Hello and welcome to the world of Pokemon Trainer Gold! This blog will follow my player character in a first person perspective, Gold, as he travels throughout the many regions of the Pokemon world!
Firstly an introduction on just WHO exactly Gold is. You may know Gold from the Pokemon manga series. This is the foundation and origin for Gold on my games as well. I had played Blue and Red versions under the name Ash, as I was big into the anime around the same time the first generation games were released. After playing Blue and Red for many years, and sadly loosing the cartridges, I finally got my copy of the second generation game, Pokemon Gold version. I booted up the game and found myself at a loss as to what to name my character! This new character looked nothing like Ash! What was I to do? Well, I took the lame way out and just went with the default name of Gold. Little did I know just how long that name would stick. I played and beat my Gold version....several times...I found myself facing the same tough choice of naming my character every time I restarted and every time I always defaulted to Gold!
A few years had passed and I proclaimed myself a master of the new game and then.....generation three came out! booom! It was also at this time that I made a grave mistake; one that I swore I will never do again: I went through the "pokemon is stupid" phase. I missed out on all the 3rd generation buzz. All the pre-order fun and all the fun of following it through production. Then one day something snapped in my. I didnt care what my dad, the mean kids at school, or the social norms telling me to grow up said! I liked Pokemon damnit and I want to play 3rd gen! So, being and early teenager without a job I borrowed Ruby from a friend. I booted the game up and again was confronted with the conflict that plagued me during my 2nd gen days: what do I name my character?!?! Ok....so I just sat down and thought about it....and then BAM it hit me! I had enjoyed 2nd gen alot so I figured I would continue the adventure of Gold only this time in the Hoenn region. So Gold it would be!
After playing Ruby a few times through, I returned the cartridge to my friend and returned to playing Gold version for another year before *gasp* I got a job. The local grocery store I live near was looking for help so I immeadiately applied to appease a growing pressure to have an income. A few weeks had passed and I finally got my paycheck. I went to the local supermart due to the hole being burnt in my pocket by my first ever disposable income. I went to the game case in the electronics section and saw a beautiful gem of a game: Pokemon Emerald version. I hurried the nearby sales associate over and hastily asked him to retrieve a copy for me. I held it in my hands for the first time. It was truly beautiful with its vibrant emerald green cover and the legendary Pokemon Rayquaza gracing the front of the box. I rushed home as fast as I could, jammed the cartridge in my Gameboy Advance and clicked the power switch on, watched the intro video and then read each line of dialouge pouring from Professor Birch's mouth as if he was revealing some sort of earth shaking secret. Then finally, "er, um..what did you say your name was?" At this point it was obvious: Gold. The name was no longer a color or a metal. It was a person. A trainer. It was ME in digital form.
A few months had passed when Firered and Leafgreen, the remakes of the Gen. 1 games, were released. This was perfect! Gold had started in Johto, journeyed to Hoen, and now comes back to his neighboring region of Kanto. And so it happened. Bought my copy from the same local supermart, popped in the cartridge, and no longer was I conflicted about what to name my character; I was and will now forever be Gold.
Years went by and then the news dropped: Generation 4, Diamond and Pearl. New Pokemon, new region: Sinnoh. I obviously had to get it and get it I did. I popped the cartridge in my newly acquired DS and started the game up. The intro rolled and I was already captivated. The updated graphics and sound used BIND and wouldnt let my attention escape. The name input screen came up and at this point it was automatic: G-O-L-D I clicked with my stylus. It was beautiful. Stunning. Also, probably the most difficult Pokemon game as of date. The Elite Four were vicious, the new Team Plasma were unrelenting. But through the fire and the flames Gold made it through it all.
After playing my copy of Diamond for several months, news I had been waiting to hear finally came: remakes of Gold and Silver were coming! Heartgold and Soulsilver were in development for the DS and I couldnt have been more excited! After what seemed like an eternity, my reserved copy of Heartgold came in. The intro was similar to the original Gold version. It was a nostalgia-gasm for me. Gold and Silver were my favorite games in the series and I finally, after my copy of Gold had died sadly, got to play the games I loved so much once again. The name input screen popped up and once again: G-O-L-D. It took a few minutes of game play to realize something significant that I had overlooked; Gold was home. It had come full circle. Johto to Kanto to Hoen to Sinnoh and now, back home to Johto. It was really beautiful in a poetic way. Gold, as well as I, had grown and changed over the years and now he comes back to the place where his journey started. No sooner had I once again mastered the Johto region did the big news and buzz begin again: a new Pokemon game was in the works, and its going to be big.
Generation 5 was receiving more buzz than any Pokemon game I could remember. Rumors of a whole new region in a whole new part of the world, animated sprites, bizarre Pokemon with unique abilities and a whole slew of new legendary Pokemon. I knew that I would be challenged as a gamer, and as a Pokemon trainer, but I was up to the challenge, and more importantly, Gold was up to the challenge. So together, gamer and sprite, we set off to the Unova region!
Gold has and continues to grow on me admittedly. A play through with a PC of any other name just wouldn't feel right. So there has and will continue to be only one trainer on my Pokemon games, a trainer with a name and a will of Gold.
