E-mail me at:
cod@compusmart.ab.ca

Kathy: Welcome back, people! We're really sorry for the lack of updates last week, but Brad had a lot of overtime to do at work and I had a million and one homework assignments to hand in, and teachers don't seem to take the excuse that I have a webpage to run... ^^;

Brad's working hard with some projects that he has to do for work...

Brad: [beats the computer to a pulp]

Kathy: ... um... ^^; So this week's commentary will be a little different than usual. Brad'll still be doing the Tips for Expert Trainers section, but unfortunately for some people, I'm going to be doing most of the ranting. Since next weekend I'll have to study for my midterms, Brad'll be doing the commentary and stuff. You guys understand, right? (I hope!)

By the way, I just finished the game a few hours ago as I type this, and let me tell you that if you're worried about the ending depressing you or something, don't worry, it's incredible and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You can also continue the game after you finsih it, so you can go after the cave with Mewtwo and everything...

Brad: At least you finished... I'm still way back in Celadon City... [sigh]

Kathy: Anyways, I'll get started. Monday graced us with Episode 21 - Bye-Bye Butterfree... now, for those of you who already have the game, how many of you picked up the game after the show and played with your Butterfree (if you have one)? I just couldn't help it, the show was so touching that I just had to make sure my Butterfree wasn't going to leave me. Ash shows a heck of a lot of courage in this episode... I mean, it's like letting a puppy or a kitten leave your life, you just get so attached to them... but I think Ash did the right thing. Team Rocket, though... well, okay, it was a worthy plan, but like Misty said to Brock, "Don't get involved in Pokemon love affairs!" Strange how they changed the number of Butterfrees captured from the Japanese to the English version... (No, I won't say how many, it's a quiz question. ^_^)

Brad: I don't even mind saying I had tears in my eyes when that episode was over... the ending was so sad...

Kathy: Me too... I honestly don't think that I cold ever watch it again, after watching it initially on Monday then taking the screen captures then showing it again at a friend's house... Tuesday was Abra and the Psychic Showdown... I dunno about anyone else, but while this episode was cool, it also freaked the heck out of me. I was about to defeat Sabrina in the game when I watched it, and it gave me second thoughts about the whole thing. And here's Team Rocket trying to do the whole prize bit again... but mind you, James' disguise had me fooled for a bit, it was more convincing than the school-girl outfits from episode 15. Mind you, this episode goes to prove how lethal Psychic Pokemon can be. Poor Pikachu, getting thrown around like that...

Brad: Unlike Kathy, I kind of like Psychic Pokemon... and if it weren't for the fact that I doubt she'd duel me if I did, I'd make Psychic Pokemon a more permanent part of my arsenal. =) Very cool episode...

Kathy: Onto Episode 23... I dunno, this one left me cold... The three ghosts acted like the Three Stooges, Team Rocket acted dumber than usual, and Ash's enthusiasm is awfully disturbing, especially when I watch the show at 6:30 AM. It's true that the three ghosts just wanted to have some friends, but still...

Brad: I dunno, I thought this was one of the better episodes of the week. I loved the three ghosts... granted, their antics were a bit odd, but who can resist Haunter? =) I gotta catch me a few of them... And later, you see how *CUTE* a Ghost Pokemon can be... Haunter licks his face and bounces his eyes on his tongue... hee hee hee!

Kathy: Episode 24 continues the whole thing with Ash wanting to defeat Sabrina. Man, Haunter's not serious at all... but at least he puts a smile on Sabrina's face in the end. Maybe that's what they mean in the game when they say Ghost Pokemon are good against Psychic-type Pokemon, they just make them laugh too hard. ^_^

Brad: A very different way to defeat your opponents. I should try humour in combat more often...

Kathy: And finally, a little bit of humour ends the week with Episode 25... Fear the Fight-type Pokemon! ^_^ And again, people, I'll rant about my pet peeve, here... those things that Brock's eating are not donuts! They're rice cakes! Rice cakes! I hope 4Kids Entertainment and the translators of the show are reading this, I think it's really crummy that they change the names of foods just so that the North American people can relate to them, it can encourage them to try new things... Anyways, this episode was a nice way to end the week... But did anyone notice an inconsitency in the episodes in this one? Professor Oak says in Episode 13 that Gary's already caught 45 Pokemon, yet in this episode he says that he's caught 30... hello? Who's right here? ^_^; But Ash does catch Primeape in the end, even if he almost gets splattered in the process. And poor Jessie and James suffer big time in this episode... (Yes, I cheer for the bad guys in this series... now you know where my loyalties lie. ^_-)

Brad: Rice balls don't look a lot like doughnuts, but I give them credit for trying. Still, I agree with Kathy on the translation... but then, I'm used to subtitled anime, which tends to keep closer to the original content...

Kathy: Since it's Monday, I'd rant about today's episode... but I can't. And won't. I'll let Brad do the honours next week... (Besides, I didn't like that episode. ^_^)

Brad: Gee... thanks... (Can't say it was my favorite either, but that can wait for a while...)

Kathy: No problem. [acts cute and innocent-like] Tips for Expert Trainers time! First of all, we'd like to extend our heartfelt apologies to those who tried to take our suggestion to teach Magikarp TMs to make him useful. Warlobster pointed out that the stupid fish can't even learn TMs until he evolves into Gyarados... Sorry about that. ^_^; Our next best suggestion is to take him to the daycare near Cerulean and leave him there until he evolves. Sure, it'll cost a fortune, but it's worth it...

Okay, for once, I've got a tip, since I just finished the game and it's still fresh in my mind...

The HMs are not useless in battle! Try equipping Surf on your favourite Water Pokemon, it can be very useful at the end of the game when you're fighting Bruno. It'll give you a big advantage! Try equipping other HMs to see what they do!

Brad: Okay, my turn...

Use care when equipping TMs and HMs on your Pokemon. Although Kathy brings up a good point about HMs, there's a small problem with them: once you've equipped an HM on a Pokemon, you can't remove it. In a case like Surf or Strength, where the powers are very useful, it's not so bad... but there will be times you wish you could remove a power (like Flash, once you don't need it). Similarly, you can only use the TMs once, and some TMs only appear once in the game. Be sure that you won't want to replace the TM later, unless it's a lot weaker than the current attacks available; teaching a skill to a Pokemon and replacing it a few levels doesn't help that much... Use care before equipping a new attack on a Pokemon. And finally...

If you don't have the right kind of Pokemon... Improvise! One of the harder kinds of Pokemon to get early in the game are water Pokemon; they can be a big help with some enemies, but unless you start with Squirtle, you might be out of luck. On the other hand, you do get a couple of water- based TMs early in the game. Teach them to a normal-type Pokemon, like Clefairy or Jigglypuff, and you've got an instant water Pokemon! ... sort of. That combination is really useful in Mt. Moon, by the way... water and grass are the only really advantages against the stone and ground Pokemon you encounter there. Normal-type Pokemon can learn many elemental skills through TMs, so experiment and come up with some new Pokemon combinations...

Kathy: Okay, as you probably know, the Pokemon Quiz has been up for a couple of days now... We made the questions a bit easier because some people were complaining that the questions were too hard... now they're complaining that they're too easy (go figure ^^;). Anyways, try the challenge !

And here are the answers of last week's quiz! How many did you get right? I actually forgot to save the questions themselves but since there are winners I'll approximate the wording of the questions. ^^;

Q1: What was the excuse that the "two school girls" gave for giving Ash the tickets for the St. Anne cruise? They had to go out with their boyfriends.
Q2: What was Brock eating abord the St. Anne? Sandwiches
Q3: How much did James pay for Magikarp? $300 (North American series), 30,000 Yen (Japanese series)
Q4: In what order did Ash tell the Pokemon to run to the other side of the ship to prevent it from rolling into the ocean floor? Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Geodude, Koffing, Ekans.
Q5: In what ways were Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket dreaming of eating Magikarp aboard the raft? Fillet, fried, marinated and flambéed.
Q6: When did Jessie get Ekans? For her birthday last year.
Q7: Why did Bulbasaur refuse to talk to the Venusaur? Because he claims that he's an orphan and that he has no family.
Q8: What did Nastina offer Ash and his friends for getting rid of the Tentacools? Free dinners for a year, $1,000,000 and vouchers for free stays at her hotel.
Q9: How much did Jessie and James pay for the "stickers" to get rid of the ghost? Nothing. They got one for every two that Ash and Misty bought.
Q10: Gastly uses his powers to create things that his opponents are the most scared of. What did Gastly create to scare Pikachu? A giant mousetrap that chased him.

Kathy: This week's winners were The Cage, Clefairy, Michael Lumasag and Matthew Jewik. Way to go! The runner-ups who got more than six questions right were PikaOhki, Jason Montgomery, TsuramiSea, Gerrod Greene, Joseph Micallef, David Green, Logan Crowell, Harrison Fox, Terrance Travis and Squirtle. Thanks for participating, everyone, and don't forget to try this week's quiz!

Brad: Bai-bai!

Kathy and Brad Vaughan
Edmonton City Gym Leaders
(If you live in the Edmonton city area and
wish to challenge us, write to us at
cod@compusmart.ab.ca!)