Mastering Balls of Hands and Feet

In the world of Pokémon, Trainers are people who master the eponymous creatures, which often reside in Poké Balls that they throw out with their hands. In the real world, some athletes master a different kind of ball, the soccer ball, which they kick up with their feet. Combine the two, and interesting results might just occur. And that is exactly what is happening in jolly old England with a program and campaign for youths to be able to buff up their sport skills in a really fun way.

Pokémon, together with the FA of England (their soccer association), have partnered to create the FA Pokémon Youth Futsal Program with a campaign called "Master the Ball" accessible through a site of the same title (www.mastertheball.com). The program and campaign is part of a youth futsal competition to draw in athletic youths to develop their skills while they compete in a fairly fun manner. It should be noted that futsal is only a downscaled and indoor form of soccer, but its play is much the same and can develop each other, so it still makes sense. The competitive season is due to start in September along with that for soccer, and team registration has yet to open, but with Pokémon in the mix, it should be fun when things happen later this year.

To make things even more fun, certain teams will receive a "Pokémon bundle" full of goodies for the teams. Most of the goodies, including a duffel bag and a Pokémon Futsal handbook, are notably to help teams take their practice to the next level, so to speak, and that includes a ball that is colored like - what else - a Poké Ball. So iconic is this ball that it figures prominently in promotional materials for all things related to the program and campaign. The bundle even includes an exclusive TCG card of "Pikachu on the Ball" featuring Pikachu and the iconic ball. If anything, this would be the primary incentive for signing up a team into the program and competition, aside from the noble goals as above.

A program and campaign like this is surely fun and lively. But it would be even more fun and lively with a few other promotions - more specifically, some promotional videos on YouTube. These promotional videos contain a few of England's current stars in soccer, certainly with a few Pokémon twists. The "core promotional video" even contains animated Pokémon in action along with those same stars, but what's even more fun is when some of those stars duke it out on the futsal court with a few Pokémon twists, which are in other promotional videos... but I'd like to separate their discussion into another post, as this post is already detailed enough for their key link.

Futsal (and soccer, by extension) is a real-world sport. Pokémon battling would be the sport of the Pokémon world, as I've postulated once. In the minds of fans and athletes alike, there shouldn't be any real reason for them not to mingle, and it seems the FA of England and Pokémon can't disagree with this new program and campaign. They're looking for people who can truly master the skills of the ball game with feet, and after that, hopefully the game of monsters appearing from balls thrown with hands.

One year ago: It's a-Mario Time

Two years ago: Going Big in Galar

Three years ago: Pokémon Archetypes

Four years ago: New Paradigms

Pokémon Go Community Day, 6/6/2021

Some Community Days of Pokémon Go have been "long in the tooth" in that they've been postulated, expected, and demanded by Trainers. This month's Community Day represents one of these, in particular because of the featured Pokémon. It has long been considered a possible Community Day fodder, but its Shiny form had been released early on (which is or was thought to decrease its feature appearance potential) and it has never been featured... until today, when it was finally featured and its potential was realized.

The featured Pokémon for this month is the venerable Gible, which along with the other members of its species family (Gabite, Garchomp) is of the Dragon and Ground types. The last of these, when caught or evolved, gains the move of Earth Power during the exclusive move window. The bonus is triple XP, which should satisfy the hunger of pre-Level 50 XP-seeking Trainers. The paid Special Research has the title of "Just a Nibble" in reference to the fierce appearance and behavior of this "land shark" species family.

While the specific particulars of Community Day in current times haven't changed (extended Incense primarily, and so on), there is one particular addition: Lure Modules are now extended as well, in line with Friendship Day from April and the old ways of Community Day. The world may not be heading to a "normal" state any time soon, but Community Day may be able to adapt to the "new normal" state while the world continues to develop and hopefully recover, which should be the same for Community Day as well.

Taking advantage of the Lure Module bonus, I went to the place where I used to have regular "old normal" Community Day festivities, the last of which occurred in December 2019. And it really did feel like that time, with I and a few others setting up Lure Modules, though many of us ended up becoming segregated afterwards. Nevertheless, we did make full use of both Lure Modules and Incense as well as a Mega-Evolved Pokémon of choice to up the obtained Candy amount. I also ended up having 6 Garchomp with Earth Power: one with the best stats, the best Lucky one, the best Shiny one, one each for Great and Ultra Leagues, and the one from the Special Research, with sufficient Candy stock when it becomes necessary for usage.

Faithful fans will note that Garchomp possesses a Mega Evolution as Mega Garchomp, but this Community Day didn't become the venue for its debut, unlike Altaria last month and partially due to the stipulation that only one Mega Raid is active each month during the Season of Discovery. A surprise debut is also impractical as the surprise can easily be discerned prior, in certain ways. Therefore, the debut of Mega Garchomp will have to wait for the right time and the best time, which is more than I can say. Trainers will just have to stay tuned.

This Community Day is thus very much a representation of realized potentials: those of a deserving Pokémon, those of old ways and new ways, and those of a future Mega Evolution. The first can already be seen now, the second can be seen towards the closer future, and the third will hopefully be seen in a not-too-distant future. For a family of "land sharks", that ought to mean many opportunities to take "nibbles" out of the competition in whatever happens in Pokémon Go at the moment, thanks to what can and has been gained from this edition of Community Day.

One year ago: Repetition for Reputation

Two years ago: Be with You, Always with You

Three years ago: (The Least) Local Ex-Raid, 6/6/2018

Four years ago: Pokémon Direct, 6/6/2017

Venture Past Cliffs and Old Paths

It's the start of a new month, so it's also the start of a new themed cup for the Silph Arena. It also happens to be the last one for this competitive season before the final push to the end. And since I deem that I can sufficiently write about it, I might as well finish this up with a post right now. In a way, the theme is an "ultimate finish" of sorts, which is why I titled this post the way it is titled, and certainly would be explained in clear details as the post progresses.

Anyway, the themed cup of the month is titled "Venture". As has been established as standard for the Arena, it involves the Great League, a team of 6 Pokémon, no duplicate species, and no Mega Evolution (at least, at present). For this themed cup, there are quite a few restrictions. No Pokémon can have the types of Dark, Steel, or Fairy, and there is a species ban involving Chansey. That should be simple enough yet oddly familiar, but there is much more than that.

The reason is that all the remaining Pokémon that qualify for the cup are then distributed into "tiers" with point values. There are four of these tiers, and the point values are 10, 6, 4, and 1. Further, there is also a threshold of 20 points for a team, which cannot be exceeded. This automatically means that a team cannot contain more than 1 10-point Pokémon with or without 1 6-point or 4-point Pokémon, or 2 6-point Pokémon with no 10-point Pokémon and with or without 1 4-point Pokémon, or 1 6-point Pokémon with no 10-point Pokémon and up to 3 4-point Pokémon, or 4 4-point Pokémon with none of higher points. Due to both the point system and team requirement, teams with certain point values (such as less than 6 points, or 7 or 8 points) are also impossible to be created.

Immediately, the connections are rather evident, as hinted in the title. Aside from the Chansey ban, the type restrictions are exactly the same as for the Retro Cup from the Go Battle League (thus, "old paths"), which means that some viable battle parties from there can be adapted into full teams for this themed cup. The point tiers and threshold also smack of the Cliffhanger format by Go Stadium (thus, "cliffs"), with the difference that there is no 0-point tier that practically allows teams of any number of points up to the threshold to be made, and that the format applies for the current month of the Silph Arena. The thought process that somehow led to the synthesis of the GBL and Go Stadium formats above into a Silph Arena themed cup is amazing yet equally confounding.

Regardless, there remains an identifiable meta "network" for the themed cup. Ghost types that play into Psychic types can play into Fighting types that play into Normal types, which then play into Ice types that play into Dragon types. All these types may have some importance in the conceived teams, but it is just as important to consider the point threshold in creating teams, and then fitting what works within the meta and what is available accordingly.

After a journey of a few months with the themed cups of this season's Silph Arena, that journey comes to an "ultimate finish" that remarkably looks a lot like the combination of an "old path" and an "edgy format". But it may be that for all those that have invested into the Arena, the "ultimate finish" is simply one more venture to go through before they're ultimately qualified for the final push that ends this season of the Silph Arena in style.

One year ago: The Pokémon Battlefields

Two years ago: Holding Hands

Three years ago: Raid Preferences

Four years ago: Sympathy for Villains

Quickies: Getting Acculturated with Pokémon

It's been the experience of my life that I've had to deal with different cultures, in all the places I've been to and even where I am right now. That means dealing with the ways of life of the people in those places, as well as the people themselves, in becoming acculturated with them. But perhaps, the greatest process of becoming acculturated that I've had to undergo is the one associated with Pokémon. It's a little odd, but it's easy to see how this can be so: within its realm, there are also places, people, and ways of life, all of which are experienced in some manner with everything related to Pokémon, including the games, anime, and others. In experiencing them, I'm also indirectly becoming "acculturated" with them, despite their virtual existence.

On a more realistic note, becoming acculturated with Pokémon also means becoming acculturated with other people who also like Pokémon as much as I do, meaning other fans. Whichever way things go, the process involves me becoming used to what they do, what mindset they have, and where they go to do things. It may be admitted that some things about Pokémon, real or otherwise, are considerably unsavory, but I don't pick up on that. Instead, it becomes worthy to pick up on the positive things, and that results in greater positivity as well; I would say that such situation is evident today with what I have going on with Pokémon and beyond.

This topic might be considered to be somewhat weighty, as so much can be discussed outside the confines of a "Quickies" post. However, it may be considered that I've already outlined the general perceptions of how it may be considered that the process of becoming acculturated may have some relationship with Pokémon, particularly in the views of a fan who has gone through the process a few times and gained something different each time. And it could be considered befitting that some of those gains would be from Pokémon as well.

One year ago: Legendaries and "Pseudo-Legendaries"

Two years ago: A Noble Mission

Three years ago: Keeping It Free... or Augmenting It

Four years ago: Ball Redesign?

Nights of Raging Battles

I've just realized that this is kind of a late post that I meant to realize much earlier but kind of forgot, so I guess it suffices (and is in fact appropriate) to make it now - thus, here it goes. A year ago, there was a Pokémon Go event called Go Battle Night, but it was initially postponed before it was finally realized back in November along with a special format called the Flying Cup. I meant to detail Go Battle Night itself for a later time, but I suppose I never did. Now that I've been re-enlightened of this happening, it seems well to get on with it and explain just what it's all about.

Ordinarily, a Trainer would have the chance to battle in Go Battle League for a total of 25 times daily, in groups of five sets. But when Go Battle Night takes place, a Trainer can battle in up to 20 sets for a total of 100 battles. That is a lot, and all of that has to happen within a span of a few hours, which for the first edition was from 6 PM to 11:59 PM. That may or may not be enough time to even get through all the battles in every set, depending on how long each battle takes up and especially if the opponent decides to forfeit, which may help slightly to get through as many battles as possible.

A Trainer would be wise to have all the necessary teams prepared as battle parties so that it would be a trivial matter to select whichever team seems right for the next battle, which would only take seconds instead of longer, saving time just in case a battle drags on for way too long. This advice may, in fact, be useful for pretty much any kind of battle-based events and even tournaments, most likely fan-organized ones like the Silph Arena. And since this is a Go Battle Night, one would absolutely need to make sure one is free that night or else not be able to complete all the provided battles.

The reason that this post becomes appropriate to be made today is, yes, because Go Battle Night returned tonight after that very long absence. In fact, over the Season of Discovery, Go Battle Night will make an appearance each month, which means more battles than ever before during the season. For those who want to stay ahead of the pack, it becomes the perfect opportunity to do so, and it's also a way of catching up in case one happens to be unavailable to go through some of the normal daily allotted battles, which could be me in certain cases even throughout this season.

The 100 provided battles might be arduous for some, but the opportunity provided by Go Battle Night is hard to pass up for PvP "junkies" in Pokémon Go, especially those who are pursuing certain PvP ranks, rewards, or both. The concept of Go Battle Night itself promises lots of thrills for those PvP "junkies" with all the battles that they can stand to complete, even more so than is normally allotted for a single day. That makes for a whole lot of battles to be battled through, but that comes with one guarantee: that the night will be filled with raging battles to quench one's thirst for them.

One year ago: Trainers of Might and Sorcery

Two years ago: Local EX Raid (Time and Again), 6/3/2019

Three years ago: Classical and New HP Heal Amounts

Four years ago: 3DS Pokémon Themes

Display Case Ideas for Pokémon Fans

Earlier this year, I noted and discussed with Ash that I had more or less wrapped up a second house moving process amidst all other things. As part of that process, all my Pokémon things also get moved, having been packed in the first one last year. However, even now, I haven't unpacked much of them, in part for one reason: I don't have a display case, at least one that I've intended for use but failed at the last moment. It's a crucial piece of furniture for fans and collectors of all Pokémon things. While I try to resolve my display case woes, I thought I'd try to discuss ideas and inspirations for display cases, in particular for Pokémon fans that need them.

The display case that I had intended to use is large, has the shape of a square, and hangs on the wall. Two-thirds of it has a glass cover that can be opened and closed, while the rest is open. I suppose it might be fair to say that it's partly a bookshelf and partly a display case, but since Pokémon has books and I've seen them in display along with other Pokémon things, the entire thing can be considered a display case. In a way, however, I was saved by not using it, as the wall might not have been able to support its weight appropriately, and it revealed its flaws prior to my decision to not use it. Still, I do bemoan its loss because of the unique design and the potential to show off my Pokémon things. I may decide to fully replicate this display case, but with a more viable build.

The standard rectangular or square display case that stands on the floor may work well for most Pokémon fans, including most of my figure fellows. They can fit in corners neatly, owing to their shape. I actually coveted one of these as one of my fellows wanted to sell one of theirs due to another moving process, but it was far away and neither of us weren't willing to deal with shipping. However, a round (cylindrical) display case might really work for those who have Pokémon things that they can and want to display from all angles. A display case like this also works well for displaying things in the center of a room, due to its high visibility. It may be something to think about for those who possess ample space for it.

One side of my room has a long and low shelf - make that two of them - running across that side. I'm having a bit of a problem deciding what to put on the top of it, but then it occurred to me that I can creatively commission a horizontal display case to put up on top, the same length as the shelves. A display case like this would be uncommon, but it would also be very different than most others and would be a unique solution for my case, though others may feel that it can apply as well for them. Such a commission (perhaps any, including replicating my square case above) is also an investment, which I may or may not be ready at this point. I can still dream about it while deciding later on.

I've gone quite far as a fan in accumulating many pieces of Pokémon merchandise and/or things, so a display case becomes pertinent for my efforts in doing so. But with the display case that I had planned to use becoming decommissioned, I'm practically left without one that I can use to hold all my Pokémon things that I've accumulated. There may still be some time to conceive more display case ideas and then pick whichever one suits me most appropriately at this current point in time, and then make sure that remains the case (ahem) as I continue to obtain and accumulate Pokémon stuff.

One year ago: Pokémon and Sign Language

Two years ago: A Daily Pokémon Routine

Three years ago: Missing Ranger

Four years ago: 3DS Pokémon Badges

The Season of Discovery

A little while ago, Pokémon Go announced its new season. The next three months ahead will be known as the "Season of Discovery", and there's a certain significance for it. It's billed as a way of finding out about new species that are due to make their way in soon, as well as new things about old species alike. Naturally, I'd like to think that this can happen even beyond the confines of Pokémon Go, so like the start of the previous season, I will be discussing this in a half-and-half manner, for what it entails in Pokémon Go and what it means for Pokémon at present in a broad and more general sense.

To start off this season, Pokémon Go has the "three titans" (Regirock, Regice, and Registeel) in raids for the next week and a half, followed by a surprise.. though I would think this "surprise" is predictable. Surprises will also be abound in happenings that pertain to this month and especially the next, though faithful fans ought to know that there is always a certain special thing that goes on in the summer for Pokémon Go. Admittedly, the certain special thing will feel even more special this year with a grand anniversary for Pokémon itself, but that's something to discover when the time comes.

And then there's that grand anniversary. The theme of "discovery", besides being fitting with Pokémon in general, is quite appropriate for the grand anniversary. Much still awaits to be "discovered" through revelations of festive things - for example, more exhibits on the anniversary web site and more artists for the P25 Music project. For those who haven't experienced the newer side of Pokémon things (like New Pokémon Snap or games on the Switch in general), discovery may be regarded to be a necessary prompt for the best Pokémon experience, especially as the anniversary progresses.

To have a full season dedicated to discoveries is very much appropriate, especially if they can happen every day, as something beyond Pokémon has once suggested. A season is more than one day, so the potential is greatly increased over all its days. Bearing that in mind, the Season of Discovery in Pokémon Go will have to furnish many opportunities as such, and it seems discernible that it will likely be so. Then there are still many more things for Pokémon in general waiting for any fan to discover in light of the grand anniversary. I say that it's time to get on to seeking all those discoveries that await.

One year ago: Taiko Adventures with Pokémon Songs

Two years ago: Techno-Poké-Captain

Three years ago: Everyone's RPG vs. Hardcore RPG

Four years ago: (Self) References