Pokemon Pinball Faq V2.9 August 09,1999 Daniel (Pokegod) Engel ICQ: 9722762 wengel@netcom.ca FAQ NEWS At this moment, I am done playing Pokemon Pinball. For this reason you will notice a decline in the number of updates I make to this FAQ. However look for my Pokemon Snap FAQ on www.gamefaqs.com and look there for my future FAQs on Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, and possibly Donkey Kong 64. THE GAME Once you start up the game and get to the main screen there will be 3 functions to pick from. "New Game" which lets you start a new game. (duh!) Second, a pokedex which records data on the pokemon(PKMN) that you have caught in the game. (In the pokedex menu, you can hold select to see how many PKMN you have caught/seen displayed in the top right corner. Also if you hold start, on the first form of any pokemon, you can see their animated stance.) Lastly an options menu, where you can adjust game controls, or listen to the games sound effects(SE) or background music.(BGM) So once you go to the "New Game" function you will have a choice of two pinball tables, RED and BLUE. Each one has a different layout and contains different pokemon, and bonus rounds, etc. In either table the basic strategy is the same. 1: Before you launch your first ball, you must hit A to stop a slot machine style wheel, this is to decide which town you will begin your game in. 2: Your score goes up like a traditional pinball table for any of the switches/bumbers/ramps that you hit with your ball. However if you want the big score, you'll try to catch or evolve pokemon. 3: Depending on which table you are playing the entrances to the "catch 'em" and "evolution" modes may look different. In the BLUE table they are two pokemon, (Cloyster and Slowpoke) located on the left and right sides of the middle of the table. When the indicator arrow pointing to either one of them lights up, you can launch your ball into that one, and begin the appropriate mode. In the RED table they are a hole blocked by a Ditto, and a Bellsprout. However these entrances are not always open. To open the "catch 'em" mode entrance circle the top loop 3 times counterclockwise. To open the "evolution" mode circle the top loop 3 times clockwise. (Thanx to Bballn64@aol.com for this one.) 4: Once you are in the "catch 'em" mode a picture of a pokemon appears in the middle of the table, but is only a shadow of that pokemon. You must hit your ball into the main cluster of bumbers to reveal more parts of the picture until it is complete. The picture then becomes a PKMN that moves on the spot. You must then hit your ball into the PKMN four times to catch it. *NOTE: All this is done under a time limit, and all other modes or bonus rounds also have time limits. However there are also little arrows that indicate where you should hit your ball next to progress farther.* The "evolution" mode is farly similar to the above mentioned mode. When you are in this mode you choose a PKMN from the list of ones you have caught this game, and the mode begins. You must find 3 items, these items change depending on the PKMN. If it would normally evolve via experience points in the original Pokemon game, then you must find 3 EX items to evolve it. If it is a PKMN that evolves via a stone or link cable then you must find 3 of that item to evolve it. However these 3 items are not just out in the open, there are 5 possible locations to find them, and you must hit your ball into one of these locations, to find out if an item is then released somewhere else on the table. 5: Once you catch/evolve 3 PKMN with the same ball. Then you usually have a chance to play a bonus round or travel to the next town. Different PKMN are available at different towns. Also some PKMN are common or uncommon in certain areas. Depending on this you may need more counter-clockwise rotations to catch an uncommon PKMN. (2X for a common PKMN, 3X for an uncommon PKMN) You can tell how many rotations you have done by the triple arrow pointing to the upper-right corner. However many arrows are darkened in this triple arrow is how many rotations you have done. WHERE TO CATCH POKEMON ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firstly there are towns that you have the option of starting in when you play your first ball. Not all towns are available in both the red and blue tables, and the PKMN caught on both tables may differ. AREAS Name Abbreviation Area Number Table Pallet Town PLT 1 R Viridian Town VIR 1 B Viridian Forest FST 1 A Pewter City PTR 1 R Mt. Moon MUN 1 B Cerulean City CRL 1 A Vermillion City Seaside SEA 1 R Vermillion City Streets SRT 1 B Rock Mountain MNT 1 A Lavender Town LAV 1 R Celadon City CEL 1 B Cycling Road CYC 2 R Fuchsia City FUS 2 B Safari Zone SAF 2 A Saffron City SFN 2 B Seafoam Islands ISL 2 R Cinnibar Island CIN 2 A Indigo Plateau IND 3 A ORDER OF STARTING SLOT MACHINE (Remember, this is based on how many of the rotation/shuffling noises you HEAR, not how many pictures you SEE.) RED: 1-FST 2-PTR 3-CRL 4-SEA 5-MNT 6-LAV 7-PLT BLUE: 1-FST 2-MUN 3-CRL 4-SRT 5-MNT 6-CEL 7-VIR CATCH AREA 1 PKMN EASILY If there is a PKMN in an area 1 location that you want then here is an easy way to get it. Simply start a new game and pick the town that you want to start in. Say you want a Pikachu, they're uncommon in viridian forest. So just refer to my listing above of the order of the slot machine. Listen for the shuffling noise between areas, and hit "A" when you hear the right number of shuffling noises. If you get the wrong town simply save your game, to get you back to the main menu faster than resetting the game would. Then start a new game and try again. This way you WILL start in the area that you wanted to, and you will already have 2 "catch 'em" arrows lit up. Which is just what is needed to catch a common PKMN. So you only need one more shot up the "catch 'em" ramp to get an uncommon PKMN. If you don't get the PKMN that you wanted. Simply save, and restart again. This trick has been very helpful to me, for filling out my pokedex. MAP MODE When changing areas you enter the map mode. Your first area is decided by the slot machine when you start a new game. Proceeding through the map: (1) Area 1 --> (2) Area 1 --> (3) Area 1 --> (4) Area 2 --> (5) Area 2 --> (6) Area 3 --> (Repeat, back to Area 1) TABLES Red(R) or Blue(B) or All(A) Common/Uncommon (C/U) How common a PKMN is in an area. If it is common(C), then you need 2 or 3 counter-clockwise rotations to catch it. If it is uncommon then you need 3 counter-clockwise rotations to catch it. Below is a listing of locations of where I have found PKMN. PKMN EVO forms Table(s) Area(s) & C/U -------------------------------------------------------------- Bulbasaur 2 B VIR/U Charmander 2 R PLT/C Squirtle 2 B VIR/C Caterpie 2 B FST/C Weedle 2 R FST/C Pidgey 2 A FST/C CEL/C CER/C Rattata 1 A PLT/C FST/C Spearow 1 A MNT/C PTR/C CYC/C Ekans 1 A PTR/U SEA/U SFN/C Pikachu 1 A FST/U Sandshrew 1 B MNT/C SRT/U SFN/C Nidoran(F) 2 B SAF/C Nidoran(M) 2 A PLT/U VIR/C Clefairy 1 B MUN/U CEL/U Vulpix 1 B CEL/C Jigglypuff 1 R PTR/C Zubat 1 B MUN/C Oddish 2 A CRL/C SAE/C CEL/C Paras 1 A SAF/C MUN/C Venonat 1 B FUS/C Diglett 1 A MNT/C Meowth 1 B CRL/C CEL/C Psyduck 1 B CER/C Mankey 1 A CRL/C CEL/C Growlithe 1 R CIN/C Poliwag 2 B PLT/U Abra 2 A CRL/U Machop 2 A IND/C MNT/U Bellsprout 2 B CRL/C SRT/C CEL/C Tentacool 1 B VIR/C Geodude 2 B MNT/C IND/C Ponyta 1 A CIN/C Slowpoke 1 B MNT/U Magnemite 1 R LAV/C Farfetch'd 0 A SEA/U SRT/U Doduo 1 A CYC/C SAF/C Seel 1 R ISL/U Grimer 1 B CIN/C Shellder 1 A SEA/C SRT/C Ghastly 2 R LAV/C Onix 0 A IND/C MNT/U Drowzee 1 R SEA/C Krabby 1 A SEA/C SRT/C CRL/C Voltorb 1 A MNT/C Exeggcute 1 B FUS/U Cubone 1 R LAV/U Hitmonlee 0 B SFN/U Hitmonchan 0 B SFN/U Lickitung 0 R CYC/U Koffing 1 B CIN/C Rhyhorn 1 R SAF/C Chansey 0 A SAF/U Tangela 0 B CIN/U Kangaskhan 0 B FUS/U Horsea 1 R ISL/C Goldeen 1 B FUS/C VIR/U Staryu 1 R ISL/C Mr.Mime 0 A MNT/U Scyther 0 B CEL/U Jynx 0 A CRL/U Electabuzz 0 R LAV/U Magmar 0 B CIN/U Pinsir 0 B CEL/U Tauros 0 B SAF/U Magikarp 1 A PTR/U FUS/C Lapras 0 B SFN/U Ditto 0 A IND/C(B) IND/U(R) Eevee 3 B CEL/U Porygon 0 B CEL/U Omanyte 1 R CIN/U Kabuto 1 R CIN/U Aerodactyl 0 B CIN/U Snorlax 0 R CYC/U Articuno 0 R ISL/U Zapdos 0 R LAV/U Moltres 0 A IND/U Dratini 2 B CEL/U SAF/U Mewtwo 0 A IND/U Mew 0 *Use method below* Bonus Rounds Here are the various bonus rounds that I have encountered so far: Meowth's stage (BLUE Table) In this stage you must try to hit Meowth with the ball as he runs from left to right across the screen. Each time you hit him one of his charms gets put somewhere on the screen, and you can get it by hitting it with the ball. If you collect all the charms (about 20) before time runs out, you complete Meowth's stage. Seel's stage (BLUE Table) Here you are trying to hit the Seel as they poke their heads out from the background. Once you hit about 20 of them, you clear the stage. Diglet's stage (RED Table) Here you hit about 20 diglet then you have to hit a dugtrio 3 times. (Thanx to Bballn64@aol.com for this one.) Gengar's stage (RED Table) Here you try to hit a few Gastly, once you hit about 10 of them they become Haunters, you then hit about 10 of them and they become one big Gengar. If you hit it about 5X you clear the stage. Mewtwo's stage (Both tables, available after completing previous two, in the same game.) Here you try to hit Mewtwo who is at the top of the screen in a chair surrounded by a force field. So you must hit him enough times to weaken the force field, and then hit him rapidly enough that it doesn't recharge. Do this until hopefully you knock him off his chair. *You can get MAJOR points in this stage* So that's it for now, this game has a built-in rumble pack style feature that operates on 1 AAA battery. Also the game has a colour scheme designed for the GameBoy Colour. Though it is a dual-type game. (Like Tetris DX) Also this game has VOICE!!! When your ball hits pikachu, he shouts out "PIK-AAA!!!!" EXTRA If you want a MUCH easier time in the game, try and get the double pikachu in the slot machine. This will activate both of the pikachu kickbacks. The great part is they stay activated for as long as you have your current ball. To make things even easier when your ball hits one of the pikachu kickbacks 4-5 times you get an extra ball! (Thanx to RE3capcom@aol.com for this one.) MORE EXTRA BALL NEWS While on my recent vacation I discovered that there are many more ways than those listed above to get extra balls. The ones that I have discovered are listed below. Pikachu kickbacks- If you use these about 6-8X on the same ball you will get an extra ball. (EB) Slot machine- You can get an EB from the slot machine. You also get one when you use the slot machine about 30-40X on the same ball. EVO/catch 'em mode entrances- Once again by using these about 30-40X on the same ball you will earn an EB. This list goes on and on, but the basic idea is, the longer you can keep your current ball going the more extra balls you will get. I was able to kill more than 8 hrs today while waiting for my flight to arrive, take off, wait for my luggage, etc. ALL during the same game, because I had so many extra balls. Just find a system that works for you... Also always use A and <- to move the four circles at the bottom of the table, so that you can open up the bonus cave many times. This will give you more chances at an extra ball, pikachu kickbacks, ball savers, bonus rounds, etc. This is more of a trick that I use personally, but if you want an easier time getting to different stages try this. You should already know that you move areas by activating the MAP MODE. This is done by hitting one of the PKMN located on the side of the table 3X. (Diglett on the RED table, Psyduck and Poliwag on the BLUE.) Now I find that it is much easier to hit those side PKMN if you wait until your ball rolls to the end of the paddle. Right before it rolls off, before hitting it. Now this differs a little if the ball is moving fast but I find that it is quite effective, hopefully you will too. Also there is a trick to change towns faster, but it is tough to do. What you do is make sure that the hole is open for the slot machine, but don't use it yet. Then you must hit the Diglett/Poliwag/Psyduck twice. You must then set up your next shot so that it hits the Diglett/Poliwag/Psyduck for the third time, (starting the map move mode) and bounces off it, and enters the hole before it closes. This is tough to do, but it can save you alot of time and effort with changing areas. *The Search For Mew...* Basically, in order to get Mew one must beat all 3 bonus rounds for the table that he/she is playing. Then they must beat those same 3 once again. Once this is accomplished, you should enter the "catch 'em" mode. With either the slot machine, or the "catch 'em" ramp. And the PKMN that you are catching might be Mew. (Apparently there is a 1 in 12 chance of Mew being the PKMN that appears.) 150 PKMN are NOT needed in the pokedex to get Mew. I have recently had a chance to try this method myself, and it DOES work. If you are lucky enough to encounter Mew in the "catch 'em" mode it will have a picture made up of 6 pieces. Like any other pokemon, once you uncover the picture though it's a different story. You must then hit Mew many more times than the standard 4X used to catch any other PKMN. You must hit it about 20 times to catch it. MY RECORDS For anyone that wants to know, as of now I have caught and seen 151 PKNM. Also my highest score is 25,260,319,200 points. (BLUE table) I will try to update this FAQ whenever possible, and if anyone has any questions about this FAQ or Pokemon Pinball, feel free to email me at wengel@netcom.ca or ICQ at 9722762. This document Copyright 1999 Daniel Engel