I FINALLY Played Pokémon Black and White

I've played a lot of Pokémon games, but until 2023, there was one Pokémon generation I'd never played. Let's chat about my first playthrough of Pokémon Black - my first trip through the Unova region!

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#pokemon #pokemonblackandwhite #pokemonblackwhite

[aokcraig]

Watch my Black and White POSTGAME video review here:
And my Black 2 White 2 video review here:

[alvarobarba]

The Hall of Fame is in the game, you need to play the post-game and go back to the league to beat the actual champion, Alder

[Nagatem]

Your rivals completely serve a purpose. You just didn’t realize it. One of them is weak and isn’t meant to be a Pokémon trainer. The other is strong, but finds that his strength is still not enough to be the best. They both have to work with what they have, and become better people in the future, which is reflected in the sequel

[cupie]

I'm so sorry that BDSP was your gen 4 experience.

[StepProgram]

Genuinely wild that someone can hate the double grass encounters, that’s certainly a take

[alejandronogueerol]

I totally disagree on your statement that the rivals serve no purpose. Were you speedrunning the storyline? Because there’s no way you miss the massive amount of times they appear and are involved with the plotline. We actually get to see bianca grow as a challenger along the way after defeating her with the emotional commentary she consistently gives, not only that but she is very much involved in helping pokemon, like the kidnappng of munna after beating the first gym leader, her pokemon getting stolen after, the story between her dad trying to take her back home and she even tries to help you figure the way out in the Chargestone’s cave after defeating clay. She also continuously appears when there’s a search for team plasma, i’m pretty sure she is involved enough to say she makes an impact in the storyline way more than other rivals in other games. Moreover, for Cheren, he definitely helps a lot, he helps you fight team plasma on instances like after defeating the first gym leader at the cave, Castelia city at the cold storage, in the desert resort, he helps you fight team plasma again in dragonspiral tower and even teaches you how to climb the statues to find your way in, then he also appears trying to help once you defeat N. That’s without mentioning the amount of times he’s involved in searching for plasma too, cheren shares a lot of company with you, without him or bianca the story would make no sense. They give that sense of seriousness and importance to the game. You were absolutely wrong on that point.

[mimiquoi]

You need to play Black and White 2 ! For me it's an excellent sequel !

[Arcknives]

Man, I love gen 5. Still my favorite games from this franchise. I remember laying on my stomache as a kid, playing Black on my DS.

I love the Pokémon from this gen, too. I actually really like the idea of gen 1 counterparts. Nature's full of counterparts between species.

Shoot me dead if you want, but I really love Simipour, and I'll stand by that statement. The hippie hairdo, the cutesy eyes, the laidback vibe. I can't see why people despise it so much.

Cheren and Bianca are possibly my favorite rivals. They really seem like actual friends to the main character in a more casual way that doesn't feel forced like the XY rivals do. It really feels like you've known them for a while. It's like your friends from school hanging out with you in the afternoon after school. Which is perfect considering Cheren's clothing.

The animated sprites show so much character from the Pokémon and trainers you encounter, as well.

[coloureve]

The gen 4 "remake" is in no way indicative of what the actual gen is like. Even if you have to play a fake copy, I beg that you play either platinum or HGSS, actually, you should probably play both. They are completely different experiences and have so much life and love in them.

[jaidora]

Small little piece of trivia, Ghetsis is the only trainer who has a Pokémon use Frustration as one of their four moves. His Hydreigon absolutely hates him and part of Ghetsis’s design is having a scarred face.

[yukiizura]

Ah, Generation 5. My favourite Gen from the day I first played the games. To see the love this gen has received in recent years has been so nice, considering how viciously hated it was on release. I am SO sorry for how long this comment is, Gen 5 is very special to me.

I think the Seasons were a fantastic idea I would *love* to see return, but on a weekly rotation. The way it works in Gen 5 just takes WAY too long, so you're borderline forced to manipulate the clock to see and do everything. Doubles Grass was so fun, but may Nintendo have mercy on the souls of all those who got double Shinies and had to kill one - you are all eternally in my thoughts. I'm a big fan of Triples, but then again I'm a huge fan of Doubles so is anyone shocked? I do find it odd that Triples and Rotation never properly returned, would like to see how future Pokémon/Abilities interacted with them. Musicals were a worse Contest, glad they never came back.

The Unovan Dex either matches or exceeds the Hoenn Dex as my favourite in the series. I love SO many Pokémon from Unova, and of course my beloved Gigalith makes its home here too. While it absolutely did not pay off due to fans too-focused on past generations, I absolutely loved how unique Unova felt by keeping it's dex entirely in-generation. I wish we would have this again, but it won't ever happen.

I have to disagree completely on Bianca and Cheren I'm afraid 😭 Bianca was my favourite rival in the series up to Arven, and Cheren ranked above the midpoint too. They may not be Blue or Silver levels of plot-relevant, but that's half the point - there can only be one chosen hero, and it's you and N fighting for it. Bianca is on a journey to have fun and discover herself, and her team is all Pokémon with story relevance. Cheren is trying to be the best, and switches strategies to cover his weaknesses so he can make it to the top, and of course has his revelation with Alder. They feel like actual friends, who all care for one another but are set on different paths in life. They're representative of the main themes of the game - Bianca discovers her personal truth, her reason for being, and understands who she is as a result of her journey, and Cheren represents how ideals can shift, that he is more than an obsession with being the best, that strength is just one part of his ideal self. No problem with you disliking them tho of course

I love Team Plasma, and especially N and Ghetsis, but my problem with them is that they are very heavy handed at points, the Munna scene comes to mind, where they immediately reveal that Ghetsis is manipulating people and doesn't actually believe what he's saying. I also miss Admins, Team Plasma technically has them (the Sages) but we never battle them. Though the Grunts in the castle being reluctant to release their Pokémon is cool.

The music of Gen 5 is probably one of the highest points of the franchise, I can't think of a single track I dislike, genuinely. Accumula, Route 10, Elite 4, N, Ghetsis, Driftveil, Village Bridge, Chargestone Cave's music getting deeper with every floor down you go, the various musicians around the region who actively change the music when you stand near them. I don't think this much care has been put in a soundtrack before or since. Would recommend people to listen to the track N^n (yes that's spelt right), I believe it's an unused track, an official "remix" of N's theme.

This was a great video Craig, super excited for you to experience the sequels, they are fantastic games in their own right. I love seeing people talk about this generation, perhaps a bit too much 😅 Glad you enjoyed BW!

[zattart]

What I love is how everyone has their own favorites in Pokémon. I love Mienshao for example, probably my favorite Gen 5 ‘mon, and for you he’s forgettable. I just love that different aspects and Pokémon leave a different impression on each person that plays the game. Each Pokémon is loved by someone.

[Lil_Barista]

Gen 5 is so underrated. The story is beautiful, along with the scenery, the characters are well written, N is hot, and the pokemon are gorgeous especially Meloetta and Reshiram. Like omfg 😭 ❤ dont forget the music too omfg I live for the music

[Brianycus]

I'm currently revisting this gen right now and there is so much I didn't notice before than I am now and it's insane. As for the rivals, they absolutely serve their purpose when you read their dialogue. Bianca wants to learn how to build relationship with Pokeon and Cheren wants to learn what it means to be a strong Trainer.

[rosariograsso]

I think it's funny because I have a vastly different opinion of the rivals in this game. This game did a great job with the rivals because the themes of their journeys is growing up through experience. The aged up characters to 14, means they are teenagers trying to find their way through life. For example, Cheren is an arrogant, but intelligent person who learning, but who thinks he knows everything, but as he travels and fights the MC, he realizes that what he knows is actually very little. He it builds up until the final battle in Victory Road, where he finally realizes that his mindset was flawed from the beginning and he should go back to the basics and try to relearn everything from a new perspective. This is capitalized on perfectly in the sequel where we see that Cheren's love of learning doesn't change, but his attitude toward it does and we find him as the teacher of the trainer school and also a gym leader, two positions where his love of learning can be shared with others!
Then you have Bianca, a ditzy girl that just wants to get out from under her father's watchful eye and explore the world. She has no goals, no purpose, she just wants to explore and learn new things, free from any restrictions. Bianca also loves to learn, but in a different way from Cheren. This excitement in Bianca builds up until Bianca I defeated by her dad in a pokemon battle and is forced to come home. But Bianca convinces her dad that while her journey was to get away from him, it was a lot of fun and she fell in love with Pokemon and learning about them in a new way. She ends up deciding that she doesn't want to be a pokemon trainer, after all, she was never any good at that anyway, but she loved learning about Pokemon. This leads her to think about becoming a pokemon professor, like Juniper, to continue to learn about Pokemon, just in a new way that excites her. In the sequel, we see her as an assistant to Juniper and a budding pokemon professor in her own right.
Both Cheren and Juniper had different ways of growing, but they both loved learning. They realized, through their experiences, that they loved learning, but for the wrong reasons, and when thinking about it, they realized why they loved learning and how best to continue doing so in the future. Honestly, their stories are honestly some of the best coming-of-age stories I've ever seen, and I'm quite saddened you missed it.

[ZachLovettRaces]

As others have said, there is a Hall of Fame. You have to battle through the League again where you can then battle Alder and enter the Hall of Fame. The story pretty much truly ends there.

[dominicbooth]

Who tf doesn’t like mandibuzz and mienshao

[Wynntersenk]

I liked Cheren and Bianca. Bianca is a great character who tries to better herself even if she’s not the best trainer. Cheren is a genuine threat of a rival who has confidence and charisma. But N is the best rival and I like him so much more.

[Griffnix]

Technically you don't become champion when you beat the game since you were interrupted. You need to go though it again and beat Alder to enter the Hall of fame. They'll be at their rematch levels so it won't be easy.

I really like Gen 5 and it's easlly my favorite gen. It wasn't until Legends Arceus that I was really excited playing a Pokémon game. Scarlet and Violet as well.

[Vanderon]

Something about the double encounters thing:
On most of the routes, maybe all of them, you can choose to go in normal grass and avoid it. Also, to pass a turn, you can use items to heal, x items, or whatever to help pass the turns.
Good luck with the sequels soon