[Challenge] The Monotype Challenge v8, Tera Edition

[Reginald Cosmic]

This update's pretty short, but I got the third gym badge in the Psychic-type run of Pokémon Sapphire Version.

Spoiler:

I defeated Rival Brendan on Route 110. I didn't know Kadabra's Confusion was that much stronger than Kirlia's Confusion. Kadabra learned Psybeam pretty quick, but then Kirlia learned full-blown Psychic like 15 levels earlier than Kadabra/Alakazam, so yeah.

I fought everyone this side of Rusturf Tunnel except the trainers north of Mauville. Then I defeated Wattson which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be (especially with Kirlia's Calm Mind).

Now I gotta find a way to trade evolve Kadabra.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I got a little crazy one day and played the game for five hours or probably longer. Here's the update.

In this post, I collected gym badges 4 through 6.

Full Story:

Spoiler:

* Spent a long time getting MarieCurie to evolve into Alakazam (on mGBA), but I did it.
* Beat the Winstrate Family
* Traveled to Fallarbor Town, beating the trainers along the way (plus I caught a Sandshrew for HM move Strength)
* Traveled to Meteor Falls
* Caught two Lunatone, but I only used one of them and only through Flannery's gym
* Went back to Petalburg and used Rock Smash in Rusturf Tunnel to get Strength
* Defeated Team Aqua on Mt. Chimney
* Got the TM for Return from Cozmo for later
* Caught a Spoink, but I ended up not using it.
* Beat Gym Leader Flannery
* Catch a Baltoy in the desert and name him "Wegener" after the scientist who discovered continental drift.
* Beat Gym Leader Norman
* By this point, I'm dominating the game with a Gardevoir and an Alakazam
* Beat Team Aqua at the Weather Institute
* Defeated Rival Brendan who says I'm decent despite me using only one of my Pokémon (Gardevoir) the whole time I was clobbering him
* Arrive in Fortree
* Go South to Mt. Pyre before the Gym Leader
* By this point, I have two Pokémon with Hidden Power above 60 Power. First, I taught Hidden Power (Ground) to Baltoy for a STAB Ground-type attack that's stronger than Mud Slap. Alakazam has Hidden Power (Ice), which is very convenient for birds when Gardevoir runs out of Thunderbolt PP.
* Eventually make a trip through Route 123 and arrive back in Fortree.
* Beat Winona. Her Skarmory was tough, but I came out on top with Thunderbolt. MarieCurie's Hidden Power (Ice) one-shot her Altaria by the way.
* I gotta go to the Trick Master's house, catch some two more party members at the Safari Zone, and then I'm gonna proceed through Mt. Prye's interior, exterior, and summit.

 

[Infer12]

Pokémon Diamond (Standard Mode)
Mono-Flying
Update 3 (Canalave City -> Pokemon League)

- Defeated Saturn & Mars at the lakes
- Went through Mt. Coronet to Snowpoint City

Gym Leader Candice:

Spoiler:

- KO'd Snover & Abomasnow with Gyarados's Flamethrower
- KO'd Medicham & Sneasel with Staraptor's Aerial Ace & Close Combat
- (Ice types are defensibly so weak)

- Found a dusk stone at Galactic HQ and evolved Murkrow into Honchkrow
- Went to Spear Pillar and defeated Cyrus

Gym Leader Volkner:

Spoiler:

- Raichu & Luxray went down easily to Earthquake from Gyarados
- Staraptor & Drifblim took care of Ambipom & Octillery with Close Combat & Thunderbolt

- Caught Mantyke (& Remoraid to evolve it) at Sunnyshore City
- Mantyke evolved into Mantine
- Bred it with Golduck for one with a Calm nature & Water Absorb
- Cleared Victory Road

- Defeated Aaron with Honchkrow & Gyarados
- Defeated Bertha with Mantine & Gyarados
- Defeated Flint with Drifblim & Staraptor
- Defeated Lucian with Honchkrow & Staraptor

Champion Cynthia:

Spoiler:

- KO'd Spiritomb with 2x Night Slash from Honchkrow
- KO'd Milotic with Honchkrow's Night Slash & Drifblim's Thunderbolt
- KO'd Roserade with Drifblim's Psychic
- KO'd Gastrodon with Mantine & Crobat
- KO'd Garchomp with 2x Ice Beam from Mantine (he missed Dragon Rush 2x in a row)
- KO'd Lucario with Earthquake from Gyarados

Hall of Fame:

Spoiler:

 

[Infer12]

I want to change some of the games for my type challenge (I can play the same game more than once, right?)

Black 2 (Ice), Platinum (Poison), Leafgreen (Water), White 2 (Dark)

 

[Explorer of Time]

I want to change some of the games for my type challenge (I can play the same game more than once, right?)

Black 2 (Ice), Platinum (Poison), Leafgreen (Water), White 2 (Dark)

Yes you may. I'll update your games on the challenger's list.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Update: I finished all the gyms in my Psychic monotype challenge.

Spoiler:

* I caught a bunch of Girafarig and Natu at the Safari Zone.
* I picked the Girafarig with Hidden Power Fighting (with a base power of 68) and named it Leonardo (after Leonardo da Vinci)
* I picked the Natu with Hidden Power Dragon (with a base power of 66) and named it Hawking (after Stephen Hawking) though this one is female
* I'll be skipping over the Trick House stuff in this post
* I went to Mt. Pyre, no troubles
* I caught Aristotle the (female) Naughty Nature Meditite who knows Hidden Power Dragon with a PERFECT base power of 70, so you can bet your butt I'm using it against Elite Four Drake
* I beat everyone in Team Aqua's HQ
* I went to Mossdeep where I got the Super Rod
* I returned it Lilycove where I fished up a Staryu to teach Surf, Dive, and eventually Waterfall to
* I beat everyone in the Mossdeep Gym, including Tate & Liza, though Liza's Lunatone took a while to KO
* I visited Sootopolis City and Pacifidlog Town
* I battled just about everyone west of Pacifidlog Town
* I haven't done the Abandoned Ship yet by the way
* I let Archie awaken Kyogre in Seafloor Cavern
* I caught Kyogre with only a few Ultra Balls, but I won't be using him for obvious reasons
* I defeated Gym Leader Wallace, which wasn't too difficult this time aside from one KO

My team:

Spoiler:

* Caroline H the Gardevoir (Female, Bold, Trace, level 45) - Psychic, Thunderbolt, Calm Mind, Light Screen
* MarieCurie the Alakazam (Female, Rash, Inner Focus, level 43) - Psychic, Hidden Power Ice 61, Reflect, Calm Mind
* Wegener the Claydol (Genderless, Careful, Levitate, level 41) - Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Strength, Ancient Power
* Leonardo the Girafarig (Male, Lax, Inner Focus, level 40) - Return, Confusion, Hidden Power Fighting 68, Rock Smash
* Hawking the Xatu (Female, Brave, Early Bird, level 39) - Hidden Power Dragon 66, Aerial Ace, Fly, Giga Drain
* Aristotle the Meditite (Female, Naughty, Pure Power, level 35) - High Jump Kick, Brick Break, Hidden Power Dragon 70, Calm Mind)

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Ice Run
Silver / #1 / Why Does Gen 2 Hate Stones

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Gym 1: Flying
2.) Gym 2: Bug
3.) Gym 3: Rollout
4.) Gym 4: He's Dead, Jim
5.) Gym 5: A Fi(s)t of Fury
6.) Gym 6: Steel E Dan

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Gym 1: Flying
My starting 'mon this time is Swinub. I thought about starting with Shellder as it's technically the first one you can pick up, but you can't evolve it until Kanto so it would just be a Water run the whole way until Ice Path anyways. So, I instead decide to look at Lapras, but you can only get that using Surf on Fridays. So, my choice was down to whatever was in Ice Path, which in Silver is Swinub, Jynx, and an additional Delibird (which isn't in Gold, hence why I chose Silver). The way I play, I take whatever has the highest % of showing up and use that.

Swinub it is, with it's 40% (over Delibird's 20% and Jynx's 5% [gulp]). Here's the problem with Swinub: as an Ice/Ground, in Gens before the split, it's gotta try and ride the line between being Physical (due to Ground) and Special (due to Ice). And it's base attack is 50 while base special attack is 30. To top that off, I'm pretty certain my Special Attack is a low DV roll. So, what do I get to start with? Powder Snow. With low Special Attack. Well, I thought about restarting, but I haven't done that yet in these runs, so I'm not going to start now.

Thankfully, Sprout Tower is easy XP given Bellsprout's natural weakness to Powder Snow. And then the first gym is just as easy. Because bird no like winter.

2.) Gym 2: Bug
I am so thankful that I got Mud-Slap as a TM, because it's perfect to have added to Swinub's moves. May be weak, but it helps getting through Union Cave. My moves sort of stink for going up against Team Rocket, but I muddle through. The fight with Bugsy isn't that bad, either. The Scyther is weak to Ice, so that's a nice bonus. This is rough (as you'll see from the moveset at the end of this post how bad it is for this run in Gen 2).

3.) Gym 3: Rollout...Or How I Beat A Cow
Mud-Slap. That's how I won. I got the Clefairy out of the way, and then spammed Mud-Slap and Potions agains the MIltank. Third try, I managed to break Rollout's buildup and won.

4.) Gym 4: He's Dead, Jim...Or It's Ghost, Jim, But Not As We Know It
What a silly reference. Morty wasn't that bad. I went ahead and headed over to Olivine, picked up the Rod, went into the docks, and picked up Shellder. Spent some time leveling up. After that, came back and got Surf and taught it. Time to spam it for the fun of it. Between that and Mud-Slap (because no abilities in Gen 2 means NO LEVITATE MWA HA HA), a nice win against Morty. It's still rough. I'm not breezing through the run, per se, but I don't really have many options if I lose to trainers when I need to progress other than grinding.

5.) Gym 5: A Fi(s)t of Fury
Okay, so first, I forgot that you can't get Fly until after, but I went back and picked up Kenya anyways. Then, I went over to Mahogany Town thinking I could go get Jynx and Delibird. Then I realized, well, no, can't do that until after doing the whole Team Rocket shakedown. But at least I got Mahogany out of the way. Then I got to Cianwood and forgot Strength. So, I was all over the place.

Meanwhile, I grinded Swinub up so it became Piloswine, because the first two attempts at Chuck ended in defeat. And I'm still Mud-Slapping. This is getting old, honestly.

6.) Gym 6: Steel E Dan
Jasmine wasn't much of a problem - I use Mud-Slap to one shot the Magnemite, then continue doing the same on Steelix until Iron Tail knocks me out. Shellder is resistant to Iron Tail right now, so I Revive Piloswine and use a Super Potion. For the rest of Steelix, I use Surf. I swap in Pilowsine for the remaining Magnemite to OHKO it like I did the first.

And...that's basically where I am now. Time to do the Rocket Stuff. There were more options in Gen 1 for TM usage, but unfortunately I am very much missing those in this run, so it's a boring run in a way, but also kinda frustrating. I mean...look at my current moveset and compare when I would have got those moves. Urgh.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I was about to break down and ask you if you'd had time to anything done for Pokémon Silver when I saw this post. Good gracious, that current moveset fills me with dread!

I might take a short break for a couple of days. I've had fun, but I fully expect to do grinding to level 50 again. I'm just not mentally prepared for all the grinding on Victory Road again, and it's mostly because of Whirlwind, Roar, and Protect.

In the future, I probably should share movesets and stats in update posts. I was planning to do that after the Elite Four for the current Psychic-type run. However, since Gen 3 has abilities and natures (in addition to held items returning from Gen II), I wasn't sure how to fit them all in one screen shot. I was thinking I'd have to share two screen shots, but the solution seems so obvious now. I just have to make a second table below the first one in the same Microsoft Excel worksheet. It would look nicer if it was all one table, but it'd be too wide to display it all on my laptop's screen.

 

[StenirRPG]

You could always do a table that has the first column be the headers, and each Pokemon has their own column. That might be better, depending on what all you want to share data-wise. I mainly share it just to show progression, rather than as any actual tracking. Mine is a google sheet that I just update manually - though I did program it to color-code the moves based on their type as of Gen 9. That would have been a pain trying to color the cells every time it adjusts.

My mom's been here for the weekend, so while I'm playing host I haven't had much time. Besides, with that moveset, who'd want to spend more than an hour at a time.

As to the moveset itself, I could teach some moves from TMs, but I have sort of put myself into a mode where I hold off on using TMs until the Elite Four unless there's a scenario that basically demands it - such as teaching Mud-Slap to Swinub. In later Gens, when TMs become reusable, it's a little different of a mindset. What sucks so far is that I can't teach Dig to even Piloswine. Would have been so useful. Makes me almost want to make a new challenge where you poll the userbase for 4 additional TMs, and then you adjust a Pokemon to allow those moves...just to see the hilarity of it all. "Scyther used Dig" would be great. But, of course, that's getting close to just having everything know Metronome.

 

[PaperLink13]

I've done several monotype runs by now but didn't think to check official rules. Oh well, at least they were fun.

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

You could always do a table that has the first column be the headers, and each Pokemon has their own column. That might be better, depending on what all you want to share data-wise. I mainly share it just to show progression, rather than as any actual tracking. Mine is a google sheet that I just update manually - though I did program it to color-code the moves based on their type as of Gen 9. That would have been a pain trying to color the cells every time it adjusts.

Warning: Nerdy stuff about graphs in spoilers are abound.

Spoiler:

I thought that solution would not work under the assumption the table would be too tall to view on the same screen (with a screen shot that's easy to read of course). However, now that I'm thinking about it, this might actually work. The problem was that "Hidden Power Dragon 70" took up a lot of width, making the whole column wider. (If it didn't make the whole column wider, the data would be truncated--in simple terms, shortened.) However, now I realize that since the entries in each cell would still read left-to-right, this might balance out in such a way that everything would fit on one screen.

Also, the moves will not be color coded. (No offense to you or anything.) I'd rather color code it by party member, so it's easy to follow along from left to right when the viewer is looking at six party members or possibly more (eg, HM move Pokémon). I also will not be doing this to easily convey Hidden Power is dragon-type as opposed to normal-type because there's a lot of similar-looking shades of blues, and people with poor color vision will have a hard time. Below is an attached screenshot of the current table (missing the levels as I haven't beaten the game yet) because it's been a while since I've had to export anything in MS Excel.

 

[Cinnabar Rhubarb]

User: Phoenix_Left
Type: Grass
Game(s): Leaf Green (I'd like to continue grass monotyping other games but this is all I'll commit to so far)
Challenge Type: Single, Standard

I'm sure a grass run of Leaf Green isn't the most original idea in the world, but I've been sick to death of nuzlockes lately and this sounds like a nice change of pace.

 

[Cinnabar Rhubarb]

🍃 A LeafGreen Grass Monotype 🍃
Or: How I Learned to Stop Strategizing and Love Sleep Powder
Part 1



​

As the title hopefully gets across, this is a playthrough of Pokémon LeafGreen using only grass-type Pokémon. In addition, I'll be imposing a few additional rules to keep things challenging but not too challenging. Those are:

• Set mode is always on.
• No items can be used in battle.
• Our Pokémon's levels must remain no higher than that of the next gym leader's highest level Pokémon.

We'll try to come up with strategies to win fights without anyone fainting where we can, but if you've ever seen the movepools that these grass-types get, then you'll know that we'll have to make concessions towards the endgame. One more thing - I wouldn't call this a story-heavy run, but it will be kind of prose-heavy and in-character and kind of campy, so I hope y'all enjoy that! With all of that said,

​

Spoiler:

A trainer named Leaf who only uses grass-type Pokémon. I'm sure you think that's hilarious. Go on, laugh, I think it is too. That's kind of the point. I don't really have some grand ambition or tragic backstory that makes me want to take on the gym circuit, I just like grass Pokémon and want to win with them. My parents have always been big into nature and gardening (how else would my name end up this way?) and so I've always been around grass-types. So when I heard that the professor was getting a shipment of this little sweetiepie

​

that was all it took to spur me to adventure. Unfortunately, we've hit a road block right away.

​

Apparently the grass is too dangerous? Will this be then end of the adventure? Is using only grass impossible? No, we just get whisked away to this guy's lab and receive a quite energetic Bulbasaur. His name is Basil and he loves playing in the grass. Now it's just off to-

"Hey Leafy, whaddya say we see if grass-types really burn?"

Ok, maybe there's one other reason I want to beat all the gyms: so I can say I did it before this guy did. Which I know makes me really petty, but if you were seeing him, you'd know just how punchable he is. The best I can do without getting a restraining order is beating up his Charmander. Basil's clearly smarter than this little lizard, since his decision to Growl at Charmander before attacking wins him the battle. I'm out the door before he can come up with some annoying quip about it.

It seems Basil's been cooped up for a while, so when we walk along Route 1 he doesn't seem to know how to react to the local wildlife other than to Tackle them. Even so, he takes care not to trample any of the flowers we see, in line with his Careful nature.

The Kanto region is extremely kind to grass-types, and I really can't imagine trying to make it through Viridian Forest without a Bulbasaur to sponge up Poison Stings. Basil is hesitant at first to traverse a dark forest like this, but soon enough he's frolicking around the trees, punching the occasional Weedle that comes near him.

I was planning to take a break once we arrive at Pewter City, maybe check out the museum and get a snack. Instead, Basil makes a beeline straight for the gym and marches straight up to the gym leader (despite the protests of some kid shouting about light years). I guess Basil really wants to prove himself by fighting a strong trainer. Two Vine Whips later, we have a Boulder Badge and a very proud Basil.

​

After smelling the flowers and taking a nice breather, we're off to Route 3. He's having fun with the battles: playing tricks with his vines, striking poses when he wins. He's doing well enough that he evolves into an Ivysaur. He seems pleased about the flower growing on his back, now. The next thing of note happens when we enter Mt. Moon.

"C'mon, I swear she doesn't bite! Well, I mean, she does, but not you..."

Our new team member scuttles behind my legs as Basil lunges towards her. She's a tiny Paras - I've named her Rue. She arrived holding a Big Mushroom that I don't think she intends to let go of anytime soon. She's grown accustomed to me very quickly, but she spends a lot of her time hiding behind me as Basil glares Razor Leaves at her, her claws just slightly raised. I hope they can learn to get along soon. Even when I try to train Rue, Basil just bursts from his Poké Ball and shoves her aside to fight himself. I swear, I wish I had a spray bottle or something to shoot him with. I think he's just been a spoiled only child for a little too long.

Despite their bickering, by the time we make it to the other side of Mt. Moon Rue has grown pretty strong (much to Basil's chagrin). I know there's a gym right here in Cerulean City, but maybe we should wait until Basil has chilled out some before we challenge it. Rue seems interested in the golden bridge spanning over the river, and scurries over there as fast as her many legs can carry her. Basil shuts his eyes and shakes his head, but he still follows me in the end.

"Oh, is this little crab yours, Leafy? It's barely even a Pokémon! What, are you gonna pull out some sticks and pocket lint next and tell me that's team member three?"

why does he have to be here why does he have to be here

"That's a lot of talk for the guy who lit his lizard on fire."

"It came prepackaged like that!"

I'm so not interested in seeing how these roasts could get any worse, so I just lob Basil's Poké Ball at his forehead. He swears at me but obliges and sends out his Pidgeotto. Basil manages to wear him down with Leech Seed and Tackle.

"Pssh, that was my weakest guy anyways, I-"

"Keep talking and I shove you into the river."

"Eat Charmander."

Basil could've lived through an Ember from Charmander just fine, but Basil's surprised shout tells me he was totally Burned by it. And as cute as Rue is, her bug-typing means she's completely incinerated by another Ember.

"What a surprise, my fire Pokémon beats your grass-types! Just to be sure, did you pass your type-chart quiz back in second grade?"

Basil's fainted, but I hope his Poké Ball still leaves a bruise when I toss it again.

Lesson learned: as great as Basil is, Sleep Powder can't win any bad matchup. Maybe this loss has been a blessing in disguise, though. I wouldn't say Basil likes Rue now, but losing to a lowly Charmander seems to have put his ego in check enough to be willing to work together. After a night spent in the Pokémon center, Basil is practically shoving me out the door towards Cerulean gym.

As much as Basil begrudges it, my battle with Misty starts by sending in Rue. Rue takes care of Staryu with some Bullet Seeds, and then manages to survive long enough against Starmie to score a Stun Spore. Basil gives Rue a nod of approval as they switch places, though he definitely averts his eyes as he does. With Starmie Paralyzed, Basil can weather their repeated recovering until a full paralysis gives an opening to win with a Vine Whip.

After such a tough fight, we all decide to take a refreshing dip in Cerulean gym's swimming pools. Basil splashes some water at Rue here and there, but I can tell there's no venom behind it. Rue especially seems to appreciate the water - I'll be sure to take her to places like this in the future.

With two badges under my belt in such short time, I feel like I'm on top of the world. Or at least, like, on top of a moderately steep hill. I bet Blue hasn't even beaten this gym, yet. He probably just waited by the bridge to be annoying and left. Him and that stupid name.

Shut up, I know.

This was pretty experimental for me, but it's been pretty fun to write (even if it's really cheesy). I hope someone enjoyed it anyways! ☺️

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Psychic monotype update plus general update:

I'm really getting tired of grinding for the Elite Four every time I do this challenge, so I will be taking an extended break from monotype challenges after the Ice-type run. I have a blast through most of the run, and then I have to grind five to ten levels per Pokémon (except my main party member, such as Gardevoir in my current Psychic-type run). I saved all (most?) of my 12 Rare Candies including some I got from Zigzagoon's Pickup ability*, but it's still really obnoxious.

* For anyone new, Zigzagoon's Pickup ability outside of normal monotype routes, and it's busted in the original Ruby/Sapphire.

@ Phoneix_Left I really liked the narration. Giving Basil the Bulbasaur and Rue the Paras their own personalities is a nice touch.

 

[Cinnabar Rhubarb]

🍃 A LeafGreen Grass Monotype 🍃
Or: How I Learned to Stop Strategizing and Love Sleep Powder
Part 2



​

Thanks for the kind words @ Reginald Cosmic !

From here on, I'll be putting a team update at the beginning and end of updates, mostly so that you don't have to remember who's who. For now, we've only got:

Basil (Ivysaur) - Level 20
Rue (Paras) - Level 20​

Now that we've beaten Misty, our level cap is higher, meaning our first order of business is-

Spoiler:

-wiping that smug look off his face.

"What's up Blueboy? Ready to get beaten to death by a mushroom crab?"

Blue quirks his eyebrow at me, his arms crossed behind his head like always. "Yeah you quit that now, it doesn't work when it's you."

"You're right we're never doing that again."

This awkward silence stretches on way longer than I'd like, only broken by the sound of Basil's and Pidgeotto's Poké Balls bursting open. Because of Rue's extreme weakness to Flying and Fire, she can't really contribute much in this fight. You won't catch Basil complaining about it. He immediately connects with a Sleep Powder, but misses his newly-learned Razor Leaf. Even still, Pidgeotto goes down after landing only a single Gust. We'll still need some good luck to beat Charmander, but I believe in Basil!

My heart sinks when we miss our first Sleep Powder, and again when the next one leaves Charmander asleep for only one turn. Despite that, our level advantage is too much for Charmander to handle, and Basil takes Charmander down with just a sliver of health. That's just fine - Basil's Overgrow ability means he only gets stronger when he's pushed up against the wall like this. His boosted Razor Leaves cleave through the remaining Abra and Rattata in one hit each, winning us the battle.

Blue's jaw is clenched just a tiny bit as he cuts with "I guess there's no obstacle that can't be overcome with a unreasonable enough level advantage."

"Maybe you'd be on par with me if you didn't wait at this bridge like a lost puppy for me to show up." I stick my tongue out at him, and Basil copies me.

"Well it's good to know you have to piddle around behind me training and training to win the same fights I can get through with actual talent. Smell ya!" The switch flips, and his stupid smirk is back in full force. So unsatisfying. At least he's gone.

Basil's had his time in the limelight, so it's Rue's turn to tear up the trainers on Nugget Bridge. After taking on Blue, these guys are a total joke. At around the third trainer, though, I start to notice something strange. Something seems... Off... About Rue. She's reacting less and less as she takes damage, she's her Scratches and Leech Lifes when she never usually would, and she sometimes just selects attacks at complete random. Watching these fights unfold, Basil paws at my foot uneasily. When Rue is poisoned by a Nidoran I can see her little mushrooms swell up. I return her to her Poké Ball and let Basil finish the fight, but when I bring her back out to heal her up...

Rue had transformed.

The mushrooms on her back had grown and fused into one massive one, her legs seemingly barely able to support it. The Big Mushroom she always clings to is nowhere to be found, presumably lost to the mound atop her back. Whereas her eyes once flitted about left and right anxiously, they now stare straight and true.

The nurse in Cerulean Pokémon Center explains that this happens to many Paras. The mushrooms on their body attach themselves thoroughly to their host until they completely take over their body. Is that truly what's happened to Rue? Is she still in there? Is the Rue I knew the Pokémon that transformed, or has she been the mushrooms all along? She's much more lethargic now, but she still leans into my hand when I pet her. She still perks up when she finds her favorite berries in the grass.

I don't know. We spend a couple of more nights in Cerulean to make sure she's alright, but she never seems ill, and she's growing used to the burden on her back. I think all I can do is care for her the way I have before, and keep pressing onwards.

It doesn't feel so lonely for long, though. On the shore along Route 24, I find a pair of Grass Pokémon: a determined-looking Bellsprout, and an Oddish cowering behind it, shaking like a cluster of leaves affixed to a flowering body. When I capture Bellsprout, Oddish just freezes in place and tries to blend into the grass. I catch her too once I find another Poké Ball in my bag. I name my Bellsprout Turmeric, while Oddish's name is Fennel. I don't think Oddish usually live around here, so Fennel must be quite far from home. It's a good thing Turmeric has been here to protect her.

[I of course traded (hacked) in this Oddish. I have to if I want to end up with a team of more-than-five. This is the only version exclusive we'll have to worry about in this run.]

Basil doesn't seem to mind our new team additions anywhere near as much as he did Rue. Maybe he's matured since then... Or maybe he knew something I didn't?

Turmeric is quick to take the lead in battles. I'd love to say I've done a good job training her, but it's more like she's been training herself and Fennel. Fennel doesn't like to fight much right now, but she likes the encouragement she gets from Turmeric when she Absorbs a Geodude. They make a good team.

After a gauntlet of trainers, we all spend some time chilling by a nice pond. There's a few other people here, so it seems that this is a popular spot.

​

Something had to ruin the moment. Unfortunately, my sulking is interrupted by a shout.

"Someone, help me!"

Turmeric and Basil rush alongside me to the house the calls for help came from. "Hold on, I'm on my waaaaaaaaay..?"

It's a Clefairy?

"Bill" guides me through using his "cellular separater," and indeed a somewhat normal-looking person walks out afterwards. I don't really understand any of what he's talking about, but a machine like that... could it separate Rue from her mushroom? I try to ask about it, but Bill just shoves a slip of paper in my face and pushes me out the door. It's locked, too. Basil kicks some dirt at the door.

What a weirdo.

On a closer look, though, the paper looks like an invitation to a party. The S.S. Anne, that luxury liner that's making its maiden voyage. I'm sure all of us could use a trip like that.

The trek to Vermillion city is tough but brief. This is the largest city we've been to so far, but something about the salty air seems to put Fennel at ease. The dock is lined with fishermen spaced at regular intervals, one of whom generously gives me a fishing rod. In a different life, I could fish up a Gyarados and tear Blue apart, but considering the circumstances...

​

Yeah, it's party time now. The S.S Anne could use a new interior designer, but the ship as a whole is still pretty nice. More importantly, the hor-dourves slaaap, and the wine selection is outstanding. I'm actually only nineteen, but everyone here seems too preoccupied flaunting their wealth and talking about nothing to check my trainer card, hehe. Maybe I'm a little buzzed right now.

There's even Pokémon food for rich people here. I'm sure the people here are super snotty about what they feed their Pokémon, but Basil scarfs the food down quickly enough for me to believe it's pretty good. Turmeric and Fennel share a skewer of roasted berries, and even Rue takes her favorite Persim berry and savors it. When the berries run dry, Fennel runs off to get some more.

CRAAAAASH!!!

My head jolts up to see an older man covered in wine stains and a mortified Fennel. The ballroom has been overtaken by a hush.

"Shoot, I'm really s-"

"See, this is what happens when you let these mutts run rampant without training! Look at this Oddish, does it look trained in the slightest? How would you like it if my Pokémon just ran around, attacking indiscriminately like this?"

Before I can get a retort in on this jerk, his finger is pointed to Fennel, and one of the Growlithe by his side charges after her. As if Turmeric would let that happen. She shouts as loud as she can, and by the time she reaches Growlithe, I see she's evolved into Weepinbell! For a bit, Fennel sits frozen as Turmeric fends off the two Growlithe, but Turmeric can only hold two Fire-types off for so long. Fennel knows what she has to do: as she fires off an Acid, her determination has her, too, evolve into Gloom. Working together, I'm sure they can win the fight.

"What is going on in here?!?"

Shoot shoot shoot, we've got to dip now. I gather up the gang, shove a few more snacks into my bag (we're not letting those go to waste!), and run out the door as fast as we can. I'm really not sure how things could get any worse than this.

"Leafy? I didn't think a simpleton like you would appreciate a fine party with socialites like us, but here you-"

"Oh my god, just fight me so I can get out of here!" I send in Basil and hope he can finish things quickly. Instead, Basil misses. Three. Sleep Powders in a row. I nearly punch a wall, but Turmeric pulls back my hand with her vines. I decide I've had enough and send in Fennel to hit a Sweet Scent. Back to Basil, we can actually take down Pidgeotto without taking more damage. Kadabra's next and scary, but that's Rue's job. Now that she's learned Dig, Rue has a physical attack that isn't Scratch, so we go for it. Kadabra hands on with a sliver and then disables Dig (that has 55% accuracy in gen 3 btw). I need Dig to take out Charmeleon, so we shuffle Fennel back in to deal with Kadabra and put Charmeleon to sleep. Back to Rue, and our Dig again leaves Charmeleon with a sliver. He wakes up and roasts Rue to a crisp. I switch in Turmeric to finish off Charmeleon, but have little choice but to have her eat a Hyper Fang from Raticate so that Basil can safely come in. We MISS our Razor Leaf, but then we crit the next one (which I'm pretty sure mattered). We've won, and by the time Blue can react I'm off this ship.

Really I'd like to get out of this town and never come back, but there's still the gym to take on. After we've healed, that isn't so bad, though. Fennel, desperate to prove herself, takes down Lt. Surge's Voltorb and Pikachu and puts his Raichu to sleep before tagging off to Rue. It takes a bit, but we hit through Double Team and Paralysis enough to take Raichu out with Dig.

Did that last bit seem like it went by quick? Chalk it up to adrenaline. I leave town and never return. I hope Blue chokes on a kebab on that stupid boat.

That took awhile for just one badge, though I think the next ones will go somewhat quicker. Here's a team update to close things out!

Basil (Ivysaur) - Level 24
Rue (Parasect) - Level 25
Turmeric (Weepinbell) - Level 24
Fennel (Gloom) - Level 24
​

 

[StenirRPG]

Ultimate Ice Run
Silver / #2 / My Shell-der nothing on my team

In this post (i.e., TL;DR)

Spoiler:

1.) Gym 7: n-Ice
2.) Gym 8: Dragon Me Down
3.) Elite Four: Will
4.) Elite Four: Koga
5.) Elite Four: Bruno
6.) Elite Four: Karen
7.) Champion

The full read:

Spoiler:

1.) Gym 7: n-Ice
Piloswine just takes everything down. Shellder has very much outlived any sense of usefulness.

2.) Gym 8: Dragon Me Down
Jynx mops up the entire gym. I mean. I feel like Jynx is just so overpowered with Ice Punch. But I did stop to get the other three I could get right now: Jynx and Delibird from Ice Path, and Seel from the Islands. I also traded for the Exp Share, so I've been training up that way.

2a.) Prep for Elite Four
Grinding until everyone is Level 40 or 41.

3.) Elite Four: Will
- Give Shadow Ball to Jynx.
- Ice Punch on both Xatu and Exeggutor.
- Shadow Ball on Jynx and Slowbro after Lovely Kiss sleep.

4.) Elite Four: Koga
- Delibird uses Fly! It's Super Effective on Ariados and Venomoth.
- Mud-Slap for Muk.
- Just whatever for Forretress to get it down and out.
- Crobat goes down to Dewgong's Aurora Beam.

5.) Elite Four: Bruno
- Headbutts to take out Hitmontop.
- Fly for Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan.
- Waterfall for Onix.
- Machamp is just take down with whatever is strongest until it goes down.

6.) Elite Four: Karen
This one took some thinking.
- Umbreon sleeps from Lovely Kiss, then Ice Punch.
- Houndoom sleep from Lovely Kiss, then swap to Piloswine for Mud-Slap.
- Vileplume comes out and Powder Snow until dead, then Aurora Beam.
- Gengar comes out so Shadow Ball.
- Ice Punch for Murkrow.

7.) Champion
So laughable.
- Ice Punches x2 to knock out Gyarados.
- Waterfall x2 for Charizard.
- Ice Punches to knock out two Dragonite. Jynx goes down.
- Aurora Beam on Aerodactyl, surviving through two Hyper Beams, but it goes down.
- Every Ice move until final Dragonite goes down.
- Yay. Win. Credits.

Team Stats:

Spoiler:

 

[StenirRPG]

Warning: Nerdy stuff about graphs in spoilers are abound.

Spoiler:

I thought that solution would not work under the assumption the table would be too tall to view on the same screen (with a screen shot that's easy to read of course). However, now that I'm thinking about it, this might actually work. The problem was that "Hidden Power Dragon 70" took up a lot of width, making the whole column wider. (If it didn't make the whole column wider, the data would be truncated--in simple terms, shortened.) However, now I realize that since the entries in each cell would still read left-to-right, this might balance out in such a way that everything would fit on one screen.

Also, the moves will not be color coded. (No offense to you or anything.) I'd rather color code it by party member, so it's easy to follow along from left to right when the viewer is looking at six party members or possibly more (eg, HM move Pokémon). I also will not be doing this to easily convey Hidden Power is dragon-type as opposed to normal-type because there's a lot of similar-looking shades of blues, and people with poor color vision will have a hard time. Below is an attached screenshot of the current table (missing the levels as I haven't beaten the game yet) because it's been a while since I've had to export anything in MS Excel.

If you are direct typing in, you could always abbreviate Hidden Power to HP. Like HP/Dragon 70 or something, to lessen it. The thing I'm using is built in Google Sheets, as I do with a lot of what I've built. The color coded required a dump of the move names and their types onto a second tab, having it lookup the name to find the type, and then saying "if the result is Ice, color it using this hex code". It's nice. I think as long as you are consistent in your own approach, we'll get used to reading them. I don't think anyone really requires us to go to these lengths, but it's nice to see progress throughout. Sort of a badge of pride to say "yep, those were my stats that I was stuck with".

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

Oh, shoot, you're already done with Gen II?! I'd better hurry and beat the Psychic-type run! [Flintstones car driving off sound effect]

 

[Cinnabar Rhubarb]

🍃 A LeafGreen Grass Monotype 🍃
Or: How I Learned to Stop Strategizing and Love Sleep Powder
Part 3

​

It's at this point that I realize just how dire the gen 3 level-up movepools truly are, especially for Grass-types. As such, I'm going to start breeding for egg moves from now on, though only ones that I can obtain in-game under the current level cap.

At least, that's what I was going to say, but as it turns out the Cerulean City daycare only lets you raise a single Pokémon, with breeding locked to the postgame. I can only assume this is exclusively to prevent you from obtaining the Johto babies before you get the national dex, since these games are on a weirdly-serious crusade against seeing any non-Kanto Pokémon before the credits roll. I was gonna give some big speech about how I'm not really throwing away my friends but instead allowing their seeds to propagate across the region to perpetuate the cycles of nature, but I guess there's no need now... It's a real shame: Turmeric and Fennel could have gotten Razor Leaf, and Rue could learn Psybeam at a later level cap.

: (

Spoiler:

Our next destination is gonna require a lot of walking and a lot of backtracking. I think the gang could probably make the trip given enough time, but I've got a different idea. Conveniently, some old rich guy in town for the party who just wouldn't quit talking about his Ponyta gave me a coupon for a bike since I just seethed quietly at him instead of shouting and leaving. Maybe I should learn to hold my tongue more often. When I make it back to Cerulean City to the bike shop, I find out this coupon gets me a whole bike? I'd saved up enough money to pay the difference, but now with that money...

Matching bike helmets for everyone! (Well, a helmet wouldn't fit on Rue's head, but I got her a little flower so she wouldn't feel left out). Everyone looks so adorable in their helmets, Basil is especially rocking it. With everyone in tow on a cart attached to my bike, Routes 9 and 10 feel like a brief detour rather than the rough mountain trails they are. The wind nearly blows Fennel's helmet off her head, but Turmeric adjusts it for her before it can.

The Rock Tunnel is a different story though. It's pitch black in there, so it'd be really helpful to have a Pokémon that can light the way.

~ days earlier ~ ​

"Leaf, hello! I'm an assistant of Professor Oak!"

"Oh uh, hi? Is there something you needed... Hey, when did you take my Pokédex, give it back!"

"Nope nope nope, unacceptable, only 8 Pokémon registered? If you want the Hidden Machine the professor left to me, you'll need two more. Really, your documentation work is terribly lackluster, only Grass Pokémon?"

"No, you can't tell me what to do!"

~​

If only there were something I can do about it.

Rue takes to the dark surroundings quickly, though. She seems a lot more at ease here than she usually is. With all her time living in Mt. Moon I imagine she can see pretty well in the dark, so I follow her lead. I can tell Fennel's trying to be brave in the dark, but I can still her shaking reverberate from the walls. At least she's trying.

I turn a corner and finally see some light in the distance. At last, a way out! I follow the light, and find...

A trainer. No matter how many times I ask for directions out of this cave, she just wants to fight. Rue is the only one who can see at her best here, so she's the main fighter here. We win the fight just fine, but I make a note to myself. Avoid the lights.

After climbing a bizarre amount of ladders to be placed in a cave, we finally stumble out the other side of Rock Tunnel. We must've been in there for a long time judging my the sliver of a moon hanging in the sky. My map says that Lavender Town is just ahead, and indeed it is, but something about this place... It's giving me the creeps. As I'm looking for a place to stay,

​

nopenopenopenopeabsolutelynot

I do not care how tired we are, I do not care how late it is, and I do not care how little or much we believe in ghosts, I am not staying in this town for one second longer. It's just as well, Celadon City is a pretty short route away, and there's even a comfy hotel for us to stay in.

​

>: (

As much as I'd love to sleep in a nice cozy bed after a long day of biking and spelunking, I'm not gonna leave my Pokémon to fend for themselves. After some choice words that probably wake up every resident in the hotel, I shove half the bowl of breath mints sitting on their counter into my bag while making eye contact the whole time, and leave to set up camp outside town.

The campsite's fine, really. We have a nice fire to keep warm (though all my Grass Pokémon have to be careful to stay clear enough of it), and the ground's comfier than it looks. I finally fall asleep with my back propped against Rue's mushroom, using her as a pillow. Despite everything, she leans into my touch as we rest.

When morning comes, I'm ready to explore the city - Celadon's the biggest city any of us have been to before.

​

Not even gonna let that spoil my mood, we're gonna have fun today! Celadon City has the biggest shopping mall in Kanto - we stock up on some usual items, but I find some absolutely gorgeous stones. They're a deep green, and they have the imprint of a leaf pressed into them. I've dabbled in making jewelry once or twice, and these would just like wonderful in something. I take two.

For some reason, Turmeric and Fennel keep trying to rifle through my bag for those stones. I know they look really pretty, but I'd rather them not break them by accident. They just keep tugging at my bag, though, so I finally relent. "Fine, you can look at it, but be careful, will you?" And yet the second I next turn my back...

​

I may be stupid.

If Fennel and Turmeric are so intent on getting stronger though, then I guess this is as good a chance as any to take on the Celadon gym. A Grass-type mirror match, it sounds like a blast.

We lead into Erika's Victreebel with Rue. Her moves are actually pretty bad right now since she's forced to carry Cut for us, but she can always score a perfectly accurate Spore before switching out to Turmeric - our own Victreebel. Erika's Victreebel is apparently the biggest loser ever, because it misses two Stun Spores and then takes a 4-turn sleep from Turmeric's Sleep Powder. It dies without accomplishing a thing. Her Tangela falls to just two Acids, and while her Vileplume puts up a slightly bigger fights (i.e. lands a single Stun Spore and Acid), it's no match for Turmeric's power. Imagine calling yourself a Grass-type expert with a performance like that! I make sure to rub it in Erika's face as I leave with my not-fainted Victreebel and Vileplume.

As much as I would've liked to keep those Leaf Stones, the Rainbow Badge I receive is a pretty great replacement.

We didn't add any new team members, but we have evolved some.

Basil (Ivysaur) - Level 29
Rue (Parasect) - Level 29
Turmeric (Victreebel) - Level 29
Fennel (Vileplume) - Level 29​

 

[Reginald Cosmic]

I used all my rare candies, and I'm going to battle the Elite Four tonight. Sidney might actually end up being tougher than Drake this time around.

I included the team's stats in a spoiler because I'm worried it'll stretch out the webpage or something. I'm not really sure.

Spoiler:

Some things to note:

* I found another PP Up on Victory Road

* I think I said 12 rare candies earlier, but it's actually 13. I think I found one on Victory Road, but I can't remember, and I don't feel like looking at the footage right now.

* Leonardo the Girafarig just learned Crunch thanks to a rare candy. It'll be very useful against Phoebe's ghost-types (since Girafarig is immune to ghost-type attacks).

* I deleted HM move Rock Smash from Girafarig and HM move Flash from Medicham. I then retaught Calm Mind with the TM (though I could've gone to the move relearner with my last heart scale).

* Speaking of the move relearner, I taught Medicham "Thunder Punch" and Alakazam "Reflect" (I had to make room for Shockwave and Hidden Power on Alakazam earlier in the playthrough.)