#dude look at exeggcute

[goldensunset]

i don't really know how to word this but like i feel like i'm gonna forever have to deal with the pain and heartache of one of my very first pokémon games- the first 'normal' pokémon game i've ever played, that i will have lasting nostalgia and love for as a result of it being formative to my introduction into the series- being the one that will forever be looked down upon for bad graphics and technical issues as a result of the game having been rushed

like i honest to goodness want to scream and yell and cry into the void about how this means everything to me and will always be one of my fave games just in general. but how am i gonna do that without someone being like 'the broken overpriced mess? the one that's missing all this stuff from the older games that was great? the thing with all the cringe? that one?' or whatever. and the thing is they aren't wrong for their criticisms either like i know the fact that they rushed this wonderful game hardcore is a massive stain on its reputation and it hurts me too but like i cannot turn off the brain full of love in me and be a mean critic. or even an impartial one. i mean i criticize everything i love don't get me wrong i am constantly running my mouth about what i like and don't like. but at the end of the day i approach all media with an unusually optimistic mindset. if you see me talk a ton about something no matter what i'm saying you can bet it means i love it.

just. aaagh. it's always tough being a new fan of an old series. i'm like too embarrassed to express my opinions bc i feel like they're invalid y'know? i feel so exhausted every time i see something to the effect of like 'oh those poor kids these days having to deal with such bad quality everything what a bad time to be a fan of pokémon wow y'all make me feel so old' well see the thing is i actually am thriving and i love it here. and i'm also an adult myself so i have more critical thinking skills than people who played red when they were like five years old did. and even with the power of critical thinking i manage to be in love with this. join me in marvelling at the beauty of life

[jadeazora]

EX'd Hop. Like his brother's it's orange, but a nicer, deeper shade and not as clashy with the yellow and black over the cream and green of Leon's.

This just looks awful. My poor dude.

A couple mini events start tomorrow too in Masters, Ball Guy helping Sophocles and Molayne look for some lost Voltorb and a new Egg event. Iirc, the available Pokemon are Exeggcute and Voltorb.

Togetic has been announced as the next Community Day Pokemon, alongside an infographic showing the details of the event!

[lovelylovelyartist]

LovelyLocke Leaf Green Part 8

OK, apparently all my Silph Co. stuff got lost in the Void, so I have no record of that. Long story short, I hate warp puzzles, Gary was wandering around and was doing fuckall to help with the whole Team Rocket bullshit, and is generally a dick. Giovanni didn't kill another one of my pokemon and sweet Peach was avenged, got the Master Ball which i cant use because it's against nuzlocke rules. But part of my rules is that I have to BATTLE the legendaries, so theres fun.

Where my footage picks up is inside the Fighting Dojo, which is a hysterical concept to me because you literally just go into someones fuckin karate practice space and kick everyones asses, so they're like "Were not a fuckin league gym anymore, why did you come in and defeat us all, take a pokemon and get the hell out!"

Welcome to the team, Marvin (I've always thought Hitmonlee looked like Marvin the Martian lol)

Sabrina is next on the badge count, and she is my favorite leader. she's a tough battle, Psychic pokemon are so goddamn powerful in this gen. but nevertheless, the team got the job done! Badge 5 (6 technically but it makes no goddamn sense to fight Koga first since im pretty sure hes got stronger pokemon)

So, in order to get the EXP Share, I need 50 pokemon in my dex. There's several pokemon in my box that could be evolved, so I'll work on evolving them.

starting with The Missle! heck yeah, ive never actually had a Hypno!

...... THE FIRST BATTLE AFTER HE EVOLVES?! DOES POKEMON GOD HATE ME

The Missle the Hypno

Level 11 - Level 26

After all our training, I think we're finally ready to face Koga. Lets get this bread!

C'mon Nintendo, Let the Hype Man say Fuck!

Koga's gym is so fuckin bullshit dude. I dont think I encountered a single poison pokemon until i got to the man himself! so frustrating man. But whatever, he's beaten, 6 badges in the bank! Blaine is next up, so I think I need to start preparing for the last two gyms and the E4.

The EXP Share would really help this process, so I got back into the Evolving train. Let's work on Omelette, welcome to the-

God. Fucking. Damn it.

Omelette the Exeggcute

Level 24 - Level 24

........ Idk how to tell you this bud. But I don't think you're going to get to propose today.

big mood. Thanks for the Fly though

So many Evolutions this update! The most exciting being Arson though, of course. Get Me Them Good Good Fire Boy!

That's it for this update, I think. Next update will be soon, its just a matter of getting my footage from my Ally to a computer to format posts. I'm pleased though, this run is going well. Hopefully I can carry this momentum into the Elite 4 and finish with a victory.

[jaybug-jabbers]

All-Glitch Pokemon Blue Run Pt13: Fossils of the Future

June,

I am terribly grateful that you’re still all right after encountering all those glitch trainers. Judging by your notes, it was an extremely trying experience. This does seem to confirm my beliefs, in the very least, that there is something special about you. You seem to possess a certain resiliance and resistance against the effects of glitching, enough that you merely black out and wake up later, typically none the worse for wear. Still, you musn’t start to believe you are invincible. I ask that you still exercise caution in your experiments and exploration. 

I must also thank you for your detailed notes about all of the glitch trainers you encountered. These observations will prove invaluable to my work, I feel. June, I was a little nervous when you first started out as my assistant, but you have proven that you are not only talented with glitches but that you possess the adventuresome spirit and eye for detail that are the marks of a true scientist. I’m very proud.

I hope that you enjoy your day of rest. When you’re finished, we have more work to do. It’s about time you come to meet me in person at my lab. After your return to Fuscia City, you won’t be far. At the moment, my colleagues and I have been working on a new method of researching glitch pokemon. It involves injecting glitch pokemon DNA into fossils and then reviving the fossils. It’s very cutting-edge, and I’d like you to help me in the Cinnabar Island lab. 

Looking forward to finally meeting,

-Professor Gingko

---

Professor,

I’m glad my notes are gonna help you out! And I’m happy I’ve been of help. Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this whole thing either, but . . . it’s been really interesting looking into all this glitch stuff. I dunno what it is, exactly, but it fascinates me. And the glitch pokemon . . . the more I work with them, the more attached I get to them. They’re so strange and alien, but also so familiar, in a way. They kind of remind me of bug pokemon. They’re weird and wild, but they’re also so cool and loveable.

Uh, anyway. I thought I’d let you know how my trip to Saffron went.

One of the top places to go for tourists in Saffron is the Silph Company, that massive corporate building that loves to give tours to trainers. Show off all the pokeball production and latest tech gadgets. I planned on doing that, but unfortunately I ran into a little trouble. The entire building was crawling with those ‘Team Rocket’ creeps.

It was kind of a slog beating all the guys who kept wanting a piece of me-- put a dampener on the fun of looking around. To make matters worse, I then ran into Professor Oak’s freaking grandson once again. He was determined to beat me in a fight. 

Thing is, his levels were pretty high compared to mine, and I was nervous. He started with a Pidgeot, a full level 37 by now. Dusty had been my lead pokemon, but I switched to Fractal. I admit this was just to distract Pidgeot so I could then safely bring in Wobbles, my powerhouse with a great ice move. That’s not a strategy I love using, but we were in a desperate situation. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Pidgeot outsped Wobbles anyway, and took him out in one hit.

I put in Giago to try and have a go with her, but Pidgeot fights dirty and after a little bit was kicking sand in Gia’s face. So I swapped out again and tried Dusty once more. And you know what? I never should have doubted Dusty. She got a lucky freeze and kept pelting away with Ice Beams until the Pidgeot went down. 

Gia was able to handle the Growlithe, and Dusty took out the Exeggcute-- barely, but she did. Charmed got to see her first taste of battle and slashed the Kadabra to death. Finally came Blastoise, which was a whopping level 40. 

I was worried. Giago’s weak to Special attacks, and Wobbles was already fainted. I did as much damage as I could with Charmed, then after going down to Hydro Pumps, I finished it off with Giago.

It was a close battle. Very close. But we pulled through, and I think I learned some things, especially losing Wobbles so early in the match. Wobbles is my ace, my powerhouse, and the one to usually protect us all when we’re outclassed in a battle. But Wobbles goes down to physical attacks in an instant if he happens to be outsped or doesn’t kill right away. When that happened, I thought for sure we were toast. But we weren’t. Giago and Dusty did a lot of work to save us. 

It was a true team effort, too. Giago has immense defense and HP and is the wall of the team, but her Special makes even her frail to powerful Special attackers. Charmed was important to have around to take the Special attackers on. Dusty helped make up for Gia’s weakness as well, somehow taking out a Pidgeot and an Exggecute, despite having some rather low stats. Seperate, they may not have made it, but together they managed to snatch victory. 

After that battle, finishing off the Team Rocket thugs was a breeze. At the top floor I found some dude who claimed to be the leader of the group. He was being obnoxous, so I battled him and forced him to leave. The president of the Silph Company was grateful for that, and he gave me a free pokeball! 

After that, I decided to visit the local gyms during the rest of my free time. I figured I may as well.

After some shopping and relaxing, I finished out my day in Saffron. Overall, not bad. But I’m eager to see your lab at Cinnabar Island. I’m on my way to Fuscia now, to take out Koga at his gym. That’ll give me the clearance I need to Surf around here. Then I can head over to Cinnabar. 

I’ll let you know when I arrive!

-June

---

June,

Excellent. I’m glad you’re bonding so well with your glitchmon, and I’m glad you’re on your way now. Allow me to ellaborate a little on the fossil conversion process we’ve developed here.

The process partly involves something you have already done in the past. Recall when you handled that glitchmon #C6 with the Superglitch move? Yes. You will be repeating those steps, although this time, your C6 should know Double Slap, not Mega Kick. The easiest method is to simply capture another C6 for the task. 

Once you’ve initiated the controlled Superglitch corruption, according to the steps you learned previously, meet me here at my lab. Give me the Helix fossil you collected previously. You will then do some swapping with a pokemon in your expanded party-- the 33rd pokeball, to be exact. I will take this 33rd pokemon and use its DNA to splice with the Helix fossil, and we can revive a glitched pokemon as a result.

Be sure to return the 33rd pokemon to its proper place when finished and then repeat the steps you followed last time for ‘cleaning up’ after controlled Superglitch corruption.

-Professor Gingko

---

Professor,

It was wonderful to finally meet you face-to-face! The lab was nicer then I imagined. A little small, but still fascinating. I enjoy the ocean breeze and the atmopshere of Cinnabar Island, too. It’s the perfect place to study pokemon.

Your lab assistant is a little hard to understand, but I get the feeling he doesn’t get out much. Anyway, I have the glitchmon we revived, #C9, and I’m trying him out in battle now. Sometimes he blends in with the scenary if there’s a lot of rocks around, but he screeches a lot so I usually can find him that way. He’s been an energetic fellow, so I can’t wait to see what he can do!

-Junebug

---

Glitchdex #: C9/201 

Family: Onix Hybrid (95)

Type(s): Rock/Ground

Species Keyword: FRIENDSHIP

It seems to form great friendships with Drowzee. It is best to keep a Drowzee with this POKEMON to allow it to reach its full potential. 

—

End Notes

Glitches mentioned/used in this post:

* English Fossil Conversion Trick

Click for the next part of the series!

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Jan 2, 2020.

[bogleech]

yo dude, I love your mutant/beast form idea for baby pokemon. Especially Venonat (a really great pokemon design). Can you go into more detail about how/why it would have worked?

The theme of my region is environmental disaster and human influence on nature, so mutant pokemon would be triggered by polluted areas. As a rule they would all be based on the first stage of 2-3 stage pokemon lines, but physically as large or in some cases vastly larger and definitely a bit stronger than their final stages. Ideas I had for them included the dragon-size caterpie and bear-like venonat but also “rotten egg” exeggcute, a giant voltorb that looks normal until it splits open into a saw-toothed mouth, and a zubat with arms and legs instead of wings.I tried to come up with some that would be more mainstream fan pleasers as well, like a huge sea serpent dratini, larvitar with tyranitar’s proportions, t-rex size bagon and even a shaggy, beastly grey eevee. Some gag ones would be single-headed doduo and “broken heart” luvdiscAll mutants would have a new typing and abilities and so forth, and the shiny version of all mutants would be completely greyscale as a monster movie reference.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 5]

Standard Nuzlocke rules apply. Non-standard grindlocke rules made up by me. No fighting outside of Trainer battles.

Four badges so far, we take our heroic journey Team Rocket’s way.

Telling someone that you’re guarding a poster is not the best way to keep their attention off that poster, for the record.

Dude’s got a level 20 Raticate. Heero, being absurdly overleveled despite the handicap, murders it. Zaft can try to tackle the Zubat. Zaft succeeds! And the lackluster fight is over.

A quick talk with an NPC later, our ten-year-old self has the means to start gambling. If we wanted to. We don’t. The pokemon you can get take too long to train, and more importantly, we already have Ribbons for this city.

I know Red is supposed to be the Serious protagonist.

But signs point to him being a hopeless ten-year-old like the rest of us.

Okay, now it’s time to think a little. Team Rocket has the Poison sets, Rattata line, and Zubat line, mainly. I would ideally like Ribbons to hit 30 before we head back to Lavender for the tower fun, but outside of Grimer, meh. Zaft could maybe use some switching down here, so it would make sense for Zaft to go in first position.

Let’s. Try that.

...Wanting an Electrode to contribute meaningfully to my team is going to be my downfall. I can feel it.

Let’s bash some mob heads.

Grunt #1 with a level 21 Raticate for Allenby to rescue Zaft from. Two, even.

Yay, random hidden PP Up for Giga Drain. (60 damage with 5 PP? I forgot how much later gens boost the power on everything to create real monsters.)

Grunt #2. Ick. Level 21 Drowzee. Heero can grab this one. And Drowzee uses Poison Gas to poison Heero. Sigh. Machop next and last, and that can be Allenby’s.

That’s sorted, so down the stairs we go.

Grunt #3. Level 17 Zubat. Zaft can totally handle that alone. And learn Spark! The Koffing is more Allenby’s speed, though. Grimer for Ribbons. Another Zubat for Zaft. Now with the power of an actual Electric move. And finally, Raticate. ...Which we will let Zaft take a stab at against our better judgment.

Hey, it works out! Awesome!

I hated these things as a child.

That was not a wrong opinion.

Grunt #4! Level 19 Rattata for Zaft. Level 19 Raticate for Zaft to have help with. Ribbons, how about you give it a shot? You need exp too. Another one and let’s throw out the same treatment. Back to Rattata for Zaft to solo.

Grunt #5 with three pokemon. First out is level 20 Grimer. Allenby nabs the Koffing. And stays in for the last one.

Downstairs for Grunt #6. It feels like a much higher number than that. Level 21 Machop for Allenby. And a second one.

The more fights there are, the more boring this playthrough gets to describe. There’s no drama. No tension. My team is going to clobber the mooks, and everything is going to be awesome.

Until it suddenly changes, and no one will know because all this boring as heck description is going to drain the horror of all power.

Lucky #7. Level 20 Rattata. These things with their horrifying Hyper Fangs. Raticate. That one will require Allenby’s help. With some hesitance, she’ll stay in against the Drowzee.

The one thing I will never love about Nuzlockes is the number of times I go back to Pokemon Centers. It’s a lot of walking I never do usually.

#8. A level 21 Koffing for Allenby. Back to Zaft for the Zubat.

Lift Key get. Yay.

You’re a mook, not a proper villain, #9. Act like it. Ooh, level 22 Grimer for Ribbons. Koffing for Allenby. Exploring which level the elevator takes me to for me.

#10, standing outside a door I hope opens automatically so I don’t have to go out to search for more keys. Level 23 Ekans goes to Allenby. ...And a Sandshrew. Nay, villains, that is not for you. Ribbons, correct this wrong. Arbok, and back to Allenby.

#11, what do you have for me? Another Sandshrew for Ribbons. Stop using Sandshrew. It’s too cute for you. Noin can have the Sandslash. In the spirit of letting her have something to do. Ekans goes to Allenby.

I don’t remember how this fight goes. I’m going to put Ribbons in front because I don’t think Zaft is useful against any of Giovanni’s anything in any world. Heero and Allenby might very well be jumping in to save everyone. Hopefully not, but whatever. Onward.

Meh.

Level 25 Onix out first, justifying all my choices. Rhyhorn next. Then Kangaskhan. A level 29 Kangaskhan. Allenby might need to step in, but Ribbons can take a hit.

It knows Mega Punch.

Can Allenby take a Mega Punch?

Heero has higher Defense and more HP.

STAB Mega Punch is terrifying. Heero... be brave, now.

Oh, that wasn’t so bad. 30 HP lost.

Yeah, in the future, Giovanni is not for switch training. Allenby gets first crack at the Kangaskhan.

Now it’s time for a ghostly adventure. Yay. Ultimate fetch quests of ultimate destiny.

Actually, before that, which TMs are available at Game Corner? I can’t get a pokemon here, but the moves might be worth something. Let’s see... Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower.

That’s expensive.

I... might come back for Thunderbolt. I’m not sure. Depends how Zaft does. Or Ice Beam, depending on what my final team ends up looking like. There are a few things that could happen.

For now, Ghost tower.

Ribbons and Zaft’s playground.

This place is dark for Nuzlocke runs. It’s creepy regardless, but. Brr.

Oh, you’re first, not last. Uh. Hm.

I think his Pidgeot(to?) is up front. Zaft theoretically isn’t a bad pick for that, but the levels could be anything. Pokemon Tower is available right after Rock Tunnel, so I’m not too worried about this, but this place is also designed to be beaten all the way through after you get the Silph Scope.

Zaft, if you die, we’re in the right place.

SHUT UP.

Okay, so he has a level 25 Pidgeotto. Not something Zaft should be fighting, but. Fuck, I’m going to be stupid, aren’t I? I’m going to let it try to get a hit in. Sorry in advance, Zaft. Pidgeotto used Sand Attack. Zaft could faint it if it hits again.

Good job, Zaft! Now get out!

Allenby in for Growlithe. It’s level 23, but has Intimidate because of course it does. Exeggcute goes to Heero. Wartortle is Noin’s. Kadabra... Ribbons, you want a shot? You’re a higher level. Good boy.

Phew. Okay. That should be the worst of the Tower, I think.

With a level 22 Gastly. Zaft wins all by itself and makes it to level 24!

Channeler Carly also has a Gastly. This one’s level 24, so Ribbons will help.

Channeler Hope is next, with the unfortunate name for a possessed woman. Also a level 23 Gastly. Ribbons will help Zaft again.

Going back to the possessed part for a second... I don’t really pay attention to the plot of these games. I do not care. I am here for the pokemon and not much else. Sun and Moon letting you beat down the Professor is probably one of the few squees the plot of any of these games have given me.

But then there’s gen one and people randomly getting possessed and attacking you just because there needs to be some justification for Trainer battles in a graveyard. I guess. Also Ghosts exist, but ghosts are looked at with the standard superstitious thoughts of our world.

I love these dumb games.

Oh, hello. Right, I can catch a thing here.

Caught!

Your name will be... Epyon. I will never be able to use you because I have no idea how you would even go about trading on an emulator, but it’s nice that if something terrible goes wrong you will be around. I guess.

Channeler Laurel is our next victim. She has a level 23 Gastly. Then another. Ribbons will help with the second one. Night Shade packs a punch.

Channeler Jody. Jody is not the name of someone you would expect to end up here, but I guess the chaotic sprite is probably a symptom of possession. Anyway, level 22 Gastly.

Channeler Paula, who inspires the same joke I just made. Her Gastly is level 24.

I think the next floor up has a healing circle.

Yay, I don’t have to walk all the way outside for the third time.

Channeler Ruth’s Gastly is level 22. We are letting Ribbons and Zaft share to be nice.

Channeler Karina has a level 24 Gastly. Similar tactics employed.

Channeler Janae brings out her level 22 Gastly.

-gasp-

Channeler Tammy... has a Haunter. It’s level 23.

It’s amazing how so many different things from childhood are so much creepier when you reapproach them as an adult.

Channeler Angelica! Hee. Level 22 Gastly, followed by a level 22 Gastly, followed by a level 22 Gastly.

Channeler Jennifer is next. Level 24 Gastly.

Channeler Emilia has another level 24 Gastly.

I think we’ve reached the Marowak staircase, so Zaft is going to have to go second instead of first. Ribbons, you’re free to take on the Marowak all by yourself. Like a champ. I believe in you. And if that belief is faulty, Noin has your back.

Have you ever wanted to give a cloud of ominous mist a hug?

Ribbons wins the day, and all that’s left is Team Rocket.

The first grunt has a level 25 Zubat. Level jump. Yay. My favorite thing in the whole wide world. Another level 25 Zubat. Well at least they’re making this easy for Zaft. Then there’s a level 25 Golbat, threatening things less easy. Heero, step in and save Zaft from confusion.

Second grunt. Level 26 Koffing. Allenby time. Heero gets the Drowzee.

Grunt number three. Last one at the Tower. Kindly opening with a level 23 Zubat for Zaft. And following it with a level 23 Rattata. Then a level 23 Raticate. Allenby will help with that one. ...Actually Heero will, since I wasn’t in the mood to go back and heal after the last Grunt.

No, Zaft, you cannot learn Selfdestruct. Bad Zaft.

Level 23 Zubat for the last thing.

That’s my job. I’m the protagonist.

Poke Flute get!

So now for the least fun part of all this. Snorlax. I need to try to catch it, because it’s too ridiculously useful not to try for, but it’s also ridiculously hard to catch. And not Pokemon Go hard to catch. Actually hard. I need to hit Celadon for some Ultra Balls.

Everywhere only has Great Balls. Nice. Okay then.

I’m going to hate this.

Allenby’s up first.

For the sake of this run’s rules, if I give up on trying to catch it, I’m going to just run. If that’s not an option, then I’ll faint it. But intentionally fainting it if I have other options is out. If it’s going to kill me, run, run, run.

Oh fuck. The Snorlax does too much damage with Headbutt. Catching is a pipe dream.

HOLY SHIT.

IT IS CAUGHT.

WITH MINIMAL TRAUMA.

WHAT.

NAME.

PO.

AWESOME.

LET��S GET YOU OUT OF THE BOX.

JOLLY. LIKE A SANTA.

Heck I am psyched.

Look at this.

Unless something goes horribly wrong, this is our team.

Let’s get that other Snorlax out of our way. There are a lot of Flying trainers past it, and I’m more confident in dealing with that than our Biker friends we will be meeting shortly. Zaft’s still lowest on the totem pole, and correcting that sooner rather than later is my preference.

Other Snorlax successfully fled. Zaft back in front. Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome.

Rocker Luca is hanging about, and he’s got a level 29 Voltorb. Ugh. Allenby, help.

Er.

Oh good, only down to 58.

Then he has a level 29 Electrode. Noin pretty much has to go in just in case. Yikes. Yikes and more yikes. Noin poisons it. Ganbatte Noin.

Great, we lived through that. Nearest PokeCenter where.

Also, to get the Itemfinder and Leftovers, I need 30 pokemon in my Pokedex. I’ve got 24. Things to fix. I think I can fish in cities, Zaft will evolve, and... and I should just resign myself to not getting the stuff right away. Fine.

A Fisherman named Andrew. With a level 24 Magikarp. Yum. And another for good measure.

Next down the bridge, Picnicker Alma. With a level 28 Goldeen for Allenby. ...For Po, actually. Now Po is confused. Now Po is not confused. Now Po is confused. This time the confusion does not matter. Yay Po. Poliwag all for Zaft. Horsea too.

Bird Keeper Sebastian is next. So many things to process. Like the level 29 Pidgey. Ow. Or the Pidgeotto. More ow.

Still on the bridge (maybe our last one until running back for Quatre to Cut a few things?), Picnicker Susie would like to battle with a near-full roster. Starting with a level 24 Pidgey. I approve. Meowth next. Then Rattata. Then Pikachu. Allenby will finish that thanks to some unfortunate paralysis. Zaft back for a Meowth that Heero will nom.

Off the bridge!

She’s got a level 27 Rattata. Pikachu next. Noin food. Another Rattata for Zaft.

I’m running back to Vermilion after each of these fights. Partly because I’m too lazy to figure out what the key is for the bike I have.

Beauty Sheila. She has a level 29 Clefairy, which looks like prime Po food. Zaft goes back in for the Meowth. And Zaft the miracle child paralyzes it in a way that allows us to dodge a run back to the Pokemon Center.

Picnicker Valerie is next. She has a level 30 Poliwag because she wants Zaft to thrive on this team. And another, even! My thanks.

And.

Finally.

Look at that grin.

Picnicker Gwen time. Bringing the level 27 Pidgey. Meowth. Pidgey. Pidgeotto.

...Zaft being evolved is honestly so helpful.

Bird Keeper Perry! Hoping to fare better? Not with that level 25 Spearow asking for Po’s attention. Pidgey means Zaft is back. Same to the next Pidgey. Spearow for Po again. And one last one.

So the bike is the Backspace button. Fine. Better than holding the B button and running all the way.

Music to my ears, Robert. Pidgey, level 26 Pidgeotto, Spearow for Po, Fearow also for Po, and we’re good. Then we’ve got a Biker coming up, so Po gets to switch places with Zaft as first in line.

Though something which I remembered a little earlier has caught my attention. I think Snorlax is on the slower end of growth. Electrode doesn’t have that problem. Hopefully Po will be multipurpose enough to make up for it, but that could be something I need to watch out for. There’s a very limited supply to work with.

But Biker! Biker Jared with the level 28 Koffing. And this is where I learn Po’s ability is Immunity. Po can’t be poisoned. Oh happy day. I think Po’s going to be seeing a lot of use against Bikers. Another Koffing, and another Koffing.

Back to bird boys, so Zaft in front again.

Bird Keeper Carter has a level 28 Pidgey. Doduo for Po. Zaft goes back to clean up the Pidgeotto.

If anyone were reading these, I’m sure they’d be as sick as I am of me detailing every single fight with the absolute minimal detail I can stand. It is not good entertainment. Sadly, since I started this with the assumption that I could be doing a few tries... I want a record of what I’ll be up against. Just skim.

Mitch with the level 26 Pidgey. Spearow for Po. Pidgey for Zaft. Fearow for Po.

Back to Vermilion’s Pokemon Center. And screw it, I’m going to catch something in the water. Super Rod for variety.

Naisu. And of course it knows Dragon Rage. Damn it.

I fucked up.

Shit.

...Shit.

I got arrogant. Should have gone Old Rod.

I’m laughing.

I am in so much trouble now.

But I can’t help it.

Oh wow.

I really have to catch this.

Well.

Yay?

Actual fuck.

Your name is Altron.

Fuck you. Welcome to the team.

Ribbons. Noin. I would apologize if I didn’t find the situation so unspeakably hilarious. I chose this fight. It was completely optional. No one twisted my arm. Unlike the trainer fights. Yet. Here we are. One very angry Gyarados brought two of my favorite team members to their knees.

I spent TMs on both of you. And a PP Up on Giga Drain. I had high hopes. I was playing so carefully. If I had remembered that Po was my tank earlier, you might have made it through. Instead...

Instead, this gets interesting.

I am back down to five partners (yay, Quatre, you get to come back!), and a level 25 Gyarados is not the simplest thing to train.

I... Oh. Fuck.

There’s a Lapras coming up, isn’t there?

No, that’s a gen one thing. This is a gen three version of gen one, so cursed.

Fuck. I need to think.

What do I really have left in the world to catch?

There’s the long bike area, Safari Zone, a few routes I can touch better with Quatre back on the team... But in terms of level? A free level 25 thing (lol “free”) is not bad. Victory Road has wild level 40s, but nothing I could conceivably make solid use of.

Unless I get incredibly lucky, Gyarados is probably going to be the best thing I can get my hands on before the end of the game.

-hours later-

After some contemplation, I think this is going to mark a change in approach. People beat these games with only one pokemon battling. I don’t feel like splitting exp and training something again.

So I’ll have Altron in my team, and perhaps even make use of him, but the team focuses are going to be Zaft, Allenby, Heero, and Po. For the whole rest of the game. ...Decision subject to change. But I’m just really not feeling the desire to train anything else.

We shall see. We shall be concerned. We shall endure.

We shall be happy Quatre is back on the team.

Camper Justin has a level 29 male Nidoran. Go Po. Then a level 29 Nidorino. Don’t die, Po. Yay, Po.

According to my vague map I haven’t caught something on Route 12. Because Serebii says there’s a chance you can Super Rod up a level 35 Horsea, I will attempt to catch one.

Sadly mine is a level 20. Now named Max. Pokedex count: 27.

Route 13′s thing is Venonat. It poisons Zaft. Altron helps, because, as we all know, Altron knows Dragon Rage. Venonat is caught, and its new name shall be Well. Because no one reads these and I can do what I want.

We finally arrive at where we were before all that Gyarados nonsense. You can tell it was nonsense because I still say Gyarados half the time instead of using Altron’s name.

Anyway, Bird Keeper Marlon. He has a Spearow. Aka Po food. Po stays in for the Doduo. Level 28 btw. As my emotional pain rises my transcribing cares fall. Fearow next. Still Po.

Next up is Bird Keeper Beck. Flying high with a level 29 Pidgeotto. And a Fearow for Po. Considerate.

You mean those things I probably can’t catch?

Bird Keeper Donald. Quack. ...Complete with Farfetch’d. Amazing. Po, help nom it.

Can Gyarados learn Fly? I’m reluctant to throw that on Heero because I don’t know what’s coming next, but I’m also reluctant to keep on biking back to Vermilion to keep a limit on tragic accidents.

Why is Gyarados a Flying type if it can’t learn Fly. Boo.

Don’t let people peer pressure you into forcing your pets to fight, man. Bird Keeper Benny. Level 29 Spearow. Po kills it, as is right and just. Fearow up next. And Po learns Body Slam to replace Headbutt.

Then we have a row of Bikers before we can get to the grass. Po, you’re in front now.

Biker Gerald with the level 29 Koffing. Plus level 29 Muk. The tributes to Po continue.

Biker Malik. Another level 29 Koffing. Level 29 Grimer.

Biker Isaac has three pokemon. Level 28 Grimer first. Then a second one. Then a Koffing for last place.

One. more. Biker. ...here.

You can tell he’s cool because he has four pokemon and his sprite was allowed to ride his bike. One level 26 Koffing first. One more. Grimer. Final Koffing to round it all out.

Zaft goes out front to facilitate the capture of whatever our Route 14 thing chooses to be.

I see no way for this to go wrong.

Caught!

Your name’s Afranche now.

Pokedex count: 29.

Time for Po and Allenby to beat up Twins Jan and Kiri. With their fancy level 29 Charmander and Squirtle. It is a quick fight.

Made it to Route 15. Look at us go. Look at how I’ve caught everything here that I can, thanks to the species clause. Look at how far away that Itemfinder is.

Biker Ernest has a level 25 Koffing. And another. Then Weezing. Back to Koffing. Then, at long last, a Grimer to finish things.

Biker Alex introduces himself by threatening to mug us. But. That’s sort of what happens during every battle. Someone is going to fork over a bunch of cash. So his tough guy image is a lie hiding his willingness to conform to society’s standards.

Anyway, level 28 Koffing. Grimer. Weezing.

In the spirit of really not wanting to bike back to Vermilion even though Po needs healing. Zaft goes up front while we try to dodge around everyone on our way to Fuchsia.

I’m going to stop you right there.

Tfw you will never.

Fuchsia reached, and for future reference, this is where the Move Deleter is in this game. That might be handy to know.

Because Zaft is already in front, I wander down before I have Surf to play with the Swimmers. Swimmer Richard has a level 30 Tentacool. Then a Shellder. Swimmer Reece has a level 29 Goldeen Po can help with. Zaft goes back in for the Horsea. Stays in for Staryu.

Scrubbed the deck with the landlubbed Swimmers.

Good Rod get, and I’m going to fish up my Fuchsia City thing in the pond behind the Fisher guy’s house.

I can’t see this helping much.

I’m feeling really lazy. You can be Barton.

But! I have 30 now!

Time to hit the Trainers we missed and then bike back to Vermilion! ...Yay!

Bird Keeper Edwin first on the docket. With a level 26 Pidgeotto. Po in for Farfetch’d. And Doduo. Zaft comes back for Pidgey.

Bird Keeper Chester is next. With Dodrio wanting Po’s attention. Doduo next. Also another one.

Picnickers are next, and I think in the interest of fairness Allenby is going to be up front for them.

A level 29 Bellsprout opens the match. Allenby is beyond such things. Heero can eat the Oddish. Heero can also eat the Tangela.

Picnicker Kindra is next. Bringing the level 28 Gloom for Heero. Heero stays in for the Oddish. All two of them.

Beauty Olivia has a level 29 Bulbasaur. Heero clearly needed to be the one up front for all of this. Ivysaur next and last.

Beauty Grace has a level 29 Pidgeotto. Against my better judgment, Allenby will stay in to try and Rock Slide it. Gambit successful. Wigglytuff in next, so Allenby gets to stay in for a whole fight!

Picnicker Becky has a Pikachu. On a related note, Allenby now knows Cross Chop. Cross Chop murders Becky’s Raichu.

Picnicker Celia just has the one level 33 Clefairy.

Had.

Double Battle putting Allenby and Heero in the driver’s seat. Yes, at the same time. Against Ron and Mya. Level 29 Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

Aaaaaand that’s what we have down here.

Itemfinder time!

Yes!

Success.

Let’s call this part there, shall we? Before anything horrible can happen. It’s been something of a rough ride this time around. Entirely because of my own choices, but still.

High note end, get.

[sarah-nuzlockes]

Fire Red Nuzlocke Chapter Fifteen

Straight up tears to start off, Taco wouldn’t leave because I forgot he had Surf and Pokemon won’t go if they have HMs on them. Had to get rid of that and then let him go for real.

Raised our money, evolved Loki, gave him Flamethrower. Saracen is Level 30, now we just have to get Lucky Day to a Seadra.

Lucky Day is proving a little harder to level purely based on the lack of fire, ground and rock types that aren’t going to do something like arena trap and kill him. SO, we went back to Silph Co. Again. The third time. But this time we have Saracen for all those fuckin’ explosive poison types. While we were there he evolved (because I’ve randomised this rom just for trade evolutions cos it’s on my laptop and not a ds or whatevs) so we have an ALAKAFUCKINZAM Y’ALL. Saracen has probably saved this team. Still nervous af though.

We took out the rest of Team Rocket and found our rival hiding out in a room with a Silph worker because he’s a baby. I had completely forgotten we’d see him again here and got very nervous very quickly. Especially about his Charizard given my counter for it was still only a level 28 Horsea. He sent out Pidgeot and then Gyarados, both of which were taken care of easily by Eyebrows, even after having his attack lowered like 3 times. Then he sent out Exeggcute which Loki burned to a crisp. Then he sent out Alakazam which I sent Lil Leaf out for. I was worried about psychic vs poison but Lil Leaf is tanky in both of his defences. It Recovered a bunch of times which made it annoying but eventually it died too. Then came the Charizard.

I sent out Saracen, hoping his insane special attack plus Psychic would take it out quickly. The first Psychic took it down to about a third and I was worried about what it would throw back. Saracen took a Wing Attack and I got extremely tense since his defence is so low. His health dwindled but he survived and I can only thank the Pokemon gods it wasn’t a crit. The Charizard’s speed must have been the same because he went first next turn but his trainer is stupid and used Scary Face instead of attacking Saracen. Which meant we got off another Psychic, taking his Charizard down.

The dude who probably nearly got wrecked by our Pokemon battle gave me a Lapras for not being in a terrorist organisation. I named her Renesmee because I’m hilarious.

We found Giovanni holed up with the Silph President and he commented on my being a meddlesome ten year old before he threw a Nidorino at me. I threw Saracen first and his Nidorino had barely seen the fluorescent lights before it collapsed under Saracen’s ridiculously big brain. Next came a Nidoqueen and I spent a lot of time tossing up between keeping Saracen out or throwing out Lil Leaf. Nidoqueen is part Poison type along with Ground and I knew Lil Leaf’s Razor Leaf had nothing on Saracen’s Psychic. I decided to keep him out, hoping he would kill it in one go before it had the chance to do anything. He sent out Nidoqueen and Saracen used Psychic. Her health went down slowly, the way it does with tanky Pokemon. I thought we’d done it but she hung on by what can only be a single health point. I immediately worried for Saracen. If she Earthquaked…

But Giovanni made her Tail Whip. Why, I will never know but he did and it gave Saracen a second opportunity for Psychic which definitely killed her.

He sent out Kangaskhan next and I sent out Lil Leaf, planning to execute the same strategy from our first meeting. Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, repeat as necessary.

The Sleep Powder missed and Lil Leaf took a Mega Punch because of it. I risked another one and it hit, putting it to sleep but it somehow woke up IMMEDIATELY. She Tail Whipped and I didn’t trust another Mega Punch with lowered defence. A crit could have been bad so I healed. Another Mega Punch came, the lowered defence making a difference. I healed again. It used Rage which didn’t do much so I tried Sleep Powder again, really wishing I had taught someone Brick Break. It failed and another Mega Punch caught Lil Leaf. I healed and the Kangaskhan Tail Whipped. Sleep powder missed AGAIN and Giovanni ordered another Tail Whip. Another Mega Punch, crit or otherwise, would have taken Lil Leaf out so I swapped in Loki, knowing it didn’t have any Ground type moves. He took a Mega Punch and I switched Lil Leaf back in, stats reset.

It used Tail Whip and I used Sleep Powder which missed again. It used Tail Whip. I didn’t like the look of a crit but if Loki took one he’d die too. So I switched in Eyebrows. He took a Tail Whip and I switched back to Lil Leaf again. This time he took a Rage which did nothing and we Leech Seeded. It sapped health and we took another Tail Whip. I abandoned Sleep Powder for another turn and used Razor Leaf while it Raged again, still doing next to nothing because the idiot wasn’t using it consecutively. We Razor Leafed one more time bringing it down to the red. It Raged again with no result and Leech Seed took the last of its energy.

The Rhyhorn he sent out last did nothing, taken down by a single Razor Leaf. Giovanni seemed a little mad about being beaten by a ten year old for a second time but we did it. We took him and the rest of the infiltrated Silph Co down with no more casualties. Things are finally looking up a bit.

Current Team: Lil Leaf, Loki, Lucky Day, Jigglyruff, Eyebrows, Saracen

Casualties: Fuqboi, AAAGGGHHHH, Pad Thai, Ben 10, Underminer, Shweepies, Margerine, Remnant, Bean Bag, Pringles, Cucco, Angrybirds, Senorita, Taco

[thatguysamaniac-blog]

Flame rounds lets us fulfil our yearning passion to be Frank Skinner, taking on his role as Judge, Jury, and Executioner in Room 101. We will be presenting a case for a particular Trope/Character/Item/UI element that pisses us off and then trying to justify whether this thing should go into room 101 (get flame rounded?) Richie: And following on from last Flame Rounds, round two is all Cunzy1 1's  Cunzy1 1: Right this one might need a bit of explaining, I'd like to flames round (verb?) the grass and psychic Pokémon Exeggcute. Even if you've got only a passing familiarity with Pokémon you'll be aware that most of them are based on animals, plants, myths or household objects. Exeggcute is an egg cluster Pokémon made up of six egg-like creatures with faces. However, it's not just the whole clutch I want to flames round, specifically, it's the one which has a cracked shell. I don't like the way it's brain(?), yolk(?) is just exposed like that. Fucking disturbing dude. And each Exeggcute appears to have one as this camera trap photo shows: Exeggfuckinggross more like Richie: Right first, we need to address the elephant in the room, despite their misleading name they are not eggs, they are seeds (hence the Grass typing). That being said, I wont immediately disqualify you on grounds of incorrect reasoning here... yet. However, since they all look like that, are just meant to look like that? Its not hurting them, It may even be a good thing for it to expose itself.... Why do you want to hurt it so bad? Cunzy1 1: Explain the fucking psychic typing then? That's their brain capable of psychic waves and for the one whose head/face is broken it's yolk/brain is just out there. Open to the elements. When it rains it gets wet. You might accidentally throw a berry in there. Or touch it. It's like eyes. You shouldn't touch/lick eyes or exposed psychic brains. Especially in a fight. Pikachu used thundershock. Oh shit Pikachu, you gave 1/6 of Exeggcute permanent brain damage now. Some lightning got in the brain and now it can't taste fish or turn left.   Richie:But there are a plethora of disturbing/disgusting ones out there: The Vanillish lineage literally all of their faces/head can melt, Spoink's heart will stop beating if it ever stops hopping, and don't get me started on the ghosts! Why is a cracked seedcase more worthy of elimination than the bounty of nightmarish Pokemon existences that are out there? Cunzy1 1: Because those all make sense. This one is because someone got bored of drawing eggs with faces so drew a cracked one and now every Exeggcute out there has to live with being able to taste the wind through their brain. I bet it's this one that turns into the scary mank face in Alolan Exeggutor. Oh Christ. Look at that. It's simple. It ain't right. It looks like a Ditto trying to do a Gulpin that had a stroke halfway through. It looks like one of those too inbred dog breeds where the brain falls out the back of the skull. This is body horror. In a kid's game (it's not just for kids).  Richie: Right this is a tough one! So I wondered if perhaps there was an official reason for "the exposed brain", and as with most pokemon origins, their stories can take you on a rabbithole journey, and it seems Exeggcute is steeped in Yokai lore... Exeggcute/Exeggutor seem to have taken their inspiration from a subset of Yokai which are plants that take on human Features:   Bashō no sei - Japanese banana spirit Said to be a spirit that haunts banana groves, and takes the form of a human face to scare people near by. The most hilarious part of all this is it is also said if a woman walks by at dusk she will get pregnant... So what forms are the bananas taking? Pretty safe to say unlikely to be the origin of Exeggcute.  Ninmenju/Jinmenju - Human Face Tree This one seems to be the money for the Exeggcute line and needs a fucking trigger warning! Jinmenju trees are said to have human faces for fruit, they are constantly laughing, when one laughs too hard it falls to the ground.  The fruit has a sweet/sour taste. It is said that the seed also has a human face. I mean this is all Nightmare fuel, far beyond that of that little Exeggcute you hate so much showing off it's endosperm. And as nice as it is to know the origin of where it comes from, I am now leaning towards Flame rounding all Exeggutes, Exeggutors and Alolan forms!  Beyond this I wondered if there was any reasoning from the Pokedex for the cracked exeggcute, and there are a couple off references over the generations.  Yellow States: The heads attract each other and spin around. There must be 6 heads for it to maintain balance. This makes me sad, we can just flame round one then... as we might just tip the rest of them over the edge.... Silver States: The shell is very durable. Even if it cracks, it can survive without spilling the contents. "Spill" Ugh that is the worst word to use, and makes me think liquid/yolk again... but again I'm reminded that this is just a seed inside, and probably just a yellow endosperm. Ruby/Sapphire States: It consists of six 'eggs' that care for each other. The eggs attract each other and spin around. When cracks increasingly appear, it is close to evolution. This provide the the most compelling argument that these little guys should be left alone, in all actuality the little mingin' exposed brain is gonna be the main dude evolving to become Exeggutor, though its really worth pulling on that thread, as it's one of these Pokemon which are separate Pokemon then evolve to become one gestalt bigger one (Magnemite/ Metagross etc). With this in mind, I'm sorry, but I cant flame round Exeggcute for super effective damage, as much as it looks like his brain may be exposed, does this justify ending that poor little cracked head guys existence? How can we flame round him! I mean he is the guy that is closest to evolving, if you flame round him do you not stop it evolving completely? If you separate it from he other 5 are they just going to cave into suicidal depression?  I'm also fairly confident that that in the Pokemon universe even if his brain was exposed it wouldn't cause damage in the same way (i.e. no lasting damage, and even if there was, a super potion or a nurse joy just fixes that right up anyways).  However much this causes your OCD to flare up, when you start to apply actual biology to Pokemon you'll get so many triggers.  For instance one that gets me is, that red bit in the chest of Gardevoir/Gallade:  Assuming it goes all the way through, Imagine grabbing ahold of it and wobbling it about, surely that would generate a feeling akin to having your ribcage pried apart? How can it sleep with the constant fear of turning over? In consolation for this however I will give you a hat: 

http://www.thatguys.co.uk/2019/02/flame-rounds-exeggcute-with-exposed.html

[nuzblog]

November 17th and 18th, 2017

Extra long update here, comin' in real hot!

After some research, I established my plan going forward. The first step of that plan is to retrieve Arctid, my Venonat from Route 15, from the PC, and start ascending Silph Co. Psychic coverage is going to be very useful, and since my Jynx Plan A is foiled, Venonat will have to do until I can get something better.

Of course, once I'm in Silph Co. it becomes clear that that's where I was supposed to go first - the trainers are nothing to my Pokemon. Which... confuses the heck out of me, given that Koga is definitely meant to be Gym 5. Like, do you want me to be in Fuschia City or not?

Of course, once Arctid hits a level where I'm like "okay maybe now I can actually use him to fight this thing he has the type advantage against", he dies up good. Siiigh. Well, at least it means I won't have a big hole of "unable to catch anything but still not technically FAILING a capture" on my big list of captures by location. I head back to Route 14, where I quickly replace Arctid with another Venonat, this one dubbed Sciari. Back to Silph Co. I go!

Heh. TM for Selfdestruct. Good joke, video game.

I made the smart decision to actually look up Blue's team before heading in to fight him and... yeah, he's a bit too tough. Grinding time!

Oh, while I'm out, I might as well fish on Route 19. Goldeen is a dupe, but Staryu sure ain't! Boy, if I hadn't already spent my one and only ever Psychic TM on Lola, Staryu would be SO useful. Or if it like... learned Psychic STAB moves. Seriously, what is with movesets this gen? Every single Pokemon is such trash. Sandslash literally doesn't even get any ground type moves outside of TM. It might as well have been straight up Normal.

Grinding literally takes the entire rest of the 17th. That and losing at Pokemon Cards, but hey, this isn't a "let's nuzlocke Pokemon TCG" blog, is it? (Also how would you even do that? Burn every card that dies in battle? Only buy one booster pack at any given store you visit? Lmao)

While grinding, Moschops tries to learn Focus Energy, which... is another hilarious joke. Both because it's at such a high level, and because it's supposed to quadruple the crit rate... but it actually QUARTERS it, making you almost never get a crit after using Focus Energy.

Sciari, on the other hand, learns Psybeam, which means I can finally stop mashing B every time it tries to level up, and turn it into the beautiful moth it was always meant to be.

Psybeam in hand, my first move when I started playing the next day was to fight my way through the Fighting Dojo. I actually did this so soon after waking up that, when claiming my Pokemon, my errant finger erroneously hit "start" instead of "select" when naming the Hitmonlee I claimed. Its name is "B", but uh. Please pretend that it's "Bruce." Not that I'm using it. I HAVE my Fighting type.

I then checked out Koga's gym trainers, since I was on such a roll, and, funny enough... literally only the one dude with a Level 38 Hypno was even close to a challengingly high level. Everything else was a piece of cake. Koga included.

Oh, except for that Level 42 Weezing. That's pretty nuts, right? Well, actually... Maybe not.

Gen 1's AI tech is so primitive that NPCs, even gym leaders, will make real boneheaded moves in the interest of type superiority. Famously, confronting Lance with a Poison type makes you nigh untouchable, since most of his Pokemon will use Agility since Psychic is super effective, without even checking to see if Agility does damage.

His Weezing knows 2 poison moves, Smokescreen... and Selfdestruct. All I need to beat him, besides Cingu and Sciari, is something that resists poison, and can either for sure tank a Selfdestruct OR... that I don't mind losing.

Remember vlad?

My team for Koga is Cingu, Sciari, Lanius (my highest leveled team member at the time) and Vlad. His other Pokemon are easy peasy.

And as expected, when he switches in Weezing, I switch in Vlad... and he blows himself up. That's Koga's gym badge! Which also mens I can Surf outside of battle! Whoo-hoo!

First destination (floating from Pallet on Bernie's tummy, repels on), for easy flying, is Cinnabar Island. Now, I've mentioned my mysterious plans here... I'll discuss those later. I have not yet put them into effect.

Instead, I think it's high time we take down Dingus. I box Bernie back up, and for once my actual team is the same number of Pokemon as his team.

The one concern I had was with Gyarados, but I got it sleeping and lemme tell ya... it never woke back up. B)

Now I have a Lapras! Her name is Nessie. Of course since nothing in this game can be easy, I get it at Level 15. Sooooo grinding time!

While grinding, I started clearing out trainers on the surfing routes, and grabbing Pokemon. Oh, but first... Penthes learned Razor Leaf! And you know what that means...

Leaf Stone!!! Finally, my lovely pitcher plant is all overgrown up! (Get it? Overgrown, like, plants do? Do you get it? Do you see the humor in my joke?)

Okay so. Route 20, I fished! Horsea appears! Aaaand I killed it accidentally, cause Sing and Surf start with the same letter. Been a while since that's happened, huh? Feels like old times.

Seafoam Islands! I didn't actually go through here yet, although I plan on doing so - my intent is to battle all of the legendaries I can, treating them as additional boss fights. Still though, I stepped inside to catch a dude! After 5 consecutive Staryus, I finally found a Seel. Staryu isn't even that common I thought? Ah well. Seel's name is Harp.

Route 21, where I could catch a Tangela if I really wanted but look I have Penthes, I need no more grassy boys! After fishing up yet another Staryu, I caught a Shellder! Its name is Okeefe.

Since I still have grinding to do, I stepped into the Pokemon Mansion, hoping not to be completely owned, and... It's okay actually! I caught a Grimer, named it Ooze. I fought my way through, and Nessie actually started doing most of the work way earlier than I'd thought. Surf owns bones. Ice Beam is pretty solid too. I finished the mansion, grabbing the Secret Key, and... set out for the unfinished business in Saffron.

First, Giovanni. Nessie, Cingu, Penthes and Moschops join me for this fight, and, quite frankly... he's a little bitch and I could have made short work of him before doing the Pokemansion.

Next is Sabrina. She and her gym trainers are a touch tougher, but I manage fine with Lanius, Cingu, Nessie and Penthes.

Also now Nessie is finally at around the same level as the rest of my team! Hooray!

Now, here I am. Plotting and planning. Blaine shouldn't be too hard at all. Giovanni is just as much of a puss as always. I have three more dungeons to tackle - the Power Plant, Seafoam Islands, and Victory Road. The resting places of the three Legendary Birds. But most importantly...

The Elite 4.

Now, I'm planning here still. I know what I want to do, but I'm interested in getting any feedback there could be. Especially since the ask box which I didn't realize was closed this whole time, is now open! (That's "Option" on the menu!)

The first point: An Electric type would be super effective against almost all of Lorelei's Pokemon, against both Lance and Dingus' Gyarados, and against Agatha's Golbat and Lance's Aerodactyl. That's really really good. The Power Plant has electric types. In fact, it has options: Voltorb and Electrode would be duplicates, but that still leaves random encounter chances for Magnemite/Magneton, and Pikachu. Now, obviously one of those is way way better to have than the other. But is that a chance I'm willing to take, when the other option is repelling my way through until Zapdos, and hoping to high heck I capture it (or chucking my Master Ball at it, maybe?) Zapdos does have legendary tier stats, but it also is part flying type, which removes its ground weakness... but makes it weak to Ice, meaning its usefulness against Lorelei will be limited to its ability to OUTSPEED Lorelei. Zapdos is fast, but is it fast enough to body an elite four member without getting hit?

The second point: I really really need Psychic STAB. I love my big mothy boy, but he's just not cutting it. Now, stop me if you've heard this one: Cinnabar Island's coast acts very strangely. Since it doesn't expect to have an encounter rate but it can be GIVEN an encounter rate, basically any Pokemon can show up there as long as it can show up somewhere else. The question is one of gambling. You see, I could play it safe and get a Drowzee by going to Route 11 where I've already caught Sandshrew and Spearow and flying to Cinnabar... or take a bit more of a risk with a higher payout stats-wise by using Route 24 and trying to catch an Abra? Not only is there the slimmest margin of possibility for it to flee an Ultra Ball, it might also not show up, since that route also has Caterpies and Metapods that I don't yet have. I suppose doing the more traditional Safari Zone glitch is also possible, to try for an Exeggcute, but A: that'd supplant (ha!) my boy Penthes, and B: even less of a guarantee, and jeezy kableezy do I NOT want a dang Nidoran as my booby prize. So, what should I do? Play it safe or get dangerous?

The third point: If I'm adding these guys to my team, then it's going to exceed 6, and someone's gonna get boxed. Nessie is INTEGRAL to the Elite 4 gameplan, and also just kinda rules overall. Lanius is my flyer... but if I get a Zapdos, that replacement feels like a no-brainer. Sciari is right out as soon as I've got an actual real Psychic type, so really it's just a matter of who's losing out to my Electric type. Cingu's Slash will be incredibly helpful, and Dig should double down on effectiveness for the Onixes, Agatha's poison types, Rhydon and Arcanine. Moschops will make Lorelei that much easier. That really seems to leave it to Lanius, who feels more expendable but will probably be most useful in the Elite 4 fight (especially vs. Venusaur) and is also my flyer... and Penthes, who I've become so emotionally attached to as the first Victreebel I've used and a fantastic assripper who came from such a humble start (especially losing Vine Whip, lmao), who has, in lieu of my lost Minos, become practically like my starter. Can I really afford to leave one of them behind? Should I nix someone else instead?

Please, leave your thoughts.