New Years Day 2024 (B): King of the Mountain

- Got back to Cinnabar and told Blue to square up.
- Got Blue's gym on the first try and screen recorded it.
- Professor Oak called saying he has a gift.
- Got the Rock Slide HM and access to Mt. Silver.
- Stopped at the Pokemon Center just outside Mt. Silver to grab the third and final Pokemon from my 2010 save.
> Magic: QUEEN KONG [F] (Level 99 Kangaskhan)
- I was stuck for a long time trying to figure out who to push the Rock Climb HM onto. Ultimately decided to have Muscle learn it.
- Caught a Sneasel because I actually kind of like these Pokemon. I should try having one in my team at some point.
> Caught: FELIX [M]
- Caught a Misdreavus because I wanted to. I don't know why I wanted to, I guess it's just because the opportunity presented itself.
> Caught: MANIX [M]
- Made it up to where Red stands waiting.
- Started a recording and went for it.
- I should have lost the battle with how underleveled I was and how fast I rushed into it. It would have been a very fast defeat, too. Queen Kong is the only reason I managed to win.
- Credit sequence played again, coming to rest on "The End" until a button was pressed.
- System reset, loaded back into the game to find myself back in the trainer's home again.
- Found Cameron waiting outside. I don't know if he's scripted to do that or if it was just some insanely fortunate timing. Took two photos, one with Sync III in the front and one with Queen Kong in the front.
- Poked my head into Professor Elm's lab to see if he had any new dialog.
- Walked from New Bark to Cherrygrove. I couldn't cut down a small tree for a shortcut because I had left Ramelia in the PC.
- Went to the Pokemon Center, put Muscle and Queen Kong back in the PC, then restored Ramelia and Gorb back to their rightful places in the party.
- With Sync III in the lead, I walked to the beach at the western part of Cherrygrove. - I stood us both looking out over the water. I just stayed there for a while.
- This was finished late enough at night that it was now technically the 2nd.
- After 13 years, 8 months, and 30 days (5022 days), I had finally made it to the end of SoulSilver.

YouTube Screen Recordings

I knew I was going to be using Queen Kong to try and beat the Red fight because of how ridiculous the level curve is. I spent lots of time in this game grinding already. I'm not going to do several more hours of grinding just to beat that one fight. So, the way I saw it, Blue was going to be my last real, fair fight before I beat the game. Other than neglecting to give Gorb, Ramelia, and Gemini more levels for the fight, I'm pretty happy with how it went. It was challenging, but not unfair. Red's fight was not going to be the same way, but time would tell both how unfair and for who.

With all of the progress I had made today, I figured I should at least attempt to take down Red once. It was going to be impossible with my team at their current levels, which is exactly why I had a clone of Queen Kong brought in as part of the changes I made during the Lance roadblock. I don't remember how exactly she became my tank, but I do remember thinking she was awesome for it. Kangas are probably one of my favorite Pokemon because of that. Looking through data in the old save, the only other Pokemon to go beyond Level 60 was Ho-oh, who was at Level 72. There is absolutely no chance that I did that. I don't think I got her all the way to Level 99, but I'm guessing that a lot of those levels were done by me.

With Queen Kong needing a spot and Rock Climb being necessary for scaling the mountain, two team members had to be left behind. These were Ramelia and Gorb. Gemini missed out on finishing the Elite Four and getting a spot in the Hall of Fame, so there was no way I was going to have him miss beating Red and getting the Ribbon that I didn't know was a thing. Winning this way meant leaving part of the team in the PC and turned out to have most everyone else faint. Gemini and Muscle didn't just because they were never put in for battle. I almost wonder if Ramelia and Gorb were actually more fortunate. I don't feel great about this being how I won, but it's the price I pay for not having to waste even more time on grinding out levels.

I just kept the recording going after I beat Red. During my PC Box management, I made it a point to do some showcasing of all the Pokemon in my party and in my boxes. Most of them were quick, with just the main cast, event/gift Pokemon, and clones from 2010 getting all three tabs of the summary screen. The rest just got the first tab.

Once I did that, I did what I imagine I would have done if it was real life. I walked to the shore in Cherrygrove. It's not an option in the game, but I would have sat at the shore with the whole team, looking out at the water and just enjoying the view. I got more emotional about finally getting to the end of SoulSilver than I thought I would. I went into it knowing what the end of the game was, even if it was just the gist of it. I knew pretty much how things were going to go from beginning to end. The only particular reason for me to have felt like something had been achieved was that I had finally done it myself. Sure, I started my first save over 13 years ago, but in most of the time between then and now, I didn't play or think about SoulSilver much, if at all.

Somehow, it was enough. It really felt special to finally beat this game made for actual children. It took me a few minutes, but I got my composure back, saved, and stopped for the night. I don't think I knew what I was looking for during this experience. I'm pretty sure I don't know what I was looking for even now. Somehow, I think I managed to find it anyway.

There's still more to see in this game and I plan to do more with it. I'll wind up making a list of what else I'd like to do now that Kanto has been Kan-taken to Kan-town. Not today though.