#rdwrer

Y'see, Stadium has the Hall of Glory; where the winning team of one of the cups is immortalized in victory. And as I perused it's ranks, I was reminded of something important

My brother already has Pikachu's spot from when he best the Petit Cup long ago. Given that this is a 90s game, I am dead certain that if I won the Poké Cup with my own Pikachu, I would overwrite my brother's

Now, i am not certain if he would even kick up a fuss or anything at it. But I cannot bring myself to risk this. So with reluctance, MOOOWWWWWGAAARRR!!! has been benched. To take his place? My insect of plague and fury, a juggernaut of raw power, Infection the Parasect!

I've had him for awhile, but to get him into the tournament I needed to power-level him up from Lv. 39 to 51. It's why I vanished

Alrighty, for today I'll be starting from the 1dt level of the Poké Cup. I may have beaten this a few times before, but this my first time entering it with a team I raised on Gameboy

It all began when I was very young. My older brother had a Nintendo 64 (it still works to this day and is a key component to this story) and one of the games on it is Pokemon Stadium. Now I first started playing this myself when I was what, 3? 4? It actually helped me read and unlike most books dedicated to helping children below the age of 5 learning how to read, it was animated with cool monsters beating the crap out of each other with lasers, tidal waves, blasts of fire, earthquakes and spoons. So when you recall how much stuff I have written on my A03, remember that a big reason for my literary prowess is due to this game.

But I digress. Now in most Pokemon games that were out at the same time as Stadium (the original Red, Green, Blue and Yellow) were for Gameboy. In the Gameboy ones, it was the classic 'pick a starter, roam the world, catch and train Pokemon, earn Gym badges'. Stadium doesn't have that, instead it was a way to bring your Pokemon to 3D in (for its time) AMAZING GRAPHICS and compete in multiplayer. But there was another cool game mode on it, the Stadium. Four tournaments that beckon you to compete. My brother won the Petit Cup rather early on, as far as I know it's been won. The Pika Cup was beaten by me older sister a few years ago. But the Poke Cup (highlighted)?

THAT was mine. Many a days I would compete in it, battling my way through its four stages over the years. At Poke and Great Ball levels, it wasn't too hard. At Ultra, I really struggled but pulled through. But to truly win this, you have to beat all four and thus my final challenge remains to this day; the Master Ball level. Long have I failed, clawing and fighting my way through the challengers and losing to AI BS. For the last 17 years or so, this has been my greatest goal in gaming; win the Poke Cup.

But here's the catch; I didn't have a Gameboy as a kid like literally every friend I ever had. I never got to experience the Pokemon Grind until I was 19 and a friend lent his DS to me with Platinum out of pity at being such a deprived child. Now the Gen 4 games are ones I hope to one day win, but it was a lesser conquest compared to the glory of claiming the Poke Cup.

Then for my 21st, I was given the tool of my ascension.

My dear friend @spottermiz came all the way down to the Cook Islands for my 21st (in Maori culture, this is one of the most important birthdays in your life) and gave me a Gameboy Color with Pokemon Yellow. For the first time in years, I had a chance at winning the Poke Cup. I booted up that old game and immediately started out.

Now I will admit, I was hammering out Yellow every chance I had for awhile. I cleared Gyms all the way up to Blaine when it all went south. Y'see, the Poke Cup has a strict rule on what Level your team must be to qualify; Level 50. Now the best XP is won in Yellow from Trainer Battles, but I had won pretty much all of them. And this was on a 1995 or so game so the VS Seeker that lets you rematch the AI didn't exist. Meaning I had to rely on wild Pokemon. Which give much lower XP

This was when I plataeu'd. I was just fighting wild Pokemon in the Seafoam Islands because that was the only place I could actually find worthy enough Pokemon. It honestly took a lot out of me and my dedication waned. Along with a slew of many personal issues in my life (alcoholism, depression, loss, etc) I barely touched the Gameboy for awhile.

Then on a whim, I took my Gameboy with me when I was hanging out with some friends. They were playing Dark Souls on their fancy pants PS4 and there I was with a Gameboy Color. And that was when I realized something; the drive came back when I played Yellow while around other people. We would take turns taking jabs at each other's gaming, there was laughing, there was life, I was suddenly invigorated in Yellow again. So for the past month, a fire was reignited in me and I began playing in earnest (I think the Pokemon Anime was onto something with the Power of Friendship crap XD)

And tonight, after 45 hours and 8 minutes of gameplay over 2 years, my team all reached Level 50. And all were eligible for registration to the Poke Cup.

17 years I have tried and failed time and time again to win. For so long I felt like Sisphyus, eternally in reach of victory yet it would always elude me

Now...

Now there's nothing stopping me. My team is registered, all their moves picked out and each one trained up to the best I can do. The stage is set and I will play through the entireity of the Poke Cup, starting all the way from the lowest level and fighting to the top. Might seem excessive, but this is my first time getting a handpicked and tailor-made team moulded from experienced gameplay into this. The lower levels are good for testing them out in this and will make my final conquest all the sweeter.

And I am taking y'all along for the ride. I'll be making posts detailing my Challenge of the Day on my @rdwrer98 blog, updating it as I go along. But upon finishing a daily challenge, it'll be reblogged to my other blogs.

A lifetime I have spent trying to reach this moment. And I want to share it with all of you.

Reuploading this here. Features @saschagemruler

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Reuploading this here. Featuring the lovely @angiethewitch and @imacrowcawcaw

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