[Birkal*]

TalkingLion vs. Birkal
HGSS: Part 1



Our Rival Challenge followed these rules:
- TalkingLion plays Heart Gold on cartridge while Birkal plays Soul Silver on cartridge.
- Traditional 30 minute challenge. At every thirty minutes, we stop playing, enter our teams on a simulator, and face off. We also smack talk in #orangeislands.
- All IVs set to 31, set natures, no EVs. Other standard rules apply. TL's Geodude is shiny.
- No items allowed in battle. However, they are allowed ingame. Timer starts when your character shrinks.
- No starters allowed. Once you catch your first Pokemon, you can no longer use your starter.

I read through this thread a week or two ago and thought it was awesome. Did some requesting in IRC and TalkingLion agreed to join me for one of these. Let me tell you that these are a TON of fun. Seriously, get in #orangeislands right now and start one; you will have a blast. Also know that TalkingLion is a crazy cool guy and I can't wait to continue battling with him. We originally started this as a Best of 3, but after having a killer time, we're gonna go further. Here are the first two battles; we'll be adding more as we continue on with this.

Round One: Beginnings

Going into this challenge, I knew that catching a Geodude early on would be really helpful, as it resists a ton of early game stuff. I started with a Totodile, and it ended up being level 8 when I dropped it for Geodude. It took me quite a while to find a level 3 Geodude, since I didn't want a weak level 2 one. After that I trained it up to level 5 before heading up to the trainers on my way to Violet City. I managed to train it up to level 8, needing just 1 more EXP. to level up to 9. I wasn't really feeling confident when I saw that Birkal had 4 Pokemon compared to my 1!

Looking at my options, I figured that Geodude would be the obvious go-to Pokemon for me this run. I chose Cyndaquil as my starter (you seen dat playa, son) and wasted no time in getting a Geodude. I snagged a Sentret before to have a meat shield, but I ended up never leveling it. I also knew that Pidgey would be a great member to have (more on that in a bit) so I picked one up. As I was grinding with my Geodude, I realized that TalkingLion might be doing the same thing. Within the last five minutes, I snagged a Bellsprout because it learns Vine Whip immediately. I threw a few levels on it and went in to war.

TalkingLion: 0 | Birkal: 1

Round Two: Sprout Tower and Beyond

After getting wrecked by that Bellsprout, I knew that I would need a counter to it by the next time we battle, as well as something to get me through Sprout Tower. I catch a Caterpie, and train it up a bit before bringing it to Sprout Tower so that it can actually do something with it's Base 30 Attack. I sweep through the Bellsprout, and wait until Caterpie is level 9 to evolve it as Metapod is weaker. By the end of the 30 minutes, Metapod is 1 level short of evolving and Geodude is 1 level short of learning Rock Throw! I ask Birkal for an extra 5 minutes, and he gives to to me like the nice guy he is. I finish up my training, and then start the next battle!

I was feeling pretty good about myself after a pretty solid victory. I decided that I wanted to push myself ingame, so I breezed through Sprout Tower. I got out of there with plenty of time to spare, and my Pidgey had grown considerably by learning Gust. Since I had a bunch of time left over, I figured I'd tackle the Violet City gym. Everything went smoothly until his less-than-pleasant Pidgeotto got two crits in a row, I missed Rock Slide, and it KO'd my Geodude. I had about five minutes left, so I rechallenged and won without breaking a sweat. I was pretty proud of my team: Pidgey had a solid movepool now and Geodude was shaping up into an awesome Pokemon. I felt pretty confident that I could take TL once again. But little did I know...

TalkingLion: 1 | Birkal: 1

And that is where we leave you for today! We'll be continuing this in the future. Again, I highly encourage all of you to try these out. Definitely one of the most fun things I have done in a while. Leave some comments if you enjoyed this!