The Pokemon franchise has been a staple in my life since forever. Beginning with the cards, and then moving on to the games, I know every Pokemon by sight, and am working on learning names and type for the ones I don’t know automatically. IT’S A LIFESTYLE, OKAY!?!?!?!
But in all seriousness, Pokemon has been going on since the early 1990s. In October, 2013, the newest addition to the Pokemon lineup was released — Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. These games featured new starters, new legendaries, and a whole new generation of Pokemon, Generation VI.
Now, of course, the age-old question every geek pines over for days (or minutes): fire, water, or grass? Fortunately, with the decision of a new starter (Fennekin – Fire, Froakie – Water, Chespin – Grass) you also get to choose one of the original starter to join you on your journey: Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. [For those of you who are interested, I knew I was going to choose Charmander because I love him, and I didn’t like the final form of Chespin, so I went with Froakie]
Along with the new generation, this game has a bunch of new features that haven’t been around in the past. First off, because this is the first of the Pokemon games to only be available on the Nintendo 3DS, you can play in 3D [which is cool, but it can hurt your eyes if you play too long in that mode]. There’s also a Super Training mode, where you can EV train your Pokemon much easier (and, honestly, I didn’t know what EV training really was, or utilize it, until this game). There is also the introduction of a new Pokemon type: Faerie [WHICH MEANS A NEW EEVEELUTION!! I love the eeveelutions!! LOOK AT SYLVEON. SHE’S SO PRETTY.]
There are also hoard encounters, where you walk through tall grass and are attacked by 5-6 lower-level Pokemon, and sky battles, where you need a flying Pokemon (not a flying type, mind you) to battle. You can also customize your character! Increase trend points to lower prices and allow entry into certain shops, and buy clothing and hairstyles and accessories for your character. The shops change what they sell every day, which I love.
SO. MANY. OPTIONS.
Also, a new addition, is Mega-Evolution. Many Pokemon go through evolutions, some one, some two, and once the Pokemon evolves, there’s no going back. With Mega-Evolution, once initiated, the Pokemon evolves once again to its Mega-Evolution form, potentially gaining power or an additional type, to help give it an advantage. Only certain
Pokemon can Mega-Evolve, and only when they have a particular stone on hand! And be careful: you can only Mega-Evolve one Pokemon per battle. After the battle, though, the Pokemon returns to its normal, fully-evolved self.
Shown here: Lucario, and Mega-Evolved Lucario
This game, overall, was much easier than past games. I beat in about a week (maybe because I did very little of anything else) and for the first time in any of the Pokemon games, I beat the Elite Four (or the ‘boss’ if you will of the game) and the Champion in one try. That is UNHEARD OF for me.
I love that, even once you’re done playing the plot, you have choices: you can start again and proceed with different starters, or you can continue on with different additional missions set up for those who want to keep playing the game post-winning. I’m currently on a mission to catch every Pokemon available to me in game and that, paired with a detective side mission, is keeping me quite busy.
Another thing I love about this game is how it allows you to interact with your friends. Once connected to the internet, you can access friend safaris, where you can catch exclusive Pokemon. You can also trade Pokemon with friends and with strangers, and put Pokemon up for trade and request a particular Pokemon in return!
I bought my 3DS so that I could play this game. And my, was it worth it!!
The Daily Geekette 
I don’t understand why an article is bring written about pokemon by someone who didn’t know about ev training until super training. Evs, Ivs, natures, breeding, competitive play (wifi and online) make up a huge portion of the game. The fact that these aspects were let out of the article (or glossed over in the case of evs) is deeply disappointing. I would expect more from a website that features women in gaming/ what have you. It really undermines your credibility and reinforces the notion women can’t handle actual video games, which is very upsetting.
I play Pokemon for fun. I like the Pokemon, and I’m fascinated by roleplaying games and the plot of the games, and how they intertwine and the like. Not knowing about EVs isn’t that big of a issue for me. I don’t like the competitive gaming aspect of the game — I’m drawn to other parts of it. I don’t think that that undermines my ability to talk about the game, it just brings a different opinion to things.
I know so many people who play Pokemon differently than the ‘traditional’ way — I have a very good friend who will not catch male Pokemon or use them in his party. I know someone who won’t catch Pokemon they consider to be ugly. I know people whose team is entirely the different eeveelutions. People have different ways of playing the same game — that’s life. I’m sorry if you think being unfamiliar with EVs in particular means that I’m not a full-fledged “gamer.” But, honestly? That’s how I play the game, and that’s how I like playing the game. I’m sorry if you don’t think I’m playing it “right,” but I’m having fun, and you’re not about to tell me I can’t play one of my favorite games because you play it differently than I do.