Some of you might be wondering why I called Growlithe the most busted starter in the game. Well, I'm about to show you.
(https://i.imgur.com/zBkJLDy.png)
Growlithe starts the game holding a Fire Stone.
(https://i.imgur.com/Vf4aC2y.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1QKZWV5.png)
I just made Growlithe's base stat line go from this:
(https://i.imgur.com/6LJCbAu.png)
to this:
(https://i.imgur.com/4RNveR5.png)
"But ATHATH!", I hear you say, "Growlithe can't learn any moves (other than Extreme Speed) by level up now that you've evolved it into Arcanine!".
Yeah, and? Who cares about any of Growlithe's level up moves other than Flamethrower? We're about to give our g'boy some much better ones, and even Flamethrower won't be out of reach for long.
(https://i.imgur.com/EHRzZaD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/19YbQsv.png)
I forgot to mention the Options menu configuration that I'm using in the last update, so I might as well go over it now. Most of the options I'm using are self-explanatory, but I'll explain the ones that aren't:
- TEXT SPEED: NONE makes text appear basically instantly instead of being typed out.
- Crystal Clear gives your character the ability to run (at bicycle speed) like in the later games, and this option removes the need to hold down the B button to run.
- I... don't remember what MENU ACCOUNT does. It defaulted to being on, so I left it that way.
- ENCOUNTER: FAST removes the pre-battle sliding animation, the "Got away safely!" text, the "Wild XYZ appeared!" text, and "XYZ used Sweet Scent!" text from wild Pokemon battles.
- NURSE: QUICK removes the Nurse Joy dialogue, leaving just the animation of her healing your Pokemon. Regardless of what you set this to, your character will turn around after talking to Nurse Joy so that they won't accidentally re-initiate dialogue while trying to mash through her text.
- CONTINUE: QUICK causes the game to jump right back into gameplay after a reload.
- The LAST FLOWN option lets you choose whether or not the Fly cursor should start where you are or in the default position for your region. I've left it on its default setting.
(https://i.imgur.com/bXpAIbW.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/cN6MSI2.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6QrTjQf.png)
Daaaamn, my character somehow managed to afford a three story house in a major city. Props to them, I guess.
Fun fact: If I had an Escape Rope or a Pokemon with Teleport, Dig, or Fly in my party, I could teleport back to my house using my house key, no matter where I last healed at. Fly's still ideal to have on at least one of your pokes, but it's no longer nigh-necessary- not just because of the buff to Teleport/Dig/Escape Ropes, but also because it's much easier to navigate the world on foot in Crystal Clear than in Crystal.
(https://i.imgur.com/0Jc2SPr.png)
Mr. Psychic still hands out the TM for Psychic, even though I'm only like 5 minutes into the game. Nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/cD0qGZH.png)
Off to Goldenrod. Choo chooooo!
You can end the magnet train cutscene whenever you want by pressing A, or you can stick around to honk the horn by pressing SELECT.
(https://i.imgur.com/Vex6AJp.png)
If I step into what used to be the Name Rater's house...
(https://i.imgur.com/RuRb6p2.png)
I'm teleported to the Modification Station, a place where the Name Rater, Move Deleter, Move Reminder, and some people who'll help set your 'mons up for transfer to other games all reside. Don't worry, leaving this room will bring me back to the place I entered it from.
(https://i.imgur.com/O6Hjfh2.png)
Arcanine might only have one level up move, but it still has some solid level 1 moves. It's time for an upgrade.
(https://i.imgur.com/J935aHo.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/BQ02And.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tMYHwFq.png)
Mm, I love the smell of POWER in the morning.
(https://i.imgur.com/HOZEr49.png)
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this before, but if you press SELECT on a Pokemon in your party...
(https://i.imgur.com/ZHSOEpA.png)
They'll start following you around in the overworld, like in HG/SS. Each Pokemon species has its own set of overworld (and party menu) sprites, and there are also many species-specific interactions.
... Yeah, that's probably a feature I should've mentioned in the first update, come to think of it.
(https://i.imgur.com/RmIBEnQ.png)
I check the menu at the local cafe.
(https://i.imgur.com/lyX1xbQ.png)
Did I stutter?
(https://i.imgur.com/tGafv84.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ImFXihc.png)
What kind of an establishment are you running here?! Do I
look like I'm made of Poke?
Then again, I do own a 3 story house in a big city...
((That's the same price as the other options on this menu, by the way. This place apparently sells coffee that the cafe's owners think is worth
9,800 poke.))
(https://i.imgur.com/QRCnqmp.png)
If you want to move into a house in a different city, you can buy one from this guy. Since I'm barely ever going to visit my house anyway, this is basically a waste of Poke for me.
(https://i.imgur.com/CD30WXo.png)
I drop by Bill's house to pick up my Goldenrod City encounter: an Eevee. Yes, gift Pokemon count as encounters in Crystal Clear's Nuzlocke ruleset.
(https://i.imgur.com/7vkKBi0.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/4LAycCU.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ogaMCRf.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/acJlAWx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/y09zpJh.png)
I'm planning to evolve this Eevee into an Umbreon who can safely slow Baton Pass in my other 'mons, so that is actually a pretty amazing DV spread.
On to the Goldenrod Radio Tower, where free stuff awaits!
(https://i.imgur.com/PGweo7U.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/JtTzcc8.png)
On the first floor is the EVENT MOVE TUTOR, who can teach your Pokemon moves that they can ONLY have through events. He can't teach Growth to a Bellsprout, for example, even though he can teach it to my Eevee.
Once we've talked to them, the EVENT MOVE TUTOR's services will be remotely accessible from my PC. The same applies to two other important move tutors in the game.
(https://i.imgur.com/iy4PC7P.png)
This lady on the first floor gives me the TM for Hyper Beam for completing her quiz, which is a bit suspicious, but hey, I'll take it. Sure, using Hyper Beam often is a bad habit for Nuzlockes, but that beam that goes BYEUU-U-U-U-UM feels SO satisfying to use.
(https://i.imgur.com/1t3Yjf3.png)
A Pink Bow! I plan to be using multiple Normal types, so I think this'll be on at least one of my party members for a while.
There are some other items that I loot from the Goldenrod Radio Tower, but this one stands out among them:
(https://i.imgur.com/QXXkI6J.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/y8tohsk.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/2OajdbL.png)
... Because it's not actually an item at all! This is Bort the Voltorb, and he's holding a Smoke Ball that we want. Even though we got Eevee earlier, we can still catch Bort (as evidenced by the "!" under his name), because Goldenrod Radio Tower counts as its own area for some reason.
(https://i.imgur.com/8GRvs5n.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ru06jhm.png)
Nuke comes concerningly close to fainting to a Mimic'd Fire Spin, but we manage to catch Bort. I name him "Bort?" to distinguish him from the Bort from my first run.
(https://i.imgur.com/LOFeABe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/JQpKFPO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/e5Ak9xZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/f1v6VXe.png)
Bort's moveset is interesting, but he sadly doesn't really have the stats to do much with it, because the Voltorb line kind of sucks ass. We'll almost certainly phase him out later, but for now, he's a decent Thunder Wave user.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZqFt1zX.png)
We also pick up Kenya, since they count as a Route 35 encounter, not a Goldenrod City one.
(https://i.imgur.com/vFpQ3FZ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/V35Yrhz.png)
With no moral baggage, to boot!
(https://i.imgur.com/GBuNRFb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/wjjje5P.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/agwO4NY.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/2WO13oL.png)
Wait... Crystal Clear!Kenya starts with Fly. That's... actually HUGE, and will Nuke's ascension to peak power even faster than I planned it to be.
Y'see, Crystal Clear removes the badge requirements for HMs. It also lets you Fly to (most) places you haven't visited yet, even ones in a different region. Time to go on a looting spree.
But first, let's check on how Legacy's doing.
(https://i.imgur.com/ge4CGfh.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/0OOvDwi.png)
... I probably should have healed them after the Bort fight.
One heal later...
(https://i.imgur.com/1qC9zUj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/v7WNcGN.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/WGTIsJF.png)
In Crystal Clear, the first fishing guru you talk to will give you an Old Rod, the second fishing guru you talk to will give you a Good Rod, and the third fishing guru you talk to will give you a Super Rod. I have no need for the latter two right now (as my level cap is too low for most of their catches), but I'll try to swing by the other gurus at some point in the future.
(https://i.imgur.com/p22ixuF.png)
Leftovers!
(https://i.imgur.com/aE4aytF.png)
Strength!
(https://i.imgur.com/oCAXCuE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/DUGJ64o.png)
Mail delivery!
(https://i.imgur.com/NExd7mj.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/LXEcv0j.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/O2xKIT2.png)
The KANTO TM TUTOR!
This guy can teach my 'mons moves that could be taught by TMs in Gen 1 but not in Gen 2. Like the EVENT MOVE TUTOR, now that I've talked to him, I can remotely use his services from the PC.
Unlike the EVENT MOVE TUTOR, the KANTO TM TUTOR has a bit more to offer my team than just Growth. He can teach my 'mons Body Slam(!), Mimic, Substitute, etc., but there's one move in particular that stands out above the rest for the point of the game I'm in:
(https://i.imgur.com/2ZEW7AV.png)
Motherfucking
Dragon Rage. Arcanine is one of the 12 Gen 1 Pokemon whom the Dragon Rage TM works on (without the involvement of glitches).
For those of you who aren't already aware, Dragon Rage always does exactly 40 damage. At this point in the game, pretty much nothing has more than 40 max HP, so it's effectively a
100% accurate one hit kill move. On a fully evolved BST 555 'mon. At level 5.
I haven't fought a single trainer yet.We'll get an opportunity to take it out for a spin soon, but there are a few more items that I want to grab first.
(https://i.imgur.com/H6jbkU9.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1YMpMCA.png)
There's an Amulet Coin in B1F of the Goldenrod Department Store. I put it on Nuke to maximize the amount of money that we'll gain in some upcoming fights, since there's something that I wanna save up for (and I spent most of my money on Pokemart items off screen).
(https://i.imgur.com/2oyoo1w.png)
Down the stairs, there's a computer that can change my character's appearance. Now I have mastery over both death and flesh!
(https://i.imgur.com/5yNOOL1.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/iete7NH.png)
I grab an Up-Grade from Silph Co. We'll need it for something in the next update.
(https://i.imgur.com/69259Qm.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sWoT76v.png)
Finally, I walk to Cerulean City and ""borrow"" a bicycle. It's not actually faster than my running speed, but I can bonk into headbutt trees with it to get encounters from them without needing a Headbutt 'mon.
And now, what you've all been waiting for... the first trainer battle of the run. This one is personal, for reasons that y'all will find out later.
https://youtu.be/ilSa_jMzoNE
I cleanse Route 4 of all other trainer-owned life forms, then decide to take on two minibosses.
https://youtu.be/hskz56Pz1Ws
https://youtu.be/Vti7QZcEZG4
Minibosses like these ones are scattered throughout the two regions in the forms of various OCs (some of which are inserts of friends of the hack's author, I believe). They're usually pretty scary, since their 'mons will have strong sets, but you can also decline to fight most of them. Of course, none of them can put up much of a fight against Dragon Rage Arcanine, so I decide to stop bullying them for now.
(https://i.imgur.com/I9lsVZe.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fuvSJQP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fpkJpKm.png)
Last stop of the update: Celadon City. There are some very nice things that I'd like to buy with coins. All of the free coins on the ground and free coin handouts in the two Game Corners have been removed, though, aside from a guy who'll give you a single coin to start you off with. I guess that means that it's time to do some between-update gambling.
(https://i.imgur.com/7fUAkkb.png)
And by "gambling", I mean Voltorb Flipping, because Voltorb Flip was somehow ported to Crystal Clear. The slot machines and the card flipping game are also available, if you prefer playing them.
(https://i.imgur.com/oaj9rCj.png)
And with that, I'll save my game and end the update. I'll have grinded Voltorb Flip for all of the coins I'll need by next update, and then my accumulation of power before the first gym can continue.
... What, did you think that Dragon Rage Arcanine was the end of it?
Most of what I plan to grab before the first gym should be doable before the end of the next update, though, so I'm open for suggestions for which gym I should donk with Dragon Rage first. Ideally, it should be one that can become problematic later.