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GMH plays Pokémon Perfect Crystal: the Quest for the Full Pokédex
Comments
[5:21 PM] GMH: they actually have better movesets
[5:21 PM] GMH: i just walked into the first gym without proper preparation aside from grabbing my geodude
[5:22 PM] GMH: breezed through the lieutenants
[5:25 PM] GMH: honestly, the entire gym consists solely of four pidgeys and one (mysteriously underleveled) pidgeotto
[5:25 PM] GMH: Falkner does warn you before the battle that he won't stand for electric types zapping stuff
[5:25 PM] GMH: and sure enough, both his pokémon have a ground-type move
[5:26 PM] GMH: which incidentally also messes with rock-type pokemon trying to take advantage of defensive typing
[5:26 PM] GMH: also, this romhack, Pokémon Perfect Crystal 2020, gives his pokémon slightly higher levels
[5:27 PM] GMH: apparently in the originalthey're level 7 pidgey and level 9 pidgeotto
[5:27 PM] GMH: in this hack they're levels 9 and 13 respectively
[5:27 PM] GMH: still underleveled for the pidgeotto but not as absurd i guess?
[5:29 PM] GMH: oh the ground-type move also messed with my ability to use my gastly since it's also poison type not to mention that pidgeotto is also part normal type so i can't attack it directly even though i can put it to sleep with hypnosis
[5:30 PM] GMH: incidentally i'm checking bulbapedia and apparently the new levels are taken from HGSS...but not the new movesets, which means he's still got the tougher moveset but also the tougher level
Edit: I think the first of those pidgeys is actually a spearow, but it's not like that makes much of a difference
One of the ironies of this run is that I'm going to be doing a lot of evolving stuff and then promptly dumping it back into Bill's PC once it's fully evolved. So I'll be running around with chronically non-final-stage pokémon.
Anyway, the 24th entry added to my collection is now Beedrill. I've also seen Houndour but didn't capture it.
box 1: reserved for general use
box 2: reserved for general use
box 3: two-stage evolutions (incomplete) - 2StgEv
box 4: three-stage evolutions (incomplete) - 3StgEv
box 5: two-stage stone evolutions (incomplete) - 2StgStEv
box 6: three-stage stone evolutions (incomplete) - 3StgStEv
box 7: unusual evolution situations (e.g. eevee for umbreon/espeon) - UnusEv
boxes 8-9: completed evolutions - Complet'd (the 'd forms one character space)
boxes 10-11: no-evolution chain pokémon - No-Chain
box 12: incomplete evolutions with no plans for evolution (e.g. magikarp because I'll already have a shiny gyarados) - Stopped
box 13: Unown A-T - UnownA-T
box 14: Unown U-Z + shinies (I don't expect to get more than 14 shinies) UnownUZ&
What makes this difficult is that I don't know how much the boxes will balloon necessitating spillover.
Complete Evolutions will probably gradually grow "backwards" into the earlier boxes.
Also, Houndour get.
Now, upon stepping outside, a scientist is there to greet me. Talking to him causes him to upgrade my Pokédex, giving it an Unown mode, allowing me to view each distinct Unown letter I've caught.
Each Unown letter is associated with a word. The ones I have so far are BEAR, FIND, and JOIN.
Additional observation: The Unown picture used in my Pokédex shows the very first Unown letter I've caught -- in my case, an Unown F.
So far I've seen ten -- the first ten letters from A to J. I have caught only three of them, and have only 2 pokéballs left. I need to actually beat the Violet City gym to proceed, and that'll also get me a bunch more money.
I still don't know what the machine that "doesn't seem to work yet" in the corner of the Ruins of Alph research lab will do...
Unrelated observations:
* Zubat seems to be quite fast.
* Sentret seems to be rather unremarkable compared to Rattata. However, it seems that it has better special stats.
Also, while trying to raise Zubat to get it to learn Bite, I unintentionally got Geodude to learn Rock Throw (it does so at level 11). Suddenly, I have my first super-effective move against flying-types.
In the meantime I did nearly empty out my wallet to buy a few more pokéballs. That's how I caught the Houndour and Unown J I mentioned earlier, and I also just now caught Unown K, I, and A. Now I have a South Korean car!
Anyway, I walked back into Faulkner's gym with the following (in some order):
* L12 Totodile - Scratch, Leer, Rage
* L12 Pidgey - Tackle, Sand-Attack, Gust
* L10 Rattata - Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack
* L11 Geodude - Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Throw
* L10 Poliwag - Bubble, Hypnosis
* L10 Spearow - Peck, Growl, Leer
I figured I needed to save Geodude for the Pidgeotto, so I faced the first lieutenant's L9 Spearow with my L10 Spearow. It won easily, but noting how I could have wasted even less HP, I threw my Geodude at the second lieutenant's two L7 Pidgeys. With Rock Throw, it one-shot both of them.
Then came Faulkner. I beat his L9 Pidgey with my now L11 Spearow, but more importantly, against his L13 Pidgeotto, I brought out my L10 Poliwag. It ate a 15-damage Gust but then landed a successful Hypnosis.
I then switched to Geodude, and Rock Throw got me a 2-hit KO on the dreaded Pidgeotto.
It was, honestly, anticlimactic.
And now I can refight Faulkner anytime. But even without that, I've just got money for like 8 more pokéballs.
time to waste six of them on Unown lettersbellsprout
chikorita
hoothoot
ledyba
spinarak
hoppip
there is a move deleter in this game in case I want to get rid of it later
I still haven't decided whether I'm okay with leaving a pokémon's moveset suboptimal when stone-evolving them to a form that doesn't learn anything else.
e.g. is it okay for me to evolve weepinbell to victreebel immediately when i first get weepinbell, just to get the pokédex entry and then dump it in my Completed boxes?
I had no balls to catch it though.
Also I just discovered that gen 2 introduced footprint data.
I think I need to go to Dark Cave but apparently I can also go south from Violet City onto a different route.
and now that's the end of that evolutionary chain. I'm gonna try to raise up my Spinarak and Zubat beyond their early uselessness (right now Spinarak's only attack is Poison Sting and Zubat's only attack is the even less useful Leech Life as it has less PP).
Also carrying around an egg as a favor for Prof. Elm.
record #32: Wooper
Finally had the balls this time.
Ventured further south rather than going into Dark Cave. Fought some trainers.
seen: Nidoran (female), Nidoran (male), Magikarp
Walked back up to Violet City and...
record #33: Togepi
A level 5 Togepi, which only knows Growl (lowers foe's attack) and Charm (sharply lowers foe's attack), popped out.
Zubat now knows Bite and is no longer useless. (Also gives me another good way to deal with ghosts, beyond just Gastly Licking them and Hoothoot Foresighting them.)
Spinarak on the other hand just learned Constrict and turns out to be still about as useless. Constrict's 10 power is even worse than Poison Sting's 15 power (which also has STAB).
Amusingly, Constrict is its third move that lowers speed. It already has String Shot and Scary Face.
It will learn Night Shade at level 17, but that's the last thing it'll learn before evolving into Ariados at level 22, so I think I'm going to just put it back in the box for now.
Togepi now knows Metronome, which is fun and games until it uses Explosion as a result. Which, of course, it just did. Togepi and its evolution Togetic also turn out to an even more tedious duo to level up, considering that I just found that it learns no attacks until its only attack move in 38, which means Metronoming the entire way there (unless I treat it as a switch-out-on-first-move thing).
Current team comp:
Totodile L13 - Scratch, Leer, Rage, Water Gun (yes, it finally learned a move of its own type)
Bellsprout L10 - Vine Whip, Growth. I plan to make this learn Flash.
Poliwag L12 - Bubble, Hypnosis
Zubat L12 - Leech Life, Supersonic, Bite
Options:
Wooper L4
Houndour L5
Chikorita L5
Vulpix L5
Ledyba L4
Hoothoot L10
Hoppip L10
Gastly L11 (note that trade evolutions will work differently in this hack, specifically
Cyndaquil L10
Sentret L10
Spearow L11
Geodude L12
Pidgey L12
Rattata L11
Spinarak L11
Togepi L7
Pick two.
Record #34: Ekans
Wrap has an interesting mechanic. It's sorta like poison but temporary and also prevents the target from switching out.
Record #35: Mareep
It appears to not have an electric attack at these low levels.
Since I already know that a shiny Gyarados will be available later, this means I can just deposit this in a box and be done with it. This is thankful since I already have enough things that I'm doing swap-out training for.
Seriously, doing this makes it like some sort of rite of passage for a pokémon to be able to hold its own in battle and actually defeat something. Even if this means Tackling a Magikarp like 15 times just to win. (Well, it took me a combined 25 Tackles to take down two level 10 Magikarps with a level 7 and then level 8 Ledyba, so...)
Also, I just learned that, according to https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Fishing , there is only one way to get a level 5 Magikarp: it's only available on Route 32, and only during a Qwilfish swarm.
So there's this one trainer on that route who has a level 5 Magikarp, a level 5 Magikarp, a level 15 Magikarp, and a level 5 Magikarp (in that order). He must have caught at least three Magikarp during specifically a Qwilfish swarm.
Also I just sorted my pokémon into various boxes. I'm not entirely sure my design was optimal, because having everything in Box 1 meant it was convenient for me to see all the mons I had at my disposal. Now I think I should instead consult my sheet.
Since I now have the Old Rod, I can get this from the Dark Cave.
Anyhow it looks like I can't get any further in this cave without Rock Smash and/or Surf. All this hype for nothing. Well I do have a Ledyba I can come back here with later.
Apparently there's also a chance of encountering a Teddiursa in the morning. I will have to come back here later anyway.
Here are the choices, again:
two-stage evolutions:
Ekans L4 - Wrap, Leer [evolves at L22]
Wooper L4 - Water Gun, Tail Whip [evolves at L20]
Hoothoot L10 - Tackle, Growl, Foresight [evolves at L20]
Sentret L10 - Tackle, Defense Curl [evolves at L15]
Spearow L11 - Peck, Growl, Leer [evolves at L20]
Rattata L11 - Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack [evolves at L20]
Spinarak L11 - Poison Sting, String Shot, Scary Face, Constrict [evolves at L22]
Togepi L7 - Growl, Charm, Metronome [evolves on happiness, no moveset change]
Goldeen L10 - Peck, Growl, Supersonic [evolves at L33]
three-stage evolutions:
Mareep L6 - Tackle, Growl [evolves at L15, L30]
Chikorita L5 - Tackle, Growl [evolves at L16, L32]
Hoppip L10 - Splash, Synthesis, Tail Whip, Tackle [evolves at L18, L27]
Cyndaquil L10 - Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen [evolves at L14, L36]
Pidgey L12 - Tackle, Sand-Attack, Gust [evolves at L18, L36]
two-stage stone evolutions:
Vulpix L5 - Ember, Tail Whip [evolves using Fire Stone - stops learning new moves]
three-stage stone evolutions:
Gastly L11 - Hypnosis, Lick, Spite [evolves at L25, Moon Stone - no moveset change]
Geodude L12 - Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Throw [evolves at L25, Moon Stone - no moveset change]
As a reminder, my current team comp is:
Poliwag L13 - Bubble, Hypnosis, Water Gun [three-stage stone evolution, evolves at L25, Water Stone/Moon Stone - moveset changes in both cases]
Totodile L13 - Scratch, Leer, Rage, Water Gun [three-stage evolution, evolves at L18, L30]
Zubat L12 - Leech Life, Supersonic, Bite [two-stage evolution, evolves at L22]
Bellsprout L11 - Vine Whip, Growth, Wrap [three-stage stone evolution, evolves at L21, Leaf Stone - stops learning new moves]
Houndour L7 - Leer, Ember, Roar [two-stage evolution, evolves at L24]
I also need to catch a second Poliwag or a Poliwhirl for the alternate evolution, since this can end in either Poliwrath or Politoed.
Though it's not strictly necessary, since Zubats tend to be weak anyway.
(My only access to Psychic-type moves right now is Butterfree, but it's fully-evolved already, so...)
Ninetales only learns Fire Spin, so Vulpix should be leveled up to at least 31 (to learn Flamethrower) before being evolved to Ninetales.
This is what happens if you go back to Prof. Elm but don't bring the togepi (or whatever it is).
Also, Mareep gains XP really quickly, I noticed.
Also I just ran out of pokéballs again and bought six more just now.
lol "morning starts at 4am"
Weepinbell starts with these four moves:
Vine Whip
Growth
Wrap
Sleep Powder
Then the next move it can learn is PoisonPowder. What should it replace? The basically useless Growth? The pathetically weak Wrap? Let's say it doesn't replace either, because it's kinda useless itself in comparison to Sleep Powder, except as a thing to damage very strong foes.
Stun Spore is up next, and I don't think I want it to learn that if it already has Sleep Powder.
Acid finally gives us a viable attack to replace Wrap. Unfortunately Growth doesn't help it since gen 2 poison is always physical.
Sweet Scent lowers evasion and seems useless but apparently it can be used outside of battle, which makes it a must-have for catching stuff. It replaces Growth (or whatever replaced Growth already).
Razor Leaf finally replaces Vine Whip. (This was before they gave more PP to Vine Whip.)
Slam then could replace Sweet Scent or Sleep Powder but for a good utility pokémon for to help catching stuff it doesn't seem like a good choice.
(that one Hiker lol)
Record #40: Sandshrew
Also, there's this one Firebreather who complains about Zubat's Supersonic confusing his pokémon. He's probably talking about wild Zubats, but I thought this screenshot was funny:
This screenshot also coincidentially illustrates one frame of the animation for Supersonic, showing how the loops are actually "blurred" as an actual frame of the animation.
seen: Koffing
Record #41: Onix
At first I thought this was a quick addition to the no-evol box but then I remembered that gen 2 introduces Steelix.
Sidenotes:
* I wonder if Houndour just gains XP really slowly.
* noteworthily fast (in speed stat, not XP gain) pokémon: Poliwag, Zubat, Magikarp
* Pokémaniac Larry says that every Friday he can hear roars from deep inside Union Cave. I also can't go any further into the second level of the cave, so he might be onto something...
* Firebreather Ray has a Vulpix and he lights up the cave using his pokémon's fire. He also says "FLASH!" when defeated. I wonder if his Vulpix actually knows Flash. (I only gave it one turn before the battle ended, and it used Ember.)
seen: Slowpoke
And, if the guy selling Slowpoketail (for one million Pokédollars! lol) north of Union Cave wasn't enough of an indication, we've just arrived at the first scene of Team Rocket's malfeasance. Kurt won't make balls, and the Charcoal Man presumably has Cut, which I think we need to get further in Ilex Forest. But we'll need to deal with this Slowpoke Well business first.
Also, this is the first instance of a separate battle theme for a trainer who's neither a gymleader nor a rival. (Well, technically, GSC also introduces the rival theme; RBY rival uses regular battle theme for all battles except the last one, then one separate theme for the last battle, so it's not really a rival theme as much as a champion theme.)
Incidentally, I noticed that it seems that every trainer I've beaten (ever since paying attention to this) has given me an amount of money that's divisible by 4. I wonder if this applies to every trainer in the game. I also know that my mom is saving my money by way of me sending her 1/4 of my winnings every time I win a battle, so I think this might be the cause of it.
Anyhow, I had fun with the first Team Rocket grunt; burned his first Rattata and then Roared it out with my Houndour. However, I bet poorly and he actually knocked out my Houndour so she got none of the XP.
Also I wonder whether i should refer to pokémon as "it" with gendered pronouns, since this is the first game where they have genders. As well as the first game where Rocket grunts have genders too!
The second grunt, who is female, has an Ekans, who used Wrap on my Houndour. Now, I have an opportunity to see what happens when I Roar out an opponent that's used Wrap. Wrap makes it so that the target can't be recalled. And just as I thought it should, Roaring out the pokémon that used Wrap makes it so that Wrap's effect ends.
Also it seems that if an opponent that is Roared out is defeated, the XP only counts for the pokémon that battled it during its own "phase". I'm not sure how to describe it, but consider that my Houndour damaged this trainer's Ekans and then Roared it out. Later, after her other pokémon (a Zubat) was defeated, she actually then sent out her Ekans again, and this time I switched to my Zubat. My Zubat got all the XP for defeating it.
By the way, I've noticed that in this game, while trainers must start on their first pokémon, they sometimes send out not their next pokémon. Apparently this is in the AI now. I've seen this happen with both That One Fisher Who Has A Team Full Of Magikarp and also one of The Hiker With Three Geodudes.
Also, Mareep seems to be pretty fast too. Level 13 Mareep outsped Level 9 Zubat, so they're at least vaguely comparable.