Part 39: Crystal Cave

Hello everyone and welcome back. Let's start off by exploring Amphitrite City, yeah?







attention.









Uh, thanks.







Delta Shuckle is Fighting/Steel type. Its abilities are Sturdy (No 1-hit KOs), No Guard (All attacks from and against this pokemon hit), and Iron Barbs (Hidden; Inflicts damage to the attacker on contact). It's actually pretty good! Why? Because it learns Power Trick, Gyro Ball, Counter, and Power Split. It's a nasty little armored tank for all the right reasons.

We're not using it because 1) we already used Shuckle and 2) we have Beeisel. But check it out if you're playing along!





Uh-huh...









Sounds like Jaern's cult of personality is crumbling around him.





We'll be heading there later this update.





If we can show this old man a Hoopa, he'll give us the item that unbinds it. I don't think it's possible to get one before the super late postgame.



You can catch a Noibat in the previous route's hidden grotto. Not really sure where it is, but there's a chance to get one regardless!



I love these NPCs.



Need. I need that.





a fan of it!

What's sad is there's people that legitimately believe this.







like that in the world!

If we find it, we'll bring it back. She'll give us a Magcargonite for our troubles. You know, the item that turns Magcargo into an absolute joke.

shows up once in a while.

them.



The Champion fight is one I've been dreading for the entire game. We'll get there soon enough I suppose!







I saw someone just like him.

Probably a coincidence. Multiple NPCs have remarked that 1/20th of Torren's population looks just like them. There's twins and doppelgangers everywhere!







This is for a Budew egg. Probably not a bad deal if you want a grass type for Calreath's gym.



Fuck yes!







Yuki has a hail team, which is fitting given her name.







to influence DNA and create life.





Hey, fuck you!





promise!





An No Ying, indeed.

Yes I know it's "annoying"

brought.



This is what I was talking about earlier!



He does? You mean like nearly every other gym leader in the region?









Awww. I wanna take on shouty man.



Anyway, let's do some preparing. Beeisel and Fancy would be a hindrance in the upcoming gym, so into the box they both go. NATHAN joins the team and for the last member...



A person named "Cross" has our last team member for Calreath's gym.



You can't catch Nincada except in friend safaris, and both Ninjask and Shedinja can only be found on Mt. Rose. Sure, I could have wandered out the east side of town to find one, but it would be level 68ish. This little guy I can mold how I like!





Husk has a single job, but it's a fun one all the same. We'll see just what it is in the next update.



I also forgot to show this off earlier, but we did get our second friend safari slot with the 6th badge. So let's see what we got!



Eh. Not a great find. Houndour is only available through friend safaris, but Houndoom could be obtained as far back as Route 8. It's still better than our first slot though, which was Purrloin if you don't remember.



You guys aren't going to believe this, but I actually forgot to take shots of the team after I finished leveling.









NATHAN's SpAtk potential is actually kinda low, but it won't be a problem. And it also really doesn't matter what Husk's stats or potential are.





Because I forgot to take the glam shots I normally do, here's their no frills equivalents.





If it seems like NATHAN is doubling down on electric moves, don't forget that Calreath is the rain gym leader. I'd be a fool to not abuse the shit out of Thunder! Also those are mega evolved stats.



Here's what they were from the previous level. So you can kinda extrapolate from there.





Gateau is turning Return into her workhorse move. 193 attack * 6/3 (two shell smashes) = 579 effective attack, plus another 50% STAB on a capped out Return (102 * 1.5 = 153 effective power) lets our little cake crab cripple the shit out of anything in her way.





Between Dracolich and NATHAN I'm legitimately unsure of who should keep their mega stone. Dracolich could set up an 8-turn new moon and then NATHAN could mega evolve and get several power boosts from it.





I love Magnolia, but she will be leaving the team after Calreath's gym. She just has too much crossover with Beeisel, and she doesn't have the Levitate ability to avoid 4x damage. With the Infernal finale looming ahead, being quadruple weak to fire is not a great place to be.





On the other hand, Centaurion remains one of the team's standouts. I never have much to say about him, but that's because he's great across the board. A few Bulk Ups and he can ruin things with item-less Acrobatics spam.



With the team caught up at level 75, let's head into the caves to meet Calreath's buddy.





No maps because the cave is very straightforward. There's only one path through the entire thing, minus item detours using Rock Climb.

blocked off by rocks deeper in.





It really is. There's colorful crystals all over.



all!





All the wild pokemon you find in here are crystal or gem-themed.



That's a Delta Ball. It's basically a Master Ball for Delta Pokemon specifically. You need Relic Song to get this one.



the crystals.







The path forward is blocked by some rocks, so we need to use Tesseract here.



The path forward cleared, but then a bunch of rocks appeared just beyond that.



Here's the clever thing about Tesseract. You don't have to be right next to the rip. You have to be near it.



Because of the rocks, there's no other trainers past this point.





How do you like rock pushing puzzles? Thankfully they're pretty easy to just bungle your way through.





Not pictured: every 6 steps I get into another wild battle. I really like this game, but the end bits are just so tedious. You either have to keep running from wild battles or bathing in Max Repels just to get through a cave. And it gets worse the farther in we get.



I'm really glad these rock puzzles were easy.





Nora's already here waiting for us.



"There's not much further"? Usually that's a qualifying statement, not a measurement of distance.



: Wait. You two. Kids. Are you the ones who I'm supposed to see? You know, back in my day, you had to be an adult to go on adventures.



Um...

: ...Nora, Amy. Those are your names, right?
: Who wants to know?
: You might want to be more careful, youngster. That answer was as good as a yes. You might know of me, but it doesn't particularly matter who I am. Plus, we've been... less than cautious in the past, and it didn't end well.



Holy shit the first somewhat reasonable person in the fucking region! Two preteen girls shouldn't have to be the ones who fix the cultist problem.

: But I trust Calreath. If he says you're ready, then... I won't say who I am.



: It'll help, trust me. I work with a very selective group of trainers to guard a very old secret. You see, you're not the only one who's opposed to these cults. When it comes to legendary pokemon, especially ones like Dialga and Palkia, reality becomes less... concrete.

supposed to happen.

: But not everything they do is accidental. One Pokemon sits above all others in the Hall of Origin. Arceus gathered some of the strongest trainers from all over the earth- and even from different times- to guard its most prized possession.



: A crystal... like the one the Augur has? Er, had?
: The one and only. It has unthinkable power. We faked our deaths. We couldn't guard the crystal 24/7 and still live publicly. We were to guard it while Arceus sleeps, so that no one person could ever hold such power.

Aroma Region to join them.

If you read between the lines, you'll realize that this is King Vesryn. You know, the founder of the Torren Region.







: We gave up everything to guard this crystal. Arceus gave us this task. Clearly, it was a big deal. ...and we failed.



: He was charming and convincing. The crystal could be used for good, he said. The cults had to go. It was for the best of Torren. ...but then he lost. And now the crystal is shattered. In the hands of humans.



: ...be way more dangerous than the cults should they get their hands on this crystal.



: Except for the creation Pokemon, the legendaries of this world were made to serve Arceus, and most remain loyal to it. The pixies in particular are its messengers. They weren't the ones who chose you, if you catch my drift.



: I won't ask any more of you. But I just wanted to impress upon you the importance of that crystal. It must be returned to this cavern. We're able to defend it.



Jaern we've beaten before, and I'm sure we can beat again if it came to that. Reukra and Malde on the other hand are mysteries.

: Beat the cults, by all means, but they can be defeated at any time.



: I digress. I didn't just call you down here for gloom and doom. Nora was wrong. Mew didn't join you to protect you, it stayed away so you would grow stronger in its absence. You had lost your memories, remember? You needed to redevelop your battling skills all over again.

I like the implication that Amy was already a badass battler before she got kidnapped by Darkrai Cultists.



: There's a visitor here for you. An old friend. Just across the lake, it's waiting for you.





Does this mean what I think it means?

















It was the first pokemon to ever join our party.



It protected us against wild pokemon while we fled the Darkrai Cult's base.



And now it is finally ready to join us.





This is a terrible nickname. Please submit new ones if you like! We just might wind up using this little fellow. With base 100 in every stat, it's good everything but master of nothing.



This looks important for later.



: That's fantastic. Now you have a powerful ally to fight with you.





: This should be your number one priority. But anyway, you should go now. I'm sure our friend is waiting to hear from-
: Wait, hold on. How can we trust you? How do we know everything you've said is true? We've... er... met a couple people who were not exactly honest with us. Cult members. No offense.



: You shouldn't take anyone at their word. Trust people, but verify. Good work. But I'll show you why you can trust me.



That's Victini.

: Time to go. Your next stop should be the Amphitrite Gym. Calreath's waiting for you. Watch out, he's no pushover.



: Amy... I'm not sure what to think about all this. Some shadowy organization chosen by Arceus? Seems pretty sketchy. But he had a Victini, and the pixies wouldn't choose a liar... right?

meet you afterwards.

Nora walks off, but stops...

: A gem with unlimited power... I wonder... Could it cure... Never mind.



Let's get the hell out of here.

NEXT TIME: Amphitrite Gym