Saturday, October 29, 2011

My Life is Pokémon

You know those websites like "My Life is Average" or "My Life is Twilight"? I'm surprised there isn't a Pokémon one, it could be really successful. Granted, about a third of the posts would be from me, but that's besides the point. Since there is no website in existence, I'd thought I would share some moments where my life was Pokémon.

In my PR Principles class, we had to look up a PR campaign that won a Silver Anvil Award. My eyes were immediately drawn to a campaign with Pokémon. The group that worked on it? The Ketchum Agency. I'm not even kidding, here's the link to prove it: http://www.ketchum.com/silver_anvils_2007_news_release

One of my friends recently adopted a dog. Its name is Eevee. It's going to evolve into a Jolteon for Halloween. Her boyfriend is dressing up as a Flareon and she's going as a Pokémon Trainer.

Last semester I met a guy with the last name Safari. The first thing I thought of was the Safari Zone and much to his chagrin, Pokémon jokes ensued.

One guy's phone went off during class. It was the Item Received fanfare from Pokémon.

In high school, I told a guy that he shouldn't be outside during a thunderstorm. He could have been struck by lightning and then become paralyzed. He told me I played too much Pokémon.

Our professor asked what people were going as for Halloween. She's going as Ash Ketchum. I went up to her, showed my Pokewalker, and told her we were kindred spirits.

My high school economics class was dubbed "Pokénomics". We had ten minutes of lecture; the rest of class was dedicated to me and my friends playing Pokémon.

There's probably thousands of examples when life was Pokémon. Post some of your "My Life is Pokémon" moments in the comments! :)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

More Soothing than Jigglypuff's Song

One of the greatest aspects of the Pokémon franchise is the music. From intense battles to peaceful towns, the music of Pokémon expresses a wide variety of moods. Today, I'm going to show you a few of my favorite tunes, both original and remixed, from Pokémon.

PokeRemixStudio's latest entry (at the time of writing) is a remix of Celestial Tower/ Dragonspiral Tower from Pokémon Black and White. This piece is both energetic and soothing at the same time. This track features a well developed bass that wasn't present in the original. You can say this remix has evolved from its original incarnation (pun totally intended). PokeRemixStudio's Celestial Tower Remix is just an example of what makes this artist so great.

While originally catchy, I've grown tired of the original Black and White Bike Theme, mainly because I had to hatch so many eggs. With that being said, Sonicwave1000 puts a fresh spin on the track with a new arrangement and some DnB elements. On top of a good remix, the picture is simply to die for. If you find yourself about to blow up from listening to the bike theme over and over again, put your game on mute and play this track instead. You'll thank me later.

You just got through that blasted cave. Being the cheapskate you are, you don't buy any potions or revives. Bad choice because all your Pokémon are now either fainted or really weak thanks to those stupid Zubats and their confusion. 9 times out of 10, when you walk out of that cave, you'll hear this theme. Yep, Gary Oak is here to take advantage of you at your weakest. Red and Blue's Rival Theme is just as iconic as the Final Rival Battle. It still puzzles me how a ten-year-old can get a car full of cheerleaders, but that is a topic for a different post.

Speaking of the Final Rival Battle from Red and Blue, here's a pretty awesome remix I heard. I told Kevin that when we face each other off with our old school games, this theme will be playing. This is a pretty intense rock version; I was bobbing my head for awhile. I got dizzy in the middle and had to sit down. I hope I didn't brain my damage too much...


The original National Park from Gold and Silver was amazing, but Heartgold and Soulsilver's version really outshines it. The newer version stays true to the original tune but rearranges it to make it its own piece. I'm a sucker for the piano and I felt it really complimented the song. I absolutely love the electric guitar solo that comes in about half way through. Surprising enough, the song is still relaxing with the electric guitar. 

Cyrus and Team Galactic are at Spear Pillar to summon Dialga/Palkia. You're racing to the top through the blistering cold to stop them from their diabolical scheme to take over the world! Mt. Coronet's Peak was a winter song that was also intense and filled with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately this plays only in one location which is very hard to get to, so hearing this song more than once is pretty rare.

I could go on and on about awesome Pokémon music and give out thousands of links to listen to. But alas, my time is up and I must wrap up this post. What I've shown is just a sample of an appetizer of how many beautiful tracks exist in the Pokémon world. Simply put, the music of Pokémon are true masterpieces. So until next time farewell.
      Best Wishes,
                            Stephen "Smiles" Ramirtha

...Ok, I'll include one more song but that's it! There are no lyrics, but I'm sure you can still sing along to it ;)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

On the Road to Viridian City!

Hey everyone and welcome to the Pallet Town Post! I'm Stephen, and as if you couldn't tell already I'm a huge fan of Pokémon! So, to chronicle my adventures in the land of Pokémon, I created this blog. So how did my Pokémon journey begin? Let me tell you!

Back in 1997 when I was in 1st grade, my mom told me about this article she read about some Japanese creatures making their way to the States. A year later, I find myself buying a Gameboy Pocket with my first Pokémon game, Red. I still have it!

My Gameboy and Pokémon Red. Good times!
 Of course, Pokémon wasn't just a videogame, it was an entire franchise. Nintendo pulled out all the stops to make Pokémon big. Videogames, trading cards, a T.V. show, the list goes on and on. Did you know that they even sold Pokémon sausage? Yep, they did...

After Pokémon Gold and Silver came out, most of my friends moved on from the series. My middle school days were the darkest times in my adventure. I was somewhat ashamed for playing the series in the first place, and was a closet player.I still played with my little brother, but I didn't talk about it in public. That all ended when Pearl came out and my friends were talking about it. Since then, I've never felt ashamed to say I'm a fan of Pokémon. No matter what people think, you should always follow your passion.

Starting from Pearl, my brother got into the series and we've been having fun ever since. Most recently, we've competed in the VGC competition earlier this year. I did ok (my first match is below. I'm the opposing trainer), but my brother advanced all the way to worlds in San Diego! He made quite a splash in the competitive scene, they even wrote about him in the papers. We were the first in line to meet Shigeki Morimoto and Junichi Masuda, the directors of the Pokémon games! It was pretty tight, not going to lie.

Meeting Mr. Morimoto and Mr. Masuda

My brother's picture used for the newspaper.

And here we are, it's been over 10 years since the series started and I've been playing since then. I recently restarted my Black version to get ready for the next VGC competition. I usually give out free Pokémon so if you ever want to trade, hit me up. :)

Best Wishes,
                     Stephen "Smiles" Ramirtha