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The first 20 minutes of the recording are me faffing around messing with team movepools when it probably doesn't matter.
Anyways lets unblock the way to the champion. You can see the updated move pool for Trevenant I made; branch poke with it's 40 base power isn't ideal, if Trevenant had only 3 more levels it could learn the much better Horn Leech.
Taking a full hp water spout ain't great. That wailord needs to go.
Wailord goes down the next turn...
But Gigalith sadly manages to KO SpinToWin. For some reason, I opted to use Bug Bite on Gigalith instead of the supereffective gyro ball or using U-Turn to ensure Spin's safety. Rest in honor SpinToWin, you served us well. :pressf:
: Those who stand tall will be cut down. Those who burn bright will be snuffed out.
Past the gatekeeper we have a couple of plaques shit-talking a bunch of presumably important people?
: Those that seek to control the Champion forge prisons of their own making.
Bold words from the guy who I haven't seen leave his throne.
: Loyalty will preserve your existence. Bravery will not.
There's a guy in a suit standing on the path, and out of frame near the bottom is another sprout. I opted not to do the sprout this update, but we will be talking to the suit guy in a sec.
: Life begins and ends at the word of the Champion alone.
So... did he kill someone you didn't want killed? Did he engage in dark spooky necromancy? Or is this a threat that if you defy the Champion you're liable to disappear? Hmm.
: remember...
: nothing is impossible.
You know, Pokemon was the first time I heard the word Assurance, and I didn't realize it meant "to reinforce"; I just assumed it was a nonsense word.
Level 20 Shred of Hope? I might use that to get a free revive on Bo Peep.
More Ethers and an Energy Powder; I'll probably never use those Ethers, but I appreciate the generosity.
Another Ashen Shard; just one away from another reward!
Intresting. We can buy a Pokemon here at level 20; we have enough to buy one, and Grimmsnarl is tempting because I've never played past a bit of gen 7, so I might pick them up. I'll hold off for a sec though. Lets talk to the suit guy!
This guy has resting ominous voice, I take it.
: I've grown bored of watching them carried out as bags of dust. Of all the apocalypses we could have, why must ours be so... Repetitive?
Bags of dust? Huh. Guess that confirms it's murder.
: I've invented a little game to pass the time.
Hell yeah I'm up for a game.
: Delightful. Here, you'll need these.
A card game? Sure.
: We'll play for Low Stakes, just p1000. I'd explain the rules... But I'm sure a clever child like you will figure them out. After all, this game is based on a familiar truth.
Ominous description.
So apparently this is based on a card game from Final Fantasy 8 called Triple Triad. The rules are simple: the 4 numbers on a card correspond to each side of the card.
You and your opponents alternate placing cards on a 3x3 grid. When you place a card, it will attempt to capture other nearby opponents cards, by comparing the values of the sides they are connected by. For example, Squirtle has a value of 4 on the bottom, and Torchic has a value of 4 on the top. Normally, this means they would tie and Torchic wouldn't be captured, but there's another element: the type. Squirtle is water type, and water beats fire. So 2 is added to the value Squirtle uses, which is enough to capture Torchic and make it mine. Inversely, had I used a grass type (which is not very effective against fire), it would have been lowered by 2.
Our opponent can, likewise, capture our cards. Squirtle gets captured by bulbasaur quite easily.
Things alternate until there's only 2 spaces left. Our opponent always gets first and last move, we we have to consider that we'll be unable to react to the opponent's last move and plan accordingly. My last two cards don't have the firepower to capture any more cards from the spaces left to us, so the smart thing here is to play defensively.
I messed up, of course; the smart move would have been to place Bulbasaur next to Torchic to protect it and minimize the cards my opponent can attack to one. Had I done that, I would have won, but because I placed Bulbasaur in the corner for god knows what reason, Suit can just capture my Torchic and have 5 Cards vs my 4. Whoever has more cards at game end is the winner.
: Still, it was a delightful game. I'll take my p1000 now. I look forward to playing again.
99% of gamblers quit before winning big.
Surely we'll win this time.
We manage to capture Suit's Abra, and that 8 at the top means it's unlikely to be won from the top. However, we don't have a way to attack the two clefairy at the bottom, which means the next best move is a defensive one.
Those 4's are only going to be beaten by a water type give what we've seen of Suit's deck.
Seems he doesn't have one and had the same idea to play defensively; fortunately I have an Abra that can capture it easily, but counter unfortunately he has a torchic who can capture it right back. Now once again there are only two spots left; it doesn't matter which card we play because both will capture Torchic regardless of where they're played because of type advantage, but the position does matter.
That's because Abra has a crippling weakness on it's right side that means anything will capture it if placed in the center, so we need to place something in the center to block our opponent from playing there. Thankfully Suit only has a Treecko left who can only attack fire types, so we win these.
: It seems my confidence in you was justified. Here are your winnings.
(we receive $1000)
: And here, because I enjoyed the game so much.
: Look for the other Shadow Cards players around the island. The Card Binder I gave you has all the tools you'll need to grow into a fearsome foe.
And Suit ominously vanishes. Guess we need to be on the lookout for people to Shadow Duel.
: By decree of the Champion, challengers may not use Medicine items in the seat of his power.
Lets take a peek inside.
On entry, we automatically walk up and talk to the receptionist.
: by weaklings.
Our answer doesn't matter here but I'm gonna choose no because we're nowhere close to fighting the Champion. We will be at the end of the game and still not be ready to fight the Champion.
: The Champion will reign forever.
Wow, rude. Lets look around.
: this tower. If you don't believe us, try it now!
This sign isn't lying. We are prevented from healing within this tower.
: SHUT behind them. Spectators, remember to PRE-ORDER your seats if you want to watch the carnage!
This sign isn't lying. Once we enter, we cannot leave. If we go in there, there's no running away.
: and only a fool would challenge him. Please ensure your affairs are in order before proceeding.
This sign isn't lying. Once we enter, we aren't coming out except by losing. We should make sure we have everything in order before going through the above door, because through there is endgame territory.
Let's leave!
Decided to get Grimmsnarl. From my understanding of Gen Z lingo, Ohio = creepy or strange, Rizz = Charisma. Grimmsnarl has that Ohio Rizz, no cap on god.
Take the opportunity to revive Bo Peepachu, need to heal it and trevenant up though.
On my way down to get potions, I run into this guy.
: You must have met Suit, to come upon a set of Shadow Cards!
Yes please.
We can choose between two betting values. Obviously we bet high because we're gamers.
: Excellent choice! What's the point without a little risk? If you win, I'll even through in a Muk card.
Tenma is a poison card specialist, and his cards have higher numbers than our starter deck. We're going to play smart to win.
Tenma's really good at capturing whatever the last card I played was.
I play Mudkip in the corner to defend Muk's weakness, and it gets captured by Beedrill. However, this gives me an opportunity to turn things around.
We can capture both beedrill and torchic with mudkip, bringing us up to 5, and Tenma is unable to capture Muk with his koffing, so we win.
: Here are your winnings.
Money obtained.
: And here, because I enjoyed the game so much.
Muk card obtained.
Tenma sticks around. Hell, that was easy money, lets do it again.
ezclap
Lets see if we can win a third time.
I'm just that good.
: I'll head back to the Poker Lounge. The Poker Lounge is by far the best place for a gamer to test their skills in High-Stakes Play. Unfortunately, membership is invite only. But if you keep beating players like me, the owner will surely invite you.
And he vanishes too. Strange.
Changing up Ohio's moveset.
Hey, that guy wasn't here when I first came here. Must be another Shadow Card player.
Lemme just add my new cards into my deck...
: Oh Muk yes! New player!
I like your enthusiasm dude.
Accidentaly pick low stakes here.
: So low. Why you gotta do me like that? Let's spice it up. If you win I'll give you my Hitmontop card.
Chaddicus likes to use fighting types. We're already 3-2 in the screenshot though; we win this one easy.
: Wish you bet bigger now, don't you?
(Money obtained)
: Don't forget this fine specimen.
: Maaan, I was hoping this deck would be so cool... Still, let's do this again sometime.
I like Chaddicus, he's a good sport and he's an absolute dork 
I remember to bet high this time.
: Yeah, let's do it! Heck, I'll even throw in a Hitmonchan card if you win!
Another down to the wire one, except my choice didn't matter because I would have won anyways. I understand why people like this minigame so much, it's kinda addicting.
Chaddicus is a good sport about losing those stakes.
Third round for a Hitmonlee, we can see Abra get a +2 on their 8 side and it becomes A. A is the highest value as far as I know, a placeholder for 10.
Not once have I shown the payout text, but here it is for posterity's sake.
: Guess I'll go to the Poker Lounge. I'll have to bust out... THAT deck.
And he disappears mysteriously. Every Shadow Cards player we duel will go to the Poker Lounge after we win 3 times. Eventually we'll gain access to this mysterious Poker Lounge.
I massively overestimated how much bulk we just covered. We have fought one trainer and explored a small area with no Wild Pokemon to catch, but I didn't realize how much screentime the Triple Triad stuff would be. Oops. Lets dip our toes into Deepwoods.
Free potion on the ground. Not very exciting.
...Right, this is an earlygame area. It hasn't kept up with how strong we've gotten.
I have a feeling that we won't be having any issues for a while down this path.
Woo! That's enough Ashen Shards to get another reward.
Can't have enough potions I guess, that's effectively 600$ I won't have to spend down the line.
Hey, we have both of those! Let's get our first statue mon.
We have to offer the ingredients in order. Once we offer Clefairy...
We're gonna be losing Celebi in a second, but I figured I'd nickname it anyways.
We cannot get infinite Celebi, sadly.
Not bad. Perish Song is a standout; with that it doesn't matter how high level something is, as long as they're still in when that timer ticks to zero they'll faint. Decent earlygame mon, and with some shreds of hope could possibly be useful lategame.
Unfortunately, Celery will be leaving us immediately. Also I forget to pick up our Ashen Shard prize while in the area, I'll remember in a moment.
Zippy isn't my best naming work. Also didn't think to look at Zapdos's stats, but I assume they're good. I mean, it's freaking Zapdos.
Naive and Lost, more like Weak and Hopeless amiright?
Rare post-defeat message.
Swift is alright! It's a normal type special never-missing opposing-team multihit for 60 Base Power. I could see it being really good with Technician on a Normal Type. Unfortunately, there's no normal types that have both Technician and a good special attack stat. Persian is our closest bet, which we do happen to have, but Persian's only real good stat is speed, which means we probably want a Nasty Plot beforehand. Still a solid tool though.
Lets see some encounters!
Not bad choices here! The puzzle battles have warmed me up to Amoonguss; regenerator, rage powder, and puff spore is pretty solid. Spinda was an early-game carry on my first playthrough when I did Deepwoods first before even exploring any of the hub. Bulbasaur is a starter, you know they're probably good. Ariados probably isn't great but I can't help but like the cool spider. Duplicate Chikorita encounter if you haven't got one from Silent Gods. Ratata has some good utility with super fang. Tangela I don't know much about as a mon, but they're ingrained in my head because of Pokemon Ranger. Lastly, I think Ledyba's statistically just the worst pokemon and is probably a liability, but maybe there's strats to be had idk.
With that, we have over 50 mons caught, so lets go claim our prize!
Assault Vest, not too shabby. Prevents use of non-attacking moves but makes you tankier to special attacks. That's not the real prize we're about to get though.
: These are the pieces of ancient badges! Legends say Pokemon used to fight harder for those who earned badges.
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