Well, I was going to post either a short story or something about math, but something came up tonight.
To make up for it, though, I'm promising now a bonus blog post in November. Both posts will happen next month. They might happen Sunday, but another Y-Locke's Log is also likely (hoping to do a long one Sunday), so they might get pushed back to the next week/weekend.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Poké-Plans for November 2014
So, the drop date for Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire is closer than one might think. Unfortunately, I'm way, way behind on my generational team plans.
Since I came up with all of the notes for it, I'm at least going to beat the game with my Generation I team before I go pick up ORAS on the 21st. (Or was it the 23rd?)
As I recall, the biggest uncertainty that I had was a 4th move for Jolteon. I know that I wanted it to have Hidden Power (Ice) along with Rain Dance and Thunder, but I just wasn't sure about the final move for its Repetoire. Double Team is the most tempting, but I'm doing a breeding rule, & getting all 3 non-Thunder moves might make this harder on myself than necessary. @_@
That's all for now, but expect a post in November on how this goes.
Since I came up with all of the notes for it, I'm at least going to beat the game with my Generation I team before I go pick up ORAS on the 21st. (Or was it the 23rd?)
As I recall, the biggest uncertainty that I had was a 4th move for Jolteon. I know that I wanted it to have Hidden Power (Ice) along with Rain Dance and Thunder, but I just wasn't sure about the final move for its Repetoire. Double Team is the most tempting, but I'm doing a breeding rule, & getting all 3 non-Thunder moves might make this harder on myself than necessary. @_@
That's all for now, but expect a post in November on how this goes.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Y-Locke's Log: Day 7
I once again received a pokémon as a gift today. This time, it was a Gengar holding a Gengarite. With this, I do have the equivalent of an entire team in my PC box, which is nice.
I headed to Route 4 and ran into a trainer with a Pichu and a Pikachu. Mousea was able to handle the Pichu alright, but he had some trouble against the Pikachu, so I had Sly finish him off.
I did find a Net Ball in one corner of the route. It was there that I also encountered a Gardener named Grover. He had only a Corphish, but experience taught me that those are fairly tough, so I sent Orion out, who used Sand-Attack before finishing off the Corphish by more conventional means. He also told me the name of the hedgerows flanking the route: They are apparently called the Geometric Gardens.
After a run back to the pokémon center, I explored the other side of Route 4, and ran across another Gardener, named Fabian. He, like so many others, had a lone Corphish as his pokémon. Mousea's Charm was useful for slowing Corphish's attack, but Corphish is a Water-type, and I'm not sure that Mousea had enough attacks in total to knock him out, so I switched to Theodore. I ended up using a Potion to save Theodore, but Mousea did learn Bubblebeam in the process - replacing Water Gun - so it was a pretty good battle overall. I did retreat to the pokémon center to recover, though.
On the northernmost part of Route 4, I ran across two white-clad trainers, who seemed pleased that I had encountered a Flabébé, and who eventually introduced themselves as Sina and Dexio. Apparently, the Fairy type was only recently classified. They offered to show me the way to Professor Sycamore's lab. Along the way, Dexio gave me the TM for Return, a move that gets stronger when my friendship with the pokémon using it is strong.
Lumiose City seems quite big, so I followed Sina straight to the lab. While there, another scientist gave me the TM for False Swipe, which apparently always leaves a pokémon with at least 1 HP, which is super useful for catching pokémon.
While I was talking to Professor Sycamore, Shauna and Serena arrived, and Sycamore suggested that we all battle. I did get a moment to switch my pokémon around first, though, so I put Theodore out front to give him some experience. Sycamore sent out a Bulbasaur first, so I ended up switching to Orion, to exploit its weakness to Flying-type attacks; two Gusts took it out. Against his Squirtle, I kept Orion out, but was more cautious, leading with a Sand-Attack. He finished Squirtle off, but almost didn't survive! When the professor sent out Charmander, I sent out Mousea, and led strong with his newly-learned Bubblebeam. It wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, so I got cautious, having Mousea use Water Sport and Charm to reduce Charmander's attack power. More Water-type attacks eventually finished the job, though, and Professor Sycamore was defeated.
Then, in an unexpected gesture, Professor Sycamore offered me my choice of any one of those same three pokémon species. I was torn between Charmander and Squirtle, but I suspected that Water-types would be more common than Fire-types on my journey, despite how many I had at the moment, so I went with Charmander. He let me name it, too, so I dubbed him "Comet", for his fiery-looking tail.
Then, in a further act of generosity, Professor Sycamore gave me a Charizardite Y. Apparently, it's a Mega Stone, and is connected to Mega Evolution; he'd like us to look into it, and suggested that we check out Camphrier Town. (He also gave pokémon and mega stones to the others.)
Comet wasn't holding anything, so I gave him the Charizardite Y to hold.
On my way out, I encountered a fellow named Lysandre. Apparently, he's been studying pokémon for a while now, and has hopes for a more "beautiful" world.
On my way out, Serena mentioned that she'd like to meet me at a Cafe Soliel. Conveniently, Trevor & Tierno mentioned that it was toward Camphrier Town; there's no way that I'd have found it easily in all of Lumiose. I decided to retreat to the Santalune City pokémon center for the night, though.
I also think that I'll mix up my team a little: Rather than using Pyrrhini or Comet, where I already also have both Sly and my Torchic, I'm going to use Rose Red for a while, and see how she plays out.
I headed to Route 4 and ran into a trainer with a Pichu and a Pikachu. Mousea was able to handle the Pichu alright, but he had some trouble against the Pikachu, so I had Sly finish him off.
I did find a Net Ball in one corner of the route. It was there that I also encountered a Gardener named Grover. He had only a Corphish, but experience taught me that those are fairly tough, so I sent Orion out, who used Sand-Attack before finishing off the Corphish by more conventional means. He also told me the name of the hedgerows flanking the route: They are apparently called the Geometric Gardens.
After a run back to the pokémon center, I explored the other side of Route 4, and ran across another Gardener, named Fabian. He, like so many others, had a lone Corphish as his pokémon. Mousea's Charm was useful for slowing Corphish's attack, but Corphish is a Water-type, and I'm not sure that Mousea had enough attacks in total to knock him out, so I switched to Theodore. I ended up using a Potion to save Theodore, but Mousea did learn Bubblebeam in the process - replacing Water Gun - so it was a pretty good battle overall. I did retreat to the pokémon center to recover, though.
On the northernmost part of Route 4, I ran across two white-clad trainers, who seemed pleased that I had encountered a Flabébé, and who eventually introduced themselves as Sina and Dexio. Apparently, the Fairy type was only recently classified. They offered to show me the way to Professor Sycamore's lab. Along the way, Dexio gave me the TM for Return, a move that gets stronger when my friendship with the pokémon using it is strong.
Lumiose City seems quite big, so I followed Sina straight to the lab. While there, another scientist gave me the TM for False Swipe, which apparently always leaves a pokémon with at least 1 HP, which is super useful for catching pokémon.
While I was talking to Professor Sycamore, Shauna and Serena arrived, and Sycamore suggested that we all battle. I did get a moment to switch my pokémon around first, though, so I put Theodore out front to give him some experience. Sycamore sent out a Bulbasaur first, so I ended up switching to Orion, to exploit its weakness to Flying-type attacks; two Gusts took it out. Against his Squirtle, I kept Orion out, but was more cautious, leading with a Sand-Attack. He finished Squirtle off, but almost didn't survive! When the professor sent out Charmander, I sent out Mousea, and led strong with his newly-learned Bubblebeam. It wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, so I got cautious, having Mousea use Water Sport and Charm to reduce Charmander's attack power. More Water-type attacks eventually finished the job, though, and Professor Sycamore was defeated.
Then, in an unexpected gesture, Professor Sycamore offered me my choice of any one of those same three pokémon species. I was torn between Charmander and Squirtle, but I suspected that Water-types would be more common than Fire-types on my journey, despite how many I had at the moment, so I went with Charmander. He let me name it, too, so I dubbed him "Comet", for his fiery-looking tail.
Then, in a further act of generosity, Professor Sycamore gave me a Charizardite Y. Apparently, it's a Mega Stone, and is connected to Mega Evolution; he'd like us to look into it, and suggested that we check out Camphrier Town. (He also gave pokémon and mega stones to the others.)
Comet wasn't holding anything, so I gave him the Charizardite Y to hold.
On my way out, I encountered a fellow named Lysandre. Apparently, he's been studying pokémon for a while now, and has hopes for a more "beautiful" world.
On my way out, Serena mentioned that she'd like to meet me at a Cafe Soliel. Conveniently, Trevor & Tierno mentioned that it was toward Camphrier Town; there's no way that I'd have found it easily in all of Lumiose. I decided to retreat to the Santalune City pokémon center for the night, though.
I also think that I'll mix up my team a little: Rather than using Pyrrhini or Comet, where I already also have both Sly and my Torchic, I'm going to use Rose Red for a while, and see how she plays out.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Y-Locke's Log: Day 6
This time, I was greeted with a non-Bug gift pokémon, in the form of a Pumpkaboo.
I set out onto Route 4 again, though I immediately faced Roland, the roller skater, and his Pidgey. Pyrrhini made swift work of it, though. I also encountered a trainer with some Burmy, and thought it a prime opportunity to train Theodore up somewhat. It was during this battle that I realized Theodore's true potential: In his Simple way, he is better at moves like Defense Curl, which should help him out in long fights.
I took out a Flabébé on the side of the road, and was inexplicably accosted by a preschooler with a Magikarp.
I also found some Honey while randomly poking around at bushes. Weird.
A tough fight against a wild Budew got me to put Pyrrhini back in front. He did fairly well against the wild pokémon in the area.
I returned to Santalune City to recharge a bit, then set Mousea at the lead. Unfortunately, my first opponent had a Budew, so I switched to Sly, to let him stretch his legs a bit.
In the grasses, Mousea had quite a long fight against a wild Flabébé. I realize that he needs a lot more training if he's going to take anything out with adequate swiftness. I sought out more wild pokémon for him to fight, but unfortunately encountered another Budew, which would not likely go down to Bubble and Water Gun attacks.
I returned to the pokémon center to let my pokémon recover, and decided to call it a night. Mousea will need to be well-rested if I am to bring him up to the same level as the rest of the team.
I set out onto Route 4 again, though I immediately faced Roland, the roller skater, and his Pidgey. Pyrrhini made swift work of it, though. I also encountered a trainer with some Burmy, and thought it a prime opportunity to train Theodore up somewhat. It was during this battle that I realized Theodore's true potential: In his Simple way, he is better at moves like Defense Curl, which should help him out in long fights.
I took out a Flabébé on the side of the road, and was inexplicably accosted by a preschooler with a Magikarp.
I also found some Honey while randomly poking around at bushes. Weird.
A tough fight against a wild Budew got me to put Pyrrhini back in front. He did fairly well against the wild pokémon in the area.
I returned to Santalune City to recharge a bit, then set Mousea at the lead. Unfortunately, my first opponent had a Budew, so I switched to Sly, to let him stretch his legs a bit.
In the grasses, Mousea had quite a long fight against a wild Flabébé. I realize that he needs a lot more training if he's going to take anything out with adequate swiftness. I sought out more wild pokémon for him to fight, but unfortunately encountered another Budew, which would not likely go down to Bubble and Water Gun attacks.
I returned to the pokémon center to let my pokémon recover, and decided to call it a night. Mousea will need to be well-rested if I am to bring him up to the same level as the rest of the team.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Sudden Short Story 64
They sat together, outside, watching as the sunlight played against the red and orange leaves of the darkly-barked trees, and the creek trickled down the mildly-stepped valley where they'd made their home. They had some warm, spiced soft apple cider, a favorite of his. She moved closer to him, closing her eyes to better hear the sounds of the still forest.
"I like this one," she said. And they were silent for a few moments, until a thought recurred to her. "Are you sure that it wasn't hard to allow time to pass while also creating situational permanence? I'm not up on the latest quantemporal physics, but it seems like you'd have to work at cross-purposes to yourself to get it going."
"I didn't say that creating the time bubble wasn't hard," he answered. "It certainly wasn't the hardest part, though."
"So which was the hardest part?" she asked him when he'd stopped.
He took a sip of his cider, and thought aloud. "Well, let's see. Reverse time travel wasn't invented until the war, so I had to survive until then. It took several iterations to win the war, though, and I had to make sure that I saw it through without paradox. Then there was that whole psychotemporal issue - I basically wound up stuck in a fractal version of Channelwood for eternity, and had to think my way out of that. Then, of course, we had to develop pre-point reverse time travel, to be able to bubble any moment from before Earth was devastated by the war."
"And where was I during all this?" she asked.
"You know, I'm not sure, it's been so long. You were probably dead or something. Or was I dead? Well, whichever it was, it got fixed. But yeah, I'd say that the hardest part was avoiding paradoxes during the war."
"Not the Channelwood part?"
"Nah, that was easy: I had eternity, after all."
"I like this one," she said. And they were silent for a few moments, until a thought recurred to her. "Are you sure that it wasn't hard to allow time to pass while also creating situational permanence? I'm not up on the latest quantemporal physics, but it seems like you'd have to work at cross-purposes to yourself to get it going."
"I didn't say that creating the time bubble wasn't hard," he answered. "It certainly wasn't the hardest part, though."
"So which was the hardest part?" she asked him when he'd stopped.
He took a sip of his cider, and thought aloud. "Well, let's see. Reverse time travel wasn't invented until the war, so I had to survive until then. It took several iterations to win the war, though, and I had to make sure that I saw it through without paradox. Then there was that whole psychotemporal issue - I basically wound up stuck in a fractal version of Channelwood for eternity, and had to think my way out of that. Then, of course, we had to develop pre-point reverse time travel, to be able to bubble any moment from before Earth was devastated by the war."
"And where was I during all this?" she asked.
"You know, I'm not sure, it's been so long. You were probably dead or something. Or was I dead? Well, whichever it was, it got fixed. But yeah, I'd say that the hardest part was avoiding paradoxes during the war."
"Not the Channelwood part?"
"Nah, that was easy: I had eternity, after all."
Sudden Short Story 63
"As we enter the next room," said the tour guide, "you'll notice a small pyramid like the one we're standing in. In fact, it's an exact scale model, exterior erosion notwithstanding, but that isn't the most interesting feature. Unlike any figure, real or mythical, in ancient South America, this figure of a seated human is covered entirely in metallic armor. Though the statue's armor bears some resemblance to medieval European plate mail, the design doesn't match any Old World armors, and the artist's motivations for this peculiar imagery are lost to us.
"The inscriptions in this room, however," she continued, gesturing to the glyphs upon the walls, "do appear to tell the legend surrounding the figure. Our best translation is that he is a legendary warrior, whose obligation to protect the world was so great that he will slumber, without sustenance, until such time as the world needs him to save it. So, it has been nicknamed 'The Throne Room of the Ancient Guardian.'"
The tour guide noticed a few stifled giggles among her audience, which was certainly a novel reaction. These same giggles, however, seemed to also awaken a woman who was heretofore immersed in her phadlet. She looked up, seeing past the tour guide, who also turned around at that time. They beheld a little girl, sitting upon that statue like it was such a Santa Claus.
"Tammy," she said in that harsh whisper that a parent uses when she wishes to yell at a child while remaining quiet. "I'm so sorry about this," she said to the tour guide as she passed her to collect her daughter, who appeared to be aware that she'd be scolded, as the smile had left her face, but was not leaving the statue.
The mother and the tour guide ascended the small pyramid, after moving aside a length of velvet rope. "Mommy?" whispered the girl. She was shivering at this point. Before her mother could quite reach her, she said, with a tear in her eye, "Mommy, the statue's breathing."
"The inscriptions in this room, however," she continued, gesturing to the glyphs upon the walls, "do appear to tell the legend surrounding the figure. Our best translation is that he is a legendary warrior, whose obligation to protect the world was so great that he will slumber, without sustenance, until such time as the world needs him to save it. So, it has been nicknamed 'The Throne Room of the Ancient Guardian.'"
The tour guide noticed a few stifled giggles among her audience, which was certainly a novel reaction. These same giggles, however, seemed to also awaken a woman who was heretofore immersed in her phadlet. She looked up, seeing past the tour guide, who also turned around at that time. They beheld a little girl, sitting upon that statue like it was such a Santa Claus.
"Tammy," she said in that harsh whisper that a parent uses when she wishes to yell at a child while remaining quiet. "I'm so sorry about this," she said to the tour guide as she passed her to collect her daughter, who appeared to be aware that she'd be scolded, as the smile had left her face, but was not leaving the statue.
The mother and the tour guide ascended the small pyramid, after moving aside a length of velvet rope. "Mommy?" whispered the girl. She was shivering at this point. Before her mother could quite reach her, she said, with a tear in her eye, "Mommy, the statue's breathing."
Monday, September 29, 2014
Sudden Short Story 62
"Karl Schmidt," spake the judge, "I have heard the evidence against you. I am now prepared to hear any final rebuttal that you may have in this matter."
"Herr Eichler," began the accused, "my accuser, and the so-called witnesses, have provided what seems to pass for evidence that I am some kind of witch, but I have to wonder if they aren't doppelgangers themselves. Though they have the semblance of my neighbors, they appear to know me not at all, or else they'd know that I am no fool. What might make any man suspect that dealing with the devil will produce any good, even for only himself? Shall everything that I touch turn to gold, that I might starve without nourishment? Shall I become immortal, that I must outlive my every friend? Or shall I have a beguiling presence, and never know whether any friend is really true?
"During your deliberation, you plan to ask yourself whether I am a witch, but you can answer that simply by asking yourself whether I am a fool."
"Herr Eichler," began the accused, "my accuser, and the so-called witnesses, have provided what seems to pass for evidence that I am some kind of witch, but I have to wonder if they aren't doppelgangers themselves. Though they have the semblance of my neighbors, they appear to know me not at all, or else they'd know that I am no fool. What might make any man suspect that dealing with the devil will produce any good, even for only himself? Shall everything that I touch turn to gold, that I might starve without nourishment? Shall I become immortal, that I must outlive my every friend? Or shall I have a beguiling presence, and never know whether any friend is really true?
"During your deliberation, you plan to ask yourself whether I am a witch, but you can answer that simply by asking yourself whether I am a fool."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)