Like many of you I’ve been waiting eagerly for Pokemon Stadium to be released, and now that it’s out I’m fascinated. It’s a big difference,seeing the previously black-and-white Pokemon in full color, AND 3D!!! Afterplaying a few battles with the Rental Pokemon, I decided that the game would be more fun if I limited myself to the Pokemon I had in my Red/Blue GameBoy paks. Unfortunately, since I’ve been playing Gold/Silver since November, Ihaven’t even picked up Red/Blue and couldn’t remember which of the 151Pokemon I had, or at what levels they were.

It turned out I had most of the Pokemon but that they were all in one of three categories; 

STRONG - The Pokemon I used a lot, all the way up to the end of the game. Or, Pokemon like Mewtwo and the Legendary Birds, that I caught at high levels. None of these were under level 45. 

MODERATELY STRONG - These were Pokemon I used at the beginning of the gameand abandoned in my boxes once they evolved into their Stage 2 forms or once I caught stronger Pokemon. They’re alllevel 25 - 45.

WEAK - These are Pokemon that I caught at very low levels (10 or under) andimmediately stuck in my boxes, just to fill my Pokedex.

What were missing, though were all the Pokemon between levels 10 and 25. As you know, the various ‘Cup Competitions’ in Pokemon Stadium require Pokemon between certain levels. So, to fill this gap, I decided to revisit the Red/Blue world and stock up...

GameBoy games, I was underestimating. And the new animation... much more interesting to watch than in the R/B/Y versions. I forgot how irritating it was to sit through long-animated attacks when I knew that the battle was a sure victory and that I was only in the battle because it was random, on my way through an area I’d already ‘beaten’. I’d forgotten how silly some of the Pokemon looked from behind, during battles. Take Charmeleon for instance. And those are only the obvious things.

The next time somebody asks me if Pokemon Gold/Silver are worth importing...

I’m definitely answering YES. And for those of you willing to wait for the English version(s), here’s a suggestion.

A week (or more) before you get the Gold/Silver versions... start playing Red/Blue again.

1 - Make it a point to organize your boxes and your active team. You’ll want to do this in order to trade your old Pokemon into Gold/Silver and complete the 251 entry Pokedex quicker. I would suggest using a theme for each box and putting like-pokemon together. You’ll need paper and pencil to remember which box is which.

2 - Make it a point to wander around on foot, by bicycle, and then using FLY.  Try walking up to a bush and using the CUT technique without going into your menu. Try getting on and off your bicycle without using the menus.

3 - Scroll up and down through your Pokedex several times and try to find Chansey quickly (without knowing its number). Try to sort it in alphabetical order.

4 - Get into battles. Lots of battles.

5 - Use lots of items. Different types of items. See how many you can fitin your Items menu.

6 - Use items during battles. Think about how much easier it would be if your Pokemon could use the potion automatically when they get low on HP, instead of wasting your one action on healing them, only to get knocked back down during your opponent’s turn.

After these simple activities, and then a few hours of playing Gold/Silver

you should be amazed at the improvements. Then, just imagine playing the full-fledged Pokemon game on a system like the N64 or the Dolphin, instead of the GameBoy. If that’s not exciting I don’t know what is!