POKEMON GOLD PROGRESS, DAY 10
I've been enjoying the game at a leisurely pace; today's game was full of events.
NEW POKEMON
Lots of new ones seen, only a couple of new ones caught:
Caught:
Garaigar (#207)- a bat/crab Pokemon
Urimuu (#220)- a furry Pokemon that looks like a pig with Mammoth fur
Gomazou (#231)- elephant-like, maybe the precursor of Donphan?
Seen in battles:
Kireihana (#182)- the hula-girl flower Pokemon
Yamikaras (#198)- a weird-looking crow/vulture Pokemon
Haganeeru (#208)- looks like a cross between a Saidon (Rhydon) and
a Iwark (Onix)
Inomuu (#221)- a furry wildboar Pokemon, evolution of Urimuu
Togepi got a new cute attack, "Encore", which forces the opponent to repeat the last attack it performed.
PROGRESS...
I finished off the Rocket-dan base in Chouji Town; your object is to find two passwords that will get you into the main computer area, and then you must eliminate not only a few Elite Rocket-dan Trainers but you and Wataru must then eliminate several Biriridamas (Electrodes) that power their computer system. With this done, the Rocket-dan trainers flee Chouji Town, and you then can enter the Gym. The clowns who were siphoning off tolls have disappeared too.
Back at Asagi, I revisited Mikan, but one of her Pokemon, Akari, has taken ill. She asks, shyly, if you can help by finding a special potion to cure "Akari-chan". It's clear she won't fight you until her Pokemon is better. I had to fly back to Tanba and visit the shopkeeper there, who now gives you a "Hidden Potion" to take back with you (until you've met Mikan, he won't give it to you- he was offering the usual assortment of items before).
Once Mikan's Pokemon is cured, it frolics around and Mikan heads to the gym. The gym battle there was not too bad, with the exception of her most powerful Pokemon, the "Haganeeru" ()- which has a super attack called "Iron Tail", which can be absolutely devastating to a low-to-mid-level Pokemon. Plus, she uses a "Sugoi" Potion on it just when you think you have it beaten... I found that water/plant attacks, and my good old Meganium, did the job nicely.
Having won, I received the "Steel Badge" as well as a Wazamachine to teach "Iron Tail" to a Pokemon. With that badge won, I flew back to Chouji Town to face the next Gym Leader.
The Chouji Town Gym is based on Ice and Water Pokemon, and the Gym Leader is an old guy in a short-sleeved shirt and cane, Yanagi. The gym is a skating rink, and the trainers you fight are Skiers and Snowboarders. You skate from dry square to dry square until you beat the trainers and face Yanagi himself.
I must say that since I'd leveled up carefully, I had no problems. My Meganium was the main power, but my Annoon and the Granbull did nicely as well. Thus I received the Ice Badge, and now have 7 of the 8 badges...
I also acquired the 6th and 7th Hidden Machines, "Uzushio" ("Whirling Tides") and "Takinobori" (literally "climbing up a waterfall" or "Swimming Upriver"). I'm sure the 7th will let me get through the whirlpools around the islands.
Next up,
HOLIDAY ON ICE
There's a tremendously challenging and yet fun series of puzzles you must master in order to progress in the ice cave to the east of Chouji Town, which is the passage (and the only way to get to) Fusube City. In summary, it's a series of dry passages and large expanses of ice. Once you step on the ice, you start moving and can't stop until you hit dry land or a rock, so your first puzzle is to figure out how to place yourself to "skid around" and hit the right rocks to go on to the next pathway. Next is another cavern opens up with strategic holes in it- if you fall through (and you'll need to) you'll find no way to skate to the center of the field to take the ladder out of there (there IS a second ladder back to the field upstairs). You'll need to manipulate your "environment" upstairs to figure out how to give yourself "stopping points" downstairs.
Once you skate your way out of the cave, you're in Fusube City, a town nestled in the mountains. Whew!
Once again there's a guard at the Gym, and a Dragon Cave accessible by a lake just behind the Gym/ But the old guardian there won't let me in yet, either.
One excellent new addition to the game is a fellow I found in Fusube City, who can REMOVE techniques you don't want any more or want to replace! That's right- Hidden Machine Techniques can finally be removed and are no longer permanent! He can get rid of other techniques too, so you can "customize" your Pokemon using available Wazamachines and Hidden Machines if you'd like, or free up a slot for the next technique to be learned.
I decided to "camp" for the night in Fusube City, since there's a one-way route downhill (with lots of grasses to explore) and a new- this time, dark- cave to check out. I expect it will lead me through the upper, previously unreachable areas of the already existing main cave system).
More tomorrow! LOTS more to see and do still, and I've invested 40 hours in the game so far. Is this game deep, or what? The scoffing public should not underestimate how GOOD an RPG Pokemon is- especially the Gold and Silver incarnations.
--Richard