In part 2, I get in some nasty situations in the woods.
4:01 – My next destination is Eterna City. They may or may not have my bike. He-Man may or may not live there.
4:04 – Some kid just threw a Geodude at me. My own, Lebowski, rocked him. I mentioned the glacial pace of activity in my last Poké-log. I discovered that turning off the already limited battle animation speeds things up significantly. Fights are now just text and flashing monsters. It doesn’t sound exciting, but it remains engrossing. Never doubt the power of pressing a single number and watching a number climb.
4:10 – Another trainer jacked me. Even though all these random people just threaten you on your journey, they never carry more than one or two pokemon of their own. Very odd.
4:14 – Species diversity is another peculiar aspect of Sinnoh. Walk ten feet, everything looks exactly the same. But you’ll encounter entirely different species than you would less than a mile away. How do pokemon compete for resources anyway?
4:19 – Yet another trainer on the road. See what I was saying about a place that thrives on constant confrontation? Worse than GTA, I tell ya.
4:20 – The trainers on the road also have increasingly stronger pokémon as you go. Little obvious game fallacy right there.
4:25 – Lebowski just learned a new move. Would it really upset the balance of this game so much to allow your pokémon to learn more than four moves? It seems needlessly limiting, forcing you to make choices in the game world that make it more tedious than progressive.
4:26 – Apparently there’s an Eterna Forest that precedes Eterna City. Great.
4:28 – Thought this chick Cheryl in the forest was going to start some shit but she actually asked to join me through the forest. This is definitely new, an interesting twist this far into the game. Hope she doesn’t expect to share experience points…
4:30 – Cheryl’s using a Chancey, the first pokemon with healing abilities I’ve come across. That’s another thing that distinguishes Pokémon from the usual RPG: limited healing resources at your disposal. Money and items are scarce. How did a grind fest like this ever get so popular?
4:31 – Yeah, picnickers. Now your bugs are on fire. Never mess with PeteGabril!
4:36 – More creepy twins! Psychic twins dressed like the Wonder Twins! Their Abras killed Lebowski! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
4:42 – Eat it Wonder Twins.
I didn’t get my bike and I’m stuck in this silly forest that’s filled with bugs that travelers keeps saying will poison me. I haven’t been poisoned yet, but I’m getting pretty weary of the pace through Sinnoh. Sure, battles are a little bit speedier now that I’ve turned the animations off, but I didn’t cover very much ground in an hour.
Something I forgot to mention in the introduction was that I had my very first multiplayer experience yesterday. 61FPSer Derrick is playing through Pokémon for the very first time as well and he challenged me to a friendly match. The guy trounced the B.Beard All-Stars in just a few minutes; his team of water based pokemon let my rock, fire, and grass types know just what happens when their weaknesses are exploited. Afterward, I was eager to start expanding the roster and leveling up my existing creatures. Is multiplayer the only real appeal here? Is there even more waiting for me beyond Eterna City? When am I going to get my damn bike? Only time will tell, dear reader. See you next time.
Part 1
Related links:
Going Back in There: My Very First Hour With Pokemon part 1
Going Back in There: My Very First Hour With Pokemon part 2
To be a Pokemon Master