The Brooklet Hill Trial

I had been warned well in advance that my next trial would be a water trial, so I made sure to choose pokemon that would work well given the circumstance.  The squad that I came up with looks good on paper.  The problem is that I have never actually used three of these pokemon (Bagon, Bounsweet, and Sylveon) in battle...Hence the name:

Battle Squad 3: "Experimental Uncertainty"

Brooklet Hill was home to a wide variety of pokemon including Paras, Fomantis, and Poliwag.  I was able to catch one of each for my pokedex.  I also encountered Psyduck and eventually added it, as well, to my collection after 20 minutes of it prolonging the battle by calling for reinforcements.  It took so many extra turns, as a matter of fact, that Bounsweet grew three levels during the battle and evolved into the adorably spunky pokemon Steenee.

A Captain named Lana intercepted me early along the route and gave me a Lapras poke-ride pager to allow me to surf out onto the waters of the route.  Brooklet Kill is a downward-sloping series of pools and waterfalls which eventually feeds into the ocean and something was disturbing the waters.  Lana asked me to investigate the splashing...

In a stunningly boring turn of events, it was not the red Gyarados that I had expected it to be, but the pokemon Wishiwashi.  Wishiwashi is a new Alolan Pokemon that resembes a sad little sardine.  The only move it used in battle against me was Aqua Ring.  Obviously, I caught it in the end.

Lana directed me to a second splashing spot, musing aloud about wanting the opportunity to save a spry young swimmer.  I made my way to the second suspicious splashing area deeper into the craggy falls.  It was another Wishiwashi.

Once again, I defeated it and once again, Lana directed me to a splashing noise deeper into the glade.  This time she expressed real disappointment about the severe lack of beautiful male swimmers that she hasn't been able to save thus far.

The rain began to fall and the thunder had started to roll as I continued my Wishiwashi-slaughtering tour of Brooklet Hill.  Lana said that Kyogre was here.  Whether she meant in spirit or in true physical presence, I could not be sure, but the dark skies and the increasingly-treacherous rain seemed to speak of the presence of something deep and old.

As I passed through the trial gate, Lana formally introduced herself as the Captain of Brooklet Hills.  She said I would have to defeat the very personification of the seas as my opponent in her trial.  She directed me towards the final pool--and the final splashing spot contained within.

To be continued...

The Vile Lysandre

Lysandre certainly takes the cake for being the most evil person in the pokemon world.  Let me elaborate.

As the battle came to a close, Lysandre made note that before we removed the Yveltal batteries, the machine still had enough power to be fired exactly once to destroy the facility.  Lysandre was trying to take us all out with him.  Cue Metroid-Style Escape!

Lysandre killed himself while trying to kill the kids that defeated him.  This is a bit crazy, but the thing is, he kept his pokemon on his person when this happened, so he also killed all of his pokemon.  I can't be the only one that finds this a little macabre: he killed himself and killed his pokemon too.  I don't know what could be more evil than this.  I guess the real-world analogue would be if you set your house on fire and died with all your pets and family.

I guess it makes sense for Pokemon to be able to die--otherwise what is the purpose of Lavender Tower?  I have just never actually witnessed the death of a pokemon.  I was the last one to see that Gyarados alive...then I beat it up...and then it was gone forever.  My character was the last person to see that Gyarados, and the last thing I did to it was Aura Sphere it in its big, stupid face.
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The pokemon gang was apparently doing a lot off screen to help the cause and this only came up at the very end.  After escaping from the facility and watching the whole place get vaporized and sucked back into the earth, we all regrouped amongst the ashes. Tierno (the dancing one) was apparently helping to release all the captured pokemon in a nearby route and Trevor was helping evacuate the town (or something). 

The fact that you were a part of a big Anti-Flare effort actually goes a long way towards bringing you in as a believable main character--and makes the world a lot more alive.  This is much easier to swallow than the idea that you could single-handedly take out all the Rockets.  The whole game is a lot more believable from this standpoint.

I never quite got the idea of purposefully disturbing Groudon or Kyogre--who are literally in the process of tearing the world apart at the time that you hunt them down to battle them.  In this game, you do end up fighting a scary legend, but it kind of happens by accident.  When you end-up catching Yveltal, its really only because the thing was so angry from being asleep for so long that it wanted to hurt you.  You weren't just looking for trouble and a new catch, you were attacked and you sent out your pokemon to defend you.  You only catch Yveltal because if you don't, it would hurt you.

A lot about this game is incredibly well thought-out, especially when compared with previous installments of the game.  This may be the best game since Red version.

Current Squad:

GRENINJA/Froakles/lvl.42
VENUSAUR/Venus/lvl.41
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.42
SCRAFTY/Scrappy/lvl.41
HIPPOWDON*/Leviathan/lvl.43
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.40

On Rotation: Lucario, Gardevoir, Pikachu, Skrelp