Alright, so after hopping off the SS Anne I went and picked up Levi-II, who was level 15. He, obviously, knew Tackle, but Magikarp is so weak that I decided that he still should be switch trained. Off to Diglett Cave!
After getting to Diglett Cave I had Anartia switch train Leviathan to level 20 before picking up the Old Amber in Pewter, just in case I got desperate.
I realized I had no one who knew Cut in order to get into Surge's gym, so I poked around until I found a Sandshrew.
Note: This Sandshrew is not part of the team as I already encountered someone on his route. He was immediately fainted as to render him useless in battle and is only used to Cut trees.
After getting Sandshrew I made a mockery of Lt. Surge's gym, mostly due to Seism having an Electric immunity.
After going back to the PKMN Centre, I left and started on my way to Rock Tunnel. I avoided the Route 10 encounter so I could come back and fish for Slowpoke later.
I healed up and went into Rock Tunnel, blind. I decided that if I stuck to the walls, I would eventually find my way out, and after a few failed attempts, I finally did. While in Rock Tunnel Levi-II decided now would be a good time to evolve, and I had a Gyarados on my hands.
Emerging in Lavender Town, I skipped the trainers outside of Rock Tunnel and immediately went to heal as the team was hurting. After healing, I went back and defeated them. I spent a few minutes planning exactly what my next few moves were, in order to make the most out of my TMs and upcoming encounters, since as soon as I got to Celadon, the whole game opens up.
I picked up Swift from the mourning trainer, although I was sure I wouldn't need it, went back to Lavender Town and then west to the next route, hoping for a Sandshrew to replace this HM slave with, although I got a Ratatta instead, which I passed on.
Interesting ramifications regarding dragging around this Sandshrew include:
- I am, in essence, carrying the corpse of a Sandshrew around in order to proceed.
- I can't box and release the Shrew since I have no encounters and I need Cut to proceed.
- I can't capture a sixth PKMN until I replace Sandshrew as that would mean I would have to box him when I caught him. If I boxed the Sandshrew instead, next time I needed Cut, I would have to kill a Pokémon in order to switch Sandshrew in, as I can't box living mons.
In essence, I'm stuck with this Sandshrew until I can replace it with a first encounter mon that knows cut. Spoiler alert: never happens.
Anyway, I finished off all the trainers here with Leviathan, and he hit level 30.
After making it to Celadon, my route changed significantly from the standard route, as I wanted to get my current team 100% kitted with good moves. I sprinted to the Celadon Dept store and ran up to the roof, and obtained Rock Slide and Ice Beam from the
thirsty girl. I got another drink and gave it to the guards so I could get Psychic for Anartia.
After obtaining Psychic I used 3 Rare Candies to get Seism to 36 so he could learn EQ. With his set being EQ, RS, BSLAM, and Defense Curl, it was looking pretty good. After thinking about his fourth slot, I decided to put Strength on him, only because he needed a fourth move and I didn't wanna grind the Celadon Game Corner for Sub, nor was I putting a boom move on him. In order to do this as quickly as possible, I bought a Poke Doll from the Celadon Dept Store and made my way back to Lavender Town.
Upon entering the Lavender Tower, Blue jumped me, of course. He was probably mourning his Raticate who Anartia mind crushed on the SS Anne, lmao.
I popped a Super Repel so I wouldnt get any encounters in case I wanted Gastly later, which I doubted, but it was just to be safe.
I made my way through the Lavender Tower and saved Mr. Fuji. After getting the Poke Flute I went west of Celadon and awakened the Snorlax, which I actually caught. I named him Melursus, after the real life
SLOTH BEAR. I went through Cycling Road to Fuschia, and into the Safari Zone.
I wasn't 100% sure how the Safari Zone worked, but I knew I could get Slowpoke from here so I tread carefully. I don't remember if I popped a Super Repel (and dont feel like rummaging through my footage to find out) but I do remember I didn't get any encounters, which wouldn't have mattered anyway, as I got Slowpoke somewhere else anyway. I got the Gold Teeth and Surf while I was there and let the step timer run out so I could give the Warden his Gold Teeth and get Strength.
I got Strength from the Warden, and then realised something,
Gyarados gets Strength.
I decided to give Leviathan Strength, as his atk value was higher than Seism's and neither of them get STAB.
I then sold everything I didn't need and bought coins because I guess I have to run Sub now on Golem.
A century later I emerged with Sub and Hbeam for Levi. I also put Tbolt and Surf on Levi so he can get some coverage moves. I then put IB on Mello since I decided he would run a special set. At this point, my team had a really good movepool, consisting of:
Anartia (Butterfree) (Perfect set)
Level: 34
- Psychic
- Supersonic
- Sleep Powder
- Stun Spore
Levi-II (Gyarados) (Good set, not sure what I would have put on him if not Strength tho)
Level: 31
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Hyper Beam
- Strength
Seism (Golem) (Perfect set, would use a boom move over Sub in comp though)
Level: 40
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Body Slam
- Substitute
Snorlax (Really good set.)
Level: 30
- Amnesia
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Rest
So now that the move pool was all filled up and my mons were swimming in it, I decided to forward the story.
I literally walked through the Rocket Hideout and sneezed on Gio and he gave up.
I decided to grab Leviathan some more EXP and had him solo the Fighting Dojo, which he did very easily.
I cleared out the trainers on both sides of Fuchsia with minimal problems except that
psyducking metronome Clefairy that got mega lucky with Metronome Hypnosis to crit Metronome Dream Eater twice and Metronome Super Fang'd the switch that literally almost wiped my team before grabbing the Super Rod.
I was like "okay I have 3, maybe 4 places that I can get Slowpoke", so I went on and tried them. I went to Celadon and tried to fish there, didn't get him.
I then went to Route 10 and encountered him, but there was a problem, I only had 1 Poke Ball, so I had to ensure that I would catch him here. I confused him with Anartia, and he damaged himself down to about 50%, and then I slept him, threw my Pokeball, and
psyducking prayed.
It was the longest 3 wobbles of my life.
*click*
Okay cool I caught him. I named him Broking and immediately taught him Surf and Thunder Wave. When he gets Amnesia, there will be very little in game that will be able to stop him, short of blowing up.
With Slowpoke firmly within my grasp and everything else I needed to do, done, I went to challenge Koga. I felt kind of under leveled, and the gym was a bit of a struggle, but I got through it.
Koga is an asshole though. I have 5 mons healthy and Seism in, and you blow up on him. "If I can't win, I'll take one of your mons down with me!" What a chump.
With half the game done, I decided this would be a good place to stop. Until next time!
