Pink Pokemon for Breast Cancer Awareness

The basis of this blog post started as my preschooler discovered a certain pink balloon Pokémon. Since her favorite color is pink, I started wondering if I could make a completely pink Pokémon team for her that was still competent. My ADHD brain jumped to “Island of the Pink Pokémon” but eventually landed on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’ve taken a particular interest in breast cancer this year, so I thought this post was only too appropriate. So here are some of my picks for the most notable pink Pokemon.

Jigglypuff 

I honestly don’t even know why Jigglypuff became so iconic. I’m guessing it’s mostly because of the running gag in the anime, in which Jigglypuff puts the characters to sleep repeatedly. But that doesn’t explain why Nintendo decided to add the puff ball to Super Smash Bros. My respect to anyone who plays Jigglypuff as their main character in Smash. But yeah, Jigglypuff’s appearances in their anime are wonderful, especially when I realized she came back into the picture during the Sun/Moon anime.

Milktank

Anyone who’s played through Gold/Silver/Crystal or Heart Gold/Soul Silver will likely remember Whitney’s infamous Miltank. That rollout attack is killer and is nearly unstoppable. I mean I suppose you can use a rock-type Pokemon to limit the damage… but it makes more sense to try to knock it out before it can knock you… But unfortunately, like its name says, it’s a tank. So next time you play through Johto again, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Audino

It’s such an odd Pokemon in many ways. Based on its Pokedex entries, it’s a super-hearing Pokemon that can read emotions and honestly would make a pretty good therapist. Going into the Unova anime, I didn’t know anything about Audino so I was perplexed as to why it replaced Chansey in the Unovan Pokemon Centers. Based on the Pokedex entry, it makes sense that it’s Nurse Joy’s companion. All the same, I think it’s pretty random that Audino has a mega evolution and nothing in the Pokedex entry indicates why Audino gives such a massive payout in stardust on Pokemon Go--not that I'm complaining.

Sylveon

I suppose Sylveon is as much white as it is pink, but it still fits the bill here. Who doesn’t love a good Eeveelution right? Sylveon is the most recently released and that was three generations ago. Appropriately introduced as the fairy type became a thing, Sylveon was a great addition to X/Y. That being said, it’s a weird process to go through to evolve it from an Eevee. For the first two generations it was available, you needed fairy-type moves and “affection”. Not friendship. Affection. Even on Pokemon Go the evolution method was a little weird, compared to Espeon/Umbreon. Thankfully the last couple generations have made it more friendship-related and not so convoluted.

Mew

Though not easily obtained, unless you do the glitch in Red/Blue (No, I’m not talking about moving the truck), Mew is central to Pokemon lore in many ways. The first of the mythical Pokemon, some say it was the first Pokemon of all and that Ditto is a byproduct of trying to clone Mew. It wasn’t until adulthood that I slowed down enough playing Red/Blue/Yellow to realize the mythology of cloning Mew was in the games, just like in the movie. I still remember when I got a Mew card for my birthday as a kid… and made the mistake of trading it. Childhood naivety. 

There are plenty of other pink Pokemon to love and collect (especially if you’re my four-year-old) so let me know which is your favorite. While you’re at it, post your favorite pink Pokemon to your social media for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

LDS Geeks Podcast #20: Super Smash Characters

Back in college, Super Smash Brothers was a staple among my favorite group of roommates. On any given day, we could have Brawl could be playing for hours on end, especially during the summer. Because Smash is so loved, Michael and I wanted to talk about our favorite characters to play. Enjoy!

--Spencer

Listen to Episode 20 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent content: click here

Check out Michael's recent content: click here

Show Notes:

        Spencer's Recommendations: Prince Caspian (movie version)
        Michael's Recommendations: Sword of Kaigen

10 Fun Attacks from Video Games

We play video games for fun. Sometimes that fun comes from meticulously building the perfect character, min/maxing your stats, playing through the story, or playing with friends on a grand adventure. 

And sometimes it's because the game just have some really fun attacks and abilities. 

Here's ten of my favorites. 

10: Mrofsnart (Justice League: Heroes)

Well this one's going to age me. Justice League: Heroes is an RPG featuring the titular Justice League with gameplay based on the Dark Alliance series. Among the roster of characters is one of my favorites, the magician Zatanna and one of the best attacks in the game: Mrofsnart (For those who have no idea who Zatanna is, first: READ A BOOK! and second: Read the attack backwards). The spell turns an opponent into a rabbit, reducing their attack and defense significantly for a few seconds. If you spam the attack in the middle of a swarm of enemies you will end up surrounded by harmless rabbits that your partner can tear through while you laugh yourself into hysterics. Other games have spells that turn opponents into animals, but this one has very little cooldown and eventually has a minimal cost once leveled up. Zatanna was my main throughout the game whenever I could use her. 

9: Fury (Skyrim)

It's hard to pick the most fun thing to do in the legendary Skyrim, but my favorite is the illusion spell Fury. Sneak up on a group of bad guys, cast Fury on whoever has the biggest weapon, and watch the fun. The spell makes the opponent attack everyone nearby for 30 seconds, making everyone else attack him back. This is a good way to whittle down a harder encounter early on in the game, and is just fun to watch from the shadows. Pick off the remaining guys when they're done and loot the treasure. 

8: Chewbacca's Melee attack (Lego Star Wars)

In A New Hope we get the famous line "Droids aren't known for pulling people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookies are known to do that." Sadly, we don't get to see this in live action until Book of Boba Fett, but we did get to see Chewbacca tear through minifigures in the Lego Star Wars games. Get him close to an enemy and attack and he'll hop up and let everyone know why you let the wookie win. It's better than wielding a lightsaber. 

7: Gargoyle Attack (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

While a staple of the Arkham series, Batman's stealth attack from the gargoyles were the best in the first game. In other games, Batman dives from the top of the gargoyle to snatch an unwary thug beneath, but in Asylum Batman actually hangs upside down until the enemy comes close, when he snatches them up and hangs them unconscious from his perch. It's a small thing, but it's just too funny of an image, especially in a serous game, to see Batman hanging upside down watching someone looking for him. We get his gimmick is bats, but this is just silly. 

6: Reverse Pick-Pocket (Fallout 3)

Characters being able to pick-pocket isn't new in video games. It's a handy way to take what you need without having to get into combat, or in some games, to steal weapons before the fight making it easer to take the bad guy down. Fallout 3 gave us a fun new option: If while pickpocketing you put an explosive into the victim's pockets, which will explode after about three seconds. It's an incredibly mean prank to pull, and unless you're maxed in your stealth it's one you can only use maybe once per combat, but it's a fun way to start a fight. 

5: Peach's Frying Pan (Super Smash Bros)

At first glance Princess Peach is a weird fit for the Smash Bros games, since she is usually a non-combatant, but in the game she brings her own weapon: A frying pan. Perform the right combo and the princess pulls out either a golf club, a tennis racket or a frying pan from the folds of her dress and hits the opponent with it. The frying pan though makes the perfect gong sound that will get you roaring with laughter immediately, making it one of the few weapons in the game that directly effect the player instead of the character. I may've spent several hours in a friends basement in high school perfecting the technique just for the gong sound. 

4: Metronome (Pokemon)

Nearly ten generations after its original debut, metronome is still my favorite Pokemon move. Originally learned by Clefairy and Clefable, the attack picks a random attack and uses it, no matter how useful or useless the ability may be. You might get that perfect electric type move to take out that pesky Seaking, or you might get splash and watch your Clefairy get KO'd. Either way, it's too funny not to use. 

3: HULK SMASH (Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

Hulk's not known for his tactical mind, but he does have a good idea in the Ultimate Alliance series. He picks up one minion and starts using them as a club against other minions, taking out two bad guys at once and scaring everyone who watches him. It's funny to see some HYDRA or HIVE agent attacking thinking that they can take on the Hulk only to be picked up and used as a bat against his coworkers. I wonder if Workman's Comp covers acts of Hulk...

2: Zombie Charger (Diablo 3) 

Before the game was updated and added the Necromancer, the zombie lord of Diablo 3 was the Witch Doctor. His best (okay my favorite) attack is Zombie Charger. When first unlocked a zombie rises from the ground, shambles towards the enemy, and dies attacking the opponent. You can hold this attack down to send a zombie conga line at the enemy, which is terrifying in and of itself. Upgrade the spell though and instead of regular zombies you get to summon swarms of zombie bears, nasty and gooey with rot. Which would you rather face, a regular zombie or a zombie bear? Also which would make you laugh more? 

1: Poke (Worms: Armageddon)

This game features dozens of weapons that are hilarious and fun to use, but the best is a little finger used to poke an opponent and nudge them just a few pixels. You can easily take out an opponent by nudging them off a tall cliff or into a pool of water. It's funny because forget shotguns or holy hand grenades, just killing someone with a single poke is the cherry on the cake for this hysterical game. 

-JOE

Nintendo Games That Don't Get Old

Everyone I know seems to be buying new gaming systems but here I am as a new college graduate. I would love to upgrade to a Nintendo Switch immediately. Instead, I’m preparing to start paying back student loans. As a result, I guess I’m going to stick with my Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS. That being said, I have no issue playing nostalgic games from my childhood, teenage, and college years. So while all of you are out there playing your Nintendo Switch or PS5 or whatever XBox has right now, I’ll be over here playing some of these games that never get old.

Super Smash Brothers

I don’t care which edition of the game you’re playing, this is the mash-up game we never knew we needed. I love the original for its nostalgia and classic one-player mode. Melee has possibly the best adventure mode (plus Mewtwo). And Brawl had a solid story mode, which I was addicted to. This game is basically created for the replay value. Every combination of players, characters, and stage makes this game brand new.

Super Mario 64

The first time I played Super Mario 64 was probably at a friend’s house as a kid. However, as a one-player game, I don’t know how much I actually played it. I must have played it enough though, because as an adult it was one of my first purchases on Wii’s virtual console. The graphics may be outdated, but they’re nostalgic. And the replay value is high, because how often do you actually collect all the stars? There’s always more to do!

Mario Kart 64

The other Mario Kart games could go on here too, but the N64 version has a special place in my heart. Nothing crazy or complicated about it. You pick your players, you pick your mode, and you pick a stage. Just a race or battle. And there’s just something so visually appealing as the battle mode with the four colored towers (and nothing more satisfying than sniping out other players on the top of those towers).

Mario Party

I’m most familiar with Mario Party on the Nintendo 64, and the concept is solid. Get some friends together, play a “board game”, and play some mini games. Every game is an adventure and never will you get the same result from two different matches. So let’s keep on playing éuntil the system burns out.

Pokémon

The format of the mainstream Pokémon games hasn’t really changed. You have a starter Pokémon, Pokéballs, Gym leaders (or Island Trials in Sun/Moon), and the Elite Four. I haven’t played Sword/Shield yet, but once I have a Switch you can bet I’m buying Sword. Even if you pick the same starter every time, the game is always different. That means infinite replay value! Also, there are seemingly infinite numbers of fan made ways of playing the game (I tried my first couple Nuzzlockes in 2020 and I definitely failed).

Pokémon Snap

A few weeks ago Joe talked about the Nintendo 64 game, as we wait for the Switch version. Even with a limited number of Pokémon in it, the game is always an adventure. You know when the Zubat is coming, but you still have to time it just right. And even then, you can always try to best your score until you have the perfect shot. Honestly I’m not even sure the new Snap will be able to stand up to the nostalgia of the original game.

Pokémon Stadium

After the N64, these games were replaced by Colosseum and Gale of Darkness (which is a shame), but the first two Stadium games were tons of fun. Even if you didn’t have a Gameboy game to pair it with, you could have a fun Pokémon battle with a friend or the Gym Leaders using the free Pokémon. Or if you weren’t in the mood for a battle, there were always the mini-games. I couldn’t get enough of the Lickitung and Metapod games. Always good for a party. Dang… now I want to play this again.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon

This is one of the hidden gems of the Pokémon franchise. You’re a human turned into a Pokémon. You and your Pokémon friends fight to figure out what’s going wrong in the Pokémon world. Instead of catching Pokémon, you grow your “Pokédex” by befriending other Pokémon. As a result, you can’t always control who you “catch”. So every game is different. Heck, even the same floor is different on two different attempts. 

So while I wait to have enough money to buy a Switch (and a house and whatever else adults have to buy) I’m going to keep enjoying my Nintendo 3DS… at least while my daughter naps.