NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKÉMON OF THE WEEK! MAY 25- MAY 31/13!

#187 HOPPIP, #188 SKIPLOOM, & #189 JUMPLUFF

Today we're talking about a trio of adorable 2nd Generation Grass/Flying Pokémon that the animators of the official anime and films apparently love (since they make a lot of cameos). These little cottonweed or, as we call them in the U.S., dandelion Pokémon are delightful little puffballs that go with the flow and travel by wind.

LAST WEEK'S POKÉMON OF THE WEEK: #489 Phione & #490 Manaphy

WORD OF THE DAY! 5/1/13!

double think [duhb-uhl-thingk]
noun
1. The acceptance or existence of two contradictory ideas or beliefs in the same person, organization, philosophy, etc.

EX. "Remember, Pokémon are not tools of war..." Cuz like Pokémon just naturally want to live side by side in harmony and would never turn to violence.

Except when used by Lt. Surge to fight a war with electric Pokémon or when Pokémon fight massive wars against each other or legendary Pokémon cause natural disasters in their conflicts/rivalries or when Pokémon hunt, eat, hurt, poison, paralyze, feed off of, torture, and generally hurt each other with specially "evolved" weapons and tools, etc.

There is a lot of double think in the Pokéverse. Like the moral of Pokémon the First Movie:

ANIMENIA: POKEMON :THE FIRST MOVIE: THE REVIEW

NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKÉMON OF THE WEEK! APR 13-APR 19/13!

#209 SNUBBULL & #210 GRANBULL

Oh boy! This week is all about this pugnificent and pugnacious creatures known as Snubbull and Granbull; two of the so cute they're ugly second generation abominadorablinations based on the Bull Dog breed and, specifically, those old Tom and Jerry cartoon bull dogs. Spike and Tyke? I think those were their names? *googles* I watched too many cartoons growing up... I should read more. Anyways....

LAST WEEK'S POKÉMON OF THE WEEK: #318 CAVANHA & #319 SHARPEDO

NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKÉMON OF THE WEEK! MAR 30-APR 5/13!

#129 MAGIKARP & #130 GYARADOS

Oh boy. You'd think Magikarp and Gyarados would be easy pickings for Pokémon of the Week, but I've already talked about them so much that there hardly seems to be much more to say...does there? Well, I'm still gonna give it the old college try.

LAST WEEK'S POKÉMON OF THE WEEK: #519 PIDOVE, #520 TRANQUILL, #521 UNFEZANT

Here are some popular articles I've done featuring the fishy duo:  

MAGIKARP MONDAY

WORD OF THE DAY! 4/2/13! Reunion.

WTF WED! TEAM ROCKET IS BACK!

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/7/13! Bounce.

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/25/13!

roll out [rohl-owt]
verb
1. To flatten or spread, as with a rolling pin.

EX. Miltank! Transform and roll out!

WTF WED! CHIPMUNKS HUNTING FOR DRAGON POKÉBALLS!

WTF WEDNESDAY PRESENTS

CHIPMUNK HUNT

CHRIS, STAMPER, & THE CHIPMUNK ANIMATION

This week I've got a trio of oddities for your pallet, starting with a delightfully off-tilt romp into the lives of animators Chris "OneyNG" O'Neil (of the Hellbenders) and Mr. Stamper of StamperTV. In the video, these over-sized manchildren chase a small rodent around their flat, capture it in Tupperware, and release it in the wild-- while discussing the likelihood of the the small rodent being made a prison-b*** for eating their cinnamon-flavored cereal.

DRAGON BALL KFC

Then, we've got the latest Dragon Ball Kai promotion (they got a new OVA film, Battle of Gods, coming out to start a new Dragon Ball continuity before GT) at KFC. It may be a surprise to many DBZ and KFC fans, but in the East these two franchises have been in cahoots for a long time and have a track record of cooperation. Fun stuff.

INCREDIBLE "TRUE" POKÉFACTS

Like did you know that you can get married in Pokémon Crystal version? And like, you can totally get gay married? Bet you didn't know that-- did ya!

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/4/13.

Pokeathlon [poh-keh-ath-lawn]
noun
1. Pokemon video game. A type of Pokemon competition involving racing and other similar athletic contests similar to track and field competitions.

EX. I don't particularly enjoy Pokemon mini-games and, I'm curious to know, does anybody else actually enjoy them? I mean, first we had crap like the slot machines in 1st Gen, then contests like Pokeathlons, beauty contests, dress-up games (ugh), and even making films-- it seems like its only a matter of time until you do some innocuous activity like a Pokemon sackrace.

The main reason I ever find Pokemon mini-games obnoxious is when you have to do them-- like in Red & Blue when the only way to get a Porygon is through earning enough coins by gambling to trade for the prize. Most of these mini-games are a waste of time, in my humble opinion, and just delay you from the fun of catching and fighting with Pokemon.

The only mini-game like thing I enjoy is the Safari Zone since it allows you to catch exotic Pokemon with a different set of mechanics. On a related note, I'd love to play a Mario Party style Pokemon game with the sort of games we got in the Stadium series. What do you think?

Also, for a bonus:

NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKEMONS OF THE WEEK! #3

POKEMONS OF THE WEEK! #3

CROBAT & SWOOBAT! <3

That's right, kiddiddlies! I didn't forget this time! As a reward for your loyalty, or shall we say friendship, we're talking about two bat Pokemon that evolve via, cornily enough, friendship. Yes, seriously, #169 Crobat and #528 Swoobat, both can only be obtained through friendship. And really, how can you not like that? What are you a monster? Yeesh, what a Goldbat.

LAST WEEK'S POKEMONS OF THE WEEK: POLITOED & SLOWKING

NERD CULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKEMONS OF THE WEEK #2

POKEMONS OF THE WEEK #2

POLITOED & SLOWKING

That's right guys, I know I kinda flaked on posting this on the right day, but it would feel wrong to neglect this sort of new article I've been testing so quickly; as such, I ran the number generator to come up with doing #186 Politoed and #199 Slowking who share the unique place in Pokedom of evolving via trade and exposure to King's Rock.

Check out last week's article on Electivire & Magmortar.

WORD OF THE DAY! 1/20/13.

discern [dih-surn]
verb

1. To perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.

2. To distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or different; discriminate.

EX. Either Prof. Oak can't discern a person's gender by their appearance, voice, and mannerisms or he is terribly polite/sensitive to crossdressers and transgendered individuals. Or he lives in a Japanese video game anime verse where such questions are necessary due to the profusion of gender ambiguous characters.

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/20/12.

bottom dog [bot-uhm-dawg]
noun
1. A person of low status; an underdog.

EX. I know that Joey is literally the lowest of the low and bottom dog of the Pokemon world, but things can change. For all you know, he managed to defeat the Elite Four with a team of Raticates....but I doubt it.

WORD OF THE DAY. 9/28/12.

wooly [wool-ee]
adjective

1. Consisting of wool.

2. Resembling wool  in texture or appearance.

3. Clothed or covered with wool  or something resembling it.

4. Botany . Covered with a pubescence of long, soft hairs resembling wool.

5. Like the rough, vigorous atmosphere of the early West in America.

EX. Enjoy these wooly Pokemon or should I say "alpaca-mon". Check out the creator of these llama's work, HERE.

Check out more after the jump. Bonus points to the first person to identify them all.

WORD OF THE DAY! 9/25/12.

House [hous]
noun
1. A building in which people live, a residence for human beings.
2. (often first letter capitalized) A family including ancestors and descendants.
3. A building for any purpose.
4. A theater, concert hall, or auditorium.

EX. I wonder what the other Houses of Kanto would be? I'd assume Ketchum, Oak, and maybe Rocket? Lemme see if I can get their mottos: Ketchum would be "Do you have clean underwear?" or "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" (obviously) , Oak "What was the motto of our clan again?" or "Smell ya later!" and as for House Rocket, "Surrender now or prepare to fight" or "Blasting off again".

Also, remember, "The next generation is coming."

WORD OF THE DAY! 8/19/12.

haboob [huh-boob]
noun
1. A thick dust or sandstorm that blows in the deserts of North Africa or Arabia or on the plains of India.

EX. Hey, Tyranitar, what's all the haboob?

WORD OF THE DAY! 8/8/12.

needy [nee-dee]
adjective
1. In a condition of need or want; poverty stricken; impoverished; extremely poor; destitute.

EX. Pokemon be needy.

WORD OF THE DAY! 6/30/12.

percentile [per-sen-tahyl]

noun

1. One of the values of a variable that divides the distribution of the variable into 100 groups having equal frequencies.

adjective

2. Of or pertaining to a percentile or a division of a distribution by percentiles.

 

 EX. WARNING! Do not give youngster Joey your phone number or he will fill up your voice mail box with hundreds of calls about how his Rattata is in the top percentile.

RELEVANT: WORD OF THE DAY! 1/31/12.

WORD OF THE DAY! 4/18/12.

sociopath [soh-see-uh-path]
noun
1. A person with an psychopathic personality whose behavior is anti-social, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience.

EX. I always new that Gold boy was unsavory sociopath with his backwards hat and capering through the grass.

WORD OF THE DAY! 1/31/12

percentage [per-sent-ij]
noun
1.a rate or proportion per hundred.
2. an allowance, a commission, or rate of interest calculated by the percent.
3. a proportion in general.
4. gain; benefit; profit

EX. "It's like my Rattata is in the top percentage of Rattatas."-Youngster Joey, Pokemon Gold & Pokemon Silver

FUN FACT #321 Youngster Joey was the first named trainer in the Pokemon series, besides gym leaders, the Elite Four, a couple of NPCs (who didn't fight), and your rival.

MIXED BAG! POKEMON FANART...BY ME?

As I've said before, and I'll say again, I love Pokémon. After finding out some of my friends were changing their profile pics to Pokémon for December, I couldn't choose a favorite and instead took it one step further and drew a Pokémon trainer version of myself with six Pokémon I could see myself running around with.

First, I drew myself as a trainer. I tried to draw in the style of the Pokémon anime but instead decided to nix that and draw it my way. I am regrowing my epic beard so I went with that. I would've drawn myself more rotund, but if I was a traveling Pokémon trainer I reckon I would be in better shape. Gotta lose some weight!

Now from left to right and top to bottom:

"Heracross!" is hands down one of the coolest designs and coolest sounding Pokémon. He is a physical sweeping battle beetle that fulfills the specialize niche of being both a Bug Type and Fighter Type. Did you know that Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon, came up with the concept of Pokémon based on his childhood past time of insect collection (beetle fighting is huge in Japan).

To quote an earlier article, Togekiss makes up for the disappointing evolution and design of Togetic. Not only is Togetic one of the cutest designs, as well as one of the cleanest, she uses her wings to Wall against both Physical and Special moves and is one of the most flexible Flying Pokémon of all time. She is one of the best Pokémon you could have watching your back from a bird's eye view.

My starter of choice? Tepig! I have always ran fire starters, and Tepig, being a cartoon pig, was too hard for me not to choose. Emboar is really cool, with his samurai style/sumo gusto. He is a Recoiling Piggy Powerhouse! He seems like he would be really good natured and heroic-- or maybe just really hungry..

The first Pokémon I tried to draw today was Golduck. I have always been a fan of the cool Water Pokémon, especially since he evolves from the fan favorite Psyduck, and usually enjoy having him on board as my Special Sweeper with a great movepool; my Mallard of Malice! I especially like how the expression came out on his bill-- a devious smirk!

Electric Pokémon are one of my favorite types. As I mentioned in another article, Ampharos was one of my favorite designs but fell flat in combat. How do we make up for that? Replace a sheep with a lion! Luxray has a cool name, a Sphinx inspired design, and, with a roar, he charges into battle with confidence of a king!

Last, but not least, is one of my two favorite grass-type Pokémon, Roserade (the other is probably Torterra). The rose-petal Zorro of the Pokémon world, Roserade is another reason to love 4th Generation for evolving Pokémon that, otherwise, weren't worth the time. Sure, she is small, but my Roserade always comes in to save the day just in the nick of time.

Thanks for reading my blog. Make sure to subscribe, comment, and leave ideas for how to improve the blog/ see more of the kinds of things you like.

Here is a link to my article on the Five Generations of Pokémon.

NERD CULTURE SMACKDOWN! #1 POKEMON GENERATIONS.