[Challenge] The Anime-Style Challenge (Revival)

1. Bro for Life: Your partner and best friend on your journey. The first Pokémon you obtain after your starter, or your starter itself, will be your "Bro for Life". (Think Pikachu, or Iris' Axew.)
You may wait a couple routes before catching something, or you can even import an egg to be your BFL, or you can use a randomizer or other tool to replace a starter with your BFL, but you must obtain it before the first Gym and cannot catch anything before you get it.
Once you get your BFL, your starter can no longer be used against any trainers, unless your starter is your BFL. HOWEVER, you may use your starter to train up your BFL against wild Pokémon after getting it.
Your Bro for Life cannot evolve, and must travel with you at all times.

2. You can only catch one Pokémon per area (but it does not have to be your first encounter). It is recommended (not mandatory, but recommended) that you have 10 (14 upon reaching Kanto if playing a Johto game) or fewer Pokémon at all times.
It is up to you as to how you want to handle any Safari Zone, as well as places that have multiple areas (i.e. Pinwheel Forest in BW, Reversal Mountain in BW2, Route 8 in XY).

3. Evolution:
Each possible evolution has a 5/12 chance of happening.
Whether or not a pokemon is allowed to evolve is determined by a random number generator. If you catch a Vulpix and the evolution fails to go through, too bad. You have a Vulpix forever.
If you have something that can evolve twice (like Charmander), and the first evolution fails, you may try it one more time (but you cannot attempt to go for a Charizard). That rule is in place to keep the 5/12 number intact.
Pokémon immune to this rule: Magikarp, baby Pokémon, early game Bug-type lines (i.e. Caterpie, Wurmple, Scatterbug). However, for baby Pokémon like Budew and Azurill, after they evolve, then you RNG for their chance of evolution.
Also, you may use the Universal Randomizer to enable certain evolutions if necessary. For example, if playing FRLG on an emulator, you can enable impossible evos to allow trade evolutions, or enable the national dex to allow second and thrid gen evolutions, such as Crobat.

4. Departure:
For each new numbered route you enter after the first Gym, there is a 3/16 chance that one of your team members will leave, again determined by random number generator. This rule is to simulate the occasions in the anime where trainers and their pokemon decide to part ways for some reason (think Bye bye Butterfree).
If that happens, you must select a member in your current team to release or permanently box, not counting your Bro for Life. Or you can RNG the pokemon that leaves as well. This discourages you from keeping one trash pokemon around to get rid of.

5. No healing items in battle. This is to go along with the anime, which doesn't use them at all. (Although the OP used this rule because he "was a glutton for punishment".)

6. All Pokémon can only learn one TM move for the entirety of the game. The exception is that if the Pokémon has evolved twice while owned by you, you may teach it 3 TM moves.
HM moves do not count towards this limit, nor do TM moves learned by level.
As for Move Tutor moves in Platinum or Black 2/White 2, it may learn one of those as well.
So, for example, say you're playing Black 2/White 2 and are using a Frillish. You could give it Blizzard (TM), Giga Drain (move tutor), Surf (HM) and Ominous Wind.
Additionally, if you import in an egg to be your Bro for Life, you may give it one egg move.

7. Consecutive moves:(Optional)
You must use three different moves on each Pokémon's first three turns in a battle. If you are early in the game and your first Pokémon only has two moves, it is excluded from this limit.
You can never use a move three times in a row.
(So you'd have to do something like ABCCBCCBCCB and so on.)

8. Gym Battles:
You must begin a Gym battle with the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader. You may deposit your Bro for Life before a Gym battle if you do not wish to use it in said battle.
It is up to you how you want to deal with the Elite Four (since the Champion always has six Pokémon).

9. No held items, except for those that affect experience/EVs.(Optional)
To make that more specific, the following items are allowed whether you use this rule or not: Amulet Coin, Macho Brace, Power items (Bracer, Anklet, etc), Exp. Share, Lucky Egg.
Since Gym Leaders/Elite Four in most games give their aces berries, you may give one of your Pokémon a Berry when facing them.

However, as a mercy rule for XY players, the Exp. Share and Pokémon-Amie will be allowed. The former to help during training (and just because), and the latter because Amie emulates what the anime does between Pokémon and trainer bonds including dodging attacks and hanging on.

10. In games/hacks with more than one region, you may only bring your BFL to that region with you.
This is to represent how Ash, from Hoen onward, only brought Pikachu with him to any new region. You may bring back your old Pokemon for battle facilities or any other challenges you feel merit it (Ash brought back old pokemon for League tourneys and the Battle Frontier).

11. Tweaking rules. (Optional)
If you ever feel like one of the rule(s) are a bit too much, you may add some sort of alteration. This could be to either simulate the Anime further, or if you ever have problems during a game. You may choose to completely ignore a rule if you are really opposed to it.

RBY/FRLG: Beat the Elite 4 and your Rival AND/OR Clear the Sevii Island quests and Rematch the Elite 4
GSC/HGSS: Beat Lance AND/OR Get all 16 badges and Beat Red
RSE/ORAS: Beat Steven AND/OR Complete the Delta Episode
DPP: Beat Cynthia
BW: Beat Alder
B2W2: Beat Iris
XY: Beat AZ
SM: Beat Kukui AND/OR Complete Ultra Beast storyline
Hacks/Fan games: You decide

None

Armaada J - Soul Silver
AlmightyBreloom - Y
LRachelR5 - Moon

Went to meet my neighbor the Pokemon Prof. to finally get my own pokemon. I chose a female Vulpix and named her Kyuubi. We're both loners so we stick together and keep to ourselves.
Prof needs me to run an errand so I head west after grabbing my pokegear. In the next town over an old man gives me a tour and a fresh pair of shoes. As we go along Kyuubi and I don't waste a second, training as we go. There's something oddly therapeutic about destroying everything in our path with ember. Mr Pokemon has an egg for us and Oak is visiting him, and he gives us a pokedex. As we're head back, Elm calls us and it sounds something like "AAAHAHA AFKDGNd HELp ME" so we decide to head back. We then encounter our rival, here on referred to as Jackass. Despite having a Totodile Kyuubi is 2 levels superior and burns him, so we steal a win. We get back and SURPRISE, he's the thief Elm mentioned. Now that the tutorial quest is over, we grab some pokeballs and officiall start our journey!!

Current Team

:t037: Kyuubi Lv 7[BFL]: Ember, Tail Whip, Roar

:t037: Kyuubi Lv 8 (Ember, Tail Whip, Roar)
:t163: Specs lv 7 (Tackle, Foresight,Growl, Hypnosis)
:t074: Joplin Lv 8 (Tackle, Mud Sport, Defense Curl, Rock Polish)

I set off on my journey with Neto, my bestfriend whom I hatched from an egg. After Serena kindly showed Shauna and I how to catch Pokémon and gifted us some Pokeballs, I went off into the forest. I found a Pikachu stuck in a tree being attacked by some Beedrill. We fended off the Beedrill and caught the Pikachu. I decided to call him Ryu. When we got out of the forest, I held a practice battle between Ryu and Neto. Neto won because he was more experienced, but Ryu put up a fight. I was confident in his abilities to help take out Viola's Pokémon. I ended up changing my clothes into something more comfortable and then went off to fight Viola. Some girl named Rinka stopped me at the door, though. She challenged me to a battle, offering me a pair of new skates if I beat her. She only had a Zigzagoon, which I beat with ease. I then went into the gym. I took on and beat all of the trainers in there easily, but I had one more challenge before I got my badge. Viola didn't prove to be that tough of a challenge, but that was mostly thanks to Ryu. Ryu went out first, taking on her Surskit. Surskit would have been a huge problem had we not had Ryu. Thankfully, Ryu used Thundershock and dispatched Surskit. The battle wasn't over yet, though. She sent out her ace, Vivillon. To counter that, I sent out my ace, Neto. Neto went into a hard fought battle with Vivillon, but in the end Neto came out on top. After a good battle, I had finally received my first badge, the Bug Badge.

In the Previous Episode: Our hero set off on his adventure with Neto, a Growlithe that he hatched from an egg. He caught Ryu the Pikachu, and took on the gym leader of Santalune City, earning his Bug Badge. And now, onto your regularly scheduled episode: As I left Santalune City, I was stopped by Viola's sister. She struck up conversation, eventually giving me the Exp. Share. As I made it through the next route, I was stopped by two people claiming to be the Professor's Assistants as I was about to enter Lumiose. The girl's name was Sina, and the boy's was Dexio. They went off about the fairy typing, which I already knew quite a bit about. We had fairy types back in Kanto, so it wasn't anything new. Anyways, I went on to the Professor's lab where we battled. He gifted me a Bulbasaur, which I promptly named Saur. When I was about to leave the lab, some man called Lysandre was talking to Sina. I would see him again a bit later after meeting up with Serena in a café. My team and I worked our way to Camphrier Town. We stopped by Shabboneau Castle to learn about Mega Evolution, but we learned nothing new. We decided to move on to Ambrette Town, but we were blocked by a Snorlax. Shauna and I then went on to Parfum Palace, where we helped the owner find his Furfrou. He gave the Pokeflute to the man who would clear the way of Snorlax. We caught the Snorlax and nicknamed her Blubber. Too bad she had the ability Immunity instead of Thick Fat, but the nickname still made sense. I sent her to Professor Sycamore, as I didn't want to raise too many Pokémon. We battled along side Serena against Tierno and Trevor. Saur really shined in that battle. Eventually we made our way to Ambrette Town, with Saur evolving along the way. The fossil researchers sent Serena and I to go find their colleague in Glittering Cave. While finding my way through the cave, I found a lost and injured Machop. I nursed him back to health and he decided to join my party. I decided to name him Protein, as I thought the name was fitting. I knew that he would help with the gym coming up, so he was a welcome addition. At the end of the cave, I had to fight along Serena against some strange-dressing group called Team Flare. We eventually found the scientist who gifted us each a fossil. I chose the Jaw fossil, which I restored when I went back to Ambrette. It turned out to be a Tyrunt, which we named Mars. He joined our team and I can see that he will be a useful member. He could eventually become one of the strongest Pokémon I'll ever see. We made our way to Cyllage City, obtaining a green bike by answering a question. I went up to the gym where I met Grant. He gave me the HM Strength, and I thanked him for it. I then proceeded to challenge the gym. Saur helped with all of the trainers, but he wouldn't be there for the final battle. I had Neto and Protein for that. I knew how he used the fossil Pokémon. I went up to challenge him, and took him on. It looked to be an intense match, but I didn't realize how lucky I would get. He led with Amaura and I with Neto. Neto had a fighting type attack that I was hoping would knock him out with one attack. Luckily, Neto attacked first and Amaura's massive weakness to fighting types was exploited. We took Amaura out with ease, as it didn't even get to attack. I then switched to Protein for the main event. This battle was gonna be a lot more intense. Tyrunt went first and used Stomp on my Machop. I had Protein use Low Sweep, though, and tripped up Tyrunt. This did significant damage, but another one wouldn't be enough. I told Machop to use Karate Chop, and because Tyrunt was knocked down, it did just enough to knock it out. And with that, I left the gym with my head held high, and another badge in my case. The Cliff Badge would be only my second of many.

Our hero gained four new friends sending one back to Sycamore, and had a rather intimate moment with Shauna which, if our hero was being completely honest, he wishes was with Serena instead. Our hero should just take what he can get. It's not often that he interacts with a girl. Our hero also received his second gym badge after a well fought battle versus Grant. And now onto your regularly scheduled episode.

Our hero made his way north to Geosenge Town, unfortunately running into Team Flare on the way. Luckily, Team Flare was easily defeated, and our hero caught up with Serena at the town for a brief moment. As he left the town, a strange girl named Korrina challenged him to a battle with her two Lucario. Neto and Protein dispatched them, however, and he was on his way. Unfortunately, some Pokémon were bullying the smaller ones on the next route. This angered Protein so much that he burst out of his Pokeball and fought off the bullies. As they were about to leave, the bullies came back but with more. Protein again fought them off. Protein felt very protective of these Pokémon, and our hero could see that. He offered Protein the chance to stay there and become the protector of the smaller Pokémon. Protein agreed to stay. Our hero thanked Protein for all the memories, and after a tear-jerking final goodbye, they were off into Glittering Cave. Glittering Cave was not a very long journey, but the experience proved useful. Once in Shalour City, our hero made his way to the place of the Mega Evolution Guru. He met up with the rest of his friends and they all caught up with each other and their progress on their journeys. The Guru interrupted their talk with the fact that he decided to give them a Mega Bracelet, but that he only had one. Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna immediately nominate our hero and Serena. They unanimously decide to battle for it. It was intense, but our hero came out on top. He expected more, but he did have more Pokémon. The two trainers congratulate each other on a good fight, and our hero went to battle the gym so he would finally earn his third badge, and the Mega Bracelet. Let's go to the battle right now. I had left Mars behind. He would be weak against the fighting type attacks and I didn't want to put him through the pain. Korrina sent out her Mienfoo first and I sent out Neto. The fight was over quick, with Neto only needing two attacks to finish the job. Not to say it wasn't intense. Mienfoo did quite a bit of damage against Neto, and I gave him a break for the next fight. Machoke was next, and this is what scared me most. I sent out Saur to fight. Surprisingly, this battle was probably going to be the easiest. Saur didn't take any damage, and Machoke was down. The next one was going to be up to Ryu, though. It was Ryu vs Hawlucha. Hawlucha attacked first, doing quite a bit of damage. Ryu attacked afterwards, doing more damage, but not knocking it out. Hawlucha followed it up with another attack, leaving Ryu with just a strand of health left. That was all he needed though. He barely held on and then sent a jolt of electricity into Hawlucha, knocking it out. And with that, I went up to meet Korrina at the top of the tower, with my badge in hand. There, I got my mega bracelet and then fought her alongside a Lucario. I came out on top after a nerve wracking match. The Lucario I used decided to join me on my journey. I sent Azure, as I called him, back to the professor so he could study him. I might need him later in my journey, but for now, I hope he enjoys life with the professor. I then set my sights to Coumarine City.

Our hero earned his third badge and gained the mega bracelet, receiving Azure the Lucario along the way. And now onto your regularly scheduled episode.

As I made my way to Coumarine City, Serena stopped me at the gate. She gave me an HM for Surf. I didn't have a Pokémon that could use it, but it was thoughtful nonetheless. I thanked her and continued my journey. On the next route, I ran into a man who gave me a Lapras. He said that it saved him from drowning and he wanted to show it the world. He couldn't do that, though, so he gave her to me. I named her Umi, for the sea. She would help on my next couple of fights. She also gave me the option to Surf, which I needed to get to Coumarine. When I got to Coumarine City, Professor Sycamore gave me the HM for Fly. Again, I couldn't use it but I thanked him for it anyways. Serena and I battled in front of the gym. She's improved a lot in such a short time. She took out Mars, Ryu, and Neto before Umi cleaned things up. Eventually, I reached the top of the gym to fight Ramos, the leader. He was the gym leader that I thought would give me the closest fight so far, and I was right. He sent out Jumpluff and I sent out Umi, because she had learned Ice Beam. Umi took a lot of damage because of a critical hit, but she knocked out the Jumpluff with one hit. I sent in Mars to handle the Weepinbell because I wanted to save Neto for the final battle. Mars took out the Weepinbell with about half of his health left, and being poisoned. He still managed to almost knock the Gogoat, even slowing it down so we would outspeed. Neto couldn't land a hit though, because the Gogoat kept on dodging his attacks. For that reason, he was knocked out. It was Umi versus Gogoat. Both were at really low health, and whoever would hit first would win. As luck would have it, that would be Umi. The Rock Tomb really came in handy, as it allowed Umi to outspeed and for us to earn our fourth badge. And with that, it's back to Lumiose to earn our fifth badge.

After moving to Alola I was informed by the local Professor Kukui that the Kahuna of Melemele island would give me a pokemon. So I headed to Iki Town with him learning some of the basics of being a trainer as we went. Once we reached Iki Town Kukui asked me to go and look for the Kahuna. However seeing a strange girl distracted me so I followed her to a bridge where a pokemon was being attacked by Spearows. I agreed to go and help, once I saved Nebby we headed back to town, the Kahuna was there so I chose Popplio as my starter at least temporarily until I could access a PC to collect my Mimikyu. I battled a boy named Hau who seemed nice enough whilst Lily, Kukui and Hala watched.

The next day I headed out to a festival and battled Hau again for the Tapu of the island. Then Lillie took me to meet up with the professor again who gave me a rotom dex for my island challenge. Then Lillie and I headed to the trainer school, stopping off at the Pokémon Centre so that I could grab Lestrange my Mimikyu. Before taking on the trainer school I trained up Lestrange. Whilst there I found a Grimer (King Grimes) and decided to add it to my team. After beating the trainer school I headed to the Marina, catching a Magnemite (Unidentified) along the way in the shopping district, where apparently Team Skull was causing a ruckus, I also got to battle Ilima. On Route 2 I caught a Growlithe (Sirius) and whilst training in the cemetery I caught a Drifloon (Seraphina). I met up with Hau again at the Pokémon Centre after clearing out Team Skull from a berry field before taking on and beating Ilima's trial in Verdant Cavern, as I was leaving I ran into a Rattata (Scabbers) who felt weaker compared to the other ones in the Cavern so I decided to bring him with us on our adventure bringing my team to six. On Route 3 I caught a Cutiefly (Queenie) and when I found Lillie in the Meadow I caught a Petilil (Sprout). I continued down Route 3 back to Iki Town to take on Hala's grand trail. Seeing as Seraphina is part ghost I was not worried about fighting him seeing as he could not use the fighting moves on me, the problem came of his pokemon knowing Pursuit however we still managed to over come him and win the grand trial. Once getting the Tauros ride pager I decided to go and explore some areas that I couldn't access to, in Ten Carat Hill, I caught a Roggenrola (Hagrid) in the cave and a Rockruff (Remus). Following this I headed off to the Marina to meet up with Lillie, Kukui and Hau to go to Akala Island.

Lestrange BFL
Level: 18
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Disguise
Moveset: Shadow Sneak, Scratch, Astonish, Copycat


King Grimes
Level: 16
Nature: Impish
Ability: Gluttony
Moveset: Pound, Poison Gas, Harden, Bite
Can evolve


Unidentified
Level: 16
Nature: Naughty
Ability: Sturdy
Moveset: Tackle, Thunder Wave, Thunder Shock, Magnet Bomb
Can evolve twice


Sirius
Level: 15
Nature: Gentle
Ability: Flash Fire
Moveset: Bite, Roar, Ember, Leer
Can evolve


Seraphina@ Sharp Beak
Level: 17
Nature: Calm
Ability: Aftermath
Moveset: Constrict, Payback, Astonish, Gust
Can evolve


Scabbers@ Normalium Z
Level: 14
Nature: Brave
Ability: Hustle
Moveset: Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Pursuit, Bite
Can evolve

Level: 10
Nature: Quirky
Ability: Torrent
Moveset: Pound, Water Gun, Growl, Disarming Voice


Queenie
Level: 12
Nature: Bashful
Ability: Shield Dust
Moveset: Absorb, Fairy Wind, Stun Spore, Struggle Bug
Can't evolve


Sprout
Level: 10
Nature: Sassy
Ability: Chlorophyll
Moveset: Absorb, Growth, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder
Can't evolve


Hagrid
Level: 10
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Sturdy
Moveset: Tackle, Harden, Sand Attack, Headbutt
Can evolve once


Remus
Level: 12
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Vital Spirit
Moveset: Leer, Sand Attack, Bite, Howl
Can evolve

None

Kyuubi(Vulpix) - Lv 13 [Ember, Tail Whip, Roar, Quick Attack](BFL)

Specs(Hoothoot) - Lv 14[Uproar, Foresight, Peck, Hypnosis](Can evolve)

Joplin(Geodude) - Lv 13[Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Throw, Rock Polish](Can evolve once)

Fleece(Mareep) - Lv 10[Tackle, Growl, Thundershock](Can evolve once)

Egg(Egg) - Lv Egg[Egg](Will Hatch)

Our hero gained the Plant Badge with the help of his new partner, Umi the Lapras. Now onto your regularly scheduled episode.

I made my way to the Power Pant on my way back to Lumiose because I heard that there was a commotion there causing the Lumiose Power Outage. I took care of that quite easily, as Neto finally learned Flame Thrower. This would be very useful against Clemont's Magneton. After clearing up the incident involving Team Flare, I moved onto Lumiose City and set my sights on the sixth badge. When challenging Clemont, I started off with Neto and he started with Emolga. He used Volt Switch to start and went into his Magneton. Predicting this, Neto used Flame Thrower and brought Magneton down to one health point. Clemont tried to heal his weakened Pokémon, but it was no use as Neto eventually knocked him out. The next Pokémon he used was Heliolisk. Unfortunately, Neto was already tired and the Heliolisk knocked out Neto. I sent in Ryu to clean things up though, and he managed to just knock out the Heliolisk with Dig. His final Pokémon was his lead, Emolga. Emolga knocked out Ryu with Aerial Ace, but I was prepared for his Pokémon. I sent out Mars, who easily knocked out Emolga with Rock Tomb after taking a Volt Switch very well. And with that, we earned our sixth badge, the Voltage Badge.

Kyuubi(Vulpix) Lv 16 [Ember, Will-O-Wisp, Roar, Quick Attack](BFL)
Specs(Hoothoot) Lv 15 [Uproar, Peck, Foresight, Hypnosis](Can Evolve)
Joplin(Geodude) Lv 15 [Tackle, Magnitude, Rock Throw, Rock Polish](Can Evolve Once)
Fleece(Mareep) Lv 12 [Tackle, Growl, Thundershock](Can't Evolve)
LaZ(Slowpoke) Lv 6 [Curse, Yawn, Tackle, Growl](Can Evolve)
Egg(Egg) LV Egg [Egg](Will Hatch)

-Started a slightly randomised save with the starters changed to Electabuzz, Magmar and Jynx. Also gave national dex at the start and removed impossible evoloutions (trade evos, etc). 1-5 evolves, 6-12 does not. 1-3 leaves, 4-16 does not.
-Started with my BFL Electabuzz, named her Jupiter
-Rival Gary started with Magmar, won initial battle.
-Did early game stuff.
-Route 1: Caught Tamari The Pidgey. (Can fully evolve)
- Route 22: Caught Rock the Mankey. (Cannot evolve)
- Route 2:Caught Natsume the Rattata. (Cannot evolve)
-Viridian Forest: Caught Sasuke the Pikachu (Can evolve)
-Took on Rival Gary on Route 22. Took Jupiter & Sasuke. Sasuke took out Pidgey with Thundershock, and Jupiter's ThunderPunch on Magmar.
-Got to Pewter City gym, took on Brock. Used Rock and Tamari. Took out Geodude using Rock's Low Kick, and after weakening the Onix with Low Kick again, and finished with Tamari's Gust.

Our hero Sig starts off with his buddy Rex the Rhyhorn in the small town of Pallet. His trainer's journey is pretty conventional, obtaining a Caterpie and an evolution-refusing Pikachu from Route 2 and Viridian Forest (respectively). Brock falls to Confusion, and Sig continues on to fight the trainers on Route 3. With that complete, he happily scoops up a proto-Gyarados from a sleazy salesman and begins the long... long... process of training it.

Along the way, he defeats several foul thieves attempting to take his rare Rhyhorn from him. Upon exiting the cave, Rex proceeds to demonstrate his value by soloing Sig's rival. Bolt the Pikachu, who was flattened by the rival's Pidgeotto, embarks upon a courageous training montage to make up for its initial weakness. Along the way, they pick up an incredibly lazy Abra who refuses to fight, even to evolve. Oh well. At least it has Teleport.

After fixing a horrible scientific abomination, Sig receives a cruise-liner ticket and a bucket of brain bleach. Hoping the cruise will finish the job of wiping the sight from his memory, he exits Cerulean, only to be assaulted by a paranoid thief. The fiend's dastardly Drowzee hypnotizes and confuses all Sig's Pokemon, blowing through them like a fell wind, until... Mal the Magikarp summons the power within and brings it down. Yes. Really. That isn't a euphemism for evolving into Gyarados. Somehow the Magikarp defeated Drowzee when everything else became stunlocked by sleep and confusion. Sig scratches his head and heads to the Gym, hoping a new Badge will help reality start making sense again.

The battle with Misty is eventful, with Bolt first taking out Staryu, then falling to Starmie in its turn. The courageous Pikachu managed to paralyze the beast, however, and Free the Butterfree struggles mightily to bring it down. But it, in turn, fails, and all seems lost... until Rex comes in and rends from Starmie the last bit of its HP! Sig exits the Gym victorious.

Several battles and a new Bellsprout later, Sig finds himself on the verge of defeat, as his best prospect for taking down a Spearow is Mal... and the Magikarp pulls out a win, completely unassisted, with a sliver of health remaining. Reality continues to be weird as Sig, after healing, heads to Diglett's Cave... and meets a Dugtrio on his first encounter. Well, there went any semblance of a difficulty curve.

Onboard the S.S. Anne, Mal finally evolves, and the ever-obnoxious and unhelpful rival is chased offboard by an angry Gyarados. The captain rewards Sig for his community service with HM01, and the ship hastily sets sail before Professor Oak's bratty grandson returns.

Sig enters Lt. Surge's legendary Gym, only to find out that it suffers from a terminal case of false advertising: the first switch was located beneath a can near the entrance, but the second switch was under the one in the upper-left corner. He repays Surge for his lying by introducing him to Rex.

After a great deal of bumping about in the dark, Sig emerges from Rock Tunnel into the land of endless creepypasta. He doesn't stick around for long, and departs for the west. In a touching scene, he bids farewell to his Bellsprout outside Celadon, for it was never much inclined to battle and has decided to put down roots with the local prosperous plant community. He works off his angst by battling the local gangsters, then having a friendly match with the human fans of the local plant community.

Well... "friendly" if you don't account for Wrap. And Wrap. And Wrap. Both Mal and Lance the Dugtrio fall before Victreebel, with Free hastily finishing it off. Sig discovers, to his bemusement, that Erika's Tangela apparently knows no Grass moves - Rex knocks it out of the part. Then Free returns to battle Vileplume, but faints from poison and Vileplume's assault... Whereupon, as soon as Rex enters the field, Vileplume defeats itself in confusion! An unexpected end to the match.

Sig makes a contract with the local representative of Pidgey Airlines and flies back to Lavender. There, he meets once again with his rival.

Mal defeats Pidgeotto, but is sleeplocked by the rival's collection of sentient eggs. Lance serves Exeggcute the notice that it is no longer Easter, and Bolt takes down the enemy Gyarados. Rex proceeds to stampede the frail Kadabra, and nearly pulls out a win against Charmeleon. Alas, the cheating wretch failed to get the notice that healing-items-during-battle are banned in this challenge, and thus Lance had to return to put out the lizard's fire.

Somehow ghosts can't be touched by slashes, but they are deathly afraid of shovels. Thus Lance exorcises absolutely all of them with Dig, except for the ghost of Cubone's mother... which really just needed a PokeDoll, apparently. Aww. The Rockets are exorcised without too much more difficulty.

Snorlax, upon being awoken, trips and falls on a Pokeball. After Hyper is added to the team, Sig recruits Tri the Doduo... only for tragedy to strike as Mal yearns to return to the open sea. Sniffling, Sig bids farewell to his faithful rampaging monstrosity.

In Fuchsia, he challenges the Gym, and promptly struggles to defeat everyone except the Gym Leader. Known for blowing up his final Pokemon while the challenger is safely underground, Koga instead opts for a different variety of incompetence and has his L43 Weezing defeated by a L25 Butterfree. As Sig celebrates his new badge, the dissolute "ninja" resolves to lay off the sake, reform his life, and, if that fails, foist the job off on his daughter and hope to get kicked upstairs. But that's a tale for the planned spinoff series.

The Safari Zone goes well, with Sig acquiring a sentient mushroom (with bonus crab), a new HM, and somebody's dentures. Before his inventory can go any further on its journey towards resembling a bad point-and-click adventure game, he trades them in for a new HM. Whew, now he's only carrying around candy, a fossil, vitamins, a chunk of gold, Pokemon steroids, a musical instrument, a few ropes, and other respectable and normal items that every young boy should have on hand at all times. Teeth, however, were just too weird.

We end this update at Saffron, where Sig stands ready to battle the mother of all hostile takeovers.

Rex the L24 Rhyhorn :t111: (Bro For Life)
Horn Attack

Hyper the L31 Snorlax :t143:
Surf | Headbutt | Amnesia | Rest

Lance the L37 Dugtrio :t051:
Dig | Slash | Growl | Sand-Attack

Bolt the L25 Pikachu :t025:
Thundershock | Growl | Quick Attack | Thunder Wave

Free the L26 Butterfree :t012:
Confusion | Sleep Powder | Tackle | Stun Spore

Tri the L24 Doduo :t084:
Peck | Growl | Fury Attack | Fly

Retired:
Red the L14 Bellsprout :t069:
Cut | Vine Whip | Growth | Wrap

Mal the L26 Gyarados :t130:
Splash | Tackle | Bite | Dragon Rage