The Adventure Begins

The start of each Pokemon game in the series has a shared tradition in that before the game can begin to be played there are certain things that you need to do, including creating your character – which in Pokemon White 2 is accomplished as part of the scripted starting. Once you turn on the power and load the game, you are prompted to hit the start button and then start a new adventure. When you do that you are presented with the image of the Pokemon Professor standing in wait for you, tossing a Pokeball up and down in her hand.

“Hi there! Welcome to the world of Pokemon!” she tells you. “My name is Professor Juniper. Everyone calls me the Pokemon Professor!” she explains, and then tosses the Pokeball she was holding onto the ground, and out pops a Pokemon!

“That's right! This world is widely inhabited by mysterious creatures called Pokemon!” she explains. “Pokemon have mysterious powers. They come in many shapes and live in many different places. We humans live happily with Pokemon! Living and working together, we complement each other. We help each other out to accomplish difficult tasks. Having Pokemon battle one another is particularly popular, and it deepens the bonds between people and Pokemon!”

“And that is why I research Pokemon,” she goes on to explain. “Well, that's enough from me... Could you tell me about yourself?” Professor Juniper asks.

The game then shows you a boy and a girl Pokemon Trainer and asks which you are. Once you make your selection it confirms that with you, and then asks you your name? You can put anything up to seven characters in – I chose Recnef – and then the game confirmed my choice, observing that it was a wonderful name – but then it says that no matter what you put in heh.

The game then asks for information about your friend – the older boy who lives nearby – and this is where the current generation of games in the series differs from the previous generations in that in place of a rival, you are naming a friend. A mate who is also mad about Pokemon – just like you! The idea here is that due to the story in Pokemon White 2, you are going to need help, not a rival kicking dirt in your face, so this time around there is no rival!

Creating your character and meeting the Professor

The default name that the game suggests is Hugh – but you can pick any name you like of up to seven characters, so if there is someone in real life who is a particular friend of yours, you can choose their name. Whatever you like. Once you do choose it, the game then confirms that what you put in is really what you want.

“I'm going to entrust you with a Pokemon,” Professor Juniper then says. “I'm sure you will be great partners! The moment you choose the Pokemon that will accompany you on your journey,” she goes on to tell you, “your story will truly begin.”

“During your journey, you will meet many Pokemon and people with different personalities and points of view,” she says. “I really hope you learn what is important to you as a result of your travels. . .”

“That's right! Befriend new people and Pokemon and grow as a person! That's the most important goal of your journey! Let's go visit the world of Pokemon!”

And with that the world begins to solidify around you, as the game starts with an aerial view of your home town!

You see your house, and your Mom walking down the avenue towards it, when she pauses just outside and takes a call from her friend Aurea Juniper – that is Professor Juniper to you! You only get to hear one side of the conversation, but it is instantly clear that Professor Juniper is offering your Mom a Pokedex and a Pokemon for you! There is actually a story of some detail behind that and we will cover it shortly...

The Professor tells your Mom that she has already sent her assistant, Bianca, to your home town to meet with you and gift you with a Pokedex and Pokemon, and some advice. The phone call ends and your Mom comes inside the house to talk to you about it.

She explains the deal – meet Bianca, get a Pokedex and Pokemon, explaining that the Professor is an old friend. Do you want a Pokemon and a Pokedex? Do you want to start out on your rite of passage into the world of adulthood and the life of a Pokemon Trainer? Well, sure you do! Of course you do!

At this point there is a mini-tutorial of sorts in which you learn about your basic equipment, your bag, its pockets, your Trainer Card, and etc. Once you have all of that out of the way you will be standing outside of your house, ready to make the first few steps on this glorious adventure. But before you do that let's discuss what this is really all about, OK?

A Rite of Passage

Since the very beginning of the series with Pokemon Green, the story has always been about one basic symbol: the rite of passage that all Pokemon Trainers (and in the world of Pokemon that pretty much means all preteens who are about to become teenagers) must complete. They receive their Pokedex from their local (read that Regional) Pokemon Professor, they also receive their first Pokemon, and a few odds and ends of support equipment like running shoes, a bag, their Trainer ID Card, and some starter Pokeballs. A potion or two is not out of the question, and in the previous games they also found themselves with a rival trainer who they would, throughout their story, find themselves battling to learn who has progressed the most.

As the game series matured new and interesting side-activities were added in, including Pokemon competitions of different sorts for which your Pokemon could win ribbons, as well as some activities that were really there for the amusement of the player. Different and new types of battles, combination type battles, it all played out with some regularity as the games and their stories developed.

Another fairly important point that should be made is that each of the games in the series has a corresponding animated television show in which much of the story elements also play out, making this a multimedia experience that most players – trainers – really enjoy and sink their teeth into. While the world in which our current adventure does not really focus upon some of the previous expansion activities like Pokemon Breeding and Pokemon Showing, there are elements of each – and in particular breeding – that are still present.

The game we are playing and for which this guide is written is Pokemon White 2, which is the complimentary game to Pokemon Black 2 but it is also a bit more than that. While the two games are in fact complimentary, they are also different enough to require separate guides. The reason for that has more to do with their focus – in the case of Pokemon White 2 that is a more earthy-crunchy one in which capturing and training and leveling Pokemon is the primary goal, while Black 2 is a more progressive world (read that modern and wealth-oriented) that makes a bigger deal out of battling.

You are about to set out upon a rite of passage that will not only see your character make the transition from youngster to Pokemon Trainer, but also that of savior, since they will as part of this adventure end up saving the world. And how cool is that?

First Steps

So to sum things up here, you are now standing outside of your home in Aspertia City and you should have completed the tutorial phase of this part of the game, but to be sure that what you learned is clear to you – and so that we are thorough in our coverage, let's address all of that now, officially...

The Pokemon Trainer Bag

You are now in possession of a bag that will eventually hold a tremendous amount of the resources and tools that you will use as aids in the process of having your adventure as well as capturing, training, and maintaining your Pokemon friends.

This is a multi-pocketed bag with the following spaces in it:

– Items Pouch

This pouch is where the various items you will collect are stored, including Hold Items (items that your Pokemon can be made to hold and that will enhance some element of their powers), as well as other items that are not considered “Key Items” by the game.

– Medicine Pouch

This will come to be an important part of your tools in that it will contain the various meds that you will use to keep your Pokemon healthy and happy. While the ideal set of circumstances is for your character to visit the Pokemon Center regularly, so that they can have Nurse Joy heal up their team, sometimes you will need to do that healing in the field, particularly if you are forced into a situation in which you have no choice about multiple battles such as during the story challenge portions of the game.

– TM's & HM's Pouch

TM's are Technical Machines, and HM's are Hidden Machines. The difference between them is actually very simple: TM's are moves that a Pokemon of a specific type (based upon the specific move) can learn, whereas HM's are special moves, some of which are type dependent, that are critical to the story progress. HM's include the moves Cut, Fly, and Surf as examples, and are necessary in order to pass through specific areas.

The HM system is the games way to slow you down so that you cannot progress past key points until you have completed all of the challenges and the story elements for the previous area. This is a good thing.

TM's on the other hand are largely optional moves that you can use to fine-tune a member of your team in order to make them fight better, or make them strong against specific other types. As you gain some experience in Pokemon Battling you will come to better understand why some moves are more desirable than others, and you will be in a better position to use the TM's you have.

In the past games in the series while HM's were permanently available and thus could be taught to as many Pokemon as you liked, TM's were single-use software that, once used, went away. That is no longer the case, so once they are collected you can use them multiple times, which is pretty cool.

Bear in mind that a TM can over-write another TM, and an HM can over-write another TM, but nothing can over-write an HM once it is learned. To delete an HM from your Pokemon's move sets you will have to find a Move Deleter NPC in the game, and pay them to remove that HM. You should also be aware that you usually can NOT trade a Pokemon that knows an HM to another game, and you absolutely cannot transfer a Pokemon that knows an HM between game generations using the special transfer system.

– Berries Pouch

In previous games in the series Berries were encountered growing on trees, and there were patches of soil that were capable of growing more Berry Trees by simply planting a Berry there and then tending it with water and fertilizer. Later versions made the berries a sought item, and Pokemon White 2 carries on with that latter focus, which means that obtaining Berries in the game is largely accomplished by either being rewarded with them or given them by NPC's you meet, or as prizes for the mini-games you play via the C-Gear.

Bear in mind that because of this, Berries in the game are considered something of a finite resource, but that is OK since they largely parallel the function of potions and other meds in the game. That being the case you should really look at them as bonus resources, rather than a necessary one, and make use of them with that in mind. Since you have this Berry Pouch and since it will hold as many Berries as you care to put in, a lot of players choose to not use them, keeping them in reserve for major game battles like boss battles and for recovery of stats and health during the Elite Four and Champion Battle sequence.

Either way you have them, they will be in this pouch, so enjoy!

– Key Items Pouch

This is the Key Item Pouch, and Key Items are just what they sound like – important and useful items that do specific things. They also happen to be items that can be hot-keyed for quick and convenient access from the main menu.

At the moment this is the only pouch in your bag that actually contains items, and if you look inside you will find that there is an Xtranceiver and a Pal Pad therein.

The Xtranceiver is basically a combination wireless phone and PDA that you use to keep track of all of the people that you know. As you meet new people you will exchange X-Codes with them, and thus be able to ring them up for a video call whenever you like. At the moment the only X-Code you have in your Xtranceiver is for your Mom, but hey, go ahead and use that now so you can see how this works!

When you call her you see your Mom on the left, and you on the right, and a selection of requests or chat options you can use on the lower screen. If you select “I'd like to talk” your Mum will offer some advice, whereas “Aspertia City” (this will change to whatever city/location you are actually in when you make the call) has her react based on where you are. The final option is to ring off.

The Pal Pad is the address book in which you record the ID Numbers for your real-world friends, which in addition to allowing you to play with them either in person or via WiFi also allows you to send messages and perform video calls thanks to the C-Gear and the new built-in communication system in the game. And how cool is that?

– Free Space Pouch

This is not really what it probably sounds like, but is in fact a very important improvement on the bag design and function! What it is in simple terms is a place you can put the items you use the most so that you have faster access to them, not having to search through the pouch that they might normally be in which can get quite full!

You should make it a point to get the most use out of your Pokemon Trainer Bag as you can, and bear in mind that it functions differently depending upon whether you are in battle or not. In battle it is focused upon the items you can use for that, whereas outside of battle it offers full access to its contents.

That wraps up the Bag and its present contents.

The Pokemon Trainer Card

Open the main menu and then select your Trainer Card and you will note that in addition to including the basic stats of your character – their name, Nature, bank balance on the front, as well as their ID Number, elapsed game play time, the date you began your adventure, and statistical information such as their debut in the Hall of Fame, Times Linked with another player, the number of Link Battles, Link Battle Wins, Losses, and Trades, it also includes the number of Wild Pokemon Encounters that your character has had, and the number of Trainers they have battled.

On the bottom of the back of the card is a place for you to use the stylus to sign the card, and on the front there is a Title section you can tap to change the title your character claims to any of the titles that you have unlocked so far – I changed mine to PKMN Ranger.

You can also tap their Nature to change that to what you feel is the true Nature of your character, and you can tap the slogan or message at the very bottom of the front of the card and customize that to read whatever you like from the available options! You can actually create a Number of such messages in the Registered Message List to make it convenient to change them as you like – something that a lot of trainers who visit real-life Pokemon events like to do for each of the events so that when they meet a new trainer and mix records it offers a unique sentiment.

Options Menu

Finally you may want to take a quick peek at the Options Menu, though the only setting you really will want to change for certain is the Message Speed setting, which you should change to Fast.

Battle Scene can be turned off if you want battles to go faster, and the Style for battles can be changed to Set or left on the default which is Shift.

Once you have managed all that all that is left is for you to Save your game! That locks in any changes you made to the Trainer Card and Options, and gives you a starting point in case you decide to stop here, since you will not have to go through Character Creation and the tutorial again as long as you save here.

Before you set out on your adventure take the time to read the next section, which is the Basic Briefing of Things You Need to Know first, right?