PokéJournal: Update 017

-I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack! 

-Here I am, once again, training on the Ice Path. At the same time I’m going around using the Dowsing Machine to see if I’ve left any items behind. I don’t find anything using the machine but I find a Heart Scale after smashing a rock. That’s a good find.

-I’m really just looking to train my team. I know I have to go see the Kimono Girls but I’d rather wait and toughen up my team. I get tired of training in the Ice Path so I head down Route 45. I encounter a couple rock types so I switch out Quilava with Heracross for my lead Pokémon. I keep on battling and find a Full Heal.

-I was fighting a Gligar and it used Knock Off on Heracross and she lost dropped her Amulet Coin. It gave me a mini heart attack. Wouldn’t it be the worst if you could actually lose items, important held items, to wild Pokémon?

PokéJournal: Update 016

-I’m still on the Ice Path and I'm still finding items. First one today is a PP Up.

-Huh, I'm out of the Ice Path. That wasn't as long of a cave segment as I thought it would be. I don’t know why but I'm not a fan of overly complicated cave systems in the Pokémon games. For some reason I expected the Ice Path to be a long complicated. I’m glad it wasn’t though.

-I traded Pokémon with my friend a couples months back but I haven't had a chance to rotate any of the ones he traded me into my party. He gave me a Cyndaquil Egg. I'm going to include it in my party and replace Growlithe. I'm sad to let Growlithe go but I don't want him to level up anymore. I need a fire stone to make him evolve to Arcanine but I want him to learn Extreme Speed when he evolves. I think its level 39 but I have to double check. At this time, I don’t have a stone and I want to wait. Besides, a Cyndaquil Egg is a pretty good replacement fire-type.

-Aw crap, I had two eggs in the PC and I don't know which one is a Cyndaquil. I take out one of the eggs and I hop on my bike. For about 5 to ten minutes I’m biking around like an idiot and lucky me, the egg hatched a Cyndaquil. I wonder what the other egg is? Oh well.

-I get a call from Arnie on Route 35 asking me to battle. I go see him and he only had a level 36 Venonat. Naturally I kicked his ass, thanked him for the experience points (Cyndaquil went from level 1 to 6!) and went on my way.

-I just caught a Gligar on Route 45. As a ground and flying dual type Pokémon, it might be a good replacement option for Pidgeotto. It also has an evolved form which is nice. I’m always a little sceptical of Pokémon that don’t have evolved forms. Not only are they a bit boring because they never get to evolve, but are they really that good? The short answer is that yes, some of them are. Even non-legendary non-evolving Pokémon can be tough. Heracross is a fine example of that.

-I take some time to run around in the tall grass and train my Cyndaquil. In no time at all, it evolves into a Quilava. It’s crazy how fast low level Pokémon can get trained the farther along you are in the game. It even makes friendship evolutions easier because the best way to increase friendship is to have the Pokémon level up. In my Pokémon Platinum game, I had fun breeding and catching Eevees and getting them all to evolve into all of the Eeveelutions. It was pretty easy to train up Espeon and Umbreon from an egg. You just gave them the Exp. Share and once they hit level 20 or so, boom, evolution.

-I was curious about the other egg in the PC so I go get it and bike around again. Another five or ten minute later and: Cyndaquil. What? Why do I have two of these? Back in the PC with you, I have a Quilava!

-After dropping Cyndaquil in the PC, I got to the Ice Path to train Quilava. He’s at a level where he’s able to battle a bit for himself. Since he’s a traded Pokémon, he’s levelling up pretty quickly. It’s great that he gets 50% more experience points than my non-traded Pokémon. Since I’m back in the Ice Path I’m taking the time to make sure I got all of the items in the cave. I use the Dowsing Machine and right away I find a hidden Revive! That’s a pretty sweet item to find just laying around.

 

I finally find a replacement for Pidgeotto.

-I’m sick and tired of Pidgeotto’s uselessness. I gave my friend my Platinum game to trade my Skarmory from that game to my Heart Gold game since it can’t be caught in that version. It’s at level 53. I’ll definitively use it to replace Pidgeotto with a level like that. I might not keep him until the end of the game but he’s a pretty great asset to my party for now. That’s a total of two non-evolving Pokémon in my party. I hope it’s not the start of a trend for me.

-I keep on training the party by running up and down Route 45 and 46. I’ve done some good training and I feel like I’m ready to take on Clair, the Blackthorn City Gym Leader. Clair uses dragon type Pokémon. I’ve got a level 53 Skarmory and my Feraligatr knows Ice Fang which I’m pretty sure is super effective against dragon type. Anyway, I feel ready and I’m sure my Quilava will get some good experience points holding the Exp. Share (plus the trade boost).

-I have a feeling I’ll be fighting tons of Dratini in this gym. The guy at the door confirms that the Ice Types are weak against dragon. It sucks for Clair that her village is at one of the entrances to the Ice Path. Seems like a poor location to start a dragon-type gym.  I have no idea who this guy or this group of guys are standing at the entrance of every gym but they usually give you helpful tips regarding type advantages. I’ll be sure to say thanks to him on my way out.

-Feraligatr’s Ice Fang is doing a great job against all of these Dratini and Dragonair from the trainers in the gym. Quilava is already at level 26! It’s great how fast he’s levelling up. I’m getting a bit annoyed at all the trainers. There seems to be more than usual. At least I’m getting experience and money out of it. I finish beating all of the trainers so I take a break and run to the Poké Center to heal up before the battle with Clair.

-She starts out with a Gyarados. I swap out my Feraligatr for Ampharos. Gyarados uses Dragon Rage. Ampharos uses Discharge but Gyarados gets to do another Dragon Rage first. He’s fast but the Discharge ends up being a one-hit KO.

Clair, the eight and final gym
leader of Johto. 

-Clair sends out a Dragonair. I swap in my Feraligatr. Feraligatr attacks with an Ice Fang and Dragonair uses Thunder Wave and paralyze my Pokémon. Clair uses a Hyper Potion and heals all the damage Feraligatr did with Ice Fang. Feraligatr uses a couple more Ice Fang attacks and Dragonair faints.  

-Clair sends out another Dragonair. Feraligatr is still paralyzed but I use Ice Fang again. It doesn’t do anything because of the paralysis. Dragonair keeps on using Dragon Pulse to the point where I have to heal Feraligatr. I use a Moo Moo Milk (shit, I’m running low on those) and he heals up nicely. I defeat the second Dragonair with an Ice Fang.  

-Kingdra is Clair’s last Pokémon. I send my Ampharos in but he faints in two hits before being able to do any damage. I send out Skarmory. He also faints. My only option left is to send out Feraligatr again but he needs some status healing (still paralyzed) and his HP is low. I learn the hard way that Kingdra has Hydro Pump and Hyper Beam! Come on! I eventually get him to faint all thanks to Feraligatr’s good defence and Ice Fang.

-I defeated Clair, booya! I’ve got to go pick up some more Moo Moo Milk. I used my last two during the Gym Leader battle. I got and buy the milk and then I fly back to Blackthorn City to go to the Dragon’s Den. I want to catch a Dratini.

-It’s going to be difficult to catch a Dratini because the water surface in the Den is full of Magikarp. They’re the worst. You don’t even get good experience point fighting them. There’s a Dragon Shrine but I need to use Whirlpool to get there. I need to go teach it to a Pokémon but I don’t want to teach anyone in my party. I make a quick trip to the Poké Center.

-Back in the Dragon’s Den I go into the temple. There is an old man who asks me silly questions. Clair shows up and is blown away that I’ve passed the old man’s test. She reluctantly gives me the gym badge I won while defeating her in battle, which she refused to give to me earlier.

-I decide to stick around in the Dragon’s Den in the hopes of catching a Dratini. I want one really badly. I stay so long that my Ampharos runs out of PP for all of his offensive moves. As soon as I put Sandslash as my lead, I encounter a Dratini, of course. I send in Kingler (which I only have because I needed a water type that could learn Whirlpool) and I use BubbleBeam. Dratini’s HP is in the yellow so I send in Ampharos and paralyze it. I toss a few Net Balls and then a few more Ultra Balls then I finally catch it! It took quite a bit of balls but it was worth it because you don’t really get a lot of chances to catch a Dratini. I get the hell out of there before I bump into any more Magikarp.

Clair's Dragonairs were pretty tough, but
not as tough as her Kingdra.

-I get a call from Professor Elm. He wants me to visit him because he has something to show me. I fly and go visit him and, lucky me, I received a Master Ball from Prof. Elm. Nice! He suggests I go see the Kimono Girls since they’ve been looking for me. I’m not going to go right away because I want to train my team. They’re all at low levels. I want all of them to get up to around level 50. I have lots of training to do.

Pokémon caught: Phanpy, Gligar and Dratini.

Pokémon traded: Teddiursa and Skarmory.

Gym Leader defeated: Clair.

Fights with Craphat (Rival): None.

Evolutions: Egg to Cyndaquil and Cyndaquil to Quilava.

Pokémon in party: Skarmory, Feraligatr, Heracross, Ampharos, Sandslash and Quilava.

Highest level in party: Skarmory, level 53.

Lowest level in party: Quilava, level 32.

Pokédex: 103

Time played:  42.39

PokéJournal: Update 015

Jynx is pretty much synonymous
with Ice Path. One of the worst
Pokémon designs.

-I pick up where I left of many weeks ago. I’m on my way to Blackthorn. I'm taking my time, training and catching Pokémon. Before I go in the mountain I'm making sure to explore around it and find all the items and trainers.

-I stocked up on items before heading out. I had made some money fighting Team Rocket. Finding the Amulet Coin helped a lot, too. I bought everything I thought I needed and I still have money left. I'm pretty sure my money problems are over. About freaking time.

-Ralph just called me. He's on route 32 and wants to battle. Oh yeah, time to fly, Pidgeotto.

-It's impressive; Ralph has a level 40 Seaking! Awesome. I wasn't expecting a good battle but this is nice.

-Every once in a while I like to take a look at my party and see if there's some way I can improve on it. I really like Heracross right now. She's well balanced. She's got some fighting type moves that pack a nice punch. Horn Attack and Wing Attack round out the learn set. The wing attack makes it useful when fighting bug and grass types, which is handy to have in my party since my starter is weak to grass. It's nice to know there are Growlithe and Heracross that can back up Feraligatr when he needs the help.

-I've taken the time to level up Sandslash. Why, I'm not entirely sure. He's just my mule but he's got decent stats. More importantly he's got immunity to Electric type which is something I can most likely put to good use. It’s also a good idea to keep him up to a level that is close to the ones of the other Pokémon in the party. 

I love this little guy. His evolved
forms are also pretty great.

-The two Pokémon that disappoint me at the moment are Growlithe and Pidgeotto. Growlithe's HP and Defence are less than impressive. I'm hoping that evolving it would take care of that. The problem is that I need a Fire Stone and there's not one in sight. Pidgeotto, well, he's just disappointing all around. The only good thing about him is that he can use HM Fly. His learn set is pretty bad. Heracross learnt Aerial Ace before Pidgeotto! That's ridiculous! According to my research Pidgeotto will never learn it by levelling up because he sucks. I'm thinking I might have him share the role of mule with Sandslash. I looked into it and it’s not going to work. Sandslash knows Headbutt, Cut, Strength and Rock Smash. Pidgeotto can't learn any of those. Useless! I might want to switch for a different flying type. Maybe Fearow or someone. Having him share the mule load with Sandslash, it liberates his learn set for some ground type moves. I'll have to do a bit of research before making the decision. If I choose to switch another Pokémon, I'll have to train it quite a bit. It's a big decision.

-Possible replacements: Skarmory (Rock Smash), Delibird, Farfetch'd (Cut), Togekiss (Rock Smash),

-I think I’ll settle for Skarmory. I will be teaching it Fly, Rock Smash, Roost and Brave Bird. Now I’ve got to keep my eyes open for one. I have no idea where I can find them in the wild or if they’re even available in Heart Gold. I’ll have to check on Bulbapedia.

-Ice Path, weeeeee! Ice without skates! Weeeeeee -- Wam! Hit a wall. I always enjoyed the ice Surface puzzles. The Ice Path has tons of puzzles. It takes time and you occasionally have to move boulders but you get some nice items. The more time you spend on the puzzles the more Pokémon you encounter and fight for experience points. It's also nice to get a chance to boost up the Pokédex.

 

Why are you so sad Weepinbell?
Is it because Grass Pokémon suck?

-Yup, that figures. As soon as I mention I like the Ice Path puzzles I get stuck. I can’t solve it and I’m losing patience. I guess now is as good a time as any to stop. Next time: I slip and slide in the Ice Path! Will I find a way out? Yes? No? Doesn’t really matter, I’m pretty sure I have an escape rope.

Pokémon caught: Weepinbell, Jynx and Swinub.

Pokémon traded: None.

Gym Leader defeated: None. I’m stuck in a freakin’ cave!

Fights with Craphat (Rival): None.

Evolutions: None.

Pokémon in party: Same as always.

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at 40.

Lowest level in party: Pidgeotto at 30

Pokédex: 98.

Time played: It’s been so long since my last  Pokéjournal Update I forget I even had to write this down.

PokéJournal: Update 014

-I’m back in the game; it's time to beat Team Rocket and put an end to their radio signal conspiracy. Their

plan to force Pokémon to evolve is nothing short of cruel and I won't stand for it!!

-More importantly I want to beat Team Rocket so I can get another gym badge! I just want to advance in the game play. I feel like I haven't progressed a lot lately.

-Poké battle! I normally use my starter to fight any other kind of Pokémon, regardless of type and ability. Sometimes I forget I can't use the same barbaric strategy with my other Pokémon. If applied to the rest of the party, some of the Pokémon will nearly faint or completely faint. Case in point: Heracross vs. Zubat is a stupid fight. Poor Heracross has four HP!

-I need a card key! Where to find it, where to find it? Oh, I know, the one option you have while facing a gang of thugs in a tower: up!

-I find the radio tower Director on the top floor. It's Petrel impersonating him. I should have known! Slimy Team Rocket loser! Naturally I defeat him. He didn't make it easy for me, though. He's got a full party and he uses a lot of Weezings and Koffings. All my Pokémon keep getting poisoned and it’s frustrating. Growlithe was a little trooper and defeated five of those poison puffballs. His HP sucks, but he's a tough little guy.

-Petrel gives me a basement key which isn't the key I'm looking for but it will, hopefully, lead me to the key I need to put an end to Team Rocket's tyranny.

-Perfect timing, Craphat shows up and challenges me to a battle. Yay for good experience points! Because my Pokémon are awesome, Feraligatr makes Meganium faint in two hits. Type disadvantage, you say? Ha! I laugh at your puny dinosaur and flower themed Pokémon. Ah ha ha!

-All these battles are making a dent in my status healing items. I could walk to and from the Poké Center but I'm too lazy. I'd rather stock up at the Poké Mart later. It's conveniently opened 24/7, even on Holidays! I'll have to make a special trip to go buy more Moo Moo milk though.

-Stop poisoning my Pokémon! Blah! I'm getting tired of this. Stop fighting dirty Team Rocket. Oh, never mind.

-Finally, I find a hidden item. It's a Max Potion, booya!

-Over in the adjacent hallway, I find another hidden item. It's a Revive. Mega sweetness. The Dowsing Machine in Heart Gold is far superior to the one in Platinum. I really like it.

- I found the real Director. I'm comin' to kick your ass, Team Rocket lieutenants! After I heal my Pokémon, of course.

-Yes! I found an Amulet Coin! When the Pokémon holding the Amulet Coin enters a trainer battle, you get twice the prize money. Where was this item at the beginning of the game when I had money troubles? Nowhere!

-I’m in a warehouse now and I'm looking for hidden items. Found an Antidote, a Super Potion, and a Parlyz Heal. It's been a good haul for hidden items today.

-I easily defeated two of the three Team Rocket Executives. I've only got one more to go, Archer. He sends out a little Houndour. I've got Heracross as my lead which is good because of the Amulet coin but bad because Houndour has a major type advantage. I switch him out for Feraligatr who makes short work of the little fire dog with Surf. Archer then sends out Koffing. Poisonous jerk. I hate those floating bastards. Again, I use Surf and it takes him out in one shot. Archer sends out his last Pokémon, Houndoom. At level 38 it's a breezy battle. Again, Surf takes him out in one hit. Houndoom's fast though so before Feraligatr got a chance to use Surf he had already received damage from Faint Attack. Not a problem since barely a quarter of damage was done.

-The Director shows up and gives me a Rainbow Wing as a reward. It seems to be connected to one of the legendary Pokémon (you can guess which one).

-I’m flying to Mahogany. Next time I'll be walking to the next town. I still need to go back to the Safari Zone and pass the second test. Once that's done I'll be able to catch some better Pokémon. I would really like a Larvitar.

 

Pokémon caught: None.

Pokémon traded: Tons! More on this later.

Gym Leader defeated: None.

Fights with Craphat (Rival): One and I beat him. His starter Pokémon is weak sauce.

Evolutions: None.

Pokémon in party: Same as always.

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at 40.

Lowest level in party: Pidgeotto at 30. It’s not Sandslash! What’s going on? Again, more on this later.

Pokédex: 95.

Time played: 36:39. 

PokéJournal: Update 013

This is such lazy design. It's a tad
better than it's pre-evolution, Seel,
but barely.

-Wow, it’s been so long since my last PokéJournal update. The last PokéJournal was posted on the 17^th of March, that’s more than a month ago. I’ve published 12 other posts since then! Four of them were posts I made after reading novels. I’ve also moved cities and started a new job since then. How is any of this relevant to Pokémon Heart Gold? Well, it’s been so long I have no idea what I was doing when I last played! Good thing I’ve written these PokéJournals, I’ll be caught up in now time!

-So, I just finished reading all the PokéJournal updates. How do you guys read that crap? It’s less fun reading them than it is writing them (impossible!)! Also, I’m terrible! I haven’t had one easy gym battle since the very beginning. Boy, I need a Pokémon coach. Double Boy, I need a life coach. I’m twenty-two and I’m still playing Pokémon? Ah well, it’s not so bad, I’ve got a level 39 Feraligatr, YEAH!

-First things first, I’m off to fight Pryce at the Mahogany Gym. What a way to shake off the rust and warm up the muscles, eh? By beating an old man and his equally old Pokémon to a pulp. If that doesn’t put a smile on my face, I don’t know what will.

-Pryce has one of those fun ice floors in his gym. Sweeeeee! I hope I have as much fun fighting him as I did sliding around on the floor. My friend Keith warned me Dewgong is going to heal itself over and over. I’m hoping Ampharos will be able to zap it to death in a few hits as possible.

-Why is there a snowboarder in here? The floor is ice and, more importantly, it’s flat. I hope he’s not looking forward to hitting the slopes because there aren’t any for miles and miles around. Loser. Dude should be wearing skates.

-While fighting the snowboarder, I discover that Heracross is a Swinub fighting machine. I haven’t played in so long I forgot what types my Pokémon are useful against!

-Two Swinubs later, Heracross has levelled up. Yup, turns out I’m pretty good at this Pokémon training thing. Bring it on, Pryce!

-Great, the other trainer is a skier! These two have clearly been out in the cold for too long. Their brains have frozen solid and they’re completely delusional as to where they can practice their downhill winter sports.

-Sweet, my Growlithe just levelled up. Seriously guy, I’m a pro.

This dude is as weak as he looks.

-Ugh, a trainer sent out a Dewgong. Listening to Keith’s advice, I paralyze it with Thunder Wave. The only problem is that Dewgong attacked first and used Encore or some silly attack and now Ampharos is stuck doing Thunder Wave over and over. Note to fans: using Thunder Wave more than once doesn’t make the opponent “more paralyzed”. It’s a waste of PP. Stupid Dewgong.

-SIX! SIX EFFING ENCORES!! I’m gonna kick that Dewgong’s tail!!

-One Thunder Punch later, Dewgong fainted. Let’s have a moment of silence and remember the bravery with which Dewgong battled. Undaunted by its severe paralysis, Dewgong endured. You only encounter such brave Pokémon once in a -- Sweet! Ampharos levelled up! Thanks for the boost Dewgong, ya sucker!!

-I’ve fought all five trainers and there is only Pryce left. For all those fights, other than the first one, I used Ampharos. I’m somewhat concerned about PP for the oncoming battle. Especially since Dewgong is apparently going to heal itself over and over. I’ve got a feeling this might be a little tough. We’ll see.

-Since I’m not idiot, and also because I’m rusty, I’m saving the game before challenging the old fart. I’ve also established a good strategy in case Ampharos runs out of PP: kick the dinosaur’s cane out from under him, steal a badge and my TM and slide all the way out of there. Here’s hoping the skiers and snowboarders don’t have time to step out of their bindings before pursuing me and I get off scotch free. Better yet, maybe my Pokémon will be awesome and I’ll have an easy victory. At this point, either option is good in my opinion.

-I defeated Seel in one hit, using Thunder Punch. Pryce is sending out Piloswine and so I’m sending Heracross. Kick him in the tusks, Heracross!!

-After one Brick Break, Piloswine is in the red. He hits back and Heracross is still well in the green. She does another Brick Break and Piloswine slumps over, utterly defeated. Bring on the Dewgong.

-I send Ampharos back out, planning to use the type advantage to my advantage. Dewgong attacks first with Aurora Beam. A bit of damage is done. Ampharos paralysis the poorly designed Dewgong and I get Ampharos to use Charge. I’m hoping one more hit will give me my victory. Dewgong is still paralyzed and I used Discharge. It’s a one-hit KO guys. Keith, you’re a wimpy trainer for having to deal with Dewgong healing nearly a dozen times. Clearly I haven’t lost any of my skill as a trainer.

-As soon as I step out of the gym, Prof. Elm calls me. It seems Team Rocket has taken over the radio broadcast tower in Goldenrod. Guys, I don’t have time for this, I want to go back to the Safari Zone and do my second test. Then again, that can wait. Let’s get some Pokémon training done. Who knows, maybe I’ll find some hidden items at the broadcast tower. Yes, yes. Hidden items are great. Even the items I’ll never use are great because I can sell them. Money, moneeeeyyyyy!

-Haha, I started to walk to Goldenrod when I remembered Pidgeotto knows how to fly. Oops!

-I got to the radio tower but the TR grunt doesn’t want to let me in! I’ve got to find a TR uniform and sneak in. Where the heck do I go for that? I run around town, jumping in and out of buildings trying to find a costume. I find one in the Goldenrod tunnel. I look as suave and evil. Mwahahahahaha!

-The same TR grunt lets me go up the tower this time. Too bad he couldn’t have done it without hitting on me “You look good in that uniform.” Well, had I known all I needed to do was flirt with him to get access to the tower; I would have done it long ago. Stupid grunt is wasting my time!

It's a buffalo without a body! This
is as lazy a design as Dewgong, but
I can't help but like it anyway. 

-Craphat shows up and ruins my disguise. The TR grunt is upset that I fooled him and so he challenges me to a fight. Come on, my wheels are spinning in the mud here guys, I just want to go up in the tower!

-Somehow Ampharos levels up again. It’s not even holding the experience share. What a strong trainer I am!

-The next grunt I fight has five Rattata. I send out Pidgeotto to train him up a bit and I use his only good attack, Fly. It takes an extra turn to defeat them all but it’s essentially a one hit KO for every Rattata. It’s good training.

-Pidgeotto is more or less out of commission. He got poisoned after fighting two Grimers and I just don’t feel like spending all my money healing him up. I gave him an antidote and he’s just going to chill out in his Poké ball at 7 HP. I put Heracross as my lead because she’s tough.

-I cleared a whole floor and I think that’s a good place to stop for today. Next time I’m taking down Team Rocket and freeing Goldenrod City of their tyranny.

Pokémon caught: None.

Pokémon traded: None.

Gym Leader defeated: Pryce. I kicked his prune-y ass.

Fights with Craphat (Rival): None, but I did discover he has a crush on Lance.

Evolutions: None.

Pokémon in party: Feraligatr, Ampharos, Growlithe, Sandslash, Pidgeotto and, Heracross.

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at 39.

Lowest level in party: Sandslash at 22.

Pokédex: 84.

Time played:  31:04

PokéJournal: Update 012

-I’m at the Safari Zone gates but I’m not going in just yet. I want to train some more before going in. I just feel like battling for a while.

This guy's pretty awesome.

-So there seems to be Pokémon here, at the gates, which I don’t own yet. There’s a nice variety of them, too. I seem to have caught most of them now, except for Diglett. I’ve seen one twice but I keep on knocking it out in one hit, my Pokémon are too strong. Since it’s difficult to find, I’ll keep training my Pokémon and I’ll give Exp. Share to Sandshrew so that she can level up a bit. Right now, she’s too weak to successfully reduce Diglett’s HP to allow me to catch it. Here’s hoping I see another one soon.

-Yeah, tell you what, screw Diglett. I can catch the guy later. It’s off to the Safari Zone for me.

-500 bucks to go into the Safari Zone? I guess that’s ok, for all the rare Pokémon I will find. It’s also a good price when you consider you get to keep all the Safari Balls that are filled with Pokémon you caught.

-Whoa, Kangaskhan! Those guys are aweso—and it ran away. Damn. Shortly after I meet another one, bait it, but no success.

What are you?

-Third Kanga and I tried mud this time. Nope, it just makes it angry.

-So I decided to give up on Kangaskhan for a little while and I head to other parts of the Safari Zone. I hit a streak of good luck in the swamp and catch some poison Pokémon such as Ekans, Koffing, and Grimer.

-Before I went in to the SZ, the owner gave me a test to do, catch a Geodude and show it to him. I was able to do it no problem. I showed it to him afterword and he told me he’s working on a second text and he’ll call me back when he’s thought of what will make a good test.

-Once more into the Zone, off I go! I start in the mountains because I want to catch a Larvitar.

-Alright, I caught a Kangaskhan! What a successful day at the Safari Zone.

-I’m in Mount Mortar and Sandshrew just evolved. Aw, yeah. He’s the same cute guy as before but now he’s spiky.

-I’m using the Dowsing Machine to find hidden items. So far I’ve found one Hyper Potion and one Ultra Ball.

This loser thought he
could be the next Giovanni.

-So far Mt. Mortar is pretty boring. The Pokémon are all around the mid teen levels and I own all the Pokémon. I’m essentially just running around finding all the items. I’m barely training since the Pokémon are so weak. It's kind of boring.

-Another hidden item found. This time it’s a Max Repel.

-There’s a random dude chilling in the middle of Mt. Mortar. All he has is a level 19 Slowpoke. No wonder he’s stuck here. Dude needs an Escape Rope.

-I caught a Mankey. It was the simplest thing. I tossed a Quick Ball and bam, done. It’s easier than using a Safari Ball.

-I feel like I’ve just been wandering somewhat aimlessly for the last little while and I think it’s time to get back into story mode. I run north towards the Lake of Rage to find Lance and his awesome Dragonite. He brings me to the weird shack at Mahogany Town. Let’s battle some Rocket Grunts.

-There are statues of Persian all over and when you cross paths with it there are two Rocket Grunts who show up and battle you one at a time. If my Pokémon were weak I’d try and avoid it but whatever, bring on the baddies. It's good training.

-I was hoping I would be able to cross the Persian’s path back and forth and fight the grunts more than once but it’s only a one time deal. It also gets a little monotonous after a while because the two grunts are the same. They just come back with their Pokémon all healed up and fight you again and again.

-I found a hidden Revive item!

I finally got myself a Machop.
He looks super cool. 

-I also found a switch that turned off the Persian statue alarm system. Some random grunt is telling me they have explosives in the floors! Why would you do that? This is your base of operation, dude. Do you like walking on explosive floors? You’re nuts!

-So it turns out this booby trapped floor is set with Pokémon and not explosives. I got freakin’ Voltorbs attacking me. Time for Sandslash to make himself useful, you know, other than being a mule. Aw, poor little Voltorb’s move don’t work on Sandslash, muahahahahaha!

-This time it’s a Geodude. Man, what other kind of Pokémon are in this floor? Yo, Team Rocket, do you guys have any strong Pokémon hiding in the floors? Ah, who am I kidding?

-Like an idiot I walked onto a teleportation circle thing. Where will this lead me? Right back at the beginning. I guess I’m walking on the booby trap floor again.

-Lance and Dragonite are on one of the floors. He takes the time to heal my Pokémon and then he runs off ahead of me. I’ll take my time and battle as many people as I can.

Dragonite is pretty cool but he doesn't really
fit as Dratini's final form. Visually, they
have nothing in common. 

-I found a Full Heal with the Dowsing Machine. I’m really enjoying using this thing. I wonder if I can find any rare or crazy items, like evolutionary stones or something.

-Does it seem odd to anybody else that when a Rocket Grunt loses a battle they give you prize money? I would think that a criminal just doesn’t give a crap.

-Hey, what’s Craphat doing here? Sup dude. I like your girlishly long hair. He’s all moody because Lance beat him and told him he doesn’t love his Pokémon. That’s what happens when you’re a mean trainer, bud. Dragonite takes a big shit on your day and Hyper Beams your weak Pokémon into oblivion.

-The leader here, Petrel, is a Giovanni impostor. Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket in the first generation of Pokémon. Petrel had a Murkrow in his office and it’s running around now. I’m following it to the true leader of this operation.

-I just reached was seems to be the end of this Team Rocket adventure. So far I’ve mostly been using Ampharos and Sandslash but I’m switching Feraligatr to my lead spot. I want to let him fight some stronger Pokémon, you know, to let him stretch his legs a little.

-This lady, Ariana shows up with one of her grunts. They challenge me to a double battle but Lance comes along and backs me up. Come on Dragonite, show me your stuff!

Ariana, a Team Rocket Executive.

-Oh wow, Dragonite is at level 40 and Feraligatr is at level 39. Not too bad, eh Lance? All in all Dragonite was helpful but he only did damage every second turn because he only used Fly.  We win the double battle without too much effort.

-There is a machine sending out the powerful radio signal that made the Magikarp evolve into the Red Gyarados. The machine seems to be powered by Electrodes. I’m going to have to battle them. I could use Sandslash but I think I’d rather use Growlithe, because why not?

-Wait a minute, can I catch one of these? Let’s give it a try. Ampharos switches out with Growlithe and paralyzes Electrode. I catch it after two tossed Ultra Balls.

-Because I did a super job, Lance gives me HM Whirlpool.

-As soon as I exit the base I get a call from the owner of the Safari Zone. He’s got the second test ready for me. Well, I’m going to fly to Kurt so he can give me my new Poké Balls and then I’ll fly to the Safari Zone. Or maybe I’ll go to the gym.

Pokémon caught: Fearow, Gloom, Hoppip, Girafarig, Magneton, Machop, Grimer, Arbok, Ekans, Koffing, Lickitung, Mankey, Aipom,

Pokémon traded: None.

Gym Leader defeated: None.

Fights with Craphat (Rival): I met up with him in Team Rocket’s base at Mahogany, but he ran away because Lance beat him in battle.  

Evolutions: Sandshrew evolved into Sandslash.

Pokémon in party: Feraligatr, Ampharos, Growlithe, Sandslash, Pidgeotto and, Heracross.

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at level 39.

Lowest level in party: Sandslash at level 22.

Pokédex: 84.

Time played: 30:11.  

PokéJournal: Update 011

I have an Ampharos now, i'm
pretty darn happy.

-Once again I’m crossing the ocean. I could have flown back to Olivine but I’d rather train my Pokémon some more. It also gives me an opportunity to fish and maybe catch some water Pokémon I don’ have yet.

-Man, I’ll tell ya what. Once I’m out of the water I sincerely hope to never see a Tentacool again.

-Surprise, surprise. The first fish I catch is a level 20 Magikarp. Flaaffy beats it... and evolves! Finally, my very own Ampharos, yes! I can’t wait to be on land and see how it looks walking behind me.

-Oo, a Chinchou. I like that there are dual type Pokémon that share contrasting types. Chinchou is an example of this with its water-electric type. I also like that those dual type Pokémon aren’t too common. There aren’t several Pokémon with water-electric type, just Chinchou and his evolution as far as I’m concerned and that makes them stand out a little from the rest of the bunch. Huh, so electric attacks are useless against Chinchou. It just absorbs it all. I’ll have to use a different Pokémon to capture this guy. Too bad I can’t use my Thunder Wave paralysis strategy.  I sent out Pidgeotto (weakness to electric type? What are you even talking about? Shut up) and he used fly (what? I don’t want Chinchou to pass out!) a couple of times. I tossed a Net Ball and Chinchou is forever mine.

-Well hello Miltank. I am going to catch you! Wow, that was way too easy. Growlithe did some damage with Reversal. Since he was at full HP the reversal was pretty weak and Miltank was barely in the yellow. Ampharos then paralyzed Miltank and I tossed a Great Ball. Done and done. Let’s all go home and relax under a tree.

I battled Jasmine a little
early, but I beat her anyway!

-I go to the lighthouse and give Jasmine the medicine for Ampharos. Jasmine runs off to the gym. Shall I follow her? I should probably train some more. Her steel and electric Pokémon will probably kick my butt. Growlithe is really the only one who stands a fair chance and he’s only at level 29. Ah, what the heck, live dangerously and all that.

-The Safari Zone guy just called. It’s open! I’ll have to go there after beating Jasmine and catch a bunch of hard to find Pokémon. Yes, I’m excited.

-The Gentleman from the lighthouse (the guy who gave me enough money to buy a house after I beat him) is at the gym. He’s cheering me on to defeat Jasmine. This is getting creepy dude. I’m not your girlfriend. This relationship is starting to make me feel uncomfortable.

-Ok, so far this gym is incredibly lame. Nobody even fights you! There are no trainers. You just walk up to Jasmine and challenge her. Ok, here goes nothing...

-Growlithe vs. Magnemite. He’s one level above Growlithe. Fire Fang almost takes him down in one hit but Jasmine uses a Hyper Potion. Magnemite paralyzes Growlithe and its Thunder Bolt attack is too strong. I never should have gone to the gym! I switch out Growlithe for Feraligatr, he’s got the type disadvantage but he’s super strong so who cares. While Feraligatr takes some hits, I take the time to heal Growlithe’s status and HP. Feraligatr fainted (what? He’s a water type!) so I send Growlithe back out. Growlithe defeats Magnemite with Fire Fang.

-Growlithe vs. Steelix. Yup, I don’t see how this can end well for me. I should have trained my Sandshrew! Growlithe gets three hits in before he faints. I switch out to Heracross. Its Brick Break technique is probably super effective against a steel type. Nope, I changed my mind. I’ll revive Feraligatr. Steelix isn’t electric so he should have no problem fighting him. Feraligatr uses Surf and it takes out Steelix in one hit.

 

-Feraligatr vs. Magnemite. Aw crap, here we go again. How many hits until Feraligatr faints? Apparently only one. I send in Ampharos. He’s doing well, Magnemite is in the red. Jasmine uses another Hyper Potion. It takes several hits but eventually Ampharos wins. Phew! It was a close call, guys. Sure, I could have used another revive on Growlithe but they’re super expensive. I’m glad I chose to challenge Jasmine because I wooooon! Tra la la la, lee!

-My mom called telling me I have an item at the Poké Mart. It’s a Moon Stone! Awesome, thanks mom! It’s the first really awesome item she sends me. Ok, now go find a Fire Stone. My Growlithe needs to evolve.

-You know you’re training hard when the Pokémon you’re training runs out of PP for all his attack moves. Way to go Growlithe.

-All of a sudden I realize my money problems are over. I have just above 20,000. Moomoo milk on me, guys.

-I’m on my way to the Safari Zone and I’m taking the time to train some Pokémon while catching some new ones. I like finding hidden items. I just found a pearl on a random patch of sand in the water on the way to the Safari Zone. Gonna sell it for some moh-naaaaay!

I never saw a Shellder but I would live
a happy life if I never saw this guy
and his pre-evolution form ever again.

-Shellder, why are you so hard to find? Who cares where Shellder is, there’s a Sleelix staring me in the face! Oh no, he fainted!

-Now that I have HM Fly, I’m going all over the place. I’m currently in Ilex Forest. Since I put Geodude in the PC, I realized I no longer have a Pokémon who knows headbutt so I’m going to find the move tutor in Ilex Forest. He can teach Sandshrew how to do headbutt and then I’ll have a near perfect mule Pokémon for my party.

-I’m at the Cliff Cave on the way to the Safari Zone and I’m looking for Misdreavus which only appears at night. It’s pretty damn rare, at least in the Cliff Cave. I’ve only seen one and being an idiot I used a dark move on it, which is super effective. It fainted after one attack. Argh, I’m hoping to see another one.

-A while later I encounter another one, only the second Misdreavus I’ve seen so far. I swap out Feraligatr for Ampharos. I paralyze Misdreavus and I use Thunder Shock. Her HP is in the yellow and I toss an Ultra Ball. It’s a success. I’m very glad I got it.

You're too cute to be a pure Ghost
 Pokémon. And that fashion sense;
 look at the pearl necklace!

-Finally, I reach the Safari Zone. It didn’t have to take me so long but I was having a good time levelling up the party and catching common and rare Pokémon.

-Next time I play I’ll be heading into the Safari Zone and catching a whole bunch of Pokémon. Yeah!

Pokémon caught: Chinchou, Miltank, Golbat, Kingler, Graveler, Seel, Exeggcute, Machoke, Quagsire, Steelix, and Misdreavus.

Pokémon traded: None.

Gym Leader defeated: Jasmine. Were her Pokémon really that strong or was I too impatient and challenged her too soon?

Fights with Craphat (Rival): None.

Evolutions: Flaaffy evolved into Ampharos and Abra evolved into Kadabra. 

Pokémon in party: Feraligatr, Ampharos, Growlithe, Heracross, Pidgeotto, and Sandshrew. 

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at level 38.

Lowest level in party: Sandshrew at level 13.

Pokédex: Over sixty.

Time played: Over 23:00.

PokéJournal: Update 010

Tauros is pretty strong for a normal type.
I wish they would develop a family for him.
You could get a little calf, then Tauros, then
some huge buffalo type thing. Yeah!

-I trained a bit in the tall grass outside of Olivine City. I also took the time to heal the Miltanks at the Moo Moo Farm and they gave me a TM and a Poké Ball Seal Case as a thank you. I also bought some Moo Moo Milk because it’s a great healing item.

-I caught a Tauros!

-Some guy in Olivine asked me if I wanted to trade a Krabby for a Voltorb. I agreed only because I have no clue when I’ll see a Voltorb. Then again, there could be a Voltorb in the lighthouse but it’s just easier to trade for it since I already have a Krabby.

-I tell ya, the nicknames these guys give to their Pokémon. I’ve never felt the urge to nickname any of my Pokémon. The only time is when I accidentally select to choose a nickname so I nickname the Pokémon whatever its actual name is. I do appreciate how most Pokémon traded in game are holding items, even if it’s just a berry.

-Cool, some guy in a house gave me a Good Rod. Now I can catch decent Pokémon when I go fishing.

-Ah! It’s Raikou, the electric legendary Pokémon! Go, Growlithe, go! Ah, who am I kidding, he’s at level 40 and he’s just going to run away. I hit him with a Flame Wheel and he runs away.

Growlithe went head-to-head with Raikou
and survived. Cus he's tough like that.

-Just a couple minute later, Raikou appears again. He’s kept the damage Growlithe inflicted on him just a moment ago. That’s pretty helpful. Once my Pokémon are stronger and I have Ultra Balls or Heavy Balls I’ll have to go hunting for it with a Ghastly that knows Mean Look or something.

-I’m off to the lighthouse. The Gym Leader is there and I’ll have to go find her at the lighthouse in order for her to return to the gym. Then I’ll kick her butt!

-Wow, I just fought a Gentleman in the lighthouse and he gave me 4,400 for beating him! I love battling with Gentlemen because they give you so much money. Oh yeeeeeah.

-It’s Growlithe vs. Growlithe! Mine’s at level 24, the other is at level 18. My Growlithe won even though the other guy used a Full Restore. Sucker.

-Whoa, there is a weird kind of 3D section in the Lighthouse. It’s impressive but it’s also a bit weird.

-I really like areas like the lighthouse. It’s full of trainers and they all have a nice variety of Pokémon types. It’s good training for my party. I’m also making some good money.

-For some reason, my mother’s called me several times now telling me she bought some items for me. The last time I was at the Poké Mart there were four different orders from my mom! There was three types of berries and one Super Potion.

-There is an Ampharos at the top of the Lighthouse that is sick. Jasmine, the Gym Leader of Olivine City, asked me to go to Cianwood City and get some special medicine to heal Ampharos. Man, all I do lately is healing other people’s Pokémon. Off to Cianwood, I guess.

-The way to Cianwood City is by the sea. I’ll have to use surf and fight tons of wild water type Pokémon and dozens of water type using trainers. It’s going to be a party and a half for my Flaaffy but I also want to take the time to train Feraligatr and Pidgeotto (I feel like I’ve been ignoring him lately). I don’t like travelling so much by water. There are so many darn water type Pokémon it gets a little annoying after a while. It will give me a chance to catch some Pokémon and work on the Pokédex though, that’s always a good thing.

-It seems like a weird choice to train Feraligatr in the ocean but he doesn’t care. He simply swims up to the plate and smacks his opponents around a little. Ice Fang isn’t super effective? Oh yeah? *Feraligatr bites them a second time, they faint, we move on with our lives*

-I got to Cianwood pretty quickly. The only time I used Flaaffy was to help me catch Mantine. Otherwise, Feraligatr is the only Pokémon I used. The Poké Center is right on the beach so I healed and then I went back out into the water because I missed a lot of trainers. There was lots of rocks and stuff to swim around and depending on the path you choose, you’ll inevitably miss some trainers unless you double back.

-Some guy in Cianwood gave me a level 20 Shuckle nicknamed Shuckie. It’s holding a berry juice. Now I can start my grand Shuckle experiment! I’ll probably wait until much later into the game, I bet this guy is a pain to level up. I’m still intrigue, though.

-Mere seconds later, I smash a rock and find a level 25 Shuckle! I fought it with Flaaffy (it was at the head of the party and I was too lazy to change Pokémon) and it took about ten hits to faint Shuckle.

This guy is awesome. 

-Score, I found a revive after smashing a rock!

-Another Shuckle battle! I use Charge in the hopes of needing less attacks to defeat it. Unfortunately, Shuckle uses Encore and Flaaffy is stuck using Charge. Oh, no. At least using Charge also increases the Special Defense. Man, encore lasts for turns and turns. When does it end? Flaaffy’s so charged he’s going to blow up the town.

-There’s one of the three legendary Pokémon, Suicune, chilling out on the beach. I spook it and it runs away. There is this guy who’s in love with Suicune and wants to catch it that pops up afterword. He wants to fight me and I’m happy to do so because he Pokémon are tough and it’s good training.

-I’m off to the gym. Chuck, the Gym Leader, is crazy. He’s meditating under a waterfall. Chuck uses fighting type Pokémon. I should probably use psychic or flying type moves but my Pidgeotto is a little weak to go up against these guys. Not only that, but fighting type have strong attack stats and Pidgeotto has relatively weak defense stats. It just doesn’t seem smart. Instead, I’m using Flaaffy to paralyze and they electrocute them. Flaaffy’s special attacks are doing some good damage. I’ll keep Feraligatr for the final fight with Chuck.

Chuck's gym was rather boring. 

-Overall the strategy worked well. Chuck’s Poliwrath was stronger than I expected. I wanted to use Flaaffy and use his electric type moves but all I could do was paralyze Poliwrath when he used Focus Punch and made Flaaffy faint. I had to rely on Feraligatr to beat Chuck and he pulled through. I used Agility to increase his speed and because of it Feraligatr always hit first so Poliwrath’s Focus Punch always missed (or lost focus or something). Unfortunately, none of Feraligatr’s attacks are effective against Poliwrath so they only did half the regular damage. That’s not a big problem though because Poliwrath wasn’t doing much damage himself and Feraligatr has good defense. The real problem was Chuck. He used a Hyper Potion on Poliwrath twice. I essentially had to defeat Poliwrath three times!

-As soon as I got out of the gym some random lady gave me the Fly HM. I used it on Pidgeotto. I think I’ll swim back to Olivine instead of flying though, I would like to train my party.

-Speaking of Pidgeotto, I have to say I’m kind of disappointed with him so far. I remember him being much stronger than what he is now. I might have to look into getting another flying type Pokémon to replace him. I might not, though. I have to look at its stats, the learn set and the TMs it could learn throughout the game.

-That’s it for today, I did a lot. Next time I’m off to Olivine where I will heal the Ampharos (and hopefully evolve an Ampharos of my own) and I’ll also go up against the Gym Leader.

I don't know what a pig monkey is but
Primeape is very cool.

Pokémon caught: Magnemite, Farfetch’d, Tauros, Staryu, Mantine, and Shuckle.

Pokémon traded: Krabby for Voltorb.

Gym Leader defeated: Chuck.

Fights with Craphat (Rival): None.

Evolutions: None.

Pokémon in party: Flaaffy, Heracross, Pidgeotto, Sandshrew, Growlithe and Feraligatr.

Highest level in party: Feraligatr at level 35.

Lowest level in party: Sandshrew at level 13.

Pokédex: 55.

Time played: 21:12. 

Pokémon Spotlight: Shuckle

Look at that face. Even he's thinking
you're nuts for sending him out to battle.

My friend Keith and I were talking about various strategies you could use to build a strong Pokémon party. I jokingly suggested Shuckle but after a little bit of thought I started to wonder if maybe you could raise a Shuckle to be a worthy adversary in a battle. Let’s take a closer look at Shuckle and see if he could be a good Pokémon to keep in your party.

The most notable thing about Shuckle is its record breaking Defense and Special Defense stats. Here is its stat breakdown: 

I know how that looks at first glance. It looks terrible. However, look at the total stat. 505 for a total stat is good. I would consider anything about 500 a good total stat and therefore, in most cases, a good Pokémon. To put its total stat in perspective, Pokémon such as Machamp, Ninetales and Honchkrow all share a total stat of 505. The problem with Shuckle is do you train it to be a strong Pokémon in battle? There must be something about its defense and special defense that is worth our time… or maybe not?

Shuckle does not evolve from or into any other Pokémon. It’s a dual type bug and rock. It can have either Gluttony or Sturdy as a battle ability and it has Contrary as a hidden ability. Gluttony will make it eat a held berry at 50% HP instead of at 25% HP. It’s not super useful but considering the low HP stat, it could come in handy I’m sure.

Sturdy is a good ability for Shuckle. I would assume that because of its overall high defence it would still take a strong Pokémon multiple moves to defeat it. Because of that, your opponent might want to use a one-hit KO move (such as Horn Drill for example) to defeat Shuckle. Sure, one-hit KO moves have a low accuracy rate but you wouldn’t really have to worry about that because Shuckle’s attack and special attack stats are so low. I think your Pokémon is safe. Anyway, Sturdy protects Shuckle from one-hit KO moves! That’s a pretty cool ability.

Another strategy that could be used to defeat Shuckle is to use status affecting moves on it in order to reduce its defense and special defense. In Generation V, Shuckle has the Contrary hidden ability which reverses the effects of status moves. For example, instead of reducing its defense or its speed it would increase it. That’s really sneaky. I don’t think very many people would be surprised by Shuckle’s less than impressive battle abilities. Sturdy might be the only real useful one. No help here in making Shuckle a strong Pokémon.

What about his learn set though? Does he learn any useful moves? If not by leveling up, maybe he can learn strong TMs? Here’s what I’m thinking, if he can put his opponents to sleep and poison them or use Dream Eater he could defeat them over time without worrying about getting hit with strong damage. The slow and steady strategy might be the best thing for a Shuckle.  There are a few moves that are quite worthy of attention. The first being Safeguard. By using safeguard, Shuckle is protected from status affecting moves for five turns. You can’t poison him, confused, etc. for five turns and that’s cool.

Another interesting move is Bide. When using Bide, the user cannot select a move for 2 to 3 turns (selected randomly). However, after the movie Bid will do damage that is equal to twice that of the damage that was received during the 2 to 3 turn idling time. In addition to that, the damage that the user will deal is unaffected by the type and it can also hit Pokémon using Fly and Dig. Ghost Pokémon will also be affected by the move. Shuckle clearly has the defense and special defense to endure the idling time and the effect is a strong backlash of attack against the opponent. I wonder if this could be used with the next move…

Power Trick, is a psychic type move that allows the user to swap its defense stat with its attack stat.  This means that a Shuckle could temporarily have base attack stat of 230! That’s incredible! After using Power Trick, it doesn’t really matter what move he uses, the damage is sure to be noteworthy.

Some neat things about Shuckle:

In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, if Shuckle is given berry juice to hold it will eventually, over time, become a rare candy. That’s awesome! They’re called rare candy for a reason.

Because of his Power Trick move, a level 100 Shuckle is potentially the Pokémon that can deal the most damage with one attack. 

C'mon, look at this guy. He looks so fierce.

Conclusion: 

Although Shuckle’s stats leave a bit to be desired, his learn set is adjusted to accommodate that. Moves such as Bide and Power Trick are potentially very effective moves for Shuckle to use because of his stats. The problem with his learn set is that he only learns Power Trick at level 48, kind of late to do much good during a big part of the game. He does still learn some useful moves such as Safeguard (level 14), Bide (start), Wrap (level 22) and Rest (level 27). They are useful defensive and strategic moves. Shuckle can also learn some useful TMs. Being half rock type, it can learn such damage dealing moves as Earthquake and Stone Edge which deal quite a bit of damage on their own (or not, when your base attack is 10) especially when used in combination with Power Trick.

Although I am reticent to try using Shuckle in game mode, the fact that it can learn HMs Strength and Rock Smash, Shuckle would make an interesting mule.  I am interested in trying to level one up and using it for random battles. All in all, he’s not as useless as I initially thought.