Completing the National Pokedex in Pokemon White 2

Last week I put the final touches to the primary version for my Walkthrough and Guide for Pokemon White 2 over at SuperCheats.  

My guide for White 2 is actually the third guide I have written for the fifth generation of the Pokemon game franchise, and my seventh guide overall for the series.  That says a lot, particularity when you consider that the average play time for one of those games when you are doing a guide is more than 300 hours.

That actually surprised me - it was not that I had forgotten the guides I had written so much as that I did not realize there were so many, starting with HeartGold (August 2010),  LeafGreen (November 2010), FireRed (March 2011), Emerald (March 2011), Black (April 2011), Black 2 (December 2012), and finally White 2 (May 2013).

Of the Pokemon guides I believe that White 2 was the most ambitious, since it covers game play and information beyond just completing the story and challenges in the game. 

Writing a Pokemon Walkthrough and Guide

The process of writing a game guide and walkthrough is pretty similar from game to game, and even from genre to genre in that it largely entails playing the hell out of the game so that you can cover every aspect of play for the main and secondary story lines.  You have to cover all of the plot elements, and in the process provide step-by-step instructions and strategies for beating boss mobs and the more complicated parts of a game.

In addition to all that, these days you also have to shoot game play videos to include as part of the illustrations for the guides - that was not always so - with the focus for each video being examples of how to do strategic things, and beat specific mobs, bosses, or enemies.

The Pokemon game series is even more challenging because in addition to all of that, you also have to keep track of and report which Pokemon are found where, and a major element for both play and the guides includes leveling up and evolving the different Pokemon lines.

If you are not familiar with the games, in addition to a story element and the basic goal of beating the regional Pokemon Gym Leaders to obtain their Gym Badges so that you can then go on to challenge - and hopefully defeat - the currently serving Regional Pokemon Champion - there is also the challenge of completing the Pokedex for the region covered by the game, and then going on to complete the National Pokedex, which includes the Pokemon from all of the regions in the canon, past and present.

The Regional & National Pokedex

If you are wondering just what a Pokedex is, well in simple terms it is an electronic encyclopedia of Pokemon, and it plays a major role in the games in that every Pokemon Professor from the first game and game generation all the way to the current game has asked the player to assist in completing the current National Pokedex, which is a complete record of all of the Pokemon known to exist at that time.

The National Dex is partly behind the slogan "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" and in some ways it is the bane of the existence for many Pokemon Trainers (Pokemon Trainer is what the player is called).

Once you complete the story in each title and beat the Regional Champion to become Regional Champ yourself, there is still the matter of completing the National Pokedex.

When I finished the game in White 2 I had seen something like 450 Pokemon, and I had captured and collected something like 370 or thereabouts.

At the present time the National Pokedex consists of 649 unique Pokemon - and when the newest games that make up the 6th Generation are released later this year that number will be very close to 1000!

Using a combination of previous generation titles, related offshoot games in the Pokemon series, special real-world and WiFi events, and trades with other Trainers (players) you can easily complete the regional Pokedex, but completing the National Dex is still something of a challenge!

Actually completing the National Dex is rather unusual.  In addition to writing the unofficial guides for many of the games, I happen to be a fan of the series, so I would have played the games whether I had been tasked with and assigned to write the guides or not.

I was introduced to the series with the title Pocket Monsters Green, when I was doing a contract in Japan, so it is fair to say that I have been playing these games since the very start, and even then thanks to the fact that there are special and rare Legendary Pokemon that can only be obtained by attending real world special events, a quick mental review of the games - there have been 21 games in the main series mind you - I have only actually fully completed the National Pokedex in 2 of the games, despite having played them all.

Completing the National Pokedex is important to most players - for bragging rights to be sure - but also because in addition to ensuring that you have at least one of each Pokemon it also lets you obtain special rewards, get a specially colored Trainer ID card in the games, and yeah, bragging rights.

Like a lot of Trainers I like to attend regional and national Pokemon events where I can pit my teams against the teams of other Trainers for battles -  informal and official - as it is a lot of fun.

Plus there is the fact that often the only legal way to obtain the full set of Pokemon for each game is to attend those events, as that is often where the rarest of the Pokemon are distributed.  Though that is changing, with WiFi-based distribution getting more popular.

Going for the Gold: The Pokemon White 2 National Dex

The challenge for completing the Unova Region Pokedex (that is the regional 'dex for the Black/White/Black 2/White 2 games) came down to a handful of special events and actions...  

You might find it interesting to learn how it all worked out for me, so I thought I would explain it.  It all started with the release of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, which took place on 7 October 2012.

The first significant aspect that you will need to understand is that the rare and legendary Pokemon that are called Legendary differ slightly from the regular and rare Pokemon in that for one thing you cannot breed them.  They can only be caught and collected, not created.

There are actually several types of Legendary Pokemon - there are the regular Legendary Pokemon that area captured in the games, usually with each of the titles in a series having one of a related pair of Legendary Pokemon.

For example in Black/White and Black 2/White 2 there is a set of two Legendary Pokemon: Reshiram and Zekrom, each of which appears only in its designated game.  To obtain both of them you would have to own both games or get someone who owns the other game opposite the one you have to trade it to you.

The thing is, each game only has ONE of the Legendary.  So you basically have to either own both games or get some other player to give you what amounts to the only one of that type Pokemon in their game.

To get another they (or you) would be forced to delete your game save and start over again - and you may be shocked to learn that a lot of players do that when they first start out...  But the veteran players are more likely to buy an extra copy (or copies) of the games so that they have the freedom to play and restart in order to obtain additional Legendary Pokemon they can trade without disrupting or destroying their primary game save.

That should give you a pretty good idea of how all of this works, so back on subject again, the process of obtaining (or at least incorporating) many of the special Pokemon actually began with the two previous games in the current generation, Pokemon Black and White, but I will start at the logical beginning for White 2, which is my currently active title.

Once the game was advanced to the point that trading Pokemon between versions was possible, I traded in the special Pokemon that I needed for my version and stuck them in a box for later use or, in the case of regular Pokemon, version specific Pokemon, or the ones that were the first in an evolution series, they waited for me to have the time to evolve them in order to complete their entries in the dex.

So this is the order in which the first through final stages of completing first the Regional and then the National Pokedex occurred:

(01) Genesect - #300 in the Unova Pokedex.

Genesect is a rare and Legendary Pokemon..  Obtained via WiFi distribution through the Nintendo WFC in the game, simply by being sure to purchase it as soon as it was available.  For a few weeks starting when the game was officially released Nintendo was offering players who owned the games the ability to connect their game to the Internet and obtain this first special and rare Pokemon.

(02) Victini - #000 in the Unova Pokedex

The first Pokemon to ever have a dex number of #000, Victini was the early adopter reward for Pokemon Black and White.  If you bought the game when it first game out, you could obtain the special Wondercard via WiFi and then pick up a special item called the Liberty Pass at your local Pokemon Center.

Using the Liberty Pass, once you reached the city of Castelia in the game, you could  board the boat for Liberty Garden and capture and collect Victini there.  That was (and as far as I know still is) the only way to get this particular Legendary Pokemon.  Which means if you did not get it then, you are not getting it now unless you find someone willing to trade you one.

(03) Keldeo - #298 in the Unova Pokedex

On August 27th, 2012 Nintendo launched its first real-world Legendary Pokemon distribution event at GameStop stores throughout North America. Gamers could appear at their local GameStop with a copy of Pokemon Black or Pokemon White and receive one of this rare and special Legendary horse Pokemon. So I did that with my copies of both Pokemon Black and White...

Amazingly enough Nintendo offered Trainers a second opportunity to obtain this Legendary Pokemon, as between January 25th and February 12th, 2013 they made it available via the Nintendo WFC (a WiFi event basically) that allowed any Trainer who owned a copy of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 to log into the WFC using the Mystery Gift Selection from the game main menu and download the Wondercard for this Pokemon.

If you did so you could then open a spot in your active party and obtain this Pokemon from the delivery boy at your local Pokemon Center. I did that for both Black 2 and White 2, so I ended up owning four unique Keldeo.

(04) Meloetta - #299 in the Unova Pokedex 

On 4 March 2013 Nintendo began to distribute, for a very limited time only, this Rare and Legendary Pokemon via GameStop stores in North America.

On 4 March you showed up at your local GameStop with your DS/3DS and your copy of Pokemon Black 2 or White 2, and you could receive one of this rare Pokemon to add to your game and your dex.

I did that for both Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, and for Pokemon Black and White, giving me four unique Meloetta to add to my collection and Pokedexes.

(05) Tornadus - #198 in the Unova Pokedex

A member of the “Kami Trio” which consists of three Legendary Pokemon: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. See the entry for Landorus for more details and on how I obtained them.

(06) Thundurus - #199 in the Unova Pokedex

A member of the “Kami Trio” which consists of three Legendary Pokemon: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. See the entry for Landorus for more details and on how I obtained them.

(07) Landorus - #200 in the Unova Pokedex

While there are other ways to obtain this Pokemon, which is known as a member of the Kami Trio in the games, the easiest method for obtaining it was to purchase a copy of the Nintendo 3DS digital game Pokemon Dream Radar ($2.99 from the online Nintendo Store), and then play the game until you unlocked this Pokemon, whereupon you capture it and then transfer it to your game - which in my case was Pokemon White 2. So that is what I did.

The Kami Trio consists of three Legendary Pokemon - Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus (with Landorus being the controlling member of the trio). Both Tornadus and Thunderus could be obtained as version-exclusive Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Black and White (respective) in their “Incarnate” form.

Once you had captured/collected both (one in each of the games) you had to trade the one you did not have in your game so that you had the pair in your active party, you could then journey to the Abundant Shrine at the top of the Waterfalls on Route 14 and, presenting yourself to the Shrine, you would then spawn the controlling member of the trio, Landorus, who you could then capture and collect.

All of the trio collected in this manner were in their Incarnate forms. You could then trade them to Pokemon Black 2 or White 2 to add them to the dex in those games (these Pokemon were not present in either Pokemon Black 2 or White 2).

If you obtained the trio via the side-along game Pokemon Dream Radar they were collected and captured in their alternate form, which is their “Therian Forms” as this was the only way to obtain them for Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 if you did not trade them in from Black or White or both.

Obtaining the trio from Dream Radar was the preferred method however because if and when you did that, you could add the Therian Landorus to your party, visit the Abundant Shrine, and in recognition be gifted with a special devide that is called the “Reveal Glass” that allows you to transform any member of the trio from Therian to Incarnate form, or from Incarnate to Therian Form.

You could transform these Pokemon using the Reveal Glass, and you could also do the same to the Incarnate trio obtained from Pokemon Black and White.

Post-Champion Completion Efforts

Having at this point completed the main story and having beaten the Elite Four and the Unova Regional Pokemon Champion, I was ready to start seriously working on completing the National Pokedex.

To do that first I had to trade all of the version-exclusive Pokemon from Black 2 into White 2.  If you are working towards completing the National Pokedex or for that matter the Unova Regional Pokedex this is an obvious next step!

(08) Weedle - #013 in the National Pokedex

This is a regular Pokemon that is exclusive to Pokemon Black 2 - while I could “see” it in my version of the game by battling one or more of the NPC Trainers in the new area that is opened up after unlocking the National Dex, which consists of the cities or towns of Nacrene, Striaton, Accumula, and Nuvema, Routes 1, 2, 3, 17, 18, and the Pinwheel Forest, Wellspring Cave, Dreamyard, Plasma Frigate or the P2 Lab, I could not actually capture or collect it that way, as it has to be traded with Black 2...

(09) Kakuna - #014 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(10) Beedrill - #015 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(11) Magmar - #126 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(12) Spinarak - #167 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(13) Ariados - #168 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(14) Sudowoodo - #185 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(15) Heracross - #214 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(16) Magby - #240 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(17) Plusle - #311 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(18) Volbeat - #313 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(19) Spoink - #325 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(20) Grumpig - #326 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(21) Registeel - #379 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(22) Buneary - #427 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(23) Lopunny - #428 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(24) Stunky - #434 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(25) Skuntank - #435 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(26) Bonsly - #438 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(27) Gible - #443 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(28) Gabite - #444 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(29) Garchomp - #445 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(30) Magmortar - #467 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(31) Cottonee - #546 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(32) Whimsicott - #547 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(33) Gothita - #574 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(34) Gothorita - #575 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(35) Gothitelle - #576 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(36) Vullaby - #629 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(37) Mandibuzz - #630 in the National Pokedex

See entry (08) for details...

(38) Latios - #381 in the National Pokedex

This is the second of the pair of unique Rare and Legendary Pokemon from a previous game and region that can be obtained in the Dreamyard - though this is the one that is exclusive to Pokemon Black 2 mind you... Since I already had captured and collected Latias for White 2, trading this one in next made the most sense.

(39) Zekrom - #644 in the National Pokedex

This is the second of the pair of unique Rare and Legendary Pokemon from the Gen V games and Unova region that is obtained as part of the story.

(40) The Big List

At this point having either captured and/or traded all of the Pokemon that are available in Gen V into the game, it was time to figure out what was required from the games in the previous generations.

While theoretically that could run up to and including the Gen III games from the GBA, it would not actually be necessary to first collect and transfer Pokemon from them into Gen IV and then to Gen V because in addition to the core games from Gen IV that I owned (which meant Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum) I also owned a copy of Pokemon HeartGold as a result of my having written the guide for that game.

Subsequently between all of the Gen IV games I had access to all of the Pokemon I would need to complete the Gen V National Dex, just not as individual Pokemon. And even if I had been able to obtain them as individual Pokemon the number of Pokemon that would entail would have ended up overwhelming my Pokemon Storage System in White 2!

What I ended up doing was sitting down with White 2, loading the National Dex, and making a list using just the numbers (so it would fit on a single page of paper) of all the Pokemon. Basically that meant creating a bunch of columns with the numbers 1 through 649 on it, with a little box next to each that could be filled in or ticked to indicate that I had that one.

With that done I then consulted the National Pokedex on SuperCheats.com and drew arrows connecting the first form in each set through its evolutions. That way I could figure out which Pokemon I actually needed to have, and then I could evolve each of those to cover the rest of the forms in their specific evolutionary chain!

With that accomplished I began to transfer each of the required Pokemon until I had them all.

(41) Legendary Pokemon from Previous Generations

The next to final task was to look in the special boxes that I had set aside in each game to see what Legendary Pokemon were present.

Because I plan to compete with Pokemon White 2 (and later either Pokemon X or Y) I needed to be sure that all of the Pokemon I transferred in to it were completely legitimate - I know that some of the trades I did in previous games ended up getting me hacked Pokemon (I did not know that they were hacked at the time or I would never have traded for them), so I needed to access the different database and Legendary Lists online to verify the OT and ID No of the Legendary Pokemon I owned, being certain only to transfer the ones that were legitimate.

The End Results

Well, there you have it. The end results are that I now have on my game all of the Pokemon that I will need to complete the National Pokedex - I just need to evolve them all through their full chains.

There is still a lot left to do beyond that mind you - I still need to fully upgrade the shops in my Join Avenue Mall, and I want to go back to N's Castle and fully explore it as I did not do that to my satisfaction before.

There is also the matter of the pass that Professor Juniper gave me that allows me to use the airport in Mistralton City to fly to the Pokemon Nature Preserve, where I understand that in addition to some hard to find Pokemon with potentially great natures and abilities, there is also supposed to be a Shiny Hacorus that is literally there for the taking!

I also need to show Professor Juniper my Unova Pokedex now that I have the Kami Trio in my dex and collection so that I can obtain the reward for that - which is an Oval Charm that according to the rumors makes it easier for the Daycare Man to find eggs. That could come in handy for completing the National Dex Collection since some of the Pokemon I need for that can only be obtained by breeding.

Rumor has it that the reward for showing the Professor your Dex after you have completely filled it is a special Shiny Charm that makes it exponentially more likely for you to encounter Shiny Pokemon in the wild - that would be pretty cool considering that throughout the entire span of the decades that I have been playing the games I have only managed to capture a total of eight (8) Shiny Pokemon...

If you are curious, my collection of Shiny Pokemon consists of:

• #078 - Rapidash. I named him Oranoco, and he was captured in Kanto.
• #130 - Gyarados. I named her Lucy Rouge, and she was captured in Johto.
• #172 - Pichu (SPR2010). I named him PICHU, and he was captured in Sinnoh.
• #244 - Entei (GAMESTP). I named him ENTEI, and he was captured in A Special Place.
• #340 - Whiscash. I named him HIRO, and he was captured in Sinnoh.
• #373 - Salamence. I named him Javier, and he was captured in Hoenn.
• #455 - Carnivine. I named him Sweet, and he was captured in Sinnoh.
• #624 - Pawniard. I named him Brightone, and he was captured in Unova.

Of the eight above only three are wild captures - my Rapidash, Carnivine, and Pawniard. The Whiscash and Salamence were obtained as trades so I did not capture them, while the Gyrados is the Shiny you got automatically from a previous game. The Pichu is the Pointy-Ear give-away one, and the Entei is, of course, also a give-away one from GameStop.

That pretty much wraps up the National Dex completion report. I would be interested to hear your story of how you have completed or are working on completing your National Dex for Black 2 or White 2- will you have it done before X/Y release? That is my goal :)

Merida: A Strong and Honest Female Role Model?

Last year when Disney Studios added the newest epic animated feature film “Brave” to their stable of girl-focused and romantic animated epic motion pictures, the film was released to theaters to a very wide embrace by fans of the studio, and it ended up being one of the (on average) three films I saw that year in a theater.

This post is actually about Brave, but before I can address my points in that area, I have to digress into a completely unrelated set of thoughts and observations because that is how I roll. You, the reader, are encouraged to read this digression largely because you might enjoy reading it but mostly because I asked you nicely and I spelled all the words correctly.

Another point in favor of you actually reading all of this instead of just skipping ahead to the bits about Brave would have to include the fact that I have made considerable efforts at being amusing while at the same time keeping the threads of this post and its observations on-topic, and that my Nanna would very much appreciate you reading it.  Just saying...

Film Viewing Habits of the Australian-American and Parenthood

My altered film viewing habit is an interesting (to me) statistical anomaly that may very well be one of the prime markers of old age and change - largely because it represents a major alteration of lifestyle.

In my salad days it was not uncommon for me to take in fifty or more movies a year at theaters, but now three is actually on the high-end of the statistic. Film has always been a weekend passion for me and especially good film, though I found after having children my willingness to tolerate bad film had somehow and without warning evaporated.

In fact my newly noted inability (or perhaps unwillingness?) to tolerate this sort of thing has altered my own personal entertainment patterns to the point that, it has partially redefined what I consider to be acceptable and polite behavior.  This is particularly true as it applies to my interaction with tradesmen and managers at service-providing institutions.

A perfect example of this change can be found in instances where I find myself sitting in a theater and the film turns bad; the previous incarnation of me would have tolerated the badness, even looking for something good in order to replace that bad opinion.

The present-day incarnation of me is a lot less likely to seek out the good in the bad.  In fact I am very likely to calmly retreat to the box office and insist that they return my money for the ticket AND provide me with a sincere apology for selling me said ticket!

This reaction is, I suspect, largely prompted by my growing acceptance that life is short and, for me, growing increasingly shorter, and that being the case when I am confronted with substandard or what I personally feel are unacceptable standards, such as the clearly flawed and inadequate efforts on the part of everyone involved in creating the complex series of events that resulted in my purchasing a ticket to a movie called "Bring It On" for the massive amount of $12.50 that, while I could get the ticket cost refunded, still left the matter of the 35 minutes I spent watching it in the theater which I could not get refunded to me.

My best mate Geof says this new behavior is a manifestation of the snobbery with which I was raised - an observation that may appear on its face to be an insult but which, I can assure you, was actually intended as a compliment.

The proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is that when Geof is contemplating viewing a movie he often will text or ring me to ask if I have seen it first, and if so, what did I think of it?

Geof believes that my opinion has distinct value. He feels that it serves as an assessment that is far more reliable than the commercial efforts of movie reviewers both online and in print in other words. You hear that Mister Boston Globe Managing Editor?! “Distinct Value!”

The Changing Measure of Tolerance

As I aged and began the complicated process of procreation - which I define as a planned team effort between my wife and I in which I pretty much did all of the heavy lifting - it all comes down to the vanishing of my previous willingness to seek out reasons to be pleased by that and other social experiences.

I don't want to fluff-over the whole having kids thing like most adults of my generation tend to do, because it was not the simple practically automated experience it is often presented as. I can assure you that a lot of serious effort when into creating our children!

Being a parent is complicated

There was the planning out of the genetic markers to be passed on; sculpting of physical appearance and other important traits; allocating brain structure components to ensure spectacular results in the areas of memory, learning retention, hand-eye coordination, and the many other complicated elements that are absolutely required when your aim is to create brilliant children.

When you consider that most of the actual engineering that went into the design and creation of my son and daughter took place at night, with no safety nets, no OSHA supervision, utilizing the sort of focus and concentration not to mention patience that is normally only found in Pokemon Games, and you cap that off with the observation that almost all of the work took place in an environment that was hot, sweaty, tightly enclosed and noisy (when we were doing it right anyway), I am confident that you will easily appreciate the effort and self-discipline that was required to obtain the favorable results that we did, and for which I take nearly full credit.

Since you understand the care and effort that was taken in actually creating the children, the ongoing concern that we have and the responsibility we have accepted in providing them with a proper upbringing and education, including passing on proper moral values should not come as much of a surprise, right?

Modern Parenthood

There is an easily defined division in society when you reach this point in the circle-of-life; it rapidly and automatically sorts the good from the bad and you quickly discover who is a good parent and who is not.

The simple definitions are almost always the best, and in simple terms there are the 10% of parents we all know we are part of that do an excellent job of creating and raising their children, and then there is the remaining 90% that is made up of everyone else - basically they being couples who are destined to take up their ignoble place as follows:

The Victims of Parenthood - this class consists of 70% of the remainder, widely perceived as casual parents of the sort that get the job done with noted success.  There is nothing wrong with this group or this segment of society!

In fact the legitimate case can be made that while the previously mentioned 10% from which our own children are placed represents the grease that keeps the world and our society functioning, this even more important 70% arguably represent the cogs, gears, dust bins, conveyor belts, and other machinery with which society simply cannot function lacking.

Besides that, just where do you think all of the support personnel sourced for everything from corporate culture to the military comes from? India?

Well, alright you have me there; a significant percentage do in fact come from India, but that is not the point; the point is the answer to the following very crucial question: If they did not exist, would YOU want to do their job?

Ozzy Osbourne (left) and wife Sharon (right) - with first wife Thelma Riley Ozzy is dad to Jessica Starshine Osbourne Hobbs (1972) and Louis John Osbourne (1975), and adopted dad to her son Elliot Kingsley (1966). With second wife Sharon (pictured), Ozzy is dad to Aimee (1983), Kelly (1984) and Jack (1985).

Joking aside, for most couples family comes first - or it should.  Especially if you are a rock star.  Just saying...

The 50K Volt Cattle Prod

The Fifteen Minutes Brigade - the remaining 20% of parents who provide their society with the literal momentum to move forward in the form of crucial elements of offspring who help reinforce and define the meaning behind the expression “15 Minutes of Fame” while at the same time offer us the badly needed examples with which are formed the moral values and fears of our own children (Go to bed now or the Smith boy will climb through the window and slice off your thumbs!) and how was that for a really good run-on sentence?

Before you throw down your computer and declare “That bloke is doing nothing but repeat stereotypes and it is all utter nonsense!” consider this: if you throw down your computer it will probably get broken!  But I see your point. 

The 20% in all of its many subsets really does do a lot for our culture and for the society of the world. Or is that world society? I get the two confused; I know that they both mean different things, but there you have it.

The important thing for you to understand is that this remaining 20% is clearly divided into smaller groupings that range from the far-left to the far-right and all that exists in-between on the moral spectrum.

Portions of that divided population being very valuable to society (some might even argue that they are crucial considering that one of the smaller elements measuring less than half of 1% is the group from which Presidents spring), this and other factors are thought to be behind the unilateral justification for the unspoken support for which this group is clearly provided by society in general.

To be clear here, this is the grouping made up from the parents of the children who are absolutely

necessary - one is tempted to say critically important - to the ongoing battle against boredom in western culture and society.

They are the segment of society from which politicians, actors and actresses, law enforcement, musicians and singers - in fact entertainers of all types - and in particular from which talk show hosts and other role models spring forth! It is therefore a worthy effort and one we can feel if not proud, than at least not ashamed, for supporting in its fullness.

One very good example of our continuing support for the 20% is the Rhodes Scholarships (and the slightly less well-known but no less important Marshall Scholarships) that are largely responsible for ensuring that the temper tantrum popularly known as the American Revolution did not result in the permanent loss of the exchange of popular-culture to the point that Americans are unable to appreciate British Humor.

It would be an absolute crime if the American palate evolved to the point that it was no longer able to understand the subtleties of Dawn French (French & Saunders / TheVicar of Dibley / Jam & Jerusalem), Billy Connolly aka The Big Yin (The Boondock Saints / Lemony Snicket's A Series of UnfortunateEvents / Gulliver's Travels), or Alastair Mackenzie (Monarch of the Glen / Snuff-Movie).

There are other awards, prizes, efforts, subsidies, make-work programs (Congress anyone?) and the like but we need to get off the train at this stop because the rambling digression that this post has become actually ended up somehow taking the right train and thus has resulted in our arriving in about as close to the address we wanted in this neighborhood anyway, so here we go!

The Disney Effect

When Brave was released my daughter was still 14-years-old, but more important, she was still on the side of 14-years-old that retains that innocent and wide-eyed view of the world that happens to be just about the best thing about being a 14-year-old that there is.

That being the case, taking the family to see Brave not only made perfect sense, but it also provided what has to be the best opportunity to expose a still formative 14-year-old to a strong but positive female role-model -- well, OK, technically that would be a strong but positive ANIMATED female role model in a film, but still, you get the idea.

Now here is the thing... I knew that the character of Merida in the film was a strong and positive female lead character and, hey, let us be honest, a HERO of a female lead role and character.

I also knew that with the exception of Lara Croft (pictured left and whose role in the most recent prequel, though a bit on the breathy side, was still WAY better than how she was portrayed in the first game in the series) there are so few primary and lead characters in film OR in games that are both positive AND happen to present the character with both a realistic body type and the sort of emotional flaws that are often found in general in the human population, that no matter how you sliced it Merida was a good role model.

Not that I wanted my daughter to be running around the woods behind our house with a bow and bunch of lethal arrows looking for a werewolf to slay or anything...

The thing is I really and genuinely liked and admired the character of Merida - who is played and voiced by the Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald. You might recognize her from some of her other roles, but I mostly know her as the second-cousin of my mother-in-law, and for her appearance in a variety of interesting roles in film and on TV.

For example she played the character of Helena Ravenclaw (aka the Grey Lady or the Ghost of Ravenclaw) in the Harry Potter films, and she was Carla Jean Moss in the film No Country for Old Men which I liked a lot but mostly because Tommy Lee Jones is one of my favorite actors.

She was Evangeline in Nanny McPhee, Diane in Trainspotting, Mary Maceachran in Gosford Park, and Kelly Drummond in the film In the Electric Mist, but the role for which most American movie and TV viewers are the most likely to recognize her voice from would have to be that of Margaret Thompson in the Sopranos-influenced epic mob/OC tale Boardwalk Empire.

Before you even think of going there, I freely admit that yes, it did happen.

When Brave started and we began to become immersed in the characters that were being presented and introduced to us on screen as the voice of Merida narrated I experienced an inappropriate mental vision - a fleshy snippet if you will - of an attractive and well-endowed but very nude young woman standing in the middle of a dress shop surrounded by couture that was decidedly of the 1920's era.

That was it - there was nothing blue about it - and while I knew that this was a memory of something that I had actually seen somewhere, I could not place from where.

At first I thought maybe I was seeing someone who sounded like Merida, but clearly not, and as I was not aware of who the actress was who was voicing the character on the screen (I would have made the connection instantly if I had known) I was at a loss to explain it.  So I leaned in and whispered to my wife “Does her voice sound familiar to you?”

Nucky and Peggy from Boardwalk Empire - the voice caused great confusion for me.

Yvonne gave me her patented and secret Pirate Smirk which is itself too cute for words (you have to see it to understand but it is a very endearing expression that never fails to cause my heart to race) and she says to me: “Can't get the naked girl out of your mind?”

Right, let me explain something first... My wife knows me.  She knows me well. She knows me better than any other human on the planet, including my mother.  To my wife I am an open book of well-worn if dog-eared pages. Emotionally I may as well be a DNA printout, because that is how well she knows me. But this? This was too much.

As convinced as I was that she knew me, I really sincerely did not think she knew me THAT well, and I freely admit that for the briefest of moments I was absolutely convinced that my wife was somehow able to read my mind.

“Ahrrrrr?” I said.

“Shh!” my daughter Autumn hushed.

“There is a special place in Hell for people who talk in movie theaters,” my son Peter cautioned.

“It's Nucky's wife Chris,” Yvonne whispered back.

“Nucky's wife is not named Chris, her name is Margaret,” I replied.

“No, you're Chris!” Yvonne said in exasperated whisper.

“Shhhhh!” Autumn hushed.

It finally clicked into place for a Kodak Moment...

The reason I was seeing that naked girl was because that naked girl was now the ginger-haired heroine on the screen. Her voice was triggering the memories, and the disturbing bit was I had not been able to make the connection.

Now the connection was made the mystery was solved, and I could go back to enjoying the story.  But then I mentally paused to consider something.

“How do you know I wasn't seeing an image of her with Nucky in a pink dress in a restaurant?” I asked.

“Shh!” Autumn hushed.

A Positive Role Model

The character of Merida - if you have not yet seen the animated motion picture Brave from Disney - is that of a teenaged young Princess. 

This sort of Princess...

Not the Princess Di sort of Princess mind you, more like the two girls from the mini-series A Game of Thrones sort, being that she is a member of the ruling family of a small mountain holding (actually there are a lot of similarities to AGoT if you think about it, and I was).

She was innocence and light and coincidentally also happened to be on that side of fourteen I was previously hinting about; the side of fourteen my daughter was at when we were seeing Brave. 

It is a fleeting all-too-brief period in which the young girl has an imperfect understanding of the world and how they relate to it yet retains the wide-eyed innocence that when combined with a wide-ranging optimism and the notion that life, whatever life means, is wide open and full of opportunities for them.

Oh sure, life will beat that out of them pretty quick once they get past High School and enter University, but hey I am one of those fathers who thinks that we should nurture that outlook for as long as we can, so providing a role model - even an animated role model - of a girl who has a genuine girlishness about her, and who was not carved with a surgeon's blade to present the unrealistic (I personally think it is also unattractive) hourglass shape... Well, you get the idea.

Not this sort of Princess...

Merida had a lot going for her. For one thing, she had a wide-eyed fascination for the world. Of even greater importance she was not allowing the world to dictate to her who she was.  While that really was a foundation element for her character it also happens to be a big deal for girls that age.

Of course I am speaking only from the slightly less-than-confused position of an observer, but I remember being a fourteen-year-old-boy and I cannot imagine that the process of surviving that stage of life is any easier for girls than it was for boys, right?

Rather than spend her days knitting or cross-stitching (or whatever it was that girls did then) she had a favorite war horse she liked to ride whose name I am pretty sure was Angus, and she had her bow and arrows - after watching the movie a bunch of times and paying close attention to her weapons as only a true SCA Geek will do, I have come to the conclusion that her bow is a composite recurve and maybe just a little on the small size for her height.

A capable girl with the right tools makes for a pretty awesome hero!

In addition to her bow and arrows, Merida had a biodag (it is pronounced beedak) that was around 25cms (or roughly 9 inches) in length, which would have been appropriate for her height. The Biodag is a traditional weapon for the affluent Highlander of which Merida would have been considered, and was often kept in a sheath with one or more smaller knives, attached to a special dirk belt which was called a criosan biodag (pronounced creeshan beedak) - which we actually see in the movie.

When you factor in her bow, her knife, her horse and other pets, her sense of adventure, and a willingness to promote the idea that just because that was not the way that OTHER girls looked at life did not mean that it was wrong for HER to look at life that way, you get the whole package - a great role model for girls.

Then you add in her intelligence and quick grasp for the solution to avoiding the wedding she clearly does not want right now - watch the video above - and you really see the hero in the girl!

Disney Meddles

Due to all of those positive images and qualities, Merida very rapidly became the hero for little girls of a certain age everywhere. Not only that, she became the hero of the parents of little girls of a certain age everywhere.

Obviously we cannot wish for our daughters to be an animated ginger-haired girl princess from some out-of-the-way holding in the mountains of Scotland, but by gosh we can hope that our daughters would have the positive self-image, the adventuresome spirit, and the genuine pure quality of soul that this girl has.

Clearly Merida was not interested in experimenting with the drugs in the medicine cabinet in her parents bathroom. She had no desire to obtain a tramp stamp before age 18, and her idea of a good time involved fresh air, and not a YouTube of a girl enjoying fresh air - hey, it had to be said.

Disney decided it was time for Merida to join the ranks of its other Princesses...

The blokes at Disney are far from stupid, and they quickly realized that in Merida they had found their next Disney Princess.  The blokes at Disney are dumb as a bag of hammers.

The reason I say that is that having recognized Merida as the next obvious recruit for the Disney Princess Brigade, which includes luminary princesses celebrated on a site(1) Disney created just to celebrate their other princesses who are drawn from previous epic animated movies, including Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), Cinderella, Jasmine (Aladdin), Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), adding Merida to the troop makes a lot of sense.

In fact adding Merida to the Disney Princesses does make sense, it is just how they decided to do it that makes no sense!  And therein lies the rub. They recognized in Merida the qualities of a Disney Princess, and then they took her and gave her the required makeover in order to turn her into a Disney Princess.

Basically ALL of the qualities that made her popular in the hearts of the young girls who found in Merida a hero and a role model are the antithesis of the qualities that are found in a Disney Princes!

Look at the following BEFORE and AFTER image and you should pretty much get the idea:

Her first procedure was cosmetic eye surgery to add a more almond-like appearance to her eyes in order to remove the rounder peasant-like eye shape so typical of the Scottish Highlands.  After she healed up she next went under the knife to have her cheeks re-shaped, raising the upper ridge of the cheekbones in order to present a more striking and pronounced facial shape.  After she healed from that, plastic surgery for her mouth obtained the more desirable bow-shape and a smaller mouth size overall. 

Her hair was heavily treated to smooth it out and add curls, and a lapband procedure followed by liposuction to shape her hips and belly more in line with the patented "Disney Princess look" almost completed the package.  All that was left was to have her undergo breast augmentation to create a bustline that was more sympathetic to the off-the-shoulder dress, and voila!  A Natural Disney Princes!  Total cost in surgery and procedures: $190K.  Results: Priceless!

A friend of mine who works in a doctor's office reviewed the procedures that must have been done to get her to look this way (read the caption above) and worked out the total cost at something like $190K if she used a Hollywood surgery group with a solid rep.  She notes though that if she had the procedures done in Boston it would have only cost around $100K.

Though the miracles of modern cosmetic surgery an innocent wide-eyed hero of a girl who was the star of the film Brave is now a carved and artfully arranged "Hottie" fit to work the pole at the finest of gentleman's clubs.  Way to go Disney!

A Princess in the Rough?

In an email recently sent to the editor of the newspaper the Marin Independent Journal, the writer and co-director of the film “Brave” and the woman who helped to create the character of Merida, Brenda Chapman (I personally suspect that her getting an Academy Award for Brave was partly to recognize her help in creating this more realistic and healthy role model that is Merida), had this to say:

“Merida was created to break that mold -- to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance …

“They have been handed an opportunity on a silver platter to give their consumers something of more substance and quality -- THAT WILL STILL SELL -- and they have a total disregard for it in the name of their narrow minded view of what will make money.”

I think that we can safely paraphrase that sentiment in another way: Disney, this was a test. You failed.


Notes:

(1) http://princess.disney.com/

Pokemon Black/White 2 and the National Dex

The question of the day is, should I/We/You move Pokemon forward from Generation to Generation?

If you are a gamer who happens to be a Pokefan, you probably don't need me to explain this to you - but if you are not yet a Pokefan, perhaps you do?

The reason that this is a question has to do with the fact that I am usually assigned to write the Walkthrough/Guides for the Pokemon games at SuperCheats.  If you check my history/portfolio you will note that I have caught the following assignments in the realm of Pokeguides:

• Pokemon HeartGold
• Pokemon LeafGreen
• Pokemon Black
• Pokemon Emerald
• Pokemon FireRed
• Pokemon Black 2
• Pokemon White 2

You will notice that there is a mixture of current and retro - that is because they were building up the Pokemon Library for Guides - but generally I have kept current with the games, which is how I found myself asking the question of whether or not I should carry the teams forward both to the next gen and next game?

On the one hand there really is no point in leaving them behind with each new generation and game when I think about it.

The mechanism built into the games started with Gen III to transfer Pokemon forward into the next Gen of the games, which meant that players no longer were forced to abandon their Pokemon when a new Gen was released - and that is a really good thing when it comes to event Legendary Pokemon.

But the real question that has been bugging me is this: should I move my teams / Pokemon forward into the new games within the current Gen?

On the one hand, that puts a lot of already leveled Pokemon into the game, which sort of detracts from the whole discovery and leveling process of the story, but on the other hand if I don't move them forward into the current title, then they basically are dormant and never used again...

Would it be better to wait until after the game is completed and the guide written so as to avoid even the whiff of compromising the game play process with respect to the guide?  Considering that my guides do not include the very long process of completing the National Pokedex, on the face of it that seems like a reasonable compromise...

But then if I were to transfer already leveled Pokemon into the games as I played them, that would pretty much eliminate a lot of the level grinding that is a requirement for these games...  I have to confess that there is significant temptation present for just that reason...

The Next Next-Gen Pokemon Games

The word is out - the Nintendo DS / DSi is a dead platform.  At least that is how we have to interpret the announcement by Nintendo that its flagship game series - Pokemon - will no longer support the DS and DSi.

This is not the first time something like this has happened, so it should not be all that great a shock really - my first exposure to Pokemon (then called Pocket Monsters) was when I was in Japan on a work contract back when the series was first released, and some of my colleagues got me hooked on the game.  I actually learned a lot of Japanese just to be able to read the screens on Pocket Monsters Green.

New Pokemon are on the way with Pokemon X and Y

That was a Game Boy game - the original Game Boy I mean, black and white and really a handful compared to the current Nintendo handheld platforms.

Pocket Monsters Green made the transition to English (and other) language, and became Pokemon Red and Blue, then Silver, Gold, Yellow etc.  The first generation was Game Boy, second generation was Game Boy Color, and then the third generation was the first to cut its ties with the previous games, as it moved onto the Game Boy Advanced platform, completely severing all of the games from the previous generations.  Players were not real happy about that.

But the massively improved graphics, deeper game play, and more involved story plus the extras more than made up for that, and the GBA had a fair run of titles in the third generation.  The fourth generation arrived on the new Nintendo DS platform, but those wizards at Game Freak figured out a way via Pal Park and the fact that the DS had a GBA cartridge slot as well as DS to allow you to move your Pokemon forward into that next gen.

And that was good.

A lot of my Pokemon - and in particular the Legendary Pokemon - made that transition!  In fact in the current generation (Gen V) I actually have Pokemon I play with that started out in Gen III!

The Next Next-Generation of the games is Pokemon X and Y, which as I noted above, Nintendo has made clear will ONLY support the Nintendo 3DS.  It was partly that announcement last fall and partly my need to be able to play through Pokemon Dream Radar in order to write up that for the current generation walkthrough and guide that caused me to have to buy a 3DS - but I was happy with my DSi Fattie really.

Sometimes we have to be forced to upgrade.

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y

The technology with which Game Freak creates the games has come a long way it seems.  At least that is true judging by the fact that they have confirmed that for the first time in the history of the series the next generation will be released worldwide at the same time, as opposed to being released in Japan and then a year later worldwide after it gets converted to the other languages.

They have already started to let us have a peek at the new games that are coming our way this summer, starting with some of the new Pokemon and the new map (see the map embedded below)...

Pokemon X and Y will fully support the 3D capabilities of the Nintendo 3DS, and they will both feature new aspects to being a Pokemon Trainer, from new forms of transportation, new collections, and of course a huge selection of new Pokemon for this new region, including new legendary types.

The word is that Nintendo will be leveraging the WiFi Connection more than real-world locations for the legendary and special Pokemon give-aways, and that is cool.  But even more important is that they will be carrying forward with the online multi-player live competitions as well as online special events that they largely introduced with Black/White and Black 2 / White 2.

I have to say that is exciting - and equally exciting is the word that they will be expanding the limited multi-player events in the form of new and different mini-games, but this time around instead of making them locally-focused (as in opponents need to be in the same location) they will be more Internet focused.  Very cool.

The question of moving Pokemon from the previous generations into the new generation has not been completely addressed, but there are hints that the games will include that ability - and that is good news really if you think about it, considering that the National Pokedex will, with the addition of this new region, be rapidly approaching 1000 Pokemon!

The images of the characters that we will play in the games have received a major makeover, and it appears that their age is more mid-teens than the 9 year old that the games started out with.

The 3D aspect and the revamped game world (and characters) will make this an interesting change, I just wonder if they will alter the camera angle like they have with other games in the 3D realm?

It is going to be an interesting summer...

. . . the Life of a Modern Day Pokemon Master

Depending upon who you are speaking with, most adults who are not gamers do not think much of Pokemon if they think of them at all.   Although they know what Pokemon are and what a Pokemon Trainer is, more often than not they personally define the world in which Pokemon exist and the respective video games, animated television shows, and feature movies, as realms created exclusively for children in which adults do not belong.  

At least part of the reason for that rather harsh assessment may be due to the disconnection that exists for most adults between the person that they are now, and the person that they once were when they still understood the joys and vivid outlook that I believe is wasted upon children, who have it in such abundance that they can blithely ignore it.  I am not saying that kids do not deserve the gift of that almost magical point-of-view, I am just saying that adults could do with a bit of that themselves.

Recently I found myself in the position of having to explain to a disgruntled and suspicious security agent in the employ of the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) the presence of Pokemon video games, a vintage Pokemon electronic Pokedex, and a small notebook containing page-after-page of tiny hand-scribbled notes created by me that among other things included my observations on the locations in which I had encountered each Pokemon, and my assessment for the best tactics to be used in their capture.  In addition to that very useful information and notes of my observations was included a series of addendum that outlined what I thought was the best method for leveling and training each of a short list of core Pokemon whose type and natural abilities struck me as making them ideal members of a regular Pokemon tournament team.

This smiling and friendly TSA Agent was NOT the Agent who was inspecting me...

The occasion that brought the contents of my carry-on bag to the scrutiny and the attention of that TSA Agent was my annual trip to Los Angeles to cover the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the different publications that I write for.  I am sure that I do not have to tell you that E3 is perhaps the most important expo event in the industry and for most gamers, and while there is always plenty to see, think about, and write up, once your work day is over it helps a lot to have something unrelated to the job to use as a way to relax.  In my case these diversions took the form of a nice thick paperback mystery novel and my Nintendo DSi XL with a handful of Pokemon games and the aforementioned accessories and paraphernalia.

Approaching The Security Checkpoint at Boston Logan

One of the cool things about living in New England is that under normal circumstances the people who live there are a friendly and gregarious bunch who enjoy pleasing and being pleased by the strangers that they meet.  Well, normally that is the case, but it turns out that there is a small -- nay, tiny -- segment of the population that pretty much always feels angry and  suspicious towards the world: they call them Transportation Security Administration Agents.  

Imagine, if you can, approaching the security checkpoint between the public areas of the airport and the restricted area where the gates are located, and finding a vision straight out of Zombieland -- a long line of passengers being examined by a cadre of security agents, and to a person every single body occupying the security checkpoint have no emotional expression on their faces.  If there had been a few frowns or a smile or two to be had perhaps my impression of the situation would have been different -- but the total lack of emotion on all of the faces (including a few young children) was disturbing on a level that it is difficult to explain.

 These were not the planes that I flew to LA to cover E3 on...

When we approached the entrance to the checkpoint shoes came off, plastic bins were lined up, computers taken out of bags, and watchful eyes tracked the bin holding my day pack with my wallet and other valuables.  I found myself being directed to the side due to my power chair -- where I would be subjected to a hand-pat-down which I was not surprised by because I was expecting it -- but then something happened that I was not expecting: the TSA Agent picked up my day pack and then began to empty it, setting each item on the desktop.

When he got to my game case he opened that and thumbed through the games inside, glanced up at me and asked me why I had so many Pokemon games?  Like an idiot I made a joke out of it, and asked if that was part of the standard security screening -- and was informed that yes, it was.

He then asked me why I played kids games?  I thought about my answer -- how I could just as easily have replied that it was part of my job, that I had to review a lot of games, not just the ones that most people think of as appropriate for adults.  I could have said that they belonged to my son, who was traveling with me, and is perhaps young enough that he would have accepted that...   Instead I told him that I really liked the games.

His reaction to that declaration was to begin removing the games from the case and lining them up on the desktop.  Then he opened my Pokedex and turned it on, and asked what it was.  He did the same for the small notebook full of notes, asking a series of questions that were, as near as I could tell, was intended to be insulting. 

TSA Security moonlighting as the Head of Security for the Electric Company

I briefly flirted with the idea of offering him a cup of tea -- but clearly even the guards in Saffron City have nothing on this guy with respect to grimace -- and then it hit me...  

"I challenge you to a duel!" I screamed, slamming my Pokemon White cartridge down on the desk.

Just kidding...  What I did was smile and nod and refrain from saying what I really thought...  Celadon Mansion was clearly too far away from the security checkpoint, and I was not sure that tea from anywhere else would work as a bribe for security, and a fantasy involving his actually accepting the bribe flitted through my head, closely followed by one in which he pulled out his DS and he and I did battle -- I won of course -- and then I noticed he was putting everything back in my day pack.

"Have a pleasant trip" he said, and that was it.  I was through security and headed to the gate.

It's not easy being a Pokemon Trainer.