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Okay I have a plan to get past that level 44 Lugia. We need Persian for this.
Don't necessarily need Assurance but it's good to have.
Conjure some tissues cause you're about to be crying.
Fake Out lets me get in a Beat Up, which shreds through most of Lugia's health.
Sucker Punch finishes it off.
It doesn't matter how strong your opponent is, this is why you never bring a single Pokemon to a doubles fight.
Ancient Amulet is a new held item unique to Salt and Shadow that makes moves like Hyper Beam work like they did in Gen 1, skipping the recharge turn if you KO the opponent. I have no idea why they changed it after Gen 1, it was a cool bit of risk/reward. I guess Hyper Beam was kinda broken and they needed to nerf it, but power creep has probably made that nerf redundant. Anyways, this is a good item.
We have some Ultra Balls and the TM for Shadow Claw past the Lugia trainer too. Shadow Claw is basically Ghost-type Night Slash; 70 damage physical move with increased crit chance. Very cool!
Jeez, chill out guy. Also, this is the game's only burglar!
Gengar barely survives a Terminus, while Meowth won't survive another Power Up Punch. I thought Galarian Meowth was Dark Type, but I guess that's Alolan Meowth? Steel type is weird.
These hyper potions are a surprise tool that will help us later :shh:
We're starting to get more Ability Patches; I didn't want to commit to buffing Rillaboom with Grassy Terrain while I only had one, but now that we're getting a few more it probably wouldn't hurt.
: calling you to return to sleep. If so, partake at your leisure.
I can't tell if this is a vaguely worded "kill yourself" or if this is actual advice.
Rest and Sleep Talk are a really funny combination to be leaving around. I don't know how reliable Sleep Talk is; it depends on whether it can select itself or not. Might be a funny strat on a beefier Pokemon as a sort of Berserker strat.
This rear-end in a tophat.
Morpeko will sweep your team if given a chance. I have no interest in allowing it.
I'm more confident in Muramasa taking an Aura Wheel than them taking a fire attack, so fake out the Darmanitan.
Persian faints, but they've done their job.
Muramasa is a prime target for a fire attack, so lets pre-empt it.
Called it 
EVE cleans up. If for whatever reason you feel like fighting this guy early, take out Morpeko ASAP. It is a monster.
Nice decor!
Ashen Shard and a Blank Card over to the right.
That Blank Card is immediately coming in useful.
: In an instant, the paint is sucked from the canvas into the card. You place the newly minted Xerneas card into your binder.
Xerneas card?
Ohh, that's real good.
: All that willpower, yet none of the wisdom to turn back.
Oh. I don't like the sound of that.
Music - Elite Battle (It's the Firered/Leafgreen champion theme)
Hey, it's the Willbreaker! Circe uses Sabrina's sprite, so the people guessing it was Sabrina were half-right.
We really aren't any match for the Willbreaker at this point, so lets skedadle.
Until we can beat Circe, we're done with the Dreaming Halls. Persian did their job admirably, and it's time to bring Idolachu back onto the team.
Continuing the theme of strong trainers we were scared off by, we have this fire-using youngster.
Talonflame deals a hefty blow, but a combination of Extremespeed and Muddy Water make both foes go down.
If any time is good to use a hyper potion, this seems like a good time.
Unfortunately one Muddy Water is not enough to KO Cinderace.
Another Hyper Potion and Muddy Water turn, and Cinderace is the only mon left on the opponent's team. They go down to an Extremespeed the next turn.
Don't hurt gramps? Wait were you protecting someone? 
There's a fire stone behind the kid, and behind the fire stone is a boulder with a wild Crustle encounter. My only experience with Crustle is from the Insurgence LP where the cake variant of Crustle was really good because of Simple Shell Smash. Regular Crustle doesn't have Simple; they get Shell Smash and a Rock Hyper Beam though, so maybe they're good!
: What could be causing this? Will it spread beyond the laboratory?
I uh, I thought they were being paid to do that.
Two incredible TMs right beside eachother! Flamethrower is the premier fire type move for special attackers, dealing 90 damage and having a burn chance with no drawbacks. Rock Slide is generally most Physical Rock types best move; it's the least innacurate at 90% accuracy, hits both pokemon in doubles, and has a chance to flinch. I don't understand why rock type moves all suffer from inaccuracy, recoil, or both; semi-related fun fact, did you know the rock type is the rarest move type, with only 20 rock type moves (not counting Dynamax or Z-Moves) in Gen 8, and of those 20, 4 of them are signature moves! Crazy.
This is the Boiling Cave. I forgot to get the encounters for this area, but at least one ingredient for the Nightmare Child can be found here.
There's some Ultra Balls, an Ancestral Machine, a level 25 Shred of Hope, and an Ashen Shard laying around. We have enough Shards to get the next reward!
: Her soul is not in the underworld.
Wait, revive? Underworld? Is there some necromancy going on here?
: What irony, that the last soul I see from the sunlit world should be a Wanderer. You... Given form by salt, infused with shadow... Your eyes must sting from the glare of the sun.
The reason why the game is called Salt and Shadow! Because that's what we're playing as.
: The sea would drown us, but to you... it's home.
I mean, all of these, but especially that last one! How can one be happy, knowing that other people are suffering? I certainly couldn't.
: ... If only more of us agreed with that sentiment. I once fought beside the champion. I have never seen his equal. In Fearcage we shared a fateful vision. He saw that he would never lose.
Oh snap, this is the Nameless Shephard.
: Now the spirits draw us toward their realm. Let us return the favor. Bring me the dead remains of noble beasts. I shall tear them back from the underworld. Do you have a fossil for me?
Having an actual necromancer as the fossil guy is an interesting twist. It probably wouldn't work as well in any other game, but here I think it works.
As a matter of fact, we do have a fossil!
: Leave me! What must be done is best not witnessed.
That's our cue to leave and re-enter the cave to get our fossil.
Another Shadow Card player hiding in here.
: That man will invite anyone these days.
I don't think I like you!
: Are you challenging me?
>Yes
No
Bet high and win big!
: Well, well, well, the kid's got a little spine. You win, I'll even throw in a Haunter card.
I recall having trouble with her on my first playthrough, but she doesn't pose much of a threat on this one.
: Hmm? Is it over? Wasn't really paying attention.
Hey, screw you! At least pay attention when I trounce you!
: Oh, huh. Guess you won. Here then. (prizes received) Next time I won't go so easy.
I dunno that's still pretty easy. Are you even trying? We win a Trevenant and Dusclops from these.
: Bah, I need a drink. I'm going to the Poker Lounge.
Fun fact, the "Poker Lounge" has the slanted line above the e in Poker, like in Pokemon; I haven't been transcribing it because I am exceptionally lazy and don't feel like copying the slanted e for each use case. Is it pronounced Pokair Lounge? :thinkdorm:
There's a Seamother's Tear behind her. Usually the blue pokeballs have been for Blank Cards; I don't know if that means that this Seamother's Tear only appeared after getting my first Blank Card, or if it's blue because it's a tear.
We need 3 fossil mons in order to activate this statue. We're currently reviving one, but we still don't know where the other two are.
Leaving and re-entering the cave lets us claim our new creation.
: It was a Omastar (Lv. 30). May it carry victory to your grasp.
Minor typo here, "a" instead of "an".
Awaken, my Omastar!
: be a cinch to catch now.
Turning in our Ashen Shards now.
Our final Pokeball upgrade! Regular Pokeballs are now better than Ultra Balls were at the start of the game. Pokeballs are now as good as Timer Balls after 5 turns (or 15 turns pre gen 5 yadda yadda), and Great Balls and Ultra Balls are now as good as optimal conditions Dusk Balls or Net Balls depending on the generation (Great Balls are as good as Net Balls pre-Gen 7 and Dusk Balls post-Gen 7, Ultra Balls are as good as Dusk Balls pre-Gen 7 and Net Balls post-Gen 7). These upgrades have also been affecting our special balls, although there isn't as good a comparison point for how good they are upgraded.
Don't mind me, just reviving Zapdos for no particular reason.
No particular reason (this is the Dragon Cave from the second update).
Zapdos and Idolachu shred through the twin gyaradoses with ease.
Dragonite comes out; it doesn't take much damage from Idolachu's first hit, but it might have multiscale so I can't judge based on the first hit.
The first Body Slam misses, and by the time the second one hits Dragonite is basically toast.
Our prizes include a level 28 Shred of Hope, 5000 Pokedollars, a Dragon Fang (boosts dragon type moves), and an Ability Patch (use to get a Pokemon's hidden ability). We also have a cave entrance to the north. I imagine one could bumrush Zapdos early on and get a level 28 pokemon really early.
The aesthetic and music of the northern cave is different. There's a full heal and 2 ethers laying around.
: It looks like... A honeycomb?
Dragalgae can only be found in the Queen's Garden via fishing. The other two are in the Dragon Cave right below.
Eh, I'd rate your cosplay about a 3/10 mate, I don't think you will be remembered.
Geodude survives a Terminus, but falls to Muddy Water shortly after.
Snorlax makes the mistake of Belly Drumming with no teammate after I've learned that I'm faster than it; it goes down to a single X-Scissor.
Hard Stone boosts the power of rock type moves. Might be useful with the Rock Slide we just got.
I thought this game had no grinding in it
This is a really nasty synergy; Follow Me to divert attention away from Conkeldurr so it can Focus Punch for massive damage.
Unfortunately for them I'm running Muddy Water and can hit both targets at once, even if Muramasa hadn't OHKO'd Togekiss.
Some great balls and another Ashen Shard up here; we've almost collected all of the Ashen Shards! Surprising, I know.
Lets get our encounters for this small cave! First off, from fishing:
Nice little bunch of goobers. We've already caught a Marshtomp elsewhere, and I know Cynthia has a Gastrodon on her infamous team. Other than that, I don't know how good Whiscash or Drednaw are. Every catch in this pool has a crippling 4x weakness to grass, which ain't great, but otherwise I get the impression they're probably bulky?
As for cave encounters...
Diggersby, well, we've seen how crazy Huge Power is, and they get STAB on both Normal and Ground moves (including the incredible Earthquake). Heliolisk's abilities allow it to fit on rain, sun, or sandstorm teams. Both Dry Skin and Solar Power mean it'll be eating 1/8th it's max HP each turn in sunlight, so surviveability is something to keep in mind. Dugtrio could also fit on a sandstorm team, or with arena trap could be used to prevent AI from switching out of something like, say, Perish Song. Garchomp (Gabite's evolution) is infamous largely in part because they're the ace of Cynthia's team, they're excellent. Houndoom for some reason isn't listed for the encounters in the data resource, but they're an ingredient for one of the statues in Silent Gods, and with that special attack stat and average speed I can't imagine they're too bad. Lastly we have Noibat;Noivern is fast and that alone makes them probably good, but even if they aren't good they and Noibat are still adorable 
To the left is Skyspear Caverns! That cave we were just in was Skyspear Passage, and is a shortcut to Skyspear Caverns; to the south is the entrance near where we got Cut. Also ignore the trainer noticing me in the screenshot, I run away immediately.
Soft Sand boosts ground type moves; it'll make your earthquakes hit just a little bit harder. Okay, now lets fight the trainer.
: Dragonmaster of Skyspear.
The annoying thing about this guy having more than one textbox of dialogue is that I can't show his pre-battle text and his intro screen besides eachother without it looking weird.
I mean, not sure whether it's that important to show their non-names and their sprites, but figure I might as well.
Ursaring goes down to Terminus pretty easily. Muramasa rocks hard.
Mawile has intimidate but that merely brings us down to +2 attack on Mega Scizor when Mawile takes neutral damage from steel.
Muramasa will one shot whichever mon he targets. Idolachu ate a Toxic from Foongus, but we're about to win with Golbat being weak to electric and Foongus being at worst neutral to any of Muramasa's attacks.
This sign can't stop me because I can't read!
: They burst from the ground like weeds. I've encountered Pokemon twisted by Steel. The metal is PART of them now.
Oookay. This feels like a good place to end off. Will I commit to going through Skyspear Caverns, or will I screw off to go do other things? Find out next time in Dimi LP Z!
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