Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition and Black2 & White2 news

Right, lets get the easy stuff (that I forgot to post, sorry) out of the way first. Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition, the strategy DS game that gives all the waring characters of the Nobunaga’s Ambition franchise some Pokémon to fight with, WILL be geting an english translation. This is suprising as the Nobunaga’s Ambition series is vastly unknown outside of Japan. That said, so was the Mystery Dungeon series when Pokémon got introduced to it and it became a worldwide hit. In America, the game’s going to be called Pokémon Conquest and here’s a shot of the box art:

The US will be getting the game released on June 18th. The game has also just recently recieved a rating for release in Austalia, indicating a Pal Release. The game will be getting a G rateing but interestingly its been rated under the title Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition, so whether the game will change its name closer to release or if its being released with its Japanese name is currently unknown. What’s also unknown is any details on a European Release, chances are high, however there’s no details for Europe yet.

Right, lets get onto the really cool stuff. CoroCoro magazine has started to surfice on the internet and this month, Lots of Black2 and White2 news is inside. Pokémon Smash is due to reveal this info this Sunday in Japan, historically its not revealed much more so this is all the infomation we’ll probably have for a few weeks, but Pokémon Smash is due to have some video action of B2&W2 so we’ll hopefully be able to link you to that at the weekend.

So that’s the world map… and there’s a fair bit of Ice covering it. Why? Maybe because Kyurem has done something to the world, Maybe its something to do with Global Warming… or maybe its an effect to hide parts of the map so we can be surprised later on. Why would we need to be suprised. Well despite that B2&W2 are still set in the Unova region, the games are actually set 2 years after the first and as such, there’s been a few changes around the place. We know that there are new area’s of the map, as well as changes to existing places, Route 4, for example, not only has the road between the Nimbasa and Castelia been completed, but there looks like there’s a setlement popped up. And the moat that surrounds the Entra Link has dried up. There’s a lot of minor differences between this artwork and the original Unova Artwork, including Liberty Guarden, where Victini is found… maybe Victini wont need an event this time around?

other info from this page, Black Kyurem and White Kyurem’s both height and weight’s are revealed. Black Kyurem is 3.3m tall and 325 kg while White Kyurem is 3.6m tall and 325 kg. We also know that Black Kyurem will know Freeze Shock while White Kyurem will know Ice Burn.

Lastly on this page, details on the new Unova Pokédex. In Black and White, it was hinted that some, if not all, of the none Unova Pokémon had escaped from the transfer lab. Well now they’re becoming Nationalised as a lot of Pokémon are added to the Unova Dex. Cranking up from 156 to 300, its adding pokemon such as Psyduck at 026, Riolu at 033, and Metagross at 246 (with thier evolutions at assuming the numbers next to them). The dex is also adding Arcanine, Lapras, Eevee, Mareep, Tyranitar, Buneary and Weavile (along with thier Evos, presumably) amongs others old and new in the dex.

The next page shows characters. On the right are the two new trainers, male and female, that you’ll have to chose from in Black2 & White2… While the guy in the red shirt on thier left is the new Rival. Aparently in one of the boxes he’s quoted as saying ‘From now, I’m going to rage!’ – so he’s going to be a bit more anger managment issues than the last rival. He is, however, still a childhood friend of the rival. The girl with the guitar will show up in an Anime Episode in Japan in June, She’s Homika, a new Poison Gym Leader. Her gym is aproriatly a Club where live bands play.

Although you could see these two new characters on the last image, this is a better shot of these two. The tanned guy in the tight blue swimming costume is Shizui, the new Water Gym Leader. Akuroma is the new researcher, who’s looking into Pokémon Strength (probably in general and not the HM move as I first thought when I read that) – he’s described as a bit mysterious.

One of the new towns will be Hiougi City, its on the south West of the map and shown in images at the top left of the scan above. It’s going to be the new starting city for our new trainers. Its got a cool lookout area, and contains a Trainer School and a Pokémon Center. Again, changing the rules of Pokémon games, no player has started off in a City, or had a Trainer School or Pokémon Center in thier home town… so 3 new firsts in one place! The bottom of that page shows off some of the new buildings around Unova. The coolest one, an underwater tunnel you can walk through, with Mantine that floats by over head… even if there are no other fish that float above you – that is awesome in my book!

The issue also contained little info about the next Pokémon movie, Kyurem & The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo, and the Pikachu Short, Meloetta’s Sparkling Recital. Nothing major here, but it does highlight Meloetta’s secondary form, the Pirouette Forme, so that’s cool

That’s all we’ve got for now. Any more pops up we’ll throw it up and hopefully, at the weekend we’ll have some video of Black2/White2 in action.

New Games Announced

So Junichi Masuda (he’s the director of the Pokémon games) went on Pokémon Smash this week (its a Pokémon based viraity show in Japan that replaced Pokémon Sunday a few months ago). Now anytime Junichi Masuda goes on that show, its generally a big deal and this time was no exception. This time he announced new, main series Pokémon games comeing out thisyear (in Japan anyway).

So you know how Black and White has broken most trends when its come to Pokémon games (Route numbers started again from 1, no old generation Pokémon available [until after the elite 4 anyway]) – well it’s third version of the game is breaking that trend as well. See, instead of Grey (the name we’d all been expecting) – we’re getting Black 2 AND White 2

Cue logos:

So other than this is going to be the first directly named sequel of a main game series, we dont know much more than this yet. And by much more I do mean we know 1 thing. following on the pattern brought into Platinum, an in game legendeary will be getting a new form only available in these (and probably future) games. check these out:

Can you tell who they are? Well dont worry about guessing, that’s Kyurem, the Boundry Pokémon, a Dragon/Ice type. Taking on a look of Zekrom and Reshiram, Black Kyurem and White Kyurem will be the cover art of Black2 and White 2 respectivly (the colour opposite way that Zekrom and Reshiram were cover art).

And yeah, THAT’s all we know about the games right now. They’re due for release in June in japan so expect information and news to drop regularly up till then.

And we’ll bring you that news as soon as we know it

New Game

Sorry we’re late on this news, we’ve been having a bit of technical difficulties in posting the news. The good news is that there has really only been one piece of news that’s been released during our problems, the downside (for us) is that it was a big piece of news

The big N kept this quiet but in a couple of weeks on July 28th, Japan will have a brand new Pokémon game released on the 3DS. Dont worry, its not a 3D version of Black and white, and the chances we’ll get it over into the West is fairly high as well.

Super Pokémon Scramble is a successor to the Wiiware game which was renamed Pokémon Rumble over in English Speaking Countries. The game saw you controling a toy version of a Pokémon, battling other Pokémon and, of course, collecting other toy Pokémon to use as well. Being a full game rather than a download title, the 3DS version will have new additional modes, along with more Pokémon to obtain. To start off with, Many of the new Pokémon from Black and White will be in the game along with Pokémon from the older generations.

Along with the standard mode and the battle royal mode from the original game (although they are both enhanced and improved upon), the game features a Collection Battle mode, where you’ll constantly battle all of the pokemon you’ve collected so far and a Charge mode, where you obtain an entire army of pokemon and charge them into battle against an opposing army. There will most likely be other modes unknown to us until the game launches

Super Pokémon Scramble also comes with Street pass capabilities, allowing you to Exchange team info with anybody you pass by as you walk around with your 3DS in sleep mode. Once you’ve got a street pass from someone, you’ll be able to fight thier chosen pokemon as a boss battle.

Super Pokémon Scramble is released for 3DS in Japan on July 28th. A Western Release is unknown at this time.

That’s all we have for you now, we’ll bring you more when we learn it (as long as our technology will allow it)

Movie 14 news!

So the first part of this news I acctually missed, sorry but its been a rottern week for me. Anyway, moving on…

The official Japanese Pokemon website has posted its first details on Pokemon Movie 14 – the next movie out in japanese cinema’s next summer. This will be the first movie tied into the Best Wishes saga, which is based off the Black and White games and is currently airing in Japan.

The next movie is currently titled: Victini and the Dark Hero. A lot of sources are translating it as Black hero, but it seems to use a word that means more in shadow rather than the actual colour, so dark seems more apropriate. As in the past, the title may change closer to the release to reflect the introduction of a Pokemon they’re trying to keep secret at the moment. never was a greater example than this years movie, originally titled Phantom Champion Z when it was announced, it was changed to Phantom Champion Zoroark after Zoroark was revealed. The dark hero could be one of the event legendaries from the new Black and White games, then again, it could also be some evil person – we wont know until next year when we get more details on the movie.

Oha Suta aired a trailer… its currently viewable by those aweomse guys over at Flib.de so head there check out Zekrom and Victini in anime action.

Now here’s the latest bit of news on this subject – In celibration of the movie, a Special Victini will be given away as a downloadable event pokemon in Japan. Said to be different to the one caught in the games, there isnt a lot known right now about the little guy. Traditionally there are 2 event downloads per movie. The first is given to those who pre-order thier movie tickets while the second is for those who go and see the movie in cinemas. We don’t know which this Victini will be, but if an event pokemon is in the next movie and is added to title of the movie, then logicially the Victini download would be the pre-order Pokemon

That’s all we have right now, we’ll bring you more when we know it

And it Continues… In a Very Big Way

Oh boy, we were expecting news to come thick and fast, and it just hasnt stopped all day. We’ve been unable to post due to real life (which sucks, try and avoid it if you get the chance). So first we’ll be catching up, then we’ll be updating as often as possible with all the latest information.

To help keep this page clutter free, we’ll have most of the information after the jump – but we’ll keep up to date with this handy little guide:

Last Update: 17th Sept 20.35 BST
Current number of Known Pokemon: ALL OF THEM
Curent Number of Known New Moves: 17 – plus Older moves listed as part of the new TM’s list
Other peices of Info: Masuda Lies… see main post for details

Notes: We’ll use this section to let you know anything else quick without having to hit the jump. First thing you need to know is that the picture of the manual we posted yesterday is from the black version of the game. New – Elite 4 info added, right neer the top, added rematch and a very interesting note on how Gamefreak Director Junichi Masuda is a dirty rotten liar

Right, hit the jump and start exploring the new Isshu

Continue reading

It Has Begun

And so the grand leak starts, as information about the new Black and White games are released this Saturday.

First up is a picture of 2ch, supposedly taken from the instruction manual – remember that information has been faked coming out of the Japanese image boards. Still, chances are this could be real, and if so – this would be the first time we see all the Gym Leaders from the new games.

The first 2 are hidden in the picture, but we already know about them – Either Dento, Poddo and Kon will challenge you in Sanyou City depending on which Pokémon you chose to start with, using the type advantage against you in the first gym. In the second gym in Shippou City, Anole will fight you with normal types.

It look’s like one of Ash’s new companion in the new anime, Iris, will be the 8th Gym leader.

The following information has come translated thanks to Pokebeach:

The 3rd Gym: is a Bug type Gym, found in Hiun City. You’ll get the Beetle Badge and all Pokemon up to Level 40 will obey. Unfortunatly they’ve yet to translate the name of the Gym Leader, probably due to it being covered.
The 4th Gym is headed by Kamitsure and is an Electric type Gym. You’ll get the Bolt Badge and all Pokemon up to Level 50 will obey.
The 5th Gym is headed by Yakon and is a Ground type Gym, found in Hodomoe City. You’ll get the Quake Badge for winning and all Pokemon up to Level 60 will obey you.
The 6th Gym is headed by Furou and is a Flying type Gym, found in Fukiyosa City. You’ll win the Jet Badge and all Pokemon up to Level 70 will obey.
The 7th Gym is headed by Hachiku and is an Ice type Gym, found in Sekka City. You’ll obtain the Icicle Badge and all Pokemon up to Level 80 will obey.
The 8th Gym is headed by Ash’s new friend Iris and is a Dragon type Gym, found in Souryuu City. You’ll get the Legend Badge for victory and all Pokemon will now obey you.

That’s all we’ve got for the moment, but dont worry – more will come very soon

Junichi Masuda On Pokémon Sunday

The main man at Gamefreak, makers of Pokemon, Junichi Masuda was on Pokémon Sunday this week… although there really isnt anything to report much. Masuda didn’t reveal anything new on the show… well he would have done had CoroCoro Magazine not leaked 24 hours before.

Masuda revealed the Purple Cat Choroneko, claiming it was a world exclusive – true had CoroCoro not leaked and then there was the advert for that pre-bw show as well but otherwise, yeah exlusive! See, this is the problem you have when you pre-record the show.

We knew N had a Choroneko, but Masuda reveales that he’s part of N’s starting line up the first time you fight him.

Masuda also revealed Desukaan, Denchura, and Ononokusu, again nothing new thanks to CoroCoro.

A couple of pieces of info that may be interesting, Mijumaru learns the move ‘Shell Blade’ at level 7.

Chillarmy and Minezumi are the first Pokémon you’ll see in the wild, which everyone could probably have guessed at anyway

Mamoko, the girl who helps you access the Dream World, gives you HM01 Cut. We werent sure if HM’s were going to be in the game since TM’s are now reusable, but here’s proof otherwise.

Lastly, Masuda said that no character from any of the previous games will be showing up in this one, so dont expect a cameo from Proffessor Oak (first game he hasn’t appeared in i beleive)

Well, that’s all we have for the moment – during the next week, Pokemon Black and White could possibly be leaked, and we’ll learn all what we want to know about the games – get ready people, the news craziness is about to begin!

New Pokemon and Black & White are Perfect!

I appologise that I’m a couple of days late on this one, I went back to work this week and as many of you may know from going back to School after a few weeks off, it takes a few days to get your head back together.

There’s a TV Special coming up in Japan called ‘Can’t Wait! Pre-BW Special’ which is set to air September 16th as a Pokemon Sunday type show. Since its not airing on a Sunday, the crew from Pokemon Sunday can’t be live in their studio… so they’re showing up in Animated form instead. While this is cool in itself, as part of the trailer for the show, there is a nice group shot of the Pokemon Sunday crew in animated form and various Pokemon in the background… including this guy:

Now, I’ve not seen any mention of a Purple Cat Pokemon in any of the new pokemon news we’ve covered, so here’s an acidental leak of a brand new pokemon – hopefully we’ll find out about this little guy sooner rather than later, as other than the picture there, we dont know anything else about it.

If you want to see the whole crew animated (including the first official apearance of Tabunne outside of the demo bus tour, well here it is:

In our other piece of news, Pokemon Black and White are Perfect – Fact! Famitsu magazine is the number one Games reveiwer in the whole of Japan, and many beleive the whole word as well. Using 4 reviewers scoring the game out of 10, Famitsu gives games an overall score out of 40 – High 30’s means the game is great. Over its long history only 14 games have been given a perfect score, with the very amazing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being the first.

Well today that number becomes 15 as Pokémon Black and White has scored a perfect 40/40 score from Famitsu. Congrats to the First Pokemon games to become a part of Gaming Genius

Its interesting to note that the Pokémon Games have been increasing in scores over the years, When Ruby and Sapphire came out, they got a 33, Diamond and Pearl received a 35, Platinum got a 36 while HG/SS scored a 37… at the progression rate these games have scored, a perfect was bound to happen eventually

That’s all we have for now, We expect a new issue of CoroCoro magazine around the corner, The main Man Junichi Masuda is on Pokemon Sunday this week, hopefully revealling lots about the games – and we’re just over a week away from the games actual release… its going to be a big and busy time for Pokemon news, we’ll try to keep on top of it all – you just keep coming here for your news!

Warning: The Following Information May Not Be True

Ok, so here’s a weird one. There are pictures floating around the internet (originating from 2ch like every other pokemon leak) of images of the Evolutions of the Pokemon Starters. The strange thing about them is the constant conflicting reports we’re getting of their legitimacy. One minute they could be real, the next their faked… then the next some super secret source comes around and says they’re real.

We at The Pika Club don’t like to post Pokémon until we know they’re real (although, we have been caught out once so far this generation) – however the constant back and forth has made us curious to see what our visiters think

Well, that’s them – my personal opinion is that the art style, and how they’re presented, dont match up to all the previous reveals so far. That of course doesnt mean they’re fake either, and there are elements in all of the evolutions that i can easily see being there anyway. What do you think about these evolutions, like or dislike – either post a comment or drop by the forums and let everyone know, and we’ll keep you updated with how this one turns out as we find out.

In other ‘its so obvious it could be true or could be faked’ news, remeber Yanappu? the green monkey thing revealed officially by Pokemon Sunday a couple of weeks ago? Well he might have a couple of brothers… or someone might be playing an obvious trick on us.

You can (only just) see a Blue looking monkey shape next to the back sprite of Yanappu in the above screen shot. Its not a shiny version, as the head does look slightly different. So does Yanappu have an alternate version? Well acording to the information posted on 2ch with this screenshot, it does. Along with the Grass Type Yanappu, there will be a Water Type version called Baoppu (pictured) and a Fire Type called Hiyappu. This could make sense. In Ruby and Sapphire, Pokemon like Plusle & Minun and Solrock & Lunatune were brought in to help promote the gimick of 2v2 battles. With 3v3 battles now being introduced in Black and White, could they be trying to do the same thing – we already know that Yanappu has a move that is very usefull in 3v3 battles (acrobat), which the other versions are rumoured to know as well.

Then again, somebody could be taking that logic to fool us, so again, this one could turn out to be faked – we’ll keep you updated on this as well as we learn more.

Remember – there is only 2 Weeks left before Black and White are finally released in Japan – hopefully we’ll find out all we need to know before then