Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Still Not Quite Outside the "Ilex Forest"

In the Johto region, the Ilex Forest is the wooded area just outside of Azalea Town on the path to Goldenrod City. Entering the area from the former and traversing its path allows one to get to the path that leads to the latter. It's not a trivial matter, however; the forest is twisty and confusing, perhaps more so than the similar Viridian Forest the next region over. For that, I consider it appropriate to be involved in a discussion of a still-overhanging matter that I've avoided to a certain capacity.

Recall from three years ago the start of the pandemic, which after a time I started referring to as "current conditions". New developments have suggested that it may not have to be considered as such anymore, even though the cause of it all still lingers and is slightly troublesome. It may seem like everyone and everything - including Pokémon affairs - have been able to make it out of what seems to be something akin to the forest above, but personally, I still don't consider that to be the case just yet.

The lingering and troublesome quality of the cause as above is the main thing, for it is still just that, even in my local area. While that may or may not interfere with Pokémon things, it does still mean that the ways of life before may still not be perfectly applicable as it once was, and some caution is still necessary, even for the most extreme of doing Pokémon things (such as attending Pokémon Go Fest or its World Championships - more on them very soon). Yet those processions happening do indicate that the brunt of things has dissipated.

Come to think of it, humanity's handling of the situation may be somewhat described as the twisty parts of the forest, at least from its entry to its eventual exit. It went from entering the forest and wandering in the twists, to finding a straight path for getting it resolved - at least to a sufficient capacity that the exit can eventually be seen and has been reached. Yet, humanity may still need to grope in this area for a bit before it can eventually trudge on the path to the shining, gleaming city.

Perhaps the consolation is that by going through the forest, humanity has discovered and passed by the shrine that exists within it, the shrine of a special time traveler. While it is impossible to use time travel to erase what has transpired (in either direction), it may serve as a reminder of what needs to be done. Even as humanity is at the exit of the forest and far from the shrine, it remains symbolic of the pathway and what is needed to get out of it as well as the remainder of the way to the city ahead.

And so, things run their course, even as the "Ilex Forest" still minorly looms.

Four years ago: Trading Styles
Five years ago: The No's of Go
Six years ago: Site Design
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Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Towards the TCGL Horizon

In February, I had already brought up the matter of Trading Card Game Live (or TCGL) as the expected successor to the current Trading Card Game Online (or TCGO) for playing the Pokémon TCG virtually. Back then, the discussion was prompted by the development cutoff date of March 1 this year, which had come and gone; now, the next milestone of shutdown and retirement ("sunsetting") is at hand, and thus I need to make a post on it to serve as both a discussion and a reminder to take care of things as that milestone looms.

So, that milestone has been announced, and that would be... June 5 at 4 PM UTC, becoming the final day for TCGO. This would then be followed by the release of TCGL, which would be three days later on June 8 along with the latest expansion to the game. Of course, at that point, the matter of migration becomes relevant (if it isn't already is or was, as some are already on TCGL even in beta); that has been explained by the online FAQ and my "distillation" of it into something more succinct and direct. The date is less than a month away, so it remains wise to pay attention to that date and the matters that come with it.

For those already on TCGL, they should be "home free" whether or not the migration has been performed - in the latter case, eventually as the beta wraps up. For those still on TCGO, it should be good to remind that there are things that will and will not migrate to the TCGL, as stated and discussed earlier. Whatever happens has to happen now, in the time of less than a month before the sunsetting of TCGO, and as with the transfer of Pokémon on Nintendo consoles - even with some present leeway - it's effectively a "say your prayers" matter for some things that are not accomplished even if they can be right now.

TCGL, as noted, represents something new on the horizon for virtual TCG play as well as for the TCG in general. The path that leads to it is already evident, and now so is the distance to get there with the announcement of the firm date for the sunsetting of TCGO. With that, all that is left is to take care of remnant matters for those still on TCGO, while those on TCGL may just be able to sit tight. Either way, the journey continues towards the horizon where the TCGL awaits and TCGO fades away on the other end.

Two years ago: Glyphs of Pokémon?
Three years ago: Playing Pokémon All Day
Five years ago: A Place for VGC
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Monday, May 8, 2023

Tournament: SWEEP JR vs. Your Storage Is Full (SA Factions)

This Cycle of Silph Arena Factions is down to its home stretch, and my team, SWEEP JR, has to press on. In this seventh Bout, we were paired up with an Australian team with a bit of a strange name, Your Storage Is Full. If my team is what I call the "fledgling" team (or also, "academy team") of SWEEP JR, presently competing in the Diamond tier, then this team is the one for Your Bag Is Full, presently competing in the Emerald tier. It was a fascinating showdown that had to happen, since we both aren't doing too well in this Cycle.

Regarding this Faction and its upper-level brethren, one of their purposes may be to accommodate some influential names in PvP in Australia and beyond. One of them happens to be on the team that my Faction is facing, which will become evident soon enough. The opposing team is made up of all Australians; meanwhile, the upper-level team has a few Trainers not from Australia - even, from the other side of the world - and that takes care of the "beyond" portion. In later Cycles, the members of the two teams will likely change, as with my team and its upper-level brethren, for accommodating others into the "academy".

After early attempts at coordination, battles were definitively scheduled. Only one match took place on Thursday, which was the Open Great League match of riman12 vs. Franedamus and resulted in a 2-1 win. Then, on Saturday, things quickly turned as the Arcana Field matches of Almujha vs. Lidorkork and Kucingimutt vs. NotRandyN3wman resulted in 1-2 and 0-3 losses respectively, instantly putting my team behind. The remaining matches that day, Wina1403 vs. Alo0ali and YukixCyz vs. BuurggittBro - both for the Catacomb Field - only resulted in a 2-1 win and 1-2 loss, and my team remained behind.

One match was actually scheduled to take place between the Field Specialist matches above, but had to be rescheduled for Sunday due to coordination issues, more in a line of them. That match was for the Justicar Field for Ultra League involving RaymondHrtwn vs. Trysty19, and it resulted in a 2-1 win to allow my team to catch up. The tensest moment of this Bout was during the Open Master League match involving Orioo16 vs. bbao2803, as issues came up near its conclusion. Perhaps almost miraculously, the issues were resolved and the match was decided as a 3-0 win, leading to a close 11-10 victory for my Faction.

No disputes were filed for this Bout, making it a rarity in that regard. However, the last two matches above did come dangerously close to that point, before and after respectively. The last match also presented a unique issue that might have become troublesome had it continued and I had full control to make decisions, but thankfully it did not progress and my manager helped to keep things at bay until the miraculous resolution; it's another point of why I'm glad to not have started this Faction from scratch. Regardless, I can only hope that such situations are rarities, as they are admittedly uncomfortable for all those involved.

It was a nerve-wracking Bout against the Australian team, but the battles speak for themselves, as they should for any match of any Bout. Yet, they still also show how shaky my Faction remains, with yet another close result (even as a favorable one), the sixth one yet. There are only two more Bouts left in this Cycle, and that means two more chances to get our act together, if that hasn't already occurred. It would show that my Faction is in fact not shaky at all, but firm in our stead, even with a "full storage" as the other team might suggest.

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Sunday, May 7, 2023

Cosplay: Foodtopia Competitions

Me: All right, so we've had a "break" - if you can call it that way - so it's time to get back into the swing of things, starting with this one.

Ash: I'm ready when you are!

Pikachu: Pi pika chu! ["I'm ready!"]

Goh: So what's this one about? It looks like it's just the competition part that's the main thing for us.

Me: You might be right. I've done a little bit of research, and this is a food festival more so than a pop culture one. But I guess they know how popular characters and music are, especially from a certain part of the world, so that's why they put that in.

Ash: But hey, we get to eat and drink!

Me: That's a good perk - if we can make it work. We also have to make things work using your Kanto outfit for singing and the character parade, so...

Ash: "Mezase Pokémon Master"!

Me: Hey, you got this! It's a back-to-basics approach for us after the "break" and everything else.

Ash: I've got this!

Goh: By the way, where is this?

Me: It's in a mall, and you'd be surprised... because yes, they drafted the same organizer for Community Base Party for handling the competitions part.

Goh: Well, that could explain some things.

Me: Maybe so, but the only way to know is for Ash to help us find out. So... how are (or were) things?

Ash: All the food look great! I wish I could try them all.

Me: As always, though, we're limited by my budget and your room for movement. Speaking of which...

Goh: Same people, same place? Let me guess... crowded as usual.

Me: I'm told that the festival is actually ticketed and started on Friday, but somehow they negotiated for today to be ticketless as usual for the competitions.

Goh: Oh, that's interesting. But that means it's a crowd magnet. So in the end, you just got the usual.

Ash: Yeah, and the rain didn't help out. I think it's the first time they got fully rained on.

Pikachu: Pika, pi pika chu. ["Yeah, that happened."]

Goh: So what happened then?

Ash: We got moved inside for a bit - and I got to sing inside. After I sang, the rain let up and everyone moved back outside.

Goh: I wonder if this means you got lucky.

Me: Maybe, maybe not. But you should have gotten a pretty good reception, the way you are in my neck of the woods.

Ash: I did!

Me: Well, that's a good thing. That ought to be the case when you went up for the character parade.

Ash: Yeah! I think I got things down for you.

Goh: But what about the results?

Ash: I didn't make it for either, 3 out of 30 for the singing competition and 5 out of 50 for the character parade.

Me: Those are tough odds. But at least we got things going in this first time out after the break.

Ash: Yeah! Pikachu and I had fun.

Pikachu: Pika! ["Yeah!"]

Goh: I think that is a great thing, considering we just came from a break.

Me: I'd have to agree, because the effort for this was kind of meager but we still did something anyhow.

Ash: Let's go for it next time!

Me: You know what? I think that can just happen. Stay tuned, and good job for now.

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Saturday, May 6, 2023

Pokémon Keeps Me...

As an aside from recent Pokémon happenings (and in particular the recent run of seven posts related to Pokémon Go in some way), I'd like to discuss how Pokémon has become connected to me over these years, and in particular after keeping this blog going for many years. To do that for this post, I take the framing and stance that Pokémon keeps me going in different ways; it's something that applies to other things I'm connected with, but I'm inclined to discuss the Pokémon connection in greater detail, as per this blog.

For starters, Pokémon keeps me active in different ways. Playing Pokémon Go prompts me to get out and exercise physically to make the most of it, while the battles (or something that resembles similar efforts) in the games keep my mind stimulated; as such, the active aspect is reflected in my body and my mind, a classically spiritual pair. Either way, those become the activities that keep me "on my toes", so to speak, and for them to occur with Pokémon is especially fascinating in that regard. 

Then, Pokémon also keeps me creative. While this blog demands me to be objective in some ways, I also have some liberties that I can take in creating and presenting content, including its scheduling and writing - that's how things like "conversation posts" and even serials like event rollups come about. Obviously, that is also reflected in the artistry that I lend to things like cosplay and vocal performance, which demand quite a bit of creative input. In these and other cases, I'm essentially prompted to "think out of the box".

Rounding out this post, Pokémon is something that keeps me "relative". This may be construed as maintaining relationships - like with the people in my raid groups and other fans of the same Pokémon things that I enjoy - or creating new ones as through my participation in tournaments like those under the Silph Arena banner, both individual and Factions. Even so, it's always up to me to establish these relationships not just through and for the above, but also in different ways and with different people.

While these are only three aspects that I've been able to think of, and there might be room for more if I think about things even more thoroughly, they all share the same thread of keeping things going. In my case, they all involve Pokémon somehow and its happenings, for which the connections become evident in different ways and through them I can stand to make more ways into life. It's a life that is intimately tied to Pokémon for all the ways that it has pervaded the world and the continuance of that.

One year ago: Brave with the Firefly
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Friday, May 5, 2023

Special Research Guides

Including the posts on the last two days of April, I've made six posts in a row on topics that are related in some way to Pokémon Go. I feel that I should cap it off with a seventh post, and I've already thought of what to discuss. In more recent times, Special Research has gotten quite varied, not (or less) regarding the form of their tasks, but (more) regarding the people who guide them. It's arguably something - or one of the things - that sets it off from Field Research, and it bears some insights.

Special Research has always been (and still is today, to some capacity) guided by Professor Willow, and that's something that will likely never change. After all, every Trainer in Pokémon Go deals with the Professor when they start their journey and continue to do so even today - a particular example being the transferring of Pokémon. It can then be said that Professor Willow is the be-all and end-all for Pokémon Go, and it's only natural that he would be present to guide Special Research whenever appropriate.

As for recent times, Special Research is now able to be guided by characters other than Professor Willow. While this does go as far back as Jessie and James for an extra-special Celebi Research and Rhi when Ultra happenings pervaded the world, now even the team leaders can get a chance on the action, starting with Blanche last month, Spark presently, and Candela soon enough - the latter two of these to be detailed when the appropriate time comes. That translates into a greater diversity of guides.

Given the above, it seems that any NPC introduced into Pokémon Go may have the potential to become a guide for Special Research, whether sooner or later. Of course, this may depend on a lot of things, like the backstories of the characters, their relation to Professor Willow, and/or the situations and events that prompt them to become guides of Special Research in some form. They will also likely need to develop themselves before that happens, but that is something that should happen organically.

The diversity of Pokémon species in Pokémon Go today as well as the situations that they may be involved in may demand further insights to be made through Special Research, further as Professor Willow may have other engagements. Therefore, it's only a natural matter for other characters to (be able to) step in where the Professor isn't able to for guiding Special Research, for one reason or another. It's a thing of a great deal for Pokémon Go, as with the seven posts (as of today) that I have made.
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Thursday, May 4, 2023

Understanding the Arcana of Silph Arena

It doesn't take much to understand that with a new month, the themed cup of a Silph Arena season changes to challenge old and new Trainers alike. What may be hard to understand are the particulars of that themed cup, even if it may already be familiar to a number of people. It then just becomes a matter of getting everyone on board, including those who are already familiar. Such is the case with this month's themed cup, which might require that extra step of understanding by Trainers.

This month's themed cup is "Arcana". It ties into the above introduction in one way because... like Ember four months back, it is one of the Battlefields of the current Cycle of Factions, so those who play (like me now) should already get a leg up. Another way that it ties to the above is that the word "arcana", like the word "arcane", besides being spiritual, refers to something that not many people might understand and in doing so may need some special knowledge. It's appropriate since the format is now transitioning from the specialized realm of Factions into the more general SA competitive realm.

While I've already detailed it previously, it helps to reiterate the restrictions for the themed cup or format and explain them in greater detail. As before, the types of Grass, Rock, Ghost, and Psychic are allowed, along with five extra species (which are Scyther, Gyarados, Pelipper, Vespiquen, and Honchkrow). On the flip side, the types of Normal, Electric, Ice, and Fairy are not allowed, as are seven other species (which are Sableye, Tropius, Regirock, Bastiodon, Probopass, Trevenant, and Galarian Articuno). Over 200 species qualify to be used in this themed cup or format, but as always, a few show their dominance and prevalence over others, especially as has been proven in the past few weeks in Factions.

Notably, if one possesses the resources, Tyrunt can be made as a viable species for this themed cup or format; its prevalence is as such that some have taken to call this the "Tyrunt Cup" for that reason. Meanwhile, based on Factions usage, of the five "curated" species, Pelipper is extremely dominant in many rosters; the rest are made up of a mix of species that among others includes Cofagrigus, Jumpluff, Shiftry, Aggron, Crustle, Malamar, and Mew. Aside from slight differences in team compositions, selections from the mix appear strikingly similar throughout the teams that have been used.

Like the earlier Factions-to-individual competition convert, this themed cup or format is simplistic in relative comparison to its Factions companion (in this case, Catacomb). Its main types have dynamics that are simple to relate, and if this Cycle of Factions has been an indication, its rosters can work well even with minimal changes, indicating that the Trainers who play in the competition have a certain understanding of what works and can apply that understanding in the battles against others.

Simple may not necessarily lead to understanding (at least right away), but in the current case, Trainers who are engaged in the Silph Arena individual competition now have the full month to wrap their heads around what they may or may not have experienced earlier (if they're part of Factions). At least, that may be what's happening, now that the arcana that is Arcana (ahem) becomes opened for broader understanding by them.

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