qol follow-ups (Patreon)

another quest done today~ but instead of talking about that, let's not talk about that whatsoever.

following the post about corey/kiki we had a brief discussion on the discord about things to change in the early game. so this is a report back on some things from that discussion that have since been implemented, as well as other things from previous to-do lists that have been done:

• pokemarts have been standardized, each selling the same items, upgrading at several badge checkpoints (should be the same as current availability)
• the early whismur can still be gotten after the first badge
• an old lady in the onyx arcade will now heal your pokemon in early game
• advertisements for agate circus can now be found around the city early in the game
• grinding trainers give EXP candy scaling with the game (this was always our plan, i just didn't realize it hadn't actually been Done yet)
• the two opal bridge guards will now give a free EXP candy at the start of the game if you beat them both 
• a computer to give the player a randomized starter choice has been added to the grand hall
• fossil pokemon are now regenerated at a higher level
• a book has been added to the psychologist's house listing what each nature affects
• the psychologist now asks to make sure the player is sure of what nature they want
• arc's text in the mega ring quest now updates according to what mons have already been turned in
• dwebble replaces kricketot for mono-rock challenges
• swablu and delibird can now be gotten pre-julia
• mawile and sunkern are easier to find early game
• the grand hall trainers can now be fought before the first fern battle if you agree to try not to get your ass handed to you right out the gate.

there are a handful of other suggestions we'll still be getting to later on, as i continue to go through and update story segments. a lot of those have been taken down, so we'll see when we get there.

re: corey and kiki--
i appreciate everyone being supportive and offering feedback on it. i'm surprised how many people appreciated the sucker punch aspect with regards to corey in particular, and my hope is that by having him be around a little earlier in the game, we can still get some of that in. lua also had the very good idea of having them be retired leaders within the lore as well, which i think we'll almost certainly do, both for helping get the weight in without the expectation of a badge, and also as a similar nod for how rejuv has alluded to their past changes.

as always, thanks for sticking around and for offering your thoughts and support <3