Pokemon White – The Dynasty!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello folks and welcome to my newest dynasty! Today I want to take the brand new Pokemon game and start playing! As part of this game, I want to document what I am doing, who I am fighting with, who I am encountering, and so forth. It should be interesting to see this as a dynasty!

I have kept as little info about Pokemon Black and White secret to me as possible. No spoilers! One exception, I have studied the starter three very carefully to see who I want. That’s the most important choice in the game, and I don’t want to choose poorly.

Only four times in Nintendo history have you been able to buy a Pokemon game and put it in and start playing, and not waiting until you see the coolest, newest Pokemon! I missed it the first two times (I started playing Pokemon with Ruby). I remember loving the 4th gen game because of that, and now I can experience the same, right now, with Pokemon White!

[Abe Sargent]

Are you ready!?!?!




The game is loaded, my first screen is Professor Juniper talking to me against a white field.

I am a female. My name is Ysabel (I like to choose names with my name in them – Elizabeth, Clarabelle, Anabelle, Isabelle, Marabel, Abegail, Babette, Mabel, etc).


Autumn

Cheren and Bianca are two of my best friends and peers. We’re getting Pokemon at the same time.

Cheren is in my house talking about new Pokemon, and Bianca slides in a bit late. Cheren is a tad upset at Bianca’s tardiness.

They were delivered to my house, so I get first pick!

I open a blue and green gift box.

Time to choose my starter Pokemon!

[Abe Sargent]

On Starters:

When you choose your starter, that Pokemon is likely to be with you for much of, or all of, the game. It’s unlikely that other Pokemon you get at this point will go the distance. Your starter will also dictate who you take and don’t take, in terms of other Pokemon. If your starter is water, then you are unlikely to take any other water Pokemon. The same is true of grass and fire. Historically, the fire Pokemon are harder to find, and generally of a lower quality, making the fire starter a good choice for the long game (but often a bad choice to start out with since the early gyms typically are rock and/or water).

I have played – Charmander, Squirtle, Chikorita, all three from 3rd Gen, Piplup, and Turtwig. That’s 3 grass, 3 water, and 2 fire. That leads to me taking the fire Pokemon here. But it’s another fire starter that evolves into a fire/fight Pokemon, how boring (so did Torchic and Chimchar). None of the others gain a second type in later evolutions (which was often true, Venusaur was also poison, Charmander also flying, Torterra also ground, Empolean also steel, etc).

The combination of Fire + Fighting is pretty good, because you get a fight pokemon without having to use an actual one. I’ve regularly finished the game with a fight Pokemon (Lucario, Heracross, Blaziken, Poliwrath – all have been in my final, game-winning group 6).

There are usually good grass pokemon early, and you aren’t able to develop them if you have a grass starter. I never realized the power of Pokemon like Victreebell until I played a game with Charmander. One good thing about taking grass starter is that there has never been (before now of course), some grass legendary Pokemon you capture and use for the last part of the game. In Sapphire you can capture a legendary water Pokemon so powerful that if you have Marshtomp, you have to decide if you want two water Pokemon, or two bench one of your two most powerful Pokemon. There are similar issues with Ho-oh with Cyndaquil, Moltres with Charmander, and more. In gen 4, the legendaries you get pre-Final Four are psychic or dragon, eliminating this issue.

There are usually great water Pokemon in the mid game that can take you very far. If you start with a water, then you won’t get one or two and raise them.

I just beat Heartgold a few weeks ago. My game winning team for the Final 4 + leader was:

Tauros
Misdreavus *
Ho-oh
Pinsir
Meganium
Gyarados

(Misdreavus was level 21, and was included solely to defeat a few of the fighter Final Four guys who couldn’t damage it; since I had only 5 major Pokemon and a HM dude for most of the game).



Overall:

Plusses and Minuses for fire Pokemon:

Even though another fight/fire is boring, it gives me the powerful Fight at the end to give me some extra power.
Unlikely to find good fire Pokemon early to compete with its space
Can rape forests easily (Charmander in the Viridian Forest is a joke)
Historically has competition from legendaries later (Entei, Ho-Oh, Moltres, Heatran post Final Four in Gen 4).
Tepig has low defense (it has the lowest special defense of any fully evolved starter, and tied for lowest defense) and its slow. It has a high Sp Attk, and very high attack, and many HP.
Tepig is the coolest looking starter at the beginning, and the worst looking at the end. (Snivy’s is the coolest at the end, Oshawott’s in the middle)




P/Ms for Grass Pokemon:

Unlikely to be replaced later by a more powerful grass Pokemon, such as legendary
Tends to rape entire regions of the map (Caves, deserts and water)
Snivy is not a capture Pokemon (one with Sleepowder or Spore to help capture Pokemon)
Snivy is a fast, defensive Pokemon with higher Def and Sp Def.
Removes possibly of early to mid game cool grass Pokemon



P/Ms for Water Pokemon:

Guaranteed surfer without needing a slave HM
Also rapes caves and deserts.
Historically has competition from legendaries (Suicune, Kyogre)
While Oshawott has better attack and special attack than defense, it’s reduced from the extremes of Tepig. (Samurott doesn’t look like the cool Samurai Pokemon I’m expecting)
Removes possibly of useful mid game water Pokemon.



Tepig almost has it, except for that dumb look. But the abilities pay off, so we are taking Tepig!

[Abe Sargent]

Meet Tepig!





I am naming it:


Snorts

[Abe Sargent]

Cheren gets Oshawott and Bianca gets Snivy.

Bianca challenges me to a battle in my bedroom!!!

Tepig vs Snivy

We each tackle each other. I follow with another. Three more turns later, I win after tackling a bunch of times in a row, while it sometimes used Leer.

The Pokemon tore up my room something awful! Now Cheren challenges me!


Tepig vs Oshawott

Four turns of consecutive tackle later I win, and my Pokemon has risen to level 6!

I made 1k of cash in my battles.

My mom heals my Pokemon. Time to go talk with Professor Juniper!

I leave a take a look around Nuvema Town. I visit some people and houses.

The Prof gives us all Pokedexes. My mom gives us town maps. We arrive at Route 1 as per the Prof’s directions and meet her here. The Prof moves out and fights a Patrat with a Minccino _new Pokemon to me!!!

She captures the Patrat. She gives us Pokeballs, and moves to the next town to wait for us.

[Abe Sargent]

ROUTE 1

Bianca proposes a contest to see who has captured the most Pokemon by the time we hit Accumula Town. We all split up. My map tells me that’s the next town up. I have 5 Pokeballs. Let’s start by moving through the grass!

I am fighting a level 4 Patrat in just a few steps! I immediately start tackling. Two tackles take it to the yellow and I send out a Pokeball!



Patrat
Level 4
Named Ratters





I take out a level 2 and 4 Patrat on my way back to my house. Snorts is now level 7, and learned ember, its first fire attack.

My mom allows us to rest and both Snorts and Ratters are back to full health.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to route 1. I encounter a level 4 Lillipup. We exchange tackles, and I capture it.



Lillipup
Level 4
Named Lolligag
Normal
Female

[Abe Sargent]

I head back to Route 1 a third time. I take out a few Patrats and Lillipups and Snorts is new level 8.

I heal up and head back out. I know there’s got to be at least one more Pokemon in the grass!

After more Patrats and Lillipups, I move Ratters into the front to give her some battling experience. Ratter sis beat, so I toss out Lolligag who takes out a wounded Lillipup, and levels up. Lolligag gains Odor Sleuth

Ratters gains 2 levels as I explore the grass. He gained Bite. I decide to head north. Someone on the road gave me a potion.

I make sure Lolligag also gains another level. I head up into the next town.

I have 3 Pokemon, and each of my mates only has 2, so I win the contest! I didn;t get anything though (Ahhh….)

[Abe Sargent]

Accumula Town




I am shown around a PokeCenter. It looks like the PokeShop was moved here. I buy a 10 set of Pokeballs for half of my money, and get a Premier Ball free.

A man named Ghetsis is representing Team Plasma. He’s got some thugs with him in the town square. He talks about Pokemon being, not partners, but basically slaves that need to be freed. Then he leaves.

After he leaves, I am attacked by this spectator ho believes him and wants tt release my Pokemon!. This chick has Purrloin in her top, and I have Lolligag still in front. Lolligag manages to win and gains two levels, and is now level 8. She learns bite. I won 700 dollars.

After healing, I move out and explore the town.

(Which Pokemon will be the first one I see from a previous game? Who knows!)

The 3dish ness of the game is pretty cool. The town is rather normal. Let’s move on out!


Route 2


I am given Running Shoes! Finally, I was tiring of this slow meandering pace. I find a Potion in the grass. I run into a level 5 Purrloin!


Two tackles later…


Purrloin
Level 5
Named Scatkat
Dark
Female

[Abe Sargent]

The Purrloin is a bit underwhelming because it starts with the 40 damage move Scratch rather than the 50 damage move Tackle. I assume it will get the 60 damage Bite soon, which will be a STAB move for it, so it will deal a lot of damage, soon, I hope.

Back to Route 2 after some healing.

I face my first Pokemon Trainer battle in the wild and lead with Snorts. He plays a level 7 Patrat. I start with Ember. It takes little damage, so I slide to tackle and deal more. It gets off crit hit a nd knocks me to red. I go first and tackle it. I gain a level and move to 9. Snorts learns Odor Sleuth.

I fight another a short while later. She has just a Purrloin., but I forgot to swap out my Pokemon and I’ve got that wounded pig. I manage to beat it because it used Assist and Leer and I tackle it, and grow to level 10.

A quick trip back to reheal and I am out on the road. I lead with my new Purrloin, Scatkat. I want to see how she does in battle.

Ratters gains a level, but Scatkat is doing horribly.

After returning, Scatkat manages to level to 6, and gains the move Assist. I will be using it in the next battle. It uses one random move from you party’s Pokemon. I use it twice and get Odor Sleuth and Tail Whip not the best moves. But then I get Bite, but its against a dark Pokemon Purrloin., so it’s not that effective. Then I win by crit hitting it with Scratch. Rough.

A third trainer sees my Scatkat turn assist into Bite against his Lillipup and it does some serious damage. It manages to ko my kat just before I take out his, so I toss out Ratters for the XP and knock out.

I find a Poke Ball and Potion. Bianca finds me at the end of the road and attacks me to battle. I lead with Snorts. She leads with Lillipup (level 6). I clear it out and gain a level. I keep it in for Snivy. Ember takes it out.

[Abe Sargent]

Striaton City



I begin by exploring the city, and seeing what I can see in buildings and talking to all of the people I can find. Someone gave me a Great Ball. I find an X Speed and a Great Ball. I run into Cheren in a school and he challenges me to a battle. He leads with Oshawott and I lead with Ratters. Ratters falls and I send out Lolligag. Lolligag manages to finish off Oshawott. I switch out Scatkat to face his Purrloin. Unfortunately, his is of a higher level. His Assist turns into Water Gun and damages me. But I manage to take it out because it used Screech too much and OI got a crit. Scatkat levels up – level 7!

After I beat him, he gives me 3 Oran Berries. Someone else gave me a Dusk ball. I run into the Gym Leader who recommends I train up because this is a water gym, and I have a fire Pokemon.

I move to Dreamyard

A trainer attacks me shortly in. Ratters takes out a level 8 Purrloin and grows to level 8 herself. She learns Bide. I shift in Lolligag. Two tackles later ,I take out another level 8 Purrloin. Lolligag is now level 9. I switch Snorts to my front.

I hit another trainer. He sends out a level 7 Patrat. I take out one and then face another. I slide Scatkat in and then pull it for Snorts to give it some experience. I do the same against the trainer’s Lillipup. Scatkat levels up.

I head back for a Pokemon Center visit, and return to Dreamyard.

Someone was disappointed that I have a Tepig against the gym’s water Pokemon, so they handed me a Pansage!





Pansage
Level 10
Named Chatters
Grass
Male

[Abe Sargent]

I like its look a lot! Plus its already a good level. It feels a bit cheaty to get a good Pokemon like this for free. Let’s take a look under the hood of Pansage.

Scratch
Leer
Lick
Vine Whip


I find an X Defend in Dreamyard. There’s a closed off area here behind a tree that needs cut to bring it down. I leave and reheal, and then head for the gym.

[Abe Sargent]

The Striaton City Gym


I get a Fresh Water by a guy inside who’s my Gym Guide. There also is a clerk here, who is not selling anything right now. Maybe after I win?

I choose to battle one of the Gym people, to give Pansage some experience. They lead with Lillipup – level 11. I lead with Chatters. Vine Whip does a little damage, but not a whole lot. It manages to beat me, but it’s low in life, so I send out Lolligag to take it down and gain some useful experience. Lolligag gains two levels and is now at 11. I leave for a heal and return.

I attack another trainer, this one leads with Patrat – level 10. Chatters goes. It one hit KOS me after using Bide. Snorts is sent out. It rises to level 12. I leave it out against a Purrloin. It finishes off the Purrloin and again I head out for a heal.

The last person left in the Gym Leader. I close, and there are two more pop out. There is one for each starting type. They choose for me to face the one that is good against my starter. I am facing water (so I suppose the girl would have given you a pokemon for whichever enemy you faced)

Cress ,the Gym Leader

She leads with a level 12 Lillipup, which is not a water Pokemon. I switch to Snorts. It uses Work Up. It’s attack and special attack rose. It uses Work Up again while I begin attacking. It uses Bite and takes away half of my life, Snorts has taken it to half of its. I keep pushing. It ko’s me. I send out Lollligag. He uses a Potion after Lolligag does some damage. I get Bite down to 1 hp, but I do the same to Lillipup. I push, and he kos’s Lolligag. I send out Ratters. Ratters gains a level and is now level 9. My foe is about to send out a Pokemon called Panpour. Time to switch to my grass guy.

Chatters goes out. Whoah! Panpour looks exactly like Pansage except its Blue instead of Green. Wow, that’s a cool thing1 I bet there’s a Red/Fire one too. Anyway, I order Vine Whip against the level 14 Panpour.

He uses Water Gun. Three turns later of Wine Whip, and I’ve taken down Panpour. Chatters gains a level. I gained 1680 money. I get the Trio Badge. I also get TM83 Work Up. They mention that TM’s can be used over and over again, and that’s not how they worked before – so that’s pretty powerful!

[Abe Sargent]

I head outside and run into Fennel – a local scientist. Fennel gives me the HM Cut. Fennel wants some of the Dream Mist from a Pokemon called Munna from Dreamyard. I can now buy more stuff at the PokeMart in the PokeCenter.

I teach Cut to Scatkat. I don’t think I’ll have it for much longer might as well give it Cut. I head to Route 2, and not Dreamyard, because I recall a tree to cut there. Behind the tree I find a Super Potion and Great Ball. Now over to:


Dreamyard


I cut down the tree. Here comes Bianca. I hear a noise and Bianca and me investigate. We run into Munna, but we also run into Team Plasma, trying to…make it make Dream Mist or somesuch. They start kicking the Munna to force it to give off Dream Mist, so that they can use it to manipulate people’s dreams into giving up their Pokemon. One of them moves forward and attacks me.

I toss down Chatters. He leads with Patrat. Chatters takes it out and defeats the Grunt. The other moves in and attacks. This grunts throws down a Purrloin. Chatters takes it out too and gains a level. I got 400 from each.

Finally, after we win, they keep kicking, and Ghetsis arrives. Actually, then he appears on the other side as well, he’s in two places. Twins? Something about dreams? They run and Ghetsis disappears Another weird Pokemon appears from behind a wall. Fennel arrives and says its Musharna, an evolved Munna. It talks to Munna and they both leave. The Munna dropped an item. It’s Dream Mist, and Fennel gets the item needed. There’s some grass here. I wonder what sort of Pokemon I’ll run into here? I move out to explore more

I run into a level 10 Munna. It uses Yawn on Chatters so I swap it out. Go Snorts. It uses Yawn again, I switch to Lolligag. It uses Lucky Chant. It Yawns again. Back to Snorts. It uses Lucky Chant a few times, I hit it down a bit, and toss Premier Ball. I capture it.


Munna
Level 10
Named Puffers
Psychic
Female




I like psychic Pokemon, and getting Yawn early means it can help capture dudes. I find a Pokeball while here, and then run back for healing with an intention of returning.

[Abe Sargent]

Snorts bites it to a Patrat’s Bide, and then Puffers takes it out with Psywave. I find a Repel, Parlyz Heal and Potion. While wandering around trying to fight more wild Pokemon, some of my guys gained enough XP for levels:

Ratters – Level 10
Snorts – Level 13 – forgot Odor Sleuth and gained Defense Curl
Lolligag – Level 12 – Forgot Odor Sleuth and gains Helping Hand

I swing over to Fennels and give a talk. I gain a C Gear to communicate with other trainers. I also get a Pal Pad. It’s another connect-y Wi-Fi thing. Okay, time for moving on:

[Abe Sargent]

Route 3



I quickly run into a pair of sisters who want to battle me together. I have Ratters and Snorts. They lead with two Purrloins. I order Ratters to Helping Hand Snorts, and Snorts to tackle a Purrloin. Lolligag goes first, and then Snorts tackle does a lot of damage. We finish off the injured Purrloin. Another Helping Hand + Tackler on the remaining one. We take it out after another go.

Cheren fins me and begins a battle since we both have a badge. I have an injured Snorts, and he leads with Oshawott. I use tackle, to see how much damage I can do to Oshawott. He heals with Oran Berry. I manage to take it out since he wastes time with Water Sport and Tail Whip. He sends out Purrloin. Two turns later, my Snorts is now level 14. I get 1200 in cash.

Then two Team Plasma grunts push us out of the way and keep going. Bianca and some girl catch up and say that Team Plasma stole the girl’s Pokemon. Cheren runs up ahead. I stay here for now and start exploring the route.

I find a Super Potion. I run into a new Pokemon – Pidove. It Gusts Puffers, but I Yawn it. The next turn Puffers uses Psywave to deal it some damage and it goes to sleep. Another Psywave while it sleeps. Then a Pokeball follows:



Pidove
Level 11
Named Feathers
Normal Flying
Male




Yay, my first flying Pokemon! I head back to the City to swap Pokemon.

Gust
Growl
Leer
Quick Attack


It’s attack and special are identical, so I can use either QA or Gust with equal effect. (They are both STAB’ed and both are 40 damage)

I drop Scatkat from my party.

[Abe Sargent]

The Pokemon Day Care in here on this route. A teacher moves to attack and sends out Lillipup, while I send out my new Feathers, to see how he does. I use Quick Attack and she tries Leer but it doesn’t work (My attack cannot be lowered due to my special ability). A pair of gusts and another QA later and Feathers has his first takeout. I switch to Lolligag vs a Munna (LG has Bite ,which is super good vs Psychic). LG levels up to 13. I run into a trainer that tosses out Pansear, the fire/red Pan., just when I put my grass vone out to get it some experience. Ah well. I switch to Lolligag. LG takes it out. Another kid attacks me and tosses out Panpour, so I have the type advantage here. I use Vine Whip. There is a third child here, and expecting the grass one, I switch to Feathers and its super effective Gust attack and move in. Yup, its Pansage. I Gust it. Feathers is now level 12.

A teacher allows me to rest my Pokemon in the school, and they are all healed up. I move into the grass and start fighting Pokemon. I run into another new Pokemon: Blitzle. It looks pretty cool. It is an electricity pokemon? With that name, it’s possible. I’d love one this early, but I hope it doesn’t suck as badly as Electrike as an early electric Pokemon.

I switch to Puffers and it uses Charge – alright electric Pokemon! It uses Quick Attack and Puffers Yawns it. It uses charge again. I use Defense Curl, and then it falls asleep. Out goes a Poke Ball. (I don’t want to risk losing it to a powerful attack, or a crit. ) I catch it!


Blitzle
Level 8
Named Foudre (look it up to see what it means)
Electr
Female






I drop Ratters for it.

Quick Attack
Charge
Tail Whip

I’m going to go out and get it a few levels

[Abe Sargent]

Level 11 saw it gain Shock Wave. I take it up to 13.

I also take Puffers to level 11, and it wants to learn Psybeam. I have it replace Psywave. I take it to 13 and it wants to learn Imprison. I switch Lucky Chant for it.

I take Chatters to level 13 as well. He trades Lick for a new move, Fury Swipes.

Feathers also rises to 13

I’m done levelling up my Pokies. Everybody is at least level 13.

[Abe Sargent]

I press on. I run into a random trainer. I lead with Foudre. She leads with Patrat, level 9. I take it out in two turns with Shock Wave. I switch Snorts against her Lillipup. Snorts wins, but is in the red. Now level 15. I swap Tackle with Flame Charge. I switch in Foudre for Pidove and Shock Wave the guy in one turn. I make 432 money. She give me an Oran Berry. I find Repel.

I heal at the lodge day care school and then head back. I spy a Cave Entrance up ahead with my friend Cheren there. I head over. I go into the dark to chase Team Plasma. Two grunts here ,and one come safter me, so it’s a battle. I use Flame Charge of Snorts on a Patrat. It was a crit, so I don’t know how powerful it will really be. Now they try to take us on 2 on 2. I am fighting with Cheren. They send out two Patrats. I have Snorts, he has Oshawott. Flame Charge does a lot of damage to one. I take the wounded one down next turn. I take out the other the next turn. I got 960.

We get the girl’s Pokemon back. We head back, and I get 3 Heal Balls as a thanks. Bianca takes the girl back. I can go south or back to the cave. Hmm.

[sterlingice]

I'm a little further than you but not much and you'll probably blow by me this week.

I'm kindof having a hard time finding "permanent" Pokemon for my party. I tend towards ones with three evolutions to keep throughout the game and I'm just not seeing it. I just feel that in this game, with the levels of when things evolve- I think you're just meant to churn them to evolve to get their Pokedex entry- and then toss them aside for another similar one that pops up about the time you are getting attached to it.

Oh, and as someone who went with Snivy, finding a fire Pokemon early is a chore. There's all of 1 and you're still not to it yet (sortof). Then again, I'm noticing early on there's a variety of types but not very much of any one type (except when you get into the stupid forest- then of course, you can get multiple grass and bug).

SI

[Abe Sargent]

South. I run into a trainer. I sent out Lolligag. Her sends out Blitzle – level 13. Blitzle is pretty good. I manage to beat it because it used Charge twice. Level 14 for my LG. I find an Antidote. Cheren finds me and tells me there is a dark grass that will have TWO Pokemon pop out of it instead of one – that’s mega cool!

Trainer battle. Foudre for me and Woobat for her. I Shock Wave the flying creature and it takes some, but does not die. I do it again and it falls. Level 14 for Foudre. Next trainer battle, I send out Foudre again. She leads with Patrat. I switch to Feathers after I take it out. It’s Purrloin takes out Feathers after it used Assist to use Bide. I switch to Chatters.

Later, I find an Awakening. Another trainer battle sees me start with Snorts. He sends out Pidove. Flame Charge is my lead. I dispatch it, and rise to level 16. My foe is sending out some Pokemon named Roggenrola. Who do I send out, not knowing anything about it? Sounds like a rock Pokemon, so I call on Chatters. I miss with Vine Whip after it Sand Attacks me. Then I hit. It follows with some hardens, and I miss once more before being taken out by a critical hit of Headbutt from it. I send out Puffers. A simple Psybeam finishes it off. I reached the end of the route, so I turn around and head back. I find a place I missed on my way in and grab a Great Ball. I head back and heal, and I intend to look a the cave now. I move Chatters to the front and head in.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm a little further than you but not much and you'll probably blow by me this week.

I'm kindof having a hard time finding "permanent" Pokemon for my party. I tend towards ones with three evolutions to keep throughout the game and I'm just not seeing it. I just feel that in this game, with the levels of when things evolve- I think you're just meant to churn them to evolve to get their Pokedex entry- and then toss them aside for another similar one that pops up about the time you are getting attached to it.

Oh, and as someone who went with Snivy, finding a fire Pokemon early is a chore. There's all of 1 and you're still not to it yet (sortof). Then again, I'm noticing early on there's a variety of types but not very much of any one type (except when you get into the stupid forest- then of course, you can get multiple grass and bug).

SI

Were you given Panpour, as I supposed?

[Abe Sargent]

Wellspring Cave


I start exploring and run into a Roggenrola, level 11. I switch to Puffers. Yawn makes it tired. It’s asleep and I try a Psybeam. It is knocked to red. I lob a Poke Ball.




Roggenrola
Level 11
Named Feldspar
Rock
Female






I’ll take a look at it in a bit. I have to go far from here, so let’s keep exploring.

I am attacked by another and take it out. Then I run into a Woobat. I switch to Puffers. It falls asleep but I don’t want to kill it and I think it might take a super effective attack from Puffers. I toss a Ball out and catch it immediately.


Woobat
Level 11
Named Lazyeye
Psychic Flying
Male





Let’s take a closer look at my new Pokemon. (I thought Woobat might be poison, but I was wrong) But before I do, I want to finish exploring this cave. I find TM46 Thief. I head back. There’s a lot of water here, so I can get Surf and return, to keep exploring. Now back to see what my new captures look like.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s take a closer look at my new Pokemon. But before I do, I want to finish exploring this cave. I find TM46 Thief. I head back. There’s a lot of water here, so I can get Surf and return, to keep exploring. Now back to see what my new captures look like.

Feldspar:

Tackle, Harden, Sand-Attack, Headbutt


It has an Everstone so I take it. It’s got pretty good stats for its level (11) compared to the others I’ve captured. (24, 25, 12, 10, 9 are its stats at level 11)

Lazyeye:

Confusion, Odor Sleuth, Confusion

Stats are 17, 15, 18, 15, 22. Flying/Psychic can be really useful if it gains the ability to use good flying moves and good psychic moves. It could, conceivably, replace both the Munna and Pidove on my team, if it’s good enough.

My plan is simple. I take both Feldspar and Lazyeye to Route 3 and get them some experience and raise them to level 13. I see who is the best with even levels.

While trying to level up in Route 3, I run into a rare Pokemon I hadn’t seen before. Audino! I switch to Puffers. Its level 8, and it uses Pound, Helping Hand and Assist, so I know it has those moves. It falls asleep. I use a PB on it, and I capture it.


Audino
Level 8
Named Suzurin
Normal
Male

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, let’s take a look. I take its Oran Berry. I apologize, it knows Refresh, not Assist. Growl, Pound and Helping Hand. It’s ability allows it to heal an ally’s status condition. Cool. Refresh heals its own poison, burn or paralysis. Pound is a weaker tackle, not good. This looks like a teammate for double matches. I head back out, as I am not interested in it.

Back to the mission. Feldspar reaches level 13. Lazyeye gains Assurance at level 12. It feels like it takes more XP for Lazyeye to level up than Feldspar. Lazyeye took out an Audino and gained a bunch of XP and leveled to 14. Now that’s interesting. Why that much XP? Anyway, I return to take a look at my dudes.

Stats for my new guys at their current level:

Feldspar (level 13) – 27, 29, 13, 12, 9
Lazyeye (level 14) – 20, 18, 22, 18, 27
Foudre (14) – 26, 17, 21, 16, 29
Puffers (13) – 10, 16, 26, 21, 14
Chatters (13) – 19, 18, 21, 19, 20
Feathers (13) – 18, 20, 17, 15, 17
Lolligag (14) – 25, 20, 12, 20, 18

Who do we like? Foudre is staying. Other than that, I can really take any or none of these guys. Vine Whip is a weak grass attack, and I haven’t seen better from Chatters yet. Feather still has just Gust, as does Lazyeye. Lolligag is just a dude. Feldspar has a obvious specialization, and will always be the last to fight. Puffers has more HP than the others and a more powerful attack in Psybeam.

I actually like the Munna so far, and it seems a bit like Drowzee/Hypno, which was a good Pokemon.

I drop off Munna. I grab Lolligag.

My party moving to the next city – Lolligag, Foudre, Snorts, Feldspar, Lazyeye, Chatters.

Ok, done with lunch. See you later.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Were you given Panpour, as I supposed?

Ayup

And somehow, even tho I'm pretty completionist, I missed Woobat early on.

SI

[Abe Sargent]

Nacrene City



Cheren meets me just inside and escorts me around before giving me some Chesto berries. He tells me the gym leader has normal Pokemon. Let’s look around! I really like the lofts, architecture of the area – it looks pretty realistic. I find a person asking if I have Petilil. If so, I can trade it for a Cottonee. I found a store in one of the old warehouses that was converted t a flat that sells X items. I need to remember that. I’m given a Charcoal after I tell someone I started with Tepig. I immediately give it to Tepig to hold. I’m told that the Warehouse Café has a special on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. I’ll try to remember to check it out.

I check out the gym and out comes a character named N. Is that the same person who attacked me after the Team Plasma appearance in the last City? She attacks and sends out Pidove. I have led with Snorts. Two flame charges and I’ve taken care of the Pidove. I’m told my foe is sending out a Pokemon named Tympole. I have no clue what that is, so I’m sticking with Snorts. It looks a bit like a Tadpole, so I probably left the worst Pokemon out. Just to make sure, I hit it with Flame Charge! It’s not very effective. It uses Bubblebeam. I’m down to red already. I switch with Chatters. It uses Supersonic. Chatters hits itself once; and then kills it with a couple of Vine Whips. Chatters is now level 14. Snorts is level 17. It is about to send out a Pokemon named Timburr. Sounds like a grass Pokemon. I order Chatters to return and send out Lazyeye. Gust is super effective against it, but it just looks like a dude with a log of wood in its hand. It is taken out in two turns. I got 1300 cash. Here we go:

I have an evolution!

Snorts evolved into Pignite!





(I like the new evolution animation)

It is now a Fight/Fire Pokemon, and it learned Arm Thrust. I replace Tail Whip. This will make it my main Pokemon for the gym, since fight tears through normal Pokemon.

[sterlingice]

(I think N is supposed to be a guy but maybe that changes depending on your character's gender)

SI

[Abe Sargent]

Nacrene City Gym and Museum




The Gym leader is an archeologist. (So why not have rock or ground Pokemon instead of normal?) The AD gives me a tour of the museum, which looks awesome, btw. I leave the museum and enter the gym.

I’m given another Fresh Water by the guide here. I meet a trainer. I send out Snorts against Patrat. Not fair to the kid. It is a level 17 Patrat. Arm Thrust does some serious damage to it. It uses Sand Attack. It dodges and Crunches. It dodges and Crunches again. A third time. Annoying, but not battle ending. Finally, we connect again and take it out.

I’m trying to figure out the puzzle in this gym. It’s definitely interesting. I have to find books in the library shelves that have clues, and then find other books. I run into another trainer by the answer to the second clue. He battles me. He sent out a Pokemon called Herdier. It looks like it may be the evolution of Lillipup. He uses X Defend, which is cool you don’t see that very often. Arm Thrust hits four times and deals a ton of damage to ti. The Herdier uses Bite but Snorts’s Arm Thrust takes it down. Level 18. I gained 816 dollars. I switch my main to another Pokemon for the trainer fights because my Fire Pig is getting hurt.

I lead with my Feldspar against another trainer here. She throws out Lillipup. I take it down in two turns after getting a crit hit in. I switch to Foudre for another Lillipup. I take it down but not before taking some serious damage to my electrical Pokemon. I switch back to Feldspar. Feldspar levels to 14 after defeating a last Lillipup. I switch in Rock Blast for Harden.

I finish the puzzle, but head back for a quick heal. I put Snorts in front, and move in.

[Abe Sargent]

Gym Battle vs Lenora




She has just two Pokemon, and tosses down Herdier. It uses intimidate on my Snorts, lowering my attack before battle begins. I use Arm Thrust. I hit the level 18 guy twice. He uses Leer and lowers my defense. Arm Thrust hits four times and lowers him badly. Then he uses a major attack, and I was busy typing, so I don’t know what it was, but the recoil killed him, and he took me to 6 hp. I am now level 19. He is sending out a guy called Watchog. I switch to Foudre. Watchog is level 20 and I have my work cut out for me.

I start with Charge. It takes me out in one hit. I order Feldspar out. It will take half damage from normal attacks. It uses hypnosis to put my Feldspar to sleep! It uses crunch and gets lucky with a crit, and then it uses it again. Feldspar is out. Lazyeye is up next. Crunch takes me out (forgot it was dark). Next is Lolligag. I use a fresh water to heal Snorts. Lolligag is not put to sleep by Hypnosis due to its special ability. He uses retaliate and takes me down to red, I use Leer. It lowers the Watchog’s defense. I want to prepare it for Snorts. Snorts goes out. He leads with Hypnosis. It hits – 60% chance of hitting, and it does. I use Awakening. He follows up with Leer. A retaliate takes me to red, ad Snorts almost kills it, taking it to red as well with Arm Thrust. I switch to Chatters. Lenora uses Super Potion. I use Fresh Water next turn. It takes out Chatters. Back to Snorts. My only living Pokemon. He uses Leer. Three hits from Arm thrust later Watchog has fallen. Snorts levels up to 20. I choose not to learn Smog.

We have won! Whew! I got 2400 yen. I win the Basic Badge! I get TM67 Retaliate. They warn me that Team Plasma is outside trying to steal some bones. I save the game.


I head back out. Lenora and her husband, the AD are confronted by some Team Plasma goons. I run up to help out. They want the dragon skull from a giant statue of bones. The 6 of them drop a smoke screen, steal it and head out. I head out.

Castelia City’s Gym leader, Burgh, swings by while Lenora and I are looking for Team Plasma. Bianca and Cheren pull up as well. We split up to search, and I’m, to head to the forest with Burgh. Bianca gives me a dowsing machine, given to her by Fennel for me. I use the machine to find a Revive in the ground. I buy 8 Super Potions, 3 Net Balls, 5 Antidote, and 3 Awakening. I head out. I need to level my Pokemon, it’s clear. The forest will give me a chance to do that.

[Abe Sargent]

Pinwheel Forest


As I leave, the dowsing machine triggers and I find an Ultra Ball, and as I enter the forest it triggers and I find a Super Potion.

Someone gives me TM94 Rock Smash. Isn’t that the HM normally? Yup, it is. Must not need it on the map here. I check out Retaliate, it has just 5 power points, hits 100% of the time, and deals 70 normal damage, which is STABed by the gym leader – that’s why it was so hard. I replace Leer on Lolligag’s move list with it. That will give Lolligag a nasty bite.

I find a trainer willing to battle. She leads with Munna. I have Lazyeye in front. The battle of the psychic Pokemon begins. I use assurance, a dark move. Super effective! It used Lucky Chant. Another assurance, it follows with Imprison. A third Assurance takes out her Munna, and Lazyeye gets the XP while I grab 600 in cold hard cash. She heals my Pokemon. I find an Ether. I head into some grass off the path south of her.

I run into a level 13 Timburr. Gust takes it to the yellow. Go Poke Ball!


Timburr
Level 13
Named Erectors
Fight
Male







I thought it was grass in an earlier match, and used a flying Pokemon against it, but it’s really fight, but since Flying is super good against it, I didn’t know. Heh. It’s a construction Pokemon, so I named it Erectors.

[sterlingice]

I do like what I've seen of the gyms this time around. It seems like they're trying to make it a little more RPG-like

SI

[Abe Sargent]

I head a bit south and run into a Construction Worker who challenges me. He throws out Cottonee. I leads with Lazyeye still. I use Gust on what looks and sounds like a grass Pokemon. Gust is super effective against it. Another takes out the Cottonee. Lazyeye moves up to level 15. I replace Confusion with Heart Stamp, a psychic move that does 60 damage (and uses attack, not special attack). He is about to use Petilil. I keep in Lazyeye. It’s a total grass Pokemon too. It uses Mega Drain, a bit early for that attack, no? Gust finishes it off. I run into another Construction worker. This one sends out Roggenrola, and I still have Lazyeye in front. Gust does minor damage to it. Heart Stamp does more. Lazyeye is Sana Attacked twice and lost some accuracy. The Roggenrola starts dodging attacks and a 3rd Sand Attack follows. Nasty. A 4th follows after another miss. I pull Lazyeye for Chatters. He uses Rock Blast. Vine Whip for me, Sand Attack for it. Chatters takes it out with the next attack. I switch my front Pokemon to Lolligag.

I find a Great Ball before running into another trainer. This kid throws out Tympole. I use Retaliate. Bubblebeam hits first. Then Ideal a bunch of damage to it. I use it again. After getting knocked down to half life, I take it out, and then switch to Foudre, when I see another Tympole coming. Shock Wave ends it, and Foudre levels to 15. I give it Thunder Wave and pull Tail Whip. Now I can paralyze people to capture. A third Tympole bites it.

Dowsing Machine finds me a TinyMushroom. I move through grass and run into a new Pokemon – Throh. It looks like a fighting Pokemon. I switch to Foudre. It used Bide. I use Thunder Wave. I paralyze it, and then try to catch it before Bide goes off, but it is released and uses Bide but is paralyzed. I start using Quick Attacks. It uses Seismic Toss. It Bides again, and it took a ton of Quick Attacks to get down in Hp to yellow. I throw out Poke Ball. It breaks out. It finishes off Foudre. I tell Chatters to head out. I use 5 Vine Whips, it’s not even in red yet. Finally I use a third Poke Ball. It breaks out immediately. Alright then. Go Great Ball. It breaks out immediately. I use another Vine Whip to knock it down some more. It breaks free from another Great Ball. This is paralyzed, and in deep Red, and just level 14. This is crazy . I use the Ultra Ball. It breaks free!!! Another Poke Ball, it is finally captured. Geez this thing was strong.



Throh
Level 14
Named Judos
Fight
Male

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I do like what I've seen of the gyms this time around. It seems like they're trying to make it a little more RPG-like

SI

I like a lot of the changes I've seen so far.

[Abe Sargent]

I want to head back and take a look at this beast. I find two Antidotes and a Super Potion on the way. I run into a level 15 Throh on the way back. I decide to see if I can kill it. Feldspar uses Sand Attack to its Seismic Throw. Another (it misses). It uses Focus Energy, and another Sand Attack. It used Leer and missed, another Sand Attack. It misses, Headbutt hits. It manages to connect with its Bide attack and Feldspar goes down. I dispatch Lolligag to take it out. Retaliate does a ton of damage (It does more damage when used the turn after an ally dies). Level to 15. I swap out Tackle for Take Down.

I hit a Tympole on the way out. Foudre has fainted and can’t use Thunder Wave so I have Lolligag use Bite on it. We do that a few times. A PokeBall is sent out.



Tympole
Level 12
Named Frogtales
Water
Male






I’m sure it evolves into a frog. Let’s go take a look at these guys.

[Abe Sargent]

It’s an absolute essential to have a good water Pokemon in your party. You need Surf all over the place. You might as well have it on a good Pokemon, rather than an HM slave. Bubblebeam is a strong early water attack, with a 65 attack. No complaints there. It’s stats aren’t super great, and it has a few funky moves – Round, Supersonic, Growl suggest a noise Pokemon like Whismur, Jigglypuff and such. But it’s straight water with a solid water attack. Will it get better water attacks later, or move into the weird sound stuff?

Judos is much better than Erectors. There is no question that Erectors will likely evolve at some time. If Judos evolves, I would love to see how mega powerful that Pokemon is! This is my first major decision of my party. Judos is clearly the most powerful Pokemon I’ve got since my starter. Do I grab it, despite type duplication with my starter? Or do I move on? Who knew I would have a type issue with fight, when I chose Tepig as my starter! In retrospect, perhaps the water starter would have been better, knowing I would get a very strong fight this early. The only other waters I’ve seen are Tympole and Panpour, and I don’t hold out high hopes for either.

Anyway, I switch out the fairly weak and underwhelming Pansage for Judos. It’s just that powerful. I move him to the front and let’s try him out. Judos takes out a Tympole. He needs a move that does more damage than 14 with Seismic Toss. Bide’s pretty lousy. I run into another Throh. We both Bide at the same time and do nothing. It’s using Bind against me to little success. I take it out and gain a level. I gain a ton of stats – this is a good Pokemon.

I run into another trainer, he leads with an awesome looking Venipede. I use Bide and he rocks with Rollout. I finish it off with Seismic Toss. I switch to Feldspar for a match vs Lillipup. An easy victory. Level 15 for Feldspar.

I head up some stairs into a cliff. There are two martial arts trainers up here, each with one Timburr. Judos takes each out and moves to 16. I have Judos smash a Challenge Rock and get a Star Piece. I find a Net Ball.

I want to level up Judos until he gets a real attack instead of Bide and Seismic Toss. It’s just one level, level 17. He gains the powerful but limited Vital Throw. A 70 power fight attack, but it always goes last. It’s still much better than the current ones.

Considering the Pokemon I am finding here, I choose to level up:

Foudre to level 17
Lazyeye to level 17


And….Lolligag to level 16…. To evolve into a Herdier….

[Abe Sargent]

Pinwheel Forest


Up until now, I’ve been going to a patch of ground to the south of the Forest. Time to enter the actual forest.



(for reals)

Burgh is right in here, and tells me there are two paths through the forest, the straight road and the meandering forest path, and I get to take the latter.

Two sisters attack. I send out Lolligag and Feldspar against two Sewaddle. They look like grass Pokemon. Headbutt + helping Hand does nothing against their double crit hit Razor Leaf which hits both my Pokemon. I’m reeling. Feldspar manages to stay up, but Lolliwag falls. Feldspar gets a lot of XP as a result when he headbutts and takes out a Sewaddle. I send out Foudre. Feldspar dies out goes Snorts. It bites it easily, and I run back out to heal with the Nurse at the front of the forest.

I find a Team Plasma grunt, and I have Lolligag in the lead. He plays a cool Pokemon called Sandile. It’s attack is intimidated down by Lolligag. It uses Sand Tomb and Assurance, I use Retaliate twice and end it. 640 for me! I run into another grunt. This one has Purrloin. It opens with Pursuit and then Sand Attack and another Pursuit. I use Retaliate twice, but miss once, and then miss a bunch of headbutt as it keeps Sand Attacking me. I eventually land a Take Down and put it down. Another 640!

I move to the grass to see what’s in here. Level 17 for Lolligag. I run Judos back to the Rock and smash off another Star Piece. I’m told you can get just one piece a day, but it’s past midnight now. I run back to the Warehouse Café as well, since they had a Wednesday special. I’m given a Soda Pop for free. While here, I stock up on some more Poke Balls. I get 10 more with a Premier Ball tossed in for fun.

Back to the grass. I find a Super Potion, TinyMushroom. I run into a level 17 Petilil. I have Foudre out, so I order it to use Thunder Wave. I then begin to Shock Wave it. I do very little damage, so I can work it down and capture it. NM, it used Leech Seed, so I just need to capture it. I try a Poke Ball. Caught it.


Petilil
Level 17
Named Buddyleaf
Grass
Female

[Abe Sargent]

I run into a trainer. He sends out Herdier. I have Foudre in front. I got Take Downed in one attack. Out goes Judos. Vital Throw ends it. Level 18 Judos. I gain 1080! The trainer gives me a Chesto Berry too. I get a quick heal from the nurse and move in deeper. I run into a level 14 Sewaddle.



Sewaddle
Level 14
Named Crawyrm
Bug/Grass
Female

[Abe Sargent]

I find a Big Root. I run into another Petilil on the way to get healed. I bring it down and then try and capture it. It doesn’t work. I try again. It works. I move on. I head back to the city. I grab the unnamed level 14 Petilil I just snabbed. I trade for Cottonee.



Cottonee
Level 15
Already named Fluffee
Grass
Female

[Abe Sargent]

I take its Cheri Berry. I take Mental Herb from the Sewaddle I grabbed too. I check out the Pokemon. As I alluded to earlier, you often get a lot of grass early. Right now, I have four grass Pokemon. It looks like Buddyleaf is your typical grass harasser. There are tons of grass with these moves -0 Mega Drain, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Synthesis. It’s what they do best. Sleep is good for catching Pokemon, but paralysis is solid too, and I have that already in my team. All of these Pokemon have low stats for their level, so I’m not super sold on any of them joining my team.

Lets head back out. I ran into a level 17 Audino. I thought the first one was okay for level 8. Perhaps the level 17 one will be better. I try to grab it. This one seems lot tougher. I name it Noisy. It has Double Slap, Attract, Refresh, and Helping Hand. It’s stats look pretty good too. Let’s go take a closer look.

I still don’t think I’m ready for a team battler, but I like that it’s better than I thought. I head back out again. I run into a Venipede. After a bit, and getting two of my guys poisoned, I managed to capture it on the first Ball.




Venipede
Level 15
Named Pedipalp
Bug/Poison
Male

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, I’ve figured out that Audino appears in these shaking grasses. They give out a huge amount of XP. Feldspar goes to level 16 and 17. I switch out its Tackle for Mud Slap.


A trainer attacks. Its Judos vs Venipede. It uses Protect. Judos is poisoned off a Poison Sting Attack. The one bad thing about Seismic Toss is that its damage is not improved by using it vs a super effective Pokemon. The one good thing is that its damage is not decreased when using it against a poison Pokemon either. It takes some time, but Seismic Toss finishes off the bug. I switch to Lazyeye vs a Timburr. Heart Stamps does a ton of damage. I switch my lead to Lolligag and keep going. I manage to find an Antidote.

Some Ranger jumps out and attacks me. Pansage vs Lolligag. It Leech Seeds me. Retaliate does a ton of damage to it. OIt tries Vine Whip, and Lolligag finishes it off. Level 18. 1080 for my victoire. I get a Chesto Berry.

I am deep in the forest now. Another Ranger attacks. Panpour is dispatched. It uses Water Gun and I have Lolligag use its 5th and final Intimidate. Take Down finishes off he panpour and Lolligag after it took a Take Down from the panpour. Double ko – funny. 1080 and Pecha Berry. Snorts to the front. I laugh at the bugs and grass Pokemon in my way. I especially laugh at Sewaddle. I find aTInyMushroom before hitting another Team Plasma Grunt. Arm Thrust on his Patrat is funny. 640 for me. I grab a Paralyz Heal before another Ranger attacks. Pansear is out. I use Arm Thrust. Three turns later I take it out. Level 21. 1080 and Pecha.

I go down instead of up to find some items. It’s off the path and in a bunch of grass. Down here is TM86 Grass Knot. It’s a crappy move. I head back up and hit another grunt. Snorts ends a Patrat. I switch to Feldspar vs a Sandile. I try Mud Slap against it. It works, normal effectiveness (I was hoping it was a rock Pokemon). It uses Sandtomb for me (super effective) and I can safely use headbutt. Feldspar takes it out, and back out goes Snorts vs a Patrat. 560 for me. I get the skull! A guy named Gorm arrives on the scene and asks how a fellow subject of the king is doing to the grunt. They threaten me, but both gym leaders arrive and back me. They leave. Lenora takes back the Dragon Skull. I get a Moon Stone. I save and keep exploring the forest.

[Abe Sargent]

I find a Miracle Seed. I hit a trainer on the main road back. She has a gym badge too and sends out Woobat. Bad against my fight. I shift into Foudre. I take it out, and leave out Foudre for another. Ditto a third time. Foudre is now 18. I swap Quick Attack for Flame Charge. The same one my starter has. Another trainer hits me. He has Munna, another bad matchup for Snorts. In goes a very wounded Feldspar. Munna yawns. Shift to Lazyeye. I use Assurance and het Psybeamsd. Mussa heals with Moonlight. I keep up my dark attack. Then my guy is yawned. Back to Snorts because Munna keeps healing and is back to full. I try Flame Charge with Charcoal equipped. It takes Munna to read. Psybeam nails me of course, and Snorts faints. Out goes Foudre. Shock wave finishes it off before another Moonlight. Feldspar is level 18.

I get healed by the nurse and turn around and head back to finish up the trainers here. There is a patch of grass I can’t get to, someone is in the way and won’t move. Trainer little girl and I do battle. Bad start vs Pidove with Snorts. I switch to Foudre. Snorts is level 22. I switch to Judos vs Purrloin. It uses Pursuit, that’s its Dark move – not very effect. Vital Throw is very effective and takes it out in one move. And we are out!

Whoah! Cool view! Where am I? This is a bridge that looks like that famous one in New York that I can’t recall. I am given a quick claw in a tunnel area that connects areas. I give Quick Claw to Judos.

[Abe Sargent]

Castella City


Someone gave me a Leaf Stone to evolve Pansage. I suppose if I had lied and said I had someone else, then I would have gotten the other stone. Typically, a Pokemon who levels up with a stone can’t get any more moves, or can’t get any more good moves. Looks like I may want to get Chatters some more XP to get it a cool move or two and then evolve it.

I find a PC and enter. I heal up and then head to the docks. There is a ship here that it getting ready, but isn’t yet. It’s the only thing there. I continue on. I find a Pier and check it out. Nothing. I continue and check out Unity Pier. Nothing but a Blue boat. Liberty Pier has a ship and a few people, but nothing of note. Okay, let’s check out the buildings on the outer road.

I’ve been appointed a Statistician. Weird. They promise prizes though. I get a Soda Pop after answering 10 questionnaires.

I enter Battle Company. I head up to 47F. I begin by taking out a clerk’s Herdier with Snorts. I get some Quick Balls and Timer Balls. I continue through these clerks and a scientist. I’m gaining 760 from each one. Snorts raises to level 23. I learn Rollout and forget Defense Curl. Judos gets to level 19. I find a Revive on the ground. One of the clerks has a new Pokemon, a Basculin. It’s a fish. Judos takes down a pair of them and grows to level 20. Foudre is taken out by a third so Lazyeye is sent out and gets to level 18. I get a Scope Lens from a scientist. I give it to Foudre.

Well that was fun. I head out to the PC for some good ol fashioned healing. I also intend to swap out Feldspar for Chatters. I head back to Battle Company, save, and hit up floor 55. I find a Hyper Potion first, and then move in. Foudre takes out a Woobat. I got 800. After taking out a Scientist’s Munna, Foudre hits level 19. 960 for that battle. Foudre is sent out vs a Sewaddle and uses Flame Charge. Boom! Finally there is another clerk here with Pansear. Two turns later Foudre has taken it out, and it stays in vs a Panpour. It bites it in one hit, and Foudre levels to 20. I keep it in for Pansage. Flame Charge. One hit win. I got 1520 from this guy. (When does Foudre level up, come on!)

There is some dude at a desk, so I go talk to him. The chairman challenges me. Except its actually a janitor. He has a new Pokemon named Trubbish, it’s like a trash bag Pokemon. I use Flame Charge. I thought it might be upper effective but alas. I am hit by a nasty poison attack and Foudre goes down, but not before a Shock Wave took it to red. I order in Judos. He is immediately poisoned by Toxic Spikes. Seismic Toss finishes the Trubbish. He is about to send in Minccino, and I leave in Judos. Vital Throw! Crit, and dead Minccino. 4000 for the battle.

He says he is the real chairman who likes to disguise himself as a janitor. I get an Exp Share. I leave the building. We have done all of the floors I can. Back to heal.




All done for the night!

[Abe Sargent]

Time to check out some streets. I head into Castelia Street, beside the P Center. I find a tower here with a Game Director who wants to see my Pokedex when I fill it up a lot. Another wants a Pokemon battle when mine are really strong. I buy a few Fresh Waters from a vending machine. Another building has a person on the ground floor who does Pokemon massages. Some dude gives me TM44 Rest.

I then arrive at a town square/circle thing. Several streets empty here. I get into a fight with a local. Foudre’s Flame Charge vs Pansage. I get 672 yen. I am asked to grab some other dancers to make a team, so I am on the lookout for dancers.

I head up and find some buildings in another street. Someone at a party upstairs gives me TM45 Attract. Pretty useful. I think I found a dancer so I head back. I don’t have any special dialogue, so I run back and check out another building. I find a scientist who invented a secret machine, and if I know the password… I’ll have to return later. I get an Eviolite from a scientist. What is that? It looks like it’s a useful hold item early on. I give it to Lazyeye.

I’ve arrived at Route 4, without fully exploring the city. There’s a heavy sandstorm here. I head out and run into a level 16 Scraggy. Paralysis from Foudre. A Poke Ball captures it.



Scraggy
Level 16
Named Tyke
Dark/Fight
Male






I like the double type, but I don’t have room for another fight Pokemon. For example, it’s a fighting Pokemon immune to psychic attacks, normally its weakness.

[Abe Sargent]

I find an X Accuracy. Then I run into another dude, the cool looking Sandile. It’s pretty low level, so I just take it out with Judos, and keep moving around, hoping to find a higher level one. Judos is now lev 21. He trades Leer for Revenge. Next up I hit a level 18 Darumaka. I use Seismic Toss on it. I could not tell you what type it is. Fire? Then I accidentally run from it instead of switch Pokemon. Ah well. Easy come, easy go I suppose.

I hit another on the next creature. I use Seismic Toss again. It uses Uproar and Rage. It takes damage from the sandstorm, so it can’t be rock, steel or ground. Vine Whip is not very effective. Ice? Fire looks more likely. Flying? I manage to Paralyze it with Foudre. Go Poke Ball!


Darumaka
Level 18
Named Rounders
Fire
Female

The info for it in my Pokedex says : “Darumaka’s droppings are hot, so people used to put them in their clothes to keep themselves warm.” Wow. Thanks Pokemon!

[Abe Sargent]

I find a Pearl with my dowsing machine. I skip talking to trainers right now. I don’t want to fight just yet, I just want to capture some Pokemon. My machine finds a Ultra ball. I find a Great Ball too. Snorts is great for this area. Rollout takes out Darumaka in two turns, Arm Thrust takes out Scraggy in one (dark is vulnerable to fight) . I run into another Sandile, this is also at level 15. I decide to go ahead and capture this one. Maybe they are all of a lower level. It busts out of a Poke Ball after getting Embered down to Red in one attack. I try again. Yup!



Sandile
Level 15
Named Overfang
Ground/Dark
Female






Let’s head back and take a look.

[Abe Sargent]

Poor stats on them all. I take a Rawst Berry from Rounders. Back to exploring the city.

Next is Mode Street. I enter a gallery and a guy wants to paint a grass pokemon. I show him Chatters and he is happy and allows me to pick one of five berries, so I go with Aspear. (My fav is Leppa haven’t seen one yet). I head back to the PC for a surprise!

I just grabbed the Liberty Pass from a mailman. I go to Liberty Pier. I go to Liberty Garden. I run into a Plasma grunt. Arm Thrust takes out a Patrat. 720 for me! Downing Machine finds an Ultra ball. Another Grunt is in my way. Sandile is in. Judos takes it out with Vital Throw. Another 720. A guard is here and heals my Pokemon. I take out a Grunt guarding their ship. Foudre advances to level 21. I gain 680. There’s a guard inside. Lazyeye gains a level and goes to 19. I ignore Imprison and keep our old moves. 680 more. I get healed again by the guard and head back.

I am told that 200 years ago, an old man bought the island and installed a hidden room with Victini in it, and hid Victini away. Team Plasma is here to free it. I’m here to capture it! I lead with Foudre, and the last grunt with Watchog. I think it’s a leveled up Patrat. Thunder Wave paralyzes it. I dodge hypnosis. It use Confuse Ray and I hit it with Shock Wave. I switch to Snorts. It uses crunch. Arm Thrust takes it down. 800 for me. I save the game and go battle Victini.

Thunder Wave – paralyzed. Confusion by it. It uses Quick Attack. I rock Shock Wave. It takes minor damage. I try again. It uses Confusion again. Foudre is red. One more Shock Wave. It rocks QA. No more Foudre. I send out Lolligag. Intimidate cuts the Victini’s attack power. Bite by me is super effective and takes it to Red. Premier Ball, go! It busts out. Go Dusk ball! No good. Go Ultra Ball! Nope. I try again. Nope. Great Balls? I try a bunch of balls, total failure. I reload and try again. This time I lead with Quick Ball on the first turn. It fails then, so I know I’m in for a bit. I move over the couch and watch some HGTV and try to catch this guy.

15 minutes later…


Victini
Level 15
I do not give nicknames to legendary Pokemon
Fire/Psychic
No Gender




It is quite powerful. This is a big problem. Let’s take a look why:

My strongest three Pokemon:

Victini – Fire/Psychic
Snorts – Fire/Fight
Judos – Fight

Not a lot of type variance there. If I had a water or grass starter, then I would have a lot more type coverage. Do I squeeze out Snorts or Judos despite the fact that they are more powerful? Or do I just accept that I will have poor type coverage for a long time, and perhaps the game?

Additionally, what role will Woobat continue to have on my team, now that I have added another Psychic Pokemon?

Tough decisions are coming up.

[Abe Sargent]

I leave the lighthouse. The Team Plasma grunts are being arrested. Professor Juniper thanks me. I return with the boast, and head to the PC right now. For now, I am dropping off Lolligag and grabbing Victini. It knows Incinerate, Confusion, Quick Attack and Endure.

Next up is Narrow Street. A guy jumps out and gives me TM70 Flash. I get a Lemonade from a café. I find a dancer that wants to fight me, so let’s go. Despite Type Disadvantage and taking Water Gun attacks, and giving up 6 levels, Victini took out a level 21 Panpour in three turns. I go back to the dancer in the party, to see if now I can grab em. Nope, it must be someone else. I’ve got one more street to check out.

I find an empty apartment/office build – no one or thing inside. Cheren comes out the gym with his 3rd badge just as I am about to enter. Team Plasma has showed up and Burgh is running out so I follow him to clean up the issue.

I find the third dancer on a pier. I take out a Pansear. I find the pier and Bianca has lost her Munna to Team Plasma. Burgh and a mysterious other want to help out. Burgh and I go chasing after them into the city. I get an Amulet Coin from the dancers, since I’m here. I equip it to Victini. We find Team Plasma just outside of the empty tower. Victinti takes out a type disadvantage Sandile (Dark is good vs Psychic after all). Level 16. I send in Snorts for another. Arm Thrust wins in one turn. Level 24 for Snorts. 1360!

Everybody (all four of us) go into the building. Ghetsis is here. Bronius is a dude with a name – dangerous. Ghetsis returns the Pokemon after getting into a debate with Burgh. Interesting. I like the motivation for these bad guys at least right now. His speeches sound reasonable. They leave without battle. Something was left behind. I am given a Yache Berry by Iris, the new character. The item left behind was a Smoke Ball – that may be how Team Plasma got in and out.

[Abe Sargent]

Castelia City Gym

I should do well in the bug gym. I have two fire and one flying Pokemon, plus a fire attack on a fourth, so most of my team have super effective attacks. I get a fresh water at the front.

Bug trainer. Victini owned a Sewaddle with double weakness to fire. Ownage continued of a Venipede. Level 17 for my legendary. I have it switch Endure for Headbutt. Endure is not that great on a Pokemon like this. 1280! Victini takes care of more bugs from a 2nd trainer. 1344! (Remember, Amulet Coin) A 3rd trainer is Victini-handled until he wants to toss out Dwebble, which I have not seen. I leave in Victini, since this is a bug gym. It looks like a Hermit Crab. It has move really good against me. I switch to confusion. Faint Attack knocks Victini to red. Victini is now 18. 1280 again. One more trainer, but I moved Snorts to the front. 1 hit Kos of all of his dudes. Just 640. Time for the Gym Leader.

I don’t go and heal, I just move ot the Gym Leader. I trust my guys.



Ysabel vs Burgh

He sends out a new one, Whirlipede. I use Flame Charge. (Perhaps an evolved Venipede). I take it to Red in one hit. It rocks Screech to lower my defense. Hyper Pot for the leader, and another attack by me. Another H Pot, and another attack to red. It’s out. I send out a wounded Victini for Dwebble. I expect to lose, but hope to double my money (And to get rid of the Screech)., It uses a rock attack and takes out Victini. I send Snorts back out. Flame Charge by me, Sand Attack by him. I order another charge. It connects, level 25. I leave out Snorts for Leavanny – don’t know what it is. It’s pretty cool looking, and clearly an evolved Sewaddle, giving it double weakness to fire. Here we go, FLAME CHARGE!!! One hit KO! 5520 cash.

I get the insect badge. I also get TM 76 Struggle Bug, which I didn’t even see in use. All done.

[Abe Sargent]

I pick up ten each of Great and regular Poke Balls, and get a Premier one. I also buy exactly one Escape Rope, because you never know when you’ll need one. All healed!

This time, I move Lazyeye to the front. I hope this Woobat evolves soon. Bianca challenges me! She has 4 now. She leads with Herdier and me with Lazyeye. Heart Stamp does little damage, but she flinches thrice after I use it. Then I get a crit and take it out without ever allowing it an attack or move! I switch to Chatters vs her Panpour. She uses Super Potion to keep her Panpour in the game. She withdraws it (smart) and sends out Servine. A couple of good Fury Swipes takes it down a bit, but Chatters is down. I send out Lazyeye again (Flying). Bianca uses Super Pot again, and she’s used Growth three times. This thing is going to get nasty, so I switch out for Snorts. She uses Leech Seed. I use Flame Charge. Servine bites it. Snorts reaches level 26. Lazyeye level 20. I switch to Foudre vs her Munna. After a yean I switch to Victini. She Psybeam’s me, for little damage due to both being Psychic. I use Incinerate, she uses Psybeam again. Another incinerate, and a yawn from her. I launch another and Munna is ko’d. Victini falls asleep and I switch back to Foudre. Shock Wave ends Panpour. I gain 4k.


Here we go!


Woobat is evolving! It must evolve at level 20.

It is now a Swoobat. Yay for Lazyeye!





Awesome!


I head back for a heal. On the way back I swing by the museum and the painter wants a rock type, so I grab Feldspar to show him. I take a Cheri Berry. Ok, next up is operation Get Chatters some Levels Until he Gets Good and then Leaf Stone him. I hand him an Exp Share. I intend to do more exploring of Route 4 until he gets good enough.