A complete Pokédex! Completing Heart Gold

"Gotta catch them all" used to be the catchphrase of the first 150 Pokémon, however recently, catching all the Pokémon has become an incredible chore. After the release of X and Y there are now 718 Pokémon to catch.
When I started playing Pokémon Heart Gold in the end of  2011, I set myself the target to catch them all. For nostalgia's sake. I felt that the goal was obtainable, had I not caught all Pokémon as kid, years ago, on the old retro Game boy?! Oh silly me!

Even though the maximum Pokémon to catch was "only" 493, little did I know how painful that number would be. For example, there are a lot of Pokémon that you cannot catch within the game, or in its counter part "Soul Silver". Which means you need someone with leaf green etc to trade with you, or you will never complete the game. Furthermore, there are so many little specials, stones and evolutions, that it turned out to be a far more time consuming venture than I bargained for. I now understand why most trainers just give up and only collect the Pokémon they like playing with.

Nevertheless, I spend over 100 hours of game time, catching, breeding, leveling up, trading. Now this would have been easier if the world trade would have worked, but my internet and my DSi didn't communicate well, so I didn't have that option either. Only thanks to my generous friends, especially one of them, I managed to finally finally complete the Johto Pokedex.
With shaking fingers I approached Professor Oak to show him my - with pain and suffering - completed Pokédex.

What item would I get?
Well, guess what, in the next sentence he said only "Congratulations, I knew you could do it." Full Stop. The end. NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED!
I think my face in that moment would have been the best pictures. I was like "WTF you send me out to CATCH THEM ALL!!! And I don't get anything?"

It's like a mentor sending you in the jungle to take pictures of 400 rare animals and when you are back with them he gives you a pat on the back and walks off with a tin of cookies for his coffee break. The stingy old man could have spared some cookies, right?
Yes, I do want a cookie for completing a Pokédex! Simply because it's so difficult to do it. At least give me a different ending sequence Game Freak!

Seeing my friend S complete the full Pokédex this summer, it seems like you receive a certificate for completing the game. Yes. That. Is. All.
Wasn't the challenge "Catch them all?!" Well recently the tagline has changed into "Gotta SEE them all" because nowadays only seeing a Pokemon "counts" as entry in your Pokédex. Of all games I had chosen to play the last one that required you to catch them all. I think the "seeing them all" option is only reasonable, since 718 is a huuge number, considering all the clever things it takes to get them together.

Now I will stop whining, I still love the game. It's full of rewards and quirky entertainment and if you love collecting things, and don't have much space in "real" life, it's nice getting them all together. I guess completing a Pokédex and owning "them all" is a thing in which only gamers can pride themselves with. And only true Pokémon lovers will actually understand and acknowlege it as a skill, if you should ever try and boost to your friends. For the others, it will be an eternal waste of time. Well well, but then they won't know the joy either of finding a rare Pokémon in the grass and catching it with a Quick Ball before - ah stop me here, or I will go off on a story!

I think once you have 'caught' them all, you still have a great advantage to others who have not caught them all yet. Simply because you can now transfer your "oldies" to the new game and just catch the additional ones that will be released in the new game. So if you have collected and transferred Pokémon since you were small, this would have been a much easier task!

On that note, I am looking forward to seeing how the Pokémon Bank will work, once it launches next year. I am glad there is finally a method to move full boxes of Pokémon about, I think that was overdue, considering how long it takes to transfer only 6 of them!

That's it for today, I will get back to completing my Pokédex of X and Y!
Next I will be in Berlin for a week, so let's see how I will blog during that time.
Thanks for reading!

Well done Pikachu!
x
Cat

Colourful&Collectible: Japanese Anime themed sweets

Who doesn't love sweets?! What's even more exciting are sweets that are anime themed or that do collaborations with famous anime series or characters. Let me show you some of the sweet, cute and collectible edibles I got while in Japan!

Morinaga brought out chocolate wavers in the Miku Hatsune Design! The sweets are fairly basic, but the package and cards were Vocaloid themed! Each package contains 1 of 18 collectible cards. Mine was of Rin and had a see through pattern. The artist's style was pretty awesome too.

Galbo did a convenience store Anime collaboration special. If you bought two of their sweets, you got a free sticker of "Natsume's book of friends" to stick onto your monthly suica train card (not the normal ones though). The sticker can be used for other purposes as well. The sweets are green tea or strawberry covered chocolate bits that claim they don't melt in the summer sun!

Coolest collaboration that month was the Madoka Magica Movie special. Buying two of the campaign sweets in a convenience store, you could receive a free clear file of either of the characters. I got one pack of Madoka themed candies (right hand side) that contain one sticker (bottom right). The collaboration was so popular that the stores ran out of the files pretty quickly though. By the time I arrived, Sayaka was the only one left, so I was lucky I got one at all.

If you go to a convenience store in Tokyo, it's always good to check if there are Anime offers or collaborations running at the time. You might get some rare goodies of your favourite anime! Family Mart is known for its Miku Hatsune items, but they are usually not on a special offer but rather just rare designs (they are quite pricey though).
If there are free collaboration items, just make sure that the things you pick are actually included in the offer. If you pick the wrong sweets, you might not get the item you wanted!

That's it for today! Thanks for reading!
Stay sweet

x
Cat

Getting published in KERA ★ KERAに出た！

KERA is my favourite fashion magazine of all time. They don't only feature Lolita Fashion, but also pop, punk, goth, rock, ouji, and many many more styles. KERA is like a guide for all kinds of Harajuku fashion. It's a great mix of creative styles, and just reading KERA inspires me to wear my clothes differently, try out new co-ords and make fashion more fun!
It's one of my main fashion inspirations.
If you should find a copy of KERA - on a convention or a Japanese store - be sure to have a look inside. Kyari Pamyu Pamyu is featured often in KERA magazine as well. She's like the icon for crazy and inventive Harajuku fashion and she used to be a model for KERA before she got big, and still has occasional appearances.  Haruka Kurebayashi is one of their regular models, and you can see her in pretty much every issue. Remember her from my Harajuku Fashion Walk Video? I was so happy to meet her in person!
 
Now, on the 16th of November the new KERA magazine got out - and I got into it! This is like a total dream come true. I always wanted to be in KERA one day! I can't help bouncing about. I am in my favourite fashion magazine! *squeal*

How come?
Kera often does a SNAP, taking pictures of people on the streets or at designated KERA snap days. This picture was taken at Harajuku Kawaii, a Festival of Harajuku culture. And before you ask, yes there are also videos of the event, and I shall edit them for you to enjoy soon!
On that day, a photographer pulled me to the side and asked if I knew KERA magazine.
Voice in my head shouting: "HELL YES!!!"
My mouth was saying politely: "Mochiron shitteimasu (Of course I know)."
When he asked if he could take my picture for KERA I was over the moon with joy! Of course, getting your picture taken is in no way a guarantee to get published, I knew that. But simply being approached by their photographer was a dream come true. Getting actually printed in KERA makes me want to hug the world! I will give you more details about KERA snap in some of my future posts and videos, so please stay tuned for that.

I shall tell you more about Harajuku Kawaii, as soon as the fitting video for it comes out, either this or the next weekend.
But for now thanks for letting me me share my excitement with you.

Stay bouncy!

Love
x
Cat

Pokemon center Tokyo - I choose you!

There's nothing quite as exciting for a geek soul as to read the letters "Pokemon Center" on a normal Subway flyer. Indeed, the first time I read about it, it was inside an flyer about famous attractions tourists can reach via the subway system. When I stepped out of the train at the indicated station, I couldn't however find a sign to said delightful destination - I decided to ask the station officer, who sat down in his little booth near the automatic ticket gates. He looked up from under his officer hat, at the gaijin girl approaching him. I took a deep breath and said:
"Excuse me please. Could you please tell me....... how to get to the Pokemon center?"
Just being able to ask those sentences in a real-life conversation felt surreal and made my heart almost jump out of my chest. Without blinking twice, he described me how to walk to reach the Pokémon center. From there I stepped out onto the busy streets, followed his route, went up the escalator, and there it was: The Pokémon Center Tokyo!

Large posters, displaying famous characters on the outside, the Pokémon center still looked rather professional. The first time I went there, the whole area in front of the store was full of people, children, students, office ladies, otakus and other, crouching down with their Ds' in their hands, trading Pokémon and playing the game. I often walk around in Europe, hoping for a trading haven like that. If we had a Pokémon center in Europe, just think how easy it would be to make new friends and trade/battle with them!!

Unfortunately, the Pokémon center has made it pretty clear that you are not allowed to take videos or photographs inside, so if you see them online, they were most definitely taken without permission.
To illustrate: imagine shelves upon shelves stuffed with key chains, plushies, posters, stationary, sweets, collectible figures, badges, towels, tissues, games, cards, lunch boxes and more items, featuring pretty much all Pokémon that have been released so far. It's heaven for Pokémon lovers, unless you have an empty purse - then it's torture!

Pokémon Center Opening Times and Holiday announcements

Sometimes the Pokémon Centers (there are 8 Pokémon Centers across Japan) have special promotions on, which are usually announced on their webpage. There you can receive rare Pokémon or items when you go to their event space. For Pokémon X and Y there wasn't an event yet, but there should be one soon, around the new year and the xmas holidays. Sometimes those Pokémon can be acquired through the online system for players outside of Japan, in the past though, there have been a couple of Japan-only events.

The Pokémon Center Tokyo shares the building with normal convenience stores, restaurants, companies (such as Berlitz) and other, so it's actually placed in a business environment in a tall building, which was surprising. I wish the staff was cosplaying as nurse joy, but instead they have a uniform. Nevertheless, it's worth the trip out to the Pokémon Center. Even if you should not be an adamant Pokémon fan, you still have to admit: There's nothing quite as cool, as asking in real life where the Pokémon center is, and getting an honest answer.

 3 Tips if you want to go to the Pokémon Center Tokyo
1) If you go there for trading, pick a weekend when there are both workers and students to trade with. That way you get the maximum of potential trainers for trades and battles.
2) Check their event times! You might be lucky and get a free Pokémon. Be aware though that usually those events only involve the newest game release. For the next events, you will need a 3DS and Pokémon X or Y.
3) Bring more money than you think. Don't forget Pokémon is an expensive merchandise brand. If you should see the Pokémon item that you always wanted, you want to make sure you can afford it!

They have an English introduction to the Pokémon Centres HERE

Love
x
Cat

Giveaway of Japanese goodies!

Cute Japanese goodies, Pokémon plushies, Lolita fashion accessories, Anime merchandise and lots of other cute little things I brought back from Japan: The new video is up!

I will now also do giveaway for Xmas and you have the chance to win one of the four prices.
Check out my HAUL video to know more:


I decided to also do a giveaway specifically for my Blog!

I picked a random selection of sweet things that I like, for you to win:
Decorated Tissues, Swimmer CDR, Hello Kitty Lash Case, Kewpie Pen,
2 Erasers, Chocolate comb, Cake reflector, Bear keyring, bracelet

Steps to join the BLOG PRIZE of Cute Japanese Goodies

1) Please be subscribed to my youtube channel of course :)

2) Like my Facebook (Feel free to enter if you don't have Facebook)

3) Follow my Blog via Friend connect
It's easy. Just supply the email address that you use for your youtube, or other services, and you will show up on my friend list

4) Please comment: What do you want for Christmas?

Full details are on my Youtube channel video so please check it out.

I am looking forward to hearing what things you would like to have for Christmas! Is it a hug, a partner, a present, more time, karate skills, magic power? I wonder!

I can tell you what I want, I want a means to travel to different places instantly.

That way I could deliver all packages and Christmas cards like that in person and meet you all!!

Hope you have a lovely end of the weekend and a fun start into next week!

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Love

x

Cat

Blog thiefs and couch surfers

Getting woken up by a sheer orchestra of church bells. First i need to recollect myself. Dreams of Tokyo subways, mingle with thoughts of English Full Afternoon Teas. Wait. Where am i this morning? Church bells. Right, this must be Germany.
Let me introduce again, my name is Cat. Since summer i am mostly couch surfing, between europe and asia. The thing that keeps me grounded, while everything else is floating, is my youtube channel Canudoitcosplaygirl. Wait. Well, it has changed to Canudoitcat now, since the youtube google+ merge this month. I've spent the last 2 mornings editing the -probably longest- video i've ever made. It will be a christmas give away for my lovely subbies. I call my subscribers subbies but i actually have another name for them, that you might not know. Shall i tell you?
Since my channel is  challenge channel, i call them "challengers". But also because my mix of random videos every Sunday might often be a surprise, i think watching and staying tuned to my channel makes you a challenger as well. I love my challengers. I've never known the internet had such a potential to bring together people of such particular interests. And even though i always end up editing too long, starting from 5 hours of editing a day or more, for a video of 5 minutes,i think it's one of the most rewarding hobbies i have.
The only thing bothering me is my new housemate Google plus. Google plus insists on knowing everything about me and in the end always seems to want to have things go her way. It's quite tiring at times. She still makes it difficult to reply to some of my challengers, so for now i hope via this blog and via Facebook i will be able to stay in touch with all of them. I am not looking forward to seeing the state of the room once i return from my couch surfing trip in Munich but i can see she already helped herself to my blog posts when i wasn't  watching. It's not easy living with Google plus but i hope that we, my rubies and i, will all still be able to connect the way we used to, before the switchover. Once i go back to where Google plus  girl is i will need to have some serious words.
Anyways, please look forward to an extra long video on Sunday! It will be a Japan haul, a little sketch, a give away and hopefully make you smile.
Once we get to Monday there should be normal blog posts again about Japanese culture, fashion and cafes!
See you Sunday! Please stay in touch.
Thanks for reading!
Love
X
Cat

Guess who's drinking Cat's milk

Hiiiii guuuuyz. Normally this is a blog for Japanese fashion and subculture and cute cafe reviews. Well, today it isnt. The owner of the blog has gone to town and left me home alone. I therefore see it as my right and duty to write her blog, even though she said i wasn't allowed to touch anything. Well, you know, she SAYS no, but i don't take  no as an answer really.
Oh! Let me introduce myself, my name is Google plus girl.

I am the personification of all those Google plus accounts that YouTubers were forced to let into their lifes and beds when the switch over happened this month. So, quite literally i have moved into the house of YouTuber Cat aka CanudoitCat.
Now that i live with her we have plenty of fun!!! It's really great i tell you.

For example today, i didn't  only finish her milk and yogurt, i also decided to take a picture and stick it onto the empty packages and then put them back in the fridge. That way she can share my story when she checks later. I also poured out her breakfast cereal in circles on the grass and watched as the pretty birds ate it up. So cute. I then mis-matched her shoes and hid the matching pairs. I felt like getting in touch with nature so i took a bug and froze it in an ice cube. I hope she will drink her juice with ice cubes later when she gets back. Such a great idea.
I also phoned her 36 times and hung up when she answered. I like doing that. Makes me feel so connected.
Please share other things that i could do to her, preferably on Google plus. I like people sharing things through me. Makes me feel soooo in charge.
Oh having heard of all the fun, do you want your own Google plus girl to move in now?
No!?!
Okay......
I'll ask you again later!

G+