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Part 8: Evenin' Desert
Route 4 Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter
Orange you glad I decided to record this update during the evening? Well we've got a full desert update ahead of us, so I hope you like sand.
"They live buried in the sands of the desert. The sun-warmed sands prevent their body temperature from dropping."
Here's a popular croc, maybe if lategame options weren't so dire I could've used this on my team, oh well.
I'll have a battle with you using my freshly caught Pokemon!
Despite being a fair few levels below us, single stage mons give a lot of exp still, nearly 600!
I usually release the Pokemon I catch. That's called catch and release! When I release them, I say these words: farewell, Pokemon. It was a nice fight. I'll say these words to you, too. It was a nice fight!
Even the developers admitted there aren't many fish Pokemon in Unova, for whatever reason, so we're gonna be seeing Basculin for a while.
Still, this is a free level for Tristan.
Catch, caught, and catch again... life is fishing!
Orange you glad there's small reprieves from this saturation?
We might be near Castelia still, but the center is a long way away regardless.
You're goddamn right.
Because I can't see, I'll have a battle with you!
This parasol keeps off the sun and rain, but it can't stand up to sandstorms... ah! My tears are falling on Route 4...
Now this is what you've been waiting for, having a tough time with Burgh? This solves all your problems, Darumaka is a beautiful glass cannon that starts off well and just spirals out of control from there. Already it has Fire Fang and Headbutt, which will really hurt with that Atk and with its alright Spd it could get a lucky flinch. Then it learns Fire Punch, giving real good dependable damage until you learn Thrash, which is great for hit and run strats, then you learn BELLY DRUM and things just got a little excessive, oh, and add in FLARE BLITZ just before evolving.
Okay we done? Cool, so yeah this Pokemon is kinda ridiculous, but does have a few downsides, Hustle makes it hit even harder, but it's usually not that necessary, meaning it's just an accuracy drop in most cases, shame it doesn't get an alternative. Also you're relying on, ugh, Rock Tomb or Rollout for early coverage, that's never fun, only getting Brick Break as additional moves later. But with Hustle Belly Drum Flare Blitz, even 4x resists struggle to not get one shot. If you want a Pokemon that's fucking nuts, here you fucking go you fucking madlad.
"When its internal fire is burning, it cannot calm down and it runs around. When the fire diminishes, it falls asleep."
If I hadn't chosen Tepig I would've absolutely used this mon, it's everything I love using in easy baby story RPGs. But one fire truck is enough for one team. Haha, unless...?
My Pokemon are always with me! That's why I can be dynamic!
Quick loot of an open construction site, standard protagonist practise.
Argh! The impudence! I dismissed you as just a kid... not at all... you're quite a Trainer!
Well that wasn't worth it but best to get that move out of the way early.
"Its skin has a rubbery elasticity, so it can reduce damage by defensively pulling its skin up to its neck."
Having Milli as the catcher isn't the best idea...
Alright we've cleaned out all we can, onto the eighth rival fight.
I've been waiting for you to get the Insect Badge. And now it's time to see which one of us is the strongest Trainer!
Rival Battle
My bird is the word. Well, bat, well, you know.
Alright, you scraped through with Purrloin in a desperate attempt to use something different and your reward is... a good speedy mixed attacker. You'll look at those stats and go hey, this is usable, nothing amazing for later in the game, but it'll be just fine. There's just one little problem, IT DOESN'T LEARN ANY STRONG MOVES! Your best STAB is Pursuit until level 31 with Assurance, and even that's an okay move now, let alone when you learn it, before finally learning SOMETHING in Night Slash at 43.
Now when you get to that point, it'll be able to learn all kinds of moves from TMs and even get Slash and Nasty Plot, but it's such a miserable frail time until that point, it just gets nothing to work with and gets outclassed super quickly. Around Gym 6 is when you'll start getting TMs to give you some coverage, until then the best move it can get is Return. You can use it, but wait until later to catch it and even then, why not just catch something else?
Pretty smooth sailing from here, if we can get another crit.
No not on me!!!
It's now clear to me. The reason you are so tough is the trust between you and your Pokemon. But... that shouldn't be a problem. I can get more out of Dewott and my other Pokemon, too.
Touya, do you have a second?
Professor Juniper, do you need something?
I called Bianca too, but I guess she didn't hear the call. I wonder what she's caught up in. Well, I suppose I'll just have to call her again later. OK! I'll be waiting for you two in front of the gate to Nimbasa City!
...um, hello?!
Route 4 Spring
Well we were heading there anyway. However, there's a big chunk of desert, since that's exactly what you find a few miles from New York. I guess this is a Las Vegas reference? In any case, let's fight some trainers and drink in this orange.
I see. Was that your favorite Pokemon? Wherever I go in the world, I have Pokemon battles! Once I ask about someone's favorite Pokemon, we soon become friends!
The guidebook does not tell me how to win. According to the popular guidebook, Nimbasa City is an entertainment city. It must be full of fun!
Featureless, but a straight line. Least there's no one trying for a picnic.
To tell you the truth, I just left Castelia City yesterday. I've just started Pokemon battling, too.
Oh look civilization.
"with a lot of Pokemon I meet!"
...but what do I know? As long as Pokemon are with me, I can battle Trainers all over the world! The world is so big! Woooooo! That's really exciting!
Now if we headed straight up, we'd reach Nimbasa, but being one third of the way through the update means we're not gonna do that.
Well... at least I broke Sturdy.
I used Dig once for a puzzle. Never again.
Ooh... that piece of cake was hard to swallow! I may have lost in the battle, but I bow to nobody when it comes to construction! You must have something like that, right? Something you do better than anybody?
I do, but I don't wanna admit it to my parents.
Using Dig in a cave takes you back to the entrance instantly! What do you think of that? Amazing, eh? Be sure to Dig and Dig some more!
Ah, it's the Water type Truck-kun, ready to teleport another kid to a land of wonder.
Phew, good to take a break from all this orange, hopefully this resort is nice and clear!
Desert Resort
Ah, hmm, that's even more orange! The Desert Resort is pretty big and pretty tough to navigate in a sandstorm, so this map is to give you a general idea of where I am. You'll have to ignore any discrepancies since this is the B2W2 map as full BW maps haven't really been made. This will become more and more of a problem as we get into the later 3D games, might have to think about shelving the map showings entirely.
Now, I will make your Pokemon healthy! Desert Resort is a harsh place. Do you have medicines?
I feel like a large backpack is not the best outfit for a desert, but I've never been to one, so I wouldn't know.
Having traveled around the world, I learned that travel brings change! We should not be afraid of change.
A peaceful name, but using it is anything but! Even evolving won't fix Air Cutter doing pitiful damage, but hey at least you learn Air Slash just before you evolve! Sigh... Roost and Detect mean you can stall I guess and only get chipped while you similarly chip. Thankfully, Return is not that far away and makes this Pokemon at all usable, it really doesn't have many options. If you're desperate then Pluck could be something you could grind BP for, but uh yeah, use Return, the move lots of Pokemon use when their movepool sucks shit.
I promise we are fighting new trainers and heading steadily clockwise around the perimeter.
After so many games, it's weird adjusting to opponents having STAB and sometimes coverage, Pokemon depending of course.
People and Pokemon each have different feelings. And probably both are correct.
"They never vary the route they fly, because their memories of guarding an ancient city remain steadfast."
Sigilyph is a weird but pretty good mon, being somewhat speedy and defensive and hitting pretty hard, it'll do you just fine for most of the game. It starts off with Air Cutter and Psybeam, but has to wait a fair while until it gets Air Slash and Psychic at 41 and 44, respectively. Still, it can get some interesting tech throughout the adventure such as Flash Cannon, Charge Beam, and dual screens are pretty nice in tougher battles, especially with all its weaknesses. Alas, the real prizes of Ice Beam, Energy Ball, Psyshock, Shadow Ball are all lategame to postgame so it'll be waiting a while to really shine, but it's the same for a lot of Pokemon, so I don't hold it against it much. It can do some light tanking or dazzle with STABs, a pretty fine Pokemon overall.
Thankfully Corazon is a nice mixed attacker to dodge this Light Screen!
Oh! That moment. That's when you notice how great Pokemon are!
That was probably the best use of Imprison I've seen, all I had was Confusion while it had Air Cutter and Assurance.
A monkey to evolve... when I can be bothered. I mean we still need to see them, technically.
With a chachacha, here's a cactus that's similar to Sigilyph, but not as good due to lower Speed. It's still pretty good though, with Synthesis, Needle Arm and Giga Drain all very early moves. However, it will need some help to have other types, but Return is still a good option, with Poison Jab and Aerial Ace being its best coverage moves around Gym 6-7, also around the time it'll get Sucker Punch. Sure you've also got Peck and Pin Missile if you're desperate, but it'll be just fine as mono-Grass for a bit, even if it's nothing very exciting. Overall, dragged down a little by movepool and Speed, but still a happy, prickly gem.
"And a heated battle!"
Another battle of the birds, how many of these damn things are there in this game???
Still, Eviolite works wonders, you might think the Soothe Bell would still be good, but I think it's been long enough.
Catching your happiness mon early does wonders for midgame viability. So Swoobat is-
I told you last night, no! Anyway, Swoobat is fast. Very fast. Does it hit hard? It's fast. Does it learn good moves? I-It's fast! So yeah, it's nothing too amazing, but its stats are passable and it'll get Air Slash just as it's starting to lag behind. It won't be a sweeper, mainly because it can't get Simple yet, but being able to outspeed and chip is very useful sometimes, so that's fine by me! Otherwise with Calm Mind and eventually Shadow Ball and Charge Beam, it can do some damage. Since ours is a weird mixed one, we can even go Acrobatics and, uh, U-turn? Okay maybe not, but if you need to outspeed something and not much else, well here you go.
Whether it is hot or cold, there is no problem if you have passion!
"It emits sound waves of various frequencies from its nose including some powerful enough to destroy rocks."
...it's so goddamn fast. Even Tristan is getting left in the dust, he's getting outclassed pretty quickly, hmmmmm. Well anyway, Hamlet can get the Eviolite now, since Milli is defensive enough and just loves that Quick Claw. It's been going off, I promise!
We'll see exactly how fast Corazon is... when it gets round to her turn to level up, I'm dedicated to even levels always.
Frankly I don't know what I expected.
If a Pokemon gets a burn, it also weakens physical attacks. This works quite well!
Ugh, Rock Tomb, thankfully Pokemon are getting actual movesets now, uh, mostly, so this isn't as necessary as it used to be. Maybe they should increase its power, PP and accuracy next gen! But then that would imply it was bad in all three aspects before and for a move so necessary, that can't be right... right?
Alright, let's head up, we're nearly halfway through combing this place!
Are you my mummy? Well you are now. Yamask evolves a bit too late for offensive stats that low. It can definitely take some hits, though mono-Ghost isn't the greatest defensive typing, but your best STAB move for a long while is Ominous Wind. Normally wouldn't be a massive issue, it's barely passable, but uh, it only learns 4 attacking moves and they're all Ghost, meaning you need a special TM to do something to the ubiquitous Normal types running around. The only one you get in any nearby fashion is... Round with BP. Yikes. Energy Ball, Psychic, hell even Dream Eater are all postgame, so if you were really, really lucky you could go with Hidden Power? Like we've seen shocking movepools, but this is one of the worst in the game. Curse damage? I'm grasping for straws, if you really want to use this line, catch it later, right now it's miserable. Ha, get it? Cause of the mask? Oh, I made myself sad.
If an Ability is changed to Mummy, the Pokemon cannot use its original Ability. It's subtly devious, isn't it?
So that item there? That's Earthquake. We'll be getting that in the postgame. Siiiiiiiigggggghhhhhh
Brief respite cause there's been a lot of trainers around.
The world is full of mysteries! That's why I look closely. That's why I listen carefully. I think, I reflect, and I discover something new.
Hmm, weird, well we've made it to the Relic Castle, just had to go straight up, yup.
Relic Castle
At least let me get in the door.
"Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry."
Is that because we're in the ruins... or is it because of you?
It was said that long ago, these ruins were the heart of civilization for people and Pokemon in the Unova region.
You seem to be full of magical power, too... In ancient places, magical energy remains... I can understand it. So much sorrow and joy...
Oh, you like the Cover Fossil? I heard it is the Fossil of a Pokemon that used to swim in the ancient sea!
The museum in Nacrene City... I hear Pokemon can be restored from Fossils there. 'Cause Lenora loves bones and Fossils!
While the Plume Fossil is a very fun choice, I'm going to pick the steadier Cover Fossil... because it's our next team member! Of course it'll be a little bit before we can revive it, since going back to Nacrene City is a bit of a jog from here, so next update for sure!
A second means after Gym 7.
Phew, good thing being buried alive in sand only happens in some games!
Well that was fun, but orange you tired of this place already? Let's head back outside!
It's no river in a desert, but close enough.
Sifting the ever-changing sands... sifting the ever-changing feelings... telepathy means others will be aware of my feelings. That could be a good thing. Wait! It means others will be aware when I have awkward or painful feelings, too!
Hmm, did someone drop these, like maybe that guy up there?
I'm so moved! So, I'll give you this!
If a Pokemon holds this Soft Sand, the power of its Ground-type moves goes up! According to what I've heard, that Relic Castle is the ruins of a city built by the hero of old and the dragon Pokemon that accompanied the hero.
Yes! It was fun that your and my Pokemon were both so energetic! When I feel lonely at night, I curl up with my Pokemon and watch the twinkling stars. I track the shooting stars and slow down the rhythm of my life.
Route 4 Spring
That'll do us for now, so we'll say hi to Truck-kun once more and get back on the proper path.
My journey taught me that a journey is not just going somewhere. Meeting people and learning from them are both part of my journey.
Gate
Elesa called and was asking me all about Electric-type Pokemon, and I thought about you guys. That's why I wanted to see you. Ta-da! Freebies for you! Here, Cheren! You, too, Touya.
If you see a Pokemon that you want to have join you, be sure to have a good type of Pokeball. Because this could be the first and last time you see that Pokemon! I know it might seem strange for me to say this, since I'm the one who asked you to complete the Pokedex, but please, remember to enjoy your journey! Of course, I'm not saying you can just neglect the Pokedex. But you know! Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to go meet Bianca.
"to send us on a journey."
At least, that's what my mom told me. They wanted us to go out and see the world, so my mom, Bianca's mom, and your mom made a request to Professor Juniper. Touya, what should we do now? I think I'd like to show the professor my thanks by going to Route 4 and catching some Pokemon I haven't yet caught.
Phew, that was quite the... orange adventure. But we've made it to Nimbasa City, so next time we'll-
Plasmaaaaaaaaa
How do we know? Because we're Team Plasma!
We are taking Pokemon away from people. Since you work at the Day Care, we figure you must have a lot of Pokemon! Hand 'em over!
What kind of nonsense is this?! Oh! A strong-looking Trainer! Please help me!
If you're going to get in our way, we'll take your Pokemon, too!
Well let's clear this up before we end things, man what a pain.
!!
This went downhill fast! So I think... we'd better... ruuuun! Let's hide out at the amusement park!
Please take this a token of my gratitude. It's a brand-new Bike. I'd always planned on riding around Nimbasa City... but I never ended up riding it.
I have a Day Care on Route 3! If you have any Pokemon you want me to raise, please drop them off! I just came to sightsee, but I got in a lot of trouble!
the amusement park, Big Stadium, Small Court, and the Battle Subway! I'm going to go see the Pokemon Musical! See you later!
Next time, we've got another big city to explore, might even have more to it than Castelia!