Finals: Vs. Hop

And here we are at the final match. I thought back to the first battle I had--when I first met Cheeto: he was able to defeat Hop's Wooloo and Sobble handily. All he knew how to do was Branch Poke. Now he knows the grass move "Drum Beating"...look at how far he has come now...

I led with MmeTrunks against Hop's Dubwool. Dubwool would be faster than me no matter what, so I decided to use Revenge to double the damage in return. MmeTrunks is able to gain two consecutive knockouts when Hop replaces Dubwool with Snorlax. I could count on her to gain us an early advantage. Hop sends in his third pokemon...

What the fuck it that? No seriously, it's definitely a sea urchin, but what is that? Does it evolve  from Pyukumuku? Is it something new entirely? Well it isn't taking much damage from Iron Head, so it must be a water type...

And then it uses Thunderbolt, so I'm very confused now.

I use the next few turns to exchange positions with Uturn. Cheeto and Corviknight form a solid duo at this due to their complinentary coverage. Chirpy sure looks strong these days! I'm glad that I brought him back to use against the Fairy Gymleader and I'm glad that he is still here supporting Cheeto and the rest.

Bewear wears down Corviknight with Baby Doll Eyes and Pain Split until it is safe to Hammer Arm it out of existence. Kitiguma is so strong now. I remember how quickly it improved after it evolved. I used to bring Stuffy around when I had no other perceivable options. I can still count on it now as well.

His final pokemon is Intelleon. Even though it is dynamaxed, Trash is able to come in and chunk its health down to critical levels. Retaliate is just that good and I have always been able to count on Trash, specifically, to serve revenge.

It is now Cheeto vs Intelleon: the battle of rivals once more. I see them, briefly, out of the corner of my eyes as they were before: a playful Grookey and a timid Sobble. Grookey turns back and gives me a determined look. I blink and the vision is gone. The smile I have still remains and Cheeto understands why I am smiling.

He plays us off to victory with his Drums. It has truly been a great journey.

Welcome to the Galar Region

Get ready folks. Pull down your Ash Ketchum hat, put all of your pikachu stuffies in order and crack open a white claw and hit start.

Listen. Real talk? I want that fucking elephant Pokémon and I want it yesterday. I’m already invested in his game and it has only been a few minutes. 

The wonderful world of Pokémon speech was delivered by a cool guy who seems to be the chairperson of the Galar Pokémon League.  This might be the first time that there has been a glimpse at the administrative staff behind the scenes of Pokémon and it is a nice little detail to add. Up until now, players only ever saw the frontline: elite four, gym leaders, champions. There must always have been coaches and chairpersons and executive officers, but we just never saw them. They are really staging this game as a real-world sports analog. We see this with the champion, Leon...

The champion Leon is an athlete with an undefeated Charizard. He is clad in a garish cape and crown hat, but also in what could only be described as soccer shorts and cleats. He strikes his trademark “Charizard pose” whenever he gets another victory and he comes home to his hometown to fanfare and applause. I do like this take on the Pokémon series—where people other than the player character are aware of the world around them. It makes the whole world seem a lot more lived-in. It really helps with the immersion.

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You are dropped into the game and come across a Wooloo trying to break down a fence to get to the “spooky forest on the other side”. I decided to leave this Checkov’s Gun loaded and followed my rival-of-the-moment, Hop, to meet with his older brother at the train station. As it were, Hop is the younger sibling of the aforementioned Undefeated Champion Leon. The schtick this time is that Leon wants to light a fire under his little brother and get him to take his Pokémon training seriously, so he instructs you to become a trainer to push him forward.

Happy to serve as a plot device if it means that I get a Pokémon, I agreed. I had pangs of regret when I saw the starters this generation. I actually like the design on all three of them so much that I actually felt bad having to choose only one. All of my regret was gone, however, when Grookey immediately jumped up and slapped me five. I made the right choice.

And what was that noise in the distance? It was Checkov’s Wooloo and it has just broken through the gate!

Current Squad——-