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Somehow in all my shenanigans, I accidentally deleted my Box 2, which is where I put our retired friends, so now I need to use said shenanigans again to rebuild them from scratch. Won't really delay the update by much, I just want to complain about something. (Also, consider me very glad it only deleted Box 2 and not Box 1.)
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Nov 14, 2019 21:42
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I don't know what impresses me more: that crazy problems like that keep happening or that they don't seem to slow you down in the least.
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Nov 14, 2019 22:12
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I am very powerful.
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Nov 14, 2019 23:17
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Route 13: There's A Difference In The Number Of Reserve Pokemon Hoo boy, there is a lot to do before Koga's gym. I really shouldn't have already used "it's a revolving door of Pokemon". That update had between eleven and fourteen new Pokemon lines (depending on how you count Eevee). This one has sixteen, with no ambiguity, and over 100 images, and that's not even counting all the progress we're going to get from the level cap jumping by a dozen levels. Strap in, kiddos, this is gonna be a long one.    With how much grinding I have to do to keep up with the Joneses, beating the leaders in Blue is almost a formality at this point. While I may have qualms about just rolling over entire gyms with a Psychic-type in Stadium, I've got no hesitation about doing so here, and MUDPANTS beats her with almost zero effort and a single safety Antidote.   TM21 is Mega Drain, the strongest TM grass move not named Solar Beam. This is not a mark of honor, and its only real use is on a Pokemon with a high Special that needs a way to quickly take out Rock/Ground types, but also don't learn any better Grass or Water moves. This is a very short list, mostly consisting of Haunter/Gengar (who very much fear Earthquake in Gen 1), Venomoth (same, but for Rock Slide), and Parasect (who is terrible). Exeggutor, easily the best Grass-type in RBY, can't even OHKO Golem with it (who will likely Explode in retaliation), so it's almost always better to just use Sleep Powder, then two Psychic, or to just switch out. I'd call Haunter the most viable user of it that we have access to, but that's predicated on catching Rhydon or Golem switching in. Still, I wouldn't be talking about it if it was completely useless, so it's a move I'm reluctantly glad to have.    I take a moment to catch a new Vulpix. (GIN was excellent, but by evolving, she's lost access to Flamethrower, the whole reason I'm using Ninetales.) Then, it's onward and, quite literally, upward.    Welcome to Lavender Town. Something something spooky. If I'd gotten here before Halloween, I might've done something neat, but it's mid-November now, so...      Fasslp falls as easily as he did last time. His Kadabra even tries using Teleport to get away from TONIC's wrath, not that it does any good.    MUDPANTS makes just as quick work of the Channelers, who might well have been intended for you to fight before Erika. Mid-game RBY is surprisingly open-ended, badges 3-6 can technically be beaten in any order. It flattens out the level curve a bit, but it's still something I appreciate, and wish the games did a bit more of.   Only two new Pokemon here. Well, technically three, but wild Haunter are both pretty rare and kind of unnecessary, so I don't bother. Gastly    Viability: 2/5 Gengar has a few interesting niches. It's the only Pokemon to learn Dream Eater naturally, the only Pokemon to learn Night Shade at all, is the fastest user of a sleep move, and it's got an excellent Special of 130. Haunter... can't quite say this. It's still got natural Dream Eater, Night Shade, and a good Special. However, it is now tied for speed with another Pokemon with a more accurate sleep move, better typing, and a wider and deeper move pool. One that we've got access to in this very same update. It's still the only Pokemon immune to Explosion, but that requires risky prediction, as coming in on an Earthquake instead spells immediate and messy doom. Even Rock Slide is an easy 2HKO. I wish I had kinder things to say about Haunter, as it's one of my favorite Gen 1 Pokemon, but there's just no real mechanical reason to use it without access to trade evolutions. Cubone   Viability: 1/5 In GSC, once hold items are introduced, Marowak will gain access to Bone Club, an item that shoots its mediocre Attack to levels that allow it to hit the stat cap with a single Swords Dance. Without access to the Thick Club, Swords Dance, Rock Slide, or even a mediocre Special Defense, it's just... I'll be blunt. It's a worse Sandslash.     Ghost-Marowak's showing as the boss encounter of the Tower doesn't do a lot to dispute my analysis.    Some goons not even worth screencapping try to stand between us and the end. TUBE shows them why that's a bad idea. In thanks for our second effortless trouncing of a major criminal organization, Mr. Fuji gives is the PokeFlute, an item which would massively increases the viability of Rest in Blue if we didn't already have infinite money, and gives us access to a new friend and shitwrecker.    Let's take a quick detour before we use it, though. I give the guard one of my lemonades that probably tastes like artificial sweetener, and he lets us through.     This isn't a gym, it's not in the Castle, I don't have any limits on when I can fight it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Anyways, let's look at our prizes. Hitmonlee  Viability: 3.5/5 Comparing them side-by-side again, I think I may have underestimated Primeape a bit. Not enough to change its rating, but I apologize to any Mankey fans I may have indirectly insulted. Hitmonlee is far from a bad Pokemon, it's got access to multiple signature moves, including the most accurate Fighting move and the most powerful one (they are, sadly, not the same move). High Jump Kick is not nearly as powerful as it is in later generations, which is something I maaay have forgotten about when writing about Primeape. Still, it's nice to have, and that plus its decent Speed makes it the best Fighting-type in Blue. That said, it's very frail, with 50/53/35 defenses and a Psychic weakness, and 87 Speed is good, but not great. Not something I'll use much except when I specifically need a Fighting-type, but when I do, it'll get the job done just fine. Which is far, far more than can be said for... Hitmonchan  Viability: 0/5 Behold, the first and only zero on my viability chart. Lower Attack than Hitmonlee, lower Speed, that same 35 Special, and a move gimmick that won't be even remotely relevant until three generations from now when the physical/special split makes it kind of sort of viable. Right now, not only is it worse than Hitmonlee, it is at best a sidegrade from Machoke, who at least learns some niche coverage moves like Earthquake and Rock Slide. Hitmonchan earns this score not just for being terrible, but by also permanently locking you out of a much better Pokemon for picking it. There is no reason to use the Pokemon in the 1 category. They're bad, many other things do what they do better, they all have glaring flaws, and so on. But none of them, none of them, actively harm your chances just by deciding to even consider using it.  Raise your hand if you're surprised.     Also, BIRDBIRD evolved while we were kicking their asses, and their name is no longer fitting, so we take the time to get them a better one. Even the Name Rater agrees it's better, and most certainly not just because I made him say so under threat of Gyarados Hyper Beam.    South of Lavender Town is Route 12. We get a TM from a rightfully-depressed woman whose only Pokemon died. As someone who's grown up with dogs and had to put several down, I can't help but sympathize. The TM is for Swift, though, which is garbage.    A few Fisherman on the route south try to challenge us with their fresh-caught Pokemon.    Yes you are.     To wash the taste of that zero out of our mouths, how about we hit the other end of the spectrum. Snorlax  Viability: 5/5 How do I love thee, Snorlax? Let me count the ways. 160/65/65 defenses that actually do what Wigglytuff was trying to do. Body Slam and Double-Edge both by level-up, and 110 Attack to really make use of them. Amnesia by level-up, allowing it to either shore up its defenses to Rest off damage, or to wind up for a high-damage Special coverage move. Which it learns many, many, many of, by the way. It would be shorter to list the notable moves it doesn't learn via TM or HM. Power, Bulk, Width, Depth, Snorlax has got it all. The only thing it's really lacking is Speed, but Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance means even that's not a sure thing against anything with a Speed of 120 or lower.  Also, it's #relatable.   The Fishing Guru oh so kindly gives us a great item attached to a terrible mechanic. Lots if standing around and mashing A ensues.     And here are our rewards! Tentacool   Viability: 5/5 Hot diggity, two fives in one update! There are so many good things going for Tentacruel. 100 Speed makes it the fastest Wrap user. Swords Dance turns its 70 Attack into something horrendous. 120 Special gives its Surfs or Hydro Pumps an absurd amount of power. Tentacruel's Achilles heel is its mediocre 65 Defense and lack of recovery moves besides the unreliable Rest. If Tentacruel learned Recover, I think I might have had to give it a 6. Krabby   Viability: 3/5 We talked about it a bit when comparing Omastar and Kabutops, but Kingler's got a niche as a Swords Dance sweeper with a Water STAB move and a chunky Defense. Compared to Kabutops, it's slower and weaker on the Special side, in exchange for a higher Attack and a Water coverage move that deals significantly more damage on a crit. Which you pick is up to preference, but since the thread already decided on the Dome Fossil, I don't think Kingler's gonna see much play. Goldeen   Viability: 2/5 And almost as if in deliberate contrast with excellent Tentacruel and niche-but-useful Kingler, we have Seaking. With so many Water Pokemon in RBY, every one of them needs something to stand out. Seaking gets Agility, Waterfall (a signature move that's actually weaker than Surf), and... Peck. Not Drill Peck, just Peck. In exchange, it's got mediocre stats across the board, notable only for a lack of any kind of glaring flaw, since they're all equally meh. I mean, it's still functional, so it'll get you by if you're really insisting on a decade-old meme, but that's about all you're going to get. Functional, memey, and completely outclassed. ...wow, I am being really mean this update. I'll try to be nicer to the next bad Pokemon.     I don't like Routes 13 and 14 very much. Compared to the smooth ride of the Cycling Road in the west, it's got confusing pathways, battles with generic Pokemon we've seen time and time again, and no items or TMs really worth the trouble of navigating it.   At least there's a couple rare Pokemon. Venonat   Viability: 3/5 I like Venonat. That isn't just me being charitable, Venomoth is neat. 90 Speed puts it just a hair slower than the other good sleep users, and while it's kinda frail with only a 90 Special, it does get Psychic by level-up, which is always nice. Not much in the way of coverage, and its typing is downright terrible, but it's a good Sleep user, so I can't be too cruel. If you really like all-terrain vehicles, then I can't fault you for wanting to use it. Ditto  Viability: 1/5 Ditto is a gimmick Pokemon that transforms into its opponent, except probably with lower HP, and definitely losing a turn in the process while also being completely predictable. Anything strong enough to be worth transforming into is going to have no trouble punching through Ditto's 48/48/48 defenses, and- I promised to be nice to the next bad Pokemon. I promised to be nice. ...Ditto is very cute. I like its little face and I like it whenever it shows up in the anime or a movie.    We're here! Almost! We've got well over 50 Pokemon at this point, so Oak's aide happily gives up the Exp. All, an item that creates quite a lot of button mashing for literally no gain in XP. I might still end up using it, but that's because I have an unholy amount of grinding to do, and switching between members constantly will be a lot slower than just letting TONIC roll over some Fearows or whatever.    We're here! For real this time! And the Fishing Guru's brother, the other Fishing Guru, gifts us with another lodestone. Let's go use both of them to fill out the roster of available Pokemon.    ...this might take a while.          What whappened? Sorry, I blacked out for a second there. Oh! Right! New Pokemon! Poliwag    Viability: 3.5/5 I've said multiple times that a Water Pokemon needs something special to set it apart from all the others, and Poliwrath has chosen to do this via its secondary typing and actually managing to properly build itself as a jack-of-all-trades. Submission and Hydro Pump/Surf give it two potent STAB moves, allowing them, in combination with the naturally-learned Body Slam, to make a decent mixed attacker. It has Hypnosis, it learns Amnesia if it wants to buff up its Special some more, it's got a pretty broad pool of TM moves... and a list of flaws just as broad. It's mediocre, Speed-wise, its bulk is nothing special, its typing is less than the sum of its parts defensively, Submission being its only STAB Fighting move severely cuts into its longevity, and Hypnosis is still an unreliable move. If it had a higher Speed, Agility, instant recovery, some kind of edge, Poliwrath would earn an easy 4, maybe even a 4.5. It's able to slot into the usual Water slot, while also pinch-hitting as a setup sweeper or Normal check, and it's able to do all of this without TMs. It's just never going to excel the way something specialized might. Shellder   Viability: 3/5 Good God do I wish Cloyster was faster. It's got solid stats across the board, an incredible Defense, Clamp is a Wrap-like that lets it chip things down into range of a KO, either with its excellent Water/Ice STAB combination, or a Normal move coming off of its quite passable 95 Attack. It even learns Self-Destruct and Explosion by TM! It also has 70 Speed and only 50 base HP, which tragically holds it back from being truly great. A higher Special also would not go amiss, as 85 is good, but nothing too special, and its only naturally-learned Ice move is the mediocre Aurora Beam. Another "will get the job done" Pokemon that just doesn't have enough to stand out from the pack. As-is, it's outclassed by other, better Water/Ice types. Horsea   Viability: 3/5 Seadra is not horrendously terrible, I will give it that. Nothing it does is especially unique, but with 95 Special and 85 Speed, it's certainly a better Water-type Agility user than Seaking. It's just not really noteworthy outside of that. No real coverage besides the obligatory Water/Ice, a bad Attack means it can't use Normal coverage well, its bulk is only average, and even with the Speed boost, it doesn't have the oomph to guarantee it won't just get wiped out in return. It's the best Water-type user of Agility, even outspeeding Electrode assuming it manages a turn of setup. Isn't a great niche, not really able to effectively sweep by itself, but it's a niche. Staryu   Viability: 4.5/5 Starmie has Recover by level, it gets STAB on Psychic, it gets Thunderbolt/Thunder, Reflect and Light Screen to bulk up, and it has 100 Special and 115 Speed. Starmie is excellent. I really, really wish that it learned a Psychic move by level-up, even just Confusion or Psybeam, but such is not the case, and so it barely misses out on being the third 5/5 in this update. There's just too many Pokemon that want that TM to justify it, when its Depth is lacking like this. Still, whether you need something that can set up screens, blast away with a single attacking move and Recover all the damage off, or a Special sweeper that doesn't collapse if attacked back, Starmie is far, far from your worst choice.    And we're still not done! This kid here wants to trade the excellent Slowbro for the terrible crime known as Lickitung. Lickitung  Viability: 1.5/5 I promised to be nice to the next bad Pokemon. That was Ditto. I was nice to Ditto. Therefore, I have fulfilled my obligation and no longer have to be nice to Lickitung. Here is what Lickitung has over Clefable: It learns Swords Dance, Surf, and Wrap, its Defense is two points higher, and it doesn't need a Moon Stone. Here is what Lickitung does not have over Clefable: 15 points in Attack, 25 points in Special, 30 points in Speed, Psychic, Thunder Wave, Sing, Solar Beam, Metronome, and not being horrifying to behold. Screw you, guy, I'm keeping my hypothetical Slowbro. ...I can catch a Slowpoke!     You can also catch Slowpoke on Route 10, but this tiny lake is easier to reach, and also includes naturally-occurring Poliwhirl. Why this is important will make sense in a minute, hold your horses. Slowpoke   Viability: 4/5 Slowbro is SO close to being 5/5 excellent, and on paper, it really should be. It's Psychic-type! It learns Psychic by level-up! It has Amnesia, unambiguously the best all-purpose boosting move in Pokemon history! It can shore up both defenses by combining that with Reflect! It even has Thunder Wave and good coverage moves via TM! It is also tied for the slowest fully-evolved Pokemon in RBY, has no stand-out traits without getting a boost, has no instant recovery, and critical hits, especially crits from fast Electric types like Jolteon (who, remember, has a 25% crit rate), annihilate it. As long as your opponent isn't packing an Electric-type, it's an excellent stall Pokemon... but that 'not packing an Electric-type" can be a pretty big ask sometimes.     Hope you like more Flying, because we've got two more Pokemon before we're finally done with this update. First, that Poliwhirl we got is getting traded away for the Pokemon with the highest contrast between ability and aesthetics in RBY. Jynx  Viability: 4/5 If you're charitable, Jynx is based on the Nordic goddess Hel, who ruled over ice and cold and had a half-black-half-white face. If you're slightly less charitable, she's a caricature of ganguro fashion. And if you're uncharitable, she's a caricature of black women with a name that means bad luck. She is also an excellent Pokemon. Best sleep user in RBY at 95 Speed and 75% accuracy, learns Ice Punch and Blizzard by level-up, and is easily the best user of Dream Eater thanks to the combination of STAB, Speed, and reliability. She is also the best Exeggutor check in the game, and potentially checks Zapdos, Golem, and Rhydon if you come in on a predicted switch. That said, her Defense is paper thin, she can't really switch into anything except other Psychic, Water, or Ice moves, she's not actually that fast, she doesn't learn any Psychic moves by level-up, and she is, again, potentially a racist caricature.    I still want to teach her Dream Eater no questions asked.  A real shame that's not possible, that'd bring her up to 4.5. Without it, she's one more Pokemon in competition for the only Psychic-type TM in Blue, and one with a very unfortunate appearance.    And then fly back to Cerulean and go fishing inside the Gym because I realize I forgot someone. Psyduck   Viability: 3/5 It's... fine? I have been writing about a lot of 3/5-ish Water types today and I'm super close to the end of this update, so I'm gonna be brief with this one. It's kinda fast and it learns Amnesia, but it doesn't actually get Psychic STAB or much in the way of coverage moves, and it also can't do anything to realistically threaten Electric Pokemon who're in position to crit it with Thunderbolt. Use it if you wanna, but it doesn't have anything to make it must-have.  So, remember 30 images ago when I mentioned the Exp. All making grinding way quicker? This was a really, really good time for that. Next Time on Multi-Track Battling: A mini-update covering 12 levels worth of grinding! And most certainly no Shenanigans at all! Current Available Roster Delayed until end of next Route. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Nov 15, 2019 |
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Nov 15, 2019 03:59
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Yeah, the Poli line of evolutions is my favorite series of Pokemon but they're definitely middling at best. Didn't stop me from picking out every rumor I could find on the playground or online about how to evolve them into a frog since it seemed weird that they didn't. Then I eventually caught an Abra and realized since it was next in line on the pokedex, there was no frog pokemon. Politoed is lame, don't @ me.
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Nov 15, 2019 05:08
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Did you know both Hitmons have a 110 special defense from gen 2-on? Could you imagine if Hitmonchan had that stat in gen 1? It's absurd! I'm convinced they got that high a special defense stat as a joke
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Nov 15, 2019 05:12
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I'm a bit surprised that Tentacruel is rated higher than Starmie.
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Nov 15, 2019 05:15
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rannum posted:Did you know both Hitmons have a 110 special defense from gen 2-on? Could you imagine if Hitmonchan had that stat in gen 1? It's absurd! I'm convinced they got that high a special defense stat as a joke Some Numbers posted:I'm a bit surprised that Tentacruel is rated higher than Starmie. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Nov 15, 2019 |
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Nov 15, 2019 05:16
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Tentacruel has so many good moves and the stats to use them. Best RBY buddy.
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Nov 15, 2019 05:48
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This update is the reason why I didn't bother to vote in the poll. My favorite Pokemon is Snorlax, and if you're going to look me in the eye and tell me Snorlax isn't viable in Gen 1 then you're going to hell for lying.
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Nov 15, 2019 06:16
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I f*cking enjoy your LPs thanks for making another one
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Nov 15, 2019 06:40
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Sjs00 posted:I f*cking enjoy your LPs thanks for making another one
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Nov 15, 2019 06:41
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Ramos posted:Politoed is lame, don't @ me. You're right, and you should say it.
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Nov 15, 2019 08:26
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I had no idea Ditto was there. Or is that because I grew up on the bastard child yellow version?
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Nov 15, 2019 09:07
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Ditto is such a neat idea. If only getting one with Impostor wasn't such a pain in the dick, and was possible much, much, much earlier in the series.
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Nov 15, 2019 11:01
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MR. J posted:I had no idea Ditto was there. Yellow moved the Dittos to Cinnabar Mansion, yeah. Makes it a bit harder to pull off Glitch Nonsense in Yellow, though not that much harder compared to not having many Missingno that don't cause a crash from sound bank corruption.
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Nov 15, 2019 12:43
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Aw man, don't be mean to mr. skeltal she was a great and bulky EQ user... but that also meant you taught Marowak EQ, which you should only do if you're using it on a team
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Nov 15, 2019 13:01
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Marowak is A Good Boy, don't make fun of his. He's been through so much
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Nov 15, 2019 13:40
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Don’t worry, if I ever do Stadium 2, Marowak will make me eat all my words.
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Nov 15, 2019 16:44
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PMush Perfect posted:Don’t worry, if I ever do Stadium 2, Marowak will make me eat all my words. the stadium 2 version of this challenge sounds like it'd be pretty rough just because of the nature of the game's level curve and pokemon availability Marowak isn't even available until Rock Tunnel in kanto in GS and while Crystal gives a Cubone in goldenrod you dont get the thick club
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Nov 15, 2019 17:23
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Ditto is a very interesting Pokémon, and one of my faves (I like uniquely weird Pokemon), and can do be used for a very unique role: scout. Assuming it survives the first attack it can tell you what four moves your opponent's Pokemon has, useful if you need to know what can and can't safely switch in, as well as give you an idea what their strategy is. To (hopefully) nobodies' surprise this isn't any use in this challenge, you already know everything's moveset. Additionally knowing which moves an opponent has is only useful on a few Pokémon, the list of Pokémon that suffer from "Four Move Syndrome" is rather short in Gen 1.
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Nov 15, 2019 22:03
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Route 13.5: It's Still Improving Its Status Do you like grinding and/or math? This update's got plenty of both! First, though, a regretable correction. Turns out Jynx can't learn Dream Eater, which means her only access to a Psychic move is... well, Psychic. This drops my rating by half a point, to 4.0. While she's still quite good without Psychic, being the fastest viable sweeper, the dependence on a TM for one of her STABs puts it in direct competition with Exeggutor. That's not a good place to be. I'll have to see how that works out for her. Anyways, how about that grinding, huh? Route 18 is an excellent place for us to do some of our early grinding, the best we've got right now, in fact, as a compromise between ease of grinding and stat balance. Everything's just about a guaranteed OHKO thanks to Tonic being a badass, and she's fast enough that we don't have to worry about counter-attacks, except the occassional Raticate Quick Attack. Just how efficient are we talking, though?  Math Bullshit Incoming     Raticate has a Base Stat Total of 343, and thus gives that much Stat Experience split proportionally amongst everything that gets at least a piece of the approximately 500 XP it gives, on average. We're also going to pretend that Stat XP is evenly split, as otherwise we're going to have to deal with a large gap in Special gain compared to everything else, and to make this not take literally five times as long to calculate. So, with all that said, Raticate gives about 0.69 (nice) points of Stat XP per Level XP, and it shows up 20% of the time in battles. Using that same math, Spearow's BST of 231 and 180 XP gain gives it a pretty decent ratio of 1.28 Stat XP per Level XP, and is the most common at 40% of the encounters. Fearow has 381 BST, but also grants a touch under 600 XP on average per defeat. This gives it somewhere near a ratio of 0.65 and is 15% of the encounters. Doduo has a quite low BST of 275, and only grants 350 XP per level, for a ratio of 0.79. It also makes up a ratio of 0.79, and is 25% of the encounters. Now we need the average of all those, weighted by encounter rate. (0.69 * 0.2) + (1.28 * 0.4) + (0.65 * 0.15) + (0.79 * 0.25) = ...0.95 Stat XP per Level XP. You know what, how about we just pretend it's a 1:1 ratio. So, for every point of XP a Pokemon needs to reach its goal, it also gains 1 Stat XP, 0.2 in each of its stats. Now all we need to do is figure out how much XP every Pokemon needs to level up. Every Pokemon has one of four experience rates, so we need to keep that in mind as we calculate what they need, as well as the starting 25600 Stat XP in every stat from Vitamins. Our lowest level Pokemon, Tentacool, at Level 5 with the Slow experience rate, will need 99,227 XP to get to the cap of level 43. This will give it an average Stat XP in every stat of 45445, assuming we give it maximum Vitamins as soon as possible, out of the maximum of 65535. Now all I need to do is calculate that again for every Pokemon I'm training, given their leveling rates and current Stat XP and consider other locations that might provide more efficient stat XP, like Route 17 way back near Viridian, and consider the trade-off between time and effort and... ... ... ...  gently caress it, I'm cheating. Still involves checking movelists and making sure I don't skip anything important, but I'll save this much bullshit grinding for... honestly, never.    Behold, the fruits of my illegitimate labor. RUM, TONIC, BRDBRDBRD, and TUBE have achieved their true potential. WEEST is here for one more moment of glory before someone comes in to outclass him, and we've got one new friend with us as well. He's gonna be with us for a long time. The new kid, the absolute unit, THE BOY. (Tentacruel, despite my high praise, is sitting this one out for lack of a good Water move at the moment. I really don't want to deal with the Safari Zone yet. BORT is out for meta reasons, but he'll be back soon enough. We're gonna need him.) Next Time on Multi-Track Battling: Our last trivial castle. Complete Available Roster 5.0:    4.5:     4.0:    3.5:      3.0:      2.5:   2.0:     1.5:   1.0:     0.0: Other: 
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Nov 15, 2019 22:29
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Grinding a Pokemon to maximum Stat EXP requires maxing everything with vitamins, then using it to solo the Elite Four about 20 times. I actually did this once. Jolteon, Rhydon, Jynx, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Chansey. You've pointed it out already, but it's a huge flaw that the Safari Zone, Good Rod, and Super Rod become available at the same time and suddenly there's a ton of new Pokemon available, because players will never end up using most of them.
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Nov 15, 2019 22:56
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Chamale posted:Grinding a Pokemon to maximum Stat EXP requires maxing everything with vitamins, then using it to solo the Elite Four about 20 times. I actually did this once. Jolteon, Rhydon, Jynx, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Chansey.  Edit: If you use Vitamins first, you only have to defeat 998 of them! This brings the required time down to eight and a half hours per Pokemon! 
girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 23:30 on Nov 15, 2019 |
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Nov 15, 2019 23:06
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Chamale posted:Grinding a Pokemon to maximum Stat EXP requires maxing everything with vitamins, then using it to solo the Elite Four about 20 times. I actually did this once. Jolteon, Rhydon, Jynx, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Chansey. ...in retrospect, this is almost certainly what I did to make my overwhelming Zapdos when I was playing Pokemon Blue as a kid. Not because I knew anything about stats, but because soloing the Elite Four with Zapdos was how I leveled weaker Pokemon.
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Nov 15, 2019 23:48
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I just liked soloing the elite four. I assumed the reason my gyarados had such high stats compared to my brothers was because he was my best friend.
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Nov 16, 2019 00:22
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Chamale posted:Grinding a Pokemon to maximum Stat EXP requires maxing everything with vitamins, then using it to solo the Elite Four about 20 times. I actually did this once. Jolteon, Rhydon, Jynx, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Chansey. The games have always had a bit of a hard time balancing the availability of pokemon but I would say gen 1 opening up after the 4th gym in terms of Pokemon isn't a terrible idea. You still have another 4 gyms and several dungeons to go, plus the end game proper. Midgame is probably the last chance to really change up your team and dedicate yourself to a team of six, so it seems pretty ideal for an influx of pokemon. The ideal alternative is shoving as many poekmon into the first half of the game as possible but the realistic one is they just spread it out across the entire game and that's just going to shove more pokemon out of the possiblity of seeing use. WHY WAS LICKITUNG IN THE XY VICTORY ROAD WHY WAS LICKITUNG IN THE UNKNOWN DUNGEON IN YELLOW
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Nov 16, 2019 00:29
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rannum posted:WHY WAS LICKITUNG IN THE XY VICTORY ROAD Good point. The distribution in Gen 1 isn't ideal, but it's so much better than Gold/Silver. Over a third of the new Pokemon in those games are gated behind obscure mechanics, or outright impossible to catch before the Elite Four.
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Nov 16, 2019 02:41
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Chamale posted:Good point. The distribution in Gen 1 isn't ideal, but it's so much better than Gold/Silver. Over a third of the new Pokemon in those games are gated behind obscure mechanics, or outright impossible to catch before the Elite Four. Let's remember all the cool new Dark Type pokemon from Gen 2 that were all found outside of Celadon City. IN KANTO. And the single new Ghost type pokemon was at MOUNT SILVER.
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Nov 16, 2019 05:32
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The kicking rad new steel type had what, magnamite? And then you hit postgame and the other two were exclusive to each other and locked behind trading.
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Nov 16, 2019 06:10
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Omnicrom posted:Let's remember all the cool new Dark Type pokemon from Gen 2 that were all found outside of Celadon City. IN KANTO. And the single new Ghost type pokemon was at MOUNT SILVER.
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Nov 16, 2019 06:25
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Omnicrom posted:Let's remember all the cool new Dark Type pokemon from Gen 2 that were all found outside of Celadon City. IN KANTO. And the single new Ghost type pokemon was at MOUNT SILVER. Only in Crystal can you get a Larvitar at Celadon City. In GS you could only get one in Mount Silver after getting all 16 badges.
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Nov 16, 2019 06:29
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loving love Fiona Apple posted:Only in Crystal can you get a Larvitar at Celadon City. In GS you could only get one in Mount Silver after getting all 16 badges. Also Crystal let you get Sneasel in the ice path! in gold & silver you also had to wait until the gass outside mt silver
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Nov 16, 2019 14:24
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One of the only things I really distinctly remember about Pokemon Stadium is the nicknames making your Pokemon have different colors (like your Jolteon and Dodrio). I don't know what goes into that, but I do remember my Snorlax named Sleepy having a light green belly.
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Nov 16, 2019 18:20
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I only got introduced to Pokemon in the RSE era and dropped out after 5th gen, so seeing this technical discussion of how it used to be really intrigues me. I do have to ask, though, is Tentacool / Tentacruel really that good later on? Given that I started with 3rd gen, I always regarded them as the Zubat of the sea with their godawful non-stop encounter rate. I was never much of a competitive player anyhow, and I tended to use the pokemon I liked regardless of how useful they were. Gyarados is probably the only high tier pokemon I usually pick, and that's just because I enjoy the gimmick with Magikarp and the only reason I've ever used Ninetales is because it was my first and only shiny. I have a soft spot for Beedrill just because it was a trusted ally when I played SS, but I imagine it's moveset availability has gotten a lot better. I still stand by my Zigzagoon, Skitty, and Feebas, even if two of them are complete pains to get a hold of. The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Nov 16, 2019 |
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Nov 16, 2019 20:32
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The Flying Twybil posted:I only got introduced to Pokemon in the RSE era and dropped out after 5th gen, so seeing this technical discussion of how it used to be really intrigues me. After the first game special got split into a defense and offense component. Tentacool went from a murder machine to a solid wall against special attacks.
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Nov 16, 2019 20:42
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The Flying Twybil posted:I only got introduced to Pokemon in the RSE era and dropped out after 5th gen, so seeing this technical discussion of how it used to be really intrigues me. Gen 4 was when Bug got good, so Beedrill being reliable makes sense.
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Nov 16, 2019 20:50
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Probably the peak of Tentacruel being good was Gen 5, where it was basically an auto-include on rain stall teams. It had Rain Dish (with permanent rain), Rapid Spin, Toxic Spikes and checked a number of dangerous pokemon like Keldeo, Infernape and Volcarona
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Nov 16, 2019 21:13
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FoolyCharged posted:After the first game special got split into a defense and offense component. Tentacool went from a murder machine to a solid wall against special attacks. PMush Perfect posted:As Fooly said, pre SpAt/SpDf split, Tentacruel just has an absurdly high Special. Once the split happens, it's instead got an absurdly high Special Defense, and becomes a fast defensive Pokemon. That learns Wrap. And can Poison you. It's well-equipped to be a pain in the rear end. Make sense. I knew about the special split already, but its interesting to know that's what Tentacruel's niche is. I usually managed to nuke it with a well placed psychic attack anyways, so I'd never have guessed. The only pain in the rear end mechanics I ever bother regularly is Attract, and it's usually a lucky coincidence if it works out for me. I only started doing it because of what's-her-name the Ice user in Hoenn's elite four. I honestly don't remember much about SS or how well Beedrill performs in it, I just remember it was one of the longest staying members on my team. I think I played about 75% of way through the first half before giving up and cheating my way through it. 2nd gen was the only one I couldn't stand for some reason I can't remember, and I never bothered to beat it legitimately. E: By all means, I'm pretty much an extremely casual player when it comes to Pokemon. I never could get into any of the grinding or the highly technical strategies with it, and I don't really know why. I get real deep into mechanics and fringe strategies with plenty of other games, but Pokemon never really did it for me. 
The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Nov 16, 2019 |
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Nov 16, 2019 21:17
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Tentacool and Tentacruel get an automatic -1/5 for sheer annoyance
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Nov 16, 2019 22:16
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