Let's Play Pokemon: Volt White! (Warning: lots of images)

Started by Kunoichi, March 01, 2012, 05:02:49 PM

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Kunoichi

(Edit: Forgot to add this in - Many thanks to Drayano, the person who went to all the effort to create Pokemon Blaze Black and Pokemon Volt White.  Credit where credit is due, and so on.)

Hello and welcome, everyone! ^^ In case the title was a bit confusing, allow me to explain that this is a thread wherein I'll be playing a videogame for your amusement.  Through the magic of screenshots and commentary, and perhaps a little hand-drawn artwork, my hope is to keep you, the reader, entertained for quite some time as I run through the aforementioned videogame and do my best to claim victory!

...Incidentally, since this is going to involve a colossal amount of screenshots, does anyone know of a good image-host? ^^; I'm using ImageShack at the moment, but I don't know if it will be enough...

Anyway, moving on, if you read the title, you've probably already guessed that the game I'll be playing for you today is none other than-


Similarly, though, if you read the title, you're probably also guessing that it isn't exactly a standard version of Pokemon White.  If so, you've guessed correctly!  I'll allow my colleague, Professor Juniper, to properly explain what's different here.


As of the current generation of pokemon games, Generation V, there are 649 different kinds of pokemon in existence.  And this game has them all, with no need to trade from other versions for any of them.

Fabulous indeed. ;D


Out of the 649 pokemon in the game, more than 600 of them have had their move-sets altered in some way, and most of the weaker pokemon out there have gotten stat boosts or altered abilities to help make them more competitive.  There have also been some other changes like altering the types and evolution methods of certain pokemon, that were made for the sake of making the game more fun and interesting.

Incidentally, I don't actually know the full extent of the changes, myself, so I'm going to be having quite a lot of fun discovering them alongside you all. ^^


And with that, the explanation is finished.  Now, on to the Reader Participation Round!


Anyone who'd like to participate, please post your vote for the playable trainer's gender in the thread, along with any name suggestions you might have.  The character limit on Trainer names is 7 letters.  I'll tally up the votes and see which names I like, then make the choices accordingly.

Oh, and while we're at it...


...It's also time to pick out a starter.  Make sure to post that as well, and any name suggestions you've got for pokemon.  The character limit on Pokemon names is 10 letters.

Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokemon
It is very intelligent and calm. Being exposed to lots of sunlight makes its movements swifter. They photosynthesize by bathing their tails in sunlight. When they are not feeling well, their tails droop.
Snivy is both the quickest of the starters and the one with the best defenses.  Its highest evolved form is the Grass/Dragon-type Serperior, which is just a straight Grass-type in the non-hacked version of the game.  The elegant choice.

Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon
It blows fire through its nose. When it catches a cold, the fire becomes pitch-black smoke instead. It can deftly dodge its foe's attacks while shooting fireballs from its nose. It roasts berries before it eats them.
Tepig starts out with high HP and physical attack, and winds up learning moves which take advantage of these features.  Its highest evolved form is the Fire/Ground-type Emboar, who is a Fire/Fighting-type in the non-hacked version.  The headstrong choice.

Oshawott, the Sea Otter Pokemon
It fights using the scalchop on its stomach. In response to an attack, it retaliates immediately by slashing. The scalchop on its stomach is made from the same element as claws. It detaches the scalchop for use as a blade.
Oshawott has a good special attack stat, as well as decent physical attack and HP.  Its highest evolved form is the Water/Fighting-type Samurott, a straight Water-type in the non-hacked version.  The flexible choice.



The choices are yours, and yours alone!  Here's hoping we all have fun with this. ;D

Gensokian

This could be interesting...o.o

I say, though, you should be a girl, 'cause you're a girl, and the name should be Mariah, and go with Tepig, 'cause I always use the fire-type. :3

Kunoichi

Interestingly enough, I've made a habit of always picking the Fire-type Starter, too. ^^ Starting all the way back from when I got the original Pokemon Red for Christmas...  Charizard was pretty awesome.

Thanks to the Pokemon anime, I wound up choosing Snivy the last time I played either Pokemon White or Pokemon Volt White, though.  And now I'm kinda hoping more people join in and choose Oshawott... ^^;

Still, any one of the three choices should be fun. ;D

DarkWorld0BrightHope

Rolled a two. Tepig is the choice.

For a joke name... Manny Kins is worth considering.

Honestly I'm just curious how this'll turn out.
Looking for writing prompts, 500-1000 words. Will do one a day.

ReijiTabibito

#4
Quote from: Kunoichi on March 01, 2012, 05:02:49 PM
The choices are yours, and yours alone!

Big Mac, lower your gate.  :P





Sorry, couldn't resist.

Anyways...

Alright.  Recommended starting gender: Girl.  'Cause as it's been pointed out, you are one.  Plus, gal's got some wonderful crazy anime hair.

Name:  Two choices.  Go with Haruka (which in Japanese, can be written to mean 'the strongest,' good for any choice), or Mizuki (good if Oshawatt is chosen, since the 'Mizu' portion is written with the character for water).

Recommended starting type: Honestly, I can see valid arguments for all three.  However, let me make the arguments for each one, and then tell you what I think, knowing that I know nothing about this version of the game.

Grass: High defense means more survivability, plus high speed means you'll almost always get to make the first move in a fight, and that can be critical when it comes down to the wire.  Unfortunately, on the Type Chart, Grass has the lowest number of 2x damage categories (out of it, Fire, and Water), and the highest number of 1/2 damage categories - 2 and 7, respectively - for when it deals damage.  When it takes damage, it has the highest probability categorically of taking 2x damage - it is susceptible to 2x damage from 5 categories, compared to Fire's 3 and Water's 2.

Fire: High HP means survivability, and a high physical attack means you can teach it phys-type moves (which often have higher PP) rather than rely on its special attacks.  Plus, Fire gets 2x damage versus Steel-type Mons, and most types only get 1/2 (only 5 categories of Mons do normal or double damage to Steel-type, out of 17 types).  However, experience has told me (from only Red and Blue and Yellow, so remember this) that Fire types often have difficulty starting out, that the gym leaders you face early on are geared towards making it difficult for Fire-type mons to damage them.  So you might need to spend a lot of time and money training extra Mons to help.  Plus, I don't know how good Tepig's defense is.  High HP is good, but it means nothing if your defense sucks.

Water: Good special attack means that when you use Water-type moves, you'll get a good amount of damage in, especially if it's a mon type that is weak against Water (such as Fire!).  Plus, that the game touts it as the 'flexible' choice means that it can go a pretty long way with a modicum of training.  Flexibility is good in the Pokemon verse.  However...Water doesn't get much in the 2x damage department.  It doesn't have a lot in the half damage, either, but still.  It is a very consistent damage dealer, but don't expect to get it to pull your ass out of the frying pan unless the enemy has a lot of Fire, Ground, or Rock-types lined up.

My choice, well...opinion forthcoming.

Kunoichi

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on March 02, 2012, 02:22:15 PM
Grass: High defense means more survivability, plus high speed means you'll almost always get to make the first move in a fight, and that can be critical when it comes down to the wire.  Unfortunately, on the Type Chart, Grass has the lowest number of 2x damage categories (out of it, Fire, and Water), and the highest number of 1/2 damage categories - 2 and 7, respectively - for when it deals damage.  When it takes damage, it has the highest probability categorically of taking 2x damage - it is susceptible to 2x damage from 5 categories, compared to Fire's 3 and Water's 2.

Don't forget that it gains the Dragon type as it levels up, though, and also learns some good Dragon-type moves.  Since the R/B/Y days, the Dragon type has had its move pool increased by a pretty decent amount, so you don't have to worry about me being stuck with just Dragon Rage in the latter stages of the game, either. :P

For that matter, Serperior even has the opportunity to learn Draco Meteor from a Move Tutor later in the game, and there's a 50/50 chance of it starting out with an ability that would make that move even more devastatingly effective...

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on March 02, 2012, 02:22:15 PM
Fire: High HP means survivability, and a high physical attack means you can teach it phys-type moves (which often have higher PP) rather than rely on its special attacks.  Plus, Fire gets 2x damage versus Steel-type Mons, and most types only get 1/2 (only 5 categories of Mons do normal or double damage to Steel-type, out of 17 types).  However, experience has told me (from only Red and Blue and Yellow, so remember this) that Fire types often have difficulty starting out, that the gym leaders you face early on are geared towards making it difficult for Fire-type mons to damage them.  So you might need to spend a lot of time and money training extra Mons to help.  Plus, I don't know how good Tepig's defense is.  High HP is good, but it means nothing if your defense sucks.

In this game, the first gym is a triple-type gym whose Leader will always choose the type that puts the player at a disadvantage.  This makes it slightly annoying in the standard game, but you get access to quite a large variety of Pokemon by the time you make it there in this version of the game, so don't worry about the gyms. ^^

As for defense, from what I can tell, it's about average for the beginning of the game, rather than mediocre.  A glass cannon, Tepig is not.

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on March 02, 2012, 02:22:15 PM
Water: Good special attack means that when you use Water-type moves, you'll get a good amount of damage in, especially if it's a mon type that is weak against Water (such as Fire!).  Plus, that the game touts it as the 'flexible' choice means that it can go a pretty long way with a modicum of training.  Flexibility is good in the Pokemon verse.  However...Water doesn't get much in the 2x damage department.  It doesn't have a lot in the half damage, either, but still.  It is a very consistent damage dealer, but don't expect to get it to pull your ass out of the frying pan unless the enemy has a lot of Fire, Ground, or Rock-types lined up.

Actually, starting from Generation IV, moves are no longer split into Physical and Special along type lines.  Instead, they're split based on whether the move makes sense as a Physical or Special move.  For example, Crabhammer is a Water-type Physical attack, while Water Gun is a Special attack.

Also, those comments about being the 'Elegant', 'Headstrong' and 'Flexible' choices aren't anything official.  They're just something I added in for flavor. ^^; Sorry for any confusion that may have caused.

ReijiTabibito

Grass: Yes, the Dragon may have gotten developed quite a bit since the days of R/B/Y, but from what I read on the type chart for White games, it's not nearly the beast that it was during the first era.  It got double damage against a lot of types, and took half damage from a lot of types, too.  Now, Dragons only deal double damage to other dragons, and they only take half damage from Fire, Water, Electric, and Grass types.  Although that one move does sound pretty good.

Fire: Okay.  Wasn't sure.  How's the speed on Tepig?  To me, high HP/average defense and high defense/average HP are the same, so in a pitched battle, speed might be the determining factor.  It doesn't matter how hard you hit if the opponent gets to hit you first, and each of you are down to one hit left before KO.

Water:  My point about Water being a consistent damage dealer still stands.  That said, you can use Water mons and what few double damage potentials they do have to get access to good types.  They get double damage against Fire, Ground, and Rock mons.  Each of those categories gets a very large number of double damages, and two of those types - Fire and Ground - get double damage against Steel-types, which seem a solid bet for defensive powerhouses.

JackWhite

Why not Pokemon Yellow? You get the three greatest starters + Pikachu

Kunoichi

As far as starting stats go, no two pokemon are likely to start with the exactly the same stats.  It's all determined by some complicated formula, based on the pokemon's Base Stats, IVs, and a few other factors.

I can give you the Base Stats, though.  For all the stats, they start out with values of 45 across the board.

Snivy has a base Speed stat of 63, and base Defense and Special Defense of 55 each.

Tepig has a base HP of 65, and a base Attack of 63.

Oshawott has a base Special Attack of 63, and base Attack and HP of 55 each.

You really don't have to worry too much about stats, though.  We're dealing with Starters here, so the end result will have awesome stats no matter what choice we make, by the time we're done with it, and since this version of the game has all 649, we'll have opportunities to pick up the other choices soon enough.  To say nothing of the starter pokemon from the other generations...

Quote from: JackWhite on March 02, 2012, 04:08:51 PM
Why not Pokemon Yellow? You get the three greatest starters + Pikachu

I dunno, Cyndaquil was pretty awesome...  I might give Yellow a shot after completing this game, though.

Gensokian

Quote from: Kunoichi on March 02, 2012, 04:20:58 PM
I dunno, Cyndaquil was pretty awesome...  I might give Yellow a shot after completing this game, though.

Uh, Kuno...Cyndaquil was in Gold/Silver. Yellow was the redux of Red/Blue. ^^;

Kunoichi

I know.  I was disagreeing with him about Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle being the best three starters. :P

Gensokian

...Oh, my bad. See, it just looked like you were saying something about Cyndaquil being in Yellow, the way you put it and all that jazz...uh...well, this is embarrassing. >w<

Chris Brady

Back in Red/Blue, Bulbasaur was THE BEST of the starters for the first few gyms.  By the time you got past the first three or four, you had better Pokemon.

Then again, I did start with Crystal.  In fact it's been the only one I played to date.  Not being a fan of Nintendo and their gimmicks, in general.
My O&Os Peruse at your doom.

So I make a A&A thread but do I put it here?  No.  Of course not.

Also, I now come with Kung-Fu Blog action.  Here:  Where I talk about comics and all sorts of gaming

Kunoichi

Ah, I see.  I've played through Red, Yellow and Gold, myself, but then I didn't bother getting into Ruby or Sapphire because it was getting a bit samey.  Then I picked up the series again at Diamond, only to get seriously annoyed when Platinum came out with all these extra features and an expanded storyline...

I hope you'll enjoy watching me play through Volt White, though. ^^ I'm guessing you don't have any preferences on trainer gender or which starter gets chosen?

ReijiTabibito

I know I'm blowing against the wind here, but my vote goes to either Snivy or Oshawott.  Though if there was a tie in votes between the two, and I had to pick one of them, I'd lean towards Oshawott, since you've said that you've played through as Snivy before.

Maverick Hunter Cake

I vote for you picking Oshawott. It's adorable now, but its later evolutions get more and more cool. Plus, I think the range of moves is cool too.(It's also my favorite of the Black and White starters, so I am probably a bit biased in this respect.) ^_^

Kunoichi

Hmm, two for Tepig, and two for Oshawott, then, it looks like...

Alright folks, my computer says it's 7:11 PM now, so I'll give it until 7:30 before closing the vote.  In the event that the vote remains tied, I'll flip a coin or something. ^^;

Kunoichi

...Aaaaaand time's up!  Alright, it looks like there's still a tie between the Fire Pig Pokemon, Tepig, and the Sea Otter Pokemon, Oshawott.  So, I'll give it a roll of the dice...

Odd numbers for Tepig, even for Oshawott. (1d6=6)

...And a winner is Oshawott!  Update should be up some time later tonight, folks. ^^

Kunoichi

Let's Play Pokemon: Volt White! - Part 2
To start off, I think I'll show off something I skipped over the last time.



Namely, that Pokemon: Volt White isn't normally compatible with the emulator I'm using.  Actually, even plain old ordinary copies of Pokemon Black and Pokemon White aren't compatible with most DS emulators out there, but it is possible to use certain Action Replay codes to get them to work, like so:



...Pay no attention to the other stuff on there. O:)

Anyway, on with the show~!



Last time I checked, yes.

Credit to Gensokian for the name.


Righty and Lefty? :P



Hey, I thought I was supposed to name them? >:(



I mean, I probably couldn't come up with better names than Cheren or Bianca, and I'd probably just name them Glasses-Boy and Poofy-Hat-Girl, but-


Gah!  What?! >:(



And then I get to beat them up and take their stuff?



...Can we get started now?





Dear Diary,
Today is the best day of my life! ^o^ When I got home from school today, Mom said Professor Juniper had come by and dropped off a gift for me.  I just know it's those Pokemon she promised she was going to give me and Cheren and Bianca.  I'm so excited.  All I have to do now is wait for my friends to get here, and


Gah!



Cheren, you jerk! >:( You nearly gave me a heart attack!



That doesn't sound like an apology.



Oh no you don't.  Changing the subject isn't gonna work.



Hey Bianca.  Now, Cheren, as I was saying-



...He's ignoring me. :-(



They're in this box over here.



Well, at least he isn't a complete jerk about this.



I just said that. ::)



I already know which one I want. ^^



'Wanted Snivy from the start'?  Oh Cheren, you and your silly internet strategies. :D



...In the middle of my room? Oo;



What he said.



Uh, Bianca, they don't look like they appreciate you calling them that...



...I don't get a choice in this, do I? :-(




Hmm... :-\

"Tepig, Tail Whip!"
Oshawott, Tackle!



"Tepig, Tackle!"



>>; ...Ouchies?



You trashed my room and beat up my Oshawott. :'(

Cheren!  Get her!



That's not getting her, Cheren!



...

...Well, at least you apologized.

*glares at Cheren*



Oh sure, now you go after her.



...Well, at least you brought medicine.



I don't know, I'm not sure I feel like having another battle...



Okay, now you're just trying to provoke me. >:(



Get 'im, Oshawott!




Okay, I learned my lesson from last time!  Oshawott, use Tail Whip to lower Snivy's defense!



...WHAT.



No.  What?!  Are you cheating?  You're cheating somehow, aren't you!




You wanted Snivy from the start so you could cheat with it! >:(



You're a cheating cheater who cheats!




...





Aloha!  And welcome to Kunoichi's Advice Corner! ;D

Mariah is taking a short break at the moment, but don't worry!  In spite of the frightening game-over screen, I'm here to assure you that her journey won't end before it even truly started! (That screen was fake, anyway.)

For those of you who are wondering about that second battle, today I would like to talk to you about Pokemon Abilities!  First, for those of you who need a refresher:

"Abilities (Japanese: 特性 special characteristic) are a game mechanic introduced in Generation III. Individual Pokémon may have just one of these special attributes at a time, which generally serve to assist them in battle. An Ability cannot be changed after a Pokémon is obtained except by evolution, where the Ability it changes into is determined by the former Ability, and form change. Not every Ability is beneficial; some will hinder the user." (Text courtesy of Bulbapedia)

In Pokemon Volt White, many of the Pokemon have altered abilities, compared to the normal versions of their selves.  Many Pokemon that only get a single ability in the un-hacked version of the game will instead have one of two possible abilities in this version.  More mysteriously, many of them will have abilities that they could only have obtained in the Dream World, before!

These abilities are especially potent, as you saw here.  Thanks to these changes, young Cheren was able to obtain a Snivy with the ability known as Contrary.  For Pokemon with Contrary, abilities that would raise their stats will instead lower them, and abilities that would lower their stats will instead raise them.  The fact that he wanted a Snivy with this ability from the start suggests that he's done quite a bit of research.

Here, let's sneak in his room while he's away and take a look at his computer.

...

...Hmm.  It seems he's been looking up moves that Snivy's final evolutionary stage, Serperior, can learn.  There seem to be two in particular that he's spent a lot of time looking over...

"Leaf Storm deals a lot of damage, and lowers the user's Special Attack by two stages afterward."

"Draco Meteor inflicts a great deal of damage, and lowers the user's Special Attack by two stages."



...I think miss Mariah is going to be in for a tough time in the late stages of the game...

ReijiTabibito

Okay.  So all mons everywhere have this special ability - not Contrary, the concept..  I'm assuming large amounts of overlap, and not a unique ability for every one, because that means over 600 abilities.

So, if all mons have it, then Oshawott must have one.  Which is...?

Kunoichi

Yep, all Pokemon have an ability of some sort, and many of them have abilities that overlap.



For example, Oshawott's ability is Torrent, which increases the power of his Water-type moves if he has 50% or less of his health remaining.  Torrent is the 'standard' ability for Oshawott, and also the standard ability for each of the previous generations' Water-type Starters.  The other Starters all get similar abilities, called Overgrow and Blaze, that power up Grass-type and Fire-type moves, respectively.

Cheren's Snivy has an alternate ability which was already explained, and though she hasn't had a chance to show it yet, Bianca's Tepig also has an alternate ability, Adaptability.

Adaptability increases the damage done when the Pokemon that has it gets a same type ability bonus to an attack, so when we face her in the future, Bianca's Tepig is going to hit pretty hard with those Fire- and Ground-type moves.

The other ability we could have gotten for Oshawott was Vital Spirit, an ability which prevents the Pokemon that has it from being inflicted with the Sleeping condition.  It's a useful little ability, but not having it isn't as big a loss as the alternate abilities would have been on the other two.

Gensokian

Oh, man, that is going to make for a rather difficult time...and I honestly think that you're going to have a hard time without Vital Spirit; I know that the Sleep condition always gets to me...and perhaps you were just supposed to lose the first two battles. I dunno...this hack does seem to up the challenge factor...

Kunoichi

Nah, the first two battles you could either win or lose, actually.  I know I won them both during my previous two times playing when I chose Snivy as a starter, and I only got Contrary as an ability on the second time.

It probably would have been nice of them to give you a potion or two before those two matches, though.  Even one potion would have come in quite handy.

DarkWorld0BrightHope

I love the amusing commentary.   ;D You also make a good sales pitch for this rom.
Looking for writing prompts, 500-1000 words. Will do one a day.

Kunoichi

Oh?  Well, the link at the top of the opening post leads to a page where you can download the patch files for yourself, if you want to give the game a shot. ^^ You'll have to find a completely clean copy of the rom to install the patch files onto, though, and it was pretty difficult for me to find one when I downloaded this hack.

The page that's linked to also contains a file with just the documentation for the game, if anyone wants to look over the various changes made to Pokemon, Trainers, and see which wild Pokemon show up where.  To give a slight example, the encounter rates for the upcoming Route 1 are:

Lillipup (20%), Pidgey (20%), Bidoof (10%), Sentret (10%), Rattata (10%), Zigzagoon (10%), Starly (10%), Hoothoot (10%)

So in the immediate future, Mariah will wind up facing the usual assortment of birds, rodents, and one variety of canine, rather than the single rodent and single canine that show up in the regular version of the game.