Version 2.20, Last Updated Table of Contents. 1 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM

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1 1 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Pokemon White Version: FAQ/Walkthrough by Drayano Version 2.20, Last Updated Hosted by GameFAQs Return to Pokemon White Version (DS) FAQs & Guides Version 2.20, Last Updated Table of Contents FAQ Info Version History Introduction Additions and Changes 1. Seasons 2. Experience System 3. Other Additions / Changes Version Differences General Tips Main Game Walkthrough 1. Nuvema Town 2. Route 1 3. Accumula Town 4. Route 2 5. Dreamyard 6. Striaton City (2) 7. Striaton Gym 8. Striaton City (3) 9. Dreamyard (2) 10. Striaton City (4) 11. Route Wellspring Cave 13. Route 3 (2) 14. Nacrene City 15. Nacrene Gym 16. Nacrene City (2) 17. Pinwheel Forest (Outside) 18. Pinwheel Forest (Inside) 19. Skyarrow Bridge 20. Castelia City 21. Castelia Gym 22. Route Desert Resort (Entrance) 24. Desert Resort (Main) 25. Nimbasa City 26. Route Lostlorn Forest 28. Nimbasa Gym 29. Route Driftveil Drawbridge 31. Driftveil City 32. Cold Storage 33. Driftveil Gym 34. Route Chargestone Cave 36. Mistralton City 37. Route Celestial Tower 39. Mistralton Gym 40. Twist Mountain (Entrance) 41. Surfing for Treasure 42. Mistralton Cave 43. Pinwheel Forest (2) 44. Wellspring Cave (2) 45. Route 1 (2) 46. Route Route 18

2 2 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM P2 Laboratory 49. Twist Mountain 50. Icirrus City 51. Route Moor of Icirrus 53. Icirrus Gym 54. Dragonspiral Tower 55. Relic Castle 56. Tubeline Bridge 57. Route Opelucid City 59. Opelucid Gym 60. Route Route 7 (2) 62. Victory Road 63. Pokemon League 64. *Spoiler*'s Castle Post Game Walkthrough 1. Nuvema Town (2) 2. Route 18 (2) 3. Dreamyard (3) 4. Relic Castle (2) 5. Relic Castle Depths 6. Cold Storage (2) 7. Chargestone Cave (2) 8. The Royal Unova 9. Challenger's Cave 10. Route Village Bridge 12. Route Lacunosa Town 14. Route Giant Chasm 16. Undella Town 17. Undella Bay 18. Undersea Ruins 19. Route Abundant Shrine 21. Black City / White Forest 22. Route Marvelous Bridge 24. Pokemon League (2) Post-Game Content 1. Swarming Pokemon 2. Victory Road's Final Fight 3. Final Fight in Nuvema 4. The Battle Subway 5. The Dream World Special Events 1. Zorua and Celebi 2. Zoroark and the Crown Beasts 3. The Lock Capsule 4. Victini and Liberty Island 5. Keldeo and Secret Sword 6. Meloetta and Relic Song 7. Genesect and the Drives Challenges 1. Nuzlocke Challenge 2. No/Minimal EXP Challenge 3. Mono-Type Challenge Credits FAQ Info

3 3 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Pokémon Black and White Walkthrough Version Number: 2.20 Last Updated: 06 / 03 / 11 Written by Andrew "Drayano" Brooks drayfaqs@gmail.com I would prefer for this walkthrough to stay at GameFAQs and its partners only (with some possible exceptions) on account of the fact that I never pay attention to any other sites that host guides. There's also problems when versions aren't updated which creates conflicting s; it's just a lot easier to maintain something when I have but a small number of sites to manage the walkthrough with. Sites allowed to use this walkthrough so far are: GameFAQs and its associates. LegendaryPokemon.net The entirety of this document is copyright Andrew Brooks, Version History Version 2.20 ~ 06/03/11 Couple more English things added and some extra tidbits to where I missed things. I really need to write about Anville Town. Bleh. Version 2.10 ~ 02/03/11 All English translations have been applied so the guide should be fine for the English release of Black & White. Happy playing! On a side note, the walkthrough is now starred on GameFAQs. If you did, thank you for voting it up! If you happen to notice any remaining Japanese, please feel free to me so I can correct it! Version 2.00 ~ 22/02/11 The walkthrough is now fully complete and all English translations possible have been applied. There might be more content to come, but pretty much everything important has been covered at this point. Version 1.00 ~ 01/11/10 The second released version of this walkthrough. The entirety of the main walkthrough (right from Nuvema Town to the Champion battle) is complete, although there is more content that still needs to be written. Version 0.50 ~ 10/10/10 The first released version of this walkthrough. Introduction With the arrival of Black and White, the Pokemon games have officially entered their 'fifth generation', a well known technical term for the series of games that hold the fifthly revealed set of Pokemon. The games including their Japanese releases have been around since 1996, totalling a grand total of 14 years as of While not as old as some of Nintendo's other franchises such as Mario or Zelda, Pokemon is without a doubt one of the most important franchises Nintendo has control over, being the game franchise with the second best sales (Mario coming top.) Of course, credence shouldn't be lent to Nintendo, for the actual makers of the Pokemon games are Game Freak; my proverbial hat is off to them for yet another amazing entry in the series. The history of the series up to now; Pokemon started with the release of Pokemon Red and Green in Japan back in 1996, where they instantly became high end sellers. Later that same year followed the release of Pokemon Blue in Japan, where it was known as a third release, containing some small changes that the originals never had such as wild Jynx in Seafoam Islands and Ditto in Rock Tunnel, as well as upgrades to sound, graphics and script.

4 4 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Skip forward two years to 1998 and we see the release of Pokemon Red and Blue in America, and later that year Austraila; they were in fact the Red and Green from Japan, but updated with the aesthetic effects from Blue. Just like in Japan, the games took off immediately, becoming incredibly high sellers on Nintendo's Game Boy system also saw the release of Pokemon Yellow in Japan, with extra features that made it a true 'third version.' Yellow was heavily anime based, making your starter Pikachu, redesigning some characters to look like their anime counterparts, and having new sprites, many of which reflected anime poses saw Yellow released in the United States, as well as the release of Red and Blue in European regions, where again they took off like wildfire saw Yellow released in Australia and Europe, and thus with legendary spin-offs such as Pokemon Snap and the Stadium series, the games which would be later known as the first generation or Generation I came to an end. These were the games that introduced Kanto and the first original 151 Pokemon, and these are the games that many somewhat blinded by nostalgia people will claim to be the best, although some genuine fans will also claim the same thing. Are they truly the best in the series? It's entirely subjective, though honestly I don't think so. Soon after that came Gold and Silver, released in 1999 in Japan and in all other regions. Gold and Silver were in many ways a direct sequel to Red and Blue, although they had the new features a new generation would bring, such as the addition of 100 new Pokemon and a new region called the Johto region. These Generation II games are also fondly remembered in people's hearts, although the game did kind of... fall in some places, such as a somewhat bad level curve and a half assed Kanto after the credits which was a bit on the barren side. That aside, however, G/S were great and memorable games. They, and their later introduced third version Crystal, were very closely linked to Red and Blue. As such, it came as no surprise when Generation III's Ruby and Sapphire severed all connectivity links to the first two generations, meaning Pokemon from any of those games could not be brought up to the third generation; every player had to start from scratch. Ruby and Sapphire are often regarded now as the worst games in the series; I'm quite unsure on how true it is, although they do appear somewhat disadvantaged in the face of more recent games. Generation III did however bring some interesting changes such as the introduction of abilities on Pokémon, a completely new stat system and another 135 Pokemon. Generation III also began the remake trend, with Fire Red and Leaf Green released across the world in These two were remakes of the original Red and Blue, keeping very close to them while making additions and minor changes in an effort to make the games better than before. Some changes were a bit... odd (Giovanni's main being changed from a Rhydon to a Rhyhorn, anyone?) but some additions were good, and to expand the game a range of new areas called the Sevii Islands were introduced. FR/LG were important mainly for the ability to gain non Hoenn Dex Pokemon, for R/S had only included 202 Pokemon; the remaining 184 were nowhere to be seen (aside from Colosseum, which had been released on the Gamecube in 2003.) FR/LG are honestly my least favourite Pokemon games of the lot; I find them a bit boring. That doesn't matter though, does it? Later in came Pokemon Emerald, which truly defined what a "third version" was. The amount of new features Emerald brought to the two games was immense, having Pokemon animations (although these were around in Crystal, where they were a lot better truth be told), revamped gyms, revamped trainer rosters (including the gym leaders and Elite Four), a somewhat changed storyline, extra additions to the Safari Zone, and most importantly, the Battle Frontier, a seven-piece battling facility that increased the playtime by hours, although the place was notorious for its heavily luck based torment. Of course, that wasn't all; the list goes on and on. Emerald was a huge step up from R/S, and is quite well regarded as one of the best games in the series. Moving ahead a year or two, the console shifted again, this time to the Nintendo DS, where Generation IV was stationed. The first two games to appear were Diamond and Pearl, bringing another 106 Pokemon with them as well as some very interesting changes such as the physical/special split, although the deeper game mechanics stayed the same as R/S, with which it was compatible. Diamond and Pearl were some of my favourites at the time of release, although looking back now... they were pretty bad. The actual gameplay alone was good, but things such as the speed of the battles... I don't even want to comment. It was just horrible and practically half the speed of the games on the GBA. Thankfully, two years later Pokemon Platinum the third version of Diamond and Pearl arrived, and made the Generation IV games into what they deserved to be. Amidst improving all of the aesthetics such as graphics, speed (most importantly a MUCH faster battle speed and surfing speed) Platinum added a hell of a lot of new features, including another Battle Frontier, redesigned rosters, Gym Leader rematches, etc. Basically a lot of stuff Emerald added, although Platinum also had unique additions in the form of the Distortion World and new forms or "formes", as the series calls them for three different Pokemon. Platinum also introduced some now staples to the series, including VS bars and animations for important trainers in the game. The level curve was also vastly improved and the storyline changed somewhat; Platinum is, in my opinion, one of the best Pokemon games the franchise has ever

5 5 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM seen. A year later and the much anticipated Gold and Silver remakes arrived on the Nintendo DS, titled Heart Gold and Soul Silver. Fans had been predicting G/S remakes since FR/LG were released and the theory eventually came true. Heart Gold and Soul Silver feature many of the improvements from Platinum such as the battle speed, graphic style etc although it also adds some new features of its own, such as particular sounds when moving on the field such as being near flowing water and different sound effects for different paths. The remakes also gave Kanto a much needed boost, making it far less barren than it was in GSC by making the cities more colourful and lively, as well as restoring the previously lost Viridian Forest, Seafoam Islands and Cerulean Cave. HG/SS also brought forward gym leader rematches of their own; all in all, I think they were vast improvements on the original GSC, with perhaps one or two tiny exceptions. With that huge pile of writing done, we finally arrive at 2010, where Generation V has begun on the DS with the release of Black & White. Paired versions are usually not so good as their third counterparts, but Black and White alone are incredible games; bringing forth the new Unova region - which may sound small by route names but is in fact incredibly large and a totally new 156 Pokemon, Black and White gave the series a 'restart' in the form of only the new Pokemon being available prior to receiving the National Dex; all ties to previous Pokemon were completely cut off. Unova was also based highly off certain parts of North America primarily New York giving both the region and the Pokemon interesting designs. The graphics also changed quite drastically, featuring Pokemon actually moving in battles (by going through a specific animation sequence on a loop) and very dynamic camera views in battles. It's also fast, even more so than the likes of Platinum and HG/SS. Honestly, it's hard to describe, but Black and White are absolutely incredible games; the 40/40 award they got from the Famitsu review is somewhat evidence of that; I say somewhat due to their 40/40 of Nintendogs, but whatever. The new Pokemon, the region, the storyline, the aesthetics... they are all brilliant. Generation V is looking to be the best yet, and if B/W are this good, then just what will happen in the obviously coming third version? They did of course remove some things that should have been in B/W that will obviously be in the third version such as leader rematches, but what else might they add? Then there are also the possible and very likely Ruby and Sapphire remakes for the future... this generation is looking to be very, very good. That's basically it in a rather expanded nutshell; I've probably written a bit too much, but there are still plenty of features some of the games brought that I missed out. tl;dr version, the series has run for a while and in my opinion is getting better with each successive generation. Additions and Changes As Black and White are the beginning of a new generation Generation V it is only natural that there are some new changes to the games that haven't been seen in the series previously. Seasons The most obvious and biggest change to the game itself is the presence of seasons; the game will now switch between spring, summer, autumn and winter. The season the game is in depends entirely on what month it is and nothing else; it isn't a set time limit, just the month. As such, it is entirely possible to change the season simply by changing the DS clock to any of the three months of the season you want. Seasons present a small amount of changes around Unova. Most notably, the colours of the areas will change a bit depending on the season; for example, summer will have areas appear more vibrant, winter will have areas appear icier etc. There will also be weather effects on some parts, such as apparent snow on some routes, but it's not enough to cause Hail in battles. The season will also change some of the paths you can take slightly; there are some parts of the areas you can only access in winter for example, when snow piles up enough to allow you to cross certain parts. This is needed if you want to obtain every item ball in the game; this is most notable in the areas around Icirrus City. Wild Pokemon will also change depending on the season, but it's more of a shifting around than a complete change. With some exceptions, you can catch all Pokemon in any season, although these exceptions lie only with post Elite Four Pokemon; you can at least catch the base form of anything in Unova in any season. The seasons correspond to the following months:

6 6 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Season Months Spring January, May, September Summer February, June, October Autumn March, July, November Winter April, August, December Experience System Another notable new change is the revamped experience system; if a Pokemon beats an opponent that is of a higher level than it, the experience gained is increased. If a Pokemon beats an opponent that is of a lower level than it, the experience gained is lowered. The amount is raised or lowered respectively depending on the distance between levels (ie a Level 48 Pokemon defeating a Level 58 Pokemon will earn more experience than a Level 51 Pokemon defeating a Level 58 Pokemon, then a Level 38 Pokemon will learn even more etc. The reverse applies for defeating weaker enemies.) In addition, Pokemon are now able to have a base EXP (a hidden value that is used in the EXP formula for how much you receive when you beat a particular Pokemon) of over 255; while no pre Generation V Pokemon have had this value changed, there are several Generation V Pokemon with base EXP values exceeding 255. The most notable is Audino, a "rare" Pokemon that has an absolutely gigantic 390 base EXP. Defeating one will give you a ton of experience. In comparison, the Chansey line and Arceus gave the most EXP prior to Generation V, with a base EXP of 255. As such, this system makes it much easier to raise lower levelled Pokemon, especially utilizing the Elite Four very late in the game as they reach very high levels. A table to summarize: YP/OP Lower Level Same Level Higher Level Lower Level - - Increased EXP Same Level - Unchanged EXP - Higher Level Reduced EXP - - YP = Your Pokemon, going down and OP = Opponent Pokemon, going across Other Additions / Changes There are another new 156 Pokemon, making for a grand total of 649. A new region called Unova has been introduced. New items and attacks have been introduced. Pokemon sprites now move in battle or on the status screen. Battles contain much more dynamic camera views. Battle speed has been improved since the fourth generation games. TMs are now reusable, just like HMs; they no longer break after one use. Some TMs and HMs have been changed; there are now only six HMs, namely Cut, Fly, Surf, Strength, Waterfall and Dive. The absolute required use of HMs has been shrunk drastically; you'll have to use their field effects much, much less. You will now see 'rare patches' within the field; you may see grass shaking, a dark shadow in the water, a cloud of dust in a cave or a dark shadow on a bridge. Some of these contain items, but all of them can contain Pokemon. They are generally Pokemon that you cannot normally find in the area, so if one appears it would be a good idea to check it. (Note you can either surf into or fish in the dark water spots.) There are two types of grass on some routes; normal, thin grass and tall, thick grass. The latter contains stronger Pokemon levelwise, as well as sometimes a different variety of Pokemon and the chance for double wild battles. Double wild battles act much the same as in DPPt; you cannot catch a Pokemon until one of the two has fainted. Some old attacks and abilities have been changed; for example, Tackle has gone up from 35 power and 95 accuracy to 50 power and 100 accuracy, making it a much better move for the early parts of the game. Two new types of battles have been introduced, "triple battles" and "rotation battles." Both involve sending out three Pokemon, but triple battles have all three Pokemon attacking at once, whereas rotation battles have three Pokemon on the field that can be freely rotated each turn; it's basically a 1 vs 1 battle, but with a large twist. Triple battles are also different in that unlike double battles, not everything can

7 7 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM attack everything else; the position of the Pokemon (ie left, centre, right) DOES matter. Wi-Fi has been edited a fair bit from DPPtHGSS, and in some cases is a lot more restricted... However, Black and White do feature an option that allow you to do random fights, much like in Pokemon Battle Revolution. They are timed fights (lasting an hour at most) and are performed in stadium mode (ie see all six of your opponent's Pokemon, and then pick three for a 3 vs 3 battle.) Notable downgrades include it being impossible to do Level 100 fights and always seeing your opponent's team in a battle, though. More stuff that I'm too lazy to list. Basically everything you'd expect from a new generation. There are some steps back from HGSS though, such as no more Pokemon following you and no auto run. Version Differences In comparison with previous paired versions, Black and White actually have quite a few differences from each other. There are the usual, such as version exclusives and different legendary mascots (which has been the case since G/S) but Black and White also bring some extra differences to the table. The most notorious of these are to do with a certain location in Unova; depending on whether you are playing Black or White, you will either see Black City, OR White Forest. Neither of these areas can be accessed until after you defeat the Elite Four for the first time, but at any rate these two areas are very different from each other. Both are located on the upper mid-east of Unova, to the right of Nimbasa City, where the fourth gym is found. Black players will get to see Black City, a dark and large city with a huge focus on battling. The city is very technological, and talking to any NPC around the city (outside the buildings) will land you in a fight with them. They battle with fully evolved forms of older Pokémon from Generations I to IV, which are added to your PokeDex so they become searchable on the GTS. These trainers will fight you once each day, making them good for experience. Black City also has a building selling items, with some notoriously high prices; however, some of the items that can be sold in the shops include the elemental stones, so even with the sky high prices it can be worth it. Just don't buy Poké Balls or Nuggets in there. Yes, they sell Nuggets. No, you cannot make a profit from them. White players on the other hand get White Forest, which is a forest that has a ton of grass in it amidst some very tall trees. The grass in White Forest contains level 5 Pokemon, but these Pokemon are basic forms of those from the older generations that cannot be found elsewhere in Unova; in fact, they are the basic forms of the very same Pokemon the trainers in Black City use, and vice versa for Black City's trainers having the fully evolved forms of these wild Pokemon. White Forest also contains valuable items, and each day between 0 to 3 of them are generated, and can be located using the Itemfinder. White Forest also contains the ever important elemental stones for free, so it is somewhat advantageous. Black City has one big advantage though; you can buy Heart Scales, whereas in White you have to steal from Luvdisc. Black users may not necessarily get to buy Heart Scales though, if they get unlucky. The important thing to note is that at any one time you will get a selection of somewhere between (I'm not sure on the exact number, and it could well be less than 10) Pokemon out of a possible 32 that you can either find wild or fight against, depending on the version. The items you find in the forest and the items you can buy in the city are also decided in a similar way. The only way to change which Pokemon are being used is to access the Entralink feature in some way that I am currently unsure of, but it appears that you do need another player or at least another DS with a copy of Black or White in order to change the Pokemon in the places. If you're unable to access Entralink, you're pretty much stuck with what you start with, unfortunately. That aside, there are also some more minor differences, which are as follows: Black appears more technological, whereas White is more natural. Aside from Black City / White Forest, this is seen most strongly in Opelucid City, where the design changes entirely depending on the version. In addition, the gym leader you battle in Opelucid City also changes depending on which version you're playing. You battle the same roster regardless, however. As seen on the game box, Black's mascot is Reshiram, whereas White's mascot is Zekrom. You will be able to catch the legendary that is on the game box. Which Pokemon appears at the title screen also depends on which game version you're playing, and matches the Pokemon on the box art. Some colour schemes will change depending on the version, too; for example, you'll see

8 8 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM more black backgrounds in Black, whereas White has more white backgrounds. Whether you'll see more triple battles or rotation battles depends on the version; Black only has rotation battles with one exception aside from Wi-Fi, whereas White has only triple battles with one exception aside from Wi-Fi. Small story details will change somewhat to reflect on the opposite mascot depending on which version you're playing. However, the general story is exactly the same. The version exclusives are as follows; with Unova Pokemon on the left and older Pokemon on the right: Black White Black White Cottonee Petilil Weedle Caterpie Whimsicott Lilligant Kakuna Metapod Gothita Solosis Beedrill Butterfree Gothorita Duosion Paras Shroomish Gothitelle Reuniclus Parasect Breloom Vullaby Rufflet Murkrow Misdreavus Mandibuzz Braviary Honchkrow Mismagius Tornadus Thundurus Houndour Poochyena Reshiram Zekrom Houndoom Mightyena Plusle Minun Volbeat Illumise NOTE: It is possible to trade a Cottonee for a Petilil in Black and vice-versa for White within Nacrene City, so it is still very possible to obtain and use the counterpart. It comes at Level 15. The list above does not include any Pokemon that are found in White Forest. Aside from that, they're pretty much the same. Choose whichever you like best. General Tips In order to make your Black and White game more enjoyable, here are some useful tips that will get you through the game either easier, or with more fun: If at any time you need experience, seek out Audino. Audino can only be found in shaking grass, but within that they are very common, and with their 390 base EXP they will give out a ton of EXP even if there is a slight level difference (ie <=10 levels). The easiest way to find shaking grass is to run or bike just outside some NORMAL grass (not tall grass that has double wild battles) and wait for a patch to shake, and then run into the shaking patch to hopefully find a Audino, though you may encounter some other rarities such as Emolga or rare fully evolved Pokemon. Note that if you run into a wild encounter before you reach the shaking grass, the shaking will disappear, so you may want to use a Repel to get to the patch; the Repel itself will not stop you encountering a Pokemon once you step into a shaking patch or any other rare Pokemon spot. Try to make your team varied; the more variety you have, the more fun the game often ends up being. I would highly recommend using six Pokemon this time around, as you get enough EXP to do it and having six tends to be a lot more fun than say... just one. I would recommend you use at least three or four for the best time, unless you really want to just speed through it. Try and have as much move variety as well; the more you can take advantage of the type chart, the better. Give each Pokemon variety; the more opponents they can hit the better. For example, don't give a Reuniclus a moveset like Psyshock, Psychic, Future Sight and Dizzy Punch; take advantage of its stats and wide movepool, and give it something like Psychic, Thunder, Shadow Ball and Recover. On that note, play as best as you can to your Pokemon's stats. For example, use physical moves on Darmanitan to benefit from its 140 base attack, but use special moves on Chandelure to benefit from its 145 base special attack. Some Pokemon will have equal or near to base stats in both attacking stats, in which case mixed is fine. Play to your Pokemon's strengths whenever you can, however. Always keep some Poké Balls and preferably some Repel too. Poké Balls are good in case you end up encountering a shiny, which has a small 1/8192 chance of appearing; though unlikely, there have been cases where a player lands in a fight with a shiny Pokemon and they have no Poke Balls, hence they are forced to kill it. The Repel is for when

9 9 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM you're in caves and such; the encounter rates in Black and White can become overwhelming, so Repel or its variations can be very useful. In terms of economics, Super Repel gives you the best value for money vs steps. Try not to get too overlevelled! If your levels are too high, then the game will just be too easy and get boring. Pokemon games are easy anyway, but you don't want to make it too easy. If at all possible, try to have at least one status move on your team such as Thunder Wave or Sleep Powder. Catching some tougher wild Pokemon will become much easier with a status effect in tow. When you receive the Lucky Egg about midway through the game, shift it around your Pokemon in order to get the best yield of experience. The more battles you can use it with, the better. Your levels will practically skyrocket once you get the item. Do not be afraid to utilize the option to change the DS calendar; it is incredibly useful for swapping seasons or speeding up daily events if need be. For daily events, try setting time to 23:59 and letting the day roll over naturally. If at all possible, you'll probably want your natures to not reduce the stats you want to use; having speed boosting natures can also help. Don't put too much emphasis on it though; you don't NEED good natures, but they can help things along a bit. Main Game Walkthrough This part of the walkthrough covers the main game, from the very beginning right up to the first roll of the credits. Nuvema Town Thus our adventure begins. You will be asked to select a language; katakana is the top one, kanji is the bottom. Pick one, then as usual the professor of the region this time Professor Juniper introduces us to the region, telling us about the relationship between humans and Pokémon... etcetera etcetera. Pick your character's gender and name, then after a bit more dialogue you will be transported into the world of Unova. The game starts rather cinematically compared to previous titles; Prof. Juniper will enter the house and drop off a parcel, and then leave in the space of a second. I have no idea how she does it, but whatever. The scene will cut to your room, where you and Cheren one of your two rivals will be. After some rather critical dialogue, Bianca will show up. She'll walk over to the parcel, wanting to open it up. The three of you will be in a line when you gain control; you can now move around and access the menu, before you even pick your starter. Simply press X to enter the menu if you wish. It's worth going into the options and changing it to your liking, if only to change the text speed to fast. I don't know about you, but I cannot stand a slow text speed. Of course if you prefer slow then that's fine. Anyway, the options are as follows: Text Speed: Slow, Medium or Fast Battle Scene: On or Off Battle Style: Shift or Set Sound: Stereo or Mono Display Text: Katakana or Kanji IR Report:...I'm not sure about this one... Set what you need to, then I would suggest saving. After that, it's time to pick your starter! As usual, we have a choice between Fire, Water or Grass. Tepig ~ Fire Evolution: Tepig --> Level 17 --> Pignite --> Level 36 --> Emboar Tepig is the Fire-type starter of Unova, being based around a pig as one look at it will probably tell you. Tepig follows a similar trend to the previous two Fire-type starting Pokemon in that once it evolves it gains a Fighting-type in addition to its Fire. Unoriginal? You bet, but there's not a whole lot we can do about it now. Tepig and his evolutions are definitely the strongest of the three starters, with Emboar having a pretty large 123 base attack, but they are also the slowest of the three.

10 10 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Their defenses are also relatively bad, although there is a redeeming factor in that the line has some very large HP stats, with Emboar surpassing even Swampert. The line also gets some interesting moves such as Head Smash and Flame Charge, although there is a rather significant lack of Fighting-type moves in their level up Arm Thrust is the only one you will naturally get, and Brick Break is quite late in the game. Tepig can be good; it is very good early in the game. I find it a bit boring, but that's just me. I'm not too fond of the design on the final form... :x It's definitely the best for the earlier gyms at any rate, having an advantage over both the second and third. Oshawott ~ Water Evolution: Oshawott --> Level 17 --> Dewott --> Level 36 --> Samurott Oshawott is the Water-type starter of Unova, with many characteristics of a sea otter, although its final form is quite different in design. At any rate, this starter which was nicknamed "Wotter" by many fans is actually quite unique as far as things go typewise; sure, it's just pure Water the whole way through the line, but there is a severe lack of Water-type Pokemon in Unova; prior to getting Surf there's about three other Water lines you can get, then another three lines once you get Surf. It may sound like plenty, but when you consider the availability and just how crap some of them are you will see why having a Water-type for your starter can be so good. Stats wise, Samurott turns out to be sort of a mix; it does have strong offense albeit not quite as strong as Emboar in its specialized stat but is also faster than Emboar, but much slower than Serperior. It's strong enough to use though, definitely. This line also has some very nice moves; the line being Water-types can learn moves such as Surf and Ice Beam, but are also compatible with the TM for Grass Knot. Samurott is also capable of learning Megahorn, which can prove very useful later on. This starter in general will grow quite steadily and it can quickly become a core member of your team. Snivy ~ Grass Evolution: Snivy --> Level 17 --> Servine --> Level 36 --> Serperior Snivy, which was aptly nicknamed "Smugleaf" by the community due to its rather smug pose, is my personal favourite starter in terms of design; it's based on a snake, which is seen more easily if you think of Snivy without arms and legs. It gets more snakelike with each form, and by the time it is a fully evolved Serperior it is obvious. Snivy being a pure Grass-type is basically just begging for a movepool problem and unfortunately that plea was accepted. There are quite a few other Grass-types in the region as well, though none so smug as our Smugleaf here. In terms of stats, this line excels in Speed above all else; they're not quite as fast as Treecko's line, but come damn close. Taking Serperior into account, their defenses are also very good, being 75/95/95 HP/Def/SDef, but Serperior's offenses fall flat being 75 for both attack and special attack. Compared to Emboar's 123 attack and Samurott's 108 special attack, it is by far the weakest of the three. There's also the problem that it learns like nothing; it gets Grass moves, the use of Return and Frustration and... that's it. The thing is basically built to be a subseeder, which isn't so useful in-game. It's definitely useful for getting some quick kills in, but you're basically going to be stuck with Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm and a rather weak Return. As much as I like it, I have to admit it really doesn't have a lot of movepool going for it. If you think you need a good Grass attack then by all means pick Snivy, but if you want a starter with good type coverage then go for one of the other two. Despite me calling it boring, I'm going to use Tepig as I write this walkthrough, only because as I'm writing this walkthrough it's my third playthrough and I have yet to use Tepig. I honestly think Oshawott is probably the best starter though, but that's beside the point. After picking your starter, the three of you will talk and then Bianca will challenge you to a battle, with cut-ins and all.

11 11 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Rival Bianca Rewards: $500 Pokemon Level Type Tepig/Oshawott/Snivy Lv. 5 Fire/Water/Grass Bianca will have the starter that is weak to yours; i.e. if you have Tepig, she'll have Snivy. If you have Oshawott, she'll have Tepig. If you have Snivy, she'll have Oshawott. Anyway, this is the first battle so there's honestly like no strategy to it. Just keep using Tackle until you win. Throw in your support move if you want but you honestly don't need it. After the battle ends, dust clouds will appear and your room will be completely messed up, with footprints on the walls and floor and tons of objects knocked over, although miraculously the Wii is completely untouched. That poor plant on the right side of the room, though. Bianca will apologize for the mess and after some berating from Bianca, Cheren will heal both of your Pokemon. Bianca then suggests Cheren fights you too, and he agrees, thus landing you in a second rival fight. Rival Cheren Rewards: $500 Pokemon Level Type Tepig/Oshawott/Snivy Lv. 5 Fire/Water/Grass Cheren will have the starter that is strong against yours; i.e. if you have Tepig, he'll have Oshawott. If you have Oshawott, he'll have Snivy. If you have Snivy, he'll have Tepig. Exactly like the first, just use your basic move alone and you will win, throwing in a support move if you think it's necessary. Defeating Cheren will be enough to push your starter to Level 6, too. Following the battle, Bianca and Cheren will leave the room, allowing you to access the menu if you wish. You can now check the nature of your starter, as well as save again if you want. Feel free to reset if the nature of your starter is really bad, but unless it's something really punishing don't bother. Go downstairs to see both of your friends apologizing to your mother, who doesn't really seem to mind. After they leave, your mother will talk to you directly, telling you to go see Prof. Juniper. Before you can go, however, she'll both heal your Pokemon and give you the XTRANSCEIVER, a key item that lets you "video chat with up to four people at once". We'll see some in-game use of it; a fair bit at the beginning, but a lot more sporadic as the game goes on. It's basically like a phone between you, Cheren, Bianca and Prof. Juniper. (For the record, the Xtransceiver will be blue if you're a male character and pink if you're a female character.) Exiting the house, you'll see Bianca walk south and a bunch of either Pidove or Woobat fly off, depending on whether it is day or night. Regardless, follow Bianca and enter the bottom left house. You'll witness an argument between her and her dad, who refuses to let Bianca go off on a journey, but she ignores him and goes anyway. Follow her out and to Prof. Juniper's lab in the top left. Talk to Cheren to go inside; Prof. Juniper will talk to you and let you nickname your starter if you want and then give you the most standard item in the game, the PokeDex. As usual, it lets you see and record Pokemon etc. The PokeDex amounts you'll see when talking to Prof. Juniper and on the main menu will refer to how many you have seen, for the record. Exit the lab once you're able to be surprised attacked by your mum. She'll give you a town map for Unova, which might be helpful if you get lost anywhere. Cheren and Bianca will run off to the right; follow them and you'll walk down Route 1 "together." Route 1 Pokemon Type Location Encounter Rate Evolution Method

12 12 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Lillipup Normal Grass 50% Level 16 Patrat Normal Grass 50% Level 20 Audino Normal Shaking Grass 100% N/A Farfetch'd Normal Swarm 40% N/A Basculin Water Surf 100% N/A Basculin Water Dark Water ~ Surf 100% N/A Basculin Water Fish 95% N/A Feebas Water Fish 5% Trade with Prism Scale Basculin Water Dark Water ~ Fish 35% N/A Feebas Water Dark Water ~ Fish 60% Trade with Prism Scale Milotic Water Dark Water ~ Fish 5% N/A NOTE: Pokemon that I have listed in italics cannot be caught until after you get the National Dex, so don't get excited. All you'll be finding are the first three for the moment. A small ways up and you'll meet Prof. Juniper who will be positioned by some grass; with all eyes on her, she will show you how to catch a Pokemon; a Level 2 Patrat will appear and she'll send out her Level 7 Minccino to weaken it. The usual lesson: weaken a Pokemon and then throw a Poke Ball at it. I have no idea why they show this tutorial each and every time but eh. Prof. Juniper will give you some POKE BALLS of your own five to be exact and then head north. More dialogue and then Cheren and Bianca will continue north, leaving you behind. So much for "together". At any rate, this means you're finally allowed to move. Going into the grass will likely land you with a Lillipup or Patrat. Lillipup is almost like the Starly of the region; it is surprisingly strong and will stay strong for a while, although unlike Staraptor the final form of Lillipup (Stoutland) isn't quite so useful... It's a good Pokemon up to the midgame point though. It can be a bit boring after that unfortunately. It is however worth noting that Lillipup has Pickup, which no other Unova Pokemon holds. Pickup will give you random items every once in a while. Patrat is sort of like the Bidoof, although it has a very different movepool in the form of moves such as Hypnosis. We'll be seeing it a fair bit, and it's probably not likely to be much use. You can always catch one for a Cut slave though. You'll probably only come across Audino if you force the grass to shake by walking or running on the outside of it, but if you find one feel free to knock it out for a delicious amount of EXP. You can always catch it as well, but they're in pretty much any shaking grass the region over, so don't fret if you knock one out. It's easy to find one, despite how 'rare' it is. Talking to the dark haired girl in the upper grass will get you a POTION,, an item that restores 20 HP to a Pokemon. It'll go straight into the medicine part of your bag, ready to be used if necessary. Continuing north, we'll see Cheren and Bianca; talk to Bianca and yes to advance. You'll get a call on the Xtransceiver, showing all four of you; you never speak of course, but the other three will provide the dialogue. The two of them will then head north; follow them. Accumula Town Prof. Juniper is standing outside the Pokemon Center; go talk to her and she'll lead you inside and show you around. Heal your Pokemon (you're forced to) and let her show you around some more, then you'll be able to exit. I'd recommend saving first, though. Going outside, you'll see some people moving towards a crowd to the left. Follow them to enter the crowd yourself with Cheren and then you get to see a speech from the evil team of Black and White, Team Plasma. Get used to this 'creepy' music you'll be hearing it a LOT throughout the game. Once he leaves with his group of grunts, the crowd will dissipate, leaving you, Cheren and one other person behind. This person will come to you and introduce himself as "N", then challenge you to a fight. PKMN Trainer N Rewards: $700 Pokemon Level Type

13 13 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM Purrloin Lv. 7 Dark As you might be able to tell from the music, N is a special character and we'll be fighting him a few times throughout the game. This first fight with him has him with only one Pokemon. Purrloin is a Dark-type Pokemon, and based on its cat appearance you might be able to guess it is fast. Don't let that put you off; just beat it down with whatever attacks you have. It should go down pretty quickly. It's not that powerful regardless. Defeating it will give you somewhere around the realm of 118 EXP, which will be enough to push you up another level unless you trained a boatload in Route 1. N will leave after the fight, then after some more talking Cheren will too and we've finally got the run of the place at last. I would start by healing your starter; just go back in the Pokemon Center and do so. Bianca will have somehow snuck out of there without being seen by you; I do love how every NPC in Pokemon is capable of teleportation! Outside the Pokemon Center, go to the top left house in the city, go upstairs and talk to the guy to receive a POKE BALL. Exit that house and then go to the one in the top right; you'll be able to oversee Route 2 as you go there. In this house you'll see two people by musical instruments; talk to both and say yes to each to add two extra instruments to the song, giving it some extra layers. It's not required by any means, but it sounds really good with those extra instruments. That's all Accumula Town offers, so head left out of the town. Route 2 Trainer Pokemon: Patrat L7 Purrloin L7 Lillipup L7 Pokemon Type Location Encounter Rate Evolution Method Lillipup Normal Grass 40% Level 16 Patrat Normal Grass 40% Level 20 Purrloin Dark Grass 20% Level 20 Audino Normal Shaking Grass 100% N/A Wynaut Psychic Swarm 40% N/A The gatehouses in this game are quite elaborate; a TV screen, a receptionist and some special music. We'll be seeing quite a lot of them as the game goes on. Exit out left into the route itself, and then keep going to get a call on your Xtransceiver. Your mum will say something and then appear as soon as you turn the Xtransceiver off. I don't have a clue why she phoned you, but at any rate she will give you the RUNNING SHOES, which will allow you to run by pressing B while moving. The double speed is much welcomed, though I do wish you could just run from the start. Once she leaves, you'll have free reign over the route. Note how extra instruments come in whenever you begin walking or running; it's pretty neat. Below you is a bloody huge boulder; this is a strength boulder; they've practically quadrupled in size since Generation IV. Head into the grass and pick up the item ball to receive a POTION. Note that the wilds here can be strangely strong; while Purrloin will only appear between about 4 or 5, Patrat and Lillipup can appear as high as Level 7. If either the wild Pokemon or the trainers beat you up too much, head back to Accumula and heal. It's worth noting that low health on your starters can be benefical, though if their health drops below 33% their ability will activate, which will power up moves that match their primary type. Past the grass you'll find your first normal trainer of the game, who as usual is a Youngster. I think the only game where it wasn't a youngster was in RBY, where it was a Bug Catcher instead (or possibly a Lass if you were playing Yellow.) Go figure. There are three trainers on this route, all with a Level 7 version of one of the three main Wild Pokemon. They shouldn't be terribly hard. After the first youngster, there's a dark haired guy right below you who will show you how to jump a ledge if you say yes to his question. Continuing east, you'll find a Lass, who will fight you with a Purrloin. Follow the path a bit more to find the last trainer on the route, another Youngster with a Lillipup. Go east and around after that to find the two items we saw from Accumula Town before; they are a POTION and a POKE BALL. That's all we can do in Route 2 for now; try to exit north and Bianca will appear! She'll end up challenging you to a fight. Brace yourself, because there

14 14 of 132 1/23/ :40 PM are a LOT of rival fights in the early parts of the game. Rival Bianca Rewards: $700 Pokemon Level Type Lillipup Lv. 6 Normal Tepig/Oshawott/Snivy Lv. 7 Fire/Water/Grass Bianca hasn't grown much stronger, although she now has a new Pokemon in Lillipup, which can actually hit decently hard with Tackle. It'll go down easily enough and then Bianca will once again send out the starter that yours is strong against. By now you should have the first elemental move of your starter (Ember / Water Gun / Vine Whip) so just use that to beat it. Bianca does have a Potion however and she will use it if either of her Pokemon descends into low health. It's unlikely to be much of a problem, though. Bianca will let you leave after that; head north into Striaton City. Striaton City Pokemon Type Location Encounter Rate Evolution Method Basculin Water Surf 100% N/A Basculin Water Dark Water ~ Surf 100% N/A Basculin Water Fish 30% N/A Goldeen Water Fish 70% Level 33 Basculin Water Dark Water ~ Fish 30% N/A Goldeen Water Dark Water ~ Fish 60% Level 33 Seaking Water Dark Water ~ Fish 10% N/A Almost as soon as you enter, there will be a path to the left; take it to pick up an X SPEED at the end. Return back and enter the first house on the right; talk to the guy by the table on the right to get a GREAT BALL. Exit and ignore the house right above it; go and heal yourself in the Pokemon Center. There is a building directly to the right of the Pokemon Center; this is the gym, but as you can see it is currently blocked. There's something we'll have to do first. Exit the Pokemon Center and go to the far right of the city and then down to find a guy hiding in this small "alley." He'll give you a DUSK BALL. Head to the far south west of the city by the hedges to pick up a GREAT BALL, too. Strangely enough there are Pikachu hedges here, despite Pikachu not being in Unova at all. Odd, huh? You can also get a BALMMUSHROOM if you go to the very top left square (that is currently accessible) and face the tree and examine it. There's still more we can do in Striaton City, but there's somewhere else we should visit first. Head out the city to the top right. I would recommend having only five or less Pokemon in your team while we go there, though. Dreamyard Trainer Pokemon: Purrloin L8, Purrloin L8 Patrat L7, Patrat L7, Lillipup L7 There's not a whole lot we can do here just yet, but there is one very important thing that we are able to do. You'll have to fight your way through two trainers; they have 2-3 Pokemon, but they're easy enough. You'll see a woman; you should probably save before you talk to her, but when you're ready, talk to her and say yes to receive a Pokemon! This Pokemon will be either Pansage, Pansear or Panpour. They are collectively the elemental monkeys and you will get the monkey that is weak to your starter. A table to illustrate; Your Starter Monkey Received Monkey's Type Tepig Pansage Grass Oshawott Pansear Fire Snivy Panpour Water