Gaming, for me, is about being able to do things that I either could never or would never do in real life. Now, I admit. Some day, I might go deer hunting. Or small critter hunting. If I ever had the equipment and the "help" of friends to figure out what the heck to do with it when it was dead. Hunting is a respectable thing, and SHOWS respect to the land and it's animals - especially when you use every part of what you hunt, and I would.
However, I would never hunt an elephant.
In real life, anyway.
The Hunting Unlimited series is one of my favorite hunting games for PC, despite it's jerky, annoying graphics and hard-to-get-used-to controls, and that is for one unique reason. You can hunt African Elephants.
I have never found another hunting game that let me take down elephants. Rhinos, yeah. Other African "Big Five" critters, yeah. But not Elephants. Now, this makes sense, since in real life they're endangered. However, in the game? They aren't. They're everywhere. And I can take them down.
I don't know what it is. I don't know if I was picked on by mammoths in a past life. I DO know I have no deep seated dislike or hatred of pachyderms... In fact, I LOVE them. Mammoths, Elephants, Mastodons, I find them incredible, intelligent, and awe-inspiring.
And when it comes to a game, there's a thrill of power that comes with putting a bullet in one of their heads. To think that something as tiny as a bullet can fell a creature the size of a bus... To see that massive bulk hit the ground after one shot... Oh, it's a thing of beauty.
But it isn't anything I'd ever do in real life. However... I'm thrilled to have this game back, and to have Elephants back in the crosshairs again.
There's something primal, and, honestly? Something incredibly HUMAN about needing to take down the biggest, best creature around to prove your superiority. Maybe this is why paleolithic man looked at a Mammoth and decided they could make it meat.
But for me, a video game is good enough.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Rushing Is Bad
Even in video games.
I had half an hour to myself this morning, and I decided to resurrect one of my old passions - Hunting Games. I loaded up Deer Hunter 2005 (so excited to find out it runs on W7! :D Though some of my other old games don't), pulled up a quick hunt in open area so I wouldn't have to do too much work to find my quarry, and went after White Tailed Deer.
I had bagged a doe and a buck within the first fifteen minutes of my hunt. I had another buck tag that I really wanted to fill before I had to log off to get ready for school, so I got on my horse and went hunting around for another buck. Followed a doe with a fawn for awhile, but the bucks didn't seem to want to come out.
I was down to the wire, the last few minutes before I had to log off, when I saw him. Gorgeous, atypical 8 Point, slowly wading across a river. I dismounted, pulled out my rifle, zoomed in on his head in the scope and let a bullet fly. The good news is, I hit him.
The bad news is, I hit him while he was still, technically, in the water.
I'd forgotten one of the cardinal rules of hunting - you don't shoot prey over water. It makes them hard to retrieve, AND there's the possibility of a missed bullet riccocheting off of underwater rocks and hurting someone. The game's mechanics were aware of this universal hunting law, and I got an error informing me of the very reasons I just outlined for not shooting prey over water, and then it did the double injustice of telling me that I would receive no trophies for this hunt, but I could continue to hunt if I wanted to.
The doe and buck I'd shot earlier were gone. The tags were still marked as filled, but they didn't go into my trophy room when the hunt was over. All because I was in a hurry and didn't quite pay attention to where the atypical buck's feet were.
So let that be a lesson - rushing? Doesn't pay off.
Not even in video games.
I had half an hour to myself this morning, and I decided to resurrect one of my old passions - Hunting Games. I loaded up Deer Hunter 2005 (so excited to find out it runs on W7! :D Though some of my other old games don't), pulled up a quick hunt in open area so I wouldn't have to do too much work to find my quarry, and went after White Tailed Deer.
I had bagged a doe and a buck within the first fifteen minutes of my hunt. I had another buck tag that I really wanted to fill before I had to log off to get ready for school, so I got on my horse and went hunting around for another buck. Followed a doe with a fawn for awhile, but the bucks didn't seem to want to come out.
I was down to the wire, the last few minutes before I had to log off, when I saw him. Gorgeous, atypical 8 Point, slowly wading across a river. I dismounted, pulled out my rifle, zoomed in on his head in the scope and let a bullet fly. The good news is, I hit him.
The bad news is, I hit him while he was still, technically, in the water.
I'd forgotten one of the cardinal rules of hunting - you don't shoot prey over water. It makes them hard to retrieve, AND there's the possibility of a missed bullet riccocheting off of underwater rocks and hurting someone. The game's mechanics were aware of this universal hunting law, and I got an error informing me of the very reasons I just outlined for not shooting prey over water, and then it did the double injustice of telling me that I would receive no trophies for this hunt, but I could continue to hunt if I wanted to.
The doe and buck I'd shot earlier were gone. The tags were still marked as filled, but they didn't go into my trophy room when the hunt was over. All because I was in a hurry and didn't quite pay attention to where the atypical buck's feet were.
So let that be a lesson - rushing? Doesn't pay off.
Not even in video games.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
That Run Got Markedly Longer..
Frustration of the moment! :P Alliance Inns are apparently SCARCE in Stranglethorn Vale now. There isn't one at the Rebel Camp, there isn't one at Fort Livingston. There isn't one at the Explorer's League site just inside Southern Stranglethorn Vale. (And don't get me started on that damn path. I got lost and wound up mobbed by Goblins before finding the cling-to-the-cliff-face path that now takes you between the two halves of the zone.)
I finally gave up, got my Worgen butt in gear and hauled ALL THE WAY SOUTH to Booty Bay rather than spend time exploring when all I wanted was to be Resting in the SAME ZONE I was questing in, so I could log off.
Finally made it down there. I was one tired Worgen afterwards, though, I'll tell you! I have mounts - I'm Exalted with both Stormwind and Darnassus, but being a Worgen, (and a druid), I much prefer the feel of the earth under my paws.
I might be rethinking that concept a bit now. Curled up in a bed in Booty Bay, my poor little paws are aching, and it's all because the Alliance apparently didn't see fit to put an Inn everywhere they bothered putting a FLIGHT POINT.
It doesn't take much to make an Inn. Hell, in Northrend, there's an Inn that is literally just a lean-to tent! Why couldn't they have stuck one of those somewhere along that insanely long path? Urgh.
Oh well, that's my gaming annoyance of the moment. :P
I finally gave up, got my Worgen butt in gear and hauled ALL THE WAY SOUTH to Booty Bay rather than spend time exploring when all I wanted was to be Resting in the SAME ZONE I was questing in, so I could log off.
Finally made it down there. I was one tired Worgen afterwards, though, I'll tell you! I have mounts - I'm Exalted with both Stormwind and Darnassus, but being a Worgen, (and a druid), I much prefer the feel of the earth under my paws.
I might be rethinking that concept a bit now. Curled up in a bed in Booty Bay, my poor little paws are aching, and it's all because the Alliance apparently didn't see fit to put an Inn everywhere they bothered putting a FLIGHT POINT.
It doesn't take much to make an Inn. Hell, in Northrend, there's an Inn that is literally just a lean-to tent! Why couldn't they have stuck one of those somewhere along that insanely long path? Urgh.
Oh well, that's my gaming annoyance of the moment. :P
Monday, March 28, 2011
A few thoughts...
Not much, but caught myself thinking about gaming WITHOUT putting it here, and realized "what's the point of that? I have a gamer blog!"
The first thing I was thinking about is the Battle Subway in Pokemon Black. You pick 3 pokemon from your party or your box, they're automatically set to level 50, with no exp gained through this experience, and you have to battle your way through 7 trainers without blacking out once in order to "win" the battle points, which you can use to purchase items in the train station.
I was intrigued by the concept, but with only 3 pokemon in your party, there's no way to plan for every contingency... and the opponent Pokemon seem absurdly strong. I also can't pull the trick I do on Gym Leaders sometimes and find out what they have through one battle, then reset my game and go back in with a plan so it doesn't register me having lost, because the trainers in the subway cars, and their pokemon, are different each time.
Perhaps I'm just too low level right now, and don't have enough good items. The Subway seems to be designed to train you how to use held items, since potions and the like can't be used during the battles. I'll try it again in a few levels when each of my team have a power booster in their possession.
The other thing I was thinking of a lot is WoW. Particularly, my Druid. I'm thinking that, once she's finished Northern and Southern Strangelthorn, she's going to go to Theramore Isle and see how much that story line was changed by Cataclysm. She's already over level 30, which means I got over the leveling hump that I hit with her when she was a night elf, but I still find myself... Well, to be honest - I find myself wanting to start doing the exploration achievements. But as I proved with my Hunter, it's best to wait until level 40 (fast riding) to do that. Otherwise you can't really outrun the stuff in the higher level areas of the base zones. Then, of course, when she can fly I'll do Outland and Northrend, and the L80+ areas of EK and Kalimdor.
This is all with the knowledge that my Hunter is sitting at level 80, and REALLY needs to get to her cap. I need to devote some serious attention to her. Five levels! It shouldn't be that hard, and it's all about exploring the new areas. She's currently questing in Vash'ir, which is incredibly fun... But even as I'm doing that, I can't help thinking about my Druid and how fun it'll be when I can do Aquatic Form down there...
Yeah. I need to cap my Hunter before I lose interest in her entirely. And I don't WANT to lose interest in her. Destylae has embodied ME in Azeroth for a very long time. Maybe I'm not losing interest - maybe I'm just out of practice. Perhaps, this weekend, I'll devote a big chunk of my gaming time to her, and we'll see what the new levels are really all about. :)
The first thing I was thinking about is the Battle Subway in Pokemon Black. You pick 3 pokemon from your party or your box, they're automatically set to level 50, with no exp gained through this experience, and you have to battle your way through 7 trainers without blacking out once in order to "win" the battle points, which you can use to purchase items in the train station.
I was intrigued by the concept, but with only 3 pokemon in your party, there's no way to plan for every contingency... and the opponent Pokemon seem absurdly strong. I also can't pull the trick I do on Gym Leaders sometimes and find out what they have through one battle, then reset my game and go back in with a plan so it doesn't register me having lost, because the trainers in the subway cars, and their pokemon, are different each time.
Perhaps I'm just too low level right now, and don't have enough good items. The Subway seems to be designed to train you how to use held items, since potions and the like can't be used during the battles. I'll try it again in a few levels when each of my team have a power booster in their possession.
The other thing I was thinking of a lot is WoW. Particularly, my Druid. I'm thinking that, once she's finished Northern and Southern Strangelthorn, she's going to go to Theramore Isle and see how much that story line was changed by Cataclysm. She's already over level 30, which means I got over the leveling hump that I hit with her when she was a night elf, but I still find myself... Well, to be honest - I find myself wanting to start doing the exploration achievements. But as I proved with my Hunter, it's best to wait until level 40 (fast riding) to do that. Otherwise you can't really outrun the stuff in the higher level areas of the base zones. Then, of course, when she can fly I'll do Outland and Northrend, and the L80+ areas of EK and Kalimdor.
This is all with the knowledge that my Hunter is sitting at level 80, and REALLY needs to get to her cap. I need to devote some serious attention to her. Five levels! It shouldn't be that hard, and it's all about exploring the new areas. She's currently questing in Vash'ir, which is incredibly fun... But even as I'm doing that, I can't help thinking about my Druid and how fun it'll be when I can do Aquatic Form down there...
Yeah. I need to cap my Hunter before I lose interest in her entirely. And I don't WANT to lose interest in her. Destylae has embodied ME in Azeroth for a very long time. Maybe I'm not losing interest - maybe I'm just out of practice. Perhaps, this weekend, I'll devote a big chunk of my gaming time to her, and we'll see what the new levels are really all about. :)
Friday, March 25, 2011
A Bold Adventurer!
That's right! Yet ANOTHER topic specific blog. I kind of like these. :) This one is dedicated to one of my favorite hobbies - my life as a gamer. There will be posts about World of Warcraft, posts about random DS and Wii games, the occasional old school Playstation or (even) Sega Genesis game, and, of course, what prompted me to make this blog - Pokemon.
Yes. I'm 28 and I still play Pokemon. And love it.
Which brings me to the reason for this post today. I'm taking my time playing through my copy of Pokemon Black, enjoying all the new features and functionality, as well as the level of immersion in the game. Coming off of playing WoW, Pokemon might seem a bit old school, but the longer I play, the more I find myself sinking back into that old school of thought.
The real reason I'm making this post today, see, is because, quite simply, my Herdier is awesome.
You heard me.
His name is Davie, and he's now level 21. However, as we traveled Route 4 (amid a seriously annoying sandstorm) moving between the 3rd and 4th towns (sorry, I'm a Johto native - don't know all the new town names yet), he was the only one of all six of my Pokemon (no need to elaborate on them now - I'm sure they'll get their own bragging posts later), to survive the trip.
I admit, I was being stingy with the potions, saving up for our next Gym or Team Plasma battle. I train my pokemon hard, and if I ever get the feeling that they don't like it, I go easier on them or I release them. I'm a firebrand of a trainer, literally and figuratively (with my preferred type specialty being fire), and by the time we reach the Elite Four, my pokemon and I are always a well honed team. I know each of them and they know what I expect from them. In fact, the only person I've never been able to beat is my fiancee, but that's another story. :P
Anyway, we reach the gate to the next city and I'm congratulating Davie. He's paralyzed, but still has most of his HP, despite being the only survivor of the trip. I toy for a moment with saving before entering the city proper, but nothing's ever attacked me right off the bat in a city before - usually I have enough time to get to a Pokemon Center and heal up, first. So I walk through the gate with Davie at my side (not literally... I wish they'd kept that functionality from Soul Silver!)... and walk right into a Team Plasma battle.
I had no revives. I had no paralyze heals. I had five unconscious Pokemon and one that was paralyzed and at half health. And the worst part? The last time I'd saved was before I'd left the previous town. If I just shut down and reset, I'd have lost all the pokemon I caught, all the levels my team had gained, and three of my team had EVOLVED along that road. I tell myself now that it was those reasons why I didn't reset, but the truth is - my head was too far in the game.
There I was, a bag mostly empty of anything but Super Potions, my hand resting atop my faithful, paralyzed Herdier's head as he stood growling by my side. The Team Plasma grunt wore a self confident smirk as he tossed out his first and only pokemon - Watchog, the evolved form of Patrat. A normal type that could have any tricks up it's slim little striped sleeves.
I patted Davie on the head, told him to do his best, and sent him forward. His normal bound into battle was arrested by his paralyzation, and he more dragged himself than leaped in front of me. Thanks to his being paralyzed, he was too slow to take the first move. The Grunt called for his Watchog to use Crunch. I winced as Davie took the damage, ears laid back and eyes gritted against the pain as the weasel pokemon bit down on his shoulder. He lost a few hitpoints, but not very many.
Normally, Davie would be who I'd call out against a normal type opponent, for the sole reason that I try to make sure that each of my Pokemon are capable of using at least one move that would be super effective against themselves. In this case, Davie, being a normal type, carried Rock Smash, a fighting type move, which I'd given him the moment I came into possession of the TM. But with him paralyzed, it was a 70/30 chance that he wouldn't be able to move enough to actually utilize this move. The same went for two of his other moves - Take Down (a last ditch effort move in which the user is also damaged), and Tackle. The only move he had a better than 70/30 chance of using was Bite. So I called for that to be his first attack.
Davie strained to get his legs under him enough to launch forward in a Bite attack, but all he could manage was a tiny jerk toward the opposing Pokemon. Both the Grunt and his Watchog snickered at the feeble attempt. "Don't tell me that's all you've got!" sneered the Grunt. I could tell - in his mind, he'd already won.
"Come on, Davie. You can do it. Bide your time." I kept my head and kept talking to my loyal Herdier. Two more failed attacks and a Super Potion later, his first bite landed. A critical hit, it took the surprised Watchog for nearly half of it's hit points. Not to mention that the Quick Claw that Davie wore, dangling from his collar, had done it's magic and allowed his attack to be launched first despite the speed loss he was suffering from the paralysis. The shocked Watchog flinched away from the canine pokemon's bite and lost it's chance to attack while it tried to rally itself, amid angry shouts from the Grunt.
The tide of the battle had turned in our favor, but it wouldn't last. The next five bites in a row failed to land, and now, finally, Davie was out of power points for his only statistically usable move. The foe was down to nearly half health, and my Herdier was going down faster than I could heal him. I could tell he was exhausted and I could see his resolve failing. More super potions, and a few attempts at using Tackle, or even Take Down, all of which failed, later, there we stood.
We were faced off against the Team Plasma Grunt, triumph in his eyes, scorn in those of his Watchog. I was drenched in sweat, but my exhaustion was nothing compared to Davie's. My loyal, brave Herdier, with barely 15 hit points left, paralyzed and weakened, stood on four shaking legs, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, ears pinned back and eyes still fixed on his opponent.
It was literally now or never. If I healed him with a Super Potion and the Watchog got a critical hit (as was happening more and more often since it had started using moves such as Focus Energy and Work Up between Crunches and Tackles - I got the feeling that the Grunt was getting fed up with my constant use of potions and was trying to one hit KO my pokemon to just get it over with), Davie would faint. If I called for him to use an attack and he missed, went second, or didn't critical hit, he would faint on Watchog's next attack. We had one shot at this - and only one chance left for it to work.
I knelt down behind my friend, rested my hand on his back, and whispered to him, "We have one shot at this, boy. I know you know that. No matter what happens.... I believe in you." He gave a low bark and tore his eyes from his opponent's for one moment, long enough to look me in the eye with an achingly slow turn of his head, even as I stood up again.
"Get on with it already! Call your attack!" The Grunt taunted from a few feet away, his Watchog standing triumphantly on it's hind legs, already preparing. Then, his impatience getting the best of him, he pointed straight at Davie and shouted, "Watchog! CRUNCH!"
I gritted my teeth for a moment, then shouted, putting all of my faith in my loyal pokemon behind these few words, "Davie! Use ROCK SMASH!"
Time seemed to slow down. I felt like I was caught in molasses. Then, achingly slowly, I saw the first part of our wild gamble snap into place - the Quick Claw around Davie's neck glowed gold. His eyes seemed to light up with an inner fire that I usually attribute only to Fire Type pokemon, but I have no doubt what I saw there. He braced all four of his legs, bared his teeth... And for one small moment, I thought our luck had run out - that even with the blessing of the Quick Claw, he still wouldn't get there in time... And then, as I watched in awe, my Herdier flung himself into the air.
Using certain moves, especially off-type moves, look different on each Pokemon. I actually hadn't seen Davie perfectly perform a Rock Smash since before he evolved from Lillipup, and then his technique had simply been to ram his head into the rock or enemy, with enough force to shatter it. Herdier's technique was a bit more showy. And, given the circumstances, the graceful leap into the air and the moment of impact when he slammed his entire weight down on top of the enemy Watchog was possibly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Critical hit! It's Super-Effective!
And Watchog collapsed to the ground, fainted. The Grunt recalled his fainted pokemon quickly and beat a hasty retreat out of the town square. I didn't follow. I had no doubts that I'd run into them again, but now, getting my heroic pokemon to the nearest Center was all that mattered to me. I gathered my Herdier into my arms, not bothering with his pokeball, (honestly, a little worried that he wouldn't have had the strength to survive the transmat into it without fainting), and ran to the town Pokemon Center.
At this point, I'm going to back OUT of the game and go back to the "real me" that was sitting playing my DS. The moment I got my Pokemon healed up, I saved and shut the game down. I was vibrating with excitement over that victory. I've pulled off crunchy moves like that in a pinch before, but it's usually when I'm expecting it - in a gym battle, or even during the Elite Four or Champion battles. To have been as utterly caught off guard by this fight as I was, and have had it come down in my favor felt amazing. I was insanely proud of my pokemon, and I wanted to share it.
Now, the issue is - no one else in my house is playing Black or White right now. I don't know anyone really well online who's playing it, and the only other person I DO know who's playing it, I talk to insanely irregularly.
And hence starting this gaming blog. I have so many awesome stories like this that I want to share with people, but I don't want to be annoying or pushy, AND I don't want to forget them. The awesome, skin-of-my-teeth win I had the first time I played through FireRed? Gone. Anything other than short twitters to remind me of specific, important moments in Azeroth? Lost to my school-bogged-down brain.
This blog is going to be a way to keep track of these things, these stories... just for my own entertainment and memory. And, of course, for anyone who wants to follow along.
And, of course, to tout the amazingness of my Pokemon.
Let's hear it for Davie the Herdier!
Yes. I'm 28 and I still play Pokemon. And love it.
Which brings me to the reason for this post today. I'm taking my time playing through my copy of Pokemon Black, enjoying all the new features and functionality, as well as the level of immersion in the game. Coming off of playing WoW, Pokemon might seem a bit old school, but the longer I play, the more I find myself sinking back into that old school of thought.
The real reason I'm making this post today, see, is because, quite simply, my Herdier is awesome.
You heard me.
His name is Davie, and he's now level 21. However, as we traveled Route 4 (amid a seriously annoying sandstorm) moving between the 3rd and 4th towns (sorry, I'm a Johto native - don't know all the new town names yet), he was the only one of all six of my Pokemon (no need to elaborate on them now - I'm sure they'll get their own bragging posts later), to survive the trip.
I admit, I was being stingy with the potions, saving up for our next Gym or Team Plasma battle. I train my pokemon hard, and if I ever get the feeling that they don't like it, I go easier on them or I release them. I'm a firebrand of a trainer, literally and figuratively (with my preferred type specialty being fire), and by the time we reach the Elite Four, my pokemon and I are always a well honed team. I know each of them and they know what I expect from them. In fact, the only person I've never been able to beat is my fiancee, but that's another story. :P
Anyway, we reach the gate to the next city and I'm congratulating Davie. He's paralyzed, but still has most of his HP, despite being the only survivor of the trip. I toy for a moment with saving before entering the city proper, but nothing's ever attacked me right off the bat in a city before - usually I have enough time to get to a Pokemon Center and heal up, first. So I walk through the gate with Davie at my side (not literally... I wish they'd kept that functionality from Soul Silver!)... and walk right into a Team Plasma battle.
I had no revives. I had no paralyze heals. I had five unconscious Pokemon and one that was paralyzed and at half health. And the worst part? The last time I'd saved was before I'd left the previous town. If I just shut down and reset, I'd have lost all the pokemon I caught, all the levels my team had gained, and three of my team had EVOLVED along that road. I tell myself now that it was those reasons why I didn't reset, but the truth is - my head was too far in the game.
There I was, a bag mostly empty of anything but Super Potions, my hand resting atop my faithful, paralyzed Herdier's head as he stood growling by my side. The Team Plasma grunt wore a self confident smirk as he tossed out his first and only pokemon - Watchog, the evolved form of Patrat. A normal type that could have any tricks up it's slim little striped sleeves.
I patted Davie on the head, told him to do his best, and sent him forward. His normal bound into battle was arrested by his paralyzation, and he more dragged himself than leaped in front of me. Thanks to his being paralyzed, he was too slow to take the first move. The Grunt called for his Watchog to use Crunch. I winced as Davie took the damage, ears laid back and eyes gritted against the pain as the weasel pokemon bit down on his shoulder. He lost a few hitpoints, but not very many.
Normally, Davie would be who I'd call out against a normal type opponent, for the sole reason that I try to make sure that each of my Pokemon are capable of using at least one move that would be super effective against themselves. In this case, Davie, being a normal type, carried Rock Smash, a fighting type move, which I'd given him the moment I came into possession of the TM. But with him paralyzed, it was a 70/30 chance that he wouldn't be able to move enough to actually utilize this move. The same went for two of his other moves - Take Down (a last ditch effort move in which the user is also damaged), and Tackle. The only move he had a better than 70/30 chance of using was Bite. So I called for that to be his first attack.
Davie strained to get his legs under him enough to launch forward in a Bite attack, but all he could manage was a tiny jerk toward the opposing Pokemon. Both the Grunt and his Watchog snickered at the feeble attempt. "Don't tell me that's all you've got!" sneered the Grunt. I could tell - in his mind, he'd already won.
"Come on, Davie. You can do it. Bide your time." I kept my head and kept talking to my loyal Herdier. Two more failed attacks and a Super Potion later, his first bite landed. A critical hit, it took the surprised Watchog for nearly half of it's hit points. Not to mention that the Quick Claw that Davie wore, dangling from his collar, had done it's magic and allowed his attack to be launched first despite the speed loss he was suffering from the paralysis. The shocked Watchog flinched away from the canine pokemon's bite and lost it's chance to attack while it tried to rally itself, amid angry shouts from the Grunt.
The tide of the battle had turned in our favor, but it wouldn't last. The next five bites in a row failed to land, and now, finally, Davie was out of power points for his only statistically usable move. The foe was down to nearly half health, and my Herdier was going down faster than I could heal him. I could tell he was exhausted and I could see his resolve failing. More super potions, and a few attempts at using Tackle, or even Take Down, all of which failed, later, there we stood.
We were faced off against the Team Plasma Grunt, triumph in his eyes, scorn in those of his Watchog. I was drenched in sweat, but my exhaustion was nothing compared to Davie's. My loyal, brave Herdier, with barely 15 hit points left, paralyzed and weakened, stood on four shaking legs, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, ears pinned back and eyes still fixed on his opponent.
It was literally now or never. If I healed him with a Super Potion and the Watchog got a critical hit (as was happening more and more often since it had started using moves such as Focus Energy and Work Up between Crunches and Tackles - I got the feeling that the Grunt was getting fed up with my constant use of potions and was trying to one hit KO my pokemon to just get it over with), Davie would faint. If I called for him to use an attack and he missed, went second, or didn't critical hit, he would faint on Watchog's next attack. We had one shot at this - and only one chance left for it to work.
I knelt down behind my friend, rested my hand on his back, and whispered to him, "We have one shot at this, boy. I know you know that. No matter what happens.... I believe in you." He gave a low bark and tore his eyes from his opponent's for one moment, long enough to look me in the eye with an achingly slow turn of his head, even as I stood up again.
"Get on with it already! Call your attack!" The Grunt taunted from a few feet away, his Watchog standing triumphantly on it's hind legs, already preparing. Then, his impatience getting the best of him, he pointed straight at Davie and shouted, "Watchog! CRUNCH!"
I gritted my teeth for a moment, then shouted, putting all of my faith in my loyal pokemon behind these few words, "Davie! Use ROCK SMASH!"
Time seemed to slow down. I felt like I was caught in molasses. Then, achingly slowly, I saw the first part of our wild gamble snap into place - the Quick Claw around Davie's neck glowed gold. His eyes seemed to light up with an inner fire that I usually attribute only to Fire Type pokemon, but I have no doubt what I saw there. He braced all four of his legs, bared his teeth... And for one small moment, I thought our luck had run out - that even with the blessing of the Quick Claw, he still wouldn't get there in time... And then, as I watched in awe, my Herdier flung himself into the air.
Using certain moves, especially off-type moves, look different on each Pokemon. I actually hadn't seen Davie perfectly perform a Rock Smash since before he evolved from Lillipup, and then his technique had simply been to ram his head into the rock or enemy, with enough force to shatter it. Herdier's technique was a bit more showy. And, given the circumstances, the graceful leap into the air and the moment of impact when he slammed his entire weight down on top of the enemy Watchog was possibly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Critical hit! It's Super-Effective!
And Watchog collapsed to the ground, fainted. The Grunt recalled his fainted pokemon quickly and beat a hasty retreat out of the town square. I didn't follow. I had no doubts that I'd run into them again, but now, getting my heroic pokemon to the nearest Center was all that mattered to me. I gathered my Herdier into my arms, not bothering with his pokeball, (honestly, a little worried that he wouldn't have had the strength to survive the transmat into it without fainting), and ran to the town Pokemon Center.
At this point, I'm going to back OUT of the game and go back to the "real me" that was sitting playing my DS. The moment I got my Pokemon healed up, I saved and shut the game down. I was vibrating with excitement over that victory. I've pulled off crunchy moves like that in a pinch before, but it's usually when I'm expecting it - in a gym battle, or even during the Elite Four or Champion battles. To have been as utterly caught off guard by this fight as I was, and have had it come down in my favor felt amazing. I was insanely proud of my pokemon, and I wanted to share it.
Now, the issue is - no one else in my house is playing Black or White right now. I don't know anyone really well online who's playing it, and the only other person I DO know who's playing it, I talk to insanely irregularly.
And hence starting this gaming blog. I have so many awesome stories like this that I want to share with people, but I don't want to be annoying or pushy, AND I don't want to forget them. The awesome, skin-of-my-teeth win I had the first time I played through FireRed? Gone. Anything other than short twitters to remind me of specific, important moments in Azeroth? Lost to my school-bogged-down brain.
This blog is going to be a way to keep track of these things, these stories... just for my own entertainment and memory. And, of course, for anyone who wants to follow along.
And, of course, to tout the amazingness of my Pokemon.
Let's hear it for Davie the Herdier!
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