[Gen 8] Shield Mono Bug Playthrough

[gimmepie]

Introduction

I played through Sword ages ago and was always intending to get to Shield eventually. Now I have finally gotten around to actually getting it. I've been wanting to do a mono-run through Galar for a while, but I leaning towards Fighting at first. In the end, it was a pretty spontaneous decision to switch to Bug (of all things) and make a Travel Journal following the experience.

Part One

I started the game off with what I am considering a borrowed Scorbunny. Unfortunately, Hop rudely challenged me to a battle before I was able to acquire the One True Starter. I took out my frustrations at this on him by beating his Wooloo and Grookey to a pulp with said temporary Scorbunny. Afterwards, it was time to head back home to say a quick fairwell to mum... or it should have been but, of course, a silly Wooloo had to break through a gate and go wandering into Slumbering Weald.

Slumbering Weald is meant to be off-limits but rules are made to be broken. I headed in after the Wooloo with Hop in tow. The deeper we got in, the thicker the fog got,until it was impossible to see. Then, out of nowhere, we weren't alone and a m y s t e r i o u s canine Pokemon was there attacking us. I tried to fend it off with my unwanted Scorbunny, but everything went harmlessly right through it. Apparently, I was being attacked by an illusion. I passed out for some reason and the next thing I knew I was waking up having been rescued by Leon. Champion or not, having your rescuer be a guy who looks like that is embarrassing.

Good doggy?​

After that debacle, it was time to head onwards to Wedgehurst. I had to take the long way because a flock of Wooloo were blocking the way. I'm starting to think these things might have it out for me. I blitzed through the route, no point training a Fire type I'm not keeping. Eventually, I made it to my destination and met Sonia, the Professor's grandaughter and assistant. She gave me a Pokedex and sent me off to see Professor Magnolia. I stopped at the Pokemon Centre first though, dodging a lecture from Hop in the process, so I could box Scorbunny and move the One True Starter into my party.

Fear it.​

I hurried down Route 2, managing not to gawk at how pretty it is for too long, making my way to Professor Magnolia's house. I think she's kind of batty, there's more to the world than tea, but she seems nice enough. Leon and Hop were both there already because they're always running about everywhere with exactly no chill. It worked out well though, Hop and Magnolia convinced Leon to give us our Gym Challenge Endorsements if we impressed him with a battle. The One True Starter demolished Hop's team and Hop and I earned Leon's endorsement. I don't really think Hop deserved his since I don't remember him doing a single point of damage, but whatever, he needs this or he's going to have a breakdown.

At that moment, two wishing stars very conveniently landed right by us. What are the odds? Professor Magnolia converted them to bands allowing us to Dynamax. Afterwards, it was time to catch a train from Wedgehurst and head toward Motostoke for the opening ceremony.

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Notes
- I've actually played up quite a bit further than this, but I was getting a bit bored of writing it out. I'll do up to where I actually am later.
- I haven't nicknamed my team yet. I wasn't going to, but I'm thinking I might name them after types of honey now.​

 

[gimmepie]

Part Two

I updated my appearance to something both practical and in a colour scheme befitting a Bug trainer and then caught up with Hop at the station and we took a pleasant train ride toward Motostoke. That was until a flock of Wooloo invaded the tracks and brought the journey to an immediate halt. These little bastards definitely have it out for me.

The face of evil.​

It's not all bad though, because this meant that I got to exit the train and begin to explore the Wild Area on the way through. The weather was rainy, but this is Galar so it was pretty normal. I persevered onwards, clearing out a few Max Raid dens along the way and caught myself a Metapod. I then instant evolved it into a Butterfree because I am not playing the Tackle and Harden and nothing else game. As a side note, the Wild Area is really pretty and I think it actually looks its best in the rain. Anyway, I carried on and soon enough arrived at Motostoke.

From there, I met up with Leon again briefly and he gave me some Charcoal that I can't do anything with unless I catch a Sizzlipede. Who gives a lump of charcoal as a gift? Anyway, after meeting his brother, I soon ran into Hop again and we entered the stadium to register. Some asshole (Bede) very rudely shoved past us on his way back from the desk but Marnie was there to balance that out.

After that, a stadium staffer escorted me to the hotel… which was literally right next door. Does Leon set the standard for the level of skill with directions people expect these days? How could anyone need a guide for this? Ignoring this weirdness, Hop and I went inside and were rewarded with a lecture from Sonia on some Galarian history. It's actually pretty interesting stuff.

There were also some Team Yell grunts making a fuss, but Hop and I cleared them out with no worries and Marnie introduced herself to us properly. We turned in for the night then and soon enough were entering the stadium for the opening ceremony. I honestly didn't listen to a word of Chairmen Rose's speech, but the gym leaders' entrance will never not be badass.

After the opening Ceremony, I made to leave Motostoke and head for Turffield. Hop blocked my way though and demanded a battle. That went exactly as you'd expect. My new Butterfree demolished his Wooloo and Rookidee. I switched out to the One True Starter to face down Grookey for the fun of it and finished the battle in one clean hit.

I made quick work of Route 3 and most of Galar Mine but that asshole from before, Bede, blocked my path to Turrfield. He quickly learned the error of his ways though as my Butterfree cleaved his way through his Psychic team with ease. Bede made his excuses and ran off and I made my way toward Turffield.

Before entering the city though, I added a Joltick to my team and did a little training to get it up to the expected level. From there I just had to meet Sonia for another fascinating mythology lecture while I waited for my turn to challenge the gym. My turn to take on Milo's gym came soon enough and once more I faced my eternal nemesis: Wooloo. I drove the irritating fluff balls through the gym, clearing my path and making my way to battle Milo.

My Butterfree made short work of his Gossifleur, and I switched to my trusty Cutiefly, the One True Starter, for the Dynamax clash against his Eldergoss. Let it be noted, Cutiefly as a giant is a very weird experience. Eldergoss was able to tank a surprising number of hits, but eventually it too was defeated and I claimed the creatively titled Grass Badge. From here it is onward to Hullbury.

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[gimmepie]

Part Three

I headed east from Turrfield, travelling across Route 5, I ignored the nursery because this weird lady tries to foist a Toxel on you and I want a Poison type almost as much as I wanted to start with Scorbunny. Unfortunately though, my rather pleasant journey was interrupted by a Team Yell blockade at the bridge. They were trying to steal this guy's bike, so I "reluctantly" stepped in to teach them a lesson. One Joltik-induced massacre later and the guy decided to give me the bike he had been protecting. Neat. I assumed that would make crossing the bridge way faster.

So, I hopped on my new bike in my kinda crappy-looking riding gear and I was off like the wind! Then I almost immediately got off my bike again because Hop was blocking the road. Well, we all know what that means. First up, my trusty Butterfree wiped the floor with Hop's devilspawn Wooloo. I switched to my Joltik to take out his newly-evolved Corvisquire. As it turns out, birds don't like being stuck to the crowd and electrocuted by charged webbing. To finish things off, my Cutiefly one-shotted Hop's goofy-looking Thwackey with Leech Life.

With that out of the way, I continued toward Hullbury, battling wild Pokemon on the way. Before getting there though, I was met with the wonderful occasion of the One True Starter evolving into Ribombee. This little dude is now not only my strongest Pokemon but is also quite literally twice as fast as my Butterfree and Joltik.

Kill 'em with cuteness... and also STAB Pollen Puffs.​

Arriving in Hullbury with my newly evolved Bug badass, I decided it was high time I actually gave my companions names instead of just referring to them by species because that seems kind of rude. Since I'm only training Bug types and Bugs often reference Honey in their Dex entries, I decided to name them all after honey varieties. My Butterfree is now known as Acacia, my Joltik as Tawari and the One True Starter is now known as Jarrah.

With that out of the way, I headed into the nearby crowd that had gathered around a poorly disguised Chairman Rose. This snarky lady was killing the mood, but I got a good laugh out of Chairman Rose not even remembering that asshole Bede's name. The snarky lady, Oleanna, and Rose then decided for me that after I defeated Nessa, I'd have to have dinner with them.

I don't even like seafood and they don't seem like the best company, so that killed my motivation to battle Nessa for a while. Instead, I took a Corviknight cab back to the wild area and decided to clear out some dens for that sweet, sweet candy and even sweeter TRs. There were a lot of Flying types in the dens today, so Tawari was my Pokemon of choice for this endeavour, leaving a pile of lightly lightning-singed feathers in her wake as I collected the spoils. Eventually, I decided I really should get on with it.

Giant slayer.​

I returned to Hullbury and dragged Nessa back to her gym from the lighthouse, because somehow that's my responsibility. After that, I powered through her gym with Acacia and it was time for the big battle. I started off strong with Tawari to defeat Goldeen and Arrokuda, but she was a bit too frail to take on the likes of a Dynamax Dreadnaw and was taken out by a crit Max Geyser. I switched to Jarrah and finished the job with an Energy Ball to the face, earning my Water Badge.

I noticed Route 5 had a lot of Bugs, so I headed back there to do some Bug catching to celebrate. I immediately accidentally KOed a Nincada, so that went well. However, I was soon able to add Sage the Dottler and Manuka the Dewpider to my team. I spent some time training them up to an acceptable level while I hunted for a second Nincada, evolving Manuka into an Araquanid in the process. Eventually, I gave up on finding a Nincada because they're annoyingly rare and I don't really need one anyway. Time to head back to Motostoke via Galar Mine 2.

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[gimmepie]

Part Four

Leaving Hullbury I entered Galar Mine 2 and immediately was presented with the opportunity to catch a Wimpod. I've wanted to use a Golisopod for a while, so this was a golden opportunity. A quick battle and a Great Ball later, Aster the Wimpod joined the team.

Good lord I need to evolve this quickly.​

Mere moments later, I was unfortunately interrupted by Bede. He was being extremely rude, I think he might have been in a bad mood since Rose can't remember who he is. Yet despite this and how badly I destroyed him last time, he still managed to be condescending. It's almost impressive that his ego is this large.

I used this as an opportunity to test my newer team members. Aster kicked things off, taking on Bede's Solosis and taking it out with Struggle Bug. However, it Wimped Out pretty quickly against Gothita's Rock Tomb. I switched to Sage to defeat his Gothita and My Little Ponyta. To conclude the battle, Manuka took out Bede's signature Hatenna with a single Leech Life. Bede once again returned to his place in the totem pole (several feet below me) I continued on through the cave enjoying the scenery as I went… until once again I was interrupted, this time by a pair of Team Yell Grunts.

Hop showed up too, so we took them on in a double battle. These Yell Grunts seem to be a step up from the last ones, but I had more important things to deal with first before taking them out. I switched Aster out and brought in Acacia while Hop kicked off the first round of damage with his Wooloo. The next round I took out his Wooloo because they are the children of Satan and must be purged. With that taken care of, I quickly wiped the floor with the Yell Grunts and ran into Kabu soon after so I could tell yet another Gym Leader to get their ass to their Gym so I could kick it.

With that out the way, I reached Motostoke and headed to the hotel for a night of rest. But first, I encountered Marnie again. Aster Wimped Out pretty quickly, but I demolished her team with Acacia and Jarrah. Despite this, she was still super nice to me. That jerkass Bede could learn a lot from Marnie and Hop… even if Hop does keep a Wooloo with him.

I spent the next morning training up my team since Bugs don't do that great against Fire. During this training, Sage and Aster both evolved. I decided I was ready for Kabu then and headed into the gym. Kabu's gym mission proved advantageous since it provided me with the chance to capture Neem the Sizzlipede. I'll train it up later since I've decided to cycle Pokemon in and out of my team as I am indecisive and can't choose between a few of them.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6... shit.​

With that out the way, I took on Kabu. His Ninetales went down quick against Aster, but a combination of Intimidate and a Will-o-Wisp Burn was making the battle against his Arcanine slower. I could have won with Aster still, but I was feeling impatient and switched to Manuka instead. Manuka took out the Arcanine with Waterfall and then followed up by defeating Kabu's Gigantamax Centiscorch in a battle of giant Bugs.

With my Fire Badge earned, Kabu, Nessa and Milo saw Hop and I off as we headed out into the Wild Area once more to make our way to Hammerlock. We ran into Bede again soon after… lucky us. Hop went off to battle Bede leaving me free to continue my travels unimpeded. I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong and lay the foundations for character development. I probably don't need to worry about them.

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[gimmepie]

Part Five

With Bede and Hop out the way, my adventure continued. I boxed Tawari for the time being so I could give Neem the Sizzlipede some TLC in the form of a series of level ups. With that goal in mind, I headed for Hammerlocke. My efforts paid off, because along the way I was able to evolve Neem into a Centiscorch.

Soon I arrived at Hammerlocke, where a dude examined my badges to determine I was allowed in. This raised several questions about the population of this city, but there was no time to dwell because Bede showed up to brag about beating Hop and being a dick to him.He wandered off to talk to Rose and I entered behind him. Unfortunately, this led to Rose spotting me so Igot treated to a lecture about how Galar generates its electricity.

I got out of there as soon as I could and decided to explore the city. I met a little girl who tasked me with delivering a love letter to someone in Ballonlea. The letter seems older than she is which is kind of weird, but whatever works. I took the postal job and headed in the other direction… where I encountered Leon. He told me Hop was depressed over his loss to Bede. I did not see that coming. Leon expressed some rather unfounded faith in his little brother and sent me off to meet Raihan, his soulmate rival at the vault.

Sure enough, I ran into Raihan and he let me into the vault. Turns out Sonia was already there. Together we had an interesting revelation, that there was in fact two legendary heroes in Galar's past, not one like the hotel lobby in Motostoke implied. This was genuinely interesting, but I had things to do and gyms to destroy. I bid Raihan and Sonia farewell, picked up some warm weather clothes and proceeded into the desert of Route 6.

On Route 6, I immediately encountered a pair of Yell Grunts. They weren't willing to let anyone pass because it might wake up a napping Silicobra nearby… ironically loudly. Hop showed up soon after and battle commenced. Neem made short work of the first Grunt and I stepped in shortly after to defeat the second. Hop was just too mopey to be effective in battle. I'm starting to feel sorry for all these people. Team Yell seem like nice people, they're just so stupid that everything they do turns into a problem and Hop's Leon complex really doesn't seem healthy for him.

Oh well, we went our separate ways after that, there were other things to worry about. Like crossing a desert. Okay, crossing the desert wasn't that hard, Hop was just killing the mood. I reached Stow-on-Side in no time and after parkouring over the rooftops for a while I headed toward the Stadium where I ran into Hop again.

He challenged me to a battle and I was happy enough to oblige. I defeated his Cramorant with Neem, type advantages be damned. Bite, Bite and Bite again. His Toxel didn't fare any better, fainting instantly to a Flame Wheel. However, Neem suffered a Static Paralysis, so I switched to Manuka for the next round where she took out his Silicobra with a single Waterfall. I wonder if it was the same one as earlier. For his last Pokemon, Hop returned to his faithful Thwakey… which Aster immediately took out with First Impression. That was another win for me, but at least he seems to have stopped using Wooloo. I tuned out for what he said after the battle, it was a lot more stuff about Leon though. That is definitely not healthy.

With that out of the way, I healed up and retrieved Tawari from the box. I trained her up and she finally evolved into a Galvantula. With my lineup for the gym complete, I bounced my way through Allister's challenge to battle him for my fourth badge. He kicked things off with a Yamask against Neem. I did some nasty damage early on with Bite, but a combination of Disable and Wandering Spirit made me switch to Aster for a more advantageous battle. Aster was quick to win with Throat Chop. Next, it was Cursola and I switched back to Neem. Neem took out Cursola quickly enough with Bite. Allister used Mimikyu next, so I switched to Manuka so I could hit it with Poison Jab and Crunch. Mimikyu tanked a surprising number of attacks but eventually fainted too. That left Allister with just Gengar, so I switched to my secret weapon for this gym, Acacia the Butterfree. We Dynamaxed out Pokemon and exchanged attacks, but, in the end, Gengar fell to a combination of Max Phantasm and Max Mindstorm.

With my Ghost badge secured, I met up with Sonia and we headed up to look at a hideous mural, only when we arrived Bede was using a Copperajah to destroy it for some reason. Honestly, I was with him on this one, that thing needed to go. He seemed to take my mere presence as an attack though and initiated another battle with me because he never learns. I wiped the floor with him using only Neem. No mercy. That one was for Hop… I guess. As an added bonus, Rose showed up and booted Bede out of the Gym Challenge as punishment for his - admittedly justified - vandalism. Still, it was satisfying seeing the jerkass get his comeuppance.

After Rose and Oleanna left with Bede, the horrible mural broke apart and revealed a much more impressive set of statues. Sonia pieced together that the sword and shield wielded by the heroes in the legends may have actually been Pokemon. I would have been amazed by this information myself if I wasn't still pondering why the locals would cover up such wonderful statues with such a hideous mural.

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[gimmepie]

Part Six

Still in high spirits after seeing Bede get what for, I headed back to the Wild Area for a while to relax… by beating up giant Pokemon and stealing their stuff. This was also a good opportunity to switch Sage back into the party and get their level up to snuff. What I had not anticipated was running into a Crustle while I was doing this. Crustle's a pretty cool Bug, so naturally I compulsively caught it so I could have yet another Pokemon to cycle in and out of my team. Thus, Macadamia joined the team and Acacia was boxed for a while.

I'm not addicted. I can stop any time I want.​

Once my team was satisfactory with Sage and Macadamia having mostly caught up to the rest, I returned to Stow-on-Side and started moving through Glimwood Tangle. This is one of my favourite locations in Galar, probably only topped by Ballonlea and Slumbering Weald. So I chilled here with the team for some curry to soak in the atmosphere before moving on.

Speaking of Ballonlea, I live for that sweeping view of this place when you enter the first time. This is just hands down the prettiest location in the Pokemon World and I lowkey want to live there. There was work to be done though, so I forced myself to stop gawking and made my way to Frank's house to deliver his letter.

Frank is an old man. He told me that his friend got very sick just before he moved away when he was a child and that the letter seemed to be from her. The letter was from a little girl, not an old woman. There's also a creepy little girl in the corner talking to something I can't see. Ghosts. Neat.

I backed away slowly out of that house then and made my way into the stadium for Opal's challenge. I had absolutely no intention of becoming a Fairy trainer, but she still insisted on making the challenge an audition to replace her.

Aster smashed through the gym trainers and then it was time to deal with Opal herself. I opened with Macadamia whose Heavy Slam almost took out her Galarian Wheezing then and there. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and copped a debuff accidentally answering her question wrong. I could have still beaten it with Macadamia, but I decided to play it safe and had Sage come in to finish it off.

Next up Opal used her Mawile so I switched Neem in. Mawile is cool but far from fireproof, so Neem easily defeated it with a Flame Wheel. She sent out Togekiss next, so I went back to Macadamia. She took a huge chunk of Macadamia's HP with Air Slash and Macadamia did the same back with Rock Slide. I couldn't outspeed Togekiss though, so I switched to Aster and let her follow-up Air Slash trigger Emergency Exit so I could bring Jarrah in. Togekiss was no match for the One True Starter and was quickly dispatched.

The final bout came now, I switched to Manuka against Opal's Gigantamax Alcremie. I Dynamaxed Manuka too, hitting the cake monster with Max Ooze, this did less than I thought it would though and Opal's G-Max Finale let her recover much of her lost HP. I hit it with a Max Geyser next and, thanks to Water Bubble, did enormous damage. Opal's next Finale wasn't able to recover enough for her Alcremie to take another Ooze.

With my Fairy Badge now obtained, and a Gym Leader position blessedly missed out on, I accompanied Opal back toward Hammerlocke.

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[gimmepie]

Part Seven

I stopped off at the boutique in Hammerlocke to buy some stuff I probably won't use before heading into the city centre where I ran into Bede. Incredibly, he was still managing to be pompous despite his circumstances… maybe slightly less so? I didn't get much time to dwell on it because Opal popped up out of nowhere to drag him off as her new recruit. I wish I could be there to watch her beat him into shape.

From there, I headed east toward Route 7. Along the way, I ran into Leon and Sonia but we were quick to part ways as an explosion that was not in anyway foreshadowing of something terrible lured them away.

I put it out of my mind and headed out onto the bridge where I ran into Hop. His mood seems to have improved a bit, but he's still talking about everything in terms of Leon. Still, he challenged me so I'm happy to oblige. I took out his Trevanent with Acacia's Air Slash but switched to Manuka to battle his Heatmor. That was another easy win thanks to Waterfall. I defeated his Snorlax the same way, but his next Pokemon was a Boltund. I used Neem to battle it. He took some decent damage but in the end Boltund went down to a battery of Flame Wheel and X-Scissor. That left only Hop's Thwakey, which I defeated using Jarrah's Pollen Puff. He's definitely getting better and I'm pleased to see the continued absence of his Wooloo.

We parted ways and I continued up Route 7 and 8. Near the end of Route 8 though, the weather very abruptly changed and the sunny savanna became a frosty tundra. This was an opportunity though, because I was able to catch the (probably) final member of my team rotation: Clover the Snom.

If I didn't get one the RP regulars were going to track me down and break my legs.​

I left Clover in the box for the time being and adjusted my team to be ready for Melony. Then, I headed to the boutique and splurged on a bunch of stuff, making sure to grab some cold weather attire because damn the weather here is really different to the majority of the route before it.

All prepped, I entered the stadium where I found Hop. Apparently, he lost to Melony. He wasn't too down about it, so I guess he's grown up a bit. I probably should have found that foreboding, but I was pretty confident I could handle Ice types between Macadamia and Neem.

I made my way through the gym's mission, falling down a few more holes than I care to admit and met Melony on the battlefield. She opened with her Frosmoth against Macadamia in a battle of Bugs. Surprisingly, her Frosmoth went down to a Rock Slide but her next Pokemon was tougher, a Galarian Darmanitan. It took hefty damage from a Rock Slide, missing an Icicle Crash but this activated its Zen Mode and granted it the Fire typing and a speed boost. I wasn't messing around with that power at that Speed, so I switched Manuka in to tank a Fire Fang and finish it off with its Water STAB.

Next came her Eiscue, so I sent out Neem. It survived the first Flame Wheel with no damage thanks to its Ice Face ability, which it immediately replenished with Hail. I broke through it again before finishing it off with a third Flame Wheel the next turn. Then came her ace, Gigantamax Lapras. I switched Tawari in for this and Dynamaxed her. I hit first with Max Lightning, but Lapras is bulky and managed to tank it dealing decent damage with its G-Max Resonance. It wasn't able to survive a second hit though and thus I claimed my Ice Badge. It was a little weird that the experience concluded with her telling me to kick the shit out of her son too, but I'll take it.

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[gimmepie]

Part Eight

I met Sonia and Hop for dinner after my battle with Melony. We didn't get to eat though, because Sonia noticed a tapestry on the wall that seemed to indicate that the Sword and Shield Pokemon disappeared after saving the day. Hop finally caught up at that moment and realised that the thing that attacked us in Slumbering Weald was probably one of the missing legends. Sonia rushed off to the hot spring/bath/thing at the centre of the city in a fit of inspiration and we chased after her.

There, at the Hero's Bath, we talked a bit more about the legends. Sonia seemed to be getting really into it and Hop seemed to be over his depression because the chat concluded with him challenging me to a battle. I accepted and immediately decided I wouldn't play nice when he opened with Dubwool. That's like twice the Wooloo and that shit is unacceptable. Tawari made short work of both Dubwool and Hop's Corviknight with her Thunderbolt. His next Pokemon though was an Electric type too, Pnchurchin. I switched to Neem and a Flame Wheel and an X-Scissor later, the Pinchurchin was history. Hop followed up with Snorlax, so I switched to Aster. The Snorlax managed to just barely tank Aster's First Impression and follow up with a Body Slam, but was defeated by a Liquidation in the next round. Hop's final Pokemon was his Rillaboom but it was unable to stand up to Jarrah's murderously powerful Pollen Puff.

No.​

We said our goodbyes for the time being then. Sonia headed off to do more research while Hop remained behind to do some more training. As for myself, I took a break from my journey to focus on Clover the Snom for a while. We had a lot of bonding to do, so I spent a lot of time in the Wild Area alternating between clearing out dens, playing with Clover and the others and cooking a wide variety of curries. Eventually, Clover liked me enough to trigger her evolution and became a Frosmoth.

Yes.​

With that out the way, I brought the rest of my rotation up to the same ballpark of levels and made my way to Route 9. I ran into the bike guy again here and once again had to save him from a misunderstanding with some Yell Grunts. Good thing though, because he rewarded me with an aquatic upgrade for my bike that saved me from swimming in sub-zero waters on my way toward Spikemuth. That would have sucked.

It was a bit of a slog, but I was soon outside of Spikemuth… as part of an angry mob waiting for them to let us in. The gate remained shut though. Thankfully, Marnie noticed me there and called me over to show me another way into the city. She took me all the way to the entrance before declaring she couldn't show me the rest of the way unless I beat her in battle, since we were rivals. I think that was a bit disingenuous since I could already see the way in directly behind her, but if she needed to justify it, who was I to judge.

Marnie opened with her Liepard, but it was taken out instantly by Macadamia's X-Scissor. She changed tactics following that, using Toxicroak and then Scrafty. I used Acacia here. He took a hefty amount of damage from the two Fighting types but defeated both with Air Slash. Marnie closed the battle with her signature Morepeko and I took this as my chance to properly break Clover in. Naturally, my newly evolved Frosmoth was able to secure the win with Bug Buzz.
After that, I followed Marnie into the city properly and soon found myself besieged with Team Yell Grunts as I made my way towards Piers. They revealed that they were actually gym trainers from Piers' gym and that their goal was to see Marnie become champion… because that last part was not obvious at all. I honestly feel bad for these guys since they're just so misguided. They're trying to do good really. Unfortunately for them, I did not feel bad enough for them to not annihilate them all with Clover and Macadamia.

I soon reached Piers. That guy is the goddamn coolest. I love his vibe, I love the way his gym is set up and I like that he screams into a mic through the entire battle. He lead with Scrafty against Macadamia. Macadamia took an Intimidate debuff, but I switched out to Acacia right away. Acacia ate a Fake Out, but that was nothing for him. I Quiver Danced, Acacia managing to hold out for another attack before taking out the Scrafty with a single Air Cutter.

Piers used his Malamar next, but it also lost to Acacia, being immediately knocked out by the Butterfree's Bug Buzz. Piers' next choice was his Obstagoon. Since this is his ace Pokemon, I decided it would only be fair to also use mine and sent out Jarrah. Piers' Obstagoon blocked my first Pollen Puff with Obstruct but was forced to tank my follow-up Dazzling Gleam. Piers retaliated with Shadow Claw, but Jarrah shrugged it off. My next Dazzling Gleam was blocked by another Obstruct, but Piers couldn't stop me from finishing off his Obstagoon with Pollen Puff.

Piers' last Pokemon was Skuntank, which even he admitted smelled terrible. I wouldn't be put off by an odour though, it was Macadamia's time to shine for real now. The Skuntank managed to Poison Macadamia with Toxic and to survive an Earthquake in retaliation. It couldn't seal the deal though and Macadamia survived the next round to finish it off with X-Scissor. The battle was over and I won my next badge.

After that, Marnie arrived and congratulated me. She started talking to Piers then, who turned out to be her brother. He mentioned wanting her to take over from him after the Champion Cup, but Marnie refused on the grounds of not being able to be both Champion and Gym Leader. She looked so determined I didn't have the heart to tell her she would need more than a miracle to beat me for the spot. Instead I took my leave and left her to battle Piers.

I headed away from the gym only to hear another explosion. Some random guy grabbed me and dragged me off to assist Leon with something explosion-related after that. Lucky me.

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[gimmepie]

Part Nine

I arrived on the scene to find Hop had somehow gotten their first. He informed me that Pokemon had randomly started dynamaxing all over the place. That was exciting stuff. Less exciting was that Leon, who had apparently needed help, had already dealt with the problem. Sure am glad that I rushed over there…

I headed into the city from there to vent my frustrations in the Stadium to get my 8th badge. Unfortunately, I was then informed that I had to continue travelling all the way across the city because for some reason the challenge for Hammerlocke's gym actually takes place in the vault I visited the first time I was here.

Begrudgingly, I returned to the vault where Raihan informed me that I'd be double battling three of his gym trainers to earn the right to walk all the way back to the stadium to battle him. Each trainer employed a weather-based strategy: first rain, then sun and then hail. Not that this synergistic strategy helped any of them last more than a couple of moves.

With the gym trainers out the way, I went back to the stadium and my battle with Raihan began. Immediately, I ran into a problem. Somehow, between the vault and the stadium it had slipped my mind that I would be having a double battle. So I inadvertently ended up opening with Manuka as planned… but also Clover. Clover who doesn't have the greatest of matchups against Gigalith.

I ran with it though and blessedly, Raihan went after Manuka first, hitting her with a Thunder Punch from his Flygon. Manuka was able to tank the super-effective attack though and let Raihan's Gigalith have it with a Liquidation that KOd it. Clover then attacked with Icy Wind and did some serious damage to the Flygon, but it managed to hang on. Raihan's next Pokemon was Sandaconda.

Clover's luck ran out this round as Steel Wing from Flygon and Fire Fang from Sandaconda was more than she could handle. Manuka avenged her, defeating the Flygon with Leech Life. Now, Raihan sent out his signature Duraludon and I sent out Neem.

I switched Manuka out for Jarrah and Raihan gigantamaxed his Duraludon as I dynamaxed Neem. Duraludon was able to survive a Max Flare from Neem, but even with Sandaconda's assistance couldn't fell either Neem or Jarrah. The next round, Duraludon was defeated by Jarrah's Dazzling Gleam and Neem finished off Sandaconda with a second Max Flare. Thus, I earned my final badge.

I left the stadium in high spirits, running into Sonia and Professor Magnolia soon after. We talked about the Darkest Day and some more, and how it relates to the recent dynamax incident. During the discussion, Professor Magnolia surprised Sonia by promoting her to full professor status. Looks like it's been a positive day for all involved excluding those trampled by giant Bergmite on Route 9. Next stop, Wyndon where nothing will go wrong and my ascension to champion will be unmarred by controversy.

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[gimmepie]

Part Ten

I spent a bit of time camping, clearing dens and doing some training, but after that it was onwards to Wyndon! I boarded the train and was soon on Route 10. I had forgotten this was another ice route, so I made my way through it quickly so as to avoid frostbite and a hail-induced concussion.

Thankfully, it wasn't a long route really and I only had to incinerate like 10 Mr. Mine and an Abomasnow along the way. I arrived in Wyndon with Hop. He headed immediately to the Stadium to avoid being late, but I know I have plot armour and decided to go exploring for a bit instead.

Looking around, I found my way into the boutique. I bought some shoes but holy shit everything is so expensive in there. Wyndon, please, a jacket should not cost almost all the money I have. I was so disgusted by this rip-off that I abandoned exploration and headed to the stadium after Hop.

I ran into Marnie and Hop in the lobby and chatted to them for a bit before registering and heading up to the locker rooms. The excitement was palpable as preparations were made for the semi-finals.

I headed out onto the pitch to the sounds of a roaring crowd and adoring fans to discover my first opponent was Marnie herself. The battle was on in a flash. Marnie opened with her Liepard and I with Clover. We both had a similar idea it seemed because Marnie's first move was Nasty Plot while mine was Quiver Dance. Her Liepard managed to still be faster though, following up with Torment. That was a minor annoyance, but it did nothing to stop me from taking it out with Bug Buzz. Next up, Marnie used her Scrafty. I had Clover do some serious damage with Play Rough, taking Crunch in response. Then, she finished off the Scrafty with Bug Buzz. Next came Marnie's Toxicroak. I probably should have switched here, but I was feeling good about Clover. Toxicroak got in a Sucker Punch that Clover took like a champ. Clover then retaliated with Icy Wind which left Toxicroak with one HP left. In the next round of combat, Clover finished it off with Bug Buzz.

Marnie switched to her Morepeko next, and I decided Clover had taken enough damage for a while and swapped to Manuka. Theoretically, Manuka should have been a bad matchup against Morepeko, but she tanked a Spark with ease and one-shotted it with Leech Life, recovering all of her lost HP in the process. Marnie's final Pokemon was a Grimmsnarl… god these are ugly. She Gigantamaxed her monstrosity and I Dynamaxed Manuka in response. Grimmsnarl lead off with Max Starfall, dealing a moderate amount of damage to Manuka. Manuka hit back with Max Geyser, bringing down the rain and almost knocking out Grimmsnarl. Grimmsnarl then attacked with G-Max Snooze, doing another moderate chunk of damage and inflicting Manuka with the nasty drowsy condition. It didn't matter though, because Grimmsnarl couldn't last through the incoming Max Ooze and the battle was mine. Marnie decided to head into the stands to watch the rest of the battles. She told me she hadn't decided if she'd cheer for me yet, but she totally had.

I went back to the locker room to wait for the outcome of Hop's battle. Whoever his opponent was though clearly wasn't very good because his battle took like thirty seconds. How the hell did that opponent make it through all eight gyms? Anyway, I switched Neem, Tawari and Clover out of my team and cycled Macadamia, Sage and Acacia in for this battle. Then headed out onto the pitch to battle Hop.

Ew.​

Hop lead off with… DUBWOOL?! REALLY HOP? THIS THING AGAIN?! I decided this warranted overkill so I had Acacia tank two Body Slams just so I could Quiver Dance twice and unleash hell upon this demon with a ludicrously powerful Air Slash, especially since Acacia also holds a Sharp Beak. It critted too, so hopefully that's the last I'll ever have to see of that. Hop's next Pokemon was Pinchurchin, but I swapped out my heavily boosted Butterfree and brough Macadamia in so he'd have a fighting chance. Then Macadamia OKHOd the Pinchurchin with Earthquake and I realised switching made no difference. The next part of the battle though, was a bit closer. Hop sent out Corviknight while I left Macadamia in. Hop attacked with Steel Wing and did a chunk of damage to Macadamia, so we hit Corviknight with Rock Slide and did quite a bit more in retaliation. Now though, Hop used a Hyper Potion and brought his bird back to max HP. I used this opportunity to have Macadamia Shell Smash and boost its Speed and power. Macadmia was faster than Corviknight now and finished it off with another Rock Slide before it could even fight back. Hop switched in his Snorlax, but it too was instantly defeated by Macadamia's increased power, courtesy of X-Scissor.

Death be upon you.​

Hop's last Pokemon was his Rillaboom. I switched in Sage so she could have a turn. We Dynamaxed out Pokemon and I got the first shot in, dealing enormous damage with Max Flutterby and receiving very little in response from Rillaboom's Max Darkness. I finished Rillaboom off with a Max Mindstorm, securing my place in the finals. Hop looked like he was going to break for a moment, but in the end he took having his ass handed to him pretty well.

We exited to the lobby where Leon met us, congratulating us on our battle and inviting us to dinner. All in all, not a bad day. I look forward to winning the rest of the competition tomorrow. I am sure absolutely nothing could go wrong this late in the game and that everything will go smoothly.

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[gimmepie]

Part Eleven

Leon invited us to dinner at the hotel, so Hop and I headed over there to wait for him. So we waited. Then we waited some more. Several hours later, it was becoming steadily apparent Leon wasn't going to show, but Hop refused to just let me go and eat without him.

Next thing I know, Piers has shown up and informed us that Leon was caught up in Rose Tower with the chairman. This seemed like a pretty normal event to me, but Hop wasn't going to stand for it and Piers seemed to just be invested in the mayhem and drama. So we headed off to… drag him out I guess?

Oleana headed us off, telling us we couldn't get to Leon without the key card for the monorail. Then, because clearly she is very intelligent, she decided to give it to one of the league staff and have them hide. It probably would have been more effective to just not tell us, not talk to us and watch our fruitless efforts, but okay, I guess we're playing hide and seek now. Piers roped Team Yell and Marnie into the chaos and the games began.

Finding him was easy enough, but he refused to give me the key unless I beat him. Clearly he did not realise what he was getting into because Neem obliterated him. Then he ran again. We repeated this song and dance several times, and every time he lost horribly and ran off. I guess Marnie made up her mind about cheering for me though, because she did so quite determinedly. I knew she would. I'm awesome.

We cornered the goon in the monorail station and Piers created a distraction so we could grab the key card and make a run for the tower. We reached the tower and Marnie and Piers stood guard while Hop and I ascended. This seemed like a lot of commotion over a missed dinner, but screw it, I was committed by then.

The Macro Cosmos people made every effort to stop us reaching the top of the tower where Rose and Leon were… while also weirdly sprouting random trivia about their monstrous corporate entity. If ever you needed proof of the evils of capitalism, this was it.

Hop and I were forced into a series of double battles, but Neem made short work of all the opposition. Hop's Dubwool contributed exactly as little to the battles as one would expect. We reached the top of the tower, but Oleana was in the way again.

She started raving on like a mad woman and then challenged me to a battle, further proof of her insanity. She opened with Frosslass, whom Neem promptly defeated with Crunch. Her next Pokemon was a Milotic. I didn't have Tawari with me, so I switched in Aster since he didn't have anything to fear from Milotic and could capitalise on its lesser physical defences. Miltotic took a First Impression and set up Aqua Ring. The next round, I predicted a Recover from Milotic and had Aster Swords Dance instead of wasting an attack. I went for a second Swords Dance the next turn before taking out the Milotic the next with Poison Jab.

Oleana then brought out her Tsareena, so I switched to Acacia for the double type advantage. I opened with Quiver Dance to ensure to KO, but Oleana caught me off guard with Acrobatic. Acacia nearly fainted, but hung on with just a little HP. The next round, Tsareena went down to Air Slash. Oleana brought out a Salazzle next, so it was Manuka's turn to battle. The Salazzle's Venoshock was nothing to Manuka who took it out with a single Liquidation.

Down to her last Pokemon, Oleana brought out her Garbodor. I sent in Macadamia. We dynamaxed out Pokemon and I got the first hit in with Max Quake. To my surprise, Garbodor managed to survive the attack and retaliated with a Max Rockfall that took almost half of Macadamia's HP. That was hardly enough to stop me though and I finished it off with a second Max Quake.

We left Oleana to have her breakdown and caught the tail end of a conversation between Rose and Leon. Rose was insisting that the Championships be cancelled to deal with a future energy crisis immediately. For once Leon talked some sense, pointing out that one more day would make no difference to such a long term thing.

They parted with no actual resolution being achieved so that will undoubtedly bite me on the ass tomorrow during my battles. Oh well, I'll deal with that problem when it gets there.

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[gimmepie]

Part Twelve

I headed off to the stadium for the finals and wasted no time in heading up the pitch. There was a brief opening ceremony headed by Leon, as the chairman was conspicuously absent. I'm not sure why the opening ceremony takes place after the semi-finals, but sure. Anyway, the ceremony closed when suddenly Bede appeared on the pitch.

He challenged me to a battle, claiming that he'd retire if he lost. I am of the opinion that he should have been carted off by security, but the crowd was hungry for Bede blood, Leon let it happen. Bede lead with a Mawile, I sent out Neem. Neem took out Mawile instantly with a Flare Blitz. Bede's next Pokemon was Gardevoir. I kept Neem in and hit it with X-Scissor. Gardevoir survived the attack and responded with Psychic, but couldn't take Neem down. A second X-Scissor marked the end of Gardevoir. Bede's third Pokemon was a Galarian Rapidash. Neem was getting low on HP, so I switched to Acacia. I lead off with a Quiver Dance, surviving a Psycho Cut in the process. Then, Acacia took the Rapidash down with a super-effective Shadow Ball. Bede's last Pokemon was, of course, his Hatterene. I probably would have been able to win with Acacia, but I wanted to settle things ace to ace and switched to Jarrah. We dynamaxed out Pokemon, but Jarrah was much faster and got the first hit in, dealing a lot of damage with Max Flutterby. It wasn't enough to take out Hatterene though, who took a sizable chunk of Jarrah's HP with Max Flare. Jarrah was far from beaten though. He finished things off with a Max Starfall, finishing off Hatterene.

Bede was prepared to quit, hoping to escape Opal as it turned out. For some reason though, the crowd appreciated his bullshit and their cheers talked him out of quitting. Hopefully he'll mellow out a bit more by embracing his Gym Leader responsibilities.

With Bede defeated, the real battles began. First up, I had to defeat Nessa again. She opened with a Golispod who is way less cool than Aster while I lead off with Acacia. I had Acacia Quiver Dance, taking a nasty Liquidation before he could wipe out the Golisopod with a single Air Slash. Nessa tried a Pelipper next, but I switched Tawari in. Pelipper had nothing on Tawari, losing to the first Thunderbolt. Things didn't go any better either for her Seaking or Barraskewda. Between them they did manage a little damage, but both were easily defeated by Tawari. Nessa's final Pokemon was her Gigantamax Drednaw. I switched to Jarrah once again and defeated her with a Max Overgrowth.

Next up I faced Allister. I admit, I was a little surprised to see him there. He could barely handle the crowd at his gym, let alone this. Somehow though, he was managing not to pass out, so the battle was on. He lead with Dusknoir against Neem. I had Neem Coil twice, each time having to take a 4x effective Rock Tomb. Neem could do it though and followed up with an OHKO from Crunch. Allister's next Pokemon was Chandelure. I gave Neem a break and switched Manuka in. Chandelure attacked first, dealing some reasonable damage with Shadow Ball. It was nothing that Manuka couldn't handle though, she took down not just the Chandelure but also Allister's follow-up Cursola with one Crunch each. Allister tried Polteageist next and I sent Neem back out. Neem was faster than the Ghost, marking another Crunch OHKO. Allister's final Pokemon was his Gigantamax Gengar, who faced a Dynamaxed Tawari. Tawari did huge damage with Max Darkness and shrugged off the retaliatory Max Ooze before finishing things off with a Max Lightning.

I headed back into the locker rooms where I was greeted by Marnie and Piers. They informed me that Piers had lost to Raihan, who would be my final opponent before Leon. They wished me luck and promised to cheer me on. Bolstered by their support, I headed out to battle Raihan.

Queue the boss music.​

Raihan was confident in his victory, but so was I. We both went in intending to demolish the other. He lead off with a Torkoal against Manuka. Torkoal's Drought strengthened Torkoal's Fire attacks and weakened Manuka's Water attacks, but this was offset by Manuka's Water Bubble ability. It took two Liquidations, but Torkoal was defeated. Next up came Raihan's Goodra, so I switched to Jarrah. Impressively, Goodra survived Jarrah's first Dazzling Gleam. Raihan made the mistake though of using that turn to set up Rain Dance, so Goodra never got a chance to do damage, falling to a second Dazzling Gleam. Raihan used Turtonator next, so I decided to take advantage of the Rain and sent out Aster. Aster hit with a powerful Liquidation, but Turtonator managed to tank it and set up Sunny Day. Aster attacked with a second Liquidation, but was intercepted by a second Shell Trap and forced to Emergency Exit with Turtonator just barely hanging on. I finished the job with Jarrah's Dazzling Gleam once more.

Raihan's next Pokemon was his Flygon, so I sent in Clover. Flygon was faster, setting up a problematic Sandstorm. It was far too frail though to survive Clover's Icy Wind. Raihan's final Pokemon was his trademark Duraludon who went up against Neem. We dynamaxed our Pokemon and then it was on. Duraludon went first, surprising me by being faster. It hit me with Max Rockfall and dealt enormous damage to Neem. Neem retaliated with Max Flare and halved Duraludon's HP back. Next round though, Neem was defeated by the next Rockfall. I sent out Jarrah next to finish the battle against the oversized building-thing. Jarrah was reliably much faster and finished the battle with Dazzling Gleam.

Raihan was defeated, wishing me luck as I prepared to face Leon.


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[gimmepie]

Part Thirteen

I made my way out onto the pitch to face Leon, but, just before the battle got underway, Chairman Rose appeared on the stadium's big screen and announced that not only had he gone ahead with a crazy ass plan to re-initiate the Darkest Day in an attempt to provide Galar with unlimited energy, he had lost control of the situation completely and now Pokemon were dynamaxing all over the place. Frustratingly, we had to put out battle on hold to clean up Rose's mess.

Leon headed straight to Hammerlocke to see what he could do about the situation, meanwhile Hop and I returned to Slumbering Weald to search for Zacian and Zamazenta. We progressed deeper inside that we had even before, the mist becoming ever thicker. Sure enough though, we soon encountered the illusory forms of the wolves. They disappeared soon after and we headed even further in, finding no sign of the true Pokemon besides the decrepit remnants of the legendary sword and shield at an altar.

Figuring it was better than nothing, we took the relics with us and headed for Hammerlocke to help Leon. Hop got there before me and had already headed inside while I was greeted first by Raihan - who for some reason was not coming inside to help - then by Oleana who was losing her damn mind… well more so than usual.

I headed into the energy plant part of the stadium where I soon ran into Hop and Rose. Naturally, Hop had already lost to the Chairman and it was up to me to defeat him. Which, honestly, I did rather easily. Rose's entire team was Steel types - two with secondary types that made them 4x weak to Fire. Needless to say, Neem dissected Rose's team with casual ease while I shot questioning glances at Hop wondering how exactly he lost. After the battle, Rose seemed weirdly happy and sent us on up to where Leon was battling a Pokemon called Eternatus, supposedly the source of dynamax energy and the Darkest Day.

We got there just in time to watch Leon fail to capture the dragon-like Pokemon and get blasted unconscious as it escaped. Knowing that I would once again be forced to fix everyone else's problems, I jumped immediately into action.

I didn't have the best of match-ups against Eternatus as it resisted just about everything I could throw at it, especially without Sage with me. I lead off with Clover who managed some pretty significant damage with Icy Wind. Unfortunately, it was taken out by Flamethrower. I switched to Jarrah instead who nearly finished it off with Dazzling Gleam. Eternatus was quick to retaliate with another Flamethrower, but Jarrah stood firm and finished it off with Pollen Puff.

It seemed like that would be the end of it. It wasn't. One moment Eternatus was falling, the next it was rocketing up into the sky, engulfed in light. Slowly it lowered itself down, revealing its Eternamax form: a weird hand, dragon, skeleton thing. This was going to be too much for even me alone, so Hop joined me in this battle. Not the best backup I could hope for, but Leon was knocked out. He'd have to do.

What the hell is that?​

Things quickly took a bad turn. None of our moves were working at all and Eternatus just kept doing its thing. It seemed all hope was lost until those convenient Chekhov's g - I mean the sword and shield activated. The true Zacian and Zamazenta appeared and entered the battle alongside us, allowing us to use our moves again.

Clover was quickly knocked out again, so I switched in Jarrah. Between Hop's Dubwool (why the hell would you use Dubwool in this situation?!?!) using Double Edge to chip at Eternatus, Zacian and Zamazenta's powerful signature attacks and Jarrah's Dazzling Gleam, we began to make headway against Eternatus. It was a powerful foe though, resetting our stats so Zacian's Howl and Jarrah's Quiver Dance were meaningless and dealing hefty damage with its Max attacks. Eventually Hop's Dubwool fainted and he was forced to switch to his better-equipped Snorlax. Even Jarrah fell to a Max Flare, forcing me to switch Aster in instead. Those were the last casualties we suffered though. In the next round of attacks, we defeated Eternatus and I caught it, putting an end to the second Darkest Day.

With that dilemma out of the way, we took three days to rest up and then I finally got my battle with Leon. We entered the stadium and made our way onto the pitch, the (formerly) unbeatable champion and the hero of Galar. The battle begun with Leon's Aegislash against Neem.

Okay now queue the boss music.​

I had Neem Coil, expecting Leon to lead with King's Shield. This was a miscalculation and Neem ate a Shadow Ball instead. Still, I knew that the defensive move would be coming now, so Neem Coiled again. Next turn, Neem outsped Aegislash and took it out with Flare Blitz.

Next up, Leon sent out his Intelleon, who I had met as a Sobble way back in Postwick. I showed my old aquaintance no mercy though, switching to Tawari and knocking it out with Thunderbolt. Leon switched to his Dragapult next, so it was Jarrah's turn. Jarrah outsped the Dragon type, hitting it with Dazzling Gleam. Dragapult managed to hang on and damage Jarrah with Flamethrower, but was defeated by the next Dazzling Gleam.

Leon used his Mr Rime next, so I brought Neem back in. Neem made short work of the Ice type with his Flare Blitz. Leon's next Pokemon was a bit more problematic, Haxorus. I sent out clover but she was slower than Haxorus and taken out by a single Iron Tail. I switched Aster in next. He dealt some serious damage with his First Impression but Haxorus' retaliatory Outrage forced an Emergency Exit. I brought Jarrah back in though, and he finished the job with his Dazzling Gleam.

It was now time to face down Leon's partner Charizard, his ace Pokemon. He sent it out, confident it would turn the battle around. I switched to Manuka for this challenge. We both dynamaxed our Pokemon and a clash of giants… very briefly ensued. Manuka shrugged of Charizard's Max Rockfall and wiped it out in one shot with Max Geyser. The battle was over and I was crowned Galar's new champion as the crowd cheered me on.

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[gimmepie]

Conclusion

Okay, real talk. I know I used a lot of sarcasm through this journal and gave the characters a lot of shit, but I legitimately love these games. I won't pretend that all of the criticisms Sword and Shield have received were unearned, but honestly, most of them were either vastly overblown or just completely unwarranted.

Dexit did unfortunately mean that some favourites, including most of mine, didn't make it in to Sword and Shield, but I actually like that it encouraged us to try new Pokemon and that it gave the new additions and some less hyped Pokemon some spotlight and I think that there was more than enough variety to create a fun gameplay experience with plenty of options. The jury is still out on how I'll feel about this once the expansions happen and a bunch of other Pokemon are introduced, but right now I think anyone still complaining about the restricted dex really needs to get over it.

The other big complaint that I see a lot is about the story of the game itself. I fully agree that the Eternatus stuff didn't really need to happen and that we weren't really involved enough. Sure, there were hints about it and we learned the lore through Sonia, but the actual plot was almost always happening in the background where we couldn't see or experience it until it suddenly sprung on us at the very end. Criticising this is fair.

That being said, when the focus was on the less high-stakes journey through the region for the league, everything was handled really well. The characters were really strong and, for the most part, all had their own solid arcs. Admittedly, Hops isn't resolved properly until the postgame, but it still counts. Hop is a solid character and while ultimately very similar to Hau, doesn't fall flat like Hau did because he was actually well-handled with a degree of personality. We actually could feel the weight of his motivations. Bede was an interesting take on the traditional asshole rival and it was good to see him actually suffering consequences for his action. He was actually an interesting mirror to Hop, seeing as both defined themselves solely through their connection to a successful person they admire. Together they were an interesting exploration of the unhealthy side of idolisation. Marnie was also a fantastic character, a nice middle ground between the two in personality but with different motivations. I think my only complaint with her is that we didn't get to see enough of her to really appreciate her storyline in relation to Spikemuth.

Overall, Sword and Shield are fun. Galar is my second favourite region behind Sinnoh and while the story wasn't handled super well, the characters and their personal arcs were mostly done justice. It was an interesting exploration of the rising of a new generation and the unhealthy effects of obsession (Hop, Bede, Oleana, Rose and Leon all explored this theme).

I could talk more about all the things I like, like how stunning locations like Ballonlea are, how much I like the customisation options or how cool some of the new Pokemon are, but by that point I'd be writing an essay and I think I've covered all the stuff I really wanted to. If you haven't played these yet for some reason, do it.

I'm thinking I might try some more SwSh monotype runs in the future. In particular, I'm considering doing a Mono Ice run in Sword and a Mono Normal run in Shield. I don't know if I'll keep a written log of those though since it'd just be recounting the exact same stuff.​

 

[blackisytos]

Nice thanks for sharing.