>>1060744
Something happened that people don't know about, clearly. This information mainly gives us a basis for why he might regret it-- he had happy memories, not just bad ones.

>>1060744
It seems like badges are meant to prevent this sort of accident. I wonder if Houndoom outleveled the badges and something happened, or they weren't there for some reason.

>>1060748
If it happened during a gym battle I'm sure that wood be mentioned. It sounded more like he was training for the battle.

Anyways, us speculating and making wild assumptions and then sticking a foot in the mouth acting like we know what's going on with Doom is probably not for the best.

Search for info about Latios and Latias and their frequented locations.

>>1060753
I agree. We shouldn’t be making speculations, otherwise we run the risk of saying something stupid and pissing off Houndoom.

>>1060757
Approaching Winona could be dangerous as well, as they would figure out that we know where Houndoom is and the cops will likely get involved.

tippler 2023/04/06(Thu)19:39 No. 1060869 ID: 9ea24b
File 168083516122.png - (93.21KB , 500x500 , p64.png )

The articles raise questions about what really happened when Houndoom attacked his trainer. You thought badges were supposed to prevent that kind of thing, Houndoom shouldn’t have been above Level 50 and he doesn’t strike you as particularly violent. Maybe he was under some status effect like confusion? From how happy the little Houndour looks, you can’t imagine Houndoom hated his trainer.

>Dead kid’s family
They’re mentioned in the obituary as living in Rustboro, but you don’t think they’d know anything about the attack itself.

>Ask Winona
They weren’t fighting Winona at the time of the death, just training for her gym challenge near Fortree, so she wouldn’t know anything either.

>Search for info about PC errors check: Success
More forum posts, some dating back 20 years. Apparently there’ve been occasional glitches and outages sporadically since that time, with some people theorizing that the media has suppressed any major stories about it.

>Search for info on Latias and Latios: Success
There are several pictures of the pair, sometimes with tough looking trainers. They must have been caught at some point, but like Groudon, were released and are currently soaring around Hoenn. If you spend a lot of time Flying you might run into one of them.

What would you like to do tomorrow morning?
A. Check in on Gengar (given Linoone’s learning speed, you think she’s probably taught herself everything by now, but you want to see what she’s up to)

B. Go shopping for Raichu’s stuff, stat boosting vitamins, and whatever else you’d like

C. Train against a friend! Choose who and your strategy against them

>>1060869
A. Also bring up the sus media suppression on anything negative about the PC system, and share the beginner coding book with her.

A.

>>1060869
A, and share info about the PC stuff. Tell her you can contact the designer of the system if she wants some inside info. Also, hmm... isn't the PC system just a convenience for those who want to collect pokemon as if they're objects? Maybe most trainers have no good reason to use it instead of something like a fenced in outdoors area for their outdoor-preferring pokemon to live in when they're not in the trainer's active party.

Another potential way of replacing its functionality is to give caught pokemon pagers or something to tell them when the trainer wants them back, and let them live wherever they please in the meantime. They should probably have a marking of some kind to let other humans know it's not a wild pokemon. A collar or bandanna or something.

tippler 2023/04/10(Mon)17:19 No. 1061120 ID: 9ea24b
File 168117239860.png - (78.12KB , 500x500 , p65.png )

>A, visit Gengar, give her the coding book, and mention Lanette
Time to see how involved Gengar is with the PC system, you’re sure she’d appreciate the codebook and you suspect she’s been keeping an eye on Lanette already.

You don’t see Gengar at the base when you arrive, but after asking Salamence you learn she’s in her room.

>Getting stuck avoidance check: Failure
You suck in your gut and wiggle into the wooden tunnel, but get stuck in the same place as last time, though you’re facing the other direction.

Gengar drifts down after you wail for help, purple wisps lighting her way. She’s in no rush to push you free, so you resign yourself to talking while in a very awkward position.

Hi Gengar, here’s another book for you, it’s about coding.

How nice! Thank you my dear.

Do you need any more help reading and writing?

Not at the moment, I will say literacy has made stealing much easier! I owe you one for all of your help.

No problem, I wanted to talk with you about the storage system. I did some research online and I found evidence that the PC has some flaws. Also, uh, I talked to Lanette when I was still a Vibrava and she seems super suspect.

Yes.

Sorry, do you not want to talk about it?

It’s a delicate topic and I don’t want to get you involved. It might put you in danger.

You can ask for one major favor from Gengar in return for the reading and writing lessons.
A. Ask Gengar to come with you when you look for Jirachi (trivializes puzzles and fights)

B. Ask Gengar to let you in on her Lanette related plots

C. Recruit her for team Groudon, which means you’ll have the four minimum necessary to make an attempt to quell him

B, we just want to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone... too badly.

B. We're already involved. Working together is better than investigating separately and not talking. Gengar has us beat on infiltration, but Flygon has the ability to research any clues she finds.

>>1061122
Or get herself hurt.

C. Also I have an idea, we could recruit Houndoom for it too. He got depressed after reaching level 100, perhaps actually using that strength will snap him out of it.

tippler 2023/04/11(Tue)19:34 No. 1061186 ID: 9ea24b
File 168126685651.png - (101.66KB , 500x500 , p66.png )

>B, you’re concerned for her wellbeing and the potential health and safety of any humans that cross her
Let’s work together to take down Lanette! I’m on board with reforming the PC system and I can help you by doing research on my laptop.

I know I was a human, but I believe in Pokemon rights and I can’t be caught because, er, I struck a deal with that human kid passing through earlier, he’s gotten a lot nicer. I think I could really help and it wouldn’t be too dangerous outside of getting beaten up really badly.

You’ve convinced me, Flygon! Come upstairs and let’s chat in private. I can tell you the sordid details.

Gengar finally pulls you free and you crawl up to her room before planting yourself on a soft cushion. Gengar sprawls over the largest cushion herself.

As you know, I detest Lanette and think the method of keeping Pokemon stored as data is quite immoral. Us ghosts tend to hold onto grudges, you know.

I have a lot of friends who I’ve been teaching to read to gather any information they can, and I have ghosts tailing Lanette 24/7, so I know her exact schedule. It’s true that we can’t just kill her without ensuring all of the Pokemon have been freed, so the next step of my plan is to get ahold of a Porygon to do reconnaissance inside a PC. If I woke up and was able to break free, there must be a way to replicate the effect.

Sadly Porygon aren’t found in Hoenn. Also, Lanette has been asking some pretty strong trainers to help her scare away the girlies with their Pokemon.

She looks at you like she expects you to volunteer to solve one of her problems.

>>1061186
Porygon are made by Silph Co., we might be able to order one online. But I'm guessing they're also ludicrously expensive.
Scientists tend to use them as well, so it's possible one could be found at the Weather Institute. But there's no guarantee that they'd want to help, especially if any humans there have badges.

Ask her to have one of the girlies scout the Weather Institute to see if they have one, and you'll check the online prices for a Porygon.

Maybe some hackers / software pirate / pokemon liberation types are trying to liberate some Porygon or Porygon2 or something? Do you have any contacts in those sorts of communities?

Hmm. You can Fly - does that mean you could visit other regions, even if it takes a day or two? You might also be able to ask some humans if they know anyone with a Porygon. Though, that gets others mixed up in this. Oh, maybe check the internet for rabid environmentalis- I mean, people with strong feelings about Pokemon welfare. Some of them would probably be down to help, and be glad of a proper liaison between humans and pokemon.

...You should probably bring up that you hope to fix things without anybody dying at all, when it fits in the conversation. I'm assuming that's true.

Did we get the whole story of her experience in the PC? I sorta remember it being rather summarized.

>>1061186
Hmm, well, if we knew any pokemon that were looking to join a trainer we could try pokemon trading for a Porygon.
We could ask Stetson or our other human contacts how to get one.
We could look it up on the gat-dang internets.
And of course we could just travel to where they are, but that might take a while.

>>1061204
>fix things without anybody dying
An important element here is that just killing Lanette would lead to a harder crack-down on resistance elements towards the PC system, both human and Pokemon. And they'd likely just get someone else to run it eventually.

Real change will require getting more humans educated and aware of what's going on.

>>1061186
Porygon might not be found in Hoenn, but we could probably still find one. A trainer from a different region could've brought a Porygon here. Such a thing would be note worthy on the internet.

And if that doesn't work……well, Porygon are man made Pokémon, right? Would Gengar be against the idea of somehow making a Porygon ourselves?

A trainer may have brought one here, we just need to talk to them. Maybe by competing in Smart or Cool contests we'll spot one.

>>1061186
Man, morality sure is a drug. So im like, 60% sure our target is pretty sus, either intentionally or through huffimg her own farts.
Technology is also kinda fucking wack too. Considering pokeballs are devices that can convert mass into energy pr whatever, you'd think the computer pokemon storage idea would be safer.

While murder is generally bad,im kimda worried that murder would make the lady a martyr or something, or at least involve some rangers.

tippler 2023/04/12(Wed)18:27 No. 1061260 ID: 9ea24b
File 168134926893.png - (103.75KB , 500x500 , p67.png )

>Murder is bad
Do we have to kill Lanette? That seems pretty harsh and it might make her a martyr. We don’t want to turn all of the humans against us.

We can decide if we want to kill her after all of the Pokemon have been freed.

Okay…That’s kind of fucked up though.

You’re not going to like how we deal with trainers who catch one of us then. They’re usually pretty smart about going for KOs instead but you never know. That's not even mentioning how many people Salamence has shipwrecked in the freezing ocean.

>Recruit rabid Pokemon welfare activists online
You already know several trustworthy humans who could act as liaisons, you don’t want to further complicate things and put people at risk.

>Porygon
Getting a new friend seems like the best way you can help while avoiding dangerous fighting that makes you uncomfortable.

You vaguely remember that Porygon can be earned as a prize at the game corner in Kanto. You could order one online at a steep (2x) markup, or try to work with the Mauville game corner to import one, which would take extra effort. Making a Porygon is outside of your abilities.

The price of a Porygon (198,000 P) has been added to the wiki. You have more than enough money to afford one.

The encounter with Gengar leaves you stressed and uneasy. What would you like to do this afternoon?
A. Search for Gyarados near Slateport
B. Shop for Raichu’s goods and whatever else you’d like at Lilycove
C. Fly around to clear your head (10% chance of encountering Latios or Latias, which will increase with further attempts)

>>1061260
>Salamence
Poachers skinning baby Spheals deserve whatever cold hell the get.

I understand the Friendlies are willing to kill for freedom, my only concern is Lanette's powerful connections. Without public support, this could go from an act of protest to an act of war.

Anyways, A.

Yeah I'm not liking where these plans seem to be leading at all. Given that things seem to be leading down to murder.

C. We have a lot of worries about the consequences of shaking up the status quo we need to resolve.

C. when's the last time we had a break for ourself anyway? We've been doing a whole lot. Perhaps it's about time for alone time

C, maybe meet a random pidgey or something when you're up there and kind of just vibe like flying types to, coasting

tippler 2023/04/13(Thu)18:47 No. 1061340 ID: 9ea24b
File 168143687678.png - (87.41KB , 500x500 , p68.png )

>C, Fly around and think
You make wide, lazy circles in the warm air above Mauville and Verdanturf. You don’t like where Gengar’s plans are leading or her casual attitude towards stalking and potentially killing Lanette. It’s true your mentor has always been like this, but she’s also listened when you’ve been upset. You feel a surge of hope that she’ll take you more seriously if you put together your thoughts and explain your concerns.

>Latios/Latias encounter check (10% success): Failure
You have a peaceful afternoon of soaking up the sun followed by a fun evening at home playing floor chess with Espeon.

Tomorrow you’re due back in Lilycove to see Stetson. What do you want to tell him about Gengar’s plan? Which of his Pokemon should enter what kind of contest?

He seems like he's the kind of trainer who sticks to a small team he focuses on. Maybe he should try releasing any fully evolved pokemon hanging around in his box? They're in his dex already and you think they should be spending the downtime living life rather than sleeping.

>>1061340
>What do you want to tell him about Gengar’s plan?
Maybe ask about any Pokemon he has in the PC, if any, and his thoughts on it. Talk about how it seems kinda fucked up, like tying people up in your basement. Don't mention the plan at all.
>Which of his Pokemon should enter what kind of contest?
Share with him the manual training idea for changing movesets.
Put Sceptile into the next Smart contest. Talk with Sceptile about the PC and see his thoughts on it.

>>1061340
>What do you want to tell him about Gengar’s plan?
Nothing. Her plan is, at its core, not a bad one. She's trying to stage a jailbreak. Her (and her team, apparently) being unconcerned about killing humans is a different problem and won't stop if we foil her plan. Hell, that might be why Houndoom is depressed. Once he got past the grind to 100 he no longer had a goal to distract him from the fact that his friends are murderers.

Sceptile, smart rank 2.

>>1061374
An interesting theory, since Breloom specifically said that Houndoom did nothing to her trainer, just melted the Pokeball, despite his sour attitude. But Salamence was also afraid of what Houndoom would do if Flygon being a human slipped to Houndoom.

As far as we've been told, Salamence killed a bunch of poachers who were skinning babies, they're willing to kill people who kidnap their best friends against their will, and Gengar wants to kill a woman who helped instigate the mass wrongful imprisonment of at the very least thousands of sapient individuals including Gengar. This also seems like a revenge Gengar has been stewing in and plotting for a significant portion of her life. None of these seem like particularly out there reasons to want someone dead, humans have killed for far less.

>>1061381
Also, Salamence was very quick to evacuate the Magma Grunt who found their base, presumably before Gengar or Houndoom could overreact, much like he feared for Vibrava's safety. He doesn't strike me as someone who hates humans and wants to kill them.

>>1061381
Even if capturing a pokemon was equivalent to kidnapping, kidnappers don't deserve death. Capturing pokemon is a generally accepted activity in this world. The Friendlies are unusual in how much they dislike it.

Pokemon being stuck with trainers they hate is something that can be changed without murder, even if it's just... you know, nonlethally dealing with the trainer to get at the pokeball.

I think Salamance can be forgiven for killing poachers, which can be killed on sight in some places on earth, and that's when the animals being poached aren't sapient. However, Gengar said "we". It's not just her killing trainers, is it? Unless that's her shifting blame?

>>1061393
>Capturing pokemon is a generally accepted activity in this world. The Friendlies are unusual in how much they dislike it.
Generally accepted by the humans doing it. Have we asked any other wild Pokemon their thoughts before coming to that conclusion? Considered the fact that humans use mind warping tech in their badges to make Pokemon more obedient? What would you be tempted to do if someone kidnapped your friend and tried to convert them into a loyal follower through inducing Stockholm Syndrome?

tippler 2023/04/14(Fri)20:34 No. 1061419 ID: 9ea24b
File 168152969850.png - (108.59KB , 500x500 , p69.png )

>Sceptile, smart super rank
Lilycove is surrounded by a light ocean fog that burns off as soon as the harsh sun gets above the horizon. You swoop towards the contest hall and quickly find Stetson.

>Don’t tell Stetson anything
You recall that Gengar did say she’s never killed anyone, though that could mean she never dealt the final blow or just had her other ghost pals do the dirty work. From Breloom’s story it sounds like Pokeballs can be destroyed without harming the trainer, so at least there’s an alternative for when someone gets caught.

>Murder is bad, though Salamence killing poachers is more justified
You can see how Gengar could also justify her actions, but it doesn’t mean you like it. The Friendlies don’t hate all humans, it’s a complicated situation without a clear right or wrong party.

>Ask Sceptile if Stetson has any Pokemon in the box
You’re praying that Stetson is the type of trainer to keep a small team, and Sceptile confirms that the kid barely uses the PC.

There aren’t any games on it so he’s not very interested. Oh yeah, and I think he just wants a core team of five or six mons.

>Ask Sceptile what he thinks about the PC
Uh, I don’t know, I’ve never been stored in there. I guess I wouldn’t know if I was stored because I’d be in stasis? I’ve heard it’s very useful and good for the economy.

But is catching Pokemon even ethical? Trainers are basically kidnapping sentient beings and taking them away from their friends and families.

I don’t know! I’m the wrong mon on the team to ask about that, this is the only life I’ve ever known.

>2 smart Pokeblocks (Stetson is a pro at making the blocks a specific type now)
>Super rank smart contest chance of success: 2 smart moves x 0.25 x 1.6 (3 smart buffs) x 1 = 80% chance of success: Success
Stetson punches the air with delight when the judges call Sceptile’s name. His enthusiasm is infectious even when the badges aren’t affecting you.

Who do you volunteer for the afternoon contest? What do you want to say to them? You still need to work on your friendships with Pelipper, Torkoal (who really only wants coal), and Aggron.

>>1061419
Talk to Stetson about us being fine with wearing his badges in dangerous places so it's safer for him, we just don't like what they do it our head.

Let's have Aggron go next, in a Cool contest. Ask him about where he came from and what it was like in the wild for him.

>>1061425

We don't like what they do to our head in an uncontrolled environment where we don't consent to it.

We'd be fine with sitting down, meditating for a bit, then getting out our notebook and helping him get them out and doing some SCIENCE with them and any of his team that volunteers, for example. Figure out the effects and all that.

...Also being praised with them out feels really good and you've been kind of stressed lately, maybe he can give us a pep talk and help us relax a little? These things have to have SOME use for good in a controlled way! As long as they go back in their case afterwards.

Agreed with Stetson having the badges out when other pokemon are a risk. That is a large benefit that supersedes the discomfort related to it.

Hmm, does Stetson want to earn some Battle Points at some point? That's a much better way of getting the useful held items we're after.

Let's do the normal rank Cute contest. We've got Sand Attack, should give a decent chance.

>>1061430
Still think asking the kid for badge praise is weird and would be uncomfortable.

Try to make Aggron look cool.
We should go camping under the stars with Stetson and the gang to work on friendship and coals.
>>1061434
Agreed.

tippler 2023/04/15(Sat)16:15 No. 1061471 ID: 9ea24b
File 168160053992.png - (124.43KB , 500x500 , p70.png )

>Tell Stetson to take his badges out near dangerous Pokemon whether Legendaries or the Friendlies
Stetson agrees to do this.

>Figure out what the badges do, with science
Like with Pokeballs, you know basically everything relevant about gym badges at this point, so further investigation isn’t necessary.

>Stetson and BP?
Stetson isn’t allowed at the Battle Frontier because he hasn’t defeated the Pokemon League.

>Propose a camping trip near Mt. Chimney so you can dig for coal and socialize
Stetson looks a little nervous about being near the scene of his crimes, but agrees. The next time you see him, you’ll go camping for a day instead of doing contests.

>Aggron, cool super rank
>Ask him about his time in the wild and praise his coolness
Hi Aggron, how’s it going? You’re looking particularly chrome today.

Hmph. I see you’re a Flygon now.

Yes, it’s great! I was looking forward to being big and strong like you. What was it like being an Aron anyway? I assume you came from Dewford.

What, you think you can just flatter me so I tell you all of my secrets? Fat chance!

I’m just being friendly! I want to know what life was like as a wild Pokemon.

It was boring. I ate ore and dodged Zubat guano. I was told about trainers, so when Stetson came through I went towards him and let him catch me.

>2 cool Pokeblocks
>Super rank cool contest chance of success: 2 cool moves x 0.25 x 1.6 (3 cool buffs) x 1 = 80% chance of success: Failure
Aggron growls with frustration and glares at you like this is somehow your fault. There will be no bounteous big boy friendship today.

What would you like to do tomorrow? The end of the thread will occur in two days and people outside of your crew are going to do something about the weather then.

>>1061471
Well we have a team for Groudon. If it's on a time limit we may as well make the attempt. Unless we wanna switch out someone for Gyarados?

Let's get Gyarados for our Groudon team and make the attempt, including Gengar if more than four are possible.

>>1061471
Let's buy some Revives for the team in Lilycove before we go home, then tomorrow recruit Gyarados and go for Groudon.

>>1061471
If we're going to get Gyarados, then we should bring Smeargle with us. If there's more than one Gyarados at the location, she'll help us identify which Gyarados we're looking for and she'll help us talk to him to convince him to help out.

tippler 2023/04/16(Sun)20:42 No. 1061563 ID: 9ea24b
File 168170296060.png - (98.89KB , 500x500 , p71.png )

>Groudon attack team
You’ve currently recruited Salamence, Blaziken, and Smeargle for the squad, which means you’d like one more member. You’ll be there in addition to the four to dig a path to Groudon and help everyone escape if there’s a risk of a severe earthquake.

>Buy Revives for the Groudon attack team
You’ll have to make a shopping trip to buy healing supplies which will take either a morning or afternoon action.

>Search for Gyarados with Smeargle
>Gyarados set gender: Female
>Ludicolo gender roll: Male
Gyarados is Smeargle’s old teammate, so bringing the painter will help identify the right flying fish as well as bolster your recruitment pitch. Smeargle is happy to accompany you to Slateport and rides on your back as you make the short trip south.

The beach is full of people taking advantage of the heat, and you see multiple colorful beach umbrellas and kids in floaties. There’s an occasional fin or tentacle peeking about the water, and several Wingull pecking at food scraps on the sand.

A. Put a fisherman to sleep and steal his rod so you can fish up some mons to ask about Gyarados’ whereabouts

B. Interrogate a bird (bribes would help)

C. Go into the ocean. Embrace the water. Find big fish lady. Win.

>>1061563
C. Let's have some fun swimming with Smeargle!

Win? My friend, you haven't won until you've figured out the waiting puzzle.
Let's borrow a fisherman's rod.

>>1061563
Does Flygon know how to swim? He has built in swimming goggles.
C. But start near the shore and get used to moving around in the water using 'gon wings.

Alternatively, write a note asking if they've ever seen a pokemon fish with a rod before, and if you can borrow it in exchange for some caught mon with the rod

tippler 2023/04/17(Mon)19:50 No. 1061635 ID: 9ea24b
File 168178621744.png - (106.20KB , 500x500 , p72.png )

>Try to swim first and borrow a rod if that fails
>Swim check: Success
You can’t learn Surf, but that doesn’t mean you can’t swim! The waves are a little strong for someone as small as Smeargle, so you stay close to each other in the shallows. Doggy paddling with your arms and legs to stay afloat while you push yourself around with your wings works pretty well. It helps that you have built in goggles, and you look underwater at the passing Magikarp until a few stop to stare back at you.

When you surface, a brave Magikarp pokes his head above the water to stare at you. You admire his regal whiskers and vacant expression.

Hello friend.

Hullo. Don’t see your kind here often.

I’m on a quest, we’re looking for a super strong Gyarados. The strongest Gyarados! She once belonged to a trainer, do you know someone like that?

Yeah, I’ll go get her.

He dives down and you splash around with Smeargle a little more until a pair of fierce eyes rise above the water.

Gyarados, hi, it’s me. My good friend Flygon here wants to do something about Groudon, and we need one more Level 100 to join the team.

Yes, that will be a worthy fight. Whenever you need me, tell a Magikarp in the bay and I will come.

That was easy! You clamber onto the sand and shake yourself, then fan Smeargle with your wings to dry her off. What would you like to do this afternoon?

>>1061635
Let's do Raichu's shopping and get Revives for the team. We could see about ordering a Porygon too.

>>1061639
Good plan.

Go shopping for revives.

>>1061635
High five the GF! We're closer to putting the big angry lad back to sleep!

>>1061639
Yeah, this

tippler 2023/04/18(Tue)16:53 No. 1061698 ID: 9ea24b
File 168186202145.png - (156.00KB , 500x500 , p73.png )

>Shopping
You high-five Smeargle for a job well done at the beach and head to the Lilycove department store. You walk through the aisles on your hind legs, careful to avoid knocking things over with your long tail.

While you shop, several people stop to take pictures of you on their phones. Your reputation as the strange, human-like Flygon is growing.

>You buy:
Raichu’s goods: 30,000 P
Five Revives, four for the crew and one for you: 5 x 1,500 P = 7,500 P

You can’t think of anything else you want. You still have 1,932,100 P after your purchases. As you take off with your bags, you spot Stetson’s funny white beanie near the Pokemon Center. He seems to be talking intently with an adult.

Would you rather:
A. Stop to see who’s talking to Stetson

B. Deliver Raichu’s goods and hang out at the Friendlies Base while she charges your adaptor so you’ll be able to order a Porygon this evening (1 week delivery, it’ll arrive at your parents’ address)

Stop by and say hi! Partly curiosity, partly just being polite.

>>1061701
Seconded.
He sounds heated, maybe he's in trouble for something.

A, that stuff can wait.

>>1061698
Do A, it'll only take a little while.

>>1061698
A

Is it possible to land on the roof of the Pokémon Center or next to the side of the building? That way we can make an attempt to quietly listen to what's being said.

>>1061698
>Your reputation as the strange, human-like Flygon is growing.
At least you don’t have a reputation for knocking over people/pokemon/objects with your thicc thighs!

>>1061742
Yeah, let's sneak over and listen to what's going on.

tippler 2023/04/19(Wed)16:41 No. 1061753 ID: 9ea24b
File 168194766986.png - (104.44KB , 500x500 , p74.png )

>A, but approach with stealth
>Stealth check: Failure
You try to come in at an angle and land on the red roof of the building without being seen, but Stetson’s Pokemon spotting instincts are too strong and his head snaps up at the faint sound of impact.

Oh hi Flygon! Hey Flygon, over here!

He waves frantically at you and you have no choice but to come down to ground level.

See Dad, this is that Flygon I told you about who was once a human. He can read and write and he’s very good at helping with contests. He says he’ll help me find a cool Legendary to catch.

I see, that’s quite an impressive find.

Yeah, it is! He’s even on my team, we’re going to fight Juan after they let people back into Sootopolis.

Speaking of that, son, it’s time you return those orbs. I’ll make sure they get back to Mt. Pyre.

Ok, whatever.

Stetson rummages around in his bag and you take the time to study his dad’s face. He still seems quite young despite the mustache, and you see a strong family resemblance. You recognize the calming badge aura wafting off of him.

Stetson finally finds what he’s looking for and hands over two faintly glowing orbs.

Stay safe and don’t let this Flygon tell you to do anything strange or inappropriate, okay?

I promise! Thanks for visiting and say hi to mom.

Now’s your chance to speak up if you want to ask Stetson’s dad anything. You’re glad he’s being responsible and that someone is finally taking the red and blue orbs away from a literal child, he must be a swell guy.

Is his dad the Normal gym leader?
He might be a good trainer, but I haven't seen any evidence he's a good dad yet. Forcing everyone to evacuate a city isn't just a phase. Maybe Stetson should invite him to watch him compete in the next Beauty contest?

>>1061753
>must be a swell guy
Riiiiiight.

I guess ask him if you can talk to his pokemon, see if they want anything they can't communicate to him.

>>1061753
Tell him we were worried that Stetson would do something dangerous, well, more so than usual. Best to put those orbs back or something. Is his dad a retired trainer or something? Also, does he know about some of the shenanigan's his son gets into? He probably does right? I'm kinda worried he might bite off more than he can chew one day.

Should we exchange contact info in case we need to contact him? We're more or less baby sitting his son and trying to ensure he doesn't wake up or irritate any more pokemon gods out of fear from general repercussions. I would very much like to not have my home destroyed due to an epic battle, thank you very much.

>>1061761
He said his dad did the gym circuit, I think that's all we know.

>>1061753
Asking to meet his dad's team could be interesting.

>>1061753
The clap of our cheeks alerted Stetson to our presence!

>he must be a swell guy.
If he was so swell, he would've raised Stetson to not steal those orbs in the first place. In fact, considering how much Stetson's attitude has improved, your parents seem to have been a better influence than Stetson's father.

>say anything?
I honestly don't think we need to say anything to Stetson's dad. Don't want to embarrass our trainer by bringing up things that he already feels sorry for doing.

I don't think we need Stetson's dad's contact info. Not really sure if we need anything from him either.

tippler 2023/04/20(Thu)17:43 No. 1061786 ID: 9ea24b
File 168203781326.png - (107.49KB , 500x500 , p75.png )

>Is Stetson’s dad anyone important?
Um, he’s only the person who did a ton of work on the Hoenn Pokedex and stopped Groudon and Kyogre from destroying Sootopolis the first time and showed Team Magma and Aqua the error of their ways all when he was just my age! He’s mega important and the coolest ever!

>A clarification for you, dear reader
Stetson’s dad is Brendan from the original games, with the quest taking place 20 years afterwards. This makes Norman the Normal type gym leader Stetson’s grandpa, which he alluded to the first time you talked to him by the trick house. Since I don’t want to redesign any important NPCs, assume none of the gym leaders or Elite Four retired even though Wattson and Drake would be super old. Aging has hit Brendan like a truck.

Okay, so Brendan definitely understands the shenanigans his son gets up to, which is probably why he’s been so hands off on the whole parenting thing. It doesn’t mean you approve, but you get it now.

This also means Brendan, an entrenched trainer, is on Lanette’s side of the whole Pokemon capture and storage morality debate. Oh boy.

>To exchange or not exchange contact info
You know Brendan lives in Littleroot from a previous conversation with Stetson, so you can track him down if you need to. Talking to Brendan seems unnecessary, and with the new information about him, risky. You motion to your laden arms and excuse yourself.

You drop off Raichu’s stuff at the Friendlies Base, but don’t have it in you to hang out and chat. What would you like to do tomorrow morning? If you fight Groudon in the morning, you’ll have a chance for a rematch in the afternoon. If you want to fight Groudon, what’s your strategy for the team? Gyarados’ moveset has been added to the wiki.

Do team building exercises at the Friendlies base in the morning!

>>1061786
No time like the present. Let's get the gang together and quell Groudon.

>Gyarados knows Return
Aww. She and Tracey must have been close.

>The Plan
Smeargle focuses on putting Groudon to sleep with Spore, and keeping her Substitute up to eat Earthquakes. If someone goes down twice, she can use her Revive to get them back up, letting her give someone a third life in the fight.
Salamence opens with a Crunch to roll for the defense-down, then spams Fly. It halves the number of accuracy checks against him that Groudon can make, since Salamence is Earthquake immune and requires single target attacks. If Fly runs out,
Blaziken's Rock Slide has a flinch chance, so he can use it any time Groudon is awake. Sky Uppercut when he's not.
Gyarados can open with a Dragon Dance, then hammer him with Earthquakes.

And Flygon... Flygon will do what Flygon does best. This is our time to shine, with Pocket Sand! Earthquake will have miss chances against all targets on the ground, and rock attacks that would clobber Salamence have notoriously unreliable accuracy even from a baseline.
Open with three Sand Attacks, then spam Fly. Dragonbreath not needed since Paralysis can't stack with Sleep, but we can drop it if Smeargle somehow goes down twice to go for the paraflinchmiss hax.

>>1061791
>If Fly runs out,
Meant to put more Crunch here.

>>1061791
Actually EQ would have friendly fire, so Return would be better for Gyarados.

>>1061786
Just remember what we promised to Smeargle. If it looks like she's in danger, we swoop in and save her!

tippler 2023/04/21(Fri)13:40 No. 1061856 ID: 9ea24b
File 168210965765.png - (123.66KB , 500x500 , p76.png )

>Strat discussion
Sorry it wasn’t clear, but Flyon is the chaperone, not one of the active fighters. Sand Attack strats are a very good idea, but Flygon would have to swap places with one of the four fighters if he wants a chance to try that. He can decide to do that for the second attempt, if there is one.

>Crunch
Causes a Sp. Def, not a Defense drop in Gen 3. Insanity. Salamence will use Dragon Claw instead.

>Speed stats for determining turn order
Salamence: 236
Groudon: 216
Gyarados: 198
Blaziken: 196
Smeargle: 186

Earthquake does indeed cause friendly fire and as stated when recruiting Smeargle, Spore will only keep Groudon asleep for one turn max, with a 50% chance to wake up instantly. There isn’t move PP in this quest, so the plan is for Gyarados to use one Dragon Dance then Return, Salamence will use Dragon Claw, Smeargle will Spore and Substitute if Groudon is asleep, and Blaziken will Sky Uppercut because he can’t get flinches when he’s slower than Groudon.

There will be strong sunlight active during the fight. Groudon’s moveset has been added to the wiki. Groudon will deal DOUBLE damage and have TRIPLE his normal health (same as moves doing a third damage against him) because he is big and grumpy. Groudon’s most aggressive strategy will be to spam Eruption because it hits everyone, though as he gets to lower health he’ll switch to Ancient Power on the Flying types.

>Move damage and accuracy for ease of reference
2 x damage Eruption at 100% HP in sun on Salamence: 63%
2 x damage Eruption at 100% HP in sun on Smeargle: 260%
2 x damage Eruption at 100% HP in sun on Gyarados: 52%
2 x damage Eruption at 100% HP in sun on Blaziken: 77%

Third damage Dragon Claw: 11%
Third damage Return: 7%
Third damage Sky Uppercut (90% accurate move): 9%

tippler 2023/04/21(Fri)13:41 No. 1061857 ID: 9ea24b
File 168210968443.png - (138.37KB , 500x500 , p77.png )

>Fight in the morning
You assemble the team, with Blaziken riding with Salamence and Smeargle on your shoulders. It turns out Gyarados can swim through air, so the five of you make an odd picture as you head for the Magma Hideout.

You remember what Mightyena showed you about Groudon’s part of the volcano, and you dig a long tunnel straight there.

You’re immediately hit by the oppressive heat, which is uncomfortable, even as a Pokemon. There’s a ring of black rock around a pool of lava where Groudon is half submerged. His yellow eyes are open, and he gets to his feet when he spots your team

Smeargle squeezes your hand in her paw and then advances with the others while you hang back.

>Turn 1
>Salamence (100%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 89% strength
>Groudon (89%): Eruption, KO on Smeargle, who uses her Revive
>Gyarados (54%) R: Dragon Dance, she’s now the fastest mon in the fight
>Blaziken (32%) R: Sky Uppercut, miss
>Smeargle (50%): Spore
You don’t know whether it’s nerves or hesitation around the lava, but Blaziken misses his attack. Smeargle is so frail that she’s knocked out by Groudon’s first Eruption. You’ll plan to use your Revive on her if she faints again.

>Turn 2
>Gyarados (54%) R: Return at 1.5x damage, 11% damage
>Salamence (44%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 67% strength
>Groudon (67%): Awaken check, success. Eruption, KO on Smeargle, who you use your Revive on. KO on Blaziken, who uses his Revive.
>Blaziken (50%): Sky Uppercut, hit, 9% damage
>Smeargle (50%): Spore
Groudon is slowing down, but he’s still doing major damage with each hit. You’ll whisk Smeargle away if she faints again.

>Turn 3
>Gyarados (20%) R: Return at 1.5x damage, 11% damage
>Salamence (2%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 45% strength
>Groudon (45%): Awaken check, success. Eruption, KO on Smeargle. KO on Salamence, who uses his Revive. KO on Gyarados, who uses her Revive and no longer has her stat buffs.
>Blaziken (15%): Sky Uppercut, hit, 9% damage
No wonder Groudon is having trouble sleeping, Spore barely keeps him down for more than a few seconds. You swoop down to pick up Smeargle’s prone body and clutch her to your chest a safe distance away.

>Turn 4
>Salamence (50%): Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 34% strength
>Groudon (34%): Ancient Power on Salamence, KO. No omni-boost.
>Gyarados (50%): Dragon Dance
>Blaziken (15%): Sky Uppercut, hit, 9% damage
The team was close, but you feel like victory has slipped away.

Everyone! We have to run!

Groudon doesn’t retaliate as you all escape through the tunnel. A couple ways the fight could have been won was if Groudon stayed asleep, even for one turn, and if Blaziken used Fire Blast instead of Sky Uppercut.

What now?

>>1061857

Can you take everyone to a Poke-center to recover, or would that only work if you have balls to get inside? If not, maybe a Poke-mart where you can buy a buttload of potions and get everyone healed up.

Take stock of everyone, and decide what to do next. Is everyone okay? Are you going to try again, and if so do you need to change anything about your current team? If anyone doesn't want to run that back, then let them leave.

Like any good trainer, throw more money at the problem! Some X stat boosts are cheaper than revives, throw those on the mons that don’t go down as fast. Bring some extra Revives too. Maybe a held item to improve the chances of sleeping, like lax incense? (I know that’s not what it does in game.)
Regroup and retry when the team is recovered.

>>1061858
Yeah, let's fall back to the Friendlies base and consult with the team about how it went. We were very close! If Smeargle isn't comfortable going back, maybe Flygon could try sand strats on the next attempt.

Not today, though. Everybody needs to rest. We could charge our laptop and order the Porygon this afternoon.

I'd suggest actual professional medical treatment, you don't want to mess around with injuries caused by a Legendary!

>>1061879
I don't think we can take Salamence to the hospital, he's a war criminal.

>>1061888

Mmmm. Point. Do we know any mafia doctors? No, that wouldn't work either. Damn. Do we have blackmail on any doctors?

>>1061857
Let's ask everyone what they thought about the fight. Our strategy was working and we were close to winning, but we got unlucky.

If we had someone that could use Solar Beam, would it be instantly shot in one turn because of Groudon causing intense sunlight? That would be useful if we wanted to try again and anyone wanted to add it to their list of moves.

Otherwise, an Ice Beam could be helpful. Maybe even a Rain Dance to temporarily remove the intense sunlight Groudon causes.

Just throw a hyper potion on it, it'll be fine.

I'm sure the Friendlies have a bunch of healing items, since they were needed for that tournament. Let's go there to heal up.

tippler 2023/04/22(Sat)14:32 No. 1061925 ID: 9ea24b
File 168219917566.png - (137.44KB , 500x500 , p78.png )

>Get healing
Salamence can barely stand, let alone Fly, and Smeargle is fully unconscious. You need to get help for them as soon as possible. The closest place where you can find healing items is the Friendlies Base, and Gyarados and Blaziken help carry Salamence there. The Pokemon hanging around rush to get Gengar, who administers a generous helping of Revives and Hyper Potions to everyone until they’re back in peak condition, though Smeargle is trembling a bit and doesn’t want to fight Groudon again today.

I haven’t seen Salamence that beat up since Houndoom and I used to 2v1 him! Thank goodness I was out raiding the PokeMarts early this morning.

We might try again this afternoon and you could be there to give everyone extra healing. Could you come with us?

No.

Sorry dear, most of these goods are going to my ghosts in the field.

>Would Solar Beam charge and fire in one turn because of the sun?
Yes, but you can’t buy the TM for it anywhere. You can buy Ice Beam for Gyarados if you want, which deals a thirded 11% damage and has a chance to Freeze. There isn’t time to teach her or Salamence how to use Rain Dance via willpower and none of the team can learn helpful moves like Light Screen or Reflect.

What do you recommend for the team?
A. Fight Groudon again, you’ll take Smeargle’s place on the team and use Sand Attack. Blaziken will use Fire Blast. You’ll buy Revives for everyone to hold since they’re still the best single battle item option. You can buy Ice Beam for Gyarados, if you want.

B. Give everyone time to rest and fight another day. You’ll buy Porygon this afternoon. The humans will do their wacky weather shenanigans tonight.

A, buy Ice Beam. And ice cream!

>>1061925
B. The team could use a rest, and if Flygon is in the fight there's no one to help carry people out. We should get an extra backup evac helper before we go in again, maybe borrow Pelipper from Stetson.

>Wacky weather shenanigans
Maybe they're doing something with Castform to make it rain.

>>1061925
B. Let's see what the humans are going to do.

Conditional A. Ask your party how they're feeling, and if everyone else is up for it then give it another go. Get Gyarados Ice Beam if they're up for swapping a move. If anyone is opposed, then let the humans do their thing for now.

B, lets rest
after we weakened groundon, the humans might have an easier time with it.

>>1061948
Also hug the ever loving shit out of Smeargle.

>>1061952
Supporting this also because you just healed up, Groudon did not, even if it can get some heals from the lava now's your best shot to just do it all in one go imo

Also hug the buddy, make sure to do something nice for smeargle later

tippler 2023/04/23(Sun)17:20 No. 1062010 ID: 9ea24b
File 168229564215.png - (116.91KB , 500x500 , p79.png )

>A, try the fight again
Everyone except Smeargle is willing to rematch Groudon this afternoon. You hurry to Lilycove to buy the Revives and then have a complicated time purchasing coins from the Mauville Game Corner to trade for Ice Beam, drawing plenty of stares and curious questions that you ignore. No time to worry about that.

4 Revives: 6,000 P
Ice Beam: 80,000 P

You have 1,846,100 P remaining.

>Finish preparations
Gyarados replaces Taunt with Ice Beam and you give Smeargle a tearful hug and tell her to wait at the base for your return.

Flygon, if you win, you’re going to have to leave…

No time to worry about that either, even though it’s true. You did promise Stetson you’d join him after Groudon is defeated and you’re not going to risk his wrath by breaking your promise.

The team goes back to the tunnel and travels through it to see Groudon basking in his lava pool, unfortunately back at peak health.

>Flygon info
2 x damage Eruption at 100% HP in sun on Flygon: 313%
Speed: 111

>Turn 1
>Salamence (100%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 89% strength
>Groudon (89%): Eruption, KO on Flygon, who uses his Revive
>Gyarados (54%) R: Ice Beam, 11% damage, no freeze
>Blaziken (32%) R: Fire Blast, miss
>Flygon (50%): Sand Attack
Getting hit by Eruption is agony. You’re engulfed in a blast of rage fueled lava, and when you come to after eating the Revive, you’re still feeling quite crisp. At least you’re well enough to kick a bunch of black sand in Groudon’s face.

>Turn 2
>Salamence (44%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 67% strength
>Groudon (67%): Eruption, 2/3 accuracy check for each target. Miss on Salamence. Miss on Gyarados. Hit on Blaziken for the KO into Revive. Hit on Flygon for the KO.
>Gyarados (54%) R: Ice Beam, 11% damage, no freeze
>Blaziken (50%): Fire Blast, hit, 24% damage, no burn
You’re knocked out of the fight, but the accuracy drop already made a huge difference for Salamence and Gyarados. The battle continues.

>Turn 3
>Salamence (44%) R: Dragon Claw, 11% damage, Eruption is now at 21% strength
>Groudon (21%): Earthquake, 2/3 accuracy check for Blaziken, miss.
>Gyarados (54%) R: Ice Beam, 11% damage, no freeze
>Blaziken (50%): Fire Blast, hit, 24% damage, KO on Groudon
You keep conscious long enough to feel the ground shake as Groudon topples over. The team won! The last thing you remember is Salamence carefully moving you into his sling. You gain a whopping five Levels, putting you at Level 51. You don’t learn any new moves.

Thread 3 will begin tomorrow with Stetson team building via camping.

>>1062010
Sand Attack my beloved.

Rock Smeargle's world tonight and let her know you're going to be back.

>>1062017
End this thread on an extra high note.

Ow! Owowow, everything hurts.

Spend some time getting doted on by your friends and lover. You deserve that much.