Part 7: Moving on to Mauville

Part 7: Moving up to Mauville

Route 110



It's quite the road to the next city and we can't take the shortcut, so let's go running around in the grass and find some Pokemon.





So this sparky dog does two things: go real fast and hit hard with Electric attacks. Unfortunately, that's all it does. The only non-Electric special move it'll learn is Bite and then it's just physical moves the rest of the way. It's not the worst thing, its Attack isn't that awful, but it still sucks. It'll also have to rely on Spark for a little while, but thankfully the Thunderbolt TM isn't too late. Might be worth picking it up later when there's a lot of Water and Flying types around.

Static gives the user a 30% chance of paralysing the opponent if they use a contact move that affects all types. It's a super annoying ability, I hate it. It also gives a 50% chance of forcing an encounter with an Electric type. This is useful immediately to get the 2% electric rodent encounter of your version and is another way to quickly get a Magneton later, as well as guaranteeing a Pikachu in the Safari Zone. That's about it though, so only a couple uses.

There's also Lightningrod, which forces all Electric moves to redirect to the user and fail, though it does not redirect Electric Hidden Power and moves will not be redirected if another Pokemon is the center of attention. When first in the party, it causes more people registered in the Pokenav's Match Call to call more often. This doesn't increase the chances of a rematch, it just interrupts you more often and is super annoying.



Good boy.





Eh, it's alright. The cheerleading mice are best used together, obviously, but right now they work out just fine if you want to hit things hard with Electric moves. But like with Electrike, it doesn't do anything aside from that. Plusle is slightly stronger, while Minin is more specially defensive. Not that it matters since they fall over easily anyway, so I guess Plusle is the one to use? I dunno, I've never used these fuckin things. Seem alright, if completely outclassed by the endgame.

Minus and Plus are the same ability, so we'll go over them both. When they both enter battle (obviously in a Double Battle), the user's Special Attack is boosted by 50%. Pretty nice since there are a lot of double battles in this game, but that requires you using both Plusle and Minin. Ehhhhhhhhhh, maybe not. Even using one is pushing it.



We'll catch more of them later, but Plusle (like in Sapphire) is only a 2% encounter, so instead of running around for the next 30 minutes, let's explore the route!






So, uh, Plusle is slightly stronger than Minun, while being slightly more fragile. Does a lot of damage in a double battle, but it'll rely on Spark for quite some time until you use your only Thunderbolt TM on it. Wait that doesn't sound right, why would you do that? Ah whatever, it's cute, that's all I care about in regards to garbage competitive Pokemon.



Alright maybe I should start using Wargreymon.



That wasn't close to what I could do to show off my POKEMON. I'll have you as my captive audience as often as possible!



Rather than battling, perhaps I should show off my POKEMON at the FAN CLUB.

Okay, okay, you've done the best you could, my pretties.



Now what's this?

Trick House



...is that a bald guy under the table?




They call me... the TRICK MASTER! Wahahaha! Glad to meet you! You, you've come to challenge my TRICK HOUSE, haven't you? That's why you're here, isn't it? Yes, it is! Consider your challenge accepted! Enter through the scroll there, and let your challenge commence! I shall be waiting in the back!



Go into the basement of a crazy man's house? What could possibly go wrong?



Well there's other trapped children down here, so let's beat them up.



I think Wargreymon is gonna be fine.




I'm immediately tired of hacking and slashing. The Trick House's rooms are fun enough, only one got changed a fair bit from RS, which was also based on the only Gym that got properly changed from RS. We'll get to that later.



There's a few trainers dotted around that are usually unavoidable and the goal is to get to the scroll and then to the door.



You're strong! Just who are you?

It won't take very long for Wargreymon to catch up.



Alright, let's head to the exit.



There's usually an item or two in here, often mail, so into the trash it goes.




Normal types will do 1 damage against me until the end of time.



The lock clicked open!



It took me all night to plant all those trees... you’re almost my equal in greatness by one, two, three, four, five, six places! Fine! You have earned this reward!



I'll make new tricks to stump you, I will. You may mock me only when you're done. Come back for the next exciting installment!



Oh we'll be back.




It's cool we go around the back room and the main room, but I dunno if it's really necessary.



Mufufufu... If I may say so, it's brilliantly difficult, even for me! Hah? What?! Oh, it's you! I'm in the midst of devising new tricky challenges! It's not too much to ask for a bit more time for me to think, is it now? You wouldn't begrudge me that? Come back in a little while!

Route 103



Before we head up Route 110, we can head west onto Route 103, since there's a lot more to this route than the little dead end we've been on before.



Man fuck Effect Spore.



You weren't led astray by our aroma... Aromatherapy is a form of mental healing that works with fragrances.



Not learning Iron Defense made me realise Wargreymon needs a Rock move. Unfortunately it's Rock Tomb and that's the only one it'll learn for the whole game. Man fuck shitty movepools.



I will absolutely get a double battle if given the option. Doesn't mean I'll be able to get all the trainers to line up though.



Uh, okay, since Wargreymon just levelled up, it's Ranmaru going to 18. See, I got this.



Do you like cramped quarters like this?

I was playing my guitar where few people were around, but a lot of fans have gathered. Heh, maybe I should turn pro.




Some good booty, well, aside from the last item. Anyway, Charge has 20PP and doubles the user's next Electric move's damage. Hey, you'll get the same result by using that Electric attack twice, so, uh, never use this move. Sure damage variation might affect that, but better get a second chance for crits, or paralysis or what have you.



(AMY) I'm AMY. And this is my little sister LIV. We battle together!



Helping Hand has 20PP and +5 priority and boosts the base power of an ally's move by 50%. It's pretty nifty to get that important KO, but only has that one use.



(LIV) We work perfectly together, me and my big sister... but we still lost...

(AMY) Uh-oh, we lost. You have to think about all kinds of things when you're battling against two TRAINERS.




I think my Pokemon was more adorable.



My delightful POKEMON looks darling even when it's fainted!

"That's it! Battle me!"


With Wargreymon all caught up, we can start using everyone else now.



Alright let's just leave him to that and, uh, stare at this completely normal cliff wall.



Yep, completely normal.



The only use of Teleport in the entire LP. Now with all those distractions out of the way, let's finally head up Route 110.

Route 110



Ooh, another distraction.




Alright, what else can I distract myself with?



Hey, that's pretty good.



Shit. I'm out of distractions. Here we go then.



So... how about a little battle?

Rival Battle



The third rival battle is kinda rude, since it's a bit of a level bump compared to everyone else nearby.



That's also rude, but we're fine. It's fine. I'm fine. We're fine.



The starter will fuck you up though if you've just been using your starter. ESPECIALLY Marshtomp. However, if you use any other Pokemon against them, then their weak STAB moves really don't do a lot.



God guys, I dunno why you think this battle is so hard. Durrrrrrrrr (do not sleep on this rival fight holy shit).



The Slugma is not tough, but the Lombre or Wingull can be pretty nasty.



I think you deserve a reward! This is from me!



Try it out. If there is an item that's not visible, it emits a sound. Okay, YUKI, let's meet again! I know it's a little silly coming from me, but I think you should train a lot harder for the next time.



The rest of the rival battles are super fuckin easy, May/Brendan is talking shit.

Route 110



The Itemfinder is slightly better than before, it actually points you in the direction the item is, but it's limited to the compass points, so it's not hugely helpful. I'll just stick to using online lists.






What a rough Pokemon to use, Kappa. It should be fine, it learns all the important moves it should, it has a pretty nifty typing and it looks dopey as hell. Well, you need to give it all the TMs in the world, since it learns nothing good in its movepool until level 49. Mental. Also the Water Stone is just before the 7th Gym, so you'll be carrying its low stats around for a while. It is all worth it, but holy heck is it a pain. Catch it later if you must.









On the flipside, Nuzleaf is slightly more usable since it can evolve before the 6th Gym. However its typing ain't that great and it also needs TMs to be fixed since it doesn't learn a STAB move until level 31. Its attacking stats are nearly equal, so it's not too screwed in using its STAB, but the only options it will get are Shadow Ball and Brick Break. Still perfectly usable, but man it needs some work. Again, catch it later for less of a headache.



I like collecting MATCH CALL registrations, too... When I see a POKEMON that I don't know, my passion as a COLLECTOR is ignited!

This isn't going to bring me down! Losing has made me a better man!



Very nice. There are very few Revives at the moment, so if one of your Pokemon faints, you're kinda just screwed.




Man there are a lot of double battles in this area. Good! I love em.



Hope you like Magnemite, there's a lot around these parts.



Falling... losing... this is so humiliating for me!

I see your future... hmm... I see a shining light...



Lots of trainers guarding items too. Still, least we got everything.



Hey, not my fault I couldn't talk to you on the side.





Look at this big sack of HP. There's a lot of Water types in Hoenn and since that's a good type with good TM availability, most of them are pretty alright, if not remarkable. And that's Wailmer alright, super fine. It's unique in that it has a monstrous HP stat, but those super low defenses balance it out. You'll get Surf when it should learn Water Pulse, so that's not a big deal, but it does learn Water Spout if you hold off evolution by 1 level, which is pretty amazing. Since its Attack stat is fine it can use Earthquake and Return just fine, since it doesn't have any other option.

Oblivious makes the user immune to infatuation. It's a super annoying, if rare, status effect, so it's alright, I guess. Water Veil is more useful though.



Freaking finally.





Why did Ralts take so long to evolve? Well anyway, it's a nice power boost, but there's not much different from Ralts, it hits fairly hard with Psychic attacks and does nothing else, aside from a couple of Electric attacks. For whatever reason, it can learn Magical Leaf through the move relearner in FRLG. Not in RSE, just FRLG. I don't get it. It's something cool, but it's not something I'll be using. Anyway, it's cool, but not particularly interesting.




I forgot to show Marhstomp's Pokedex entry, so here it is. Nanab Berries do, uh, nothing. Cool. Let's find some more Pokemon!





This cute little stomach is alright, its slow and tanky, but its perfectly usable. It starts off with Sludge very quickly and you'll pick up the Sludge Bomb TM before too long. Thankfully it learns loads of TMs, so it can easily be a mixed attacker. However, it's probably gonna take damage before it can do damage and with all the TMs it learns... is it really the best recipient for it? Well, it evolves early, so it might become pretty meh by the endgame, but it's nothing too special.

Liquid Ooze causes HP draining moves to damage the opponent with the amount they would've healed with. Pretty nasty, but that requires them using a HP draining move, which aren't too amazing at the moment. Sticky Hold, meanwhile, prevents your hold item from being removed by Thief, Covet, Trick or Knock Off. Pretty nice, but wild Pokemon can't steal your items permanently anyway. Still, out in the field, it makes bites occur more often while fishing, though it doesn't help with the tugging minigame.



What will they come up with next?



Here's a walking weed. It will eat up my precious evolution stones.



Alright, now to never think of these pom pom mice again. Onwards to Mauville!

Mauville City




Mauville City/Kinsetsu City: The bright and shiny city of fun!
From mauve, a light purple, and ville, and kin (violet), kinsetsu (nearby) and setsu (shine).



There's a fair amount to do in Mauville and we'll start with this funny looking chap in the corner.

"TRAINERS."

Will you hear my tale? But, I know of no legendary TRAINERS. Hence, I know no tales. Where does one find a TRAINER worthy of a legendary tale? Are you a TRAINER?



Used CUT 18 time(s)? That is indeed magnificent! It's the birth of a new legend!

"legends awaiting discovery?"

Alright, depending on what number your Trainer ID ends on depends on which old man you'll see in Mauville Pokemon Center. They all do stuff involving mixing records and I'll go into more detail about them at the end of the update.

"RYDEL'S CYCLES"

My soul needs shaking, so let's go.



Your RUNNING SHOES... they're awfully filthy. Did you come from far away? Hm, hm... you're saying you came all this way from LITTLEROOT? My goodness! That's ridiculously far! If you had one of my BIKES, you could go anywhere easily while feeling the gentle caress of the wind! I'll tell you what! I'll give you a BIKE! Oh, wait a second! I forgot to tell you that there are two kinds of BIKES! They are the MACH BIKE and the ACRO BIKE! The MACH BIKE is for cyclists who want to feel the wind with their bodies! And an ACRO BIKE is for those who prefer technical rides! I'm a real sweetheart, so you can have whichever one you like!



Pretty simple choice, the faster, better Mach Bike will be our choice the whole game, unless we need to use the Acro Bike to get to somewhere temporarily. That's it, there's no other reason to choose the Acro Bike, unless you like going slower for some reason?



Bike



Woohoo!



I hear people call me the ROCK SMASH GUY, but I find that sort of degrading. I think I deserve a bit more respect, like maybe the ROCK SMASH DUDE. Woohoo! Anyways, your POKEMON look pretty strong. I like that! Here, take this HIDDEN MACHINE!



If you come across large boulders that block your path... well, use that HM move and smash them right out of your way! Yes, sir! Smash rocks aside, I say! Woohoo!



After getting interviewed, it'll appear on TV, which is why it'll be flashing between screenshots. Again, it's fun, but I don't feel like transcribing the whole damn thing.



Nothing all that interesting, but always good to check!



I'd be able to buy HARBOR MAIL at the POKEMON MART in SLATEPORT... Oh! You have HARBOR MAIL? Will you trade it for a COIN CASE? Oh, I'm so happy! Okay, I'll trade you a COIN CASE!



Aww yeah, let's go gambling!



Hmm... Gym... or... Game Corner?

Game Corner



The choice was obvious.



Here, take some COINS! MAUVILLE has something for everyone. For me, it's the GAME CORNER.



Would you like one of them? Here you go!



We get a doll of our starter, very nice.



As always, we can buy coins, but we don't have the money for that, or ever will, since I'm gonna hack in the TM moves anyway without going through the whole buying them from here.



There is some real good stuff here. Well, there's no more Pokemon for sale, but those are some nice TMs. In order, we have Double Team, Psychic, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. Only Flamethrower cannot be found anywhere else, which is a shame cause it's so expensive. Oh well. We don't need to get a Mudkip Doll, but the other two we will need to buy from here.



Slots time! It's pretty similar to previous games, insert coins, try to line stuff up and get annoyed when it literally stops just short. However, the number of coins determine which rows actually count. You should put all 3 in, cause you know what'll happen if you don't.



I've never gotten much at the slots, in the series, or in real life. Still, there's a bit more to do, which will be in the Side Notes.



There's also the Roulette table, which is exactly what you expect, either a 3 coin wager table, or a 1 coin.



Like the card game from Gen 2, you select either a row or column, or a single Pokemon to increase or decrease your odds and payout. Then the roulette spins aaaaaaaaand...



Yeah, nothing happens. Well that was fun.

Mauville City

"But he's become a bit too peppy..."

We can't be having that, let's fix this.



I want to challenge this GYM and see how much better I've become. Please? May I, please?

Now hold on, WALLY. Since you started living with POKEMON, you have grown quite a lot stronger. But don't you think you're pushing it to suddenly challenge a GYM?

I'm not pushing it. If I combine forces with RALTS, we can beat anyone! Oh! Hi, YUKI! I've gotten a lot stronger since we met. YUKI, I want you and my UNCLE to understand that. YUKI, please, will you have a battle with me? ... YUKI, thank you. Okay... here I come!



That's not gonna fly here, matey.



Get outta here.




It's not enough just to have POKEMON and make them battle. That isn't what being a real TRAINER is about.

WALLY, there's no need to be so down on yourself. Why, what's keeping you from becoming stronger and stronger? Come on, let's go home. Everyone's waiting for you.



YUKI, it just dawned on me that you must be the TRAINER who kept an eye out for WALLY when he caught his POKEMON. Why don't you visit us in VERDANTURF sometime? I'm sure WALLY would enjoy it.




But you didn't hold anything back and beat him impressively. Yeah! That's what a real POKEMON battle is all about! I idolize TRAINERS like that! ... I'll be cheering for you!



Well we need to get ready for the Gym that Wally would in no way have beaten like that.