Part 13: Sights of Goldenrod City
Update 11: Sights of Goldenrod City
Goldenrod City
Goldenrod City: The Festive City of Opulent Charm
(From the goldenrod flower, also known as the Solidago)
Kogane City: The bustling, brilliant city of luxurious splendor.
(From kogane, gold. Yep.)
Welcome to the biggest city in the Johto region. This is gonna be a long ass update cause there's a LOT to do in this city when you first arrive. First up:
: Oh, so you're in GOLDENROD CITY... Isn't that where RADIO TOWER is? Did you go take a look?
Momma is still doing good.
First stop is an area that I quickly went to last update for some balls, but let's explore all it has to offer.
First stop is the basement! Cause there's nothing on the first floor for us.
: Our policy is the work behind the scenes where no one can see us!
Aw man I wish I could get that first item right now. Bah.
Our selection on the second floor is fairly basic, but exactly what you need in this part of the game. Getting Revives and Full Heals are pretty great and you should definitely pick up a few, if you can. And we have some more Mail. That makes two.
Moving up to the next two floors...
It contains all our drugs! On the third floor, the X items are the same as before, except the X Accuracy no longer gives you perfect accuracy for the rest of the battle, it instead just raises it one stage. So now they're not too interesting. On the fourth floor, we have the Stat Exp boosting items, they're the same as before.
The fifth floor is very interesting indeed.
: With just a little beep, you get a gift.This is Carrie (from carry, of course) or Okuru (from okuru, to send or to give) and she unlocks the option of Mystery Gift. This is something that's difficult to go into, but basically, you connect with with another player via the infrared port on the GBC and you will both receive an item. There are some very rare items and room decorations you can only obtain this way, including some unique stuff if you use Mystery Gift on Pokemon Stadium 2, which is where Carrie's artwork comes from.
Obviously I have no way of actually showing this off, but all the items are in the game's code, so I can very easily put them in sometime in the future. Mystery Gift is also used in conjunction with the Pokemon Pikachu 2 GS, a precursor to the Pokewalker, where you can transmit Watts from that device via Mystery Gift if you've taken lots of steps in the real world and buy items with these Watts, usually berries. Mystery Gift is the only way to obtain the Scope Lens, with a 0.2% chance to obtain it when you use the feature. This is the same chance to get evolution stones too and, with a 1% chance, the only way to get the Miracleberry, which restores status when held. It can be very helpful to get rare and cool items, but we can't use it. Oh well.
Anyway, this is the main reason for coming here. These TMs are fantastic: the elemental punches. In order, we have Thunderpunch (Kaminari Panchi), an Electric move with 75BP, 15PP and 100% accuracy that has a 10% chance to paralyze the opponent. Then we have Fire Punch (Honō no Panchi: Flame Punch), a Fire move with exact numbers to Thunderpunch, but has a 10% chance to Burn the opponent. Then there's Ice Punch (Reitō Panchi: Freezing Punch), an Ice move with similar number and a 10% chance to freeze the opponent. And the last TM is Headbutt, which is great if you want to teach it to something else.
So what's the big deal when we have Flamethrower and the like? Well, those moves are very hard to come by in Gen 2, especially in Gold and Silver, so having these moves available with unlimited uses is fantastic and definitely something we'll be using when I can comfortably afford it. So expect these moves in our teams pretty soon.
"ABRA?"
: Want to trade it for my MACHOP?
Well funnily enough I caught an Abra just last update, so here you go.
This is a pretty good trade and one I would recommend, as we'll see next update.
Should be pretty good. The Gold Berry is a nice addition: it restores 30HP when you go under half, similar to the Sitrus Berry in Gen 3.
It starts off with an alright moveset, so it could be an effective team member if you wanted. Focus Energy (Kiaidame: Fighting Spirit Improvement) is a Normal status move with 30PP that actually works properly now. It boosts your critical hit ratio by one stage, meaning every move has a 12.5% chance of being critical, instead of the base 6.25% chance.
Macho, macho man.
"POKéMON."
: She even gives away TMs!
Hmm, interesting, let's see how much my starter loves me.
: It's adorable! You should teach it good TM moves.Hmm, okay. Let's tweak its happiness and try again.
: This move should be perfect for a pair like you.
: There are sure to be TMs that are perfect for your POKéMON.Yesssssssss, if you bring a Pokemon with more than 150 happiness to this lady, then she'll give you the TM for Return (Ongaeshi: Return Favor), which is a Normal move with a variable power, 20PP and 100% accuracy. The power is based on how happy the Pokemon is, using the formula BP=Friendship/2.5, going from 1BP (at a happiness value of 0) and 102 (at a happiness value of 255). This makes this one of the strongest, most consistent Normal moves in the series and definitely a good addition to a Pokemon that can't be happier with you. Now let's return to her with a Pokemon with less than 49 happiness.
"it?" 
Now we get the opposite of Return, Frustration (Yatsuatari: Angry Outburst), a Normal move with variable power that runs off the formula BP=(255-Friendship)/2.5, so it has 1BP at maximum happiness and 102BP at 0 happiness. Since happiness is so so easy to add up as you go through the game, there's really no point using Frustration except for Link Battles where happiness can't change. Because of how the formula works, it better to use Return when your Pokemon has more than 128 happiness, which shouldn't be too difficult to do.
On the sixth floor, we have vending machines. The drinks are pretty good recovery items, but it's a bit annoying to buy them one at a time. Besides, Super Potions are still fine for the moment.
Final floor, only in Crystal: the rooftop! There's a couple things up here.
First, we have this rude man that hurt my feelings.
"the road!"
: A POKéMON fired a flurry of leaves! That makes me feel like battling right now!
: Is it the one with the green roof?Y'know, I don't appreciate this characterization of my blank slate protagonist. My ~immersion~ is at stake!
"into this?"
: I'm going to be back every day to collect all the dolls!
: Insert money, then turn the crank... But it's almost empty...
Cool. Anyway, let's head back to the basement. Everytime you change floors and come back, they'll move the crates so you can get some items.
Nothing too fancy, but it's cool nonetheless.
RIGHT. Time to move on to new places.
: I've got a useful phone number for you.
This is a very good number to have. Bill will call you up whenever you fill a Box up, so you know when to switch instead of when you're trying to catch a Pokemon. Unfortunately, because it's so useful, I might keep it forever, giving us only seven numbers to work with.
"BILL is an expert."
: He just got called to the POKéMON CENTER in ECRUTEAK CITY. My husband went to the GAME CORNER without being called...
Ehehehehe, cool, let's leave the happy couple and head into the Goldenrod Underground. There's a lot to this place, like literally everything else in this city.
Goldenrod Underground
There's trainers down here, good start.
"NER."
: I was trying to cheat using my POKéMON...
HP: 80 | ATK: 80 | DEF: 50 | SP.ATK: 40 | SP.DEF: 50 | SPD: 25 | TOTAL: 325
#116: Grimer
Soooo, what did you learn?
"square..."Uh, no. Next time, just don't get caught. Easy.
Oh? That sounds like something we need to look into.
HP: 90 | ATK: 55 | DEF: 75 | SP.ATK: 60 | SP.DEF: 75 | SPD: 30 | TOTAL: 385
#178: Lickitung
Hey, only I can use those moves, man!
This is some good last minute training.
Hmm, that's something we could definitely use.
It's good to come down here to grab this, cause we're gonna be using it fairly soon.
: I sell inexpensive herbal medicine. They're good, but a trifle bitter. Your POKéMON may not like them. Hehehehe...
To go with the fabulous expanded friendship mechanic, we have a quick way to lower them. Herbal medicine is pretty great. Well, Revival Herbs are. It's the second best healing item in the series and when we get the cash, I'll be grabbing a few. They're a buyable Max Revive and it's great if you don't care about your Pokemon's happiness like me. The Energy Root can be good, since it's a pretty cheap Hyper Potion, but since it lowers friendship by 10 and there are other options, it's best to stick with the unique Revival Herb.
Oh yeah, there are shops found in the underground, but only at different times. The herb shop is only open Monday and Friday. There's two more shops to go over and the next one is kinda useful.
Like most underground areas, there's hidden items dotted around here and there.
: I'm the younger and less expensive of the two HARICUT BROTHERS. I'll spiff up your POKéMON for just $300.
My Pokemon need to look fabulous, for sure.
Make my baby look pretty!
Or cool, that works.
: I can do only one haircut a day. Sorry, but I'm all done for today.
So the Salon is open every day except for Monday and will alternate between the younger brother and the older brother. As we'll go into later, depending on the Pokemon's happiness depends on how the different brothers increase it. But to show the difference, a Pokemon between 0-99 happiness gains +10 from the younger brother and only +5 from the older brother. From 100+, the brothers do the same diminishing returns, so it doesn't matter which one you choose, really.
"battle?": If you know your type advantages, you'll do better in battle.We can't visit the final shop just yet, so let's take on the last two trainers.
HP: 25 | ATK: 35 | DEF: 70 | SP.ATK: 95 | SP.DEF: 55 | SPD: 45 | TOTAL: 325
#118: Magnemite
"it can't attack!"Hrm. Now is the time to be on the other foot. Thundershock (Denki Shokku: Electric Shock) is a weak Electric move with 40BP, 30PP and 100% accuracy and a 10% chance to paralyze the target. It's weird we're crossing this move off this late compared to Yellow.
Oh wow, it's been a while since Kakarott leveled up. Neat.
HP: 40 | ATK: 30 | DEF: 50 | SP.ATK: 55 | SP.DEF: 55 | SPD: 100 | TOTAL: 330
#120: Voltorb
I think this is a good level for Churchill, cause I don't wanna grind on wild Pokemon.
: But I only use one type of POKéMON.
Well that's not ominous in the slightest. Still, free item!
"with you.": Let me see them!
The only trainer down here with no unique Pokemon. Thank god.
"hot tip.": The HIKER on ROUTE 33, ANTHONY, is a good guy. He'll phone you if he sees any rare POKéMON. Uh, thanks, but I've already got that covered. We're not in the best location to take advantage of swarms anyway.
Let's change the time and head to the final shop. It's only open Monday mornings.
: I sell rare items nobody else carries--but only one of each item.
So this is what this shop offers. You can buy rare and profitable items at around 10% discount of their sale price. Which, admittedly, isn't amazing, but it's here. I guess.
"sold out of it."You can only buy one of each item and the amount you profit from the whole haul, after selling, is $1200. That's honestly a drop in the bucket later in the game and you have to buy them all in one go as we'll see in just a moment.
Yeahhhhhh, if you leave the underground after buying something, you can't buy anything else, so you can't go back and forth selling them. It's all or some, so this is not a great way of doing this. Oh well, moving on.
Goldenrod City
We're at the north of the city and we're still not done. The Name Rater is here, but, uh, we don't really need him.
Nooooooot yet.
: My little sister got all excited and went to see it... I'm worried... Isn't it dangerous?
Now we move on to the east, where there's a couple more things.
: Oh? Let me see your TOGEPI... It's quite cute.Hmm, we've got quite a while to go then. Oh well!
Moving on to this tucked away establishment.
: Could you ride a BICYCLE and advertise for me?Whatever.
: Give me your name and phone number, and I'll loan you a BICYCLE.
: My BICYCLEs are first-rate! You can ride them anywhere.
Oh boy it's bike time. We're just handed one and if we cycle around a fair amount, which we will, cause the music and speed are great, then we'll advertise a lot. I dunno if I'll bother registering anything else, but I'll stick to walking for new areas and only cycle when we backtrack.
Bicycle
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee
Okay, we've only got a couple more places to visit and we're done! Phew.
: I know! I'll carry passengers on my back!
That'd be weird and make you a Pokemon, or something.
Hmm, what a rude unfamiliar man.
Next stop is the Radio Tower, finally. Let's see what's on offer.
"BER SHOW?"
: Want me to check the ID numbers of your POKéMON? If you get lucky, you win a prize. This week's ID number is 41613. Let's see if you have a match.
Great... So the Lottery Corner is an interesting addition. Every Friday, a new ID is generated and if your party Pokemon's ID or the Pokemon in the selected box in the PC match the last two or more digits of the number, then you win a prize. Match the last two digits and you get a PP Up, match the last three digits and you get an Exp. Share and is the only way to get multiple of them. Match all five digits and you get a Master Ball, again, the only way to get multiple of them. I've never really won this, but I've never really tried. I probably won't try.
"right now."
: Answer five questions correctly to win a RADIO CARD. Slide it into the POKéGEAR to play the radio anytime, anywhere.
Let's do it. Feel free to play along at home! See how many you get right. They're all YES/NO questions.
: Question 1: Is there a POKéMON that appears only in the morning?YES
: Correct! Question 2: Is this statement correct? You can't buy a BERRY at a MART.YES
: Bull's-eye! Question 3: Does HM01 contain the move FLASH?NO!
: So far so good! Question 4: Is FALKNER the VIOLET GYM LEADER who uses bird POKéMON?YES
: Wow! Right again! Here's the final questions: Do GOLDENROD GAME CORNER's slots have CHARMANDER on their reels?NO!
Phew, these questions are changed in each version and the fifth one is always a toughie. Hope you did as well as me.
"a radio!": Please tune in to our radio shows.
Alright, we now have our Radio. Depending on the time of day and the station you tune to, will depend on what shows you get. Let's find the first one.
Professor Oak's Pokemon TalkPokedex Show
: It prefers dry, sandy places because it uses the sand to protect itself when threatened.Between 10am and 4am, Professor Oak and Mary will talk about semi-rare Pokemon, as well as any swarms that are happening, helpful if you don't have the numbers to notify you. From 4am to 10am, Professor Oak does an automatic read off of the various Pokedex entries you've collected. Exciting.
Pokemon MarchPokemon Lullaby
: It's me, DJ BEN! Today's MONDAY, so chill out to POKéMON LULLABY!Pokemon Music alternates between Pokemon March and Lullaby depending on the day, except for the weekends, where it's always March. They raise/lower the encounter rate, similar to the Black/White flutes in Gen 3 on.
Lucky Channel
: Whether you're up or way down low, don't you miss the LUCKY NUMBER SHOW! This week's Lucky Number is 41613!The Lucky Channel is a convenient way to know the winning numbers without having to travel to Goldenrod. Handy! But that's all the radio shows for the moment, there's one more we'll be going over shortly. Also, the radio will replace the music until you go to a new area, like the bike theme.
: Do you know about a radio program called PASSWORD? If you can tell me the password from the program, you will earn points. Save up those points and trade them to that sweet young lady over there for some choice prizes! Here you go! It's your very own point card!
New to Crystal is Buena's Password, a radio show from 6pm to midnight where Buena will say a secret phrase. Come back to her, tell her the phrase and you get a point.
There's quite a few prizes available, but you only get one point a day, so it can be a bit of a grind to get all you want. Besides, you want to save up the max of 30 points for a secret reward.
"beyond this point.": It wasn't that way before. There's something wrong with the DIRECTOR...Goldenrod City
Phew, we're nearly done with all the sights of this city. But there's just one more place to go...
Let's play a game.
Game Corner
: Do you need some game coins? It costs $1000 for 50 coins.
New to Gen 2 is the ability to buy 500 coins at a time, which makes things so much quicker. We still won't be doing anything like that, cause fuck spending all this money we don't have.
: We exchange your coins for fabulous prizes!
This is everything we can buy at Goldenrod Game Corner. The TMs are very interesting. In order, we have Thunder (Kaminari), a powerful Electric move with 120BP, 10PP and 70% accuracy and an improved 30% chance to paralyze the target. It also has a couple more quirks, such as having 100% accuracy in the rain and 50% accuracy in harsh sunlight. And it can even hit Pokemon during the first turn of Fly for double damage. Very nice. Then we have Blizzard (Fubuki), a dangerous Ice move with 120BP, 5PP and 70% accuracy, instead of 90% from last gen. It still has a 10% chance to freeze, like in the international versions of Gen 1. Finally, we have Fire Blast (Daimonji), a destructive Fire move with 120BP, 5PP and 85% accuracy with a 10% chance to Burn, down from 30% last gen. The star shape used in the animation is based off the Japanese festival Gozan no Okuribi where a large bonfire is lit in the shape of the character 大 (big or great).
Next up is the Pokemon selection. You can find Abra in every game and since it's so cheap, could save the hassle of catching your own, especially if you want that trade. But then they change things around. In Gold, you can buy Ekans and in Silver, you can buy Sandshrew. Both are Pokemon we've already obtained and did so on the way to Azalea, so it's a bit pointless having them here. Cubone, however, won't be obtainable for a very long time, so it's definitely worth it. Then in Gold and Silver, you could buy Dratini, which could be an interesting option this early: we won't be seeing it for a while yet in this game. The same goes for Wobbuffet, but we'll be seeing it before Cubone, at least.
So, time to cheat in max coins to obtain two new Pokemon! I won't get the TMs just to be fair and not use overpowered moves this early.
HP: 50 | ATK: 50 | DEF: 95 | SP.ATK: 40 | SP.DEF: 50 | SPD: 35 | TOTAL: 320
#203: Cubone
HP: 190 | ATK: 33 | DEF: 58 | SP.ATK: 33 | SP.DEF: 58 | SPD: 33 | TOTAL: 405
#107: Wobbuffet
While we won't be using either of our new prizes, we at least have a few new moves to go over. Bone Club (Honekonbō) is a Ground move with 65BP, 20PP and 85% accuracy that has a 10% chance to flinch the target. It's a fine move that's usable until you get something better.
For this Pokemon, we've got four new moves to go over. Counter (Kauntā) is a Fighting move with 20PP, 100% accuracy and -5 priority that counters all physical moves for twice the damage done to the user. It still deals typeless damage, but no longer hits Ghost Pokemon. Mirror Coat (Mirā Kōto) is a similar Psychic move that counters all Special moves for double the damage. While it's typeless damage, it cannot affect Dark Pokemon. Safeguard (Shinpi no Mamori: Mysterious Safeguard) is a Normal status move with 25PP that prevents all status, including confusion, for 5 turns. Very useful. Finally, Destiny Bond (Michizure: Take Along With), is a Ghost status move with 5PP that will take down the opponent with it, if it faints in between using this move and its next turn via the opponent's attacking move. Destiny Bond does not activate from indirect damage, so it's a tricky move to use effectively.
Anyway, enough with all the random crap no one cares about, it's time to play the actual slots! Well, not exactly. See, alongside the slots, the Game Corner has a brand new game!
This is Card Flip. A pretty simple game that's fairly easy to win at, but the payouts are lower. The basic premise is you pick out of two cards in a 24 card deck and bet on what the card may be.
You can select either a single card for the highest payout.
Or you can pick an entire column or a row to increase your chances or winning, but for a lower payout.
I don't have the best of luck, but once a card is used, it's removed from the deck, giving you slightly better odds the longer you play. However, once the game is played 12 times, the board is refreshed and you're back to square one.
Eventually I get a win, but yeah, it's a nice little game to play when the slots bore you.
And they might, since the slots haven't changed much since the last gen. However, while the mechanics are very similar, there's a few unique things when a 7 lands on the reels. Sometimes the reels themselves will move to either get you another 7, or to fake you out and fail you. When two 7s are lined up, either Golem will drop down to move the last reel to hopefully score the last 7, or a Chansey will use Egg Bomb to move all the reels to give you a better chance. It's slightly more interesting than last time around, but not by much.
As before, different machines have different odds, so try around and see if you can score big!
But there we go. We're finally done with all the kinds of things you can do in Goldenrod City. Next time, it's Gym time.