Column: Pokemon20: The MoshFish Story

Part V: White is only Alright

After not quite completing Diamond, when I bought White I had to make sure I was going to get it done, so I made a different friend and my sister get Black and away we went. We had a great time playing through them together (I think… at least I did) and I, once again, nearly finished the Pokedex, but for the second time in a row, it was the pesky one-time-only event Pokemon which left gaps on my completion list.

I never got around to playing the sequels (though I can honestly say that having a direct sequel is an interesting concept), but maybe one day I’ll bust out a copy of White 2 and see what the fuss was about. I’ve got a copy sitting around somewhere.

My favourites for this new generation were Cubchoo and it’s evolution, Beartic, just because they were cute. Zebstrika, the lightning zebra, was pretty cool in the same sort of ways as Ampharos from Gold, but not enough to knock Ampharos off my favourites list. All in all, Generaion V was probably my least favourite generation so far, in terms of the newly introduced monsters.

Part VI: Y spells Yes

In 2013 I got Y, and my same friend and my sister got X, and once again we played through the games simultaneously. I was flabbergasted by the new effects in the game, such as the camera pulling out when crossing one of the long bridges, and not being confined to the cardinal directions. The roller skates were a nice touch, but seemed like a bad replacement for the already perfectly acceptable running shoes or the bike. Technically, I thought this was far and away the best (so far), but as far as the story and world itself go, it didn’t really do anything for me.

Similarly to Generation V, I never got around to playing the other games released, in this case the Gen 3 remakes of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I don’t know why, exactly, but I think it was mostly that after playing Emerald for so long I was tired of Hoenn. I remember having no issues with needing separate HMs and move slots for Dive, Surf and Waterfall, but that was not something I was willing to go through again.

This generation did add Pancham and it’s evolution Pangoro, though, who soon became more favourite. There was no real reason for this, aside from them being cute. I suppose I have a sort of bias against the Fighting type, too (although my personal favourite is Poison).

But, most importantly of all, this was also finally the moment I was waiting for — trading through the online Global Trade Station, I found someone offering a Japanese Ditto, and I happened to have what they wanted. Using this Ditto, I finally, after ten long years, managed to get a Shiny Ponyta.

Chapter VII: Going Forward

And so here we are, in 2016, and Pokemon Red has just been released on the Nintendo 3DS eStore. I have bought it, and I am thoroughly enjoying the nostalgia (and taking advantage of the frankly horrible balance in the game). I’ll complete the Mew Glitch, so I can finish off this Pokedex one more time, and might even go back to the earlier games and see what I can do (Diamond, I’m looking at you). Pokemon Sun and Moon have just been announced, and I’ve already got my eyes set on Moon.

For the future, my hopes are quite simple. A change to the opening trio would be very welcome, with either the paper/scissors/rock style of fire/water/grass being replaced – off the top of my head, either fighting/dark/psychic or ground/water/electric would work in the same way. Ensuring features like the contests, day/night cycles and Gym Leader rematches return are also a must, but otherwise the games usually offer enough to keep me coming back.

So, look. There are more than 720 Pokemon to catch, and no matter how you cut it, that is a hard task. But I am pretty sure catching them is my real test. It’s in the song. I will complete the new games. Because I don’t want to just be a good Pokemon trainer. I want to be the very best — like no-one ever was.