Challenge When You Wish... An Expansive LeafGreen Eggstravaganza

[QuentinQuonce]

Six Eggs And One Big Quest: Experiencing Gen III-era Kanto to its fullest extent​

Introduction

With all the naive enthusiasm of someone who's just discovered something everyone else has been doing for ages ("ohmygodyouguysdidyouknowthisthingexists?!") I've been getting very into emulating Pokemon games recently. Let's do Pokemon LeafGreen next!

Now that support for the 3DS titles is officially in its dying days, my mind has turned to all that'll be lost to us once Pokebank support finally ends and gens VI-onwards are no longer receive content from the older generations. All those old Pokemon: all those events, all that history. With this in mind, I thought it was a good time to go back to some of the older titles and relive them properly. It's 20 years this year since FRLG were released, so why not start there?

But the thing is, FRLG are ancient now, and - like most older games - contain various elements that make playing them in 2024 a very different experience to playing them in 2004. You know what I'm talking about: content gated behind downloadable event items or tickets, content generally only unlockable if you happened to be present at a certain time and date, content that was never even officially released... all aspects which are, in other words, effectively inaccessible for someone playing now.

Well, unless you're playing on an emulator that is.

See, if this was going to be a nostalgic trip through GBA-era Kanto, I didn't want to miss anything. So, that's what this run is all about: this will be a full Pokedex completion run, with the caveat that I must register every Pokemon natively obtainable within FRLG, event-exclusive or otherwise, to my Pokedex. Yes, even those for whom their original events were never released...

But that's not all. In the spirit of completion, I decided that this run wouldn't be complete without incorporating one old event in particular I've always been rather enamoured by.

The Wishlocke Gang

Long ago, six Pokemon species were distributed to FRLG as eggs, each one knowing Wish and one other exclusive move. Competitively revolutionary in their day, these events were elusive for a long while, only cropping up here and there. But my wish has been answered, and those six Pokemon have landed in my save file.

These will be my team throughout the run (shiny to boot, for that extra bit of twinkle).


The rules

• Only the six Pokemon listed above (and their evolutions) may be used on my team for battle. They must keep their event moves, meaning I only have 12 offensive moveslots - and some of those will have to be HMs. No HM slaves required here.
• None of them can faint, under any circumstances and for any amount of time. I'm allowed to heal with items and via NPCs - the only rule is that my team simply must stay conscious from here until the end of the run.
• I must catch, receive, or in-game trade for, every Pokemon natively obtainable within the game (event-exclusive or otherwise). This will include Wynaut and Azurill (due to the items required for breeding them being obtainable within the game) as well as Deoxys, but will not include any of the other Hoenn Pokemon. It will, however, include all of the Altering Cave Pokemon, which I will be making obtainable during gameplay.

I will also, for my own amusement, be implementing the various requirements that LGPE put on entering gyms, with some tweaks.

• For Pewter Gym: I must have a Grass- or Water-type registered (which, since Exeggcute will be part of my team, is inevitable) and have registered 15 Pokemon.
  
  
• For Cerulean Gym: I must have at least one Pokemon at or above level 15.
  
  
• For Vermillion Gym: I must have obtained TM01 Cut. Seeing as you... need that to get in anyway, I'm adding the additional requirement that I must have registered 40 Pokemon, including Pikachu.
  
  
• For Celadon Gym: I must have obtained Pikachu, Eevee, Clefairy, Clefable, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, and Chansey (in LGPE, this is "a cute Pokemon", for which either Pikachu or Eevee will serve).
  
  
• For Fuchsia Gym: I must have registered 50 Pokemon in my Pokedex, including ten Poison-types AND Venomoth.
  
  
• For Saffron Gym: I must own at least one Pokemon at or above level 45, and have also registered Abra and Kadabra.
  
  
• For Cinnabar Gym: I will need the Secret Key. This is... just the requirement to access the gym anyway, so I'm adding the additional requirement that I must have registered 75 Pokemon, including all available Fire-types at that point in the game.
  
  
• For Viridian Gym: I must have registered 100 Pokemon, including Persian AND ten Ground-types which must include Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Sandslash, Rhyhorn, Marowak, and Dugtrio.

To challenge the Elite Four, I must have registered 124 Pokemon (the maximum possible number in the Kanto dex I can obtain without trading). Once I've done this, I will trade the rest for a full Kanto dex prior to progressing. Looking forward to Oak spaffing his pants when he sees I've beaten the Elite Four AND completed the Kanto Pokedex...

But the fun doesn't stop there. To catch Ho-oh and Lugia, I must have obtained every Johto Pokemon it's possible to get without trading (61) - and to catch Deoxys, I must have obtained every Pokemon from 001-250, plus Azurill and Wynaut.

Let's do this.


Part One

Hey, emulating means bigger/clearer screenshots, that's nice.

​

Hell yeah I'm being the girl, justice for Leaf.

Debated the merits of calling him Fuckpig or something, but ultimately nothing is crueller than calling him that.

I wake up in the dim, sleepy heights of Pallet Town. Mother tells me that all girls dream of travelling and I've no reason to doubt her, so it's off into the wilds of Kanto I go. Well, if you can call them wilds. The place is basically just one big city.

You all know what happens when I try and head north - Professor Oak appears and warns me off stepping into the tall grass. He then forcibly drags me into his lab where his grandson Curtis is also waiting, there to be offered one of three innucuous-looking Pokeballs.

Wait, so what happened to his other Pokemon? Did he give them away? Did he lose them? Did they die?

Because I will end up with an Exeggutor on my team, I think it's boring for Blue/Curtis to do the same, so I will be choosing Squirtle as my starter. Curtis promptly challenges me to a battle with his Bulbasaur, which I win thanks to the Potion I made sure to collect from my bedroom before setting out. First victory of many, to be sure.

I don't have a map or anything of that sort, but Oak informs me I should just gambol around outside blindly and encounter lots of wild Pokemon. I head onto Route 1 and encounter a couple of Pidgey (dull) but to the north lies a more bustling locale, Viridian City! It's a thriving town with its own Pokemart, a gym, and a Pokecentre. I head there first to heal my starter Squirtle and...

...oh, what's this?

​

How strange to find these in my PC. I mean, how strange to find Eggs in Kanto at all; I've been reliably informed that doesn't happen here.

But, never one to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, I withdraw a couple and head outside...

...and they hatch almost right away.

Well, hello there new team members. Welcome aboard. A short bit of tinkering later and they're all gloriously shinified.

Checking into the Pokemart, one of the clerks tells me that Professor Oak ordered something. ...why isn't home delivery a thing for me, too? Anyway. Back to Pallet I go to deliver it. Oak asks how his old Pokemon is doing, even though that thing went straight into the PC.

Well, not really, I was basically just handed a bunch of stuff.​

Anyway, Curtis slopes in and asks why his grandfather asked him back to the lab. Oak then tells us he wants to give us something - a Pokedex!

He goes off on a big speech about how his youthful dream was to make a complete accounting of all the Pokemon in the world... but he failed. Yeah, youthful dreams do be like that sometimes. Except for when they aren't! Oak may have failed, but I won't.

Flushed with confidence, I take my Pokedex in hand and inform him I'll take the challenge. He says thanks, but I can tell he doesn't believe me. Hoo-hoo, I'm about to prove that old man wrong. Come on, team, let's get out there and...

...oh.

...oh.

Hang on. We got a problem here.

Did you notice it?

Take a look at my team again.

Yep.

None of them know any damaging moves.

Hmm, okay. So this is tricky...

Looks like I'll have to keep hold of my starter Squirtle for a tiny while longer. Looking at a list of level-up moves, it looks like Kangaskhan's the first to learn a damaging move: Bite, at level 7. Well then, in that case I'd better do a bit of grinding! I head over to Route 22 and run around in the grass for a few moments, switching Kangaskhan out and letting Squirtle take over. The exp yields are poor, so it's a relief when Curtis appears and challenges me to a battle.

I'm TRYING

Ahhh, that's got it.​

Okay, NOW we're ready to go. Farfetch'd's Yawn comes in handy when it comes to catching Pokemon, so I quickly catch both Pidgey and Rattata as well as a Mankey. Despite looking for several minutes, no Spearow. Oh well. I'll find one later.

Well, we can't go west and we don't want to go back south... I guess north is the only way to go!



Pokedex count: 10

Current team:
Kangaskhan - level 7
Exeggcute - level 5
Drowzee - level 5
Lickitung - level 5
Chansey - level 5
Farfetch'd - level 5

 

[Eeveeto]

Cool challenge. You will need an HM slave though, Waterfall is needed in Sevii Islands.

Predicting more or less these final sets:

Farfetch'd: Wish, Yawn, Cut, Fly.
Chansey: Wish, Sweet Scent, Softboiled, Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Flamethrower/Seismic Toss.
Hypno: Wish, Belly Drum, Psychic, Shadow Ball.
Exeggutor: Wish, Sweet Scent, Psychic, Giga Drain.
Kangaskhan: Wish, Yawn, Strength, Earthquake.
Lickitung: Wish, Belly Drum, Return, Surf.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Cool challenge. You will need an HM slave though, Waterfall is needed in Sevii Islands.

Ah yeah, that's true. But that's very far off and just the once so I can make the exception.

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Part Two

Now that Kangaskhan can actually attack things, we should be good to go.

I get stopped on the way out of Viridian City by some old coffin-dodger, though.

What? No, I just wait for them to magically appear in my PC courtesy of the whims of a benevolent universe. Doesn't everyone?​

Into Viridian Forest! There's a few new Pokemon in here, of course: it doesn't take long to catch a Caterpie and a Weedle. The latter poisons Kangaskhan, but Lickitung's Heal Bell means I don't need to go rushing back to the Pokemon Centre in Viridian City and I've still got a bunch of Potions in my bag.

It'll be a while before any of the others learn an offensive move, so when I spot a Bug Catcher looking to battle I more or less rotate team members at random to give them shares of experience. Of course, the amount of exp you get from killing bugs is miniscule, but it starts to add up before long and a couple of them gain a level. Before long, I'm at the exit - but I know Metapod, Kakuna, and a certain yellow rat can all be found around here so I purposefully dawdle around in the grass to try and winkle them out. It takes literal ages, but finally the last of those shows up.

Despite Pikachu only having a 5% chance to appear compared to Metapod's 10%, I find TWO before I find my first Metapod. (And stupidly run from the second without thinking... should really have caught two, it'd be helpful down the line. Oh, well). Finally a Metapod appears and I catch one of them, too. Okay, just Kakuna left ...and this thing really does not want to show up. I run around for ages. So long, in fact, that I run into...

​

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I send in Kangaskhan, use Bite, and... oh fuck. Critical hit.

Easy come, easy go I guess. Not like I'd have actually used it in this run.

Still, it's dejecting. Kakuna is still refusing to show its angry face, so I give up and trudge out of the forest into Pewter City, site of our first gym battle.

As per my self-inflicted rules, though, I'll need 15 Pokemon registered as caught in the Pokedex, including a Grass- or Water-type. Well, I've got one of each of those, but sadly I am one short of the required total. Guess it's back to Viridian Forest after all!

​

It literally takes half an hour for a damn Kakuna to appear. Urgh. Still. Wary from the shiny-Metapod-fuckup, I don't even attack directly and just put it to sleep with Yawn, then shower it in Pokeballs once it's out. It breaks out of two, but the third is successful.

Wahoo, that's 15 Pokemon registered! Let's be off to the gym, then. This'll be an amusing fight, since 5/6 of my team can't attack directly. Bite's a special move, though, so I doubt I'll have much difficulty bringing Brock's team down.

What makes you think I don't already? SIX SHINIES, boyo.​

I lead with Farfetch'd against his gym trainer and get a nice easy win - then it's time for the big man himself.

Okay. It's safe to lead with Farfetch'd here, since his Geodude doesn't know Rock Tomb; I set up Yawn before switching out to Kangaskhan, but Geodude just uses Defence Curl rather than attacking, so Kangaskhan 2HKOs without taking any damage back. Then Onix is next. Hmmm. Going back to Farfetch'd here is just asking for him to use Rock Tomb right away, so I go with Exeggcute instead. Unfortunately, Onix uses Rock Tomb anyway as Kangaskhan switches back in - it's a surprisingly brutal hit. Definitely best to set up Yawn and then use a Potion, I don't want any chance of anyone being knocked out this early. I Yawn as it uses Harden and then recover HP as it falls asleep, though it uses Bind before that happens.

Bite doesn't actually do as much as I expect - it looks like it'll 4HKO, and I'm not certain if Brock has a healing item. Apparently he doesn't, though, as I get it into KO range without him healing - Onix wakes up on the last turn, and uses Tackle. Sorry, that's not quite powerful enough to KO; and I knock it out with a final Bite.

Excellent stuff. Nice clean fight, no deaths.

Why is this only a thing here? Every other gym fight gives you the badge outside of battle like a normal person.​

Brock concedes and graciously hands over TM39, Rock Tomb. Sweet, now a second member of my team can attack for themselves! Lickitung and Chansey are both capable of learning the move, but the thought of Chansey using it is hilarious so I opt for the former.

Nothing much else I can do in Pewter City so I decide to head eastwards to Mt Moon. One of Professor Oak's aides is hanging around and gives me the running shoes. Oh, sweet. These things combined with the speedup option should make this game absolutely zip by. (Emulating's great, isn't it? Funny how no-one talks about that)

There's a bunch of trainers on Route 3, but I don't care about them. No, what I really want is to rush through this route and get to Mt Moon nice and quick, because there's another TM in there - TM09, Bullet Seed! No prizes for guessing who's learning THAT one. Now we've got three functioning team members... and it's not long before I've located the other TM in this area: TM46, Thief. Drowzee gets that one.

Alright, now we're cooking! I should head back to Route 3 and clear it out properly. Oh, and not forgetting there are a couple of Pokemon there I should catch... well, actually, just one. Of all the Pokemon native to this route, it's just Jigglypuff that's only found here and nowhere else. Hanging around outside Mt Moon like the sad Clefairy impersonator everyone accuses it of being... don't worry, puffball. You'll always number one in my eyes.

best battle EVER​

Anyway. A man in the Pokecentre offers to sell me a Magikarp. I mean, I could do it, but why bother when there are a million of them floating in every river in Kanto? I'll pass for now, thanks. I also don't bother with either of the Nidorans, I'll get those later. Only got a few Pokeballs and there'a a bunch of Pokemon to catch in Mt Moon. I expect Clefairy to take ages to show up, but happily find one very quickly: Geodude, Zubat, and Paras are also welcome new additions.

Compared to Viridian Forest, though, Mt Moon is a long and painful process with lots of backtracking to the Pokemon Centre. The trainers here are... well, tough might be overstating it, but certainly capable of making Wish a somewhat redundant option when they can deal as much damage as they can. I suppose I'm a bit outlevelled because my team is still quite lopsided: it's probably not usual to have a full team of six quite this early, and Kangaskhan got quite the lead from being the only attacker initially. Sure enough, Chansey and Farfetch'd find themselves lagging behind slightly as we proceed through the cave, fending off Rocket grunts and unexpectedly brutal wild Zubat (one almost wipes out Drowzee with Astonish and Leech Life, teaching me to lead with Kangaskhan as she's the fastest team member and can thus escape wild Pokemon).

Still, it's a good bit of grinding, and we wind up reaching the end of the cave with everyone alive and comfortably over level 10. Nice.

The way out is barred by an overly-aggressive nerd. Wow, what an implausible stereotype - couldn't imagine ever meeting one of those!

Er... okay, yeah, that seems reasonable. Cool. Have a good day.​

He sends out a Grimer to start with. I lead off with Farfetch'd and swiftly exchange it for Lickitung. I'm not expecting the easiest fight, but boy oh boy is it an unexpected wall. It starts off with Harden, then uses Poison Gas - I'm able to counteract the poison with Heal Bell, but Rock Tomb barely scratches the purple blob. Damn. Luckily, Lickitung learned Supersonic at level 7, and this proves my best weapon against Grimer... well, a weapon at any rate. Grimer manages to attack more often than not, so I'm forced to alternate Wish, Heal Bell, and Supersonic as it repeatedly poisons me. It takes what feels like an age, but eventually the occasional self-damage and my pathetic ineffective Rock Tombs stack up and the mighty wall crumbles. Wow, I never expected that to be a troublesome foe. He follows up with Koffing; I'm not even taking a risk with this one. Kangaskhan 3HKOs it handily with Bite, and then Exeggcute has precisely zero trouble downing his final Pokemon, Voltorb, with Bullet Seed.

Whew. The aggressive nerd (who goes by the name of Miguel) apologises for being so trigger-happy and tells me we can both take one of the fossils. Oh, okay then. I guess the moral of the story is it's always good to share. ...even when the other person didn't do any of the work and is just reaping the rewards of your labour anyway?

...wait, what am I saying, it's Pokemon. Strangers giving you valuable gifts for literally nothing is part and parcel of this series. If I pull that thread the whole thing unravels.

We're finally at the end of the cave. To celebrate, I've decided it's high time my squad should get some nicknames.

​

Gone with a constellation theme because idk I was feeling a bit pretentious or something.

Out onto Route 4! Ah, sunlight. And ohmygod, look! It's two of my favourite NPCs ever.

"Roaring and brutal" sounds a bit like a theme night at an unsavoury club. ...I'm in.​

Hmm, which of my squad can learn those moves...? Well, Apus is certainly in need of a strong move... but sadly neither of these will do. Ophiuchus can learn Mega Punch, though... even though her physical offenses are laughable, may as well throw her a bone. Hurrah! 5/6 with an offensive presence. We're almost there. I also decide there's no point wasting the other tutor and overwrite Lacerta's Supersonic with Mega Kick. Ooh, Rock Tomb AND Mega Kick... it's almost too good.

Soz, punching guy, but the kicking guy has by far the better insult. You lose.​

After picking up TM05, Roar, I arrive in Cerulean City. What's there to do here...? Oh yeah, nothing. I can't buy a bike yet, and the way out of the city to the south is blocked. I can pick up a Rare Candy, though. That's nice.

Of course, the second gym is here. But, according to my own rules, I can't challenge Misty until I've got a Pokemon at or above level 15, and none of my squad are quite there yet.

Well then! Guess we'll have to head northwards and beat up some poor scrubby trainers.


Pokedex count: 20

Current team:
Cassiopeia the Kangaskhan - level 13
Sextans the Exeggcute - level 11
Ara the Drowzee - level 10
Lacerta the Lickitung - level 11
Ophiuchus the Chansey - level 11
Apus the Farfetch'd - level 10

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Part Three

It's onto Nugget Bridge, where... ugh, this guy again. Curtis appears and challenges me to battle, where his newly-evolved Pidgeotto goes down surprisingly easy. I don't have much time to feel smug, though, because his Rattata proves to be an unexpected wrecking ball - its Quick Attack is powerful enough to basically 2HKO half my team, and I have to do some rapid switching to prevent a sudden death. It's back to Cassiopeia as the team's resident bulky girl to weather the hits and take it out. By comparison, his Abra is a complete joke, though his Bulbasaur... not so much. It's probably the easiest starter to face because it's fairly passive, but it takes a severe beating, and some switches to cancel out its Leech Seed, to bring it down. Curtis cries about losing, gives me some weird Fame Checker device I'll probably never use, and swans off.

The Nugget Bridge trainers all prove to be annoyingly tough foes. I end up retreating to the Pokecentre after every single battle, once or twice just ahead of a poison damage finishing me off. Hmmm... if I'm really going to prevent any faints during this run, I should probably invest in a stock of Antidote/Full Heal. Like now.

I believe this particular matchup is a situation known as "let's not even fucking try it"​

But at last, I make it to the end and get seized on by a rather predatory man. Oh no, he's a Team Rocket grunt! But he gives me a Nugget first so it's not all bad. I beat him, heal once again, and enter Route 24 proper.

Not many new Pokemon to catch here. I do encounter an Abra but, of course, fail to catch it and it flees.

​

Never mind. Eventually I run into a Bellsprout and catch that instead.

Route 25 is full of yet more trainers, thankfully mostly not quite as tough to face down as the Nugget Bridge gauntlet. I only have to run back to heal twice. Progress!

Ophiuchus also levels up enough to learn a useful new move.

​

I mean, it might seem redundant with Wish, but Softboiled will (at least for the moment) be a MASSIVE help in keeping the gang healthy. Lacerta knows Heal Bell anyway, so it's bye-bye Refresh. Sextans also learns Leech Seed, for which I dump Reflect.

My team level up very nicely from all the fights here, though no-one's yet at level 15. Might have to do some wild grinding if this isn't enough...

As it happens, though, one of the trainers at the end of the route is stood guarding an enclosed hedge space with an item ball in it - and when he moves away from it, I'm able to slip inside and find TM43, Secret Power.

Awooga, awooga! Ring the joyful bells! Finally, I've got a team of six Pokemon all capable of actually dealing damage. God, that was only a short period but it felt like an eternity.

With its brand-spanking and comparatively-powerful new technique, Apus is my lead against the final trainer on the route - a cutesy lass outside the Sea Cottage - and takes down her entire team single-handedly. Er, single-wingedly, I suppose. The experience from this fight is enough to get it to level 15. Nice, and perfectly timed. Time to take on Misty.

I guess I should rescue this wacky scientist from his own bungling first, though.

And the best Pokemon you could pick for that was a Clefairy? You officially fail at life.

...actually what am I saying, Clefable learns a metric ton of different moves and has Magic Guard in Gen IV. Never mind, good choice.
​

I find Bill, the owner of this picturesque lighthouse cottage, in a state of pure panic due to accidentally mixing himself up with a Pokemon. Logically that implies his body is still out there somewhere with a Clefairy's mind inside it. That's a fun thought. But I help him put himself back together and he's so grateful he gives me a ticket to a fancy party on a boat. More free stuff? Sure, sounds good.

Heading back into Cerulean, I'm all ready to challenge the gym before I notice there's a Team Rocket grunt hanging around in someone's yard. Ew, not cool. I head through a wrecked house and confront him, and he acts totally like an innocent bystander would and engages me in battle. Once I've trounced him he admits he's a burglar and forks over his loot: a copy of TM28, Dig. Damn, the TMs are coming thick and fast! I consider offering to return it from the man it was stolen from, but he seems to have lost interest so I figure it's fine for me to keep it.

Hmmm...

Yeah, Cassiopeia seems the best fit for this. Wonder if the field effect will come in handy at any point.

Right, time to crack knuckles and break skulls - it's gym time!

Cerulean Gym's a Water-type gym, so it's awfully good that I've got a Grass-type on hand. The two gym trainers don't prove much of a challenge except for the second one's Goldeen, who confounds Sextans with Supersonic and brings it perilously close to fainting with a nastily powerful Horn Attack - I switch out and let Ara finish things.

What an astonishingly useful piece of advice. Can't wait to hear her other nuggets of wisdom, like "fire is usually quite hot" and "you have to keep breathing to stay alive"
​

I head out and heal up so I'm fully prepared, then head back in and take on the big boss.

Misty leads with Staryu and I send out Sextans. I go straight for Bullet Seed while Staryu uses Harden - the second strike gets a critical hit, and that's enough for four hits to take it down.

Out comes that fearsome Starmie. Oof. Well, best to play cautiously. I set up Leech Seed as Starmie goes for Swift, which also gets a critical hit - it's a brutal strike, and I realise that even with Leech Seed recovery I'm not likely to survive another hit. Time to switch, then. I exchange for Lacerta, who tanks the next Swift comfortably.

Hmmm. What to do now. I'd like to put it to sleep with Yawn, but Apus is too frail to get in safely and even Cassiopeia isn't totally guaranteed to stand a couple of hits from Water Pulse. I use a Potion on Lacerta while mulling it over - definitely the right choice, as Starmie goes for a Water Pulse. Yup. That's one powerful move, dealing over 50% of Lacerta's health. I need to heal again.

I use a second Potion, and Starmie uses Swift instead of Water Pulse, giving me a bit of breathing room. Okay. Maybe let's try going for a Mega Kick. I do, and... it misses. Urgh. Maybe Rock Tomb would have actually been the better option - slow it down a bit and give a faster team member a chance to outspeed. Starmie uses Water Pulse again, and now I need to heal again.

Am this battle really just going to turn into a big stall? Seems like it might. I use my last Potion and Starmie, for some reason, uses Harden instead of attacking. Oooh, okay - out of Potions but now I've got the opportunity to use Wish, which could be helpful in getting someone else in. Sextans would be the obvious choice, but it's so low on HP I doubt it'll even survive a hit from Water Pulse.

But Starmie is now at half health, so Misty might heal it. That might give me a bit of extra room to maneouvre, but I'm not sure when (or if) Gym Leaders use their healing items. Hmmmm. Who do I switch in?

Gotta be Cassiopeia, I think. I set up Wish as Misty attacks instead of healing and switch Lacerta for Cassiopeia next turn, letting it get hit by Water Pulse aaaand... getting confused. Argh. The good thing is Wish gets it to full HP.

Misty chooses this moment to use her Super Potion, fully healing Starmie. All that for nothing. I cross my fingers and hope Cassiopeia will overcome confusion to use Yawn...

...and it hurts itself. Dammit. Okay, let's try again. Cassiopeia gets hit by another Water Pulse and overcomes confusion to use Yawn. Hooray!

But now I'm going to need to switch again, as I don't think I can survive another one. Hmmmmmmm. Who can I go for? Ara has the Dark-type Thief, but I doubt that it'll do a significant amount of damage. The obvious answer is Ophiuchus, with her massive Special Defence. Of course, Starmie chooses that moment to use Swift, denting Ophiuchus hugely. Never mind, it's asleep now - so I set up another Wish and then strike with Mega Punch for an absolutely laughable amount of damage.

Starmie wakes up next turn and uses Swift again, doing far more damage than I'd like. Seriously, even taking Leech Seed into account, that shit's going to 3HKO. Gah, what to do?

After a moment's thought, I decide the only answer is to go for broke. Misty only has the one Super Potion, and I only need a few more turns to drain Starmie's HP completely - I take another Swift then switch in Ara, taking a gigantic amount of damage in the process. Gotta switch out again, then! Apus may be frail, but at full health I think he'll be able to survive even Water Pulse. In this, I am correct, though it's very narrow. But that's the last turn I need for Leech Seed to work its magic, and the last of Starmie's HP gets sucked up.

Well, that one really was everyone's victory. Good job, team. Enjoy your split-six-ways experience.

Misty acknowledges my persistence, resilience, innovation, and all the other good qualities and gives me the Cascadebadge as well as TM03, Water Pulse. Ooh, nice... I don't expect any of my lot can learn it, but a quick look informs me that I'm wrong: Ophiuchus can. Yeah, go on then. It'll be better for it than Mega Punch, at any rate.

Well, that's me done with Cerulean for the time being. Back on the road we go! I hear Vermilion City's nice this time of year.



Pokedex count: 21

Current team:
Cassiopeia the Kangaskhan - level 15
Sextans the Exeggcute - level 16
Ara the Drowzee - level 14
Lacerta the Lickitung - level 15
Ophiuchus the Chansey - level 14
Apus the Farfetch'd - level 15

 

[QuentinQuonce]

Part Four

Nothing left to do in Cerulean for the moment, so I head out and down the southward road, passing by the Daycare. Oh yeah, better stop in here. This place is going to be crucial to filling the Pokedex - there's so much stuff I won't be raising.

​

Otherwise, Route 5 has nothing to recommend it. The gate to Saffron City is closed (...because the guard is thirsty. Never understood this reasoning. Is this one of those things they translated like the old guy in Viridian being drunk?) so that leaves me with no alternative but to go through the Underground Path. A little girl in there is asking if I'll trade her a Nidoran for a Nidoran... er, since this is LeafGreen, that's a female Nidoran in exchange for her male Nidoran. Either way, I don't have those species yet, so I have to turn her down and head on.

Apparently there's items in this long, gloomy tunnel. I've never really checked. Better to head on through to Route 6. There's only one new Pokemon on this route - Meowth - and it doesn't take long to find and catch it. Ara uses Thief on it and hey, it was holding a Nugget! That's nice.

I need to go back and finish up with some of the trainers here, but for now I'm just happy to be in Vermilion City - I want that bike token.

Is there anything else to collect here? Oh yeah, the Old Rod. May as well catch a Magikarp right away since that's the only thing you can get with it.

This took 3 Pokeballs. Should have just bought it from the salesman after all and saved myself a cool 100 dollars.​

A little girl in one of the houses offers me a fantastically rare Pokemon in a trade, but it's a no from me.

nah m8 I'm good, already got one
​

In all seriousness, Ch'Ding the Farfetch'd is a Pokemon I'm very fond of, as I used him during my first playthrough of LeafGreen. The boosted experience partially compensates for Farfetch'd being not the best of birds - I taught him Attract for a laugh and it ended up being the most unexpectedly dominating technique in-game. He's still serving me faithfully today, as his False Swipe makes him an excellent catching aide.

Speaking of listening to morons rambling on about their favourite Pokemon, I stop in at the Fan Club and mash the A button until the chairman gives me a bike ticket. Nice one, old man.

I should head aboard the SS Anne, but I've been feeling pretty underlevelled lately. I've so far succeeded in keeping my squad conscious, but it's basically necessitated healing after every fight - I think I'll have a quick pass through the surrounding routes and grind a bit, pick up a few more items, that sort of thing. On Route 6, I pick up a Sitrus Berry - sweet, saving that for a crucial moment. Route 11 has a few useful idiots to beat up on, though I obviously can't pass any further east due to a certain big fattie sprawled out on the road and blocking the way. I'm sure I'll sort that later.

Speaking of items, in the gatehouse I bump into a familiar face! Kind of.

​

Dammit. Should have caught a couple of Nidoran after all, there's a boy here who wants to trade a Nidorina for a Nidorino. I do find a Sandshrew on my way back, though.

Who wore it better?! Me. It's clearly me, Drowzee's shiny colouring is bitchin'.​

Oh yeah, Diglett's Cave is on this route, too. Let's briefly stick my head in and catch a Di... WARGH.

​

Oh deary me. Unless I can throw a Pokeball and catch this thing on turn one, I'm fucked. Even though Dugtrio isn't that powerful, at that level this thing will rip through my team. Oh god, I'm so stupid. Why didn't I lead with Apus?

...oh thank god, it doesn't have Arena Trap. So I'm able to switch out to Apus, who laughs at the Sand Tomb the Dugtrio attempts to throw at it. Hmm... maybe I can actually catch this thing after all. It still knows Fury Swipes, though - better Yawn before doing anything else. Ah, god bless that crappy wild Pokemon AI: Dugtrio uses Sand Tomb again, then tries to use Mud-Slap before falling asleep. A couple of hits from Secret Power get it to low health and I start chucking balls at it. It breaks out of three but the fourth is a successful catch. Nice one.

Having learned my lesson, I switch Apus to the front of my party and quickly encounter a Diglett, which I also catch. Well, that's that.

My team are looking a bit more in shape now, so I head to the dock and flash the sailor on duty there. Wait, that didn't sound right.

Listen very closely and you can hear the cry of a Mew from across the water.​

Onto the ship, then. Considering Bill said it was a fancy place, most of the people here just seem like your average scrubs. Where are the wealthy ladies dripping with jewels and the oil barons puffing away on expensive cigars?

I head to the lower level first as I remember there's a few sailors here - their Water-types prove easy prey for Sextans. After slaughtering a few Horsea and Shellder with Bullet Seed, it levels up enough to be prompted to learn a new move.

This is where the 2-moveslot restriction starts to bite me, that's a legitimately tough choice.​

In the end, I decide to opt for immediacy over strategy.

None of the items down here are particularly special, but once I'm done here I head back up top and head into the kitchen, where the bins contain several useful berries. And in the corner there's something even more special - TM31, Brick Break! Oooh. That's a surprise. Considering RSE gives you this move very late in the game, to have such a useful, powerful move so early on is pretty sweet.

Only question is, who to use it on...?

Cassoipeia seems the obvious choice... but maybe Ara could benefit more from it. I'm honestly not sure, so I choose to leave the decision for now.

Heading out to the deck for a glorious view of... er... nothing in particular, I clear the last couple of trainers and then head back inside. One of the nice passengers shows me a Snorlax, adding it to my "seen" entries. That's cool. Another passenger rhapsodises about the Safari Zone. Eh, sure, if you want to give yourself an aneurysm trying to catch a Chansey over multiple years, I guess it's fun. In case it wasn't obvious, I sure am glad that pink bitch and her equally annoying marsupial friend are already on my team. It's just Tauros that'll be a pain to get hold of now.

After a few minutes of battling and making trips back to a cabin containing a nice lady who offers to heal me, I'm finally done with everyone on the ship - except for one. As I approach the captain's cabin, an unwelcome sight greets me - Curtis. He brags about how well he's doing, then initiates a battle.

Oh god, I'm having PTSD flashbacks to that stupid fucking video​

I'm well prepared, however. Lacerta humiliates his Pidgeotto with Rock Tomb, while Cassoipeia easily takes down his Raticate. Kadabra proves a little trickier to take down when it prevents Ara from using Thief via Disable, but eventually Confusion chips it down - Ivysaur is a swift 3HKO.

Curtis departs in shame and I proceed to the captain's cabin. Gimme the goods, loser.

Imagine being a literal sea captain and getting seasick. Isn't it embarrassing? Don't all the other captains laugh at you? Smdh.​

The poor man forks over HM01, Cut. Oh, yay. One of the worst moves in the game and I'm basically required to add it to my team. How fun. So who gets that singular joy? Well, only Lacerta, Cassoipeia, and Apus are capable so it's obviously one of them.

Urrghhh. Guess it's probably Apus. Sorry, duckie.


Pokedex count: 26

Current team:
Cassiopeia the Kangaskhan - level 18
Sextans the Exeggcute - level 19
Ara the Drowzee - level 19
Lacerta the Lickitung - level 18
Ophiuchus the Chansey - level 18
Apus the Farfetch'd - level 19