Nuzlocke Challenger Found: Black Edition: elite four

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Surfable, Cutable, Strengthable, Backtracable - Part 32

With my team taking a heavy hit I finally make my way out of Victory Road, but not before I hit a final Boldore...

What happens, you may ask?

I defeat it. What were you expecting?

I have a much weaker team now that I lost some of my strongest and most promising. I need to train and/or find some extremely useful Pokémon.

The best way I can think of to try and redeem myself is to do some backtracking.

Backtracking in Pokémon games generally means that I need to find Surfable, Cutable and Strengthable areas.

I hop onto Pumprnickl and we Fly back to my hometown, which from there I walk along the first route until I find some Surfable water.

While Surfing I notice that I do in fact enter a brand new area!

Welcome to Route 17.

Here I find a new TM for Toxic (which is generally a great move, but in a Nuzlocke it's not that great).

I head back to find my Pokémon I can catch so after diving into the water I run into a...

It's another female Frillish! I miss Royal already so I capture it and name her Triscuit.

I explore some more and find a few more items and even a guy willing to give me a Pokémon Egg, which would have been great if I remembered that there was one here!

It contains a Larvesta, a Fire/Bug-type that gets nearly legendary stats.

I'm bummed that I missed this guy, but it's too late.

I explore a little more and find an HM for Waterfall and a TM for Thunderbolt, which I immediately teach to Racksy, who is actually getting a ton of experience in this area with all the Surfing.

I eventually run into another new area that is labeled P2 Laboratory, which holds a single item inside a building to evolve a Porygon, which I don't have.

But there is grass outside which I run through and find...

It's a Watchog, which I catch and name her Wags.

There is only one nickname left on my list now as well... so I go in search for a new area.

I come across Route 18, which is right next to Route 17!

I find a TM for Telekinesis and head into the grass.

I first run into another Watchog, so I give it another shot...

It's a double battle with a Crustle and a Scrafty (Woodrow), what's with me running back into previous Pokémon I had!?

I go to catch Crustle, it gets burned against Licky and I will not stay in its ball. It gets all the way down to the final turn with the Burn and I finally catch the Rock/Bug-type however and name him the final name on the predetermined list of names. Capcom.

With some much needed training under my belt and three new Pokémon to choose from for my team I finally feel a little more at ease.

My Team:

Racksy (Stunfisk) level 45 - Route 8

Odessa (Cofagrigus) level 40 - Relic Castle

Pumprnickl (Vullaby) level 43 - Route 10

Totts (Boldore) 40 - Twist Mountain

Licky (Chandelure) 54 - Celestial Tower

Triscuit (Frillish) level 15 - Route 17

PC:

Wags (Watchog) level 30 - P2 Laboratory

Capcom (Crustle) level 34 - Route 18

Shorty (Minccino) level 40 - Route 16

Chowchow (Liepard) level 33 - Route 9

The Fallen:

Wallace (Deino) level 43 - Victory Road

Xanadu (Krookodile) level 57 - Desert Resort

Royal (Jellicent) level 53- Driftveil City

Bigguns (Joltik) level 35 - Chargestone Cave

Gregford (Swasbuck) level 34 - Dragon Spiral

Cowface (Zebstrika) 46 - Route 7

Catapult (Trubbish) level 30 - Route 5

Cracker (Foongus) 31 - Route 6

Dexxter (Vanillite) level 30 - Cold Storage

Tumbles (Ducklett) level 29 - Driftveil Bridge

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

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Victory Road: The Beginning of My End - Part 31

Victory Road lies in wait ahead of me.

This is a scary place. Trainers will now have balanced teams and there will be a lot of them. The trail is long with lots of Pokémon appearing.

I take a deep breath...

... and head inside.

In the first area of Victory Road I don't run into a single Pokémon, so I head up the stairs and into the next area.

In here I run into a Boldore. I have one, one which is currently on my team. So I'm allowed to skip it and wait for the next.

The next is a Vullaby, this has never happened before... the rules say I can skip the first Pokémon

I encounter if I already own it, but the first two I've run into I not only have, but currently have both on my team.

After a moments deliberation I decide that I will give myself one more chance to find a new Pokémon that I don't have. If it is still another Totts or Pumprnickl then so be it.

I head into the next area and take a single step forward and a Pokémon appears. I'm ready to catch it no matter what.

It's a Deino! It's a Dark/Dragon-type. I'm annoyed that it is part Dark like everything on my team seems to be again, but Dragons are super strong Pokémon. I catch the little level 39 Dragon and name him Wallace.

I teach Pumprnickl Fly and head back to a Pokémon center to heal and to snag Deino out of my PC.

After heading back to Victory Road I start running into a lot of Durant.

These aren't horrible... ah... who am I kidding? I'm ecstatic that I didn't catch one. Licky tears through these Steel/Bug-types with no problem.

Deino steadily gets some decent training as I head further up the Road. I have to heal a few times out of battle and one time I accidentally used a Rare Candy on Xanadu, which I was saving to use them before the Elite Four, but oh well.

Then I see him... It's a trainer dressed as a kung-fu character. These have Fighting-types and have been the bane of my existence through both Nuzlocke challenges.

He sends out a Scrafty. I remember my own Scrafty...

I switch from Wallace to Xanadu, which I know Xana is weak to fighting so when he takes a Hi Jump Kick to the face that knocks him down to about 1/4 of his HP I get a little nervous.

But I'm fast and ten levels higher with a ton of attack. I attack Scrafty, but... he was faster...

He hits Xanadu with...

...another Hi Jump Kick...

And my strongest Pokémon's eyes slowly close for the last time...

I need to find a place to fly out of here, but I run into another trainer. It's a doctor. One that after you fight him he becomes a sort of Pokémon Center for you.

He sends out a Gothirita, which I have Wallace try to Crunch, but the doctor recalls his Pokémon and sends out a Leavanny (like the one that Burgh had so long ago). My Crunch took his leafy bug down to half health. I can take it out.

Leavanny uses an X-Scissor and...

My newest is now among my fallen comrades...

He heals my Pokémon after I have Licky finish him off. He even tries to heal the dead.

I make my way outside and Fly on Pumprnickl to a center. I bury my dead and fill my team up with Totts and Odessa.

I make my way back towards the top of Victory Road...

It takes some time, but with most of the trainers defeated and now with Totts knowing Strength I push a few boulders around and make it up much more quickly.

The last trainer to fight is a veteran who owns a Gigalith.

This is ultimately what Totts can become, but I have to trade him to do that, maybe eventually...

I send out Royal to take on this guy, which shouldn't be a problem. I'm nearly 10 levels higher and a Water-type which is strong against Gigalith.

After two hits Gigalith is still standing, but... Royal...

I... I... I have lost two of my three strongest on Victory Road. I even lost a Dragon. How am I supposed to beat the Elite Four now?