Chapter 6 – Pickup Percentages and a Taste Test
Four Rattata lay unconscious on the ground. Scattered around these Rattata were various articles of clothing (neatly folded), a Deluxe Backpack (contents spilled out), a Silph Co. Berry Pouch (closed and containing various amounts of Berries, though it was empty of Oran), and a sleeping bag (tied in a bun but tossed carelessly to the side). Soot sat in a central, circular firepit while a tent stood upright and unmoving on the other end of the clearing, completing the cliché of an abandoned campsite.
Then a young girl emerged from a tent flap, disrupting that droll trope by replacing it with another, introducing movement and life to stillness and solitude.
Amber took a deep breath of the morning air. A cool breeze soothed her skin as she strode forward into the center of the setting. Her ears perked at the sounds of singing songbirds (i.e. Pidgey) overhead; her nostrils flared in the face of grassy aromas; and her eyes opened eagerly, absorbing the incandescent awe of sunrise.
It was a beautiful morning if ever there was one.
Then the wind carried a commanding voice to her ears, and her moment of silent peace was done for the day.
"If you encounter five pokémon at once," she heard, "Run. Away."
Her head turned, her eyes focused, and she beheld her traveling companion walking her way.
His entire party, minus one Meowth, were listening to his words with rapt attention.
"Also, avoid Gong Grass," Ex added, pointing at a patch of head-high plants. Then he motioned to the much more abundant, waist-length fields around them. "Stick to Tall Grass."
His pokémon all gave affirmative words in response. They hadn't quite reached the point where they could use full sentences yet, Amber judged, but single words like 'yes' and 'got it' and 'okay' were easy for them.
"Hi Ex!" Amber chirped when she saw him notice her. "Where were you?"
"Hunting breakfast," Ex answered easily. His fingers held five Fainted Rattata; they dangled from his digits, suspended by their tails, while four more swayed in the breeze beneath the chin of Charmander, under the whiskers of Winky, and between the paws of Pinky and Blinky.
"Oh." She looked at the catch. "Rattata again?"
"Yup. One each for our pokémon and three each for us. I want to eat light so we aren't weighed down when we walk."
"In that case," Amber said, "I think we can go with skillet-searing. No need to find a river."
Soon, six Rattata were sizzling in a pan while the rest were being snacked upon by their pokémon.
"Hey Amber," Ex called over the sound of searing succulency, "I want to make sure my pokémon understand what I just told them, but you're the only one who can actually confirm it. Could you check?"
"Okay," Amber shrugged, her eyes on the pan. "What did you tell them?"
"To stay away from the Long Grass and to run away if they encounter multiple Wild pokémon at the same time."
Amber glanced up from the pan at his team. "They understand," she said. "I heard you telling them earlier. They're probably close to understanding humans. Well, humans that aren't in-tune with pokémon, I mean. Why did you want to tell them that, anyway?"
"Because Horde Battles are dangerous," Ex answered, "and should be avoided until we get some A. O. E. Moves."
"A. O. E.?" Amber repeated the acronym.
"Area of Effect."
"Umm... area of effect?" Amber repeated the acronym's idiom, still not understanding.
"Swift, Surf, Earthquake, Heat Wave, Powder Snow, and other Moves that affect wide areas," Ex said absently.
"Oh." Apparently it was literal, not an idiom.
"They can be used to win Horde Battles in a single Move," Ex explained. "Horde Battles are pretty dangerous otherwise. And annoying."
"Did Professor Oak warn you about that, or something?" Amber asked. "He said he would send you an email, right?"
"He sent me an email, but he didn't say anything about this." Ex shrugged casually. "I'm just being prudent."
Pickup Percentages
Why not tell her about the battle you just had? Ex's brain asked.
No need, Ex surmised. He surreptitiously slipped a Revive and a Potion to Prime after Amber's attention bounced back to breakfast.
Ex's brain might have pressed further if it cared about that sort of thing. But Ex was in charge of their social interactions, not his brain, so it decided to focus on something a bit more up its alley.
What does our current stock of Berries look like? it asked as Ex watched his pokémon rip into raw rats. I've been keeping track, but I want to be certain we have enough for a test I want to run.
Well, I just used up the rest of the Oran on those battles, Ex thought as he looked into his Berry Pouch. Other than that, 10 Cheri, 18 Rawst, 15 Aspear, 15 Pecha, and 8 Chesto.
At least seven of each Status-curing Berry, his brain confirmed with a nod. That should be enough for what I have in mind. And we might as well take complete stock while we're at it. What're the rest of our Items?
Ex sorted through the side sections of his bag.
10 Pokéballs, 10 Repels, 3 Potions, 4 Revives, 1 Nugget, and 1 Rare Candy.
Don't forget TM 10 (Hidden Power), thought his brain. It's still in our Pokédex.
Oh, right. Ex didn't bother taking the TM out, but he did glance at the disc slot before turning his eyes back to his bag. There's not as much as I was expecting.
I think your guess about realistic Pickup Items was right, his brain observed. Except for the rare Items, these are all things you'd expect new Trainers to drop or leave behind: Pokéballs that missed their targets; Repels that were forgotten at campsites; and the occasional Potion from Trainers that actually thought to look in their Item Storage.
Once Professor Oak includes that in EVERY orientation, Ex thought, there'll probably be a lot more Potions to find on this Route.
Not that we'll be here to observe that, thought his brain. I'm going to count up the total Items Picked Up so far.
It quickly enumerated every Item, including the things they'd already used, going backwards in memory:
1 Revive and 1 Potion on Prime just now;
2 Repels for our gear while we slept;
45 Oran, all eaten in engagements;
8 Chesto for last night's dinner; (Amber had assured him that the Awakening effects would wear off by the time they needed to sleep, and they had.)
6 Cheri for yesterday's 'lunch';
1 Pokéball on the Rattata we tested for intelligence;
and 2 Revives we sold to Amber and Gary after the orientation battles yesterday.
His brain then added all that to everything they sold in the mart:
1 Nugget, 10 Pokéballs, 6 Potions (5 from Storage, 1 Pickup).
Finally, his brain examined the totals after subtracting the 5 Storage Potions. We had...
73 Pickups in Pallet: 53 Berries and 20 Items
97 Pickups on Route 1: 72 Berries and 25 Items
73 + 97 = 170 Pickups in a single day: 125 Berries and 45 Items.
That's... good? Ex asked hesitantly.
But his brain just kept the calculations coming rapid-fire.
One Meowth Picks something Up every fifteen minutes or so, which is four Pickups an hour. (4 pph times 1 M = 4 pph)
With five Meowth, that's twenty Pickups per hour. (4 p/h times 5 M = 20 p/h)
One hundred seventy Pickups divided by twenty Pickups per hour is eight point five hours. (170 p / 20 p/h = 8.5 h)
That means we had our Pickup Party going for eight and a half hours yesterday. (8 h 30 min of Pickup)
If we had been able to have the party running during the rain, and if Bulbasaur hadn't Fainted Prime, we probably would have gotten another 30 Items.
Um... Ex thought articulately, his eyes having gone distant at all the numbers. Can you give a summary?
We should be shooting for 200 Items per day, his brain thought conclusively, which is 10 hours of Pickup. If we can optimize our hunting and battling strategies, we can shoot for more.
Why that exact number?
Six hours of poaching and ten hours of Pickup every day will be a good balance between Experience and Items, his brain answered. Currently, our Meowth bring mostly Berries, but that'll change once we reach the Routes traveled by more experienced trainers, not to mention the cities – as we've already seen in Viridian. Best to get into good habits now, even if the loot table here is lack-luster.
Ex tried to think about that for a moment, but his brain began a strategic analysis before he could even get a thought in edgewise.
We can still work the existing odds to our advantage, his brain reasoned. The Pickup percentages here on Route 1 lean towards lots of Berries. Lots of Berries means lots of Oran, and lots of Oran means lots of Experience. Our party has used 45 Oran Berries so far, which should have translated to 45 Flawless Victories, in theory. And getting plenty of other Berries means we can test for our team's Natures today.
And we get convenient food flavoring, Ex added. Can't forget that. Then, at that moment, he realized their currently cooking meal has yet to be flavored. As a matter of fact-
Don't, his brain interrupted, call out to Amber just yet. We can get to that in literally one minute. Let me finish this first.
Ex mentally projected that he was crossing his arms. Fine.
Other than Berries, his brain continued, Picking Up Trainer debris on Route 1 means we don't have to buy those Items. We Picked Up two Repels on the Route yesterday, and we used two Repels last night. The other ten came from Pallet, so we don't even have to worry about running out, at least for typical Trainer purposes on Route 1. We also don't have to worry about running out of Pokéballs.
Ex scoffed. Not that I have any reason to use Pokéballs on Route 1, he thought.
Unless we find a Shiny, or a useful species, his brain corrected. If this Route is like Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu, we should be able to find an Oddish. If it's like any of the Gold or Silver versions, there should be some Gen 2 pokémon here. And a Pidgey might be useful if we can fully Evolve and Mega Evolve it.
Every Pidgey we've encountered just flies away when it's in danger, Ex thought. Realism, remember?
Then again, we only need one Mega, and Mega Gengar is Uber tier, his brain considered, seeming to ignore him, not to mention Mega Kangaskhan. And we already have Charmander...
There might not even BE Mega evolution yet, Ex thought. Or even at all, in this world.
That'd be a disappointment, his brain commented. So maybe Pidgey is only useful if we want to complete the Pokédex. In our next email to Professor Oak, I'll ask if he wants us to catch 'em all. Otherwise, there's no point to catching Pidgey.
I thought you were analyzing Pickups, Ex thought, not party composition.
Just a little digressing and sidequesting, his brain shrugged. Now, when it comes to Nuggets and Rare Candies...
if they each have a 1% discovery chance, (.01 Nuggets per Pickup, .01 Rare Candies per Pickup)
then at 200 Pickups, (200 p x .01 N/p = 2 N, 200 p x .01 RC/p = 2 RC)
we should be getting 2 per day, every day, on average. Each.
That means around 30,000 pokédollars from Nuggets each time we visit a city... but future Routes will probably take longer than three days, and most cities have more than one Route in between them, so we can expect more than that.
Money-walled exploits, here I come, Ex thought evilly.
For Rare Candies... his brain began, then trailed off, taking a moment to compile all the relevant information. If each Route takes three days and each town takes... let's say two days... and the odds don't change by location or level as realism may or may not suggest... then...
This time, when his brain's train of thought went from verbal to entirely mental, it conjured an image of a Kanto game map in their shared mind space. His brain seemed to focus on the path normally traveled by players, counting up Rare Candies in terms of Routes and cities as it went along. Ex took out his Pokédex and used the region map function, which simplified the amount of mental work involved.
...we should have enough Rare Candies for our first level 100 pokémon by the fourth Gym, his brain declared. Assuming we can level someone up to 40 independent of any Rare Candies by that point. But once I figure out the Exp system, that shouldn't be a problem.
If the Gyms don't have strong enough pokémon to match that, Ex realized, it'll be smooth sailing straight into the Elite Four.
Or the Pokémon League Tournament, thought his brain. We'll have to wait and see, so hold on to the Rare Candies for now.
Can do. Anything else?
Yes, one more thing about Pickup, his brain amended. All the Revives we've been getting are an anomaly in the whole 'realism' thing, but that's not unique to Route 1. Later, we should search the web for something that explains it.
Why later instead of immediately?
Because right now it's time to finish our Trainer Memos, his brain thought. NOW you can go ahead and call out to Amber. And keep the Pokédex out.
Finally!
"Hey Amber," Ex said, looking up from his bag. "Is the food ready?"
"Almost," she called back. "Do you have any Rawst Berries I could add for flavor? They're my favorite."
Five minutes later, after the FRYING pan had done its work, Ex learned that Rawst was not a good seasoning for Rattata. Or rather, he learned that Rawst wasn't a good seasoning for anything, period. According to his own taste buds, at least. Amber recommended he add some Aspear to his own dish to lessen the Bitterness if he didn't like it.
So, his brain observed. We savor the Spicy Cheri but we blanch at the Bitter Rawst. We must be Naughty Nature.
I'm fine with that, Ex mentally shrugged. Does that mean I have... what, boosted Attack?
And weakened Special Defense, his brain confirmed with a nod.
I'll have to avoid getting hit by Special Attacks, in that case, Ex observed. Then, he actually thought about what he had just mentally articulated. Wait a minute. Can humans even HAVE Natures?
Don't know, shrugged his brain. I don't think we have Stats. Not in the same way Pokémon do. But we have personalities.
We ARE pretty Naughty, Ex agreed. In a game-exploity sort of way. Impish would have fit, too.
*cough cough* LONELY *cough cough*
Maybe for humans, Ex ignored his brain, Natures JUST refer to personality, while for pokémon they also affect Stats.
Only one way to find out, his brain declared. Then, out loud, it said, "Hey Amber, what's your least favorite Berry?"
"Pecha," she answered instantly. "Which is strange. I used to like Sweet things."
So she spurns the Sweet Pecha and relishes the Bitter Rawst, his brain observed. No wonder she's so Sassy.
Two data points don't guarantee a trend, Ex thought, even if I'm tempted to agree.
Well, we can investigate human Natures later, his brain decided, then declared, right now, it's time for POKEMON Natures.
Taste Testing
Amber sat cross-legged, not thinking about anything in particular. She was simply enjoying a well-flavored meal while watching her Bulbasaur run around in the grass.
Ex's voice interrupted the quiet calm that had come between the two of them as they ate. "Amber, do you mind if I run a quick test?"
She paused in her chewing, slowly swallowing before speaking. "What test?"
She looked over to see him shuffling around in and searching through his rucksack, eventually removing his Berry Pouch, his Pokédex, and his team's Pokéballs. He then started laying out Berries on the ground in front of him.
"Remember the Trainer Memos we wrote yesterday?" he asked as he sorted the Berries into neat little rows. Each row had one Cheri, one Chesto, one Pecha, one Rawst, and one Aspear.
She furrowed her brows for a moment, thinking back. "Yes."
"Remember what I had us enter for the Natures of our Pokémon?"
"Um..."
No. But instead of saying that out loud, she took out her own Pokédex and found the Memo section for her Bulbasaur. She looked at it, reading... Oh, right.
"You had us enter 'Unknown Nature'."
"Yep," he confirmed, scooting slightly away from his fancy little rows. There were now seven sets of five Berries set up on the ground. "We'll be fixing that in a little bit."
"How?" Amber asked, not understanding the rows or the memo in the slightest.
"Taste testing," he said. "I'm going to have our pokémon each eat a row of Berries and tell us which they liked best versus which they disliked most." Then he seemed to pause, as if a thought occurred to him. "Actually, could you ask them for me? You're better at that than I am."
"Sure," she said. Then, raising her voice, "Everyone," she called commandingly, "please come over here."
The pokémon in the clearing quickly congregated at her feet.
"Ex would like to figure out what food Flavors you like. You are going to go to those Berries," she pointed at the neat little rows, "eat a row, and say which Berry is your favorite, and which is your least favorite. Do you understand?"
A cacophony of affirmative sounds met her ears, and she smiled.
"Good." She turned to Ex. "Go on."
They began a small stampede in Ex's direction, causing Ex to cry out "Not all at once!" in a panicked voice.
"Stop!" she shouted.
This halted the horde, and Ex exhaled a breath as they skidded to a stop.
"Alright, let's try this again," Amber said. "One at a time, please." She turned to the tester. "Ex, who goes first?"
"First Charmander and Bulbasaur," Ex said, Pokédex in hand, "then Winky, Stinky, Blinky, Pinky, and Prime."
"Well, you heard him," she addressed the pokémon. "Line up in that order."
They did.
"Charmander first," Ex said.
Charmander approached the Berries, looking to her Trainer, then to the little lines. She picked up a Cheri Berry first and ate it, chewing slowly. She seemed to like it more than she didn't, but only slightly. She was 'meh' about the Chesto Berry. She really liked the Pecha Berry, but disliked the Rawst and hated the Aspear.
"She liked Pecha the most," Amber told Ex when she was done, "and didn't like Aspear at all."
"She likes Sweet food and dislikes Sour food," Ex said. "That means she has a Hasty Nature." He typed something into his Pokédex. "Not terrible. She'll make a good mixed-attack sweeper. Next please."
Bulbasaur liked Chesto, but not Aspear. This apparently meant Amber should enter 'Mild' into her Memo.
And so it went on, down the line, for each pokémon and for each Berry row.
For the Meowth, Winky went first, but he didn't seem to mind any of the Flavors or have any favorites at all.
Ex said pokémon without preferences are Hardy, Docile, Bashful, Quirky, or Serious, but there wasn't a way to tell which. Amber remarked that Winky seemed pretty laid back and docile, to which Ex had shrugged, said 'Docile it is' out loud, then typed into his Pokédex.
Stinky liked Aspear and disliked Rawst; Ex said he was 'Lax'.
Blinky was 'Gentle' because he was the opposite, liking Rawst and not Aspear.
'Naughty' for Pinky, who hated Rawst, loved Cheri, and 'would make a good Physical attacker'.
And finally, 'Modest' for Prime, who liked Chesto and disliked Cheri.
He had used his team's Pokéballs to confirm which was which.
"A Special-attacking Meowth," Ex said when it was over. "That'll be an interesting set to build, once we get to the point where Natures start really impacting Stat values. And when I can buy the right TMs."
"So what was all that for, anyway?" Amber asked. "And where did you get those Natures from?"
"I have the Nature table memorized,"* Ex answered. "As well as the Flavor values of all Berries.** Put them together and I can figure out the Nature of any pokémon with a food preference."
"How does that work?" Amber inquired, though she also wanted to ask-
"All but five of the pokémon Natures have likes and dislikes regarding flavors," Ex answered mechanically. "Each Nature has one particular combination. Each of these five Berries has exactly one Flavor type, so this taste test lets me see where their preferences lie."
"Why?"
Ex's eyes were distant, as they sometimes were when she asked him about pokémon facts.
"If a pokémon does have a food preference, their Nature will affect their Stats. One Stat will be ten percent higher than usual, while a different Stat will be ten percent lower. Which Stat gets raised or lowered depends on the preference.
Spicy-liking pokémon have augmented Attack;
Sour-loving pokémon have higher Defense;
Dry-lovers get a boost to Special Attack;
Bitter-bent pokémon get better Special Defense;
and those who select Sweet as their supreme seasoning have a supported Speed Stat.
The opposite is true for negative preferences. Spicy-hating pokémon have lower Attack, Sour-dislikers get decreased Defense, and so on."
Amber's eyes were wide by the end of the recitation. She had never heard of anything like that before. "Really?"
"Unless I've been massively misinformed about something this fundamental," Ex shrugged, "then yes."
This statement didn't exactly reassure her.
"Take your Bulbasaur, for example," Ex continued. "His combination of preferences gives him the 'Mild' Nature. He likes Dry food; Special Attack is the Stat associated with the Dry flavor, so that means his Special Attack will be stronger than usual and he'll do more damage with most of his moveset than other Bulbasaurs. Well, actually his entire natural moveset is Physical and Status, but all the good Moves he can learn come from TMs anyway. Those are the Special Attacks that'll deal good damage and would be helped by a Mild Nature."
"Umm... that's good, right?" Amber asked, having trouble following the last bit.
"Yes, but that's only half of it; he also dislikes Sour food. Defense is the stat associated with the Sour flavor, meaning his Defense will be weaker than usual and he'll take more damage from Physical attackers."
Amber frowned. "That isn't good." She didn't like the idea that her Bulbasaur would be vulnerable.
"It is what it is," Ex said with a shrug. "You can't do anything to change it... unless..." he trailed off briefly. "Well, unless there's a way to change it, like some kind of Nature-modifying mint*** or something. The important thing for now is to start make strategies that take your pokémon's strengths and weaknesses into account."
Amber wasn't pleased, but if it was just a part of nature and she couldn't do anything about it, she could see the sense in figuring it out. "So that's why you wanted to know the Natures of all your pokémon?"
"Yes," Ex said. "Ignorance is not bliss when your Bulbasaur Faints to a Move it should have endured, or when he gets out-Sped by an opponent that should have been slower than it actually was, but had a Speedy Nature."
"Is that why you memorized this Nature stuff in the first place?"
"Yes," Ex said with a nod. "Only once it's comprehended, can we use our will to bend it."
* The Pokemon nature table can be found in any number of places. Just google image search the term and pick whichever chart you think looks best. I prefer the color-coded ones that include favor preferences and go in the order Atk, Def, Sp Atk, Sp Def, Spd. I've been trying to make a ff(d)net-compliant nature chart, but the formatting isn't easy here.
** The flavors of the Status-curing Berries came from Bulbapedia.
*** Sword and Shield introduced these mints. They may or may not currently exist in this universe. You'll just have to wait and see. (Which is author's notes code for "I haven't yet decided if I want to include them.")