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.