Korrina's Punchy Pokemon

So, giant tribute to the greatness of our Lord Lucario aside, there was really nothing to the Tower of Mastery--it was just a huge room with a spiraling staircase that I wasn't allowed to ascend.

Time to earn a gym badge!

The Shalour City Gym was a Fighting Gym inside a skate park, and while a fighting gym may have been a huge problem in my Pokemon White playthrough with my massive weakness to Fighting types in my team, I came into this gym with a certain amount of swagger and confidence.

Gymkiller Squad #3: The Punch-Takers

 

Scraggy - Intimidate coverage to soften the blow of her physical pokemon
Floette - Fairy type resistance against Fighting attacks.
Kirlia - Confusion plus a double resistance to fighting moves.
Flareon - Fire Fang's possibility of Burn is too tempting not to bring in.
Ivysaur - Poison Typing resists fighting attacks, Leech Seed + Sleep Powder are my friend.
Aerodactyl - For cleanup/suicide revenge-killing.

I made note of all of the level 28+ pokemon running around in the gym and I realized just how under-leveled my squad was--which I guess is the tradeoff for being able to rotate more than six members in and out of the team.

After I beat all four trainers in the gym, Gymleader Korrina jumped down from the ceiling to challenge me in the center of the room, announcing her appearence as if she were the special guest star on some weird pokemon sitcom.

Normally I wouldn't make note of this, but Korrina is just so...weird.  I have no clue what her personality is--I'm not sure if they're going for "over-the-top" or "thinks she is a movie star" or "flashbacks of her service in the Great War"--but she just comes across as kind of bonkers.  And that helmet is definitely not helping her out.

I was sure my strategy of cycling Scraggy in-and-out of battle to continuously intimidate opponents (lowering their attack after each switch-in) while tanking hits with my fighting-resistant pokemon was a winning one.  She led with Mienfoo and after lowering her attack with my Scraggy, I switched to Pixie to take hits and use Fairy attacks to whittle it down.  This is the point where I was introduced to the attack "Power-Up Punch", which raised Mienfoo's attack with each hit.  DAMN, time to change strategies.

I barely took out Mienfoo with Floette and Korrina next sent out a high-level Machoke to clean-up Floette and Scraggy.  Scraggy was able to lower the Machoke's attack enough to survive exactly one hit before being taken out by another "Power-Up Punch", and Kirlia was able to cripple the Machoke before falling to yet another Punch.  This, of course, prompted Korrina to use a Hyper potion. DOUBLE DAMN.

At this point, I was staring at a Machoke with a +5 boosted Attacking stat (which is the same as if his attacks were at 3.5x strength) with only Flareon, Ivysaur, and Aerodactyl.  After Flareon was unable to burn the Machoke with Fire Fang, and Korrina used yet another Hyper Potion, I realized it was Aerodactyl or bust.

In the end, it was Aerodactyl and NOT bust, as Scarydactyl took out the (now fully-powered at +6 Attack) Machoke in two hits.  Her final pokemon was Hawlucha--and not Lucario as I expected (since she had Lucario with her both times I saw her in the past). 

At the end of the match, she gave me her badge and tried to make what I think was a joke about how she has to re-evaluate her life after her loss to me.  I'm not sure if this is a just poor attempt at humor or Nintendo/Gamefreak taking irony to the highest possible level--with their eye-rolling eyes coming right out of their heads due to self-aware camp.

She told me to battle her again at the Tower of Mastery.  Since I have already kicked her ass on two separate occasions, I am kind of getting sick of this charade.

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.27
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.26
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.25
FLOETTE/Pixie/lvl.23
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.24
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.26

On Rotation: Pikachu/Hippopotas/Kirlia

You Say You Want an Evolution

I met the Mega-Evolution Guru (who told me to call him Steve) and he was able to answer all of my questions about Mega-Evolution and then I thanked him and went home, having beaten the whole game..


That is what I would say if any of this actually happened.

But no, the Mega-Evolution Guru had about as much to say about Mega Evolution as the Black Belt with the Pokeflute, the Prince of Versailles, the Lost Paleontologist, and the Professor Sycamore: that is, to say, fuck all.  I am personally of the opinion that if you are formally known as the guru of anything, you should be an expert in that field--or at least be able to convince a little kid that you know what you're talking about.

Steve the Mega-Evolution Guru told me that neither he nor anyone else in the world has any knowledge at all about Mega Evolution, but that it involves items and a certain ring that he only had one copy of.

Then, when the gang of Pokemon thieves showed-up, he had me battle Serena (who I assume to be my rival considering she carries Chespin) for the Magic Mega-Evolution Ring.

The battle was a back-and-forth slog--her Meowstic and Absol each took out one pokemon apiece since they were severely leveled over my pokemon, and her Quilladin decimated the rest of my team as I tried desperately to chip away at it with Pikachu.

Apparently, and this I know for a fact was different in the last generation of games, grass types cannot be Leech Seeded, nor Poisoned with Poisonpowder, so in between flinching from Quilladin's repeated Bite and Needle-Arm attacks (eight consecutive turns, are you kidding me?!?), I was allowed to continuously "fail" with Ivysaur.  Since I had Flareon and Aerodactyl in the box at the time, the battle came down to Scrappy vs. Quilladin, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally broke Quilladin's killstreak.

After being rewarded with what is apparently one of the only Magic Rings in the game, I was told to challenge Korrina, the Mega-Evolution Guru's granddaughter, for a gym badge.  Funny, cause I already beat her...I guess that battle wasn't a formal challenge though...

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.26
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.25
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.25
FLOETTE/Pixie/lvl.23
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.24
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.25

On Rotation: Pikachu, Hippopotas, Kirlia

Meeting the Mega Evolution Guru

After earning (or not earning, I don't think she actually gave it to me in the end) my third badge, I chased the Team Flare grunt North.  You would recall that this is the guy who kept babbling on about the 3000 year legend as I was murdering his Houndour.  The Northern path he took ended at a weird gazebo-like rock formation and a dead-end.  Guess I will just have to wait to find out what the 3000 year legend is.  I have no clue how I will ever contain myself.

SO CUTE

So I went East and no sooner had I left town than I got a phone-call from Professor Sycamore who told me that since I was near Shalour City and I was still looking for information about Mega Evolution, I should stop by to visit a man in that town who might know something.

And that apparently, this man is known as the "Mega-Evolution Guru".

Wait a second, there's a Mega-Evolution guru?  I thought the errand I was sent on in the first place was to ask around for information about what mega-evolution was?  And there just happens to be some guy who is a mega-evolution guru?  Then what the hell have I been screwing around doing for the past four towns asking every po-dunk scientist I came across for information?

I feel as if every problem in the pokemon world could be solved with one or two internet searches...because even the pokedex information could probably be filled-in by reading Red's facebook notes at this point.

After waking up from my my rage-blackout I made my way towards the Reflecting Cave, the next mini-dungeon along my way to see the Mega-Evolution-blah-blah-blah.  Along the way, I caught Nidorino, Female Nidoran, Stunky, Dedenne (a new, Fairy-typed Pikachu-of-the-moment), and Throh, whom I must congratulate for looking like ass EVEN IN 3-D!

The Reflecting Cave is a cave with mirror-walls that reminds me of that one level from Pokemon Snap in the cave.  The one that had the Articuno and the Pikachu that flew around on Balloons.  Similar to "The Cave Level", Reflecting Cave is FULL of odd Psychic types of varying strength--and every single one of them decimated my under-leveled team.  I decided I needed the experience, so I fought everything I saw.

One cool thing about the reflection cave is that since some of the walls are mirrored, you can see things along cave walls that would normally be hidden--leading to a few interesting perspective puzzles--and also that trainers who are admiring themselves in the mirror will still battle you if you walk by.  They will see your reflection as you walk behind them. 

After several "Teleports" (thanks, Kirlia) back to the pokemon center and a bag full of potions and pokeballs, I made it out (in large part due to "Hotfoot" the Flareon and "Froakles" the Frogadier) with Mr. Mime, Chingling, Ferroseed, Roggenrola, Wobbuffet, Sableye, Solosis, and a new Rock/Fairy type called Carbink.

 It is actually impossible to get lost in Shalour City, especially since every single person in the town has something to say about Mega-Evolution and how the Tower of Mastery is where it is studied ("and did we mention it is just North of here...").

I entered the tower...and was greeted by a HUGE statue of Lucario.  Did I come in through the wrong door?

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.26
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.25
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.25
HIPPOPOTAS/Sandman/lvl.25
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.23
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.25

On Rotation: Kirlia, Flabebe, Pikachu

Hawlucha

Well, I think I found my favorite pokemon of the new generation!

Hawlucha is a Fighting/Flying type pokemon modeled after the lucha libre wrestling phenomenon of Central America--taking on the signature costume design and high-flying wrestling tactics of the same.  And he is freaking freaking freaking freaking awesome.  I don't think I have been so completely sold on the design of any one pokemon for a long time...as a matter of fact, I think the last pokemon I LOVED the design of was Milotic (and Sharpedo, for that matter).  Sure, I've liked many of the pokemon since Sapphire version, but I liked them in more of the way I liked the design of...say...Jolteon.  I like Jolteon and I think it is cool, but you won't see it in my top ten.  Hawlucha, YOU have made the cut.
________________________

I made my way north of Cyllage City to train Flareon (whom I have not actually used in battle yet) and to explore a little more and found myself in a stone garden not unlike stone henge.  All the trainers in the area had something to say about how important and powerful the rocks were, but I really don't see what they could mean by this.

Of course Team Flare was there.

In between talking about how much they hate puppies and the laughter of children, Team Flare dropped a few hints about some 3000 year-old legend.  I had no clue what they were talking about, but I am absolutely certain that it will all be explained in EXCRUCIATING detail very, very soon.

On my way into Geosenge City, I caught Yanma, Electrike, Sigilyph, Snubbull, Emolga , and (after three failed attempts) Hawlucha.  I am really tempted to bring-in Hawlucha over Aerodactyl, but I feel like adding another pokemon with a Flying or Ice weakness on this team would be me asking to be rolled-over.

As I stumbled around town, I found myself in battle with a trainer named "Leader Korinna" who used two Lucario.  I had met her before, but this is the first time I battled her--and it wasn't until I had defeated BOTH of her Lucario with "Hotfoot" the Flareon that I realized that she must be a gymleader.

I think I just earned a gym badge without even knowing it.

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.22
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.22
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.22
FLOETTE/Pixie/lvl.21
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.22
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.22

On Rotation: Kirlia, Pikachu, Hippopotas

The Rock Jock Jostle

I don't think that there is a Rock Gym in existence that cannot be conquered with a combination of tenacity and Super potions, but Grant made me pause.  Most Rock Gyms are a defensive slog and are not so much difficult as they are drawn-out.  When I played Red version, I remembered I would spend the whole match debuffing Onix with growl, tail whip, and string shot before letting Leech Seed slowly whittle it down (Bulbasaur hadn't learned Vine Whip yet) and in Sapphire version,
things weren't any different.  The pokemon were  never tough or hard-hitting, but they were always a pain in the ass to deal with, the Rock Gym basically designed to remind you, the player, that you won't be able to kill EVERYTHING out there with one Thundershock attack and that there are some types that your pokemon just plain will not be able to match-up against.  It's more of a reality check than a straight-up fight, and the gymleader is meant to yield to you only if you GET the lesson it is trying to teach you.

That's why the Rock Gym is typically first.

Grant opened the match with Amaura, the pokemon I got from my fossil, and after struggling to remember what types it was and finally deciding it was something like Rock and Ice (it is, by the way), I opened in my typical way of Rock-gym fighting strategy with Aerodactyl's "Scary Face" attack.  Then, I was immediately KO-ed with a super-effective takedown.  It was then that I realized that Take-Down is a normal attack, so I was obviously overlooking something, but it wasn't until Kirlia and Floette were both similarly One-Hit-KOed that I smartened-up and realized that I needed to change tactics.  This Grant is clearly not a typical "make-you-defeat-me-(rather than me defeating you) Rock Gymleader".

I was able to finally defeat Amaura with Scrappy (after finally recalling that Ice/Rock was twice weak against Fighting), but Grant's next pokemon, Tyrunt (who is most likely the resurrected Jaw Fossil) took both him and Ivysaur out handily (but not before Ivy Leech-Seeded him).  Along the way I found that Tyrunt was NOT weak against neither grass, nor water attacks (meaning he must have a dual typing as either rock/grass or rock/dragon) and ultimately, it came down to the very end where a barely alive Froakles took Tyrunt out with a Quick Attack that I was not sure would even do enough damage (Froakles was paralyzed and was low enough-leveled to Speed-tie the Tyrunt, so I couldn't leave it to a 50-50 Water Pulse in the final hit of the match).

-------------------------------
And so I was awarded the Cliff Badge and the ability to use Strength.  I withdrew my Hippopotas and Flareon from the PC for the next leg of my journey and promptly went to sleep because it is best to end a session with a smile on your face.

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.21
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.21
FLAREON/Hotfoot/lvl.20
FLOETTE/Pixie/lvl.20
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.20
AERODACTYL/Scarydactyl/lvl.20

On Rotation: Pikachu, Kirlia, Hippopotas

Rocky Road...Heh Heh

On my way back through Ambrette Town I resurrected my two fossil pokemon from the Sail Fossil and the Old Amber to get Amaura and Aerodactyl.  Normally I would take the adorable Amaura over Aerodactyl because I am a five-year-old girl at heart, but I always wanted a team with an Aerodactyl since Red version, plus I wanted a flier.  So I tearfully (or not so tearfully) condemned Amaura (along with Doduo) to join the legions of pokemon in my PC, never to see the light of day again.

Route 8 to Cyllage City was a cliff-side beach, and the only pokemon I were able to find were from fishing (Luvdisc, damn) and from using Rock Smash (Dwebble, also damn).  I finally got Ralts to evolve into Kirlia, and, not to be outdone, Flabebe evolved into Floette.  This is fortunate because they were both really starting to fall behind in terms of reliability, but tough on me because I was THIS CLOSE to cutting my team down by one.

After screwing around with the Item-Finder looking for buried treasure (of which, I was surprised, I found TONS) in the sand, I finally found the city--a city built into the side of the cliff overlooking the shallow seas (and I apologize for that absolute monster of a sentence).  I have to applaud the geography of this game--as Nintendo is DEFINITELY taking advantage of the 3DS' unique ability to put images discernibly into either the foreground or the background of the screen.

But enough of that nerd talk, let's fight some pokemon.

Exploring ahead I caught a Golett and of course I caught an Eevee, forcing me to make yet another ridiculously hard team decision.  It's a good thing you gain exp by catching pokemon in this game cause I don't think I've defeated a wild pokemon since Viridian--erhm--Santalune Forest.

In the end, I chose Flareon and promised myself that this would be the last pokemon I would put into my squad without taking someone else out first.

The advantage to having nine pokemon on rotation in my squad (ten if you count my HM slave/pickup whore: Zigzagoon) is that as soon as I found out that Cyllage sported a Rock-Type Gym, I immediately deposited Hippopotas, Pikachu, and Flareon in preparation for the upcoming match.  Pikachu is historically bad against Rock types (technically Ground types, but I'm not taking any chances), Flareon is outright weak against rock attacks, and Hippopotas' ability to generate Sandstorms strengthens all Rock pokemon on the field (ouch).

And with my team of Rock-destroyers handy, I set off to challenge the Gymleader Grant, the Rock Jock.

Rock-Destroyer Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.19
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.20
KIRLIA/Empath/lvl.20
FLOETTE/Pixie/lvl.20
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.18
AERODACTYL/Dactyl/lvl.20

On Rotation: Flareon, Pikachu, Hippopotas

Enter the Fashion Police

After riding on a Rhyhorn to get to the Glittering Cave, I started poking around for the professor there who was supposed to tell me about Mega Evolutions.  This would be the fourth scientist I was sent to see about this along this crazy quest train, so my hopes were definitely not high that this would resolve my problem, especially considering that I was only sent to see this scientist, a paleontologist, because the Mega stones are technically rocks and fossils are also technically rocks.  Woohoo Pokemon logic!!!

In this cave, I found the villains of the game, Team Flare.

If Team Aqua was a caricature of a villain, then Team Flare is more of a caricature of a caricature of a typical pokemon villain, and I know this weird fractal statement makes little sense, but neither does Team Flare.  The first thing that the first Team Flare gangster said when I talked to him was that, "Team Flare's goal is to make it so we're the only ones who are happy [sic]".  It takes a seriously messed-up person to accept that they are the villain--and for Team Flare to flaunt this is even more hilarious.  At least this game doesn't have that insufferable nonsense plot about understanding others from Pokemon White version...or at least not yet...

I guess Team Flare's schtick is that they are a bunch of fashion enthusiasts who just happen to belong to a pokemon gang, so at least there is a reason for my character's friends and I to actively seek them out as some sort of crazy gang war (as we have already established that my character's friends are all Pokemon Thieves). But honestly from here I am a bit confused about what their motives would be.  Team Rocket was a true gang of thieves and smugglers, Teams Aqua and Magma each wanted to destroy the world because...well, just because...but Team Flare wants people to dress nicer?

In the end I found the professor who had no information for me about Mega Evolution at all.  He did, however, give me my choice between two Pokemon fossils for my efforts.  I guess if nothing else, this game is consistent with the previous titles.

Current Squad:

FROGADIER/Froakles/lvl.19
IVYSAUR/Ivy/lvl.18
SCRAGGY/Scrappy/lvl.18
FLABEBE/Pixie/lvl.17
PIKACHU/PikaPi/lvl.18
DODUO/Birdface/lvl.18

On Rotation: Hippopotas, Ralts