Well, looks like Nintendo got around to publishing a national Pokédex after all. I found this little book a few weeks ago while browsing around Wal-Mart. It runs for about $18 (including tax) and should be wrapped in a clear packaging, so you can’t peek at it until you buy it.
I would like to mention that this Pokédex will not affect Pocket Monstrosity’s devotion to bringing you the same information. After all, from day one I’ve notified that this blog is not trying to trump other sites/books. I am simply offering a different way at organizing the information for you to reference. At the same time, I will not ignore this book’s existence. Allow me to show you what it has to offer in case you were curious about its details.
-------------------------------------------------
THE GOOD.
The first thing you’ll notice right away is that this guide is much smaller than traditional game guides. In fact, placed horizontally it’s only half the size of a normal guide. This is excellent for travel purposes.
 |
| The new National Pokédex's size compared to the one from Diamond and Pearl |
Even more, virtually all the Pokémon in existence (from Bulbasaur to Kyurem) are included in the guide. And you aren’t given vague information like in old guides saying, “Oh this alternate form or this particular Legendary isn’t yet available, so allow us to waste a bunch of space with just a picture of the Pokémon and nothing else”. All of Deoxys, Giratina, Shaymin, Rotom’s alternate forms and more are listed in-depth in the way of level-up attacks and TM/HM moves. The best part when looking at a Pokémon’s moves is that they are placed side-by-side with the rest of its evolutionary family! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Pokémon guide do such a thing, and something I’ve always hoped would happen. It’s incredibly helpful to be able to compare when each Pokémon learns its moves, and it’s much easier to spot out when there is an attack only a pre-evolution will learn.
 |
| A typical page spread of the Pokémons' info |
 |
| What the move lists look like |
Have Pokédex 3D on your Nintendo 3DS? All the AR markers for all the Unova Pokémon (including alternate forms) are included. Struggling to search for all the Pokémon in existence? The back of the guide is devoted to detailing all the areas and versions certain species are exclusive to, what Pokémon appear in Black and White after Link Trades or the PokéTransfer are performed, and information on the Dream World online. Don’t understand how Black City or White Forest works? That’s covered in-depth, too. Even more, the attacks and abilities index explains what each term does much clearer than previous guides - it actually lists everything Magic Guard does, for instance! This national Pokédex doesn’t waste your time with pages upon pages of optional Wi-Fi party games or articles on tournaments. It purely gives you what you’ve bought the guide for - to find out everything you need about the Pokémon.
 |
| The AR Marker box located at the top of each Unova species page |
 |
| Detailed information on catching version-exclusive Pokémon |
THE BAD.
Keldeo, Meloetta, and Genosect are excluded from this guide, but since they haven’t even been mentioned in America yet it’s not surprising.
If you’re looking for attacks Pokémon only learn in previous generational games (HeartGold and Soulsilver, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, etc), they are never mentioned. Personally, this information is vital - Pokémon like Scizor learn the ever-so-helpful healing move Roost in generation 4, but not in Black and White. Scizor does not learn any other healing move anywhere else. Without a previous generation move list, you wouldn’t know of that possibility. The attacks index is confusingly organized alphabetically by type. This is very frustrating if you don’t know or remember the type of the attack in question.
Every page has a little “Tips and Tactics” section for the Pokémon family’s highest evolutionary form, but it’s not the best information you can rely on for competitive battling. It mostly defaults to recommending all your Pokémon use offensive tactics and always use the strongest and most self-punishing attacks, such as Hyper Beam and Outrage. Not once does it ever mention say Flamethrower over Fire Blast - it’s not as overly powerful as Fire Blast, but its base power is still very reliable and it has much better accuracy in comparison.
 |
| Well, okay this may not be the best example, as Krookodile is an offensive attacker. But still, it doesn't even touch the fact that Outrage and Thrash cause confusion as consequence. |
And I will never, ever be able to stop complaining about the biggest issue of all: THE MICROSCOPIC PRINT. I love how small the book’s overall size is, but the text’s font suffers greatly to compensate. I swear, the font is practically smaller than size 8, it’s that hard to read. The little tick marks that rank a Pokémon’s stats from 1-5 are so skinny and smashed together that they just bleed into one mass; I can’t even count all the puny rectangles without either losing my place or causing eye strain. I would have gladly bought a guide with a bigger surface area if it meant my eyeballs don’t want to claw themselves out.
 |
| Looking at this image the way it is above is just a slight exaggeration of what it really looks like held at a comfortable distance away from your face |
THE UGLY.
Pokémon Black and White came out to America in March 2011. It’s been over a year now since then. Nintendo’s formula is to release a new version or group of versions every year, which means THIS GUIDE IS ALREADY GOING TO BE OUTDATED IN SIX MONTHS OR LESS. Black 2 and White 2 have been announced to be released to the US sometime fall 2012 (according to serebii.net). As I write, Kyurem has two alternate forms, all three of the legendary genies have alternate forms, and Keldeo and Meloetta are being offered during the next movie release(s) in Japan (which means their exposure to America may be coming close). That and direct sequels applied to the current generation of Pokémon always include/change a few extra moves for Pokémon to learn, be it Egg, Tutor, or (on a rare chance) level-up. Pokédex 3D will also soon be updated to include all Pokémon and not just Unova’s, meaning there will be hundreds more AR markers to track down. This requires the purchase of yet another guidebook if you simply must be up-to-date.
IN CONCLUSION...
The national Pokédex guide definitely gives what you paid for, it’s just that you need to get used to its tiny margins and all the information mashed up on each page. That and the fact it will quickly become outdated.
Regardless, if you do end up buying the guide or already own it, don’t worry. Here at Pocket Monstrosity I plan to create the pages for Kyurem’s and the genies’ alternate forms when their game information is released, no matter where I am with the rest of the guide at the time.
