With the release date drawing ever closer, we were starting to get a little concerned at how ambiguous Pokemon Black and White's starter Pokemon were beginning to feel. After all, without even a name to know them by, how could we possibly perform the always difficult taks of choosing one over the other too?
Thankfully, we have to worry no more, as the starter Pokemon have today been granted their official, English names! No longer referred to as Smugleaf, Hamferno and Emotter - or Mijumaru, Tsutarja and Pokabu if you're Japanese - from this day forward they shall be known as Snivy (formally known as Smugleaf), Oshawott (the depressed looking otter) and Tepig (the chuffing happy-looking fire pig). So now, all that remains is for you to decide which one you'll pick to accompany you on your journey (I'm torn between the pig and the otter). Oh, and wait for the game to be out. Obviously.
Oshawott, Snivy and Tepig.
For those of you who've never picked up a Pokemon game, you play as a young boy or girl, commissioned to help a Pokemon Professor with their research, by exploring the Pokemon world, helping them to catalogue all the little Pokemon creatures in the region, by capturing them in little balls. But in order to capture them, you need to battle them - and this is where the more addictive part of pokemon comes in - as you get to create and raise your own team of the little critters, who will battle on your behalf throughout the game.
Whilst your out happily gathering Pokemon, and minding your own business, you'll usually find that an evil group of people are trying to imprison all the Pokemon - including the 'legendary' Pokemon, who, once awakened and angered by the baddies, will signal the end of the world - and only you (and your team of six Pokemon) can stop them.Pokmon Black/White is set to differ slightly from the previous games, too - for one, only the brand new pokemon will feature in the story. This means, until you finish the game, you'll see no familiar Pikachus, Mudkips and Bulbasaurs - which also means you won't be able to rely on the same team you've had since pretty much the first Pokemon game you played, like we do. In my case I pretty much always have at least a Pikachu and Azumaril on my team, as well as a Vulpix/Arcanine/Rapidash - I just hope this instalment has a decent selection of cute pokemon to keep me going.
Another new feature that made it into the Japanese version was the option to hold a video chat between you and your friends (assuming you all have DSis, as that's the only DS model with a built in camera), but we have yet to see whether that'll make it over to the UK version.
Pokemon Black/White is due out over here in Spring 2011 - and until then, we're sure to get more information on it, including information about brand new pokemon, so make sure you keep checking back.
