Going Down Deep For Clay - Part 18

It's time to hit up the gym. I just wish that I had some Water/Flying duck or even a really cold ice cream cone to have at my side...

Ghetsis however is blocking the way with an entourage of grunts in his wake. He wants Clay to release the prisoners that he had just gotten from the last post. 

Clay doesn't want to and calls Ghetsis for doing the evil things that they said they were against. Ghetsis tells him that they only steal from wicked people.

That must mean Bianca is evil.

Clay calls him straight out and tell Ghetsis to his face that he is a liar. But for some reason Clay still gives up his prisoners and gives them over to Ghetsis. 

Cheren says that he needs to train more before he can defeat Clay and he runs off. I don't feel the same way and I head inside to to the Gym.

An elevator takes me down into the middle of the earth and there is scaffolding, elevators and trainers everywhere. 

I put Cracker up front. He isn't super strong against Ground, but he should be able to hold his own. 

There is a good chunk of trainers here and Cracker is even able to beat a couple Pokémon himself, which is surprising. 

I finally make it to the final elevator and head even deeper into the gym. I pass layers of dirt and fossils and even a giant metal door that slowly opens up. This doorway leads to Clay's inner chamber of sorts which is filled with crystals and conveyor belts. 

I take a final deep breath and get ready to possibly lose Xanadu...

Let's get it on you cowboy of a Gym Leader.

Clay has three Pokémon. He sends out the first one, which is a Krokorok, just like Xanadu used to be!

Xanadu barely even lets this level 29 Pokémon of Clay's out. One Rock Smash is all it takes and Clay has one less Pokémon.

His next member of his team is a Palpitoad, a Water/Ground-type, that is an evolution of Tympole.

It looks like it has warts growing over its body and they jiggle when it moves. It's rather gross.

I keep Xanadu out, but I need to be careful, because Xanadu is weak to Water. I have Xanadu use Dig, which will be amplified by it being a STAB move and the fact that he is holding Soft Sand. Palpitoad tries to use Bulldoze, but misses because I'm underground and next turn Xanadu doesn't hold back. Clay's second Pokémon goes down.

His third and final Pokémon is ready to come out now and it is a level 31 Excadrill, which is so powerful (if trained correctly) that it is actually banned from lots of online play.

It's a brutal Ground/Steel combo and I know that it is weak to Fighting moves (jeeze, is everything weak against Fighting lately?). I have Xanadu use Rock Smash (which by now Xanadu has been beefed up by two Moxies). Excadrill goes down. 

I just won against a Gym Leader. Using one Pokémon. Never losing life. What... just happened...

I get the Quake Badge!

And I also get the TM for... wait... Clay isn't giving me a TM?!

He tells me to meet him out on Route 6, which is the only place I can go to, so I head on over there.

My Team:

Xanadu (Sandile) level 42 - Desert Resort

Catapult (Trubbish) level 22 - Route 5

Shorty (Minccino) level 20 - Route 16

Odessa (Yamask) level 23 - Relic Castle

Cracker (Foongus) 27 - Route 6

The Fallen:

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

We All Scream For Ice Cream - Part 17

Route 6 is the first area that I head into.

I run into the first patch of grass and it is a...

Foongus! I had two of these in my last Nuzlocke. They were named Namless and Nameless2. They didn't fare too well...

I hope this guy, named Cracker fares better.

Immediately after catching this little guy I head to another area to catch a new teammate. 

The next area is the Cold Storage area, which I find a few okay items. Rocky Helmet and PP Up.

I see some grass alongside the Cold Storage area and head directly towards it, the first thing I run into is...

Um. I throw a Pokéball at it and catch the ice cream cone...

I find out that it is actually called a Vanillite, which I name Dexxter.

I deposit Shorty to make room for Dexxter because he will help me in the next Gym, but not as much as Tumbles. I head back to the Desert Resort to train the little duck. 

I train in the desert and into the Relic Castle, where I captured Odessa, and I fight some trainers that I left inside. I even score a Fossil. I had to roll for which Fossil I would receive. Either the Cover or Plume Fossil. 

I roll the Cover Fossil.

If I live long enough through this challenge I will score a pretty solid Water/Rock-type, Tirtouga.

I cannot get it yet, but when I do it will account for the city that creates it, since it isn't a Pokémon yet. But it's something to look forward towards.

After training up Tumbles, Xanadu and Cracker a bit I head over to Route 6, where the levels of the wild Pokémon are a little higher. 

There's lots of Grass-type here, which is great for Dexxter and Tumbles. 

Or... it would have been great to train Tumbles here, but he gets hit with a massive critcal hit Take Down from a Deerling and is taken out in a single hit. 

Tumbles takes his final soar through the air and floats gently into an open grave...

Well, since Tumbles is gone, I at least have a back-up this time. I send out Dexxter to start getting trained. During training and exploring Route 6 I find a Shiny Stone (which now allows Shorty to evolve at anytime) and the entrance to Chargestone Cave, but it is blocked by a yellow web.

After training for a while, I head back to Cold Storage and run into Cheren. 

I know that Team Plasma is hiding inside that building, but I realize something... I can train in the grass here, because the Pokémon in this area give a decent amount of experience so I go off to train.

I train so hard that Xanadu evolves!

With him evolved his Attack and Speed go through the roof. This is a Pokémon that may keep me in this challenge. And be careful when googling this Pokémon because it is a couple letters off from the dangerous drug krokodil and the pictures of those are gruesome...

I head into Cold Storage to look for Team Plasma.

Inside there are tons of items, trainers and lots of ice to slide around on. Eventually Cheren and I explored and searched the whole storage unit except for one last container.

Cheren and I head inside and find a sage surrounded by Plasma grunts trying to keep warm. As soon as they see us we become surrounded.

I beat four of the eight grunts and Clay appears with some of his own grunts and arrest the rest of them. He tells us before he leaves with his prisoners that we can now challenge him. 

I go off to train Dexxter a little more now so he can take on Clay. 

I go back off to Route 6 to train him against Grass-types and he is attacked by a Deerling. I use Icy Wind and Deerling uses Jump Kick, it takes Dexxter down to 1/3 HP and I know it will go down with another Icy Wind, so I use it...

It misses. 

I get hit by a Faint Attack, which brings Dexxter down to 2 HP. 

I'm not risking this battle anymore so I run. 

I can't...

Dexxter gets hit by Faint Attack again and...

Everything in my party is weak or partly weak against Ground. This is going to be a hard Gym fight, but which one hasn't...

At least I have Xanadu.

My Team:

Xanadu (Sandile) level 40 - Desert Resort

Catapult (Trubbish) level 22 - Route 5

Shorty (Minccino) level 20 - Route 16

Odessa (Yamask) level 23 - Relic Castle

Cracker (Foongus) 25 - Route 6

The Fallen:

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

Elesa, The Sparky Roller Coaster Model - Part 15

We left off last time when something had happened to Xanadu.

He was changing... evolving into...

Krokorok, he's a little stronger and a little faster. It puts my heart at a little more ease now that I have two Pokémon that can hold their own.

I think that I have the power enough to take on the gym. Xanadu is strong and Conch can even help because it has Limber, which means it cannot be paralyzed. 

I head to the gym and I am stopped by N. He said he wants to talk to me for a little bit, so I allow him to talk to me. We head to the Ferris Wheel and he blurts out, without even any build-up, that he is the King of Team Plasma and he was asked personally by Ghetsis to save Pokémon. 

He then asks me to battle him, but I have no choice. 

He has four Pokémon all from the desert area. 

Xanadu is able to take out all of them with a single Dig, until he comes to Darumaka.

For this little guy it takes two hits, but he does hit Xanadu with a Fire Punch.

The last Pokémon that N has is Sigilyph. 

This strange guy has caused problems in the past with me, but with all of the Dark-types that I have it is actually very very simply fixed with a hearty Crunch. 

N is defeated and tells me that he is going to become the Pokémon Champion and the only way to stop him is take him on as Champion. 

N leaves and I'm about to head into the gym, but I get nervous. I decide to use some trainers I kept on the back burner for training now. 

I head back to the Desert Resort.

I fight through trainers and get items like Heart Scale, Rawst Berries and a Firestone.

Then as I'm exploring I remember something. There is an extra area with a different name here!

I head into the other area called Relic Castle. 

I fight a couple trainers here and the first Pokémon I run into is a Sandile, which I already have so I skip it (as per the rules) and try again...

It's the Ghost with a human face, Yamask. I catch it with no problems and name it with the next name off the list, Odessa. 

Now after the training I feel a little safer. 

I head back to the gym.

Inside I'm floored by what I see... 

It's a Tron-esque Roller Coaster! I ride the shuttle around to fight trainers and make my way to the Gym Leader.

It doesn't take long until I walk up to her and start the battle with Elesa. 

She sends out her first of three, and Emolga. 

Xanadu is out to counter it's first attack of an Aerial Ace with a Rock Tomb, which lowers its Speed. Xanadu throws another Rock Tomb, but misses and is hit with another Aerial Ace. Again this happens, but the fourth time is the charm and Emolga goes down.

Elesa must have little imagination, because she sends out another Emolga. 

Xanadu is too weak to go through all of that again, so I switch him out with Conch. 

Conch starts it out with a Fake Out, which is a free hit and then goes back for a Slash, which takes out her second mon.

The third and final Pokémon is always the strongest. She sends out her Zebstrika.

This is what Yuko would've become...

Conch Slashes at him and gets hit by a Spark. Conch winds up for another Slash and... it's a critical hit!

Zebstrika goes down and I took out Elesa!

She gives me a TM for Volt Switch and Bolt Badge!

I guess I'm not so stuck up the creek without a paddle like I thought!

My Team:

Conch (Liepard) level 34 - Route 2

Xanadu (Sandile) level 31 - Desert Resort

Catapult (Trubbish) level 21 - Route 5

Shorty (Minccino) level 19 - Route 16

Odessa (Yamask) level 21 - Relic Castle

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

Woodrow (Scraggy) level 30 - Route 4

Cannot Catch At These Areas

Lostlorn Forest

Dark Thoughts And Thieves - Part 8

That last playthrough drained me...

I lost not just my strongest at the time, but my starter. 

I need to cheer up some how...

I first go back to Fennel. If she wants to use that Dream Mist on me, she can go ahead. I am too empty inside to care about what this strange lady will do to me. 

She must have realized that my team is looking a little light, because she gives me a gift. She gives me the C-Gear. This pretty much allows me to play online (which I can't do, as per my rules) and opens up the ability for the Entralink (which I'm still not sure if I will allow myself to use). 

I thank her and I take her gift. I'm still unsure of what use it will be to me... the hole in my heart is not in the shape of a C-Gear, but in the shape of Upstairs and Zkippy...

I slowly stumble my way through Straiton City and onto Route 3.

Something inside of me feels like it is trying to awake. A new place means a new opportunity to catch a new Pokémon, which I desperately need right now. 

Anything to take my mind off the last two...

Before I can reach an area to get a new Pokémon I have to do some battling. This includes my first double battle, which is over before it starts. Butterball's Incinerate takes them both out before they can attack.

After beating the twins I can see some grass!

I run to it, hoping that I may find a new Lillipup to replace the deceased Zkippy... when Cheren blocks my path. He tells me that he wants to fight.

I destroy him without taking damage. I need this Cheren. I need to get into that grass and get a new Pokémon.

I am readying myself to catch something new when Team Plasma blasts past me. Coming up from the rear is a barely jogging Bianca and a little girl. Apparently Team Plasma stole the little girl's Pokémon and they want us to get it back for her. 

Cheren tells me he is going to follow them and wait for them.

All I want is to catch a new Pokémon!

With all that over and done with, can I go?

Thank. You.

I jump into the grass and roll around for a bit until the battle music and screen come on and it is a...

Blitzle! An electric zebra Pokémon. I am okay with this addition. I have Butterball, the weirdo that he is, licks Blitzle a few times and then I through a ball at him and catch the sucker.

The next name on the list of names is Yuko, so I now have Yuko the Blitzle. 

Yuko's a little weak so I get some training under his belt back at the Dreamyard, because those Audinos really speed things up.

After spending some time with Yuko, I'm feeling a little better.

My darkness is slowly ebbing away and I feel less depressed, but I will never forget them. 

Cheren has been waiting patiently for me in front of the cave where the Team Plasmaites are waiting. 

A cave means more Pokémon to catch, which will mean more training. I turn on the television and put on a movie. The only thing that is on at this time of the day was this SyFy channel classic...

Yep... it's about as good as you would expect.

I head into the cave. Cheren sprints forward to confront them with me, but I lag behind. 

We are in Wellspring Cave. This is a new area, which means a new partner for my team. 

(Please be a Zubat. Please be a Zubat. Please be a Zubat)

I run around in circles hoping to find my favorite cave Pokémon and...

It's a Roggenrola! These guys actually aren't too shabby, but to fully evolve they need to be traded... this may be a little annoying to do. I catch the little guy and name him Amasya. 

He's pretty weak and I want him to learn a good Rock or Ground move, so off to train the little pebble.

Audino were not showing up so it took a little longer than I wanted it to take, plus I trained Yuko a little more as well. 

Back to Wellspring Cave to fight off Team Plasma. 

Cheren and I fight off the first one easy. Then as we are about to take the Pokémon back, two more show up!

Cheren and I team up for these two and double battle our way to an easy victory.

With Team Plasma beaten to a pulp we get the Pokémon back!

But Cheren decides that he wants to take all the credit and takes the Pokémon back to the girl and Bianca leaving me alone in the cave.

At least I have some new Pokémon on my team and they make me happy. 

My Team:

Conch (Purrloin) level 18 - Route 2

Butterball (Pansear) level 18 - Dreamyard

Yuko (Blitzle) level 14 - Route 3

Amasya (Roggenrola) level 14 - Wellspring Cave

The Fallen:

Zkippy (Lillipup) level 15 - Route 1

Upstairs (Oshawott) level 12 - Nuvema Town