So my screenshots are gonna look like garbage this update. They'll look better for the next one.
Anyway, I just picked a random name out of my hat o' names and got Emmy.
And I just went the default name for Nathan cause who cares about him.
And here are my settings if anyone cares.
Anyway, I made sure to grab a potion for my PC before the Rival fight cause I don't want to be ROFL Stomped and lose immediately.
And I picked this as my starter for reasons that will become important later.
He was also given the best nickname.
Bashful Nature is pretty solid. Anything neutral is always super nice. Torrent is also pretty great. The other option is Liquid Ooze which in a hack where Everything is out to one shot you and vice versa, it isn't the most helpful.
Anywho, rival time.
As is customary, he has the starter. No ******** yet.
And down for the easy level. Somehow I didn't even have to use my potion.
Anyway, onto the first Route we get our Pokeballs from this house. Let's see what we get.
Anyway, we get a Tailow. While Swellow is a solid mon, it just isn't meant to brave the harsh conditions of this run for much longer than the 2nd gym. It doesn't get any nifty tools handed to it that aren't given to a better mon. I'll definitely hold onto it for now.
Anyway, Stage 1 of Grinding before the first gym. Draino picks up Bubble while Dart nabs Quick attack.
The trainers here and for the rest of the game aren't scary at all. This game acts like there are two balance curves. This normal curve that you'd somewhat expect out of a game and the frightening one you see out of every important trainer. There is one exception and we'll see it this update.
Also, nabbed the potion in the rock.
On the next route I nab up MustGoBoom. Forretress is still fairly solid in this game like in the base games, nature aside, but there is a mon I'm looking forward to that I'm near guaranteed to get at some point that pretty much outclasses this thing. Still a solid tank that will compliment my starter well.
MustGoBoom lives up to her namesake. The other move you see is one of the new moves in this hack and is one of the more tame ones. Double Spin is a 35 BP move with 95% Acc that hits twice and has a chance to raise Attack that seems decently common. While not a reliable STAB move, it is definitely better than the other options.
Teamshot.
I also pick up Flash while I'm at it as it will be useful later on down the line.
Anyway, this is the ******** I was talking about. BOTH of these Nidoran have Poison Point so I spent my time having Dart twiddle her thumbs using Growl while Draino safely used Bubble. Since I didn't get the Ice Waifu, this battle becomes a bit harder.
I also nabbed up a Rare Candy I will save for later. MUCH later.
And here's the first city with the crucial Nugget. This Nugget will be the key to staying alive and helping us not have to grind like crazy to beat the gym.
Here comes the money...
Here we go, money talks.
Anyway, we trigger this event flag so we can fight the siblings...
After grinding of course. Glide is the key to beating these siblings as one of them has a Tailow that loves to spam Double Team.
Anyway, onto the pesky siblings.
+ Level 7 Peyero
The first trainer is fairly easy. The only issue here is if Pichu Statics you and even then it's not hard to heal it up like I did.
Traienr 2 also isn't too hard. Diglett can't touch Tailow really and Liquiput isn't at all threatening.
Trainer 3 is a real ***** though. First I have to navigate my way around Poison Point and a Houndour that wants to bite me till I die. Thankfully I'm able to nab up enough Accuracy boosts to deal with the demon.\
It just spammed Double Team, Died, and gave me a level.
After that, Nimbleaf is a piece of cake.
After the battle, if you talk to the siblings, they will give you a Big Mushroom. I will be holding onto this for things related to move tutors later.
Afterwards, we have another grindfest. I might as well use this time to talk about the two better Pokemon on this route.
First we have
Ice Waifu Glachild. This thing pretty much turns into an Ice type version of Gardevoir in terms of both stats and looks. It's stats are very similar to Gardevoir with its Special Defense and Speed being swapped. This is its layout: 80/70/75/120/85/100. It picks up some really solid Ice moves as it levels, but you have to do some evolution canceling befor ethe final form if you don't want to miss out on Ice Beam. (Aurostice never learns Ice Beam while Frozaiden gets it at level 35 and you don't miss out on any moves by waiting.) It also picks up some really good coverage like pretty much everything else in this hack. It gets Hydro Pump and Bug Noise (think Bug Buzz on steroids) through tutor and Signal Beam, Energy Ball, Aqua Bolt (Paralyzing version of scald with higher triggering rate but 10 less accuracy and power), Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Focus Blast. Overall it is a VERY solid mon and I'm sad I missed it.
The other good one I missed out on Togepi. While significantly more rare, it is probably one of the best Pokemon in this game if you get a Serene Grace variant. Togekiss (yes, it's in this hack and you get it with a Sun Stone) has a field day with all the expanded coverage and special effects this game gets it. Not only can it run Air Slash, Aura Sphere, Shadow Ball, Psychic, and Heat Wave like in the base games, but it also gets the aforementioned Aqua Bolt meaning that if you have Serene Grace, whenever you use it, you have a 72% chance of Paralyzing the opponent. Not to mention it's pretty good coverage. Also, you can get Nasty Plot and Hydro Pump by move tutor if you so desire. It is just ridiculously good.
Anyway, back to your scheduled programming. I'm going to solo this gym with my starter at Level 15 and it will work out.
But first I have to get to the Gym Leader.
Let's take her down.
Pineco@Oran Berry, Level 13: Signal Beam, Double Spin, Spikes, Self Destruct
Rollder@Oran Berry, Level 14: Rollout, Rock Throw, Steamroller, Defense Curl
Shuckle@Sitrus Berry, Level 15: Curse, Rock Tomb, Bulldoze, Big Yawn
Pineco isn't that bad. All it wants to do is set up Spikes and try to go boom in your face. It's definitely not a Pokemon you want to try and set up on with the Grass starter though due to Signal Beam.
For both the fire and water starter, this gym isn't too hard at this point. Peyero gains the steel typing upon evolving into Infiris. Draino was able to two shot this thing, but once again, the Grass Starter is really bad in this gym.
This guy is the real pain in the ass of this gym. You guys should know what Bulldoze (why the fire starter is bad for this gym), Rock tomb, and Curse do, but what does Big Yawn do?
It is a 100% accurate Sleep move.
This is Vega's first case of ******** as there is no Sleep Clause to save you as this thing starts setting up Curses. While I went in at level 15 on Draino and while level 14 (the level where the water starter evolves) is possible, you do risk being haxxed badly here and being very unlucky with your sleep patterns. Thankfully the AI isn't that great and spent half the turns showering me in +1 Rock Tombs rather than putting me though hell.
It is possible to beat this gym with just the Grass Starter and the Ice Waifu, but it is a giant pain as you have to grind up to about 20 and spam Charm with Ice Waifu so you can set up Growths with the Grass Starter.I decided to just say no to that **** and picked the Water starter. I'll still have to grind up later, but at least I don't have to grind up a bunch so early on.
Anyway, we beat the gym and get the badge and the TM for Signal Beam. while half my team can get it, I won't give it to them for now as there is only one mon on my team that I'm planning on keeping around and he picks up Poison STAB later.
I'll see you next time as I navigate past Perfect Coverage Hitmonchan.