There is a 96.1% chance that more EX Power Keepers scans will appear on this site every day until the pre-releases (3.9% chance that the world blows up tomorrow and no one sees any more).
35+ EX Power Keepers Scans - Click the thumbnails below to view our exclusive scans! When the gallery viewer opens, you can hover to the left or right of the image and click to scroll through the rest of the scans. Reprinted cards thus far include Blaziken, Machamp, Slaking, Lanturn, Magneton, Nintetales, Omastar, Wobbuffet, Combusken, which are sure to give rise to old decks and old strategies. Other cards in the set include Vaporeon * and Jolteon *. The rest of the cards raise a few questions. Who created them, the American exclusive cards? Could it have been PUSA/POP, such as when Dark Raichu was created by Wizards of the Coast, or Pokemon Card Laboratory (PCL), the creators of the Japanese cards and most cards we know today? I think you may find some hints on the actual cards based on the diction used and several of the sentence structures, as well as the excessive use of Ken Sugimori artwork. Keep checking back for more scans within the next few days!
[EX Power Keepers Discussion Thread on our Forums]
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There is a 95.9% chance we will have EX Power Keepers information and / or scans by Friday (4.1% chance that the world blows up by Friday and no one sees them). There is a 20 - 40% chance we will have information and / or scans by Wednesday (75% thereafter between Wednesday night and Friday). There is a 98.6% chance that I am atrocious with math and probably underestimated the percentages by 10 - 20%, plus make no sense in what I say, holding that there is a 95% chance EX Power Keepers pre-releases are held this weekend and holding that there is a 99% chance I live until Friday. Solve for x. Keep checking back every day to see when we receive our EX Power Keepers information / scans!
New Strategist Articles! - We have reformed our Strategist program, and now have teams of three people working on [card reviews] every week. This way, there are multiple viewpoints given on a card (with one voice, not three), providing a comprehensive review on cards for intermediate to newer players to read. Since I was busy studying for finals last week, I did not have the opportunity to post any reviews our Card Strategists created, so we have two new reviews available for reading today! A new card review will be posted about every other day, except for this week, in which we will catch up with the reviews already written.
- [Tyranitar ex d] - EX Dragon Frontiers (Writers: Crystal Suicune, JPO, Papi/Manny)
- [Salamence d] - EX Delta Species (Writers: Arcanine274, Aagron_92, Senor Gardevoir)
Pokemon Tool Cards - This news is about four days old, but again, I did not have the chance to post it last week because of finals. In Japan at the Spring Battle Road tournament, participants will receive a Pikachu and Fukamaru promo card (seen to the right - click for a larger image). As shown, the cards have built in "Pokemon Tools," which, as we described a few weeks ago, activate when certain conditions are met. The tools on the cards appear to be Oran Berry, although we cannot be certain since the images are too small. Although nothing is known about these cards or what the Pokemon Tool built in to them are, judging by the handheld Pokemon games, the berries (if they are berries) will most likely activate when, say, Pikachu's HP is 30 or below, just like in the games when berries activate when a Pokemon's HP is low or it is affected by a Special Condition. Again, this is not for certain and is an educated assumption, but hopefully, we will find new information within the next few weeks concerning both these new types of cards and the next set, Mystery of the Lakes.
Finals week is finally over. I had absolutely no time to update this past week because two of my classes (math and Spanish) were hanging by a thread, and if I did not study, they would drop to the next lowest letter grade come finals day. I literally had 18-21 hour days trying to fit in the time to study, and I was not expecting to save either class (potentially my college eligibility as well). Miraculously, to everyone's surprise (both teacher and my own), I somehow impossibly kept both grades - they even went up (in terms of percentage, but not letter)! I went downhill after the car crash I was in earlier this school year, since I fell behind in my classes and was out for a week, so this was the worst semester of my life (I was actually getting C's!). But now, it's a new semester with a new start and new opportunities to do well, and hopefully, the colleges will see me improve next semester and will understand what happened! Anyways, enough about myself and school - I will go back to my regular updating schedule for now, since the stress is off, and I hope you guys know why I did not have the time to update this past week!
New Episode (and it works!) - If you missed The Unbeatable Lightness Of Seeing on Cartoon Network yesterday, you can watch it by clicking the picture below (it will be removed within the next few days). You will need Windows Media Player to watch the video (and I am sure most of you have it). Next week, the new episode, Pinch Healing, will air at 9:30 AM on Cartoon Network, so be sure to watch it!
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EX Power Keepers - Saturday! - The new set, possibly featuring a majority of reprinted cards, will have its first pre-releases this Saturday, February 3rd. To find a pre-release location near you, click here, and to find our more information about the pre-releases, click here. Hopefully, we will have scans available for everyone's viewing on Saturday (if not, then hopefully before :p).
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!
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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!
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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.
