Pokemon Black and White has finally arrived! Let the Pokemaniacs ring out with joy and the haters wonder why people still care about Pokemon when it “doesn’t change.” While I personally went through a Pokemon hiatus, skipping the third generation altogether, I couldn’t help but be brought back by the fourth gen. While they were excellent games, there was still an overall feeling of deja vu. The question now becomes whether the fifth generation has made enough changes to make the games feel fresh, new, and truly sequel worthy. Yes, there’s plenty of new Pokemon but what about behind the scenes? Has the core game changed enough to satisfy the Pokemon elite while also maintaining the ease of play for newcomers?

I wish I had the answers ready for you now but unfortunately Nintendo was unable to get me the games until a week before launch. That leaves me with nowhere near the time I need to play through the game, experience the new features, and write up a review to aid my fellow gamers. So until I am ready to provide that review, I thought I’d keep a journal of my Pokemon adventure to give my up-to-date impressions of the game. This journal WILL contain spoilers so if you want to go into Pokemon Black or White fresh, you’ve been warned.

Day 1

Ah, Pokemon. The opening moments of each new game will never change. The new Professor, Juniper, comes out and welcomes me to the world of Pokemon. There is a slight change though. This professor is a woman, the first in the series. Nothing else is different as she then asks if I’m a guy or girl. After making sure to double check, I select boy. Professor Juniper does a little pep talk to get me ready for the adventure and it’s off to the game proper!

Nuvema Town is my starting point with the game claiming that it is now Autumn. That’s...not right. I save quick and double check my DS settings to make sure that nothing is mixed up and nope, everything’s fine. I have no idea why it says that. It’s not a huge deal so I just continue on. The camera zooms in on my house and into my room where I am standing next to my two best friends, Cheren, the know-it-all, and Bianca, the airhead. A present has just arrived from Professor Juniper. I wonder what it could be?

Inside the present are the three starter Pokemon: Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. I decide to go with Snivy while Cheren chooses Tepig and Bianca takes Oshawott. Bianca proposes a Pokebattle right then and there. I’m not one to back down so I take her on and handily beat her. Unfortunately, my room gets destroyed in the process (though the Wii survives, go figure.) We figure it’s already a mess so I go ahead and challenge Cheren while I’m at it and win yet again. I then find out that I have the most awesome mom ever. She doesn’t care one bit that my room was essentially used as a warzone and offers to clean it while the three of us go to meet Professor Juniper. 

As soon as we arrive, Juniper ropes us into indentured servitude because, you know, she gave me an animal that could probably kill most humans. Anyway, she wants the three of us to take a Pokedex and try to catalog all the Pokemon in the Unova region. She then decides that it’s probably a good idea to teach us how to catch Pokemon. Considering this is the fifth time (at least) that I’ve seen this tutorial in a Pokemon game, I breeze through it. With that, my journey officially begins!

Bianca suggests that we have a catching contest on our way to the next town. Whoever catches the most wins. Alright, I can do that. The first Pokemon I catch is a Lillipup. Even my heart, in all its manly manliness, melts at the sight of it. It also doesn’t hurt that it looks amazingly similar to my sister's new puppy. Next up is a Patrat and I soon arrive at outskirts of the next town where I meet up with Bianca and Cheren. They only caught one Pokemon a piece while I caught two. Despite that, all I win are bragging rights. Worthless worthless bragging rights. Lame.

I then enter Accumala Town and stop by the new and improved Pokemon Center. Best new feature? It now contains the item shops. Thank the Pokemon gods. It always struck me as odd that Pokemon goods weren’t in the Pokemon hospital. Now it’s a one stop shop. I pick up some more Pokeballs and head out on my way. Almost immediately, I see a venue where a group known as Team Plasma is spouting their ideals to a group of people. Team Plasma you say? Surely they couldn’t be evil like Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, or Team Galactic...could they?

At any rate, Team Plasma’s leader, Ghetsis, continues with his speech on how all Pokemon should be free from the tyranny of trainers. Humans may think that they are helping Pokemon by making them stronger but are they really happy? Really? It’s enough to get people talking, and Ghetsis quietly leaves with the other members of Team Plasma. I have to admit, I’m getting a distinct PETA vibe. I just hope they don’t try to free my Snivy. I've already made plans for a makeup company to test new products on him.

As soon as Team Plasma is gone, a boy named N approaches me. He seems to be able to understand Pokemon. At least he claims he can. N also says some things that were similar to Plasma’s views. He challenges me to a battle to see if I’m worthy of my Pokemon. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know who he’s messing with. I defeat him handily, and he decides to move on for now. With that all taken care of, it’s time to move on to the next city where my first gym battle will take place!

The route to the next city is filled with other trainers dying to challenge me to a battle. It seems like NPCs have still yet to learn that they can carry six Pokemon. Hopefully that’ll change as the game goes on. I also catch myself a Purrloin and battle both Cheren and Bianca again. Both were easy victories. I finally arrive in Striaton City and head straight for the gym. Standing outside is Cilan, the local gym leader. He asks which Pokemon I chose first and then advises going to a place called the Dreamyard to train. He disappears inside the gym, and I decide to follow his advice.

The Dreamyard is only a short distance away and is mostly blocked off by a small tree. Fortunately, I am able to challenge two trainers and meet a third. This trainer is perhaps my all-time favorite. He decides to give me a Panpour just so I could stand a chance against any Fire types I may meet. Sweet! Thanks to him, I feel ready to take on my first gym.

Inside, there’s a distinct sense that the game wants to teach you about the strengths and weaknesses of types. A curtain is displayed that shows the symbol for Grass Pokemon. In order to advance I have to step on the panel that is its weakness. Obviously, I step on Fire. The gym itself is similar to a high class restaurant. Tables are set out with candles and all the trainers are waiters and waitresses. I suppose the patrons would get dinner and a show here. 

After solving the incredibly simple puzzle, I’m faced with all three gym leaders. All of them are brothers and specialize in a different type. Cilan is the Grass specialist, Cress is the Water master, and Chili favors Fire Pokemon. Since I chose Snivy, Chili is the gym leader that I have to face. He starts the battle with a level 12 Lillipup. At first, I’m not too worried, but it starts using a new move called Work Up which increases its Attack and Special Attack. I slowly chip at him but it’s not quite enough since Lillipup already has a very high Attack stat for this early in the game. Eventually, I bring him down leaving a weakened Purrloin along with Snivy and Panpour. Chili tosses out a level 14 Pansear that immediately begins powering up with Work Up. I use Sand Attack to lower his accuracy until Purrloin is taken down. Next I send out Panpour who is able to deal massive damage with its Water Gun. Unfortunately, Pansear’s Incinerate is so powered up from that damn Work Up move that it defeats my Panpour. Knowing I’m pretty much screwed, I send out Snivy who is saved by my Purrloin's earlier Sand Attacks. The Incinerate misses and Snivy lands a critical hit on Pansear which knocks him out. 

With that, I conquer my first gym and receive a...Trio Badge! There’s a spiffy new presentation as the badge is deposited in my case and Chili awards me with the TM Work Up as well. The best part of all this? TMs now have infinite uses! Now I know the Pokemon gods are smiling upon me. That will be incredibly useful, especially when more dynamic TMs are awarded down the line. 

As soon as I leave the gym, I’m approached by a woman named Fennel who claims to be a scientist and friend of Professor Juniper. She wishes to study a substance known as Dream Mist which can only be collected from Munnas found in the Dreamyard. Fennel also gives me the HM Cut so I can enter the Dreamyard proper.

It’s been a busy start with more new features discovered than I honestly expected this early in the game. I’m already looking forward to my next session but for now, it’s time to rest.