I'm back for Update #5! This update is pretty lengthy, despite me not covering as much content (most of the screenshots are dialogue). Anyways, we face off with Bugsy, then made my way to Goldenrod City, and also did some exploring of the city as well.
As you can tell from the name, Bugsy looooooves Bug-type Pokemon. Without further ado, we face off against Bugsy for the Hive Badge! Side note, Bugsy looks like your stereotypical anime "trap" archetype person (I mean in the manga, Gold did accidentally try to hit on Bugsy :eyes:)
Vs. Bugsy
Butterfree @ Damp Rock - Lvl 18 - U-Turn | Confusion | Rain Dance | Air Cutter
Yanma - Lvl 18 - U-Turn | Air Cutter | Detect | Ancient Power
Beedrill - Lvl 18 - U-Turn | Sludge Bomb | Twineedle | Cut
Heracross @ Damp Rock - Lvl 19 - Aerial Ace | Bug Bite | Counter | Rain Dance
Pinsir - Lvl 19 - Vital Throw | Knock Off | Fury Cutter | Bind
Scyther @ Sitrus Berry - Lvl 21 - U-Turn | Wing Attack | Quick Attack | Swords Dance
Alright so in my opinion, Bugsy is probably the hardest Johto Gym Leader in the game (in my order it goes Bugsy > Whitney > Clair, for top 3 hardest Gym Leaders in SG/SS). Contrary to how easy he is (sorta) in the HG/SS, he did shock me since his team definitely has a clear powerspike from the previous battles.
Bugsy's main strategy is to spam U-Turn (though he never used U-Turn during this battle oddly enough), and he tends to "pair up" his Pokemon (Yanma will U-Turn to Beedrill, vice versa; Butterfree will U-Turn to either Scyther or Heracross usually), so it is sort of easy to predict who he is sending in most of the time. Bugsy also does have 2 Pokemon (Butterfree and Heracross) with Damp Rock + Rain Dance to weaken Fire-types moves. Lastly, Bugsy's Scyther is probably the most threatening mon you will face so far just because of how easily it can dismantle teams, so be prepared for that.
Anyways to start off the battle, Bugsy leads with his Butterfree while I lead with Luxio. Keep in mind that due to Luxio's secondary Dark-typing, it will take super-effective damage from Bug-type moves (I always forget that Electric is neutral to Bug).
Immediately, Butterfree sets up Rain Dance (this will last 8 turns due to Damp Rock) but because of that, Spark is able to pick up the KO onto Butterfree
since it is now boosted by the rain (I lied s/o Cobalt Empoleon).
Following Butterfree, Bugsy sends in his Pinsir while I swap out to Wartortle.
Wartortle manages to pick up the confusion with Water Pulse, but Pinsir manages to break through and retaliate with Vital Throw. The 2nd turn also yields the same results, Wartortle using Water Pulse while Pinsir uses Vital Throw.
Also this is the 1 battle where Rain Dish was incredibly helpful, since Bugsy loves to set up the rain.
On the 3rd turn, Bugsy decides to switch it up and use Fury Cutter but, a final Water Pulse takes out Pinsir.
Though, Wartortle and Pinsir must've speed tied since Wartortle outsped the first 2 turns, while Pinsir outsped it during the last turn.(I lied the sequel s/o Cobalt Empoleon)
Next up, Bugsy sends in his Beedrill while I send in Noctowl.
Beedrill outspeeds and attacks with Cut (now a Grass-type move), which barely does damage, while Air Cutter takes Beedrill down to around 25% health.
Beedrill then uses Twineedle, which did a sizable chunk surprisingly, though a 2nd Air Cutter takes down Beedrill.
Bugsy then sends in his Yanma, while I switch back to Luxio.
Like most Pokemon with some sort of protection move, Yanma leads with Detect, allowing it to avoid Luxio's Spark.
Yanma's Ancient Power doesn't do much (luckily Yanma did not receive the boost), and Luxio's Spark manages to snag the KO onto Yanma. I believe the rain ended around this point (I don't remember exactly).
Heracross is up next, while I switch back out to Noctowl (for a very specific reason).
Heracross sets up the rain again with Rain Dance but, Noctowl misses his Air Cutter on it (which is good because I misclicked, I did not want Heracross to faint this turn).
On the next turn, Heracross attacks with Aerial Ace which does a decent chunk but, Noctowl manages to put Heracross to sleep with Hypnosis.
While Heracross was sleeping, I take this opportunity to heal up Noctowl just for extra security.
Heracross stays asleep on the following turn, allowing Noctowl to set up a Reflect in peace. Though on the last turn, Noctowl manages to outspeed Heracross and take it out with 1 Air Cutter.
Lastly, Bugsy sends in his ace, Scyther, while I stay in with Noctowl.
Now, as you can see Scyther's moveset, it is an extremely threatening Pokemon. Since Scyther has Technician, it already does a ton of damage with Wing Attack and Quick Attack. Combine this with its access to Swords Dance and healing through the Sitrus Berry (and Moomoo Milks if Bugsy has them), it will dish out a ton of damage while being pretty difficult to take down. This is why I wanted to set up the Reflect when Heracross was still on the field.
Scyther boosts its Attack with Swords Dance, while Noctowl attacks with Air Cutter doing more than half of Scyther's health. Though due to the Sitrus Berry, Scyther does recover off some of the damage (which now turns Air Cutter into a 3hko, unfortunately).
On the next turn, Scyther attacks with Wing Attack (which dealt quite a bit of damage, also keep in mind Reflect was still up), while Noctowl puts Scyther to sleep with Hypnosis (if Hypnosis missed, I would've been so sad).
Scyther stays asleep (good thing it didn't get the 2nd turn awakening) and with the grace of the gods above, Noctowl manages to snag a critical hit with Air Cutter, taking down Scyther.
With that, we have defeated Bugsy! Surprisingly, with no casualties (I usually lose 1-2 mons alone with that Scyther in previous runs).
Yes I am, I managed to survive through the grace of the hax gods. But, I'll accept the compliment nevertheless since the game doesn't know.
Following the battle, we receive the Hive Badge (allowing us to use Cut out in the wild), TM 89 U-Turn, and Bugsy's phone number in case we ever want to rematch him in the future (which I won't because rematching Gym Leaders is a pain in this game as well).
This is the aftermath of the battle. Honestly, I'm surprised that I managed to win with just 3 Pokemon since Bugsy tends to force me to use a full party of 6. The MVP of the battle is obviously Noctowl since it managed to snag 3 KOs and it landed all of its Hypnosis' (Hypnosises?). Luxio was also pretty good since it also picked up 2 KOs as well, though Noctowl critting that Scyther made it the winner for me.
With that, we can move out from Azalea Town!
Back into Ilex Forest we go! Since we defeated Silver in the previous update, we won't get jumped by him again.
On our way, we found this damsel in distress since he just dropped kick his responsibilities into the forest (not really, he just didn't pay attention to the Farfetch'd he was looking after). Obviously, as the glorious errand boy of the game, we take up his job offer to find and bring them back.
If you know so much about how to catch the Farfetch'ds... why didn't you just fix the problem yourself? ._.
1 down, 1 more to go. This one was very easy to catch.
Idk why he forced me to bring him the first Farfetch'd, just let me catch them both and bring them back at the same time omg..
Cursed item that will never be used ever! Selling Revives and Max Revives does net you quite a decent sum of cash, so that'll be really useful since I do anticipate needing a lot of money in this run (as mentioned in Update #1).
I remember the first time I played HG/SS, I struggled with getting this Farfetch'd for whatever reason. It took about 15 Repels and a video tutorial for me to capture it. Though, I managed to snag it fairly easily this time around.
Well that explains a lot, all I can say is GOML.
Those are actually, the most terrible nicknames I've ever seen in my life. I feel bad for these 2 Farfetch'd. Also, I could use some Charcoal right now... hint hint hint
The woodcutter also is gracious enough to give us HM 01 Cut for saving his Farfetch'd! I taught it to Quilava just because it was the only mon that could learn Cut in my party (I'm surprised Leafeon or Noctowl couldn't learn it).
How mysterious, this will be important later on (like waaaaaaaaaaaay later on).
On our way out of Ilex Forest, we encounter Gardenia doing whatever that she's doing with her Ivysaur.
To shut us up, Gardenia gives us her signature TM, Grass Knot! Yay!
Took a small detour to meet with this guy, literally ramming himself onto the trees to find Pokemon. Though, Headbutt is useful coverage this early on so I ended up teaching it to Luxio.
Through the wood, we also meet up with a lost Kimono Girl. I mean, we got every trainer looking the same (all Youngsters look the same for example), so obviously that mistake would be fairly easy to make >.>
Damn, this girl is sassy for someone who needs our help.
Somehow, Leafeon magically knows the way out of the forest and leads the Kimono Girl out to the gate that leads to the next route.
Also this nice lady gives us TM12 Taunt, which probably won't be used in this run, since most in-game trainers (and boss trainers) usually have only attacking moves on their Pokemon sets. Also Cynthia is just up there waiting for us.
That's the million dollar question girl, what are you doing here...
Though she does gives the Odd Keystone, which gives us access to Spiritomb (which I will have to backtrack for)!
We make it out of Ilex Forest and end up in Route 34. Also, those 2 trainers are new to the route.
New route means new Pokemon! Our first encounter will be Drowzee, which I nicknamed
Saias after a high-ranking Bishop and tactician from FE5.
Even though Drowzee didn't get many crazy buffs, the only one it got is that both Drowzee and Hypno learn Dream Eater at Lvl 12. I guess it's still kind of ok, especially since we get a TM that will make it quite potent. However, that Impish nature makes it all the more hard to utilize, so it will go into the MAYBE box (but it's like a maybe, leaning closer to a no).
Once again, we find Lyra out in the wild, and she introduces us to the Day Care man aka her grandfather.
Then Lyra unwilling drags us into the Day Care to introduce her to the Day Care lady, aka her grandmother.
Well let's not get too crazy alright, we are confirmed just friends. Though Lyra does seem flustered, maybe there's a hidden crush in the midst?
Well, I don't forsee myself using the day-care center anytime soon (though I will have to use it waaaaaay down the road, for reasons I will not disclose for now). Though of all the times we encountered Lyra, she finally remembers to give us her number.
Oh and just and FYI grandma.
Also we receive the Day Care couple's numbers so we can check the status of our Pokemon and also whether any eggs have turned up in the process.
After a hop, skip, and jump, we finally made it to Goldenrod City! I feel like I should stop this update right now but, I'm just going to keep going because I want to explore the city before I end.
This was the TM (Calm Mind) that would make Drowzee/Hypno quite potent, as mentioned before. Anyways, we receive TM 08 Bulk Up and TM 04 Calm MInd from the brawn & brains duo.
Like the other 2 towns/cities we visited, there is another juggler that will quiz us on random Pokemon trivia. I'm pretty sure this is the last juggler (since there aren't anymore starter trios) but, I'll fill y'all in if there is more in other cities.
Answers to the quiz are no, no, no, and yes in that order. Took a few tries to get it right since I didn't feel like googling the answers (and I just don't remember them from previous runs).
With that, we get to pick another prize Pokemon, this time being the Sinnoh starters! I know last time I said I wouldn't pick Torchic/Charmander because I started with Cyndaquil but, I couldn't pass up on Chimchar (and also I picked Piplup and Turtwig already).
This is Chimchar, who is already ready to evolve like the boss that it is (though unfortunate that it will need a Heart Scale to relearn Mach Punch as a Monferno/Infernape). Since Chimchar did turn out to be female, I named it
Rinkah after a fighter born from the Fire Tribe who helps out the Hoshidan royal family from FE14.
As for changes, the Chimchar line does have access to Iron Fist as a potential ability, though this Chimchar has Blaze (which isn't too bad honestly). Infernape is also able to learn Fire Punch and Thunder Punch through the Move Reminder as well.
Chimchar is great, so it definitely will be in the YES box (since I do have Quilava on the team as of now). Not sure whether I want to halt Chimchar's evolution since it does learn Nasty Plot at Lvl 22 so, we'll see in the future (I most likely will).
Next up, I visit the Game Corner which did get an overhaul to look like Spinda's Cafe from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky.
Also, Mr. Game willingly gives us a Coin Case and in return, we must play Voltorb Flip with him (which I will not do because I actually hate playing Voltorb Flip).
As mentioned before, I said that I'll need a lot of money this run and this is exhibit A of why. In SG/SS, you are able to purchase coins, as opposed to having to farm them through playing Voltorb Flip, which is a very nice change.
These are also the prizes that are available. The most important ones are the elemental beams, Swords Dance, Silk Scarf, and Porygon (which I don't technically need but, I will definitely need it in the future). Smeargle and Tangela aren't too terribly hard to get, and neither are outstanding either (in the case of Smeargle, it's terrible). Porygon will be a nice addition but, I'll wait and see if I have enough money to purchase it.
Also, I do have a rule for Game Corners in Nuzlockes that I can only buy 1 Pokemon from them, so in this run, I can only buy 1 Pokemon from the Game Corner total (including the one in Celadon) to use in-game.
For the next errand, I actually need a cleared-out party since I will be getting quite a few mons.
As you can tell by the sign description, you can expect what kinds of mons I will be filling up my party with.
Lol rip the old bike shop owner lol, so I guess this was why Cynthia was lurking at the gate to Route 34.
So our generous gift is actually pretty generous, he gives us 1 of each fossil available (except the Old Amber which I have to find regularly through smashing rocks). The fossils being Dome, Helix, Root, Claw, Armor, and Skull if you didn't know already.
Clearly no one here has any chill for the bike shop owner lol, well anyways, we have to talk to the guy to revive all of our fossils. Side note, I will only be using 3 of the 6 fossil Pokemon and depositing the rest into a different box. I will be using 1 fossil mon from each generation in this run, since I feel like using all 6 is kinda cheating? (Even though it's fair game).
After a bunch of spam clicking A, and exiting and reentering the shop... The fossil Pokemon I chose were Omanyte, Anorinth, and Craindos. I will be going through their changes 1-by-1 down below.
So we have Omanyte to start off, which I named
Darros after a pirate with a good heart from FE1, 11, and 12. I don't plan on using Omanyte because that nature is terrible, and I also have a ton of other Water-types to choose from (on a side note, Kabuto has a Timid nature so, that doesn't help it out either). Therefore, Omanyte will be going into the NO box.
Omanyte and Omastar only for 1 change, being that Omanyte will learn Earth Power at Lvl 58 while Omaster will learn Earth Power at Lvl 75.
Next is Anorith, which I nicknamed
Rutger after a very stern, and arrogant sword fighter (or myrmidon in FE terms) with a sworn vengeance against Bern from FE6. Anorith is pretty decent overall, the only problem really is its late evolution. Since I don't have many usable Rock-types, it will go into the MAYBE box for now.
Anorith did receive a handful of changes, the first being that the Anorith line has access to Swift Swim as a potential nature. Armaldo also has 2 additional level up moves, being Aqua Tail (Lvl 40) and Superpower (Lvl 79).
To conclude, we have Cranidos, who I named
Kieran after a hotblooded and loud cavalier who holds a 1-sided rivalry with another cavalier from FE9 and 10. As you can tell by the nature, Cranidos is going into the NO box since the whole reason to use Cranidos is because of its sky-high Attack.
As for changes, the Cranidos line has access to Reckless as a possible ability. In addition, Cranidos will learn Crunch (Lvl 47) and Hammer Arm (Lvl 53), while Rampardos will learn the same moves but, at Lvl 61 and Lvl 70 respectively.
Also I just have a box titled RANDOM for just random Pokemon that I don't want to release but, don't necessarily need at this moment.
Next stop is the Goldenrod Department Store! Which did receive a few changes, in regards to what you are able to buy early on in this game.
Also, I honestly wish you could haggle prices in Pokemon games. It's unfortunate that we have to buy things at full price for the amount of errands we accomplish as the protagonist of the game.
On the 2nd Floor, you are now able to purchase the 4 basic evolutionary stones, which is a very nice change considering the amount of stone evolutions from Kanto Pokemon alone.
Also exhibit B on why I need a ton of money in this game, to buy all these TMs. There are a few new TMs that were not in HG/SS, like TM28 Dig, TM51 Roost, and TM86 Grass Knot for example.
Lol, because the basement is not available to customers, I'm still gonna bring you there anyways (flawless logic). Not much important loot that we can get in here (there is an item tucked away but, it's locked behind a door). Though we will have to return back here for something quite important later on (not the Goldenrod invasion fyi).
This is tooootally foreshadowing into something important later on. Also, I like how no one questions the random Rocket Grunt standing out in the open (where is security when you need them?).
I feel like this update has dragged on forever but, this is the final stop of our Goldenrod City tour.
Yeah, I heard that they were giving out free radio cards as well. Though the quiz shouldn't be too difficult considering all I've done so far in towns are quizzes (the quiz didn't change from HG/SS, so it's still really easy). Not sure how Whitney isn't able to figure it out .-.
Manged to answer all 5 questions with ease, and we get the radio card which will let us listen to the radio anywhere! (Which won't be useful until we get access to swarms).
Alright then (though first time I did get this question wrong since I read it as apricorns not apricots).
More foreshadowing!!!! YAY!
Remember when I said Radio Tower was our last stop? I lied and didn't feel like changing the commentary I did back then. So once again, everyone just talks about this dancing tree and NO ONE does anything about it...
Idk why you brought up the watering can solution then? Also I highly doubt it'd be dangerous at all >.> So we are stuck until we defeat Whitney.
Errand boy to the rescue! I promise that this is our last pit stop of the day.
Again with the dumb tree... Though I guess this guy has a valid excuse since he can't leave the gate to solve the problem. Since I'm a perfectionist and hate things out of line, I will not be using this Spearow since Dux/Kenya isn't a name for any FE character. Therefore, I will be delivering this Spearow to the sleepy man in Route 31.
Alright and with that, I shall conclude this update. In this next update, I will be doing some backtracking (probably up to Azalea Town) and also exploring the surrounding routes to the north of Goldenrod City for more encounters! Byeeee :D
(Cyndaquil)
(Krabby)
