Episode 2: The Sweet, Durian-Musk-Scented Smell of Progress

BRIEF RECAP

Last installment, I introduced Haypi Monster and discussed its mechanics and similarities to Pokémon. I also griped at length about some of the game's "pay-to-play" features and showcased my team of 'mons thus far.

AS WE WERE

So I did much further grinding and tried to beef Shellda and Sam up some. Unfortunately, Sam did not prove to be too hard of a hitter, and while his decent defense stats were nice to have*

, he just wasn't cutting it.

So I did what any reasonable person would do and switched a ground-type out for a plant-type to get through an area full of fire-types. At first I saw this move as a desperate decision on my part; sure, Mister Mutant Choffing was helpful for the water area way back when, but for God's sakes, the fire area?! Can't I just suck it up and actually try to use Charlotte again? What exactly do I intend on doing with that gimmicky-as-hell mutated plant thing that everyone and their dog already has?

But there was Hypnosis Powder, sitting dormant in my arsenal like a warhead in a Soviet stockpile. That fat little Ponyta-wannabe that was standing between me and progress could theoretically be put to sleep if Choff was lucky. Pictured above is one of many close attempts against that ghastly little horse. I screencapped it in case I might come out on top...

But alas, close as it was, it just wasn't meant to be. The stubby steed that called itself Flicker struck first.

Still, Choff quickly found himself an incredibly useful addition to my two-'mon team. See that Shellda up there? He don't belong in the fire world, do he? The particular level I found myself stuck on was simply crawling with misplaced water-types, rendering the possibility of using Charlotte doubtful.

Choff did what Shellda could not and felled those suckers with barely any effort...

...saving Shellda's strength for battles with fire-types. (I think I used a healing item of some sort between those two pictures or it might be of a different attempt, but the point still stands, and hey, it made for a good transition. ^^;)

After some further grinding, Choff learned Photosynthesis, which if I recall correctly is another shamelessly-borrowed move from Pokémon. This made things a lot easier on me, as now I didn't have to worry as much about buying so many expensive healing-jellies; I could just put foes to sleep with Hypnosis Powder and let Choffing heal himself.

Grarrgh, see what I friggin' mean with these water-types? You don't belong here! Go back to your pond, you dumb shark!

Then, at level 18, all of that grinding finally bore its fruits...

LOOKIT DOSE FRUITS. NO, THOSE AREN'T LEAF BUNCHES. THEY ARE FRUUUUIIIITTTSSSS.

Durians, to be precise. Shitty species name aside (Branchy?!), I have to hand it to Haypi on this one: No one to my knowledge has made a durian monster yet.

Gratuitous extra shot of Choff. I don't know why, but I was just that happy about it. I'm holding out that he'll get some sort of stench-based attack at a higher level, but who knows. Okay, enough about Choffing. Poor Shellda must feel neglected now, but Choffing ain't the only one who evolved...

After finally defeating the horse thing, she too reached level 18. Wow, what is that angry-looking spiky shell ninja thing called? Why none other than...

Shelly. Yep. Wow, you guys are really having that hard of a time naming these things, huh? Well, at least differed enough from Cloyster in that it doesn't look like a vagina.

Sadly, she still only has three moves to her name, though Strike got replaced with Smack, which is equally powerful but hits first like Quick Attack. When that happened, I found out that the game auto-overwrites less powerful same type attacks when learning new ones upon leveling.

I guess this is nice, as it eliminates type redundancies (e.g., a Squirtle that knew Water Gun having his last blank move slot filled with Hydro Cannon), but it sort of eliminates your control over what moves your 'mon learns or doesn't learn. It doesn't even ask your permission when the move is learnable, it just up and does it. I hope it won't cause me problems in the future, but we'll see.

So the newly beefed-up team soldiered on and encountered this lovely creature at the end of the next level. I'm gonna give up on mocking the species names now. Names like "Frizzy" mock themselves, really. Fortunately, beating this one wasn't nearly as hard as the pony ordeal, especially thanks to the awesome combo that is Hypno Powder and Water Drop.

Shoop.

Oh hey look it's not!Arcanine. That one was kind of a close shave, but it wasn't too hard, either.

Forgot to include a shot of this last installment. This is like a little prize wheel you spin after clearing a level. You can respin for two coins, but I haven't seen the point of that so far.

Another thing I haven't seen the point of so far are the book chests. They're the game's answer to TMs, but I've only gotten moves I already know like Strike from them so far, and I haven't even been able to use them yet. You get a random move out of each one, again eliminating your control over your 'mons move set. So far I've just sold 'em.

After clearing Chairman Pony's Democratic Republic of Fish Volcano Land, I was again greeted by a sausage-nosed vole-leprechaun thing, this time a girl... Or is that me? That's my player character model right there. Why am I saying this? Where's exposition man?

Eh, whatever. Those gremlins weird me out somehow. Maybe it's to distract me from the one-dimensional plot or something.

This is what awaited the crew at the end of the first Stone Vault level, a Rhydon doppelgänger with a birthday hat. Her defense was probably sky-high, but she stood no chance against the relentless plant and water barrage. Now I'm glad I didn't opt for Charlotte instead of Choffing. Hooray for planning ahead!~

In Stone Vault level 2, I was greeted by swarms and swarms of these pests. I ended up catching this one, and I should probably train him or something, but damn are these guys frustrating!

They all know this attack called Rampage which is basically ~~normal~~ neutral-typed Outrage, except it only hits once and the confusion sets in immediately. It does insane damage, and the confusion status in this game is kind of broken because half the time you damage the opponent rather than yourself when confused. The fact that these guys lack type-disadvantages to my current team (and probably in general, due to lack of a fighting type) is the icing on the frustration cake.

Not a battle with Dodo, but here is how confusion works. She used Confused. Hey, that rhymes!

Their 'dex entry sounds more like a description of the artwork than the species, but it amuses me nonetheless. :D

Another 'mon I ended up catching, after he used Curse on Choffing.

Hmmm. Now JUST WHO does that remind me of?

HMMMMMMMMMMM...

I can't remember which particular Stone Vault level boss this was, but I think there was like three of them or something. Big 'ol hulking sack of HP ~~Sandslash~~ Armordillo.

You are getting veddy sleepy...

A 'mon from a level I haven't cleared yet. I ended up catching this one, too. So tempted to comment on that name... But I mustn't.

TEAM UPDATE

Here are all of the new members thus far:

Lil' Cal the Cursie.*

He looks to have a promising future ahead of him. Just got to get around to actually training him.

The Honorable Colonel Sanders (ColSanders for short). Automatic level-downscaling meant that he lost his über-powerful Rampage. Again, promising, needs training.

Sasha the Antee. (Props to my littlest bro for suggesting the name.) No bug types in HaypiMon, so she is kind of a bland neutral-type. Don't see much going for her, really.*

Last but not least, Westinghouse (damn you, cutoff!) the Lux. Would have named him Tesla, but I'm waiting for something more worthy of bearing the moniker of my favorite inventor. He doesn't look super useful either, but I guess I could use some of his electric-type attacks until I get ahold of a better electric-type. I am just the paragon of kind and accepting trainers, aren't I?

I've already got some screenshots taken for the next installment, but I'll need more than I have now. Hope this installment was a good one. Sorry about the weird bump up to the top of the page, there. I accidentally misclicked and put this installment up before it was ready, so I had to delete it and copy-paste it back to work on again.

As always, feel free to critique/comment down below. Until next time, and Haypi New Year! :)

(Is shot for making that pun.)