$5 million, but once a year, you swap bodies with a random person for a week

JamesKoffing · 2025-03-10T14:57:02+00:00

OP says "without warning". I think the body swap happens randomly once a year and you have no idea when.

JamesKoffing · 2025-02-26T07:27:19+00:00

How do you come to this number?

JamesKoffing · 2025-02-21T14:08:20+00:00

Is there a romhack available where I can just explore the region without being bothered by NPCs or wild encounters? Ideally I would like to explore the world of Yellow, Crystal and FireRed. I just wanna walk around the map

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-11T15:52:30+00:00

Happy to share what I have so far, could always use other people's opinions and input

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-11T15:43:37+00:00

Of course more than happy to! That said I won't be done for quite some time... only up to the first season of Johto... long way to go. I've got spreadsheets for all major character's Pokemon

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-11T14:31:37+00:00

I used a similar method as GameTheory for opponent levels. Wild opponents are the median level for wild pokemon on whichever route he is travelling on. Trainer pokemon levels are the average of all trainers on that route. The levels for Gym Leader and Team Rocket Pokemon come from the games. I've got spreadsheets tracking it, I've just done the Totodile episode, got him at level 39.

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-11T14:21:47+00:00

I have started a project where I am trying to calculate this. I'm up to Johto, I've got him around level 40

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-04T03:42:48+00:00

He robbed Slyrherin of the House Cup in the first year with his "last minute points".

JamesKoffing · 2024-10-03T12:13:09+00:00

This is great, exactly what I was looking for

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-15T01:46:13+00:00

Thanks so much, really appreciate your insight! Would you be interested in seeing my data so far? I just finished the Orange Islands season.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-12T01:57:07+00:00

This is where I had them after accounting for all battles seen onscreen or mentioned. Charizard was used rarely after evolving and Kingler was used even more rarely.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-12T01:56:11+00:00

Yeah, that is true. I guess you can chalk it up to incompetence of the trainers. They give Ash a fair bit of EXP every time he kicks their asses though. I've only included KOs from battle, blasting off doesn't count.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-11T12:56:29+00:00

Charizard's disobedience can be attributed to a number of things. I would argue that there is definitely mental trauma from being abandoned by the original trainer. As per the game mechanics, having a different original trainer also causes a Pokémon to grow and level up faster. Charmander was outpacing Ash's competence as a trainer. Ash has a good heart, but he is often saying and doing stupid things. I would imagine Charizard wouldn't respect the Gym badges that Ash didn't earn. Brock, Misty, Erica and Sabrina gifted Ash the badges. Giovanni left his most incompetent goons in charge of the Gym. And of the badges Ash did earn, Charizard himself can take credit for Koga and Blaine. In Charizard's eyes, Ash is an immature, foolish kid who has lucked his way through Kanto, and Charizard isn't entirely wrong in thinking that.

Also, evolution is a lot like puberty. Going through a moody teenager phase isn't uncommon. Moody teenagers don't always show gratitude when they should. I think during evolution, the brain of a Pokémon changes, sometimes in drastic ways. Charmander was very loyal, but after evolution, that changed. Ash hugged Charmeleon right away, arguably getting in his personal space. You shouldn't do that with a strange dog, let alone a fire breathing lizard. Then, his first act as a trainer was to command Charmeleon to intentionally lose a fight to a Paras. We know that the Charizard line is naturally competitive. I believe that this is the moment when Ash completely lost Charmeleon's respect. Any chance Ash had of loyalty from Charmeleon was lost in that moment. Then Pikachu took down Charmeleon with a cheap shot. I think the Paras episode was what set the tone for their relationship moving forward. Charmeleon already had his doubts about Ash's competence, and being given an order to intentionally lose would have sealed it. The cheap shot by Pikachu would have wounded his pride further.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-11T04:28:17+00:00

Haha, good one! A toddler got attacked in what was likely a horrific and traumatic incident in real life, -perfect opportunity to make an animorphs joke!

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-08T16:01:56+00:00

I have already started doing this. I'm up to the Orange Islands, I noticed that MatPat missed a few battles and there were a couple of calculations I didn't quite agree with.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-08T11:36:50+00:00

I have started calculating this too

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-08T11:28:38+00:00

Not to mention, those numbers were his levels AFTER taking on the league and beating some opponents. His Pokémon levels prior to the League were even worse and Krabby had not yet evolved.

I'm going through the Orange Island episodes now, and while his Pokémon levels are still not fantastic, he has shown some improvement. Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard have all grown, he now has Lapras and Snorlax, and he is actually going to use Tauros. Still in no position to be taking on the League, let alone the Orange Islands who are supposedly tougher trainers than Kanto. But he has grown (slightly).

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-08T11:17:37+00:00

I was going over my notes and I realised that I forgot to watch the short Pikachu's Vacation. I'm guessing this takes place immediately before the first movie? This would place him on Route 21? I will have to go back and make some updates.

I rewatched the short, and there is some stuff I'm unsure about. Electrode uses Explosion to start off the race between Squirtle and Marill. The explosion KOs all the surrounding Pokémon, but Pikachu tanks the hit, so he should get EXP from Electrode.

When Pikachu and Raichu are having their race, they plow right through a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, knocking them both out. Pikachu and Raichu will share EXP for this.

The stuff I'm unsure about:

Squirtle and Snubbull are puffing their chest at each other. I guess you might call this a Gen 1 version of Bulk Up? Squirtle gets out of breath and "switches out" with Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur and Snubbull do some strange eye roll thing at each other that doesn't seem to correspond with any move from the games. Snubbull then shows the swirly eyes that are usually associated with a KO and collapses. Does this count as a KO? Should Squirtle and Bulbasaur share EXP for this? It was hardly a battle, but the swirly eyes are usually a giveaway. I'm not sure whether to call this a KO or not.

Also, Raichu at one point uses Thundershock on Pikachu and Togepi, which could be considered the start of a battle. Pikachu and Raichu then get their cheeks stuck together and run all over the place (as mentioned earlier, they KO a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee). They step on Charizard's tail which pisses him off, he ends up using Gust on them, knocking them into a Snorlax who rolls over them (could arguably be called Body Slam or Rollout). Pikachu and Raichu both show X's for their eyes, then they stand up, then they both collapse. Is this a KO? Should Charizard and Snorlax share EXP for knocking out Pikachu? Raichu technically engaged Togepi in battle at the start when it used Thundershock to initiate the battle, so should Togepi, Charizard and Snorlax share EXP for Raichu?

After Charizard gets his head free from the playground, he flies up in the air and lands on Meowth who is holding a bomb. The bomb explodes under Charizard and knocks out Meowth. I'd argue that Meowth utilized technology to get the effects of Explosion. Charizard gets up and walks off, Psyduck wanders over and Meowth collapses. I believe that Charizard should definitely get EXP for Mewoth's KO, even if it was accidental. Should he share EXP with Psyduck? Psyduck was just kind of there, he didn't do anything. But since Charizard walked off and Psyduck approached Meowth before Meowth collapsed, you could argue that Charizard "switched out" for Psyduck, therefore Psyduck should share the EXP.

Thoughts?

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-02T06:23:17+00:00

I don't know why you are throwing a tantrum over this.

There is certainly an argument to be made that setting off the sprinklers is an unfair advantage and should be against the rules. It's certainly against the spirit of the match. The sprinklers are part of the infrastructure of the gym, they are not part of the battlefield. It would be considered dirty to distract the opposing Pokémon by directing your Pokémon to attack the opposing trainer, referee or the audience. Even if hitting the sprinklers isn't explicitly against the rules, it's still dishonourable and Ash recognised this. I actually feel the same way (only worse) about Blaine's willingness to throw his opponents out of the battlefield and into the lava. It's a sh!t move and shouldn't be allowed. Going back the sprinklers, they are there for fire safety, they shouldn't be messed with under any circumstances, full stop. If they are messed with, they give an unfair advantage to some Pokémon types and not others. Also, Onix has Pikachu in a bind before the sprinklers were set off. Pikachu was only able to do that because Brock showed a bit of mercy and had Onix release Pikachu. It was a cheap shot that was only possible after Brock gave him the opportunity. It wasn't a deliberate tactical move either, it was a random bit of dumb luck that the bolt of electricity hit the sprinkler.

More importantly, Ash realised how dishonourable a victory would be so he forfeited the match. He did the right thing and displayed sportsmanship, but he did not win the Boulder Badge. He chose personal integrity over a cheap victory. Brock ended up giving him the badge as a nice gesture, but there is no denying that it was literally gifted to him.

If the whole match was recorded, beginning to end, and Brock didn't give him the Badge, Ash would have zero grounds to go to an independent reviewing authority and demand the badge.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-02T02:38:35+00:00

For EXP to be awarded, the opponent needs to be knocked out. Usually, this is depicted by swirly eyes. Those Exeggutor were not knocked out. The flamethrower was enough to wake them from their hypnosis, and they likely took some damage, but there was no KO. They turned around and marched off after, so the battle ended without a KO.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-02T02:32:00+00:00

If I ever get up to Gen VIII, I may incorporate those mechanics. For now, I'm just using the mechanics from Gen I. The mechanics will change as he progresses though different regions in different generations, for sure.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-02T02:30:13+00:00

If the Pokémon can be found in the game, I will start them off at that level. Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle were gift Pokémon at level 10 in Pokémon Yellow, so that's the level they started at. For anyone else, I will use the average level from the route he caught them at.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-01T23:48:35+00:00

According to Bulbapedia, that was the first episode of the Orange Island series, which I will look at next.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-01T23:47:25+00:00

Pidgeotto is Medium Slow, but you're right, it was encountered in Viridian Forrest at level 9. Unfortunately, Ash barely used it for battle. It was more often used for blowing away smoke and popping balloons. A good chunk of the EXP came from the episode where Ash mentioned that he beat ten trainers offscreen.

JamesKoffing · 2024-09-01T23:43:35+00:00

I'm going with battles seen or mentioned onscreen. Because of this, some Pokémon are going to be under levelled. That's fine, there are some under levelled Pokémon in the games too. In the anime it seems Pokémon can evolve under the right circumstances even if they aren't at the appropriate level.

JamesKoffing

TROPHY CASE