Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello everybody, I’ve decided to do a little something to do during my free time. I’ve decided to do a Let’s Play. Not just any Let’s Play. What I’ve decided to Let’s Play is:



Now, here are some things you should know for this LP:
- I’ll be cutting out battles that I think don’t matter, even if I take screenshots of them.
- Any similarities to Let’s Plays of FireRed done by others, including the likes of Chuggaaconroy and IronFury, will either be an affectionate nod or completely accidental.
- I’ll be choosing Charmander for this LP because he’s like the Hard difficulty option based on how this game is laid out.
- This playthrough will be split into Chapters.
- Yes, I am using an emulator. I don’t have the proper equipment to avoid this…an actual FireRed game cartridge would be a nice place to start, but some a*****e stole my last one years ago and I’ve been busy spending my money of other games and some other material goods.
- I’ll be occasionally switching Pokemon in-and-out of my party depending on what the situation is, but I should have a definite team ready by the fourth or fifth gym.
- Technical and Gameplay aspects of the game I'll only go over once whenever they appear. After that, if they appear again, I'll just say some small comment or something witty like that.

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HERE IS THE CHARACTER SHEET (Filled out as the game goes on):

HUMANS:

- Tyler: Our protagonist. A 20-year old man trapped in an 11-year old body being forced to fill out an encyclopedia for a senile professor for no pay or pension. Dreams of becoming the worlds best marine biologist and the world's best drummer, being a fan of all things metal (and rock).

- Professor Oak: A senile old Poke'ologist and grandfather to our rival. Employs 11-year old children to carry out his dirty work. Claims to have been a hot s**t trainer back in ye ol' days, but nobody believes him.

- Garth: Our rival and village a*****e. Spiked-hair and has an impatient attitude. Also has a girth the likes of which you wouldn't believe. We may have to kill him.

- Mr. Saint: A mysterious, unseen benefactor who leaves items scattered all across Kanto for worthy trainers to use...and by "worthy trainers," we mean Tyler because he's the only one who actually picks them up.

- Bob: A nerdy loiterer who hangs out at the Gyms in Kanto to harass trainers. The advice he gives so far is pretty useless.

- Mom: The one who gave Tyler life. Won't stop drinking.

GYM LEADERS:

- Brock: The Rock-type Gym Leader. Loves saying 'rock-hard.' Won't open his eyes.

TEAM MEMBERS:

- Lizardo III: A Charmander and fire-type of the group. Read the goddamn LP if you want to know why he's called "Lizardo III." Specializes in Speed and Special Attack. Has a Naive nature, but seems to hate everything except for Tyler and his comrades for some reason. He also happens to be ludicrously ******** metal.

- Spearow: As yet unnicknamed. The flying-type of the group, Spearow has a bashful nature and has developed a rivalry with Garth's Pidgey since being defeated by it's hands (wings...talons...whatever). Specializes in Attack and Speed. Nickname suggestions so far: Fawkes

- Mankey: A temporary(?) member of Tyler's party. Has a hardy nature, his favorite movie is Rocky VI and he specializes in Attack and Speed.

- Pikachu: An electric-type new to the party and so far the only female of the group. Has a docile nature and is a mean cook due to being a woman...and that she can fry things with electricity. Specializes in Speed. She may or may not be a temporary member.

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Like I said, I'll try to create a steady schedule, depending on my mood and what's going on in my life. Since I'm in college most of the year, my upload schedule will probably be no more than two chapters per week at best. UPDATE (3/22/11): Due to time constraints, my schedule is more than likely to slip into infrequent updating, and by that, I mean "I'll make another chapter whenever I feel like it."

I welcome comments, as well as any criticism as long as it's constructive.

Other than that, please enjoy.

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Pokemon is owned by Gamefreak and Nintendo.

Programs and sites used for this LP:

VisualBoyAdvance
Screenshot Utility 1.0
ScreenHunter 5.1
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9
Photobucket
Bulbapedia (for information & non-screenshot images)
Serebii (for information)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue: Our Journey Begins...After This Crap -------------------------Page 1
Chapter 1: Poke'ologists, Douchebags, Lizards, and Turtles ---------Page 1
Chapter 2: Use Old People As Road Blocks ------------------------------Page 1
Chapter 3: Here There Be Bugs --------------------------------------------Page 2
Chapter 4: A Lesson in Astrophysics --------------------------------------Page 2
Chapter 5: Kicking Rocket a**...For Science!!!---------------------------Page 3
Chapter 6: [Working Title] ------------------------------------------------Coming Soon!

Chapter 1: Poke’ologists, Douchebags, Lizards, and Turtles.

Last time on LP: Pokémon FR, we got through the intro and that's about it.

This chapter, we’re going to be setting off on our journey.



First things first: go onto your PC in the corner and withdraw the one Potion that’s stored in your Item Storage Box. Potions will restore a Pokémon’s HP by 20, so it’s pretty useful early in the game.


All right, let’s move out. By the way, I think that console in front of the TV is a Super NES, but I didn’t check. All Pokémon games make homage to Nintendo consoles depending on which generation the games were made. For example, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire had a GameCube in your room and I think Diamond and Pearl had a Wii in your room.


Hey, it’s my Mom! Hi, Mom! Please stop drinking.



You do realize that liberals control the media, right Mom? Everybody says that liberals are evil. If they control the media, than everything on TV is evil. Therefore, TV is evil. If you support the information on it, then that means you are evil as well. Please stop drinking.


I had to look this up. Apparently this is a reference to the movie “Stand by Me.” The four boys are walking down a railroad track to see a dead body. I love dark material being snuck into kid’s games.

Anyway, bye, Mom! Please stop drinking.


And here is Pallet Town. I never understood why they call it a town. There’s only like, three buildings and barely even a half-dozen people. “Village” might be a more appropriate term.


This place is way too boring! I’m leaving!


And somebody spoils our fun.


OAK: “You need your own Pokemon for protection! I know! Here, come with me!”

Great, this guy’s already trying to hire me. Well, I suppose we should follow him to his lab.


And here’s the Pallet Town laboratory. Not exactly what I’d call extensive, but that weird machine, those old PC’s and small library will have to suffice.


There’s a library back there, you could’ve read something while waiting instead of complaining.

OAK: “Garth? Let me think…oh, that’s right! I told you to come! Just wait.”

I have no comment…

OAK: “Here, Tyler! There are three Pokemon here. Haha! The Pokemon are held inside these Poke’balls.”

He thinks he’s sooo hilarious…

OAK: “When I was young, I was a serious Pokemon trainer.”

…I don’t believe you.

OAK: “But now in my old age, I have only three left, but you can have one. Go on, choose!”



This ******** guy…

OAK: “Be patient Garth! You can have one too!”


Anyway, as with all Pokemon games, we have three Pokemon to choose from as our starter. What I will do is provide links to each one to see what their stats are like, but I will also provide my own commentary.


First up is Bulbasaur, the grass starter. What each starter will do is they’ll start off pretty balanced, but then specialize in two stats. In Bulbasaur’s case, it’ll eventually specialize in Special Attack and Special Defense. It’s the only starter this generation, or in any generation I believe, that starts off as two types, Grass and Poison. It has a fairly good moveset and you can’t really go wrong with it. It’s pretty much the easy option for this game, because it has advantage over the first two gyms and it’s resistant to the third. Most LPer’s go with it, but I won’t.


Next up is Squirtle, the water starter. Squirtle will eventually specialize in Defense and Special Defense. So it’s mainly going to be a pretty bulky water type. It has okay offensive stats, but it’s primarily defensive. It’s moveset is pretty good too. Squirtle is more the Medium difficulty option for this game, because it has an advantage over the first gym, resistant but not effective against the second gym, and weak against the third.


And finally, we have Charmander, the Fire type. Charmander will eventually specialize in Special Attack and Speed, meaning if trained right, it can be a pretty decent speedy special sweeper. Unfortunatelly, Charmander has a somewhat sub-par moveset that doesn't fully take advantage of it's stats. Charmander is pretty much the Hard difficulty option for this game, because it’s weak against the first two gyms, but normally effective against the third.

It’s the popular choice and even though the internet hates popular, ******** it. I’m picking Charmander.



I named it “Lizardo” because it’s Charizard’s Japanese name Lizardon without the “N.”



Your rival always takes the one that is strong against yours.

God, what a douchebag.



And as soon as we’re about to leave and go about our business, he decides to challenge us. Is there no end to this guy’s impudence?!




Anyway, our first battle of the game!


Oak gives a bit of tutorial on how to battle. It’s a bit unnecessary but I’ll explain battling anyway. The goal of battling is to reduce the opposing ‘mon’s HP to zero using attacking moves. Each Pokemon takes turns attacking, the one with the higher Speed stat going first. The game is pretty much a textbook case of Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors; each move has its own type that can vary in effectiveness depending on the target’s type. A good example would be fire beats grass, but has little effect on water. However, neither of our Pokemon know elemental moves, so Tackle or Scratch will have to suffice.



Just like that.



There’re also moves that affect the target’s stats. In this case, Tail Whip lowered Lizardo’s Defense, meaning he’s going to be a little more susceptible to physical attacks. In turn, Charmander has a move called Growl, which lowers the target’s Attack stat, making its physical moves a bit weaker. There are also moves you can use to raise your own Pokemon’s stats, like Harden or Howl. Don’t worry, the stat changes are only temporary; they go back to normal after the battle is over, or by using certain moves like Haze.


This is perhaps one of the most boring fights in the game. All you both are doing are just scratching or tackling each other. Don’t worry. The fights get more interesting later on.


Awesome, a critical hit! Every once in a while, you or your opponent will land a critical hit, which adds a x2 multiplier to the modifier portion of damage calculation.

I’ll explain damage calculation later. Right now I don’t feel like it.


Lizardo hates puny turtles.



Sweet! Lizardo gained 70 Experience points and leveled up. Beating an opposing Pokemon nets all participating Pokemon some experience points. They are divided evenly upon the Pokemon that took part in the battle. Like, say, if two of my Pokemon battled Squirtle, 35 experience points would’ve been given to both Charmander and whatever my other monster happened to be. But since we only have Charmander, he gets it all. Leveling up means that your Pokemon gets stronger every time it gains a level. It gets stat increases and, depending on the level, learns a new move as well.


As of generation III, each time you level up, it’ll show you the new stat totals. Already Charmander is specializing in the appropriate stats.


Yay, victory!


Serves you right, you obnoxious p***k.


Also, beating trainers will net you some prize money to spend on things like Potions, Poke’balls, Antidotes, etc.

Mugging makes everything better!


If only we could raise children the same way…


Ew, no! Get the ******** out of here!


And he leaves in a fit of unpleasantness. Good riddance.


Alright, here’s a good place to leave off. I was planning on stopping as far as Viridian City, but we’ll have to go there next chapter.

Next time:

We go places…



This Let's Play is brought to you by LightsideDarksider, aka Tyler. Tyler is a sophomore Biology major at CSU Monterey Bay and hates everything just like Lizardo does...except for metal, pizza, apples, and porn.

Yeah, I keep thinking it needs to be funnier, but what I'm going for is a mixing a bit of sarcastic humor and wise-cracks with tutorial walkthrough.

I thought it was interesting with all the technical stuff thrown in, but at the same time I skipped over it. I think an IV section and a thing on Pokemon's nature would suffice better. I just never cared for that s**t, lol. But apparently it's a huge thing in Pokemon, I know Glaru and LPS are into that stuff.

Overall I did enjoy the sarcasticness and other things. A picture LP is much more different than a video LP. I like to read, not watch, but idk how others are. I'll keep up with it and give feedback as long as you do it.

I don't have a problem with comments; I just don't think you need several paragraphs explaining everything in detail.

I have no objections to explaining references and making witty comments, though.



I would push for this since it's a Let's Play. You're playing the game, but it'd be nice if we can give suggestions of things to do in the game itself. You're free to nickname pokémon if you've got a good idea, though.

CHAPTER 2: Use Old People as Road Blocks

Last time we got Charmander, battled our rival and won…in a different dimension.

A note before we begin. Hate to say it, but I screwed up my game file and had to start over. Thankfully I didn’t get very far in my last one, but we have a different Lizardo now.


Here’s the new Lizardo. Not exactly the same as the old Lizardo, but he’s still specializing in the right stats. This one’s faster, but sadly a bit weaker. Has more HP, though. Naïve nature, by the way. I’ll get into those later.

I’ve decided to take up three save slots of the save game on my emulator to prevent this from happening again.


Anyway, screw-up aside, here is where we last left off. Time for us to get going.


So long, Pallet Town! Please get more interesting when I get back.

And Mom, please stop drinking.


Anyway, here we are on Route 1. There are a couple of new Pokémon we can get here, but sadly we have no Poke’balls.




Talk to this dude here and he’ll give you a Potion. It may not be the gourmet Italian Sausage they sampled at my local Safeway a while ago, but it’ll do.


First encounter in the game and it’s one of the suckiest Pokémon that ever sucked. This is Rattata. This is the predecessor to Bidoof; they all suck, there’s way too many of them, and nobody wants them. Still looks better than Bidoof, though:

What was the Gamefreak staff on when they came up with this?


Did I mention Lizardo hates rats, too?


And here’s a Pidgey. Pidgey and Rattata are all you’re pretty much going to see on this Route. Pidgey’s an okay Flying-type to pick up, but we’ll be getting a much better Flying-type just up ahead.


Alright, Lizardo learned Ember! Ember is a pretty basic Fire-type move. It does 40 points base-damage with a chance of burning, I believe. Pretty good move early in-game…it’ll make the first dungeon a total cakewalk.


We’ve finally arrived in Viridian City, although based on the number of buildings and people, “Village” is still probably a more appropriate term. At least it’s more deserving of “Town” status than Pallet.


I’ll take this opportunity to explain some buildings. This is the Poke’mon Center. In a nutshell, it’s where you go to heal all of your Poke’mon. For free, to boot. This world must have free healthcare…friggin’ liberals. stare


And this is a Poke’Mart. As the name suggests, it’s where you go to buy items. At least there’s some commerce here.


confused The hell's going on here?



mad Well, excuse me, you old gasbag, but I don’t see your name on this road.


Yeah, you tell him, hooker!


I usually need coffee in the morning too. You don’t see me holding up public roads.


Anyway, let’s ditch this belligerent geriatric for now and do something else.

I know, let’s go shopping!


Whatever it was, Garth did it! Not me! ninja


Maybe, maybe not. What’s it worth to you?

CLERK: “His order came in. Can you take it to him?”

Well, I suppose so. But count your lucky stars, buddy. I don’t normally do this for free.


Fun fact: My last job in real life was a courier. $10 an hour to drive back and forth delivering wastewater samples while listening to heavy metal. For someone yet to hold a college degree, that’s a pretty sweet gig. They even compensated me for gas.


Let us embark on the epic courier quest!


By the way, notice these ledges? They can be jumped over from the top as a means of faster travel.


Well, back in Pallet Town. I thought I told you guys to get more interesting!

Anyway, to the lab!


He breathes fire now! Isn’t that awesome?! biggrin



We’ve had him for only, like, 20 minutes!

Why did it trust me so fast???


stare Oh yeah, Naïve nature. I forgot.



A courier’s job well done! There may not have been metal music, but at least we had a fire-breathing lizard. That’s pretty ******** metal, right? razz


A lot of people believe this to be the Master Ball, but it’s never elaborated on more than this.

OAK: “I had it on order! Thank You!”

Where’s my tip?


Oh, no... crying


stressed Great, it’s this jackass again…

GARTH: “I almost forgot! What did you call me for?”

OAK: “Oh, that’s right! I have a request for you two.”




In other words, it’s like Bulbapedia, except without all the information that’s actually useful.



Whoopty-flippin’-do…

OAK: “You can’t get detailed data on Pokémon just by seeing them. You must catch them to obtain complete data. So here are some tools for catching wild Pokémon…”


Well, this’ll certainly save us some money.

OAK: “When a wild Pokémon appears, it’s fair game. Just throw a Poke’ball at it and try to catch it. This won’t always work, however. A healthy Pokémon can escape. You have to be lucky.”

See? More proof that this guy’s lying about having once been an accomplished trainer. He tells us to "be lucky" instead of doing the logical thing and weakening a potential capture.




Aw, what a shame...


Do we get paid?



I'll take that as a “no”…






mad Hey, Spike, here’s what happened to the last guy who talked to me the way you are right now:





Dude, I’ve seen how smoking hot your sister is. I’m coming over whether you like it or not.


We begin our quest for hot a**!


Hello, beautiful. heart


Tell me about it.

Thankfully this young lady is not nearly as much an a*****e as her little brother.


Yay, I got a Town Map! Or rather a space waster, because I practically never use it.

By the way, did you know that Daisy is a pretty common hooker name?


I suppose I should at least show the Town Map. This is probably the one and only time in the entire game I’ll actually open it.

Now then, back to Viridian!!!


We’re going to be taking a slight detour onto a new route.


Behold the glory that is known as Route 22! There are two new Pokémon available on this route: Spearow and Mankey, both of which I will be getting.


Here we have a Mankey, and a pretty good one at that. It’s a pretty good fighting-type to have on a team. Mankey will only be a temporary party member for now, however. I’m going to be using him as insurance for the first gym.


I guess I’ll take this time to explain capturing. To capture a Poke’mon, you have to throw a Poke’ball at it. However, healthy Pokémon make capturing difficult. So you gotta lower its HP and also give it a status ailment if possible; makes capturing easier. But you gotta be careful; making the Pokémon faint botches the entire operation.


Here’s goes nothin’!


Awesome, our first catch of the game! Like I said, he’ll probably be only a temporary member, so please hold off on name suggestions until further notice.


And here we have Spearow. I’ll be adding Spearow as a permanent member because it’s a better Flying-type than Pidgey overall.


blaugh W00t! Another capture!


As I’ve promised, I’ll hold off on nicknaming and let you guys decide what to name it.


Okay, now I think is a good time to start an off-screen training session, so I’ll stop right here.

Next time:

Here there be bugs…


This Let's Play is brought to you by LightsideDarksider, aka Tyler. Tyler is a sophomore Biology major at CSU Monterey Bay and hasn't had his coffee yet; he's now blocking traffic on I-5.

I like Bidoof. sad

Chapter 3 might take a bit longer than usual to get up. I had to reinstall my OS and unfortunately everything necessary for the LP except the emulator, ROM, and save games were backed up.

I'll have to restart a new game and make sure this third Lizardo is the same as Lizardo 2.0 (speedy with Naive nature), as well as get a new Mankey and Spearow.

God, first LP and I'm already experiencing cases of Development Hell.