I remember going to Circuit City when I was about ten years old to get my first color Gameboy and my first Pokémon game. Now, many years and a Nintendo DS later, I still play Pokémon, and I have been really looking forward to the new Black and White versions that have already been released in Japan. On March 6th, 2011, you will see me in line to pick up a copy! Along with the release date, Game Freak also gave us a new teaser trailer. Let me tell you: this Pokémon looks phenomenal, and they are changing up the game considerably. What kind of updates can we expect?
The New Teaser Trailer
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrYtQMfcyKA[/youtube]
Story
While the typical Pokémon theme will be present with the gym battles and rival, in Pokémon Black/White, Nintendo is adding an additional rival, and you will have a new enemy that goes by “N.” One of your rivals, Cheren, is meant to be the helping one along the way who will give you tips every now and then. The other rival, Belle, is compulsive and went against her father’s wishes to be a Pokémon trainer. Your N-emy (see what I did there?) believes that Pokémon are our friends and wants to create equality between Pokémon and humans by dividing our worlds. Sounds a little like we are battling against PETA (by the way, I searched for any kind of news story where PETA demonized Pokémon, and came up with a whopping zero finds!).
I am pretty happy that they are developing a new storyline for the new generation. While I was waiting for Heartgold and Soulsilver to come out, I played my old color Gameboy with Pokémon Silver. During this time, I don’t think I can possibly describe how disappointed I was when I realized I was playing the exact same game over again. Bah.
Starter Pokémon
There will be three new starter Pokémon, using the normal theme of grass, water, and fire types as options.
Snivy
Snivy is labeled as a “Grass Snake Pokémon,” and the name seems to fit its demeanor rather well. Snivy looks a little snobby in its main picture, so we can expect that to be the sassy one I’m sure.
Tepig
Tepig is the “Fire Pig Pokémon” and is absolutely adorable, which kind of bothers me. I always expect the fire type to be badass, and a little cute pig definitely isn’t badass. Similarly, I was not thrilled by Chimchar from the Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum series.
Oshawott
Oshawott is the “Sea Otter Pokémon” that looks more like a scared kitten than it does a sea otter. Maybe there is hope for when it evolves?
The new starter Pokémon
New Region
Unova Region
The new Unova region is located far away from any of the regions in the previous games, meaning many new Pokémon! There will be 150 new Pokémon in this region, and it appears that we will rarely see any familiar ones. They have modernized the cities, including the major one called Castelia City. The region is mostly greenery, but Game Freak drew its inspiration from New York City and its metropolitan feel. There are fifteen different towns total which are connected by eighteen routes and a subway route as well.
In previous versions, some cities had different climates, but the Unova region will experience different seasons that alternate over a 120-day time frame (thirty days each season).
Castelia City
The new city, featuring a bug-type gym, is the largest city that Game Freak has made for any of its Pokémon games. It drew its inspiration from New York City with skyscrapers and the works. It is a seaside city that has docks with boats that will ferry you to Liberty Garden Island and United Tower (you thought I was kidding when I said it was based on New York City, right?).
Black City & White Forest
Each game will have its own exclusive city. I hope you can figure out which one will be in which on your own as well as an idea of what specifically the cities will feature.
Trainer Options
Once again, you get the choice between a boy and a girl!
The boy trainer looks pretty typical with a hat, long-ish hair, a blue jacket, long pants, red tennis shoes, and a messenger bag. I would say that he has pretty good style; although I think he should look maybe a little bit more badass. That’s just my style though.
The girl trainer looks kickass with some serious boots, torn shorts, and black wrist guards. I’m not crazy about the hat though. It takes away from the whole “I’m going to beat you up” appeal.
As usual, I will pick the girl trainer. I remember when the first Pokémon game allowed me to be a girl, and I didn’t know what to name myself since I was so used to coming up with guy names. I ended up just naming all of my girls “Rach.”
Legendary Pokémon
I am actually quite excited about the new legendary Pokémon. The last few have been rather “meh,” and once you caught them, they were still rather “meh.” These look spectacular though, and I hope their abilities won’t disappoint.
Reshiram
This oen is described as a “Vast White Pokémon,” weighing in at 727.5 pounds. Not entirely sure how he fits into a Pokéball. Reshiram will be in the Black version, because, you know, he’s white and all.
Zekrom
This one is described as a “Deep Black Pokémon” and looks fairly badass. I have a feeling my boyfriend and I will be fighting over who gets the White version for this guy.
Conclusion
For more information about the new game, including new Pokémon and areas, go to www.pokemonblackwhite.com . Good luck to all of you trainers, whether a veteran or a rookie; this isn’t a generation to miss out on! Which one do you plan on getting?