Part 5: An Eternaty

Part 5: An Eternaty

Windworks Takeover!



Hey it's a fight Pop can deal with no problem. These grunts are good training.




I can't believe Team Galactic are trying to collect Joltik en mass!



You don't have an inkling of what Team Galactic is trying to achieve! Of course, they don't tell a grunt like me anything, either... but still!



They're gonna take away my Pokemon for messing this one up... humph! Just you wait! Our Commander will smoosh you!

Bit early for a Commander, must mean they're not that tough!



My name is Mars! We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one... but people have shown little understanding about what we do. You don't understand either, do you? It's a little saddening... so, let's have a battle to decide what we should do next. If I win, you leave. If you win, we, Team Galactic will leave!

Galactic Commander Battle




Ah dammit since this Zubat has an actual attacking move, Pop won't win the damage race.



We don't have time for this nonsense, so onto the main event!





Look at the evolution level, I feel like we're encountering this thing a bit too early, yeah? Well, I think it's a cool way of making a boss fight, even if they're fudging the rules a bit. Obviously, Purugly has some real mean stats for this early, it'll outspeed absolutely everything you have and while its strongest attack is Scratch, it still deals a nice chunk. Regardless, it's somewhat flimsy with most of its points going to Speed, but with Return and a whole host of TMs, it'll do anything you really fancy, so it's a nice reward for sticking with a cat for so long.



So what's my strategy against this thing? Use my most defensive member and hope for Razor Leaf crits. Uh, that's it, I don't have much right now, and that's the main problem with this fight, it's pretty nasty this early. Still, Monferno rips this thing apart and Prinplup just got Pluck, so you should be fine.




With a couple of Super Potions, we'll be just fine. We'll definitely need this move too.



That's all right, though. I quite enjoyed our battle.

My, my. Lose to a child, will you? But, no matter. We've collected plenty of electricity. With the power we obtained, we can do something quite spectacular. It seems quite obvious to me, Charon, the genius even the boss recognizes. Now, Mars, we should be going.

Will you shut it! The boss is the only person in the world who's allowed to order me around! You can keep quiet around me! You only joined us recently. Don't think you're important! I guess it's time to say good-bye and leave for the time being!

Valley Windworks



It was for creating a new universe, or so they claimed. Nothing they said made any sort of sense to me. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you saving me. I can finally see my little daughter again!



Yuck! Papa, you're stinky! Go shower now, stinky!

Oh, sorry! Ahaha! They had me working nonstop!

Thank you, Trainer! You made those bad people go away! I think the balloon Pokemon will come visiting again!

Oh, yes, a balloon Pokemon appears in front of the windworks. It's always a certain day of the week, but I'm not sure which day. Could its appearance have something to do with this windworks using wind-generated energy?



The bringer of contentment... your target is the Pokemon statue of Eterna City. The bringer of ageing... your target is the Pokemon that sleeps on today.



Mysterious, looks like we'll have to stop their statue plot in Eterna, whatever that's about!

Looker Encounter



I have, therefore, come running. So, the Team Galactic. Where are they? ... You have run them off, you say? You are a Trainer, but...? Very well! I shall go investigate inside!



Superb! Though you are young, you are a Trainer through and through! Very well! I shall pursue the culprits! I have received tips that the Team Galactic hideout is in Eterna City. To there, I must be off!



See you next update! Now, I happened to record this on a Friday, the day when the balloon Pokemon appears. But it's not here! That's because it's the next Friday after you beat Team Galactic! So we shall return at another time for it!

Route 205



So now we head off to Eterna City! Ugh, honey trees.



Ponyta are always nice to see, since they give off a lot of exp. Pop won't take too long to catch up.



I heard that really tough Pokemon appear in Eterna Forest. I need to be more prepared than this!



There's a bit more to this route than previous, but it's nothing too special, just a bunch of trainers. You might wonder why I keep mentioning stuff like this, but that's because later Sinnoh routes get pretty mental and is one of the main reasons why it's my favourite region.



You can find the same kinds of Pokemon in all sorts of places. There's no law saying a Hiker can't go searching off in the mountains!




Hmm, a Roselia is pretty dangerous since we don't have great ways to deal with Grass types. I'm sure it won't be a problem. 100 SpAtk is pretty scary this early, especially if it keeps boosting it! It'll be a while before you can evolve it with a Shiny Stone, but it has enough oomph behind it to keep it competitive with everything else, even if it's pretty slow. Definitely worth getting if Budew feels too slow to get going.



Thankfully all it did was use Growth, but if it had attacked at +3, oh boy! Swift is a nice general attack since Pop is special, but Water Gun with STAB has the same power, so it's only good if we don't want to miss, or when fighting another Water type.



I will never plant berries in my entire Pokecareer.




I know all sorts of things about Pokemon! Let's see... there are males and females, and some aren't either!

Well that took forever...



Eh, kinda worth coming down here, but we've got to go up and around.



We'll grab another Buizel along the way, we need to catch something on this route!



Camping with Pokemon! Do you have any idea how fun that is?

Aipom isn't particularly great since its best attack for a long time is Fury Swipes and takes a while to evolve, but Return will keep you going until then, but otherwise you might have to Tickle to victory.




From being lost in the mountains for so long, I became a Hiker...




Uh, you're welcome?



Pop took a beating so we'll skip over the last trainer to, heh, pop in here.




Since we need to see every Pokemon, for the first time since Gen 1, trainers have starters again! Gotta see 'em all! ...have I made that joke already?



Last gen Pokemon cries would play on occasion, but that doesn't happen in Gen 4.



That's it for this route, and while I would love to go through a forest, how about we just completely igno-



Oh. Fine.

Eterna Forest



Hikari, may I ask a big favor of you? I want to get through this forest, but I'm afraid of doing it alone. I've heard that there is a sinister group of people called Team Galactic about. I think there'd be safety in numbers. Please, may I go through with you?



Joining up with Barry wasn't a random thing, escort missions are an actual thing in these games! But watch out, if you go near any Bug types, Cheryl will be scared back to the entrance! Haha, just kidding, that would suck.



Since we've got two battlers and two Pokemon, we can now encounter two wild Pokemon at once! This can make finding something much easier, since now you roll twice at once.



Hmm, weird.



At least there's a few new Pokemon to find here, though we'll come back for a couple later. Cheryl's Chansey isn't too useful, but it can take hits, heal itself and help assist in finishing off foes with Egg Bomb. At least if you're faster, Chansey will attack the Pokemon you just attacked, making them pretty dependable.



The one problem with wild double battles is having to knock out a Pokemon before you can catch anything, since catching a Pokemon instantly ends the battle and brings up the nickname/Pokedex stuff. It's just how the games are coded. Oh yeah, Cheryl has a few words to say like Barry did.

It's startling to see two wild Pokemon appearing at the same time.

My Pokemon is an excellent healer. But attacking isn't its strong point.

Hikari, battling with you makes me feel elated. If I could predict what you're about to do, we would make a fierce combo!




And of course, we can fight trainers in multi battles, but only if you walk into their line of sight, you can still talk to them and battle them individually.



Alright, we've seen both cocoons, so what're they about? Well, they can only attack if you evolved them from Wurmple, but what you get is random, so it can be easier catching them here. They can learn Iron Defense from tutors and if you somehow keep Wurmple around for a while, it'll learn Bug Bite. Not too useful, but it's something. It also learns Snore through tutors! Okay, give them one level and move on.



Oh yeah, we're now in modern times so every Pokemon has their turn before new Pokemon are switched in. After a hell of a time doing double battles last gen in 4 different games, this is appreciated.

Anyway, Beautifly is a little easier to use this gen since it learns nothing but special moves and maybe a couple of them are actually good! It'll be stuck with Gust for a while and takes some time to learn Silver Wind, but it'll eventually learn Bug Buzz, which is pretty sweet! Uh, at level 41, not so sweet. Still, it gets some nice moves from TMs, like Psychic, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, hell, even Roost, so its good to focus on its SpAtk, since it's literally the only good thing it's got.




Level 18 starters are a bit of a pain, but it's definitely worth it!





Becoming more worldly, Grotle isn't too interesting since nothing much happens until it evolves. The only good move it'll learn is Bite and the best physical Grass move it'll get for a while is Razor Leaf, but hey, at least it's not Bullet Seed. It can definitely put a dent into most things it comes across, but it'll start petering out towards the end. Still, you don't care about its Speed, so Curse up and watch the bodies hit the floor.



A much more interesting evolution that can occur before the first Gym. The new Fighting type and Mach Punch go a long way to make this monkey hurt, and it still has the stats to make Ember sting. An early Flame Wheel is also great, but again, that's it for quite a while, so hopefully it's worth it. It'll get some more utility later on with Thunderpunch and its TM list is just crazy, Fire Blast is always a good pick too, but it'll flatten out pretty quickly. Still, those stats are just perfect for single player.



The final of the three is simple like Grotle, but with an early Bubblebeam, packs more of an initial punch. Pluck and Grass Knot are surprising, yet really appreciated early TMs and of course it'll get laden down with the water HMs, but it can use Surf and Waterfall pretty effectively. It doesn't learn many other special moves otherwise, so you've got stuff like Brick Break and Shadow Claw otherwise, but likewise, it hasn't got many moves past Bubblebeam until it evolves.




This forest only really has one real path to go along, so it's hard to get lost.



I see you going down in defeat...

When a Trainer and a Pokemon bond as one, a wondrous power is born...

I cannot tell you at a glance which gender these Psychics are, it's very subtle differences in spritework.



Of course, these Abra have HP Fighting, but Chansey don't give two shits.



Oh finally something for Ground types.



The Old Chateau... there should be none alive in it... and yet there is a pervasive sense of a presence...

There still remain many mysteries yet to be solved in this strange world...



Walk around for two minutes for some bunnies, two come at once. You might think having a partner would get in the way of catching Pokemon, but Chansey doesn't do much, and later partners will either be equally ineffective, or be in an area with not much to catch, so it's whatever.





A standard Normal type with a few quirks about it. See that evolution by friendship thing? Little tricky considering it starts at ZERO base happiness, whereas most mons start at 70. It's going to take a while to actually evolve this, happiness evolutions suck. Still, it gets an early Frustration to offset this, but obviously it's going to get pretty weak pretty quickly, so you'll need to sub in Return eventually. Still, it's fast enough and hits hard, so it'll fine for a time, especially since it learns Jump Kick! But then it won't evolve. And keep not evolving and then its stats aren't so useful anymore. With how slow happiness actually increases, an extra 70 is pretty brutal and that's the main problem.

Klutz is a unique ability to the bunnies and gives it a chance to trip and drop its school books, skipping its turn. Okay, not really, it stops effects of held items from occurring. Thankfully it doesn't stop the Soothe Bell, or stuff like the Exp. Share or Amulet Coin, but everything else still applies, including berries and the Macho Brace, despite applying the Speed drop anyway. Obviously the best use is using Fling while holding a Flame Orb, or something, but you can also learn Switcheroo and screw an opponent out of their item. It also can't use Natural Gift and gets no benefit from Pluck or Bug Bite. The more you know.








Despite having no difference between the Burmy forms, uh, I still made these. Burmy changes between these automatically depending on what situation you're sending it out in. It's still a bad Pokemon, but maybe it'll become more interesting when it evolves. That's definitely the case, but interesting does not necessarily mean better.



At least Platinum is showing these off, you only ever saw Plant in DP.



Dustox has the same bag of tricks Beautifly has, learning moves at a similar clip, but since its SpDef focused instead of SpAtk, it can't really make use of anything. Bit depressing, but it gets Light Screen, Toxic, Moonlight, Protect and U-turn to be annoying. That's really about it, since it can't make use of many moves with equal, awful, offenses.




Neat.




We're about halfway through the forest, so let's see what this Pure Power can do!



Yeah sounds about right.



The Old Chateau... I sense... a particularly strong presence there.

Forests are mystifying... they seem to gather such unexplainable energy.



Shards are much more common in Pt, but that's because we need lots of them!



But that's the end of the forest and where we part ways with Cheryl, but lets use her double battle powers a bit longer, there's still some Pokemon to catch!



Gastly is pretty rare, but at least Chansey can't take it down. It's pretty rough using one since its best attack until evolution is Lick. But with Hypnosis, Curse and Night Shade, it's not all bad. Shadow Ball and even Dark Pulse are through level up, but they're a while away yet.



Running out of Pokeballs here, but there's only one mon left.



Sure, I know what my Wurmple will evolve into by ~hacking~, but I also don't care that much, so we'll grab this.



I would've never been able to get through this by myself. Thank you so much, Hikari! This is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it!



Hmm, maybe we will. You didn't get the Soothe Bell here in DP, that's quite a bit later. But it's very helpful now, increasing happiness gains by 50% AFTER being boosted by the Luxury Ball and met location bonus (though that's not in this gen).



Let's immediately put that to use with Radium and his new Return!

Route 205



Huh, there's more to Route 205, so let's beat up some fish! The first guy only talked about his rod.




Size is in this game, but I have 1 karp, I don't need more. Goldeen only learns one physical Water move in Waterfall, but that's all it needs... when it eventually learns it before the far off HM. Until then you'll use Peck and Horn Attack. Maybe you'll learn Megahorn before the end of the game! Eh, unlikely.



Oh no...



NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- Well it didn't take too long, I was just testing out Return's power. Definitely more than Tackle, but nothing too crazy yet.



Yank your fishing rod when that appears. That's how you fish.




My feet are tangled, too! Ouch! Ouch!



Ugh, honey trees.



But who cares, it's been a long journey, but we're finally at our destination!




If you spend enough time with them, all Pokemon will open up to you.



Pretty useful app to save you having to go to the Friendship Checker, which is still in this game. Your Pokemon wander around on the bottom screen and if you touch the screen they'll head towards it and the stages of hearts tell you how happy they are. If they're low in happiness, then they move away from where you're touching. No hearts is between 70 and 149 (any lower they move away), one small heart is 150-199, two small hearts is 200-254 and two large hearts is max happiness. So Return is at least 60BP and will only get better from there!

Eterna City Day / Night



Eterna City: History Living
From eternal.
Hakutai City: The town that ties the past to now.
From 百代 hakutai (eternity).



You can call me the Underground Man. Everyone else does. I'll make a gift of this to you. You hold up your end of the deal and put it to good use!



You need only use it, and you will be down in the tunnels! The Underground is a different world where you can do this, that, and the other thing, too! Let me mentor you into becoming a full-fledged spelunker!



Sounds like a lot of work, I'm trying to do a casual LP, you know?

"the underground tunnels..."

But I can't force you to accept my proposal if you're not inclined. Sigh... I get so lonely sometimes...

Pull the other leg, mate, this is one of the most crowded rooms in the game! Ugh, fine.



Going underground is quite easy. Simply use your Explorer Kit. If you accomplish that, I will give you your next test.



We'll go to the Underground later, there's A LOT to do and will be an update in itself, the things I need to talk about just pile up and up. It is very important to go there, however, but not essential. But who cares, let's get a bike, we got one no problem the last two times!



See, this is why those guys are evil.



Still can't buy Great Balls, but Nest Balls are a nice addition. They're identical from Gen 3, where they have increased catch rate on Pokemon lower than level 39, ranging from 1.1x at that level, to x3.9 if they're level 2. So pretty good, but their use is pretty slim, since Dusk Balls and Quick Balls are much better, but that's not fair to them.



This is the earliest we can change nicknames, but I can rename stuff whenever, so he's not needed, sorry!



...oh yeah, that Buizel we caught earlier.



This is a nice surprise, we'll go over held items eventually, but a bunch of new berries that weaken a super effective attack were added and they're pretty rare, but pretty nice. Wacan Berries halve the damage from a supereffective Electric attack.



Oh yeah, CHATOT can learn some human speech pretty quickly. Try out its move Chatter. You'll totally see what I mean.

Did that CHATOT I traded you totally learn that Chatter move? It will mimic your speech if you use that move outside of battle. It'll forget any speech you taught it if you stick in a PC Box, though.






An early bird is always nice, since in DP, this one isn't available until after Gym SEVEN otherwise, whereas it's a bit earlier in Pt. But in any case it's a nice pick this early considering what's coming up, though you'll have to rely on aforementioned Chatter for any real special attacks, since Uproar is a while way, through level up or tutor. It definitely does the job, but is pretty damn frail and has one move to really fall back on. It'll get better eventually with Hyper Voice and Heat Wave, but it's a long and painful journey to that point.

An aside, Tangled Feet reduces the accuracy of all moves used against this Pokemon if it's confused. Pretty bad, since confusion is pretty bad. As another aside, Chatot has all its Contest condition set to 20 for whatever reason, with its IVs being 15/20/15/25/15/25. I'll talk about Chatter in the Mini Notes, it's a trip.



...okay?



It's not anything that I have much use for these days. I do hope you'll put it to good use, young Trainer.



Young people like you have only the future to look forward to.

Shut the fuck up, boomer, because of you and your garbage generation, my future is looking forward to wondering if I should have kids because I don't know what world they'll grow up in. Is my little sister's generation going to be okay? What about my newly born nephew and niece? Fuck off and die right now, you old pieces of shit.

Oh right, Recycle is something we, as a species need to do more of, or we'll die, choking on plastic in dried up oceans. It's also a Pokemon move that recovers your held item, which is remembered for the entirety of battle, but not if gave it to someone, or taken by Knock Off. It's still fine to Recycle something from Bug Bite, Fling, Natural Gift and Pluck. Also, it's a Gen 3 move, but only learned by Porygon and Mr. Mime.



Hmm, weird house. Well, whatever, I've cooled down now. Until the next piece of shit old person talks to me.



My last challenger was this awfully speedy young guy. ...actually, his name was Barry. He told me about you. He said that another challenger's on the way, so that made me antsy! At my Gym, no one gets to battle with the Gym Leader, me, until the end. The challenger has to beat all the other Gym Trainers first. I'll be waiting for you in the back, Trainer. Don't disappoint me!



There's a point, I wonder where Barry is?