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xyzzysqrlLast time, we got things off and rolling and I was a bit surprised by the narrative structure of this particular game. By which I mean - so far there isn't much of one. By now in Pokemon Y we had been introduced to some distinct characters and given a heartwarming speech or two about free will from Professor Hug-Me.
Maybe we'll get a speech and/or a hug later. I've never played original Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald. I dunno any specifics about what's coming.
Back out the door and down Route 101. Instead of 103 where we met Brendan, we're turning left onto Route 102 which used to be blocked off. The PokeMart music is terribly perky this generation by the way. Ah, that's the feeling of browsing a convenience store. Nothing like it.
[Caught on Route 102: Ralts (male) - "Garlic". Ralts (female) - "Shallot". Seedot, "Granola".]
Our trip down 102 is uneventful. Brendan shows up to spout tutorials a while, and then he's interrupted by the sight of a flock of Beautiflies drifting by. This gives him confusing emotional stirrings and makes him feel all WARM and ... he shakes that off and gets back to important emotions like PUNCHING and BATTLING. Namely, fighting Lime's dad, Norman, who is the local gym leader of Petalburg.
Which is the city three feet away from where we paused and yep, we find Gym Leader Dad talking down a nine year old who just didn't have the stuff to beat him. As the kid runs off to train for a rechallenge, we chat Norman-Dad up and he invites us in. His gym is REMARKABLY unelaborate compared to some of the ridiculous webswinging tower-scaling monsters in later games.
Just as he's starting to enthuse at Lime about her choice to become a trainer, a plant pokemon in human form walks in. ... Oh, excuse me. This is Wally. He's a young, sick-seeming boy who nervously asks if Norman can help him catch a pokemon. He's never caught one before and he's going to stay with relatives in the city... Norman is quick to agree, being a pretty good guy all things considered. He loans Wally a pokemon and some balls and sends Lime out with him to be sure he doesn't get hurt.
Wally acts as a catching tutorial, I suppose. In case you've never caught one, he shows how. I have, so I sorta tune out as Wally is mauled by a Ralts and ... wait no he's got this. Yeah, he snags a Ralts of his own. A++ Wally, claps all 'round.
Back in the gym, Wally's so dang grateful he gives Lime a firmware upgrade for the PokeNav Plus, which unlocks all kinds of gizmos like "Super Training" and "Pokemon-Amie" and the Player Search System for online goofery and trading.
I talked about Super Training and Pokemon-Amie back in my Y run. The legacy of fancy cakey-puff overdosing and inexplicable bullet-hell soccer will continue evermore~.
ANYWAY while I'm lost in dreams of squoodgy pasteries Norman is busy explaining that Lime should go challenge a bunch of gyms and get real buff and stuff herself full of badges, then come back and duel him in Pokemon combat because badges are magic or some damn thing, I'm still thinking about cakes and bellyrubs, sorry. It's the Pokemon Formula: Get badges, beat gym leaders, become champion.
So it's off to route 104, where we spend a while chasing Wingull on the beach. RUN YOU PIGEONS, IT'S ROBERT FROST!
There's also a kid who's distressed his pokemon are all exhausted and he didn't plan ahead. Lime tosses him a spare potion, because we always plan ahead and we're nice sharing people. Our adventures in Kalos taught us it never hurts to help. Also, watching Eek the Cat did that too but funnier.
[Caught on Rt.104: Wurmple, "Margarine".]
104 doesn't last long (does any route in this game? wow super-short passages) and we're into Petalburg Woods. A few pokemon are caught and I level grind a bit on the assumption that getting some of the members of the early-game team buffed to the point where they, for example, know actual attack moves can't hurt.
Great Moments in NPC Dialogue: "If you have a big Bug pokemon, people respect you for it." Fear is often mistaken for respect in many recipes.
Eventually I progress to the middle of the woods, where a researcher is being menaced by a angry dork in a hoodie and turtleneck. The male version. A hoodie and sweater at the same time in the middle of a forest in July. No wonder he looks so pissed.
"I was TRYING to ambush you, but you're taking FOREVER, so I came into the woods to do it!" the grunt yells. The researcher proves he is a man of great integrity and character by diving for cover behind a passing pokemon trainer, namely Lime.
"AIYEEH!" screams the full grown man.
Between this and the puppy thing earlier... Man, what happened to science? It used to be cool.
Lime and the grunt (who declares affiliation with Team Magma) share an awkward glance, but line up to throw down. We've got a whole team, he has a puppy. It doesn't really take long. The grunt sort of shrugs. He's out of Pokemon and wanted in Rustboro, so... he just sort of strolls away. As a child we have no legal authority to detain him, and Mr. AIYEEH rewards us with an Exp. Share. This parcels out battle experience to all of your Pokemon, which makes my previous lengthy grinding session kinda obsolete.
*eyetwitch*
Let's move on. As we do, another Magma-grunt appears from the woods, reporting in on a radio to "Ms. Courtney" that the "mission" is a "no-go". She'll monitor the "energy" they detected. Lotta vague-ass terms tossed around, but that doesn't concern us, except for the part where the grunt muses that we had great battle potential.
It's called having a REAL PROPER STARTER instead of a fluffpup, y'all. I mean, not that I don't love my fluffpup...
[Caught in Petalburg Woods: Cascoon, "Dumpling". Shroomish, "Porcini".]
Leaving the forest puts us on Route 104 Part 2: Dirt Road Boogaloo. Here we visit a flower shop and learn how to replant berries and water them. (Have some tiny trading cardart for that.)
Great Moments in NPC Dialogue: "Hello is the beginning of Good-Bye. Let's meet again." I actually think you'll find G is the beginning of Good-Bye, ma'am. Sayonara.
Also on this route: The obligatory "Fisherman who has only Magikarp and can't understand why they haven't swept the Elite Four yet". Oh, Magikarp. *canned laughter*
That said, until we get a fishing pole there's nothing else on this route of note. Let's stop here and reflect, at the gates of Rustboro City. And when I say "reflect" I mean play in the pretty water puddles outside town. Splishie splashie!
See you next time, as Lime and Mint challenge their first gym. Are they prepared? Ahahaha I have no idea.
Maybe we'll get a speech and/or a hug later. I've never played original Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald. I dunno any specifics about what's coming.
Back out the door and down Route 101. Instead of 103 where we met Brendan, we're turning left onto Route 102 which used to be blocked off. The PokeMart music is terribly perky this generation by the way. Ah, that's the feeling of browsing a convenience store. Nothing like it.
[Caught on Route 102: Ralts (male) - "Garlic". Ralts (female) - "Shallot". Seedot, "Granola".]
Our trip down 102 is uneventful. Brendan shows up to spout tutorials a while, and then he's interrupted by the sight of a flock of Beautiflies drifting by. This gives him confusing emotional stirrings and makes him feel all WARM and ... he shakes that off and gets back to important emotions like PUNCHING and BATTLING. Namely, fighting Lime's dad, Norman, who is the local gym leader of Petalburg.
Which is the city three feet away from where we paused and yep, we find Gym Leader Dad talking down a nine year old who just didn't have the stuff to beat him. As the kid runs off to train for a rechallenge, we chat Norman-Dad up and he invites us in. His gym is REMARKABLY unelaborate compared to some of the ridiculous webswinging tower-scaling monsters in later games.
Just as he's starting to enthuse at Lime about her choice to become a trainer, a plant pokemon in human form walks in. ... Oh, excuse me. This is Wally. He's a young, sick-seeming boy who nervously asks if Norman can help him catch a pokemon. He's never caught one before and he's going to stay with relatives in the city... Norman is quick to agree, being a pretty good guy all things considered. He loans Wally a pokemon and some balls and sends Lime out with him to be sure he doesn't get hurt.
Wally acts as a catching tutorial, I suppose. In case you've never caught one, he shows how. I have, so I sorta tune out as Wally is mauled by a Ralts and ... wait no he's got this. Yeah, he snags a Ralts of his own. A++ Wally, claps all 'round.
Back in the gym, Wally's so dang grateful he gives Lime a firmware upgrade for the PokeNav Plus, which unlocks all kinds of gizmos like "Super Training" and "Pokemon-Amie" and the Player Search System for online goofery and trading.
I talked about Super Training and Pokemon-Amie back in my Y run. The legacy of fancy cakey-puff overdosing and inexplicable bullet-hell soccer will continue evermore~.
ANYWAY while I'm lost in dreams of squoodgy pasteries Norman is busy explaining that Lime should go challenge a bunch of gyms and get real buff and stuff herself full of badges, then come back and duel him in Pokemon combat because badges are magic or some damn thing, I'm still thinking about cakes and bellyrubs, sorry. It's the Pokemon Formula: Get badges, beat gym leaders, become champion.
So it's off to route 104, where we spend a while chasing Wingull on the beach. RUN YOU PIGEONS, IT'S ROBERT FROST!
There's also a kid who's distressed his pokemon are all exhausted and he didn't plan ahead. Lime tosses him a spare potion, because we always plan ahead and we're nice sharing people. Our adventures in Kalos taught us it never hurts to help. Also, watching Eek the Cat did that too but funnier.
[Caught on Rt.104: Wurmple, "Margarine".]
104 doesn't last long (does any route in this game? wow super-short passages) and we're into Petalburg Woods. A few pokemon are caught and I level grind a bit on the assumption that getting some of the members of the early-game team buffed to the point where they, for example, know actual attack moves can't hurt.
Great Moments in NPC Dialogue: "If you have a big Bug pokemon, people respect you for it." Fear is often mistaken for respect in many recipes.
Eventually I progress to the middle of the woods, where a researcher is being menaced by a angry dork in a hoodie and turtleneck. The male version. A hoodie and sweater at the same time in the middle of a forest in July. No wonder he looks so pissed.
"I was TRYING to ambush you, but you're taking FOREVER, so I came into the woods to do it!" the grunt yells. The researcher proves he is a man of great integrity and character by diving for cover behind a passing pokemon trainer, namely Lime.
"AIYEEH!" screams the full grown man.
Between this and the puppy thing earlier... Man, what happened to science? It used to be cool.
Lime and the grunt (who declares affiliation with Team Magma) share an awkward glance, but line up to throw down. We've got a whole team, he has a puppy. It doesn't really take long. The grunt sort of shrugs. He's out of Pokemon and wanted in Rustboro, so... he just sort of strolls away. As a child we have no legal authority to detain him, and Mr. AIYEEH rewards us with an Exp. Share. This parcels out battle experience to all of your Pokemon, which makes my previous lengthy grinding session kinda obsolete.
*eyetwitch*
Let's move on. As we do, another Magma-grunt appears from the woods, reporting in on a radio to "Ms. Courtney" that the "mission" is a "no-go". She'll monitor the "energy" they detected. Lotta vague-ass terms tossed around, but that doesn't concern us, except for the part where the grunt muses that we had great battle potential.
It's called having a REAL PROPER STARTER instead of a fluffpup, y'all. I mean, not that I don't love my fluffpup...
[Caught in Petalburg Woods: Cascoon, "Dumpling". Shroomish, "Porcini".]
Leaving the forest puts us on Route 104 Part 2: Dirt Road Boogaloo. Here we visit a flower shop and learn how to replant berries and water them. (Have some tiny trading cardart for that.)
Great Moments in NPC Dialogue: "Hello is the beginning of Good-Bye. Let's meet again." I actually think you'll find G is the beginning of Good-Bye, ma'am. Sayonara.
Also on this route: The obligatory "Fisherman who has only Magikarp and can't understand why they haven't swept the Elite Four yet". Oh, Magikarp. *canned laughter*
That said, until we get a fishing pole there's nothing else on this route of note. Let's stop here and reflect, at the gates of Rustboro City. And when I say "reflect" I mean play in the pretty water puddles outside town. Splishie splashie!
See you next time, as Lime and Mint challenge their first gym. Are they prepared? Ahahaha I have no idea.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-20 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-20 02:08 am (UTC)What was the question?
*scroll*
OH. Uhm. Actually almost EVERY evil team is for me a "Wow I wish I could wear that" experience, so your mileage absolutely varies. Aside from the sweater-and-hoodie combo (maybe in winter? Yeah, that's for winter) I could totally stand to wear this.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-20 02:11 am (UTC)But, you know, for your Pokemon-themed slumber party then yes absolutely.
no subject
Date: 2017-07-20 02:43 am (UTC)*pick up*
*HUG*
*set down, with cookie*
(I suck at speeches, okay?)
no subject
Date: 2017-07-20 02:46 am (UTC)Yaycookie. Oh hey there's a bunny here. *feed cookie to bunny*