Let's Play Pokemon Red (up to Part 19)

In this update: I actually experience a white out!



This is the team as voted on by everyone. As you can see, Dratini and Scyther are a tad underleveled. As such, there will be much grinding on Route 18 (area west of Fuchsia City).



To help with this, I give Dratini Swift (pictured) and Surf (not pictured). Thunder Wave/Wrap is nice, but time consuming, and this'll eat enough time as is.

Naturally, Thunder Wave/Wrap ends up working more reliably than trying to outmuscle Fearow and Raticate higher level than you, so I use that.



No Agility for Dratini, Thunder Wave is better at least 9 times out of 10, probably more.



Double Team isn't really needed, but it's better than nothing. Scyther'll take it.



The crystal things are the standard 'powerful Ice attack' animation, and are used for most Ice attacks.



Surf's official explanation is that the user creates a giant water wave to attack an enemy. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, it looks more like it's raining. Still painful for the enemy.



LV 29 is pretty much the point where Scyther ceases to be quasi-dead weight and becomes a force to be reckoned with.



All because of this. Slash is a high critical hit rate move, and Scyther clears the requirement for a 100% critical with it handily. ~140 power attacks (it's 70 base power) that ignore any Defense modifiers are no laughing matter. Unless you're using them, in which case you're prone to laugh evilly as the opponent's HP bar keeps going down.



Woo! Dratini tries to learn Slam, but I pass. Slam is an 80 power Normal type move, which would be a nice upgrade over Swift...but it only has 74.6% accuracy, and has no extra effects. I've got Surf for raw power, so I stick with Swift and the Thunder Wave/Wrap combo.



Did I mention that Dratini also evolves at LV 30?



Because it does. I hope you like Dragonair, because it'll be staying in this stage for a VERY long time, and not by choice: Dragonair has the highest level-based requirement in the game, not evolving until a whopping LV 55. Another Pokemon would join it in Gen 2, but until Pokemon Black and White, it held the record for latest level-based evolution. Ouch.





That's better. The rest of the team also reached LV 33, thanks to helping out with training. Now that I'm all leveled up, time to crush another gym!



This gym's gimmick is that there are 'invisible' walls, and you have to get around them to reach the gym leader, Koga, who you can see right there. As you can see, however, they're not quite that invisible.



Jugglers are a new trainer type. They prefer Psychic types. Note that this is not a Psychic type gym. One noteworthy thing about Jugglers: they're one of the very few trainer classes that switch. Not intelligently, mind you, but they do.



Most trainers here say something along the lines of 'statuses rule!' or 'I'm ninja training under Koga!'.



What's odd about that is that most of the trainers are Jugglers, and they all use some combination of Drowzee, Hypno, and Kadabra here. I'll get into it more later, but I personally believe that at some point, the Fuchsia and Saffron Gyms were going to be reversed.

In other news, LV 38 Hypno. That's actually dangerous, since it has Psychic at that point, and has Headbutt for the likes of Alakazam. If you're unlucky with the AI roulette, you'll feel the pain.



The other couple of trainers here are Tamers, who have no particular favorite Pokemon. Am I the only one that thinks it's weird that so many trainer classes in Gen 1 have whips? A different time, I suppose.



This line is funny because Koga is laughably easy, despite easily being the highest leveled trainer fought thus far.



He's still awesome, because how many other gym leaders look like they're doing one handed push ups? Zero, that's how many.



Unlike his underlings, Koga definitely uses Poison Pokemon. First up, a Koffing that could've evolved by now. A couple of Surfs were all that were needed.



Next up, a Muk that could've been legally acquired, and I think is the only Muk in the entire game that meets that standard. Alakazam was less than impressed and OHKO'd it.

By the way, remember that Koffing? He has a second one at the same level. Replace 'Dragonair' with 'Wartortle' for a complete analysis of that part of the battle.



His final Pokemon is Weezing, and look at that level. 43's pretty intimidating, but it also makes it extremely susceptible to a certain act of AI stupidity. I picked Arcanine specifically to show it; let's just use Dig, and...



Weezing learns Selfdestruct at LV 43, so it's on its' moveset. Selfdestruct is a 130 base power Normal type move, but halves Defense when calculating its damage, so for all intents and purposes has a whopping 260 base power. The catch? The user faints after using it, as the name implies. But since Arcanine's underground, it whiffs, but the fainting part is absolute. Did I mention that Weezing is Koga's final Pokemon?



Soul Badge, get! What that has to do with Poison types is beyond me.



The Soul Badge lets you Surf outside of battle. Very nice.



He also gives out TM 06 (Toxic) upon defeat. Toxic inflicts Badly Poisoned status. Normally, Poison does 1/16th of a Pokemon's HP every turn. Toxic induced Poison, however, does 1/16 after one turn, 2/16 after two turns, 3/16 after three turns, and so on. However, if the opponent switches, or the battle ends, it reverts to regular Poison status. There are a couple of moves that combo great with it, Wrap and Leech Seed. Good thing nothing can get all three of those moves, or else it'd be a total game breaker.

Oddly, despite its highly poisonous nature, every Pokemon capable of learning TMs can learn Toxic. Weird, but since some Pokemon that are normally very unpoisonous are among the best users of it, I'm not complaining.



There's not much else to Fuchsia aside from the Safari Zone and the gym. Bill's grandfather lives in the house to the right of the gym, and another brother of the Fishing Guru will give you the Good Rod, which lets you catch Goldeen and Poliwag...which the Super Rod can already do. But that's it.

Now, it's time to play around with Surf a bit. First, to Celadon!



In the southeast corner of Celadon is a building. Inside, it looks like a Pokemon Center, sans machines, but it's a hotel. Three people are taking a vacation there: a woman, her boyfriend...and her little brother.



The boyfriend is understandly not happy about being Lanceablocked by a kid.



They actually used the Pokemon Center as a template for the hotel. Unfortunately for them, they forgot to remove the trigger that activates the PC, so you can still conduct business there. It works perfectly normally, with no side effects or anything. Cool.

Next up, back to Fuchsia!



And bac to the Safari Zone, because there's one thing I forgot in there.



Yes, I got on my Wartortle. DEAL WITH IT.



All Pokemon using Surf have that icon, regardless of it's what they have in their stats. If you're wondering, I just picked up a Nugget on the island to the left, which requires Surf to reach. Incidentally, you can't Fly out of the Safari Zone, presumably so you can't jack Safari Balls. Weak.

Now, to Cerulean!



Remember the cave I talked out way back when I was here for real? The guy's still there, even though we can reach it now. He says there's high level Pokemon in there, and that the Pokemon League champion is the only trainer allowed inside. For once, they're not exaggerating about the danger: I think the lowest leveled Pokemon inside that cave is around LV 45, and top out at LV 64. Seriously.



West of the cave is this trainer on Route 4, which can't be accessed without Surf. She likes mushrooms, and uses Paras and Parasect. So basically, Steve's girlfriend cameos in this game.

Next up, Vermilion! And since I'm due for it, it's time for some glitch fun...



First, you get right here, next to the guy that checked for the S.S. Ticket. If you try to walk forward from here, he turns you back.



Then, take one step to the right, and pressing Start BEFORE you take the full step, so the menu comes up the instant you do. Save and restart.



Once you've loaded, WITHOUT PRESSING THE D-PAD FIRST, press Start, and use Surf.



Voila! You're Surfing on the guy! I don't know every detail about this glitch (and in fact I didn't even know about it until after I started this LP), but you're basically tricking the game here. Normally, when you boot up the game, the character is always facing downward, as the game normally doesn't save what direction you're facing. By bringing up the start menu before completing the step, the game gets screwed up, and thus you face right. However, the game still acts like you're facing down, even though you're not. And since you're actually facing right, and thus facing a water tile, the game will allow you to use Surf...but since it still thinks you're facing down, you move down instead of right. I really, really hope that explained it...

But by doing so, you're free to access the S.S. Anne area without trading for Cut, or intentionally losing while on board.



And yes, even if you watched it leave, the S.S. Anne will still be there. It won't leave again, as the trigger for it doing so is curing the captain of seasickness, and the ship is exactly as you left it. So, you can pick up any items, or fight any trainers you missed. Handy if you forgot to snag TMs 08 and 44 on your first trip.



This also means that you can freely access the legendary truck! There's no items or anything around, but hey, legendary truck! Also, the boxes in the corner aren't seen anywhere else in the game, for extra spiffiness.

Go ahead and gaze in awe at the truck. I'll wait for you.

...Done? No? That's okay.

...How about now? No? Fine.

...Okay, that's enough gazing in awe. I didn't think you'd spend THAT long...

Next up, Celadon again, because I was dumb and forgot something there!



You can see this guy as soon as you reach Celadon, but you can't talk to him until you have Surf.



He gives you TM 41 (Softboiled). Number of Pokemon capable of using it: 2. That's right, only Chansey and Mew are capable of using it. Ironically, a couple additional Pokemon are capable of using it in the remakes...oh yeah, Softboiled restores 50% of your HP, like Recover.



In the far east of the city is a hidden PP Up. PP Ups up your PP. Stunning. More specifically, they boost PP by (Base PP/5). So, if you used it on Surf, which has 15 PP, it would be raised by 3 to 18 PP. It's worth saving these for very low PP moves you plan on using. I actually will be using these, but the move I have in mind hasn't shown up yet.

Next up, Route 12 (area south of Lavender Town)!



WOO! TM 16 teaches Pay Day. It's a 40 power Normal type move. Unimpressive, right? Well...it also produces money. Each time you use Pay Day in battle, you acquire (User's level * 2) Pokedollars. It's the only way you can get infinite money without abusing glitches or repeatedly fighting a certain group of trainers in Gen 1, so love the Pokemon that can use this TM. Unortunately, no Pokemon that can use this TM were voted in, so it'll rot in my box, because I refuse to sell it on principle.

Next stop, Cerulean again! Well, sorta...



First off, I demonstrate how to release Pokemon by letting Steve out into the wild. Bye Steve! Don't let the door hit you on the way out! ...Because I don't want ass prints on my new door!

In more important news, I take out Farfetch'd. I don't require Cut, but it's the quicker and easier way to Route 10, so I do so. At the Pokemon Center near Rock Tunnel, I box it again.



I NEED AN ADULT, BECAUSE HE UNDOUBTEDLY WANTS TO ABDUCT ME, AND CAN'T POSSIBLY REFER TO HIS POKEMON.



...Oh, he has a Lickitung, which is actually very rare and is fairly impressive in a collection. Sorry, guy.

FUN FACT: Lickitung couldn't learn Lick until Gen 2.



What I wanted to show, however, is this place.



Behold, the Power Plant, in all its ruined glory. You can tell it's ruined by all the rocks.



Like many places, the Power Plant has a gimmick. Here, a lot of what appear to be items...



Are, in fact, Voltorb. And look at that level. 40! Good luck outspeeding that in the mid-30s. Also, one wrong AI roulette roll and you'll take a Selfdestruct in the face. Ow. Even with Voltorb's miserable Attack, that hurts on base power alone.



It gets worse: a few are Electrode, which are pretty much impossible to outspeed without being overleveled. And there's still Selfdestruct worries, but now there's an even greater chance of taking a critical hit. And Voltorb's no slouch in that department, either. Yeesh.



There's also wild Magneton lurking around, and they love defying the odds with Thundershock and paralyzing you. Thank goodness they don't get Thunder Wave at those levels.

Despite all the annoyance factors, I still fought everything in here, as at the end of the day, they'll mostly use Normal type moves. You just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best...though it still took me three tries to get completely through the area without getting wrecked by something.



There's the free Reflect TM.



This is more noteworthy. TM 25 contains Thunder, a 120 power Electric type move, but only has 69.6% accuracy. I like Thunderbolt more, but if you don't mind taking chances, Thunder's a move for you. Plus, I probably will use it in this playthrough, though I'm not sure who to give it to.



If a Pokemon learns a move at the same level it evolves (like Dratini and Slam), it'll learn that move a bit later. So, I get to turn down Slam twice. Hooray!



Again, I AM the Itemfinder.



And this is where beating up all those Voltorb and Magnemite and Pikachu pays off.



No B button pressing today!



YEAH. Final formed starter. I'm now set for life.



The bad thing about critical hits is that they ignore ALL stat changes, including ones that are beneficial to you. Still, Swords Dance is better than Leer, in the off chance I use Quick Attack.



Hey look, some bird's here! What kind of idiot bird would hang out in a Power Plant?...Aside from ones hanging out with their trainer?



...And what kind of idiot bird goes 'Gyaoo!'?



...Oh.



...OH.

Yes, that bird is none other than the first legendary we've encountered: the mythical bird of lightning, Zapdos. Legendary Pokemon are distinguishable by their uniqueness (generally, only one of each appears normally per game), high stats (and usually, but not always, high level when found) and by their maddening capture rate. You see, every Pokemon has a number between 1 and 255 assigned to them, which determines how hard they are to catch; the higher the number, the easier it is. Pokemon like Pidgey and Rattata have the max of 255. Zapdos's capture rate is...3. Until Gen 4, that was the lowest number a Pokemon could be assigned. The reason isn't actually purely by choice, either. Eventually, we'll encounter the Master Ball, which is known for its 100% capture rate, regardless of the Pokemon it's used on, or its condition. However, because of how Poke Ball success is calculated, if there was a capture rate below 3 in Gen 1, the Master Ball would have a chance of failure. This was eventually fixed, but it's been a tradition ever since to have most legendaries have capture rates of 3, with certain exceptions.

Anyway, Zapdos is LV 50, which only a handful of trainers reach. Hell, you can beat the game without reaching LV 50. It only has two attacks, but they're all it needs against a team 15 levels lower than it: Thundershock, which you know about, and Drill Peck, that lovely 80 power Flying attack Fearow and Dodrio get (but not Pidgeotto...sigh). That latter move can probably one-shot most of my team, and three of my Pokemon are Electric weak, to boot.



Things don't work out well. Eventually, it dawns on me to use, what else, the Thunder Wave/Wrap combo, as Dragonair can probably withstand a single Drill Peck, and can shrug off Thundershock. It works, but then I notice I only have a dozen or so Great Balls. Smooth. It didn't matter at that point, as my team was wiped out before I depleted my supply. I should've taken a screencap of me whiting out, since I wouldn't be surprised if this was the only time that happens. Instead, I reload my save, which I did right before fighting Zapdos. Yeah, small word of advice...

ALWAYS SAVE BEFORE FIGHTING LEGENDARY AND OTHER ONE-OFF POKEMON, BECAUSE THE GAME DOESN'T MIND SCREWING YOU OVER AGAINST THEM. AT ALL. SO DO IT.

Now where was I...oh, right. In Blue, you can find wild Raichu here, who are annoying thanks to knowing Thunder Wave. In Red, however, you get a unique Pokemon, who I'm amazed hasn't been found yet.



However, this happens while I go back and look for that Pokemon.



K.



Personally, I like Pidgeotto more, but it was going to happen sooner or later.



There we go. Electabuzz is awesome, and had I picked my own team, it would almost certainly have been my Electric type choice. But since Jolteon won the voting, it must be KO'd. Scyther actually hits LV 36 by beating it. Go figure.



My fingers are getting a little tired from all this typing, so I'm calling it a day. Until next time:

Next time: TM bliss!

Here's the team that was, ahem, voted for. Blastoise and Tauros were required, Jolteon and Weepinbell were outright voted for, and I had to pick two among Arcanine, Pidgeot, and Dragonair. I went with Arcanine and Dragonair because Pidgeot is one level higher than them. It also helps that Pidgeot would probably be the least useful of the three in the upcoming segment. Woo, rationale.



Before I start, I finally bust out TM 08, and use it on Tauros. 85 power attack + virtually perfect accuracy + 30% paralysis chance + STAB + good Attack = very dependable Pokemon. Of course, it's still nearly 10 levels below the main team (and Weepinbell's 5 off itself, so time to go train in the usual spot.



Of course, no Pidgeot means no Fly. I endure thanks to the power of SPEED UP.



A lovely image of Tauros from behind. Never was sure why it had three tails, but eh, why not?



Tail Whip, it's a thing.



...Yes, they actually gave it both Tail Whip AND Leer. I'm sure whoever came up with that concept found it hilarious, especially since they also did it with Kangaskhan and Flareon. I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED, WHOEVER YOU ARE, JERKWAD.

Oh, and the sad part? To this day, Kangaskhan STILL learns both moves. At least now it gets both at extremely low levels to minimize the troll factor.



The rest of the training was pretty uneventful.

Number of times Tauros was switched out during training: 0
Number of times Tauros was healed during 9 levels of training: 2
Number of times Tauros was healed because of low HP/faint: 1
Number of times Tauros was healed because it was kicking so much ass it ran out of PP: 1

Seriously, Tauros is awesome. Base 100 Attack and Base 110 Speed (and by extension, a CH rate over 20%) to go with one rarely seen weakness gets you very far in the Pokemon world.

Also, just 3 levels from Weepinbell finally meeting Bomber's satisfaction.

Now, let's see what hijinks we can get into in Saffron City!



There's this guy, aptly named Mr. Psychic.



TM 29 contains Psychic, a 90 power, er, Psychic type move, with 99.6% accuracy, and a 30% chance to reduce a foe's Special. It's as obscenely powerful as it sounds, but only 3 of the slated 15 Pokemon I'm using can use it, one will get it naturally in a couple of levels (Alakazam), and another gets a gimmicky but arguably even better in the main game Psychic type move (Gengar). The third we don't even have yet, so this baby will go into the PC for now. But trust me, it WILL be used.

By the way...how DID that guy know I wanted a TM 29?



Remember how Team Rocket's in control of this place? They have other places besides the gym blocked off...however, not only do they leave the Poke Mart open, they also leave alone the guy that gives out a TM that completely shreds their entire organization (seriously, 99% of Rockets have at least one Pokemon weak to Psychic moves). No wonder I'm about to crush them.



The Poke Mart has a couple of new things: Hyper Potions restore 200 HP, which make them full-heals in most reasonable situations, and are FAR more cost efficient than later Max Potions. There's also Max Repels, which prevent wild encounters for 250 steps compared to a Super Repel's 200...but, oddly enough, is less cost efficient than Super Repel. Still, you have to apply it less, so it's a matter of cost vs. convenience.



In the Pokemon Center, there's this guy that wishes the Elite Four would come and stomp Team Rocket into the ground. Which raises a point: why isn't anyone doing anything? I mean, I get the Saffron Gym not doing anything, there's a guy blocking the entrance, and that's completely impossible to get through. But the Fighting Dojo's doing nothing, nearby Gym Leaders aren't doing anything, and the Elite Four, four trainers of...eliteness, are sitting around wherever they are, probably drinking tea and eating crumpets like pansies. If the reward wasn't worth it, I'd say screw it, the region deserves to be F'd up.



Anyway, once you've rescued Mr. Fuji, this guy, who originally stands in front of the door of this rather large building, moves one space to the right and falls asleep. Honestly, this is one case where I would be inclined to think the exact same thing as the message. 'Hah! He's taking a snooze!' indeed.



Welcome to Silph Co.! It's huge, and full of Rockets, Silph Co. traitors, and stuff. However, if you know exactly what to do, you can clear it while fighting as few as 4 trainers. I fight them all, of course, since that's just a waste of perfectly good EXP and cash.



Normally, I go floor by floor, but first I always go get the special item in here. It's needed to access some of the free stuff, as well as being required to complete Silph Co. To get it, just use this warp tile (the one that's painfully obvious), then use the tile that it sends you to...



And you're free to access the corridor, along with the first of the four required fights.



Considering I've been here all of 30 seconds, this is impressive. If nothing else, Team Rocket gets its news spread FAST.



One beatdown later, I get the Card Key. Did you see that four bar thing in the wall earlier? Those are doors, and the Card Key lets you open them. Mind boggling stuff.



There are four Rockets that open with this line, as you might expect. There's no reward for beating them all, save for the satisfaction of knowing that their claims of vengeance will never be fulfilled.



Bingo! ...The game says Bingo! every time you open a door, even though I didn't screencap it. For some reason, that makes opening doors seem more awesome than it otherwise should be.



Here's why you get the Card Key early: talk to this woman for a free heal, without having to head back to the Pokemon Center. Very convenient.



I'm actually able to obtain the Itemfinder by the end of this segment...but when I have one in my head, who needs it?



Adults are apparently allowed just fine, though.



This guy immediately fights you after saying this. He MIGHT be one of the people that betrayed Silph. Just a hunch.



This isn't the first time I've shown Weezing, but I just want to know. WHERE THE LIVING @#$% DO THEY GET THESE? I WANT THEM.



This is her reaction to an 11 year old boy that doesn't even come close to looking like a Rocket. Imagine if an actual Rocket found her.



Why thank you. I almost forgive you for screaming in my ear. Almost.



TM 36 teaches Selfdestruct, which I've mentioned before. All of one Pokemon I'm using can use it, and it both has yet to be caught, and learns Selfdestruct naturally. Woo?



On the 3rd floor: this warp tile, which takes you to the other three required fights and ends this whole mess. To get here with minimal fuss, get the Card Key, then open the door near the Rocket you beat, and use that warp tile. Then head right, go up at the split, and open the first door you see. But again, so much lost EXP...



Woo, Max Revive! They're just like regular Revives, but completely restore HP. They can't be bought, so use sparingly. Unless you do THAT...



To be fair to this guy, without the main protagonist power of seeing through walls so long as they're on the screen, he'd be near impossible to find.



Am I the only one that finds it weird a Scientist is saying this, and not a Rocket?



I already complimented your ability to spread the news around. That meets my quota. Now go away after I beat the tar out of your Pokemon.



I never showed it before, so here's Blastoise's backsprite. I find it hands down the least offensive of the three starters' backsprites.



This guy says Silph was working on a ball that would always work without fail. Yeah right, like that'll be relevant.



TM 09, Take Down, like I'd ever use th-



...Oh. Well, I'm not using Leer, and I don't have a pressing need for cash, so why not?



Behold, Mr. Mime! While discussed before, this is the first time I've actually bumped into one, so here it is. Even among Red/Blue sprites, I find Mr. Mime's a bit...unsettling.



Incidentally, Mr. Mime belongs to a Juggler, the only non-unique trainer class that's not a Scientist or Rocket. Why is he here? Hell if I know.



Second of the Rocket Brothers. If you're wondering, there's one each on Floors 6, 7, 8, and 9. 9 is the hardest (with Golbat and the Drowzee family), so if you can beat him without much effort, the others can be mocked relentlessly as you fight them.



At least one Silph Co. employee has balls. But since said employee has a female sprite, I'm going to assume that said balls only exist in the metaphorical sense.



This is the one Silph traitor that has an actual reason for doing so, and it's actually a pretty good one.



If I found out I was being transferred to Siberia, I'd be a tad PO'd myself.



3/4.



...Didn't they already use that quip in Route 16? Or at least something really similar?



Tail Whip. At LV 37. Seriously, whoever made some of these movesets was a complete troll, especially when it came to Tail Whip.



5 badges. 0 respect.



Woo! TM 03 contains Swords Dance, a Normal type move that raises Attack by 2 stages. It's a good move, but of the two Pokemon that can learn it, Weepinbell has no spare moveslots (and only Acid to boost with it), and Scyther makes it pointless by having Slash...and gets Swords Dance naturally anyway. Something like Sandslash, however, can use this TM to great effect.



4/4. I mock your cries of vengeance! MOCK THEM!



Did I say 0 respect? I meant -30.



This guy actually leads with Voltorb, who's fast enough to have a decent CH rate...but then uses horribly slow Pokemon, wrecking that. Smooth.



BREAKING NEWS: Not acting like a complete a-hole makes Pokemon like you more!



Weepinbell is capable of defeating a Pokemon made nearly entirely of poison by...flinging poison at it. Awesome. I just wish I'd shown it against a Grimer, for even more hilarity.



The 10th floor is an awesome floor. TM 26 teaches Earthquake, a 100 power Ground type move with 99.6% accuracy, and no special effects. That's right, a 100 power attack with absolutely zero drawback. Ground is a great attacking type, as well, making this one of the most coveted TMs, even to this day. Something's getting this, but I'm unsure what just yet: Blastoise is nigh impossible to beat with this to round out its moveset, but also already has an extra versatility move in Ice Beam, Tauros could use a nice non-Normal attack, but Earthquake only adds a few extra Pokemon to the list of Pokemon it can hit hard, and my actual Ground type, Marowak, gets a move that's essentially the same aside from 10% less accuracy. Hmm. This will need thought.

Oh, and the spot you get TM 26 also has Carbos and Rare Candy. All at the low cost of beating a guy with a single Machoke! Awesome.



I never noticed this glitch before, but if you take the stairs from 10F to 11F, you'll remain in the stairwell, even though you should automatically take a step down. Weird. You can still use the stairs immediately by pressing Up, though, so you can't do anything cool with it.



Fun fact: Reaching 11F, the top floor, by stair or elevator, leads you to a dead end. Unfortunately, no one told this guy that.



But, during the battle, this happens!



Which means this happens! Razor Leaf is a 55 power, 94.6% accurate attack...and has a high critical hit rate. Weepinbell can't quite reach 100% CH with it...more like 86%. Its evolution, however, doesn't have that problem.

I actually need to go back to grab my Leaf Stone to evolve it; I wasn't sure that it'd reach LV 38. Silly me. But first, I forgot to grab a Calcium elsewhere, so I'll grab that first...



...Wait, that's not...nah. Even he's not THAT big an a-hole. From here, I Dig out of Silph Co. to go grab my Leaf Stone. Yes, you can dig out of a building while several stories up. No, I don't know how it works. Yes, it is hilarious.



Boom!



BOOM!



Bomber is officially happy with this update. Victreebel is basically Venusaur, in that they're Grass/Poison types that can spam Razor Leaf like nobody's business. The main differences are that Venusaur is slightly faster and bulkier, while Victreebel can attack better physically. I'd give Venusaur a slight edge due to that extra Speed and getting Razor Leaf a bit earlier (LV 30 as an Ivysaur, compared to LV 38 for Weepinbell), but neither are to be trifled with...unless you have a good Psychic type, in which case you'll find them trifling.

Now, let's see what that SOMEGUY lookalike is up t-



...Really, SOMEGUY? You're just sitting here in a giant building in need of saving, JUST so I'll get here and you can challenge me?

SOMEGUY? More like ASSHOLE.



I FINALLY got his second pose up. Go me.



His Pidgeotto evolved. Good for him. My Pidgeot's better, but since this time I don't have it, Jolteon just OHKO's his.



SOMEGUY is still a cheating ASSHOLE, as his Gyarados has Hydro Pump, which it shouldn't know for another three levels. Luckily, Tauros is awesome and pounds on its' weaker Defense for the win.



Look at this situation. Then laugh at it. I know I did. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Like that.



Alakazam can be threatening if you don't have a Pokemon well-suited for it: good Special for resisting its attacks (but isn't weak to Psychic attacks), and good Attack with a decently strong physical move to defeat it (but isn't a Fighting type move). Incidentally, Blastoise meets those standards.



There's Venusaur, in its fancy LV 40-ness. Dragonair was unimpressed, and used Thunder Wave/Wrap for a nearly flawless win.



Afterward, he says he's going to beat the Elite Four to become the world's strongest trainer. My question is, if he wants to be the world's strongest trainer, shouldn't he, ya know, be able to defeat the person he considers his rival? Just sayin'.

...Oh wait, that's right. I forgot to factor in the fact that SOMEGUY IS A COMPLETE A-HOLE.



This guy was here the whole time, but due to text couldn't be seen in any images until now. Unlike everyone else in Silph Co., he appreciates us saving the company. If Team Rocket makes me choose one person in the entire building to save, it's gonna be this guy. Seriously, when everyone's hiding like a pansy or saying I can't do jack, he's thanking us and acting like we're actually going to save everyone. That, everyone, is gratefulness.



He's so grateful that he's giving me a Pokemon. I don't care if it's a Weedle, it's the thought that counts.



...I stand corrected. THAT is gratefulness. This guy says thanks by giving out a Lapras, the Ice type team member, and overall incredible Pokemon. Seriously, this guy just made my Christmas card list. He's awesome.



Battle 3 of the 4 required to clear Silph Co. and save Saffron City. Noteworthy for having a Marowak that's neither dead nor belonging to me.

With that, every last Rocket grunt is beaten. Woo! Let's go whip the leader so we can end this update!



...Every time I see a line like this, I imagine the speaker as Sean Connery.



Sure, Team Rocket is ultimately terrible at being actually evil instead of being royal a-holes, but give them some credit where it's due: describing 'work for us or we destroy you' as a 'vital business proposition' is a very fancy evil thing to say.

Anyway, let's beat him and call it a day.



This time, Giovanni actually uses a couple of Poison types. First up, Nidorino, who's completely and utterly not an issue at this point.



Thunderbolt still 2HKO'd Kangaskhan, but I nearly got incredibly unlucky: Comet Punch got a critical hit (and in Gen 1, if a multi-hit move gets a CH, ALL hits CH), and had it hit 5 times, Jolteon probably would've been one-shotted. Luckily, it only hit 3 times, but...ow.



Rhyhorn is such a non-factor for me that I barely remembered to get a screencap of it in time.



Nidoqueen's new, at least. Unlike its' pre-evolutions, Nidoqueen is Poison/Ground. This is good if you're using it, because it means Earthquake for it. This is bad for Giovanni, as this makes it vulnerable to the likes of Surf, which Dragonair just so happens to have.



To be fair, with a little more luck, he would've had as many one-round KO's as I did. Sure, it would've been his only KO, but still...

Anyway, Team Rocket's gone, and they won't be back. Let's talk to the president and his secretary and listen to them talk about how great I am!



A good start, but I was hoping you'd end with something a bit more...tangible.



It'd be appreciated.



Well, I DID already get a Lapras and raided your building for a TM 26 and vitamins, so I dunno what else you could possibly-



...Oh snap. OH SNAP. Master Ball, AKA that wonderful ball that lets you catch any one Pokemon, no questions asked. It will be saved, and it will be worshiped daily.



...Wait, this is your prototype? Then how is it all future Master Balls come into existence? Unless...

...Oh man. I just figured it out. THE MISSINGNO. GLITCH IS CANON. IT'S THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION.

My mind is blown. I bet yours is, too. So I'll wrap things up.



The team at the end of the update. Spiffy.