By Emily
With the unveiling of the Global Link, players from around the world can now access one of the most anticipated features of Pokemon Black and White – the Dream World. Pokemon with different abilities and unusual attacks can be befriended here, and berries can be planted and harvested. But what Pokemon are the best to bring back to the game cartridge, and what other features exist in the Global Link?
Starting off with what people don’t focus primarily on, the Global Link is the only way to get new C-Gear and Pokedex skins, as well as new Pokemon Musical songs. Recently in Japan the Kanto starter evolutions have gotten their own skins for the C-Gear, and the starters have received one Pokedex skin. Other skins have been available for a while, such as a Tabunne C-Gear skin, as well as ones featuring Minccino and Purrloin. Only one other Pokedex covering has been available, which features the Unova region starters. Recently, a Victini C-Gear skin has been made available to commemorate the upcoming release of the newest movie, which will be available for a number of months and downloadable to Japanese games.
Special Pokemon have also been given away as special promotions, which usually required a password to receive. The Mamoswine event is the most recent, and can still be downloaded since the distribution date has been extended due to the Global Link being down for so long. Some older events, such as the other regions’ starters, are still available if the player was not able to download them before the Global Link’s site was unavailable.
The Global Battle Union is part of a unique feature that allows random people to battle each other over Wi-Fi, and players can view their scores in their Global Link account. The random match part is done within the cartridges, where you talk to an attendant on the top floor of the Pokemon Center and after following the prompts you will eventually be matched with another random player from somewhere else in the world. All the battle results are recorded, so once the scores and selected videos of the battles are uploaded to the Global Link, they will be viewable by both you and your friends.
One of the most anticipated downloads was for the Eevee Evolutions, which required playing a game on the Japanese Pokemon Daisuki Club site. The evolution received would be based off of the type of the partner chosen in the game, and a few months after the Global Link was opened, players could log in and download their Eeveeloution. All of the Pokemon would be male and have regular attacks, but the abilities would be different. For example, Espeon would have Magic Bounce, which only three characters can have, and the ability itself is exclusive to the Global Link, so no Pokemon caught in the games can have it. This event has started with other languages of Black and White, except the game and method of choosing the Eeveeloution are different. In a few months, those who have beaten the game and chosen the character they want will be able to get the Pokemon from the Global Link.
Perhaps what every player has been waiting for has been the Dream World. The feature is very easy to use, though it requires a Pokemon to be sent over from the game cartridge via Wi-Fi. While using the World, you can grow berries and travel to other people’s worlds if you have their Friend Codes registered and have traded with them. The best part is the Island of Dreams, where you can choose a Pokemon to take back to the cartridge.
Finding Pokemon is not difficult at all, and the mini-games are very easy to complete. However, picking the right one to take back is difficult, and making sure that the one you chose has the best attacks possible can also be just as hard a task. In general, females are preferred over males because if bred the special nature can be passed onto the babies. Because males are the ones who pass on attacks they can’t be counted out, but they are much more common than females.
Getting a Pokemon with a Dream World-exclusive attack depends on your score for the mini-games, so a higher score is a good indicator that the Pokemon will have a special move. But only one of the Pokemon’s attacks will be shown, so in some cases the wanted move may be hidden. Some will tie in with the character’s Dream World ability, like Sentret and Covet, though others may not make as much sense as with Natu and Giga Drain.
Abilities in the Dream World can sometimes seem random, but some Pokemon have lucked out and are very sought-after. Vulpix with Drought is an example of such a wanted Pokemon, while an Oddish with Run Away is generally not very popular. One in particular, Chandelure, is one of the most desired Pokemon of professional battlers thanks to the Shadow Tag ability, though it and it pre-evolutions have not been available in the Dream World as of right now.
For professional and novice players alike, the Dream World is fun to use and provides a new gaming experience, as well as some novelty. With the added battle system of the Global Link, people from around the world can connect to an even greater extent than what was possible in Diamond and Pearl, the first games with features that bring people together via Wi-Fi. The ability to personalize small aspects of the game like the C-Gear and the Dream World home add more depth to the newest series of games, and makes the games seem more dynamic compared to the nearly cookie-cuter Red, Green, and Blue games. And lastly, unique Pokemon that can only be obtained in the Dream World add a level of complexity and fun, resulting in more diverse options and a refreshing feeling of something new.
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White