This time around, another of classic First Gen Pokemon – Magikarp. A totally useless, defenseless Pokemon that just hopelessly splashes around with its silly open mouth, looking as if it’s going to suffocate any moment now, Magikarp doesn’t really engender any warm feelings. It’s a fish flapping on the ground. It’s been a running joke of the anime and manga for years. Alas… those in the know meticulously catch all of these pathetic Pokemon and collect candy necessary to evolve it (400, not a negligible amount ;)) – because the evolution is no other than mighty Gyarados, one of the most powerful Pokemon of all 😉 So here it is, without further ado: shiny Magikarp (Gyarados coming up next week)!

Okay, so I promised a photo of a shiny Pikachu… Pikachu is definitely one of the most popular and liked Pokemon, especially after the live-action movie few years back. Alas, my shiny Pikachu has already been evolved into Raichu 😉 But it has a New Year’s hat on, so hopefully it’ll pass muster ;). The difference between a shiny and non-shiny is in this case somewhat slight – normal Raichu is a bit more yellowish while the color of this one is more of a burnt orange. By the shape of the tail, you can tell this one’s a female (well, there’s also the symbol on the right side of the name, but whatever ;)).