Brain Full of Games

Happy New Year! In between work, I’ve been able to play a bit of Crystal. On Tuesday we left off with me really entering what I would refer to as the ‘mid-game’: my party is into lvl. 20, I have half of the badges (well, half of the Johto badges), and nearly 80 Pokémon. Growth and Pokédex expansion has slowed down slightly, but the story has picked up.

I think the story pacing works well; Team Rocket is teased from the Slowpoke Well to Goldenrod, with no real clues but enough of a tip off that you know they will show up later in the story. I’m excited for that but more importantly I’m excited about the Legendary Dogs (at this point I’ve already been tipped off about the Birds, too, but I have not seen them so it’s not as big of a deal… yet)! I cannot wait until I have my first random wild encounter with Raikou or Entei. I remember the first time I saw Raikou in the wild, before I understood the mechanic as an 8 year old and let me tell you, I was shocked. It was such an interesting new way of hunting Pokémon and really added a nice bit of variety to dex completion in this Gen.

I won’t sugar coat it: I’ve been in grinding hell. It is slow going and I do not have the option to pick up the Exp. Share until after the Lake of Rage (and currently I’m on the other side of the map). Basically I’ve had to surf up and down the coast of Cianwood and battling every Swimmer I could find. And where I left off today (I’m super swamped with work – deadline tomorrow – so this is all I’ve done) was training up some Fire types so I’ll be able to take on Jasmin this weekend.

So, clocking out on Friday evening and here are my stats: 86 Pokémon and 5 badges. We are getting there!