Grind 3.2 Grinding Away
Those big intelligent eyes were a lie. It only took Dennis and I maybe a half hour to figure that out. I think we both wanted to ignore it. But around the time I caught my first Pokemon, a Pikachu, I needed to address it.
"They aren't really there, you know? It's like the lights are on but no one's home. I feel like I'm giving instructions to a Robot." I looked to Dennis, begging him to tell me I was wrong.
"Yeah, I get it. They attack and aim but there expressions don't change, and they don't give any sign that they even understand what's happening. Heck even when their health drops down to almost nothing they just keep that same expression on their faces, like nothing even matters."
"It's creepy." I said.
"Yeah, this isn't really any fun. I'm sorry, I never thought it would be like this, the games were always so much fun, you know? As a kid I could spend hours lost in my imagination, and the original game, just thinking about what it would be like. It sounds weird but I'd actually get attached to the Pokemon." Dennis leaned back against a tree, and slid down to sit on the ground.
"If you sank enough time into it you would start to pick up on patterns in the random crap. Sometimes one Pokemon would be better at throwing off effects like confusion or sleep, some could take hits that would have flattened another member of your party. Some would hit with powerful but inaccurate moves more often than you would think chance could explain. Ha, strip away all the imagination and this is what's left. Blank faced looks and obedient drones. God, the show made it all seem so much more alive."
I honestly didn't know what to say. Dennis had started out so excited, we had only been doing this for a little while but he was already so, depressed by it all. I couldn't really disagree with anything he was saying either. It's true, the Pokemon are nothing but drones.
"You know, I think back on all the times I played these games, and I can remember things I was so proud of, just seven or eight years ago. There was my first starter, a Squirtle, I raised it to level one hundred. It could beat the entire elite four, and my rival single handed, without using any potions or anything to heal it along the way. I had a Graveler that wrecked everything. I lost it in a trade with a jerk I used to be friends with, ended up resetting the game when he wouldn't trade back after. I had this Kingler, giant crab right. Well that thing was the biggest surprise of all, it could take a hell of a beating, and it would just keep on going." Dennis paused to take a deep breath he let out as a sigh.
"I always knew they were numbers in a machine, or that characters in a book are just words on a page, but if you prop them up with enough imagination they take on a life of their own, and it's like you know them. Fuck, would you listen to me? I sound like some philosopher trying to find meaning in life or some crap. Guess that proves it then, you should never meet your heroes." Dennis trailed off with a self depreciating little chuckle.
"Pokemon were your heroes?" Crap. That came out condescending didn't it? Damn it I know better than this. I'm supposed to be better than this. I can't just go around being a jerk to my teammates or…
Dennis cut off my train of thought by laughing. Not the dry, humorless thing I'd heard a moment ago, a real full laugh.
"No, no not that kind of hero, just..." Dennis trailed off making a vague gesture with one hand. "It's like losing part of a childhood fantasy, you know? Like, when your parents tell you Santa isn't real. It's sad and a little hard to swallow at first, but then you don't really have any choice except to just move on."
"Yeah, yeah I get that." I remember that sensation, the feeling that I had lost something I could never quite get back. I wanted it back, wanted to believe. But the magic was already gone, worse it had never even existed in the first place. And just knowing that made the whole it left seem a little surreal.
I offered Dennis a hand up. "Come on Dennis, it might not be what you wanted, but we still need to see this through." Dennis gave me a halfhearted grin and took my hand, letting me haul him back onto his feet.
"Right then Taylor, they may not be lovable companions, but we can still enjoy the strategy of it all! Come on we'll stomp a few trainers to level up your Pokemon, then if you can beat me in a battle you'll be more than ready to take on the first gym."
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Dennis and I sat comfortably on some cushion, chair, things in a Pokemon Center next to the entrance to a cave Dennis called Mount Moon.
"Listen Taylor you have plenty of cash trust me you want to buy this Pokemon." Dennis said.
"Dennis you just told me that it's a useless fish that can't even attack until you get it to level fifteen why would I want one?"
"Because they evolve into Gyaradose, and Gyaradose is one of the toughest Pokemon in the game."
"Dennis from what you've told me they all have that kind of potential if you raise them right and fight smart."
Why, of all the things to be stubborn about, why did he have to be stubborn about this? It would take forever to level up the stupid fish! Dennis had told me so flat out! But he's so convinced this was the way to go about it. Pokemon is his favorite game, he knows it inside and out, and he's convinced this is the way to go.
"Alright Dennis, I'll raise the fish, on one condition." Dennis froze half way out of his seat before he could launch into what I assume was going to be a victory dance.
Dennis slid back into his seat with a cautious look. "What do you want?"
Leaning back I grinned triumphantly. "I want to pick out a cute Pokemon for my party." Hah, he'd never agree to this. He was way too focused on getting together the strongest team possible. Now he would have to let go of this crazy idea and we could hurry up and move on, without wasting our time raising a pointless fish.
"Deal." Wait, what?! "There's a rare-ish Pokemon that we can find in Mount Moon that looks pretty cute. We can raise your Magikarp a bit while we look for one, and if you don't like that one there are a few others I can think of."
Crap…
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I hate my Magikarp. Ten levels, ten levels of grinding up a fish that couldn't even attack properly. It slowed everything down. I was getting to the point where I was about ready to just abandon the poor thing too put it out of my misery. But no, Dennis insisted that it would be worth it that once it evolved everything would get easier.
I don't know why, but I trusted him. Now, watching as Magikarp started to glow, as evolution started? I was excited. Dennis refused to tell me about the evolved form instead telling me to wait and see. Finally I would find out what all…. the…. hype…..
Damn it Dennis.
"Dennis?" I asked, my voice sickeningly sweet.
"Um, yeah Taylor?"
"Tell me something Dennis, how much would a Gyarados need to eat, per day, because he looks big enough to eat as much a small whale."
"I umm I'm not really sure, why does it.."
"Yes Dennis, it most certainly does matter. Tell me Dennis, how happy would the director be if on top of the food budget for four or five cow sized creatures she also had to pay to feed this guy?" I asked in my most dangerous tone of voice.
Dennis seamed to visibly pail at the thought. "That's what I thought. Dennis, we just wasted how much time grinding levels to raise this thing and there is no way I can risk taking him home with us. You get that right? And on top of that it means we need to train up an entirely new Pokemon from scratch!"
"Taylor! No, you can't just ditch a Gyarados! It was my entire argument for this game in the first place. If we don't get some heavy fire power the director is going to be pissed, at me!" The note of panic in Dennis voice actually made this a little bit amusing, but mostly I was still pissed at him for not thinking this through.
"Well then Dennis, I guess you'll just have to think up another Pokemon with the same kind of fire power." I gave Dennis a pat on the shoulder as I walked past him. "Now come on lets go ditch this thing in the PC and-"
"Taylor, no, come on. At least use him until we can get you another water Pokemon. Trust me he'll be a big help going through this stupid cave after you beat the third gym."
That, actually made sense. But then I'd be throwing XP at a Pokemon that wouldn't be a permanent part of the team. That would be a waste. It was a load of crap, but it did make sense in a really annoying sort of way to keep it around if only so that I wouldn't be fighting with just three Pokemon. "Fine, he stays, for now." I fixed Dennis with a pointed glare as I said 'for now.'
Dennis pumped his fist into the air. "Awesome! Now next stop is the S.S. Anne! And I finally get to battle with you again. Remember to lead with Pikachu because the rival always starts with his bird Pokemon."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember."
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I did in fact remember to lead with Pikachu. I did in fact nock out Dennis's Pidgeoto. What I did not do was pay attention to the name of the Pokemon he was sending out next. Which is how my Ivysaur ended up defeated by his Charmeleon.
From there things spirlad out of control, somehow leaving me with only Clefary against three, mostly healthy, Pokemon. In short I was screwed.
Right up until I wasn't.
"This. Is. Bullcrap." Dennis deadpanned, as my adorable little Clefary beat his last Pokemon unconscious.
"You used minimize once. Once, and just from that I only manage to land what, a hit per Pokemon? What is this nonsense!"
Trying not to laugh I very calmly pointed out, "Well charm helped out a lot too, you know? Maybe if some of your Pokemon where female you wouldn't have lost." Dennis just waved me past saying he needed to get to the Pokemon Center. I think he might be a bit annoyed with me but I suspect he'll get over it soon enough. He seems to to bounce back quickly.
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"OK, explain this to me, one more time." I said.
"It's like a pet cemetery. Only it's a tower, and it's haunted by ghost Pokemon and the ghost of a Pokemon slight difference. If you want to fight those you need, the Sylph Scope. But before that if you want we can have a battle in there without running into the ghost Pokemon."
"That's kind of weird." I said adjusting my sun hat. It was funny, it was such a little thing, and no one ever seemed to wear these anymore, but I was really starting to love this hat.
"Little bit yeah, but no more than anything else around here. So what'll it be, battle now or later?"
I was sick of battling. We had already been at this for what must have been 12 hours. I think. I know I lost more than an hour of that arguing with Dennis, particularly about the stupid cave we had just left. Apparently as a kid Dennis had never learned about the move flash and had found his way through the cave in total darkness. Which was stupid, it was completely stupid. He had failed to get through the cave and had to start over so many times that he now knew it by heart. Eventually I forced him to tell me where I could find flash and we made our way through the cave with actual light, like intelligent people.
Which brings me back to the question at hand, battle Dennis, or go off and battle someone else. I wasn't physically tired, but I was starting to feel the need for a break from all the battling. On the other hand Dennis was probably going out of his mind with boredom. If I was getting sick of the endless battles Dennis had to be twice as sick of watching them.
"OK Dennis, let's battle but then we need to find a spot to take a break, any thoughts?"
Dennis seemed to perk up twice at that, first at the mention of a battle and then again at the mention of a break. "Yeah, I know the perfect place! The town with the next gym battle is the only real city in the game. We can head there next, check it out, see the sights, and pick up a few Pokemon without the hassle of capturing them. Yeah we'll head there next."
Oh thank God. There really was something to do other than battle endless waves of Pokemon. As we had been talking we had made our way into the tower and up to the first floor facing off against each other Dennis gave me an extremely serious look. He leaned up against a nearby wall, one hand clenched over his stomach; the other held a pokeball out as if he was warding me off.
"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my Raticate. Prepare to die."
Dennis was paraphrasing The Princess Bride, one of the best movies in existence. It's the sort of movie that despite the title had something for everyone. Guy or girl, young or old, none of that matter when it came to movies like The Princess Bride, because there was something for everyone. That's when I had my epiphany.
"Movie Night."
"Umm what?" Dennis asked, abandoning his dramatic pose.
"We're having a Wards movie night, we're going to use my power, and we're going to watch The Princess Bride."
"Ughh, but Taylor,"
"Nope, Dennis you don't get to argue, this is happening and that's that."
"But,"
"Dennis, this is going to happen. I will make it happen, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Now, would you kindly start the battle so we can go explore the city?" I asked sweetly.
For some reason the last sentence seamed to make Dennis go pale before hastily nodding and throwing his first Pokemon. I barely gave the battle any attention, I was far too focused on deciding who should play what role.