuts up about it. Plays the hall om mig amv all the time

Moth - sings anime ops randomly for no reason. Mains the cute characters on smash

Cobweb - married tharja in fates for the goth rights. Mains bayonetta.

Mustardseed - MINECRAFT.

Hermia - puella magica madoka girl. LOVES the magical girl aesthetic. Started sewing bows onto her dresses

Lysander - the designated gamer of the 4. Immediately attaches to pretty boys in animes. Claimed he was a “bishounen” himself when he was like 14 and the rest havent let him live it down.

Helena - likes mystery/horror anime like baccano and tokyo ghoul

Demetrius - action shounen stan. Owns an akatsuki cloak

Nick Bottom* - watches hentai

Puck’s Dad 1 (Puck based) - pokemon champion fire red

Puck’s Dad 2 (Oberon based) - pokemon champion leaf green

Love’s Labor’s Lost

Ferdinand - started playing volleyball bc he likes haikyuu. didnt think hed get this far

Birone - thinks fma:b is the peak of anime and hes right.

Longaville - likes the boxing anime (cant remember what its called) and smash (mains ryu)

Dumaine - hes the video of the drunk guy making all of the noises in the crash bandicoot game

Princess - she Is revolutionary girl utena

Rosalina - won’t ever admit it but does watch some anime from time to time.

Katherine - hibiki girls euphonium stan even tho she doesnt play an instrument

Maria - got tricked into playing fortnite once. Plays minecraft on peaceful and is rlly excited about bees being in the game

Others

William Shakespeare - “anne whats a waifu”

Anne Shakespeare - has a pkmn card collection. Loves sylveon

[oswednesday]

oh opps let me not put this under a readmore at all

battle 1

(ability: forewarn, moves: psychic terrain, calm mind, imprison, future sight)

(it was a gift, like most starter pokemon, right)

(ability: regenerator, moves: reflect, light screen, snatch, recovery)

(im trying to give his team a floaty feeling that isnt just me being like see! see i can use stat boost moves in my fantasy competitive pkmn)

(psychic/dark)

(ability: shadow tag, moves: miracle eye, dark pulse, psybeam, heart stamp)

(hey im going to make this thing half dark type its literally a gothic lolita fggh, its old moveset is so much better why’d they nerf this thing so hard? it has fun like dark diva like moves between like being nice moves its fun?? they kinda keep it in swsh but not as back to back plus no feint attack,)

(he gets a lot of pkmn cause hes a rich kid)

(ability: healer, moves: quash, life dew, play rough, endure)

(despite being the chairmans kid, he doesnt have the crowd support as say marnie, mostly because his battle style isnt flashy and he says unpleasant thing, like, its a weird combo its one thing to talk trash and have explosive moves and its another to, not)

 ( if you read him as just spoiled it doesnt make sense that he’d pass autographs up imo, but i read him as not use to positive attention hes like shifty and avoidant, but he does have his fans, his team is cute after all! but i think hardcore fans of the game might also be like dubious the legitmency of a chairman backed trainer rather that super pumped up about it, idk trying to make sense of why he wasnt cold bopping like gary oak and imo its cause hes super shy and his team isnt like flashy its soft without the e-boy status, like its hard to maintain that fake gucci persona without huge breakdowns and temper tantrums, thats my read anyway)

(i realized im writing more for him than i did for marnie but i didnt want to spoil marnie plans but nothing about bede stuff changes fundementally, just that hes lowkey happy at the end and not making an emotional scene be a bad joke sdsfg)

(this battle is the challengers getting a rank an motorstoke! hes ranked 2nd place, much to his chagrin obvi)

--------------------

battle 2

(no changes to the first one cept a bit higher level, this format im doing the rivals feels like, not the most effeciant but its what i ended up doing for hop cause i tweak his team like every battle to fit the canon a bit more) 

(again no change! i could evo this one in this time frame, but im keeping the progression canon like, it was so well done in game for once it really feels like you grow with bede and a completely theme coherant team instead of like theme gimmick and just same type, it shows off how varsitile pkmn can be in character writing)

(ability: pastel veil,  moves: morning sun, heal pulse, agility, horn drill)

(this battle happens in the mines still!)

----

battle 3

(ability: regenerator, moves: reflect, pain split, snatch, recovery)

(ability: shadow tag, moves: miracle eye, dark pulse, psychic,heart stamp)  

(moves update: quash, brutal swing, play rough, psybeam)

(i think this battle actually happens just a little after rose is like [pretends to forget bebe’s name] like comic reasons theres less logic behind a battle and then the murual scene continuing; the lateral violence of it all)

----------------------

battle 4

(ability: forewarn, moves: psychic terrain, calm mind, stored power, healing wish)

(ability: dancer, moves: revelation dance, teeter dance, quivering dance, lunar dance)

(this line is so popular youd think they’d update it with some interesting moves? oh oops lunar dance is cresselias signature move, but like, im sure she wont mind, besides that has nothing to do with her role in the story and is in dire need of a cinematic update like, maybe, she needs like anti nightmare like moves like if user is asleep both pkmn gain hit points,cause lunar dance is just a renamed like healing wish basically ddfg)

(ability: regenerator, moves: reflect, heal block, snatch, recovery)

(i was soo big mad when they cut this and replaced it with a mawile like bede??? its not even his colorscheme out of all the fairys to have picked!!)

(aside note the shiny of this is really pretty!)

(i like the sudden pop of green he gets on his team instead of being jarring its like he picked something complimentary? but if i do go shiny that dancing onion will be shiny too omg its sooo hard cause the added pop of different color makes me read it as like a thing he thought about, like his aesthetic, but maybe the blue would look just as nice? maybe ill do his team side by side and do a poll gfdgf)

(ability: shadow tag, moves: miracle eye, heart stamp,foul play, future sight)  

(like im using future sight elsewhere as like story telling but this is like, before hand these humany shaped ones had aggroy attacks and now they have more like ones that play up their concept, like reflecting bede’s state?)

(ability: pastel veil,  moves: morning sun, heal pulse, glitzy glow, horn drill)

(i thought about just keeping the same moves like, but it could probably know its signature move)

(moves update: lucky chant, sparkly swirl, night slash, dazzling gleam)

(i wanted to give her life dew again, its such a nice move! but maybe lucky chant rounds out the witch vibes? also did you know night slash is called crossroad killing???? thats so cool i might call it that in comic but night slash has just as god a witchy vibe)

(the championship cup!)

[irregardlessly-tish]

I’m playing pokémon white 2 on my pc with an emulator because a couple of months ago I realized that I’ve played the first gen5 games but never these ones so for a while I’ve been wanting to do it. I’m playing it kinda differently from how I used to play pokémon, this is kind of a much more chill approach I have but anyway this post is not about it, what I wanted to say is that I don’t know how the seasons work, I don’t know when it’s supposed to change and something weird happened yesterday. I opened the game, I get the “Summer” screen, everything normal; I was at a pkmn center so I leave and after the screen turns black the word “Fall” appears, so I think cool, the seasons are changing! though I didn’t understand why but maybe I’ve been playing for a particular number of days idk. Then, suddenly I get the “Winter” screen and my brain goes ???? and then it changes again and it goes “Spring” and I think oh, alright, the game broke... but then it goes “Summer” again and everything was fine I could play normally. Today, I when I opened the game, instead of saying Summer it said Spring which was weird because that’s not what usually comes after Summer, you know? But after that the game was normal, I didn’t get all seasons at once like yesterday but then I entered a house that’s not mine as one does in pkmn games and when I left the house I got the “Summer” screen again and now apparently it’s summer again in the game and I still have no clue how the seasons work or what’s happening. It’s climate change affecting the pokémon world now? At the part I’m at team plasma just froze a town so it’d make a lot more sense if it suddenly had change to winter no matter what season I was at which added to what happened yesterday makes me think it’s not supposed to be part of the gameplay.

[spotlightstudios]

Playing Black 2 finally, and I got to the most favorite boys :3

Pokemon Black was my first pkmn game ever, and I got upset (my big brain child opinions) when I realized Black 2 did /not/ contain a Reshiram like Black did. Instead you get Zekrom, whom I do not like.

However, I am overlooking this in favor of enjoying playing this game. Burgh is decidedly my favorite gym leader, but Nimbasa City and it's inhabitants will always be in my top 10.

Plus I'm pathetically terrible at the Battle Subway in both games. I can't just defeat the doubles train w/ my Sawk in Black, and the Toddler I battled in the first car of Black 2 had a Foongus that swept my Dewott, Watchog, and my Yamask. Suffice to say, I am a masochist because I am returning to fight again once I beat Elesa's gym.

[pokemonblack2white2nintndods2k12]

top 10 games/game franchises!!

im gonna do games! in no particular order:

1. pokemon black/white hands down the best pokemon games... amazing story, memorable and well developed characters, plus the fact that you couldn't catch pkmn from older gens until the post e4 was such a refreshing take...

2. pokemon black2/white2... the sequels definitely live up to their predecessors imo... one of the last great game concepts by gamefreak i wish we got sequels instead of... usum

3. pokemon sun/moon... also great story and characters... and the island trials were such an innovative idea

4. animal crossing new leaf. pictures speak louder than words so

5. night in the woods... a masterful game that feels like home to me... i dont think theres any character i relate to more than mae borowski... it conveys such a strong message and really makes you emotionally invested... and lost constellation is such a wonderful supplement.. the final scene from it... just thinking about it gives me shivers

6. we know the devil is just... wow... the creepy atmosphere... the human characters...the endings.... and the music!! everything about it resonated with me and i just keep thinking about it every once in a while even so long after i played it

7. transistor! the coolest aesthetic, a compelling main character and such a creative storytelling method... and its battle system... definitely my all-time favorite

8. ace attorney investigations 2... def the best aa game... amazing cases, cool characters, a spectacular overarching plot and theme... the aa series peaked on aai2

9. undertale!!!!!! oh my god i cant believe i almost forgot about it!!!! i love undertale so much!!!!

10. i cant pick a 10th game so here are some of my remaining faves: the other pkmn games (except xy usum and let's go), the other aa games (except aa5-6), the zero escape games, heaven will be mine, professor layton vs phoenix wright pkmn ranger guardian signs and the pkmn mystery dungeon games

[allcheatscodes]

pokemon black nintendo ds

http://allcheatscodes.com/pokemon-black-nintendo-ds/

pokemon black nintendo ds

Pokemon Black cheats & more for Nintendo DS (DS)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Get the updated and latest Pokemon Black cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, guides, hints, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Nintendo DS (DS). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Nintendo DS cheats we have available for Pokemon Black.

Genre: Role-Playing, Strategy RPG Developer: Game Freak, Inc Publisher: Unknown ESRB Rating: Everyone Release Date: March 31, 2011

Hints

Easy Catching For Black

So what you do, is no matter what pokeball it is, if you say “Cyool” 3 times in a row just how the pokeball shakes you’re bound to catch it.

Thundurus Capture

If you have a master ball you can use it to capture Thundurus. And if you need a master ball to capture Zekrom just do what that guy said to do about that Cyool thing. It works I’ve tried it before.

Easy Capture

DISCLAIMER: This isn’t going to work 100% of the time. Throw any Pokeball. When it lands, press A right when it’s about to rock & there’s a good chance that you will catch that Pokemon. You can try this on legendaries, but I suggest weakening first. On most Pokemon you can catch it with full HP. Doesn’t work all the time, but most of the time. If you don’t succeed, try again. Seriously. It may take a few tries.

Virizion Capture

This legendary pokemon is found in pinwheel forest. If you cross the bridge if you look to your right there is a little passage way.

Capture Cobalion And Terekion!!!

First to capture Cobalion and go to Mistralton city, then go down to where there is a house with a red top. Go into the dark grass and use surf to get in the cave *you will need strength* so keep going up till you see a old man. Listen to his story then go over to where you see a blue pokemon and that is Cobalion. *note he is level 42 and a steel and fighting type* You find terekion in victory road. Go to the top then go down the left stairs and use strength to go in the cave and fight him. He is the same level but he is a rock fighting.

Rishiram

This is a Dragon-fire legendary that you can get by going to N’s castle after beating the elite four.

How To Get Zoroark And Zorua Without Cheating

If you have a shiny entei raikou or suicune you can use the transfer machine in castelia city and transfer one of those pokemn into pokemn black or white and illusion forest will be open. Then if you have a shiny celebi too you use can use the transfer machine again. Then you will see two characters at one of castelia city’s gates. When you talk to the characters with celebi in your party it will pop out of it’s pokeball and zorua will change from it’s illusion the trainer will then give you zorua.

Get Money Fast

Use fly to go to Undella town if you use surf and keep looking around for a dark spot use dive while on top of it (if you can’t use the HM dive you CAN NOT do this) you will be at Abyssal Ruins look for relic copper relic silver relic gold a relic vase or relic statue then go to the villa in the right side corner of Undella town go down stairs to the right side and you will see a person talk to him he will ask you about rare items and stuff then he will say yes! You got a rare item and blah blah blah sell him the relic copper relic silver relic gold a relic vase or the relic statue (relic vase or relic statue gets you more money).

Quick Money

One way to get a lot of money fast is, if you have the ability to fly you can do this (if not you will have to do a LOT of WALKING)! Head to Nacarene City. Go toward Pinwheel Forest outside the city but take a left (his/her left). Get to the top of the mountain and find the special rock that you have to have your pokemon attack to break off a piece of it to get a Star Piece. Then fly to Icirrus City and sell it to the man in the Poke Center who adores “ore that shake (him) to the core. You get 9,800 monies!

Easy Way To Defeat Gym Leader Elisa

Elisa is very annoying with that volt switch move but there is an easy way to defeat her all you have to do is catch a ground type raise it to level 25 and teach it a rock type move and then go to her and your ready to go but have other powerful pokemon too because she has other annoying moves to save your game first though because it may take a couple tries.

Easy Fix Not Good Idea

As the character in game mentions, you have the option of keeping your pokemon from evolving. You can press B (and have plenty of time for the option) if you want it to learn moves faster. Also do NOT evolve your pokemon with a stone as soon as you get the monster. Bring its level up as much as you want and then evolve it. It might learn moves slower after you use a stone right away.

Where Did I Put That . . . ?

If you depend a lot on items for your pokemon remember to check them for items before you put them back into the PC. You can check for them while withdrawing them and if you take them back, the items are usable again. Do not “lose” your items. .

Little Desert Resort Trick

Are you sick of constant wild pokemon battles in the desert area near Nimbasa City? You can completely avoid them without taking too much hits by other pokemon. (you will have to fight the red bookbag trainer that is next to a strip where there are no pokemon). With simple logic you can go to the Castle Relic and back, finding the doctor (you have to fight him first) who will heal your pals.

Key Words For Battle

Pay attention to what your attacks do and don’t do by what the messages tell you. It will inform you how to continue on and if you should keep using the same attack. If it says the monster “avoided the attack” it just merely made your accuracy lower. If it says the attack “does not affect” the monster” the attack WILL NOT WORK against that particular monster so try a different tactic.

Easy EXP

Once you encounter a pokemon you can change your pokemon to a different one. As long as you win the fight, the first monster you brought out will receive EXP even though it didn’t even battle.

Unlock The Relocator

In the second floor of the Name-Rater Services Building which is in Castelia City, talk to the scientist. He will talk about a “special machine” that needs a password to be used the password is the same for unlocking Mystery gift in the other versions. He tell you that you can now use the relocator which is needed for all the pre-launch event pokemon to be moved to the black / white verison for the zoroark / zorua event as well as to get the lock capsule which lets you get the final TM – TM95 Snarl

Free Pansage

1 . Make sure that you don’t have six pokemon with you. 2. Go to the Dreamyard to the right (east) of Striaton City. 3. Talk to the person with short black hair and a red shirt. 4. Look in your pokemon party and a level 10 Pansage will be there.

Easily Defeat Team Plasma

If you’re ever in a situation where you have to defeat quite a few team plasma members (ex: relic castle) have a fighting type (like sawk) or a pokemon who knows fighting moves with you. Most of the team plasma members will have dark pokemon types and are easily defeated with fighting moves (super effective).

How To Trade Pokemon With HM��s

Put your pokemon in the PC. Then trade it while it is in the PC.

Landorus

To get Landorus you have to put thundorus (Pokemon white) and Tornadous (Pokemon black) in your party and go to Abudaunt Shrine and Landorus is there.

How To Beat Ghetisis

Ghetisis is the hardest guy in the game. After you defeat N and get Reshiram, then you have to battle Ghetisis. All of his Pokemon are around level 50 to 60. First, he will send out Cofagrigus. Then he might send out Seismatoad or Hydreigon. Hydreigon is the hardest. I used Reshiram’s Dragon Breath it is super effective to Hydreigon. Then he might send out Elektross, Bisharp or, Boufalant. Those are all of his pokemon. Now in my party I had Reshiram at level 51 and his moves are Dragon Breath, Extrasensory, Slash and, Fusion Flare. Stoutland at level 42 with Strength, Reversal, Crunch and, Bite. Unfezant at level 49 with Fly, Air Cutter, Razor Wind and, Quick Attack. Samurott at level 55 with Aqua Tail, Fury Cutter, Aqua Jet and Razor Shell. Leipard at level 36 with Pursuit, Assurance, Fake Out and, Hone Claws. Krokorok at level 33 with Sand Tomb, Dig, Swagger and Crunch. THIS IS INPORTANT! YOU NEED LIKE 30 REVIVES, 2 MAX REVIVES AND ABOUT 30 FULL RESTORES OR YOU WILL LOSE!

The Diffrence Between Pokemon Black And White

The diffrence between Pokemon black and white is that in black you can only do triple battle and in White you can only do rotational battles. Now the diffrence between these two are you’ll see more triple battle in pkmn balck and less rotational battles but on the other hand you have pkmm white wich you’ll do more rotational battles and less triple battles. Now here are the diffrences between triple battle and rotational battle. Triple battle: triple battle is like any other battle but instead of using one pkmn in single battle or using two pkmn at the same time in double battle you can use three pkmn at the same time in triple battle. Rotational battle: rotational battle is kinda confusing it confuses me and what it is that its like triple battle but you send out three pkmn out at the same time but the one on the right can attack the one on the right or the middle pkmn and so on but the best thing bout rotational battle is when you have one of your pokemon in the middle you can change its place you can put your okmn that was in the middle and now move it to your left or right and the okm in the left or right goes oin the middle. Now remember that pkmn black has more triple battle and less rotational battle and opkmn white has more rotational battle then triple battle.

New Info (Not Cheats)

Pokemon Black And White Trailer

Cheats

Wild Pkmn Are Shiny (Action Replay)

521A96D8 IF492104 02oo22oo 4co8b57e 02002204 88248865 02002208 08ed4065 0200220c fla7b40f 02002210 1c06fd8f 02002214 40410401 02002218 428d0CC9 0200221c d1f5bc0f 02002220 bd7e1c30 02002224 0224F93c 021a96d4 fd94f658 d2000000 00000000

Useful Cheats 100% Works

Max money (select)94000130 fffb00000223cdac 0098967fd2000000 00000000900x master balls L+R94000130 fcff000002233fac 03840001d2000000 00000000all items! Select94000130 fffb0000022340a8 03840074022340ac 03840075022340b0 03840076022340b4 0384007702234344 0384023c02234348 0384023d0223434c 0384023e02234350 0384023f02234354 0384024002234358 03840241d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 03840001c0000000 0000000fd6000000 02233facd4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 03840041c0000000 0000002ed6000000 02233fecd4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 03840087c0000000 0000000cd6000000 022340b8d4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 038400d5c0000000 00000071d6000000 022340ecd4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 038401ecc0000000 00000008d6000000 022342b4d4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 03840219c0000000 0000001ad6000000 022342d8d4000000 00000001d2000000 0000000094000130 fffb0000d5000000 03840244c0000000 0000000ad6000000 0223435cd4000000 00000001d2000000 00000000

How To Get Victini

To get Victini reset your ds date to 3/7/2011. Then go to mystery gift. WFC requierd. It will find a Victini.

Catch Trainer Pokemon (Action Replay)

521cbaac 2f06d134121cbaac 0000e001121cbae6 00002001121cbacc 00002000d2000000 00000000.

Wild Pkmn Are Shiny (Action Replay)

521A96D8 IF492104 02oo22oo 4co8b57e 02002204 88248865 02002208 08ed4065 0200220c fla7b40f 02002210 1c06fd8f 02002214 40410401 02002218 428d0CC9 0200221c d1f5bc0f 02002220 bd7e1c30 02002224 0224F93c 021a96d4 fd94f658 d2000000 00000000

Meloeeta

:[L+R]

:::Replaces first pokemoms in your party94000130 FCFF0000B2000024 00000000E00196C4 000000DCAD319FFB CD060000AE91573E F9F705F24C1D3A87 F2DD06F4418A65E2 7990141866EC7814 54B0A583948004E7 AF1754B36EB877B7 097557E208BF80A3 E750E30B54ADFA8E 46A92FFB6640BEBB 0C036AF51B6537CE DA6D7A416098E429 50EE2BC6F41B92FF 6DE5ABB741C1158F 29438D0461523A44 E6BBC0793C41BE30 7D14CD316185794D D29DAA1C3FEC5401 6A3DD5939223CDEE 064B4093ABEDA036 364554609ADEC60B 9B3A38EE039A1368 77FC8D2CA3869D0E 2BF378AC39C29CC9 873233880B5655F7 4BC4288376AABE4A 704C156D4A3BEECC F7CCCDCCD28BA123 00000000D2000000 00000000

100% Catch Rate ( Wild Pokemon )

521cbcd4 7820d203121cbcd4 000046c0d2000000 00000000

Exp Codes (After Battle) – Action Replay Cheats

Ar Ds/DSi needs to be updated to latest FirmwareGame ID: IRBO-106820A5 Pokemon Black US versionGain Exp x2521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80040023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x4521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80080023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x8521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a800c0023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x16521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80100023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x32521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80140023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x64521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80180023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x128521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a801c0023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x256521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80200023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x512521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80240023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000Gain Exp x1024521cb52c 59a8437e023ae840 59a8437e023ae844 51a80280023ae848 00004770021cb52c f988f1e3d2000000 00000000

Unlockables

Trainer Card Color Changes

Each time you complete one of the following tasks/goals, your Trainer Card will have a color change: Deafeat the Elite 4 Get a 49 Streak in both Super Single and Super Double Subway lines in the Battle Subway (Good Luck) Obtain all Entralink Powers Obtain all Pokemon Musical Items Complete the National Pokedex

Unlock New Wallpapers

You can get new wallpapers for beating the elite four for the first time. You can get some more when you beat them the second time.

Unlock The National Dex

Beat the Elite Four once and upon leaving your house after the credits Professor Juniper’s Dad will reward you with a National Dex.

Easter eggs

Two Eggs From Daycare Man

I discovered this once by accident. After about a day of keeping two pokemon (male and female) in the Daycare I walked toward the area where the man was. Before he could automatically tell me something through a cut-scene I pressed button to speak to him, he was able to give me an egg. I went back there later (through the town where the Psychic sleep pokemon is) and then there was the usual cut-scene where he told me he found an egg that he didn’t know where it came from. So now there were two eggs!

Glitches

Glitch: Easy Day Care EXP

When you’re in the Day Car, you get EXP for each step you take. So you can get good EXP from it (but you will need a lot of cash). Do the following steps: 1. Drop off Pokemon at the Route 3 Day Care (you can drop off 2 pokemon). 2. Go to the Battle Subway in Nimbasa City. 3. Stand the character in the middle of the path, then place something heavy on your down and a buttons. If you can get it set up right, you can leave your DS alone for a while.4. Come back and go back to the Day care and get your Pokemon. BOOM!

Slight Leech Glitch

If you use Leech Seed successfully you can still continue to drain an opponent’s health even when you change monsters (ex. Change to a non-plant pokemon).

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.

Currently no guide available.