The Next Friendship Level: Forever Friend

Many years ago, I had discussed the possibility of more friend levels in Pokémon Go beyond Best Friend, along with how I would have proposed the system. That proposed system, though, admittedly could be considered somewhat complicated, and an actual implemented system might just be simpler. Now, Pokémon Go has provided the answer to that conundrum, and it in fact has been implemented for all Trainers to take advantage of after having been tested by others just a few weeks earlier.

The next friendship level above Best Friend is called Forever Friend. Trainers attain this after 180 days of interaction in total (90 more days after attaining Best Friend), which would have correspondence to my proposed Ultimate Good Friend level, but without the Lucky Friend requirement. Its XP bonus is the same as that of Best Friend (150 thousand), and interestingly, it can be attained again in connection with another feature related to this addition, which is to be detailed separately for all its significance.

Presently, however, no one has attained this level. That's because everyone starts with the friend level that they have attained to now, and even Best Friends will still need those 90 days to interact. Moreover, the testing period was also short, and the global rollout was only a few days ago. At least in this way, no advantage is conferred to anyone who is already Best Friends with others and (would) have interacted as needed; every Best Friend is essentially "starting fresh" from that point, on up to become Forever Friend.

Because of the "forever" aspect, it may also be considered that the level would be the "final" friendship level - or "ultimate", referring back to the posed terminology as above. With the possibility of attaining the XP bonus repeatedly (again, alongside that specific feature that I'll discuss when the time is appropriate for that), that also supports the consideration. With the "forever" aspect, many friends will certainly remain on one's Friend List; accordingly, the limit of friends has also been increased to 650 to accommodate this.

Friendship is always a big thing in Pokémon Go, and the addition of the Forever Friends level seems to clarify that even further. It will take some work - in the three months of this season and beyond, for both Best Friends and non-Best Friends - to get to that level, but the payoff can be considered big as well, with that feature that I keep hinting about. Friendship is also a simple thing as long as one keeps interacting, and Trainers in Pokémon Go will certainly keep doing that for as long as possible, and now when "forever" is a concern.

One year ago: Cosplay: Bocchi Noizu 2nd Anniversary

Two years ago: The Remnant Vestiges of Silph

Three years ago: My "Friend Experience" in Playing Pokémon Unite

Four years ago: "My Pokémon Collection" in Indonesia

Five years ago: On the Statistics for My Blog

Six years ago: Cosplay: Panniversary 3

Seven years ago: Only for You, For Your Eyes Only

Eight years ago: The First-Generation Surfing Theme

Cosplay: Cosplay Creator and Community Convention (C4) 2025

Goh: Oh hey, C4 is back!

Ash: Looks neat!

Me: Indeed, C4 is back. But I have to preface this by saying that it was supposed to have been back earlier this year.

Goh: What happened?

Me: Remember the time we partially talked about diversions? 

Goh: Oh, that's what happened! 

Ash: Yeah. I got to the usual place and it was dark. We found out too late that it was cancelled. 

Goh: Or rescheduled, since it's now today.

Me: Right. It was supposed to be for that fateful weekend - specifically Day 1 that day - but then lots of bad things happened around the place.

Pikachu: Pika pika... ["Too bad..."]

Goh: Well, that was then, this is now. So this is a Sunday - this would be Day 2, yes?

Me: Indeed. Day 1 was yesterday, but it turned out that I had a couple of things to do then, and I wanted to send Ash on this day to make up for last year, so...

Ash: Here we are!

Goh: OK, anything different from last year?

Ash: The booths look almost the same, and what they had was almost the same too. Even the communities - the music game and tile game ones - and food were in the same place. 

Goh: Well, something else had to be different. 

Ash: Oh, there was a show space in the middle of the convention space entryway. 

Goh: That's definitely one thing.

Ash: But you know something else? I met Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy - actually them this time.

Pikachu: Pika chu! Pika pika. ["Finally! For real."]

Goh: Wow!! That's a real treat for us.

Me: That rarely happens. It's a great moment.

Ash: And then I met lots of our friend's other friends all day - even at the show space where they had a talk show and a comedy space.

Goh: Isn't that neat? All great things to happen at a convention.

Me: How about entertainment?

Ash: Dance groups and bands - one of them Otaku Band!

Goh: Nice! It's as if our friend planned this.

Me: I did say I had plans, like before. It's a good thing they're on stage today... and so are the competitions.

Goh: There was a character performance, and then a parade... but I'm in the second one.

Me: I really wanted you in the first one, but I'm scant on resources and time - and I had wanted you to go with your Kalos outfit anyway like I had planned previously.

Goh: There's the planning - how about the results?

Ash: I got nothing this time.

Goh: Well, that's OK. I guess it wasn't time.

Ash: Yeah.

Pikachu: Chu... ["Hmm..."]

Me: So, I think we got everything. After you did all that, I had you go on a side trip to another place to meet...

Ash: Your figure friends! I haven't seen them in a real long time.

Goh: Hey, they're not "deactivated" after all!

Me: I guess that's true - just dormant for a long time. And this was really needed while you were there.

Ash: We had a good time seeing each other for about an hour. And then I went back to you.

Pikachu: Chu pika. ["That was it."]

Goh: OK, so other than the hiccup earlier this year, I think they have this "character market" down pat.

Ash: I think so! This could be a regular for us.

Me: I'm very sure of that. I will surely send you whenever possible... and let's see about that character performance.

Goh: I think I need to poke and prod you for that.

Me: Keep poking and prodding. I'll get to it somehow.

Goh: Oh, by the way, there wasn't anything else Pokémon going on today, was it?

Ash: I battled for G-Max Snorlax a couple of times, but that was it.

Me: I already took care of it much earlier, so I didn't need to deal with it again.

Goh: But don't sleep on it!

Me: True - for this convention or otherwise. Great things will and should happen for it next time.

One year ago: Cosplay: Sayonara Kotoshi - Atarashii Kaze ni Narou

Two years ago: Sun Matters, Pokémon Matters

Three years ago: Monthly Goals in Café Remix

Four years ago: Buying Games Ahead of Playing?

Five years ago: For the Sake of Something or Another

Six years ago: Putting Things on Hold

Seven years ago: Local EX Raid (Double or Quits), 12/14/2018

Eight years ago: Tears of Life... and Being Moved to Tears

The Journey of a License

Going back to game matters after nearly a week not discussing them, now I need to deal with a recently pertinent matter for Pokémon Unite. As I mentioned in my post warning about the expiry of Aeos Coins and their usage for purchasing Unite Licenses, they would then be obtained in a new and different way aside from outright purchase with Aeos Gems. That way is called "License Journeys", and it's a radical way that is to some extent also still oriented to payment; now, its tale also needs to be told. 

Each existing Unite License is now placed in tiers (or they perhaps could be said to be "levels"), and to earn them, players now have to earn what are called License Points. Once all the License Points for one Unite License are earned, the tier or level is cleared, and players move on to the next License Journey. Some tiers, though, allow a selection of a Unite License that would be earned later, and they'd essentially move down to that tier. Pikachu also happens to be the first, and the rest go in a unique order.

How are License Points earned? Presently, they can be earned through the Battle Pass; the free and premium tracks contain set amounts, the latter certainly more than the former. In lieu of Aeos Coins, the daily missions now award prize boxes that when opened also sometimes give out License Points. Speaking of that former currency, if a player still has that stashed away, they can also be exchanged for License Points... although that will likely only happen once the more attractive rewards have been gotten.

The new system admittedly has a few (but not too many) advantages. Through the system, the game now does expect players to branch out and get new Unite Licenses periodically instead of perhaps becoming stuck indecisively, in part through the hoarding of Aeos Coins when the currency was active. Then, for new players at least, the system also ensures (some) gradual progression through existing Unite Licenses and to try some things before committing to certain roles. Yet that may be all there is.

On the other hand, the disadvantages are also rife. With this system, gone is a lot of the "free choice" that had been previously afforded, especially for not spending any amount of real money (by way of Aeos Gems) to get specific ones, particularly for "specialization"; so, it's either "pay up" or "deal with it". In fact, lots of negative reactions have been generated with the new system for the reason above, with regard to payment or dealings. In that respect, the old system may have been more functional.

With the new system for obtaining Unite Licenses, the path may be rather strict and not wide open as with the old system, which is certainly regrettable. All the same, it becomes the current journey for making one's way through the possible Pokémon players can play in this game. It's also still a relatively young journey, which means the path can change yet again as it has changed to go down this path, and hopefully for the better. It may be the wildest journey yet for this game, now unfolding before all.

One year ago: Favorite Items from Delibird's Presents

Two years ago: My Personal Trainer Fashion Preferences

Three years ago: Indonesia's Own Pokémon Event

Four years ago: The Bugs of Unite

Five years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Weekend, 12/12/2020 and 12/13/2020

Six years ago: Performance Critique: Pokémon Theme feat. Otaku

Seven years ago: Trainer Battles Are Go!!!

Eight years ago: Will You Be There?

Album: Advance Adventure

To finish off this "gimme five" week - the final one too this year - with the topic of the "sounds of the season", I've decided to make another album discussion or review. It's conceivably another one from the Japanese side of things, since it is admitted that this side has more albums than others. Yet it also has its own dynamics, one of them being the "dynamic" album that becomes the one that I'm addressing in this post.

Said album is called "Advance Adventure" because it contains the first opening theme for the Hoenn saga since it's literally the title track, as well as its first ending theme, "Soko ni Sora ga Aru Kara" - the latter of which I haven't discussed but I might just do so in the future. Both of these in typical Japanese anime soundtrack fashion also have their instrumental or karaoke versions following the regular vocal versions, making them convenient for fans who want to sing them... like me at conventions and festivals with Ash's help.

Padding out the rest of the album is a small selection of background music pieces from the anime for this saga. It's nowhere near the entire collection as was practically the Sound Anime Collection that I discussed earlier, but it's a fine selection as far as things go. The one that I enjoy the most from this selection is the piece called "Tatakai", which many fans will recognize as one of the battle themes of the saga, played in various contexts for the main characters. While the other pieces might remain "rare", at least the ones here aren't.

With the small selection of songs and music on the album, it is possible to consider the album as an "extended play" for either set of tracks, even if taken together they just barely exceed the limit for a true "extended play" and thus qualifies it as being an "album". As an initial selection of the music for the Hoenn saga, it has the bases covered, which is a good thing - perhaps the only one aside from the songs themselves. It might have been hard to expect more from this album - at the time - but now fans don't have to settle for less.

Many things about sounds and music that pertain to various aspects of Pokémon still exist out there, like the overall body of music for the Hoenn saga, of which this album is only a small subset of that. They'll certainly have opportunities to be covered on this blog, further beyond this "gimme five" week that is dedicated to them, and likewise for other topics that have been discussed in this year. For now, this "five" is a "wrap".

One year ago: Pokémon Through the Ages: The Formative Era

Two years ago: Increased Irrelevance in Café Remix?

Three years ago: Pokémon Go: Something Extraordinary

Four years ago: Using the Master Ball

Five years ago: Virtual Reality (VR) and Pokémon

Six years ago: Sword and Shield Uptake

Seven years ago: Much Ado About Figures

Eight years ago: The Rainbow Feather of Ho-Oh

"Rare" Pokémon Music

I had said this week would have posts related to "sound and music", and yet I haven't covered anything about the latter somehow. For that, now I'd like to do so with an actual topic related to Pokémon music. Now, quite a bit of music related to Pokémon is commonly found, if one knows where to look for it; a lot of this is the various opening and ending themes, as well as some related songs. But some music could actually be considered "rare" and hard to find or come upon, and that becomes the focus of this discussion.

One of these kinds is the background music from the anime, aside from the ones in the Sound Anime Collection album. As implied in that post, these pieces rarely surface outside of the anime - if at all - and practically the only place where one can hear them is the anime itself. That also might partly explain why the English dub of the anime, past and present, have used music pieces unique (original) to that dub, with some of the originals being hard to access. In turn, the unique pieces are "rare" themselves for the same reason.

Another kind is some of the backing tracks, instrumentals, or "karaoke" versions of certain Pokémon songs. On the Japanese side, most of the time, songs have their instrumental parts alongside when they are released; there are some isolated works, however, that don't seem to have theirs alongside, and then those instrumental parts become "rare" as a result. On the English side, instrumental parts are rather difficult to come by, even for popular Pokémon songs, and this exemplifies the "rare" classification.

Music from the Pokémon games mostly belong on the "common" side, again in particular if one knows of the resources for obtaining them (for those who know). But some of the older games might have their music pieces stuck in that game, and there may or may not have been efforts by certain fans to preserve them, making them also "rare" consequently. Even for some modern games, music preservation efforts may or may not be underway, and for the games without such efforts yet, its pieces may be considered "rare".

Whether or not certain pieces of Pokémon music are "rare", many fans of the franchise (and perhaps even a good deal beyond) will certainly enjoy all of the available music pieces by listening to them and even interacting with them. It then follows that if more music pieces could be made available, this could occur to an even greater extent. For now, it should be noted that a portion of Pokémon music is not all that "common", and their enjoyment may be limited as well. Some musical breakthroughs may just be needed in that regard.

One year ago: The Importance of Mew in Café Remix

Two years ago: EX Licenses: A Legendary Extra

Three years ago: Cosplay: CHoCoDays 2022 - FUNDOME

Four years ago: YouTube Pokémon Highlights: The Modelers

Five years ago: YouTube Pokémon Highlights - "Gotcha!" Versions

Six years ago: Rethinking Game Linkages

Seven years ago: Passing It On: The Next Generation

Eight years ago: Pikachu Head Collectibles

The Similarity of Some Pokémon Cries

Having mentioned Pokémon cries in my earlier post on a Pokémon soundboard, I now have a bit of a need to address them as well in this rather sonorous "gimme five" week. Specifically, I'd like to address a peculiar property of some of them. Many would expect that the cries are differentiable - and most of them are, but a few are actually quite similar almost to the point of being difficult to differentiate. This state of affairs deserves a bit of exploration for what it is and what might make it that way.

Some of the similar cries are in the early generations. The cries of Caterpie, Butterfree, and Goldeen are the most notable in this regard, having the same two-tone sequence. A little less so but still quite similar are the cries for Scizor and Heracross, which have a sequence of tones that closely resemble each other. Shorter Pokémon cries, and especially ones that aren't exactly "tonal", can also easily resemble each other, as in the case of Ninjask and Feebas, among other possible examples.

Then there are the factors that go into why these cries may be as such. Certainly, the limited resources of the older games on older consoles might have necessitated some resources to be used in creative ways, and the cries of the first two sets of Pokémon above fit the bill. A more obtuse reason that involves the other set is that things simply turn out that way - or in other words, they're coincidental, whether by my own perceptions or others'. The similarity may be both by state and perception.

Yet it should be noted that in modern times, these cries have become more differentiable, at least to an extent. The Caterpie cry is shorter, while the Goldeen cry is a little "buzzier", and the Butterfree cry is the longest of the three. The one for Scizor is slightly more extended and slightly lower in pitch than the one for Heracross, perhaps also sounding a little "rougher". As well, the Ninjask cry is slightly longer than the one for Feebas, making it more distinct. It's still up to a person to recognize them.

Pokémon cries serve to identify the species by the supposed sounds that they make, and for the most part then and now, the species have distinctly differentiable cries to allow them to be told apart, which isn't too peculiar. Yet by the above, some inherent similarities are still evident among some of them by the way that they are or perhaps have been, and that may be a remnant element of peculiarity for some of the species in question. At least, the Pokémon cries are still fascinating and remarkable.

One year ago: The Music of TCGP

Two years ago: Cosplay: "My Town" Food Festival II

Three years ago: Cosplay: The Lidos Cosplay Contest

Four years ago: Chiki Balls Pokémon Coins: Selections Once Again

Five years ago: Night Falls, Heavens Rise

Six years ago: Pokémon Center Pilot Pikachu Plush - Narita Airport Ver.

Seven years ago: Stage Coin Tricks in Shuffle

Eight years ago: Cosplay: Utsuru F!

The Poké Ball Sounds (...or Sound?)

I'd mentioned about the sounds of the Poké Ball in my first "gimme five" discussion this week that relates to Pokémon sounds and music, specifically a Pokémon soundboard. They're actually pretty iconic as far as Pokémon sounds go, with many fans (and some non-fans) being able to recognize them. Even given this fact, it seems that fans and others might consider only one of the sounds as having that iconic quality. That matter is to be discussed shortly along with a few other pertinent aspects regarding these sounds that still make them what they are. 

So, for many, the iconic sound would be the ball release sound from the anime, which has the distinct pop and lasts several seconds. It was even used to introduce some Pokémon anime features in the past, which affirms its iconic status. The games do have a counterpart for this sound - or most likely it was the inspiration - but it's much briefer (just the pop) and perhaps not as iconic. Yet it's no doubt that the sound represents a starting point for quite a few dealings with Pokémon, so the sound's status is something to be considered for what it is.

On the other end, there is the ball capture sound, which may be considered less iconic but still somewhat distinct. The sound is mostly reflective of the (laser) light that is seen when the ball makes a capture of any kind, whether it's for a new Pokémon going into a ball or a captured one returning into its ball. Likewise, the games and the anime have their own takes on this sound, but the essence of the sound remains the same. Still, its context is limited in the above cases, so while the sound is rather unique and distinct, it may not exactly stick out in memory.

Then, the ball makes a few other sounds, two of them being the ball wiggle and capture success sounds. As predicted, even for these two sounds, the games and the anime portray them in different ways, specifically with regard to "continuity" for the ball wiggle sound and the audibility (in a way) for the capture success sound. These sounds may be considered the least iconic of all the Poké Ball sounds I addressed in this post, but they can also be said to be important signals for the anime viewer or the game player that a capture is about to happen.

Whether or not all the sounds above - or a certain one of them in particular - are truly "iconic" may be left up to the perceptions of certain fans or people, but they're as much a part of the mechanics and charm of the Poké Ball itself, which is already iconic as an object that is also rather symbolic of Pokémon. In that way, the sounds (or the particular sound) become an inseparable part of the representation of the object, and the fans and people will then surely recognize the object in all its different ways, including by its visuals and the sounds it makes.

One year ago: Am I Just a (Poké)Weeb?

Two years ago: Cosplay: Art and Culture Exhibition (ACE) 2023

Three years ago: Tournament: Raid Group Great League, No Restrictions

Four years ago: Casting Out Porygon

Five years ago: Let's Talk About Finding Our Way

Six years ago: A Day (or Year) with Pikachu

Seven years ago: To See and See Not

Eight years ago: A Pokémon Twist to My Phone