ppe 4.1: *THUD*

[xaq_the_aereon]

I was expecting to be traveling forwards, but it seems we have to do a little backtracking to the cave at the town entrance...at which point Clint makes one of his usual, graceful entrances.

[HENCE THE TITLE]

As I suspected, you need a bike to travel north on Route 207...
[THE DEAD END WITH THE RAMP WAS KIND OF A GIVEAWAY]
...so looks like it's back to Jubilife and then onward to Eterna City. A few steps into the cave, I decide to have Floofy test out Rock Smash...and it says a wild Bidoof comes by to do it instead?

[SO, NO NEED FOR AN HIDDEN MOVE MULE IN THIS GAME EITHER?]
Guess not! Back outside, I come across an Abra. Just for the hell of it, I give a Poke Ball a toss.

[AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT, IT WORKED!]
Yeah, as if...wait, WHAT!? Holy crap, it did!

[PITY IT'S A MALE ABRA...STILL, A CATCH IS A CATCH!]

With that, we're back in Jubilife. So, west or north...I check north first, and there's Prof. Rowan and Lucas, along with 2 uniformed guys with matching teal bowl cuts.

Seems the Professor wants me to teach these "businessmen" a lesson in manners. Makes sense, since they seem insistent on him handing over his research findings...in exchange for not harming Lucas. Looks like we've found this game's Team Whatever.

[SO, THRASHING TIME?]

Lucas agrees to help, so yes. Thrashing time.

[TEAM BATTLE: Vs. 2x Team Galactic Grunt]
So, Team Whatever is Team Galactic.

[Vs. Wurmple and Zubat]
Buster takes the lead with Lucas' Chimchar, whose Ember one-shots the Wurmple, whom I was going to Low Sweep, so it does little to the Zubat instead, who recovers some of its HP with Absorb. Ember gives it a burn, it Astonishes Chimchar in return, and Revenge KO's it for the win.

[SAYONARA, SUCKERS!]
"Because Team Galactic is benevolent to all, we shall leave." If you guys really were benevolent to all as you claim, you wouldn't have threatened to make Lucas collateral damage for anything, so I call BS on this. Anyway, Lucas and the Professor take off. A young lady named Bebe walks up and thanks us for driving the Galacta-goons off; apparently she's a system admin in Hearthome to the east.

[THIS REGION'S PC OPERATOR, LIKE BILL?]
Looks like it. She gives us the ability to access the PC Box from anywhere and gives us some Ball Capsules to...make our Pokeballs look fancier??

[BECAUSE IF THERE'S ONE THING YOU GOTTA MAKE SURE OF IN LIFE, IT'S THAT YOUR BALLS LOOK NICE]
...we're not getting away from the innuendo, are we...

[AS LONG AS NO ALOLAN BACKPACKERS SHOW UP, WE SHOULD BE FINE]

Before heading out, I check out the TV station that the clown was blocking last time I was in town.

[FIVE MINUTES OF GETTING MORE STICKERS LATER]
Well, that was pointless....except for one thing:

[VS. Cameraman Tevin]
[vs. Pachirisu]

Seems this camera guy wants a fight...wait, did he just lead with an Electric type? Crap, and I just swapped Belfries to the froooOH GOOD LORD THIS THING IS FIVE LEVELS ABOVE BELFRIES.

[DANGER! DANGER!]

I quickly swap in Nala, who shrugs off the Spark pretty well. It follows up with Endure, then Nala hits with Bite for...not much. A Quick Attack does a bit, and her Leer drops its Defense. The following round is more of the same, but Nala's getting a little low, so next round goes to a Potion and an ineffective Spark. Pachirisu uses Endure to survive a Bite that fails to drop it to the yellow. Spark puts Nala back in the yellow and Bite returns the favor. Another Potion puts Nala near full before a Quick Attack...

[WOW, THIS IS GETTING KIND OF EPIC FOR A RANDOM BATTLE]

No joke. Anyway, another Quick Attack hits, and Bite puts it deep in the red. Nala's Quick Claw gets her last Bite in first, and we scoop up a slightly nerve-wracking win!

[WHEW!!]

Nala proved herself very nicely there...and the battle scores her the level up she needs to evolve into a Luxio!

[HONEST TO GOD, THIS WAS NOT PLANNED]
But boy was it worth it! Attagirl, Nala! <3

Anyway, with all that cleared up and Route 204 to the north waiting for us, we're off!

[TO THE WEST DOWN ROUTE 218 BECAUSE YOU CAN *NEVER* FOLLOW THE PLOT FOR MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS]
Damn straight! :D Right inside we run into a fisherman who asks if we'd like an Old Rod. Sure, why not let us catch some Magikarps?

[LIKE SO!]
At Lv 4, I get the sneaking suspicion breathing on this thing too hard will KO it, so I try my luck with another Pokeball right off the bat. It worked for the Abra, so...maybe?

[YEP!]
Yay! Now the question is, do I go for including her (nicknamed Ryuuko) to eventually get a Gyarados?

[AFTER MUCH DELIBERATION]
Nah. While I intend to replace Floofy eventually, this ain't it, Chief.

[AND WITH NO WAY TO PROGRESS WITHOUT A SWIMMER, IT'S BACK TO THE PLOT FOR YOU]
Fiiiine. :p But first we're going to the Pokemart. With the Coal Badge we should have new goods open to us.

[FOUR SUPER POTIONS LATER]
And we're off! For real this time! ...Actually, this feels like a good place to call it for the night.

[OH FOR GOD'S SAKE...]
[TEAM STATUS]

Belfries, Lv 13
Tessa, Lv 15
Buster, Lv 15
Floofy, Lv 13
Astra, Lv 15
Nala (Shinx -> Luxio), Lv 15

Bye!