[The Daily Catch] ★ 4/9: 5th gen games revealed!

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Adventure Squad, Stormy Adventure Squad, Light Adventure Squad.
★ Source: Official site.
★ Info Type: Pictures, launch date, information.


Sorry guys. Before I can get to the HG/SS stuff, I want to get this exciting tidbit out of the way. But yesterday, the official Pokémon.co.JP site updated to reveal more information about the so eagerly anticipated PMD trio for the Wii. Slated to be released through WiiWare on August 4th, each game will cost 1200 points to download.And Nintendo is really determined to get as much use out of those My Pokémon Ranch renders as possible, since all three games also use them.

But there really isn't anything interesting with these games. You can use your DS as a controller and send rescue requests over the internet, as well as use WiiConnect24 to receive missions. You can also have up to four save files per game and can share save files among the trio, which I suppose is a bit nifty.

The starting Pokémon for each game is also as follows:

☆ Blazing: Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Vulpix, Growlithe, Eevee, Teddiursa, and Buneary.
☆ Stormy: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, Wooper, Azurill, Phanpy, Riolu, and Wynaut.
☆ Light: Pichu, Pikachu, Shinx, Pachirisu, Elekid, Mareep, Psyduck, Togepi, and Meowth.

Hooray. :/

Click the thumbnails to see screenshots.

 

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: HeartGold, SoulSilver.
★ Source: CoroCoro magazine, official website.
★ Info Type: Pictures, new artwork, new characters, in-game information.


In keeping with tradition, once again this month's CoroCoro pages were leaked a few days before the magazine went on sale and they've revealed quit a bit of information, including legendary Pokémon appearances, Eusine as a returning character, an altered storyline, PokéGear and PokéWalker info, and tons of other junk. Hot damn, I'm not sure where to begin.

First up, Eusine, that tuxedo-clad dude from Pokémon Crystal with the Suicine fetish, has been confirmed to be in the games and plays some sort of role in the story. What role? No one's sure, but there's evidence to suggest that Suicune will play a role similar to what she played in Crystal, and from that one can infer that Eusine might reprise his old role, too. Only time will tell, though.

Also taking up new roles are Ecruteak City's Kimono Girls. Remember them? The five sisters with the Eeveelutions that you had to defeat in order to get Surf? Well naturally, they make a return, but with an expanded role. Details are currently unknown, but it has been confirmed that the Kimono Girls will play a much larger role in the storyline, appearing in such places as Violet City and the Illex Forest, and dealing with the likes of Team Rocket.

Gyms also got a redesign, which I suppose could still constitute as "storyline changes". Exact details are still unknown, but we know for sure that Azalea, Goldenrod, and Ecruteak Gyms have been redesigned to include the usual puzzles. Goldenrod and Ecruteak are pretty much the same as before, with the Clefairy maze and having to be careful where you walk, respectively, but Azalea got a whole different puzzle that seems to involve riding on Spinaraks. ******** Spinaraks. I hate that Gym already.

Next up, a new set of mini games were unveiled. Collectively called the "Pokéthlon", they are nine touch screen-based mini games that are rumored to replace contests. So far, we know about four of the games. In Dash Hurtle, you control three Pokémon and have to have them jump over hurdles on a race track. In Bound Field, you control three Pokémon and have to have them jump on a giant moon bounce thing in order to touch as many lights as possible while avoiding landing on the other Pokémon. Shooting Snow is basically a giant snowball fight, and Ring-Out appears to be like Sumo wrestling, where Pokémon try to push each other out of a ring.

The info about the PokéWalker is actually pretty boring. Two PokéWalkers can connect with each other via infrared and send each other gifts, a la old school Mystery Gift, you can find rare items such as Rare Candy on the PW, and when battling a Pokémon, you now have the option to "Dodge" the wild Pokémon's attack. SNORE.

However, the PokéGear tidbits are better. Oh yeah, did I mention that the PokéGear, in all its glory, has been confirmed to return? Map, radio, phone, it's all there! And possibly more, too. Item Finder seems to be a part of the 'Gear now and has also been redesigned. It now employs the touch screen and can be used while walking. And probably some of the best news yet, but you now can have TWO REGISTERED ITEMS. No more having to switch between your bike and fishing rod; You can register them both! And it's also something to note that it appears that running is now activated/deactivated through the use of a button on the touch screen, but no one's quite sure of that yet.

Finally, we were also given a few scraps of info about some important Pokémon. The Red Gyarados will once again be throwing a fit in the middle of the Lake of Rage and will be found at level 30. Ho-Oh and Lugia will still be in the Tin Tower and Whirl Islands, respectively, and will be at level 45 (assumingly in their respective versions. Like, in HG Ho-Oh will be at 45 while Lugia's at a higher level, and visa versa in SS). The beast trio will be found at level 40, with at least Raikou and Entei as runners. The baby Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina you can receive from the Shinto Ruins event will know Metal Burst, Hydro Pump, and Shadow Sneak respectively. And the Notch-Eared Pichu you get from the Illex Forest event will be unable to evolve and cannot be traded, making it the most useless Pokémon ever.

In b4 Crys makes a return, too.

Click on the thumbnails to view the scans and screenshots. Sorry for the crappy scans. Also, here are some new Sugimori arts that I missed because no one reported them.

 

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Event Name: Get the Member Card, Find Darkrai!; TBA.
★ Location: Nintendo WiFi Connection.
★ Date: August 3rd, 2009 ~ September 13th, 2009; TBA.
★ Availability: Pokémon Platinum; Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum.

Oh wow, look! It's a non-HG/SS news post! Amazing! Anyway starting today, players of Pokémon Platinum who live in North America (and Australia, apparently) can download onto their games the elusive Key Item, Member's Pass. With it, one can visit the locked hotel in north Canalave and activate the event that allows you capture the New Moon Island Darkrai. This Darkrai is at Level 50 and is a royal b***h to catch.

But that's not all! Today, Pokémon.com revealed the existence of Arceus, much to the shock of everyone. Not only that, but they also acknowledged that Arceus would star in "the next Pokémon movie" (i.e. the 12th movie that premiered late last month in Japan), a future TCG expansion, and a future WiFi event, which would be open to Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. The rest of the event's details are unknown at this time.

I'm stunned! I didn't think Pokémon International would even touch Arceus until next year at the earliest. Good job, PI. Now give us better merchandise.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: HeartGold, SoulSilver.
★ Source: CoroCoro magazine.
★ Info Type: Locations, game mechanics, in-game events.


Stars, it's about time, huh? Anyway, this month's CoroCoro was released a few days earlier than usual, on the 11th instead of the 15th, and it's given us a ton of new information, from the long-awaited confirmation of Apricorns, to just what that place west of Cianwood is, and more. It's gonna be another long article.

First up, the apricorns! After months of speculation as to whether or not they'd be included, it was finally confirmed that they would be! And they will return to make all your favorite odd Pokéballs, from the Heavy Ball to the Moon Ball. But they also now have a secondary feature. With an item called the "Apricorn Shaker", you now can make "Aprijuice" as you walk around in-game, and this Aprijuice can be fed to your Pokémon to increase their Pokéthalon stats, much in the same manner that Poffins and PokéBlocks increased Contest stats.

But these new Apricorns come with a price. From the looks of things, all berry trees in Johto have been turned into Apricorn trees, meaning normal Berries, such as Oran and Pecha, will be much harder to come by. Are we wrong and will there be some rare berry trees? Or have berries been banished to their old FR/LG role? No one knows, but there is one spot of light in this dismal, fruity fate. Another new item, called the "Berry Planter" will allow players to plant and cultivate Berries on the go with four portable pots of loamy soil. So the berries aren't totally banished from existence like they are in FR/LG.

And speaking of the Pokéthalon, three new events were finally revealed: "Change Relay", "Push Circle", and "Block Break". With Change Relay, your Pokémon are running a race while dodging obstacles, but only one at a time, and when one Pokémon starts getting tired, you can switch them out for your next Pokémon. Push Circle sounds much harder, in that you once again control all three of your Pokémon, but against nine other opponents on a field a la Ring Out Fight, there are certain areas on the field, and it's your job to keep your Pokémon in these areas, and the other Pokémon out of them, as long as possible. Break Block is much easier, however. You once again control only one of your Pokémon at a time, and pretty much your goal is to karate chop as many cement blocks in half as possible before time runs out. Fun!

The last big bombshell that was dropped was the revelation that the weird area west of Cianwood is actually a Safari Zone. Yes, a Safari Zone. Why is there a Safari Zone on a backwater island in Johto? What about Fuchsia City's Safari Zone? It is all a mystery, but hey, at least now we have one working Safari Zone. However, that's not all. Apparently, we will also be given the ability to customize this Safari Zone to our liking, being able to chose the order of the six areas and what Pokémon can be found within them, as well as being able to send these customizations to friends. Yeah, that was totally out of left field. Not much else is known right now about this odd feature, but I'm sure it'll be cool, right? Right?

Anyway, the rest of the information was relatively small. Kanto's existence was once again reiterated, in case someone was in still in denial, and the PokéWalker's Yellow Forest event was clarified a little (but still, no new details were given). Johto's Battle Frontier was confirmed, but that's about all the info we got on that subject, and the National Park's Bug Catching Contest will a return, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday just like in the old days. The weather trio were also touched upon, but the only thing new we learned was that all three would be encountered at level 50. There was also a little footnote about how the dragon trio from the Shinto Ruins event will come with their respective Orb item, too.

Oh, and did I mention that it also confirmed that legendaries will be legal in the 2010 Pokémon Video Game Championships? Yeah, have fun with that one. Man the anti-Rain Dance teams!

Click on the thumbnails to view the full-page scans.

 

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: Melee! Pokemon Scramble.
★ Source: Nintendo of America.
★ Info Type: Localization.

Woah, I kept forgetting to report this one. I'll keep it short, since I know you guys want HG/SS information instead. But sometime last week at the Penny Arcade Expo, Nintendo of America announced its intent to bring over Melee! Pokemon Scramble to North American shores. Now under the moniker of "Pokémon Rumble", it will still retail for 1500 points ($15), but a release date, even a general one, is still unknown at this time.

Damnit, what is up with guilds suddenly not wanting to imgleft/imgright pictures? I am displeased!  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: HeartGold, SoulSilver.
★ Source: Live coverage, 2ch.
★ Info Type: Launch, in-game info, minute details.


No, I refuse to stop imglefting stuff. ******** you, GGN. Anyway, it's that day, guys! It's the official HeartGold and SoulSilver launch in Japan! Figures show that most of the first shipment of games has been claimed by pre-orders, which is quite astonishing. Unfortunately, the launch is getting ignored due to the fact that yesterday the ROMs of the game were leaked and spread. The day or so prior to that, an anonymous girl on Japan's 2ch message board somehow managed to get a hold of SoulSilver and was posting up pictures and whatnot.

But anyway, what have we learned now that we've gotten our hands on the games and their ROMs? Why, a metric ********, that's what! No really, I'm serious. I mean, we know so much stuff, there's no way I can hope to summarize it all for you guys. The best I can do is give you guys some huge basics.

First up, HERE are all 493 Pokémon sprites. HERE are all the Trainer class sprites. And HERE are all the move changes and junk. The Gymleaders' and Elite 4's rosters and levels are pretty much untouched, but you can rebattle them and holy ********. They are no pushovers. Even Faulkner will kick your pansy a** if you're not careful. The Team Rocket Executives' names are Lance, Athena, Lambda, and Apollo. They are named after actual types of Rockets, and no, pink-haired Lance is not an Executive and only Athena is a chick; Johto is the land of feminine men. Once you get all sixteen badges, Oak gives you a Kanto starter, and Steven Stone gives you a Hoenn starter in Celadon. Which one are both your choice. Oh yeah, Steven Stone makes a cameo. Crasher Wake makes a cameo, too. Dear stars, what the hell is with these cameos?

The Viridian Forest has been restored (kinda), but Mt. Moon and Cinnabar Island are still pitiful/destroyed. There's a point in the Goldenrod City Radiotower takeover arc that makes you dress up like a Rocket Grunt. There are several "photo op" areas all around Johto and Kanto where you can have your picture taken with your Pokémon and said pictures will be put into a photo album in your PC. Yes, it's a completely random and useless feature as far as we know. Mewtwo and the Kanto birds are 100% confirmed, as are the Latis. But the Latis are version exclusive: Latios is in SoulSilver, and Latias is in HeartGold. Once you collect all 16 badges, there's a dude in the manion at Celadon City, on the third floor, who'll give you an item called the GB Player. What does it do? It reverts ALL the music back to the original GSC tunes. Holy crap.

There's a ton more, but you'll have to read the news sites. I'd suggest Serebii and PokéBeach  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Event Name: Oak's Letter.
★ Location: Nintendo WiFi Connection.
★ Date: September 28th, 2009 ~ November 8th, 2009.
★ Availability: Pokémon Platinum.

Whoa, news? Really? Yeah, sorry, I got lazy about reporting this one. But anyway, for, like, a month, Oak's Letter is downloadable via WFC, and is only available to Pokémon Platinum. Now, if you don't know, Oak's Letter is the Key Item you need in order to catch the in-game Shaymin. Once you pick up the Letter and make your way to Route 224 (it's a pain in the a**, bring lots of Hyper Potions), Oak will tell you about the White Stone there, Marley wanders in and mutters to herself about flowers, you get to write something on the stone, there's a flash, and Shaymin appears. Seabreak Path is now open, and it's the longest route in the game. Have fun.

Shaymin will be at level 30 when you finally get to it in Flower Paradise.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Name: PokéPark Wii - Pikachu's Great Adventure (ポケパークWii ピカチュウの大冒険)
★ Type: Spin-off most likely.
★ Generation: 4th.
★ Platform: Nintendo Wii.
★ Launch Date: Unknown at this time.

Last month, Famitsu magazine had an interview with Tsunekaz Ishihara, the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, in which Mr. Tsunekaz stated that his company was working on a new Wii game. He couldn't give out any details past that, but the other day, after Nintendo held a news conference for retailers about upcoming games and whatnot, a Japanese blog leaked a few details about this game.

Aside from giving us its name, the blog also states that it is an action/adventure game and looks to be pretty much a collection of mini games. Such mini games include going around to the various attractions at the PokéPark and helping out at them. No, really. There's no word yet on how this game will be delivered, but chances are it'll be WiiWare.

What an exciting game.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Game For: HeartGold, SoulSilver.
★ Source: Nintendo of America press release.
★ Info Type: Launch date.


Wow, I've been slacking, haven't I? Well, it's not really my fault. News has been insanely slow. All there's been is Pikachu's Great Adventure and that s**t sucks hardcore. Pokémon Rumble got released last month, too, and it's pretty fun. Worth $15, though? No way. You're better off just downloading the demo and playing that over and over again. Anyway, the REAL news story: Nintendo of America has finally released the North American launch date for HeartGold and SoulSilver! And what's that date?

March 14th, 2010.

The date was leaked earlier this week when Amazon.com updated their HG/SS listings first with the date, then with the official boxart as seen on the left. And then today in a press release for Quarter 1 2010 game releases, NoA confirmed it as being official. No word yet, however, on whether or not anywhere outside of Japan will get the beautiful pre-order bonus figures, but I will hurt someone if we don't.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Name: Pokémon Ranger: Tracks of Light (ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡).
★ Type: Spin-off.
★ Generation: 4th.
★ Platform: Nintendo DS.
★ Launch Date: March 6th, 2010.

This month's issue of CoroCoro has leaked onto the internet early this week (as always) and has revealed that a new installment in the Pokémon Ranger series will be released. Just what everyone wanted, right? Titled Pokémon Ranger: Tracks of Light, it takes place in a an island chain-based region called Oblivia and your partner Pokémon is a ukulele-carrying Pichu. Not making this up.

The game introduces a few new features, including the ability to ride certain legendary Pokémon and something called "Ranger Sign", which allows players to draw certain signs to summon certain Pokémon to help aid in capturing other Pokémon. The game also supports multi-player mode and like its predecessors, features a downloadable mission, this time showcasing Deoxys.

Terrific.  

[[Philosophy In A Teacup]]

★ Names: Pokémon Black Version; Pokémon White Version.
★ Type: Main game.
★ Generation: 5th.
★ Platform: Nintendo DS.
★ Launch Date: Fall 2010.


While both the April 11th episode of Pokémon★SUNDAY and the April 15th issue of CoroCoro Magazine promised to reveal the first details about the fabled 5th generation games, Pokemon.Co.Jp neat them all to the punch just minutes ago and launched the official website for the new pair of games. And what does this site reveal? Only the names and logos of the latest installment of the beloved Pocket Monsters franchise.

Please welcome, Pokémon Black and Pokémon White!

More details to come this Saturday night at about 9/10 pm EST, and then next Thursday, possibly earlier, given the tradition of CoroCoro leaks.