Searching Again for My PvP Competitive "Fire"

It is now the case that the pioneer organizer for competitive PvP play in Pokémon Go, The Silph Road and Silph Arena, has gone defunct (though apparently, not yet "dark" for the latter - more on this later and separately). This situation might have caused - or in fact, did cause - some people to regroup to try to preserve their competitive spirit or "fire"; meanwhile, the situation might have stifled that of others. I've observed myself since that point and in comparison to others, and it seems I am presently in the latter camp, searching for my PvP competitive "fire" all over again.

Recalling the discussion of successors as above, I have not "jumped ship" to any of the ones I had listed earlier, even though they have their own initiatives. It feels like I'm still weighing my options just like when I started with Pokémon Go PvP in the first place. While a few of my other PvP "fellows" seem to have made their choice, that is seemingly something I'm not (yet) able to discern. At some point, though, I may have to discern something and make my choice, and at that point, that might tell me that I've found my "fire" again.

Meanwhile, I also have not observed my ex-Silph Arena Faction, or what's left of it at least, make directed moves either toward one initiative or another, suggesting that the situation is much like that of my personal situation. I say "what's left" because some of the members have left and/or found something to do elsewhere, which means that they effectively have made their choice of initiatives, unlike myself and the others. It seems that they and I are still undertaking that search, with no clear idea of what it might result in later on.

As for going through Go Battle League, I seem to be rather on the fence at the moment, if that isn't something I've felt for quite some time even during my Factions tenure. I did take part in Go Battle Weekend last week in order to push and bolster my rank as far as I possibly could, but now I'm in a rut, suffering from a losing streak, and haven't bothered to touch it since. This too seems to be just another instance of searching, although the search is likely to wrap up as the current Go Battle League season wraps up, which will be at the end of next month.

The indication from the above is that my competitive "fire" is still there, but it's been reduced to a sputtering flame. Perhaps, then, the search isn't for the "fire" itself but something that acts as the "fuel" that feeds the "fire"... and that's just something that is seemingly absent right now after the demise of Silph as above. It is regardless a search I'm dealing with amongst other things at the moment, with the hope of restoring the "fire" to a bright burn.

One year ago: Pokémon Airlines in Its World?

Two years ago: Lunar Mysteries of the New Season

Three years ago: Making (Personal) Breakthroughs in the Go Battle League

Four years ago: Shuffle Secrets

Five years ago: Pokémon Game Journals

Six years ago: All That He Wants... (Is Another Victory)

Kecleon Role Wonders

I've realized that all of the posts I've made regarding a particular Pokémon species - Kecleon, as suggested by the title of this post - were made this year, and all as they pertain to its appearance in Pokémon Go. Yet it's a particularly unique species, still a rightful part of Pokémon as any other species. For that reason, I've decided to make a discussion out of that. Specifically, I want to consider all the roles that apply or have been made to apply to this particular Pokémon with its "appearance sensitivity".

As expected, the first of these roles is the one that pertains to battling. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much to say about this, as it's one of the lesser Normal types with stats that aren't particularly spectacular in most places where it is present. There's not much to write home either about its typically associated Ability in the main series games, which is Color Change, other than its novelty of changing types in response to opponent attacks. It's a wonder, but the Pokémon itself isn't much of one, at least in the realm of Pokémon battles.

While it's a liability of sorts in battle, its role of serving as an invisible (mostly) barrier is a bit of a significant one, and it is perhaps the most memorable even now. Though a tool is practically required for discovering it in the main series games, all it takes is a sharp eye and a deft hand to spot it on PokéStops - before knocking it off of them - in Pokémon Go. It's practically impossible to separate Kecleon from being identified as something behind certain invisible barriers, though its only body part that doesn't become invisible should tell the tale.

Perhaps its least recognized role is as a shopkeeper in some Mystery Dungeon games. It's friendly and unassuming in most cases, especially for just doing normal business with it. Yet one needs to trigger its dark side in order to recruit it, and all hell breaks loose in doing so - though if one can survive the ordeal, the reward is a recruitment obtained in the most spectacular of ways. Still, the shopkeeper role in those games might be the role that most prefer to keep it as, without going through the recruitment hellfire as above.

Kecleon itself remains a wonder for its capability of becoming nearly impossible, even if the partial visibility that it has then highlights its "appearance sensitivity". It also allows itself to fill some roles, odd though they may be, and that may leave some fans in continued wonder. Regardless, that should also maintain a sense of its uniqueness - wherever and whenever it appears - as its existence is maintained among the hundreds and hundreds of species of Pokémon out there.

One year ago: Pokémon Mascots for Existing Sports Teams

Two years ago: The Music of Unite

Three years ago: How Simple Is Pokémon Really?

Four years ago: Illusions of Success?

Five years ago: People-Adventure or Pokémon-Adventure?

Six years ago: Kanto Starter Keychains

Getting United with Unite Squads

As with a certain feature or aspect from Pokémon Café Remix that I've recently explained, there is one from Pokémon Unite for which I haven't done the same. That would be the Unite Squad, which is a feature of teaming up with others to play the game. Remarkably, it does bear some similarities to the Teams feature in the other game, even if the scope and genre are different. Still, the objective of being able to group up with others remains the same, and that's what matters.

Similar to Teams, a Unite Squad may have up to 30 players and has its own identity, including an alphanumeric ID for easy reference. Unlike Teams, though, joining a Unite Squad is not obligated; I spent quite a bit of time without being in one, in fact, before joining the one I am in today. Squads are characterized by a description and tags that paint a general picture of its members; they may also require approval to join. Leaving a Squad is allowed if one feels to be (or the others are) underperforming, but in dire cases of inappropriateness, the Squad may also be reported for certain issues.

One of the Squad members is named as the leader, and that member acts as the "admin" of the Squad, being capable of editing the Squad description and tags as well as approving requests of new members to join, as expected of a typical "admin" for other affairs. Once again similar to Teams, the other Squad members don't have to be friends with one another, but they may of course become friends after having partaken in battles together in the usual way by adding them from the battle results screen. This is certainly achieved by them taking the initiative to link up.

For that, the Unite Squad feature provides the sub-feature of member chat, which allows Squad members to coordinate for getting a match together with available members. This may be accomplished through precomposed or custom messages (certainly for mentioning match lobbies) as well as a rudimentary set of Pokémon stickers as seen on certain social media or even Pokémon Go, for those who play. The chat log also serves as a history of members that requested to join the Squad as well as those who decide to leave for whatever reason, unknown as that may be.

The most significant sub-feature of the Unite Squads feature is certainly the rewards that can be obtained by joining one. Each week, daily and weekly missions are available for all members that when completed raise the mission point total, allowing certain items to be earned. The most basic of the rewards are Aeos Coins, which don't take much to be earned even just by a few Squad members, while the highest reward is certainly the Silver Emblem Box, which will take lots of dedication - and a good bit of collaboration - from Squad members to complete and earn.

Yet above all else, the Unite Squad feature affirms that connecting with others is the key for success to playing Pokémon Unite; it just enables players to do so in an integrated manner. This can then happen with up to 30 others, who can then make further connections as needed in all the play modes of Pokémon Unite and then be rewarded for all their efforts... provided that all the Squad members also do the same. After that, though, the real takeaway is having a greater sense of "unity" by way of the feature.

One year ago: Cosplay: Utsuru (for KJR)

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 10/9/2021

Three years ago: On the Buying and Selling of Gameplay Elements

Four years ago: Hunting for Physical References

Five years ago: What Pokémon Eat

Six years ago: Pokémon Jigsaw Puzzle

Latest Pokémon Fun on Social Media

Lately, there seems to be a trend on social media. That trend is simplistic, rather jocular language with deep meanings, almost like the perennial favorite of memes since practically when they were born, but in text form. Some different social media accounts or outlets have used the format to both creative and communicative effects, and that has been successful to a good extent. And if this blog is of any indication, that includes some that are related to Pokémon, and that becomes something to be explored.

A prominent one in this regard is the official Pokémon channel on YouTube, which has lately taken on such language for some of the posts in the Community section. Remarkably, this has been well-received by many users on the social media platform, with some suggesting that whoever wrote the posts with that language deserves to be commended for doing so. Given such a reception, the language is likely to be present in many posts for quite a bit of the foreseeable time ahead, which could be a good thing.

While not a social media outlet per se, the Pokémon Center newsletter (and to some extent the regular one for Pokémon as well) has also been using a bit of this language as well, interspersed with the usual spin on promotional materials. They may be considered to have the same effect, even if the reactions are mostly personal and unknown to me, as I'm not really aware of anyone else who subscribe to the newsletters and have the same reactions. The Community posts on the YouTube channel may or may not have been an influence.

The takeaway from this is that Internet users of the present day may need something that is understandable and digestible to their current needs, and the "meme-like" language as above seems to fit the bill. It seems to have been perfectly applicable for those other social media accounts or outlets, and for Pokémon, that also seems to be very much the case. Although not everything that is present on the Internet stays on the Internet, at least the language and its origins have made their mark, particularly for Pokémon.

One year ago: Surrendering in Pokémon Unite

Two years ago: Record-Keeping in Pokémon Games

Three years ago: Countermeasures for Pokémon Go: Taking Stands, Taking Chances

Four years ago: Someone Else's Points

Five years ago: A Poké Ball Keychain

Six years ago: Cosplay: Kisetsu no Matsuri

The Happy Bonus in Café Remix

There's a feature or aspect in Pokémon Café Remix that I've mentioned every so often but I've yet to explain. That would be the Happy Bonus, which by its name is indeed a "bonus" of sorts and a very beneficial one at that. As helpful as it is, it does come with quirks of its own, including those related to the way of obtaining the bonus and its persistence. Because of this, an explanation of it is somewhat demanded in order to assist others to make use of it.

First comes the matter of its appearance. Happy Bonus is something that appears fortuitously - in other words, by chance, and rather rarely at that. After completing a main order, past order, or individual Pokémon training order, the Happy Bonus might become activated. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the bonus is not activated if One-Minute Cooking was played; this may be good news for those seeking to avoid it or a helpful cue for those who do want to encounter it. For the latter, that is where and how things become useful.

Above all else, the Happy Bonus has these benefits: it provides two extra hearts for the motivation level of Pokémon guests to join the staff as well as extra points in individual Pokémon training. Therefore, once the Happy Bonus is activated, focus needs to be shifted to making Pokémon join the staff, if there are still any - including Shiny Pokémon, which seem to have not been around recently - or to train Pokémon. And all that has to happen within a span of 15 minutes, because that is precisely how long the Happy Bonus lasts.

Since I play a lot of One-Minute Cooking recently, most of my Happy Bonus efforts have been directed to raising Pokémon for that purpose, if somehow activated. But in the past, I've also used it to recruit Shiny Pokémon as above, especially with the use of a Heaping Helping Ticket and repeat orders to just get it done quickly. These are regardless the best usage scenarios for the Happy Bonus, so any player is free to do the same when it is active. Extra Stamina may be needed for Happy Bonus purposes, but any player should be able to provide that with resources at one's disposal.

While Happy Bonus is short for its intended purposes and may be rather infrequent due to its chance-based appearance, there are still some uses for it for both new and old players alike. But once it appears, it should be taken advantage of if possible to tie up loose ends or improve situations. Like "happy hours" at certain establishments, the Happy Bonus might be only rather opportune, but when it does happen in Café Remix, it ought to be lively all the same.

One year ago: Filling a Trainer's Home with Pokémon

Two years ago: Tournament: Raid Group Master League Classic

Three years ago: Let's Talk About Phones and Gadgetry

Four years ago: Livestream and Let Livestream

Five years ago: Cosplay: SJF - Tomodachi 3

Six years ago: Iron Trainers?

Improving on Routes (...Maybe?)

I've discussed the Routes feature in Pokémon Go and many of its associated aspects and quirks a couple of months ago. I've also mentioned in last month's event rollup that the feature has had some improvements applied to it, so now there is the need to discuss that. Obviously, the improvements are to eliminate some of the quirks, and that has indeed happened; however, it seems certain other quirks still remain, and that means they are still a pressing issue. Both of them still do need to be addressed regardless.

Route selection and initiation still occurs by way of the associated section in the Nearby tab pop-out. The process is no longer as finicky as before and should be smooth, making the feature more practical. When selecting a Route, "marching triangles" now appear on the path to indicate the direction to take, even as the Route direction is reversed (if possible for the Route); reversed Routes also count as separate Routes from the respective starting point. One concession is that the "Official" section for the Route list is now eliminated, which may mean that it may not be ready for "prime time" yet, even if the feature overall is as such.

On the other end, Route completion is now no longer automatic when a Trainer reaches the proximity of the end point; the completion has to be manually declared by tapping the Route icon just above the Nearby tab, selecting the option, and confirming the popup. This was implemented likely to avoid false completion detection if the start and end points are close together or even the same (for a loop Route), but more likely to allow Zygarde Cells to be collected - in fact, one or more of these often appear at the ends of Routes, and the popup message does address the issue, as the Cells cannot be collected once a Route is completed. Route color markers are now also rather varied, with 10 possible colors to indicate them. 

Most importantly, now many more Trainers are able to create Routes. After being limited only to the "special" Trainers, those of Level 48 also became able to create Routes, before being progressively lowered to 45, then 42, and now 40 at present. This means a good proportion of veteran and quickly progressing Trainers are now able to create Routes, and this should mean lots of variation in turn. Since this is a creation process, however, it is not likely that the process will be extended to Trainers of lower levels, at least significantly; it may be extended to Level 38, the current minimum for PokéStop nominations, but perhaps no further than that. Still, the variety of Routes that comes out of the current group should be sufficient.

Then there are the quirks that still exist. Going back to Zygarde Cells, even with good visibility of the screen, sometimes they are not spotted at all until Pokémon Go is restarted, which shouldn't be a "last resort workaround" of sorts, although this may help with missed Cells along the way. Similarly, starting Routes shouldn't require workarounds like restarting, switching to other apps, or turning off Adventure Sync to deal with them not starting even at the start point. Pausing during Route creation is also still an issue as it just does not seem to work, at least for me. These quirks may still be critical to address. 

After a couple of months of being live, the Routes feature in Pokémon Go seems to have shaped up with improvements, even if they seem rather spotty and leave some things (the quirks) to be desired. For a feature that has become somewhat important in different ways, the less-than-perfect quality of it may become a detractor in some ways despite all other things being just fine, if not close to perfect. Yet, it's still a way of laying down new exploration paths... and perhaps also the paths to its own improvement.

One year ago: Means of Venturing for Trainers

Two years ago: One Girl Is Company, Two Girls Are...

Three years ago: Official Representative Pokémon for Regions

Four years ago: (Not) Sparkling Names

Five years ago: My Town, Pokémon Town

Six years ago: What's in a Name?

Warring for "Pokémon" Tickets?

In a few days, I may need to go into a "ticket war" in order to be able to get into something that I usually utilize to show off my Pokémon interests. It had been confirmed today in a seemingly unusual twist, as in the past, going into the "ticket war" was usually unnecessary. For other occasions, "ticket wars" often become the norm, especially as they are extremely popular and slots are often very limited as a result. Yet it seems that even "ticket wars" may still be needed for some "Pokémon" affairs - in quotes, as that is the bulk of the relevance for me and this blog.

The most likely occasions that I have to go into "ticket warring" for are events and conventions, in particular those related to (Japanese) pop culture, as that is where I bring out my Pokémon cosplay and interact as a Pokémon fan primarily. In recent times, they've understandably gotten more and very popular to the point that even tickets to them have to be presold - often at a special price or deal - and/or attendance has to be capped, which obviously facilitates the necessity of "ticket warring". It could thus be said that for my foray into Indonesia Comic-Con earlier this year, I had to go into "ticket warring", even though the "battlefield" was relatively sparse and I got what I needed without too much of a struggle (or "combat" due to the given nature of "war") in certain senses. And that was truly a Pokémon affair due to Rica Matsumoto being in it; the same would be expected if any event or convention brought something heavily linked to Pokémon.

While there may be no "tickets" per se for things like Pokémon game competitions, some of them may have limited slots for entrants like me, so a bit of "warring" may be needed in order to participate in them. In such a situation, the "ticket" could be considered as the preparation and fulfillment of entry requirements, and the race to do so before others can do the same. In some cases, the "warring" could be rather intense as there could be many potential entrants and they are all bringing their serious game. After that "warring" ends, then there may be some "sub-wars" for the grand main part of the competition, the "ticket" for which are the results of the "sub-wars". These are all still a stretch of the real "ticket warring", but inherently, there are similarities in the processes.

As the time comes to face that "ticket war", I have to remind myself that my Pokémon interests still take precedence over most other things, and my showing off of those interests may be realized with or without success in the "ticket war" to come. Regardless, I may still have to face "ticket wars" elsewhere for that purpose, but that may be the struggle for ensuring that others can see that my interests are still relevant in any case.

One year ago: Possible Future Unite Licenses? (Take Two)

Two years ago: Quickies: Nurse Joy, the Maintainer of Health

Three years ago: Circus You Create

Four years ago: Gym Progression in Pokémon Go

Five years ago: Starters and "Pseudo-Starters"

Six years ago: The Old New Thing: Second-Generation Games