The first few pokemon you will meet

Picture at bottom.

 

Well, as usual, you will first fight fairly weak pokemon. These are the wild pokemon you will meet in the grass on routes 1 to 5 and possibly beyond.

Yorterrie (#506)

The first one is  Yorterrie, the puppy pokemon. It looks like a yorkie. It is a normal type and evolves at levels 16 and 32. An important move that it learns is Bite. This is a dark type attack, which means it is very good against psychic and ghost pokemon. Surprisingly, you will meet a couple of psychic pokemon early in the game.

Minezumi (#504)

The next one you will meet is Minezumi, it looks like a chipmunk. It evolves at level 20. This one also learns bite. Another important move that this guy learns is Bide. Bide takes two or three turns of inaction and deals double the received damage to the enemy. If the pokemon using it survives these turns, it will usually beat the opponent with a single hit.

Minezumi and Yorterre are both normal types, and are thus immune to ghost and weak to fighting. At this point you won't be meeting any of those, though.

Choroneko (#509)

Next you will meet Choroneko. It looks like a purple cat. This one is dark-type. It is unaffected by psychic, which is great, because you will soon meet psychics. It is also resistant against dark and ghost. Its weaknesses are bug and fighting. It evolves at level 20. Of not is that it learns the attack Assist at level 6.

Mamepato (#519)

You will also meet Mamepato. It looks like a regular pigeon. It is normal and flying. Its weak to electric, ice, and rock. It is however resistant against bug and grass. It is also unaffected by ghost and ground. Evolves at levels 21 and 32.

These pokemon are all relatively common and weak. So, lets go onwards to the more interesting ones.

Munna (#517)

The first one you will see is Munna. It is a psychic pokemon and looks like a flying pink pillow. It is weak to bug, dark, and ghost. It is resistant to fighting and psychic. It evolves into Musharna (#518), via a moon stone. At level 7 it learns yawn, one of my favorite moves. At level 11 it learns psybeam, which is a fairly powerful psychic attack, for such a low-level pokemon. Be careful, though, a bite uses its weakness and can do some pretty bad damage to it!

These are the pokemon you will see in your first few days of adventuring. I'll make another post right now for the days 3-5 (if you play at my pace, that is).

 The Pokemon mentioned in the article.

Pokemon Black and White - Interface Demonstration

In the previous generations, each new one had a slightly different interface. The newest generation V games also have a new interface. It looks like it will take some getting used to, but it sure is snazzy! Below is a Youtube video of the interface (it doesn't give away any plot spoilers). The graphics really do look much better than the 4th generation. The video also shows some combat. Frankly, the new Pokemon look like redesigns of the old ones. Oh well. Do you think they should have made the new Pokemon unique and different from the older generation ones?

 

Oh, also, keep in mind, this is the Japanese game. The English one might have some differences, although, that is unlikely.

Pokemon Black and White release dates

The fifth generation of Pokemon games has already been released in Japan in September. On Youtube you can find a lot of footage and even walkthroughs. Personally, I don't want to see watch them, because I want the game to be new to me when I play it. I don't understand Japanese, so I have to wait for an English release.

It has been confirmed that these games will have an international release sometimes in spring of 2011.

The game itself introduces 156 new pokemon and is set in the Isshu region. Its interface is quite different from the previous games, and supposedly it uses a lot more 3D functions than its predecessors.

Its going to be a long wait for spring. I already finished Blue, Yellow, Gold, Platinum and SoulSilver. What should I do while waiting? Any ideas? :p

Box art of the Japanese releases. Keep your eyes

peeled! If you see these boxes in a store, get 'em! 

Generation V starter pokemon evolutions

Pictures at bottom.
 
Today I'll be taking a look at the generation V starter pokemon's evolutions. They are from the new Isshu region in the latest games Pokemon Black and Pokemon White. Keep in mind that regardless of which one you choose one rival will take the one you are weak to. There is another specialty in these new games, which is that the first gym has three trainers, and you will have to battle the one that you are weak to. So be sure to choose the one you like most, because you won't get a type advantage anyway. This may make the game slightly harder, but a good pokemon trainer will still win in the end!



 #495 Tsutarja -> #496 Janoby -> #497 Jaroda

The grass starter, Tsutarja evolves into Janoby at level 17, which evolves into Jaroda at level 36. Its weaknesses and resistances don't change throughout the evolutionary chain. Tsutarja learns the powerful move Leaf Storm at level 43, while its final evolution, Jaroda, learns it at level 62. It might be a good idea to hold off evolution a little (but probably you will need it to evolve before level 43 for the power boost its evolutions get). I would keep Tsutarja until level 20, then have it evolve to Janoby at 21. I wouldn't allow Janoby to evolve to Jaroda until level 40, because at that level it learns Giga Drain, which is one of my favourite grass-type moves. This is a very straightforward build, one meant for playing along the story, and not for PvP battles.

Jaroda is pretty cool, it looks kind of like a serpent. It has very high speed, but average attack. Use the speed to deal damage quickly.


#498 Pokabu -> #499 Chaobu -> #500 Enbuoo

This is the fire starter. It also evolves at levels 17 and 36. However, Chaobu and Enbuoo have are a fighting subtype, which means their weaknesses and resistances change. These two are weak to ground, flying, psychic, and water. They are resistant to bug, dark, fire, grass, ice, and steel. All three of them have a good attack stat (especially physical), but poor speed and defense. But most fire pokemon are like that. The change of type during evolution also means they have different learnsets, so be careful when you evolve it. I wouldn't let Chaobu evolve until it learns Flamethrower at level 39.

Also, keep in mind that these are not the final English names. They are only transcripts of the Japanese names (since the Generation V Pokemon haven't been released in the English-speaking world yet, but they have in Japan). It is rumored that Enbuoo will be called Emboar.

Enbuoo looks like a sumo fighter on fire. It has good attack and HP, so be sure do deal damage quickly, before the opponent can deal significant damage.


#501 Mijumaru -> #502 Futachimaru -> #503 Daikenki

This is the water starter. It also evolves at levels 17 and 36. All three are a pure water type, so their resistances and weaknesses remain the same. These three have moderately high attack stats and are generally well-rounded. They aren't bad in any stat, but neither are they very good. Again, the starters remain true to their types. There is a specialty in that they can learn the bug type attack Furry Cutter. Personally, I never liked this attack, but it might be good to have a bug attack in case you fight someone who is resistant to water, but weak to bugs (for example, some grass-types).

I wouldn't allow Futuchimaru to evolve until it learns the attack Aqua Tail at level 41. It also learns Water Pump at level 52. Daikenki only learns that attack at level 62, and considering what a strong attack that is, it might actually be worth stopping evolution for a while.



That's it for now, I hope this will be helpful.
Statistically, these starter pokemon are weaker than some of the previous generation's starters. You also have to fight against opponents that have a type advantage often. However, these pokemon learn attacks of varying types, so you should be able to use those with devastating efficiency.

Next time I will talk about some other popular new pokemon and the game itself.

What the Generation V starters and their 

evolutions might look like.

#494 Victini, #495 Tsutarja, #498 Pokabu, and #501 Mijumaru

In the latest generation of Pokemon (Black and White, known also as monochrome. Not to be confused with the hacks/mods with similar names) the first one starts with #000, the legendary Victini. Then, as with previous generations, the starters begin. Keep in mind, these are not the final English names, but the numbers should allow you to find the right ones. So let's start!

#494 Victini

Type: Psychic, Fire

Weakness: Dark, ghost, ground, rock, water

Resistance: Fighting, fire, grass, ice, psychic, steel

It is the only pokemon that is both psychic and fire.

More info on Bulbapedia or Serebii:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Victini

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/494.shtml

#495 Tsutarja

Type: Grass

Weakness: Bug, fire, flying, ice, poison 

Resistance: Electric, grass, ground, water

Looks very smug. It evolves into Janoby, which evolves into Jaroda.

More info on Bulbapedia or Serebii:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tsutarja_(Pokémon)

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/495.shtml

#498 Pokabu

Type: Fire

Weakness: Ground, rock, water

Resistance: Bug, grass, fire, ice, steel

Looks like a happy piglet. Evolves into Chaobu, which evolves into Enbuoo.

More info on Bulbapedia or Serebii:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pokabu

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/498.shtml

#501 Mijumaru

Type: Water

Weakness: Grass, electric 

Resistance: Fire, ice, water, steel

Looks like a sad snowman. Evolves into Futachimaru, which evolves into Daikenki.

More info on Bulbapedia or Serebii:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mijumaru
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/501.shtml

I'll be posting their evolutions soon.

A lot of people are complaining that these pokemon look too outlandish. What do you think? I think they are strange, but it will be good to play a new fresh game, rather than catching the same 150 for the fifth time!