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Gargravarr
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Sunday 11th April
3:42pm
I'm really sorry yesterday wasn't more interesting. Training took longer than expected... But today I definately will reach Goldenrod. Happily, all my pokemon (with the exception of Unown and Togepi) are at least level 11. I only have a little bit of training to do for the Azalea Gym, then I should be able to move on.
I pretty much only had Union Cave and the patch of grass in Route 33 to train on, and a lot of the pokemon I had to train up couldn't land super effective hits. It also didn't help that the vast majority of pokemon I encountered were Zubat or Ekans... I couldn't even go ahead into Ilex Forest for some higher-level prey because your Rival automatically comes along and challenges when you try to leave, and I'm simply not ready to face him yet.
4:58pm
Well, Lightyear has now reached level 14, and I can finally take his Everstone and allow him to evolve when he reaches level 15.
As for the others, I'm almost done levelling up for now. All that remains is to get Hollis up to level 15, and I'll be ready to attempt the Gym.
5:13pm
Finally... Hollis is now level 15, and now I just need to rest up at the Pokemon Centre, restock my supply of Antidotes, Paralyz Heals and Awakenings at the Mart, and then it's time to squash some Bugs.
5:24pm
Wow, this place is really different to its G/S/C counterpart... Instead of just a basic forest maze, there are two chasms with spider-like karts that travel on ropes. The gimmick is that the ropes criss-cross with each other, and you have to select the right kart to proceed, otherwise it'll dump you in front of a trainer.
5:30pm
Just won my first double battle of the game. Roxxor and Hollis vs Ledyba and Spinarak. I like using Rock Throw on Bug-types, because it conjures up a fairly amusing mental image of Roxxor just dropping a rock to squish the opponent.
5:52pm
Hoo boy, that was pretty nerve-wracking. I had to retry because I was caught totally offguard the first time. For one thing, I didn't expect Bugsy to send out Scyther straight away, and (rather stupidly) I didn't expect him to make such heavy use of U-turn. So the second time around, I managed to catch him out. After doing the inital bait-and-switch with Tesla, I sent out Hollis instead of Roxxor, meaning that U-turn would do less damage than it would to Roxxor. I then kept Hollis out and took down the Metapod that Bugsy switched for Scyther. I then did this again with Pell when Bugsy repeated the tactic with Scyther and Kakuna. After Kakuna went down, I chose to switch to Roxxor when prompted. Scyther hit with another U-turn, reducing Roxxor to roughly half-health, then I countered with Rock Throw, taking Scyther down in one hit. 4x damage FTW!!
...I have to say, though, I much prefer the Hive Badge's old red and black colouring in G/S/C to the grey and darker grey of this game...
Anyway, now to save and try to beat my rival.
6:25pm
Three cheers for Lightyear! I forgot to take him along the first time I fought Silver, and I got totally thrashed. Stupid Bayleef and its Synthesis... But the second time around I got my own back. I like to think I managed to beat him at his own game.
First up came Gastly, who was dispatched by Totodile's Bite (frankly, Gastly's Curse really just made it easier for me to win, as he sacrificed half his HP). Then came Bayleef. Now, instead of sending out Pell or Hollis like last time, I instead sent out Lightyear. Now, Lightyear still only has one damaging move, and Poison Sting wasn't going to do that much damage, especially under the effects of Reflect. However, it would have a possibility of poisoning Bayleef, thus turning the tables somewhat. Also, Lightyear's dual Bug-Poison-type would not only protect him from Bayleef's own poisoning attack, but would also reduce his Razor Leaf to 1/4 of the damage. It was just a matter of constantly using Poison Sting until Bayleef used up all of Synthesis' 5 PP, possibly poisoning him in the process (which I managed). When Lightyear had been reduced to around 1/4 HP, I switched him out for Pell. At that point, Bayleef was doomed. It wouldn't matter if he managed to take out Pell, because Hollis would be right there to take his place. It just took a few Gusts to knock him out, and all Bayleef managed to do was Poison Pell just before he got knocked out. The rest was easy, just a Zubat that I took out with Tesla. First he paralysed himself after using Bite, thanks to Tesla's Static ability, then it just took a couple of Thundershocks.
So basically that's the second time a comparitively weak Bug has managed to bail me out in that battle (Spinarak once saved my ass back in my original Silver version). I'm now going to take a break, but when I come back, it's Ilex Forest time.
7:53pm
Okay, I've just caught the Charcoal Man's Farfetch'ds in Ilex Forest and received HM01 in return. Now I just have to decide who to give it to...
The Farfetch'd hunt was a little more complex than it was in the original games...
8:01pm
I decided in the end to give Cut to Pitcher. He could use more attack moves...
8:06pm
Just caught a male Oddish. I decided to call him Gomez. Decent name? I'm not sure...
8:11pm
Drifter just showed a Kimono Girl the way out of the forest. How nice of him...
8:14pm
Okay, I'm out of Ilex Forest. Just one more route between me and Goldenrod... And it has the Day Care on it, so that'll be useful.
10:28pm
Okay, having eaten and showered, I thought I'd examine the pokemon of the trainers along Route 34. I've decided that I need to go back through Ilex Forest to Azalea Town's pokemon centre and rebuild my party. I'll try to pick up a Paras and a female Oddish along the way, as well.
10:44pm
Just caught my female Oddish. I decided to call her Hana.
11:14pm
I just managed to capture a Paras. I've called her Phobia.
11:20pm
Okay, I've gone back through Ilex Forest, and I'm now ready to take on Route 34 properly. Goldenrod City, here I come!
As a side note, I rather liked the shifting patterns on the floor of Ilex Forest. Y'know, where light comes down through the trees.
11:23pm
Does anyone else not get why pokemon find Snubbull intimidating? It's just an ugly little pink thing that looks like it's wearing a dress... Still, your mileage may vary.
11:27pm
Mum's been spending my money... Still, it should at least be something useful.
11:33pm
And there we have it. The reason I've been holding back Lightyear's evolution all this time? I wanted him to learn Bug Bite which happens at level 15, but only if he's still a Weedle by then. As of now, Lightyear is officially a Kakuna!
...It's really rather strange watching a Kakuna following you in this game...
11:39pm
So it turns out that the Day Care people are Lyra's Grandparents. Go figure...
11:55pm
Well, I've finally reached Goldenrod City. It's getting late, so I think I'll explore the city properly tomorrow. Anything else I do tonight will just be levelling up or possibly catching a couple of pokemon. Maybe I'll already be able to attempt the Goldenrod Gym tomorrow. Who knows...
Laters!
Current Pokemon
Totodile, level 16
Pell - Pidgey, level 17
Roxxor - Geodude, level 16
Ratigan - Rattata, level 14
McTwisp - Sentret, level 12
Lightyear - Kakuna, level 15
Hollis - Hoothoot, level 15
Pitcher - Bellsprout, level 13
Cheshire - Gastly, level 12
Unown E, level 5
Togepi, level 1
Tesla - Mareep, level 14
Drifter - Hoppip, level 11
Coatl - Ekans, level 11
Newton - Wooper, level 12
Fidget - Zubat, level 11
Slowpoke, level 11 (x2)
Gomez - Oddish (M), level 5
Hana - Oddish (F), level 6
Phobia - Paras, level 5
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