Pokémon Pots Volume I: Pokémon through the ages

Pokémon has been going on for many years, starting out in 1996 when, inspired by his fascination with insect collecting as a child, Satoshi Tajiri created the first Pokémon games, which involved collecting little monsters, hence the original title of Pocket Monsters. Titus Proxima and I have loved the games since we were children, and as Black and White was released this year (with rumours of a new game being released in 2012/2013) we thought we’d take a look at Pokémon through the ages on the Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP and DS – after all, it’s available on so many consoles it would take more than one blog post to get through them all. In this post we’ll be following the main Pokémon games, taking another post to explore the spin off series and console games.

There’re so many Pokémon games to play that it’s hard to know where to start. It would probably make the most sense to begin with the very first Pokémon games released in English – Red and Blue (for Green was only released in Japan).

Red and Blue take place on the Kanto region, filled with little towns, paths, caves, water and loads of places to catch elusive Pokémon. Upon starting the game, it’s only natural that you’d want to escape your little hometown and venture into the long grass in order to explore the world further. However, you are prevented from doing so by Professor Oak (the Pokémon researcher) who tells you all about the wild Pokémon that live in the long grass and tells you all about them. After he has taught you about wild Pokémon you are led back to his lab where you meet his Grandson and are able to choose from one of three starter Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander). Oak’s Grandson takes the Pokémon which is strongest against your own so that when you battle him at various points in the game it is more challenging.

During your adventure through the region, you’ll come across Pokémon gyms which contain high level Pokémon trainers that you can battle in order to gain badges that will ultimately allow you to battle the Elite Four (the top trainers) once you have collected all eight gym badges. To add to the plot of becoming the best Pokémon trainer in the region, you must also battle Team Rocket who are determined to steal rare Pokémon and tends to abuse them. Being a force of good you must stop them and ruin their plans.

Pokémon Yellow

This game is virtually the same as its predecessors in that it takes place in the same region and follows the same plot. The only difference here is that its plot is based on the anime series and so instead of choosing from three starter Pokémon you are instead given a Pikachu by Professor Oak which walks behind you in the game (which is rather adorable). The other changes are that characters from the anime series such as Jessie, James and Meowth of Team Rocket appear in the game as enemies, or in the cases of some other characters, allies. During the game you are given the opportunity to catch the three starter Pokémon. Again, you must defeat the eight gym leaders and then the Elite Four as well as Team Rocket.

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow’s Pokémon were known as Generation I in the Pokémon world. After these games new monsters were released and the 151 Pokémon slowly increased to numbers beyond belief. Generation II Pokémon starts with the games Gold, Silver and Crystal.

Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal (Pokémon sounds weird now, I’ve typed it so many times)

Unlike the previous three games, these three take place in the Johto region some three years after the original games. You play as a boy from New Bark town and are able to choose from three new starter Pokémon (Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Totodile) which are give to you by Professor Elm. In this game, your ‘enemy’ isn’t the Grandson on the Professor, but is in fact someone who is already known as your rival who proceeds to steal one of Professor Elm’s starter Pokémon in order to battle you at various points in the game.

What hasn’t changed in this game is the usual defeat eight gym leaders, followed by the Elite Four and on your travels you have to eliminate Team Rocket to stop them harming Pokémon. However, what adds a little more excitement to this game is that once the Johto Elite Four have been defeated you must then defeat the Kanto Elite Four so that you may become the best trainer in both regions. It certainly adds a little more challenge to the game.

Then you have Crystal. This brings a whole new element to the game – the ability to choose your gender. Before, you could only be a bloke, now; all of a sudden you could be a woman. This change was revolutionary and it has remained in all Pokémon since. Not only that, but if a Pokémon had flames on it or something similar they would flicker, something that had not been seen before. Crystal, although not much different from Gold and Silver, contained some really awesome changes.

Then came Generation III in the world of Pokémon...

Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald

Only being allowed my PS1 as a child, this was my first Pokémon game (Titus got all the old games and new) and I got it with the limited edition Groudon SP (which was later stolen), and I can tell you that entering the Pokémon world was something else...

This time, you’re playing in a new region called the Hoenn. Like Crystal, you’re able to choose your gender when you start the game. Again, you’re able to choose from three new starter Pokémon (Torchic, Mudkip, Treecko (Titus chose Mudkip and Valhalla chose Torchic.) Titus’ game was later stolen, suspects little bother) which are given to you by Professor Birch after you save him from being eaten by a Poochyeena with the Pokémon that you choose from his bag. Again, you have a rival to challenge you throughout the game and the main objective is to defeat the eight gym leaders followed by the Elite Four (I’m starting to see a pattern).

Then you come to the topic of your enemy group. Say goodbye to Team Rocket and welcome Team Magma (Ruby) and Team Aqua (Sapphire). Their goal is to use the game’s legendary Pokémon to change the climate of the Hoenn region. Team Magma plan to use Groudon (Ruby) to dry up all the rivers and the oceans of Hoenn. Team Aqua plan to use Kyogre (Sapphire) to flood the region. As you defeat gym leaders new events occur within the enemy Team that lead you closer to finding and defeating them as well as catching the relevant legendary Pokémon.

Then came Emerald. It uses the same generation of Pokémon as well as the same legendaries, region and enemy team. However, the plot is modified. Team Aqua and Team Magma both appear in the game as rivals and end up awakening Groudon and Kyogre. In order to stop the two legendary Pokémon battling and potentially destroying the region, a third legendary by the name of Rayquaza is unleashed to stop the feud. An additional feature to battling is the introduction of double battles where two trainers may fight together, or two Pokémon from one trainer.

And so begins Generation IV

Diamond, Pearl and Platinum

Space and time are explored as Generation IV is revealed in three new Pokémon games. You start off in a new region known as the Sinnoh. It’s completely disconnected from all other Pokémon regions ever created. Unsurprisingly, the plot remains the same – defeat eight gym leaders, collect their badges, defeat the Elite Four and as you go along there’s an evil team on the loose and a rival who wants nothing more than to challenge you when you least expect or want him to. The new starter Pokémon (Chimchar, Piplup and Turtwig (Valhalla chose Chimchar and Titus chose ) may lack imagination on the design front, but they are certainly powerful monsters. They are given to you by Professor Rowan and you are able to choose the gender of your rival (Lucas, boy and Dawn, girl).

The new enemy team is named Team Galactic and they plan to use Pokémon to reshape the region and turn it into a sort of Utopia. You meet them at the beginning of the game when you save Professor Rowan from the Galactic thugs. As the game progresses they attempt to capture several legendary Pokémon, which you are also able to capture, including the main legendaries Dialga (Diamond) and Palkia (Pearl). Once the Elite Four have been defeated a new island is opened that you can explore.

An exciting feature of Diamond, pearl and Platinum is the ability to go underground. The whole region consists of underground tunnels where you can build secret bases and furnish them, dig for treasure, play with friends and find Pokémon fossils that can be taken to the museum and brought back to life.

Platinum is essentially the same as Diamond and Pearl. The routes have more snow on them than the previous two games and the characters are dressed for colder weather. Also, Giratina, Palkia and Dialga are able to be captured instead of just Giraina and the game’s legendary.

Heart Gold and Soul Silver

These two games follow the exact same story as the original Gold and Silver. In these two games you are able to have your Pokémon walk along behind you, and so it is not restricted to Pikachu. The starter Pokémon are the classic Generation II and are given to you by Professor Elm like in the original game. The graphics are improved, and the legendary Pokémon Ho-oh (Gold) and Lugia (Silver) are available for capture. As usual, character gender can be chosen, and this particular games comes with a Pokéwalker in which your in game Pokémon can be transferred to and from the device so that you are able to carry it around with you, catching Pokémon in the various mini-games and discovering items. The steps you take are counted and go towards EXP points, and the Pokémon you catch in the walker are transferred back to your game when you switch Pokémon or put the monster currently in the walker back into the game.

Now comes the latest Generation – V

Black and White

Released in 2011, this is the latest Pokémon game. With a whole new cast of monsters to entertain and new enemies, this game can be seen as refreshing. Set in the Unova region, this game holds deeper meaning that its predecessors. The new Professor is named Professor Juniper and allows you and your two friends, Cheren and Bianca to choose from the new starter Pokémon Tepig, Snivy and Oshawott. The main aim is to defeat the gym leaders and then the Elite Four (the pattern continues) as well as the evil enemy team that threatens Pokémon. But what’s this? The creators of Pokémon are making us think? Younger players might not get this, but older ones who have knowledge of the Templar Knights from the Holy Crusades may have recognised the uniform of the new Evil Team Plasma. Here’s me wondering if there is some sort of deep reference to the battle between trainers and evil teams and the Crusades. Perhaps that the battle never seems to end? Not only this, but instead of trying to hurt Pokémon, Team Plasma believe keeping them in Pokéballs to be cruel and unkind as Pokémon are wild animals and should not be used to battle like pit dogs. This really made me think about whether or not it was right for me as a trainer to be keeping my monsters in tiny little balls. It made me stop, and I found myself siding with this new ‘enemy’. Perhaps Team Plasma were the one ‘enemy’ that we as trainers should have found as allies. Anyway, back to the game.

The leader of Team Plasma figures that by capturing the legendary Pokémon of the game (Zekrom for Black and Reshiram for White) he can convince people to free their Pokémon. However, it turns out very different (not going to spoil it for those of you who haven’t played).

Once the Elite Four are defeated you gain access to a new part of the region where old Pokémon live so that you can complete your new national Pokédex.

Below is an interview with Titus Proxima’s Big Brother. We decided not to use Valhalla’s little sister for interviews as it seemed unsafe with the amount of unsavoury language used (which has been edited out). He was kind enough to answer our questions though!


Using our Gamer Points (which we use to rate the games we blog about), Titus and I agree that the original Pokémon games series as a whole deserves GGGGGGGG (8 out of a total of 10) leaving it with a pretty good score. We hope you enjoy Pokémon as much as we do!

1) What do you think of the progression between the first game and the rest?
“Since the first game, which was, to be fair, a benchmark in gaming history, all the developers have

concentrated on are graphics and new bad guys, and never really focused on a real story or proper battle layout.

The first game, to me, a huge pokéfan, was a huge leap from other games of its generation. It raised the mark and proved that not all games have to follow the television series of movies that it’s based on in order to make kids happy.
The yellow, blue and red games will always be undying classics in my eyes. When yellow was released I was on it like a Munchlax on an all you can eat buffet.
The gold and silver then brought forth a new era of graphics and a great new mission to set out on, but it lacked creativity in the layout of the maps.
Much like ONRPG’s these days, there is a point at which you get to in the new game where you think ‘This is just getting stupid. I’m doing the same mission just in a different surrounding.’”

2) Do you think that they should continue to make more Pokémon games?
“The fact that they bring out new Pokémon, for me, actually makes it worse. Ideas for Pokémon names are few and far between. “

3) What do you think of the new generation of Pokémon?
“I’m seeing some repetition in some monsters but most of the new ones are elemental, rudimentary, animals. It’s getting so...mediocre.
I’m not saying that I could do a better job at naming and creating new Pokémon but why should I need to? Surely throughout the history of series’ you should realise you don’t need to fix what isn’t broken. It doesn’t work that way.
Let’s take Giritina, “The Sky Princess”. Sure it’s a nice idea but surely it’s unnecessary. I’m not even sure of its purpose. Palkia and Dialga is a ridiculous concept. For starters time and space are two totally separate concepts and as they are meant to be meta-physical manifestations of intangible ideas created only by the human mind how can they be personified in a monster that is able to shoot lasers from its face and perform a set list of moves that aren’t even necessary for a creature of such extraordinary power and responsibility?”

4) Tell us about the smaller details.
“The games will always be better than the series but I do personally wish they would create a game that follows Ash’s actual journey through the towns that look like towns and not two houses and a science lap. One of which you own and one which your arch-nemesis inhabits. Who thought it would be a good idea to move into a town with a guy that hates you and an old man who can’t remember his great nephew’s name. Your mum, in he game, is always really optimistic and when you tell her that you know how the pokégear works she will still tell you in detail its many functions which you will have to sit through.”

5) Do you have any further comments you’d like to add?
I enjoy okaying the Fire red and Leaf green, as they are essentially upgrades if the originals, breathing breath of fresh air. It’s weird how, in this case, refreshing the old is better than creating a new. I will always love the originals the best though, the rubbish graphics, the silly noises Pokémon made as they entered a battle and beating down good old Team Rocket after they tell you that their plans are set in stone.”

6) How would you rate the games and why?
I give the new Black and White games 8/10 for persistence, 3/10 for creativity, 8/10 for graphics, 4/10 for storyline and an overall 6/10. The persistence was more of a joke than anything, but it’s because they don’t seem to get the idea of ‘new games’. Low rating for creativity because as I said earlier, it’s the same scenario for every game with 8 gyms in order and you have to follow a set route leading to the Elite Four. The graphics, admittedly, are getting better every time but they still don’t get a 10 because it’s still too 2D and it all looks the same. The story line got low for the same reason as creativity and the fact that it’s all still stuck on starter Pokémon as opposed to taking an angle of an outside party like a rookie from a different town. You are always a hero destined to be the best. Overall it scored 6 because of its flaws but it is still a decent game and never gets old.”

Now, it's what you've all been waiting for - the Pokémon quiz! Titus has very kindly gathered up some questions for all you awesome followers, so if you fancy, have a go and post the answers in the comments. Answers will be published very soon and the winner will get a mention. Good luck, and here are the questions below!

1) Is Dragonite as smart as a human?

2) What is Tentacruel's nickname?

3) where was the first information about mew found?

4) what is the name of the pokemon that helps nurse joy in most pokemon centers?

5) what is the early warning sign that Pikacu has a cold?

6) what is the heaviest pokemon?

Good luck readers, and be sure to visit us again for our next post!