Part 33: A Looping Pokemon

Music: Panula Cave


In the main games, this Steelix would've been easily captured. But apparently you can't convey your feelings to a sleeping Pokemon
It's pretty cute sleeping like that at least. Such a happy, sleepy Steelix.



Instead, we'll just go through the other, available path.



I don't know whose idea it is to make the attack range that huge, but fuck that guy
The two screenshots, at least to me, implied you stepped on a landmine. I dunno why, but I thought it was pretty funny at least!



Required Loops: 6
Possible EXP: 30/37/44/51/58/65



Going further, we see 2 new Pokemon.



We'll get Wobbuffet first, since it's more interesting.



This is an interesting way to implement Wobbuffet's gimmick.
I like it! It might catch you by surprise the first time you meet it, but it's not obnoxious.



Required Loops: 8
Possible EXP: 55/59/63/69

Music: Wild Pokemon Capture


Poliwrath, meanwhile, just shoots a water jet once. That's a downgrade from Poliwhirl who can shoot however many times.

...Oh yeah, Poliwhirl can jump from the water.



That Poliwhirl is stalling me enough to give Poliwrath time to flee

Music: Capture Complete


Required Loops: 11
Possible EXP: 60/66/72/78/84/90

Fleeing isn't what I'd associate with Poliwrath, but
Something, something... "endgame must be tedious in place of actual difficulty."
Something, something... "the sequels mostly fix these problems"

Music: Panula Cave




Good thing this Steelix doesn't get pissed off and attacks us
We got a pokemon best known for being a fighting type evolution to use its water attacks on the Steelix?




The ice on the left are broken. I think it's meant to show how the Steelix manage to get here.



More Pokemon!



The shadow ball moves slowly in a wavy pattern, so it's harder to avoid. Dusclops attacks often enough to make this capture annoying.



Required Loops: 9
Possible EXP: 70/77/84/91/98/105

It's definitely nowhere near as bad as Solrock, though.



*Circe moves towards them*

You're Circe? I'm Elita, the Leader of Wintown. I call him "Silent Chris" for obvious reasons.You don't have far to go to the Wintown exit. But there's a problem... There's a situation up ahead. A litter of Piloswine is on a rampage. The corridor to Wintown is unusable.



I think it's from the tremors, but a baby Swinub got separated from the Piloswine litter. If the Swinub is found and returned to the litter, the Piloswine should calm down. I have to investigate the cause of the tremors, so I would like you to deal with the Piloswine litter.
Leader... On the way, there was a rarely seen...
There was a Steelix?! That must be causing the tremors! Chris, guide me there, please.

*They both leave*

Oh, sure, just let the newcomer do all the dirty work
The Steelix causing the tremors at least makes sense!



You might notice that the floor has a different color than before. That's because this is a slippery ice floor, just like the slippery sludge floor from the waterworks.

At least it's just for this floor and there's no holes to fall into. And it's the last one in this game. We'll see more of these in later games, though. Fuck you, Almia Castle
Wouldn't be a pokemon game without sliding ice mazes.



Glalie itself is pretty straightforward.



Glalie hate Rangers in particular it seems.
I wonder why...

Required Loops: 9
Possible EXP: 65/71/77/85



Like Elita said, we can't go past without capturing the lost Swinub.



The game is kind enough to show where it is, at least. There's a third hole to the right, just offscreen.



There's some stairs we can take to get upstairs, where we can get ambushed by this Golbat and an offscreen Dusclops.



There's also a slide, which is how we're going to get to where Swinub is.



Circe will automatically move down, so we just have to move left or right to avoid the holes. Falling into them will force us to go back up through the ambush Golbat and Dusclops.
Oh god... that's making me motion sick.
That gif is sped up 4 times. There's some forks, but taking the left path every time will lead us to Swinub.

Music: Wild Pokemon Capture


Swinub attacks with the usual curved charge.

Music: Capture Complete


Sleepy piggy!

Required Loops: 5
Possible EXP: 25/26/27/29

Music: Panula Cave


There's a second exit to the slide, which can be reached by choosing right every time. It has considerably more holes.



It leads to our third hole, which has a new Pokemon.



Loudred attacks multiple times consecutively and does it automatically, but otherwise it's just like Whismur.
I don't think I've ever especially thought Loudred were pokemon that liked icy caves.
Loudred can be found on caves in other games, so close enough.



Required Loops: 7
Possible EXP: 50/56/62/70



After giving the Swinub back, we have to watch as all the Piloswine leaves. Slowly. Even slower than those Skitty long ago.
I have many questions about how the Swinub got away from the Piloswine. At least there wasn't a Mamoswine, though!



The Piloswine we can capture is just upstairs.



Like Swinub, it charges in a curved line. Big surprise there



Required Loops: 7
Possible EXP: 70/73/76/80

I have a soft spot for the shaggy ice hogs!



More new Pokemon!



More new Pokemon that acts just like its preevolution!



Required Loops: 15
Possible EXP: 95/105/115/125/135/145

Golem's simple attack patern is a good thing since that's a lot of loops.
That's a lot of XP.



A similar block of ice is blocking the path in the cave from the earlier picture, so no side trips for now.

Video: Steelix


*The screen shakes*



Oh, hi, Steelix. Can you let us pass?

Music: Wild Boss Pokemon Encounter


No? Damn.



Steelix has no attacks, but it doesn't need them. Its skin is enough to cause damage on contact.



As you can see, Steelix is long. It's very easy to make the loop too big that we can't connect the ends.
One of the use cases for the Dark-type assist?



Even after catching plenty of Pokemon, our line length is barely enough to cover it.

Now, you might be asking "Why don't we just use an assist to hold it in place while we capture it quickly?"



Well, let's take a look at all the assist available for us:

• Plusle: Electric (sure, it might work)
  
• Pikachu, Raichu: Charge (won't directly help with capturing Steelix)
  
• Snorunt, Glalie, Swinub, Poliswine: Ice (not very effective against Steel)
  
• Jynx, Solrock, Wobbuffet: Psychic (also not very effective against Steel)
  
• Dusclops: Ghost (yet again not very effective)
  
• Golem: Rock (wow Steel types are overpowered)
  
• Whismur, Loudred: None (Normal has no assist)
  
• Poliwhirl, Poliwrath: Water (I guess it's possible...)
  
• Medicham: Fighting (helps IF you can get loops around it in the first place)
  
• Golbat: Poison (lol)
  
• Sneasel: Dark (exempt from the whole "matchup" business)

I know Steel is supposed to be the defensive type, but come on...
Welp!



So yeah. Like you said, this capture is basically Dark assist's chance to shine. Pun not intentional.



We sacrifice 25% of our current HP (rounded down) to double our line length, reducing Steelix's size into a mere novelty.
This does seem like it's a tad punishing if you didn't get Sneasel, though.



Starting the line in a corner and utilizing the "line shortening" trick lets us get maximum EXP



Fun fact: in any% speedruns, failing to capture Steelix before the assist's timer run out means having to reset from the beginning. The line length simply isn't enough to cover Steelix.
Yikes. That's a lot of ground to replay if you fail.
That's the risks you'll have to take when speedrunning this game . 100% speedruns don't have this problem, at least.

Music: Capture Complete


Required Loops: 10
Possible EXP: 520/530/540/550/560/570

I stand corrected. That's a lot of EXP!

Music: Panula Cave


I'd received many reports about a Steelix going wild in the cave, so I was conducting an investigation. I don't think there's any question that Steelix caused the tremors. I just don't understand why.

Once this goes up, I'm gonna post an amusing glitch from the commentary version. Just because it amuses me.



Music: Go-Rock Squad!


This shouldn't come as a surprise if you paid attention to the start-of-capture message.
Or if you have any sort of pattern recognition skills. Or have been paying attention to the game's plot in a general sense.

I come check on the Steelix and I'll be darned, what do I find? A brat, some lady, and a stone-faced guy fouling up our perfect plan! We wanted to shut down the tunnel by making the Steelix set off quakes galore! *flees*
Halt, Go-Rock Squad!

*Chris and Elita chase after him*

The burrow this time is empty, so our only path is to follow after the others.



...I still feel like I've seen this place somewhere.


New Music: Sekra Range


Only a small trek left before we finally reach Wintown. This area, like the one between Krokka Tunnel and Fall City, has unique description.



I think Circe would be well within her rights to complain here. She's still stupidly wearing shorts and short sleeves.
Going straight from a tropical spot into an icy cave is not the best idea.

Music: Mission Clear!


That Go-Rock Squad member fled into the Sekra Range. Like it said in the reports from Spenser and Joel, the Go-Rock Squad's secret base is somewhere in the Sekra Range.

*They both go inside the base*

And you did jack shit until now because...?
Are we sure that Cameron is the laziest Ranger leader? Because Elita is starting to make me doubt their competency.