Pokemon (Blue/Red) – P.1 – User Article

teasers

They lurk in tall grass, in burrows, and in the water. We can catch them, train them and fight with them. And we have only one goal: to become the best Pokémon trainer in the world!

Blue or Red?

The first question a first generation Pokémon player had to ask was: which version? Pokémon appeared in two different versions, later followed with the Yellow edition a third variation on the same theme. Red and Blue differ primarily by the available Pokemon that appear in each game. Theoretically, there are 150 different Pokémon (all of which I knew by heart, of course), plus an unofficial 151st Pokémon.

The principle of the game is simple: We catch Pokémon and let them compete against wild specimens or other trainers. By winning battles, our Pokémon gain experience points, through which they level up and become stronger. They also learn new attacks. Sounds like a simple game principle; it is, but can still be quite complex.

The Pokédex gives us information about the Pokémon. Mh, somehow this description fits me too…

It will be an arduous journey

Our adventure begins in Alabastia, a small town. When trying to leave the place, we are stopped in time by Professor Oak. Because outside of town there are wild Pokémon that can be dangerous to us. He takes us to his laboratory, where his grandson is also waiting for us. Not only do we have the opportunity to name ourselves, but also to name Professor Oak’s grandson. I can’t imagine anyone ever giving it a nice name, I always called it ass or idiot. Also fits, as will be shown in the course of the game. We receive our first Pokémon from Prof. Eich. You can choose from the Grass Pokémon Bulbasaur, the Fire Pokémon Charmander and the Water Pokémon Squirtle. The idiot always chooses the Pokemon next to the one we chose. So if you choose Squirtle like I did, the idiot will take Bulbasaur – and immediately challenge us to a duel. He will do this more often in the course of the story at certain points.

Armed with our first Pokémon, we can make the area unsafe. We’re having our first battles against wild Pokémon and adding a few specimens to our collection. Doubt and Rattfratz are probably among the most commonly caught Pokémon. So we get to Marmoria City via Vertania City and the forest of the same name, where we catch one or the other Beetle Pokémon. By now, our Pokémon should (or should) have risen a few levels. Because here the first arena awaits us. Head is Brock, who trains Rock-type Pokémon. If we defeat him, we get the order of the rock, the first order of eight. So, little by little, we visit more cities and defeat the local arena bosses to get their medals. Because we need all eight to be able to compete in the Pokémon League to become the best Pokémon trainer in the world. But there is a long way to go until then…

Yes, the arena is full of women. Great. Thanks for the info, Spanner Grandpa.

Simple game mechanics…

Pokémon lives primarily from its game mechanics, no question. We spend most of our time training our Pokémon or catching new ones. All Pokémon that actively battle another Pokémon gain experience points. During a battle, a Pokémon can be traded for another at any time. This is particularly useful if our current Pokémon has no chance against the opposing Pokémon. Because Pokémon can not only have different strengths and master different attacks, but also correspond to one or two genera, called types here. Water-type Pokémon, for example, are very efficient against fire-type Pokémon, and it is not for nothing that this concept is reminiscent of the rock-paper-scissors principle. So, we need to learn which type of Pokémon is effective against which other types.

However, other factors also play a role. By leveling up, the Pokémon also gets more HP (called KP – power points – here), so it can take more. There are also stats like DEF (defense), ATTACK (attack stat), and INIT (referred to here as “speed”). A fight always follows the same pattern: we can attack and choose an attack, change the Pokémon, use an item or flee (only in battles against wild Pokémon and not always). Attacks either deal damage or affect the stats of your own or your opponent’s Pokemon. So the attack “Bite” drains HP, while the attack “Sand Whirl” lowers the GEN (Accuracy) value. So you can imagine what happens in the background: When an attack occurs, a complex formula is used to calculate whether and how many HP are deducted from the opponent.

The combat animations and graphics in general are more functional due to the Game Boy’s hardware limitations, but perfectly adequate.

…yet very complex

Due to the many different attacks you can develop tactics that will help you to win a fight. It’s not quite as simple as it appears at first glance. When a Pokemon’s accuracy drops, it no longer hits. Normally, actions are performed alternately, with the player usually beginning. If the INIT value is too low, the opposing Pokémon may perform two (or more) attacks in a row. This can result in no land being seen and one Pokemon after another being simply knocked out without even one of them being able to make a move.

But that’s not all. There are special moves that work a little differently than regular or have other effects. Moves like Hypnosis or Sleeping Powder put Pokémon into a deep sleep from which they eventually wake up. However, logically they cannot do anything when they are asleep or paralyzed. There are also harmful status effects, such as fire or poison, which drain additional HP from the Pokémon after each action and can turn off the Pokémon even after the battle if we don’t reach a Pokémon Center in time. Alternatively, we can also give the Pokémon in question items that remove these status effects. There are also potions and certain items such as iron that increase the Pokémon’s stats either during battle or permanently.

In every city there is a Pokémon Center where we could heal our Pokémon for free. You should do this often and regularly. Namely, if all of our Pokémon are defeated, we’ll faint and wake up in front of the last Pokémon Center we visited. And half our money is gone. We earn this by winning battles with other trainers and selling items that we find along the way or that we don’t need. The money can be used in markets where we buy necessary items such as potions or Pokeballs.

In the Pokécenter we heal our Pokemon. In addition, Pokémon and items can be stored using a PC. This is also where the link cable comes into play when we fight with other players or trade Pokémon.

You always meet twice in life – or more often

At certain points we meet our competitor, Professor Oak’s grandson. And he keeps challenging us to fights. And (hopefully) gets his ass full every time. The same applies to all other trainers as well as the arena leaders. They often specialize in a certain type of Pokémon. Once we have all the medals, we can move on to the Pokémon League in which we must defeat the top four. And that in one go! Once we’ve defeated those four trainers – and that’s a real challenge – we have to convince the idiot once again that he will always be number two. Then we finally made it and can call ourselves the best Pokémon trainer in the world!

However, we also experience many an adventure on our journey. Because there is a criminal organization called Team Rocket, which abuses, tortures and sometimes kills Pokémon for their own purposes. So there’s no question that we put a stop to these sinister creatures! We keep bumping into members of Team Rocket and thwarting their plans. Their biggest coup is the occupation of Saffronia City and the attempted takeover of the Silph Company. In addition to the Silph Scope, which is used to identify ghosts, this company developed the Master Ball. This is highly coveted because it can be used to catch any Pokémon on the first try. Of course, Team Rocket ultimately succumbs; their leader Giovanni turns out to be the eighth arena leader from whom we receive the Earth Order. Well, that was another shot in the oven for Team Rocket!

On our journey we also have to solve one or two puzzles. Special Pokémon attacks such as “Fly”, which acts as a fast travel system, or “Cut up”, with which we can chop up bushes and thus open up new paths, can help us with this. These attacks can be taught to the Pokémon by so-called Hidden Machines. There are also items called Technical Machines that teach a Pokémon a normal attack, but can only be used once. As a rule, Pokémon learn new moves when they reach a certain level. Some Pokémon can also evolve, Squirtle becomes Shillock and then Blastoise.

The evil Giovanni leads Team Rocket. Sympathetic is not necessarily the word of choice here.

An early multiplayer game

Even before the appearance of Pokemon GO the Pokémon games offered the opportunity to compete with other players or trade Pokémon. A link cable is required for this. Trading Pokémon makes sense for several reasons: Certain Pokémon are only available in the Blue Edition, while other Pokémon are only found in the Red Edition. So it’s not possible to get your Pokedex full, i.e. to have a copy of every Pokemon, unless you trade Pokemon with another player who has the other version of the game. In addition, there are Pokémon that only evolve when they are traded via a link cable. At least I can vaguely remember that it was like that. Maybe I’m wrong, it’s been a long time.

The game was released for the N64 at about the same time Pokemon Stadium. The Transfer Pak allowed Pokemon to be transferred from a GameBoy cartridge into the game, where you could fight with your Pokemon. There were also various mini-games. However, I have to admit that I have never had this experience due to the lack of hardware. The idea is still interesting, after all we are talking about the first Pokémon generation of games that had to make do with black and white graphics. When transferring pixelated Pokémon sprites to the N64, they turned into colorful, three-dimensional polygon models. Graphically, there are literally worlds in between (if you consider a dimension as a separate world).

A Pokémon is transferred to another Game Boy via a link cable.