First things first after this... I need to roll which Pokemon I have to ditch. The results are in and it’s Limit the Quilava! Probably one of the best possible results, though I’ll need to teach Bel Cut now.
Now I need to catch a Pokemon to replace him. Things I need to consider:
All catching restrictions are off for this, meaning I can catch any Pokemon I want, including evolved Pokemon and Pokemon unable to evolve, Pokemon of types I already have and Pokemon weak to Ground, Rock and Water. If I decide to get a Pokemon that can evolve, it’ll have to solo the gym I’m using it for that chapter if I want it to be fully evolved for Blue. And that’s important, because that final battle against Blue could be tough.
Thankfully, the Safari Zone in Johto is unlike any other and has a ridiculous selection of Pokemon to choose from, meaning I won’t be starved for choice at least. Still, I’ll have to choose very carefully if I want to have a somewhat easy time of this.
I eventually decide that my first Pokemon will be Lapras, who will be of great help against 3 of Blue’s Pokemon and doesn’t need to evolve. Also, the only objects I have that help with getting Pokemon right now are Waterside type...
*After a while I catch a lv 15 Female Lapras and name her Alice*
Alright... got a ways to train her but I got it no-
*Brave nature, shell armor*
... Alice never existed.
Now I catch Ness the male lv 16 Lapra-
*Also Brave and Shell armor*
... What are the fucking chances?!?!?!??!?
Ok, meet Ness the lv 15 Male Lapras... With Relaxed and Water Absorb. Alright, NOW we train.
*Much, much, much training later*
I think I made that much harder than it had to be...
Anyway, now to board the boat to Kanto! OUR ADVENTURE BEGINS NOW!
So I get to Vermillion and there’s not much here. Snorlax is blocking Diglett Cave and the area beyond, but I can go to Saffron freely. Indeed, it seems I can go all the way to Cerulean, and can probably make my way all around the region with minimal obstacles. This... is going to be weird for my update format. I guess I’ll do two gyms an update since otherwise some chapters are going to be about 10 minutes of playtime for me. Well, 10 minutes after I train one of the Pokemon I caught to level 50ish anyway.
Anyway I only explore a bit before deciding to challenge Lt. Surge. His Pokemon have very little in the way of coverage moves, meaning it should be an easy battle for Bilious to take care of. Oh, the gym trainers, I had Ness fight 2 of them and she actually won easily. She’s so bulky she hardly gets hurt by their super-effective attacks. God I love Lapras.
Unfortunately, Surge uses Double team a lot, making the battle against him quite annoying, especially when Static activates on Bilious adding more hax to the equation. He’s still not a threat since he can hardly scratch Bilious anyway, but damn can it be annoying. And again, also expensive because it forces me to use more items as even small hits add up over time. His Magneton in particular took forever to down because some bad luck at the start let it get multiple Double Teams. It also has Supersonic and Mirror Shot (which can and did lower my accuracy) to boot. Thankfully Slick can take the hits from Surge’s Pokemon almost as well as Bilious, allowing me to slowly stall it until finally enough moves connected to bring it down (despite Surge’s use of a full restore). By the time that happened, it was down to just Shock Wave PP... His last two Pokemon go down easily though, giving me an easy if annoying victory.
So, now I need a new Pokemon, so I go to the Safari Zone and catch myself a level 42 Magneton, which I name Triclops. Hasty nature, Magnet Pull (not like either ability is much help in-game). I’ll just train him up, and it’ll be my answer for Sabrina. He resists all her moves, and while he’ll be hitting on their stronger specially defensive side, at least I’ll be hitting them neutrally while they struggle to do damage.
*much training later*
Alright, I think he’s ready for Sabrina now. I’ll solo the whole gym with him so I can evolve him into Magnezone should I wish to. Here we go!
*A few battles later*
Ok I need a non-STAB move that isn’t screech right now. I cannot afford to be basically idle every second turn. I’m making it learn Tri-Attack right goddamn now. Also, Metal Sound because I don’t need Magnet Bomb when I don’t have Screech. Now, back to business.
Alright getting to Sabrina after that was easy. But against Sabrina... well first shot found that Espeon, at +1, 2HKOs with Psychic and there’s not a damn thing I could do about it sooooo.... reset.
Second attempt sees it CMing twice while Metal Sound misses AGAIN. it has 90% accuracy but now it’s missed twice in a row... after that it nearly OHKOs Tripclops. I fire off a Tri-Attack which burns it... but Sychronise burns it also KOing me -.-. RNG is evil.
At this point, I just decide to screw it. I’ll use Triclops without evolving it to Magnezone. It’s only a partial upgrade anyway... It should be able to take on Blue’s Gyarados and Pidgeot without evolving just fine. Slick takes over and easily demolishes Sabrina with his overwhelming type advantage. Sometimes, you have to know when the hard way just isn’t worth it.
So that’s that for this chapter. Two Gym leaders beaten, two new Pokemon trained. What’ll I pick next time? Well I guess you’ll just have to wait and see won’t you :P.
The Team:
Bel the lv 48 Weepinbel
Moveset:
-Razor Leaf
-Growth
-Sludge Bomb
-Sleep Powder
Notes: Still hasn’t evolved just yet, but very close to it now. Didn’t do too much this chapter, but what she did do she did fine. Still can’t wait for evolution though. Not only will Bel get a full upgrade, I can also replace Razor Leaf with Leaf Blade for some real power on her Grass STAB.
John the lv 48 Haunter
Moveset:
-Shadow Ball
-Hypnosis
-Dream Eater
-Thunderbolt
Notes: Didn’t get used much either, but still dominates everything he gets sent out against. Can’t imagine what he’ll be like when I evolve him in a couple levels. He’s crazy powerful enough as it is...
Bilious the lv 49 Quagsire
Moveset:
-Surf
-Earthquake
-Waterfall
-Strength
Notes: As dependable as ever, Bilious made Lt. Surge easy. Nothing much to report here as Bilious probably won’t be changing for the rest of the challenge.
Silph the lv 49 Hypno
Moveset:
-Psybeam
-Headbutt
-Hypnosis
-Flash
Notes: One more level to Psychic and some actual attacking power! To be fair, what Silph did fight this chapter proved no match for him. Still, he’s easily among the least useful members of my party, at least when I’m not up against Fighting or Poison types.
Slick the lv 49 Umbreon
Moveset:
-Quick Attack
-Confuse Ray
-Bite
-Sand-Attack
Notes: I don’t think Slick will ever stop shitting on everything. Seriously, nothing can take this motherfucker down and he haxes like a Jirachi. He’s been creeping up to MVP status for the past several chapters and his performance in both gym battles this chapter only makes that even more clear. Just goes to show that brute force isn’t the only way to win in Pokemon.
Safari Pokemon:
Ness the lv 49 Lapras
Moveset:
-Body Slam
-Confuse Ray
-Ice Beam
-Surf
Notes: Ness exceeded even my high expectations for him this chapter. Lapras has always been a beast in game with its great coverage, decent power and exceptional bulk and this time is no different. It even took super-effective attacks from Lt. Surge’s lackeys like a boss. I wish I could use him more often. He’ll be my primary Pokemon against Blue, having a straight advantage over two of his Pokemon and a partial advantage against two more.
Triclops the lv 49 Magneton
Moveset:
-Discharge
-Tri Attack
-Metal Sound
-Mirror Shot
Notes: At first Triclops worried me with its rather lackluster start, but the application of a couple Heartscales to lean some new moves remedied that in a hurry. Still, it just wasn’t bulky or powerful enough to beat Sabrina’s higher leveled and more powerful Pokemon, despite his type advantage. That’s OK though, he’ll only need one shot against each of Blue’s Pokemon that he’s supposed to take down when the time comes.