Pokemon Emerald Ep.2 - Between a Rock...
19 August 2024
After I stood watching my own reflection for what felt like eternity, I opted to set camp on Route 104 near the beach. I was abruptly awoken by the incessant squawks of Wingulls. I sent out Finn and Grima to shut them up, but by this point I was already awake so we continued up Route 104. We battled trainers and wild Pokemon even catching a Taillow - My wife wanted to call it Tuti, but I mispelled it Tootie; instead of having a cute little name it now sounds like a fart. I'm so sorry Tootie.
We headed in to Petalburg Woods and fought more battles; Finn was poisoned fighting a particularly vicious Wurmple but luckily I had some pecha berries so he was cured quickly. It was in these fated woods that Grima decided to emerge from her cocoon and emerge a Beautifly! This gave her a great boost to stats and also unlocked Absorb, a grass move that does damage and heals half back to Grima.
It wasn't long before we reached Rustboro City where we had a quick rest and explored the town. Much like Littleroot nobody seems to lock their doors, so I wandered into every house looking for things to steal. One chap gave me the HM "Cut", so pretty soon I'll be able to chop down trees.
I arrived outside the gym and spoke to someone standing there who told me the gym was a rock-type gym. This was excellent news for me as my two strongest Pokemon had water and grass moves. Inside I faced the first opponent, who sent out a rather weak Geodude. One Water Gun and it was down - Nice job Finn! Up next were two trainers at the same time, so Finn and Grima handled it together. They sent out two more Geodudes, but Finn and Grima were faster so a quick Water Gun and Absorb knocked both Geodudes out in one hit KOs. The trainers retaliated with two more Geodudes (not many rock Pokemon I suppose) and again, Finn and Grima one-hit KO'd the pair. This was so in the bag.
I squared up to Roxanne, the gym leader, and decided to let Grima take the lead to get some much needed experience. She sent a - you guessed it - Geodude onto the field so Grima attacked with Absorb. It didn't one-hit KO but it did great damage, and then time seemed to slow down. In my haste I made a critical mistake; Grima is not a grass-type Pokemon, she just knows a grass move. She's a bug Pokemon. Fighting a rock Pokemon. A rock came flying at poor Grima's face and knocked her out, the one-hit KOer had become the one-hit KOee. Fuelled by what was most likely rage, Finn came out to avenge Grima and smacked down the Geodude with another few Water Guns. A Nosepass (The hell kinda name is that?) came out, and Finn handled it easily too.
Victory! Slightly dampened by Grima getting knocked out, but still a victory!
Even better Finn reached level 16 and evolved into Marshtomp!
After the battle I evaluated what I could have done better. Lily the Lotad would have been great in this gym, but she's too low level to compete. I could spend the time levelling her up, but being Water/Grass she kind of steps on Finn's toes a little. I think I'd rather have a pure grass Pokemon instead of another hybrid.
Right now the team is literally just Finn the Marshtomp and Grima the Beautifly. Banzai the Poochyena, Lily the Lotad and Tootie the Taillow have all been sent to boxes, so I'm going to spend some time in the tall grass hunting for a few new Pokemon to join the team. I don't know what's available in the area and I am intentionally trying to avoid looking up too much, but I do know that Ralts can spawn in Route 102 because I've already seen one. I might try getting one of those on the team if I don't find much else. The woods could be worth exploring too!
~ Honey