#genviii

So, welcome back after my inexcusably long absence. Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Gay Yuletide to all Pokemon fans!

Do I have any Christmas treats for you? Not really, I’m afraid. But the last episode of “Pokemon Evolutions” was sure a great Christmas present from TPCi, especially for such Pokemon Trainer maniacs like me. So, I’m posting a scene from it. The five Nugget Bridge Trainers - from left to right: Lass Ali, Bug Catcher Cale, Camper Kevin, Lass Reli and Youngster Timmy. They’re identifiable through the Pokemon that they have - these are evolved forms of the Pokemon they use in LGPE. Makes sense, considering that Green meets them during the “post-game” part of the story (after Elaine caught Mewtwo), so they’ve sure gotten stronger by that point. Also, their boss (the disguised Rocket Grunt) can be seen in this episode as well! I also love how Ali has a wholly unique design for her (to distinguish her from Reli), but keeping the defining feature of a Lass - the miniskirt. So, how do you feel about “Pokemon Evolutions”? It was pretty nice, I especially liked the last episodes. Not just because I’m biased towards Johto and Kanto, but also because I think these two episodes featured the most interesting characters. I'm a big fan of how the Kimono Girls were presented and the Mewtwo episode... just caught the spirit of Kanto right. It took me back to the childhood, when everyone was excited about the ultimate Pokemon of the time, Mewtwo, and wanted to get it first on their Game Boy! Also, I loved the decision to make Green the main hero, seeing Trace and Elaine felt refreshing too.

Late to the party again but heres my contribution to pokemon arts. Sobble!

The only new card in the non-Secret Rare part of the upcoming “Shiny Star V” TCG set, revealed a few days ago in Japan... but I think it’s glorious enough to make up for the lack of other new cards!

Here’s something nice that happened in yesterday’s new “Pokemon Journeys” episode. In one of the first scenes of the episode, we see two people exchanging their Pokemon in the Vermillion City Pokemon Center. A Gentleman trades his Farfetch’d (nicknamed Oshou) for a little girl’s Spearow (nicknamed Onichan). Avid Pokemon players have likely recognized the scene as a reference to the memorable Spearow-for-Farfetch’d in-game trade that happens in Vermillion City in the original Gen I games. But there’s apparently more to this...

Oshou is the Japanese name of Dux, the original in-game trade Pokemon from Pokemon Red and Blue that a little girl (named Elyssa in FRLG) trades for the player’s Spearow. Dux reappears in LGPE in the very same house in Vermillion, but this time it’s not traded. His owner, this time a Gentleman, expresses his will to catch a Spearow. You may ask why they changed Dux’s owner from a little girl to a Gentleman. Possible answer is that it’s a reference to the Pokemon Trader TCG card from Gen I times.

Onichan, in turn, is the Japanese name of Speary, the Spearow owned by a little girl and her father in a house in Viridian City. The house serves mainly as a demonstration of the Pokemon nicknaming mechanism and appears in all core games that feature Kanto. In Johto-based games, Speary is joined by a Rattata nicknamed Rattey.

So yeah, we have a reference to two in-game Pokemon and the NPCs who own them (ironically, none of these two are the original in-game trader from Gen I). If you ever wished for these NPCs to appear in the anime, your wish has just been granted.

As promised, a scan from the “Pocket Monsters” (AKA “Pokemon Journeys”) new anime adaptation. I think I don’t need to explain who is on the pic.

Also, turns out that the person asking last time was talking about Pocket Monsters by Kosaku Anakubo. Unfortunately, my PM collection ends on HGSS. Everything I have from BW and beyond relies solely on singular scans posted on the Internet (mostly Karubii’s Twitter and Shogakukan previews), so it’s incomplete and imperfect. There’s a lot of stuff from Anakubo’s PM that I lack.

Can’t believe this is my first post in 2020 that isn’t a repost. I must totally make up for this.