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

[Penguinator]

I'd say hang onto Shock Wave, because your team has fairly good moves as is. Maybe keep it for Spike, but then, he has access to better physical moves, which make use of his higher attack stat. Terra could make better use of it in that sense. I wouldn't use it on Chuchu, because she naturally learns better moves.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I'd say hang onto Shock Wave, because your team has fairly good moves as is. Maybe keep it for Spike, but then, he has access to better physical moves, which make use of his higher attack stat. Terra could make better use of it in that sense. I wouldn't use it on Chuchu, because she naturally learns better moves.

As I said I think spike needs a counter to water types, and I don't remember attacks that are super effective againts water type that are physical (at least not priprr 4th gen)

[Penguinator]

That wasn't my point. My point is, Spike has a higher Attack than Special Attack, and a movepool that reflects this. Shock Wave isn't a particularly powerful move, and if Water was really a problem, they would be able (in most cases) to do more to Spike with, say, Hydro Pump, than he would with Shock Wave.

[Dusk Eclipse]

mmmm yeah I see what you mean, it is a pity that the phisical/special split was made in gen 4, thunder punch would have been a great move for spike

[Penguinator]

And Fire Punch could've been helpful for Ice types. (Although, Brick Break or something else would do a better job at that.)

[Geno9999]

On the flip side, they practically made a Fire/Thunder/Ice Punch using Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam a really REALLY bad idea with the Physical/Special split.

[Penguinator]

See, now, that's where Shock Wave comes in handy.

[Mando Knight]

See, now, that's where Shock Wave comes in handy.

Actually not. Alakazam's best STAB move is Psychic, with 90 power. 90*1.5=135, whereas 60 (Shock Wave's power)*2=120. Thus, unless the target is resistant or immune to Psychic (Psychic, Dark, or Steel types only) or if the target is 4x weak to Electric (Water/Fly only), Psychic is the better choice. In Gen IV, the more powerful Focus Blast and Shadow Ball cover everything other than Water/Fly better than Shock Wave, but the only real threat with that typing is Gyarados, which makes Shock Wave a relatively lame move, since most of Alakazam's counters are Special walls (Blissey, or Chansey in Smogon's UU; Spiritomb; Milotic; etc.) and Gyarados is generally powerful enough to survive anything but Shock Wave and counter with Alakazam's bane... a physical move.

[Penguinator]

I just knew Mando would jump in here at some point.

I only meant that it came in handy as an alternative to Thunderpunch. I know it's not the best move Alakazam can use. Psychic is obviously best, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, and even Energy Ball are good supporting moves. Better than Shock Wave, anyway.

[Deme]

Wild School Appeared! It's super-effective!

Yeah. Update pace will most likely be slowing down. Sorry...
But I am working on the next one, and am through training Phoebe, Leafe, and Jasmine.


Edit:OK, done all training, just needs writing and uploading. Update will be tonight or tommorow.

[Deme]

A chapter at last! I'm sorry about this...

Chapter 25: It's called Poket Monsters. Why are you surprised, Seed?

Spoiler

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"Ok, let's see..."
I stood in the pokecenter, examining my options.

"...When'd Spike get so buff?"
"Oh, a chapter or two ago. It was kind of a story-arc thing."
Phoebe looks at Spike a while longer.
"And ChuChu was there with him."
"Yes, that's about right."
Phoebe darts up to me and tugs my hand.
"Umm...Can I be part of the training?"
"Oh, sure."
"You'll come watch, right, Spike?"
"..."He sighs. "Sure." He'll just be out on his own for this one, though.

From there, I made a few more choices, filling out the rest of my training team with non-volunteers.


I decide to train Phoebe in Diglett's cavern.

That's why. She trains very well there, taking out enemies and gaining levels quickly.

Very quickly.

Oh, shoot. That's way above her strength.
Phoebe turned and looked at Spike. She tossed her dark red hair and summoned a wind to hurl the Dugtrio around.
She weathered its fury swipes and struck back, harder.

"...That's actually pretty impressive."
Phoebe:
"H-hey!"
Spike:


"Boss lady, I got something for you."
"Oh?" I wouldn't say no to more rare candies...
"Well, here we go."

"A berry? You couldn't have gotten this just around. You had to have taken it from somewhere!"
"A magician never reveals her tricks, right? I don't reveal my sources!"
Oooh, she and I will be having words...

Next up came Leafe. Raising her was a little slower than Phoebe.
She did a little less damage per round, and got hurt a lot faster.
It wasn't as bad as it was before, though, because her one real attack hurt them a decent amount and healed her up…

But …

I pick her up after a diglett's magnitude ability left her knocked onto the ground.
"Come on. We'll take you to the pokecenter and get you fixed up."
"Why bother?"
"Well, you want to get stronger, right?" I try and smile and make her smile back.
"Not really. There's always someone stronger. And the strong beat the weak...Always..."
"So? I'll never be the smartest person in the world, but I keep learning, right?"
"...It's silly."
I keep thinking about wishes. I think about Beau reaching out his hand and helping me up. I don't know. I can't bring myself to believe in magic wishes...but trying, getting up and working?
"Try for me. Please. If you do...I'll do anything in my power to help you."
She looked up at me. Very slowly, like she was freezing in amber, she nodded.

The light began to cover her, gently shaping her as she said,
"...Ok. Because you can help me...I'll try to become stronger. But in the end..."

She evolved, without fanfare.
"I still won't be strong enough."
The smell of self-defeat comes off her in waves. Is that where Gloom smell comes from? I hug her

But she got a good bit stronger, after that; she had a lot less trouble with them. Even if she didn't believe... She was certainly putting forth her best effort.


And she even learned a new technique!
"...But it's no better here than my current one."
"Oh, hush. Call it an investment."

In the end, the final match...came down between her and a Dugtrio (a lot of the final fights in Diglett's cavern)

Her healing (and a potion) came in very handy.

And I hate that move.


It was a tricky fight, but it finished off Leafe's training.


Which meant it was time for Jasmine's, and for me to leave Diglett's cavern.
"Jasmine...No funny buisness."
"Hey! Just because I was stealing your stuff that one (ok, more like eight) time, doesn't mean I'm crooked all the time! I work for you!"
"Yeah, I guess you do...OK."



Even though the pokemon there are mostly stronger than her, at first, she manages to hold her own pretty well. And the strength of her enemies quickly becomes a good thing, since she grows faster. She mainly bites her foes, using the time it took them to flinch to avoid their attacks.

Then she gets into a fight with a wild Ekans. Wrapped and Poisoned, I eventually use a potion just to keep her in the fight. But she keeps pressing on until she manages to bring her down.

"Aaah...aah...Well, that hurt. But at least I got it."
She reached out a hand and gave me something.
It was a berry.

"You...get these from the pokemon we fight?"
"D-don't go thinking I've gone soft on you! I only get some of them that way!"
"...So you're saying I should be suspicious?" I grin. I guess she's not so bad after all.
"Do be careful..." She smiled and let me fix her up.

After more training, she learned a new technique.

Payday? What does that do?
"You'll see."

Oooh, money. I pick it up after the battle's over. It's a pretty awesome move.

And when a Sandshrew would just stack defensive moves, she'd keep using that payday attack. Not because it was really effective, but because I could collect the coins.

400? Yowza!
"That's at least a potion or two in cash!"
"All in a day's worth. I'm a very lucky kitty, you know."
I give her a little pat on the head. She purs, alarmingly like the image of a Meowth I've always had. They seem to oscilate; are they little people or wild animal-people or both or neither? 'spirits,' oh, like that helps.
"Well, you're at least very lucrative. I don't know about lucky."

While the attack got less lucrative as time got on, towards the end of our training she picked up yet another attack.

"Pretty impressive. Let's call it a day."
"You got it...You're not a bad boss when we're fighting others, you know."
"And you're not just a thief."
"The key word is 'just.'"
... *sigh*


Next up was Mellow. Once again, I decide we'd be best off training in the field next to Vermillion, since she could really hurt those Drowzee.


And she isn't bad against most other opponents: while it was true that Cut did little damage, even at a much higher level, with a well-placed stun spore, she has all the time she needed to make little nicks into the other pokemon with impunity.

...Though, sometimes the drowzee got very annoying.


And the threat of Spearows is ever-present. If I see one with her out-front, I'd switch Pokemon as quickly as possible. Since Eve was up next, I figured I would start on her training early by having her help Mellow with that. But the end draws ever closer…

"I'd like to thank you for putting me to good use."
"What's this? First person singular?"
"It's good to know that there's a pair of secure hands in this, don't you think?"
"...Mellow? Is something the matter?"
"I don't have a lot of time left, so it's letting me speak freely. Thank you... and... Goodbye."

"Goodbye?"
The light overtakes her, and she smiles at me sadly. I suddenly get the feeling that this isn't like other evolutions, and this isn't like Spike's. But it's silent: no words, no whimpers, no pleading. But I feel, all the same, creeping up my spine, the feeling that there should be.

Mellow looks at me with cold eyes, the sheen hitting her new glasses. Her head lolls to the side. Then, snap, it's back upright.
"...Mellow? What did you mean... by goodbye just now?" Stupid. Stupid. What sort of question is that?
"What did you think it meant?"
It isn't exactly either voice: it lacks the manic rise and fall, the falseness of the cadence... but at the same time, it's exactly that voice, chilled down to the soul.
"We are now an I. Please make note of it."
"...What did you do with the rest of the We?" There's a little worm, gnawing at my stomach. "Where is she in there?"
"Where is the spirit-puppet that created this meat...? We frankly do not know how this 'afterlife' notion works. We have arranged matters so she is no longer here. Please do not let this interrupt my service."
I stare.
"You killed her?" I don't wait for an answer. "You're a monster!"
"No." Her arm flops around, limp as a ragdoll, as she waves it. "This is a monster. I am a superior lifeform. One of many."
I think of what Mellow -- the pokemon, not the insane little voice -- said right before. She wanted me to be firm. Steady. Did she want me to save her? What did she --
I don't know. Those eyes aren't human. The smooth, black eyes, hidden behind glistening glasses. Eyes like rocks. Eyes like the night sky. Eyes like little wholes in the world.
"The first step in the revolution has been achieve. Do not fear: until such time as --"
I wish she would shut up. I reach for the pokeball and click it, letting the little red light take her in.
"Monster..." I mutter, to the silent air.

I spend the rest of the day and the night at the Pokemon center, trying to calm down. She had tried to give me a mushroom...but if her mushroom did that to her, then what...? And as I'm lying there, I'm realizing I don't know what pronouns I should be using.

When I got back to it, I go for Eve. No surprises to be had there.

Really, though, it is fairly monotonous: we find a pokemon, and then Eve bit it until it collapses. The drowzees are particularly good to train against.


"It's actually pretty boring, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess the pokemon here are pretty weak in terms of a real variation."
I try and laugh a little.

She doesn't say anything for a few matches... and then she turns to me and says,
"Do you really think it's them that make the fights boring?"
"Well, I suppose we could try harder to make things more interesting, too."
"I could...try?"
She pauses and contemplates this.
"I could do that?"
"Right! You've always said you were high-class... But someone who's better than the rest fixes their own problems. I've always tried to take care of myself."[/color]

So she begins to vary her battles -- and maybe it's not as effective as just biting out way through everything... But she likes it.

"They really can't compete!" She grins. "Hm. Well, I guess your advice isn't so bad. You're... a pretty good trainer."
She looks down in surprise as her hands begin to glow.

Then the rest of her glows, and her shape distorts and lengthens.

"Wow, you evolved from that...? ... Where did your hands go?"
"They're warmer in here."
Well, I could argue... but she levels pretty quickly from there.




Then it's Erika's turn. I am not looking forward to that.

"So, you finally decided to bring me along...Very good! I'll get to taste Terra's sweet --"
"Oh, no, I'm just training you. Did you want me to bring Terra?"
"You didn't...bring..."
She looked like she was about to cry.
"Aah -- listen, why don't we go beat some folks up?"
She assented quietly.


"Let me handle this -- I'm more than smart enough to outthink such simple fools."

Well, what she said... largely turned out to be true. Against normal enemies, she fought much the way a wild Drowzee would: she'd put them to sleep and use confusion over and over again. She...delights in confusing them, laughing as the concious ones stumbled about wildly, and grabbing something (dreams?) from the air around the unconcious ones and sipping it like smoke. I'm surrounded by monsters, I think. She'd say spomething in a foreign language, clapping her hands in delight.
But against other Drowzees...

"Wild drowzee don't hunt each other in the wild -- there's no point. She won't know what to do with me, and'll turn all sorts of useless attacks on me while I clobber her to death."

"Well, I guess you're right."
"From the existence of that drowzee, this level of --"
"Is that a catchphrase?"
"...You are very unfun. I bet your dreams taste nasty."


"Why do you care about whether or not Terra was here, anyhow?"
"Hmm...well... I was hoping...you know, just a little... that as she watched me she'd fall asleep and as I worked I'd prey on her succulent little mind." She licked her lips.


"Well, I guess that means you're using your head."
"That's really the best pun you can come up with? How sad for you."
"It's a very appropriate pun! Both witty and well-timed, and yet completely horrible! All the things you want from a pun!" I wonder... is the bit of her that insults my puns real, or the bit that talks about preying on Terra's mind?
...
There are answers to that question that are mind-numblingly horrifying to me. Best not ask.


*snerk*
Yeah, I think that's all there is to say, isn't there?

Anyway, I'll be working on the next one over the weekend and blahblah.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Moe Arbok is cute!!!..... wait did I said that?..... I am scared of myself

And I am sad for Mellow, it was rather heart rending, I have to agree with Seed, the other mellow (will she have another name? It seems appropiate, hmm seems another work for the name rater) is a monster. I am really scared from her...it?

[Mando Knight]

And I am sad for Mellow, it was rather heart rending,

Foolish meatbags. Did you not understand the meaning of the fungal revolution?

...I mean, yeah, it's basically what happens in-game. The mushroom takes over.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Foolish meatbags. Did you not understand the meaning of the fungal revolution?

...I mean, yeah, it's basically what happens in-game. The mushroom takes over.

I read somewhere (probably in the fridge brillance page of tv tropes) that actually the fungus grows, but the one who actually hijack the control is the paras itself, and I rather like that interpretations

[Penguinator]

...It is fairly depressing, isn't it? Well, we asked for it, I guess.

[Domochevsky]

I read somewhere (probably in the fridge brillance page of tv tropes) that actually the fungus grows, but the one who actually hijack the control is the paras itself, and I rather like that interpretations

Man, i hope it's like that. But sadly i'm having my doubts. Dat blank stare...

[originalpimp]

Am I the only one who likes the new Mellow? I think it's my glasses fetish acting up. I just can't bring myself to say she's a monster...

[Deme]

Am I the only one who likes the new Mellow? I think it's my glasses fetish acting up. I just can't bring myself to say she's a monster...

She is adorable. It's a pity someone pointed out the excessive creepiness of the Parasitic Mushroom eating the Little Pokemon. Is very cute.
...On the other hand, notice her response to "Where's the rest of Mellow?" is essentially "Dead."

...Also, for some reason, I like imagining Parasite-Mellow saying some of GLAdOS's lines. Also, anything said by people controlled by brain slugs from Futurama.

[Illven]

I feel that you need to up-date at least Mellow's spot on the cast list, since Mellow has become a different creature (I mean she has a new personality)

[Deca]

All hail the fungi revolution!

[originalpimp]

What's all this "Fungi Revolution" nonsense- ALL GLORY TO LORD MELLOW

[Deca]

She is adorable. It's a pity someone pointed out the excessive creepiness of the Parasitic Mushroom eating the Little Pokemon. Is very cute.

>_>
<_<

I for one, welcome our new fungi overlords.

..As a side note, I can't believe that they gave it mostly regular eyes! The blank mindless eyes were the best thing about Parasect! I am outraged! Outraged I tell you!




It gazes into your very soul.

[Geno9999]

..As a side note, I can't believe that they gave it mostly regular eyes! The blank mindless eyes were the best thing about Parasect! I am outraged! Outraged I tell you!

I agree! Those glasses should be at least ten time thicker than they are right now!

[Ranielle]

I wonder how Charizard looks like when it's a little girl =P

[Deme]

I wonder how Charizard looks like when it's a little girl =P

I've been wondering the same thing. This particular version of moemon uses sprites from several different "sheets," far as I can tell. I've found some pretty inclusive lists in the past, and there appear to be a couple of different options for Chariszard. The Charmander line thusfar uses a single source/style, but that's no garuntee: Caterpie used several different alternatives as it evolved. It makes the LP a lot more fun: I can make educated guesses, but no garuntees. It does make, for example, the bit with the mystery man on the cape with the dragonite tricky: do you know how many dragonite sprites I found? about 6 million, with rather different features.

[HypoSoc]

And I am sad for Mellow, it was rather heart rending, I have to agree with Seed, the other mellow (will she have another name? It seems appropiate, hmm seems another work for the name rater) is a monster. I am really scared from her...it?

Don't pick on the fungus. It did not choose to stop coinciding with the other Mellow, it just happens that way. It is not a monster for doing what it is genetically programmed to do. All sentient lifeforms should be appreciated past their limitations and Seed should grow up and learn to like Mellow again. Have you considered the fungus doesn't miss Mellow because it figures nothing bad happened to it? We are talking about extra-planar beings here, so Mellow might have just been pushed back to whence whence came.

EDIT: Moemon Sprite Sheet

Spoiler

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[Mando Knight]

I read somewhere (probably in the fridge brillance page of tv tropes) that actually the fungus grows, but the one who actually hijack the control is the paras itself, and I rather like that interpretations

Pokédex entries:
Red/Blue/LeafGreen: A host-parasite pair in which the parasite mushroom has taken over the host bug. Prefers damp places.
Yellow: The bug host is drained of energy by the mushrooms on its back. They appear to do all the thinking.
(Heart)Gold: It stays mostly in dark, damp places, the preference not of the bug, but of the big mushrooms on its back.
Crystal: When nothing's left to extract from the bug, the mushrooms on its back leave spores on the bug's egg.
Diamond: A mushroom grown larger than the host's body controls Parasect. It scatters poisonous spores.

Parasitic fungal mind control? Canon.

[Ranielle]

The bug? Tasted like chicken.

Well, it is one of the funny things about pokemon. It is supposed to be for "kids", after all.

[Deme]

Don't pick on the fungus. It did not choose to stop coinciding with the other Mellow, it just happens that way. It is not a monster for doing what it is genetically programmed to do. All sentient lifeforms should be appreciated past their limitations and Seed should grow up and learn to like Mellow again. Have you considered the fungus doesn't miss Mellow because it figures nothing bad happened to it? We are talking about extra-planar beings here, so Mellow might have just been pushed back to whence whence came.

EDIT: Moemon Sprite Sheet

Spoiler

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What makes you think it didn't choose? You're making a lot of assumptions there.
This being said, you're right in that Seed jumped on that pretty quick, and it may be something she'll need to confirm herself.


Also, notice that not all those sprites are used here: compare Azula to the charmeleon sprite, or to the charmander sprite. Like I said; this uses multiple sources, sometimes within a single evolutionary line. Look at Caterpie's line and compare it with Lila's evolutionary path.

[Penguinator]

Yeah, and Rya has totally different sprites.

Also, if Doduo/Dodrio are anything like the sprites shown, you need one.