In anticipation for Wednesday’s meet up and a Pokémon Tourney at my house this Sunday, I’ve kicked up my training and I will settle for nothing less than level 100 for all of Team Twilight. Equipped with my lucky egg, and using Jowy’s cartridge, I have perfected my technique for leveling up. First off, Fili (Rotom), The Wave (Spiritomb) and Sheraton (Giratina) are the easiest as after level 60 they were pretty much able to solo their way through most of the elite four. That is the fastest leveling I’ve found with about 5,000 per battle average.

Bith (Dusknoir) does even better against them, but I send him in with Helba (Froslass) equipped with the Exp. Share since she can only attack 8 times before needed rest or a leppa berry. During the second of the four, I switch her to the lead with the Lucky Egg since that one uses Ground types and Helba is super effective against them. This process reduces overall experience gain slightly, since pokémon with Exp. Share don’t get the added bonus of the Lucky Egg. But since Helba can’t sustain several battles consecutively, it’s a fair trade off.

Somewhere between Flint and Cynthia, my pokémon usually die off and I repeat the process. Keeping one in the party allows me to make sure I only spend time on pokémon with the Lucky Egg bonus.

Nameless (Shedinja) is the only one I don’t send at the Elite Four at all. Since the second of the E4 has a Sudowoodo with Sucker Punch, there is no way for him to get by on his own. So it’s the one case where fighting wild pokémon is faster. I stick to the grass North of the Resort Area running from any Scyther I find (they know Night Slash).

It’s important at level 90 to evaluate if you’re pokémon are performing the way you want. If you want to change their EV training, this is the time to do it because once they’re level 100, you’re locked in. So far, the whole team is at 90 except The Wave which is my first level 100 ever!

Here’s to having my first ever “Century”.

I started my ascent of Battle Tower today. It’s a little different making a team for that since you have to stick with the same three pokémon for each 7-battle stretch. I chose a trio from my Team Twilight to take it on. Fili (Rotom) is my starter, Bith (Dusknoir) comes second when he can exploit a weakness and The Wave (Spiritomb) serves as team anchor and fends off any dark types.

The first 10 battles were pretty simple. I rarely needed to switch from Fili and I was surprised by how many things were sent at me that she was super effective against. This was still important practice since how well my team does relies heavily on proper use of Light Screen and/or Reflect. Identifying whether a foe uses attack or special attack is vital since Fili has so little defense on her own.

Around battle 14 I ran into a tough Shedinja which I thought would be easy pickings for my team, but Shadow Sneak combined with a Shedinja’s amazing attack wreaked some serious havoc on my party. Still, I managed to pull through relying on Bith’s defense and The Wave’s strategy to eek through. I was impressed by the little guy’s spunk so much that I’ve since been to Celadon City to teach Shadow Sneak to my own Shedinja.

Battle 21 was the first real boss fight of the tower. I won’t spoil who it is for those who haven’t done it, but it is cool. With both our last pokémon out, Bith vs. Milotic, it came down to one move to decide who would win. But I botched it. I though Milotic was a dragon type and used Ice Punch when it is in fact a water type. It narrowly survived my attack and came back with an Aurora Beam to finish off a weary and frustrated Bith. So close…but I’ll be back.

We reported yesterday that trainers can participate in Poképalooza and get all kinds of rare pokémon and items for free. “And, to those of you asking ‘whats the catch?’” said the site administrator about the event, “Well, there is NO CATCH!” Actually, I disagree. The catch is that most of what they are giving away are hakémon (hacked pokémon). While I’m sure there is honest trading to be had there as well, I will be sitting out of the event as I don’t want to run the risk of unknowingly being traded a hakémon.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that anybody who arranges to get trainers together and have them help each other play the game the way they want is fine. Hacking is just not part of the way I want to play.

I bring all of this up because of an email I got today from one of our listeners that asked a short but important question about Pokémon. Like some of you out there, I’m sure, this listener used an Action Replay to hack his game and obtain an Arceus, Darkrai and Shaymin; the three pokémon that have not been officially released yet and there is no legitimate way to obtain. He then asked me if this makes him a bad person.

Well, the short answer is no. Pokémon is just a game, and one that you paid for. So you have just as much a right to hack it as you do to break it with a hammer. There is nothing illegal or wrong with it, just as if you were playing a game of solitaire and cheated by peaking at the next card in the deck.

However, I feel that by hacking the game like this, you’re only cheating yourself out of the full experience. Nintendo has gone through a lot of trouble to make legendary pokémon just that: legendary. I always wanted to be awed by the first time I saw an Arceus or even a Mew in battle and wonder where the trainer got it. But now I just figure it’s a hakémon.

Nintendo plans grand events and awards these rarities to those who make it there. It’s like a real life quest to obtain the ultimate pokémon. While I understand that feeling of just wanting it now, I think that hacking the events spoils the mystique surrounding legendary pokémon; kind of like sneaking a look at your presents before Christmas.

Now, when it come to using hakémon in battles and trades with other humans, things are a little different. Anytime you pass a hakémon off for a real pokémon, that’s just plain lying. While nobody is affected if you practice with a corked bat in a batting cage, playing with that same bat against others is cheating and can spoil the game for others. Similarly, playing with hacked pokémon can spoil the game for those who put time and effort in catching and training their team. And I believe the worst thing you can do is trade someone a hakémon who is trying to make a collection of only honest pokémon.

Anyway, this has gone longer than my usual blogs, but it’s an important topic. If you think I’m misguided or wrong, I welcome anyone to send me their arguments. Because in the end, Pokémon, like life, is all about how you play it.