Part 76: The Battle Castle (HGSS)

Update 60: The Battle Castle

Battle Castle



What's happening dawg? It's time for the second to last facility and this one is actually really good!



We've got our three Pokemon for the first 21 battles and we start off with Patrick the Crawdaunt, by Sjs00. With some strong STAB moves and crit protection, we should be doing lots of damage. And Swagger if we're feeling lucky.



Next up is Green Bull the shiny Tauros, by FoolyCharged. An all out attacker with some strong moves to work with. Oh yes this should be fun to use.



Finally, we've got Crafty the Porygon-Z, by MagusofStars. A strong special attacker with two hard hitting moves to cover everything except Steel. Then there's Conversion2 (which I never use, sorry!) and Thunder Wave, which is very nice.



Let's head up.



: I will be your host on behalf of Lady Caitlin, the owner of the castle. First, I must ask you for any items your Pokémon are holding. They will be returned to you when you leave. Next, I have here 10 Castle Points, CP, that can be used only here. They are for you. Please accept them. Please choose what you wish to do.



Here's the main gimmick of the Battle Castle, as you battle through the facility you earn CP after battle. They're used to buy all kinds of things, so let's go over them.




The big thing is that HP and PP are not replenished in between battles. It's not a huge deal since it's not expensive to restore HP and if you're smart about your moves you'll never have to restore PP. However, you can only restore HP to begin with, you need to increase your rank to do other things. A lot of it isn't necessary to do, but I'll show everything off. It costs 10CP to fully heal a Pokemon and 100CP to rank up to restore PP.



Unlike the Battle Arcade where you mostly won't get different items, you can pick and choose in this facility, but of course you need to rank up to get to the good stuff. Right now we can choose between 8 different berries, none of which we need to use. The status healing berries are 2CP each, while the Lum and Sitrus berries are 5CP each. Ranking up to rent an additional 12 items costs 100CP.



We can also do certain things to affect our opponent before we face them.



To begin with, the only thing you'll find out is a Pokemon's gender, or indeed lack thereof.



For 1CP, you can find out what species of Pokemon you'll be facing. Not too amazing I know, but the big thing is raising a Pokemon's level. You can increase it to 55 for 1CP, or decrease it to 45 for 15CP. You can change the level as much as you want, so long as you've got the CP.



For the entire facility we'll be fighting level 55 Pokemon. It makes a nice change and we'll be rewarded for doing so. You can view a Pokemon's stats, ability, etc for 2CP and can upgrade to see their moves for 50CP.



Bit of a longer explanation for a facility to begin with, but it's pretty cool the amount of things we can do with our CP.



Everything's gonna be level 55, so hopefully our Pokemon can power through.



Darn. Well it's not a big deal.




Like every facility, it starts off very easy, so we can have some fun and switch things up a bit.



After each battle Darach will award us CP for how we did in battle. The conditions for this are:



If we fulfil all the criteria as best as we can, we can get a max of 50CP (9+9+3+8+21) every battle. Though most times we'll get just under that.



And now we can spend them as we wish. Most of the time I'll just be healing my Pokemon and boosting the opponent's levels so I can stockpile CP. We're gonna need a good amount if we want to have fun in this facility.



Oh whoops, that's 6CP lost right there.



But now you're in trouble.



Enough of this!



Thankfully we don't have to spend CP to revive our Pokemon but they're only revived to 1HP, meaning you still need to heal them if you don't want them to faint again.



Flawless. Green Bull can easily sweep through the opposing team and it doesn't even have an item yet!




Teamwork! We're getting a nice chunk of CP change, we should definitely spend that.



Now we've got some items available. To rank up and get 32 different kinds of berries and 27 different items we need another 150CP. Oof.



The selection we have right now isn't too amazing, but there's some nice stuff if you have a certain Pokemon or strategy. I could get a King's Rock for Patrick, but we're close to the end of the streak, so there's no point.




Eh, still better than the Battle Hall. At the end of the streak any items you bought will be returned and you'll have to buy them again on the next streak.



Back in we go.



We get 10CP added every time we start a new streak and we've got a nice stockpile already. We should be able to get some sweet items this run.



The problem with Download.



We'll manage though.




Going pretty well so far, even if the opposing Pokemon are getting tougher.



With rank 3 items, we can now get a Life Orb for Crafty and a Choice Band for Green Bull. This will make them even more potent during their tenure. With the rank up we can get basically every berry you can think of, from the stat boosting ones in a pinch, to the type reduction ones. The same for items, you've got your healing ones, your choice items, all the ones you definitely want to put on your team.



Just in case you were wondering, the opponents all have items, it's not like the Battle Arcade. And of course when you level a Pokemon up, only its stats increase, their moves and items don't change.



Alright, two down!



Since we've got some spare CP, we'll get the move list rank up. Now for 5CP we can find out what moves our opponent has, meaning if you know your stuff well enough, you know exactly what Pokemon you're facing against without spending anything else.




Well this is fun.



Nothing's stopping this bull.



Octillery are weird man.



Yes, this is Patrick.



Really strutting his stuff towards the end of his run. Though that Future Sight image is BULLSHIT



And we end as we began, with an angrey bull.



: You are to be commended on your mastery for keeping the streak alive. Our owner, appreciating your worth, demands you battle the Castle Valet. You are prepared, yes?



We're at the Frontier Brain! We can use our CP to mess around with their Pokemon if we want. I'm gonna show off the move buying.



Can you guess what we're facing?



But who could it be?



Woah plot twist! Also how did he do that?



: Lady Caitlin, my employer, is not one to accept defeat willingly. However, for a reason I'm not at liberty to disclose, she cannot battle. Consequently, I will do battle in her ladyship's place. ...Let me assure you that you won't be shortchanged by facing me. En garde!

VS Frontier Brain









Ah it's good to fight a Frontier Brain with a set team again. It does have some variety, however, Darach can pick from two different teams. The only thing that changes is the movesets, but he can mix and match, as we saw when I bought the movesets.



Well that's not the best start, but it's no biggie.



Choice Band is too good.



It does come with one problem though...



OHOHOHOHOHOHO



No stop that.



Oh nice, with a +1 boost we just knock it out in one hit. Man, you guys went easy on me for this first go through.



: My hat's off to you.

Battle Castle



: I drew on every reserve of experience and etiquette handed down through our heritage of glorious servitude. But even then, I failed to fend off your inspired and inspiring challenge. I shall see to appeasing Lady Caitlin's displeasure at my loss. Kotone, please do return to our Battle Castle. We will be delighted and feel privileged to have you back!



: ... Darach! CP for this trainer at once!



Oh, uh, thanks?



We get our standard reward.



And get our next print.



Only 3 more to go, the end is in sight!



It's time to meet our next 3 Pokemon. We've got Dial M the Infernape, by Yorkshire Tea. Some good moves to really lay in the pain, so what does the M stand for? We'll find out.



Next up is Blue Flame the shiny Houndoom, by Some Numbers. While having two Fire types might be a bit much, they do pretty different things, as this one sets up to destroy his foes. HP Grass helps a lot too to get around those pesky Water types.



Last up is Saitama the Breloom, by Dr Fetus. With plenty of set up opportunities with Spore or Substitute, this Pokemon can really take things out with just one punch.



Starting with the 4th streak we are now able to just skip a battle entirely for 50CP. While you do want to save up as much as you can, we need to get the last couple ranks after all, if you don't like the look of the next battle, you can just go right past it. Obviously you can't skip the last battle of a streak.



Since we've saved up enough, we can attach items to our Pokemon immediately. Very nice!



Dial M can start us off every battle with some free damage.



...is what I want to say if our opponent didn't have Shield Dust.



Oh well, it's not a big deal.



Mmm, yes.



Before long we're gonna be rolling in the cash again.



Alright, let's get this pain train rolling.



Okay these abilities are getting annoying.



Here we fuckin go!



Oh you think that'll stop me?



ONE PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH



Gonna get as many HP Grass kills as I can. It's also nice having some momentum against a bad matchup, since LO U-turn does a lot of damage.



OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO




Alright this team is a lot of fun. I even got a U-turn OHKO!



And we're just climbing through the streaks. During this time I upgraded the healing abilities, even though I don't use them aside from the full heal. For 100CP we can rank up and fully heal PP for 8CP. For another 100CP we can rank up and now fully heal a Pokemon's HP and PP for 12CP, a 6CP discount. Eh.



And with that, we're on the final streak.



Well I've got to show off the Pass feature, right?



Well Lady Caitlin might not like it, but yeah, that's one battle skipped. But see, look at all that CP I've amassed. I've upgraded everything, I don't need to spend it on info of my opponent, or on items. It's just burning a hole in my pocket, y'know?



Hey, waste not, want not.



With that, we've skipped 6 fights and are now at the Frontier Brain again. Nice!



This is the final battle, so we should be prepared. Though I'm not buying the moves, I don't want to spoil myself that much.



: Kotone, you certainly are to be commended. ...However, if I may say so, I noticed something about the way you battle. After all, I had the opportunity to watch you closely firsthand. So, what is it that I noticed? As a Trainer myself, it is but proper etiquette to show you in battle. Let us begin! En garde!

VS Frontier Brain









Sorry Empoleon, maybe next time you'll have a better lead matchup.



This Gallade is a problem, but let's do as much damage as we can.



...Breloom is faster right?



Okay good.



Alright, the final Pokemon standing between us and victory.



Okay, this thing is faster.



Alas the ONE PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH just wasn't enough.



But we've done it, going out in style and thankfully hitting the attack.

Battle Castle



: What I'd perceived to be a weakness was only illusory... Or, perhaps you corrected it in the course of our battle. Regardless, your performance was stunning again. Though she cannot say it, Lady Caitlin appears quite taken by your style. For her sake at the very least, please do return to our Battle Castle!



: ... Darach! CP for this trainer at once!




That's another facility down and this one was a lot of fun, I like it.



Only one more left to go, goddamn.



Next time we return to the Battle Frontier, it's time for the good old slugfest of the Battle Tower.