PMD Red Rescue Team - Best Duo?

What would you say . . .

to an honorable flashback?

Yup, we're going to be discussing one of the two very first PMD games. Red Rescue Team. *Happy dance* I can feel my skin tingling from anticipation--can you?!

So first off, I'd like to share my reason on why I've suddenly had the interest to talk about this particular Poke-topic. You see, my sister and I were merely rummaging through some old boxes and stuff from the dark depths of our house when suddenly . . . BAM! We abruptly come across our old Pokemon games! Leaf Green, Ruby, Emerald, and last but not least . . . our PMD Red Rescue Team! I could hardly believe my eyes--they were like gold in my hands!


You could only imagine how addicted my sister and I seemed while playing the games. We practically spent the entire week with nothing but our gadgets in hand. It's like even the world didn't matter to us as long as we had our Poke-games.


The unfortunate part though, is that I had trouble saving. I know I've briefly mentioned this before, but there's this battery in all Gameboy Advance technology that enables you to save your game. After eight years or so, the battery kind of . . . wilts or dies (or something like that) and even if you save your game a thousand times, when you turn it off for even a mere hour, your game's gone and you have to start all over again from the beginning. It happened to me a couple of times until I finally just lost it and tossed my Gameboy aside, completely frustrated.

Torchic VS Zigzagoon in Ruby

At least my sister had better luck. She used that slot in the DS where you can put in GB games and she never had to start from the beginning. She was playing Ruby at the time.


So anyway, I begged my dad to do something about the problem, and amazingly, he did me a bigger favor than I'd asked for. He installed this program called VBA or Visual Boy Advance, which enables you to play Gameboy Advance games on your computer! Talk about genius! I downloaded every Pokemon game there was--including the ones I didn't have for my Gameboy games like Fire Red and Sapphire. Then . . . that's where the fun began.


I was finally able to save! To actually save without having to worry that the next time I play the game, my whole file would have been deleted! I was so ecstatic about the whole thing that I never took my eyes off my laptop for about half a month or so.


And that leads to our topic today. Lately I've been focusing on my PMD game--Red Rescue Team. (They didn't have Blue Rescue Team for VBA, so I guess I'll have to cope with this one--not that I'm complaining, though.) I've always fancied Squirtle and Charmander as the best main character for the game, but now that I'm at a more . . . mature age, I'm starting to wonder if the others held some potential too. Maybe I never really saw it when I was still a kid since I didn't really know much about Pokemon yet, but now . . .

Treecko and Charmander VS Zapdos

Not to mention the best partner. That one's tricky. At least for me it is. If you want to get through the game without having to faint everytime you battle a boss, you've gotta make your team work. I once got Treecko as my character, and I chose Charmander for my partner. It seemed pretty cool at first, but when we got to the Zapdos battle . . . . Well, let's just say that I ended up restarting my game after fainting a hundred times.


So which is, in fact, the best duo for this PMD game? That's something I'm hoping to figure out.


I've made eight files in my PMD game--all of which having different duos as the leading characters. (The two remaining files were claimed by my sister, and arguing with her about it would only end up a messy bloodbath.) My goal in this experiment is to figure out which duo is the best to play with in the game.

Pikachu and Torchic in a dungeon

File number one has Pikachu as the main character and Torchic as the partner. I was totally fine with Pikachu when I was a kid, but Torchic . . . I can't really remember. I can't recall its usefulness when it comes to battling, but its final evolution is definitely something to live for.

Torchic and Squirtle in Pokemon Square

File number two has Torchic as the main character and Squirtle as the partner. Ooh, a Fire-Water combo. I was always a fan of this, though I was never quite sure why. I guess it's because of the awesome contrast of their strengths, but I could never be sure.

Charmander and Mudkip in a dungeon

File three has Charmander as the main character and Mudkip as the partner. Hmm . . . a second Fire-Water duo. Like I've said, I was always a fan of Charmander being the main character, so this duo is definitely not a problem. Mudkip . . . I can't exactly remember either. It was awesome having it on my team since it's also part ground type, but I think I had some slight problems with it too. Oh well. I guess I'll find out as I play the game.

Eevee and Cyndaquil

File four has Eevee as the main character and Cyndaquil as the partner. Well this is sure a unique combo. Even I was surprised when I got Eevee as my leading character. As we all probably know, this Pokemon is quite rare to get in the PMD games. I decided to try Cyndaquil out because of all the fire types in the game, it was the only one that I never really bothered to work with when I was young.

Totodile and Torchic

File five has Totodile as the main character and Torchic as the partner. I've had a few cases in playing PMD wherein I got a water type as my leading character when I was still younger, but honestly, I can't really recall how the game went. Yes, I know, my memory span is quite . . . short, but it's all I can work with. Totodile isn't exactly the best water type in the game, but I decided to try it out anyway. It doesn't learn Bubble like Squirtle does, and it doesn't learn Mud Slap like Mudkip does--for obvious reasons. I think that's partly why I had some difficulty in adjusting to it as I played the game. Because of its lack of good moves.

Squirtle and Torchic

File number six has Squirtle as the main character and--yet again--Torchic as the partner. Hmm . . . not a bad combo either. I think maneuvering these two Pokemon will be an easy task for anyone.

Psyduck and Treecko

Moltres using Flamethrower

Articuno using Ice Beam

File number seven has Psyduck as the main character and Treecko as the partner. Now I'm not sure if you've noticed, but yes, I haven't really chosen any grass types as the main character or the partner in any of the files with the exception of this one. My reason is simple--they're extremely hard to work with. Especially when it comes to battling Moltres and Articuno. One Wing Attack or Powder Snow and your grass types are as good as dead. I decided to try Treecko in this file because it has always been my favorite grass type, and also because it seemed like a great idea to give it a shot. Psyduck's quite a rare sight. I was beyond surprised and ecstatic when I saw that it had been my main character. I mean, Psyduck can use really powerful moves like Confusion and Water Gun. And when it evolves into Golduck, it becomes even more awesome and powerful.

Mudkip and Pikachu

Golduck

Then, file eight has Mudkip as the main character and Pikachu as the partner. Yeah, I know. Not exactly the Grand Finale that you'd expect, but meh. As far as I can remember, this type combo isn't really as bad as it might seem. Pokemon like Moltres should be easy prey for this duo.

Squirtle, Charmander, and Absol

. . . Okay, okay. I'll show you a picture of one of my sister's files. Squirtle is her main character, and Charmander's her partner, I see. Hmm . . . her taste in Pokemon aren't as bad as I thought. I guess we do have some things in common after all.


So there you have it, folks! I'll be working on these files (except for the last one, of course) all day and night to determine the best Pokemon duo in the PMD games!

Favorite Female Character?

There are currently four major female characters in the Pokemon anime . . .

But which one is the best?

Misty, May, Dawn, Iris . . . which one is the perfect female companion in Ash's journeys? It's quite a tough decision to make, especially since we've only known Iris for a couple of episodes. It's hard to judge something if you don't know what you're going to judge in the first place. So I thought of simply basing it on the character that we can all relate to the most.

Misty

If you're going to ask me, I think I'm a combination of all of them. I hold Misty's strictness when it comes to battling. I would never leave any lose ends while preparing for a big battle, and I have low tolerance for stupid mistakes when it comes to common Pokemon knowledge.

May

Then I have May's girly style. Almost 75% of my clothing are girl stuff, and even though I consider myself a Poke-Maniac and all, I know that I've still got a lot of things to learn. I also have only one younger sibling (only . . . I have a sister instead of a brother.)

Dawn

Next I have Dawn's somewhat boyish attitude. I can't really explain it, but she seems like the total opposite and counterpart of May. The only thing that I don't have, that they both have in common, is that I don't have an obsession with cute Pokemon. Sure, it's okay if you have an adorable little Pikachu in your party . . . . as long as it has good moves and good stats. I personally don't even bother training a Pokemon with low stats and weak attacks. For me, it's just a waste of time. I only put Pokemon in my party if they make it into my strict expectations of Party Pokemon, which are as follows:

• Good stats
• Good attacks
• Good evolutions
• Able to use other (preferably elemental) types of attacks
• Cry doesn't annoy me
• Awesome (or at least acceptable) physical appearance

Yes, I am a very strict Pokemon critic, and I don't care if it's cute or if it has an awesome background--if it doesn't live up to any of those expectations, then it's a big NO.

Iris and her Axew

And that's where Iris comes in! She's a hard girl to figure out, that I can tell you. And it's not just because I've only known her for a couple of episodes, either. Thing is, she's just a huge mix. At one point, she's calm and logical, then one second later, she's a know-it-all who doesn't know the first thing about Pokemon battling.

Drilbur

Excadrill

But those things aren't what caught my attention. It's her team. At first I thought she was just some wimp who only cared--yet again--about cute and irresistable Pokemon, but then I saw it. Her Excadrill. The first thing that entered my mind was, How could a girl like her think of raising an awesome Excadrill? That is insane! Then I did a little research and found out that she got the Excadrill from a Drilbur first, and that after befriending it, they battled alongside each other until Drilbur evolved into the mighty Excadrill. Now that's what you call awesome!

A newly-hatched Axew

Haxorus using Rock Smash

It takes a lot of courage and persistence to keep up on attempting to catch a Pokemon even after suffering many defeats, if you ask me. The fact that Iris stopped at nothing until she'd befriended the Drilbur is enough proof that she'd make an awesome trainer. Not only that, but she has true determination. When she was given the task to raise an Axew until it evolved into Haxorus, she eagerly accepted. Why? Because she has a dream. A goal. To become a Dragon Master.

Okay, I may not have the same passion for dragons as Iris has, but I can absolutely relate to her. I know what it's like to be having a dream and having to do something big to reach it. It seems almost impossible at times. But Iris . . . I don't think she's ever had that thought cross her mind once.

So if you're going to ask me, I'm going to vote for Iris as the best female character. Yeah, she wasn't in the anime for a long time like Misty was, and she's not as talented as May and Dawn, but she's got this glow. She's different. To me, she stands out.

Misty's only focused on water Pokemon, and honestly, I don't really think that her strategy's a good one. Okay, I'll give her credit for sticking to what she loves even if she knows it could be a great disadvantage for her. And I'll also praise her for training and training until she eventually became a tough and strong gym leader, but I just don't think she holds the same fierce determination that Iris does.

Two baby Mudkip

Soul sees Ash and Dawn fighting

May didn't even like Pokemon, to begin with. And when she commanded that Mudkip to use Water Gun, it's like she wasn't even into it. Meanwhile, Dawn's too much of a bossy gal. Did you notice how she almost always gets into an argument with Ash? Pathetic.

IRIS

So there you have it. Iris is my favorite Pokemon Girl! (Second only to me though, of course.)

Check It Out!!!

 Check It Out!!!

While surfing through the internet, I found these couple of awesome pictures! And I've got to say: Whoever did these did a pretty great job.

Mewtwo

Behold! The almighty Mewtwo! What a lovely design of pink and purple! Perfectly blended to form an awesome vibrant color! And Mewtwo completes the look!

Mewtwo Lightning

And here's another creation which has Mewtwo in it. The abrupt bright shade of lightning in contrast to the darkness of the surroundings is an excellent example of perfect contrast! Mewtwo is the perfect Pokemon to be standing inside that Pokeball!

Next we'll head to the water Pokemon creations.

Squirtle

Squirtle's as cute as ever. With its bright black-and-brown eyes and turtle-ish smile, it's a completely adorable sight. And with its bright, bubbly Pokeball, Squirtle looks like a cute little aquatic God!

Vaporeon

Vaporeon--the lovely water evolution of our favorite Pokemon, Eevee. There's no doubt that this is certainly an elegant Pokemon, and with its relaxing blue Pokeball, the effect radiates even brighter!

Lapras

Lapras--another smooth and graceful Pokemon. I must say whoever made this was probably an expert when it came to shadows and strong contrast. With the light-colored bubbles and Lapras's elegant appearance,  the whole project looks like an ocean lit up by sunlight at just the right time and intensity!

Suicune

Lastly, we have Suicune, one of the three legendary dogs. This water type has the ability to purify dirty water and rumors say that it will only show itself to strong and powerful trainers. What a sight this Pokemon would be!

And now, we'll move on to the quiet grass type Pokemon.

Ivysaur

Ivysaur! The second grass type in the Kanto region. The dark, gloomy surrounding matches the Pokemon's fierce look. They say grass types are supposed to be the calm and peaceful Pokemon. Well, I think Ivysaur has another side to it than simple kindness!

Leafeon

Eevee sure is famous, isn't it? Not only does it have a water Pokemon evolution, Vaporeon, but it also has a grass type evolution. Leafeon! With leaves and small branches as its background, this Pokemon looks as peaceful and jolly as ever! The darker shade of green inside its Pokeball is a perfect color for contrast as well!

Espeon

A-ha! Another Eevee evolution! Espeon, the psychic type, is probably one of the awesome cute-and-ferocious Pokemon that I know. It doesn't really show in its appearance, but Espeon can become really savage once it's angered and aggravated. With the light pink and blue lights behind the Pokeball, Espeon looks as charming as ever!

Rayquaza

Rayquaza--the legendary Pokemon that's said to always roam the sky. They say it eats the atmosphere's dust particles (yuck), and that it once got into a fight with a Pokemon named Deoxys. What a majestic dragon Pokemon!

Dratini

And let's not forget our cute little Dratini. It's still a very heartwarming Pokemon in this stage, but once it evolves into the mighty Dragonite, it would seem like all hell has broken loose! But if you train it properly, it'll be sure to fight for you instead of against you.

Rapidash

Rapidash! The speedy fire horse! You can surely count on this Pokemon to be able to get you to your destination in no time at all with its strong legs. The dark shade of red inside its Pokeball somewhat goes with the brightness of Rapidash's flames. Extraordinary!

Eevee

Finally, we meet the famous evolution Pokemon, Eevee! This cute little creature is said to be able to evolve into three different kinds of Pokemon, but then later on, scientists say that they've discovered two more Pokemon that seems to have evolved from Eevee as well! Then, later on, in the Sinnoh region, they discover yet more Pokemon that evolved from Eevee--Glaceon and Leafeon! How many more Eevee-lutions will the scientists discover?!


Lovely, aren't they? I'd give whoever made these a big THUMBS-UP!

The Best Pokemon

The Best Pokemon

So I've always wondered: Who's the best Pokemon? That may have been a very easy question to answer when I was still young and there were only 150 species to choose from (and honestly, most of them weren't really awesome), but now, with over 500 Pokemon species . . . . how could anyone ever pick just one?

Manaphy

Celebi

Nowadays, people are voting for the legendary Pokemon, but for me, I think that's a little too overrated. I know some legends like Manaphy and Celebi who are complete wastes of space in your party. They've got bad movesets and they only become powerful once you teach them TMs, which is a huge disappointment. A really good Pokemon would have at least a couple of good attacks to help itself level up before it can learn really good TMs or HMs.

Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos

I've noticed that people aren't really fond of Moltres, one of the three legendary bird Pokemon. For me, the giant bird is kind of a so-so Pokemon. Its attacks, as they say, aren't appealing, and they're also complaining about how it was the most useless of the legendary trio. All in all, it was just a waste of time catching it. Hmm . . . I can't really remember the last time I caught and trained a Moltres. I think it was around five or six years ago when I last played my Leaf Green. I've tried playing again, of course, as the years passed, but unfortunately, the Gameboy has this battery that lasts around eight years only. After that, it just goes KA-POOF and you can't save your game anymore. How sad.

Raikou, Suicune, and Entei

Anyway, the three legendary dogs seem to have some problems as well. My most hated one from the trio has always been Entei, the fire dog. Not only does it have weak attacks when you catch it, but it learns Flamethrower at a late level--51. After that, all its attacks are--let's face it--crap.

Suicune and Raikou aren't so bad, at least. Unfortunately, they don't really hold any specific value either. Suicune is very replaceable by other water types, while Raikou can easily be stored in the PC without any guilt or regret from the trainer.

So with many legendaries proving to be worthless, which is, in fact, the best Pokemon to battle with?

Aggron using Metal Claw

Shaymin and its Sky Form

Now, as I've said, I highly think that the legends are seriously overrated. They just seem superior to the other Pokemon, but in truth, a level 65 Shaymin can be beaten by a level 40 Aggron. I think the reason for that is because the legends hold the title of legends. That's what makes the trainers think that they're important. That they're almighty and useful in battle. Not to mention the fact that the anime show and the games place a large amount of significance to these Pokemon. It's just . . . wrong.

Charizard

Tyranitar

If you're going to ask me, I think people should be looking among the "typical" Pokemon for the best fighter. Legends are cool and powerful, sure, but there're also other "less worthy" Pokemon who are much more powerful and cooler in appearance compared to many of the legends. Like Charizard and Tyranitar. Heck, even a Floatzel can be a pretty awesome Pokemon if you just took the time to train it. Thing is, I think the typical Pokemon are being underrated.

Floatzel

I've decided to make a list of Pokemon and find out which one is the best. I figured that the only way to settle this would be a voting contest.

1. Arcanine
2. Sceptile
3. Blaziken
4. Empoleon
5. Breloom
6. Flygon
7. Haxorus
8. Hydreigon
9. Salamence
10. Mightyena
11. Feraligatr
12. Blastoise
13. Serperior
14. Emboar
15. Samurott
16. Zebstrika
17. Nidoking
18. Ninetales
19. Charizard
20. Krookodile
21. Excadrill
22. Scizor
23. Druddigon
24. Garchomp
25. Tyranitar

Swoobat

I was actually considering putting Swoobat in the list, thinking that it wasn't such a pathetic excuse for a Pokemon and that its moves were pretty good, but then I remembered how "awesome" its stats were when I tried it out in my Pokemon Black. Its speed was pretty high, which gave me no problem when it came to attacking first and making the foe faint before it could attack me, but its defense and special defense pretty much sucked. So I let Tyranitar have the last spot. ^_^

Those are some of my all-time favorite Pokemon. Some for their power, while others for their awesome physical appearance and stats. So . . . let the voting begin!