android manager

Pokemon SoulSilver is the newest addition to the Pokemon series. It is the Generation IV remake of the old Pokemon Silver. This time, instead of starting in Sinnoh as it did in Diamond, the game now takes place in the Johto region. There players can team up with the Starter Pokemon Chikorita (Grass), Cyndaquil (Fire), or Totodile (Water), received from Professor Elm. As with all Pokemon games, the goal in this game is to become the best trainer in the Johto and Kanto regions. This is done by raising Pokemon, completing the Pokedex, defeating all sixteen gyms in the Johto and Kanto regions and also the Elite Four and the Champion. During various points of the game, your rival will also challenge you to test your skill level. This time, your rival is a purple-haired boy (You get to create your own name for him), whose personality more resembles Paul in the anime. Like with the previous games, your rival's starter Pokemon depends on what you choose as a starter, possessing the Type that is advantageous to yours. Also, instead of facing Team Galactic as you did in Pokemon Diamond, you'll be facing Team Rocket this time.

A new feature in this game that actually proved to be quite cute is that your leading Pokemon is now able to follow behind you wherever you go instead of residing in a Pokeball. Players are also able to turn around and interact with their Pokemon. Most of the time, the interaction will result in a random action (such as your Pokemon chasing after a butterfly or sneezing), but there are also times (if lucky) where your Pokemon might have picked up an Item, though these events are much rarer.

Unlike in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Pokemon can now compete in a sports event known as the Pokeathlon. Pokemon Contests have completely been deleted from the program, which might be a good thing for some people. The game utilizes the DS Touchscreen, and your Pokemon will be able to compete in events such as hurdling and frisbee-catching. Each Pokemon has their own stats. Some Pokemon will be better at jumping than at running. For each course, you will enter three Pokemon. Each course consists of three different events that is based not only on the stat skill of the overall course name. You'll be controlling all three of your Pokemon at once, so make sure that you're not focusing only on one Pokemon. I personally am best at the Jump, Power, and Stamina courses. I fail at the Speed and Skill courses mainly due to one event: Pennant Capture. It rather annoys me that the Pokemon of the other teams move faster than I do and keep bumping into me, thus either stealing my points or slowing me down considerably.

You'll be assigned points in the Pokeathlon and you can later use these points to buy prizes at the Prize Exchange counter. If you win an event, you'll be rewarded with an additional 100 points. Nice! Prizes vary from day to day but you can get a lot of items that are not available anywhere else in the game here. You can get Apricorns (around 200-300 points), Full Restores, Heart Scales to change your Pokemon's movesets (1000 points), Rare Candies to increase your Pokemon's level, and various evolution stones. More evolution stones (i.e. Dusk, Dawn, Shiny Stones) will become available after you receive your National Dex. These stones can be purchased for 3000 points (The stones before the National Dex cost 2500 points). Getting the points you need can be quite annoying and take a long time. Often times, you'll have to play the courses for about seven or more times (depending on your score and your original amount of points) in order to rack up the points needed.

One new addition to the game is the Pokewalker, a device that is very much like a pedometer. It is included in every game package, and can be considered as Nintendo's attempt to get kids to become more active. It can connect to the DS console via infrared signals. Players can transport their favorite Pokemon into the Pokewalker and walk along with it to increase its happiness. Players walk to save up a currency known as "watts", which they can later use to unlock new routes to obtain special Pokemon. I've tried using the Pokewalker and it can be quite annoying to use. For one thing, it doesn't record accurately. Sometimes my Pokewalker doesn't even record at all. If you want to do anything, such as search for an item or Pokemon, you'll need to consume watts. Watts are hard to come by as you gain only one watt for every 20 steps you take. Considering that I'm mainly using the Pokewalker to get a Milotic and Froslass, this will most certainly take awhile as the route to access them requires 30,000 watts. Think how many steps that will take!

Also, one other quite annoying thing with the Pokewalker is that there is no Off button. Once you pull out that little piece of paper stopping the flow of current to the battery, your Pokewalker is officially turned on until the battery dies (According to the manual, the battery lasts for about 4 months if you use it to gain 10,000 steps each day for about half an hour). To conserve battery, the Pokewalker goes into Sleep Mode but, as you can see, this still consumes battery life, only less of it. The only way to turn your Pokewalker off is to either remove the battery or reinsert that little piece of paper you took out earlier. Be careful about your Pokewalker's battery life as, if your battery dies, then all information on the Pokewalker you collected is lost. (Don't worry, your Pokemon can still be retrieved. It'll only be more of a hassle now).

As with all Pokemon games, there are always some things that I find to be annoying. The most annoying thing I find to be is the fact that you are always constantly attacked by wild Pokemon or young trainers. While these events do help you train your Pokemon, they really slow down your progress. Sometimes I just want to travel from one town to the next without any hindrances. Of course, there are ways to stop these random encounters, and that is to make use of the various levels of Repels. These items will stop Pokemon from attacking you for a certain number of steps, but they do cost money with the better Repels costing more money. However, they can be stocked anytime in any Pokemart across the region. 

Another thing that I still find to be annoying is the limit of moves your Pokemon can learn at one time. Your Pokemon is only allowed to learn four moves at a time, so it really takes a lot of effort to decide which movesets are the best for your Pokemon. Ask yourself if you want a moveset that focuses mostly on defense or offense? Not only that but since most of your Pokemon in your party end up needing to learn HMs in order to continue the game, you're really down to only three options. Plus the fact that the more powerful attack, the less PP it has can really make the game challenging if you run out of PPs. Of course, your Pokemon's old moves can be relearned but these will require the payment of Heart Scales. The Move Tutor can be found in Blackthorn City.

Unfortunately, leveling up your Pokemon's happiness takes a rather long time and can often times be extremely expensive. However, if you want some cool Pokemon such as Roselia, Umbreon, or Lucario, then you'll be forced to work through your Pokemon's happiness. You might even need to evolve your Pokemon via maximum happiness in order to complete your Pokedex. The only fastest way I know of to increase your Pokemon's happiness is to first catch your Pokemon with the Friend Ball (Green Apricorn). This increases the base happiness of your newly caught Pokemon from 70 to 210. Then equip your Pokemon with the Soothe Bell and give it lots of vitamins and a daily massage from Daisy Oak in Pallet Town from 3-4 PM.

One thing that really annoys me is that you can't complete the Pokedex unless you utilize the GTS. I don't have WiFi in my house so I'll have to run to a cafe just to use this feature. You can't get any Sinnoh or Hoenn Pokemon unless you use the GTS. However, you can capture a few of these using the Hoenn or Sinnoh Sound on your Pokegear after you get the National Dex. The only other way would be to use Objects in the Safari Zone to attract some rarer Pokemon.

As with all games, Pokemon starts out to be very fun but the game starts to become extremely boring halfway through because there's nothing for you to do but to run around in the grass, encounter some wild Pokemon, and gain EXP to increase your Pokemon's level (which, by the way, takes FOREVER if your  Pokemon is at a high level). There really are no good places to train unless you battle trainers on the SS Aqua and only then this can only occur on certain days. All the Pokemon in Kanto are extremely low level (around level 5). But, hey, it's Pokemon, so you can't complain too much I guess.

Another installment in the Yu-Gi-Oh series for the DS is Yu-Gi-Oh GX Spirit Caller. The game follows the gameplay of its predecessors where you duel other players as you advance through the storyline. Unlike the World Championship games, you're no longer just a random duelist whose sole purpose is to to duel. Instead, you're now a student at a dueling academy and fitted into one of the houses. When you first start off, you'll be in the Slifer Red Dorms, which is reserved for those who scored lowest on the entrance exams. Those who live in the extravagant dorms of Obelisk Blue are those who scored the highest. You'll meet Syrus and Jaden Yuki when you first start off, heroes of the GX anime and live with them in the Slifer Red Dorm. You'll get to create your own avatar but, unfortunately, for all the girls playing (including me) the avatar can only be male. Normally I wouldn't complain but your choices for facial features are rather ugly when compared to the rest of the crew in the game.

The way the game is designed is much better suited for the more experienced players of Yu-Gi-Oh. There really aren't any tutorials until after you've battled a few duels on your own. Compared to the previous installments in the series, Spirit Caller has been renovated with an updated card list. It has a much smoother interface and quicker creature animations compared to Nightmare Troubador but still the gameplay itself is very hectic across the small DS screens. Everything is so small that you literally have to use the game's magnifying glass feature. You never get a chance to see what Spell or Trap cards your opponent just played. You only get to see the card's effects unless you sift through the opponent's graveyard and look up the card using the magnifying glass. So, if you're not careful, you could end up suddenly losing your Spell/Trap cards or one of your powerful monsters. In general, card effects are never quite clear when they do occur. The battle animation isn't too great either. Overall, since this is a game that focuses mainly on dueling others, you would think that they would have a better design for dueling. However, this is not the case and will only give you a headache when you duel. It's all one very hectic mess.

Due to the popularity of Trauma Center, Atlus has decided to make a sequel to the hit medical game. The game still follows our old protagonist Derek Stiles, a young and gifted doctor with a strange and magical ability that slows down time called the "Healing Touch", and his assistant Angie Thompson. Delphi is back and they now seek revenge. Equipped with new strains of GUILT, they truly are baffling our heroes. Not only that, but previous patients of GUILT are also experiencing Post GUILT Syndromes (PGS). You first meet Stiles in the Africa's Costigar working at a military base. Here, he will meet his new apprentice Adel Tulba. However, the moment is short-lived as Stiles and his team is quickly called back to Caduceus USA to deal with PGS. Of course, new things pop up that will influence Caduceus's battle with GUILT both for the good and the bad such as partnering up with an ally or finding themselves a new team of rivals to compete with. The game, in general, moves from simple operations to more and more stranger cases as you advance through the game.

If you're familiar with Adult Swim's Amateur Surgeon, then you'll find Trauma Center's gameplay to be very similar. However, you're no longer dealing with random house tools to deal with your operating needs. Instead, you're actually working with real operation tools (well, as real as things can be in a video game at least). Here, you'll meet the trusty scalpel, sutures, drain, antibiotic gel, scalar laser, and stabilizer. Learn and master them for they will be your keys to success in this game. This game measures your mastery at speed, reflexes, memory, and your dexterity. If you're not very quick or accurate with your stylus, then be warned that you'll most likely have to work through a specific operation over and over again before you finally finish it. The operations are hardly easy and you'll always be pressured for time, particularly when you're dealing with more than one patient or GUILT or even suturing countless lacerations.

The tactiles work but, when you're trying to speed through an operation, some annoying things do occur. For example, some lacerations appear to near the controls and I end up accidentally switching tools when trying to suture them. Another annoying thing is that sometimes I don't draw up enough stabilizer or blood using the syringe or drain. These are the two main things that you might want to watch out for when playing this game. Other than that, everything else works.

When it comes to the storytelling, the game is good at its storytelling, mixing in medical terms with a bunch of political tensions, war crimes, and what not. It's very much like a medical drama. The only thing that bothers me is that the storytelling is very long and it can often be awhile before you finally get to pick up your scalpel and begin the operation. Pressing the Select button will skip through the story but, even then, it's really just like watching a fast-forward version of a video. There's really no Skip button that will lead you directly to the operation.

The graphics are nice with vibrant colors for the storyboards. There are some lighting and shading effects. When it comes to the people, the graphics are really just 2-D portraits. I wish that they could have done a little more to these portraits, such as animations or making a more realistic effect. There aren't any changes in expression unless the character is in extreme pain or extremely angry.

The music is okay with a few nice tunes. I suggest keeping the volume on while playing only because the sounds will help you during your operations. If you're ever stuck as to what to do, Angie will give you a voice-over of which tool you should use. You'll also find the voice-over to be useful in other experiences in which I won't dwell on the details. You can also use the sounds to hear when new things appear in the operation such as when new lacerations appear. Other than that, the annoying thing about this is that when your patient's vitals start to get low, there is a constant beeping sound which always gives me a headache when playing and will only add more to the pressure. When doing the storytelling, the character voice-overs often don't match what they're saying. It's all very general.

All in all, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is a must-get game. You'll see some rather intimidating operations but there's something about their difficulty that makes the game very addicting. You'll feel very accomplished when you finally are able to complete an operation. Ironically, I played this game while I was sick with the flu. Here I am curing others when I can't even cure myself. It's also sort of scary to think that, if this were in real-life, how many patients would have died under my hands due to my failure at getting the speed needed to complete these operations. Thank goodness that this is only a game. But, back to the game itself, the gameplay is very addicting and very challenging. I worked on the Easy levels and even then I still found them to be a challenge. Sure, there could have been some more features but overall this game is worth your attention. So go out there, get yourself a copy of Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, and save those patients!

This is yet another game in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. Like its predecessors, Explorers of Darkness is the counterpart to Explorers of Time. The game has experienced some revisions from Red/Blue Rescue Team. The overall plot still follows the same of the previous installments in the series. The player still loses his/her memory and finds himself/herself stuck in the form of a Pokemon (The species that you'll become depends on the results of a personality quiz the player takes). For this game, you can be any of the Kanto, Johto, or Sinnoh starters along with Pikachu, Meowth, Skitty, and Munchlax. Another Pokemon, referred to as the player's partner, is met (The player can choose who s/he wants to be his/her partner). The two join forces to create an explorer team and run around through randomly generated dungeons to complete tasks (whether it be to find lost items, save other Pokemon, guide others as travel guides, or capture outlaws). Along the way, new Pokemon will be added to the team after gaining their respect in battle. The more specific plot deals with the players trying to stop the destruction of time by preventing the loss of Time Gears, gears that have the magical ability to keep time in check in the Pokemon realm. As the player advances through the game, more details will of course be revealed and the player will slowly realize who s/he is and why s/he lost his/her memories.

When it comes to gameplay, the game, like many other dungeon-oriented games, is very unforgiving. If either the player or partner dies while in a dungeon, then both the player and partner are sent back to the beginning of the dungeon and will lose all of their items and money. The only way to prevent loss is to store your items and money in storage, where it will be permanently kept safe. That way, the only things you lose will be the items newly acquired. Still very annoying, particularly if you chance upon a valuable item while traversing around in the dungeons. Unfortunately, everything in this game requires money. Good TMs are rare to come by in the game and are very expensive. Oh, you found a chest on your travels? That's awesome! Must be something valuable inside. Oh, there's no way for you to unlock it? Oh, there is a way to unlock the chest but I must pay 150 coins to Xatu? Oh, most of the items received from chests can only be used with certain Pokemon? This just sucks. Overall, I'm not a major fan of this game since I'm not quite seeing a plot here. All you do is basically run around in the dungeons completing tasks. The battle system is very confusing as you can't control what attacks you want the other Pokemon on your team to use. My Wooper, for example, seems to only use Mud Sport even though it knows Water Gun. Perhaps the only things to like about this game (Just because it's Pokemon related doesn't mean that it's a good game. Oh, the horror!) are the music and the cute graphics. The expressions of all the Pokemon, even the bad guys, are all very cute and exaggerated. Perhaps the most amusing character in the game is the Guildmaster Wigglytuff, who likes only Perfect Apples and is otherwise very eccentric most of the time.

I'm not hiding that I'm a Pokemon fan despite the fact that I'm now a teenager. As with anything I always have a few of my favorite Pokemon. This is more of just a checklist for myself to collect my favorite/dream Pokemon as I play through the Pokemon SoulSilver game.

Ninetales: Ninetales is a fox-like Fire Pokemon. It has the Flash Fire ability, which powers up its Fire moves if hit by one. It also makes it immune to any Fire-type attacks. Ninetales evolves from Vulpix via the Fire Stone. As a Fire-type, Ninetales is weak against Water, Ground, and Rock types but is strong against Bug, Grass, Ice, and Steel types. It is suggested that you evolve Vulpix after Level 47, because that is when it learns Fire Blast. Once you evolve Vulpix, Ninetales no longer learns any new moves. Note that Fire Blast can also be bought as a TM for $5500 in the Goldenrod Department store. Ninetales by all means is my favorite Pokemon. My Ninetales is current Level 47 (I evolved it at Level 43 since I got the Fire Blast TM). My moveset is: Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, and Confuse Ray.

Gallade: Gallade is also one of my top favorite Pokemon though I have yet to acquire one in the game. I don't even have a Dawn Stone let alone a Ralts in the game. I believe I'll be able to acquire one after I complete the National Dex and will have to rely on luck since Ralts is a Swarm Pokemon. Gallade is a dual-type Pokemon, consisting of part Psychic and part Fighting. It evolves from a male Ralts via a Dawn Stone and is one of Ralts's final forms. Its Steadfast ability increases its speed when flinched in battle. Gallade is weak to Flying and Ghost types while it's resistant against Fighting and Rock types. Gallade packs a high Attack and Sp. Defense stat but is somewhat weaker in the other areas.

Mismagius: Next on my list is the fearsome Mismagius, the Ghost Pokemon. Mismagius evolves from Misdreavus after being exposed to radiation from a Dusk Stone. It is suggested that you evolve Mismagius after Level 37 so that it can learn Shadow Ball. After evolving, Mismagius no longer learns any new moves. Shadow Ball can also be acquired as a TM after you defeat, I believe, Morty of Ecruteak Gym. However, if you find the Move Tutor in Blackthorn City and give him a few Heart Scales, you can let your Mismagius learn a few new powerful moves such as Magical Leaf, which is a Grass type move. Mismagius has the Levitate ability, which makes it immune to Ground type moves. Also, as a Ghost type, Mismagius is weak to Ghost (which I find to be ironic since Mismagius is a Ghost type) and Dark types. It's strong against Poison and Bug types though. It's also unaffected by Normal and Fighting type moves, which makes it extremely effective when battling against those types. I've acquired a Misdreavus and it is now a Level 48 (Moveset: Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Psychic, and Perish Song). I've yet to acquire a Dusk Stone though so no Mismagius for me yet.

Honchkrow: Honchkrow is a dual-type Dark and Flying type that resembles a crow. It evolves from Murkrow via Dusk Stone (Great. Yet another Dusk Stone to acquire). It either has the Insomnia (which makes it immune to moves that induce sleep) or the Super Luck ability (raises the critical hit ratio). My Murkrow has the Super Luck ability. Honchkrow is weak to Ice, Rock, and Electric types while it is strong against Ghost and Grass types. It's resistant against Dark types while it's unaffected by Psychic and Ground types. It is suggested that you evolve Murkrow at Level 45 so that it learns Sucker Punch. Then, once it does, it learns some new powerful attacks (Night Slash at Level 45 and Dark Pulse at Level 55). Keep in mind that Dark Pulse can be bought as a TM for $3000 at the Celadon Department Store, so really you're just looking at Night Slash.

Milotic: Milotic is a Water type Pokemon that is known for its beauty in Pokemon Contests. It evolves from Feebas after it has maxed out its Beauty stats, meaning that you're going to have to participate (and win) lots of Beauty contests. Milotic is weak to Grass and Electric types while it is strong against Rock, Ground, Fire, and Ice types. It's resistant against Steel and Water types. Milotic learns a couple of nice, strong attacks at comparatively low levels. For example, it learns Hydro Pump at Level 37. After that, the moves it learns are more for changing stats than actual attacks. I don't think I can evolve a Feebas in SoulSilver since there are no Pokemon Contests. I guess I'll only be able to acquire one by trading from Diamond/Pearl (which I don't have) or utilizing the GTS (which I can't find a WiFi for). I guess I'll most likely have to cross this one off my list. Sigh.

Sneasel: Sneasel is yet another dual-type Pokemon. It is part Dark and part Ice type. Thankfully, Sneasel does not require a Dusk Stone to evolve. It, however, needs to hold a Razor Claw while leveling up at night. However, I am interested in Sneasel only and not its evolved form Weavile so I don't have to bother myself with finding a Razor Claw. Sneasel either has the Inner Focus (prevents flinching) or Keen Eye ability (prevents loss of accuracy). I've yet to acquire a Sneasel so I don't know what ability mine will have. I believe that Sneasel can be acquired in Mt. Silver though I've yet to visit the mountain. Sneasel is known for its speed though it's quite weak when it comes to Sp Attack. Unfortunately, Sneasel is weak to several types of attack: Fighting, Rock, Bug, Steel, and Fire. It is, however, resistant, against Ghost, Ice, and Dark types, while it is unaffected by Psychic moves.

Froslass: I'm also interested in bagging myself a Froslass, which evolves from a female Snorunt via a Dawn Stone (Another Dawn Stone to acquire). Froslass is part Ghost and part Ice type. However, unlike the other Ghost Pokemon, it does not have the Levitate ability. Instead, it has the Snow Cloak ability, which raises its evasiveness in a hailstorm. Outside of battle, if Froslass is the lead Pokemon, that it will decrease the encounter rate of Wild Pokemon in a blizzard. Unfortunately, a Snorunt can only be acquired via the Pokewalker in SoulSilver. I have yet to master the Pokewalker or even acquire the number of watts needed to unlock the route that contains Snorunt so I won't be getting one until much later. Froslass is weak to a large variety of attacks: Rock, Ghost, Steel, Fire, and Dark types. It is resistant to Poison, Bug, and Ice attacks though and unaffected by Normal and Fighting types. Froslass doesn't have too great of a stat, but it does have a higher Speed Stat. When it comes to attacks, Froslass will learn quite a bit of nice attacks, if at later levels.

Scizor: Scizor evolves from Scyther via trade while holding Metal Coat. I find this to be quite annoying because I've yet to discover a place where I can conveniently use WiFi. Plus, it'll also require the other person to trade it back to me. As a dual type Bug and Steel Pokemon, Scizor is extremely weak to Fire type attacks. However, it's Steel type makes it resistant to most other attacks: Normal, Bug, Steel, Ghost, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, and Dark. It is unaffected by Poison types. As a result, Scizor is a nice Pokemon to have on your team. Just make sure to avoid those Fire types! When it comes to stats, Scizor has a very strong Attack stat and a good Defense stat. I have a Scyther and a Metal Coat. My Scyther is pretty weak right now though I think it is a good idea to evolve Scyther earlier than later since Scizor learns several nice attacks earlier on. If only I can find a convenient place that offers WiFi and someone to trade with me.

Roselia: Finally, a Grass type Pokemon in my list! Roselia is the Grass type that I'm interested in. It evolves from Budew via happiness during the day. I've yet to acquire a Budew or a Roselia and I've yet to figure out how without using the GTS. Most likely I'll have to wait for a Swarm after I complete the National Dex. As a dual Grass and Poison type, Roselia is weak against Flying, Fire, Psychic, and Ice types. It's strong against Water types and resistant against Fighting, Grass, and Electric types. Roselia is more helpful with inducing Status changes, such as Grasswhistle for sleep. It has Giga Drain to not only reduce the HP of your foes but also restore its own HP. If your Roselia has the Poison Point ability, then those that attack via Physical moves have a chance of being poisoned.


Flygon: Flygon is a dual Ground/Dragon type. It evolves from Vibrava at Level 45 and is the final form of Trapinch. Flygon has a good Attack and Speed stat. It's extremely weak to Ice type moves though and also weak to Dragon types. It's resistant against Fire, Poison, and Rock types though and unaffected by Electric and Ground types. Unfortunately, Flygon by itself doesn't have too many good attacks except for DragonBreath, Dragon Claw, and Hyper Beam. However, you can teach the TMs Earthquake and Dragon Pulse to increase its attacks. In the Pokeathlon, Flygon has a full Jump stat, which will be helpful in the--you guessed it--Jump Event. I've yet to acquire a Trapinch in the game.

Umbreon: Umbreon is yet another one of my favorites. Sometimes I wonder if there's a trend going on here because it seems that most of the Pokemon I like are Dark types. Umbreon evolves from Eevee via a maxed out happiness meter at night. Umbreon is mainly used for its great Defense. Often times it can withstand powerful attacks so it is a great addition to have on your team. Umbreon isn't as great of an attacker as the others of the Eeveelution chain, but giving it Dark Pulse makes it a strong contender nevertheless. That, plus Faint Attack, which is an attack that never misses, which comes in handy when your foe is very evasive. Umbreon is weak to Fighting and Bug types but is resistant against Ghost and Dark types. Not only is it strong against Psychic types but it's also unaffected by them, which makes it a great Pokemon to have against Will of the Elite Four or any other Gyms that uses Psychic types. My Umbreon is currently Level 48 and knows Dark Pulse, Faint Attack, Iron Tail, and Flash.

Ampharos: I'm lacking an Electric type so I'll add Ampharos to the list. Ampharos evolves from Flaafy at Level 30 and is the final form of Mareep. Ampharos is a pretty slow Pokemon so expect it to go later in battles. Ampharos has the Static ability, which will paralyze your foe when any physical attacks are used. As a pure Electric type, Ampharos is weak against Ground types.  It is strong against Flying types and resistant against Steel and Electric attacks. My Ampharos is currently at a Level 48 and knows Discharge, Thunder, ThunderPunch, and Signal Beam. Thunder can be taught via a TM but it doesn't have too great of an accuracy.


Ariados: Ariados is yet another Bug/Poison type. Ariados evolves from Spinarak at Level 22. However, Ariados is only available in the HeartGold version so I'll have use the GTS is I want an Ariados. I find it ironic that I like Ariados even though I hate bugs in real life. When it comes to stats, Ariados isn't that great of a Pokemon. It's more useful for inflicting Poison on your foes. Ariados is weak against Flying, Rock, Fire, and Psychic types while it's resistant against Fighting, Bug, Poison, and Grass types. The nice thing about Ariados is that, if it has the Insomnia ability, it's immune to sleep affects.

Dragonair: Dragonair is the first pure Dragon type on my list. It evolves from Dratini at Level 30. It's weak against Ice and Dragon types but resistant against Fire, Grass, Electric, and Grass types, which are some of the main types. Dragonair learns a few nice attacks later on. It learns Dragon Rush at Level 39, Outrage at Level 61, and Hyper Beam at Level 67. However, we all know that Hyper Beam can be bought at the Goldenrod Department Store for $7500 if you don't want to wait that long. You can also teach Dragonair Dragon Pulse and let it hold the Dragon Claw to boost its Dragon moves. I currently have a Level 29 Dratini. So it won't be long now till I can evolve it into Dragonair, and then I'll have to work with it for awhile to let it catch up on levels.

Cyndaquil: Cyndaquil is perhaps one of the cutest starter Pokemon. Starting out with a Fire Type will give you an easier start in the games. Cyndaquil evolves into Quilava at Level 14 and Typhlosion at Level 36. I'm really not a fan of Cyndaquil's evolutions but it's too late to give my Cyndaquil an Everstone. It's already a Level 42 Typhlosion. Cyndaquil is weak to Rock, Ground, and Water types while it's strong against Grass, Ice, Steel, and Bug types. It's resistant against Fire types. Cyndaquil learns the strong attacks earlier on than Typhlosion so it might be a good idea to leave Cyndaquil before evolving. It learns Swift at Level 28, Lava Plume at Level 31, and Flamethrower at Level 37.

Chinchou: I'm considering Chinchou only because it's a dual Water and Electric type, the only kind in the entire Pokedex. It evolves into Lanturn at Level 27. If it has the Volt Absorb ability, then all Electric attacks will be ineffective against it. If it has the ability Illuminate and is the leading Pokemon, then the appearance rate of wild Pokemon is increased to 200%, useful if you're looking for a specific type of Pokemon or want to work on leveling up Chinchou. Chinchou is weak against Ground and Grass types. It's strong against Flying, Fire, and Ice types while it's resistant against Steel and Water types. Other than that, Chinchou isn't too great of a Pokemon due to its low stats. It learns Hydro Pump at Level 42 and Discharge at Level 34. I've yet to acquire a Chinchou. There's a possibility of getting one by fishing using the Good Rod but it's chances are low. As a result, I'm waiting for a Super Rod before trying to catch one. The appearance rate with the Super Rod increases sharply.

Blaziken: Blaziken is the final form of Torchic. It is a dual Fire and Fighting type. It evolves from Combusken starting at Level 36. Blaziken is weak to Flying, Water, Ground, and Psychic types while it's strong against Grass, Ice, Dark, Bug, and Steel types. It does not have the Flash Fire ability so it's not immune to Fire moves, only resistant against them. Blaziken learns a combination of Fire, Fighting, Normal, and Flying moves but the strong attacks don't appear until much later on so Blaziken won't be too useful until you reach the 40's. Blaziken has a maxed out Power and Jump stats to compete in the Pokeathlon, which I'm sure you'll find to be useful. I don't think Blaziken is available anywhere in the game so I'll have to rely on the GTS once more.

The other Pokemon on my list are more for my collection than for having it on my team. They are: Wobuffet, Skitty, Glameow, Mime Jr, Chimecho, and Togekiss.

Now that the regular Pokemon have been listed, it's time to move on to the Legendaries. What? Did you think that I didn't like any of the Legendaries?

Articuno: First off the bat is Articuno. I've had my eye on Articuno ever since I first heard of Pokemon. Articuno is a dual Ice and Flying type. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't think there even is a pure Flying Pokemon. All of them are dual types. Anyhoo, going back to Articuno. Articuno has a strong Sp Defense, rivaling almost Umbreon. It's weak to Rock, Steel, Fire, and Electric types but strong against Grass and Bug types. It's unaffected by Ground types.Unfortunately, Articuno doesn't learn the strong moves until its level is in the 70's. But the good thing is that these attacks happen to be TM's. Blizzard can be bought in the Goldenrod Department store. Ice Beam is learned at Level 43. Articuno has maxed out Skill and Jump stats so expect it to come in handy in the Pokeathlon. I believe that Articuno is available in the game. I just have to find its resting place.

Latias: Next off is Latias, who is part Dragon and part Psychic. I find it to be much cuter than Latios. Latias is weak against Bug, Ghost, Ice, Dragon, and Dark types but it's resistant against Fire, Fighting, Water, Grass, Electric, and Psychic types. It's unaffected by Ground types. Latias's moveset is more for crippling your foe than to actually attack though it does learn a few powerful Psychic moves along the way (Zen Headbutt at Level 40 and Psychic at Level 65). It learns Dragon Pulse at Level 70. For anyone that is wondering, check out Latias's Pokeathlon stats! It has maxed out stats in Speed and Jump and very high stats in Skill. I'm not sure but I think that Latias is only available as a result of an event. I'll have to check.

Suicune: Last off is the legendary Suicune. Thankfully, Suicune is available in the game. You'll just have to follow it around and later you'll have a chance to battle and catch it! I'm not sure why but I always have trouble spelling Suicune. Suicune is a pure Water type. It's weak to only Grass and Electric types while it's strong against Ice and Fire types. It's resistant against Steel and Water types. As per usual, Suicune learns several powerful moves but they're all until later on, at least until Level 50. Suicune has very high Speed, Skill, Jump, and Power stats for the Pokeathlon. I can't wait to catch Suicune!

That's about all. I'll be working through this list as I play the game and hopefully I'll be able to catch all my favorites! Wish me luck! :-)

I recently got my hands on the latest MP3 player from Cowon. For a MP3 player, the Cowon J3 boasts many features. It is smaller than the iPod Touch but larger than th Zune HD. It still fits comfortably in your hand but accessing the 3" touch-screen with your thumb only might be a little difficult. The J3 comes in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB. The 8GB can be found on Amazon for around $200. It's certainly more expensive than the iPod Touch, so is it really worth it? For one thing, if you're tight on money, it might be a good idea to get the 8GB. Think the memory isn't enough? Never fear! The J3 has come equipped with an expandable memory slot for MicroSDHC cards that can run up to 32GB. It's much cheaper to get MicroSDHC cards than to get a new MP3 player with a larger memory. Now, let's take a look at the J3's features:

Touch-screen: The J3 has a 3.3" touch-screen. It's smaller than the screen of the iPod Touch, which is 3.5", but it's larger than the Zune HD's 3" screen. The touch-screen is very intuitive. I only need to tap once for the system to respond, though there can be a lag at times. The screen beeps every single time you touch the screen as confirmation that you have actually pressed a button. Don't worry, this setting can be turned off if you want to save a little battery life or you're in a quiet place. The screen is AMOLED, which can display a beautiful range of 16 million colors and has a resolution of 480 x 272. The screen is just absolutely beautiful and has the best display I've ever seen among MP3 players.

Battery-life: Battery life is a very important feature for any user, whether you're watching movies or listening to music. The J3 boasts a battery life of 64 hours for audio playback and 11 hours for video playback. This certainly outclasses both the Zune HD and iPod Touch, which only have maximum battery lives of around 30 hours. This super long battery will be great for trans-Atlantic flights or for anyone that just hates charging their device.

Charging: Speaking of charging, the J3 can only be charged via a USB port connection to the computer. The USB cable included in the packaging is proprietary so make sure that you don't lose that cable! It takes only 3.5 hours for the battery to fully charge. There's also the option of a wall-charger. Charging via a wall charger will take 3 hours.

User Interface: The J3 begins to lose its worthiness as a competitor to the Zune HD when it comes to the user interface. The J3 gives you three choices for an UI. The first one is a grid that contains most of the buttons needed. The second option is a list that will also show you the number of files or battery life left. Last, but not least, the third UI is perhaps the best out of all three. It's customizable, meaning that you can arrange your icons (and widgets) whichever way you like across three menus. But, perhaps the best function of the J3 is that you can customize your own UI. There are tons of customized UI available online for you to download and use to make your needs easier. When it comes to smoothness, the J3 lags quite a bit when going from one menu to the next, particularly when you have a lot of files or when you're trying to load pictures.

Browsing: You can browse through files using menus. You can search for music via album, artist, song, year, genre, or time added. Unfortunately, there's no way to quickly go to one part of the alphabet so you'll just have to go by scrolling. However, one quick flick can quickly bring you from one end of the alphabet to the next. If you are having trouble finding the file you want, you can always do a search by typing in the name of the file on your player, which I find to be handy is slow at times. If you tilt the player sideways, you can browse for music via the Matrix mode, which is a compilation of all your album art. If you want to browse for pictures, then you can do it by thumbnail, though it does take a few seconds to load all the art.

Sound Quality: The J3 has some of the best sound-quality I have ever heard. Music coming through the built-in speaker is absolutely wonderful. There's no static or noise or anything to interfere with the music. However, do note that the sound quality in the stock earphones seems to be horrible. The first time I wore them I heard static. However, this disappeared when I went outside for a stroll. I wonder if it was just a connection problem. I haven't used them since since I haven't gotten a chance to test out my J3 outside yet. The J3 is known best for its BBE equalizers. However, I have yet to understand how to use them so I haven't been able to test them out yet.

Games and Apps: Perhaps no player can compare to the iPod Touch when it comes to apps. The Cowon J3 only has one game equipped: Hunter. Hunter is a game that utilizes the player's gravity sensor. The player has to tilt the player around in order to move an animal head around the screen. The goal of the game is to see how long you can last without being hit by one of the countless black dots floating across the screen. There's also a few handy-dandy apps (called Utilities) installed. These are a four-function calculator, a notepad, a keyboard, and a little memo pad.

Buttons: Unlike most touch-screen players out there, the J3 does not have a hardware home button. Instead, the home button can be pressed on the touch-screen. However, there are buttons for power/hold, volume adjustment, play/pause, and fast forward/rewind. These buttons can be found on the right hand side of the player and are readily available when searching for them in your pocket.

Overall I am very satisfied with this player. However, for a price this expensive, I was hoping for a little more, particularly for the quality of the case, which feels cheap when holding it in your hand. I've had very few bugs with this player so far (Hopefully, it stays that way). I just wish that there was a better way to organize my files so that, when I change the ID3 tags, I won't have to redo the lyrics all over again. I'm also finding my gravity sensor to not be sensitive. It often takes me several big tilts in order for the screen to go into Matrix mode when browsing for music. Again, it's not too much of a bother for me since I rarely use the Matrix mode anyhow but I can see where this might be a bother if you like to browse via album art.