Update (1:00 AM): Better-quality images added.

Yesterday I forgot to post the Basic Energy of LEGEND: HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection, which you can see below. As we reported a while ago, the Energy feature silhouettes of certain Pokemon; they also feature specific locations from Johto. For example, Water Energy uses Lugia's silhouette and depicts the Whirl Islands. Could this be a new trend with Energy in future sets? We'll see!

To emphasize this from yesterday, we are 99% sure Baby Pokemon can no longer evolve. There is nothing on the Baby's card or the respective Basic that indicates they can. There could be a rule about it in the card rule book, but that is extremely doubtful, since little kids would probably never know about it and nothing on the Baby Pokemon shows what they evolve into. We have thus concluded new Baby Pokemon do not evolve anymore.

Many people have been asking what's so special about Great Pokemon in terms of play. Well, there is nothing special about them - "Great Pokemon" doesn't even appear on the cards. So in terms of playing them, Great Pokemon are just like any other Pokemon card. They just look more prettiful. ;)

Update #2 (2 PM): The blog below has updated to reveal the game is an "action adventure" in which you will clear different attractions (perhaps mini-games) while deepening your friendship with Pokemon you meet along the way. At each attraction you can borrow the abilities of Pokemon you befriend. Some attractions will focus on certain elemental types, such as "Sky Race" and "Marine Slide," which will be easier to clear using the abilities of Flying-type and Water-type Pokemon respectively. The game will not use the same 3D graphics as the WiiWare games, but will instead use its own.

Update #1 (10 AM): The game is going to be sold in stores since it has its own listing on the Japanese Amazon.com website. Thus, it is not WiiWare, and most likely, it is the same game Tsunekazu Ishihara was foreshadowing.

Nintendo announced yesterday at a retailer conference in Kyoto, Japan that a new Pokemon Wii game is to be released on December 5th in Japan: PokePark Wii - Pikachu's Great Adventure. It is unknown whether this title is WiiWare or an actual commercial game. It is also unknown if this is the same game Tsunekazu Ishihara spoke of in the Famitsu magazine interview last month. No further information is known at the moment other than the game's title and release date, but news should be coming in within the next month or so!

Update #5 (11:30 AM): All translations have now been added to our set page, courtesy of Bangiras.

With special thanks to Toho (and Kareda earlier in the day), we now have early scans of LEGEND: HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection. Bangiras has translated all of the cards as well, which you can see on the page above.

The secret card in both mini-sets is "Alph Lithograph," short for "Ruins of Alph Lithograph." The card template is unique in comparison to other cards, looking rather rustic. It does not have a rarity. A lithograph is an image printed on stone, and in this case, it refers to the Unown letters printed on the walls of the Ruins of Alph. The two cards are reverse holo. In HeartGold Collection, the overall card is golden and allows you to look at your opponent's hand. In SoulSilver Collection, the card is of course silver, but allows you to shuffle your own deck.

As we reported earlier, the Japanese will now receive a reverse holo in each booster pack. Their reverse holos are exactly the same as ours, featuring the same kind of holo paper. LEGEND Pokemon are the only type of card that will not have a reverse holo version, which will most likely be the case for our English set as well. EX Pokemon never received reverse holos either.

Like with Galactic Pokemon in the SP sets, the borders of the cards in this set are multicolored - they are a mixture of Gold and Silver, obviously in reference to HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Double Colorless Energy is a word-for-word reprint of the original card.

It seems that Pokemon who evolve through the use of an evolutionary stone feature the stone in the card art. For example, Arcanine and Ninetales are shown with a Fire Stone whereas Slowking is reaching for a King's Rock.

Speaking of evolution, it looks as if Baby Pokemon will no longer be able to evolve, though we're not positive on this yet. There are no more PokePowers stating that you can place a Pokemon like Clefairy onto Cleffa - both Pokemon are simply Basics. You can't evolve a Basic into a Basic.

As a reminder, the Great Pokemon in the sets are Feraligatr, Ampharos, Donphan, and Blissey in HeartGold Collection, and Meganium, Typhlosion, Crobat, and Ursaring in SoulSilver Collection. The LEGEND cards are Ho-Oh and Lugia, exclusive to their respective mini-sets; both Pokemon are split between two cards each. The secret card in both sets is Alph Lithograph. All of these cards, including promos associated with the set like Red Gyarados, will be combined to form our English set when it is released next February in America.

According to an ad on Cartoon Network's website, the third Mystery Dungeon anime special, Explorers of Sky, is going to air this Friday at 7:30 PM. It continues the story of the previous special. Piplup and crew join up with their former enemy, Grovyle, in an attempt to stop evil Dusknoir, recover the Time Gear, and find out why the boy was turned into a Piplup. The first two specials will air at 6:30 and 7:00 PM.

Perhaps the most broken card in Arceus has been revealed - the all-powerful, amazingly awesome Rapidash of doom!! Click the thumbnail below for a larger image. We will have early scans of the set the week after next, which is when prereleases will start.

Last time's quiz asked, "Which of the following shows/movies or their characters have NOT been made into or parodied by a Pokemon character or story?" The correct answer was Tokyo Story. Most people voted for Star Trek: The Next Generation, but Pokemon has parodied it before.

• Star Trek: The Next Generation (42.0%, 4,077 Votes) - In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, Pikachu is nicknamed "Jean-Luc Pikachu," a reference to Jean-Luc Picard, the captain of the Enterprise in The Next Generation. (Played by Patrick Stewart, the bald guy - you know, Xavier from X-Men, the voice of Lord Yupa in Nausicaa, the voice of the head of the CIA in American Dad?) Pikachu is also shown wearing the iconic Star Trek communicator.
• Batman (14.0%, 1,399 Votes) - In the episode "The Superhero Secret," one of the characters is secretly a superhero named "Gligarman." He rides a motorcycle and tells Ash and friends to blow a whistle if they ever need help (Superman). His real last name is Parker, a reference to Peter Parker from Spiderman. The episode also features a secret laboratory (the Bat Cave) and Gligirl (Bat Girl). Gligarman's Gligar seems to be a reference to young Robin.
• Titanic (9.0%, 884 Votes) - The S.S. Anne episodes where the ship sinks. Not necessarily a reference to the 1997 movie, but more of the actual event, which the movie (creatively) portrays. The dub narrator also says a few Titanic references, like "Holy Titanic!" In "Lights, Camerupt, Action!", a Natu and Xatu appear as lovers on a spaceship torn by an ice asteroid, which is more of a reference to the story.
• Frankenstein (9.0%, 870 Votes) - The whole premise of Mewtwo Strikes Back. Scientist creates monster, monster kills scientist. Except it is with Pokemanz and cloning rather than corpses and electricity. The monster also wishes to fit-in, but can't, like Mewtwo. (Note: The monster isn't actually named Frankenstein, the scientist is. It's just called "the monster.")
• Tarzan (7.0%, 643 Votes) - "The Kangaskan Kid." Tommy was accidentally dropped into the wild when he was young and raised by wild Kangaskhan. He screams like Tarzan and swings from trees, though doesn't crash into them like in George of the Jungle.
• Princess Mononoke (6.0%, 549 Votes) - Pokemon 4Ever copies the basic plot of the latter part of this movie. The "spirit of the forest" in Mononoke ("voice of the forest" in Celebi) is attacked by humans (Vicious), changes into something monstrous (giant badly-rendered 3D Frosted Mini Wheat Celebi monster), goes crazy and destroys the forest, then dies. In the Pokemon movie, though, Celebi is revived. Pokemon has copied many Studio Ghibli plots before, both in episodes and movies. It is also interesting to note that Regigigas has the same sort of striping on its body as the forest spirit. If you watch the Shaymin movie, the way Regigigas walks is similar to the way the spirit walks after its head is cut off as well.
• Yojimbo (5.0%, 508 Votes) - Parodied in "Showdown in Dark City." A wandering samurai (Ash) happens upon a town where two rival families (the two Gyms) are fighting for dominance (the status of official Pokemon Gym) and terrorizing the townspeople to the point where everyone's in hiding (identical to Dark City's residents). After the samurai defeats the bodyguards from one of the households (Team Rocket), both families begin to court his services. The samurai makes up a name (based on a nearby object, similar to Ash's "Tom Ato") and questions both families to decide if either one is noble, but ultimately finds that they aren't. He sets up camp in a restaurant (Ash also does this) and engineers a battle that results in the destruction of both families (Ash spilling paint on Electabuzz and Scyther to make them go berserk). In the Pokemon episode, this results in everyone learning a lesson and living happily ever after, which is the ONLY point that differs from Yojimbo.
• Tokyo Story (4.0%, 429 Votes) - Pokemon hasn't really copied this movie in any way despite its fame. It probably couldn't, anyway. The movie is about a modern family that doesn't pay any attention to their grandparents. The family finds the grandparents a hassle to host when they come to visit because of their busy lives. The movie ends rather tragically. You should watch it!
• Castle of Cagliostro (4.0%, 427 Votes) - Looker is basically a nod to Inspector Zenigata from the Lupin series; Castle of Cagliostro is a Lupin movie. Both are detectives, from the International Police, and look similar in appearance.
• Total Voters: 9,786

It appears that Cartoon Network will now be posting the latest Pokemon episodes on their website a few days after they air in a vein similar to websites like Hulu. The latest episode available, Battling a Cute Drama!, aired last Saturday on television and was posted on their website this past Monday. Classroom Training, which aired this morning, will probably be posted this upcoming Monday and replace the previous episode. So if you're old and can no longer wake up at 9 in the morning like when you were a kid, you have a whole week to watch the episodes now! (*coughbesidesonyoutubecough*)

The prerelease promo for Platinum: Arceus will be Raichu, while the prerelease sleeve will feature a silhouette of Arceus on what appears to be a greenish background. Prereleases will take place the last two weekends of the month. The set will mainly use cards from the Japanese Advent of Arceus.

A trailer following yesterday's one-hour special revealed a preview of upcoming Team Galactic episodes that will air in Japan in November, which you can watch below. The episodes will conclude the main Team Galactic plot, as the trailer states, "The battle with Team Galactic finally reaches its last chapter!" Recaps of Team Galactic events thus far will also begin playing at the end of new episodes starting next week.

The trailer reveals that Team Galactic's final plot will involve Dialga, Palkia, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf; Pokemon Hunter J, Looker, Cynthia, Gary, and Professor Rowan will also take part in the episodes. Cyrus summons Dialga and Palkia with some sort of hand device, which seems to be powered by one of the jewels from the Pixies. Two minutes into the video you can see that he then uses the Red Chain to form mandalas around Dialga and Palkia to control them; both mandalas are similar to the one wrapped around Arceus' body, so perhaps Arceus will be referenced in the episodes. At one point, Cyrus says, "The three from the lake and the two orbs will call forth god!" God is singular, so we're not sure if he is referring to Arceus, Arceus' power (which he may be using to control Dialga and Palkia to create his new world), and/or himself.

The trailer is absolutely amazing! It looks like the anime is actually going to go all-out with their Team Galactic plot, unlike the underdeveloped Team Magma and Aqua plots. You can tell the writers carefully planned and injected Galactic into the Sinnoh episodes and that a payoff was going to eventually come. Hopefully the show pulls it off well!

The official Japanese Pokemon website has announced that a new PokeWalker course, Champ Path, will soon be unlockable through a special download. Players who attend Japanese Pokemon Battle Challenges between October 17th and December 27th will be able to download it first, and the official Wi-Fi event to unlock it will take place sometime in January. Champ Path features Pokemon with moves that they do not learn by leveling up:

• Beldum - Zen Headbutt
• Bronzor - Trick Room
• Duskull - Imprison
• Horsea - Muddy Water
• Magikarp - Bounce
• Munchlax - Selfdestruct