Part 11: Right Angle

Part 11: Right Angle

Route 209 Day



With all the various distractions out of the way, as is the norm, it is time to head on to the next town!



I didn't catch everything on this route, but that's mainly because we can't really catch them here. You can in Diamond and we can catch Sudowoodo later, but it's easier getting it here.



Same for Pearl and Mime Jr., since we can get Mr. Mime later. It also broke out of a Nest Ball and its x2.4 boost, which is illegal.



Oh yeah, here's a Jogger, they only fight you in the morning, so between 6am and 12pm, which is the opposite to how I usually operate, but I can change the time whenever, so whatever.



Nothing beats being fit and healthy! Come on, won't you run with me? To a better tomorrow!

I should really go to an irl gym...



Oh yeah, these weird vents supply air to the Underground. They don't need to be there, but it's neat they are.



Again, I get beaten up enough by my little sister and her friends without the same happening in game.



Emma: That was awesome! Are you maybe a Pokemon genius? You're well deserving of respect!

Lil: We're going to be super-strong Trainers like you! I just decided now! Please cheer for us!



What a weirdly large Pikachu staring off into the distance.



Gawd dang it, Bill, stop with your weird Pokefusions! I'm sure they'll be a mechanic one day.



Cool



Crap... did I leave the oven on? Worry Seed changes your ability to Insomnia, which isn't a bad ability in itself.



Ugh, honey tree, ugh, joggers.




Rock Tomb...



Pretty standard route so far, it'd be a shame if there was anything weird about it.



The stone tower has been restored! "Hallowed Tower" is written on it. It's the Hallowed Tower. It appears to have been built many years ago.

Hmm, well we'll go over this soon enough, but things aren't spooky enough yet.



I won't fall into that trap up there!



Have some XTREME skills instead.



While working the ranch, I get to raise my Pokemon, too. I'd say it's the best of both worlds!




Everyone's always so mean to Skulletor...



Ty: Sue, even in defeat, you're so beautiful...!

Sue: We lost... Ty, I need a hug to make it all better!

Fucking kill me now.



Neat. Well since it's right here and we're still raring to go, let's head in!

Lost Tower



Yup. Respectful.





Ah, the Bug/Flying Pokemon, turns out they don't like rocks. So a male Burmy, no matter the cloak, will evolve into Mothim and... it's alright. Bug Bite is gonna carry you a lot here, since you'll be contending with Hidden Power, Gust and then Confusion as your rounded out moveset otherwise. It does get good moves later, like Air Slash and Bug Buzz, so focusing on the special side seems like the best idea, as while you can learn a fair few TMs, most of them are special, aside from U-turn. It's slow, it's frail, it's a mixed attacker, that doesn't seem like the best combination, but, well, here it is. Perfectly fine.



Whoops, can't translate that in a Christian LP!



I had to come to the Lost Tower on a dare... I have to go to the top and use Defog there...



Oh hey, we can have Happiny hold that stone and evolve it. Ignore the fact we already have Chansey. But still, Defog? We didn't need to use that on the top floor in DP...



FUCK



So deep fog. It does-



...uh, well, that. Fog fucking sucks as a "weather" condition, since you can only remove it with Defog. We saw it a bit in Gen 3, but here in Sinnoh it actually does something. Thankfully, it was never used again, because it fucking sucks.



I can't be wallowing around forever. I gotta move on and turn the page.



Fog obscures the view somewhat, but you can get rid of it otherwise. But we don't have Defog yet and in DP, not only was fog not in this location at all, but the HM was found randomly in a later area. The HM placement in these games, across all three, is definitely a sticking point.



Huh, didn't know Pichu could cackle. Nasty Plot raises SpAtk by 2 stages and is very good.



The fog at least screws both sides over and obscures the Attract the Pikachu is using. But it's not its turn yet, that's weird. Fog modifies the accuracy of all attacks by 3/5ths of their original value, making moves like Earthquake as accurate as HYPNOSIS, though moves like Swift are unaffected.



The desire to do battle lingers on... do such spirits of Pokemon still roam within these walls?



Is the fog playing tricks on me? What the heck are these Pokemon doing???



The fog doesn't make people depressed, or only grouchy at most, but it does have some weird effects, Weather Ball is doubled in power, but stays as a Normal move, and Castform remains as is. Solarbeam's power is halved to 60, making it completely worthless, and Moonlight, Synthesis and Morning Sun only recover 25% max HP. Oh yeah, and Sweet Scent/Honey no longer works. And that's about all Fog does. It's like dark caves, but seeps into battle as well and makes most things shit.




Complete... annihilation...



Bob: Over a long life, you'll be certain to have some sad farewells. But I reckon there are also some new beginnings.

Beth: Them graves here in Lost Tower... right'n here, inside my heart... those are the places where my Pokemon remain...



Oh yeah another one. This is when you would originally get it in DP and there's definitely a Pokemon that can use it. Now I can pretend I never used it!



I'll give you both a mega swirlie, nerds.



Let's see now, in fog, Rock Tomb now has... carry the 1, subtract to the nth power... 48%! You might forget why I rag on this move so much, but since its introduction, it's one of the best coverage moves a lot of physical attackers get for a good chunk of the game, until they get Rock Slide, either a lategame TM or a lategame tutor. It sucks ass.



Mike: Coming here again brings back all kinds of memories of me and Nat.

Nat: The Pokemon that brought me and Mike together is buried here...



Man, if ONLY we had Defog. Oh well, let's head into the next town, or whatever, like that'll be where we can find it.

Solaceon Town Day / Night



I got something cool. I'll show you as a special favor! Huh? What the... what's this all about? ...I got some Seals, but I forgot to put them on. Oh, right. It's because I was at the ruins. The ruins here are cool. You have to check it out. I even found a Hidden Machine. It was Defog! Anyway, I'll battle you another time. See ya!


Solaceon Town: Free of Worry!
From solace and eon, so eternal comfort.
Zui Town: A town of carefree living.
From 随 zui (carefree)



Ah, Dusk Balls. I'm never gonna play during the day again.



This here's a Poketch app called Pokemon History. Use it to see your history of Pokemon catches.



You have your history, and each Pokemon has its own history. When the two collide, new drama is born.



Cool.



You saw the notice outside about us hiring, right? Is that a Pokedex there? Then you must know Professor Rowan! You're just the Pokemon-searching expert we've been looking for!



You must bring it today, or we're not gonna be able to run our main article. I'll pay you with a Heart Scale and some Pokeballs for it.

Well, we're not gonna do this request, but it's absolutely worth doing. Any Pokemon we've seen can be selected and if you bring it to him within that day, you'll get 1 Heart Scale and 3 of any Pokeball that's not Master, Cherish or Safari. This is the only way to get Dive Balls, so it can be worth your time. And any way of not endlessly mugging Luvdisc is good for me.



We look after the precious Pokemon of other Trainers. If you'd like us to raise your Pokemon, please have a word with my wife.

We'll use the Day Care in just a moment. We have the perfect Pokemon to leave behind after all!



The top left house has nothing for us and so we shall never visit it. Mwahahahaha!




Ohhhhhhh, that's what all those Pokemon were doing. Seals are pretty cool entry animations for your Pokemon, but the main problem is a lot of them are locked until the end of the game, for whatever stupid reason. There are a few we can get now, and you guys will be deciding what we use later, but for now, it's a pretty mediocre mechanic.



I think they're really neat. I'm too small to catch them, though. Instead, I play with Seals to try reading those weird letters. If you can give me Pokemon that look like letters, I'll give you some Seals.



I've got a bad feeling about this...

Solaceon Ruins





Gesundheit. So what are we expecting to find around here?



Hidden evolution items, correct. These weren't here in DP, but only Pikachu used the Gen 1 stones anyway, with Eevee now being the only new inclusion.



It's just that I seem to be lost, what with everything looking the same. Now what? I could use some help here.



Yeah these guys are back, great. I was able to thankfully skip over them in FRLG, but since they're slightly less miserable to catch in these games, I guess I'll do it. As for the mon itself, since Hidden Power is special no matter the type, Unown only use their Attack stat for confusion damage and Struggle damage. Still completely worthless.




The significance of the ancient ruins... only Pokemon that look like letters of some strange language... can they be trying to convey a message to us?



Alright, you can see how the rest of the ruins go. Just follow the instructions.



On each of the large floors there's a single Unown letter to be found.



If you don't get one from the Underground, you can evolve your Pikachu in DP just before Gym EIGHT otherwise! Seems legit.



Frien? What Pokemon is that?




Ah. Hmm, hmm, oh yeah, yeah. I know some of these words.



Here's what we really came for. Since Defog was obtained elsewhere, this was just a Rare Candy in DP, and I'd maybe prefer that to saddling someone with this garbage move.



Remember incense? It's back, in item bloat form! Giving this to a Chimecho lets you get Chingling eggs. They try to act like this is why you couldn't do this before, but we remember Ancientpower Piloswine in Gen 2.



Anything else down here?



Cool. There are other Unown we can get, but just because I'm catching them all doesn't mean I'm catching them now.



Can you loan it to me real quick? I'll make it worth your while. OK, so I teach my STARAVIA the hidden move Defog like so... and done! Thanks! You're my rescuer! Hahaha! Here you go, my thanks as promised!



I'll get to climbing the Lost Tower now that I've got it.



Alright, these fucks get a box to themselves cause there's 28 of them!!! If you show one to that boy, you'll get the corresponding letter seal. Now do that 27 more times. Sounds fun, right? Well, back to the tower, first.



Of course Togetic gets Defog, it's the main reason I wanted it to evolve so quickly. In battle, it'll clear any fog that followed you there, but it also never misses and lowers the target's evasion by one stage. It'll also clear screens, entry hazards, Safeguard and Mist from their side of the field. So it can be useful, but not when Stealth Rock is everywhere!



The Lost Tower is where the spirits of departed Pokemon are put to rest. Those that enjoyed long lives... those whose time were short... all the departed Pokemon shall find solace here...




But she has a compassionate heart. You know, she's a regular visitor.

Well that wasn't really worth it, but oh well. In DP, you instead got Strength, which, while a nice move, was pretty useless since this is still before Gym 3 and you couldn't use it until after Gym SIX! We'll get it later, in a much more sensible place, but it's always nice to have.



Alright, we're spooked out, so let's go over this dumb thing. When you insert an Odd Keystone, you then have to talk to people Underground to reconstruct the tower. Now this is just different people in a single session, so you can re-enter the Underground and talk to the same person over and over again with your second DS and copy of DP if you don't fancy socialising. As you do so, the tower will change:

"Its stones appear to have shifted..." after talking to 8 people.
"...is that crying coming from inside the tower?" after 15.
"Is the tower shaking ever so slightly?" after 22.
"There is some sort of presence... it appears ready to emerge!" after 29.
And then at 32 on?





It's a Ghost! After totally talking to 32 different people, we encountered this weird thing from the tower. You can do this as many times as you obtain Odd Keystones, which are very rare Underground items. Anyway, as you'd expect from those stats and NO WEAKNESS, Spiritomb is pretty dang great. While Ominous Wind ain't too fancy PP wise, Faint Attack will last you until you get Shadow Ball. Sucker Punch is a fun tech and Nasty Plot just makes investing in special moves all the easier, though you'll have to do with Shock Wave, Psychic and Dark Pulse, which is perfectly sustainable. With its high defenses, you should be fine to take all day taking down the opponent, even using Curse! Though it doesn't offer many resistances, your three immunities should make life pretty easy.



See, pretty easy, least you can breed it to make life easier for everyone else.



So, Seals, you can (eventually) get a fair few and decorate your balls.



Just put up to 10 onto the ball and click the bottom left button to preview it until you're happy enough. Though since the view is of someone else seeing it, it'll probably work better on your side shifted to the right somewhat.



Easy enough, with the limited selection, we'll only give it to Etrian right now, but when our inventory is expanded, our full team will be equipped with them. The only problem is having to remove the capsules before putting a mon back into the PC and then putting it back on when you take them out, but that's just general admin stuff you don't need to know about. I suffer through much to bring you such great art!



But now, before we head on to new areas and adventures, we must say goodbye.



Yes, Togetic can't stay in the back of our party forever, it's much easier having him gain exp as we're walking around. When we come by this place later on, then he'll be ready to join our team. But for now, fuck off. And a Chansey because I can show something later, yay!



It's the latest Poketch app from the Poketch Company. What's more, they developed it in collaboration with the Day Care. Since you're a fellow fan of the Day Care, I'm compelled to share this!



With that Day-Care Checker, you can check on the Pokemon that you've left with the Day-Care Couple. But I haven't been able to leave my Pokemon... so here I stay...



Useful if you're elsewhere and not going up and down the straight to hatch eggs, since it tells you what level your mons are at and if they have an egg! You can tap it at any time to refresh it, helpful if you're specifically biking around to level something.

Route 210 Day / Night



We'll be back in sleepy Solaceon soon enough, those Unown won't catch themselves after all, but we can explore a little more.



FINDER. I'm not sure what else they would've spelt.



Thankfully there's not many Joggers left to force me into early morning.




Roost, very important move, recovers 50% health and removes the Flying typing for a turn. If a pure Flying type used it, which seems unlikely, then it would turn into the ??? type for a turn, having no weaknesses or resistances.




When I cuddle with my Pokemon, I can feel not just their bodies' warmth, but their compassion.



You'll find all sorts in the grass. If you don't fancy evolving, then Scyther will do you just great with its high Atk and Spd. With Technician, Wing Attack is pretty potent, though Bug Bite is a HGSS tutor, so you use X-Scissor instead. The recent Roost also makes it more dependable and you can even relearn Quick Attack later. A Metal Coat is just before Gym 6, so you're fine to use it if you want. In DP, the Metal Coat was postgame, but Onix didn't really care, as we'll see later.

Oh yeah, Technician. It boosts moves below 60BP by 50%, but only if the final result is under that amount, so Pursuit wouldn't if it was against a Pokemon switching out, since it gets doubled. But moves like Grass Knot and Low Kick would if it was against a light enough Pokemon.



Oh hey, Spiritomb has Hypnosis, that's cool. However, as we get better Pokeballs, we don't really have to bother with it until much later. It's why I haven't been too beat up about not having a move like this on the team.



The perfect ambush that I never slow down in time for.



Wow. Seals. Would be nice if I could do more with it.




Since Pop is so fragile, it was a bit of a push to get to this point, but hey, we have our first fully evolved team member!





We're off to a good start, Floatzel has to rely on various coverage moves, since the best Water attack it learns normally is Aqua Jet. Still, the abundant Water HMs will be available soon enough, though it prefers Waterfall to Surf, Crunch and Ice Fang from the tutor will last it just fine until it can rock some STAB. It's fast, hits nice and hard and dies immediately and that's just the way I likes it! We'll have to rely on other avenues, since the game thinks the last move to cap everything off should be Razor Wind. Fuck off.

"confusing and fun!"

I'm seeing double here, eight family members!



Ah god some more babies to slog through.





How many goddamn babies are there? Are they all in this dex??? Happiny is like Chansey but smol. Bit of a convoluted way to evolve, requiring an item and time of day AND a level, but it's easy enough to pull off. So what does it offer its friend shaped evolutions? Well, Charm, Copycat and Sweet Kiss, which isn't awful, but nothing too amazing. Charm does little to mitigate the terrible defenses and Copycat is only good if you nab something useful, but it doesn't replace the slot like Mimic, so you gotta be real lucky. So yeah, best to just evolve and move on, you've got happiness to grind, chop chop!

And then we have the electric kid. Its evolution level is a little far, but Low Kick and Shock Wave will keep you going until Thunderpunch. It won't be too crazy like the one we obtained in XD, but since it offers nothing much to the rest of the line, you can just evolve it whenever. You're also able to evolve again just before Gym 6, so it's a perfectly fine pick up. Just fragile as heck.



Remember when we waited 27 seconds to kill a level 100 Blissey? Thank fuck I'm not doing that again!



The Veilstone Department Store is pretty impressive! Did you know they even sell Poffins?



Crazy how much is packed in a pretty small area, I like it.



It's another Belle and Pa combo! Interesting how the last one didn't have their names when talking, boy I hope someone got fired for that blunder.



Bit early for a Rapidash mate. Still, if you're using the other Fire type with Flame Wheel, you deserve to get here in DP, while you probably just bought Fire Blast instead of waiting to learn it, you can relearn Megahorn and Poison Jab, which is neat. But if you wait until the postgame, then you can get Flare Blitz to finally replace Flame Wheel. Wow! But yeah, perfectly fine Fire type, but it's a smoother process in Plat, since it evolves pretty damn late.



I reckon the bonds between you and your Pokemon are like the bonds parents share with their kids.

Papa, I'm so sorry! I'll work harder from tomorrow on! ...yup, tomorrow's when I'm going to start working.



I hope you enjoyed those Ranchers and Cowgirls, cause we'll never see them again! Okay, they're in battle facilities, but there's only the one regular Rancher and one regular Cowgirl, as well as two Belle and Pas, which are the only two in the, well, series. It's pretty weird they made trainer classes just for that, but it definitely adds some individuality to this area.



The counterpart is never far behind. Magby has a harder start since it only has Ember and Faint Attack to last until Fire Punch and then evolution, but it's fine enough, I suppose. It can evolve again pretty quickly, since the Magmarizer is only after Gym 4, though Magby and Elekid can only be gotten through breeding and it'll be a while since we find Magmar and Electabuzz, so this whole thing doesn't work great, but hey, they show me a mon, I go over a mon, no matter how unlikely it is you'll actually use the damn thing. I mean you might breed it and then use it with some shiny egg moves. Probably won't, but it'll be fine if you didn't! So many goddamn babies...



The best way to raise Pokemon? ...hmm, when it comes right down to it, isn't it all about love?



Well I'm not inclined to move at all, I think we deserve a break at the cabin!