Travel Journals
Gen 5 First time going through Pokémon Black
Started by Angel-of-Light-Kelly July 24th, 2023 11:35 PM- 587 views
- 5 replies
Hi! I haven't really posted much on here yet, but I figured, why not try to post more by having a journal? I wanted to do a journal, but since I didn't join this site until after I was already finished Violet, I didn't really have many Pokémon games that I didn't own (I don't know where my GBA charger is, so the only option of Pokémon Leafgreen is out). But, I was finally able to find a good deal on Pokémon Black, as I had missed out on the first game of the gen because of rough times. I have played White 2, but I didn't pick too many Gen 5 Pokémon on that run (half of my Pokémon were gen 5 at least), so I wanted to try to see how it'll go with only being able to use Gen 5 Pokémon. Let's go! (even though I have never even played Let's Go XD)
Chapter 1: How can things be rough and also way too lucky at the same time?
After debating between picking a Snivy again or Oshawott, I decided to go with the adorable Oshawott. I start the first match… and get critted immediately…
So, starting over (I didn’t want to start with a loss), I beat Bianca and Cheren (I love how you can interact with the Wii and see that there’s no scratches on it, but your poor bed), and head out. I check in on Cheren’s and Bianca’s home, then head to Professor Juniper’s lab. I get to name my Oshawott, so I name him Ryoma, after the famous samurai and the characters in Live a Live and Fire Emblem Fates. We get the Pokedex, and I try to save… only to realize that this was the gen where you needed to clear the save data first, as you can start a new game but not save over the old one….
So… After another reset and needing to go through the Bianca and Cheren fight again (multiple times. No idea why Oshawott just kept losing to Tepig, either by not dealing enough damage or crits), I finally get to save the game with Ryoma the Oshawott. We head out Route 1 together (I do think the taking steps together was cute), and we go through the obligatory catch tutorial. I catch 2 Pokemon on this route, special mention being Peppy the Lillipup with the Pickup ability. After wasting 3 pokeballs on one stubborn Patrat, I was off to Accumula Town.
After exploring the area and getting a free Pokeball from one of the houses (and seeing Team Plasma saying they need to get ready, I was wondering what stops you from continuing), I finally get the Pokemon Center tutorial over with. After that, Team Plasma’s speech finally happens, and I get my first encounter with N. It was Ryoma vs his Purrloin… and Ryoma got a crit on Purrloin (oops, that kinda killed any tension XD). N goes off, and now I can head out of Accumula Town.
With finally getting the running shoes (I’m glad it doesn’t take too long to get them), I head through Route 2. I catch Uso the Purrloin, and started leveling up Peppy, as I planned on using Peppy for the upcoming gym battle. I am surprised by Bianca challenging me before I get into town when Ryoma was not at full HP, but fortunately I win the fight without any problems.
Now in Striaton City, I pick up some Great Balls and a Dusk Ball (man, it’s crazy that they give you one so early!). I head into the trainer’s school, as the gym leader is apparently there… No, they’re not. Instead, Cheren fight, where I was surprised Snivy was sent out first when I thought it would be his Purrloin, as I had my Oshawott out… Though at least the 2-level gap I had over his Snivy helped me out.
With that, now I can go into the gym… Though first to be told to train in the Dreamyard (I wish I could, but I can’t get to the grass yet, so I only have the couple trainers there…). I pick up my free Pansear, Burn, who I more kept as a backup for the boss battle. I go into the gym and battle the 2 trainers, with a Patrat knocking out my Oshawott through misjudged hit range (man, don’t underestimate them). Once they are fought, I train up my Oshawott and my Lillipup to 14.
While training, Pickup finally triggers, and I get a nice Escape Rope. Pretty expected. Though what really surprised me was when, right in front of the gym leader, I got a Hyper Potion (I think Peppy is nervous about the battle if she’s giving me that, but that’s very overkill). So, with quite a few potions, and one hyper potion I doubt I’ll use anytime soon, time for the gym battle.
Ryoma takes on the Lillipup, making Cilan use up his potion early, which is reassuring. Ryoma gets to a little over half health, but I didn’t plan for using Oshawott against Pansage for obvious reasons. With that, Peppy the Lillipup is sent up against Pansage. I got nervous, seeing Pansage use Work Up to boost its attack, wondering if it’ll be too strong for my Lillipup… only for Peppy to crit hit for over half of Pansage’s health. After one Vine Whip, which didn’t even take half of Peppy’s HP, the Pansage was down. Very anticlimactic, but I’ll take it XD.
Now I can finally talk to Fennel, and finally get Cut, which goes on the Patrat, at least for now. We meet Bianca after chopping down the tree (Does she have Cut? No idea. Though this game isn’t too bad for not having cut most of the time at least), and chase after the mysterious noise, to see Team Plasma beating up Munna. We fight, it going fast given the trainers only had 1 Pokémon each (and the Purrloin was crit KO’d immediately, so really went fast). Musharna tricks them away with multiple Ghetsis illusions (Which I would think is obvious, given that 3 of them appear, but ok I guess), so team Plasma run off, saying too much about their boss. Musharna leaves behind Dream Mist (as a Pokeball item, so even the wild Pokémon leave all their items in Pokeballs, huh), so quest done.
I leave Dreamyard Pokémon catching for later, as I want to get to the next route and catch my actual second team member (Peppy will stick around as backup/pickup). I do all the Preschool battles, and get interrupted before getting to the new Pokémon by Cheren. So after Peppy 1 hit KO’d Snivy, we now have to chase after Plasma because they stole a Pokémon (man they’re busy, I just saw them a few min. ago). I pick up a Super Potion in the grass, encountering and catching a Pidove just because I must catch every Pokémon I see that I don't have, even in games where I'm not even trying to complete the Pokedex (playing my Nuzlocke was rough, as I just wanted to catch them all). I rush past all grass and enter the cave, as I really want to start encountering for my team members.
In Wellspring Cave, my first encounter is Myrrh the Woobat, named after the FE Dragon, who I am thinking of using, or at least will give a trial run. Second one is my actual target, Alcryst the Roggenrola, (FE Engage this time) who was easy to weaken and catch due to Sturdy. Alcryst even had an Everstone, which I will give to Peppy when grinding her up. Grabbing Myrrh and Alcryst from the PC, I actually go do the fight in Wellspring cave, sending out Alcryst for his first battle. The Patrat used Bide, and I did hit it, but fortunately Alcryst couldn’t be 1-hit KO’d, and Patrat wasted its next attack with Leer, so Alcryst wins. Now for the double battle, I swap Alcryst for Myrrh, to let her have a shot… only to then realize “oh right, Patrat have Bite…” So, Myrrh died to the second bite, as I wanted to test my luck… Oof XD. Ryoma finishes off the second Patrat (Cheren took out the first, which was being annoying with Detect), and we finally get the stolen Pokémon back.
I decide now to go back to catch the Dreamyard Pokemon, as it felt wrong to go do that when a kid's Pokemon was stolen (never mind how I went back to town to pull out Woobat and Roggenrola, shh). I go back to Route 3, and try giving Myrrh a better debut battle… Only for it to be a Blitzle the next trainer sends out… Ouch. The next battle she gets revenge on Patrat, with some help, so at least she got her vengeance/better introductory battle. We grind up a bit, with Ryoma evolving into Dewott, before reaching Nacrene City, where we pick up the Mystic Water before stopping for the night.
So far, I'm having quite a lot of fun. I do like how important the journey feels, and I am glad that I can finally actually use a trade evo, so I'm excited for when Alcryst gets to become a Gigalith. Not sure on if I should trade him as soon as he becomes a Boldore, given that it may be a little overboard to get Gigalith stats immediately after Roggenrola, though I really love Gigalith's design (I'm a rock/precious stones collector, so I've always wanted to use this line). When do people normally do trade evolutions?
Main party members:
Ryoma the now Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Myrrh the Woobat
Peppy the Lillipup (mostly just for pickup)
Pokemon caught this time that aren't on the team:
Ray the Patrat
Uso the Purrloin
Burn the Pansear
Quill the Pidove
Yumi the Munna (yes, I know dream in Japanese is Yume, but I think Yumi sounds cute)
Kiki the Audino
Chapter 1: How can things be rough and also way too lucky at the same time?
After debating between picking a Snivy again or Oshawott, I decided to go with the adorable Oshawott. I start the first match… and get critted immediately…
So, starting over (I didn’t want to start with a loss), I beat Bianca and Cheren (I love how you can interact with the Wii and see that there’s no scratches on it, but your poor bed), and head out. I check in on Cheren’s and Bianca’s home, then head to Professor Juniper’s lab. I get to name my Oshawott, so I name him Ryoma, after the famous samurai and the characters in Live a Live and Fire Emblem Fates. We get the Pokedex, and I try to save… only to realize that this was the gen where you needed to clear the save data first, as you can start a new game but not save over the old one….
So… After another reset and needing to go through the Bianca and Cheren fight again (multiple times. No idea why Oshawott just kept losing to Tepig, either by not dealing enough damage or crits), I finally get to save the game with Ryoma the Oshawott. We head out Route 1 together (I do think the taking steps together was cute), and we go through the obligatory catch tutorial. I catch 2 Pokemon on this route, special mention being Peppy the Lillipup with the Pickup ability. After wasting 3 pokeballs on one stubborn Patrat, I was off to Accumula Town.
After exploring the area and getting a free Pokeball from one of the houses (and seeing Team Plasma saying they need to get ready, I was wondering what stops you from continuing), I finally get the Pokemon Center tutorial over with. After that, Team Plasma’s speech finally happens, and I get my first encounter with N. It was Ryoma vs his Purrloin… and Ryoma got a crit on Purrloin (oops, that kinda killed any tension XD). N goes off, and now I can head out of Accumula Town.
With finally getting the running shoes (I’m glad it doesn’t take too long to get them), I head through Route 2. I catch Uso the Purrloin, and started leveling up Peppy, as I planned on using Peppy for the upcoming gym battle. I am surprised by Bianca challenging me before I get into town when Ryoma was not at full HP, but fortunately I win the fight without any problems.
Now in Striaton City, I pick up some Great Balls and a Dusk Ball (man, it’s crazy that they give you one so early!). I head into the trainer’s school, as the gym leader is apparently there… No, they’re not. Instead, Cheren fight, where I was surprised Snivy was sent out first when I thought it would be his Purrloin, as I had my Oshawott out… Though at least the 2-level gap I had over his Snivy helped me out.
With that, now I can go into the gym… Though first to be told to train in the Dreamyard (I wish I could, but I can’t get to the grass yet, so I only have the couple trainers there…). I pick up my free Pansear, Burn, who I more kept as a backup for the boss battle. I go into the gym and battle the 2 trainers, with a Patrat knocking out my Oshawott through misjudged hit range (man, don’t underestimate them). Once they are fought, I train up my Oshawott and my Lillipup to 14.
While training, Pickup finally triggers, and I get a nice Escape Rope. Pretty expected. Though what really surprised me was when, right in front of the gym leader, I got a Hyper Potion (I think Peppy is nervous about the battle if she’s giving me that, but that’s very overkill). So, with quite a few potions, and one hyper potion I doubt I’ll use anytime soon, time for the gym battle.
Ryoma takes on the Lillipup, making Cilan use up his potion early, which is reassuring. Ryoma gets to a little over half health, but I didn’t plan for using Oshawott against Pansage for obvious reasons. With that, Peppy the Lillipup is sent up against Pansage. I got nervous, seeing Pansage use Work Up to boost its attack, wondering if it’ll be too strong for my Lillipup… only for Peppy to crit hit for over half of Pansage’s health. After one Vine Whip, which didn’t even take half of Peppy’s HP, the Pansage was down. Very anticlimactic, but I’ll take it XD.
Now I can finally talk to Fennel, and finally get Cut, which goes on the Patrat, at least for now. We meet Bianca after chopping down the tree (Does she have Cut? No idea. Though this game isn’t too bad for not having cut most of the time at least), and chase after the mysterious noise, to see Team Plasma beating up Munna. We fight, it going fast given the trainers only had 1 Pokémon each (and the Purrloin was crit KO’d immediately, so really went fast). Musharna tricks them away with multiple Ghetsis illusions (Which I would think is obvious, given that 3 of them appear, but ok I guess), so team Plasma run off, saying too much about their boss. Musharna leaves behind Dream Mist (as a Pokeball item, so even the wild Pokémon leave all their items in Pokeballs, huh), so quest done.
I leave Dreamyard Pokémon catching for later, as I want to get to the next route and catch my actual second team member (Peppy will stick around as backup/pickup). I do all the Preschool battles, and get interrupted before getting to the new Pokémon by Cheren. So after Peppy 1 hit KO’d Snivy, we now have to chase after Plasma because they stole a Pokémon (man they’re busy, I just saw them a few min. ago). I pick up a Super Potion in the grass, encountering and catching a Pidove just because I must catch every Pokémon I see that I don't have, even in games where I'm not even trying to complete the Pokedex (playing my Nuzlocke was rough, as I just wanted to catch them all). I rush past all grass and enter the cave, as I really want to start encountering for my team members.
In Wellspring Cave, my first encounter is Myrrh the Woobat, named after the FE Dragon, who I am thinking of using, or at least will give a trial run. Second one is my actual target, Alcryst the Roggenrola, (FE Engage this time) who was easy to weaken and catch due to Sturdy. Alcryst even had an Everstone, which I will give to Peppy when grinding her up. Grabbing Myrrh and Alcryst from the PC, I actually go do the fight in Wellspring cave, sending out Alcryst for his first battle. The Patrat used Bide, and I did hit it, but fortunately Alcryst couldn’t be 1-hit KO’d, and Patrat wasted its next attack with Leer, so Alcryst wins. Now for the double battle, I swap Alcryst for Myrrh, to let her have a shot… only to then realize “oh right, Patrat have Bite…” So, Myrrh died to the second bite, as I wanted to test my luck… Oof XD. Ryoma finishes off the second Patrat (Cheren took out the first, which was being annoying with Detect), and we finally get the stolen Pokémon back.
I decide now to go back to catch the Dreamyard Pokemon, as it felt wrong to go do that when a kid's Pokemon was stolen (never mind how I went back to town to pull out Woobat and Roggenrola, shh). I go back to Route 3, and try giving Myrrh a better debut battle… Only for it to be a Blitzle the next trainer sends out… Ouch. The next battle she gets revenge on Patrat, with some help, so at least she got her vengeance/better introductory battle. We grind up a bit, with Ryoma evolving into Dewott, before reaching Nacrene City, where we pick up the Mystic Water before stopping for the night.
So far, I'm having quite a lot of fun. I do like how important the journey feels, and I am glad that I can finally actually use a trade evo, so I'm excited for when Alcryst gets to become a Gigalith. Not sure on if I should trade him as soon as he becomes a Boldore, given that it may be a little overboard to get Gigalith stats immediately after Roggenrola, though I really love Gigalith's design (I'm a rock/precious stones collector, so I've always wanted to use this line). When do people normally do trade evolutions?
Main party members:
Ryoma the now Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Myrrh the Woobat
Peppy the Lillipup (mostly just for pickup)
Pokemon caught this time that aren't on the team:
Ray the Patrat
Uso the Purrloin
Burn the Pansear
Quill the Pidove
Yumi the Munna (yes, I know dream in Japanese is Yume, but I think Yumi sounds cute)
Kiki the Audino
Alright. Back to Pokémon, now that I have beaten Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (though I still have other games to play XD).
Chapter 2: Staring at Rocks While Relying on One
Heading to Pinwheel Forest (or at least, the area outside of the forest. Team Plasma just like blocking routes when they should really be concerned about being seen and overheard…), I catch some Pokémon and start leveling up. I catch a few fighting types, though I’m holding out on that for a later one (I bet people can guess which one), so I’ll use another strategy. I even go back to Route 3 to get a Pokémon I missed… Who really ate through my Pokéballs. Oof. Though, I guess my Lillipup wanted to make it up for me losing those Pokéballs, as she ended up picking up a Nugget! (So, upgraded to Great Balls easily, thank you Peppy)
When I got my team Pokémon up to Level 18/19, I decide to go deal with the gym trainers… Only to then encounter N who expected my Pokémon to be around level 13… Oops. He even sent out his Pidove out first when I had my Roggenrola out… So, that battle was also not hard (I don’t intend on having such easy time with these N fights. Oops XD). He mentions Zekrom and dashes away. Well, time for the museum tour!
I do like the fact that the gym starts off with a museum, seeing fossils, a meteorite, and a white stone that they say isn’t special, but I want anyways (again, Rock Collector, the White Stone looks cool). Course, I can’t get it yet, so I guess I’ll go to the gym… Though, I’m definitely glad to see Armaldo in the museum (my favourite Fossil Pokémon). The part of me that wanted to be an archaeologist is happy with this cute small museum.
The Gym battles went fine. The puzzles were cute, and the fights weren’t too hard. I forgot to check if my Pokémon can use Rock Smash before doing the gym trainers, but my Roggenrola was able to take them on due to its high defence (I usually use faster Pokémon, so it is interesting trying out a more defensive one). I head back out to get my other 2 team Pokémon up to level 20. During all this training, my Lillipup gave me multiple Antidotes (She really took that Nurse’s warning about enemies inflicting poison to heart), and a full heal (she at least didn’t forget about the other statuses). Though right as I got back in town, she ended up picking up a Revive… Man Peppy really wants to prepare for fights ahead of time.
Teaching my Roggenrola Rock Smash before Lenora’s battle, I use it to lower the Herdier’s defence, leading the following Rock Blast to take it down. I switch to Dewott to face the Watchog, who survives the first Retaliate, and crits hit the Watchog to almost red. Though Watchog heals, and I misjudged how strong the second Retaliate would be. Nevertheless, Alcryst the Roggenrola finishes the fight, though in 2 extra hits (yeah, I’m not keeping Rock Smash forever XD).
Immediately after the fight, Team Plasma stole the obvious Dragonite Skull, so Lenora asks Burgh and I to go to the forest (Finally!). I go in, and try to rush to the grass… only for a double battle and a Team Plasma fight first… Can never just go to the grass immediately. But once I can get to the grass, I immediately skip the next trainer fights to grind for party member number 4… Who came after I got 1 of every other Pokémon I could get in the area. Though I was definitely relieved when I finally found her, my new Venipede Mareeta (FE Tharacia, about a character that at first hurts your party because she’s possessed by a sword, then controls the sword and uses it to help, which I equate to Venipede’s poison). I have only been trying out poison types more recently, so I want to give this one a go.
Mareeta’s first battle, against the next Team Plasma grunt, was more of a stalling game, letting the enemy’s health go down by poison and using protect to stall. Not the most honourable win, but hey, she got the experience XD. We catch another Cottonee, as I traded the first one when I went back for Mareeta, and then head further in. The battles drag on a bit while Venipede only had Poison Sting… so I was glad to see that Poison Tail came early.
After some long battles and going back and forth to either heal or pick up a party member, I catch up to the Team Plasma Grunt that the other ones tried to buy time for (How much more time do they need? I haven’t been speedy…). I succeed in getting the skull back (kinda a creepy thing to have in your bag for a while…), and a old man named Gorm appears, says that the obvious Dragonite skull isn’t a legendary, and introduces himself as one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma when the 2 gym leaders catch up. They escape (Burgh, I thought you said you were going to block the exit… Good job). We give back the Dragon Skull to Lenora immediately, with no chance to move around (was it even in the bag? Why even mention it being in the Key Items bag if we can never see if it is indeed there? I want to know if anyone has actually looked in the data to see if it was there at all) and can now head to Castelia City.
Crossing the really long bridge (I get that it looks good, and fits New York, but how many times do people actually travel across this bridge after the first time?), I enter the large city. I decide to explore some of the docks before stopping for the night, picking up a Fire stone for my Simisear and stopping to save next to the totally not suspicious black boat.
Team Members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Myrrh the Woobat
Mareeta the Venipede
Peppy the Lillipup/team medic apparently, based on how she wants to be the most prepared
Caught Pokemon:
Timothy the Timburr
Penelope the Tympole
Shawn the Sawk
Bolt the Blitzle
Leif the Sewaddle
Fluff the Cottonee (traded for Lillil the Petilil)
Colleen the Cottonee
Chapter 2: Staring at Rocks While Relying on One
Heading to Pinwheel Forest (or at least, the area outside of the forest. Team Plasma just like blocking routes when they should really be concerned about being seen and overheard…), I catch some Pokémon and start leveling up. I catch a few fighting types, though I’m holding out on that for a later one (I bet people can guess which one), so I’ll use another strategy. I even go back to Route 3 to get a Pokémon I missed… Who really ate through my Pokéballs. Oof. Though, I guess my Lillipup wanted to make it up for me losing those Pokéballs, as she ended up picking up a Nugget! (So, upgraded to Great Balls easily, thank you Peppy)
When I got my team Pokémon up to Level 18/19, I decide to go deal with the gym trainers… Only to then encounter N who expected my Pokémon to be around level 13… Oops. He even sent out his Pidove out first when I had my Roggenrola out… So, that battle was also not hard (I don’t intend on having such easy time with these N fights. Oops XD). He mentions Zekrom and dashes away. Well, time for the museum tour!
I do like the fact that the gym starts off with a museum, seeing fossils, a meteorite, and a white stone that they say isn’t special, but I want anyways (again, Rock Collector, the White Stone looks cool). Course, I can’t get it yet, so I guess I’ll go to the gym… Though, I’m definitely glad to see Armaldo in the museum (my favourite Fossil Pokémon). The part of me that wanted to be an archaeologist is happy with this cute small museum.
The Gym battles went fine. The puzzles were cute, and the fights weren’t too hard. I forgot to check if my Pokémon can use Rock Smash before doing the gym trainers, but my Roggenrola was able to take them on due to its high defence (I usually use faster Pokémon, so it is interesting trying out a more defensive one). I head back out to get my other 2 team Pokémon up to level 20. During all this training, my Lillipup gave me multiple Antidotes (She really took that Nurse’s warning about enemies inflicting poison to heart), and a full heal (she at least didn’t forget about the other statuses). Though right as I got back in town, she ended up picking up a Revive… Man Peppy really wants to prepare for fights ahead of time.
Teaching my Roggenrola Rock Smash before Lenora’s battle, I use it to lower the Herdier’s defence, leading the following Rock Blast to take it down. I switch to Dewott to face the Watchog, who survives the first Retaliate, and crits hit the Watchog to almost red. Though Watchog heals, and I misjudged how strong the second Retaliate would be. Nevertheless, Alcryst the Roggenrola finishes the fight, though in 2 extra hits (yeah, I’m not keeping Rock Smash forever XD).
Immediately after the fight, Team Plasma stole the obvious Dragonite Skull, so Lenora asks Burgh and I to go to the forest (Finally!). I go in, and try to rush to the grass… only for a double battle and a Team Plasma fight first… Can never just go to the grass immediately. But once I can get to the grass, I immediately skip the next trainer fights to grind for party member number 4… Who came after I got 1 of every other Pokémon I could get in the area. Though I was definitely relieved when I finally found her, my new Venipede Mareeta (FE Tharacia, about a character that at first hurts your party because she’s possessed by a sword, then controls the sword and uses it to help, which I equate to Venipede’s poison). I have only been trying out poison types more recently, so I want to give this one a go.
Mareeta’s first battle, against the next Team Plasma grunt, was more of a stalling game, letting the enemy’s health go down by poison and using protect to stall. Not the most honourable win, but hey, she got the experience XD. We catch another Cottonee, as I traded the first one when I went back for Mareeta, and then head further in. The battles drag on a bit while Venipede only had Poison Sting… so I was glad to see that Poison Tail came early.
After some long battles and going back and forth to either heal or pick up a party member, I catch up to the Team Plasma Grunt that the other ones tried to buy time for (How much more time do they need? I haven’t been speedy…). I succeed in getting the skull back (kinda a creepy thing to have in your bag for a while…), and a old man named Gorm appears, says that the obvious Dragonite skull isn’t a legendary, and introduces himself as one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma when the 2 gym leaders catch up. They escape (Burgh, I thought you said you were going to block the exit… Good job). We give back the Dragon Skull to Lenora immediately, with no chance to move around (was it even in the bag? Why even mention it being in the Key Items bag if we can never see if it is indeed there? I want to know if anyone has actually looked in the data to see if it was there at all) and can now head to Castelia City.
Crossing the really long bridge (I get that it looks good, and fits New York, but how many times do people actually travel across this bridge after the first time?), I enter the large city. I decide to explore some of the docks before stopping for the night, picking up a Fire stone for my Simisear and stopping to save next to the totally not suspicious black boat.
Team Members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Myrrh the Woobat
Mareeta the Venipede
Peppy the Lillipup/team medic apparently, based on how she wants to be the most prepared
Caught Pokemon:
Timothy the Timburr
Penelope the Tympole
Shawn the Sawk
Bolt the Blitzle
Leif the Sewaddle
Fluff the Cottonee (traded for Lillil the Petilil)
Colleen the Cottonee
Chapter 3: The Big City (Too Big?)
Now I get to explore Poké New York. I’ve only ever been in Vancouver before, so I’m not used to big towns like this.
So, first off, I had to get a dance crew together, though I kinda wish their Pokémon got to dance with them, given that they have the full monkey Pokémon set. Though I definitely will not complain about getting an Amulet Coin, though not sure who’ll use it yet… Well, I got more city to explore, things to do.
I explore some random buildings, going into a café that gave me Lemonade (shouldn’t I have to pay for that? Not sure how that café runs…), entering a party with people from different countries (too bad I’m rusty on my French, and none of them spoke Japanese, so I didn’t know what they said), and decided to change Myrrh’s name to Embla, as I remembered that there was actually a bat-themed character in Fire Emblem (whoops. Well, better late than never XD). I even got an Eviolite because of my Pokédex, just in time for the gym. I then decide to go catch the new Pokémon up ahead before exploring the rest of the area…
Though, I was only able to catch a Sandile right away, as I kept critting the other Pokémon (oof). I get in a battle with a trainer that causes confusion to knock out my starter, and where Lillipup just had to take enough recoil to knock herself out (oof again). So, I checked out more of the city while on my way back. I see that a Harlequin in the art museum wanted to see a fire type, so I go pick up Burn, while using this opportunity to evolve Yumi and Burn, since I now have their stones. I get a free Chesto Berry from it (I definitely don’t need Pecha with how many Antidotes Peppy gave me).
Going back on Route 4, I immediately find the healing house I could have used instead of going all the way back… (oof). Moving past that, I get into a battle with a Roggenrola that decreased my Accuracy 3 times before I could knock him out (mixed with sandstorm, you can tell this wasn’t the funnest battle). After finding so many Sandiles, and then so many Darumakas after finally catching one, I finally get a second chance at my 5th party member, Caspar the Scraggy (FE Three Houses this time), a fitting Pokemon to cover some of my Pokemon’s weaknesses, taking into account who party number 6 will be… (Plus, got to represent Dark types!)
With 5th party member caught, and the rest of the town explored, it’s time to train. Caspar’s first battle, against a wild Darumaka, helped me see how strong he is, but also how fragile, so I’ll need to account for that (good thing I got that Eviolite for any battles he needs to be in!). While grinding, Mareeta evolved into a Whirlipede, and finally got Bug Bite, so that’s nice. After getting Caspar to level 19, I head back to town and head to the gym… only to see that Burgh had to leave right after fighting Cheren (Did he only just learn about Team Plasma being in town right after Cheren left, because Cheren didn’t bring it up at all, so when did this happen?).
We end up going to the dock with the totally not evil looking boat, and we find out that Bianca was the latest target, with Iris dedicated to keeping Bianca safe. The Team Plasma jerk got greedy and came back for more, but ran away, giving away that they were staying in the building across from the gym (I do appreciate that they say it was the sake of comedic irony, but you can clearly go into the building earlier and not see anyone there. They’re really good at hiding XD). Caspar gets a better battle now that he’s not getting pelted with Sandstorm, and we get past the guards. Ghetsis does the whole “pretend to be honourable and right” thing, giving back Bianca’s Munna Munny (I love the name, but maybe that’s because my Kingdom Hearts side is reminded of what money is called in that game XD). I do like that Burgh challenges Ghetsis on the whole “bringing out the best in Pokémon” thing, as it’s cool to see people taking those words to heart, even if Ghetsis clearly has ulterior motives. Though I do think that just letting them go was not the best move, but whatever.
Now for the gym! I use this as an opportunity to level up Caspar, and fortunately he did finally get to level 20 and learn an actual fighting type move. The gym trainers weren’t too hard, as I had so many bug counters or counters for their secondary types. By the time I reached the gym leader, most of my team was 22, except Mareeta at 23 and Caspar at 20, though I wasn’t planning on Caspar being used in this fight. My Woobat also had enough friendship at level 22 for her to evolve into a Swoobat, so that will definitely help (I always seem to have an easier time grinding for friendship on bats XD).
I heard so many stories about how tough this gym match can be… But Burgh didn’t even damage my Pokémon. His Whirlipede had a chance to attack my Swoobat, but it used Screech instead of the dark type move that I know it has (why?). The Dwebble was knocked out immediately by Ryoma (I thought it was supposed to have Sturdy. I guess not…). As for Leavanny, it used string shot, and then it was just cycling through potions until Swoobat got a high damage roll, knocking Leavanny out. Well, that was anti-climatic XD.
With that, I get a call from Bianca, who wants to battle in the gatehouse before Route 4 (I find it so cute that she learned from the room incident and actually asks if battling inside is allowed). Caspar ate away at Bianca’s Super Potion stash while fighting the Herdier, Ryoma knocks out Pignite immediately, Mareeta took on the Pansage and easily won, and Caspar takes on the Munna. It wasn’t too hard, though I don’t really think she would have had much time to train with Iris if I immediately went to the gym and came out so soon after Munna was returned, so I guess it makes sense. It’s good to see that the whole Munna thing didn’t make her regret going on the journey, and good that she’s still going even if she doesn’t win against her friends.
I head to Route 4 after, and spot Cheren pretty quickly… Why didn’t we contact him to tell him what happened? He could have helped with the Munna situation if he was still in the area. Either way, we beat him, with Alcryst taking on the Pidove, Embla taking on Servine, and Caspar taking on the Panpour and Liepard (I can’t wait till I can counter water types…). With that, we can now head to the next town… But of course, we go to the desert resort instead!
Trekking through route 4, I get the TM for dig, which will definitely help coming up. That goes on Scraggy, as the only other team member option, Dewott, shouldn’t be going up against Electric types, and has other ways to counter fire and rock. Nothing too rough, more just dealing with sandstorm and any trainers I couldn’t get to before.
The desert resort outside area isn’t too hard, as by the time I got there, my team members are 22 and up. It’s more annoying dealing with the sandstorm, and Roggenrola isn’t fast enough to reliably run away… But I have to go for the encounters, as I need to go get grab a Maractus… That I only remembered existed when one of the trainers used one (oops XD). At least I find a Maractus without too much trouble, with trouble mostly coming from 2 rangers in the outside area and 1 psychic that kept inflicting burn on me. But grinding goes well, and I even level up Peppy so that she’ll pick up better items.
Inside of the Desert Resort building, it starts off with a rough battle against a Sigilyph (don’t underestimate them), but we win, after annoying strategies and damage ranges. I end up accidentally pressing A to the cover fossil, but I wasn’t planning on using either of the fossils in this run, so it doesn’t really matter. I started wondering if I would only find Sandiles in the floors I could access, but I do find a Yamask quickly at least. After that, every Pokemon I encounter was Yamask (funny how it happens like that).
Heading out, I realized that I never caught a Sigilyph for myself, realizing that I got a Maractus before a Sigilyph even appeared outside of a trainer battle… Weird…. And then I found out Dwebble was here (Man, I do not remember the Resort Pokémon as well as I thought). After encountering 3 Maractus first (I thought this Pokémon was infamous for being rare to encounter, it doesn’t feel like it), I finally find a Sigilyph, but oh boy, this guy didn’t want to get into the ball. So many balls wasted, just to catch this jerk that tried to whirlwind me away multiple times. So many shakes 3 times, to look like it might just work this time… Nope. I only had 1 Great Ball and 2 Net Balls left over when I finally caught him… Ouch. But finally I can leave!
With an uneventful trip back to Route 4 to head to Nimbasa, I find Professor Juniper and Cheren, who I forgot I was supposed to go meet (It felt like Sandile and Sigilyph were the only thing on my mind). Fortunately, Juniper gave me 10 Ultra Balls, so that at least helped fill the space made by that Sigilyph. Cheren goes back to catch Pokémon he missed, while I was just happy to finally get to the new town.
Stepping into town, immediately I spot Team Plasma attacking the Day-Care Man. Having to fight a Watchog that put my Scraggy to sleep, I thought it was going to be an annoying fight after that rough one, but fortunately Shed Skin kicked in. Team Plasma literally give away that they’re going to hide in the Amusement Park (That’s a dead end. Why did you think that was a good idea?), and the Day-Care Man thanks me with a bike! Finally! Biance walks past me, but this was enough for one night, so I’ll go check on her later…
Team Members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Embla (formerly Myrrh) the now Swoobat
Mareeta the now Whirlipede
Caspar the Scraggy
Peppy the Lillipup
Pokemon Caught/Evolved:
Dust the Sandile
Yumi the now Musharna
Burn the now Simisear
Darling the Darumaka
Mary the Maractus
Cleo the Yamask
Dwebbie the Dwebble
Jay the annoying Sigilyph
Now I get to explore Poké New York. I’ve only ever been in Vancouver before, so I’m not used to big towns like this.
So, first off, I had to get a dance crew together, though I kinda wish their Pokémon got to dance with them, given that they have the full monkey Pokémon set. Though I definitely will not complain about getting an Amulet Coin, though not sure who’ll use it yet… Well, I got more city to explore, things to do.
I explore some random buildings, going into a café that gave me Lemonade (shouldn’t I have to pay for that? Not sure how that café runs…), entering a party with people from different countries (too bad I’m rusty on my French, and none of them spoke Japanese, so I didn’t know what they said), and decided to change Myrrh’s name to Embla, as I remembered that there was actually a bat-themed character in Fire Emblem (whoops. Well, better late than never XD). I even got an Eviolite because of my Pokédex, just in time for the gym. I then decide to go catch the new Pokémon up ahead before exploring the rest of the area…
Though, I was only able to catch a Sandile right away, as I kept critting the other Pokémon (oof). I get in a battle with a trainer that causes confusion to knock out my starter, and where Lillipup just had to take enough recoil to knock herself out (oof again). So, I checked out more of the city while on my way back. I see that a Harlequin in the art museum wanted to see a fire type, so I go pick up Burn, while using this opportunity to evolve Yumi and Burn, since I now have their stones. I get a free Chesto Berry from it (I definitely don’t need Pecha with how many Antidotes Peppy gave me).
Going back on Route 4, I immediately find the healing house I could have used instead of going all the way back… (oof). Moving past that, I get into a battle with a Roggenrola that decreased my Accuracy 3 times before I could knock him out (mixed with sandstorm, you can tell this wasn’t the funnest battle). After finding so many Sandiles, and then so many Darumakas after finally catching one, I finally get a second chance at my 5th party member, Caspar the Scraggy (FE Three Houses this time), a fitting Pokemon to cover some of my Pokemon’s weaknesses, taking into account who party number 6 will be… (Plus, got to represent Dark types!)
With 5th party member caught, and the rest of the town explored, it’s time to train. Caspar’s first battle, against a wild Darumaka, helped me see how strong he is, but also how fragile, so I’ll need to account for that (good thing I got that Eviolite for any battles he needs to be in!). While grinding, Mareeta evolved into a Whirlipede, and finally got Bug Bite, so that’s nice. After getting Caspar to level 19, I head back to town and head to the gym… only to see that Burgh had to leave right after fighting Cheren (Did he only just learn about Team Plasma being in town right after Cheren left, because Cheren didn’t bring it up at all, so when did this happen?).
We end up going to the dock with the totally not evil looking boat, and we find out that Bianca was the latest target, with Iris dedicated to keeping Bianca safe. The Team Plasma jerk got greedy and came back for more, but ran away, giving away that they were staying in the building across from the gym (I do appreciate that they say it was the sake of comedic irony, but you can clearly go into the building earlier and not see anyone there. They’re really good at hiding XD). Caspar gets a better battle now that he’s not getting pelted with Sandstorm, and we get past the guards. Ghetsis does the whole “pretend to be honourable and right” thing, giving back Bianca’s Munna Munny (I love the name, but maybe that’s because my Kingdom Hearts side is reminded of what money is called in that game XD). I do like that Burgh challenges Ghetsis on the whole “bringing out the best in Pokémon” thing, as it’s cool to see people taking those words to heart, even if Ghetsis clearly has ulterior motives. Though I do think that just letting them go was not the best move, but whatever.
Now for the gym! I use this as an opportunity to level up Caspar, and fortunately he did finally get to level 20 and learn an actual fighting type move. The gym trainers weren’t too hard, as I had so many bug counters or counters for their secondary types. By the time I reached the gym leader, most of my team was 22, except Mareeta at 23 and Caspar at 20, though I wasn’t planning on Caspar being used in this fight. My Woobat also had enough friendship at level 22 for her to evolve into a Swoobat, so that will definitely help (I always seem to have an easier time grinding for friendship on bats XD).
I heard so many stories about how tough this gym match can be… But Burgh didn’t even damage my Pokémon. His Whirlipede had a chance to attack my Swoobat, but it used Screech instead of the dark type move that I know it has (why?). The Dwebble was knocked out immediately by Ryoma (I thought it was supposed to have Sturdy. I guess not…). As for Leavanny, it used string shot, and then it was just cycling through potions until Swoobat got a high damage roll, knocking Leavanny out. Well, that was anti-climatic XD.
With that, I get a call from Bianca, who wants to battle in the gatehouse before Route 4 (I find it so cute that she learned from the room incident and actually asks if battling inside is allowed). Caspar ate away at Bianca’s Super Potion stash while fighting the Herdier, Ryoma knocks out Pignite immediately, Mareeta took on the Pansage and easily won, and Caspar takes on the Munna. It wasn’t too hard, though I don’t really think she would have had much time to train with Iris if I immediately went to the gym and came out so soon after Munna was returned, so I guess it makes sense. It’s good to see that the whole Munna thing didn’t make her regret going on the journey, and good that she’s still going even if she doesn’t win against her friends.
I head to Route 4 after, and spot Cheren pretty quickly… Why didn’t we contact him to tell him what happened? He could have helped with the Munna situation if he was still in the area. Either way, we beat him, with Alcryst taking on the Pidove, Embla taking on Servine, and Caspar taking on the Panpour and Liepard (I can’t wait till I can counter water types…). With that, we can now head to the next town… But of course, we go to the desert resort instead!
Trekking through route 4, I get the TM for dig, which will definitely help coming up. That goes on Scraggy, as the only other team member option, Dewott, shouldn’t be going up against Electric types, and has other ways to counter fire and rock. Nothing too rough, more just dealing with sandstorm and any trainers I couldn’t get to before.
The desert resort outside area isn’t too hard, as by the time I got there, my team members are 22 and up. It’s more annoying dealing with the sandstorm, and Roggenrola isn’t fast enough to reliably run away… But I have to go for the encounters, as I need to go get grab a Maractus… That I only remembered existed when one of the trainers used one (oops XD). At least I find a Maractus without too much trouble, with trouble mostly coming from 2 rangers in the outside area and 1 psychic that kept inflicting burn on me. But grinding goes well, and I even level up Peppy so that she’ll pick up better items.
Inside of the Desert Resort building, it starts off with a rough battle against a Sigilyph (don’t underestimate them), but we win, after annoying strategies and damage ranges. I end up accidentally pressing A to the cover fossil, but I wasn’t planning on using either of the fossils in this run, so it doesn’t really matter. I started wondering if I would only find Sandiles in the floors I could access, but I do find a Yamask quickly at least. After that, every Pokemon I encounter was Yamask (funny how it happens like that).
Heading out, I realized that I never caught a Sigilyph for myself, realizing that I got a Maractus before a Sigilyph even appeared outside of a trainer battle… Weird…. And then I found out Dwebble was here (Man, I do not remember the Resort Pokémon as well as I thought). After encountering 3 Maractus first (I thought this Pokémon was infamous for being rare to encounter, it doesn’t feel like it), I finally find a Sigilyph, but oh boy, this guy didn’t want to get into the ball. So many balls wasted, just to catch this jerk that tried to whirlwind me away multiple times. So many shakes 3 times, to look like it might just work this time… Nope. I only had 1 Great Ball and 2 Net Balls left over when I finally caught him… Ouch. But finally I can leave!
With an uneventful trip back to Route 4 to head to Nimbasa, I find Professor Juniper and Cheren, who I forgot I was supposed to go meet (It felt like Sandile and Sigilyph were the only thing on my mind). Fortunately, Juniper gave me 10 Ultra Balls, so that at least helped fill the space made by that Sigilyph. Cheren goes back to catch Pokémon he missed, while I was just happy to finally get to the new town.
Stepping into town, immediately I spot Team Plasma attacking the Day-Care Man. Having to fight a Watchog that put my Scraggy to sleep, I thought it was going to be an annoying fight after that rough one, but fortunately Shed Skin kicked in. Team Plasma literally give away that they’re going to hide in the Amusement Park (That’s a dead end. Why did you think that was a good idea?), and the Day-Care Man thanks me with a bike! Finally! Biance walks past me, but this was enough for one night, so I’ll go check on her later…
Team Members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Roggenrola
Embla (formerly Myrrh) the now Swoobat
Mareeta the now Whirlipede
Caspar the Scraggy
Peppy the Lillipup
Pokemon Caught/Evolved:
Dust the Sandile
Yumi the now Musharna
Burn the now Simisear
Darling the Darumaka
Mary the Maractus
Cleo the Yamask
Dwebbie the Dwebble
Jay the annoying Sigilyph
I don't know if anyone is really reading this, but I'm having fun, so let's continue!
Chapter 4: Fun at the Amusement Park, and the Power of Crystals!
Ah, Nimbasa City. I go get Strength, and a soothe bell to help with my new Return TM (That’ll help with a Pokémon I plan to get later). I try to go to Route 5, but Bianca goes all “you need to check out the Musicals!” I’m forced to dress up a Pokémon, so I pick Embla the Swoobat… only to realize that she couldn’t really use that many of the accessories (sorry girl. You’re cute to me). After that, I use the Sun Stone I got in town to evolve Lillil into a Lilligant (just because). I step outside, and see Bianca with her dad, and Elesa standing up for Bianca wanting to travel, which is a cute scene. She tells me to go to the gym… But first, the nearby routes!
I get to catching new Pokémon, even in the dark grass. Peppy almost gets 1-Hit Ko’D when I swapped her out to try to catch a Liepard, as it used Pursuit, but she survived with just 1 HP (She’s very determined!). During fighting the trainers on the route, Alcryst evolved into a Boldore. As soon as he evolved, I immediately went to the Pokemon Center. Using my copy of White 2, I get Boldore evolved, as I figured, this isn’t a challenge run, so let’s just have fun and use Gigalith immediately! I even give my Black copy a Solosis by trading Colleen the Cottonee, so I have more covered!
I decide to go to the Battle Subway, just to go to Anville Town, though I do get the Vs. Recorder by a random stranger (just gave me one and left. Huh). No trades I can do today (I visited on a Sunday, just nothing I could trade), but the depot guy does give me a Rare Candy, and the music is nice, so the trip was not wasted. With that done, I go to face the other trainers on Route 5 that I skipped to get a Gigalith, now with so much power! Alcryst’s first Gigalith battle ended up annoying because a Blitzle caused him to miss 2 turns because of Paralysis, but he took out both Blitzles immediately. I even took out a Sigilyph in one hit, which is satisfying after how much trouble the last Sigilyph gave me.
With Route 5 done, given I can’t cross a raised bridge, I figured it was time to go to the Amusement Park, as I knew N would be there. With that, I get to go on a Ferris Wheel ride, with him pretending it’s to scope out the park to try to find those team Plasma grunts I forgot headed here. Really, he just wanted to tell me in secret that he’s Team Plasma’s King, as well as distract me so those guys I had forgotten about could get away (really didn’t need to, they could have just slipped by while I did everything else). We battle, with N now having the Team Plasma name and logo. I had my Whirlipede out first, so I was worried she would get knocked out by Sandile, but it only used Embargo, so she knocked it out in 1 hit with Bug Bite. Ryoma came out to fight Darumaka, no trouble there. Embla fortunately outsped the Scraggy and dodged a Stagger, so fortunately didn’t have trouble there. Lastly, Alcryst comes out once again to make sure Sigilyph didn’t give me anymore trouble (I don't know how long it'll take for me to not be so annoyed with Sigilyphs XD). He then challenges me to get to the Champion first and stop him. Things are getting tense… Let’s just go to Route 16 to cool things off.
Training on Route 16 goes well, though man the trainers just kept being ones that Whirlipede didn’t like, which sucks when she’s in front. I even stop by Lostlorn Forest, though I can’t do much here yet, and that woman in the rv camper won’t talk to me without event Pokémon. Though not like I was going to use the secret Pokémon here, given I used one in White 2, so I don’t mind missing the opportunity right now.
After checking that there were only 2 trainers in Big Stadium and Small Court combined, I grind up my Pokémon to level 27 on the routes… Forgetting about the trainers before the gym leader (oops xD). But now it was time to go fight those electric types! Alcryst leads the team, holding the Amulet Coin after the second trainer. With him having Mud Slap and all the Emolga in the gym, he was an easy electric counter. Though Caspar the Scraggy also helped out, as he knew dig, good against Blitzle. I get to the gym leader without that much trouble (the only annoying thing was paralysis).
I had Alcryst out first, to deal with the Emolgas. The first one Volt Switched, as expected, so the second one was taken out with Smack Down. I had used Smack Down again, but the first Emolga used Volt Switch again, so the attack hit the Zebstrika, taking it down to half. Zebstrika used Spark, but wasn’t able to bring Alcryst even down to red before the next Smack Down, though it did paralyze him. The first Emolga returned, and did one last Volt Switch, bringing Alcryst down to red, but Alcryst uses his newly learned Rock Slide to take it down, winning the fight without even using Scraggy’s Dig.
I head to Route 5 to continue, though buy a couple TMs and items first with the money I won in that gym. Cheren stops me just outside the route, as I guess it was time for another match. His Liepard was not ready for my Whilipede Mareeta (he said he was surprised to see me use a bug type move on a dark type. Weird). Alcryst shows off his strength against flying type Tranquill (though not actually using the move Strength XD). For Panpour, I just send out Embla, who got lucky with a crit and knocked it out immediately. Finally, Mareeta deals with Servine, as it really couldn’t do too much against her, though he does stall her out with leech seed and mega drain. With that, the rival match is done!
Elesa catches us after the match, finding our friendship cute. Before she can lead us to the Driftveil bridge though, we get spotted by Alder, who I am still surprised isn’t a fire type trainer with that hair of his. Alder tries to school Cheren on focusing on more than just getting stronger, by making us battle against 2 preschoolers (at least Cheren healed me before the fight, that was nice). The Herdiers… really did not like Cheren’s Pokémon, as it kept using Take Down on them, with only one Take Down hitting my Pokémon because of Cheren’s Pokémon being knocked out by the first attack. Oof, but hey, I won’t complain. He congratulates the kids for having fun in the match, bringing up how different ways of thinking are to be encouraged, and to really think about what your goal is, though Cheren won’t be getting that bit of character development just yet. With that though, Elesa gets the drawbridge pulled down (why was it just perpetually up? That doesn’t seem good for business….). Well, let’s get crossing!
Driftveil bridge is at least not as long as that last bridge, and there are actually things to do on it. I catch the only encounter after finding 2 feathers. We then enter the town of great music, finding Clay complaining to Cheren about team Plasma getting away when he lowered the bridge, and makes us deal with them (maybe you should have thought of a different way to keep them imprisoned). Well, now to go do everything else before Team Plasma, but that’s for next chapter XD.
Team members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the now Gigalith
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the Whirlipede
Caspar the Scraggy
(Peppy wasn’t really in the party this time, as I needed a Pokémon with cut…)
Caught/evolved Pokemon:
Lillil the now Lilligant
Trey the Trubbish
Glory the Gothita
Leia the Liepard
Minnie the Minccino
Sally the Solosis (traded from my White 2 during evolving my Boldore into Gigalith) Colleen the Cottonee was traded to keep Sally.
Peace the Tranquill
Cott the Cottonee (to replace Colleen)
Duke the Ducklett
Chapter 4: Fun at the Amusement Park, and the Power of Crystals!
Ah, Nimbasa City. I go get Strength, and a soothe bell to help with my new Return TM (That’ll help with a Pokémon I plan to get later). I try to go to Route 5, but Bianca goes all “you need to check out the Musicals!” I’m forced to dress up a Pokémon, so I pick Embla the Swoobat… only to realize that she couldn’t really use that many of the accessories (sorry girl. You’re cute to me). After that, I use the Sun Stone I got in town to evolve Lillil into a Lilligant (just because). I step outside, and see Bianca with her dad, and Elesa standing up for Bianca wanting to travel, which is a cute scene. She tells me to go to the gym… But first, the nearby routes!
I get to catching new Pokémon, even in the dark grass. Peppy almost gets 1-Hit Ko’D when I swapped her out to try to catch a Liepard, as it used Pursuit, but she survived with just 1 HP (She’s very determined!). During fighting the trainers on the route, Alcryst evolved into a Boldore. As soon as he evolved, I immediately went to the Pokemon Center. Using my copy of White 2, I get Boldore evolved, as I figured, this isn’t a challenge run, so let’s just have fun and use Gigalith immediately! I even give my Black copy a Solosis by trading Colleen the Cottonee, so I have more covered!
I decide to go to the Battle Subway, just to go to Anville Town, though I do get the Vs. Recorder by a random stranger (just gave me one and left. Huh). No trades I can do today (I visited on a Sunday, just nothing I could trade), but the depot guy does give me a Rare Candy, and the music is nice, so the trip was not wasted. With that done, I go to face the other trainers on Route 5 that I skipped to get a Gigalith, now with so much power! Alcryst’s first Gigalith battle ended up annoying because a Blitzle caused him to miss 2 turns because of Paralysis, but he took out both Blitzles immediately. I even took out a Sigilyph in one hit, which is satisfying after how much trouble the last Sigilyph gave me.
With Route 5 done, given I can’t cross a raised bridge, I figured it was time to go to the Amusement Park, as I knew N would be there. With that, I get to go on a Ferris Wheel ride, with him pretending it’s to scope out the park to try to find those team Plasma grunts I forgot headed here. Really, he just wanted to tell me in secret that he’s Team Plasma’s King, as well as distract me so those guys I had forgotten about could get away (really didn’t need to, they could have just slipped by while I did everything else). We battle, with N now having the Team Plasma name and logo. I had my Whirlipede out first, so I was worried she would get knocked out by Sandile, but it only used Embargo, so she knocked it out in 1 hit with Bug Bite. Ryoma came out to fight Darumaka, no trouble there. Embla fortunately outsped the Scraggy and dodged a Stagger, so fortunately didn’t have trouble there. Lastly, Alcryst comes out once again to make sure Sigilyph didn’t give me anymore trouble (I don't know how long it'll take for me to not be so annoyed with Sigilyphs XD). He then challenges me to get to the Champion first and stop him. Things are getting tense… Let’s just go to Route 16 to cool things off.
Training on Route 16 goes well, though man the trainers just kept being ones that Whirlipede didn’t like, which sucks when she’s in front. I even stop by Lostlorn Forest, though I can’t do much here yet, and that woman in the rv camper won’t talk to me without event Pokémon. Though not like I was going to use the secret Pokémon here, given I used one in White 2, so I don’t mind missing the opportunity right now.
After checking that there were only 2 trainers in Big Stadium and Small Court combined, I grind up my Pokémon to level 27 on the routes… Forgetting about the trainers before the gym leader (oops xD). But now it was time to go fight those electric types! Alcryst leads the team, holding the Amulet Coin after the second trainer. With him having Mud Slap and all the Emolga in the gym, he was an easy electric counter. Though Caspar the Scraggy also helped out, as he knew dig, good against Blitzle. I get to the gym leader without that much trouble (the only annoying thing was paralysis).
I had Alcryst out first, to deal with the Emolgas. The first one Volt Switched, as expected, so the second one was taken out with Smack Down. I had used Smack Down again, but the first Emolga used Volt Switch again, so the attack hit the Zebstrika, taking it down to half. Zebstrika used Spark, but wasn’t able to bring Alcryst even down to red before the next Smack Down, though it did paralyze him. The first Emolga returned, and did one last Volt Switch, bringing Alcryst down to red, but Alcryst uses his newly learned Rock Slide to take it down, winning the fight without even using Scraggy’s Dig.
I head to Route 5 to continue, though buy a couple TMs and items first with the money I won in that gym. Cheren stops me just outside the route, as I guess it was time for another match. His Liepard was not ready for my Whilipede Mareeta (he said he was surprised to see me use a bug type move on a dark type. Weird). Alcryst shows off his strength against flying type Tranquill (though not actually using the move Strength XD). For Panpour, I just send out Embla, who got lucky with a crit and knocked it out immediately. Finally, Mareeta deals with Servine, as it really couldn’t do too much against her, though he does stall her out with leech seed and mega drain. With that, the rival match is done!
Elesa catches us after the match, finding our friendship cute. Before she can lead us to the Driftveil bridge though, we get spotted by Alder, who I am still surprised isn’t a fire type trainer with that hair of his. Alder tries to school Cheren on focusing on more than just getting stronger, by making us battle against 2 preschoolers (at least Cheren healed me before the fight, that was nice). The Herdiers… really did not like Cheren’s Pokémon, as it kept using Take Down on them, with only one Take Down hitting my Pokémon because of Cheren’s Pokémon being knocked out by the first attack. Oof, but hey, I won’t complain. He congratulates the kids for having fun in the match, bringing up how different ways of thinking are to be encouraged, and to really think about what your goal is, though Cheren won’t be getting that bit of character development just yet. With that though, Elesa gets the drawbridge pulled down (why was it just perpetually up? That doesn’t seem good for business….). Well, let’s get crossing!
Driftveil bridge is at least not as long as that last bridge, and there are actually things to do on it. I catch the only encounter after finding 2 feathers. We then enter the town of great music, finding Clay complaining to Cheren about team Plasma getting away when he lowered the bridge, and makes us deal with them (maybe you should have thought of a different way to keep them imprisoned). Well, now to go do everything else before Team Plasma, but that’s for next chapter XD.
Team members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the now Gigalith
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the Whirlipede
Caspar the Scraggy
(Peppy wasn’t really in the party this time, as I needed a Pokémon with cut…)
Caught/evolved Pokemon:
Lillil the now Lilligant
Trey the Trubbish
Glory the Gothita
Leia the Liepard
Minnie the Minccino
Sally the Solosis (traded from my White 2 during evolving my Boldore into Gigalith) Colleen the Cottonee was traded to keep Sally.
Peace the Tranquill
Cott the Cottonee (to replace Colleen)
Duke the Ducklett
Chapter 5: Cold, dirt and static. What a weird trio
So, instead of dealing with Team Plasma like I was told to, I head straight to Route 6. I have a good reason to, don’t worry XD. After catching the other Pokémon in the area, and only finding the wrong gender version for the nickname I wanted, I finally caught my 6th party member, Leo the Deerling (named after the Fates Conquest character, who uses nature themed magic and was always riding a horse). I pick up my Deerling, and rush to the Season Institute to get the current season’s form registered, as it was 2 days before the next month when I caught him XD. Best to not have to wait 4 more months.
I turn the game back on once it became August, so the season is now Winter (I mean, August where I live is more early fall, but that’s ridiculous XD). After turning in the Deerling for the month (Winter is my favourite of the Deerling/Sawsbuck line), I head back to town, as I needed to heal after some matches. First house I go into, the girl asks if I could show her a Pokémon who knew the move Return. Given I bought that TM specifically for Deerling, it was the best time to teach him the move, getting a heart scale in trade. All the TVs in town called out how I didn’t leave any Pokémon in the Day Care or the GTS (sorry, I might have if it was open). I also try out one of the few times Rotation Battle exists in the franchise…. Poor battle style…. Also, one of Charles’ Pokémon was knocked out by hail because I am playing this in August… oof. Before going to cold storage, I got to train up Leo on Route 6, and even catch a Vanillite there XD.
Once Deerling was almost level 27, time for Cold Storage… Where he accidentally knocked himself out with Jump Kick (oops). Once I cleared out the outside, we go into the cold building, where Team Plasma decided to hide out in there despite the name literally warning them that they would freeze. Cheren leaves me alone to do most of the battling and ice puzzles, only catching up at the end (he probably cheated somehow XD). Cheren tells me to deal with the left half, but technically he makes me do 1 more than he faces, given that I doubt he fought the guy that was behind one of the other grunts. Clay comes into to finish the job that he forced us to do.
I grind up my Whilipede up on the route, as I wanted her to be caught up, but do not plan to use her in the ground-type gym for obvious reasons. With that, I finally get her strong enough to evolve into a Scolipede! I tried repelling to get an Audino to appear, but Emolga appeared instead (I had thought the route didn’t have Emolga, so good thing it randomly appeared so I could catch it xD). Swoobat was next, but ended up in 2 annoying Audino matches, with both using Attract, and one even using Secret Power to make Swoobat sleep, which was annoying enough with attract making my attacks miss. No rustling bushes appeared when I was repel tricking for Scraggy, so I had to level him up normally… with a rustling bush appearing while I was not using repels (of course).
With that, I decide to go to the gym to train up Deerling and Sawsbuck. I watch Ghetsis just walk up and take the guys we helped captured with him (because of course it’s fine if he does it willingly, but if we accidentally cause it through no real fault to us, then he gets mad at us. Huh…). Getting past that, the gym goes fine but slow, with Deerling taking out almost every Pokémon, just with Grass Knot and Leech Seed… Yeah… I had to finish leveling up Deerling and Dewott outside of the gym, but it didn’t take that long at least, fortunately.
For the gym battle, the Krokorok was the most annoying, as it slowed down my Deerling after he used Leech Seed, then used Swagger. Any Grass Knots I got in didn’t knock it out, so both Hyper Potions of Clay’s were used up here. He even used Torment so I had to switch things up with Return, annoyingly… After that, Excadrill came out, who died to one Hi Jump Kick to Scraggy (I wanted to just try to get rid of it immediately, and fortunately that did happen). Leo the Deerling came back for Palpitoad, who didn’t do any damage to him, and thus wins the battle. At least the other 2 Pokémon weren’t as annoying XD.
I heal up and head back to Route 6 to meet Clay there… Only to once again get a Bianca battle (At least these battles don’t have 6 Pokémon yet, as otherwise the amount of them would get annoying). Herdier is taken out by my Deerling since he was out front, the starter match of Dewott vs. Pignite went how ost people would expect, Swoobat came out to deal with Pansage, and Scraggy took on Musharna. No real trouble here. But she finally gives me FLY! YES! Finally, I no longer need to cross bridges to go back to old towns.
With Fly, I go back to Nuvema Town, to finally let Professor Juniper see my Pokédex. 66 Pokémon seen, so I get False Swipe (good for someone like me that tries to catch everything) and Protect (which Mareeta the Scolipede already knew but could be useful). Still confused about how I have never found the Exp. Share in this game, I look it up, and see that I missed it back in Castelia City, in the one building I didn’t go into because I thought it was a post game or later on challenge, the Battle Facility. Oops XD. As you can guess, the battles were easy, but I did get some Quick Balls, Timer Balls, a Revive, and a Scope Lens at least. I beat the president of the Battle Facility, get the Exp. Share, and head back to Route 6. I pick up Bulldoze, and teach it to Alcryst so that my Gigalith can have an actually good ground type move, instead of Mud Slap…
I enter Chargestone Cave, encountering N and the Shadow Triad (who walked me towards him, even though there was no way I could walk further into the cave without passing him by anyways, so kinda unnecessary). He tells me that Ghetsis has been gathering information about me and the rivals (does N not realize that that is kinda creepy for someone to do?), and says I’ll see more of Team Plasma later before heading further in. With that, I follow him, and find a dust cloud… only for the cutscene where Bianca and Juniper come into the cave to prevent me from getting either the item or Pokémon that would have spawned (NO!!!). I’m asked to go spot a Klink, to which the first encounter in the area is a Klink, so that was easy.
After catching all of the Pokémon in the area (and needing to go back to town because I didn’t have repels, oof), I continue further in, with the Shadow Triad pushing me across the bridge (again, that was the only way I could go, was that really necessary?). I have to battle Plasma grunts, where one of them claims I was being manipulated into following (uh, no, there is literally no other way I could go). They “lead” me to N, who asks if I have a dream, to which I make sure to say yes. Even with him appreciating that, he still challenges me. Ryoma takes out Boldore in 1 turn through successfully burning it with Scald. Ferroseed takes Alcryst some time to take down, though didn’t ever use the steel type moves that would have been super effective. Joltik is taken out by Alcryst quickly after that last slower battle, and Klink is beaten by 2 Jump Kicks from Leo because I wanted to get him closer to evolving. N leaves disagreeing with the professor, and I finally leave Chargestone cave.
I encounter Juniper’s dad, who thanks me for spotting a Klink that was literally impossible to not see due to N having one. He introduces the next gym leader Skyla, though Skyla has to go to Celestial Tower first… Well, time to heal up and get ready to climb a tower!
Team members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Gigalith
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the now Scolipede
Caspar the Scraggy
Leo the Deerling
Caught Pokemon:
Fungy the Foongus
Leanna the Swadloon
Kni the Karrablast (like Knight, but without the ght)
Icy the Vanillite
Lightning the Emolga
Gear the Klink
Static the Joltik
Darla the Drilbur
Ferrera the Ferroseed
Tai the Tynamo
So, instead of dealing with Team Plasma like I was told to, I head straight to Route 6. I have a good reason to, don’t worry XD. After catching the other Pokémon in the area, and only finding the wrong gender version for the nickname I wanted, I finally caught my 6th party member, Leo the Deerling (named after the Fates Conquest character, who uses nature themed magic and was always riding a horse). I pick up my Deerling, and rush to the Season Institute to get the current season’s form registered, as it was 2 days before the next month when I caught him XD. Best to not have to wait 4 more months.
I turn the game back on once it became August, so the season is now Winter (I mean, August where I live is more early fall, but that’s ridiculous XD). After turning in the Deerling for the month (Winter is my favourite of the Deerling/Sawsbuck line), I head back to town, as I needed to heal after some matches. First house I go into, the girl asks if I could show her a Pokémon who knew the move Return. Given I bought that TM specifically for Deerling, it was the best time to teach him the move, getting a heart scale in trade. All the TVs in town called out how I didn’t leave any Pokémon in the Day Care or the GTS (sorry, I might have if it was open). I also try out one of the few times Rotation Battle exists in the franchise…. Poor battle style…. Also, one of Charles’ Pokémon was knocked out by hail because I am playing this in August… oof. Before going to cold storage, I got to train up Leo on Route 6, and even catch a Vanillite there XD.
Once Deerling was almost level 27, time for Cold Storage… Where he accidentally knocked himself out with Jump Kick (oops). Once I cleared out the outside, we go into the cold building, where Team Plasma decided to hide out in there despite the name literally warning them that they would freeze. Cheren leaves me alone to do most of the battling and ice puzzles, only catching up at the end (he probably cheated somehow XD). Cheren tells me to deal with the left half, but technically he makes me do 1 more than he faces, given that I doubt he fought the guy that was behind one of the other grunts. Clay comes into to finish the job that he forced us to do.
I grind up my Whilipede up on the route, as I wanted her to be caught up, but do not plan to use her in the ground-type gym for obvious reasons. With that, I finally get her strong enough to evolve into a Scolipede! I tried repelling to get an Audino to appear, but Emolga appeared instead (I had thought the route didn’t have Emolga, so good thing it randomly appeared so I could catch it xD). Swoobat was next, but ended up in 2 annoying Audino matches, with both using Attract, and one even using Secret Power to make Swoobat sleep, which was annoying enough with attract making my attacks miss. No rustling bushes appeared when I was repel tricking for Scraggy, so I had to level him up normally… with a rustling bush appearing while I was not using repels (of course).
With that, I decide to go to the gym to train up Deerling and Sawsbuck. I watch Ghetsis just walk up and take the guys we helped captured with him (because of course it’s fine if he does it willingly, but if we accidentally cause it through no real fault to us, then he gets mad at us. Huh…). Getting past that, the gym goes fine but slow, with Deerling taking out almost every Pokémon, just with Grass Knot and Leech Seed… Yeah… I had to finish leveling up Deerling and Dewott outside of the gym, but it didn’t take that long at least, fortunately.
For the gym battle, the Krokorok was the most annoying, as it slowed down my Deerling after he used Leech Seed, then used Swagger. Any Grass Knots I got in didn’t knock it out, so both Hyper Potions of Clay’s were used up here. He even used Torment so I had to switch things up with Return, annoyingly… After that, Excadrill came out, who died to one Hi Jump Kick to Scraggy (I wanted to just try to get rid of it immediately, and fortunately that did happen). Leo the Deerling came back for Palpitoad, who didn’t do any damage to him, and thus wins the battle. At least the other 2 Pokémon weren’t as annoying XD.
I heal up and head back to Route 6 to meet Clay there… Only to once again get a Bianca battle (At least these battles don’t have 6 Pokémon yet, as otherwise the amount of them would get annoying). Herdier is taken out by my Deerling since he was out front, the starter match of Dewott vs. Pignite went how ost people would expect, Swoobat came out to deal with Pansage, and Scraggy took on Musharna. No real trouble here. But she finally gives me FLY! YES! Finally, I no longer need to cross bridges to go back to old towns.
With Fly, I go back to Nuvema Town, to finally let Professor Juniper see my Pokédex. 66 Pokémon seen, so I get False Swipe (good for someone like me that tries to catch everything) and Protect (which Mareeta the Scolipede already knew but could be useful). Still confused about how I have never found the Exp. Share in this game, I look it up, and see that I missed it back in Castelia City, in the one building I didn’t go into because I thought it was a post game or later on challenge, the Battle Facility. Oops XD. As you can guess, the battles were easy, but I did get some Quick Balls, Timer Balls, a Revive, and a Scope Lens at least. I beat the president of the Battle Facility, get the Exp. Share, and head back to Route 6. I pick up Bulldoze, and teach it to Alcryst so that my Gigalith can have an actually good ground type move, instead of Mud Slap…
I enter Chargestone Cave, encountering N and the Shadow Triad (who walked me towards him, even though there was no way I could walk further into the cave without passing him by anyways, so kinda unnecessary). He tells me that Ghetsis has been gathering information about me and the rivals (does N not realize that that is kinda creepy for someone to do?), and says I’ll see more of Team Plasma later before heading further in. With that, I follow him, and find a dust cloud… only for the cutscene where Bianca and Juniper come into the cave to prevent me from getting either the item or Pokémon that would have spawned (NO!!!). I’m asked to go spot a Klink, to which the first encounter in the area is a Klink, so that was easy.
After catching all of the Pokémon in the area (and needing to go back to town because I didn’t have repels, oof), I continue further in, with the Shadow Triad pushing me across the bridge (again, that was the only way I could go, was that really necessary?). I have to battle Plasma grunts, where one of them claims I was being manipulated into following (uh, no, there is literally no other way I could go). They “lead” me to N, who asks if I have a dream, to which I make sure to say yes. Even with him appreciating that, he still challenges me. Ryoma takes out Boldore in 1 turn through successfully burning it with Scald. Ferroseed takes Alcryst some time to take down, though didn’t ever use the steel type moves that would have been super effective. Joltik is taken out by Alcryst quickly after that last slower battle, and Klink is beaten by 2 Jump Kicks from Leo because I wanted to get him closer to evolving. N leaves disagreeing with the professor, and I finally leave Chargestone cave.
I encounter Juniper’s dad, who thanks me for spotting a Klink that was literally impossible to not see due to N having one. He introduces the next gym leader Skyla, though Skyla has to go to Celestial Tower first… Well, time to heal up and get ready to climb a tower!
Team members:
Ryoma the Dewott
Alcryst the Gigalith
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the now Scolipede
Caspar the Scraggy
Leo the Deerling
Caught Pokemon:
Fungy the Foongus
Leanna the Swadloon
Kni the Karrablast (like Knight, but without the ght)
Icy the Vanillite
Lightning the Emolga
Gear the Klink
Static the Joltik
Darla the Drilbur
Ferrera the Ferroseed
Tai the Tynamo
Chapter 6: Everyone's fully evolved, but oof...
Yeah, just as a heads up, my laptop forced the document I had open that had my journal entries closed when it did an update without even asking me (my laptop sucks), so this and the first half of the next entry will be a little vague, as I need to try to remember what happened (NEVER AGAIN)
Alright, now I tried exploring the town before heading to the tower... though man this town barely counts as a town. After a quick look, I head to the route, picking up the Charge Beam tm early, which I have Embla learn for the gym coming up... Leo and Caspar train out here, as they won't be the best in the tower, with Leo evolving quickly into a Sawsbuck, and Caspar... still not evolved... I decide to go the other direction from the tower first, to see how far I can go, as well as to level up my Pokémon. Though, I can't enter Twist Mountain because Clay told a guy to not let me through until I beat Skyla's gym (this is the third time Clay specifically has blocked progress. It's getting really annoying...). I guess I'll have to go to the tower...
The climb up the tower isn't too hard, and this gave Ryoma plenty of training. I keep having to switch who is in front, as I try so hard to keep them the same level (at least the exp share isn't the later games' version, as I often end up needing to carry other Pokémon while travelling to avoid getting overlevelled). After getting around some gravestones and trying to figure out how wide some of the gaps between them are, I reach the top of the tower, seeing Skyla. She has fortunately healed the Pokémon that I'll never get to know the species of, and tells me to ring the bell, to hear how it sounds when I ring it (though that doesn't really mean much unless I hear someone else ring it, so...). Apparently the ring shows I am kind and caring, so Skyla lets me battle her... though, first I got to climb down the tower... Why can't dig or escape ropes work here?
After the long trek down, and some extra grinding, I head into the gym, where I will admit, I did get tricked by the cannons, as I didn't think I could fit into the space next to one of the cannons. Alcryst covers most of the flying types, while Swoobat covers Ducklings with her Charge Beam.... though it doesn't take it out fast, so those matches take a bit... After getting sent into the wall by a cannon (She couldn't have put a mattress or something on that wall, or re-aim the cannon?), I take on Skyla.
Alcryst takes on the Swoobat and Unfeazant, not having too much trouble. Not wanting to risk anything, Embla takes on the Swanna. Takes a couple Charge Beams, even with the special attack boost... But at least Embla takes it out without getting too low in health. With that, I can finally enter Twist Mountain!
Rushing over to Twist Mountain, I... have to battle Cheren.... I just want to go into the mountain... Well, Alcryst takes out the Unfeazant, Caspar defeats the Liepard (still not having High Jump Kick miss on him, only Jump Kick on Sawsbuck... huh), Leo takes on Simipour (though, his grass moves aren't the best...), and Embla defeats the Servine. Alder comments on us having a good fight, with Cheren whining about how he's being complimented when he lost... Alder tells us to go on ahead (finally), after trying to get Cheren to ask what he'll do if he gets stronger. With that, we head inside... Just to see Clay... yay... He tells us the gym leaders are trying to come up with a plan, so we should just keep on going ahead (I do at least appreciate that the gym leaders are trying, without needing to just have all plot go on in the background while the player goes through the gyms). Cheren heads off, just as glad as I am about not needing to help Clay.
As I entered Twist Mountain in Winter, I end up being able to get to ledges and such that I couldn't any other season (why I made sure to get here before August ended, yeah, this journal is pretty far behind). I a least don't have too much trouble catching Pokemon, though Cryogonal took 3 attempts because I knocked it out twice... oof... Ryoma evolved early on into Samurott, nice, while Caspar took a while longer, though I was so happy when he got to level 39! I get lost and confused trying to figure out which paths I can take in Winter and which I can't, accidentally spotting Cheren and Team Plasma before exploring everywhere I could... Just left them there for a bit longer... Eventually I go talk to them, with Cheren already beating the team Plasma member. He questions how they justify hurting and stealing Pokémon if they care about them, they give the basic "because we're doing the right thing!" answer, and then we just let them leave (no sage even came this time, and no N to distract us. Why did we let them go?). Cheren stays in the mountain, now actually starting to take Alder's words to heart, wondering why he is obsessed with strength, if he is getting stronger, and what goal he has that requires that strength (I'm glad he apparently thought over those words while I was getting twisted up in this mountain). With that, I leave the cave, arriving at Icirrus City.
Before stopping the game for the day, and for the chapter, I go pick up a couple mushrooms in the snow, and made sure to check in on a certain ex-grunt in town, as it wouldn't be right skipping over him. With that, this chapter ends.
Team Members:
Ryoma the now Samurott
Alcryst the Gigalih
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the Scolipede
Caspar the now Scrafty
Leo the now Sawsbuck
Pokemon caught:
Frostbite the Cubchoo
Wyona the Watchog
Zebes the Zebstrika
Hikari the Litwick
Eternal the Elgyem
Greg the Gurdurr
Symmetry the Cryogonal
Next chapter, I at least remember most of what happened, so it shouldn't be as small of an entry.
Yeah, just as a heads up, my laptop forced the document I had open that had my journal entries closed when it did an update without even asking me (my laptop sucks), so this and the first half of the next entry will be a little vague, as I need to try to remember what happened (NEVER AGAIN)
Alright, now I tried exploring the town before heading to the tower... though man this town barely counts as a town. After a quick look, I head to the route, picking up the Charge Beam tm early, which I have Embla learn for the gym coming up... Leo and Caspar train out here, as they won't be the best in the tower, with Leo evolving quickly into a Sawsbuck, and Caspar... still not evolved... I decide to go the other direction from the tower first, to see how far I can go, as well as to level up my Pokémon. Though, I can't enter Twist Mountain because Clay told a guy to not let me through until I beat Skyla's gym (this is the third time Clay specifically has blocked progress. It's getting really annoying...). I guess I'll have to go to the tower...
The climb up the tower isn't too hard, and this gave Ryoma plenty of training. I keep having to switch who is in front, as I try so hard to keep them the same level (at least the exp share isn't the later games' version, as I often end up needing to carry other Pokémon while travelling to avoid getting overlevelled). After getting around some gravestones and trying to figure out how wide some of the gaps between them are, I reach the top of the tower, seeing Skyla. She has fortunately healed the Pokémon that I'll never get to know the species of, and tells me to ring the bell, to hear how it sounds when I ring it (though that doesn't really mean much unless I hear someone else ring it, so...). Apparently the ring shows I am kind and caring, so Skyla lets me battle her... though, first I got to climb down the tower... Why can't dig or escape ropes work here?
After the long trek down, and some extra grinding, I head into the gym, where I will admit, I did get tricked by the cannons, as I didn't think I could fit into the space next to one of the cannons. Alcryst covers most of the flying types, while Swoobat covers Ducklings with her Charge Beam.... though it doesn't take it out fast, so those matches take a bit... After getting sent into the wall by a cannon (She couldn't have put a mattress or something on that wall, or re-aim the cannon?), I take on Skyla.
Alcryst takes on the Swoobat and Unfeazant, not having too much trouble. Not wanting to risk anything, Embla takes on the Swanna. Takes a couple Charge Beams, even with the special attack boost... But at least Embla takes it out without getting too low in health. With that, I can finally enter Twist Mountain!
Rushing over to Twist Mountain, I... have to battle Cheren.... I just want to go into the mountain... Well, Alcryst takes out the Unfeazant, Caspar defeats the Liepard (still not having High Jump Kick miss on him, only Jump Kick on Sawsbuck... huh), Leo takes on Simipour (though, his grass moves aren't the best...), and Embla defeats the Servine. Alder comments on us having a good fight, with Cheren whining about how he's being complimented when he lost... Alder tells us to go on ahead (finally), after trying to get Cheren to ask what he'll do if he gets stronger. With that, we head inside... Just to see Clay... yay... He tells us the gym leaders are trying to come up with a plan, so we should just keep on going ahead (I do at least appreciate that the gym leaders are trying, without needing to just have all plot go on in the background while the player goes through the gyms). Cheren heads off, just as glad as I am about not needing to help Clay.
As I entered Twist Mountain in Winter, I end up being able to get to ledges and such that I couldn't any other season (why I made sure to get here before August ended, yeah, this journal is pretty far behind). I a least don't have too much trouble catching Pokemon, though Cryogonal took 3 attempts because I knocked it out twice... oof... Ryoma evolved early on into Samurott, nice, while Caspar took a while longer, though I was so happy when he got to level 39! I get lost and confused trying to figure out which paths I can take in Winter and which I can't, accidentally spotting Cheren and Team Plasma before exploring everywhere I could... Just left them there for a bit longer... Eventually I go talk to them, with Cheren already beating the team Plasma member. He questions how they justify hurting and stealing Pokémon if they care about them, they give the basic "because we're doing the right thing!" answer, and then we just let them leave (no sage even came this time, and no N to distract us. Why did we let them go?). Cheren stays in the mountain, now actually starting to take Alder's words to heart, wondering why he is obsessed with strength, if he is getting stronger, and what goal he has that requires that strength (I'm glad he apparently thought over those words while I was getting twisted up in this mountain). With that, I leave the cave, arriving at Icirrus City.
Before stopping the game for the day, and for the chapter, I go pick up a couple mushrooms in the snow, and made sure to check in on a certain ex-grunt in town, as it wouldn't be right skipping over him. With that, this chapter ends.
Team Members:
Ryoma the now Samurott
Alcryst the Gigalih
Embla the Swoobat
Mareeta the Scolipede
Caspar the now Scrafty
Leo the now Sawsbuck
Pokemon caught:
Frostbite the Cubchoo
Wyona the Watchog
Zebes the Zebstrika
Hikari the Litwick
Eternal the Elgyem
Greg the Gurdurr
Symmetry the Cryogonal
Next chapter, I at least remember most of what happened, so it shouldn't be as small of an entry.