EDIT: And of course the video does not want to work correctly this week either - it only loads half of the episode. I doubt I will have time to fix the problem until tomorrow, so for now, enjoy the battle with Nurse Joy! XD
Ahhhh! Finals this week! The teachers have given us too many projects and tests to take Monday, which are not even related to finals, so I do not see how anyone in our senior class will have the opportunity to study for them. :p
New Japanese Promo Cards - At the World Hobby Festival in Japan, which runs from January to February, reprints of several [PCG: Diamond and Pearl] cards in promo form will be available with the exchange of one of your own Pokemon cards. The cards simply have different artwork, and of course, are promos instead of coming from a set. They will also be available at official TCG tournaments in Japan through the same method. Whether or not they will be released in America when Diamond and Pearl make their way over here is unknown at this point. Click the image on the right for a larger picture. [speculation] The reprint choices are quite interesting... all of the Pokemon on the right, spare Pachirisu, are owned by a character on the television show, and the TCG has before released cards that soon becomes a character's Pokemon. Could Pachirisu become a companion to one of the characters soon? We shall see... [/end speculation]
"Overjoyed!" - Ash faces off against Nurse Joy with her Chansey, and Brandon with his Registeel, all in one episode! If you missed the episode when it aired on Cartoon Network, you can watch it below by clicking the play button (if the video starts to play and then stops, click the button a couple of times). It will be removed within the next few days, so watch it as soon as you have time!
[Videos No Longer Available]
If you miss "Overjoyed" on Cartoon Network tomorrow, featuring Nurse Joy and Registeel, we will have it here temporarily for you to watch.
Manaphy Code Revealed! - The Manaphy code is P8M2 9D6F 43H7! To find out how to obtain Manaphy's egg in Pokemon Ranger, follow the steps below, or go to Pokemon.com and read the first news story.
1. Access Ranger Net after finishing the game. When you see "Ranger Net" on your main menu, click on it.
2. Your screen will show "Play a special mission." On your Nintendo DS, press the top right trigger, the X button, and left on your directional pad simultaneously.
3. You should see a screen that says "Enter the password" has been added.
4. Tap the touch screen, and wait as the game saves.
5. After the game saves, tap the screen again, and a new menu will come up that says "Enter the password."
6. When you click on the password screen, enter P8M2 9D6F 43H7.
Diamond and Pearl English Box Art - Earlier this afternoon, Nintendo.com displayed the English box art for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, but it was later removed. Luckily, the images remained on their servers, and can be seen below. They are not much different from their Japanese counterparts, albeit the yellow and blue English Pokemon logo.
In the beginning, there was only a chaotic, heaving sea. Everything was mixed together, and in the center an egg appeared. From the egg fell out the first one. The first one created two children. Time started to turn. Space started to expand. It also bore from its own body three mortal lives. The two children prayed and the thing called matter was born. The three lives prayed and the thing called spirit was born. As the world had been created, the first one went to sleep. In a month or so, this legend might make sense to you all (after I explain it). :p
Mystery of the Lakes - The release date for Mystery of the Lakes, the second Diamond and Pearl TCG set, is March 2nd in Japan. We will, of course, bring you information on the set as it is released.
New D/P Sugimori Artwork - The [Ken Sugimori Pokemon] page has been updated with new Diamond and Pearl Pokemon artwork, including Glacia, Leafia, Megayanma, Heatran, and a few other Pokemon. Check it out!
New Pokemon in 10th Movie - According to PokeAni.com, Dialga vs. Palkia, the next Pokemon movie, will also feature a Diamond and Pearl event-only legendary Pokemon (which are either Sheimi, Arseus, or Darkrai). The Pokemon will be revealed in next month's issue of CoroCoro on February 15th. If you read the Diamond and Pearl in-game legend that is posted above, understand it, and the legend turns out to be true, you may already know who the Pokemon is (I know who the legend refers to, but the legend relating to the movie is another story).
I will update again tomorrow.
EX Power Keepers Press Release - The official press release for EX Power Keepers can be seen below, containing one piece of new information concerning what we will get at the pre-release.
POKEMON ANNOUNCES EX Power Keepers PRERELEASE TOURNAMENTS
Local Players to Participate in Exclusive Card Expansion Preview Tournaments
BELLEVUE, Wash.-January 16th, 2007-Pokémon USA, Inc., a worldwide leader in the
trading card game industry, today announced its upcoming Pokémon Trading Card
Game (TCG) EX Power Keepers Prerelease tournaments. Prerelease tournaments
provide players the opportunity to preview and play with unreleased cards from
the upcoming EX Power Keepers expansion. The Pokémon TCG: EX Power Keepers
Prerelease tournaments will be held during the weekends of February 3rd and 4th
and February 10th and 11th.
Players are divided into three divisions: Junior Division (born in 1996 or
later); Senior Division (born in 1992, 1993, 1994 or 1995); and Masters Division
(born in 1991 or earlier). An admission fee is charged at the door and varies
depending on event location. The entry fee includes six booster packs of the
Pokémon TCG: EX Power Keepers, from which each player will build his or her
deck. Players are free to take the cards home at the end of the event. All
participants will receive a Pokémon TCG: EX Power Keepers Prerelease promo card
and an EX Power Keepers notebook, while supplies last. Players who complete the
tournament will also receive two additional booster packs of EX Power Keepers
cards.
WHO: Pokemon TCG players and the public
WHAT: Pokémon TCG: EX Power Keepers Prerelease tournament
WHEN: February 3rd and 4th and February 10th and 11th
WHERE: Cities across North America
For more information, please visit www.op.pokemon-tcg.com.
EDIT: For some reason, the video does not seem to work in some people's Internet Explorer browsers. I have no idea why not, but I am researching to find the solution. If you have Firefox or want to download it, you can watch the video in it without any sort of trouble.
This week has been extremely busy. Next week, as well as the week after, most of my time will be consumed as well, since we are beginning to head into semester finals. Therefore, I will try to update as often as possible! *prays that he does well with the Spanish and Math finals*
Legendary Collection Scans Up! - This is the last set we needed, and now its scans are up! We now have scans for every single set, minus a couple of scans missing from some of the EX sets, but I will try to get those up by tomorrow (don't count on it with my punctuality)! You can view the Legendary Collection scans by [clicking here], and all other TCG set scans under "Card Scans and Lists" in the left menu. A huge thank-you goes to Shakespeare, who both scanned and edited all of the cards! Without him, we would not have any of the scans we have today!
Diamond and Pearl Set in America - I have discovered the pre-release dates for America's Diamond and Pearl TCG set! They will occur on the weekends of April 28 and May 5th, which are about three months away from now. Mark your calendars! Hopefully, we will discover substantial D/P American set information within the next month, so continue to check back here!
Duels of the Jungle - Since I woke up at 6:00 AM on Saturday and had a DVD+RW handy, I recorded the new episode of Pokemon, "Duels of the Jungle." It will be removed within the next few days, so if you missed it on Saturday when it was on Cartoon Network, you better watch it now!
[Video No Longer Available]
I viewed this website in Internet Explorer at school today, and the spacing between paragraphs was much greater than I intend it to look (especially the bullet points from yesterday - they were too far to the left). The right menu was also one pixel to the right and was overlapping the content. I have looked at my site on IE before with it looking exactly how I wanted, so I don't know if it was just the computer I was using, or if I somehow recently altered something in the CSS of the site by accident. If you guys can provide screenshots of how this website looks in Internet Explorer (and, what the heck, other browsers like Opera and Safari), please post them in this thread on our forums. Gracias! *goes to finish USC application*
Pokemon #2 Best-Selling Game Franchise of All Time - According to a Next Generation article, Pokemon is the #2 best selling game franchise of all time, following its Nintendo partner, Mario. While Mario has been out much, much longer than Pokemon, our favorite franchise is not that far behind in sales compared to it, meaning that Pokemon could beat Mario sometime in the near future. As I always say, "And people say Pokemon is dead?" You can view the complete list below, obtained from the Next Generation article.
1. 'Mario': 193 million.
2. 'Pokémon': 155 million
3. 'Final Fantasy': 68 million
4. 'Madden NFL': 56 million
5. 'The Sims': 54 million
6. 'Grand Theft Auto': 50 million
7. 'Donkey Kong': 48 million (center)
8. 'The Legend of Zelda': 47 million
9. 'Sonic the Hedgehog': 44 million
10. 'Gran Turismo': 44 million
11. 'Lineage': 43 million
12. 'Dragon Quest': 41 million
13. 'Crash Bandicoot': 34 million
14. 'Resident Evil': 31 million
15. 'James Bond': 30 million
16. 'Tomb Raider': 30 million
17. 'Mega Man': 26 million
18. 'Command & Conquer': 25 million
19. 'Street Fighter': 25 million
20. 'Mortal Kombat': 20 million
Yay! News at the beginning of the week for once!
New Manaphy Information - Pokemon.com has updated with a plethora of new Manaphy information, concerning both the Pokemon Ranger game and the ninth Pokemon movie. To find out more about the below bullet points (which are a summary of the new info), be sure to visit the website and read the different sections, especially the section on Pokemon Ranger!
- The Manaphy code for Pokemon Ranger will be revealed January 20th.
- Unlike what some websites reported, the Manaphy mission is still in Pokemon Ranger, thus allowing people to complete the mission to receive the Manaphy egg. When the Manaphy mission is complete, you will be able to transfer the egg to Diamond and Pearl (released April 22nd) to hatch Manaphy (it will be at Level 1 - like all hatched Pokemon in Diamond and Pearl). To reach the Manaphy mission, you must beat Pokemon Ranger, enter the code Pokemon.com reveals on January 20th, and complete the special Deoxys, Celebi, and Mew missions (in that order).
- In Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea (released April 3rd), Hiromi (the people of the Water descendant) will be named Lizabeth for the English version.
- The Pokemon Ranger, Jackie, keeps his name from the Japanese version, as does the evil pirate, Phantom (what a surprise).
- Manaphy is still referred to as the "Prince of the Sea," despite the movie's title being changed from that of the Japanese version's.
I can't sleep at 1:15 AM, so I'll update! Plus, my laptop is overheating, so it's keeping me warm while I lay on my bed in a 50-60 degree bedroom watching Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea for the seventeenth time (literally). :) Also, I forgot to mention yesterday that the right menu has been completely updated with new events and dates, and now includes links to specific TCG events, including information, locations, and even a link to the deck list form for City Championships. I will continue to add links to specific events in the future once POP releases pages for them.
Base Set 2 Scans Up! - Thanks to Shakespeare, as usual, we now have all of [Base Set 2]'s scans up! This only leaves Legendary Collection scans for PokeBeach, plus promo cards, and the few scans we are missing from some of the modified sets! Once those are all added to the site, we will be done with ALL American card scans! Wonder where we will go next...
Japan TCG News - In mid-spring, Japan's modified format will change to (our equivalent of) "EX FireRed and LeafGreen-on." This has been a huge and unexpected tidbit of news for many Japanese players, as their format has been (our equivalent of) "EX Ruby and Sapphire-on" for several years. With this change, many of the deck archetypes that have been present since 2003 in Japan will be lost, and new Diamond and Pearl sets will begin to take over (such as the popular Dosidon decks many Japanese players are now using). Funny how our format shifts every single year, yet the Japanese rarely have a format change ($$$...). Also, since Darkness and Metal energy now come as basic energy, the special energy versions of them (which would be the Darkness and Metal energy of the past) have been re-designed for the Japanese, which can be seen to the right. They will be available as promo cards at Japanese tournaments, and will most likely make their way to America when they are reprinted.
Temple of the Sea Logo - While checking to see if Pokemon.com revealed the code to receive Manaphy's egg in Pokemon Ranger, I noticed that they added a new advertisement to torment us with the future release of Ranger's code. The advertisement contains the logo for the next Pokemon movie (the 9th), Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.
Who is the mysterious Pokemon taking over Pokemon.com?
Hatched from an egg, capable of new moves, star of a movie...
Find out soon.
They already told us it was named "Manaphy," but I suppose they forgot. The movie's logo can be seen above. Remember, the movie will come out on DVD April 3rd, so look forward to its release!
Vote for Lucario and the Mystery of Mew! - The first annual American Anime Awards, which will take place at the New York Comic-con on February 24th, will celebrate anime in North America by allowing fans to vote for their favorite voice actors, anime shows and movies, and music. Lucario and the Mystery of Mew has been nominated as "Best Anime Feature" in the voting, and for it to win the category, Pokemon fans (even if you only enjoy the TCG) should vote for it to show their support for Pokemon! To vote, go to the American Anime Awards website, answer the questions for the different categories, and for question #9, choose Lucario and the Mystery of Mew!
There were three Pokemon. Holding their breath, they dove deep, deep into the lakes, even though it was difficult, they dove deep, deep in. Fetch something important from the bottom of the lake. It is said that it is the power to create land. So the legend says...
Next Japanese Set Info: Part 2 - A few weeks ago, we posted new information on the next Japanese set, featuring the Sinnoh trio of Yuxie, Agnome, and Emurit, and now we have new and exclusive information on the set! The set will be named The Mystery of the Lakes, and will feature over 120 cards! The theme decks for the set will be named Attack! Rampard and Defense! Trideps, obviously featuring the two fossil Pokemon. Three Pokemon in the set will also come with built-in Pokemon Tools, and will literally be called "Pokemon with Tools." The tools built in to the Pokemon will activate when certain conditions are met. Three Level X Pokemon will also debut in the set, although we do not know which at this time (guess: Sinnoh trio). That's all we know for now! I will make a page on everything we have learned eventually!
Mew Holo POP 4 - Once EX Power Keepers is released, an EX Power Keepers blister pack will be released containing three booster packs and a holo POP 4 Mew card. The blister pack (click thumbnail for a larger image) will contain two EX Power Keepers booster packs and one EX Dragon Frontiers pack, and will retail for around twelve dollars. Expect it to come out from mid to late February!
Strategist Positions Open - We are looking for more PokeBeach Strategists for our new and reformed program! A Strategist is a person who writes card reviews (and possibly deck reviews in the future) to be posted on the site every week, and should be an extremely knowledgeable person who is aware of the current TCG trends, strategies, and decks. To apply, make up your own application describing your qualifications to become a Strategist, and post it in this thread on our forums. You may include anything that you think may be necessary to demonstrate that you are fit to become one (examples: tournaments won, player ranking, past experience with the TCG, Pokemon community activities, etc). Correct spelling and grammar skills are a must to become a Strategist. Only a few positions are open, so put forth your best effort in creating and submitting your application if you want to become one!
EDIT: Whoops, typo. Heart Swap, not Heart Swamp. I was trying to get a good screenshot of Swampert shooting out an Ice Beam at the beginning of the Manaphy movie, so Swampert was on my mind when typing the news story. :p That has to be a first.
Now that this project is done, I will go back to the old updating schedule. More updates either tonight or tomorrow (more likely the latter)!
New Fake Card Section Added - It's taken me over a week, much headache, lost Christmas vacation time, and the destruction of a galaxy, but the [Fake Card Blanks] section is now up! We received permission from both Fangking Omega and Nick15 to use their blanks, and now we are happy to have all of the them in one convenient section for everyone's use! Thanks also go to Cascade_Gon_Pory for recreating a few blanks that were lost in time, and both DocRobot and HolyStar for helping me with organizing at times when I needed help! Within the next few days, I will add the Trainer blanks and fake card resources, but for now, all of the Pokemon blanks are up, so enjoy!
English D/P Info - Pokemon.com has revealed the name of the Sinnoh professor, Professor Rowan (originally Professor Nanakamado), and the starter town, Twinleaf Town (originally Futaba Town). Manaphy's ability has also been officially named Hydration (Moist Body), which allows it to heal itself in the rain, and its unique move, Heart Swap, remains the same as the Japanese name. There is still no word on the secret password to receive the Manaphy egg in Pokemon Ranger, but it should be revealed soon!
WordWeb Dictionary Software - rowan (noun): Eurasian tree with orange-red berrylike fruits
