Part 24: And On That Farm He Had A...

Update 20: And On That Farm He Had A...

Route 38



: NEW BARK TOWN? PROF.ELM lives over there, right? You've come a long way to get here.



We've come too faaaaar, to lose it aaaaaall. Oh, uh, we're gonna be on some new routes today. Should be a lot of fun.



: May I see your POKéMON?



This is a good first match up.

"soothe my nerves."

Seems to be doing alright so far.

"bird POKéMON!"

Another Berry. Now we have way more than we need.




HP: 35 | ATK: 85 | DEF: 45 | SP.ATK: 35 | SP.DEF: 35 | SPD: 75 | TOTAL: 310
#199: Doduo



Return does some pretty good damage, but get used to seeing Helios until it catches up in levels. Which thankfully won't be long, since I caught it at a fairly high level. The level ranges between 15 and 25, but since Natu evolves at level 25, I wanted to have a few levels of Natu. It was pretty risky, since it learns Teleport at level 20, so I might have lost my cute totem bird.



Game Freak is just hammering in that Doduo can Fly.



Well I know where we're heading as soon as we can.




Oh, you've been to Hawaii, then?



Night Shade is a fine move for when I wanna finish a Pokemon off. 23 damage isn't too bad, honestly. Though in this specific case, it wasn't enough. Slam (Tatakitsukeru) is a Normal move with 80BP, 20PP and 75% accuracy. It's not too great a move when Body Slam, or Headbutt are around, so give it a skip.



Well I have technically been to many places all over the Pokemon world.


"some advice?"

Okay, I've got some. Be a protagonist.



I'm honestly not sure what I expected with this match up.



: MOOMOO FARM's milk is famous for its flavor. You're really good at POKéMON! Boys give me items after battles, but sometimes they give me too much. Next time, I can share some if you want. Let me get your phone number.



I'll take your number, yes.



: Does that make me bad?

"today."

Why you hiding in the corner, boy?




HP: 40 | ATK: 45 | DEF: 65 | SP.ATK: 100 | SP.DEF: 120 | SPD: 90 | TOTAL: 460
#156: Mr. Mime



Pfft, typical. Barrier (Bariā) is a Psychic status move with 30PP that raises Defense by two stages. It's an alright move, but not with the best distribution.




: So when I do get to play, I really concentrate. Huh? Is that thing a POKéDEX? Have you met PROF.OAK? Huh? You have? That's way cool! I have a dream of becoming a POKéMON researcher like PROF.OAK. May I please have your phone number? We should chat about PROF.OAK. I'm sure it will be loads of fun!

"TALK, right?"

Ehhhhh, sure, maybe. This guy is a lot more useful in Gold and Silver as he'll call you if Snubbull are swarming on the route. Crystal made Snubbull available a lot earlier, instead of being on these routes with a 1% encounter. The other trainer we got a number from, Lass Dana, will call when Tauros are swarming on the route. Both the swarms are combined and gives you a 30% chance to find Snubbull and a 5% chance of a Tauros, up from 4% normally. Yeah, that's not impressive, but it's something. And then you have a 10% chance of a Rattata or Meowth, depending on the time. I assume the rest of the Pokemon remain unchanged, as that's all that's listed for swarms.

"beautiful?"

Last trainer. Unique to Crystal, too.




HP: 55 | ATK: 55 | DEF: 85 | SP.ATK: 65 | SP.DEF: 85 | SPD: 35 | TOTAL: 380
#171: Corsola



Thankfully not during battle.



That sounds awful.



There's quite a selection of Pokemon available here. Let's start catching.



...or not.



Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm



How now, evil cow?




HP: 55 | ATK: 81 | DEF: 60 | SP.ATK: 50 | SP.DEF: 70 | SPD: 97 | TOTAL: 413
#018: Raticate




Easy enough. Hyper Fang (Hissatsumaeba: Certain-kill Fang) is a Normal move with 80BP, 15PP and 90% accuracy that has a 10% chance to flinch. No, it does not have a chance to OHKO, not sure why it's named that in Japanese.



Curse you Hypnosis. Sonicboom (Sonikku Būmu) is a Normal move with 20PP and 90% accuracy that always does 20 damage, no matter what. It ignores type resistances, but can't hit Ghost types.



Might as well use one of my Fast Balls on one of the three Pokemon it works on. And it seems to do fine.



Is this the first Steel type we've obtained? Yeah? Cool.




HP: 75 | ATK: 100 | DEF: 95 | SP.ATK: 40 | SP.DEF: 70 | SPD: 110 | TOTAL: 490
#148: Tauros



Horn Attack (Tsuno de Tsuku: Horn Thrust) is a Normal move with 65BP, 25PP and 100% accuracy. It's a fine move, but you'll need to replace it soon enough.



It seems weird to just catch this Pokemon so easily. Well, it still has a low encounter rate, but I'm so glad to be free of the Safari Zone... in this game... hrmmmmmm.



Only one new encounter at night and it's a good one.



And that's it for Route 38. It's a nice change from previous routes with some sweet new Pokemon. On to the next route.

Route 39

"capable of."

Ah, the welcoming committee.



Helios is still trucking along just fine. Good bird.



Body Slam (Noshikakari: Lean On) is a Normal move with 85BP, 15PP and 100% accuracy, with a 30% chance of paralyzing the opponent, including Normal types, huzzah. It's a pretty great move, but it's no longer a TM, so good luck finding it.

"abilities?"

: People are like that too. Everyone has different potential.



Aw yeah, I've been looking forward to this milk here.



Hello cows. Hello money. Hello sleep restoring berry.

Moomoo Farm

"n'more."

: This here FARM's got famous milk. Most everyone wants a drink. I'll give me lots o' milk if'n I feed it lots o' BERRIES, I reckon.



: So if our own MILTANK won't give us any milk, we're in trouble.



: She needs lots of BERRIES.

Well, we've got some berries, let's see what we can do.



Nine better be enough.



This is something you kinda need to pre-plan for. If you bolt through the game picking all the trees you come across, you'll have 6 Berries, one shy of what you need. But it's really not hard to get some more, so it shouldn't be a problem.




You'll be noted after 3 and 5 berries fed and with 7, we're done. As easy as that.



: Give it to POKéMON to restore HP! I'll give it to ya fer just $500.

Hell yeah!



Moomoo Milk is, in my opinion, the best healing item in the game. 100HP is a fantastic amount and solves the jump of the Super Potion to the Hyper Potion. It's an item we'll be using for the rest of the game, once Super Potions start losing their effectiveness. But more often than not, you won't reach the point where you'll be relying on Hyper Potions. And it's so cheap, too!



But here's a really annoying thing: if you have one or more Moomoo Milks in your Bag, you can't buy another one. At all. I can't believe how stupid that is and it really limits this item's effectiveness.



: Here's somethin' fer your trouble.



: It's a rare move that only works while the POKéMON is asleep. You best think how you ought to use it, hon.

Snore (Ibiki) is a Normal move with 40BP, 15PP and 100% accuracy that can only be used while asleep and has a 30% chance to flinch the target. This is not a great move, especially since Sleep Talk is so much better.



So this is how you can buy more than one Moomoo Milk: if it isn't in your bag, then you can get another one. So have one of your Pokemon hold it.



Keep on repeating this and you'll be able to get 7 at a time. One in your bag and six held by your Pokemon. But after that, you'll need to deposit them in your PC and repeat the whole process all over again. I think it's worth it, but man, I'm so glad they dropped that limitation.

Route 39



Now we're back on track.

"at the same time."

Uh, I'll show you mine if you show me yours...?



I definitely peek at you.



...yeah, I like em. They're cool.

"PIKACHU!"

Hmm.




The Yellow LP is over, friend. Just accept it.



Weren't those Pokefans hanging around these ledges last time? Ah, whatever.



Show me your moves.



Oh boy, it's a good level. Matey.




HP: 65 | ATK: 75 | DEF: 70 | SP.ATK: 95 | SP.DEF: 70 | SPD: 95 | TOTAL: 490
#160: Xatu

"overseas."

: They're my companions on those long voyages.



Alright, that's two of our team that's fully evolved. Don't think we've got too many to go.



Sounds good normal acting person.



So beginneth the wratheth of Helios... eth.

"on ROUTE 39."

: I'm not sure why, but it seems to like it when I train here. It seems to become friendlier by training here than anywhere else.

Olivine City



Ah, finally made it to a new city. Let's have an explore.



...?

: You again? There's no need to panic, I don't bother with wimps like you. Speaking of weaklings, the city's GYM LEADER isn't here. Supposedly taking care of a sick POKéMON at the LIGHTHOUSE. Humph! Boo-hoo! Just let sick POKéMON go! A POKéMON that can't battle is worthless! Why don't you train at the LIGHTHOUSE? Who knows. It may make you a bit less weak!



He keeps saying no to that hug, can't imagine why.



Well I need my Gym fix, so to the Lighthouse it is.



Next time, of course.