Pokemon Journal: Let Go of That Pokemon!

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.