Covid-19 Farm - Year 1 Days 2 & 3 of Spring

This is the stream that I did during my lunch break today of Stardew Valley Day 2. Rona spent the day chopping wood and introducing herself to more residents of Pelican Town. Willy, he local fisherman seems to have taken a particular liking to Rona, he reminded Rona a bit of her grandfather... the one who did not leave her a farm in his will. The reason Rona spent so much time and energy chopping wood was in an attempt to get into the good graces of the Valley's villagers by repairing the bridge down by the beach. Elliot who lives by the beach thanked her, so she is optimistic her effort will pay off.



On a rainy day 3 of Spring Rona decided to try her luck at casting a line. She made a hike up into the mountains and caught about 10 fish before taking her haul home and heading to the beach to fish some more. There she found what looked to be a fossilized sea creature. She wasn't sure what it was and hopes she can find someone in Pelican Town that can tell her about it!



Tomorrow Rona will likely begin planning her next plot of crops now that she has some money for more seeds!

Covid-19 Farm - Year 1 Day 1 of Spring

I have begun playing a Stardew Valley file to go along with my Coronavirus quarantine. Once I am caught up with real life quarantine days I will play one day for each day of the stay at home order and we will see how far I can get. In addition I will be aiming to complete the community center in year one of this play through. I made some pretty big mistakes in my playing today but oh well. Here is the live stream from day 1 (my commentary volume is way too low I will fix that before tomorrow's stream), followed by my notes from playing.


Rona is my farmer. She has never felt she belonged which may be due to her brilliantly blue skin. She is hoping she will be able to find a place for herself among the people of Pelican Town so that she can finally have a place that feels like home. On her first day in the Valley she planted 15 Parsnip seeds, 5 Green Bean Starters, and 8 Mixed seeds she found. She also chopped wood, foraged for spring onions and other items for energy, and met each resident of Pelican Town she ran into, except for Haley who was too involved with her photography to notice her.

Tomorrow Rona thinks she will chop more wood so that she has more building supplies and she will attempt to meet more of the Valley Residents. She also still has not yet explored the northern regions of the valley. (Also my in game volume was a little loud so I will be turning that down a bit....)

Day 186 - Finished Emerald and on to Crystal

Not the LEGO content I am referring to,
but a blending of those two things...
Credit: Bricksafe.com

I finished Pokémon Emerald last week on Friday and now I have moved on to the superior (in my opinion) Pokémon Crystal. In Crystal Susan, my protagonist, started with Anthony the Chikorita, and at this point he is a Meganium and is joined by Cady the Phanpy, Muscle the Machamp (from a Goldenrod in-game trade), Joslyn the Pikachu (from the Odd Egg), and Rochester the Staryu. Susan has 7 badges and is currently storming the taken over Radio Tower!

I have not updated the Emerald page or made a page for Crystal yet, but I should have time to do that this weekend. As suggested in my previous post, due to Covid-19 quarantine I have more time for projects right now so I am branching out this site and its auxiliary locations such as the YouTube channel with additional and variable content. This will include a daily Stardew Valley live stream for the duration of my quarantine, as well as some LEGO content inspired by LEGO Masters on FOX. I hope you will enjoy and check it out!

Day 172 - Clearly I Have Not Been Posting

As you know he Coronavirus has kind of made the world a little hectic for a lot of people. Alissa and I have been ok. We had a wonderful vacation in Texas visiting my eldest sister. She took us to the rodeo which was very cool, honestly one of the coolest things I have ever been to. Otherwise we have just been continuing on with the normal. I am still looking for a new job, but I also have not yet been terminated at my current job. I have been working from home, which is not my personal ideal but is manageable. I beg of anyone reading this if you have know of a job opportunity that I might be a fit for to please reach out and let me know.

As far as Pokémon goes... I am still doing my challenge, but I am behind and I have not been posting. I should have finished Pokémon Emerald two weeks, but I am stuck on the post-game captures and training needs. In reality I should have finished another game in those two weeks but given everything going on there is no way I would've finished that game (Colosseum, which was one of my stretch goal games anyways). I might come back to it, but after I finish Emerald this weekend I will move straight to Crystal. Anyways, I am behind, but still going even if super casually for now.

I might catch up with Pokémon later, but right now I am choosing not to worry about it. My life is unfortunately stressful right now and I have not had the time or energy for a lot of the things I want to spend time with lately. So Pokémon might be he most responsible thing for me to "sacrifice" but as far as I keep playing I will keep posting updates and occasional other things on this site. I might expand beyond purely Pokémon content as well, just to keep things casual and relaxed I will focus on things that bring me joy. I hope you can understand.

Day 152 - Game Over

The weather institute was saved thanks to another instance of Martha's heroics! She rode away and congratulated herself by singing her song. That is she sang her song until she ran into Brendan. He heard her song and was not happy about it. He told her he was furious and would defeat her once and for all. Martha tried to cry her way out of it, but to no avail. So they clashed in a Pokémon battle! Martha won like she always had, but it did not make her feel any better she was humiliated. "I'm done with you!" Brendan declared, as he expressed his intentions of going home to help his father with research and to strengthen their familial bond. It was game over for Martha's prank, now what did she have to work for?

Thank you sole regular reader. I am grateful for your dedicated patronage here on my blog.

Day 150 - Happy Pokémon Day!

Happy Pokémon Day! No Martha updates today, but I have the continuation of her story in mind for either tomorrow or Saturday. Today in celebration of Pokémon Day I am going to go through and name a few of my Pokémon favorites! The family favorites must have the type as their final form primary type for simplicity sake. These are my favoritesas of today, February 27 Pokémon Day 2020.

Favorite Pokémon...

• Region: Johto
• Generation: Gen IV
• Starter Trio: Torterra, Infernape, Empoleon
• Game Set: Black, White, Black 2, & White 2
• Box Legendaries: Solgaleo & Lunala 
• Eeveelution: Jolteon
• Baby Pokémon: Elekid (although Toxel is growing on me)
• Pikachu Clone: Pachirisu
• Fossil Pokémon: Armaldo
• Mythical: Celebi
• Alolan Variant: Graveler
• Galarian Variant: Darmanitan
• Pseudo Legendary: Metagross (though this one changes regularly)
• Normal Type Family: Whismur, Loudred, & Exploud
• Fighting Type Family: Clobbopus & Grapploct (new favorites but Riolu & Lucario might win out in the long run)
• Flying Type Family: Noibat & Noivern
• Poison Type Family: Gulpin & Swalot
• Ground Type Family: Phanpy & Donphan
• Rock Type Family: Roggenrola, Boldore, & Gigalith
• Bug Type Family: Cutifly & Ribombee (I flip to Heracross for a week or so every couple months)
• Ghost Type Family: Litwick, Lampent, & Chandelure
• Steel Type Family: Skarmory
• Fire Type Family: Sizzlipede & Centiskorch
• Water Type Family: Wooper & Quagsire (Wooper could hold this spot all alone!)
• Grass Type Family: Chikorita, Bayleef, & Meganium
• Electric Type Family: Mareep, Flaafy, & Ampharos
• Psychic Type Family: Solosis, Duosion, & Reuniclus
• Ice Type Family: Snorunt, Glalie, & Froslass (my only branched family)
• Dragon Type Family: Goomy, Sliggoo, & Goodra (this changes a bunch too)
• Dark Type Family: Purrloin & Liepard
• Fairy Type Family: Flabébé, Floette, & Florges
• Type: Electric probably...
• Poké Ball: Premier Ball
• Champion: Cynthia (because I'm basic)
• Professor: Kukui?

How about you? Who and what are your favorites?

Day 149 - Prank Song

Everything was going swimmingly for Martha. She had 5 gym badges, including her very own father's badge. She also was still succeeding in pranking her neighbor out of a father, and he had a crush on him to boot. Things could not be going better for her, which is why she could not help herself from singing a little ditty to herself as she made her way East from Mauville.

I want to do the greatest prank,
Like no one ever has.
To steal a Dad is my real test,
To trick them is my cause!
I will travel across the land,
Research Pokémon.
To butter up Proffessor Birch
To catch him in my con!
Martha's Prank!
A new family,
So clueless they will be!
Martha's Prank!
Brendan, my new friend,
He's my brother in the end!
Martha's Prank!
I'll trick them all,
They'll be at my beck and call!
I'll prank you and you're the fool,
Mar-tha's-Prank!
A fake family!
A new family!

She was happy as a clampearl.

How do you like my prank song spook on the original Pokémon theme song?

Day 147 - Go Go Gadget Go-Goggles

Hot off of defeating Flannery for the Heat badge, Martha ran into Brendan. He was so excited to see her! He had an apology gift for her, to make up for making her cry the last time they had run into each other, the Go-Goggles. Martha hugged him gratefully and kissed him on the cheek, turning him Tamato berry red. Riding away on her bike Martha was feeling great! She was pretty sure she had tricked Brendan into having a crush on her, so much for him being suspicious of her prank.

Work is impossibly difficult and stressful right now. I need to figure out where to go in my life. I am frustrated by the fact that I am having to answer these questions that I thought I had answered in school years ago.

Day 145 - Who to Trust

Martha needed to put her crusade for the greatest prank aside for a bit. Team Magma was trying to blow up a volcano and that was the type of crisis that caused everything else to be put on hold. The confusing thing was that the criminals Martha had confronted earlier, Team Aqua, were also trying to stop them. Martha was really confused who she could trust. Her gut told her not to trust members of either team, no matter how charismatic they were. The question would have to wait until the current crisis was averted, if Mt. Chimney erupted there wouldn't be a volcano to erupt.

I have not been on top of posts since adjusting my schedule. I blame work, new projects and overall overhwhelmedness. Things have been a little hectic for me lately and I hope I find a better equilibrium here soon.

Day 144 - James

James had successfully defended his title of Indigo League Champion. He was the most skilled Pokémon trainer in the Kanto region, and as far as he knew his team was unmatched. He had traveled to every corner of Kanto and captured the birds of legend and the berserk clone of the ancient Mew. After finishing all of this there was only one thing that James wanted to do... play some video games. So he went home and turned on his NES so he could play and relax after a long journey. His mom didn't even mind. In her mind he had earned a nice break.

The real James is one of my Great Great Grandfathers on my fathers side. He was born in Sweden in 1875 and like many of my ancestors immigrated to the United States at a young age (7 years old). He ended up settling in Utah where he met and married his wife Mary Jane. Together they had 12 children. He worked as a farmer and stockman in Brigham City. He lived to the respectable age of 76.

Day 142 - Again & Again

James heard he had a challenger for his spot as the Indigo League Champion. A really strong challenger! He humbly knew that he was not ready. Luckily during his travels in the Sevii Islands he had personally met Lorelei of the Elite Four, and she had agreed to help him prepare to face his challenger. Even better still she had convinced her fellow Elite Four members to help as well. Together they all would battle, again and again, day after day, repeatedly! All of them were getting stronger and James felt he was slowly getting to the level he needed to be at to defeat his rumored ultra strong challenger!

Any loyal readers know of data analytics job opportunities? If you do, let me know on Facebook or Twitter @AllGamesProject. I am casually on the job hunt.

Day 140 - Caught "Dad" Handed

Martha was feeling pretty great about her prank's success so far. Brendan was not. He witnessed from a distance Martha's last attempt schmoozing his father with her manipulative words, and he was going to confront her about it. But first he needed to take her down a peg with a Pokémon battle! At least that is what he tried to do, but she outmaneuvered him and soundly beat his team. He was furious. "First you try to take my Dad and then you thrash me at Pokémon! Why are you trying to take everything you love away from me?!" Martha burst into tears and Brendan was immediately filled with guilt. Martha apologized through her tears that she never meant to hurt anyone and that she had just been feeling homesick and alone since moving to Hoenn. Brendan was immediately filled with guilt. "I am so sorry." he professed. "I will always be around for you if you need someone to talk to." he reassured her, "You can count on me to be a friend." He was able to comfort and calm her before they parted ways.

Tears always worked, Martha thought to herself as she watched Brendan ride away on his bike. Now things were a bit more complicated, but Martha loved a difficult prank. She just needed to step up her manipulation game a little bit.

I maybe got a little behind on posts... And I also may be a little behind on playing too.

Day 138 - A Really Big Cave

James was starting to be skeptical. All his research pointed to the mew clone hiding here, but this was a really big cave and he wasn't sure he'd find the failed experiment. He really had no other leads, so he decided he would search just a bit longer.

I hardly played today and I think I might be slowly falling behind even with my slowed pace...

Day 136 - Dad?

Hot off of her win at the Dewford gym Martha was feeling great! Things only got better when she saw Professor Birch in the distance. "Hey Dad." she greeted him, before feigning embarrassment and adding "I mean Professor... I am so sorry. I just look up to you in the same way I look up to my father."

"Ha ho ho!" Birch bellowed his jovial laugh.  "Not to worry I'm sure you just miss your father being away from him while on your adventure. Anyways have you seen my Brendan?"

Martha was elated, this could not have happened more perfectly. Not only had she planted the father seed, Brendan was failing at his sonly duties. She agreed to help the Professor in his stead and knew her prank was working! She was replacing her new friend fastest than she had anticipated.

Things at work are bad right now. If anyone knows about any data analysis or statistics jobs please let me know.

Day 134 - No Girlfriend

James had a girlfriend. "Had" being the operative word there. He had rescued a cute young lady named Selphy who was lost in Lost Cave. The irony was not lost on them and they bonded over the comedy of the situation. She was very flirty with James as he led her back to her home. Afterwards James could not help but think about her, so only a short while after their romantic encounter he returned to her home. She was there, but to his horror she did not recognize him! James had fooled himself, Selphy was not his girlfriend she was a girl with memory problems. James had no girlfriend.

It has been fun exploring the Sevii Islands and not knowing exactly what I will find on each island. I have not played anymore Emerald since Sunday's post.

Day 132 - Pokémon Emerald Begin

Martha considered herself a prankster. But one of her past pranks could hold a candle to what she was attempting now. Her new neighbor, Brenden, was running behind to go help his dad, Professor Birch, with research so she had gone ahead of him and saved the professor from a rabid Poochyena. Now she was going to make him favor her over his own son. It was the perfect prank!

Still working through the FireRed post game but wanted to get started on this new adventure! Also, its the most wonderful night of the year! I love watching the Academy Awards!

Day 130 - Not Done Yet

James was the Kanto Champion now. He had more then earned the option to spend some time at home with his video games. Despite earning it, he had no interest in going back to living in his bedroom. He felt he was not done adventuring yet. While earning badges and taking on the Pokémon league James had neglected his Pokédex and figured he might as well work on filling out a few pages for the good Professor. He did not want to let his neighbor Blue get all the credit for the historic undertaking!

Oscar prediction contest is now live! There might be a prize... I am still discussing this with the team. Join before the Academy Awards begin Sunday night! https://forms.gle/A6raL29g9TPckDvh9

Day 128 - Like a Video Game

As James was making his way to the Indigo League he got stuck in Victory Road. He asked a fellow Pokémon trainer the way through. "It is all one big puzzle. Move the boulders!" she scoffed. That is when James saw it. It was a series of puzzles much like the ones he would play in his video games before becoming a Pokémon trainer. With that view in mind James made short work of the Victory Road trial!

I sure love puzzles. On an unrelated note the Seven Samurai episode of the Shifting Expectations Podcast is live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Player.FM, etc.

Day 126 - Flying Home

This was a surreal moment for James. He was soaring through the sky atop a prehistoric Pokémon, flanked by a storm of ice, a cloud of lightning, and a ball of fire! He had not even wanted to leave Pallet Town and now he was on his way back with a most majestic posse. And he was not even going there to stay, he was going there to show off and to make his mother proud. He had been constantly changing his plans and telling himself "I will just do this one more thing before returning home" as a way of lying to himself about how much he was enjoying traveling with Pokémon. He was finally ready to embrace it all. He needed only one more badge before he could take on the Indigo League himself!

What are you lying to yourself about? Me, myself? I regularly lie to myself about how much I am trying to figure out my next step in life. I am unsatisfied in my current situation, but am afraid of the unknown associated with the options I have for the future. I need to do more work to know my next steps.

Day 124 - Not So Bad

With 5 badges of his own, James was beginning to admit that being a Pokémon trainer was not so bad. He had heard rumors of legendary bird Pokémon and figured he would soon have to test his strength as a trainer against them.

Its all I think about so you better believe I am plugging it again! ShiftingExpectations.com is live! Please check it out!

Day 123 - Maybe a Bit Further

Upon arriving in Vermilion City James was ecstatic! He immediately asked for directions to Diglett's Cave and headed that way. The mouth of the cave that would take him home to the conclusion of his journey sat across from the Vermilion Port. James noticed the luxurious S.S. Anne sitting in the harbor and remembered the party invitation and ticket Bill had given him. James thought a party was perhaps the perfect way to celebrate the conclusion to his journey.

While aboard the cruise liner he met some of the partying guests from around the world. Many of them were Pokémon trainers and invited James to battle. His Ivysuar Vine Whipped, his Graveler Rock and Rolled'Out, and his Pidgeot Regusted onlookers. His Pokémon preformed magnificently and won him every battle on board the ship.

After his impressive feat, other guests crowded about him asking James about his travels with Pokémon. When he explained he had two badges and that his journey was at its close people were flabbergasted. They insisted he was too talented to conclude his journey and pointed out how engaged and energetic he had been during each and every battle! Even the captain of the ship complimented him. James was surprised by their praise; perhaps he wouldn't return quite yet. After all there was a gym in Vermilion City, he might as well challenge it while he was in town.

My new project shiftingexpectations.com is live now! The project is exploring essential movies or more specifically examining so called "must watch movies" and what we can learn from them about film, about life, and about society. You can find the project's podcast on the website and basically anywhere you find podcasts (I usually use player.fm so I can listen to shows at triple speed). I am so excited to share this project and invite everyone to watch the movies along with us and share your experiences with us as we go!

Day 121 - Running Shoes

James's mom had sent him running shoes. It was the type of passive aggressive thing that she often would do. James liked how the shoes looked, but he was not going to run in them. Or at least that is what he had told himself. Then again he already had one gym badge and running to get a second one would get him home to his games quicker. That was the logic he used to justify running at least.

James ran to Cerulean City and ran a beeline to the Gym. He ran across the Gym's pool decks up to Misty and handily defeated her water type Pokémon with his Ivysaur. He was done! he had completed his Mother's minimum requirement and could go home. Unfortunately, Mt. Moon's Cerulean entrance was unreachable without a surfing Pokémon, which James did not have. He asked around and learned that in Vermilion City there was a tunnel dug by Digletts to Pewter City that could get him home. So he took off south towards Vermilion, he took off running.

I have been very busy and stressed lately with work and that other new project. It was meant to launch in fullness today, but we hit some technically difficulties. The website is live, but the first episodes will launch sometime tomorrow... If you want to visit the mostly empty website it is: ShiftingExpectations.com

Day 119 - Pokémon FireRed Begin

James's mother had had enough of her son. Quite frankly she was fed up with him. He was very lazy and spent every day cooped up in his room playing games on his NES and his computer. His neighbor Blue used to invite him to do things, but the constant rejection had caused a rift between the two children and the invites had stopped... James had no motivation to do anything and his mother wanted to change that. She had heard that the local Professor Oak was employing his grandson to help create a Pokémon encyclopedia. She begged the spry old man to put her son to work as well. He had begrudgingly accepted the proposition, thinking he could use this as an opportunity to study the impact of spending time with Pokémon on an individual's personality and temperament.

With a plan in mind now they just needed to push James out of the nest. And push they did. Without telling him why his mother had sent him over to talk with the professor. By the time he was back home with a Bulbasaur in tow his mother had locked him out of the house. She left him a note on the door saying he could come back after filling 25 pages in his new Pokédex or obtaining at least 2 gym badges. James was not happy about it, but what could he do. He agreed to help the Professor, but he refused to be diligent or efficient about it.

Day one of my new schedule. Unlike James I am very excited about this new adjusted approach. My challenges right now are quite different from his. I am struggling to make the decisions I need to make about how I will continue to participate with my current church congregation. It is a stressful thing for me to think about, but my current participation is not working for me. My family has been told and shown that we are not fully welcome at church and that has been a quite painful thing for me to accept and adjust to. I am sitting here in my favorite church meeting writing this as I wrestle with the dissonance of the things I want and what is realistically available. I'm open to suggestions so long as you are willing to take the time to talk with me long enough to understand my current situation.

Day 118 - Forest

Forest had done what he set out to do, and he was satisfied. He had become Kanto's greatest Pokémon trainer. He had not let anything stop him since his initial standoff against his childhood friend Blue. Not the Rocket Gang, nor Professor Oak's Pokédex project.

The real Forest is a Great Great Grandfather on my father's side. Unlike so many of my protagonist namesake family members he was not born in Utah, but in Georgia. However, his life's concluding years were in Utah.

First was born at the beginning of the year in 1867. In his youth and young adulthood he worked hard to save money. By age 26 he had saved $500, a hefty sum in that day (about $14,000 in 2020). He used those savings to open a small storefront and that venture eventually led to him blacksmithing. Forest was always an entrepreneur at heart, although he consistently supported his family through farming.

In 1908 Forest lead his family in converting to Mormonism. That decision impacted the rest of Forest's life.  It sparked a curiosity in him about the west that had his family move between Georgia and the Rocky Mountain corridor multiple times before selling in Utah. Though originally enthusiastic about Mormondom, Forest was regularly disappointed in how unchristian his fellow saints treated him and others and at the end of his life he had stopped worshipping with his congregation.

His happiest times once he was old were when he was visiting his family back in Georgia. Late in life Forest took up bee keeping, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He was a good man and perhaps his greatest flaw was trusting others too much. He passed away in 1934, having worn his body out over the hard works of his life.

Day 116 - George

George had become a completely different person. He was no longer the scared neighbor of the Champion, but he was now the Brave Hero and Champion of Galar! He had stopped Eternatus and prevented a repeat Darkest Day, and he had defeated the formerly undefeated champion Leon. When George thought about all the self doubt he had been filled with when he left Postwick, he hardly recognized himself. He had made friends and grown so much over the course of his journey!

The real George is my father. He was born near Blacksburg, Virginia (breaking my ancestral Utah pattern) while his father, Whit, worked at Virginia Tech. He is in the middle of his 11 child household. He moved with his family to Michigan when 10 years old where he spent the remainder of his adolescence. As a young adult he learned Spanish while serving a Mormon mission in Southern California before attending Brigham Young University where he met and married my mother Amy. He got an Accounting Degree and then attended the Law School. He has worked in Tax Law Accounting ever since. Wow I sure made my father sound like the most boring person ever. I guess thus far I have only described what he has done, but not who he is. My father, George, goes by Wally. he loves babies and toddlers and they love him. His biggest hobby is gardening and given the option to work in his 9 acre yard or do just about anything else he will choose to work. He loves anything related to BYU sports. He is a deeply religious man and his faith comes to the forefront in nearly every conversation he has. He is very caring and loving and is good at listening wholly, to those he sees as in need, and after listening he acts in whatever small or big ways he can to help. He is a good man. He and I are different in most ways, I feel, but are the same in the most visible ways. I look a lot like my dad and I talk like him too. I can escape the comparison, so I try to emulate him in his best ways.

Day 114 - Detours

Forest had to take a detour from his beeline path to becoming champion and he was not happy about it. Team Rocket... or whatever they were called, just had to shut down a gym as a part of their takeover of Saffron City. If they hadn't, Forest would not have paid them any attention at all. Whatever, it was thier lose. Forest was the type to demolish anyone who got between gim and his goal.

My other project is launching soon, stay posted.

Day 112 - Shy

George had never been a very outgoing person. He had always felt the most comfortable on his own. However, this did sometimes mean he was lonely. He wished he had the courage to be less shy. In Hammerlocke he met a child who wanted to tell his girlfriend he loved her but was scared, so he asked George to lend him an Applin to act as a symbol of his love. With the Pokémon by his side he was able to awkwardly express his feelings to the girl he loved.  George was inspired by the kid's courage and wondered if with Pokémon by his side he could have that same courage?

It has been trickier than I anticipated juggling two games at once.

Day 110 - Pokémon Red Begin

My starter choices for nearly every
game came from this image.

Forest was a non-stop person. When he started something he worked hard at it until it was done. What did that mean for him when he received a Bulbasaur from Professor Oak? It meant he was going to work hard until he was the best Pokémon trainer there was. Nothing was going to get in his way to achieving that goal! Jungle was already a Venusaur, and he was studying his opponents to know how to best complement his lead and round out his team. He had already caught a Mankey, but he had only just begun.

Pokémon Sword is on the Switch, and I have decided to not take it on my commute with me. If the system fit better into a pocket I would take it, but it doesn't. In its place I am also playing through Pokémon Red while out of the house and will play Pokémon Sword when at home. While playing these two games concurrently I will trade off on which story I post about. I was originally meant to begin with Pokémon Red so hopefully the game saves consistently this go through... so far no issues, but I am nervous.

Day 109 - Pokémon Sword Begin

George was a nobody, but his neighbors were real somebodies and that made him feel small. The champion Leon was undefeated and incredible, how would George ever measure up? And his brother Hop was so optimistic! He was surely destined for greatness! George only hoped that with his new partner Scorbunny he could somehow measure up.

So long as I finish this game by the end of this month I will have proven the case that I can complete all of the Pokémon games within a single year. That is 2 full weeks which should be more then enough time. I have projected it take 8 days and so far the longest game took me 10 playing days. I think I will be fine. Stay tuned because when I finish this game I will be announcing a few changes to this project!

Day 108 - Vilate

She had served and protected others side by side with the authorities of many organizations when she recovered Alola's light from Necrozma. She had solved the mystery of Lillie's Pokémon and worked with it to tear a hole into the mysterious Ultra Space. And she was the premier Pokémon League Champion in Alola. Vilate had three clear goals when she set out on her Pokémon adventure, and she has completed all three. She was well on the path to being a fantastic Pokémon Detective!

The real Vilate is the same person as the real Nina. I did not have time to write about her after playing Pokémon Sun though so I am here to rectify that. Nina Vilate was my maternal Great Grandmother. I met her a few times in my youth, but I mostly just remember her seeming very old. It was fun to visit her home in Kanosh, Utah; however, I never spent much time with her when we were there.

Nina was born in 1911 and passed away in 2008. Her father was Russell, who drowned when she was young which means she largely grew up without a father. As far as I know she was the first person in her family to attend college, attending LDS Business College in 1930. Also in 1930 she married Mark. Nina often volunteered with 4 H teaching young girls to sew and to cook. She was a a very active woman and her favorite hobby was to work in her yard. She even mowed her own lawn until she could not anymore at 90 years old. The other hobby she was passionate about was needlework, and she was well known by the community for her beautiful quilts. She also loved to read. I am grateful to have been able to meet this wonderful woman!

Day 106 - Rescue

Vilate finally got to do some real police work. Nanu, the Ula'ula Island police chief, had asked her to save a Pokémon from Team Skull. It was difficult, but Vilate had succeeded! She felt likew a hero!

Day 104 - A Great Poké Detective?

Vilate was not so sure about the man she met who called himself Looker. He called himself a member of the Global Pokémon Police, yet he seemed like such a simpleton. He had even shown Vilate his badge, but it still just did not make sense to her. There was one thing that Vilate was sure of though, if a man like this could work in law enforcement then she definitely could. Also meeting him checked off another one of her initial goals.

I'm on a roll right now this is day 4 of consecutive blog posts!

Day 103 - Mallow Special

Vilate had just completed her final Island Trial on Akala Island, with Mallow in Lush Jungle. You would think that would have her walking on cloud nine with multiple Altaria flying around her. But unfortunately for her the trial went about as poorly as she could have hoped. When she arrived and learned Mallow would have her collecting ingredients so they could cook a dish to summon the Totem Pokémon, Vilate had been intrigued. When Mallow explained that she would need to follow her clues and be careful in choosing ingredients as to not upset the wild Pokémon in the Jungle, Vilate had gotten quite excited! Finding the right one of each ingredient would be just like detective work!

Unfortunately it did not go over very well for Vilate. The Mago Berry she had collected had been so plump and juicy and even a little sticky, she had been so distracted by how good it looked she hadn't noticed the Fomantis eyeing it in the bushes. The Honey she gathered was from the most beautiful flowers, Vilate had not considered if their beauty would matter in considering the sweetness of the honey. A Comfey had considered her messing with its flowers as not sweet at all. The tree she had dug up a Big Root from under had not even been a tree at all but a Sudowoodo, how had she not noticed the face on the tree? While they were preparing the Mallow Special all 3 of the Pokémon she had upset attacked. Her own team of Pokémon were worn out by the time the Totem Lurantis arrived and Vilate had needed to use a few revives to defeat the super powerful Pokémon and to complete the trial! And she still barely won.

This whole ordeal was making Vilate double think if she had what it takes to be a detective at all.

I made some predictions for the Pokémon Direct that aired this morning. Check out that nonsense via the link!

Day 102 - Phyco and Soliera

Vilate had met a lot of people since moving to and traveling across Alola, but no one seemed more interesting to her than Phyco and Soliera. These two people wore clothing that covered all their skin  completely except their mouths, and they discussed Pokémon as if they were only things to be feared. They were full of questions, but not too keen to answer the questions about where they came from when Vilate asked. They seemed so otherworldly Vilate couldn't help but wonder if they were somehow connected to the mystery around Nebby, Lillie's strange Pokémon. It was a lead Vilate had to follow.

Before tomorrow's Pokémon Direct I wanted to publicly declare that I think Game Freak will not release a mainline Pokémon game in the year 2020. That means no Diamond Pearl Remakes, no Gen 9, and no SwSh Deluxe versions. I think they will take the year off. In 2021 I predict they will release SwSh Deluxe editions, probably called MaxSword and MaxShield (MSMS), and in 2022 they will release diamond Pearl Remakes, likely called EternalDiamond and CelestialPearl (EDCP) or something like that. This is all recorded now so that if I am at all correct I will be considered a Pokémon savant of sorts. Also, by tomorrow morning the website's extra detail pages should be caught up to my current play status.

Day 101 - Many Mini Mysteries

Vilate was doing well at improving as a Pokémon trainer; she had already defeated the Melemele Island Kahuna. She was having less luck solving her mystery regarding Lillie and her mysterious Pokémon. She had collected a few minor clues and had finally gotten to encounter her alien creature, but that was about all the progress she had made. Yet there was a new mystery that she had been introduced to that had things going much better for. Perhaps it is better to say mysteries. She had been introduced to the Sub-Island Challenge of collecting Totem Stickers around each of the islands. Tracking down each sticker felt like solving a minor mystery and this silly task was at least partially scratching Vilate's detective itch!

I really should not have missed making a blog post on my 100th day... It was a milestone for my blog! Oops... I'm glad things have overall gone quite smoothly for this project. I have been having quite a bit of fun so far! I am over a 3rd of the way through the games and nearly a 3rd through the year. Things have been busy, but good this week. Alissa took me to try Acro Yoga tonight, that was a crazy and strange experience.

Day 99 - Pokémon UltraMoon Begin

Vilate wanted to be a detective when she grew up. Before moving to Alola she made a list of 3 goals that would help put her on the path to becoming one.

1. Become a strong Pokémon Trainer
2. Solve a mystery
3. Assist the real authorities

Now that she was in Alola she was already much closer to completing these goals. She had recieved a Pokémon, a Popplio she named Perry,  and caught another, Orrin the Inkay. Having Pokémon was the first step to becoming a strong trainer. She also had found a mystery to solve: her new friend Lillie had a Pokémon that she was hiding. Vilate had decided she would solve the mysteries of where the Pokémon was from and why Lillie was hiding it. 

I'm back to making regular posts. Over the next week I'll get the site in order. 

Behind

I have finally fallen behind schedule, well my adjusted schedule after getting ahead of schedule and finishing a few games early. All is well abs after defeating the elite four and champion, thus completing Let's Go Pikachu, I will have time to get the website back in order. Thank you for your patience.

Nevermind... I stayed up late tonight and finished it with Alissa's company and help. Thanks lover!

Catching Up

I am still largely getting caught back up with things at home and at work. Not only do I lack time for updating the details of the site I also have not had much time to play. Let's Go Pikachu might go longer than scheduled.