So Zeta Slow: Let’s Play Pokémon Zeta

Put your Let's Plays in here.
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Alright, time to knock some rust off these gears.

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I say that because our next gym leader is a Steel-type specialist, and for absolutely no other reason.

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There was a rock here, blocking our path. It's gone now that we've defeated Jonathan.

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It leads to the upper ledge surrounding Agassiz Town...

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...and eventually to the reason why we never have to teach Cut to any of our Pokémon.

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We can now challenge the algorithm.

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Right after I point out another way into the Secret Base. We'll be seeing a few more of these.

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the Orre region. He used to guard the mines there, but his memory got corrupted during a cave-in! Now he wants to battle everyone! That makes him the perfect opponent! PK-096 uses Steel-type Pokémon. Fighting and Fire beat Steel, so those are your best bets! Good luck!

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Let's get some more training done.

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Alright, that's plenty for now. Fianga Gym's thing is one-way conveyors over the void. You can't smash these rocks even after we unlock Rock Smash, by the way.

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It's a bit annoying that you can't see the whole thing at once, but it's much easier to keep straight in my head than Gideon's teleport maze.

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The bisected platforms are a nice touch.

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There are no other trainers in the gym waiting to ambush us, though. That's a shame; I can imagine laser tripwires that fire out Pokéballs at you until they run out.

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The Orre region must be guarded.

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Image Intruder! Intruder in the mine!

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There's not actually much difference between this sprite and the better one I have to show you here, just the usual lack of blur.

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WinButton takes out this Klink in one hit. To make the battle more interesting, I decide to spread out the love among my current team.

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The Bronzor does not go down with one use of Overheat, complicating things a bit.

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Especially when this happens. I dick around with Confuse Ray, Uproar and Shock Wave before realizing that another Overheat would do the job better, even with Kusanagi's special attack lowered.

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Metang gives Static a pretty good fight. I had to match PK's Super Potion with one of my own.

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+20 relationship points with Jake.

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Mew's matchup didn't go quite as planned, and she ended up getting double-teamed.

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She still almost pulled through.

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But then she went down to one Mirror shot. At least she made it easy for Boomstick to wrap things up.

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The game doesn't tell you, but we can now use Fly outside of battle when we get the HM.

Image Error! Error! Giving TM data to intruder.

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Image Entry: Gyro Ball is a Steel-type move that increases in power the slower the user is. Error: attempted to access already loaded RAM! Shutting down.

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Call me crazy, but I think maybe some jobs shouldn't be automated.

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Now we can move beyond Agassiz Town, but not before picking up a few friends.

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Back at Onega Town, we can now access the game's first hidden grotto thanks to the Machete.

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Hidden grottoes are another feature that got carried over to Insurgence. The first time you enter one that day, they generate one Pokémon from a list at random and that's the one you have a chance to catch. Make sure to save before you go inside! The grotto can just generate nothing and you'd be SOL if you didn't save!

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Believe it or not, I actually got a Charmander to spawn on the first try.

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Going back to Route 308.5, I pick up a very rude lady.

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That's about it for now. I've got some more mons I might consider picking up, but right now I'm gonna focus on what the thread wants.

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I should have saved before picking this up, too. I already have one of these, from this very item ball.

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But whatever. With four badges, Kate's ready to proceed.

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Route 309's gimmick is that it's two cave maps connected by several redundant ladders that exist solely to confuse you. It also has two exits.

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Figuring out which ones are necessary to climb saves me the trouble of finding a Scrafty, at least.

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Can't get that thing.

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Time keeps reversing itself to make sure that I don't pass. I'm sure it's Celebi's fault somehow.

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Can't get that thing, either.

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Or that. I haven't stopped putting pins in, don't worry.

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For reference, here's one of the ladders to keep an eye out for.

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It leads here.

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Which leads here in turn. This town is completely optional, unless you'd like a complete Pokédex down the line.

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There aren't any Pokémon in this grass. I checked.

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Stone but some cop said I wasn't allowed. Lame!

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This guy wants a Dodrio in exchange for Farfetch'd. Farfetch'd is available in hidden grottoes, whereas Dodrio is not until *checks notes* we get to the end of the Vesryn Spear.

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He takes rejection well, at least. We'll be back for the black square next to him.

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way for many people. We're all friends here.

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"Often, the heavier a Pokémon is, the more power it's packing behind it. A Heavy Ball will catch heavier Pokémon a lot easier! Us explorers have to look out for each other, you know."

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know why? Because the human mind is afraid of ghosts, bugs and the dark!

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what, and I don't like it. I managed to save one of them, anyways. She's got so many, she'll probably never notice.

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This is the only way to get Wynaut in the game, and Maractus is will be available shortly. I might take her up on her offer later, but for now I can't.

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Fuck off. I wasn't talking to you yet.

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Hey, Corlett uses Ampharos, and he's in the Elite Four!

I think we know who three of the Elite Four are now.

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Um, wow, that's a lot of them. I think we've got a hoarder.

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Nothing at all.

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We'll lay down our lives to preserve the peace!

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Looks like someone didn't learn from Bill's teleporter mishap.

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he created our region. Perhaps there's still a part of him there?

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Can I ask you a question?

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Alright! Jolteon, here we come!

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Our third badge unlocks Hyper Potions, Revives and Super Repels for purchase.

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carrot.

I'm sure that'll make it into the Pokédex someday.

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Everyone laughs when I say that!

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All of these dipshits say the same thing.

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The Turkana Stone has been unofficially linked to Team Asgard's plans.

I guess that's a good enough reason for them not to bother with the animal hoarder down the lane. They'd probably resolve that by killing her and half the Wynaut, anyway. That's Turkana Town in a nutshell.

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Back at Route 309, it's time to clear it out and take what we can get.

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Here's what we need to move on to Kivu Town.

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You... Can you... can you help me? I'm trying to find a Heart Scale for my girlfriend as a gift... But no matter how hard I try, I just can't find one.

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Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll leave you to it.

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His reward for every Heart Scale you find... is a Super Potion.

I don't think I'll be talking to him ever again.

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Lunatone is exclusive to one floor of the route, and Solrock can only be found on the other.

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Alright, finally out. Next time we'll get to Kivu Town and get ready for the next gym.

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In Omicron, Route 309 has Joltik instead of Durant.

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Route 310. We'll show off the trainers before we get to Kivu Town.

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Should've evolved it by now, buddy.

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our skills to help other Pokémon!

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Rarity swept through Luxio and Monferno without issue, but the Chansey proved more annoyting.

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Here's where I realize that I've been taking enemy trainers too lightly again, and where I start to suspect that Halfshark isn't actually viable yet.

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Oh, definitely. I can't wait to join.

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At this point I decided I wanted to rush ahead to the Center and heal up before committing to clearing the entire route.

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Begin testing records! Let's go!

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This Porygon is pretty tanky and knows Recover, so using an Overheat on it was the best answer I had.

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One Normal-type gimmickmon follows another.

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Maybe stick with a form for more than a turn? This is just gonna make Overheat work better.

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Insurgence had two more exclusive Castform sprites, one for sandstorm and one for the new moon weather exclusive to that game. It's a cool detail that few people noticed because nobody uses Castform.

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Okay fine, maybe one or two people.

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Alright, all healed up. Let's go.

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They told me my Flareon wasn't good enough, that it didn't have moves! Watch me prove them wrong!!!

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The Flareon uses Fire Spin and Scary Face instead of real attacks.

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trainer by the name of Kate. They went into Route 310 to try their luck...

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This is a neat animation for an attack. I wish more attacks in this game had those. Oh, and it knocks out Mew in one hit.

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Not that it matters, because Boomstick is finally as strong as a starter Pokemon should be.

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You weren't even blocking my path anywhere, dude!

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Justin Bieber is not a real musician!

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Oops. Static is also starting to drop off in viability, but unlike Halfshark, he has one more evolution right around the corner.

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all!

Just because the hatred against Bieber got way out of hand doesn't mean he's made anything worth listening to.

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He has one each of the second-stage Hoenn starter Pokemon.

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They're pretty tough, as can be expected from starters.

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Are we gonna get namechecks for the Gen 4 and 5 professors, too?

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How come these no-names get all three starters when I can only get one, anyway?

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I love exploring new places and new frontiers!

Alright, that's all of them! Time to move on to Kivu Town and... wait, I'm forgetting something, aren't I?

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Oh right. These assholes.

Gimme a minute to turn off my bodycam.

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I also opted to train up a team to take on the upcoming gym leader and do some stuff I said I was gonna do, like evolve AC/DC here.

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Despite evolving Rabies, I forgot to actually take him to the next gym. He'll get his chance eventually.

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I took OokiSpooki instead, which was a bad idea for reasons I'll get into next update.

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But most importantly, best boy BigChungus finally comes into his own.

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Alright, I'm ready to dehumanize myself now.

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We've heard reports of Team Asgard conducting shady business with some other team.

Image We'd like you to investigate it. Good luck!

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Image Well, damn. You're just a kid. Do you know your way around Pokemon?

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Image Wow! That many badges! I'm sure you'll do fine. Team Asgard is out doing business from some other team from another region.
We're trying to stop this other team before they make matters worse than they already are.
Problem is, we can't get past them without a Pokemon battle! So that's your mission, rookie.
Find out whatever deal Team Asgard and this other team are trying to make and stop it right in its tracks!

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As per usual, the police flee at any sign of danger and leave children to face it in their stead. You also can't get free healing in the middle of the mission, so if you're playing along I implore you to stock up on medicine before trying any of these missions.

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This Asgard grunt knows how to stop an interloper dead in their tracks.

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But this guy doesn't get it, instead initiating a battle that he can lose.

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Every masterpiece (left) has its cheap copy (right).

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We open up this mission with a pretty stiff double battle.

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I'm not gonna give you a play-by-play on this one. Just know that there's a lot of paralysis and confusion, a lot of my attacks not working as well as they should, and each grunt has three Pokemon for me to wear down.

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And now I have to deal with this bullshit, too. I guess it makes these battles go by faster, but it can also rob me of precious experience.

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Not this time, though!

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Masaka! Bakana! Impossible!

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I guess not everyone is the hero of their own story?

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He had three Dunsparce.

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you!

When you're a Rocket, you're a Rocket all the way, from your first time a teenage trainer kicks your ass to your last dying day.

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Eh, whatever you gotta do to get healthcare. Kate's not in any position to judge.

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Static swaggers himself out of what I thought would be an easy win for him.

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But in the end, it doesn't even matter.

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No battle this time, just Kate hiding in some grass while she watches a cutscene.

Image Agreed. As long as Team Rocket gives us a copy of whatever they create with it.

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Image You can arrest us, but the deal has still been made! There's no stopping us now!

Image Tough talk from a future prisoner!

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prevented any future dealings between Team Rocket and Asgard.

Image Unfortunately, the deal they've already made is sealed.

How? Did they get a signal out to the other grunts before you ambushed them? Was this meeting just a formality?

Image We need to find out what Rocket intends to make and how to stop them. Take this as a reward!

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Image For now, you can rest. I'm proud of you.

Whatever. I'm gonna share all your dirty laundry with the Antifa Club when I'm done with this questline.

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with.

But wait! Since I have the Android Badge, I can stain my soul twice in one update!

Image We've had a request for help from one "Professor Oak". Apparently, he's being robbed by a Rocket Grunt! You're to go help him.

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Good luck!

:psyduck:

OK, even if I wasn't doing my "fuck the police" bit, I'd be baffled by the inclusion of this line. It's like the game wants me to make fun of these dipshits.

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Kate is then transported to a weird facsimile of Pallet Town, where seven Rocket Grunts are on patrol.

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They all say the same thing, so I'm just gonna fast-forward through all those fights.

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I did bring Deleveled the Girafarig on this mission to deal with all the Poison-types they brought, so at least she's getting something out of this.

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I replace Fire Punch because it doesn't correspond with the stat I boosted with the IV Stone.

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Blue's sister does not have a Town Map for us. :(

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Overheat missed twice in a row, and it only has 5PP!

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None of these signs work, either. Time to save the day!

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get hurt!

Image I would never hand it to ruffian scum like you! Police!

Image The coppers can't help you now! Quickly! Get the machine!

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One of the grunts walks up to the top of the screen and does something, then they all vanish in a fade to black.

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Oak flexes his misunderstanding of Kanto's castle doctrine laws, but fortunately as a rookie cop, Kate is well-trained in escalating violent situations.

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Tangrowth goes down in one.

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And then there's this asshole. Blastoise is just as tanky as BigChungus, and fast enough to immediately take out my best answer to it, type-wise.

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It got three knockouts on me because of a misplay on my part, and I had to use that Max Revive I earned last mission. It also got two Full Restores to keep it up, because Oak knows a good thing when he sees one.

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Weird Pokemon, but OK.

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I have had it with these motherfucking Dragon Rages in this motherfucking fangame!

Yeah, it's a stale joke, but Zeta is no stranger to those.

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For such a sleepy guy, BigChungus sure is doing a lot of carrying lately. Fortunately, Oak's last two mons are Yanmega and Venusaur, which were sitting ducks for Boomstick.

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Rocket Grunts!

Image Please, accept my apology! It's a shame Team Rocket got the machine they wanted... I just can't understand why they would need a set of armor for harnessing Psychic potential! There isn't even a Pokemon that fits it!

Can YOU tell where this sidequest is going?

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very proud of you. Take this as a reward!

Your welcome.

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It's no Master Ball, but it's better than nothing. Next time we'll check in with the other, better club I can join.

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From this point onward, we'll be unlocking one Police Club mission for each badge we get. I'll try not to bog the updates down too much with the play-by-play from now on.

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They said my Pokemon wasn't strong enough...

We're finally getting to explore Kivu Town.

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:laffo: C'mon, son!

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But nobody believed me! They called me a nutty conspiracy theorist!

I think this is the first hint we've ever had that Team Asgard is on its second wave of activity.

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Tee-hee!

Aw, baby's first parasocial relationship. That's gonna end well.

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This roadblock will persist until we become Champion. That's just as well; it leads to the Vesryn Spear, where all of the Pokemon, wild or otherwise, would absolutely steamroll us at our current level.

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something over there. You should go check it out!

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I think Graham might be abnormally young for a gym leader, you guys!

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depending on the item it holds! Isn't that cool?

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I never actually used Clamperl, but I'm skeptical that a Pokemon which can still evolve can be that great, especially without Eviolite.

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Ranger?

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This guy running up and down the beach won't talk to me no matter what I do.

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Mood.

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Well, this looks like a fun place.

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device. I hope they'll be okay!

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exploitation, you should join us. What do you say?

Hell yes! I need a good palate cleanser after last update.

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You could join us!

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and immoral owners!

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We, the Rangers, have to stop them!

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Oh wow! That's great! Here!

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This HM, Fly, will help you get to places you've already visited more easily! Use it to help out those who can't help themselves!

Excellent. We won't get the key item to replace this for a while, so we'll put this on, I dunno, Duo.

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become friends with rare Pokemon!

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Do you want it, perchance?

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yet?

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Well you'll need a good Dark or Ghost type to take him on then!

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Ah... nevermind then! Ha ha!

Wait, no, let's try that again. We actually don't have a good matchup for Graham. *wink*

Well, would you like to trade a Pokemon for my Absol? Any Pokemon'll do!

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Ooh, that's tempting. But I have... plans... that require me to not pick up this particular Absol right now. Only thread fiat can get me to change my mind.

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such speed as to make linear thought impossible!

This seems quaint in the age of social media and Web 2.0

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he tough!

The woman next to him says the exact same thing. Kivu Town must be pretty boring if this is a trending conversation topic.

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roamed the streets, stealing for a living, but I've been changed! They gave me a bed to sleep in, warm food, and a loving family. You can join them in the southern end of Kivu Town! We'd love to have you!

:unsmith: I'd like to see those cop motherfuckers do something like that!

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But I heard that the Elite Four are even stronger!

Yeah, that's how the Elite Four works. Withholding free healing sure does help them win, too.

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Speaking of not being allowed access to a Pokemon Center, let's do our first Ranger Club mission.

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There's some strange machine that's hurting all the Pokemon in the area. A Ranger will explain the rest when you arrive. Good luck!

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Kate? Interesting. We're having a bit of a problem here.

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their bidding.

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freedom if they don't have free will! So, we want you to go and find this evil mind-control device! Go now!

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Alright, here's what I'm bringing to take down the gauntlet of Asgard grunts.

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Boomstick and BigChungus swept through this first one, no problem.

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Turns out there is a page explaining the starter Pokemon in Z/O. They all evolve at 38, so Boomstick has now achieved his final form.

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Well, you won't get passed [sic] me!

One down, six to go. Let's see how much EXP I can get to the rest of my team. I should probably try and change Kusanagi's form at some point, too.

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Mostly Grass-types, so I'm glad I didn't change its form just yet.

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Thanks for telling me immediately after I chose a path so I don't waste time in going the right way!

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This Zangoose used Revenge and Crush Claw to stop a BigChungus sweep in its tracks.

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How the hell did you get one of those at that level, you cheater?

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Woo! You're back up to par!

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He's actually telling the truth. It's not even a long dead end.

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Oh wow, and I thought that Cyrus and N's sprites were a poor fit for the RSE engine.

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Nothing special.

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He brought the evolved monkeys from Black and White and he's surprised he lost?

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You've got no chance!

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I had to read all of this dialogue, and now you do, too.

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with the other three! That would create a square, all Pokemon in the middle of it being hypnotized! So come on, just a few more meters...

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Image Do you know who I am? I am the Gruntmaster! I rule the grunt division of Team Asgard! You don't stand a chance!

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He's no harder than the rest of them.

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Image Could it be? Your genuine bonds overcame my fake ones? Impossible!

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you?

Image A true bond is necessary between you and your Pokemon, not this fake one! Now scram!

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region of Almia had the last ones. I'll deal with this. You report back to the base!

I have not played Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, but I think I get the gist of it.

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Time to switch teams for the gym. NineGear and Beckett can get STAB super-effective, Deleveled is immune to Ghost attacks, Boomstick and BigChungus are good all around, and OokiSpooki turned out to be a bad fit for the gym. Oops.

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He may be eleven, but he sure is tough! He uses Ghost-type Pokemon, a type that is immune to both Normal and Fighting types! Be sure not to use Psychic-types! But Dark-types or other Ghost-types might just help you out!

I don't feel like bringing Flash for this thing. I'll just hug the walls and fight whoever sees me.

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I'm gonna teach the boy a Ghost-type move just for this gym.

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They're all transparent. I initially thought that this represented how good they were at hiding in their home turf.

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This is my first inkling that I may have made a bad call, but I stubbornly keep going because I forgot that I had a Mightyena in the box.

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The first of many probations from NineGear.

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lead it!

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I'm starting to sense a pattern with these trainers.

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Naw, Ghost-types are cuddly and cute. They'll only steal your soul if you rub their bellies too much.

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His only hope for winning is to stunlock me between a Matrix reference and a Sandman reference.

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...i'm sorry what

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Not enough cowbell.

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moves!

I admit, they can be a tough nut to crack, but I've got them covered today.

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One of my favorite opening lines to a fangame Pokemon battle.

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She uses one ellipse after you battle her, but her lose quote is the same "No! My ghosts!" that I've been skipping over. Red would shake his head.

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I'm not very scary, am I?

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He tries to pull a fast one by sending out Dark/Ghost types, which had no weakness when this game started development, but he forgot to account that as Skull, he is naturally weak to Bulk.

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Feel the wrath of my Pokemon!

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Yeah, these all definitely feel like names an eleven-year-old would come up with.

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I disagree!

:ok:

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Image I've been watching you stumble around my Gym for quite some time now...

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:stare:

Image I happen to be the fourth strongest Gym Leader around! Not only that, but I was trained by my twin brother in the Elite Four! You don't hear anyone calling him "just a kid", do you?

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Considering how many people in town won't shut the fuck up about Graham's age, it's understandable that he'd have a complex about it.

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BigChungus easily takes out the opening Haunter despite being confused, making Graham waste a Full Restore.

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As with the last time a gym leader only had one real weakness, Graham's Gengar has a coverage move ready for any Dark-types that cross her path. Beckett goes down in one.

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It also has this, plus two Psychic-type attacks. Not bad for one of Graham's aces.

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Shedinja is immune to all damage it isn't weak to, but Graham switched it in just in time for Shadow Ball to connect. Down it goes.

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Gengar comes back in time for her loss.

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Drifblim is a big sack of HP, but doesn't have the offense to prevent NineGear from slapping her with a sixer.

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Unfortunately for him, this is the only way his Banette can damage Deleveled, and it does so too slowly for him to pull through.

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Gym Leader.

Image One of them was to you, and the other to this other kid earlier today... Well, if someone's going to beat me, I'm glad it's a kid! You're proving that we can hold our own in this adult-run world!

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Image The Necro Badge allows you to use Surf outside of battle. Take this as a prize, as well.

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Image Zombie Strike is a rather interesting move. It's one of the only Physical Ghost-type moves existing. If your Pokemon have a high attack stat, they will benefit from this move.

Zombie Strike is actually a move created for this game. It has 90 power, 90% accuracy and 15 PP, with no added effects.

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Image Collect all the badges, and challenge the Elite Four. I want you to defeat my twin brother, Tobias. I can't do it myself, but you... Well, I'm hoping you can do what I cannot. Visit me again, if you do, ok? Perhaps we can battle again!

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Can do. Next time, we cross the sea and enter the Chrome Circle. Before then, let's look at our 'mon selection:

Surf
Tentacool (Zarivar Town
Totodile (Route 301)
Oshawott (Route 301)
Squirtle (Route 302)
Wooper (Route 302)
Surskit (Route 302)
Lotad (Route 303, 6%)
Wingull (Route 303)
Psyduck (Safari Zone 1)
Slowpoke (Safari Zone 1, 5%)
Marill (Safari Zone 1)
Buizel (Safari Zone 1, 5%)
Shellos (Route 307)
Bagon (Route 307 Hidden Grotto)
Corphish (Route 310)
Delta Snorlax [Grass] (Route 310, only one)

Ladoga Town
Happiny

Cinnabar Island
MISSINGNO

Route 312
Gligar
Trapinch
Tropius (2%)
Vespiquen (Combee are available after the sixth badge)

Route 313
Skarmory (2%)
Swellow
Mandibuzz

Route 314
Drilbur

Treader Town
Porygon
Spinda

You know the drill by now.

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