Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Part 3

My team at the beginning of this phase of my journey.

Last time in the Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Challenge, I headed into Mt. Moon, battled several tough Trainers, added new members to my team, evolved a couple of pre-existing ones, took down several members of Team Rocket, and obtained both the Dome Fossil and Moon Stones. This time, starting off in Cerulean City, I decided to prep my team for taking on Misty by battling the Trainers on my way to meeting up with Bill the Pokémaniac, creator of the PC Storage System. Before that, though, I decided to swoop back to Route 4 (the eastern half of it, anyway) and do some training. And, while I was there, I caught a new Pokémon.

No, I’ve never watched From Dusk till Dawn, but I was trying to come up with a nickname for this, and that was the best I could think of. lol

…I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I’m gonna do with this one. Not because I have any kind of issue with Ekans, just that my team has already become a little Poison heavy, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Still, might be a good idea to have it as a back-up. In the meantime, though, I had…slightly different snakes to concern myself with.

“Which is why I only have a team of 4!” XP

I swear, it’s almost like this Abra is here specifically for the purpose of getting the newbie on your team some experience. That said, probably the best use of Leech Life and Astonish I’ve ever gotten.

…Okay, I’m with Petty Artist on this one: You fucking hack evolved your Level 17 Pidgey into a Pidgeotto, but you didn’t evolve your Level 18 Starter? I honestly can’t think of anyway this guy could insult me as a Trainer any more than thinking I couldn’t handle his Ivysaur at this point.

… …Okay, well, I stand corrected. Tim, I’m gonna kill one of your Pokémon the next time we meet.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I decided to make my way to-

…Hel-loooooo. 😀

Honestly, at this point, Oswald’s kinda become my primary battler for dealing with other Poison-types, unless I’m confident that Buttery can get a quick Confusion in without getting hit.

…SERIOUSLY! What IS it with these people not evolving their Pokémon?! Although it was hilariously adorable when I had Oswald use Focus Energy, and then immediately after, the Nidoran did it, like he was trying to copy his big brother or something. 😛

… … …Why, hello, Pork Laser. It’s been a while. WELCOME TO DIE.

YES! 😀

… … …OH…Wait, does that mean the others were all members of Team Rocket, too? Some of them were kinda young to be grunts, is all.

Seriously, what was your plan? That you were somehow going to beat a guy who had taken down five other Trainers with your two Pokémon? It’s not like you were even higher leveled than the rest of them, either. The girl with the twin Nidoran was tougher than you.

Anyway, now that I’d gotten past Nugget Bridge, I found myself with…a grassy patch on Routes 24. This is where I got a little nervous. Not because there was anything in the grass that could kill anyone on my team, but because it is known for being home to ABRA. And…well, I’ve gotten to know my luck as it pertains to rare Pokémon at this point. If I ran into Abra, there was no way I was gonna catch one before it could teleport away, and that’d be TWO ROUTES locked off on my journey at that point. So, with fingers crossed, I entered the patch of grass, and…

Fuck, I’ll take it! I don’t even care that I named it after Hank Pym, I’ll take it! XD

So, with that done, I let out a sigh of relief…and then recalled that Abra was on Route 25 as well. Because why not at this point? I also knew there were Kakuna on Route 25, too, so I decided that, so I wouldn’t end up wasting that Route on the evolved form of a Pokémon I already had, that I should first evolve Hank.

And since I’d gone to the trouble of getting a Kakuna, I thought “What the hell, let’s go all the way to Beedrill.” So…

Aww, he looks so happy to be fully evolved… … …I wonder if I should tell him I’m planning to use him as my Cut HM Slave? 😛

And thus, with a Beedrill in my box, I headed for Route 25 and waited to see what I’d find…

…Well, I think I know who is gonna be fighting Misty’s Staryu. 🙂

Now that I’d caught a couple of new Pokémon, I decided it was time to make my way to Bill’s, while training my team up for Misty by battling the Trainers and wild Pokémon in the area. And thus, TRAINING MONTAGE TIME!

Hmm, not quite as epic as Mr. Satan’s, but good nonetheless. lol

“Sempai noticed me! And then he blew me the fuck away!” XD

It’s always strange to find someone with the same Pokémon as a Gym Leader one city away, only higher leveled. It’s like “Why wasn’t THIS person the Gym Leader?”

As you can see, Katherine’s kinda stopped being as helpless as she was when I caught her. 🙂

Okay, THIS asshole scared the shit outta me, and here’s why: I totally forgot that Slowpoke learn Confusion at Level 17 in FireRed and LeafGreen. I guess I must’ve had the other Generation III games on the mind, wherein Slowpoke doesn’t learn Confusion until Level 20. As such, I sent Drakeman in to deal with him, thinking the best he could do was Water Gun. When Confusion hit, I thought for sure I was about to see my first casualty. And how I didn’t, I’ll NEVER know. O_O

…Sure enough, I ran into three of these things, and before I could hit them and try to beat them for Exp, they each Teleported away.

With all the Trainers on the way to Bill’s place defeated, I made my way inside. Problem was, Bill didn’t seem to be home. Instead, there was a Clefairy sitting around…with a human face… … …At this point, I was ready to piss myself in terror. Then it started talking. And thus, a thousand Creepy Pastas were written. 😛

Yeah, I’m kidding, I know it’s really Bill. I’ve never understood this line of dialogue, though. Why would he say that?

The technology of the Pokémon world will never cease to astound me. Why can’t humanity be inspired to make Poké Balls and PC Storage Systems like we are with stuff from Star Trek?

Yeah, not gonna lie, I’m kinda with Bill on this one. Maybe it’s just because I prefer to dress like a dirtbag hipster, but whatevs. I’ll take the free tickets to a cruise liner party.

So these must be the “lots of pages to my Pokédex” that Tim was talking about. Don’t get me wrong, I love Eevee and the Eeveelutions (that sounds like a band), but it’s FOUR pages. I had that many when I first got the freaking ‘dex.

Anyway, with that done, I decided to head back to Cerulean City, just in time to notice a house had been broken into. The officer outside said it was Team Rocket…well, no shit. I could see the Goddamn Rocket Grunt standing in the back yard from right there. How do you not see that? Apparently, the police in Kanto are completely inept, OR they’re on the take. It’s one or the other. Either way, I decided I’d need to go all vigilante and take the law into my own hands by dealing with the grunt myself.

…No. The Team Rocket uniform kinda gives you away. In fact, why aren’t you wearing a disguise like your buddy on Nugget Bridge? o.O

One rather embarrassing ass-kicking later. lol

Man, could you imagine if EVERYBODY was able to deal with loss of property that well?

Yeah, we never really did find out what that was about, huh?

And thus, with Team Rocket beaten down again, the Nugget Bridge conquered, a few more pages added to my Pokédex, and some much-needed training done, it was finally time to deal with Misty. As always, I went into battle using the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader’s, meaning I needed to decide which two would take on her Staryu and Starmie. I’d already decided that, based on type and overall performance (and luck) thus far that Drakeman would lead against her Staryu, but there was still the matter of her Starmie. Katherine now knew Bite, but I wasn’t sure if she could one hit KO her opponent, nor was I confident in her ability to tank a Water Pulse from a Starmie. I could’ve worked to evolve her into a Golbat, as I had thought about before, but that felt like I’d be committing to making her a full member of my team, and with Oswald and Drakeman in the party already, I was clearly a bit too Poison heavy. As such, I ultimately decided to go with Mikey, matching his bulk against Starmie’s Special Attack. With my two party members chosen, I headed for the Gym…

Not kidding, first time using Bullet Seed, and it hit 5 times. Seriously, Drakeman, you are the luckiest Goddamn Oddish EVER, not to mention one hell of a trooper. Speaking of, btw? I was originally gonna name him Steve. I’m not kidding, if he survives to Lavender Town and that kind of crap keeps happening to him, I’m changing his name. lol

Honestly? Not as bad a policy as some would suggest.

Not gonna lie: I had to use a LOT of Potions in this battle. Also, I wanted to punch myself for not raising Mikey ONE LEVEL so that he’d learn Bite. Once again, my lack of memory of the movepools in this game nearly gets one of my team members killed. Clearly, something I’m going to have to be a LOT more careful of.

Two badges down, six to go. 🙂

With the Cascade Badge in hand, my business in Cerulean City was finally complete… … …BUT, before I called it a day, there was still one last thing I had to do. After healing up and withdrawing my team, I called out Oswald and gave him one of the Moon Stones I’d found in Mt. Moon, and watched as he evolved to his final stage.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the most powerful member currently on my team, and the Pokémon who will lead said team to victory against Lt. Surge.

So, once again, I managed to get through a phase of my journey with no fatalities. Still, I can tell that what luck I’ve had thus far is gonna run out soon, so I’m gonna have to play it smarter next time, as I make my way south to Vermilion City in order to attend the S.S. Anne party and battle Lt. Surge for the Thunder Badge. Ja né!

We’re gonna need a lot more training and a lot less weaknesses to Electric attacks to deal with Surge. But where can I find a really strong and swift Ground-type?

Pokémon FireRed Text-And-Screencap-Only Nuzlocke Part 1

Decided to just stick with my real name for this.

…Well, it’s good to know that this Let’s Play is apparently cursed and is going to fight me at every frigging turn. lol Let me explain: As I said before, attempts to record footage of the game ended in the audio becoming desynced. Hence, I’ve had to resort to doing this LP in this format, with only text and the occasional screencaps. But then, on top of that, about a half hour into doing this playthrough, I realized that I was using a hacked version of FireRed that I was fooling around with a few years ago, and thus had to start all over again. Between that and some stuff I’ll talk about as I continue, it’s clear that my first ever Nuzlocke Challenge is going to be…interesting, let’s just say. But, let’s get started with how things went in THIS playthrough.

Seemed appropriate. Sorry, Tim. 😛

So, what was the first major sign that this LP was gonna try and screw with me at every turn? Well, before I realized the version I was using beforehand was hacked, I got to start off my adventure with my favourite of the Kanto Starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur. Upon having to restart, however, I took one look at my Trainer ID Number…

…For the record, the last digit in the previous attempt was 1.

And realized that meant starting with…

This is punishment for leaving you out of my six favourite Generation I Pokémon, isn’t it? lol

Although, in all honesty, this probably worked out for the best. There are a LOT of Flying-types in early Kanto that could be a nightmare for Bulbasaur, especially Spearow. And in a world where critical hits could very well equal death, that’s not a chance I necessarily wanna take. Also, what’s hilarious is that, as stated before, I was excluding the initial Rival battle in terms of whether a loss there would be a game over because of how luck based it’d be. In the first playthrough, I lost. Here?

Thank you, Brave Nature, for giving my Squirtle a higher Physical Attack than Tim’s Bulbasaur. ^_^

That said, I was quick to learn that Mikey (yes, I named him after a Ninja Turtle, leave me alone, lol) is a freaking magnet for critical hits, especially from Pidgey. Now, he can tank those hits alright, but when they kept happening over and over, it became clear that this little bastard was trying to kill me via heart attack.

Honestly, it’s no wonder that most games nowadays skip the whole fetch-quest BS and just have you get the Pokédex from the start. Although, it DOES further my theory that kids today don’t earn shit in Pokémon and just have everything handed to them. lol

Anyway, after defeating Tim, I headed up to Viridian City, got Oak’s Parcel, and delivered it back to him, receiving the Pokédex and 5 Poké Balls in exchange, which meant it was time to start catching new party members. Unfortunately, Route 22 ended up being locked off from me because of one little bastard Mankey that refused to be caught, even though it was in the red and next to dead. I was even gonna name it Pork Laser (closest I could get to a Brock Lesnar reference). But nope, this Mankey decided that Pork Laser would not be a thing this LP, at which point I decided this little bastard had to die. But, I still managed to catch three other team members…

Because there is no Robin Pokémon in FireRed. lol

Please tell me I don’t need to explain this reference.

Let’s just say I have a tendency to waggle my fingers when I say this one’s name. 😛

…and, with my kooky quartet, I managed to beat Tim on Route 22…albeit with Mikey AGAIN almost getting killed by Pidgey. At this point, I pretty much decided that I would never send him out to fight Pidgey ever again. Although, what was hilarious was when Mikey got hit by a second critical hit, and then came back with his own to beat Pidgey. But, I’m sure you’re all wondering how the team did against Brock. Well, after a quick training montage…

MAN, Metapod’s Physical Attack SUCKS. lol

Keep in mind, this was back when Water Gun was the superior choice to Bubble.

With a Nature that benefits Special Attack. Ooh, I’m gonna have some fun with this…XD

Sure, NOW I run into you…lol

And the head-popping begins. 😀

…I made my way to the Pewter City Gym. I was a little nervous going in, though, fully aware that, aside from having a Squirtle instead of a Charmeleon, I was using the same team that Team Four Star used against Brock in THEIR Nuzlocke, and that battle ended with the deaths of everyone but their Starter (although I always limit myself to using the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader, so that wasn’t going to happen). But with that said, Mikey WAS the difference maker. ^_^

Yeah, probably not shocking anyone, but Mikey beat both Geodude and Onix 2-1.

So yeah, that was the battle with Brock. Earned my first badge, and considered the first chapter of my first Nuzlocke complete with NO DEATHS. So, basically, did a lot better than I expected. With that said, next up is Mt. Moon and the first encounter with Team Rocket. Hope you guys have enjoyed thus far, and I’ll see you back here for Part 2. Ja né!

Minnie’s still low leveled so that I’ve got someone who won’t outright kill anyone I try to catch next. lol

Text And Screencap Only Nuzlocke?…Yeah, This IS Happening lol

So, you’re probably wondering where that Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed that I was planning to do for the 20th Anniversary of the franchise is. Well, I kinda hit a snag in that, while I could film it, the audio had a lag issue, as seen here:

Now, I’ve thought about cancelling the project, but I REALLY don’t wanna do that. Instead, I went with an option I hadn’t considered until just the other day: A text recap of the playthrough right here, covering different sections of it at a time, with screenshots accompanying the text. That way, people can still follow along with me. And hey, Nintendo once released a book like that as a sort of novelization of the original games, so why can’t I do so for free? And, because it’s later than I planned, to make it up to people, I’ve decided to do something that I once told myself I’d never do. This will not just be a playthrough of FireRed, but a Nuzlocke Challenge. For those unaware, here are the rules:

• Any Pokémon that faints is considered DEAD, and must be released or put in the Pokémon Storage System permanently. This is kinda why I haven’t done this, because I get anxious and emotionally attached enough by watching/reading other people’s Nuzlockes, so I worry I might have a small panic attack doing it myself. lol
• I can only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there’re no second chances. I do, however, plan to use the Species/Dupes Clause, adjusting the first encounter rule to prevent me from having to catch multiples of the same Pokémon for the sake of variety should I so choose. This means that I can keep fighting Pokémon in the area until one is encountered that I haven’t caught yet, which then immediately counts as the first encounter. Also, this ruling doesn’t include Route 1 prior to receiving the Pokédex and Poké Balls, since you can’t catch anything without those anyway.
• I have to nickname all of my Pokémon. This is for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds. Y’know, so that if they die, the bigger the knife in my heart will be. lol Okay, really, it’s to further encourage me to do whatever it takes to not lose anyone.
• A black out/white out is considered to be “game over”, from which there is no continuing, even if there are Pokémon left in the PC. I also cannot reset and/or reload the game when things go wrong. That said, I think I’m gonna exclude the initial Rival battle. In my experience, the first Rival battle in games is very much luck based.
• When battling a Gym Leader, I can only use the same number of Pokémon as they have. This is one I actually use anyway, so not as big a deal, although now I have to be doubly careful not to let anyone’s HP drop to 0.
• My Starter Pokémon will be based on my Trainer ID number. If the last number is 1-3, I have to start with Bulbasaur. 4-6 is Charmander, 7-9 is Squirtle, and 0 is my choice… … …God, I hope it isn’t 4-6, or this could wind up being a REALLY short LP. lol

Anyway, I plan to get started right away, so keep an eye out. If you’ve got any advice for me, being that this is my first Nuzlocke, leave it in the comments below. Ja né!

Brock Gym Battle Test Recording

Just so you know, this is not the first part of my Let’s Play. I’m doing a quick playthrough of the game first, and I decided to record the first Gym Battle as a test.

…And yes, I’m playing as a girl in this playthrough. Bite me. lol

My Plan For The Pokémon 20th Anniversary – Jyger Plays FireRed

So, a while back, I asked people what they thought I should do for the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, I got a lot of suggestions on here and on social media, and after a bit of deliberation, I’ve decided that I’m going to do a Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed. Specifically, the patched version that N. Harmonik brought to my attention that introduces the physical/special split and apparently also unlocks the National Dex right away. As for my plans for the fanfic, if I have time this year to do it after everything else I’m currently doing, then yes, I’ll try to get it done.

For now, though, regarding said LP, I have already begun a test playthrough of the game on my own time. While I’m doing that, though, I’d once again like some feedback from you, the audience. Specifically, I would like to know which Pokémon you would like to see me choose as my starter, and if you have an idea for a nickname for it. Now, I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that everyone reading this knows about the Kanto Starter Pokémon, but if you need a quick refresher on what they can do in this particular version of the game, here’s a quick rundown of each one. Keep in mind, this is before Hidden Abilities and the Fairy-type were discovered, and several different kinds of attacks existed.

Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon

Bulbasaur is probably my favourite of the Kanto starters, and is the one I chose the first time I ever played Pokémon Red. As such, it’s the sentimental pick for me. As a Grass/Poison-type, Bulbasaur is strong against Rock, Ground, and Water-type Pokémon, is resistant to Electric, Grass, Water, and Fighting-type attacks, and cannot be inflicted with poison, so it works well against several of the Gym Leaders in Kanto. However, it is weak to Flying, Fire, Psychic, and Ice-type attacks, and will do little damage to those types of Pokémon with Grass-type attacks, as well as Bug, Dragon, Steel, Poison, or Grass-types. Stat wise, Bulbasaur is pretty well-rounded, but specializes mostly in Special Attack and Special Defense. Its Ability is Overgrow, which increases the power of Grass-type moves when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left, evolves into Ivysaur at Level 16, and into Venusaur at Level 32, making it the easiest of the Kanto starters to get to its fully evolved form. Bulbasaur also learns status infliction moves like Sleep Powder, which can put opponents to sleep, but has low accuracy. However, it can also learn Sweet Scent, which lowers the opponent’s evasion and make up for that poor accuracy. Its most powerful attack, though, is Solar Beam, a blast of solar energy that’s heated over 3700°C, but requires time to charge depending on the weather.

Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon

Charmander is likely the more famous of the Kanto starters, mostly due to the exposure it and its fully evolved form have gotten over the years. As a Fire-type, Charmander is strong against Grass, Ice, Steel, and Bug-type Pokémon, will take reduced damage from those types of attacks, as well as Fire-type attacks, and cannot be inflicted with burn. However, it is weak to Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks, and its Fire-type attacks won’t do much against Rock, Fire, Water, or Dragon-types. Stat wise, Charmander specializes in Speed and its offensive stats, while its defenses are a bit lacking. Its Ability is Blaze, which makes Fire-type moves more powerful when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left, evolves into Charmeleon at Level 16, and Charizard at Level 36. Upon evolving into Charizard, it becomes a Fire/Flying-type (despite its draconic appearance), gaining immunity from Ground-type attacks, resistance to Fighting-types, and increased resistance and damage-dealing capability to Bug and Grass-types, but will lose its resistance to Ice-type attacks, take even more damage from Rock-type attacks, and gain a new weakness to Electric-type attacks. To combat its numerous weaknesses, however, the Charmander line can learn a number of different types of moves, like Metal Claw, Brick Break, Dig, and Dragon Claw. Charmander’s greatest attack, however, is Flamethrower. As a Charizard, Flamethrower can apparently melt boulders according to the Pokédex, meaning it must burn at a heat of over 1200°C. As such, it’s less powerful than Solar Beam, but doesn’t require charge time and is fairly accurate, so it’s ultimately the more reliable attack in comparison.

Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon

Squirtle is more often than not the crowd favourite of most Pokémon fans when it comes to the Kanto starters, and its fully evolved form once outlasted Venusaur and Charizard in a Death Battle. As a Water-type, Squirtle is strong against Rock, Ground, and Fire-type Pokémon, is resistant to Steel, Water, Fire, and Ice-type attacks, making it a great choice against the first two Gym Leaders in Kanto. However, it is weak to Grass and Electric-type attacks, and will do reduced damage to them and to Dragon-types, so the next two Gym Leaders afterward will be tricky. Stat wise, Squirtle focuses primarily on both Physical Defense and Special Defense, but is a bit slow, as you would likely expect a turtle would be. Its Ability is Torrent, which ups the damage for Water-type moves when it has 1/3 or less of its HP left. It evolves into Wartortle at Level 16, and Blastoise at Level 36. Squirtle can also learn Rapid Spin, which can remove the effects of moves like Leech Seed, Fire Spin, or Spikes, and can learn a number of different defensive moves like Withdraw and Protect. However, none of that compares to the Squirtle line’s ultimate attack, Hydro Pump. As a Blastoise, Hydro Pump is fired from the twin cannons hidden in its shell, which gives it the destructive power of approximately 90,000 PSI. However, while Hydro Pump does the same amount of damage as Solar Beam without the need to charge up, there IS a trade-off: It’s a bit inaccurate, which could leave Squirtle wide open for attack, so use at your own risk.

And that’s all there is to cover for the three in this game. Lemme know what you guys think I should do, and hopefully, I will see you all back here next month for the start of my Let’s Play of Pokémon FireRed. Ja né!

My Pokémon X Journey: Day 2, Part 1 (WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD)

Cutting this in half due to sheer length. lol

Calem on Route 22

It was early on the second day, before sunrise. Having some trouble sleeping, I decided to withdraw Vivillon, Pikachu, and Torchic from my PC and head back to Route 22 to try and catch some of the Pokémon I’d missed. I managed to capture a Litleo and a Bidoof before having to go back to town since I’d run out of Poké Balls. Along the way, I began to see the results of my training on my Pokémon, specifically Vivillon. I’d spent so much time on him specifically, trying to get him to evolve into what he is now, that his strength was much higher than the others. Still, I felt the need to get the rest of the team up to his level. After all, one should never depend on a single Pokémon to save them ALL THE TIME. Still, these were thoughts better dwelled upon in the morning, so I went back to bed.

Calem meeting Alexa

After getting up to officially start my day, I found myself face-to-face with Viola’s older sister, Alexa. She seemed interested in my skills, and thus handed me the new model for the Exp. Share, which gave every Pokémon not in battle 50% of the experience the one actually involved received. Combined with my training regiment, my team was now becoming MUCH stronger, though I suspected there was a bigger reason for it. Either way, though, I made my way to Route 4, also known as Parterre Way, and managed to catch a Budew, Ralts, Ledyba, and Flabébé. After battling a few more Trainers, and learning some new tricks on my roller blades, I ran into two of Professor Sycamore’s assistants. They gave me the TM 27, which I used to teach Fletchling the move Return, and told me how to get to the Professor’s lab.

Calem in Lumiose City

Following the assistants, I found myself in the most gorgeous city I’d ever seen: Lumiose City. Granted, I couldn’t explore much of it due to some sort of power outages, and seemingly every other store was a café, but it was still so grand. There was even a salon, where I was able to get my hair tinted orange, and a building that recorded a 10 second video for Trainers who might meet me online. Once all of that was taken care of, though, I made my way to Professor Augustine Sycamore’s lab…A fairly LARGE lab, to be honest. As I understand it, most Pokémon Professors tend to enjoy smaller labs in quainter towns. I guess Sycamore must really love the city life, and upon meeting him, he certainly seemed flamboyant enough to fit right in here. He admitted that he was only planning to enlist the other four for this mission, but upon hearing I was moving to Kalos with my mother (likely due to her fame as a Rhyhorn rider), he decided the best way to get me adjusted was to have me travel the region and see as many new sights and Pokémon as I could.

Soon enough, I was joined by Serena and Shauna. They stood watch as Sycamore challenged me to a battle, to test my skills. I was rather surprised to find that the Professor’s team consisted of Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, three Pokémon that, while part of the Kalos Regional PokéDex, were more commonly seen in Kanto. Still, even with his vastly superior knowledge of Pokémon, his team wasn’t nearly as experienced as mine was quickly becoming, and I was able to defeat him, with Torchic gaining enough experience to evolve into Combusken. After this, he offered the three of us one of the Kanto Pokémon. My gut was telling me Charmander, but since I already had a Fire-type, and Pinhead was pulling his weight as my Grass-type, I decided to go with Squirtle, the Water-type. I named him Michelangelo. He was carrying a strange stone, very similar to the one Combusken had. It was at this point, as Tierno and Trevor finally caught up with us, that Professor Sycamore told us that he wanted us to discover the secrets of something called ‘Mega Evolution’, something I’d never heard of, but was apparently tied to these stones.

Meeting Professor Sycamore

After we learned this, the group had a small pow-wow of sorts, and it was at this point I really started to understand and appreciate what made each of them so different. Tierno just wanted to dance and have fun with Pokémon, all the while growing closer to them. Trevor was intent on completing the PokéDex, thus completing his commitment to the Professor and achieving a great collection. Shauna desired to create lots of memories with Pokémon, memories that would last their whole lives. And Serena was committed to growing strong with her Pokémon and mastering Mega Evolution. Each had their own unique goals, and aside from their love of Pokémon, they couldn’t be any more different…and yet, they were all close friends, standing by each other and supporting one another…and me. I couldn’t help but feel closer to them as a result, and I wondered if that was why Professor Sycamore chose them.

Either way, I decided it might be best to follow up on the Professor’s suggestion and head toward Camphrier Town. As I was leaving the lab, though, I met a man named Lysandre, who apparently built the Holocaster, the device Trainers used to communicate over long distances…and yet, something about him rubbed me the wrong way. After speaking with him for a bit, Serena asked me to come with her to a nearby café, and it was there that I began to learn more about the man. Lysandre was there, speaking with a world famous movie star named Diantha, asking if she would prefer to stay beautiful like she was in her first film and keep making movies like that forever, but Diantha, like myself, seemed a bit disturbed by such a suggestion. After they left, Serena had an interesting proposition for me: She wanted to be my rival, so we could grow stronger together. How could I turn down such an offer?

Calem and Serena meet Diantha

Making my way to Route 5, or the Versant Road as it’s called, I found myself face-to-face with a Lucario. It seemed…interested in me. Soon enough, its trainer, a Gym Leader named Korrina, skated by, and suggested that Lucario seemed to like something about my Aura, a spiritual energy believed to be the essence of every living creature. Lucario are able to sense Aura, as well as practically weaponise their own, so I felt special that this Lucario seemed to like mine. After they left, I wound up battling a pair of twins, Faith and Joy, and their Pokémon, Plusle and Minun. It wasn’t a hard battle, and I found myself enjoying the style of Double Battles, after which, both Fletchling and Pinhead evolved. Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder, a Fire/Flying-type with wings that would burn you if you touched it without permission, and Pinhead went from being a Chespin to a Quilladin, becoming far stronger as a result. However, just as I was feeling good about that, and liking the idea of battling multiple Pokémon at once, I wandered into some tall grass, where I was confronted by a horde of five Scraggy! I only had time to call out a single Pokémon at a time, making this a 5-on-1 handicap battle! But, as luck would have it, Squirtle had learned Bubble, which hit multiple targets at once. Using this attack, I picked off three of my targets, before I was forced to switch to Fletchinder. Fletchinder took down the fourth Scraggy, leaving the leader open to be captured.

Having somehow survived that last encounter, I was feeling VERY lucky, and managed to keep that luck going, catching an Abra, Gulpin, Pancham, and Furfrou. After this, though, I took a look at my team, and noticed something bad: My team consisted of a Grass-type, a Fire/Flying-type, a Water-type, a Fire/Fighting-type, a Bug/Flying-type, and an Electric-type. Even though they were strong, too many types and their weaknesses were overlapping. I knew I’d have to start rotating Pokémon from here on out. It might slow training down a bit, but it was the only way to make sure my team was varied enough to compete with multiple sorts of opponents. As such, I made it a regular practise to return to the nearest Pokémon Centre often to switch team members in and out.

Trevor, Tierno, and Calem on Route 5

Returning to Route 5, I ran into Tierno and Trevor again, and found myself battling Tierno and his partner, a Corphish. It wasn’t too much of a challenge compared to other battles I’d had recently, but he held his own well. Afterwards, I battled a few roller bladers up the hill, and when it was over, Squirtle had grown strong enough to evolve into Wartortle. With that accomplishment saved in my PokéDex, I made my way to Camphrier Town, once famous for the long-neglected manor home of a noble family, where I had planned to end my day…Little did I know what lay ahead for me, and what was left for me in the day…

Part 2 of Day 2 will be written in the morning. Right now, it’s late, and I’m tired. I’ll write Part 2 when I get up, and hopefully Part 3 won’t be nearly as long. Ja né!

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Three Classic Pokémon Get New Mega Evolutions – It’s Evaluating Time!

Yep, you heard me, three new Mega Evolutions! Let’s check ’em out in this trailer!

…Why was it shooting water from its mouth when it has three cannons?…Anyway! First of all, called it. Knew they would be giving at least Charizard a Mega Evolution, and now it seems they’ve given them to all three of the Kanto Starter Pokémon, which will be made available at some point during game-play, not sure when. So let’s take a look at these new Mega Evolutions, which means…

It’s Possibly Ambiguously Gay Evaluating Time! XD

Well, I might as well go by index number, so let’s start with Mega Venusaur.

Mega Venusaur

Mega Venusaur grows from 6’07” to 7’10”, and goes from 220.5 pounds to 342.8 pounds. It remains a Grass/Poison-type, but its type changes to Thick Fat. This reduces damage from Fire and Ice-type attacks, which are two of its major weaknesses. It still needs to watch out for Psychic and Flying-types, but hey, that’s still two weaknesses down. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

Mega Charizard

Mega Charizard’s weight goes from 199.5 pounds to 221.6 pounds. It doesn’t change type, meaning it’s still Fire/Flying…which is weird, since it looks more like a Dragon now than it ever did. However, its ability DOES change to Drought. Drought started off as being Groudon‘s signature ability, but since then, Vulpix and Ninetails received it as their Hidden Abilities. It summons permanent sunlight to the field until such point as another weather condition replaces it. This makes Charizard’s Fire-type attacks all the more potent, and even gives it some cover from Water-type attacks, so I guess I can forgive it not changing type…for now.

Mega Blastoise

Mega Blastoise goes from weighing 188.5 pounds to 222.9 pounds. Like its fellow Starters, it doesn’t change type, despite having that new gigantic steel cannon on its back. It gains a brand new ability called Mega Launcher, which I hear is supposed to increase the power of Pulse moves, like Water Pulse and Dark Pulse…Kinda weird, seeing as how it doesn’t learn Dark Pulse (yet), but I would imagine this means more Pulse moves are gonna be included in Pokémon X & Y.

“Charge! D.N.A., Burst Mode!”

The last thing I wanna talk about is the Mega Ring. Basically, it’s a device that holds something called a Key Stone. When a Trainer‘s bond to their Pokémon is strong enough, they can activate the Mega Ring’s Key Stone to react to the Pokémon’s Mega Stone, causing them to Mega Evolve…So, apparently, we’re not even gonna try to pretend like this isn’t Digimon anymore. lol In all seriousness, though, this raises some questions. Is this a man-made device? And if so, how is this any different from the experiments done by Team Plasma? Does that make Genesect a Mega Pokémon by definition? Or perhaps this isn’t technology, but rather some form of magic. If that’s the case, where does it come from? How does it work? And how do Calem and Serena obtain them?

What do you think about Mega Evolution? Lemme know in the comments, and hopefully, we’ll be getting some answers soon. Ja né!

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