#let the chips fall (black nuzlocke)

[luckynatured]

Oh? 

The egg was finally hatching!! He thought he could hear noises coming from the egg, but once he saw cracks on the eggshell he had to stop and watch. And he wasn’t certain what to expect when the eggshell fell away, but it definitely wasn’t a Larvesta.

While it may be a bug, he had heard about this species. That treasure hunter did say that he found the egg in Relic Castle, but he didn’t know that there was a Volcarona there! 

....The question is, how was he going to take care of it?

Soleil / Female / Naughty / Capable of taking hits / Flame Body

[puerveritas]

Hilbert will literally fight @aeshmedai if he has to.

He really thought that beating N would be the end of it. Zekrom was the one that chose N, after all; wouldn’t it follow that beating him would mean the end of Team Plasma’s goals? 

But no. Although, it made sense thinking about it now; N’s intentions were good underneath it all, so there had to be someone else pulling the strings (so to speak). And frankly...Ghetsis made the most sense. He always gave Hilbert a sort of vibe; not a good vibe or a bad one. He just always had a sense that Ghetsis was someone to watch out for.

At least he was right on the money there; even in this setting, he was downright intimidating. 

Hilbert realized; if he wanted to truly beat Team Plasma, if he wanted to survive...he would have to beat Ghetsis in a battle. And he’s only heard rumors about how strong he is. Hilbert would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit intimidated by all that.

Still, Garfield’s PokeBall remained in his hand. he wouldn’t throw it, not yet. He figured that he’d wait for Ghetsis to say his piece before jumping into a battle.

[1wngdngl]

Pokémon Blue Playthrough - Fourth Gym

Sorry for taking so long on this, but finally, here’s the next part of my Pokémon Blue playthrough. 😊

After defeating Surge, I left Vermilion City and went through Diglett’s Cave. While the Pokémon in the cave are annoying, at least you don’t have to worry about getting lost 😉 Good thing the “Arena Trap” ability doesn’t exist yet either…

I came out the other end of the cave near Viridian City. There’s a house nearby where a kid offers to let me trade an Abra for a Mr. Mime. It’s like he’s mocking me for failing to catch an Abra back when. Of course, if I did have one, I’d never trade it for a lesser Pokémon like Mr. Mime anyway.

There’s another building nearby where I get the Flash HM from Professor Oak’s aide. Not sure if I’ll end up using it, since a limited party means no room for an HM slave.

Around here I found a Moonstone on the ground. I could potentially use it to evolve my Nidorina, but I’m afraid it will stop learning moves if I do.

I then travel north back to Mt. Moon, and go through it to get back to Cerulean City. On the east side of the city, I used my newfound Cut ability to gain access to Route 9. I didn’t discover any new Pokémon species on this route, but there were plenty of trainers to battle.

I reached Route 10, and in a patch of grass there, I caught a Voltorb named TEN.

Then began the real challenge of this leg of the journey – Rock Tunnel.  It’s pitch-black, long, and has eight-bajillion trainers lurking in the shadows. I still can’t believe I made it to the end without anyone dying, but there were many close calls. What I think is mean is that there are trainers lurking outside the tunnel, when you’re desperately low on health and just want to get to the Lavender Pokémon Center. But I didn’t let them best me 😉

I did catch a Geodude named ROCK in the tunnel and retired my Voltorb (Lv. 14). Because Voltorb’s signature moves are Sonic Boom and Explosion, neither of which are really viable in a Nuzlocke…

I explored Lavender Town a bit, though I didn’t bother with the Pokémon Tower yet, since I can’t complete it without the Silph Scope anyway.

I then went west to Route 8 and battled the trainers there. On the western end of the route was a Gambler, whose Poliwag got two consecutive critical Water Guns, thus killing my Meowth, FIVE (Lv. 23). Poor Meowth. He wasn’t super useful, but he had so much potential…

I did manage to catch a Vulpix on Route 8 to take up the empty spot. It was pretty low-level at the start, but I trained it up anyway since I thought a fire-type would be useful when fighting Erika.

I took the Underground Path to Route 7, but there didn’t seem to be any new Pokémon there, so I went on to Celadon City.

At the Celadon Mansion, I got an Eevee, which I named MANSION. I decided to evolve it into Jolteon, because I already had a fire-type and a water-type Pokémon. To make room on the party, I retired ROCK (Lv. 24)

So now I’m about ready to challenge the Celadon Gym and its grass-type Pokémon. Here’s my party:

ONE-ONE the Drowzee (Lv. 25)

TWO-TWO the Nidorina (Lv. 26)

DEAL the Gyarados (Lv. 25) [Finally he is useful!]

TWO-FIVE the Weepinbell (Lv. 30)

EIGHT the Vulpix (Lv. 21)

MANSION the Jolteon (Lv. 25)

The gym:

I lead with Vulpix to help train it a bit. The first trainer uses Bellsprout and Weepinbell, who annoyingly know Sleep Powder and Wrap to stall my Pokémon from acting.

The next trainer uses a mix of Oddish and Bellsprout, none of which are too hard, except they also use those annoying status effects. I wish I could equip Berries to help my Pokémon wake up on their own...

The next five battles go much the same way, though some of the trainers have rare Pokémon like Ivysaur and Exeggcute. Finally it’s time to face the leader.

Fight with Erika:

I lead with Vulpix again, who is now Lv. 25. Erika leads with Victreebel. It keeps using Wrap on me so that I can’t act, so I switch to a faster Pokémon, Jolteon. I use Sand Attack a few times to reduce Victreebel’s threat, then start to chip away at it with Tackle. And wouldn’t you know, Erika uses a Super Potion >.> Oh well. I just keep Tackling until it faints.

Next up is Tangela. I use Sand Attack on it too, then some more Tackles. It works, but it’s a slow process - I really wish Jolteon knew a stronger move...

Last is Vileplume. It uses Petal Dance and misses - I’m not sure what that move is supposed to do, but it does manage to confuse itself. I use the gold old “Sand-Tackle” routine on it until it falls, and the Rainbow Badge is mine.

And that’s it for Part 4! Halfway through the game now, so as long as I don’t forget about it for a couple months again, I might actually finish it sometime.

[luckynatured]

“WHY ARE MOVES LIKE SHEER COLD EVEN LEGAL?!” Thank Arceus that move missed - he didn’t want to think about what it could have done to Merlot.

[luckynatured]

Route 17 

"Was anybody going to tell me there was a water route by Nuvema Town, or was I supposed to find that out for myself?”

Thank Arceus Michelle was willing to learn Surf in order to get him through the route, but that meant having a new encounter to catch. And really...is he crazy about this one? Not really. But at least she seemed to be a baby Frillish.

Powder / Female / Quirky / Proud of its power / Cursed Body

[luckynatured]

Egg Watch

Hilbert didn’t know what to expect when he came across a random-looking warehouse, but being given an egg by a total stranger wasn’t one of them. It seemed a little warm, but it didn’t seem like it was going to hatch anytime soon.

What was he going to do about this?

Hilbert received an Egg!

[puerveritas]

Team Hilbert

Michelle  Female / Jolly / Quick tempered / Torrent Item: Expert Belt

Razor Shell

Revenge

Aqua Jet

Aerial Ace

Roger Male / Lax / Scatters thing often / Intimidate Item: Rocky Helmet

Ice Fang

Last Resort

Crunch

Work Up

Merlot Male / Modest / Very Finicky / Synchronize Item: Amulet Coin

Psychic

Shadow Ball

Calm Mind

Hypnosis

Belle Female / Modest / Capable of taking hits / Flash Fire  Item: Charcoal

Hex

Will-O-Wisp

Flame Burst

Shadow Ball

Dodger Female / Modest / Often dozes off / Compoundeyes Item: Scope Lens

Volt Switch

Electroweb

Electro Ball

Signal Beam

Garfield Male / Hardy / Quick tempered / Sand Force Item: Soft Sand

Earthquake

Swords Dance

Slash

Sandstorm

[luckynatured]

Village Bridge 

“Wait. There’s tall grass here?” His travels took him to the Village Bridge, and while this isn’t his first time here, this was the first time he took noticed of the tall grass (and wild Pokemon) that could be found there.

Time for a catch!

Donna / Female / Hasty / Impetuous and silly / Cloud Nine

[puerveritas]

Marvelous Bridge (Gift??)

Maybe if he lived in Kanto, Hilbert might have seen this for the scam that it was. But since this was Unova, and he’s never seen a Magikarp in his life...was it any wonder he bought the Magikarp?

Besides, he could just put the Exp. Share on it and it’ll evolve into a Gyarados before he knew it!

Sushi / Male / Serious / Alert to sounds / Swift Swim

[puerveritas]

((My team going into the Elite Four!))

[puerveritas]

Hero of Truth

Catching Reshiram was surprisingly easy. It only took a few Ultra Balls and Merlot’s amazing Special Defense to get it to stay. 

‘Well done. I will fight by your side, if you so wish it.’

That gave Hilbert pause. He wasn’t unfamiliar with telepathy (Merlot communicated that way, sometimes), but this voice was new to him. Was it Reshiram? And also...if he so wished it? Did that mean...

Should he replace a member of his party to include Reshiram? Reshiram didn’t outright demand that he did...if Hilbert didn’t know any better, he would guess that they were interested in how Hilbert would proceed.

Well, thankfully he didn’t need to think about this for too long. He already had his answer. 

“Y’know...a lot of trainers would give their right leg to be able to fight with a legend in their party. But, after everything I’ve gone through...everything we’ve been through...would it really be right to bench one Pokemon I’ve grown close to right at the grand finale? Think about it; if I were trying to prove how Pokemon and people can  work better together, wouldn’t it be totally counterintuitive to use Reshiram in place of one of the Pokemon that helped me get here in the first place? I wouldn’t be living up to my truth if I did that, would I?”

He really, really hoped that he made sense there - words were a weak point of his when he got excited like this. Then he swore he could hear an amused chuckle in his head. 

‘Well done. Spoken like a Hero of Truth.’

Reshiram was sent to the PC.

[puerveritas]

Giant Chasm (Crater)

It was cold, and maybe that was why the Clefairy was so eager to come along with him. Not that he minded any; she was adorable! Even if she wasn’t keen on battling, she’d be really good moral support. Because Arceus knows he and the team could use it at times.

Nebula / Female / Bashful / Highly persistent / Magic Guard

[puerveritas]

Marvelous Bridge (Wild Encounter)

...Not even five minutes after Hilbert accepted Sushi, a Swanna tried to take him away.

He tossed an Ultra Ball at the flying-type, and thank Arceus that it worked. Sushi was safe and sound, but he now had a Swanna. He really didn’t know what to make of that. It wasn’t the first time he caught an evolution of a Pokemon that had died, but this line in particular...

Well, it was probably okay. Even if she wanted to stay, he just had to keep her away from any Rock-types. He knew better at this point - he wouldn’t let her die like Derek.

Rapunzel / Female / Serious / Loves to eat / Keen Eye

[puerveritas]

Chargestone Cave 

Of all people, N was the one who pointed out that Hilbert had a passenger. 

One moment he was saying something about how Team Plasma wanted to test his ability...and then he paused before walking away. “Although, I’d be careful. Pokemon like Joltik are rather small.”

Naturally, that threw Hilbert for a loop. That was an oddly specific Pokemon to mention. “Joltik? What are you-?” 

Then he looked down at his shoulder. At the little spot of yellow fuzz attached to it. The patch of sleeping yellow fuzz that had four legs and oh Arceus this is his first encounter for this cave-

It was at this moment that Hilbert considered his options. Technically, this might not even count as an encounter since she was asleep. But then, he didn’t even feel her crawling onto him, so that might be a moot point.

Wait...aren’t these things Electric-type? The next Gym is Flying...and while he does have Matt, he didn’t have much for backup should the worst happen...

He would have screamed, but Joltik was sleeping. Bug or not, he supposed he had to consider that.

Dodger / Female / Modest / Often dozes off / Compoundeyes

[puerveritas]

Cold Storage (or; How to Mess a Nickname Up, as experienced by one Hilbert Bailey)

Catch a Vanillite. 

Name it after that flavor of ice cream that’s segmented into vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

Find out after the fact that it’s actually called Neapolitan ice cream.

Decide that’s close enough and move on.

Napoleon / Male / Quirky / Likes to run / Ice Body

[puerveritas]

Since Hilbert punched out that one Plasma Grunt in the Dreamyard, please imagine him cracking his knuckles when he sees that same Grunt again. Bonus points if you imagine him doing this while making eye-contact with that Grunt.