Part 13: Washing Over Daddy

Part 13: Washing Over Daddy

Pokemon Gym



Whoops! The doors in this room are already open, so don't attack me! The TRAINERS of PETALBURG GYM use all kinds of items. The door at the left leads to the SPEED ROOM. The door at the right leads to the ACCURACY ROOM. The room's name will be on the door, so choose carefully. Once you've chosen the door... well, hey, go for it!



Sounds like one hell of a Gym puzzle. Welcome back to Emerald, it's daddy beating time! Now, Jim Gui's dialogue is from RS where the various trainers did use items to boost their Pokemon. However, that's changed now in Emerald, though they still use items.




Now Pokemon just use moves, so expect a lot of setup sweepers in this Gym. It's a much more natural change that I like a lot and gives a Normal Gym a pretty interesting spin. Shame it never happened again because Game Freak.



Unfortunately, all the items have been replaced by 1 Hyper Potion that every Trainer has. Bit annoying.



At the left is the CONFUSION ROOM. The right door leads to the DEFENSE ROOM.



There are 9 rooms in this Gym laid out in a diamond shape. We'll be going through the left side first.




This is a nasty strategy, Teeter Dance has 20PP and 100% accuracy and confuses all adjacent Pokemon, making it the Confuse Ray for double battles. Pretty nasty when combined with Focus Punch, but at least it's only a Spinda. Still, it's a pretty cool strat!



That doesn't sound friendly.




Holy shit that is super unfriendly!



I'll admit though that Wargreymon laughs at anything this Gym will try to do, so I won't use him until the end. I'm having fun with this Gym, so I won't go for the easy option.



Go on through! The GYM LEADER, your father, is waiting!

We've still got 4 more rooms left, so let's back up and go to the right side.






...did... did I get Skitty's stats instead? Doesn't look like it, Delcatty simply gets +20 to Skitty's already low stats. Which is like super bad. This Pokemon is super bad. It can use every TM under the sun like a good Normal type, but it's just so outclassed by literally everything that it's so hard to recommend. It's also a stone evolution, so it has to get moves from either being a Skitty (which you want to evolve asap because of how bad it is), or from TMs, which would work so much better on any other Pokemon. Cats are my favourite animals man, so it's sucks to see GF do me dirty like this. I'm sad now.



Yes, everyone has a Hyper Potion. Delcatty can learn a lot of moves, so it has all the guaranteed hit ones, which is a bit annoying, but nothing amazing.



The left is the DEFENSE ROOM, and the right is the RECOVERY ROOM. Your POKEMON's ATTACK power will be on trial either way.



Can you imagine how awful that must feel? I'll show you exactly how that feels!



Ow. Buddy, I know exactly how it feels.




Normally this would enrage me to no end, but, well, this is the Recovery Room and the sheer amount of ways it has to heal health is kinda hilarious.



I lost because my own efforts weren't enough. Go on! The ONE-HIT KO ROOM is next.



Alright, what kinda crazy monstrosity will I have to break through?



Ehhhhh, that's not too bad actually. It's fair enough, since no Normal type can learn Iron Defense, Acid Armor, or Barrier in Gen 3, so it's a nice breather compared to the others.



Stop that.



Now, go on! The left door goes to the STRENGTH ROOM. The right door opens to the ONE-HIT KO ROOM. Both of them have TRAINERS who are skilled at offense.



What awaits us in the final room?





I know, suffering through Slakoth was a bit rough, but the reward is absolutely worth it. Vigoroth is really fast and really strong and has a spammable move in Uproar. It will take a bit of time before you get Slash, but you shouldn't have many problems getting to that point, you'll get Strength quickly enough. It'll get the other cool physical moves like Brick Break and Shadow Ball and Earthquake and eventually Return, but for now, it's just a hard hitting Normal type. And what else do you need really? At least you're free from Truant... FOR NOW! Mwahahahaha!

Vital Spirit prevents the user from being afflicted by sleep, Yawn, or Rest. When first, it increases the chance of encountering higher-leveled Pokemon by 50%.



Well shit.



Look, sometimes the Wargreymon button needs to be pressed. It's an emergency.



And, I sense the same glow coming from you as your father. I hope that you'll stage a terrific battle with your father!



Here we, here we, here we fucking go!



YUKI... I'm so happy that I can have a real battle with my own child. But, a battle is a battle! I will do everything in my power as a GYM LEADER to win. YUKI, you'd better give it your best shot, too!

VS Gym Leader VS DAD NORMAN




Norman/Senri: A man in pursuit of power!
Norman is very normal, wouldn't you say? Also from senryō, an Asian herb, and senri, 1000 li (Chinese mile, 1 is 500m).






That is not what I wanted to immediately happen. Facade has 70BP, 20PP and 100% accuracy that gets its power doubled to 140 when the Pokemon is posioned, paralyzed or burned. So don't do what I just did. However, the attack drop from Burn still applies, so it'll even out to 70 again.



Let's get rid of this damn thing. Fun fact: a trainer's Spinda will always have the same pattern, due to having set PIDs.



I might be in trouble here. Save me Wargreymon!





Holy shit look at those amazing stats. Absolutely astounding. Oh wait you've got Truant back, lol. HOWEVER, it's a testament to how good Slaking is that Truant really isn't that big a deal. Sure, it's a complete detriment in multiplayer, but very easy to work around in single player. One of those ways is Hyper Beam, an incredibly strong attack that has its charging turn while you're not doing anything anyway. You can also switch if you just obliterate the opponent and if not, you can survive a few physical hits with your massive HP and soften it up with your other attacks. Your Sp.Atk ain't too bad either, so you'll be just fine with whatever you face against. Sure, missing a turn is almost like your Attack is halved, but it just shows how good Slaking is when that's not really a big deal.



Ow. Kinda. While Wargreymon can wall Norman all day long, he actually can't do a huge amount, so I'm gonna soften Slaking up so our other team members (well, Nobunaga) have an easier time. Just need to proc the Rock Smash drops.



As you can tell, it took a while to get just one. Ugh.



A quick way to pain town is to status this thing, though you might get lucky with timely paralysis. Honestly, if I didn't have the absolute defense monster, Norman would easily rip through my team. He also has Faint Attack for Ghost types, but nothing really for Rock or Steel types.



Twas expected. Now with lowered stats, Nobunaga can easily take down Slaking, even when it gets healed to full.



...wait why didn't you heal?



Oh well, let's actually give Wargreymon a proper battle where he's not just softening something up.



There's the healing item! Well whatever, Wargreymon still has this.



It did take a while though, but it's not like Vigoroth could do much. Now, on to a real powerful player.



Oh, uh, okay, guess not then. I was expecting Linoone to use Belly Drum, so even if Nobunaga couldn't outspeed it, Ranmaru would be able to and finish it off.



It can't even kill me properly to let Ranmaru take the prize. Fine, whatever, I'll just use Nobunaga again. Sheesh.



I can't believe it. YUKI... I lost to YUKI? But, rules are rules! Here, take this.

Pokemon Gym



POKEMON that know the HM move SURF will be able to travel over water. This is my gift to you. YUKI, I'm sure you can use it correctly.



It doubles the power of moves if the POKEMON is poisoned, paralyzed, or burned. It might be able to turn a bad situation into an advantage. As the GYM LEADER, I can't express how upset I am... But as a father, it makes me both happy and a little sad. It's odd...



Please come with me. I have something I want you to have. NORMAN, you don't mind, do you? Let me borrow your YUKI for a minute or two.




We owe it all to you! When WALLY left town, you helped him catch a POKEMON, right? I think that made WALLY really happy. Actually, not just WALLY. It made me, his father, happy too. Happy that he's gained such a great friend as you. This isn't a bribe or anything, but I'd really like you to have this.



Oh baby, it has been too long. With Surf, we can do A LOT. Like, nearly two updates worth of stuff. Well, some of it we could do earlier, but it's so much more convenient to do it now.




This also gives Nobunaga a much needed power boost, as he was getting a bit stale recently. That's gonna change real soon. Also I didn't feel like going through the doors to talk to DAD again.

YUKI, you should go visit your mother every so often. I'm going to stay here and redouble my training. It would bother me as a TRAINER to not avenge my loss to you, YUKI!




Already there's some good stuff we can get. Now you might think to head straight to Route 104 and Surf south and we'll do that... later. There's some other things we need to do first.



Don't push yourself too hard, dear. You can always come home. Go for it, honey!



Compared to Gen 2, this Amulet Coin is super early. I love it!



Now we head to Mauville City.




Getting there. Our team is a little bit out of sync cause of the Gym.



Also Nimbus is eternally catching up.



Oh, I understand where you're coming from now. If I had a POKEMON that trusty, I'd want to SURF on it, too!

I'm a poor swimmer so I was practicing... sorry for almost crashing into you.

Trick House



Did someone say TRICK HOUSE?



Thankfully it's not a smashing challenge, instead it's a door puzzle! No come back it's fun, honest...




It's full of doors here! It's too small and dark in here! Help!

Iron Tail will be a real strong move for Wargreymon, but alas, it's very inaccurate.



I don't get it. How did I lose? I don't get it. How many traps are in this house? You may be the one to solve that.



We only need to press one switch to get to the scroll, so that's nice.



You... you're awful! I know I'm weak! And, I have no sense of direction!



Ugh, mail.



Now for the door. How are we gonna solve this puzzle?



Again, it's pretty damn simple.




Neat. But we got two badges, so back in we go!



Guy's getting sneaky now, but the lack of a reflection is in itself, a reflection. Actually that doesn't make any sense.



Strength puzzles! Joy!



Even though I lost, I still like battling the best! Wouldn't you agree? You would go anywhere if TRAINERS were there.



Ugh, mail.




Use my head? To, like, push the boulders? Cause I'm not smart enough for these puzzles.



Really frying the noggin here. Let's get outta here.





Hey your mushroom turned into a punching kangaroo dinosaur...? Well okay then. See, you can't really use half of your STAB, but you can absolutely use your monstrous Attack, especially when you get Sky Uppercut. There's also Sludge Bomb, Iron Tail and, uh, Headbutt? The lack of Earthquake kinda sucks, but anything you hit physically will take a lot of damage. Your other stats aren't that amazing and being weak to a lot of things is not fun. But when you hit really hard, does it matter? Actually, missing out on Spore unless you wait until 54 to evolve is pretty damn painful. But oh well, it's not like it's an amazing move or anything.



I'm getting there!!!




Alright, now let's continue on.



If you want to use a strong Water type, now's the time, since you can just Surf on a Zigzagoon until you get something better.



Boy, I wonder what Wattson's up to?



Fine! I've decided! I need a favor, YUKI! MAUVILLE CITY has an underground sector called NEW MAUVILLE. YUKI, I'd like you to go there and switch off the GENERATOR. The GENERATOR has been running a bit haywire. It's getting unsafe. Here, this is the KEY to get into NEW MAUVILLE.



The entrance to NEW MAUVILLE is just a short SURF away from Route 110. That's it, then, you have my trust! Wahahahaha!

Route 118



We'll go do that in just a sec, but there's something important here.



Hmm! We're of identical minds! Hmm! Take this GOOD ROD!



Ah good. There's some cool Pokemon we can fish up with this, so might as well get it now. Also what we get from the New Mauville quest will be very helpful for what's coming up.




Since we're on this beach, might as well beat up some trainers.



I couldn't win by training POKEMON while I fished... was I doing things in half measures?



Oh hey, it's these two! Also I stopped recording for a day and so the Sitrus trees died. I really need to stop doing that.





Now timid boy got a lot more forward in its loudness. You'll still have to rely on Uproar until you get Stomp... if Strength didn't exist. Also, with each evolution, Hyper Voice gets further and further away, but it's not a huge deal. You can still go purely physical, or mixed, pick and choose from all these TMs. Seriously, just do whatever, but it does come with the caveat of being a slow, frail, mixed attacker. That's never fun, but you'll have enough oomph in your attacks to hopefully not care about it. Hopefully.



(GABBY) Remember? That's the quote you gave us as the battle clincher last time. I never, ever forget stuff like that! Anyway, what do you think? Do you want to be interviewed again?



Gabby and Ty are like the first trainers that just travel around to be battled again. And they remember what you said last time. It's fun, if nothing particularly interesting. We'll see them again.



We better get something good from this rod!



Eh... well, if you want a quick Gyarados, then here you go. We can just fish them up later.



Lots of different fish can now be found and we must get them all.



There's also just a load of cool items to get, such as by the Winstrate's House, if you couldn't tell.



Also more to fish up. Thankfully there's nothing for us north of Lavaridge, so we won't need to bother going back up there for now.



Alright, New Mauville time!

New Mauville




Looks a bit run down. Let's press that button, I mean, Who Wouldn't?



And another one, let's push that!



So pushing the coloured switch opens that colour door. There's also items on the buttons, I wonder why?



There's four new Pokemon we can find here and HOLY MOLEY this is a 1% encounter. I was pretty damn surprised to see this.



I think that's the luckiest I'll get in this LP. Yep. Nothing crazy will happen soon, no sir. Haha.



Bzzt



I have been bamboozled.



Time to move on. You don't need to find a single Voltorb to move on in this place.



But dammit I just can't help it!




Let's finish up here.



...we're doing this now? Well, okay.





So while I wondered why Azurill exists, Wynaut is a pretty interesting Baby, not only usable by itself, but also expands on Wobbuffet's extremely shallow movepool. The addition of Shadow Tag also brings the whole thing together and makes both these Pokemon very potent. While Splash is useless and Charm is kinda useful, Encore is something that makes this evolution line really work, easing prediction and letting enemies get countered much more consistently. This is great... for multiplayer. Do not use this in single player, it's fun for a bit, but then it gets pretty boring. Still, this is what Baby Pokemon are used for, to get some sweet stuff for their much more usable evolutions.

Shadow Tag is such an amazing ability that plays into the Wobbuffet line's strengths, preventing opponents from switching, unless through a move, or Run Away or a Smoke Ball. However, a Pokemon with Shadow Tag can be trapped by Shadow Tag, creating a hilarious endless battle with two Wobbuffet with Leftovers.



Very nice. Only one Pokemon in the Hoenn Dex requires this, which makes my life much easier and less hacky. Only very slightly, still plenty of hack.



So what was this powering if it's fine to just switch off no problem?



This is my thanks--a TM containing THUNDERBOLT! Go on, you've earned it!



It pleases me to no end to see the young step up and take charge!



Ranmaru really needed this upgrade. Curse ORAS for making that quest postgame... Anyway, next time, it's surfing time, all around west Hoenn.