Gotta Play 'em All! [A journey through all 35 main series games]

[Living Arrow]

The Shiny Kadabra is a pain that I know well! Had a Shiny Abra in Diamond many years ago and failed to snag that one, too 😅

 

[SailorVee]

The Shiny Kadabra is a pain that I know well! Had a Shiny Abra in Diamond many years ago and failed to snag that one, too 😅

Glad I'm not the only one. > < This one doesn't sting as much as the shiny Starly did though. I'm still beating myself up over that one. I had actually never bought Poke Balls before the tutorial in DPPt but I think I'll start doing that from here on out to avoid a similar scenario in the future...

DAY 58 [20/02/2022] ー POKEMON BLACK 2

Spoiler:

The fact that I've never played these games before is starting to show because I keep making these silly mistakes when playing through the game. For one, I had no idea that the Cold Storage section has been replaced in these games, although I probably should have figured as much since this was an event with the old Team Plasma. ^^;;

As a result, I had to go catch a Vanillite on my Pokemon Black version and trade it over. The boosted EXP is honestly quite nice for grinding and I use the same trainer name on all of my games so it doesn't really bother me that the ID is slightly different.

The different lay-out of Clay's gym was a first for me as well so I was just aimlessly wandering around for a bit until I finally figured out how to solve the puzzle. I'm not exactly the best at puzzles so this wouldn't be my first time getting stuck in a gym. ^^;;

Anyway, let's talk about the team. Scraggy's late evolution is a pain because I can't really take many hits. This made Elesa quite challenging as well. Thankfully, I predicted her Volt Switches correctly and was able to go for Dig on the Emolga as it switched out into Zebstrika. This wasn't enough to take it out, but I did enough damage for Leavanny to come in, tank one Flame Charge and take it out with a Razor Leaf. The Emolga had also taken prior damage already, so Return could finish it off.

Meanwhile Clay was pretty easy with a combination of Dewott and Leavanny. Dewott even hit lv. 36 at the end of the fight and evolved into its final stage.

Vanillish has only been on the team for a short while so I don't have much of an opnion on her yet. She didn't have any special STAB moves while I was trying to grind so I just slapped the EXP. Share on her and fought Audino with my other team members. Now that she has reached her second stage AND got Ice Beam, she should be a lot more useful though. I definitely could use somehing to counter Flying types, especially with the upcoming gym battle.

CURRENT TEAM

Danish the Samurott ♀ - Lv. 36

Torrent / Quirky nature

- Slash
- Water Pulse
- Razor Shell
- Revenge

Empanada the Leavanny ♀ - Lv. 35

Swarm / Gentle nature

- Razor Leaf
- Return
- Bug Bite
- Protect

Strudel the Scraggy ♂ - Lv. 35

Shed Skin / Naive nature

- Brick Break
- Strength
- Faint Attack
- Dig

Baklava the Vanillish ♀ - Lv. 35

Ice Body / Timid nature

- Ice Beam
- Mist
- Taunt
- Mirror Shot

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 59 [21/02/2022] ー POKEMON Y

Spoiler:

I remember struggling quite a bit to get through Reflection Cave when I played Pokemon X, but this time around everything was pretty much a breeze. I kept the EXP. Share on the whole time as well, so my team might have gotten a tad bit overleveled as well.

Even though I enjoy Kalos as a region and like a lot of the Gen 6 Pokemon, I do think the difficulty curve of these games is all over the place. There's a few random trainers which can be very tough, but the gyms and rival fights are so disappointing. There is no reason why some boss battles shouldn't have full move sets on their Pokemon either. :/

Anyway, most of my team is fully evolved at this point so they're starting to hit quite hard. I do think Litleo should probably evolve a little sooner though. It was so hard to use him. I basically just had him sitting in the back and soaking up EXP through the EXP Share because Ember does negative damage and any neutral hit from an enemy would do like half health.

Right now I'm having somewhat of the same issue with Skrelp as well so I don't think she'll get much spotlight until she evolves. Again, why does Skrelp have to evolve so late when its counterpart evolves at lv. 35? I understand that the evolution is a Dragon type but still, it makes raising one a chore. At least I picked up the Eviolite so she can at least take some hits in the meantime.

CURRENT TEAM

Aquarius the Greninja ♂ - Lv. 38

Torrent / Docile nature

- Round
- Thief
- Surf
- Water Shuriken

Leo the Pyroar ♂ - Lv. 39

Rivalry / Timid nature

- Echoed Voice
- Flamethrower
- Fire Fang
- Work Up

Aries the Gogoat ♂ - Lv. 38

Sap Sipper / Mild nature

- Seed Bomb
- Bulldoze
- Bulk Up
- Strength

Gemini the Doublade ♂ - Lv. 39

No Guard / Adamant nature

- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak

Virgo the Sylveon ♀ - Lv. 38

Cute Charm / Serious nature

- Light Screen
- Moonblast
- Swift
- Bite

Pisces the Skrelp ♀ - Lv. 38

Poison Point / Naive nature

- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
- Venoshock
- Surf

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 60 [22/02/2022] ー POKEMON OMEGA RUBY

Spoiler:

For some reason, I really breezed through the game today, which is why I managed to squeeze in the 5th badge as well. There is barely any content between the 4th and the 5th badges in Hoenn and my team was already at a high enough level to take on Norman's team, so I figured I would get it out of the way. I haven't fought the trainers in the desert area yet, but I will do that once I catch my final team member.

Since I only added one new team member this time, I didn't really waste too much time grinding either. I have a bunch of Pokemiles saved up from when I used to Wonder Trade A LOT so on my Pokemon X file, I'm stacked on Rare Candies. I just quickly traded over my Swablu to get him up to par with the rest of the squad before trading him back to my Omega Ruby version.

The fight with Flannery was easy this time since I had Marshtomp and Norman's whole team got OHKO'd by Breloom. Kirlia and Magnemite evolved and got some powerful new moves as well, so they've been great additions to the team.

Swablu evolved after the fight with Norman so I haven't really gotten to use Altaria yet, but I caught one with Hyper Voice as an egg move, so if I can get the Mega Stone, I might use a special Mega Altaria with Pixilate Hyper Voice.

I never quite got to fully experience ORAS before because I only played up to the 3rd gym when the games came out (I was in uni back then and way too busy with my classes) but some of the extra cut scenes they added are so wholesome. I epsecially like the one with Norman and Wally's dad after you gain your 5th badge. The option to quickly travel back to Petalburg (and then Mauville) are such time savers as well. In the original R/B/E, it's quite annoying how you have to travel all the way back yourself.

CURRENT TEAM

Tidal the Swampert ♂ - Lv. 37

Torrent / Jolly nature

- Dig
- Surf
- Rock Slide
- Strength

Future the Gardevoir ♀ - Lv. 35

Trace / Naive nature

- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Magical Leaf

Boxer the Breloom ♂ - Lv. 36

Poison Heal / Naughty nature

- Leech Seed
- Mach Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Wake-Up Slap

Magnetic the Magneton - Lv. 35

Sturdy / Bold nature

- Electro Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Tri Attack

Cloud the Breloom ♂ - Lv. 35

Natural Cure / Mild nature

- Cotton Guard
- Hyper Voice
- DragonBreath
- Disarming Voice

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 61 [23/02/2022] ー POKEMON MOON

Spoiler:

Despite getting a little farther than I did on my Pokemon Sun copy, I ended up using quite a bit of time grinding or looking for encounters. While grinding might not be the most fun to do, when you have a lot of random encounters, it also increases your chances of running into a shiny.

ーー Exactly. I'm 61 days into this challenge and have encounter 4 full odds shinies so far. I do realize taht this is a gen VII game so the odds are higher than they were back in gen V and earlier. I was still pretty stoked when I managed to catch the Fomatis though. Especially since I could use it on my team as well!

I also added two new members to the team in Araquanid and Bewear. Dewpider wasn't too hard to find although I had to catch a few until I had one with a decent nature. Stufful on the other hand took FOREVER to find. Then when I finally found one, it had the Klutz ability. I decided to just roll with it though. I'm addicted to Mantine Surf so I might grind BP on USUM and use those to buy an Ability Capsule.

Other than that, I completed Kiawe's and Mallow's trials which were both really easy. Araquanid easily took care of the Totem Salazzle and Totem Lurantis got screwed over by its alley which set up Sunny Day, powering up my Torracat.

CURRENT TEAM

KitKat the Torracat ♂ - Lv. 30

Torrent / Mild nature

- Acrobatics
- Flame Charge
- Fire Fang
- Bite

Milky Way the Pikachu ♀ - Lv. 30

Static / Calm nature

- Spark
- Charm
- Nasty Plot
- Electro Ball

Baby Ruth the Fomantis ♀ - Lv. 30 ★

Leaf Guard / Lonely nature

- Leaf Blade
- Growth
- Razor Leaf
- Ingrain

Reese's the Araquanid ♂ - Lv. 29

Water Bubble / Naughty nature

- BubbleBeam
- Bug Bite
- Bite
- Aqua Ring

Twix the Bewear ♀ - Lv. 29

Klutz / Naughty nature

- Brick Break
- Baby-Doll Eyes
- Brutal Swing
- Rock Tomb

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 62 [24/02/2022] ー POKEMON ULTRA SUN

Spoiler:

I'm not sure what exactly made things go so smooth today, but I actually made it all the way to Olivia's Grand Trial with this squad. I guess the fact that I only added one new member meant that I didn't need to do a lot of grinding. That being said, it did take me a while to find a Feebas in Brooklet Hill. The first one I caught had an Adamant nature as well so I decided to try again.

I'm glad I did because Milotic proved to be very helpful during the battle against Totem Marowak. I'm glad I got two Water moves on her (I traded her to my copy of Moon to get Scald) because iif one of them gets disabled by Cursed Body, I always have a plan B.

Now that Beldum has evolved into Metang, its been so much more useful as well. He actually gets a nice variety of coverage moves like Break Break, Rock Tomb and Bulldoze as well as STAB in Zen Headbutt and Metal Claw.

Torracat has been very useful as well, taking down the totem Lurantis in the same way as my other one did in Moon yesterday. I understand why the AI is programmed to set up Sunny Day to make Solar Blade a 1-turn move and make it so Synthesis recovers more but it also powers up Fire types which are very likely to be used for his trial. ^^;;

Charjabug might seem like it would be useless since it's a middle stage Bug type but the moves this thing gets are pretty insane for the early to mid game. I managed to pick up the Eviolite from Konikoni city as well so she's super bulky. That being said, I am looking forward to be able to evolve her on the 3rd island. Thank god they made it easier in USUM because in SuMo they made you wait till the very final island, I believe?

Last but not least, the fight with Olivia wasn't much of a challenge either because I have two great counters for her rock types in Metang and Milotic. The former was especially useful against her Lileep which can handle Water type attacks. I'm surprised she didn't try using her Rockium Z move against my Milotic though. I was pretty low on HP after a Bite and I thought it would kill for sure, but she just went for another Bite and didn't flinch me, which allowed me to finish off her ace with a Scald. I don't know why but Olivia's AI has always been weird for me??? It seems to prioritize Bite even when it's not super effective and a STAB move would do much more damage.

CURRENT TEAM

Copper the Torracat ♂ - Lv. 33

Blaze / Docile nature

- Bite
- Fire Fang
- Double Kick
- Flame Charge

Nickel the Charjabug ♀ - Lv. 32

Battery / Sassy nature

- Acrobatics
- X-Scissor
- Spark
- Crunch

Titanium the Metang - Lv. 32

Clear Body / Serious nature

- Bulldoze
- Zen Headbutt
- Metal Claw
- Brick Break

Hydrogen the Milotic ♀ - Lv. 32

Competitive / Serious nature

- Dragon Tail
- Scald
- Water Pulse
- Recover

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 63 [25/02/2022] ー POKEMON LET'S GO EEVEE

Spoiler:

I read somewhere that you can easily farm a lot of EXP by using both controllers and playing in '2-player mode' by yourself when you're catching wild Pokemon and well...They were right, haha. I actually ended up a bit overleveled because I would try and catch one more Pokemon to get the final team member caught up with the rest of the team...Then BOOM 3000/4000+ EXP and suddenly everyone is gaining levels left and right.

The team did not grow in size just yet, but I did evolve pretty much everyone except for Eevee -- who can't evolve anyway. :p I could have technically gotten the 5th team member from Saffron already if I really wanted to, but I decided to wait till next time.

Since my team was overleveled for the most part, I didn't really struggle against the gyms. I don't have a Fire or Flying type (Gyarados doesn't count) but I have Sizzly Slide on Eevee, which took care of Erika. They seriously made the starters OP in these with all the extra moves and the perfect stats.

CURRENT TEAM

Hazelnut the Eevee ♀ - Lv. 38

Impish nature

- Facade
- Baddy Bad
- Dig
- Sizzly Slide

Pistachio the Venusaur ♂ - Lv. 37

Brave nature

- Headbutt
- Razor Leaf
- Poison Powder
- Petal Dance

Macadamia the Clefable ♀ - Lv. 38

Modest nature

- Tri Attack
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Cashew the Gyarados ♀ - Lv. 37

Adamant nature

- Dragon Tail
- Headbutt
- Waterfall
- Crunch

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 64 [26/02/2022] ー POKEMON SHIELD

Spoiler:

Once again, these games just feel completely different from any other game in the franchise. I was going to try to actually level grind the traditional way, but then I got lazy and just relied on the EXP candy after all. I'd rather spend my time doing raid battles and getting good TRs and such.

As you can see, the team changed quite a bit this time around. Not only did all previous members reach their final form, but I also added three new members to the squad. I remember strongly disliking the fossils when they were first revealed, but Dracozolt has really grown on me. I love its happy face so much.

I actually had a bit of a derp moment while trying to catch Sinistea. My team was only about lv. 33 when I went into Glimwood Tangle and I completely forgot that you can't catch higher leveled Pokemon outside of the Wild Area either. I kept on throwing one ball after the other, wondering if SInistea had some crazy high catch rate or something. ^^;; Then I leveled up my team to lv. 36, tried again and caught the next one on the first ball.

Last but not least, let's talk about the gyms. Kabu was pretty easy with Barraskewda, even after the -1 attack drop from Arcanine's Intimidate. Allister was a little more tricky since I don't have a great answer for Ghost types. Polteageist managed to take down most of his team before Mimikyu took it down with a +1 Shadow Sneak. I made sure to teach both Rillaboom and Barraskewda Dark types moves though, so the latter could come in and finish off Mimikyu before Dynamaxing against the Gengar and taking it out with two Max Darkness attacks.

CURRENT TEAM

Tootsie Roll the Rillaboom ♀ - Lv. 37

Overgrow / Relaxed nature

- Double Hit
- Drum Beating
- Superpower
- Darkest Lariat

Swedish Fish the Barraskewda ♂ - Lv. 37

Swift Swim / Careful nature

- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Drill Run
- Throat Chop

Gummy Worm the Centiskorch ♀ - Lv. 37

Flash Fire / Docile nature

- Flame Wheel
- Leech Life
- Smokescreen
- Crunch

Lemonhead the Dracozolt - Lv. 37

Volt Absorb / Hasty nature

- Thunderbolt
- Aerial Ace
- Dragon Pulse
- Acient Power

Laffy Taffy the G-Ponyta ♀ - Lv. 37

Run Away / Naughty nature

- Fairy Wind
- Agility
- Zen Headbutt
- Stomp

Jelly Beans the Polteageist - Lv. 37

Weak Armor / Docile nature

- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Hex
- Will-o-wisp

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 65 [27/02/2022] ー POKEMON BRILLIANT DIAMOND

Spoiler:

First of all, happy Pokemon Day everyone!

Even though it was Pokemon Day, I actually wasn't super motivated to play today because BDSP just aren't the games for me. I can't help but grow frustrated at how this game runs. I really don't care if the graphics aren't super crisp-looking, but it's so hard to navigate in the overworld because the movement is really weird. :/ (Oh and don't even get me started on trying to encounter a Pokemon in the Underground when it spots you and both of you just start chasing each other in circles. I wanted to rage quit so many times)

The only redeeming factor is my team because I'm having a blast using Pokemon I've never used before like Spiritomb and Jirachi. The Hippopotas line is a first for me as well, but I only added him to the team very recently so he hasn't gotten a chance to shine yet.

I only did one gym fight because there's so many routes and trainer battles between the 2nd and 3rd gym badges. Maylene's Meditite and Machoke easily went down to one Zen Headbutt from Jirachi each. Against her Lucario, I swapped to my Monferno who actually took over 50% from one Drain Punch, yikes! However, Flamethrower OHKO'd in return so I managed to defeat her without any of my mons fainting.

CURRENT TEAM

Habanero the Monferno ♂ - Lv. 33

Blaze / Serious nature

- Flamethrower
- Flame Wheel
- Power-Up Punch
- Mach Punch

Aubergine the Spiritomb ♂ - Lv. 33

Pressure / Naive nature

- Hex
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Payback

Capsicum the Jirachi - Lv. 33

Serene Grace / Mild nature

- Zen Headbutt
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn

Potato the Hippopotas ♂ - Lv. 31

Sand Stream / Naughty nature

- Strength
- Rock Tomb
- Dig
- Crunch

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 66 [28/02/2022] ー POKEMON YELLOW

Spoiler:

We're back to the 3rd version games which means the end of the second leg is near! I really like the improvements Yellow made over R/B and always enjoy playing this game. I probably would have been able to make it to the top of Pokemon Tower, if it weren't for one careless mistake...

I don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but I have a bad habit of spamming the A button and in Gens I & II this is ESPECIALLY dangerous when trying to the teach a Pokemon a new move. It also catches me off guard how the little screen with your current moveset pops up immediately after without having to press any additional buttons. On top of that, the game doesn't require you to confirm that you actually want to overwrite the move.

Long story short, I wanted to teach my Nidoqueen Ice Beam after picking up the TM from the Celadon Department Store and accidentally got rid of Thunderbolt in the process...There's only one Thunderbolt TM in the whole game, so I had no other choice but to reset. > < I had planned to save and take a break AFTER teaching the TM so I lost a whole hour of playing.

After mentally smacking myself on the head a couple of times, I decided to put the game away for half an hour to do something else and then try again.

Thankfully, the Gen I games do give you some freedom in the mid-game, so to switch things up, I decided to do the Celadon Gym first this time, while during my first run, I cleared out the Rocket Hideout first to get some extra levels on my squad.

Erika's gym is honestly quite challenging in Gen I with everything inflicting status on you, trapping you with Wrap, etc. I thought I would be fine with my Charmeleon, but it only managed to get through her Tangela and Weepinbell before being taken out by Gloom.

Real talk though, Erika's team is the one thing Yellow did WRONG. How come she doesn't have a Victreebel and Vileplume anymore? The game is more challenging overall but for some reason they decided to nerf poor Erika. :(

CURRENT TEAM

Lemon the Pikachu - Lv. 33

- Thunderbolt
- Quick Attack
- Tail Whip
- Thunder Wave

Plum the Nidoqueen - Lv. 33

- Body Slam
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- BubbleBeam

Cranberry the Charmeleon - Lv. 33

- Slash
- Dig
- Seismic Toss
- Ember

Papaya the Weepinbell - Lv. 33

- Vine Whip
- Growth
- Wrap
- Acid

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 67 [01/03/2022] ー POKEMON CRYSTAL

Spoiler:

We're back to Gen II which means...a grinding fest. Thank god this part of the game has a few areas with equally leveled Pokemon so I can kind of choose where to grind depending on which type works well against the wild Pokemon.

The team also doubled in size, so this only added to the grinding I had to do. Eevee and Lapras are available at a fairly high level, but Growlithe took a little more time.

Of course, it was worth it since he single-handedly took down the Ecruteak Gym with Bite and Dig. While grinding, I did end up getting a phone call from School Boy Alan who gave a Fire Stone, so I have that one ready to be used as soon as Growlithe learns Flame Wheel at lv. 34!

Last but not least, I also ended up biking up and down Goldenrod for a while to raise Eevee's friendship, which definitely added ot the overall play time as well.

I already mentioned Morty being a cakewalk, but Chuck didn't put up much of a fight either. I took out the gym trainers with Noctowl but against Chuck himself, I actually used my Meganium. He's decently bulky to take the physical hits and Razor Leaf is super effective against the Poliwrath.

CURRENT TEAM

Homer the Meganium ♂ - Lv. 33

- Body Slam
- Razor Leaf
- Poison Powder
- Reflect

Shakespeare the Noctowl ♂ - Lv. 33

- Swift
- Hypnosis
- Fly
- Mud-slap

Dante the Nidoking ♂ - Lv. 32

- Thunderpunch
- Strength
- Surf
- Double Kick

Woolf the Growlithe ♂ - Lv. 32

- Bite
- Headbutt
- Ember
- Dig

Lovecraft the Umbreon ♂ - Lv. 32

- Headbutt
- Quick Attack
- Bite
- Shadow Ball

Shikibu the Lapras ♀ - Lv. 32

- Surf
- Sing
- Confuse Ray
- Body Slam

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 68 [02/03/2022] ー POKEMON EMERALD

Spoiler:

I wasn't feeling the best today so I basically just loafed around on the couch all day and played Pokemon. Most of the time was spent on grinding though, since I knew Wattson would be very challenging with my current squad. I have to admit, I messed up a little when team planning for this one. While I made sure the final team would be balanced, I didn't consider that Numel would only be available AFTER the 3rd badge. > <

As a result, I ended up wiping against Wattson about 4-5 times until I finally beat him. My whole team was lv. 25 when I first went in, but I had to wait until Kirlia had reached lv. 26 from taking out his first couple of Pokemon so she learnt Psychic. The final time, I came better prepared and equipped her with a Cheri Berry as well. She managed to set up two Calm Minds against the Electrike before taking it out in one hit. Then Magneton came out to try and paralyze her, but Synchronize paralyzes the opponent in return while Cheri Berry gets rid of her own paralysis. From there on out, I got lucky with RNG and managed to sweep through the rest of his team.

Anyone who picks Treecko over Mudkip or Torchic is definitely punished HARD when it comes to the Wattson fight. > <

Thankfully, I didn't have much issues afterwards with Numel now added to the squad and Kirlia and Electrike reaching their final forms. I wanted to challenge Flannery as well, but I was feeling a bit burnt out so I decided to prioritize my own sanity and stop after defeating Maxie at Mt. Chimney. The whole point of this challenge is to have fun, not to push myself or have it feel like a chore.

CURRENT TEAM

Faunus the Grovyle ♂ - Lv. 30

Overgrow / Hardy nature

- Leaf Blade
- Dig
- Rock Smash
- Quick Attack

Diana the Gardevoir ♀ - Lv. 30

Synchronize / Timid nature

- Psychic
- Shock Wave
- Thief
- Calm Mind

Minerva the Golbat ♀ - Lv. 30

Inner Focus / Rash nature

- Wing Attack
- Bite
- Leech Life
- Steel Wing

Jupiter the Manectric ♂ - Lv. 30

Lightningrod / Bashful nature

- Spark
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack
- Howl

Vulcan the Numel ♂ - Lv. 31

Oblivious / Rash nature

- Magnitude
- Strength
- Ember
- Rock Tomb

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 69 [03/03/2022] ー POKEMON PLATINUM

Spoiler:

Lots of things to report on today since I made quite a bit of progress. I do like how they switched up the gym order for Pokemon Platinum and made Fantina the third gym leader instead of the fifth. In D/P, the spacing in between gyms is just so awkward. Especially since there's no notable events between the 2nd and 3rd gyms. Just a bunch of routes with trainers to take on, that's it.

Anyway, I went from having 3 team members to a full team so this also required some grinding. The levels of the wild Pokemon are quite high though, so it wasn't as much of a chore as I expected. There's also this one breeder with Happiny which yields a lot of EXP. The VS Seeker is an item every game should have, hands down.

Out of all Pokemon, Togetic has definitely been the MVP. I traded over my spare Shadow Ball TM from my Soul Silver copy and with a ghost move on deck, he managed to make quick work of Fantina. This can be a pretty tricky gym, but I'm glad I didn't struggle with it this time.

Maylene's first two Pokemon fell to Togetic's Extrasensory as well, but for her Lucario, I used Leafeon with Dig. I actually never knew Leafeon had such a good Defense stat! She takes physical attacks like a real champ!

Houndoom is the latest addition to the squad and unfortunately, she can't really shine yet because of her movepool. She has a great SpA stat, but no special moves to abuse it. I'm sure she'll be great in the future once I can get my hands on the Dark Pulse & Flamethrower TMs.

CURRENT TEAM

Aquamarine the Prinplup ♂ - Lv. 33

Torrent / Bashful nature

- Brine
- Metal Claw
- BubbleBeam
- Pluck

Opal the Togetic ♂ - Lv. 33

Serene Grace / Modest nature

- Extrasensory
- Yawn
- Shock Wave
- Shadow Ball

Garnet the Meditite ♀ - Lv. 32

Pure Power / Jolly nature

- Brick Break
- Rock Tomb
- Hi Jump Kick
- Meditate

Tanzanite the Gabite ♂ - Lv. 33

Sand Veil / Careful nature

- Dragon Claw
- Shadow Claw
- Slash
- Earthquake

Peridot the Leafeon ♀ - Lv. 33

Leaf Guard / Adamant nature

- Return
- Bullet Seed
- Dig
- Quick Attack

Amber the Houndoom ♀ - Lv. 32

Pure Power / Jolly nature

- Fire Fang
- Roar
- Bite
- Beat Up

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 70 [04/03/2022] ー POKEMON LEGENDS ARCEUS

Spoiler:

Before you guys think that I spent 15 hours playing PLA today ーー I did not. I've actually been playing the game regularly in between, but I only did side content such as requests, research tasks, shiny hunting, etc. I made sure to wait to progress with the story until it was time to actually 'play' the game again.

However, I might have gone a little overboard with my grinding, which left my team very overleveled, haha. I basically breezed through the next area. This ended up being a good thing though, since I had someone come over today which meant I had very little time to play.

Anyway, what has changed since last time? ...Pretty much everything. I hunted for a shiny Buneary and also got a shiny Ponyta from a request (scripted shiny) so my team is looking pretty fly.

I also evolved my starter, Eevee (I ended up catching a second female one to use instead) and Luxio into their final forms, making them much more powerful. I still love how easy it is to change moves in this game as well. Catching all those wild Pokemon also bumped me all the way up to a six-star rating already so the move tutor now offers some really powerful moves too.

Finally, I added Hisuian Lilligant onto the team. You usually need to wait until you can get across water to reach the area with wild Petilil, but there's one spot where you can jump with Wyrdeer and then quickly swim to the shore to get early access. I had enough MP saved up from collecting lost satchels, so I could buy a Sun Stone and evolve her immediately.

Speaking of Hisuian Lilligant, this was also the Frenzied Pokemon I had to calm down this time. I'm not even gonna try and lie to you guys ーー I totally abused the 'easy mode' mechanic which allow you to resume the battle instead of having to reset it. I do like a lot of things about this game, but I've never cared for these kind of fights were you have to dodge and fire off attacks at the same time. I have very poor reflexes and easily become dizzy when there's too much stuff moving around on the screen, so I wasn't gonna stress myself out over beating this boss. Judge me all you want, I just want to have fun in the end.

CURRENT TEAM

Tsunami the H-Samurott ♂ - Lv. 37

Rash nature

- Caeseless Edge
- Aqua Tail
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace

Hoshi the Luxio ♀ - Lv. 23

Gentle nature

- Fire Fang
- Wild Charge
- Crunch
- Ice Fang

Sayuri the H-Lilligant ♀ - Lv. 34

Jolly nature

- Energy Ball
- Poison Jab
- Drain Punch
- Aerial Ace

Hanabi the Ponyta ♀ - Lv. 37 ✭

Naughty nature

- Double-Edge
- Fire Blast
- Iron Tail
- Flame Wheel

Usagi the Lopunny ♀ - Lv. 35 ✭

Modest nature

- Water Pulse
- Charge Beam
- Swift
- Play Rough

Fubuki the Glaceon ♀ - Lv. 35

Relaxed nature

- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Swift
- Shadow Ball

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 71 [05/03/2022] ー POKEMON RED

Spoiler:

It's the start of leg 3 which means we're going back to the basics with Pokemon Red!

Usually I run through these games rather quickly since there's no cut scenes and very little side content aside from just battling trainers and gyms, but this time around was a little different. I added the last two members of my team and let's just say that each one caused trouble in a different way.

Let's start with Cloyster which is easy to find as a Shellder once you get the Super Rod on route 12. However, for some reason Gamefreak thought it would be a good idea to have all Super Rod encounters spawn at lv 15. Why??? They know you can't get them until this point of the game, so at least make it lv. 30 or something. :/ While the Diglett and Dugtrio are perfect for grinding a Water/Ice type with dual stab moves, it still took forever to raise this darn thing a whole twenty levels.

Then we have Exeggutor who can be caught as an Exeggcute at lv. 27 in the Safari Zone so the grinding wasn't too bad. However, I had the worst luck when it came to catching one. I literally caught a CHANSEY before I managed to catch one of these little buggers. They kept on fleeing on me for some bizzare reason.

Anyway, once the boring ginding session was out of the way, I simply took on all of the trainers on the routes surrounding Fuchsia City and I was good to go. Since Koga and Sabrina have the same level cap, I saved the Fighting Dojo and Silph Co. for now so I could use the trainers there to get those few extra levels for Sabrina. My team struggles considerably less against Poison types since I have Arbok to resist and hit back hard with Dig and Exeggutor to nuke them with Psychic.

CURRENT TEAM

Arrabiata the Charizard - Lv. 39

- Strength
- Slash
- Ember
- Leer

Alfredo the Raichu - Lv. 38

- Thunderbolt
- Swift
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack

Carbonara the Arbok - Lv. 39

- Screech
- Body Slam
- Rock Slide
- Dig

Bolognese the Dodrio - Lv. 38

- Drill Peck
- Tri-Attack
- Fly
- Growl

Spinaci the Exeggutor - Lv. 39

- Mega Drain
- Stomp
- Reflect
- Psychic

Vongole the Cloyster - Lv. 38

- Surf
- Withdraw
- Ice Beam
- Double-Edge

 

[Living Arrow]

Leg 3! Going great - keep it up!

That moveset on Charizard in Gen 1... yikes!

And no-one is going to beat you up over the Arceus mechanics for the "Lord" Pokemon 😊. It took me until Arceus himself to work out that was an option and a LOT of resets for Lords 3 and 5 so I definitely would have opted for that just-keep-going alternative if I was smart enough to click it 😂

 

[SailorVee]

Leg 3! Going great - keep it up!

That moveset on Charizard in Gen 1... yikes!

And no-one is going to beat you up over the Arceus mechanics for the "Lord" Pokemon 😊. It took me until Arceus himself to work out that was an option and a LOT of resets for Lords 3 and 5 so I definitely would have opted for that just-keep-going alternative if I was smart enough to click it 😂

Thanks! ^^ I'm honestly pretty proud that I've made it this far into this challenge, haha. The mid-game can be quite daunting though with a lot of grinding in some games, so I hope I can continue to push through. > <

How is your challenge going, by the way? I'm looking forward to more updates! uwu

DAY 72 [06/03/2022] ー POKEMON SILVER

Spoiler:

After the grinding fest yesterday, it was definitely nice not to have to add any new members to the squad this time. I did do some minor grinding by taking out a bunch of Tentacool and Tentacruel by the Cianwood City coast but after that, I could just take on all of the wild trainers and Rocket Grunts at their hideouts/the Radio Tower to yield plenty of EXP.

The team has been performing quite well, with all of them being equally useful. Of course, Feraligatr and Venomoth got to shine against all of the Rockets and their Poison types. However, Bellossom was surprisingly useful in the Ice gym. You might not expect it, but all of Pryce's Pokemon are weak to Grass type attacks, so Razor Leaf really put in the work.

My original plan for the final team member was Skarmory from route 45 but I'm actually debating on using Lugia instead. I'm usually not fond of using box art legendaries in regular Playthroughs because they're often too powerful and you only get to use them for a short period of time. However, since there's a whole second region to go and Red is known to be incredibly strong, I feel like it's almost justified in Gen II. I also loved the Pokemon 2000 movie as a kid so Lugia (and its song) will always have a special place in my heart.

CURRENT TEAM

Peppermint the Feraligatr ♂ - Lv. 39

- Dig
- Bite
- Ice Punch
- Surf

Camomille the Ampharos ♀️ - Lv. 38

- Headbutt
- Cotton Spore
- Thunder Punch
- Thunder Wave

Matcha the Bellossom ♀️ - Lv. 38

- Razor Leaf
- Cut
- Acid
- Poison Powder

Chai the Venomoth ♂ - Lv. 38

- Gust
- Psybeam
- Leech Life
- Sludge Bomb

Oolong the Magmar ♂ - Lv. 38

- Fire Punch
- Strength
- Rock Smash
- Thunder Punch

 

[Living Arrow]

Welp, Arceus derailed me completely. Buuut behind the scenes I have finished Arceus and Shining Pearl. My Gen 1 games are all at 6 badges (I think) so could probably finish those quickly if I put in some effort there.

Finding that my other life stuff is a pretty significant barrier to getting this challenge done - job, D&D (I'm a DM so a lot of prep) - so I might not make it!!

 

[SailorVee]

Welp, Arceus derailed me completely. Buuut behind the scenes I have finished Arceus and Shining Pearl. My Gen 1 games are all at 6 badges (I think) so could probably finish those quickly if I put in some effort there.

Finding that my other life stuff is a pretty significant barrier to getting this challenge done - job, D&D (I'm a DM so a lot of prep) - so I might not make it!!

I totally get that! I had a job for a couple of days during the first week of February and I was lucky that it was remote teaching from home but it was still difficult to find time to play on those days. I've applied for a few teaching jobs since but no luck so far. > < Hence why I'm playing a lot now so I still have plenty of time left near the end of the challenge when I'll hopefully have a job again.

During the release weekend of PLA, I grinded a lot in the first area as well but then the hype kind of died down for me. It's a fun and refreshing game, but I still prefer the old formula because it's easier for me to play. :p I miss trainer battles in PLA and the damage output is so different from what I'm used to, it totally throws me off.

 

[SailorVee]

DAY 73 [07/03/2022] ー POKEMON RUBY

Spoiler:

Oldschool Hoenn continues to be such a nostalgic experience for me. My first game may have been Emerald, but I enjoy playing through Ruby & Sapphire just as much.

Even though this part included a lot of backtracking and running/biking from one place to another, I still enjoyed exploring the land and sea. Speaking of sea, I wonder if I'll agree with IGN on there being too much water by the time I'm done with this challenge. :p I will have to play through the water-heavy part a total of five times after all.

Anyway, let's talk about the progress I made today. I only added one new team member in Whiscash, but two of the early game members reached their final form. Blaziken was really useful during the fight against Norman, being able to set up two Bulk Ups and then basically sweeping through his team with Double Kick.

Exploud on the other hand is an absolute MONSTER because of the coverage it gets. I picked up the Ice Beam TM from the abandoned ship and bought more coins to purchase a Flamethrower TM from the Mauville Game Corner.

While these two are the MVPs of the team, the others have been performing well too. It's my first time using a Whiscash and so far, so good. It's obviously not the strongest, but it gets early Earthquake and Surf is always a great water STAB. Beautifuly and Roselia are holding up surprisingly good too.

The fight against Winona is often seen as one of the harder in these games because of her DD Altaria, but if you know where to get Ice Beam and one of your Pokemon can learn it, she's pretty much a joke. Exploud took out her first two Pokemon with Shock Wave, the Skarmory with Flamethrower and eventually the Altaria with Ice Beam, winning us the 6th gym badge.

CURRENT TEAM

Yuuki (Courage) the Blaziken ♂ - Lv. 40

Blaze / Bashful nature

- Bulk Up
- Dig
- Double Kick
- Blaze Kick

Koufuku (Joy) the Beautifly ♀ - Lv. 39

Swarm / Lax nature

- Psychic
- Aerial Ace
- Silver Wind
- Giga Drain

Koukai (Regret) the Exploud ♂ - Lv. 40

Soundproof / Lonely nature

- Secret Power
- Shock Wave
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Setsunasa (Sorrow) the Roselia ♀ - Lv. 39

Poison Touch / Docile nature

- Magical Leaf
- Growth
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain

Kibou (Hope) the Whiscash ♂ - Lv. 39

Oblivious / Calm nature

- Surf
- Amnesia
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb