Pokemon Go: Coming Full Circle

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Good God on a roller coaster, so much has happened in this past week.

For starters, Pokemon Go has launched in the USA and with it came glitches, strange locations, and some rather hilarious findings. Pokemon Go has motivated people to explore unknown areas, exercise, and befriend others who want to be the very best.

This game has caused the franchise to come full circle and it’s absolutely wonderful.

When Pokemon first appeared in my childhood, everyone befriended each other over these creatures. The playground was filled with children trading cards, kids battling or trading over the cable link, and others gushing about how Mewtwo was better than Mew based on the first movie. I was one of those children; my first holographic card was a Mewtwo and my first card ever was a Ponyta given to me by a dear friend who moved away. I chose Squirtle because I loved the Water type, clung to streetlights’ glow for driving in the dark and past my bedtime, and hated Lance’s Dragonites terribly. The graphics didn’t matter to me as long as my Blastoise won the battles.

My childhood gave way to my teen years where my love for Pokemon waivered. I was an adolescent “too old” for Pokemon, but still had the guilty pleasure of whipping out the DS and training my Totodile to be a mighty Feraligator. The very few geeks I knew still clung to this game and we fought over a strange new feature called wireless combat. The cable links were tossed into the basement, no longer needed and the cards were stored away in the attic. The last card I ever collected was a promotional card of Entei from “Pokemon: Secret of the Unown”.

For the longest time I stayed away from Pokemon, keeping true to my attitude of being “too old” for the franchise. When I entered college my mind was absolutely blown at people my age (18 (if not older)) playing a game that was originally designed for children. I was unsure of how to respond to this, but I knew that I couldn’t keep away from the nostalgic franchise. I started to bring my DS more and learned about IV/EV teams and crafted my dream team that would have made my younger self awe at its power.

I’m now an adult. I have XY, Pokemon Go, and ORAS and plan on purchasing Pokemon Moon when it releases. On those games I have more shinys than my younger self could have ever dreamed of, a wonderful team, and the fantastic ability to play with Pokemon as those they were pets in real life. I treat them well and in turn, they help me bring my opponents ‘ HP to 0.

Other adults like me were introduced to Pokemon at a young age and I’m sure the majority of them have Pokemon Go. Because of this app, they can explore the world they never knew and make friends along the way. Some people have eliminated their depression, anxiety, or even learned to cope with their lives because of this app. It’s such a simple, wondrous thing that’s helping so many while broadening the virtual/augmented reality world.

Thank you, Pokemon for coming full circle from my childhood into my current adulthood and exposing me to this world we live in, the friendships I’ve culminated with people and Pokemon alike, and for crafting me into the woman I am today.

Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. Feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what do you think of Pokemon Go?

Holy Hawluchas, More Pokemon News!

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Holy Hawluchas, do we have some Pokémon Sun and Moon news!

For starters, our legendarys are now named. For Pokémon Sun, we have Solgaleo who is a Psychic/Steel typing with the ability Full Metal Steel that negates all Pokémon abilities that may affect its stats. In the trailer, we see that a Salamance’s Intimidate has no effect on this full metal lion. Solgaleo’s most powerful move is Sunsteel Strike which transforms it into a flaming, fiery ball and lunges at its opponent.

For Pokémon Moon, we have Lunala the Psychic/Ghost Pokémon and has the Shadow Shield ability. Shadow Shield will cause Lunala to take less damage from an attack if its HP is full before the attack lands. Lunala’s strongest move is Moongeist Beam which causes the Pokemon to turn into a moon like figure and attack their enemies with a powerful ray.

I’m honestly curious as to what the symbols are that appear on Solgaleo and Lunala heads’ when they attack. I originally thought it was a symbol for ‘Psychic’, but if that’s the case then why are they so different?

My belief regarding Pokémon Sun and Moon’s land was correct wherein I wondered if there would be more islands and if we’d have to travel to them by surfing or boat. In the video, we see four islands with distinct layouts and if you look closely, you can see a few boats near them. In the original trailer, we only saw one island (the second from the left) which now makes me wonder if that will be the island where our adventure begins. I also wonder what the building in the center of the map is at :52; I’m thinking it’s a laboratory, the villains’ headquarters, an island solely reserved for battling, or the Pokémon League.

We also have confirmed character names and roles. Our professor is the young man who greets us on the island from the first trailer. His name is Kukui after a Hawaiian tree and wears glasses, but take note of his dialogue: he says Alola is made up of several islands which could explain why there’s nothing but rare Pokémon. Yes, we will be obtaining new Pokémon in this generation, but it also makes me wonder if the portals will return from ORAS. Those portals were on special islands and contained rare Pokémon

such as Giratina, Suicune, Entei, and many others.

Then there’s Lillie, Kukui’s mysterious assistant who I have a strong feeling will be heavily involved with the plot. After all she does have the word ‘mysterious’ in her character title, which makes me wonder what her role will be other than assistant. She seems to dress differently too; she seems like she came from Lumiose City or Laverre City as opposed to being a Alolan native. She also dislikes Pokemon battles, but loves a good book.

Lastly, there’s Hau, the dark skinned boy we saw from the original trailer who will be our friend and possible rival. He seems to embody the carefree nature that the islands and its natives possess.

At 1:01, we see a bracelet on our trainers that we can choose from. This could probably mean the return of Mega Evolution and the hopeful promise that we’ll get more Mega Evolutions. I’m crossing my fingers for a Mega Evolution Dunsparce and/or a Mega Evolution Shuckle.

The Pokedex is also rather unique in this game. This Pokedex allows you have to have a Skype like conversation with Kukui and can be possessed by a Rotom. Rotom will be obtaining a new form and converse with you through the Pokedex. It’s a nifty little idea and it actually made me wonder why Gamefreak didn’t incorporate it before. After all, Rotom is a Pokémon capable of possessing electronics. Also, does this mean that we’ll automatically have a 6^th slot filled in our Pokémon party due to Rotom’s appearance?

Lastly, there will be a special QR Code function for this game wherein players can register Pokémon from Alola in their Pokedex. If players haven’t caught the Alolan Pokémon yet, they can still scan the code and search for it in its habitat. I hope Nintendo explains this in the future or at least at their June 14^th discussion of Pokémon Sun and Moon because I’m curious as to how it will play into the game.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, critique, share, and subscribe.

So tell me, what are you curious about regarding Pokémon Sun and Moon?

Pokemon a Go-Go

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

This week the registry for Pokemon Go Field Test in North America launched.  You can still sign up for it; in doing so, you’ll be testing out Pokemon Go before it is finalized for the public.

So, what do we have so far in regard to Pokemon Go?

Your phone (or the Pokemon Go Plus wristband (not yet available) which will need to be near your phone) will vibrate when a Pokemon is near. Simply toss a Pokeball and the Pokemon is yours – there is no battle. Pokemon battles against trainers appear to be crafted from quick time based events wherein you swipe left or right to attack and defend. This also applies to gym battles which are incredibly different than what we have seen through the years. Gym battles now consist of the player joining one of the three teams (Red, Blue, or Yellow). These teams compete with each other for the Gym’s Prestige aka ownership of the gym. Trainers leave one Pokemon at the gym to guard or fight for said prestige. When a team obtains control of a gym, they can use it to further their trainer levels through battles with the rival teams.

From how it sounds, gym battles aren’t a one and done deal as within the games: you fight the gym leader, you get the badge, next gym. Instead, it appears that the battles will never end not only for ownership of the gym, but for levelling up trainers as well.

Pokemon no longer need to level up either, but your trainer level does. It’s still uncertain as to how levelling up trainers will work, but all we know is that exploring the area and catching Pokemon are key notes in this process. My guess is that it’s determined based on how many steps you take.

Besides, you do find Pokemon eggs that hatch after walking for so long. Players can also encounter Pokeshops and items at art installations, historical locations, and monuments. However, you can also purchase in game items and extra items. Pokeballs weren’t included in this concept, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were especially if you’re nowhere near those sightings. Yet Pokemon Go will be a free to download game in spite of its in game purchases.

Pokemon can evolve in this, but not in the way you’d expect. Since leveling up Pokemon is out of the question, you now have to catch Pokemon of that type until it eventually evolves. Ex.: To evolve Tentacool into Tentcruel, I would need to catch x amount of water type Pokemon until it evolves. When the Pokemon will evolve, it’s not mentioned.

I’m a bit iffy when it comes to Pokemon Go because of its weird transition from the gameplay we’re so familiar with to the phone. We’re not receiving those heart pounding, tedious battles that paid off in the end, the gym battle system seems never ending and confusing, and leveling up/evolving seems strange.

At least we get trainer customization and the ability to catch Pokemon which are cool, but will these factors hold up in the game?

Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, subscribe, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what are your thoughts about Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Sun and Moon: Theorizing Everything!

Good evening everyone and welcome  to The Magical Mystery Blog.

With Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon announced for the 3DS this holiday 2016, Pokefans rejoiced over the new installation to the popular franchise. While we don’t know much about Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, we can still theorize a few things about these upcoming games.

-New Pokemon: We already have Magearna and during the announcement video of Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, we saw a digital rendering of a new Pokemon. At first I thought it was Fletchling due to its body shape and colors, but upon closer examination it wasn’t Fletchling. It was bird Pokemon I had never seen before. Come to think of it, with every generation release isn’t there a new Eevee type? I wonder what it will be this time; perhaps a space type given the celestial theme of this new generation?

-New location: This time our adventure takes place on a tropical island. One of the game’s screenshots revealed what appeared to be a hotel decorated with various water Pokemon and surrounded by palm trees. It would make sense for this new venture to take place in a tropical location because there hasn’t been an entire adventure devoted to any part of the tropics.

-New features: Yes, we will be receiving a new Pokecenter as well as vehicles designed to fit Pokemon for various purposes (ex.: There’s a firetruck with Blastoise seated on the back). There’s also a pickup truck and an ambulance, but what does this mean? Will we be driving now or incorporating vehicles into the game?

-The Logos: Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, we already have a slew of Pokemon that feature traits regarding the Sun and Moon. Solrock and Lunatone, Espeon and Umbreon are just a few. With every new Pokemon generation release, there’s a new legendary Pokemon incorporated with the title. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y had Xerneas and Yveltal, Pokemon Sapphire and Pokemon Ruby had Kyogre and Groudon. So what Pokemon will represent this generation? Already released Pokemon or new Pokemon? Or perhaps even a mega evolution of Pokemon we know like Solrock and Luantone?

-The Theme: Pokemon Sun and Moon sounds cosmic to me, which means we could have another Team Galactic type of opponent. We could also have towns named after celestial bodies or planets; we could even have space exploration like in ORAS. The possibilities are endless as they are exciting and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.

Thank you for reading today’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to subscribe, share, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what do you think Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will feature?