>>54437226After beating all the trainers on nugget bridge, route 24 and 25 (even the rocket grunt) I noticed I was the same level as OP. So rather than go down towards Vermillion, I wanted to test this fight with similar parameters. Something I suspected from OP's original post is that they get very lucky with miss/crits or abused potions or even burned because that Onix would have decimated them next turn. For Misty, I gave my mon a presim berry (didn't need it turns out) and taught it both mega punch and kick so I would be able to try different strats. I won first try, but I got some good luck and still barely hung in there.
I will say 1 thing: I think OP could be right about having a Charizard before Surge, maybe even before Misty. I could have gone to route 11 and SS Anne before this fight for more exp and I haven't used my 2 rare candies yet. Time will tell as I move on to Lt Surge.
>>54436261I would argue that the newer games discourage players from using other mons because they don't even need to participate to gain exp. If I want to evolve a mon or have it learn a level up move in older games, it NEEDs to participate even slightly. Not to mention there are day cares and exp shares to 1 pokemon in the older games; Not removing said participation requirement entirely, but helping a little. I will go on record and say I think gens 6 and 7 had it right by having it be a togglable option which appealed to both sides.
