"Thanks, Drayano": A Pokémon Storm Silver Charitylocke

I hate leaving WIPs in Chapter 1, so here's Chapter 2~

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Picking up where we left off, I go to Cherrygrove to heal my team and start The Grind™ to get our newest additions up to date. But I see the sea over there, and I think to myself, "why not?". I cast the Old Rod and...

Caught Paul, the Corphish

And that's Larry's bane. Paul may have a Bold nature, working against the Corphish line's prominent Attack stat, but Paul's getting a Dark typing, can take a hit, and more importantly: his ability is Shell effing Armor. Place your bets on who gets to stay: Paul or Larry?

Anyway, we go train a bit more on the next routes, beating notable trainers such as Youngster Joey and an Idol named "Carly" whose lines were the first verse of Call Me Maybe. Thanks, Drayano. Along the way, Niagara picks up Howl and Sand-Attack, while Sarah learns Charge. I'm still waiting on the next catches before grinding Paul. Our catch for Route 31 is... redundant.

Caught Jonah, the Buizel

Jonah comes with Jolly, which helps his good Speed, but we're already full with Water-types for now and Swift Swim isn't nearly as attractive as Shell Armor. Boxed for now. I go into Dark Cave, hoping for something better this time...

Caught Giovanna, the Makuhita

... and I get a weird one. Giovanna is all kinds of off for Falkner, but I don't think we're going to see too many Fighting-type 'mons before Whitney, so this can be one for the long run. Anyway, Giovanna has Thick Fat aaaand a Brave nature. She's definitely getting considered after this gym.

On the way to Violet, Lyra stops me to give me the Vs. Recorder (meh), and I go in. Now, in Violet, we gotta think carefully about which catch we're getting. We have a total of 6 choices: Primo can give us an egg with either Slugma, Mareep or Wooper, and there's a clown who'll give us one of the Kanto starters. I can already hear the love for Charmander from a mile away, but it's still probably better to think a bit. So, I think... while going to Sprout Tower. Time to evolve Dadinho!

Inside, the sages almost kill us repeatedly and no wilds show up until the last floor.

Caught Kad, the Rattata

It's a Rattata. Anyway, Giovanna learns Vital Throw in place of Arm Thrust, Sarah learns Spark (bend over, Falkner), and everyone is edging on the 12s before we face the Elder. Silver beats him, receives a warning, then abuses both me and the Elder verbally before making tracks. So, it's our turn now. Remember how the Elder was a pushover in the main games and whatnot?

Welcome to Storm Silver.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Sage Elder Li
Sprout Tower - Battle for an Eevelution

Niagara (lv12) vs. Bellsprout (lv12)

I know that this damn thing loves to use Growth, so I do a little setup of my own by spamming Sand-Attack, then Howling twice. Bellsprout only hits one Razor Leaf before I heal and go on the offensive. Only then, FIVE Sand-Attacks decide not to matter for some reason and the blasted plant hits Cut twice, forcing me to heal before taking it down.

Sarah (lv13) vs. Chingling (lv12)

I picked Sarah for one reason: Uproar. This motherfucking little thing hits like a truck with it, and Sarah has a supereffective move in Bite and Charge to raise her Sp. Def in case Chingling Uproars. Curiously, Chingling's first move is Flash, of all things. Bite takes exactly half a bar, then another Flash. I think to myself "well that's that then", but Chingling uses Uproar, crits and leaves Sarah with 6 HP. Another Bite finishes the critter off.

Sarah (lv14) vs. Hoothoot (lv14)

You must be all thinking "this is in the bag, just spam Spark"; but this damn owl here is the old man's ace. He has Aerial Ace, Hypnosis, Confusion and Air Cutter, and I only have 1 Potion and no Awakenings. So we gotta make this short. Fueled by the Charge from Chingling's fight, I pick Spark, but the fucking thing puts me to sleep. Two turns. Nothing. 3 HP. Panic.

Larry (lv12) vs. Hoothoot (lv14)

Larry manages a Leer and two Scratches before Hoothoot puts him in the red.

Dadinho (lv12) vs. Hoothoot (lv14)

Right off the bat, here it is: Hypnosis ™! The move with 60% accuracy for you, but 100% for the enemy. Also, Confusion confuses Dadinho, as if we needed more shit to deal with. Fortunately, Dadinho lasts two turns before waking up, bypasses confusion and obliterates this abomination with a crit Tackle.

Niagara (lv12) vs. Cherubi (lv12)

Cherubi uses Leech Seed, but Niagara ain't no one's fool. After two Howls and two Tackles, she's down and we finally win.


So yeah, Falkner shouldn't be the real gym leader here. This old geezer should. That was a trial by goddamn fire if I've ever seen one. After that, he asks me what's my favourite Eevelution. Well, it's Vaporeon, but that's not what we should answer; this is when we get to evolve Dadinho. Now, I've been torn between Leafeon and Umbreon, due to the Impish nature. Leafeon is slapped in the face by the first two gyms, despite me liking it a lot. Umbreon would be a good choice, but this would impact our team composition greatly - we already have Niagara as a Dark-type, and two potential ones in Sarah (yep, thanks Drayano) and Paul. There is the option of going with Flareon, and he did get a buff in its stats in this hack, but not only Flareons are hella unreliable, I'm already planning on getting Charmander.

This Eevelution business is turning out to be a real pain in the ass. I pick Umbreon. Paul is getting benched, because this is not a monolocke and we need Sarah more than we need him at the moment.

So the old man gives me the Serenade Orb and I use it on Dadinho posthaste; this is the new way of evolving Eevee to Umbreon in this hack, replacing the former method. Also Flash, but meh. Good thing Dadinho is still at Level 12, which means he'll learn his first STAB move, Pursuit, at Level 13. Damn near missed out on that. His ability now is Synchronize, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to forget to leave him in the back occasionally and will find myself unaware of why I'm catching a horde of Impish wilds.

Now, onto our last catch. The "clown" in the Pokémon Center is more of a Juggler, who engages me in a quiz. Game on.

- Were any Hoenn Pokémon obtainable within Fire Red and Leaf Green?
Wow, getting real meta in here. Yep, Azurrils and Wynauts with incenses and some others in the post-E4 Safari Zone.

- Is a Dragonair more than thirteen feet long?
Yep. By exactly 01 inch. Totally didn't look this up online or anything.

- Is it true that Bulbasaur was the first Pokémon created?
Hell no, it was Rhydon!

- Can Tropius be found within Diamond and Pearl?
I wish...

After completing the quiz, the juggler offers us Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle. No need for suspense, right?

Caught Scorch, the Charmander

In by popular demand, Scorch comes already at Level 10, which makes grinding easier (thank god), and his Ability is Blaze (ugh). Nature is... Mild! Hell yeah! He's going places, I can tell. Plus, I remember now, he'll learn Dragon Rage pretty soon... and this move is almost an early game cheat code.

Now, to grind before Falkner.

After an ungodly amount of grinding, here's what happened: Giovanna learned Fake Out, Niagara and Larry learned Bite, Scorch learned Metal Claw, but more importantly... Sarah evolved! She's now a Luxio, already with Electric/Dark typing.

Potions and Sarah in tow, I go to Violet City's gym, whose trainers I've already beat, to face Falkner. He tells me he's insulted by the notion that a jolt of electricity can clip his birds' wings.

... I'm sorry, Falkner.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Gym Leader Falkner
Violet City - Battle for the Zephyr Badge

Sarah (lv15) vs. Doduo (lv12)

No-brainer; one Spark and he was down. He did manage a Quick Attack though.

Sarah (lv15) vs. Pidgeotto (lv15)

Call Panic Central, Falkner sent his ace as the second Pokémon! Surprisingly, Pidgeotto survives the first Spark with 1/2 health and strikes back with a fearsome Tackle. Before I unleash the second one, he outspeeds me... and leaves Sarah with 1 HP!!! Damn, sorry for offending you... anyway, the next Spark takes him down.

Dadinho (lv15) vs. Chatot (lv12)

With Sarah in need of healing, Dadinho comes in to wall for a bit. The ace is gone; all we need is to put our heads in the game for the remainder of the match. Chatot goes with Uproar, which would scare me if it wasn't anyone but Dadinho in there. After tanking for a couple of turns to restore Sarah, we counter with Tail Whip and Bite to end the parrot.

Sarah (lv16) vs. Swablu (lv14)

No caption needed.

Sarah (lv16) vs. Farfetch'd (lv12)

Okay, this one might be a little tricky. Farfetch'ds were incredibly buffed in this hack, and also have a Flying/Fighting typing which goes against Sarah's Dark. We gotta strike first, and strike true. Fetch'd outspeeds me and uses Poison Jab for minimal damage - thank god - and Sarah counters with a OHKO Spark.

Sarah (lv17) vs. Murkrow (lv14)

"The wind is finally with us!", Falkner screams. Poor man is getting delusional after this wash by Sarah. Murkrow manages an Aerial Ace before falling to the last Spark.


After the battle, Falkner gives me the Zephyr Badge, permission to use Rock Smash on the field, and TM51 - Roost. He also vows never to see another Luxio in front of him ever again.

And that's it for today! After a painful battle, even more painful grinding, and lots of team shifting, everything paid off in the end and the Gym battle was a relative breeze - no pun intended. Next time, we'll start our journey to Azalea!



Former Donation Total: 4
 
Caught Paul - 1
Caught Jonah - 1
Caught Giovanna - 1
Caught Kad - 1
Caught Scorch - 1
Beat Falkner - 2

Current Donation Total: 11



- Larry, the Totodile (Level 15)
Nature: Bashful
Held Item: None
Ability: Torrent
Scratch/Leer/Water Gun/Bite

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 15)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: None
Ability: Synchronize
Tail Whip/Tackle/Bite/Sand-Attack

- Niagara, the Poochyena (Level 15)
Nature: Lonely
Held Item: None
Ability: Run Away
Tackle/Bite/Howl/Sand-Attack

- Scorch, the Charmander (Level 15)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: None
Ability: Blaze
Metal Claw/Growl/Ember/Smokescreen

- Giovanna, the Makuhita (Level 15)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: None
Ability: Thick Fat
Fake Out/Focus Energy/Sand-Attack/Vital Throw

- Sarah, the Luxio (Level 17)
Nature: Calm
Held Item: None
Ability: Guts
Spark/Bite/Leer/Charge

Ahhh, Azalea Town. A quiet little place, in touch with nature and watched over by Celebi itself. The smell of trees carried over by the gentle breeze is calming, as if the world found peace at last aaaaaaaand a Rocket Grunt just shoved some guy in the chest. Yep, Team Rocket, thought to be disbanded, is back with a vengeance. The Grunt pretends he didn't do anything right in front of me, claiming to be guarding the Slowpoke Well. But we know better, don't we?

Inside Azalea's Pokémon Center is the second of three Jugglers, but I'm skipping this one. You'll see why in the future. But it is a hard decision, seeing as this one gives out Hoenn starters and I'd replace Larry with a Mudkip in a heartbeat. Behind Kurt's house, there's a thief who claims to be reformed, but also tells me stealing "isn't always bad". Well, whatever, he gives me TM46 (Thief). Now we can talk to Kurt.

Kurt is hella pissed with Team Rocket for cutting off Slowpoke tails for profit, and while they do grow back eventually, I feel you, old man. He says he'll teach them a lesson and bolts out of the house, with me trailing behind lackadaisically.

Slowpoke Well has almost no interesting ground wilds for me, save for maybe Bronzor, so it's time to whip out the Old Rod and see what we can get from the water.

Caught Eren, the Slowpoke

Hell yeah! A Water-Psychic type is just what the doctor ordered for my team. Let's rush back to Azalea and check on this guy... alright, Eren has a Docile nature and Own Tempo. He's pretty much standard fare, but this does at least give me freedom to choose between Slowbro and Slowking as we grind.

This, obviously, means it's goodbye to Larry. This was a long time coming, honestly; he got lucky with Paul, but so far his moveset is underwhelming at best and his stats work against him. Also, he's had zero memorable battles. Thank you for your service anyway, Larry.

With the Exp. Share on Eren, we go back to the well and clock the stupid out of all the Rockets until only one remains. "I am often labeled as the scariest and cruelest member of Team Rocket", says the spearhead of an operation involving cutting off stuff that grows back. That's right, Admin Proton is in the house and he's not pleased with me right now.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Rocket Admin Proton
Slowpoke Well - Battle for the Poor Slowpokes

Francesca (lv18) vs Voltorb (lv17)

I am an idiot. Voltorb opens with Toxic, and I, with Yawn; then, I use an Antidote while Voltorb uses Spark for menial damage. After falling asleep, instead of tagging out, I kept Francesca in and used Extrasensory, which was a crit and took half of Voltorb's life. What I failed to remember was a move Voltorb used as soon as he woke up (yep, he slept for half a turn). The bane of all Nuzlocke trainers, the dreaded, the unaviodable, the fearsome... Selfdestruct. Voltorb died, and so did Francesca, taking my dreams, my plans for her, and my competence as a trainer with her as her lifeless body hit the ground.

Dadinho (lv18) vs. Koffing (lv16)

PAYBACK TIME. Dadinho uses Bite 3 times, with Koffing flinching twice and falling to the last one. Can't help but feel that Dinho also took this personally.

Sarah (lv18) vs. Zubat (lv17)

One crit Spark, that's all it took.

Scorch (lv19) vs. Cacnea (lv16)

Scorch had zero problems beating her with Embers, but she did manage to poison him before falling. Another short fight.


Proton says some stuff and leaves, but frankly, I'm too busy livid with myself and Team Rocket as a whole for what happened. The show must go on, though. Let's pick a replacement, grind Eren, and get everyone to Bugsy levels (his ace caps at 21, so that means we're allowed to grind up to 24). After taking a good look at our choices in the PC, I settle for... none. All of the Pokémon inside are either a) Weak to Bugsy; b) Of a type that's already covered in the team; c) To put it bluntly, badly generated Pokémon. So, my only option now is skipping ahead of things a bit and going to Ilex Forest.

Of course, someone just has to get in the way and challenge me...


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Silver
Azalea Town - Battle for Letting Me Go to Ilex Forest

Dadinho (lv18) vs. Murkrow (lv19)

An evenly matched fight if I've ever seen one. Both are Dark-type Pokémon; one is defense-minded, the other is a sweeper. I cast two Tail Whips while Murkrow uses properly tanked Wing Attacks. Then, all that's left for me is to heal and spam Quick Attack; even when Murkrow uses Haze, I still keep at it until the bird falls.

Dadinho (lv18) vs. Gastly (lv18)

Gastly used Spite. That's it. That's all Silver had in mind for her. One Bite later, the fight was over.

Dadinho (lv18) vs. Kadabra (lv19)

Silver... is this some sort of torture fetish? Seriously, you gotta tell me these things beforehand, I have to agree first. Anyway, the battle actually lasts longer than I wanted to, but only because Arceus hates me. Kadabra opens with Kinesis, but Bite still hits all the same. Kadabra has like 10HP left, so I switch to Quick Attack... and it misses, then Kadabra uses Disable. He uses Kinesis again, I use Bite, and it hits. F#$^% your Kinesis, dude. Seriously.

Scorch (lv19) vs. Bayleef (lv21)

Holy cow... the level gap! I open with Ember, and Bayleef with Reflect. I'm about to use another Ember, smirking to myself, eyes on my PC to write the rest of this paragraph detailing my overwhelming victory... and then I look back, and the screen actually reads: "Nature Power turned into Earthquake"!!! Scorch survives with 3HP and gets the hell out of there.

Dadinho (lv18) vs. Bayleef (lv21)

Bayleef uses Synthesis, restoring almost all of his health, and I start Tail Whipping away. In-between sleep turns, due to Grasswhistle, and Super Potions, I manage to lower his defenses by 5 before striking with a OHKO Bite. Dadinho's rout comes to a productive end.


Silver tells me he hates the weak, hates Team Rocket, and tells me I'm in for it if I get in his way again. Hopefully next time he won't send ghosts and psychics at my "weakling" Level 18 Umbreon. Now inside Ilex Forest, I realize my choice doesn't make a lick of sense; how the hell would I find anything useful against Bugsy on the forest?? So I track back and I choose a stop-gap solution. Magnus, our resident rock-head, joins the team temporarily.

Now... the grind.


Alright, here's what you missed: first of all, halfway through Eren's grind, I felt like his Special moveset wasn't being used to its full potential due to Slowpoke's physical nature. I taught him Water Pulse through the TM, and a misclick on the bag made me remember: I had picked up a King's Rock at the well! So, why delay things, right? Eren is now a Slowking. Good, not only for the reasons above but also because we needed another Special-based Pokémon.

Furthermore, Dadinho learned Tickle in place of Tail Whip, Giovanna ditched Fake Out for Smellingsalt and evolved into a fine Hariyama, and Magnus learned Rollout and Magnitude. Finally done with what felt like years of grinding, we go heal in the Center, buy a few Super Potions and status recovery items, and finally, we're face to face with Gym Leader Bugsy. He plans on becoming the authority on Bug Pokémon... well, no one's stopping you, man. Go for it. But first...

Let's put your studies to the test.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Gym Leader Bugsy
Azalea Town - Battle for the Hive Badge

Scorch (lv24) vs. Butterfree (lv18)

An easy battle, with Scorch taking her down with two Embers. Her Air Cutter, however, took way more damage than I expected...

Magnus (lv24) vs. Yanma (lv18)

I had a strategy ready to go, but Yanma used U-Turn...

Maguns (lv24) vs. Heracross (lv19)

Shit shit shit shit!!!!

Eren (lv24) vs. Heracross (lv19)

I don't remember this Heracross' moveset at all, so I use Eren to wall and also as a means of scouting. True to form, Bugsy orders him to use Bug Bite, taking exactly 1/2 of Eren's HP. Super Potions won't help, but luckily, someone else is healed now...

Scorch (lv24) vs. Heracross (lv19)

Two embers brought Heracross down to the red zone, but his Aerial Aces pack quite a punch, so I healed and finished things off with a Dragon Rage.

Magnus (lv24) vs. Yanma (lv18)

Back for more, are you? Yanma uses U-Turn again, and I have a Defense Curl triggered for the next turn.

Magnus (lv24) vs. Pinsir (lv19)

Phew, a Bug-type. I don't think this girl has any Fighting or Grass-type moves, so I guess I can go for it. I heal and... Vital Throw?! Damn! Fortunately, credit to Magnus' defenses and Defense Curl, it takes less than half HP. Unfortunately, Magnus also decides to miss the damn Rollout. Cue more healing and walling. This time, Rollout hits, and after two hits, Pinsir is down and Magnus has 13 HP.

Magnus (lv24) vs. Yanma (lv18)

Dude, this is getting really old.

Magnus (lv24) vs. Beedrill (lv18)

Magnus... you f^&$#^%&ing IDIOT!! I can't believe you missed a 4-turn Rollout! You were going to kill that thing in one turn! And now? Now I have to either put someone else to hurt for you, or I risk it and heal you even if this damn bee has a Grass move. Good going there, Magnus. No, seriously. Congrats. That's twice you miss when I needed you to hit. You're getting so benched after this, you have no idea. Okay, while I ranted, I healed Magnus but he didn't tank the next attack well enough, so I call a sub in.

Scorch (lv25) vs. Beedrill (lv18)

Two Embers did the job, but Beedrill managed a Sludge Bomb in-between flames that put Scorch in the lower yellow.

Scorch (lv25) vs. Yanma (lv18)

Okay... I know what you'll do, so lemme take this opportunity to heal-- ANCIENTPOWER?! What the hell's going on here? How are you not evolved? We finish her off with just one Ember, but damn, seriously, so many questions...

Scorch (lv25) vs. Scyther (lv21)

And there it is: the ace. I see it using Swords Dance... we'll have to be quick. Scorch uses Ember, but Scyther survives by half, if not more HP. Worryingly high levels of dangers here. Time for a "high risk high reward" approach here...

Eren (lv24) vs. Scyther (lv21)

One hit, and Eren dies. May the gods of luck be with us. Scyther uses Swords Dance again in the free turn, and for the next turn, my attack is... Water Pulse. Another Swords Dance - jesus christ - and Water Pulse hits... for confusion!! YES!! Then, I use Yawn... pleeeeease please please YES! HURT HIMSELF! Get the HELL out of there now, Eren!

Scorch (lv24) vs. Scyther (lv21)

Sorry for the turn-by-turn analysis here, but this battle is a nailbiter if I've ever seen one. Scyther... hits himself AGAIN! And Scorch uses Ember. Scyther is in the red, and a Sitrus Berry heals him up to the yellow, but he's also asleep. I'm about to slaughter this bug when Bugsy uses a Moomoo Milk - yep - to fully heal Scyther. Luckily, it's still sleeping, so two Embers finally removes Scyther from the fray and ends this fear-inducing war.


Whew, that was something! This update really showed the bump in difficulty in Storm Silver, and why I have no qualms about overgrinding past the Gym Leader's ace. Three battles, where two nearly killed one of our members and one actually did. After the battle, Magnus becomes a Graveler, but hey, fuck off. You're still going back to the PC. Bugsy gives me the Hive Badge, permission to use Cut outside of battle, and TM89 (U-Turn). After exchanging Pokégear numbers, never to be used ever, we make our way to the Center to heal, drop Magnus, and continue our journey, Francesca hopefully looking at us from up above.

Next update, forests and cities alike! Stay tuned.


Former Donation Total: 17


Caught Eren - 1
Francesca died - 5
Beat Bugsy - 2

Current Donation Total: 25



- Eren, the Slowking (Level 24)
Nature: Docile
Held Item: None
Ability: Own Tempo
Curse/Yawn/Confusion/Water Pulse

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 24)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: None
Ability: Synchronize
Tickle/Quick Attack/Bite/Sand-Attack

- Sarah, the Luxio (Level 24)
Nature: Calm
Held Item: None
Ability: Guts
Spark/Night Slash/Leer/Charge

- Giovanna, the Hariyama (Level 24)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: None
Ability: Thick Fat
Smellingsalt/Rock Tomb/Whirlwind/Rock Smash

- Scorch, the Charmeleon (Level 26)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: None
Ability: Blaze
Metal Claw/Dragon Rage/Ember/Smokescreen

Oh hey guys! Didn't see you there. I'm currently inside Ilex Forest, where I'm pretty sure-- wait, hold on.

Caught Jane, the Budew

I'm not opposed at all to having a Roserade, so this would've been our new teammate... if she didn't have Adamant for a nature. Big yikes there.

After catching Far and Fetch'd - those are their canon names, seriously - and giving them back to the kimono guy, he rewards me with HM01, Cut. Now, you know that Drayano buffed HMs already, so this was no different. Cut is now a Grass-type, 60BP move. I can teach it to Dadinho or Scorch, but while the idea of a Fire-type having a Grass-type move is appealing, I end up burdening Jane with it.

The rest of the trip is pretty uneventful and annoying; wilds appear every two steps I take, and Giovanna carries the curse of Magnus by missing every single Rock Tomb she attempted. The only noteworthy things are the Headbutt move tutor - I teach it to Dadinho - and a brief cameo from none other than Gardenia, the Eterna City Gym Leader herself! Drayano inserted her in here to give me TM86 (Grass Knot) after a weird dialogue with her Ivysaur, uh... Vine Whipping her for pleasure. ... Look, I'm not making this up, it's in the game. PM Drayano if you want to.

After all that, we run into Kimono Girl No. 2 and somehow Sarah leads her out of the woods. My very own GPS. At the gate, the receptionist gives me TM12 (Taunt), and Cynthia is here again, blocking my way... to give me the Odd Keystone! Heh heh heh...

Cynthia also tells me that the Bike Shop closed down and became an archeological house of sorts. Thanks, Drayano. Now in Route 34, we're beating trainers left and right until I accidentally trigger a wild encounter waaaaay before I wanted to.

Caught Rana, the Gulpin

Gulpins are interesting. I never considered training one before Manic carried a Swalot all the way to the E4 in his Der Erif run. As soon as we hit the PC, I'll size her up. But for now, Lyra sidetracks me into a Day-Care tutorial where shipping implications happen, and I get two Pokégear numbers against my will. Or rather, three - I beat a Picknicker at the end of the route and absent-mindedly pressed "yes". I also pick up TM40 (Aerial Ace).

Welcome to Goldenrod City. We have a few choices for a catch: the final Juggler, with the Sinnoh starters, the archeology shop with the fossils, and the Game Corner - which I suck at. I'll think about it, but first, let's hit the Goldenrod Dept. Store and blow all of our money on 8 Ultra Balls.

You'll see why.

Back in Azalea, I make my way to the Slowpoke Well. If you position yourself just one step away from actually entering the well and press A, the game prompts you to toss the Odd Keystone inside (I don't know if this is Drayano's doing or if this is a vanilla game thing and I'm making an ass of myself for all this buildup). Tossing it reveals a Level 20 Spiritomb, which is...

Caught Shiro, the Spiritomb

... captured! A Yawn by Eren, a Dragon Rage from Scorch, and just 1 of our Ultra Balls were enough to lock this beast up. Now, Spiritombs usually serve a similar purpose to Umbreon in that they're defensive 'mons, but everyone remembers Cynthia's Spiritomb fondly, right? I'm not at all opposed to having Dadinho and Shiro coexist, but this means Sarah would get the boot. I never get this many Dark-types per run, I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's a bad omen. I hate omens.

Anyway, back to Goldenrod. We have to check the new recruits in the PC and decide on our catch for G'rod, after all. Inside the archeological center, the head honcho gives me every fossil available (!!), and Cynthia is there acting like a sort of hint giver for finding Legendary mons. There's also a clerk who revives said fossils. I'm discarding Helix (what are you, an atheist?!) and Dome because we're full up with Water-types, and the Skull Fossil too because Rampardos is a glass cannon. Between Root (Lileep), Claw (Anorith) and Armor (Shieldon), I pick...

Caught Pione, the Lileep

Rana has a Timid nature, which gears her toward Special attacks, but Swalots are defensive by nature. Her ability is Liquid Ooze, which honestly... meh. As for Shiro, his ability is Pressure - nice - and his nature is Hardy, a neutral one. Hm. Finally, Pione - who was reborn at Level 20 - has a Naughty nature, which leaves me with mixed feelings, and Suction Cups for an ability. We're going with Pione, because we have no Rock or Grass-type teammates and I'm not ready to drop Sarah yet. But keep Shiro in your thoughts, folks.

There are three new NPCs (I think) in this Pokémon Center; two of them are a Psychic and a Blackbelt arguing over which's better - brains or brawn. I'd love to weigh in on this little debate but they shut me up by giving me TMs 04 (Calm Mind) and 08 (Bulk Up). Having these moves early on is great, but I can't help but feel it's some sort of warning sign, like "your normal stats will never be enough for what comes ahead". Brr. Cold. I also remember I have that Miracle Seed from near Violet, and it has Pione's name all over it. What doesn't have Pione's name on it, funnily enough, is HM01. Imagine not having access to a STAB move. Thanks, Drayano.

The last new NPC is, of course, the Juggler, and now is a good time to explain why I skipped these two Jugglers. Well, Azalea's Juggler is obvious, I was after the Spiritomb the whole time. As for Goldenrod, well... Empoleon is a Water-type, which we have more than enough of. Torterra is a good Pokémon for vanilla runs, but I've yet to experience a Nuzlocke where the damn thing didn't fall to the weakest Ice-type attack you could find, and hardly lasted more than 3 gyms - plus, Pryce is just broken in this hack. His battle is the one I dread the most. Finally, Infernape is one of my favorite 'mons, but he is a glass cannon; I'd have to burden it with Bulk Up or something of that nature, and there's no guarantee it'll survive a setup turn.

Now, I'll cut the update short to grind a bit for Whitney. Her ace is at Level 24, so we're good until level 27, where most of my team is either close to or already there. Next time, the outcome of said grind, the rest of Goldenrod, and Whitney's comeuppance! How will CompleteWingback deal with "The Murdercow"? Find out next time, on Drag-- er, on this thread.



Former Donation Total: 25

Caught Jane - 1
Caught Rana - 1
Caught Shiro - 1
Caught Pione - 1

Current Donation Total: 29




- Eren, the Slowking (Level 25)
Nature: Docile
Held Item: None
Ability: Own Tempo
Curse/Yawn/Confusion/Water Pulse

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 25)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: None
Ability: Synchronize
Tickle/Headbutt/Bite/Sand-Attack

- Sarah, the Luxio (Level 26)
Nature: Calm
Held Item: None
Ability: Guts
Spark/Night Slash/Leer/Charge

- Giovanna, the Hariyama (Level 25)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: None
Ability: Thick Fat
Smellingsalt/Rock Tomb/Whirlwind/Rock Smash

- Scorch, the Charmeleon (Level 27)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: None
Ability: Blaze
Metal Claw/Dragon Rage/Ember/Smokescreen

- Pione, the Lileep (Level 20)
Nature: Naughty
Held Item: Miracle Seed
Ability: Suction Cups
Astonish/Constrict/Acid/Ingrain

    Book(?) Club!

    Alrighty, so the first thing I'll say is that I'm a little out of my wheel-house at the moment. As much as I love fan-based Pokemon content, I can't say I've read a whole lot of Nuzlocke stories at all. Truth be told, while it is a format that I find entertaining, it always seems to slip my mind as a vehicle for story telling. Perhaps one day I'll be a great enthusiast of the forum-based Nuzlocke format yet - though at the moment, this is very much an introduction for me.

    With that said, I will say that as far as first impressions go this isn't too shabby. While I find the abundance of up-front, non-story information rather staggering, I can say that once worked through, the story itself is fairly smooth sailing. I'd say that the main character's bizarre half-player/half-player avatar persona is entertaining, and they get on with business in fairly short order, which I appreciate. The lack of fluff is certainly appreciated.

    Speaking of the main character, I will say - he is quite the cold customer. So calculating as to the team, with a disregard for weaker Pokemon. Perhaps I make it sound too harsh - he's no Silver, and he's not heartless - I'm simply trying to illustrate his... detachment, I suppose. Which does make a certain amount of sense, given the nature of the Nuzlocke, though coming from the small amount of Nuzzo's I have read it certainly is a change from the norm. Perhaps that's just Manic's fault, granted, but still.

    Now, I will say something that you may not expect. I've actually read more of this than I am letting on. However, I will reserve my opinions on future events for the moment. To this point, I've read past the Falkner fight. For now, all I will say about this part is that I had enough fun to continue reading beyond the scope of the review I had intended to give. For now, simply take that as a testament to the amount of enjoyment I've derived from this. In the future, I will be going much more in depth.

    With that all said, I shall refrain from giving my usual scores. This is not a normal fanfiction, and so I will not be judging it on this terms. With that said, I hope you find this review somehow helpful or encouraging, and I hope you continue in your creating this story.

I am beginning to realise why this run is named the way it is. :V

You know, I haven’t read a text run in, oh, about a decade or so? Maybe more? I’d forgotten how pleasant an experience it can be! I’m glad I had to step in and plug a gap in the book club roster this week, because this is a fun, chill ride. It’s very charming, too, with these like … set piece battles, I guess you could call them, whenever you get to boss fights. Feels like a kind of time dilation. You have your brisk overworld pace that suddenly expands to the tense blow-by-blow of battle. Gives rise to some of those excellent moments, like Sarah being left with 1HP by Falkner’s pidgeotto. Definitely something that anyone who’s ever nuzlocked and been a tad overconfident (or just unlucky) knows!

Or the old Self-destruct exit, which is always the most galling way to lose a pokémon in any nuzlocke. Or the fact that a bayleef with Synthesis is surprisingly annoying in the early game, raised to very alarming when it also has Nature Power as Earthquake. Or the U-turn into heracross. Or – well, you get the point: this is a string of great moments, and it’d just be rehashing the run itself if I were to go through them all.

Special shout-out to Magnus, though. Kind of love the idea that he just doesn’t care about this and tried to throw the bouts so that he’d get his discharge papers, so to speak. These moments of, like, apophenic personality, where you see a story in the randomness, are always some of the best parts of a pokémon game – there’s another good moment where Dadinho bites the koffing to bits after Francesca went down, and they’re all really well observed. I’ll definitely have to check back to see what new moments emerge down the line. :>

Chapter 9: The Cursed Update

It's time to go west from Ecruteak and venture the first stages of the Worst Grind To Ever Happen In Pokémon History, or for short, the "ChuckSmine Slog". Also, if anyone is wondering, the path to Mahogany is blocked by two NPCs talking about how the "mountain Pokémon have become more aggressive", which means higher level curves. Thanks, Drayano!

As I'm leaving, I'm interrupted twice by Drayano inserts: once, by a Jubilife clown who gives me TM92 (Trick Room). Then, at the gate, by none other than Steven Stone, Hoenn Champion, himself. He blabbers on about the Plates and how they're necessary to an investigation of some sort of PokéGod, but c'mon. Do I look like someone who wants to mess with Arceus of all things?! You leave Him alone too if you know what's best for ya, pal.

We're now on Route 38, and Giovanna has just killed the Doduo that was going to be our catch. Nice one, Gio. Maybe pull those punches a bit next time? Anyway, TM62 (Silver Wind) is also lying around. Lima's makeover starts happening around here too, in this route where everyone just LOVES to paralyze and every wild is a Luxio, as if to spite me. I ditch Helping Hand for Flame Wheel, which is then ditched for my hard-earned TM35 (Flamethrower) from the Game Corner. Then, Leer is dropped for Take Down, Double Kick is replaced by Reversal, and, to my surprise, Lima is willing to learn Dig through TM28, so I teach it to him since Arcanines are physical-based. Considering Lima's nature, and by observing his attribute growth, I'm 99% sure he'll become a mixed attacker.

During the process, I backtracked to Ilex Forest - now that we have Surf, I can get TM81 (X-Scissor) from an isolated Bug Catcher. I also paid a visit to the small isolated area on Route 34 where the three Ace Trainer sisters are training, and boy did Giovanna and Eren pull their weight in there. Two deathmatches later and all I get is a single Power Herb. Thanks, Dra-- or, rather, Game Freak. Anyway, let's go back to Route 38 and start some actual progr--

ENTEI IS HERE.

ENTEI..........

YOUR TIME HAS COM-- hey? Yeah, sure, just- just run away. That's fine. You coward. You live... for now.

Welcome to Route 39. My Oran Berries are still growing, and if I recall correctly, I need 20 of them to get the Non-Murdercow to give milk again, so we're not going in the farm yet. But I do need to clear that task soon, so that I can start growing Berries for Shards. Anyway, Baoba bumps into me and bends my ear about the Safari Zone for a while. Yawn. I'm sure that the Safari Zone is just a boring sidequest in this game too. At least I get some catches, thanks to the Pinwheel Clause.

The outskirts of the farm house some nifty TMs for me: TM19 (Giga Drain) and TM60 (Drain Punch). Also, more importantly... our catch is here, and boy, is it a teamchanger.

Caught Trunks, the Farfetch'd

Trunks here is appropriately named. Like I said before, Drayano has this thing with Farfetch'ds where he makes them godlike in every hack of his, buffing their stats significantly and revamping their overall moveset to fit their new Flying/Fighting typing. Trunks' nature is Brave, which raises his already impressive Attack stat, and drops his Speed a bit... but not too much to worry me. But that's not all. Trunks has Super Luck. Yes, a Pokémon with access to an item which boosts his crit rate through a quick trip back to Goldenrod... also has Super Luck.

Giovanna, baby, I love you, but your place in this team is seriously threatened.

We're now at Olivine, and in serious need of healing. Silver stops us, but he doesn't wanna fight. Says he "doesn't bother with weaklings". Me, I think he's still shook after the Dadinho show last time. He also says the currently near-deceased Lighthouse Pokémon should be left to die, and I'm just yawning so loudly at this incel's edginess that it's starting to affect the real-life people around me as I write this update. Anyway, time to loot this city before Surfing down south. I buy 10 Quick Balls, and I find/get a Metal Coat, a Good Rod, and a Sun Stone. We still need to figure out our catch for this area, then we move on. We can either fish, or Headbutt. Again, we're crawling with Water types already and that's all the next Route will give us, so let's bust some heads...

...

Oh hey, guess what I found 90 minutes later?? There's no Headbutt catches for Olivine! Sigh. Let's just go fishing then.

...

Li Peng killed the catch. Ffff......... let's just leave...

We're at Route 40, where TM63 (Embargo) awaits us. South from the TM, but still on the coast, a girl asks me to show her a Phione. When oh when are people going to understand that I don't catch Legend-- oh wait, Phione is just a regular 'mon. Yeah, sure, lady. If I find one, I'll show you. Anyway, we'll cut the update short here because 1) there's lotsa interesting stuff coming up; 2) we're near Chuck and I need something to write before the battle; and, more importantly, 3) this episode is cursed. Seriously! I killed two catches.

Next time: will Trunks steal Giovanna's spot on the team? Will the mandatory Water-type catch on Route 40 actually be a Phione? Will we find the 6th teammate? Will Chuck fall easily or not... and will he take a teammate with him, just like Morty did? Find out next time, on "Thanks, Drayano"!

Events

Former Donation Total: 49

Caught Trunks - 1

Current Donation Total: 50

Current Team

- Eren, the Slowking (Level 33)
Nature: Docile
Held Item: None
Ability: Own Tempo
Curse/Yawn/Confusion/Surf

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 32)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: None
Ability: Synchronize
Tickle/Headbutt/Bite/Dig

- Giovanna, the Hariyama (Level 31)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: Quick Claw
Ability: Thick Fat
Smellingsalt/Rock Tomb/Whirlwind/Rock Smash

- Lima, the Growlithe (Level 32)
Nature: Hardy
Held Item: None
Ability: Flash Fire
Reversal/Take Down/Dig/Flamethrower

- Li Peng, the Weepinbell (Level 31)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: Miracle Seed
Ability: Chrlorophyll
Cut/Sleep Powder/Acid/Poisonpowder

This is the first time I've really heard of Drayno's hacks, and I am finding myself interested in how the run will fill out with the harder AI and more complex teams and pokemon onto the already sort of difficult Johto games. Seriously, I shudder to think about how the Whitney battles will play out. Other than that, your writing is quite good, and your protagonist , while a little flat, is very intriguing moving forward. I am particularly interested in how they seem to live in between worlds, with one foot in the game reality and another in the real world. Even if this isnt an intentional choice, I think it could be used later on for humor. All in all, I really like this run, and especially appreciate the donations you are making while completing this run.  

Hey, you guys!! Right now, I'm on backtracking duty. First things first: Melissa is now officially Melissa. Second: the Oran Berries needed to heal the Miltank were successfully collected, which means we can now get our much-needed army of Moomoo Milk bottles, and then we'll tackle the Lighthouse. Somehow, I completely misremembered how many Oran Berries it took for the cow to get better, so now I stand with a bucketload of useless 10HP recovery items. Cool. Anyway, let's stuff ourselves with something around 40 Moomoo Milks and bounce.

Right at the first floor of the Lighthouse, a Drayano insert appears: Volkner, Gym Leader of Sunyshore City, tells me I remind him of the boring, weirdly-dressed protagonist of Platinum. So I give him a piece of my mind and he gives me TM73 (Thunder Wave) to make up for it. Yep. That's how the dialogue went, I swear. Aside from TM47 (Steel Wing) and TM87 (Swagger), nothing especially eventful happened in the Lighthouse, and I'll tell you why: In vanilla runs, I used to save the Lighthouse for the second half of the ChuckSmine Slog, as a kind of quick relief from all the wild training. Force of habit led me to do the same this time, but it slipped my mind that Drayano intended for the Lighthouse to be a part of the Chuck half of the grind. So everyone was severely overleveled for this.

Anyway, Amphy is swiftly saved thanks to me having Fly on hand, and the Lighthouse releases a blinding spark of flashing brightness... at exactly 12PM. As soon as we leave the building, Baoba calls. He wants to announce that the Safari Zone is open, tells me where it is and asks me to come visit, but... and this is where things take a drastic turn from the original games... his call is abruptly cut off with a "thump!" as soon as he mentions "people in black clothing"!! The hell's happening there?!

That's right, folks: Welcome to Storm Silver. Not satisfied with his NPC inserts, our Supreme Lord Drayano inserted a whole damn sidequest to make the Safari Zone segment more interesting! And with Rockets on the loose, more XP is available, not to mention more facetime with the Admins to develop their characters. Seriously! Game Freak!! Why have you not employed this genius yet?!?! Anyway, thanks Drayano and let's stop gushing.

As soon as we enter Cliff Edge Gate, there's a Rocket Grunt waiting for us at the front desk alongside the clerk. The clerk says "Did you know? We need help!!", which is hilarious. We won't be catching anything at the gate until we get Rock Climb, so let's just waste the 3 Grunts in here and move on to Route 47. Here's where things get interesting. Right at the first curve, two Rocket Grunts stand side-by-side against a tiny, pink-haired girl and her Alakazam. That's Mira, from Platinum, you know? The girl lost in Wayward Cave? Somehow, she recognizes me. Why are Platinum people so knowledgeable of me?

Well, bottom line is we gotta beat the thugs to get through and find Baoba. In this segment, we're going to have a handful of Double Battles where the partner keeps your Pokémon healthy, Platinum-style. Normally, people consider these parts to be death-free zones and so did I, but that wouldn't be interesting for the run, now would it? So, Nuzlocke rules still apply. Here we go...!


BATTLE! CompleteWingback and Trainer Mira vs. Team Rocket Grunt x2
Route 47 - Dream Tag Match 01

Dadinho (lv38) and Porygon2 (lv35) vs. Rhyhorn (lv34) and Drowzee (lv34)

Porygon2 takes the brunt of both attacks while Dadinho uses Dig, but me and Mira are linked. She orders Porygon2 to use Psybeam on Rhyhorn, which also takes Dadinho's Dig and faints. Drowzee leaves Porygon2 on the yellow.

Tag-in: Ariados (lv34) for Rhyhorn (lv34)

Same song, different rhythm: Dadinho digs, Ariados tanks a Psybeam from P2 with a sliver of health remaining, but Dig finishes it. Porygon2 also leaves Drowzee on the lower yellow with a Tri Attack.

Tag-in: Lickilicky (lv34) for Ariados (lv34)

Dadinho switches targets this time, and finishes Drowzee off with a Headbutt while Porygon2 is threatened by Lickilicky's bulk.

Tag-in: Swalot (lv34) for Drowzee (lv34)

Another moment of brilliance, with Dadinho going for Dig on Swalot and Porygon2 weakening it with Psybeam. However, Lickilicky uses Slam and KOs Porygon2.

Tag-in: Sharpedo (lv34) for Swalot (lv34)
Tag-in: Togetic (lv35) for Porygon2 (lv35)

Lickilicky starts a Rollout on Togetic, so to mitigate that, Dadinho goes for Tickle. It's not enough, however; Sharpedo nearly kills Togetic with a Crunch, and 2nd turn Rollout finishes the job.

Tag-in: Alakazam (lv35) for Togetic (lv35)

Damn! A kamikaze strategy by Mira, who uses Alakazam to KO Lickilicky and be KO'd by Sharpedo afterwards. It's just Dinho and the shark now, but his moves aren't enough to topple our team captain. Two Headbutts later, the battle is over.


Mira leaves me be after healing my team, but not more than 20 steps later, another Rocket duo stands on my way. This time, Claydol in tow, our partner is Buck; same one from the Fight Area and Stark Mountain. Rockets... prepare for trouble!!


BATTLE! CompleteWingback and Trainer Buck vs. Team Rocket Grunt x2
Route 47 - Dream Tag Match 02

Trunks (lv38) and Umbreon (lv35) vs. Murkrow (lv35) and Gloom (lv35)

Both Trunks and the Umbreon go for setups first, with me using Swords Dance and Buck using Double Team. A Night Shade from Murkrow and a Drain Punch from Gloom both take surprisingly low damage for both their targets, allowing for me to mount a counterattack with Fly. It finishes off Gloom while Umbreon for whatever reason tries a Psychic on Murkrow.

Tag-in: Octillery (lv35) for Gloom (lv35)

Another Fly finishes off Octillery, but only after he's hit by a crit Dark Pulse from Umbreon. Murkrow, however, is still going strong: he used Taunt on both of us, and Umbreon used Psychic yet again, forcing me to suspect he has no effective attacks.

Tag-in: Loudred (lv35) for Octillery (lv35)

No more effin' around now. Close Combat KO's Murkrow, and Dark Pulse KO's Loudred, rendering one of the Grunts unavailable and turning this battle into a 2-on-1.

Tag-in: Nidoqueen (lv35) for Murkrow (lv35)

Nidoqueen was no match for a combined offensive of Swords-Dance'd Fly and Psychic, but she did manage to leave with a parting gift in the shape of poison for Trunks. Umbreon, meanwhile, used Double Team to prepare for the next foe.

Tag-in: Nuzleaf (lv35) for Nidoqueen (lv35)

A Fake Out and poison damage at the first turn made me actually worry about Trunks for a second there, but even with Close Combat's stat drop, he still tanked Nuzleaf's arsenal effortlessly and, by flight, he finished his foe off.


Buck heals my team and tells me to go find Baoba before it's too late. I hear ya, kid, but first, let me address something more pressing:


Caught Dietmar, the Kingler


Yep. Catching Pokémon. This is our catch for Cliff Cave, which, according to the Pinwheel Clause, is a separate area from any other in this zone. That being said, let's take the staircase going up, shall we? Right at the exit, Petrel, Team Rocket's professional impersonator Admin, awaits. He tells me he won't go down like Proton did, and considering Proton killed one of my best prospects before she could even learn a special-type move, it's enough to make me shake at the boots...


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Rocket Admin Petrel
Cliff Cave - Battle for an Awesome Sidequest

Li Peng (lv38) vs. Raticate (lv36)

This thing screams "Fire Fang". Hard pass.

Dadinho (lv39) vs. Raticate (lv36)

Maybe not Fire Fang, but definitely Super Fang and Hyper Fang. Nothing that a couple of Tickles and Faint Attacks won't solve, though.

Lima (lv38) vs. Skuntank (lv36)

We all have bad memories from Skuntanks on Platinum, but this one's rather tame. I came in with Lima fearing an Earthquake, or Dig, or any sort of counter, really, but he kept using Double-Edge. Two Digs were enough to put him down for good.

Eren (lv39) vs. Weezing (lv37)

Always be on your toes against Weezings! Which is why I open with Yawn, and Weezing answers with... holy shit, Thunder?! Damn! It takes 1/2 of Eren's HP, but luckily, the tides are going to turn real soon. The second Thunder misses while I heal Eren, and Weezing falls asleep. A Zen Headbutt takes, again, 1/2 of the foe's HP, and as I'm preparing for a second........ he wakes up, uses Thunder, crits, and leaves Eren with 8 HP before dying!! A-aaaaahh.......

Melissa (lv38) vs. Golbat (lv36)

Meli opens with Thunderbolt, and Golbat survives by the skin of his long teeth but misses the counterattack. Just to mess with him, I use Fly and... he uses Hypnosis and misses! It missed! It f&*^$%&^%*ing missed! Hypnosis finally didn't hit me!! Only took five f%^&%#&$^%&^*ing badges for it to happen! Anyway, Fly connects and the battle is over.


Petrel says I'm probably too late (which means, in villain words, that I have all the time in the world) and bolts, dropping TM06 (Toxic) for me to use.

Next up, waiting at the bridge with two other Rockets, is Cheryl from Eterna Forest. This one, I'm not too eager to fight alongside. I can't tell you how many times her stupid Chansey - here, a Blissey - killed my catch in Platinum Nuzlocke runs. I hate your Blissey, miss. Sigh, well, let's get this over with.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback and Trainer Cheryl vs. Team Rocket Grunt x2
Route 47 - Dream Tag Match 03

Li Peng (lv38) and Drifblim (lv35) vs. Houndour (lv34) and Snover (lv34)

I don't care that both targets have a type advantage. Li Peng rarely pulls her weight around here, and I don't wanna ostracize her or carry around dead weight. Time to work, Li! I use Stockpile on her twice, while Snover and Houndour focus on Drifblim for some reason. Snover soon falls to a single Fly.

Tag-in: Fearow (lv35) for Snover (lv34)

Look, this is ridiculous. Stop trying to make me switch Li Peng out. She tanks a crit Fire Fang with 1/2 HP and I heal her, preparing for the next hit, but Drifblim outspeeds Fearow and wastes him with a Thunderbolt. Damn, Cheryl!

Tag-in: Vibrava (lv35) for Fearow (lv35)

Finally! Giga Drain, OHKO. So yeah, remember the Houndour? He's been standing there the whole time with a type advantage and did squat. He also falls efortlessly from a Fly.

Tag-in: Gligar (lv35) for Houndour (lv34)

Sigh... type advantages everywhere... Li puts him to sleep, Drifblim uses Ominous Wind and takes half of Gligar's HP, and Giga Drain seals the deal.

Tag-in: Persian (lv35) for Gligar (lv35)

Single Giga Drain. Told you - you can't mess with Victreebel's Sp. Atk stat.


Cheryl fixes my team up and I gladly move on. We're very close to the Safari Zone now, but there's another double trouble waiting for us at the curve. Our partner this time is... Marley! Baby don't worry... about a thing... okay, not that Marley. It's the Speed specialist from Sinnoh's Victory road, alongside her Arcanine. "Some shy girl and a kid can't beat us!", says the male half of the Grunt Couple. Oh yeah? We'll see about that. Melissa! Wreck their shit!!


BATTLE! CompleteWingback and Trainer Marley vs. Team Rocket Grunt x2
Route 47 - Dream Tag Match 04

Melissa (lv38) and Sneasel (lv35) vs. Noctowl (lv36) and Electrode (lv36)

If Li Peng had it rough, Meli has it easy. Electrode opens with a Charge Beam aimed at Sneasel, but Lightingrod draws it towards Meli - if this was Gen VI, I'd be even happier, but I'll settle for the damage mitigation. Then, before Melissa can fry the bird with Thunderbolt, Sneasel throws an Ice Punch and one-shots him. Electrode takes the attack instead, and becomes paralyzed.

Tag-in: Graveler (lv36) for Noctowl (lv36)

I'm counting on you, Sneasel. He punches Graveler and brings him to the red, while Melissa's Surf wrecks everyone and drops the Rock-type.

Tag-in: Magneton (lv36) for Graveler (lv36)

To avoid a possible Selfdestruct from the paralyzed, half-HP Electrode, Melissa uses Fly while Sneasel drops it with another Ice Punch. Magneton uses Spark and paralyzes Meli, however, so I waste a turn healing her.

Tag-in: Misdreavus (lv36) for Electrode (lv36)

Sneasel uses Pursuit and almost finishes Misdreavus off, but then Magneton uses Magnet Bomb and our ally faints. Who, me? Healing turn who dis.

Tag-in: Arcanine (lv36) for Sneasel (lv35)

Bringing out the big guns, eh? Her ace uses Fire Fang and leaves Magneton with a sliver of health, while Melissa zaps Misdreavus out of the fight.

Tag-in: Venomoth (lv36) for Misdreavus (lv36)

They're both down to their last. Arcanine takes Magneton down first, and then, just to be a dick, I order Melissa to use Surf, dropping both Venomoth and the ally Arcanine. Hehe.


Marley, probably against her better judgement after that little scene, heals my team and sends me on my way. On the way up, I pick a Lagging Tail off the ground and then immediately find my way blocked... by Admin Ariana. This is officially my first encounter with her now, and she says I've already gone far enough in my journey. Oh, Ariana... I'm just getting started.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Rocket Admin Ariana
Route 47 - Battle for This Amazing Sidequest

Melissa (lv39) vs. Arbok (lv37)

She didn't put up a fight, really. Two Thunderbolts - and a missed Gunk Shot - were enough to bring the snake down.

Lima (lv38) vs. Vileplume (lv37)

Vileplume's Sludge Bomb did do a number on Lima, but it was a fixed match from the start. Two Flamethrowers were more than enough.

Melissa (lv40) vs. Honchkrow (lv38)

This is probably Ariana's ace. But it didn't survive even the first turn. Thank you, next.

Trunks (lv39) vs. Jynx (lv37)

Yes, I'm aware of the weaknesses. But you know what I'm also aware of? Close Combat. Bam! One hit and she's down.


So, how was that, Ariana? Not so... "Grande" now, are you? Okay, that's the second artist pun in a single update. Let's reel it in a bit. Ariana drops TM84 (Poison Jab) and leaves, letting us, at long last, into Route 48.


Caught Ragnar, the Tropius


As you can see, I waste no time at all getting our catch. I'll have to check this one out too when I reach a PC; I've never had a Tropius before. But the best thing about Route 48 isn't that. It's the fact that Drayano inserted - or buffed the encounter rate, I dunno - Chanseys in here. Y'know, in the middle of the ChuckSmine Slog. Thanks, Drayano!

We're really, really close to the Safari Zone now. Will we get to Baoba in time and save him? What about the Safari itself? Do the Rockets have anything else up their sleeve? Are there any more Sinnoh inserts for Drayano to stuff into the game? Find out the outcome of the Safari Zone Sidequest in the next update!




Former Donation Total: 55

Caught Dietmar - 1
Caught Ragnar - 1

Current Donation Total: 57





- Eren, the Slowking (Level 39)
Nature: Docile
Held Item: None
Ability: Own Tempo
Power Gem/Yawn/Confusion/Surf

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 39)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: King's Rock
Ability: Synchronize
Tickle/Headbutt/Faint Attack/Dig

- Trunks, the Farfetch'd (Level 39)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: Stick
Ability: Super Luck
Fly/Close Combat/Swords Dance/Poison Jab

- Lima, the Arcanine (Level 38)
Nature: Hardy
Held Item: None
Ability: Flash Fire
Thunder Fang/Take Down/Dig/Flamethrower

- Li Peng, the Victreebel (Level 39)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: Miracle Seed
Ability: Chrlorophyll
Giga Drain/Sleep Powder/Acid/Stockpile

- Melissa, the Raichu (Level 40)
Nature: Sassy
Held Item: Shell Bell
Ability: Lightningrod
Surf/Fly/Wish/Thunderbolt

At Safari Zone Gate, the last wave of Rockets await us. Two of them block the entrance to the proper site, and they refuse to budge, so I talk to the only other person out in the open... ah, dammit, it's Cameron the Photographer. I hate talking to an NPC thinking it's someone interesting and then it's this guy. Anyway, my team did take a beating while grinding some on the bushes of Route 48, so I'd best heal up. Bear in mind that Safari Zone Gate is a ghost town right now; there are NONE of the original characters in here, and even at the Center, it's just Nurse Joy.


"Would you like to rest your Pokémon?"
"Yes"
"Too bad, brat!"
"What the--"

"Nurse Joy" twirls around and reveals herself as being a Rocket Grunt, who ambushes me alongside none other than Archer, Assistant TO the Rocket Boss, now acting manager in place of the missing Giovanni. He tells me he has no idea how I beat his underlings, but that he can beat me. It's a 2-on-1 for now, but Riley, from Iron Island, shows up at the last minute and Archer decides to take this outside.

Unable to heal via Pokémon Center, I put some of our milks and Full Heals to work while maintaining Lima on point. The stage is set. Time to break one of Team Rocket's legs.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback and Trainer Riley vs. Rocket Admin Archer and Team Rocket Grunt
Safari Zone Gate - The Final Dream Tag Match

Lima (lv38) and Absol (lv37) vs. Scyther (lv37) and Zangoose (lv38)

Right off the bat, Zangoose uses Close Combat and one-shots Absol. Brr. Though that did open up a window for Lima to also one-shot Scyther with a Flamethrower.

Tag-in: Lucario (lv37) for Absol (lv37)
Tag-in: Mawile (lv37) for Scyther (lv37)

Again, Zangoose outspeeds everyone and uses Close Combat on Lucario, who is brought into the lower red. Lima obliterates Mawile with another Flamethrower, and also learns Extremespeed mid-battle in place of Take Down. Lucario counters the visibly weakened Zangoose with an Aura Sphere - it goes like you expect it to go.

Tag-in: Granbull (lv37) for Mawile (lv37)
Tag-in: Houndoom (lv39) for Zangoose (lv38)

Double Intimidate... nice one. Houndoom uses Thunder Fang to KO Lucario, bringing Riley to his last 'mon, and Lima tanks a Headbutt from Granbull while bringing him to the lower yellow with a Flamethrower.

Tag-in: Ursaring (lv37) for Lucario (lv37)

Fine teamwork here. I use Dig at Houndoom, hoping that Riley takes the hint, and Ursaring finishes Granbull off with a Slash. Unfortunately, Fire Blast hits our ally and wastes him, turning this into a face-off between me and Archer. Both allies are left to watch. Archer withdraws Houndoom.

Tag-in: Gyarados (lv38) for Houndoom (lv39)

To hell with this.

Tag-in: Melissa (lv40) for Lima (lv39)

Melissa, as expected, fries Gyarados with a Thunderbolt and she's also staying for the last one.

Tag-in: Houndoom (lv39) for Gyarados (lv38)

With no collateral damage to think of, Meli's Surf hits true and unimpeded, taking whatever HP Houndoom had left. Don't mess with a Surfing Raichu! And get out of my Safari!!!!


Archer leaves, claiming to "already have what they wanted" (ooooooooo, ominous), and takes Team Rocket with him. Riley bends my ear a bit about the Battle Frontier, and tells me I should visit the girls in Goldenrod and him at Mahogany. The girls give us nothing noteworthy, but Riley has something useful, so make a mental note of that for later.

Now, the Safari Zone Gate is all back to how it was in vanilla, which means it's the end of this wonderful sidequest. Awwww . Anyway, let's heal up and visit Baoba, see if he's harmed. Actual Nurse Joy is back in business, and an NPC by the counter gives me an Up-Grade, but more importantly, Baoba is safe and sound. Phew. Alright, let's totally take this Owner Aptitude Test very seriously and not abuse the Pinwheel Clause to get 6 new catches!


Caught Hutch, the Magmar

Caught Yo-yo, the Girafarig

Caught Tim, the Tauros

Caught Dara, the Exeggcute



A half-good haul, if anything, but the three species I got are of my interest. Huh? There's four? Oh yeah, I also headbutted a tree at the Gate. Let's hit the PC and take a look at all the new faces since last update, shall we?

First up, Ragnar the Tropius. His Ability is Chlorophyll, and his nature is Hardy. Hmmm. Nothing that endangers Li Peng's existance. Next, Hutch. His nature is Naughty, and his Ability is Flame Body. Sigh. What a letdown. Then, we move on to Yo-yo; Inner Focus is a pretty "meh" Ability, and her Jolly nature isn't bad, but isn't good either. Moving on, Dara. This one will be a shadow to Li Peng. She has a nifty Bold nature and Chlorophyll (again), and an awesome typing. Last, but not least, Tim. His Relaxed nature turns him into somewhat of a tank, and Intimidate is just what I was hoping for as an Ability. Most of the new recruits fell short of my expectations, but Dara and Timmy here might just take up someone's spot in the future...

You'll also notice that I have no catch for Route 47. That's on purpose. I really could not care less about having more Water-types on the PC, and the only grass patch in there is past a waterfall. We'll be back here once we get the HM.

Anywhoooo, enough daydreaming about the future and about non-canon sidequests. It's time to get back to reality... the ChuckSmine Slog is still looming over us. The level cap reads "43", and that's what we're aiming for, mostly. Onwards to the grind.


...


Alright, here's what you missed. Trunks exchanged Poison Jab for Psycho Cut, and that's it. The squad is all at Level 42 now, and we're in Olivine City's gym. As expected, no one inside challenges me. Good. It's not like I was stuck into the worst grind of not only the Pokémon games, but possibly every RPG ever made, and desperately needed battles with higher EXP yield. No, no, no need to thank me for saving Amphy either. If I knew y'all would do this to me, I'd let him perish and steal the badge from Jasmine. Seriously. Go die on a fire, all of you.

Jasmine, you - aw, I can't stay mad at you. She tells me she uses the... clang!... Steel-type (don't ask me what exactly hit the floor), and after singing its praises, she tells me she's not lying. Jasmine... I know.

You're just mistaken.


BATTLE! CompleteWingback vs. Gym Leader Jasmine
Olivine City - Battle for the Mineral Badge

Eren (lv42) vs. Metang (lv37)

The Metang may be sorely disadvantaged, but Eren has no real damaging moves to finish it, and I don't wanna drag this battle. So, let's Yawn and leave the job to someone better, say...

Lima (lv42) vs. Metang (lv37)

... Lima! Now, to use Flamethr-- SHIT!! EARTHQUAKE!! Fortunately, Metangs are usually much weaker than their evolution, so it takes half of Lima's HP and then Yawn kicks in, but damn. Close call. One Flamethrower and the foe is down.

Trunks (lv42) vs. Steelix (lv40)

The ace is out already!! This is a battle between a 4x supereffective move vs. a gargantuan Defense stat. Trunks sets up with Swords Dance, and Steelix uses Iron Tail... almost killing him!! Luckily, not only the next move was a boosted Close Combat, it was also a critical hit.

Lima (lv42) vs. Magneton (lv39)

This is the sub-ace. With half of my team wounded, I planned on sending out someone else, but I don't think anyone can deal with Magnetons better than Lima right now. I waste no time using Flamethrower and... it crits! Hell yeah!!

Dadinho (lv42) vs. Bronzong (lv38)

How do you deal with a physical wall with counter moves for almost your entire team? Simple. You use Dadinho. While the Umbreon engaged Bronzong into a x6 Tickle session, all it could do was make it rain (for whatever reason), use Gyro Ball for little to no damage, and hit a single Hypnosis on me; because the more things change, the more they stay the same. I'll give Bronzong the respect it deserves, though; even with its Defense 6 stages lower, it tanked a Faint Attack before succumbing to the next one.

Lima (lv42) vs. Forretress (lv38)

I don't have to tell you what happened, do I?

Melissa (lv42) vs. Skarmory (lv39)

Unlike the Gym Leaders we've seen so far, Jasmine actually has a "third wheel", a hidden sub-ace in Skarmory. You're all very well aware of Skarmory's defensive prowess. It's almost unfair that Melissa has to drop her with a single Thunderbolt; Jasmine's team is pretty cool.


And there it is! This was... much easier than before. Am I overdoing it with the overgrinding rule? Well, I say that, but Team Rocket has taken 1 teammate from me and nearly took 5 others, so... hmmm.

Anyway, Jasmine gives me the Mineral Badge and TM23 (Iron Tail) before sending me on my way. This means, of course, that the nightmare is over. The ChuckSmine Slog is a thing of the past now, and my friends, am I glad we got through it. Never shall I ever see another Tentacruel again.

Next time, on "Thanks, Drayano", we'll finally see what lies east of Ecruteak! A new HM, new catches, new battles and Team Rocket are all expecting us. Stay tuned!




Former Donation Total: 57

Caught Hutch - 1
Caught Yo-yo - 1
Caught Tim - 1
Caught Dara - 1
Beat Jasmine - 2

Current Donation Total: 63




- Eren, the Slowking (Level 42)
Nature: Docile
Held Item: None
Ability: Own Tempo
Power Gem/Yawn/Confusion/Surf

- Dadinho, the Umbreon (Level 42)
Nature: Impish
Held Item: King's Rock
Ability: Synchronize
Tickle/Headbutt/Faint Attack/Dig

- Trunks, the Farfetch'd (Level 42)
Nature: Brave
Held Item: Stick
Ability: Super Luck
Fly/Close Combat/Swords Dance/Psycho Cut

- Lima, the Arcanine (Level 42)
Nature: Hardy
Held Item: None
Ability: Flash Fire
Thunder Fang/Extremespeed/Dig/Flamethrower

- Li Peng, the Victreebel (Level 42)
Nature: Mild
Held Item: Miracle Seed
Ability: Chrlorophyll
Giga Drain/Sleep Powder/Acid/Stockpile

- Melissa, the Raichu (Level 42)
Nature: Sassy
Held Item: Shell Bell
Ability: Lightningrod
Surf/Fly/Wish/Thunderbolt

[/spoiler]