Over the past week, I have gained a visceral hatred of Cramorant. It was the lastPokemonI needed to complete the Teal Mask Pokedex, and as a Scarlet exclusive, the only way I could get my hands on one was by joining a raid. The randomly occurring battles filled up quicker than I could refresh the page, and I was left in limbo. The final Pokemon to complete my ‘dex, completely unavailable to me – I had no friends with Pokemon Scarlet who had tackled the DLC either. That one’s likely my own fault, asmy review didn’t exactly shower it with praise.
I don’t enjoy playing this game any more. So why have I caught 199 out of the 200 available Pokemon? Kitakami is not my beautiful house. Cramorant is not my beautiful wife. Well, how did I get here?
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I’ve complained about this game far too much to go over things again, butScarlet & Violetwas the first Pokemon game in generations in which I didn’t complete the Pokedex. It wasn’t anything against the new monsters – if anything, I preferred them to the additions in Sword & Shield (Cufant excepted). From Armarouge to Annihilape, from Fuecoco to Clodsire, I could build three teams of great new designs. Kingambit might be one of my top ten designs ever, and I’ll forever be a staunch Wo-Chien defender.
And yet I didn’t catch ‘em all. Upon fully exploring Area Zero, beating the Pokemon League Champion or whatever she’s known as in Paldea, I couldn’t bear playing on. It wasn’t even the stuttering frame rate or N64 textures; the game is just boring. Exploration is dull, and trudging across the region in search of niche Pokemon to cross off my Rotom-list was deeply unappealing.
That’s how I ended up needing to evolve a Bisharp to begin my Kitakamian adventure. Despite loving Kingambit and having used it in rental teams on numerous occasions, I hadn’t even bothered to get one of my own. It’s not particularly difficult – more complex than Smoliv but less arduous than Finizen – I just didn’t want to spend any more time in Paldea, so I didn’t.
I wanted a fresh slate for the DLC, though, and I wanted to use some cool monsters. Kingambit was in, so I quickly caught and evolved a Bisharp. Annihilape was in too, and I left the rest of the spots open for new ‘mons. Little did I know that the new ‘mons would be dull and I’d swap them out anyway, with Bloodmoon Ursaluna the only survivor.
Ursaluna was actually the catalyst for my return to my old ways, my Pokedex-filling self of years gone by. To begin the quest – which is itselfthe highlight of the DLC– you need to have filled 150 of the Kitakamian ‘dex. Players who completed the Paldean Pokedex will have a head start of around 100 entries completed already, but I was way behind. Desperate for my big, bloody bear, I bought 200 Quick Balls and started yeeting.
Once I hit 150, however, the end was in sight. Ursaluna made 151, the proverbial Mew to my Kitakamian adventure thus far. 49 more wouldn’t be so hard, would it? As it turns out, it wouldn’t.
Most monsters could be found just by roaming Kitakami. A few, like Milotic, could have been pains to catch, but I just hopped in a Terastal raid that someone else was hosting. I found a few raids in my own game, too, which helped grab other awkward monsters like Politoed. Kitakami is a small region, so travel wasn’t too insufferable. Since I needed so many monsters, I could pretty much ride around the map in a circle, catching as I went. No need for fast travel, and only a couple of pesky cliff faces to clamber up on my journey. You know what, I think I actually had fun.
Catching Pokemon is what makes Pokemon games special. Ticking little boxes off a little list feels great, whether that list was given to you by Professor Oak, Professor Turo, or Ms. Briar. This is why Pokemon games still sell record-breaking numbers of copies year after year, despite the quality rapidly decreasing. There’s a nostalgic excitement to catching new monsters that makes you feel like a child again. I remember asking round the playground for someone to trade Teddiursa and Gligar to my copy of Pokemon Silver, while Zangoose and Mawile were my biggest hurdles in Sapphire.
It’s easier than ever to complete Pokedexes with the implementation of Wonder Trades, the GTS, Pokemon Bank, and Terastal Raids. And yet, Pokemon still captures that childlike excitement. It’s a series that millions of us will never leave behind, no matter how bad things get. We’re a part of the problem, but if the problem gives me 200 little hits of dopamine as I fling blue and yellow balls at a host of monsters, then I’m not going to fix it.
And, despite all the shortcuts to success in modern Pokemon games, I’m still missing a version exclusive. I’m still refreshing the raid menu hoping to stare into the whites of Cramorant’s freakish eyes. I’m still readying my thumbs for the lightning-fast menu navigation to get in ahead of hundreds of others suffering from the same fate as me. We all need that stupid, blue bird for that little hit of happiness, and we all know there’s one way to get it. We’re so close and yet so far. It’s incredibly frustrating, but it’s Pokemon.
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