Pokémon Black Version/Walkthrough

As soon as you fire up the game, you'll notice a really cool intro scene. Very well done, but also very mysterious indeed!

Now, after you've gotten through the menu, you'll have four options presented to you by default. You're going to want to choose New Game to start your adventure.

After selecting that, you'll be greeted by Professor Juniper and her Minccino that she sends out. You know, the usual stuff.

She'll talk for awhile and give you the background on Pokémon, then will ask you if you're a boy or a girl Trainer. This should be really obvious to select, but just use your control pad to choose and press A.

You'll then get to choose your name. You can have up to 7 letters, numbers, and symbols in your name in the English version. You can't change your name after you've chosen it and started playing, so think carefully!

Afterwards, she'll introduce you to your two friends, who will also serve as your rivals throughout the game. One of them is Cheren and the other is Bianca.

It will then go into a little opening scene inside of your house in Nuvema Town!

Nuvema Town
Then it will go into a little opening scene, starting with you inside your house. Cheren will be up in your room and then Bianca will show up and they'll start talking about Juniper. Apparently she left the three of you a present! Sweet! Before you pick your Pokémon...If you're looking for a point to save your game before you pick your starting Pokémon, you need to do it right now, before you check out the present. This will give you the option to reset your game if you're looking for a specific gender or if you're resetting for a shiny starter.

Remember to press X to open up the menu in order to save. (The touch screen will not bring it up like it did in HeartGold and SoulSilver.) You'll open the box and will get to pick your choice of Snivy (the Grass-type snake Pokémon), Tepig (the Fire-type pig Pokémon), or Oshawott (the Water-type sea otter Pokémon). Which Starter should I choose?This choice is a very important choice, because, unless you decide to ditch your starting Pokémon at some point, it ultimately helps shape your team in the long run. Keep in mind that all three starter Pokémon are perfectly capable and can be functional throughout the game. They do have different strengths and weaknesses, aside from just the type chart, but there isn't necessarily a 'wrong' choice. I also want to say that I've personally used all three, so I'll base my judgments on my actual experiences rather than just speculation.

Snivy is the Grass-type snake Pokémon, and has perhaps one of the more unusual distribution of stats out of any starter Pokémon. Its primary focus is having high Speed, but it also has impressive Defense and Sp. Def. Unfortunately, this means its offensive stats are rather lackluster, even after it fully evolves (it has less "oomph" than even Meganium does).

Early on, it learns Vine Whip at level 7, Leaf Tornado at level 16, and then some other attacks after evolving into Servine. It isn't until level 32 (as Servine) that you finally learn the very respected Leaf Blade, which is easily the Snivy family's greatest attacking asset. But sadly, even that doesn't do a whole ton of damage, even after it evolves to its final evolution at level 36, Serperior.

Snivy and its kin focus more on defense, so you can utilize this tactic of theirs by using Leech Seed, Mega Drain and Giga Drain to keep your HP constantly high, as well as using stat upping moves like Growth and Snake Coil to give you an edge. Light Screen and Reflect, which can be obtained fairly early on, can help benefit your team as well as increase Snivy and its evolutions' survivability. Return is also a recommended move, since there isn't a whole lot available to the green snake line.

If I were to rank Snivy and compare it to the other two starters, I would definitely say that Snivy is the most difficult to raise and the least effective throughout the game. It suffers from a lot of problems, a lack of offense, and a diverse pool of weaknesses.

Tepig is the Fire-type piggy Pokémon, eventually turning into a fierce Fire/Fighting-type boar. It is the only one of the starters to develop a second type after evolution. Tepig and its family's strengths are its high Attack, HP, and even decent Sp. Atk. It lacks defenses and Speed, making it essentially the polar opposite of Snivy in the end.

These tankish stats work well with Tepig, Pignite, and its final stage, Emboar. It learns a variety of attacks and can learn even more through use of TMs, plus, since TMs are now unlimited use, you can really take advantage of that. Sadly, Tepig starts off fairly lackluster until level 15, when it learns Flame Charge, a Physical-based attack that also boosts Tepig's Speed by a stage, making it zippier for the next foe that comes its way. It also learns Arm Thrust at level 17 as Pignite, right after evolution, which hits multiple times and is handy early on in the game (but you will want to replace it later with Brick Break or Hammer Arm).

From there forward, Tepig and its kin learn almost exclusively attacking moves, including some great ones such as Heat Crash (which does more damage the heavier you are compared to your opponent and will hit hard if used by Emboar), Flamethrower, and even Head Smash if you're feeling bold. At level 62, it learns the powerful Flare Blitz, although you're not going to see that for awhile (obviously). It won't matter, because you'll hardly need it. Additionally, it has access to some excellent TM moves throughout the game, including the Water-type Scald, Earthquake, Sunny Day and SolarBeam (for a good combo), Poison Jab, and even Wild Charge. It can learn a stunning amount of attacks and the only trouble you'll have is picking only four to use at a time!

If I were to rank Tepig and compare it to the other two starters, I would honestly say it's tied with Oshawott for first place. Emboar has more diversity and oomph behind its attacks, but Samurott has just two weaknesses, and gets the reliable Razor Shell at just level 17, making it less of a wait before it gets good.

Oshawott is the Water-type otter Pokémon with the funny name. There's nothing that Oshawott and its kin particularly excel in; they tend to be relatively well-rounded, placing a slight emphasis on Sp. Atk and Attack over their defensive stats and Speed. It also has the fewest weaknesses of all of the three starters, finding itself weak to only Electric- and Grass-type attacks — both of which fairly easy to see coming in most situations.

By offering enough defenses to avoid becoming a pincushion, but also enough attack power to inflict reliable — although often not overwhelming — damage, Oshawott is a good choice for beginners and for advanced players alike. There's not quite as much you need to worry about when using Oshawott and its evolutions.

As far as its moves go, it learns Water Gun right away — and, unlike the other two starters, it actually has the appropriate offensive stat to put it to good use. Water Gun will be powerful compared to either of the other two's typed attacks early on. Sadly, that is all it learns of interest until it evolves at level 17 into Dewott, where it learns the very useful Razor Shell attack. Razor Shell hits hard, has a respectable 95% accuracy, and also has a high 50% chance of lowering the target's Defense. It will do fantastic until you get access to Scald and Surf later on in the game, but you'll also have other choices for attacks such as Water Pulse (which isn't quite as good as Razor Shell, but at least has more PP), Revenge for some Fighting-type flair, and it can even learn Megahorn as Samurott with a Heart Scale later on, making it great against Psychic- and Dark-type Pokémon.

Sadly, there aren't quite as many TMs for it to learn when compared to Emboar, but it has much more diversity than its serpentine colleague, Serperior. Dig is helpful early on, around your 4th Badge, but might not be necessary depending on your team. X-Scissor, Aerial Ace, and Return can also be found fairly early on and make for good attacks to use. Grass Knot is an option, but you won't be fighting the heavier stuff until later on in the game. Plus, when in doubt, there's always Return, which is great for Samurott and will do plenty of damage by the time you get it.

If I were to rank Oshawott and compare it to the other two starters, I would honestly say that I have to tie it with the pig, Tepig, for first place. Oshawott and its evolutions are just so friendly for newer players and are very well rounded (with a slight preference towards offense, which is good), and it can learn sufficiently powerful attacks, but it lacks the awesome diversity and extra oomph that the beastly boar, Emboar, has in its final form. That's why I'd say they're even, although if you're facing doubt, pick Oshawott as it is friendlier for beginners. Right off the bat, you will battle against Bianca and her new starter Pokémon, which will be of the type yours is strong against. The battles play out mostly the same as in Diamond, Pearl, and the other previous games, but you'll notice that the entire battle scene is much more lively and animated! Very well done.

This battle isn't particularly hard, no matter which starter you chose. All of the starters have Tackle and then either Tail Whip or Leer. You can usually win by just using Tackle, which has been powered up to have 100% accuracy and 50 power compared to earlier versions.

After winning, you'll be around level 6 and pocket a bit more cash; if you don't win, it's no big deal, so don't worry about it. You just miss out on the EXP (of course, if you saved your game beforehand, you can just reset and try again).

Once the battle has concluded, you and Bianca will have made an absolute mess of the room. Little smoke clouds will fill the air as your once tidy room now is in shambles. Ah well, it's no worry for a Trainer like you who's about to leave, anyway!

Cheren will heal both your and Bianca's Pokémon with some Potions, then will challenge you to a battle to try out his new Pokémon, which is the one yours is weak to type-wise. Again, he's mostly going to be the same as Bianca. Just use Tackle over and over until you either win or lose. Your Defense-lowering attack may seem helpful, but since it takes 4 hits on average to win anyway, it's only smart to use at the very beginning of the battle, and even then, the difference is marginal.

If you win against him, you'll get more money and also a good chunk of EXP. If you don't, he'll brag about it for all eternity.

Anyway, go downstairs afterwards and the three of you will talk to your mom for awhile. Your two friends will then leave and then your mom will heal up your Pokémon. She'll also give you the Xtransceiver (pronounced "cross-transceiver"). You can come back to her to heal your Pokémon if ever they get injured, which may be handy coming up soon on Route 1.

Now you can leave the house and do a bit of exploring of Nuvema Town. Bianca is in the southwestern house, and when you go inside, she'll be in an argument with her father and will then storm off. After she's done that, go to Prof. Juniper's lab in the northwestern part of town. You won't be able to do much else anyway other than check out Cheren's house in the southeast corner of town, but he's sort of waiting at the lab anyway.

Professor Juniper will say a bunch of stuff, but will ultimately ask if you'd like to give your Pokémon a nickname. Feel free to give it one if you'd like, but keep in mind you won't be able to change it for awhile, so pick one you can live with! You're limited to 10 characters in the English version of the game.

After some more dialogue, Prof. Juniper will give you the Pokedex. Woohoo! That's what you've been waiting for! You didn't have to deliver parcel or anything to get it, either!

As you leave the Lab, your mom will show up and be all proud of you and stuff, then she'll give all three of you a Town Map, which lets you take a look at the Unova region in depth. Go ahead and use it from your Key Items if you'd like.

Whenever you're ready, go ahead to the northeast corner of town and you'll enter Route 1!

Route 1
As soon as you enter the route for the first time, you'll walk along with Cheren and Bianca until you see Prof. Juniper. She's gonna school all of you and show you how to catch a Pokémon! Pay attention to her, because she'll point out the commands, just in case you weren't familiar with them. She uses a Minccino L7 to catch a Patrat L2.

After her demonstration, she'll give you 5 Poke Balls. Now you can catch your own Pokémon if you so desire! Bianca and Cheren decide that they're too good for you and want to go ahead with their Pokémon, maybe catching a few of their own, so they'll leave you free to wander Route 1 by yourself. That's great, because you're probably itching to catch some new Pokémon, huh?

Let's take a peek at some of the Pokémon you can encounter here... Pokémon Review: Lillipupclick to view the review!Pokémon Review: Patratclick to view the review!Talk to the lady in the middle of the second patch of grass and she'll give you a free Potion. Hey, can't go wrong with that, huh? You might need it in an upcoming fight, too, so hold onto it and don't use it carelessly against wild Pokémon battles!

When you get to the northern end of this very simple route, you'll see Bianca and Cheren waiting there for you. They wonder if you caught any Pokémon and sort of have a contest as to who caught the most Pokémon. Just say yes or whatever, and then the three of you will get a call on your Xtransceiver that you got from your mom. It's basically like a four-way video conference... on your watch!

Actually it's a kind of neat concept, showing you a cutscene with portraits of the four of you all talking with lips moving and stuff. You can use this Xtransceiver thing to do that with other actual people nearby, but you'll use it throughout the game for certain dialogue scenes, which is cool.

Juniper is on the line and tells you and the gang that you should go to the Pokémon Center in the next town, Accumula Town, and she'll teach you how to be a responsible Pokémon Trainer. You know, because healing your Pokémon is super important.

Head north and you'll enter your next destination: Accumula Town!