I go to some tall grass looking for pokemon with which to train Inanna. After I switch from her to Apsu and take out a wild Staravia, Inanna ascends immediately to Level 6. She's a bit of a brat though. She doesn't like the experience share. I give her the oval stone I have to shut her up. After victimizing another Staravia, Inanna grows to Level 7 and evolves. Good. I was hoping that oval stone would be good for something. She evolves into Chansey, which is great, because I really wanted that pokemon.
Apsu is looking hurt from the work he's put in, so when I meet a wild Bibarel, which seems to be a beaver, I give him a break and switch to Ninhursag. Like Inanna, she has some catching up to do. The Bibarel takes quite a beating, but goes down to mega drain eventually. Then Ninhursag evolves into Roselia. Truly, I am blessed. I just had two pokemon evolve, although I am still not sure why we're calling it that. I mean, they glow white and shift into something else. I guess maybe that could be considered evolution?
After healing Apsu, I step into the building next to the Poke Center. The man has an assignment for me. He wants me to show him a Luxio. He annoys me, so I call Sekhmet out of her poke ball to bite him. That way he will leave me alone. He is pleased by this. Oh, right. Sekhmet is a Luxio, after all. I seem to have inadvertently followed his instructions. He gives me some "luxury balls." Whatever. I am leaving.
I am also giving the experience share back to to Inanna. Now that she is Chansey, she doesn't need a stone to hold to pretend it's an egg, because apparently Chansey can lay eggs herself. This would not seem particularly odd, except I kept hearing in this town that no one has ever seen a pokemon lay an egg. Forget it.
And so I head north again. The path is probably blocked, but I can turn east or something. Also, I can find more trainers along the way for strengthening Inanna and Ninhursag. I feel like an evolution master.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Inanna
Two identical twin girls challenge me to a doubles battle. Apsu takes out their Mime Jr. in one hit, but Bonsly is a bit more trouble, wounding both Khali and Apsu before they bring it down. I also battle a girl dressed as Pikachu. She uses Pikachu. Khali dominates Pikachu. These weak trainers are becoming annoying. I meet another breeder, who wants to see what I've got. Mime Jr. is popular around here for some reason. It seems pretty ineffectual to me, but maybe it evolves into something good? Cleffa is up next. Some sort of pink homunculus. Apsu does what he does best. I switch to Hanuman for a flame wheel on the unfortunate Budew that follows.
I come to a strange structure. The remains of a tower? Something is telling me that the odd keystone would be a perfect fit here. That makes no sense. I am looking at the ruins and this ring of stone is huge. The odd keystone is tiny. Where would it go? Also, it's called a keystone presumably because it is one. I do not see any arches, so where would a keystone go? Forget it. I do not want to end up as crazy as the man who gave me this thing. Maybe later, when I am feeling more adventurous or something. For now, let's continue with my adventure.
I use my bicycle to get up one of those muddy slopes, and as soon as I have done so, a trainer ambushes me. She is some sort of hick and apparently thinks using several Bidoofs is a good idea. Apsu has some fun with them and learns a new move called dragon rage. Capital. I find some calcium and a TM. A man standing in front of the tower I am approaching refers to it as "lost tower." The name is stupid, but I recall what that trainer said in Hearthome City. I can already guess that I will have to fight my way to the top of this thing in exchange for some reward, possibly the HM for that strength move. This isn't that hard to figure out. But I will rest my team at Solaceon Town first if possible.
Two people running around like morons feel that I am intruding, so they challenge me to a doubles battle. They use Meditite and Machop. Fighting pokemon. Khali's psybeam presents an elegant solution. As soon as I get into Solaceon Town, someone gives me a Poketch app. Someone else, on seeing that I am a trainer, mentions that the town has no gym, but that Veilstone and Pastoria both do. I also find a day care. They can raise my pokemon. Well, some of my pokemon are not seeing any use, so maybe they'll be happier in this place. I leave Phlogeus and Cai Shen at the daycare. I must remember to pick them back up eventually.
I barge into houses of course, and receive a seal case in one of them. I'd rather not have. There really is not much in this town. I do find some ruins though. Big ones. An archaeologist or whatever is down here and he challenges me. Apsu uses Dragon Rage and easily sweeps away two Geodudes, but my opponent's Bronzor is more problematic, using hypnosis to put Apsu to sleep, then confuse ray, which I still cannot believe works. When Apsu wakes up, he hurts himself, but then still beats the Bronzor with bite. I make a note to myself to buy some awakenings.
When I walk away, I encounter a wild Unown. That was what my opponent meant when he babbled something about the place being filled with Unowns, then. Weak little things, it seems. Not worth worrying about. I find a nice trove of items, even though really it seems that other explorers should have located them already: this place is quite easy to navigate. Maybe someone is leaving items there like Boo Radley or something. Forget it.
I return to town and buy some supplies. I can either head north or check out the "lost tower." Towers are alright, I suppose. This tower is filled with headstones for some reason. A cemetery tower? As I investigate, a crazy blue-cap boy attacks me with his pokemon, screaming that I am a ghost. I summon Khali and show him a real ghost. He uses Stunky. Dark type, so a ghost might not have been best, but Khali wins anyway because she is awesome. I use Hanuman for some reason against Shellos. I guess I wasn't thinking. But fury swipes works well enough. My opponent's last pokemon is Kricketune. Flame wheel for the win.
This tower is inhabited by ghost pokemon. Of course. Headstones, therefore ghosts. Do ghost pokemon have an overdeveloped sense of irony? Some grieving trainers challenge me. Presumably their strong pokemon died and have been interred here, which is why they are so easy to defeat. How do pokemon die anyway? They seem to take blows that should kill anything and recover at and Poke Center. Maybe they age? In any case, the trainers are quite easy, mostly I have Khali use psybeam, although Apsu and Sekhmet pitch in too.
A wild Misdreavus brings Sekhmet down. She was already paralyzed and confuse ray kept her from getting a single hit in. Apsu gets revenge with a quick bite. A couple, possibly mentally ill, challenge me, each afraid to lose and embarrass the other. Both will have their fears realized. They use Misdreavus and Murkrow, a bird. Apsu's bite destroys Misdreavus in one hit. Khali's confuse ray disables Murkrow. But then the next turn, I find that Murkrow is immune to psybeam and resists bite. Dark type? Dragon rage finishes it next turn, so I guess it's no problem. The couple inform me that the pokemon who brought them together was buried here. So maybe they aren't mentally ill.
Two weird old ladies stand together on the top floor of the tower. One of them gives me an HM. Predictable. Also a bit strange even though I expected it. Before I get a chance to talk to her companion, we are interrupted by a Zubat. Pesky creature. Psybeam. The other lady gives me a "cleanse tag." She says that it will make my journey out of the tower easier. If the first pokemon on my team is holding it, wild pokemon will be held back. Forget that. I have nothing to fear from this place. I train with ghost pokemon all the time. I am practically king of the ghosts.
I heal my team at the Poke Center and head north, stopping only to be ambushed by some hicks with Glameow and Stunky. Confuse ray on the Stunky, Bite the Glameow, finish Glameow with psybeam and dragon rage the Stunky, following up with tackle to end the battle. I notice that Apsu still has splash. I teach Apsu strength to replace the useless move. I will have to get some badge to use it outside of battle, but we will worry about that later.
A wandering pokemon breeder challenges me. Her Cleffa uses copycat and psybeams Khali after absorbing a psybeam. I can only assume that copycat uses whatever move I used. But Cleffa is nearly done for anyway, so I apply a second psybeam. I switch to Hanuman against the next pokemon, Clefairy. Clefairy must be the evolved form of Cleffa. Hanuman rock smashes and the breeder uses Happiny next. Rock smash works well there too.
Some psyducks block the road north. For some reason, I am unable to battle them or otherwise get rid of them. They are an immovable obstacle. I return to Solaceon Town. On my way back, the egg I've been carrying around hatches. I have a brand new baby Happiny! I name her Inanna. My own baby pokemon that I hatched from an egg. This is great, but she's still only Level 1, which makes sense because she just hatched. I equip her with the experience share. Rest now, Inanna. When we next set out, you will have some growing to do.
I come to a strange structure. The remains of a tower? Something is telling me that the odd keystone would be a perfect fit here. That makes no sense. I am looking at the ruins and this ring of stone is huge. The odd keystone is tiny. Where would it go? Also, it's called a keystone presumably because it is one. I do not see any arches, so where would a keystone go? Forget it. I do not want to end up as crazy as the man who gave me this thing. Maybe later, when I am feeling more adventurous or something. For now, let's continue with my adventure.
I use my bicycle to get up one of those muddy slopes, and as soon as I have done so, a trainer ambushes me. She is some sort of hick and apparently thinks using several Bidoofs is a good idea. Apsu has some fun with them and learns a new move called dragon rage. Capital. I find some calcium and a TM. A man standing in front of the tower I am approaching refers to it as "lost tower." The name is stupid, but I recall what that trainer said in Hearthome City. I can already guess that I will have to fight my way to the top of this thing in exchange for some reward, possibly the HM for that strength move. This isn't that hard to figure out. But I will rest my team at Solaceon Town first if possible.
Two people running around like morons feel that I am intruding, so they challenge me to a doubles battle. They use Meditite and Machop. Fighting pokemon. Khali's psybeam presents an elegant solution. As soon as I get into Solaceon Town, someone gives me a Poketch app. Someone else, on seeing that I am a trainer, mentions that the town has no gym, but that Veilstone and Pastoria both do. I also find a day care. They can raise my pokemon. Well, some of my pokemon are not seeing any use, so maybe they'll be happier in this place. I leave Phlogeus and Cai Shen at the daycare. I must remember to pick them back up eventually.
I barge into houses of course, and receive a seal case in one of them. I'd rather not have. There really is not much in this town. I do find some ruins though. Big ones. An archaeologist or whatever is down here and he challenges me. Apsu uses Dragon Rage and easily sweeps away two Geodudes, but my opponent's Bronzor is more problematic, using hypnosis to put Apsu to sleep, then confuse ray, which I still cannot believe works. When Apsu wakes up, he hurts himself, but then still beats the Bronzor with bite. I make a note to myself to buy some awakenings.
When I walk away, I encounter a wild Unown. That was what my opponent meant when he babbled something about the place being filled with Unowns, then. Weak little things, it seems. Not worth worrying about. I find a nice trove of items, even though really it seems that other explorers should have located them already: this place is quite easy to navigate. Maybe someone is leaving items there like Boo Radley or something. Forget it.
I return to town and buy some supplies. I can either head north or check out the "lost tower." Towers are alright, I suppose. This tower is filled with headstones for some reason. A cemetery tower? As I investigate, a crazy blue-cap boy attacks me with his pokemon, screaming that I am a ghost. I summon Khali and show him a real ghost. He uses Stunky. Dark type, so a ghost might not have been best, but Khali wins anyway because she is awesome. I use Hanuman for some reason against Shellos. I guess I wasn't thinking. But fury swipes works well enough. My opponent's last pokemon is Kricketune. Flame wheel for the win.
This tower is inhabited by ghost pokemon. Of course. Headstones, therefore ghosts. Do ghost pokemon have an overdeveloped sense of irony? Some grieving trainers challenge me. Presumably their strong pokemon died and have been interred here, which is why they are so easy to defeat. How do pokemon die anyway? They seem to take blows that should kill anything and recover at and Poke Center. Maybe they age? In any case, the trainers are quite easy, mostly I have Khali use psybeam, although Apsu and Sekhmet pitch in too.
A wild Misdreavus brings Sekhmet down. She was already paralyzed and confuse ray kept her from getting a single hit in. Apsu gets revenge with a quick bite. A couple, possibly mentally ill, challenge me, each afraid to lose and embarrass the other. Both will have their fears realized. They use Misdreavus and Murkrow, a bird. Apsu's bite destroys Misdreavus in one hit. Khali's confuse ray disables Murkrow. But then the next turn, I find that Murkrow is immune to psybeam and resists bite. Dark type? Dragon rage finishes it next turn, so I guess it's no problem. The couple inform me that the pokemon who brought them together was buried here. So maybe they aren't mentally ill.
Two weird old ladies stand together on the top floor of the tower. One of them gives me an HM. Predictable. Also a bit strange even though I expected it. Before I get a chance to talk to her companion, we are interrupted by a Zubat. Pesky creature. Psybeam. The other lady gives me a "cleanse tag." She says that it will make my journey out of the tower easier. If the first pokemon on my team is holding it, wild pokemon will be held back. Forget that. I have nothing to fear from this place. I train with ghost pokemon all the time. I am practically king of the ghosts.
I heal my team at the Poke Center and head north, stopping only to be ambushed by some hicks with Glameow and Stunky. Confuse ray on the Stunky, Bite the Glameow, finish Glameow with psybeam and dragon rage the Stunky, following up with tackle to end the battle. I notice that Apsu still has splash. I teach Apsu strength to replace the useless move. I will have to get some badge to use it outside of battle, but we will worry about that later.
A wandering pokemon breeder challenges me. Her Cleffa uses copycat and psybeams Khali after absorbing a psybeam. I can only assume that copycat uses whatever move I used. But Cleffa is nearly done for anyway, so I apply a second psybeam. I switch to Hanuman against the next pokemon, Clefairy. Clefairy must be the evolved form of Cleffa. Hanuman rock smashes and the breeder uses Happiny next. Rock smash works well there too.
Some psyducks block the road north. For some reason, I am unable to battle them or otherwise get rid of them. They are an immovable obstacle. I return to Solaceon Town. On my way back, the egg I've been carrying around hatches. I have a brand new baby Happiny! I name her Inanna. My own baby pokemon that I hatched from an egg. This is great, but she's still only Level 1, which makes sense because she just hatched. I equip her with the experience share. Rest now, Inanna. When we next set out, you will have some growing to do.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Hearthome City
As soon as I enter Hearthome City, a Buneary runs up to me. I am not used to encountering wild pokemon in cities. I am about do the people of this city a favor and dispose of the lagomorph menace with a well-placed rock smash, but a woman runs up and thanks me for stopping her Buneary. Oh. Her name is Keira and she says some other insignificant thing, then leaves.
The people of this city are a little strange. Some guy talks about how I can either challenge the gym or the contest hall. Who cares about contests? My mother is into that nonsense. I am a hot-blooded young male. I am most certainly not a middle-aged woman. Get away from me. A man from some place called Hoenn wants to show me the contest hall. I do not care about the contest hall. I will not enter it. I do not like the contest hall. Go away. A woman complains that the baby in her stroller is getting heavier all the time. I walk briskly away. Someone else mentions that a water stone made her pokemon evolve. That actually does not annoy me. She must be from out of town.
I see a building that looks like a cathedral. Interesting. Perhaps religion is the explanation for this city's strangeness. The people in this cathedral are unsurprisingly dull. One thing is perplexing though. And that's the quiet. No, really. I feel as though I have been hearing music of some sort during every waking hour of this adventure. The music shifts. It is different in battle than it is outside of battle and different in a city than out on the road. But here, silence. Even though there is nothing to like about this place, I pause for a moment and relish the silence. Enough of this. I exit.
Someone named "Mr. Goods" says that he will find something rare for me later. Yeah, sure. A hiker says that he walked with his Pachirisu in Amity Square. Then I find the gate to what is apparently this "Amity Square." But when I try to enter the square, I am stopped by a gatekeeper...
"In Amity Square, you may go for a stroll with a cute pokemon. The permitted pokemon are Pikachu, Clefairy, Psyduck, Pachirisu, Happiny, Buneary, and Drifloon. Please do come back with one!"
Madness. How is my little Apsu not just the cutest thing ever? Well, "little" he might not be, since he weighs over 500 pounds. But he is cute! I leave Amity Square in disgust. Someone in the Poke Center informs me that the local gym leader is a chicken or something and is not around right now. Oh well. I did not have gym badges in mind right now anyway. I barge into a nearby house, because that's what I do. A woman working at a computer greets me...
"Oh, Hiya! You're a trainer. That means you're using Pokemon Boxes! I love meeting end users! Oh, what's up? Why that astonished look? Oh, right, sorry! There I go running my mouth again! My name's Bebe! You know the Pokemon Boxes? I'm the system administrator!"
So she's "someone"?
"My buddy Bill developed the basic storage system. I tinkered with it here and there to make it easier for me to use."
She wants to talk shop here and I have things to do, so I bid her good day and barge into another building. The people living here talk about pokemon like everyone else, but it becomes apparent that this is some sort of commune. Creepy. There are no stairs, just an elevator. An old woman on the second floor says that it's because having no stairs makes it easier for little pokemon to get around. That's cool. We'll see what the fire marshal has to say about it once I find him.
Someone was given the HM for a move called "strength" at a "Lost Tower." I take note of this, although why the guy would call the tower "lost" if he was there, I do not know. The gym is open, but the leader is indeed absent. A man outside the gym brags about how well he will do in contests, so I quickly leave. Another building with an elevator and no stairs. Maybe this place has no fire code? People talk about contests, which I still want nothing to do with. A woman on the second story gives me a shell bell, though. I equip it onto Hanuman. Sekhmet already has a quick claw. I also give Ninhursag a poison barb and Apsu a dread plate. I will probably find better items later.
The next building I recklessly enter is apparently a pokemon fan club. A nice lady there tells me that Khali is happy being with me. Of course she is. I let her psybeam chumps. The "chairman" of the club seems a bit touched. However, he does give me a free poffin case. He wants me to feed poffins to my pokemon. Whatever. A hiker asks me if I want a pokemon egg that came from the Solaceon Town. I say that I do, but apparently I cannot hold the egg while also holding six pokemon. The egg takes up a slot for some reason. I deposit Articuno (my insurance, but everything has been so weak lately that I'm feeling quite safe as it is) then head back to the man and accept the egg.
He says that if I carry the egg along with energetic pokemon, it will hatch. Whatever. For no discernable reason, two men block the gate. I find another entrance to Amity Square. Someone is complaining that they will not let his Gyarados and Steelix in. I sympathize. It is unjust. Well, the only place left to go is the gate to the south, which leads to Route 212. Some people inside are talking about contests. I will be glad to get away from this infernal city. A news crew, most likely from Jubilife TV, blocks the end of the gate.
Suddenly I realize what is going on. The people blocking my paths are too conveniently placed. This world wants me to do something in Hearthome City before I can continue. Curse you, Hearthome City. My heart was forged in a dying star. I enter the poffin house, but there's nothing there except a giant blender that is, undoubtedly, used to make poffins. I get a sinking feeling. It's the contest hall, isn't it? I have to do something at the contest hall before I can leave Hearthome City. That's it, isn't it? Maybe not. Maybe it's Amity Square? Driflloon was on the approved list, so I run back to the Poke Center and swap Khali for Nyx.
Amity Square is one big park. Nyx seems very happy to be here. If only they would allow me to take my other pokemon for walks here. I am finding TM's lying around for some reason. Nyx finds a yellow feather and as soon as I see it I shove it into the fashion case against my will. Another trainer here also has a Drifloon. A fellow ghost fan? For some reason, there are some unlikely ruins on one end of the park, and I find some more items there.
Despite finding some nice loot, Amity Square can not rid me of the people blocking my paths. I leave, and a reporter from Jubilife TV interviews me about my experience. I say that I am disappointed. So it's to be the contest hall, then. Someone is blocking my path. Someone with a unique and very prominent hairstyle. She apologizes for getting in my way, asking if I am entering a contest. She reveals that she is Fantina, leader of the gym in this city. I see. She says that I must become stonger before facing her, then walks off. That guy was right. She really is chicken. And the people blocking my paths still block my paths. I had better try the contest hall. Maybe I can get out of this without participating in or even seeing one of those stupid exhibitions.
As soon as I step into the contest hall, Keira sees me. She exclaims, "Oh! My hero!" Not normally a problem, but Mom is standing right next to her. Now she's going to think I actually like contests. Of all the times to step into this accursed hall, I have to pick one when she is right in front of the entrance. Keira is surprised at this revelation...
"What! No! Really?! Johanna is your mom?"
Uh, yes. I totally knew her name was Johanna the whole time. Never forgot about that for a minute. No crazy person to see here. Just your average boy. You can bet that I sure did know her name was Johanna and that this was not new to me at all.
"So you might be a Contest star?!"
Well, no. You see, in order to become a contest star, one must actually compete in, uh, contests. Not going to happen. I am a pokemon trainer, not a pokemon coordinator or whatever you losers call yourselves. I catch pokemon. I battle pokemon. I name them after forgotten gods. Sometimes I pass out and trade them, apparently. I store them in a computer. I walk around with them in parks. But the one thing I never, ever do is enter them in contests. I just want to be clear on that.
Fortunately, Mom seems aware of my distaste for this stuff. She seems to doubt that I will be a "contest star." Good. Keira insists on giving me some stupid accessory for "saving" her Buneary (the one I was about to rock smash because it got in my way). Then encourages me to try contests. Not going to happen. Mom remains behind to talk to me. Am I in trouble?
"Were you surprised to see me here, Master? I got bored, so I came out to Hearthome for a little vacation. I'm just as surprised to see you here, my dear! But are you serious about entering Contests?"
No. A thousand times, no. Well, yes about being surprised to see you here. I didn't expect you to leave the television set alone. But no about entering contests.
"Not dressed that way!"
Not dressed any way!
"When your Pokemon is all dressed up, you can't be dressed your usual way. Put this on for a little glamour."
Whatever it is, I am most assuredly not wearing it.
"I'm sure it will look good on you. After all, I chose it. Go enjoy the Contests, honey! Contests will give you a different look at the many charms of Pokemon. It should be an eye-opening experience for you. Bye now!"
This terrible ordeal gives me an idea, though. I will demand that the people blocking the roads let me pass, stating that I am the son of Johanna. They might fall for it. Who knows? Before I get to them, Slave dashes at me on the street. I expect he will want to battle me. And I left Articuno in the PC! Oh well, let's do this...
He leads with Starly. I lead with Khali and have her use confuse ray. The Starly hurts himself pretty badly from the confuse ray. A psybeam finishes it off.
He brings in Prinplup. That's the evolved form of his Piplup, I'm sure. I switch to Sekhmet and have her attack with spark. Prinplup hits back with bubble. Sekhmet clearly has the advantage in this. Another spark and Prinplup is down. Sekhmet gains a level and learns roar too.
He brings in Roselia while I switch to Hanuman. Flame wheel takes Roselia out in one hit. Easy.
He brings in Ponyta while I switch to Apsu. Slave, I have you outclassed in this whole battling thing. Maybe you should try contests. Oh man, I need to remember to hit him with that one after I win this battle. His Ponyta tail whips Apsu a couple of times and bite ends the battle. Slave is upset...
"Waaaagh! You KO'd my team again?! This messes up my dreams of becoming the greatest Trainer ever...No! I just need to get tougher and keep winning. One day...That's it! I'm going to challenge the Veilstone Gym next! See you around, Master! You'll be blown away by how much tougher I'll be next time we meet!"
Now I feel too bad to use the contest line. He is so emotionally involved in battling. I can tell that he cares about this a lot. Still, I am obviously a lot better than him at it. I mean, none of my pokemon were even threatened. Only one of my team took damage at all and I am not even using all of my strongest pokemon here.
The guys blocking my path east are gone now. Maybe they heard Mom was in town. Or maybe my battle with Slave scared them off. But they're gone. I set out on the road to Solaceon Town. I try to, anyway. As soon as I leave the gate a pokemon breeder accosts me and battles me with Bonsly, Budew, and Pichu. They get psybeam, bite, and bite respectively. My hunger for victory not yet fully quenched, I approach a fisherman standing on a dock along the river. He turns out not to be a trainer, but he does give me a "good rod." And the next person I meet isn't a trainer either. He's just a jogger. Still, there are bound to be some trainers for me to crush somewhere around here. So I set out for parts unknown. Actually, they are known: I checked the map and I'm approaching Solaceon Town.
The people of this city are a little strange. Some guy talks about how I can either challenge the gym or the contest hall. Who cares about contests? My mother is into that nonsense. I am a hot-blooded young male. I am most certainly not a middle-aged woman. Get away from me. A man from some place called Hoenn wants to show me the contest hall. I do not care about the contest hall. I will not enter it. I do not like the contest hall. Go away. A woman complains that the baby in her stroller is getting heavier all the time. I walk briskly away. Someone else mentions that a water stone made her pokemon evolve. That actually does not annoy me. She must be from out of town.
I see a building that looks like a cathedral. Interesting. Perhaps religion is the explanation for this city's strangeness. The people in this cathedral are unsurprisingly dull. One thing is perplexing though. And that's the quiet. No, really. I feel as though I have been hearing music of some sort during every waking hour of this adventure. The music shifts. It is different in battle than it is outside of battle and different in a city than out on the road. But here, silence. Even though there is nothing to like about this place, I pause for a moment and relish the silence. Enough of this. I exit.
Someone named "Mr. Goods" says that he will find something rare for me later. Yeah, sure. A hiker says that he walked with his Pachirisu in Amity Square. Then I find the gate to what is apparently this "Amity Square." But when I try to enter the square, I am stopped by a gatekeeper...
"In Amity Square, you may go for a stroll with a cute pokemon. The permitted pokemon are Pikachu, Clefairy, Psyduck, Pachirisu, Happiny, Buneary, and Drifloon. Please do come back with one!"
Madness. How is my little Apsu not just the cutest thing ever? Well, "little" he might not be, since he weighs over 500 pounds. But he is cute! I leave Amity Square in disgust. Someone in the Poke Center informs me that the local gym leader is a chicken or something and is not around right now. Oh well. I did not have gym badges in mind right now anyway. I barge into a nearby house, because that's what I do. A woman working at a computer greets me...
"Oh, Hiya! You're a trainer. That means you're using Pokemon Boxes! I love meeting end users! Oh, what's up? Why that astonished look? Oh, right, sorry! There I go running my mouth again! My name's Bebe! You know the Pokemon Boxes? I'm the system administrator!"
So she's "someone"?
"My buddy Bill developed the basic storage system. I tinkered with it here and there to make it easier for me to use."
She wants to talk shop here and I have things to do, so I bid her good day and barge into another building. The people living here talk about pokemon like everyone else, but it becomes apparent that this is some sort of commune. Creepy. There are no stairs, just an elevator. An old woman on the second floor says that it's because having no stairs makes it easier for little pokemon to get around. That's cool. We'll see what the fire marshal has to say about it once I find him.
Someone was given the HM for a move called "strength" at a "Lost Tower." I take note of this, although why the guy would call the tower "lost" if he was there, I do not know. The gym is open, but the leader is indeed absent. A man outside the gym brags about how well he will do in contests, so I quickly leave. Another building with an elevator and no stairs. Maybe this place has no fire code? People talk about contests, which I still want nothing to do with. A woman on the second story gives me a shell bell, though. I equip it onto Hanuman. Sekhmet already has a quick claw. I also give Ninhursag a poison barb and Apsu a dread plate. I will probably find better items later.
The next building I recklessly enter is apparently a pokemon fan club. A nice lady there tells me that Khali is happy being with me. Of course she is. I let her psybeam chumps. The "chairman" of the club seems a bit touched. However, he does give me a free poffin case. He wants me to feed poffins to my pokemon. Whatever. A hiker asks me if I want a pokemon egg that came from the Solaceon Town. I say that I do, but apparently I cannot hold the egg while also holding six pokemon. The egg takes up a slot for some reason. I deposit Articuno (my insurance, but everything has been so weak lately that I'm feeling quite safe as it is) then head back to the man and accept the egg.
He says that if I carry the egg along with energetic pokemon, it will hatch. Whatever. For no discernable reason, two men block the gate. I find another entrance to Amity Square. Someone is complaining that they will not let his Gyarados and Steelix in. I sympathize. It is unjust. Well, the only place left to go is the gate to the south, which leads to Route 212. Some people inside are talking about contests. I will be glad to get away from this infernal city. A news crew, most likely from Jubilife TV, blocks the end of the gate.
Suddenly I realize what is going on. The people blocking my paths are too conveniently placed. This world wants me to do something in Hearthome City before I can continue. Curse you, Hearthome City. My heart was forged in a dying star. I enter the poffin house, but there's nothing there except a giant blender that is, undoubtedly, used to make poffins. I get a sinking feeling. It's the contest hall, isn't it? I have to do something at the contest hall before I can leave Hearthome City. That's it, isn't it? Maybe not. Maybe it's Amity Square? Driflloon was on the approved list, so I run back to the Poke Center and swap Khali for Nyx.
Amity Square is one big park. Nyx seems very happy to be here. If only they would allow me to take my other pokemon for walks here. I am finding TM's lying around for some reason. Nyx finds a yellow feather and as soon as I see it I shove it into the fashion case against my will. Another trainer here also has a Drifloon. A fellow ghost fan? For some reason, there are some unlikely ruins on one end of the park, and I find some more items there.
Despite finding some nice loot, Amity Square can not rid me of the people blocking my paths. I leave, and a reporter from Jubilife TV interviews me about my experience. I say that I am disappointed. So it's to be the contest hall, then. Someone is blocking my path. Someone with a unique and very prominent hairstyle. She apologizes for getting in my way, asking if I am entering a contest. She reveals that she is Fantina, leader of the gym in this city. I see. She says that I must become stonger before facing her, then walks off. That guy was right. She really is chicken. And the people blocking my paths still block my paths. I had better try the contest hall. Maybe I can get out of this without participating in or even seeing one of those stupid exhibitions.
As soon as I step into the contest hall, Keira sees me. She exclaims, "Oh! My hero!" Not normally a problem, but Mom is standing right next to her. Now she's going to think I actually like contests. Of all the times to step into this accursed hall, I have to pick one when she is right in front of the entrance. Keira is surprised at this revelation...
"What! No! Really?! Johanna is your mom?"
Uh, yes. I totally knew her name was Johanna the whole time. Never forgot about that for a minute. No crazy person to see here. Just your average boy. You can bet that I sure did know her name was Johanna and that this was not new to me at all.
"So you might be a Contest star?!"
Well, no. You see, in order to become a contest star, one must actually compete in, uh, contests. Not going to happen. I am a pokemon trainer, not a pokemon coordinator or whatever you losers call yourselves. I catch pokemon. I battle pokemon. I name them after forgotten gods. Sometimes I pass out and trade them, apparently. I store them in a computer. I walk around with them in parks. But the one thing I never, ever do is enter them in contests. I just want to be clear on that.
Fortunately, Mom seems aware of my distaste for this stuff. She seems to doubt that I will be a "contest star." Good. Keira insists on giving me some stupid accessory for "saving" her Buneary (the one I was about to rock smash because it got in my way). Then encourages me to try contests. Not going to happen. Mom remains behind to talk to me. Am I in trouble?
"Were you surprised to see me here, Master? I got bored, so I came out to Hearthome for a little vacation. I'm just as surprised to see you here, my dear! But are you serious about entering Contests?"
No. A thousand times, no. Well, yes about being surprised to see you here. I didn't expect you to leave the television set alone. But no about entering contests.
"Not dressed that way!"
Not dressed any way!
"When your Pokemon is all dressed up, you can't be dressed your usual way. Put this on for a little glamour."
Whatever it is, I am most assuredly not wearing it.
"I'm sure it will look good on you. After all, I chose it. Go enjoy the Contests, honey! Contests will give you a different look at the many charms of Pokemon. It should be an eye-opening experience for you. Bye now!"
This terrible ordeal gives me an idea, though. I will demand that the people blocking the roads let me pass, stating that I am the son of Johanna. They might fall for it. Who knows? Before I get to them, Slave dashes at me on the street. I expect he will want to battle me. And I left Articuno in the PC! Oh well, let's do this...
He leads with Starly. I lead with Khali and have her use confuse ray. The Starly hurts himself pretty badly from the confuse ray. A psybeam finishes it off.
He brings in Prinplup. That's the evolved form of his Piplup, I'm sure. I switch to Sekhmet and have her attack with spark. Prinplup hits back with bubble. Sekhmet clearly has the advantage in this. Another spark and Prinplup is down. Sekhmet gains a level and learns roar too.
He brings in Roselia while I switch to Hanuman. Flame wheel takes Roselia out in one hit. Easy.
He brings in Ponyta while I switch to Apsu. Slave, I have you outclassed in this whole battling thing. Maybe you should try contests. Oh man, I need to remember to hit him with that one after I win this battle. His Ponyta tail whips Apsu a couple of times and bite ends the battle. Slave is upset...
"Waaaagh! You KO'd my team again?! This messes up my dreams of becoming the greatest Trainer ever...No! I just need to get tougher and keep winning. One day...That's it! I'm going to challenge the Veilstone Gym next! See you around, Master! You'll be blown away by how much tougher I'll be next time we meet!"
Now I feel too bad to use the contest line. He is so emotionally involved in battling. I can tell that he cares about this a lot. Still, I am obviously a lot better than him at it. I mean, none of my pokemon were even threatened. Only one of my team took damage at all and I am not even using all of my strongest pokemon here.
The guys blocking my path east are gone now. Maybe they heard Mom was in town. Or maybe my battle with Slave scared them off. But they're gone. I set out on the road to Solaceon Town. I try to, anyway. As soon as I leave the gate a pokemon breeder accosts me and battles me with Bonsly, Budew, and Pichu. They get psybeam, bite, and bite respectively. My hunger for victory not yet fully quenched, I approach a fisherman standing on a dock along the river. He turns out not to be a trainer, but he does give me a "good rod." And the next person I meet isn't a trainer either. He's just a jogger. Still, there are bound to be some trainers for me to crush somewhere around here. So I set out for parts unknown. Actually, they are known: I checked the map and I'm approaching Solaceon Town.
Stupid Mountain
The stupid mountain can wait a bit longer. I found a path to the side with some trainers. The first one to face me is a blue-cap kid who states that he always wears shorts. Great, but why is it that you and so many other boys always wear these blue hats? Apsu bites his way through that battle. The next trainer is a hiker. Hanuman and Apsu take turns crushing things. Finally, there's a crazy martial arts woman with Meditite and Machop. She gets to see firsthand what Khali can do with psybeam.
I enter the dreaded mountain. A Machop bothers me while I walk and gets a psybeam in return. I reach a rock and am about to have Hanuman smash it, but a man with striking blue hair approaches me. He speaks...
"According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh reion began." He turns to the side, watching I don't know what. "...In a newly created world...A world where only time flowed and space expanded...There should have been no strife. But what became of that world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has spread...This world is being ruined by it...I find the state of things to be deplorable..."
He motions for me to move out of his path. Without even thinking, I do. He departs. Too bad. I would have liked to challenge his philosophy there. Firstly, strife is presumably a human condition. Perhaps he would disagree, but if strife is an abstract concept that transcends consciousness, strife may indeed have been present early in the universe. This would be incompatible with his talk of the human spirit anyway. But if strife is a human condition, surely it is part of a greater human framework that includes whatever faculties he is using in making his assessment. He is, from his position as a human, judging the world as being "ruined" by a human quality, namely strife. It is my suspicion that strife is inextricable from this framework, not something that can be isolated. Unless he is claiming to be without strife himself, and therefore different from the rest of us, strife is part of his own framework and he is necessarily using strife to damn strife. This is begging the question: the faculties used to make judgment can neither validate nor invalidate themselves. And being without strife himself would create a new problem because without isolating strife and without experiencing it, he is in no position to judge it. I would have liked to hear his answers to those criticisms. Then again, he probably has not thought this through very well. He is likely a dangerous and irrational man.
While I am considering this, a pokemon called Chingling attacks me. Khali easily beats her with astonish. Another Machop takes a psybeam and goes down. I encounter another Chingling. I am about to try to catch this one for the pokedex project, but I am running low on poke balls. Best to save them for rare pokemon, if I run into any. There are some parts of the cave I cannot get to right now (rocky walls that will probably be scaled by an HM move later), so I leave through an exit that takes me to a series of bridges. Here's another hiker. Geodudes, of course. A man running around in a gi challenges me. Why is he wearing a gi? Oh well, he has Machop, which is easy for Khali. Another hiker blocks my path as I am leaving the bridges. He actually leads with Onix, which takes more punishment than Geodude, but is still easy enough for psybeam.
I descend a large staircase and cross a field, battling a Psyduck along the way. Another man in a gi is at the bottom, but he does not challenge me. He just gives me an item. An "odd keystone." He tells me to go to Route 209 and go underground. He also tells me to listen to the stone pillar and talk to people underground. Right. Still, nice to know that some people have psychoses more severe than my own? I don't know.
An old man in bizarre clothing challenges me. A veteran trainer? His "Mime Jr." pokemon goes down in one hit against Khali. Since Khali is now Level 25, I switch to Apsu. I want my other pokemon to have some fun. My opponent uses "Bonsly." Apsu has little trouble with this tree thing. As I keep walking north, a woman act's all absent-minded and says that she was about to enter a contest, but that beating me won't take long. Combee goes down in one hit against Khali's psybeam. Roselia takes two hits. Easy.
I find some berries. I pick them and do not plant anything because I am not into planting berries. I barge into the nearby house and find a berry guru or whatever. He gives me another berry. A little girl in the house gives me a Poketch app that locates berries. Excellent. Now I can strip Sinnoh of berries forever. All of the berries will be mine. None for anyone else. All mine, I tell you. Someone is trying to sell me mulch, so I get out of there and arrive in Hearthome City.
I enter the dreaded mountain. A Machop bothers me while I walk and gets a psybeam in return. I reach a rock and am about to have Hanuman smash it, but a man with striking blue hair approaches me. He speaks...
"According to one theory, Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh reion began." He turns to the side, watching I don't know what. "...In a newly created world...A world where only time flowed and space expanded...There should have been no strife. But what became of that world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has spread...This world is being ruined by it...I find the state of things to be deplorable..."
He motions for me to move out of his path. Without even thinking, I do. He departs. Too bad. I would have liked to challenge his philosophy there. Firstly, strife is presumably a human condition. Perhaps he would disagree, but if strife is an abstract concept that transcends consciousness, strife may indeed have been present early in the universe. This would be incompatible with his talk of the human spirit anyway. But if strife is a human condition, surely it is part of a greater human framework that includes whatever faculties he is using in making his assessment. He is, from his position as a human, judging the world as being "ruined" by a human quality, namely strife. It is my suspicion that strife is inextricable from this framework, not something that can be isolated. Unless he is claiming to be without strife himself, and therefore different from the rest of us, strife is part of his own framework and he is necessarily using strife to damn strife. This is begging the question: the faculties used to make judgment can neither validate nor invalidate themselves. And being without strife himself would create a new problem because without isolating strife and without experiencing it, he is in no position to judge it. I would have liked to hear his answers to those criticisms. Then again, he probably has not thought this through very well. He is likely a dangerous and irrational man.
While I am considering this, a pokemon called Chingling attacks me. Khali easily beats her with astonish. Another Machop takes a psybeam and goes down. I encounter another Chingling. I am about to try to catch this one for the pokedex project, but I am running low on poke balls. Best to save them for rare pokemon, if I run into any. There are some parts of the cave I cannot get to right now (rocky walls that will probably be scaled by an HM move later), so I leave through an exit that takes me to a series of bridges. Here's another hiker. Geodudes, of course. A man running around in a gi challenges me. Why is he wearing a gi? Oh well, he has Machop, which is easy for Khali. Another hiker blocks my path as I am leaving the bridges. He actually leads with Onix, which takes more punishment than Geodude, but is still easy enough for psybeam.
I descend a large staircase and cross a field, battling a Psyduck along the way. Another man in a gi is at the bottom, but he does not challenge me. He just gives me an item. An "odd keystone." He tells me to go to Route 209 and go underground. He also tells me to listen to the stone pillar and talk to people underground. Right. Still, nice to know that some people have psychoses more severe than my own? I don't know.
An old man in bizarre clothing challenges me. A veteran trainer? His "Mime Jr." pokemon goes down in one hit against Khali. Since Khali is now Level 25, I switch to Apsu. I want my other pokemon to have some fun. My opponent uses "Bonsly." Apsu has little trouble with this tree thing. As I keep walking north, a woman act's all absent-minded and says that she was about to enter a contest, but that beating me won't take long. Combee goes down in one hit against Khali's psybeam. Roselia takes two hits. Easy.
I find some berries. I pick them and do not plant anything because I am not into planting berries. I barge into the nearby house and find a berry guru or whatever. He gives me another berry. A little girl in the house gives me a Poketch app that locates berries. Excellent. Now I can strip Sinnoh of berries forever. All of the berries will be mine. None for anyone else. All mine, I tell you. Someone is trying to sell me mulch, so I get out of there and arrive in Hearthome City.
The Underground
I adjust my team. I am now carrying Sekhmet, Apsu, Khali, Ninhursag, Hanuman, and Articuno. I head north, then turn east onto a road I have not yet traversed. A boy and a girl who are camping or picnicking or some such thing challenge me. Sekhmet and Apsu team up with a biting frenzy that destroys their Pachirisu and Ponyta. One of the trainers tells me that I can dig up fossils in the underground and turn them into pokemon at the museum. With this strange world, I do not know whether to take such a claim seriously or not. It could be the case, I suppose. And I have not tried going underground yet. I make note of this, but for now, continue along the road.
A hefty hiker who looks just like all of the others challenges me and, unsurprisingly, leads with Geodude. Khali's psybeam is much too powerful for the rock pokemon to handle. My opponent then brings out Bronzor. This one takes a beating, but puts Khali to sleep with hypnosis. Somehow, it then confuses her while she is still asleep. Enough of this. I switch to Hanuman. Flame wheel ends the battle. But the road ends at a cave in Mt. Coronet. I have had enough of caves recently. I get my bicycle and journey back to Eterna City.
Of course, Route 211 also leads to Mt. Coronet, but there is a boulder outside the cave that I can break with Hanuman. It was blocking my path before. I cross the bridge and some bird freak challenges me with her owl pokemon. Sekhmet's spark makes quick work of the owl. Nothing else down here but a TM lying abandoned on the ground. So much for avoiding the mountain. Actually, I do just that, returning to the tunnel between Jubilife City and Oreburgh City. There were some formations I could not get through on foot, but that a bicycle could supposedly surmount. I intend to check them out.
These ramps seem made for my bike. Convenient. The Zubats and Geodudes attacking me all the time are a bit less convenient, but Sekhmet is beating them back with ease. All I find for my trouble, though, is a TM. Looks like I really will have to go through Mt. Coronet. Fine. But first, I will try the underground. I doubt it will give me a way to avoid the mountain, but it is one more thing to do. As soon as I try to use the explorer kit, a gaping black hole appears beneath me and I fall in. I land, completely unharmed, in what looks like a mine. Roark is here...
"Hey! Master! Is this maybe your first time here?"
Yes.
"Welcome to Sinnoh's Underground! Huh? Where is this, you ask?"
No, I didn't.
"Doesn't the Radar make it obvious?"
No.
"This is a giant underground netowrk of passages underneath Sinnoh. Huh, what am I doing down in this expanse of a place?"
I did not ask that.
"That's kind of hard to answer."
I really do not care. One of my weakest pokemon beat everything you had and I have gotten a whole lot stronger since then. You are small-time, Roark.
"I mean, you can do pretty much anything you want down here."
Except not suck at pokemon, apparently.
"For instance, you can dig up Treasure, Spheres, and make a Secret Base."
Is he still talking?
"You can play with your friends down here too."
I'm surprised you still have any friends, after they saw you get such a brutal beating at my hands.
"You should talk to the Underground Man in Eterna City."
How does he think I got down here?
"I have to get going now. I'll see you around!"
And with that, he spins around and flies up, disappearing from view. Whatever, I commence to digging for treasure. I also commence to clearing a lot of traps someone put in the ground. It was probably Roark. He is probably trying to catch me so that he can cannibalize me. I will probably have to kill him later.
Searching for treasure eventually becomes tiresome. Although I do find some potentially useful items, none of them are fossils. I sigh, return to the surface, and prepare to enter Mt. Coronet.
A hefty hiker who looks just like all of the others challenges me and, unsurprisingly, leads with Geodude. Khali's psybeam is much too powerful for the rock pokemon to handle. My opponent then brings out Bronzor. This one takes a beating, but puts Khali to sleep with hypnosis. Somehow, it then confuses her while she is still asleep. Enough of this. I switch to Hanuman. Flame wheel ends the battle. But the road ends at a cave in Mt. Coronet. I have had enough of caves recently. I get my bicycle and journey back to Eterna City.
Of course, Route 211 also leads to Mt. Coronet, but there is a boulder outside the cave that I can break with Hanuman. It was blocking my path before. I cross the bridge and some bird freak challenges me with her owl pokemon. Sekhmet's spark makes quick work of the owl. Nothing else down here but a TM lying abandoned on the ground. So much for avoiding the mountain. Actually, I do just that, returning to the tunnel between Jubilife City and Oreburgh City. There were some formations I could not get through on foot, but that a bicycle could supposedly surmount. I intend to check them out.
These ramps seem made for my bike. Convenient. The Zubats and Geodudes attacking me all the time are a bit less convenient, but Sekhmet is beating them back with ease. All I find for my trouble, though, is a TM. Looks like I really will have to go through Mt. Coronet. Fine. But first, I will try the underground. I doubt it will give me a way to avoid the mountain, but it is one more thing to do. As soon as I try to use the explorer kit, a gaping black hole appears beneath me and I fall in. I land, completely unharmed, in what looks like a mine. Roark is here...
"Hey! Master! Is this maybe your first time here?"
Yes.
"Welcome to Sinnoh's Underground! Huh? Where is this, you ask?"
No, I didn't.
"Doesn't the Radar make it obvious?"
No.
"This is a giant underground netowrk of passages underneath Sinnoh. Huh, what am I doing down in this expanse of a place?"
I did not ask that.
"That's kind of hard to answer."
I really do not care. One of my weakest pokemon beat everything you had and I have gotten a whole lot stronger since then. You are small-time, Roark.
"I mean, you can do pretty much anything you want down here."
Except not suck at pokemon, apparently.
"For instance, you can dig up Treasure, Spheres, and make a Secret Base."
Is he still talking?
"You can play with your friends down here too."
I'm surprised you still have any friends, after they saw you get such a brutal beating at my hands.
"You should talk to the Underground Man in Eterna City."
How does he think I got down here?
"I have to get going now. I'll see you around!"
And with that, he spins around and flies up, disappearing from view. Whatever, I commence to digging for treasure. I also commence to clearing a lot of traps someone put in the ground. It was probably Roark. He is probably trying to catch me so that he can cannibalize me. I will probably have to kill him later.
Searching for treasure eventually becomes tiresome. Although I do find some potentially useful items, none of them are fossils. I sigh, return to the surface, and prepare to enter Mt. Coronet.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Cai Shen and Wayward Cave
I wander through the grass beneath Cycling Road. Nanabozho has gotten strong enough to take on wild pokemon, some of them even higher in level than himself. After fighting my way through a huge stream of wild pokemon, a hiker challenges me. Kazza completely overpowers his Onixes. I find a cave underneath the road. It is very dark and boulders block my path. I stop complimenting myself on my good sense for bringin Hanuman with me when I find that he cannot smash these boulders. Well, they do look different from the ones he has smashed before. Knowing what I do of this world, I deduce that I will need a different move to push these boulders aside. And that probably means another gym badge too. Nothing to do now except take note of the cave's location and come back here when I know of a way to get rid of these boulders.
I see another cave entrance to the east. I will try this one. No boulders blocking my path, but it is very dark, so I could get lost. Hopefully Kazza can just teleport me out of here in an emergency. The first wild pokemon I meet is a metal disk called Bronzor that uses confusion an hurts Hanuman, although not too badly. Hanuman strikes back with flame wheel, and it works very well. Fire is good against whatever type this pokemon happens to be. I run into another one. This cave could be dangerous, wild pokemon keep attacking and I am in a dark maze of rocks, some of which Hanuman must break to get through. Each individual wild pokemon goes down pretty easily, but there are so many that they are wearing my whole team down, or will soon enough.
I find an escape rope. Who would abandon an escape rope? Oh well, at least I can use it if I need to, but I think I could just backtrack my steps. I catch a Bronzor. It is both a steel type and a psychic type. I name my new Bronzor Cai Shen. My team is still hurting, although Khali, Ninhursag, and Articuno are still healthy. I am thinking that I could get used to running around in a dark cavern like this when, quite suddenly, I see a girl...
"I'm Mira. I was catching pokemon, and then I got lost. I'm so scared. Please! Please take me to the exit!"
That should be simple enough. I agree to take her to the exit. She says that she will keep my pokemon healthy all the time. We encounter two wild pokemon at once. This is just like when I was with Cheryl. Mira uses Kadabra and not Chansey, and we are in a cave and not a forest, and my companion wants to get out, not to get through, but really, it's all very similar. And now we come to a dilemma. Mira does not know how to get out of the cave. She seems completely lost. I benefit from having her with me. I could either do what she wants and bring her outside right away, or I could explore the cave and bring her out once I am satisfied that there is no more to be found here. Mira would be none the wiser and my team would gain more experience from the venture.
Bronzor absorbs a lot of punishment, so the going is slow, as that seems to be the only thing that attacks us, although there is the occasional Zubat. We encounter two trainers, who are pretty much outmatched by Mira's Kadabra alone. Easy experience for my team. Another pair of trainers seems easy at first, but a Shinx catches Mira's Kadabra and brings him down. Kazza is more resilient, and survives the bite, hitting back with confusion to end the fight. After encountering some more wild pokemon, Nanabozho is becoming the bane of all Zubats. Another pair of trainers challenges us. They try to anyway, the fearsome Silcoon/Cascoon combo is not really a challenge to me and the Dustox and Beautifly that follow are not much better. They manage to poison Mira's Kadabra, but so what? She heals everything after every battle. I wish I could do that.
Navigating in this darkness is really annoying. I begin to wonder why anyone would ever go into a cave of one's own volition. Then I remember that I am in a cave of my own volition for some reason. I would say that this was a bad idea, but without me, what would have become of poor Mira? Also, my pokemon, notably Nanabozho, are becoming stronger here. A pair of young trainers are in my way, so we have to battle of course. I fully intend to explore this whole cave, or as much of it as I can get to, while I am here. Nanabozho take out the opposing Buneary in one hit while Mira's Kadabra does the same to the enemy Bidoof. These trainers we are fighting sure are scrubs. Nanabozho's frustration also eliminates a Zubat and weakens a monkey thing called Aipom so that Kadabra finishes it in the next hit.
Finally, after hours in this cave, we circle all the way around it and reach the exit. Mira claims that she will get tougher and then she won't be such a scaredy-cat. In my defense, she was in a part of the cave where I had to go back around anyway, so while we did take the scenic route, it was not that bad. Also, if she hadn't gotten herself lost, she could have taken the more direct route on her own. Also, my pokemon gained several levels there. Weary from my cave expedition, I teleport back (the one good thing about having that move, I guess) to the Oreburgh City Poke Center. I want to adjust my team again, but I am not yet sure how. I will think about it while retiring for the night.
I see another cave entrance to the east. I will try this one. No boulders blocking my path, but it is very dark, so I could get lost. Hopefully Kazza can just teleport me out of here in an emergency. The first wild pokemon I meet is a metal disk called Bronzor that uses confusion an hurts Hanuman, although not too badly. Hanuman strikes back with flame wheel, and it works very well. Fire is good against whatever type this pokemon happens to be. I run into another one. This cave could be dangerous, wild pokemon keep attacking and I am in a dark maze of rocks, some of which Hanuman must break to get through. Each individual wild pokemon goes down pretty easily, but there are so many that they are wearing my whole team down, or will soon enough.
I find an escape rope. Who would abandon an escape rope? Oh well, at least I can use it if I need to, but I think I could just backtrack my steps. I catch a Bronzor. It is both a steel type and a psychic type. I name my new Bronzor Cai Shen. My team is still hurting, although Khali, Ninhursag, and Articuno are still healthy. I am thinking that I could get used to running around in a dark cavern like this when, quite suddenly, I see a girl...
"I'm Mira. I was catching pokemon, and then I got lost. I'm so scared. Please! Please take me to the exit!"
That should be simple enough. I agree to take her to the exit. She says that she will keep my pokemon healthy all the time. We encounter two wild pokemon at once. This is just like when I was with Cheryl. Mira uses Kadabra and not Chansey, and we are in a cave and not a forest, and my companion wants to get out, not to get through, but really, it's all very similar. And now we come to a dilemma. Mira does not know how to get out of the cave. She seems completely lost. I benefit from having her with me. I could either do what she wants and bring her outside right away, or I could explore the cave and bring her out once I am satisfied that there is no more to be found here. Mira would be none the wiser and my team would gain more experience from the venture.
Bronzor absorbs a lot of punishment, so the going is slow, as that seems to be the only thing that attacks us, although there is the occasional Zubat. We encounter two trainers, who are pretty much outmatched by Mira's Kadabra alone. Easy experience for my team. Another pair of trainers seems easy at first, but a Shinx catches Mira's Kadabra and brings him down. Kazza is more resilient, and survives the bite, hitting back with confusion to end the fight. After encountering some more wild pokemon, Nanabozho is becoming the bane of all Zubats. Another pair of trainers challenges us. They try to anyway, the fearsome Silcoon/Cascoon combo is not really a challenge to me and the Dustox and Beautifly that follow are not much better. They manage to poison Mira's Kadabra, but so what? She heals everything after every battle. I wish I could do that.
Navigating in this darkness is really annoying. I begin to wonder why anyone would ever go into a cave of one's own volition. Then I remember that I am in a cave of my own volition for some reason. I would say that this was a bad idea, but without me, what would have become of poor Mira? Also, my pokemon, notably Nanabozho, are becoming stronger here. A pair of young trainers are in my way, so we have to battle of course. I fully intend to explore this whole cave, or as much of it as I can get to, while I am here. Nanabozho take out the opposing Buneary in one hit while Mira's Kadabra does the same to the enemy Bidoof. These trainers we are fighting sure are scrubs. Nanabozho's frustration also eliminates a Zubat and weakens a monkey thing called Aipom so that Kadabra finishes it in the next hit.
Finally, after hours in this cave, we circle all the way around it and reach the exit. Mira claims that she will get tougher and then she won't be such a scaredy-cat. In my defense, she was in a part of the cave where I had to go back around anyway, so while we did take the scenic route, it was not that bad. Also, if she hadn't gotten herself lost, she could have taken the more direct route on her own. Also, my pokemon gained several levels there. Weary from my cave expedition, I teleport back (the one good thing about having that move, I guess) to the Oreburgh City Poke Center. I want to adjust my team again, but I am not yet sure how. I will think about it while retiring for the night.
Charap
I trade Buizel for this Chatot pokemon, nicknamed Charap. She looks rather weak and I already have a bird pokemon: Articuno. I do not think my team is big enough for two avians. However, I do have some trainers on cycling road to beat up on, so I might as well test Charap out before switching back to Hanuman for his rock smash. Of course, the first trainer I come across uses Shinx, so a flying type would be bad and I happen to be using three of them. And when I switch Khali, she takes a damaging bite from the rascal. This is looking bad. Khali take heavy damage from the Shinx, but astonishes until the feline is out of commission. Charap goes up to Level 9 from the experience, but this taught me the lesson that I am not invincible. I need to carry a team that has answers to everything, not give each pokemon I've ever caught equal time with me. The thought of Phlogeus or Hecate or Charap, my newest addition, sitting in a box doing nothing seems like wasted potential, but I perhaps it must be that way.
I continue downhill, still pondering this quandary. My next opponent has Starly. Charap is outclassed by this other bird, so after a few exchanges, I bring in Nyx. Starly is down in two hits. My opponent tries Ponyta next, which only lasts a little bit longer. Another cyclist also leads with Starly, and again, Nyx uses the power of the wind to decimate the bird. He calls in Staravia, which fares no better. Nyx gains a level. Charap has been gaining levels too. Maybe I can get away with this. Charap is already Level 11.
The next trainer uses Zubat. Khali and the Zubat confuse each other, so I switch to Nanabozho, with pound taking out the confused Zubat. The last cyclist on the road uses Pikachu. This pokemon has a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt. I think I know what that means: electric type. I switch to Khali. No electric moves were used, but I wanted to be safe. As I disembark, it occurs to me that those cyclists are exactly where they were when I left them. A road would normally have traffic moving one or both ways, not the same individuals camping on it or going in circles as though the whole reason they are there is to wait for me. The more I contemplate this, the more disturbing it seems. Forget it. I visit the Poke Center in Oreburgh City and make some team adjustments so that I now have Kazza again along with Hanuman for rock smash. I cut through the bushes to get beneath Cycling Road. Time to do some exploring.
I continue downhill, still pondering this quandary. My next opponent has Starly. Charap is outclassed by this other bird, so after a few exchanges, I bring in Nyx. Starly is down in two hits. My opponent tries Ponyta next, which only lasts a little bit longer. Another cyclist also leads with Starly, and again, Nyx uses the power of the wind to decimate the bird. He calls in Staravia, which fares no better. Nyx gains a level. Charap has been gaining levels too. Maybe I can get away with this. Charap is already Level 11.
The next trainer uses Zubat. Khali and the Zubat confuse each other, so I switch to Nanabozho, with pound taking out the confused Zubat. The last cyclist on the road uses Pikachu. This pokemon has a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt. I think I know what that means: electric type. I switch to Khali. No electric moves were used, but I wanted to be safe. As I disembark, it occurs to me that those cyclists are exactly where they were when I left them. A road would normally have traffic moving one or both ways, not the same individuals camping on it or going in circles as though the whole reason they are there is to wait for me. The more I contemplate this, the more disturbing it seems. Forget it. I visit the Poke Center in Oreburgh City and make some team adjustments so that I now have Kazza again along with Hanuman for rock smash. I cut through the bushes to get beneath Cycling Road. Time to do some exploring.
Nyx
I arise, well rested and ready to continue my adventure. I see something floating outside the Valley Windworks. When I investigate, I see that it is a new pokemon named Drifloon. Perfect for the pokedex project and she is already Level 22, which means I might have use for her in battle. I weaken her with Khali and paralyze her with Ninhursag, making for an easy catch. She's a ghost type? Even better. Now I have a veritable ghostly trio. Khali, Hecate, and this new one. She is a thing of the skies, but also a ghost and dark in coloration, so I go with Nyx.
I visit the Floaroma Town Poke Center and consider how I might want to modify my team. For the first time ever, I leave my earliest companions behind. My new team is Khali, Hecate, Nyx, Ninhursag, Nanabozho, and Articuno. My first priority with these pokemon should be to strengthen Nanabozho and Hecate, as they are lower in level than the others. As I head back to Eterna Forest, I encounter a wild Buizel. Another trainer wanted to trade something for a Buizel, so I have Nanabozho weaken her with pound, then catch her. Buizel is a sort of otter with a built-in flotation device. I cannot think of any great otter names right now, so I go with "Isis."
Nanabozho is not yet capable of dominating the weak pokemon in Eterna Forest, so I switch from him to Nyx. She seems to have little attacking power, but is quite strong overall. Soon we are back in Eterna City. I go east. Hecate fights a wild Geodude. Lick does little damage, so I try curse, which makes Hecate hurt herself. I really should have consulted the pokedex before using a new move there. But curse seems to continually sap the oppnent's health and just as Hecate faints, the Geodude goes down, leaving Nanabozho to gain the experience from the fight. I go back for healing, passing by that unnerving statue again. I tell myself that I am probably just insane. I am just a boy. There is no super cosmic dimension-creating pokemon. The statue is just a statue.
A portly hiker that looks just like all the other hikers challenges me and, unsurprisingly, uses Geodude. Khali toys with the the rocky pokemon, easily taking Geoduded down. Onix is next, and I switch to Hecate. Curse is actually pretty fun, but poor Hecate is not lasting long with it. I switch to Nanabozho again. I have him defense curl to keep himself safe while the curse does its work. A boulder is blocking my way north and I lack Hanuman to smash it. I enter the cave to the east, but a boulder blocks my way there too, and a Geodude with rock throw gets the better of Nyx. Flying types are weak to rock attacks. Ninhursag deals with it, then I run into a Meditite, which Khali defeats with ease.
With nowhere else to go except back down Cycling Road (unless I use Hanuman), I heal my team and raise Nanabozho a bit by starting with him and switching to Nyx against the field pokemon near Eterna City. A ninja boy ambushes me from a hiding spot in the field. He uses Zubat. I switch to Nyx again. She takes down one Zubat and heavily wounds a second before he uses supersonic to confuse her. I switch to Hecate, who shrugs off the leech life attack, but take massive damage from the bite that comes next. She would not withstand another bite, so I use curse, finishing both pokemon in a sort of suicide attack. My ninja foe must really love Zubat, because he send out a third one. Nanabozho looks like he might actually beat this Zubat, but it will be close and I do not wish to risk it, so I switch to Nyx. When Zubat uses bite, I nearly hit myself for the move, remembering what happened to Hecate, but Nyx does not really take that much damage from the bite. She is tougher. She hits the Zubat with payback, ending the battle.
I visit the Floaroma Town Poke Center and consider how I might want to modify my team. For the first time ever, I leave my earliest companions behind. My new team is Khali, Hecate, Nyx, Ninhursag, Nanabozho, and Articuno. My first priority with these pokemon should be to strengthen Nanabozho and Hecate, as they are lower in level than the others. As I head back to Eterna Forest, I encounter a wild Buizel. Another trainer wanted to trade something for a Buizel, so I have Nanabozho weaken her with pound, then catch her. Buizel is a sort of otter with a built-in flotation device. I cannot think of any great otter names right now, so I go with "Isis."
Nanabozho is not yet capable of dominating the weak pokemon in Eterna Forest, so I switch from him to Nyx. She seems to have little attacking power, but is quite strong overall. Soon we are back in Eterna City. I go east. Hecate fights a wild Geodude. Lick does little damage, so I try curse, which makes Hecate hurt herself. I really should have consulted the pokedex before using a new move there. But curse seems to continually sap the oppnent's health and just as Hecate faints, the Geodude goes down, leaving Nanabozho to gain the experience from the fight. I go back for healing, passing by that unnerving statue again. I tell myself that I am probably just insane. I am just a boy. There is no super cosmic dimension-creating pokemon. The statue is just a statue.
A portly hiker that looks just like all the other hikers challenges me and, unsurprisingly, uses Geodude. Khali toys with the the rocky pokemon, easily taking Geoduded down. Onix is next, and I switch to Hecate. Curse is actually pretty fun, but poor Hecate is not lasting long with it. I switch to Nanabozho again. I have him defense curl to keep himself safe while the curse does its work. A boulder is blocking my way north and I lack Hanuman to smash it. I enter the cave to the east, but a boulder blocks my way there too, and a Geodude with rock throw gets the better of Nyx. Flying types are weak to rock attacks. Ninhursag deals with it, then I run into a Meditite, which Khali defeats with ease.
With nowhere else to go except back down Cycling Road (unless I use Hanuman), I heal my team and raise Nanabozho a bit by starting with him and switching to Nyx against the field pokemon near Eterna City. A ninja boy ambushes me from a hiding spot in the field. He uses Zubat. I switch to Nyx again. She takes down one Zubat and heavily wounds a second before he uses supersonic to confuse her. I switch to Hecate, who shrugs off the leech life attack, but take massive damage from the bite that comes next. She would not withstand another bite, so I use curse, finishing both pokemon in a sort of suicide attack. My ninja foe must really love Zubat, because he send out a third one. Nanabozho looks like he might actually beat this Zubat, but it will be close and I do not wish to risk it, so I switch to Nyx. When Zubat uses bite, I nearly hit myself for the move, remembering what happened to Hecate, but Nyx does not really take that much damage from the bite. She is tougher. She hits the Zubat with payback, ending the battle.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Hecate
Dawn greets me just north of Oreburgh City. She asks me how my pokedex is coming, but she won't tell me about hers and, when pressed, changes the subject: she has something for me. I am to choose her right hand or her left hand. I choose right. She gives me a "vs. seeker." It will somehow let me battle people I already beat. Interesting. She also gives me a "dowsing" app for my poketch. I will check that out later. It occurs to me that with Oreburgh City just to the south, I can return there and get back to Eterna Forest through Floaroma Town if necessary. Yes, I can go all the way around that fool. But first, I will see if he's still there. Maybe he got bored.
On my way up Cycling Road, a trainer literally on the other side sees me and races to me, then tells me to watch where I'm going. I do believe that is the worst challenge I have ever received. I make his Ponyta pay for it with the power of Khali's confuse ray. I return and my nemesis is still standing in the same spot, but this time he lets me pass. Apparently I have been on the bicycle enough to satisfy him. Freak.
I cut my way through the bushes and see that there's a house of some sort up ahead. Some wild pokemon in the grass get in my way, but Khali solves that problem easily enough. I enter the abandoned building and a floating purple gaseous pokemon attacks me. Gastly? Oh, I get it. Haunted house. Ghost pokemon. How clever. Either the world or the pokemon thinks it's being clever here. Well, I intend to catch this Gastly. Or not. Astonish takes it out in one hit. Ghost moves are very good against ghost pokemon. Noted. There is a statue that appears to be glaring. Was this place designed to be creepy. I kind of like it, except for the music. Wait, where is that music even coming from? Forget it. I continue exploring the place, even though it is old and falling apart and apparently "haunted" by "ghost" pokemon. I find some weird medicine in one room. Another room has a painting or something and another Gastly appears. This time, I eschew astonish. Psywave cuts the Gastly down without finishing her, and I throw a poke ball that catches her without trouble. Excellent. I can expand my ghostly collection. I name the new pokemon Hecate.
As I continue exploring, in another room I find a television that is turned on even though no one seems to live here. It has an oddly malevolent feel. Probably just another pokemon, but I see no way to get to this one, so I make note of it for later. I find a dread plate, which I will have either Khali or Hecate hold later. I toy with the idea of having a whole team of ghost pokemon, but so far, I have only found two different kinds. Speaking of which, Khali is growing much stronger from the experience gained by knocking out these Gastlies. Curiously, I find an antidote in one of the trash cans in the kitchen. There doesn't seem to be anything else here for me. And I need to consider what to do with my new recruits.
I find some bushes along the edge of Eterna Forest, so of course I cut through them. Some woman wandering around for no reason gives me a "big tree" accessory. What is it with these costume geeks? I do collect a nice harvest of berries nearby, though, and that's always good. I also find a TM and some silver powder. Perhaps I can use these things later. I cut through some more bushes and find myself back on Route 205. Where to from here? I don't know yet, but before I do anything else I will visit the rest house. Khali could use some recovery and I need sleep myself.
On my way up Cycling Road, a trainer literally on the other side sees me and races to me, then tells me to watch where I'm going. I do believe that is the worst challenge I have ever received. I make his Ponyta pay for it with the power of Khali's confuse ray. I return and my nemesis is still standing in the same spot, but this time he lets me pass. Apparently I have been on the bicycle enough to satisfy him. Freak.
I cut my way through the bushes and see that there's a house of some sort up ahead. Some wild pokemon in the grass get in my way, but Khali solves that problem easily enough. I enter the abandoned building and a floating purple gaseous pokemon attacks me. Gastly? Oh, I get it. Haunted house. Ghost pokemon. How clever. Either the world or the pokemon thinks it's being clever here. Well, I intend to catch this Gastly. Or not. Astonish takes it out in one hit. Ghost moves are very good against ghost pokemon. Noted. There is a statue that appears to be glaring. Was this place designed to be creepy. I kind of like it, except for the music. Wait, where is that music even coming from? Forget it. I continue exploring the place, even though it is old and falling apart and apparently "haunted" by "ghost" pokemon. I find some weird medicine in one room. Another room has a painting or something and another Gastly appears. This time, I eschew astonish. Psywave cuts the Gastly down without finishing her, and I throw a poke ball that catches her without trouble. Excellent. I can expand my ghostly collection. I name the new pokemon Hecate.
As I continue exploring, in another room I find a television that is turned on even though no one seems to live here. It has an oddly malevolent feel. Probably just another pokemon, but I see no way to get to this one, so I make note of it for later. I find a dread plate, which I will have either Khali or Hecate hold later. I toy with the idea of having a whole team of ghost pokemon, but so far, I have only found two different kinds. Speaking of which, Khali is growing much stronger from the experience gained by knocking out these Gastlies. Curiously, I find an antidote in one of the trash cans in the kitchen. There doesn't seem to be anything else here for me. And I need to consider what to do with my new recruits.
I find some bushes along the edge of Eterna Forest, so of course I cut through them. Some woman wandering around for no reason gives me a "big tree" accessory. What is it with these costume geeks? I do collect a nice harvest of berries nearby, though, and that's always good. I also find a TM and some silver powder. Perhaps I can use these things later. I cut through some more bushes and find myself back on Route 205. Where to from here? I don't know yet, but before I do anything else I will visit the rest house. Khali could use some recovery and I need sleep myself.
Phlogeus
Before I head back to Eterna Forest, some crazy old man in a house I barged into (I forget why) gives me an "explorer kit." He wants me to go on some quest. I might do that later. Maybe. I also stop by the bicycle shop and get a bicycle as my reward for beating up all those pokemon thieves in the Team Galactic building. I try to return to Eterna Forest, but some highwayman refuses to let me pass until I check out cycling road, seeing as I have a new bicycle. I consider having Apsu bite his head off, but cycling road does sound fun. There is more to life than hunting down freaky gangsters and taking their money after defeating them in gladiatorial contests by pitting my pets against their pets.
I accidentally pass by that statue again and shudder, remembering the dream I had before finding myself on this strange journey. I head south to cycling road. Along the way, I run into Dawn's father. He wants to reward my efforts in the pokedex project and bequeaths unto me a new item: Exp. Share. We chat for a while and he explains that this item will let a pokemon gain experience from a battle even if it did not fight. Useful. He also assures me that Articuno will obey me once I have enough gym badges. Well, if that's how it works, that's what I'll do.
I'm not at all far on cycling road when a cycling trainer challenges me. Come on, I was here to enjoy a nice ride, not crush some poor fool. He uses Staravia, which is surely the evolved form of Starly. Khali's dark powers overcome the bird with little trouble. If cycling road is full of trainers, I would rather put it off until after I have explored some more with cutting down bushes and such. Maybe that pest who blocked my way is gone now. No, he's still there. Somehow, he knows that I have not been to Hearthome City. What is his problem? I try to have Ninhursag use cut to get him out of the way, but some mysterious force forbids this. I try to have Hanuman use rock smash, but with the same result. Fine, jerk, I will travel to Hearthome City, but I have you and hope that you die painfully. I dodge most of the cyclists, as they will surely challenge me and slow my hasty journey down. One of them catches me.
Khali dominates Shinx. Then Sekhmet mutilates another Shinx. Well, at least that was easy. Some girl gives me a flag for no reason, then tells me that I have to go through Mt. Coronet to get to Hearthome City. I will stab that guy if he is going to make me go through a whole mountain just to let me go back and see what's behind the fence. I will fashion my pokedex into a shiv and just rip his guts out. Really. Also, I just caught a fire pony. This is almost as unbelievably awesome as a fire monkey. I really don't know about having two fire pokemon on my team, but this cute little fire pony is just so fiery and beautiful and I still want to burn the face off that guy who won't let me through. Anyway, I have a new Ponyta. I shall name him Phlogeus.
I accidentally pass by that statue again and shudder, remembering the dream I had before finding myself on this strange journey. I head south to cycling road. Along the way, I run into Dawn's father. He wants to reward my efforts in the pokedex project and bequeaths unto me a new item: Exp. Share. We chat for a while and he explains that this item will let a pokemon gain experience from a battle even if it did not fight. Useful. He also assures me that Articuno will obey me once I have enough gym badges. Well, if that's how it works, that's what I'll do.
I'm not at all far on cycling road when a cycling trainer challenges me. Come on, I was here to enjoy a nice ride, not crush some poor fool. He uses Staravia, which is surely the evolved form of Starly. Khali's dark powers overcome the bird with little trouble. If cycling road is full of trainers, I would rather put it off until after I have explored some more with cutting down bushes and such. Maybe that pest who blocked my way is gone now. No, he's still there. Somehow, he knows that I have not been to Hearthome City. What is his problem? I try to have Ninhursag use cut to get him out of the way, but some mysterious force forbids this. I try to have Hanuman use rock smash, but with the same result. Fine, jerk, I will travel to Hearthome City, but I have you and hope that you die painfully. I dodge most of the cyclists, as they will surely challenge me and slow my hasty journey down. One of them catches me.
Khali dominates Shinx. Then Sekhmet mutilates another Shinx. Well, at least that was easy. Some girl gives me a flag for no reason, then tells me that I have to go through Mt. Coronet to get to Hearthome City. I will stab that guy if he is going to make me go through a whole mountain just to let me go back and see what's behind the fence. I will fashion my pokedex into a shiv and just rip his guts out. Really. Also, I just caught a fire pony. This is almost as unbelievably awesome as a fire monkey. I really don't know about having two fire pokemon on my team, but this cute little fire pony is just so fiery and beautiful and I still want to burn the face off that guy who won't let me through. Anyway, I have a new Ponyta. I shall name him Phlogeus.
Team Galactic Building
I now intend to investigate places I could not earlier for lack of cut (and being able to use it outside of battle). Up first is the Team Galactic building, obviously. One of them welcomes me and asks if I am there to donate my pokemon. I am not. He becomes angry and threatens to "bring the pain" like they had to with the manager of the bicycle shop. I want to have Ninhursag use cut on this imbecile's face, but somehow, I cannot. Forget it. If I rescue the bicycle shop manager, he will probably be so greatful that he will give me a bicycle. If not, I can just have Apsu bite his head off or something.
Another Team Galactic imbecile has something equally stupid to say. I ignore him and go to the stairs, but two of them stop me. They send out Zubat and Wurmple. Zubat and Wurmple. Zubat and Wurmple? Have these imbeciles not heard of having pokemon that are not incredibly weak? One bite from Apsu takes out Wurmple. One spark from Sekhmet takes out Zubat. How could this be any easier? My opponents are not done. They send out Cascoon and Glameow. One bite from Apsu takes out Glameow. Cascoon survives the spark, though. But the follow-up attack easily finishes Cascoon.
I ascend the staircase. Four imbeciles are working at computers on this floor. I could sneak past them, but that would be boring. One of them sends out a Wurmple that Khali easily psywaves into oblivion, but not before becoming poisoned. I switch to Sekhmet as the imbecile sends out Zubat. Not much variety in this place, is there? Spark. One hit. I use my last antidote to cure Khali, then fight the next imbecile, who admits that she stole the pokemon she's using from a weak trainer. Can I steal things too? What I'd really like to steal is her still-beating heart right out of her chest. Failing that, maybe an eyeball or something. Anyway, the pokemon is Silcoon, so of course she uses poison sting, but this time Khali withstands it and easily wins.
Another imbecile on the next floor thanks me for coming to donate my pokemon, but I think she means that she's going to take them after beating me. Of course, the flaw in that plan is that, like the rest of Team Galactic, she uses Wurmple. Khali gets poisoned again, though. Annoying. I switch to Sekhmet and, of course, Zubat is up next. Spark. One hit. Next is Silcoon, so I switch to Apsu and use bite, which also only needs one hit. An imbecile in a lab coat stops me from getting to the next floor. I don't see any labs around here, so don't be stupid. Forget it. His Kadabra hurts Sekhmet with confusion, but she strikes back with bite, quickly ending the battle.
On the last floor of the building, I find a Team Galactic imbecile queen or something along with some man who is not dressed like Team Galactic (bicycle shop manager?) and two pokemon. The Team Galactic representative here is "Jupiter." She assumes that I am trying to free the pokemon, so she battles me to stop me from doing so. Sekhmet dominates Zubat as usual. She sends in something called Skuntank next. I don't know what it is, so I bring in Hanuman. Flame wheel doesn't do much damage and Skuntank poisons Hanuman. I try rock smash next. It weakens Skuntank, but now Hanuman's accuracy is lowered because of Skuntank's smokescreen and screech has lowered his defense. Hanuman may actually fall in battle here. Fury swipes does a bit of damage, but Skuntank heals itself with a sitrus berry. Rock smash wounds Skuntank, but night slash finishes Hanuman. I send in Khali. Oh, she's hurt from being poisoned. Badly, but she did recover from the poison, so she's not out yet. She misses several times due to smokescreen and then I find out that psywave does not work on Skuntank. Oh. Astonish does some damage, but Skuntank hits back with night slash. Could this be my most challenging battle yet? Perhaps I have underestimated Team Galactic. They look and act stupid, but at least one of them is a force to be reckoned with. I call in Apsu. Skuntank poisons him. Bite finishes Skuntank, although it does end up poisoning Apsu. And with that, I win the battle.
The bicycle shop manager thanks me profusely. He was very worried about one of the pokemon there, a Clefairy. What about the Buneary? Do you not care about that one? With nothing else to do in this building, I leave and return to the Poke Center for healing. On my way out, I see that all of the Team Galactic imbeciles have left. I think they're scared of me. As well they should be.
Another Team Galactic imbecile has something equally stupid to say. I ignore him and go to the stairs, but two of them stop me. They send out Zubat and Wurmple. Zubat and Wurmple. Zubat and Wurmple? Have these imbeciles not heard of having pokemon that are not incredibly weak? One bite from Apsu takes out Wurmple. One spark from Sekhmet takes out Zubat. How could this be any easier? My opponents are not done. They send out Cascoon and Glameow. One bite from Apsu takes out Glameow. Cascoon survives the spark, though. But the follow-up attack easily finishes Cascoon.
I ascend the staircase. Four imbeciles are working at computers on this floor. I could sneak past them, but that would be boring. One of them sends out a Wurmple that Khali easily psywaves into oblivion, but not before becoming poisoned. I switch to Sekhmet as the imbecile sends out Zubat. Not much variety in this place, is there? Spark. One hit. I use my last antidote to cure Khali, then fight the next imbecile, who admits that she stole the pokemon she's using from a weak trainer. Can I steal things too? What I'd really like to steal is her still-beating heart right out of her chest. Failing that, maybe an eyeball or something. Anyway, the pokemon is Silcoon, so of course she uses poison sting, but this time Khali withstands it and easily wins.
Another imbecile on the next floor thanks me for coming to donate my pokemon, but I think she means that she's going to take them after beating me. Of course, the flaw in that plan is that, like the rest of Team Galactic, she uses Wurmple. Khali gets poisoned again, though. Annoying. I switch to Sekhmet and, of course, Zubat is up next. Spark. One hit. Next is Silcoon, so I switch to Apsu and use bite, which also only needs one hit. An imbecile in a lab coat stops me from getting to the next floor. I don't see any labs around here, so don't be stupid. Forget it. His Kadabra hurts Sekhmet with confusion, but she strikes back with bite, quickly ending the battle.
On the last floor of the building, I find a Team Galactic imbecile queen or something along with some man who is not dressed like Team Galactic (bicycle shop manager?) and two pokemon. The Team Galactic representative here is "Jupiter." She assumes that I am trying to free the pokemon, so she battles me to stop me from doing so. Sekhmet dominates Zubat as usual. She sends in something called Skuntank next. I don't know what it is, so I bring in Hanuman. Flame wheel doesn't do much damage and Skuntank poisons Hanuman. I try rock smash next. It weakens Skuntank, but now Hanuman's accuracy is lowered because of Skuntank's smokescreen and screech has lowered his defense. Hanuman may actually fall in battle here. Fury swipes does a bit of damage, but Skuntank heals itself with a sitrus berry. Rock smash wounds Skuntank, but night slash finishes Hanuman. I send in Khali. Oh, she's hurt from being poisoned. Badly, but she did recover from the poison, so she's not out yet. She misses several times due to smokescreen and then I find out that psywave does not work on Skuntank. Oh. Astonish does some damage, but Skuntank hits back with night slash. Could this be my most challenging battle yet? Perhaps I have underestimated Team Galactic. They look and act stupid, but at least one of them is a force to be reckoned with. I call in Apsu. Skuntank poisons him. Bite finishes Skuntank, although it does end up poisoning Apsu. And with that, I win the battle.
The bicycle shop manager thanks me profusely. He was very worried about one of the pokemon there, a Clefairy. What about the Buneary? Do you not care about that one? With nothing else to do in this building, I leave and return to the Poke Center for healing. On my way out, I see that all of the Team Galactic imbeciles have left. I think they're scared of me. As well they should be.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Eterna City Gym
I find the first trainer hiding in the trees. She has a pokemon that looks like cherries. Khali confuses her, but gets caught in a move called leech seed that steals her health, so I switch to Sekhmet. Oh. Electric moves are not good against grass types. Noted. Bite still finishes the cherries off. Up next is Roselia, a pokemon with roses for arms. Who comes up with these names? Roselia poisons Khali, but I remember that I have antidotes, so I use one. She tries to paralyze Khali with stun spore, but Khali is having none of that. Confuse ray and astonish beat the Roselia's tricks and I win the match. My opponent informs me that another trainer is "at the end, past two boulders." I could already see her anyway.
This one leads with Budew. These gyms seem like remarkably inflexible places. All one need do is figure out what type the gym specializes in, then bring whatever that type is weak to. I am holding Hanuman back for now, because Khali is having few problems and Apsu is getting stronger. He will evolve soon. I am sure of it somehow. Did I read about it somewhere? Another Budew. They seem weak, but I have one on my own team, so perhaps I judge them too harshly. Paralysis is taking its toll on Khali, so after she finishes Budew, I have Sekhmet fight the next Budew. My opponent tells me that the next trainer is in the middle of three trees. What is this, a mind game? If so, it is becoming a rather profitable mind game for me, as each of these trainers is having to pay me after I crush them.
This trainer has only one pokemon, and he's a Turtwig, the same thing Dawn uses. He trades attacks with Sekhmet, barely losing. My next opponent is beside four flowers. Hanuman and Ninhursag are still fresh, but the former is my surprise for the Gym Leader herself and the latter might not fare well against her fellow grass types. I use some medicine to bring Sekhmet and Khali back into fighting condition. I don't know if there's a rule against leaving the gym and healing at a Poke Center, but I want to get this done now anyway. A Roselia is first out, and she poisons Sekhmet. Bites defeat the Roselia just in time, and I expect Sekhmet to expire from the poison, but that was the trainer's only pokemon, so I win the battle. Hurriedly, I cure Sekhmet with an antidote.
Gardenia appears on the platform at the end of the gym. Well, I have played your little game. Now accept my challenge. She leads with Cherubi, and I switch to Hanuman. Cherubi uses safeguard, which will not help Gardenia in this battle. Flame wheel takes out Cherubi. The Turtwig that follows is more resilient, surviving flame wheel and then taking fury swipes too thanks to Gardenia's interference with a super potion. The next flame wheel takes care of that. But Gardenia is not the pushover Roark was. Well, she has been so far. But I see now that she saved her strongest for last: a Level 22 Roserade. It looks like the evolved form of Roselia. Roserade deals considerable damage to Hanuman with magic leaf. Flame wheel returns the favor, but Roserade has a berry to heal itself. For some reason, Gardenia has Roserade use grass knot next, so Hanuman survives and launches a final flame wheel. She could have force me to use two pokemon, but she didn't.
I am becoming rather jaded about these gyms. I would give my victory a little celebration though, but before I can, Apsu surprises me by evolving. Finally! The little red fish becomes the big blue sea serpent thing (and learns bite). Amaranthine! Gardenia awards me the Forest Badge and now I can use cut outside battle. She also tells me that now all pokemon up to Level 30 will obey me. That eliminates my problem with Kazza, but Articuno is far beyond Level 30. Still, not bad.
This one leads with Budew. These gyms seem like remarkably inflexible places. All one need do is figure out what type the gym specializes in, then bring whatever that type is weak to. I am holding Hanuman back for now, because Khali is having few problems and Apsu is getting stronger. He will evolve soon. I am sure of it somehow. Did I read about it somewhere? Another Budew. They seem weak, but I have one on my own team, so perhaps I judge them too harshly. Paralysis is taking its toll on Khali, so after she finishes Budew, I have Sekhmet fight the next Budew. My opponent tells me that the next trainer is in the middle of three trees. What is this, a mind game? If so, it is becoming a rather profitable mind game for me, as each of these trainers is having to pay me after I crush them.
This trainer has only one pokemon, and he's a Turtwig, the same thing Dawn uses. He trades attacks with Sekhmet, barely losing. My next opponent is beside four flowers. Hanuman and Ninhursag are still fresh, but the former is my surprise for the Gym Leader herself and the latter might not fare well against her fellow grass types. I use some medicine to bring Sekhmet and Khali back into fighting condition. I don't know if there's a rule against leaving the gym and healing at a Poke Center, but I want to get this done now anyway. A Roselia is first out, and she poisons Sekhmet. Bites defeat the Roselia just in time, and I expect Sekhmet to expire from the poison, but that was the trainer's only pokemon, so I win the battle. Hurriedly, I cure Sekhmet with an antidote.
Gardenia appears on the platform at the end of the gym. Well, I have played your little game. Now accept my challenge. She leads with Cherubi, and I switch to Hanuman. Cherubi uses safeguard, which will not help Gardenia in this battle. Flame wheel takes out Cherubi. The Turtwig that follows is more resilient, surviving flame wheel and then taking fury swipes too thanks to Gardenia's interference with a super potion. The next flame wheel takes care of that. But Gardenia is not the pushover Roark was. Well, she has been so far. But I see now that she saved her strongest for last: a Level 22 Roserade. It looks like the evolved form of Roselia. Roserade deals considerable damage to Hanuman with magic leaf. Flame wheel returns the favor, but Roserade has a berry to heal itself. For some reason, Gardenia has Roserade use grass knot next, so Hanuman survives and launches a final flame wheel. She could have force me to use two pokemon, but she didn't.
I am becoming rather jaded about these gyms. I would give my victory a little celebration though, but before I can, Apsu surprises me by evolving. Finally! The little red fish becomes the big blue sea serpent thing (and learns bite). Amaranthine! Gardenia awards me the Forest Badge and now I can use cut outside battle. She also tells me that now all pokemon up to Level 30 will obey me. That eliminates my problem with Kazza, but Articuno is far beyond Level 30. Still, not bad.
Eterna City
I leave my nap or whatever feeling refreshed. I cannot remember what I dreamt, but something seems to be urging me to continue raising Apsu. I chat with some fishermen at the docks just outside the next town. Not all fish pokemon are useless. One of them has Goldeen, which seems decent. Another repeatedly uses Magikarp and I have Apsu beat each one because it amuses me. This takes a lot longer than Sekhmet would, but I'm in no hurry.
Another fisherman uses Magikarp against me. These guys must have some sense of humor. Apsu has no more "PP" left for tackle. I do not understand what this mean, but somehow, he can no longer tackle, so I switch to Sekhmet. This time, the opposing Goldeen actually does significant damage. Sekhmet learns spark. Finally, the lightning has arrived. Congratulations, Sekhmet. And that was the last fisherman.
I explore to the north and pick some berries. Planting berries is for losers, so I leave the soil bare. Then I go back to the main road and enter Eterna City. If this city is ever destroyed, its name will seem delightfully ironic. Someone gloats about how fun riding a bicycle can be. Braggart. I consider teaching this oaf some manners, when I spot one of the Team Galactic people. Oh no. Must I deal with you here as well? This one is intimidated by me, though. He says that I can keep my pokemon? What, like you were going to take them? Whatever. A sign in front of the nearby building reads...
"Team Galactic Eterna Building. We Want Your Pokemon!"
Come and get them, Team Galactic. Just you try it. I cannot get any closer to tell them this, because bushes block the entrance to the building. I am really starting to want that "cut" move. A woman in black approaches me. She does not look like one of Team Galactic. Then I see that she isn't. In fact, she's on my side...
"Oh, is that a pokedex? You must be helping Professor Rowan? What's your name?"
I tell her.
"OK, hello, Master. I'll be sure to remember that name! My name is Cynthia. I'm a trainer just like you. I've been studying pokemon mythology lately, just out of curiosity." She turns around to make sure no one is watching us, then continues, "Here in Eterna City, there is a statue of an ancient pokemon. According to myth, it was an extremely powerful pokemon. Who knows? You may encounter something like it while you're traveling with your pokedex. Try using this. It should help you on your way." Then she gives me the HM for cut. How helpful. I like this Cynthia person already. Now, should I check out that statue or teach someone cut? I decide on the latter, for now. Ninhursag and Hanuman can both learn the move, so I replace Ninhursag's unimpressive water sport with cut. She still cannot cut down the bushes though. Oh, I forgot. Badges. Cutting will have to wait.
I examine the statue. It looks familiar. There is an inscription, but parts of it are completely illegible. Then, all at once, I understand: this is the phantom from my dream. That phantom was some sort of ancient and powerful pokemon. Anxiously, I read what I can. This pokemon is supposedly the creator of dimensions and might now be dead or alive or neither and is probably in a different universe. I can't tell. Forboding. I leave and barge into the nearest building. It turns out to be a shop for herbal medicine. Too bad I am already in the pockets of Big Pharma, hahaha. Wait, what? Forget it.
Some woman in the Poke Center thinks I am cute, so she gives me an app for my poketch. I forgot about that thing, actually. A boy complains that Team Galactic stole his pokemon. Is there a rule that says I cannot just have Articuno ice beam their whole building? I find a bicycle shop, but cannot purchase a much-needed velocipede from the proprietor, as he is absent. Gone to the Team Galactic building, in fact. A boy in the condominium I just barged into wants to trade his Chatot for Buizel. I take note of that. An old woman gives me a TM. A girl tells me that the Gym Leader here sometimes goes to Eterna Forest. Wait, Gym Leader? I could use another badge.
The sign outside the gym betrays the fact that Gardenia, the Gym Leader here, uses "vivid plant pokemon." Hanuman, you will soon have an opportunity to do what you do best. Gardenia greets me, then says that I cannot challenge her until I beat all of the other trainers in the gym. I follow her into an artificial forest thing. I see how this works. The trainers hide in forest. I have to find them. Well, fortunately, I am an expert woodsman. This should be easy.
Another fisherman uses Magikarp against me. These guys must have some sense of humor. Apsu has no more "PP" left for tackle. I do not understand what this mean, but somehow, he can no longer tackle, so I switch to Sekhmet. This time, the opposing Goldeen actually does significant damage. Sekhmet learns spark. Finally, the lightning has arrived. Congratulations, Sekhmet. And that was the last fisherman.
I explore to the north and pick some berries. Planting berries is for losers, so I leave the soil bare. Then I go back to the main road and enter Eterna City. If this city is ever destroyed, its name will seem delightfully ironic. Someone gloats about how fun riding a bicycle can be. Braggart. I consider teaching this oaf some manners, when I spot one of the Team Galactic people. Oh no. Must I deal with you here as well? This one is intimidated by me, though. He says that I can keep my pokemon? What, like you were going to take them? Whatever. A sign in front of the nearby building reads...
"Team Galactic Eterna Building. We Want Your Pokemon!"
Come and get them, Team Galactic. Just you try it. I cannot get any closer to tell them this, because bushes block the entrance to the building. I am really starting to want that "cut" move. A woman in black approaches me. She does not look like one of Team Galactic. Then I see that she isn't. In fact, she's on my side...
"Oh, is that a pokedex? You must be helping Professor Rowan? What's your name?"
I tell her.
"OK, hello, Master. I'll be sure to remember that name! My name is Cynthia. I'm a trainer just like you. I've been studying pokemon mythology lately, just out of curiosity." She turns around to make sure no one is watching us, then continues, "Here in Eterna City, there is a statue of an ancient pokemon. According to myth, it was an extremely powerful pokemon. Who knows? You may encounter something like it while you're traveling with your pokedex. Try using this. It should help you on your way." Then she gives me the HM for cut. How helpful. I like this Cynthia person already. Now, should I check out that statue or teach someone cut? I decide on the latter, for now. Ninhursag and Hanuman can both learn the move, so I replace Ninhursag's unimpressive water sport with cut. She still cannot cut down the bushes though. Oh, I forgot. Badges. Cutting will have to wait.
I examine the statue. It looks familiar. There is an inscription, but parts of it are completely illegible. Then, all at once, I understand: this is the phantom from my dream. That phantom was some sort of ancient and powerful pokemon. Anxiously, I read what I can. This pokemon is supposedly the creator of dimensions and might now be dead or alive or neither and is probably in a different universe. I can't tell. Forboding. I leave and barge into the nearest building. It turns out to be a shop for herbal medicine. Too bad I am already in the pockets of Big Pharma, hahaha. Wait, what? Forget it.
Some woman in the Poke Center thinks I am cute, so she gives me an app for my poketch. I forgot about that thing, actually. A boy complains that Team Galactic stole his pokemon. Is there a rule that says I cannot just have Articuno ice beam their whole building? I find a bicycle shop, but cannot purchase a much-needed velocipede from the proprietor, as he is absent. Gone to the Team Galactic building, in fact. A boy in the condominium I just barged into wants to trade his Chatot for Buizel. I take note of that. An old woman gives me a TM. A girl tells me that the Gym Leader here sometimes goes to Eterna Forest. Wait, Gym Leader? I could use another badge.
The sign outside the gym betrays the fact that Gardenia, the Gym Leader here, uses "vivid plant pokemon." Hanuman, you will soon have an opportunity to do what you do best. Gardenia greets me, then says that I cannot challenge her until I beat all of the other trainers in the gym. I follow her into an artificial forest thing. I see how this works. The trainers hide in forest. I have to find them. Well, fortunately, I am an expert woodsman. This should be easy.
Khali
The pokedex says that Misdreavus gets nourishment from fear. Oh yes, Misdreavus, we were meant for each other. Without hesitation, I name her Khali. Then I run back to town for her. I check the computer in the Poke Center, it has access to three different PC's: mine, Rowan's, and "someone's." I check mine. No pokemon. I check Rowan's. All it does is give me a report on my progress in the pokedex project. Useless. I check "someone's." It sends me to a pokemon storage system. Nanabozho and Khali are both being kept here. Why are my pokemon being kept in someone's PC? Who is someone, anyway? At this point, I really have no choice but to work with this. Perhaps it's normal for the world of pokemon. It seems wrong. Still, I am able to modify my team. Even though I can only carry six pokemon, I can choose any six of the eight I have.
I give the matter some thought. Right now, these are the pokemon I have...
Two psychics ambush us on the trail. They both use Abra. I switch to Khali. Abra may be dangerous and have psychic powers or whatever, but Khali can terrify them so much, they won't be able to think. Both Abras beat Chansey up with hidden power. I learn that ghost moves are good against psychic pokemon. Good thing I'm taking notes here. Astonish seems sort of weak, but it is the only ghost move I have right now. Apsu and Khali both gain levels. In my next encounter with wild pokemon, I realize that astonish, although weak, can make things flinch, which cause them to lose their turns.
Khali spreads terror and chaos throughout the forest. I am enjoying my new spectral friend so much that I forget I'm even with Cheryl. Two bug-catchers ambush us. I have nothing against insects or other such creatures, but in this world, it seems that they are rather weak. These trainers should really try to use more than just bug-types. Forget it. That's all their problem anyway. Khali and I will be happy to ruin them no matter what they do. Khali's powers bring down the weird pokemon called "Burmy." The bug-catcher replaces Burmy with Kricketune. The evolved form of Kricketot? Kricketune and the Wurmple that has been fighting Chansey use moves to slow the fight down and weaken the attacking power of our team. But they cannot harm Khali and Chansey recovers from the damage they deal to her, so our attacks count for more. Psywave continues to sap their strength. Kricketune falls. Wurmple faints too, but is replaced by Dustox, a moth pokemon. Khali learns confuse ray, so I test it out on Dustox. My opponent has the same idea, and directs his Dustox to use confusion on Khali. This only serves to make Khali grow stronger and teach me the power of confuse ray. The bug-catcher is still not done, and sends out Cascoon. Khali makes quick work of that one.
How much more forest is there? Khali is catching up to the rest of the team, which is good. Another ambush by psychics. Why are they hanging out in this forest? They are probably trying to read my mind for some reason. I will probably have to kill them later. These two send out Psyduck and a little onion-head guy called Meditite. Astonish easily dispenses with Meditite. Psyduck is more difficult. She keeps blasting Khali with water gun. The combined attacks of Khali and Chansey bring her down. One of these nuts tells me after the battle that there is nothing strange about my victory. Indeed.
We pass by a fence with some bushes that I cannot pass. Hanuman's flame wheel might be useful for this. On the other hand, no need to start a forest fire. I can always come back later, and the exit is in sight. Cheryl thanks me for helping her get through the forest and we part ways. I will miss her for her healing, however she did it.
I give the matter some thought. Right now, these are the pokemon I have...
- Articuno: Level 60. Even though I lack the means to properly control it, this can be my insurance. Nothing has so much as threatened Articuno so far. That is reason enough to keep Articuno on my team.
- Hanuman: Level 19. My first pokemon and a true powerhouse of my team. I might as well keep him around.
- Sekhmet: Level 17. She has yet to learn any electric moves and I am disappointed with that. She is getting stronger though and has become one of my more reliable pokemon.
- Apsu: Level 16. He can take punishment now, but deals little damage. I have been waiting for him to do something and I am tired of waiting.
- Kazza: Level 16: Confusion is good, but he lacks other effective moves and refuses to cooperate much like Articuno.
- Ninhursag: Level 15. Stun spore and mega drain are both good. I don't use her much, but keeping her around seems like a good idea.
- Khali: Level 11. I have never used her before, but she is totally going to see some action soon.
- Nanabozho: Level 10. Untested and the lowest level out of all my pokemon.
Two psychics ambush us on the trail. They both use Abra. I switch to Khali. Abra may be dangerous and have psychic powers or whatever, but Khali can terrify them so much, they won't be able to think. Both Abras beat Chansey up with hidden power. I learn that ghost moves are good against psychic pokemon. Good thing I'm taking notes here. Astonish seems sort of weak, but it is the only ghost move I have right now. Apsu and Khali both gain levels. In my next encounter with wild pokemon, I realize that astonish, although weak, can make things flinch, which cause them to lose their turns.
Khali spreads terror and chaos throughout the forest. I am enjoying my new spectral friend so much that I forget I'm even with Cheryl. Two bug-catchers ambush us. I have nothing against insects or other such creatures, but in this world, it seems that they are rather weak. These trainers should really try to use more than just bug-types. Forget it. That's all their problem anyway. Khali and I will be happy to ruin them no matter what they do. Khali's powers bring down the weird pokemon called "Burmy." The bug-catcher replaces Burmy with Kricketune. The evolved form of Kricketot? Kricketune and the Wurmple that has been fighting Chansey use moves to slow the fight down and weaken the attacking power of our team. But they cannot harm Khali and Chansey recovers from the damage they deal to her, so our attacks count for more. Psywave continues to sap their strength. Kricketune falls. Wurmple faints too, but is replaced by Dustox, a moth pokemon. Khali learns confuse ray, so I test it out on Dustox. My opponent has the same idea, and directs his Dustox to use confusion on Khali. This only serves to make Khali grow stronger and teach me the power of confuse ray. The bug-catcher is still not done, and sends out Cascoon. Khali makes quick work of that one.
How much more forest is there? Khali is catching up to the rest of the team, which is good. Another ambush by psychics. Why are they hanging out in this forest? They are probably trying to read my mind for some reason. I will probably have to kill them later. These two send out Psyduck and a little onion-head guy called Meditite. Astonish easily dispenses with Meditite. Psyduck is more difficult. She keeps blasting Khali with water gun. The combined attacks of Khali and Chansey bring her down. One of these nuts tells me after the battle that there is nothing strange about my victory. Indeed.
We pass by a fence with some bushes that I cannot pass. Hanuman's flame wheel might be useful for this. On the other hand, no need to start a forest fire. I can always come back later, and the exit is in sight. Cheryl thanks me for helping her get through the forest and we part ways. I will miss her for her healing, however she did it.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Great Misdreavus Hunt
I lose track of time. Battling with Cheryl by my side is so much fun. What a pity that we will eventually have to go our separate ways. As a bonus, at least Apsu finally learned tackle. I feel like investing attention in him will pay off. As it is, he is still the weak link here. So is Kazza, but I might just replace him with Nanabozho once I get out of this forest.
Two trainers ambush us. Fortunately, they both seem to ignore my pokemon and focus on Cheryl's Chansey, and she takes hits like nothing else I've ever seen. I must try to catch a Chansey myself. The enemy Wurmple and Pachirisu get several hits in and eventually Chansey actually does go down, but it bought me time to switch to Hanuman, who dominates both opponents single-handedly. Since Chansey has fainted, perhaps I should take Cheryl back to the Poke Center for healing? How does this work? Well, I can switch Kazza out for Nanabozho, at least.
Or not. Kazza evolves into Kadabra and learns confusion, so now he can actually attack. And Cheryl's healing resources are just as capable of reviving Chansey as they have been when it comes to healing my team. How does this girl do it? We continue through the forest. I meet a new pokemon. It's then that I realize: it's nighttime now. It makes sense that some pokemon would be nocturnal. This one looks like a floating shadow fireball thing with pink edges and a face.I intend to capture this Misdreavus if possible. Kazza refuses to obey me for the first time ever. I suppose he has grown too strong for the mystical power of my badge to tame him. Normal attacks do not seem to hurt this Misdreavus. I weaken her with ember and throw my dusk ball, but she breaks free. Annoying, and I don't want to use another ember because it might make her faint and for whatever reason, I cannot capture fainted pokemon. After exhausting nearly all of my supply of regular poke balls, I have Hanuman ember one more time and throw the great ball. That also fails. I throw my last poke ball. It almost works, but she breaks free again. Dejected, I order Hanuman to finish the wraith with ember.
I almost continue, but I am just too angry about not catching that shadow thing. I want a Misdreavus and I will have a Misdreavus! I return to town and buy 15 poke balls for the hunt. I am interrupted on my way back to the forest by a gastropod called Shellos, but I lose the opportunity to catch it when Kazza disobeys my orders and teleports. I should do something about that. I reenter the forest and meet up with Cheryl again. The hunt has begun.
First, we find a pair of Budews. Not what I am looking for, so they get to taste fire. Next it's another Budew and a Wurmple. An odd couple, I should think. Wurmple looks like it would be interested in eating Budew, but perhaps they are uniting against me for some reason. Unfortunate for them, as the only fruit of their labor is them being lit on fire—eventually. Hanuman is not as quick about this as I might like because of stun spore and water sport by the Budew. I would be mad, but I did just light the offender on fire, which seems more than fair. Something good did happen though: Hanuman learned flame wheel. I promptly test this move out on the next pair to bother me, a Buneary and a Wurmple. Flame wheel seems better than ember. I am interrupted again by Buneary, this time with Budew. It isn't that I don't appreciate the chance to strengthen my pokemon, but I am looking for something here, so move aside. They ignore me, of course, so Sekhmet punishes them for that with much biting. Another duo just like the previous one attacks us. This is getting old. Time for Articuno. Perhaps if the wild pokemon see the majesty that is Articuno, they will stand aside and call for a Misdreavus to approach me. More likely, they will mindlessly attack while Articuno stubbornly refuses to heed my directions. Oh look, that's exactly what happened.
Another Budew and Buneary. And then there they are. Twin Misdreavuses. I switch to Sekhmet for bite, reasoning that flame wheel might do too much damage. Bad move. Apparently dark-type moves really hurt Misdreavus. I cannot risk letting Kazza teleport out of this. Apsu cannot hurt Misdreavus at all. Articuno would destroy her with one ice beam once he got around to actually attacking. My only options are Hanuman and Ninhursag. I have Ninhursag use stun spore right away, remembering the lesson that a pokemon afflicted with a status condition is easier to catch. Then I try mega drain. Perfect. This should weaken Misdreavus nicely. I switch to Apsu so that he can take the hits from my quarry, as Ninhursag was taking a beating. And still, somehow this mysterious creature breaks out of each poke ball I throw. Am I cursed never to have my own Misdreavus? This cannot be. Each poke ball that breaks only makes me want one even more. I wonder if this is impossible, but finally, it works. I am elated. Horrible as that was, I am sure it will be worth the effort.
Two trainers ambush us. Fortunately, they both seem to ignore my pokemon and focus on Cheryl's Chansey, and she takes hits like nothing else I've ever seen. I must try to catch a Chansey myself. The enemy Wurmple and Pachirisu get several hits in and eventually Chansey actually does go down, but it bought me time to switch to Hanuman, who dominates both opponents single-handedly. Since Chansey has fainted, perhaps I should take Cheryl back to the Poke Center for healing? How does this work? Well, I can switch Kazza out for Nanabozho, at least.
Or not. Kazza evolves into Kadabra and learns confusion, so now he can actually attack. And Cheryl's healing resources are just as capable of reviving Chansey as they have been when it comes to healing my team. How does this girl do it? We continue through the forest. I meet a new pokemon. It's then that I realize: it's nighttime now. It makes sense that some pokemon would be nocturnal. This one looks like a floating shadow fireball thing with pink edges and a face.I intend to capture this Misdreavus if possible. Kazza refuses to obey me for the first time ever. I suppose he has grown too strong for the mystical power of my badge to tame him. Normal attacks do not seem to hurt this Misdreavus. I weaken her with ember and throw my dusk ball, but she breaks free. Annoying, and I don't want to use another ember because it might make her faint and for whatever reason, I cannot capture fainted pokemon. After exhausting nearly all of my supply of regular poke balls, I have Hanuman ember one more time and throw the great ball. That also fails. I throw my last poke ball. It almost works, but she breaks free again. Dejected, I order Hanuman to finish the wraith with ember.
I almost continue, but I am just too angry about not catching that shadow thing. I want a Misdreavus and I will have a Misdreavus! I return to town and buy 15 poke balls for the hunt. I am interrupted on my way back to the forest by a gastropod called Shellos, but I lose the opportunity to catch it when Kazza disobeys my orders and teleports. I should do something about that. I reenter the forest and meet up with Cheryl again. The hunt has begun.
First, we find a pair of Budews. Not what I am looking for, so they get to taste fire. Next it's another Budew and a Wurmple. An odd couple, I should think. Wurmple looks like it would be interested in eating Budew, but perhaps they are uniting against me for some reason. Unfortunate for them, as the only fruit of their labor is them being lit on fire—eventually. Hanuman is not as quick about this as I might like because of stun spore and water sport by the Budew. I would be mad, but I did just light the offender on fire, which seems more than fair. Something good did happen though: Hanuman learned flame wheel. I promptly test this move out on the next pair to bother me, a Buneary and a Wurmple. Flame wheel seems better than ember. I am interrupted again by Buneary, this time with Budew. It isn't that I don't appreciate the chance to strengthen my pokemon, but I am looking for something here, so move aside. They ignore me, of course, so Sekhmet punishes them for that with much biting. Another duo just like the previous one attacks us. This is getting old. Time for Articuno. Perhaps if the wild pokemon see the majesty that is Articuno, they will stand aside and call for a Misdreavus to approach me. More likely, they will mindlessly attack while Articuno stubbornly refuses to heed my directions. Oh look, that's exactly what happened.
Another Budew and Buneary. And then there they are. Twin Misdreavuses. I switch to Sekhmet for bite, reasoning that flame wheel might do too much damage. Bad move. Apparently dark-type moves really hurt Misdreavus. I cannot risk letting Kazza teleport out of this. Apsu cannot hurt Misdreavus at all. Articuno would destroy her with one ice beam once he got around to actually attacking. My only options are Hanuman and Ninhursag. I have Ninhursag use stun spore right away, remembering the lesson that a pokemon afflicted with a status condition is easier to catch. Then I try mega drain. Perfect. This should weaken Misdreavus nicely. I switch to Apsu so that he can take the hits from my quarry, as Ninhursag was taking a beating. And still, somehow this mysterious creature breaks out of each poke ball I throw. Am I cursed never to have my own Misdreavus? This cannot be. Each poke ball that breaks only makes me want one even more. I wonder if this is impossible, but finally, it works. I am elated. Horrible as that was, I am sure it will be worth the effort.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Nanabozho
This is great. Cheryl fully restores my pokemon after every battle. Half the time the wild pokemon attack her nigh invincible Chansey, and my team gets even more experience to make them stronger because we're ambushed by pairs of wild pokemon. Our foes are mostly bugs. I have not yet encountered any trainers, but I am sure we will. That's the way of things. And then I find a new pokemon. The pokedex identifies it as Buneary. I already have a team of six, but catching this rabbit pokemon seems like a good idea, so when Sekhmet weakens him and I am sure a poke ball will catch him, I throw the poke ball and become the proud owner of a Buneary. I hesitate on the name, then decide on Nanabozho. A bit obscure, but perfect for a rabbit.
The poke ball vanishes and I get a message from my pokedex that Nanabozho was sent to a PC. What? Well, the pokedex seems to indicate that this is normal, and I did know that I could not carry more than six pokemon with me at a time. It appears that this rule is being enforced by powers beyond my ken. But I do get to keep Buneary, right? I suspect that the computer in each Poke Center can be used to modify my team. So six pokemon can come with me and the rest must wait in storage somewhere. But where is somewhere? For now, all I can do is beat up on some more forest pokemon. And that isn't so bad.
The poke ball vanishes and I get a message from my pokedex that Nanabozho was sent to a PC. What? Well, the pokedex seems to indicate that this is normal, and I did know that I could not carry more than six pokemon with me at a time. It appears that this rule is being enforced by powers beyond my ken. But I do get to keep Buneary, right? I suspect that the computer in each Poke Center can be used to modify my team. So six pokemon can come with me and the rest must wait in storage somewhere. But where is somewhere? For now, all I can do is beat up on some more forest pokemon. And that isn't so bad.
Luxio
I step into Eterna Forest. A thin girl with green hair greets me. Oh great, some sort of hippie...
"Hello, my name's Cheryl. And you are...OK, so your name is Master. I'm sincerely glad to meet you." I want to ask her how she knew my name when I had not told her, but she continues, "Master, may I ask a big favor of you? I want to get through this forest, but I'm afraid of doing it alone. I've heard that there is a sinister group of people called Team Galactic about. I think there'd be safety in numbers. Please, may I go through with you?"
I find myself agreeing before I can even consider the matter. For some reason, wild pokemon attack us in pairs, so that there is one for each of us. Cheryl has a fat, pink pokemon called "Chansey." Whatever it is, this Chansey sure can take punishment. We wind through the forest. Cheryl keeps my pokemon healed, which is useful. I suppose I would not mind traveling with her. We find a moss-covered rock. I remark on how strange it is, then wake up much later, confused. Oh, I get it. Magic rock.
After battling some more forest pokemon, Sekhmet glows white and evolves into Luxio, a bigger, darker, and more leonine creature.
"Hello, my name's Cheryl. And you are...OK, so your name is Master. I'm sincerely glad to meet you." I want to ask her how she knew my name when I had not told her, but she continues, "Master, may I ask a big favor of you? I want to get through this forest, but I'm afraid of doing it alone. I've heard that there is a sinister group of people called Team Galactic about. I think there'd be safety in numbers. Please, may I go through with you?"
I find myself agreeing before I can even consider the matter. For some reason, wild pokemon attack us in pairs, so that there is one for each of us. Cheryl has a fat, pink pokemon called "Chansey." Whatever it is, this Chansey sure can take punishment. We wind through the forest. Cheryl keeps my pokemon healed, which is useful. I suppose I would not mind traveling with her. We find a moss-covered rock. I remark on how strange it is, then wake up much later, confused. Oh, I get it. Magic rock.
After battling some more forest pokemon, Sekhmet glows white and evolves into Luxio, a bigger, darker, and more leonine creature.
Floaroma Town
This new town is called "Floaroma Town." Another portmanteau. I suppose that the great proclivity of this place to flowers (they are everywhere) is the inspiration for this. I try to run through the fields of flowers an encounter new pokemon, but no wild pokemon attack. All I find are some people who seem enchanted by the flowers. The aroma of these blooms may have a psychoactive quality not advertised by the sign. Best to leave the flowers for now.
One of the residents mentions that Team Galactic is causing problems in the meadow. I consider ignoring this, but I already dislike Team Galactic so much. I must investigate. I find two of the wretched gangsters between some trees. They complain about their assignment. They also ignore me. Forget it. I find some berries and pick them. The plants disappear once the berries are picked. Bizarre. I enter a shop and a woman, noticing that I am a trainer, requests that I water berries with a "Sprayduck Can." She then gives me such an item. I am confused, but she continues by explaining that I can plant berries in soft, earthy soil and watering them will make them grow. Another woman gives me a berry. Then I find out that this shop does not even take cash. They only accept berries. Whatever. Let's check out the local Poke Mart. They sell "net balls" that are more effective against bug and water pokemon. But they are rather expensive.
I barge into a cottage in town using my characteristic method of entering buildings. As always, the residents are unperturbed by my bad manners. They tell me about honey and how it can be used to lure wild pokemon. Interesting. I should acquire some. I have yet to see it for sale anywhere. I barge into another home. A little girl gives me a TM. I am starting to get used to all the gifts strangers offer me. It seems I have nowhere else to go in this town. North is blocked by those Team Galactic goons. I shall deal with them later. There is a road east, so I follow it.
I pick some berries. A young girl runs up to me. I assume that she's a trainer and prepare myself for battle, but she wants my help. Her father works at a place called the "Valley Windworks." People dressed like spacemen are mean and won't let her in. Does she mean Team Galactic. Unwise of them. Upset a little girl and she can't do anything. Upset a little girl that I come across and maybe I'll hunt you down.
I spot the Valley Windworks. Odd that the windmills are going when I cannot detect even a slight breeze. Forget it. A Team Galactic moron refuses to let me into the building. Sekhmet has something to say about that. His Glameow (a weird cat) hurts Sekhmet badly with a move called "fake out." I have her leer to weaken the other cat, then heal her with a potion. Leer again, but the scratches are hurting. I think the odds are against her in this battle, so I switch to Hanuman. Rock smash demolishes Glameow. This Galactic moron is a sore loser though, and locks himself in. He triumphantly states that I cannot get in because I do not have the other key. I consider having Hanuman rock smash the door, but it might be more fun to pay a visit to those other Galactic idiots and take the key from them by force.
I enter the flower meadow north of town. Those Galactic idiots are trying to extort honey from some guy. They see me. Afraid that I will run off to get help, they send out their pokemon to try and stop me. That has not worked out well for their brethren, but rather than bragging, I let Hanuman's ember do the talking. This works quite well, because Team Galactic is too clueless to use anything but bug pokemon most of the time, and fire is good against bug pokemon. The second Galactic idiot sends out Zubat. I switch to Sekhmet. It is an impressive battle. Sekhmet can barely stand when it's over, but the Zubat falls. The man that Team Galactic was trying to rob is so greatful, he gives me some honey. The Galactic idiots also dropped their Works Key while running away. How convenient. Now I can get into the Valley Windworks without even breaking any doors. I return to town for a quick healing, then run to the Windworks.
As soon as I barge into the building, the moron I beat earlier sees me and runs to get his "commander." I follow him. Another Galactic moron tries to stop me. He has a Silcoon, which appears to be a cocoon pokemon that can fire poison darts and go down in one hit against ember. I really am a lot better at this whole pokemon thing than these fools. Another moron intercepts me, babbling something about how they are going to get electricity from the Valley Windworks. If Sekhmet would just learn an electric attack, I could give him electricity myself. So I switch to her. He's using Wurmple anyway, which seems pretty weak. It does manage to get several hits in, but Sekhmet wins. He brings in Glameow. I almost have Sekhmet use leer, but I remember how hard this thing can hit when it first comes out, so I switch to Kazza to take the hit. Glameow uses growl. My mistake. Go Hanuman. One hit with rock smash ends that. I guess it's because rock smash is a fighting move and Glameow is weak to fighting moves.
A woman with outrageous red hair steps in my way...
"I am one of Team Galactic's three Commanders. We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one...But people have shown little understanding about what we do. You don't understand either, do you? It's a little saddening...So let's have a battle to decide what what we should do next. If I win, you leave. If you win, we, Team Galactic , will leave!"
I know Apsu has no attacks, so I leave him out to take punishment while healing Sekhmet with a potion. Zubat uses leech life. Better leer twice: this Zubat seems strong. Then the Zubat uses a move called toxic. Sekhmet could be finished soon. I have a bad feeling about this. I have her press the attack. If she can finish the Zubat I should have an advantage in the battle. But Zubat's bite causes her to flinch and the poison weakens her. She manages to score one tackle, but the poison finishes her off. My opponent taunts me. She thinks she has this battle. But it's not over yet. I send in Hanuman for an ember. Zubat is burned by it. Zubat gets on leech life, and the second ember causes it to faint. The Team Galactic Commander sends out Purugly. I think this is probably the evolved form of Glameow. That's just a hunch, though. Hanuman's rock smash is more effective than the big cat's attacks, and he wins, albet barely. He learns fury swipes too. Excellent.
True to her word, my opponent whose name was Mars, gathers her minions and departs. The father of the little girl from earlier is reunited with his daughter. Before I leave, he mentions a visit from a balloon pokemon. I leave, but see no balloons of any sort. I'll have to come back later, I guess. I cross a bridge and some boy scout challenges me. He has a fire horse thing called "Ponyta" that beats up on Sekhmet, so I switch to Hanuman and have him try out his new fury swipes. It works reasonably well. Sekhmet learns bite, which sounds more useful than tackle. I run back to Floaroma town to heal. The boy I just beat mentioned Eterna Forest. If I'm going to trek through a forest, I intend to be prepared.
A big man in hiking gear challenges me. I switch to Hanuman for rock smash. Easy. He sends out another Geodude, but I have already switched to Ninhursag, knowing that mega drain is even better against Geodude. The hiker sends in Machop and I switch to Sekhmet. She should beat the Machop, but her last tackle misses. Poor thing. Ninhursag mega drains to finish Machop. The hiker sends out Bidoof. At this point, I am annoyed, so I bring out Articuno. This may be a mistake, because Articuno still refuses to obey me. In fact, Articuno falls asleep again. Eventually, Articuno uses ice beam, despite my call for aerial ace. But either one works.
I heal my team and continue. Another trainer challenges me, this one with Budew. Sekhmet's bites do appreciable damage and the grassy pokemon is down. Another boy scout challenges me. Geodude again. Rock smash again. Then I am abushed by another hiker. Oh, it's Onix, another rock pokemon. Rock smash? Of course. Another trainer, this one a strange woman in tights, challenges me with her Machop. I consider giving Sekhmet another shot, but I tire of seeing her get hurt. Articuno, do your thing. While Articuno disobeys me again and fails to use aerial ace, ice beam works just as well. No more Machop. A girl scout challenges me with Piplup. Good, this could be practice for fighting Slave again. I send out Sekhmet to see how she fares. She has the advantage with bite, and brings the cute little puffin thing down. I am pleased. I find a rest house. A woman there heals my pokemon.
Another trainer challenges me. This time, my opponent lads with Shinx. Sekhmet overpowers the weaker Shinx. The girl scout or whatever she is sends out Pachirisu. Sekhmet dominates that one too. I find that I have looped back around, so I return to the rest house and head north. There's Eterna Forest just ahead.
One of the residents mentions that Team Galactic is causing problems in the meadow. I consider ignoring this, but I already dislike Team Galactic so much. I must investigate. I find two of the wretched gangsters between some trees. They complain about their assignment. They also ignore me. Forget it. I find some berries and pick them. The plants disappear once the berries are picked. Bizarre. I enter a shop and a woman, noticing that I am a trainer, requests that I water berries with a "Sprayduck Can." She then gives me such an item. I am confused, but she continues by explaining that I can plant berries in soft, earthy soil and watering them will make them grow. Another woman gives me a berry. Then I find out that this shop does not even take cash. They only accept berries. Whatever. Let's check out the local Poke Mart. They sell "net balls" that are more effective against bug and water pokemon. But they are rather expensive.
I barge into a cottage in town using my characteristic method of entering buildings. As always, the residents are unperturbed by my bad manners. They tell me about honey and how it can be used to lure wild pokemon. Interesting. I should acquire some. I have yet to see it for sale anywhere. I barge into another home. A little girl gives me a TM. I am starting to get used to all the gifts strangers offer me. It seems I have nowhere else to go in this town. North is blocked by those Team Galactic goons. I shall deal with them later. There is a road east, so I follow it.
I pick some berries. A young girl runs up to me. I assume that she's a trainer and prepare myself for battle, but she wants my help. Her father works at a place called the "Valley Windworks." People dressed like spacemen are mean and won't let her in. Does she mean Team Galactic. Unwise of them. Upset a little girl and she can't do anything. Upset a little girl that I come across and maybe I'll hunt you down.
I spot the Valley Windworks. Odd that the windmills are going when I cannot detect even a slight breeze. Forget it. A Team Galactic moron refuses to let me into the building. Sekhmet has something to say about that. His Glameow (a weird cat) hurts Sekhmet badly with a move called "fake out." I have her leer to weaken the other cat, then heal her with a potion. Leer again, but the scratches are hurting. I think the odds are against her in this battle, so I switch to Hanuman. Rock smash demolishes Glameow. This Galactic moron is a sore loser though, and locks himself in. He triumphantly states that I cannot get in because I do not have the other key. I consider having Hanuman rock smash the door, but it might be more fun to pay a visit to those other Galactic idiots and take the key from them by force.
I enter the flower meadow north of town. Those Galactic idiots are trying to extort honey from some guy. They see me. Afraid that I will run off to get help, they send out their pokemon to try and stop me. That has not worked out well for their brethren, but rather than bragging, I let Hanuman's ember do the talking. This works quite well, because Team Galactic is too clueless to use anything but bug pokemon most of the time, and fire is good against bug pokemon. The second Galactic idiot sends out Zubat. I switch to Sekhmet. It is an impressive battle. Sekhmet can barely stand when it's over, but the Zubat falls. The man that Team Galactic was trying to rob is so greatful, he gives me some honey. The Galactic idiots also dropped their Works Key while running away. How convenient. Now I can get into the Valley Windworks without even breaking any doors. I return to town for a quick healing, then run to the Windworks.
As soon as I barge into the building, the moron I beat earlier sees me and runs to get his "commander." I follow him. Another Galactic moron tries to stop me. He has a Silcoon, which appears to be a cocoon pokemon that can fire poison darts and go down in one hit against ember. I really am a lot better at this whole pokemon thing than these fools. Another moron intercepts me, babbling something about how they are going to get electricity from the Valley Windworks. If Sekhmet would just learn an electric attack, I could give him electricity myself. So I switch to her. He's using Wurmple anyway, which seems pretty weak. It does manage to get several hits in, but Sekhmet wins. He brings in Glameow. I almost have Sekhmet use leer, but I remember how hard this thing can hit when it first comes out, so I switch to Kazza to take the hit. Glameow uses growl. My mistake. Go Hanuman. One hit with rock smash ends that. I guess it's because rock smash is a fighting move and Glameow is weak to fighting moves.
A woman with outrageous red hair steps in my way...
"I am one of Team Galactic's three Commanders. We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one...But people have shown little understanding about what we do. You don't understand either, do you? It's a little saddening...So let's have a battle to decide what what we should do next. If I win, you leave. If you win, we, Team Galactic , will leave!"
I know Apsu has no attacks, so I leave him out to take punishment while healing Sekhmet with a potion. Zubat uses leech life. Better leer twice: this Zubat seems strong. Then the Zubat uses a move called toxic. Sekhmet could be finished soon. I have a bad feeling about this. I have her press the attack. If she can finish the Zubat I should have an advantage in the battle. But Zubat's bite causes her to flinch and the poison weakens her. She manages to score one tackle, but the poison finishes her off. My opponent taunts me. She thinks she has this battle. But it's not over yet. I send in Hanuman for an ember. Zubat is burned by it. Zubat gets on leech life, and the second ember causes it to faint. The Team Galactic Commander sends out Purugly. I think this is probably the evolved form of Glameow. That's just a hunch, though. Hanuman's rock smash is more effective than the big cat's attacks, and he wins, albet barely. He learns fury swipes too. Excellent.
True to her word, my opponent whose name was Mars, gathers her minions and departs. The father of the little girl from earlier is reunited with his daughter. Before I leave, he mentions a visit from a balloon pokemon. I leave, but see no balloons of any sort. I'll have to come back later, I guess. I cross a bridge and some boy scout challenges me. He has a fire horse thing called "Ponyta" that beats up on Sekhmet, so I switch to Hanuman and have him try out his new fury swipes. It works reasonably well. Sekhmet learns bite, which sounds more useful than tackle. I run back to Floaroma town to heal. The boy I just beat mentioned Eterna Forest. If I'm going to trek through a forest, I intend to be prepared.
A big man in hiking gear challenges me. I switch to Hanuman for rock smash. Easy. He sends out another Geodude, but I have already switched to Ninhursag, knowing that mega drain is even better against Geodude. The hiker sends in Machop and I switch to Sekhmet. She should beat the Machop, but her last tackle misses. Poor thing. Ninhursag mega drains to finish Machop. The hiker sends out Bidoof. At this point, I am annoyed, so I bring out Articuno. This may be a mistake, because Articuno still refuses to obey me. In fact, Articuno falls asleep again. Eventually, Articuno uses ice beam, despite my call for aerial ace. But either one works.
I heal my team and continue. Another trainer challenges me, this one with Budew. Sekhmet's bites do appreciable damage and the grassy pokemon is down. Another boy scout challenges me. Geodude again. Rock smash again. Then I am abushed by another hiker. Oh, it's Onix, another rock pokemon. Rock smash? Of course. Another trainer, this one a strange woman in tights, challenges me with her Machop. I consider giving Sekhmet another shot, but I tire of seeing her get hurt. Articuno, do your thing. While Articuno disobeys me again and fails to use aerial ace, ice beam works just as well. No more Machop. A girl scout challenges me with Piplup. Good, this could be practice for fighting Slave again. I send out Sekhmet to see how she fares. She has the advantage with bite, and brings the cute little puffin thing down. I am pleased. I find a rest house. A woman there heals my pokemon.
Another trainer challenges me. This time, my opponent lads with Shinx. Sekhmet overpowers the weaker Shinx. The girl scout or whatever she is sends out Pachirisu. Sekhmet dominates that one too. I find that I have looped back around, so I return to the rest house and head north. There's Eterna Forest just ahead.
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