Introduction

Good day to one and all. I am Lorak, and I will be your guide through the distant lands of Orre. I've played the main game series from Red and Blue for the Game Boy up to Platinum for the DS, knowing most of the game mechanics inside and out. Having completed at least four playthroughs of the game, I believe I'm qualified to do justice to the title, and hope to present this game in a manner understandable and enjoyable for both those new to the franchise as well as Pokémon master trainers.

In Pokémon Colosseum, we will encounter, amongst other things an annoying tag-along who has the ability to detect Shadow Pokémon , whose door to their hearts have been closed, including the running legendary beasts of Johto (the only ones with good IVs and natures for those who care about those mechanics).

Spiffy Point: Featured on the box art are Kyogre and Groudon, two Pokémon not able to be caught in this game. This is the first Pokémon title to do such an act.

For those of you familiar to the mechanics of Pokémon, skip to the third question. To those who know the game premise, skip to the section labeled Intro.

Q&A (to be updated as need-be):

* What the heck's going on, what do all these weird terms mean? D:
In the hope of not completely overwhelming you, the reader, with an excess of information, after the intro and first section, a simple definition will be provided for commonly-used terms; some may be discussed in greater detail, on a need-be basis.

* What's a Pokémon?
A fun little murderbeast (and/or loyal commandable partner with friendship, determination, etc.) you travel with to beat other people's murderbeasts. You carry around with you in spherical, baseball-sized, capsule-like devices known as Poke Balls. In order to catch a Pokémon (and add it to your party), you must use one turn to throw some variety of Poke Ball at a given Pokémon. This gives you a chance to catch it, based on how easily caught a given species is, as well as how low its health is and its given status. In short, lower health equals easier to catch, but damage it too much, and you will lose the opportunity to catch it. In the portable games, you can only capture wild Pokémon, found in a variety of environments; stealing Pokémon from other Trainers is more than frowned upon (and, in fact, impossible to do without a game-altering device in the portable Pokémon games).

* What makes Orre (the region this game takes place in) so special? And where are all the wild Pokémon (random encounters)?
Wild Pokémon, here? Nah. None of that. Orre isn't too fertile a region. Based loosely off of real-life Arizona, the desert-climate Orre region lacks random encounters, or any patches of grass to wade through (the usual source of random encounters in the portables), for that matter, which is quite odd for a Pokémon game. It also lacks Gym battles, unless you count one optional Gym, where the only prize is a Technical Machine. Johto, if you read the spoilers above, is the region that the Game Boy Color games Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver took place in.

* And what's so different about this game from the ones on the GB/GBC/GBA/DS?
Pokémon Colosseum (and its successor, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness) are different from the portables in a few ways. First, and most obviously, the environments, characters, and Pokémon are fully 3D. Unfortunately, the camera cannot be moved, and merely pans with your character. Second, all battles are conducted as Double Battles (see next question). Third, as mentioned before, there are no wild Pokémon. A Pokémon game without Pokémon to catch? Well...

* But the title...
Finally, there are certain Pokémon known as Shadow Pokémon. These Pokémon can, in fact, be stolen from other Trainers, using the lovely device on our protagonist's arm, known as a Snag Machine. Designed by a villainous organization in Orre, the device, in short, allows its wearer to steal Pokémon from another trainer. This sort of in-battle theft is impossible unless the main character has this device, found only in Colosseum and XD. Spoilers for the rest of the information, which isn't all that important, but somewhat noteworthy: The Snag Machine worn by the protagonist is a portable version of a much larger device found after the end of the main story. Both convert Poke Balls of all varieties into Snag Balls; the larger devices convert them far before the use of the Snag Ball, where the portable version converts it immediately before the Snag.

The Shadow Pokémon gimmick is exclusive to the Gamecube games; never before or after these two titles have even an utterance of Shadow Pokémon, their mechanics or their moves been mentioned in the portables. More details about them will be updated as the game progresses.

* Double Battles?
Pokémon battles are usually conducted on a one-on-one basis, known as Single Battles. During their turn, the trainer commands their Pokémon to attack, withdraws a Pokémon and sends another out, or uses one item. During Double Battles, a trainer gives one command for each of their Pokémon. That allows for many permutations of the above, such as ordering one Pokémon to attack while an item is used during the other turn. Pokémon can be ordered to gang up and attack the same Pokémon, or two different Pokémon. In this respect, you are given two Pokémon to start with, instead of the usual one, making Colosseum the only "traditional" Pokémon game to do so. (Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness only gives you one starter.)

This LP will primarily be video-based, but will offer screenshots as well. The battle animations are slow compared to those of the portables, and cannot be disabled. All subsequent battles will be edited out of the main videos, except important ones. Included with updates will be information I didn't believe video subtitles could convey well, as well as separated battle videos; if you wish to watch how the battle progressed, which generally adds nothing to the story, you may watch it. It will be inserted as a link in its general place in the timeline of the update.

Also included will be spoilered "Pokémon Poopsock" sections: these sections give a semi-brief explanation of some of the game mechanics not required to beat the story mode of the game, but are useful for competitive play and for those who like to optimize their Pokémon's efficiency. Feel free to ignore them if you don't care, or read them out of curiosity.

The Let's Play Archive

Pokemon Colosseum

by Lorak

Introduction

Table of Contents