Pokémon Diamond / Pearl

[Nick]

Allo the cool kids are playing Pogs.

[Salka]

DUDES I FOUND THE BEST THING EVER

http://physics.webplasma.com/pokemon/pika.html

VINTAGE.

[Roderick]

Ohh man yeah, I have that episode aboard the St. Anne on DVD. Team Rocket is awesome in the first season. Fun stuff.

Also, I started arranging all my Pokemon cards finally, putting them in a neat binder. And I discover I'm having a blast going through all those cards again, so tonight I'm heading to the local game shoppe to trade some doubles for ones I don't have yet. Awesome. I'll be like a pead, standing among young kids with cards 'trading' with them.

They'll probably outsmart me.

[vimes]

I don't think pokemon card are that hip anymore, are they?

[Salka]

oomfg rodi lol POKEMON cards?!? hahaha LAME

[Roderick]

I just came back and NO ONE HAD CARDS. It was all Magic this Magic that, but Magic cards don't have Pokémon on them goddammit.

Now how am I supposed to trade my doubles?

[DanJW]

Use a biro and write "swarm of" before the pokemon's name. Then trade for Magic.

[brkl]

I don't know you people.

[JoannaDark]

I never would have thought Pokemon divided opinions so vociferously...I had red. my boyfriend gave it to me before my leaving cert (irish sats/a levels) and to this day i remember sweating with panic in my irish oral when all i could think about was "squirtle, squirtle"

Anyway point being maybe this kinda game just appeals to a certain type of person. that is all. i really liked wrestlevania's explanation of its appeal.

[Moosferatu]

Anyone else fucking hate Zubat?

What are you guys' teams like? I just finished the bit where I got Dialga, and I'm currently primarily using Luxray, Empoleon, and Garchomp. I used to use Skuntank, but I replaced him when I got Gible. I have a Bibarel for Surfing, Strength, Rock Smash, and Rock Climbing, and a Noctowl for Flying and Defoging. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with the original pokemon selection. There's so much water and grass, and so many freaking Zubats and Geodudes. argh! Also, I want my Hypno.

[miffy495]

Anyone else fucking hate Zubat?

What are you guys' teams like? I just finished the bit where I got Dialga, and I'm currently primarily using Luxray, Empoleon, and Garchomp. I used to use Skuntank, but I replaced him when I got Gible. I have a Bibarel for Surfing, Strength, Rock Smash, and Rock Climbing, and a Noctowl for Flying and Defoging. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with the original pokemon selection. There's so much water and grass, and so many freaking Zubats and Geodudes. argh! Also, I want my Hypno.

Wow, for someone who hasn't played since Blue, that was a fucking surreal read. Well done, sir. Consider my mind blown and my face a permanent until I have a chance to get a copy on DS.

[Moosferatu]

Yeah, I haven't played since Blue either.

[Aussie Ben]

My final Elite Four lineup consisted of Torterra, Infernape (the starter I selected), Luxray, Alakazam (the highest levelled up one in the team, at 61), Staraptor, and Manaphy (which I've fittingly named "Cashgrab", because you can only get it if you play all the way through Pokemon Ranger). He does rock though - that Tail Glow move jacks up the Special Attack and causes special moves to become devestating.

Now I've moved onto the part of the game I really love - the whole "catching 'em all" bit. The fighting's never really done it for me, it just ends up being something I have to do to collect the rest, so I do it. According to the special Pokedex, I've seen 323 Pokemon, and Obtained 254 - so I'm a little over halfway there. While I was on the train home from work, I encountered a blue Voltorb, which had these sparkles all over it when it appeared. So I caught that too, and apparently it's really rare. So, hooray for that.

I don't know about anyone else playing, but I really think that this one has got a LOT of forced attempts at trying to shoehorn in catch phrases and internet slang. Loads of people call you "newbs", go on about "owning" you, the "massive damage" line made its way in, but it is done in such a clumsy ungraceful way that it's obvious it was done so that the localisers could say "Hey we did it!". (Contact did a much better job of it, because it actually made sense contextually, rather than just being band-aided on top of an existing conversation.) Another one is "This burns me up to eleven!" when you defeat some trainer. It just all feels really clumsy and forced. I mean, I'm not exactly playing Pearl for the stellar dialogue, but seeing one clunky line after another doesn't help.

Hooray for the internet, where I can complain about the most minor things ever!

[miffy495]

Alright, so I get paid Friday and am getting one of the new Pokemon games. Guide my decision, Thumbs! Diamond or Pearl? What will I be playing in a few days time?

[Aussie Ben]

After purchasing Pearl, I found out that all the cool kids were playing Diamond. Diamond seems to be more popular because it doesn't have a pink-themed cover. Thusly, if you buy Pearl, it should be easier for you to get the Pokemon you don't have on your version, because there's a larger amount of Diamonds out there compared to Pearls.

I called my Rival Odlaw!

[miffy495]

Pearl it is. I enjoy messing with my EB clerk anyway. I don't really look like the type of guy you expect to see buying a pink sparkly game. The look on the dude's face when I bought Gears of War and Viva Pinata at the same time was brilliant. Unpredictable buying habits ftw!

[miffy495]

OK, so I jumped the gun by a day and bought Pearl. I decided to go with the little water-penguin thing, mostly based on cuteness. Sorry, haven't played enough to remember its name yet. Pippup or something. Couple of questions from someone who hasn't played for 9-ish years:

I've noticed that all the pokemon I catch so far are gendered. Does the gender effect anything? I remember the evolution path for Nidoran changing based on whether you caught the male or female in Blue, does that still hold?

Also, Aussie Ben, you have the top evolved version of two of the starter pokemon in your party. How'd you swing that? Will there be a chance to grab the ones that I didn't take later on, a la Pokemon Yellow, or did you just luck in with a trade from someone? While my super-evolved death penguin will undoubtedly be cool, I wouldn't mind a fire throwing monkey or giant fucking island either.

[Aussie Ben]

Gender was introduced in Gold/Silver. Basically, nearly all Pokemon are assigned a gender, meaning that you can breed 'em. This will come in handy later if you want to trade a Pokemon you have but don't have a second one of it - you can breed a second one and trade the baby. The general rule of thumb for breeding is that if the pair will mate, the offspring will be the same as the female of the pair. So if you have a male Pikachu and a female Geodude mating (this may be completely impossible, I don't know), the resulting baby would be a Geodude, not a Pikachu. It's more in-depth than that, but that's the basics.

I was tricky with my Pokemon. I bought two copies of the game because my friend at work wanted a copy too. So, I bought them both for us, used his copy to farm the starters over to mine, and then gave him his copy. I did (of course!) ask if this was okay before I did it. The response I got was basically 'fire away'.

I can certainly help you out with Pokemon you're missing - also, the Global Trade System helps loads, but unfortunately there's a lot of idiots out there asking for "LEVEL 100 INFERNAPE TO TRADE FOR LEVEL 2 MAGIKARP" and there's no way to filter shit like that out. But it can help you get what you need.

Oh yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about in the second last panel.

[miffy495]

I see. Well, if you've got someone specific you've arranged the trade with beforehand, I guess I could picture the trade thing working out. At least there's no more fucking around with link cables.

For my purposes though, I don't know if that would work. Ideally, I'd want to get my hands on the early form of the starter pokemon and level the bastards myself. I like the chance to have them when they're still small and cute before they become giant monsters of badassery.

The Bidoof panel did get a chuckle out of me. I'm working the bugger up myself right now trying to get a decent team going. I'm just starting, so I just have 5 pokemon right now and I'm trying to keep them all at the same level. Right now, that level is 7, and Bidoof is taking her sweet fucking time getting there.

Also, you can force a geodude to mate with a pikachu? That's messed up, man.

EDIT: my god, I've become one of them

[Aussie Ben]

Nice beret. =)

Oh! Also, when you mate Pokemon, the offspring goes back to the lowest initial evolutionary form. So you'd get all the joy of seeing your cute turtle baby turn into a TREE CONTINENT MONSTER.

[miffy495]

Wait, so someone could make a geodude fuck a tree continent monster and simply trade me the offspring of their unholy union? I may actually have a shot at raising all different types of those little fuckers without someone else being deprived of the opportunity?

Except: My death penguin is male. Are all starters male, or is it randomized? How many people would actually have a tree continent monster capable of producing little new ones? For that matter, what about the fire monkeys? Can you sometimes have the offspring be the same species as the father? I may need to go check a FAQ on this.

EDIT: I did check a FAQ. For others who didn't know, anything that fucks a Ditto, regardless of its gender, will produce that, as a Ditto cannot be bred. Or something. The gist of it was, "have it fuck a Ditto." The exact mechanics of it are beyond my understanding.

I can't stop laughing at the absurdity of these sentences as I write them. The looks my roommate is giving me as I'm giggling incessantly across the room fill me with shame.

[JoannaDark]

I can't stop laughing at the absurdity of these sentences as I write them. The looks my roommate is giving me as I'm giggling incessantly across the room fill me with shame.

ha, my entire lab room have had a little giggle at that.

Pokemon pearl released ireland 22nd july! i hate this country!

[Aussie Ben]

My friend and I have been giggling immaturely at making an army of Jynx (you all remember Jynx, don't you), sending them all across the world called "Your Mom". Hee hee!

Oh Pokemon, it's good to be back.

Also: THE FUTURE IS NOW - I finally managed to trade some Pokemon with Moos. Hooray for technology! And fluctuating time zones!