Part 30: Surfing and Strengthing Around
Update 24: Surfing and Strengthing Around
Holy crap, I remembered to actually update y'all on my team. Let's have a comparison to how they were, shall we? Kakarott hasn't changed too much, he's kinda falling behind with fairly weak moves overall, but Fire STAB is still very useful so soon he'll be much more effective when he actually learns some goddamn moves!
Similarly, Jeremiah hasn't improved much due to low stats. She's been pretty dependable with Surf and Hypnosis, but Doubleslap is not a great move to have to rely on for other Water types. She'll improve after an evolution, but that's a little while off yet.
Churchill is dependable and pretty strong, but very one note. Bite is not a good coverage move for her, nor is Rock Smash, but that's what we got right now. She's also pretty slow and can't evolve again for another boost, so she'll start dropping off the further we go.
Helios is Helios. His stats are kinda good for a physical attacker, but that's not what I want him to be. Eventually we'll get the good moves he needs, but that's still a ways off. Despite that, he's doing just fine, so we can manage until then. Okay, on with the show!
Cherrygrove City
: I think it's MYSTIC WATER. I don't need it, so do you want it?
First stop and we're already getting items. It's gonna be a whirlwind tour as we go back through Johto to get some cool stuff.
Slowpoke Well
Let's explore the rest of Slowpoke Well, cause goddamn these Strength boulders were bothering me.
"of evolution."
: Through observation, I made a new discovery. A SLOWPOKE with a KING'S ROCK often gets bitten by a SHELLDER. Here, I'll share a KING'S ROCK with you.
: I'll wait patiently, so I can see one evolve.
Oh hey, it's one of those weather moves I keep talking about. Don't have much use for them in single player, but they can be pretty useful in competitive. The King's Rock can evolve one of two Pokemon, but you only get one, so choose wisely.
HP: 95 | ATK: 75 | DEF: 110 | SP.ATK: 100 | SP.DEF: 80 | SPD: 30 | TOTAL: 490
#081: Slowbro
Well that's all to that evolution line... OR IS THERE?
Ruins of Alph
Now that we can move the boulder, it's time to take on the last Ruins of Alph puzzle. Of course, this is not the last time we'll be coming back here.
We won't be able to access the back room just yet, but the puzzle shouldn't be too bad.
I'm not entirely sure why this puzzle instead of the Ho-oh one is the last one we can get to, but it can be tricky. It doesn't have clear edges and you have to work out what perspective you're working with, so maybe you'll have trouble?
That's all 26 Unown available to catch. We will be catching all of them, but we shall do so later, cause I still need my Pokeball money for other things.
Dark Cave
While there's nothing new to pick up in Dark Cave, we can surf across and reach this area. There's nothing here, since we're on the wrong side, but the encounters are different, allowing us to catch these Pokemon earlier than usual. Neat!
We can finally catch our own Wobbuffet! And a Graveler too, I guess.
Now to randomly decide when to catch the evolution.
HP: 90 | ATK: 130 | DEF: 75 | SP.ATK: 75 | SP.DEF: 75 | SPD: 55 | TOTAL: 500
#194: Ursaring
I'm quite glad I discovered this, cause Ursaring is at the same level as our team, so it's an excellent opportunity to pick one up if you need a good Normal type.
HP: 75 | ATK: 80 | DEF: 70 | SP.ATK: 65 | SP.DEF: 75 | SPD: 90 | TOTAL: 455
#038: Golbat
It's best to raise up a Zubat if you want to evolve it all the way, as catching a Golbat requires more grinding up for happiness.
Route 32
New Egg to grab. Now it's Vegeta's turn to make some babies.
Some new items to grab, pretty good ones too. What else is down here?
I don't want to know what I've stumbled upon.
Easy enough, buuuut...
"unpunished!" 
We're going straight into another trainer.
Bubblebeam (Baburu Kōsen) is a Water move with 65BP, 20PP and 100% accuracy that has a 10% chance of lowering the target's Speed by one stage. It's an alright Water move when you don't have Surf. It's not as available this time as it's no longer a TM.
Ugh.
"KATE is tough!" 
"for this!"Uh oh, sister wrath.
"little sisters!"
HP: 50 | ATK: 95 | DEF: 180 | SP.ATK: 85 | SP.DEF: 45 | SPD: 70 | TOTAL: 525
#170: Cloyster
Heh, cute. Withdraw (Kara ni Komoru: Withdraw into Shell) is a Water status move with 40PP that raises Defense by one stage. It's nothing special.
"stand a chance."
: Here. You deserve this.
: I'm sorry we jumped you. We never expected anyone to find us here. You sure startled us.Burned Tower
Before we move onto the large chunk of this update, there's one small thing to pick up in the Burned Tower. We could also go to the second tower, but there's nothing for us there right now.
Endure (Koraeru) is a Normal status move with 10PP and +3 priority that prevents the Pokemon from fainting from an attack, leaving it at 1HP and can work multiple times a turn. It can also be used at 1HP, technically protecting a Pokemon from attacks during that turn. It does not protect the user from end of turn effects, however, like Poison and Burn.
Union Cave
Now it's the right time (heh) to head back into Union Cave and delve deep into its depths.
Oh good, more crazy cave dwellers.
HP: 60 | ATK: 80 | DEF: 110 | SP.ATK: 50 | SP.DEF: 80 | SPD: 45 | TOTAL: 425
#204: Marowak
"lirious with joy."
"POKéMON research."
: Let me demonstrate my findings in a real battle!
HP: 105 | ATK: 95 | DEF: 80 | SP.ATK: 40 | SP.DEF: 80 | SPD: 90 | TOTAL: 490
#205: Kangaskhan
"study findings.": I might even become famous like PROF.ELM.Not PROF.OAK? Well, you do you, friend. Mega Punch (Megaton Panchi: Megaton Punch) is a Normal move with 80BP, 20PP and 85% accuracy. It does a lot of damage, but the accuracy might not work out too well if you're not careful.
Alright, let's see what's down here.
One item there, but nothing on this bit of land? Oh well, I see another item up there.
: Those who have style, and those who don't. What kind of person are you?
Well, you can probably guess what team this guy has. So it's a perfect time to talk about the evolutions of the starters.
HP: 60 | ATK: 62 | DEF: 63 | SP.ATK: 80 | SP.DEF: 80 | SPD: 60 | TOTAL: 405
#227: Ivysaur
HP: 58 | ATK: 64 | DEF: 58 | SP.ATK: 80 | SP.DEF: 65 | SPD: 80 | TOTAL: 405
#230: Charmeleon
HP: 59 | ATK: 63 | DEF: 80 | SP.ATK: 65 | SP.DEF: 80 | SPD: 58 | TOTAL: 405
#233: WartortleWe'll be going over the final evolutions when we encounter them. I'll also be going over the Johto starter evolutions when it's convenient.
And you've got dazzling Pokemon.
"colorful. I admit." 
I hope so, or it'll be a pretty uphill game.
Moving from a starter trainer to an Eevee trainer.
Ah, thank heavens. Flame Wheel (Kaen Guruma) is a Fire move with 60BP, 25PP and 100% accuracy that thaws the user and has a 10% chance of burning the opponent. It's definitely a step up from Ember, but there are better Fire moves. Eventually.
Level ups all around.
"improve."Man, are we almost done with this cave?
"I'd go anywhere.": That's what a real trainer does.
"the water's edge.": I wanted to see that POKéMON...
Well girl, today's your lucky day! Who's that Pokemon?
HP: 130 | ATK: 85 | DEF: 80 | SP.ATK: 85 | SP.DEF: 95 | SPD: 60 | TOTAL: 535
#219: Lapras
Aw man. Sing (Utau) is a Normal status move with 15PP and 55% accuracy that puts the target to sleep. It's very close to an actual coin flip, so it always sucks when you miss/get hit by it.
We also have Mist (Shiroi Kiri: White Mist), an Ice status move with 30PP that prevents stat reductions by the opponent until you switch out. It doesn't prevent stat loss from status, nor does it stop self inflicted stat reduction. Unlike last gen, the effects of Mist are no longer removed by Haze.
While it's can be hard to catch, I thankfully didn't have too bad a time with it. So that's all there is to do with Union Cave.
A quick Escape Rope out and we're back to take down the last Gym. Well, after we've checked in with Kotone. See you then.