Nuzlocke Adventure 23: The Price of Victory

THE RULES:

1—All pokemon must be nicknamed.

2—I must attempt to catch the first pokemon I see in any route or area. I may catch no others in that area.

3—If a pokemon faints, it is considered “dead” and may no longer be used. I will release them from the next PC.

4—Legendaries cannot be caught or used.

5—The Pokewalker cannot be used.

6—If the first encounter is a duplicate of a pokemon I already have, I may ignore it and re-try for a new one. After three re-tries, however, I must catch the fourth one even if it is a dupe.

7—Gift pokemon, such as Bill’s Eevee or the Tyrogue from the Karate King, can be accepted and used and do not count under the “first encounter” rule. Forced encounters, such as Sudowoodo and the Red Gyarados, however, do count under the “first encounter” rule.

8—In-game trades are acceptable, but out-of-game trades, even to make pokemon such as Haunter or Graveler evolve, are not.

9—The Daycare Center cannot be used to breed, but it can be used to level up pokemon.

10—If all pokemon in my party faint, or if I am in a situation where I need to use a move like Cut or Surf to progress but have no pokemon that can use these moves and cannot obtain one without breaking the rules, I lose and my adventure ends.

Deaths so far: 5

Badges so far: 7

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Blackthorn City

We’re finally here. Blackthorn is home to Clair and the Dragon Clan. This is our last major stop before heading to the pokemon league!

“Wow, you came through the Ice Path? You must be a real hotshot trainer!” AHAHAHAHAHA YOU’RE SO FUNNY

Some girl in town wants us to give her a Dragonair for a Dodrio. Who on earth would make that trade? It sounds terrible!

Oh, more packages from Mom. Let’s see…

Berries. Who could have seen this coming.

I could enter the Gym right now, but I’m not quite leveled for Clair, especially considering how tough the Elite 4 is going to be afterwards. Let’s head south to train.

Route 45

New area! Our catch is a… Graveler?! V-Victore…

She’s even female. “Docile nature. Highly curious.” I name her Autumn.

I could reconstruct my old team… I mean, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but still! Should I do it? You know, I’m going to. I feel a bit sorry for Noelle, but she really is a bit redundant with Felix on the team. She’ll always be there in my buffer party!

Autumn is pretty far behind the others in terms of levels, but that’s what the Exp. Share is for. Sally-ho!

Autumn wrecks her first opponent, who is seven levels higher than her! (It was an Onix.) We traverse south, beating opponents on the way, Autumn leeching EXP thanks to her hold item. Eventually we reach…

Route 46

Whoa, this is where we first encountered Carmen, our very first catch! Holy cow!

A nearby Camper has a lv. 17 Mankey (at this stage in the game? Um…) A Picknicker with him is just as weak.

Route 45

Yeah, this route is laid out so you can’t get everything in one go. I: We challenge a nearby Hiker, Hiker Erik! He sends out a Graveler of his own and AAAAAAAAA it uses Selfdestruct! F-Felix! D:

…oh… oh thank heavens, he barely scraped by.  I c-can’t even…

Another Graveler uses Selfdestruct and gets Autumn down to 3 HP! I don’t like this path very much—NO, another Graveler killed her! D: Smashed right through her defenses to KO her even at full health with a Magnitude 10. I… I’m so sorry, Autumn… Noelle it is.

So many deaths…

My team stomps all over the Hikers, Ace Trainers, and Black Belts populating Route 45, including the one guy who has nothing but a team of five lv. 13 Geodudes. (Really, Game Freak?) Now there’s another place to head to…

Dark Cave

I’ve added Lizzie and Carmen to the party for Flash, Rock Smash, and Strength. I’m entering the cave from the northern exit, by Blackthorn—let’s do this!

The encounter rate here seems strangely low… still, I pick up a False Swipe TM. Some shady guy in the recesses of the cave wants me to forget all about him and bribes me with Blackglasses. Uh… are you part of Jasmine and the Cianwood pharmacy’s drug ring?

I go through the rest of the cave, finishing up with no problems. Well, I’ve done literally everything there is to do in Johto at the moment, but I’m still several levels behind Clair.

Time

TO

GRIND

*~several hours later~*

Well. That took a long, long while. Every member of the main party is now lv. 39. Overkill? Possibly… however, I think that safety against Clair coupled with the fact that I’m going to have to grind for the Elite 4 anyway makes it worth it.

Okay, time to test myself against Johto’s final Gym! Our first opponent sends out some Dratini. I’m going to go ahead and meet them with Franklin. “But wait!” I can hear you say. Dragon resists Electric! True, true. But do you know what it doesn’t resist? Dragon itself.

I taught Franklin Hidden Power. And would you guess what type it turned out to be?

Franklin takes them down with ease, and I also let Felix and Noelle wreak havoc with Ice Fang. I even give Aaron a shot or two against some of the dragons.

One of the trainers actually doesn’t use the Dragon-type at all; he only has a Horsea and Seadra. “It’s not as though we all use Dragon-type pokemon,” he says. “We’re interested in strong pokemon. That’s my theme.” Suuuuuuure. Whatever helps you not cry yourself to sleep at night, guy.

We clear out the riff-raff soon enough. After retreating to the center for healing, now it’s time to tackle the queen of dragons herself. Here goes nothing…

“I am Clair. The world’s best Dragon-type master. I can hold my own against even the Pokemon League’s Elite Four. Do you still want to take me on? …Fine. Let’s do this! As a Gym Leader, I will use my full power against any opponent!”

BOSS: Gym Leader Clair

She sends out Gyarados lv. 38 as her lead pokemon; I send out Felix lv. 39. Crap, I forgot that she doesn’t have three Dragonair like in the originals! I’m already off to a rough start!

Not only does Felix not have anything powerful against Gyarados, but its Intimidate has crippled his attack. I’ll switch to Franklin, lv. 39, who gets smacked with Dragon Rage on the switch. Thankfully, I’ve reached the point in the game where that move doesn’t destroy my HP any more.

A single Discharge does away with Gyarados, but not before it hits Franklin with another Dragon Rage. Franklin’s now at a piddly 46 HP. Clair’s sending in Dragonair lv. 38; let’s switch back to Felix.

Ice Fang gets it down to low yellow, but it paralyzes me with Thunder Wave. I think Clair’s going to heal, so I take the time to use a Lemonade on Franklin. Even if it attacks, I have a Full Restore to clear both health and status.

Lemonade takes Felix back up and Dragonair launches a Dragon Pulse at me. I heal Felix and KO Dragonair with Slash. Felix reaches lv. 40. Clair’s sending in another Dragonair, same level; let’s switch to Noelle, lv. 39. Ice Fang gets her to red but she uses Thunder Wave and heals on the turn I drop a Parylz Heal. The next turn is a repeat of the last one but instead of healing again I just use Ice Fang one more time, powering through paralysis to take it out. It does land a hit with Dragon Pulse, though.

We have three pokemon down, but her last is the dreaded Kingdra, aka Cheapshot McDangerpants from Seahorsistan. I’m seriously worried this thing might kill one of my team. Her Kingdra is lv. 41; let’s send out Franklin, who’s now at full health again thanks to that Lemonade.

I think I’ll take a page out of Clair’s book and open with Thunder Wave. How’s that Paralysis taste, sucker? It gets a Smokescreen against me, however.

Kingdra’s only weakness is Dragon, but thanks to Hidden Power I’m packing it. Let’s unleash all our might against her! It shaves about a third of Kingdra’s HP down, but the seahorse uses a second Smokescreen. Come on, Franklin! Power through that accuracy loss—only two more turns and we have her!

The second Hidden Power also hits, but Kingdra’s Sitrus Berry restores it and it uses Hydro Pump. Oh, heavens—that took down over half of Franklin’s HP! Thanks to the Sitrus Berry, Franklin can’t KO Kingdra next turn, and if he takes another Hydro Pump, he’s toast! Let’s switch out to Noelle, who should be able to resist Hydro Pump as well as power through Hyper Beam if Clair sends it her way.

Kingdra’s paralysis prevents it from hitting on the switch. I heal up Franklin once more and Noelle takes a Dragon Pulse and survives. Back to Franklin; Dragon Pulse hits him, but for less damage than Hydro Pump. He should be able to survive next turn, and KO with Hidden Power the turn after. But if she uses Hyper Beam…

I’ll heal Franklin up. Better safe than sorry.

She ended up using Hyper Beam after all! Whew—I made the right call there. Franklin’s gonna take a severe hit, but he should be able to—

“It’s a critical hit!”

N-No… F-Franklin… hang in there! D: No… no!! Hyper Beam killed him… Franklin!

I’m in shock… Franklin was the team leader… he… he can’t be…

I send out Aaron, lv. 39. With a Choice Specs-boosted Psybeam, I have to hope that he can pull this off. Otherwise…

Psybeam barely manages to avoid killing Kingdra. I use it again, knowing that Clair will most likely heal up Kingdra anyway…

I’m correct. Clair uses a—a Full Restore?! Shit! Now not only is its HP up, but paralysis is gone too! This thing could easily one-shot Aaron… let’s switch out. Go, Felix! Kingdra uses Hydro Pump on the switch, which Felix resists. I should be safe—

“It’s a critical hit!”

Felix…

My starter…

N-not you too…Oh god, I’m losing so many!

My remaining teammates are Laika, Aaron, Noelle, and Kenya. Laika has piddly Special Defense and Kenya has little better. Aaron has tiny HP and is fragile all around, though with his Choice Specs and speed he’s the biggest threat to Kingdra right now. However, I’ll need to do a bit more damage before Aaron can pull it off, as Kingdra’s at just over half health and Psybeam does just under. Noelle is in the low yellow and has paralysis as well. Unless I can get her back to fighting form, she’s useless… but every turn I’m healing her is a turn Kingdra is attacking me.

Noelle has the highest defenses and resists Hydro Pump. I have exactly one Full Restore remaining… should I switch to Noelle, use Full Restore and hope she survives to tank whatever Kingdra throws at her? My only other possibility would be hoping that I get lucky from flinches with Laika… but given that Kingdra isn’t paralyzed any more, I honestly don’t know if Laika could outspeed, and with her terrible special defense…

I’m not going to lose any more. Not if I can help it. Noelle’s the safer bet.

Kingdra uses Dragon Pulse the turn I heal Noelle up and another the turn after, getting Noelle to a tiny sliver of health. Noelle gets off a Dragon Rage, though, and one more should be enough to end her. I’ll heal her up with a Hyper Potion, and though she’ll eat a Dragon Pulse then and the turn after, she should survive long enough to get off one more Dragon Rage and end it.

NO SHE USED HYPER BEAM

…Noelle survives! D: And Dragon Rage takes Kingdra down.

That was… that was the roughest, most difficult fight…

After the battle, Clair refuses to give us the badge. You what?! You killed two of my—the two best, strongest members of my team! Don’t you—don’t you dare—

…okay. We just have to go take the test at the Dragon’s Den. Let’s go.

I swing by the Pokemon Center and dig out Geoff, the Tentacool, to use Surf and Whirlpool. I don’t even bother looking at the other pokemon yet; finding replacements for Felix and Franklin isn’t a job I’m ready for just now.

The cavern lies behind the Gym.

Dragon’s Den

I’ve always loved the music here… the remix in the remakes is particularly excellent.

Laika one-shots an Ace Trainer’s Dragonair with a single Stomp. Take that, dragons! That’s for killing my—!

I pick up a Calcium to  the side, and wipe out a few more trainers.

We get our encounter for the area—a level 14 Magikarp. (Yaaaaay.) I KO it with Noelle trying to weaken it, so whatevs.

We cross the whirlpool with Geoff’s help and pass the shrine (we’ll be back for it soon) to snag a Dragon Fang. Now for the Dragon Clan’s rite.

“What are pokemon to you?” They’re my friends, of course.

“What helps you to win battles?” Training them to be the best that they can be.

“What kind of trainer do you wish to battle?” Anyone is fine.

“What is most important for raising pokemon?” Knowing everything you can about how to do it right.

“Strong pokemon. Weak pokemon. Which is more important?” I’m tempted to say strength, but… with the recent failings of both Felix and Franklin, I think there are some who would label them “weak.” However, they will always be the greatest of pokemon to me… so, any pokemon.

Clair comes in and receives a tongue-lashing from the elder. She hands over the Rising Badge… and the Dragon Pulse TM as well, with some surprising words of encouragement. “Whatever you have to face, don’t give up! Or I’ll feel even worse about having lost to you!”

Returning to the Master, we receive a Dratini. Let’s call her Vivian. “Relaxed nature. Likes to fight.”


And with that… we have all eight badges. But the cost was truly terrible… Felix and Franklin, two of our most stalwart pokemon, lie defeated. How will we proceed from here? If Clair beat us so badly, do we even stand a chance at the Elite Four—and beyond?

Current Teammates: Kenya (Fearow), Laika (Stantler), Aaron (Kadabra), Noelle (Gyarados), Geoff (Tentacool), Vivian (Dratini)

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