PokéVew - Source of All Info Related to Pokemon

I would do these types of website posts rather regularly in the past considering I would constantly be working on things for the website, but considering how much Pokemon news has been coming out as of late, it took a bit of a backseat to say the least! However, I thought this would be a prime time to restart the website projects once again, especially as I am working on posting a lot more lately. That also means I will do my best to regularly post! 

What is my plan for this site? I want to make it a trusty place for quick Pokemon information that happens to drop. Whether that is for upcoming TCG sets, Pokemon TCG Pocket app updates, information from the games, or other major announcements. I want to be on top of it a lot more and make this site a trustworthy place where people can get all the useful information they need. 

The current issue is that I am running this site with money out of my own pocket, so it makes it a bit tough to manage financially. Moving forward I will be implementing ads to help fund the site. I am making it my goal not to make them intrusive as I realize a lot of Pokemon websites tend to make them overly annoying, in your face, and have outright stupid placement. That is not my goal. It will take some time to tune the placement, ensuring that they are not bothersome whether you are visiting this site from your computer or phone. With that said, ads have officially launched, but they will be tuned within the coming days. I just have to work on the script and code placement to ensure people on computers and mobile devices are able to navigate without issue. I will constantly evaluate and make changes when needed. 

Furthermore, I have a lot of neat projects in the pipeline. This would be a common theme when I was running my first Pokemon blog where I would dedicate time to completing fun projects for people to utilize. I am happy to finally revisit this again, especially following the website's official domain being established! Website projects will be fine tuned along the days, months, and years. I want to make this a neat, fun place for people to visit where they are getting all the necessary Pokemon information they desire. The first website project I am launching is a Pokedex! I tried to make this a modern theme where people can view it without issues on their computers and mobile devices, but I realize I will need to tune it so it's accessible without any issues. Over time I will be implementing updates as I see fit, but this is a great initial stage and I am happy to have launched this awesome project! 

Here is a list of some of the bugs that are currently being tuned:

• Text in dark mode once a Pokemon is clicked is rather difficult to read
• Unable to exit out of the Pokemon details on mobile devices
• Light mode becomes text after turning on dark mode
• Weird text showing up in generation titles 

Like I mentioned, the site's Pokedex will be tuned within the coming days to make sure it is an amazing experience no matter which device you use.

I am currently in the stage of developing an AnimeDex! This is something I've always wanted to do and am rather excited about how it will turn on. This has been a bit of a headache because I've been going back and forth regarding the total amount of information I want in this. Initially, I was thinking about including a list of all the episodes, but I realize that would be very difficult for me to maintain considering I am busy with job hunting and grad school. So with that said, the first version of the AnimeDex will launch soon! It will contain information about all the Pokemon seasons up to present time. Similar to the Pokedex, it will be interactive where you can expand out each season to get more details. This is another project that will be tuned over time. 

So what else is in the pipeline?

I want to have a TCG set hub where you can view information about all the cards within each Pokemon TCG set, organized by the years. This will be a major undertaking but I am excited to make this a reality. I will need time for this to cook, but will provide updates along my normal Pokemon posts so you are in the loop. 

Another project I am working on is a TCG hub for the Pokemon TCG Pocket app. This will be a bit more manageable considering how many sets have launched so far, so this might become a reality before the actual TCG set hub. Considering the next mini expansion is releasing later this week, it would be nice to have a database with all the card information. Surely, it will take some time to compile all the data but hope to keep it updated as the sets release each month. 

Last night, I launched a few site widgets! I don't have to go into much detail because they're fairly self explanatory but excited for site visitors to get their eyes (and hands on it).

So what exactly launched?

• An About PokeVew widget that provides bite size information about the function of the site, what we provide in terms of content, and how to connect with us on social media
• Upcoming Pokemon Events widget. This one is one of the most exciting ones and something I wanted to do for some time. When I first ran my first Pokemon blog, an upcoming events list was something I programmed rather quick to keep visitors updated on upcoming Pokemon events. However, I took a different approach with this. This widget specifically focuses on the TCG and Pocket sets set to release soon. I will be keeping this updated and tuning it over time
• Did you know? widget. A fun little area where you can catch some helpful Pokemon information! Don't need to say more than that
• Pokemon Card of the Day widget. Refreshes daily! 
• Pokemon Type Effectiveness widget. Anyone can interact with it to get information regarding type advantages, weaknesses, and what they might be immune to. Something I plan to use rather regularly
• And more to come!

Lastly, I launched a Card Price Checker page where you can type in details about a card you might be interested in learning more about the price. You can search via TCGPlayer and Ebay. I will be tuning this widget over time, but I am personally excited to get this up and running!

There are many other cool projects in the pipeline that I cannot wait to introduce and share! Over time, I will provide regular project within normal articles and news posts so you can stay in the loop, including hints as to what might be launching! So keep your eyes peeled 👀

Expect some minor website design changes, too. 

According to a recent article from PokeBeach, the Inferno X set will be releasing on September 26th in Japan. This set is set to feature Mega Charizard X, and follows the Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia sets, which showcases Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex (releasing August 1st). 

The current timeline for the Japanese sets is the following:

• June 6th: Black Bolt and White Flare
• August 1st: Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia
• September 5th: Starter Set Mega Genger ex and Starter Set Mega Diancie ex
• September 26th: Inferno X

The last time we saw Mega Charizard ex was back in 2016, so I'm expecting the hype for this set to be quite something, especially as collectors and PokeInvestor bros sit out in the sweltering heat in front of GameStops for a chance to cop a single item. 

I am also expecting the Pokemon Center website to be swarmed as well, so the momentum will definitely be there as we move on from the Scarlet and Violet TCG series to revisiting Mega Evolutions once again, which I am totally down for. 

I foresee the momentum continuing to build as we inch closer to Gen 10, but until then, I expect it's going to be rather difficult to attain a lot of these items for several months after release, especially when there is a 6 month delay between release and full on production where it's easier to obtain these items. 

Until then, we still have to look forward to Destined Rivals and Black Bolt and White Flare sets to cap off the Scarlet and Violet series.

Pokemon Center has been making Pokemon drops pretty regularly these last few weeks - usually spanning once or twice a week. Although, that doesn't come without challenges. Bots continue to overrun the queue and get through without many issues, as a lot of these bot providers continue to try their best with engineering any prevention updates Pokemon Center throws their way. However, this past Friday, something rather interesting happened... Pokemon Center queue had gone up a few times during the day, causing many people to rush to the site in the hopes of securing whatever drop was happening. As the minutes past, it became obvious nothing was dropping and rather a false alarm? I mean, it can happen! A lot of these monitor bots these Pokemon restock servers implement tend to look out for backend changes that happen to the site, alerting people of the queue going up. 

The track record for that has been pretty impressive, but this past Friday, nothing came of it. What was interesting, however, was the extra captchas and Imperva security measures being implemented, which was not seen before. It appears the Pokemon Center website was actively trying these measures out live to see how bots may interact with it. At the same time, numerous Pokemon fans were lining up in this virtual line in the hopes of scoring whatever drop would happen but they were faced with a litany of network errors when trying to solve these captchas. Some were even met with error 15 and 17 messages which are notorious for blocking individuals from accessing the site from their IP address. 

It didn't take long for Pokemon Center to revert back to their old system. It became rather apparent during this event that they were implementing new security measures to fight against the waves of bots that are so prevalent within the Pokemon TCG scene. What I am personally afraid of is that it won't take long for these bot providers to find a way to bypass these new security measures (if they do go live). 

As someone who has no knowledge of cybersecurity or bot preventions on websites, I am curious to see how the Pokemon Center website and all these other retail websites continue to fight against bots. When the big Destined Rivals drop happened on Walmart a couple weeks ago, many people were able to cop because the bot providers (like Stellar and Prizm) were not anticipating this new queue system. Similarly, many people were able to purchase the Black Bolt and White Flare ETBs when they were live on Pokemon Center. The stock lasted approximately 5 hours.

Now I'm no expert, but I do wonder whether Pokemon Center will tackle this bot issue by restricting a certain quantity to each address. I mean, they are already doing this where if you try to purchase more than the limit, then you're simply met with a red banner, preventing you from moving forward with the purchase. Considering bots don't have to wait in the queue, restricting to address makes the most logical sense to fight against them. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if these bot providers have a workaround ready for that. But what do I know? I'm simply the Webmaster of Pokevew! :P

Either way, curious to see what happens for this next Pokemon Center drop which I anticipate will happen this upcoming week. Guess we'll see...