Pokemon Blue Nuzlocke Time! (Part 14.75)

[guardians_song]

((Do note that Marshbadge is canonically listed AFTER Soulbadge. >_>))


((Proof that this isn't the same as Route 22.))


((Meh, duplicate...))



Syaoran: ...Here we are, then. The start of the long haul.


((Did you know there were Ditto here? I didn't.))


((Failure...))


((Got it! And that's probably the last non-legendary catch of the run, just so you know.))




Syaoran: What's your name?
Ditto: *Transforms into Syaoran* What's your name?
Syaoran: Um... Syaoran. But that's not really the...
Ditto: Um... Syaoran. But that's not really the...
Syaoran: I mean that I'm asking for YOUR name! As a Pokemon.
"Syaoran": I mean that I'm asking for YOUR name! As a Pokemon.
Syaoran: ...I somehow don't think this is going to go anywhere.
"Syaoran": ...I somehow don't think this is going to go anywhere.
Syaoran: Well... er, pleasure making your acquaintance. Perhaps we can continue this conversation some other time.
"Syaoran": Well... er, pleasure making your acquaintance. Perhaps we can continue this conversation some other time. *is sent to Box*



((Let's see how many it takes to catch Moltres!))


Syaoran: Wonder what this is?




((Solving of basic block-pushing puzzle, ahoy!

...This used to seem so complicated and abstract when I was six or so. *sigh*))



Syaoran: Neither do I. :\ *Nuzlocker*
Cooltrainer: You poor sap. I don't envy you come time for the Elite Four.
Syaoran: *urk*






Syaoran: Now just tell me how you got all three starters plus one extra. T_T
Cooltrainer: Gameshar... I mean, I have a lot of friends.
Syaoran: -___-





Syaoran: Er... how do you think I got up here?
Blackbelt: Oh, right.


Syaoran: D: I NEED AN ADULT.


((Note: Thunderbolt-animation is cool, isn't it?))

Syaoran: Doesn't feel so good to be on the receiving end, does it?
Tamer: Actually, it feels really good... *shivers*
Syaoran: O_O *backs away quickly*



Syaoran: Did that answer your question?

((Many Trainers are about seven years old and find block-pushing puzzles complicated. >_>))






((Ah, how I love that message.))

Syaoran: *nods*



((D8 FREAKING FIRST-GEN SLASH
IT IS NUTS

...Alternatively, moments like this are just what I was going for by packing my team with glass cannons. You decided.))



((...Chansey is really a Lethal Joke Pokemon if you know its statistics.
Against a computer opponent, however, it's just a Joke Pokemon.
Computer: Derp, what's a Special Attacker versus a Physical Attacker? :B))


Syaoran: ...Um, I noticed.
Cooltrainer: That's no way to speak to Captain Obvious's niece! Our long family tradition commands us to state the obvious, because obviousness is our family tradition!
Syaoran: o_o








Syaoran: *whips out Bulbapedia and Smogon links* You can?
Pokemaniac: ...Mommyyyyyyyy! D:


((And here we see the Legendary Bird...))

((...That we'll ignore for now.))




Syaoran: ...Did he, now.


((All right, chickened out because my Pokemon were getting low. >_> Back through the cave again!))




Syaoran: Chosen by whom?






((Yes, Syaoran did. L43 Bellsprout? Seriously?))


Syaoran: Can it be...?


Syaoran: SUNLIGHT! Good heavens, SUNLIGHT!



Syaoran: ...And here we are.


Syaoran: (The very air of the place seemed to carry a sense of nobility...)




Syaoran: Um, Nuzlocker.
Aide: Dang! Then you REALLY have to start all over again if you fail!
Syaoran: I knooooow...







Syaoran: We're here, everybody, at long last...
...But we'll have to face the four greatest Pokemon Masters in the land. I... think we need to train ourselves some more, first.
...Besides, there's something in Victory Road that...


((As it turns out, this patch gave very bad EXP.))


((So back to the Mansion it was. *grindgrindgrind*))



((Why was I training up Wormtail?))


((...Because Raticates can learn Thunder Wave in Gen IV.
They can't in Gen I.
WHOOPS.))



Klakarton: Kekekeke... So you had need of me after all, did you?
Syaoran: ...Just for one special mission. ...And I don't trust you as far as I can throw you.
Klakarton: You would be surprised. I'm just big-boned.
Syaoran: -_- Fine. As far as Monarch can throw you, then.
Klakarton: That paltry worm with wings? How far CAN it throw me?
Monarch: Would you like to find out, you insolent disrespecter of royalty?
Klakarton: >_> On second thought...




Klakarton: Kekeke...
Syaoran: ...What am I unleashing? ...*motions pointedly to Yulong*
Klakarton: Keke...ke... ke. *edges uncomfortably away from the coolly-indifferent Gyarados*


((And if he was a better Pokemon, I'd seriously consider having him join the team just for that. >_> As is, the psychic butterfly-monarch will do perfectly well, thank you.))



((...And here we go.))

((In all, it took 10 Max Repels to get to this point - Victory Road one-way (plus one warp-out), and then walking back to Moltres. Well, better than all 25!))


((So surely this will be a very intense -))

((...Bzuh?

That HP comes from one critical Peck and one non-critical Peck, as I recall. Hypnosis missed on the first turn, hit on the second, and third turn was the catch.

Now, let me explain. Apparently, in Gen 1, Sleep raises the chance of any Pokemon being caught in a Great Ball by about 12.5%. Not 12.5% of catch chance - 12.5% chance to catch.

When asleep, ANY Pokemon can be caught, on average, with eight Great Balls or less.

Yes, even Mewtwo.

With Pokeballs, it would take ten, and with Ultra Balls, it would take six. But that's not the point. The point is that Mewtwo's default catch rate with an Ultra Ball at full health is 0.9%. His default catch rate with an Ultra Ball at 1 HP? 2.65%.

A sleeping Mewtwo? ~17.5%.

Now, I got really lucky in having Moltres be caught on the first ball - but it was still one-in-eight chance-of-occurrence. Compare that to my 3% chance (!!!!!) of catching 1-HP Moltres, no status, with a Great Ball.

Status is insanely overpowered as a capture technique in this generation, and HP is distinctly undervalued for the low-catch-rate Pokemon.

Contrast this with Gen II, where...
1.563% at 1 HP...
0.781% at full HP...
4.688% at full HP sleeping...
5.469% at 1 HP sleeping...

...They decided to just make the low-catch-rate Pokemon irritatingly harder to catch, period. -_________-;;

Incidentally, if you're playing GSC? Dragonfly Cave claims the status effects are bugged. Paralysis/Burn/Poison does nothing to increase capture rate. Only Sleep and Frozen have their proper effects.
You will also be amused to know that the Love Ball is bugged and only works for Pokemon of the same species and the SAME sex as the Pokemon you have at the head of your lineup. :P  "(yes, the Love Ball in G/S/C is in fact a gay love ball)"

Also, the Heavy Ball's best use is catching Lugia. Who knew?

Having gone on this game-mechanics-related tangent for far too long...

This is why I raised Klakarton. Solely as a Hypnosis-hurler.

He'll be useful if I ever go back and do Articuno and Zapdos, but otherwise, he's served his role and will go on to lead a peaceful life in the Box. :P Frankly, all the narration in this run has burnt me out of narration-heavy stuff for a while, so I will do a lighter-on-talking (if darker and more backstory-intense) Yellow run after this and have decided to skip the Articuno and Zapdos cameos I had planned. Just don't have the energy.))



Syaoran: So, are you truly the firebird of legend?
Phoenix: ...Yes. And there is one about whom I must warn the inhabitants of Indigo Plateau.
Syaoran: Let me take a stab at it - one wearing the form of a boy around my age with spiky brown hair and a cocky smirk...
Phoenix: !!! How did you know?
Syaoran: ...We... know each other. Or at least I knew the boy whose form it wears. I don't know what he's become.
Phoenix: ...That one carries the echo of something as old as Kanto, but shot through with a novel corruption. I am sure the boy himself is now nothing more than a puppet that dances on faraway strings. Whatever controls him, however... it cannot be allowed to access the power of the League.
Syaoran: ...I can try to stop it. But, whatever it is, it acts as a Pokemon Trainer of considerable might.
Phoenix: I would expect the Pokemon are also puppets. ...My best guess would be that "it" is a Pokemon of colossal power - but one who respects its fellows as little as it respects humans. Its malice is too great for it to act otherwise.
Syaoran: ...From extensive observation, I'd say you're right.
(...Though it took the time to bury Shaoron's Raticate and mourn it - or was that Shaoron's will breaking through?)
...Well, if I can get through the Elite Four, perhaps they'll take me seriously as Champion. ...Defeater of Giovanni or no, I don't think they'll respect the wild claims of a child otherwise.
Phoenix, will you accompany me when I testify?
Phoenix: Have I much choice, under the circumstances?
Under better circumstances, I would call my brethen Zapdos and Articuno into the fray - but there is no time, no time. We must go. Now.




Syaoran: ...You've done well, Klakarton.
Klakarton: Kekeke... A legendary? Truly? I might almost admire you, master...
Syaoran: :\ ...Though you still disturb me.


((All of the new people we've recruited recently, now with stats!))

((Note that, if I'd bothered to look up capture mechanics BEFORE catching all these Pokemon, I would have put them to sleep rather than paralyzing them. *facepalm* Live and learn. And always remember to check the peculiarities of Gen I.))


((And Phoenix itself! All hail the Legendary! :) Not going to be used, but it unlocks Victory Road grinding for me, and that's what I find most important at the present moment. :D))


((YES.))



And next time comes Victory Road: Grinding Edition and the Elite Four themselves! Plus the final showdown with Shaoron, and the resolution of the subplot with the power behind the throne...
All of this, coming up next! (...Whenever I have the time and energy to play through that segment, that is. *sigh*)