Behind Every Monster Is a Person in a Cute Costume: Let's Play Moemon Leafgreen!

[Deme]

... I put so much effort in stripping the deep-down dirtiness from this basic premise -- and you people, you people -- you go around and put it back in!

...

And I love you for it.

[John Cribati]

... I just realized how horribly you could H4X the game by teaching Spike Attract.

[originalpimp]

... I put so much effort in stripping the deep-down dirtiness from this basic premise -- and you people, you people -- you go around and put it back in!

...

And I love you for it.

Glad to be of service.

[Ranielle]

... I just realized how horribly you could H4X the game by teaching Spike Attract.

It makes sense too, I mean, since everyone else is a girl, he'd stand out like a rhinoceros in a kindergarten. It's natural that everyone would have hots for him.

[Deme]

It makes sense too, I mean, since everyone else is a girl, he'd stand out like a rhinoceros in a kindergarten. It's natural that everyone would have hots for him.

He does stand out like that: note the reaction at the fan club. So far, the only girls who haven't been interested in him were Azula (and the idea of Azula liking someone romantically is terrifying), Rya (I imagine Rya as being too young; she sees the other pokemon in the team as being like big siblings), and FISTICUFFS (who isn't interested in guys). I think if I could expand the list to pokemon he hasn't had any time with, I'd say that the normal bit of Mellow would have a crush, but the bit that TaLkS lIkE tHiS would not. Fungi don't feel that way about other fungi, much less organic spirit-beings. Either way, for everyone else, it's all a matter of degrees. I could even build a little chart.

Now, I think I sold my original copy of TM45, since I needed potion money after the fight with Misty. On the other hand, Bulbapedia says I can buy a new one at Celadon. Shall I add it to the confirmed shopping list?

[Ranielle]

Well you have my vote on that!

[Penguinator]

Yes. Nidoking needs its badass level boosted. (Not that it isn't badass, it's that people don't seem to like using it) And becoming pure, raw ownage in this LP would help.

[originalpimp]

FISTICUFFS (who isn't interested in guys).

I'm going to ask this before someone else inevitably brings it up anyway: "Is FISTICUFFS a lesbian, then?"

I'd say that the normal bit of Mellow would have a crush, but the bit that TaLkS lIkE tHiS would not.

I want to see this.

Shall I add it to the confirmed shopping list?

Yes, please.

[Deme]

I'm going to ask this before someone else inevitably brings it up anyway: "Is FISTICUFFS a lesbian, then?"

Possibly. It's a little unclear to me, actually. She may be asexual, loving only excessive force. That's certainly all she's ever loved at the moment.
But if she isn't, then she'd be a lesbian. She doesn't think of herself in those terms; if she met a lady pokemon she cared for, she'd be really surprised, so that option is still on the table. It's sort of Shrodingers sexuality: I won't know until I observe her behaving in a way that indicates something to me. I really only know she's not straight.

[originalpimp]

I'm foreseeing FISTICUFFS finding her true love at Saffron's Fighting Gym.

[Deme]

Chapter 21: Come to the Party Late and Leave Early

Spoiler

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I find an empty room. The way everyone's clumped together here bugs me a little; you're on a cruise! go out and meet people; sit on deck and stare at the ocean! Do something interesting, and maybe you won't be so bored as to have to challenge random strangers to battles!
But then again, pokemon do make the world go round, practically...But I'm getting side-tracked. I bring Spike out of his pokeball; he shuffles around the room (his raiment or whatever has pockets. I don't see them most of the time, but then he puts his hands in them and they are there. Darn magic.) and glances at me.
"Spike, something's been bothering you. What is it?"
He waves a hand dismissively.
"Forget about it. Don't worry."
"I hate it when you guys keep secrets from me! Spill!"
He looks at me longer, and, his voice lonely and low, says,
"It's just somethin' I gotta work through. On my own." He flashes me a grin. "Don't worry. I'm still on your side; this is a pretty sweet gig. Better than I figured I'd get. I wouldn't want to lose it for anything, got that? I just... Need a little thinking space."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Now worries. I may do a little mumbling, and they'll mumble back, but I'mma try to work it out."
"OK, then." I guess I have to let sleeping dogs lie on this one, eh?
Which means it's back to wandering the ship.

"So what is it, If you tell her, you lose trust. I understand. But us...Us you can tell."
"...You know how Terra said she had never met a Kadabra, so she didn't know what they were like?... I've met Nidokings."
"And now you wonder 'which comes first? Being or Becoming?...The mind is a plaything."
"Of the body?"
"Just in general."
"Well, there's no need for this concern. You will do the Mistress's will. If that means the way you are now is lost, so be it."
"uh, guys... I'm OK with a little under-the-breath mumbling, but this is getting ridiculous. You can just talk at normal speaking volume."


"I've noticed."


Man, ChuChu is getting quite the workout here; I guess the sailors spend so much time by the water that it's their specialty.

Wooh, I guessed correctly!
Me - 1, Universe - 0.
...OK, that is sooo not accurate scoring.


Rest, huh? That sounds like it could be useful.


"Wait, is it talk like a pirate day already?"
Sailor: "Arrr! I always talk like this! It adds an element of excitement into an otherwise dull life. Arr."

Hey! He has pokemon that aren't water types! I smell progress!

Then again, having just the one Machop isn't a great decision, either...

"I'll keelhaul ye if’n ye keep calling me a kid!"


"You know, there are landscapes besides mountains and seas. I mean, Pallet is sort of on the sea, but it's also surrounded by woods, so..."



Yeah, I can tell...

(

*sigh* no more teleporting. But I think it's for the best.
)


"Wait a second! I wouldn't just work for you because you beat me in a battle!"
Fisherman: "You...wouldn't?"
"No! Absolutely not! I have a life to live!"
What is wrong with these people?


What sort of ship is this, exactly?

Oooh, question withdrawn. I'm going to have to ask him about that.

I step out on deck -- the sound of the waves against the gently rocking ship reaches my ears, and at last the smell of the sea-swept wind is all over me. The water looks so clear and bright. I could watch it for hours.

"No, I just want to look at the ocean."

I'm not seasick, so you battle me. Great manners, there.

I have to admit, though, it's kind of invigorating.

"Well, within the kanto region, there are 151 pokemon, but in the upper limits you get a lot of undocumented rumors. There are considerably more in other regions."
How is he a world-travelling sailor who doesn't know this? I mean, I know maybe a bit more about pokemon than most, living so near to Professor Oak... But these are basic facts.


Figures. Always late to the party, me.


A jig? Like the little dance? I don't really know how -- I mean, it's just way too girly for me, dancing. Yeah.

Oh. Battle. A battle, I can do.



See?

"Why is everyone here interested in that question?"
He shrugs. I go back inside to explore the belly of the ship some more.


I glance at my Pokeballs. Terra can get a good head of sleep going if given the chance, even as a Kadabra.

Oh, that's kinda cute.


OK. More water types, yes?

Yes.

Her peck packs quite a punch. I’d be more worried if FISTICUFFS wasn’t strong enough to take her out next round.


And a level for her troubles.



"Sounds like a good enough reason to fight for me!"
I wonder if the Prof. would be in better shape if he hadn't of given up training. Who knows, maybe so; the challenge would have kept his dreams alive. I wonder why he stopped?

This was not the best choice in match-ups, I know, but Azula needed some action.
"I was wondering where a foe for me would be found. You'll not regret your choice, Mistress."

"I...can still...fight..."
Struggling, she takes the Pikachu down with another fiery blaze of embers.

"Good job, Azula. Let's go get you fixed up."

"Likewise."


Well, that's a good little treasure. I hope no one minds if I take it.


That would make it really useful: I think I'll have to teach it to someone, to get into some of the areas I've seen.


"No, I got here late."
But if all it was was trainers battling, I'll have missed nothing.


Lass's Pikachu: "From the depths of hell... I stab at thee..."

Ooh, that is annoying.

"Well, they're good pokemon to start with...From there, it's just hard work."
Lass: "Ok! I'll work harder to be just like you!"
...Really, I don't think that's the best move ever…


"That’s a dumb question; there’s more to like about Pokemon than being strong or rare.”


But I guess he likes them cute and fiery.

"Ow! Ow! Mistress!"
"Stay tough, Rya! Soon as the battle's over, I'll put something on that burn."
Why after? Because it'd be a shame to give the Ponyta the extra round to find some way to hurt Rya, right?
"Finish her!"

"There. Now let's put some aloe on that wound, and we should be good to go."



OOh, free stuff.


"I'll add that to the list of places to go, then."

As I turn the corner, Beau walks down the stairs. He looks like he arrived in time for the party, a rosy flush on his face.

"Oh, not you, too..."

"...No, not really..." I bristle. "But I got a legit invite as a gift from someone, OK?"

"I prefer quality over quantity, thank you!"

"I'm not crawling around just to catch pokemon, Beau!"
Beau: "*snerk* No, I guess not...Yer way too proud... But let's see how quality your choices really are!"

FISTICUFFS versus Pidgeotto? Not a great match-up, but I'm prepared.
"Hit her with a rock tomb, FISTICUFFS!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."

But it's not enough to finish her right away. But the boulders slow her down. But she still replies with a swift attack of sand, using the dust from the fallen rocks.
"Ok, Rock Tomb won't hit twice. Switch attacks!"

"FINISHED."
Beau: "Why does she talk like that, anyway?"
"No clue, actually."


Rya's the obvious choice against his Kadabra; her biting looks like it'll be effective.

Please don't confuse her, please don't confuse her...
It doesn't. Excellent.

A chomp or two, and she's down.
"Good work, Rya."
"Yaaay!"


"Wrong choice there, Beau."
Beau: "Yeah, I admit...But just wait until next round!"


Oh, it's evolved since last time. But a water type's a water type, right?...I remember what a hard time we had with Misty, and I'm naturally a little worried.

Beau's Wartortle takes the time to raise its defenses; I guess I should raise mine to prepare for his attack; it doesn't look like ChuChu can beat her in two hits.
"Doubleteam her, ChuChu!"
ChuChu darts about, her body blurring as she moves. It doesn't matter; the Wartortle's bit still hits, but it's not as bad as I feared.
"OK, ChuChu, just go all out!"
"Rodger-Dodger!"
Beau: "Get ready for it, Wartortle!"
Beau's Wartortle: "Got it, Master."
But its efforts don't amount to much, in the end.



"Well, yeah. Like I said -- QUA-LI-TY!"
Beau: "Oh, so you're saying mine aren't? Is that what you're saying?"
"Beau, I'm not..."
Beau: "Hmph!... But since I'm a better man, I'll give you some advice."


And he swaggers off. That jerk, getting all offended. I didn't say anything, OK?


"Uh, Captain?"

What sort of sea captain gets seasick? I mean, they have those little patches for it and everything... Still, I feel bad for the guy.
"Here. This'll help a little."


This is the most degrading thing I'll ever do out of pity. Really.

"No problem. I actually came up here because I was wondering..."

"Yes!"

Man, that sucks...

Ooh, free stuff! Kindness pays off! Suck on that, forces of evil!


"Thanks, Sir. Hope you feel better."




The ship takes off as soon as I leave, leaving a wake behind it. Pretty soon, it's completely out of sight.
I guess that means my not-a-vacation-at-all is over...

But I got a lot of useful things at the SS Anne, and now it's time to decide what to do with them... And how to take out the local gym leader.

Well, you heard the girl. In the following spoiler tag is my list of TMs and my HM, and who I could teach them to. I didn't include any of the pokemon on my team currently on the HM list, as I want to save their slots for actually cool attacks. While I could teach Cut to a lot of pokemon, right now I'm mainly thinking about who to move into circulation as an HM slave for Cut. Being the HM slave nets the pokemon valuable screentime, the way Jasmine and Lila will get screentime for fulfilling their functions of getting me stuff and catching me pokemon.

Spoiler

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Cut:
Jasmine (Meowth)
TopPercen
Leafe (Oddish)
Belle (Bellsprout)
Helga
Mellow

Bullet Seed:
Leafe
Bell
Mellow

Brick Break:
Fisticuffs (gets STAB)
Azula
ChuChu
Helga

Secret Power:
All

Rest:
All

In other words, for each TM you have an opinion about, post who to give it to. "Save it" is an option, and all items with absolutely no votes will be saved for a later TM-giving session. "Sell it" is also an option to be voted for.

Also, cast update will be after this and other changes are made in the next update.

[originalpimp]

Ponyta's adorable. :3

Also,

Cut:
Jasmine or Mellow

Bullet Seed:
Belle or sell, either one.

Brick Break:
Sell, it's a pretty crappy move IMO.

Secret Power:
Sell, not really worth it.

Rest:
Probably a sell.

[Penguinator]

Cut- Give it to Mellow, I'd like to see the fungus with destructive Cutting powers.
Bullet Seed- Hang on to it. It's not incredibly useful, but I'd hold on to it.
Brick Break- Is actually fairly useful 3rd gen, maybe give it to Chuchu. Or Azula, for taking care of rock types.
Secret Power- Is pretty useless.
Rest- Unless you start using a tank, it's also useless.

[Arcanoi]

Brick Break is one of the strongest STAB attacks that a Primeape can get, IIRC. Bullet Seed and Secret Power are pretty crappy, but Rest is worth holding onto.

[originalpimp]

I believe I just have a tendency to think almost every TM is useless unless it gives a really REALLY damn good move. You can kind of note that from the way I offered selling as an option for all of them except the HM.

[Deme]

I believe I just have a tendency to think almost every TM is useless unless it gives a really REALLY damn good move. You can kind of note that from the way I offered selling as an option for all of them except the HM.

I'm more or less the same way, actually... That's one of the reasons we're doing this voting session. This LP is, in a lot of ways, a learning experience for me, looking at moves, strategies, and pokemon that turn out to be good that I've never used seriously before (About half of the team is made of Pokemon I have never actually raised for use in my life).

[FantasyFoxMan]

Here's my thoughts (feel free to not take them with a grain of salt):

Give FISTICUFFS Brick Break. You won't regret the decision. :3
Secret Power, I'd say give it to anyone in your team with a good Attack stat. Despite the fact that it's not as useful in FR/LG as it is in R/S/E (as hidden bases do not exist, as unimportant as they are), it's still a fairly powerful move, so you probably shouldn't sell it.
Cut should probably go to Mellow.
Bullet Seed sucks, you should sell it.
Rest you should probably hang on to.

[originalpimp]

Eh, I've never bothered with Brick Break. Then again, I tend to ignore the Fighting type in general. It's not all that useful, really. Anything it trumps can be trumped by some other type I like more. :P

[John Cribati]

Eh, I've never bothered with Brick Break. Then again, I tend to ignore the Fighting type in general. It's not all that useful, really. Anything it trumps can be trumped by some other type I like more. :P

I dunno about that. Poliwrath helped me take out 4/5 of Lorelei's team without losing a single man. Electric doesn't resist water, all of them, except Jynx, were.

[originalpimp]

I don't really care enough about optimization if it means using a type I dislike. I don't really like any of the Fighting types, therefore I don't use them. Same for Steel types, Dragon types, and Poison types...

[Penguinator]

Eh, I've never bothered with Brick Break. Then again, I tend to ignore the Fighting type in general. It's not all that useful, really. Anything it trumps can be trumped by some other type I like more. :P

Fighting moves hit five types for super effective damage, one of which is only weak against fighting. Your last sentence makes me wonder how you go about killing normal types.

And as far as 4th gen, moves like Close Combat and Focus Blast are really useful. Brick Break was good 3rd gen, it's just less useful now.

[originalpimp]

I try to pretend 4th gen and 5th gen don't exist and never will exist.

Also, I normally fight Normal with something that it can hardly damage. Rocks, Ghosts, etc.

[Deme]

I try to pretend 4th gen and 5th gen don't exist and never will exist.

Also, I normally fight Normal with something that it can hardly damage. Rocks, Ghosts, etc.

Pity; Soulsilver is a beautiful pile of awesome, probably my favorite Pokemon game since Yellow.

This a pretty insignificant vote, so I'll probably stop counting votes tonight and get towards playing.

Also, I, too, have never really used fighting types. Fighting type attacks, yes, but generally I only used fighting-type pokemon...Let's say...up until just after Brock in yellow, and that's my full experience. But Poliwrath sounds mighty cool, cast in the sort of light I'm hearing.

[Penguinator]

Meh, Poliwrath's stats just don't cut it. And now that I think about it, I don't use fighting types, either. ...I only used Infernape because I felt an obligation to use each starter through one of the 4th gen games. (Piplup for Diamond, that was my first choice, obviously. Turtwig for Pearl, and Chimchar for Platinum) I guess I would say that I use Water, Electric, Ground, and Psychic.

[originalpimp]

Pity; Soulsilver is a beautiful pile of awesome, probably my favorite Pokemon game since Yellow.

I don't really consider the remakes to be in the Gens they were made in. They ARE just remakes, after all. So I still consider FireRed to be Gen 1, etc.

[Penguinator]

Personally, I still like Yellow better than Firered/Leafgreen. I didn't like those remakes. I did, however, like Heartgold/Soulsilver.

[Rae Artemi]

I too support teaching FISTICUFFS Brick Break, as it's the 4th most powerful fighting move Primeape can learn in this game, behind focus punch, which is fairly useless, Dynamic punch, which while useful, has a base 50% accuracy, and cross chop, which is still fairly inaccurate, but is a pretty good move. I'd end up with him knowing cross chop, brick break, thunderbolt or rock slide for flyers, and maybe fire punch, in case of bugs. I know this is thinking ahead a bit, but still.

[Penguinator]

No! You never want two moves of the same type in a sweeper-esque moveset! FISTICUFFS should stick with Cross Chop. Azula or Chuchu should learn Brick Break for Rock types they have trouble with. (Chuchu in the sense that a lot of Ground types are also Rock type)

[Geno9999]

Slightly off topic I realized that half of my SoulSilver team is mostly poison typing (I use Nidorino (trying to decide when to evolve it into Nidoking), Crobat, and Gengar) The only real defense these guys have going for them is that Crobat and Gengar know anti-physic moves (Bite and Shadow Ball/Sucker Punch, respectively.)

Normally, I prefer to have a Flying, Water, Electric, Ghost and a Fire pokemon in my group (Pearl/Diamond was just too fire starved for me, since the only fire type outside the starter pre-national was the Ponyta line, so I have Lucario be one of my main 'mons in Pearl.)

[Penguinator]

Huh. I used Gengar and Crobat in SoulSilver, as well. Gee... And I had Weepinbell in there forever... It was eventually replaced with... I think Ursaring?