We don't always like being nonplussed

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Pokemon Black - Pokeshifter/PokeTransfer

Alright, it's time to get down to brass tacks about what's going to be one of the most important aspects of the game for anyone that wants a complete Pokedex, but doesn't want to cheat... I'm sure there are a few more of us out there somewhere.


First things first, we should enter the building with the Pokeshifter. (Update: it's called the PokeTransfer here in the Unova Region- Ed.) It's right to the east of Black City, so it's not hard to find, as it's the only building on the next screen over. Enter the building and a female scientist will rush you and babble at you for some time, then take you up a set of stairs to talk to this man right here.

Behold: The Pokeshifter!He'll talk to you for a few minutes, then ask if you would like to use the Pokeshifter/PokeTransfer. This is the point at which you'll have to have a second DS ready. You'll walk behind the countern, and then it will send you to this screen.

It says 'DS Download Play,' for the record.
From this point on, everything takes place on the other DS, so use your best one for the Pokemon you want to send over.

We hit the download and play button, and it'll find the signal being broadcast from the copy of Black, and ask you if you want to download the software from it. That's when it takes us to the new screen, and starts up the Pokeshifter/PokeTransfer program.

You'll be sent to your boxes and asked what Pokemon you want to send over. Keep in mind, ones with HMs are right out, and ones that have items will lose the item after the transfer. I bred a few Pokemon just for this review.

I was going to make some kind of oil-covered wildlife joke, but... wouldn't an oil-covered Cyndaquil kinda explode?
One of them seems to have come into this world with an HM move, so that helps me show you what happens. I won't be able to send over Cyndaquil until I find someone to delete it.

Drag the Pokemon over into the empty spaces, and then select yes. That's when the real fun starts.

So the Pokeshifter is a Pokeball-shooting crossbow? Keen!
This is what you'll be using to catch the Pokemon. I'm sure there are any number of flash games on the net that use a similar principle, you simply draw back, then look at the top screen to see where you're going to be hitting via a little red circle. You have a time limit, but it's actually a pretty long one, so once you've gotten the hang of it, it won't be that hard to catch 'em all. Just remember that you'll be aiming where they're going, not where they are.

Actually this does look like fun.
This is what you'll be aiming for, and if you'll notice the Pokemon seem to be hiding behind the bushes. Many of them come out and hop around, but some of them simply stay glued behind their shrubbery and won't leave for any damn thing. If you have one that's being a jerk, throw a few pokeballs at the bush until one hits in a spot where it doesn't bounce off, which will frighten the Pokemon into moving. Apparently this is so frightening, Dialga will start running across the screen at a hundred miles an hour, as I learned the first time I tried this. Also, it's not really running, it's hopping like they're all some sort of deranged bunny rabbits, which is a bit frightening to see Arceus do, to be honest.

Now, the best part of this? Say you don't get all of your Pokemon on the first go, that's no problem! Just select "No" once you're done, and you can retry as many times as you like until you've caught your six. Don't feel like trying it again right now, or you caught the one you really wanted? Also not a problem! You can keep the ones you did catch, and leave the rest for a later day.

And there's no limit to the number of times you can do it in a day, so you can send everything over at once, if you have the patience.

It's that simple, actually, I don't even need to go into any more detail on the matter. It is by far my favorite way of transferring Pokemon from one gen to the next, and I give it 9 decapitated carrots out of 10 for being an awesome way to do it.

2 comments:

  1. Claudia Donovan CloneFebruary 21, 2011 at 8:45 PM

    Thank you SO much for sharing the detailed information on this! I was terrified to try it for risk of losing one of my precious Pokemon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad it was of use! You'd think more sites would mention that piece of information prominently, since it's the first thing we wanted to know too!

    ReplyDelete