Pokemon X

One of the things I find so appealling about the Pokemon series is the continuity and how you can constantly move Pokemon from old games into the newer ones. For instance, that Blastoise you trained back in 1997 could eventually be transfered to a GBA version of the game, and then to a DS version, and finally onto the 3DS version- Pokemon X and Y. Unfortunately I missed many generations of the game and after playing Pokemon Red as a youngster, but I've played the two most recent versions, White and X over the past year. Everyone knows that each game in the series starts you off with a choice of water, fire, or grass Pokemon, and what's more is that Pokemon X and Y also offer you a choice of Pokemon from the first generation starters. As such, I felt I was finally able to put together my plan for an all-star team, including three different starters from three different generations made of three different types- Fennekin (fire) from X and Y, Oshawott (water) from Black and White, and finally Bulbasaur (grass) from Red and Blue. Combine these with a couple legendary Pokemon from the most recent two games, and finally one more strong Pokemon I owned in Pokemon White, I'd have a team that could cover any battle situation, learn all the HMs, and cover several generation's worth of Pokemon. I excitedly downloaded the game back in October and jumped right in to set my plan in motion. And then came the delays. In the past you've been able to use Nintendo hardware to transfer Pokemon from one generation to the next, but suddenly going from DS games to 3DS games meant the need for an online app, the Pokemon Bank, which didn't even come out until a few weeks ago. This costs $5 per year but is free to try for a month, which I took advantage of. Downloading the app meant I needed to delete some old games on my 3DS too, as Pokemon X was taking up almost all of the room on my SD card. Then when I got the app working, I found out I needed to download a different app. So I deleted Pokemon Bank and downloaded Pokemon Transfer instead and... it still didn't work. Turns out you need both apps! So I deleted more old games to free up space on the SD card (which is at this point entirely dedicated to Pokemon software) and finally I was able to snag my old Pokemon and bring them from White to X. I realize this is a complete first world problem, but what a hassle! That's way too many steps to transfer Pokemon when compared with the ease it's been done in the past. I mean seriously, I've left out details about making sure your Pokemon are in just the right box, and the constant input of my password on a tiny keyboard each time I reconnected to the internet; it was just not the fun, streamlined experience I was expecting. Still though, once I got my team together things progressed exactly as I hoped. The team was dominant for most of the game and I was able to power through it, but still came close enough to a last-ditch win-or-lose-with-the-last-move battle againt the elite 4 with everyone at level 65-ish, which seems high for a Pokemon end-game. The game itself was great. Even if it still follows the same pattern of 8 badges, elite four, a team of villains, a rival, and a legendary Pokemon, there was enough new stuff here to make this not feel like a cash grab. Most notably the series finally moved on from sprites to cel-shaded figures, including all of the previous generation's Pokemon. You can also easily jump into a battle or trade with anyone on the internet, or even make a blind trade, almost instantaneously, a far cry from the pain in the ass that was transferring your own old Pokemon to the game. They also introduced mega-evolutions for some of the best Pokemon, allowing them to become more powerful for the duration of a battle. I can only confirm them for Venusaur, Gyarados, Gengar and Lucario, but when I return to the game again for more post-game activities I'll likely seek out more mega-evolutionary items to get the rest of my team up to my Venusaur's level. So yeah, aside from that one inexplicably terrible system, Pokemon X is pretty great and since I have it saved on my SD card I'm sure I'll play some battles with B-Town or Sheridan in the near future. To anyone else with a 3DS, if you've been interested in getting back into Pokemon, there's no time like the present.