Xaq (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xaq_the_aereon) wrote2017-12-10 12:21 am
xaq_the_aereon) wrote2017-12-10 12:21 am
Entry tags:
USPE 22: Whoops.
After a little shopping and some detours in Konikoni AlleyCity, I head to Olivia's botique for the Grand Trial...and promptly get greeted by a Nospass with a note telling me that she's out of the office ATM and wants me to meet her at the Ruins of Life, which are out past the Akala Outskirts I sidetracked to last time.
Oops. At least she left a Max Potion for me for my troubles.
While I'm here, I decide to do a little more shopping, pick up a white hairband for dying purposes later and a red one for now, and get hit with a rather vexing choice: Which 1 of 5 Fossils I get to have.
Do I go with:
The Skull Fossil for an eventual Cranidos/Rampardos?
The Cover Fossil for an eventual Tirtouga/Carracosta?
The Helix Fossil for the Twitch Plays meme?
The Claw Fossil for an eventual Anorith/Armaldo?
Or the Jaw Fossil for oh my good lord why am I even asking of course I'm going with the adorableness that is Tyrunt. Boy, I actually feel kinda dumb now. The only way Tyrunt wouldn't auto-win is if she'd offered a Plume Fossil, because my order of preference with the Fossil Pokemon is
1) Archen/Archeops (I did say they were my favorites last time, no?)
2) Tyrunt/Tyrantrum
3) The rest of them
Anyway, she asks me one last time if I'm sure Tyrunt's the one I want to get for 7,000 Pokebucks. I believe the phrase here is "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY."
(EDIT: The anon messenger over on Tumblr once again gave me some good info here; apparently you can get one of EACH, not just one of the whole lot. Good to know. May go back later.)
With the Jaw Fossil in bag, this calls for a detour back to Route 8 and a spot I didn't mention while I was there.
Apparently there's a group of guys in an RV who want to turn Route 8 into a theme park full of Pokemon revived from Fossils. Y'know, because Jeff Goldblum and Chris Pratt haven't done enough films to warn us about why this is a terrible terrible idea. So what better to start this guy off with than the Pokemon equivalent of a T-freakin'-Rex?
No sir, this is not for your park. The little one comes with me, and for the sake of a horrible pun (because this is me we're dealing with here) and a TV reference, I officially nickname the little guy
Kid DINOMITE!
...Given that he's half the rest of the party's level and not part of my endgame plan, however, I send him to Poke Pelago. I already have a Rock AND a Dragon-type on the team, so...yeah. That reminds me, time to go check on things there before heading back to the main storyline!
First stop, Isle Aphun, where they brought me:
1 Everstone, 2 Dawn Stones, and 1 Float Stowhoawhoawhoawait.
TWO Dawn Stones!? I hardly ever saw Lexia's roster pull ONE from this place back in Moon. Nice! ...Oh, and Derf and Lillipup brought me a couple of Poke Beans. That's sweet of you, guys. ^_^ Anyway, you guys seem to enjoy this, so why don't you go do some more Brilliant Stone searching and see what you come up with? Have fun!
Moving over to Isle Abeens shows another Slowpoke and Cutiefly checking the place out. It's amazing how many Pokemon you can get for free in this, especially since having more 'mons on Poke Pelago allows you to enhance things more. There's also a boatload of beans to pick up and shake out of the vine, which is the main reason this was boosted to Level 3 first.
Before I leave, I'm gonna let some of them do some EV training on Isle Evelup. It's neat that you can train up to 6/12/18 Pokemon at a time depending on the island's Level, but the catch is that every one in a group of 6 works on the same stat. For example, I'm gonna let some former teammates and personal favorites have a go here: Kid Dinomite, Bella, Rei, Vanessa, T. Rux, and Isolde (Tyrunt, Ledian, Mareep, Phantump, Stufful, and Wimpod respectively) are gonna spend...
[2 RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR RUNS LATER]
69 sessions in HP training, I guess. That'll take 34:30 to complete, which we'll shave 6:40 off of with some Regular Beans to fuel their fun. At Level 1, each half-hour spent equates to 1 EV (2 at Level 2 and 4 at Level 3), so enjoy yourselves and your 69 HP-EV boost, guys!
Anyway, back to the storyline. Charizard drops me off at the entrance to Memorial Hill again, where I promptly head...north to the police station to collect my reward for defeating another of the Ditto Five. I lied, the story will have to wait. 16 grand will do nicely for that detour, though. :D The officer points out another Ditto Five sighting in Konikoni, this time at a restaurant. I don't recall seeing a restaurant, but then again I did just kinda dash right through, so...HI HO TAURUS, AWAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy.......!!!
[ONE HORRENDOUS CRASH LATER]
Holy crap, there's a TM shop here in Konikoni. For 10K a piece it offers Venoshock, Aerial Ace, Low Sweep, Steel Wing, and Bulldoze. That's not even half the cash I have on hand so I clean the guy out. Aerial Ace and Steel Wing can be used by Serana, but they're Physical moves and she's much better with Special moves, and the only Physical move she has (and the only one that I'd want to replace), Leech Life, has more power and offers more variety of types. None of my team can use Low Sweep or Bulldozer.
Venoshock, however, was one I decidedly wanted. I'm basically taking Erinys on the same path I took Brewster in Moon as far as a favorite combo goes; Hidden Power goes away and gets replaced with this, since it has more base power, an actual Type match for STAB purposes, and most importantly has double power if the target is poisoned.
So basically the idea goes Toxic -> Venoshock -> DEAD, with Inferno Overdrive as a backup option. At this rate, and given how eventually 40 damage won't be much and Serana will soon be learning Dragon-type moves, Dragon Rage may need to get replaced with something else to support her tactics. ...Double Team for evasion purposes sounds good. I think I'll go with that when the time comes. For now, though, a surefire 40 damage is still pretty solid.
I also need to put Erinys back in front because she's 1 level and 2546 Exp away from becoming a Salazzle. Anyway, back to trying to find this restaurwow if it were an Ekans it would've bit me. Okay, the officer said it was something to do with the food, so...Chez Ditto, I presume?
YEP. I'd say it's time to test out my new tactics except this guy's gonna turn into a Salandit in a moment, so I'll just wrap this up quick.
[ONE OVERCOOKED DITTO LATER]
And with that, another of the Ditto Five's goose is cooked. As long as I'm here, may as well try one of the Z-Set platters they offer. I myself may be highly carnivorous in my diet, but for Viridian we'll go with a vegetarian Z-Set. (Pity it won't make her hair glow.)
[ONE PERFECTLY COOKED MEAL LATER]
1,040 Pokebucks for a pair of Heart Scales and some good food? Worth it. Besides, the cops are about to cover the cost of my tab anyway. :D To the police station, Tauros!
[ONE HORRENokay I'm overusing this joke.]20K this time? Sweet! Alright officer, who's next on Detective Viridian's docket? "Less stiff and tense," eh? Must be the lomi-lomi masseuse. Weird, I just talked to her earlier to get Erinys relaxed...but yep, there's another Ditto. Since I still haven't gotten the scent of Scorched Ditto out my nostrils from last time, I'll just Dragon Rage this one out. Given the distance...I think I'll just walk back rather than cause any more Tauros-related hit-and-runs.
24K and a clue to our next culprit...maybe?
"This is not about Ditto, but lately Olivia often gazes at the sea alone in Konikoni City."
Not about Ditto my ass. She's bound by the plot to be at the Ruins of Life right now, yet here she is in front of the lighthouse...NOT.
It even did a dramatic reveal for some reason, like it was somehow going to actually be her. Not fooled, game. Sorry. Another double-dose of Dragon Rage for this one ends another of the Ditto Five and brings Spectra up to Lv 33, where she learns Shadow Ball. Nice! Her Special Attack is way higher than her Attack, so Shadow Punch goes away. A trip back to the police station is interrupted by a hair salon detour because I rather enjoy changing things up in this game rather frequently. Besides, even after the 5000P bill I'm 23,000 ahead afterwards.
And with that, a Focus Band is my reward for capturing/fricasseeing the Ditto Five. The officer then goes on about how horrific it would be if Ditto that can copy human speech ever appeared...as the camera pans over to his partner...
...Nope, I'm outta here. This is your problem now, officer.
And with that, my detour is over. Back, at last, to the plot! ...Except that I overshoot my turn and hit a small offshoot beach that I missed before, consequently running into Fisherman Mike who wants a battle. Okay, one last distraction. Sorry! ORZ
[ROUND 1: vs Chinchou]
Despite it being Water-type, I'm gonna leave Erinys out and see how well the Toxic/Venoshock combo does. It gets in a Water Gun for 20 damage before Venoshock proves devastating against a Poisoned electro-fish.
[ROUND 2: vs Tentacool]
A Water/Poison...this is a bad matchup for Erinys no matter how I look at it, since only Dragon Rage will be effective. Spectra, tag in and let's see how you like Shadow Ball...whoops, there goes Tentacool. GG Mike. And with that, it's back...to the Pokemon Center because my team's actually a bit beat up, and then back to Memorial Hill!
I still feel kinda bad about swiping that Cleanse Tag without thought earlier, and now I feel even worse because I just did it again with a Spell Tag...sorry folks, may your loved ones rest in peace despite my kleptomania. Anyway, this'll be a nice add-on for Spectra, so since I can't put it back I may as well use it. Just as I get past there, I run into an AF person and some guy with huge green glasses...I believe he's one of the AF admins?...and a pair of Skull Grunts trying to run off with a Slowpoke who GASPSHOCKANDAMAZEMENT is oblivious to what's going on. Glasses guy sees me and tells me to fight in his stead.
I intended to anyway, but screw you buddy.
[ROUND 1: vs Raticate]
I forgot how ugly Alolan Raticates were...which is a pity because Alolan Ratattas are actually kind of adorable. Anyway, with a Hyper Fang dodged thanks to the power of Affection, Erinys gives this load of fugly the Toxic/Venoshock wombo combo and, after some end of turn 2 Toxic poisoning, drops it...to 1 HP.
Nerts. Ah well, I'll just give her a Berry Juice, wince at how much damage Hyper Fang does, and then watch it drop from the Toxic. The battle ends with Erinys hitting Lv 32 and wanting to learn Nasty Plot, which supercharges Special Attack.
...
Goodbye, Dragon Rage. And with that Slowpoke is safe and still clueless as to what just happened. Glasses-guy doesn't deign to introduce himself, but does say he'll take me somewhere spectacular from the Hano Grand Resort once my Grand Trial is clear.
Assuming that jerk on the Stoutland lets me past, anyway. At least the Aether worker was more polite with her thanks. Onward and upward, then?
Our path to the Ruins of Life is blocked by Black Belt Kenji. *bows*
戦い！
[ROU*RECORD SCRATCH* Oh forget it, I just Inferno Overdrive'd his Crabrawler and moved on. Apparently I'm still way overpowered for this portion of the game...dammit Hala, you sucked all the challenge out of the game by driving me to power-level in order to get past you.
With that done, I hop on Stoutland for a bit and sniff out a couple of mushrooms. Yum, Viridian's favorite. (Again, too bad they don't make her hair glow.) And then, it's off to the Ruins of Life...
Which I'll get to next time. Sorry guys. See ya!
Oops. At least she left a Max Potion for me for my troubles.
While I'm here, I decide to do a little more shopping, pick up a white hairband for dying purposes later and a red one for now, and get hit with a rather vexing choice: Which 1 of 5 Fossils I get to have.
Do I go with:
The Skull Fossil for an eventual Cranidos/Rampardos?
The Cover Fossil for an eventual Tirtouga/Carracosta?
The Helix Fossil for the Twitch Plays meme?
The Claw Fossil for an eventual Anorith/Armaldo?
Or the Jaw Fossil for oh my good lord why am I even asking of course I'm going with the adorableness that is Tyrunt. Boy, I actually feel kinda dumb now. The only way Tyrunt wouldn't auto-win is if she'd offered a Plume Fossil, because my order of preference with the Fossil Pokemon is
1) Archen/Archeops (I did say they were my favorites last time, no?)
2) Tyrunt/Tyrantrum
3) The rest of them
Anyway, she asks me one last time if I'm sure Tyrunt's the one I want to get for 7,000 Pokebucks. I believe the phrase here is "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY."
(EDIT: The anon messenger over on Tumblr once again gave me some good info here; apparently you can get one of EACH, not just one of the whole lot. Good to know. May go back later.)
With the Jaw Fossil in bag, this calls for a detour back to Route 8 and a spot I didn't mention while I was there.
Apparently there's a group of guys in an RV who want to turn Route 8 into a theme park full of Pokemon revived from Fossils. Y'know, because Jeff Goldblum and Chris Pratt haven't done enough films to warn us about why this is a terrible terrible idea. So what better to start this guy off with than the Pokemon equivalent of a T-freakin'-Rex?
No sir, this is not for your park. The little one comes with me, and for the sake of a horrible pun (because this is me we're dealing with here) and a TV reference, I officially nickname the little guy
Kid DINOMITE!
...Given that he's half the rest of the party's level and not part of my endgame plan, however, I send him to Poke Pelago. I already have a Rock AND a Dragon-type on the team, so...yeah. That reminds me, time to go check on things there before heading back to the main storyline!
First stop, Isle Aphun, where they brought me:
1 Everstone, 2 Dawn Stones, and 1 Float Stowhoawhoawhoawait.
TWO Dawn Stones!? I hardly ever saw Lexia's roster pull ONE from this place back in Moon. Nice! ...Oh, and Derf and Lillipup brought me a couple of Poke Beans. That's sweet of you, guys. ^_^ Anyway, you guys seem to enjoy this, so why don't you go do some more Brilliant Stone searching and see what you come up with? Have fun!
Moving over to Isle Abeens shows another Slowpoke and Cutiefly checking the place out. It's amazing how many Pokemon you can get for free in this, especially since having more 'mons on Poke Pelago allows you to enhance things more. There's also a boatload of beans to pick up and shake out of the vine, which is the main reason this was boosted to Level 3 first.
Before I leave, I'm gonna let some of them do some EV training on Isle Evelup. It's neat that you can train up to 6/12/18 Pokemon at a time depending on the island's Level, but the catch is that every one in a group of 6 works on the same stat. For example, I'm gonna let some former teammates and personal favorites have a go here: Kid Dinomite, Bella, Rei, Vanessa, T. Rux, and Isolde (Tyrunt, Ledian, Mareep, Phantump, Stufful, and Wimpod respectively) are gonna spend...
[2 RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR RUNS LATER]
69 sessions in HP training, I guess. That'll take 34:30 to complete, which we'll shave 6:40 off of with some Regular Beans to fuel their fun. At Level 1, each half-hour spent equates to 1 EV (2 at Level 2 and 4 at Level 3), so enjoy yourselves and your 69 HP-EV boost, guys!
Anyway, back to the storyline. Charizard drops me off at the entrance to Memorial Hill again, where I promptly head...north to the police station to collect my reward for defeating another of the Ditto Five. I lied, the story will have to wait. 16 grand will do nicely for that detour, though. :D The officer points out another Ditto Five sighting in Konikoni, this time at a restaurant. I don't recall seeing a restaurant, but then again I did just kinda dash right through, so...HI HO TAURUS, AWAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy.......!!!
[ONE HORRENDOUS CRASH LATER]
Holy crap, there's a TM shop here in Konikoni. For 10K a piece it offers Venoshock, Aerial Ace, Low Sweep, Steel Wing, and Bulldoze. That's not even half the cash I have on hand so I clean the guy out. Aerial Ace and Steel Wing can be used by Serana, but they're Physical moves and she's much better with Special moves, and the only Physical move she has (and the only one that I'd want to replace), Leech Life, has more power and offers more variety of types. None of my team can use Low Sweep or Bulldozer.
Venoshock, however, was one I decidedly wanted. I'm basically taking Erinys on the same path I took Brewster in Moon as far as a favorite combo goes; Hidden Power goes away and gets replaced with this, since it has more base power, an actual Type match for STAB purposes, and most importantly has double power if the target is poisoned.
So basically the idea goes Toxic -> Venoshock -> DEAD, with Inferno Overdrive as a backup option. At this rate, and given how eventually 40 damage won't be much and Serana will soon be learning Dragon-type moves, Dragon Rage may need to get replaced with something else to support her tactics. ...Double Team for evasion purposes sounds good. I think I'll go with that when the time comes. For now, though, a surefire 40 damage is still pretty solid.
I also need to put Erinys back in front because she's 1 level and 2546 Exp away from becoming a Salazzle. Anyway, back to trying to find this restaurwow if it were an Ekans it would've bit me. Okay, the officer said it was something to do with the food, so...Chez Ditto, I presume?
YEP. I'd say it's time to test out my new tactics except this guy's gonna turn into a Salandit in a moment, so I'll just wrap this up quick.
[ONE OVERCOOKED DITTO LATER]
And with that, another of the Ditto Five's goose is cooked. As long as I'm here, may as well try one of the Z-Set platters they offer. I myself may be highly carnivorous in my diet, but for Viridian we'll go with a vegetarian Z-Set. (Pity it won't make her hair glow.)
[ONE PERFECTLY COOKED MEAL LATER]
1,040 Pokebucks for a pair of Heart Scales and some good food? Worth it. Besides, the cops are about to cover the cost of my tab anyway. :D To the police station, Tauros!
[ONE HORRENokay I'm overusing this joke.]20K this time? Sweet! Alright officer, who's next on Detective Viridian's docket? "Less stiff and tense," eh? Must be the lomi-lomi masseuse. Weird, I just talked to her earlier to get Erinys relaxed...but yep, there's another Ditto. Since I still haven't gotten the scent of Scorched Ditto out my nostrils from last time, I'll just Dragon Rage this one out. Given the distance...I think I'll just walk back rather than cause any more Tauros-related hit-and-runs.
24K and a clue to our next culprit...maybe?
"This is not about Ditto, but lately Olivia often gazes at the sea alone in Konikoni City."
Not about Ditto my ass. She's bound by the plot to be at the Ruins of Life right now, yet here she is in front of the lighthouse...NOT.
It even did a dramatic reveal for some reason, like it was somehow going to actually be her. Not fooled, game. Sorry. Another double-dose of Dragon Rage for this one ends another of the Ditto Five and brings Spectra up to Lv 33, where she learns Shadow Ball. Nice! Her Special Attack is way higher than her Attack, so Shadow Punch goes away. A trip back to the police station is interrupted by a hair salon detour because I rather enjoy changing things up in this game rather frequently. Besides, even after the 5000P bill I'm 23,000 ahead afterwards.
And with that, a Focus Band is my reward for capturing/fricasseeing the Ditto Five. The officer then goes on about how horrific it would be if Ditto that can copy human speech ever appeared...as the camera pans over to his partner...
...Nope, I'm outta here. This is your problem now, officer.
And with that, my detour is over. Back, at last, to the plot! ...Except that I overshoot my turn and hit a small offshoot beach that I missed before, consequently running into Fisherman Mike who wants a battle. Okay, one last distraction. Sorry! ORZ
[ROUND 1: vs Chinchou]
Despite it being Water-type, I'm gonna leave Erinys out and see how well the Toxic/Venoshock combo does. It gets in a Water Gun for 20 damage before Venoshock proves devastating against a Poisoned electro-fish.
[ROUND 2: vs Tentacool]
A Water/Poison...this is a bad matchup for Erinys no matter how I look at it, since only Dragon Rage will be effective. Spectra, tag in and let's see how you like Shadow Ball...whoops, there goes Tentacool. GG Mike. And with that, it's back...to the Pokemon Center because my team's actually a bit beat up, and then back to Memorial Hill!
I still feel kinda bad about swiping that Cleanse Tag without thought earlier, and now I feel even worse because I just did it again with a Spell Tag...sorry folks, may your loved ones rest in peace despite my kleptomania. Anyway, this'll be a nice add-on for Spectra, so since I can't put it back I may as well use it. Just as I get past there, I run into an AF person and some guy with huge green glasses...I believe he's one of the AF admins?...and a pair of Skull Grunts trying to run off with a Slowpoke who GASPSHOCKANDAMAZEMENT is oblivious to what's going on. Glasses guy sees me and tells me to fight in his stead.
I intended to anyway, but screw you buddy.
[ROUND 1: vs Raticate]
I forgot how ugly Alolan Raticates were...which is a pity because Alolan Ratattas are actually kind of adorable. Anyway, with a Hyper Fang dodged thanks to the power of Affection, Erinys gives this load of fugly the Toxic/Venoshock wombo combo and, after some end of turn 2 Toxic poisoning, drops it...to 1 HP.
Nerts. Ah well, I'll just give her a Berry Juice, wince at how much damage Hyper Fang does, and then watch it drop from the Toxic. The battle ends with Erinys hitting Lv 32 and wanting to learn Nasty Plot, which supercharges Special Attack.
...
Goodbye, Dragon Rage. And with that Slowpoke is safe and still clueless as to what just happened. Glasses-guy doesn't deign to introduce himself, but does say he'll take me somewhere spectacular from the Hano Grand Resort once my Grand Trial is clear.
Assuming that jerk on the Stoutland lets me past, anyway. At least the Aether worker was more polite with her thanks. Onward and upward, then?
Our path to the Ruins of Life is blocked by Black Belt Kenji. *bows*
戦い！
[ROU*RECORD SCRATCH* Oh forget it, I just Inferno Overdrive'd his Crabrawler and moved on. Apparently I'm still way overpowered for this portion of the game...dammit Hala, you sucked all the challenge out of the game by driving me to power-level in order to get past you.
With that done, I hop on Stoutland for a bit and sniff out a couple of mushrooms. Yum, Viridian's favorite. (Again, too bad they don't make her hair glow.) And then, it's off to the Ruins of Life...
Which I'll get to next time. Sorry guys. See ya!