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[chaobreaker]

Let me tell you: Nothing is worse than happiness in the world of Pokemon.

My Umbreon will be gated for at least the end of this week by the worst hidden mechanic in the series. I have to give my Eevee enough haircuts to evolve it now or else I miss out on some of Umbreon's best moves. I have no idea what level it will evolve either. Its the same crap every gen but it's tenfold more annoying in Gold and Silver. No soothe bells, spas, or other random items will expedite this stupid process. I just have to wait until Tuesday for the haircut brothers to start appearing in Goldenrod's underground.

TL;DR FUCK THE FRIENDSHIP STAT

 

[Novel Mike]

Let me tell you: Nothing is worse than happiness in the world of Pokemon.

My Umbreon will gated for at least the end of this week by the worst hidden mechanic in the series. I have to give my Eevee enough haircuts to evolve it or else I miss out on some of Umbreon's best moves. I have no idea what level it will evolve either. Its the same crap every gen but it's tenfold more annoying in Gold and Silver. No soothe bells, spas, or other random items will expedite this stupid process. I just have to wait until Tuesday for the haircut brothers to starg appearing in Goldenrod's underground.

TL;DR FUCK FRIENDSHIP

Um... You don't?

You gain happiness by walking around to you know. Just get on a bike and go up and down in near the middle of goldenrod between the route. It's 1 point every 256 steps but it'll only take an hour or so of doing that to get its happiness to the level you need you can also check where its happiness is at, at an NPC in Goldenrod as well.

http://www.psypokes.com/gsc/happiness.php

 

[chaobreaker]

Um... You don't?

You gain happiness by walking around to you know. Just get on a bike and go up and down in near the middle of goldenrod between the route. It's 1 point every 256 steps but it'll only take an hour or so of doing that to get its happiness to the level you need you can also check where its happiness is at, at an NPC in Goldenrod as well.

http://www.psypokes.com/gsc/happiness.php

I know everything I need to increase its friendship stat.

I don't want to bike around for an hour, though. That's the problem. That's why I hate friendship. I don't want to do any of this.

 

[tsundoku]

obscure features for desirable new interesting pokemon was the first right thing they ever did and then immediately after gold and silver they started adding lazy "convenience features" and basically killed the magic forever.

You're not supposed to have one perfect Umbreon blind, you're supposed to talk to your friends or seek out expert advice and have a shitty eevee that evolves 10 levels too late, and then get another eevee and accidentally end up with an espeon, or decide to make it a jolteon or whatever.

 

[MBS]

So it evolves to Umbreon/Espeon on the next level up (w/ high happiness), or there is a level cap (e.g after lvl 20)?

 

[Novel Mike]

I know everything I need to increase its friendship stat.

I don't want to bike around for an hour, though. That's the problem. That's why I hate friendship. I don't want to do any of this.

So you rather slowly raise its happiness by waiting and doing it over the course of a week and doing the small boosts rather then just knocking it out in an hour while you watch TV or something? You're choice man but I've had to do dozens of these before now and its just like grinding in any other way, its a lot better then just being locked out of an evolution because you can't trade.

So it evolves to Umbreon/Espeon on the next level up (w/ high happiness), or there is a level cap (e.g after lvl 20)?

No level cap but depends on time of day. Day=Espeon Night=Umbreon

 

[eefara]

Um... You don't?

You gain happiness by walking around to you know. Just get on a bike and go up and down in near the middle of goldenrod between the route. It's 1 point every 256 steps but it'll only take an hour or so of doing that to get its happiness to the level you need you can also check where its happiness is at, at an NPC in Goldenrod as well.

http://www.psypokes.com/gsc/happiness.php

Thanks for the link! Huh; I've always been a firm believer that status effects or boxing was a detriment to a Pokemon's happiness. Glad to be proven wrong.

 

[The Shadow Knight]

So how does everyone pronounce Raikou?

Rai-koh?
Rai-cow?
Rai-coo?
Something else?

I'm partial to Rai-koh myself.

 

[Novel Mike]

Thanks for the link! Huh; I've always been a firm believer that status effects or boxing was a detriment to a Pokemon's happiness. Glad to be proven wrong.

The older Pokemon games have mechanics that are not very well defined and Gen 2 introduced a lot of those like Happiness. You are far from thinking stuff like that effected happiness just like how myself and like every kid I knew thought that there was some kind of trick to catching a Pokemon in gen 1 like holding down B at the right time or Down on the depad or something because we didn't understand at all how the catching mechanic actually works.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

So how does everyone pronounce Raikou?

Rai-koh?
Rai-cow?
Rai-coo?
Something else?

I'm partial to Rai-koh myself.

Rai-kou because that's how it's supposed to be pronounced.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

I know everything I need to increase its friendship stat.

I don't want to bike around for an hour, though. That's the problem. That's why I hate friendship. I don't want to do any of this.

You think happiness is bad and riding around on a bike to increase that? How about IVs then? lol

 

[balladofwindfishes]

So how does everyone pronounce Raikou?

Rai-koh?
Rai-cow?
Rai-coo?
Something else?

I'm partial to Rai-koh myself.

Ray-coo

 

[The Shadow Knight]

Rai-kou because that's how it's supposed to be pronounced.

But I have to ask(at the risk of missing the joke): does "kou" have a consistent pronunciation in English?

 

[MBS]

Going back to G/S after HG/SS is as struggling and frustrating as any other return to an original title after experiencing it's (better) remake.

 

[eefara]

So how does everyone pronounce Raikou?

Rai-koh?
Rai-cow?
Rai-coo?
Something else?

I'm partial to Rai-koh myself.

I've always said "rie-koh" (rie rhymes with "bye").

The older Pokemon games have mechanics that are not very well defined and Gen 2 introduced a lot of those like Happiness. You are far from thinking stuff like that effected happiness just like how myself and like every kid I knew thought that there was some kind of trick to catching a Pokemon in gen 1 like holding down B at the right time or Down on the depad or something because we didn't understand at all how the catching mechanic actually works.

Now hold on. You can't tell me that holding down B at a specific moment won't guarantee a 100% catch rate. D: I still use that time-honored trick today!

Spoiler

And still have Pokemon escape.

 

[Alec]

Pronounce it in Japanese. Ra-i-ko-u.

RAH-EE-KOH-OO. Say it fast and it sounds like Rai-koh.

I've always said "rie-koh" (rie rhymes with "bye").

This.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

But I have to ask(at the risk of missing the joke): does "kou" have a consistent pronunciation in English?

The OU sound typically doesn't. That's why Toukyou is pronounced like "Toki-o" in the west.

 

[The Shadow Knight]

I've always said "rie-koh" (rie rhymes with "bye").

Yes, pretty much this.

The OU sound typically doesn't. That's why Toukyou is pronounced like "Toki-o" in the west.

's what I thought. Things also get more interesting when throwing non-native English speakers that did not get localized names for their language into the mix.

 

[Munch Poke]

This is a little off topic from what you are talking about, but I just wanted to point out to everyone that Zap Cannon and Dynamicpunch don’t have to be innacurate if you don’t want them to be!

In Gen 1 and 2 the item X Accuracy doesn’t boost accuracy 1 level, it actually turns off accuracy checks for all moves used by that Pokemon for the whole battle. Using an X Accuracy effectively turns all of a Pokemon’s moves into Swift! So buy and use a bunch of X Accuracy and enjoy 100% accurate Dynamicpunch and Zap Cannon.

Wow that's nuts. I've always felt using the x items was a little cheap and end up selling them. But apparently you can pull off some crazy stuff with them.

 

[Novel Mike]

Going back to G/S after HG/SS is as struggling and frustrating as any other return to an original title after experiencing it's (better) remake.

I actually don't think the HG/SS remakes are really better, they didn't fix many of the problems G/S actually had (like the experience curve leading up to the 8th gym and then to the final fight with Red) which pretty much every remake had by allowing you to re-battle trainers with an item or with a feature. Sure you can use the call system to get a rematch SOME times but its not a simple and easy to use thing like it is in the other games and Gold and Silver needed it excessively compared to other games in the series.

I also think the Physical/Special split for moves while being a huge feature that was seriously needed was not well implemented for older Pokemon. The older generations needed to have base stats adjusted for this massive change and they weren't. It was fine for many Gen 3 Pokemon because they seemed clearly designed around this eventually happening (Solrock and Lunatone are a perfect example of this) but Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon ended up getting pretty big nerfs due to this change. Sure it didn't effect moves they normally learned very much but if you look at Abra for example in G/S it can learn the elemental punches via TM, which makes it quite strong with a lot of type coverage but gen 4 making those moves all physical makes them largely worthless to Abra whose physical stat is next to nothing. I use Abra as an example because its the easiest to reference but there are better examples to be sure.

The point I'm making is that for all the things that the remakes added they also didn't do a very good job on actually improving the core game unlike the other various remakes. HG/SS is basically G/S with better graphics and gameplay features added in the time between when each game released, Fire Red/Leaf Green and the Gen 3 remakes weren't just that, they improved upon the base games with new content and ideas and fixed many of the problems those games had (although Gen 3 really really really could have used a fix to all the bloody water in the latter half of the game >.>)

 

[Shift Breaker]

This is a little off topic from what you are talking about, but I just wanted to point out to everyone that Zap Cannon and Dynamicpunch don’t have to be innacurate if you don’t want them to be!

In Gen 1 and 2 the item X Accuracy doesn’t boost accuracy 1 level, it actually turns off accuracy checks for all moves used by that Pokemon for the whole battle. Using an X Accuracy effectively turns all of a Pokemon’s moves into Swift! So buy and use a bunch of X Accuracy and enjoy 100% accurate Dynamicpunch and Zap Cannon.

Wow, I had no idea. I'm still playing Yellow before buying Gold, had no idea this was the case. Game changer.

 

[Arcia]

Wow, I had no idea. I'm still playing Yellow before buying Gold, had no idea this was the case. Game changer.

Its especially amazing in Gen 1 since you get Fissure and Horn Drill as TMs. 100% hit rate OHKO lol

 

[megarockexe]

This is a little off topic from what you are talking about, but I just wanted to point out to everyone that Zap Cannon and Dynamicpunch don’t have to be innacurate if you don’t want them to be!

In Gen 1 and 2 the item X Accuracy doesn’t boost accuracy 1 level, it actually turns off accuracy checks for all moves used by that Pokemon for the whole battle. Using an X Accuracy effectively turns all of a Pokemon’s moves into Swift! So buy and use a bunch of X Accuracy and enjoy 100% accurate Dynamicpunch and Zap Cannon.

Wow, I didn't know they were that broken before. Neat.

 

[Shinypogs]

Happiness has nothing on the tediousness of fishing for a god damn Feebas in Ruby.

I need to pick silver up soon and relive my younger years of pining for the game ( I left cut outs from every weekly store flier with the games all over the house til my mom took the hint), my frustration with that god damn miltank, the surprise of returning to kanto and the sweet joy of ultimate victory.

 

[Dark Orchid]

Just did the Dragon's Den "Challenge". Have a few thoughts on it.

Wow, this area just wasn't done. Like you're supposed to go prove yourself by... using Surf and Whirlpool in a cave of Magikarp. There's not even trainers or a test until Crystal. I do have a theory as to why this place seems unfinished, I believe another tower dungeon was supposed to be here but they decided they already had like 3-5 and scrapped it pretty late into development. There's a map that goes unused that is pretty clearly an early Blackthorn:

Would also somewhat explain the music, really makes no sense why a nearly empty cave gets a custom theme.

Also I feel like this is what inspired Ohmori to make the trials. Go do a thing instead of just fighting a boss. At least the trials were a little more fun or challenging that using two HMs.

 

[Redd]

I know everything I need to increase its friendship stat.

I don't want to bike around for an hour, though. That's the problem. That's why I hate friendship. I don't want to do any of this.

You picked the wrong kind of game to get mad about grinding. Many times some of your best moves can't even be learned until your past level 30. In pokemon you're gonna have to grind. It just got much easier in later generations.

 

[Bladenic]

Just did the Dragon's Den "Challenge". Have a few thoughts on it.

Wow, this area just wasn't done. Like you're supposed to go prove yourself by... using Surf and Whirlpool in a cave of Magikarp. There's not even trainers or a test until Crystal. I do have a theory as to why this place seems unfinished, I believe another tower dungeon was supposed to be here but they decided they already had like 3-5 and scrapped it pretty late into development. There's a map that goes unused that is pretty clearly an early Blackthorn:

Would also somewhat explain the music, really makes no sense why a nearly empty cave gets a custom theme.

Also I feel like this is what inspired Ohmori to make the trials. Go do a thing instead of just fighting a boss. At least the trials were a little more fun or challenging that using two HMs.

Always hated that place a kid. It's at least a bit better in the remakes (and Crystal I'm assuming).

 

[Crayolan]

I actually don't think the HG/SS remakes are really better, they didn't fix many of the problems G/S actually had (like the experience curve leading up to the 8th gym and then to the final fight with Red) which pretty much every remake had by allowing you to re-battle trainers with an item or with a feature. Sure you can use the call system to get a rematch SOME times but its not a simple and easy to use thing like it is in the other games and Gold and Silver needed it excessively compared to other games in the series.

I also think the Physical/Special split for moves while being a huge feature that was seriously needed was not well implemented for older Pokemon. The older generations needed to have base stats adjusted for this massive change and they weren't. It was fine for many Gen 3 Pokemon because they seemed clearly designed around this eventually happening (Solrock and Lunatone are a perfect example of this) but Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon ended up getting pretty big nerfs due to this change. Sure it didn't effect moves they normally learned very much but if you look at Abra for example in G/S it can learn the elemental punches via TM, which makes it quite strong with a lot of type coverage but gen 4 making those moves all physical makes them largely worthless to Abra whose physical stat is next to nothing. I use Abra as an example because its the easiest to reference but there are better examples to be sure.

The point I'm making is that for all the things that the remakes added they also didn't do a very good job on actually improving the core game unlike the other various remakes. HG/SS is basically G/S with better graphics and gameplay features added in the time between when each game released, Fire Red/Leaf Green and the Gen 3 remakes weren't just that, they improved upon the base games with new content and ideas and fixed many of the problems those games had (although Gen 3 really really really could have used a fix to all the bloody water in the latter half of the game >.>)

HGSS did fix one of gen 2's major issues: pokemon availability. Pretty much all the johto pokemon which are unusable in the main game due to their availability in GSC are now usable in HGSS thanks to the safari zone.

They also made some effort to remedy the level curve, even if it wasn't much. Really fixing the level curve would require making a more obvious path through the second half of Johto which I think they wanted to avoid in order to keep the game's nonlinearity.

Happiness has nothing on the tediousness of fishing for a god damn Feebas in Ruby.

I need to pick silver up soon and relive my younger years of pining for the game ( I left cut outs from every weekly store flier with the games all over the house til my mom took the hint), my frustration with that god damn miltank, the surprise of returning to kanto and the sweet joy of ultimate victory.

Feebas may have been annoying but I miss the days when there were legitimately rare pokemon like that. Getting a Milotic actually felt like a big deal. Nowadays you can get anything you want easily, which is nice, but there's no longer mystery and intrigue around certain pokemon.

Just did the Dragon's Den "Challenge". Have a few thoughts on it.

Wow, this area just wasn't done. Like you're supposed to go prove yourself by... using Surf and Whirlpool in a cave of Magikarp. There's not even trainers or a test until Crystal. I do have a theory as to why this place seems unfinished, I believe another tower dungeon was supposed to be here but they decided they already had like 3-5 and scrapped it pretty late into development. There's a map that goes unused that is pretty clearly an early Blackthorn:

Would also somewhat explain the music, really makes no sense why a nearly empty cave gets a custom theme.

Also I feel like this is what inspired Ohmori to make the trials. Go do a thing instead of just fighting a boss. At least the trials were a little more fun or challenging that using two HMs.

I see that beta map and can't help but think it looks like a hell specifically designed to torture twitchplayspokemon.

 

[Novel Mike]

Nuzlocke Update! 6th Gym Beaten but the loses continue...

Version: Silver
Badges: 6
Pokemon Dead: 7
Pokemon Owned: 47 (This includes evolutions)

Current Party:
Meganium (Stassi) Level 32 *NEWLY EVOLVED!!*
Ampharos (Tsuyana) level 31
Raticate (Triss) Level 27
Fearow (Luggins) Level 31
Gyarados (Rashred) Level 30 *NEW!*
Machop (Chopper) Level 14

Pokemon in the bank:
Gastley (Wizwick)
Togepi (Eggberta)
Slowpoke (Estra)
Oddish (Zonni)
Paras (Vivina)
Eevee (Debbie)
Exeggcute (Jellina)
Koffing (Teddie)
Sudowoodo (Rocktree)
Shuckle (SHUCKIE the gift Pokemon, I'll rename it if I can)
Poliwag (Tassi)
Farfetch'd (Dumass)
Magnemite (Volt)
Krabby (Murky)
Tentacruel (Kist)
Corsola (Korin)
Chinchou (Tater) *NEW!*
Staryu (Sloak) *NEW!*
Natu (Xed) *NEW!*
Girafarig (Freed) *NEW!*

Pokemon at the Daycare:
Ditto (Copycat)

Fallen Pokemon:
Beedrill (Stabi) Died to Espeon (Confusion)
Zubat (Sreek) Died to Espeon (Confusion)
Pidgeotto (Coco) Died to Machoke (Rock Slide)
Furret (Tren) Died to Poliwrath (Dynamic Punch)
Tentacool (Quotaro) Released due to catching its evolution
Magickarp (Sacrif) Released due to catching its evolution
Kadabra (Vera) Died to Graverler (Selfdestruct) *NEW and NEWLY EVOLVED!!*
Graverler (Dudebro) Died to Steelix (Iron Tail)

Progress Report: Welp I pretty much wasted a bunch of time again, I got Abra from the game corner, taught it all of the elemental moves, evolved it to Kadabra and it was wrecking everything until a Graverler stayed alive with maybe 5 hp and it self destructed which of course took out Kadabra without any effort. It was doing really well too and thought I'd be my ace against the 8th gym but nope I should have been more careful but thats the only time I've ran into something this run that had self destruct but I should have remembered my own Graverler had it by that level so it was possible it would also have it.

Leveling as slowed to a standstill, took the entire light house and then some to get Meganium just a few levels to reach its evolution but I'm glad thats now out of the way. I caught some really good Pokemon like Staryu, Natu, and Girafarig but only the latter among those three will be good in the near future if I put time into it. Natu takes forever to learn Psychic and the TM is far away, Staryu can't evolve until Johto as well so I'm limited on many of the options I have going forward.

Right now I brought out Machop to level it up to help with the next gym while I don't think it'll be super hard since I know he doesn't have pure ice types (hes got at least one with water which I can take care of with ease) but what I am afraid of at this point is losing my core team (Meganium, Ampharos, Fearow, Gyarados) since all are strong and I'll need each of them for the 8th gym and the elite 4 and losing even one of them would be really bad just for the amount of time It'll take to grind up a proper replacement. So Machop is both someone who can take on Ice types but also someone I can sacrifice if needed but I will have to put in a bit of time to get it leveled enough to make it worth it. The Raticate is just an HM slave atm although its a decent enough level that it can hold its own but I need to start figuring out who among I've caught would be the best option going forward or if I should wait and see what I get after this 7th gym.

 

[Dad]

Mountain route, 10% encounter tree, and I haven't seen a single Heracross in an hour and a half. And it can flee from battle too? Yeah, I don't miss these head butt trees at all

 

[Munch Poke]

Man, fuck that Miltank.

 

[ASaiyan]

Mountain route, 10% encounter tree, and I haven't seen a single Heracross in an hour and a half. And it can flee from battle too? Yeah, I don't miss these head butt trees at all

I spent three hours on those trees and just gave up. 10% encounter rate my ass, lol.

 

[MBS]

I actually don't think the HG/SS remakes are really better, they didn't fix many of the problems G/S actually had (like the experience curve leading up to the 8th gym and then to the final fight with Red) which pretty much every remake had by allowing you to re-battle trainers with an item or with a feature. Sure you can use the call system to get a rematch SOME times but its not a simple and easy to use thing like it is in the other games and Gold and Silver needed it excessively compared to other games in the series.

I also think the Physical/Special split for moves while being a huge feature that was seriously needed was not well implemented for older Pokemon. The older generations needed to have base stats adjusted for this massive change and they weren't. It was fine for many Gen 3 Pokemon because they seemed clearly designed around this eventually happening (Solrock and Lunatone are a perfect example of this) but Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon ended up getting pretty big nerfs due to this change. Sure it didn't effect moves they normally learned very much but if you look at Abra for example in G/S it can learn the elemental punches via TM, which makes it quite strong with a lot of type coverage but gen 4 making those moves all physical makes them largely worthless to Abra whose physical stat is next to nothing. I use Abra as an example because its the easiest to reference but there are better examples to be sure.

The point I'm making is that for all the things that the remakes added they also didn't do a very good job on actually improving the core game unlike the other various remakes. HG/SS is basically G/S with better graphics and gameplay features added in the time between when each game released, Fire Red/Leaf Green and the Gen 3 remakes weren't just that, they improved upon the base games with new content and ideas and fixed many of the problems those games had (although Gen 3 really really really could have used a fix to all the bloody water in the latter half of the game >.>)

Valid points, but Abra and it's evolutions having elemental punches with high physical stat would 've been total overkill and it wouldn't make sense in the first place as they are psychic pokemon.

I don't think that G/S had any major flaws to be fixed in the first place, comparing to Gen1 where everything was completely broken gameplay and stats-wise and they had to fix a ton of things in FRLF.

Actually they did their best adding great extra content in HGSS, considering that the postgame from the original games was a last-minute afterthought and nerfed from the get go without much to do after Red. New Elite Four after you beat them, Gen 1 starters, Kyogre-Groudon-Rayquaza-Mewtwo and the Gen1 legendary birds, as well as Latios-Latias and Gen IV legendaries as well as the Celebi backstory event at Ilex Forest are definitely a pretty stacked list of additions for a remake.

 

[Dark Orchid]

I know there's only one special DV, but this is technically a Gen 6+ stat spread for a legendary.

Also forgot how fun legendary Pokemon with Recover were.

 

[MicH]

Its especially amazing in Gen 1 since you get Fissure and Horn Drill as TMs. 100% hit rate OHKO lol

I am disgusted :lol

 

[Inyourprime]

Mountain route, 10% encounter tree, and I haven't seen a single Heracross in an hour and a half. And it can flee from battle too? Yeah, I don't miss these head butt trees at all

Heh, I've been incredibly lucky on my playthrough. Managed to catch an Abra my first try with one pokeball left in my inventory and found a two Heracrosses in a span of 25-30 minutes. I probably would have caught the first one too if I hadn't fucked up a ran.

 

[Dark Orchid]

Mountain route, 10% encounter tree, and I haven't seen a single Heracross in an hour and a half. And it can flee from battle too? Yeah, I don't miss these head butt trees at all

Still not exactly sure how they work, myself. Basically what I was doing was doing 10 encounters per tree, leaving the route for about 15 steps, going back and trying again. I do know that the trees won't shift if you don't move in front of them and keep trying should Heracross flee.

Also if you're going for Pineco, if you see a Kakuna or Metapod it's not the right type of tree.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Echoing the thoughts about Friendship... eh. Yeah it's a pain in the ass, but I think it works as long as you're not obsessing about it. My Togepi only just evolved at level 26, right before going to Mahogany Town.

Like really, just don't sweat it too hard. It'll evolve when it evolves. I'm not really going out of my way to grind or anything and I've been able to chug through the game without too much difficulty.

 

[Kirlia]

Man, fuck that Miltank.

I somehow never had a problem with it as a kid (as far as I can remember), but yeah, it's quite a beast! Rollout hurts and all, but if you don't have a Fighting type, Miltank is pretty bulky! And fast as well. My Croconaw would have been taken out if Rollout hadn't missed once.

Can't wait to catch a Miltank for myself, especially since I've never used one before.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Just a reminder, the Moon Ball does literally nothing special in GS due to a coding error. It increases the chance of catching Pokemon that evolve using a Burn Heal.

Also the Love Ball works best on same gender Pokemon, unlike the description implies. Also due to a bug.

Fast Ball's bonus only works on Magnemite, Grimer and Tangela

Balls are busted in GS.

Level and Heavy balls work as intended.

 

[The Shadow Knight]

Managed to catch all the gerbils.

Thank god for cloned Master Balls(and repels).

I have half a mind to clone a box full of this Raikou to try to fish for a HP Ice one after transfer.

 

[Novel Mike]

Nuzlocke Update! 7th Gym Beaten! Only 1 left until the E4!

Version: Silver
Badges: 7
Pokemon Dead: 8
Pokemon Owned: 49 (This includes evolutions)

Current Party:
Meganium (Stassi) Level 32
Ampharos (Tsuyana) level 32
Raticate (Triss) Level 27
Fearow (Luggins) Level 31
Gyarados (Rashred) Level 31
Machoke (Chopper) Level 31 *NEWLY EVOLVED!!*

Pokemon in the bank:
Gastley (Wizwick)
Togepi (Eggberta)
Slowpoke (Estra)
Oddish (Zonni)
Eevee (Debbie)
Exeggcute (Jellina)
Koffing (Teddie)
Sudowoodo (Rocktree)
Shuckle (SHUCKIE the gift Pokemon, I'll rename it if I can)
Poliwag (Tassi)
Farfetch'd (Dumass)
Magnemite (Volt)
Krabby (Murky)
Tentacruel (Kist)
Corsola (Korin)
Chinchou (Tater)
Staryu (Sloak)
Natu (Xed)
Girafarig (Freed)
Electrode (Sploading) *NEW!*
Pokemon at the Daycare:
Ditto (Copycat)

Fallen Pokemon:
Beedrill (Stabi) Died to Espeon (Confusion)
Zubat (Sreek) Died to Espeon (Confusion)
Pidgeotto (Coco) Died to Machoke (Rock Slide)
Furret (Tren) Died to Poliwrath (Dynamic Punch)
Tentacool (Quotaro) Released due to catching its evolution
Magickarp (Sacrif) Released due to catching its evolution
Kadabra (Vera) Died to Graverler (Selfdestruct)
Graverler (Dudebro) Died to Steelix (Iron Tail)
Paras (Vivina) Died to Piloswine (Icy Wind)

Progress Report: 7th Gym was pretty easy, I used the rocket base to level up Machoke so by the time I was finished there he only needed a little more experience to be ready and then did great in the Gym. I ended up sacrificing Paras in order to get a proper switch out since I didn't know if Piloswine had something crazy like Earthquake or something but it worked out in the end and didn't lose anyone besides the Paras so thats pretty good. I've been lucky enough to not take any major losses on my core team and I've got to admit this Machoke has impressed me quite a bit, I'll likely keep it around for the time being until I get something better or if I'm able to evolve some of my other Pokemon I've got in the box.

While Next up is the 8th gym I've got another rival fight and having to take out Team Rocket in Goldenrod before I can actually move on but once I do so I've got an opportunity to catch like 4ish Pokemon before the next gym maybe more so I'm going to make sure I'm ready before this next fight. I'd like to have an ice type for this gym but honestly if I catch one I may just keep it safe in a box and level it to use against Lance as otherwise I have no freaking idea how I'll be able to take on his several Dragonites.

Of course the 8th gym is first and I'll do what I have to but the real threat is only the Kingdra (which is a huge huge threat since it has no weaknesses) but hopefully I'll have my team around the same level as it before we actually go into battle but we'll have to see. 8th gym and the elite 4 are easily the worst chance I have to getting absolutely wrecked and getting a game over.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Managed to catch all the gerbils.

Thank god for cloned Master Balls(and repels).

I have half a mind to clone a box full of this Raikou to try to fish for a HP Ice one after transfer.

Gerbils?

 

[chaobreaker]

You picked the wrong kind of game to get mad about grinding. Many times some of your best moves can't even be learned until your past level 30. In pokemon you're gonna have to grind. It just got much easier in later generations.

I breed hundreds of perfect IV Pokemon in my life. I know about the grind. Just despise happiness.

Echoing the thoughts about Friendship... eh. Yeah it's a pain in the ass, but I think it works as long as you're not obsessing about it. My Togepi only just evolved at level 26, right before going to Mahogany Town.

Like really, just don't sweat it too hard. It'll evolve when it evolves. I'm not really going out of my way to grind or anything and I've been able to chug through the game without too much difficulty.

Egg Pokemon get a huge happiness head start. Same can't be said for the level 20 gift Eevee you can get.

 

[ASaiyan]

Gerbils?

There was a long and bloody war over 'Legendary cats' vs 'Legendary dogs', and those who wanted to stay out of it and mock the fighting humorously decided on 'gerbils'.

Spoiler

They're dogs though.

 

[backlot]

I breed hundreds of perfect IV Pokemon in my life. I know about the grind. Just despise happiness.



Egg Pokemon get a huge happiness head start. Same can't be said for the level 20 gift Eevee you can get.

You could breed a new Eevee.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I think it's funny how elusive they made Eevee in the first few generations before saying fuck it and just making it a wild encounter.

Iirc Diamond and Pearl were the first games that made Eevee catchable, but it was under special circumstances so it was still easier to just get one and breed it.

 

[chaobreaker]

You could breed a new Eevee.

I would then have to walk the 8960 steps needed to hatch an Eevee without any of the later gen hatching perks. No way.

 

[CazTGG]

Team update (4th Gym):

Finally bred my Egg move-knowing Chikorita. I'm going with Xatu for this run and will save Dragonite for another planned team if Crystal comes out because there is no way i'll have a Dragonite before Red, let alone the Elite Four.

I know there's only one special DV, but this is technically a Gen 6+ stat spread for a legendary.

Also forgot how fun legendary Pokemon with Recover were.

I always forget how Gen II became a massive stall game competitively. See also: Knock out Snorlax before it boosts or you will lose.

Man, fuck that Miltank.

Honestly, I don't know how people can complain about it today. Sure, younger players might not have a grasp on all the type dis/advantages but there's no shortage of opportunities for more experienced players to take, not even accounting for the Machop trade. They can:
-Have Mareep/Flaaffy use Thunder Wave to cripple Miltank and ensure it won't cause you to flinch with Stomp or prevent it from recovering with Milk Drink if it happens to be fully paralyzed on the turn they planned on using that move. You could also try to burn them with Fire Punch but that's less reliable and would still allow Miltank to recover/move before your party members.
-Use a Geodude or Onix or their respective evolutions who can tank Miltank's Normal/Rock moves like there's no tomorrow. Special shoutout to Geodude who can out Rollout her 1 v. 1 and use Defense Curl for a boost on their first hit.
-Use Mud Slap to weaken Miltank's accuracy so the already inaccurate Rollout doesn't build up momentum. If you're using Cyndaquil (should be Quilava by this point), you can also use Smokescreen for the same effect minus the minute damage output.
-Use a Drowzee and put it to sleep. Drowzee is bulky enough to stomach a hit or two from Miltank, though Hypnosis has fairly shaky accuracy.

 

[Mr-Joker]

Friendship evolution are fine in later generation when they added more feature to make it easier like the Luxury Ball, the Soothe Bell and move reminder.

It's just the original gen 2 it's harder due having to it being slower.

Just did the Dragon's Den "Challenge". Have a few thoughts on it.

Wow, this area just wasn't done. Like you're supposed to go prove yourself by... using Surf and Whirlpool in a cave of Magikarp. There's not even trainers or a test until Crystal. I do have a theory as to why this place seems unfinished, I believe another tower dungeon was supposed to be here but they decided they already had like 3-5 and scrapped it pretty late into development. There's a map that goes unused that is pretty clearly an early Blackthorn:

Would also somewhat explain the music, really makes no sense why a nearly empty cave gets a custom theme.

Also I feel like this is what inspired Ohmori to make the trials. Go do a thing instead of just fighting a boss. At least the trials were a little more fun or challenging that using two HMs.

Interesting, I wonder why they change it as it would have helped a bit with the level curve and extend Johto just a bit longer.

They also made some effort to remedy the level curve, even if it wasn't much. Really fixing the level curve would require making a more obvious path through the second half of Johto which I think they wanted to avoid in order to keep the game's nonlinearity.

Kinda ironic that they wanted to keep the non linearity of the original but with the Hoenn remake they had no qualms in making it liner and blocking off areas that the players could access early like the basement of Granite Cave.

I really don't like how Game Freak is removing the freedom of exploration and dumbing down the game play, it feels like they are trying to suck out the magic of the game which they nearly did with X and Y though thankfully they managed to add it back in Sun and Moon.

Mountain route, 10% encounter tree, and I haven't seen a single Heracross in an hour and a half. And it can flee from battle too? Yeah, I don't miss these head butt trees at all

You think headbutting tree is bad? The Sinnoh game method was much worse as you would have to slather the tree with honey, wait for 6 hour in real time to pass just for the hope that the shaking honey tree has the Pokémon you want.

Oh and if you want Muchlax? Pfft good luck as the glutton Pokémon was exclusive to four of twenty one tree and it was dependent on your Trainer ID and Secret ID meaning it was different from file to file.

The ironic thing is that this was originally going to be in the gen 2 game but was dropped.