June Rocket Memo (Text)

[fingersandteeth]

Right. I never did one of these for May, but we're on a new month now. That said:

1. We've got two new members of the crew, London Tipton and Garak, who've just started their week of Mandatory Training Hell. I've already talked to both of them in person, but I'd like to extend a formal welcome anyway. Don't worry--once the Mandatory Training is over, you won't have to do it again.

2. We've had a few promotions last month. Dirk Strider is now our resident Beta and Steve Palchuk, Tyler Huang, and Lydia will be joining Carly and I as Privates. And even though my rank within the Team remains the same, I *did* manage to move from the receptions area to the newsroom at the Radio Tower. Congratulations to everyone!

3. I managed to earn a Fly HM of my own by beating Chuck last month. If anyone wants their Pokemon to learn that move, contact me and I'll bring it over. Like Surf, it can come very much in handy for transportation purposes outside of battle, but you need to be licensed to use it that way. Luckily, Falkner in Violet is a fairly easy Gym Leader to beat. (Unfortunately, I don't have a Surf of my own to lend yet, but should I beat Janine or Jasmine I'll let people know.)

4. If people are interested in learning more about the previous history of Team Rocket, prior to our arrival, a pre-recorded fifteen minute segment detailing The Incident With The Slowpoke Well will be airing on the radio news channel later this month.

And that should be all, I think.

Comments

[insidescoop]

Oh!! New people, really?!

Geeze I'm missing everything...

You know, these updates are really nice? It's really great that you make 'm...

[fingersandteeth]

I'm glad you appreciate them.

[See, Jack, they aren't useless!]

Even if you miss us, it's a great thing you're doing, Carly. We'll *want* eyes and ears at the champions' table.

[insidescoop]

Right! [That's totally not why she went for it, but sure!]

It's a heck of an accomplishment on its own too...I mean, if you can beat the Elite 4 there's not a whole lot that can take you down right?

Not to mention the pokemon here...I've gotten so many bonuses on my turn ins lately...

[fingersandteeth]

Well yes, of course it is! I for one am definitely proud of you.



... what are the pokemon there like?

[insidescoop]

Pretty strong!

Like...REALLY strong, I guess it figures up here though. There's a pretty big variety too...

[fingersandteeth]

You should definitely catch everything you possibly can and save them up so you'll be set for the quota for months.

[insidescoop]

Oooo definitely!

I mean I've been set for a while- I catch pretty much whenever I can out here. But these guys will defffffinitely get a nice bonus...

[fingersandteeth]

Isn't it something like P3000 for over thirty and every ten levels they add on another thousand?

[insidescoop]

Yep! You can get a TM if it's rare enough too.

But the important thing is I'm finding stuff that's level 80 up here~

[fingersandteeth]

GodDAMN.

[If there weren't newbies around, he'd say something stronger.]

[insidescoop]

Hehehehheeee see? It pays to do some travelling~

Literally! These guys aren't only in the caves- you can take a couple days trip up the plateau with fly, and get a real good haul to sit on while you work on more important stuff!

[fingersandteeth]

I was under the impression they wouldn't let you onto Victory Road without the right




Yes. Right. We're criminals. We can just *sneak* in.

[insidescoop]

Well actually I have all 16 badges so...

If badges are your problem, you should probably just go to the mountain honestly. I heard things are even bigger over there.

[fingersandteeth]

I mean, I'm at eight of them. Six Johto and two Kanto. So. You know. Halfway there.

Which mountain? Moon? Mortar?

[insidescoop]

Silver.

[She leaves it at that. To be fair the pokemon aren't quite as strong- highest they get is level 70. But Carly doesn't know that, and it's still a fair bonus.

Not to mention finding things above 70 on the plateau is a challenge anyway.]

[fingersandteeth]

Silver. Right, that's the one by Victory Road. I might go, then, once I've got the right warps and can arrange for some time off.

[insidescoop]

Good idea~

Oh, you ARE gonna need those other two johto badges first though.

You need a full set to get in.

[fingersandteeth]

I'm working on it. Jasmine's an absolute pain in the ass to beat. She took down Connie with me the same day. About the only thing I can do is train my fire pokemon harder and harder--and I didn't even have any of those until Prom.

[insidescoop]

No fighting types, ground types?

...Well I guess that's not actually much against the steelix...or the skarmory...

Well nix ground, but no fighting huh? (yes I know that's still no good against skarmory, but fighting types might get fire punch at least!)

[fingersandteeth]

I've got El Diablo Verde and Care Bear for Fighting, but El Diablo's a bit underleveled and Care Bear is part of my Rocket Team. I'm trying not to use the Rocket Team for the gym challenge, because they get broadcast on television and the last thing I need is someone identifying them and then me that way.

Another couple weeks and Erik at least should be ready. He's already cleared Level 50.

[insidescoop]

Care Bear...

That's a bewear right?

You wanna try fur dye?

[fingersandteeth]

Huh. Never thought of that.

[insidescoop]

Heheheeee. Yep!

Obviously you'd want to stick to one colour, but the point is, no one's going to say 'hey, that shiny bewear is the normal bewear that rocket guy used'!

[fingersandteeth]

I mean, I've always wanted a shiny, but it feels like unless you're a trainer, you don't ever spend enough time in the field to catch one.

[insidescoop]

As someone who IS in the field almost all the time, sometimes it feels like the world just knows we're not trainers.

[fingersandteeth]

I don't know how you and Connie do it sometimes--it's one thing to be a Rocket and hold down a job in Goldenrod. It's another to be a Rocket and go on the whole Pokemon Journey thing.

[insidescoop]

Heheheeee it's easier than you'd think~ No one asks where the pokemon come from, and unless you're going back through Cherrygrove and Violet and such? A lot of the pokemon in the area are going to be over the required quota level!

It was tricky starting out sure- It's uh, a little obvious what's going on if you hand in a bug the same week you hit the National Park and all that- but after a while of focusing on catching whatever I saw...well.

Now it's easy to scramble the quota turn-ins! Heck, I have enough in backlog that I can enjoy a vacation with Jolyne after we're done up here!

(Which is really nice because I'm thinking of going for a more permanent-location type job, if you catch my drift...)

[fingersandteeth]

Huh. That *would* be true. I've had an easier time with *my* quota ever since I've gotten those later Johto warps. Here in Goldenrod only half the Pokemon are over quota level, but from Ecruteak onward they all are.

[insidescoop]

Exactly~! As soon as you have even three teleports, you can get some good stock...

[fingersandteeth]

I suppose, really, we ought to stress how important getting their Ecruteak warp is to all our new recruits, then.

[insidescoop]

And Violet for that matter! You wouldn't think it, but that city is practically a geographical keystone with those crossroads!

Honestly, both badges are pretty good too. Jack might be able to get transport fine enough, but most of the folks down on the rung...mmmm. Well, better to have Surf and Fly usable as fast as possible really.

[fingersandteeth]

Oh, I agree. I got my Fly license in Celadon and my Surf in Cerulean since I had the warps from the festival and Prom respectively and it's easy enough to borrow the HMs, but being cleared for Flying and Surfing really is essential and those are the closest places.

[insidescoop]

Oh yeah I completely forgot about how easy it is to access half of kanto once you take the train to Saffron...

Maybe we should just make a full list of options...some kind of beginner's map, that sort of deal.

[fingersandteeth]

Carly, that sounds like an amazing idea. When you're done with the Elite Four, you should come over some night and we'll work on it together.

[insidescoop]

Hoooo, maybe a little longer than after the Elite Four...ah, I've got some uh...plans with Jolyne...

But definitely~

[fingersandteeth]

Oh. Right. Of course.

But eventually, yes.

[insidescoop]

Of course!!!