The Currencies of TCGP

This is one post that probably should have come a lot sooner, but it's perfectly fine to be made now with consideration of the understanding gained for the aspect. As with other mobile Pokémon games, TCGP also has a set of currencies for many of its usual functions, or at least items that act as such and in one case can be procured by exchanging real money, making them a "proxy" for it. These items and currencies as such deserves a bit of discussion.

Players would surely frequently encounter the shop tickets, since they'd earn them through Wonder Picks, certain missions, and "thanks" received from other players for various actions. They can be used to purchase Wonder Pick and pack hourglasses at the shop as well as some cards and card accessories, and they can also be exchanged for special shop tickets to obtain "luxury" items, which also command "luxurious" prices. Their usage would also be as frequent as the ways players would receive the currency.

Meanwhile, the "shinedust" item and currency has recently gained prominence as well. This is gained from duplicate cards and certain missions, and was initially used (along with exchanges of those duplicate cards) to obtain "flair", as special effects for cards. Further, it is also what replaces the trade tokens that were formerly used as trading "currency", and existing tokens can be converted into this currency and pack hourglasses as well. Fans will also note a certain parallel of this item and currency to the Stardust of Pokémon Go that fulfill nearly the same role, which is brought about by the simplification as above.

Earlier in my discussion about "warping time" with hourglasses, I had also mentioned the Poké gold item, and this item too in effect acts as a "currency", since putting in money into the game means purchasing the item through the shop's "Purchase Poké gold" section. Besides for recovering pack and Wonder Pick stamina, they can also be used to recover trade and battle stamina at different rates, but they will certainly be used more for the former, since those would be considered primary and frequent actions for many players.

Arguably, there is a currency item for all kinds of functions in TCGP, and the earning and exchanging of them can be considered very much a part of the gameplay, as is using the cards in actual card battles much like in Pokémon TCG proper. Like real currencies and those in other games, understanding their necessity and wisdom is part of the key to many endeavors, even in this game that is a take on the Pokémon TCG and its associated exchanges. 

One year ago: Immersive Cards in TCG Pocket

Two years ago: Focus and Control: Two Keys to Pokémon Power

Three years ago: Scarlet and Violet Unleashed

Four years ago: Living Further with My Buddy

Five years ago: Pokémon "Genealogy"

Six years ago: Drafts Piling Up

Seven years ago: Trough of Disillusionment

Eight years ago: A Little Teaser... and Guessing Game

"Timesink" Pokémon Games

A "timesink" is something that takes up much of someone's time, sometimes with no apparent results, but not necessarily. Games take up people's time as well, although the modern ones do have certain productive results while others are just plainly for pleasure - and then there are Pokémon games, which are popular among many people nowadays. With that, I thought about discussing how certain Pokémon games are or can be a "timesink" for their fans to deal with, including myself as a fervent one.

In the past, when the main series games were pretty much the big and only thing for the Pokémon experience, they can be quite the "timesink" for the most devoted fans, especially once competitive VGC really got rolling. They can still be as such today with the continued presence of both and especially the latter, but they also face challenges from other Pokémon games and competitive endeavors, some of which might be their own "timesink". In any case, that is still the original and major one of its kind.

For the more modern "timesink" games, they'd be Pokémon Go and Pokémon Unite as those competitive endeavors. With their daily play demands, the "timesink" aspect can become rather highly evident, and even more so if competitive endeavors are in play. The puzzle spinoff games - as Café Remix and the earlier Shuffle - could also be considered to have the "timesink" aspect, especially for me personally and if this blog may suggest anything. Things will certainly be different for different players.

Meanwhile, the future holds another potential "timesink" game. The recently announced Pokémon Pokopia has announced more of its unique aspects, as Pokémon that are different from their regular counterparts. This adds to the mechanism of the game itself, which for other similar games also represents a "timesink". Therefore, the new game has a rather high potential in this regard, if it hasn't already been suggested as such. It might be the "timesink" of all other Pokémon games by its inherent nature.

With the way all of these Pokémon games furnish their content, players will certainly have a way of getting "caught up" with them and falling into the "timesink" aspect. Of course, any game can become a "timesink" if players let them become as such, and considering this fact and again the content, Pokémon is no short of example games, both demonstrated and potential. What becomes of these games for players' times is up for them to decide - and make them less or more of the key aspect.

One year ago: Cosplay: Toys & Hobbies Week 2024

Two years ago: End of Main Orders for Café Remix

Three years ago: Fun Pokémon Memes by a Fun Tortoise

Four years ago: Loyalty

Five years ago: Matters of Cosplay and Current Conditions

Six years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 11/16/2019

Seven years ago: PikaPool

Eight years ago: Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Unleashed

...And Whimsy: Pokémon Go Wild Area 2025 (Global), Day 2

If the operative word for yesterday in Go Wild Area was "darkness", then today's would be "whimsy". For that, I've decided to bring in a little familiar "whimsy" of myself...

Me: ...along with two other people, of course.

Ash: Why not? This sounds like a fun one.

Goh: And shady. Grimmsnarl, huh?

Ash: Hey, I remember the time when Gengar went up against it.

Pikachu: Pika pika! ["What a time!"]

Me: We sure do. It can be said as a "turning point".

Goh: Absolutely. So you battled it yesterday, and now Ash gets to have a go again in your way... right?

Ash: Sure did! I battled it a few times. But I didn't get a Shiny one.

Me: That's OK. I already got one yesterday.

Goh: What else did you battle today? 

Ash: Shadow Darkrai and Bewear! That was quite a bit too. And I got two Shiny ones for the first one!

Goh: Neat! I'd say so myself. 

Me: Today, you're also finishing up a few loose ends, like some tasks with Professor Willow.

Ash: I got them. And the collection stuff too. That took me about half a day.

Goh: Were you not able to find the Pokémon?

Ash: Some of them didn't show up until later. 

Pikachu: Pika... ["Odd..."]

Goh: Hey, at least it got done. 

Ash: That's very true.

Me: And that's all that matters. Now, like last year, there had to be a lot of Mighty Pokémon strewn around...

Ash: And I caught many of them! Some of them had the best stats - with one Shiny, a Houndoom.

Goh: That's awesome!

Me: Hey, that's very refreshing. All of them can and will have their uses. But I'll still be selecting a few of them too.

Goh: And, uh... like last year, there had to have been backgrounds too.

Ash: I got ones for Darkrai and Bewear! 

Me: I didn't get one for Cresselia yesterday, so I'm a little bummed about that. But that's OK.

Pikachu: Chu pika.. ["I'll say."]

Goh: Oh, and Go Safari Balls.

Ash: I used most of them for the Mighty ones. But then I "blanked out" at the last big moment...

Me: Sorry about that. Maybe it's time for me to deal with a solution to help avoid that.

Goh: So, tasks done, battles done, Shiny and stuff done. All good!

Ash: Yeah! 

Goh: That leaves the question of you being around instead of our friend. Festivals? 

Me: Um... yeah. Again yesterday and today. But they were strangely "unavailable" for us due to location and venue constraints.

Goh: Well, Pokémon is always available, so it's a good option.

Me: And I actually sent Ash to somewhere a little far away to deal with a few Lucky Trades with faraway friends.

Ash: We got there, and that we did!

Pikachu: Pi pika! ["Very nice!"]

Goh: Neat! But I guess it was the last thing you wanted to do.

Me: Yeah... but it was kinda needed.

Goh: This year's Go Wild Area was really something.

Ash: It was really wild, like its name.

Me: I'm sure that will continue to mean good things for it over time.

After "darkness" and "whimsy", the most enthralling experience for Go Wild Area is to be had, now and later. It brings together people and things, and that is definitely the wildest it can get.

One year ago: Encroaching Upon the Wild Area

Two years ago: A Fascination for Noctowl

Three years ago: To Cart or To Download?

Four years ago: Connectivity

Five years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 11/15/2020

Six years ago: Cosplay: Mini Futsal Cup 2019

Seven years ago: The Detective Goes Live!!

Eight years ago: Go My Dear One, and Pursue Your Dreams

For Darkness...: Pokémon Go Wild Area 2025 (Global), Day 1

And now, there is the big Pokémon Go thing this weekend, as the second run of the paid event that was only introduced last year. The event's progression last year was also wild, befitting its name, by introducing a lot of new things through some organized elements. This year, the paid event is to retain a lot of those elements while introducing even more new things, and that's a good reason to go through the event in order to write it up and break it down.

As with last year, there is a Max Pokémon debut to be had, and this year, that would be the formidable Grimmsnarl, the grim and dark thing I had previewed earlier. It is actually the fully evolved form of Impidimp, which evolves to Morgrem first before evolving to that species form. For this edition, Grimmsnarl appears exclusively in its Gigantamax form in Power Spots, while Impidimp itself makes its debut in the wild (and photo bombs) along with its Shiny form - automatically meaning Grimmsnarl too has its Shiny form. As is expected, many Trainers will have to group up to take down this rather formidable Pokémon, including through whatever means necessary, even by remote battling.

The entire species family is of the Fairy and Dark types, so like last year, the day is structured with alternating habitats with selected species of or related to each type. Field Research suits the alternating habitats with certain tasks and rewards for them, while this time, the Collection Challenges are based on the day with different assortments for each day - but I'm getting ahead of myself. The reward for completing one of these is a special costumed Bewear wearing a cape, which could also be Shiny. This Bewear could also be encountered as part of the Go Pass for the accompanying event (separate details on that one) or through three-star raids.

That said, the raids of this edition besides the one just mentioned are of the Shadow variety - specifically five-star ones of Cresselia (today) and Darkrai (tomorrow). It's a more modest selection compared to the previous year, and it also means that Trainers don't have to work them too hard, except for the Shadow portion of the program. Yet that also means that they're radically different, and they're of interest regardless; Trainers will still need to take them on in groups as for the Max Battles.

Meanwhile, Mighty Pokémon return in the same way as last year, though certainly with a different assortment, for this day and the next. Their "surge" also happens at the last 15 minutes of the day's event instead of after. Likewise, they'll likely need to be caught with Go Safari Balls, which will drop from balloons and can be gotten from PokéStops, or else paid with coins. One change this year is that the balls received today can be retained for use the next day, though while still during the event hours of 10 AM to 6 PM.

Most other bonuses also still require the purchase of the event ticket, including the Special Research, which branches out and guides Trainers in achieving mastery of either type of the featured species. They can get more Max Particles, spin for more 5 km Eggs and hatch them with less distance, participate in more raids, get more Candy from captures, catch more Pokémon from extended Lure Modules, and incur more Special Trades as well as trade for less cost. Further, since Shadow Pokémon are involved, Frustration can also be removed by a Charged TM today and tomorrow during event hours.

I have to say that I got through the Max Battles just fine and got good results out of them, but I also got good results out of the Special Trades with some Lucky Friends as well. As well, I got most of today's Mighty assortment, missing out on at least one; it seems I'm somehow fated to miss a few of the assortment, though I can somehow make up for them sooner or later. Like last year, Shiny Pokémon also seemed rather scant - others even said they got less than they would have expected by last year - but the background ones seem to be fine. I had perceived a certain different "darkness" today, but that also didn't completely manifest.

It's only been two editions of Go Wild Area so far, and the paid event is starting to solidify with its elements just like Go Tour did a few years ago. This year, based on its main species feature, it can also be described to solidify around the themes of "darkness" and "whimsy", which may not be a bad thing. The best course of action is certainly to take advantage of both themes for what they bring to the "wild table" for Trainers.

One year ago: The World According to Ursaring

Two years ago: Pokémon Monuments of Our Hearts

Three years ago: Preparing for Scarlet and Violet

Four years ago: Pokémon Cafe Delights

Five years ago: Cosplay: The Bros Contest

Six years ago: Sword and Shield Unleashed

Seven years ago: Seeing Red: Cosplay Teaser for 12/2/2018

Eight years ago: Ma? Ma? Ma? Marshadow...!

Favorite New Staff Colors... of Limited Pokémon

Closing off this week of "gimme five" discussions related to Café Remix, I want to discuss another set of subjective favorite things. I had actually intended to bring up "favorite outfits" again, but quite a few things from that are still applicable, so I couldn't bring it up in the same vein. Luckily, I can (could) restructure it a bit and still talk about favorite outfits... just of different colors and different applicability to certain Pokémon.

Those Pokémon have the basic staff outfit, but they have colors not from the usual leveling. In fact, they were created by Leah (the café owner) as part of certain events; according to her, she is trying out new colors for the staff outfit, and certain Pokémon - associated with the events, surely - get to try them out first. They may or may not be extended to other staff members, but in the meantime, they're still fanciful for the staff Pokémon that do get them.

One of these new colors is called "stylish night sky", which is a dark navy blue color that is reminiscent of a good sky at that time of day. Rayquaza and Inkay are the representative Pokémon of this outfit color, and it quite befits them, with the former having its domain where the color is, and the latter being contemplative within that space. It may be that the color has its own intrigue in addition to interest.

Leah also made the "stylish spring" color, and its recipients are (or were) Flabébé of the Red Flower sort and Fidough of the Shiny sort. It is perhaps a coincidence that the two Pokémon are those of different sorts, but then again they may be quite symbolic of variety. The color itself is also a rather "punchy" or "highlighting" yellow-green and may be considered befitting of being symbolic of variety as with the two Pokémon.

As a last color I'm featuring, there is the "stylish plum" color. It is a dark purple that is quite reminiscent of the namesake fruit, and Maushold and Dolliv were chosen to wear it. These two are from the ninth generation, and the newness and novelty of the color stands out along with the two species as part of the latest cohort. At the very least, they also bear the "stylish" aspect pretty well alongside the other colors above.

If the "stylish" moniker is of any indication, it is that these outfits can become select favorites of players without them being different in appearance from the regular outfits, aside from the color. Such is definite for the three colors I've featured above, and it may well be true for the other colors that I haven't featured - and likely possibly to come as well. And after some time, Leah might also gain newfound appreciation for them to expand them even further.

One year ago: Profs and Comrades: Professor Elm

Two years ago: Doing What's Necessary: Transferring (Releasing) Shiny Pokémon

Three years ago: Tunnels of My Heart

Four years ago: The Shops of Unite

Five years ago: Graduation of Regionals?

Six years ago: The Music of Shuffle

Seven years ago: GTS and Wonder Trade in Pokémon Go?

Eight years ago: 1000 Episodes!!!

My Main Order and Extra Order Progress in Café Remix

As part of the "gimme five" featuring Café Remix, I also want to take the time to update on my progression with regard to the main orders and extra orders that are in the game. It's arguably somewhat more subjective compared to the other more objective content throughout this week, but at least it keeps the theme going, not to mention my writing process. It also might be revealing of other intents, but that's to be made evident as things go.

Thus far, I'm on main order #2222, which means I'm 179 main orders short of completing the entire run of 2400 main orders. Admittedly, it's been rather slow-going for me to complete the main orders since recently I'm more focused on playing through the events, which can take up their own time - and quite a bit at that. Having them available for certain Pokémon is also a concern, although it may be the time to minimize that somehow.

Meanwhile, I'm on extra order #475, which is still a long way off from the 1600 extra orders that are there. At least, this one has its own incentives for completion, as every 25 of these completed rewards Golden Acorns and Tarts; at higher numbers, a few other rewards await, including a recently added signboard for the café. The incentives may be the only thing that keeps this progress going, to devote Stamina to it whenever possible.

Considering either of these progressions, something that's key to them is having Stamina available for playing the orders - though this is less of a problem now that the recently added event modes use up items rather than Stamina. In that regard, jumping in may not necessarily be a problem, but perhaps finding the right moment to do so is, in particular right now with all the things that happen at the end of the year even for the game.

It seems that the intents as revealed by the above progressions are to advance them while also to keep them manageable for other purposes. Satisfying those intents may turn out to be the real challenge, aside from whatever the main orders or extra orders put out as they come up. That too may be a bit of a subjective matter for my own ordeals with the game, but others who play could just decide on that matter objectively by what I put forth.

One year ago: The Compact Battles of TCG Pocket

Two years ago: Finding a Diancie Amongst Carbink

Three years ago: Evaluating Elite Raids in Their EX Raid Places

Four years ago: Inspiration from Characters

Five years ago: The Spirit of Brothers

Six years ago: Shuffle Special Stage Play Limits

Seven years ago: Marshadow and Mimikyu Keychains

Eight years ago: Cosplay Assistants

Kitchen Notes, Wherefore Art Thou?

As part of the overall framework for Pokémon enhancement in Café Remix, items that are called "kitchen notes" allow some Pokémon to unlock a fourth, extra skill in addition to the skills they learn when they level up. However, for quite some time recently, there have been a dearth of them, whether for new Pokémon and old ones alike. Thus, I feel the need to make this post - a second time in a more recent timespan and for the same topic - further as a part of this week's discussion as the chosen topic for "gimme five".

The last time kitchen notes appeared, they were in a Pokémon visit event from somewhat an unfathomably a long time ago, providing just enough to unlock and slightly level up that Pokémon's extra skill. After that, they seemed to have "disappeared" for new and returning Pokémon alike in certain events. Of course, that's not to say they have "disappeared" entirely as a feature or item, since existing ones are still available, and there may be the incentive to use them instead of holding on to them.

It seems that the more recent focus has been on making use of the available skillset of both new and old Pokémon rather than introducing new skills through utilization of the aspect or feature - or in IC terms, it may be that the Pokémon haven't developed something that they can reliably use as new skills that can fit into the new challenges of the café, as in through the new play modes. In that sense, the imperative to use some of the existing kitchen notes may be justified for all possible uses in existing play modes.

Will there be more kitchen notes for new and old Pokémon in the future? The skills they unlock may certainly be significant in some usage cases, and they're not expected to disappear or be removed, so the possibility may be there. However, given the aspect or feature's long absence, it is possible that it might just be changed to something more accessible (for example, having the new skills be unlocked with Golden Acorns instead) and the kitchen notes be converted to them much like how "outfit materials" became "outfit grades" so long ago.

Having been out of the "limelight" for quite some time, it might appear that kitchen notes in Café Remix have become "forgettable" in a way. Yet it is important not to forget that they're (part of) the facility for the Pokémon to unlock greater skills in dealing with orders in the café, so things need to be done with them on both sides of usage. Whether that means keeping them and doing more with them or changing them to something else, there's a greater good that could be involved with or without them.

One year ago: The Tricks (No Tricks) to Card Collection in TCG Pocket

Two years ago: Cosplay: Foodtopia Season 2

Three years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 11/12/2022

Four years ago: Perfection Under Imperfection

Five years ago: The Little Cup of GBL

Six years ago: Performance Critique: Mezase Pokémon Master feat. Maestoso

Seven years ago: Rediscover Cosplay

Eight years ago: Cosplay: Japan Pop Culture 2017