From Pallet to Cabo Poco

Okay, I know everyone gets frustrated with Sun, Moon, and the Ultra games because the interruptions and tutorials are so frequent in the beginning, but I just adore so many of the characters in this game. I just want to protect Lillie from everything that's bad in the world, Gladion and Hau's dynamic is super fun in the late game, Nanu totally paved the way for Larry in SV, Acerola's the perfect blend of cute and unhinged, I could go on and on. What's really nice on top of it is that most of the characters know each other and have some history together, so you feel like you're traveling through a tight-knit community.

Team: Slowking, Lycanroc, Alolan Muk, Oricorio, Alolan Dugtrio, Mimikyu

We've made it to Gen 7! I'm excited to go back to Alola, especially because public opinion on these games has shifted a lot in the past...ten years since they were released?! Too much stuff is turning ten this year.

When Sun and Moon first came out, people seemed excited about the new Pokemon and the changes they made to the Pokemon League. I totally agree; it was so refreshing to have the Island Challenge instead of gym battles. I wish they had continued to innovate on this idea more. These days, however, I think a lot of people are frustrated with the long introduction and hand-holding in these games. I definitely forgot how tedious this was when I last replayed the games. However, I really loved a lot of the characters and how everyone knew everyone else. It felt like I was becoming part of a community instead of just sightseeing.

Generation 6: X to Omega Ruby

The DexNav! Admittedly, I didn't use it to its full potential to get Pokémon with rare moves or better stats, because I really struggled with chaining for some reason, but I loved being able to track my Pokédex progress as I moved from one area of the game to another. I didn't go for full dex completion on this playthrough, but it was so satisfying to fill in all the Pokémon I could. Plus, having the background of each map use the Gen 3 graphics was such a cute callback to the original games!

Organize Boxes: When you first meet Lanette, the lady who maintains the PC in Hoenn, she lets you move the "Organize Boxes" option in the PC menu from the third space to the first space. I prefer using "Organize Boxes," especially in all the DS/3DS games since they have a touch screen, so this was super helpful. As Shoogles mentioned in his review of Omega Ruby, it is weird that you're only given this option after you've played through, like, a fourth of the game, but it's still appreciated.

Super Secret Bases: I've always been a big fan of customization/decoration in video games, so I like the Secret Bases in all the Pokémon games, but I think they hit the nail on the head in ORAS. They took all the interesting parts from RSE (locations scattered across the map, different designs/layouts) and let them thrive with the wireless multiplayer capabilities of the 3DS. I'm sad the servers are down now, because it means I don't get to play multiplayer as much, but it was still a cool idea.

360-degree movement: When you use the circle pad to move, you're able to move a complete 360 degrees instead of 8 directions like in XY. It's great in general, but I especially love it when riding the bike; it really makes you feel like you're riding a bike.

You can Fly to routes! Do I even need to explain why this is better?

Fly via DexNav: I just learned this on this playthrough, but if you open the DexNav map you can tap on a city or route and the game will ask if you want to fly there. It's a little less tedious than opening the Pokémon menu and selecting Fly from there.

I didn't mention this when I played Ruby, but the berry mechanic is definitely a good addition to the series. I'm not sure why I didn't mention it back then; maybe berries have just been so prevalent in future games that I didn't really notice, or maybe I was frustrated with time-based mechanics because my game's battery was dead and I couldn't participate in time-related stuff.

Delcatty, Aggron, Salamence, Sableye, Camerupt, and Milotic

It's ORAS time! Since I started with Gen 4, I didn't think I would be super nostalgic or excited for this game when it was announced, but man, when I first opened the game and saw the intro with Professor Birch, I realized how wrong I was. In my early days with Pokémon, I did play secondhand copies of RSE I got from GameStop, after all, so even though they weren't my first games I definitely had some childhood memories with them.

And now ORAS is old enough that I'm nostalgic for those games, too. Fall 2014 was a pretty distinct time in my life with a lot of good memories, so when I think about my first experiences with ORAS I'm swept right back to that time.

Generation 6 (Black 2 to X)

Character Customization: I love, love, love this feature! It kind of goes without saying at this point, because many people have talked about the appeal of customization/aesthetics in video games as a means of self-expression and socialization, but I am an absolute sucker for stuff like this. I love changing my hair and clothes to reflect different styles or to just be myself. My only complaint is that the stores are scattered around the region and have rotating daily stock, so you have to Fly back and forth on multiple days to be able to buy everything you like. I kind of wish the stores worked the same way Poké Marts do, with stock updating based on story progression.

Mega Evolution: I can't totally speak to Megas on a competitive level, but just generally I think they're super cool. Something about the extra details in their design and how hyped up their power is just really struck me. I was so disappointed that Megas became harder to get in later games, and I'm so hyped they're back in Legends ZA.

Realistic Touches: Your character will squat down to talk to children and small Pokémon, and you can sit now! It's the attention to details like this that makes the world more engaging.

Language Selection: I believe this feature was mostly implemented so the games could be released at the same time worldwide, instead of making some parts of the world wait for localized versions to be produced, but as someone who speaks multiple languages, I absolutely love the accessibility of this feature. X & Y were the first games I ever played in French, and it's been so convenient to just have one copy of the game where I can play in any language. To this day, it is still very difficult to hunt down French versions of the earlier games if you don't live in a French-speaking area. I do wish you could swap between languages without restarting your save file. Animal Crossing: New Leaf did it (though you could only switch to the handful of languages programmed into the console, like English/Spanish/French/Portuguese for North American 3DS's).

Starting with the Running Shoes from the beginning: Enough said.

Starters have a STAB Move at Level 5: From this point on, when you choose a Starter at the beginning of the game, they have already learned a STAB move in addition to the basic Tackle/Scratch and a stat-changing move. I think this is a great way to introduce the type system from the get-go, instead of waiting a level or two to test it out.

Pikachu uses its cry from the anime (Pika-pi!) instead of the sound byte it used to have.

Gaining Exp. for catching Pokémon: Before this was introduced, I never understood why it didn't work this way. Your Pokémon is literally experiencing a battle, even if the opponent doesn't faint at the end. Plus, I think it incentivizes catching Pokémon and completing the Pokédex.

The PSS: Multiplayer connectivity is so easy to use, and the connection works very well most of the time. In Sword and Shield, for contrast, my partner and I could only connect to each other in local mode (not even using the internet!) by dancing our Switches around each other. In Gen 6, local and internet connections were fast and easy.

Pokémon Amie: As a Nintendogs and Webkinz veteran, I absolutely love this feature just for the sheer fun of it. Every Pokémon has unique animations, which must have been insane to program. Plus, it ties in with the new Affection stat, which gives your Pokémon bonuses in battle.

Super Training: I've never been much of a competitive player, but I definitely respect and appreciate the effort to make training and competitive play more accessible. There are tons of features in every Pokémon game that aren't explained clearly, so all efforts to be more transparent about how the game works are appreciated in my book.

The Fairy Type: It's so nice to have a more accessible counter to Dragon-type Pokémon than Ice, and I think it levels the playing field while still retaining the cool/rare/powerful aspect of Dragon types.

Wonder Trading: I have used Wonder Trading in every Pokémon game since it was introduced. It's got all the thrill of gambling without losing money, and it can usually help you fill in the Pokédex a bit, too.

The Berry Farm: There is now one centralized location for growing Berries, instead of having dozens of 2-5 tile plots scattered around the region. Every Pokémon game includes features that require you to hop around the map once a day to participate, like NPCs who ask to see a different Pokémon every day. I basically never do these because I can't be bothered to remember every location and Fly around the map every day. I don't have a good solution for the NPCs, but at least the Berries are all in one place now.

I remember being so, so excited for Pokémon X and Y when they were first announced and released. The move to 3D graphics was a big deal at the time, even though many people (including myself) are pretty disappointed with it now. X & Y do look gorgeous, though, even after all this time.

After you beat Calem/Serena in Victory Road, they'll say something about how you're similar to them and that's why they don't want to lose to you, which is funny because they're just the opposite gender of the player character. Like, yeah we're alike; we're basically just different gendered versions of the same person.

Also, this scene is absolutely gorgeous at night; there's like an entire galaxy behind you. I couldn't find any screenshots of it, and most of the Let's Plays I looked at recorded this scene in the daytime, so I highly recommend playing through Victory Road at night to see the scene for yourself.

One of the common complaints about Pokémon X and Y is that the player's friends (Calem/Serena, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor) aren't very interesting characters, and they tend to interrupt the player a lot. As I said in my first XY post last week, I'm not super fond of them either. I was always particularly surprised by how Tierno is handled more than anything.

Tierno's gimmick is that he loves dancing and wants to build a team of Pokémon dancers. At first glance, this is pretty unique because there has never been a dancing mechanic in-game before (Contests and Musicals are close, but they're not in XY). Series veterans might assume there's a new dancing mechanic because Tierno's character is so focused on that, and, frequently, Pokémon assigns characters a special interest like this to introduce new mechanics. However, there's no dancing mechanic in XY. I like this a lot, because it expands on the world-building in Pokémon without attaching everything to gameplay. But it doesn't go anywhere! Tierno doesn't perform, or talk about auditions or other opportunities or anything. He just builds his team and that's it. As far as I remember, he doesn't even say anything about being happy that his dance team is ready. Worst of all, his team barely has anything to do with dancing! His Pokémon know Swords Dance or Petal Dance, but that's literally it. Not only are there other moves based off dancing (especially if you take creative liberties with the interpretation), but there are tons of Pokemon at this point in the series that are inspired by different dance styles who can learn moves like Swords Dance! It just feels like such a missed opportunity for teambuilding, since he could have teams designed around a theme or aesthetic instead of a particular battle strategy. Slapping Swords Dance on a few random Pokémon that can learn it seems like the most basic way to create a dance-inspired team.

I decided to brainstorm some new team ideas for poor Tierno to give him a little more variety. Here's what I came up with!

Disclaimer: I'm not a competitive player, so these teams are not optimized. They're more inspired by aesthetics/themes.

Fight 1: Route 5

Surskit is a pond skater, and skating and dancing are quite similar, plus Masquerain can learn Quiver Dance later.

Fight 2: Route 7

This is all setup for the next fight; all of these Pokemon's evolutions can learn a dance-type move and/or their designs are based of dance styles. There's not much to do with dancing at this point, but it's building up to the final fight with Pokémon that are available on or before Route 7.

Fight 3: Route 19

Here's the payoff for all the previous fights and the big finale! As mentioned above, Masquerain can learn Quiver Dance, earning its spot on the team for gameplay reasons alone. Aromatisse is based off a cancan dancer. It can also learn Rain Dance by TM and some sound-based moves. Bellossom can learn Petal Dance and it looks like a hula dancer. Charizard can learn Swords Dance and Dragon Dance. I know when the player chooses a starter, the other rivals usually get the starters the player didn't pick, so they are designed with three different teams. I'm not sure if this would be Tierno's team if the player picked Squirtle in Lumiose or if he would just inexplicably find a Charmander somewhere. Exploud can learn Teeter Dance, plus it could be the music/speaker system with its other moves inspired by sound, like Uproar and Echoed Voice. Finally, Mega Medicham can learn Rain Dance, which probably won't have a lot of strategic value unless it's sent out before Masquerain, but most importantly, it's based off a belly dancer. This also gives Tierno the chance to use a Mega Pokémon on his team, since Calem/Serena are the only other rival to use a Mega Pokémon at all.

What do you all think? Let me know if you have other ideas for party members Tierno could have, whether it's for aesthetic reasons or based off moves/abilities/etc. I had a lot of fun redesigning his team based around a theme!

Delphox, Vespiquen, Medicham, Manectric, Goodra, Banette

We're moving on to Gen 6, and just in time before Legends ZA comes out in the fall! I know this gen is a mixed bag for a lot of people, and it kind of is for me, too. Especially when I first played the game, I loved the graphics, the music, character customization, Mega Evolution, and the variety of Pokémon, but when I revisited it a few years ago I realized that some aspects hadn't aged as well as I remembered. I particularly dislike how the camera operates, especially in Lumiose City, and I'm not crazy about a lot of the characters (which is a pretty common criticism).

Since I love Mega Evolution, I've decided to take advantage of the revised Exp. Share in this game to try to get every Pokemon that can Mega Evolve in Gen 6. I will transfer them all to Omega Ruby when I move on to that game and continue the hunt there. Unfortunately, since most of the Mega Stones are only obtainable in the Battle Tree in Gen 7, it seems that for now the easiest way to have a collection of all the Megas is to do it in ORAS, so that's why I'm doing it now. And also because it's fun. I've used a few Megas before, but definitely not all of them, and it'll be fun to have a little collection.

White to Black 2

So, the list this time is actually pretty short. This is only my second time beating B2W2, so I didn't remember it as well as the other games when I started playing. I guess I thought there were way more cool features than there actually were. However, a lot of the improvements in this game actually appeared in BW 1 and were just carried over, so that may be where I had my wires crossed. Either way, here are the improvements:

Animated Trainer Sprites: I believe the first time we saw an animated trainer sprite in battle was in Platinum, with the first rival battle. However, animated trainer sprites were originally reserved for special characters, like the rivals and Gym Leaders. Now, every trainer has a little animation that shows off some of their personality before they send out their Pokémon.

Pokéstar Studios: This. This is my absolute favorite side feature of any Pokémon game. I played the heck out of this when I first got the game, even resetting to see the differences each film had between the male and female player characters. I did all of the films on this playthrough, too, and I loved every second of it. The challenge to use the provided Pokémon to follow the script is such a unique way of battling, but it doesn't require you to spend time preparing a contestant like the Contests do. And the movies were so goofy, too, just a great excuse for the writers, localizers, and the player to have some lighthearted fun.

Would you like to use another Repel?: If your Repel runs out and you have more in your bag, the game will ask if you'd like to use another. Saves so much time it's not even funny.

Last Healing Item: When you use your last of a specific healing item, like a Potion, the game will let you know, so you're not caught by surprise the next time you need to heal.