(note: next chunk pasted from the original "pokeplans" file on my work computer. Dates left as-is rather than attempting to create back-dated blog entries for each.)
(8/7/2009)
I am such a damn packrat.
Thanks to the nice man at GameStop who found me my link cable, I now have a copy of Emerald with a working clock. New problem: It's got a lot of Pokemon on it. As in, a LOT. And most of them are max evolutions, many of which I have never raised myself and don't necessarily want to. Plus there's over forty items and TMs I'd want to grab.
Amusingly, the PC contains a piece of mail that says, "You sad sad Trainer what you can't train Pokemon -- from JD". I'm keepin' that. :D
It doesn't appear that there was any hacking, despite the number of lvl 100 Pokemon. A look at the Hall of Fame revealed that it was on entry number 317 (!). Going back through the entries, it looks as if he used the Elite Four to raise and evolve Pokemon -- just walk in with all his starters and ubers who'd been levelled to 100 long since, throw Exp Share on the one to raise, and blow on through. Put Amulet Coin on someone else (he's got two of both these items) and he'd have gotten the cash, too. There's over 400 hours on the game, despite the Hall of Fame debut having been recorded at 45 hours.
There's several trainer IDs throughout the Pokemon; it looked like he'd brought in Pokemon from a copy of FR (he had an Arcanine, but no Ninetales). JD is the trainer for this game, but there's also D.J (the FR trainer), LIL J (looked like a few trades), BRANDON (lots of low-level Pokes, obviously used to trade stuff out), and a scattering of a few more. The only worrisome one was AB, who seemed to be the source of some of the starters and legendaries; not sure if some of those aren't too good to be true. The Trainer Card showed 172 trades, but only 3 battles and berry crushes, implying that JD traded with his other games like I do.
JD had also obviously mastered the Emerald cloning glitch; he had about four Raikous, seven Suicunes, and nine Kyogres, each bunch with the EXACT same stats. I took one of each, called it the original, and released the others. There's really nothing I need the extras for, given that I've got all the legendaries except Celebi and Arceus, so there's no point in keeping them even for the GTS and potentially getting a reputation as a hacker.
Unfortunately, this leaves me with about four boxes' worth of Pokemon to get out of there, and that is a LOT of trade fodder to catch. They are roughly split into five groups: starters and legendaries, one-offs and specials, max evos from Emerald, max evos from FR, and Pokemon from other trainers. What I need to do is --
--Assemble two sets of six for transfer to Pearl and Platinum, with at least one from each of the major trainer IDs (JD, D.J, LIL J, AB, BRANDON).
--Take a hard look at the max evos and weed out Pokemon I have already raised, or that can be caught wild.
--The legendaries and starters come across, as do the one-offs and specials.
--Also should bring over ones that can't be caught in Emerald (Masquerain, Medicham, Roselia, Zangoose, and Lunatone).
--Check the Day Care, unless anything was left there.
--Catch a shitload of trade fodder in Sapphire. Likely to take a night in and of itself. Heck, might even see another shiny.
--Trade like a crazy person. Likely to take another night, possibly two.
Also amusingly, there is a mystery Egg in JD's boxes. It's marked with all four available marks, which makes me wonder if there's something really good in there, or something utterly worthless. One question is which game to hatch it in -- trainer names not Rue are my flag that something could be hacked. Dunno if that would matter, though; depends what it is. And of course, I'm terribly curious. :D
Of course, that's a lot of prep just to restart the darn game. The sane thing to do, as Martin pointed out, would have been to not even look, and just go ahead and restart. But it's worth it to at least grab enough Pokemon to spread the Trainer ID to my other games, and once I'm doing that, I can't bring myself to leave behind starters and legendaries, not to mention so many max evos.
So once again, there is much preparation to be made before I will be playing again...
(8/10/2009)
Not much happened this weekend in the way of Pokemon, but I sure did do laundry. Folded sheets, got pants, undies, and green/blue/gray loads done; and this in spite of massive soreness from too much Wii Sports Resort swordfighting. It's dang hot in the house, too, so much time spent hiding upstairs in the AC.
So I figured it'd be waaay easier to catch all the numerous Pokemon I need for trading in Sapphire if I actually raised a Pokemon for the purpose. Since Nincada learn False Swipe at lvl 25, I caught me a female Nincada, called her Nettie, and set about raising her. She's now a Ninjask with False Swipe, and I have a Shedinja as well. Interestingly, the Shedinja is in a Great Ball, same as Nettie -- I wonder if that means you have to have the same kind of spare Ball as you caught your Nincada in, instead of just a regular Poke Ball? Hmmm.
I also took the time to breed an Egg from Terrell's Metagross, which didn't look like it had been hacked. So hopefully that'll trade across and can be hatched in Emerald, once I get started.
Which should be a little closer, because catching trade fodder should be easier. I still need to comb through the boxes in Emerald and weed out Pokemon I've already got, try to narrow things down a bit.
(8/11/2009)
Laundry continues to happen, which is good. Inking of Scri pic also occurred, which was so much harder than I wanted it to be, but results are kinda good (digital cleanup will be required). And many many Pokemon were caught.
This time I didn't turn my nose up at anything, just sallied forth into Rt 102 and caught everything that appeared and sorted 'em out later in the boxes into groups of six for easy trading. Two and a half boxes down, one and a half to go.
So tonight's plan is to scan stuff and color Scri (probably in greyscales with red for the yarn), do my load of blacks, and catch the rest of what I need. Possibly go through and weed out some of those max evos that I already have. Though, knowing me, I'll probably just trade 'em all out anyway....
(8/17/2009)
Caught the rest of my trade fodder last week (Scri did get colored and posted as well), then on Saturday, set to it. I had PalParked six Pokemon each to Pearl and Platinum, so after I was done trading there were only five of JD's Pokemon left on the cart. Quite a bit of time and trouble, considering that most of his Pokemon were just powerlevelled through the E4 and not really raised, as such. Which makes JD's mail doubly insulting, now that I think about it -- merely levelling Pokemon to evolve isn't the same as training.
Before I blew his game away, I went and caught six Ditto from the Desert Underpass. It'll be a while before I have access to that again, or can trade any in.
So then I was FINALLY able to restart (again!).
It might be my imagination, but I don't think Meadow and Alba are quite as strong as the originals; but eh, what can you do. Jubal has a Calm nature this time, since I didn't feel like soft resetting to get the same nature AND good stats. Still, the first badge and second rival battle went off without a hitch, and I'm almost ready to be off to Dewford to catch Jet (who I might see to it is a boy, this time; that way I don't waste TMs). ['cause evidently I forgot that Sableye learn Shadow Ball as a level-up move, duh.]
Before that, though, I stopped to grow me some Berries. Planted some Leppa last night, and when I woke up this morning there they were, growing tall. I missed one growing phase (they must be different from GIV's 8 hours) but should still get multiple Leppa from each plant. Nice to know that's working.
One thing that does NOT work, to my surprise, is trading Eggs. I'd understood there was no restriction on trading Hoenn Pokemon. Maybe I have to reach the Day Care, or get the Wynaut egg, before I can trade? It isn't like the system shouldn't know what's in the egg, and that it's not a region-restricted Pokemon. This means, though, that I can't get the Beldum I'd bred in Sapphire, and also JD's mystery Egg, possibly until after I get through the E4, unless I hatch them in another cart and trade 'em in.
Ways to get around this: Trade Eggs over to LG and hatch them there, then back to Emerald via Sapphire (so their Trainer name is Rue); or wait 'till I reach the DayCare in Emerald, then trade Terrell's Metagross and a Ditto....ah, wait. Ditto aren't in the Hoenn Dex, so there's no way to breed a Beldum in Emerald pre-E4. Rats. Looks like if I want a Metagross on my team, I'll have to hatch it in LG. Unless I can trade Eggs after I get one from the DayCare, or that Wynaut?
Another thing I'm doing differently this time: I picked up a Shroomish in Petalburg Woods, name of Portabella. She's some insurance against Water types, which my team is decidedly ineffective against. Not that she'll be on the final team, of course, or that I'll be letting her evolve; I want her to learn Giga Drain and Spore. I also raised a Wurmple to a Cascoon after missing catching one in the Woods, only to catch one almost right after mine evolved. D'oh. And I traded for that Seedot in Rustboro, seeing as how I ran into so many Ralts this time.
Thoughts on final movesets -- It doesn't make sense for both Jubal and Gossamer to have both Dig and Earthquake. I get the Dig TM about the same time as I can catch a Trapinch, and Jubal will learn Earthquake by level-up. So maybe I give Dig to Gossamer, because in order to get Dragonbreath and Dragon Claw I have to give up the chance for it to learn Dig. And that leaves another slot open in Jubal's moveset for off-type moves.
Meadow -- Cut, Strength, Rock Smash, and either Secret Power or Thunderbolt/Thunder.
Jubal -- Surf, Earthquake, Ice Beam, Brick Break
Gossamer -- Crunch, Fly, Dig, Dragonbreath/Dragon Claw (depending which stat is better, Attk or SpAttk)
Jet -- Night Shade, Faint Attack, Shadow Ball, and... something off-type, maybe Shock Wave (TM 34, won from Wattson in Mauville)
...though, if Jet is female, teaching so many TMs may not be a good idea.
(8/18/2009)
It wasn't as quick as I'd have liked, but I made it back to Mauville. Put about five more hours on the cart doing it, too.
After picking my Leppa Berries (only two per bush, unfortunately) and backtracking to register the rich folks in the Pokenav and clear out the Cut-able areas, I sailed off to Dewford. Caught Jet, who is female again since that was the first Sableye I saw, and trained everyone up for the second Gym. Beat Brawly, delivered the Letter to Steven, then went on to Slateport and turned the Devon Goods over to Capt. Stern after tussling with Team Aqua. Then I went up towards Mauville, fighting the trainers along the way and on the east side of Rt. 103, and fought Brendan again. Got the Itemfinder and the Acro Bike.
I still need to go down Cycling Road and beat all those trainers, plus get through the third Gym and the Winstrates. I also need to fight Wally, who's blocking my way to the Gym. Once all that's done, I can go on to Verdanturf and open the tunnel, then run over to Rustboro real quick for the Exp Share. And that'll wrap up Mauville for the moment.
After that, it'll be time for the whole Fallarbor/Lavaridge bit, then I can get back out into the Desert and catch Gossamer. Hopefully that'll go better this time.
Somewhere in there I should hatch my Beldum and bring it over; obedience shouldn't be an issue for a bit since I have badges enough for lvl 30 to obey me. If I put Exp Share on it, it should catch up to everyone else eventually. Should look at its attacks though, I think Beldum only get Take Down so it should likely be allowed to evolve right away (which will be at lvl 20, whereupon it learns Confusion and Metal Claw).
I also should have three plants' worth of Leppa waiting for me, when I get home. And I need to pick up prescriptions, maybe food too. And get gas.
(8/19/2009)
It seems that the RNG hates me as much as ever.
When I checked my Leppa bushes, they did indeed have three Berries each. Not sure if that's the max, but it was better than two. Berries safely bagged, I ran down Cycling Road with Jubal in the lead and one-shotted all the Triathletes' Pokemon, then rode back up to Mauville and trounced poor Wally's Ralts before taking down the Gym. The Dynamo Badge allowed me to use Rock Smash out of battle, so I opened up the tunnel to Rustboro and ran over to grab the Exp. Share.
About this time, Jubal was at lvl 24 while everyone else was around 20-22. So I headed out into the grasses Rt. 117, west of Mauville, and went looking for Illumise and Volbeat.
And I did catch an Illumise, but after plowing through enough Oddish, Poochyena, and Marill to raise the whole team to lvl 25, I didn't see a single Volbeat. I even caught a Seedot, which I think is even rarer on that route. I will have to check Bulbapedia once I get my network connection back (argh for moving pains) to see what their appearance rate is (it's 1%, no wonder). It's kind of frustrating, because I had caught one in my previous Emerald game, and it didn't take THAT long. Unless maybe they only appear during the day?
Since I was accumulating Exp anyway, I threw Exp Share on the Seedot, which I named Bombadil. He's got Chlorophyll, which raises his Speed in strong sunlight, so I figure I might as well raise him as a Seedot to lvl 31 so he learns both Synthesis and Sunny Day. If I let him evolve right after, then he should also pick up Faint Attack. Then maybe I can give him Solarbeam; with Sunny Day active, he won't need to recharge between Solarbeams, and Synthesis will restore full HP. Once he's got his final moveset (Sunny Day, Synthesis, Solarbeam, and Faint Attack) I can hand him a Leaf Stone and evolve him to a Shiftry.
I also levelled that Wurmple I'd been raising up to 10 to evolve to Dustox. I have another Wurmple, a female, that I'm going to do the same with, except she'll be a Beautifly. I just have to get some play time in during the day to make that happen (and maybe then I can also catch Volbeat?)
Next step will be the Fallarbor/Lavaridge loop, so I can catch my Trapinch. Hopefully it'll be long enough until I get Fly that Exp Share will get him up to a Vibrava, and then I can retire Alba from the team and start raising that Beldum.
(8/21/2009)
Argh. Having to re-record the whole Labor BPF Captivate 'cause I did it with the wrong CC. And on top of that, agreed to build a report in Metrics this morning. D'oh.
Tuesday, when I should have gotten the Fallarbor/Lavaridge arc done, I ended up just watching the pilot of Firefly with the commentary turned on, as I am still in a Firefly mood. Wednesday, didn't have much time after Mom's and so just did a little training with Portabella and Bombadil. Both are now trying to evolve at every level, which is annoying. Portabella is OK against certain types, but Bombadil isn't going to be much use until he gets Sunny Day and Faint Attack. Bide just doesn't do enough damage for the risk, and the only other attack he has is Nature Power, which turns into Stun Spore in grass.
Unfortunately, I probably won't get any more Poke time in this weekend until late Saturday, or Sunday. Plus there's that thing with Orell I need to draw/write. I'm already at near 14 hours and haven't caught up to where I was before, because of the extra training I've been doing. >_<
Maybe I just need to put those two away for a bit, so I can raise that Trapinch instead. Or get Bombadil to lvl 31 and then put him away 'till I get Solarbeam (not to mention a Leaf Stone). In a cave, Nature Power becomes Shadow Ball; in sand, it becomes Earthquake. In fact, it's awesome in just about everything but grass. So maybe I put Portabella away now, at lvl 25, and take Bombadil out into the Desert to fight all those trainers. Get him up to 31 and evolve him, then put him away too. Then I can get back to raising my core team.
Actually, if Gossamer makes a decent enough fighter as a Trapinch, then I can raise him alongside everyone else, which'll let me bring in that Beldum. By the time obedience would become an issue, I should have my fourth badge, which'll make that OK up to lvl 50. Though when I do go back to Petalburg for that fourth badge, I should likely spend some time training my Beldum. Most likely using the Macho Brace, to catch its EVs up with the rest of the team that much faster.
Now I just need a name for my future Metagross!
(8/26/2009)
Not much Pokeing lately. Just so....tired.
Last night I finally picked up the SP and got in a little Poke time, but didn't end up doing much except spending yet more time on the apparently completely futile search for a Volbeat, and getting to Fallarbor. However, what with all the wild Pokemon on Rt. 117 and all the trainers along the way to Fallarbor, I did get Bombadil up to lvl 31 and evolved to a Nuzleaf. And he did learn both Sunny Day and Faint Attack. So now I can evolve him as soon as I get to Lilycove to buy the TM and Leaf Stone.
For now, he's still in the team, since I put away Portabella. Now I've got to get out to Meteor Falls and get the Meteorite back to Prof. Cozmo so I can get up to Lavaridge for that fourth badge. That'll get me the Go-Goggles, which'll get me my Trapinch. At that point I'll be mostly caught up to where I was before.
I can then put Bombadil away and get my Beldum hatched and traded in before heading back to Dad's for my fifth badge (preferably via Meteor Falls so I can fight the trainers on the other end). That way I can put in some training with the Macho Brace down in those early routes, and get the Beldum caught up on EVs. Then I can finally, FINALLY get Surf and move into the part of the game I haven't played yet. And it only took me about a month! >_<
(8/31/2009)
Whoo! I am finally caught up! and then some!
I didn't actually get to the Desert first. Instead I ended up going out to Meteor Falls and grabbing the Meteorite so that I could return it to Prof. Cozmo and get up to Lavaridge. Once there, I picked up the Wynaut egg and blazed through the Gym, which got me the Go-Goggles. Rather than doing the Desert right away, though, I trucked back down to Petalburg and walloped Dad's Gym. Whereupon Wally's dad came in, took me back to their house, and gave me Surf.
That brought me back to the point at which I lost my earlier game and a little beyond, except that I hadn't fought the rest of the Trainers out in the Desert. And since I was back around the early routes, it was time to train that Beldum. To make room, I hatched the Wynaut (named Skylab, on a complete whim) and put it away.
So then I dug out my primary LG game (the one where I re-did my Blue team), traded over the Beldum egg and JD's mystery egg. I decided to hatch them in Mt. Moon, which entailed lots of cycling outside on Rt. 4 to avoid spending too many Max Repels in the cave -- those things are expensive! Coming up with a name was a bit difficult, but finally I ended up naming it Tympany (big steel drum thing). JD's egg turned out to contain a Squirtle, which I named Mystery so that I'd remember where it came from. It won't be any use for breeding, since there's no telling what it was bred from, so I left it in LG and traded Tympany back across.
Getting Tympany up to lvl 20 to evolve took lots of Potions, because until then it only had Take Down, which does recoil damage. I did employ the Macho Brace to try and catch up its EVs with everyone else's. Once it evolved and got Metal Claw and Confusion, though, things got easier. With Tympany in the lead, I went up to the Desert and fought the rest of the trainers there. While I was there, I ducked into the Mirage Tower for a bit and caught five male Trapinch in Premier Balls: Eeny, Meeny, Meiny, Moe, and Jack. Getting over that section of crumbling floor with the Mach Bike is still damnably impossible. No Fossil for me!
After running all of them through the IV calculator, I discovered that three of the five had unhelpful natures, and all of them had terribly low stats in at least two slots. I ended up selecting Moe, who had low HP and Speed, but was decent in everything else. I figure Vibrava/Flygon's high base Speed should make up for the low IV, and the nature penalty will be offset by the higher IVs. So Moe became Gossamer, and Bombadil was put away.
Then Gossamer had to be caught up to the rest of the team, so I took Wattson's offer to go turn off the generator in New Mauville. I was figuring that as a Ground type, Gossamer would do very well against the Electric types there. Unfortunately, his only Ground attack was Dig, which you only get 10 PP of, and his Dark attacks weren't effective against all the Magnemite around the place. I ended up having Jubal take the lead, holding the Macho Brace, with Gossamer holding Exp Share. Even so, I had to spend plenty of Potions and even a couple Leppa berries to get through the place.
Still, by the time I was done there, Gossamer was so close to evolving that after grabbing my reward from Wattson -- the Thunderbolt TM -- I kept training, even Surfing to the other side of Rt. 118 to hit the trainers there. It kept me up a bit late, but I got Gossamer evolved to Vibrava. I found the Berry Master, too (could have used that when I was growing all those Pecha admist all this).
So, my team is getting closer to its E4 state. Jubal, at lvl 37, is the farthest along; Gossamer is at lvl 35, Meadow at 33, and everyone else is lvl 32. The next leg of my journey will be up Rt. 119 to Fortree and from there around to Lilycove. Thankfully, I am now at the part of the game I haven't played, so everything from here on will be a surprise....I'm not even going to look on the 'net to see what lies in store.
