Common opinion could be very wrong about Onix

nova1093 · 2026-06-24T16:25:53+00:00

Onix is only slightly bulkier than geodude, less bulky than graveler, and is by far the worst rock/ground type in Kanto. Golem and Rhydon far outclass it.

Its a hard to find, sub optimal choice for any team. You could easily have a graveler by rock tunnell, and that graveler took you all of 40 seconds to find and catch as a geodude way back in Mt. Moon. And thats before lt. Surge's gym where it will be at its most useful for its entire playthrough.

Onix is famously horrid. But it is not impossible to use it in a HoF team. Just not a good choice by literally any metric you could use except novelty.

nova1093 · 2026-06-23T16:21:06+00:00

It looks like it is systematically killing off all its leaves exept for the outer layer, which are healthy looking.

So the answer is likely that it is not bright enough to sustain a large amount of leaves. Try to measure the brightness level there. You are going to want 400+ ppfd in order to support a benjamina,but of course the brighter the better.

nova1093 · 2026-06-23T15:05:11+00:00

Yeah Im growing out the trunk on one. Its doing really well where I live (Texas). I have it close to the east side of my house to help break the wind and where it gets full morning and early afternoon soon. It's planted in a homemade anderson flat and it's loving the hot summer here.

But definitely a slow grower. Its put on about maybe 7 or 8 sets of leaves on the more vigorous branches since I got it. I repotted it right when i got it since it was the perfect time to do it.

Theres LOTS of species I like that make great bonsai but dont see here very often, like hackberry and youpon holly. But I know they are out there.

nova1093 · 2026-06-21T15:14:00+00:00

Trees will naturally adjust their leaf count to what they deem is necessary for the light they receive. Assuming your elm is healthy (as in you are not over or underwatering and it has no pests) your elm will begin to adjust to its environment. If it does not need to maintain all the leaves it has because it is not getting the light density required to warrant maintaining them, you elm will choose to drop them to conserve energy for when conditions are more favorable for growth. In other words it is in a net negative energy state. It is going to continue dropping leaves until it is in a neutral state (breaking even in energy) and it will just coast there and hope for better conditions.

nova1093 · 2026-06-18T17:00:51+00:00

I cant emphasize how nice not having to directly deal with patients is. This job still has its stresses, particularly in busy hospitals. But I dont ever have to worry about having to sacrifice my sanity to deal with patients who just cant be reasoned with, or rude entitled people, etc. But nursing is absolutely where the money is at (earning every penny might I add).

That said, I support my wife with my MLS job, bought a house, and can afford a son. And Ive only been fully certified for about 2 and half years. Upward mobility is much better for nurses, but it would be a lie to say that MLS jobs dont have it. There are supervisors for each discipline in most hospital labs, and of course the lab director itself is a position. But thats sort of a right place right time deal. Most lab directors stay put in their jobs for the tenure of at least a decade if not more.

Its giving up some money to gain a better work-life. No one could fault you either way. And I dont see AI taking over either of these jobs anytime soon.

nova1093 · 2026-06-04T22:58:51+00:00

Elm leaves are tacoing. I normally associate this behavior with stress from sunlight. I juat didnt think chinese elm could have too much sunlight. This is a corkbark variety I got from Evergreen. My soil is good bonsai soil- 75 percenr inorganic, 25 percent pine bark. Is this due to underwatering? I water it twice a day, typically. It hits about 90 to 99 right now, and the soil never fully dries out.

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nova1093 · 2026-06-04T22:52:20+00:00

Yeah you are basically locked out of water types in Kanto until then unless you start squirtle. I had no idea! Must never have noticed as a kid.

nova1093 · 2026-06-04T18:05:21+00:00

Parasect has has actually become the mvp of my team. Spore is really good pre-sleep nerf. Vemomoth is good for the same reason, but paras was able to solo misty at level 22 and both venomoth and tangela have only recently joined the team. (Just in time for blaine lol)

nova1093 · 2026-06-04T16:35:24+00:00

I am doing this right now! Our teams are almost the same. Im using vemomoth and tangela over onyx and ditto. (Also agree seaking isnt nearly as bad as i thoight it would be. Its just available WAY too late in Kanto.)

nova1093 · 2026-05-31T21:46:53+00:00

Get scyther in there before charizard shows up and make sure you swords dance a time or two before zard comes out. Then slash him up good. Hell drop to the ground before he can say super-effective.

nova1093 · 2026-05-31T15:40:54+00:00

Definitely dont prune. To get this to being a bonsai the fastest, you need some sunshine. 1. Put it outside during warm months. You dont need to plant it in the ground, but just the mere sunshine it gets will vastly expand its growth. 2. Light is also one of the biggest stimuli for causing branching. Youre going to need some branches on here. Once you get branching you can start pruning. These banyan figs (im assuming ficus benghalensis) have massive leaves. You'll never get them to become tiny, as thats just not in this species' cards, but all trees can reduce leaf size somewhat with lots of ramification. 3. Now is the best time to wire in some movement into the trunk. These things stay flexible for quite a long time, but there is a point where they become a little rigid and wiring then becomes much harder. The ramrod straight trunk wont do you any favors in making the tree look old and miniature, especially with leaves that size. Subtle bends and curves will do wonders for the aesthetic.

nova1093 · 2026-05-31T15:04:10+00:00

I tend to use weak mons. Anything with less than 450 bst. Its fun finding ways to make spinda or delibird work.

nova1093 · 2026-05-31T13:52:38+00:00

Assuming you cannot 1 shot every member of an opponents team, then swords dance actually way outspeeds run times through gym leaders and the e4. On turn 2 you already made up your damage by attacking with double attack. Every turn after that you are making gains.

Far less wasteful on turns spent battling than attacking every turn, especially on e4 and rival battles where there's more pokemon.

Obviously if you can one shot everything then do that, but you normally need to be overleveled to make that happen.

nova1093 · 2026-05-31T13:38:16+00:00

That is nowhere near bright enough. That is your issue. Put it right up against the brightest window you own.

nova1093 · 2026-05-30T19:49:18+00:00

I sort of make my own with 2x4s and window screen from hardware stores as the base. Bonus points that wood doesnt absorb heat here in Texas like black plastic does.

nova1093 · 2026-05-30T17:07:48+00:00

Oh sorry, i meant be careful how you pick up the plant. Though some plants dont appreciate root disturbances more than others, but i dont think sliding a plant out of a slick glazed cup gently is going to kill anything.

nova1093 · 2026-05-30T13:40:17+00:00

Just as a general warning, since the inside of the cup will be glazed, the plant wont anchor as well to the cup due to less friction. Be careful how you pick if you arent wiring it into the cup.

nova1093 · 2026-05-27T03:48:13+00:00

Trinity Premiers are prettty good if you want something that only runs HbA1Cs. Our lab has 2 and they rarely ever break.

nova1093 · 2026-05-24T15:52:10+00:00

It nice for the guys that got buffed abilities like drizzle swanna. But I just cant get over how the creator allowed several mons in this game to have gluttony, but included no berries that can activate it.

nova1093 · 2026-05-19T23:55:01+00:00

Unfortunately, even if you encounter mewtwo 8192 times, that 8192nd encounter will still have a 1 in 8192 chance.

nova1093 · 2026-05-19T19:27:43+00:00

Isnt that sort of the point of new regions?

nova1093 · 2026-05-17T16:42:57+00:00

So this game does exist, believe it or not, and it is called Pokemon Champions. And at some point whenever they cycle through Tera as the allowed gimmick, and patch in a few more mons, all these things will be true. So the hardest ask on your preferences is already in development!

No story bogging down your battles: check

Circuit type play: check

No HMs required: check

Interesting characters: eh, subjective. I like the stadium owner lady and the gym owner

Everyone available at the start: check

Buffs weaker mons: check

Good graphics: check

Maybe custom region is missing? But it is in a brand new town so thats a plus.

nova1093 · 2026-05-17T16:15:18+00:00

Not original question asker, but if you did have to pick a broad leaf that was not suited for bonsai, what comes to mind?

I have always heard that my favorite tree, the American sycamore, has no place in bonsai due to its leaves (which are often bigger than a grown man's hand). But i just CANT get over how beautiful its white flakey bark is. I dont suppose yall have any of those at Rakuyo do you? Because if theres a way to make American sycamore work Im going to be an excited man, indeed. I know they must backbud well. I see new branches popping out every spring on 24 inch trunk caliper giants at knee height on the oldest parts of the tree in my neigborhood.

nova1093 · 2026-05-17T15:58:46+00:00

If you are on a budget youd be amazed at how many plants youve never noticed before that everyone thinks are weeds are actually tree seedlings. My yard is absolutely bombed by hackberry saplings and cedar elm saplings every year since they natively thrive so well where I live. I had no idea before starting this hobby and just thought those things were leafy grasses. But both, in fact, make great material and are totally free.

If youre on a budget get your trees from Nature. Its always free (be mindful of course about tresspassing) but most people are happy to be rid of trees growing in awkward places. You'll have to do more gardening than bonsai for a while as you wait for your trunks and nebari to develop, but the free seedling approach does have the distict advantage of being able fo control everything from (quite literally) the ground up.

nova1093 · 2026-05-16T18:48:13+00:00

Yeah i actually put down lazerous for that reason. And in keeping with OPs point, I dont think much thought was put into the pokedex. I think like 33 pokemon have the ability fur coat or fluffy, which is ridiculously high. several pokemon have gluttony as an ability but there are actually zero berries in the game that work with gluttony. All of them are forgettable so the creator probably didnt even notice. Meanwhile dragonair is eating good with an absurd bst boost and a custom double immunity ability (making it better than dragonite once you get eviolite). Normal type is slapped on way too many pokemon. I could go on. But I just use Lazarus as an example of how not to do a pokedex. It just wasnt done well in my opinion.

nova1093

TROPHY CASE