2010 Pokémon Video Game Championship

April 21, 2010 | 4 Comments

For HeartGold and SoulSilver battlers, the 2010 Pokémon Video Game Championship kick off with the Northwest Region Event on May 8th, 2010 in Seattle and head across the USA and Western Europe this summer culminating this June in Indianapolis for the national championship with the Word Championships being held in Kona, Hawaii in August. The competition is broken up into a junior division for ages 12 and under and a senior division for ages 13 and up. Players are allowed to bring six pokemon and battle in a 4 vs. 4 doubles format with a level 50 autolevel. Only Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus are excluded but several Uber legendaries are limited to two for each battle. For more information on rules and registration see the Pokémon Video Game Championship Website
Regional events are scheduled for:

  • Saturday, May 8, 2010 – Seattle, WA
  • Saturday, May 15, 2010 – San Francisco, CA
  • Saturday, May 22, 2010 – Phoenix, AZ
  • Saturday, May 29, 2010 – Dallas, TX
  • Saturday, June 5, 2010 – Atlanta, GA
  • Saturday, June 12, 2010 – Newark, NJ
  • Saturday, May 29, 2010 – Birmingham, England
  • Saturday, June 5, 2010 – Cologne, Germany
  • Saturday, June 12, 2010 – Lyon, France
  • Saturday, June 19, 2010 – Madrid, Spain

The top 16 finishers in each region are invited to the national championships on June 26 – 28, 2010 in Indianapolis, IN and those top 16 finishers will be invited to compete in the World Championships scheduled August 14 and 15, 2010 in Kona, Hawaii.

If you attend any of these events you may download a special Shiny Eevee whether you compete or just show up to watch.

This Eevee will be at level 50 holding a Focus Sash and be in a Cherish Ball with Classic Ribbon. It will have the following moves:

  • Iron Tail
  • Trump Card
  • Flail
  • Quick Attack

To get Shiny Eevee, you must:

  • Have your own copy of Pokémon HeartGold Version or Pokémon SoulSilver Version
  • Have your own Nintendo DS™ system
  • Have acquired the Pokédex in your game
  • Have no more than two Wonder Cards in your inventory

Posted by Deneves | Filed Under News 

What’s New in HeartGold and SoulSilver: Voltorb Flip

April 5, 2010 | 7 Comments

Once you have reached Goldenrod in Johto you will find that the Slot Machines of previous games have been replaced by a new game called Voltorb Flip. With this game some of the luck and button pushing skills have been replaced by strategy. Here are some helpful hints from our resident farmer Sorgatani on how to win some coins and garner valuable prizes:

As others have mentioned, the game is quite addictive, once you get used to it!

I would describe it as a combination of the games Minesweeper, Sudoku, and Picross

Because my camera is out of batteries, and I can’t find the charger, I’m going to give you a gradual playthrough, of my ‘level 5′ game. I am not necessarily expecting to win, but I am going to do it in such a way that maybe you will understand my thought processes in making the decisions that I do.

The numbers in red indicate how many Voltorbs are in the field; whereas the number above the line indicates how much the numbers in that particular row/column add up to.

Let’s begin. *studies board*

I will begin by opening my Memo, and looking at what I do *not* need to flip. Ah! See that bottom row? It’s a 5×5 grid – if the top and bottom numbers add up to ‘5′, then every tile in that row is either a Voltorb or a ‘1′ – which is neutral, and does not affect your score. If it’s a choice between a ‘voltorb and a 1′, well personally I choose neither – so I mark the whole row with both the ‘voltorb’ and ‘1′ stamps.

I continue to inspect the board, making stamps as I go, before I decide upon the first tile I’d actually like to flip.

Ah-ha! Middle column, second tile from the bottom. That is my first target – because both 8 and 10 are high numbers. I close the memo, and tap the tile. *crosses fingers*

and it’s a 3! ^_^ *searches for more potential targets*

This is taking a while… but if I lose, I’ll show the final board – promise!

Current score: 3

*flips middle row, second from top* Another 3!
Current score: 9

*second from top, second from right* A 2!
Current score: 18

In a risky maneuver, I opt for the last tile in the second row – an 8/1 coinciding with a 4/2. Fortunately, my hunch is correct – it’s a 2 – my current score is 36

Hmm… now my Stamps need updating – notice how I’ve flipped over numbers higher than 1? Well now I have to factor them into calculations; the amount of ‘potentially good’ tiles is actually decreasing, which is a good thing! That last column has a ‘2′ in it now, so every other tile must either be a voltorb or a 1.

My next move, will be top row, middle column – I’m thinking it’s a 2 *crosses fingers*

And it is! Current score: 72

Hmm.. well I’m going to go ahead and flip that middle one, I think it’ll be another ‘2′

Yup! Current score: 144.

I also need to update my stamps ;)

Notice now I only have 2 viable targets? I think my game is almost over – and I hope it is in a good way.

I am selecting the cell that is second from the left, and second from the bottom. It will either make or break this game ;)

A 3! 432 coins, and that was indeed the last tile.

Before the ‘reveal’, my board looks like this:

After, it looks like this *stamps removed*

Thanks for reading – and as a personal note, I’m glad I finished by ‘winning’ instead of ‘losing’ – because I was hoping this might help people get used to the gameplay and controls.

I just noticed that this success got me up to an even 2100 coins! ^_^

Once you have gathered enough coins you can take them to the gentlemen seated in the game room and exchange them for prizes.

    Hold Items  1,000 coins each:

  • Silk Scarf – Boosts the power of Normal Attacks by 20%
  • Wide Lens – Boosts Accuracy by 10%
  • Zoom Lens – Boosts Accuracy by 20% if holder moves after opponent
  • Metronome – Boosts power of consecutive moves by 10%
    Pokémon all at level 20:

  • 200 coins Abra
  • 700 coins Ekans (HeartGold only)
  • 700 coins Sandshrew (SoulSilver only)
  • 2100 coins Dratini

Once you reach Kanto you will find that the game corner in Celadon has also been changed to Voltorb Flip. While the game is the same, the prizes are different

    Hold Items  1,000 coins each:

  • Silk Scarf – Boosts the power of Normal Attacks by 20%
  • Wide Lens – Boosts Accuracy by 10%
  • Zoom Lens – Boosts Accuracy by 20% if holder moves after opponent
  • Metronome – Boosts power of consecutive moves by 10%
    Pokémon all at level 5:

  • 3333 coins Mr. Mime
  • 6666 coins Eevee
  • 9999 coins Porygon

Posted by Deneves | Filed Under Tips