*music for the occasion*

Hi everybody! =3
Wanted to write another journal before my surgery will come up, but of course not only talk about that alone, so first have the link to the finished group artwork from  WhisperFluff that I created a raffle from last month:

Halloween town

Again, I'm glad about the attention that people gave the raffle and I hope to do more in the near future yet. Whisper gave Shiny and the other happy winners some cute outfits, Shiny himself being a happy lil Gargoyle-Dile. =D
Hope that all of you were able to have a pleasant time of trick and treating. 🎃

---

20 years ago in the Pokémon homeland the most ambitious game got released
Yush, I'm talking about the start of gen 2! Well, in a way gen 2 partly counts to gen 1 as it made use of all the ambitionous ideas the creators couldn't fit into their first one which became to the worldwide phenomenom.

So what did Pokémon Gold and Silver all add? Here a list for you:
-the new Johto region based of Japan's Kansai, filled with same cultural indluences
-100 new Pokémon including all new Baby Pokémon
-Pokémon eggs could now be obtained and Pokémon breeding got introduced
-Shiny Pokémon made their debut here as well
-Pokémon could be caught at different times thanks to the ingame clock and day-and night cycle on routes
-Steel and Dark type Pokémon made their entrance
-Pokémon received a Special values got split into Special Attack and Special Defense
-Pokémon now got devided into genders as well
-It's the only generation to actually feature two Pokémon regions in one (that is to thank to the former Nintendo president and programmer Satoru Iwata who helped GameFreak out with the coding and made it possible to fit all Pokémon and both Johto and Kanto from gen 1 onto a GameBoy cartridge)
-the new device called PokéGear with functions as a mobile phone, clock, digital map and radio got included here
-Apricorns that could be turned into various kinds of differently designed Poké Balls get featured here as well

Pokémon Gold and Silver brought back many elements from the first generation while building a lot of content on top. The developers actually were somewhat burned out from what they had put out until that point and got permission to move the first initial release from 1998 to 1999 to put more content into the project. The goal was to bring Pokémon to the next level.

I personally must admit that I only got to play the second gen games a bit later because I was so occupied with first gen and other video games when it came out in Europe two years after the initial release. I still did enjoy Johto a lot for the neat ideas for new towns and the Pokémon designs probably still belong to my very favourite (which moreso got underlined with me following the anime).
The story might not hold up all too much when comparing with other RPG franchises but playing with your personal pick of a starter / Pokémon partner and team, wandering from town to town, challenging 16 gym leaders, two Pokémon leagues and a certain trainer from gen 1, you got a lot of content, especially for a GameBoy title.

People who were owners of a Super Nintendo and the Super Game Boy also were able to play the games on their TV and in color and later also on the N64 thanks to Pokémon Stadium 2 and the Transfer Pak.
Pokémon Crystal for the GameBoy Color were the follow-up version of Gold & Silver and brought animated spriets for all the Pokémon. Aside from that, ten years after their release, the remake versions Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver brought the Johto adventures onto Nintendo DS systems and a digital re-release of the GameBoy games arrived onto Nintendo 3DS in 2017.
When and if we will return to the Johto region in another game, is yet to be waited for.

I originally had plans for a new art submission for today but sadly couldn't finish it in time. I wanna share the link to the generously submitted gift art by  Tyrotspacecat though, who drew Shiny alongside the legendary Pokémon Lugia and Ho-oh!

A Legendary Encounter ✨

Do you have fond memories of Johto? Favorite moments of Pokémon? What are the things that you appreciate gen 2 introducing? I'm happy to read your answers in the comment section below. ^_^

---

As mentioned in previous journals, I will go to the hospital next week to receive surgery at my injured knee. I cannot tell if and how often I might be able to properly reply back to messages during my stay there. Recent days have already been busy with many doctors appointments in preparation for everything.
Of course I'm a little nervous again and hope that things will go well and not be too painful during rehabilitation phase in the upcoming weeks. The goal in the end is that first I slowly regain mobility and then transfer over to build up the leg muscles anew with gymnastics training.
And if things go well, I might be able to run and jump again in a half year from now. Thank you all for the well wishes that I received up to this point. I am looking forward to give you all an update in the near future where I can tell that I am all well.

Lastly, I wanna share yet another artwork by  CupcakeDoragon who in collaborated thoughts with  Incinermyn surprised me with this plush TF artwork here alongside best wishes for my health:

A Child's Plaything! (By Cake) 🍰

I hope that you all will get well into the festive season, stay warm and enjoy preparing a happy Crsitmas time for you and your loved ones.
May it be with your video games going back to Johto or doing whatever brings you great joy at the moment.

Happy Totogreets from Shiny as well! My mascot will surely bring me luck. Dile~ out! (-^.=.^-) ❤️️