Today, as you can probably guess, is the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon. On February 27, 1996, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green were released in Japan. These were the very first Pokemon games ever released, and are timeless classics. To celebrate this amazing point in the game’s history, Game Freak has re-released Red , Blue, and Yellow on the 3DS. They are also giving away free mythical Pokemon. (Mythical Pokemon are legendaries that can only be obtained via special events and Deoxys.) Additionally, a new Pokemon Trading Card Game Expansion Pack, called Generations, has been released. Now, in addition to the normal Pokemon website, http://www.pokemon.com/us/, there is a Pokemon 20th anniversary website, http://www.pokemon20.com/en-us/.

As I just posted, I am having a great time playing Alpha Sapphire. Within a week I had beaten every gym and reached the Pokemon League. I focused on catching them all for another two or three weeks until I could finally beat Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoenn. Now, several months have passed since catching Rayquaza and vanquishing Deoxys and I only have 29 more Pokemon left to catch in the game. Of these, only three are from the regional Pokedex. Unfortunately, Giratina, Kyurem, and Landorus require Pokemon from both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This means that there are actually 26 Pokemon that I can catch. Of these, only 11 are non-legionaries. The Pokemon remaining are Elekid, Persian, Cresselia (the three that appear on daily mirage islands), the Regi quadruplet, the Swords of Justice (minus Keldeo), the legendary beasts, Digglett, Dialga, Thundrus, Heatran, Seel, Alomomola, Finneon, Krabby, Axew, Dieno, Delibird, Cubchoo, and finally Deoxys.

For Christmas, I received Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. This was possibly a instantaneous new favorite. Every two to three years, Pokemon remakes an old pair or trio of games, which is why Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are not just Ruby and Sapphire (and Emerald). These games revisit the Hoenn region, a fictional land, and the original Hoenn based games of the third generation. To start out, the player gets to pick a starter pokemon, Treeko, Torchic, or Mudkip for these games. The player then proceeds to battle an evil team and take down eight gym leaders. Next, the player must defeat the champion. Personally, I really disliked this battle. It took me three tries to defeat him. Afterwards, there is the Delta Episode, where the player is required to catch the legendary pokemon Rayquaza. A helpful hint for this battle is to not ever use the master ball because whether or not it is used, Rayquaza will be obtained.