Chapter 13 - Giving up the Ghost

I had to do some grinding if I wanted to beat the Elite 4. For a start I only had four Pokemon who were battle-worthy, and they were only level 51. They wouldn’t stand a chance against the Champion’s level 58 Metagross – a pseudo-legendary (meaning very high stats) Psychic/Steel type (meaning very few weaknesses). So, to training I went, full of hope and optimism having finally reached the end point of my journey.

My joy was to be short-lived, however. I was training Spice at level 53, when disaster struck. She had almost half health, which had been enough to avoid danger until now, when she took a critical hit from a wild Lairon’s Iron Tail. Spice was down. I had just three battle-ready Pokemon left, and I was still underleveled.

At this point I seriously considered giving up; having come so far, this was a hefty kick in the sack, especially given that Spice had the enviable ability to take no super-effective hits from 3 of the Elite 4, and to dish out super-effective hits to one. I had to plough on though; I hadn’t struggled past Flannery and Norman and lost so many dear Poke-friends to bottle it at the death.

But I needed a new team member.

I looked in my PC box. I didn’t have too many options; a bunch of Pokemon that would never be strong enough, a few strong Pokemon whose types rendered them useless for the task ahead, and a few decent Pokemon who were of the same types as my current team. I decided to take a two-pronged approach.

Firstly, I’d withdraw Rebound and put him in the Daycare centre. For those new to the idea, the Daycare centre is a place to store your Pokemon mainly for breeding purposes. The bonus is that any Pokemon left at the Daycare gains 1 XP point for every step the player walks, meaning they can level up as you progress through the game. The drawback is that any new moves they learn automatically replace their old ones.

By this time Rebound was a Wobbuffet, and had learned all the moves he was ever going to learn (Wobbuffet’s an odd Pokemon, as he only knows countering moves – he can only damage an opponent after he takes damage himself). He was the perfect candidate for the Daycare, and he might be a genuine life-saver.

My second approach was more conventional; I’d withdraw Gem and train her up, teaching her Ice Beam so that she could be back-up for Crash against those pesky Dragon-types. Plus, When Gem evolved into Tentacruel, she’d be quick and blessed with a monstrous Special Defence stat, which is never a bad thing.

So, to grinding I went. With only four Pokemon + Rebound (who was pretty much an unknown quantity) I figured I’d need to be over-levelled to stand a chance. I spent a good four hours buffing out my team, and finally I thought I was ready. Ready to become the Champion. Ready to avenge my fallen comrades. Ready to take on the Pokemon League.


-Samwise