I finally did it. I FINALLY completed my Pokedex in ORAS! It took a total of 2 years (4 years if you include the first time I played the game), but I did it! :’)

Why did it take so long? Because I am insane… I catch every single Pokemon from scratch. I don’t trade from my older games unless I have to. And I will only trade with others if there’s a Pokemon I can’t get for whatever reason. Speaking of which, I want to give a very big thank you to Mel for trading me some Pokemon a couple months back 😀 Now… please enjoy my review!

Author’s note: This review was originally in my personal post The Summer of Pokemon but has been edited and reposted here.

Hoenn >_>

When Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby were released in 2014, I had just started grad school. Adjusting to school and working was difficult, so I didn’t have a lot of spare time. When I did attempt to play the games, I had trouble getting into it. Even though everyone seems to love Hoenn, the (original) third generation games and Pokemon are my least favorite. There are Pokemon I like, such as Skitty, Swablu, Spheal and so on. But the majority are just… I dunno. Lackluster. The colors are very bland, in my opinion. As for the game itself, don’t get me wrong. I loved Ruby and Sapphire, but there was something missing for me. Anyway, because of this, I barely played Alpha Sapphire in 2014.

In June 2016, after I quit my terrible teaching job, I decided to restart Alpha Sapphire and give it a proper play through. With renewed focus, I realized how great these games really are. I have to say I am impressed.

Great Graphics

Firstly,  the graphics are a big improvement from XY, in my opinion. They are crisper and clearer. Plus, the animators did more with the graphics. You can see characters’ facial expressions more as they react, such as Professor Birch as he gets chased around by Pokemon. You can also see the characters’ small movements more clearly. One example is when Wally wrings his hands together nervously. They also put a lot more effort into some of the cut scenes. The opening scene on the moving truck alone was enough to show how much the graphics have improved. There are many great scenes, but my favorite part was the part when you take the boat over to Dewford and you can see the ocean water and Wingull flying by :3

New Story and Other New Elements

I was also really impressed with the after-game story and events. I played the first Ruby and Sapphire so long ago (2004 I think?) that I can’t really remember the original story and what is was about. But I really liked the story in Alpha Sapphire and how Team Magma wanted to “remake” the world. The fact they wanted to use Kyogre to flood the Earth reminded me of Noah’s Arc. I wonder if the Biblical tale inspired the story or if it’s a coincidence. However, there are great flood myths from all around the world, including China and Korea. There are no flood myths that I know of in Japanese culture, but maybe the Chinese or Korean versions influenced the game’s story somehow.

I also really liked all the stuff about the Delta Episode. Before restarting, I honestly had no idea that the Delta Episode was incorporated into the game. I was pleasantly surprised with it, though. I liked the way they provided new information about Mega Evolution and were able to interweave it with the existing story and lore from the original games. It is all connected in a very clever way.

Some of the new story segments in the Battle Resort were cool too, but I am not really into battling  because I am much more interested in filling my Pokedex. I have managed to do it with every generation so far and I plan on doing so with this game. I admit I never filled up my X & Y dex, so I did it in Alpha Sapphire. But it works out in the end since the new Mega Evolutions cannot be transferred to X & Y.

The Eon Flute actually really helped me fill up my dex too. If you aren’t aware, this option lets you ride on Latias/Latios’ back around Hoenn! It is so cute, and it’s another area where you can notice the  better graphics. Other than flying around on Latias (which is admittedly really fun), this option allows you to find and catch Pokemon you normally couldn’t get in the Hoenn region. It was a huge help for me and made filling my dex less time consuming (although it still took a long time x_X). There are also a myriad of legendary Pokemon you can get by using the Eon flute. If you are interested in using this method to get some rare Pokemon, check out Serebii’s list of Pokemon available.

Final Thoughts and Pokedex Filling

Although Hoenn still isn’t my favorite generation (Kanto and Sinnoh FTW), I REALLY enjoyed this game. In my opinion, it completely made up for the original game’s weaknesses. I am currently playing Pokemon Sun and plan to play Ultra Moon. I will also play Let’s Go Pikachu when I get a chance.

If you ever want to trade sometime, feel free to contact me and ask me for my Friend Code! I’ve got tons of extra legendaries I am not sure what to do with.

Hopefully, it won’t take another 2 to 4 years to fill my current pokedex LOL.