Man, the level caps between Misty and Surge are brutal. You have to be really careful to avoid overleveling and skip a bunch of trainers. I totally underprepped for Surge. I didn't realize you could evolve Sandshrew before the cap and I didn't even teach it Dig. It became this awkward RNGfest where both sides were paralyzed and Raichu had +3 Double Teams and I was just praying to hit through. Fitting for the guy with the trash can puzzle (that's even harder when you're avoiding trainers.) Sandshrew at least managed to hit the finishing blow, earning a spot on my team. I've only ever played FireRed before so I'm glad I got a version exclusive.
Hopefully I can get my act together since the game opens up a lot after this. I have ideas for a final team but I'm not married to a specific water type yet. My inner hipster wants to pick something weird and quirky.
>>55245331>>55246076>>55246331I think it's objectively worse than Oddish/Bellsprout against Misty (especially since they evolve right at the level cap) but he's been the clutchest member of my team. Being able to 1v1 your rival's Kadabra is pretty nice and no other grass type can do that in this game. I also think it's a little better against Surge since it gets access to Dig.
