![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kjorteoLast time: Celine saves the Slowpoke, barely beats a bug.
If the Bugsy fight taught me anything, it is that having some really great Pokemon species from the Pokewalker, even ones that are vastly better than anything catchable at this point in the game itself, is not everything. Levels matter, and to my surprise, I don't have enough of them.
Fortunately, there's no problem the Pokewalker can't fix, including the ones that it caused. As it turns out, the Pokemon you bring into it before you do all that walking around gains experience with each step, which is how Scout went from level 4 to level 20 without ever having been used in the main game. However, relying exclusively on Pokewalker experience is a very bad idea, for the same reason that relying exclusively on Day Care experience is a bad idea: it skips the secondary benefits of gaining levels, like learning moves and evolving. I had to pull Scout into the main game and give him at least one level the real way to turn him into a Noctowl, because that wouldn't have happened if he'd gained that final level in the Pokewalker. When I did, his moveset was the same as it had been at level 4 when I first caught him.
The Pokewalker has a cap, in that any one excursion can gain the chosen Pokemon exactly enough experience to reach the next level, but no more. Thus, taking Scout for a walk when he's at level 20 won't have any danger of him accidentally coming back at level 30, but he will more than likely come back at 21.
If I am careful, I can maybe use this to my advantage. Instead of using Scout, I can take my active party into it for all their empty levels--the ones where nothing happens besides stat increases and such (which they would still get.) For example, as of when I'm writing this paragraph, my Machop is currently level 8. Nothing particularly special happens at level 9, but he learns Karate Chop at level 10, which is a move I want. Therefore, it would be safe (and even beneficial) to take Machop Pokewalking while he's at level 8, because he'll come back with a free level with no drawbacks. However, it would be a bad idea to take him Pokewalking when he's level 9, because then he'll hit 10 inside the Pokewalker, and miss learning Karate Chop.
With careful study of my main team's learn-by-level and evolution sets, I can strategically use the Pokewalker to gain a lot of free experience that otherwise wasn't going anywhere useful, thus solving the biggest challenge with my team. This is especially handy for Pokemon like my Dratini, who starts out with near-Magikarp levels of moveset uselessness (her only damage-dealing offensive move at level 10 is Wrap) and has one of those "Needs almost twice as much experience per level now in exchange for being really powerful later" late-bloomer leveling curves. All the while, I still have Scout for those days where I'm late for work and do not have the time to cross-reference everyone's current levels with Bulbapedia data to see who is safe to use today.
And to think, I was worried about my steps on that thing going to waste after I caught everything in the pre-National Dex courses.
Anyway, off we go to--oops, phone. Picnicker Liz calls, forgets what she was going to say, and hangs up again. I choose to believe that was going to be a "So, uh, about my last call..." conversation, but then she lost her nerve. It is an awkward subject, after all.
So, as I was saying, off we go to this week's adventures. I've taken to depositing my entire party (except Psyduck) in Box 1 when I'm not playing, just so that they're available in the Pokewalker. That means that when I am playing, I need to select five of them and build my current active team anew. Today, I think we're going with Machop in the lead, then Empress, Kracko, the Murkrow, and the Dratini. Machop is there (and has Pokewalked his way up to 18 as of this paragraph) because I sense an obstacle coming up for which I'll need him. Empress kind of has to be there; even as not-useful as she is, she's the spiritual heart and soul of this team, if not this entire game. Kracko and Murkrow (and Staryu, but someone had to sit out this round) are the closest I have to main "These are my major all-purose Pokemon I ride into battle because they're awesome" stars, and I still feel like Dratini is going to become one once she gets over her slow start.
That missing person we were supposed to find turns out to be about ten steps into Ilex Forest. But oh, no! The Farfetch'd who cuts all the trees for him took off deeper into the forest! Off we go, then.
Leading with Machop is a pain because everything in the forest resists Fighting and, even at level 18, his moveset is pretty underwhelming. I'm 10 hours into this game, I have two gym badges, and random encounters still feel like "Spam your Tackle-like low-power move eight times to take out a Kakuna" fests. Thank God for the Pokewalker experience, though, because in-game grinding has yet to be much of an option outside of one-time-only trainer battles. Even though it takes forever to bring one down, Machop still doesn't get a ton of experience per fight in Ilex forest, because he's 18 and they're all 5-6 on average. I keep hoping the rest of the world will level up a bit at some point, just so I can, too.
After a brief "sneak up on the Farfetch'd from behind" puzzle, we catch both missing Farfetch'ds (oh, there were two of them) and return them to the assistant, just in time for the boss to walk up to us. He must have become impatient and curious after two people went into the woods and didn't come out. He thanks us for our help and, predictably, offers us HM01 as a reward.
HM01 teaches the move Cut, with which we can remove certain special trees that were blocking our way. It is literally the same thing as Rock Smash, only for specially designated "you need the move to get rid of this obstacle tile" trees instead of rocks. Obviously this requires another HM, because we just could not manage obstacle removal in one move.
I am very glad they got rid of HMs in later games.
Psyduck cannot learn Cut, which means I need a different Pokemon just to be my designated Cutter, even though Psyduck is still my designated Rock Smasher. This is bullshit. I will eventually have two dedicated HM users on my team, yes, but that's when they're sharing eight moves between them. I'm not doing that yet. There have to be a million Pokemon who can learn Cut and Rock Smash. I mean, come on.
On my way back to town to swap out Pokemon, Bug Catcher Wade calls to ask why I'm not there for those berries he found yet. It's been, what, two weeks now? The dude is infinitely patient, I'll give him that.
Back in town, I go through everything I've caught and left in Box 2. There has to be someone who can learn both moves... and there is. Oh, hey, it looks likexyzzysqrl is going to get her wish: Psyduck out, Kangaskhan in. As an HM user, yeah, but hey, it's something.
Also, Hiker Anthony calls to let me know that Spearow are easy to take care of. Thanks for sharing.
Back in the forest, just beyond the Cuttable tree, is the Ilex Forest Shrine, dedicated to the forest's protector. Rumor has it that Ilex Forest is the home of the Pokemon Celebi, a creature shrouded in legend and mystery. It is what Bulbapedia refers to as a Mythical Pokemon, in that it is so rarely if ever seen that it may not even exist. (In other words, Mythical Pokemon are the ones that you cannot get by normal gameplay, at all, and can only get them from a Nintendo-sponsored official giveaway event or a cheating device.)
So, how about it? Does Celebi even exist, and if so, does Celebi exist in this forest?
The answer is no. No, it does not, because Nintendo WFC and all HeartGold/SoulSilver-related event giveaways ended years ago.
The shrine is pretty, though.
Machop finally hits level 19, and because I brought him back into the game for this one, he learns Seismic Toss. This is a special move that's hard-coded to always do exactly 40 damage, type effectiveness and such be damned. It's gimmicky, and will be replaced later. The idea will be to use Machop in type-advantageous situations and hit with powerful weakness-targeting moves that can do more than 40 damage, after all. For now, though, Seismic Toss is the only thing he has that does respectable damage because I swear everything in this forest resists Fighting.
We run into that strange kimono-clad woman who fawned over Sprinkles' egg. She greets us with "Kimono Girl, Kimono Girl, lost and all alone. Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex Forest," and I am pretty sure this is the type of story that ends with the poor strange mysterious traveler being a kitsune or something.
We try to agree to help her find her way out, but then she points out that we're lost too (uh, not really? The map is not that complicated.) Fortunately, Machop knows the way out, and gestures like Lassie toward the path further on. The mysterious woman (hopefully not to be confused with the Mysterious Lady) takes Machop's word for it and walks on ahead, leaving us there.
Leaving the totally-not-a-shapeshifter-trickster-spirit to her own wandering, we instead double back the way we came, walk around a long side path, and find a guy headbutting a tree. He claims this is fun and asks if I want to try it with my Pokemon. I say Yes under the assumption that he's going to give me a TM for the move Headbutt, and, like, why not toss it in the bag I guess? Instead, he tries to teach it to one of my party Pokemon directly. I very quickly cancel out of the "who should learn it?" menu because no. No one in my... actually, you know what? I changed my mind. Kangaskhan can take it. I mean, why not? It's not an HM move, so I can always delete it later.
Headbutt is a field move that lets us, well, headbutt any of the zillion tall trees that denote the basic wall tiles of this map. Most of the time, it does absolutely nothing. Headbutting certain trees lets you catch special Pokemon or find items or something, provided you know which ones to hit. To be honest, I don't really care. I do idly headbutt a few random ones as I pass them, but I don't hit any that give me any sort of reaction, and I don't feel the need to go looking for them.
Instead, we head back to where we met the... just to confirm, Zoroark didn't exist yet in this generation, right? ... and it turns out that the exit was right there. She is nowhere to be seen, so either Machop's "just keep walking along this path for like twenty more steps, dumbass" gestures actually worked, or I'm about to have a boss fight with Blind the Thief.
In the tunnel between Ilex Forest and the next area, the random guard manning the station gives us the TM for Taunt. Neat. I toss it in the bag with all the others I will probably never use.
Outside is another overland route before the next town, but Machop completely shreds through the opposing trainers' teams in one punch each. I can't begin to tell you how refreshing it is to fight something that doesn't resist Fighting and force me to use Seismic Toss. We get Picnicker Gina's and Youngster Ian's phone numbers for our trouble.
The wildlife in this route averages level 13, which is quite the jump from Ilex Forest and basically the entire game before it. Finally.
There's a day care station along the way, and no sooner do I approach it than Ethan does as well! He identifies the owners as his grandparents, and excitedly shows me around the place, explaining all about how the Pokemon Daycare works. I'm not really going to use the daycare in this game, but there's just something really endearing about Ethan's cheerful enthusiasm. Even his "Oh hey it's Ethan" theme is adorable.
On one hand, it's kind of weird because this is the character I used to be in original Silver, and here he is... uh, not championship material, shall we say. I don't think he's even trying to get stronger. His entire motivation as a character seems to start and end with merrily running around and having a good time with his Marill. This is not my Ethan from original Silver.
On the other hand, it's good to see him here in some form, and especially good to see that he's so happy. You know, not everyone in these games needs to take the gym challenge and Be the Very Best Like No One Ever Was. Ethan is a cute kid with a cute pet Marill, and no particular aspirations to be anything more than that. The two love each other, and at this point, I'm just happy for them.
Oh, hey, Ethan gives us his Pokegear number! Right after I was just saying how much I like this kid, now we have his number. Excellent. Oh, and we also get the numbers of both day care operators. I suppose that's so you can call and check whether you have an egg yet? Not that I plan on using that feature, but that's neat too, I guess.
There's also a police officer nearby who says he's on patrol for suspicious individuals. Yeah, I'm sure he'll actually catch Silver and end that plot arc right there and that the police aren't completely useless in this game. Mm-hmm.
One more trainer past the Day Care center, Camper Todd--of course we get his number too. Wow, this is a chatty route. Machop also hits 22 and learns Revenge, which is a 60-power Fighting move that waits for the opponent to move first and then attacks, and if the opponent did anything that dealt damage, its power doubles. 120 power is absurd at this stage in the game, and even if the opponent doesn't attack into it, the base 60 still hits harder than Karate Chop. I very happily take that. Just in time to finish the route and reach the next town!
We are now in Goldenrod City, whose music remix choice is a little... odd. The original sounded like this. The HG/SS version sounds like this, which is... mmm. This is one of those tunes that definitely could have taken me back and hit me like Azalea Town's if the remix hadn't been so different, but I have to admit that I don't really like this one. Oh, well. Not all of them have to be winners, I guess. Azalea's almost brought me to tears, so I'm still happy overall.
Goldenrod's department store has a huge selection scattered across several floors. I end up getting a second copy of the Flash TM so I can use it on Kangaskhan without worrying about feeling like I've wasted my last one, only to find out that she can't learn Flash anyway. Oops. I also get a TM for False Swipe, without any clear idea who is going to learn it. I guess it can sit in the bag for now? Finally, I get extremely lucky and win a prize drawing on my first try, which gives me the TM for Dragon Claw, one of the more powerful Dragon-type moves in the game. This is something I definitely plan to be on Dratini's final moveset when it's a high level evolved Pokemon. Unfortunately, Dratini can't learn it yet (possibly because its current form doesn't even have arms,) but I will be hanging onto this one for sure.
Camper Todd calls to let us know he just lost to a Drowzee. That didn't take long for him to start calling me, did it.
Bicycle acquired! Now I can go fast and crash into things.
There's a flower shop that carries a watering pail, which they say can help with that mysterious tree-like Pokemon blocking the path west of Violet City. However, it's too dangerous to let me have it just yet. Maybe if I can defeat the local gym leader, then I'll have proven I can handle it?
Too dangerous until I prove myself at the gym. For a watering pail. I'm not trying to buy a gun, lady.
Whatever. It turns out said local gym leader is off to get a radio card from the radio tower, so that's not our next stop after all. The radio tower is, but I have quite a lot to say about the radio in this game, and this entry is running long. Next time!
Meanwhile, Picnicker Liz calls to inform that she saw a beautiful Swimmer(F), and wishes she could become a beautiful Swimmer(F) too, someday. Between that and what happened with her Nidoran(F), I'm beginning to have my suspicions about this girl's sexual orientation.
Picnicker Gina, by contrast, only calls to let me know she and her Bulbasaur are growing more in sync. Oh, sure, rub it in that you have a Bulbasaur.
Goldenrod is where this game's Name Rater lives. This is an NPC who lets you rename Pokemon, except for ones you acquired from a trade. (Whatever the original trainer named them is stuck like that forever. Sorry, Rocky.) I've been looking forward to this moment, because the inability to name Pokemon at the moment you catch them was the one drawback of everything that came from the Pokewalker. Empress and Kracko were the only main-team party Pokemon that had names so far, because they're the only ones I acquired in-game. I can finally, at long last, change that. I do believe we are overdue to give the rest of my team some personality as well.
After a mass-renaming party, please allow me to reintroduce my team:
Bayleef: My Bayleef is still Empress for now. That dramatic climactic scene where we give the Chikoritalike Empress a new name to save her kingdom from the Nothing happens later, remember? We're not there yet.
Mareep: My Mareep is going to remain Kracko as well. For a name that I pulled out of thin air because I panicked and couldn't think of anything better, "Kracko" has grown on me. I think I like it after all.
Machop: Here we have the first Pokemon who will use the Name Rater's services. Let's see... he's a somewhat wiry-looking but nevertheless scrappy fighter, a pure and pure-hearted warrior type who punches and kicks his way to victory all in the name of his Empress. Continuing the Neverending Story theme, I do believe we've found our Atreyu. (Granted, Machop's later evolutions are perhaps just a touch... uh... beefy to continue to look the part, but to be fair, Noah Hathaway has that same problem.)
Dratini: Falkor, obviously.
Murkrow: Hmm, a Dark/Flying type. A bird of darkness. A feathered devil, a winged menace whose cursed name strikes lamentation in the hearts of all good and decent Neverending Story fans.... Meet Nimbly.
Staryu: This one's tricky. Staryu is a genderless... uh... star. Its evolved form has magic (Psychic) powers, but I don't imagine it being much for verbal communication. Uh... does that dual-snake talisman have a name, by any chance? ... Oh, wow, some quick internet searching confirms that it does. Auryn it is, apparently.
Magby: I never said they would all follow the Neverending Story theme, though I'm impressed with how many of them so far have. I'm just going to name the Magby Bam Bam, though, because her evolved forms sort of look like a certain wrestler I used to like.
Gastly: Okay, hands up, who remembered I still had a Gastly? I almost forgot, having left... her? Let's check... yes, having left her untouched since I got her from the Pokewalker at level 8. I wasn't planning on using her much in trainer battles, but she does have the makings of a decent capture Pokemon, in that she knows Hypnosis. She can't learn False Swipe, though. Hmm. Honestly, I may just give up and put her in Box 2 at some point, but until then... uh, Hunter I guess?
Kangaskhan: Sweetie, because Mystery Dungeon.
And now that I have re-christened my team, it's time to put them all to bed, to strategically gain more Pokewalker levels over the coming days, and perhaps we'll see about this radio tower business next time.
If the Bugsy fight taught me anything, it is that having some really great Pokemon species from the Pokewalker, even ones that are vastly better than anything catchable at this point in the game itself, is not everything. Levels matter, and to my surprise, I don't have enough of them.
Fortunately, there's no problem the Pokewalker can't fix, including the ones that it caused. As it turns out, the Pokemon you bring into it before you do all that walking around gains experience with each step, which is how Scout went from level 4 to level 20 without ever having been used in the main game. However, relying exclusively on Pokewalker experience is a very bad idea, for the same reason that relying exclusively on Day Care experience is a bad idea: it skips the secondary benefits of gaining levels, like learning moves and evolving. I had to pull Scout into the main game and give him at least one level the real way to turn him into a Noctowl, because that wouldn't have happened if he'd gained that final level in the Pokewalker. When I did, his moveset was the same as it had been at level 4 when I first caught him.
The Pokewalker has a cap, in that any one excursion can gain the chosen Pokemon exactly enough experience to reach the next level, but no more. Thus, taking Scout for a walk when he's at level 20 won't have any danger of him accidentally coming back at level 30, but he will more than likely come back at 21.
If I am careful, I can maybe use this to my advantage. Instead of using Scout, I can take my active party into it for all their empty levels--the ones where nothing happens besides stat increases and such (which they would still get.) For example, as of when I'm writing this paragraph, my Machop is currently level 8. Nothing particularly special happens at level 9, but he learns Karate Chop at level 10, which is a move I want. Therefore, it would be safe (and even beneficial) to take Machop Pokewalking while he's at level 8, because he'll come back with a free level with no drawbacks. However, it would be a bad idea to take him Pokewalking when he's level 9, because then he'll hit 10 inside the Pokewalker, and miss learning Karate Chop.
With careful study of my main team's learn-by-level and evolution sets, I can strategically use the Pokewalker to gain a lot of free experience that otherwise wasn't going anywhere useful, thus solving the biggest challenge with my team. This is especially handy for Pokemon like my Dratini, who starts out with near-Magikarp levels of moveset uselessness (her only damage-dealing offensive move at level 10 is Wrap) and has one of those "Needs almost twice as much experience per level now in exchange for being really powerful later" late-bloomer leveling curves. All the while, I still have Scout for those days where I'm late for work and do not have the time to cross-reference everyone's current levels with Bulbapedia data to see who is safe to use today.
And to think, I was worried about my steps on that thing going to waste after I caught everything in the pre-National Dex courses.
Anyway, off we go to--oops, phone. Picnicker Liz calls, forgets what she was going to say, and hangs up again. I choose to believe that was going to be a "So, uh, about my last call..." conversation, but then she lost her nerve. It is an awkward subject, after all.
So, as I was saying, off we go to this week's adventures. I've taken to depositing my entire party (except Psyduck) in Box 1 when I'm not playing, just so that they're available in the Pokewalker. That means that when I am playing, I need to select five of them and build my current active team anew. Today, I think we're going with Machop in the lead, then Empress, Kracko, the Murkrow, and the Dratini. Machop is there (and has Pokewalked his way up to 18 as of this paragraph) because I sense an obstacle coming up for which I'll need him. Empress kind of has to be there; even as not-useful as she is, she's the spiritual heart and soul of this team, if not this entire game. Kracko and Murkrow (and Staryu, but someone had to sit out this round) are the closest I have to main "These are my major all-purose Pokemon I ride into battle because they're awesome" stars, and I still feel like Dratini is going to become one once she gets over her slow start.
That missing person we were supposed to find turns out to be about ten steps into Ilex Forest. But oh, no! The Farfetch'd who cuts all the trees for him took off deeper into the forest! Off we go, then.
Leading with Machop is a pain because everything in the forest resists Fighting and, even at level 18, his moveset is pretty underwhelming. I'm 10 hours into this game, I have two gym badges, and random encounters still feel like "Spam your Tackle-like low-power move eight times to take out a Kakuna" fests. Thank God for the Pokewalker experience, though, because in-game grinding has yet to be much of an option outside of one-time-only trainer battles. Even though it takes forever to bring one down, Machop still doesn't get a ton of experience per fight in Ilex forest, because he's 18 and they're all 5-6 on average. I keep hoping the rest of the world will level up a bit at some point, just so I can, too.
After a brief "sneak up on the Farfetch'd from behind" puzzle, we catch both missing Farfetch'ds (oh, there were two of them) and return them to the assistant, just in time for the boss to walk up to us. He must have become impatient and curious after two people went into the woods and didn't come out. He thanks us for our help and, predictably, offers us HM01 as a reward.
HM01 teaches the move Cut, with which we can remove certain special trees that were blocking our way. It is literally the same thing as Rock Smash, only for specially designated "you need the move to get rid of this obstacle tile" trees instead of rocks. Obviously this requires another HM, because we just could not manage obstacle removal in one move.
I am very glad they got rid of HMs in later games.
Psyduck cannot learn Cut, which means I need a different Pokemon just to be my designated Cutter, even though Psyduck is still my designated Rock Smasher. This is bullshit. I will eventually have two dedicated HM users on my team, yes, but that's when they're sharing eight moves between them. I'm not doing that yet. There have to be a million Pokemon who can learn Cut and Rock Smash. I mean, come on.
On my way back to town to swap out Pokemon, Bug Catcher Wade calls to ask why I'm not there for those berries he found yet. It's been, what, two weeks now? The dude is infinitely patient, I'll give him that.
Back in town, I go through everything I've caught and left in Box 2. There has to be someone who can learn both moves... and there is. Oh, hey, it looks like
xyzzysqrl is going to get her wish: Psyduck out, Kangaskhan in. As an HM user, yeah, but hey, it's something.Also, Hiker Anthony calls to let me know that Spearow are easy to take care of. Thanks for sharing.
Back in the forest, just beyond the Cuttable tree, is the Ilex Forest Shrine, dedicated to the forest's protector. Rumor has it that Ilex Forest is the home of the Pokemon Celebi, a creature shrouded in legend and mystery. It is what Bulbapedia refers to as a Mythical Pokemon, in that it is so rarely if ever seen that it may not even exist. (In other words, Mythical Pokemon are the ones that you cannot get by normal gameplay, at all, and can only get them from a Nintendo-sponsored official giveaway event or a cheating device.)
So, how about it? Does Celebi even exist, and if so, does Celebi exist in this forest?
The answer is no. No, it does not, because Nintendo WFC and all HeartGold/SoulSilver-related event giveaways ended years ago.
The shrine is pretty, though.
Machop finally hits level 19, and because I brought him back into the game for this one, he learns Seismic Toss. This is a special move that's hard-coded to always do exactly 40 damage, type effectiveness and such be damned. It's gimmicky, and will be replaced later. The idea will be to use Machop in type-advantageous situations and hit with powerful weakness-targeting moves that can do more than 40 damage, after all. For now, though, Seismic Toss is the only thing he has that does respectable damage because I swear everything in this forest resists Fighting.
We run into that strange kimono-clad woman who fawned over Sprinkles' egg. She greets us with "Kimono Girl, Kimono Girl, lost and all alone. Poor girl lost in the dark Ilex Forest," and I am pretty sure this is the type of story that ends with the poor strange mysterious traveler being a kitsune or something.
We try to agree to help her find her way out, but then she points out that we're lost too (uh, not really? The map is not that complicated.) Fortunately, Machop knows the way out, and gestures like Lassie toward the path further on. The mysterious woman (hopefully not to be confused with the Mysterious Lady) takes Machop's word for it and walks on ahead, leaving us there.
Leaving the totally-not-a-shapeshifter-trickster-spirit to her own wandering, we instead double back the way we came, walk around a long side path, and find a guy headbutting a tree. He claims this is fun and asks if I want to try it with my Pokemon. I say Yes under the assumption that he's going to give me a TM for the move Headbutt, and, like, why not toss it in the bag I guess? Instead, he tries to teach it to one of my party Pokemon directly. I very quickly cancel out of the "who should learn it?" menu because no. No one in my... actually, you know what? I changed my mind. Kangaskhan can take it. I mean, why not? It's not an HM move, so I can always delete it later.
Headbutt is a field move that lets us, well, headbutt any of the zillion tall trees that denote the basic wall tiles of this map. Most of the time, it does absolutely nothing. Headbutting certain trees lets you catch special Pokemon or find items or something, provided you know which ones to hit. To be honest, I don't really care. I do idly headbutt a few random ones as I pass them, but I don't hit any that give me any sort of reaction, and I don't feel the need to go looking for them.
Instead, we head back to where we met the... just to confirm, Zoroark didn't exist yet in this generation, right? ... and it turns out that the exit was right there. She is nowhere to be seen, so either Machop's "just keep walking along this path for like twenty more steps, dumbass" gestures actually worked, or I'm about to have a boss fight with Blind the Thief.
In the tunnel between Ilex Forest and the next area, the random guard manning the station gives us the TM for Taunt. Neat. I toss it in the bag with all the others I will probably never use.
Outside is another overland route before the next town, but Machop completely shreds through the opposing trainers' teams in one punch each. I can't begin to tell you how refreshing it is to fight something that doesn't resist Fighting and force me to use Seismic Toss. We get Picnicker Gina's and Youngster Ian's phone numbers for our trouble.
The wildlife in this route averages level 13, which is quite the jump from Ilex Forest and basically the entire game before it. Finally.
There's a day care station along the way, and no sooner do I approach it than Ethan does as well! He identifies the owners as his grandparents, and excitedly shows me around the place, explaining all about how the Pokemon Daycare works. I'm not really going to use the daycare in this game, but there's just something really endearing about Ethan's cheerful enthusiasm. Even his "Oh hey it's Ethan" theme is adorable.
On one hand, it's kind of weird because this is the character I used to be in original Silver, and here he is... uh, not championship material, shall we say. I don't think he's even trying to get stronger. His entire motivation as a character seems to start and end with merrily running around and having a good time with his Marill. This is not my Ethan from original Silver.
On the other hand, it's good to see him here in some form, and especially good to see that he's so happy. You know, not everyone in these games needs to take the gym challenge and Be the Very Best Like No One Ever Was. Ethan is a cute kid with a cute pet Marill, and no particular aspirations to be anything more than that. The two love each other, and at this point, I'm just happy for them.
Oh, hey, Ethan gives us his Pokegear number! Right after I was just saying how much I like this kid, now we have his number. Excellent. Oh, and we also get the numbers of both day care operators. I suppose that's so you can call and check whether you have an egg yet? Not that I plan on using that feature, but that's neat too, I guess.
There's also a police officer nearby who says he's on patrol for suspicious individuals. Yeah, I'm sure he'll actually catch Silver and end that plot arc right there and that the police aren't completely useless in this game. Mm-hmm.
One more trainer past the Day Care center, Camper Todd--of course we get his number too. Wow, this is a chatty route. Machop also hits 22 and learns Revenge, which is a 60-power Fighting move that waits for the opponent to move first and then attacks, and if the opponent did anything that dealt damage, its power doubles. 120 power is absurd at this stage in the game, and even if the opponent doesn't attack into it, the base 60 still hits harder than Karate Chop. I very happily take that. Just in time to finish the route and reach the next town!
We are now in Goldenrod City, whose music remix choice is a little... odd. The original sounded like this. The HG/SS version sounds like this, which is... mmm. This is one of those tunes that definitely could have taken me back and hit me like Azalea Town's if the remix hadn't been so different, but I have to admit that I don't really like this one. Oh, well. Not all of them have to be winners, I guess. Azalea's almost brought me to tears, so I'm still happy overall.
Goldenrod's department store has a huge selection scattered across several floors. I end up getting a second copy of the Flash TM so I can use it on Kangaskhan without worrying about feeling like I've wasted my last one, only to find out that she can't learn Flash anyway. Oops. I also get a TM for False Swipe, without any clear idea who is going to learn it. I guess it can sit in the bag for now? Finally, I get extremely lucky and win a prize drawing on my first try, which gives me the TM for Dragon Claw, one of the more powerful Dragon-type moves in the game. This is something I definitely plan to be on Dratini's final moveset when it's a high level evolved Pokemon. Unfortunately, Dratini can't learn it yet (possibly because its current form doesn't even have arms,) but I will be hanging onto this one for sure.
Camper Todd calls to let us know he just lost to a Drowzee. That didn't take long for him to start calling me, did it.
Bicycle acquired! Now I can go fast and crash into things.
There's a flower shop that carries a watering pail, which they say can help with that mysterious tree-like Pokemon blocking the path west of Violet City. However, it's too dangerous to let me have it just yet. Maybe if I can defeat the local gym leader, then I'll have proven I can handle it?
Too dangerous until I prove myself at the gym. For a watering pail. I'm not trying to buy a gun, lady.
Whatever. It turns out said local gym leader is off to get a radio card from the radio tower, so that's not our next stop after all. The radio tower is, but I have quite a lot to say about the radio in this game, and this entry is running long. Next time!
Meanwhile, Picnicker Liz calls to inform that she saw a beautiful Swimmer(F), and wishes she could become a beautiful Swimmer(F) too, someday. Between that and what happened with her Nidoran(F), I'm beginning to have my suspicions about this girl's sexual orientation.
Picnicker Gina, by contrast, only calls to let me know she and her Bulbasaur are growing more in sync. Oh, sure, rub it in that you have a Bulbasaur.
Goldenrod is where this game's Name Rater lives. This is an NPC who lets you rename Pokemon, except for ones you acquired from a trade. (Whatever the original trainer named them is stuck like that forever. Sorry, Rocky.) I've been looking forward to this moment, because the inability to name Pokemon at the moment you catch them was the one drawback of everything that came from the Pokewalker. Empress and Kracko were the only main-team party Pokemon that had names so far, because they're the only ones I acquired in-game. I can finally, at long last, change that. I do believe we are overdue to give the rest of my team some personality as well.
After a mass-renaming party, please allow me to reintroduce my team:
Bayleef: My Bayleef is still Empress for now. That dramatic climactic scene where we give the Chikoritalike Empress a new name to save her kingdom from the Nothing happens later, remember? We're not there yet.
Mareep: My Mareep is going to remain Kracko as well. For a name that I pulled out of thin air because I panicked and couldn't think of anything better, "Kracko" has grown on me. I think I like it after all.
Machop: Here we have the first Pokemon who will use the Name Rater's services. Let's see... he's a somewhat wiry-looking but nevertheless scrappy fighter, a pure and pure-hearted warrior type who punches and kicks his way to victory all in the name of his Empress. Continuing the Neverending Story theme, I do believe we've found our Atreyu. (Granted, Machop's later evolutions are perhaps just a touch... uh... beefy to continue to look the part, but to be fair, Noah Hathaway has that same problem.)
Dratini: Falkor, obviously.
Murkrow: Hmm, a Dark/Flying type. A bird of darkness. A feathered devil, a winged menace whose cursed name strikes lamentation in the hearts of all good and decent Neverending Story fans.... Meet Nimbly.
Staryu: This one's tricky. Staryu is a genderless... uh... star. Its evolved form has magic (Psychic) powers, but I don't imagine it being much for verbal communication. Uh... does that dual-snake talisman have a name, by any chance? ... Oh, wow, some quick internet searching confirms that it does. Auryn it is, apparently.
Magby: I never said they would all follow the Neverending Story theme, though I'm impressed with how many of them so far have. I'm just going to name the Magby Bam Bam, though, because her evolved forms sort of look like a certain wrestler I used to like.
Gastly: Okay, hands up, who remembered I still had a Gastly? I almost forgot, having left... her? Let's check... yes, having left her untouched since I got her from the Pokewalker at level 8. I wasn't planning on using her much in trainer battles, but she does have the makings of a decent capture Pokemon, in that she knows Hypnosis. She can't learn False Swipe, though. Hmm. Honestly, I may just give up and put her in Box 2 at some point, but until then... uh, Hunter I guess?
Kangaskhan: Sweetie, because Mystery Dungeon.
And now that I have re-christened my team, it's time to put them all to bed, to strategically gain more Pokewalker levels over the coming days, and perhaps we'll see about this radio tower business next time.