Well after the long hall to get to the 2nd gym, gyms 2, 3 and 4 are rather close to each other, which is nice. i now have a small group of pokèmon i seem to be rotating though which is a first for me. i usually pick 6 and stick with them for a while, but i have grown attach again to my zubat, and honedge. Gym three was a fighting gym, and its in this town do we get the secrets of mega evolution. they will talk at length about the stone and how there is only one ring to be given out, leaving you with a rival battle. Since my warturtle is now a blastoise this isn’t much of an issue for me, between blastoise and zubat we make quick work of the team.
Oh before i get to far ahead of myself there is a cave you have to get though, this one is a reflection cave, you will fine lots of psychics here including a personal favorite if unuseable little guy woobat (What can i say i like bats) Unfortanlty there is mr mime in here to….for the love of. i got swarmed twice by mime jrs. i think i cried a little inside. this is all good though because the next gym is a fighting gym and if you are not using a psychic or bird yet you might want to pick one up. For me i have Doplar, Fe and Merlin with me. (Golbat, Karlia and fletchinder) these three make quick work of this gym. in fact dopler almost soloed the whole gym leader battle. Blastoise (Power) Chesnaught (Chip) and Combuskin just sort of hung out and got xp, sadly combuskin did not make it to blazikin quite yet.
After the gym battle you are allowed to finally pick up the ring of power, to mega evolve and you are also given lucario. Now this is sort of a big deal for me, i have had lucarios in the past but because i have always had little use for fighting i generally place it into a box. but X-Y is a new chance to get to know old pokèmon all over again (This part of the reason snorlax has been sidelined a bit) I actually choose to box combuskin and keep lucario in the team, i want to see what all the buzz is about with this guy.
Now onto the the sea, you are given surf which i promply teach blastoise and oooo my god the surfing icon actually now changes to the pokèmon your surfing on!! a hem, i realize quickly this is not a good place for fe to be retreat and retrieve bolt my pikachu. We turn into torros miltank and slobro. (Crap miltank is still one tough cow.) after miltank levels two members of my team i manage to get her into a ball. there is also a field you can ride skiddo around, much faster and a little bit more fun the ryhon. this actually reminds me of running around moria in lord of the rings online.
On to the next town, not sure but without the walkthough i need to know what gym i am up against, and now that i have a set of pokèmon i am rotating though i really not all that anxious to add more to my list. Still i should note i had a bunch of evolutions at once Karlia (Merlin) finished evolving into gardevior, and fe finished evolving into Talonflame. I am beginning to remember though why gardevior never sticks around with me, but i am willing to give it a few more levels before ditching it completely.
I picked up the new walkthough this afternoon, it is a nice hard cover but i am disappointed to not see a dex in it. that is what i was truly looking for. i am someone who will hover over her dex and study each pokèmon until i find the right fits for me. My favorite walk thoughs were though vs’s who interjected a little humor into each entry, sadly they are no longer around. I will say this the walk though does clue me in on how some of the mini games work which is what i really needed help with.
Anyways the next gym is grass, i quickly box Power and Chip seeing how they will not help me at all in this gym. i withdraw Fe and and Combuskin. Dopler already has learned fly so as always is a menace to this gym. since electric and grass are sort of meh together Bolt stays on and Lucario named Kain gets to show off its stuff once more. I must say though going though the gym battling trainers i am a little frighten about how much and how many of these guys i remember, some i remember because of some past trauma they have inflicted on my teams. Others because they have been difficult to defeats, others because i have used them. Still it comes in handy but i have to think at what cost does my pokèmon knowledge come, what have i forgotten as a result…wait do i know you people? During the trainer clear out Doplar hit her final evolution of crobat. comments about the gym, while rope climbing seems like a fun idea, the whole idea of sliding down the rope just seems painful to me. i have had rope burn on my hands before, it sucks and seeing my avatar sliding down the rope in the grass gym made me cringe. hmm lets see the gym leader uses jumpluff, gogoat, whats the final finishing pokèmon for the gym leader. weepinbell. Really? look i like that family too but i can give you a mini list of better grass types. oh well combuskin have fun. with the gym conquered funny hair contacts me and starts rambling about filth, yup that’s what i thought bad guys always have weird hair in this game. anyways that’s it for now. i have some studying to do now that i have my walk though, and some decisions to start making my elite four team, what will end up on the final team will though who come threw for me in tough battles and i am sure those are to come, with team flare around i am sure life is about to get harder.
Arbok and Serviper: These two tie in my book, because i actually like snakes. These are both well executed designs and arbok and ekens hold a little nostalgia for me too, being part of the first generation. I do love that ekens goes from a rattler to a cobra. Serviper is cool too it seems like it has a little untapped potential too. For being pure poisons the move sets aren’t bad, but them being pure poison is what normally keeps them out of my team, still both have grown over the years and arbok if trained right i think could be a threat…if not used by team rocket.
Muk: ok this one is another nostalgic one for me, i have never really used him or grimer because of their pure poison natures, but it was just so damn funny in the anime. All it really wanted to be is love and acknowledged and no one wanted to give it to him because he was a pile of sludge. Poor little unlove Muk, don’t worry I like you.
Skuntank: This is the last one on this Poison types i haven’t used on this list the next three i have. This one is an intriguing type mix to me Poison/dark. dark removes the psychic issue that Poisons have. but now fighting is in issue…there is just no winning some days. Still its rather cute for a skunk.
The nidoran family: This family is kind of a bad ass and history maker. the first family in this game to have a male and female forms, first pokèmon to have a gender Period. Trust me if you have never been in a battle with a member of the family consider yourself lucky because they are tough especially Nidoking. If trained right these guys can be a powerful threat to any pokèmon on the field even a psychic. What has kept them off my personal team as you have probably figured out by now it is still the poison typing, and now just to many choices out their.
Bellsprout: For a long while i avoided this family, but to be honest it almost made my grass type list, only beaten out by oddish because of the forth evolution. In gen I i completely ignored this pokèmon. In gen II i want to say with Crystal there was no easily access electric, i think i had picked Cyndaquil for my second go around on the gen II game so i despertly needed help with water, ground and quagsire, and bellsprout was my answer. I picked it up just after the first gym and bellsprout ran with me for quite a while earning it a spot on my list. while i don’t remember if it made it to my elite four run, i will always remember its help when i needed it.
Oddish Family: Look how Cute Oddish is, (Squee) I just can’t help it i love Oddish. <3. I guess you need a little more then that huh, Oddish and its family members (Glooms, Vileplume, and Bellosum) are sort of a odd bunch. While oddish is just flat our adoriable, Gloom, looks very drunk which could explain why he can evolve into two different forms, depending on rock it happens to be near. Vileplume if it fines gen I’s leaf stone, or Bellosum if it fines gen II’s Sun Stone. while i tend to favor Bellossum a little more then Vileplume i think they are both decent end forms. To prove my love for little oddish, two years ago at a anime convention near by, there was this young lady just finishing sowing a little stuffed oddish, instantly fell in love with it, and as soon as its little eyes were sown on, my money was on the table and it was in my hands. I just love this little family and love my little stuffed oddish. (
Leafeon: I hope you guys are getting buy now Eevees will be on this list and they do rule. I think the only one that hasn’t made the cut so far is poor Flareon. O well, on to Leafeon. This Eevelution, has earned its stripes learning a good mix of both grass as poison as well as the stand by Eevee move bite makes it quite the effective grass type. And if it was for the next four on the list it probably be a steady member of my teams. I also quite fond of this design, its is a nice look of the classic Eevee design with just hints of leaves and vines on it. I think it was a nice addition to the Eevee clan filling a missing gap within the line up. Now if your composing an team Eevee, you have Vaperon for water and ice, Leafeon for grass, Jolteon for electric and bug, Flareon for fire, Espeon for psychic and Umbreon for dark. Not that i don’t think even a decent team Eevee will struggle but at least now you can build a well rounded one. By The way, why its likely I am wrong about this but i suspect there will be two Eevelutions in x-y. in Gold and silver and pearl and diamond there have always been two Eevee’s released. i would not be surprised to find a second secret one released with Sylveon.
Chikorita Family: As Most of you have probably guess at this point i am a big fan of Gen II, This was the first generation i actually got to pick my starter on, with the gen before i picked yellow so all three were given to me. looking back now gen II’s starters now are about average, pure bloods of each type. I am not sure why I picked Chikorita, i think part of it was i was still heavily watching the pokèmon show at the time. I must admit it was a struggle with poor Chickorita espeically with the first couple of gyms, but as she grew i think i did too. Learning to relay one her when it came to catching other. Chikorita later game proved to be quite the effective tank, helping me out when i needed to heal up other team members. Although i did end up boxing her before the elite four I will always remember her fondly as being a great tank in a time of need.
Serperior’s Family: I went into Black and White with no walk though and no previous knowledge of what this game was going to be like. So when it came time to choose my starter I went the path I normally take, being fairly unpressed by the fire or water starters. I was a little surprised when it hit its final stage and became a snake, making this Pokèmons third entry that is modeled after the snake. Being a Snake i think gave Serperior speed, making it one of the faster grass types. It does learn the basic grass move set but also picks up some of Posions move sets. I must say this is one of the grass starters i was presently surprised by, even though its a pure bred grass type it still pulled me though until the end. and yessss she did pull me though the end, unlike some other grass starters i have used in the passed, this one was never boxed. I was really impressssed by this one. So it wasss and Eassy pick for number three.
Torterra family: I beginning to notice a love for turtles in my lists. I was in college when Pearl and Diamond were released. I remember waking up in my dorm room, getting dressed and carefully sneaking out of my dorm room so not to wake up my roommate to pick up my copy of Pearl. I did pick up my walk though and studied the starters briefly, after coming off of gen III and my fire pick, i could go anywhere. It was cute little Turtwig that grounded me back to grass. (Get it, Heh) The fact it grew a tree on its back on its final form and gained ground as a typing intrigued me. This family never let me down, constantly getting me out of trouble, taking hits for me when the rest of the team needed to be healed Torterra proved its worth to me, so much so it is now officially in 
Bulbsaur: They say you never forget your first love, i think that phrase apple’s to almost everything in life you love first. Your first pet, your first kiss, or in this case your first starter. As i have stated repeatedly over the last few posts, Yellow was my first game, so my first starter was Pikachu (he is coming.) But bulbasaur was the first of the three starters i truly used. He is handy to have in the first three gyms, (rock, water, electric) and is a tank when needed as well. I really don’t care much about its evolutions and I am a little miffed by his mega evolution (charizard is a dragon, and blastoise gets a freaking cannons and what does Venasaur get and extra flower! COME ON!!) ahem. I must admit there was a point in time they i forgot how much i like bulbasaur until the recent X-Y announcements. I knew going into this week i would probably end up picking Chespin, with Torchic being downloaded as well, putting me at a grass and a fire to start the game. Then they announced you could pick one of the original Kanto (gen I) starters. The logical side of my brain said cool lets get squirtle and we will be rounded out…then something odd happened i didn’t quite expect, something i will probably be battling with until the Saturday I pick up and start the game. I started to think about bulbsaur and how much i missed playing with him, and now with my new appreciation of Poison i wonder how much better he is. My heart is telling me to pick Bulbsaur and little Chespin, or Fennekin. I think my team will be unbalanced either way, but it was that surprising thump of excitment of seeing my bulbsaur back. They say you never forget your first love, and for me Pokèmon number 1, is my number 1 favorite Grass type.
Charizard Family: For a lot of people myself included, this family was one of our first introductions to the world of Pokèmon. To this day this still tends to be a popular family, to me i think they are a little over hyped. I tend to shy away from things everyone uses, and is def one a lot of people love. For me i like little Charmander more then Charizard. Still i have always love the design of a dragon, and was a little delighted and the newly released Mega evolution with dragon is kind of kick ass…except for the mustash, yeah i said it…what are you gonna do about it?
Ninetails: This is such a nice looking Fire Pokèmon, and i have to tell you i really didn’t appropriate it all that much until recently. When they announced Fennekin, i must admit i was hoping it would evolve into something like ninetails, with my recent return to loving Naruto i would have loved a Ninetails to name Kurama. Sadly that doesn’t look like Fennekin’s fate. My only complaint about ninetails, is the same complain i will have with the next one, is the stone evolution. I firmly believe a pokèmon should be at a certain level before it allows a stone to be used on it. Otherwise you can just evolve it throw it in a box, its only by leveling in my opinion do you really grown to appropriate each Pokèmon and thee individual traits. Still i must love the simple elegance there is to this fire Pokèmon.
Arcinine: Like Ninetails before it i love his design, and sometimes i think when they dreamed up Entei they used him as a roll model. When i selected yellow, Growlithe was the fire i could catch in that version, and raise him i did. i ended up growing quite attached to him but alas, that stupid stone i think in the end kept me from really bonding with this one. I have used him as a fighter but have also been on the defending end of this guy and he still holds up, Arcinine is one tough fire dog, and should continue to be respected.
Rapidash: There are surprisingly very few Pokèmon out their that are designed like a horse, (and like a bazillion, dog and cat ones). On top of that i also think that Rapidash is one of the more unappreciated Fire Pokèmon in the game. It is to bad too because this one is pretty darn fast, and my wish with Pokèmon X-Y with that ability to ride pokèmon you will see this speedy fire horse used a lot more. (i mean come on why does the goat get ridden first!!!) I think this one as much as i like Arcinine is my favorite gen 1 Fire, while its only two evolutions, you do have to spend time with it to get it to evolve. Its fast, and it learns Bounce now which is pretty annoying if your on the receiving end, but effective. My Hope is that Repidash gets a little more attention in the upcoming game and maybe even a third evolution or even a mega evolution, who knows that the future hold for this guy, but I can always see Rapidash as one of my favorites.
Houndoom: When Dark Type was first introduced in Gen Two, there were Two Dark types i really took to right away, Umbreon was one, and Houndoom was the second. Houndoom is a great strike fighter, good speed and nice attacks to utilize those moves. This guy was everything you would think of when it came to a hell hound (Except minus a head or two) I named my Cerberus and we got along very well. I will however say this is probably one fire that hasn’t aged well, from what i can see. It’s move set is pretty darn consistent with what it had when it started out in silver, given some minor tweaks here and there. It continues to have good speed and attack but it like most fires is not a defensive Pokèmon. Still I do love its design and its another one i would be quite happy to see another evolution too. I think that maybe a big issue with a lot of my fires on this list, they are all good, but the just need that one more step, another evolution to make them outstanding Fires.
: Blaziken Family: The Rule Breakers. Up until the third gen, and honestly even after third gen I always picked grass as my starting Pokèmon. For one reason or another Treecko just was not doing it for me, but then i met little Torchic and i fell instantly in love with it. For me there has been no other fire starter since then, i mean just look in to Torchic’s eyes. It also didn’t hurt that gen three was notoriously thin on fire pokèmon, and Blaziken was the best you could get. Blaziken also changed how i battled, up until it i never used Fighting Pokèmon in a team. It was Because of Blaziken my eyes opened to fighting as well, and yes i know there are now two other fire/ fighting out there. but i dislike monkey pokèmon (Sorry) and i am not that impressed my the pig either. Blaziken was the first and in my opinion the best of this typing and will always be my favorite Fire Pokèmon.
Giragarig: This odd little Pokèmon introduced in the second generation is part normal part Psychic and learns dark’s best move naturally, its Normal typing also gives this little guy access to a wide verity of moves like most of the normals have. Its a nice design and its ability to learn dark moves could make it a strong member of the team. I think what works Against this little guy its the fact its stats are about average, and it really doesn’t evolve. Which i think is too bad, if the game gave it an evolution maybe fully to Psychic/dark and capitalize more on its duel personality, I mean look it has two faces, the light and the dark, It is almost there, it just needs one evolution to fully capitalize on what could be potentially one of the great ones.
Abra Family: As much of pain in the butt it is to catch Abra, it and its family make pretty good Pokèmon, and a great start as an intro into the type. Those of you who had one traded to you or won one, never knew the pain of trying to catch one of these suckers. When you first meet this family in the first gen Abra only really knows Teleport, and that is what it does. It see’s you and runs, so you only hope is to be fast enough to put it to sleep, and throw a pokèball at it, or just though the ball at it and hope for the best. However once you catch him make room for him in your team, because its a good a fast Psychic. Two things work against it now a days for me. One its kind of annoying to evolve, you need it to be kadabra and you need to trade it to a friend, (although modern technology such as wi-fi makes this far less of a hassle) Two it is sort of out classed now by some of the newer Psychic’s out there. Still it has to be acknowledged as being one of the first.
Ralt’s Family: This is a very nice looking family, but its also a very strong entry into the Psychic world. When Gen three first game out it was just Ralts, Kirlia and Gardevoir, with the forth gen they added a male version Gallade, who is psychic fighting. (Way to turn a fighting weakness into a strength game) In Terms of Stats and what not its about on par with Abra’s family, good solid Psychic pokèmon, they could be better for what the game provides you in that gen its a nice start. Still i would have been happier to have Gallade in the third gen as well, because now i have a male Gardevoir still running around. (i have taken great care to insure that all pokèmon that have been in one of my teams continue to stay with me. i know its just a game but i feel like i owe it to them to keep them around.) Still this is a good family to have on your side, and i enjoyed having them in my team, and look forward to the day that ruby and sapphire are re-released (Like it deserves!) To play with this family again.
Metagross family: I think this family took its cues from Abra’s, It fools you at first thinking its not going to be much of a Pokèmon, then it evolves, then it Evolves again until it is Metagross. Now he has been featured as one of my Top Pokèmon before, but he deserves a place on this list as well. Its Steel nature helps him take some hits, but sadly his world can be ruined by a good ground move. That is why giving him Magnate rise is so vitally important. This is also another good Gen Three Pokèmon and the reason my Gardevoir finally got boxed in the game. The only sad thing is you cannot pick him up until after you defeat the elite four the first time, which is too bad because he is a high level evolver you want on your team!
Bronzor and Bronzong: When i first met this pokèmon in the forth gen my first thoughts was huh, a floating tambourine (Which is why mine is name Tamber), and once i discovered it was Steel/psychic like my beloved Metagross i though great now they are just ripping him off. Well I was wrong, it took the concept of Steel/Psychic and approved upon it in my opinion. If you can get one that knows levitate then your already a step ahead of poor Metagross. your taking a move that Metagross has to learn in order to protect it, and making it an ability with Bronzor. Plus you get this guy a lot sooner in Gen 4 so you have some time to develop a real relationship with this type. Bronzong game right with me though the elite four and even several end game events. That makes it a little closer to the heart then Metagross. It is really hard not to compare the two, just because they are similar but both unique. I guess if i have to pick them in a one one one duel like i just have, Bronzong comes out victorious (Sorry Metagross, i still love you.)
Espeon: It should be pretty Obvious by now, that i love Eevee’s Family, So it should come as no suprise that another member of said family is here on this list. However this one is probably my favorite member of the family (wIth umbreon at a close number two). In gen two there was no Mewtwo, Abra and Hypno made appearances but it was espeon that was top dog (Cat?) in the Psychic world. Unlike the others it learned as Eevee bite, making it quite the threat to the other psychic Pokèmon. Espeon to me over the years has continued to hold up, while it doesn’t have the defense of Metagross or Bronzong it has the speed, and the move set to still make it a pretty decent choice. This one also learns morning sun, a pretty decent healing move that can keep her healthy in a tough battle. This one will probably always be pretty close to my heart, which is why Espeon will always be my top choice in the world of Psychic’s.
Ho-oh: For a lot of people who were exposed to the animè first this is the first legendary most of us see. Flying off into the distance and Ash’s pokèdex declaring it as and unknown and that there are still many thinks unknown to us. Its a definition of life really isn’t it, there are are a lot of mysteries out there that we just do not know about. Ho-oh its self isn’t a terrible legendary, its just not one of my favorites, and i tend to not really go that much for fire anyways, but given what it helped create and it being part of admittedly my favorite generation. Ho-oh deserves a place here on my list.
Moltres and Articuo: Most of you who have been reading my blogs are probably not surprise zapados is not with these two (Spoiler alert: he is much higher on the list!) But since the first generation and new releases i have made an effort to get to know all three of the legendary birds who are still some of my favorite legendaries. While these two are no Zapados, both are good in there own right and the fact all three are elegable for competitive play makes them allstars in my book. Articuno is just beautifully designed, and Moltres isn’t that bad to look at either. both are fine birds and deserve a spot here on the list
Rayquaza: My first Dragon Pokèmon on the list. This is an amazing looking dragon pokèmon and honestly one of the few that look like a Dragon. It is a pain to fight and fun to train, and isn’t that in the end what you want with a legendary. While available in all three of the third Gen games, its the third one Emerald does Rayquaza really get to shine.
Giratina: Like Rayquaza before it, this one really didn’t get the love it deserved until the third instalment of the forth generation: Ghost/ Dragon seems to me like a weird mix, and by golly is Giratina a little weird looking, and almost in some ways a little terrifying. it of course is not easy to get but at least its not roaming, and i can honestly say i prefer the upgrade it got in platinum. I think it is a solid pokèmon and well worth a spot on my team, if only sadly he wasn’t uber then he would be there along with some of my others.
Palkia: This legendary you pick up fairly early in the game (probably about the mid point in your journey), given that this was my first ds Pokèmon game and i opted for Pearl, Palkia became part of my team. One of the few Dragon pokèmon out there that really doesn’t learn fly (It leans Surf instead) Palkia made life easy getting around without my little lapras. I named mine Voyager and together we wreaked havok, it was a solid entry to the legendaries.
Latias: Boy was this little guy a pain in the Arse to catch, but well worth it once i had her in my team. Seeing how i played Sapphire and then Emerald i never really got my hands on latios until recently in Black 2 i was kinda of thrilled to run into it because i never has tios before. But sadly for Latios it was to late, Latias (named trouble after all the trouble it caused me trying to catch it,) had already been together for almost ten years. Plus i tend to admittedly favor having female Pokèmon on my team, So this troublesome to catch pokèmon has landed on my favorites list.
Entei, Raikou and Suicune: There is just something amazing about these three that is just aw inspiring to me. their story, three pokèmon killed when a tower burned down, brought back to life my Ho-oh only now to roam though johto. I have made it no secret i am not overly fond of chasing pokèmon around to catch them…but for these three and Latias i will give the time in for. the are in each right a Good pokèmon, Solid stats and in a good chunk of games. I really grew to appreciate them with Pokèmon XD when you got to “Steal” all three of them from bad trainers, It was then i really got too see them shine. if i where to really complain about them it would be for poor Raikou. Entei got a whole movie, Suicune got a crystal, and what did Raikou get bumpkins…poor little guy. Raikou was the first of the legendary beast i caught in silver and I guess has been a favorite of mine since then. Still its hard to to appreciate all of them.
Kyogre: This is the water pokèmon that for a time actually took Lapras place on my team. Oh my god Right? It learns everything Lapras does, but instead of loosing a spot in my move set for rain dance this one knew drizzle making thunder a 100% accurate. making this pokèmon mighty dangerous to a lot of other Mon’s out there. If you think about it really, Kyogre is the best on out of gen threes legendary pile anyways, taking out Groudon and Rayquaza, a good chunk of the regis and even latia, and latios making this one top dog in Gen 3. I love her design and i am not just saying it because sapphire is my birthstone. This is one bad big whale and it knows it.
Zapdos: Come on people are you really that surprised to see this guy on my list. He was on my list of
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