Leaf Green Retiring Run 1
Mar. 3rd, 2026 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marchionessofmustacheSooo I started the Retiring Run that I talked about here.
The first gym is pretty simple, and any of the three starter Pokemon are plenty strong enough to get you through the forest. Charmander might make things slightly more difficult when you get to Brock, but it's really not that bad I'd assume. I picked Bulbasaur, whom I named Fin, and caught a Caterpie named Miso and Weedle named Vivi to raise as part of my first badge team. I probably could have solo'd the whole thing with Fin, to be honest, but just in case he absorbed too much experience and went past the level cap, I decided to train the other two. Plus bugs are cute.
There wasn't much to note about the trip to Pewter City. Coffee guy is funny. I can't remember what he talks about in Japanese, but surely he is drunk on the ground, right? He even has rosy cheeks in the original GB games (which go away after he 'has coffee').
I did recently play up through Pewter in the GameBoy games, and I noticed some random differences as I went, but I've already forgot many of them. "I'll use Pokemon as bodyguards" girl in Pallet now says "Signs are useful" lol. At least they kept "Technology is incredible" guy in-tact! I also played up to Pewter in Let's Go Pikachu and I'm surprised some of the script seems to be identical in FRLG and LGPE.
I actually didn't get poisoned even once by any Weedles during my trip, which was nice. Brock's Pokemon were both one-shot by Fin's Vine Whip at level 12, and I think I probably would have been able to get there without needing the bugs, especially if I didn't fight any wild battles (which I did a bit).
So we have our first League Retirees!
Oh yeah, I didn't even evolve the bugs all the way, hahaha. I love cocoon Pokemon though, so it's great.
And now we're on to our next group, and off to Cerulean City. We have to get through Mt. Moon, though, and that means we need a team capable of doing that. I didn't think too much about it before starting this, but I'm going to have to plan my teams around not just the Gym Battle, but also the path to each Gym and what kinds of battles I'll be getting in along the way.
Certainly the most treacherous part of the path to Cerulean is the cave, so I picked up Mankey and Pikachu to help with all the Zubat and Geodude we will see, even in the trainer battles. Hopefully they can take on whatever else comes, too. I also plan to catch a Paras in Mt. Moon and hopefully that will help out in the battle with Misty, and hopefully Stun Spore and Poisonpowder will come in handy.
I did encounter quite a problem, though. I swapped in the new Pokemon and went to the grass to start training them before moving on to Route 3, and in my very first battle, I encountered a Weedle...
And it poisoned Della the Pikachu! And she couldn't escape... again and again... it even got a crit, and it was terrifying. I decided to just try running one last time and it worked (I would have had to retire Della right then if it didn't...) and ended up using the ONE Antidote you find on the ground... so no more of those.
I also got poisoned again from a similar situation, but I managed to get to the Center with a Potion... now I only have like 2 potions and no other items :( But both Pokemon are getting stronger... I want to get to about level 10 before I start working on Route 3. This is a little tedious, but I've done fast romps through these early games so many times that it's kind of nice to have a change of pace, even if the pace is much slower. And just trying to level up a Pikachu has proven to give me quite a bit of a scare excitement lol.
BTW I named Mankey Denise after Dens because the Pokedex entry about getting angry one minute and calm the next describe his recent moods very well lol :\
And with that I have some more grinding to do and then the long trek to Cerulean City. Our level cap this time is 21, so I kinda gotta be careful not to gain too much experience before then. If I do, I might have to grab another Pokemon to train...
I also have to think ahead because I have to have at least one Pokemon in the box ready to go when I get the Cascade Badge, though I guess I could always just allow the retirees to come out just for capturing Pokemon if I mess up and have no one on the bench XD But I am thinking about who to take to Surge already, because backtracking is going to be a pain (and for a point, impossible for a bit), so I want to get Sandshrew or Geodude along the way (or maybe both??). I think I will also use Diglett against Surge, though.
I'm also thinking about doing Nugget Bridge after the gym, as I'll already have gained way too much EXP just by passing through the cave, so it would be nice to have something other than just what's available on Route 4 for that maybe? I'm thinking just a good, hardy Normal-type Pokemon would be nice... so maybe grab a Rattata or catch Jigglypuff or something? Jiggly could be nice with Sing, Pound, Rollout, and Disable. But Rattata gets the almighty Hyper Fang. Both will be able to evolve easily enough, too. Of those, honestly, I think Hyper Fang might come in the most useful lol. Sadly just hitting hard tends to be the best solution in Pokemon's main campaign. I don't think there's another place to catch a higher-level Rattata before I'll need it after the second Gym, so I guess I gotta get it now lol.
The first gym is pretty simple, and any of the three starter Pokemon are plenty strong enough to get you through the forest. Charmander might make things slightly more difficult when you get to Brock, but it's really not that bad I'd assume. I picked Bulbasaur, whom I named Fin, and caught a Caterpie named Miso and Weedle named Vivi to raise as part of my first badge team. I probably could have solo'd the whole thing with Fin, to be honest, but just in case he absorbed too much experience and went past the level cap, I decided to train the other two. Plus bugs are cute.
There wasn't much to note about the trip to Pewter City. Coffee guy is funny. I can't remember what he talks about in Japanese, but surely he is drunk on the ground, right? He even has rosy cheeks in the original GB games (which go away after he 'has coffee').
I did recently play up through Pewter in the GameBoy games, and I noticed some random differences as I went, but I've already forgot many of them. "I'll use Pokemon as bodyguards" girl in Pallet now says "Signs are useful" lol. At least they kept "Technology is incredible" guy in-tact! I also played up to Pewter in Let's Go Pikachu and I'm surprised some of the script seems to be identical in FRLG and LGPE.
I actually didn't get poisoned even once by any Weedles during my trip, which was nice. Brock's Pokemon were both one-shot by Fin's Vine Whip at level 12, and I think I probably would have been able to get there without needing the bugs, especially if I didn't fight any wild battles (which I did a bit).
So we have our first League Retirees!
Oh yeah, I didn't even evolve the bugs all the way, hahaha. I love cocoon Pokemon though, so it's great.
And now we're on to our next group, and off to Cerulean City. We have to get through Mt. Moon, though, and that means we need a team capable of doing that. I didn't think too much about it before starting this, but I'm going to have to plan my teams around not just the Gym Battle, but also the path to each Gym and what kinds of battles I'll be getting in along the way.
Certainly the most treacherous part of the path to Cerulean is the cave, so I picked up Mankey and Pikachu to help with all the Zubat and Geodude we will see, even in the trainer battles. Hopefully they can take on whatever else comes, too. I also plan to catch a Paras in Mt. Moon and hopefully that will help out in the battle with Misty, and hopefully Stun Spore and Poisonpowder will come in handy.
I did encounter quite a problem, though. I swapped in the new Pokemon and went to the grass to start training them before moving on to Route 3, and in my very first battle, I encountered a Weedle...
And it poisoned Della the Pikachu! And she couldn't escape... again and again... it even got a crit, and it was terrifying. I decided to just try running one last time and it worked (I would have had to retire Della right then if it didn't...) and ended up using the ONE Antidote you find on the ground... so no more of those.
I also got poisoned again from a similar situation, but I managed to get to the Center with a Potion... now I only have like 2 potions and no other items :( But both Pokemon are getting stronger... I want to get to about level 10 before I start working on Route 3. This is a little tedious, but I've done fast romps through these early games so many times that it's kind of nice to have a change of pace, even if the pace is much slower. And just trying to level up a Pikachu has proven to give me quite a bit of a scare excitement lol.
BTW I named Mankey Denise after Dens because the Pokedex entry about getting angry one minute and calm the next describe his recent moods very well lol :\
And with that I have some more grinding to do and then the long trek to Cerulean City. Our level cap this time is 21, so I kinda gotta be careful not to gain too much experience before then. If I do, I might have to grab another Pokemon to train...
I also have to think ahead because I have to have at least one Pokemon in the box ready to go when I get the Cascade Badge, though I guess I could always just allow the retirees to come out just for capturing Pokemon if I mess up and have no one on the bench XD But I am thinking about who to take to Surge already, because backtracking is going to be a pain (and for a point, impossible for a bit), so I want to get Sandshrew or Geodude along the way (or maybe both??). I think I will also use Diglett against Surge, though.
I'm also thinking about doing Nugget Bridge after the gym, as I'll already have gained way too much EXP just by passing through the cave, so it would be nice to have something other than just what's available on Route 4 for that maybe? I'm thinking just a good, hardy Normal-type Pokemon would be nice... so maybe grab a Rattata or catch Jigglypuff or something? Jiggly could be nice with Sing, Pound, Rollout, and Disable. But Rattata gets the almighty Hyper Fang. Both will be able to evolve easily enough, too. Of those, honestly, I think Hyper Fang might come in the most useful lol. Sadly just hitting hard tends to be the best solution in Pokemon's main campaign. I don't think there's another place to catch a higher-level Rattata before I'll need it after the second Gym, so I guess I gotta get it now lol.
