I decided, after winning in Fortree, that I'd been chasing badges for too long. I needed a break from chasing after my goal of completing this Nuzlocke challenge, and so I decided to go down a few Routes I'd not been down before, and tie up a few loose ends. There were a lot of trainers I was yet to battle, and there were a lot of Pokemon I could still catch. So I started by Surfing north from Rustboro City to the random little outcrop of rock where a couple of trainers were.
I led with Charlie, thinking that I hadn't used him much. First trainer threw out a Hariyama. Only lv.28, but I hedged my bets and switched in Crash, who finished him off easily. The second trainer led with Machop… great, another Fighting-type that could be super-effective against Charlie's Normal-type. Still, Machop's unevolved, and it was only lv.26, so I gambled, and Strength was a OHKO. Trainer 2's second Pokemon was a Machoke, lv.26 also. Hmm. An evolved Machop… still, 11 levels should be enough, I though.
Blimey.
Charlie used Strength, which took off 75% of Machoke's health. Oh dear. Not a OHKO… Machoke used Revenge. A Fighting-type move, super-effective against Charlie, that deals double damage – at a base power of 120 – if the user sustains damage before it attacks. Machoke had just sustained a lot of damage.
I nearly shat myself.
Time slowed down. I watched, powerless, as Charlie's health went down… and down…
…AND DOWN…
…And stopped. At 9HP. 9 out of a possible 115.
Close call. Never again.
Next I headed down Route 105 towards Dewford Town from Petalburg. A few more trainers awaited me here. The first wild Pokemon I encountered was a Tentacool, male, lv.8. Whoopee. Charlie killed it just for the hell of it; I'm sure I can find another Tentacool should the need arise.
Further down was Route 106, where my first wild Pokemon was another Tentacool, lv.31 this time. Accidentally killed this one too, even though it might have been a plan to catch it just in case something should befall Crash… ah well, plenty more 'cool in the pool.
I hit Dewford and healed up, then headed East on Route 107 as Charlie was getting pretty close to lv.40 by now, when he'd become an Exploud. The first Pokemon I bumped into was a Pelipper, another male, lv.30. I caught him because… well, I might as well really. I named him Clive. He knew Mist, which would have been good if Pelipper weren't such a terrible Pokemon. I taught him Surf and Fly though, just in case. Onwards to Route 108, where my first wild encounter was a female Wingull, lv.30. Not interested, so Charlie used Shock Wave and she was no more.
I stopped off at the Abandoned Ship, where I bumped into a few trainers and Charlie hit lv.40, evolving into an Exploud! Hurrah. Exploud rock, what with their big silly mouths and angry little faces and series of weird tubes poking out of their heads. Charlie learned Hyper Beam and all was well. Inside the Abandoned Ship I found TM13, which of course contains Ice Beam. I was a bit miffed seeing as I'd spent 80000 Yen on the very same move earlier in the game, but I got over it. It's only money, right?! I couldn't finish the Abandoned Ship mini-quest because I didn't have Dive yet, so I made a mental note to come back and moved on.
I eventually reached the end of Route 109 having defeated all the trainers and wild Pokemon there. I figured I'd been tying up loose ends for long enough now, so I flew back to Fortree City, healed up and set off down Route 120.