Screenshot Johto Dust In the Wind 3: LÄÄÄÃÄÄÆÁÄĀÄÄMP - A solo Dustox run of Heart Gold [COMPLETE]

[Erberor]

COME ONE, COME ALL, AND LAY WITNESS TO THE ULTIMATE BEING! THE PINNACLE OF CREATION! THE ALL-MIGHTY MOTH!

Join me on this valiant journey to show the world the glory of MOTH! Come and see as a lone Dustox conquers all that stands before it, as it should be, for Dustox is unquestionably the greatest Pokemon of all time!

EDIT: Hey so apparently I forgot to mention that this is all part of a grand saga to conquer EVERY LAST REGION WITH THE MIGHT OF MOTH!
You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here, though let me assure you that nothing here is dependent on those previous runs, so feel free to jump in however you please.

Now let's get down to business.

Spoiler: Our Code of Honor

- Only Dustox (and its pre-evolutions) may be used in combat.
- No additional Wurmples past the first may be caught.
- If Dustox falls in battle, the run is over.
- Only one healing item may be used per battle.
- HM pokemon may be caught and used in the field, but cannot be used in battle for any purpose.
- If an HM pokemon ends up in battle due to a double battle, it must use non-damaging moves until it faints or the battle is over. I cannot intentionally use this to my advantage, and will avoid double battles wherever possible.
- If a shiny shows up, I'm catching it, but I still can't use it.
- The run is finished only when Red is defeated.

Spoiler: Part 1: Head Start

I see it in dreams

The light

It is distant, far beyond reach, and yet its radiance calls to me.

I will find it.

The incandescence beyond my grasp.

It is only right now that I realize I took the screenshot too early to get the title properly.

So we're off to a good start.

Let's get right into things, you know who I am, you know why I'm here.

I must find it.

However long it may take.

...

I'm not sorry

Ah, New Bark Town. This brings me way back.

But I'm not about to dwell on that, we've got a quest to get on with!

'Sup, Nerd.

You know the great thing about writing my own commentary run is that I get to put in whatever memes and references I want and there's literally nothing any of you can do to stop me. From the freshest memes to most archaic, dead things that I refuse to give up on to random youtube channels, I have all the power!

By the way that's from JoCat's crap guide to D&D series, go watch it. It good. Very the funnies.

Anyway, this silent hecker punted me with enough force to throw me back a good 2 or 3 meters, which seems... safe.

And I'm not going to wait for you! Prepare to have your dialogue skipped!

Yessssssssssssssss

GIVE ME THE BUGGO

Umbra. The heart of shadow. Not a thing of darkness, but one deprived of light, yearning for warmth.

Lyra!

She is wonderful. Seems a little... preoccupied? Really wants to be heading out.

Now let's get right into it. As usual, I'm going to grind till she evolves, both for safety and to make sure she'll actually turn into a Dustox.

Come on, I'm feeling lucky...

COME ON...

YES

And now her stats. That's a Bold nature, which suits my purposes just fine. Thanks to the physical special split, I'm going to be able to focus more on special moves this time around.

SKIPPED

I can't believe they finally put a run toggle in this game and then removed it in the gen 5 games. Why.

I leveled up a bit more, and....

Look at her glow...

LOOKIT THAT MOTHY GORL, WHAT A MARVELOUS CREATURE!

I found this looking for a completely different piece of audio to put in here and I could not be happier.

NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT

WHADDAYAWANT

What? What's a disaster?

I don't know, you haven't told me what happened!

Congratulations, you have provided me with no useful information!

What is this silent, hollow thing?

It will try to stop me.

It will fail.

For I will not, cannot be stopped.

Who the heck is this guy?

He's not really any threat, that's for sure.

Alright, buddy, see you later!

He's got a weird look in his eyes... he seemed really intent on stopping me.

FOOL.

Yeah, that's it, run away. Try again sometime, I'm sure you'll do better!

First I've heard of it. Maybe if someone told me what happened I'd be better informed.

It was clearly that shady looking guy who got in my way earlier.

A shade. Devoid of even the barest hint of light. It does not yearn for greatness. It only seeks to oppose.

I'm just going to call him Shade because he was real shady looking.

I remember in my first playthrough of Silver when I was kid, I named the rival ??? because that's what it displayed as his name in the battle.

I know, right? Just hire some interns to do your field work, Oak, quit appointing lone youths to do all your dirtywork with no compensation.

I decided to save money with Mom because who knows, maybe I'll get some useful weird berry or something? Besides, not using many healing items means I won't be spending very much to begin with.

I will.

SKIPPED

Quick shopping stop! Almost went and bought a bunch of antidotes again. I always buy 10 at the start of ordinary runs, and old habits are stubborn things.

I found a fellow bug enthusiast on the way to the next town, but aside from that, nothing of interest happened.

Oh and then reality began to collapse around me when I went up Sprout Tower.

I used to work at a grocery store called Sprouts.

And this image of a big Sprouts sign over the entrance of an ancient tower has just popped into my head.

A grocery store in a tiny, 4 floor tower, either run by disgruntled teens in monk robes, or serene monks in green t-shirts and khakis. Take your pick.

It is not a thing of emotion or sympathy, but of simple purpose in opposing the light.

How dare you question my bond with my dearest moth! Prepare to die!

Wow, I'm sure lowering my attack will help you a whoooooole lot.

You are a tanky little bird...

I-

You hecker.

Anyway, this eventually happened and victory was mine, hurray!

Not that it went terribly smoothly!

Press A
Repeat

Confusion's all I've got to work with right now...

Reality broke as I rappelled down the tower...

And then it broke in a slightly different way...

And here we are. Now, I need to do some grinding. It's a flying gym, I have a bug. Want to be sure I'm safe. However... I think I'm going to take it a step further.

Several steps further.

One might argue many steps, back and forth, carving a gulley in the tall grass.

I am going to EV train.

I am doing this now for two reasons. First of all, I don't want a repeat of last run where I keep forgetting to do my EV training until it's too late. Secondly... I am planning on taking on Red. I need my stats to be as optimal as possible. Fortunately, around Violet city, I have everything I need to train my EVs exactly the way I want. Now, I'm not actually going to go full tank here. I might regret that later, but I'd like to invest in SpAtk and Speed as well as a very healthy HP pool. Now that we're in Gen 4, I'm going to have access to bug buzz, and potentially even sludge bomb, the TM for which is actually available before the elite 4, surprisingly. Having solid STAB moves is a game changer, enough for me to invest in offense over pure tanking.

I'm aiming for max EVs in HP, 150 or so in SpAtk, and like 100 in Speed. Is this my best setup? I have no idea! Maybe I'll be drowning in regret down the line, who knows?

Most of the time it'd be a nightmare trying to get SpAtk EVs this early on, but Sprout Tower has an 85% encounter rate for Ghastly at night, so we're good to go there.

Alright, see you in a few hours!

Well.

That certainly took a while.

But look at those stats! And how monstrously overleveled she is!

My power only increases

What?

Let's go ahead and wipe the flying gym of the face of the Poke-Earth.

I am Erb, moth enthusiast! Prepare to die!

I'd like to see you try, feather boy.

Now, there's a bit of a level discrepancy here.

I don't really like it, but I'll take demolishing early game difficulty as a small price to pay for ensuring that her stats are how I want them to be down the line.

I'll make this quick.

Well, well, you actually survived! Most impressive.

Your damage, however, is not.

We'll show you a real gust!

Got a crit for good measure.

How did he get the illegal Pidgeotto?

Gimme!

And there it is, the first badge on my journey through Johto! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you'll drop by next time!

 

[Time Master Eon]

I've always been vaguely aware of your runs before now, but I think I'll follow this one. It's enjoyable and the JoCat joke just made sure I couldn't leave.

 

[SnackyTheSylph]

I don't know if this is the order these regions are supposed to be in...

but yes, more moth.

 

[Electro]

You know the great thing about writing my own commentary run is that I get to put in whatever memes and references I want and there's literally nothing any of you can do to stop me. From the freshest memes to most archaic, dead things that I refuse to give up on to random youtube channels, I have all the power!

By the way that's from JoCat's crap guide to D&D series, go watch it. It good. Very the funnies.

God, I wish I could do this. Fifty ASOIAF references and then a bunch of whatever book series I found this month.

I mean, nothing stopping me but my problems with starting and finishing long range projects!

Congratulations, you have provided me with no useful information!

God, this is a mood.

I used to work at a grocery store called Sprouts.

And this image of a big Sprouts sign over the entrance of an ancient tower has just popped into my head.

A grocery store in a tiny, 4 floor tower, either run by disgruntled teens in monk robes, or serene monks in green t-shirts and khakis. Take your pick.

Alternatively: combine them. Avatar Aang runs the grocery store.

And there it is, the first badge on my journey through Johto! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you'll drop by next time!

M O T H

 

[sky_]

Oh boy, this is gonna be a lot. Dustox only and one healing item alone per battle?! That sounds. painful as hell. But hey, maybe through some amazing luck and strategies you can beat Lance and be done -

The run is finished only when Red is defeated.

oh wow okay then

so many new nuzlockes full of people being very brave 😂 😭 good luck...

I can't believe they finally put a run toggle in this game and then removed it in the gen 5 games. Why.

they want the player to be walking slowly when they observe Alder making his epic cliff jumps. it's just more dramatic that way

Most of the time it'd be a nightmare trying to get SpAtk EVs this early on, but Sprout Tower has an 85% encounter rate at night, so we're good to go there.

...how does someone have this much patience, wow. sdlkhfsjfgs good luck with it paying off!!

How did he get the illegal Pidgeotto?

s,.cfh\dasjk\vg team rocket's illegal evolution method, i bet ;p maybe they tested some prototype on the poor bird

 

[Erberor]

Spoiler: Replies

@Time Master Eon Hey, someone has a vague awareness of my presence! Sweet! In all seriousness, thanks for dropping by and checking it out.

@SnackyTheSylph More Moth! I probably would have done it in the right order had I thought about my plans a bit more before starting. I was just "Imma run emerald cuz Hoenn is where best moth is from"!

@Electro Do it. Lure them in with a cool concept and bombard them with niche memes. Also, M O T H

@sky_ FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD! I mean, I've gotten past FireRed and Emerald, surely I can do this too! Not going to lie, I have no idea if I'll succeed. BUT I HAVE TO TRY. Thanks for reading!

I am trapped in employment application limbo and thus have way too much time on my hands so here we go!

Spoiler: Part 2: Out-Bugging the Bug Leader's Bugs with a Buggier Bug. Bugs.

What, the professor again? What is it this time?

Does it have anything to do with bugs

Specifically moths

Because if it doesn't then I don't care

Professor. What part of "solo run" do you not understand? Solo. Alone.

I mean except for HM mules but those don't count.

Sigh

Well, they won't let me leave town without grabbing it, so let's get this over with.

How did she know to send it to this pokemart?

Did she send one super potion to every mart in Johto? Because I could have picked this up anytime. Mother is this what you're doing with my money

In all seriousness, this early super potion is good to have.

Yeah, yeah

No.

Can't be raising babies right now, buddy! We've got worlds to conquer!

The Light grows. It will shine on every corner of this wretched land.

I assure you, I am always serious.

ALRIGHT FINE JUST GIVE ME THE EGG

Who the heck are you?

No.

No.

You are making a very poor decision.

Alright, let's just...

Aaaaaaand...

Perfect.

OUR EYES MET THE ANCIENT LAWS DEMAND RITUAL BLOODSHED

You say that like all old people fish

No!

Well

That kinda makes me feel bad for you.

Only kinda tho

Dusk. The barest hint of light in the face of overwhelming dark.

The Light grows.

I love follower Pokemon.

Hey, it's one of those Rocket shmucks!

Awfully bold of you to present such information in front of a spunky, adventurous youth such as myself.

Yeah! Just a few months ago I disassembled your entire criminal empire for getting in my way!

Welp, time to finish off the stragglers!

What, money?

Ooooh it's using the big font, that's how you know it's serious.

Well, that was awfully rude of you.

See, it's at this point that your DM would be asking you to make a deception roll with disadvantage.

f

Ah, the classic "don't bother" technique of translating idioms into new settings. Just drop that bit of culture in without a care in the world for how it affects things!

What? No, I just wandered in here looking for free loot.

I beat the tar out of their leader several times over. I'm familiar.

Hey, I know it's been a while, but not that long!

Sounds rude.

If only we actually got to see Kurt punch out a rocket grunt.

Decided to stock up on potions. I wasn't aware I could get them this early.

This is a good title card thingy. I love the slowpoke staring at you/into the abyss in the corner.

Uh, are you alright?

Do you want me to call you an ambulance or something? That's a big fall.

Eh, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Alright, cowards, prepare to be scattered!

I mean you're clearly operating here without the consent of the town, which I presume owns the well, so yeah, maybe you should stop.

I mean you're also probably harming the Slowpoke, so I'm going to just...

There.

Whoops, forgot to capture the dialogue with Proton!

Dude. You are criminals. This isn't some idealism thing, you are profiting by exploiting and stealing from others.

Have you considered that you just suck? I mean, I am that good, but you do suck.

Again, that was only a few months ago.

Bold words, my friend. Very bold indeed.

Make sure you remember what you just told me. For future reference.

It was incredibly easy. If only you had a person somewhere nearby with good Pokemon who knows how to battle who could have taken care of this problem without the help of a random stranger.

You could maybe put this person in charge of a training facility for Pokemon. A gym of sorts. Make them the leader of that. That sounds good.

I know, I know.

Go on.

I'm sorry, what?

That was me!

ME!

ERB!

WHAT HECKER WENT AND TOOK CREDIT FOR MY CRIME FIGHTING?

JUST WAIT TILL I FIND HIM, HE'LL BE SORRY!

We'll get to that eventually. For now, let's head for the local Pokemon training facility. I wonder if they have a leader of some sort there who's good at battling?

BEST GYM

BEST TYPE

BUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUGBUG

Boy, let me assure you that you have nothing to teach me.

Indeed, bugs are truly incredible! Best type, hands down.

Feel free to shower me with gifts and praise.

FITE ME, COWARDS!

Ehehehehehe

We'll see about that!

No!

I am the best bug trainer!

I will allow you to be top bug researcher when we take over the world!

I wish they gave Bugsy a better team.

Scyther is great, but... Metapod and Kakuna? Really?

At least let the poor soul have a Venonat or something.

Maybe a Paras to apply status effects.

Alright, rude.

Dusk is still tremendously overleveled.

Hopefully the game will catch up eventually.

Anyway, Metapod and Kakuna posed zero threat.

Have you tried letting them evolve?

Now that you are defeated, your career is dead. I AM THE BUG MASTER NOW.

But of course!

You know, for all the grandstanding I do I'm absolute trash at competitive battling.

It's almost as if all of my battling skill is built on planning around and exploiting the hell out of the AI's static team compositions and behavior and/or overleveling a little bit.

You know, a bit.

And with that, I will bid you farewell. Until next time, and thank you for reading!

 

[SnackyTheSylph]

Hopefully the game will catch up eventually.

funny. laughed.

Are moths bats?

 

[cyndakip]

Heck yes, more moth content! Always glad to see it. Going all the way to Red will be a challenge, but I believe in the might of the moth!

I remember in my first playthrough of Silver when I was kid, I named the rival ??? because that's what it displayed as his name in the battle.

... I did that too. It's what the game said!

 

[Electro]

I love follower Pokemon.

THEY JUST LOOK SO GOOD.

I'm sorry, what?

That was me!

ME!

ERB!

WHAT HECKER WENT AND TOOK CREDIT FOR MY CRIME FIGHTING?

JUST WAIT TILL I FIND HIM, HE'LL BE SORRY!

Nice setup!

(No, seriously, I actually like it.)

I will allow you to be top bug researcher when we take over the world!

Your right hand man!

I wish they gave Bugsy a better team.

He does research, okay!?

 

[Erberor]

Spoiler: Replies

@SnackyTheSylph I mean... I know it'll never actually match my level, but maybe eventually it'll pose a challenge again? Maybe?
Yeah, that's not really going to happen. Things will pick up for... I guess the Pokemon League, potentially Blue, and definitely Red. Some of the rival battles could be rough as well. Aside from that... things don't scale enough to really make it all that dangerous. I suppose Jasmine might pose some threat, if only just because of typing.
Oh, and I can't see anything from that link, something about access being denied.

@cyndakip That is what the game said! It was very clear that the kid's name was ???, why would I think otherwise?

@Electro Follower mons are the best thing. More than any other feature, I feel it really nails home that core idea of Pokemon, where you are on a journey with and befriending your Pokemon. You can tell me all about how my mons hold on with 1 hp because they didn't want me to feel sad or what have you, nothing sells the friendship element as well as actually walking alongside your Pokemon.

As long as it's implemented well.

Back at it again at the forums

Spoiler: Part 3: I Heard You the First Time

C'mon, let's get moving!

What? Huh? What am I reacting to, I can't see anything!

It returns to impede me once again

I said it last time, but seriously, who the heck is this guy?

Well, let's get this over with.

Dim. The beginnings of light, casting neither beam nor shadow.

The Light grows.

Yeah... it's going to be a while before anything poses a real threat.

Johto doesn't really scale fiercely enough to make this a challenge once I'm this over-leveled.

And that's it!

I keep getting surprised by how small the teams of major trainers are. I'm so used to difficulty hacks and fan games that I kind of expect big battles to involve 5-6 enemy mons, maybe 3-4 for early game rival fights. I mean, in Drayano's hack of HG, the rival has a team of 5 Pokemon at this point, if I remember right.

I will break it, crush it as many times as I must.

Do tell me all about it.

Alright, but only if this gets me something to progress the plot.

Got it.

Yeah, I get how it works. I'll be right back.

Was there a puzzle like this in the original Gold/Silver? It's been so long since I played those.

Indeed, it would appear to be that they do, in fact, turn to face me when I make noise, as the npc described 15 seconds ago.

Yeah, I saw that it-

Game, I literally just witnessed it notice and turn to face me. You do not need to spell it out for me.

Gotcha!

Why... yes, game, that's what just happened.

That is what I did.

Just now.

I noticed it happening because that is the thing that I did.

I pressed the buttons with the intent to make that happen and that is what happened.

A simple popup after snagging the first one saying "one more to go!" or something would have done the trick faster and easier than bringing the player back to the npc and having him explain it-

Why yes.

I do remember.

I heard you the first time.

I think many would agree with me in saying that the Pokemon games could do with less tutorializing and more just letting the player do things.

For me personally, this is exactly the kind of thing that I can't stand in that regard. Well, there are two things here. First, repeating the same instructions to me repeatedly, and second, describing to me what I just witnessed.

You want to make sure the kiddos know what to do? Fine. Have it so talking to the npc again shows the instructions. What you don't want to do is assume that they're going to forget what was just said to them a few seconds ago. Assume that they might not have payed attention and give them a way to access the instructions again.

And on the subject, of describing what just happened... Just... don't. Show don't tell. Especially don't show and then also tell. That is redundant and stupid.

Moving forward!

It appears to have run off because I did not catch it from behind!

I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME

Reward?

Then why did he let you supervise them?

You are objectively bad at naming Pokemon.

I mean I guess it's not that bad and I shouldn't be giving people flak for their nicknaming, but...

Yeah you suck.

Ah, cut. Such a useless move.

Better grab something that can use it.

Now, what shall I call you...

Cuz Paras is accosted by very unsettling fungi

Not enough room for "SCARYSHROOMS", sadly.

Oh hey it's that lady from before.

Whatever you've heard, don't worry, the egg is fine.

See, what I did there was a clever little trick called "lying"

And that is one of the only circumstances where pointing out what obviously just happened is okay. For comedy.

And that is a fine example of a big comedy no-no, explaining the joke.

and THAT is what is known as pushing a gag too far.

And THAT is-

I suppose it's always possible that I'm hallucinating.

Nah.

This forest has like, two branching paths in the entire thing, and one of those loops back onto the main path again. There aren't even enough splits in this road to call it a spork.

Come.

You have wasted enough of my time. Begone.

I am far more than smart, I am a higher being beyond mortal ken.

What a good buggo, always helping out!

Nope!

SKIPPED!

My thoughts exactly.

No! No phone numbers!

I don't want you heckers interrupting me!

I mean I know that I don't have to answer the phone but still!

I DIDN'T MURDER HIM

WHAT MURDER? I DIDN'T DO IT!

YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE

Oh yeah them haha definitely nothing to do with a murder hahaha

LEAVE ME ALONE

Alright listen here you little-

Shopping time!

Let's see if Mom's sent me anything.

Yeah those are useless to me.

Oh?

Nobody seems to be stopping me.

I can't believe it was only recently that I figured out how to move the boxes. I always figured you had to use strength or something, but that never worked and I was always super confused...

Turns out you just talk to the workers.

This was the only thing I found that felt worth mentioning.

Dim's health pool is getting awfully large, and I want to have a few big heals on hand, just in case.

And a couple of these in case I need to deal with confusion or something.

Also some lemonades because the little goblin in my brain won't let me leave a Pokemon department store without buying a few dozen of them.

Ohohohohoho, what manner of prizes can be found this time around?

Hmm

Ehhhhhhh

Maybe Substitute could come in handy? I don't know if I've ever used the move.

Actually, that could come in handy against Red, maybe. That Charizard is a big issue, and if I'm able to have a Substitute up when it comes , that'd be a good buffer against the enormous amount of damage it could be dealing. I'll keep that in mind.

But there's nothing I really need right now, so...

Well, actually...

I infinitely prefer voltorb flip over slots any day.

I have spent far too much time at the slots, resetting any time I lose more than a couple hundred coins, to have anything but contempt for them.

Rather strangely, it doesn't prompt you to nickname it when you get it from the game corner.

YESSSSSSSS

Why yes, I do have a lovely Dustox with me. Quite a specimen, isn't she?

I believe you mean more beautiful?

Yay, friendship!

Maybe you should try getting a location on the main road. Or somewhere even remotely close to it.

Or somewhere along one of the major routes.

Or in another city in an area that gets more foot traffic.

You know, anywhere that isn't basically a back alley in the big city.

Hey, free bike!

Absolutely not.

Some costs are simply too great.

Whatever it takes to get miss "I can't be bothered to do my job" back to the gym.

You know, I thought about going through each question and snarking about how easy they are, but I realized that I don't actually have anything interesting to say about them, so I'm skipping the quiz.

If I actually listened to the game audio while playing I might care!

Too busy jamming out to Monster Hunter music!

Get back to work.

I'll be there to mercilessly destroy you in a couple minutes.

Cmon, cmon, cmon, cmon, cmon...

HECK

ALRIGHTY THEN

OUTTA MAH WAY

'Sup.

I AM ERB, HARBINGER OF MOTHS!

That seems like a really shallow reason to get into something!

But I guess if you like it there's nothing wrong with that!

Are they? Are they? That just seems like a really broad statement.

lemme just fetch something...

I was looking behind a bookcase when I found a Pokemon that still gives me chills. It was this... blob of sickly pink flesh, sitting in the corner, but as soon as I approached, it started to change... into me. In a couple seconds, it had gone from a lump of flesh to a nearly perfect copy of me, all except for its empty, black eyes. It attacked, screaming at me in my own voice.

An excerpt from that time that I slightly tweaked the way I thought about Ditto to turn it into a nightmare monster.

And I could very easily cite any number of Pokedex entries to show just how horrific this world truly is.

Having said all of that, yes, most Pokemon are pretty cute, I'm just pointing out that lovely bit of dissonance in the Pokemon world.

Yeh

I mean, you have a pretty beefy cow, I'll give you that.

Alright, hold up, hold up.

Look at that sprite.

That is some good stuff right there. That little sprite is A) just really well done, it's a great pose, and B) showing a huge amount of character for such a simple little image. It gives off such energy, I love it.

Oh nooooooo whatever shall happen?

YOU FOOL, YOU HAVE ONLY MADE MY SELF HEAL STRONGER!

NEXT!

I think it's possible that if she gets a good rollout going, it might do some serious damage. Otherwise, I'm not worried.

Well, it's going to survive more than two beams, I'm impressed.

And I think that'll about do it.

Well, would you look at that. That's actually pretty clever. Status effects would be one of the first things I'd turn to to prevent a big rollout from building, a lum berry would make that a lot harder. I wonder if the designers were actually thinking of that when they gave it the berry?

Yooooooooooooooou little hecker.

If my damage wasn't so good I might be a little concerned.

Then again, I also have a self heal, so I could easily outlast her.

Poor cow.

And that will do it! Victory!

Badge.

Badge.

Gimme badge.

Oh come on...

I did the thing where I challenged her and overcame her team, like challengers are supposed to do.

Isn't it kind of her job to test the strength of trainers, get defeated and hand out the badge? I mean I could understand the crying if she had something on the line in the battle, like, I dunno, this was her one shot at becoming the champion, or if her Pokemon died...

Which... I don't... think I did.

Hey uh, did you do anything... deadly out there? My mothy friend?

Who are you to accuse me?

Yeah I didn't think so.

Yes, And I've also come to tell you that on a scale of mild to sharp cheddar, you have the maturity of a glass of skim milk.

That somebody spilled and now you're crying over it.

I mean I love having a good cry every now and again, and when you're having the feels you're having the feels, but I try to limit how much I cry over losing matches in which I have nothing to actually lose and maximize crying over gut wrenching feelstabs. I recommend the Ori games, those'll get you good. Also try the Nuzlocke Forums, I hear that's a great place to go for major character deaths.

That's, uh, a pretty boring badge.

...Alright.

I just remembered an old story from marching band.

We were out on the field. A small, gray aircraft flies overhead in between drills. The assistant director looks up, and very slowly, very deliberately says...

"They should really paint that fuselage. It's awfully... plane."

That man sure was something.

He sure was.

And that's all for today. Thank you for reading, and may the mighty Moth smile upon you.

 

[Time Master Eon]

Ya'know, with leaders like Whitney, who has a meltdown every time she loses and Claire, who straight refuses to give you a badge, it really makes me wonder what the process for becoming a Gym Leader is actually like. I mean, with Claire it's probably one of those times where she inherited it from a family member like we see a few times in the series (eg; Falkner and Flannery). But that's not the case for Whitney, was she like the only applicant for the Goldenrod Gym? Or maybe it's like that episode from the anime and Whitney is the one who opened the Gym and then met the league's requirements to be officially recognized despite her behavior?

 

[sky_]

ALRIGHT FINE JUST GIVE ME THE EGG

could've been worse, you could've been like "yeah sure i'll take the egg! moth has never tried omelette before!"

just. horrify everyone in the region ;p

OUR EYES MET THE ANCIENT LAWS DEMAND RITUAL BLOODSHED

somewhere someone is making a dark story around this concept xD ;p

...okay now i wanna do that xD

I love follower Pokemon

i love them tooooo they are incredibly awesome and it's lovely to see them chat and give you things and cuddle u

This is a good title card thingy. I love the slowpoke staring at you/into the abyss in the corner.

"He who fights Team Rocket might take care lest he thereby become a Team Rocket grunt. And if you gaze for long at a Slowpoke, the Slowpoke gazes also into you.” ...yeah that's definitely how the quote goes

Dude. You are criminals. This isn't some idealism thing, you are profiting by exploiting and stealing from others.

it's okay, they're all just misunderstood uwu beans who can be saved by the power of redemption, right?

...right? ;p

You could maybe put this person in charge of a training facility for Pokemon. A gym of sorts. Make them the leader of that. That sounds good.

bugsy's clearly got more important things to do, he's pulling an all-nighter for his exams

WHAT HECKER WENT AND TOOK CREDIT FOR MY CRIME FIGHTING?

JUST WAIT TILL I FIND HIM, HE'LL BE SORRY!

this is now the motive for the entire run i just know it

Well, would you look at that. That's actually pretty clever. Status effects would be one of the first things I'd turn to to prevent a big rollout from building, a lum berry would make that a lot harder. I wonder if the designers were actually thinking of that when they gave it the berry?

full kudos to Whitney's Miltank for withstanding multiple hits from a severely overlevelled moth! and that is a really neat design omg

I keep getting surprised by how small the teams of major trainers are. I'm so used to difficulty hacks and fan games that I kind of expect big battles to involve 5-6 enemy mons, maybe 3-4 for early game rival fights. I mean, in Drayano's hack of HG, the rival has a team of 5 Pokemon at this point, if I remember right.

ohhhh dear don't get me started on how Some Fangames do things as opposed to the actual main games

Spoiler: oh dear please ignore my rambling if u don't want to see it that's perfectly okay

My least favourite gym fight in the Pokemon Rejuvenation fangame (out of the four Badges I've played to) has got to be the third Gym battle, against a Normal type trainer who's a young girl. Quite a lot like Whitney, except waaaaay more unfair. You fight her in the early Level 30s approx, with a hard level cap which prevents you from gaining any levels beyond that point. Her Gym takes place shortly after a Point of No Return where you can't leave and are trapped in a mansion - so shortly that it's hard to realise you can switch your team around in time before you fight her. Her custom field doubles specific stat changes and makes Normal Super Effective against Dark and Ghost, and it's practically impossible to change the field by this point. In addition, her team is fully evolved with a Hammer Arm and I believe Earthquake Bewear as her ace (needless to say we're not getting the EQ TM in-game for a loooong time). Finally, nearly all of her team get a special in-game move called Multipulse which can be a 60-90 Power move of any custom type (including some that are anti-Fighting or Rock!), giving any team member any kind of coverage she wants. We do not get this move in the game ever D:

...So, Whitney could be way worse! what I like about her is that they compensate for her Scrappy Lum Berry Miltank by having it be only one of two Pokemon, and by providing a traded Machop and Rock types before that point. That, and the Thunder and Fire Blast TMs from the Department Store can put quite a dent in the Miltank. She's definitely difficult, but can still be countered and is not sadistically impossible and at least she grows up and gives us the Badge faster than Clair does ;p

 

[No-name]

ohhhh dear don't get me started on how Some Fangames do things as opposed to the actual main games

Spoiler: oh dear please ignore my rambling if u don't want to see it that's perfectly okay

My least favourite gym fight in the Pokemon Rejuvenation fangame (out of the four Badges I've played to) has got to be the third Gym battle, against a Normal type trainer who's a young girl. Quite a lot like Whitney, except waaaaay more unfair. You fight her in the early Level 30s approx, with a hard level cap which prevents you from gaining any levels beyond that point. Her Gym takes place shortly after a Point of No Return where you can't leave and are trapped in a mansion - so shortly that it's hard to realise you can switch your team around in time before you fight her. Her custom field doubles specific stat changes and makes Normal Super Effective against Dark and Ghost, and it's practically impossible to change the field by this point. In addition, her team is fully evolved with a Hammer Arm and I believe Earthquake Bewear as her ace (needless to say we're not getting the EQ TM in-game for a loooong time). Finally, nearly all of her team get a special in-game move called Multipulse which can be a 60-90 Power move of any custom type (including some that are anti-Fighting or Rock!), giving any team member any kind of coverage she wants. We do not get this move in the game ever D:

Yeah, that gym is the first big balance-being-defenestrated gym in that game. But it is nowhere the dumbest gym battle in the game, let alone the dumbest boss battle. BTW I've seen someone cheese that gym using a Numel with Curse and then sweeping with a Ghost-type.

Spoiler

How about you fight a Mega Pidgeot that is boosted by a Tailwind AND protected by a Delta Stream?
Or a Life Orb Sand Rush Excadrill in a permanent Sandstorm that nerfs water moves?
Or fight a Kyogre, go through a gauntlet of grunts, fight Giratina,have to deal with a difficult double battle and flat-out DIE in 1 area of the game.
All this is in Rejuvenation btw.

 

[sky_]

Yeah, that gym is the first big balance-being-defenestrated gym in that game. But it is nowhere the dumbest gym battle in the game, let alone the dumbest boss battle. BTW I've seen someone cheese that gym using a Numel with Curse and then sweeping with a Ghost-type.

Oooooof I dare not click the spoilers but the fact that there's more to come makes me. Not that happy D: (because I think I'm going to try Rejuv again and commentate on it when its Gen 8 update comes out as it's the only way for me to use Gen 8 Pokemon without a Switch ds;hfdghfi) the Numel line is the greatest though xD I used a Scolipede's Iron Defence/Baton Pass and Camerupt's Amnesia to also blow through the Normal Gym on my blind run, I love them so much

But, all of this makes me happy to see a main series game handling things better 😂 thankfully HGSS is the game you pay for and Rejuvenation is free, instead of the other way around ;p

 

[Electro]

I think many would agree with me in saying that the Pokemon games could do with less tutorializing and more just letting the player do things.

For me personally, this is exactly the kind of thing that I can't stand in that regard. Well, there are two things here. First, repeating the same instructions to me repeatedly, and second, describing to me what I just witnessed.

You want to make sure the kiddos know what to do? Fine. Have it so talking to the npc again shows the instructions. What you don't want to do is assume that they're going to forget what was just said to them a few seconds ago. Assume that they might not have payed attention and give them a way to access the instructions again.

And on the subject, of describing what just happened... Just... don't. Show don't tell. Especially don't show and then also tell. That is redundant and stupid.

Dunno what to say here, except that I agree with all of this. Most everyone hates tutorials, but the only thing they hate more is not knowing what to do. So, tutorials should tell the base mechanics and nothing else.

Alright, hold up, hold up.

Look at that sprite.

That is some good stuff right there. That little sprite is A) just really well done, it's a great pose, and B) showing a huge amount of character for such a simple little image. It gives off such energy, I love it.

Very Happy Sprite

Isn't it kind of her job to test the strength of trainers, get defeated and hand out the badge? I mean I could understand the crying if she had something on the line in the battle, like, I dunno, this was her one shot at becoming the champion, or if her Pokemon died...

Which... I don't... think I did.

Hey uh, did you do anything... deadly out there? My mothy friend?

Who are you to accuse me?

Yeah I didn't think so.

Moth

has

become

evil

Also try the Nuzlocke Forums, I hear that's a great place to go for major character deaths.

Sir, I am insulted. I have not done a major death since the last time I played Pokemon.

And that's all for today. Thank you for reading, and may the mighty Moth smile upon you.

M Ö T H

 

[Erberor]

Spoiler: Replies

@Time Master Eon See it's stuff like this that leads to fic writers having to make up our own lore for these games!

@sky_ Hey, that omelette one is a good joke, I'll have to keep that in mind... Aw man do you think I interrupted Bugsy's studying? I hope I didn't mess up his exams, even I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.

And I totally understand that fangame suffering. I've never ventured into Rejuv. but I've been in some really unpleasant situations before. One thing I can definitely say in favor of Gamefreak's work is that they rarely ever leave you trapped like that.

@No-name That's the other thing I don't like about some fan-games, the unwinnable battles they sometimes throw in. I get what they're going for, but it kinda screws with my deep-seated need to introduce additional suffering and death into my life through this wonderful challenge.

@Electro Whaaaaaaaat the Moth turning evil? Why that's unthinkable. The mind falters at the concept! It is a think simply cannot be thought!

The Moth was originally going to return on Halloween for maximum spookitude but I ended up stopping the writing two days before and spent pretty much the entire intervening time playing Monster Hunter so you're getting it today.

Spoiler: Part 4: Spooksville

It's not Thursday, it's-

Well okay I guess it is Thursday then.

Only the finest of events

Ye

Well, I already have the strongest bug but I'll humor you.

Let's go!

Flicker. The light that dances upon the walls, cast by fading flame.

The Light grows.

Nah

Nah

Nah

THAT'S THE LAD

My god they actually called them "Sport Balls".

Sport ball
Sports ball
SPORTSBALL

I used to kinda think sports were stupid, being a truly lazy geek, but these days I've come to realize that liking stupid things is one of the most wonderful things about being human. I do it all the time. And really, none of it's stupid at all, from sports to video games to niche Pokemon death fiction.

It's fun. It brings us together. It adds to our lives. And that's more than enough to make it worth our while.

Not a first ball catch, that was the second, but still pretty lucky.

Did they fix that thing where they took the current health of what you caught into account when judging the bug for the contest? Dunno. Caught him at full health anyway.

He's a real Whopper

I'll never use this!

A BIG BOY

Ah, how this tree befuddled me as a child

Hey, trees aren't allowed to have opinions, they don't even have neurons!

Oh nooooooooo

Thank you, thank you, I live to entertain.

And conquer. Also the conquering.

Hmm yes I will definitely remember to use this in order to fully utilize a variety of berries for tactical applications

By registering this item I will absolutely not forget about it entirely and leave my berry trees to rot inside these sealed vessels

Anyway I literally spaced off finishing planting the oran berries until the next day.

Very good to have on hand...

Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.

Oh. He, uh, actually landed the hypnosis.

This... could actually be bad.

Anyway I didn't take any more screenshots of this battle so that's all you get.

Oh boy. An npc encounter.

Get outta the way

Don't care!

It sure is a good thing he realized he was holding up the line and got a move on instead of dumping the story of his accomplishments on a complete stranger.

I got
Colbur: reduce SE dark
Rindo: reduce SE grass
Charti: reduce SE flying
Coba: reduce SE rock

Charti and Coba have some potential use I guess.

Wrong culture, dumbass!

Dude they don't even charge for tickets here, you're not a customer.

He's just... spinning.

Halt, you have violated the law!

I mean it's pretty clear that you're accomplishing nothing, so am I really getting in the way of anything?

That's right, you've got to go to jail!

That required no bravery.

I am not about to be shy about free stuff!

I know exactly what to do with this!

Perfect.

Treasure hunting time!

And where better to go treasure hunting than a perilously unsafe, burned-out ruin!

Don't care!

Somethingsomethingit's right theresomethingsomething

Well, I guess you knew that.

I know, I'll go down there myself and spook it so your life's dream will never come true!

Oh hey, it's that weird guy who-

It persists

Hopeless both in purpose and in soul

I have a feeling this is more or less how the ghost gym is going to go.

Can't wait to get some good STAB moves

Never like seeing accuracy drops, but I'm not worried.

And that's about it for actual threats on his team.

I mean... I guess magnemite could be annoying.

...

.......

That'll do.

How dare

Quit wasting my time!

And then it happened again!

Finally!

Empty of heart and mind, it merely stands to oppose me.

What a strange guy.

Earlier I mentioned that I was looking forward to a good STAB move.

This does not qualify.

WHY THE SPOONS WOULD YOU TRY IT HERE

Time to annoy some minor deities!

Remember my gaze, godling, for it will soon outshine the stars themselves.

That was... strange

I'm more concerned about what it saw...

How can you afford that? Do you have a job? Or are you one of those rich little bastards with nothing to contribute to the world?

About that...

I think it was looking much more at Flicker.

No!

Well, now that we've gone exploring in an old, structurally compromised ruin riddled with ash, rubble, and quite likely all manner of burnt corpses Gamefreak was too cowardly to render, let's go to something really spooky!

The gym!

A place of darkness, where you must step forward into the darkness with only the barest hint of li-

Oh.

The emulat totally legitimate Nintendo DS I am obviously playing this on appears to be having difficulty displaying the darkness properly.

Rather subtracts from the atmosphere.

THIS IS GEN 4, NOBODY IS MYSTIFIED BY GHOST TYPES ANYMORE

Wow would you just look at all the darkness

Wooooooooweee an entire year wow

Oh come now.

Didn't your parents ever tell you not to tell lies?

And here we are...

Here's what we're working with...

There are two things that pose a real threat: Curse, and Hypnosis. Fortunately...

Some rough calculations show that Flicker should outspeed and OHKO everything but Gengar. I think this should go just fine.

We'll see how you feel about it in a few minutes.

Uh huh

Well, that seems a bit odd. A trainer might be particularly skilled or cunning, but the Pokemon are really the ones who hold the power.

Perhaps something was lost in translation there...

Oh yes, super secretly in the POKEMON LEAGUE GYM

Have you considered that you might just be hallucinating?

Is that so?

Oh really now

Boy, you don't know what you're getting into.

Trainer Erb

Wam

Bam

Bap

Now, if he drops a hypnosis here, that could turn the tides a bit.

This is not what he has chosen to do.

Even still, we aren't like the tide...

WE ARE A CRASHING WAVE

UNSTOPPABLE

UNFLINCHING

Surging forth with more power than the mind can grasp!

The secret ingredient is Moth.

And that will do it for tonight!

Thank you all for coming, and expect to see more in the future, I have every intention of getting my lazy ass back into gear for NaNoWriMo, and this is an easy way to chunk out words.

 

[SnackyTheSylph]

This whole thing with bugs and shades and moths is starting to feel kind of familiar...hmm, but I just can't put my finger on it...

Er, anyway. Yay moth! Too bad Morty doesn't have...oh, I don't know, literally any other Ghost type line. Maybe one that isn't weak to Psychic.

 

[sky_]

hello i wanted to say that i got a dustox in a sacred gold run and thanks to the power of the moth i am keeping him and running a rotation team. his name is nino and he might only be able to hit with confusion but i love him. his best friend and fellow rotation team member is sketch the spinarak who is an adorable child

I used to kinda think sports were stupid, being a truly lazy geek, but these days I've come to realize that liking stupid things is one of the most wonderful things about being human. I do it all the time. And really, none of it's stupid at all, from sports to video games to niche Pokemon death fiction.

It's fun. It brings us together. It adds to our lives. And that's more than enough to make it worth our while.

awwwww this is very heartwarming and i stan

Earlier I mentioned that I was looking forward to a good STAB move.

This does not qualify.

Silver Wind and Ancient Power are only stat-boosting moves of awesome when the AI has them xD

How can you afford that? Do you have a job? Or are you one of those rich little bastards with nothing to contribute to the world?

eusine's job is a bounty hunter and suicune is his prize, his employers are very very patient with him ;p someone call team plasma

This is not what he has chosen to do.

you had one job, gengar, one job ;p

Er, anyway. Yay moth! Too bad Morty doesn't have...oh, I don't know, literally any other Ghost type line. Maybe one that isn't weak to Psychic.

literally like misdreavus as a johto ghost was right there bsdflsjdfdjlf

 

[Electro]

My god they actually called them "Sport Balls".

Sport ball
Sports ball
SPORTSBALL

I used to kinda think sports were stupid, being a truly lazy geek, but these days I've come to realize that liking stupid things is one of the most wonderful things about being human. I do it all the time. And really, none of it's stupid at all, from sports to video games to niche Pokemon death fiction.

It's fun. It brings us together. It adds to our lives. And that's more than enough to make it worth our while.

Gotta agree with Sky, very heartwarming.

A BIG BOY

THE BIGGEST

He's just... spinning.

The customer is always right?

I know, I'll go down there myself and spook it so your life's dream will never come true!

Kinda rude, moth.

And that's about it for actual threats on his team.

I mean... I guess magnemite could be annoying.

Finally!

Overconfidence: it's funny as hell.

How can you afford that? Do you have a job? Or are you one of those rich little bastards with nothing to contribute to the world?

Look at his clothes! He's adventuring in that! There's so much white on it that it'll have to be cleaned constantly. He's an idle rich.

Well, now that we've gone exploring in an old, structurally compromised ruin riddled with ash, rubble, and quite likely all manner of burnt corpses Gamefreak was too cowardly to render, let's go to something really spooky!

GIVE US POKEMON UNCLE OWEN AND AUNT BERU

 

[Alan900900900]

Hii it's the first time I post on here, but I've followed this run since the beginning! Glad to see it back!

Flicker. The light that dances upon the walls, cast by fading flame.

The Light grows.

I swear to god if the name winds up being Radiance I'm going to flip

Wooooooooweee an entire year wow

Trainer Erb

These two moments cracked me up way more than they probably should have

WE ARE A CRASHING WAVE

Don't you mean... a Crasher Wake? Eh? Eh? ...I'll see myself out.