I was running through a forest...
...and I came upon a Pokémon battle...
...and I had to take control! Gengar, use Shadow claw!
Nidorino, use Tackle!
Wait, Ghost is immune to Normal! GHOST IS IMMUNE TO NORMAL!!!
GAH! Where did you come from?!
Wait, I know you...
"My name is OAK.
"This world...
"As for myself...
I know. You've lived next door to me all my life. Why are you in my dream telling me this? Is this a Trainer exam?
"But first, tell me a little bit about yourself...
Well, that's kind of a difficult question in this day and age, and I've been doing some thinking lately...nevermind, you're, what, in your 50s? I'm just going to say "Girl"
What can I say? My mom loves stringed instruments.
Ugh, oh no. Not him! We've been rivals since we were babies!
Oooh, I get to name him? ASSHOLE! DOUCHEBAG! FART!
Dammit, even in my dreams I can't win. Cesario...*shakes fist*
"VIOLA!
A world of dreams and adventures with Pokémon await! Let's go!"
Let's go? Go where? We're in a white void- wait, what's happening?
.....oh........
4am? This is going to be a long day....
Chapter 1: Shades of My Journey Await
Still four more hours until I can see Oak. I got my Trainer permit yesterday. I'm restless...
I need to think, I need to plan. I need...options.
[[Nilbog Notes: And this is as good a time as any to go over the options screen -
Text Speed is how fast character dialogue and battle messages appear. any option other than "Fast" is an excruciating crawl.
Battle Scene asks whether or not to show battle animations. Unless you have a neurological disorder that makes it dangerous to view certain kinds of visual input, there is no reason not to have it on.
Battle Style changes between Shift and Set. Shift allows you to switch Pokémon for free in a Trainer Battle after you've defeated one of your opponent's monsters. Set is for masochists who hate the concept of fun.
Sound switches between Mono and Stereo
Button Mode changed what the Shoulder Buttons on the Game Boy Advance do. Since we will not be using them for anything, the point is moot, but in FireRed and LeafGreen "Help" brings up a mini-FAQ on the basic gameplay
Frame changes the color and texture of menu borders. I've never used this cute purple brick wall before, so that's what we're going with for this run. ]]
I've studied typing charts and battle techniques. I've heard of the Gyms that specialize in certain types and the Pokémon League that can be challenged once you have all the Gym badges.
I want that glory.
I want to learn all these Gyms have to teach me, and assemble my team to represent Kanto and become its champion!
My only problem is....well....I don't know what those are.
More to the point, none of my books mention more than a few species of Pokémon that had certain important battles, such as Gengar, Nidorino, and the unexpected Jigglypuff sweeper of '96.
I'm hoping that what Oak wants to talk to me about involves working with Pokémon that I might start training one.
Alright, I killed a few hours, better get prepared.
A basic Potion. Not what I had hoped, but it could be worse. Maybe having a healing item on hand might ingratiate me to the Professor. Or even a Pokémon.
Time to head downstairs and talk to Mom.
.....Sure, Mom (She means well, but a critical thinker she ain't)
I can't be late, I waited just so I wasn't too early.
Say, Mom, what are you watching?
[[Nilbog Notes: Famously, in the original games and for male player characters in these games, the TV reads "Four Boys are Walking on Railroad Tracks", a reference to Stand By Me. I prefer that reference which is why I'm mentioning it here.]]
Welp, I better go too.
Little town, full of little people...
Pokémon, right! I need to go next door to find Oak. I just hope I don't run into jerkinstien...
Daisy's pretty cool. Oak's not here, so he might be in the Lab too. But that means...
UGH.
Well, where is he?!
God, I hope whatever this is lets me get out of this three-house town.
I want....
I want....
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere!
I want it more than I can bear!
And for once it might be grand
To have someone understand
I want so much more than...
But I was just sing-
Yeah, I know. Where have you -
Uh...I mean....okay?
"Here, Viola! There are three Pokémon here! Haha!
You really mean it?! Just like that?! :D
So, let's see what my options are...
Okay, I have to consider type advantages and disadvantages, likelihood of what I may be up against, and...uhhhh................
[[Nilbog Notes: And here comes the most important choice that any new player will make, as all the Starters cannot be found anywhere else in the game. Furthermore, it happens to be a stealth difficulty choice!
Bulbasaur
#001
Grass/Poison
"A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon."
Bulbasaur is Easy Mode. It absolutely destroys the first few gyms, and by the time you're forced to go up against things that will cause it trouble in the main story, your team will have diversified to compensate. It evolves into a fairly bulky status-effect master.
Squirtle
#007
Water
"After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. Powerfully sprays foam from its mouth."
Squirtle is Medium.It's great against the first gym, tapers off in effectiveness in the middle, then comes back to dominate the endgame. It evolves into a defensive tank.
Charmander
#004
Fire
"Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail."
Charmander is Hard Mode. It's absolutely bodied against the first two gyms and really only gets to shine against one in the middle, But it evolves into a damn fine glass cannon.
Now I have over the years grown to love and appreciate all three of these. But ever since my first time playing there has been one I've gravitated towards more than others...]]
WOOK AT HIS WIDDLE TAIL ON FIRE! I'm LOVE him! He so FEIRCE!
He's a FLURRY of dancing flames!
Oh right, you get one too...
Oh you DOUCHE
Yeah, well, good for you. Me and my good boi have things to do.
[[Nilbog Notes: This is the battle screen. You can Fight, grab an item from your Bag, go to your Pokémon menu to check on and/or switch your team, or Run...except from Trainer battles, which this is.
Each Starter has one Normal-type low-power damage dealing attack, and one debuff move. The trick to this first fight is, normally, to just keep attacking with your one damage-dealing move until your opponent faints. As a matter of fact, with one or two notable exceptions, I personally never bother with buff/debuff moves despite recognizing their value. Different people have different playtyles.
I...I thought I had screenshotted the animation here, but apparently I did not and it's too late to redo it. That's my bad. I'll get it next time.
So remember above when I said "normally just attacking will do the trick"? Well this teenage mutant ninja bastard just happened to get off two Critical Hits in a row, something I've never seen before in my 23 years of playing Pokémon games. A Critical Hit does double damage, and in Generaton 3 this ignores all stat changes with the exception of Burn (more on that in a future episode).
Normally I would be up shit creek without a paddle here, but if you recall I still have the Potion I got from my PC.
A normal Potion heals for 20HP. Axel has 19 total and we were down to 1, so it returns him to full but only just. But it keeps me in the game.
Winning this fight, like all Trainer fights, is important for two reasons. First, the sweet, sweet Experience Points you get from besting a foe
More on these stats later.
The second reason is money, which you ONLY get from Trainer Battles (and selling items) and which you need to keep your supplies stocked. If all your Pokémon faint, YOU lose a sizable sum of money (usually half of what you currently have, but in this game and the Gen 7 games there's a weird calculation).
You can continue one even if you lose this first battle, but it's always better to win.]]
HA! Believe it, baby! And don't blame your Pokémon for your own shortcomings, you twit!
Ugh, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT?! Creep...
I can't believe I really beat him. Oh my god. I thought we were going to die.
Axel, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
***
[[Nilbog Notes: Before we wrap up today's episode, let's take a closer look at our new friend here.
This page is the basics. From top to bottom it shows:
* The Pokémon's level. Pokémon have a minimum level of 1 and a maximum level of 100.
* The name of the Pokémon. If you have not nicknamed the monster, its specie name will be here.
* The Pokémon's gender (actually it's just its sex, but I agree with the Pokémon company wanting to keep the words "sex" and "Pokémon" as far away from each other as humanly possible). This only effects Breeding, which doesn't become an option in this game until well after the main story.
* The Pokémon's Dex number (more on that next episode).
* The specie name
* The Type. Charmander is a Fire type. Fire is weak against Water, Rock, and Ground-type attacks and resistant to Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, and Steel-type attacks.
* The OT: Original Trainer, which is us. Any Pokémon you catch will always listen to you. If the OT is someone else, the Pokémon gets boosted experience but may disobey you if it gets too high level relative to the amount of Badges you have. This is to prevent someone trading you a Level 100 sweeper at the first town and trivializing the game.
* ID Number is tied with the Trainer and affects certain other things in the game.
* If the Pokémon is holding an Item, which we are not, it would be shown in this space.
* Natures were added in Gen 3 and affect how individual Pokémon raise their stats. It's mostly only important to the frankly insane Competitive Pokémon subculture, since any team can beat the main game if you put enough love into them, but sometimes it's nice to know where a monster's strengths and weaknesses lie. As it levels up, an individual Pokémon will gain extra in one stat and less in another based on its Nature. Our Axel here has a Bashful Nature, which means he gets higher Special Attack while getting lower...Special Attack. Yup, our Starter has a Nature that cancels out its own bonus and does not gain or lose in any stat compared to average. Which is better than having a lowered stat in an area Charmanders otherwise excell in I suppose.
* Finally, a notation on where we picked up our Pokémon and at what level. This is more for nostalgia than anything, getting the warm fuzzies when your trusty Level 100 tells you you caught it at Level 2 all that time ago.
This is the Stats page.
*HP is Hit Points, basically your life bar
*Attack helps calculate damage you do by Physical Attacks. From Generations 1-3, whether an attack was Physical or Special was wholly determined by the Type. Attack calculates damage for Normal, Fighting, Poison, Ground, Flying, Bug, Rock, Ghost, and Steel type moves.
* Defense helps calculate your defense against Physical Attacks.
* Special Attack calculates damage for Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Ice, Psychic, Dragon, and Dark type moves.
* Special Defense helps calculate your defense against Special Attacks.
* Speed helps determine whether or not you go first in battle. The higher Speed stat attacks first unless their opponent uses a move with Priority.
So our boy here seems to favor Speed and slightly trails in Defense.
* Experience Points show how much experience the monster has learned in its career, as well as how many points it has left before it levels up next.
* Abilities were also a new addition back in Gen 3. They are passive abilities that affect the monster. Axel has Blaze, which makes Fire-type moves he uses do more damage if he's at critical health. All starters have type-appropriate versions of this Ability.
Finally, the Moves page, where we can view and reorder our moves. We only have two moves right now. Growl lowers the opponent's Attack one stage, and as you can see Scratch is a Normal-type move with a base Accuracy of 100, which means it will always hit unless Accuracy (or Evasion) is affected in Battle. Offensively, Normal-type attacks are super-effective against nothing at all, not very effective against Rock and Steel, and won't hit Ghost types at all. Moves can also be reordered on the fly by pressing Select on moves in battle.
Tune in next week for our next episode!]]
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