Jason R. Rich - Pokemon Snap

To everyone at Creatures, Inc., GAME FREAK, Inc., and Nintendo responsible for creating the Pokmon Snap game and making Pokmon an incredible phenomenon throughout the world!

SYBEX is a registered trademark of SYBEX Inc.
Pathways to Adventure is a trademark of SYBEX, Inc.
1995, 1996, 1998 Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK
1999 Nintendo/HAL Laboratory, Inc.

ISBN 0-7821-2666-9

RetroReadingTime.com

SYBEX

The World of Pokmon is a wonderful place where people young and old spend their free time doing a very special thing they catch and raise wild Pokmon and then enter them into competitions. Virtually everyone wants to someday become the World's Greatest Pokmon Master.

What? You don't know what a Pokmon is?

These remarkable creatures live in the wild; they are small but very powerful and intelligent. Some people catch Pokmon and raise them as pets, but most train them to compete against other Pokmon. There are more than 150 kinds of Pokmon, each with its own look, abilities, and special powers.

Professor Oak is a famous Pokmon expert. Because he's had so much practice training and studying Pokmon, people call him the "Pokmon Prof and have a lot of respect for him. With the help of a young boy named Ash, the Professor created the Pokdex, a computerized encyclopedia containing information about all known Pokmon. An extremely smart and kind man, Professor Oak wants to understand Pokmon even better. Now that he's retired from raising and training Pokmon, he has dedicated his life to studying them and learning as much as he can about them.

As part of his research, Professor Oak helped to establish Pokmon Island, a sanctuary for the many types of wild Pokmon. On this island, in a top-secret location, Pokmon live carefree in their natural habitat. On the island, the creatures can't be captured by Pokmon trainers and are also protected from members of Team Rocket, a society of evil Pokmon trainers.

Professor Oak has never allowed anyone to visit Pokmon Island. After guiding Ash to complete the Pokdex, the Professor wanted to continue his teaching and research by studying and taking pictures of wild Pokmon in their natural habitats. His ambitious goal was to create the PKMN Report, which would have colorful photographs and a ton of information about each and every type of wild Pokmon living on the island.

Professor Oak has searched everywhere for the perfect assistant to help him create the PKMN Report. The Professor needed someone who was curious and smart and able to take excellent photographs. Most importantly, the person he selected had to be interested in studying the Pokmon, not capturing and training them. The bright young person he finally selected for this important task was Todd, a teenager with an outgoing personality and reddish brown hair. His hobby was taking pictures. In fact, wherever Todd went, he always carried a camera on his shoulder and was ready to snap a photo. Todd was the perfect person for this assignment!

For many months, Professor Oak worked on developing a special contraption called the Zero-One to help his research. When he was finished, he sent Todd a letter, inviting him to Pokmon Island. When Todd arrived at the lab, the Pokmon Prof proudly showed off his invention and gave Todd a demonstration. The Zero-One was an all-terrain vehicle specifically designed to help Todd safely explore every area of Pokmon Island.

The bright-yellow Zero-One was a self-running vehicle jampacked with special features and secret functions. It was awesome it could drive along land, float in water, hover in the air, and travel along special tracks. It was waterproof and fireproof, and could withstand both high heat and sub-zero temperatures. This contraption was ready to navigate even the toughest paths on the island.

Pokmon Island was a mysterious and beautiful place, filled with exotic Pokmon along with many surprises. Professor Oak explained to Todd that each time he set off to explore a section of Pokmon Island, the Zero-One would be set on autopilot. Instead of having to steer the vehicle, the eager young photographer could focus most of his attention on taking pictures.

While riding in this amazing high-tech vehicle, Todd would be able to look in all directions-left, right, up, down, in front of him, or behind him. A good thing, since wild Pokmon could show up at any moment. Once his journey began, the young photographer had to be ready to snap pictures every second of the way.

Todd would be super-safe no matter where he went. The Professor had made the Zero-One smart, so it would automatically adjust itself to whatever part of the island it was in. Todd wouldn't get hurt, and neither would the wild Pokmon living on the island.

After Professor Oak demonstrated all the levers, dials, and gadgets on the Zero-One, he showed Todd a large map of Pokmon Island. It was divided into six clearly marked sections. The Professor told Todd he'd be exploring each area separately. His job was to take photos of all the wild Pokmon living within each section of the island.

Based on the extensive research the Professor had already done, he knew there were 63 types of Pokmon living on Pokmon Island. Since these were wild creatures living in their natural habitats, Todd could expect to find Watertype Pokmon in water-filled areas, for example, and Fire-type Pokmon would be in the warmer climates, such as near the volcano.

To complete the PKMN Report, Todd would need to take the best snapshot possible of each type of Pokmon. The Professor explained that he would evaluate the pictures and award points for each one. Todd would return to the Professor's lab and meet with him after each expedition. The number of points the young photographer received for each of his snapshots would be based on several things, including the size of the Pokmon in the picture. Close-up shots earned more points, too, and so did a picture showing the Pokmon in a special pose. And if the photo captured a Pokmon doing something out of the ordinary, Professor Oak awarded more bonus points!

Another way for Todd to earn points was to use the skills he'd gained by practicing so much with his camera. For instance, the Professor wanted photos that were in focus, so the Pokmon could be seen clearly. He explained that Todd should try to get the Pokmon looking directly into the camera and perfectly centered in the frame of each picture. Todd knew this wasn't going to be an easy task, especially since the wild Pokmon were free to roam happily around. He doubted they'd just sit still and pose for the camera, at the exact moment he wanted them to!

Todd could earn even more bonus points for taking pictures featuring several of the same-type Pokmon in a single shot.

Luckily, Todd could bring along plenty of film for his trusty camera. Each time he traveled through an area of the island, he'd be able to take a total of 60 shots. From those pictures, he could select the very best ones to show to the Professor. The pictures of each Pokmon type that won a place in the PKMN Report would be the pictures that scored the most points.