Raise The Draw Bridge! - Part 16

Elesa said that she can help me get into the next city, which in turn will get me to the next gym. 

I head over to Route 4, where she said I would meet her, but before I can meet up with her.

Cheren wants to fight. Great, I just put Odessa out front to train.

He sends out a level 24 Liepard, which I then switch into my own (Conch). I'm meet with Torment. The next turn I Slash while Cheren uses Pursuit. I then follow up with an Assurance, which KO's his Liepard.

He then sends out a level 24 Panpour which Conch Slashes and then gets Scalded in return, luckily not being burned in the process, since that would just kill him (more or less) and I can't use any Burn Heals.

He sends out his Servine which is now level 26. Conch uses Slash and he counters with a Leech Seed. Conch uses Assurance next, which activates Servine's Sitrus Berry, and Servine uses Growth setting himself to deal more damage next turn. Leech Seed hits me and activates my own Oran Berry. Conch Slashes again and Servine counters with a Leaf Tornado.

Conch is at 11 HP...

Leech Seed hasn't sucked at my health yet, but it is going to...

It activates and Servine sucks the life out of Conch... for the last time... 

I send out Catapult which knocks him out with an Acid Spray and a Sludge, but only after taking two Leaf Tornadoes himself.

Tranquil is his last Pokémon, which is the evolved form of Pidove.

I send out Xanadu, which gets off a big Rock Tomb and he counters with Air Cutter. Xanadu finishes it off with Crunch. 

I need to mourn Conch, but Elesa drags me from grieving.

Alder the Pokémon Champion is here and greets us and Cheren immediately disses him, but Alder is pretty snappy himself and throws it back at Cheren.

He heals our Pokémon, which means he heals Conch, but Conch can't be revived... because he's dead.

Alder wants us to fight with some kids...

I'm always up fro cracking a few skulls after I lose my strongest teammate.

Cheren and I team up and take down these toddlers. It's supposed to be Alder's way of teaching Cheren that everything isn't about becoming stronger, but about having fun and becoming friends with them. 

Cheren can't and won't admit that he is wrong and sulks off. 

I become mopey as I realize I have lost Conch...

I lower him into a grave and bid him farewell.

Elesa makes a call and allows the bridge to be lowered when I finally make my way back to Route 4. 

Driftveil Bridge leads to Driftveil City. On this bridge there are no trainers, but... there are shadows of Pokémon that fly above it. Sometimes they drop wings, which power-up Pokémon and sometimes... they have a Pokémon in them!

Like Ducklett...

I run into this little Water/Flying-type and catch it. I name him Tumbles and I'm excited for this guy because he will be insanely powerful in the next gym, which is Ground.

I head into Driftveil, which has water that I can Surf and Fish on, but I have no poles or the HM for Surf yet, so I will have to wait to catch a new Pokémon here. 

Cheren and the Gym Leader are talking when I head deeper into the City and Clay is pissed at us.

He had captured some Team Plasma members, but they escaped when he raised the bridge. Both Cheren and I agree that it's not our fault for him being a moron, but he blames us anyways and forces us to find them before we can challenge him in his gym.

Before searching I explore the city and find very little, but this city is situated in an area that can catch me three new Pokémon, right now!

I take a couple deep breaths and head to the first area.

My Team:

Tumbles (Ducklett) level 24 - Driftveil Bridge

Xanadu (Sandile) level 31 - Desert Resort

Catapult (Trubbish) level 22 - Route 5

Shorty (Minccino) level 19 - Route 16

Odessa (Yamask) level 22 - Relic Castle

The Fallen:

Conch (Liepard) level 34 - Route 2

Zkippy (Lillipup) level 15 - Route 1

Upstairs (Oshawott) level 12 - Nuvema Town

Butterball (Pansear) level 18 - Dreamyard

Yuko (Blitzle) level 15 - Route 3

Amasya (Roggenrola) level 18 - Wellspring Cave

Flathead (Timburr) level 17 - Pinwheel Forest

Woodrow (Scraggy) level 30 - Route 4

Cannot Catch At These Areas

Lostlorn Forest

A Normal Scavenger Hunt For Lenora - Part 10

I am emotionally drained... there is little to no hope left for this playthrough...

I should just give up...

But I only have one Pokémon left. Conch is quick and fast, but not much else, plus it has a pretty poor moveset. It is a Pokémon that won't take me to the end... I should have saved Amasya...

All I can do is train though... or lose...

Okay... I'll try. 

I train. I train so hard that Conch gets strong enough to evolve from a Purrloin to a Liepard.

That isn't enough. I train it even more.Conch goes from level 19 to level 30. Conch even learns Fake Out, which makes fighting Fighting-types a little easier.

Training is now a chore, even the Audino in Pinwheel Forest are giving it barely anything. 

I decide to give the Gym a try. If Conch can't do this now, I doubt I ever can.

I head into the Gym, which turns out to be a museum. A guy named Hawkes shows me around; a pretty stone, a metorite and even a Dragonite skeleton.

At the end of the tour Hawkes reveals that his wife is actually the Leader and that the Gym is in the back of the museum. 

I head into the back and it's a library. I find out that I have to solve a scavenger hunt to get to her. I fight the trainers here and my massive Conch tears through them with no remorse. 

I eventually reveal the entrance to the Nacrene City Gym under a bookshelf.

I head downstairs and take a deep breath. There is no going back.

I begin the battle with Lenora.

This is a serious post. So let's get down to the Gym Leader battle.

She sends out a level 18 Herdier.

Zkippy would have evolved into this eventually...

I have no choice and send out Conch. Conch gets hit with Herdier's Intimidate off the bat, and it lowers her Attack. Great start...

Conch uses a Fake Out, which is a huge hit, but not a KO. Herdier of course flinches. Fake Out can no longer be used for this battle, so it's up to the remaining three moves. Pursuit, Fury Swipes and Sand Attack. Conch uses Pursuit and Herdier counters with a Take Down, which would have KO'ed it, but it missed. Lenora uses a Super Potion fully healing her pup. I have Conch use Pursuit again and again. I would have selected it a third time, but Herdier went down.

She sends out her final Pokémon. A level 20 Watchog.

I remembered Lenora having this Pokémon so I was able to plan accordingly, which I will reveal in a moment.

Conch has to stay out as she is the only Pokémon I have. I use Pursuit. Lenora uses Leer. I use Pursuit again. Lenora uses the move that will end me... Hypnosis. 

As long as it doesn't hit me...

It does...

Or at least... 

That's what it would have been if I didn't let Conch hold a Chesto Berry before the battle started. Conch uses it and wakes up right away. Lenora is already in the red and Conch uses a third and final Pursuit.

Lenora's final Pokémon goes down and...

I win.

I won with just Conch.

We got the Basic Badge!

She also gives me a fairly strong TM for Retaliate, but Conch is too quick to have it work properly.

I'm so stunned that I succeeded that I almost don't notice that Hawkes has come into the Gym to tell his wife that Team Plasma is here...

My Team:

Conch (Liepard) level 30 - Route 2

The Fallen:

Zkippy (Lillipup) level 15 - Route 1

Upstairs (Oshawott) level 12 - Nuvema Town

Butterball (Pansear) level 18 - Dreamyard

Yuko (Blitzle) level 15 - Route 3

Amasya (Roggenrola) level 18 - Wellspring Cave

Flathead (Timburr) level 17 - Pinwheel Forest

To The Dreamyard I Go! - Part 5

I start this playthrough while watching a horror movie called "Would You Rather?", which has the awesome Jeffery Combs in it, which is the only reason why I am watching it.

But in the meantime, I am on Route 2.

Route 2 means a brand new Pokémon to add to my party!

Let's a-go!

Ring... ring...

I pick up my XTransceiver and it's my mom. And she NEEDS to talk to me, but then she hangs up.

Leaving me confused I hang up and there she is... stalking me from the entrance of the route. She runs over to me, much more quickly than I can run and she gives me running shoes. 

She explains that I can now run. Hallelujah! The game will start to go more quickly now as I can run at the speed of running shoes!

She then shuffles off back towards home and now I can finally go catch a new Pokémon. 

I head off into the first patch of grass and walk around until I run into a Lillipup. I already have one and the rules state that I have the ability to skip the first  Pokémon if I already have a living one. SO I do just that.

I skip it and walk around in circles until I run into the next random encounter...

Oooh! It's a Purrloin, just like the one that N had previously. These are nice little speedy attackers, and the fact that they're a Dark-type also helps. 

I tackle it and ball it up. I now have a Purrloin. 

I name it Conch, which is the next name on the list of names that people have given me. 

I realize that Conch is a little weak at the moment so I train her up a little, especially after it nearly dies in one hit against a Patrat, which critcal hits it down into the red.

After some brief training, I run into the first official trainer battle. 

His name is Jimmy and he has a level 7 Patrat. 

Conch takes it out with a few Scratch attacks.

I fight through a few more trainers and then suddenly Bianca comes running up to me. 

She challenges me to a battle. 

She still has her Tepig, which has barely leveled and a newly obtained Patrat. I take them both out without much of a hassle and she turns around and runs back the way she came. 

I guess Bianca used Run.

That was  Pokémon humor, folks.

After beating her to a pulp, me and my team of three are now in Striaton City

This is where the first gym battle will be, but I don't feel confident to take the Gym Leader on yet. I'll explain why later.

I explore the city and get a free item or two in the process, but nothing to write home about. 

I do however find Cheren in the school and he decides he wants to fight me again.

So we battle!

Cheren has his Snivy (barely trained) and a newly captured Purrloin.

This was just as easy as Bianca. My rivals are wimps this time around. I even inadvertently bully him into giving me a few Oran Berries, which will be helpful in the early game, but not for long.

After that the whole city, sans the Gym has been explored. I still don't feel confident in trying to take on the Gym so I head off to the right of the city into the Dreamyard.

The Dreamyard has a few trainers and some new teamates to obtain. I first go through and fight all the trainers and then realize something...

I can't capture a  Pokémon here until I beat the Gym.

I'm about to leave the area when suddenly a person waves me over to them. I head over quietly and they offer me a  Pokémon. Because I chose an Oshawott in the beginning of the game this person is offering me a new 'mon of the opposite type. Fire.

This could be helpful, I think to myself, Fire-types are more of a mid-late game catch and having one this early could be helpful. 

I take it, which counts as catching a creature in this area.

Welcome, Pansear.

Butterball is his name and he will be crucial in the Gym fight. 

Remember how I told you I would explain why I didn't want to go into the Gym yet? That's because depending on your first  Pokémon the Gym changes. The change it goes through is that it will be a Gym Leader with  Pokémon that are strong against your starter type. Which means this Gym will have a Grass Gym Leader.

It's time to train before we head inside.

My Team:

Upstairs (Oshawott) level 11 - Nuvema Town

Zkippy (Lillipup) level 10 - Route 1

Conch (Purrloin) level 10 - Route 2

Butterball (Pansear) level 10 - Dreamyard