Pokewalker and the Modern Pokemon Trainer

Written by pikaby

Hey Pokemon Trainers, remember this thing? It's the Vs. Seeker, which is by far the most convenient way of getting rematches in Pokemon. And Nintendo removed it for Pokemon Heart Gold/ Soul Silver. How's a Trainer to...well...train? Training spots are especially scarce right before you fight the Elite Four, if you can't beat them it's very, very tough to grind on Wild Pokemon and not have a single Trainer to battle....except for the occasional hourly phone call(though things have somewhat improved).

However, for that Nintendo introduced a mechanic where you can call certain Trainers on certain hours of the day and on certain days for rematches. And you can battle them as many times as you want withing their time period. For example, the Young Couple on Route 13 can only be contacted for rematches on Wednesday afternoons. And you get to battle them all afternoon if you want. Same with Gym Leaders too.

But for those scarce moments like the Elite Four conundrum I mentioned, there is another way to get EXP, one that you shouldn't ignore.




Pokewalker. I haven't touched mine since I started playing, so I didn't know to what extent it could help. Just like Gold/Silver had the Pocket Pikachu, HG/SS has this. Except it's more useful. Way more. You gain one EXP for each step you take with your Pokemon, and you can battle wild Pokemon and collect items while doing so. Just idling around and shaking it would defeat the purpose, so probably I'll take it out for daily walks from now on. This is what Nintendo wants me to do, and wants all Pokemon Trainers to do. The healthier way of training Pokemon that doesn't need the Vs. Seeker. Sure, there's no EVs with this, but you don't have to pay the Breeders to raise your Pokemon, and you don't let them decide what moves to teach to your Pokemon. And the EVs can be found in-game anyway if you look around hard enough.

What's daunting about the Pokewalker is, well, if you play the DS game, standalone, you'll only be getting 3/4 of what the game has to offer. The remaining 1/4 is locked away in that Pokewalker. I am not kidding. Look up Serebii and check the items you can get on the Pokewalker through the itemfinder. Berries are impossible to find in Johto save for a few basic 7 or so. The remaining 40 berries(which includes the Liechi set and the EV-reducing set) can only be obtained through Pokewalker, along with many, many other rare items that you could once get in the Sinnoh Underground or otherwise. The different colored Shards too(you can use them in Johto).

Not to mention you can catch Pokemon in the Pokewalker, many, MANY different species from the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions which you won't be able to find in game at all. If you don't use the Pokewalker, or don't have one for some reason, you stand to miss out a lot in your Pokedex. Unless of course you have a full Pokedex on Platinum version or something.

I was worked up about the Vs. Seeker because it advocated what I call 're-enactment gameplay'. You play one awesome part of a game, you fight a really memorable boss, you get past a heart-rending or awe-inspiring cutscene. Surely you want to relive those moments without having to start a new save file? That's 're-enactment gameplay'. Few games have had elements of reenactment(the ones I've played, anyway), beyond BGM galleries and a few boss rematches. And the Vs. Seeker lets you reenact your battles with the Trainers across the land, whether they've got an awesome team that screams EXP monster, or a challenging one that uses rare, highly evolved Pokemon.I'm gonna miss training them, but hey, new way to get EXP and so much packed into that small pedometer, go try it out.

Original blog on Gamespot.com, also by pikaby

Pokewalker and the Modern Pokemon Trainer