FFFFFFFYESSS POKEMANZ
 

Right. As you fuckers should all know, the new Pokemon games have been released in North America today. Aussies get them on the 25th, and you European types get them on the 26th. I'm not gonna lie, I've been like a kid on Christmas this morning, waking up at three, looking at the clock, swearing, going back to sleep, waking up at 3:10, etc. Now that it's a semi-reasonable time(8:59 on my end), I figured I'd wake up and run to Gamestop. Which, apparently, does not open until 10:00. Bugger.

So, to counteract the withdrawal I'll be in for the next hour and a minute (because god knows I couldn't play any of the Pokemon games I already have until then), I figured I'd ask you NPF types what your plans are for the game. Who are you starting with, which game will you be getting, what team are you gonna try for, all that jazz. Personally, all I know is that I'll be starting with a Cyndaquil, and that I'll be playing Soul Silver. (Normally, I'd get both, but this is the first time since the original G/S that I don't have that option on release day- my mother, in a fit of nostalgia, is buying Gold.)

Me and me girlfriend are actually planning on getting copies ourselves. She has already claimed soul silver so I myself am getting heart gold. However for starter, shoot I have no idea what I plan to do for a team or anything yet.

Man, I hate these "release it in phases around the world" scams game companies pull. ¬___¬ Hate it so hard.

ANYWAY, if I pick this up, I'll prolly take Totodile for a starter. C'mon, it's final evolution looks a bit like Godzilla. What's not to like?
Not sure which version I'll take, though. Probably whichever's still on the shelves (Still considering pre-ordering...). Preference Soul Silver, because I owned Gold the last time around.

i thought these were remakes wtf

Well yes they are, but it's the spirit of the thing...
(by which I mean 500 pokemon, and a crapton of moves.)

Apparently there's only a couple of legendaries that are locked to outside-the-game promotional events, and even then apparently the item for one of these may be distributed via WiFi. I still think that's the worst aspect of the Pokemon franchise.

SS/HG seem to have the most content out of any of the Pokemon games so far, which is immense. I think i'll have to indulge in nostalgia.

Orig 150 + 2ndGen 200 = ? :brow:

Are they actually including all the new ones after? So much for a remake.

Yeah. That was sort of a given.

But then it's not Gold and Silver!

That's right. It's Heart Gold and Soul Silver.

It would be kind of a crappy remake without the ability to get any of the new Pokemon. Fire Red and Leaf Green did the same thing, baby Pokemon and later evolutions to 1st gen pokemon were added and a few of the new Pokemon were available(mostly in those post game islands).

I mean it's not a straight port Blues.

FUCK FUCK FUCK WHICH STARTER DO I PICK

aka I just got my copy of the game a couple minutes ago :D

I'm probably gonna end up picking up a DS for the sole purpose of playing one of these, probably Soul Silver.

yeah, I remember in LeafGreen being really worried that they'd have the new Pokemon in the game. And they did, but only once you got past a certain point, so the game played like the original up until that point.

Going to get it this afternoon. Cyndaquil's been a given for me from the start.

I still think it's kinda sad that I've been in the dark about the new Pokemon generations up until now (having only played the 1st gen) and am now only starting to play Pokemon Ruby.

Upon reading further impressions I have decided that I need Heart Gold. I want to be 10 again. GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee

Looking through a couple guides, it seems that all the pokemon of the original games are still in the same spots, meaning no Third/Fourth gen pokes until post-elite four.

Currently on my way to Violet City now. I love that even Elm makes fun of Violet Gym for being so easy :D

EDIT: But yeah I'm totally in my happy place now. I have no words to describe this other than TOTAL nostalgia trip. FR/LG wish they had that effect.

I would be playing it right now if I hadn't been summoned into work by my sick boss.

Stupid flu. :(

Clearly your boss is playing it right now. He's outwitted ya :P

Weird, we did the same thing.


I already grabbed it, and as pathetic as it is, I'm kind of enjoying the Pokewalker. I have a Bellsprout in there. :p

It's a little more involved than I originally gave it credit for. I thought it would just be a pedometer, but it's got a little version of Safari Zone in there and everything.


As for the game itself, hmmm, how do I describe, oh yeah, it's like every other damn Pokemon game ever.

So...more addictive than crack?

Apparently he got a sex change while he was at it. :B

What better way to recover from gender reassignment surgery than a relaxing play-through of the new pokemon games?

This game is apparently so popular, hackers got the English ROM dump 2 days before the actual release.

Then they found out about the anti-piracy measures.

The game is ridiculously hard and corrupts your save right before fighting the Elite Four? :p

From what I've heard, if the game detects that it's not being played on a retail cart, it will randomly freeze the game on a fadeout transition. Or some such.

Still interesting, but I was making a Mother reference. ;)

This game is love. My Alakazam just one-shotted every member of Morty's gym, and I haven't even POWERLEVELed. He's only 26 after beating Morty. <3

Yeah, but it's an Alakazam. Friggin' ridiculously high Sp. Atk stat and all. Then again, I traded over a baby Sneasel and Zangoose so that I could do the same thing to most gyms, so I guess I shouldn't be criticizing here :P

Just beat Morty with a Noctowl a couple hours ago. On my way to Olivine now.

You bastard! I had to lose to him three times before I decided to stop being a dunce and level my Zubat to Golbat.

Also, apparently pokemon will evolve even after fainting now, where they didn't before. After I polished off Morty, Golbat evolved into Crobat.

Also: I LOVE THE TOUCH SCREEN! FUCK YOU DIAMOND AND PLATINUM AND YOUR SHITTY MENU NAVIGATION! I FART IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION!

Still need to migrate my bad boys over from Platinum... gonna wait until I get the lvl. 70 badge though, I don't wanna port 'em over and then not get to use 'em properly.

Seconded. ESPECIALLY inside the boxes, because that's where I spend 90% of my time in D/P/Pl, trying to get the damned things organized. I'm not incredibly fond of how items are shown in your bag now, but it's certainly much faster than in D/P/Pl, since I can actually get from the first item to the last item in less than five minutes.

I'm waiting till I beat the *SPOILER ON NEW STUFFS* Elite Four rematch before I start importing all of my guys from Platinum. Still though, game's been good to me so far. Been wandering around Dark and Union Cave instead of advancing the plot, though, so I'm taking FOREVAZ.

Hell, I like my HG team better than the one I have on my Gold ROM. Mostly because I decided NOT to be a huge dumbass and caught a Magikarp instead of waiting for Slowpoke Well like I did on the ROM. Other than that... and picking up an Abra at the Game Corner instead of adding a Tauros at Route 39, it's the same team as the one on my ROM.

FUCK YOU CLAIR.

On that note, don't expect a underleveled team relying on Toxic Spikes to murder her Kingdra. Apparently she's hiding a Full Restore up her ass as a precaution. She used two Hyper Potions to bring her pokes back from the brink of death, I'm practically dancing because thank GOD Kingdra is finally gone, and then I see the PSN next to Kingdra's HP bar disappear.

Then that horrible sound of "Opponent used ITEM!"

*Cries, and gets ready to powerlevel team*My highest is a lvl 37 Typhlosion, with my second being a 33 Zangoose >.>

Well, there's an old saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough get their MAN on and POWERLEVEL."

Also, try some non-conventional statuses that can't be healed, such as curse, or leech seed.

Alternatively, get someone to trade you a better Pokémon to deal with Dragons.

I can't access the GTS due to my University having a passcode system to use their internet which the DS can't access (And therefore can't use), and all attempts to use local wi-fi spots like McDonald's have failed. Otherwise I'd just trade with my copy of Platinum and bring my absurdly-strong-for-that-point pokes.

But yeah, I'd been avoiding powerleveling all game and had managed to get through pretty easily. But the levels just jumped up almost ten levels between grunts in Radio Tower and Clair's gym, and I don't usually pick on the wild critters beyond catching one of everything I don't already have >.>

Dammit, this thread is making me want to play. And I don't even know where to start...

Well, you can start by NOT listening to what people say about which version is better. Go with your favorite! Just keep in mind what the version exclusives are.

Or toss a coin. That's how I do it.

I haven't followed Pokemon in about 5+ years. I don't have a favorite...

How about this: What color do you enjoy more? Gold, or Silver?

And now that Midterms are over with, I'll go out and get Silver. Maybe.

I countered her Kingdra with my own Kingdra :D

I'll bet she didn't like Expert Belt-boosted STAB Outrage coming off an Adamant nature ruining her fun xD

EDIT: Sadly, because even Typhlosion can't keep up with how awesome my Scizor is, I had to retire him in favor of Arcanine temporarily while I go breed the shit out of a Cyndaquil so I can make a Superphlosion... Course, since Platinum, I replace every member of my ingame teams with bred and EV'd 'mons. I don't ever have to powerlevel thanks to 1.5x Trade boost, Experience Share plus the bait and switch method. Takes me all of 20 minutes to an hour to get them up to 50ish after EVing, which takes at most a half hour if I'm doing just Special Attack and Speed, or up to 2 and a half if I have to do the harder shit like Attack or *shudder* Special Defense. (Attack is hard because the easiest place to do it is Route 207 in Sinnoh, north of Oreburgh, where you can find wild Machop at levels 5-7... but it shares the grass with wild Geodude, who give Defense, who seem to have an equal or greater encounter rate. Personally, I think the game can tell which one I'm trying for by the Power Item I'm using and gives me the other one to spite me.)

BLAH BLAH BLAH WORDS.

I prefer getting through the main campaign on grit and determination (As well as a copious amount of Revives :sweatdrop), and save the EV'ing for the post-game (aka you jerks :p)

That's why all my decent pokes, including an AWESOME Pikachu-colored Pichu, have been on the bench awaiting EV training while I beat the bajeesus out of everyone else with wimpy strikes >.>

Eh, I didn't want Clair to be That One Boss, so I kinda cheated. For Platinum, I kinda did cruise through the game on my own merit, but I made my team by breeding stuff from Diamond and porting it over, unEV'd. Ergo, everything but my starter was a bitch to use until after Eterna City.

Also, I should totally EV that Pikachu colored Pichu now that I've got my HURR DURR USELESS PIECE OF SHIT MUTANT PICHU. Does the shiny one ever evolve? I know the Notched Ear doesn't, but does the Pikachu colored one?

Revives are a lot more expensive than Freshwaters... Just sayin.

-Edit- What's EV?

effort values, each poke has a stat associated with it when you fight it in the wild and beating it senseless raises the EV for that stat, which in turn raises the growth of that stat. There is a max EV so you do have to plan it out.

The boring stuff.

Pikachu-colored Pichu will evolve.

Standing infront of Mewtwo now, taking on Red tomorrosish.
Battle start!
EDIT: he knocked out TyBRosion. Considering catching him with a Friend Ball out of spite.

I got it in the mail yesterday, and I'm taking my time with it. I spent most of the first half hour interacting with my Cyndaquil and giggling like a maniac every time he poked my feet or somesuch.

I wish they hadn't implemented the nature system back in Ruby/Sapphire. When I was 12 and playing Gold for the first time, I was absolutely elated that I caught a Gastly in Sprout Tower. When I catch one ten years later, my first thought is: "Brave Gastly? Hello vendor trash!"

I was kind of surprised at how much stronger Falkner was this time around. I freaked out when he got a critical hit off my Mareep and fainted it. I'm guessing it's a sign of the difficulty to come.

It's fun to invent ways to manipulate the Pokewalker. I was able to get a Kangaskhan ridiculously early in the game by taping it to my dog and then playing fetch with him.

Beat Red a couple of hours ago with a team of 40's-50's. And a level seven Machop. (like I'm gonna teach one of my main team Rock Climb.)

Fought him earlier tonight. Yeah, I went WTF too... dunno if he offers a phone number... if he does, that's gonna be one bastard of a Gyarados.

Also, got my fully EV'd Choice Scarf Typhlosion done and am wrecking shit with Eruption [For those of you who aren't in the know, Eruption is a 150 Base Power Special Fire attack that does less damage the less HP you have.] So it's at max power when you're at full health. Hence the Choice Scarf to ENSURE that I go first.

Also, yay Rain Dance Thunder Wash Rotom!

one thing I'd lioke to see in a new/remade pokemon game is to be able to pick what sprite you use when your walking around or battle someone else. Like, instead of having it just say "Player RED wants to battle" you could choose "Bug Catcher Red" or "Hiker Red" or "lad Red"

just to add some variety to the Wi-fi games

You can already do that. There's a guy in the Violet City Pokemon Center who asks you what kind of trainer you like. I show up as an Ace Trainer in Diamond and HeartGold, and a Roughneck in Platinum.

....awesome. I didn't know that, I havent played a new one since Ruby

I checked around and people said that HeartGold and SoulSilver use the exact same method of calculating what avatars you get as in Platinum. So, the same ID number will give you the same list of four avatars in both Platinum and HG/SS.

I think the Pokethelon is better than the Contests in every possible way. And I liked the contests. Anyway, until I get my laptop working again, I have the time to actually attempt to catch them all again. Whee.

Which is kind of odd... My ID number for HG is WAY different off my Diamond and Platinum ID numbers... yet I get some mix between Diamond's list and Platinum's list.

Might need to look into that sometime.

Just finishing up Johto (on my way to Blackthorne, here i come Claire), but I'm hoping to just completely crush Red with Giratina.

Good luck against Lapras.

That's what Thunderbolt is for.

Good point, Lapras isn't the fastest enemy anyway.

Also: during my own battle with Red... that motherfucking Pikachu... OHKO'd my GodScizor with a fucking Volt Tackle. Granted, I attempted to OHKO him with Bullet Punch, relying on my MASSIVE attack stat, STAB, Technician, priority, AND the Choice Band attached but NOOOOOOO... the bastard survived with just a little HP, no doubt due to resisting Steel. Enough to get off a Volt Tackle before he died from recoil damage.


P.S. Please see my sig, I'm looking for both berries, and totally need at least one of them for a couple of my Pokeymans' movesets to work correctly.

Hehe. See th PM I sent ya, EckScizor. I've been using Petaya for a while in the NPF league, and I can grow it for ya. Have a Salac, just haven't found anyone worth using it on yet (It's more common in UU, I think).

I've been spending most of my time lurking around the GameFAQs trade boards, but I've found time to finally put together an Elite 4 team. I hope to beat them this time around. Giratina, Lucario, Alakazam, Typhlosion, and Tyranitar. Giratina is able to get me through Bruno and Koga, but needs help against the guy that replaced Lorelei. Can never remember his name.

What do those two berries do?

The Petaya Berry raises the users special attack by one stage, similar to the special attack boost from Calm Mind. Salac Berry raises the users speed by one stage, which basically means it has half the effect of, say, Agility. There are equivalent stat-boosting berries for attack (Though this one is rarely used), as well as defense and sp. defense (Which I have never seen suggested for use, as once you're in berry-using range you probably won't be benefiting from a stat boost to either of your defenses >.>)

For the most part they're useless in the main game, since they get consumed just like regular berries and are so rare you don't want to lose them. In Wi-fi fights, though, any one-use items you use are restored after the fight, making them more useful since you don't have to worry about never getting them back.

Yes! Took down the Elite 4 with basically one Pokemon.

My team was:
Tyranitar L59
Giratina L43
Lucario L42

Tyranitar was really the only one that fought. Giratina came in once to Thunderbolt Lance's Gyarados. Oh yeah, Lucario came out once to take out Vileplume with Iron Tail.

So, I was breeding sneasels, so I could have a competitive Weaville. You know, simply stuff, like passing pusuit while making it Jolly and passing perfect attack and speed ivs to it. Course I breed a ton of em to pick which one was graced the most by the rng.

Anywho, one of em came out shiny. God, I am so ecstatic, since Sneasel/Weaville are my favorite. Turns out her attack and speed ended up 31 too(rest of her ivs were crap though), so she's good to use anyway:) Im just so happy.

Got a japanese ditto earlier today, so I plan on trying for a shiny Dratini and Staryu. How many eggs did it take for you to get the Sneasel?

Got Heart Gold today, with my brother getting Soul Silver. Chose motherfucking Cyndaquil, and an preparing for the first gym.

Well, I was near the end of a box of eggs, so close to thirty. I wasn't really trying to get a shiny, just get the best ivs I could focusing on speed/attack, but I got real lucky.

The odds with a foreign breed are like 1 in 2048, so you gotta really go for it if you are trying for a shiny(or you can rng exploit it on d/p/pl, which I've never been able to successfully pull off>.<)

The defensive berries might be used (with some prediction) on Pokemon with the Gluttony ability or with Rest Talk abusers (for those that don't know, that's using Rest, followed by Sleep Talk, so that you can continue attacking while asleep, albeit randomly).

I just want the two to cover my bases. I plan on putting together a BellyZard (a Charizard with Belly Drum as an Egg Move) so I can Belly Drum on the first turn, then Substitute the next 1/4 of my HP away to activate the Salac Berry, then proceed to sweep with a +6 STAB Blaze-boosted physical fire attack, depending on what is viable (the only one that probably won't kill me is Fire Fang... but I hate that 95% accuracy ratio. That one turn that you're counting on the hit is the one turn it'll miss, usually).

Note: The Battle Tower is horrible. They REALLY stack the deck now, where in Platinum it wasn't as noticeable. I have encountered TONS of people abusing BrightPowder (and I know it was BrightPowder, because I was missing 100% accurate moves without any Double Team/Sand Attack use), lots of anti-weakness berries (which isn't really all too unreasonable), and Game Freak threw in a LOT of troll Pokemon to completely piss you off. Fucking Confuse Ray Will-O-Wisp MAGCARGO of all things almost swept one of my teams. Thank God for Toxic Orb Quick Feet Ursaring.

Personally I prefer a Machamp with Rest and Sleep Talk or a Poison Heal Breloom equipped with a Toxic Orb, but I guess that works too.

I like the Ursaring set because STAB Facade after a Swords Dance while poisoned will murdilate EVERYTHING.

Also, I have a Poison Heal Breloom. You use a Spore Puncher set? (Spore + Focus Punch)

Hot dang I do. Comes with Substitute and Leech Seed for added safety, though maybe I should drop the Leech Seed in favor of an additional attack, like Seed Bomb.

I took Seed Bomb and Stone Edge for coverage. Hit those pesky Flyers who come in on Focus Punch or Seed Bomb. That and I rarely ever lead with Breloom. I usually have Ninjask pass it a Sub and some Speed Boosts anyway. I've also got Jolteon to pass a Wish or two, though with Toxic Orb + Poison Heal that's HARDLY necessary, given Poison Heal being effectively double Leftovers.

Also, slightly off topic, you gonna update that LP tonight?

See? This is why I refuse to play any Pokemon games online. My idea of a good team is to get a Gyrados, a fully evolved starter, and whatever else I feel like using. I would get destroyed by Bidarels and Bidoofs if I went online.

Amen. I swear playing against others takes the fun out of it. It's as if the need to win becomes...

Serious BUSINESS!

Shit, I rarely ever play online. This stuff is for the Battle Tower.

And to be honest, I just put together a team full of Pokemon I like and enjoy using. Whether or not it's "standard" as Smogon calls it, or whether or not it's used in the same "tier" (again, Smogon) I couldn't give a shit. Those Guys need to Stop Having Fun, because they make Pokemon sound like fugging Super Smash Bros. and all the massive circle jerking those Tourneyfags get around to doing...

On the other side, I find Pokemon more fun BECAUSE of the circlejerk-fest called Shoddy Battle. Playing through the old games is fun and I still start new files on my old Silver cartridge just for the hell of it, using whatever I deem fun for that runthrough (5 Furret + HM Slave run - TRY IT), but the layers and level of planning that goes on to make Shoddy Battle as intense as it is gives the game a whole different level of fun.

Basically, the in-game stuff is one beast, and the wifi stuff is a whole 'nother beast; The only real connecting aspect is that they're both Pokemon.

I have a ton of respect for the people who have the patience to build a competitive team and figure out a good strategy, especially if they're doing so in the actual games and not some online battle simulator. But it's not for me. My strategy is always to blast everything to death with whatever move causes the most damage.

I'm not at all ashamed to admit that half my SoulSilver team consists of legendaries. I'm having fun. Sure, it makes the game easy. If I want a challenge, then I'll do something to make the game more difficult. Like that all-Sunkern run I've been thinking about.