Pokémon Snap (book)
| Pokémon Snap | |
|---|---|
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| ISBN: | 0782126669 |
| Published: | 1999 |
| Publisher: | Sybex Inc. |
| Author: | Jason R. Rich |
| Preceded By: | Pokémon |
| Succeeded By: | Pokémon Gold/Silver |
Pokémon Snap by Jason R. Rich is the second Pokémon book to be published in the Pathways to Adventure series. It was published by Sybex, Inc. in 1999 and is 101 pages in length. This book retells the plot of the game Pokémon Snap, including gameplay hints within the story. It also contains a "Photo Score Index" of the author's best scores for each Pokémon.
Plot
Chapter 1: Todd Meets Professor Oak
The story begins with Todd Snap arriving at Professor Oak's lab. The story's narrative explains that Professor Oak has hired Todd, a photographer, to come to Pokémon Island, a sanctuary for wild Pokémon, and photograph the various Pokémon inhabiting the island for his Pokémon Report, a photographic guide to the characteristics and behaviour of the wild Pokémon inhabiting the island. Professor Oak equips Todd with the ZERO-ONE, an all-terrain vehicle resistant to flame and water, allowing Todd to safely travel the island and search for Pokémon. Oak also promises to reward Todd with more tools as his photography skills improve.
Chapter 2: Todd Visits the Beach
Todd sets out for his first destination: the Beach. As he begins his exploration, he takes his first pictures as a flock of Pidgey pass by. Todd remarks that having more than one of the same Pokémon in the photo will improve his score with Professor Oak. He takes pictures of more Pokémon, including Doduo and Pikachu. Todd notices a surfboard nearby to where he saw Pikachu, and wonders how he could possibly get Pikachu to get on the surfboard, as that would be an amusing photo. He takes pictures of Butterfree, Lapras and Meowth; noticing a sleeping Pokémon along the way. Unable to identify the sleeping Pokémon, Todd remarks that he would have to come back when he thought of a way to wake it up. He also noticed a rustling in the bushes, not sure what was there, either. He encounters Lapras again, noticing that it had come closer since he took its picture last time, now allowing him to take a closer shot than before. He continued on the ZERO-ONE's route, taking a picture of an Eevee chasing another wild Pokémon which he was not able to identify. After seeing Eevee, Todd looked to his other side and noticed yet another Lapras, closer than ever before and with another behind it. This allowed him his best picture of Lapras yet. His last picture before reaching the Goal Gate was of a Kangaskhan with its back turned. Despite that it was from behind, he took the picture anyway knowing that having a low-scoring picture was better than nothing.
Chapter 3: Tunnel of Surprises
After returning to the Beach a few times and getting progressively better pictures, Professor Oak allowed Todd to access a new area: the Tunnel. At first seeing only familiar Pokémon, like Pikachu, Todd gradually came to discover and photograph new Pokémon, such as Electrode, Electabuzz and Kakuna. While frantically looking around trying to take pictures of all these new Pokémon, Todd discovers that the ZERO-ONE slowed down a little when he was facing backward, allowing him to take more pictures of a Pokémon he had already passed by. He discovers and photographs more Pokémon: a Zubat, another Pikachu, which was hanging out next to an odd Egg, and a floating purple Pokémon which he could not readily identify. When Todd arrived to Oak's Lab, he was pleased to discover that the purple Pokémon was easily identifiable in his photos as Haunter. He presented his photos to Professor Oak, who promised that with a few more high-scoring photos, he would receive a new item. After traveling back through the Tunnel one more time, Professor Oak rewarded Todd with Pokémon Food, which could be used to lure Pokémon closer to the camera. With the Pokémon Food as bait, Todd was able to take better photos of several Pokémon. When he threw some Pokémon Food at an Electrode blocking a cave, it blew up, opening a previously unseen entrance to the Volcano. He reported this new information to Professor Oak, who encouraged him to explore this new area right away.
Chapter 4: Todd Explores the Volcano
Upon arriving at the volcano, Todd discovered several Fire-type Pokémon, such as Rapidash and Vulpix. He encountered a Magmar and tossed some Pokémon food its way. Seemingly out of nowhere, a Charmander came out, also wanting some of the food. As the ZERO-ONE continued forward, a red and white Pokémon Egg was blocking the path. Thinking fast, Todd threw a piece of Pokémon food at it, causing it to fall down into the lava. Astonishingly, the Egg hatched into a Moltres, which Todd was able to photograph as it flew away. After reaching the Goal Gate and reporting his findings to Professor Oak, Todd was informed that he would need only three more new Pokémon and then Oak would let him access a new area. Returning to the beach with his Pokémon food, Todd was able to get more pictures of Pokémon and was able to get better pictures of some he had encountered before, such as Kangaskhan. He was also able to lead the Pikachu to the surfboard with the Pokémon food, scoring a photo of Surfing Pikachu. Returning back to the lab, Todd had finally got enough different Pokémon photos to access the next area: River.
Chapter 5: Riding the Waves of the River
Upon arriving at the river, Todd found several new Pokémon: Poliwag, Bulbasaur, Slowpoke and Shellder. He noticed a wooden sign near the Slowpoke, and wondered if he could get Slowpoke closer with the Pokémon food. Once it got near the sign, Slowpoke stuck its tail in the water, where it got bit by a Shellder. To Todd's surprise, this caused the Slowpoke to evolve into Slowbro. He continued forward, finding many new Pokémon with and without the assistance of the Pokémon food, such as Metapod and Psyduck. Approaching the Goal Gate, Todd noticed a weird red switch on the ground, and a locked door following a fork in the path. Convinced that the two were related, Todd remarked that he would have to come back and figure it out. After a few return trips to the River, Todd had achieved a high enough score on his Pokémon Report that Professor Oak rewarded him with another item: the Pester Ball. These Pester Balls had a spray in them which would irritate Pokémon into coming out of hiding places, but was still safe enough to not permanently harm them. Returning to the river once more, Todd tried using the Pester Balls at some bushes near that switch. To his great surprise, a Porygon jumped out. He tried them again closer to the switch and a Porygon jumped out and landed right on the switch, opening the big gate he saw before. Todd left the area and reported to Professor Oak, who made arrangements for Todd to visit this next area - the Cave.
Chapter 6: Todd Discovers More Pokémon in the Cave Area
Todd set out from the lab, ready to investigate the Cave. When he arrived, he discovered several Pokémon, such as Zubat and Grimer. Todd tried throwing some Pester Balls at one of the Grimer, which resulted in it evolving into Muk. He saw some strange-looking Bulbasaur, but when he threw a Pester Ball at them, it turned out that they were actually some Ditto using Transform. Continuing through the cave, he encountered a Jigglypuff being chased by a Koffing. He threw a Pester Ball at the Koffing, which allowed Jigglypuff to escape. On the same pathway, he found two more pairs of Jigglypuff and Koffing, taking the time to rescue each Jigglypuff. In the next part of the cave, Todd encountered a Weepinbell, which he knocked into a nearby pool of water with another Pester Ball. This caused the Weepinbell to evolve into Victreebel. Above, Todd spotted a Zubat holding on to a Pikachu. He tried to throw Pester Balls to set Pikachu free like he did with Jigglypuff, but they were too far up, so he missed. He encountered another Egg, surrounded by some Jynx, but Pester Balls and Pokémon food didn't affect it. As Todd approached the Goal Gate, he found the three Jigglypuff he rescued singing together. When he returned to Professor Oak, the photo he took of the Jigglypuff singing turned out to be his most valuable photo to date. Oak rewarded him with access to the last known area of the island - the Valley. Before going there, though, Todd decided to revisit some of the other areas now that he had the Pester Balls and food on hand. He returned to the Beach, using his Pester Balls to get pictures of Snorlax, Scyther and Chansey, which he had not discovered before. After receiving the Poké Flute, Todd returned to the Tunnel, where he was finally able to lure Pikachu to the Egg he had seen before. When he played the Poké Flute, Pikachu unleashed a Thunder Wave attack, causing the Egg to hatch and revealing Zapdos, much like Moltres appeared in the volcano. Once it was awake, Zapdos started using Electric power, which got the power plant running again. With the rest of the tunnel lit up now and with the use of his new items, Todd was able to take pictures of Dugtrio and Magneton, which he had not seen before. He also returned to the Volcano, taking pictures of Growlithe, Arcanine and Charizard, which he was able to discover with his new Pester Balls. Finally, Todd decided to continue onward to the Valley.
Chapter 7: Todd Surfs the Rapids through the Valley
Arriving in the Valley, Todd immediately started taking pictures of new Pokémon, such as Squirtle and Sandshrew. He tossed a Pester Ball at a Magikarp which jumped out of the water, which then got kicked away by a Mankey. He continued forward, discovering Sandslash and Geodude with the aid of his Pester Balls. He found the Magikarp from before flopping around on land. Hitting it with a Pester Ball to get it back in the water, it swam to a waterfall nearby, where it evolved into Gyarados. He took pictures of several Staryu that passed by, which then started following him. As Todd approached a whirlpool, the Staryu went in, and emerged after evolving into Starmie. He continued forward, taking pictures of Dratini, Dragonite and Goldeen. Approaching the goal gate, Todd noticed a switch and locked gate like he saw before at the River. Unfortunately, he noticed it too late, so he wasn't able to figure out how to get the switch to activate. Returning to the Valley a second time, Todd encountered a Squirtle on top of a hill. He shot a Pester Ball at it, causing it to slide up and knock down a Mankey that was on top of the hill. The Mankey landed close by to the switch, so Todd threw another Pester Ball at it, causing it to fall down and activate the switch. Behind the gate, he found Professor Oak, who was also in the valley because he was looking for something called Pokémon signs, a phenomenon that he had recently been informed of. Oak had been told by his source that the first of these signs was a mountain that looked like Dugtrio. Todd agreed to help Oak look for the Pokémon signs, returning to the Valley to look for the Dugtrio mountain.
Chapter 8: The Search for the Signs
When he arrived back at the Valley, Todd recognised the Dugtrio mountain immediately, taking several pictures of it. Hoping to find more of the six signs, Todd returned to the Beach, where he found a formation of rocks that looked like a Kingler after several return trips. He returned to the Tunnel, where he found a shadow that coincidentally looked like Pinsir after getting Zapdos to activate the power plant again. Todd continued to explore each area, discovering smoke that resembled Koffing in the Volcano and a tree that resembled Cubone in the River. He revisited the Cave, finally rescuing the Pikachu that was trapped by Zubat before, which floated down with a set of balloons. Todd played his new Poké Flute near the odd Egg, causing it to hatch into Articuno. The Pikachu landed from its balloons on to Articuno's back and they flew away together. Finally, he found the last Pokémon sign, a constellation resembling Mewtwo. Noting that the constellation in the Cave resembled a constellation in the night sky, Professor Oak realised that the six Pokémon signs matched six constellations appearing above Pokémon Island. He concluded that there must be something at the Rainbow Cloud, a secret course above the island.
Chapter 9: To Rainbow Cloud and Beyond!
Todd set out for the Rainbow Cloud, eager to discover what secrets may be there. As the ZERO-ONE traveled forward, at first it seemed like there was nothing nearby, when suddenly, Mew appeared from behind Todd. He tried to take a photo of Mew right away, but the bubble around it prevented the photo from successfully capturing Mew's likeness. Todd tried continuously throwing food and Pester Balls at the bubble, trying to weaken it. Eventually, he managed to break the bubble, allowing him a few moments to take pictures of Mew before a new bubble appeared. Todd was able to do this a few more times before arriving at the Goal Gate. He presented his best photo to Professor Oak, which earned him a total score of 9780 points. Though Todd had found all 63 species of Pokémon on the island and his adventure was coming to an end, he agreed to stay on the island with the Professor for a while longer so that he could revisit each course and try for higher scoring photos of each Pokémon.
Errors
- In chapter three, Haunter is mistakenly identified as a Flying-type Pokémon. Whether this is a genuine oversight or an intentional error to illustrate Todd's lack of knowledge is unknown.
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This book article is part of Project Merchandise, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all Pokémon toys, dolls, books, and collectible merchandise. |
