Part 8: Herding Skitty

Music: Fall City


Fun fact: Torchic is the only non-Sinnoh starter that's allowed in Amity Square. Skitty is allowed there, but looks like we have to release all our Pokemon (including Plusle).

...Oh wait, wrong Amity Square.



That's a small square.

Tch! Keep that noise down, Machoke! What a useless Pokemon!
*To Circe* Hey, you! What do you think you're doing here? Get lost if you're not authorized! Hunh? ...You feel sorry for that Machoke? What's it to you? What we do with our Pokemon is none of your stinking business.
*When talked to* I told you once already. Get lost if you're not authorized! You're an eyesore!

...Right. We can't do anything with the Machoke, so we'll just grab the Skitty and continue exploring the right part of the city.
Wow, what an asshole.



In the old days, a right proper factory, it was. But lately, we've noticed oddly dressed people coming and going there.



It sounds like a band practice, but in between songs you can hear people shouting slogans or something.



Arrrgh! There's nothing to do! I'm probably the most unbusy guy in the world! Of course, any job as busy as a Ranger's isn't for me.

Wares Many kinds of merchandise are on display. It's best not to look too interested.

The factory is to the right of the city. We've seen the glimpse of it in the square.



*Notices Circe* Huh? What are you doing here? What's that? Joel asked you to keep watch over Fall City? Let me get this straight. You're a Ringtown Ranger, but you're patrolling in Fall City? Well, that's, uh... Awesome! That's really helps us out a ton! We'll find that Go-Rock Squad somehow, so yeah, we'll be counting on you to take care of things in Fall City.



oh no where could the go-rock squad be it's certainly not in this creepy and sinister and locked factory
The whole "band practice and slogans" stuff from earlier is not helping the comparisons to Team Skull.

Hint 5: My skitty are so fluffily cute, they can pass for plush dolls. Is that a useful hint?

Now we're going to explore the upper part of Fall City from right to left.





That was built to commemorate the growth of this town from a village.
The clock tower has a cherished place in our hearts. Our first date and our first argument were beneath that tower. It was where he proposed to me, too. I desperately tried to hold back my tears by looking up toward the clock. That's why I can still remember to the minute when he proposed to me.

How sweet
Awwww.



They missed a perfect chance to have the clock tower reflect the DS's internal time.

We're so lucky to have Rangers with us. They're always there to solve our problems right away.
I keep seeing strange Rangers lately. I wonder if they're really Rangers?



The door is locked. We'll go inside later.



We've been getting a lot of complaints about poor water quality lately. We're stumped as to why, though.

We'll find out the cause later, and it's so obvious that you'd wonder how they didn't figure it out immediately.
My money's on Grimer.



Those are some very realistic dolls. Just compare the doll!Snubbull with the real one.

Huh? That's very odd. Did we have so many plush dolls?
My cute little plushes are nice and fluffy! You can play with them if you want!

Don't mind if I do! The Skitty is the closest, so let's play with...



...oh.

Fall City has a good variety of facilities right in town. Beneath our feet is the waterworks. In the south is the harbor. In the east, we have the Dusk Factory. The Capture Arena is in the west. Oh, wait, the arena isn't in operation yet.
Aren't my plushes cute? But I wish we could live with some real Pokemon one day...

That was fruitful. On to the next Skitty!

Hint 6: My Skitty have a surprising streak of wildness in them. I hope they don't get into garbage.

6 Skitties is officially Too Many.

Now we're going to explore the left part of town.



My, aren't you young? I hope you'll work hard at becoming a respected Ranger.
There was something in a trash can that wasn't supposed to be there. You're within your rights to check trash cans, but you might be in for a shock. Don't get knocked down on your behind.



While the last Skitty is tricky if you don't go inside every house, this one is tricky if you don't examine everything/talk to everyone.
Not finding this Skitty is on the player if they don't talk to everyone. That's the whole point of patrol missions, right?



Good thing we caught the Snubbull way earlier.



Did you catch the news about the Capture Arena up past here? It saddens me to say, it's not your lucky day. They're still getting it ready. Sorry to disappoint you, Ranger. You all come back soon when things are on!



But not a day goes by that I don't think of them... Oh, Pikachu, Dragonite... The horizon is blurred by my tears! Sniffle...



But I'm completely captivated by her... And... She barely knows I'm alive!

Poor guy...



Ooh, my lovely-wubbly Skitty are all back with mumsy-wumsy! Now, aren't you good! Mumsy-wumsy is very much impressed! Thank you, sweetie!

Eughhhhh... This lady creeps me out.



We're done with the Skitty quest!

Ooh: My precious-precious Skitty! You musn't give mumsy-wumsy a scare like that again! Now, now, let's go home! Line up single file!



As if to annoy us further, the Skitty slowly walks towards the right. And we have no control until the last one leaves the screen.
I'm sure it's just the screenshot being captured mid-animation, but the third Skitty from the right looks regretful at having been forced to come back.



Just an observation, but why is all our clients here women?

You're Circe, right? I'm one of Prof. Hastings's assistants. I know you're very busy, but we need your help at the lab. Could you come with me, please? The lab is this way.

We'll have to go to the lower part of the city later, so we'll just follow the assistant for now.



*They go inside*



Asking for Circe's help is all she's been doing since she flagged us down!

I need to find something in the basement, but it's pitch black down there. It's impossible to look for anything. I asked the professor for some advice, and he told me that I should look you up, Circe.



No. Why doesn't the basement of the most prestigious scientist in the region have any working lights, anyway?

Oh... OK. ...I'm sorry, but I can't take no for an answer.



Fine. *grumble*Even though there's plenty of Rangers in the base's second floor*grumble*

That's great! Thank you so much! Oh, by the way, the professor asked me to pass on a message to you. These are his exact words. "In the lighthouse's basement live some Pokemon named Staryu. Get the help of the Staryu to illuminate wherever it's too dark to see." That was the professor's message. Please, capture a Staryu and bring it here.

Our Plusle, who is always with us, can't illuminate the darkness? For that matter we can't have it pull an Uncle Fester?

Work table All sorts of things are lying about. You may get in trouble for touching them.
Left machine It's a high-performance machine. "High performance" is etched in tiny letters.
Middle machine This odd machine glows in a mysterious way. But it seems harmless.
Right machine This is a machine of some sort. It's best to ignore it.
Archive These research papers on Pokemon don't seem to be very amusing.

It's all serious books, with no fun ones

Music: Fall City Harbor


There are people across the sea who go on adventures with Pokemon? They're called Pokemon Trainers! Don't you think that's kind of cool?

The harbor is just south of the city. It's the same harbor that we started the game in.



We can now catch the Winggul and Krabby here. We do have to wait for Wingull to land/fly close to the ground, though.



It flies very quickly and shoots water guns.



Required Loops: 3
Possible EXP: 20/24/28/34

A lot of Pokemon here requires 3 loops.



If you can catch Wingull, you can catch Krabby. Krabby and its bubble are very slow.



Required Loops: 6
Possible EXP: 14/15/16/18

A pity we can't keep Krabby. It and Kingler are good pokemon!



It's a great place! The sea is crystal claer, and it's always like summer the whole year round. If you're thinking about a vacation, there's no better choice than Summerland!

Not gonna lie, I would totally live in a place like Summerland.



Wahaha! It makes me happy hearing that! But, we just got back from Summerland. If you could wait a while, we'd be happy to oblige.



Seek exciting adventures in the nature-filled jungle! A mysterious relic harkens back to an exotic ancient time! ...I can do all the selling of Summerland I want, but... The ferry to Summerland isn't running right now.
Fall City is quite a place. I wonder what Summerland is like?
I was planning to go to Summerland, but...

Take a guess as to where we'll be doing our next mission.




It's finally cleared the way for people to get to the lighthouse's basement.

Remember the Snorlax earlier? Turns out that it was blocking something after all!

Music: Krokka Tunnel




Staryu is the only interesting thing in here.

Music: Wild Pokemon Capture


It attacks by spinning. It can still move slowly while it's spinning. If you're brave and high enough level, you can continue looping around Staryu.

Music: Capture Complete


Required Loops: 5
Possible EXP: 25/29/33/39

Spoiler: Staryu is the only one who has that particular Field Move.

Music: Fall City


It's easy to do, too! Just touch the Staryu, and it will use its ability to cast light. You see, certain kinds of Pokemon Field Moves can be used without having a specific target. OK, please take that Staryu to the basement, then touch it with your stylus.



Spoiler: Flash is the only field move which doesn't need a target.



Spoiler: This is the only time we will use Flash. And this is the only time we can use Flash.
But why? That seems like a waste.



Oh, my goodness! It's almost even too bright now. It will be easy to find things! Circe, thank you so much for helping!



*Walks to the cabinet* Um... It's not over here... And it's definitely not here... It's wonderful that it's bright in here, but now I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork down here.
*When talked to* Let's see... This is all data on the footprints of Pokemon... And over here are the records of Pokemon cries... It might be light in here, but it's still not easy to find the necessary data out of all this material.

Cabinet Odd things are lying about. They must be important.

That's three people now. Who's next?

Video: Machoke


I don't think you need any help.

Huh? What do you suppose you're doing here? ...Oh. Everyone's gone out of town, so you got the mission of patrolling Fall City. I get it. There's a state of emergency on now because of that Go-Rock Squad. And a rookie like you would be too inexperienced for a tough mission like investigating the Go-Rock Squad... Oh, did I say something rude? Don't let it bother you, Circe.

You, madame, are a jerk.

*Pokemon cry*

Wait! Did you hear something? It sounded like it came from the clock tower! Don't just stand there! Come with me!

*They both go to the clock tower*

Music: Tension


Why is that Machoke rampaging?
*To Circe* Listen! You can go capture the Machoke! I want to see how good you are.

The clock tower can wait while we talk to everyone.

Hi! Are you about to capture that Pokemon? Well, aren't I lucky! I get to see a live capture!
Hurry up and capture it! Before it wrecks the clock tower!
The clock tower's going to be wrecked! Someone do something!
Why is that Machoke going wild?

Actually, the clock tower can wait while we explore Fall City all over again, so we can recharge our styler or catch a Makuhita or Ludicolo.



Music: Wild Pokemon Capture


Machoke is a lot tougher than Rhydon. Or maybe that's just me sucking at catching it.



Machoke punches, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

He can punch while moving forward, though, which can actually be a surprise. And he moves a surprisingly long distance. That's the dangerous attack here.



And, like many Pokemon here, it can jump. And it requires 8 loops, so we can't capture it before it jumps. It sucks
This sounds like an actually difficult boss.



To make things worse, Plusle's Discharge is too weak to last for 8 loops.



We can probably use Makuhita for this, but I like using Ludicolo more.



Mostly because Ludicolo gives us a whopping 30 seconds as opposed to Makuhita's 10 seconds.





The bubble lasts for a longer time than the discharge, so we can catch it this way (with some difficulties, if you watched the video).
That looked infuriating to try and catch. Seriously, go watch the capture video.

Music: Capture Complete




Required Loops: 8
Possible EXP: 52/55/58/62

Music: Fall City
You did it! Thank you, Ranger! You were really cool!
That was fantastic! That was the first time I'd ever seen a capture! That Machoke quieted down completely from its out-of-control rampage. Wow, am I lucky to have seen that!
Ah, Ranger! Well done! The city's symbol was in peril!

Music: Mission Clear!


We're finally done with the worst mission in the game!

That was a so-so capture.

That's because we can't use flying or psychic assist
Wow, who pissed in this lady's Cheerios? What is her problem?

But I can't figure out why that Machoke would go wild like that... That Machoke should settle down when it returns to its familiar surroundings. You should release it now.



Why don't you go back to the Ranger Base for the time being? Unlike you, I have to investigate the Go-Rock Squad, so I'll leave you here.

*Aria and Circe leave*



But that darn Machoke... Darn thing ran off without paying attention to me! Plus, it couldn't even wreck that creaky old clock tower. How pathetic is that?

I'm sure that researcher is a fine, upstanding citizen with no relation to Go-Rock Squad.
Definitely. They're totally on the level.