damaine_n

Pokémon: Generation By Generation

Added 2024-12-17 07:38:14 +0000 UTC

CHAPTER 4: [New Team Members against Brock!]

Calming down, I moved my avatar to the west of Viridian City, where Route 22 lay, the in-between land that separated the "last" Gym of the game from the final section of the end-game of Fire Red, Victory Road and the Indigo Plateau.

There were a few patches of tall grass that had the Pokémon that I needed to beat Brock, so I let my avatar search through the grass for the encounter.

After a few one-shots of Rattatas and Spearows with the Fire-Type move that Zardon learned, Ember, I finally got the encounter that I wanted.

[Wild MANKEY appeared!]

[Trainer JOSEPH sends out Charmander, Zardon!]

That's right, the Pokémon that he needed to defeat Brock was a Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon! It was a rare Fighting-Type Pokémon in the total of 151 Pokémon, and its stats when evolved into a Primeape are decent at best compared to the likings of future Fighting-Types like Machamp or Hitmonlee.

The only useful thing personally was the move that Mankey learns when it reaches level 9, which was Low Kick! That's the move that will defeat Brock easily!

Low Kick, a Fighting-Type move that deals damage based on how heavy a Pokémon was. And Rock-Type Pokémon were very heavy, so this move was the perfect counter to sweep the Boulder Gym.

Navigating the menu, I did some damage with Zardon's Scratch to increase the chance of catching it before I lobbed a Pokéball at the Mankey. It didn't even resist as after one shake... two shakes... three shakes...

Click! Mankey was caught! I gave it a nice nickname of Monkey before looking at its nature and IVs.

---------------- Pokémon Summary ----------------

[Nickname: Monkey]

[Species: Mankey (♂)]

[Typing: Fighting]

[Level: 4]

[Nature: Quirky]

[Ability: Vital Spirit (Prevents the Pokémon from entering Sleep status.)]

[HP: 15 IV]

[Attack: 22 IV]

[Defense: 27 IV]

[S.Attack: 18 IV]

[S.Defense (↑ - ↓): 19 IV]

[Speed: 21 IV]

[Moves: Leer, Scratch]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- Pokémon Summary ----------------

Eh, it could be much better, but I'll take it. It was a temporary Pokémon to add into the team anyways, so even a Pokémon with bad IVs and nature will still be useful if my strategies work.

With that out of the way, I was about to leave Viridian City when I suddenly remembered something important: going back to Route 22 to catch a Spearow and a Rattata with my limited number of Pokéballs.

To be honest, I'll never use them at all; I just needed to catch a number of Pokémon for future items that required a certain amount of Pokémon caught. I'll catch a Pidgey in a later route since they were abundant anywhere, and I only had 3 Pokéballs remaining that I needed for Viridian Forest.

Linking my own personal bank account to the game was a blessing and a curse; I couldn't buy the essential items at all because of my empty bank account, but Viridian Forest would refill my funds slightly because of the number of NPC Trainers.

Sipping on my 100 Plus drink, I moved my avatar north of the city after storing the unused Pokémon into the PC, moving past the old man who teaches me on how to catch a Pokémon and gifting me the Teachy TV, which was a useless piece of Key Item.

There was one last patch of tall grass between Viridian City and the connector that led to Viridian Forest, so I used the opportunity to level up Monkey to the same level as Zardon, which was level 10.

It took a while of mindlessly spamming Scratch; I think I exterminated generations worth of Pokémon, but eventually I equaled their levels before heading into Viridian Forest.

Leveling up took too long. I had to walk back to the Pokécenter a dozen times to restore Monkey's HP and the PP of Scratch. This experience requirement was just torture; if the early game was already this slow, I shudder to think of late-game grinding.

Pushing that aside for future Joseph, I walked into the connector to access Viridian Forest. I did make sure to talk to every NPC that I could to find anything interesting and found the trade for a Mr. Mime for an Abra.

Noting it down in a notebook, I walked through the connector to arrive at Viridian Forest. Instantly heading to the left and walking to the most left patch of grass, I saved the game before starting to find a Pokémon.

This place was experience heaven for Zardon, since the majority of encounters were Bug-Types, and Bug was weak to Fire, so my Charmander easily gained experience with just a single Fire-Type move.

"Where is it...?"

After a few dozen encounters, it finally came! The mascot of Pokémon itself graced me with its presence!

[Wild PIKACHU appeared!]

[Trainer JOSEPH sends out Charmander, Zardon!]

My face lit up as I finally found a Pikachu! It was going to be a main addition to the team, so I saved before starting to find the encounters. I had 3 Pokéballs, meaning I had 3 chances to catch it before I had to soft reset to the last save.

And since a Pikachu was going to be an addition to the main team, I will need to catch as many as I could to get the perfect Pikachu. I was going to aim for a Pikachu with the priorities being Speed and Special Attack, so maybe I'll aim for a good nature like Timid or Hasty.

Looking at the time of 10:43 p.m. I popped the tension off my knuckles before starting to "work.". Pikachu had a 5% chance to be encountered if I recalled correctly, and getting the perfect IVs and nature was extremely low. I will settle for less if this takes too long, but deep down I knew that this was going to take a while.

Seven hours. Four hours till midnight and another three hours after taking a good night's sleep, and I finally caught a Pikachu that satisfied me.

---------------- Pokémon Summary ----------------

[Nickname: Bolt]

[Species: Pikachu (♀)]

[Typing: Electric]

[Level: 5]

[Nature: Timid]

[Ability: Static (1/3 chance of applying Paralysis status on opponent when damaged with a physical attack.)]

[HP: 31 IV]

[Attack (↓): 30 IV]

[Defense: 26 IV]

[S.Attack: 31 IV]

[S.Defense: 31 IV]

[Speed (↑): 31 IV]

[Moves: Thundershock, Growl]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- Pokémon Summary ----------------

And she was beautiful. I had to stop a squeal from escaping my mouth when I finally caught her, my fingers moving at lightning speeds to bring her into reality.

Though I did make sure that I was out at the park, I had this nice place that's very out of sight, one that I frequently visit to relax and to clear my mind. It has a very nice view of the city, hiding behind trees too, so a lot of shade.

Holding onto Zardon's and Bolt's Pokéball, I had a wide smile painting my face as I excitedly tossed both Pokéballs into the air, letting the magical pocket balls erupt into a bright light.

Hearing them drop to the ground, I couldn't help but gush at them as they cried out their respective Pokémon cries of both Charmander and Pikachu. Zardon had a large grin as he started to pace around my body while Bolt waved shyly, her body posture shifting slightly to hide herself from my gaze.

"Hi, Bolt. I'm Joseph. Nice to meet you!"

"Pika... chu! [(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉ]"

"Char, charmander! [(°▽°)/]"

"Pika pika. [(´｡• ᵕ •｡`)]"

"This here is Zardon, and we're going to be a team! Well, hopefully if you want to."

I said the last sentence tentatively with a hint of fear slightly filling my heart. Oh, god, why did I even say the last sentence? I don't want to let Bolt go, but I can't really force her to join the team.

"... Pika, pika [(＾ω＾)]!"

She said after thinking about it as she ran up my body and perched on my shoulder, nuzzling her cheek onto mine. I laughed at the affection, relieved, nuzzling her back as I suddenly felt a warm body hugging my side.

"Charmander! Char, char! [(｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)]"

He must have felt left out; oh, this Pokémon is just too cute, especially with those jealous eyes. With one hand holding onto Bolt to help her from avoiding a fall and the other patting Zardon's head, I enjoyed my time outside from the house, playing around with my own Pokémon.

After dinner, I booted up the Arc and continued my journey to the first Gym of the game, the Boulder Gym. Passing through the excessive amounts of tall grass in the Viridian Forest, I finally met the first NPC Trainer outside of Blue, a random Bug-Type kid.

Walking into his vision range, a prompt appeared, asking if I'd like to battle this Trainer. What a useful quality of life change, I thought as I hit the YES option. But the moment the YES option was selected, the world around me suddenly flicked with a glitch-like texture as the Arc in my hands faded.

"W-What?!"

Surprised, I stood up from my seat, confused as the world faded and changed from the scenery of my room to finding myself in some kind of forest during the midday. I blinked, trying to make sense of my surroundings when I spotted something at the end of my vision.

At the very end of the forest clearing stood a child wearing summer clothing with a straw hat on his head and a bug-catching net that slung on his back. The eye-catching interest that my eyes caught was a belt with a shrunken Pokéball that hung on one of the hinges.

[Bug Catcher RICK has challenged you to a POKÉMON BATTLE!]

The child unclips his Pokéball and enlarges it before tossing it into the air.

"Go, Caterpie!"

[Bug Catcher RICK sends out CATERPIE!]

The Pokéball bursts open as a Caterpie landed on the ground, its green bug-like body curling up as it cried out its name. Weirdly enough, there was the name of its species along with its numerical level from the floating text above the Pokémon.

Flabbergasted, I looked down and noticed that my clothes had changed from my usual pajamas to a set of new attire: a red jacket, blue jeans, black and red sneakers, and a red cap with the design of a white Pokéball outline.

My hands moved to my side, feeling the set of Pokéballs hanging on the sides of a belt. I somehow entered the game? Could it be that when my avatar battles an NPC Trainer, I directly control him and my Pokémon instead? But what about the fight with Blue? Speaking about Blue, where even was the encounter with him when I walked into Route 22?

Shaking my head to push my questions to the back of my head for now, I reached for my belt.

Choosing a random Pokéball since I had no idea which Pokémon was in which Pokéball, I removed it by simply pulling it from the belt, realizing that it was magnetically attached to the belt, and tossed the Pokéball after activating its release function.

[Pokémon Trainer JOSEPH sends out PIKACHU!]

A burst of light later, Bolt landed on the grass gently, crying out her name.

"Pikachu!"

She looked at the Caterpie in front of her and then back at me before her attention reverted back to the Pokémon, her facial expression shifting to a serious demeanor as jolts of electricity sparked from the red patches on her face.

Above her was the same floating text of her species and level, along with a new blue bar that seems to indicate her progress to the next level.

"Alright! I'll move first with String Shot, Caterpie!"

The Bug-Type obeyed the words of its Trainer as it spewed a chunk of silk towards Bolt. Reacting immediately, I yelled out a command to Bolt.

"Dodge to the side and use Thundershock!"

Bolt moved the moment the command came out from my mouth, dodging to the side by sidestepping out of the way before getting close to the Caterpie. The stray String Bolt flew towards me instead since I was right behind Bolt, and I dodged it myself by rolling out of the way.

Once in range, she released shocks of thunder from her body around her surroundings before the Bug-Type Trainer could issue a command, hitting the Caterpie with a taste of electricity.

"No, Caterpie! Use Tackle to shake her off!"

Enveloped in a white hue of energy, the Caterpie somehow lunges towards Bolt with its body, but the Tackle was easily predicted due to the attack being telegraphed, with her dodging instinctively without needing my commands.

My hand sliced the air as I yelled out another command to attack.

"Good job! Keep dodging its attacks and Thundershock it!"

"Pika... CHU!"

Bolt moved gracefully, dodging any Tackles and String Shots that came her way while maintaining close quarters, firing Thundershock after Thundershock at the poor bug until the Caterpie fell to the ground, its eyes swirling as it fainted from the amount of damage done.

[CATERPIE has fainted!]

The blue bar above Bolt increased as it reached the end, her level raising from 5 to 6, meaning my theory was correct: the blue bar represents her experience gauge. And the increase is significant compared to grinding against Wild Pokémon! That meant that fighting against Trainers was the way to increase levels instead of relying on tall grasses.

Recalling the Caterpie, the Bug-Type Trainer gave it a good comfort speech before reattaching and switching its Pokéball with another one from his belt.

"Now's your turn, Weedle!"

[Bug Catcher RICK sends out WEEDLE!]

This time, a beige-colored bug appeared from its Pokéball, crying out its name. I was about to command Pikachu to continue its attack when the Bug-Type Trainer complained.

"Hey! When I bring out a new Pokémon after any of our Pokémon faints or switches out, both sides have to go back to their corners! That's the rules!"

"O-Oh, sorry. Come back, Bolt."

... Was this boxing or something? There's a timeout for some reason; what a weird rule. Calling back Bolt, who obeyed my command, I crouched down, petting her head as I praised her for the performance she showed.

"Very good job, Bolt, that was amazing!"

"Pika, pikachu! [(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)]"

She blushed at the praise, her head leaning into the head pat as I asked gently.

"Can you keep going? I think he has one last Pokémon left."

"Pika, pika pika! [(≧◡≦)]"

She nods enthusiastically as she takes the field, moving around to warm her muscles up. I laughed before I stood back up, adjusting the cap on my head as I nodded back at the Trainer to signal that I was ready for the second round.

"Weedle, Poison Sting!"

"Bolt, Thundershock as a barrier!"

As the Weedle leaped towards Bolt with the intention of damaging her with the stingers on its body that were coated with purple liquid, Bolt channeled the Electric-Type energy within her as she fired a Thundershock around her as a protective barrier.

The Weedle that came close to Bolt got electrocuted from the sparks of electricity as it got pushed back a few steps, sparks of lightning dancing on its body. It got paralyzed!

"Keep it up, Bolt! Maintain the distance and Thundershock it!"

"CHUUUUU!"

The poor Weedle couldn't do much other than eat the Thundershocks that Bolt released, as it didn't have any long-range attacks, and it eventually dropped to the ground, fainted.

The Trainer couldn't help but sigh as he returned the Weedle back into its Pokéball, but he managed a bright smile as he ran towards me, his hand digging into his fanny pack before giving me a handful of notes.

"Your Pikachu is so strong, mister! Thanks for giving my Pokémon some battle experience! Here, your prize for winning."

[Bug Catcher RICK has no remaining Pokémon left!]

[Bug Catcher RICK hands over 72P for winning the POKÉMON BATTLE!]

As soon as the victory message appeared in front of him, the world shifted once more before I found myself back in my room, sitting on my desk with the Arc in my hands as if I had been here the whole time.

"That was like a lucid dream..."

Looking at the Arc, I navigated through the menu before opening the POKÉMON tab. Sure enough, Bolt had reached level 6 and was halfway to reaching level 7, learning Tail Whip as a level-up move!

"Incredible!"

I had thought that I would need to learn to fight real Pokémon Battles since the game was turn-based; it was not realistic in real life. My Pokémon would get stronger, but it won't help me in the long run. But now, with these simulation-like battles, I will have more battle experience than my peers, learning to command my Pokémon much better!

And I had just witnessed the difference between a normal Pokémon compared to a perfect Pokémon with insanely high IVs; even when they were the same level, the difference was night and day.

Though only 72 Pokédollars, that wasn't even enough to buy a normal Pokéball, which sucked as I cursed the high costs of a Pokémon Trainer, but that was 72 dollars gained from a 5-minute fight!

72 dollars just like that! And if my math was correct, there were at least 5 Trainers in the forest, and if each of them gave about 50 Pokédollars per Trainer, that meant that I would make an additional 200 dollars from just Pokémon Battles.

The money motivated me to continue my travels, hoping that my Pokémon would level up just enough to beat Brock along the way without the need to mindlessly grind against Wild Pokémon.

---------------- Current Team Summary ----------------

---------------- 1st POKEMON SLOT ----------------

[Nickname: Zardon]

[Species: Charmander (♂)]

[Level: 10]

[Nature: Lonely]

[Ability: Blaze (Boosts the power of Fire-Type moves when HP is below 1/3rds)]

[Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember]

[Held Item: None]

---------------- 2nd POKEMON SLOT ----------------

[Nickname: Bolt]

[Species: Pikachu (♀)]