Part 79: Five Out Of Five (HGSS)

Update 63: Five Out Of Five



Hello, is it time for the final update of the LP? I think it is. But what more could we possibly do in this game? We've beaten Red! Are you telling me doing that let's us do even more things? That's right, this postgame has a postgame.

Pallet Town GB



: I heard a lot about you. Your Pokédex must be close to complete?

*loud cough*

: For all your hard work, I would like to give you something. Haha! What's behind me... You must have figured it out right away. Yes, it is a Pokémon!



: Choose one and it'll be yours! ...Go ahead!



It's weird that we're getting our starter at the very end of the game, but I like it, GF should break the formula more often.



I can't choose anything else. Like I literally am physically unable to choose anything but Bulbasaur these days.



: With it at your side, you should be able to reach the next town... What am I saying? You already know all this! Hahaha! There is nothing more that I can do for you. Enjoy the rest of your journey with that new Pokémon!

Hmm, well we'll see you a bit later.

Saffron City GB



: I think it depends on how my dad feels. I see... I'll be on my way. See you soon.



: You are... I remember your eyes. When I see a Trainer whose eyes twinkle, I always remember. You have a Pokédex! So you are also in search of Pokémon. Let me see... I think I can help you with that. Let's say you have stones in front of you.



Well I've had the blue stone with me this whole time and I recently got the green stone, so it's time to go red.



Yes! Wait, shit, hidden abilities didn't exist yet. I'll just toss it onto the pile then.

"very happy."

And off he goes, when we next see him, nobody knows.



Oh hey, fancy meeting you again.







Hello again again again (again?).



: You should visit sometime. Hey! Why don't we trade Pokémon? I've been looking for FORRETRESS. I can trade my BELDUM for it.

Well I just happen to have a Forretress with me right now, so I guess I can.



Neat.



: It's my first time to actually see one. Thank you so much! Oh, look at the time, I really must go.



Now this time he's definitely completely gone. Unless you haven't done the Enigma Stone event yet. In which case you can make him stand in Pewter City for ETERNITY



The Beldum he trades us is pretty standard, but it's a much easier way of obtaining one in this game than the other method we'll go over in a little bit (hint, it's the Safari Zone). It is holding a Dawn Stone, which is pretty gosh darn neat, otherwise it's a normal Beldum.



Hey, while we're in Saffron City anyway...



: What a coincidence! I feel great electric power around the Magnet Train station! You had a PIKACHU, didn't you? How about trading it for my French PIKACHU?

Wee wee, señorita.



I've now got 2 Pichu and 1 French Pikachu. Grrrrrrreat.

"Good-bye!"


Like Beldum, this Pikachu isn't very special aside from it's French and has a Yellow Shard. Woo.



Considering my country was conquered by the French nearly a millennium ago, it's strange that I don't speak it. Good thing too, otherwise I would've surrendered this LP to Simply Simon already.

Diglett's Cave GB



: They say you have to get it from an Egg... I am having a hard time finding one. If you happen to have a BONSLY, could you trade it for my RHYHORN?

Well since I just OH SO HAPP- oh wait you just said that. Uh, yeah, here.



: Thank you! I have been looking for BONSLY! The RHYHORN I gave you know the move Thunder Fang! I trained it from an Egg. I'm so proud of it, because it can take down Water-type Pokémon, which usually are a tough matchup. Take good care of it for me!



The last of the trades is more interesting since it has an Egg move. But unless you're hitting a 4x weakness, a neutral STAB hit will actually outdamage a move like Thunder Fang on a Water type. It's still a cool option.

Mr Pokemon's House GB



What, do you have a trade for me as well?



: I have something I want you to have and was just about to send an email to Professor Oak. The thing is... A friend of mine from Hoenn came over to give this to me.



Hey, another red stone.

: That Orb has something to do with the ancient ruins located past Cianwood City, called the Embedded Tower. But only a handful or Trainers can reach there... That's where you come in. Professor Oak thinks highly of you, and you are the proud Champion after all. I'm sure you can solve the mystery of the Orb and the secret of the ruins. The Embedded Tower is past Cianwood, somewhere in the Cliff Cave.



Yeah I think I've heard of it.

Safari Zone Gate GB



Just before we head over to the fascinating tower, we're going to cover the last bit of stuff relating to the Safari Zone.



: I had an epiphany! A new attraction! I've decided to call it... Object Arrangement! This is going to be fun! You can place objects on the field as you play the Safari Zone! Not only that, but the types of Pokémon you see will change depending on the types of objects you place. Isn't it amazing? I will call you using the Pokégear if something comes up! I hope you enjoy it! Go, and have fun!

Safari Zone GB



Okay, strap in folks, this is where the Safari Zone gets a bit crazy.



On practically any space in the Safari Zone you can place down an object. Now these can be nice little decorations, but they're used to attract a wide variety of Pokemon. There are four types of blocks that attract Pokemon, with 3 in each category of Plains, Forest, Peak and Waterside, and then 12 blocks that are purely decorative. Once a certain number of blocks in put into one area, then a Pokemon that requires that number will start to appear. However, it's not as easy as that, oh no.



...I don't want to know how Baoba has this. Anyway, there are some rare Pokemon that require more than 30 blocks be placed in an area before they appear, so how do you get them to spawn? Well, after a block has been in an area for a certain amount of time, it upgrades and increases its value. This upgrade is permanent, letting you rack up high numbers pretty quickly. Hmm, I say quickly, but each category has a certain number of days it needs to be in a zone before it upgrades.



Plains blocks take 10 days to upgrade to double their value, so 2, and take up to 100 days to become quadruple their value, so 4. Waterside blocks take the most amount of waiting to upgrade, taking 40 days to reach 2 and 140 days to reach 4. If you upgrade everything and max out your blocks, then you can technically have 120 blocks out at once. But some Pokemon require 2 types of blocks to appear. The hardest Pokemon to get, Gible, requires 52 plains blocks and 68 peak blocks. You can imagine how long that will take to get it to appear.

This does mean the amount of Pokemon that can appear increase immensely, including evolved forms of Pokemon you could find before, but at a much higher level. Beforehand, we could get 70 different Pokemon species in the Safari Zone, now we can get an additional 82 Pokemon from both the Johto and National Dex. That's right, there's over 150 different Pokemon you catch in this Safari Zone. It's INSANE.



But fuck actually catching them all, christ.



So anyway, the Embedded Tower, what's changed?



Hmm, I think it's that giant dinosaur thing. But I'm just not sure.

VS Groudon



Man there are a lot of legendaries in this game...



Well my Pokemon are pretty overpowered for this, so I should be fine.



Well shit.



I suppose the good thing about it putting itself to sleep is if you can get it down low enough quickly, you can catch it kinda easily.



Not too bad really.

"every day!"

You don't say.

: That Pokémon is GROUDON, a legendary Pokémon in the Hoenn myth about the shaping of that region. I see... Embedded Tower was built by the people from Hoenn. The Tower that binds together the sea, the land, and the sky... GROUDON was not the only Pokémon described in the Hoenn myth... This place may still be hiding its secrets... The knowledgeable Pokémon Professor may be able to tell you more when you show him GROUDON. Phew! There are so many connections between Pokémon and myths. See you around.



Exposition Hiker is my favourite anime character.

Pallet Town GB



Alright prof, what can you tell me about this ancient terra dinosaur that brings forth sun?



: The legendary Pokémon that appear in the Hoenn myth? You must be talking about KYOGRE and GROUDON! The Embedded Tower is probably the ruins that has something to do with the Hoenn myth. If so, the other one must be around. KYOGRE and GROUDON are said to have shaped the seas and lands! Where those two are, the other Pokémon is said to appear as well... All this is quite possible! It's not hard to imagine that the Blue Orb will make KYOGRE appear at the Embedded Tower.



: It may be difficult for you alone to accomplish this, Kotone. But if you manage to obtain a KYOGRE that came from the Embedded Tower, please do come and show me both legendary Pokémon! I will then share with you the rest of the Hoenn myth!



Well if you just OH SO HAPPEN to have a HG Kyogre, then you can continue this crazy sidequest. And obviously since I don't have any friends... that play this game, then I need to, uh, legitimately obtain one for myself. I'm glad I didn't have to catch it though, Aqua Ring is a pain in the ass to deal with.



Alright prof, what can you tell me about this ancient oceanic beluga that brings forth rain?



: You caught both KYOGRE and GROUDON! OK! I would like to entrust this to you!

"doesn't it?"

: It is called the Jade Orb. It has something to do with RAYQUAZA. Legend has it that the battle between GROUDON and KYOGRE shaped the lands and seas of Hoenn. Volcanic eruptions and giant waves are said to have completely changed the shape of the land there. But then RAYQUAZA came down to halt the battle. It is a Pokémon that rules the skies! If the Embedded Tower is related to KYOGRE and GROUDON, then going there with that Jade Orb will surely make something happen.



This is a neat idea, by why do I have to go between regions every time? Why can't Elm do this, he's been doing fuck all most of the game.

VS Rayquaza




Please tell me this is the last legendary we have to catch. I'm legend'd out.



The fuck is this special bullshit.



Well it's easy enough to manipulate, but be careful it doesn't knock itself out in confusion.



Stylin'

Pallet Town GB



Alright prof, what can you tell me about this ancient atmospheric serpent that brings forth ozone?



: Pokémon are sometimes greatly attracted by certain Orbs and Stones. No one knows why. Perhaps memories from ancient times... when this planet was born... and Pokémon, also... are making Pokémon behave that way. Show me your Pokédex again anytime!

Route 2 GB



There we go! That's everything we can do in HGSS! But of course, we still haven't completed the game... not really. There's just one last thing we need to complete before the LP is done. It will require some real bullshit, let me tell you.



This is something you won't even realise is in the game unless you get pretty lucky. We're just chilling here with Toto, it's just nice to talk to your Pokemon every now and then, yeah?



Nani?




The heck?



...let's talk about FUCKIN Shiny Leaves. Or better yet, let's have someone else tell us about them. ...someone I said wouldn't appear in this LP again. Whoops!

New Bark Town GB



: Don't forget to talk to... What's that? Your Pokémon is holding a leaf... Could that be a Shiny Leaf? Legend has it that only Pokémon that have formed a close bond with people can find such leaves... People used to turn the leaves into a beautiful crown when they managed to collect five of them. Wow! I knew you could obtain one, Kotone! Let me see it when you find another!



So Shiny Leaves are pretty annoying to find. If you're standing in grass and talk to your Pokemon there's a chance one of their interactions will be finding a Shiny Leaf, but ONLY if it's got the right nature for the route it's on. Since Toto is Gentle (comedy gold right there), it has a chance of finding Shiny Leaves in seven locations. What are those locations? Fuck knows, the game never tells you, so look them up. Oh look, here's a list. Aren't I nice?



There's no skill involved with finding them. Just keep talking to your Pokemon until it gives you one. Only your Pokemon needs to be on a grass tile anyway.



That's 2.




And yadda yadda, you get the idea.



: Ha! You have already collected five Shiny Leaves! Let me turn them into a crown! And what's more... I will give you this, too!



Okayyyyy, so what did that actually do?



Ah, it got us another star in our Trainer Card. Well since we're here, might as well get all five stars. Since Gen 3 you can earn stars on your card after completing certain tasks if you really want to finish the game. In Gen 3 there were only 4 stars to get, but in Gen 4 there's 5 stars. Then in Gen 5 they removed the stars, but kept the card changing colour. Then in Gen 6 they reduced the colour changes to 3 and then in Gen 7 they replaced it with 15 stamps instead.

...oh yeah, the Shiny Crown. What does it do? NOTHING! Despite what Ethan says, friendship does nothing to affect the chances of finding a Shiny Leaf. They're also only tracked in these games, data for them does not exist in Gen 5 (and DPP obviously, but a Pokemon will retain their leaves if traded, then traded back). It's just for the star on your card that you wouldn't even really obtain it by yourself cause how would you know??? Seriously???

Battle Tower GB



We've got 3 more tasks to do to complete our Trainer Card and they're pretty easy, honestly.



We need to go back to the Battle Tower and get a 100 win streak, so 14r2 runthroughs without losing. With this crazy fast team that I've tweaked to be smooth as silk, it'll be no problem.



We were only 1 battle away after the Frontier Brain from getting the Silver Trophy, so that's easy enough. But we need to do 50 more battles (okay 44, since you get trophies after you finish a streak, no matter what, or end a streak midway. Or lose. Lots of ways, really.).



Let's see what opponent 100 is like!



So good so far.




Oh man, we will make it?



Yeah. Since we dialled M for MONKEY. No wait, I mean MURDER.



And that's that.



What a pretty colour. The Trainer Star requirements have changed basically every game, though some of the basic ones have remained the same. The colours also change, DPP's card didn't have such lovely colours.

Pokeathlon Dome



Next up is the Pokeathlon, but there is a bit more to this.



: Top Pokéathletes are waiting for you. Would you like to try the challenge?

After beating the game and reaching the final golden room in the basement, you can participate in the Supreme Cup, where the AI is better, but you get more points if you win. People like Whitney and Jasmine appear as competitors if you choose the course they're in.



Anyway, let's use cheat codes to access the final room to get our next star. Since we're at the end of the game it doesn't matter what event flags the code activates, cause I've done everything anyway!



Alright, we've got one last star to obtain. Guess what it is.



Yep! You've gotta complete the Pokedex! Well, not the whole thing, you don't need to obtain all the event Pokemon, so Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin and Arceus. Everything else you need to obtain in one way or another. So how exactly do you do that? Well there's quite a few Pokemon you can pick up in this game, from swarms appearing over the radio, to headbutt trees, to Pokewalker courses, to the Safari Zone, to Hoenn and Sinnoh sounds on the radio. Or, well, you can just transfer them from Gen 3, or trade them from Gen 4. If you want. Seriously, there are only 42 Pokemon unobtainable in HGSS out of 493. That's pretty damn crazy.



It's not that hard though, I did it with little problems. Toooooooooootally legit.

Pallet Town GB



You know you want to tell me how great I am.



: Wow! That is a complete Johto Pokédex! Thanks to you, Kotone, the Johto Pokédex is complete! Wow... You've done an incredible job!

Hmm, not bad. But I crave more.



: Excellent! That is an amazing National Pokédex! Wow... You've lived up to my expectations wonderfully! No, you've exceeded them, Kotone. You've become an amazing Trainer! Thank you, Kotone! You never cease to amaze me! Your having completed the National Pokédex far exceeded my expectations!



Ah, the best reward I could ever get from these games.

"with me for a change?"

: You will? Good! Are you ready?



You can get Oak's picture for completing the National Pokedex. You can also get one to one pics with a load of other NPCs for finding them in the overworld on certain days and times (except Chuck, since we've got the Jade Orb now), but who cares about them?

Celadon City GB



Okay, let's get the ACTUAL rewards. You know 'em, you love 'em!

"Johto Pokédex!"

: Impressive! I'm amazed! I will reward you for that! Seriously!



Yessssssss, Diploma time!



: Congratulations! You must be the genius of the century! Seriously! Game Freak will give you an award and prove that it's the truth!



What's better than one Diploma? TWO



: Remember, the most precious thing of all was the time you've worked hard going everywhere to complete the Pokédex. I just said something deep! Seriously!



And there we go, we got all 5 stars on the Trainer Card. What did that get us? NOTHING!

New Bark Town GB



Yeah there's really no point in completing this game unless you like stroking your ego in front of random internet strangers. I dunno why I'm now at 3 for 3 for 100%ed Pokemon games. No one clicks on these LPs and wonders if I'm going to complete it completely, it's just not something you really... do. Even I didn't know the LP would end like this when I started it! But I guess I love the series so damn much that I would do something like this. And it was an absolute blast the whole way. Thank you so much for reading, I can't believe it's finally over, I hope you enjoyed, since that's the whole reason I do this! Now, for MY DREEEEEEAMS OF CON-QUEST let's play.