Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Journey with Empathy

If many of the past years are of any indication, it is that I like to take the anniversary theme of a local TV channel (to me), break it down, and apply it to Pokémon. And today's that day, so it's great to just go on with it. This year's anniversary is very much a special one, for reasons to be detailed shortly, so its theme has to be somewhat special too - and it is. For many Pokémon fans like me, the theme this year could possibly resonate very much with them (even more than last year, see below) due to all that it illustrates, implies, and intrigues.

This year's theme is "Journey with Empathy". Pokémon fans will no doubt be familiar with the "journey" part, since it is something that all Trainers in this world undertake for their battling affairs. Even the people who are not Trainers - or perhaps more appropriately, were once Trainers - have undertaken a journey of some sort to further all their affairs, for and beyond battling. I had briefly illustrated this with another external element, but it helps to expound on it a little more because it's so important and remains as such.

As for the "empathy" part, it's also important - and evident in its various media forms - that people and Pokémon species need to understand the feelings of each other, in order for them to be able to do great things for each other. And when journeys are involved, that means being able to make significant progress on them, wherever and however people and Pokémon species are part of them. A lot of feelings are in play amongst everyone, and bridging them becomes the way that empathy is realized.

Now, this anniversary is special because it is the 25th for it, the silver anniversary. Pokémon of course had its silver anniversary first, so it's definitely older than the TV channel. Remarkably, this year's theme is also directly stated in English rather than being in the local language (meaning most of my earlier discussions were based on the themes as translated into English), but that doesn't really matter. What matters most is the spirits of the themes, and of course the perspectives from Pokémon and me.

On the side of the TV channel, it's been a journey that is a quarter century long of finding and discovering truths, and then presenting those truths to the viewers. Some of those truths may or may not (perhaps mostly the latter) have involved Pokémon in some form, but the hope is that empathy is created through their presentation, including where and when Pokémon becomes relevant, which may not be all that common. What could be common is how what is presented might tie into the emphatic journeys of Pokémon fans.

Both Pokémon and the TV channel now have surpassed significant age milestones - the former soon with another - and that means a lot of journeys for all who are involved in either or both of them. In all of that, there ought to be a great deal of empathy to be found for both human and beastly relations, and that would keep all of them going in their respective fields. The truths of the world and all things that are essential for Pokémon and people to live by are to link everything and everyone along the way, which makes for great journeys.

Three years ago: Rise Up and Move Together
Six years ago: Spreading Inspiration
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Monday, November 24, 2025

Competitive Friends as...

I've discussed about competitions with a personal take that I'm also able to include Pokémon with my participation in them. To even things out, now I'd like to discuss actual Pokémon competitions (tournaments) and a particular personal aspect that applies to them. That aspect is related to having friends - certainly who also like and enjoy Pokémon - participating in them, and in fact could participate in them in more than one way. There is a certain intrigue to the aspect as I've described, and that makes it fitting for the discussion.

Those friends could certainly participate as competitors, meaning that I'd be going up against them sooner or later. It's obviously a universal problem: even my TCG friends (from the same group) go into major tournaments together and sometimes invariably meet one another at some point during a tournament's progression - both preliminaries and finals. And then there was me in the past with Pokémon Go PvP tournaments, though this was also helped by most of them being local tournaments.

Meanwhile, some friends may have the enterprising chance of becoming referees or judges for the competitions or tournaments in question. That has been the case for the Pokémon Go PvP tournaments, again thanks to some of them being local ones. More recently and going back to the TCG again, a friend of mine and others in my local group passed a test for becoming one and was drafted to become one for a major faraway tournament... which then someone else in my group attended. The expected encounter happened, and the rest was history.

Other friends may not participate directly in them, whether as competitors or moderators, but they do so indirectly by providing support for them. I've known friends who own the venues where tournaments are held, or are otherwise involved in a certain element in the venue (such as being a food vendor), and they're only happy to serve the people involved when the tournaments occur. Still others are just happy to be able to facilitate the happenings of the tournament, and that may be all that they need.

What can be abstracted from the above is that participants of competitions or tournaments - in particular related to Pokémon - like me are surely in the company of friends and other  cordial people. Some of these people may just be as competitive in taking part in the action, or as happy as competitors are happy by providing the facilities for the happening. Both kinds of people are surely needed in the great big world of Pokémon competitions or tournaments, and continued Pokémon presence will keep their supply.

Three years ago: Chow On, and Thank You
Six years ago: Cosplay: CHoCoDays 2019
Eight years ago: Catching Them All
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Sunday, November 23, 2025

The Hardest Parts of Festival or Convention Competitions

Well, I don't have a scheduled festival or convention for me (to send Ash to) today - and if there are, they're beyond our means and efforts - so I don't have to frame things in a "Let's Talk". All the same, it looks like the next month may be quite the busy one for them, so it may be interest to discuss them but still with a Pokémon light. For that, I always bring my dealings with Pokémon into the competitions that are featured in them as well, as a way of expressing myself. They're also not as easy as they look, so I thought about discussing the parts that make them hard, at least for me. 

For the ones involving cosplay (IC: characters), like the ones I explained a long time ago, the hardest part would be deciding my movements on stage. Sure, if the competition is a longer performance, then my movements are dictated by the story of the performance, which in my case would likely be a scene from the Pokémon anime. But if the competition is of the "walk" or "parade" type, then some abstraction of movements is involved, which presents its own difficulty. Either way, it's still a hard thing because of the necessitated planning, whether way before or on the spot.

Meanwhile, singing competitions have been the norm for many years now, and the hardest part would be keeping myself together to sing the lyrics as intended. Even after memorizing them well ahead of time - including for the English and Japanese parts, for which the latter is definitely harder than the former - there's always the chance that something rattles me, and then that affects my recall. Of course, the memorization is still the hard part that ideally has to be done even well before, but the execution could be just as hard.

Competitions are arguably hard, no matter what field they are in or what it takes to bring something to them. Even harder still might be my leveraging of them to bring in something that would demonstrate my appreciation of Pokémon and displaying that within the realm of festivals or conventions - and possibly when I'm unable to partake in them as well. But when I am able to participate, there are the associated difficulties that I just have to get over, which would pave the way for showing my Pokémon appreciation.

Two years ago: Celebrating Togetherness
Three years ago: The Willpower Cup of GBL
Five years ago: The Kanto Cup of GBL
Seven years ago: The Amazing Pokémon Race
Eight years ago: Thankfulness
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Saturday, November 22, 2025

Item Collection Limits in Café Remix

Something I mentioned earlier this year when I discussed the Presents feature in Café Remix is the "collection limit" of items in the game. More recent or less active players won't have to worry about this aspect too much, but frequent and longer-term players will find that the aspect becomes relevant - particularly as I have, in more recent times. With that, the aspect makes for a good discussion, especially to close the gap that I presented by having mentioned the aspect in the previous discussion. 

For that, most items other than Pokémon cookies have a collection limit of 999 items, which sounds like a lot. However, frequent play will make it evident that the limit can be reached rather quickly; a case in point is the Daily Training, which when fully completed and/or skipped awards 18 Tart XL of a specific type, and over many days, this can add up quickly if not used. Even the Skip Tickets for this accumulate in the same way and can't be used very quickly, over time allowing the limit to be hit.

Pokémon cookies meanwhile have a limit of 23 for each species, reflecting the number needed to uncap its level to Level 20 (3 at 5, 10 at 10, and 10 at 15). If a Pokémon has a Shiny variant, more can potentially be earned, but usage of existing cookies is also needed. For other items of relevance as Macarons and Kitchen Notes, it's likely that one will use them before reaching an imposed limit, so the "practical" limit may be how many one can stand to earn as they play regularly or not so regularly.

Then, there are items from Cook and Collect that have their own limits. For the Gholdengo event that has continued to persist, its limit is 4995 Gimmighoul Coins - which is quite more than the typical limit - and if one has earned all of that, then Gholdengo also has its max outfit grade. Meanwhile, a new event has started featuring Zygarde, and at the present time, one is limited to having 10 Zygarde Cores while they continue to earn Zygarde Cells up until February next year, something to look forward to.

"Maxing out" the items that are mentioned above is by no means a primary goal, at least for the usable items; for those, it is certainly preferred for players to use them before they hit the limit and cannot possibly earn any more of them. The general limit of 999 items is just that - general - and player activity will certainly determine how quickly or slowly they'll get there. At that point, the usage of the earned items on the staff Pokémon may break their own limits, ones that aren't imposed on them like these are.

One year ago: Preparing for Pokémon Go Wild Area
Six years ago: Everyone's Contributions
Seven years ago: So Little and So Much
Eight years ago: A Pokémon Menu
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Friday, November 21, 2025

Unite "Currency Reform" On the Way

The information in this post is a bit early, but it's also in the progress of happening, so I need to "get it out" and write about it; it also doubles as a "public service announcement". So, since its inception, Pokémon Unite has pretty much maintained its currency system, but that is about to change within a couple of weeks, as one of its pillar currencies is about to change - more specifically, it's about to "bow out" and disappear.

Aeos Coins would be that very currency, which as explained has a few roles to play. Many players will currently use it to purchase new Unite Licenses at the shop after they were made available initially with Gems. It can also be used to upgrade emblems in one's collection, which is also a frequent present action for many players. Apart from that, its other uses may be considered to have become "niche", which might explain its retirement.

On December 4, the currency will no longer be given out, and its related boost items will also become unusable. An exchange center will then be opened up to allow exchanges of the remaining currency (and boost items related to the currency) for certain items up until early next year, after which there will be no trace left of the currency. As such, particular efforts to use the currency before that happens is certainly in order.

Its usage to purchase Unite Licenses is a big one. Before the retirement, it is highly suggested that players use the currency mostly for that purpose; that's also because Unite Licenses will then be able to be obtained through a different way, aside from paying Aeos Gems. Its details are still scant and will be explained later on when it actually comes to fruition, but it's clear that there is the necessity to use the existing currency prior to the transformation.

Retirement of the currency also carries other implications. One of them is that the other pillar currencies will certainly take up the role of the currencies, for which Aeos Tickets are being used in lieu of the currency for a present event. It also means that the game is now simplifying its currencies, for which the complexity may have been apparent then and now, which makes this change a welcoming one.

With the way things are and will be, the retirement of Aeos Coins is definitely an important matter, given all the aspects that are attached to it. Particularly, the looming deadline of only a couple of weeks away as of this post makes it necessary to be announced now so that players (like me) have the time to plan things out. Meanwhile, the planned "currency reform" could just be the start of a more "united" future.

Seven years ago: Traveling All the World
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Thursday, November 20, 2025

Let's Talk About Helping Out Officer Jenny

Goh: Wait, wait... what's this about?

Me: Oh, it's a bit special, so I'm framing it in a "Let's Talk". 

Goh: Well, OK. So now we're talking about...

Me: Officer Jenny - and our dealings with her.

Goh: Isn't that kind of sensitive to you?

Ash: But I think it's also fine when it's about and with us.

Me: That's right. I mean, you two did deal with her once, to help her out.

Ash: I was thinking about that. That was a fun time!

Goh: You have to admit that's true - and kind of needed for our research.

Ash: Yeah, and we got to make good and everything.

Pikachu: Pi pika! ["All neat!"]

Ash: So, what's the sensitive thing for our friend?

Me: I guess it's just that so many things have been happening lately that make other people (and me) uneasy with people like Officer Jenny - in my world, that is.

Ash: They have to do good work, don't they?

Me: I wish it seems that easy to say that for all the people like that.

Goh: But you know, people are all different. So I'm sure there have to be ones who do good work.

Me: You know, that could be true for at least some people.

Goh: You don't have to get involved all the time - just when you need to.

Ash: And you could help them out somehow.

Me: Well, sure. On that note, I did receive a request that we could help them out somehow.

Ash: See?

Pikachu: Pika. ["Nice."]

Goh: OK, so now we have a context. Where'd you get sent to this time? 

Ash: A little far-off town - with one of our friend's friend.

Goh: And this had to involve "Officer Jenny" somehow.

Ash: The person was just like what our friend said, almost like her.

Me: What did you end up doing, for helping out?

Ash: I got to hand out flyers to people and meet students at a school.

Goh: Oh! A little like my school?

Ash: Sure, it was like that.

Goh: That means you did this in the daytime.

Ash: Yup, in the morning.

Pikachu: Chu pi pika. ["Very early on."]

Me: I'm told no other characters were available for this... so we got picked for this.

Ash: And I got something for you for doing it.

Goh: That's pretty nice!

Me: It is. So, after all this, maybe I have less qualms about dealing with them when I need to.

Goh: There you go, when you need to.

Ash: And then we can always do things to help.

Goh: But I guess I can tell if it's still "sensitive" for you.

Me: That. But hey, Officer Jenny is a good foundation for real people like her in my world.

Ash: I'd say yes! 

Me: And after all that, the good in helping can become good things later on.

Ash, Goh: Yeah!

Three years ago: Cosplay: ChibiCon 2022
Seven years ago: A Raid Group Gathering
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Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Chasing After Platinum Medals

As noted, the new leveling journey of Pokémon Go involves collecting platinum medals for the Trainers who have reached the lofty milestone of Level 70 and are working on the tasks to level up in the "final stretch" to Level 80. As such, they would be chasing after those medals when they get to that point... or possibly even well before, in preparation for facing the tasks once that point is achieved. It makes for a fascinating discussion for any or all Trainers in those situations and their pertinent conditions, including mine and others close to me.

The other day, another Trainer and I were comparing our platinum medal progresses, and as can be predicted, we have mutually exclusive progressions - I have ones the other doesn't and the other has what I don't, including for partials toward platinum medals. In a way, our focuses are different due to our conditions, so we're chasing after (and thus have) different medals accordingly. Some commonalities were also evident, though, and that's something that other Trainers can also consider to take advantage of.

For that, it is likely that many Trainers will have a significant progress on their type medals for catching specific types, and they can take advantage of them to elevate them to the platinum level. The regularly occurring Community Day as well as the frequently occurring thematic events can be used for this purpose, particularly for the specific medals that aren't already at the platinum level. Some amount of time is also still needed - for most things don't happen in an instant - but they can and will get there.

Meanwhile, for the medals that involve specific objectives, the most sensible effort would certainly be to finish the ones that are closest to completion (region Dex medals could be a contender) and start chipping in effort for longer-term medals (like the Rising Star Duo and Ace Trainer medals) - all of these based on the comparison as above. By the time Level 70 and up comes about, the efforts can then be directed to the other tasks, and the platinum medal task won't be a burden.

It's a given that those who are serious and/or routine about Pokémon Go will think about the upper levels and how to approach them as they approach them. That has been true in the Level 50 past and now again after the level cap change, which resulted in the addition of tasks concerning platinum medals in order to level up in the "final stretch". The result is a chase for those platinum medals - whether they're already in the thick of it or approaching it - and sensible efforts will likely be needed as the chases begin or continue.

Five years ago: Till Death Do Us Part
Six years ago: A Theme Event Dream
Seven years ago: Fans of Fans
Eight years ago: Cosplay: MINORI 5
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