Author: Kendall

This Fluff Packs A Punch

Posted on by Kendall

The real main difference between Bewear and Furfrou is that Bewear hits a LOT harder and is more physically bulky due to much higher HP. I don't think anyone thinks Fluffy is better than Fur Coat. It's obvious Fur Coat is better.

Furfrou is, however, a competitively useless character.

After doing calculations, the only thing Furfrou can take better than Bewear are fire type moves and special moves, and even then, not that much better due to Bewear's much higher HP.

Furfrou and Bewear are both bulky pokemon with no good recovery options. The difference is that Bewear can actually threaten things while Furfrou has to rest stall.

  • 1/16 of Furfrou's 354 max HP: 22 HP
  • 1/16 of Bewear's 444 max HP: 27 HP

Where Toxapex is a Wall.

Bewear is a bulldozer.

Bewear's HP outweighs the difference in Special Defense so much that Furfrou can only take special hits only a couple of decimal places better than Bewear. And due to how Pokémon rounds decimals they will generally be taking the same amount of damage specially.

Furfrou only takes physical fire type moves about 5-ish percent better than Bewear usually. If the only thing Furfrou can take better physically is fire type moves, while Bewear takes EVERY other non-super effective type move MUCH better, and they take about the same from special moves, there's really no comparison on who has the better survivability.

Bewear hits like a bulldozer while Furfrou has no real strength when it comes to actual play. Bewear packs Hammer Arm, Superpower, Return, Ice Punch, Earthquake, Thunder Punch, Payback and more. Furfrou gets considerably less attacks to work with that are weaker and provide less coverage.

Bewear can beat:

  • Skarmory
  • Ferrothorn
  • Scizor
  • Tyranitar
  • Bisharp

and many other OU Steel and Rock types that think it may even have the possibility of staying in safely. Bewear also cannot get walled by stalling Pokémon like Toxapex and Celesteela because it packs Taunt. Furfrou cannot learn Taunt.

There is absolutely nothing superior about Furfrou to Bewear.

For every benefit that Fur Coat has over Fluffy, it is negated by Furfrou's terrible stats and terrible movepool. Bewear will always be selected more because it doesn't have the same weaknesses other Pokémon like Furfrou. Also, while I mentioned Toxapex this mon is not a synonym for Bewear, they are not interchangeable.

The Evolution of Trade – A Pokémon Quirk

Posted on by Kendall

Some players new to Pokémon wonder why certain features work the way that they do in the game. One of them is when you trade certain mons, this will cause them to evolve.

But why?

New experiences help us grow, and same goes with Pokémon. But not all experiences are good.

Haunter needs th despair and sadness it feels from being sent away by its trainer in order to evolve into Gengar.
Machoke needs grief mixed with loss of the trainer to achieve stronger willpower, this allows them to evolve into Machamp.
Kadabra gains depression by being traded, this leads to psychotic powers allowing it to evolve into Alakazam.
Graveler evolves into Golem but this can only happen through a trade when its heart is cracked and broken, causing immense stress.

There's only so much they can experience with one trainer, so by being traded away into the hands of another trainer, they learn a lot more, triggering their evolution. It could be the sadness of being traded away that contributes to this experience, it could be the ability to learn how to trust another trainer.

But this is all fine and good, a little on the sad side, and a little stupid in my opinion because it is basically on and off, you could have a bad trainer who treats them poorly and trade them to a nice trainer, this would be the opposite, and it wouldn't create the desired effect, yet, it does.

The real reason it to encourage players and kids to buy the link cable and trade with friends. So you have to trade them so that the Pokémon Company and Nintendo make money.

Check That Game Freak

Posted on by Kendall

Have you ever wanted to collect all of the cards, and I mean all of the cards? Then it is time to start printing out some checklists. And it just so happens that I have a couple of them for you to get started with.

Game Freak released them a while ago and I am glad that they did, since it is neat having them printed out and slipped into a binder, seeing what you have and don't have, and drooling over the names of cards you may never find.

I love the lists, but I will mention that none of them are actually 100% complete. Unfortunately, the checklist do not include the secret rares.

Base Sets

Base Set Checklist

Base set checklist

Base Set 2 Checklist

Base set 2 checklist

Jungle

Jungle set checklist

Fossil

Fossil set checklist

Rocket

Rocket set checklist

Gym Heroes

Gym Heroes set checklist

Gym Challenge

Gym Challenge set checklist

Neo Genesis

Neo Genesis set checklist

Neo Discovery

Neo Discovery set checklist

Fan Favorite: Black 2 & White 2

Posted on by Kendall

The reveal of Black/White Kyurem was done spectacularly. The game made use of the DS' visuals brilliantly here.

As for the gameplay, it's almost the same as the gameplay in Black and White, which is not a bad thing in the slightest since those contributions to the series were excellently done. And at the same time almost everything bad about the first Black and White were improved with these two games.

My favorite new feature was probably the Black Tower/White Treehollow. It was basically the Battle Tower with levels, EXP, and prize money, plus you got a free shiny dragon out of it.

I liked that it had its own final boss, too, Benga wasn't too bad. And in addition to that the evil team actually did something catastrophic and there wasn't a clear-cut happy ending.

Easily the most underrated feature.

There are so many items here. It's a great resource for a lot of items, including rare stones, thanks to the Black Tower/White Treehollow.

Almost all of the available Pokémon appeared in the game, with very few of the monsters being left out, and most of those were starters or legends. Speaking of legends, this game has 'em in spades. Heatran, the Regis, and Lati@s are just a few examples.

I don't care what you say, Ghetsis was gonna kill the player. Even if he only wanted to freeze you, that would have killed you, just a bit more slowly. The rest of the game is smooth sailing from there on out, I guess. The champion reveal is done well, though I feel it could have been someone else, as there was already a Dragon-type leader in the region.

The end credits theme is possibly my favorite in the series to date.

I will probably see Black 2 & White 2 as the perfect Pokémon games until they inevitably top themselves.

Anime Opening Music

Posted on by Kendall

*Neon Genesis Evangelion – Cruel Angel's Thesis*

It's pretty iconic opening and somehow I always get this weird nostalgic feeling of home when I listen to it. This song is classic, awesome and my number one.

*Psycho-Pass – Abnormalize*

This one just perfectly fits what I imagine when I think of the series, and even though I have heard it so often it still gives me goosebumps.

*Kekkai sensen – Hello, World!*

Probably my most listened OP of all time, yet it doesn't quite make my #1 spot. True it has this very chilling feel about it, while at the same time gets me hyped, great song, just not the greatest.

Short List

  • Cruel Angel Thesis – Yoko Takahashi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  • Ano Mori de Matteru – Bonjour Suzuki (Yuri Kuma Arashi)
  • Maigo Inu to Ame no Beat – Asian Kung-Fu Generation (Tatami Galaxy)

Pokemon: Alola

Posted on by Kendall

The average speed of all the Pokemon in Alola isn't actually lower than other generations by much, the issue is the most popular/commonly used Pokemon are slow.

The faster ones are mostly rare and/or late or post game which is a deterrent for many players. Some of these include:

  • Raichu
  • M-Metagross
  • Tapus
  • UBs
  • Flygon
  • Dugtrio
  • Salazzle
  • Dragonite
  • Lucario
  • Porygon-Z
  • Ninetales
  • Salamence
  • Garchomp

But then you have fast moving options like:

  • Crobat
  • Sharpedo
  • Alakazam
  • Talonflame

A lot of people would rather try out new Alolan Pokemon than use one they likely had before. This can also be countered if done properly, for example: whenever I battle a Bewear with Fluffy, I one shot it with my Salazzle using Flamethrower. If they placed A-Vulpix, A-Diglett and Minior on Melemele Island they'd get a lot less complaints about slow Pokemon. And you would have a more balanced hand. But many people ignore that.

Yet, with with proper balancing, for example, A-Forms like A-Raichu. There are plenty of Special Pokémon as well.

But you will notice that you mostly encounter Physical ones, whether it's because of Trainer representation, encounter rates or whatever else. They include stuff you can get like Abra. Or Magnemite. A lot of purely new Alolan Pokemon seem to be physical. Still, physical isn't the problem it's having moves that make direct contact that is the problem. Though to be fair finding a physical non-contact move that is SE on Bewear isn't easy but mons like Pelliper and other special guys are still available. It makes contact moves deal ineffective damage, and all fire moves are then super effective.

One example of how I play this is for me to use a 3/3 during my play through: Sylveon, Raichu, Rimbombee as specials and Decidueye, Golisopod, Bewear for physicals.

Pokémon – The Series is for the Fans

Posted on by Kendall

I don't know if I would call myself a die hard fan or not, I mean, I love the series and have played/collected a lot of it but that doesn't mean that I have seen or done everything that they offer. There is only so much time in the day and there are only so many things that you can do before you get a little burnt out and that means that with all of the content available it would take me forever.

And new stuff comes out all of the time anyway.

On top of that, for me personally, my favorite is original series. I have seen it multiple times and it has the best writing imo and pacing. But in general, the first five seasons have well written stories, funny moments from Ash doing stupid things and it introduced me to world of Pokémon.

On top of that you have Tracy’s temporarily replacing Brock. This led to some good stories and it was nice seeing Ash growing from a rookie to good trainer.

The only downside was that Misty is more of a side character than a legitimate Pokémon trainer due to her so-so character development. It isn't until later that both Misty and Serena become more original. But fans had to wait until SM for that to happen.

The wait was worth it.

One is a tomboy who stood up to her sister's verbal abuse, and latter showed actual growth/ independent development from a girly girl who didn't know what to do to a more matured girl who stood up against her mom's wish and followed her dream as a Pokémon performer.

Sure for Sun and Moon some of the character designs are horrid. And I have yet to find anyone that thought Rotom was anything less than obnoxious, but the animation is fantastic.

Also the story would be better if they could introduced a new groups to replaced Team Rocket, and would be even better if Ash didn’t have to get up his best Pokémon for newbies in Johto season. The worst episode in the show has to be the gym battle vs Liz and Tate in the 3rd generation. People criticize the season for a couple of reasons: lackluster characters, lack of character relationships, as well as Ash turning into a different character.

I enjoy Sun and Moon because it is a lighthearted and fun contribution to the series.

My Pancakes Don’t Fluff

Posted on by Kendall

We tried a new breakfast place yesterday and we're extremely impressed with their pancakes!

These pancakes were light, fluffy and chewy. They felt like big fluffy crumpets, just not as dense!

I'm used to make pancakes but they ended up being more crumbly and generally don't like them since they fill me up quickly. Crepes on the other hand are great as they are chewy but you just need to make the batter more runny, and they still come out dense.

Now I am on a quest to find the best solution to the pancake problem.

A quick Google search opened up a can of worms and basically left me thinking do I know flapjacks vs pancakes vs crumpets.

But I did learn that I was mixing wrong regardless of what I was making.

Always mix the dry and wet ingredients separately then add the dry to the wet. Also, never over mix the batter, doing so will result in flat, lousy cakes. Whipped egg whites also seems to be the common secret, and when I tried a set it works wonderfully.

But you do have to be very gentle.

I also mixed the wet and dry ingredients, but just barely to avoid gluten formation. Then I added the whites just before cooking.

Here are the ingredients by the way:

  • 3.5 oz Mixed Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 Egg
  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 2.4 fl oz Milk
  • 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
  • ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

For the mixed flour I make my own mix which consists of normal flour cornstarch, look on the mixes in the store, it is the same thing. I expect it's that the baking powder that really makes the recipe awesome!

Pokémoments

Posted on by Kendall

White 2 was the first game I spent hours upon hours upon hours on. My first time getting Pokémon to level 100. It was a great game for me. I had played Leaf Green beforehand, but White 2 was the first game I actually grew invested in the game, even the horrible horrible weeks it took to get a hydreigon and Volcorona, I still remember it all with the fondest of memories.

One of my favorite memories from Pokémon was in Pokémon Black 2, when you fight Ghetsis.

It was his breaking point before going full psycho. It’s one of the most memorable villain fights in the games.

Still if we are talking about Black and White 2 I would have to say that my favorite moment was when I got into the hall of fame. The techno music didn’t hurt.

Another one of my favorite moments from the games was in Silver/Soul Silver, when I climbed up Mt. Silver and fought Red and finally beat him. It was like the culmination of everything I had done throughout the game was building up to that one intense, and difficult, moment. But, all well worth it.

I love the Pokemon franchise and have many favorite moments, but these are a few that solidified my foundation as a Pokemon fan.

I still have some Pokémon games to completely finish because I don't have my Ds or 3DS anymore. I love the Pokémon franchise. It means a lot and it gives me hours of entertainment weekly. I still play Pokémon go when I go out to places.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn Varia Arc Rewatch

Posted on by Kendall

KHR just keeps getting better. It started off with a fair amount of training, and then lead to some awesome fights. Just as I had hoped, the Varia arc continued the plot and character development that began in the Kokuyo arc. (Not a complaint perse) Making this is my overall favorite arc of the show so this isn't my first rewatch, but I have put somethings down that may improve your first rewatch.

34 The Varia Comes! ヴァリアー来る
35 The 7 Vongola Rings ボンゴレリング7つ
36 Katekyo, Start カテキョー、動く
37 Master and Disciple Combi, Set 師弟コンビ、揃う
38 The Disapperance of the Stubborn Fawn ワガママ子牛の失踪
39 The Unseen Enemy's Motive 見えざる敵の目的は
40 Fight for the Ring Begins! リング争奪戦、開始!
41 Feelings of the Protector 晴の守護者の思い
42 The Power to Rebound Adversity 逆境をはね返す力
43 Thunder Strike of 20 Years Later 20年後の雷撃
44 The Stolen Sky Ring 奪われた大空のリング
45 Storm Brewed by Angry Waves 怒涛の嵐戦
46 Reason to Fight 戦う理由
47 The Strongest Invincible School 最強無敵の流派
48 Namegata's Game 勝負の行方
49 Requiem of the Rain レクイエムの雨

I just love the entire premise of the arc. And I feel like it is the best implamented overall when compared to the Manga. There are some things here that you don't get, or get as much of in other arcs, especially when it comes to different group of people contesting to be the next Vongola X. I mean, really, at this point in the show, which viewer hasn't looked at Tsuna and thought "this kid is gonna be Vongola X?"

Still I am not without complaints, right now there are 2 things in the anime that are bother me, the biggest being that most of the female characters in the show are unbelievably dense. I hope they change or that more interesting and less dense female characters get introduced as the series progresses.

The other one is Tsuna's uniform, which now has wavy edges around the collar and shoulder for no apparent reason. This is a minor complaint, so it hasn't really affected my enjoyment of the show, but I can't excuse lazy animation.

As I have said, the fights, the fights. The fights are amazing. Tsuna saving Lambo at the cost of losing his sky ring! Wow, this showed how his character had developed thus far, which was nice.

Just like Gokudera's fight, Yamamoto vs. Squallo made great use of its surroundings – this time with a flooding destroyed building. Really fitted well with their fighting styles.

Rain

This is my favorite fight of the arc.

It combines action and intellect and has the best setup to the fight. The team now can't afford another loss AND Yamamoto's opponent is Squalo (my favorite member of the Varia from the beginning and someone who's showed that they're a good threat by beating all of the guardians including Yamamoto before) AND there's no "good" outcome to the battle.

I loved Squalo because of his design, VA, and funny personality but there was definitely a sad thought in my head that once Squalo lost the battle, he'd get killed by the Varia. So there's stakes in either outcome of the battle. Yes, you could argue that it's obvious Yamamoto's going to be the winner because we need to see the other battles (also, opening) but this fight is less about "who will win?" but more about "HOW will Yamamoto win?" and this fight completely delivers there.

The end to episode 48 feels so hopeless with Yamamoto being completely outclassed and now knows that Squalo has beaten the invincible style before.

My friend predicted here that there'd be "a secret 9th stance" cause that's what anime does, but KHR did it even better. It made it so there was a reason Squalo didn't know about the 8th stance and a reason for Yamamoto to create his own stance and subvert the style. I also loved how the writers didn't just have Squalo lose because he couldn't recognize the attacks–he still had his artificial hand that could've killed Yamamoto if the 9th stance didn't involve reflection.

It was a great end to an exhilarating battle and Squalo was never more entertaining during it.

I was thinking that the fight would end with Yamamoto winning and then bringing Squalo to the Vongola side and while I never truly believed Squalo was killed by the shark, I still liked the overall direction of his character