POKEMON GOLD PROGRESS, DAY 5 & 6

I did a lot yesterday, but was so tuckered out that I didn't have time to write about the game events. Since I did some more today, picking up where I left off, here's a combined report.

NEW POKEMON

Saw a bunch, caught a bunch. Not counting "old" Pokemon (and I got a lot of them too), here's the list.

Caught:

Yorunozuku (#164)- evolved state of Hou-hou.

Ladyba (#165) (via trade). Cute ladybug Pokemon.

Makoko (#180)- electric Sheep Pokemon, evolves from Mereep (#179).

Nuor (#195)- evolved state of the Upar. My Upar (which reminds me of an upright, big-headed mudskipper with a Metamon's face) evolved into this, which now looks like Barney the Dinosaur with a Ditto face <g>.

Blue (#209)- also known as "Snubble" for US audiences- a dog-like Fairy Pokemon.
Kirinriki (#203)- a Giraffe Pokemon, with a short neck and a tail that looks like a fake snake head.

Seen in battles:

Efui (Effee) (#196)- an unusual Pokemon which looks like a cross between an Eevee and a Persian, and has a forked, furless tail.

Blackie (#197)- an evolution of the Effee, but not much known about it. It wasn't fun to fight, I'll tell you this much.

Hariisen (#211)- a Pokemon reminscent of a barbed puffer fish.

MORE ON KOGANE CITY...

In the Radio Station, I answered a 5 question Pokemon quiz (not hard) and got a free upgrade to my Pokegear, which gave me a radio! You can tune it to several stations to "listen", and this way you can find out daily if your Trainer ID is the lucky number. If it is, you go to the station and you'll get a prize. The guy at the desk will check it. There are three floors above the second floor, but they wouldn't let me go up there yet.

Kogane City has a lot going on. Besides the Radio Station, Breeding/Daycare center, a train station (haven't gotten to ride yet), a park, the Department Store (which actually has a basement full of free items, which I can't get to thanks to irritated workers), and Masaki's house, the bicycle shop is there too! I'm not sure what I did, but the Shop owner gave me one for free...

There's also a strip along the west shore of the south approach to Kogane City... if you surf south along it as far as you can go, you'll come to a "getting-off" point. Following this path leads you to a battle with three Elite Trainers (girls in Spandex) who are pretty tough, but not so difficult if you have Grass Pokemon, as I did with my Bayleaf. Defeating them gets you a TM.

TRADING

I've run into Masaki (aka Bill) too. I first ran into him in the Kogane City Pokemon Center, and he's now moved to Kogane City with his wife and child (you can find his house and visit for a TM <g>). His PC system for storage and transfer of Pokemon has made him world renowned, and he's carried it one step further, with the "Time Capsule". (This is the method by which you transfer Red, Green, Blue, or Yellow Pokemon into Gold and Silver). This function isn't enabled until you are scheduled to meet Masaki, and is a great way to prevent players from cheating by putting in their "old" Pokemon to waltz through the early game. Besides, until you've earned enough badges to ensure the obedience of higher levels of Pokemon, there's no point of transferring anyway <g>.

Time Capsules are upstairs in Pokemon Centers with Trading Centers and Colosseums appearing as two separate counters in the Cable Club

I did make a trade with Sarah today to see how the trading process works... it's even better than before. Sarah said she didn't have an Itomaru in her game, and I don't have a Ladyba, so we did a swap....

When you want to make a connection, you hook up the cable or use the IR link, and then the girl behind the counter will step back. You then move your on-screen character through the doorway to the open seat at the Trading or Battle screen!

You'll see a side-by-side list of the 6 Pokemon in each other's "line-up" and you just flag the ones you're trading as before. The game now actually lets you look at each trader's intended tradee-Pokemon's stats and picture to make sure everything's kosher, then you actually get two chances to make sure both parties agree with the trade before it transacts. Once you get the message "Trade Complete", just walk out the door when you're done!

I also managed to try the "Time Capsule". This is much trickier, as the girl at the Time Capsule won't let you make a trade if any Pokemon NOT of the original 151 is in your party. You can only trade "originals", not any of the "new" ones. I made a trade to take the Pikachu out of my Yellow game (and guess what? It said Pikachu was female. Who'd have guessed?), but I may send Pikachu back- I wondered if the characteristic "Pika-chu!" voice and all would be enabled in the Gold game, but it's not.

MORE BREEDING...

One thing we now can say for certain; all Pokemon reproduce via eggs. I put a male and female Wanriky  (Machop) in the Breeding Center, and sure enough, they made an egg together. I paid close attention, and only had to pay for one level up to get them both out of "hock". Essentially, the minimum you can expect to spend for breeding is 200 yen. I also forgot to mention that the daycare-breeding center has its own PC, so you don't have to scoot back to the Pokemon Center to switch out your couples <g>.

I suspect the only way to get a Pichu will be with two Pikachus, and an Elekid probably via two Elebuus (Electabuzzes). I'll let you know otherwise.

OTHER STUFF-

After defeating the Gym Leader Matsuba in the Enjyuu City Gym, I obtained the Phantom Badge. There are also two towers in this area, the Suzu Tower, and the Yaketa Tower, but while I've explored and spoken with the head of these shrines, nothing's happened and I haven't gotten the right items yet...

I went east to Choji Town through a tunnel, and this place is dinky. There's a Gym there, but a guard won't let me in. There's also a thug in the middle of the street east who charges you 300 yen to let you pass, then refuses to let you every time. I went north on Route 43 but had to bypass a waystation- I discovered that if you don't take the "grassy hike" and try to go by the road, two Rocket-Dan thugs rip you off for 1000 yen as "toll" then laugh as they let you go through.

I went to Ikari Reservoir, a fishing site that has been terrorized by a rampaging Gyarados... I surfed out there and battled this nasty critter, and actually caught it (about 1 Hyper Ball, a Super Ball, and 4 Monster Balls later...). The people were gracious and I got a special item, then went back to Choji.

Since I couldn't do the Gym and couldn't go east, I went back West through Enjyuu City and visited Asagi City. Caught a few Water Pokemon there and went up the Great Tower of Asagi- many trainer battles there and some items, but the "meat" of the tower appears to be accessed via a back or alternate way that I couldn't locate yet. Can't go south on the causeway either, since that way's blocked. Gym Leader's not in the Gym, either. The game is good at ensuring that you don't "rush ahead" of its planned agenda, I'll give it that.

Enough's enough for today. There are so many "sub goals" that there's really no need to try to do it all in a hurry.

More later!

--Richard