News, News, and More News

»Packaging Pictures: If you haven't seen what the booster packs, decks, and booster boxes look like, then you can see them below this. Click the thumbnails for bigger pictures.

»Pre-Release Tournament Locations: At PokeGym, many tournament organizers (T.O.'s) have been posting locations to many EX Dragon pre-release tournaments. Unforunately, the official Pokemon TCG website, Pokemon-tcg.com, has not yet put up a tournament locator. So, for now, here are all of the pre-release tournaments taking place in California:

1. Costa Mesa - Best Western Newport Mesa Inn, 2642 Newport Boulevard, Oasis room
2. San Diego - San Diego Convention Center (same place as STS), Room 22
For more information on the tournies, [click here]

---------END OF EX DRAGON NEWS, ON TO OTHER TCG NEWS-------->

»Wizards of the Coast Files Lawsuit Against Nintendo: Remember the friendly split between Wizards and Nintendo when the TCG was handed over to Nintendo? Well, Wizards is accusing Nintendo of stealing some of their company secrets. So, now they are going to court to settle this for money. To read the full article, [click here]. Now remember, we want Nintendo to win and WOTC to lose.

»New Modified Format: Nintendo finally announced what the new modified format will be! Unfortunately, Legendary Collection and the Best Promos (sorry, no Prof. Elm) were not included in with the format, so you can start to cry now:

Expedition
Aquapolis
Skyridge
EX Ruby and Sapphire
EX Sandstorm
EX Dragons (when it is released)
Promos (starting with Kyogre 001)

»New Promos Revealed: The Season 2 league kit will contain promos Treeko (#003) and Grovyle (#004). Apparently, people who got the kit early received a Marshstomp jumbo card. This was a mistake because Grovyle should have been inserted instead, and everyone who recieved the Marshstomp will eventually received the Grovyle jumbo through the mail as a replacement and should save the Marshstomp for next month. So, now we know that Season 3's promos will be Mudkip and Marshstomp. I can't wait to get those! Anyways, to view the scans from Farbsman at PokeGym, click the thumbnails below:

»Eon Ticket in Nintendo Power: For anyone who has not gotten an Eon Ticket, next month will be your chance! In next month's Nintendo Power, the Eon Ticket will be available in it. So, if you don't have it yet, then be sure to head to your local Target, Albertsons, or Vons store and pick up the magazine. Remember, you must have an e-reader and another GBA to activate it.

»Pokemon-tcg.com Updates: The offical Pokemon TCG website has had two major updates in the past week. The first one is that they added a [fanart section] where you can send in your masterpieces. Fake cards are also allowed, in which you can get blanks from Pokemon Aaah! Secondly and most exciting of all, they have added a very cool deck builder. With this tool, you can make your own decks, print them out, and save them. It also shuffles your decks and shows the probability of what you will get on your first draw. However, you must sign up with Nintendo in order to access it, which is free and takes about two minutes. Anyways, to access the deck builder, [click here] or the picture below. To sign up with Nintendo to access the deck builder or other Nintendo features, [click here].

»EX 1 (ADV 4) Spoilers/New Info: As usual, Nick15 has the newest Japanese set spoilers up before anyone else as well as some new information on it. The link to the spoilers are in his quote:

The sources have spoken... Well.... More like they've squeeked. :D I've got what is the beginning of the ADV4/EX1 spoiler. Right... Here!

[EX 1 Spoilers]

So what's to know? Let's give it a good run down....

• As you can tell, Aerodactyl ex and Kabutops ex from Sandstorm are in ADV4/EX1, as previously predicted and mentioned many times. Expect these cards to NOT be in the English release of ADV4/EX1, and likewise, expect their preevolutions to be in ADV4/EX1
• This card's main set has 80 cards, not counting any cards from the 2 30-card Team Magma/Aqua side decks.
• It just might be a typo, but my sources indicated that all these ex cards (quite a bit of them to begin with) are merely rares and not ultra/holo rares. We'll see when it comes out...
• Double Rainbow Energy's 10-less-damage deal only counts for the Defending Pokemon, not any damage done to itself. Meaning... Sorry Metal Chansey and Rocket Zapdos users.
• Swampert's Hyper Pump attack is the coolest one of the lot. 100 for 5 energy. Nice!

»Parting Professor Package: If you were a professor for Wizards of the Coast, chances are you will be recieving a UPS package from MTM that contains many, many cards. So far, many people have reported getting them and that they include promo cards, reverse holos, and jumbo cards. I am so jealous!

»Fire Red and Leaf Green Sum Up: There has been so much new news of Fire Red and Leaf Green lately that I am going to sum it all up right now:

1. It is an update of the Red and Green (Blue in America) Versions.
2. The games are completely compatiable with Ruby and Sapphire, meaning you will be able to trade the old Pokemon to Ruby and Sapphire and the new Pokemon to Fire Red and Leaf Green. You can also battle each other.
3. The games will also be compatiable with Pokemon Colloseum where you will be able to obtain unobtainable Pokemon.
4. The games' graphics and sounds are up-to-date with that of Ruby and Sapphire's.
5. It is said to be released early next year in Japan.
6. It will be the first GBA game to have wireless capabilities. (which is what the next story is about)

»GBA goes Wireless with the Release of Fire Red and Leaf Green: Have you ever wanted to be able to play your Gameboy without having to use any cords and to do it far away without any restrictions? Well you will soon be able to! Nintendo and Motorola have teamed up to make a new wireless adapter that will work with both GBA and GBA SP. With the wireless controller and a GBA cartridge with a special chip in it, up to five players will be able to go head-to-head against each other. However, it will only work for game cartridges with the chip planted inside it, which brings me to the next point. Fire Red and Leaf Green will be the very first games to have the chip! Yes, you heard right, a Pokemon game will be the first to feature the chip. It doesn't suprise me since Ruby and Sapphire were the best selling games for any console last year in Japan. Anyways, the adapter will allow you to go up to 5 meters if I remember correctly. (I know it is some amount of meters) The release date will be the same release date as Fire and Leaf, which means early next year for Japan. No date has been set for the US as of yet. Here are some pics of what the adapter looks like. As usual, click the thumbnail for a bigger pic:

»Lots and Lots of Colloseum Screenshots: I have compiled a photo gallery for Pokemon Colloseum screenshots I have collected from sites over the past few months, such as the official Japanese website. To view the gallery, [click here]. There are a dozen screenshots.

»Gamecube Price Drop: The price for the Gamecube has now dropped to $99! So, if you don't have one like me, now is the time to go out and buy one, or put it on the list for Santa. Now that this has happened, Gamecube's revinue has been booming. Also if you have been watching television, you may have most likely seen the commercial for it. It involves a man on a latter singing a song and sticking $99 stickers on all of the Gamecubes on a shelf.

»Pokemon Advanced Begins Saturday, Nov. 1st: Lately, Kids' WB has been advertising that Pokemon Advanced will begin November 1st. If you have seen the commercials, they involve 3-D views of Mudkip, Treeko, Torchic, and Vigoroth and their ability as well as a scene from the season they are in.

»Cartoon Network Airing First Three Pokemon Movies: Cartoon Network is finally airing the first three movies in one month! This will actually be the first time the third movie will be shown on TV, so for all of you who don't have them, now you can watch them (or record them if you have a blank tape)!

POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE - Friday, November 7th, 8 PM
POKEMON 2000 - Friday, November 14th, 8 PM
POKEMON 3 - Friday, November 21st, 8 PM

And there at night time on Friday, so you can peacefully lay in bed knowing you don't have any school or homework to do. They are also great ways to get into the Pokemon spirit before the EX Dragon and Pokemon Rocks America events!

»SPOILER - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: Incase you didn't know, Misty and Brock leave Ash at the end of Johto, which is what next week's episode will be based on. Eventually, Brock returns to Ash with his new friend May and her brother, but Misty doesn't. In the Hoenn episodes, Misty is in a few special episodes but none with Ash and the group. But now in Japan, Misty joined Ash again and her Togepi evolved! Here's the sad news: Misty leaves again and so does Togetic, but not with Misty, but to rule over a kingdom of Togepi. This means that Togetic is gone and so is Misty! I hope that one day Togetic comes back to Misty and Misty comes back to Ash.

»Pokémon Rocks America Locations and Info: First off, the three locations for Pokemon Rocks America are:

1. St. Louis, Missouri - Union Station - October 25th, Saturday

2. Houston, Texas - Houston Space Center - November 8th, Saturday

3. San Diego, California - Balboa Park - November 15th, Saturday

Now for the information on the event straight from Pokemon.com:

Get ready for one of the biggest Pokemon parties we've ever thrown, which will include previews of upcoming games and movies, a chance to compete against other Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire players, and a carnival of Pokemon games, contests, and cool prizes! We're also showing sneak peeks of the Pokemon Advanced animated series, holding a trading card game clinic, and bringing out some Pokemon characters in full costume! Also on-site will be a traveling Pokemon Center Store featuring exclusive merchandise from the Pokemon Center NY, which will allow visitors to purchase special items normally available only at the New York City store. And, just announced, we will be unveiling a super secret hidden Pokemon character at the three events, including Pokedex information and vitals stats! Come on down and check it out -- it will be a great time for kids of all ages!

»Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Book Available in Scholastic: Have you checked out the Scholastic book orders this month? This month's issue has a Ruby and Sapphire Pokemon guide which is for $3.95 instead of the usual $4.95. I am ordering mine tomorrow so I can become more familiar with some of the evolution lines. Check out how they spelled Treeko.

»Halloween Party at NY Pokemon Center: The Pokemon Center in New York will be throwing a Pokemon Halloween Party! At the party, you will be able to get some new scary Pokemon through the Catch 'Em All Machine for your Ruby or Sapphire cartridges. There will also be a costume contest. Here is what Pokemon.com has to say:

We're throwing a Halloween bash at our flagship store in New York. If you're here on Saturday, October 25th, then you should come on down and enter our Pokémon Costume Contest and win a shopping spree!Dress up as your favorite Pokémon (see the rules below) and stand back as the judging begins at 2:00 p.m. (don't be late, boys and ghouls -- we'll start judging exactly at 2:00!)There will also be a Pinball Tournament from 11am - 5pm. Get the top score and you could see your face ont he Pokémon Wall of Fame! Finalists will be eligible to win a Nintendo Game Cube!You'll also be able to catch new Monster Type Pokémon in our Gotta Catch 'Em All Station! Need to strengthen your crew in Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire? Then Aggron, Exploud, Wailord, and Cardaunt will do the trick! Available only at the Pokémon Center October 25th - 31st, 2003