My name is Luke, and I have a confession to make.

I'm a freaking HUGE Pokémon fan.

No, not that childish cartoon anime. No, not the CCG (though I suspect that this may actually be quite fun, I've just never played it myself) - the computer games. The handhelds. The real deal.

The Nintendo Pokémon games (Game Boy advance and these days on the DS) are totally fricking awesome. If you own one of these handheld consoles and have never played one, you really are missing out. The theme may not be everyone's cup of tea and can be considered a little childish by some, but you know what? I just don't care. The game mechanics are just incredibly solid with soooo much scope for playability. There are about 649 different monsters you can catch, train, breed, evolve and battle with. Endless combinations of creatures, items and abilities you can use to build your battling team. Playing Pokémon games could be considered a hobby in their own right, there's just so much you can do with them. And honestly - the theme is no more "kiddy" than other more recent popular games like Super Dungeon Explore, or Evil Baby Orphanage etc.
I got into these games around 8-9 years ago (I think) when Pokémon Diamond and Pearl came out. This was back in my old days as GW Perth Manager, and there were a HEAP of us that picked up the games and used to play, trade and battle together. It was stupid awesome - good times indeed. Recently of course a certain little WestGamer mafia game (love your work Adrian!) prompted me to crack my old games out and get stuck in again - and I know I'm not alone! I picked up Pokémon Black 2 last week and have been playing solidly, enjoying every minute of it. Ran into Dave C (advanceop) at Tactics and got talking about it the other day - only to have him reveal the DS that was in his pocket with game cartridge loaded as well. I know Dave H (wyldcarde) is a big fan also.

So who plays? I'm mega keen to do some battle or trading hookups with some of the other players hereabouts. There must be a few of us around I reckon - and I'm expecting to see heaps of them at PAX OZ later this year. Totally pumped for the upcoming release of versions X and Y soon too.

So, post here if you are keen, or maybe even want to know more about the games to give them a try yourself!

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Die hard fan boy but my DS got pinched so I'm only able to use emulators

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(Censored) Dice and Legion.

Dude, that sucks. It just wouldn't be the same.

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It was actually wierd...

I had two guys from work join my part of the team, (had worked with them before, but were on a different team)
They came to site last week, both with "Classic" Pokemon Red/Blue on thier iPhones, playing during the lunch break.

It was uncanny with the timing, of how Pokemon Mafia was playing, which peaked my interest in DLing an emulator on my laptop.

(I'm Trudging through Crystal atm, rocking with double Gyarados....)

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TheGambler#11893
Add me on Hearthstone

I'm assuming there's no trading possible when you're using an emulator? Or have they worked out some way around that issue?

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I did check it on youtube, and I did see someone successfully do it.

I haven't tried myself yet though.


(Worth a try so i can catch mew in poke' red and trade back to myself early on poke' crystal..... hmm.... i have some testing to do)

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TheGambler#11893
Add me on Hearthstone

my current game...

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TheGambler#11893
Add me on Hearthstone

Huge. Gyrados is a pretty awesome beater from the original games for sure.

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Haha silly Aaron, this isn't WMH where doubling up is a good thing; in Pokemon diversity is key so you can cover all type matchups and always be making super-effective attacks.

I've been playing Pokemon games since the original came out, sinking god knows how much time into it, but faced with the prospect of having to buy a 3DS, Nintendo may have finally lost me, which is a darn shame.

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Retribution of One-Eye:
Ultimate Painter: Ultimates 2012
Best Painted: Warmastache 2012
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Contact by thread or PM.

Yep... my kids grew up with pokemon so it's been a conversation piece & common ground for well over a decade. I think we still have the classic Red & Blue cartridges. I think I've had every version except Silver & Gold (which my kids did get). I'm currently playing Black but with XY on the horizon will probably skip Black2. My wife has already advance ordered it.

I finally got around to upgrading my DS to a 3DS recently and connecting to the internet has just opened up a whole new world of opportunities. I've been sitting here waiting for the Global Link server to come up from maintenance

The current Mafia game naturally got me plugging the cartridge back in, and picking up where I left off about 12 months ago. On my 6th Gym Badge but currently hunting pkmn to trade and training up a non-unova region pkmn I picked up via the Global link.

I looked up the local leagues, and theres one that looks like it runs Saturdays out of Tactics
https://www.facebook.com/pokeclecticfb

I've played the TCG too (again with the kids) but TCGs are not really my thing.

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Maxim 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'time to reload.' - Schlock Mercenary
Hobby Bloggin

So how flexible is the trading, are all the modern versions compatible for trading/battling

I have to admit I am pretty much a pokemon noob...

I think since DS they have IR and networking capability. So... dead easy I guess. Once you get online you can trade all around the globe if you want to!

http://en.pokemon-gl.com/

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Maxim 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'time to reload.' - Schlock Mercenary
Hobby Bloggin

Ds is easy to trade with. And it's possible to get Pokemon from old games to the new in various ways.

I've finished all games but want to go back and play the old ones again.

They are still good fun.

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Don't confuse Coincidence with Fate!

Everytime you roll 3 1's, Somewhere Cypher dies!

BRAWL Season 2 Champion!!!!
Khorne Wanderers 3-0-0. 5 kills and counting!!! 13 in total...
Green Cave Fanatics 6-0-1, 2 deaths! chainsaw kickbacks = 3

I remember the days when you needed a cable to trade... good times

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Maxim 37: There is no 'overkill.' There is only 'open fire' and 'time to reload.' - Schlock Mercenary
Hobby Bloggin

Obviously the fact i'm running a Pokemon Mafia game indicates i'm a massive fan Played all the versions from blue all the way through to black and am very much looking forward to X and Y.

I previously fell into the extreme training mechanics of EV points including ALL the intricacies of breeding the right natures etc. Much in the way Magic the gathering lost it's appeal when i began buying individual cards and building decks in that fashion i lost focus on what i loved about the pokemon games in the first place. So when X and Y hit the shelves i'll be building my team based only on what i think looks cool and that's it!

I'd say water type is certainly my favourite but it's very close with ice type (if there were more ice types i'd be all over that!)

The pride of my collection is a Shiny Bronzong (previously a bronzor) It is the only shiny i have ever caught and was a total random encounter midway through a game. I caught it and didnt even realise it was shiny until later. His name is Soundwave

I always name all my pokemon after transformers

In no particular order here are my top 6 fave pokemon



wartortle



Vileplume



Kingler



Cacnea



Crawdaunt



Bronzong