Vol. 3, Issue 5 - The Legacy of Pokémon - Part 7 (Generation VII)
The seventh part of The Legacy of Pokémon ongoing feature, a recap of the latest Pokémon news, and a brand new section of the newsletter makes its debut!
Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 5 of Johto Times! This week, I am sharing the seventh part of The Legacy of Pokémon ongoing feature, covering my time playing Pokémon Sun on the 3DS, and Let’s Go Eevee on the Switch. This issue also introduces a brand-new section of the newsletter in the form of Community Spotlights, which is an opportunity for me to share some of the great fansites and projects that you should consider checking out! This will be taking the place of the mailbag section of the newsletter this week, but we are still happy to receive any messages you may wish to share in the future! In addition to all of this, we have a recap of the latest Pokémon news. Enjoy!
News
As we reported last week, the latest Pokémon TCG Pocket expansion, Space-Time Smackdown, is now available as of January 30th, 2025. The ability to trade was also introduced into the game yesterday, allowing players to trade a limited number of cards between friends, with a greater number of cards being introduced over time. However, players will need to use two new items, trade hourglasses and trade tokens, in order to partake in a trade of the same card rarity. The release of Space-Time Smackdown includes new binder and display board covers, featuring Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai!
Source: Pokémon
This week, Pokémon HOME received a new update (3.2.2) which added two new rewards for players who wish to take on enormous challenges. Completing the Hisui Pokédex in Pokémon Legends: Arceus will reward a Shiny Enamorus, while players who have completed the SInnoh Pokédex from Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or Pokémon Shining Pearl can receive a Shiny Manaphy. To receive them, players must complete the corresponding Pokédexes in Pokémon HOME, then confirm the completion in the Games tab. Players must have a linked Nintendo Account and each Mystery Gift can only be received once.
Source: Pokémon
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet players have until tomorrow, January 31st, 2025, at 23:59 UTC to obtain Roy’s Fuecoco before the distribution ends. Players can do so by using the code 909TEAMUP06. A big thanks to Pokémon fansite Serebii for reminding us of this information.
Source: Serebii
Feature: The Legacy of Pokémon - Part 7 (Generation VII)
I received Pokémon Sun as an early birthday and Christmas gift from my friend Steve on November 26th 2016, after I expressed some interest in picking it up for myself, thanks to Pokémon GO reigniting some love for the series once again. I had originally pre-ordered the game on Amazon with a steel book, but was unsure of whether I wanted to buy it or not, so I later cancelled it. Hearing that Sun and Moon were swapping out the traditional Gym Leader challenge for trials, and the removal of HM abilities from these new titles, I was intrigued and decided to give it a chance.
I have always been a huge fan of birds, and when I first set eyes on the Alolan grass-type starter Rowlet, my decision to choose it as my first Pokémon was immediately clear. When you select a starter in Sun and Moon, Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele Island, states that a Pokémon and trainer must choose each other before they can truly become partners. The cutscene that followed involved my character and Rowlet staring at each other, waiting in eager anticipation to see if, for the first time in Pokémon, my starter would also deem its new trainer worthy. Shortly after, my character lifts Rowlet gently into the air in a very wholesome scene. This wonderful round borb quickly became my favourite Pokémon, and was further solidified once I saw its fun and silly personality in the anime, especially the scene where it looks like Rowlet is having an existential crisis. I couldn’t bring myself to evolve my starter back then, so he will always remain a Rowlet in Sun.
I also loved the various Alolan forms that were introduced in Sun and Moon, namely Exeggutor and Marowak. I cannot forget the hilarious Alolan Exeggutor memes at the time, with its long neck extending out across multiple Twitter posts, or one image of it going into outer space! I was impressed by the design of Marowak’s regional form and its typing of Fire and Ghost was a neat pairing. I generally thought it looked awesome and it’s likely my favourite of all the Alolan forms.
Upon completing the game, my feelings on Pokémon began to shift positivity a little, feeling more content about the experience, despite years of dissatisfaction. I thought that becoming the first ever Champion of Alola was a great touch. Pokémon Sun was the most enjoyable game for me since HeartGold and SoulSilver, which is quite an achievement for a series that I felt had lost its spark. I completed the game on December 30th with an Alolan Raichu, a Toucannon, a Wishiwashi, a Snorlax, an Alakazam and my unevolved starter: Rowlet. While I have the information on what my team consisted of, I was disappointed to learn that Hall of Fame records didn’t exist any more, and I can’t remember specifically what my team’s levels were.
In late 2017 I commissioned an artist who was producing some artwork reminiscent of the art seen in generation I by Ken Sugimori. I requested four pieces featuring my friends with their favourite Pokémon, including references to some of their hobbies and interests in their design. I decided that I would also request one for myself, which featured my new favourite Pokémon Rowlet, with my character wearing a cape to represent my favourite type of Pokémon and trainer design: dragons! The cape was held together with a pin that had a Screw Attack design etched into it to represent my love of the Metroid franchise. By December 2017 I had received them all, and had them printed and placed in Pewter frames, a reference to the town in Pokémon Red and Blue. Overall I was very happy with how the designs turned out, and based on what my friends told me, they loved them too.
The series finally moved away from the 3DS and on to the Nintendo Switch with the release of Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. On November 16th 2018, I was transported back to the world of Kanto with a fresh new approach, determined to catch all 151 Pokémon. As an avid fan of Pokémon GO, and a Switch owner, it was a no-brainer. I went all out and purchased the special edition version of Let’s Go Eevee with the Pokéball Plus, a device that could be used as a controller for the game and was compatible with Pokémon GO as a catching device.
While it was great to return to Kanto, I felt that the experience wasn’t as enjoyable as the original games or even as comparable to Pokémon FireRed. However, I did enjoy the catching mechanic, which I had been familiar with in Pokémon GO for a couple of years up until this point, and to see a brighter and more detailed version of Kanto. The soundtrack was particularly enjoyable, especially the Pokémon GO arrangements. It was disappointing to see that the Let’s Go games had limited scope in terms of features, making them a fairly contained experience that I probably won’t revisit.
In my opinion, these remakes of the original games were created with the intention of capitalising on the huge success of Pokémon GO, in an attempt to bring people over to the Switch in time for the next generation of games. I also believe that adding this game to Game Freak’s already tight release schedule, seeking higher revenue, is one reason later generations of Pokémon struggled to live up to the quality of previous titles. Let’s Go Eevee marks the first time I have ever completed a Pokédex in a Pokémon game, catching all 151 Pokémon, or 153 if you count Meltan and Melmetal, which I transferred to the game from Pokémon GO. I completed Let’s Go Eevee for the first time on November 21st 2018. My team consisted of Charizard, Pidgeot, Blastoise, Victreebel, Raichu and Articuno. While it was nice to revisit Kanto once more, I was eagerly anticipating the next generation…
Community Spotlight: Buried Relic
In our first ever Community Spotlight, we want to showcase the Pokémon fansite Buried Relic, a Pokémon fansite which opened in February 2023, providing guides, resources, and tools related to older Pokémon titles, with the aim of sharing knowledge. It's a very wholesome looking website with a lot of useful information, such as their guides on Old-Gen Shiny hunting and their resource section for sprites and fonts. They even have a section for tools, such as their Pokéblock Calculator and Dangerous moves checker.
Despite the website looking and feeling like a classic website, it’s actually fairly modern (at the time of writing), opening on February 16th, 2023, just ten days after our own community began! We even did an interview with the admin of Buried Relic in October 2024, which you can check out here if you want to learn more about it! You can also check out their website for yourselves, and contact the admin to let them know how much you enjoyed their work!
Visit: Buried Relic
That’s all for this week’s issue! If you enjoy what Johto Times provides, be sure to share our newsletter with your friends and loved ones to help us reach even more Pokémon fans. For Discord users, you’re welcome to join our server for the latest notifications from our project. We are still open to sharing your mailbag entries, so if you have anything you would like to share with us, drop us a line by visiting this link to contact us directly!
Interesting, a later generation than usual.