ppe19: Thick as Thieves

[xaq_the_aereon]

[TEAM STATUS]
Dogmeat, Lv 39
Tessa, Lv 41
Nebula, Lv 41
Astra, Lv 41
Atlas, Lv 39
Belfries, Lv 40

Having landed in Veilstone, we make our way down south to Lake Valor...or, depending on how massive that blast we felt all the way over in Canalave was, what's left of it.

[TWENTY POKE-YEN SAYS IT'S A CRATER]

On the way down Route 214, I come across an explorer who I missed earlier. This isn't gonna end well for him.

[VS. Ruin Maniac Bryan]
[Round 1: vs. Cranidos]

Eesh, a 15-level deficit. Shadow Ball obliterates it.

[Round 2: vs. Geodude]
I tag in Atlas and have her Ice Fang it. Its Sturdy ability lets it survive with 1 HP, and it nails her with an Earthquake...for about 8 damage, before it gets Stomped out.

[Round 3: vs. Bronzor]
I bring Dogmeat back out, since Dark/Fire is a perfect matchup to Psychic/Steel. Fire Fang ends Bryan's last 'mon with the swiftness.

Another explorer I spared before bars my path further on down...guess these guys are just gluttons for punishment.

[VS. Ruined Maniac Hunter]
[vs. Shieldon]
Aww, isn't that adorable? A 6-mon Beat Up takes it out.

With the speed-bumps out of the way, we reach Lake Valor and... ...where's the lake?

[PAY UP]

The place is littered with smoldering craters, stranded Magikarp, and rubble. At the entrance I find a Galacticgrunt saying their work here is done and their next target is Lake Verity...wait...

[THAT'S BACK HOME]

Oh, that is it. This one's smart enough not to fight, but another one isn't so wise.

[VS. ONE DEAD BITCH]
[Round 1: vs. Glameow]
Thunder Fang takes most of its HP, and its Fury Swipes do jack 3 times over. It dodges another Thunder Fang and Taunts as if I need a reason to tear it and its Grunt to shreds. Fire Fang scores the KO.

[Round 2: vs. Croagunk]
I tag in Belfries for this one, mitigating its type effectiveness. Supersonic confuses it, but its Poison Jab still goes through, even if it does nearly nothing. X-Scissor isn't very effective but still does respectable damage, as does its jab to its own face. Despite not being effective, Cross Poison chalks up another win.

Up ahead, another Grunt gloats about the Galactic Bomb they used to devastate the lake.

[ONE MORE FOR THE BODY COUNT]
[Round 1: vs. Golbat]
Thunder Fang drops it to its last HP, while Screech does nothing delay its end via Shadow Ball.

[Round 2: vs. Croagunk]
Astra takes point this time. It attempts to Sucker Punch her, but gets Aerial Aced into oblivion.

Ahead, I find a cave at the heart of what used to be the lake, and inside I find one of the Galactic Commanders. They recognize me from the raid on their Eterna City building...now they're gonna recognize me as the last thing they see in this world.

[VS. Commander Saturn]
[Round 1: vs. Kadabra]
A Psychic against Dogmeat? This guy's screwed...or not?

[Round 1.1: vs. Toxicroak]
He tags out before Shadow Ball can score a crit. Fire Fang follows up to drop its HP and flinch it, allowing Thunder Fang to seal the deal.

[BELFRIES: Supersonic -> Haze] (Confusion is nice, but I suspect this will be more useful overall.)

[Round 2: vs. Bronzor]
I leave Dogmeat out and Shadow Ball it deep into the yellow. Confuse Ray hits and leaves her a bit baffled, causing her to hurt herself before Payback hits her a bit harder, forcing the use of her Sitrus Berry. She snaps out of it the following round and scores a KO with Shadow Ball.

[Round 3: vs. that Kadabra from before]
No running this time. I sic the whole team in for a Beat Up and pummel it to a pulp.
[ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA]

With Saturn tucking tail and running, I Fly back home, taking only the briefest of moments to check on Mom and heal up before running to Lake Verity. Thankfully, it's still a lake, and Prof. Rowan is here. Sadly, Team Galactic is on-scene as well. One Grunt decides his mission is to stall us, and a friend joins in to stall us even longer.

[VS. WHAT MAY ACTUALLY BE A BIT OF A STALL]
[Round 1.0: vs. Glameow and Silcoon]
Tessa joins Dogmeat on the front lines, and immediately I notice they each have 3 'mons. Fire Fang deals with the Silcoon quickly enough, and Metal Claw almost KOs the Glameow, who uses Retaliate on Dogmeat to little effect.

[Round 1.5: vs. Glameow and Glameow]
Thunder Fang almost drops the new Glameow, while Bubble Beam finishes the first one. The survivor attempts to use Fury Swipes and whiffs entirely.

[Round 2.0: vs. Glameow and Stunky]
I have Dogmeat tag for Atlas, while Tessa gets Sucker Punched by Stunky before Metal Clawing Glameow out of the battle.

[Round 2.5: vs. Golbat and Stunky]
Tessa Metal Claws the Golbat and dodges its Screech, while Atlas gets Bit before Drill Running the Stunky into next Tuesday.

[ATLAS: Stomp -> Take Down]

[Round 3.0: vs. Golbat and Glameow]
Bubble Beam obliterates the Glameow, Screech makes noise but otherwise does nothing to save Golbat from Atlas' Ice Fang.

[SO MUCH FOR THE STALL TACTICS]
Not quite. I see two more Grunts lined up for a doubles match up ahead. I move Belfries and Nebula to the front for this.

[HERE WE GO AGAIN]
[Round 1.0: vs. Stunky and Beautifly]
Belfires X-Scissors the Stunky while Thunderbolt disintegrates the Beautifly, leaving Stunky to just Screech into the open air.

[Round 1.5: vs. Stunky and Glameow]
Stunky's Sucker Bunch hits Belfries before Cross Poison takes it out, and Nebula's Psychic blasts Glameow into orbit.

[Round 2: vs. Glameow]
Chalk up another one-shot for Cross Poison.

With that, we catch up to Lucas and...who are you again?

[MARS, I THINK?]
Oh yeah. Well, seems she wants to fight. Fine.

[VS. COMMANDER WHATS-HER-NAME]
[Round 1: vs. Golbat]
Cros Poison isn't very effective but still hits like a ton of bricks, while the Golbat's Bite just tickles. X-Scissor doesn't do much either, and Bite just chomps air. Not wanting to drag this out, I tag in Dogmeat, who shrugs off another Bite before Thunder Fanging it out of the sky.

[DOGMEAT: Fire Fang -> Flame Charge] While a bit weaker, the Speed boost is a welcome trade.

[Round 2: vs. Purugly]
I let Atlas take this one. Growl lowers her Attack a bit, but Drill Run still hits pretty hard. Another Growl lowers it some more, and Ice Fang barely hurts it. It U-Turns for little damage before ducking back.

[Round 2.1: vs. Bronzor]
Atlas was already set to Dig before this, so it winds up missing while the Gyro Ball hits home. Drill Run also misses due to its Levitate ability and another Gyro Ball puts Atlas in the red, prompting me to tag out for Dogmeat, who gets bamboozled by a Confuse Ray. She powers through and Flame Charges for some good damage and a speed boost, while its Iron Defense boosts its Defense. Sadly for it, Dogmeat snaps out of it and Shadow Balls it away.

[Round 3: GET BACK OUT HERE, PURUGLY]
Dogmeat stays out and unleashes a Beat Up that, while prompting it to use a Sitrus Berry, still hits well enough to put it right back in the yellow. Slash hits pretty decently, but Thunder Fang wraps this no-name Commander's team up.

In her defeat, Mars lets slip what they were after: The Three Living Beings created by the Original One. Mesprit, the Being of Emotion. Azelf, the Being of Willpower. Uxie, the Being of Intelligence. All three now on their way to Galactic's Veilstone HQ...wait, what about Lake Acuity?

[WASN'T CLINT SENT THERE?]
Ah crap, he's useless without me...and now we have to get all the way up to Snowpoint City in the north, whose only access point appears to be through Mt. Coronet.

[OH JOY]
Eterna City's the closest point to it, so I Fly there. Sadly, yet another trainer I missed back whenever wants to battle.

[YOUR FUNERAL, PAL]
[VS. HIKER LOUIS, WHOSE TEAM WAS 30 LEVELS BEHIND YOURS]
Emphasis on "was," because it took longer to write this than to flatten them. Geodude and Onix if you were curious.

Another overlooked obstacle past a Brick Break block...

[VS. BIRD KEEPER ALEXANDRA'S HOOTHOOT...COD, CROSS POISON]
All that for a TM12 for Taunt? Sheesh. Into Mt. Coronet we go, and immediately we find large boulders blocking our path. Fortunately, we can now use the Hidden Move, Strength, to shove them aside.

[AAAAALLEY-OOP]
This opens a path deeper into the mountain and WOW is it dusty in here. Good thing we have Defog this time! There's a sizable pond in here as well...if memory serves, this is where you can catch Feebas, a Magikarp spoof that, with a lot of TLC, can evolve into the beautiful Milotic.

Tempting as that is, I used one in 2 of my final parties in the past, so not this time. Instead, I proceed onward and outward, arriving on Route 216. The snowstorm indicates we're going the right way.

A short ways along, however, I run into one thing I was really looking forward to: A female Snover, the last member of my final team.

Toxic and a Bubble Beam soften her up enough for a Premier Ball to snag her. With that, Astra's time with us is over. Taking her place:

Iceberg (Snover), Lv 33. MOVESET: Ice Shard, Razor Leaf, Icy Wind, Swagger

With her caught, the theme for this game's team can finally be revealed...and yes, you guessed it, it's an acronym.

[TEAM STATUS]

Belfries, Lv 42
Atlas, Lv 41
Nebula, Lv 42
Dogmeat, Lv 41
Iceberg (Snover), Lv 33
Tessa, Lv 43

Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone elsewhere on the spectrum, I give to you my final team for Pokemon Shining Pearl:

Jetty
and
The Bandits

And with that, we'll see ya next time!
[AFTER WE DO SOME SERIOUS POWER-LEVELING ON ICEBERG]
No joke. We'll probably have her evolved to an Abomasnow by then. O_o;;;