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This user uses Central Standard Time, which is UTC-6.
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| CDT
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During the northern Hemisphere summer, daylight saving time is in effect, which is UTC-5.
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This user contributes using an Apple Macintosh computer.
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This user is from the state of Texas.
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☆ This user's favorite Pokémon is Slakoth. ☆
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| Blue Ninjakoopa
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| Gender
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Male
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| Hometown
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Fort Hood, Texas
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| Other games
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Mario, Kirby
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Hi. I'm Blue Ninjakoopa, otherwise known as BNK, Binky, or simply Blue.
Introduction
My history with Pokemon dates all the way back to 1999 when I got Yellow Version for my birthday. I got into the series however when I got Sapphire Version in 2003 and since then the series is of interest to me. My sister got Ruby Version and we oftentimes traded cartridges until late 2004, when it was finalized that Ruby was mine and Sapphire was hers (which I was more than OK with, since Ruby had better Pokemon imo and the ruby is my birthstone).
Generation IV's new mechanics (the separation of physical and special moves by what kind of move they were rather than their type for example) were necessary landmark changes. However, I dislike the lack of creativity for some of the names, namely Infernape and Monferno; I also thought that some of the designs were lacking (Croagunk, Toxicroak, the Lake guardians to provide some examples). In the game department, the cry of Dialga was a very large disappointment. The sprites were a small improvement in comparison to the previous generation (bar sprites for Kanto region Pokemon + Teddiursa in FireRed & LeafGreen), and the 3D-scale game Battle Revolution was very successful, though it wouldn't have been too hard for them to redesign all of the graphics for the Pokemon (Nidoking looked like it did in the Pokemon Stadium games, for example).
Other notes
I'm from Texas, but I used to say I was "from California" because I thought that "sounded cool."
Pokemon
Games
I have the Yellow, Silver, Ruby, LeafGreen, Emerald, Diamond, Platinum, SoulSilver, Black, Black 2, Omega Ruby, and X versions, as well as Stadium 2, Gale of Darkness, Colosseum, and Battle Revolution. I used the Pokemon Trainer in Brawl until I got tired of his impractical gimmick (3 characters in 1, which greatly hinders skill development). Behind Mario and Kirby, Pokemon is the franchise I'm third most familiar with.
I bought Blue on the 3DS virtual console in March 2016. I'm currently training my team of Blastoise, Fearow, Machamp, Alakazam, Jolteon, and Nidoking in Victory Road so I don't have to rely on "game over" experience by repeatedly battling (and losing to) the Elite 4. I caught two of the Legendary Birds (Articuno and Moltres), and I plan to catch the third and transfer them all to Pokemon Sun. I also played through Sapphire Version, which had belonged to my sister previously.
Teams (under construction)
These are my "on-hand" teams for each game. Many aren't actually "on-hand", but they are the Pokemon that were on my team when I beat the Elite 4 and Champion.
- Blue Version -
Filburt, 
Jackson, 
Goro, 
Dr. Fate, 
Jolteon, 
Murakami
- Silver Version -
Kludge♂, 
Lana♀, 
Sheepman♂, 
Woody♂, 
Cyril♂, 
Fei Long♂
- Ruby Version -
Foghorn♂, 
Whispy♂, 
Boomboxer♂, 
Irene (Castle)♀, 
Fang♂, 
Everest
- LeafGreen Version - Sumo Bro.♂, Jackson♂,
Rick♂ (now a Steelix), 
Salvo♂, 
Fievel♂, 
MIMIEN♂
- Sapphire Version -
Bill♂, 
Craig♂, 
Hector♂, 
C-19, 
Ariel♀, 
Alpha 5
- Former team members -
Wave♀ (dropped for Salamence), 
Cairn♂ (dropped for Aggron and Claydol), 
Starro (dropped partly for Gorebyss and Claydol), 
Raphael♂ (dropped in part for Aggron and Salamence)
TV show
I watched the TV show actively from 1999 to early 2004, right before the theme song was changed to This Dream. After that, I infrequently watched the episodes as they would come on on Cartoon Network. The primary reasons I dislike the anime as it is (as it became in the late 00's) are the lack in effort for the voice acting (James sounds like a nasally congested Barney the Dinosaur, the voices of the Pokemon all sound the same and the voice actor portraying them does a very lousy job), removal of trademark themes and tunes, and poor opening songs. One thing that is a step up are the graphics, but that's it.
In general, having taken off my nostalgia goggles, the anime really wasn't anything spectacular. The conclusion of most episodes was always some variant of Pikachu being stolen by Team Rocket and Ash using one of his other Pokemon to pop their hot air balloon. Additionally, the physics weren't accurate to the games, with Ash having defeated several ground-type Pokemon with his Pikachu's electric attacks. This wasn't fixed until the D/P arc. It was also annoying that Ash never evolved many of his Pokemon, but that didn't matter, since any of Ash's under-leveled Pokemon could take on fully-evolved Pokemon owned by expert trainers thanks to plot armor.
Refrigerator Realization Dump
Here, I'll list trivial things I've realized while looking through my refrigerator or taking a shower that don't really belong on any article. It's a work in progress.
Typhlosion being able to learn Crush Claw is a Marvel reference
Typhlosion is a wolverine, honey badger, or an amalgamation of various mustelids. This is probably the biggest stretch I've ever made analyzing Pokemon... but I think that Typhlosion's ability to acquire Crush Claw through breeding is an ever-so-subtle nod to Logan, the Wolverine from X-Men, who uses claws extending from his knuckles to attack his enemies. Typhlosion, as a special attack, has no reason to use a non-STAB physical move that only does 75 damage and honestly, a lot of breeding moves are useless on Pokemon such as Exploud with Extrasensory. But the thing about Exploud and Extrasensory is that it serves to be a reference to Exploud's behavior and anatomy more than being functional or remotely competitively viable. There's a lot to unpack with why Pokemon learn certain moves, but here, I'm going to say that someone on the Game Freak development team liked the X-Men films or read the comics.
EDIT - So... it's actually more likely a reference to badgers being known for burrowing. Lol.
Kangeiko reference in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
I think the availability of Machoke and Meditite/Medicham in Sinnoh Routes 216 and 217 seems to be a reference to "Kangeiko" (I think it means "cold training"), which is when athletes or martial artists train in the cold prevalent in the middle of the winter. It's one of those little things that makes you appreciate these games more. It could also be a coincidence that the Machoke and Medicham are there as convenient options to aid in the fight against Candice's Ice-type Pokemon, but it's fun to think about it in a more intricate context.
Gorebyss and Huntail's Defense
Stats are usually straightforward. Rapidash is a horse. Horses are fast. Rapidash thus has a high speed stat. Stats can also be weird... but there's often logic behind them still. Usually, stats are dictated by a need for balance. This is why Purugly's HP is so low while its speed is so high, even though you wouldn't think of a "fat" Pokemon being fast (it having too much HP wouldn't have differentiated it enough from its counterpart, Skuntank, and would have been hell to deal with in the early part of D/P). Anyway, back to Gorebyss and Huntail. You've probably noticed that they both have base 105 defense. And you might be thinking it's strange, considering their previous evolution, Clamperl, has a SHELL and only has base 80 defense. But there's a reason for this, and it's not balance. Both Gorebyss and Huntail are based on deep-sea fish: the snipe eel and gulper eel, respectively. Deep underwater, there's a lot of pressure, and animals that live there either need sturdy bones/shells or soft, flexible skin to resist said pressure. Gorebyss and Huntail's high defense stats reference their ability to resist deep-sea pressure.
Trapinch's Attack
This one should be more obvious to seasoned players of R/S and fans of the Flygon line. Nintendo is known for having a fascination with antlion larvae, which have appeared in some capacity across multiple franchises. Off the top of my head, there's Priscilla the Peckish from the Mario universe, Snipper from Kirby, and the Sandworm from Wario. Trapinch is one such antlion larvae-based creation, and a lot of people love it. As many of you were, I was puzzled the first time I evolved my Trapinch into Vibrava and noticed its attack had decreased significantly. One might assume an error or glitch, but there's a reference in all of it. And it's a simple one... you see, antlion larvae are notorious predators that create sand pits (hence Sand Tomb being one of Trapinch's earliest known moves) that trap prey (usually ants, hence the name) by making it difficult for the prey to climb out. The trap's effectiveness is achieved thanks to the physics of sand... on an incline, the tiny grains of sand roll off of each other as the prey tries to climb out, and eventually the prey slips into the jaws of the larvae. When antlion larvae grow up, however, they're not nearly as aggressive (if I'm not mistaken, they don't even prey on other animals or aren't really able to), hence the attack drop.
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