Pokémon: Trades
Comments(3) There are three reasons to trade pokémon. First, as I’ve said before, there are some species that can only be obtained in a specific version of the game. Pokémon (Red Version) provides oddishes but not bellsprouts, Pokémon (Blue Version) is the reverse. Since oddishes and bellsprouts fill similar niches, it’s reasonable for two people with different colors to trade the one for the other. There are other similar cases.
Second, there are some species that are native to no version of the game. I’ve talked about how some species “evolve” into new forms in response to some stimulus. In most cases, the stimulus is reaching a certain experience level. In a few cases, it’s being exposed to a special object. The eevee is notable in that it can evolve into three separate forms depending on which of three objects is used on it: fire stone, thunder stone, or water stone. But in four particular cases, the stimulus that triggers evolution is being traded. You give someone a graveler, and it immediately starts turning into a golem. At one point, an associate and I traded a kadabra for a haunter, then immediately traded the resulting alakazam and gengar back, giving us both the benefit of having “caught” all four species.
The third reason is that traded pokémon get a substantial bonus to all experience they earn, making them advance faster than non-traded pokémon. This provides a motivation to trade even when you don’t gain a species you didn’t have otherwise. Interestingly, there are several non-player characters in the game who will trade pokémon with the player — there are even some species that can only be obtained from trades with NPCs. The pokémon obtained this way are treated by the game as obtained in trades, and thus get the same experience bonus as ones obtained in a real trade between two players. 1 Or at least two Gameboys. There are probably people who trade with themselves, but that’s getting into “what’s the point” territory if you ask me. Cinnabar Island, which I have just reached, has at least three NPCs who trade pokemon, making it the densest trade center in the world; the rest of the traders are just scattered around on roadways and the like. I haven’t been taking advantage of the offered trades, because pokemon that are raised by hand from an early level get better stats than ones produced by the game. But maybe I should. When I’m racing to get the entire collection to their final evolutions, that experience bonus would come in handy.
At any rate, my trade list is now online.
| ↑1 | Or at least two Gameboys. There are probably people who trade with themselves, but that’s getting into “what’s the point” territory if you ask me. |
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I’ve been trying to figure out if there are rules governing your pokemon names. Many of them seem to be last names, often classy british ones, but there is the occasional fake name like Sluggo and Morgoth, and Guinevere is a first name, I think.
I also haven’t been able to figure out if the name has anything to do with the pokemon type. Does Carrefours have anything to do with Jigglypuff? Sleep – nonelemental – crossroads – french? I guess the names could be entirely whimsical too.
It’s basically all whimsy. Sometimes I go for amusing (to me) inappropriateness.
I think that if I were to start over, I’d name each pokémon after a different species of pokémon. That is, name the spearow Pikachu and the pikachu Charizard and so forth.
oh man, that would be so horrible.