Before we begin, I should mention a few important things I found on the S.S. Anne. I forgot to discuss them because most treasure in Pokemon games is entirely unremarkable stuff (healing items, for the most part). There were a few random berries onboard the ship (in the garbage...I don't think I want to give those to my Pokemon), along with a couple of TMs. These are:
- TM31: Brick Break, a pretty good Fighting-type attack. It's not the most powerful move out there, but it has the secondary effect of destroying barriers placed using Reflect or Light Screen. That can certainly come in handy at times.
- TM44: Rest, a support move that makes the user sleep for two turns, regaining all HP. This one's mainly useful for stalling the opponent out.
So, by cutting down the tree that was inexplicably blocking the way to the gym, I can challenge it. The leader here is Lt. Surge, "The Lightning American". I guarantee you won't see anything even close to that in the modern games. Anyway, Surge and his gym use Electric-type Pokemon, which are weak to Ground-type attacks. That would be why I taught Alessandro Dig—it's not a perfect solution, but it'll do.
The opposing trainers have a limited selection of Pokemon because there aren't all that many Electric-types in Kanto. Their teams consist entirely of various combinations of Pikachu, Voltorb
, and Magnemite. All of those will fall quickly to a well-placed Dig, so there isn't much to worry about here.
Now, to the matter of reaching Surge himself. He's locked himself behind a door, and there are two switches that you need to press to open it. The switches are hidden in a 5x3 grid of garbage cans, and once you find one the second one will be right next to it. The problem is that you only get one chance to guess the second switch, and the locations are randomized, meaning that you could potantially be at this for hours if you get unlucky. I was relatively lucky, though, and I managed to find both switches without too much trouble, allowing me to reach Lt. Surge.
We'll see how Surge's electric Pokemon stand up to a Ground-type onslaught. He leads woth Voltorb, which is no threat whatsoever because Alessandro can hust use Dig. It did survive one attack, though, leading Surge to use a Super Potion on it. No big deal—that just means he won't have it for the more dangerous Pokemon.
Round two is against a Pikachu, which is nothing. A single Dig does it in.
Surge's final Pokemon is significantly more problematic. He sends out a Raichu, which is Pikachu's evolved form. This one can seriously mess you up if you're not careful. It even paralyzed Alessandro with Thunder Wave. I was worried for a moment when its Quick Attack did nore than half of Alessandro's HP, but I got lucky. Static triggered, which left Surge using a Full Heal to remove paralysis while Alessandro used one more Dig to finish Raichu off.
...then Raichu's Static triggered on Alessandro.
That doesn't matter, though. I now have the Thunderbadge! It slightly increases the Speed of my Pokemon. More importantly, it also lets me use Fly outside of battle! This one's pretty important later on.
Surge also hands out TM34, which contains Shock Wave. This Electric-type move never misses, no matter how much evasion your opponent has. In the original games he gave out a rather more outrageous TM: TM24, which contains Thunderbolt in all generations (except Gen 2, where it was DragonBreath for some reason). Thunderbolt is simply the best Electric-type move around overall, with high power and 100% accuracy.
After leaving, I find one of Oak's aides near the town's northern entrance. He tells me that there's another aide waiting for me around Route 2, but I'll have to take a bit of a roundabout route to get to him. I have to go east to Route 11, then enter the tunnel off to the north. It's known as Diglett's Cave, and there's a rather unique new Pokemon there:
- Diglett: A Ground-type Pokemon. Diglett's focused on high Attack and Speed, which come at the expense of everything else. If it can bring its opponent down quickly it'll be fine, but otherwise it'll have problems. It's also known for the fact that you never, ever get to see its lower body. Anyway, I nicknamed mine Whacka, after the poor defenceless creature from the Paper Mario games that you can hit with your hammer to get a delicious snack from. He has a Lax nature (Defense up, Special Defense down) and his ability is Arena Trap, which keeps opponents from escaping. His moves are Scratch, Growl, Dig, and Magnitude. Magnitude's a Ground-type move that has random power—sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's weak. Usually it's pretty decent.
The cave also contains Dugtrio, which is Diglett's evolved form, but I'd rather not have to deal with those. They're pretty strong.
Leaving the cave, I find myself in a part of Route 2 I couldn't get to last time I was here. There's a house nearby where a kid wants an Abra in exchange for his Mr. Mime—I'll handle that trade later. Farther south, one of Oak's aides offers me a reward for having at least ten Pokedex entries. Since I've currently got 27, he hands over HM05. That one contains Flash, which is next to useless in battle (it's like Sand-Attack, but it can miss), but out of battle it can light up dark caves. I immediately teach it to Eyvel (who's still with me until I can get the rest of my planned team), forgetting Harden.
Before returning to Vermilion, there's something I can do in Pewter City now that I have Cut. Using the move, I can reach the staff entrance to the museum, where a scientist gives me a chunk of Old Amber to get examined at a lab somewhere. There's also a guy who can teach my Pokemon Seismic Toss, a move that does damage exactly equal to the user's current level—not the most effective attack around, but it has its moments.
After that, I return through Diglett's Cave. On the way, NATUREMAN! hits level 24 and replaces Sweet Scent with Acid, a low-powered Poison-type attack that can lower the target's Defense.
I'm going to leave it there for now, because I'm planning something that'll take quite some time for the next update.
New Pokedex entry:
Diglett: Mole Pokemon
"It burrows through the ground at a shallow depth. It leaves raised earth in its wake, making it easy to spot."
