On January 8th, 2013, the gaming community received a major announcement: “Pokémon X and Y versions announced for the Nintendo 3DS”. When I saw this news, I was excited yet there a few questions I had thought to myself; “Which version will I get?”, “How many new Pokémon will there be?”, and “Which starter Pokémon will I get?” Ever since I can remember, Pokémon has always been my favorite video game series. Pokémon X and Y are scheduled for release on October 12, 2013. To pass the short time until its release, I’ve been playing one of my favorite games, Pokémon LeafGreen. Even though 9 years have passed since its release, I still enjoy LeafGreen!

Pokémon LeafGreen was released alongside Pokémon FireRed in 2004. LeafGreen is actually a remake of the original Pokémon games, Red and Blue. LeafGreen follows the same storyline of the original games. Pokémon are strange and powerful creatures and each have their own unique abilities.  You play as a Pokémon trainer, someone who goes on a journey with 2 goals: to catch and train the many different kinds of Pokémon and to challenge and defeat the eight powerful Gym leaders; each of which commands a team of strong Pokémon. And on your travels between each Gym leader you will encounter other Pokémon trainers, who will challenge you and your team of Pokémon to battles. During a battle, your goal is to defeat the other trainer’s Pokémon. Most of these battles won’t be much of a challenge, but some may require you to use different strategies. In conclusion, Pokémon LeafGreen is only one of many great Pokémon games.

If you are new to the series you have nothing to fear, because it is easy to become accustomed to the games. There are several Pokémon games to choose from, but I would recommend getting the current games out as of now, which are Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2. These games are sequels to Pokémon Black and Pokémon White, but the story brings you speed. Pokémon Black, Black 2, White, and White 2 are available on the Nintendo DS. Or if you wish to wait for the next games, which are Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, they will be released worldwide, for the Nintendo 3DS, on October 12, 2013. The new games are so close and I can barely contain my excitement! From what Nintendo has revealed about these games, I can tell you one thing; Pokémon X and Y are going to be two of the greatest video games of this year!