Part 29: Victory Times the Charm

Part 26: Victory Times the Charm

Ever Grande City



It's time for our final destination: the Pokemon League. Let's see what the city it's in has for us.


Ever Grande City/Saiyū City: The paradise of flowers, the sea, and Pokemon.
That name is a bit obvious, and from saiyū (best) and sai colour.



As you can see, this "city" only has two buildings. There's a reason you don't call it a city and instead a plateau, or something. At least they rectify this in future games by just calling this area the Pokemon League. And hey, this is the first area in the series that has two Fly points. Woaaaaaaaah!



YUKI, if you were to become the POKEMON LEAGUE CHAMPION... I'll get in touch with you then. Okay, YUKI. Go for greatness!



Before we can even think about the Pokemon League, we've got Victory Road to go through. Don't think that empty cave in Gen 2 was a one off, Victory Roads are some of my favourite dungeons in the franchise. Before we enter, though, we've got the last mass evolution before the end of the game! Here.

Hoenn Victory Road



Mmm that's a real good track. This dungeon is pretty sprawling, has a lot of trainers in it and a fair few side paths, I really like it!



But first...

WALLY?



I bet you're surprised to see me here! I made it all the way here, and it's all thanks to you! YUKI, losing to you that time made me stronger! But I'm not going to lose anymore! I'm going to win! For the POKEMON who gave me courage and strength! Okay... here I come!








So this is why the rival disappears after Lilycove, because Wally is our true rival and we fight him immediately upon entering Victory Road, as opposed to right at the end like in RS. I appreciate that. You might think that this would go into a video, but, uh, because we've fought every trainer in the game up until this point, the battle is pretty quick and I didn't really feel the need.



So I'm gonna act like Wally is just another trainer that I'll get exp from. I mean, have you seen his team? It's got a slight Silver problem.




By which I mean it's a bit shit. But hey, that applies to every trainer ever before Gen 4 fixes stuff and makes things difficult for once.



Like, I'm really happy that Wally is here. But c'mon man, there's a lot of different Pokemon you could've used.




It's at least able to survive one more Dragon Claw.



What you gonna pull from this?



Well wasn't that cool.



Okay, onto the actual dangerous member of his team.




It would be a lot more dangerous if it used its STAB move instead of Future Sight which, well, doesn't get STAB.




Overall, Wally is pretty cool, but he's got a better showing in the remakes, like everyone else.

Hoenn Victory Road

"catch up to you!"

Every time we defeat the Elite Four we'll be able to rematch Wally, though only the levels of his team change, which is always a shame when that happens. Looking at you Platinum's Elite Four.



Let's get back onto the road.




There's a lot of Cooltrainers in this place and they've got some sweet Pokemon we haven't seen before. And Full Restores. Can't forget those.



I lost here... that means I lack the qualifications to become the CHAMPION...



The tricky part of this place is figuring out which way is the way forward... and then going down every other path to get sweet loot.



Neat




You seem to have potential for becoming the CHAMPION.



Oh shit it's time for Flash. It has been a WHILE since we last needed it in Granite Cave. Sure we needed it to get Registeel, but that was Emerald only, while needing it in the Cave of Origin was RS only.



I hope you have two shitty HM moves on your endgame team, else you're screwed.



There's two paths to go, so we'll head on the upper one first.

"POKEMON."


Yay!



Aww...



There is a lot of bridges in this place.



There aren't too many items in this place, but what there is is good.



The top path lets you hop down to the end of the bottom path, so hey here's a trainer.




The POKEMON LEAGUE became distant again... what a letdown...



Oh good, another floor of darkness. It makes my SSLP much easier to follow like this, totally...



I'm moving to make that no longer the case.




Gaze on your collected BADGES and remember the TRAINERS you've faced.



Here's two more HMs to add to the pile. However, you don't need Waterfall, since there's another path to the right that lets us skip it.



Let's see what we've got.



That's a cool move. No one on our team aside from Calbrena can learn it, so sure, it's better than Faint Attack.




There's a couple new Pokemon to obtain in this place, including our final version exclusive. Now I don't have to bother with them anymore.




The rumors I heard, that tough little kid is from PETALBURG CITY.



You might have noticed at quite a few times the dialogue remains unchanged from RS, which, uh, doesn't make sense in some cases.




Oh hey a double battle. I thought we might go one update without seeing one. That would be crazy.



I can't help getting all tense knowing that I'm nearing the POKEMON LEAGUE. It's all I can do is feign calm.

You do have guts! I like that! Keep it going!



Bridges!!!



No signs of tiring at all! VICTORY ROAD and the POKEMON LEAGUE are long and gruelling challenges. Beware of fatigue!



Here we are on top of the waterfalls, since we don't need the HM to go down them.

"I'm not losing to anyone!"


A whole family of battlers? Hmm. I've faced so many trainers in this game that they just blur together, so I'm not sure what he means.



I love Wargreymon so much.



I've lost my confidence... maybe I'll go home...



If I did battle the family, I probably destroyed them and crushed their dreams like the uncaring monster I am.



There's a ladder here.



But there's also another ladder here.




Hahah! Oh wait, Hi Jump Kick recoil is only half the damage the move would've done had it hit. Never mind then...



Well, they are running out of PP, but this is the only time in the games when I ever bother with PP restoring items.



Sigh... always run into double battle encounters, since one trainer will always turn in the frame you walk towards them.




Even outside of battle, I sense incredible power emanating from you and your POKEMON.



Whoa! Wonderful! Sure, this is VICTORY ROAD. But it's not all that different from the path you've taken so far. Try to enjoy things the rest of the way!

So the other ladder by the waterfall has us end up here. So what was the point of it? Does it let you skip some trainers? Well, yes, but in RS, the bottom ladder was blocked by a ledge so you had to go up the top ladder first and then hop down. I don't get it either, so I'm glad they changed it.



Ah finally, full images again.



My dream ends here again... You've made it this far. Keep the momentum going and become the CHAMPION! If anyone can, it's you!






So this mummy might not hit hard, but boy can it tank. I would say that more confidently without its godawful HP stat, but its higher defenses try and make up for the difference. With only Ghost to worry about when it comes to supereffective damage, Dusclops has all the tools it needs to tank for a while. A-Aside from Eviolite, but whatever. With Night Shade, Will-o-wisp, Toxic and even Curse, since you could survive a hit even at half health, makes it very difficult to deal with. Its typing does mean it takes a lot of neutral damage, but when given the chance, it can wall a fair amount of damage and slowly whittle down foes. Its offenses aren't great, despite a wide movepool, so while it could smack things around a bit, it's obviously not where its strengths like. But it can only really focus on one defensive side, making it easy pray for the other, especially with its HP letting it down. It'll get some better tools later down the line.



Begone.



Getting through here safely--that's the final test for any TRAINER aiming to become the POKEMON CHAMPION. That's why it's called VICTORY ROAD.

Humph, go right on ahead. See if I care.

Ever Grande City



A bit tough, but we've made it.



It'll soon be time for the Elite Four.



We've got the entire region to stock up on, so better make use of it.

"are permitted to enter."


And we'll be heading into the depths... next time.



Let's have our final team check! Nobunaga has been excellent, very dependable with a great typing and contributed to all kinds of stuff this entire game. While he got a bit saddled with HMs towards the end, just having Earthquake and Surf was enough, so he's a great mon to use. Such a good typing.



Ranmaru has been pretty one note since we caught him, but damn has that note been good. He's just been wrecking fools left, right and center, even if he can't touch the Baltoy family. Good utility in Calm Mind and Flash for the more trickier fights and then just nuking anything that doesn't resist Psychic. It's all I needed him to do.



While Wargreymon has spent most of this LP unevolved, as a physical tank and heavy hitter, he can't be beat. Sure, his moveset is inaccurate to the point that Rock Tomb might be my least favourite move ever, but when he hit, OH BABY. Being able to take 11 damage from Explosion is also hilarious, as well as being a great HM user.



Nimbus doesn't dish out a lot of damage, but she's very dependable, able to take a few hits and often strike first with her great Speed. It's also just nice being able to use a Dragon for once, along with some cool move options. Sing was weirdly accurate all game, so she was a perfect catcher. Jeremiah and Ikue would be proud.



I hope Calbrena knows how much I love her, cause she's able to hit super hard in ways Wargreymon and Nobunaga aren't able to. Curse is super clutch and making excellent use of physical Shadow Ball is just a treat. Hell, she's able to hit pretty hard with her special coverage move, which is pretty nice. My Mega Banette plush is pleased.



While Cold Gregg hasn't been with us long, she's been a great jack of all trades, which works quite nicely in single player. Having a great starting movepool definitely helped and being able to deal lots of damage on all sides makes her super useful, even when all she can do is go boom. And I love going boom.