POKEMON

Pokemon Psychic Type Guide – Weaknesses, Strengths, Counters

Pokemon has a lot more strategic depth in its metagame than one might assume. A lot of work can go into crafting your dream team of up to six Pokemon in a single party. Each creature has a set of roughly one or two different affinities, and those selfsame affinities…

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GUIDES

Pokemon Resistance Chart – Damage Type Resistance Table (2023)

Knowing your team’s strengths and weaknesses is half the battle in Pokemon. On the one hand, you should always know which monsters to keep in your party (of up to six) when deciding which weaknesses you’re trying to exploit on your opponent’s squad. However, for your own team’s well-being —…

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GUIDES

What Exactly is the Pokemon “Ironmon” Challenge?

For a long time, Pokemon challenge runs have tried to up the difficulty of the game. The classic example is the Nuzlocke, a ruleset that forces players to only catch the first Pokemon they encounter in an area and considers any fainted Pokemon dead and unusable. These challenges took off…

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pokemon ironmon challenge

FEATURES

FOLLOW US

The FFXIV Healer’s Kiss of Death, and Other Creative Player-Made Twists

In many modern games, achievements are like veins. They’re vital for circulation of blood, ideas, and life in a game’s body. Official achievements can range from finishing main storyline quests, earning impressive combat stats, or even “making mistakes,” so to speak. When I forgot to equip my characters with cards…

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FFXIV WHM BiS doesn't mean you have to clear Savage raids.

FEATURES

With Netflix-Style Business Models, Comes Netflix-Style Release Lineups

On this week’s 99 Potions, filling in for John and Natalie are fellow Fanbyte RPG friends Mike Williams and merritt k to talk about all of the biggest headlines in July. So get ready for Pokemon drama, Mike’s impressive toy collection, Star Wars video games, the Netflix-ification of games via…

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PODCASTS

I Was a Teenage Pokemon Gym Leader

I’m not that into the series anymore, but I still can remember the first time I played a Pokemon game. It was my birthday, and I unwrapped a gift from my best friend to find a copy of Pokemon Blue, the first game — along with Red — released in…

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Pokemon Gym Leader

FEATURES

N64 Pokemon Snap Heads to Switch Online, No News on Blockbuster Kiosk Locations

The N64 Pokemon Snap release is headed to Nintendo Switch Online on June 24, available to those of you with the Expansion Pack version of the service. And while that’s a well enough cause for celebration, I am distraught over Nintendo’s apparent decision to not revive long-dead video rental chain…

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The N64 Pokemon Snap is returning with a Nintendo Switch Online release, but I'm gonna miss the Pokemon Snap Blockbuster Kiosk.

NEWS

Ranking the New Scarlet & Violet Pokemon by How Tasty They Look

The Pokemon Company released a new trailer for the upcoming Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, the next entries in the mainline games. With the locale for this title moving to the majestic vistas of Spain and Portugal, there are a lot of new opportunities for Pokemon designs. There have been Pokemon…

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FEATURES

A Proposal for Standardizing Color Language in Video Games

Color is a tremendously useful tool in game design. Players come to associate certain shades and hues with different mechanics and systems, which can obviate the need to label them in more intrusive ways. But there’s a problem — even as some conventions have been established, nobody has proposed a…

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Pokemon

FEATURES

Happy 33rd Birthday, Game Boy!

33 years ago today, Nintendo released the Game Boy handheld device in Japan. It was a simple, unassuming thing, a large gray brick with four buttons, a directional pad, and an LCD screen that could only display shades of green. Only a few years later, Nintendo’s competitors began to explore…

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Game Boy

FEATURES

Logan Paul’s $5,275,000 Pokémon Card: A Review

I barely know who Logan Paul is. I will admit to watching a couple of boxing matches hoping to see him or his brother get knocked out by reputation alone, only to find myself disappointed in the ability of people who are good with their fists to deliver the kind…

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Logan Paul Pokemon Pikachu Card WrestleMania 38

WRESTLING

The Best and Worst Video Game x Beauty Brand Collabs

Beauty products and video games may not seem like the most logical match, but when the COVID-19 pandemic kept people around the world inside for months on end, many took solace in digital worlds — so it makes sense that brands might try to get in on that action. Makeup…

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FEATURES

How to Draw Rowlet in 7 Easy Steps

I love Rowlet so much. I don’t remember what life was like before Rowlet. A baby owl. A bird orb. A borb. A round owlet. A Rowlet. Ever since starting Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I think about Rowlet every day. (I really hope we can find one in Pokemon Scarlet and…

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FEATURES

What Your Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Starter Choice Says About You

With the announcement of Pokemon’s ninth generation, Game Freak also revealed a brand new set of starting Pokemon to begin your journey with. Starter Pokemon tend to become the most iconic monsters of each generation as everyone is guaranteed to get one of them and usually carries their chosen starter…

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FEATURES

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Revealed, Gen 9 Launching in 2022

Nintendo and developer Game Freak have revealed Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the next entries into the series’ main RPG franchise, and it launches late this year for Switch. During this morning’s Pokemon Presents, a short preview closed us out with an announcement definitely not on my Pokemon stream Bingo list…

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A New Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Trailer is Launching at the Ass Crack of Dawn Tomorrow

NEWS

Not Nicknaming Your Pokemon is Callous and Boorish

Every now and then, I remember there are some real sickos in the Pokemon world. And a few hours into Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I’ve been reminded of a subset of them who I had erased from my brain eons ago. But I suppose going back to a historic setting in the Pokemon universe…

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FEATURES

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond is Cute and Superfluous

After years of fans chanting at Nintendo employees, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have finally been released. Today, resident Pokemon veterans Fūnk-é Joseph, featured contributor, and Nicholas Grayson, Fanbyte’s brand editor, had a candid conversation about the series’ trajectory, Sinnoh’s many musical bangers, and why it feels a bit…

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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Review

REVIEWS

Gengar is a Chair Now and on an Unrelated Note Gengar Tongues Extend Up to Several Meters

The plush, purple Gengar armchair is a real piece of Pokémon merchandise you can buy right now. Assuming you live in Japan, of course The already-pricey piece of kitsch goes for $226 USD and is sold by Japanese retailer Cellutane. Though they’re not directly shipping it to the United States…

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gengar chair sit

NEWS

Pokemon Eggs Are My New, Ideal Gacha Game

I have a complicated relationship with gacha games, which means I have a complicated relationship with gambling. I’ve loved my share; one glance at the list of games tied to my Google Play library provides more proof of that than you’d ever need. But a necessary asterisk marks that love…

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FEATURES

Pokémon Unite’s Zapdos Turns Players Into Unstoppable Gods

When playing Pokémon Unite, TiMi Studio Group and The Pokemon Company’s new joint collab MOBA, there’s a moment when the tide of battle becomes intense.  The air shifts as the 10-minute match nears its end. Zapdos spawns in the central pit, and everything changes as players brace for a final…

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