The Earthbadge and its Hefty Toll

There's not much between Cinnabar Island and the intense 2x Homecoming Showdown at Viridian City. Not much but some serious grinding. Hella Jeff the Snorlax and Jiminy the Venusaur both caught up to the party, who still hovered at around level 40-41, since, frankly, we've barely moved since fighting Blaine. Giovanni was never a pushover in the two previous encounters we had with the doofy Rocket boss, but we never lost a teammate to him, either, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Well, his Dugtrio had Earthquake, which, if you remember, is basically the only actual ground attack in gen 1. Despite a type weakness and a 10-level disadvantage, Jiminy took it like a champ, because he's awesome. Hella Jeff rocked the his Persian with some well-timed Body Slams and Counters. Gosh, you guys, I'm so proud of my new buddies. Things got sketchy when it came to his Nidoqueen and Nidoking. Julio the Kadabra took the 'queen out, taking significant damage along the way. I had to switch out. Judson the Aerodactyl did some solid work, handling the 'king's Leer and Double kick effortlessly, until the thing busts out THUNDER.

OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH FFFRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGG

It missed. It missed, you guys. But I was terrified. I now knew three of the Nidoking's moves, and I was pretty confident guessing its fourth move was Earthquake. Considering all of my pokemon and the damages they had, essentially, everyone was either too damaged or weak to one or more of his moves. I decided to bank on him not using earthquake on his next move, since 1) I had Aerodactyl out, so, duh. and 2) I wasn't even totally sure he had the move. Counting on good all-around stats and superior speed, I send out Stevie the Flareon.

It used Earthquake. One-hit-K.O.

Butts.

Julio swooped in for a psychic knockout, thankfully. With a guaranteed first move, he's got no problems pwning a noob.

His last pokemon was Rhydon, and here's where I made my other mistake. Counting on him using more ground than rock moves (and in this game, I've only seen, like, two rock attacks at all, ever), I sent Judson, just to confuse him and heal up my other dudes. But it was not to be. He used Rock Slide, and I forgot that rock doesn't protect against rock. With subpar (for a rock-type) defense and a 2x type disadvantage, mighty Judson crashed to the ground and died in a crumbly mess.

Jiminy finished the little turd off and we won the badge. Giovanni pretended to repent of his criminal ways, but he was only mocking me. He knew the price I paid wasn't worth the prize.

So here we are. I caught a Nidorina approaching Victory Road and accidentally killed an Onix once I got there, so no new party members, although I'm considering adding Sam the Pidgeotto to the party. I mean, he's in the party now, but I'm not taking his training that seriously. I think I'm going to use Victory Road and its abundance of trainers to make my four serious party members as serious as possible, and, with the pile of Rare Candies I've amassed, hope to get some overwhelming levels and just power through the Elite Four like a boss. Pray for me, friends. We always knew it was gonna be tough, but man. It's tough.


Oh, and I beat Gary again, because he's a smug little fart.

Badges: 8
Deaths: 9