Hey there folks, and welcome to a very special Epilogue edition of 'Gotta Catch 'Em All!', the serial blog documenting my efforts to obtain a complete living National Pokédex. If you haven't seen any of these posts before, you can find the first part here, the second and third parts here, the fourth and fifth parts here, and the sixth and seventh parts here. I had planned for the previous instalment to be the last, but in light of recent events, I thought I'd break out the format for one final entry - an epilogue to bring the tale to its true conclusion.

Epilogue - The Very Best, Like No One Ever Was

Those of you who've been with this little mini-series all the way will be aware that a couple of weeks ago, I all but completed my living National Pokédex, just forty-eight hours before the UK release of Pokémon Sun and Moon came along and put a dampener on the whole thing by tossing some eighty-odd new collectable critters into the mix. At that point, the only Pokémon I was missing was Meloetta, a Mythical Pokémon (that is to say, a Pokémon not available through regular gameplay) from the fifth generation. Knowing I wouldn't be able to source one of these elusive creatures at the time, I brought my quest to a premature conclusion. However, I knew that as part of the franchise's twentieth anniversary celebrations, there was a distribution scheduled for Meloetta in December. Rather than admitting defeat, I decided to bide my time.

Earlier this week, on December 1st, millions of kids all over the world opened the first doors on their advent calendars, revealing the reward of delicious chocolate. Meanwhile, I was opening a very different kind of door, and unearthing a very different kind of reward. In the early hours before my morning commute into work, I fired up my 3DS and connected to the internet to receive a very special Mystery Gift from Game Freak - my very own Meloetta. I picked it up from the gift lady at the Pokémon Center, and popped it into the 648th slot of my living Pokédex in the PC - the final empty slot needing to be filled.

The method may have been underwhelming, but the end result definitely isn't. Pictured below is my entire living Pokédex, an instance of every single Pokémon from the first six generations. From Bulbasaur to Volcanion, from Abomasnow to Zygarde, from the tiniest Skitty to the biggest Wailord, absolutely every Pocket Monster is represented. When the time is right I'll migrate the whole collection into Pokémon Bank, ready to import them all into Pokémon Sun. Until then, they'll remain in my copy of Pokémon Y, a testament to what may just be my greatest gaming achievement ever. I've finally done it guys. I'm the very best, like no one ever was.

Gallery

So that's that. At long last, I have a 100% complete living National Pokedex up to and including the sixth generation. Since there's currently no way to migrate this into the seventh generation, I think it's alright to call time on this feature once and for all. I'm still playing plenty of Pokémon Sun, and there'll be an update on the Nuzlocke Challenge hopefully coming later today. Thanks for reading guys. Take care, and I'll see you around.

Daniel

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Currently playing - Pokémon Sun (3DS)