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How Ingratiating! posted:
I recall my first team, from my first successful playthrough-The Ginyu Force:consisting of Jeice the Chimchar and Burter the Squirtle, with reserve members Guldo the Bulbasaur, and Recoome the Machop, with Ginyu the Croagunk occasionally showing up when needed. They destroyed their opposition utterly,especially Recoome,who lived up to his reputation. And yes, I quoted Teamfourstar every chance I had.
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Dec 31, 2014 01:17
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I rolled with the Shinx-Vulpix dream team, myself. Aka Team Absolutely Freaking Adorable. not actual team name
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Dec 31, 2014 03:26
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I can't quite remember but I last rolled with a Torchic and Totodile team and we were Team Legion. We forced everyone into our giant military (okay dusty storage closet but it was big and full!) and conquered every dungeon in the game (except for a few post game ones which shall remain nameless). I was also rich enough to buy the entire guild. My empire was GLORIOUS! Then that loving gator stabbed me in the back..
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Dec 31, 2014 04:48
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mastersord posted:Then that loving gator stabbed me in the back.. That would be why you always bribe your minions with As for my own teams, I rolled a Chikorita/Pikachu combo in Sky, better known as "this game wasn't easy enough for you?" mode. Between Chiko getting status-healing through Aromatherapy and Pikachu getting room-clearing through Discharge, there wasn't much of anything that posed a threat. In addition, Chikorita gets what I feel is one of the more useful IQ skill sets. Then, in Gates to Infinity, I went with a Snivy/Oshawott combo, better known as "wow you must hate yourself". If it weren't for an early Swords Dance TM, I would've ragequit on that game so quickly after that.
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Dec 31, 2014 07:01
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I played through this version blind on a friend's recommendation and ended up with Shinx and Piplup. I don't remember what the team name was, but I do remember having Discharge, which is amazingly good.
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Dec 31, 2014 12:07
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I don't remember which one I have, honestly. I'd played a bit of the GBA one way back, and wanted to try one of the newer ones. I went with a Phanpy with an Eevee partner, though. Named both of them after my wife and I. The last time I ever even looked at the game was in the hospital room over 3 years ago, waiting for her to give birth, and named the last one that joined my team after my son. Then once he was born, I just... I dunno how to explain it, it just felt WRONG to play it afterward, like I wanted that moment frozen in video game time? Maybe I'll drag it back out and hope it works when he gets old enough.
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Dec 31, 2014 12:14
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I think I got through the game with a Shinx and a Torchic, mostly by spamming Charge + Discharge. Aside from sounding very logical, it just murdered everything without a Ground type or Lightningrod.
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Dec 31, 2014 12:38
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My first game was Blue, and I believe I was a Cyndaquil and my partner was a Squirtle. A good combo, but awkward at times with what bosses the game threw at you. First time I played this I believe the combo was Riolu for me and Phanpy for my partner. Never got too far into that one though
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Dec 31, 2014 15:48
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Skitty always in R/B, since her Attract/Cute Charm made her literally untouchable. Variable partners, rolled Eevee/Shinx in T/S/S with Riolu/Vulpix/Piplup partners. The newest one I'm an Axew with Pikachu, and Axew is almost as broken as Skitty was with Dragon Dance.
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Jan 4, 2015 22:59
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Chapter 5: The First Official Exploration (Part 2)  Last time, Michael and Babar found a super-secret undiscovered dungeon behind a waterfall.  But before we loot the place, the Recruitment Search option under Others in the menu is now useful. From now on, we'll be able to recruit Pokemon from most dungeons. Drenched Bluff's and Mt. Bristle's Pokemon are also now up for recruitment, as well. You can't recruit anyone from Beach Cave... not directly, anyway.  Surskit's annoying. It can attack from a distance with Quick Attack, or with Bubble, which fires in a straight line.  Michael kills it as usual. The Surskit blinks, but doesn't vanish.  With its last shreds of life, it begs for mercy.  Michael bestows it, but at a price.  Indentured servitude. Based on your level, certain hold items, and a certain IQ ability, recruitable Pokemon have a set percentage to ask to join your team upon defeat. The team leader has to deal the final blow, however, and has to be on one of the eight adjacent tiles. The chance to recruit starts low, but goes up as you hit certain level thresholds. Some Pokemon, particularly evolved forms, have a base recruit chance in the negatives, and require a high level plus some items to make them recruitable.  At least now we have those annoying moves on our side. Let's see what kind of stats Sk8r's bringing to the table.  Oh Jesus.  Middling offenses for this point in the game, and wet paper bag defenses. Starting moveset isn't bad, though.  Even so, Sk8r will probably just slow us down, so back home he goes.  Unlike PMD Red and Blue, as soon as you recruit a Pokemon in a dungeon, they're considered full-fledged members of your team. You can send weak newbies back right away to keep enemies from picking them off. And even if they die before then, they'll still get sent home.  Next, Michael meets some kind of nasty flying sausage.  Maybe he'll be better than the pond skater bug.  You poor fool.  Fish-wurst comes with four moves. Water and Mud Sport aren't that useful, but Mud-Slap and Water Gun nicely cover both of Barboach's STABs. Plus, they can be shot around corners, and Mud-Slap always lowers the enemy's accuracy if it hits. Let's check his...   Goddammit. To the bench!  Let's try this one more time. Poliwag seems like a safe bet.  It's a plain Water-type that gets some stat-inducing moves. Also, it has a branching final evolution: Huge Tadpole or Actual Frog.  But you know what? gently caress recruiting.  Everyone on this list is going to have terrible stats. They can be raised to an acceptable level with some effort, sure, especially in Explorers of Sky. But starters aside, most Pokemon recruited from dungeons will be weaker than Michael and Babar, even if they're evolved. I have a different plan for expanding Team America, which I'll explain in-depth once I can do it.  Waterfall Cave is an excellent place to stock up on gummis.  Go away.  No, seriously. Tangela's base recruit chance is about 12%, which is pretty dang high by PMD standards.  Team America has no need for a tea tray.  Oh good, a Max Elixir. We haven't had a chance to get a lot of these yet.  This should come in... wait.  Something seems off.  It's not completely useless... only it is, because we don't have a Linoone.   Anyway, Michael and Babar reach the end of the dungeon.  They peer around in wonderment at their very first mother lode.  Look at all the gems sparkling!   Wow! I've never seen a gem this huge! This is an incredible treasure!   Urrrrgh! Urrrrgh! Ugh...How the hell is he grabbing it? He's not even using his trunk.   Nope, it's not budging...  Can you give it a try, Michael?   (Woah! This is really stuck! It won't budge!)Says the kitten with the clawless nubs.  (Urrrrgh... ugh... Nope, no good...)  You goons really messed up on this team combination. Why did I let you vote on anything?   But we can't just give up. If we try hard enough, we'll probably get some kind of result! I'm going to give it another go, Michael!   (Hmm... It's not budging one bit...) (Huh? Oh no... It's happening again... It's...)  The mysterious figure from Michael's last vision enters the gem cavern.  They go for the giant gem, and something makes a click.  Then everything starts shaking.     Urrrrrrgh! Urrrrrrgh!   And it makes an ominous click.   (Aaaack! That's...) The shaking and rumbling begins. Babar stands there confused while Michael knows exactly what to expect. Huh? What's going on?       They land with a splash.     You plopped down from nowhere! Oh, you startled everyone! This is the Hot Spring. H-Hot Spring?!   The Hot Spring works wonders on tired muscles and creaky joints. Many Pokemon visit here. Tell me, youngster, have you a map? Map? Oh, if you mean our Wonder Map, yes, we have one. Unfold it for me. There. We are here. This is the Hot Spring's location. Oh. I see. The waterfall is here, so... Hey! Check this out, Michael! The water carried us all the way over here. My goodness! It was the water that carried you all this way? What a long journey that must have been! Let the Hot Spring wash away your fatigue before you make your way home. Good idea. We'll do that. Thanks, everyone! And so, they chilled in the Hot Spring. By the way, that's the same Teddiursa, Ursaring, and Vigoroth seen around Treasure Town. Later, back at the guild...    Behind the waterfall, there is a cave. In the deepest part of the cave, there is a gigantic gem. When you pushed on the gem, it triggered a trap of some kind. And, surprisingly, you were flushed off to the distant Hot Spring? Is that the gist of your report? Yes. It's really disappointing that we couldn't bring the gem back...  This is a major discovery! Undoubtedly! ♪ After all, the presence of the cave behind the waterfall... No one knew about that before now! ♪ Oh, I see! We made a discovery!   (The shadow of that Pokemon I saw...) Who's that Pokemon? (I've seen that shape before... There's no mistaking it!) (That was... Wigglytuff!)   Huh? You're saying Wigglytuff may have been at that waterfall before?!  If that were so, the Guildmaster wouldn't have ordered you to investigate the place, right?  It's important to be honest.  I should be used to it by now... These apprentices are yet another strange crew, aren't they...? What was that, Chatot?   Please wait here. A few minutes pass.  When I asked the Guildmaster, he mulled it over for a bit. And then he said...   And then he said... And that's just what the Guildmaster said. I like to think Chatot mimics Wigglytuff's voice perfectly. To sum it up, it's just as Michael suspected... He has indeed already been to Waterfall Cave. Oh... OK. That's kind of disappointing... We really thought we'd discovered a new place. I wish Wigglytuff had told us right from the start... The Guildmaster can be rather, uh, erratic at times... Even I can't quite fathom what goes on in his head. Well, that's too bad for you. Nevertheless, I shall expect your best effort tomorrow! ♪ Urf...     (I should get to sleep early.)  Sure, there was that huge letdown... But it was our first exploration! I thought I was going to explode from excitement and anticipation the whole time. It made me realize I made the right decision in joining an exploration team. That's the dream I have. If it ever came true, I'd surely faint from sheer happiness!   (...!) I can explore because of you, Michael. Yes...Quick flashback to Michael daring Babar to jump through a waterfall. What a pal she is. I'm the biggest chicken around, and even I managed to work up the courage! And it was all because you were with me, Michael. Seriously, Michael, thanks! ...Oh yeah! You know, I was thinking... I noticed something about your dizzy spells, Michael. You always seem to be touching something when they happen. (Come to think of it, Babar's right!) The first vision happened after Michael picked up Azurill's apple.  The next one was after Drowzee bumped into her.  Then after she investigated the waterfall face-first...  ...And after she tried to pull out the giant gem.   (It was always after touching something! That's when I got those dizzy spells!) (When I touch something, I see something connected to it... Right?) There's one more thing. When we rescued Azurill, you had a vision of the future... But this time, you saw Wigglytuff going into the cave, right? So that means... This time, you saw an event that occurred in the past. (Th-that's true!) In other words, Michael... If you touch something, you see its past or future. You must have that kind of special ability! This could be something totally incredible! You could use it in lots of ways! Not just for exploring, either! The ability could be useful for many things! It's fantastic, Michael! (W-well, yes! I guess that's true... But that doesn't mean I always get a vision every time I touch something... It would be useful if I could have visions when I wanted, but...)Too bad the plot controls Michael's powers.   The Guildmaster wants to see you right away. Guildmaster, I've brought you Team America.No response. Guildmaster... Guildmaster?  Your team went through a lot today! Yes, a lot-lot! But don't worry! I'm keeping watch on your activities! I should tell you why I called you here. We're planning to mount a full expedition soon! ♪  It's much harder than exploring our nearby area. That's why we need to prepare for the big trip properly. We carefully choose which guild members go on the expedition. Usually, we would never, ever consider rookies to be expedition members. That's why we're making a special exception this time! We decided to include you in the list of candidates for the expedition!  You haven't been chosen as expedition members yet. There is still time before we set out on the expedition. If you fail to do good work before then, you cannot expect to be selected for it. I'm sure you two can do it! Try hard!  My heart is pounding all of a sudden! Let's try our best and make sure we get picked for the expedition! Team America has a shiny new goal to aim for. Next time: A new chapter!
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Jan 12, 2015 09:33
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I suppose an expedition is just a 30-floor dungeon or something ludicrous like that.
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Jan 13, 2015 02:17
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Glazius posted:I suppose an expedition is just a 30-floor dungeon or something ludicrous like that.
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Jan 13, 2015 02:58
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I actually really like the expeditions for some reason. Really tedious, but lots of time with great characters. And Chatot.
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Jan 13, 2015 03:28
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How Ingratiating! posted:Based on your level, certain hold items, and a certain IQ ability, recruitable Pokemon have a set percentage to ask to join your team upon defeat. The team leader has to deal the final blow, however, and has to be on one of the eight adjacent tiles. The chance to recruit starts low, but goes up as you hit certain level thresholds. The hardest theoretically possible recruitment chance is at -49.5%, a number held by one pokémon and one pokémon alone: Kecleon. You need to be L100, have one of those aforementioned "certain hold items", and have that certain IQ ability (which locks you into a very very narrow IQ group that only one starter pokemon has, so your team leader has to be either Chikorita or a non-starter)... and after all those boosts, you still have a .5% chance of recruiting it. So a 1/200 chance. Why? Because this is a roguelike, and Kecleon is a shopkeeper. Roguelike shopkeepers have a nearly-memetic tendency to be nigh-invulnerable badasses, and Kecleon is no different.
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Jan 13, 2015 05:30
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So, I've been pretty busy with other things, but I still intend to continue this. Just bumping this up before it gets sucked into the archive. The next chapter of Baby Elephant and Kitten will begin... sometime this week.
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Mar 11, 2015 06:19
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Chapter 6: Team Skull (Part 1)  There are many aspects of that lake that remain mysterious. We hope to unravel those mysteries. And so, our guild is planning to mount an expedition for the first time in a while. ♪(Read the rest here.)
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Mar 15, 2015 01:57
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The naďvété of your partner re: Team Skull is a bit irritating. These are two clowns who you have no reason to trust whatsoever, yet they spill the beans on important Guild secrets! Also, they should have kept the fart joke in the localization. You know everyone who plays this is thinking it anyway!
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Mar 15, 2015 21:57
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Silver Falcon posted:The naďvété of your partner re: Team Skull is a bit irritating. These are two clowns who you have no reason to trust whatsoever, yet they spill the beans on important Guild secrets! Also, they should have kept the fart joke in the localization. You know everyone who plays this is thinking it anyway! The expedition's not exactly a secret. Treasure Town's excited about it, too.
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Mar 15, 2015 22:00
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If evil, bullying assholes like Team Skull can be an official team, what's the point of having a guard underneath the entrance to begin with? The people you don't want around can just sign up to be 'part of the family' with no opposition at all.
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Mar 15, 2015 22:16
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Raitzeno posted:If evil, bullying assholes like Team Skull can be an official team, what's the point of having a guard underneath the entrance to begin with? The people you don't want around can just sign up to be 'part of the family' with no opposition at all. Wigglytuff and his guildies must feel awfully secure, I guess.  And even then, this world has an established police force (Magnezone and the Magnemite cops), and nobody locks the doors. Or has much in the way of doors.
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Mar 16, 2015 01:33
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If I recall correctly, this is the point where everyone starts to really loving hate Chatot. Also, play this whenever Team Skull shows up.
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Mar 16, 2015 01:41
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Funky Valentine posted:If I recall correctly, this is the point where everyone starts to really loving hate Chatot. Justifiably, but he gets better. And gently caress you kindly, that fits far too well with those bumbling dopes.
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Mar 16, 2015 01:50
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Roro posted:Justifiably, but he gets better. Some people never get over Chatot. But I like Chapter 6 for probably the exact same reasons people hate it. This should add some fun to the next updates. 
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Mar 16, 2015 02:33
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Roro posted:Justifiably, but he gets better. He does but that doesn't end my frustration with him every time I replay this game. 
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Mar 16, 2015 03:41
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Chapter 6: Team Skull (Part 2) Before we head out on our outlaw missions, let's check up on the rest of Treasure Town.   Who would go around stealing them? I've heard that the Time Gear of Treeshroud Forest was stolen. Because of that, time has stopped in Treeshroud Forest... There's been so much horrible news lately. It's discouraging.(Read the rest here.)
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Mar 18, 2015 02:26
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Really, disproportionate RPG awards are a real and serious thing. Why not give you a pile of Oran berries? Seems like a bunch of healing items you can convert into stat-ups would be an excellent thing to give for grunt-work.
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Mar 18, 2015 13:50
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Really, disproportionate RPG awards are a real and serious thing. Why not give you a pile of Oran berries? Seems like a bunch of healing items you can convert into stat-ups would be an excellent thing to give for grunt-work. While you can spam the drink stand with stuff like berries and apples, hoping to get a random stat-up to trigger, the tedium isn't worth it. Maybe other players do that, I don't know. The point in my life where I would have is long past. That's why it's best to stick with drinks made from gummis, vitamins, and other items that will give you an increase of some sort no matter what. Honestly, if I got a bunch of Oran Berries? Recycle Shop.
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Mar 18, 2015 15:48
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That is an amazingly convenient cafe. Even better than eating the gummis in all regards?
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Mar 22, 2015 21:44
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Glazius posted:That is an amazingly convenient cafe. Even better than eating the gummis in all regards? Every last regard. The only reason to eat a gummi straight now is if you need to avoid starvation. Spinda's cafe is also the entirety of the reason why Explorers of Sky is the easiest game in the series by a country mile. Who cares about efficient play or type advantages when you can just stat boost your way into nigh godhood?
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Mar 22, 2015 21:49
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KataraniSword posted:Spinda's cafe is also the entirety of the reason why Explorers of Sky is the easiest game in the series by a country mile. Who cares about efficient play or type advantages when you can just stat boost your way into nigh godhood? Up to a certain point I'd agree. I feel as if the game's difficulty spikes pretty hard later on, but for most of the main story you shouldn't have any problem. I only have memories of horribly timed monster houses and room attacks that very suddenly cut my runs through the last few dungeons short because my partner was weak to one of them. The postgame doesn't really let up from there, but that's almost to be expected, so I'm not sure if it counts. Overall, I found Gates to Infinity on the whole easier for all the changes it did from the previous games, though dumping a legendary Pokemon into your lap for free early on might have affected my opinion of that. At least as far as the main story is concerned, anyway. Nothing is more broken than Spinda's Cafe and you have an abundance of tools to abuse it by postgame.
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Mar 24, 2015 06:49
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How did I not find this thread until now? Explorers of Sky is one of my favorite games in the entire pokemon series, though the uselessness of recruiting got annoying, especially because even if you recruit pokemon, they can't be used in most story dungeons, because "you can't take those suckers along! They're not an official part of the team!". At least Red/Blue gave you a good reason why your characters couldn't take along their recruits during the escape, and allowed you to take along whoever during most other story segments iirc. By the time you can freely use your recruits, it's pretty much post-game and they will all be too weak to do anything. Gates did this right by giving everyone exp, even the ones not in your team. Nothing like deciding to take along that Gothita you recruited and forgot about and seeing it evolve into Gothitelle after one step.
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May 3, 2015 11:08
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What time is it? You think I wear a watch?! It's update time! Chapter 6: Team Skull (Part 3)  Let me introduce our new allies. ♪  Golly, I wonder what kinds of Pokemon they are?(Read the rest here.)
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May 7, 2015 03:32
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Team Slacker is still the best. No horrible smell can make them less motivated than they already are! They've reached the peak of not caring, and it is wonderful. An example to follow. I learned to love Monster Houses thanks to Foe-Hold Orbs. Paralyzing everything around means that they go from certain death to just all the goddamn exp and it is wonderful. I used Vaccuum-Cut to hit everything I could at once to make it even better. All of that said, ugh, this part annoys me. These guys are blatantly evil, why the hell are Chatot and Wigglytuff not seeing this?! The entire guild sees it!
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May 7, 2015 05:11
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Wigglytuff is done with running the guild and leaves it to Chatot, spending his days eating poffins and saying YOOOOOMP TAH to the TV until a crisis arises and he sets out on a crusade to kick rear end. The Robert Baratheon of Pokemon.
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May 7, 2015 05:57
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As long as you don't spawn in one, Monster Houses are easy to cheese even without the use of items.
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May 7, 2015 20:52
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Monster houses are legit terrifying in harder Chunsoft mystery dungeon games, like Shiren the Wanderer. In the version I played, the monsters were already waiting inside the room, and they didn't give you a free turn to act first. They'll just gang up on you right away.Blaze Dragon posted:All of that said, ugh, this part annoys me. These guys are blatantly evil, why the hell are Chatot and Wigglytuff not seeing this?! The entire guild sees it!
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May 8, 2015 00:09
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Monster Houses were also very fun in Red/Blue Rescue Team, where you'd spend ages trying to find a specific recruit with a low recruitment rate, finally recruit him and then suddenly start in a Monster House so that he gets ganged up on and die. Lots of work wasted because of spiteful RNG. I once had a Seedot recruited, got in a Monster House, and the Seedot used Nature Power... which turned into Earthquake. Cue every enemy in the room fainting. That Seedot stuck around for a while after that.  Also, Team Skull is annoying because you know you could beat their faces if the game'd let you fight them but it won't.
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May 8, 2015 17:41
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Team Skull will get their comeuppance eventually, but that's a long ways away. They're total dicks and they won't hesitate to let you know it every time a cutscene involves them. There's still a lot of game left and a lot of Team Skull dickery. This does mark that we're getting close to quite an...interesting dungeon. On one hand, you have the potential to recruit a mon that's crazy useful for capturing Outlaws and neutering Monster Houses (If your starter/partner struggle with that sort of thing), but on the other hand, it serves to cement just how dickish Team Skull is. It's also a low point for another character, but we'll get to that when we get to that.
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May 8, 2015 19:28
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Relevant to Team Skull talk:
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May 9, 2015 00:35
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 06:21 |
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How Ingratiating! posted:Relevant to Team Skull talk: That's what I my team was for my playthrough so that is exactly my feelings for Team Skull
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May 9, 2015 06:17
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