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Previous: https://lpix.org/sslptest/index.php?id=165621
This update, we're going to be exploring Skyspear Climb (and other stuff).
Area map courtesy of Yumil's (on discord) Salt and Shadow data resource. This area is pretty big compared to any other area we've seen. We're in the bottom right corner.
Magnet here. Give this to an electric pokemon to make their electric attacks deal more damage.
Still haven't used the last level 25 Shred of Hope we got.
Let's give Rillaboom an extra 2 levels to keep a bit of pace. Teaching them Knock Off instead of Drum Beat.
: you the blade?
That's a strange thing to ask.
One Muddy Water. I taught KYUBEY Swords Dance so it can buff up, so he buffs himself up.
Two Muddy Water. Eve's really pulling his weight.
Had I known Sirfetch'd was pure fighting instead of assuming it was normal, I could have Shadow Sneaked and killed it with buffed attack and this wouldn't have happened. RIP EVE.
An ExtremeSpeed from Entei takes it down though.
Level 30 Shred of Hope? One sec.
Mistake fixed! 
Woo! We can now Cut trees (and optionally teach Cut to our Pokemon if we really wanted to, although I'm not sure who would find use of it).
Past here is Skyspear Caverns; we will not be exploring the caves this update.
Lets catch some mons! Skyspear Climb has one of the highest mon counts we've seen thus far.
The main reason to grab Aron here is as a statue ingredient, but make no mistake. Aron's final evolution, Aggron, is a powerhouse. It gets both Heavy Slam and Heavy Metal, which means anything that weighs less than it is eating 60 damage at a minimum; anything 2/3rds or less of it's weight takes 80, half takes 100, and 2/5ths takes a no-drawback 120 damage STAB move. For context, 2/5ths of Aggron's weight (360 KG) is 144 KG; take a look at anything on this list right here, and anything below 144KG is taking the full brunt of attack from it. You'll have to scroll down quite a bit. Aggron's attack stack isn't a slouch, but its real stength is it's defense; it's absurdly high. Good thing too, because that 4x weakness to Earthquake is otherwise quite crippling! Theoretically it learns Body Press, but I don't think the TM for that exists in this game.
Xatu is also valuable as a statue ingredient. It has a neat ability in Magic Bounce (bounce back quite a few status moves, list here), can set up Reflect and Light Screen, and has access to Stored Power. Might be useful!
Pelipper and Swablu can both be found here if you haven't found them earlier.
Pidgeotto is another statue ingredient! There are a lot of statue ingredients on this route. Apparently Pidgeot was always terrible or mediocre until it got it's mega evolution. It's learnset is also quite dire; it's main coverage move, Heat Wave, isn't available as a TM in Salt and Shadow, nor do I think it's possible to learn Heat Wave through other methods. This leaves Hurricane as the only thing it has going for it, which is really good on Mega Pidgeot because Mega Pidgeot's No Guard ignores accuracy, but you don't really have any options for hitting things outside of hitting them really hard with a flying type attack.
Scyther; yet another statue ingredient! While I could go on about Scizor's strengths here, it'd be pointless because the best thing to do with Scyther is throw them at the statue. You'll see.
I have no idea on how good Sirfetch'd is, but Farfetch'd comes with Cut. Could potentially be some sequence breaking potential there, although Cut is found on this route so it's not that useful.
Mightyena I get the impression isn't that great. Unimpressive stats, and while Moxie is a good ability I feel like Honchkrow is just a better Moxie Dark type user. I didn't take the opportunity to look at Mightyena's movepool to see if it's redeemable, but whew. Thankfully, it's a statue ingredient so it'll get some usage.
I want to like Archeops so bad. It and Archen are really cool and it's potential is more immediately apparent than, say, Mightyena. It even learns a move I've never heard of before called Meteor Beam, which is like Solar Beam except it buffs special attack during the first turn, which seems really good. Defeatist as an ability suuucks though; if Archeops ever goes beow half HP it becomes useless. Unrelated, but while procrastinating on updating by playing Rivals of Aether, workshop Archen was one of my mains, and incorporates defeatist as both a nerf and a buff where if you're at higher HP percentage than your opponent, you get an attack buff, and lower HP percentage you get an attack nerf. I wonder if Archen in the mainline games would benefit from defeatist working like that where it's feast or famine.
I'm mostly familiar with Talonflame because of Gale Wings, which is an incredible ability which makes flying type attacks go first if the user has full health. If you can KO your opponents in one hit with a flying move, you can't really be stopped.
Fearow is another Sniper pokemon; increased critical damage! Sadly it doesn't seem as good as Kingdra, but it does have ground moves like Drill Run to give electric types a run for their money. Also has Mirror Move, which could be useful in niche circumstances.
Swanna took forever to find on this route. It seems okay? Abilities are unimpressive, and it's learnset doesn't impress me, so I doubt I'll use it. It learns defog, but that's entirely dependent on if the opponent has entry hazards.
Lastly, we have Hawlucha. Unburden doubles Hawlucha's speed when it loses it's held item, which synergizes greatly with Acrobatics (110 power when no item is held). Combine that with their signature move Flying Press (both a fighting and flying type move), and you have one mean luchador.
Leaving Skyspear Climb for a sec, we have two statues we can activate now.
The one in Shimmering Lake gives us Suicune!
That's the highest level, so watch out!
...Dumb memes aside, Aurora seems like a good name for Suicune. Really solid movepool here; Scald has a burn chance, Snarl lowers special attack and deals damage, Ice Beam is really good coverage, and Reflect can give your team some much-needed defense for a few turns. As for stats... I mean they're a legendary, of course they have good stats.
Our second statue gives us...
Scizor? That's not a legendary.
Muramasa was a famous swordsmith who gained a (probably unearned?) reputation of making cursed blades. It's said that muramasa blades have to draw blood before they can be returned to their sheath. Seems fitting for something called the Steel Executioner.
It's movepool is... wait, hold on. I don't recognize that move.
Oh. I see now why this is being given the same weight as a legendary. This is a unique move to Salt and Shadow; if it KO's an opponent, it raises attack by 3 stages (or +1.5x damage). After one kill, Muramasa will be doing 2.5x damage per hit, and after two kills they will be doing 4x damage per hit. This is on top of Mega Scizor's already impressive attack stat. Combined with Bullet Punch (40 power priority move, boosted by Scizor's technician to be 60 power) and X-Scissor (80 power Bug move), Scizor will indeed execute things. It is very good at it's job. It's only weakness is a 4x weakness to fire too, which is the only thing that's putting a dent in it's respectable special defense and impressive physical defense.
While I'm in the area, we have cut, so we can take a peak inside Glade of the Moon.
: You are filled with hope.
Level 25 Shred of Hope. Not really that impressive tbh given there's a level 30 Shred of hope right beside the Cut item.
Moon Stone is good, but I can buy them freely now.
: I prepared the clearing as it requested. I planted the flowers. I fed the data into the pillar. I can hear it more clearly now. It was like a whisper before. Now it's a song...
Whoever is writing these logbooks needs to seek spiritual help, and maybe an exorcist.
Back in Skyspear Climb, we have Statue Scizor: a primer.
We mega evolve and select a target.
They of course faint because it's a same type bonus 85 power move coming from a mega evolution.
+3 attack power. Unfortunately EVE got poisoned by the enemy team, but we have antidotes.
+3 Bullet Punch coming from Mega Scizor brings down the second. End Statue Scizor: a primer.
Ancestral machine? What's that?
It's a consumable that lets a Pokemon learn an egg or tutor move. Since breeding and tutors aren't in this game, this gives us a bit more movepool freedom with some mons.
X Speed and Lucarionite! I imagine Mega Lucario is fantastic, and X Speed might be useful if you're a fan of those types of items.
Rocky Helmet deals 1/6th max HP of damage to Pokemon who make contact with whoever holds the item; pretty useful if you know the opponent has contact moves! Dire Hit is also just a consumable Focus Energy if you want to give a Pokemon a higher crit chance.
Breaking this rock gives us Brick Break; very cute. Brick Break destroys Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil set up on the opponent's team, and is also a respectable 75 damage fighting type move. Not bad!
Buzz buzz to you to, mr infected.
Muddy Water gets a good hit in, but I take a stun spore for my trouble. EVE really is having poor luck today, huh.
Muramasa gets off a Terminus...
Which lets it OHKO the Heracross that gets sent out with X-Scissor. The Venomoth goes down next turn from Bullet Punch.
Our reward is Silver Powder (powers up bug moves, and a route down south.
We're back at the start of the game.
: Is there a home for you anymore?
Some new goodies to be found inside the Lighthouse. Iron Ball halves speed and removes ground immunity from pokemon. It doesn't increase weight sadly; I considered using one on a Heavy Slam Pokemon until I found that out.
A friendly face!
: Suit's dealt you in, eh? Capital! Shall we play?
>Yes
No
I'm a high better.
: That much? I wouldn't have thought you had it in you! If you win, I'll even throw in a Piloswine card.
Naturally, I lose.
: You may have lost, but you ran a good ship! Let's play again soon.
I need to get rid of all my starter cards; they aren't doing me any good when I have better cards.
Hell yeah, a win.
: Typhoons and thunder! What a battle! You'll bleed my purse dry at this rate! I got this beauty in the frozen north, beyond the screaming sea. (hands us Piloswine) I'm looking forward to our next game.
I win the next two games and get Glaceon and Walrein cards.
: I'll need some libations after that storm! Set sail for the Poker Lounge!
He vanishes.
Eerie Impulse lowers the target's special attack by 2 stages; one use will have the opposing pokemon doing half damage if they're a special attacker, and any electric type can learn it. As a random aside, Bulbapedia is quite annoying with whether a move is single target or multi-target; they have a whole color-coordinating thing where they use red to signify moves that hit all targets, and orange if it's single target. Both Eerie Impulse and Hurricane have used red instead of orange for their target graph, so I mistakenly thought both of these moves were multi-target at first. Very cool!
Oh. Hey, it's you.
He has a full team of 6 this time.
Yeah no, I'm not taking any risks. There is something amazing if you do beat him though!
Giga Drain is incredible. 75 damage is good, and the ability to heal half the damage you do back is excellent. One of the best special grass attacks.
Now that we've revisited the Lighthouse, we can fly back here at any time.
: "No! Please, don't do this!"
Back in Skyspear Climb, we have this gag. The pokeball behind the tree has nothing, and there's no punishment for cutting the tree beyond guilt. I'd cut the tree but I'm a moral person. 
Despite only being 4 levels above this guy's team I feel miles ahead of him.
Racking up quite a few of these...
Skyspear Climb has a shop that sells Fresh Water and Great Balls. They're pretty expensive, but if you haven't found the Poker Lounge by this point then the water is a better deal than the potions.
Oh... I get it, he's a wind trainer and his name is whisper.
I manage to get a Terminus off because EVE just barely doesn't KO one of them.
It doesn't matter, EVE sweeps easy.
Ashen Shard! That's enough to get a new reward.
A challenge?
Buddy, you're nothing but a joke to me.
Water stone sitting by our fisherman friend.
: It's good to see a friendly face. I love the stillness of the water here. When I'm troubled, I like to calm my mind by sitting here at the pond. I recommend you give it a try sometime. If you're lucky, you might just spot Lapras ferrying Pokemon across.
He pauses.
Yes please.
Oh.
: Hard to imagine, I know. But in my youth, I was a terror.
Another pause.
: I travelled the island, capturing powerful Pokemon allies. Finally, I mounted a challenge against the Master of Skyspear Summit. I fought my way past scores of his acolytes. I knew I could beat him.
Pause.
: Atop the mountain, I heard a sound. It was muffled, but it was unmistakeable. It was the sound of a little girl crying. It came from an old, abandoned rest house.
: The infection hadn't yet grasped her. How, I don't know. What I did know was that she was alone. And she needed help.
Oh shit.
: For the first time, I didn't just have something to fight for. I have something to live for. I gave up on my quest soon after. The Champion can rot in his tower for all I care.
Won't the world end if nothing is done? You should fight for her!
: Perhaps so. But I've seen what this island can do to child, alone and afraid. I'd not wish that on anyone. I'd not leave her.
: Here--another gift.
Not bad, not bad.
: This story nears its end. I'll see you where it began.
He walks off. I get the impression his next story will be his last.
So many level 25 shreds, and nothing to use them on. The curse of being skilled...
: Why did we fight this?
Which song? Do you mean the Perish Song, or whatever that weird On Off mantra is?
Heal powder and money; not bad!
Indeed it does.
Your mons might have been close to level 30, but I'm not sure what you expected with non-fully evolved mons.
Play Rough is a 90 power physical fairy move with a chance of lowering attack. 90 accuracy, but besides that seems like it'd be excellent on Mimikyu.
Okay lets take care of the guy who blocked us a couple updates ago.
Not regretting Vaporeon at all; EVE is really good.
Level 20 Shred of Hope? That's not really useful.
Since we're here, I can smash this rock and get this item we couldn't have gotten before.
That's even less useful! Maybe I might have used this if I sequence broke it with Heracross and did a weird route order. I guess I could sell it.
Let's go turn in our Ashen Shards before we end things off.
: nicely with your badges?
Woo! That's really good. Now we have a defense boost to match up with our attack boost.
Still somehow have 13 days left. I'm really doing a bad job at showcasing the game's central mechanic. Next time, either various cleanup, feverthorn jungle, or skyspear caverns.
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