Vs. Opal

Marnie met me in the gym lobby (before I got my pump, wth?!) in order to tell me that she considers me to be her primary rival and that she would meet me in the finals for sure. She also mentioned that her Morpeko seemed to like me. I think this means we're dating...

Corvisquire had evolved somewhat recently, but the last time that I had actually used him in battle was several gyms ago. His newly Steel-ed wings may have grown a bit rusty since then. I led with him in the gym warmup to help to him stretch his feathers.

Opal, the octogenarian gym leader (this is foreshadowing for later) and Fairy Type expert awaited me within. She is apparently looking for a replacement to serve as the new leader of her Fairy gym. As a result, the gym task was organized as an audition. Battles were performed on stage and interrupted with Fairy-themed quiz questions. Correct answers would give my pokemon a stat boost. Incorrect answers meant that we would have to fight from a deficit...

I found several identical looking older women...or perhaps the same woman every time (it is hard to say for sure with these NPC's). By the end of it, Chirpy the Corviknight was all warmed up and ready to anchor the team.

I led with Eurypyro against Opal's Galarian Weezing. I didn't expect that the quiz would continue into the gym battle, but it did. Right off the bat, Eurypyro (the Centiscorch) was kneecapped by a quiz question. Since he is a centipede and he has 100 legs, this was a particularly effective kneecapping. He was taken out handily in two turns due to my inability to give him the support that he needed.

3-4

The questions continued and I was completely stumped and unable to assist my pokemon in crucial moments. EMF was able to overpower Weezing despite this. Against her Mawile, I misread another question  and EMF was handicapped just like my previous pokemon. He was able to take out Mawile with Discharge, but his stats were nuked by my quiz answers.

3-2

Togekiss started turning things sour for me right off the bat. It outsped my quiz-weakened Toxtricity and actually got the universal +1 boost from Ancient Power. I was finally able to get one quiz question right when I flattered Opal by saying that she looked 18 rather than 88. It pays sometimes to have tact.

This small victory, however, was short lived as Togekiss got a second Ancient Power stat boost. (This is a 10% possibility for each, remember). Toxtricity is unable to secure the KO against Togekiss.

2-2

Cheeto comes in and is able to finish Togekiss off with a lucky critical  hit. Her last pokemon is Alcremie (pronounced like "alchemy"). Cheeto gets a huge hit against it, but Alcremie Gigantimaxes and takes  it out in one hit whilst restoring its own HP as a bonus effect.

1-1

Corviknight stretched its Steel Wings. It is Gigantamax Alcremie vs Dynamax Chirpy.

Chirpy gets the KO with Max Steelspike! Welcome back, old friend!

Over Hill and Under Hill

The first part of my trek through the cavernous "Victory Road" was fraught with failure--my severely underleveled pokemon were being picked-off by wild Haunters and Druddigons--to say nothing of the trainers I came across. 

It seemed that every pokemon I fought was designed specifically to ruin my day.  My Lucario knows Shadow Claw, but the wild Haunter has Sucker Punch and Lucario is KO-ed.  My Venusaur has Petal Dance, but the wild Graveler has Earthquake and Venusaur is KO-ed. 

I had to fight the same damn trainer with the same damn Hawlucha three times before I won, and every time my Psychic/Fairy type Gardevoir was put into an obvious mismatch against a Fighting type (whose attacks would do quarter damage, QUARTER DAMAGE against me) it would have Poison Jab as one of its moves.  Since poison is super effective against fairy, I would have to define this as  "godamn bullshit".

But, through this all, I used my revives and used my super potions and my pokemon got stronger.  Soon I was only losing two pokemon to each wild haunter--and soon enough, I would start defeating them outright.  Eventually, my pokemon became strong enough to take on the trainers' pokemon.  There was still the huge level difference, but my pokemon, being better-trained specifically for certain roles, began to come together.  By the time I made it out of the first cave into the sun, my pokemon were all sitting at a comfortable level 51--and starting to win rather than just not lose so badly. 

It was then that Serena, my rival, caught up to me and challenged me to a battle.

Current Squad:

GRENINJA/Froakles/lvl.52
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.51
FLAREON/Rox/lvl.50
LUCARIO/Knives/lvl.51
DRAGALGE/Toxie/lvl.49
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.49

On Rotation: Gardevoir, Pikachu, Hippowdon, Scrafty

The Fairy Gymleader Valerie

Laverre City is home to the Sixth Pokemon gym: A fairy-type gym led by Gymleader Valerie.  I have really been less than diligent about exploring this new fairy type, but I do know a few things: Poison type is super-effective against Fairies, and that Fairy attacks absolutely WRECK Scraggy.

I know that I could just look up the answers online, but I've come this far without looking crap up and I'm not going to ruin my streak.  Also I'm stubborn.  That means it's time to do some guesswork--just like I did before my battle with Jasmine in the Steel Gym of Olivine City way back in Pokemon Silver.  I had no clue what the steel type was weak against, so I lost plenty of times along the way, but afterwards, I definitely understood the steel type (fire and ground, got it).   Let's treat this as a learning experience...

Gymkiller Squad # 6: The Quick-Learning, Fairy-Eating Super-Squad

I chose my team such that I limited the amount of guesswork I would need--and I chose Pikachu specifically because I fear Azumarill (now water/fairy) more than I do clowns or dying alone.  The only Fairy Pokemon I'd seen up to this point had been Gardevoir, Mr. Mime, Dedenne, Azumarill, and Carbink, so I was a bit apprehensive about carrying too many water-types around with me out of fear of coming across that electric/fairy rat.  On the other hand, I wanted Venusaur with me so I could deal with the (later two) water and rock fairies.

Gymleader Valerie is every bit as weird as Gymleader Korrina, but her big thing is she wishes she was a pokemon, not a pokemon trainer.  I totally get what they're going for with this character, but I still think it's stupid.  Maybe if Valerie had put as much thought into her battling technique as she did into her wardrobe I wouldn't have destroyed her entire team with only Pikachu and Gardevoir.

Her squad consisted of Mawile, Mr. Mime, and Sylveon.  Sylveon is a new fairy-type evolution of Eevee.  There are about 30% too many ribbons and bows on that pokemon, if you ask me--and I really feel that this design is a missed opportunity to differentiate Fairy pokemon as magical beings rather than just cute ones.

The funny thing is that my low-level squad of misfits consistently defeats pokemon teams up to ten levels their greater.  I'm not sure if this is because I'm a genius or this game is too easy.  

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.34
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.35
 FLAERON/Hotfoot/lvl.34
SKRELP/Toxie/lvl.35
HIPPOWDON/Leviathan/lvl.34
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.33

On Rotation: Lucario, Gardevoir, Pikachu, Scraggy

Spooky Ghosties

Well, this honestly scared me a little bit.

As I was concluding my exploration of Lumiose City, I found myself in the Northern District at an inauspicious, unmarked building.  The first floor was populated by the typical fare: people who were all to eager to talk about their favorite pokemon Skitty or how using the item X Attack is a really good idea if you're in a pinch.

I took the elevator to the second floor and stepped into the room.  At this point, my 3DS screen went black and the formerly cheery music turned off.  When my 3DS turned back on, a Hex Maniac trainer (pictured above) appeared behind me in the elevator (I had no control over my character at this point) and floated around the room a bit before telling me that I "wasn't the one" and disappeared from the floor.  The regular music resumed and I couldn't find her anymore.

I think I pissed myself a bit.  (Link brings you to a youtube video of someone else going through the event--seriously click it, its pretty weird.)

Possibly related: I found another Hex Maniac in another Lumiose City building who told me to stop talking to her because she needed to be listening for the elevator...
_________________________
I have been screwing around a lot more than usual for the past few days trying to catch and train up some interesting pokemon to fill up that pokedex.  Along the way, I was able to find a "Light Ball" for my Pikachu to hold (an item which doubles Pikachu's Special Attack and Attack stats), so I think egoraptor's Pikachu drawing applies to "PikaPi" at this point:

The Route North of Lumiose City leads through a bog full of interesting Water, Poison, and Water/Ground pokemon and I was able to catch Haunter, Quagsire, Skorupi, Carnivine, Poliwhirl, Barboach, as well as a weird new Dragon-type named Goomey.  While Haunter is in my list of top 10 pokemon, I am really quite content with the way my team looks right now.

Along the route, the Pokemon Thieves Gang met-up at a spooky Haunted House to listen to an old man tell a Ghost Story about some person being met by a horde of Slendermen (Slenderman's?), so Pokemon Y has now officially turned into a Survival Horror game.

As I made it into Laverre City, my Ivysaur evolved into Venusaur and Hippopotas evolved into Hippowdon.  The interesting thing, though, is that my Hippopotas evolved into a shiny Hippowdon, meaning that I am an idiot for not realizing that the Hippopotas that I caught just happened to be shiny this whole time.  This was the perfect end to a rather spooky gaming session.

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.33
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.35
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.34
SKRELP/Toxie/lvl.35
HIPPOWDON*/Leviathan/lvl.34
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.33

On Rotation: Pikachu, Gardevoir, Scraggy, Lucario

A Dirty Little Horde

Full Disclosure:  this post took a little long to get out because I got a bit lost in Lumiose City.  It's not like it is hard to navigate, it's just really really big and I'm one of the brand of gaming scum called "completionists" who have to do and see everything before moving on.  The thing is the city is not even all unlocked yet.  By this, I mean that AS PER USUAL, the game has invented some arbitrary reason why certain streets or routes are closed.  This time, it is because the power is out in the northern part of the city.  At least the reasoning in this game totally makes sense, I remember one time when I was a kid where there was no electricity in my town and I also couldn't walk around...outside...in broad daylight.

No, wait, that's right, that never happened and never would.

I made my way to the next route and my next pokemon-catching spree, where I picked-up Doduo for the active team.  It was an obvious choice between him and Farfetch'd, despite the fact that Farfetch'd (and Lickitung, for that matter) is something of a closet favorite of mine.

The Gang of Pokemon Thieves

Here, I met-up with two "supporting cast" characters of the Gang of Pokemon Thieves (my "friends"), Tierno and Trevor.  Tierno is a big guy whose only character trait is that he likes to dance (something that the game will remind you of incessantly), and Trevor's only character traits are that he is shy and smart.  Glad to have such deep and thoughtful characters this go-around!  Go Team!


Trevor gave me some Honey (and I'm glad that I resisted leading with the obvious misleading pun "Trevor gave me some sugar") to smear all over my body (okay, that line got just as creepy just as fast) to attract hordes of pokemon in tall grass.

Once again, completionist scum that I am, I had to try this out, wherein I was set-upon by five Scraggy.  "Awesome!" I thought, "time to add my favorite pokemon from white version back into my team!"

Let me preface this next point with a revelation about my play style: I hate to miss with a move.  As a matter of fact, I have never had a pokemon with the moves Fire Blast, Thunder, or Hydropump, because I would rather sacrifice the extra power for perfect accuracy (all of these moves have a 70% hit rate, and I use instead Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Surf respectively). 

For me, there has never been anything as terrifying as this: seeing all five Scraggy use Sand Attack on me in one turn.

This is bad enough--but then it just got worse, after my move missed, they all used Leer.  At this point I snapped and awoke several hours later in strange surroundings.

Honestly, this was one of the toughest matches I've had, or at least the most frustrating; the gang of Scraggy decimated my squad while I whittled their number down.  In the end I was reduced to just Flabebe (and tears, can't forget the tears), who I found out has a type advantage with Fairy over either Fighting or Dark (the move was super-effective against Scraggy, but Scraggy is Fight/Dark, so I'm not sure which type it was strong against) and was able to capture one of the Scraggy for my team. 

Feeling good about myself, I made it to the next town, Camphrier Town, where the guy I was supposed to talk to about "Mega-Evolutions" there told me to leave.  Obviously, it was time to call it a day.

Current Squad:

FROAKIE/Froakles/lvl.13
BULBASAUR/Bulby/lvl.13
PIKACHU/PikaPi/lvl.11
DODUO/Birdface/lvl.10
FLABEBE/Pixie/lvl.11
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.5

On Rotation: Ralts, Zigzagoon

The Good Kind of Tough Choices

I ended-up spending a lot more time than I expected screwing-around in the Route 4 hedge maze getting a feel for this new fairy type and I still haven't decided on whether I prefer Ralts (who was on my main team back when I played Sapphire Version and has always been a sleeper favorite of mine) or this Dandelion thing I just caught.  Ralts is a known commodity, but Flabebe, as I have found after fighting the scores of Combee that inhabit Route 4,  is something of a Special Defense Tank.  I have always been more of a fan of stall-teams, probably because I'm such a huge pussy, so having a Special Tank like Flabebe is fairly fulfilling for me.  For now I'm just going to keep a seven-pokemon rotating roster until I decide I'm tired of something.  These kind of tough choices are the good kind, I feel.

Professor Sycamore as he appears in Pokemon Red

As soon as I made it to Glitch City (Lumiose City), I met up with Professor Sycamore, who immediately challenged me to a battle.  I was expecting a battle against three magnemite or maybe a
Porygon, a Grimer, and a Cubone (These are typical pokemon carried by a "Super-Nerd") or something weird like that, but he surprised me with Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.

Updates: Fire type added

And it is at exactly this moment that I found out that Fairy Type Attacks are not very effective against Fire Type Pokemon (sigh).  I updated my chart to reflect this new data, but Flabebe still has not forgiven me for this oversight.


-----------------------------------------
I'm not quite sure if I was good all this year, but apparently Christmas came for me anyways: Professor Sycamore gave me my choice of his three pokemon.  I was thinking of picking up Charmander because I really wanted to see that Charizard in 3D, but I decided to stick to my roots and pick Bulbasaur--who was my very first pokemon ever.  I named him "Bulby".

Which brings up that question of what to do with my pokemon team--which is now made up of eight pokemon.  Bulbasaur, Froakie and Raich--I mean, Pikachu are non-negotiable and I'm still pretty high on Flabebe and Ralts...

Guess I have an eight-pokemon cycle for now!

My gang of pokemon-thieving friends arrived just after the battle so that Professor Sycamore could give us all a nice pep talk about following our dreams and finding others who have different views or some "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" nonsense like that. I really wasn't paying attention, I was too high on Bulbasaur at this point--which is a problem because I think he said something important about Mega-Evolving Bulbasaur in his monologue and I definitely missed it.  Hopefully this isn't going to be a problem (SPOILER: it probably is).

On the way out the door I met the obvious villain-du-jour Lysandre.  Why did I immediately identify him as the villain?  Because he said he wanted to save the world.  Only bad
guys say things like that, this is the first thing you learn at protagonist school.  I should have been intimidated, but who can be scared of a guy named Lysandre?  That's like being afraid of a guy named Lloyd!

Current Squad:

FROAKIE/Froakles/lvl.13
BULBASAUR/Bulby/lvl.10
PIKACHU/PikaPi/lvl.11
BUTTERFREE/Felix/lvl.11
FLABEBE/Pixie/lvl.11
FARFETCH'D/Quacklin'/lvl.11

On Rotation: Ralts, Zigzagoon

Enter the Fairy

I knew before I started the game that there was a new pokemon type to be introduced--the Fairy Type, but the only other thing I knew about it was that it was meant to be a true counter to the Overpowered Dragon-Type.

The Only Dragon...

Quick Sidenote:  I always thought the Dragon Type was stupid and unnecessary, while all the other types seem to denote the pokemon's element or skills, the Dragon Type is just a description (okay, so Bug and Ghost are similar, but I always thought of Ghost as more of a "Magic" or "Spirit" type and Bug...well, fine, Bug type is dumb too).

I know dragon pokemon are popular and kind of cool-looking (for the most part), but I am certain that any of these pokemon with "Dragon" typing could just as easily be described by other types.  Plus, please explain to me what "Dragonbreath" actually is--and how it is different from "FireBreath" or "Hyperbeam".

So now there is Fairy Type.  Fine.  My idea for the past three generations was a new type called "TECH", which would include all the pokemon with artificial or cyber properties.  Retroactively, this would apply to Porygon, as well as possibly Magnezone, Genesect, Voltorb, and Electivire. I mean, this is no worse than the Ghost type, which only had two evolutionary lines before generation 3, or that damned Dragon type whose only members were the Dratini family and Kingdra that same game.

But no, Fairy type it is...another type where I'm not sure what the defining characteristic is.  I mean, grass pokemon channel nature, fire pokemon are hot, flying pokemon fly, and fairy pokemon...leap daintily from flower to flower?  What exactly makes a fairy pokemon?

---------------------------
I know I could just look up the answers, but because I am a scientist I want to figure out the Fairy Type's combat effectiveness by experimentation, so I made this work-in-progress chart to keep my results. 

I caught the new fairy pokemon Flabebe as well as Ralts, who was changed to Psychic/Fairy type--and removed Spewpa from my squad (becasue I only have room for one bug at the moment and Felix is my favorite).  Flabebe and Ralts are currently on rotation until I can decide which one deserves the spot more.

Current Squad:

FROAKIE/Froakles/lvl.13
BUTTERFREE/Felix/lvl.11
ZIGZAGOON/Ziggy/lvl.11
FLABEBE/Pixie/lvl.8
PIKACHU/PikaPi/lvl.11
FARFETCH'D/Quacklin'/lvl.11

On Rotation: Ralts