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Previous: https://lpix.org/sslptest/index.php?id=165687
Since the last part, a new update came out that changed the reward for the Mountain Lord. Of course the Mountain Lord required Graveler, so Graveler has respawned for people who have already got it. Very polite of the devs!
...Of course in the time between me recording this update and me writing this up, they have another update up so this isn't even the latest version of Salt and Shadow as I'm writing this. Skyspear Climb got a visual overhaul that I'll be showing off in a few updates.
This statue also requires Onix now instead of Rhyhorn, so we don't need to wait until Feverthorn Jungle to activate it.
Say hello to Sapphire, the Crystal Onix!
Crystal Onix is a Steel Fairy type with Earth Eater (immunity to ground moves, heals when hit by one) and a unique move in Aura Press (uses Special Defense for the attacking stat instead of Special Attack). Immunity to Ground, Poison, and Dragon is huge, and only weak to Fire is also big. Crystal Onix's whole gameplan is to use their incredible Special Defense to hit things hard while still being beefy specially; Cosmic Power buffs both defense stats which is effectively also an attack buff because of Aura Press, Reflect helps give defensive bulk to Onix, and Life Dew helps keep Onix's and it's teammate's health up. Sapphire could go places.
Allow me to introduce you to Sapphire's best friend, Gliscor. Gliscor has Earthquake, and the ability Poison Heal. We can pre-poison with Toxic Orb on a wild mon.
We're exploring the Queen's Garden today.
The only Tamer in the game! He's obsessed.
He's wobuffsessed. There's a Shiny Stone behind him after you beat him.
Anyways, Gliscor/Crystal Onix is a synergy. Gliscor can keep itself healed with Poison Heal, Earthquake hits both of the opposing team and heals Crystal Onix, Crystal Onix can either Aura Press to focus down one mon or Life Dew to keep both healed or use Reflect to add bulk to the team. It's pretty cool!
Fake Tears lowers the target's Special Defense by two stages. It's... fine? A huge part of battles is controlling momentum; in a game where it's wipe or be wiped out, it can be hard to justify making your opponent take double damage if they would have fainted in two hits anyways, especially when most mons suffer from 4 moveslot syndrome anyways. It's really good if you can slow the opponent's momentum to a crawl with a beefy team though.
Mud man! dah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah mud man, mud man.
god im so fucking stupid.
You know, people describe this game as super-hard. For a while I thought it was just people exaggerating because they aren't used to this style of game; I played on the game's hard mode on my first playthrough and made it through mostly unscathed. But then I keep watching people play on normal mode, and they're having just as much, if not more difficulty than I am playing on Perish Mode, and I'm just so confused. I don't consider myself that good at Pokémon; I barely got through Reborn unscathed, I'm not a competitive player. Does Perish Mode just give you a better mindset that makes the game easier? I'm breezing through all these fights now because I assume I've just gotten past the power spike and am doing synergy stuff, but would the same be true for other people with the same or better team comp? 
And remember, kids: mud spelled backwards, is DUM! 
Nasty Plot boosts your special attack by two stages. Nasty Plot, unlike it's Fake Tears sibling, is actually good. Nasty Plot is momentum that stays with you; you use it once, and if your opponent survives they, and any future mons sent in, are in for a world of hurt. You know, provided you outspeed and don't die.
: I have been travelling the world since I was but a wee babe searching for the finest cards!
...Don't you have the kid sprite? Are you older than you look, or is "since I was a wee babe" like a few years give or take?
: I carved my way through the blistering jungle, I delved into the deepest caves!
Yeah yeah, preen your feathers. You might even rival the Champion with that ego.
Sure, show me what you got.
Big words require big bets.
: Superior! Reminds me of the time among the cannibal potlucks...
The what now.
: But that's a story for another time. Have at thee!
She kicked my ass 
: Ha! You lost! That makes ME the winner!
Yeah yeah, sure.
: I have won! Victory craves my very presence!
Rub it in, why don't you.
: How much sweeter is the air, now it be flavored with roasting jealousy of your defeat?
Oh my god shut up
: Sweeter I still I say if marinated in your seething envy of my beauteous collection of earthen beasts!
I think I hate you 
also you typo'd. 
: Only joshing you dear girl! It's natural to lose to a legendary explorer such as myself.
Screw you, I'm not giving you the satisfaction of winning again.
: A wonderful game! Here are your winnings.
...What? No immaturity or anything? I was expecting at least a "no fair!".
: Bwahaha! The look on your face. Here, because the game was so fun!
Ah, there it is.
: If you have the geodudes to face me again, let's see that smug look stay on!
It's gonna stay on.
I was going to bet lower and see if she still rubbed it in with a lower bet, but unfortunately I'm too good at this game and don't get unique lose dialogue because I never lose.
: A little warm-up before the real action? Fine by me, I could use a nap.
Hey, screw you!
Eat this!
: Bah, I was going easy on you! Here, take your prize and stuff it down your gullet.
Yeah yeah, suck it, you lose, I win.
Have another loss while I'm at it. I will crush the self esteem of anyone who dares rub things in my face after I lose (third match gives us a Donphan)
: I... clearly need to re-examine my collection. Those mongrels at the Pokér Lounge won't serve me, but it still has its share of ambiance. To the Deepwood then. Smokebomb!
We're almost done finding all the Shadow Card players.
This shop sells good stuff. Renewable Ability Patches, Full Heals (which are both cheaper and more convenient than the inividual cure items), and 3 different TMs! Body Press in fact is the physical defense equivalent of Aura Press.
He has a Quagsire, Toxapex, and Swampert around the level 35 range. They go down to Crystal Onix shenanigans all the same.
More puzzle? More puzzle.
There's a couple endgoals in this puzzle and it's about fitting them together. Ideally Arcanine needs to be Skill Swapped Contrary at some point so they can sweep. We have a Forretress who can Explode and delete two mons instantly. We have a Rhyperior with Weakness Policy who could potentially take out, say, a Charizard.
First turn, we want to get Arcanine out of there and bring Forretress in. Rhyperior protects so they don't take premature damage.
Rhyperior almost certainly has a water move aimed at them, so we bring in Water Absorb Vaporeon to take it. Forretress meanwhile U-Turns to take out Meowstic.
Because we switched out Rhyperior at the beginning of the turn, U-turn lets us bring them back in.
We bring out Arcanine for the Intimidate so that Waterfall + whatever Charizard does doesn't knock out Rhyperior. It doesn't, allowing Rhyperior to get the Weakness Policy boost.
With the Weakness Policy activated, Rhyperior easily knocks out Charizard with Stone Edge. Aegislash comes out next, but they fall immediately to Arcanine's Overheat while Rhyperior protects.
I switch out Arcanine for Vaporeon because I need Arcanine alive for later, and Vaporeon can likely take a hit from Garchomp. Rhyperior goes down this turn.
Forretress comes in, and now they explode. Vaporeon and Marshomp don't make it, while Garchomp is heavily weakened.
This allows me to bring in both Spinda and Arcanine at the same time to skill swap contrary onto Arcanine. The intimidate goes off a second time because of the skill swap, funnily enough.
Close Combat on Garchomp because Fire is resisted by Dragon, and I want them down this turn. Sylveon gets a crit on Arcanine, which barely dents them, while Spinda goes down.
Overheat doesn't KO the first turn, but Sylveon is doing scratch damage and Contrary Overheat means my Overheats get stronger with each usage, so it only takes two Overheats to finish the fight.
On the way up to this Camper, there was a hyper potion. You might have noticed it disappearing between me fighting the fisherman and me doing the puzzle because I'm bad at continuity and didn't feel like dedicating an image to a potion.
Camper Sleepy relies on setting you to sleep. His first two mons go down easily enough.
Yeah that's a level 59 Jigglypuff, don't worry about it!
See? It's fine.
This rear-end-in-a-tophat of a Gengar puts Sapphire to sleep, and I spend a few turns waiting for it to bust out of sleep before getting impatient and using an awakening.
Amoonguss gets the last laugh with one final spore.
Our rewards for beating the Camper are both access to the person who flies us to the top of the mountain (which gives us a convenient fly point near here), and the Dome Fossil, the last of the 3 Fossils we need for the First Hunter statue.
We haven't turned in the Old Amber yet either, so lets do that.
Aerith the Aerodactyl and Kabbu the Kabutops. I was not feeling particularly creative when coming up with these.
I got a request to use Aerodactyl, which means I'm going to save scum to show off the statue reward before reverting back to my old save.
Tyrantrum? Huh.
Tyrantrum actually got buffed in the same update that added Crystal Onix to have a new ability. Regal Poise means that charging or cooldown turns aren't as punishing for Tyrantrum; paired with the Ancient Amulet we have (which makes Hyper beam-like moves not have a cooldown if they KO), Tyrantrum's buffed stats from vanilla (more special attack and special defense), and Tyrantrum's multi-turn movepool (not shown here: they also get Geomancy last I checked to sweep things better), and you have a potential monster. It's also level 40, which... you know, massive power spike.
I'm probably not using it. I'm fine with Aerodactyl. Next time: Even more Queen's Garden.
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