Pokemon Crystal Part #55 - Solving Current Problems

Part 55: Solving Current Problems

Update 43: Solving Current Problems

Alright, here's the goddamn Power Plant, so what's the damn problem dammit?

Damn.

"DUGTRIO?"

Another weird trade for a Dugtrio, just like the last game. You could have obtained a Magneton by now, since you could find Magnemite on Route 38. I'll be sure to not forget about this Dugtrio trade this time.

"someone!"

: Who would dare ruin my generator? I spent so much time on it! If I catch him, he's going to get a taste of my ZAP CANNON!

Maybe we should help before the manager creates his own power through steam...

: It appears that a shady character has been loitering around.

Well, Cerulean is a quick fly from here, so why not.

Is the Gym open yet?

Gah! People from Kanto are so rude.

"okay?"

: I very busy. No time for talking with you. Not good for me if seen by somebody.

: Oh no! You seen me already! I make big mistake! Hey you! Forget you see me, okay? You see, hear, know nothing, okay? Bye, kid! Nothing! Bye-bye a go-go!

Route 24

I liked that guy so much I'm gonna follow him forever.

"kind of guy!"

: Come from another country, a trainer number one, me! Think I did, if stop the energy, be big panic for here people! Secret it is my mission, so tell you I not! But! If win you do versus me, a man I be and mine secret to you I tell. Hey, kid! Battle begin we do!

The final Rocket grunt of the story and like the only good part of Neo Team Rocket.

Well that was fun.

"can't!"

: Strong very much be you! Match I am not to you!

: MACHINE PART steal by me, hide it I did in GYM of CERULEAN. Inside water put it I did. Look for in water center of GYM at.

: Beat you for sure will TEAM ROCKET. Come from JOHTO will they, mine friends, yes. Will revenge they are.

: You say what? TEAM ROCKET bye-bye a go-go? Broken it says you? Oh, no! Should I do what now on from, me?

And now we can solve the Power Plant Problem (tm), but since we're already on Route 25, let's head to the Sea Cottage.

"fabulous prize!"

: Think you've got what it takes?

This seems familiar, maybe this won't be so bad.

...ugggggggggggggggggggggggggh

There's a load of trainers in a row here, let's skip them, cause they're bad.

Well that was fun.

: I have nothing to do with the six-pack trainers. I waited here to beat you when you were tired out by the battles.

Neat, something for the pile.

: How about it? Let me take you on.

But for me it was a, uh, December 27th.

: You and your POKéMON are truly outstanding!

I'm being told that a lot and with everyone having real low levels, it feels a little patronizing.

Oh? This should be good.

Oh, uh, whoops

: Do you know what they call people like you? Pests! You heard me right, pest! ... ...Oh? Those BADGES you have... Are they JOHTO GYM BADGES?

: OK, then. Come to CERULEAN GYM. I'll be happy to take you on. I'm MISTY, the GYM LEADER in CERULEAN.

Well now we have two reasons to go the Gym. But hey, let's go see Bill, it's been a while.

Oh god Bill got old since we last saw him in Goldenrod. Another failed experiment?

: He's in JOHTO. He does something with PCs, so I'm house-sitting. My grandson BILL told me about a POKéMON that has a long tongue. If you have that POKéMON, may I see it please?

We'll be back to this old geezer later, since he wants to see some specific Pokemon that results in some neat evolution stones. He wants to see a Lickitung, a Growlithe, an Oddish, a Pichu and a Staryu, all Pokemon we have, though we wouldn't technically have a Pichu by this point in the game.

Down by the now collapsed entrance of Cerulean Cave's Unknown Dungeon, we can find the Berserk Gene. Best explanation for this item is it's a consumable Swagger, boosting your Attack by two stages and confusing you. Just, uh, use Swords Dance or something, the confusion aspect of this item makes it garbage and inferior to other held items that actually help you.

Unfortunately, we can't head to Mt. Moon from here. So we'll have to find another way.

Pokemon Gym

: Since MISTY was away, I went out for some fun too. He-he-he.

"nerve you."

Please stop talking in that way towards a 10 year old girl.

: MISTY will destroy you if you get complacent.

Alright, all that's left to do is head back to the Power Plant. Well, after the Gym, Kanto can be without power for just a little bit longer, right?

First? Y-yeah, first.

"past few years."

: Don't let your guard down, or you'll be crushed!

"with it!"

Jeremiah making a splash

Water types are a little tricky for this team, since we don't have an actual Electric type, so maybe Misty might be a bit of a challenge.

"pest!"

: You may have a lot of JOHTO GYM BADGES, but you'd better not take me too lightly. My water-type POKéMON are tough!

Gym Leader Battle (Kanto)

Misty: The Tomboyish Mermaid
(Obviously from mist, while Kasumi is literally kasumi, mist, or umi, sea, or kasumisō, the plant baby's breath)

Golduck hits hard with Surf and Psychic and may copy your early game stat boosts? Well it's not too interesting.

No no, stop that. It can hit pretty hard with Earthquake and it will set up some rain given the chance. It still doesn't let its Surf hit very hard, though.

I dunno why I used Stun Spore, maybe because I haven't really used it much.

This should stop the Lapras pretty hard, now your Water moves are useless!

Oh shit, not useless Ice moves!

Ah, maybe they are useless after all.

It could've gotten rid of the sun, but decided not to? Also Perish Song is useless for the AI, so if you're having trouble, maybe it might randomly use it.

Okay, this guy might be a problem, since Starmie usually are. Especially since it actually has some moves unlike its Gen 1 counterpart. Still has an allergy to Psychic moves for whatever reason.

But uh, Helios is just really good.

: I'll admit that you are skilled. Here you go. It's CASCADEBADGE.

Pokemon Gym

: I'm going to travel one day, so I can battle some skilled trainers.

: As always, that was one heck of a great battle!

It only took three goddamn updates, but we're finally completing this damn thing, dammit.

: That's the missing PART from my beloved generator! You found it? Wahah! Thanks! Here! Take this TM as a reward!

: It's a powerful technique! It's not what anyone would consider accurate, but it packs a wallop! Keep pumping the electricity out!

Zap Cannon (Denjihō: Electromagnetic Cannon) is a powerful Electric move with 100BP, 5PP and 50% accuracy that will always paralyze the target. It would be great if the accuracy wasn't so shit. So if you like coinflips, go ahead!

So after a fast energy fuelled update, now to end it on a bad note. See, Rock Tunnel is completely optional in this game, a few places are, actually. But there are a couple of good reasons to come here. Just a couple though.

Rock Tunnel

The route boundaries are so fucked, Rock Tunnel is now on Route 9. It's also really dark, so it's time to Flash.

Much like Gen 1, Rock Tunnel is a straight line, but it's even smaller and less interesting than it was before.

There's a few items here and there, but there's no trainers of interest. Nor any exciting strength puzzles, thankfully.

Here are some screenshots of Rock Tunnel. I assume they have some context.

On the bottom floor, there are some nice items and, finally, some new Pokemon.

Okay, one new Pokemon since technically we obtained a Cubone way back at Goldenrod's Game Corner. If you didn't get one then, now is the earliest you can catch one.

So do I need to breed this Kangaskhan to get the baby or what?

This looks like the end. I can't bloody tell. The amount of screenshots of this place makes me believe this is the end.

Ah, something good. Steel Wing (Hagane no Tsubasa) is a Steel move with 70BP, 25PP and 90% accuracy that has a 10% chance of raising Defense by one stage. As far as Steel moves go, it's the best distribution you've got, so pick wisely. Not that Steel coverage does a huge amount, but it's still something different. Of course, no one on our team can learn it, but it's not a big deal.