The first game in the Genlocke- Pokemon Blue! Ohhhhh Gen 1 games... I love them, but dear god. Thankfully, this journey was... mostly smooth, barring some dumb plays from me.
Snapjaw the Wartortle, level 30
Starter Pokemon in Pallet Town
My very painful lesson to play it safer... Snapjaw was, obviously, my starter, and he was very reliable! Unfortunately, due to silly behavior from me and my overestimating how much damage an Ice Beam would do against Erika's Victreebel, he got crit oneshot by a Razor Leaf... that was embarrassing.
Crownhorn the Nidoking, level 60
Caught on Rt 22
My second team member, and the foundation of the team for most of the run. Crownhorn took up his rightful place as team leader even before Snapjaw died, he did so much damage and was so reliable. This was another death that was entirely on me- I planned out Lorelei badly, and he ended up facing off against her Lapras. He very nearly got the kill he'd need, but Lapras survived 2 Rock Slides, and he went down on the first member of the League. A bad omen, for sure, but we pushed through.
Lullaby the Wigglytuff, level 61
Caught on Rt 3
Oh Lullaby... she tried so, so hard. She certainly put in a lot of work, but every victory was okay at best, and a struggle at worst. By the Champion fight with Rival, we had three team members- everyone needed to take out at least 2. She had Fire Blast, and with our team, she was best equipped to take on Venusaur. She ran out of Fire Blasts, trying to kill that thing, but it just wasn't enough. I salute her.
Melt the Victreebel, level 61, Champion
Caught on Rt 25
One of the two team members who managed to make it through to the very end. Melt was caught around Misty, and ever since she carried crazy amounts of weight. She did so much damage, she was reliable with her statuses, and Wrap Cheese was very fun to get to utilize. I think Rival's Venusaur killing Lullaby was some sort of retribution for how many times I knocked that thing out with Wrap alone over a dozen turns. I can't decide which I like better between the Oddish and Bellsprout lines, but Melt is a solid case for the latter.
Elegance the Seaking, level 61, Champion
Fished up on Rt 12
Elegance joined the team after Snapjaw died to fill our water type hole on our team. He was mostly picked at random- the first water type I found that I didn't have plans to use in another game. But he proved himself a hundred million times over. Elegance hit consistent Blizzards, making up for the loss of our Ice Beam TM, and his Supersonics kept him from getting hit by some potentially devastating attacks. I will hear no more slander against Seaking.
Duet the Doduo, level 26
Caught in the Safari Zone
One of three unfortunately short-lived encounters who didn't really get to do much before they kicked the bucket. Poor Duet didn't even get to evolve before she died to poison damage...
Plague the Venomoth, level 32
Caught on Rt 15
Plague at least got to evolve, but she didn't get to do much else. She got through quite a few trainer battles, but she got hit by a crit Bite from an Arbok in Koga's gym, and just couldn't take it. What a shame... I love Venomoth, and was looking forward to having her on the team.
Bruises the Hitmonlee, level 34
Gift from the Saffron Dojo
Bruises only made it into Silph Co before he was blown up on and died pathetically. I didn't replace him; I'd already gotten my final team member by this point, and I was starting to get frustrated by my own sloppy playing. I'd lost 2 new team members back to back, with my core team doing just as well has they had the whole game. After Bruises died, the sixth team slot just sat empty.
Bonespike the Aerodactyl, level 60
Revived from the Old Amber in Cinnabar Lab
I debated saving Aerodactyl for a future game, perhaps for a Kalos game so I could use its Mega Evolution. However, with the gaps in my team, Aerodactyl just fit right. Bonespike did a lot of cheerleading; I actively chose to use Melt over her during Blaine's fight. It was just an unfortunate circumstance, as I'd used Rock Slide on Crownhorn, and so she didn't get any rock type moves. She hit a mean Hyper Beam though, and she put in work against the League, but she couldn't handle the mirror match with Lance's Aerodactyl.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this run, despite the frustration. I'm disappointed about a couple of the evolution lines I wasted, but! C'est la vie, or whatever! I'm looking forward to bringing Melt and Elegance to other games in the future.
Stats