Board 8 > Going to play my first Pokemon game in about 15 years

(+) Yeah! (+)

mnkboy907 posted...

Axew is not a pseudo. It's final BST is only 540 instead of 600.

Yeah I wasn't sure if it was one of the pseudo mons. It's almost all dragons anyway.
---

My gut feeling is that Litleo is female. I think that I have had 3 female and 3 male Pokemon in my party for a long time. I know Greninja, Roserade, and Toxicroak are male and Vespiquen and Malamar are female. That would make Litleo female. I could totally be wrong though. I plan on playing the game tonight, so I can confirm then.
---

I had a pretty great team of Chesnaut, Blastoise, Talonflame, Sylveon, Snorlax, and Aegislash. It was nothing to win tournaments with but good enough to beat opponents around the area.

KCF0107 posted...

My gut feeling is that Litleo is female. I think that I have had 3 female and 3 male Pokemon in my party for a long time. I know Greninja, Roserade, and Toxicroak are male and Vespiquen and Malamar are female. That would make Litleo female. I could totally be wrong though. I plan on playing the game tonight, so I can confirm then.

Cool thing about litleo. It has a different evolution if it's male or female.
---

Are there many Pokemon who have different appearances based on gender? So far, I have only heard Espurr and Litleo.
---

No, it's not a common thing. Also Litleo's evo differences are purely cosmetic, unlike Meowstic.
---

There are also a bunch of Pokemon that had cosmetic differences that are so insignificant you need to bring a magnifying glass to its sprite to see the difference. For instance, female Kadabra and Alakazam have shorter mustaches than the males, but you wouldn't notice unless you're looking for differences.
---

Litleo is female confirmed.

Continuing in the Lost Hotel, I caught a Magneton, Klefki, Roton, and Litwick. I have seen a lot of the original Pokemon, but for most of the ones with evolutions, I haven't seen their base form. This building also turned out to be a dead end, so I guess I will have to find out how to be "stylish" in the future. I guess it is time to head back to Dendeville.

There wasn't much here except I found a guy that I assume can remove HMs. I thought Route 17 was where this Frost Cavern was, but I was quickly proved wrong. Realizing that I could head north from Dendeville, NOW I am on the right path for the Frost Cavern.

After seeing an in-game message on the bottom screen about the Wonder Trade, that got me to thinking if I trade a Pokemon that needs to be traded to evolve (such as Haunter or Boldore), will they evolve for the other person in a Wonder Trade? If so, I might try it out with them just so I don't feel bad about giving them crap because maybe they need a Gengar and whatever Boldore evolves into for their Pokedex.
---

Outside of the cavern, I participated in a pair of sky battles. The first one had a Carnivine, and I wouldn't have guessed it was a flying type. I am also still a little salty that Vespiquen can participate in these but not learn Fly. The second battle was the closest that I have come to losing a battle. Vespiquen won the fight with a mere 1 HP remaining. I forget what happens if you lose, a severe currency penalty?

I didn't get far into Frost Cavern. I did catch a Piloswine, Cubchoo, and Jynx. I made it to the second level before stopping because I didn't feel like doing an ice movement puzzle at the time.
---

KCF0107 posted...

After seeing an in-game message on the bottom screen about the Wonder Trade, that got me to thinking if I trade a Pokemon that needs to be traded to evolve (such as Haunter or Boldore), will they evolve for the other person in a Wonder Trade? If so, I might try it out with them just so I don't feel bad about giving them crap because maybe they need a Gengar and whatever Boldore evolves into for their Pokedex.

Absolutely. I've sent lots of trade-evo pokemon over wonder trade for other people, and iIve received some in return.

And if you need to trade evolve anyone, I could help you with that. I'm sure other people here could, too. Or go to the trade boards and find someone if we're not online at the same time.

Also, Litwick is awesome. I used a Litwick in my primary party in Gen 5, and I loved him. Powerful, nice typing, classy appearance (once it evolves). Top tier pokemon imo. I saw a Litwick plushie at Gamestop and was tempted to get it.
---

A lot of people trade trade-evolving pokemon with Everstones attached...

Also, Litwick is awesome. I used one on a comp team. Hits like a truck. A lot of weaknesses though... Funny how Gamefreaked chickened out on giving it Shadow Tag, though a bit understandable.
---

I don't think I've ever gotten an everstone-holding pokemon through wonder trade. Is it just a troll tactic or something? I know some people are annoyed by the trade evolutions because it takes up time when they just want to rush through wonder trades, but honestly, I think if they're that impatient, they shouldn't be wonder trading.

In any case, if you do wonder trade, you're more likely to get trash than something useful. Sometimes the best thing to do is keep trading until you get something you like (which other people will criticize you for because you're just recycling trashmons, but you don't care about what random people on the internet think, do you? :p)

In my case, I was usually breeding for shinies, so I'd toss out my non-shinies. They were usually not super-rare Pokemon, but still pleasant surprises for early games. Spheal, Vulpix, starters, Dhelmise in Moon
---

My best Wonder Trade gift was when I got a Piplup in that time period where Bank had been shut down after its initial release in Japan. Was able to breed that and parlay its descendants into most of the Pokmon that weren't in X/Y natively, including several of the legendaries (had to work up to those of course, but it was worth it).
---

JonThePenguin posted...

Piplup

Username checks out ;)
---

I had an update, but I must have left it at my house. I really suck, but I guess that means that I will have more to update on tomorrow.

So there are Pokemon in this game that you cannot get in the game? That seems rather lame if it's that much harder for someone to complete a Pokedex.
---

Yeah there's like 125 or so Pokemon that are only obtainable by transferring/trading from other games. A large chunk of that being starters and legendaries. But it's always been impossible to complete the Pokedex with just one game.
---

mnkboy907 posted...

Yeah there's like 125 or so Pokemon that are only obtainable by transferring/trading from other games. A large chunk of that being starters and legendaries. But it's always been impossible to complete the Pokedex with just one game.

Halfway impossible these days. I managed a living dex using the trade boards. The internet makes it so much easier.
---

That's still technically more than one game...
---

Further inside the Frost Cavern (ice movement was hardly an obstacle), I met a Black Belt named Alonso. He was upset with me, throwing accusations around that I was trying to thwart his attempts at finding love, or maybe it was just love period. He was next to an ice pillar, and while I am one to judge in this game, I don't want to know. Assuming the best of this terrible options, why are you looking for love in a fucking ice cave? At least Litleo involved in Pyroar at the conclusion of the battle.

Next up was Battle Girl Kinsey. She was glad to finally lock eyes with someone. Just how long has she been in here if none the half a dozen or more people I met up to this point were there? Not only that, but thirty feet directly in front of her was Alonso. After the battle, she even admits to locking eyes with Alonso. I know he has issues, but he's still someone.

The crazies are clearly back in full swing. I finally understand the danger that Mammoswine was worried about. It was those people.

I later found an isolated room off the beaten path. It contained a bright rock covered in ice that I could do nothing with. That was not worth exiting, getting Binacle, and coming back. Now I have to do it again.
---

"Make a bivovac" - some girl in the cavern
- Do what now?

I found a clown Pokemon with water wings holding a steel beam. It calls itself Gurdurr. You can't make this stuff up.

I eventually discovered that Team Flare was unsurprisingly involved, though kudos for not making it super obvious by having them all over the cavern. This Abomasnow may also be involved. I was excited for the chance of teaming up with Trevor and not Serena, but I was mistaken when it appeared Trevor was going to assist. After crushing Team Flare again, Abomasnow doesn't reward me by coming along but instead with an item that will allow it to Mega Evolve. I would rather have Abomasnow.

I caught two more Pokemon here in Bergmite and Vanillite. I also have over 1,000,000 of the in-game currency. Do I have enough money now to never have to worry about cash? I don't even know what to spend money on aside from the occasional Poke Ball and clothing item. I have used the money O-Power like 80% of all O-Power uses, so I might start doing other ones if I have more than enough cash.
---

Riding on the appeased Mammoswine took some getting used to because that camera angle in the beginning is awful. I don't know why it takes some time for it to zoom out. I caught Sneasel, Snover, and Delibird. At the end of the ride, I was hit with some bad news, Serena wants to fight again. I feel like I should get a say in this, but maybe this is a way to empathize with the Pokemon who also hardly get a say in anything.

Reaching Anister City, I was told by someone who might be Sycamore's disciple that someone named Dexio couldn't make it and something about someone knowing about the legendary Pokemon. I have a hard time remembering names in this game (Dexio? Girl who might be a disciple?) other than the Sycamore, the group of kids, Lysandre, and maybe a few gym leaders. Oh, and that legendary Pokemon expert gave me a long-winded speech to let me know that deer live in forests. Thanks, I wouldn't have thought that.

This O-Power guy used to be in hotels, and now I only see him in Pokemon Centers standing in a corner, facing the corner. A lot of people do that. I am starting to suspect that instead of anything resembling a typical criminal justice system, those who break the law are forced to stand in a corner in lieu of prison time. Any coincidence that there are no criminal justice figures in the game? I think not! All the government's budget seems to go to Pokemon-related programs and research plus transportation.

There's a Pokemon memory girl here. Let's see what she has to say:
- Malamar's proudest moment is buying Paralyze Heals at the Pokemon Center
- Delibird got emotional that I beat the crap out of it and threw a Poke Ball at it (sounds legit)
- Toxicroak was overwhelmed by emotion going to a factory and seeing machines that looked complicated
- Vespiquen was teary-eyed after evolving on a tree-lined road after being raised by me (aww)
---

Further in Anister City, I found a lonely old man who wants a Level 5 or worse Pokemon to look after. I felt bad and went out of my way to get him a Pokemon. I caught the first repeat Pokemon that fit his criteria, and he is now taking care of Scatterbug. I can apparently take it back, but I don't care. Have fun with Scatterbug, or as much enjoyment you can have with insects.

I put it off for as long as I could, but I went to the gym to face Serena. She now has four Pokemon. The new scrub is Vaporeon. Her Meowstic and Chestnaut were much better than the last time I faced her, but maybe the game intentionally makes her harder when you face against her and makes her weaker when she is teaming up with you. I can sense Serena is finally making headway in the stages of grief.

Into the actual gym, I find out it is a psychic-type gym. I like the artistic design, but the gym was an obnoxiously long "maze." They called it a maze, but it was a liberal use of the term. Toxicroak seemed to be the only one weak to psychic moves (assuming I identified moves somewhat correctly), but I mostly used Greninja, Vespiquen, and Malamar. I won the badge, but no mention of the move Waterfall again. I have come across two or three instances where a waterfall impeded my progression. With only one badge left, I guess it will happen soon.

Pyroar isn't working out. High speed is nothing if your attack and defense are complete garbage. I guess it's back to the drawing board, but at least that means I can see more evolutions.
---

Seeing a Team Flare member to the side of the gym upon exiting, Serena stops me and, ugh, wants to battle daily. Luckily, that is after the journey is over, and with no guarantee that I will play whatever post-game content is available to me, I don't feel so awful. During our conversation, the worst kept secret came out. Lysandre went on the Holo whatever and essentially stated that he heads Team Flare and will intends to wipe out most of the human race. I'd be surprised if that famous weapon that was mentioned way back somehow only affects humans, but whatever. Team Flare goons mentioned Magenta Plaza and Lysandre's Cafe. Combine that with Serena mentioning about going to Lumiose City, and I guess we have our next destination.

I had many options to replace Pyroar. I didn't want a high-leveled Pokemon since I like building them up. I also didn't want one that had to be traded to evolve, so between Binacle, Cubchoo, Vanillite, and Hippopotus, I went with Vanillite.

Current Team
Lv 64 Greninja
Lv 60 Vespiquen
Lv 56 Roserade
Lv 55 Malamar
Lv 49 Toxicroak
Lv 20 Vanillite

I can't explore south of Anister City, so I guess I have to deal with this Team Flare mess pronto. I went into the cafe, and just wanted to talk to the staff to get an idea of what to do, and the most surprising and maybe funniest line of the game appeared in the text block. "Today's special is get out of here or else." Sorry "THEY'RE FILTH!" but I think we have a new winner.

I opened the secret door but didn't feel like going through the lab not knowing how long it would take.
---

Get Fraxure back on your team.
---

She had her chance
---

KCF0107 posted...

I later found an isolated room off the beaten path. It contained a bright rock covered in ice that I could do nothing with. That was not worth exiting, getting Binacle, and coming back. Now I have to do it again.

Ah, the Ice Rock. It's only purpose is to evolve Eevee into Glaceon.

Gurdurr's prevo and evo both have equally groan-worthy names.

KCF0107 posted...

I caught two more Pokemon here in Bergmite and Vanillite. I also have over 1,000,000 of the in-game currency. Do I have enough money now to never have to worry about cash? I don't even know what to spend money on aside from the occasional Poke Ball and clothing item. I have used the money O-Power like 80% of all O-Power uses, so I might start doing other ones if I have more than enough cash.

As a female trainer, I had a lot of clothes that I had to buy. >_> But the male avatar doesn't have a lot of options.

The memory girl sometimes says Pokemon remember sad things. I can't remember off hand what they are, but that combined with the more serious/melancholic background music, sometimes makes me sad. :(

I used a Vanillite for a while. I feel like Ice types in general are too weak to do much with. Only luck I've had with Ice types are Lapras and Walrein. But hey, good luck with it!
---

I might not be able to update until Monday. It depends if my family is visiting tomorrow or Sunday.
---

Yeah, I ran out of time. It will have to wait until Monday.
---

its fine, we'll still be here. :)
---

KCF0107 posted...

Yeah, I ran out of time. It will have to wait until Monday.

I swear this is the best described playthrough ever lol.
---

Bumping just because
---

Free bump.
---

I had to face Lysandre immediately after entering his lab. He had a male Pyroar. I prefer the female design for what it's worth. I couldn't enter the nearby elevator until I got the key from one of Team Flare's scientists. Is that what the deranged people with the non-red hair were, scientists? Some of the "scientists" that did not have the elevator key told me their plans for no apparent reason. Illogical exposition dumps are dumb, but this game is geared for people half my age or younger, so I'm sure they don't care about that stuff.

Making my way around the lab, Vanillite evolved into Vanillish. Because I feel compelled to pound everyone into submission before progressing the game, I did forget about needing to get an elevator key. Thanks Mable (the blue-haired scientist, the craziest of them all)!

So among the long-winded tales of things I don't care about was the explanation that the giant is like a 3000+ year-old-man who might have been a king at some point who lost his Flabebe, or Flabebe-like Pokemon, in a war that appeared to be between only Pokemon because not once did I see anything resembling a human. Anyway, this giant-king-man person somehow also was fluent in technology far beyond anything in civilization at that point that was an anti-death machine but still totally full of death because it required a lot of death to make something else not experience death. The man became angry and made the anti-but-sort-of-very-deadly-death machine into a super-cataclysmic-death machine. I intentionally typed this up in an obnoxious way just to illustrate how ridiculous this is and that everyone at Game Freak must have been tripping on acid or something. Can I go back to being a goddamn Pokemon Master now?
---

At the end of this lab, I had a choice of pressing a red or blue button. One activates the ultimate weapon, and the other shuts it down or something of that nature. Team Flare is red. Team Flare wants to use the weapon. Ergo, I chose blue. Team Flare decided my choice didn't matter. Thanks for that. The weapon was beneath Geosenge Town. Cool. Now about that 8th gym battle...oh, I have to wait until I take care of this? Swell.

Finally able to enter that stone structure northwest of Geosenge, I had no idea that Serena managed to catch up to me since, well, she was nowhere near the lab, which was kind of required to know to go to Geosenge. Whatever the case, she's here to (*gulp*) "help" me.

More talking later with people and Lysandre in the first room, it appears that the deer from the title screen might be here. The tree in some room has branches that resemble the deer's antlers anyway. Serena and I made our way down to that room with the tree. Serena always sent out Meowstic first, and Meowstic was KO'd in all three fights. I think she might be an abusive trainer and sends out Meowstic to torture it. I should report her to the authorities so she can get a two weeks sentence of standing in a corner. That'll teach her.

If Serena appearing out of the blue was a bit of a puzzler, Shauna coming out of nowhere to catch up with us is more like trying to solve one of the Millennium Problems. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure that out. It's sounding like I might have to fight that deer. If I do, I am hoping that I will not be required to catch it now and will have a chance in the future. I have always struggled with catching legendary Pokemon, and I vastly prefer catching them on my own terms and time since they were optional in the games I played.
---

Hey bro I build resurrection machines that double as immortality devices and nuclear weapons all the time. Don't knock it until you've tried it. Maybe you're just jealous of cool people like us who fuck up the world for no reason.
---

Oh fuck, I'm fighting that deer, Xerneas. I made sure to activate Level 1 of the catching Pokemon O-Power. It's only level 50, so I feel a little better now. I have no idea what type it is (grass?), so I'm also afraid that I could potentially KO it with a super effective critical hit. I thought I would just play it safe with Greninja, but Xerneas annihilated it with a single Moonblast. Malamar is now my only Pokemon with a sleep move, so I went with her. I eventually got Xerneas down to red health and asleep. Go Dusk Ball?

Fuck yeah, caught it on the first attempt! I was way worked up and dreading this fight for essentially nothing. Since you all said there are like three or four legendary Pokemon in this game, I'm not expecting things to go as smoothly the next time. Xerneas is a fairy type. I don't know too much about deer, but being 9'10" and 474 lbs sounds like the antlers must doing most of the legwork.

Lysandre came back, and I can't take him seriously. I can't take him seriously regardless, but you get my point when you are presented with a guy looking like he's cosplaying as Cyclops from X-Men while taking his trio of pet robo-bees on a walk. He assures me that he's super serious this time though. Okay pal, whatever you say.

His mega-evolved Gyarados was surprisingly a force to be reckoned with. He took out Toxicroak and nearly did the same with both Greninja and Malamar. It turns out, he is more of a sore loser than Serena is. He threw a tantrum, and we kind of just left after that. I have a feeling that this Team Flare crap isn't completely over like they are suggesting, but one can certainly hope!
---

The deer legendary xerneascan be caught in a pokeball. Seriously. They make it so you have to capture it. So it's capture rate is super high.
---

At some point they started making plot-forced legendaries a lot easier to catch.
---

In the middle of Geosenge, the giant-king-guy showed up. What he said didn't matter. Who would let him out of his prison? Everyone is an idiot in this game but me, the home-owning 10-year-old who is the only person deemed worthy by Xerneas. I probably shouldn't have stopped that ultimate weapon because I am certain that I would be beamed up to heaven when the shit hit the fan.

Finally resuming my quest to becoming a Pokemon Master, I find out that the workers at the checkpoint south of Anister City were still there and haven't moved an inch. I went between them. COULD I HAVE DONE THAT THIS ENTIRE TIME!? Trying not to think too hard about that, I went on a Pokemon-catching spree on Route 18. Now in sitting in digital boxes are Durant, Sandslash, Gurdurr, Lairon, Torkoal, Heatmor, and Ariados.

I tried a neat inverse battle that I can do every day. Not that I remember more than maybe 50% of all the type strengths, weaknesses, and immunities, but this was an interesting diversion that I would like to try again in the future with maybe a completely different set of Pokemon.

Countless fights into the game, I finally lost my first fight. Glad to get that over with. It was to a sky trainer that had some Pokemon that looked like a mix between an insect and a dragon (why I didn't write its name down is beyond me). It KO'd Vespiquen in one hit with some stone move that I also foolishly forgot to write down. I only lost $6,500.
---

Sounds like Flygon.
---

"If I defeat you, I'm going to go home and bake some cookies" - Black Belt Yanis
- Let's tone down the pre-fight trash talk and make this kid-friendly okay?

I decided to go inside Terminus Cave. Only one of the entrances is more than a single room. Vanillish evolved into Vanilluxe. Playing around with Vanilluxe, I think there's a good chance that I have found my team of six Pokemon. I was kind of hoping that it would have been an eternal search for one because I like trying out new Pokemon and see them evolve, but with the journey seemingly nearing its end, this is probably for the best. I spent so much time in this damned cave only to be told at the end that I needed to become champion to proceed!

I was forced to fight Sycamore in Couriway Town. I realized that I made the mistake of not healing my Pokemon at the Pokemon Center (I keep forgetting about items that aren't Pokeballs). I constantly swapped out Pokemon due to low HP and PP issues once I got to his Charizard. Malamar took care of things in the end. Malamar is certainly making her case to being my favorite Pokemon in my party. Greninja better watch out.

After the fight, Sycamore said that a treasure is hidden in this town. There is a surfing location that might be related, so I will make sure to take Binacle out and explore. I will not be surprised if this treasure ends up being nothing special though. I found a basic Poke Ball with the dowsing rod, and I would find it hilarious if that was it. The lone place to surf ended being a dead end since I don't know Waterfall yet. I am assuming the treasure is up there because I think I exhausted all other options.

Some worker in the hotel knew who I was but didn't elaborate beyond that. The amount of creepy hotel workers in this game is disturbing. This must be the #1 place to work for ex-cons after their timeout sentences, recovering addicts, and people fresh out of mental institutions. I'm all for giving people a second chance, but perhaps there's a better option than have their first step be at a place where they have access to customer's rooms so they can steal your belongings and/or tower over you while you sleep?
---

I made it to Route 19 and stopped there
---

So what Water attack have you been using on Greninja if you're refusing to teach it Surf?
---

Hydro Pump. It used to be Water Pulse or something else, but I upgraded to Hydro Pump despite the low PP.
---

Yeah, every time Pokemon tries to do the normal RPG thing of 'tell a story' it's just annoying. I don't care about Az or Flabebe or the evil team's idiotic plans or my "friends." Ughhh, I just want to catch and train my Pokemon.

KCF0107 posted...

I don't know too much about deer, but being 9'10" and 474 lbs sounds like the antlers must doing most of the legwork.

I normally chalk up weights in anime and Japanese video games to Japan having a strange idea on what an acceptable weight for anything is. The first Pokemon I've seen to have a reasonable weight is Mudsdale in Sun/Moon who is actually a sorta-okay weight for a horse of his size.

For reference, an adult male elk weighs over 700 lbs (according to Google) and an moose can get over 1000, but those are bulkier cervids. Xerneas, being slim, his weight might actually not be too 'off' from reality.
---

mnkboy907 posted...

Sounds like Flygon.

Googled it, and that's totally it
---

Going across the bridge, Shauna challenged me to a battle. Maybe this is the first time? I don't remember who I fought after choosing Froakie, but I know it was one of the girls. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO HER FOX!? Between that and whatever you want to call Chestnaut, Froakie was the only one that turned out normal, relatively speaking. The fight concluded with Shauna saying we did fight back in Aquacorde. Mystery solved.

I guess I'm battling Tierno now? He has a Roserade too? The fiend! HE'S FILTH! Trevor followed them both. This is, I don't know, the third Aerodactyl that I have faced in the past 20 minutes? Where is everyone getting these? Trevor had a Pokemon use Misty Terrain. I was expecting something more misty and less above-the-clouds and candy-filled.

It was all worth this barrage of battles because I can now use Waterfall. How these kids got a hold of it is beyond me. I don't know why slow piano music is playing during this. It doesn't seem to fit. They made it sound like I can use Waterfall in battle but not out of it, so all of those waterfalls will have to wait. There is a swampy area at the lower levels of Route 19, but I don't feel like doing that now.

In Snowbelle City, I can't enter the gym yet because the gym leader isn't there. I guess I will have to track them down. There's a man year who looks like a teenage boy. He admits to being a deadbeat father since his family is in Vaniville Town while he just stands around and does nothing in Snowbelle City. Why choose the coldest place in the game to shirk your duties? It's the last place they'll find you maybe? I assume his daughter is Serena since I think the only other household in the town has its family accounted for.
---

Now at route 20, I caught Jigglypuff, Noctowl, and Gothorita (okay...). There was nothing really to report here in the forest other than, especially given its maze-like quality and supernatural touch at the end, this is where Xerneas should have been located. I feel cheated having caught it in some dumb lab.

I made my way to the Pokemon Village. It's a village for Pokemon, so why are there trash cans? What could they possibly need to throw in a trash can. Everything they eat and shit should be non-toxic and biodegradable. Do they also pay human taxes for their waste removal service? The inner-workings of this Pokemon-only society must be fascinatingly dumb.

Zoroark registered as the 300th Pokemon on my Pokedex, though I failed to catch him with a Dusk Ball while asleep and health in the red. I did catch a Ditto before stopping.
---

KCF0107 posted...

What could they possibly need to throw in a trash can.

a trubbish
---

Chesnaught, Greninja, and Delphox are a fighter, rogue, and mage respectively.

Gen 6 starters are some of my faves partially for that reason.
---