Well, I Finally Caved In…

…and started playing Pokémon Go today! The game has been out for a little while now and I really didn’t have much interest in playing it. I love Pokémon, but the idea of having to actually go out to real places to catch them didn’t really appeal to me. What can I say- I am lazy and prefer to do my gaming on the couch! 😉 Anyway, my husband started playing it casually a couple weeks ago… and to my surprise, I actually found myself wanting to play! He doesn’t go out walking everywhere searching in vain for a rare Pokémon- he just opens the app when the mood strikes him and catches some Pokémon here and there. I decided that playing the game THAT way did appeal to me, so today I took the plunge and downloaded the game!

I was met by Professor Willow, who gave me the lowdown on what the game was all about.

I also created my character. She’s pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself! 😉

Professor Willow gave me some Poké Balls…

And I immediately caught my first Pokémon, Squirtle! He was hanging out by my husband’s feet for some reason 🙂

I’m very partial to Squirtle because he was the first Pokémon I absolutely adored, even before I began playing the video games! This is because I love turtles! Many years ago, my friend Jason gave me a trading card of Squirtle in a nice little sleeve to keep it in good condition… I still have that card on my desk today!

Anyway, back to the game! A little while later we decided to go out and get some coffee. My husband was driving, so I turned the game on to see if I could catch anything while we were out! Close to my house, I immediately caught a Bulbasaur and a Pidgeotto, which made me happy!

For awhile as we drove around, I didn’t catch anything else- but I happily collected Poké Balls and Eggs from PokéStops that we passed.

As we arrived at Starbucks, something strange happened: a ton of Pokémon started showing up! I quickly caught a Magikarp…

and an Ekans…

…and catching those earned me my first medal for registering 5 Pokémon in the Pokédex! Awesome!

As we were in line, the Pokémon just kept coming! I caught a Pidgey…

Followed by a Venonat (which my husband seemed to want, since he hasn’t seen one of those yet!)…

a Rattata…

and a Paras!

I couldn’t believe my luck! Then I noticed that one of the Pokéstops nearby was sparkling purple and looked different from the other Pokéstops I had passed. I clicked on it, and realized that something called a Lure Module had been placed. This attracts Pokémon, so no wonder I encountered so many!

Super cool! Thanks for placing that lure, Awesomesauce016! My husband was bummed that he missed out, because his phone was dead and he didn’t bring it along!

There is a lot I have to learn about this game, as I honestly haven’t read too much about it. I always prefer to play a game and learn it on my own and look things up only if I am completely stumped. Anyway, after playing today, I am now at Level 4. Not bad for the first day!

Overall, I enjoyed my first time playing Pokémon Go! It’s neat to interact with Pokémon and try to catch them, and it’s exciting because you never know when one is going to pop up. I’m looking forward to playing more and seeing what else I can catch!

 

First Impressions: Pokémon Trading Card Game!

Like I said I would do, I spent the last 3 days playing Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color for the first time! Here are my impressions of the game, day by day.

Day 1:

I started playing the game after buying it several years ago at a flea market and then never playing it! It took me a few tries to even get the cartridge to work in my Game Boy Advance SP, which concerned me a little bit. I was gonna be pissed if I bought the game in bad working condition! It’s not like I could return the game because 1. it’s been years since I bought it and 2. the flea market I bought it from doesn’t even exist anymore!

Anyway! When it finally started working, I was greeted by a cheerful title screen that made me excited to start playing.

Let’s get started!

I started a new game and put my name in. My avatar did not change, so I suspected I was a boy. This was confirmed when Dr. Mason (some so-called trading card expert who really just seemed like a sarcastic asshole) told some dude named Sam to do a practice duel “with him.” Meaning me. I’m NOT a boy! Oh well.

No other save file on here? Really?

I am?

Uggh, I’m not a boy!

Before the duel, I read through a shitload of rules that I half understood. Dr. Mason orchestrated my every move, but it did help me understand the game a little better.

So many rules!

Wow, this guy is a dick!

Here’s a few screenshots of my very first duel. Go me!

After I won, I got to choose my deck. Of course, I chose the Squirtle & Friends deck. Squirtle 4eva!! 😉

I “wrote in my diary,” which means I saved, then quit the game. Aannndd…. once I turned the game back on, my file wasn’t there. Fuck the shitty save batteries in these old games!!

Day 2:

Despite the fact that my lousy game didn’t save, I decided to give it another go. I played through what I did yesterday- played a practice duel, chose the Squirtle & Friends deck- then I explored Dr. Mason’s laboratory a bit. I used the computer to check my e-mail and found that Dr. Mason sent me a booster pack- how nice of him!

Hopefully there’s some good cards in there!

Afterwards, I spent some time running around the lab, talking to everyone. Most of the guys in there were talking about shit I have absolutely no clue about (such as building and modifying decks), but oh well. One guy, Aaron, wanted to challenge me, so I took him up on his offer.

Sure, why not!

I win, sucker!

What a long battle! I had to knock out four of his Pokémon, and it seemed like it took forever. I won, though, and I got a bunch of energy cards as a prize.

Since the battles are lengthy, I decided to call it quits for the night. I saved, and when I exited the game, I got excited because my game was still there!

Will my game stay saved this time?!

…then I turned the Game Boy off and back on. Do you think my game was still there? NOPE! FUCK YOU!

Day 3

I decided to give this game one more go, even though I knew my efforts were futile. I went through all the same shit AGAIN, then decided to do a little exploring outside the lab.

Apparently, there are 8 different Pokémon clubs. You can win medals in each of the clubs, then you can face off against some legendary card master or some bullshit like that (it was explained to me 3 times, I just stopped listening!). Yippee!

Hmm, which Club to choose?

Well, since I picked Squirtle & Friends as my first deck, I visited the Water Club. There, I ran into some little shit named Ronald, who basically told me I would never be up to his skill level. I would have punched him if I could!

This kid is a loser!

Anyway. The Water Club has a very relaxing atmosphere, complete with an indoor swimming pool!

What a nice little place! I tried to jump in the pool, but the game wouldn’t let me.

I challenged a girl named Amanda, and I kicked her ass. I received a couple booster packs as a prize. In one of them was the Flame Pokémon Moltres, which is pretty cool.

Um, I also got this… lovely looking booster card. They say it’s a “pluspower” card, but it looks suspiciously phallic to me! 😉 It probably doesn’t help that I have a very dirty mind as it is!

“Pluspower” you say? 

Haha! After all that excitement, I ran around and talked to a few other people, then quit my game. 

Conclusion

It’s a shame that the game battery is toast in this game, because I actually quite enjoyed it. There is a little bit of a learning curve, but it’s actually pretty fun. I feel like it would probably take A LOT of time to build a deck strong enough to win the entire game, but it would be fun to work towards. You never know, I may end up downloading this game on Virtual Console!

Starting Over in Pokemon Blue!

As I said a few posts back, one of the games I was going to be working on was Pokemon Blue for the Game Boy. Yes, I’ve had this game for a long time, but never completed it. Last week, I finally picked it up and began my game anew. Oh, the nostalgia!

I should be playing on my original Game Boy… but my Game Boy Advance SP is pretty sweet 😉

I spent a few moments admiring the title screen as several Pokemon scrolled by. Then, I started a new file, forever losing my previously saved data. Oh well! My first task was to head to Professor Oak’s lab. He’s a Pokemon expert, all right, but seems kind of spacey otherwise. He asked me for my name, even though he supposedly knew me already.

Well, my name’s not REALLY Brandon, but it’ll do!

Since I have to be a boy, I chose the name Brandon. Close enough to my actual name (Brandi)! Then that dense mother fucker asked me what his grandson’s name was, because his grandson happens to be my rival! Dude, how do you not remember your grandson’s name?!

How can you forget your grandson’s name? Get with it, man!

Anyway, after all that was out of the way, I got to pick a starter Pokemon. There was a choice between Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur.

I have always chosen Squirtle in the past (probably because I am partial to turtles), so I chose him once again. My rival, Gary, chose Bulbasaur, and he immediately wanted to fight me! I put that little bitch in his place.

After all that jazz, (and after delivering a parcel to Professor Oak) I started wandering around to a couple nearby areas to catch Pokemon and start leveling them up. That’s always my strategy early on, so I can have several strong Pokemon in my party! My first encounter was with Rattata, who I easily caught. Soon after, I caught Pidgey.

Soon I headed to the Viridian Forest to catch more Pokemon and gather more experience. I caught Nidoran, Spearow, Weedle, and Caterpie fairly quickly.

I also encountered Metapod, who was a little jerk to capture! He doesn’t attack you, but instead uses a defensive move called “Harden” that can make him a little tricky to get. He got away from me once, but the second Poke Ball I threw held him.

The last Pokemon I caught in Viridian Forest was Pikachu! He’s so cute.

At this point, I’m still taking the time to level up the Pokemon I’ve caught. That way I’ll be prepared for the battles ahead of me! I’ll probably hang around the Forest awhile longer until all of my Pokemon are around level 13 or so. I also want to mention that Weedle already evolved into Kakuna, but I wasn’t able to get a picture of the evolution!

See you next time! Good night!