I boarded the S.S. Anne, docked at Vermilion's port. This venerable cruise ship is little more than a floating battleground, so I got plenty of fights in. Happily, the second room from the right on the ship's first floor lets you heal back up, so you're not stranded with an ailing party. The ship's seasick captain - don't look in his trash can! - hands over the CUT HM, which is really the main purpose for shoving aboard.

Liquid - who is perpetually one step ahead of me - challenged me to a fight on the Anne. His Bulbasaur still hasn't evolved up to an Ivysaur; he seems to be concentrating on his Pidgeotto. The fight was brief, and Liquid soon sauntered off to the tune of his personal theme music.

Armed now with the CUT move, I went back to clear out some CUTtable trees I had to pass before. Went through Diglett's Cave, found the blocked road with the sleeping Snorlax, and took down the third Gym Leader, Lt. Surge. And I went back through Mt. Moon to fight all the guys I avoided on the first pass.

Since when did Surge become the "lightning American"? The guy is a total cheeseball, but his third (and final) fighter - a Raichu - smacked me down a couple times. Surge leads with a Voltorb that I handily Mankeyed. Then a poor Pikachu that my Mankey can KO with one Karate Chop. Then that Raichu, who paralyzes opponents into submission. I hate status attacks.

I've changed my opinion on the Vs. Seeker. It looks like there are a lot more trainers to re-battle in LeafGreen then there was in Sapphire. So if you are near a bunch of available trainers, odds are the Vs. Seeker will snag one or two of them for an immediate battle. Sapphire's list of eager trainers changed over time, plus you had the inconvenience of finding them again. With the Vs. Seeker, you just have to use it where you stand.

However, I don't like LeafGreen's inventory organizating system. Instead of listing the TM holder and Berry Pouch at the root level, these items are buried inside the Key Items section of the bag. So you have to drill through extra lists to get down to them. It would be easier if they stayed at the top level of the bag. I'd also like a top level gadget list, so the Vs. Seeker and Fame Checker and stuff were easier to use. And speaking of that, it's high time Pokemon added more hotkeys for items. Right now, we're still stuck with a single hotkey (Select) even though there are tens of items that would be more usefully accessed on a single click.

Time: 10:07
Badges: 3
Pokedex: 26 (Seen: 59)
Party: Meowth lv24, Wartortle lv25, Mankey lv24, Beedrill lv19, Pidgeotto lv23, Raticate lv21