D – Daycare

A high level of nostalgia means that this year my chosen theme for the 2016 A to Z challenge is Pokemon. Whether you yourself have a similar level of sentimentality or you’ve never really gotten into it, I hope that you enjoy this month of posts as I indulge my nostalgia.

“Ah, it’s you! We were raising your Pokemon, and my goodness, we were so surprised! Your Pokemon was holding an Egg! We don’t know how it got there, but your Pokemon had it. You do want it, don’t you?”

The Pokemon Day Care, run by the Day-Care Couple (Day Care Man and Day Care Lady), is a way of levelling your Pokemon without all the running around and battling. Instead, you hand it over to this lovely elderly couple, and for the mere fee of  100 plus another  100 per level gained when you take it back, they will look after your Pokemon for you.

It is also the primary way to breed Pokemon in the game. In the original trio of games (Red/Blue/Yellow) you could only leave one Pokemon at a time, so this wasn’t possible (and it happens in a couple of the spin off games as well, like Colosseum) but since then, you have been able to leave two Pokemon at the Day Care, and if the two Pokemon are compatible, then they might just give you an egg.

The quote at the top is the standard conversation that the Day Care Man will give you when there’s an egg for you to pick up, and it’s always been amusing to me, as he’ll say it no matter how many eggs you breed of a game. And even Professors, the most knowledgeable people in the world, say that they have never seen a Pokemon lay an egg so they don’t know how they come about either. There are a number of different theories surrounding why they say this, from the mundane (this is a kids game, we’re not talking about THAT) to the weird and wonderful (They’re not eggs, they’re devices similar to Pokeballs or Pokemon eggs are actually brought to Pokemon parents by an ancient legendary Pokemon, like a stork does in other cartoons) so if your interested in knowing more, go Google about egg theories, because they’re rather fascinating.

What purpose does breeding Pokemon serve? Two reasons that I do it, and I favour one more than the other. The first, is that you can breed the rarer Pokemon in the game to get more of them or to trade them away. Starter Pokemon for instance, you breed your Venasaur, get a Bulbasaur, and then you can trade that Bulbasaur to your friend in exchange for a Squirtle, and get completion on your Pokedex. And yes, breeding Pokemon will always get you the lowest evolution on the chain, so you know that you can be a completionist. The other, is that through careful breeding you can increase the base stats of the Pokemon (Health, Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Special Defence, Speed – HP, ATK, DEF, SPA, SPD, SPE) and attempt to get ‘perfect scores’.

I tend to go in for the former, because I am very much a completionist and I like having full Pokedex, which does get a lot harder with every generation that goes on. The second one is more useful for trainers that are planning on competing, as it does give you a small edge, but I find it too time consuming and fiddly to do when that’s not the part of the game I like.

Either way, the Day Care is a definitive part of the game, and I know that I am always counting my steps when I get those Eggs in my bag.

 

Pokemon of the Day

D is for Dragonair

The middle evolution in the chain of dragons from the first generation of Pokemon, Dratini evolves into Dragonair, which then evolves into Dragonite. Dragonair is a long blue and white serpentine Pokemon with a small horn, tiny pair of wings, and three mystical orbs adorning it’s body. It has a gentle, if slightly mystical aura, and it can use its wings to fly through the air.

As could be predicted, I love dragon Pokemon, some of them more than others, and if you’ve noticed, my dragon of the week on the sidebar is still Dragonair, and probably will be for the rest of the month. Dragonair is a dragon, but is also beautiful and graceful, and I will often not evolve it further on because I love it, its appearance, and its nature. It also lives in rivers and lakes, and although I like quite a few fire Pokemon, I am also a fan of water based creatures.

Honestly, I just really, really like Dragonair. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s my favourite Dragon Type Pokemon.