Previously on Pokémon FireRed:
Chapter 2: Second Verse, Same As The First
I'm about to take my first step into a larger world...
I'm in tall grass and nothing is trying to kill me. That's good.
Hey, there's other people here!
[[Nilbog Notes: I will not be screenhotting every single NPC in the game, but I will try to get the most useful, funny, and relevant ones...
...like this guy who gives us a free potion.]]
Thanks, Mr. Mart Man! Hey, I bet I can get some Pokéballs there too! I'd love to expand my team a bit.
Woah, wait, what?
*gasp* My first wild Pokémon!
[[Nilbog Notes:
Rattata
#019
Normal
"Bites anything when it attacks. Small and very quick, it is a common sight in many places."
It is a Pokémon tradition to fill the early route with Normal-type birds and rodents that are nothing too special and are usually outclassed later on, but can still provide decent utility if you like them enough to keep around. This is the first ever Pokémon of that latter type.]]
Scratch that rat, Axel!
[[Nilbog Notes: This is what buffs/debuffs look like in this game, with different colors representing different stats]]
That's my boy!
[[Nilbog Notes: We learned our first Fire-Type move! Fire moves are Super-Effective (deals base double damage) against Grass, Bug, Ice, and Steel types and are not very effective (deals base half damage) against Fire, Water, Rock, and Dragon types.
Ember has the same stats as Scratch, and I neglected to mention last time that a base power of 40 for a move is fairly weak though competitive at this early stage of the game. However, because Axel is a Fire Type, Fire moves will automatically deal 1.5x the damage they normally would. This is known colloquially as Same Type Attack Bonus, or S.T.A.B.]]
Man, this terrain is a lot more hilly than I expected.
Ha, thanks for the advice, but I don't plan on going back to that place for a VERY long time.
Okay, so far I've only run into the one rat, but this patch of grass is a little more intimidating...
Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh........
*snerk* NO I am better than this...
Oh, so this must be that Pokémon Center they were talking about. Let's get you a checkup, Axel.
Well, isn't this pleasant?
Well thank you! That was convenient and painless!
....I am going to be charitable and assume you mean you hope I am responsible about keeping my Pokémon healthy and not that you wish to see them badly hurt...
Well, naturally! You'd have to be pretty damn evil in order to charge someone actual money for healthcare.
Oh, don't mind if I do!
[[Nilbog Notes: All we can access right now is "Someone's PC" which is Pokémon Storage, and our own PC which is Item storage.
Item management prior to Gen 3 used to be a nightmare of limited bagspace and little-to-no sorting. Luckily from here on out we can pretty much hang onto everything we pick up, so once we got out our potion at the beginning we have no need to access our item storage PC ever again]]
Oooh, the Mart! I can finally buy some Pokéballs!
Err...yeah. Why?
Yeah. Why?
Err, well...I guess, but I don't plan to see him for a whi-
Okay, but, can I buy someth-
Let's see if there's another Mart further on...
Uhhhh...am I walking in on a crime?
Oh, he's just drunk.
I guess I really have no choice....
Well played, person standing in the grass.
OOOOOOAAAAAAAAKKKKK!!
He mercilessly mauled a small rodent. Take your package.
I'm growing more attached to him too. Take your package.
Stop patronizing me and take your package so I can spend money!
I was press-ganged into being a courier.
Wait, you can get them custom? I'm not overfond of the standard red,...
Oh of COURSE, it has to be a whole reunion. How fun.
I knew getting a Pokémon for free was too easy....
Huh, that's actually kind of neat.
Well, it's a start. Thanks for that, seriously.
Professor, all due respect, I DID pass a trainer exam.
You know it's really unhealthy to project your unfulfilled dreams onto kids in your sphere, right?
Why am I not surprised?
>:\
Oh really now?
Okay, so I have Pokéballs, let's see if I can meet some friends along the way on the road to Viridian city.
Boy that was an odd way to phrase tha- LOOK ANOTHER RAT!
Okay, do one attack to weaken it, then throw a ball.
Oops, critical hit
Oh, a small birb!
Got him!
As far back as he could remember, he always wanted to be captured in a tiny ball
[[Nilbog Notes:
Pidgey
#016
Normal/Flying
"A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand."
The quintessential early route bird. I'm in the minority where most people have raised one lovingly to final stage at least once, but I've never been a particular fan of them.]]
Huh, I didn't notice this side path before...
Ooh, I sense some interesting new faces in this grass....
Interesting is certainly right...
He certainly has "psychotic Tim Roth in heavy makeup" vibes.
[[Nilbog Notes:
Mankey
#056
Fighting
"Extremely quick to anger. It could be docile one moment and thrashing away the next"
Mankey is formerly a Red Version exclusive (a mirror to Blue-exclusive Meowth) that was added to Route 22 in Yellow and FireRed/LeafGreen in order for those starting with Pokémon weak to the first gym to have a super-effective option. In Red/Blue, you could catch both Nidorans here instead, which while they could learn the fighting move Double-Kick learn it fairly late until Yellow.]]
Making up for an earlier mistake and giving her courage of the heart, which is very rare.
[[Nilbog Notes: I spoke about Rattata when we first saw one, but from this point forward I'm only making special entries on ones I catch when I catch them. Feel free to play yourself to find out about the rest!]]
Ooh, another birb!
He wasn't a very good person, but I cannot resist the pun.
[[Nilbog Notes:
Spearow
#021
Normal/Flying
"Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its wings at high speeds to stay airborne."
Spearow, on the other hand, I've always been more fond of. I used to think you couldn't get one until Route 3, but he's always been here on 22.]]
So now with that cleared out, let's see where this road leads.
Are you following me or something?!?!?!
Oh, that's what's up this way?
I literally just beat you!
Okay, two to my five, that's not bad...
LEVEL 9?!?!
Once again I need to use my only Potion...
If I have Ember now, his Squirtle probably has a Water move.
Let me try a strategy that was used against me...
I lower its defense, but I'm too slow...
Okay, let's see if we can lower his stats more...
Aaaand you only have Tackle. I definitely should have checked first.
Whoops....
You have Growl, which lowers Attack.
Hey, with his Attack down and that hit tanked prior, I might be able to get another turn or two to get him lower!
...or not.....
Defense is still way too high. Scratch does nothing....
Squirtle used Tackle? I....I might make it?
Ha....HAAAAAA!!!!!
[[Nilbog Notes: This battle is entirely optional and missable, and the one time starting with Bulbasaur will work against you as that's weak to both Flying and Fire (in case it wasn't obvious last time, your rival picks the Starter with a type advantage against yours) and you can't catch any effective counters for Charmander this early. Choosing Squirtle would have allowed Agnew's Peck to do some big damage to Bulbasaur. Ironically I have the easiest setup as there is a Pokémon we can meet in the next section that can easily take both Pidgey and Squirtle apart, but for the sake of an interesting narrative I chose to come here now instead of later]]
For once, I won't argue with you.
You and me both. (And I need to get past them before you...)
I need to heal my Pokémon and try to get past that old man. But first...
***
[[Nilbog Notes: As always, we'll end by going over the current team.
Here's Axel three levels higher and six levels above the rest of the team
Squit here is Normal/Flying, our first dual-type. Normal is weak to Fighting and immune to Ghost. Flying is weak to Electric, Ice, and Rock, resistant to Grass, Fighting, and Bug, and immune to Ground. These weaknesses and resistances stack in Dual-types, meaning if you have the same weaknesses it quadruples damage, if you have the same resistances it quarters it. And if you have one weakness and one resistance, like how Normal is weak to Fighting and Flying resists it, they cancel out and do standard damage.
Squit's Keen Eye can be very useful, especially early-mid game when a lot of enemies will spam accuracy-lowering moves. His Impish nature buffs his Attack at the expense of his Special Attack.
Fighting type is weak to Psychic and Flying and resists Bug, Rock, and Dark. Sleep prevention with Vital Spirit is huge as Sleep is the second-worst status effect in the game (more on that later). Thade's Calm nature will boost his Special Defense while cutting his Attack - which if I recall correctly will be considerable enough to be able to endure the decrease, bothering only min/maxers.
Brisby is pure Normal, and like the previous two has good Attack and Speed and little else at this level. Her Mild nature ups her Special Attack and lowers her Defense which is...odd for a primarily speedy physical attacker, but Normal types tend to be able to learn a wide variety of moves so you could certainly take advantage of that if you wanted.
Finally we have Agnew...who is exactly like Squit except with better stats all around, a S.T.A.B Flying move in Peck, and a Sassy nature which buffs Special Defense and debuffs Speed.
A Pokémon team can have a maximum of six party members at one time. Some type redundancy is okay on a team if the other typing fills a different niche, but on the whole you definitely want as much variety as possible, even this early when there aren't many options and few if any of these creatures will stay on the team for the end, because you want to cover for as many type strengths and weaknesses as possible. In other words, don't get too attatched to Squit now that we have Agnew.
Tune in next week!]]
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