Although things didn't quite work out between me and Omega Ruby, I couldn't get that Audino solo run out of my head. I really wanted to cruise around with that cute creature, preferably immediately. I wanted it so bad, in fact, that I even felt ready to renounce Mega Evolution for the time being. That's when I remembered that Audino is a Gen V 'Mon that appears really early on, and that I hadn't played White&Black 2 since 2017. And with that, the die was pretty much cast; and it wasn't long before I was rushing through Unova with abandon and that adorable pink and white creature by my side.
Audino's colour scheme actually reminded me of strawberry and vanilla ice cream, which is why I named him 'Gelato'. I fully expected him to be one of those 'Mons that are good for little beyond being unbearably cute; but he took me by surprise by holding his own like a boss on the battlefield. He held his own so well, in fact, that he became able to one-shoot the opposition right after the Second Gym and never stopped after that. Sure, his learnset is not quite tailor-made for solo runs, with way too many status effect Moves learnt upon leveling up; but he still managed to make the most of the few offensive Moves he had access to.
I had to rely on Return, Double Slap and Secret Power, complete with Refresh, during the early stages of my run; and while that Move pool was efficient enough given the benefit of the STAB, it still had the potential to land me in hot water against Ghost 'Mons. A change was in order; and as soon as I could, I traded Double Slap for Signal Beam — soon followed by Shadow Ball and Psychic, which came to replace Refresh and Secret Power. Return obviously didn't go anywhere, and remained my surefire one-shooter all the way to the Pokemon League. I got to upgrade my Move pool once again right before Victory Road, when I got hold of Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt in one fell swoop — better late than never, indeed! Needless to say, the Pokemon League was very much a one-shooting festival, and I was crowned Champion after 13 hours of delightful roaming.
I was actually surprised by the length of my run. Those 13 hours felt much shorter, and this is in no small part due to BW2's utterly stellar pacing. I'll say it: when it comes to all things pacing, that pair is my absolute favourite in the whole series. Never before — or since, for that matter — has progression been so smooth and effortless in a Pokemon game, with HMs being handed to you long before you even need them and milestones flowing naturally into one another. Dungeons are a delight to explore and open areas a delight to roam, leaving you sated without being bored. And beyond that most excellent pacing, there is a real sense of urgency at work in the whole game: battles are more frantic than ever before (or since), biking is crazy fast, you can run indoors, and the game does everything it can to spare you trips through the menu. I daresay that BW2 perfectly managed to capture and convey the feverish quality of urban american lifestyle; and my, was such a move very welcome indeed after the sheer sluggishness of Gen IV.
Rediscovering BW2 after a whole two years away from Gen V was pure and utter delight. I swear those games are just tailor-made for solo runs, with Return being handed to you right after the first Gym and the Lucky Egg right before the sixth, and tall grass teeming with wild Audinos. In fact, it makes things nearly too easy. Oh, who am I kidding? I just love it, and I totally wish all Pokemon games could emulate that awesome arrangement! I also came to terms with the fact that my Trainer plays somewhat of a secondary role in the narrative and just goes with the flow. There's actually something strangely refreshing in being a bit of an observer in other people's stories, and simply giving a hand as you go along instead of being the driving force behind all things narrative. At least I'm not pitted alone against a whole villain team this time around, and everybody cooperates and contributes to save Unova from a new ice age — about time, shall I say!
I also have to admit that with hindsight, Hugh is actually my favourite of all the post-Gen IV friendly rivals. His tale of revenge and retrieval makes him kinda relatable, but not to the point of making him endearing: he remains standoffish enough to be stimulating to beat (gotta show that bossy prick I'm not his personal slave, indeed!) and there's always a modicum of welcome distance between my Trainer and him. I would describe our relation as a reluctant partnership: it's pretty clear we're not best buddies and probably won't ever be — and as far as friendly rivalvry in Pokemon goes, I'd have this any day of the week over 'rivals' fawning over me or wanting to be my BFF.
Now that I reacquainted myself with the awesomeness of BW2, I have a number of solo runs lined up for the pair. Also, I officially declare that all my BW2 runs to come will solely feature the female Trainer; I just cannot for the life of me deal with how utterly crappy the male Trainer looks, from his horrendous haircut to his ugly outfit — without forgetting his lousy poses. And why on earth does he look so much younger than the female Trainer? I totally feel like I'm Hugh's little b*tch when I play with that scrawny male Trainer, and I'm not having any of it. I'd rather have his more assertive and older-looking female counterpart, thank you very much! And with that, dear fellow gamers, I'll see you soon for more Gen V tidings. Thanks for reading as usual, and drop by anytime!
Gen V, despite
all the whining about the "ice cream and garbage pokemon" is, and
will probably always be in my opinion, the best pokemon generation. On the one
hand, I absolutely loved how Black and White had a completely new pokedex, with
no repeats from previous gens (gen I was getting boring even back then, go away
geodude!). It was like playing gen I all over again, with no knowledge of what
each pokemon did. Then, for the people who disliked that (and there were so
many, dear lord was gen V so unfairly hated), you got another pair of games
with one of the richest pokedex to date.
On top of that, the story finally got good. Platinum was good, but Black and
White stepped it up 10 notches, and did it without being annoying like later
gens. And for those who didn't like that, BW2 were more passive, but still
meaningful (Hugh has the most meaningful quest out of all the rivals, only
Silver manages to come close to him). Again, pleasing both parties! And BW2 had
the best pokemon side activity in my opinion. Sometimes I want to replay them
just to be a movie star again.
This was the only gen were buying both entries felt right, felt necessary,
instead of the other ones that feel like "thanks for paying to test our
crap for us, here's the version you should have had, more money please",
or in Ultra Blargh and Blergh's case "yah know, we didn't feel like we got
enough money, have the same game, but with mantine riding now, more moolah
suckers".
Hugh truly is great. And despite his standoffish attitude, I really sympathized
with his motives the most. He still helped out when you needed it, so he didn't
feel as much of a jerk as Blue, Silver and even the original May/Brendan.
Vitriolic best buds is the vibe I get from him. Plus, coming from the point of
view of a chick....he's kinda like that not-really-jerk from every 90's anime
that you can't help but kinda crush on....and with that stupid hair that's a
feat. Though if you don't like kinda-jerks, you can also go with you movie
co-star if you go through a totally optional sidequest (maybe you've never done
it since you like to cruise through these games, but look it up), who is
absolutely nice and adorable. Again, this gen has everything.
Not that I didn't like Cheren and Bianca too. You had friendly rival Bianca who
wasn't really trying, and way too competitive awkward Cheren. Seeing them again
in BW2 was such a joy.
(With all that said, never forget that I did like Barry. You can do friend
rivals. They just don't need to be clingy wooden boards.)
Too bad those awesome rivals were followed up by...dancing fat dude, pokedex
geek, genderbent cardboard cut-out and manic pixie girl. Whoa, that fall was
hard and fast. The moment they wanted to give me a nickname was the moment I
zoned out; dude, my childhood friends in the previous two gens didn't treat me
that way, what gives you the right? It’s almost a blessing they are so out of
your way, even though that’s also so wrong for a pokemon game.
"Vitriolic
best buds", I love that phrasing! It describes the Trainer's relationship
with Hugh quite aptly indeed. On the other hand, I must confess that despite my
anime obsession being at its peak in the 90s, I really cannot figure out what kind
of character you're referring to when writing that Hugh is like "that
not-really-jerk from every 90's anime that you can't help but kinda crush
on". The only character I can think of that would fit that description to
some extent would be Jonouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh. If you drop by here again, would
you mind giving me some examples? ^^
I despise the kids in X&Y, I really do. I still remember that feeling of
dread that engulfed me during my very first X&Y run as those brats
interrupted my progression on an infuriatingly regular basis. They completely
destroyed that lone ranger feeling I love to get from my Pokemon solo runs; and
although I've mostly gotten used to them by now, I'd gladly erase them from the
game's code entirely if I could. I mean, the youngest three don't even feel
like rivals at all, and your same-age neighbour is way too milquetoast to fill
in the rival spot. So we can safely claim that X&Y boast the dubious honour
of featuring the worst rival(s) in the entire series.
Sure! Yu-Gi-Oh
counts, though Jack Atlas from 5Ds is a better example. Lee from Card Captor
Sakura is a great example; he's a jerk to the heroine at first but always has
good intentions and does end up helping her out. Piccolo from Dragon Ball is
also a good example (if you want it gender flipped, Android 18 is good as
well). Vegeta only counts in Super, because he's way too much of a jerk in Z.
Koga from Inuyasha. Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. And on and on. Just about all of
those characters still have huge female fanbases.
They can have different personalities (compare brash Koga to serious Piccolo),
but it's basically a character who can act jerkish and their alliances can be
called into question (at least for a while, most end up joining the good guys),
but they're not outright evil or disgusting jerks. Usually they were rivals or
at least temporary rivals until the true evil was shown (again Card Captor
Sakura).
Because you can't fit them into a neat umbrella like Tsudere or yandere, it's
bit harder to define, but I think you can get what I'm getting at.
By that definition, Hugh definitely fits. Blue doesn't help you, so he falls
more into the jerk category (even if a joking jerk), and Silver is definitly a
jerk. But Hugh does help you out and it's clear he cares for you in some way,
though I don't think he fits into the tsundere category. So, kinda-jerk he is!
....man, it seriously needs to become an official trope.
Worst? I mean, I don't know...I hate them, but at least they're not constantly
smelling your behind like Hau is. Who picks the pokemon weak to you, even
though we don't have another rival (Gladion doesn't count since he has Type:
Null and not a starter pokemon, though technically he fills the role better).
At least despite the stupid "your friendly rival" thing in Let's Go,
Trace is fairly inoffensive and even has some personality. It'd make me hope
for Sword and Shield, if everything I didn't see about that game sucked.
Ah, I see
better what you mean now. ^^ This sure needs to become an official trope! :D
I must admit I kinda dig Hau and Gladion as a rival duo. Gladion is a genuine
threat sometimes (he's actually the only Pokemon rival EVER that forced me to
use battle items when fighting him) and I like how Hau unexpectedly pops up as
the Champion. I didn't see it coming at all; and with recent gens giving you
huge nudges regarding the champion's identity, that was a really pleasant
surprise.
Oh lord, we had
a total different reaction to Hau as the champion. I almost screamed
"what's this loser doing here? LEAVE ME ALONE FOR 5 SECONDS!! POLICE!
STALKER!". The professor being the champion was a way cooler surprise,
especially since professor Oak had a fight with you in the original games that
was cut out. Just another reason to think the ultra versions are the worst. Hau
to me is the worst rival, bar none.
Gladion was really awesome though. If you cut out all the stupid alternate
dimension beasts out (as they should), we could have gotten a nice rival that
ran away from home in rebellion, only to be mistreated by the enemy team and
eventually convinced to go back thanks to you and his loving sister. But no. Of course not.
Me liking Hau
as the Alola Champion is totally due to the surprise factor. I fully expected
Professor Kukui to be the local Champion, especially when I saw him being such
a total goof — not to mention that he was the only valid candidate, really. But
a final showdown with Hau? That's something I totally not expected, hence my
surprise — and delight. It was also the only time fighting him was truly
challenging, and that was a nice touch before parting ways with him.
As far as I'm concerned, Gladion is the one and only Alola rival. And he feels
like a true-blue rival, too; he's definitely antagonistic, not to mention that
fighting him is genuinely challenging. Now that I think of it, he may be the
best rival we've had in a couple of gens! He's certainly a huge improvement
over what Gen VI had to offer in the rivalvry department.
Oh, I guess I
can see your point. I got spoiled to Hau being champion when I looked up a
walkthrough to see the story differences between normal and ultra. I still
think having the professor as champion is way cooler though.
Yes. We hadn't seen an actual rival since gen 2, and we hadn't seen an actual
rival and still likeable since gen 1. I wish we had spent more time with him,
but we got stuck babysitting his sister and Neby for the whole game.
No comments:
Post a Comment