I didn't have as much time to play today so I concentrated on exploring as much of the map as possible and catching as many wild Pokemon. I think I ran across a girl in a house who wanted to trade Pokemon with me. When I talked to her, my list of Pokemon popped up but she didn't seem interested in any of them. At least I've gotten the Japanese characters for YES and NO memorized!

I've been putting off learning how to use the computers until my six starting Pokemon are all at least level 10. I've also noticed that the trainers scattered throughout the game are smarter than the ones in Red and Blue. Some of them wait until you cross in front of them before challenging you but some of them come running as soon as you get near.

I finally realized which of the items in my backpack was my Fishing Pole. Now I have to backtrack and make sure I catch all the water Pokemon I've already passed. This might take a while.

Next, I worked my way to the second Gym. This one was lead by a girl with a number of grass Pokemon, including the evolved version of the one I could have picked from Professor Oak. This was definitely my toughest battle yet. The badge looked like a little stone ladybug.

Shortly after this gym my rival appeared and challenged me again. This time it isn't Gary Oak, but a girl! And she's tough. After beating her I passed through another checkpoint and… wow! It's night! I was a little disappointed because I was hoping that the game would have a built-in timer for day and night, but all you have to do is go back through the checkpoint for it to be day again. Oh, and at night, you can fight wild Pokemon even if you aren't walking through grassy areas!

My first encounter in the night area was a bird. I had to chase him around a bit until he became cornered between two other trainers. They must have been trying to catch him because they gave me HM01-CUT! It only seemed to work on my flying-squirrel Pokemon. Well, my Wananiko has evolved, so I'm headed to the nearest Pokemon Center in order to finally switch Pokemon. Wish me luck!