Part 13: A Towering Finale
Part 13: A Towering Finale
You ready for the end of the story? Well, I'm not completely ready, but hey, I'll give it a shot anyway. Let's see how I do!
The time has come for you to pay off some debts. We'll have you battle as payment towards the huge losses you inflicted on us. I expect to see spectacular battling out of you. After all, you're here to entertain! Waahahahah!
I don't want to be embarrassed here, so I'll battle to win!
Trainer Battle
Alright, here's the endgame: a Colosseum challenge, so four trainers in a row with a prize(?) at the end! But just to add to the fun, every trainer we'll fight have Shadow Pokemon AND our Pokemon are NOT healed between battles. Unless you snag a Pokemon and then purposefully lose, you won't be using these Shadow Pokemon until postgame and if you do the whole thing in one shot, any of these Shadow Pokemon you put into your party will only know Shadow Rush. If you thought I was making the game look easy, don't worry, it's about to kick my ass.
The main challenge is snagging the Pokemon, since we'll be doing quite a few in a row. Not a huge deal if you're using infinite Master Balls, but since there's no breaks, if you need to reset for any reason, guess what bub, you're starting this whole challenge over again. Use Master Balls for the love of god.
So far we don't have much to worry about, each opponent focuses on one type, so you could say they're a fake Elite Four or something. An Elite Faux.
Since these trainers won't have many Pokemon, it's best to just focus them down until you're left with the Shadow Pokemon. There's some nasty stuff lurking.
Alright, one down for each of us.
Thankfully Miltank just fancies using Defense Curl and Rollout, so it's not a threat, since we can easily stop the combo with Umbreon.
Miltank, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Body Slam, Rollout, Defense Curl, Shadow Rush/Milk Drink
Alright, for these Pokemon you'll be using them in the postgame, unless you catch them, lose and then go all the way back to purify them. Nah. So there's an alright amount of postgame with some tricky challenges, especially if you want to take down Mt. Battle, so this is a Normal mon that'll slot in quite nicely. Body Slam or Return is your call, while Shadow Ball and Earthquake will round the moveset off nicely with Milk Drink. Though how you'll beat this Colosseum without using those TMs already is beyond me. Anyway, it's deceptively speedy, physically bulky and will do some damage, if not completely wowing you, so it's perfectly fine to use, if not incredibly impressive. The postgame isn't that bad, so you'll have no problem. Shame it can't use any special moves.
Like with Gonzap, I will reset if we're using too many Pokeballs on one Pokemon, since we really don't have many spares. Gonna stress me the heck out.
But still, one trainer down, three to go!
Now this is an interesting choice.
This is when I remembered that we don't get heals, so I could've easily used some items when I was catching Miltank. Only need to use Revival Herbs if I'm desperate, I can use normal Revives otherwise.
Ohhhhhhhh that's not good
That's pretty nice, but also ow
Absol, 30 catch rate (33%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Faint Attack, Slash, Swords Dance, Shadow Rush/Perish Song
Hmm, you know, with such fantastic Attack and being at a high enough level, this is a Pokemon that could work out staying as a Shadow Pokemon. Swords Dance and Slash is an amazing combo, but it's true this Pokemon needs Shadow Ball to function, since, despite this Pokemon's massive movepool, it can't use special moves particularly effectively. Also setting up with Swords Dance makes it a easy target to pick off, since it's also kinda slow, though team support will make this a monster. I'm only suggesting Shadow Rush for fun since the game's nearly over, but out of the many Pokemon in this game, I think Absol would work just fine. Or maybe it needs some levels to stay alive, who knows.
Ah dammit, I really don't need Absol using that again.
Alright, if we can catch it in the next ball, we've got this in the bag. Or, uh, PC.
Well FUCK. Guess I'm doing this whole challenge all over again.
I would not be able to finish my LPs if I didn't have savestates, I'm such a baby. But who cares, some stuff in games are bullshit, I never have patience for grinding or repeating what I just did, so hey, keeps me sane.
Shadow Pokemon Resets:
Now here's a crazy idea, what if, when I throw a Pokeball at a Pokemon... it just catches it. Crazy, I know, but I think we're onto something here.
As, uh, as easy as that. Though cause I knocked everything out so quickly, I may have slightly not healed.
Don't you think it's a great honor to battle on this fabulous stage? I'm going to beat you and earn my promotion to an ADMIN! Cipher Peon Battle
Like the previous Dark type, this mon is quite dangerous. Also holy crap a Fire type specialist.
I suppose if I had healed I wouldn't have Mawuh up front, so, uh, I'm glad you could see my awesome strategy at work!
Aside from Houndoom, this is not a difficult fight. It can be even easier if Houndoom doesn't use any good attacking moves.
Sometimes I regret my inaccurate moves, but hey, not like Octillery gets a better option for a while!
Mamma mia
Houndoom, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Flamethrower, Smog, Howl, Shadow Rush/Faint Attack
It's a shame this mon is so late, cause it has a great typing and hits really hard, if being typically frail. It'll do you in the postgame no problem if you get a Reflect up and while it's a shame it get Faint Attack and not Bite, it'll get Crunch way after you finish the game so... oh wait, never mind. It's probably a good idea to get it Fire Blast and Protect and then, uh, Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb aren't bad options since its Attack is pretty nice. Or just go for Solarbeam, though it probably shouldn't set up the sun in any case. Very usable and will make those final few battles less of a challenge. Now if only we could get it earlier...
Oh wow, on the fourth and final battle already? This update is gonna be pretty short then! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I'll show you exactly why I was chosen to anchor our squad!
Wow, they're really brining out the big guns now.
Bit of back and forth, but using Sludge Bomb was risky if it paralyzed. It might've survived a Blizzard, but like hell I'm testing that.
That'll do nicely, yes.
Tropius, 200 catch rate (100%, low health, Great Ball), starting moves: Fly, Magical Leaf, Synthesis, Shadow Rush/Solarbeam
One of our last choices is... interesting, with well rounded stats and potential as a sun sweeper. It gets all the tools, but not much aside from that, having no other special moves to use. Still, Earthquake and Steel Wing will have to do for coverage, though Synthesis is probably better than Steel Wing. If you're using a sun team and didn't fancy the other couple options, might as well, right? It'll outspeed and damage a good chunk of the postgame, Magnolia worked out just peachy after all. It's just, compared to the other Shadow Pokemon in this Colosseum, it just doesn't get you particularly excited. At least after this there won't be many Ice or Fire moves, so it'll probably be alright.
One day Carbuncle or Mawuh will be around to deal with Vileplume. Not today.
Thankfully we end on a real easy catch, so we can go all out against this last trainer.
They don't want to make it that easy, so we're down to our last in Umbreon.
But that's a wrap. Must be some long credits, huh?
Nascour (I couldn't not use a chanting crowd version)
Why not become a CIPHER show-battle trainer? Would you even consider it? I'll vouch that you will become a top star in no time. ...I wouldn't have minded making that proposition, but I'm afraid I'm not that bighearted. I will destroy you in battle right now. You will know the humiliation of total domination before this crowd! VS Nascour
Of course it's not over, there's still a Champion to defeat, after all. Thankfully, in a sweet mercy, your entire team gets healed.
This fight is no joke, it's quite the level jump and if you're worn out from the previous four battles with no break, then you might be in trouble. Hope you've got lots of healing items! Like, look at these movesets, this is very mean for Gen 3. Not to mention what we'll be facing at the end.
Nascour loves confusion and dicking you over, so that adds an extra roll to this fight that really doesn't need to be here. Confusion is the worst status. Also, on a random turn, he'll use an X Special on both his Pokemon. Thankfully we were able to take down the Walrein and Dusclops only has Psychic, but the rest of his Pokemon get VERY SCARY if they get the boost.
That's pretty nice, but due to the relatively offensive nature of his team, this is not a damage race we'll do that well at. Sure, we faced strong Pokemon in the Under Colosseum, but please, that stuff was a joke compared to this. It's not the worst thing ever though.
Little by little we're getting through this team. Usually I don't use supereffective moves during boss battles. I'm not doing that for these games.
Aw yeah, I am loving this confusion.
This was Umbreon's third time being hit by a confusion inducing move, which is funny, cause the AI is still like this even at the final boss, but now he'll hit himself at +4 Attack.
Oh god this thing
With Gardevoir and Xatu on the field, we're in trouble, but if Umbreon hits a Thunderbolt, we should have no problem.
Oh god I'm fucking dead
Why does Xatu have a Flying move???
Still, when in doubt, Garchump.
Okay, phew, only two Pokemon left.
Oh god only two Pokemon left. This is why I've conserved my balls, since we're catching a psuedo-legendary.
Alright, now only Carbuncle is left. That seems like a terrible idea.
Alright we got a free turn, so the end is nearly in sight!
The end is not in sight. Not only does he have X items, he also has healing items. After the relatively tricky early game and the breezy mid game, this late game is real fucking mean.
Okay, we have this back under control. Now to capture a Metagross. Depending on how long this battle has been going on for, Timer Balls are looking mighty tempting, right?
Metagross, 3 catch rate (3%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball or 7%, low health, paralyzed, Timer Ball at 40+ turns), starting moves: Psychic, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Shadow Rush/Hyper Beam
Tedious catching aside, if you want this absolute monster to give you a nice easy postgame, then hell yeah you should use this thing. It might get Meteor Mash before you finish the game, but it'll easily help you clean up whatever you need to do. Sure, it won't hit amazingly hard with Psychic compared to its physical moves, but 95 SpAtk being one of its lower stats says how fucking mental this Pokemon is. If they're an absolute bitch to fight against, then they're absolutely worth a slot on your team, farewell Carbuncle! ...you think I'm joking? Oh yeah, it gets any move you need it to, so you can go absolute ham with this thing, so have fun.
Oh would you look at that, an unlucky crit, if you want to reset, then you're doing ALL OF THIS again. However, if you just take the loss, then you'll fight Nascour immediately.
Shadow Pokemon Resets:
Alright, let's start rolling these 3% chances. Gonna be great!
Ah neat, didn't take too long, but what does it matter, we're done! For real this time!
Sir! I... I beg your pardon!
What's going on? NASCOUR's apologizing? Isn't he supposed to be the boss?
It's still not over???
Es Cade?
I must be honest with you. I never imagined that you would get this far. Huh? Mr. MAYOR? Why are you here? Oh, dear me. Do you fail to understand still? You're such an innocent child. At times, I am the affable mayor of PHENAC... and at others, I am the secret boss of the criminal syndicate CIPHER... I am EVICE, and I shall rule the world! Evice Unveiled
How dare you meddle in our affairs so thoroughly! The SHADOW POKEMON plan, we can resurrect from the start. But, you two... you'll never be forgiven! I'll destroy you utterly so you may never again rise against me! VS Cipher Head Evice
Like with Nascour, we're fully healed before Evice, but holy goddamn shit this is a really nasty battle, especially due to his leads! You can see all the bullshit this man is packing and individually it might not be too bad, but all together in one team, after five straight fights, after snagging a fair few Shadow Pokemon, after using up all your items and balls because you thought it was over, it makes Colosseum have the hardest ending to any Pokemon game, Ultra Nebullshit notwithstanding.
And immediately Magnolia and Umbreon go down. Salamence is a massive, massive problem, due to being a fucking Salamence, but when Slaking decides to attack, OH BOY do you feel it. It's really hard deciding who the hell I take down first. I guess it'll be Salamence.
Alright, now if Salamence does something like Dragon Dance then, well, that would be incredibly scary, but it would give us a breather.
Well Dhalsim probably wasn't going to live anyway, but hey, so long as we hit Salamence with one more Blizzard, we've got this.
Here I was going for the Reflect like a fucking idiot because Carbuncle is outsped by BOTH.
But hey, at least that's one terrifying physical attacker gone. Oh god here's another terrifying physical attacker.
Like Nascour, Evice will randomly spend a turn using X Attacks on his Pokemon. Sure, that's a free turn, but oh god Slaking is at +1!!!
Still, it gives us a chance to take out Scizor. You do have Fire Blast, right? Oh god another terrifying physical attacker. But we should be fine, Mawuh and Garchump are at mostly full health and because Evice used an item, that means that Truant will kick in. Uh, right? I don't remember exactly how that works.
FUCK, it doesn't, but hey, Garchump can take a hit and we'll revive someone next turn, since Slaking is gonna be a breeze like this.
Oh. The Machamp OHKOed us anyway and both Mawuh and Garchump went down on the same turn. Well we just fuckin lost.
Shadow Pokemon Resets:
Okay, this time, let's actually use Dhalsim to take down the Slaking. There's nothing I can really do to stop Magnolia and Umbreon going down first turn, since nothing wants to switch into Salamence's Aerial Ace.
And hey, I fished for the double, because why not, and I got it! Now we can get down to business.
Least Evice won't change his X Attack turn, but man, Slaking survived two Blizzards and a Hi Jump Kick. What a fucking monster.
Okay, I don't feel like I'm about to cry this time, so I think we're on a roll!
Well aren't we in fucking trouble, even I didn't bother with Full Restores! They're really expensive...
Ah okay, the Truant timer continues no matter what, so with Carbuncle finally able to outspeed something, we're all set for the next Pokemon!
Hmm, interesting choice, but with both Protect and Detect, we can easily stall out this Slaking and make it completely useless.
Oh. OH. OHHHHHHH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS, I AM IN REAL FUCKING TROUBLE
Thankfully the +1 Slaking without Truant decided not to OHKO both of my mons with Earthquake, but instead target Carbuncle with Crush Claw, so we are safe!
We are no longer safe. Here is the ultimate Shadow Pokemon.
Slowking isn't a threat anymore, so we'll take it down soon enough, but this Tyranitar is pretty nasty, even though hitting it with Hi Jump Kick is so tempting right now.
What's gonna throw you is that this is a special Tyranitar, so if you've got a Pokemon weak to Blizzard or Thunder, then it's not gonna have a lot of fun. Also just cause the Slowking has Truant, doesn't mean it hurts any less, it's just half as often.
Hey, stop doing that!
Well that could've gone really bad. This is why you have Revival Herbs, because your Pokemon are not surviving these attacks at half health, since they will get targetted as soon as they get sent out. Because game design.
Okay, there we go, it took a bit of work, but we've now got one Pokemon remaining. A nice easy catch to round out the story. Gonna be smooth sailing from here.
Tyranitar, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Rock Slide, Blizzard, Thunder, Shadow Rush/Crunch
The strongest Shadow Pokemon is hard as hell to purify and hard as hell to beat. It's your reward to finishing the game and with its pal Metagross, it can easily take apart anything you fancy in this game. It won't be learning any new moves, there's not enough game for that, but like Metagross, it can do whatever you want it to, fully physical, fully special, a mix, Earthquake, Thunder, Fire Blast, Iron Tail, Blizzard, Brick Break, Dragon Claw, the list goes on. While it's slow and has a few weaknesses, its ability and sheer stats let it easily overcome such things and make it one hell of a final boss.
These are all the Pokeballs I have left, after snagging everything from Heracross to Metagross. Since it's not as awful to catch as some Pokemon, since GF probably didn't think you'd ever have to catch one when they made certain Pokemon's catch rates, it can still be tricky.
That accuracy drop is really hurting it, huh? Well let's get rid of the eternal sandstorm and make Thunder not worth considering. Thankfully it doesn't know Fire Blast, because hoo boy.
Okay, I think it's ran out of Blizzard? Only Shadow Rush has infinite PP.
So this is it. We sure are showing this crowd one hell of a battle... with me just endlessly throwing Pokeballs at something. How riveting.
Alright, this is my last Ultra Ball. After this, I start chucking Net Balls just to give my last few Timer Balls a boost. Failing that, it'll be reset time.
Oh thank god it's over, let's blow this joint!
Oh hey it's the #squad. Where the hell have you guys been?
Pfft, how you gonna escape from this? Like you've got a helicopter.
Waahahah! Let us meet again! Our bid to take over the world using SHADOW POKEMON hasn't ended yet! Evice's End
What?!
EVICE! You and your cronies are under arrest! Oh! Wh-What is that?!
Of course, it would also never allow criminals to get off scot-free. Not when they're guilty of an outrage like creating SHADOW POKEMON. THOMAS. I guess it's finally over. We faced a lot of challenges, but thanks to you, THOMAS, everything has been resolved. THOMAS, thank you. You were strong. You answered the call. And you were cool!
Look at that! HO-OH is so close! So true! This is the first time I've seen one up so close. ANCA and THOMAS. The HO-OH is blessing you for your victory. Ho-oh
Credits
Well there we go, how about that? We've beaten Pokemon Colosseum!
What a fucking great game, I can't believe I didn't play it for the first time until earlier this year. So despite being a bit wonky and tough, but then also easy, double battles in 3D is just great fun.
Oh hey there's a Minun. I really like Orre and all the cool locales and the pretty different atmosphere is has compared to other Pokemon games. It's definitely something you should experience in some way and I'm glad you decided to do so via my LP, it was great fun to make, since it was also pretty short!
Hey, these weren't Pokemon we could obtain! This will definitely be my shortest SSLP yet, though it'll probably have more updates than Conquest (after I cut out like 90% of that game lol), but that's what makes it so sweet, it definitely doesn't wear out its welcome with its wacky characters or weird Shadow Pokemon mechanics. It's just good shit.
The hell is Jirachi doing in the credits? Big thanks to Fionordequester for ripping certain NPC models for the first time in this game's history. Now Bulbapedia doesn't have an excuse! Also big thanks to those reading and posting and voting in the thread, it was so wonderful seeing a lot of love for this little game. It deserves it!
Oh shit, Satoru Iwata worked on this game? No wonder it's so good! Seriously, this game is legit, cheers for a great home console Pokemon game years before the Switch ones would make their debut. But of course, I'm acting like this is the end of the LP, far from it, we're not even done with Colosseum yet! The postgame is around Emerald sized, I'd say, though Mt. Battle definitely doesn't hold a candle to the Battle Frontier. And then there's the sequel as well! On the contrary, this LP is just getting started and man does that make me stoked! So next time is the-
Gah! Postgame! Still plenty to do in Orre.