Face Off: Which Game Had the Best Starter Pokemon?

May 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Pokemon

Face Off is a new feature here on Pokefarm. There are no right or wrong answers, instead we are looking to the membership to pick a side and defend it!

We encourage you to put your best argument forward and defend it from the other side. For our first installment of this feature we ask the question: which game had the best starter Pokemon? Let’s take a moment to review.

Red/Blue/Yellow – The original Pokemon games (including their GBA remakes) introduced the franchise with the Pokemon Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. You could technically call Pikachu a starter because of Yellow version but he’s really more of an exception and will not used in this discussion.

Gold/Silver/Crystal – The second Pokemon series was on the GBC and featured Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile.

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald – When Pokemon moved to the GBA we got Treeko, Mudkip and Torchic.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum – With the latest series moving onto the DS we got Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar.

We will not be discussing the Pokemon games that appeared on the GameCube.

So, I invite you to put your best argument forward as to why you think a particular set of Pokemon are the best. Have at it and please, keep it civil.

Discuss – comments are not active here. you must be a member of the forum to take part in the Face Off.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under News 

Arrival of the Gemini Gym

June 9, 2008 | 3 Comments

Ever since the concept of two-on-two battles were brought into the franchise in the Gameboy Advance era the Doubles Battle has been fully supported part of the competitive battle experience. With the arrival of Diamond and Pearl we even have the ability to conduce WiFi battles in single or double mode. But somehow Double Battles always remained the redheaded stepchild of the competitive battling scene. The “real” battlers are all about singles matches. Read any strategy article or Pokémon move set and it doesn’t even bear mentioning that the advice is for the Singles Battle Environment.

I have long wondered why this is so. I think the reason ultimately boils down to the unpredictability of the doubles environment. When your opponent only has one Pokémon on the field you can make some guesses about it. You can guess what attacks it has and how well it will weather the attack your single Pokémon is about to unleash. You can decide if you need to attack or if you need to switch out your current Pokémon for another on your bench. When there are two Pokémon on the field everything suddenly gets more complicated. Is he going to launch an attack? If so which of my Pokémon is he going after? Or does he have a move that will hit both? Or is he going to do something crazy like boost his partner before his partner attacks me? There are more variables, and a lot of strange moves that are designed to work only in the Doubles environment. It is a whole new world.

The concept behind this gym is to bring the “other half” of Pokémon Battling to Pokefarm. This has long been a private wish of mine. When I was awarded the Forest Gym a few months ago one of the first things I did was ask about the possibility of transforming it into a Doubles Gym. At the time the Pokémon League judges thought that might be a bit too off the beaten path. A challenger working his way through the League needed a few things he could count on in his battles with the Gym Leaders and only facing one Poke at a time was deemed one of them.

Imagine my delight when the concept of “expansion gyms” was brought up in that seedy smoke-filled room we Gym Leaders meet in to plan the fate of the Pokémon League. It was decided that the time had come for a shakeup in the Gym system. It was time for two new Gyms. Buzz was awarded his Bug Gym in the culmination of his long running ambition. And then someone remembered that I had lobbied for a Doubles Forest Gym. That wasn’t the way they wanted to go, but maybe a doubles gym all by itself was a good idea. And so I was awarded what came to be known as the Gemini Gym.

Thus I am thrilled to announce the arrival of the latest new gym to Pokefarm! The Gemini gym is not a formal part of the Pokefarm League, and will live in the Battle Tower alongside the Chrysalis gym. Winners in the gym will receive a badge, but defeating the Gemini Gym will not be required to become a Pokefarm League champion. I also will not have any “types” associated with my gym like Grass is associated with the Forest Gym or Bug is associated with the Chrysalis gym. Gemini is all about doubles battling and it was decided that it doesn’t need any other theme than that. My goal is not to be invincible, but to be a challenge. A challenge that is different from what people have seen in the Gyms so far. So teach your Pokémon Discharge instead of Thunderbolt, or Heat wave instead of Flame Thrower, and enter a new arena. I look forward to seeing you.

(And because many will ask, I am not stepping down as Forest Gym Leader. After all, who better to lead the Doubles Gym than a leader with two gyms?)

The Gemini gym awaits.

Posted by jhamin | Filed Under News 

Breeder’s Cup Tournament

January 4, 2008 | 89 Comments

This month we will be hosting a Breeder’s Cup Tournament in the forum. Rules are as follows:

RULES:

1. No hold items will be allowed.
2. We will be using a Swiss system. If you do not know what that means the simple explanation is that one loss will not knock you out of the tournament so you must be able to commit to a full day of battling.
3. Participating members can not have more than 10 current infraction points against them.

POKEMON:

1. Because all Pokemon must be hatched by you this also means no legendaries.
2. Yes, I know Manaphy hatches from an egg but you can not breed a Manaphy, which makes it not legal for this tournament.
3. You can not have more than one of the same Pokemon on your team.
4. All Pokemon must be level 1.
5. All Pokemon must be hatched by you and have your trainer ID.
6. You will only use three Pokemon.
7. You must use the pre-evolved form of any Pokemon used. (Munchlax yes, Snorlax no).

PRIZE:

1. I have a level 3 shiny Zigzagoon named Lilly that I caught in my Ruby game several months ago. Never touched and I have no idea what her IVs are as she is still on my copy of Ruby.

DATE:

January 19 – 20, 2008

The goal here is to see who is the best at breeding a team for battle on site. All are welcome to join but you do need to be a member of the forum. The tournament is expected to begin mid January.

Posted by HMTKSteve | Filed Under News