But that doesn't stop me from buying Pearl last week along with my first ever DS!

I got Palkia and called it Zeromus EG , but there have been a few things troubling me about this game.

Firstly, the damned awkward evolutions. How the hell am I supposed to know or even guess how to do some of them?! Also, I detest having to make a pokémon "happy" before it evolves. I wasted loads of EXP early on training a Buneary up to level 26. I thought it probably should've evolved by now considering how early(ish) you find them in the game. Check pkmn.net, WHAT?!? ANOTHER happiness pokémon... GREAT!

Secondly, catching water pokémon would be a sight easier if I had a bloody Super Rod! I slapped Volkner over a day ago and searched everywhere apart from Victory Road. Where the hell is it?! I can't find it, and I sure as hell need it if I'm going to be able to add Seaking/Whiscash and loads of others to my 'dex  without spending hours fighting wild pokémon!

I caught Palkia with one Ultra Ball, the first one! Admittedly, I had to retry a few times because I kept accidentally fainting it with my Empoleon, but when I got it into the red, the first ball caught it!! That was way too easy for a legendary.

I only have two main 'mon which have been with me since day 1. My trusted Empoleon (Steel?!/Water) and Luxray (I didn't expect it to evolve twice, looked a bit Manectric-y, so I assumed....).

Luxray beat Volkner's gym single-handedly at level 45, not greatly challenging I must say. The 3 lake legendaries are more like the difficulty I was expecting for capturing. Though, to be honest, they seem a little bit TOO difficult to catch. 20 Dusk Balls/30 Ultra Balls, Uxie had more or less NO HP!

One last thing, I thought I got Dialga on Pearl, yet I knew that the pokémon on the front of the box would be the legendary I'd get. So, where did I go wrong? People always say Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and the legendaries, Palkia and Dialga. I assumed they meant respectively, nope, they didn't!

Any help with these damn evolutions and the Super Rod (I'm gonna slap that fisherman when I see him ) .

Holy f---, man. I am WITH you on the whole happiness thing. My own f---ing Buneary levelled up to Lvl. 44 before it evolved. f--- you, Lopunny.

And how could you not see the Dialga/Palkia relation? Dialga's name alone is indicative of his respective game, let alone their appearances . . . :P:P

It's like the AVGN all over again!

I censored myself from these games knowing I'd eventually get them. The names meant nothing to me.

I named my Empoleon "KingDedede" and my Luxray "Orpheon" ! I'm now adding a Skorupi and whatever that evolves into, as part of my team. Any good names? First thing that springs into my mind is the Cyborg Scorpion from Duke Nukem : Zero Hour. Then again, I'm special.

Any tips on the Super Rod location?

It's not that I minded the happiness thing but I agree that there are too many that require evolution methods you can't possibly know about without getting a guide. And catching them all is now a totally impossible task.

And without that, it lost its main draw for me.

You know, I still have to log in twice! But finally I have a capital letter at the start of my name!

I WILL catch them all, or as many of them as possible. I have 382 on Emerald, the only ones I'm missing are Mew, Celebi, Jirachi and Deoxys. You can guess why I missed them ones !

As for the D/P ones, I don't have Wi-Fi as I prefer Wired connections, so I'll have to convert to Wi-Fi everytime I need to, and then switch back. And yes, I'm a huge Pokéfan for reasons I cannot explain. It's worse than Heroin!

Ephidel, what's your main team looking like? Have you been EV training at all?

I haven't even beaten the Elite Four yet, so I won't start training a team until I've maxed out my dex and got all the pokémon I can fit on my copy of Pearl.

Currently I have :
Empoleon (KingDedede) Lv 48 : Brave Nature
Stats : 149 HP/118 Atk/115 Def/133 Sp. Atk/110 Sp. Def/76 Spd.
Moves : Aqua Jet/Brine/Surf/Blizzard.

Luxray (Orpheon) Lv 49 : Timid Nature
Stats : 151 HP/126 Atk/105 Def/116 Sp. Atk/99 Sp. Def/104 Spd.
Moves : Crunch/Bite/Spark/Thunder Fang.

Skorupi (In training, no nickname) Lv 30 : Calm Nature
Stats : 68 HP/33 Atk/67 Def/32 Sp. Atk/45 Sp. Def/51 Spd.
Moves : Poison Sting/Knock Off/Pin Missile/Acupressure (<Awesome move).

Staraptor (Worker Pokémon, no nickname) Lv 35 : Relaxed Nature
Stats : 106 HP/92 Atk/63 Def/43 Sp. Atk/43 Sp. Def/72 Spd.
Moves : Aerial Ace/Close Combat/Fly/Defog.

Bibarel (Worker Pokémon, no nickname) Lv 15 : Hardy Nature
Stats : 51 HP/34 Atk/24 Def/25 Sp. Atk/24 Sp. Def/31 Spd.
Moves : Cut/Rock Smash/Strength/Waterfall.

An Egg containing Riolu as well.

I've caught a fair few but Skorupi doesn't look good in Atk. It's a damn shame too. That little scorpion is funky.

Got lots of the best Legendaries on Emerald though, when I import them, they should wipe the floor. Vespiquen looks good though I can't find a Male Burmy for a Mothim. Also, the damn Snowstorms on Route 216/217 really annoy the hell out of me! Makes the battles take AGES!

I'd like to see this Regigigas 'mon, and Magmortar should be !

Still, any Super Rod location, please, anyone?

Have you tried a FAQ? You can't get the Super Rod until after you beat the Elite Four, in the Fight Area.

You mean I HAVE to beat the Elite Four FIRST! I remember Red and Blue when I only had to beat the Pokémon Tower in Lavendar Town and wake up Snorlax with the Poké Flute on that Route to the East of Vermilion City. Super Rod Guy was just a bit south of there! And where was the guy on R/S/E? I think it was Mossdeep, basically the 7th Gym area. So, now I have to beat the game once first? How screwed up is THAT?!

What about people who want a specific 'mon to fight the Elite Four with? They won't just know to not bother trying to find it, as it was always obtainable before the 8th Gym! A bit, lacking, in foresight from Game Freak!

How's my team? Do they look statistically decent for their respective types/levels?