Mystery Gift

Today, I went to Toys "R" Us for a Manaphy giveaway event. I brought along my Nintendo DS and my copy of Pokémon Pearl, my roommate’s DS and Pokémon game, and a friend’s DS and Pokémon game, since I was the only one of us who was able to get the day off from work. It only took about an hour to bike there this time because, even though I didn’t really know the best roads to take, I knew from the Mew event which roads not to take. Upon my noon arrival, I was a little concerned to see scaffolding covering the entire front of the building. It looked like the store may be closed for renovation, but the full parking lot led me to believe otherwise. I chained up my bike at a neighboring store and walked over to Toys "R" Us which, sure enough, was open, although the fire alarm was buzzing when I walked in. Fortunately, that didn’t last too long. I headed to the electronics section and prepared to get in line to receive my Manaphy.

Getting Manaphy was remarkably simple. I stayed to the side of the line until I could get the three handhelds out of my backpack, then I fired up my game. From the main menu, I selected the Mystery Gift option and the Manaphy download appeared without me even having to progress in the line. So, I stayed out of everyone’s way while I retrieved the three Manaphy. As I did that, I was greeted by Corsair from the Mew event. He had, unfortunately, succumbed to using Action Replay. He also had a DS dev unit, his use of which was of questionable legality. It was intriguing, though, that he had the English version and the Japanese version of the game on the same card. We mixed records and swapped Friend Codes, then he had to leave to take care of his dog. I stayed until the end of the event at 3:00, mostly hanging out in the Union Room. I mixed records, checked out some of the attendee’s teams and exchanged a few Friend Codes. The name of my Blissey, NurseFatty, was rather popular with the younger crowd. Shortly after the event, I managed to take part in my very first Pokémon battle against another person.

I had just traded Spiritomb to this youngster when another kid approached and requested a battle. The youngster with which I had traded hastily accepted. His team of Level 100 Ubers easily felled the challenger’s team of Level 50 to Level 70 Pokémon without taking a single hit in their Double Battle. I then asked if he would like to have a Single Battle with me and he agreed, at which point he changed up his team since I had seen his two leading Pokémon. He opened with Dialga and I opened with Ninjask. I used Protect to see what he would do and he used Dragon Claw. Since I couldn’t safely switch Garchomp into that, I immediately Baton Passed my speed boost to Forretress, taking a little damage from Dragon Claw on the switch. He then switched to Groudon for some bug killing while I got off Toxic Spikes. I sensed the end was near for Forretress, so I used Explosion, which was preempted by Groudon‘s Flamethrower. Thanks to my Occa Berry, Forretress survived, barely, then Exploded in Groudon‘s face, taking it below 40% health. I then sent my Ninjask back out and immediately did a Swords Dance. Groudon used Flamethrower again, but my Ninjask held on with Focus Sash. Unfortunately, it got Burned and fainted at the end of the turn, before I could Baton Pass to Garchomp. So, I sent out my Timid Gardevoir and finished off Groudon with Energy Ball. He sent out Mewtwo, which got Poisoned by Toxic Spikes. I had to use Energy Ball again because of Choice Specs and, as a result, took a Shadow Ball from Mewtwo. My Gardevoir survived the hit, but she couldn’t take another one. So, I switched in Blissey, which made Shadow Ball useless. I finished off Mewtwo with Seismic Toss as it dealt negligible damage with Psychic. He then sent out Rayquaza, which wasn’t affected by the Toxic Spikes. It used Dragon Claw, taking about half of Blissey‘s HP, and Blissey used Thunder Wave, ensuring it would then be faster than Rayquaza. He started using Outrage, which would take Blissey down to about 30% HP, and I would use Softboiled which, combined with my Leftovers, nearly healed Blissey completely each turn. As that went on, I took advantage of Rayquaza occasionally being frozen by its Paralysis to get off a couple of Seismic Tosses. He eventually switched back to Dialga, which also was not affected by Toxic Spikes. I Thunder Waved it and Seismic Tossed it to death, taking some damage from Roar of Time and Earth Power. He sent out Speed Form Deoxys, which was Poisoned by Toxic Spikes. It got off Psycho Boost and Psychic as I Seismic Tossed it. Since he kept using Recover, and there was no longer anything to fear from Dialga or Rayquaza, I sent out my Garchomp, taking a weakened Psycho Boost and Psychic, after which I got off Crunch, finishing off Deoxys. He then sent out Kyogre, which I feared may know Ice Beam, so I switched in my Milotic. Milotic was hit instead by a powered-up Surf, which did less than 40% damage. I began to use Surf while my opponent started using Sheer Cold. He missed three times and I KO’ed his Kyogre. He then sent out his Paralyzed Rayquaza and I finished the battle with Ice Beam. It wasn’t flawless, but it sure was a satisfying victory.

The giveaway this year went very smoothly, leaving more time to interact with the other fans. Everyone was able to get their Manaphy so quickly that the line wasn’t even necessary. That and my intense battle at the end made the trip well worthwhile. I look forward to the next local Pokémon event, though I hope I’ll be able to get a ride, then. Fare thee well!