Part 17: Sights of Lilycove City

Part 17: Sights of Lilycove City

Route 121



With our new team member, it's time to take her for a test drive and get her up to the rest of the team. When we get to the next Pokemon Center, we'll also give her the Protein I've been stockpiling.




Right, let's start clearing Route 121.





To counteract the strong Shuppet, Duskull is very defensive and slow, which is great when you need to stall something or take little damage but, uh, that's not what single player is for. Those attacking stats are miserable for actually fighting and it's made worse by its movepool, which are mostly support moves. Now that's great as a supportive backbone, but it also means your only attacking moves until you evolve are Astonish and Pursuit. Like wow that's bad. At least it doesn't have an expansive special movepool while being unable to it, as it only really has Ice Beam to abuse, while the rest is the usual physical stuff. Even when it evolves, it won't be packing that much of a (Shadow) punch, so I think it's best to skip, unless you fight your friends.



With Calbrena holding the Exp. Share, she'll be sucking up all the exp, which is just what I want.



I bought too much stuff at the LILYCOVE DEPT. STORE. It's up the road from here. I wish I had a BAG like yours.

MT. PYRE... there is a mysterious power at work there...




I took it easy on you this time! It won't be that way the next time! Maybe I'll go catch more POKEMON at the SAFARI.




Eh, we'll deal with that later. It makes more sense to head straight to Lilycove than Mt. Pyre. We've got enough distractions as it is!



While that cliffside had no hidden item, there's a Zinc just... sitting there. Not that I mind.



(KATE) Together, we're fearless! We'll demonstrate how tough we are!



(KATE) I blew it in front of my junior student partner... When someone's relying on me, I get this urge to look cool in front of them...



We'll visit the Safari Zone next update, since this one is packed enough as it is. We skipped one in Gen 2, but it'll be back in full force bullshit soon enough. We will however put Nimbus back in the PC to restore Dragonbreath PP, cause why not?




I could've fought these two Breeders individually, as they have 6 Pokemon each that's lowered to their first three when you fight them in a double battle... but then I'd miss a double battle and their Pokemon are weak and boring, so I don't care. We missed seeing Zigzagoon, Electrike and Numel from Myles and Marill, Sandshrew and Gulpin from Pat. I'm real beat up about that as you can tell.



They're great, your POKEMON! How do you raise them?

I raise every POKEMON with the same love and care--I don't pick favorites.




You might forget Pikachu is in the Hoenn Dex considering it appears so late and very few trainers use it.



I'm going to a CONTEST in LILYCOVE. My POKEMON should have no problem sweeping the MASTER CLASS.




Honestly, how could you level while Calbrena is stealing all your exp?



Your POKEMON prowess is remarkable. Allow me to register you as a memento. I would like to circle the globe once again with my POKEMON.



Neat, Calbrena needs that.



I think we're getting to the end here, but one last double battle stands in our way.

"Guess what? You're number five!"
"in CONTESTS."

The stakes have literally never been higher.



That's a nice addition. Will-o-Wisp has 15PP and 75% accuracy that burns the opponent. It's alright, but its hit rate is pretty frustrating when you need to Burn something NOW.





Pretty lights. Uh, Nuzleaf is best evolved at 31, otherwise Shiftry will never have Dark STAB, but if you don't wait until 49, you won't get Extrasensory, which is a super good attack because Shiftry's movepool is pretty awful. It does have nice mixed attacking stats so you can begrudgingly use Giga Drain and Faint Attack as its best STAB options and then go with Shadow Ball, Brick Break and Return as other options. No Earthquake though, that would make things too easy! Still, it has a really cool typing it can't use, it doesn't take hits too well and its movepool is rubbish, but hey, its at least perfectly usable. And that's the most you can really ask for... nearly 10 years into the series. Christ.



Okay Calbrena, I need you to calm down just a little bit. Ah, who am I kidding, everyone go crazy!



That was total humiliation! I won't forget you... hand over your POKENAV! I didn't expect to lose this easily... I'll win next time!

I may have to train my gang some more before entering any CONTEST.

Lilycove City



We've reached our destination. There's a lot to go over in this place, it's pretty big, so let's begin in the Pokemon Center. Also the music, goddamn.


Lilycove City/Minamo City: Where the land ends and the sea begins.
From the water plant lily and cove, and minamo (water algae/water's surface).[/i]



If you answer correctly, you can win fabulous prizes! Would you like to take the quiz challenge?



Seems simple enough. Though boo for saying machines aren't pretty.



Congratulations! You've got the quiz right! You've won a prize provided by Lady!



Finally, I can show off my skills as a quizmaster.

"answers your quiz correctly."

But beware, if the person taking the quiz can't get it right, I get to keep the prize!



I guess I could spare one of these.




What could possibly be the answer?



Three Pokemon Center ladies appear in Lilycove City only in Emerald and, like the old guys in Mauville, are determined by your ID number, only do something once and cannot be interacted with further until you mix records with another player. I'll go into more detail in the Side Notes. If you're interested in the prize, then it's simple, just meet me irl and mix records with me... on an emulator. If you can figure all that out, then you deserve that Rare Candy.



Ah finally, it's time to talk about Contests.

Contest Hall



Oh? It appears that you don't have a POKEBLOCK CASE yet. In that case, we need to provide you with this!



Hello! This is the reception counter for POKEMON CONTESTS. Would you like to enter your POKEMON in our CONTESTS?



We'll be going over the entirety of Contests in their own update, but they're a lot of fun and a nice little distraction from the main game. We can also finally make some Pokeblocks with the Berry Blending machines, as well as view past contest winners at the top there. We can also do a four way contest with friends, but I've never done that... don't make me mention having no Pokemon friends in my life again. I can't take the embarrassment!!!



Okay, dear! Let's get started! Let's BERRY BLENDER!




I hope you've been hoarding your berries as this is the best use for them, making Pokeblocks! It's an absolute necessity to create lots of good Pokeblocks to increase your Pokemon's sheen and succeed in contests. There is a lot to go over in the future and it's gonna be a blast!




It's best to blend with three other people, though you can make slightly different Pokeblocks depending on the number of players. The AI will match your type as best they can with alright rarity berries, but it's better to do it with friends. Again, don't have a choice!



I'm just glad this isn't Poffin stirring, just press A when the pointer gets to your side. Try and be as exact as possible, but it becomes much trickier as the device speeds up.



When you mistime your press, the machine will slow down and screw up your timing, so the AI is a bit frustrating to deal with in those cases.




When the bar on top fills up, that's your lot! You get graded on how precise you were, what your max speed was in rotations per minute and the total time. You then get the blended block, which has a lot more to it than you'd think. You can see your best records on a nearby board, but it doesn't really matter.

Lilycove City



The ferry S.S. Tidal is under construction in SLATEPORT CITY. Service is scheduled to begin shortly.



Got an item by this, uh, thing? What is this anyway?



Nearly every building in this city has something interesting to go over, which is always fun!



Huh?! Oh, sorry, sorry! I was snoozing! I came to check out this POKEMON CONTEST thing. I have to admit, it does look quite entertaining, but... Consider me a purist--I prefer battles and tough TRAINERS. But that's just me. YUKI, I hope you'll enjoy everything like the GYM, CONTESTS, BATTLE TENT, the whole works! I think it does take strategy to win a CONTEST. Devising CONTEST strategies is one way of becoming a better TRAINER, I'd say.



The Fan Club doesn't have anything for us just yet, but it's super important.



Overflowing with great merchandise and excitement! A great place to find that something you need!

Looks like the Department Store has a little something before we can go in.

May Encounter



Of course, I've also caught a lot of POKEMON, and I'm raising them properly, too. Actually, I'm more worried if you're raising POKEMON properly, YUKI. I'll battle with you, so you can show me your POKEMON, YUKI. The POKEMON I raised won't be beaten by your POKEMON, YUKI!

Rival Battle





Brendan/Yūki or May/Haruka: Rad Neighbor
From brave, and yūki (bravery). From May, a spring month that references haruka (spring flower).









If the various artwork and team overviews didn't tip you off, this is indeed the final Brendan/May fight in the game. Look at these Pokemon, their levels, their movesets, their unevolved forms. LOOK AT THEM. It's pretty pathetic and really sours me on the rival in this game. Thankfully ORAS gave them another battle after the Champion, their battle music is the one of the best in the series, and May becomes the cutest character ever, so all is forgiven, I guess. I understand why they did it, since we'll have a better rival fight later on, but it sucks that you never see your rival's starter go all the way.



Their starter is now a far cry from the monster it could possibly be by the third fight. Would it have killed them to boost everything by a couple levels? Oh well, we'll have all the starters evolved soon anyway.



Being overleveled doesn't help make my case, but I'll be using Calbrena for most of this fight anyway, so I'm not even gonna bother putting it into a video. Oh well.



Look at this Magcargo-lacking motherfucker. Disappointed!



And you thought Blue's final fight in Gen 1 had bad movesets...



And then there's THIS asshole.




But since every Pelipper ever go for Protect on the first turn, it makes it super easy to beat. Yup, our newest team member soloed three of our rival's final Pokemon. She was a bit fragile to take on Grovyle, though.



I remember the battle I had with you, YUKI, on ROUTE 103. That battle helped you becomes this strong, YUKI, didn't it?

May Encounter



I've caught a decent group of POKEMON, and my POKEDEX is coming along, so I'm going home to show my dad. YUKI, what are you going to do? Collect all the GYM BADGES and take the POKEMON LEAGUE challenge? Well, while you're collecting BADGES, YUKI, I'm going to work on my POKEDEX. I'll complete it before you! See you!



Farewell rival of missed potential. It was nice having a supportive rival for a change, but like always, their team just doesn't match up.

Lilycove Department Store



Drat. You can get various prizes depending on how many ID digits match in reverse order. You can get a PP Up, an Exp Share, a Max Revive and a Master Ball for 2, 3, 4 and 5 matches. Nothing too crazy, aside from the Master Ball, but I only ever need the one.




You want nearly every item ever? Well here you go. Very nice time to stock up on all the good stuff.



Third floor has all the various drugs you'd expect. Whatever.



Some nice TMs, but the usual selection you'd expect at the Department Store. We've got TM17 Protect, TM20 Safeguard, TM33 Reflect, TM16 Light Screen, TM38 Fire Blast, TM25 Thunder, TM14 Blizzard and TM15 Hyper Beam.



We need our dragon to breathe fire!






Ah, here's where a ton of the Secret Base items are. We should get ourselves one of those, one of these days.



I think about how nice it would be if there were more than just one me so I could enjoy all sorts of lives. Of course it's possible. Giggle... I know! Would you be interested in having a POKEMON learn SUBSTITUTE?



I hope you'll get that way, too!



Is... this the first vending machine we've found in the game? I don't remember. Anyway, the rooftop will occasionally have a sale and sell rare Secret Base items you can't get anywhere else. Here's the list, since I dunno if we'll actually see the sale. And there we go, that's every Secret Base item we can obtain in one way or another, bar two, at least. This doesn't include most postgame items, since they're Emerald only and are a pain to obtain.



Art, motherfuckers!

Lilycove Museum



Hmm, yes, exquisite.



Ah, mmm, quite.



Have you viewed our collection of paintings already? Oh? I do believe that you seem to be a POKEMON TRAINER. Have you an interest in paintings, too? Ah, excellent! You do like paintings! Then, may I ask you to come with me?



Here, I don't wish to exhibit works of so-called classical art. Such classical works you can see on our ground floor. I wish to exhibit work that is far different from the classics. Art, after all, is not restricted to old, famous works! This exhibit hall, I wish to fill it woth... modern and vibrant artworks of POKEMON seemingly ready to spring forth into glorious life!



You must encounter lively POKEMON and works of art depicting them. If you were to come across such a painting, may we ask you to obtain the artist's permission to exhibit it here? I wish to fill this exhibit hall with modern and vibrant paintings of POKEMON.



Where on Pokearth could we find some cool paintings? I hope I can fill this exhibit, I've never done it before.

Lilycove City




Much better, we couldn't ignore the Move Deleter! We'll be shuffling a few HMs around here and there, movesets permitting, of course.



And you, a BERRY suits you to a "T"... why should that be so?



It's because you're a TRAINER!

Well that was lucky, we can get the first 11 berries from this guy and he gave us the one we needed and one that's pretty rare!




Neat.



Hunh? What do you want? You're messing up our training, so can you, like, get lost?



Hmm, a fair few pirates around. Well, it's probably none of my business.



I think we're a bit late in for a Pokeball to be hidden.



We're now done with Lilycove for the moment, but might as well drug up our party. We need Fire Blast to be usable, after all. Also, what the hey, let's evolve some more Pokemon, found in the usual location.

Trick House



Let's round off the update with the next Trick House challenge, since we got a new badge and all. While I would do these asap, this one doesn't have any trainers, so catching Calbrena first was more important.



IF YOU ANSWER QUIZZES CORRECTLY, THEN YOU WILL GO TO MECHADOLL 5. THEN YOU CAN OBTAIN THE SECRET CODE.



How good is your trivia? Think you can answer these questions on your first go? Hard mode: answer every question these dolls have.
A

ONE OF THESE POKEMON IS NOT FOUND ON ROUTE 110. WHICH ONE IS IT? ODDISH/POOCHYENA/TAILLOW
C

ONE OF THESE POKEMON IS NOT OF THE WATER TYPE. WHICH ONE IS IT? AZURILL/LOTAD/WINGULL
A



Still not too bad, but it spikes from here.
A

WHICH OF THESE POKEMON DID WALLY BORROW FROM YOUR FATHER? RALTS/ZIGZAGOON/SLAKOTH
B

WHICH OF THESE POKEMON WAS CHASING PROF. BIRCH? POOCHYENA/SHROOMISH/ZIGZAGOON
C



Alright now these can be tricky if you don't remember prices, or fudge your maths. One mark for the right answer, one more if you show your working.
Repel is $350 and a Soda Pop is $300, so $650, while Super Potions are $700, so B.

WHICH COSTS MORE? THREE HABOR MAILS OR ONE BURN HEAL? BURN HEAL/HARBOR MAIL/SAME PRICE
Harbor Mail is $50, so $150 for 3, while Burn Heal is $250, so A.

SELL ONE GREAT BALL AND BUY ONE POTION. HOW MUCH MONEY REMAINS? $60/$55/NOTHING
Great Balls are $600, so sell for $300, while a Potion is $300, so C.



Now this is where it gets bullshit. If you can remember this stuff, well done you weirdo, but I'm always bad at these. Still, one mark for the correct answer, one more mark for counting every category correctly.
Seashore House had 2 male trainers and the Soda Pop seller, so 3, and one female trainer, so A.

IN LAVARIDGE TOWN, WERE THERE MORE ELDERLY MEN OR ELDERLY WOMEN? ELDERLY MEN/ELDERLY LADIES/SAME NUMBER
There are 6 elderly men, compared to 5 elderly women, so A

IN THE TRAINER'S SCOOL, HOW MANY GIRL STUDENTS WERE THERE? NONE/ONE/TWO
B



Phew, once you have the scroll, you don't need to come back to it if you fail. Now for the final Mechadoll.



Like the 4th, this is just a trivia question. Due to this doll's positioning, you can tackle it 3rd to see if you've got a bad question or not. You did them in order in RS and they didn't change the 1st's dialogue to follow this.
B

IN FORTREE CITY, HOW MANY TREE HOUSES WERE THERE? 6/7/8
A

ON CYCLING ROAD, HOW MANY TRIATHLETES WERE THERE? 6/7/8
C



There we go, how did you do? I'm not a fan of this puzzle, since I usually get 3-5 wrong at least once.



Eh, we'll take it. At least the remaining puzzles are more enjoyable.



Next time, we'll be hea-



And next time, we've got the Safari Zone and Mt. Pyre to go to. Oh joy.