Diamond and Pearl are getting tantalisingly close. Only a few of us will be playing it as soon as it hits Japanese shores (And lik-sang's warehouse) but D/P's launch is a universal thing as it gives official birth to the 4th Generation of Pokemon.
The 3rd Generation has been impressive. We may be blazé about it now, but you consider back to this time 2002, would you have expected a Red and Green remake (essentially a new set of adventure games, kept within the 3rd Generation by the fact they were remakes, not a continuation), a third game to Ruby and Sapphire as well as Pokemon's first ever 3D adventure, not once - but twice. Not to mention Pokemon Channel for the kids and a really rather large amount of Pokemon DS games for a system that's only been out a year and a half (Dash, Mystery Dungeon, Ranger, Link/Trozei)?
I think it's safe to say, especially with Battle Revolution following so hotly on the heels of Diamond and Pearl, that the 4th Generation will see a similar amount of activity - and I for one welcome it.
But it's not here yet, so let's give the third gen - the most expansive generation of the lot - one last hurrah. And how do we do that?
By training the shit out of them.
To all our benefits, Diamond and Pearl will allow us to transfer Pokemon over from the GBA games - which means that everyone can sit back in these waiting months and prepare Pokemon specifically for the transfer.
The challenge is simply to train yourself up a team of six Pokemon. The catch is that they all have to be trained to level one hundred - though I'm sure QQ wont find this too difficult.
You can, if you wish, cheat using Emerald and simply Rare Candy your way to the top and then correct the EVs using berries and vitamins. I'm not really interested in how you get to level 100, just that you do.
Every Pokemon must have a hold item, and each item must be different.
All Pokemon must know 4 attacks and can only use attacks they actually learn. No sharking
Each team may consist of one 'uber', classified as any of the following Pokemon:
Snorlax, Blissey, Chansey, Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite, Larvitar, Pupitar, Tyranitar, Bagon, Shelgon, Salamence, Beldum, Metang, Metagross, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Suicune, Entei, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-oh, Latios, Latias, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Mew, Celebi, Deoxys, Jirachi (I MAY have forgotten to list an uber, please let me know if I did, and understand that they aren't allowed).
You can only use one of each species of Pokemon or line of evolution in your team. So no teams full of Charizards or no teaming up of a Charizard and Charmeleon etc.
You have quite some time to complete this challenge, as the final deadline is the European release of Diamond/Pearl, though please don't simply ignore this topic until then - starting now and finishing/refining later is encouraged.
The purpose of this is to prepare a small Pokecharms Tournament for when D/P are fully available and we can all take them online. The overall winner will get some suitable treat at the time.
Oh, and if you already have some Pokemon trained, or are training them, please do not use them. I want people to be using Pokemon trained from scratch - either from caught in the wild or from hatching.
Post your progress/comments/ideas here, this topic will be stickied until the tournament can begin some time next year.