Pojo Team; A New Beginning- by Daniel "Nemesis" Simpkins

Pokemon, I'm afraid, is at it's all time lowest state. Yes, you heard me correctly. I know when to be optimistic and when, not to be, and right now, things are looking dismal for Pokemon. But don't throw out all hope yet; a new 'spin' on the way you play might change all of that.

Enter an ingenious format called 'team battle'. Instead of head to head (1-on-1), you now can play with a partner as can your opponent! Of course, there are different rules for many of the cards and 'plays' you can make, but we will discuss all that later. What's important is the fact that the thing that has made many games like Poker, Spades, Canasta, etc., successful, long-term games, will now be incorporated into Pokemon! Also, keep in mind that those games mentioned above have 52 card cards to chose from as opposed to our hundreds.

Lately, our online league hasn't been doing so well... And rightly so! Who wants to play a game that is dominated by a select few cards, and virtually unchanged by newest sets? On top of that, many people have become exasperated with some of the rulings that the company that owns this franchise are making. While all of this may or may not be valid, the fact remains that those days are nearly done. So, we've made a league just for team battles! Another major change that will come from this is the loss of the main program used to play Pokemon at this point (Apprentice), and the gain of a new program that supports multiplayer battles and single battles alike. (CCG Pro) But we'll cover that in our next section.

By now, you may be thinking something to the effect of "Sounds like a good idea. Now how can I play online?" In this section, I will give you a step-by-step procedure to follow. Even those of you that are somewhat computer illiterate should be able to do this rather easily.... If you want to play, a little knowledge of the Pokemon TGC is neccesary, as well the ability to download files and run them.

(You might want to print out this part so that it is easier to do! )

1. Go to http://mirc.com/ and click on 'Download Mirc' on the sidebar. Follow instructions on the page and download the program. This will serve to help you talk to the people online that can further help you/ play games with you.

2. Once the program is downloaded, open it, and you should see the 'Mirc Option' box pop up. Now listen carefully. This part can be tricky. Click on the 'add' button. In the description box, put the words "Mediadriven Alternate." Then, where it says IRC server, type in these numbers, exactly as seen here:

216.152.65.156

Click 'Ok'. Now, see that lightning bolt on the top left corner? Click on it, once. you should see a blur of text rush by, and then finally stop. After this happens, put your cursor into the text box and type:

/join #pojoteam

Congratulations! Your in the chat room! Now, you should see some people with @ by their names. you can ask those people for help, or you can just read the rest of this guide to help you get the program,learn the rules, join a team, and get playing!

3. Now this is a step within a step. You may need a program to get the program to play the game. If you don't already have that program (Winzip) go to: www.winzip.com and download it.

To get the game program, go here to get CCG Pro:

www.geocities.com/rand0m2002
At this point, you can build a standard and or modified deck, but if your having trouble, people in the room will probably assist you. You also may want to see the rules of how to play at:

http://www.pokemonaaah.com/2-tcg/prof/20020314.html
Now, for the other tricky part. You need to go to this page and click the signup button on the side bar. Follow further instructions, and get your ladder account activated. This will let you keep a record of your games, as well as the ability to join a team:

www.myleague.com/teampojo

Now, as for finding a team to join, that's up to you. Ask around the room, and if you still haven't found one by tournament time, we'll assign you to one.

Well, I hope this resolves a few things. If nothing else, you can reach me personally on

MSN Messenger: steelstructure@hotmail.com

AIM: PojoNemesis

Our first tourney is Friday, May 24th. Time yet to be determined, but it will not be earlier than 6 Eastern.

Happy Gaming!

Nemesis

www.pojo.com