Everything Old Is New

Right in the feels.

How I Will Meet My Soulmate (According to Buzzfeed)

Totally reminds me of Pokeshipping.

 #SorryNotSorry

GSD Family Tree (Part II)

Allon = first well-known trainer from Pallet
Theodore = Oak patriarch
Abel = mayor of Pallet
Theodore = headmaster of Pallet's postal service
Samuel = researcher/professor
Robin = Sam's wife, Gary's grandma; met Sam in university
Reed = their only son; works for Silph Co.
Kathy = Reed's wife, Gary's mom; also works for Silph

Reed and Kathy basically dump Gary with Samuel and don't spend much time visiting him as they travel a lot for their jobs.

GSD Family Tree

Katherine = Marcellus' second wife; genius but often unethical scientist
Petrea = their daughter, who chases after a boy from an odd family
Minerva = Madame Boss, founder of Team Rocket and Giovanni's mother; connected to Samuel Oak
Devon = from Pallet; returns from Almia, marries Melia, and disappears on a journey
Melia = Delia's mother; opens the Pallet House and dies while Delia is with Team Rocket
Misty et al's parents = former gym leaders who died in Sinnoh when Misty was young
Tivoli = Tracey's father, who lives in the Orange Islands
Emi = Tracey's sister who adores him and lives with their dad

You Know You Have a Problem When...

...your younger brother asks you to help with a science video, and your response is, "You're ruining my Pokemon experience" just because you are watching, finally, the Pokemon Origins English sub videos on YouTube.

Almost as bad as when your mom is making dinner and the only reason you quit playing Pokemon X is that your 3DS's battery is on red. And you're 27.

And these both happened within the last 24 hours.

I need to get into grad school soooo bad.

Pokemon X Team

Thus far, at almost eight hours into the game and with only one badge so far though I have reached the next gym, this is my team:

Froakie (female, level 23) (water)
     water pulse
     round
     bubble
     quick attack

Pikachu (female, level 22) (electric)
     thunder wave
     thundershock
     quick attack
     electro ball

Charmander (male, level 23) (fire)
     scratch
     dragon rage
     ember
     smokescreen

Pancham (female, level 20) (fighting)
     slash
     karate chop
     arm thrust
     work up

 Fletchling (male, level 24) (normal/flying)
     roost
     agility
     flail
     peck

Tyrunt (male, level 21) (rock/dragon)
     bide
     stealth rock
     bite
     charm

I just turned my jaw fossil into Tyrunt aka REX, but I like his moves, stats, and types so I switched him into rotation and took Torchic (male, level 25) out. I didn't need two fire types at this point, and he was growing too fast and outclassing the others big time since he was a gift from Nintendo.

So yeah. Not that anyone cares, but I want to record my journey this time around.

GS Distress Timeline (Minor Spoilers)

1943 Marcellus Hakubi, Minerva Sakaki, Samuel Oak, Robin Melia, Devon Ketchum born

1954 Miyamoto born

1959 Samuel enters Celadon University early

1962 Samuel obtains undergrad degree; begins graduate studies

         Marcellus Hakubi transfers from uni in Sinnoh to Celadon

         Minerva starts there as well

         Sam, Marcellus, Robin, and Minerva become friends

1964 Marcellus and Minerva marry

         Giovanni Sakaki-Hakubi born

1965 Marcellus graduates while Minerva drops out; they start a
         business

         Sam and Robin marry

         Devon Ketchum returns to Pallet and marries Melia

1966 Reed Oak born

         Delia Ketchum

1967 Marcellus leaves his family and returns to Sinnoh

         Minerva takes on alias of Madame Boss and founds Team
         Rocket

         Samuel becomes a doctor in his field

1971 Miyamoto joins Team Rocket

1975 Jessie born to Miyamoto, James to wealthy family

1980 Mewtwo project begins as quest for Mew; GS Ball commissioned

         Liz's father, part of TR, meets her mother

1981 Miyamoto goes missing; Jessie is put into foster care

1982 Delia begins studying under Professor Oak

         Brock Slate, Tracey Sketchit born

1984 While doing research, Delia meets Giovanni, joins Team Rocket

         Liz's father quits

1985 Liz born; her mother dies shortly after

         Gio and Delia become engaged; shes leaves him and returns to
         Pallet

         Madame Boss retires, leaving TR to her son, who becomes
         Viridian's gym leader

1986 Misty born; Gary Oak born (April)

         Ash Ketchum born (May 22)

1987 Robin Oak dies, leaving Sam in a depression; his lab suffers

1990 Liz's father murdered to frame Giovanni; MB steps in to prevent
         this and arranges for Liz to be raised by Johto family

         Daisy, Violet, Lily, and Misty's parents die in accident in Sinnoh

1993 Jessie and James join TR, meet Meowth

1996 Tracey leaves home to become a watcher

         Brock becomes the Pewter gym leader when his mom leaves
         and his dad becomes a hobo

         Misty obtains her trainer's license but doesn't leave home yet

1997 Ash, Gary, and two other trainers from Pallet receive their
         licenses, leave Pallet

         Ash meets Pikachu, Misty, Team Rocket, and Brock (April)

1998 Ash earns his final badge (April)

         Ash comes in the Top 16 at the Indigo Conference (June)

         Ash, Misty, and Brock leaves for the Orange Islands; Brock
         stays with Prof. Ivy

         Ash and Misty meet Tracey and Lapras

         Ash becomes the Orange League Champion (October)

         Ash, Misty, and Tracey return to Pallet with the GS Ball

         GSD events occur

1999 Gary competes in Johto at the Silver Conference, quits training
         to do research (June)

         Misty's sisters leave on a cruise; she becomes gym leader

2000 The sisters return, but only Daisy helps out around the gym

         Tracey and Daisy begin dating

         Max Sakaki and Abby of TR begin a journey in Johto

2001 Brock decides to pursue a career in Pokemon medicine

         Max, using an alias, competes in the Silver Conference (June)

2002 Max competes in Hoenn at the Ever Grande Conference;
         recalled to TR base for more training (June)

         Cerulean Gym obtains distinction as top-rated gym in Kanto

2003 Gary stays in Cerulean while he investigates declining number
         of water Pokemon off of the cape; he and Misty fight but
         form a strange friendship; he leaves for Sinnoh

2004 Neo comes to Madame Boss and they hatch a plan (January)

         GSD II events occur (April)

         Marcellus and Giovanni decide to work out father/son
         relationship

         Gio and Delia decide to work on their relationship

         Ash refuses Gio's tries but forgives his mother, begins seeing a
         doctor for his split mental personalities

         Ash finds out that his league record as Max is under review

         Tracey begins seeing Zoe

(next 3 months...)

         Ash reconnects with his old Pokemon and gets closer to Misty,
         who stays in Pallet

         Gary leaves for Sinnoh

         Ash trains often and hard

         Ash's record is cleared, and his achievements stand (July)

         Ash, Misty, Tracey, and Zoe leave for Sinnoh

         LIH series occurs

Memories and Pokemon

I have quite a few of these that are tied together, but the first that occurs to me is simple.

My mom and dad owned a condo in my hometown where they lived before they decided to have me. They moved to a house about seven months before I was born and rented out the condo. I remember one time my brother and me going with them to clean up the place after some particularly messy tenants (read: they were white trash pigs) left. We found cock roaches everywhere, and thus was born a stereotype about such arthropods that would last for years.

Then, when I was thirteen I guess my dad was helping my mom with some other tenants after he got off work and while she was still busy with hers (they were divorced by then, too). All I remember is playing in the grass with my other toys and thinking about the AWESOME toys he bought for me. An early victim of Pokemon and the obsession with Japan, I had found these human Pokemon figure sets straight from Japan.

Ash and Misty
Jessie and James
Brock and Nurse Joy

All were $25 a pop...and he got me all three just because I asked him to. Because he was trying to be the best dad ever. And you know what? Now that I think about it, he was pretty good. He got me a Furby (that I didn't even want...), Pokemon toys from Burger King along with Toy Story ones years before, bought me most of my Blue Gender DVD collection.

He did a lot besides buy me stuff, but this is where my mind goes when I think about him sometimes. Often he wasn't there for me emotionally, but he tried on many other levels that I often overlook.

He took me to the orthodontist often. He took  me and my best bud to see the first Pokemon flick. He stood inline for toys he thought would mean so much to me. He helped me ditch school sometimes.

So I guess I mean this partly as a tribute to my dad and what I think about when I remember my early obsession with Pocket Monsters.

So, I love you, Dad.

And I'll keep trying to catch them all.

(Pokemon! Oh, you're my best friend in a world I must defend.)

Starters

Pokemon starters by generation:

Gen 1: Charmander (Red); Bulbasaur (Blue); Pikachu (Yellow)
Gen 2: Totodile (Silver)
Gen 3: Charmander (FireRed); none for R/S/E
Gen 4:  Chimchar (Platinum); Cyndaquil (SoulSilver)
Gen 5: Oshawott (Black); Tepig (White)

Squirtle?!?

Pokemon Comment Win

Commented on this video.

Pretty Much (Comment Win)

Trainer Card

I Want to Be the Very Best

Red Team (2010)
Pre-Rare Candy glitch, post Elite Four

Pikachu 48
Dugtrio 47
Pidgeot 44
Bulbasaur 45
Lapras 43
Venomoth 51

Pokedex: 54
Time: 29:54

What Kind of Pokemon Are You?

Multiverse theory, creation, and gods

Multiverse theory, creation, and gods

Pokemon: Arceus was born from an egg and created the universe and all Pokemon according to Sinnoh legend.

Zelda: The goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore created Hyrule and possibly the entire world Hyrule is in.

Termina: It is unknown who created the parallel world, but Four Giants protect it from evil when they are summoned.

Dragonball: Again, there is no legend of creation, but the Kais have been around in various forms and power levels for millions of years.

Tenchi: No specific creation event is mentioned. However, the Chousin/goddesses Washu, Tsunami, and Tokimi were "born" having ultimate power. They manipulate many things in this universe.

Earth/Real World: If one is to consider scientific findings the canon of this universe, then there is no agreement on a creator/creation event though the universe is billions old and is described in too much depth to summarize here.

The RW, Tenchi, and DB universes are probably about the same age while Zelda and Pokemon, at least according to their various legends, are younger. In our epic, then, not all creation events/beginnings were at the same time. They were born out of each other, which is why they are connected but still separate. This leads to the possibility that there is one or more ultimate beings above the multiverse that each universe's gods would bow down to.

There are special people who are allowed to travel between universes. Examples of this include the Happy Mask Salesman Link encounters in Hyrule and Termina and Neo, who encounters Giovanni in the Pokemon world and Ash and Co. in Hyrule. Skull Kid and Link could also be ones, but this is unconfirmed as they are only known to go between Hyrule and Termina, which already have a close connection. The same is true of Exzavier, but this can also be explained by his great power due to his parentage. Although the HMS's possession of a Mario mask is an in-game nod to the Mario franchise, for our purposes this only shows that he has been to that universe.

The question then arises why these people exist. The answer is they have no purpose. They just are there, and they do what ever they want to for what ever purposes they want.

A Common Theme

So I have been playing Pokemon Red lately, and before that I was playing FireRed from the point I stopped (sixth badge, Fuschia City). Then I thought of something. My teams are very similar in both, even though I started and played them six years apart.

Red
Pikachu, level 43
Pidgeot, level 42
Lapras, level 38
Hitmonchan, level 39
Dugtrio, level 45
Bulbasaur, level 42

FireRed
Pikachu, level 43
Pidgeot, level 46
Lapras, level 39
Hitmonhcan, level 41
Geodude, level 38
Charmander, level 49

I'll spread my wings and fly

"Home will always be here unseen, out of sight
Where I disappear and hide
I daydream of things as I'm waving goodbye
So I'll spread out my wings and fly

I'll spread my wings and fly..."

Since I have recently kind of become obsessed with Pokemon again, this part of "Umbrella Beach" by Owl City reminds me of Ash. At the end of every region, he goes back home to rest and figure out what to do next. He knows his mom and the professor and his Pokemon will always be there waiting for him. Then he sets out again to continue on, always looking forward to reaching his goal and the battles along the way. The spreading wings part is like he's growing up and making his own way, establishing a name for himself (even though according to canon he is still 10 after 13 years).

Anyway, just wanted to put that out there.

Of Pokemon and New Generations

So recently I have been into Pokemon again. I bought Platinum and Soul Silver before my renewed interest in the anime, but it took my original Red losing all of its data to spark this. My brother replaced the button battery (a 2032 in Energizer terms for those who need to know). Since school ended for fall term, I have put in 10 hours (1 weeks' time) on doing the quest on Red again. Currently I just beat Giovanni at Silph Company. I still do like Pokemon. I just do not like the newer generations as much.

The reason for this is because they are just pumping it out for money now. The old days were still new and exciting. Yes, the original saga in the anime was there to promote the games, but the Orange Islands league was free from this. Even Kanto and Johto were not as structured while they were promoting the games. As I read somewhere, OI gave the writers freedom, and they expanded on it. There was tons of romance (this was the pinnacle of Pokeshipping/Ash and Misty). Brock was gone (I grew to like him, but Tracey is still my fave). Yeah, Tracey was a replacement made to look as Anglo as possible since the anime was spreading to the West, but I liked him better. He was a Pokeshipper, and he was funny. Even the movie that happened in this saga (The Power of One/Pokemon 2000/Pokeshipping the Movie) was good as I previously blogged about. It had a good lesson. Team Rocker succeeded at being good (what they're best at if they would just leave the team and go their own way together). And Ash was not the only one to have a part. Tracey was kind of forgotten, but Misty and the new girl Melody were major players. Plus you finally learned the two prof's and his mom's first names, and they all were supporting characters, not just background noise.

For me, the "filler saga" was the best. It still had story that was not all game-oriented. I say this as someone who has not watched much Advanced Generation and only catches Diamond and Pearl when it's on CN in the morning and I am actually awake. I just can't get my enthusiasm up to play through Platinum. I've had that game for almost a year and have only gotten one badge and five Pokemon. I'm halfway through Red, which I booted up in August. Guess nostalgia wins for me on this.

But one look at Gen V... *sigh*

All I can say is: though, I may buy Black and/or White, the original was the best (plus a little Johto).

If Only Tears Could Bring You Back

--Midnight Sons (Pokemon The First Movie Soundtrack)

How will I start
Tomorrow without you here
Who's heart will guide me
When all the answers disappear

Is it too late
Are you too far gone to stay
This one's forever
Should never have to go away

What will I do
You know I'm only half without you
How will I make it through

If only tears could bring you back to me
If only love could find a way
What I would do, what I would give
If you returned to me someday
Somehow, someway
If my tears could bring you back to me

I'd cry you an ocean
If you'd sail on home again
Waves of emotion
Will carry you, I know they can

Just love will guide you
And your heart will chart the course
Soon you'll be drifting
Into the arms of your true north

Look in my eyes
And you will see a million tears have gone by
And still they're not dry

If only tears could bring you back to me
If only love could find a way
What I would do, what I would give
If you returned to me someday
Somehow, someway
If my tears could bring you back to me

I hold you close
And shout the words I only whispered before
For one more chance, for one last dance
There's not a thing I would not endure

If only tears could bring you back to me
If only love could find a way
What I would do, what I would give
If you returned to me someday
Somehow, someway
If my tears could bring you back to me