Pokémon Black and White 2

I've said it before - whilst the Pokémon in Black and White were lacking creativity at best, the game really made me think about the morals of keeping Pokémon in tiny little balls and using them in fights for money. With this in mind it was with great interest that I delved deeper into the sequel of the most recent addition to the Pokémon saga...

According to my sources the  game is due for release in Japan later on this month, with us Europeans seeing is towards the end of August/early September. The story will begin two years after the end of the previous game and will be in the same region as before - the Unova region. A mysterious icecap has covered parts of the region, leading to new cities and gyms forming to replace the ones that have been captured. There are two new conformed gym leaders - one who appears to be a rockstar of some kind (I would assume he uses electric Pokémon) and another who seems to use water-types. It would appear that Team Plasma are still wandering around and will likely serve as the main villains again. You'll have a new rival and apparently new playable characters too - something which I find highly intriguing. It looks like you can play characters that aren't traditional looking Pokémon trainers. However, it's hard to say. Many of the routes have been altered or changed drastically, making the area a lot different to the previous game, most likely so that it does not appear repetitive. You will begin the game in an area of Unova that was previously unreachable - a town called Aspertia in the South West.

The Pokédex is different too. Instead of starting of with a regional Dex of 150-200 Pokémon there will be 300 available in the region - most of which are Pokémon from other regions such as Psyduck and Mareep. It is the largest local Dex yet - the National Dex is sure to be massive.

There is also a new minigame known as the Pokéwood in which you will participate in the filming of a movie. Seems like an interesting idea. There is also the Pokémon World Tournament which will allow you to battle gym members from previous versions of the game - leaders such as Brock and Misty (I was very pleased to hear this).

Have a quick look at some of the official gameplay - it was unavailable in English but it gives you a good idea.

It's said that it will be released on DS, so those of you fearing that Pokémon would only be on 3DS from now on you can let out the breath you've been holding for the past year or so. Looks like things are going to work.

Whilst there is little information on the game out there, what I have discovered has been incredibly exciting. Being a Pokémon fan from pretty much the beginning, I can see myself buying this game. I love the Pokémon games too much to say no.

Valhalla