Part 7: Having A Wild Time

Part 7: Having A Wild Time



Wild Pokemon? In my desert region? It's more likely than you think.

Poke Spot



DUKING is said to be the driving force behind the booming popularity of wild POKEMON in PYRITE. DUKING, so is this the POKE SPOT you discovered?



Fifteen years?! Is that true?!

Yeah, uh... one shouldn't let details get in the way of the story, isn't that right, BETTY?

It's POFTY!

All right! Let me explain how one goes about attracting wild POKEMON to a POKE SPOT. Well... seeing as you're here, wouldn't it be better if I got someone to demonstrate?



I've heard a lot about this Duking, savoir of Pyrite, or something like that. Let's get a lesson in catching Pokemon!



All right, my friend. Let me show how you attract wild POKEMON to a POKE SPOT. First, and above all else, you need these: DUKING brand POKE SNACKS. Here, I'll give you some.



Okay, so getting wild Pokemon in this game isn't the usual fare of walking through grass or in a cave. We'll be needing these Duking brand Poke Snacks (tm) before we can even get wild Pokemon to appear. Orre hasn't changed that much over 5 years.



The more POKE SNACKS you lay out, the longer a POKEMON will stay to eat, making it that much easier to catch. This is also important. My specially made SPOT MONITOR. This, I'm sure you'll agree, is truly something awesome!

My goodness! You developed this device yourself?

Yeah, uh... one shouldn't let details get in the way of the story, isn't that right, BETTY?

It's POFTY! By the way, DUKING. Can you tell us what a SPOT MONITOR is?

I'm glad you asked me that. My SPOT MONITOR is a dandy! It lets you know what's happening at any POKE SPOT wherever you are. Here, my friend! As my thanks for you hearing me out patiently, I'll make a gift of this, too! Slot it into your P*DA. That's all you need to do to make it work. Simple!



All right, now you're set! Now, when a wild POKEMON appears at any POKE SPOT, your SPOT MONITOR will respond and alert you. I've found three POKE SPOTS in all. There's one to the west of this one here.



Oh, you are so lucky! To get a private lesson from DUKING himself, I mean. It makes me a little envious! Oh! Goodness! Is the camera still rolling?!



I just hope you got my good side.



With the Poke Snacks set, we can now catch wild Pokemon. Er, in a little bit, after enough in-game time has passed and you're in a different area, the Spot Monitor will notify you of a wild Pokemon which, depending on the Pokemon, will eat one Poke Snack every certain amount of steps. If you can get to the Spot before it eats all the snacks, you can battle and catch it! We'll go over what wild Pokemon we can find in a little bit, since we gotta wait for one to show up first.



I'm surprised you came out to a place like this. It must mean you're seriously interested in wild POKEMON. That's marvelous! This makes it all worthwhile, my teaching you, I mean. So, you fine, upstanding lad, lover of wild POKEMON, I have some information that you'll find to be special. But, my friend, I also have a favor to ask. That's a fair deal, right? Yeahah! Thank you kindly. You see, there are several POKEMON that hardly ever show up at POKE SPOTS. TRAPINCH, SURSKIT, and WOOPER... I'm having a rotten time of it, trying to catch those three. If you were to catch them, I'd gladly trade you some of my POKEMON, mate. I'm counting on you, mate! I've got to be on my way now!



That's my favourite POKE SPOT. You've got to go see it. Well, I guess I should be going on my way. Real pleasure chatting with you again, mate. I'll be heading back to PYRITE. Come visit whenever you'd like! Let's meet again, mate! Adios!



One more spot to visit. Hold onto to your butts, friends.



Eh, don't whine too much. You know what the boss always says. He'll get TEAM MIROR B. together one day, and we'll own all the POKEMON in the world!

Sure... do you really think we could pull off something like...

Wah! Boss?! ...oh, whew, it's just some kid. Don't sneak up on me like that!

Don't be so jumpy. I've got my RADAR. We'll know if the boss is coming around.

Uh... yeah, that's true. Hehehe.

Huh?! The RADAR's got something! It's the boss! MIROR B.!

Miror B.'s Theme







Sniff... oh, oh, oh! I sense the pleasing scent of POKEMON, oh yes I do! Maybe you're just a little hood, but maybe you're also one fine TRAINER with the goods? How about you get with it and join my posse?



yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes



Fuhohoho! I thought you'd say that! You always had this smell to me, you see, that you would be our enemy. How I deal with a threat is to nip it while it's a bud yet. Fuhohoho! I'll be showing you my power now. Try not to be blown away by a sense of wow! Let the music play!

VS Miror B.







Well would you look at that, the best character in the franchise returns with the usual Rain Dance Swift Swim team of before, though he only has Lombre since this is still the early game.



Unfortunately we're way too strong for him at the moment, so this won't be an interesting battle, but you can see how it'll go.



I don't know why he didn't have this Pokemon last game, seems almost impossible to consider otherwise.




Despite the STAB in the rain, the strongest move he has is Water Gun, so it's not gonna do a lot of damage. Even less so to me in my current situation.



Voltorb, 190 catch rate (78%, half health, paralyzed, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Rush/Mirror Coat, Shadow Panic/Refresh, Spark, Swift

Since Nincada isn't in this game (spoilers, sorry), Electrode is the fastest Pokemon in the game you can use (last game the fastest was Raikou/Sneasel), so it will, barring priority, go first, guaranteed and let loose strong Electric attacks, which Ninjask definitely can't take. Uh, that's about all it does, since its movepool is pretty damn shallow and the only coverage move it gets is... Hyper Beam, since it's slightly stronger than two Facades. Of course, it can go boom and easily set up screens before the opponent can even blink, but Ground types will stop it very quickly. Still, in the rain, it'll wreak some havoc, though since it sacrifices a lot of stats for its Speed, it won't deal a massive punch like you expect and also be pretty fragile, especially to Earthquake. Still, Selfdestruct. (Explosion is past postgame, alas)

Oh hey, there's also a new Shadow move and this one is pretty nasty. Shadow Panic has 60% accuracy and confuses both opponents, like Teeter Dance, but better, if inaccurate. It's blocked by Own Tempo, but also Soundproof, despite no indication it's a sound move.



Aw man is it over already?

Poke Spot



Just you wait and see! One of these days, with my elegant steps, I'll knock you sideways! Let's go! Escape!



Oh my. What I hold in my hands is something men and women all over the world could only dream of.



This RADAR shows you where MIROR B.--that's the boss--happens to be. Whenever the boss appears somewhere, a mark appears on the screen. When you see the mark, check out the RADAR. It'll tell you where he is. You'll probably ask me where the boss is when he's not on RADAR. You know how mysterious he can be. Who knows where he goes off to? Probably off getting POKEMON or something. Somewhere far away, out of the transmitter's range.



Well we can dream about finding Miror B. at a later point, for now, back to Pyrite. But when a Pokemon shows up, we'll definitely drop everything to go catch it. But I doubt anything important is gonna happen for a while anyway.

Cipher Invasion



Ah goddammit, what now?



Of course, it's always Cipher.




And they're 10 levels lower than me because the opposing trainers are STILL under level 20. Come the heck on game. But it's partly my fault since my team members are a lot more paced out, but I didn't think it would make things this bad!



Hmm, might as well, need those morality points.



MEGG is NETT's younger sister. You know, she's the receptionist. You've seen her, right? The intruders grabbed her and hustled her upstairs with them in the elevator!



If anyone tries to get out, there will be serious consequences! Get it?! Hunh?! You're acting mighty suspicious!



Oh god the levels just keep getting lower, what is going on?



It doesn't help that most of these Cipher battles are optional, so the game has to account to that, which I get, since it's mean to account for doing everything like me.




We could save everyone by going up to the top and clearing out the leader of this pack, but that's no fun.



Hahaha! You look mystified! You don't know how I managed to be on the elevator with you, do you? I'll tell you what I did... I braced myself flat up against the ceiling! It takes a lot of strength! Not bad, huh? I demand your respect! And now, we battle!



Alright, this is a Shadow Pokemon that Anca can apparently see- wait a minute, why is Makuhita reappearing like this?



Well it doesn't have a 100% catch rate this time around, so we'll need to weaken it. It can take two weak attacks, right?



No? Shit. Shadow Pokemon Resets: 11 12



Makuhita, 180 catch rate (78%, half health, paralyzed, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Blitz/Brick Break, Shadow Shed/Refresh, Arm Thrust, Rock Tomb

Well this mon looks familiar. There's a couple of differences for Makuhita this time around, mainly a coverage move to let it hit Ghost types in, ugh, Rock Tomb. That's the best you'll get all game, so hey, a free Brick Break is pretty good, letting another member have the TM. Otherwise, give it Body Slam and Earthquake and it'll be pretty good. It gets a bit of competition from Breloom as a Fighting type, but Hariyama is a lot more dependable and has less weaknesses and no special STAB to mostly ignore, so if you didn't fancy using it last time, it's still pretty damn good, so why the heck not?



Hey, pick on someone your... own size? Hmm, I'm a small boy this time around.



Well he was definitely punching above his weight class.



They came looking for NETT. I'm guessing that your DATA ROM contains sensitive information that they want to keep secret at all costs. I'll be fine. I'm worried about NETT, though. Please go to him.

It was terrible! They suddenly barged in here and started beating SECC up.



We'll save Nett soon enough, I'm sure, but the cry of a woman and an item will keep me busy for the moment.



W-what? Who are you?! I'm getting ANCHA's autograph! You stay out of this!



See, Portobello's Grass STAB is still useful! Sometimes...



Alright you've had your fun, get outta here.



Keep up the fake news combatting. If anyone says Fake News in the thread in a sincere way, you're banned.




In Tiksi, Hotdog bites you!

...

okay I'll ban myself for that one.



Anyway, since this is a trainer you have to fight, here's a Shadow Pokemon. The game is pretty good about that, since it's rude to miss out of them.



Vulpix, 190 catch rate (78%, half health, paralyzed, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Wave/Heat Wave, Shadow Hold/Charm, Ember, Dig

This popular internet browser is a fine choice, though you'll have to rely on Vulpix's meh stats for a bit, since a Fire Stone is still a while away. It's a bit simple, as far as Fire types go, since it doesn't learn any good moves after evolving and has very limited coverage, including no special coverage. Best to evolve it after 29 to save a Flamethrower TM, unless you want to skip straight to Fire Blast and then go for Body Slam and Iron Tail with its acceptable, though not amazing, Attack. Dig is tempting, but of course Earthquake will always be a problem, since it's physically frail, but with Will-o-Wisp and good SpDef and Speed, it works weirdly well as a speedy tank. It's something different, but it won't really wow you otherwise.



Now that Pofty's gone, we can get this item. Neat.



Greetings



Ooh, a fully evolved Pokemon. Maybe that's a sign of things to come? Oh wait, it isn't.



Right, who else is there to save?



Uh-huh. I wonder who's going to be the one hurting? Huh? What do you want, kid?! Stay out of the way if you don't want to get hurt!



Gotta save prop man!



Still doesn't have a beak, so I dunno what that line is doing.



Neat, we can sell that! While the EV drinks are more available in this game, we still won't be picking up many, so I'd rather sell them for cash money.



Least we know why that healing machine is there. Nearly at the top too.



Now that is one scary image. Uh, not the yet another level up, the spooky ghost shrouded in a dark aura.



Duskull, 190 catch rate (78%, half health, paralyzed, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Wave/Shadow Ball, Shadow Hold/Helping Hand, Astonish, Confuse Ray

It's time for another defensive mon! Duskull has a pretty good typing and a moveset to take hits and be annoying, which is always tough to recommend for single player, but at least double battles can make it shine, since hey, Helping Hand is nice and Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray and Will-o-Wisp will also be good moves. With Ice Beam, even its low SpAtk can target weaknesses, but because it evolves so late and doesn't do much offensively, it's gonna be a rough journey. It obviously has its benefits, but can you use them here in one player land?



Oh hey those are in short supply right now, nice.



Now this is a gatekeeper, take notes Cail.



Ah, finally, our first Kadabra of many.



Ralts, 235 catch rate (99%, half health, paralyzed, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Wave/Shock Wave, Shadow Hold/Sing, Reflect, Confusion

Oh hey it's something I used. Guess what, since it didn't get anything particularly fancy from purification, if you read my Emerald LP, you know everything this mon will do! Yeah, it hits things hard with Psychic and Electric moves. And that's it. At least this time you can save a Shock Wave TM, but still need a Thunderbolt one and you can Sing stuff. Ain't that neat? But yeah, it hits really hard, learns Psychic nice and early and that's about it! Wasn't that fun?



Whoops! Who cares about that?! The creeps took MEGG hostage, and they took her into this room. You're really strong, aren't you? Please, help MEGG!



...all right. Keep your hands off my sister. The DATA ROM is right here...

Good boy! You catch on real quick. Toss me that DATA ROM nice and easy now. Heh... okay, I'll thank you for returning the DATA ROM. By the way... let me guess. Are you maybe thinking it doesn't matter because you've already copied the data on this?



Waahahaha! That's why I'm not worried! It's heartbreaking, isn't it?! Well, thanks for being such a great host, but we've got to go. Here's your sister back.

NETT!

MEGG, are you alright?



You don't look like an admin, so I don't think I'm all that worried.



Well they're starting to catch up in levels, but I'm still five over them, which is a bit nuts.



But now we have a pretty tough Pokemon to catch, since they've been a little too easy for a while.



This guy does have a tough team, with evolved Pokemon and some TM moves to hit weaknesses with, so it could be a surprise. But I'm guessing you have a full team by now or something to keep levels low, cause I might be snowballing out of control here. Ah it should be fine.



Hey now, you can't use Dig strats before I get Protect!



Still, we survive that.



Alright, all we need to do is catch Mawile. Bit of a pain, but at least we have a few Great Balls still.



Mawile, 45 catch rate (40%, low health, paralyzed, Great Ball), starting moves: Shadow Rush/False Swipe, Shadow Wave/Sing, ViceGrip, Iron Defense

I think that's probably the worst starting moveset yet, mainly because Mawile in Gen 3 had plenty of other problems aside from that, from the various Dark moves it can't make use of, to ZERO Steel attacks unless you get lucky with Hidden Power and a large special moveset that, again, can't be used. Still, because of its wide movepool, it can be given a host of physical moves to offset its lack of STAB, though of course Sludge Bomb and Return are postgame and it can't learn Iron Tail or Earthquake, so at least you've got... Rock Tomb. Even then, it cannot take Fire attacks well and will take a lot of damage due to its low Speed, and even when it hits, its Attack isn't outstanding, so it'll fall short. If you want to challenge yourself, this Pokemon is usable, but boy it has a lot of things against it.



See ya important guy (we never see him again).

ONBS



Still, from what we did manage to decrypt, a part of CIPHER's criminal plan became clear. For instance, CIPHER was behind the disappearance of that cargo ship, the S.S. LIBRA. There's more. CIPHER is planning a major attack on PHENAC CITY.

Oh, no, NETT! Is that true? MARCIA'S gone off to PHENAC CITY! She said she was going to investigate why the town's communication systems are down.

What?! CIPHER could attack there at any time!

DAVID, we need your help. Please, could you inform the MAYOR of PHENAC CITY about CIPHER's coming attack?



MARCIA... I hope she's okay...

In PHENAC CITY, there's a guy named JUSTY who's the LEADER of the PRESTIGE PRECEPT CENTER. Try to hook up with him. I'm sure he'll be eager to help you stop CIPHER from attacking his town.



Darn it! I'd go myself, but they worked me over pretty darn thoroughly. DAVID, please. Can you go help MARCIA?

I keep telling him not to move, but he just won't listen. He is so obstinate!



It's amazing. They pulled a caper of this scale so brazenly in broad daylight... if this incident is any indication, it appears certain that CIPHER will become even more active in the days to come.



Womp womp. We've still got enough time to explore Phenac City, so let's see what's changed after five years!

Phenac City



Ooh, I like the music change. Still looks the same, even have Dash and Duskull running around the fountain, just like I remember!



Incredible as it may seem, you're exactly the one millionth visitor to PHENAC! In commemoration, please accept this: a DISC CASE, which already comes with some BATTLE CDs!




Oh, uh, lucky me! Ah shit I'll soon be covering Battle CDs...



The REALGAM TOWER is a top battling facility where TRAINERS can enjoy BATTLE SIMs, among other events, using BATTLE CDs. Off you go! Have a good time!



R-Right. So, since Phenac City seems to be perfectly fine, I think we can have a hero's break and check out Realgam Tower. You ready for lengthy side modes? Haha... I'm not, gotta make the images first...