By Matt
When I got Pokemon White Version, I wanted to sign up for the Global Link. The site told me I had to create an account at the Pokemon Trainer’s Club. After I did, I searched around the site, looking for something to do. Although this site is kid-friendly, I didn’t mind it (being a kid at heart too) and decided to play a couple of games in the Fun Zone. The site tutorial told me that playing games earns Trainer Tokens, which can be used to spend on a number of items for your trainer sprite.
Watching episodes online (in the Animation section) can also earn Trainer Tokens. To curb the enthusiasm, however, the site only lets you earn fifteen every week, and it resets on Saturday. I don’t seem to mind, as the accessories in the store are very cheap, ranging from two to six tokens on average. For those that have been lifelong fans of the game, wallpapers are available for The site features a Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) part of the site filled with strategies for winning at the game, a list of all boosters released from EX Ruby and Sapphire, which was about six or seven years ago.
Of course, there are more boosters from 1999, but for some strange reason they are not included in the list. The strategies mentioned earlier provide great ways to win, but are also costly, as specific cards must be found to match the strategy. This kind of devotion will help earn a spot in the Pokemon card tournaments hosted periodically.
Recently, a tournament took place in Hawaii, showing that people all over the world play Pokemon. The section titled Video Games shows a chronology of all games released, so that Pokemon fans may track their games and hunt for those that they do not have. Many games have improved, or changed just to meet new consoles, such as Pokemon Pinball or other puzzle games (Trozei, Puzzle League, etc.).
For the Wii, two games have been made specifically as a WiiWare game: Pokemon Ranch, and Pokemon Rumble. The Pokedex is also available for those who want to check out information without having to look at the game. It lists the type (element), species, height, weight, weaknesses, and strength in each stat. Although the measure of each stat is a little vague, other sites, like Serebii and Bulbapedia have more in-depth information for the tactician or the power-hunter. Currently, the Pokedex only goes up to 493, as the Unova region has not yet been put into the system.
Those that want to look for old cards can use the Card Database section and type in the name of a card they are looking for. Like before, the cards are only archived until the EX Series (ending with Ruby and Sapphire), and other sites have catalogs evaluating the card’s value.
Last of all, the TV Episodes section displays all the episodes ever made of the Pokemon TV series, starting from Ash’s journey with Pikachu in Season 1. I’m sure I will take the time and remember the glory days of my childhood by watching a refreshing episode of Pokemon.
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White