chaos11011
[untitled]
- 1,400
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- Age 28
- MA
- Seen May 4, 2021
With the 20th anniversary of Generation 2 being upon us, I took it upon myself to go back to the olden days and finally play Pokemon Crystal. I've played Gold, Silver, and their respective remakes, but I've never went through the definitive Generation 2 experience. With this journey, I'm aiming to complete it to the best of my ability (not really 100% it, but do as much as I can on my own) and aim to really immerse myself in the game. I am a huge Pokemon fan with countless hours to many games, but I've noticed I've come to create campaign after campaign of playing the game on the sidelines; chugging through battles while distracted by YouTube or some other sort of social media. With this run, I want to take in every bit of the game and truly feel like I'm role playing in a role playing game; no distractions or outside outlets are allowed when progressing through the story (but I may allow them during grinding).
I start off the game picking Cyndaquil. It was a hard choice, actually, as I spent a solid 10 minutes staring at the Pokeballs. It's the first time I've started a run in years where I didn't either play my entire team ahead of time or let a random number generator decide my fate. I had no idea what this journey would bring me; it was just me and the three choices that faced me. I'm not even ten minutes in and I've felt more Pokemon magic than I have in a long time. I choose the fire starter and appropriately name him Kindle. I go around and talk to everyone before making my way to Cherrygrove City. After facing my Rival, Silver, I'm able to obtain Pokeballs and set forth on my true path. I catch every new species I see, but only some take the honor of joining my party. Those members are a Hoothoot (Books) and a Spinarak (Spine), while also adding two temporary members to the team, a Sentret (Scroll) and a Hoppip (Poem).
I'm not too sure of how I want to construct my team, but those Pokemon appeal to me as of right now. I don't want to plan too far ahead, as I feel like it will devolve my experience back into a game of stats and numbers as opposed to the original goal of going back to taking my time and having fun at every step of the way. I do know I want a Quagsire and maybe a Bellossom though. I'm not opposed to having a big team that surpasses 6 members, as I really do want to try to clock as much hours as I can with this experience, and it'll help the Pokedex side of things too.
Anyway, after a couple days of turning on the game, playing for a brief moment before work, and going about my real-life day, I've developed a sort of routine. Since I haven't gotten very far, not even reaching Violet yet, it's quite simple to go back to previous routes to collect the new berry spawns. I usually shrug over the simple 10 HP restoration, but this new outlook of trying to make the most out of even the mundane has me appreciating the daily events of the old game. It was really before its time, as these 24 hour cycles will give their way into better things in future generations. It really made me feel like I was a citizen in the world, doing my morning rituals before I set out for the rest of the day. I play a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links, and this sort of reminded me of the mobile game phenomenon of signing in for a moment to collect some rewards and going back to your real-life world.
Before challenging Falkner, I decided to train up my non-traditional team members, Sentret and Hoppip, a bit up for the sake of it. Although they're not really a part of the team and haven't fought any trainers, I think it's worth giving them some love. It might let me find a shiny in the wild after all. I actually don't mind level grinding in Pokemon; I think it's fun just going into the wild for the sake of it and train. It's not really a burden, as I'm not setting aside an arduous goal of "having to reach Level X for the boss". I can start and stop whenever, and when I get bored of training in the wild, I can just stop and proceed with my adventure. Also, Younger Joey called for a rematch, so it felt pretty cool to be able to battle a friend before taking on the Gym Leader. It's like two allies trying their best to improve before taking on the city's best trainer.
I beat Falkner with ease. Hoothoot beat the Pidgey, while Spinarak poisoned the Pidgeotto, allowing Cyndaquil to finish up the job with a Leer and two Tackles. I'm currently on Day 3, and I save my game in Violet City, awaiting the night to fall upon us after a day of irl work to catch the illustrious Wooper. I'll also be catching a Gastly too since I'm already here! Once I catch the Wooper, I think I'll traverse a bit through the Dark Cave, as it lets Wooper get some levels when facing some wild Geodudes. I wonder if I can find a Dunsparce?
Team:
Day: 3
Time: 2:58
Badges: 1
Dex: 15
Kindle - 12
Ember | Tackle | Leer | Smokescreen
Books - 11
Peck | Tackle | Growl | Foresight
Spine - 11
Poison Sting | String Shot | Scary Face
Scroll - 10
Tackle | Defense Curl
Poem - 8
Splash | Synthesis
I start off the game picking Cyndaquil. It was a hard choice, actually, as I spent a solid 10 minutes staring at the Pokeballs. It's the first time I've started a run in years where I didn't either play my entire team ahead of time or let a random number generator decide my fate. I had no idea what this journey would bring me; it was just me and the three choices that faced me. I'm not even ten minutes in and I've felt more Pokemon magic than I have in a long time. I choose the fire starter and appropriately name him Kindle. I go around and talk to everyone before making my way to Cherrygrove City. After facing my Rival, Silver, I'm able to obtain Pokeballs and set forth on my true path. I catch every new species I see, but only some take the honor of joining my party. Those members are a Hoothoot (Books) and a Spinarak (Spine), while also adding two temporary members to the team, a Sentret (Scroll) and a Hoppip (Poem).
I'm not too sure of how I want to construct my team, but those Pokemon appeal to me as of right now. I don't want to plan too far ahead, as I feel like it will devolve my experience back into a game of stats and numbers as opposed to the original goal of going back to taking my time and having fun at every step of the way. I do know I want a Quagsire and maybe a Bellossom though. I'm not opposed to having a big team that surpasses 6 members, as I really do want to try to clock as much hours as I can with this experience, and it'll help the Pokedex side of things too.
Anyway, after a couple days of turning on the game, playing for a brief moment before work, and going about my real-life day, I've developed a sort of routine. Since I haven't gotten very far, not even reaching Violet yet, it's quite simple to go back to previous routes to collect the new berry spawns. I usually shrug over the simple 10 HP restoration, but this new outlook of trying to make the most out of even the mundane has me appreciating the daily events of the old game. It was really before its time, as these 24 hour cycles will give their way into better things in future generations. It really made me feel like I was a citizen in the world, doing my morning rituals before I set out for the rest of the day. I play a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Links, and this sort of reminded me of the mobile game phenomenon of signing in for a moment to collect some rewards and going back to your real-life world.
Before challenging Falkner, I decided to train up my non-traditional team members, Sentret and Hoppip, a bit up for the sake of it. Although they're not really a part of the team and haven't fought any trainers, I think it's worth giving them some love. It might let me find a shiny in the wild after all. I actually don't mind level grinding in Pokemon; I think it's fun just going into the wild for the sake of it and train. It's not really a burden, as I'm not setting aside an arduous goal of "having to reach Level X for the boss". I can start and stop whenever, and when I get bored of training in the wild, I can just stop and proceed with my adventure. Also, Younger Joey called for a rematch, so it felt pretty cool to be able to battle a friend before taking on the Gym Leader. It's like two allies trying their best to improve before taking on the city's best trainer.
I beat Falkner with ease. Hoothoot beat the Pidgey, while Spinarak poisoned the Pidgeotto, allowing Cyndaquil to finish up the job with a Leer and two Tackles. I'm currently on Day 3, and I save my game in Violet City, awaiting the night to fall upon us after a day of irl work to catch the illustrious Wooper. I'll also be catching a Gastly too since I'm already here! Once I catch the Wooper, I think I'll traverse a bit through the Dark Cave, as it lets Wooper get some levels when facing some wild Geodudes. I wonder if I can find a Dunsparce?
Team:
Spoiler:
Day: 3
Time: 2:58
Badges: 1
Dex: 15
Kindle - 12
Ember | Tackle | Leer | Smokescreen
Books - 11
Peck | Tackle | Growl | Foresight
Spine - 11
Poison Sting | String Shot | Scary Face
Scroll - 10
Tackle | Defense Curl
Poem - 8
Splash | Synthesis