E-mail me at:
cod@compusmart.ab.ca

Pokemon goods - there are so many in Japan that it's simply mind boggling. Japanese students go to their daily classes with a Pokemon bookbag with Pokemon notebooks and Pokemon pencil cases and Pokemon pencils. Parents of these children can do their laundry with Pokemon laundry detergent, and in a pinch, can whip up some Pokemon instant curry for supper. There's virtually a Pokemon everything out there in Japan.

Here are the Pokemon goodies I managed to collect in the past few months!

Pokemon stickers! These are the stickers Nintendo of America was distributing to the press at their booth at E3 1998! There were seven sheets per press kit, with six big stickers of the more popular Pokemon on one sheet, and six sheets with twenty-four stickers each of the other Pokemon. The some of the names on the sheets don't exactly match the names that will be given in the game, but the names were subject to change, after all. ^_^; (Examples of that are Aria and Pidge.)

Sticker Sheet #1 (Pikachu, Meowth, Snorlax, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur)
Sticker Sheet #2 (#002, Ivysaur to #028, Sandstorm)
Sticker Sheet #3(#029, Female Nidoran to #053, Persian)
Sticker Sheet #4(#054, Psyduck to #077, Ponyta)
Sticker Sheet #5(#078, Gallop to #101, Electrode)
Sticker Sheet #6(#102, Exeggcute to #125, Electabuzz)
Sticker Sheet #7(#126, Magmar to #150, Mewtwo)

One would think that bleeps and bloops would sound annoying, but actually, the soundtrack isn't that bad. What you see to the left is the front cover; the back and middle covers have Bulbasaur and Squirtle on them, along with their evolutions. There are two CDs; the first 45 tracks of the first CD contain slightly enhanced versions of all the music in the game, and the rest of the tracks on that CD and the second one contain Pokemon Zukan (Pokédex) entries in Japanese. The last track contains a remix of the boss battle theme with Pokemon "voices" and all of the sound effects, played one after the other. There's a map that comes with the CDs that's actually quite handy if you're lost in the game, since it tells you the order that you have to visit every location.

Pocket Pikachu! Unfortunately, the pictures I took of my own unit didn't come out too good, so I'm forced to use a commercial graphic (ugh). If you want more information about Pocket Pikachu, visit my Pocket Pikachu section!

Pika! This is one of the gifts Shou gave me for my wedding! If you hold it in your hand, the lovable denki nezumi (electric mouse) will say "Pikachu?" and his cheeks will blink! An extremely popular item in Japan. ^_^

"Pokemon Hikerukana?" is actually a set that consists of a 80-page book and a CD. The book teaches how to play the piano through remixed pieces from the Game Boy game, and it includes practice tracks on the CD. The book itself has pictures of all eight Gym Leaders, one of the Elite and one of the main character's rival, and it's in full colour with a sticker sheet that you can paste on an achievement card everytime you complete a lesson. Me being a music freak, I just couldn't help getting it. ^_^

Yes, people, this is the CD that has a compilation of most of the original music from the Pokemon anime series! If you've played the Game Boy games, then you'll recognize a lot of the music as they're remixes of the original musics. It comes with a CD-sized hardcover book that has descriptions of when certain musics are heard, as well as some screen captures from the anime. The CD is worth getting, but unfortunately, I could only find it in Japan and mail-order stores don't carry it. Keep looking, though!

"Ah, akogare no! Pokemon Master ni! Naritai na naranakucha zettai natte yaru!" Man, I love this song... Anyways, Mezase Pokemon Master single CD is actually the single CD that has the long version of the opening theme of the Pokemon anime, along with a karaoke version of the same song and three other songs that I honestly can't tell you wahat they are because I don't like them. (One of them is the song they play for the Japanese Pokemon card game commercial, that's all I know.) The CD's very cute, actually, since it's a mini-CD (the newer CD players and CD-ROM drives can handle them without problems) drawn to look like a monster ball (Poké-ball). This one's easier to find, actually, and it's great to have if you love the song. ^_^

I have a bunch of other things (Pocket Pikachu book, Raichu doll, etc.) but I'm still trying to find a way to take pictures and scan them, so stay tuned!

Special thanks to the Keeper of Crystal Earth for scanning the sticker pages and the Tenohira Pikachu picture!