nuzlocke day 3
Mar. 17th, 2025 02:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thedarlingone* My honey tree was ready today and I got... another Wurmple, named Flipside. I think I'll evolve it and see if I can get a Cascoon/Dustox, but I also put more honey on the tree to see if I can get something else in case it evolves to a duplicate Beautifly.
* Flipside evolved to a duplicate Beautifly. It looks like I have about a 40% chance of getting something outside the Wurmple line from a honey tree, so I'll give it a couple more shots. The next honey tree should be ready around 9pm local time.
* The big danger in the Grass gym is all the Budews with Poison Point, but I've stocked up on Antidotes, so hopefully I should be fine.
* ...what the hell, my game crashed? That's usually a Scarlet and Violet problem, not BDSP.
* At least it only crashed once and I was able to beat Gardenia handily.
* The next gym will be Maylene, the Fighting-type, but she has a couple of dual types that can complicate things. She uses a level 27 Meditite (Fighting/Psychic) which is weak to Flying, Ghost, or Fairy; a level 27 Machoke (Fighting) which is weak to Flying, Psychic, or Fairy; and a level 30 Lucario (Fighting/Steel) which is weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground. That's honestly an interesting fight to plan around.
I always want to use Ghost types when I get the rare chance, but because the only Ghost type I'm guaranteed is Gastly (in the Old Chateau) which is Ghost/Poison, it takes double damage from Psychic, so Gastly or Haunter vs Meditite seems like a bad idea. However, Maylene's Meditite has only one damaging move, Drain Punch, a Fighting move, and Ghost is immune to Fighting damage... I might actually get to use the Gastly line in battle for once!
* Old Chateau: Gastly acquired and named DEATH. It looks like my Staravia or Kadabra and my Machoke or a Ponyta if I catch one will be good against Maylene's other pokemon, so it's time to check on the next Team Galactic battle in Eterna City, where I rescue the Cycle Shop owner and then can't leave the city except by Cycling Road because the game has made choices.
* Ugh, right, Commander Jupiter has a Skuntank, which is Poison/Dark so it's immune to Psychic. Apparently the only thing it's weak to is actually Ground, and I don't have a good Ground type yet. In fact, the only Ground move I think I have at all is Mud Slap on Shellos, which is only 20 power. I get Bulldoze or Earthquake or some such on Torterra when it evolves, but that's level 36 at the earliest and I do not feel like overleveling to that extent against a level 20 Skuntank. Besides, it has Flamethrower for some fucking reason?
...Geodude resists Flamethrower and Poison moves, takes neutral damage from Dark, and gets Bulldoze at level 22. Let's fucking go.
* So now I need to level grind a bit. Route 205 west of Eterna City is only levels 10-11, so I'm checking out Route 211 east of town, where I can also get another new catch.
* Route 211: Ooh, Meditite! That's actually a really nice dual type. Also very cute. I'm naming him Lu-Tze.
* I can also get into part of Mount Coronet from here, but the only lines I don't have yet that can spawn here are Cleffa and Chingling at very low rates kthe Cleffa would have a higher rate in the early morning but that is not now), so I'm not going to farm for a catch here yet. Once I get into the upper floors in the mid to late game, I can start running across Bronzor/Bronzong at much better odds.
* Finished grinding, took out Commander Jupiter -- that Skuntank was tough even with my Geodude two levels over -- and then immediately jumped into the Grand Underground and went fossil hunting.
* Found a Cranidos fossil but screwed up a couple of the hammer hits and didn't finish digging it up before the minigame ended. So I'm still hunting.
* Got it! Next step, Cycling Road. Then I can go to Oreburgh Museum and get my fossil revived.
* Got to the south end of Cycling Road, hunting for my catch on Route 206 which is the grassy area underneath it. Met a Zubat, but I already have one. The available lines I don't already have are Ponyta, Stunky, and Bronzor, which are all pretty good, so I don't think I'll be disappointed with whatever I get. Duplicates clause for the win!
* Ponyta! Woo! I don't have a Discworld name planned so I named her Flammifer (a word I learned from Tolkien meaning flame-bearer).
* I could access the main part of Wayward Cave now, but I'm going to wait until late-game when I have the Strength move so I can access the hidden part and have a chance for a Gible. There are only so many cave pokemon in the game and I'm a little worried I'm going to wind up, like, farming Mount Coronet for a Feebas because I'll have caught everything else that spawns there.
* I have revived Cranidos and named him BONK. Because he headbutts things.
* Checked the honey tree in Floaroma Town, got a Burmy! It's not exactly useful, because it's a Bug type, but it is new, so that means I don't have to be fucked with honey trees anymore. It's even female, which means it can evolve into Wormadam, which I like better than Mothim (the male evolution). Leia named it Cauliflower.
* Trying to get where I'm supposed to go next, which is Hearthome City via one of the many tunnels through Mount Coronet. Met a Machop, but I already have one. Also met Cyrus, the big boss of Team Galactic (the bad guys), but luckily he does not want to battle me now, just tell me how he wants to create a new world without strife and also without humans.
* By and large, I will defend chibi remakes of top-down sprite-based games. BDSP got a lot of flak for being in a grid-based chibi artstyle very similar to the original Diamond and Pearl games, rather than in the Gen8 Sword and Shield artstyle (which I personally cannot stand, so I'm very glad they weren't in it, but that's beside the point). Personally I think the artstyle mostly fits extremely well, with the chibi "sprites" for walking around and then the taller human-scaled characters for battles. But I do have to admit that chibi Cyrus with his supposed-to-be-craggy face looks a little bit like a Lego minifig of an old man, the way the simple texture lines are printed onto a flat-surfaced rounded face.
* East of Mount Coronet on the way to Hearthome City is Route 208, which is new, so I can catch another pokemon if there's anything I don't have yet. It looks like I'm getting either a Psyduck or a Bidoof.
* I dodged a few optional trainer battles on the way, because once you reach Hearthome City, you can take your starter (or one of a very short list of other "cute" pokemon) into Amity Square and find a hidden Amulet Coin item, which can be given to a pokemon to hold, and then any battle that pokemon participates in will give double the money rewards if you win. I'm going to need plenty of money for potions, pokeballs, maybe some TMs...
* I did catch a Psyduck on Route 208, which Leia wanted to name The Great Zamboni, but there are only twelve characters allowed for pokemon nicknames, and Leia insisted the definite article was a necessary part of the name, so he is now The Great Za. Leia says this is some sort of weed joke. I wouldn't know.
* Got the Amulet Coin! In Amity Square you can also have your starter walk around with you outside its pokeball, but the default walking speed of the player character is quite fast, so I have this tiny Turtwig absolutely bounding after me to keep up. (The game expects your starter to have evolved to its larger second form by now, but I have mine holding that Everstone.)
* Hearthome City is home to the Ghost gym, but the Gym Leader Fantina isn't in right now, so we can't battle. (Fantina will be the fifth gym we take on.) It's also home to Gen4's attempt at doing something with pokemon besides battling -- the Super Contest Shows, a clunky combination of simple rhythm game, frustrating cooking minigame, hidden statistics some of which you can permanently screw up, and absolutely no useful rewards. I don't know if the Super Contest Shows were originally designed for the anime and had to be ported into the games by executive fiat or what, but I tend to avoid them completely.
* God, I hate rival battles. They always show up when I'm not prepared, they're annoyingly close to my level, they start without warning and you can't back out. I still haven't lost anybody, but Barry keeps getting damn close.
* It's half past one in the morning, so I'm packing up for tonight. Next stop is Veilstone City, where I unlock the ability to buy new outfits, although I should probably save my money for battle supplies until the postgame.
* Flipside evolved to a duplicate Beautifly. It looks like I have about a 40% chance of getting something outside the Wurmple line from a honey tree, so I'll give it a couple more shots. The next honey tree should be ready around 9pm local time.
* The big danger in the Grass gym is all the Budews with Poison Point, but I've stocked up on Antidotes, so hopefully I should be fine.
* ...what the hell, my game crashed? That's usually a Scarlet and Violet problem, not BDSP.
* At least it only crashed once and I was able to beat Gardenia handily.
* The next gym will be Maylene, the Fighting-type, but she has a couple of dual types that can complicate things. She uses a level 27 Meditite (Fighting/Psychic) which is weak to Flying, Ghost, or Fairy; a level 27 Machoke (Fighting) which is weak to Flying, Psychic, or Fairy; and a level 30 Lucario (Fighting/Steel) which is weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground. That's honestly an interesting fight to plan around.
I always want to use Ghost types when I get the rare chance, but because the only Ghost type I'm guaranteed is Gastly (in the Old Chateau) which is Ghost/Poison, it takes double damage from Psychic, so Gastly or Haunter vs Meditite seems like a bad idea. However, Maylene's Meditite has only one damaging move, Drain Punch, a Fighting move, and Ghost is immune to Fighting damage... I might actually get to use the Gastly line in battle for once!
* Old Chateau: Gastly acquired and named DEATH. It looks like my Staravia or Kadabra and my Machoke or a Ponyta if I catch one will be good against Maylene's other pokemon, so it's time to check on the next Team Galactic battle in Eterna City, where I rescue the Cycle Shop owner and then can't leave the city except by Cycling Road because the game has made choices.
* Ugh, right, Commander Jupiter has a Skuntank, which is Poison/Dark so it's immune to Psychic. Apparently the only thing it's weak to is actually Ground, and I don't have a good Ground type yet. In fact, the only Ground move I think I have at all is Mud Slap on Shellos, which is only 20 power. I get Bulldoze or Earthquake or some such on Torterra when it evolves, but that's level 36 at the earliest and I do not feel like overleveling to that extent against a level 20 Skuntank. Besides, it has Flamethrower for some fucking reason?
...Geodude resists Flamethrower and Poison moves, takes neutral damage from Dark, and gets Bulldoze at level 22. Let's fucking go.
* So now I need to level grind a bit. Route 205 west of Eterna City is only levels 10-11, so I'm checking out Route 211 east of town, where I can also get another new catch.
* Route 211: Ooh, Meditite! That's actually a really nice dual type. Also very cute. I'm naming him Lu-Tze.
* I can also get into part of Mount Coronet from here, but the only lines I don't have yet that can spawn here are Cleffa and Chingling at very low rates kthe Cleffa would have a higher rate in the early morning but that is not now), so I'm not going to farm for a catch here yet. Once I get into the upper floors in the mid to late game, I can start running across Bronzor/Bronzong at much better odds.
* Finished grinding, took out Commander Jupiter -- that Skuntank was tough even with my Geodude two levels over -- and then immediately jumped into the Grand Underground and went fossil hunting.
* Found a Cranidos fossil but screwed up a couple of the hammer hits and didn't finish digging it up before the minigame ended. So I'm still hunting.
* Got it! Next step, Cycling Road. Then I can go to Oreburgh Museum and get my fossil revived.
* Got to the south end of Cycling Road, hunting for my catch on Route 206 which is the grassy area underneath it. Met a Zubat, but I already have one. The available lines I don't already have are Ponyta, Stunky, and Bronzor, which are all pretty good, so I don't think I'll be disappointed with whatever I get. Duplicates clause for the win!
* Ponyta! Woo! I don't have a Discworld name planned so I named her Flammifer (a word I learned from Tolkien meaning flame-bearer).
* I could access the main part of Wayward Cave now, but I'm going to wait until late-game when I have the Strength move so I can access the hidden part and have a chance for a Gible. There are only so many cave pokemon in the game and I'm a little worried I'm going to wind up, like, farming Mount Coronet for a Feebas because I'll have caught everything else that spawns there.
* I have revived Cranidos and named him BONK. Because he headbutts things.
* Checked the honey tree in Floaroma Town, got a Burmy! It's not exactly useful, because it's a Bug type, but it is new, so that means I don't have to be fucked with honey trees anymore. It's even female, which means it can evolve into Wormadam, which I like better than Mothim (the male evolution). Leia named it Cauliflower.
* Trying to get where I'm supposed to go next, which is Hearthome City via one of the many tunnels through Mount Coronet. Met a Machop, but I already have one. Also met Cyrus, the big boss of Team Galactic (the bad guys), but luckily he does not want to battle me now, just tell me how he wants to create a new world without strife and also without humans.
* By and large, I will defend chibi remakes of top-down sprite-based games. BDSP got a lot of flak for being in a grid-based chibi artstyle very similar to the original Diamond and Pearl games, rather than in the Gen8 Sword and Shield artstyle (which I personally cannot stand, so I'm very glad they weren't in it, but that's beside the point). Personally I think the artstyle mostly fits extremely well, with the chibi "sprites" for walking around and then the taller human-scaled characters for battles. But I do have to admit that chibi Cyrus with his supposed-to-be-craggy face looks a little bit like a Lego minifig of an old man, the way the simple texture lines are printed onto a flat-surfaced rounded face.
* East of Mount Coronet on the way to Hearthome City is Route 208, which is new, so I can catch another pokemon if there's anything I don't have yet. It looks like I'm getting either a Psyduck or a Bidoof.
* I dodged a few optional trainer battles on the way, because once you reach Hearthome City, you can take your starter (or one of a very short list of other "cute" pokemon) into Amity Square and find a hidden Amulet Coin item, which can be given to a pokemon to hold, and then any battle that pokemon participates in will give double the money rewards if you win. I'm going to need plenty of money for potions, pokeballs, maybe some TMs...
* I did catch a Psyduck on Route 208, which Leia wanted to name The Great Zamboni, but there are only twelve characters allowed for pokemon nicknames, and Leia insisted the definite article was a necessary part of the name, so he is now The Great Za. Leia says this is some sort of weed joke. I wouldn't know.
* Got the Amulet Coin! In Amity Square you can also have your starter walk around with you outside its pokeball, but the default walking speed of the player character is quite fast, so I have this tiny Turtwig absolutely bounding after me to keep up. (The game expects your starter to have evolved to its larger second form by now, but I have mine holding that Everstone.)
* Hearthome City is home to the Ghost gym, but the Gym Leader Fantina isn't in right now, so we can't battle. (Fantina will be the fifth gym we take on.) It's also home to Gen4's attempt at doing something with pokemon besides battling -- the Super Contest Shows, a clunky combination of simple rhythm game, frustrating cooking minigame, hidden statistics some of which you can permanently screw up, and absolutely no useful rewards. I don't know if the Super Contest Shows were originally designed for the anime and had to be ported into the games by executive fiat or what, but I tend to avoid them completely.
* God, I hate rival battles. They always show up when I'm not prepared, they're annoyingly close to my level, they start without warning and you can't back out. I still haven't lost anybody, but Barry keeps getting damn close.
* It's half past one in the morning, so I'm packing up for tonight. Next stop is Veilstone City, where I unlock the ability to buy new outfits, although I should probably save my money for battle supplies until the postgame.
