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Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

I had a Link Cable and I got to connect it to my friend's Link Cable.

That's as far as that went since we didn't have two more people to play with, but it made me feel that gimmick was worth it anyways.

I don't think I had a four person battle until gen 6, Wi-Fi helped a lot.

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FractalSandwich
Apr 25, 2010
Surprisingly, in retrospect, I did have someone to play with in primary school in gen 3. She was a much better and more serious player than me, but who's the one still talking about it on the internet 15 years later, huh?

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Part 8: Training to Wahahahah!

Route 118



Greetings friends, today we'll be exploring the routes around Mauville so we're perfectly prepared for the Gym. There's gonna be a lot of battling.






Ummmmm... hmmmmm... it's not that good. This is solely because of its movepool, since its stats are alright, but Grass types just have so little to work with, as the best move it'll have for a while is Magical Leaf or Giga Drain. Then it'll get Petal Dance at 49. Woo. It'll also need the Sludge Bomb TM since it'll know Poison Sting otherwise. Aside from Shadow Ball and Return, it doesn't learn anything else good, so, uh, its high Special Attack ain't gonna help it much. Otherwise, yeah, it really needed that evolution next gen.

Natural Cure heals the user of status conditions when they're swapped out of battle, even if it's been copied, but not if its been suppressed. In this gen, ending a battle does not trigger it. Poison Point is another frustrating contact ability that has a 30% chance of Poisoning the opponent. So yeah, try not to use too many contact moves against some Grass types.



Now, admittedly, with Nobunaga we could very easily smash through Mauville's Gym, but hey, we've got all these trainers around and it would be nice to use our other team members too.



Sniff... that odor--it's a POKENAV! We must register each other! Flowers, POKEMON... I love whatever smells nice. Stinky things... I'll pass.

Isn't it cool that I have a POKEMON battle team? You can copy me--I don't mind!



Lot of trainers on this small beach. I mean, that applies to the entire game, but whatever.




Ranmaru can now hit even harder! Though it is still just Confusion...

When I compose better melodies, you have to come listen, okay? An electric guitar doesn't always have to be noisy... it can be strummed to squeeze out this heart-stirring melody...



But for TRAINERS, the key ingredients are POKEMON and heart, of course!



Come to think of it, fishing is a battle between a FISHERMAN and a POKEMON.



Well that was fun, but there's still another dead end we can head to. North to Route 111!

Route 111



Spoilers, lots of trainers.



Ugh. Lots of status.

My pulse is still racing. You're one fabulous TRAINER.

When having a battle, I get a kick out of showing off my POKEMON. I bet everyone feels that way when they enter a battle!



Man, they're really pushing these Multi Battles.





Sup, you're a bit slow and a bit weak to Water and Ground, which is never nice. But since it has high mixed attacking stats, it can use both of its STABs pretty well. Ugh, if it actually got moves to use. For a while, you'll be stuck with Ember and Magnitude, which is definitely meh. Thankfully that changes when you evolve, getting Rock Slide immediately and then Earthquake shortly after. However, unless you get the Flamethrower TM, you'll be using Overheat, which isn't too bad, or waiting a while for Eruption. Otherwise, yeah, you're not doing much and being super weak to Water is a real bad idea in this game.



My stomach is grumbling! Maybe I can grill some BERRIES...

This road here... you have quite a ways to travel.



Okay that was kinda worth it.



Now we're gonna see what this house is about in a minute, but first...



What the heck is this place?

Trainer Hill



Has a Center and a Mart which is pretty neat, if not particularly useful right now.

"TRAINERS."


But yeah, there's not much here until later. Much later.

Route 111



I just wanted to tell you that my uncle bought me a POKENAV! Now I can get in touch with you anytime, YUKI!



Neat.



How's this? What do you say to taking on our family of four in a series of POKEMON battles?

Oh go on then.



It's gonna be a Winstrate royale.




All of them will have Oran Berries and hey, Ranmaru can become a set up sweeper! Eh, I don't use those moves often in single player.



You must be quite the TRAINER to beat my husband, though. It's my turn to battle now!




But I'm strong, too! Really! Honestly!



This stinks... ...snivel... Grandma!




Jesus, that's some power behind it. Pure, you would say.



It does come with consequences however.



Not too bad, but good practise for later.



But, I should tell you--my son is stronger than you. He even took the POKEMON LEAGUE challenge, I'll have you know.

Mommy is stronger than Daddy. I'm stronger than Mommy. And Grandma's stronger than me! But my big brother is even stronger than Grandma.

We use this MACHO BRACE to more effectively strengthen our POKEMON in training. Since you've beaten all of us here, I don't know if you need it, but we would like you to have our MACHO BRACE.



It's no question that you're strong. But, if you were battle to grandson, you'd end up crying in frustration. He's much stronger than any TRAINER our family know. He must be challenging the POKEMON LEAGUE CHAMPION by now. Knowing my grandson, he could be the CHAMPION already!

Man, wouldn't a Winstrate being the Champion be pretty crazy? I think the Champion is more fabulous than that though. Oh yeah, the Macho Brace doubles the EVs you get from battle, which also stacks with Pokerus, letting you get 4x the normal EVs, letting you get competitive Pokemon pretty quick if you know what you're doing. It does however halve your Speed, but is pretty nice.

Route 110



Our final destination before the Gym is the Cycling Road. It's gonna suck though.



I'll collide with as many people as I want if it means I can take their money.



Levitating would mean not having a bike and would be a lot more fun!



How about learning Rock Slide? No? Okay then...



You managed to win only because it was a wonder! Yes, a wonder! Don't think you can win all the time!



Wheeeeeeeeeee




You know, I like you! Let's have a rematch on CYCLING ROAD. I'm exhausted, so I need a break. It's important to get proper rest.



So here's a little reason why the Cycling Road sucks: in this game, the only Pokemon you'll fight are Level 16 Magnemite, Level 14 Magnemite and Level 6 Voltorb. Yeah, I don't get it, but it gets pretty boring pretty quick. Still, good practise for the Gym.




Even Steel types fall if you hit them with Confusion enough times.



Neat!



I'll keep chugging on without stressing. Give me a shout if you're up to it. There's no need to panic or stress. Take it easy. There's plenty of time.



Pretty cool that GF just put me into a game.




Hopefully we're getting to the end here.



Flat tires and brake problems can cause serious injury! Inspect your BIKE for problems!



Phew, made it. Took a while, but at least we're not being graded on it.



My word... your cycling skills border on terrifying. Most certainly, you need much more practise riding.



Well poo poo. When you ride the Cycling Road on the Mach Bike from Mauville to Slateport, you get graded on how many times you bumped into someone and how long you took. If you go flawlessly from one side to the other... well you can't, you need to slow down before the first moving trainer since you'll get right in his way if you go full speed. So either wait a few seconds before you go, or slow down. You don't get anything for it, but getting under ten seconds with no collisions can be a lot of fun. Anyway, Gym time!

Pokemon Gym



WATTSON, the LEADER of MAUVILLE GYM, uses ELECTRIC-type POKEMON. If you challenge him with WATER-type POKEMON, he'll zap them! Bzzt! And, he's put in switch-controlled doors all over his GYM! Eccentric! Hey, go for it!



Thankfully this Gym is not like the first Electric Gym in the series, it's actually ruthlessly simple.




POKEMON and rock, it's all about heart, woah-yeah!

I've heard that MAUVILLE was founded by WATTSON. He was a TRAINER long before we became TRAINERS. He must know all sorts of things!



Pressing the switches, uh, switches the electricity from blue to purple and to get through this Gym, you only need to press a single switch.



Alright, we can have Nobunaga take the back seat for the moment.



Well I know what's gonna happen next.



Drat. Oh well, I see another switch just ahead. But you can see the path you can take through the middle to reach this switch and head straight to the leader.






Another duo that's pretty rubbish, but it can at least do more than the cute mice things. While it only learns a Bug move through breeding (surprise, surprise) and will have to use Quick Attack forever, it has a stupidly big special movepool that has basically every move you can think of. So is it the best recipient of these TMs? Haha, no. But it's still fun to discover. Anyway, it's bad, don't use it, but you knew that already.



There's a Zigzagoon and Meditite in this Gym that know Electric moves and we really need more of that in the series. Just makes the Gyms more interesting, ESPECIALLY when the region doesn't offer much in that type. So yeah, Shock Wave has 60BP, 20PP and always bypasses accuracy checks.





Ah yet another Pokemon that doesn't even learn its STAB though level u- WHAAAAAAAA, it learns Signal Beam at level 25??? And what's that move it learns just before that, Tail Glow? Oh, it apparently boosts its Special Attack by 2 stages. That's, uh, really good. Well now it can use its alright special movepool... after a boost or two, you still need to take hits while you do that. So Thunderbolt, Water Pulse, Signal Beam and Tail Glow? Well it's something alright.

Illuminate does, uh, nothing in battle, but when first in the party, it increases the encounter rate by 100%, which is a lot. Swarm boosts Bug moves' base power by 50% when the Pokemon goes under 33% health. It also boosts the encounter rate by 100% as well as the frequency of Pokemon cries in the field.



WATTSON, our GYM LEADER, has been around for a long, long time. He was battling even before your daddy was born, that tough coot.

MAUVILLE GYM's WATTSON has a shiny forehead. It makes me happy!



We need to find that out for ourselves.



Oh? Now, what are you doing here? What's that? You say you've gotten past all my rigged doors? Wahahahah! Now, that is amusing! Then, I, WATTSON, the LEADER of MAUVILLE GYM, shall electrify you!

VS Gym Leader :siren: VS Leader Wattson :siren:




Wattson/Tessen: The cheerfully electrifying man!
From watt, a unit of power. How elementary. Also from tessen, the clematis flower, which also means steel wire.






So Wattson's party is so much better in Emerald, being the only leader to have their ace Pokemon changed between the versions. And, you know, actually give him Pokemon from Hoenn. Why ORAS used the first team, I'll never know. Anyway, I think it'll be close, But Wargreymon will pull this out.



Beautiful.



Ow. But also not a huge deal?



This is a bit annoying, but Ranmaru can clean up easily enough.



We will be using Nobunaga to get rid of Magneton, otherwise we'll have to plink away at it with Rock Smash and that's not fun.



Alright, final Pokemon!





Super sparky dog really just goes fast, hits hard and, uh, gets hit by an Earthquake and falls over. Ah well, it's gonna outspeed a huge amount of the game and Electric STAB will be super, super helpful past the midpoint. It will need the Thunderbolt TM, since it's gonna have Spark for quite a while and, uh, its only other special move will be Bite. So not too amazing, but its Attack isn't so completely dreadful that you can't use it. But come on, whenever you can't use your best stats to their greatest potential, then it really sucks. Looking at you, Carvanha. Anyway, it's a good boy that will do you well, if completely limited in what it does.



I think there's a bit of a power disparity here.



Thankfully the only thing Manectric can do against Ground types is boost its Attack and use Quick Attack, so get those Geodude primed.



I wasn't worried about this Gym in the slightest. No, the worries are still to come.

Pokemon Gym




And, it will make your POKEMON a little bit faster, too. Hmm... you should take this, too!



It's a trustworthy move that never misses! You can count on it! I swell with optimism, seeing a promising young TRAINER like you!




Alright, very nice, finally Ranmaru has a second move to use. How crazy. Anyway, we've still got one more route left to explore and there's only one direction left.

Route 117



Oh hey, it's the thing.



We've got some things to breed in this playthrough, but since Ditto isn't in the Hoenn Dex, we'll have to get a bit creative. However, we don't have anything to breed just yet, but we will soon.




POKEMON have to be strong, too? I'd like you to train me! I may have blown it... I might have dropped to last during that battle...



Wepear Berries! They do nothing...



(ANNA) I'm with my pretty junior student partner. I have to do good!



(ANNA) I'm with my pretty junior student partner! Let me win!



Oh yeah, for double battle trainers, only one of them will offer the Pokenav register, so I'm not missing dialogue! Perish the thought.



(ANNA) I'd say you're second only to us!



Ugh, breeders.



I'm going to redouble my training. Would you come look in on us? POKEMON isn't all about power. Polishing a unique aspect of one's character is another way of enjoying POKEMON.



Battling a 6 Pokemon trainer is boring and I'm glad there are less of them as the games go on, so let's do something exciting by finding Pokemon!



Annoyingly only have one page for the Pokedex does mean it's no longer a neat four image square and instead three images that gets moved down. It's just too small a space to work with, gah! Or maybe I should just get a wider screen...



Volbeat is a 2% encounter on this route for whatever reason. I wish instead of copying one game's percentages, they instead mixed it and made it more even.




Neat, that's everything! Roselia cannot be found in Emerald, so I had to hack it in, what a surprise.




Training is meaningful only if you keep it up regularly. Okay! I'll resume my training! Tomorrow!



Man, so many trainers. However, unlike Gen 1's level curve inflation of stuffing 20 trainers in a small space, Emerald does try and make it more natural. It kinda works.



We'll pick these two.



It feels wonderful to go for a jog while looking at flowers.

I think if you worry about losing, you're more likely to lose.



Oh yeah?




I think I've got a pretty good Psychic type.



Good, we still need more of these since they refuse to be sold in shops for some reason. Seriously, fainting is such an inconvenience before Revives.






Usable movepool! Awful attacking stats! poo poo. With Confusion when it evolves, Psybeam later, then Silver Wind(!) at level 34, you could actually say it's something good. It even learns Sludge Bomb through TM, hot drat! With mixed attacking stats, it can get Shadow Ball and Psychic and actually be a threat... if they were above 50. However, they're not, so it can take some special moves (not Fire or Psychic) and that's about it. What a shame. Now gently caress off.





A pretty cool Special Attack with, uh, no special STAB. And the strongest special move it learns is Mega Drain until level 38... then it's Giga Drain. poo poo. Thankfully, it has a usable Attack (ugh) and still learns Silver Wind, as well as similar TMs to Dustox, so Psychic and Shadow Ball are usable. It can at least learn Aerial Ace, which is a nice surprise for the early bug. But yeaaaaaaaaah, it's got a lot of weaknesses and is pretty fragile, so it'll hit hard... eventually, but boy is it a time getting it there.



Still, I am an expert of BUG POKEMON, so it's only natural that they call me a BUG MANIAC.



Ah geez another one.



Well it's experience I suppose, but no new Pokemon. Sheesh!



Okay, is that every trainer in this update? I think so. Alright, good job team.



Let's get some booty.



And next time, where's Wally?

Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Mar 7, 2018

Kikas
Oct 30, 2012

Having a normal one

AGDQ 2018 Awful Block Survivor

Having played ORAS extensively and enjoying all the small improvements to movement (like the switchable on-the-fly bike), I gotta say:



gently caress THESE TWO ROCKS

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!

Crosspeice posted:

MAUVILLE GYM's WATTSON has a shiny forehead. It makes me happy!

CzarChasm
Mar 14, 2009

I don't like it when you're watching me eat.

I just realized, he's a Voltorb.

Thadius
Apr 2, 2010

ANGER HAS NEVER BEEN MORE MANLY THAN THIS
For some reason, I always seemed to have trouble against Wattson in Emerald. I dunno why. Not in Omega Ruby, just Emerald. It's the darndest thing. I have vague memories of taking a Combusken against his gym and getting owned, then going back to the Pokecenter after every trainer match to make sure I was healed. But I cannot for the life of me recall why I had trouble against him. Glad to see you didn't.

Rabbi Raccoon
Mar 31, 2009

I stabbed you dude!

Thadius posted:

For some reason, I always seemed to have trouble against Wattson in Emerald. I dunno why. Not in Omega Ruby, just Emerald. It's the darndest thing. I have vague memories of taking a Combusken against his gym and getting owned, then going back to the Pokecenter after every trainer match to make sure I was healed. But I cannot for the life of me recall why I had trouble against him. Glad to see you didn't.

Electric gyms are weird because just by nature of being electric, they have to walk the normal boss battle/this is bullshit line the rest do, but their line is a lot thinner. Electric only has one normal weakness, and ground types are usually risky to carry around because water and grass attacks tend to be really common in trainer battles. Throw in the fact that water and flying are very common types to have, especially for the average and/or new player, and you could quickly find yourself getting crushed (Lieutenant Surge comes to mind, back when I was but a wee Rabbi). but on the opposite end of the spectrum, non-evolved electric pokemon tend to be fragile as hell and will fall over no matter what you hit them with. It's a tough thing to find a good balance in.

However, your Marshstomp can absolutely slaughter this gym and leave Wattson crying because Mudkip is hands down the best starter this time around.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

I love the entire mauville->verdanturf area. It's really good color palletes and spriteset and i like how full the route in particular is. One of my standout routes of the region.
I used a volbeat once and it was...surprisingly usable. Signal Beam running off its good attacking stat helped...I think I ran some weird Sub-Punc/Signal Beam/Moonlight set. You should probably mention its other big claim to fame: Tail Glow. It was the only attack that raised special attack 2 stages and even in gen 7 only 2 other pokemon get it AND it got a buff to raise 3 stages. Even Volbeat can use its special movepool with that.

Kikas posted:

Having played ORAS extensively and enjoying all the small improvements to movement (like the switchable on-the-fly bike), I gotta say:



gently caress THESE TWO ROCKS
It's even more baffling in ORAS because Mauville was the only city to get a top to bottom makeover but by god they were going to keep this specific thing the same.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

rannum posted:

I love the entire mauville->verdanturf area. It's really good color palletes and spriteset and i like how full the route in particular is. One of my standout routes of the region.
I used a volbeat once and it was...surprisingly usable. Signal Beam running off its good attacking stat helped...I think I ran some weird Sub-Punc/Signal Beam/Moonlight set. You should probably mention its other big claim to fame: Tail Glow. It was the only attack that raised special attack 2 stages and even in gen 7 only 2 other pokemon get it AND it got a buff to raise 3 stages. Even Volbeat can use its special movepool with that.

...huh, I completely overlooked that. I do have the movepools open when I'm writing it, but I somehow noticed Signal Beam without seeing the move right next to it. I'll edit it in, but it's a shame Volbeat got it instead of Illumise, since he completely outclasses her in both physical and special, though he only has Thunderbolt and Water Pulse to really abuse.

Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Feb 28, 2018

Kemix
Dec 1, 2013

Because change
You know, I miss game corners. They were a Frustrating Fun Time to waste your in game money on and it's not like it encouraged underage gambling or anything. But of course PEGI just had to get involved and, I mean GF TRIED in Gen 4 with Voltorb Flip...but it just didn't stick. Also I hate Voltorb Flip but it got me an early game dratini to run over things so I can't hate it THAT much.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Crosspeice posted:

...huh, I completely overlooked that. I do have the movepools open when I'm writing it, but I somehow noticed Signal Beam without seeing the move right next to it. I'll edit it in, but it's a shame Volbeat got it instead of Illumise, since he completely outclasses her in both physical and special, though he only has Thunderbolt and Water Pulse to really abuse.

Despite the TM movepool, I think Illumise was meant to be a support pokemon which....Volbeat also co-opted because in gen 5 they both got prankster and oh hey guess which one got the +3 special attack move to go with baton pass.

One more gee-whiz because I like the fireflies: Illumise eggs can produce Volbeat just like Nidoran-F can produce Nidoran-M. It's kind of interesting to think that had these two been conceptualized a little later, they probably would have been one pokemon like Mewostic was.

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Kemix posted:

You know, I miss game corners. They were a Frustrating Fun Time to waste your in game money on and it's not like it encouraged underage gambling or anything. But of course PEGI just had to get involved and, I mean GF TRIED in Gen 4 with Voltorb Flip...but it just didn't stick. Also I hate Voltorb Flip but it got me an early game dratini to run over things so I can't hate it THAT much.

Absolutely nothing of importance was lost with the Game Corner's removal from the series. Voltorb Flip was horrendous but it could've been saved by merely letting you buy coins, which it didn't, so it sucked even more.

Removing it all was for the best, really, now you can just get those items and Pokemon without needing to curse your luck or waste exceedingly high amounts of money.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

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



Taco Defender

Blaze Dragon posted:

Absolutely nothing of importance was lost with the Game Corner's removal from the series. Voltorb Flip was horrendous but it could've been saved by merely letting you buy coins, which it didn't, so it sucked even more.

Removing it all was for the best, really, now you can just get those items and Pokemon without needing to curse your luck or waste exceedingly high amounts of money.
I'd argue that they've been replaced in spirit by postgame battle facilities, which make you slowly grind out BP for hold items/TMs/sometimes other stuff. They still involve a lot of cursing your luck, but at least you don't have to pay money to use them. :v:

On that note, I miss them giving you goals other than BP prizes(and having more to do than generic Battle Tower-alikes) - but we'll get to that once we get to the Battle Frontier 100 updates from now.

BlazeEmblem
Jun 8, 2013

Uh oh. Do I use Ariadne thread or Goho-M?

I don't really understand why you guys liked the game corner, but hated Voltorb flip. It was easy to get coins from voltorb flip, but you had to rely on luck to get anything out of the slot machines.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

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



Taco Defender
Voltorb Flip's main problem was that you couldn't buy coins.

I never played the Game Corner games unless I was really bored - I just bought all the coins I needed for the prizes. Voltorb Flip made getting any prizes at all take ages in comparison.

Kemix
Dec 1, 2013

Because change

Haifisch posted:

I'd argue that they've been replaced in spirit by postgame battle facilities, which make you slowly grind out BP for hold items/TMs/sometimes other stuff. They still involve a lot of cursing your luck, but at least you don't have to pay money to use them. :v:

The cheating AI tells you to go die in a hole if you want those competitive hold items. It won't let anything go without driving you crazy first.

Like Clockwork
Feb 17, 2012

It's only the Final Battle once all the players are ready.

Voltorb Flip sucked because you were forced to play the game to get anything, not anything innate to the minigame (which I might have liked if it weren’t mandatory to get the coin mons). I spent way too drat long playing Voltorb Flip because I wanted my drat Dratini but couldn’t just buy coins for it. I’m glad the Game Corners got removed wholesale starting in gen 5, they weren’t very good to begin with.

And yeah, the Battle Tower-likes are the new time-wasting hellhole, except you can’t bypass those by being rich. gently caress the battle tree

Kikas
Oct 30, 2012

Having a normal one

AGDQ 2018 Awful Block Survivor

I maintain my opinion on the matter that Wonder Trade is the new Game Corner and it's actually better. The post-game battle facilities are something else entirely.

Paul.Power
Feb 7, 2009

The three roles of APCs:
Transports.
Supply trucks.
Distractions.

Rabbi Raccoon posted:

Electric gyms are weird because just by nature of being electric, they have to walk the normal boss battle/this is bullshit line the rest do, but their line is a lot thinner. Electric only has one normal weakness, and ground types are usually risky to carry around because water and grass attacks tend to be really common in trainer battles. Throw in the fact that water and flying are very common types to have, especially for the average and/or new player, and you could quickly find yourself getting crushed (Lieutenant Surge comes to mind, back when I was but a wee Rabbi). but on the opposite end of the spectrum, non-evolved electric pokemon tend to be fragile as hell and will fall over no matter what you hit them with. It's a tough thing to find a good balance in.

However, your Marshstomp can absolutely slaughter this gym and leave Wattson crying because Mudkip is hands down the best starter this time around.
Of note, I think the only ground types you have access to by this point (in ORAS certainly, dunno about Emerald) are Marshtomp, Geodude and Nincada, and Nincada doesn't stay a ground type when it evolves.

Kurieg
Jul 19, 2012

RIP Lutri: 5/19/20-4/2/20
:blizz::gamefreak:

Paul.Power posted:

Of note, I think the only ground types you have access to by this point (in ORAS certainly, dunno about Emerald) are Marshtomp, Geodude and Nincada, and Nincada doesn't stay a ground type when it evolves.

True enough, but the thing that shows up in your party once Nincada evolves won't have a problem with this place either.
Only the Voltorb has anything that can kill you.

Verant
Oct 20, 2012

Go on an adventure ordained by fate?
-->Okay.
-->Eh.
But you can bypass them by using Pokemon Bank! Shove a bunch of Pokemon in there and you'll be rolling in BP soon enough.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Part 9: Rock SMASHING

Verdanturf Town


Verdanturf Town: The windswept highlands with the sweet fragrance of grass.
Shidake Town: The highlands where the grass-scented wind blows.

From verdant and turf, and shi (lawn) and take (peak).



It's Verdanturf Town time and right away here's some Nest Balls. They're pretty good, increasing a Pokemon's catch rate by ((40 - Pokémon's level) ÷ 10), so a max of x3.8 for a level 2 Pokemon, but they don't affect Pokemon at level 30 and on. Sure, we'll get a few. Fluffy Tails are also sold, which are basically Poke Dolls, but called Fluffy Tails.



Not too much in Verdanturf, there is a woman next to Wanda's house that tells you have much your Pokemon like you, but I can find that out easily enough otherwise.



This natural environment is doing wonders for WALLY's health. Maybe it's not just the environment. It could be POKEMON that are giving the boy hope.



Because I have a new purpose in life. Together with my RALTS, I'm going to challenge POKEMON GYMS and become a great TRAINER. Please watch me, YUKI. I'm going to be stronger than you. When I do, I'm going to challenge you to another battle.



Sure, Wally, sure. There's another Battle Tent here, instead of where you would go to actually participate in Contests for the first time. Hey, means I don't need to cover that until later!



It doesn't matter what the rules are, or how battles are waged, either. YUKI, I expect you to do the best you can! I visit here regularly in hopes of seeing tough TRAINERS in action in whatever the situation.



Oh, hi, you didn't see that, did you? Well, it doesn't matter. How would you like this TM for your POKEMON?



They battle exactly the way I want them to!



Alright, let's pretend we never saw that and head into Rusturf Tunnel from the other side. And then back out again!

Route 117



These the ones?



Hmm... there are BLACKGLASSES. They're not what I'm looking for... Maybe my glasses aren't around here...



Well sucks to be him I guess. Back to the tunnel!

Rusturf Tunnel



...do they not?




They halted development here to protect POKEMON, right? There's a feel-good story!



Oh hey, he's still digging.



He... he's not just digging the tunnel to come see me. He works his hands raw and rough for the benefit of everyone.




That HM contains STRENGTH. If a muscular POKEMON were to learn that, it would be able to move even large boulders.



That's... wonderful. Please, take some rest at my home.



I feel that was way too easy, but hey, now we've got a connection back to Rustboro!

Route 117



You're that person who not only helped me in PETALBURG WOODS, but also got back my stolen package and then even graciously delivered it to SLATEPORT! CAPT.STERN informed us that the package arrived, too! I thank you very, very much! Why, if I were a rain cloud, I would shower you with gratitude and hail you as a hero! For you, the most wonderful TRAINER, I bear good news! Recently, our company developed a new kind of POKEBALL. As a token of appreciation, this is our gift to our wonderful TRAINER!



Please do try it out! Thank you and bye-bye!



New balls are always good, now we're gonna start rolling in them.



Shame they're both a bit naff. The Repeat Ball is x3 on Pokemon you've already registered in your Pokedex, x1 otherwise. It's alright if you need to obtain more than one of a Pokemon for whatever reason. The Timer Ball can be great, being ((number of turns passed in battle + 10) ÷ 10), maxing out at x4 at 30 turns. It's the best Pokeball, but it can take a hell of a time getting to that point, the opponent might start struggling by turn 30, depending on their PP. However, past turn 5, they're better than Ultra Balls (barely) and beat out the second best ball, the Dive Ball, past turn 25.



Now we can move boulders! Once we have the badge... Also since we'll be evolving a Nincada sooner or later, we need to get another one for Compoundeyes related stuff, it'll be very important. I also got another Skitty.



I'm WALLY's cousin. Glad to meet you! I think WALLY's become a lot more lively and healthy since he came here.



Happy? You bet I am!



What a feel-good story. Let's ruin the good vibes by going to the Battle Tent.

Battle Tent



I asked for 3 random Pokemon to use in the tents and we have Trapinch, suggested by Radio Free Kobold. Its Attack is really high and that's dumb and amazing. Since I want to get these Battle Tents out of the way, I'll be going ridiculously overboard with items and movesets.



Then we have Swellow, by Soup du Jour, which will hit hard, but not as hard as Trapinch. You might think I'm crazy choosing Sky Attack, but it's the strongest Flying move Swellow learns, beating out two Wing Attacks by 10BP.



Finally we have a Shedinja, which is always a great choice, by BlackPersona. Sorry Leraika, maybe Seviper can be a Contest star. It can be a deadly setup sweeper, or it'll fall over immediately. Who knows? I wish I could've changed the OTs, but I need to import from a save to do that and I cba with that.



Here, the TRAINER's trust toward POKEMON is tested. Do you wish to take the VERDANTURF BATTLE TENT challenge? Good. Now, you must select your three POKEMON.




Alright, like the Slateport site, it's 3 on 3 battles, though this time we're using our own Pokemon. HOWEVER, there's quite the catch.



In this facility, you have no choice in what move your Pokemon uses. Why yes that sounds absolutely terrible and it's a good thing this is the only place this mechanic appears ahahahahahahahahahaha gently caress me.



So yeah, a Silver Wind would've obliterated this thing, but instead, depending on the Pokemon's nature, it has a chance of going for either an Attack, Defense (setup) or Support (status) move. Swords Dance is a Defense move, so Shedinja, with an Adamant nature, has a 38% chance of using an attacking move, or a 31% chance of a Defense or Support move. Now how would you know this? You don't, the game will never tell you the numbers, which is terrible.



So you might wonder what happens if the Pokemon rolls a move in a category it doesn't know. Well it doesn't do anything. Ain't it great? Thankfully the opponent is also under the same rules, but they don't seem hugely affected by it. With a Jolly nature, Swellow has a 35% chance of attacking, with a 5% chance of using a Defense move and a 60% chance of using a Support. I didn't bother looking at these charts beforehand, so this isn't the best team to bring in, but I don't care that much.



Thankfully for continuous moves, if you commit, you commit, you don't break something midway.



Now comes the fun stuff. When your Pokemon gets below half health, the percentages change! Now it has a 60% chance to use Defense moves and a 5% chance for Support moves. Usually two of the categories just switch percentages or one gets lowered and another gets boosted. It sucks if you don't have the right ability!



Standard battle facility bullshit applies, so it's up to you Trapinch!



Oh thank god. Using a Choice Band when you can't pick what move you'll lock yourself into is, uh, interesting. Thankfully, the Attack category encompasses all attacking moves, so if Trapinch hits the roll, she'll hit something really hard.



I'm so glad there's only 3 of these fuckin battles.



Agreed, let's get this over with and back to normalcy.



Annoying, but Goldeen has nothing to touch Shedinja. It's a super tricky Pokemon to use, but it can wall so many Pokemon it's kinda silly.



I think we're on a roll!



Mmm, beautiful. A weird move to be sure, but Barboach gets it as an egg move from Chinchou.



And I think we've got a sweep here folks.



Especially since we got to +6 inbetween all the knockouts. This system is dumb and I really hate it.



Truth, my brothers.



Alright good start.



Oh. poo poo. Wonder Guard is such a fickle guardian.



...are you loving kidding me? Literally anything else would've been better.



No that does not mean you can piss around, jesus.



Okay good, knock me out before Rollout gets out of control.



Nice one! Swellow knows what he's doing!



Oh good, that lasted five seconds.



Siiiiiiiigh



Alright, I think we've got this! C'mon Swellow...



Stop. Enough. PLEASE.



Oh thank god, let's get the hell out of here.



The bonds that bind your heart with your POKEMON seem firm and true. For the feat of your 3-win streak, we present you with this prize.



Well that wasn't really worth it, but there's only 1 more Battle Tent to go and then we're all done with battle facilities this game. Haha, yep. Totally. 100%.

"without changing direction?"

I might even be able to roll that way. Do you think your POKEMON will want to roll, too? I can teach one the move ROLLOUT if you'd like.



Oh yeah, I completely forgot that there are single use move tutors in this game scattered around the region. Thankfully they're mostly poo poo, so I don't feel bad about forgetting them. There was Swagger in Slateport and Fury Cutter in Verdanturf. Big fuckin woop. Maybe I'll cover them later if I remember.

Trick House



We will be moving onto the next town in a moment, but since we've got a new badge, we can go for the second Trick House challenge.



And you know how this conversation goes. Through the scroll!



We've got to find switches to cover holes, so a regular Monday for me.




The trainers aren't at the levels of post-Maville Gym though.



I only needed Harbor Mail once, so into the trash it goes.



Well isn't this fun?




Please don't use this puzzle base.



None, they're all closed. Let me go!




Done



Hmm... you're sharp! It took me all night to make the maze... You're almost equal in greatness by one, two, three, four, five places! Fine! You have earned this reward!



Alright, we'll be back after the next, uh, two badges.



Last thing is getting a few evolutions. Nothing too crazy, I want to see a good chunk of mons before we get them and there's not a huge amount we need to evolve so we can see them.






Okay, I'll keep on top of it this time, honest.

Route 111



In the sea we can find Tentacool, but in the lakes we can find Goldeen.



Nest Balls make it a snap.



Away with you, dreaded rocks!



(TY) Hey, lookie here! A tough-looking TRAINER here, of all places! Camera's rolling!



(TY) You're a natural! Got me some prime footage right here!



I knew we were onto something wild when we spotted you! Oh, please let me explain. We travel around everywhere interviewing all sorts of TRAINERS. So, would you give us a bit of your time for an interview? You will? Thank you! Okay, I need you to describe your feelings about our battle, but it has to be short and sweet. Go!



I get the feeling that this will make a great TV show. There's a chance that they'll air this on TV, so make sure to look for us! Okay! We'll be seeing you!



I will get interviewed by these two since it's something fun for later.


"here is very nice, too."

Back to the regular trainers.




Pep pep pep



Alright, guess we're heading onto Route 112.



Nature Power has 20PP and deals a move depending on the battle's terrain. I haven't really talked about different terrains since they don't effect much, but the list of what Nature Power turns into can be found here. Overall, too unreliable to actually make use of, but it can be cool on occasion.



S-Same. Ah, we'll see her again soon enough.

"Come on, sing with me!"


It doesn't matter if you're good or bad at singing or POKEMON. If you have the most fun, you win!




In the grass we can find a new Pokemon. We could've found Machop in RS but they replaced it with Marill for... some reason.



Neat. Cures Burn.



Nobunaga do you know this man?



We already have Strength, so I'll pass. We don't have Rock Head anyway, so it doesn't matter.



God the mental image of a Hiker violently sneezing. How horrifying.



Oh, I get it now. That's why the rest of the crew went out to FALLARBOR.

You got it. And until they come back, we're not to let anyone pass, right.




Ow, my legs have cramped up. Can you grab me some bandages from my backpack? No, that's my POKENAV! Oh, fine, I'll register you. Try hiking, and I mean really pounding, on those mountain trails with a heavy pack weighing dozens of pounds. That, my friend, will get your body in serious shape.



Looks like to progress we need to go into the heart of the volcano itself.

Fiery Path



There's not much to do here, but there's quite a few new Pokemon we can get!





So if you want to be a physical wall, maybe don't be weak to Ground and Rock, but what's here is alright, if incredibly slow. With two alright attacking stats, you can make use of the OK moves you get, such as Body Slam and Flamethrower, though you will have to wait a little before replacing Ember. Aside from that, well, you don't learn any other special moves, but you do get Iron Tail and Sludge Bomb. And, uh, that's it, so Curse up and then maybe do some damage... after taking loads of damage.

White Smoke prevents stat reductions by moves and Abilties, but not self inflicted reductions, or items and status. When first in the party, the encounter rate is reduced by 50%. Just, uh, just use a repel.



Turtle obtained. Yes I know it's a tortoise, but it was easier to say turtle, but now I've mentioned it and now it wasn't easier to say turtle, so oh well.



Alright, what else is there?



It's a floating ball of gas! Levitate gives the user an immunity to Ground moves (bar Sand Attack), as well as Arena Trap, Spikes and Toxic Spikes.




Here's a buff boy and a sludge boy, though the latter is a 2% encounter because Ruby. Stench does nothing in battle, but reduces the encounter rate by 50%.



Slugma is a super important Pokemon you need to get if you want to do any breeding. Magma Armor prevents the Pokemon from being frozen, while Flame Body has a 30% chance of burning the opponent when they use a contact move. Both these abilities will halve the number of cycles Eggs require to hatch, basically halving step requirements. This is absolutely huge, but remember, this is only in Emerald, not in the other Gen 3 games, so do your breeding in this game, it'll be so much faster than anything you'll do in FRLG or RS.



Now that we have our slug gurl, next time we'll be exploring north-west Hoenn.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Here's an update, cause why not.

Finally, we will be getting a new teammate pretty soon, so what do you call a cotton birb?

Also suggest a nickname for Slugma and Nincada, since we'll be using them for a few things, might as well, right?

Arcade Rabbit
Nov 11, 2013

Nimbus! That's what I'd call it!

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

So I am pretty sure that the verdanturf tunnel actually remembers you broke the rocks

there is no excuse for not doing the same thing on the mauville northern exit, i'm just saying

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
HMs were a mistake.

MightyPretenders
Feb 21, 2014

Skye

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:

Here's an update, cause why not.

Finally, we will be getting a new teammate pretty soon, so what do you call a cotton birb?

Also suggest a nickname for Slugma and Nincada, since we'll be using them for a few things, might as well, right?

The Slugma is for breeding, right? Call it Rance. I can't think of anything good for the Swablu.

FractalSandwich
Apr 25, 2010

Crosspeice posted:

This natural environment is doing wonders for WALLY's health. Maybe it's not just the environment. It could be POKEMON that are giving the boy hope.
"The kid's idiot parents told him wi-fi could make you sick, and now he gets a headache every time he thinks there's an electromagnetic field around."

AlphaKretin
Dec 25, 2014

A vase to face encounter.

...Vase to meet you?

...

GARVASE DAY!

Well jesus christ just use all my favourite Pokemon, why don't you? :allears:

I've never been good at nicknames so I guess I'll just back Nimbus.

a busted-up mailbox
Dec 14, 2012
YEEEAARRT! for the Nincada, Creampuff for the bird.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

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



Taco Defender
Nimbus. :bandwagon:

limeicebreakers
May 1, 2017

Creampuff is cute. And Slugmom for the slugma? :shrug:

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
I was just going to suggest SlugMom.

I kind of like QTip for Swablu but Nimbus is fine too.

And don't worry, Seviper, you'll get your day in the sun someday, I'm sure ;_;

Kemix
Dec 1, 2013

Because change
FLYING NIMBUS! or just Nimbus for short I suppose :v:

Digamma-F-Wau
Mar 22, 2016

It is curious and wants to accept all kinds of challenges
Reginald

FoolyCharged
Oct 11, 2012

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Somebody call for an ant?

Let's be lazy and obvious, blue bird

OgretailFood
Oct 9, 2012

Recommended by 10 out of 10 Aragami

Masamune

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General Revil
Sep 30, 2014

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
I'll join the chorus for Nimbus.

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