The addiction returns. It's not full-fledged obsession, as it was for Pokemon Pearl, thankfully. When Platinum came out a bit more than a year later, I was burned out after catching them all, and was content to play just enough to write a review. But now, just a year later, I get a review copy of the newest game, Pokemon HeartGold, and I'm right back in the thick of it. I'm playing this game fo' real, yo, even trying to catch a lot (but certainly not all) of 'em. I initially meant simply to trade over my Tier 1 team from Pearl once I beat the Elite Four, but I'm finding myself sticking with my original team, which is mostly caught Pokemon: Red Gyarados, Feraligatr, Ampharos, Lucario, Gallade, and Ho-Oh. I have a Bibarrel as an HM slave. I'm in Kanto now, and I have no intent on stopping, even after writing a two-man two-man review with Neal Ronaghan.
So, anyway, as Pokefanatics already know, the pull of this franchise is strong. It's almost as if, at some point in our evolutionary history, collecting adorable monsters and using them to resolve conflict was paramount to our survival. Most of the Pokemon I meet in the wild easily submit to a Quick Ball, but those damn legendaries, as always, provide considerable challenge. We've all been in the situation of facing a legendary who we've managed to knock down to 1 HP AND put to sleep, only to experience the heartbreak of running out of Pokeballs. That happened to me twice while trying to check off Ho-Oh. Oh, the frustration! Eventually, however, I made it part of my team, and Sacred Fire has been setting those bothersome Grass and Steel types alight ever since.
Now, the other reason the game is taking up all my time is that it's getting me off my ass. No, really. This is a video game that encourages exercise, and not in a forced Wii Fit sort of way. Behold: the unbelievably simplistic, but addictive, Pokewalker.
This device is a pedometer. It counts your steps. However, there's more to it than that! For every twenty steps you take, you earn a "Watt." For every ten Watts you earn, you get chance to catch a Pokemon that is then stored on the Pokewalker until you wirelessly connect it to HeartGold. For a mere three Watts, you can play a "find an item!" game where you can find rare items, like Stardust and Berries. When you import one of your Pokemon to the Pokewalker, you also choose a "Route" to walk on, which really just means "what batch of Pokemon would you like to catch?" There are six Pokemon per route, but they are divided into two "classes," and you never know what class you start out with until you start finding them. Furthermore, the best Pokemon in each class are only findable after walking nine or ten thousand steps. That's a lot of stepping! However, it pays off: today I caught a Pikachu that knows Fly (or Surf, depending on the class--I don't know which one yet).
So the Pokewalker gives me incentive to walk more, which is great!
I also just beat Koga's daughter. I'm totally pwning this game. It's so awesome.
Cradily shares its Rock/Water type with most other Fossil Pokemon, including Kabuto, Kabutops, Omonyte, Omanyte and Omastar.
The clearly-related Tropius is a strange sauropod Pokemon with giant palm leaves growing its back. Supposedly these leaves allow the beast to fly, although I somehow doubt that hypothesis. Its leafy helmet somehow grows bannanas. Strangely, Tropius has reduced the number of phalanges in its forefeet to one each, and has lost its tail.
Sceptile is a strange theropod which is the adult form of the Treeko-Grovyle line. The spines on its lower arms are reinforced with bone, and large spines grow in a cross-shape along the tail. Despite its heavy spines, Sceptile is a very fast Pokemon.
The size of a tyrannosaurine tyrannosaur, Groudon looks like something out of a Godzilla movie. It's wide shape and powerful forelimbs have evolved to sustain a burrowing lifestyle. Groudon is a desert-dweller, burying itself in the dunes during the day and hunting at night. The huge claw-like structures on its tail are useful in the pursuit of prey, as are its large manual claws.
Rampardos is a heavyset pachycephalosaur which is the adult form of Cranidos. Its dorsal neural spines are higher toward the shoulders, forming a distinct "hump" along the back. The large head is bordered by four long spines, and the knees are capped with small bony spikes. Rampardos is not a particularly large Pokemon, but it is very spirited and can be dangerous!
Bastiodon is a bizarre ceratopsian Pokemon, although it looks like something that would guard Aztec ruins! Although functionally toothless, Bastiodon has four lower teeth which grow upwards and give the face a cagey look. The orbital horns stick out laterally and act more as eyeshades than anything elese. The creature's back is armored, as are its lower legs. Although it looks menacing, Bastiodon is a gentle giant that lives in small groups and cares for its young, called Shieldons.
Aerodactyl is a large, dangerous pterosaur Pokemon! It is fairly heavy for a pterosaur, and instead of a tail "rudder," like other rhamphorhynchoids, Aerodactyl has a devil tail. It retains large mandibular teeth, and its lower jaw fits snuggly around the upper jaw, giving this strange pterosaur a prominant underbite. 
Lapras, an armored-backed plesiosaur Pokemon, is easily tamed and often used as a mount by human trainers. It uses its unique unicorn horn to scrounge the seabed for invertebrate prey, and its coiled ears give it unnaturally good hearing. Unlike other plesiosaurs, Lapras' foreflippers are much larger than its hind flippers, which may somehow relate to the weight of its strange dorsal armor.
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