Monthly Archives: March 2016
Question Corner #5 – 3/18/2016
I feel I must apologize for the lateness of this entry. Not because I didn’t do it, because this has been ready for weeks now, but for some reason, it just kinda slipped my mind that I hadn’t put this up yet. It’s like going out of your way to make a really good pasta for dinner, but then just forgetting that you made it and you accidentally put a pizza in the oven instead. Entry #6, which might be ready soon, should be up sooner than this one because of this random delay.
Before we get started, as usual….if you would like to submit a questions of your own, go to the Contact page and send me a question for the Question Corner. Questions only focusing on “What LP will I do?” or “When will you LP this game?” will not be answered, so do not make a habit of asking those questions. And of course, please leave out questions that I’ve answered before and anything personal that doesn’t really belong on this website. Thank you!
Q: “What was your childhood dream job?”
A: Honestly, just making a job out of video games in some fashion would have been satisfying for my younger self. Whether it was making them, playtesting them, or even what I’m doing know with making videos on Youtube; anything that would put me in the field would have been just dandy.
Q: “What is your least favorite Let’s Play that you have done?”
A: Aside from the really bad camcorder projects of the old days, probably my blind run of Kirby’s Dream Land 3. Mario Party 3 is also pretty bad, but that KDL3 playthrough was just…ugh! I just get a bad feeling from even thinking about that one. Just the fact that it was a blind run, with post commentary just made it seem like it was very unprofessionally done. I’m glad I went back to redo that project at a later date and time, because the redone project was a lot better. Still wasn’t super crazy about the game, but I would have much rather had that new playthrough than the old one.
Q: “What are your 10 favorite characters from the Simpsons?”
A: Homer Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Troy McClure, Sideshow Bob, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Professor Frink, Fat Tony, Dr. Hibbert, Rainer Wolfcastle. I think that’s 10! Don’t feel like going into too much detail though, so I’ll just say this; The Simpsons is a great show with many great characters.
Q: ”What would you do if you won the lottery?”
A: First I would pay off ALL of my student loans so I would never have to worry about those ever again. Then, honestly, I would just save a lot of the money just in case I would ever need it for a rainy day. You never know when it could come in handy.
Q: “What did you think of Futurama being cancelled again?”
A: Honestly, I don’t have much of a problem with it this time. This time they were able to end it with a proper finale, they got two pretty good quality seasons out of it being on Comedy Central, and I feel like it has met its goal this time. I’m personally someone who doesn’t mind the newer seasons of The Simpsons, but I do agree that the quality is much lower than what it used to be, and I think if Futurama tried to squeeze a few more seasons out, it would have started going down the same path.
Q: “What is your opinion on Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts?”
A: I’ve personally never played it, so I can’t give you an actual opinion of the game, but based on what I have seen of it, it’s disappointing because it doesn’t really deliver on what made Banjo such a great series (at that point). Whether the actual game itself is good or not, it’s not what many faithful BK followers bought an Xbox for, and it wasn’t really what Microsoft was paying for when they initially bought Rare. Think of it this way…you bought a steak, but instead were given a salad. Maybe the salad is really good, but it’s not what you paid for. That’s what many people seem to have an issue with in regards to Nuts & Bolts. Given, a part of that might be on the consumers and not Rare, because it was pretty clear that Nuts and Bolts was not going to be that new Banjo game everyone wanted, but I feel like the development was not necessarily denying that false identity either. Or rather, they didn’t do enough.
Q: “How far are you from getting a 3DS Capture Card and where can I donate to the cause?”
A: I’m still a few hundred away, but I’ve collected a lot of really great donations from the Star Warrior community so far! If you would like to donate, here is a link to my donation page!
Q: “Have you considered getting into the Mario Party development team?”
A: If it were that easy, then yes, I would totally get on board and make changes and get that series back on the right track. I really don’t see how NDCube continues to screw up on these games because the Mario Party fanbase has been quite vocal about what they want and what they don’t want. Mairo Party 10 was a huge oversight on their part and they could have made an excellent game if they actually did their research.
Q: “On a scale of 1-10, how cute is Kirby?”
A: Kirby gets a freaking 10, no questions asked!
Q: “For your best of/worst of Mario Party series, did you get the ideas for the skits from the games themselves?”
A: Pretty much, at least for Mario Party 5 and onward. I didn’t really have any themes in mind for MP1-MP4. I was just winging it for Mario Party 1, and my skits for Mario Party 2 were based on the viewer response from the skits in the first set of videos. Mario Party 3 was just an experiment I wanted to try on having a guest on board. Mario Party 4 was kind of relevant since there was the mini-mushroom and everything, but really I just didn’t want to spend much time on the skits that time. Everything else tried to feature something from the games I was covering, like the dreams of MP5, the night/day of MP6, the vacation of MP7, the candy of MP8 and driving around in a car for MP9.
Q: “What is your favorite food?”
A: I am a sucker for Italian food, whether it’s pizza or pasta (which explains the pasta scenario I made at the beginning of this post). I am also a big fan of seafood too. There’s an amazing seafood restaurant in my area that we go to for my birthday every year and I look forward to that day every year because of that. Those are definitely my favorites though.
Q: “What are your thoughts on the passing of David Bowie?”
A: Truly heartbreaking! David Bowie is one of my all-time favorite musicians and musical artists and his death hit me pretty hard. I used to listen to his music for hours during my teenage years and it got me through some pretty tough times.
Q: “Do you plan to use face-cam on any of your videos?”
A: If it’s a project/game that would be enhanced by the usage of a face cam, like Slender, Five Nights At Freddys, or many of the other reactionary horror games out there, I’ll consider the idea, but it’s more than likely going to be a straight “No!” I don’t really think facecam adds anything to a Let’s Play and those who “think” it does, only think that way because multi-channel networks tell them that it does, or just think “Well, pewdiepie does it,” so it’s automatically a successful idea that needs to be incorporated (which is also something MCNs will tell you). I mean, I suppose it could add a bit of a personal touch to some videos, but they are mostly used successfully when it’s a game like Amnesia (the horror game, not the dating sim) or Outlast, where Pewdiepie is screaming his head off and the viewers have a visual aid to laugh alongside with. That’s the only time it really works, in my opinion.
Q: “Have you considered stopping Youtube altogether?”
A: In terms of just randomly thinking “You know what, I don’t want to do this anymore,” no, I have never really considered it. However, in terms of thinking “Well, there might come a day where I will need to put this aside for more important things,” yeah, I wonder about that all the time. Hell, there are recent days where I have to start thinking about that stuff. As far as what I’m doing about it, I’m just taking it one day at a time and if I need to stop, I will. However, it’s going to be really hard to get me to stop completely. I’m sure I’ll find a way back to this somehow.
Q: “What are your thoughts on the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games?”
A: I think the games are really good in their own right. I would rather play the handheld adventure games because that is where the series shines most, but the MD games are very interesting spinoff titles. I’ve never been able to completely get through a Mystery Dungeon game, but I think it’s because I always approach the games in the worst way possible. Like for RetroAchievements where I expect that I need to do every single sidequest and optional mission in order to get everything. I should honestly just play through the games.
Q: “What kind of movies do you like to watch?”
A: I’m not a very big movie guy, but only in terms of going out to see them. These days I often have a lot more fun watching movies with friends on Netflix, or having a group movie night with my Skype friends. I can watch or pretty much get into anything as long as it’s not super long or boring to the point where I get distracted by the piece of dust in the corner of the room. Some of my favorite movies though are classic movies like Forrest Gump and The Right Stuff, but I’ve gotten into a number of movies very easily. I am also a fan of classic Adam Sandler movies like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison.
Q: What kind of books do you like to read?”
A: Someone was really, really driven on getting the very basic and broad questions out of the way because I think he asked the previous question too. Anyway, I’m not really that much of a reader. I think it’s because I get distracted really easily and sometimes if I’m not feeling it, I start slurring words together in my head to get through the page/chapter faster. Recently I read through the Hunger Games trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it, although I only got interested after watching the first movie. I think my favorite book though is “The Three Kingdoms” by Luo Guanzong, which is a novelization of the “Three Kingdoms” saga, which is the same saga the Dynasty Warriors games are based off of as well, so I had a lot of fun reading through that because I had some prior knowledge through the games. That’s all I can really say about books though.
Q: “What was your college experience like?”
A: My college experience was…decent. I wouldn’t say it was a great experience because I kind of felt like the things I did learn were great tools for the real world and I learned a lot about myself as well. However, the things I did go to college for, and by extension, the things I paid thousands and thousands of dollars for, really weren’t that worth it for me. I don’t feel like my professors (most of them anyway) were really that great and a lot of things I did learn were things I had to self-teach myself and it’s debatable if I even left the institution with all the knowledge I did need (at least in relation to what I was studying). Some of the best things I learned were “how to keep a solid budget,” “how to properly schedule your tasks,” “how to keep your living space in order,” “how to deal with (bad) roommates,” and let’s face it, I did all of that stuff while also balancing a Youtube channel that was starting to become moderately successful during those times. Those are all good things, but not things I went to college for. So at the end of the day, college ended up feeling like a fifty-thousand dollar expense that I will never get back and I’ll be paying that expense for the next 10 or 20 years. Not to mention that I don’t really feel that prepared for the real world either. Maybe I just had a bad major choice for my particular institution (I went to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana), so I’m not going to say college is not good, because there is definitely some value to it. It’s just not worth the thousands and thousands of dollars you have to pay for it, especially considering that college isn’t for everyone.
Q: “Have there been games that you didn’t like as much, but after Let’s Playing them, you liked more? And the reverse?”
A: I’m glad I got this question during the Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze playthrough because that game is slowly becoming the perfect model for your question. I was not really into the game that much during my first playthrough, but now, after playing through about 60% of the game for the LP project, I’m finding that I’m enjoying it a whole lot more and it’s slowly becoming one of my favorite Wii U games as a result. Mario Party 7 was another game that I wasn’t too crazy about either, but I liked it a lot more after the LP as well. As for games I found I didn’t like as much after finishing….it’s hard to say. I don’t feel like there have been any games I’ve just not liked anymore after LPing them. Super Mario Sunshine was kind of demoralizing, but that was moreso because I went through the game 100% three times in a span of like 2 or 3 months, not really because of the game or project itself. Mario Party 10 was also a disappointment, but I was already kind of not digging that game anyway.
Q: “Should Masahiro Sakurai be replaced as the main developer of Smash Bros?”
A: No, definitely not. I don’t like some of his decisions, and I think he needs to stop giving ‘so much’ special treatment to his own series, but like it or not, he is a good developer. I just think he needs a little direction in some cases. But as far as being the main developer, I don’t think that should be taken away from him and he doesn’t deserve to be “Kojima’d” for lack of a better term.
Well, that’s it for another Question Corner! Thanks to everyone for the questions and I will see you guys next time!
Pokémon Crystal RetroAchievement Guide – “Gotta Catch ’em All – Crystal”
So I’ve been working on doing Pokemon Crystal for RetroAchievements. One of the achievements is the dreaded “CATCH THEM ALL” achievement, where you quite literally have to catch all possible Pokemon without trading and any scenario where just getting a Pokemon is impossible without a link cable. It is a very time consuming achievement, as you will more than likely be working on it for the entire game and longer, but personally, I seem to be one of very few people who actually like the achievement because it tests your knowledge and your willpower for trying to get every Pokemon possible. Some people think the achievement is pretty much impossible or way too difficult, but considering it’s an achievement and it tests you on pretty much the fundamental concept of the series “Gotta Catch ’em All,” I support it.
After going on a huge rant in the comments section of this particular achievement, someone mentioned making a guide for this achievement to maybe help people who are trying to catch all the pokemon. I was interested in this challenge so I’m going to try and help out in any way that I can. First thing I’m going to do is just list all the Pokemon that you can get and how you go about obtaining them (or the easiest way to obtain them). Then I’ll feature a list of the Pokemon that you just can’t get period (without trading). And then I’ll have a few sections where I talk about some tricks or other things you can do to make this task more manageable. Even with that being said, the task is still tedious and long. Even though I will more than likely be mastering this game in a total of 4 or 5 stream sessions, they are still 6-8 hour stream sessions, so it will take probably an entire day of your life. But you don’t have to do the entire game in one day either, so keep that in mind. Don’t burn yourself out with this.
Anyway, let’s get started!
I. Required Pokemon
– Caterpie: Route 30, Morning or Day
– Metapod: Evolve Caterpie at Level 7
– Butterfree: Evolve Metapod at Level 10
Pretty self-explanatory. You can find it in other places, but you may as well as grab one early and make it an easy grind when you get the EXP Share.
– Weedle: Route 30, Morning or Day
– Kakuna: Evolve Weedle at Level 7
– Beedrill: Evolve Kakuna at Level 10
Pretty much the same as Caterpie. Little harder to find due to lower %, but still manageable.
– Pidgey: Route 29, Morning or Day
– Pidgeotto: Evolve Pidgey at Level 18
– Pidgeot: Evolve Pidgeotto at Level 36
Another early pokemon (even earlier than Caterpie) on the first two routes.
– Rattata: Route 29, All
– Raticate: Evolve Rattata at Level 20
Possibly the easiest early Pokemon because you can find it anytime of day.
– Spearow: Route 46, Morning or Day
– Fearow: Evolve Spearow at Level 20
Don’t forget that patch of grass North of the first route (29). Very easy place to get Spearow and better than the alternative of waiting until Headbutt. You can also get a free Spearow (Kenya) from the guardhouse north of Goldenrod, since you don’t have to finish the quest.
– Ekans: Route 32, Morning or Day
– Arbok: Evolve Ekans at Level 22
Route south of Violet is where you can get Ekans very easily.
– Pichu: Odd Egg or Breed Pikachu/Raichu
– Pikachu: Route 2, All
– Raichu: Evolve Pikachu with Thunder Stone
Won’t be getting this rascal until you are in Kanto, unless you get Pichu from the Odd Egg at the Daycare, but at that point, I wouldn’t bother evolving Pichu because happiness evolutions are annoying. As for the Thunder Stone evolutions, I will have a section after this list explaining the way to get stones. Because this is Crystal, you can get all evolution stones, unlike Gold and Solver (not counting duplication strats). Also, remember that showing Pichu to Bill’s Grandpa will yield a Thunder Stone.
– Sandshrew: Union Cave, Morning or Day
– Sandslash: Evolve Sandshrew at Level 22
Typical early-game Pokemon. Not much to say here.
– Nidoran (F): National Park, Morning or Day
– Nidorina: Evolve Nidoran (F) at Level 16
– Nidoqueen: Evolve Nidorina with Moon Stone
These beasts are taking over the National Park in Crystal! Moon Stone will be gotten much later in the game though, and yes, you can get multiple.
– Nidoran (M): National Park, Morning or Day
– Nidorino: Evolve Nidoran (M) at Level 16
– Nidoking: Evolve Nidorino with Moon Stone
Same as above, lol.
– Cleffa: Odd Egg or Breed Clefairy/Clefable
– Clefairy: Mt. Moon, All
– Clefable: Evolve Clefairy with Moon Stone
Much like Pikachu, you could get lucky and get Cleffa with Odd Egg, but again, Happiness Evolution is better ignored for other Pokemon who need it no matter what (like Golbat, Togepi, Umbreon, Espeon and Chansey), so if you get Cleffa, just box it and wait for Clefairy. Moon Stone will be explained later.
– Igglybuff: Odd Egg or Breed Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff
– Jigglypuff: Route 34, All
– Wigglytuff: Evolve Jigglypuff with Moon Stone
Pretty much copy/paste Clefairy family’s description. Only difference is you can find Jigglypuff much earlier, even before you arrive at the Daycare! Don’t bother evolving Igglybuff and Moon Stone will be gotten later.
– Zubat: Union Cave
– Golbat: Evolve Zubat at Level 22
– Crobat: Evolve Golbat with Happiness
Zubat may be found earlier, but let’s face it, we will probably be seeing this bugger in Union Cave first. As for Crobat, I will have an explanation on Happiness later, but for now, just try to focus on leveling up Zubat without having it faint to give it a boost.
– Oddish: Ilex Forest, Night
– Gloom: Evolve Oddish at Level 21
– Vileplume: Evolve Gloom with Leaf Stone
– Bellossom: Evolve Gloom with Sun Stone
You will need to get two Oddish for both final evolutions, and consider keeping one Oddish for Bill’s Grandpa to get a free Leaf Stone later on.
– Paras: Ilex Forest, All
– Parasect: Evolve Paras at Level 24
Level up evolution! Wooo!
– Venonat: Ilex Forest, Night
– Venomoth: Evolve Venonat at Level 31
Same as Paras pretty much! Wooo!
– Diglett: Diglett’s Cave, All
– Dugtrio: Evolve Diglett at Level 26
Late game, but very easy to evolve at that point.
– Meowth: Route 38, Night
– Persian: Evolve Meowth at Level 28
Get used to seeing descriptions like these, because there is really not much to say.
– Psyduck: Ilex Forest, Night
– Golduck: Evolve Psyduck at Level 33
*yawns*
– Growlithe: Route 36, Morning and Day
– Arcanine: Evolve Growlithe with Fire Stone
I do like how they give the Violet City side of Route 36 a patch of grass because you can get Growlithe here. As for Fire Stone, wait til after this part of the guide for Fire Stone explanation. Speaking of which, Bill’s Grandpa will give Fire Stone if you show him Growlithe.
– Poliwag: Route 30, Night
– Poliwhirl: Evolve Poliwag at Level 25
– Poliwrath: Evolve Poliwhirl with Water Stone
Poliwhirl is my favorite pokemon, so I love the addition of an early Poliwag! Special thing to note; Politoed is a trade evolution so he is NOT REQUIRED! Also, Water Stone will be explained later, but is possible.
– Abra: Route 34, All
– Kadabra: Evolve Abra at Level 16
Good luck catching Abra before he teleports! Also, Alakazam not required due to trade evolution.
– Machop: Mt. Mortar, Morning and Day
– Machoke: Evolve Machop at Level 28
Mt. Mortar is a weird location because it’s optional, but if you decide to ignore it, you can also get a Machop at Rock Tunnel. Machamp is also not required because trade evolution.
– Bellsprout: Route 31, All
– Weepinbell: Evolve Bellsprout at Level 21
– Victreebel: Evolve Weepinbell with Leaf Stone
Typical evolutionary stone pokemon set-up. As usual, I will explain evolutionary stone method later.
– Tentacool: Route 40, All
– Tentacruel: Evolve Tentacool at Level 30
When you surf to Cianwood, you will more than likely find this family.
– Geodude: Route 46, All
– Graveler: Evolve Geodude at Level 25
Like Spearow, you can get this pretty early, and it’s very recommended that you do (especially if you can snag a female one) so you can easily go through the first three gyms. Golem is obviously excluded because trade evolution.
– Ponyta: Route 27, Morning and Day
– Rapidash: Evolve Ponyta at Level 40
On your way to Victory Road, you can snag one here along with the Doduo family. Plus they are pretty close to evolving too.
– Slowpoke: Slowpoke Well, All
– Slowbro: Evolve Slowpoke at Level 37
You don’t need two Slowpoke, but you still have a high level to grind to.
– Magnemite: Route 38, All
– Magneton: Evolve Magnemite at Level 30
YEAH! MAGNETS!
– Farfetch’d: Route 43, Morning and Day
No evolution this time!
– Doduo: Route 27, Morning and Day
– Dodrio: Evolve Doduo at Level 31
Copy/Paste from Ponyta, pretty much.
– Seel: Whirl Islands, Morning and Day
– Dewgong: Evolve Seel at Level 34
Good ol’ Whirl Islands! Don’t forget this Pokemon when you are getting Lugia.
– Grimer: Route 16, All
– Muk: Evolve Grimer at Level 38
You gotta wait til Kanto for this one, but it’s not too bad to get.
– Shellder: New Bark Town, FISHING
– Cloyster: Evolve Shellder with Water Stone
Not a whole lot of fishing required, but this is one where it is necessary. And again, for evolution stones, stay tuned for the guide at the end.
– Gastly: Sprout Tower, Night
– Haunter: Evolve Gastly at Level 25
You can find Gastly a bit earlier, but Sprout Tower is more likely. Also, Gengar is not required, Yay!
– Onix: Union Cave, All
You thankfully will not need to evolve Onix, but don’t forget this capture nonetheless.
– Drowzee: Route 34, Night
– Hypno: Evolve Drowzee at Level 26
You love a good Drowzee!
– Krabby: Olivine City, FISHING
– Kingler: Evolve Krabby at Level 28
You can also Rock Smash for Krabby, but considering how you can go through a lot of the game without Rock Smash, fishing might be faster.
– Voltorb: Route 10, All
– Electrode: Evolve Voltorb at Level 30
Waiting for Voltorb takes awhile, and you can technically get Electrode in Rocket Hideout, but….you have to catch Voltorb anyway, so just get Electrode later.
– Exeggcute: Azalea Town, HEADBUTT
– Exeggutor: Evolve Exeggcute with Leaf Stone
I hate headbutting, almost as much as I hate the legendary beasts. Thankfully Exeggcute is pretty common. Also, evolutionary stones will be discussed later in the guide.
– Cubone: Rock Tunnel, Morning and Day
– Marowak: Evolve Cubone at Level 28
Another “Wait til Kanto” Pokemon! Funnily enough, you may even find Marowak before Cubone if you travel to Rock Tunnel via Route 9, but still…just get Cubone.
– Tyrogue: Odd Egg or Karate Master
– Hitmonlee: Evolve Tyrogue at Level 20 with Attack Higher Than Defense
– Hitmonchan: Evolve Tyrogue at Level 20 with Defense Higher Than Attack
– Hitmontop: Evolve Tyrogue at Level 20 with Attack EQUAL to Defense
Despite what people might say, it is possible to get all 3 Hitmons. Just breed whatever Hitmon you get and try for another one. You will have to in order to get all of them. It is also possible to get Tyrogue very early in the game via the Odd Egg, but if you don’t, you will have to make the trek through Mt. Mortar.
– Lickitung: Route 44, Morning and Day
Very simple pick-up on Route 44. Also, you may need it to progress the Bill’s Grandpa stone give-aways, but he will not give you an evolutionary stone. Just a stupid Everstone.
– Koffing: Burned Tower, All
– Weezing: Evolve Koffing at Level 35
KOFFING!
– Rhyhorn: Victory Road, Morning and Day
– Rhydon: Evolve Rhyhorn at Level 42
Normally I would say to ignore evolving Rhyhorn and just catch Rhydon, since you can find Rhydon at Victory Road as well, but Rhyhorn is very close to evolving….FOR ONCE.
– Chansey: Route 13-15, All
– Blissey: Evolve Chansey with Happiness
You won’t get either of these until late game, but one thing you should keep in mind is that you will need a second Chansey for an Aerodactyl trade. You can either just catch a second one or just breed the Blissey you will end up getting.
– Tangela: Route 44, All
Much like Lickitung, you get Tangela in the same way and route.
– Kangaskhan: Rock Tunnel, Morning and Day
Better than the Safari Zone….
– Horsea: Whirl Islands, SURF AND FISHING
– Seadra: Evolve Horsea at Level 32
Another Whirl Islands Pokemon. Thankfully you also don’t need to worry about Kingdra either because trade evolution.
– Goldeen: Route 42, SURF
– Seaking: Evolve Goldeen at Level 33
You can pick this up pretty easily when you are going through Route 42. You can also fish it earlier, but eh…fishing.
– Staryu: Cherrygrove City, FISHING AT NIGHT
– Starmie: Evolve Starmie with Water Stone
This will pretty much mirror Corsola’s description, but during the night. Also, evolutionary stones will be discussed later, as usual.
– Mr. Mime: Route 21, Morning and Day
It used to be the location for Tangela back in Red and Blue, but Mr. Mime takes this position in Crystal!
– Scyther: Bug Catching Contest
Not really as hard as you think, just don’t try to win and go for Scyther instead. You may even get lucky and win anyway! Also, no Scizor required. Also, a good pokemon to have for False Swipe.
– Smoochum: Odd Egg or Breed Jynx
– Jynx: Ice Path, Morning or Day
If you get Smoochum early, awesome, you may not have to worry about catching Jynx! Evolution is only Level 30 and doesn’t require happiness. But if not, just breed Jynx and be done with both.
– Elekid: Odd Egg or Breed Electabuzz
– Electabuzz: Route 10, All
Read Jynx’s description pretty much, lol.
– Magby: Odd Egg or Breed Magmar
– Magmar: Mt. Silver, Morning and Day
I don’t know why they changed this from Gold/Silver, because Magmar could be gotten in Burned Tower in those games. However, now you need to wait til the secondary endgame. That is, unless you get Magby via the egg which is more than possible. In that case, you could probably get Magmar before even entering Kanto. It’s up to you though.
– Pinsir: Bug Catching Contest
Pretty much copy/paste of Scyther’s description. Thankfully these two pokemon are the only two you need from Bug Catching Contest.
– Tauros: Route 38, Morning and Day
Again, thankfully this is not Gen 1 and the damn Safari Zone. Tauros is actually pretty easy to get, even if it may take awhile to find him.
– Magikarp: OLD ROD ANYWHERE
– Gyarados: Evolve Magikarp at Level 20
Yep, we all know how to get Magikarp. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out when and where to get one. The closest to Level 20, the better.
– Lapras, Union Cave, FRIDAY
You can find Lapras on Friday in the lowest floor of the basement. You even interact with it on the map to fight it. That simple!
– Ditto: Route 34, All
Right next to the Daycare…lol. THE GAME KNOWS!
– Eevee: Goldenrod City (from Bill)
– Vaporeon: Evolve Eevee with Water Stone
– Jolteon: Evolve Eevee with Thunder Stone
– Flareon: Evolve Eevee with Fire Stone
– Espeon: Evolve Eeevee with Happiness during Day
– Umbreon: Evolve Eeevee with Happiness during Night
We all know how the Eevees work. But yeah, once you get one of the evolutions, breed for another Eevee and go down a different path. Also, explanations on evolution stones later in the guide, as usual.
– Porygon: Celadon Game Corner
Save that money and don’t lose it…you will be spending A LOT of it here for Porygon. Also, won’t need Porygon2, so….at least there is that?
– Aerodactyl: Route 12 (TRADE)
Don’t let this fool you, Old Amber may not be in the game, but you can get Aerodactyl via trading with an NPC on Route 12. Now, I know that this achievement asks for “NO TRADING,” but the trading in question is via Game Link. In-game NPC trades are fine and required. You need a Chansey to make this trade, so grab one on Route 13 before you do this.
– Snorlax: Vermillion City
You only have one shot for this big boy, so make it count! Pretty much required to make him move too.
– Dratini: Dragon’s Den, Gift or FISHING
– Dragonair: Evolve Dratini at Level 30
– Dragonite: Evolve Dragonair at Level 55
I hate raising Dratini and Dragoniar, but it is required for this achievement. You get Dratini as a gift in Dragon’s Den after beating Clair and getting the Dragonbreath TM from the Elders of the Shrine. But you may want to wait until you have the Super Rod to fish a Level 40 Dratini so you only have to raise it 40 levels. It’s still a long process though….
– Chikorita/Cyndaquil/Totodile: Starter
– Bayleef/Quilava/Croconaw: Evolve at 16/14/18
– Meganium/Typhlosion/Feraligatr: Evolve at 32/36/30
So you can only get one of these three families. Doesn’t matter which one you get, just as long as you get one of them and fully evolve it. Don’t worry about the other two fams.
– Sentret: Route 29, Morning and Day
– Furret: Evolve Sentret at Level 15
Back to the common boys, but this time of Generation 2 Pokemon! You find these guys in the first route, so not hard at all!
– Hoothoot: Route 29, Night
– Noctowl: Evolve Hoothoot at Level 20
Pretty much the same idea of Sentret!
– Ledyba: Route 30, Morning
– Ledian: Evolve Ledyba at Level 18
I hate Ledyba for some reason.
– Spinarak: Route 30, Night
– Ariados: Evolve Spinarak at Level 22
Ariados is way better than Ledian.
– Chinchou: New Bark Town, FISHING
– Lanturn: Evolve Chinchou at Level 27
Typical fishing pokemon
– Togepi: Violet City, Egg
– Togetic: Evolve Togepi with Happiness
Don’t forget to pick this up at the Pokemon Center after beating Falkner! Also, urgh, happiness….
– Natu: Ruins of Alph (grass)
– Xatu: Evolve Natu at Level 25
You need to take a specific path to get to Natu’s grassy area, but once you do, very easy pokemon to raise.
– Marill: Route 42, Night
– Azumarill: Evolve Marill at Level 18
Marill is actually easier to get in Crystal since you don’t need to go in Mt. Mortar. The grass outside of Mt. Mortar will do nicely.
– Sudowoodo: Route 36
Like Snorlax, only one chance to get this pokemon, so make it count and make sure you save beforehand, just in case.
– Hoppip: Route 29, Morning and Day
– Skiploom: Evolve Hoppip at Level 18
– Jumpluff: Evolve Skiploom at Level 27
Hooray! We have this again….
– Aipom: Headbutt
There are a lot of places to get this pokemon, but it’s very random, so good luck finding it! I hate headbutting….
– Sunkern: National Park, Day
– Sunflora: Evolve Sunkern with Sun Stone
Worst Pokemon in the game, for sure. You still need it though. Remember, you need to win 2 Sun Stones from Bug Catching Contest, one for Sunflora and one for Bellossom.
– Yanma: Route 35, SWARM
3 words…Bug Catcher Arnie. He will call you when Yanma is in season. You can still find it without him, but it’s only a 1% chance until then.
– Wooper: Route 32, Night
– Quagsire: Evolve Wooper at Level 20
I love Wooper and Quagsire…mostly for the Water/Ground typing though. Anyway, simple early game pokemon to get.
– Murkrow: Route 7, Night
Murkrow is lurking in the night in Kanto for you to find him around the routes of Celadon!
– Misdreavus: Mt. Silver, Night
Unless you just v-line for the end of the game, Misdreavus will probably be one of your last Pokemon since you get it in the final dungeon.
– Unown: Ruins of Alph
Have fun with the Unown ahcievement, but thankfully for this achievement, you just need one.
– Wobbuffet: Dark Cave (Route 45 Side), Night
Good ol Wobby…..
– Pineco: Ilex Forest, HEADBUTT
– Forretress: Evolve Pineco at Level 31
I. Seriously. Hate. Headbutting.
– Dunsparce: Dark Cave, SWARM
Hiker Anthony is your guide for easy Dunsparce, but you can still find one without him. It’s just more likely during swarming season.
– Gligar: Route 45, All
Silly one-off Pokemon you can get on this route.
– Snubbull: Route 34, Morning and Day
– Granbull: Evolve Snubbull at Level 23
Is it just me, or is Snubbull not a Swarm Pokemon anymore? Regardless….not too hard of a find.
– Qwilfish: Route 32, FISHING SWARM
Fisherman Ralph is your guy for Qwilfish, but once you have the Super Rod, it’s not too hard to find by yourself anyway.
– Shuckle: Cianwood City, Gift or Rock Smash
In Cianwood City, you have an NPC who will just give you a Shuckle to train for him, which will essentially take care of him for the Pokedex. If you want to catch one yourself though, Rock Smashes yield them 10% of the time.
– Heracross: Azalea Town, HEADBUTT
This guy is THE WORST to get for Headbutting…..but keep at it and eventually you will get him.
– Sneasel: Ice Path, Night
Better here than at Mt. Silver in Gold and Silver!
– Teddiursa: Dark Cave, Morning
– Ursaring: Evolve Teddiursa at Level 30
Interesting how you can get this little guy so early this time around, but you can! So enjoy the cute little bear.
– Slugma: Route 17, Day
– Magcargo: Evolve Slugma at Level 38
Route 16 and 18 also work, but 17 has the highest yield.
– Swinub: Ice Path, Morning and Day
– Piloswine: Evolve Swinub at Level 33
Very common Ice Path find!
– Corsola: Cherrygrove City, FISHING DURING DAY
Like I said with Staryu, pretty much the same idea, but during the Day and Morning instead.
– Delibird: Ice Path, Night
This guy runs…a lot. Get ready for that before attempting to fight him!
– Mantine: Route 41
He’s got a low chance of appearing, but he is there! Just surf around Whirl Islands for a bit and he’ll show up!
– Skarmory: Route 45, Morning or Day
Like Gligar, another one-off you can find on Route 45
– Houndour: Route 7, Night
– Houndoom: Evolve Houndour at Level 24
He is easier to find in Crystal than the other Gen 2 games, but he still has Roar, so watch out for that.
– Phanpy: Route 46, Morning
– Donphan: Evolve Phanpy at Level 25
In the words of Chuggaaconroy; “OH MY GOD! I FOUND A PHANPY!” It can run though, so be careful. Very early catch though…..
– Stantler: Route 37, Night
Stantler is silly.
– Smeargle: Ruins of Alph (grass)
Forget what I said about Stantler, Smeargle is sillier.
– Miltank: Route 38, Morning and Day
Pretty much like Tauros.
– Raikou: ROAMING LEGENDARY
– Entei: ROAMING LEGENDARY
Welp, you are going to hate these guys. BUT, because we are playing Crystal, you technically only have to find and chip away the health of one of them and can use the Master Ball on the other one (since Suicune is not roaming in Crystal). Do yourself a favor and save the Master Ball for one of these guys. Lugia and Ho-oh might be annoying too, but they at least don’t move around the map, unlike these jerks.
– Suicune: Tin Tower
THANK YOU CRYSTAL! Because you exist, Suicune isn’t too bad to capture. It still may take a lot of Ultra Balls, but at least it doesn’t freaking move around.
– Larvitar: Mt. Silver, Morning and Day
– Pupitar: Evolve Larvitar at Level 30
– Tyranitar: Evolve Pupitar at Level 55
Ugh, I hate these slow exp gainers with high level evolutions. This family will take time, but those are the breaks.
– Lugia: Whirl Islands
One shot at this guy, so save beforehand and don’t make it faint!
– Ho-oh: Tin Tower
Same as Lugia, but different location. Good luck with these!
II. Pokemon Not Required
– Bulbasaur
– Ivysaur
– Venusaur
– Charmander
– Charmeleon
– Charizard
– Squirtle
– Wartortle
– Blastoise
Gen 1 starters need to be traded from Gen 1, not needed for this achievement.
– Vulpix
– Ninetales
– Mankey
– Primeape
– Mareep
– Flaafy
– Ampharos
– Remoraid
– Octillery
– Girafarig
– Omanyte
– Omastar
– Kabuto
– Kabutops
– Articuno
– Zapdos
– Moltres
– Mewtwo
These pokemon are just not in the game whatsoever, whether they be exclusive to a Gen 1 game or another Gen 2 game.
– Mew
– Celebi
Events are not obtainable normally.
– Alakazam
– Golem
– Machamp
– Gengar
– Steelix
– Scizor
– Slowking
– Politoed
– Porygon2
– Kingdra
Trade Evolutions which can’t be done
– Gen 2 Starter #4
– Gen 2 Starter #5
– Gen 2 Starter #6
– Gen 2 Starter #7
– Gen 2 Starter #8
– Gen 2 Starter #9
Regardless of who you pick at the beginning, you will miss out on the other 6 starter pokemon (2 families).
So with all of these taken into consideration, that is 45 Pokemon that cannot be obtained in Crystal without use of a game link cable. The other 206 are fair game which means…
206 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER!
III. Stone Evolutions
So there are 17 Pokemon that need an evolutionary stone to evolve, and this is where a huge bit of confusion comes into play, especially if you played Gold and Silver to death, but not Crystal. Why? Because in order to get this achievement, you need all of these pokemon, but in Gold and Silver, you have a limited number of stones you can use because you cannot buy them or make them appear randomly. You only get one water, leaf, thunder and fire stone in those games, and the rest of the pokemon you have to trade from another version. Thankfully though, Crystal did fix this problem….a little. You now have a second method of obtaining stones, but this way is kind of random. I’ll get into that later though, because there are also Moon and Sun stones as well.
A. Moon Stones – Moon Stones can be gotten at the Mt. Moon outside area by rock smashing the stone and investigating that square after witnessing the Clefairys dancing. You can witness this every Monday night (only once) and you will get a Moon Stone every time. Your mom can also get a moon stone with you money AND there is a hidden one in Tohjo Falls (I think). Either way, you have an infinite amount. You only need 4 though.
B. Sun Stones – You only need two of these and you can get them by winning first place in the Bug Catching Contest. Win twice, and there are your two Sun Stones. Save before the Bug Catching Contest in case you don’t win and want to try again.
C. Fire, Water, Thunder and Leaf Stones – Ok, so normally, you would get these stones from Bill’s Grandpa if you show him a Growlithe, Pichu, Oddish and Staryu. You get one stone of each type and that is pretty much how you finish the Gold and Silver Pokedex achievements. In Crystal, you need all the possible ones you need, so 2 thunder stones, 2 fire stones (since Vulpix is omitted), 3 leaf stones, and 4 water stones. How is this possible? PHONE NUMBERS! That’s right, 4 trainers in Pokemon Crystal can find stones for you, and it is imperative that you get their number, because sometimes they may be able to help you out earlier than you think. These trainers are Picnicker Gina (Route 34), Schoolboy Alan (Route 36, Fisherman Tully (Route 42) and Lass Dana (Route 38). They can find leaf, fire, water and thunder stones respectively. Now, the trainers will call you randomly every hour, and even if one of these guys call you, there is still a chance that they will call to just brag about their pokemon or challenge you to a battle, so there is no guarantee that you will get rewarded. You just have to wait and pray that you get lucky.
D. Stone Duplication – There is also a method for stone duplication which….seems kind of sketchy….but since it’s a strategy you CAN use in the original cartridge, I think it’s more than fair for this achievement as well. First off, you do need a stone first, so make sure you have the stone you want to duplicate. Go to a PC Box, save your game, and then attach the stone you want to duplicate to a Pokemon. Desposit the Pokemon into the box you are currently in. If the box is full, change boxes, exit the PC, and save again, just so you don’t screw anything up. Anyway, after depositing the Pokemon, change boxes. When you change boxes, the game will ask if you want to save. Say “yes” and when the game says “Your game is being saved,” reset your emulator/game. Make sure you do this after the “Saving your game” message has been shown in full. Afterwards, relaunch your game. Check your party. If the Pokemon is still in your party (the one you deposited), so far so good. Then check the box you put it into. If it is there too, you have succeeded. If it’s just in your party and not the PC Box, you turned off your game too early. If the pokemon is in the PC Box but not your party, your turned off the game too late. Keep trying and eventually you will get it. This method essentially clones the Pokemon, including the item it was holding which means it is technically a faster way to get stones, albeit a bit sketchy. But again, the way I see it, it’s a glitch with the original game and cartridge. If speed runners can use glitches for world record speed runs, you should be able to use glitches for retroachievements, as long as you stick to the original game’s source material, which you are.
IV. Happiness Evolution
There are only 5 pokemon you need to evolve via Happiness; Togepi, Golbat, Eevee twice, and Chansey. There are others that also evolve with happiness, but you don’t need to evolve them because you can get their evolutions faster than you could via the happiness route. The best way to check your happiness is by putting that pokemon in the front of your party and go to the Happiness Checker in Goldenrod City (north of the Bike Shop). The lady there will tell you how happy your Pokemon is. If she says “I get the feeling your pokemon really trusts you,” you are pretty much there and your pokemon will evolve in one or two levels. Any lower than that, you have a ways to go. The best way to raise your Pokemon’s happiness is by walking around with it in your party. It technically increases the least amount of happiness, since it requires a lot of steps for one increase, but if you just put the pokemon in your team while you go around and complete different parts of the game, it will significantly do a lot of the work for you. You can also increase happiness by increasing a Pokemon’s level, giving it haircuts in Goldenrod, groomings in Pallet Town, and by giving it vitamins (like Calcium, Carbos, Protein, etc). Again, my advice is to just work on these pokemon one at a time as you go through the game, and check the happiness checker often. When you get a good rating, make it go up one level, and you should be good.
V. Remember, YOU ARE ON AN EMULATOR
Much like the stone duplication, this is also kind of sketchy advice, but I think this is all fair game just in the nature of RetroAchievements. But, you can use the fact that you are on an emulator to your advantage and speed up the process. First of all, the speed-up function makes grinding pokemon levels and getting through areas in general, a lot faster. Some people see this as cheating…I don’t. It makes it faster, but it’s by no stretch of the imagination, cheating. Speed up doesn’t make things easier, just faster. If anything, speeding up can actually make you miss something, and if you are playing a platforming game…..yeah…good luck, no way you can make use of speed-up in that case. But if you don’t like using it, don’t use it, I’m not telling you to. Just suggesting that it is a faster way of going through the game.
Aside from speed up, there are a few other things you can do. For one, if your emulator is programmed to follow your computer’s system clock, you can change the time on your computer clock to change the TIME and DAY of your game. This is helpful for catching Pokemon that only appear at a certain time of day, to move forward to the next Bug Catching Contest or next Moon Stone drop…and a plethora of other things. Don’t feel like you have to wait an entire week just for another moon stone….just change the clock and get it instantly. Again though, if you feel wrong by doing it, don’t do it, but it is an option and isn’t really cheating.
VI. Closing Thoughts
I don’t really have much else to say here. I could go into more detail about catching the legendary beats or give a run-down of how I approach going through the game, but I covered the basics of how to get everything and where and went in further detail about all of the “trouble spots” or the spots where people seemed to have a bit of confusion. If you do need help with anything else, there are two really great websites of information for this game and Pokemon in general in the form of Serebii or Bulbapedia. They can help you the rest of the way. I’m just helping in the nature of getting this really intimidating RetroAchievement.