Part 14: Valentine's Day Special of SuckinessWell, with the Gym defeated and that business with Devon all over with, now I can finally check out Rustboro City!
This guy gave me a special item: the Hidden Machine Cut! He said I can use it to teach Pokemon to chop down small trees that get in my way, and that unlike TMs it can be used more than once. This might come in useful, if I can find someone to teach it to.
I found May hanging out near the south end of the city. She challenged me to a battle, and of course I was happy to oblige.
"Hey! Are you trying to copy me, Ing?"
"What? You're copying me!"
May's Torkoal stuck all four of its legs inside it's shell, drastically reducing its own speed while raising its defense sky-high. In contrast, I had Tara poison it while this was happening before using her superior firepower to burn through the pretender's somewhat flimsy special defense.
Tara won, of course. It was still pretty close.
Time for our starting Pokemon to have a go. At first, the Mudkip simply stood there and took a couple of shots from Champ, before turning red and unleashing a devastating (but not game-ending) blow.
Clever girl...
I had to switch Champ out after that. He simply isn't strong enough, even though he tries so hard
Lady managed to confuse it into knocking itself out, but it was far too close for my liking. I really do not like that Mudkip...
May took her second defeat more-or-less in stride, but I could tell that she was a little peeved. We parted ways after that.
Back at the Pokemon Center, I decided to give Wattson a break and bring Portia out for some training. I also taught her the Cut move, as the only ones in my party who could learn it already had four moves to use. Let's head north!
I bet this place has all sorts of cool Pokem-
...WHO BUILT THIS PLACE?!
Eh, screw it. Let's go say hi to Mr. Briney.
Behind the saplings in Petalburg Woods was a woman who became lost and trapped in the forest when they grew. As thanks for saving her, she gave me something called a "Miracle Seed" which would supposedly raise the power of Grass-type attacks. Since none of my Pokemon had those, I just put it away for now.
This must be the place. I wonder if he knows anything about where I can go for the next badge.
Uh...did I come along at a bad time?
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Today was mostly behind-the-scenes grind and berry farming. May nearly took down two of my Pokemon with that stupid Mudkip, but at least they both survived and leveled up. In any case, have some STAT UPDATES!!!
Level 14
HP: 36/36 SP.ATK: 16
ATK: 15 SP.DEF: 15
DEF: 17 Speed: 17
Moves: Tackle
I REALLY hope Champ's stats start picking up once he evolves. Tackle is a pretty crappy move as is and he doesn't really have the stats to do any real damage with it.
Level 14
HP: 36/36 SP.ATK: 17
ATK: 12 SP.DEF: 30
DEF: 17 Speed: 18
Moves: Tackle, Supersonic
The other half of the buddy cop team (or as I personally call them, Lady and the Champ), her stats are almost as bad as Champ's. The only redeeming parts at this point are a very nice Special Defense and the ability to confuse opponents (which misses probably half the time anyway).
Level 16
HP: 49/49 SP.ATK: 23
ATK: 26 SP.DEF: 25
DEF: 27 Speed: 28
Moves: Scratch, Growl, Tail Whip, Double Kick
The lancer of Team Ing. She's not the fastest, nor the toughest, nor the strongest, but she'll put up as good a fight as anyone and hasn't failed me yet.
Level 15
HP: 44/44 SP.ATK: 21
ATK: 51 SP.DEF: 22
DEF: 36 Speed: 30
Moves: Bubble, Leer, Vicegrip
The BAMFiest BAMF you ever did see. Nuff said. Will probably be my Surfer unless we get another Water-type, preferably with a decent SP.ATK stat.
Level 12
HP: 37/37 SP.ATK: 25
ATK: 18 SP.DEF: 26
DEF: 19 Speed: 27
Moves: Thunder Wave, Growl, Quick Attack
More useful for catching than fighting, to be honest, but a welcome member of the team and so far the only Electric type.
Level 14
HP: 45/45 SP.ATK: 35
ATK: 29 SP.DEF: 28
DEF: 46 Speed: 13
Moves: Ember, Smog, Curse, Smokescreen
Tara is one of the best fighters we have. Not quick or flashy, but she'll get the job done.
Level 11
HP: 35/35 SP.ATK: 16
ATK: 23 SP.DEF: 17
DEF: 17 Speed: 12
Moves: Scratch, Leer, Lick
An up-and-comer on the team, Thera might well dethrone Genji as best attacker someday if her levels so far are anything to go by.
...Well okay, probably not. She's still developing quite a bit of raw power so far.
Level 11
HP: 34/34 SP.ATK: 19
ATK: 29 SP.DEF: 21
DEF: 24 Speed: 15
Moves: Scratch, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Cut
I'm mixed about Portia so far. She's got a decent amount of power now that she has Cut, but her status-causing attacks tend to miss whenever they would be most useful, to the point where I've had to switch her out frequently. At least she can take a hit or two.
We should have a much more exciting update tomorrow.
