Pokemon: Gen 2
Pokemon Sun and Moon
Pokemon Sun and Moon is the sequel to Pokemon Red and Green. It is released in Japan in December 1999, as a launch game for the Game Boy Nova in that country. Its North American release is on June 23, 2000. Like the original games, it comes in two different versions, each with certain Pokemon that cannot be caught in the other game. As the counterpart to OTL's Pokemon Gold and Silver, it has many similarities to those two games, and particularly to the remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver. Due to the graphical capabilities of the Game Boy Nova, Sun and Moon bears a strong graphical resemblance to the OTL Nintendo DS Pokemon titles, and in battle, Pokemon actually can be seen to move somewhat, in a way resembling the battle animations in OTL's Pokemon Black and White. Thus, the game is a massive graphical step up from OTL's games in every conceivable way. In terms of gameplay mechanics, the gameplay improvements from OTL's Gold and Silver, including the Special stat split, night/day mechanics, the new Dark and Steel types, and berries all appear in TTL's game. In addition, a number of improvements from OTL's Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl games also appear, including Pokemon natures and abilities. A notable improvement that does not appear is the addition of physical/special components for moves. All moves in Pokemon Sun and Moon are still either physical or special based on their type, and not a separate component of the move. The game's musical score is considered to be a major improvement as well, due to the enhanced sound capabilities of the Nova, allowing for orchestral songs to appear at certain points in the game. A lyrical theme song for the end credits was considered, but ultimately rejected to save memory space for other game features.
The OTL Gold and Silver featured 100 new Pokemon in addition to the 151 already present in the previous game. Sun and Moon feature 106 new Pokemon (including 7 legendaries as opposed to 6 IOTL), 68 of them either completely the same as OTL Pokemon or very very similar with only slight changes (such as a name change), and 38 new Pokemon that did not appear IOTL.
Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that also appear in Sun and Moon include:
-All 9 starter Pokemon (Chikorita, Bayleef, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Quilava, Typhlosion, Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligator (no R removed ITTL))
-Spinarak/Ariados
-Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos
-Hitmontop
-Phanpy/Donphan
-Skateray (OTL Mantine)
-Pichu/Elekid/Magby/Cleffa (but no Igglybuff)
-Kingdra
-Miltank
-Blissey
-Larvitar/Pupitar/Tyranitar
-Entei/Raikou/Suicune
-Ho-Oh/Lugia (though Lugia's role as a version mascot is removed)
-Celebi
Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that do not appear in Sun and Moon include:
-Sunkern/Sunflora
-Houndour/Houndoom
-Slugma/Magcargo
-Murkrow
-Unown
-Teddiursa/Ursaring
-Hoppip/Skiploom/Jumpluff
Some of the original to Sun and Moon Pokemon are:
-Tazap (a taser-like Electric/Steel Pokemon)
-Scareprize (a Ghost/Psychic Pokemon that floats around as a sphere of energy before popping out a big scary face to attack)
-Chilpup/Timberg (an Ice-type wolf Pokemon that starts out as a little wolf pup and then evolves into a majestic timberwolf)
-Larvii/Wasping/Hawksis (a three-stage Dark/Bug type tarantula wasp Pokemon, unlike most three-stage Bug evolutions, it evolves at later levels into an absolutely vicious creature, Hawksis is basically a Cazador from New Vegas with a 525 BST: 75/140/65/70/50/125)
-Seamaster (a third stage for the Goldeen line to compliment Kingdra)
-Stagle (Heracross becomes a second stage Pokemon ITTL, Stagle is his pre-evolution)
-Seeding/Leaflette/Bloomarch (A three-stage Grass evolution with a large flower as its final stage, basically replaces the Sunflora/Jumpluff line ITTL)
-Gloombeak/Raveness (a two-stage Dark/Flying line with raven-like Pokemon, essentially replaces Murkrow
-Rivitor/Constructer/Kraftscrap (a three-stage Steel/Fighting line, Rivitor is like a cute little construction worker while Constructer gains metal appendages and Kraftscrap has six arms and can shift its body parts around like a robot, it has very high Attack and Defense)
-Lunalux (the Moon version mascot, a beautiful Psychic/Flying legendary bird Pokemon that shoots moonbeams from its plume and is rivals with Ho-Oh)
Ho-Oh can only be caught in Sun, Lunalux can only be caught in Moon, and Lugia can be caught in both and later becomes the version mascot for Eclipse (Nivek came up with the name for the later third game).
The gym leaders mostly remain the same, with a couple of changes:
Bugsy in Azalea Town is replaced with Josh, a Fighting type Gym Leader, and Chuck in Cianwood is replaced with Uma, a Bug type Gym Leader. Essentially, Fighting and Bug switch places.
The plot of Pokemon Sun and Moon shares much with Gold and Silver, and indeed with most Pokemon games: you start out as a young boy (or girl, in this game you can pick) who gets a starter Pokemon from the professor (Elm, same as OTL) and sets out on a journey to complete the Pokedex, conquer the gyms, and become a Pokemon master. In this game, Team Rocket returns as Team Shrapnel, and their goals are somewhat darker than IOTL's game. After Team Rocket was defeated in Red and Green, they return as Team Shrapnel, though Shrapnel consists of only the most extreme members of the old Team Rocket along with new, hardcore recruits, who stop at nothing to capture powerful Pokemon and in this case, conquer the world at the behest of their new leader, Breaker. As the player progresses on their journey, they encounter Team Shrapnel on numerous occasions, each plan more dastardly than the last. They still attempt to capture Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, and in this case, they succeed despite the player's best efforts, gravely injuring Dragon Master Lance in the process. Other Team Shrapnel plans include the abduction of Gym Leader Whitney (the player has to rescue her before they can fight in Goldenrod Gym), the raiding of a Pokemon Day Care (they try to use Ditto to hatch powerful Pokemon before the player stops them), the poisoning of milk from Moo Moo Farm with a toxin that compels whoever drinks it to give up their Pokemon, and finally, toward the end of the game, the attempted assassination of the Gym Leader Clair via the use of the Shining Gyarados (though in the end, Clair and the player foil this). After Team Shrapnel is defeated in Blackthorne City, Breaker gets away, but this is left unresolved in the main game, as the player must complete their journey. Because of Lance's injury, the final Champion at the end of the Elite Four is Zacharias, an elite trainer who assisted the player in rescuing Whitney and whom the player helped after he injected some of the tainted milk and nearly gave up his prized Tyranitar (whom he's more than happy to use against the player in the final battle). Defeating Zacharias wins the main game, but there's an entire postgame left over...the player must journey to Kanto, just as IOTL Gold and Silver. Here is where the Breaker storyline is resolved once and for all, after Breaker takes over the Cinnabar Island Gym. Giovanni meets him there to try and talk him down, but is severely wounded by Breaker's Hawksis, and the player must defeat him. In the end, Breaker, in a desperate attempt to kill the player and Giovanni, tries to trigger Cinnabar's volcano, but ends up falling in instead in the first on-screen death in the Pokemon game series (ITTL, there will be many more, due to Sony creative's influence on Game Freak gradually leading the series' plotline down a more serious path). The final challenge in this post game is to defeat Red at Mt. Silver, just as in OTL. He's even more powerful and dangerous than in OTL's game, with a level 100 Pikachu that players will need to train seriously to defeat. Finally, after Red is defeated, the game is at last truly beaten, with the only goal remaining being to "catch 'em all"!
Needless to say, the sales of Pokemon Sun and Moon are exceptionally strong. Though the game has a bit of a slower start than Gold and Silver did IOTL (simply due to the fact that fewer people own the new and somewhat expensive Game Boy Nova), the game drives Nova sales in a major way, and the game remains near the top or at the top of the sales charts for the remainder of the year and beyond, eventually selling about as many if not a bit more total copies in North America than Gold and Silver did. Reviews are also very strong for the game, it averages around 9/10 in most review outlets, with particular praise going to the expanded game world, the designs of the new Pokemon, the improvements in graphical presentation and sound quality, and the stronger storyline compared to the original game. Sun and Moon continues the Pokemon craze still sweeping the world, and as of the end of 2000, it shows no signs of slowing down.
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Tai's Adventures In Johto - Seasons 3 and 4 of the Pokemon Anime
The third season of the Pokemon anime, based on Pokemon Sun and Moon, began airing on Toonami on July 10, 2000. New episodes aired every Friday, while reruns aired the rest of the week (this was necessary for the dub company to be able to keep up, since these episodes started airing in Japan in October 1999). Taking place ten years after the original season based in Kanto, its protagonist was Tai (voiced by Joshua Seth), whose appearance was based on the male protagonist of the game. Unlike Sato, who was energetic and hot-headed, Tai was somewhat cold and aloof, and had difficulty making friends, even with his starter Pokemon Totodile. Tai started out on a somewhat reluctant journey with Totodile, while his rival, the peppy (if somewhat arrogant) Suki (voiced by Melissa Fahn), based on the female protagonist of Sun and Moon, started with a Chikorita and seemed to train circles around her fellow young trainer. Tai's first real friend was Josh (voiced by Ben Diskin and based on the Azalea Town gym leader), who he met early on in his journey and who helped Tai out of a jam when he got himself into a fight with a much tougher and bigger trainer. Unlike Brock, who was a fairly serious character, Josh was a prankster, and it was his ability to make Tai laughed that helped the boy to open up. Later on, Suki would reluctantly join Tai and Josh on their journey after having to rescue the two of them from Team Breaker, though at first Tai resented her and Josh had to frequently break up arguments between the two. As the three progressed through the world, with Tai and Suki both battling their way through gyms (a unique situation for the anime, which wouldn't repeat such a dual-protagonist arrangement until a much later season), Tai had to learn to trust people and gradually open up. The relationship between Tai and Suki became one of the most complex relationships in the anime. The two of them were constantly fighting, though unlike with Ash and Misty, who frequently argued over trivial things, these two had a genuine clash in personality, and occasionally said deeply hurtful things to one another, which, at a certain point, drove Tai away from the team for several episodes just before the Olivine City gym battle. The two seemed to rescue each other a lot as well, which became a point of pride for the one doing the rescuing, though in a later episode they'd encounter a situation where they'd have to bail each other out (the Siege of Goldenrod City episode following the Mahogany gym battle). The villains, Team Shrapnel, were quite vicious, with few comic relief moments for them (though a pair of Team Shrapnel members, Lake and River, were somewhat like Jessie and James and would eventually be redeemed, unlike most of the rest of their gang). Tracker (from The New Land), returned as well, as a main lieutenant of Breaker, who proved to be the main villain of the first season of the Sun and Moon saga. After Breaker was beaten and taken into custody, the Johto tournament began, with Tai and Suki both reaching the semifinals and having to face one another for the right to battle in the finals against Zacharias. Tai defeated Suki when his Feraligator was able to overcome Suki's Meganium's type advantage and defeat it for the first time, but Tai would lose in the finals in a fierce battle. However, this would open the door for a new chapter of Tai's tale when Dragon Master Lance invited the young hero and his friends to Kanto to help him with a special mission. It was at this point that Professor Elm would present Tai with a special "Omega Ball" and ask him to bring it with him to discover the secret of unlocking the Pokemon inside.
The second season of Tai's journey would air on Toonami in 2002. It chronicled Tai and his friends' journey in Kanto, where they would ultimately meet a grown-up Misty, who had been separated from Sato (now voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) for several years and was in desperate need to find him. During Tai's stay in Kanto, he would also have to deal with an escaped Breaker (who was taken down in a 12-episode midseason arc that involved some of the most emotionally charged Pokemon battles in the series, where ultimately Suki was the one to defeat Breaker's Hawksis with her Ampharos, driving him to the act of desperation that led to his demise in the anime). Tai and friends also encountered the reformed Jessie and James on numerous occasions, the two of them had become wacky inventors, though they had about as much luck coming up with inventions legitimately as they did when they were with Team Rocket. He and his friends met Giovanni, Sato's father, who was concerned that Sato is becoming evil like he did. They met and battled Gary in the Viridian City gym, and saw that Gary was now a changed man with a deep caring for his Pokemon, who also desired to see Sato safe and well. Eventually, Tai, Suki, and Josh, along with Brock, Misty, and Gary, ventured to Mt. Silver, where they found that Sato had became an emotionally distant recluse. Tai was reminded of the person he used to be, and was determined to make Sato realize who his true friends are. Sato's Pikachu, though still loyal to Sato and still always at his side, was deeply saddened by how driven Sato had become to catch every Pokemon. Sato revealed that he had caught all of them with the exception of Mewtwo and Mew, and unleashed the three legendary birds on Tai and his friends. Using their Pokemon Feraligator, Meganium, and Typhlosion, Tai, Suki, and Josh managed to overcome Sato's legendary bird Pokemon, forcing him to recall them. Sato then unleashed Pikachu, which took out Feraligator with one mighty Thunderbolt. Misty tried to calm Sato down, but Pikachu, despite its reluctance, took her Pokemon down as well. Sato had come to Mt. Silver to train to become strong enough to capture Mewtwo and Mew, remembering when Mewtwo and Mew's attacks turned him into stone (the original movie is canon here and everybody remembers what took place) and desiring to strengthen his body and mind so as to not allow that to happen again. Misty begged Sato to remember how much all the Pokemon there, even the ones that didn't even know him, expressed emotion that brought him back to life, even Mewtwo and Mew stopped their fighting to help bring him back. Sato was seemingly stirred by this, but he rejected everyone's pleas and went forth to capture Mewtwo and Mew. Scenes of Tai and his friends trying to find Sato are interspersed with scenes of Sato finding Mew, and Mew allowing itself to be captured, cowed by Sato's new strength. Sato then battled Mewtwo, and was able to defeat it, bringing it to its knees just as Tai and the others arrived. Sato ordered Mewtwo to attack Tai, who tried desperately to defend himself with Feraligator. Feraligator took an epic beating, but refused to stay down. Finally, Pikachu stepped in, and was nearly killed by one of Mewtwo's attacks. Shocked by his own friend's sacrifice and left in awe at the fact that so many other people were concerned about him, Sato realized the error of his ways and remembered the trainer he used to be, deeply caring for all of his Pokemon, with Pikachu as his best friend. Sato broke down and begged for forgiveness, letting all of his Pokemon out of his Pokeballs and offering to let them go free. Though the legendary birds were called away, and Mewtwo and Mew, though expressing respect for Sato, had to leave due to other obligations, all of his other Pokemon agreed to stay with him, and Pikachu leapt into his arms for the first time since Sato withdrew from all of his friends. Even Misty forgave him, and Tai realized just how much he himself had grown as a trainer. The final episode of the series was about Tai, Suki, Josh, Sato, Misty, Brock, and Gary discovering the secret of the Omega Ball together when they took it to Ilex Forest and opened it, revealing Celebi With the power to control time, Celebi can grant any wish, and Sato considered asking Celebi to take him back in time so he could relive those lost years when he was away from his friends, but Misty and Brock told him that he has plenty of time to make new memories, and the Pokemon trainers released Celebi into the world to find its own way. Tai returned to his hometown to spend some quality time with his beloved Pokemon, saying goodbye to Josh (who returned to the Azalea Town gym to finally take over for his older brother) and Suki, but only for now, promising to see them again soon.
The fifth season of the anime was another filler season to cover the gap between the Sun and Moon generation and the upcoming generation of Pokemon games. It aired on Toonami in 2003, and brought Tai and friends back for one final series of adventures, but we'll cover that season next time, as it took a rather strange (if still pretty fun and adventurous) turn.
-from "Recollections of the Pokemon Animated Series", an article on Karen's Anime Memories Blog, posted on July 17, 2010
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Pokemon: Master Of Legends is the North American name of Revelation Lugia, the second Pokemon film. It premiered in the United States in theaters on November 3, 2000, and takes place at a vague period of time during the third season (in Japan, the film debuted in February 2000, and Tai's team included a couple of Pokemon he hadn't yet acquired in the anime up to that time, which was intentional in order to tease future episodes). In Master Of Legends, Tai, Suki, and Josh end up shipwrecked after strange weather tosses their boat aground on an island where a strange Pokemon named Slowking (the alternate evolution of Slowpoke introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon live). The three are caught up in a mysterious legend involving the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in great discord after an evil collector tries to capture them (it's not explained why the weather doesn't go haywire after Sato captures them in the actual series, though in the series, there's revealed to be more than one of each legendary bird, so....yeah the movie canon is kinda weird). Eventually, Lugia (revealed to be the master of the legendary birds) shows up, enabling Tai to save the world and fulfill some kind of prophecy that's rather vaguely explained. It's pretty funny to see Suki and Melody (the flute-playing girl who helps Tai save the world) fighting over him, though Suki never actually admits she likes him (she wouldn't in the anime until toward the end of the fourth season). It's a fun movie and arguably even better than the first, though it didn't gross as much as the original film did, opening to around $25 million and grossing a North American total of around $65 million. Still, the animation and music are great and for anyone who wants to see some awesome legendary bird action (and Lugia kicking ass), it's a recommended watch.
-from the topic "Anime Movie Of The Week- Pokemon: Master Of Legends", posted on Gamefaqs.com's Contests Board on February 3, 2007
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Ted Crosley: The bottom line is that Pokemon Sun and Moon makes a TON of improvements to the original. Pretty much every improvement I said the original game needed to make, it made! The graphics: better. The type disparities... mostly better although Dragon types are still too damn strong, thankfully I can chill them out with the badass wolf Pokemon Timberg but they're still too strong. Really the only problem I have with this game is that you still have to trade to catch 'em all, and that's a pain in the ass.
Alex Stansfield: Well, you know my stance on that, it's part of the game's design and come on, man, you've got plenty of people to trade with.
Ted: Most of you guys won't trade with me!
Alex: Because you want an Articuno for a Pidgey! Come on, man!
Ted: They're both birds though! It's a fair trade!
Alex: *shaking his head* I've really got to hand it to Nintendo, they outdid themselves. They even gave you something REALLY fun to do after you beat the game, but I'm not going to spoil it quite yet, wait for a future episode of GameTV to detail all the awesome stuff you get to do after beating the final boss.
Ted: It's not the BEST looking game on the Nova, but it's definitely the biggest, and with 257 Pokemon crammed into this thing, you'll have plenty to do for hours on end.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5, it's one of the best RPGs in what's been a pretty good year for them.
Ted: You know what, I agree. Pokemon Sun and Moon gets a 4.5. It'd get a 5 if I didn't have to trade with you guys to get all the Pokemon.
Alex: Highly recommended game, if you don't have a Game Boy Nova yet, here's your reason to get one!
-excerpted from the June 20, 2000 episode of GameTV
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June 30, 2000
Satoshi Tajiri couldn't have been happier to hear of Pokemon Sun and Moon's success in North America. He'd gotten a phone call from Howard Lincoln just a few days after the game's release, where Lincoln had told him, "we couldn't be selling Game Boy Novas faster if we'd have cut the price in half". What had started as a fascination with catching bugs had turned into a global phenomenon, and had given him the freedom to do whatever he wished in an industry he deeply loved. There would of course be people clamoring for yet another Pokemon game, and he had many ideas for what the third installment would bring, but there were other concerns. Game Freak was getting the opportunity to develop games other than Pokemon, and Tajiri himself had been asked to come to North America to meet with another of Sony's partners in game development, a company that was about to release two of the year's biggest games one after the other.
Tajiri was familiar with Dog Dash, and had enjoyed the time he'd spent playing it when it was recommended to him by a friend. But the man Satoshi Tajiri was about to meet was mainly responsible for another of the company's franchises: Tales Of The Seven Seas.
Tajiri was seated at a table at one of the best restaurants in Santa Monica, with a representative from Sony Entertainment who had arranged the meeting.
"He's running a little late, I'm sorry," the representative said, looking a bit embarrassed. "We're just about to send the new Seven Seas game to stores and there's a lot of work getting ready, I think he's been at another meeting all morning."
"It's all right," said Tajiri, who would normally frown on such tardiness, though in this case, still riding high from the success of Sun and Moon and excited to be meeting another creative professional, he was more than willing to forgive the breach of etiquette. "It's a very busy time for everyone."
Tajiri wasn't kept waiting long. A member of the wait staff was escorting a man to his table. Tajiri recognized him from a picture in Famitsu magazine as one of the most important game developers at Naughty Dog.
"Mr. Tajiri, this is Mark Cerny," said the Sony representative, as Mr. Cerny extended his hand for Tajiri to shake. Tajiri stood up and did so, and smiled graciously.
"It's an absolute pleasure," said Cerny, his smile equally beaming. "Your game is brilliant. I really hope we can work together someday."
Pokemon Sun and Moon is the sequel to Pokemon Red and Green. It is released in Japan in December 1999, as a launch game for the Game Boy Nova in that country. Its North American release is on June 23, 2000. Like the original games, it comes in two different versions, each with certain Pokemon that cannot be caught in the other game. As the counterpart to OTL's Pokemon Gold and Silver, it has many similarities to those two games, and particularly to the remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver. Due to the graphical capabilities of the Game Boy Nova, Sun and Moon bears a strong graphical resemblance to the OTL Nintendo DS Pokemon titles, and in battle, Pokemon actually can be seen to move somewhat, in a way resembling the battle animations in OTL's Pokemon Black and White. Thus, the game is a massive graphical step up from OTL's games in every conceivable way. In terms of gameplay mechanics, the gameplay improvements from OTL's Gold and Silver, including the Special stat split, night/day mechanics, the new Dark and Steel types, and berries all appear in TTL's game. In addition, a number of improvements from OTL's Ruby/Sapphire and Diamond/Pearl games also appear, including Pokemon natures and abilities. A notable improvement that does not appear is the addition of physical/special components for moves. All moves in Pokemon Sun and Moon are still either physical or special based on their type, and not a separate component of the move. The game's musical score is considered to be a major improvement as well, due to the enhanced sound capabilities of the Nova, allowing for orchestral songs to appear at certain points in the game. A lyrical theme song for the end credits was considered, but ultimately rejected to save memory space for other game features.
The OTL Gold and Silver featured 100 new Pokemon in addition to the 151 already present in the previous game. Sun and Moon feature 106 new Pokemon (including 7 legendaries as opposed to 6 IOTL), 68 of them either completely the same as OTL Pokemon or very very similar with only slight changes (such as a name change), and 38 new Pokemon that did not appear IOTL.
Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that also appear in Sun and Moon include:
-All 9 starter Pokemon (Chikorita, Bayleef, Meganium, Cyndaquil, Quilava, Typhlosion, Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligator (no R removed ITTL))
-Spinarak/Ariados
-Mareep/Flaaffy/Ampharos
-Hitmontop
-Phanpy/Donphan
-Skateray (OTL Mantine)
-Pichu/Elekid/Magby/Cleffa (but no Igglybuff)
-Kingdra
-Miltank
-Blissey
-Larvitar/Pupitar/Tyranitar
-Entei/Raikou/Suicune
-Ho-Oh/Lugia (though Lugia's role as a version mascot is removed)
-Celebi
Some Pokemon that appear in OTL's game that do not appear in Sun and Moon include:
-Sunkern/Sunflora
-Houndour/Houndoom
-Slugma/Magcargo
-Murkrow
-Unown
-Teddiursa/Ursaring
-Hoppip/Skiploom/Jumpluff
Some of the original to Sun and Moon Pokemon are:
-Tazap (a taser-like Electric/Steel Pokemon)
-Scareprize (a Ghost/Psychic Pokemon that floats around as a sphere of energy before popping out a big scary face to attack)
-Chilpup/Timberg (an Ice-type wolf Pokemon that starts out as a little wolf pup and then evolves into a majestic timberwolf)
-Larvii/Wasping/Hawksis (a three-stage Dark/Bug type tarantula wasp Pokemon, unlike most three-stage Bug evolutions, it evolves at later levels into an absolutely vicious creature, Hawksis is basically a Cazador from New Vegas with a 525 BST: 75/140/65/70/50/125)
-Seamaster (a third stage for the Goldeen line to compliment Kingdra)
-Stagle (Heracross becomes a second stage Pokemon ITTL, Stagle is his pre-evolution)
-Seeding/Leaflette/Bloomarch (A three-stage Grass evolution with a large flower as its final stage, basically replaces the Sunflora/Jumpluff line ITTL)
-Gloombeak/Raveness (a two-stage Dark/Flying line with raven-like Pokemon, essentially replaces Murkrow
-Rivitor/Constructer/Kraftscrap (a three-stage Steel/Fighting line, Rivitor is like a cute little construction worker while Constructer gains metal appendages and Kraftscrap has six arms and can shift its body parts around like a robot, it has very high Attack and Defense)
-Lunalux (the Moon version mascot, a beautiful Psychic/Flying legendary bird Pokemon that shoots moonbeams from its plume and is rivals with Ho-Oh)
Ho-Oh can only be caught in Sun, Lunalux can only be caught in Moon, and Lugia can be caught in both and later becomes the version mascot for Eclipse (Nivek came up with the name for the later third game).
The gym leaders mostly remain the same, with a couple of changes:
Bugsy in Azalea Town is replaced with Josh, a Fighting type Gym Leader, and Chuck in Cianwood is replaced with Uma, a Bug type Gym Leader. Essentially, Fighting and Bug switch places.
The plot of Pokemon Sun and Moon shares much with Gold and Silver, and indeed with most Pokemon games: you start out as a young boy (or girl, in this game you can pick) who gets a starter Pokemon from the professor (Elm, same as OTL) and sets out on a journey to complete the Pokedex, conquer the gyms, and become a Pokemon master. In this game, Team Rocket returns as Team Shrapnel, and their goals are somewhat darker than IOTL's game. After Team Rocket was defeated in Red and Green, they return as Team Shrapnel, though Shrapnel consists of only the most extreme members of the old Team Rocket along with new, hardcore recruits, who stop at nothing to capture powerful Pokemon and in this case, conquer the world at the behest of their new leader, Breaker. As the player progresses on their journey, they encounter Team Shrapnel on numerous occasions, each plan more dastardly than the last. They still attempt to capture Gyarados at the Lake of Rage, and in this case, they succeed despite the player's best efforts, gravely injuring Dragon Master Lance in the process. Other Team Shrapnel plans include the abduction of Gym Leader Whitney (the player has to rescue her before they can fight in Goldenrod Gym), the raiding of a Pokemon Day Care (they try to use Ditto to hatch powerful Pokemon before the player stops them), the poisoning of milk from Moo Moo Farm with a toxin that compels whoever drinks it to give up their Pokemon, and finally, toward the end of the game, the attempted assassination of the Gym Leader Clair via the use of the Shining Gyarados (though in the end, Clair and the player foil this). After Team Shrapnel is defeated in Blackthorne City, Breaker gets away, but this is left unresolved in the main game, as the player must complete their journey. Because of Lance's injury, the final Champion at the end of the Elite Four is Zacharias, an elite trainer who assisted the player in rescuing Whitney and whom the player helped after he injected some of the tainted milk and nearly gave up his prized Tyranitar (whom he's more than happy to use against the player in the final battle). Defeating Zacharias wins the main game, but there's an entire postgame left over...the player must journey to Kanto, just as IOTL Gold and Silver. Here is where the Breaker storyline is resolved once and for all, after Breaker takes over the Cinnabar Island Gym. Giovanni meets him there to try and talk him down, but is severely wounded by Breaker's Hawksis, and the player must defeat him. In the end, Breaker, in a desperate attempt to kill the player and Giovanni, tries to trigger Cinnabar's volcano, but ends up falling in instead in the first on-screen death in the Pokemon game series (ITTL, there will be many more, due to Sony creative's influence on Game Freak gradually leading the series' plotline down a more serious path). The final challenge in this post game is to defeat Red at Mt. Silver, just as in OTL. He's even more powerful and dangerous than in OTL's game, with a level 100 Pikachu that players will need to train seriously to defeat. Finally, after Red is defeated, the game is at last truly beaten, with the only goal remaining being to "catch 'em all"!
Needless to say, the sales of Pokemon Sun and Moon are exceptionally strong. Though the game has a bit of a slower start than Gold and Silver did IOTL (simply due to the fact that fewer people own the new and somewhat expensive Game Boy Nova), the game drives Nova sales in a major way, and the game remains near the top or at the top of the sales charts for the remainder of the year and beyond, eventually selling about as many if not a bit more total copies in North America than Gold and Silver did. Reviews are also very strong for the game, it averages around 9/10 in most review outlets, with particular praise going to the expanded game world, the designs of the new Pokemon, the improvements in graphical presentation and sound quality, and the stronger storyline compared to the original game. Sun and Moon continues the Pokemon craze still sweeping the world, and as of the end of 2000, it shows no signs of slowing down.
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Tai's Adventures In Johto - Seasons 3 and 4 of the Pokemon Anime
The third season of the Pokemon anime, based on Pokemon Sun and Moon, began airing on Toonami on July 10, 2000. New episodes aired every Friday, while reruns aired the rest of the week (this was necessary for the dub company to be able to keep up, since these episodes started airing in Japan in October 1999). Taking place ten years after the original season based in Kanto, its protagonist was Tai (voiced by Joshua Seth), whose appearance was based on the male protagonist of the game. Unlike Sato, who was energetic and hot-headed, Tai was somewhat cold and aloof, and had difficulty making friends, even with his starter Pokemon Totodile. Tai started out on a somewhat reluctant journey with Totodile, while his rival, the peppy (if somewhat arrogant) Suki (voiced by Melissa Fahn), based on the female protagonist of Sun and Moon, started with a Chikorita and seemed to train circles around her fellow young trainer. Tai's first real friend was Josh (voiced by Ben Diskin and based on the Azalea Town gym leader), who he met early on in his journey and who helped Tai out of a jam when he got himself into a fight with a much tougher and bigger trainer. Unlike Brock, who was a fairly serious character, Josh was a prankster, and it was his ability to make Tai laughed that helped the boy to open up. Later on, Suki would reluctantly join Tai and Josh on their journey after having to rescue the two of them from Team Breaker, though at first Tai resented her and Josh had to frequently break up arguments between the two. As the three progressed through the world, with Tai and Suki both battling their way through gyms (a unique situation for the anime, which wouldn't repeat such a dual-protagonist arrangement until a much later season), Tai had to learn to trust people and gradually open up. The relationship between Tai and Suki became one of the most complex relationships in the anime. The two of them were constantly fighting, though unlike with Ash and Misty, who frequently argued over trivial things, these two had a genuine clash in personality, and occasionally said deeply hurtful things to one another, which, at a certain point, drove Tai away from the team for several episodes just before the Olivine City gym battle. The two seemed to rescue each other a lot as well, which became a point of pride for the one doing the rescuing, though in a later episode they'd encounter a situation where they'd have to bail each other out (the Siege of Goldenrod City episode following the Mahogany gym battle). The villains, Team Shrapnel, were quite vicious, with few comic relief moments for them (though a pair of Team Shrapnel members, Lake and River, were somewhat like Jessie and James and would eventually be redeemed, unlike most of the rest of their gang). Tracker (from The New Land), returned as well, as a main lieutenant of Breaker, who proved to be the main villain of the first season of the Sun and Moon saga. After Breaker was beaten and taken into custody, the Johto tournament began, with Tai and Suki both reaching the semifinals and having to face one another for the right to battle in the finals against Zacharias. Tai defeated Suki when his Feraligator was able to overcome Suki's Meganium's type advantage and defeat it for the first time, but Tai would lose in the finals in a fierce battle. However, this would open the door for a new chapter of Tai's tale when Dragon Master Lance invited the young hero and his friends to Kanto to help him with a special mission. It was at this point that Professor Elm would present Tai with a special "Omega Ball" and ask him to bring it with him to discover the secret of unlocking the Pokemon inside.
The second season of Tai's journey would air on Toonami in 2002. It chronicled Tai and his friends' journey in Kanto, where they would ultimately meet a grown-up Misty, who had been separated from Sato (now voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) for several years and was in desperate need to find him. During Tai's stay in Kanto, he would also have to deal with an escaped Breaker (who was taken down in a 12-episode midseason arc that involved some of the most emotionally charged Pokemon battles in the series, where ultimately Suki was the one to defeat Breaker's Hawksis with her Ampharos, driving him to the act of desperation that led to his demise in the anime). Tai and friends also encountered the reformed Jessie and James on numerous occasions, the two of them had become wacky inventors, though they had about as much luck coming up with inventions legitimately as they did when they were with Team Rocket. He and his friends met Giovanni, Sato's father, who was concerned that Sato is becoming evil like he did. They met and battled Gary in the Viridian City gym, and saw that Gary was now a changed man with a deep caring for his Pokemon, who also desired to see Sato safe and well. Eventually, Tai, Suki, and Josh, along with Brock, Misty, and Gary, ventured to Mt. Silver, where they found that Sato had became an emotionally distant recluse. Tai was reminded of the person he used to be, and was determined to make Sato realize who his true friends are. Sato's Pikachu, though still loyal to Sato and still always at his side, was deeply saddened by how driven Sato had become to catch every Pokemon. Sato revealed that he had caught all of them with the exception of Mewtwo and Mew, and unleashed the three legendary birds on Tai and his friends. Using their Pokemon Feraligator, Meganium, and Typhlosion, Tai, Suki, and Josh managed to overcome Sato's legendary bird Pokemon, forcing him to recall them. Sato then unleashed Pikachu, which took out Feraligator with one mighty Thunderbolt. Misty tried to calm Sato down, but Pikachu, despite its reluctance, took her Pokemon down as well. Sato had come to Mt. Silver to train to become strong enough to capture Mewtwo and Mew, remembering when Mewtwo and Mew's attacks turned him into stone (the original movie is canon here and everybody remembers what took place) and desiring to strengthen his body and mind so as to not allow that to happen again. Misty begged Sato to remember how much all the Pokemon there, even the ones that didn't even know him, expressed emotion that brought him back to life, even Mewtwo and Mew stopped their fighting to help bring him back. Sato was seemingly stirred by this, but he rejected everyone's pleas and went forth to capture Mewtwo and Mew. Scenes of Tai and his friends trying to find Sato are interspersed with scenes of Sato finding Mew, and Mew allowing itself to be captured, cowed by Sato's new strength. Sato then battled Mewtwo, and was able to defeat it, bringing it to its knees just as Tai and the others arrived. Sato ordered Mewtwo to attack Tai, who tried desperately to defend himself with Feraligator. Feraligator took an epic beating, but refused to stay down. Finally, Pikachu stepped in, and was nearly killed by one of Mewtwo's attacks. Shocked by his own friend's sacrifice and left in awe at the fact that so many other people were concerned about him, Sato realized the error of his ways and remembered the trainer he used to be, deeply caring for all of his Pokemon, with Pikachu as his best friend. Sato broke down and begged for forgiveness, letting all of his Pokemon out of his Pokeballs and offering to let them go free. Though the legendary birds were called away, and Mewtwo and Mew, though expressing respect for Sato, had to leave due to other obligations, all of his other Pokemon agreed to stay with him, and Pikachu leapt into his arms for the first time since Sato withdrew from all of his friends. Even Misty forgave him, and Tai realized just how much he himself had grown as a trainer. The final episode of the series was about Tai, Suki, Josh, Sato, Misty, Brock, and Gary discovering the secret of the Omega Ball together when they took it to Ilex Forest and opened it, revealing Celebi With the power to control time, Celebi can grant any wish, and Sato considered asking Celebi to take him back in time so he could relive those lost years when he was away from his friends, but Misty and Brock told him that he has plenty of time to make new memories, and the Pokemon trainers released Celebi into the world to find its own way. Tai returned to his hometown to spend some quality time with his beloved Pokemon, saying goodbye to Josh (who returned to the Azalea Town gym to finally take over for his older brother) and Suki, but only for now, promising to see them again soon.
The fifth season of the anime was another filler season to cover the gap between the Sun and Moon generation and the upcoming generation of Pokemon games. It aired on Toonami in 2003, and brought Tai and friends back for one final series of adventures, but we'll cover that season next time, as it took a rather strange (if still pretty fun and adventurous) turn.
-from "Recollections of the Pokemon Animated Series", an article on Karen's Anime Memories Blog, posted on July 17, 2010
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Pokemon: Master Of Legends is the North American name of Revelation Lugia, the second Pokemon film. It premiered in the United States in theaters on November 3, 2000, and takes place at a vague period of time during the third season (in Japan, the film debuted in February 2000, and Tai's team included a couple of Pokemon he hadn't yet acquired in the anime up to that time, which was intentional in order to tease future episodes). In Master Of Legends, Tai, Suki, and Josh end up shipwrecked after strange weather tosses their boat aground on an island where a strange Pokemon named Slowking (the alternate evolution of Slowpoke introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon live). The three are caught up in a mysterious legend involving the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in great discord after an evil collector tries to capture them (it's not explained why the weather doesn't go haywire after Sato captures them in the actual series, though in the series, there's revealed to be more than one of each legendary bird, so....yeah the movie canon is kinda weird). Eventually, Lugia (revealed to be the master of the legendary birds) shows up, enabling Tai to save the world and fulfill some kind of prophecy that's rather vaguely explained. It's pretty funny to see Suki and Melody (the flute-playing girl who helps Tai save the world) fighting over him, though Suki never actually admits she likes him (she wouldn't in the anime until toward the end of the fourth season). It's a fun movie and arguably even better than the first, though it didn't gross as much as the original film did, opening to around $25 million and grossing a North American total of around $65 million. Still, the animation and music are great and for anyone who wants to see some awesome legendary bird action (and Lugia kicking ass), it's a recommended watch.
-from the topic "Anime Movie Of The Week- Pokemon: Master Of Legends", posted on Gamefaqs.com's Contests Board on February 3, 2007
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Ted Crosley: The bottom line is that Pokemon Sun and Moon makes a TON of improvements to the original. Pretty much every improvement I said the original game needed to make, it made! The graphics: better. The type disparities... mostly better although Dragon types are still too damn strong, thankfully I can chill them out with the badass wolf Pokemon Timberg but they're still too strong. Really the only problem I have with this game is that you still have to trade to catch 'em all, and that's a pain in the ass.
Alex Stansfield: Well, you know my stance on that, it's part of the game's design and come on, man, you've got plenty of people to trade with.
Ted: Most of you guys won't trade with me!
Alex: Because you want an Articuno for a Pidgey! Come on, man!
Ted: They're both birds though! It's a fair trade!
Alex: *shaking his head* I've really got to hand it to Nintendo, they outdid themselves. They even gave you something REALLY fun to do after you beat the game, but I'm not going to spoil it quite yet, wait for a future episode of GameTV to detail all the awesome stuff you get to do after beating the final boss.
Ted: It's not the BEST looking game on the Nova, but it's definitely the biggest, and with 257 Pokemon crammed into this thing, you'll have plenty to do for hours on end.
Alex: I'm giving it a 4.5 out of 5, it's one of the best RPGs in what's been a pretty good year for them.
Ted: You know what, I agree. Pokemon Sun and Moon gets a 4.5. It'd get a 5 if I didn't have to trade with you guys to get all the Pokemon.
Alex: Highly recommended game, if you don't have a Game Boy Nova yet, here's your reason to get one!
-excerpted from the June 20, 2000 episode of GameTV
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June 30, 2000
Satoshi Tajiri couldn't have been happier to hear of Pokemon Sun and Moon's success in North America. He'd gotten a phone call from Howard Lincoln just a few days after the game's release, where Lincoln had told him, "we couldn't be selling Game Boy Novas faster if we'd have cut the price in half". What had started as a fascination with catching bugs had turned into a global phenomenon, and had given him the freedom to do whatever he wished in an industry he deeply loved. There would of course be people clamoring for yet another Pokemon game, and he had many ideas for what the third installment would bring, but there were other concerns. Game Freak was getting the opportunity to develop games other than Pokemon, and Tajiri himself had been asked to come to North America to meet with another of Sony's partners in game development, a company that was about to release two of the year's biggest games one after the other.
Tajiri was familiar with Dog Dash, and had enjoyed the time he'd spent playing it when it was recommended to him by a friend. But the man Satoshi Tajiri was about to meet was mainly responsible for another of the company's franchises: Tales Of The Seven Seas.
Tajiri was seated at a table at one of the best restaurants in Santa Monica, with a representative from Sony Entertainment who had arranged the meeting.
"He's running a little late, I'm sorry," the representative said, looking a bit embarrassed. "We're just about to send the new Seven Seas game to stores and there's a lot of work getting ready, I think he's been at another meeting all morning."
"It's all right," said Tajiri, who would normally frown on such tardiness, though in this case, still riding high from the success of Sun and Moon and excited to be meeting another creative professional, he was more than willing to forgive the breach of etiquette. "It's a very busy time for everyone."
Tajiri wasn't kept waiting long. A member of the wait staff was escorting a man to his table. Tajiri recognized him from a picture in Famitsu magazine as one of the most important game developers at Naughty Dog.
"Mr. Tajiri, this is Mark Cerny," said the Sony representative, as Mr. Cerny extended his hand for Tajiri to shake. Tajiri stood up and did so, and smiled graciously.
"It's an absolute pleasure," said Cerny, his smile equally beaming. "Your game is brilliant. I really hope we can work together someday."
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