It's that time of the month again Pokefans - if you haven't already, you have just a few days left to grab Nintendo's latest batch of Pokemon-related downloads and giveaways! Letting you get your grubby paws on some of the rarer and hard to find critters for their ever popular creature catching, battling and raising series, this month's offerings include the nightmarish Darkrai and Pokemon X/Y's legendary anime darling, Zygarde (aka 'Squishy'), as Nintendo carry on the series' 20th Anniversary celebrations.
Following on from previous promotions, participating GAME stores across the country have been giving out codes to download the legendary dark Pokemon, Darkrai, until the 24th May. Known as the 'Pitch-Black' Pokemon, Darkrai's routes lie in 2007's Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and he's said to have the ability to make people and Pokemon alike experience deep, nightmarish slumbers when crossed. The level 100 'mon you'll receive knows the moves Ominous Wind, which deals a gust of damage-dealing repulsive gas that has a chance of raising Darkrai's stats when used; Feint Attack, an old favourite sucker punch that never fails to hit your opponent; as well as the dynamic duo of Dark Void, a move which drags enemies into a dark void that forces them to sleep, and Nightmare, which damages a sleeping target with nightmares for a number of turns. Coupled with Darkrai's inbuilt Bad Dreams ability, which saps even more of an opponent's health for every turn they spend asleep, he's a truly formidable Dark-type Pokemon.
Darkrai's Dark Void is, quite literally, the stuff of nightmares!
To get yourself a Darkrai, you need to "ask staff in a GAME store for instructions on how to receive a Darkrai code", usually at the till, where they'll print you off a receipt with your code printed on. From there, you simply need to:
- Launch your copy of an eligible Pokemon game - that's Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
- Instead of loading up your save, scroll down to the Mystery Gift option on the main menu.
- Then click on Receive Gift, then Yes when asked about opening a communication channel
- Select Get With Code from the bottom of the list, then Yes once you've read the warnings and Yes again to allow your console to connect to the internet
- Enter the code from your receipt when prompted, and your Darkrai will start downloading
- Load up your save and speak to the delivery girl in any Pokemon Center to obtain your Darkrai, bearing in mind you need a free space in your party for him to fit into
Those of you who can't get to a GAME store don't have to miss out on the Pokemon giveaway fun though, as Nintendo are also running a download event until the 26th - this time for the legendary Pokemon Zygarde. A powerful Pokemon from Pokemon X/Y's Kalos region, Zygarde is a green and black serpent-like dual dragon and ground type with few weaknesses, most notably fairy, ice and dragon-type moves. Arriving at level 100, it knows the moves Outrage, an immensely powerful attack where the user rampages for two or three turns, dealing massive damage to your opponent, Extreme Speed, which hits with a blinding speed that ensures your attack always gets in first, and Glare, an intimidating look that paralyses your opponent. Zygarde also knows its signature move Land's Wrath, which concentrates the power of the land into a powerful physical attack to damage your opponent. Meanwhile, its Aura Break ability reverses the powers of other Pokemon's Fairy Aura and Dark Aura abilities, which would ordinarily boost moves of the same type by 33% - but when Zygarde's Aura Break is in play, they're reduced by the same amount instead.
Not the cutest, but we can't really argue with free...
To download your very own Zygarde, simply:
- Pop in your copy of Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby or Pokemon Sapphire and boot up the game
- From the main menu, choose the Mystery Gift option rather than booting up your save game as you normally would
- Choose Receive Gift, then click on Yes to open a communication channel
- From there, pick the second option - Get Via Internet - and pick Yes to allow the console to connect to the internet
- After a short time searching for a gift, the 'Wow! It's a Zygarde!' gift will appear - click on Yes to start downloading it
- Then simply head back to the main menu of the game, load up your Pokemon save and speak to the delivery girl at your nearest Pokemon centre to receive your Zygarde, making sure you have a free space in your party to put it
Don't forget that if you have multiple copies of eligible Pokemon games, you'll be able to download multiple Zygardes, one for each game - but unfortunately Darkrai codes are limited to one per person, so unless you're particularly chummy with a GAME employee, you'll only be able to get one. And make sure you check back in just a few day's time for what we're assuming will be yet another Pokemon giveaway!
