Pokemon Emerald Part #12 - Hot Battles With Desert

Part 12: Hot Battles With Desert

Part 12: Hot Battles with Desert

Can you feel the heat? Shall we explore Lavaridge Town?

Actually, let's head back up to Mt. Chimney instead.

Mt. Chimney

"I'm sure I'm going to win!"

When you reach Lavaridge, trainers appear on the volcano and we definitely want to fight them. Might as well get all the exp we can. These extra trainers don't appear in ORAS because it requires effort, making me very confused the first time I played that game.

I'll have to take another dip in the hot springs. Want to join me? Just joking!

"I only do a little sightseeing..."

I want to get in some battles and buy COOKIES as souvenirs.

"Right now I'm feeling strong!"

Even old people can't escape their pets getting beat up.

Thank you, child. It was fun, as if I were battling my own grandchild. Please, come see me again for a rematch. Well, well, I've lost. I can't call myself an EXPERT now, can I?

Ooh, that was a scorching-hot match! The heat of MT. CHIMNEY warms me up, baby!

Oh, you're a real firebrand, too! I like little fireballs like you. Let me register you in my POKENAV. I think I need a dip in LAVARIDGE HOT SPRING with the locals!

Right, where were we?

Lavaridge Town

Lavaridge Town: POKEMON CENTER HOT SPRINGS An excellent place for relaxing!
Fuen Town: Pokésen, onsen, an excellent place.
From lava and ridge, a usual land formation created by volcanoes, and fu (cauldron) and en (hot or flame).

Holy shit I can buy Revives, it's a miracle.

But that doesn't seem to be enough... I've heard it would be best if it were kept together with POKEMON and carried about. You are a TRAINER, yes? And your POKEMON radiate vitality. So what say you? Will you take this EGG to hatch? Good! I hope you'll walk plenty with this here EGG!

Or at least that's how the rumor goes.

How cold. How hot. Surely this is the town of contrasts. It won't take too long to hatch the Egg, though I'll be keeping Slugma in the box for now since I, uh, kinda forgot. Oh well.

Herbal medicine is pretty nifty. Well, Revival Herbs are amazing endgame items that we'll get at that point, but right now they're way too expensive.

That's rather commendable. I like you! Take this!

It also does wonders when held by a POKEMON. It intensifies the power of FIRE-type moves.

Usually I'd sell the Charcoal for mad cash, but there's only the one and money's not that tight in this game, so I don't need to this time.

"folks of this town."

What do you say, young one? Would you agree to it if I were to offer to teach the move MIMIC? Fwofwo! And so I shall! Let me see the POKEMON you wish me to teach.

Could you execute it to perfection as well as me...?

There are good tutor moves in this game, I promise. There's just a lot of crap before that first. That's it for the town, so it's Gym time!

Pokemon Gym

Her passion for POKEMON burns stronger and hotter than a volcano. Don't get too close to her--you'll burn! Hose her down with water and then go for it!

Like most Gyms, the layout has slightly changed so there's a lot more holes to fall through.

Where holes don't match up is where trainers lurk!

...don't even think about trying it!

That's a dead end, so let's head this way.

Two is the sand is worth a Taillow in the bush. Am I getting that right?

I stay here because I became a fan of FLANNERY's power. Hehehehe.

The way the battling spirit burns within you, you may stand a chance against our LEADER.

What's this way?

A dead end.

Neat.

I have been bamboozled.

As a standard Normal type, Kecleon ain't that bad, it's got good Attack, weirdly good Sp.Def, but really cannot take physical hits. And it will, because it's super slow. It will eventually get Slash, but its moves before then are pretty rubbish, especially when it gets Faint Attack and Psybeam, which is better than those who would get STAB from that. It also has a vast TM movepool, which is always nice, and can learn Ancientpower through level up, which is also weird. Just give it the best physical attacks and go from there, it'll be alright.

Now Color Change makes Kecleon even more interesting, changing its type to whatever attack it last took. Compared to Protean, it's garbage since it's not dependable in the slightest, but can give you some STAB, or resistances if you're lucky. This does make it tricky to use your Normal moves, but could give your weak special moves some kick to them if you happen to become that type. Again, don't rely on it, it's just frustrating more than anything.

The temperature of magma is 392 degrees. Your POKEMON beat me, so they should easily survive in magma.

Being buried in hot sand promotes circulation. It's effective for healing pain in your joints.

It's always weird just fighting one trainer after a couple of double battles. Like I'm just missing something...

If you spend too much time buried in hot sand, it tuckers you out...

"wouldn't you?"

But you should know that maintaining your willpower is an important ability for all TRAINERS.

Your skill is real... but our LEADER FLANNERY is strong. If you don't watch yourself, you'll be burned seriously.

Man there's a lot of trainers around.

Like seriously every room there's something. However, we're actually done.

Now there's 3 holes to choose from, but only one actually leads to the leader. So which one?

It's this one, let's go!

I have been entrusted with the... no, wait. I am FLANNERY, and I'm the GYM LEADER here! Uh... dare not underestimate me, though I have been LEADER only a short time! With skills inherited from my grandfather, I shall, uh... demonstrate the hot moves we have honed on this land!

VS Gym Leader

VS Leader Flannery

Flannery/Asuna: One with a fiery passion that burns!
From, uh, flame. Thanks, Bulbapedia. As well as asunaro (Thujopsis, a conifer), suna (sand) and sunayu (sand bath).

With Secret Power, Nimbus has this no problem. Though a sun boosted Overheat would probably annihilate me. Thankfully it's not going for it!

Bit annoying, but Flannery is a bit dangerous, so I'm glad she's using this early.

Let's keep it going Wargreymon.

Wait isn't the sun still up?

Shit. Wouldn't have this problem in RS where the second Slugma had Flamethrower. Overheat has 140BP, 5PP and 90% accuracy and lowers the user's Special Attack by two stages. It also made contact in this gen for... some reason. It's a pretty damn good nuke, but the stat drop is pretty nasty if you don't switch out.

My physical attacks laugh at your screen. But please don't roast me, even at -2 it would really hurt.

Like the last Gym, Nobunaga could tear through this easily because the Water starters are just too good, so it'll just deal with Camerupt, who's pretty nasty, and just be on its way.

Alright, now for the ace Pokemon.

We're gonna need some setup here.

Because of that. Without the Sp.Def boost, or the lack of sun, we would've been annihilated. But at least it's a lot weaker now, right?

The White Herb will revert one stat drop in battle, so it gets a second big nuke to work with. If you have to sacrifice a few Pokemon to lower this thing's stats, you should, since you just got Revives and eventually Overheat will do super weak damage.

This helps a lot, but barring a crit we'll be able to survive all the Overheats in the world right now.

Ah. Shit. This could be a pretty big problem. And no flute to cure it.

Alright, this might be risky, but if we break through one more time, we win.

Ranmaru is super good.

I tried too hard to be someone I'm not. I have to do things my natural way. If I don't, my POKEMON will be confused. Thanks for teaching me that. For that, you deserve this.

"trades from other people, will obey you completely."

And, it lets POKEMON use the HM move STRENGTH outside of battle. This is a token of my appreciation. Don't be shy about taking it!

That move inflicts serious damage on the opponent. But it also sharply cuts the SP.ATK of the POKEMON using it. It might not be suitable for longer battles. Your power reminds me of someone... Oh! I know! You battle like NORMAN, the GYM LEADER of PETALBURG.

Man, are we halfway through the Gyms already? Seems a little nuts.

May Encounter

Oh? While I visited the hot springs, you got the LAVARIDGE GYM BADGE. You must have collected good POKEMON... no, I believe you raised some. I guess it would be okay for you to have this.

"desert near ROUTE 111."

But, wow, YUKI... challenging GYMS... You're trying hard because you don't want to lose to me, I bet! YUKI, I think I should challenge your dad in PETALBURG GYM. See you again!

I guess we're heading to Petalburg next, but there's a few things we can do before then. Don't wanna do two Gyms in one update!

Fiery Path

Now that we can learn Strength there's, well, only one new area we can explore. But hey, it's something.

Neat. Could be a good move for later to get past some really bulky stuff, but we'll leave it for now.

Some real tough puzzles there. What's our reward?

Ooh very nice. Only one Pokemon in the Hoenn Dex requires a Fire Stone, so it'll be very helpful.

Why yes, that is a 2% encounter. How lucky for me. I wonder if I'll find anything rarer in this LP?

We'll also stop off at Mauville to swap bikes before we head to the desert. Won't be needing the Acro Bike for a little while.

Route 111 Desert

Mmm yeah that's the good stuff. However, there's something missing here, so let's go back to Route 112 for the moment.

There we go. When you enter Route 111, there's a random chance the Mirage Tower will spawn. I think it's 50/50, but I dunno really. I wish the other Mirage area in this game was like that...

Mirage Tower

Here's what we need the Mach Bike for, to get over these cracks. However, before we do that...

Might as well get the Pokemon in here since they're more common than in the desert.

Okay, now I can put the repels on.

Oh yeah, you'll also need Rock Smash. This is why I just put HMs on my team, it's just less hassle.

At the top we have a choice of two fossils, but can only pick the one. Hmm, which one?

Sure, why not.

Rip. Now let's explore the desert.

Route 111 Desert

You can always find a TRAINER, so I can enjoy a battle here, too!

As you'd expect, every battle takes place under endless Sandstorm, as well as a fair few trainers using the Sand Veil having Sandshrew line. It's not annoying in the slightest, honest!

When you're battling in the sandstorm, watch out for your POKEMON's HP. It can faint if you don't keep an eye on it!

"Right now, nobody can beat me!"

Oh hey Nimbus has nearly caught up with the team. Knew it would happen eventually.

I'm going to be a real hero one day. I'm going to work harder and make me and my POKEMON stronger.

Shall we catch some of the Pokemon around here?

No? Okay, let's fight another trainer first.

The GO-GOGGLES make it possible to get through sandstorms. That makes me happy!

There we go. That area is where you would find the fossils in RS and where you find them in the remakes. Guess Mirage Tower was just too complicated to program into the 3DS.

I came up short... If they can find fossils in the desert, it must have been a sea before.

The power of rocks.

"I am to be challenged?"

As if Sand Veil Sandshrew wasn't bad enough...

But, for some reason, I sure do like POKENAVS. For thirty years I have searched for ancient ruins! No, wait, was that forty years? Which was it now?

Oh! Your strength! It is shrouded in mystery! This desert hoards mysteries in its shifting sands!

Tch! I thought a sandwich would be enough of a bribe... My SANDSHREW loves eating my sandwiches.

I also have no idea why there are so many people coming here for a picnic. Is that what you do in deserts?

In a sandstorm like this, I can't set the places for a picnic even with my GO-GOGGLES on...

Guess GF forgot to make a cave at the end here, damn that time crunch. Well anyway, we're all done with the desert for now, but there is one thing missing...

Oh hey there, that's some high attack stats at the cost of literally anything else. Well at least it'll have the movepool to... oh, Absorb and Pin Missile until level 29. Well shit. Okay, it'll get Faint Attack, which is great for its upcoming evolution, but like all Grass types, it gets shit for moves until you give it Giga Drain or it eventually learns Needle Arm super late. It has a pretty damn shallow movepool that doesn't learn all that many TMs, but at least you'll have Focus Punch and Return, I guess. However, special coverage is dire, aside from STAB. Even then, nothing's higher than 60BP. Good typing, but bad moves to go with it.

I don't think I've gone over Sand Veil, I don't keep track of this stuff. Okay, so, during a sandstorm, it reduces the enemy's accuracy of attacks by 4/5 and the user takes no damage from Sandstorm, which admittedly only covers the Cacnea line right now. It also reduces the encounter rate in sandstorm areas by 50% when first.

Fallabor Town

There's a few things to do before going back to Petalburg and we'll be going the long way to Rustboro for one reason.

That METEORITE from METEOR FALLS... it's never going to be mine now... Oh! Hah? That item... could it be? Is it the METEORITE that TEAM MAGMA took from METEOR FALLS? Please, may I have it? I'm not asking for it for free. How about in exchange for this TM?

"Please use it!"

Oh, I can't believe it. This is really, really great! This is really going to help my research!

Good shit. The Return TM is a great Normal move for the myriad of physical Pokemon that get shit for coverage because GF is bad at video games. I could give it to Nimbus, but her happiness ain't that high, so Secret Power does more damage still. Also she won't need it.

Rustboro City

I can with my newly developed FOSSIL REGENERATOR. Excellent! Let's do this right away.

But it has one drawback--it takes a long time to work. So, uh... how about you go for a stroll and look around for a while?

You're gonna make me walk outside then back in? Bah, I say, bah!

The fossil was an ancient POKEMON. LILEEP, it was!

So you might see a theme of Grass types being fine, but having weak move options, or Rock types having very little to work with due to insidious designers, so what happens when you combine them? Well guess what, it's shit... to level up. Lileep doesn't even get STAB until level 48 and even then it's Ancientpower, so it will absolutely need the Grass TMs, otherwise it cannot use its mediocre Sp.Atk at all. It can learn Sludge Bomb and Earthquake, sure, but c'mon, don't you wanna use its higher stat? Well it doesn't matter when it evolves, thankfully, with equal attacking stats, and it has a great typing to cover its weaknesses, as well as good defenses. It won't do a lot of damage, but it will be a real pain to take down.

Suction Cups prevents the user from being forced out, making Cradily very good at sticking around without having to set up. This doesn't effect it being switched out, or from fleeing with its own attacks. It also makes fishing bites occur more often, which is useful even if I forget to make use of it.

Rock and Bug, another terrible combination for level up movepools. It doesn't even learn Silver Wind, the, heh, BEST Bug move, only getting Fury Cutter. At least it'll learn Ancientpower before it evolves, but you'll have to deal with Water Gun and Metal Claw until then. It has great Attack, so Rock Tomb, Brick Break, Aerial Ace, Return, they're all good options, as well as Earthquake and Iron Tail later on, but boy getting past that otherwise is a tough one. Again, a fine type combination covering its weaknesses and its high Defense means it'll stick around, but these two fossils are really TMs or bust. And no Rock Slide until the end game, or breeding. Hilarious.

Battle Armor protects the user from critical hits. Yeah, it's alright.

Route 104