Part 42: Just Too Much

Update 43: Just Too Much





Battle! (Bede) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST







No updated Finals theme here. Fine by me; it’s so over-the-top already I can’t imagine how you’d amp it up even further.

As befits a member of the Fairy Gym, Bede has completely retooled his team; while he does still have a couple of his original Pokémon, he only kept the ones that are Fairy-type. I mean, most of his team is also Psychic-type as well, since Psychic- and Fairy-types tend to show up together, but there you go. His Mawile is an easy out; one Pyro Ball and it’s down. Next up is his Gardevoir, as well as my secret weapon against his team:



Mr. Blobby is fast, powerful, and has a healthy type advantage. In his typical utterly terrifying way, he pulverizes both this Gardevoir and Bede’s Rapidash.





Morgan is looking a mite taller. As she’s his last Pokémon (only four Pokémon, Bede? For shame!)…

















… He immediately Gigantamaxes her.















While the damage itself isn’t particularly notable (and the heal effect it has is miniscule), G-Max Smite inflicts Confusion on Mr. Blobby – and if you don’t remember from all the way back at Kage’s Gym, Confusion gives you a strong chance of injuring yourself instead of using your next move. In fact, that happens Mr. Blobby’s next turn, which Bede makes use of to drop a Full Restore on Morgan. I get very lucky with my next attack; while it doesn’t crit, it must have hit the top of its damage range, because it managed to OHKO Morgan and end the fight.

Bede’s team ended up being a bit of a dud, but G-Max Smite is fucking terrifying. There are few better ways to lock down a Pokémon then with Confusion, and given just how little time Dynamax lasts, it can cost an opponent several valuable Max moves.

But no one on PokéEarth can stand before the might of Mr. Blobby.



… Gloria?

Yeah ?

Wipe that smirk off your face, I need to tell you something.



… Thank you.

… What?

I’m pretty miserable after you kicked my ass in Stow-on-Side, right? And then that strange old lady comes out of nowhere and drags me into a boot camp on Fairy-type Pokémon! Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?! Covered in pink, dealing with quizzes and battles with Fairy-type Pokémon every day!

Wait, she does that to her Trainers?

Constantly. But, it’s… You know, I tried to close myself off from the rest of the Trainers there, but Ms. Opal kind of hazed me until I started socializing. And… It helped.

_{I told you, you need to express your appreciation more often!}

Fuck you, Opal!

_Language!

But anyway… I never would have expected this, but I feel at home there. I can be as dramatic as I want because everyone else is just as dramatic as I am, and Opal runs the Gym with a tight enough fist that grudges don’t last long before she makes us air them and patch them up. I’m so used to being ignored that it’s kind of intoxicating – and before Opal dragged me off I wouldn’t have ever realized my needs were being ignored, you know?

…

I came here ready to face you down because I needed some closure. I did not expect to get saddled with Gym leadership. But… I don’t know.

… I don’t think I’ll ever forget what you did, but I’m willing to forgive it. I’ve been talking to Hop.

He’s a lot nicer to me than I deserve.

See, that’s what I mean. I used to hate you, then I pitied you, but now… Now I’m willing to treat you as a person, I suppose?

_{Better than Rose ever did.}

So you finally realized that, eh? Good for you, mate.

Little early to call me “mate,” I think.

Maybe someday. I’m looking forward to kicking your arse up and down Wyndon next Cup, though.

What, you think you’ll be lucky enough to qualify again?

No, I’ll be the Champion, you twat.

Good luck with that.



…

Tournament Lobby (Locker Room) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST

We get booted back out into the locker room, where run up to the elevator and press A to see if there’s anything hidden in –



wait



i dont



what

You know how I said something in my last update was a dirty lie?

Explopyro posted:

Three sets of shields in raid battles? I wasn't going to comment on that but I'm pretty sure it maxes out at two.

If not that one, I'm not sure.

I saw that in a fight against a Falinx yesterday . No, it turns out, you can actually up and leave the tournament during finals. You can just go around and do whatever you want! At least from a cursory check, there don’t seem to be any changes in dialogue or anything, you can just go around and play the game like you weren’t in the middle of a major sporting event. I didn’t even know this was possible! Maybe it’s so you can go catch or train up your team if you need to? But they didn’t say anything about that. I was just looking for secrets. I guess I found one.

But ultimately, I don’t have anything I want to do right now. So it’s time to go back and actually progress the plot.



Announcer: The time for waiting is over! The Finals of the Champion Cup are about to begin! The two Trainers to face each other in the first battle of the first round are... A Trainer endorsed by the Champion himself, Challenger Gloria! Her opponent is... the raging wave! The master of Water types, Nessa!





I’ve got to hand it to our undefeated Champion. He’s got a eye for talent, too. But you’re not the Champion, and you’ll never become the Champion, either. Do you know why? It’s because I, Nessa, am going to defeat both you and Leon! I’m not going to underestimate you again. I’ll use Dynamax to wash you out to sea and beyond the horizon!





Battle! (Gym Leader ~ Rematch) - Pokémon Sword and Shield OST



Yep, we do get a Gym theme remix for these fights. And it’s a pretty solid one too, albeit a bit generic for my ears. Anyway, Nessa here presents me with a problem: I don’t have any strong Water counters on my team. I do have Mr. Blobby with Thunderbolt and Briggs with some Grass-type moves, but it I should have more than enough firepower to plow through regardless.

(I’m not gonna repost her throwing animation, you’ve already seen it.)



She leads with Golisopod, which gets nailed by Thunderbolt hard enough to activate its Ability, which puts it back into Nessa’s party and lets her throw out another Pokémon. Her Barraskewda then gets thrown out and hits Mr. Blobby with a super-effective Throat Chop, but this time Thunderbolt is strong enough to take it down in one hit. Golisopod comes out again, receives a Full Restore, gets Thunderbolted again, and shuffles back into her party again, leaving her Seaking to also get Thunderbolted into oblivion. This time, he finally takes it down.



The thing about Pelipper here? It’s both Water and Flying. Do you know what both of those types are weak to?





Time for a change in strategy. Her Drednaw, her signature Pokémon, comes out next. Rather than keep Thunderbolting, I switch out for Briggs.







This move is very powerful, but it eats up like a third of Brigg’s HP. I almost never use it in normal combat. The thing is? Max moves only key off base move power, meaning Wood Hammer’s balance mechanism no longer applies and I get a truly powerful Max move out of the bargain.





(We’ve also already seen her Dynamaxing animation, they recycle them in these fights.)



You remember the last time we fought Nessa’s Drednaw?



It looks a lot different. Just because a type of Pokémon has the capacity to Gigantamax doesn’t mean every member of that species can. Only some of them have a Gigantamax factor, marked by an X symbol; without it, they are shit out of luck (unless you play the DLC).

Funnily enough, this implies that Nessa keeps two separate Drednaws. I don’t know why.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize Drednaw’s G-Max move was Water-type, meaning it wouldn’t bring it to bear against Briggs. Tragic. If you want to see it, I recommend this link, which should take you right to the demonstration. But yeah, ultimately not a terrifying fight.



Look at that combination of effects; the Grassy Terrain from Briggs’s Max Overgrowth and the sandstorm kicked up by the Drednaw’s Max Rockfall (the only move it got to use).



Announcer: She defeated Nessa during the Gym Challenge and now has pulled it off again!



Even with my Dynamaxed partner, you weathered our waves and stood firm. Now that I think about it, Sonia was saying something about how amazing you were. I wish I’d paid more attention to what she was talking about. I bet everyone in Galar’s got their eyes on you now. You defeated my team, so now you’ve got to ride that current all the way to the end!

Announcer: Now...don’t go anywhere, ladies and gentlemen! The second battle of the first round will begin shortly!