Part 74: The Battle Hall (HGSS)

Update 58: The Battle Hall (HGSS)

Battle Hall



The third battle facility! It's kinda really bad, but we're doing it anyway.



Let's see today's contenders.




Well I let you guys vote on it and you chose Slaking. I hate you guys, but we'll make this work. I will make this work.



Alright, let's get this over with.



What a beautiful picture.



So the shitty gimmick of this facility is the type board. Bring one species of Pokemon in with you to fight against every single type in 1v1 battles.



We'll go up against the Ghost type first.



This is a tough postgame facility, let's see how tough things are from the start.



I think choosing Slaking is taking it easy on me, you guys.



At the end of the battle you're fully healed and ready to take on the next one.



Next one.



Oh hey that was quick. The main reason to knock out the Ghost and Bug battles is so you don't have to worry about bringing a Pokemon that can hit Shedinja super effectively. That's the entire reason why Funky has Shadow Claw.



7 boring battles later, it's time to face the rank 10 Ghost battle.



One shotted by Shadow Claw? Alright, cool.




Right, that's 10 battles and 1 type down. 160 battles and 16 types left.



Alright, what type next?



Our Choice Scarf Konga will outspeed everything and destroy the more frailer, faster opponents.



Ah shit.



There are problems with using Slaking, mostly its ability. It isn't a factor if we destroy something in one hit with Giga Impact, but if the Pokemon survives, then it needs to be knocked out on the third turn, or it'll take us out. We also can't be 2HKOed since the second turn of the fight is always a freebie for the opponent. So I will be using save states a lot, cause you have little room for error in a 1v1 situation. Especially on this shitty facility.



I'll be switching between Funky and Konga when necessary since if I restore a state and choose another type instead of continuing the fight where I lost, the Pokemon will hopefully change for the better for me to try later. Sure it's gaming the system, but man, fuck the system. Also fuck the low rewards.



Well fuck me I guess. There are times when, no matter the Pokemon you use, you'll just get screwed over. Obviously if you lose you start from battle 1 all over again and that really sucks in this kind of facility.



Just go for types you've got super effective moves against since it'll make the battles go faster.



Alright, battle 40.



: In recognition of your remarkable winning streak, our Frontier Brain is demanding a match with you. Actually, you have no choice. You must battle our Hall Matron!



Well okay then.



I love that Slaking was chosen.


"preferred Pokémon."

: I imagine there were some tense moments getting here with your chosen one. But understand that one shines brightest when a challenge is overcome. I am Argenta, and I am your final and most daunting challenge. I dare you to overcome my challenge.

VS Frontier Brain







Like Thorton, Argenta has a pool of Pokemon that she'll randomly choose from in your 1v1 battle, matched to your level, so you can get very lucky or super unlucky. The Pokemon used in the Battle Hall are different than the ones used in the Battle Factory (and thus different to those used in the Battle Frontier itself).



So yeah, this was basically no contest. The pool of Pokemon Argenta can choose from is found here. This is also the list of Pokemon that start appearing for a type match of Rank 6 or higher. Basic stage Pokemon in Group 1 appear from rank 1-5, while Stage 1 Pokemon and some fully evolved Pokemon in Group 2 appear from rank 3-8.



Maybe you should've gone for Eruption.

Battle Hall



: A good one keeps with their favorite without drama or fanfare. That is how I see it, at least. And, by the way I see it, you're an excellent Trainer! Be sure to visit the Battle Hall again with a favorite Pokémon. Until then, bye-bye!



I wish we could end things there, but nope, gotta continue to Gold.



Another print.



We're halfway there!



We're diving back in. Just gotta keep battling to get through all the types.



As we get higher in rank for a certain type, as well as continue our overall streak, we start facing some real tough Pokemon as their levels slowly start to catch up to ours.



Still, Choice Band Giga Impact from 346 Attack REALLY HURTS.



: Your total win-streak has reached 50. Here is your BP reward.



Your overall streak is tracked in this facility for a couple of different things. You get a BP reward for reaching certain milestones, though the amount you get also includes the milestones you went past ages ago, so I got the reward for 10, 30 and 50 all in one go. The streak then goes up by 50 until 500, then it goes up by 100 until 1000, then it goes up by 200 until 2000, where you get a 50BP reward. We're gonna get a 170 streak reward at the end of this facility and that's as high as I'll go.

Not only that, when you reach certain (large) milestones, you'll get fans appearing in the top left. To begin with, you just get an NPC depending on your gender, Winston if female and Serena if male. In Platinum, when you get a total record of 500, you'll get Rowan's assistant cheering you on. After 1000, you'll get your Mom and after 10,000, you'll get Oak or Jasmine. HGSS starts at 1000, where you'll get your Mom or Ethan/Lyra, with 10,000 getting you Oak or Whitney. I dunno what poor sap found that out, but screw getting that high a record for something like that.



Ah, 4x super effective moves are great to use.



Well shit. Oh well, it won't be able to knock my out in two hits.



FUK, RELOAD




Slowly whittling down all the various types, god this is tedious even with the emulator speeding everything up!



Getting some mad bank though.



Ah shit, a Protect user. This is the easiest way to make Slaking completely useless. Well, let's go elsewhere until we get a good result.



Much better.



Nearly done. The worst part of this facility is most of it is completely uninteresting. 170 battles is way too much. Sometimes there's moments in video games where if you halve the number of something you need to reach and it doesn't change anything, then it's just bad padding. This could've easily been up to rank 5 and it would be much better.



And here's the last Pokemon before Argenta Round 2. You may think we got to this bit quick but that's because every battle from rank 1-7 is completely uninteresting. Only when you get to 8-10 do the Pokemon start being even slightly interesting. That means at least 117 of the battles you need to do in this facility are boring and not worth showing. That's pretty shitty.



So nearly two hours since I started this damn area (with speed up and most battles ending in 1 turn), let's finally finish it.



: It's got star power beyond belief. Even from inside its Poké Ball, I can feel its charismatic brilliance. But I'm the Hall Matron. I'll be the judge of that. I must battle it for myself and see if that brilliance is genuine. That is why we must battle now.

VS Frontier Brain




Battle 170!



Now this is interesting. We won't be able to knock this out in one shot, especially since I'm using Konga as Funky faced the Brain last time.



Hmm, this ain't good. Of course it just about 2HKOs us. But it could've been a high roll and Blizzard could miss.



Of course not. So let's go through all 169 battles ALL OVER AGAIN TO GET TO THIS POINT FUCK THAT



Ooh, much better. But is there a catch?



No there's not. What a way to end this garbage facility.

Battle Hall



: That goes for any and every kind of Pokémon, too. Spread that message in your own words. It's one everyone should hear. And now, having lost, this lady has nothing left to say at all, but... Bye-bye!




That's another print down. Now there's only two facilities left! Feels like we're nearly done with this crazy idea.



Not bad.



But let's be honest, this update is pretty short cause I cut out most of the facility cause it's boring garbage. So let's show off our joint second votes of Porygon-Z and Shedinja, both interesting to use in this facility.



The board is reset if you use another species of Pokemon, or if you cleared it and continue with the same species you were using.



Uh, hmm, okay.



With Adaptability and Hyper Beam, Porygon-Z can do SO MUCH DAMAGE JESUS. Just obliterating everything.



And with strong type coverage, it can easily take out other types, it's a very useful Pokemon to use in this facility.



Shedinja is just a fun option if you wanna blow off some steam, like me.



Up against certain types and Pokemon you'll have absolutely no problem sweeping through everything.



Fun times.



But anyway, it's time to move on from the Hall and next time we take on the Frontier, we'll be taking down the Battle Castle. Later!