Part 7: You Took the Time to Talk to a Pokeball

The first thing I cooked for my Pokémon was Spicy Toast Curry. Nobody liked it.

Speaking of which!

Update 7: You Took the Time to Talk to a Pokéball

Motostoke - Pokémon Sword and Shield











Welcome to Motostoke, our first big town (as the unskippable montage suggests). Depending on who you ask, it’s either based on Edinburgh, York, or Manchester. It’s also big. Like really big, bigger than any city I’d encountered in a previous Pokémon game –

Sonia's Theme - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST



Hold on a mo’, we’ve more tutorial now. She calls us over to the Pokémon Center.

Hiya, Gloria! Welcome to Motostoke! Here, got something for you.



Basically, League Cards are baseball trading cards, or at least that’s the American equivalent; I’m not sure what the British equivalent would be. You get little factoids about the Trainers in question on the backs of their League Cards, plus communications features in multiplayer (yes, players have their own League Cards, and you can customize yours; no, I’ve never used them in multiplayer, or used multiplayer).



I mean, I’d prefer to learn the place on my own, I’ll be at university here anyway –

Nonsense! Come find me after you heal up your Pokémon!



_{The opening ceremony, huh… I get a bit worked up when I think how exciting and moving it was to actually stand on a stadium’s pitch for the first time...}

Let’s proceed to ignore Sonia as long as possible.



See that little glimmer? That indicates there’s a hidden item on the ground; sometimes, there are a bit more obvious and look like Pokéballs, sometimes there hadn’t like this. You just walk over and press A. This one was a literal chunk of gold some poor bastard dropped, I guess. Unfortunately, the rest of the city is blocked off, forcing us to go on Sonia’s tour. It consists of walking about seven paces to the right.

So brilliant young trainer, you know whay the reason you came to Motostoke is?

Wait, I thought I was just supposed to challenge the Gym here. You say it like there’s something else.

What? You seriously forgot about the Gym Challenge opening ceremony?

… I did. Please don’t tell Hop.

No promises, mate! You ought to head there first, before I give you the full tour. Just head in, give them your name and registration, and Bob’s your uncle, you’re in.



Well, laters! I’m going to swing by the shops while I’m here, but don’t forget to register at the stadium, ‘K?

_{“Laters”? Really.}

Motostoke - Pokémon Sword and Shield



As I was saying, Motostoke is very large. Large enough, in fact, to have its own shopping district – one where you can enter the book the stores and do various things. Case in point:





The Battle Café. Once per day, you can swing by here and get in a fight with the owner (or one of his cousins – many towns have a local equivalent). I’ve never had a real problem handling him, so I see it as some free experience and money. He also gives you a special item, usually some kind of boxed dinner or something, that heals Pokémon or removes status effects or something. However, after fighting my way through the Wild Area, I don’t have enough money to spend on haircuts or clothing, so instead I head further in and –



Even with a huge old thing like this bang in the middle of the city, I still get lost. Gloria! All right?

All right. Caught a bunch of Pokémon on the way here.

I can see them on your belt! Got a good type spread, I bet.

Aye, I took your advice to heart – no more forgetting type advantages for me.

One look tells me that you become a trainer worthy of that endorsement I gave you! And… Yes, I reckon you might even be ready to use this… Here, try giving this to your partner to hold.

He gives us a piece of charcoal, a holdable item that boosts Fire-type moves. There’re versions of this item for every elemental type in the game, different stats, all sorts of things. This is going on Bruce and staying there.

You can take that lift up to the city’s upper level, if you’re headed for the stadium next.

And that we are. First time I used that lift, I thought it would just belch steam and pushed me straight up somehow. Standard steampunk stuff. Instead, the gear grabs the platform and swings it up. Startled the hell out of me.



This is where the opening ceremony will be held. Everyone’ll be watching the opening ceremony for the Gym Challenge… My mum… Your mum… The whole world!

Getting stage fright?

Yeah, a little. But… This is it. I know I’m ready. I’m also excited! Come on, Gloria! it’s about time we make the world know our names.

But first…



Tada! You took the time to talk to a Pokéball, so you deserve a little reward!

They give us a free Pokéball.

In case you’re wondering, I’m not just any old Pokéball! But then who am I, you ask? Well, the answer is simple. They call me the Ball Guy!

They're not lying. Ball Guy hangs around just about every gym, giving out free specialty Pokéballs to anybody who asks. Practically everything about them is a mystery, except the fact that they give you rare items for free. As such, the fanbase loves them to death. I’ve seen multiple cosplayers.

Anyway, enough screwing around.

Gym Lobby - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST


^{I took this screenshot too early, the line I cut off continues below.}

These are all potential rivals! Let’s get signed up!





This fancy tosser pushes Hop aside as he walks past.



Seriously? What a piece of work… Bloody ponce…



What?

You know what.

No, mate, I really… What?! No!

I know you better than that.

No, trust me, mate. No.

If you say so.

Counter Guy: Excuse me. If you’re here to register for the Gym Challenge, I’ll need to see your endorsement, please.

We hand ours over.

Counter Guy: Fancy that… This is the first time we’ve had a challenger endorsed by the Champion!

Well, now you’ve had two, because I am as well!

Counter Guy: What?! Two of you at once?! I wonder what’s come over Leon this year… The two of you must be something special.

I’m Hop! I’m Leon’s little brother, in fact. And the next champion. Get me all signed up, would you?

Counter Guy: W-well, yes, I am trying to… If you just give me a moment… There! You two have been successfully registered as Gym Challengers! You can now choose your preferred number for your uniform, if you’d be so kind?

Well, you heard the man. Whatever number we choose will stick with us permanently; we have to wear the uniform every time we have a Gym battle so we’ll have to look at it for the rest of the game, and we can’t change the number after the fact. Voting for our number will end in 11 PM UST (5 PM central) tomorrow! Uniform numbers are three characters; choose any three numbers and tell me why you chose them. Winner gets a naming credit for later.