You won’t believe it, but it actually happened. I actually got around to actually playing Pokemon Crystal. Let’s get some things out of the way first.
Pokemon Crystal Looks Awesome!
Well, no it doesn’t;not really. Compared to Pokemon Yellow, though, it might as well be a next-gen game. It really says something about the programmers achievement when you go back to an ancient sequel of an ancient game and it manages to impress you with technological advancements.
I’m loving the new Pokedex!
Pokemon Crystal is not Pokemon Yellow
The further I go with this challenge, the harder it will probably get to actually, properly, follow the anime. Pokemon Yellow was the only obvious choice, since the game was basically made to follow the anime. From that point on, the game protagonist had very little to do with Ash.
That being said, I’ll continue to do everything I can, within reason, to follow the TV show as closely as possible.
A grass type was very unsuitable for the early game.
The Road to the Violet City Gym
As I already said, I couldn’t really transfer my Pokemon to the Crystal in any reasonable time period, so I opted for a sort of worthy alternative. I “transferred” my Pikachu and added Pokedex entries to all the other Pokemon I caught. If i need any of them during the game, I’ll add them individually.
Now, in the anime, Ash obtains all three of the starters, but there was no way for me to do that in Pokemon Crystal or any of the other two Generation II games without cheats, so I decided to just pick Chikorita, since that was the first of the starters Ash obtained. This means I started the game with Chikorita and Pikachu. Pikachu started at level 2, to simulate the apparent reduction in strength he often goes through in each new region, but thanks to his attribute experience (similar to Effort Values of the later games), he quickly outgrew Chikorita by a large margin.
Rule Expansion!
When I started Pokemon Crystal, I decided to try to expand on the rules a bit. From now on, I’ll aim to also only use moves Ash’s Pokemon have used in the anime. I probably won’t be able to follow this absolutely, but I’ll do my best to make it as close as possible. Of course, I’m limited to four moves per Pokemon, so I’ll have to pick which four I’ll be using:
Chikorita’s Moves in the Anime
- Razor Leaf
- Vine Whip
- Tackle
- Sweet Scent
- Body Slam
- Headbutt
Pikachu will be sort of an exception, since his repertoire constantly changes throughout the series, so I’m having a hard time finding his move set for the Johto region. I’ll mostly use his signature moves, which means Slam and Light Screen need to go away as soon as possible.
Thunder vs Flying? No problem!
I was supposed to catch Heracross right away at route 29, but the only way to encounter it was by using Headbutt on trees in mountain regions. Route 29 is a mountain region, but I won’t get Headbutt until Illex forest, so Heracross will have to wait. The other two Pokemon Ash obtains before the gym in Violet City are the starters, so Chikorita and Pikachu ended up being my Violet team and will probably remain the only members of the team for a while.
Speaking of the gym, it was a flying type gym, meaning that, just like in the anime, Chikorita wasn’t at all suited for it. On the other hand, Pikachu had absolutely no issues with defeating the two trainers and the gym leader.
The first badge is mine! I got an egg from one of Professor Elm’s aides at the Pokemon Center and was ready for my next gym. The egg will hatch into a Togepi, by the way.
