Victory Road

I wade through the usual wild pokemon attacks, finally reaching my first trainer in the cave: a bird fanatic. I didn't think birds lived in caves. Hanuman burns up my aggressor's Noctowl with no trouble. Her Staraptor proves to be more dangerous. Enki is badly damaged by only a single attack, winning the battle with a poison jab and a surf. I treat Enki with a hyper potion. I may need to buy more potions sooner rather than later.

As always, wild pokemon continue to bombard me. The next trainer I encounter is one of those "psychic guys. He leads with Haunter. Hanuman is damaged from attacks by wild pokemon. I switch to Khali. Shadow punch hurts Khali. Shadow Ball easily defeats Haunter. And Gengar. And Alakazam. I use rock climb to get back up the wall and return to the Poke Center for healing.

After dealing with even more wild pokemon, I meet my next challenger. She leads with Golduck. I switch from Hanuman to Enki and attempt poison jab. Golduck's zen headbutt devastates Enki, but doesn't finish him. Too bad Golduck didn't get poisoned. I switch to Inanna anyway. Her first two sings miss and Golduck disable sing, then beats Inanna up with other attacks. I bring in Khali. confuse ray and shadow ball finish Golduck. That's the most trouble one pokemon has given me in a while. This trainer has one more left: a Blissey. Hanuman knocks Blissey out with a single rock smash. I restore most of Inanna's health with a hyper potion, then use softboiled to heal Enki.

I enter another chamber and immediately require rock smash to get anywhere. Fortunately, I have it. Unfortunately, I also need strength to get past boulders that are impervious to smashing. I journey back to the Poke Center and exchange Inanna for Apsu. That makes the wild Golbats even easier to deal with. Cai Shen would be better still, but he doesn't know strength. It's fairly easy to see how I need to move each boulder in order to clear a path.

A wild Graveler takes out Hanuman due to shenanigans, forcing me to waste a revive. I am challenged by another trainer. I switch to Enki to counter Rapidash. The horse hits twice with quick attack, survives surf to quick attack once more, then drops to poison jab. Rampardos is next. One hit from surf takes that one out. I switch back to Hanuman in anticipation of Carnivine. The grass pokemon barely withstands flame wheel, hitting back with crunch. Hanuman easily finishes the battle with his next attack. Ryujin, who hasn't directly engaged much on this venture, has benefited passively through exp. share. He evolves into Garchomp. No wonder he wasn't as strong as the others. He still had another evolution left! I also replace dragon rage with crunch. I give Hanuman a break, letting Khali take the lead.

Another trainer blocks my path. After Khali confuses her Clefable, I switch to Hanuman, taking Clefable out with close combat. My opponent's other pokemon is a grassy creature named Torterra. Apsu's ice fang almost brings Torterra down in one attack. Toterra retaliates with crunch, then Apsu easily finishes the battle.

An old man is waiting for me around the next turn. His Staraptor knocks out Khali with brave bird. I have Apsu ice fang, exacting my chilly vengeance. The old man's other pokemon is Hippowdon. Apsu's waterfall hurts Hippowdon. The hippo responds with crunch. Apsu survives and uses another waterfall.

The path leads me back to the first chamber. My team needs healing badly. I hop down a ledge and return to the Poke Center. I then run back to the stupid boulder puzzles, retreating from wild pokemon as they ambush me. Now I am free to explore the rest of the first chamber.

A black belt intercepts me. He leads with Machamp. Khali uses confuse ray. Machamp hurts itself. I switch to Enki. Machamp hurts itself. Enki uses toxic spikes. Machamp attacks with submission. Machamp hurts itself again. I have Enki use surf, but Machamp manages to withstand it and knocks Enki out with cross chop. Ryujin easily finishes Machamp. And then I realize that this trainer has no other pokemon. I set up two layers of toxic spikes for no reason. And no Enki is knocked out. This is going to take forever.

I leave the cave again and fly to Veilstone City. This calls for a shopping spree. I spend almost half of my personal fortune on enough healing supplies to get through any cave. I hope it's enough, anyway. Now, let's try this again. Actually, let's get some max repels too. That'll do.

I reach another chamber. This one has pools of water. The next psychic to challenge me, rather than talking about my future, claims to be able to see the past. As always, Khali's shadow ball makes quick work of psychic type pokemon. Another trainer is running around. He finally notices me and challenges me. He has Honchkrow. I could switch, but Articuno's ice beam seems like a fine way to start and end this battle. Articuno even gains a level.

Two trainers challenge me to a doubles battle. They have Medicham and Gyarados. I switch Articuno out for Khali and have Enki poison jab Gyarados. Shadow ball drops Medicham in one hit. Gyarados' hydro pump damages Khali. Poison jab further weakens Gyarados. Khali finishes Gyarados with shadow ball. I continue exploring.

I surf through one pool, then walk to the next. Eventually, I need to scale a waterfall, which is no problem for Apsu. A trainer accosts me. He has only Gabite. Articuno's ice beam ends that one easily. He says, "There's no way I could have won!" True.

I arrive in another section of the first chamber. An old man is waiting for me. He leads with Tentacruel. I switch to Khali. Tentacruel uses toxic spikes. Khali uses pain split and Tentacruel responds with screech. Khali pain splits, Tentacruel places a second layer of toxic spikes. I accidentally have Khali use perish song. I meant to go for shadow ball. Tentacruel hits with sludge bomb, so I have Khali pain split again. I switch to Enki, absorbing the toxic spikes. My opponent withdraws Tentacruel and brings in Golem right before I place my own toxic spikes. Enki's surf removes Golem in one hit. I bring Ryujin in to deal with Empoleon. I have Ryujin dig. Metal claw misses, as Ryujin has already burrowed underground. Dig takes Empoleon out. Tentacruel gets the same treatment.

A fat man is blocking a tunnel that he refuses to comment on. I contemplate having Articuno peck this guy to death, then I remember that I never do that sort of thing. No, this tunnel is blocked to me for now, for some very good reason, probably. And eventually, it will cease to be blocked. But not yet.

My next challenger leads with Gible. Ice beam. He has another Gible. I bring in Ryujin. Dragon claw. Now he's bringing in Gyarados. I switch to Apsu. Both pokemon dragon dance. Apsudragon dances again while the other Gyarados rain dances. Apsu hits with strength, Gyarados attacks with hyper beam. Apsu wins. I win. I reach the end of the cave and exit to a starry night. A sign directs me to the Pokemon League. A waterfall is apparently in the way. That would seem to be a problem, but as we all know, I can climb waterfalls.

At the end of the waterfall is a large building. Inside, the lobby looks like a Poke Center. I walk forward. And of course, Slave runs up behind me. Should have seen that coming...

"Hold it! Don't go off without me!"

I wouldn't dream of it.

"You're challenging the Pokemon League, aren't you?"

Yes.

"That's why I'm here too."

And for once, I got here first. Oh wait, I was also first in Sunyshore City. Slave, my friend, you are slipping.

"Let's see who's more worthy of making the challenge with a battle!"

Oh, let's. I lead with Articuno. Slave leads with Staraptor. Ice beam. Staraptor goes down. He brings in Rapidash. I switch to Enki. Rapidash uses bounce, making Enki's surf miss. I switch to Khali. Bounce hits. Khali pain splits. Fire blast, pain split again, sunny day, shadow ball. Rapidash faints. Empoleon is next. I bring in Hanuman. These two have a history. One close combat knocks Empoleon out. Snorlax is up. Close combat almost takes Snorlax out, but somehow the behemoth hangs on and hits back with earthquake. Enki easily finishes Snorlax using cut. Slave calls in Heracross. Poison jab, close combat by Heracross, poison jab again, rock slide misses, poison jab a third time, knocking Heracross out. Slave's last pokemon is Roserade. Too bad Hanuman fainted. I use Khali and pain split, but Slave has Roserade giga drain her back down. I try pain split again. Roserade retaliates with shadow ball. Oh. Khali is still hanging in, but is badly damaged. I try pain split again. Roserade giga drains again. Pain split, giga drain, pain split, miss. Khali's shadow ball finishes Roserade. Slave actually put up something resembling a fight there.

"I guess I'm not ready for the Pokemon League if I'm losing to you!"

Hey...

"Darn it! You watch, though!"

Sure.

"I'll get tougher and win my way through the Pokemon League!"

I believe it.

"Because I'm going to become the Champion, the toughest trainer!"

That's the spirit.

"Master! You better not lose to anyone before me!"

And with that he turns and sprints away.

Well, now that I've beaten Slave once more, it's time to see about this Pokemon League affair. The woman in front of me speaks...

"Let me confirm that you are ready to challenge the Pokemon League. So! Let us examine the Gym Badges you gathered from Sinnoh. Orebugh City's Coal Badge! Eterna City's Forest Badge! Veilstone City's Cobble Badge! Pastoria City's Fen Badge! Hearthome City's Relic Badge! Canalave City's Mine Badge! Snowpoint City's Icicle Badge! And Sunyshore City's Beacon Badge!"

That was suitably dramatic.

"Very well! Trainer, you've indeed collected all the Gym Badges of Sinnoh! Demonstrate the power that brought you here and go for glory!"

Is that it? How does this work?

"You will be facing the Elite Four of the Pokemon League. If you can't beat all four of them in a row, you have to start from the first one again."

Oh. This is different. How to prepare...