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goldenvicious · 2 years ago

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Enter: Alvin and Einstein

After I told my mom goodbye and left my house, I started to head for Wedgehurst. At the head of Route 1, Hop was waiting for me. He went on about this being the beginning of his legend and having to train in the grass.

He told me that I should head to the unusual building with a Pokeball on it, the Pokemon Research Lab. I wanted to take the straight path forward, but a Wall of Wooloo blocked the way. I have to go the alternate route: through the tall grass.

(Character Break: I though for a while on How I'm gonna deal with encounters. This is my solution: do surprise encounters when possible. If there is no grass, like in caves, catch the closest Pokemon available. Some towns have fishing spots, so those'll be encounters too. I'll explain the Wild Area when I get there.)

As I walked through the Grass, a little Skwovet ran up to me. He was cute, so I decided to catch him and name him Alvin.

As I continued, I encountered a Wooloo in the same Route. I wanted to catch it too, but...Something was preventing me. I couldn't reach for my Pokeballs, even though I wanted to. Come to think of it, the same thing happened in Alola, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. I decided to defeat the Wooloo for some Exp, getting Goldeneye to level 8 and Alvin to level 4.

I pushed forward and Dodged the remaining Pokemon. I also picked up a Potion and 2 Paralysis Heals that were on the ground.

Once I entered Wedgehurst, the first thing I saw was Leon's Charizard. That must mean he's nearby. I spotted him in front of the Research Lab. Once we were face-to-face, he complimented me on making it, since he struggled during the start of his adventure (man's bad at directions).

Leon, his Charizard and I all headed inside the lab, where we were met by a little dog known as Yamper. Then we heard a voice from above call out to Leon. A cute looking girl was there, at the top of the stairwell. She came down to greet us, and Leon told me her name: Sonia. All he said about her was that he likes her cooking. Sonia buts in, telling us that she was Leon's rival when they were a part of the Gym Challenge.

She formally introduced herself to me, telling me that she was the professor's assistant. Leon requested that she sets me on the right path and heads out with Yamper.

Sonia spots my phone, which was a new Roto-Phone gifted to me by Kukui back in Alola before I flew here to Galar. It still has the same Rotom that was in my Roto-Dex. She explained how the Roto-Phone works(, but I already knew how it worked. Didn't want to spoil her fun though, so I let her explain anyways). She than asked me if I knew a lot about Pokemon. Since I'm, y'know, the first ever Champion of Alola and the one who saved it fron the Ultra Wormhole Crisis, I guess I knew a bit about Pokemon. Since she was impressed with my answer, she decided to add the Pokedex onto my Roto-Phone.

Apparently, the Pokedex App was developed by her grandma, the actual professor of the region: Professor Magnolia. Sonia asked me to tell her grandma that I received the Dex, since she lives in the house at the end of Route 2. I agreed left the Pokemon Research Lab.

When I left, I was stopped by a man I didn't know. He noticed that I just left the Lab, so he suspected I got the Pokedex App recently. He wanted to gift me something useful since I'm a "new trainer". (Guess he doesn't know that I'm a regional champ elsewhere. Oh well, I'll take the free stuff anyways :/.) He gifted me a potion, and explained how they worked. He also told me that i should talk to everyone so i can know as much as possible, then left. Not the weirdest experience I've ever had, but it's up there.

I decided to head to the nearby Pokemon Center since Goldeneye and Alvin are a little beat up, and met Hop on the way there. He asked if I got my Pokedex, than went on and on about meeting cool Pokemon and building a Strong team. He than went on to explain how the Pokemon Centers of Galar worked. We walked in, as he asked me if I've ever been in one. I've never been in one like this, so I said no. They were quite different from Alola's, so Hop's explanation was actually useful. The PC was different, it had its own Rotom inside it. There was a PokeMart here, just like Alola. What was really different was the guy on the left. He explained that he was the Move Relearner, Move Deleter, and Nickname Rater. One guy with all 3 jobs, wow. Back in Alola, those 3 were separate jobs, and the people with those jobs were scattered around the whole region. This is so much better! With that, I healed my pokemon and headed out. I decided to check out the nearby clothing shop. Since I left most of my clothing back in Alola, i decided to buy a Black Striped Top, a Navy Hoodie and Blue Denim Trousers. I also decided to take off my hat. Honestly? I think I look good. I also bought 6 Oran, Cheri, and Pecha Berries from a Berry Farmer outside the Boutique. (I actually bought 7 Pecha berries, but I ate one for myself. They're soooooo good! You should try one when you can.)

On my way to Route 2, Hop stopped me. Again. He asked if I want to try my hand at the Gym Challenge. I've never done any gym challenges before, only the Island Trials and that one fake Gym in Malie City back on Ula'ula Island. I still have that novelty Badge at home, I think...

But anyways, I was interested in trying an actual Gym Challenge this time. Apparently, it's an annual challenge where trainers compete for the right to challenge the champion. The trick is that we have to be endorsed in order to participate, which is the hard part. Since Leon won't endorse Hop since he doesn't think he's strong enough yet, he's gonna try to get the professor's endorsement. He wants me to join him, since I'm his rival now. We both headed out to Route 2.

Once we got there, Leon stopped us and offered us a lesson on How To Catch Pokemon (ft. Champion Leon). Leon noticed that I already caught one, since my mom gave me 5 Pokeballs before I left. Leon decided to give me 20 more pokeballs. He went on about how catching also increases Exp, battling increases more, etc. Than he just. Left. Hop than left as well to catch his own Pokemon. Well, it's my turn to catch another Pokemon.

I ran into the grass and found a little bug Pokemon named Blipbug. He had a cute face, so I chucked a ball at him immediately. He was caught in the 1st ball. The name Einstein popped into my head, so that's his name now.

I decided to put him as the 1st Pokemon in my Party since he was the newest member. I spotted a fox nearby and decided to encounter it. It's a fox Pokemon known as a Nickit. I wanted to catch it too, but the same thing as before was preventing me. What is this force? Why won't it let me catch more than 1 Pokemon per area?! I'm so confused! I decided I should KO the Nickit for Exp. On my way down, I was met with my 2nd ever opposing trainer. The moment we locked eyes, he challenged me to a fight. Just like Alola...

You are challenged by Youngster Jake!

The 1st Pokemon he sent out was Skwovet. I lead with Alvin. I was at a disadvantage since his Skwovet had a level advantage to me. Why am I at a disadvantage every battle, man?! I managed to land a Tail Whip, but suffered a Tackle in return. Fortunately, Alvin's new move, Bite, was able to Flinch the opponent, so we were only hit once the whole battle! We eventually bit our way to victory! Heck yes! We got 360 PokeDollers for winning. I picked up a few items that were lying around and headed forward. I was challenged by another trainer. Why are there 2?

You are challenged by Lass Lauren!

I once again led with Alvin, and she has a tiny turtle Pokemon named Chewtle. I used Tail Whip, but once again, was hit with tackle. Alvin ate his Oran Berry, and his ability, Cheek Pouch, healed him up to full! Now at a slight advantage, we Bit are way to Victory once more, only suffering a few weak Tackles! We got $504 for winning.

At the entrance of the gates was...another trainer. Oh. Wonderful. He says he couldn't neat Hop, so he'll beat me instead. Let's see if he can.

You are challenged by Youngster Benjamin!

He leads with a Blipbug, and Alvin hits the field once again. I know Blipbug's only move is Struggle Bug, so a Tail Whil and a few Bites will do the trick. His second Pokemon is a Nickit, so I swap out Alvin for Einstein. Nickit uses Quick Attack while Struggle Bug does mire than half HP. I outspeed and land the finishing blow, winning me the battle. We got $420 for winning.

Once I walk past him, I'm met with Hop standing near Leon, who's talking to the Professor about the Dynamax Phenomenon. Eventually, she spots Hop and I and introduces herself. She is Professor Magnolia, and she invited us into her house. She notices Hop's additional Pokemon and it seems she knows who I am. She guesses that I already have the Pokedex, and bets that I'll complete it in no time. I try to tell her about the fact that something is preventing me from catching more than 1 Pokemon, but...the words get stuck in my throat. I can't say what i want to say. I can't move. I can't change my expression. It feels like I'm not in control of my own body at the moment. Someone. Anyone. Please Help.

Leon explains that Magnolia has been doing research on the Dynamax Phenomenon for years now, and it takes a proper understanding of it to use it at its fullest. Hop asks Magnolia to convince Leon to endorse us for the Gym Challenge. First, Magnolia asks Leon why he won't endorse us. He explains that since we just started our journey here, he feels like we don't know enough yet. Dude, I'm the champ of Alola. C'mon. Magnolia argues back that Leon said that he wants everyone in Galar to become strong trainers. So they come to a compromise: if Hop and I have a brilliant enough battle, he'll endorse us. Hop agrees and heads outside.

I check over my team and think about how to lead. I decide to keep Alvin in front, and head out to battle Hop. But before that, I go behind the house and pick up an item: TM 57, Payback. Wait. How did I know it was back here? I...don't remember spotting it or anything. Maybe it was intuition? Yeah, let's go with that. Since it benefits slow Pokemon, I teach it to Alvin. Hop calls out for me to battle him, so I run towards him. He wants to get endorsed sooo badly, so he wants our battle to be great. Leon and Magnolia watch from the sidelines.

You are challenged by Pokémon Trainer Hop!

The 1st Pokemon he sends out is his Wooloo, and I send out Alvin. I know how Bulky Wooloo can be, so I set up with 2 tail whips, suffering 2 tackles in the process. Hop lands a Critical Hit Tackle, taking me down to Half HP. Alvin eats his Oran Berry and Heals to full, thanks to Cheek Pouch. Afterwards, we KO Wooloo in one hit with a Critical Hit Payback. Alvin and Goldeneye level up thanks to the Exp, Alvin to Level 8 and Goldeneye to Level 10.

Hop sends out Scorbunny, so I send out Goldeneye. I have the level AND type advantage, so 2 Water Guns is enough to take it out. We only got hit by a resisted Ember between the 2, so no real harm was dealt :/. Einstein made it to level 8, tho.

Hop was going to use Rookidee, so I kept Goldeneye in. 1 Water Gun and a Pound is all it took, only taking a Peck in damage. I'd say the highlight of the battle was the Critical Payback. We got $640 for winning.

Hop is upset at losing the fight, but Leon decided to endorse the both of us! We both received a Letter of Endorsement! Hop immediately cheered up at the fact that he was endorsed, and promised to win his way into fighting Leon. Hop and I will both train against one another in order to get stronger together.

Suddenly, Hop spots something in the sky. An unknown object falls down and lands nearby. Hop runs to it and immediately grabs it, noting that it's a Wishing Star. Since there's two of them, he gives me one. I don't know why, but holding this makes me feel. . . safe.

Hop says that with one of these, his pokemon can Dynamax. Leon approaches us and says that Wishing Stars fall down for those who have a true wish in their heart. Hop clutches his and repeats the phrase "I WILL be the greatest Trainer ever!" to himself 3 times. Magnolia says that the Wishing Stars are composed of a curious sort of rock with unknown powers. It's the most precious resource in Galar, but they're useless how they are now. Hop comments on how this and the encounter with the unusual pokemon in the woods really makes this adventure feel like it's gonna be legendary. Suddenly, Sonia appears. She came right in time for all the excitement. She offers to make us dinner, and we accept and stay the night.

The next day, we wake up in Magnolia's house. Magnolia asks Hop if what he said about encountering an unknown Pokemon in the woods is real, and asks for more details. He explains that there was a heavy fog, the weird wolf Pokemon appearing, and how we both tried to fight it off together to no avail, and that we both passed out. After writing down what Hop said, Magnolia gave us both our Dynamax Band. Reminds me of the Z-Power Ring. She explained that the Dynamax Bands can only Dynamax a Pokemon when near a Power Spot. Hop is as exited as always to start his Legend, and races me to the train station.

Just outside the house, Hop gave me the advice that sneaking around and being slow lets me avoid Pokemon, and Whistling will grab their attention. Than he runs off. I run through route 2 and head straight to the station.

When I arrived to the station, Hop noticed that I didn't catch a single pokemon. I couldn't tell him why. But he gave me the TM for Swift. He explained what a TM is, but I already knew what they were. We both headed in and were on our way to board the train to Motostoke, but my and Hop's mom stopped us. They both gifted us a set of Camping Gear and see us off. We boarded the train and set off.

Unfortunately, we aren't able to make it all the way since a bunch of Wooloo block the train, so we hop off at the Wild Area Station. Hop is happy since that means he can catch a lot of Pokemon and he immediately runs off.

This adventure gets crazier by the second.

#nuzlocke #pokemon shield #skwovet #pokemon sonia #blipbug #pokemon hop #pokemon magnolia #long post

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sage-nebula · 5 years ago

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how do you like sword/shield so far? i'm a little leery of the whole reduced pokedex thing, but then again, they did this with black/white but worse. mostly, i'm intrigued by the rivals :D

The lack of a National Dex was not done with Black/White, and certainly not worse than it is here. While it’s true that only Unova pokémon were able to be found and caught in the wild in Black/White during the main story, once the main story was completed and the National Dex was obtained, players could transfer in any pokémon from Gen I to Gen IV. The ‘dex was never limited, and in fact in an interview given around that time, Masuda said that they would never limit the ‘dex because they didn’t want to cut people off from pokémon they loved the way they almost had to between Gen II and Gen III (before finding a way around it with FireRed/LeafGreen and the Colosseum/XD games). So no, the limited ‘dex that we have in Sword/Shield---and that we’re going to have in the foreseeable future---is not something they already did in Gen V. It’s brand new, and is unfortunately never going away.

That said, a brief rundown of my thoughts on Gen VIII so far, keeping in mind that I only have Sword and that I’m only just past the first gym (because I’m trying to get a Galar Ponyta through Surprise Trade and it’s not going well):

Pros:

The trainer customization is already much better than it was in Sun/Moon, and I like that you have a clothes shop right in the first (real) town, so that you don’t have to be stuck with an ugly outfit for too long if you don’t want to be. I do wish that there was a genuinely purple color option for hair, but the fact that my trainer is at least wearing good clothes soothes the wound for me.

Being able to skip (some of) the tutorials was a GODSEND. I must’ve missed the way to skip the “how to catch a pokémon” tutorial with Leon, unfortunately, but I was able to tell the others to fuck off when it came to learning what a Pokémon Center is and whatnot, and that was just so great. Honestly, I’ve been playing these games since before these characters were even conceptualized, I do not need them to tell me a goddamn thing.

I like seeing pokémon in the overworld, because it makes it not only easier to know what you’re about to do battle with, but also more realistic (in the sense that it doesn’t make sense to have a huge bear just attack you out of nowhere in tall grass; there’s no way you shouldn’t be able to see it coming).

The game is so BRITISH that I find it really charming and amusing. I like that even in the US version they kept all the English slang and terminology, and even worked it into some accents (like you can tell that Marnie is supposed to have a working class London accent, and I like that).

I like most of the characters so far, and am especially thrilled that we finally have a jerkass rival again. It’s been three thousand years . . .

I like several of the new pokémon so far. My team is only four ‘mon at the moment (would be five if I could get someone to TRADE ME A PONYTA), but they’re all good.

While there are some graphical areas that don’t look so hot (those Ocarina of Time trees . . .) other aspects, like the water, look pretty nice.

Cons:

The music, by and large, is so generic and doesn’t have a Galar feel. This has been an increasing problem with the past two gens, although admittedly there were certain themes in the Gen VII games that tried to spin a Hawaiian sound for Alola (e.g. the PokéCenter theme). In earlier gens, the wild battle and trainer battle themes were all distinctive, sometimes to the point of leaning heavily on certain instruments (e.g. Hoenn’s famous trumpets, and I remember Sinnoh having quite a bit of percussion). But in recent times the themes all kind of sound alike, to the point where the main overture can be heard in standard Galar trainer battles. As someone who always loves OSTs, that’s pretty disappointing to me.

THE STUPID Y-COMM BADGES ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN HOLY SHIT. The fact that you cannot turn these notifications off naturally is maddening. I keep having to turn wireless communication on and off to clear the notifications because that’s the only way I can figure out how to do it (because even in Local Communication you get notifications for shit you just did like?? I know what I did, leave me alone??). Y-Comm is definitely better than RotomDex, don’t get me wrong, but oh my god that thing is bloody annoying. If they could patch in a way to turn off Y-Comm notifications that would be real swell.

It’s not as bad in the spot where I am at right now, but in the beginning of the game for sure I was being stopped by either Hop or Sonia every ten seconds and that was really annoying. The writing was a bit repetitive at times now (e.g. I don’t need to be reminded every two seconds that Leon gets lost easily, I got that the first time you told me).

If you have wireless communications on in the wild area, the lag is pretty noticeable. Aside from the Y-Comm notifications, this is another reason I prefer to keep it off.

I spent $18,000 on a Gym Challenge uniform and my trainer still wears the ugly default one in challenges and I see no way to change this. I feel like I was personally victimized. (Speaking of, the Arcanine shirt is $30,000 while all other shirts are $980 hello?? Considering Arcanine is one of my signature ‘mon I feel personally attacked by this.)

The weather effects in the wild area seem random and don’t really make sense, haha. Like I get it, there are phenomena in real life where you can be in a place that’s raining and then drive through it, but how is the sunlight harsh in one spot, but two steps later it’s snowing . . . like I live in a place where we experience every time of weather phenomena there is to experience throughout the year (we have summers over 100 F easily, and then winters -10 F easily), sometimes on a day to day basis, but even then, this is kind of ridiculous lol.

I’m starting to think none of the big pokémon in the wild area will be catchable until after I beat the game considering how they’re all mysteriously still too strong after I got my first badge, but we’ll see I guess lol.

There are probably more things I could say for each, but this is where I’m at right now. I am enjoying it more than I thought I would, but my expectations going in were also rock bottom, so that’s not really saying much in terms of kudos to Game Freak, haha. We’ll see how things shake out for the rest of the game.

#pokemon #Anonymous

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bainhardt · 4 years ago

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I recently decided to tackle the long-overdue challenge of completing my HOME national dex to finally claim a sought-after original color Magearna for my own. Filling the gaps in my dex has been no easy feat, and one requiring I do far stranger things than I ever expected. Catching ‘em all isn’t quite so simple as it seems at first glance, lemme tell you...

Catching various Pokemon was the easy part. Between having three complete living dexes on Sword alone and the complete living Alola dex on my Ultra Sun, a significant portion was already filled in. But that piqued my curiosity about something I first noticed about a year ago when HOME first launched: why did my HOME dex have Pokemon registered that I’d never moved off of gen 7? Well, the good news is that Bank has its own Pokedex, composited from all the dexes of all the game cards you connect to it, and this data is sent to HOME every time you move even one Pokemon. You don’t have to send anything important up to gen 8 if you don’t want to! What a relief.

Still, SWSH infamously don’t offer everything, and so most of my work involved trawling through older gen games and picking up the odd forgotten straggler. A couple of them really surprised me, like how I apparently had Sunflora but no Sunkern, or Ducklett but no Swanna. Regardless, this kind of thing is the fun part of Pokemon, tracking stuff down and catching it, and before too long, I was already finished. Easy enough.

The difficulty ramped up when I reached the point of no return, the point where nothing remains but those dreaded mythicals... the only Pokemon out of ‘em all you can’t just go and catch. Who came up with that idea? I’d like to have a stern word with them (that word is fuck). I left concerns of legitimacy behind me and pressed dauntlessly on. Whatever it took, I was getting this done.

Thankfully, even here I wasn’t starting from square 1. I have a modest collection of mythicals of my own; Meloetta, Celebi, Phione, assorted random pickups from my obsessive play beginning in gen 6. This narrowed it down to thirteen elusive targets. And then I remembered I’d neglected to catch Keldeo in the Crown Tundra, narrowing it down to twelve elusive targets:

Mew - Manaphy - Darkrai - Shaymin - Arceus - Victini - Genesect - Hoopa - Volcanion - Zarude - Meltan - Melmetal

My first stop was the era of the original DS, with my friend Elliot pointing me towards the Nintendo Wi-Fi DNS Exploit in order to access long-passed events. Limited by the language of games I owned as well as hardware (I never managed to get this exploit working on gen 4 because of that goddamned WEP requirement), I managed to download Darkrai, Victini, and Genesect.

Mew - Manaphy - Shaymin - Arceus - Hoopa - Volcanion - Zarude - Meltan - Melmetal

Up next was the HOME mobile app, where I got by with a little help from my friends - well, friend, namely Nia, who had four more to trade me. Also worth mentioning is how HOME’s friend trading system is normally supposed to be restricted to local-only, a restriction that was supposedly lifted due to the pandemic. I guess I chose the right time to get this underway, at least.

Shaymin - Arceus - Volcanion - Zarude - Melmetal

What followed is probably the strangest step of my journey, and if I’m being honest, one of the most surprising and impressive. Around this time I’d begun poking my nose various places online looking for where I might get in contact with somebody to spot me the last handful of Pokemon I needed. I saw a post on one subreddit offering “ANY POKEMON YOU WANT” and figured I was about to message some hacker. Instead, all it took was connecting to a discord channel and messaging a bot, and I was in touch with an automated hacking robot capable of trading any Pokemon legally obtainable in SWSH! I was blown away. I felt like the NPC from the beginning of each game who’s impressed by how incredible technology is. And I had three more mythicals registered in my dex (then promptly released).

Shaymin - Arceus

Bringing this quest nearly to its close is the final adventure I’ve had recently, and one of the more exciting things I’ve done in my time playing Pokemon. Coincidentally, I recently ordered a Japanese copy of Pearl, which happens to be one of the only two games fit to serve as the stage for this endeavor: I was going to attempt the “tweaking” glitch.

As I understand it, this glitch fucks with the loading triggers in the game, and enables you to venture out of bounds in real time using nothing more than your DS and the cartridge. Through careful exploration and the execution of some game events, you can encounter Darkrai, Shaymin, and even Arceus. You can technically fuck up your game file if you go astray, but with very little to lose on my new JP Pearl to begin with, I set to it in earnest. Following video tutorials as my guide, I was biking my way through darkness in no time flat, sights set on the Alpha Pokemon Arceus.

I had no Master Ball available on any of my gen 4 games, so capturing this thing came down to three P’s: Patience, Poke Balls, and Parasect. I didn’t have Parasect ready for my first attempt, which ended in failure, and although this tweaking encounter can be repeated an infinite number of times, I wanted this over with as soon as possible. After a day spent grinding Parasect until it was ready to stand toe-to-toe with a god, I dove into the void again and caught myself my first ever Arceus. Thanks to Sakura Miko, of course.

From here, I’m so close to Magearna I can practically taste it, yet I’m still one Pokemon short - Shaymin. Even though I could catch one through tweaking, it’s reportedly the only tweaking capture incapable of being transferred up to newer games, which leaves me back at the drawing board for one final Pokemon. One final step, and at this point, I can’t imagine what it’ll entail.

#Jeffu plays Pokemon

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pokemaniacal · 8 years ago

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Pokémon Moon, Episode 9: In Which I Do Battle With A Demon Jellyfish From The Endless Void

I should really just get out while I’m ahead.

I got this sparkly bracelet thing, I got a bunch of weird voodoo crystals with a variety of dubiously magic powers, I got a bunch of… arguably cool Pokémon that I’d never seen before. Some of those things’d have to fetch a decent price if I just left Alola and never looked back, right?

And if you’re with the police, no, obviously I’m not talking about the Pokémon; they would stay with me back in Kanto and I would do my best to give them all a good life.

(If you’re not with the police, look, I know a guy who knows a guy, okay? Just be cool)

“You may call me Faba.” Like… like the bean? Come to think of it, his glasses do look kind of like beans. Sure, whatever, let’s go with that. This way, he can be played by Rowan Atkinson in the movie adaptation. “I told you before that I would show you someplace astounding, right? Well, that wondrous place is… Aether Paradise!” I look at him blankly. “…should I have heard of it, or…?” “Just as the name suggests, Aether Paradise is a veritable paradise for Pokémon that floats far out in the sea surrounding Alola,” Mr. Bean explains. “It is an artificial island, made entirely by human technology, for the protecting of Pokémon! And our Foundation wishes to offer you a tour of Aether Paradise – you will come, won’t you?” “A chance to see a state-of-the-art Pokémon conservation facility? Sure, how can I pass it up?” It’s not exactly what I had in mind for my time in Alola, but I’m pretty sure this counts as sightseeing on some level. Olivia and Professor Kukui show up to drop off Hau, and give us both a nice send-off from Akala Island, since Mr. Bean says we’ll be able to travel directly to Ula’ula Island once we’re finished at the Aether Paradise. Hau, as usual, is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement and can’t wait to see the Paradise, so the three of us board a small Aether Foundation ship and set off.

The Aether Paradise is everything it’s talked up to be – a huge, gleaming white building on a platform floating in the middle of the open ocean. Mr. Bean is tight-lipped about what exactly holds it up; according to Hau, it’s rumoured to be supported by powerful Pokémon, but Hau is an idiot. It’s impressive, regardless. The ship drops us off on the docking level, where several Machamp and a few particularly burly humans are shifting huge wooden crates. Everything is the same pristine white as the superstructure. Mr. Bean explains that below us, beneath sea level, there are research labs where Aether Foundation scientists are working on new technologies to assist in Pokémon conservation, including special advanced Pokéballs, and also warns us that, although there are many wild Pokémon in the facility, we cannot use our own Pokéballs due to a special jamming signal. I ask to see the underwater labs, and am told that I can take the elevator down to the research level if I want to use the observation windows in the lobby, but the labs themselves are off limits. Well, that’s… a little suspicious, but I guess the Aether Foundation is a privately-run organisation with a lot of sensitive new technology, so it’s not unreasonable. The conservation level, on the other hand, is ours to explore. Mr. Bean is apparently far too important to show us around himself, though, so he quickly fobs us off on his assistant, a friendly purple-haired woman named Wicke. Wicke gives us a brief tour of the parts of the administration level that aren’t off-limits, before zipping us up to the real attractions on the conservation level.

The conservation level is truly spectacular – a carefully balanced mix of woodland, river and hillside habitats, criss-crossed by walkways and tended by numerous Foundation workers, filled with rare Pokémon, and all enclosed in perspex so the climate can be controlled. The whole thing must be the size of a small town. “We keep Pokémon that have been targeted by Team Skull here,” Wicke tells us, directing our attention around the different parts of the conservation area with sweeping arm gestures. “And we also try to support Pokémon that need a little extra protection. Like Corsola, for example. They are quite terribly overhunted by a Pokémon called Toxapex…” (the evolved form of Mareanie?) “I hope you don’t mind if I read a passage from my Pokédex.” She pulls out her ‘dex and quotes an entry: “Toxapex crawls along the ocean floor on its 12 legs. It leaves a trail of Corsola bits scattered in its wake.” I frown. “Yeah,” Hau says, “my grandpa’s always saying nature’s got its cruel side, sure as it gives us blessings.” “Well… isn’t that all part of the balance, though?” I question Wicke. “Toxapex are native to Alola, aren’t they? It’s not as though they’re an invasive species… and they have the same right to life as the Corsola. Protecting endangered Pokémon from human action is important, but why should the Aether Foundation interfere in the Alola region’s natural food chains?” “That’s right…” Hau says thoughtfully. “Can the Aether Foundation really protect all the Pokémon that’re out there? Even from each other?” Wicke nods approvingly at our questions. “Nature does have its own balance, of course. It can be difficult to judge just how much we humans should try to affect that. But that’s part of the reason the Aether Foundation employs so many scientists and research assistants – so we can make sure our actions sustain the balance, rather than tipping it too far in another direction. If you’d like to know more about what we do, I could introduce you to President Lusamine,” she offers. “She should be here in the conservation area now…” I glance at Hau, who has switched to a total wide-eyed grin as he looks around the habitats. “If she’s not busy, then sure, we’d love to,” I answer.

We find Lusamine in the north part of the sanctuary. She is a slim, beautiful woman, with shoulder-length platinum-blonde hair and a poufy yellow-and-cream dress. Her eyes… her eyes are the same piercing green as Lillie’s. Hmm. She wears a large, sea-green jewel at her breast like an amulet. It looks a little like a Z-crystal, but I can’t quite tell. When Hau and I first see her, she is surrounded by wild Pokémon, talking to them gently and softly. When Wicke approaches her, she beckons an attendant to lead the Pokémon away, speaks to Wicke for a few moments, then turns to us. “You must be Chris and Hau,” she says in her soft, dreamy voice. “Welcome to Aether Paradise. I am the president of the Aether Foundation… but please, just call me Lusamine.” Hau and I introduce ourselves, and we exchange mundane small talk about the Island Challenge before Lusamine reaches the meat of the conversation. “I’m glad there are people like you, who travel the islands to learn more about Pokémon… But there are also unfortunate people who harm Pokémon for their own selfish reasons. And that is why I am here. I will be like a mother to all of those poor Pokémon and shower them with love. Even Pokémon from distant worlds, far from the Alola region, are worthy of my love.” “That’s… a noble sentiment, ma’am,” I say carefully. “But not even an organisation as advanced and powerful as yours can protect every Pokémon in Alola from harm… much less distant worlds. Isn’t the Aether Foundation’s mission in this region a bit more nuanced than that?” She gives me a motherly smile. “Didn’t I tell you to call me Lusamine? There’s no need to be so formal. And… we may not have that power yet. But the Aether Foundation is an organisation built on love, and love cannot fail to grow from love… Do not let your preoccupations with what is blind you to the possibilities of what might be.” “Wow, Miss Lusamine!” Hau exclaims. “I don’t know how you do all this! You’re, like, not even that much older than us!” Lusamine giggles. “Oh, you sweet boy! I’m already over 40!” “You are?” Hau asks, a little sceptically. Lusamine says nothing, just smiling at him, until he realises she’s perfectly serious. “Wait, WHAT!?” She giggles again. “Oh, you! The right style does wonders, you know. And Hau… your style is a bit wanting, hmm?” “Well, she’s not wrong…” I murmur quietly, earning me a hurt look from Hau and another giggle from Lusamine. “I’ll have to take you out sometime and help you pick a smashing outfit.” “L-like what you wear?” Hau stammers. I do believe he’s a tad smitten. “I don’t think anyone else could pull off that kind of look! Except maybe Lillie…” Hau is too preoccupied to notice, but when he mentions Lillie’s name, Lusamine’s eyes widen a little and she breathes in sharply. It takes her only a second to regain her composure completely, but there’s definitely something going on there. She knows who Lillie is. “Oh, don’t you worry,” she reassures Hau. “You just leave everything up to me. Trust me – children would all be much happier if they’d only listen to the adults around them.” There’s a hint of exasperation in her voice – as though the last person who heard her say that ran off to become an international terrorist, and is now out past her bedtime. Before I can think of a subtle line of questioning to finagle more information out of her, though, the entire facility shudders violently on its nonexistent foundations. Speak of the-! Lillie and Nebby must be trying to blow up the lower levels of the facility! I should have known she would try something like this, after she acted so ‘frightened’ of the Aether Foundation! There can be no other possible explanation for-

…well… or, I mean, I guess it could also have something to do with the glowing white vortex, crackling with unknown eldritch energies, that just appeared in the middle of the conservation level.

But it’s probably Lillie’s fault.

“Hold onto your butts…” I mutter to no one in particular. The Ultra Wormhole – for that is what I assume this is – swirls, sparks, and ejects a large blue-white jellyfish that floats gently towards us and comes to a stop, hovering a few feet above the walkway. Lusamine, transfixed, reaches out with her hand and takes a step forward. “Did you come… from another world?” she asks it. “Miss Lusamine, stand back!” Hau warns her, trembling as he speaks. “That thing’s… not right!” Lusamine shakes her head sadly, apparently not hearing him. “You poor creature…” she says, taking another step. I clear my throat. “For once I agree with Hau. So, uh… we fighting this thing?” Hau takes a step back. “Aue! Don’t look at me! I need to, uh… keep our flank secure in case more of them show up!” “…sure.” Okay, I guess I’m fighting this thing. Because of course I am. When everything’s fine and dandy, Alola thinks I’m a meek little novice trainer who needs his hand held every step of the way to come out of his shell and embrace his talent, but the moment there’s a goddamn demon jellyfish from outside the universe to fight, suddenly I’m the only one in a ten kilometre radius with Pokémon and a backbone. Fine!

So, problems: there is a demon jellyfish. I have no idea what powers it has or what type it is, or whether “type” is even a meaningful category here. Is… is it even technically a Pokémon? Let’s assume yes, for the moment? It has a powerful totem-like aura that is protecting it from physical damage. Also its creepy extradimensional voice is whispering around my ears and will probably drive me insane if this takes too long. Solutions: TRUMBEAK, USE ROCK SMASH! RATICATE, HYPER FANG! NO, I THINK IT’S A STEEL-TYPE, USE CRUNCH! KEEP HITTING IT! DO SOMETHING! I keep screaming, mostly to drown out the sound of whatever Lovecraftian nonsense this thing is drip-feeding my psyche. Luckily, the demon jellyfish doesn’t seem to have much in the way of damaging attacks beyond Headbutt and Psywave. When it starts flickering in and out of existence, I conclude that we’re onto a winning strategy and hit it once more. With a final string of eldritch clicks and beeps, it twists the space around it into a folded pocket and vanishes. As everyone else breathes a sigh of relief, Lusamine starts talking to herself quietly, contemplatively. “So, it’s true… I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back.” I have a dreadful feeling I know what Pokémon she’s talking about. “What? Miss Lusamine, did you say something?” Hau asks. For just a moment, a strange, almost predatory grin flickers across Lusamine’s face. “That creature we just saw was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast… an unknown being from another dimension that suddenly appears from the Ultra Wormhole… It looked like it was suffering… like it pained it to be in this strange place…” She clenches her fist. “I can’t bear to see that happen! I will save it! And I will love it!”

…what a nice woman. It’s a good thing she’s not doing anything suspicious.

This apparently concludes our tour of the Aether Paradise. I suppose I can’t exactly blame them for cutting things short; they probably need to get to work on new security measures against extradimensional threats. As we leave, Wicke gives the two of us some gifts: a box of malasadas for Hau, and a copy of the TM for Psychic for me. “…huh,” I say to Hau, as Wicke leaves and we climb onto the boat to Malie City. “Does it seem to you like there’s sort of… a disparity in the quality of our gifts, at all?” Hau laughs. “Well, yeah! But don’t worry; I’ll totally share some of these malasadas with you! What are friends for, right?” I open my mouth to give a snarky reply, but then just sigh. “…you know what, Hau? You do you, buddy. You’re gonna be just fine.” “Duh!” he exclaims, as we take our seats on the ferry and he begins tucking into his food. “I got these awesome malasadas!” “…yeah. That is exactly what I meant.”

Ula’ula Island is equivalent to the “Big Island” of Hawai’i in the real world, the island from which the whole archipelago takes its name, and its main port, Malie City, matches up with the real town of Hilo. Malie is one of the largest cities in Alola, comparable to Hau’oli City. Like Konikoni City, it has a very strong Japanese aesthetic in its architecture and general culture (courtesy of settlers from Johto), but has a sort of stately grandeur to it, that both Konikoni and Hau’oli lack. Hau insists on a battle the moment his feet touch solid ground, and as it turns out, he’s really making progress. Not only does he have a third Pokémon – a Flareon, to complement his Brionne’s Water abilities – but his Pikachu has evolved into a… a…

…huh.

Well, I mean, it’s clearly a Raichu, but it’s… well, it’s surfing in mid-air on its own tail, and its eyes are glowing blue, and… it has psychic powers!? It’s a Psychic Raichu? A Psychu, if you will!? Props to Hau, this thing is adorable and awesome! And a neat tie-in to the old “surfing Pikachu” idea. And the discoveries don’t end here: once I defeat Hau, my Trumbeak – already high off our defeat of the demon jellyfish – reaches her mighty final form, Toucannon. I had more or less inferred the existence of a toucan Pokémon from some of the merchandise in Alolan souvenir shops, and guessed that it might evolve from Trumbeak, but I hadn’t predicted how awesome it would be. Not only do I love things with “cannon” in the name, Toucannon has a cool signature move to back it up: Beak Blast. At first I think this is a two-turn move like Solarbeam, and not a great one at that, but I soon figure out that it works more like Focus Punch; it has two stages, but both occur in the same turn, one before the opponent’s attack, and one after. But unlike Focus Punch, instead of cancelling the move if the user takes any damage, Beak Blast inflicts a painful burn on any opponent insolent enough to hit Toucannon with a contact attack while it’s charging!

According to Professor Kukui, who meets us in Malie City, the next trial site is up at the summit of Mount Hokulani, one of the two big mountains in the centre of Ula’ula island. At the moment, though, I feel less inclined than ever to march to his tune, so I just hang out for a while in the Malie Gardens, training a bunch of my B-team Pokémon and discovering new evolutions. My Rockruff and Morelull evolve into Lycanroc and Shiinotic, which I’ve already met, but more importantly, there are a few completely new ones. My Cutiefly evolves into a fairy-like Ribombee, and, like Toucannon, gains a neat signature move: Pollen Puff, a nifty little dual-use Bug-type special attack that can either do heavy damage to an enemy or restore health to an ally. My Dewpider evolves into an even more menacing and alien-looking Araquanid, but despite its fearsome appearance, the Rotomdex assures me that Araquanid is a gentle, caring and protective Pokémon. These assurances do not, unfortunately, hold true when my Stufful evolves. Stufful’s evolved form is Bewear. Bewear is… a creepily quiet, expressionless and unmoving stuffed bear Pokémon. It weirds me out a little at first, and then I learn from the Rotomdex that Bewear has a reputation for accidentally killing its trainers by hugging them too hard. I promptly send Bewear off to the Poké Pelago so Mohn can deal with it. This day has been way too long already without having to think about this $#!t.

Ridiculous quote log:

“Master Chuuster! This is your first vacation in three years! Please forget that you are a famous star, and just enjoy being a regular Pikachu for once!” …the Pikachu… has a butler… and is a celebrity… and has come to Alola for a vacation. This… makes perfect sense.

The team:

Tane the Dartrix Male, Timid nature, Overgrow ability Level 30 Tackle, Razor Leaf, Synthesis, Pluck

Rhea the Toucannon Female, Lax nature, Keen Eye ability Level 30 Screech, Roost, Beak Blast, Rock Smash

Ashley the Pikachu Female, Timid nature, Static ability Level 30 Volt Tackle, Hidden Power (Ice), Nasty Plot, Nuzzle

Hypatia the Slowpoke Female, Hardy nature, Own Tempo ability Level 30 Psychic, Yawn, Headbutt, Scald

Soot the Raticate Female, Hardy nature, Hustle ability Level 30 Crunch, Tail Whip, Hyper Fang, Focus Energy

Joanna the Salandit Female, Timid nature, Corrosion ability Level 30 Flame Burst, Sweet Scent, Dragon Rage, Toxic

#pokemon moon playthrough #pokemon #alola #sandygast #pyukumuku #aether foundation #faba #wicke #aether paradise #lusamine #ultra wormhole #ultra beasts #raichu #toucannon #ribombee #araquanid #bewear

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atrytxne · 7 years ago

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Athena’s Journal, Day 1-2 Entry 1

I guess it’s time to get started with everything, isn’t it? I got my first Pokémon yesterday, but so much happened that I couldn’t really write.

Sorry, everyone.

A very nice lady has been letting me stay at her house the past few days. At first I felt really bad, but she’s always talking about how she’s always wanted a girl around the house. Yesterday, she told me she heard from Professor Kukui, and that I need to get to Iki Town. She even showed me the best way to go!

Except, on the way...I almost got attacked by a Yungoos! It was...pretty scary...

But then this Rowlet showed up out of nowhere and scared it off, and then just sat on my head. The professor and the other two starter Pokémon, Litten and Popplio, weren’t that far behind, but I think my choice was made for me by then.

So now I’ve got this sweet girl with my. Her name is Noctua.

After that, we all walked up to Iki Town together, and it wasn’t long before I met another kid named Hau. He’s...a lot younger than me, but I guess he still counts as my rival? It’s a little weird being 17 and having and 11 year-old rival...He said he was excited to get his partner, Popplio, and then challenged me to my first real trainer battle! I feel a little bad, though, because I had the type advantage.

Noctua was checking up on Popplio after the battle, though. She seems very supportive and...motherly, I guess.

Hau ran off, but it turns out the Island Kahuna wasn’t waiting for us like he said he was going to be. So, since I’m new to the island, the professor suggested I go up to the Ruins of Conflict just north of town. That’s where the island deity lives, he said. And-oh, oh yeah.

I’m...I’m not really supposed to talk about what happened after but...it should be okay, right? No one in Alola sees these...

Up on the trail, I saw this really pretty girl being dragged by her duffel bag. Not by anything holding the bag, but the bag itself. And since we were going the same way, I followed.

When we got to the bridge outside the ruins, a Pokémon popped out of the bag! or, I think it was a Pokémon I think. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Before I could get a good look at it though, it was attacked by some wild Spearow. And that’s when the girl saw me and Noctua, and asked us to save ‘Nebby’.

Honestly, it was really, really scary. The Spearow were pretty tough, and I actually had to walk out on the bridge-which actually gave way! So I was falling, holding ‘Nebby’, while Noctua was clutching my jacket like she could try to carry us.

The only reason I can write this is because we were saved by the island deity, Tapu Koko.

I don’t know...how to explain what happened. But it felt familiar. But that doesn’t make any sense, does it?

But yeah, we were saved, and then the girl, Lillie, thanked me, and handed me something Tapu Koko dropped, and we walked back to Iki Town together. Thankfully the professor was there, and the Kahuna, Hala, not long after. They seemed really happy and...impressed, I guess? I didn’t really do anything. Just the right thing...right? But they invited me to join in a festival that was happening later. To get me ready, Professor Kukui gave me some pokéballs and encouraged me to go try to catch some stuff. He gave me a ‘dex, too.

I actually caught a bunch of Pokémon, but the only ones that I think are really of note are Nubbin, my Grubbin, and Lapin, my Buneary. Along with Noctua, the three of them make a pretty good team. We got a lot of training in before the festival.

On my way over, though...I ran into some really, really weird people. For the longest time, they just kept looking at me, like they thought I couldn’t see them or something. And then they didn’t even introduce themselves; they just...said some weird stuff and walked away. Mostly about how I wasn’t ‘from here’. I mean...I’m not. I’m from Kalos, but...that didn’t sound like what they were saying.

I didn’t get much time to think on it, because the festival started. Apparently, since Tapu Koko loves Pokémon battles, one of the events is having two newbie trainers face off. That happened to be Hau and me.

I really wanted Lapin to get in some battling, but Noctua really had no trouble against his Pichu and Popplio. Maybe next time.

Afterwards, Kahuna Hala gave me a bracelet called a Z-ring, along with an Island Challenge symbol. So...I guess I’m officially a trainer now.

I found the lady I’m staying with and we went home for the night. But the whole time I felt like something was watching me...not those people, either.

Lille came and got me this morning; apparently the professor wanted to see me. So I followed her there. The lab is...kind of a mess. It looks nothing like Professor Sycamore’s lab back in Lumiose. But Professor Kukui was happy to see me, and even happier to mess around with my PokéDex, which...now has a Rotom in it?

I know Rotom can possess machines, but I hadn’t heard about specifically building hardware for Rotom. But that’s apparently what my ‘dex is. And Rotom can talk, too! But right now he’s kinda shy, so we haven’t said much to each other.

Hau came over, and the four of us had lunch and talked about what Hau and I are going to be doing. Professor Kukui wants me to head over to the Trainer’s School before anything else, even though I told him I’ve already had enough school...but I’ll go. Won’t be the same without my favorite teacher, though...

So I’m heading over there soon. I thought I might see what kind of Pokémon are around here. I battled a trainer who had an Inkay. Maman really, really doens’t like Inkay, but I kinda want to see what they’re like.

It’s okay as long as Maman doesn’t have to meet it, right?

#athenas ultra journal #i forgot how long these got #usum spoilers #ultra sun ultra moon spoilers

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