Welcome back to Pokémon Black. When we left off, we had just beaten the first Gym and received the Trio Badge. Then when we left the Gym, we were greeted by Professor Juniper’s friend Fennel. Fennel is also a Pokémon Scientist and is currently in the middle of researching Pokémon dreams. To do that she needs us to head out into the Dreamyard and track down a Pokémon known as Munna. This little pink Pokémon gives off a “Dream Mist” which is vital for Fennel’s research. So off we go to the Dreamyard.

We had already visited the dream yard once before, this is where we got our Panpour, but at the time we couldn’t properly explore the area. Now that we have our first badge, we can teach HM 01 Cut to one of our Pokémon to cut down the tree blocking the entrance. However, I wouldn’t exactly call this a safe place for children to be hanging out. It’s clearly the remains of a now dilapidated old building. We don’t have to come here alone though, Bianca is quick to join our hunt for the Munna and help out Fennel as well.

However, things quickly turn bad when we hear the troubled cries of a nearby Pokémon. Turns out we’re not the only ones looking for the Dream Mist. A pair of Team Plasma Grunts are here too and they’re beating up on a Munna to force out some of its Dream Mist. We can’t just let this go on. Sure, battling Pokémon might not be the nicest thing to do with them, but straight out beating them up is just cruel. The grunts are weaklings, and go down without much trouble, but the weirdest thing happens after that. Out of nowhere their leader Ghetsis shows up and starts lecturing them. Not only that, but he starts teleporting around them. Now terrified of their own leader, the Grunts run off trying to gather up a good enough excuse to avoid punishment.

Now that the Munna is safe, it is joined by what I presume to be its mother, a Musharna. The Musharna comforts the injured Munna and the two float off together. Left behind however, no doubt as a thank you present, is some Dream Mist we’ve been looking for. Fennel is quick to arrive and retrieve the Dream Mist, having done no work herself, but she invites us back to her lab to see the good results. Of course, I need to catch a Munna for myself while I’m here, it just seems like it would be a good idea to have one. Before we leave, I would like to comment on the backwards tactics of Team Plasma so far. They were preaching that Pokémon are unhappy being slaves, but then we see them literally punching and kicking a baby Pokémon to get an item from it. Maybe some Pokémon are unhappy with their trainers, but I’m pretty sure all Pokémon are unhappy being punched and kicked. Furthermore, for driving away Team Plasma, that same Pokémon willingly gave to me that same item they were punching and kicking it for. Some people are just hypocrites I guess.

Back in Fennel’s lab, she rewards us with a C-Gear, which is a device used to interact with other real world players. She also grants us access to the Entralink and by extension the Dream World. Unfortunately, the Dream World services are no longer supported because the servers have been taken down. However it was an amazing feature at the time. You could put your Pokémon to sleep and enter their dreams. Then by logging onto the Pokémon Dream World website, you could play minigames online to win items and even catch Pokémon. The best part was that you could then send those items and Pokémon back to your game. This was an amazing feature that let you catch a wide variety of Pokémon that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to catch during normal play.

Another great thing about the Pokémon Dream World was that you could have your own berry garden there to grow and harvest as many berries as you wanted. This was a great feature at the time, and is especially devastating now that the services are no longer supported. Without the Dream World, there is now nowhere to grow berries in Pokémon Black and White. This isn’t a huge problem, but if you read my Pokémon Journals for Pokémon Diamond, you already know that I love having a healthy supply of Leppa Berries on hand. I’ll just have to make do without them this time I guess.

With nothing more to do here in Striaton City, we head north towards Route 3. Here we encounter the Pokémon Daycare which has been a staple of the series since the very first game. Here you can leave your Pokémon and have them gain experience and levels while you’re out exploring. More importantly, this is where you can breed Pokémon to get more of them. Some people would even go so far as to try to breed the statistically best Pokémon possible, mostly for competitive playing. I however am unconcerned with such things. I play for fun and that’s it. I don’t need to waste hours and hours breeding the “Best” Pokémon. I’m happy getting the best I can out of the Pokémon I already have.

Tepig	Cheren	Purrloin
Level: 14		Level:12

Anyway, after a few battles with the preschoolers (don’t judge me), we’re once again challenged by Cheren. He just won his Trio Badge as well and wants to show off how much stronger he has become. So it looks like we’re going to have yet another rematch with him already. What is this, our 3rd battle with him already? Whatever, if he wants another beating, who am I to tell him no. He has gotten a bit stronger, but not significantly. He also still only has two Pokémon. How he managed to beat the Gym leader is a complete mystery to me.

As soon as I beat Cheren for the 3rd time, a pair of Team Plasma Grunts rush past us. Following close behind them are Bianca and a young girl. Apparently the Plasma Grunts stole the girl’s Pokémon and ran off with it. Cheren is quick to chase after them, and it looks like I’ll have to follow him. Together we chase them into the Wellspring Cave and corner them. Now Cheren and I fight together for once in a doubles match to teach those grunts some manners.

Together, we’re virtually unstoppable against those grunts and we quickly rescue the stolen Pokémon. After returning it to the little girl, we can finally continue our journey towards Nacrene City. Along the way we’re introduced to another great addition to the Pokémon series, dark grass. In dark grass there is a possibility of random double battles. I love this idea, the doubles battles are such a great concept, and they make training go twice as fast.

And so we finally make it to Nacrene City, the “City of Art”. Here many of the buildings are actually repurposed warehouses, and it is this unique cityscape that draws the attention of many artist types to the city. While exploring the new town, I learn pretty much the only thing I’m interested in, and that’s information on this town’s Gym. Apparently the leader of the Nacrene Gym specializes in Normal Type Pokémon. That means I won’t have any special type advantages with any of my Pokémon and I’ll just have to overpower them. As it is, I don’t think I can do that, so I’m going to end this journal here so I can go level up my party.

So thank you for reading this far. Be sure to join me next time when we face off against the Nacrene City Gym.

Current Team:

Snivy	Lillipup	Pidove
Level: 15	Level: 15	Level: 14
Roggenrola	Purrloin	Munna
Level: 14	Level: 13	Level: 13

Play Time: 4h 20m

Badges: 1

Pokédex Entries: 16

Time again for the Pokémon art gallery! There’s only one again this time. working with the paint is a lot different than the pens, and it’s taking me longer to get it to look good.

This time we did Chandelure the Fire / Ghost type Pokémon which resembles a Chandelier. This Pokémon is actually kind of creepy. The Pokédex entries state that the flames it burns are actually fueled by souls, and that all the souls it burns lose their way and are forced to wander the world forever.

 

 

Welcome to another one of my Pokémon adventures! I took a much longer brake than I meant to since my last adventure ended, and now I have doubts I can meet my original goal of beating all the main series games from generation IV onwards by the end of the year. But that’s ok, adventures aren’t supposed to have time limits. You’re supposed to enjoy it for however long it lasts, and I intend to do just that. Anyway, I’ve begun to ramble, so let’s get this adventure started.

First, a quick introduction. I’ll be playing Pokémon Black from the Pokémon main series generation V. Released in North America on March 6th, 2011, Pokémon Black and White improve on the groundwork set by Generation IV’s Diamond and Pearl to bring out the full potential of the Nintendo DS. This time around we’ll be exploring the new region of Unova which draws inspiration from New York City and the surrounding suburbs. I’m actually really looking forward to this new take on the series, especially since I’ve lived in New York nearly my whole life. I hope it can live up to my expectations. There’s only one way to find out, and that’s by jumping right into the game, so let’s get going!

Before anything else, the game welcomes you to the Pokémon World and introduces yet another new Pokémon Professor. This time around we’ll be guided by Professor Juniper. If I’m not mistaken, this marks the first time the series has had a female Professor mentoring you in the games. Very progressive work on Nintendo’s part. Anyway, just like with the other generations, she will be guiding us as we play and will provide us with our first Pokémon as well as our Pokédex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the way we receive our first Pokémon is a bit different than usual. For the first time since the first game, we are actually eagerly awaiting becoming a Pokémon trainer. As such, the Professor has left a present at my house to celebrate the occasion. And not just for me, but for the two other new trainers in town as well. First there is Cheren, who is one of your childhood friends, and is very much the intellectual type character. But he has a strong desire to become stronger, and will no doubt be a tough rival throughout the game. As such he is already waiting at my room at the start of the game, also eager to start his own adventure. Unfortunately, not everyone has arrived yet, and it would be rude to start without them. This brings us to Bianca, another childhood friend. Unlike Cheren, Bianca is a much more flighty and lighthearted character, which also explains why she is late to such an important occasion.

Snivy	Tepig	Oshawott

Bianca does eventually arrive and together we open the present left behind by Professor Juniper, the three starter Pokémon of the Unova region. Our choices are Snivy the grass snake Pokémon, Tepig the fire pig Pokémon, and Oshawott the sea otter Pokémon. Since the Pokémon were left at my house, and because I’m the main character, I get first choice of Pokémon. Choosing a starter is always a tough decision because it can impact your whole game so much if you let it. So we have to be really smart about this. First off I’m eliminating Tepig as a choice. As much as the concept of self cooking bacon makes me drool uncontrollably, I don’t think I should pick a Pokémon I’d be tempted to eat. Plus I don’t like the fact he’s a Fire / Fighting Pokémon in his later evolutions. Before anyone comments that I’m just jumping on the bandwagon with everyone else that hates the Fire / Fighting starter, I want to knock that down now by saying I rarely use Fighting types in my party when I play. I generally prefer the Ghost and Psychic types instead. Now I guess I’ll eliminate Oshawott too since I used the Water starter last game. So I guess that means we’ll be adventuring with Snivy this time. I think he’ll be a good Pokémon, the Grass types usually have a lot of diversity in their move sets.

Naturally, now that we all have our very first Pokémon, we just have to battle them and see what they’re capable of. Bianca is the first to challenge me, in fact the whole battle was her idea. She ended up picking Oshawott, so my Snivy made quick work of it for a nice victory. Unfortunately a battle inside up in my bedroom wasn’t exactly the brightest idea. The whole room ends up trashed. But if it’s already destroyed, there really isn’t any harm in having another battle here. By process of elimination, Cheren ends up with Tepig, which he claims is the one he wanted all along anyway. Normally his Tepig would be cause for concern for my Snivy, but at these low levels they don’t know any special moves to take advantage of the type difference, so my Snivy ended up winning yet again.

After our battles, it’s time to go meet up with professor juniper and get our proper send off into the Pokémon World. In her lab, she finally gives us each a Pokédex and asks us to help fill the pages. And so, the three of us set out together on our journey. It’s apparently the first time any of us have ever left our home of Nuvema Town, so we take the first steps together. Along the way to the next town, Accumula Town, we make a competition out of catching as many Pokémon as we can. There aren’t many different Pokémon to catch along route 1, but I managed to catch 2 Patrats and 2 Lillipups on the way. I dominated the competition since they each only caught one new Pokémon, but there was no prize for winning or anything.

In Accumula Town, Professor Juniper gives us one more lesson before sending us out on our own. She gives us a brief guided tour of the Pokémon Center in town and all the things we can do there. Even as a veteran of the series I’m so glad to see the changes they’ve made to the Pokémon Center. Now, the Pokémon Center and the Poké Marts are all under the same roof for some nice one stop shopping. They’ve also incorporated the Global Trade System into the Poké Center as well, not that it does me much good now with the services being discontinued. Either way, it’s a welcome change. Now that we know where to go if we need help, Professor Juniper sets us loose, and advises we go see her friend Fennel in the next town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon leaving the Pokémon Center, we find ourselves confronted with a public demonstration by Team Plasma, this game’s main villain team. They’re holding a public spectacle in the town plaza where their leader Ghetsis gives a speech to the people about Team Plasma’s ideals of Pokémon liberation. Basically they seem to be the PETA of the Pokémon World. They believe that all Pokémon should be free. It’s a noble sentiment at least, but much like their real world counterpart, their noble ideals are lost in their psychotic methods. I’ve only just met them, so there’s nothing bad they’ve done yet, but any group dressed in full medieval armor can’t be up to any good.

N	Purrloin
	Level: 7

As team plasma leaves and the crowd dies down, we also get to meet this games other antagonist, N. having never played the games, I don’t know too much about N, but his reputation definitely precedes him. He’s a rather odd character, but one that seems will have a very interesting story line ahead of him. After commenting on how he can understand Pokémon, he challenges me to a battle. It’s a quick battle, but I’ll look forward to our future encounters.

With nothing more to do in the small Accumula Town, it’s time to head out through route 2 towards Striaton City. As soon as we enter route 2 we get a quick visit from our mother. She came all this way to hand us over our running shoes. I’m so grateful to have them, it’s honestly torturous to be playing without the ability to run. Even with the new running shoes, I spent way too much time in this short route. It’s not that it’s a difficult route or anything. It’s just that I really wanted to catch a Purrloin and for whatever reason none were showing up. Then when one did show up I got a critical hit and accidentally killed it. So I had to go hunting all over again. But I did eventually catch one, and I got some good training in, so it all paid off in the end.

Lillipup	Bianca	Oshawott
Level: 6		Level: 7

In fact I’m glad I got all that good training in, because as soon as I try to step out of route 2 and into Striaton City, I’m stopped by none other than Bianca. She’s done some training of her own and wants to have a rematch already. She has gotten stronger, but not strong enough to beat me, and that makes another victory for me.

Finally inside Striaton City, I’m ready to face off against the first of the Unova Pokémon Gyms. Unfortunately for me the Gym Leader isn’t around. Apparently he has gone over to the local Trainer School to help teach some of the aspiring young trainers.

Tepig	Cheren	Purrloin
Level: 8		Level: 8

Inside the Trainer School however, we still find no Gym Leader. Instead we find Cheren intently studying the notes on the blackboard about status effects and items. In an effort to put his new found knowledge to the test, he too challenges me to a battle. Much like Bianca, he has improved a bit since last time, but not enough to beat me. After his defeat he mentions that the Gym Leader was just here and that I must have just missed him.

Pansage (Grass)	Pansear (Fire)	Panpour (Water)

So once again we head back to the Gym and sure enough, the Gym Leader is standing outside to welcome my challenge. However, it’s not time to face him just yet. Before heading back inside he mentions that I might want to train out in the Dreamyard first. In any other situation that would just be a helpful suggestion, but I know better. For a Gym Leader to suggest you not battle him yet, he means it. And that means we’re off to the Dreamyard. Without the HM 01 Cut, you can’t actually enter the yard to train. However, there is a person outside the yard that will offer you a free Pokémon. In this game there are three different elemental monkey Pokémon, one each to represent grass, fire, and water. This person will give you one of them based on your starter Pokémon to make the first gym a hell of a lot easier. Since I chose Snivy as my starter, I got the water type Panpour to add to my party. I don’t really like using traded Pokémon in my team, but I can’t deny that he’ll be a valuable asset for the gym battle.

Now that we have Panpour, I think it’s about time we head back to town and challenge our first Gym. The Striaton Gym is actually a very interesting one even compared to the other Gyms in the series. For starters, the Gym also doubles as a cafe, so there are tables and chairs set up around the building. Also all the trainers are dressed as waiters and waitresses. More importantly, the Gym is set up to teach new trainers about one of the game’s primary mechanics, the game’s complex variant of Rock Paper Scissors. Rather than simply tell you about it like the other games, this one tests your knowledge of the different type match ups. Water is good against Fire, Grass is good against Water, and Fire is good against Grass. Only after proving you understand this basic fundamental of the game will you be allowed to challenge the Gym Leader.

Cilan (Grass)	Chili (Fire)	Cress (Water)

Speaking of the Gym Leader, this Gym is again unique in the fact that it has 3 gym leaders instead of 1. Each of the Gym Leaders specializes in either Grass, Fire, or Water and you’ll face off against the one that is strong against your starter’s type. Once again this Gym is designed to teach new trainers about the important of type advantages.

Lillipup	Chili	Pansear
Level: 12		Level: 14

Since I picked Snivy as my starter, I’ll be facing off against the gym leader Chili who specializes in fire types. I was hoping to win this battle without having to use the traded Panpour, but that proved to be impossible. However, thanks to Panpour’s help we were able to score a victory against the Striaton Gym and Claim our first Gym Badge.

With the Trio Badge in hand we’re officially on our way to becoming the Pokémon Champion of the Unova region. We can also use HM 01 Cut outside of battle now… if only we knew the ability. It would help us get into the Dreamyard to train properly.

I thought that would be it, we’d head outside and continue our journey, but the game has other plans in store for us today. Outside the Gym waiting for us is actually Professor Juniper’s friend Fennel. As it turns out Fennel is also a Pokémon Researcher who specializes in trainers and Pokémon dreams. Since Professor Juniper asked her to help us on our journey, she offers us the HM 01 Cut. We can put this to good use right away since we already have the Trio Badge. She also gives us the best news I think I could ever hear this early in the game. Starting with this game there is a major change to one of the game’s mechanics. The TM items which teach Pokémon new moves are no longer one time use only. They can now be used infinitely just like the HM items. I’m sure any seasoned Pokémon player knows what that means. HYPER BEAMS FOR ALL THE POKEMON!!!!

Of course, all this wonderful news comes at a cost. In return for helping us, she wants us to help her too. In the Dreamyard there are Pokémon called Munna, and she wants us to collect some dream mist from them. It’s a simple enough task, and we were heading there anyways. But that’s going to have to wait for next time, because that’s enough adventure for right now. I hope you’ll join me again and explore the Unova region with me.

Current Team:

Snivy	Lillipup	Panpour
Level: 13	Level: 13	Level: 11
Purrloin
Level: 9

Play Time: 1h 59m

Badges: 1

Pokédex Entries: 8

Now that I’m doing the Pokémon Journals again, that means the return of the Pokémon Gallery as well. So let’s get right to it.

Only one picture this time, but i think it came our really well. For this one we started learning how to use paint. So here we have my first Pokémon painting of the wish Pokémon Jirachi. I think it cake our really good. A lot of good shading and blending for a first time i think.

So that’s it for this first entry into Pokémon Black. I hope to see you again next time.