I doubt I'm ready to tangle with a Legendary. As I said, I haven't really found a good team build so I've just been rotating my roster and leveling. My Starter is the only Pokemon I have over lv. 25 if memory serves me correct.
If I recall correctly, there are some far more interesting species once you reach the very tall grass. But that’s, as always, subjective. Also, I know that you can catch this game’s pseudo-legendary in Meteor Falls, but I’m not sure if you can do it without HMs. I imagine surf may be necessary.
I read that Slaking keeps that awful ability from his first form, but hey, awesome stats! Yeah, this game has been weird because on the one the hand, I feel like there have been fewer roadblocks railroading you onto particular paths, but on the other hand, I haven't been terribly impressed with the Pokemon selection either. It has been a challenge finding a party I like so far. I think my starter and the sloth Pokemon and Gull/Pelican Pokemon have been the most impressive new entries for me.
Honestly, I’m the same - collecting is the absolute most fun thing about Pokémon. Still, I like to recommend party members simply because not all Pokémon are made equal and you can cut significantly on grinding if you just replace your mind, SMT-style Speaking of, once you obtain your badge and cross the sea, the Pokémon diversity will increase quite a bit, if I recall correctly, so you might find some cool candidates for you to consider. I’m pretty sure Feebas is caught while surfing, but I’d have to check. You’ll definitely need to surf soon too, so either the good rod is somewhere near or you can catch more than Magikarp with an old rod this time, can’t really remember. The biggest problem with Feebas is that it shows up on exactly one tile in one particular body of water, and what tile it is is randomizes by you changing that trendy name at the club in Dewford Town. You’d need to look up a guide to determine how you can increase your odds, so it can be a drag. Still, I can vouch that the result is well worth it. Not only does it look cool, but there’s a reason so many of the end-game trainers have it in their party. Vigor .org is an interesting case, btw. A lot of people actually decide not to evolve it because, while Slaking has phenomenal stats, on par with pseudo-legendaries, it’s ability significantly gimps him. In the end it’s a matter of whether you prefer a weaker but much speedier and uninhibited mon, or a much stronger one with limitations.
I already got the ghost shell from that bug type. Surskit does lose it's unique typing but I'm like two levels away from that and I've always cared more about filling out my Pokedex than the combat aspect of Pokemon. Despite that though, I'm trying not to rely too much on my starter for Gyms. There are some interesting typing going on in this game, but I wish the designs were a bit better for a few of them. Thanks for the tip on that one Pokemon, I'll have to keep an eye out. Sadly, I only have an Old Rod so I've been seriously struggling to catch more fish based water types. I think Bugs and Normal types make up the majority of my Pokedex at the moment.
Tbh, I’d stick with something that can fly - remember HMs are a thing all the way until generation 7 Golbat actually evolves into Crobat now with enough happiness, and that’s definitely one good non. Peliopee is pretty trash though, and Surskit’s evolution isn’t really much to write home about since it loses its unique typing and becomes a generic bug/flying. Want an interesting bug Pokémon? Catch a Nincada and get it up to the point that it evolves (lv 20 or 25, I think), but make sure you have at least empty space in your party. Something interesting will happen Gyarados is always a good choice, but with Hoenn’s abundance of water types, you might want to look around more before committing. Personally, I’d recommend Feebas. It’s kind of a Magikarp expy in that ynevolved it’s dumb and ugly, but it’s one of my absolute favorite once it evolves. There are two issues however. 1) Catching it is an incredibly difficult task with tons of RNG that can screw you over and you basically can’t do it without a guy or unless you get luck, and 2) evolving it is tricky as well because it’s level doesn’t matter - it’s Beaty stat does. It will only evolve once you max out beauty. So it’s definitely a cumbersome process, but if you’re interested in a challenge, you should try it - the resulting Pokémon is really something imo. And yeah, your dad is next. I wouldn’t stress about grinding though, your Combusken will probably sweep him.
Nostalgia is hard with some people it seems. In Ruby news, I FINALLY reached the fourth Gym after thwarting Team Magma from using the meteorite to activate the volcano. Got my butt kicked at the Fire gym and barely made it out if my Combuskin wasn't so freaking resilient and I got super lucky with the charm effect. Her Overload move kept decimating my team. I definitely need to level up my overall team a bit better and get all of my Pokemon to the Lv 25. mark I feel just so I can have options for the later gyms. I picked up my Zubat and Aron I left at the daycare, and after many trials and tribulations, I finally won a damn contest. So, I'm guessing its time to deal with the Old Man because there are no other gyms I can reach at the moment without Surf or Fly and I've been running around in circles for quite a bit to realize this. I also figure I should take the meteorite I rescued back to Dr. Cozmo for a reward or something. My current team is my Starter who is Lv. 30, a Surskit I'm trying to evolve, a Vigaroth, Aron, Pelican, and a Golbat. I'll probably drop the Pelican and Golbat for the Numiel and maybe one of the many Normal types I've been neglecting. That or Magicarp, since he's not far off from evolving into a Gyrados and I reaslly should have considered that before going to the last gym.
Funnily, people are already making edits removing the socks and enlarging the boobs. Because people are dumb.
As someone who was never particularly partial to any of VII's voice cast, I'm cool with the cast being replaced, especially if they get rid of Cid's annoying southern accent. KHII sort of reminded me how much I hate a lot of Aerith's English VA. I actually like Tifa's minor redesign, though I'm kind of amused she gained a new piece of fetishware for fanboys with the thigh high socks. Overall, I feel SE really brought it this year compared to other studios except maybe Nintendo.
