Pokemusings, week 29
Pokemon bets for 2008
Ash Ketchum Will Catch a Legendary Pokemon
Never mind that he's saved the world a handful of times. (Most of that was through dumb luck and the support of some legendary Pokemon anyhow.) The kid loses almost every tournament he enters. Do you really expect him to have what it takes to catch a Mew or a Lugia? While Ash has certainly improved over the years, he still makes a lot of mistakes that would make catching a legendary a near impossibility for him. More seriously though, the main character of a Pokemon cartoon has to be someone kids can identify and sympathize with - not a trainer that wins every time and catches every Pokemon encountered.
Betting Line: +1,350
Pokemon Gold/Silver Will be Remade for the DS
For many longtime Pokemon trainers, Gold and Silver are the pinnacles of the series. The single-player game was ridiculously deep, featuring tons of notable additions such as time, hold items, shiny Pokemon, Pokerus, breeding, and two new types. After being crowned Johto champion, you can go back to Kanto for even more adventures. The Fire Red and Leaf Green remakes for the Game Boy Advance sold like hotcakes. Reissuing Gold and Silver for the DS shouldn't take too much effort on Game Freak's part and would undoubtedly sell well, which would keep in line with the DS' unofficial motto of, "Look! It prints money!"
We'd be surprised if these remakes were not announced some time this year (at either E3 or Tokyo Game Show) for a 2009 release. Then again, Nintendo hasn't announced the third game to complement Diamond/Pearl and there are two other Pokemon sequels set for release (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Pokemon Ranger), so this might be a ways away.
Betting Line: -150
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