Welcome to another Pokémon story! This one is called Return and was actually written late November 2018. It's only just being posted a few months later because there were certain other stories I wanted to get out of the way. Speaking of posting, the story was written in response to a challenge on a site called The Artist's Zone. The challenge was created by the administrator of the site, who also allowed me to port my results here.

Several members of the Artist's Zone were getting Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and/or Pokémon Let's Go Eevee on release day. The administrator compiled a list of who those members were, and I was among them. After that, a challenge was issued in that all members who were getting the game on release day could create a log of their progress and while they were playing. All members would post in the same place, and were allowed to interact with each other as they wished. There were no rules for playing the games themselves, other than to try to log as much as possible. So I participated in the challenge, completed my log, and said log turned into this story.

As with all logs, there are a few differences from regular writing. There is not as much description as there would be in a regular story, and aside from this part and maybe something at the end, there will not be any author's notes. Also, similar to other challenges where I play or write with others, only my portion of the challenge will be seen. Finally, despite chapters being regular length, this story is fairly short. The challenge lasted a little less than two weeks, so there's only about 10 chapters here.

As always, I do not own Pokémon. Credit goes to the administrator of the Artist's Zone for creating the original challenge and allowing me to port what I had over.

It's time to chronicle my return to Kanto, and all the adventures along the way.


1. A New Beginning

Well, after a long time waiting, Pokémon Let's Go is finally here! And as with every Pokémon game, I'm excited to play it!

As with a lot of my Pokémon games recently, I have decided to do a log of my progress, to be turned into a story. Unlike some of my other logs, there will not be a regular story based on this log, and it is a standalone. However, it will still have commentary and details about the game.

There's a thing about Let's Go that makes it a little bit different from other games. It uses Pokémon Go's mechanics for catching, and also allows transferring from Pokémon Go to Let's Go. There is even a special event if one does that, and I do have significant progress in Pokémon Go, so I will be triggering that event. However, this also means that I may have a bit more difficultly recording things or even performing captures.

This is because Pokémon Go's capture system is motion controlled, and my physical disability makes motion controls tough for me to do. However, I was still able to do fairly well with Pokémon Go's motion controls, so I'm hoping for the same thing here. They might still make it difficult for me to comment on captures, though.

Another thing is that I will be playing Pokémon Let's Go like my usual new experience through Pokémon games. This means that I will try to capture as many Pokémon as I can, and try my best to collect everything in the game. However, this also means that while more of the gameplay will be directly explored, I may also be progressing bit slower compared to what is usually recorded in other logs. Pokémon Let's Go also has two versions, and I only have one. However, I am hoping to still complete the Pokédex by trading with someone that has the opposite version, and/or making more progress in Pokémon Go. Something like this isn't usually mentioned in my logs, but any time I'm needing help with that, it will be mentioned here.

The final thing is that this log won't be focusing on story, even though the game is new. The reason for this is that Pokémon Let's Go is a reimaging of Pokémon Yellow, and Pokémon Yellow's story is fairly well known. Furthermore, many of my other stories, such as those in the Traveler series, deal with the Kanto region and the story there. So it's not worth repeating in this log. However, I will comment on the story if there's a significant change, or anything else noteworthy.

With all that out of the way, time to dive right in!

The first thing I'm taken to is a menu. The menu asks what control scheme I would like to use. The first is the regular Nintendo Switch console. The second is the joystick controllers detached from the console. The third is something that looks like a Poké Ball. The latter is something that's going to be relevant later on, but for now, I just pick the regular Switch controller.

Also, the little intro is adorable! I love how Eevee comes right up to the camera, waves, and plays with it, before jumping into the TV screen.

Yes, I said Eevee, not Pikachu.

That's the first major change of this game.

In the original Pokémon Yellow version, the player started with Pikachu, while the rival began with Eevee. The starter could not be changed in any way, unlike other games which give the player a choice of starters. Furthermore, Pikachu could not evolve without being traded away to another game and evolved over there.

However, this game approaches things a little differently.

The reimaging comes in two versions, Pikachu and Eevee. Picking one determines what starter the player will get. Like in the original, the starter cannot be changed. The starters also do not evolve, but get much higher stats and special moves to compensate. Also unlike the original, other Pokémon can be found in the wild that are the same species as the starter. These Pokémon can evolve and have normal stats. More on all that later.

Since I have the Eevee version, that's the Pokémon I will be starting with. My rival will then start with Pikachu, making the starters the opposite of the original.

This doesn't seem like a whole lot of change, but it's very much appreciated. Players who want something closer to the original experience can have Pikachu, or for those who have never played the original games (and given how old they are, even with a 3DS rerelease, it's very likely). Veterans of the older games can pick Eevee for the novelty, since it's the first time a main game has ever had Eevee as a starter option (although the side game Pokémon XD had Eevee as the starter before this one). Since I've played the older games a lot, I'm picking Eevee for the novelty.

But enough about that.

I'm quickly taken to the language selection screen, choosing to play in English.

After that, I'm greeted to an Eevee waking me up and Professor Oak talking about the world Pokémon. The speech is largely unchanged from the original, but with some nice scenery of Professor Oak walking around with Eevee as he talks about the different ways people use Pokémon. It's a nice touch.

And then I'm introduced to inputting my gender and my name.

Which brings me to a couple other changes.

The most obvious one is that the player can now play as a girl, when they could not originally. The second is character customization, which seems to be making some sort of return here. I can choose through many different skin tones and overall looks, but I decide to go with the default lighter skin tone for the girl. Finally, the last change is in a name. This game has more than doubled the amount of characters that are allowed in people's names. As a result, I can name the character my actual name instead of my nickname. I love it because my nickname happens to be the same as a canon character's name (different spelling, though). No one in the Pokémon world has used my actual name yet, though. Seeing as my actual name is a bit rare, that will probably continue.

Anyway, I input my name and head on over to my rival.

The rival is different in this game, because although he looks similar to Blue, he is also friendly, and younger. The game also establishes them as two completely different characters. The game forces me to input a name for him rather than giving me several options. However, it's been established that the default name is Trace, so that's what I decide to go with.

The beginning starts out similar to the original, where I start my room. There's also an e-mail from Trace explaining the basics of the controls. It's fairly straightforward, especially with the Switch controller.

Speaking of Trace, time to go meet him now.

I have to say his dialogue is hilarious… Informal, but also relevant… He reminds me of Barry from the Sinnoh games, although less hyper… Which is great, considering Barry is my favorite rival, and the Sinnoh games are probably my favorite in the series... Off to an excellent start…

And another change from the original… The player now heads straight to the Lab to pick up their Pokémon, instead of heading into the grass and nearly getting attacked (or rather, getting attacked and having Professor Oak stop it, if the player's playing Yellow). I'm glad they didn't use that scene in this game, because it always seemed a bit odd to me… No other game uses that except for Sinnoh, and it can be justified because the professor's lab is not in town…

But anyway, time to follow Trace!

Looks like I have to head towards the grass after all, so to the north I go!

Rather than stepping into the grass, Professor Oak is found at the edge of it. He starts to head into the grass, but then a wild Eevee appears!

And this is the catching tutorial.

It seems as though catching based on where one moves the Switch if using that control. After the player has moved the Switch in the desired direction, they can choose to get ready and then press the A button before making a shot. The shot will then sail straight at the Pokémon, giving the player a chance to catch it. Since this is the tutorial, the Eevee is caught immediately.

It's a little bit different, but something I can easily get used to. It also uses less motion control than the original Pokémon Go did, so that works better for me. There is classical style Pokémon Go catching in the controller options, though. I won't be using them, however.

And there's a hysterical cut scene of Eevee bouncing around and in its Ball. I'm in love with the game, and I haven't even really started yet…

And after another cutscene, Eevee is my new Pokémon. Since it's reminding me of the Sinnoh games so much, I'm going to name it Dia. That was a nickname for one of the protagonists in those games.

It turns out to be a good choice, since I don't know Dia's gender right now. However, she turns out to be female. It's a pretty lucky find, considering female Eevee don't appear often. She has a Serious Nature, with the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, and Growl.

One thing I should mention about moves is that they work a bit differently. A lot of the moves in previous games are gone, mainly to create a simpler experience and prevent new players from being confused and frustrated with trying to memorize all of them. It's also way to keep things similar to the original experience, while the same time allowing for new mechanics. The original experience did not have as many moves to choose from, but some of the moves from newer games have made it in. As a result, many Pokémon's movesets have been tweaked. I don't mind either way, since I'm willing to work with whatever the game gives me, and I'm used to playing older games with limited movepools.

With that of the way, it's on to the next step of my adventure!

And that's connecting with Pokémon Go. Connecting with Pokémon Go is the only way to get a special event Pokémon that I mentioned earlier. I'm eager to get it because it looks awesome, and is entirely new starting with this game…

Unfortunately, it looks like I can't do that right now, and must wait until much later…

But there is something else I can do, and it also involves getting another Pokémon.

Looks like I have to go a bit further into the game to get it though, but probably not by much.

Time to test out the new mechanics!

The first thing I notice is that Pokémon can be encountered roaming around on the overworld and then getting into a battle with them, rather than randomly encountering the in tall grass. It makes finding a specific Pokémon much less frustrating. It also makes traversing the world easier because I'm not constantly being attacked by wild encounters (or forced to use repels to fend them off). Once again, it's a much appreciated change, but I suspect it would take a lot of resources to implement in the future Pokémon games, because all the overworld sprites also have to be programmed in…

Nevertheless, it's great while it's here.

Furthermore, there are the traditional Pidgey on this route, but also Bellsprout. That's a new encounter, and I suspect it's for something I know that's coming up a little later on. It's also worth noting that there ae changes to the box system. In previous Pokémon games, one had to access their box only at a Pokémon Center, but here a box can be accessed at any time. It's similar to Pokémon Go, and I like that similarity. Furthermore, the entire party gets experience from catches, although I'm not sure about battles. Pokémon in the box do not gain experience. I have to say it makes training a bunch of Pokémon a lot easier, and one can still rotate in and out who they want to train. A small change from the original is that if the starter is boxed, they will still follow the player around. I like the idea of the starter following me, so I enjoy the concept.

After all this, I've caught a Rattata (Ratty, a Pokémon I am not using), a Pidgey (Angel), and a Bellsprout (Sharon). Interestingly, my Pokémon are all female. It's been a long time since I've had that happen in a run… Anyway, time to level things up…

And level up they do… Before long, everyone is at level 7… Dia learns Quick Attack. Meanwhile, Sharon has Vine Whip and Growth, and Angel Tackle, Sand Attack, and Gust.

There's also another thing I get from leveling up.

Candies.

In Pokémon Go, candies helped increase stats and each Pokémon line had a specific type of candy. Candy could be gotten by walking around with Pokémon, acquiring more of the same species, and sending them to the professor. In this game, candy only increases stats, with specific species yielding different types of candy. I've got quite a few different types, but I'm not going to use anything yet, because my team is not set in stone.

On I continue to Viridian City. As in the original, there's not much to do here other than get the Parcel and make a delivery. The game does give me the option to speed right back, but I want to explore little more…

Also, Jessie, James, and Meowth appear here, taking the place of the old man who shows the player how to catch Pokémon from the original. I have to say their models look great, and their characters are right on point with their personalities. For those unaware, these three were the main members of Team Rocket in the anime and constantly terrorized Ash and his companions. But often times, they held no real malice, other than a sense of loyalty to their boss, and their plans often failed. Sometimes they would even join up with the heroes. In the original, they appeared much later and were never named the entire game. They'd either be added on or would take the place of some Rocket battles in the original Red and Blue. I can't wait to see how they are handled here, especially since they are some of my favorite characters in all of Pokémon.

But enough about that, time to head to the optional Route 22.

The player doesn't need to head here until much later, but they can go now to catch more Pokémon and eventually have a rival battle. It was particularly important in the original, because this rival battle was one of two that determined what the rival's Eevee evolved into. Since my rival doesn't have Eevee, it's not as important now.

Catching new Pokémon is, however.

I rapidly catch three new Pokémon. Ike (Nidoran male), Stab (Spearow), and Catalina (Nidoran female). I won't be using any of them, but they are nice to have. I also noticed the absence of Mankey on this route. I can guess why, but I will put my guess in later. Regardless, Sharon learns Wrap here.

For now, it's time to head back to the lab.

And Eevee cements its place in the team by pretending to be my second hat… And Trace is hilarious as usual…

Other than that, the cutscene is mostly the same as the original…

And now I can finally get one of my main Pokémon.

If only I can connect my Poké Ball Plus. It takes a while, due to me misinterpreting the diagrams and eventually realizing I need to put my Switch in docked mode. Docked mode is something only used when the Switch connects to a TV, and since I plan on only using my Switch as a handheld device, I've never used docked mode…

It takes a while, but eventually get my Pokémon.

Mew.

Mew is unique in that can learn every Technical Machine, or otherwise man-made move. It can also use Transform to potentially and temporarily gain every other move. As such, it's extremely versatile and one of my favorite Pokémon. It's also interesting because the idea of getting Mew early on in the game is because of a glitch.

In the original Pokémon Red and Blue, one could exploit certain glitch is to get a Mew before the second Badge (so within the first quarter of the game). This glitch was patched out Yellow, but still remained one of the most useful, beloved, and well-known glitches. Nice to see it officially being acknowledged, in a sense. Too bad the Poké Ball Plus is so expensive, but it was well worth the buy… Therefore, Mew is the first permanent party member.

As far as my new Pokémon goes, Mew is level 1. This is probably another reference to the glitch, because the player could get level 1 Pokémon, when such was normally not possible in the older games. This Mew only knows Pound. Unlike Mew from other events, this one can be named. I quickly name it Rose. Mew is also a Pokémon that doesn't have a gender in the game. However, I like giving my genderless Pokémon genders, so I will refer to Rose as female for the rest of this log.

Also, it appears Trace wants a battle. The first Trainer battle in the game. I found it kind of odd that the battle is fought after getting Pokémon from the surrounding routes, and he still doesn't have any... Especially odd considering the first rival battle is before the player can catch any Pokémon in every other main game... Perhaps to ensure the battle isn't luck-based, especially since the starters don't naturally know super effective moves against each other... Pikachu can learn Double Kick in this game, but only as a partner, and it's still not that good…

Anyway, his starter's only level 6, and the rest of my team, Rose excluded, is level 8. He gets off a Thundershock, but goes down with two Quick Attacks.

Time to move on.

There's a few more Trainer battles, and since everyone on the team gest experience, I don't need to worry about leveling up Rose before fighting them.

Also, the introduction to partner customization is shown here. I can play with my partner, Dia, and feed her berries. I think it might increase stats, but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, it's like Pokémon Refresh and its predecessors from the other games. I'm not sure how much I will be using Dia, so I doubt I will use it much past here. There's also the ability to customize the partner alongside customizing the player character. I have to say the outfits are adorable, so I really like this feature. Even if I don't use Dia, I will be using this as much as I can.

Another battle with Trace awaits. It's just as easy as the last, with only a few hits from Quick Attack taking him down before he can hardly do a thing against me.

So now's the time to level up Rose. She's level 4 now, but she needs to get to level 9, and she levels up slowly… Eventually, she does level up, and I decide to keep her at the front of the party. She's going to learn a good move soon, so I want her to be able to do that. All this took a toll on my Poké Balls, so I need to gather more.

I'm able to grab 23 of them, bringing my total up to 40. I also grab three potions, and now I have four of those. I'm also broke, but I don't feel like it's much of an issue right now.

Especially since I will need all the Poké Balls I just got.

Also, I talked to someone, and realized just now that I can take a Pokémon out of its Ball and walk around with it… Rose is going to go around with me for the entire game, unless I catch something cuter…

Anyway, my next destination is to the north.

There's two new Pokémon here, so I catch a Caterpie (Karla), and a Weedle (Wanda). Also, I just realized that all of my Pokémon a female other than Ike, who can't be (and technically Rose, but I'm acting like she's female). I don't think I've ever had that happen on a run unintentionally…

Anyway, off to the Viridian Forest.

Another Trainer battle awaits, but it's nothing Rose's Pound can't handle.

After that, I get another Pokémon I want.

Pikachu.

Pikachu is good because it's an early game Electric Type Pokémon, and Electric Types are useful. It's also nice because the Pokémon I actually want to use for an Electric Type is a lot later on. But I will use Pikachu for now until I find it.

Here's my first male of the team, and since he's the mascot of the series and depicted with one of the heroes of these games, I'm naming him Chase. It's the male player character's default name, and I find it fitting here. Pikachu's also a bit harder to catch than Pokémon found thus far, so the game gives me a tutorial on how to use berries. It simply using it like an item in battle, and the effects will last for limited time. I think they can be bought eventually.

Viridian Forest also introduces another mechanic.

This mechanic is called rare spawns.

Rare spawns involve Pokémon that are difficult to find, and usually can't be gotten normally. Furthermore, these Pokémon often limited otherwise, such as being given as gifts. However, there are ways of getting these rare Pokémon to spawn. One is by using an item called a Lure, which I don't have yet. Another is by capturing the same species repeatedly. This is similar to using chaining techniques in other games in the series.

Right now the rare spawn is something I want, Bulbasaur. This Pokémon does appear as a gift later, but I have to complete a specific sidequest in order to get that, and probably won't be able to complete said sidequest by the time I encounter it.

So I want to try and catch it now. It's also worth noting that if I have difficulty catching it and use up most of my Balls, I will reset until I can.

I am also changing my party around for this. Since I am mostly going to be capturing a lot of Pokémon, I don't want my main team to gain too much experience. So instead I switch it only to Chase. He needs training, so now's a good time. I may also switch it to some of the other Pokémon in my box, but I will have to see.

After about catching about 15 Weedle, I capture a Bulbasaur. I use the Razz and Nanab Berries to make it easier to catch and less likely to run away, and I am successful my first try. The Pokémon is named Summer. I'm not using Summer now, but he might be useful if I need a different Grass type. Furthermore, I let some of the captured Weedles stay in my party, and a few of them evolve to Kakuna. That fills up another page in my Pokédex without wasting a space in my box. Pretty useful. Also knowing that I catch a Metapod (Sheldon). With that of the way, it's time to finish leveling up, sending up the extra Pokémon, and heading further into the forest. Chase learns Double Kick during on this, and now the entire party is level 9.

The Trainers here aren't very difficult, and Dia learns Double Kick. Something I also forgot to mention is that trainers also give out Poké Balls, since catching Pokémon is a source of training. It's very useful, especially when one is trying to get all the Pokémon.

Before long, I make it to Pewter. Trace is there, and gives me five potions. Pretty nice, considering now I don't have to buy them on my own. Luckily, I picked up a mushroom in the forest, so I quickly sell that. I don't buy anything here, though. I found out there's a woman that hands out Big Pearls if someone agrees to watch her Slowpoke. That item can be sold for a lot of money. The woman wasn't in the originals, and is probably here in the remakes because it's easy to run low on money after having to use so many Poké Balls. According to the dialogue, it's quite a relaxing time. But I don't get to see any of it.

Instead, it's time to head straight to the Gym.

And also time to introduce a new mechanic: Gym requirements.

In this game, these requirements must be met before a player is allowed to even enter the Gym. They're fairly straightforward, thankfully. Since this is the first Gym, it tests a player's knowledge of type matchups. The player is told before this that Rock Pokémon are weak to Grass and Water Pokémon. The test comes in that the player must show the Gym guide at the beginning of the Gym a Water or Grass type Pokémon to progress. Luckily, there are plenty of options and I get by with showing Sharon.

I actually approve of this, considering how difficult Brock could be in the original game. This had to do with the player's starter choice. Since the player started with Pikachu, they could do little or no damage to Brock. Most of the other Pokémon in the area are not much help, with the majority of them only knowing Normal Type offensive moves. Normal type attacks are resisted by Rock, and they already had high defense.

However, there was one saving grace.

Mankey, a Fighting Type Pokémon could be found on Route 22. Fighters are strong against Rock types, and Mankey could learn Low Kick to take advantage of that. Furthermore, Mankey also resisted Rock type attacks, although Brock didn't have any at the time.

The problem is when this came in. Route 22 is a completely optional area, and it's near the last place in the game. So it's not a place people would normally think of going in early without a guide. Furthermore, Fighting's advantage against Rock wasn't as well known, and maybe still isn't. Therefore, it was very likely for players to not realize that Mankey is even an option, and have a miserable time against Brock because they're doing almost nothing…

I'm glad the way this game's setup prevents that, because that could be very frustrating early on…

Anyway, onto the Gym itself.

The Gym is largely unchanged from the original, with its two Trainers and straight path. Sharon and Chase handle things easily here, although Chase takes a bit of damage. Rose also learns Swift here, but I'm not using it now.

Luckily, the damage is not enough to run back and heal, so it's time to face Brock.

He has Geodude and Onix, just as he did in the originals. However, they are lower leveled, and only slightly above my level. Furthermore, instead of having the defensive attack Bide (user takes attacks for two turns, than strikes back at the opponent with double the damage taken), he has Headbutt. Headbutt is a powerful move that can cause the opponent to flinch and lose their turn if the user strikes first. It's deadly at this point of the game, and I wonder if my Pokémon will faint. That alone sends Sharon into the red, but thankfully, she's able to take both of Brock's Pokémon down with two Vine Whips.

I get out of the Gym and Blue appears. He doesn't seem to have changed much, other was taking an interest in trying to help out younger Trainers. He's already established a name for himself, so I wonder if I will see him again… Outside of where I know I will see him, that is. Anyway, he gives me five Great Balls, a noticeable upgrade from what I have. Also, everything in my team can learn Headbutt, so I quickly teach it to them.

And it's a good place to stop, it seems. Especially since the next area has another rare encounter I want.

Next time to get that rare Pokémon amongst others, and head the mountain of Moon.