The Batlord

They got weekly Pokemon TCG events at my local comic book shop where everyone actually plays the game and I imagine they got the same where you are.

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Key

That's pretty dope. We have a comic shop down the street from where I live and while I've never participated myself, watching is just as fun. People get really strategic and it's awesome to see.

Key

Covers of Pokemon Music

As far as music goes, I'm not one to hate on covers. Honestly, cover songs are often times of the same quality if not better, depending on the artist who's doing it etc etc. Most recent one I think of off the bat is Sounds of Silence by Disturbed. And I know, myself included, that blew people away and people still love it now. Both versions are honestly great. Now, what's the point of all this? Well, people do covers of Pokemon music as well and it's really fun to dive into this wormhole because you'll hear music that you're used to being played in a way you didn't think it needed to be played. And honestly as well, I listen to video game music pretty regularly anyway, but I certainly listen to a lot of cover artists who solely work on covering video game music. So, let's talk about a couple of them:

The one that immediately comes to mind first over anybody is Toxicxeternity. I follow him on both Twitch and Youtube and he's not only a super chill dude, but an absolutely talented guitar player. He does covers of video game music either by request from chat or does them himself on his main channel. The ones that I heard first were his Goldeneye covers, but his Pokemon covers are amazing too.



Next up, while I don't think he has any live action stuff, he does make some amazing music, and I've even talked about him before. The Greatest Bits. Some of his albums on Spotify are on my favorites and they are certainly regular listens. His Pokemon stuff is obviously great given that the dude is extremely talented. I'll always consider his Trainer Battle music his best stuff, especially from Gen 1:



It's just a unique twist on a very familiar track.

Another one I want to mention here is GlitchxCity. Truly a remarkable artist with a unique flair that really sets herself apart from the rest. Definitely some really cool covers on her Youtube channel. I highly recommend.

Key

More Pokemon Covers

Here, have some more!

Key

Pokemon: The First Movie (1998)

It's pretty wild to think that this movie came out in 1998 because I still remember going to the movie theater super excited to see it. And yeah, it definitely was as good as I wanted it to be. Hell, it's still good now. There's a remastered of sorts version out there so I highly recommend watching it if you haven't yet. I have watched it and it is honestly a genuine retelling of the original movie, it just looks better.

I wouldn't say this movie is one of my favorites of all time, or maybe I would. Honestly, it's a pretty damn good movie especially for a Pokemon movie. But I don't think that's an opinion that is too out there. In fact, I do know that a lot of people actually really enjoy the Pokemon movie not only for the fact that it focuses on Pokemon, but also the fact that they are just pretty good movies.

I still remember sitting in the movie theater in anticipation with my brothers and cousin and was ready to watch what was about to unfold in front of me. Unfortunately, I don't think I gathered too much of the story upon first viewing, but I do know I enjoyed it. After this though, I remember they had released a special edition Pokemon: The First Movie Mewtwo card, and you could only get it if you bought the VHS. Well, I did end up being able to add that card and VHS tape to my collection....years and years ago. Man, do I wish I could find both of those again. Hell, I may even look online to see if I can find either or both. I imagine that Mewtwo card will be pretty difficult to find, but I'm willing to try.

The movie also comes with a short little half hour film about the Pokemon specifically with no trainers in sight titled Pikachu's Vacation. Basically, the Pokemon are on vacation. I won't spoil much more than that because again...it's worth watching if you like Pokemon even a little bit.

Key

Pokemon: The First Movie (pt. 2)

I had mentioned the special Mewtwo card that you would have gotten had you bought a VHS copy of Pokemon: The First Movie, and this is that card. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Key

Pokemon Colosseum

Man, if there was ever a game that I would easily go back in time for, it would be Pokemon Colosseum. I remember just hearing about the game and wishing I could play it myself, but I never got to. Unfortunately time just went on and on and as time went on, the game just became one of those that I wish I had played, but don't really see a reason to play it now.

Sure, I suppose I could find original hardware and software and experience this game in all its glory, and honestly I might do that. But I can't imagine it'll feel much the same as it did back when it originally released. Especially now that we have the games we have now, there's just not a lot of reason to go back and play it other than for either nostalgia sake or in my case, you've never played it. It's one of those weird cases where I would spend whatever I had to to play the game, but simultaneously not having very much drive or motivation to actually acquire it. It does look like a lot of fun and it apparently features both Espeon and Umbreon. If you've been reading so far, you'll know that the Eevee evolutions are some of my favorite Pokemon of all time. Espeon and Umbreon are certainly up there, but I don't really know where I'd put them on the list.

The main character also looks really cool and the gameplay also looks really fun, albeit dated. It's definitely got that Pokemon Stadium vibe going for it with a bit of improvements to set it apart from those games. I do also believe that this game originally released for the Nintendo Gamecube, and using that controller again would be pretty sweet. So hell, maybe I will actually try to find a way to acquire this game. Perhaps.

Based on what I've seen from the gameplay and how the battles work in this game, it would be no surprise if I did end up really enjoying this game if and when I decide to get everything I need to do so. However I do not know whether or not I would be motivated enough to complete it as I've always got other games going on simultaneously, and I wouldn't really wanna spend much time on an older game. At least not all at once. Surely over time I would eventually be inclined to finish it. Or maybe that doesn't happen and I fall in love with it immediately. Anything is possible.

I do know that most importantly, I just regret not being able to play this when it first released because that would've been neat to be a part of that hype.

Again, who knows. Perhaps I spend some time trying to get a Nintendo Gamecube and a copy of Pokemon Colosseum. Then subsequently it becomes my favorite game of all time. It's possible. We shall see.

Key

Gym Battles In Pokemon Games

You know how Pokemon games go, you level up your Pokemon, take on gym leaders that are spread across the whole region, then finally meet your fate at the Pokemon League or Elite Four as they are otherwise called. Both gym leaders and elite four members are groups of trainers that are above average as far as Pokemon they use and how they use them in relation to the other trainers in the game. Often times, these are meant to be tests of your abilities and training and to see how you have progressed through the game. And believe me, in a lot of these games, these challenges can be both very fun and very challenging. Though again I will say that probably in the later games, these challenges got easier and easier. In the early games, this wasn't as much the case. Either way, these particular battles are a staple in the games because it gives the player an added challenge on top of tackling the world you see before you. And I'm going to talk about some of the battles that I both really enjoy and ones that gave me a really hard time upon first playthrough. A lot of these will probably be from earlier games so...here we go:

First off, we have Tate & Liza from the third generation. This is one of those battles that I will probably always remember because if I remember correctly, double battles were not a regular thing amongst gym leaders so while that was unique on its own, they also came packing with two rather strong Pokemon that work well with each other; Solrock and Lunatone. Both very powerful Pokemon if you didn't bring Pokemon that can resist both ground and psychic attacks. This is one of those battles that will surely test you so make sure you come prepared.

Next up, Whitney from Goldenrod City. Whitney is pretty well known for being a relatively difficult gym leader, especially with how early on you fight her. She comes equipped with several Pokemon but the one that has always given me trouble as well as other players is that dreaded Miltank. Rollout is an amazing move if you can use it right, and man...that Miltank used it right. I honestly think Whitney is the gym leader across all games that I've probably lost the most to. It's just that fighting a Pokemon this strong early on is pretty tough because at this point, there aren't a lot of good opportunities to train so it can feel like a slog. But, once you beat her it's worth it because again, that damn Miltank is tough.

Norman from Pokemon Ruby / Sapphire is another gym leader that I would consider to be relatively tough compared to the others in the game. He comes equipped with some pretty strong Pokemon in both Vigoroth and Slaking. Honestly, him using both of these Pokemon made me want to get a Slaking of my own, until I realized that it has an effect that makes it so you don't attack as often as other Pokemon. So, usually I would just keep it at Vigoroth and reak havoc. And boy, this combination of Pokemon can be pretty tough because they also come equipped with a move called "Facade" which can be detrimental to your team if you're not prepared. Obviously, just come packing with some really strong Pokemon and you'll prevail. Slaking is a pretty tough Pokemon as well as Vigoroth so yeah, come prepared.

The last one I want to talk about is Brock from the first generation of games, but more specifically, Pokemon Yellow. A lot of people already know what I'm going to talk about here but here's the basic gist of it: Rock Pokemon which is what Brock specializes in are immune to electric type Pokemon / moves, and given that the starter Pokemon in Pokemon Yellow is indeed an electric type Pokemon with electric type moves, it provides an additional challenge on the player. Do you over train your Pikachu and just use slam or something to take down the foe, or do you search the grass below Pewter City to acquire a different Pokemon that can take on Brock. While this gym battle is not necessarily too difficult in Pokemon Red / Blue, it's definitely a lot more challenging in Pokemon Yellow just simply for the fact that you kind of have to think outside the box and find some way to take down both Geodude and Onix this early in the game when all you have is a Pokemon that can't hurt it. But man, after this gym battle, you can continue on playing and the rest of the game certainly gets easier as the next gym battle is strictly water Pokemon, but yeah, this one is a doozy for Pokemon Yellow players, like myself.

And as I said, there may even be more that I'm forgetting to talk about but unfortunately that's due to two things: not having played a lot of the later Pokemon games and simultaneously, the later games don't provide nearly as much of a challenge as you'd think they would. Comparatively, the earlier Pokemon games up until about generation 5 provided some sense of challenge when it came to both the gym battles and elite four. They're still fun to do in the later games, but I remember not even finishing Pokemon Sword / Shield because I was just bored by the time I got to the elite four. I just didn't even bother fighting them.

Key

Pokemon Music: Gym Battles / Pokemon League / Elite Four (pt. 1)

I've touched on both of these topics before but seeing as I just talked about gym leaders throughout the games, I figured the next best thing would be to bring up the themes that I absolutely love. And, I have talked about a few of these before so just know that there may be repeats.

I still to this day think the elite four theme for the third generation is still the best. some have gotten close but nothing has topped it. At least for me.



I know I've mentioned this one before because it's honestly so good that it's hard to not talk about it. This one is really cool because the crowd starts to chant with the music and makes the whole experience of fighting a gym leader that much cooler, despite the gym leaders being relatively easy.



Johto and Kanto both have great themes in Pokemon Gold / Silver so the next two will be those:





And finally, we have X and Y. While it may not have been my favorite Pokemon game and on top of the fact that it was extremely easy, the music is still tops.

djchameleon

I've been reading and enjoying this Pokémon month theme. I wanted to go through and list off which editions I picked and who was my MVP for each one. I have this habit of liking to take the first five Pokémon that I catch all the way to the end. They are my ride or dies usually. If I end up running into type troubles I just grind their levels higher so I can muscle my way through them while still keeping my rookie squad.

First Gen I picked Blue and went with Bulbasaur as my starter. This generation basically molded me to always lean a bit towards grass starters even though I have sometimes picked water starters but **** fire ones.

For Second Gen I went with Silver Chikorita was my starter went with grass again.

Ruby Sapphire I skipped. If I did play this one I would've went with mudkip

Diamond I initially skipped it but later on got Brilliant Diamond Turtwig was my choice for this gen.

With Fifth Generation I went with White and White 2 I went with Snivy but if I were to replay them I would definitely go with Oshawott.

Six Gen was Y Went with my road dog Froakie!

Seventh Gen I went with Moon Popplio was my go to for this gen.

Eighth gen I went with Sword I went with Sobble and I love his final evolution.

I haven't bought Scarlet or Violet yet but I'm going with Violet when I get it and the Elvis water ducky, (Quaxly).

I did have more MVPs outside of the starters but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I'd have to go look through the pokedex for each game to see if I remember what my lineups were.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.