I'M GOING TO VIDCON 2022! OH, AND SOME OTHER STUFF. (June 2, 2022)

Thirty-seventh and final post from the original blog. Every post from now on will be all-new and original. I've also deleted my old blog because there's no point in keeping it around anymore, seeing how I ported all of my old posts to this blog.

"As you probably guessed from the title, I'm going to VidCon 2022 this month. I'm a little bit nervous, but mostly excited.

I'm also currently working on an animation that will act as a sort of "introduction" to my YouTube channel in general, and I'm getting pretty good at lip-synching in animations.

Well, that's about it from me. See you soon, stay safe, and have a good day!"

OKAY, THREE MONTHS INTO 2022. HERE WE GO. (March 24, 2022)

Thirty-sixth post from the original blog.

"I had my birthday and Christmas, and I got plenty of new video games to hold me over for a little while. I got Pokémon LeafGreen, Pokémon SoulSilver, Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, and a new copy of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. I also got some books and plush toys, as well as a new computer that my oldest brother, Justin, made for me. It works like a charm.

I also signed up for an Adobe Animate class so I can really learn how to animate rather than just try and fail to figure it out on my own. I'm actually learning a lot, and I can take the class at my own pace, so I can go a couple weeks without doing the class (if I need to) and not fall behind.

I got Pokémon Legends: Arceus the day it was released, and even though it's going to take some getting used to, the best part is that the Arc Phone that you get at the beginning of the game acts as a sort of built-in walkthrough.

I also played Bug Fables, Game Builder Garage, Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Red, Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Shining Pearl, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and a few other games. I even downloaded another mod of Paper Mario called "Paper Mario: Dark Star Edition". It's harder than Paper Mario: Master Quest Jr., but I think only the extra stuff is supposed to be ridiculously hard.

Well, that's about it from me. See you soon, stay safe, and have a good day!"

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY. (December 15, 2021)

Thirty-fifth post from the original blog.

"I forgot to mention a new game I got for the Nintendo Switch a few months ago. Here it is.

Game Builder Garage - I think it's more of a program than an actual game, because you can use it to make your own games, kind of like Scratch. You use these things called "Nodons" to make the code, and you can connect them together to make them do cool stuff. I bought the game a couple weeks after it was released (I think on June 30, 2021), and I had a lot of fun with it. I was able to complete all seven tutorials, as well as the checkpoints in between them. After that, I tried making my own games, and I really wanted to make a turn-based battle system, kind of like in Paper Mario or something. I think that was way too ambitious for someone who had just barely completed the tutorials, and I couldn't get the enemy (Jr. Troopa) to jump correctly, probably because I was using a Moving-Object Nodon for Jr. Troopa, and there was the issue of gravity. Then there were a bunch of other issues. I gave up after a few days of failure, and I felt like an idiot. Thankfully, I started over the tutorials yesterday, and my games Tag Showdown and On A Roll look pretty great. I think I'll just focus on platformers like Super Mario before I tackle anything really hard.

Minecraft: Java Edition - They released version 1.18 on November 30, 2021, and I've been playing this with Chase, Dean, and our friend Robert a ton. We're working on an item sorter, which is supposed to automatically sort most items into separate chests so we don't have to do it all manually. We have most of the blocks ready to be sorted, and we've built the first five floors, but we're still missing some blocks and items.

Pokémon Shining Pearl - I got this game on release day, and it's pretty great. It's definitely easier than the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which is nice. I played this with my little sister, Sam, and she managed to get to the first gym battle. The only problem was that she lost the battle and gave up, and I felt kind of bad.

Anyway, that's about it for this post. Stay safe, have a good day, and happy holidays."

SPOOKY SEASON 2021 IS OFFICIALLY UPON US. (October 7, 2021)

Thirty-fourth post from the original blog.

"My mom, stepdad, and younger sister are going up to Utah this weekend, and I'm staying at home.

I did video games in the past two weeks, so that's good, I guess.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Good news: I got my approval rating from 14% to about 54%. I think I have to talk to villagers regularly and stuff, but the advice I got from Isabelle was to fish up trash from rivers or the sea and dispose of it at Re-Tail. That sounds easy, but I think I'm going to have to do a lot of fishing to get any trash that I can dispose of, so I'll just try to increase my approval rating in other ways.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam - I managed to get through Sunbeam Plains and Doop Doop Dunes, and I completed a good chunk of the Expert Challenges, too. I'm mostly done with the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon, but I have to beat Roy and Wendy first.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - I started over on a new file, but I didn't delete the previous one. That's mostly because I remember exactly where I am on that file, and I remember completing every quest available after starting Chapter 5, but not after finishing it and starting Chapter 6. On the second file, I just got Chompy as a partner, which should make battles easier for the rest of the game. I completed nearly every quest available after starting Chapter 4, and I just need to finish them before I go get the Earth Key from the Bandit Hideout.

Minecraft: Java Edition - Okay, I apparently don't really need to upgrade my diamond armor into netherite armor because netherite only gives a small boost, and it's a lot easier for us in Pen Island to just get diamond armor through trading than usual, but not so much for netherite armor or tools. I can go to the Nether and mine ancient debris by myself, but I don't think it's worth it. Besides, I already have all of the enchantments on my armor and tools anyway, so I think I'm good.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - I played a couple levels in this game at my grandparents' house. I'm currently on World 3.

Okay, that's about it for video games. I'm currently on Season 5, Episode 27 of Good Mythical Morning, and that's not including the lost episode a few episodes back that someone else had to reupload. I watched that, too, but I don't know why Rhett and Link had to take the original copy down.

I also made a checklist for completing Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

That's about it for this post. See you soon, and have a good day."

SIX AND A HALF MONTHS LATER... AND HERE WE ARE. (September 21, 2021)

Thirty-third post from the original blog.

"Okay, I haven't been blogging at all in the past six and a half months, so here's a post from me just to add something to this blog.

I bought Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS, Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch. I also beat Pokémon Red, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario Bros. - I beat this on the Nintendo Switch Online service. The trick I used to beat this game without getting a Game Over was to use the Warp Zone in World 1-2 and the secret Warp Zone in World 4-2. Then I created a savestate before I started World 8-1. Every time I got to a point where I could pause for a second, I replaced the old savestate with a new one, so if I died, I could just reload the savestate I had and try again. I guess that could be considered cheating, but Nintendo should have thought about that before putting in the ability to savestate in the first place.

Super Mario Bros. 2 - I used the same trick with the savestates in this game as the previous game, but when I got to World 6-2, I didn't realize that you had to stand on an Albatoss going to the right to progress through the level, and then I got stuck. I had to restart, and now I'm back in World 2.

Super Mario Bros. 3 - The same trick was used to beat this game as in Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2, and it worked pretty well. I was even able to save all of my P-Wings for use in World 8.

Pokémon Red - I finally beat the game, and after catching Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave using my Master Ball, I started over so I could play along with my sister, Sam, because I had bought Pokémon Blue for her so we could play Pokémon together.

Pokémon Gold - I restarted the game a few months ago, and I managed to get all eight Gym Badges in Johto. I have a battle with my rival coming up before I take on the Elite Four and the Champion, so I've been grinding for extra XP.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I got this on April 29, 2021, and it's really fun. I initially got this so that Sam could play something really laid-back and easy, but I got seriously into it. I managed to beat the game two months later, but I'm still playing to get all of the Nook Miles achievements that I can. My island's name is "Super Fun," and it's currently a 3-star rating. I need to get more Bells to buy (and possibly make) more stuff to decorate, but right now I'm just trying to accumulate enough Bells to pay off not only my home loan, but also Sam's, Mom's, and Sean's home loans (because I made accounts for them on my Switch so I could get more Bells by planting more money trees).

Animal Crossing: Wild World - I think I got this, along with Animal Crossing: New Leaf, about three and a half months after I got New Horizons, but I have to say that I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as I thought I would. I think the main issue is how hard it is to get Bells early in the game, and the fact that most people have moved on from the DS, which explains why the Nintendo Wi-Fi service has shut down. That makes it almost impossible to get non-native fruit. Plus, the small inventory and the inability to stack items makes storing inventory space difficult. However, I did manage to upgrade Nook's Cranny to Nook 'n' Go, and I also managed to get a golden shovel.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf - I like this one more than Wild World, but less than New Horizons. The main issue I have is that the inventory is still pretty small, and as of this post, my approval rating is only about 14 out of 100, which is pretty pathetic. Then again, I didn't play this game (or Wild World) much at all after I got them. Maybe I need to give it another chance and look up some walkthroughs.

Paper Mario - After not playing for several months, I felt like I needed to delete my save file and start over. I'm currently about to fight Tutankoopa, which should be pretty easy since I have some Thunder Bolts to take care of the Chomps he summons.

Paper Mario: Master Quest - Okay, this one is a mod of the original Paper Mario by this guy whose screen name is Emperor_Thamz. It's a mod that increases the difficulty to crazy levels, all while adding in some new enemies, items, areas, and other stuff. I got the easier "Master Quest Jr." version so I could enjoy all of the new content while having the difficulty not so ridiculous. It's still pretty hard, but it's not like "ha ha, screw you" hard. Anyway, I think I'm about to beat the Koopa Bros. on this one.

Minecraft: Java Edition - Chase made an ink farm so we could get a bunch of ink sacs from squid to make black dye. We need the black dye, along with sand and gravel, to make black concrete powder for the roads of our new city we're making, Yolkyo. The name is based off of the idea of an egg-themed Tokyo. Unfortunately, while I was filling in the river around the ink farm with dirt, I got ambushed by zombies and skeletons because I made the mistake of waiting past nightfall to go to sleep, and they killed me because I didn't have my sword on me. I didn't think I would need the sword, but I was wrong. I lost all of my stuff that was on me, and when Dean jumped on the server to get my stuff before it despawned, all he could find was a bunch of dirt and some rockets on the ground. So now I have to make all new armor, and we don't even have any spare netherite scraps anywhere, so I'll have to go to the Nether with someone to mine ancient debris to make netherite scraps and stuff. I also lost my elytra, so I'll also have to go to the End and find an unexplored end city.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle - I managed to complete all of the battles and find all of the collectibles in Ancient Gardens and Sherbet Desert, and I also completed all of the challenges in Ancient Gardens. I'm currently in Spooky Trails, in Chapter 3.

Okay, that's enough from me. I'll see if I can post soon. See you later."

MARCH MADNESS 2021 (March 12, 2021)

Thirty-second post from the original blog.

"I got Pokémon Black and Pokémon Y recently, and they're pretty fun. Anyway, here's a list of other video games I played.

Pokémon Red - I got through the Pokémon Tower and the Silph Co. building, all while getting every item, beating every trainer, and even defeating my rival twice. I also caught a Gastly in the Pokémon Tower and earned a Hitmonlee from the Karate Master by defeating him and his lackeys in the Fighting Dojo. I caught a Cubone in the Pokémon Tower as well, but my Game Boy Advance SP froze for some reason before I could save my game, so I couldn't keep the Cubone. Thankfully, I evolved my Pikachu into a Raichu using a Thunder Stone, and I taught it TM24 Thunderbolt, so now I have a pretty strong Electric-type Pokémon. I also gave my Eevee a Water Stone so it evolved into Vaporeon, and I got my Magikarp from the Pokémon Day Care on Route 5 and evolved it into Gyarados. Then I taught Gyarados some Water-type TMs so it wouldn't have just weak moves.

Pokémon Ruby - I haven't really made much progress in the story, but I did manage to get my party to around Level 27 or so. That was because I went around Hoenn planting berries and taking care of them, so now I have a ton of berries to use in place of Pokémon Centers. Well, unless one of my Pokémon faints, but I'll worry about that when it happens. I did get several evolutions of Pokémon, all thanks to the Pokémon Day Care on Route 117 and my ability to ride around a lot on my Acro Bike. I don't remember everyone I got, but I'm pretty sure they include Golbat, Breloom, Nuzleaf, Ninjask, Shedinja, Gyarados, Vigoroth, and Beautifly. I have a Whismur in the Day Care right now, along with another Pokémon that I can't remember. I also caught Grimer, Koffing, Slugma, Torkoal, Machop, Numel, Spinda, Skarmory, and Sandshrew.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - I started on a new file and managed to get through all areas in the story so far up to Chucklehuck Woods. Then after learning the hammer techniques, I went back to Hoohoo Village, Hoohoo Mountain, some areas of Beanbean Outskirts, and Chateau de Chucklehuck in order to get Chuckle Beans. I already had all of the Hee Beans I needed for making blends at the Starbeans Café from playing the Border Jump minigame a lot, but I'm trying to get the Bonus Ring, which will double the EXP gained as long as no damage is taken, and the Great Force, which will double the damage the Mario Bros. deal (and receive). That will basically make me a powerhouse.

Paper Mario - I managed to get 38 out of 50 recipes from having Tayce T. cook items. The only ones I didn't get were those requiring an Ultra Shroom or a Jammin' Jelly, or those that require items that aren't available until Chapters 5, 6, or 7. As far as story progression, there wasn't much, but I did level up once.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - I started on a new file recently, and I managed to beat the first seven chapters. I also got every Star Piece, Shine Sprite, and recipe in the game, and I got every badge from the Lovely Howz of Badges as well as every item from Charlieton. I also found the secret to getting a ton of coins quickly: sell Whacka Bumps (which are easy to get on Keelhaul Key) at the Sales Stall on the Excess Express for 100 coins. I did that in order to buy the Ultra Shroom and Jammin' Jellies needed to complete the last few recipes. After I get the All or Nothing Badge in the Palace of Shadow, I plan to equip it and go through the Pit of 100 Trials down to about Floor 80 or something. Then I'll take the whole thing after I beat the game.

My little sister Sam's birthday was yesterday. She turned 6.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading this post!"

POKEMON GYM BADGES AND STUFF! YAY! (February 2, 2021)

Thirty-first post from the original blog.

"I made several personal achievements in my Pokémon games, as well as Bug Fables.

Pokémon Red - I managed to use Cut to get to Route 9 from the east side of Cerulean City, and I got through Routes 9 and 10 easily. Then there was the Rock Tunnel. I had already taught the HM Flash to my Pikachu, so the navigation wasn't too hard (mainly because I used a map on the Internet to navigate), but the battles in the Rock Tunnel started wearing me down a little bit. I don't think any of my Pokémon fainted, but a couple came pretty close. Anyway, I got through the Rock Tunnel after catching an Onix and a Machop, and then I had to battle a few more Trainers at the end of Route 10. I think one of my Pokémon might have fainted at this point, but I can't remember. Either way, I finally got to Lavender Town and healed up my Pokémon at the local Pokémon Center. At this point, I decided to level up my Abra on Route 8 so it would evolve into Kadabra and learn Confusion, because Psychic-type moves deal super effective damage to Poison-type Pokémon, which will be helpful in getting the Soul Badge from Koga in the Fuchsia Gym later on. Granted, I also read that Ground-type moves also deal super effective damage to Poison-type Pokémon, and Ground-type Pokémon (such as Graveler, which I have) resist Poison-type moves. I guess I could use either Kadabra or Graveler later. I also caught a Growlithe on Route 8, and I went back into the Rock Tunnel 

I managed to get through Route 8, and then the Underground Path (under Saffron City), then Route 7, and then I was in Celadon City. After getting a few items around the city and checking out the Celadon Department Store, I went up to the roof and got some drinks from the vending machines for this girl who said she was thirsty. She gave me TM13 (Ice Beam) for the Fresh Water, TM48 (Rock Slide) for the Soda Pop, and TM49 (Tri Attack) for the Lemonade. I also got four extra Fresh Waters for the guards blocking access to Saffron City, but I only needed one, apparently. After giving one of the Fresh Waters to one of the guards, she said that she would share with the others, so now I have three Fresh Waters that I'm just going to use in place of Potions or something.

I also beat Erika and her other trainers in the Celadon Gym. I used my Kadabra to fight them because most of the Grass-types in there had a secondary Poison type, but Kadabra kept fainting because he was a little bit too underleveled. That, and the fact that most of the Pokémon in the Gym knew several status moves to hinder my Pokémon, such as Sleep Powder, Wrap, and Stun Spore. I was still able to beat everyone in the Gym thanks to my Fearow, who was just a bit over leveled, and had the Flying-type move Peck, which was super effective against everyone's Pokémon. I got the Rainbow Badge, and now I can use the HM Strength outside of battle. Also, every traded Pokémon up to Level 50 will obey me (not that it matters much, since I have no one to trade with).

I plan to get a Thunder Stone from the Celadon Department Store so I can evolve my Pikachu into a Raichu, and then I'm going to teach it TM24 Thunderbolt, which I got from beating Lt. Surge a few months ago.

Pokémon Gold - I got through Ilex Forest and Route 34, and I dropped my Magikarp and my Togepi in the Pokémon Daycare before I went to Goldenrod City. I also caught several Pokémon over the course of a couple days: Spinarak ("Spuder"), Oddish ("Evenish"), Paras ("Bugshroom"), Ditto ("Shapeshift"), Drowzee ("Snooze Boi"), and another Drowzee ("Trade"). I got two Drowzees instead of one because I traded the extra one for a Machop ("Muscle"). That helped me knock out every Pokémon in the Goldenrod Gym, including Whitney's Pokémon. I was actually nervous about losing, because my older brother, Dean, said that he had to replay that battle a bunch of times when he was a kid in order to win. Thankfully, Muscle destroyed her Clefairy before it could do anything, and he defeated Whitney's Miltank before its Rollout got too strong. Plus, apparently Rollout is a Rock-type move, which is weak to Fighting-type Pokémon such as Machop. After I beat Whitney, she started crying, and then I suddenly felt bad. After talking to her a second time, I got the Plain Badge from her, which lets me use Strength outside of battle and boosts the speed of my Pokémon a little bit.

It took me a long time to get an Abra, because even though it shows up 10% of the time on Route 34, it doesn't help that Abra's only move is Teleport. I decided to level up the Gastly I had gotten from Sprout Tower ("Boo Buddy") enough so it would learn Mean Look and make any Abra I found unable to sue Teleport, but I managed to catch an Abra ("Hard Catch") before I leveled up Boo Buddy enough.

Just for the record, I decided to nickname my Pokémon in Pokémon Gold, but not in any other Pokémon game. I have no idea why.

Pokémon Ruby - The goal of playing Pokémon Ruby focused more on beating Trainers than exploring new areas and catching Pokémon, but it was still fun. After leveling up all members of my party to 20 (except for Electrike, which I leveled up to 18, and Grovyle, which I leveled up to 22), I took on my rival May for the second time. The walkthrough on StrategyWiki said that her second battle was one of the hardest rival battles in the whole series, but it was pretty easy for me. Grovyle took out her Wailmer, Wingull knocked out her Combusken, and Taillow destroyed her Shroomish, all without too much damage from the opponent.

I got through Route 110 and got to Mauville City, where I got the Acro Bike from Rydel's Cycles. I originally got the Mach Bike, but it was too fast, so I switched it for the Acro Bike. Then I placed my Magikarp and my Nincada in the Daycare on Route 117 so they would level up. I am worried about Nincada leveling up to 20, because I'm not sure if I'll still get Shedinja in the extra party slot if it evolves into Ninjask at anything over Level 20.

I transferred one of my Pokémon to the Box in the PC with a Geodude I had caught in the Granite Cave. I leveled it up to about 18 or so (which didn't take as long as I thought it would, even though it was originally at Level 6), then I used Geodude's Magnitude to destroy Wattson's Pokémon in the Mauville Gym. I had a close call when Wattson's Magneton used Sonic Boom and chipped off a good 20 HP off of Geodude - 3 times. I had to sue Potions just to keep Geodude from fainting, and I wouldn't have had to do that if Geodude hadn't used Magnitude 4 (the lowest strength Magnitude can have, which only happens 5% of the time), twice in a row. Geodude didn't faint, thankfully, and I got the Dynamo Badge from Wattson. It lets me use the HM Rock Smash out of battle, which I got from a guy in the southeastern house in Mauville City so I could teach it to Linoone, one of my "HM mules."

Pokémon Pearl - I mostly just played this so I could level up my Abra, but I didn't play very much. I got through Route 204 and the Ravaged Path, and I got to Floaroma Town, but that was mostly it. I did want to try and beat Gardenia at the Eterna Gym and get the Forest Badge in Pokémon Diamond, but I never got around to it.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - I managed to get all of the Discoveries, Lore Books, and Crystal Berries in the game, with the exception of Discovery #50 (Giant's Lair) and two Crystal Berries only in Giant's Lair. This was on the first file, after I caught up to my progress on the second file. I deleted the second file because it felt redundant. Then I copied the third file (for Hard Mode) over to where the second file was, and then I deleted the original third file. I plan to use the Menu Code "HARDEST" when I make a new file for the third one to see just how much harder "Hardest Mode" is than Normal or Hard Mode. 

I got to the maximum rank, Rank 27, so now if I have the Medal "Bug Me Not" on, any enemy I touch will be defeated instantly. I also got to Rubber Prison, but I can't figure out how to get inside. I know I got it once before without a walkthrough, but I can't remember any way to get inside.

I ordered Pokémon Black a few days ago. It should come by Thursday or Friday."

CHRISTMAS 2020 WAS GREAT! SO WAS NEW YEARS AND MY BIRTHDAY AND STUFF! (January 21, 2021)

Thirtieth post from the original blog.

"I got back to writing in my red Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do-It-Yourself book, and I filled up the journal on Christmas Eve. It only took one journal entry to fill it up from where I had it because I had been writing in it since I started 4th grade (with the occasional journal entry in between 7th grade to now). In order to keep journaling, I got out my other Wimpy Kid DIY book (this one is orange) and picked up where I had left off at the end of 3rd grade (with a note after the last journal entry telling the reader to read the red Wimpy Kid DIY book before continuing). I don't know why I never finished the orange one, but if I had to guess, I think it would have had something to do with the fact that the drawings in the orange journal from when I was 7 and 8 weren't as good as the drawings I made when I was 9, and I didn't want there to be contrast. I think towards the end of 3rd grade I decided to give my drawings of myself lighter hair because my hair is a dirty-blonde color, and I didn't like how that contrasted with the older drawings that showed me with darker hair. Plus, there was the whole stick-figure thing that I was starting to outgrow as far as drawings that were more than mere doodles were concerned.

Frankly, the drawings I made in the orange journal were actually pretty bad (even for stick-figures), and my handwriting wasn't much better. The first few entries were just barely legible, but I still remember what I wrote, thankfully. I figured out my problem with drawing back then: proportion. Well, I figured that out when I was about 11 or 12, but better late than never.

I'm continuing where I left off in the orange journal with the rule to not change a single thing in it before where I left off. That way my life from when I was 7 and 8 will be preserved. At least certain bits of it, anyway.

Note that I planned to post this at around New Year's Eve, but for whatever reason, I forgot to post it, and it was just a draft. Therefore, this will be a longer post than usual, since the time covers almost two months instead of the usual one month.

As for what I got for Christmas, I got Pokémon Ruby, plush toys of Beedrill, Mewtwo, and Mudkip, and a few other things. I was going to get Pokémon Diamond for Christmas as well, but there was a big screw-up with the delivery time, and it almost got lost. It was supposed to come on December 1, but it got delayed to January 4, on my birthday. I'll talk about my birthday in a little while.

Pokémon Ruby - Considering the fact that the basic gameplay of each Pokémon game never really changes from game to game, that makes it really easy to get the hang of a (sort of) new Pokémon game (unless you're an idiot). I chose Treecko as my starter because I heard that he's the best starter in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald for beginner players to use. I personally wish that I'd chosen Mudkip, though, because he does pretty well against the battles in the Rustboro Gym as well as Treecko, and I think he looks cooler. Anyway, after spending a lot of time grinding Treecko to Level 16 so he could evolve into Grovyle (and all of my other Pokémon to at least Levels 12-14), I managed to beat Roxanne and get the Stone Badge. I also was able to grind my other Pokémon up to about Level 15-17, which was enough for me to beat Brawly at the Dewford Gym and get the Knuckle Badge. I was pretty diligent in playing the game enough to get a huge stockpile of berries to use later (just in case that the 10 HP boost from an Oran Berry is enough to win a certain battle or something), but then I stopped when my birthday rolled around to play Pokémon Diamond. Note that I'm using a walkthrough to play the game (along with every other Pokémon game I have) because for whatever reason, I can't emotionally deal with getting a Game Over in any Pokémon game like I (kind of) can in Super Mario, Kirby, or Bug Fables. That's also the reason why I spend more time leveling up my Pokémon than necessary for more skilled players, because even if I think of a good strategy, there's always that chance of a move missing, the opponent having higher speed or move priority, the opponent using a move that is super effective against my Pokémon, and a bunch of other variables that could break a strategy if you're either unprepared or unlucky. It's either level up my Pokémon to the point where they're somewhat overpowered relative to the opponent trainers (therefore negating some aspects of strategy), or risk having a clever strategy backfire because RNG just so happens to roll an unlucky number or something.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - I was able to beat Grass Land's main levels and get all of the treasures, and I even unlocked Mole Hole and Weird Woods. I beat Mole Hole, but I missed a treasure.

I also played this game with my little sister, Sam. She did better than I expected, but she still has trouble using the Pendulum transformation effectively. The bad news is that you need to know that in order to get through the game, and while Kirby's Epic Yarn is one of the easiest Kirby games I can think of, it's probably not the simplest.

Mario Kart Wii - I played this with Sam as well, and for a first-timer, she did really well. She even beat me in VS Mode a few times, but that was mostly because I let her beat me. Unfortunately, Sam still has trouble staying on the track all of the time, she keeps falling off of the edges in Mushroom Gorge and Toad's Factory, and she doesn't effectively use her items when she runs through an Item Box. I'm still proud of her for what she can do, though.

My birthday was just as good as Christmas, if not better. Not only did I get Pokémon Diamond, I also got Pokémon Pearl and Platinum, Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, plushies of Treecko, Torchic, and Crobat, some money, a bunch of cookies, and even a huge Pokémon puzzle (that my aunt Kristie, the one who gave me the puzzle, already solved and framed). I mostly just play Pokémon Diamond as my main Generation IV game, and I just play Pokémon Pearl and Platinum for the sake of trading. It works because I just put one Gen. IV game in my DSi XL, and another in my 3DS, and then trade with myself. It's a bit more complicated than I thought it would be, but now I have a legitimate chance of getting every Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex except for Manaphy, Phione, Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus (which are Mythical Pokémon).

Pokémon Diamond - Just like Pokémon Ruby, I got the hang of this pretty quickly, even though I used a walkthrough. When I started, I wondered why the text was going so slow, but then I realized I had to go into the settings within the game to change it instead of just the menu settings, which didn't exist. Anyway, I chose Turtwig as my starter. Difficulty-wise, it was a toss-up between Turtwig and Chimchar, but I chose Turtwig over Chimchar because StrategyWiki's advice was that Turtwig would be the best for players who like team building (which is me) and competitive multiplayer battles (which is nice, but doesn't really apply to me because the only multiplayer battles I can do are ones with myself). Anyway, I beat Roark at the Oreburgh Gym and got the Coal Badge. Then I went to Floaroma Town and got through Valley Windworks, and I beat Commander Mars. She wasn't as hard as I thought she would be, mostly because I used my Geodude for defense purposes. I also got an extra Zubat and an extra Geodude so I could trade with myself through Pokémon Pearl. I'll talk about that next.

Pokémon Pearl - Because my goal for Pokémon Pearl and Platinum is just to trade Pokémon from those games to Pokémon Diamond, I won't talk about Pearl and Platinum as much as Diamond, unless it's something big. Anyway, I started this game with Chimchar, and once I got to Jubilife City, I set up a Union Room with myself for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. I had one game in my DSi XL and another in my 3DS, and I traded the extra Zubat in Pokémon Diamond for my Chimchar in Pearl, so that way I had both Chimchar and Turtwig in Pokémon Diamond. Then I deleted my save file in Pearl and repeated the process with my Piplup. Now I have all three starters in Pokémon Diamond. I started a third time with Turtwig, and I'm keeping this file so I can just focus on trading Pokémon between versions.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - I started over on two new files (along with the first one): one to play from the beginning, and another to play in Hard Mode. I managed to get to Chapter 6 in Normal Mode on the second file, and I completed almost all of the quests available except for "Lost Books," "Want to Relive Memories...," and "Huuuuuuuuuu...!!!" I have about 2,000 berries in the bank, which is awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any Golden Seedlings, and the only Tangy Berry I could find for having Kut make a Tangy Carpaccio as part of a quest was a reward for completing 10 out of 50 waves in the Cave of Trials. Granted, I can always buy Tangy Berries from Skirby on Metal Island, but still. Anyway, the third file was when I did Hard Mode. I managed to beat Chapters 1 and 2 (with great difficulty, as it was Hard Mode). I also completed almost all of the quests unlocked for Chapter 2 and the beginning of Chapter 3, and I think I made it to the Lost Sands before I stopped playing on the third file."

SOME MORE STUFF HAPPENED. (November 30, 2020)

Twenty-ninth post from the original blog.

"Minecraft: Java Edition - I uninstalled Minecraft: Bedrock Edition from my computer because my older brother Chase had told me that that's what he had done on his computer (because Java Edition is better than Bedrock Edition because there's a little bit more stuff in it). Then I bought Java Edition with my own money and joined Chase's server, Pen Island. He had made a neighborhood that was also called Pen Island (which, for the record, is what I'm referring to when I say "Pen Island." It's the neighborhood, not the server). Anyway, Chase had made a big (but simple) wall around Pen Island, and he had made his house, a crop farm, a tree farm, a barn, an enchanting building, a huge mine, and a few other things. When I got on the server, after we made my house (it was mostly me that did it), we tore down the wall Chase had made so he could make a bigger and better wall that also went around the EXP farm that Chase had made around a monster spawner using a bunch of high-tech redstone mechanisms. The wall will take a ton of stone to make, so Chase said he was going to make a cobblestone generator or something so we wouldn't have to travel so far to get a bunch of stone. Chase also kidnapped some villagers from a nearby village and took them to this bunker that was sort of a village that Chase had made. I don't know how I feel about it, but I'm just glad it's a game. The idea is to trade with some villagers to get enchanted items (specifically pickaxes) for really cheap prices, so that way we can mine a bunch of stone quickly. There's more, but I'll talk about it later.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe - I got about halfway through Wild World, and I got all of the Sun Stones so far. I think I only died once.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - I got to Woohoo Hooniversity and am about to beat Cackletta. I got the Bonus Ring and the Great Force (among others) for completing some recipes at the Starbeans Café, so now most battles are a cinch. The only one I have trouble with is the one against Cackletta, but that's just because I want to beat her without getting hit even once. The reason is so I can get double EXP for having the Bonus Ring on, which only works if you don't get hit in a battle even once.

Well, that wraps it up for this post. See you soon, and have a good day!"

I DID INKTOBER. IT WAS FUN. (November 1, 2020)

Twenty-eighth post from the original blog.

"I did Inktober for October, and it was fun. I decided to do them digitally because I don't have an actual scanner, but while it was fun, it was a bit too much work to get them just right for posting and stuff. Plus, I traced most of them from already existing pictures using different layers in Photoshop, and I kind of felt like I was cheating, even though tracing something is okay (probably as long as you don't pretend you drew it all by yourself).

I also played video games.

Paper Mario - I already beat this like four times (and twice I beat it basically 100% (except for all of the hidden blocks)), but this time I'm going to beat it 100% (including the hidden blocks), and I'm going to read everything and play it (relatively) normally. I just beat Chapter 4, and now I have to do my least favorite Peach intermission: make that cake for Gourmet Guy. I can do everything easily except for the part where you have to bake the cake for 30 seconds (because no one would wait an hour for a cake to bake in a video game). The first time I did it, I tried just counting to 30, but I think I messed up somehow (I don't know if I was counting too fast or too slow), and I had to redo the whole thing again. Then I got out my phone and turned on the stopwatch in the Clock app as soon as I put the second cake in the oven, and then took it out when the stopwatch said 30 seconds had passed. I've used that trick ever since.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Story-wise, I completed everything up to Thwomp Volcano. I haven't gone there yet because I want to get every single bean in every single location, and I don't want to have to backtrack more than necessary.

Pokémon Gold - I had to get a new cartridge because apparently the first one never had a battery to begin with. That was strange, since I'm pretty sure the game stores save data onto the battery along with the clock. I got a full refund for the game, and I didn't even have to return it, so after I got the new game (for $50 instead of $15), I just threw it away. I don't know why anyone would want a game that needs a battery to work properly but doesn't have a battery in it. Anyway, I beat Falkner in Violet City and got to Union Cave before I just started grinding for EXP and Berries. Getting the Berries took a little bit of time, since you can only get one from a given plant once a day.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions - I'm pretty sure I got to Woohoo Hooniversity in the main game, but I can't remember how far I got in it. In Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, I completed almost all of the quests up to Gwarhar Lagoon except for the Captain Trials (that are probably better for endgame).

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey - I managed to get to the Flab Zone and complete it a little bit more than halfway through for the main game, and for Bowser Jr.'s Journey, I got to Bowser's Castle Dungeon.

I also found this person on Instagram named @Nekoama, and she draws Pokémon comics. They're about these three kids who are best friends, except that they're Pokémon. They can talk (except for Bulbasaur, who just says "Buh" repeatedly), and they always get into these wacky adventures. It's really funny."

POKÉMON GOLD TROUBLES (September 30, 2020)

Twenty-seventh post from the original blog.

"I got the video game Pokémon Gold a few days ago, but while I like the game so far, there were some issues with the copy I bought.

Pokémon Gold - I bought this game with my own money on Amazon. Most of the copies I found were about $50 or so, but I found one for only $15, so that was good. When it came, I was excited to play it, and I did, but there was just one problem. The in-game clock wasn't working. I figured it might just take a second for the game to register the time or something, but it wouldn't start. It was stuck at about 8:54 PM, the time I had put in when it was actually 8:54 PM. I did some research, and I learned that Pokémon Gold and Silver (and also Crystal) have a battery in the cartridge that makes the in-game clock work. If the battery dies, then the in-game clock will stop working, and there's a chance you won't be able to save your game. Thankfully I could still save, but the next morning, I just started a new file and set the clock to 10:30 AM so it would be daytime all the time and I could get the most Pokémon. I also noticed that every time I checked the time in the Pokégear, the day wouldn't stay the same, even though the clock wasn't running. Apparently that might have something to do with the dead battery, but that's just a guess. The good news was that I could get berries from berry plants every time the day changed every few minutes, but I feel like that's cheating. I bought some new batteries and a drill bit that can open the cartridge so my stepdad can fix it, which is good. The drill bit should come today, and the batteries should come in a week.

I also watched JaidenAnimations's Pokémon Platinum Nuzlocke challenge. I think I'm about two-fifths of the way through it. I would have watched it live, but I missed the first one and got behind. I also wrote a comic for her 23rd birthday on September 27, and I posted it to the Internet. I highly doubt she'll see the comic, but it can't hurt to dream."

HEY! WHERE DID AUGUST GO?!? (August 31, 2020)

Twenty-sixth post from the original blog.

"Okay, so I forgot to blog for pretty much all of August, and I'm sorry about that. I can't remember exactly what video games I played over the past month-and-a-third, so I'll just go over the highlights.

Paper Mario: The Origami King - I found a walkthrough for this game only a few days after I said that there weren't any walkthroughs for the game, and I used it to get almost all of the collectibles, Toads, ? Blocks, and Not-Bottomless Holes in the "red streamer" part of the game. I got all the way to the Big Sho' Theater, but I missed the collectible and the Toad I could have gotten on the part after the Wild West scene, and I (stupidly) deleted my save file because I was worried I had blocked myself out of getting 100% clear, since I couldn't think of any way to get back to where I needed to go after I (would have) finished the "blue streamer" part of the game. Oh, and I also got a Game Over while trying to defeat Rubber Band. I think that was what made me fed up enough to delete my save file. But on the bright side, I'm back in the Water Vellumental's shrine, which isn't too far off from Big Sho' Theater.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - I got every last Power Star in the first five worlds, along with most of the Power Stars in World 6 (except for the Grand Star in Bowser's Galaxy Generator, and one Power Star in the Slimy Spring Galaxy). I think the main reason I was able to do all of that without getting a Game Over was because I used the infinite 1-Up trick in the Supermassive Galaxy where on the planet with the Big Koopa Troopas and the Drill Shell, I Long Jump onto one of the Big Koopa Troopas and bounce off of its shell until I start getting 1-Ups, and then keep bouncing off of its shell until I get 99 lives.

There were several more, but those were just the ones I felt like talking about. I also finished Season 3 of Good Mythical Morning, and I'm about to start The Mythical Show before I watch Season 4."

I GOT A NEW VIDEO GAME IN THE MONTH I'VE BEEN SILENT. (July 20, 2020)

Twenty-fifth post from the original blog.

"As you could probably guess, I got a new video game. That video game is Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Paper Mario: The Origami King - I have to say, this game was better than anticipated. I already figured it was going to be good ever since I first heard of it two months ago, but I didn't realize it would be great until I actually played it for myself. I've already defeated (well, kind of) the Red Streamer on Overlook Tower, and from what I've played so far, I have to give it an 8 out of 10. The battle system relies a bit too much on puzzle logic instead of combat strategy, but other than that, it's fun. However, I will say that my OCD in relation to being a completionist when playing many video games (especially RPGs) makes it a tiny bit harder to enjoy when I'm trying to search for those last few Toads or ? Blocks or collectibles or Not-Bottomless Holes and I have no idea where to look. I know they don't have any walkthroughs yet for Paper Mario: The Origami King, so it's not like I can go on the Internet and look one up. At least not yet.

Paper Mario - Not only did I play the (as of this post) newest Paper Mario game, I played the oldest one, too. I think I got a little bit rusty with the Action Commands due to not playing this for so long, so I started over on a new file. I beat the prologue and Chapter 1, and I just started Dry Dry Ruins in Chapter 2 before I stopped. I think I got all of the available Star Pieces and Badges so far, except for the Badges at Rowf and Rhuff's shop that I didn't have enough coins to buy right then.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - I'm pretty sure I got to the final boss battle against the Everlasting King, but I kept getting a Game Over when trying to fight him. I found out that my issue was that I didn't have enough healing items, let alone strong ones. Not to mention that I was relying too much on HP and not enough on TP or MP. I didn't even seem to have the right medals on hand to help me out. I deleted my file (which might have been a bit stupid in retrospect) and started anew. I beat the first three chapters again, and completed as many sidequests as I could, as soon as they were unlocked. I also figured out that you can only use medals to pierce enemy defenses, not actually do more damage. You can only increase them by using Power Peppers, and only one can be obtained before you beat the game. The other is for post-game.

My brother Dean also came down from Idaho to visit. He was able to work from his computer, so that made it easier for him to see us. It was fun having him around, and I was sad to see him leave.

I also finished Season 2 of Good Mythical Morning."

WE WENT TO IDAHO TO SEE MY SIBLINGS. YAY. (June 25, 2020)

Twenty-fourth post from the original blog.

"As you probably guessed from the title, me and my family went to see my brothers and sister up in Idaho. On Tuesday, June 16, we took a plane from Nevada to Colorado, and then another from Colorado to Idaho. The whole thing took around four to five hours or so, and everyone just wanted to get to the hotel and hang out.

After we checked into the hotel and got everything unpacked, we went to my oldest brother Justin's house, where my other siblings Dean, Chase, and Kayla were staying for the week. Kayla made ritzy chicken (which is basically just homemade chicken strips with Ritz cracker crumbs as the covering instead of whatever they use for normal chicken strips) along with mashed potatoes, and they were pretty good.

I also played Pokémon Red while I was up in Idaho. I'll tell you the details along with the actual story, something I haven't done yet.

Pokémon Red - I recently got back into this a few days before we went to Idaho, and the reason I gave up on it for a few months was because the battles kept getting too hard. Well, I figured out the problem a few weeks ago: I wasn't taking enough time to level up my Pokémon. After realizing that, I took plenty of time to level up all of my Pokémon, and I easily managed to get the Boulder Badge and the Cascade Badge from Brock in Pewter City and Misty in Cerulean City, respectively. However, once I got to Vermilion City, things started going south. For some reason, I thought that once you got on the S.S. Anne, you couldn't exit the ship until after you were done doing what you needed to do. Apparently I was wrong, so the difficulty of the Trainer battles due to my Pokémon's levels being the same as the opponents was because I didn't level them up at all east of Vermilion City. Because of my ignorance, I deleted my progress and started anew. Luckily, I figured out that in the early-game, battling and gaining EXP on Route 2 (between Viridian City and Pewter City) is more efficient than battling in Viridian Forest (which is smack in the middle of Route 2) because Pokémon spawn about two or three times as often than in Viridian Forest, and the EXP difference per Pokémon is only a little bit less than in Viridian Forest (because of the lack of Kakuna or Metapod on Route 2). This was helpful because even though I had leveled up my Bulbasaur to Level 13 (so it could learn and use Vine Whip to take out all of the Pokémon in the Pewter City Gym each in one fell swoop), I still had my other Pokémon at only Levels 6-9, which isn't enough for the battles on Route 3. I kept battling to gain experience for Pikachu and Pidgey, and I got Pikachu up to Level 11, which should be good for the Flying-type Pokémon (Pidgey and Spearow) on Route 3, and Pidgey up to Level 12 (because Pidgey levels up faster in their earlier levels).

Anyway, the next day, after we went to Justin's house again and I played some Pokémon Red, we went to a park that had these electric bikes and scooters we could ride on. I wanted to play Pokémon Go at the park because you can find a lot of Pokémon at most parks, but I knew that you can't use your phone while riding a bike or scooter. It was still fun, though, and while I wasn't on the scooter, I did manage to catch a few Pokémon.

We also took a tour of the city and I caught a ton of Pokémon while we were walking around. Justin and his girlfriend Britney led the tour. Kayla's boyfriend also came to Idaho to see us, which was cool.

We went camping on Friday and Saturday (June 19 and 20), but I didn't like it very much. I wasn't very prepared for camping, since we hadn't planned on it ahead of time, and the whole experience was kind of boring. I did play Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, and Kirby's Blowout Blast. At least until my 3DS died. After that I just played more Pokémon Red. It was on the camping trip that I deleted all of my save progress and started over.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team - I've been playing this since the camping trip, and as of right now (as I'm writing this post), I'm trying to get the Expert Challenge for finishing a battle without getting hit by a Pi'illodactyl (as long as they attack at least once). I managed to get all of the Expert Challenges thus far, and I don't want to miss even one Expert Challenge.

Kirby's Blowout Blast - I forgot to mention in my last post that I got this game, along with Bug Fables and Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, with the Nintendo eShop cards I had gotten for my birthday. I managed to beat all of the normal stages in the game yesterday, but I still have the extra stages I need to beat.

Team Kirby Clash Deluxe - I bought all of the Gem Apples I could buy with real money (from the Nintendo eShop cards), and that was enough to make the tree in the village grow enough to where I could get 450 Gem Apples per harvest. Now that my Gem Apple needs are likely permanently satisfied, all I need to do to get enough materials for all of the gear in the game is to battle enemies and get Element Fragments and stuff. I already have a full set of Rarity 5 gear equipped (and Rarity 1, 2, 3, and 4 gear in stock). I also managed to beat the first two ordeals, against Kracko and Whispy Woods.

After getting back from Idaho, we just hung out. Unfortunately, since everyone was so tired, no one bothered to clean up the house, and now my room is messy. I would clean it up myself, but there are a lot of medical supplies I have that I don't know where to put them.

Anyway, that wraps it up for this post. Sorry it was really long."