Part 52: #40.90210: Frontier From Hell (HGSS)

Update 40.90210: Frontier From Hell



Just before we check back in with postgame Crystal, we'll be doing a couple of things in postgame HGSS.



So off to HGSS's Battle Tower replacement! Sigh...



Looks like he missed the opening.

Frontier Access



Hmm, I'm feeling a bit tropical for some reason.


"of being the first to arrive here..."

: Stupid, stupid me... Sob...sob...



: When a Pokémon battle on the road doesn't satisfy you any longer, you have to come to the Battle Frontier! Wouldn't you agree?

"teach your Pokémon all kinds of moves."


Before we actually head in, there's a triplet of Move Tutors to give your Pokemon new exclusive moves in exchange for BP. Here are all the moves you can learn, so I don't have to list them out. Real useful moves that you won't find anywhere else, but some are just way too pricey. Good luck!



That's all from the Frontier Access, including a pretty useless Center and Mart, though it does sell Dusk Balls. In case you didn't already clock on, this place looks like the Fight Area in Platinum, so it's a nice bit of pasted culture.



Woah! That's a lot of clones.



: We upgrade Vs. Recorders for first-time visitors for Battle Frontier use. I'll borrow yours for a moment. Let's see... Slide open this part here, and ticka-tacka-kachunk there! All done! Here you go.

"of the Battle Frontier operate."


I'll just tell you guys about all the different features of the Battle Frontier.




The Battle Frontier houses five facilities: the Battle Tower for classic Pokemon fighting, the Battle Factory where you use preset rental Pokemon instead of your own, the Battle Arcade where a large board with lots of events is played before every battle, the Battle Castle where items and healing and other features are purchased using Castle Points, and the Battle Hall where you can only use 1 Pokemon for the whole thing!



Scratch Cards are a fun little distraction. For 1BP, you can choose three of a card of one colour: Red, Blue, Green or Yellow and then start scratching. By matching 3 of a Pokemon will get you a prize, with a Ditto acting as a wildcard. Depending on what Pokemon you match up, depends on the prize, either a Nugget, or three of a rare-ish Berry, which is usually a type reducing berry, or the Tamato or Qualot berries, which can only be found here. The Pomeg, Hondew, Kelpsy and Grepa berries can be found elsewhere.



This is the main Exchange Corner, where you can get a load of items for BP, including TMs and rare hold items.




Lot of really good stuff here, the EV boosting drinks are cheap and can be a quick way to get started on EV training, while the Power items add +4 EVs to one stat regardless of opponent defeated, but lower your Speed. And then there's a load of useful metagame hold items, a must to complete the facilities, or to do well in multiplayer.




A fair amount of these TMs can only be found here, but it's always nice to be able to buy multiple copies of really good moves like Earthquake or Shadow Ball.



Final thing to show off isn't the Battle Tower itself, oh god no, but a guy inside the Tower.



: Heheh, it's actually not my real name, but that's what everyone calls me. It's because of this weird power I have. It's a gift, really. I can discern--judge you can say--the overall potential of individual Pokémon. If you'd like, I could judge the intriguing potential of your Pokémon.



While I could just check through Pokesav, let's see how good our starter is.



: That's my determination, and it's final. Incidentally, I would say the best potential lies in its Sp. Atk stat. It's fantastic in that regard. That's how I judged it.

So what the hell did he just say? Okay, the Judge tells you how good your Pokemon's IVs in two ways: first, by adding them up for the overall potential, so a Pokemon with straight 31s would have 186 and he would say it was Outstanding. But he has a range of comments, so if your Pokemon's overall potential was between 151-186, then he would say Outstanding. The only way to know if it's 31 if he says that stat "Can't Be Better", but he'll only pick one stat to comment on. Thankfully, in HGSS, he'll cycle through the six stats in order so if you talk to him six times and he says it "Can't Be Better", then you have a perfect Pokemon. Very nice. But you have to remember what stat you're on, since he doesn't reset the cycle. This is useful if you're making sure you get the right IV, like a 0 in Speed or Attack, for example.



But anyway, that's the Battle Frontier. It's a really neat place with 5 battle facilities, but they're all a hassle to properly complete and finish. So there's no way in hell I'm going through them, I don't hate myself that much.



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god fucking dammit