It's been a while since the last post -- not sure I can remember what order things went in.
Anyway, I've done the rounds and collected the legendaries. Kyogre and Groudon weren't too bad, the Regis broke out of a slew of Ultra Balls as usual, and once spotted, Latias was a pain to both track and catch. There was yelling and complaining. Still, like I shouted at the game numerous times, it was gonna happen, and now they're all safely tucked away in the Specials box on the PC.
The Latias I named Skye, and she will be the companion to the original Emerald game's Latios, Cloud. Not sure if I'll name the others, except Rayquaza (his name is Serpentine, and he's my Fly/Surf slave). I've noticed that folks trading for legendaries don't always like them to come with nicknames.
During all that, I had to trade over Hugh and Sockeye from the original Emerald to unlock the Regis, since I hadn't caught a Relicanth and didn't feel like raising another Wailord. So I took a look at what Pokemon I still needed to raise, and traded some of their first forms between games so that they'd earn Exp faster.
Being me, I've been stupid enough to go for EV training on some of them. So Portabella finally got raised up to a Breloom with Spore (and I'm in the midst of training her mate Foolscap), and got her Effort Ribbon. I've also raised a Skitty and used my only Moon Stone in that game to evolve him to a Delcatty; when I trade him back I'll name him Dandy (he's got Attract, Assist, Faint Attack, and Heal Bell).
I'm currently working on Foolscap (Portabella's future mate), Igloo (a Snover), a Cacnea that I'll probably name Prickle, and a Grumpig whose name I haven't come up with yet. After that, I have a Numel to raise, and those dang fossils. Plus I've got two more fossils that I have to restore. Gotta go get the second one from the Desert Underpass.
I also need a Masquerain, but Surskit can't be caught in Emerald. Which leaves me the choice of catching one in Sapphire and trading it over to raise, or maybe breeding one that could have one of my Emerald trainer IDs. I should look up Surskit's egg moves.
Another thing I've done is to go pawing through the Abandoned Ship in both Emerald games and fetch the Scanner for Capt. Stern. That gave me the Deepseatooth in one game and the Deepseascale in the other, which are attached to lvl 25 male and female Clamperl respectively, all ready for trading back and forth for 'Dex credit for Huntail and Gorebyss.
With all of that done, that should finally see my original Emerald 'Dex completed. The second game will take a bit longer, since there's some first and intermediate forms I don't have on hand, and will have to catch, trade, or raise.
Still. Very close now!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Emerald II - We are the Champions
Well, it took two tries, but the Elite Four are down.
I'd turned on the game to do Yet More Training and thought, eh, what the heck, why not just try it. So I gave the E4 a go. To my surprise, I made it all the way up to Wallace without too much difficulty. His Ludicolo was tough, taking out half my team before I finally got it down, but I still had Samson to pit against Wallace's Gyrados. I was within one hit of winning it when I found out the hard way that if you use something like Detect or Protect against Hyper Beam, the user does NOT have to recharge on the following round. Ouch.
Afterwards, I found myself standing on the steps of the Pokemon League with all my Pokemon intact. I was about to reset, but my team had all gained a level or two in the battle. Sure, I'd lost half of over 200K Pokeyen, but regaining those levels would mean SO much grinding....so instead of resetting, I saved.
And then I trudged back into Victory Road and continued training. I got everyone up to lvl 58, except Tabasco who I raised to lvl 59 so I could have him forget Rock Smash and learn Sky Uppercut. Then I fed everyone a Rare Candy to celebrate, and headed up to the Pokemon League again. To guard against monetary loss, I bought up a whole bunch of potions and full restores and revives.
This time, things went much more smoothly. My Pokemon were mostly going first due to their higher levels, and type advantage took most opponents out on one hit. Wallace's Ludicolo was still a bit of a pain, but Samson got his Gyrados down on the recharge round this time, and it was over.
Hall of Fame, ribbons all around. My time was something like 85 hours, but eh.
After the credits rolled, I went back in long enough to get the Nat'l 'Dex, the SS Ticket, and the call from Scott about that place he'd like me to visit, i.e. the Battle Frontier. Oh, and Mom: that Pokemon they were talking about on TV? It's red. :)
So that gives me two completely open Emerald games. I should be able to catch up the second 'Dex with the first by trading, and then I've only got nine Pokemon left that I'll have to hand-raise to complete them both. I'll also be able to catch an extra round of legendaries, and my own Latias. And once both 'Dexes are complete, I'll have the opportunity to collect both of the other Jhoto starters.
And then someday, maybe I can get back to finishing SS.....
I'd turned on the game to do Yet More Training and thought, eh, what the heck, why not just try it. So I gave the E4 a go. To my surprise, I made it all the way up to Wallace without too much difficulty. His Ludicolo was tough, taking out half my team before I finally got it down, but I still had Samson to pit against Wallace's Gyrados. I was within one hit of winning it when I found out the hard way that if you use something like Detect or Protect against Hyper Beam, the user does NOT have to recharge on the following round. Ouch.
Afterwards, I found myself standing on the steps of the Pokemon League with all my Pokemon intact. I was about to reset, but my team had all gained a level or two in the battle. Sure, I'd lost half of over 200K Pokeyen, but regaining those levels would mean SO much grinding....so instead of resetting, I saved.
And then I trudged back into Victory Road and continued training. I got everyone up to lvl 58, except Tabasco who I raised to lvl 59 so I could have him forget Rock Smash and learn Sky Uppercut. Then I fed everyone a Rare Candy to celebrate, and headed up to the Pokemon League again. To guard against monetary loss, I bought up a whole bunch of potions and full restores and revives.
This time, things went much more smoothly. My Pokemon were mostly going first due to their higher levels, and type advantage took most opponents out on one hit. Wallace's Ludicolo was still a bit of a pain, but Samson got his Gyrados down on the recharge round this time, and it was over.
Hall of Fame, ribbons all around. My time was something like 85 hours, but eh.
After the credits rolled, I went back in long enough to get the Nat'l 'Dex, the SS Ticket, and the call from Scott about that place he'd like me to visit, i.e. the Battle Frontier. Oh, and Mom: that Pokemon they were talking about on TV? It's red. :)
So that gives me two completely open Emerald games. I should be able to catch up the second 'Dex with the first by trading, and then I've only got nine Pokemon left that I'll have to hand-raise to complete them both. I'll also be able to catch an extra round of legendaries, and my own Latias. And once both 'Dexes are complete, I'll have the opportunity to collect both of the other Jhoto starters.
And then someday, maybe I can get back to finishing SS.....
Monday, December 13, 2010
Emerald II - E4 Prep
Most of the past few weeks has gone much more to spinning plarn and crocheting than to Pokemon. Maybe it's the mid-winter darkness, maybe it's the allergies, maybe I over-did my last Poke-binge; but I've just been too brain-dead to play much.
Nevertheless, the full team's up to lvl 55, via more expeditions into Victory Road than I care to count. I might try to get them up another level or two, and will probably end up feeding them that last round of Rare Candies to save time. The Champion's highest-levelled Pokemon is at lv 58, so I'll want to get as close to that as I can stand to.
I wish I could get more rematches, both for the XP and for the cash to buy all those Full Restores and Revives I'll need, but Match Call doesn't seem to like me. I miss the Vs. Seeker. It's occurred to me that levelling would go faster if I traded the team to another game, but general stubbornness has kept me from doing that so far.
Before I go for it, I'll want to fix Tabasco's moveset. Poor thing got stuck with Rock Smash so I didn't have to drag along two HM slaves every trip. I'll want to keep Blaze Kick and leave a slot for Sky Uppercut; then teach either Brick Break (via TM) or Seismic Toss (which would require a trade to FR). According to Serebii, Blaziken can in fact learn Dig as well, so I may do that. Aerial Ace would be another choice.
And then it'll be time to save, and see how it goes. I'll be very surprised if I win on the first try without totally relying on potions and revives and such -- and if I lose, I'll have to see whether I've the patience to keep trying with this team.
Nevertheless, the full team's up to lvl 55, via more expeditions into Victory Road than I care to count. I might try to get them up another level or two, and will probably end up feeding them that last round of Rare Candies to save time. The Champion's highest-levelled Pokemon is at lv 58, so I'll want to get as close to that as I can stand to.
I wish I could get more rematches, both for the XP and for the cash to buy all those Full Restores and Revives I'll need, but Match Call doesn't seem to like me. I miss the Vs. Seeker. It's occurred to me that levelling would go faster if I traded the team to another game, but general stubbornness has kept me from doing that so far.
Before I go for it, I'll want to fix Tabasco's moveset. Poor thing got stuck with Rock Smash so I didn't have to drag along two HM slaves every trip. I'll want to keep Blaze Kick and leave a slot for Sky Uppercut; then teach either Brick Break (via TM) or Seismic Toss (which would require a trade to FR). According to Serebii, Blaziken can in fact learn Dig as well, so I may do that. Aerial Ace would be another choice.
And then it'll be time to save, and see how it goes. I'll be very surprised if I win on the first try without totally relying on potions and revives and such -- and if I lose, I'll have to see whether I've the patience to keep trying with this team.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Emerald II - Ready for Victory Road?
Team Aqua is dealt with, the Sootopolis Gym is down, and Rayquaza is caught. The team's levels were high enough that the Gym wasn't too much of a problem. Sky Pillar was still frustrating, but not as impossibly so as it was the first time, and this game's Rayquaza wasn't nearly as hard to catch.
Which means....it's time to head for Victory Road and the Elite Four.
The problem with that is, the Hoenn Elite Four are a serious challenge. In my original Emerald game, it wasn't until my team was lvl 65-70 that I was able to get a truly decisive win.
The team in this game is only at lvl 50 (except for Joelle who I have to catch up from lvl 45). The trainers and encounters in Victory Road will help some -- at least for the four team Pokemon I can take along with the HM slaves -- but that'd still only get them to around lvl 55. Maybe. If I'm lucky.
But I do have enough badges to win the obedience of any level of Pokemon. Like, say...my lvl 70+ original team.
So the question becomes: do I trade in my team from the original Emerald, and use them to blast through this game's Elite Four? Or do I slog back into Victory Road as many times as it takes to raise this game's team to at least lvl 60?
The first option would be the sanest...but then I'd feel like I've gotten my team all this way just to deny them the ultimate victory. Knowing me, I'll probably end up raising them to lvl 55 and trying it anyway.
I dunno. The whole thing will likely have to wait until I'm done fooling around with trying to handspin plarn. :)
Which means....it's time to head for Victory Road and the Elite Four.
The problem with that is, the Hoenn Elite Four are a serious challenge. In my original Emerald game, it wasn't until my team was lvl 65-70 that I was able to get a truly decisive win.
The team in this game is only at lvl 50 (except for Joelle who I have to catch up from lvl 45). The trainers and encounters in Victory Road will help some -- at least for the four team Pokemon I can take along with the HM slaves -- but that'd still only get them to around lvl 55. Maybe. If I'm lucky.
But I do have enough badges to win the obedience of any level of Pokemon. Like, say...my lvl 70+ original team.
So the question becomes: do I trade in my team from the original Emerald, and use them to blast through this game's Elite Four? Or do I slog back into Victory Road as many times as it takes to raise this game's team to at least lvl 60?
The first option would be the sanest...but then I'd feel like I've gotten my team all this way just to deny them the ultimate victory. Knowing me, I'll probably end up raising them to lvl 55 and trying it anyway.
I dunno. The whole thing will likely have to wait until I'm done fooling around with trying to handspin plarn. :)
Friday, November 19, 2010
Emerald II - An eternity of EVs, and much HM hate
Well, it took six slices of forever, but EV training is complete. Effort Ribbons and evolutions all around.
Jamie and Drama's EVs were fairly spread out, with a slight concentration in Atk/Sp Atk for Jamie, in Def/Sp Def for Drama, and some extra Speed for both. For Joelle I divided her points between Atk, Sp Atk, and Speed.
Once everyone earned their Effort Ribbons, I held off evolution for Jamie until he'd learned Blizzard (I had him forget Surf to learn it) and for Drama until she'd learned Hyper Voice (it was hilarious watching her take down two opponents at once in a team battle, with nothing but sheer noise!). Joelle was evo'd directly at lvl 37 to get Shadow Punch, then levelled up to match everyone else (the team is all around lvl 45).
Since Match Call is a pain in the ass, I had to hit the various sea and underwater routes to get them all levelled up that far. This gave me access to Sootopolis and Pacifidlog. As to whether you can get into the Sootopolis Gym before the whole mess with the legendaries is cleared up -- no. The Gym's door is closed, as is the door to Sky Pillar, and that old man is blocking access to the Cave of Origin. You can swim around all you want, but nothing's going to open up until Team Aqua's been dealt with and Kyogre's loose.
Final movesets for my three new team members are looking like:
Jamie: Aurora Beam - Ice Ball - Body Slam - Blizzard
Drama: Stomp - Uproar - Supersonic - Hyper Voice
Joelle: Shadow Punch - Confuse Ray - Night Shade - something else, not sure yet
So now I've got three more of the Pokemon I need for Hoenn's 'Dex. YAY. I'll need to trade them back and forth before raising Jamie any more, so I can get 'Dex credit for a Sealeo.
However, this also leaves me with an unforeseen problem: too many Pokemon, and not enough slots on the team. Why? In a word -- HMs.
Technically I think the team at this point would be Tabasco, Samson, Sybil, Jamie, Drama, and Joelle. Usually, though, I spread out a few of the more useful HM moves throughout the party -- Surf, Fly, and Strength, at the least. This leaves me with fewer HMs that have to be dumped on a slave, usually Cut and Rock Smash, and that slave generally has enough room for other moves to still be effective as a team member and go to the E4 along with everyone else.
This time, though, since the focus is hand-raising Pokemon for the 'Dex, I've been exceedingly reluctant to just waste their movesets on HMs. Sure, I've got enough Heart Scales that I can always adjust their movesets later, but somehow I can't bring myself to foist these useless moves off on them.
Instead, I've been using true HM slaves -- Pokemon I don't really need to raise, whose moveset is wasted on HM moves, and who aren't meant to go to the E4. Problem is, there's so damn MANY HM moves in Emerald that this pretty much uses up two slots on the team, because there's nothing in the Hoenn 'Dex that can learn both Fly and Surf (both of which are indispensable just for getting around). Worse yet, the HMs that you could do without most of the time in other games (like Cut and Rock Smash) are actually needed fairly often in Hoenn.
Thing is, having to give up two team slots to HM slaves really slows down training ... a LOT. Unless you don't train the HM slaves up to match the team, in which case you are effectively going around with a party of four. If your heavy hitters go down, those neglected HM slaves don't have a chance.
The ideal would be to have a single HM slave that had all the moves you need most of the time, and one that had the ones you don't need so often. In Hoenn, though, you need too many of the moves on a regular basis. So I guess the best I'm going to be able to do is to divide the moves between two slaves, and just drag them along everywhere. Yuck. What a waste of perfectly good Pokemon.
With that said, the division should probably be one for Fly, Cut, Strength, and Rock Smash; and another for Surf, Dive, Waterfall, and Flash. Too bad that doesn't leave room for any non-HM field moves, like Dig.
I miss my original Emerald team; especially Meadow and Gossamer, who between them had most of the necessary and useful stuff; Jubal took care of Surf, and then I only needed one slave for Dive, Waterfall, and Flash.
Or....hmmmm. I see on the internet that Rayquaza can learn Fly, Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash (plus Flash, Dive, and Waterfall). Oh ho. Maybe once I catch this game's Rayquaza, I can make it do HM duty (one really only needs Cut now and then in certain places) and all I'd need then would be a Water slave for Dive, Waterfall, and Flash. I could raise my female Chinchou Aurore for that; I need a Lanturn anyway. Maybe a Nincada or Anorith for Dig, Cut, Secret Power, and False Swipe.
That way, three Pokemon would get me everything I need; one for basic getting around, one for the water stuff and Victory Road, and another for the other field stuff. Ah HAH.
Now I just need to thrash Team Aqua and catch Rayqyaza...ho boy.
Jamie and Drama's EVs were fairly spread out, with a slight concentration in Atk/Sp Atk for Jamie, in Def/Sp Def for Drama, and some extra Speed for both. For Joelle I divided her points between Atk, Sp Atk, and Speed.
Once everyone earned their Effort Ribbons, I held off evolution for Jamie until he'd learned Blizzard (I had him forget Surf to learn it) and for Drama until she'd learned Hyper Voice (it was hilarious watching her take down two opponents at once in a team battle, with nothing but sheer noise!). Joelle was evo'd directly at lvl 37 to get Shadow Punch, then levelled up to match everyone else (the team is all around lvl 45).
Since Match Call is a pain in the ass, I had to hit the various sea and underwater routes to get them all levelled up that far. This gave me access to Sootopolis and Pacifidlog. As to whether you can get into the Sootopolis Gym before the whole mess with the legendaries is cleared up -- no. The Gym's door is closed, as is the door to Sky Pillar, and that old man is blocking access to the Cave of Origin. You can swim around all you want, but nothing's going to open up until Team Aqua's been dealt with and Kyogre's loose.
Final movesets for my three new team members are looking like:
Jamie: Aurora Beam - Ice Ball - Body Slam - Blizzard
Drama: Stomp - Uproar - Supersonic - Hyper Voice
Joelle: Shadow Punch - Confuse Ray - Night Shade - something else, not sure yet
So now I've got three more of the Pokemon I need for Hoenn's 'Dex. YAY. I'll need to trade them back and forth before raising Jamie any more, so I can get 'Dex credit for a Sealeo.
However, this also leaves me with an unforeseen problem: too many Pokemon, and not enough slots on the team. Why? In a word -- HMs.
Technically I think the team at this point would be Tabasco, Samson, Sybil, Jamie, Drama, and Joelle. Usually, though, I spread out a few of the more useful HM moves throughout the party -- Surf, Fly, and Strength, at the least. This leaves me with fewer HMs that have to be dumped on a slave, usually Cut and Rock Smash, and that slave generally has enough room for other moves to still be effective as a team member and go to the E4 along with everyone else.
This time, though, since the focus is hand-raising Pokemon for the 'Dex, I've been exceedingly reluctant to just waste their movesets on HMs. Sure, I've got enough Heart Scales that I can always adjust their movesets later, but somehow I can't bring myself to foist these useless moves off on them.
Instead, I've been using true HM slaves -- Pokemon I don't really need to raise, whose moveset is wasted on HM moves, and who aren't meant to go to the E4. Problem is, there's so damn MANY HM moves in Emerald that this pretty much uses up two slots on the team, because there's nothing in the Hoenn 'Dex that can learn both Fly and Surf (both of which are indispensable just for getting around). Worse yet, the HMs that you could do without most of the time in other games (like Cut and Rock Smash) are actually needed fairly often in Hoenn.
Thing is, having to give up two team slots to HM slaves really slows down training ... a LOT. Unless you don't train the HM slaves up to match the team, in which case you are effectively going around with a party of four. If your heavy hitters go down, those neglected HM slaves don't have a chance.
The ideal would be to have a single HM slave that had all the moves you need most of the time, and one that had the ones you don't need so often. In Hoenn, though, you need too many of the moves on a regular basis. So I guess the best I'm going to be able to do is to divide the moves between two slaves, and just drag them along everywhere. Yuck. What a waste of perfectly good Pokemon.
With that said, the division should probably be one for Fly, Cut, Strength, and Rock Smash; and another for Surf, Dive, Waterfall, and Flash. Too bad that doesn't leave room for any non-HM field moves, like Dig.
I miss my original Emerald team; especially Meadow and Gossamer, who between them had most of the necessary and useful stuff; Jubal took care of Surf, and then I only needed one slave for Dive, Waterfall, and Flash.
Or....hmmmm. I see on the internet that Rayquaza can learn Fly, Surf, Strength, and Rock Smash (plus Flash, Dive, and Waterfall). Oh ho. Maybe once I catch this game's Rayquaza, I can make it do HM duty (one really only needs Cut now and then in certain places) and all I'd need then would be a Water slave for Dive, Waterfall, and Flash. I could raise my female Chinchou Aurore for that; I need a Lanturn anyway. Maybe a Nincada or Anorith for Dig, Cut, Secret Power, and False Swipe.
That way, three Pokemon would get me everything I need; one for basic getting around, one for the water stuff and Victory Road, and another for the other field stuff. Ah HAH.
Now I just need to thrash Team Aqua and catch Rayqyaza...ho boy.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Emerald II - The pitfalls of Happiness, plus Mossdeep Gym and EV training
Now that I'd figured out what I wanted to do with Sancho and Roland, I took them to the Move Deleter to get rid of their HM moves.
"......Hm! Your Sancho doesn't seem willing to forget Surf," the old man told me. Whaaat?!
I had a sudden sneaking suspicion that I'd run into the same problem my sister had with a Bibarel of hers, who refused to be released or traded. A couple other Pokemon have since displayed the same behavior, and we've been trying to figure out why this happens. To further the experiment, I saved my game, then tried releasing Sancho.
"Sancho came back! Was it worried about you?"
Yep, same message as with that Bibarel. On the theory that this behavior is related to high Happiness, I went to see that lady in Verdanturf, and showed her Sancho.
"Oh! Your Lotad...It adores you. It couldn't possibly love you more," she gushed. "I even feel happy seeing it."
Ah hah! It seemed that once a Pokemon reaches max Happiness (250+), it would stubbornly refuse to abandon its trainer, or forget the HM moves its trainer gave it. But this was a problem -- what if I couldn't trade Sancho over to the original Emerald game, much less adjust his moveset?
I scooted over to the medicinal shop and bought some nasty bitter herbal remedies, which are supposed to lower happiness, then went out into the grass in search of Oddish to inflict damage and status conditions. Feeding Sancho some of the herbs didn't seem to help, however.
While I mulled over the problem, I evolved Roland, then took him and Knives through the Mossdeep Gym. The battle with Tate and Liza was a near thing -- that Xatu of theirs, jacked up on Calm Mind, took out most of my team. Good thing this wasn't a Nuzlocke run! Badge in hand, I wrapped up Roland's training with some rematches. I even wrote some Mail for him to hold.
With Roland ready to go, I finally just went for the trading, and what do you know, Sancho went over without a single complaint. Apparently they didn't introduce the happiness-prevents-trading feature until Gen IV.
With Sancho's Happiness thus re-set to the default, I was able to adjust his moveset in the original Emerald game, and evolve him to a Ludicolo. That gave me 'Dex credit for four more Pokemon (Sancho and Roland plus the final evo's of Tabasco and Samson).
Forgetting completely about the Mossdeep Space Center, I then set about training my new team members. So far I've gone for Attack and Defense EVs for Jamie and Drama, via the combination of Macho Brace and Exp Share. It looks like Drama will need much more Defense, as that's her weakest stat, and Jamie will be needing some Speed. Haven't started with Joelle. It's going to take a while before any of them are up to resuming the game storyline, that's for sure.
11/9/2010 -- Turns out that Macho Brace only doubles EPs for the Pokemon holding it, and this doesn't transfer via Exp Share. So if Jamie's holding Macho Brace and fights a Zubat, he'd gain 2 Speed EPs, but poor wee Drama only gets the normal 1 EP from holding Exp Share. That's going to slow things down a bit...
"......Hm! Your Sancho doesn't seem willing to forget Surf," the old man told me. Whaaat?!
I had a sudden sneaking suspicion that I'd run into the same problem my sister had with a Bibarel of hers, who refused to be released or traded. A couple other Pokemon have since displayed the same behavior, and we've been trying to figure out why this happens. To further the experiment, I saved my game, then tried releasing Sancho.
"Sancho came back! Was it worried about you?"
Yep, same message as with that Bibarel. On the theory that this behavior is related to high Happiness, I went to see that lady in Verdanturf, and showed her Sancho.
"Oh! Your Lotad...It adores you. It couldn't possibly love you more," she gushed. "I even feel happy seeing it."
Ah hah! It seemed that once a Pokemon reaches max Happiness (250+), it would stubbornly refuse to abandon its trainer, or forget the HM moves its trainer gave it. But this was a problem -- what if I couldn't trade Sancho over to the original Emerald game, much less adjust his moveset?
I scooted over to the medicinal shop and bought some nasty bitter herbal remedies, which are supposed to lower happiness, then went out into the grass in search of Oddish to inflict damage and status conditions. Feeding Sancho some of the herbs didn't seem to help, however.
While I mulled over the problem, I evolved Roland, then took him and Knives through the Mossdeep Gym. The battle with Tate and Liza was a near thing -- that Xatu of theirs, jacked up on Calm Mind, took out most of my team. Good thing this wasn't a Nuzlocke run! Badge in hand, I wrapped up Roland's training with some rematches. I even wrote some Mail for him to hold.
With Roland ready to go, I finally just went for the trading, and what do you know, Sancho went over without a single complaint. Apparently they didn't introduce the happiness-prevents-trading feature until Gen IV.
With Sancho's Happiness thus re-set to the default, I was able to adjust his moveset in the original Emerald game, and evolve him to a Ludicolo. That gave me 'Dex credit for four more Pokemon (Sancho and Roland plus the final evo's of Tabasco and Samson).
Forgetting completely about the Mossdeep Space Center, I then set about training my new team members. So far I've gone for Attack and Defense EVs for Jamie and Drama, via the combination of Macho Brace and Exp Share. It looks like Drama will need much more Defense, as that's her weakest stat, and Jamie will be needing some Speed. Haven't started with Joelle. It's going to take a while before any of them are up to resuming the game storyline, that's for sure.
11/9/2010 -- Turns out that Macho Brace only doubles EPs for the Pokemon holding it, and this doesn't transfer via Exp Share. So if Jamie's holding Macho Brace and fights a Zubat, he'd gain 2 Speed EPs, but poor wee Drama only gets the normal 1 EP from holding Exp Share. That's going to slow things down a bit...
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Emerald II - Moveset Musings
Having chased Team Magma out of their hideout and watched Groudon give Maxie the slip, I went about chasing Team Aqua out of -their- hideout. Only, I'd forgotten that you have to truck down to Slateport to watch them steal Stern's sub first, and that they get to make off with it to awaken Kyogre, who is on the oceanfloor rather than actually in the hideout. Regardless, I was finally able to get those Wailmer out of the way and surf on to Mossdeep...and Shoal Cave.
So I am now the proud trainer of a lvl 26 Spheal, named after Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman. Because, y'know, the 'stache.
Except... that means I'm at the point where I can rotate some new Pokemon into my team. And that means I have to get some movesets straight, particularly the Pokes I'm rotating out.
First problem is Sancho, my Lotad. I'd originally figured on him having Surf and Strength, plus Uproar and some kind of solid grass move. Except, despite being a water/grass type, Lotad learn pretty much NO grass moves after Absorb, and no water moves of any use until they get Hydro Pump at lvl 49. In fact, it's almost as if their learnset is pathetic precisely so they can be HM slaves.
Only, if I want to train that Spheal (and I do, 'cause I need credit for both Sealeo and Walrein) I won't be using Sancho as an HM slave. So, what to do?
Sancho's actually been doing pretty well with just Absorb, Nature Power, Uproar, and Surf. So maybe I have him forget Surf and remember Thief, and then hand him a Water Stone. That way I'll have a hand-raised Ludicolo that isn't just a bunch of HM/TM moves.
Next problem is Roland, my little Phanpy. I'd been keeping him from evolving because Donphan don't have Pickup, and wasting him as an HM slave to boot. Only, Donphan have a much better learnset -- they get Rapid Spin at lvl 41, Earthquake at lvl 49, and can remember Horn Attack via the Move Relearner. So I guess it's time to have Roland forget the HM moves, keep Rollout, and level him up some to get the other three (though 49's a long way to go....maybe I'll finish that out over in the original Emerald. Folks ought to be wanting rematches by now).
That leaves me with the problem of who to stick with Strength and Rock Smash. It seems Skarmory can learn Rock Smash but not Strength, so I guess poor Knives gets to play slave some more. Maybe I really do need a Tropius, though that's a waste of a perfectly good grass type. Damn HMs.
After trading out Sancho and Roland, the team would then be down to Tabasco, Sybil, and Samson; which allows me to add in Drama (my teeny lvl 6 Whiiiiismur), Joelle (lvl 26 Duskull), and Jamie (the aforementioned Spheal, lvl 26). They will all need a bunch of levelling/EVs, especially Drama.
I'd planned for Drama to have Uproar and Hyper Voice, and probably Strength. But Supersonic and Stomp seem more...dramatic. heh. It should be noted that Loudred and Exploud can learn both Strength and Rock Smash...and Rock Smash might actually make sense as an off-type move for such a straight normal type.
Joelle will need to evolve directly at lvl 37 to learn Shadow Punch, and will unfortunately have to relearn Night Shade (I should have a few Heart Scales tucked away). Confuse Ray and Disable are the other contenders, though Dusclops can learn Strength and Rock Smash as well, and again it makes sense to have an off-type, non-ghost move.
For Jamie, I was intending to give him both Surf and Dive, but once again, it seems a shame to waste so much of his moveset on HMs. Damn, damn HMs. I'd rather keep stuff like Ice Ball (an ice version of Rollout) or Body Slam. Aurora Beam and (much later) Blizzard are contenders as well. Plus the final attack in the learnset is the one-hit KO move Sheer Cold. How cool would that be? (no pun intended).
For Flash and Waterfall, which I'll need to get through Victory Road, I'm going once again with a Chinchou. Only this time I should evolve it, because I need a Lanturn for the 'Dex. They evolve at lvl 27, and don't learn anything really compelling anyway, so I can pretty much let it go right away. It can keep Supersonic and Spark for its other attacks (or maybe Thunder Wave if I catch it at a low enough level).
An option I should keep in mind is that I can always have everyone forget their HM moves and relearn things from their own movesets once I'm through the Elite Four.
So the next thing (after completing Shoal Cave at low tide, and possibly the Space Center and Mossdeep Gym) is to catch my new team members up to the others via Macho Brace and Exp Share, and to get everyone up to lvl 45. Maybe I'll spend some Rare Candies on the ones who already have Effort Ribbons. Then it'll be time for the undersea routes, and the mess with the squabbling legendaries.
Emerald is a long game. *whew*
So I am now the proud trainer of a lvl 26 Spheal, named after Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman. Because, y'know, the 'stache.
Except... that means I'm at the point where I can rotate some new Pokemon into my team. And that means I have to get some movesets straight, particularly the Pokes I'm rotating out.
First problem is Sancho, my Lotad. I'd originally figured on him having Surf and Strength, plus Uproar and some kind of solid grass move. Except, despite being a water/grass type, Lotad learn pretty much NO grass moves after Absorb, and no water moves of any use until they get Hydro Pump at lvl 49. In fact, it's almost as if their learnset is pathetic precisely so they can be HM slaves.
Only, if I want to train that Spheal (and I do, 'cause I need credit for both Sealeo and Walrein) I won't be using Sancho as an HM slave. So, what to do?
Sancho's actually been doing pretty well with just Absorb, Nature Power, Uproar, and Surf. So maybe I have him forget Surf and remember Thief, and then hand him a Water Stone. That way I'll have a hand-raised Ludicolo that isn't just a bunch of HM/TM moves.
Next problem is Roland, my little Phanpy. I'd been keeping him from evolving because Donphan don't have Pickup, and wasting him as an HM slave to boot. Only, Donphan have a much better learnset -- they get Rapid Spin at lvl 41, Earthquake at lvl 49, and can remember Horn Attack via the Move Relearner. So I guess it's time to have Roland forget the HM moves, keep Rollout, and level him up some to get the other three (though 49's a long way to go....maybe I'll finish that out over in the original Emerald. Folks ought to be wanting rematches by now).
That leaves me with the problem of who to stick with Strength and Rock Smash. It seems Skarmory can learn Rock Smash but not Strength, so I guess poor Knives gets to play slave some more. Maybe I really do need a Tropius, though that's a waste of a perfectly good grass type. Damn HMs.
After trading out Sancho and Roland, the team would then be down to Tabasco, Sybil, and Samson; which allows me to add in Drama (my teeny lvl 6 Whiiiiismur), Joelle (lvl 26 Duskull), and Jamie (the aforementioned Spheal, lvl 26). They will all need a bunch of levelling/EVs, especially Drama.
I'd planned for Drama to have Uproar and Hyper Voice, and probably Strength. But Supersonic and Stomp seem more...dramatic. heh. It should be noted that Loudred and Exploud can learn both Strength and Rock Smash...and Rock Smash might actually make sense as an off-type move for such a straight normal type.
Joelle will need to evolve directly at lvl 37 to learn Shadow Punch, and will unfortunately have to relearn Night Shade (I should have a few Heart Scales tucked away). Confuse Ray and Disable are the other contenders, though Dusclops can learn Strength and Rock Smash as well, and again it makes sense to have an off-type, non-ghost move.
For Jamie, I was intending to give him both Surf and Dive, but once again, it seems a shame to waste so much of his moveset on HMs. Damn, damn HMs. I'd rather keep stuff like Ice Ball (an ice version of Rollout) or Body Slam. Aurora Beam and (much later) Blizzard are contenders as well. Plus the final attack in the learnset is the one-hit KO move Sheer Cold. How cool would that be? (no pun intended).
For Flash and Waterfall, which I'll need to get through Victory Road, I'm going once again with a Chinchou. Only this time I should evolve it, because I need a Lanturn for the 'Dex. They evolve at lvl 27, and don't learn anything really compelling anyway, so I can pretty much let it go right away. It can keep Supersonic and Spark for its other attacks (or maybe Thunder Wave if I catch it at a low enough level).
An option I should keep in mind is that I can always have everyone forget their HM moves and relearn things from their own movesets once I'm through the Elite Four.
So the next thing (after completing Shoal Cave at low tide, and possibly the Space Center and Mossdeep Gym) is to catch my new team members up to the others via Macho Brace and Exp Share, and to get everyone up to lvl 45. Maybe I'll spend some Rare Candies on the ones who already have Effort Ribbons. Then it'll be time for the undersea routes, and the mess with the squabbling legendaries.
Emerald is a long game. *whew*
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Emerald II Dawdling and FR Impatience
On the Emerald side of things, I did climb Mt. Pyre to witness Team Aqua making off with the Red Orb, but mostly spent a weekend growing Berries, making Pokeblocks, and attempting Contests. Turns out that blending at the different tables changes the flavor of the resulting Pokeblock, moreso than the level or feel. So Sybil's up to Hyper Rank in Smart, and Samson and Tabasco are up to Great Rank in Cool and Beauty respectively.
The next task will be to see what Team Magma's up to at Mt. Chimney, and to watch them awaken poor grumpy Groudon. Then it'll be back to Lilycove to start out on the sea routes, and if I haven't caught a Duskull to train already, I'll want to do that. Also, as soon as I get to Mossdeep I'll want to Surf north to Shoal Cave to get my Spheal.
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In a sudden fit of impatience, I decided to ditch Entei-hunting for a bit in FireRed, and catch the other legendaries and do the round of the Sevii Islands instead. The birds were much more of a bitch to catch this time; for Articuno I had to restart I don't know HOW many times after spending all 25 Ultra Balls. Zapdos and Moltres were recalcitrant as well.
Finally, though, I managed to catch all three, and then set about fetching gemstones for Celio. The many trainers about the islands served to level the team up to around lvl 57-58, with Irving much higher at lvl 66 -- his attack set isn't good for long slogs like that so I'd handed him Exp Share. So that gives me trading capability with the Hoenn region games.
The only thing left to do is to go after Mewtwo, and attempt to net him with an Ultra Ball. Once that's done, there'll be no excuses left to put off resuming the hunt for Entei... *sigh*
The next task will be to see what Team Magma's up to at Mt. Chimney, and to watch them awaken poor grumpy Groudon. Then it'll be back to Lilycove to start out on the sea routes, and if I haven't caught a Duskull to train already, I'll want to do that. Also, as soon as I get to Mossdeep I'll want to Surf north to Shoal Cave to get my Spheal.
----------
In a sudden fit of impatience, I decided to ditch Entei-hunting for a bit in FireRed, and catch the other legendaries and do the round of the Sevii Islands instead. The birds were much more of a bitch to catch this time; for Articuno I had to restart I don't know HOW many times after spending all 25 Ultra Balls. Zapdos and Moltres were recalcitrant as well.
Finally, though, I managed to catch all three, and then set about fetching gemstones for Celio. The many trainers about the islands served to level the team up to around lvl 57-58, with Irving much higher at lvl 66 -- his attack set isn't good for long slogs like that so I'd handed him Exp Share. So that gives me trading capability with the Hoenn region games.
The only thing left to do is to go after Mewtwo, and attempt to net him with an Ultra Ball. Once that's done, there'll be no excuses left to put off resuming the hunt for Entei... *sigh*
Friday, October 22, 2010
Emerald II: Lolling around Lilycove
Spent most of this week watching season one of BSG rather than playing Pokemon, so, not much progress. Also fending off some zombies. Yep.
But I did take a couple turns around the Safari Zone, and caught a few more things. Plus, won Normal Rank Ribbons for a few of the team -- Smart for Sybil, Cool for Samson, and Beauty for Tabasco (despite his mixed Cool/Beauty moveset, he seems destined to be pretty).
That, of course, led to blending Pokeblocks, which in turn led to growing Berries. Turns out that using the higher-numbered Berries will get you Level 23/Feel 19 Pokeblocks, even as much as I suck at blending. That's about the same level as the Dept.Store Poffins in Platinum, so it's enough to max a given condition. Sure, they take longer to grow (with the curious exception of Hondew) but what the hey. Hopefully I can harvest before tomorrow's hectic day...maybe I'll go down to the Berry Master's plot on Sunday and replant the Berries I get from today.
In any case, I'd like to get at least Great and maybe Hyper/Ultra Rank for each of them before moving on to Mt. Pyre and getting the story moving again. Might as well do it now; I've noticed that the end-state battle movesets are rarely good for contests.
But I did take a couple turns around the Safari Zone, and caught a few more things. Plus, won Normal Rank Ribbons for a few of the team -- Smart for Sybil, Cool for Samson, and Beauty for Tabasco (despite his mixed Cool/Beauty moveset, he seems destined to be pretty).
That, of course, led to blending Pokeblocks, which in turn led to growing Berries. Turns out that using the higher-numbered Berries will get you Level 23/Feel 19 Pokeblocks, even as much as I suck at blending. That's about the same level as the Dept.Store Poffins in Platinum, so it's enough to max a given condition. Sure, they take longer to grow (with the curious exception of Hondew) but what the hey. Hopefully I can harvest before tomorrow's hectic day...maybe I'll go down to the Berry Master's plot on Sunday and replant the Berries I get from today.
In any case, I'd like to get at least Great and maybe Hyper/Ultra Rank for each of them before moving on to Mt. Pyre and getting the story moving again. Might as well do it now; I've noticed that the end-state battle movesets are rarely good for contests.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Emerald II to Lilycove
Couldn't update last week because work was crazy and Google didn't think I was a human being. o_o
First -- Petalburg to Fortree
When I last posted, some serious training was being undertaken towards toughening up the team for the Petalburg Gym. It mostly worked. I still had to run out and heal after almost every trainer, but in the end, it was Samson who one-shotted most of Norman's Pokemon with Leaf Blade. Gonna have to feed him some PP Up for that move.
That got me Surf, which got me access to the eastern half of Hoenn. Instead of running up to Fortree right away, I spent a while at the Berry Masters' farm, growing a crop of Leppa and an assortment of status-cure Berries. I also dodged over to the Desert and made the round of the trainers and items there.
With the Berries all harvested and the Desert explored, it was time to make the long run up to Fortree. In the rain. Still, all that levelling for Petalburg paid off. Nothing was all that much trouble -- not the trainers along the road, nor Team Magma at the Weather Institute, nor the rival battle with neighbor boy. I walked into Fortree with Tropius and Castform recorded in my 'Dex, and HM Fly tucked away in my bag.
Before I could get to the Gym, though, I had to run over to Rt. 120 and grab the Devon Scope from Stephen to reveal the Kecleon blocking the way. I spent a frustrating little while running about trying to catch one of the invisible Kecleon scattered about, and finally succeeded. 'Dex entry safely recorded, it was time to take on Winona. Tabasco got me through most of the Fortree Gym with Blaze Kick.
That got me my sixth badge, and obedience to lvl 70. Amusing to think that this still wouldn't make my team from the original Emerald listen to me here, since they're all lvl 70 or above!
By that time, Twitter had learned Aerial Ace, which is the last attack I'd wanted him to learn, so I let him evolve to a Swellow before putting him away and taking out my hard-caught Skarmory. Knives immediately got taught Cut and Fly.
Second -- Fortree to Lilycove
The game got put down for most of the week due to general work craziness, but last night I finally set out for Lilycove. The route wasn't nearly as much trouble as last time, again due to the team's high levels. I put Exp Share on Knives to catch him up some with the rest of the team, and took a second to dodge down past Mt. Pyre to Rt. 123, where a gal will give you Giga Drain if you've got a Grass-type with you (mental note: must do this in original Emerald as well). I ended up teaching it to Samson instead of Sancho.
Because it was already waaaay past bedtime, I left Mt. Pyre and the Safari Zone alone, and just went straight for Lilycove....where the annoying neighbor boy is waiting for me again, in front of the Dept. Store.
So the next things will be to do a few turns through the Safari Zone for some 'Dex entries, then to make the pilgrimage up Mt. Pyre and advance the plot a bit. Probably should take a minute to smack down the neighbor boy again, and get at least a couple ribbons for the core team.
Also, Tabasco and Sybil are refusing to be fed vitamins, so I should swing by Slateport and see if it's time for Effort Ribbons. Possibly for Twitter and Sancho as well.
Speaking of Sancho....I'd originally intended to have him as a partial HM slave, with Surf and Strength, and then get Giga Drain to go against the very water-heavy last half of the game. But now that he's one level away from learning Uproar, I'm not so sure. I'd much rather have Samson as my go-to Grass type.
So now I'm leaning towards fixing Sancho's moveset to replace the HM moves with some from his own learnset, evolving him, and then trading him back to the original Emerald. Same with Roland, actually. I should probably hold out on that at least until I make it to Mossdeep and can catch a Spheal from Shoal Cave. At that point, the Spheal can become my Surfer, and Knives can take over Rock Smash and maybe Strength from Roland. I really HATE how many HMs this game has, and how many are actually necessary to do certain things.
The final team is shaping up to be Tabasco, Sybil, Samson, that Spheal, and...I dunno yet. I did want to raise dear little Drama, and maybe a Dusclops. Perhaps once I get to a point where I can rotate the team somewhat, I can go back and do some catch-up training with the Macho Brace.
First -- Petalburg to Fortree
When I last posted, some serious training was being undertaken towards toughening up the team for the Petalburg Gym. It mostly worked. I still had to run out and heal after almost every trainer, but in the end, it was Samson who one-shotted most of Norman's Pokemon with Leaf Blade. Gonna have to feed him some PP Up for that move.
That got me Surf, which got me access to the eastern half of Hoenn. Instead of running up to Fortree right away, I spent a while at the Berry Masters' farm, growing a crop of Leppa and an assortment of status-cure Berries. I also dodged over to the Desert and made the round of the trainers and items there.
With the Berries all harvested and the Desert explored, it was time to make the long run up to Fortree. In the rain. Still, all that levelling for Petalburg paid off. Nothing was all that much trouble -- not the trainers along the road, nor Team Magma at the Weather Institute, nor the rival battle with neighbor boy. I walked into Fortree with Tropius and Castform recorded in my 'Dex, and HM Fly tucked away in my bag.
Before I could get to the Gym, though, I had to run over to Rt. 120 and grab the Devon Scope from Stephen to reveal the Kecleon blocking the way. I spent a frustrating little while running about trying to catch one of the invisible Kecleon scattered about, and finally succeeded. 'Dex entry safely recorded, it was time to take on Winona. Tabasco got me through most of the Fortree Gym with Blaze Kick.
That got me my sixth badge, and obedience to lvl 70. Amusing to think that this still wouldn't make my team from the original Emerald listen to me here, since they're all lvl 70 or above!
By that time, Twitter had learned Aerial Ace, which is the last attack I'd wanted him to learn, so I let him evolve to a Swellow before putting him away and taking out my hard-caught Skarmory. Knives immediately got taught Cut and Fly.
Second -- Fortree to Lilycove
The game got put down for most of the week due to general work craziness, but last night I finally set out for Lilycove. The route wasn't nearly as much trouble as last time, again due to the team's high levels. I put Exp Share on Knives to catch him up some with the rest of the team, and took a second to dodge down past Mt. Pyre to Rt. 123, where a gal will give you Giga Drain if you've got a Grass-type with you (mental note: must do this in original Emerald as well). I ended up teaching it to Samson instead of Sancho.
Because it was already waaaay past bedtime, I left Mt. Pyre and the Safari Zone alone, and just went straight for Lilycove....where the annoying neighbor boy is waiting for me again, in front of the Dept. Store.
So the next things will be to do a few turns through the Safari Zone for some 'Dex entries, then to make the pilgrimage up Mt. Pyre and advance the plot a bit. Probably should take a minute to smack down the neighbor boy again, and get at least a couple ribbons for the core team.
Also, Tabasco and Sybil are refusing to be fed vitamins, so I should swing by Slateport and see if it's time for Effort Ribbons. Possibly for Twitter and Sancho as well.
Speaking of Sancho....I'd originally intended to have him as a partial HM slave, with Surf and Strength, and then get Giga Drain to go against the very water-heavy last half of the game. But now that he's one level away from learning Uproar, I'm not so sure. I'd much rather have Samson as my go-to Grass type.
So now I'm leaning towards fixing Sancho's moveset to replace the HM moves with some from his own learnset, evolving him, and then trading him back to the original Emerald. Same with Roland, actually. I should probably hold out on that at least until I make it to Mossdeep and can catch a Spheal from Shoal Cave. At that point, the Spheal can become my Surfer, and Knives can take over Rock Smash and maybe Strength from Roland. I really HATE how many HMs this game has, and how many are actually necessary to do certain things.
The final team is shaping up to be Tabasco, Sybil, Samson, that Spheal, and...I dunno yet. I did want to raise dear little Drama, and maybe a Dusclops. Perhaps once I get to a point where I can rotate the team somewhat, I can go back and do some catch-up training with the Macho Brace.