Pokemon of the early 2000s
Are you a kid that plays video games, or an adult looking for something to do in your spare time? If so, then have you ever heard of Pokemon in your life? If not, then what have you been doing?! No video game requires more strategy than the awe-inspiring, brain-twisting games of Pokemon! However, let’s take a blast from the past and visit a time where the games were actually challenging (Pokemon X and Y) and avoid the mass amounts of violence of Pokemon games such as Fortnite and CS GO where strategy is seemingly obsolete. Let there be a time of action-filled strategy, with lovely caring and bonding, as you delve into the world of Pokemon.
Pokemon is a Nintendo-made video game and franchise series that has lasted for over 23 years by now and is still popular among kids and adults. This is unusual for a video game and franchise series because other video games rarely stay popular for more than a few years, much less a decade. The reason for Pokemon’s popularity is because the world of Pokemon is a magical world inhabited by a variety of creatures themselves called Pokemon; having different powers, such as attracting attention of people or causing gigantic earthquakes and floods, some of them are as cute for girls to cuddle such as Pikachu, Eevee and Jigglypuff, while others are fierce looking and are excellent for boys to fight with like Rayquaza and Mewtwo. These satisfy the curiosity of most people with surprises of something new and original.
All Pokemon evolution lines are unique and are derived from animals, plants, rocks or other objects that come from real life or myths. For example, the Pokemon Pikachu is based on a real life pika: these are small rabbit-like animals and the Pokemon Magikarp is based on a koi fish… or as you may recognize, a goldfish from a bowl.
One of the most popular parts of the Pokemon franchise is the Pokemon anime. The anime stars a 10 year-old kid named Ash Ketchum whose goal is to become a world famous Pokemon Master. In order to start his journey, he has to receive a Pokemon from the local researcher, Professor Oak. Realizing that all other Pokemon were taken away by the other trainers, Professor Oak gives Ash the only Pokemon that he has left in his laboratory, a stubborn Pikachu that is willing to zap him if necessary. Only when Ash saves Pikachu from a flock of angry Spearow (hostile birds) does Pikachu really obey Ash. On his journey, he meets a lot of friends and catches a lot of Pokemon.
Last summer, I was at my house, playing Pokemon when I tried to open up my Pokemon save file, and I almost got a heart attack. My save file was deleted, including all the hard work and bonding I made with my Pokemon. This was devastating and I ended up spending the rest the day trying to get over the grief of losing a save file.
In my first walkthrough of Pokemon FireRed, I had no clue which Pokemon were good in the context of the games, but I had a fairly good knowledge of Pokemon types. For starters, I had picked Venusaur (cover of Pokemon LeafGreen) as my starter Pokemon because I already knew which kind of Pokemon had the first few gyms (gyms are the locations where you test your Pokemon’s abilities and see where you should be in relation to the game). My expectations were that it should end up with a Pokemon league (championship) where some sort of challenge awaits me. However, I felt that the Pokemon league was not the hardest challenge in the game. I quickly beat the first four (Elite Four) while living on a single Pokemon, when suddenly the last guy of the Elite Four said that there was one more trainer who had beaten these four before me. I knew that this Pokemon League run was botched once I heard the news about the last guy as the champion. Preparing the last of my Pokemon, I steadied myself to embrace the challenge that would change my opinion about Pokemon being a weak game compared to violent games such as CS GO and Fortnite.
The battles against the rival in FireRed proved to be the most difficult battles that I had ever fought because I would often never think about making my Pokemon stronger and constantly switched as more powerful wild Pokemon were encountered, which left first few Pokemon at low levels. After finding and catching the strongest Pokemon I could obtain before beating the Pokemon League, I had spent a lot of effort trying to level them up before defeating the Pokemon League. This resulted where I thought that if I had stuck with the Pokemon I had caught at the beginning of the game, then I would not have to deal with the pain of training these Pokemon that are not as good of a matchup against the trainers of the Pokemon League. As soon as I beat the Champion of the Pokemon League, I had decided that no matter how weak I thought these characters were, I could still train them to be strong. It taught me that patience and endurance lead to achievement. Pokemon had also strengthened my desire to compete with my friends.
All Pokemon games start off with a choice of a male or female character (Brendan and May in RSE, Red and Leaf in FrLg). Then, the player obtains a character from the Pokemon Professor and purchases Pokeballs in the PokeMart. The player has to walk in tall grass/cave or surf to encounter wild individuals. This is where they have the option of catching the Wild Pokemon, fighting it or running away from it. The goal is to try and catch as many Wild Pokemon as possible. In order to catch them, you’ll want to throw a Pokeball at the Wild one. Some are easily caught and can be caught with a Pokeball. Others, such as Legendaries, are much harder to catch. To catch wild Pokemon you need to have a huge supply of Pokeballs at hand and find the opponent’s weak points.
A Pokemon Youtuber who I enjoy watching would be PurpleRodri. PurpleRodri is that he makes great nicknames for Pokemon that I can use and his commentary is really funny and intense. He has played both Pokemon Emerald and Pokemon FireRed. If you are unable to forma Pokemon team, watch his videos to give you some inspiration.
RSE starts in Littleroot Town, in the fictional region of Hoenn. The game starts you off with a 7-letter name of your choice. Norman (one of the game’s Gym Leaders) and his family have moved from Olivine City to this town. The player has to visit Norman at his gym in Petalburg City only to find out that he wants the player to obtain four badges before opening his gym. During that quest to collect four badges, the player meets the evil team Team Aqua and Team Magma. The company president tells the player to go on a mission to give a letter to his son. During this quest, the player meets the Champion (RS)/Wandering Trainer (E) Steven Stone. After beating the player’s father at Petalburg, the player can now Surf and collect badges all the way to the Pokemon League in Ever Grande City. In Emerald, however, the player’s challenge is only over when he or she has beaten Steven Stone inside of a cave.
The Gen 1 games start when the main character has to run an errand for Professor Oak. To start, the player is given a Pokemon. Once the player reaches the first city (Viridian), there is a gym and a PokeMart. The player then has to make a delivery to Professor Oak back in Pallet Town. The gym at Viridian is closed and will open when the player has obtained the other seven badges. After defeating the first gym, the player will meet the evil team of Team Rocket where their goal is to capture Pokemon and sell them for business. Their boss Giovanni is first encountered at the bottom of the Game Corner in Celadon City. The player eventually makes an entire loop around the map where their last destination is Viridian City. There, the gym leader returns and once he is defeated, the player gets to go to the longest and most tedious Victory Road in the entire history of Pokemon.
When I beat past Victory Road in Pokemon FireRed for the first time, all my Pokemon fainted except for one at low health. To me, crossing Victory Road feels like reaching the end of an enormous maze that twists without end. After crossing Victory Road came the moment of beating the Elite Four and Champion of the Pokemon League. This took a long time since many of my Pokemon were weak. Little did I know that defeating the Pokemon League would be back-shadowed by my first battle against the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo.
Mewtwo is a Pokemon that the Internet and the Pokemon company regard as one of the strongest Pokemon that exist. Mewtwo is a bipedal humanoid Pokemon of light purple-gray color and has some feline features such as a tail of dark purple, shady dark purple eyes and cat-like ears. My goal was to capture this beast so that another Pokedex entry can be fulfilled. The annoying thing was that its ridiculously high attacking stats allowed it to One Hit KnockOut my Pokemon, and it could recover its health, so catching it was a pain as well. I lacked the knowledge that paralysis could prevent it from recovering half its formidable speed, so I could only fling Ultra balls at the Pokemon, or revive my Pokemon with items. In the end, I finally captured Mewtwo after managing to get it asleep, lowering its health to the red zone (health changes color depending on the amount that a Pokemon has left). This fight cost me about 30 revives and 50 ultra balls. In conclusion, the battle against Mewtwo proved to be one of the costliest ones since I had wasted so much money.
Pokemon is not just made up of action and excitement. It is a game of love and caring as well as strategy. If you are very far into a Pokemon save file and it gets deleted, then you are probably going to be very upset. This is because all the Pokemon that you fight with end up having a bond in your life.