Part 13: I Just Had a Good Idea, As I Tend To Do!

Update 14: I Just Had A Good Idea, As I Tend To Do!

Chairman Rose's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

Our sincerest apologies! The chairman is quite busy at the moment… Everyone, please disperse! Please leave now!

Rose Fan: OK. See you later, Chairman. o/~
_{Yes, they really did put in a music note there.}



I’ll even give you my Pokémon League Card! We need the support of our fans to keep doing what we’re doing. Chasing them off like that… Aren’t you being a little too harsh, Oleana?

Fans are very important, of course. That’s why you need to keep doing your work – for their sake. But sir, I believe Bede would like to speak with you.

Thank you, Ms. Oleana. I promise to do everything in my power to assist you, too, Chairman!

Of course you will, Bede, but you should be focusing on the Challenge. Tell me: how are your Pokémon doing?

Well, sir! We already have the Grass Badge and ready to challenge Nessa!

Have you lost any battles since we last spoke?

Yes, just one, against Gloria.

What did you learn?

She has a wide variety of powerful Pokémon, but not all of them seem to like her very much. I think she caught them in the Wild Area and hasn’t spent much time with them.

Do you have a plan laid out for your next fight with her?

Not yet, sir. I had a few ideas, but…

Then why are you here, talking to me?

I-I wanted to ask you for –

Oleana has me handled. You don’t need to worry about assisting me.

But –

I know my faith in you isn’t misplaced. So go out and prove it.

Yes, sir!

As he leaves, Rose turns to face us.

And speak of the devil! I believe I’m speaking to Gloria. Is that right?

Y-yes–

This is her, Chairman.

Excellent. I admit I’m curious about Leon’s reason for endorsing you.

I –

Ah! I just had a good idea, as I tend to do! You’re going to face Gym Leader Nessa soon, yes? If you get a Gym Badge from her, I’ll hold a celebration. I’d like to get to know you a little better, after all!

Chairman, we should really be going…

Y-yes, sir.

Please do your best, for the sake of Galar’s future!

He wanders off.

The chairman will be heading to the Captain’s Table when and if you succeed. Win the Gym Badge and join him there at once. Do not keep him waiting.

Hulbury - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

And we’re back in control. Hulbury is a pretty sizable town with a few different sections, one of my favorite is a little farmers market set up off in a corner.



Why is my favorite? One of the stalls here sells a holdable incense that doubles your prize money from battles . I’m not actually certain how cost-effective it is, but I’m gonna buy it and slap it on to Chairman, who as a Grass-type is going to head up most of the fights I have in Nessa’s Gym. There’s also a marina, some nice architecture, and to prevent us from getting ahead of the plot…







God, I love it . Unfortunately for us, it looks like Nessa’s out of the gym at the moment and hanging out by the local lighthouse.



Everyone seems to know me today.

That interview of yours aired on national television.

Oh. Oh, that would do it.

You’ve become something of a hot topic amongst the Gym Leaders. Let’s head to the stadium. I love fishing, but I love Pokémon battles even more and I’m itching for a battle with you! Walk with me.

Okay…

I wager you’ve met the chairman by now?

Yes. Well… He’s…

An arrogant arse, yes. But he is a genius, and a very powerful one. You aren’t likely to get on his bad side unless the situation changes dramatically, but when you have to deal with the League in an official capacity, I recommend you go through Leon first. He runs it almost as much as Rose does.

Wait, Leon? The man who gets lost on the way to the loo?

I know, it surprised us too. But the chairman knows how to pick his subordinates, and he’s almost as good an administrator as Rose. Oh – but we’ve arrived. Go ahead and get changed, I’ll be waiting for you further in. Best of luck to you, Challenger!



Gym - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

But we won’t face off against her gym quite yet, because we have someone very important to catch up with!



I see you have a Fishing Rod! That case, I’ve got the perfect Pokéball for you!

He gives us a Lure Ball.

If you manage to catch a Pokémon using your Fishing Rod, then it’s time to use that Lure Ball! It’s the absolute best Pokéball for people who like Pokémon that live in the water. Pokéballs are just full of surprises, don’t you think?

Now armed with a piece of equipment we can’t use, it’s time we face down the Water Gym!





Some of the press around Gen 8 focused on how different its Gym challenges were from those of past generations, something which was… partially true. Most generations forced to you to fight most (if not all) Trainers in the Gym before moving on, with the puzzles playing a secondary role, if often a frustrating one (looking at you, Sabrina and Koge). In Sword and Shield, solving puzzles comes first; for instance, I believe it’s entirely possible to beat the first Gym without ever fighting a trainer. But ultimately they all share the fundamental combination of battles and puzzles that have defined Gyms for over 20 years.





Nessa’s Gym puzzle is one of a type you probably seen in other JRPGs if you’re familiar with the genre. You clear obstacles blocking your path by pressing buttons that move multiple obstacles at once; the goal is to find the right combination of button presses to clear your path entirely. In this case, the obstacles are water jets, and your goal is to run from button to button and alternate them appropriately…





… Like so. I’m actually awful at this kind of puzzle. For some reason, I can never memorize the appropriate sequence and have to go off gut instincts, which really isn’t a great policy for this sort of thing. But as has been frequently mentioned, this is a children’s game for children, so the difficulty level is a bit toned down from what you might find in other games. It’s exactly at my preferred skill level…



By which I mean I finished the whole thing about five minutes. Maybe.





I think you already realize, but I’m Nessa. Sorry to have made you look for me. I don’t doubt my humble mission’s difficulty… Yet you cleared it. Your mind as a Pokémon Trainer must be quite refined. No matter what kind of plan your refined mind may be plotting, my partner and I will be sure to sink it.

Battle! Gym Leader - Remix Cover (Pokémon Sword and Shield)



And here we are at the first Gym Battle worthy of the name (sorry, Milo). Granted, it isn’t HARD, but at least there’s enough here that I can point out a few things.



First off, I opened with my Grass-type, which everything she has is weak to. When you Dynamax, it only lasts three turns, so I wait until I polished off her Goldeen before breaking out the transformation.



Some quick notes about Dynamax moves I don’t think I’ve covered; each Type has a special extremely powerful move that overwrites every move a Pokémon has of the same Type, though it still runs off that move’s PP (). They always also have some other effect, whether raising or lowering a stat or changing the terrain (read: makes moves of that Type more powerful). Once she tosses out her second Pokémon…











I do that. Just about every Dynamax move has that sense of scale, too.











And now we have our last Challenger.







And now he gets KO’d. That Max Darkness there nearly took Chairman out of the fight in one hit (it took off a solid 2/3 of her health bar), though it wasn’t enough to seal the deal before she hit him back even harder. Even if it had, I would have outlasted him; his moves probably would’ve been powerful enough to knock out one or two of my Pokémon through sheer force before it dropped back to normal and my remaining team overwhelmed it. Nessa really stood no chance here. But later on, that numerical advantage vanishes and Trainers get smarter about how they staff their teams until even monotype teams start getting dangerous; unless you’re willing to sink time and effort into crafting a team just to counter them, you’ll probably only have one or two Pokémon that can tackle that type, and it’s easy for them to anticipate counters and roll out somebody with the right typed attacks to ruin your day. Unless you powerlevel, but them’s the breaks.

There is also a secret about Drednaw and Dynamax, but that will come out in a much later battle.



1:
2:

The incense has already more than paid itself off in this gym. We also get enough experience from the victory to evolve…



… This creature.





Continue to seize victories in the Gym Challenge with your Pokémon. You have an incredible spirit that may even be strong enough to challenge the champion. You and your Pokémon are indeed deserving of this Gym Badge.



With that, we complete the second gym and are officially one quarter of the way through the Gym Challenge.

Hulbury - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST







Don’t be late.



Yes, she really did come halfway across town just to order us to do something we were already going to do. Oleana is that kind of person. So let’s keep her waiting until next update! The moment that post goes up is the moment I decide whether or not to include Toxel in the party, so make your voices known if you have an opinion and haven’t expressed it already.