Yat (Matt/Matthew) Yeung
2024 Arrival, JHS ALT in Iyo City (Futami)
Gundam/Pokémon/League of Legends/Stardew Valley Nerd (cough, cough… specialist*)
Matthew (Yat) Yeung is a first year ALT based in Iyo City, particularly in the small, beautiful beach town of Futami. He usually games quite a lot with family (mainly brothers) and some friends here and there, however outside of that he practices Japanese Martial Arts known as Kobudo. He’s currently a Brown Belt (one away from Black), thus he knows how to use the Bo (staff), Sai (fork daggers), Tonfa (wooden police baton… thing) and Nunchucks.
Hello, it’s Matt again! I was recently, slightly inspired by Luke’s blog about Pokémon (shout out to that man, please read his blog, too! It’s about Pokémon Cards!), which got me thinkingー I should contribute to the #Pokémon part of the Mikan. So, here I am!
I still remember turning on the DS for the first time in 2009, scrolling down the page of the R4 chip. I came across this shiny looking icon with a ball on it, it read “Pokémon” (in Chinese HAHA). I proceeded to click A, which brought me one of the most beautiful sights I would ever see in my life. In this blog, I will be ranking my own top 5 favorite main line Pokémon games (I will unfortunately exclude Legends: Arceus), as I go into detail of my emotional connection to each game, fun factor and such.
Pokémon Emerald
To some of you, this may be a surprise. To some, it may be outrageous. To some, maybe this is just acceptable because it at least made the top 5 (there are only… 5). Like many other fans out there, I was born the year Pokémon Emerald came out, so there was no way I was playing it with my barely functioning body back then. I only managed to get my hands on a Game Boy emulator around 4 years ago on my phone, and that was my first ever Emerald playthrough.
Gameplay & Design
I put Pokémon Emerald at rank 5 because despite being a pretty old game, it still contains some of the best Pokémon designs of all time, such as Rayquaza, Groudon, Flygon and Mudkip (:D). The general gameplay remains the same (in every… generation), with high quality character design and a decent story. The amount of legendaries you can catch in this game is very rewarding, stacked with a top-notch soundtrack. Emerald is also the only game where I somehow managed to find a full-odds shiny Pokémon in the first encounter on the first route. It was a Shiny Poochyena (it’s golden… shiny~! The chances were 1/8192 back then).
I wouldn’t say this game was really that hard, though. Since there were lots of very good Pokémon in the game, the playthrough was a pretty easy experience. One disappointment was the change in champions in the game. I haven’t played Ruby or Sapphire, the games that precede Emerald, but I know that the champion went from Steven Stone (Steel/Fossil Champion, brilliant concept) to Wallace, the previous 8th Water Gym Leader. Wallace just doesn’t have the same “Aura” Steven has as a champion and thus, he just became another EXP dispenser for my Manectric.
Starters
To some people, Hoenn Region (Generation 3), the region Emerald’s featured Pokémon are from, claims to have the best starters of all time. To some degree, I agree with that (although I like a different generation’s starters slightly more). Mudkip evolves to one of, if not, the strongest Water starter that a game could provide. The Water-Ground typing makes it a formidable Pokémon. Torchic, evolving into Blaziken makes it such a powerhouse, also making the playthrough a complete breeze. Finally, Treecko, evolving into Sceptile, is one of the best designed starters, period. The legendary of the game is one of the all-time favoritesー Rayquaza. People like Dragons I guess, and a green one who can calm down a red dinosaur and a blue whale-looking monster with one shout seems to have given people a strong emotional connection to it. Therefore, overall, out of the games I’ve played, I rank Pokémon Emerald at Rank 5 on my list.
Pokémon Black and White
This game was one of the steppingstones towards almost “perfecting” Pokémon games. It was the debut of the much-requested moving sprites that everyone wanted to see. Some people may be in complete shock that Black and White would be higher in rank than Emerald…well, all I can say is deal with it (lel).
Gameplay
Black and White (B/W) was technically my third Pokémon game ever, as I shared a run through of it with my older brother. I still remember that both of us actually hated the game for one specific reason, but now I see the beauty in all the hate I had for itー the difficulty. My brother and I were stuck at the fourth gym for at least six months, because we didn’t know how to beat its Electric Gym Leader, Elesa with a Ground-type-less team. That being said, B/W has some of the best gym leaders throughout all the generations, with BANGER background music around the city (Driftveil City hard carry, next to the Swords of Justice theme). To this day, I will say that B/W is one of the hardest games in the Pokémon Franchise, as it tails behind my top 3.
Design
I really love the game for introducing a lot of similar, yet unique designs from Generation 1 (the original 151), but with a lot of good twists on Pokémon design. This game also consists of some of my favorite Pokémon to use on my teams, or just very nice (even perfect to some degree) Pokémon. This would include Zoroark (one of my favorites), Bisharp (Gen V sprite is perfect), Krookodile and Reuniclus. I do not play competitive Pokémon at all, so please no hate comments on whether they are competitive Pokémon or not, I don’t care.
One small issue the game had (which was fixed in B2/W2) was the lack of trainer sprite animations as well as some Pokémon animations looking very… lifeless. For a select few Pokémon, they just stand there and do nothing during the idle animation of battle, which although they look good since they move, it doesn’t bring any characterization onto the Pokémon themselves. That aside, the starters of this generation… aren’t the best. Biggest complaints are:
- Why is it another fire-fighting type?
- He is ugly
- WHERE ARE HIS HANDS?
But overall, I’m fine with the starters. Tepig → Emboar is still my favorite because he is chunky.
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
It was hard for me to order my top three games from Rank 1 to Rank 3, because I have the same emotional connection with, but I had to put them in order one way or another. So, here I am, placing Pokémon B2/W2 as Rank 3 on the list. Pokémon B2/W2 was the first Pokémon game my brother didn’t help me with (except for Ghetsis… yeah) when I was still a kiddo.
To start off, I will just get it out of the way and say, Pokémon B2/W2 is the PERFECT Pokémon game. “But if it’s perfect… Why isn’t it first place?” → The only reason I didn’t put it any higher, is because I believe the next two Pokémon games on the list are genuinely more rewarding & fun and consist of several INTENSE and UNFORGETTABLE memories throughout their playthrough.
Storyline
So, let’s dive into Pokémon B2/W2. Why is the game “perfect”? For starters, the story is established pretty early. Breaking tradition, instead of meeting the Professor in the region, we are greeted by her assistant, Bianca (if you played B/W, she is a familiar face), and Hugh (our rival). Hugh is a boy who has a vendetta against Team Plasma (the Antagonist organization) for having stolen his sister’s Pokémon five years earlier. Unlike most Pokémon games, a hint of the plot line is introduced early on with the introduction of Team Plasma and Hugh trying to get vengeance for his sister.
Gameplay & Design
In terms of gameplay, B2/W2 basically took everything you know and love about Pokémon B/W, and made it much, much better. This includes bonus animations on Pokémon idle animation, Pokémon diversity, new gym leaders, and probably the best storyline. The Pokémon idle animations are updated with Pokémon doing something unique or displaying a certain unique characteristic about them. A great example would be Emboar’s new idle animation. From time to time, he smashes his fists together, showing his power instead of just standing there… being a pig on fire.
In addition, the introduction of older generation Pokémon gives the game a large sense of nostalgia, like being able to see an updated, lively Ampharos, or a menacing and lively Garchomp ready to strike.
B2/W2 also probably has the most “free” shiny Pokémon in any game. The word free is in quotation marks because you have to do “something” to earn this “free” reward. The first “free” shiny you can get, depending on which game you own, is either a Shiny Gible or Shiny Dratini. Second, if you have finished the Unova Dex (Unova is the region’s name), the professor will give you a ticket for you to fly to a secret island, where you can find yourself a badass, cool-looking Shiny Haxorus awaiting you.
With B/W’s cover legendary Pokémon being Zekrom and Reshiram respectively, B2/W2 moves towards the third Pokémon of the Tao trio, Kyurem, as its main legendary to focus on. It uncovers the story of Kyurem, turning it from just a dragon with a broken shell, to something everyone should find dangerous or even scary. Kyurem is known to apparently eat people… so much for a G-rated game. Anyways, we are introduced to the concept of Pokémon fusion via the DNA splicers, which turns Kyurem and either Zekrom or Reshiram into cool-looking abomination monsters (weird combination of words, but they are meant to look “deformed” or “incomplete”). The idea of Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem is supposed to symbolize Yin, Yang and Wuji (the absence of Yin and Yang), thus known as the Tao trio.
World Tournament
Another feature brought into B2/W2 was the Pokémon World Tournamentー an in-game tournament gameplay (which features trainers in a sort of competitive Pokémon field). This tournament may sound like just another simple thing to ignore, but I really love this feature. Firstly, the soundtracks from the tournament are absolute bangers, as they feature the main themes of trainers all the way from Generation 1 up to Generation 5! On top of that, they split the ranks and difficulties of each battle, from a regular tournament, to the Gym Leaders Cup, then World Gym Leaders Cup, followed by the all-time favorite, Champions Cup. The Champions Cup brings back a lot of familiar faces, such as Red, Lance, Cynthia, Steven and Blue.
Final Thoughts
If I had to choose, one of my favorite parts of B2/W2 would be the fact that all Pokémon have a unique sprite animation during battle. I also enjoy that compared to the majority of the Pokémon games out there, it is one of the hardest, with strong rivals like Hugh, a formidable antagonist fight like Ghetsis, and the unexpected champion, Iris. All in all, the use of pixel art in this game really makes Pokémon feel alive. It is the perfect balance between the “modern” age of Pokémon, mixed with the “nostalgic” gameplay of Pokémon. If Game Freak maintained the standard of graphics of B2/W2 across all their games, I would be a very, very happy man.
P.S. We need to acknowledge the amount of Aura emitting from the first house on the left of the Pokémon Center in Undella Town. If you are not prepared, RUN, don’t walk, RUN!
Pokémon Platinum
Remember in the beginning of the blog when I mentioned me clicking on the shiny little icon and seeing the most beautiful thing in my life? PLOT TWIST! It only lasted 5 minutes and then my brother decided to take the DS off my hands and subsequently switch games. Anyways, his first game was Pokémon Platinum.
There were only a few options left for the spot of Rank 1 and we all know Platinum had to end up somewhere on this list… eventually. I do hope every Pokémon mainline player has played Pokémon Platinum at some point in their lives, because this game deserves a medal. The high-ranking is mainly due to a few factors:
1. Character design
2. Gym Leaders & Antagonist Team
3. Pokémon Design
ⓐ Starters
ⓑ Mythical and Legendaries
4. CYNTHIA
A quick rundown for those who don’t play mainline games or have not played Platinum yet. ① The featured legendary in this game is none other than Giratina (i.e., in my eyes, the best Dragon legendary to be ever designedー talking about the origin form). ② It’s similar to Emerald. Basically, it’s the updated and BETTER version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (which were by the way, the debut Pokémon games for the DS).
Another little side note: Pokémon Platinum is set in Generation 4, in other words the generation I was born at the perfect time to play. Therefore, Generation 4 has the closest connection to me and all. This gen only features a small amount of new Pokémon compared to the generation 2 and 3, but it added a lot of 3rd evolutions to some Pokémon, making them stronger (and somehow weaker for a few?). Aside from that, I believe that Generation 4 has some of the peak designs in Pokémon history.
Character Design
SO! Starting off with Character design, Lucas and Dawn are the male and female player characters of Platinum, with Dawn being the more popular character, even finding her way into the anime walking with the 12 year old with 25 years of experience. Both character designs are really well done in general (psst…we don’t talk about short sleeves from the first games, this is Platinum, there are long sleeves now). The design of Barry (your rival) is really well crafted, too. The idea of having a hyper-active rival, with some sort of spiky/messy hair that really suits him, is kind of nice. Along with the white/orange stripe shirt that he wears really gives him the “energy” that Barry should give out.
Gym Leaders & Antagonist Team
Moving onto the gym leaders, each gym leader really shows what type their gyms are (maybe…. Crasher Wake might be pushing it…), with fitting (and updated… we don’t talk about 5th gym in Diamond and Pearl) gym challenges along with spectacular teams to go up against. The ace of each gym leader gets updated after Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, with the biggest update on Volkner, the 8th gym.
Next, the Antagonist team, Team Galactic. Using the words of a YouTuber I once came across, Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic just decided to take Archie’s idea from Pokémon Sapphire to a several new levels. For some context, Archie wanted Kyogre to create more water in the world, to basically erase as much of humanity as he could. Back to Cyrus. Cyrus on the other hand, wants to first capture 3 guardian Pokémon, to summon Palkia and Dialga (both peak design Pokémon by the way) to reset the universe to remove all the flaws of humanity (some deep stuff right there, he’s kind of in the right to a degree). However, he is greeted by none other than Giratina itself, and taken to the distortion world which is basically the realm of antimatter, a world that does not make sense, and just… kinda disappears I guess.
The commanders of Team Galactic are all named after astronomical objectsー Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the scientist, Charon. I think it’s a pretty cool way to name your “bad guys”. The grunts
, I have to admit do look pretty stupid and goofy but having the theme of it based on space is a pretty good concept for an Antagonist team. I just wish they’d stop sending out Glameow and Stunky. . .
Pokémon Design
Moving onto Pokémon designs. Let’s kick things off with the gen 4 starters. Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig are, to me, the perfect starter Pokémon. Their designs really reflect what they are supposed to be, Piplup evolves into Empoleon, inspired to be a knight/warrior, thus gaining steel type. Chimchar evolves into Infernape, inspired by Son Wukong (in many cultures, but here I’m gonna say Chinese Mythology), gaining the fighting type. Turtwig evolves into Torterra, the most underrated powerhouse of a grass-type that is supposed to be inspired from The World Turtle (also from lots of different cultures). These three final evolution forms have something unique about their typing. Usually starters only counter each other through the Empoleon → Infernape → Torterra, but the secondary typing makes a reverse as well, thus Torterra → Infernape → Empoleon (Empoelon can Ice beam, this is just me on Copium).
And now, the Legendaries and Mythical Pokémon of this series. Not much to say, but probably all my favorite designs are in this game. From Giratina, basically the Satan of Pokémon (sorry to some people for mentioning the Devil), Dialga (controller of time), Palkia (controller of space), and the one above all Arceus, God of Pokémon (sorry to some people for mentioning, again). They all share very similar features, which is why I believe this is a really well designed portrayal of Giratina, Palkia and Dialga, otherwise known as the creation trio. With the addition of Legends: Arceus, Palkia and Dialga were given new forms that make them look like “false” versions of Arceus. Looking at them for the first time felt weird, but now, with the context of the game it makes more sense and my eyes won’t need to be bleached.
Let’s drift away from Legends: Arceus, and take a look at the other Legendaries and Mythicals in the game. I’m going to skip the lake guardians because they don’t… have too many features besides being able to summon Palkia and Dialga and representing Willpower (Azelf), Knowledge (Uxie) and Emotion (Mesprits). So, first, Regigigas (pronounced; Re-Ji-Gi-Gus) is the creator of all the Regi’s in the Pokémon franchise. It is responsible for moving all the continents in the Pokémon world. A very solid design because you can see “terrain like features” on his body, which really makes him stand out. Next, we have Heatran. Heatran is definitely not everyone’s favorite Pokémon, as he isn’t really…anything? The fact that it’s some fire/steel toad-like, whale thingy that stands there menacingly makes it a Legendary, I guess. It is supposed to represent the Earth’s core.
Next, is a weird duo because one is Legendary and the other is Mythical. Meet the dream duo, Cresselia being the Legendary for dreams, and Darkrai, the Mythical of nightmares. Cresselia has a really pretty design, with a crescent shaped head along with glowing moon-ring-wings, which really make Cresselia look powerful yet gentle. On the other hand, Darkrai (one of my favorite Mythicals), is covered in lots of black, with spiky edges and a ghastly body, really giving the vibe that he is a nightmare.
Finally, we have Shaymin, the Gratitude Pokémon. Shaymin is a cute little hedgehog Pokémon with flowers on its back and is said to only appear in front of trainers who have shown true gratitude while holding the Gracidea flower.
CYNTHIA
Now, onto the last section.. wait. Why do I hear boss music…?
Cynthia, for people who are into Pokémon and who were born between 2000 – 2010, has probably traumatized you before one way or another. Cynthia is known to be one of, if not the strongest and toughest champion battles of all time. She is so strong even the not-so-well-received Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl somehow made Cynthia overpowered, too. She is decked out with a perfectly crafted team, along with one of the scariest and dominating themes in all of Pokémon. The aura the music gives to the players is only a small fraction of the trauma they will receive from fighting Cynthia unprepared, which is why I previously said to run away from that house in B2/W2… because that’s where she is waiting.
When you first meet Cynthia, she is just a random trainer who hands you a Pokémon egg that hatches into a Togepi. You meet her again a few times along the way on your journey through the Sinnoh Region, but she never enters combat and you will never get to see her enter combat. Not until the day you progress far enough into the game and enter your ultimate demise in the champions room, that isー that’s when you realize you have been talking to THE champion the whole time.
Kicking off with a flashbang to the players eyes, they will be like “who the f**k is Spiritomb???”. Back in generation 4, Spiritomb had no weaknesses, thus this may leave the players quite confused. On top of that, Spiritomb also has crazy special attack stats, making it quite hard to go down easily. After defeating the first Pokémon, you are usually greeted by one of her other 5 monsters that will continue to haunt you. There is Lucarioー broken stats. Roseradeー very fast and hard hitting. Togekissー very fast and strong if built correctly, and you guessed it, she built hers pretty well. Miloticー very tanky, hard to kill, uses a lot of your brain cells trying to defeat one. And one more, the one that everyone fears the most, her perfect stats Garchomp. Perfect stats Garchomp means that it has the most optimal stats for Garchomp to have, thus investing in more damage and speed over defenses. This Garchomp is her Ace Pokémon (best in team) and could easily sweep your entire team in a blink of an eye. So, you pretty much made it all the way up to the champion (great!😐), only to be simply destroyed.
Final Thoughts
Generation 4 holds a dear place in my heart because of how difficult it is and the general nostalgia I get from playing it. For starter players, this would be a great game to begin withー if you don’t mind getting completely destroyed at the end of the game or, if you enjoy grinding several levels to match Cynthia.
And now… we might know what my Rank 1 game would be…
Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver
If some of you guessed itー bingo! You were absolutely right. With no hesitation, I rank HeartGold and SoulSilver (HG/SS) as the best Pokémon mainline game to ever be made. There are some biases taken into account here, since this, or more particularly HeartGold, was the “shiny pokéball icon” I clicked on when I first booted up the DS. Also, this game was my first Pokémon game. No matter how many times I replay it, I always find a new way to make the game more and more challengingー more and more fun. I have been told to do Nuzlockes. Although I like a challenge, I enjoy the game the way it is, and there is so much to do already.
What makes HeartGold one of the greatest games in my heart (pun intended)? First off, like I mentioned before it was my first Pokémon game. Second of all, it’s also where I made the biggest mistake of my life in choosing Chikorita as my starter, because I just spammed A. For some context, if you don’t know the gravity of this problem, Chikorita is so bad of a starter that it will make you want to restart the game, no matter how far you have progressed into it. This brought me more trauma in comparison to Cynthia, on top of me being a 6 year old back then who had no idea what I was doing the whole time. I actually gave up on the game, even after receiving an overleveled Machamp and just blitzing through the game, because I was just a kid.
It’s not until around 5-6 years ago, I thought to myself, what if I just played it differently? I was probably just very dumb back then. And I was ABSOLUTELY right, playing Pokémon as a kid in comparison to playing Pokémon as a teen or adult really is something else. Without falling for the same problem of accidentally picking Chikorita again, this time I picked my HG/SS go-to starter: Cyndaquil → Typhlosion (the rumors have stopped spreading and are out of date, stop). After proceeding to beat the game after a very, very long fight against Lance, for the first time ever, I’ve entered the best ever post-game any Pokémon game has ever produced.
Game Features
So, let’s jump into some details onto why I ranked HG/SS as my number 1 game. First off, my favorite mechanic of HG/SS is the feature where you have a Pokémon following you from behind at all times. I think that this should’ve been a feature that stayed in the game for future generations, however for no reason at all I guess GameFreak said no… (bruh). Anywho, you can not only see your Pokémon follow behind you, but as the trainer you can also interact with them, and occasionally find items that they give you. On top of that, given that the Pokémon following you has a Hidden Machine (HM), it performs a special animation that makes them look like they are using the move (it’s usually like 2 hops and the move happens, but still cool am I right?). This also allows you to see the Pokémon in a little more detail, and appreciate every pixel placed to create such a lively sprite. Just look at Krabby and his little crab shuffle behind your back, or Magikarp flopping his way to Gyarados.
Secondly, another unique feature in the game would be the forgotten Pokéathlon. I must say, this is probably the best non-traditional Pokémon mini-game they could ever produce. I might even argue that this is better than the Pokémon beauty contest. This is one of those times where the DS stylus would come handy, as you swipe and tap your way to first place in the competition. For context of what a Pokéathlon is, you just have to think about it like the Olympics but for Pokémon. They usually do sports such as hurdles, soccer (cough, football), karate brick breaking and a timed relay. The intense sports music slapped on in the background really makes you want to win it all and tap your way to victory. Beyond that, the rewards you get for competing in the Pokéathlon are pretty…rewarding😲, such as getting hands on some early evolution stones, or getting yourself a metal coat to evolve your Onix or Scyther.
Next, HG/SS has a weird mechanic no other game has as well. In the majority of the games, the role of Mum is usually just as another Pokémon center (but a downgrade because you can’t swap out your Pokémon). The Mum in HG/SS asks you whether you want her to save you some money every time you earn money in the game.This may feel like she is “stealing” your money, however in return your Mum will deliver you some good and much needed items that help a lot throughout the playthrough, such as a Silk Scarf, as well as the Muscle Band (both these items give you a damage boost). Having a Mum that actually does something in the game feels pretty good hehe. Better than a heal dispenser, I guess.
Let’s move to taking a look at the story of HG/SS. To be honest, it is very very bland and does not have a lot of content. The story is mainly just you trying to beat the champion, and aside from that, stop Team Rocket from trying to come back and call Giovanni. We are ultimately met with such a disappointing “Final Boss” of the executive of Team Rocket, Archer and his super SUPER underwhelming team with no threats what-so-ever. This may be a little sad, but Team Rocket sucked in this game and just became another EXP vending machine filled with Ratata’s, Knoffing’s and some Grimer’s once in a while. Giovanni doesn’t even show up… unless you own the Celebi Pokémon event code, then you will get to battle Giovanni himself. It’s only then will you find out that Giovanni has quit being a bad guy, and is just a roaming trainer trying to get stronger.
Design
Pokémon designs in this game are quite something. They mainly consist of the majority of the Generation 1 Pokémon in the wild, like Pidgey and Spearow, with the addition of Generation 2 Pokémon like Sentret, Wooper and Heracross. Most of them maintain a simple design, just “monsterfying” how they usually look in the real world, like the example mentioned before, Heracross. However, I would LOVE to highlight the one exception of Wooper, being one of the best designed Pokémon because of how derpy and stupidly innocent he looks. A Pokémon with no arms that can somehow learn ice punch, well played GameFreak… well played.
Now, looking at the starters of this generation, Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita. I think all three of them have displayed themselves pretty nicely as fire, water and grass respectively. Ignoring all aspects of combat power, they are all pretty well designed. Cyndaquil being a Quill, looks more like an echidna, eventually evolving into Typhlosion, with its iconic explosive fire neck. Totodile is the normal water croc that we usually see and know, except he looks a little derpy, hyper-active and is blue. It eventually evolves into the muscular and formidable Feraligatr, with the “rectangular” bands all over his arms, along with a crooked back with red spikes sticking out that truly shows that this isn’t a normal gator, but a fierce crocodile. Finally, we have the “little green radish thing” (you know who you are, the one who said those exact same words), the least popular starter of all time. I’ve got to admit, it sucks, it’s so bad that it’s worth picking to make the game hard. Chikorita does look something like a radish but it has legs and a leaf head. It eventually blooms and evolves into the flower dinosaur Meganium, which I think has a pretty good design for something so simple. Overall, the design of the Generation 2 starters, although simple, still shines bright like a diamond, and is something that should not be looked over.
Legandaries
Now, exploring legendaries and availability of legendaries, this game is AMAZING at it. First of all, the box legendaries Ho-oh and Lugia are iconic up to this very day, with, I believe, the fan favorite slightly leaning towards Lugia a bit more. One thing I love about Johto (Generation 2) is the roaming legendary trio, Entei, Raikou and Suicune, which translates to Fire god, Thunder god and the Water Monarch. The story of these three Pokémon starts off with them dying in a burning tower and Lugia bringing rain to the world, calming the fire, followed with Ho-oh resurrecting the three Pokémon back to life, back as Entei, Raikou and Suicune. I believe that these three have one of the best designs in terms of roaming Pokémon, their iconic faces really making them stand out for what they are supposed to be. Not to mention their really interesting background story!
Speaking of roaming legendaries, Entei, Raikou and Suicune aren’t the only ones in the game. In HG/SS, you can gain access to catch the three legendary birds (Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres) from Generation 1 (not roaming, but still good), and even a roaming Latios or Latias (depending on your game). This is already pretty stacked for the number of legendaries that are in this game, but I guess it can go further, right? Given you have beaten the postgame (I’ll talk about what you do in the Kanto Region), you can catch Kyogre or Groudon, and with trading, you can even catch their counterparts, thus allowing you to also catch Rayquaza. Furthermore, you can even catch the one and only Mewtwo in Cerulean City after the postgame (sitting at a whopping level 70). These legendaries will look even better when you decide for them to walk behind youー they look badass AF.
There is also a little bonus that you can get for “free” in the game: the iconic Lake of Rage Shiny Gyarados. This Pokémon is technically farmable, as it respawns every time you beat the champion, so whether you farm this little guy or not will depend on if you are a monster or a Gyarados fan. On top of that, you can receive a FREE Eevee in Goldenrod City, and catch Lapras on Friday in a cave. These Pokémon that are “free” can surprisingly become a carrier of the game for you, since they are all very very strong and good Pokémon. Additionally, there is the infamous gambling corner in Goldenrod City that can get you some pretty strong Pokémon early on in the game, such as a Dratini (through gambling?!! In the Japanese games it’s a slot machine!!).
Postgame
Now, to talk about the best part of the game, the postgame of HG/SS is completely incredible. The game is like learning Japanese, you start with Hiragana and Katakana in the Johto region, however once you reach Kanto region, it’s like realizing that Kanji still exists and now you are falling down again. The purpose of Kanto is to basically do what you did in Johto again, but this time everyone is much stronger. You’ll end up meeting familiar faces such as Brock, Blue, Sabrina, Erica and even… at the top of Mount Silver… Red himself (technically… you, in a different game). Now Red, in comparison to Cynthia, does not have the same level of Aura, but it is quite scary to know that he has a full team that is definitely at least 20 levels ahead of you after beating the 8th gym in Kanto. Good luck walking up to Red with a level 65 Typhlosion thinking you are ready… you can’t even make it through the first Pokémon. Honestly, I don’t think he is as strong as Cynthia, but his team is really strong, making a fight much more worth it and intense.
Final Thoughts
HG/SS may not be the perfect game like B2/W2, but it holds a dear place in my heart, knowing that it is my first ever Pokémon game. I hope that when another remake of Generation 2 comes out, it does not let us down.
Conclusion
Well there you have it, these are my top 5 Pokémon mainline game rankings. For a quick rundown again, it goes:
5️⃣Pokémon Emerald
4️⃣ Pokémon B/W
🥉Pokémon B2/W2
🥈 Pokémon Platinum
🥇 Pokémon HG/SS
This ranking of the top 5 Pokémon games is probably different for each fan and I am more than happy to hear everyone’s comments on which Pokémon games they like and rank as their top 5!
Side Note: I like the Vanilla gameー I am NOT going to Nuzlocke.
Another Side Note: BIG credits to the introduction of moving sprites in B2/W2, as you can see in the blog <3
Image sources
Game box art from https://bulbagarden.net/
Pokémon sprites from https://pokemondb.net/
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