2.02 | Cave Dweller, Swell Feller

11/14/2024, 08:37 AM

i guess we'd better head inside. Union Cave usually isn't too bad, and especially with Jano by our side.

there's a lot of hikers in here, and they generally tend to run rock or ground type pokemon, so if you chose anyone but Cyndaquil you'll be having an easy time. even so, i kept Grechen out front so she could get at least some experience while we're doing all these battles.

there's also some Firebreathers here, who tend to use poison and fire types. besides the trainers, there's a handful of new pokemon to catch, such as Zubat and Sandshrew. Zubat, despite being unbelievably common, is surprinsgly very good once it evolves into Crobat, an evolution added in this generation. Sandshrew isn't quite as good, but i've used it before and remember it being very usable all the same. plus, i really like its design, it's got a brick pattern covering its body and i think that's pretty cool.

there's another great ball in here, so i definitely recommend picking that up.

there's also a basement floor here, but there's not much we can do in it right now. we'll just have to come back later. with only a little more walking, you'll find yourself at the other end of the cave. it's a very small dungeon, if you can really even call it that. this brings us to...

Route 33!

this route is SUPER tiny, blink and you'll miss it. there's a berry tree here, and it's the first place you can catch Spearow, if you want to use it.

Grechen wanted to learn Curse, which is a fairly interesting move. its effect is different depending on what type the pokemon using it is. if they're ghost type, it'll take half of their max HP in return for putting a curse on the opposing pokemon, an incredibly dangerous status that will deal a whopping 1/4th of the inflicted's max HP each turn. if the user isn't ghost type, it will instead lower their speed and raise their attack and defense, all by one stage. it's a really weird and interesting move, and i think i wanna give it to Grechen, since she tends to be unaffected by a lot of moves, meaning she'll be able to survive with only half her HP.

if you thought i was joking about this route being really short, check it out, i can fit the entire thing in one screenshot! that said, we've already arrived in...

Azalea Town!

as soon as we walk up, we're immediately greeted by some shady weirdo. he's blocking the way to the Slowpoke well... for some reason. maybe he's in kahoots with that weirdo selling Slowpoke tails on route 32.

another guy of similar attire is blocking the way to the gym, and... oh yeah, they're definitely in kahoots alright.

if you've got a fire type pokemon, i recommend keeping this house in the bottom left corner of town in mind for later. it'll be handy, trust me. for now though, the residents of the town seem to be worried sick about the lack of Slowpoke around town. yeah, something real weird is going on here. ain't it always up to us main character type folk to fix it?

Kurt, huh? he wouldn't happen to be of the Cobain type, would he? i've always wanted an autograph!

heading up near this house, you'll see another berry tree. this one's a little different, however, because instead it bears an Apricorn! we'll get to what these are for soon enough. going into the house we meet Kurt, and...

comparing this sprite to his official artwork, i simply don't see the resemblance. when i was a kid, i always thought Kurt was supposed to have a mohawk or something, going by his sprite ingame. Kurt's profession is making Pokeballs, though, and his options are... odd in this game. let's go over them one by one real quick.

from left to right, we have...

Fast Ball: if the wild Pokemon is capable of fleeing battle, this ball will multiply the catch rate by 4x. one slight issue however, it doesn't do that in the slightest. instead, it only increases the catch rate for three pokemon in the whole game; Magnemite, Grimer and Tangela. i have no earthly idea how that even happens.

Level Ball: this will increase the catch rate by 2x if the trainer's Pokemon is a higher level than the wild Pokemon, 4x if they're double the level, and x8 if they're four times the level. this one, surprisingly, works fine.

Lure Ball: increases the catch rate by 4x if the wild Pokemon it's being used on was encountered via fishing. again, this one works fine.

Heavy Ball: good for catching pokemon that weigh a lot. a weird quirk of this one is that instead of multiplying the catch rate, it only adds to it. specifically, if the wild Pokemon's weight is 99.9 kg or less, it'll subtract 20 from the catch rate, 100 kg - 199.9 kg will not affect the catch rate at all, 200 kg - 299.9 kg will add 20, and 300 kg or more will add 30. however, in Crystal only, if a pokemon's internal index number is divisible by 64, (Kadabra, Tauros and Sunflora) the game somehow reads junk data that makes the Heavy Ball add 40 to the catch rate, higher than what it can normally do. again, how the hell does that even happen?

Love Ball: if the user's Pokemon and the wild Pokemon are of the same species and opposite gender, this ball will multiply the catch rate by 8x. except actually, in generation 2 only, it instead checks for same species and same gender. uh, happy pride?

Friend Ball: doesn't affect catch rate, but any pokemon caught with it will have its friendship value instantly set to 200. it's sort of like an early incarnation of the Luxury Ball.

Moon Ball: multiplies catch rate by 4x if the wild Pokemon can evolve using a Moon Stone. in generation 2, however, it doesn't do this. in fact, it does nothing. that's right, they pulled a Final Fantasy 1 Wisdom stat on us and accidentally made this do nothing. nevermind the fact that even if it did work, it'd only do anything for four Pokemon in the whole game!

so yeah, Kurt's selection in this game is EXTREMELY weird. that said, i do still really enjoy using them for that exact reason. it makes catching stuff way more fun to have more variety in your selection, even if half of them don't function the way they're supposed to. guess they hadn't fully grown out of whatever phase they were in when programming generation 1, huh?