bayleef - a small cyberdeck like device for all of your pokemon needs on the go based on the Pi Zero 2W

devlog 1

The plan for this project is to run a python based menu on top of the stock Raspberry Pi OS or maybe a more lightweight debian distribution if it proves to be a problem in order to provide the functionality I want.

I spent the first couple days of this project working on the software before I do any of the hardware, since it’s a lot easier to design software first and then design the hardware around it. All i’ve gotten done so far is the ui system through pygame (the main menu shown in the picture below), a cool analog clock, and eontimer functionality. The next goals of the project are to implement Entralinked server functionality leveraging python’s subprocess library, implement PKHeX likely using PKHeX core since i have never programmed in C# and I don’t know how to link it to Python, and then creating a SQLite database of Pokemon information ripped off of the PokeAPI and implementing a Bulbapedia-style UI for the dex hopefully. Only after all of that stuff is implemented will I get started on the cool and fun part of the project, which is the hardware, lol

Right now, EonTimer functionality is implemented by starting an http server and Chrome in kiosk mode to serve EonTimer, with a custom javascript button to provide the user an easy way to exit from it, while making sure the python program returns to the main menu as well. Custom CSS had to be created in order to ensure the website could fit on an 800x480 screen. I had been trying to design this under the assumption that the user wouldn’t have access to a mouse cursor of any kind, and I already made my python ui index based with no mouse control, but it doesn’t seem feasible and I will most likely have to implement some kind of joystick or trackpad or at least a touch screen for the user to be able to have mouse control.

I think the project is coming out fine, although I really need to stop relying on LLM tools for coding assistance, it’s very embarrassing.

Anyway, thanks for reading my first devlog.