Celebi available this summer (GBA)

[calthaer]

Since I know there are others here who play the Pokemon GBA games - check Pokemon.com.

They have just announced this past week that, on their tour this summer, they will be downloading Celebi to GBA carts. There are a bunch of other Pokemon they'll be giving out, too (some legendaries, but not Mew / Deoxys / etc.).

The tour will be hitting lots of major cities - full details are on Pokemon.com. I myself may be going to the Washington DC, Philly, and NYC ones to nab as many Celebi as I can.

[Bratwurst]

Isn't this something you could hack with a Gameshark or equivalent? Not to be smarmy- I am genuinely curious if Nintendo has somehow managed to encrypt this out of the hands of cheat device users and the like.

Also, what about flash cart linkers and uploading the cart's save game to the PC to be edited and subsequently reloaded?

[Querjek]

Well umm... you can already get Celebi from the GCN Pokemon Colosseum bonus disc for Gamecube.

[dbiersdorf]

Well umm... you can already get Celebi from the GCN Pokemon Colosseum bonus disc for Gamecube.

That's Jirachi. Only Japan has been able to get their hands on Celebi (legitimatly) thus far.

Thanks to the OP as well for informing me, I can only hope they head to Mall of America (typically they do though).

[calthaer]

Hacked cartridges reportedly have some problems, for instance:

-Sometimes Pokemon obtained via hacking cannot be used in Colosseum or cannot be imported / traded to certain games. There is some sort of flag on the Pokemon to tell whether it's legit or not. I'm not sure if they've figured out a way to set this flag or not.

-They have some method of detecting hacked cartridges. If someone goes to a Nintendo event and Nintendo detects hackage, they won't download or dole out whatever goodie they're giving. Of course, this normally wouldn't be a problem for a hacker, but there are some things in the game that even the hackers haven't figured out yet (i.e. - what happens in Mysterious Cave).

I'm willing to bet that the new DS games (Diamond / Pearl), which will be able to import Pokemon from the GBA carts, will feature some sort of protection to prevent hacked carts from transferring characters.

In short - there are multiple safeguards that detect whether or not an Action Replay has been used, and there are errors that can happen when one uses it.

I just prefer not to deal with any of that and get it legit. If and when they abandon the games and stop doling out goodies (like they did with the GB / GBC games), then I'll consider resorting to AR to get the good stuff.

[dbiersdorf]

Yeah I'm really excited for the GBA compatibility with Diamond and Pearl, that's why I've been spending some much time with FireRed and Emerald. Currently at 180 hours in FireRed with every one of Pokemon at level 45+, with a Pokedex at around 200 (complete 150, and then some random GSC guys).

Good to see there are some Pokemaniacs on the board.

[calthaer]

My FR cart has 110 hrs on it; I don't have 'em all and just need a few others from LG and some other places for the 150 Pokedex. I don't think I've even caught Mewtwo yet. I've spent quite some time catching dozens of Dittos from the basement of the Mansion - all the same level 30 so that I can compare them and (hopefully) get one with max stats and therefore have a better chance of breeding guys with max stats.

My ultimate goal is to breed a Tyranitar with max stats and make a Mewtwo killer to beat on people in multiplayer battles (since they're almost guaranteed to whip Mewtwo out, or Deoxys or something like that). Not sure how well it'll work, but I think he's just about the only character that really stands a chance against some of these legendary psychics.

That, and I'm trying to finish Colosseum and Emerald so that I can work on XD.

[dbiersdorf]

Yeah I still need to pick up XD too.

I'm not really into the breeding scene, which will more then likely bring me down if and when Pokemon goes online.

I'm not really into using the overrated Pokemon though, you'll never catch me using a Mewtwo. :)

I have beat Colosseum however, I just haven't snagged everyone in the game, or purified a good amount. It's just such a slow game I can't find the time or energy to keep myself interested.

[calthaer]

I'm definitely going to snag and purify all of them, because I believe you can't trade characters with the GBA games if you don't. I want to transfer the guys elsewhere to breed the starters. But Colosseum does have its downsides and its tedium...mostly in the form of having to battle the same trainers again and again to level-up.

I don't raise every single Pokemon, either - I usually try to catch later evolutions of species I don't care about or who are somewhat worthless in high-powered games (like Tentacool / Tentacruel or Ratatta / Raticate). I want to complete the 'dex, but there's no way I'm raising every single one to do it. Just not worth it. I just want to crush my opponents - hence the breeding.

[Sailorneorune]

I've made it a point to raise my Pokemon to be able to overcome their weakness to an extent... my Mewtwo in Leaf Green (Benimaru, L84) knows Brick Break for example to offset the Dark weakness some.

It's been pretty successful since Mewtwo has very high speed. YMMV depending on the speed stats of the Pokemon though...

Yes, Mewtwo is overrated, but for want of decent Psychic Pokemon (most of them have crap physical defense stats), I use him.

[dbiersdorf]

I really wouldn't be suprised if Nintendo puts a restriction on certain Pokemon in online modes of Diamond and Pearl. A variety of legendaries (like Deoxys, Mew, Celebi, Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Entie, Raikou, Suicune, Latias, Latios, and of course Mewtwo) were not allowed at mall tour tournaments as well as the Nintendo Power "team of the month". I suggest that you guys don't get too comfortable with those guys, or at the very least make sure to have a backup.

Sailor, my advice is that you shouldn't need a psychic type for physical attacks. If you have a psychic up against a dark type anyway, who do you think is going to win? A Brick Break attack might do some damge, but not nearly to the extent of the opponents dark type attack matching it's dark type giving it x2 STAB. If you really want a Psychic type with decent physical attacks and special attacks I'd reccomend Hypno or Medicham (the latter is even better with it's fighting duel type).

[Sailorneorune]

I'm raising a Medicham as a backup for tournament purposes and because I admit Mewtwo is a little unfair... The Fighting/Psychic blend is nice as fighters generally hold up better in the physical defense department. Legendary Pokemon do unbalance things a bit, but to counter that, they have been made intentionally damn hard to level up. Rare Candies are not an option for me unless the Pokemon is @ L99. Mewtwo is just a personal favorite Pokemon that is good for the Anything Goes-style battles.

The fighting the weakness thing seemed like a good idea at the time, and may be a little unexpected. There's just something heartwarming about a Gyarados using Earthquake on that poor unsuspecting Electric-type.

[Blitzwing256]

celebi thats good news, I hope they come to vegas..

I'm at 381 and the only 2 I can still get are lugia and ho hou
(yes all legit)

using the legendaries gets boring fast.

i've been having alot of fun with gardevor and dewgong being my strongest hitters, backed up with shedinja ..sure he has 1 hp, but against certain pokemon he's invincible

I used to be a pokemon gym leader a few years back before I moved. still have a ton of the cards and promos we never gave away...can't wait for the new games :-)

[johno590]

I only have about 40 hours into FireRed. I'm trying to level up all of my pokemon to just whoop the Elite 4. I haven't played in a while because I got tired of leveling up, but now I want to play the new part of FireRed so I've been playing alot more lately.

[calthaer]

NEWS:

Deoxys will also be available again this spring - see http://www.pokemon.com or visit:

http://www.spacecenter.org/SpringBreak06/Pokemon.html

He will only be available at the Space Center in Houston. This will apparently be every day between March 10th and March 19th, and then every weekend (Sat + Sun) from March 25th to May 14th.

I don't know...I am considering it. It's still a hefty price to fly out and see Houston for a few days over a weekend (there's no way I'll be able to make it in March).

EDIT: Called and asked to see if this ticket was also going to be available at the Nintendo World Store, and the person who answered the phone said "not as far as he knew."

When I went to the NWS for the grand opening and the Mystic Ticket download, someone else in line there who lives in the NYC area told me that they had previously given out the Deoxys Aurora ticket when the Pokemon Rocks America tour was going on last summer.

There aren't any Pokemon fans around here that live near Houston, are there?