Oh yes! Also after some chillaxing in Petalburg Woods (and watching a lot of episodes of
Is It a Good Idea to Microwave This?) I caught myself a Shroomish. Having no clue what to call it, I look up and Jory delivers the catchphrase: "...and
nobody likes roasted nuts." I am then reminded of that little thing they did in Sootopolis with the big Shroomish and Barboach hunters. Cue Immature Joke Sensor going into overdrive...
Roasty | female Shroomish
Lv 6 | Quirky | Effect Spore
* Absorb
* Tackle
Fought Roxanne. A few Critical Hitting Absorbs and some training beforehand kicked Roasty up to level 10, at which point she learned Leech Seed. A fierce battle ensued between Roasty and Nosepass, with Nosepass having the lead by five levels. Cue Leech Seed and an awful lot of Absorbs... it reminded me of that one epic battle I had in Sapphire between Breloom and Slaking. Oh maaaan, that was the most awesome battle I've ever played... but anyway. After about three Potions and an Oran berry, Roasty scored a Critical Hit and knocked Nosepass down to a sliver of red. Leech Seed kicked in... and WOOSH!
Roasty pwn't all three of Roxanne's Pokémon, all of which were at least three levels higher than she was, and I never even had to use Juan to cover for her. Is that an awesome Shroomish or what?
I then moved on to Dewford. Cloud, contrary to my belief, was pretty much useless in Brawly's gym, probably because her Defense was too low or something. Anyway, Juan (who evolved into a Marshtomp from my brief training in Granite Cave beforehand) was the real star of the show here. Water Gun worked very well against Makuhita. Anyway, I kicked Brawly the Surfer Man's sorry tail, got Bulk Up (which I'll probably never use) and, more importantly, the ability to use Flash. Up I go to Granite Cave again, ready to evolve... someone. Cloud or Roasty, whoever.
So I pass the Escape Rope spot I emptied the previous excursion (and tried to find my way around without a map or a Flash - bad idea) and went to the next floor, catching myself a Sableye who I'm not going to use except as a Flash slave in this case. I named him Hustler. So Hustler uses Flash and I walk around, warding off Arons and other stray Sableyes who are for some reason envious of Hustler being taken captive by Enemy General Julia. Didn't catch anything else cool in this cave, except for a Zubat I thought about using but decided against.
You know the drill: meet Steven, get Steel Wing, get TFO. And so I did.
Went to Slateport, and thought long and hard for a few hours about what to rename Cloud as - 'Cloud' wasn't as cool a name as I thought. After thinking for a bit I decided on the most awesome name I could muster at 9:00 PM - Enigma. Juan and Roasty stayed the same. I went to talk to Dock, fought off the Grunts (Roasty was a godsend), and after a quick three-battle run in the Battle Tent (where I got a Full Heal for my efforts and further reinforced my opinion that Magnemite and Electrike are the most awesome Electric-types on the planet), I went up some and beat some pitiful Pokéfans.
Now, the Pokéfans Isabel and Someone were a lot of fun to fight - they had a Plusle and Minun each, and each one wasted a turn using Helping Hand on the other! I swear the Universe would have exploded if they both went through, but Emerald deemed the second HH invalid. Phew. Beat them after some Synchorize and Stun Spore abuse, and got to training mah Pogermans all up to level 20.
My team as follows:
Enigma - Timid female Ralts- L18
Roasty - Quirky female Shroomish - L18
Juan - Bold male Marshtomp - L20
My plan is to evolve Enigma and Roasty before I move on.