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Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Part 6: Seeing Slateport

Route 109



It's beach combing time. There's a lot of stuff hidden in the sands and there's also a fair few trainers around, this game is packed with them!



We're going to get all the sand from the beach and make a big castle! And then we're going to be a king and queen. We'll let you be a servant.



I should've given Nobunaga the Soft Sand, but I completely forgot and shoved it in the PC. OH WELL.




A flower and a drunk challenge me to a battle.



Man, he's had too many shots shots shots shots.



What in the heck




When I learn how to swim, I think my POKEMON will become tougher.

I'm usually stronger than this! I'm just seasick as a dog! I'm a SAILOR, but...




In the best port was the best TRAINER...



We da best items



See, it's never that easy.






Did... did Marill need a previous form? Well it's here, it's cute as gently caress and it doesn't really, uh, do anything. I wonder why they decided to make it Normal instead of Water and screwed up its gender ratios, but anyway, baby Pokemon are always garbage and they're there for Egg moves and such. Well it gives Marill the exclusive moves of Splash and Charm. Er, it can get Refresh or Sing from Egg moves... at least it can actually use STAB Normal moves with Huge Power, but its movepool is so geared towards its eventual Water typing that I don't really know why they bothered.

Also why is its official artwork so sad? Sugimori why???



Neat. I could probably use Wargreymon super easily right now, since all of the Pokemon we're fighting against are pretty weak, but hey, why not use the Exp Share.




If you look at the beach from the sky, it looks like a big flower garden!

After I showed you my round inner tube too...



Alright, that's the beach cleaned up. I need a frickin drink.



I'm pretty hot.



Uh, maybe not that hot.



I'm all for hot battles though.



If one of my POKEMON knew the move for carrying me across water on its back, I could get rid of this inner tube.




Nobunaga getting levels while our other members don't. Goldeen can have the Water Veil ability, which prevents the user from being Burned, unless the Ability is replaced or removed. When it switches back in, it will be cured of Burn after its turn.



I prefer Lemonade myself, but I'm not too fussy.

"hotter TRAINER than me, matey!"


This buff sailor is pretty hot, not gonna lie.



Introducing the Gen 8 games Pokemon Hot and Cold.



I'm more than just satisfied! As thanks for showing me your hot streak, I want you to take these. It's half a dozen bottles of SODA POP!



Healing 60HP is pretty nice at this point in the game, but they'll become meh soon after the Super Potions, so you'll be shifting to Moomoo Milk like always. What's that? Moomoo Milk is postgame on wild Miltank in the Safari Zone? Well poo poo. Hyper Potions it is.

Slateport City




Slateport/Kaina City: The port where people and Pokemon cross paths with nature.
From slate and port, and kai (grey or sea) and kaina (arm).



Well that's never a good sign, but who cares about those guys. Let's go shopping.



Good stuff, some Great Balls, Super Potions, as well as Harbor Mail, which we will definitely get one of.



The Market has some cool wares, such as these Dolls. We'll get into this stuff later.



The Energy Guru, however, we won't bother with. The various drinks are still the same, giving 10EVs in their stat, until you get to 100.



You have to go for it a little harder. If you do, I'll give your POKEMON something nice.

This woman gives out a Ribbon when you show her a Pokemon that has 510EVs. Maybe if we were doing a solo run, but I'm not sure if Nobunaga will actually max out. Oh, Ribbons? We'll get to those.



One of our members will give it to you. Come back and show me if you get it. We'll accept you as a member and sell you good stuff in secrecy.

Excellent, finding the Black Market wasn't as tricky as I thought it would be.




To turn BERRIES into medicine, they must be crushed into powder. Did you know that? You seem to have an interest in BERRIES! I've got something good for someone like you.



The BERRY CRUSH machines are at the DIRECT CORNER upstairs. Did you know that? Could you make BERRY POWDER for me using those machines? I can make you all sorts of medicine if you bring me lots of BERRY POWDER.



Alright, Berry Crush. Hands up who actually played this with your friends. Put your hands down you liars, you didn't have friends who played Pokemon. Well, I didn't. Anyway, I'll talk about Berry Powder and Berry Crush and poo poo over here since I can barely be enthused to talk about it in a Side Notes.



Being the CHAIRMAN, I am naturally the most important! No one can best me when it comes to raising POKEMON. No one! Well, let me tell you about POKEMON CONTESTS. They're events where one can show off POKEMON for the world to see! However, they're held off in far-off towns, so I cannot participate often enough, That is why we gather here to show off our POKEMON, and have others show us theirs.

The POKEMON of a TRAINER who has entered a POKEMON CONTEST... that, I would like to see.

When we (eventually) go over Pokemon Contests, this guy will be pretty important. For now, what else is there?



If you treat your POKEMON with love and care, they'll love you back. When your POKEMON grow to love you, please come show me. ... Your POKEMON really adores you. For you, a most compassionate TRAINER, a gift from the FAN CLUB!



Neat. The Soothe Bell boosts happiness increases by 50%, but only the original value, not when boosted by the Luxury Ball. It's not too important, since there's only 1 friendship evolution to complete the Pokedex (Crobat), though Azurill is only Gen 3 Pokemon to evolve through happiness.



There are a few NPCs that interview you and will show up on tv later. It's fun, but nothing particularly interesting, so we'll be skipping these for the most part.



Since I can change nicknames through save editing, the Name Rater will not be appearing in this LP. Sorry Name Rater fans.



Let's see... um... I think it says something like "the life in the sea is endless." Yup, I'm pretty sure that's what it says.



Let's hope they find one by the time we reach the end of this LP, hoo boy. Right, let's deliver these goods.



Aaargh! I can't make heads or tails of this! Hm? Hi, I'm DOCK. CAPT.STERN commissioned me to design a ferry. Oh! That there... are they DEVON GOODS? But, hmm... this won't do... CAPT.STERN went off somewhere. He said he had some work to do. Could I get you to go find CAPT.STERN and deliver that to him?



He better be in here, I'm running out of patience with these goods.

Oceanic Museum



What a ripoff!



Me? I'm the TEAM AQUA member you thumped before, remember? Back in RUSTURF TUNNEL? Here, take this! You have to forgive me!



Hope I never see you again! Wahahaha!



Hmm, we could actually use Thief later, since we keep the items we steal. GF knows about this, so there are some weird items we can only get by stealing.



Ah! Those must be the parts I ordered from MR.STONE of DEVON. Thank you! That's great! We can prepare for our expedition now.



Wh-what? Who are you people?

We're TEAM AQUA! Our BOSS wants those parts! Shut your yap and fork them over!





Team Aqua's main Pokemon, shame it's a bit rubbish. A physical Water/Dark type makes me wonder why the hell the physical/special split took so long to happen, but it does learn an early Crunch and Water TMs are never a problem, but it'll be using its real bad Sp.Atk instead and that's not fun. Still, when it evolves, it'll become a meh 95 Sp.Atk instead and it will know a few physical attacks for coverage. It's won't be a bad mixed attacker, but that's not really what you're using it for. Oh well, could be worse.

Rough Skin is always something to keep in mind, as any contact move will reduce the attacker's health by 1/16th. Not as bad as Gen 4 on, but still annoying, so try and use a non-contact move if you can. Thankfully there are a few good moves that do just that, including most special moves.




Good job guys.

Now what? If we don't get the parts, we're in for it! Arrgh, I didn't count on being meddled with by some meddling kid!

"simps are held up by a mere child?"

We are TEAM AQUA, and we love the sea! And I am TEAM AQUA's leader, ARCHIE! What makes you interfere with us? ...no! You can't be! You're not one of TEAM MAGMA? Wait, that can't be right. You're not dressed for the part.

POKEMON, people... all life depends on the sea. So, TEAM AQUA is dedicated to the expansion of the sea. Don't you agree? What we are doing is a magnificent undertaking. Ah fine... you're still too young to understand our noble objective. But, I warn you, don't even consider interfering with our plans again. The consequences will cost you dearly! And don't you forget it!



Oh, yes, I almost forgot that you even brought the parts from DEVON!



We have to set out on our ocean-floor expedition really soon. Thanks again, but now I've got to go! Feel free to wander around and check out our facilities, though.

Slateport City



Have I not introduced myself to you? If not, my name's SCOTT. I just saw TEAM AQUA run away from here like they were stung. Let me guess... you drove them away? Hmm... maybe, just maybe, this TRAINER... all right! I think you're going to become a good friend. So, let's register each other in our POKENAVS.



What I'd like to do is tag along with you, but I do want to keep an eye on the talents of other people, too. So, I'll be off to roam other towns a bit more. Be seeing you, YUKI!



Until the day we meet again, Scott Person.



Yeah! That's a good idea! That's a really great idea! After all, a tough TRAINER is the perfect fit for the BATTLE TENT! Give it your best effort!



U-until the day we meet again, weird guy.

Battle Tent



So, Battle Tents, with all the Pokemon Contests moving to Lilycove City, there are now 3 vacant plots in Slateport, Verdanturf and Fallarbor which now have these Battle Tents. These are cool little things to do on the side, but they're definitely not a smaller part of a bigger, horrendous facility looming in the distance. Let's get to it!



And he wouldn't hear me out, like, hey! So, like, total bummer, man! Hey, like, you! Zip it, you know? Just, you know, take this!



Like, it won't let the other guy use the same move twice in a row, see? Hey, now, you listen here, like, I'm not laying a torment on you!

While the Contest Halls have moved, any non-Contest related items are still around to grab.



I am your guide to the Battle Swap Tournament. Would you like to take the Battle Swap challenge? Please step this way.



So these Battle Tents are all different and the Slateport site has you rent Pokemon instead of using your own. We will need to use our own in the other two though. Let's see what we got.





Well... so long as we have at least 3 Pokemon that aren't poo poo, we can make it work. I won't be going over any new Pokemon we see in these areas, since we could go through this place endlessly finding new stuff to use each time.



Let's fight some rational, normal trainers.

Trainer Battle




In these battle facilities, no one's normal. Not even us.



Fuckin murdered. All the Pokemon we fight are pretty random, with various sets and the like you'd expect in battle facilities. Shouldn't be too tough.



Though if things go south, we have our OH poo poo button.



awooooo to you too, or whatever.



Before starting the battle, would you like to swap a POKEMON? Right this way, please!



Uhhhhhh, maybe not. After finishing a battle you can swap one Pokemon for one that your opponent used, if you liked the look of it. I think my team is gonna be just fine for what we're gonna be facing.



Easy enough.



Holy poo poo why does that do so much? Oh yeah, I'm a fragile seagull.



Well let's nip that in the fuckin bud eh?



And that's fight 2.



So the trainers you'll fight have various phrases set by those you'd find in the easy chat system. Why yes, that could be hilarious, let's hope we see some good ones.



Haha, can't you see how good I am at this franchise in this facility? My years of playing these games were all for this!



Numel is having a party over here.



And there we go, hopefully all tough battles go thiis smoothly and easily. Hahahahahahaha...



I must also save your event results. In recognition of your 3-win streak, we award you this prize.



For beating 3 battles we get a prize. Nothing too crazy, but hey, it's neat, if nothing particularly out there.



Next time, it's on to the next city!

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Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

So I was going to move to my usual once a week update schedule, but I didn't have anything to really do today, so I'M HERE with a new update.

Also, submit 3 Pokemon we could obtain by level 30 to use in the other two Battle Tents, I'm not fussed what they are.

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
plusle and minun :getin:

Seriously though, Seviper for one; I'll let other people pick the others.

Radio Free Kobold
Aug 11, 2012

"Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."




Crosspeice posted:

So I was going to move to my usual once a week update schedule, but I didn't have anything to really do today, so I'M HERE with a new update.

Also, submit 3 Pokemon we could obtain by level 30 to use in the other two Battle Tents, I'm not fussed what they are.

Trapinch is okay, but more importantly evolves into Flygon who is cool and not at all outshone by Garchomp who doesn't exist yet.

Leraika posted:

plusle and minun :getin:

Seriously though, Seviper for one; I'll let other people pick the others.

It's a shame we're not doing ORAS because Zangoose and Seviper would be pretty fun to run. Zangoose's hidden ability is Toxic Boost, which gives it a 50% bonus to its physical attacks when it's poisoned. Give it a Toxic Orb to force it to be poisoned, then stack that with Normal-type STAB's 50% bonus, access to Swords Dance, and Facade's 140 base power when you have a status effect and Zangoose can be downright terrifying for the few turns you've got it on the field. Unless your opponent switches in a Ghost-type he can kiss at least one 'mon goodbye.

Radio Free Kobold fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Feb 20, 2018

BlackPersona
Oct 21, 2012


You should show off Shedinja, I don't remember it showing up in the main game otherwise.

Soup du Jour
Sep 8, 2011

I always knew I'd die with a headache.

I say Swellow, it’s a pretty neat bird.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Alright, I'll use Trapinch, Shedinja and Swellow. Cheers guys.

Radio Free Kobold
Aug 11, 2012

"Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."




Soup du Jour posted:

I say Swellow, it’s a pretty neat bird.

Swellow is also a pretty good birb. Good speed and decent attack to start, and it comes with Guts. Guts means it gains 50% attack when it's afflicted with a status condition and doesn't lose attack to Burn status. That means you can give that boy a flame orb (in Gen4 onwards) to forcibly burn him on the first turn and then just blast everything with Facade until you die.

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Soda Pop may be the least efficient drink, but I like that it gets a generation in the spotlight.

Epicmissingno
Jul 1, 2017

Thank gooness we all get along so well!
Here's something fun to do with Azurill: gender is derived from the personality value and gender ratio, so when Azurill evolves and changes its gender ratio it can sometimes switch from female to male. Oops! I think this was fixed in Gen 6 as a result of the Pokemon data structure changing significantly.

RocknRollaAyatollah
Nov 26, 2008

Lipstick Apathy

Epicmissingno posted:

Here's something fun to do with Azurill: gender is derived from the personality value and gender ratio, so when Azurill evolves and changes its gender ratio it can sometimes switch from female to male. Oops! I think this was fixed in Gen 6 as a result of the Pokemon data structure changing significantly.

I guess life finds a way.

Zuzie
Jun 30, 2005

I got this for a Ratatta on GTS.


Epicmissingno posted:

Here's something fun to do with Azurill: gender is derived from the personality value and gender ratio, so when Azurill evolves and changes its gender ratio it can sometimes switch from female to male. Oops! I think this was fixed in Gen 6 as a result of the Pokemon data structure changing significantly.

I think the reason for this is that they lifted game data from Cleffa to create Azurill, which resulted in having the same typing, same catch ratio and same gender ratio.

If that wasn't enough, the fact that its referred to as the "Polka-Dot Pokémon" despite the fact that it doesn't have polka-dots on its design is a translation error. In Japanese, polka-dots are called "Mizu-tama" or "water balls", which fits Azurill more.

BrightWing
Apr 27, 2012

Yes, he is quite mad.
Oh cool, never really used Shedninja myself, this will be neat.

looking forward to the next rival battle, it always gets me.

E: phone post

BrightWing fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Feb 20, 2018

Quantum Toast
Feb 13, 2012

BrightWing posted:

Oh cool, never really used shedding Shedninja myself, this will be neat.
I tried using a Shedinja in Alpha Sapphire, it was actually pretty good. Especially once I realised it was completely immune to about two-thirds of the legendaries in the game, and could learn False Swipe.

Quantum Toast fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Feb 20, 2018

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Part 7: Moving up to Mauville

Route 110



It's quite the road to the next city and we can't take the shortcut, so let's go running around in the grass and find some Pokemon.





So this sparky dog does two things: go real fast and hit hard with Electric attacks. Unfortunately, that's all it does. The only non-Electric special move it'll learn is Bite and then it's just physical moves the rest of the way. It's not the worst thing, its Attack isn't that awful, but it still sucks. It'll also have to rely on Spark for a little while, but thankfully the Thunderbolt TM isn't too late. Might be worth picking it up later when there's a lot of Water and Flying types around.

Static gives the user a 30% chance of paralysing the opponent if they use a contact move that affects all types. It's a super annoying ability, I hate it. It also gives a 50% chance of forcing an encounter with an Electric type. This is useful immediately to get the 2% electric rodent encounter of your version and is another way to quickly get a Magneton later, as well as guaranteeing a Pikachu in the Safari Zone. That's about it though, so only a couple uses.

There's also Lightningrod, which forces all Electric moves to redirect to the user and fail, though it does not redirect Electric Hidden Power and moves will not be redirected if another Pokemon is the center of attention. When first in the party, it causes more people registered in the Pokenav's Match Call to call more often. This doesn't increase the chances of a rematch, it just interrupts you more often and is super annoying.



Good boy.





Eh, it's alright. The cheerleading mice are best used together, obviously, but right now they work out just fine if you want to hit things hard with Electric moves. But like with Electrike, it doesn't do anything aside from that. Plusle is slightly stronger, while Minin is more specially defensive. Not that it matters since they fall over easily anyway, so I guess Plusle is the one to use? I dunno, I've never used these fuckin things. Seem alright, if completely outclassed by the endgame.

Minus and Plus are the same ability, so we'll go over them both. When they both enter battle (obviously in a Double Battle), the user's Special Attack is boosted by 50%. Pretty nice since there are a lot of double battles in this game, but that requires you using both Plusle and Minin. Ehhhhhhhhhh, maybe not. Even using one is pushing it.



We'll catch more of them later, but Plusle (like in Sapphire) is only a 2% encounter, so instead of running around for the next 30 minutes, let's explore the route!






So, uh, Plusle is slightly stronger than Minun, while being slightly more fragile. Does a lot of damage in a double battle, but it'll rely on Spark for quite some time until you use your only Thunderbolt TM on it. Wait that doesn't sound right, why would you do that? Ah whatever, it's cute, that's all I care about in regards to garbage competitive Pokemon.



Alright maybe I should start using Wargreymon.



That wasn't close to what I could do to show off my POKEMON. I'll have you as my captive audience as often as possible!



Rather than battling, perhaps I should show off my POKEMON at the FAN CLUB.

Okay, okay, you've done the best you could, my pretties.



Now what's this?

Trick House



...is that a bald guy under the table?




They call me... the TRICK MASTER! Wahahaha! Glad to meet you! You, you've come to challenge my TRICK HOUSE, haven't you? That's why you're here, isn't it? Yes, it is! Consider your challenge accepted! Enter through the scroll there, and let your challenge commence! I shall be waiting in the back!



Go into the basement of a crazy man's house? What could possibly go wrong?



Well there's other trapped children down here, so let's beat them up.



I think Wargreymon is gonna be fine.




I'm immediately tired of hacking and slashing. The Trick House's rooms are fun enough, only one got changed a fair bit from RS, which was also based on the only Gym that got properly changed from RS. We'll get to that later.



There's a few trainers dotted around that are usually unavoidable and the goal is to get to the scroll and then to the door.



You're strong! Just who are you?

It won't take very long for Wargreymon to catch up.



Alright, let's head to the exit.



There's usually an item or two in here, often mail, so into the trash it goes.




Normal types will do 1 damage against me until the end of time.



The lock clicked open!



It took me all night to plant all those trees... you’re almost my equal in greatness by one, two, three, four, five, six places! Fine! You have earned this reward!



I'll make new tricks to stump you, I will. You may mock me only when you're done. Come back for the next exciting installment!



Oh we'll be back.




It's cool we go around the back room and the main room, but I dunno if it's really necessary.



Mufufufu... If I may say so, it's brilliantly difficult, even for me! Hah? What?! Oh, it's you! I'm in the midst of devising new tricky challenges! It's not too much to ask for a bit more time for me to think, is it now? You wouldn't begrudge me that? Come back in a little while!

Route 103



Before we head up Route 110, we can head west onto Route 103, since there's a lot more to this route than the little dead end we've been on before.



Man gently caress Effect Spore.



You weren't led astray by our aroma... Aromatherapy is a form of mental healing that works with fragrances.



Not learning Iron Defense made me realise Wargreymon needs a Rock move. Unfortunately it's Rock Tomb and that's the only one it'll learn for the whole game. Man gently caress lovely movepools.



I will absolutely get a double battle if given the option. Doesn't mean I'll be able to get all the trainers to line up though.



Uh, okay, since Wargreymon just levelled up, it's Ranmaru going to 18. See, I got this.



Do you like cramped quarters like this?

I was playing my guitar where few people were around, but a lot of fans have gathered. Heh, maybe I should turn pro.




Some good booty, well, aside from the last item. Anyway, Charge has 20PP and doubles the user's next Electric move's damage. Hey, you'll get the same result by using that Electric attack twice, so, uh, never use this move. Sure damage variation might affect that, but better get a second chance for crits, or paralysis or what have you.



(AMY) I'm AMY. And this is my little sister LIV. We battle together!



Helping Hand has 20PP and +5 priority and boosts the base power of an ally's move by 50%. It's pretty nifty to get that important KO, but only has that one use.



(LIV) We work perfectly together, me and my big sister... but we still lost...

(AMY) Uh-oh, we lost. You have to think about all kinds of things when you're battling against two TRAINERS.




I think my Pokemon was more adorable.



My delightful POKEMON looks darling even when it's fainted!

"That's it! Battle me!"


With Wargreymon all caught up, we can start using everyone else now.



Alright let's just leave him to that and, uh, stare at this completely normal cliff wall.



Yep, completely normal.



The only use of Teleport in the entire LP. Now with all those distractions out of the way, let's finally head up Route 110.

Route 110



Ooh, another distraction.




Alright, what else can I distract myself with?



Hey, that's pretty good.



poo poo. I'm out of distractions. Here we go then.



So... how about a little battle?

Rival Battle



The third rival battle is kinda rude, since it's a bit of a level bump compared to everyone else nearby.



That's also rude, but we're fine. It's fine. I'm fine. We're fine.



The starter will gently caress you up though if you've just been using your starter. ESPECIALLY Marshtomp. However, if you use any other Pokemon against them, then their weak STAB moves really don't do a lot.



God guys, I dunno why you think this battle is so hard. Durrrrrrrrr (do not sleep on this rival fight holy poo poo).



The Slugma is not tough, but the Lombre or Wingull can be pretty nasty.



I think you deserve a reward! This is from me!



Try it out. If there is an item that's not visible, it emits a sound. Okay, YUKI, let's meet again! I know it's a little silly coming from me, but I think you should train a lot harder for the next time.



The rest of the rival battles are super fuckin easy, May/Brendan is talking poo poo.

Route 110



The Itemfinder is slightly better than before, it actually points you in the direction the item is, but it's limited to the compass points, so it's not hugely helpful. I'll just stick to using online lists.






What a rough Pokemon to use, Kappa. It should be fine, it learns all the important moves it should, it has a pretty nifty typing and it looks dopey as hell. Well, you need to give it all the TMs in the world, since it learns nothing good in its movepool until level 49. Mental. Also the Water Stone is just before the 7th Gym, so you'll be carrying its low stats around for a while. It is all worth it, but holy heck is it a pain. Catch it later if you must.



:getout:





On the flipside, Nuzleaf is slightly more usable since it can evolve before the 6th Gym. However its typing ain't that great and it also needs TMs to be fixed since it doesn't learn a STAB move until level 31. Its attacking stats are nearly equal, so it's not too screwed in using its STAB, but the only options it will get are Shadow Ball and Brick Break. Still perfectly usable, but man it needs some work. Again, catch it later for less of a headache.



I like collecting MATCH CALL registrations, too... When I see a POKEMON that I don't know, my passion as a COLLECTOR is ignited!

This isn't going to bring me down! Losing has made me a better man!



Very nice. There are very few Revives at the moment, so if one of your Pokemon faints, you're kinda just screwed.




Man there are a lot of double battles in this area. Good! I love em.



Hope you like Magnemite, there's a lot around these parts.



Falling... losing... this is so humiliating for me!

I see your future... hmm... I see a shining light...



Lots of trainers guarding items too. Still, least we got everything.



Hey, not my fault I couldn't talk to you on the side.





Look at this big sack of HP. There's a lot of Water types in Hoenn and since that's a good type with good TM availability, most of them are pretty alright, if not remarkable. And that's Wailmer alright, super fine. It's unique in that it has a monstrous HP stat, but those super low defenses balance it out. You'll get Surf when it should learn Water Pulse, so that's not a big deal, but it does learn Water Spout if you hold off evolution by 1 level, which is pretty amazing. Since its Attack stat is fine it can use Earthquake and Return just fine, since it doesn't have any other option.

Oblivious makes the user immune to infatuation. It's a super annoying, if rare, status effect, so it's alright, I guess. Water Veil is more useful though.



Freaking finally.





Why did Ralts take so long to evolve? Well anyway, it's a nice power boost, but there's not much different from Ralts, it hits fairly hard with Psychic attacks and does nothing else, aside from a couple of Electric attacks. For whatever reason, it can learn Magical Leaf through the move relearner in FRLG. Not in RSE, just FRLG. I don't get it. It's something cool, but it's not something I'll be using. Anyway, it's cool, but not particularly interesting.




I forgot to show Marhstomp's Pokedex entry, so here it is. Nanab Berries do, uh, nothing. Cool. Let's find some more Pokemon!





This cute little stomach is alright, its slow and tanky, but its perfectly usable. It starts off with Sludge very quickly and you'll pick up the Sludge Bomb TM before too long. Thankfully it learns loads of TMs, so it can easily be a mixed attacker. However, it's probably gonna take damage before it can do damage and with all the TMs it learns... is it really the best recipient for it? Well, it evolves early, so it might become pretty meh by the endgame, but it's nothing too special.

Liquid Ooze causes HP draining moves to damage the opponent with the amount they would've healed with. Pretty nasty, but that requires them using a HP draining move, which aren't too amazing at the moment. Sticky Hold, meanwhile, prevents your hold item from being removed by Thief, Covet, Trick or Knock Off. Pretty nice, but wild Pokemon can't steal your items permanently anyway. Still, out in the field, it makes bites occur more often while fishing, though it doesn't help with the tugging minigame.



What will they come up with next?



Here's a walking weed. It will eat up my precious evolution stones.



Alright, now to never think of these pom pom mice again. Onwards to Mauville!

Mauville City




Mauville City/Kinsetsu City: The bright and shiny city of fun!
From mauve, a light purple, and ville, and kin (violet), kinsetsu (nearby) and setsu (shine).



There's a fair amount to do in Mauville and we'll start with this funny looking chap in the corner.

"TRAINERS."

Will you hear my tale? But, I know of no legendary TRAINERS. Hence, I know no tales. Where does one find a TRAINER worthy of a legendary tale? Are you a TRAINER?



Used CUT 18 time(s)? That is indeed magnificent! It's the birth of a new legend!

"legends awaiting discovery?"

Alright, depending on what number your Trainer ID ends on depends on which old man you'll see in Mauville Pokemon Center. They all do stuff involving mixing records and I'll go into more detail about them at the end of the update.

"RYDEL'S CYCLES"

My soul needs shaking, so let's go.



Your RUNNING SHOES... they're awfully filthy. Did you come from far away? Hm, hm... you're saying you came all this way from LITTLEROOT? My goodness! That's ridiculously far! If you had one of my BIKES, you could go anywhere easily while feeling the gentle caress of the wind! I'll tell you what! I'll give you a BIKE! Oh, wait a second! I forgot to tell you that there are two kinds of BIKES! They are the MACH BIKE and the ACRO BIKE! The MACH BIKE is for cyclists who want to feel the wind with their bodies! And an ACRO BIKE is for those who prefer technical rides! I'm a real sweetheart, so you can have whichever one you like!



Pretty simple choice, the faster, better Mach Bike will be our choice the whole game, unless we need to use the Acro Bike to get to somewhere temporarily. That's it, there's no other reason to choose the Acro Bike, unless you like going slower for some reason?



Bike



Woohoo!



I hear people call me the ROCK SMASH GUY, but I find that sort of degrading. I think I deserve a bit more respect, like maybe the ROCK SMASH DUDE. Woohoo! Anyways, your POKEMON look pretty strong. I like that! Here, take this HIDDEN MACHINE!



If you come across large boulders that block your path... well, use that HM move and smash them right out of your way! Yes, sir! Smash rocks aside, I say! Woohoo!



After getting interviewed, it'll appear on TV, which is why it'll be flashing between screenshots. Again, it's fun, but I don't feel like transcribing the whole drat thing.



Nothing all that interesting, but always good to check!



I'd be able to buy HARBOR MAIL at the POKEMON MART in SLATEPORT... Oh! You have HARBOR MAIL? Will you trade it for a COIN CASE? Oh, I'm so happy! Okay, I'll trade you a COIN CASE!



Aww yeah, let's go gambling!



Hmm... Gym... or... Game Corner?

Game Corner



The choice was obvious.



Here, take some COINS! MAUVILLE has something for everyone. For me, it's the GAME CORNER.



Would you like one of them? Here you go!



We get a doll of our starter, very nice.



As always, we can buy coins, but we don't have the money for that, or ever will, since I'm gonna hack in the TM moves anyway without going through the whole buying them from here.



There is some real good stuff here. Well, there's no more Pokemon for sale, but those are some nice TMs. In order, we have Double Team, Psychic, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Only Flamethrower cannot be found anywhere else, which is a shame cause it's so expensive. Oh well. We don't need to get a Mudkip Doll, but the other two we will need to buy from here.



Slots time! It's pretty similar to previous games, insert coins, try to line stuff up and get annoyed when it literally stops just short. However, the number of coins determine which rows actually count. You should put all 3 in, cause you know what'll happen if you don't.



I've never gotten much at the slots, in the series, or in real life. Still, there's a bit more to do, which will be in the Side Notes.



There's also the Roulette table, which is exactly what you expect, either a 3 coin wager table, or a 1 coin.



Like the card game from Gen 2, you select either a row or column, or a single Pokemon to increase or decrease your odds and payout. Then the roulette spins aaaaaaaaand...



Yeah, nothing happens. Well that was fun.

Mauville City

"But he's become a bit too peppy..."

We can't be having that, let's fix this.



I want to challenge this GYM and see how much better I've become. Please? May I, please?

Now hold on, WALLY. Since you started living with POKEMON, you have grown quite a lot stronger. But don't you think you're pushing it to suddenly challenge a GYM?

I'm not pushing it. If I combine forces with RALTS, we can beat anyone! Oh! Hi, YUKI! I've gotten a lot stronger since we met. YUKI, I want you and my UNCLE to understand that. YUKI, please, will you have a battle with me? ... YUKI, thank you. Okay... here I come!



That's not gonna fly here, matey.



Get outta here.




It's not enough just to have POKEMON and make them battle. That isn't what being a real TRAINER is about.

WALLY, there's no need to be so down on yourself. Why, what's keeping you from becoming stronger and stronger? Come on, let's go home. Everyone's waiting for you.



YUKI, it just dawned on me that you must be the TRAINER who kept an eye out for WALLY when he caught his POKEMON. Why don't you visit us in VERDANTURF sometime? I'm sure WALLY would enjoy it.




But you didn't hold anything back and beat him impressively. Yeah! That's what a real POKEMON battle is all about! I idolize TRAINERS like that! ... I'll be cheering for you!



Well we need to get ready for the Gym that Wally would in no way have beaten like that.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Side Notes #05: Mauville's Sights: Old guys and gambling

Old guys

You ever wondered what these guys deal was? Well now you can find out and, spoilers, there's not much. There are five old guys that can appear in Mauville's Pokemon Center depending on the final digit of your Trainer ID. If it's 0-1 you get the Bard, 2-3 gets the Hipster, 4-5 gets the Trader, 6-7 gets the Storyteller and 8-9 gets Giddy. When you meet them you can have one interaction with them and can't do anything else until you mix records. From there, you get the guy that was in your friends' game, as well as getting another interaction with your guy. So yeah, one interaction is all we're gonna get then. Let's go over them.



The Bard will sing you a song consisting of six phrases from the easy chat system. He'll be dissatisfied with one of the phrases and let you change it. The noises he makes sound kinda like the words in his song. This song will be transferred to your friends' game. But yeah, he does nothing for you.



The Hipster will tell you a new "trendy word" that gets added to your easy chat list. There are 33 words he can give you, but you only get the one unless you mix records, where he'll give you another one. There's some fun phrases in it, but it's still whatever.



The Trader is maybe the best old guy, as he will give you one of four decorations (Duskull Doll, Ball Cushion, Tire, or Pretty Flowers) for one of your decorations. All of them can be obtained normally throughout the game by buying them, though the Tire is the rarest of them, being part of the Lilycove sale. Hey, at least you get something from it. When he goes to someone else's game, the item you traded that you traded him will be part of his offer.



The Storyteller will give random statistics of the player in all kinds of tasks, from number of battles, to number of ledge jumps, to how many times you've used the Cable Car. Seriously, the list is long and dumb. He will also list what your friends have done in that same story when you mix with them, as well as give you another of your statistics, up to four in total. Yup, also useless, if neat, I guess.



Giddy will tell you a "scintillating story" that consists of a bunch of yes or no questions that are about all kinds of random crap from the easy chat system. And that's it. So as you can see, you're really not missing much when it comes to these guys, thank god. However, Emerald introduced another group of people like this where you are missing a fair few things depending on who you get.

We'll get to them later.

Gambling

It won't be too long until PEGI shuts down all the Game Corners or turns all the Pokemon games into 12+ hellscapes, so let's see what crazy stuff can happen in this Game Corner. Well, we've got the Slots, as well as the Roulette. Let's start with the slots.




Oh hey, compared to previous ones, now there's twice the chance of getting a jackpot, with the both the blue and red 7s. You even get something if you line up a 7 but the last one is the wrong colour, as well as some guaranteed payouts if you get some ball cherry things. There are also replays, which give you a free spin, as well as the Power icon, which increases your chances of Reel Time.

Reel Time

When you get enough lightning bolts to go on the top of the machine, there's a chance Reel Time will happen, giving you a certain amount of spins where when you press A is the symbol it'll land on. It won't slip, or stop just before, you're able to actually time getting the big bonuses. Though no matter what, Reel Time will end when you get the big 300 bonus. So since you can get a max of 5 spins under Reel Time, the most you can get is 660 coins, which, uh, isn't a lot. It's faster to just buy coins at the end game instead of bothering with the slots, as always.



Now for the Roulette table, though there's not much to talk about here. Just select a row for 3x the payout, a column for 4x the payout or an individual Pokemon for 12x the payout. As more balls get dropped, the odds will change for the rows and columns depending on where things landed and balls stay on the roulette until 6 have been dropped, where it then resets. If a ball gets trapped between two others, then a Shroomish or Taillow will come get it out.

There is also a Game Corner Service Day, where payouts are doubled, so the 3 bet table for Roulette becomes a 6 bet table. The Service Day does not apply to the slots.

MissileWaster
Jul 2, 2007

Remember that one time you totally botched that snap?

BrightWing posted:

looking forward to the next rival battle, it always gets me.

In the original Sapphire back in the day, the first Pokemon I encountered after this rival battle was a Gulpin, which was also the first one I ever saw. My Marshtomp was knocking on death's door by that point after the battle, so I was running from all encounters and avoiding trainers to try and get to the Pokemon Center.

Oh, and did I mention that the Gulpin was shiny? It was shiny. But I didn't know that because I missed the shiny animation and it was the first one I ever encountered. I was really confused when I saw one later and it wasn't blue, I figured it was another Plusle and Minun situation or something for a while.

Glad to see you jumped right in to Emerald, Crosspeice! I've enjoyed all of your Pokemon LPs so far, and I'm definitely enjoying this one!

FractalSandwich
Apr 25, 2010
In Australian English, slot machines are called "pokies". I always thought it was sad that nobody else got to have that pun.

limeicebreakers
May 1, 2017

Ah, Minun. I used one through the entire game the first time I played Emerald. He ended up becoming my pinch hitter Pokemon! (Though that might be because he waa a solid 20 levels above everyone else in my party.)

Cythereal
Nov 8, 2009

I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.
Ah, Seedot/Nuzleaf/Shiftry. Another one of those critters with good stats, interesting typing, and a godawful movepool. And completely overshadowed by Cacnea/Cacturne later in the game.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

I used a Lombre in my AS run
It was regrettable. It just never felt like it could do ANYTHING at any stage of the game and that long evolution wait time was unbearable. Even after evolving it basically existed to take hits. Un-mega-evolved Sableye performed better for me, it was really depressing.

Also you call Sharpedo's 95 special attack kind of "meh" but I'd say its pretty solid overall? Certainly not something to rely on if you have a better stat to work with, but i'd call the 90-100 attack/special attack area very usable, even today. It's higher than Ludicolo's! :v:

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Ludicolo's true purpose is dancing to the rhythm of Miror B's theme music.

SonicRulez
Aug 6, 2013

GOTTA GO FIST
I'm glad Ranmaru finally evolved. It hurt to see it have less Special Attack than Wargreymon. I honestly forgot what it was like when Pokemon all had terrible movesets. I've been spoiled by Gen V and beyond.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
Even Gen 4 was better because the physical/special split helped a lot of dudes whose stats didn't cooperate with their types and movesets. The Dark and Ghost types were particularly hilarious because Dark used to be special and Ghost used to be physical, but after the split almost every Dark move was physical and almost every Ghost move was special.

ApeHawk
Jun 6, 2010

All the NPCs will look up and shout, "Do this quest!"
and I'll whisper, "Sure, why not."
Gen 4 is the best generation if only for the Special/Physical split.

It changed the game so much.

Montegoraon
Aug 22, 2013
In Pokemon Go, Nanab berries make a wild pokemon less likely to attack or to dodge. The animation implies that they do this by making them tipsy.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Haifisch posted:

Even Gen 4 was better because the physical/special split helped a lot of dudes whose stats didn't cooperate with their types and movesets. The Dark and Ghost types were particularly hilarious because Dark used to be special and Ghost used to be physical, but after the split almost every Dark move was physical and almost every Ghost move was special.

It also added some much needed tools like U-Turn, X-Scissor & Bug Buzz. Obvious boons for all bug types (where the best move is still just exclusive to heracross and the only notable new move is...Silver Wind.), but they got spread around so bug coverage could be like, a thing, you could use

Solumin
Jan 11, 2013
I think it was also responsible for the much needed decline of HMs. Gen 4 was absolutely spoiled with them, and over the following generations they became less important, all the way to Gen 7 where they've been replaced entirely.

Radio Free Kobold
Aug 11, 2012

"Federal regulations mandate that at least 30% of our content must promote Reptilian or Draconic culture. This is DJ Scratch N' Sniff with the latest mermaid screeching on KBLD..."




Yeah, Bug types have been really good lately. Between MurderMega Beedrill, Galvantula's excellent speed control (Sticky Web :swoon:), Araquanid's water coverage, Rhibombee's fairy coverage and Volcarona being fantastic, you can actually build a respectable Bug team.


Look at this thing. Look at it.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Steel types didn't really get going until gen 4 either, for that matter.
Mawile is the most dire example since it doesn't even get Metal Claw, and if you didn't get Metal Claw your options were either Steel Tail/Wingor nothing. Then gen 4 finally adds a general purpose move with Iron Head & Flash Cannon, priority, a speed gimmick, and some miscellaneous filler for early/mid game.

gen 4 was them going OH RIGHT we have other types that should probably want things to fill incredibly basic niches. The physical/special split was obviously the biggest thing from gen 4 but I think the expantion of usable moves for all sorts of types was just as big in terms of series impact. Gen 5 followed on that a little bit but not to the same extent. 6 & 7 barely introduce any new moves comparatively, Fairy aside, and they were usually gimmick moves that went to limited pokemon.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I appreciate the desire to incentivize people for connecting to each others' games, but it is kind of sad for people playing so much later in a game's lifetime.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender

Glazius posted:

I appreciate the desire to incentivize people for connecting to each others' games, but it is kind of sad for people playing so much later in a game's lifetime.
It's honestly a bit worse in the games released with WFC, because they were the first time a lot of people could use any multiplayer stuff at all. Remember, Gen 3 was still in the "you need a link cable or wireless dongle and a friend physically present in the same room" era. So stuff like berry crush and the record mixing guys were things a lot of players wouldn't see even when the games were recently released.

WFC shutting down stung a lot more for Gens 4 and 5, because the multiplayer features got to be more widely and creatively(ranging from stuff like the Coil Loop/Magnemite Coil to people figuring out how to basically hack the GTS to give you any Pokemon you wanted) used.

Of course, the other post-Wifi pain is when Gamefreak makes things local wireless only for no apparent reason. :v: They've gotten better about that since Gen 6, though.

Zuzie
Jun 30, 2005

I got this for a Ratatta on GTS.


It's a bit of a side effect of Nintendo's general idea of multiplayer: To them, multiplayer is having all the players physically present in the same room at the same time, and this is more easily achieved in densely populated areas. It's also not helpful that computer gaming wasn't as popular in Japan as in other places like North America and Korea, so internet connection wasn't seen as a big deal then.

General Revil
Sep 30, 2014

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Zuzie posted:

It's a bit of a side effect of Nintendo's general idea of multiplayer: To them, multiplayer is having all the players physically present in the same room at the same time, and this is more easily achieved in densely populated areas. It's also not helpful that computer gaming wasn't as popular in Japan as in other places like North America and Korea, so internet connection wasn't seen as a big deal then.

This is a nice thing to mention. It falls in along things other people have mentioned. While Nintendo may have an aversion to online multiplayer, Sony and Microsoft have an aversion to local multiplayer. Online multiplayer certainly gives you more options for play, but there's something that's much more fun about actually being in the same room as the person you're playing with.

magikid
Nov 4, 2006
Wielder of the Soup Spoon

General Revil posted:

This is a nice thing to mention. It falls in along things other people have mentioned. While Nintendo may have an aversion to online multiplayer, Sony and Microsoft have an aversion to local multiplayer. Online multiplayer certainly gives you more options for play, but there's something that's much more fun about actually being in the same room as the person you're playing with.

Or do both with a LAN party! Carry your massive tower computer into someone's basement, spend the first three hours getting everything set up right, then spend the last three hours watching videos because you're too tired to actually play anything anymore but don't want to give up and leave.

God drat the 2000s decade was stupid.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

I really hate the lack of the Phsyical/Special split in Gen 1-3 and I'm so happy this will be my last time dealing with this bullshit.

...wait, there's still the Gamecube games. Shiiiiiiiiit.

It'll also be a lot of fun going into the various multiplayers aspects of Gen 3 since I've done NONE of them, ever. It's so weird that despite playing this series for over 15 years, I've never known someone who actually played it to my extent. Which, uh, considering I do LPs for the internet, probably isn't surprising. Maybe when I do the Switch game you guys might be able to actually participate in the multiplayer aspects. Wouldn't that be craaaaaaaazy?

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Pokemon sells millions of copies but you are always just so happened to be in an area where exactly no one has played a pokemon game

Gen 3 even lets you do four way multiplayer! Something I refuse to believe anyone has ever done even at pokemon events

hopeandjoy
Nov 28, 2014



rannum posted:

Pokemon sells millions of copies but you are always just so happened to be in an area where exactly no one has played a pokemon game

Gen 3 even lets you do four way multiplayer! Something I refuse to believe anyone has ever done even at pokemon events

I was a child of Pokémon playing age during gen 3.

You may notice that this was right after the fad faded.

I was the only 6 year old playing Pokémon at my school, and also Pokémon was for babies. :(

Epicmissingno
Jul 1, 2017

Thank gooness we all get along so well!

rannum posted:

Gen 3 even lets you do four way multiplayer! Something I refuse to believe anyone has ever done even at pokemon events

I don't know about Gen 3's options, but I've definitely done it in Gen 6 with multi battles.

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Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:
You needed to either have 3 of the official nintendo branded link cables that let you do the 4 player, or one of the 3rd party ones that had four connectors. Also Pokemon was no longer cool enough to play in school during Gen 3.

Thankfully there's a handy chart that demonstrates the issue.

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