All right, to start this off I head to the east exit from Pewter City, where one of Oak's aides is waiting to give me some Running Shoes. These wonderful shoes allow the wearer to run by holding B, saving hours of time in the field. They also would've been nice to have at the start of the game, but I guess you can't have everything.
Anyway, next on my list of things to do this session was training Eyvel and Stabby to fully evolve them. I have no plans to do this for most Pokemon, but these two reach their final forms at level 10 anyway so I figured I might as well. They both evolve first at level 7—Eyvel becomes a Metapod
and Stabby becomes a Kakuna. Both learn Harden (which just raises Defense) at level 7, and both have the Shed Skin ability, which has a random chance of curing status ailments at the end of each turn. The only significant difference between the two is that Kakuna is Bug/Poison while Metapod is just Bug.
At level 10, each one evolves again into their ultimate forms. Eyvel evolves into Butterfree, gaining a rather high Special Attack stat, the Flying type, and the Compoundeyes ability, which raises the hit rate of her moves. She also learned Confusion, a basic Psychic-type attack with which to take advantage of her newfound power (as the name suggests, it can also confuse targets sometimes).
Stabby, meanwhile, evolved into Beedrill, gaining higher Attack to seriously tear his foes up with. He also learned Fury Attack, a Normal-type move that has low power but can hit anywhere from 2 to 5 times. Lastly he gained the Swarm ability, which is identical to Blaze but affects Bug-type attacks.
Anyway, the training took me through Route 3, where I encountered a whole mess of kids with Pokemon (there must've been a field trip or something). This group includes the legendary Youngster Ben, he who first liked shorts by virtue of their being delightfully comfy and easy to wear. Bow down to his shorts-wearing powers.
There are also a few trainers of the Lass class, whose pre-battle dialogue can be summed up as such:
- Lass: *walks several feet to approach Mike* HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME I'LL SUE YOU FOR EVERY PENNY YOU'VE GOT!
- Mike: What? You were all the way over there.
- Lass: Darn, that usually works!
My training also paid off for Furnace when he reached level 13, gaining the Metal Claw attack. This is a Steel-type move (effective against Rock, Ice, and in the most recent games Fairy) that has decent power and can raise the user's Attack one stage as well. This was an alternative to training Monkeyball up added specifically for Gen 3. Monkeyball himself, meanwhile, reached level 11 and learned Karate Chop. This Fighting-type move has a high critical rate, and it's also more consistent in terms of its strength than Low Kick.
Anyway, I also caught two more Pokemon on Route 3:
- Jigglypuff: A Normal-type Pokemon that would later gain the Fairy type once that was introduced. Jigglypuff has incredibly high HP for an unevolved Pokemon, but its other stats are low. Its best-known trick is to use Sing to put its foes to sleep. Indeed, Sing is the only move that my Jigglypuff (named Miku) knows as of level 3. She has a Docile nature (no effect on stats) and her ability is Cute Charm, which can randomly Attract opposite-gender Pokemon when they use contact moves. Attract causes the target to randomly miss their turns, so it's pretty decent (rather unreliable, though).
- Nidoran (Male): A Poison-type Pokemon. Nidoran is the first Pokemon that had gender defined for it back in Red and Blue. Since I'm in FireRed, the males are much more common, with the females being relegated to a 1% encounter rate, so I only went for a male (naturally, in LeafGreen the encounter rates for the two genders are reversed). Male and female Nidoran have different stats and moves, with the males being more offense-based and the females being more defense-based. They're both good choices if you're after a Poison-type, but I'll pass. My Nidoran is named Melvin, and he has a Brave nature (Attack up, Speed down) which is pretty close to ideal. His ability is Poison Point, which may poison opponents on contact. His only moves at present are Leer and Peck.
After Route 3, I enter Route 4, which is a nearly-empty area with a Pokemon Center prior to the trek through Mt. Moon. Here, I meet a guy who sells me a special Pokemon for only $500: a Magikarp! It seems like a good deal, except that Magikarp is completely useless. Train one up, though... Anyway, my Magikarp is named Hyperfish (I would've called it King Karp, but that'd be kinda awkward considering I ended up with a female Magikarp). She has a Brave nature, and the Swift Swim ability, which makes her faster in rain. For moves, she only has Splash, which does absolutely nothing.
So, now to go through Mt. Moon. There are Pokemon to catch here, of course:
- Zubat: The most annoyingly common Pokemon in caves. You'll pretty much run into more Zubats than you know what to do with over a regular cave run in most Pokemon games. They're not bad at all—they have great Speed and plenty of debilitating moves—but they are annoying (their typing is Poison/Flying, by the way). I call mine Bela. His nature is Relaxed (Defense up, Speed down—not ideal since it lowers his best stat) and he has the Inner Focus ability, preventing him from flinching from enemy moves. His current moves are Leech Life (a weak Bug-type move that drains some HP) and Astonish (a weak Ghost-type move that can make the target flinch).
- Paras: This one's rather unusual. It's a Bug/Grass-type, a typing that I believe is exclusive to the Paras line (Edit: I forgot that the Sewaddle line from Gen 5 also has this typing. Oh well.). Unfortunately, it's stats focus on Attack and it doesn't have a lot of strong physical moves this generation, so it's not that great yet. It does, however, have plenty of status moves to dish out. I name mine Dinner on account of the delicious mushrooms on its back. He's listed as Hardy (no effect on any stats) and his ability is Effect Spore, which inflicts random status ailments on enemies that make contact with him. His moves are Scratch and Stun Spore, the latter being a Grass-type move that paralyzes the target—but it's less accurate than Thunder Wave. He was also holding a TinyMushroom, which will come in handy later.
- Geodude: A Rock/Ground-type known for being in almost every early cave in the series. Geodude is good enough for a physical attacker, but unfortunately I'd need to trade to get its final form and I don't have anyone to trade with. Mine's female, which made the choice to nickname her Geodudette very easy. Her nature is Docile, and her Rock Head ability prevents any recoil damage from moves she uses. She starts out with Tackle, Defense Curl (raises Defense one stage), and Mud Sport (a rather unique move that powers down all Electric-type attacks for a few turns—this one's better in double battles where the electric attacks won't just bounce off her Ground type).
- Clefairy: A Normal-type Pokemon and one of the ones I intend to train for this one. Clefairy is similar to Jigglypuff, but with a rather more balanced stat spread (favouring Special Attack, but with enough Attack to use the physical moves it learns). Its moves are mainly support-based, so it has to rely on TMs to get powerful attacks that can take advantage of its Special Attack. Clefairy is also notable for being the only evolutionary line to completely change its typing at any point—it became a pure Fairy-type for X and Y. I name mine Aria, which was its name in the prototype Red/Blue cartridge. She has a Careful nature, and the Cute Charm ability. Her moveset consists of Pound (functionally identical to Scratch), Growl, Encore (a move that forces the opponent to repeatedly use the last move they used for several turns), and Sing.
A Bug Catcher early on warns me about some suspicious people in the cave, pretty much guaranteeing that I'll have to fight them while I'm here. Since I'm currently barely competitive against the local trainers, I take the time to level both Furnace and Alessandro to level 15. Route 3 makes a fine training ground, particularly for Alessandro who can zap all the Pidgeys and Spearows on the route out of the sky. Furnace has an even better training location available, though—the first basement of Mt. Moon is infested with nothing but Paras, allowing me to easily go beyond my original goal of level 15 up to level 16. This is important because it allows Furnace to evolve into a Charmeleon! Now he's a fair bit tougher and can take on most anything in this area.
I also got some new moves for Alessandro. He learned Quick Attack at level 11 (I dropped Growl for it, since a Pokemon can only know 4 moves at once) and level 15 brought Double Team, a useful move that raises evasion (I dropped Tail Whip for it).
Anyway, exploring Mt. Moon provides several interesting treasures, including TM09 (Bullet Seed, a Grass-type attack that hits 2-5 times like Fury Attack), a Moon Stone (which evolves certain Pokemon, though they won't learn any more moves after you use one on them), and TM46 (Thief, a Dark-type move that steals the opponent's held item). Unfortunately, it also brings me into contact with Team Rocket, a band of Pokemon gangsters! (That title isn't a joke, by the way. The first Rocket grunt I meet declares them to be such.) The Rockets are a cut above the school kids I've been fighting thus far, but they're still beatable without too much trouble.
Aside from the Rockets, there are a few Bug Catchers and Super Nerds hanging around in Mt. Moon. Their main use to me is to give Aria some more experience (she was caught a bit later than the other Mt. Moon Pokemon due to Clefairy's general rarity). Also helpful in getting her up to speed is a Rare Candy found in the first floor's southwest corner—those raise your level by 1, and are part of the key to creating hilariously high stat gains on level up (which doesn't work in gen 4 and on because the stat mechanics were altered slightly). At level 13, she learns DoubleSlap, which is basically Fury Attack with different flavour (still better than Growl, so I drop that).
Heading further in allows me to figure out what Team Rocket wants at Mt. Moon: they're after fossils, which they can sell for lots of money. Not the most interesting evil plan out there, but probably more effective than the more outlandish ones.
As an aside, I love Aria's ability to lock down her foes. Sing is incredibly effective when it works, and if it doesn't, she still has Cute Charm to fall back on.
Near the end of the cave, I run into a Super Nerd who's claimed the fossils for himself! Assuming that I'm here to take them, he attacks! He's got some interesting Pokemon, but they're nothing my team can't handle. Winning is enough to convince him to hand one over, too!
There are two fossils to go for, and each can be used to revive a different ancient Pokemon. The Dome Fossil will become Kabuto, while the Helix Fossil will become Omanyte. If I had any apparent reader base I could put this up to a vote, but since I don't I just take the Helix Fossil and get on with it. The guy I had to fight for it takes the Dome Fossil, then mentions a lab on Cinnabar Island that can revive fossils.
After that, there's nothing of note left until the exit, which leaves me at the back half or Route 4. There's two guys who claim they can teach my Pokemon the ultimate attacks. Their moves are Mega Punch and Mega Kick, which are both powerful but inaccurate (Mega Kick is more so on both counts). Not really what I'm looking for, but they're there. There's also TM05, which contains Roar (a move that forces the opposing Pokemon out of the battle and, in trainer battles, pulls another of the trainer's Pokemon out). The path forward is unfortunately one-way, but it leads to...
Cerulean City -A Mysterious, Blue Aura Surrounds It-
I'll get into what there is to do here next time. Now, time for some Pokedex entries!
Charmeleon: Flame Pokemon
"It lashes about with its tail to knock down its foe. It then tears up the fallen opponent with sharp claws."
Metapod: Cocoon Pokemon
"Even though it is encased in a sturdy shell, the body inside is tender. It can't withstand a harsh attack."
Butterfree: Butterfly Pokemon
"The wings are protected by rain-repellent dust. As a result, this Pokemon can fly about even in rain."
Kakuna: Cocoon Pokemon
"This Pokemon is in a temporary stage while making its body. It is almost completely unable to move on its own."
Beedrill: Poison Bee Pokemon
"May appear in a swarm. Flies at violent speeds, all the while stabbing with the toxic stinger on its rear."
Nidoran (Male): Poison Pin Pokemon
"Its large ears are flapped like wings when it is listening to distant sounds. It extends toxic barbs when angered."
Clefairy: Fairy Pokemon
"Its adorable appearance makes it popular as a pet. However, it is rare and difficult to find."
Jigglypuff: Balloon Pokemon
"It captivates foes with its huge, round eyes, then lulls them to sleep by singing a soothing melody."
Zubat: Bat Pokemon
"It has no eyes. Instead, it relies on its ultrasonic cries for echo location to flit about in darkness." Also it NEVER FREAKING LEAVES YOU ALONE GOD DAMN.
Paras: Mushroom Pokemon
"Growing out of the bug's back are mushrooms called tochukaso. The mushrooms grow with the bug host."
Geodude: Rock Pokemon
"Its round form makes it easy to pick up. Some people have used them to hurl at each other in a snowball fight."
Magikarp: Fish Pokemon
"It is virtually worthless in terms of both power and speed. It is the most weak and pathetic Pokemon in the world."
