My new Pokemon Adventure!

[Butterscotch]

I approve of the name you gave your Rapidash

[Juxapose]

Sounds like you know where it came from

[Juxapose]

Okay, since I didn't play any Pokemon today, I have no thoughts of today's adventure. What I am gonna talk about is the third Pokemon in everyone's roster. And yes, EVERYONE has one. An electric Pokemon! You all know you had a Pikachu in your first Pokemon game. Maybe you didn't keep it, it sure as hell was there at some point! But what electric Pokemon is the best of the bunch. Luckily, Electric Pokemon are few, and there is an obvious champ. And that Pokemon is:

(Disclaimer: I am only looking at Pokemon up to gen 4)

Jolteon


Yes, Jolteon is the obvious choice for Electric non-legendary Pokemon. Naturally, there are very few Pokemon half types, and none of them are any good (Legendaries don't count). So out of the mix, why is Jolteon the best? This is why!

Jolteon has the special attack stat of 110, second highest of the non legendary Pokemon. Ampharos has the highest Special attack of 115. And if you count Luxray's attack stat of 130, Jolteon is third highest.

What Jolteon excels is it's speed. With a speed rate of 130, Jolteon is the second fastest electric Pokemon; about twice as fast as Ampharos and Luxray. Electrode is the fastest non legendary Pokemon at 140 speed, but with a fair special attack of 95, and low 50 attack.

Most electric Pokemon learns few moves outside of electric and normal. Jolteon is no exception to that rule, but it does learn some good moves. Thunder wave is an incredible move by paralyzing opponent Pokemon without fail. Thunderbolt has 95 power, and almost never misses. Shadow ball is a nice move to deal with Psychic Pokemon, Especially the hard to deal with Meditite and Medicham. And to finish off the move set, Hyper Beam is a great move to use on your opponent's last Pokemon. 

My only complaint is that the Pokemon's abilities are a bit lame. Your opponent will almost never use Electric moves against Jolteon, so Volt Absorb is useless on one and one battle. But 2-on-2 and some 3-on-3 battles might be useful. Jolteon's Quick Feet ability proves to be somewhat useful since it cannot be slowed by Paralysis. But Jolteon is so fast, it might not even get touched unless not fighting against water and Flying types.

[Butterscotch]

Raichu is my favorite, but when I was playing B2, I became very fond of Galvantula (putting aside the whole spider the size of a small dog thing..,)
It's quite fast, and the bug-electric typing give it some interesting moves

[Juxapose]

I have already covered the basic three types; Fire, Water, and Electric. So what's next? Well, we all know we use a psychic Pokemon. So lets cover that!

Although there are some really good ones, there is one undisputed champ. That champion Pokemon is:

Alakazam



Alakazam has the highest special attack stat as far as non-legendary psychic Pokemon is concerned. With a special attack of 135, this Pokemon can take on many legendary Pokemon and still win! Not only that, this Pokemon possesses a speed score of 120, making it super fast. Alakazam can rush in, KO a Pokemon, and still go home in time for lunch. God this Pokemon is insanely Powerful. Plus Alakazam can learn a wide combination of moves from grass, electric, ghost, dark, fighting, and ice. Alakazam can do it all. But I rather it use psychic moves since it is the type that does most damage, and has the highest chance to one hit KO. But other types are there in case you encounter a type resistant to psychic.

Naturally, Alakazam has a weakness. Because of it's low HP and defense scores, Alakazam must be careful not to get hit. Many Pokemon can one hit KO this demon with a good physical attack. If it's hit with a Giga impact from most Pokemon, then it's lights out for Alakazam.

(Runner Ups)


Espeon

Espeon is not as strong as Alakazam, but it's close. With 130 special attack, and 110 speed, Espeon can deal enough damage and still be fast. Delivering one hit KO's just like it's older cousin. However, Espeon has more hp and defense, making it more durable than Alakazam if it happens to get hit. This Pokemon also learns some moves outside of psychic, but fewer than Alakazam.



Metagross

Of all the gen 3 Pokemon, this is my favorite. Metagross being half steel and psychic is interesting, but still had a problem. In gen 3, it's psychic half is pretty useless. Low special attack scores make Metagross not too intelligent for a super computer Pokemon.

That changed in gen 4. Metagross now learns very good physical psychic moves which compliments it's massive attack power of 130. Metagross is slow, but it's massive defense and good HP rate makes Metagross a damage sponge. Metagross can learn a good set of moves such as Ground (earthquake), Rock (Rock Slide) and Flying (Aerial ace). The skill Meteor Mash is a powerful move to the point that it can be labeled as cheap. This skill can continuously raise the attack stat of this Pokemon while doing 100 steel stype damage. Metagross' clear body ability makes his attack and defense power untouchable.

Metagross has no Psychic weaknesses, but has the common Steel weaknesses of Fire and Ground. Metagross has a fair chance to survive a ground attack, but a special fire attack can really hurt Metagross. Other than this, Metagross has no real weaknesses. 

[Juxapose]

For today's adventure, i'll have to say this:

I didn't progress the story at all today. Just wanted to train my Pokemon up to level 50 before I move on. The trainers I am facing are getting up in that level range, and I should not be left behind. Especially when it comes to the elite four.

One thing I seem to notice about this game is that the game often cheats. I notice opponents critting unusually often, while I crit rarely. Even skills like slash that have high crit rate rarely crits for me. Pokemon using confuse/poison/paralysis skills that have high miss ratio tends to me more successful than normal for my opponent, while I keep missing 5-6 times in a row. Then I see Pokemon that survive attacks that they should never be able to. I swear that this game tries to set up the game so that you will have a tough time. Luckily, there is something called a save and reload feature that allows me to redo battles that play cheap.

One thing I will have to say (and I apologize for not mentioning this sooner, but this game has lots of nice music. Sometimes I like to stand in one spot, and listen to the tune. Kudos to the Game Freak team for the neat tracks.

[Juxapose]

Look at what I encountered. A steelix couple. Isn't that wierd? And a little cute too. Too bad I had to make them faint.

[Juxapose]

Okay, I have all 8 badges, and I have fought against the elite four. I lost against them, but not because they were difficult, or even good. The reason I did not complete the elite four's challenge is that the Pokemon they are using is so insanely high level, that it's not possible to beat until all your team is level 60 or higher. My Pokemon are still level 48-52. AND EVEN AT SUCH A LOW LEVEL, I still made it to the fourth elite, and fell to a Bronzong. The elite four sucks so much, that at about 10 level lower than average, I almost beat them. Meaning that if I grind a little and get my Pokemon to their level; they are so easy, I could just die laughing.

And that's the next problem this game has. Grinding. Everyone hates grinding, yet this game wants you to do so. This is such a cheap ploy to make the game longer so you could feel like you got you're money's worth. Trust me, it's not. Instead of giving you more locations to visit, more Pokemon to catch, and more trainers to get you to the correct level to fight the elite four, you are now expected to grind. *Sigh*

I'm telling you, this game is not cool. Instead of feeling like I had a ton of fun, this game feels like my job. Just come in, do the same boring thing over and over and over. Then go home feeling like you've accomplished nothing. Only difference is that I get paid in my actual job. This game is literally a waste of time.

[Mage the Observer]

And this is why I quit playing. Grinding + obsessive nature = thousands of wasted hours trying to catch and train every single pokemon in existence. I was playing RO at the time, and just didn't have time for both.

And now that neither is an issue for me, I just kinda wander around for casual pleasures. I'd rather stick to light things that only take me a week or two to play.

[Juxapose]

I am still grinding out levels. Pretty boring stuff.

So instead, lets talk more about Pokemon:

In a well rounded roster, people have the main 4 types:
Fire
Water
Electric
Psychic

Most other types are pretty much optional. Grass is not needed since other types like water can KO types weak to grass. Rock is not needed either since other types like electric and fire can KO types wek to rock. The only type that these four cannot fight well against is Psychic, Dragon, and Dark. So if you don't have any dark/bug/ghost moves for fighting against Psychic, I suggest you pick one up. Fighting and bug moves are good against Dark type. Dragon and ice moves works well against Dragon.

For this post, I have come up with a few Dark Pokemon that can work well in your roster.

Champion: Weavile



Weavile is super fast with 125 speed score. Plus with 120 attack score, Weavile does his damage fast without fear of getting hurt by others. It's Pokemon ability Pressure makes it's opponent move cost more PP than normal, but if they even get the chance to attack in the first place.

Weavile does have a long list of weaknesses, so if it can't KO the Pokemon immediately, it can feel the damage. Weavile is weak against Fighting, bug, Rock, steel, and fire. Luckily, it's defensive stats are not too bad, so some EV training should help it survive an attack.

Weavile's Dark and Ice combo makes it great to take out a list of Pokemon, including Psychic, Ghost, flying, ground, rock, and dragon types. (as long as Weavile's attacks are all Physical.)

Runner Ups: Drapion and Skuntank



These two Pokemon have only one Weakness, Ground. These pokemon aren't too fast, or too strong. But they can hurt Psychic and Ghost no problem as long as they are trained for their specific attack stat. Since they are half Poison, they can dish out toxic, and take the damage while they watch their enemy die a slow death. Drapion is a nice Pokemon with Keen eye. Give it some high crit moves such as slash and he does 3x damage. Skuntank has high HP, but Drapion has high defense score. Pick your Pokemon wisely.

[Juxapose]

Apr 21, 2013 17:33:59 GMT -5 Juxapose said:

Pokemon Red Version
Pokemon Blue Version
Pokemon Yellow Version
Pokemon Silver Version
Pokemon Gold Version
Pokemon Ruby Version
Pokemon Fire Red Version
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium 2

 Okay, I JUST beat Pokemon Diamond Version. Just chuck this game with the list of games I have beaten listed above. Once I got all of my Pokemon to level 60, I just walked all over the Elite 4. I did more damage to my own Pokemon than they did, it was pathetic. I did have a slight challence with the champion, but for one single mistake I made. My Gastrodon wanted to learn "Recover", so I taught it that move so I won't have to spam Super Potions all day. But in order to learn recover, I dropped my only ice move "Blizzard". Now my team had no ice moves, and one of the champ's Pokemon (Garchomp) had a 4x weakness to ice. I did have a dragon move, but there was no way in hell that I was gonna face a Ground/Dragon type against my Lucario who is Fighting/Steel type. So I pinned Sluguthu against the Garchompo, and was that a long battle. The champ spammed Giga impact, and that was fun. Take Giga Impact, heal the damage with Recover, and return with surf. Brilliant!



The ending was so good that I could just piss myself (Sarcasm). The same old crappy ending where your Pokemon is crowned the champ, and you ride off into the sunset. Your not really a champ because Cynthia still holds the seat for some crazy odd reason. You're now technically unemployed doomed to fight trainers for income for eternity. And we still don't become Gym Leaders or members of the Elite four like we were promised back in Gen 2. And why can't I travel to ANY of the other 3 gen maps? Why can't I travel to Kanto? Johto? Hell, I'd even settle for Hoenn! Anything? Oh wait, we can now go to that crappy island to see new Pokemon! That way we can FINALLY use our favorite Pokemon instead of the Junk Pokemon we are force fed from this Junk storyline of Generation 4. So instead of beating the Elite 4 with the Pokemon from other generations that we are actually good with, we are using less than decent Pokemon introduced in this or past generation.

Allow me to explain why I am not happy with my roster:

Rapidash (Amalthea)
This Pokemon is a physical Pokemon, and the only Physical fire move it learns is Flare Blitz. The other fire move it learns naturally is Ember, so you need to spend 40 levels or so training this Pokemon with a weak fire move for what seems like FOREVER! And Flare Blitz is not that great. It does amazing damage yes, but Rapidash hurts itself by a LOT. Had to equip a heal bell to offset the damage, and without a fire slate, Rapidash does not reach it's fire damage capabilities. In fact, you have to gimp it's own fire damage to prevent it from killing itself!

I would be happier with Arcanine. Arcanine is equally as strong with Physical and Special attacks, so it can learn flamethrower and Fire Fang; plus use them effectively. Not as fast as Rapidash, but fast enough. Plus Rapidash has trouble learning other moves outside of fire. Arcanine can learn a wider variety.

Gastrodon (Sluguthu) 

I was never happy with this guy's speed. Even though it is half ground, I haven't encountered any good users of electric Pokemon. So this Pokemon is just wasted, and ripe for the picking of moves like Solar Beam (Thanks Flint for showing me how much Half Ground suck in this game). 

I would be happier with Lapras. Lapras can use ice moves more effectively, which I desperately needed in the final battle. Lapras is not too fast, but faster than Gastrodon. Lapras can learn a great deal of moves, and can take punishment. 

Luxray (Nanaki)

This Pokemon is Super Wasted. No good electric physical moves, but a Pokemon with massive physical attack? It's strongest move is Discharge, which is a special attack. And lets say it's special attack is pretty underperforming. This Pokemon does not have a great move list either.

I would be happier with Jolteon. Good special attack, good speed, good move list, and I don't need to fuss at struggling with weak moves to get up in levels. But I cannot get an Eevee until after I beat the Elite 4? that's bull****!

Kadabra (Spoony)

I don't have much complaints of Spoony. He performed excellent, and only got stronger against bigger and heavier Pokemon. 

I just wish it could evolve without trading. I miss my Alakazam

Drapion (Xorn)

I don't have too many complaints about this Pokemon. It took one for the team, and allowed Spoony to deliver the final blow. It took it's punishment like a champ. But the poison type only serve to cancel out it's main weaknesses, poison doesn't have much use in attacks. 

If I must choose a different Pokemon, I would go for a Weavile. But I get a Sneazel so late, that I no longer want to train a new Pokemon just for the Elite 4. I was practically there already. All Weavile would just do is make a long and boring game seem longer. And Drapion did it's job well enough.

Lucario (Ryu)

I have to admit, a powerful Pokemon wasted. It is a half fighting/Steel type that rarely got to see any action other than grinding for exp. I did use it against some Pokemon because I have the foresight to teach it Shadow Claw. Other than that, other trainers had no trouble KOing this beast with moves like Fire punch, Fire Fang, and Earthquake. I raised it thinking I would see more Dark Pokemon, but Nope. 

I would not replace Lucario, I would just have an empty 6th slot. That way, grinding would have been much shorter, and I would be done with this game sooner. But if I had to place a Pokemon there, I would choose Garchomp. Half Dragon/Ground would have been nice, plus of all the non legendary dragons, Garchomp and Flygon has fewer weaknesses than the half flying breeds.


And those are my final thoughts of the game. Do I like it? . . . . . . . Meh, it was okay. The game had some good elements, and did some things right. But what I fault the game for is what it did WRONG!!

1. They kept the personality system. This had to go away, and it didn't. What's the point of the EV and IV system if we already have a system in place to make Pokemon individualized? Oh, I see, to make them more individual? Screw you Nintendo!

2. Over fussed with the Physical/Special skills. This system was supposed to make skills like Fire Punch use melee stats instead of special and vice-versa. But now that we have it, they just decided to add more useless skills that we don't care about except the strongest ones. This made the game feel sloppy.

3. Grinding! I hate Grinding! Who in their right mind actually said, "Yay, this game forces me to grind for levels. Awsome!" Absolutely No One!

4. Strange move set. Why can Lucario learn moves like Dragon Pulse? And why does Rapidash learn Solarbeam. It didn't in Gen 1 and 2. Wait, it did learn it in gen 3? Makes sense now. Crappy games make crappy rules. And why does so many Pokemon learn Crunch? Because a desperate attempt to balance the type? It's just so messy, my head spins!

5. Obvious LAZINESS!!!!! They could have given us more, but they didn't. When Gen 2 and it's remake gives us more than gen 4, Game freak just needs to give up!

I feel that this game was meant to be like a desperate cry for help. Pokemon was failing from the atrocious mistake of Ruby/Sapphire, that making this game was the only way to save the series. But as a fan of Pokemon for what it's meant to be, not what it has become, I still would rather skip this game, and hope the next one will be better. 

As soon as I get a copy of Back/White for cheap, I'll give that game a shot. Until then, this game is done!