Insane Difficulty: Nuzlocke X: A Pokemon X (blind) Nuzlocke - Insane Difficulty

I've already done a bit of progress so I'll just do the speed version to, well, catch everyone up to speed.

Also, read at your own risk because this MIGHT contain spoilers at any point during this challenge.

Edited to add in the rules:
1.) I must catch the first Pokemon on any route. If it runs away or faints, I don't get another shot. Anything past the first Pokemon cannot be caught.
2.) If a Pokemon faints, it's dead. Normally when they die they get released, but I'm putting them in a graveyard box since even if I fail this I plan on continuing the save file to see the game to completion.
3.) I must name all Pokemon I catch.
4.) If I completely run out of usable Pokemon or become "stuck" in the game due to a lack of a usable HM needed to progress, then I fail the challenge.
5.) I am not allowed to use the Pokemon Day Care for any reason.
6.) If I run into a "One Only" Pokemon or a "Legendary" Pokemon, I WILL be catching them since this is going to become a standard run should I fail, HOWEVER these Pokemon WILL go into the graveyard box so I cannot use them.
7.) If a Shiny shows up, I can catch it. If it's the first thing on the route, I can use it, otherwise it just goes into the graveyard box and is considered "dead on catch."

Starting in Vaniville Town, I met all my friends (who I'm sure I'll have to beat the asses of later on) and proceeded north through Route 1 to meet with Professor Sycamore at Aquacorde Town to pick up Fennekin [Fire] to start with, since I know the rarity and value of a good Fire-type these days. I named Fennekin "Firefox" but I'll probably just rename him to Mozilla later on. Luls, yay a joke. Well, I never met Sycamore but got given a Pokedex and a note from one of those friend people. So yeah, go home, talk to mom, get the map, then start on the adventure? Sure, why not.

Route 2's encounter was a successfully caught Pidgey [Normal/Flying]. A fucking Pidgey. Okay, that's fine, nothing I haven't used before so in a way that's gonna be helpful. Plus it can fly later on. I named the Pidgey "Skysoar" because I thought that might be neat and possibly strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. Oh well, she'll be in the team for a while I hope.

Into Santalune Forest I go with my lv.7 Firefox and lv.6 Skysoar. First thing I encounter? Panpour [Water]. A fucking. Panpour. I goddamn HATE Panpour. I hate the entire Pan/Semi trio, because they are too much experience investment for little to show for it later on. I name him "Hoser" because that's exactly what he is. A damn hoser. At least I know who will be getting booted out of my party first when I go past 6 usable Pokemon. Did I mention that Santalune sounds like some place in Mexico to me? "iBienvenido a Santa Lune, poonta!" Anyway...

The other side of Santalune Forest is Route 3 where I finally pick up something NEW. A Bunnelby [Normal] that I named "Jack" because, you know, jackrabbits and such. That's where I'm at right now. Will update this more as I go from here =)

Current Team, Level, Type, and Ability:
Lv.10 "Foxfire" the Fennekin [Fire] (Blaze)
Lv.8 "Skysoar" the Pidgey [Normal/Flying] (Keen Eye)
Lv.8 "Hoser" the Panpour [Water] (Gluttony)
Lv.4 "Jack" the Bunnelby [Normal] (PIckup)

Nice one man! Now that IS hardcore! Good luck with the Challenge. Are you allowing yourself to swap whatever pokemon you need from a PC? Assuming, of course, that it doesn't faint?

I can switch out Pokemon in the PC as long as it's not from the Graveyard box.

Awesome. I always wanted to do this challenge. I can't think of any better way to refresh a player's experience. It's that good and creative that I believe there should be a "Nuzlocke" difficulty in every Pokemon. I'll be reading.

Alright, so! I have been grinding out levels to make sure I was ready for the first Gym, which happens to be Bug-type. This'll be a cinch considering I started with a Fire-type and have a Flying-type with me as well.

Current Team, Level, Type, Ability, and Moves:
Lv.12 "Foxfire" the Fennekin [Fire] (Blaze) :: Scratch/Tail Whip/Ember/Howl
Lv.11 "Skysoar" the Pidgey [Normal/Flying] (Keen Eye) :: Tackle/Sand Attack/Gust/--
Lv.11 "Hoser" the Panpour [Water] (Gluttony) :: Scratch/Play Nice/Water Gun/Lick
Lv.11 "Jack" the Bunnelby [Normal] (PIckup) :: Tackle/Agility/Leer/Quick Attack

Oh, did I mention that I got the rollerskates? I guess this is X/Y's version of the bike. You use the stick to control it. My first thought of using a stick to navigate myself in a game is simply "JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL" but I digress...

The Gym is a giant spiderweb maze. This is different for sure, better than Burgh's from Gen V... Anyway, first Trainer in here carries a Ledyba. I send out Jack to beat it's face in, because let's face it, Ledyba is a joke. After a Leer and 2 Tackles it goes down with minimal damage. Oh hey, that's all Youngster... oh who gives a fuck who he is, has to throw at me.

Progressing through the maze more, Youngster Zachary throws down! He sends out a Spewpa... definitely a new one, and I'm going to assume the middle stage of Scatterbug or whatever it's called. I again start off with a Leer to drop that defense as it hits with a critical Tackle that does minimal damage. Seriously, these bugs are crap right now. However, judging by levels, I'm right where I need to be. Another exchange of Tackles. I'm not doing enough damage and it got a second crit, so I think healing after the next turn is ideal. Potion for the +20 HP. Spewpa again with a Tackle... totally didn't see it coming. After that second Leer though it's defense is pretty much done and it goes down.

Lastly, the third trainer in this Gym, Lass Charlotte. Good ol' Kakuna. I know from past experiences that lowering it's defense helps but of course, it has Harden. Tackle takes half of it's health at least. So I should be thankful for that. It continues to Harden and Tackle deals less damage before it finally switches to use a Poison Sting. But, ya know, it's Kakuna. He dies. Easy. Unlike the previous 2 though she actually has another Pokemon in the form of Combee! Lil' Combee doesn't get a lot of attention, sadly. Jack levels up from that fight and I decide to keep him in to fight this thing. Leer to start off with from Jack and Combee retaliates with a weak Gust (did 4 Hp, come on people). I guess it has the fact it's level 9 going for it? After a series of Tackles, it faints. Jack carries on to fight another day.

The Leader is next, so I go back to rest at the Pokemon Center. I have 10 Potions on me in case of emergency.

You are challenged by Leader Viola, the Bug Photographer!

Firstly, I'm digging the music. Fuck. Yes. I can love this all day long.

BEGIN! Viola sends out Surskit and I start with Hoser. Fantastic as Surskit has a type-advantage over Hoser due to Water resisting Water, but the additional Bug-type that Surskit gets will help edge it out. Only one thing to do... or, hope. Gonna LICK this bug! Surskit uses Water SPort to start out weakening Fire (dammit!) and so Hoser Licks it for the Paralysis! Hoser Scratches and Surskit simply sits there. Another Scratch-Paralysis exchange. Hoser Scratches and resists the incoming Bubble from Surskit. So far so good, Surskit's almost gone... but of course I speak too soon as she uses a Potion on it. Fortunately that means it won't be on her big gun later. Water Sport's effect ended. Surskit gets off a successful Quick Attack and I have Hoser Scratch yet again. Stupid sea monkey. Hoser Scratches (yup) and Surskit gets Bubble off for 2 HP (LOL). After another Scratch, Surskit drops!

Viola's final Pokemon is Vivillon. I have NO idea what this is except for being a Bug-type of some sort. I switch Hoser out for Firefox and am met with the most interestingly designed pink butterfly I've seen... and at this point, I'm pretty sure it's Bug/Flying. Vivillon uses Infestation, which resists... but he's been hit with Infestat--oh my god seriously? It's one of THOSE types of attacks?? It's like Wrap or some shit that hits after every turn. Fantastic. Anyway, hit with Ember for not a lot of damage, which worries me even though it's Super-Effective. Vivillon uses Tackle and I retaliate with Ember for Super-Effective damage. I think I'm safe for one more Ember as Vivillon hits with Tackle before. The Ember is JUST enough for the KO, giving Firefox a level up AND my first badge, the Bug Badge! Victory also gives me TM83 Infestation. That actually seemed like a pretty neat move. Unfortunately no one yet can learn it.

So upon exiting the Gym, I head to the Pokemon Center, rest, and save.

More to come soon!


Current Team, Level, and Type:
Lv.13 "Foxfire" the Fennekin [Fire]
Lv.11 "Skysoar" the Pidgey [Normal/Flying]
Lv.11 "Hoser" the Panpour [Water]
Lv.12 "Jack" the Bunnelby [Normal]

Just a quick update. Cleared Routes 22 and 4, and in Route 22 I caught a Litleo [Fire/Normal] that I named Augustine, and Route 4 got me a Flabèbè [Fairy] that I named "Sprite" since it's tiny. Arrived at Lumiose City to find Professor Sycamore in his laboratory, who wished to challenge me. Needless to say, he sent out the 3 Kanto starters (Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle), which wasn't a difficult battle really. He offered me one of those 3 and I chose Bulbasaur [Grass/Poison] which I named "Green"... since Bulbasaur's evolution, Venusaur, is the version mascot for Pokemon Green (in Japan) and Pokemon LeafGreen... so why not? Plus I picked Bulbasaur because he was my favorite of the original 3.

Anyway, that's the quick version and that's where I'm at right now!

On another note, Routes 4 and 22 weren't very interesting and nothing really happened that was of note. I'll post levels later when I wake up or progress further.

Been a while since I updated this, it doesn't feel like I've gotten much further but I guess I have, so I'll catch this up to date. Also, rules are being updated as I go to be more clear about a few things.


After leaving Lumiose City I headed southwest through Route 5, which consisted of a lot of skaters. My first Pokemon there was a Furfrou [Normal] that I named Biscuit, after my own dog. Furfrou is a Poodle Pokemon... and since I HAVE a poodle... anyway, the interesting thing to note is it's ability, Fur Coat, which reduces *all* physical damage by half. That's huge, especially when a Normal type is only weak to Fighting, and a majority of Fighting type moves are physical. The trainers weren't much above the quality found on Routes 4 and 22, so there isn't anything to speak of.

Arriving in Camphrier Town the first stop was to the Shabboneau Castle and Hotel Camphrier, neither of which had much to speak of... especially considering Professor Sycamore has everyone looking for more information on Mega Evolutions. Off on our way through Route 7 is the Berry Fields. Basically, the Berry Fields are where you will be making the berry plants to keep your supply going. Quite a handy place. I also like the way they do it now. You water the plant like usual, except now you have to pull weeds and fight the occasional bug Pokemon off of them. You can also get between 4 and 15 (at least what I've seen) berries on one tree, so you don't have to invest as much time into raising a tree (depending on the berry though from what I can tell). So further down Route 7 is a Snorlax [Normal] blocking a bridge. It's asleep. FUCK.

Pokeflute. Obviously if past games taught us anything, it's that one is needed. Instead of continuing on Route 7 a detour through Route 6 takes us through a straight path, clear of ANY tall grass, to Parfum Palace. The owner there is looking for his Furfrou and exchanges the Pokeflute for his pet... fair trade I suppose. Now that I'm at Parfum Palace I can go through the tall grass on Route 6, since you can't access it from the OTHER side and have to go to Parfum to get into it... plus the path is split down the middle with the safe one being elevated and blocked off. So two visits through Route 6's grassy areas is the minimum.

So on Route 6 I caught a Honedge [Steel/Ghost]. I flipped when I realized it's typing, because ever since Gen 3 or 4 I've wanted a Steel/Ghost. It wasn't what I was hoping for (a huge possessed suit of armor is what I had envisioned), but the typing is what matters here. I DID learn a valuable lesson though on Route 6, which almost cost me said Honedge's life. While leveling it up on Route 6 and catching it up with the rest of the party, I fought a Kecleon [Normal]. It hit me with Feint Attack... which critically hit AND was super-effective. Left Honedge with 2 HP. I had to do a double-take... and realized Steel no longer resists Dark type attacks? What the fuck. I mean, obviously with the addition of Fairy-type that a few were going to change to make room for it's resists and weaknesses, but old matchups have been changed?? Glad I found this out WITHOUT losing Honedge. Steel doesn't resist Dark, so now I do have something to worry about. I wonder if any other matchups have been changed...

The only thing I don't like about Route 7 is that it's forced into the first encounter on that Route. So unless you are playing with some rule that you can't use any Pokemon that's "unique" (as in, only one) outside of the starter (because that's forced), then you're ALWAYS going to have Snorlax in a Nuzlocke on this game. Oh well, Snorlax is still a semi-reliable special wall that can soak up a lot of punishment and sleep it away. Pretty useful to have around, plus Snorlax has one of the highest HP values in the entire series. I think right off hand the only ones with more HP are Blissey, Chansey, and Wobbuffet. I could be wrong though with the new Generation of Pokemon, but that's what I think is accurate.

Route 7 consists of LOTS of flowers and is stated to be the longest Route in the entire Kalos region. It runs along side a large river. Absolutely gorgeous view coming from the 3DS and a Pokemon game. Here is where the Pokemon Day Care is, which I won't be using (see the edited rules list for clarification on this). The Battle Chateau is also on this Route, which is similar to the sports stadium in Pokemon Black/White. You can constantly fight trainers in this building and get money if you need the cash. I dunno if they scale with your level or not, but it's a possibility. There is a ranking system based on nobility, such as Baron/Baroness, Viscount/Viscountess, so on and so forth. At the end of the route was a 2v2 "Rival" battle. I use the term "rival" here loosely since I don't think there is a true rival this time around. It's a group of friends that just kinda travel with you. Since I had my neighbor (aka, the boy if you chose the girl, or the girl if you chose the boy) helping me out it was an easy match.

For the record, I chose the girl character at the start. Ever since they added that feature in Pokemon, it kinda became a tradition (that I broke in Pokemon White as I went through it as the boy my first playthrough). I just keep doing it now out of habit, but in the end does it really matter?

Anyway, Caleb, the neighbor, mentions heading to Ambrette Town first through Connecting Cave. Connecting Cave is known as a home to lots of Zubat... so expecting a Zubat to be my first encounter, I was horribly wrong. In fact, I didn't see my first Zubat until having gone back and forth through Connecting Cave like, 6 times. My first encounter was actually a Meditite [Fighting/Psychic] which isn't a terrible catch. Terribly underrated but sometimes too slow to get it's hits in... but if it hits? It's PAINFUL. Connecting Cave is, literally, that. A cave that connects. It's a short, straight path. Just run through.

Route 8 is nothing short of stunning. It's technically two paths, one up through the rocky cliffs above the shoreline, as well as the one below along the actual sandy beach. Route 8 gave me an Inkay [Dark/Psychic] as my first catch. I only just realized I haven't given any names besides the Furfrou. Lemme fix that. Honedge is named Masamune, Snorlax is Glutton, Meditite is Zen, and Inkay is Blooper (cause it looks like the Blooper from Mario). As for Inkay, that was quite a close call on flat-out KOing it before I caught it. It looks like a floating squid, so my first thought was, "Oh hey, it's Water. I'm gonna hit it with Fury Cutter since it's weak and I can measure my damage easily." WRONG. I used Masamune the Honedge to hit with Fury Cutter to wipe out right at 80% of it's health in one hit. A double-weakness to Bug? That's pretty rare to come across, especially in the wild, and ESPECIALLY from something that looks like a fucking squid. At least I caught him. I switched him out for Hoser the Panpour. It's new and I want to see what interesting things will come from a Dark/Psychic type.

Ambrette Town doesn't have much, but it does have an Aquarium and a Fossil Lab. I haven't been to the Aquarium yet, but I was advised by Caleb once I got there to find out more about Mega Evolutions at the Fossil Lab (because fossils might have a link to Mega Evolutions), and someone there sent me to Route 9 and Glittering Cave to go talk to a scientist. Route 9 is a Route that was forged by Ryhorn for racing purposes... so it at once didn't exist and is completely man-made... or Pokemon-made. Whatever. Route 9 threw me a Helioptile [Electric/Normal] which is one strange Pokemon. It's Electric but seems to have a few Ground-type attacks at it's disposal. I named it Sparky. Why not? Got to experience my first "Sky Battle" here... I was limited to only using Skysoar the Pidgeotto here, so I'm guessing it's a battle between Flying-types? Or maybe if they have Levitate since it acts similar. Sky Trainer had a Ledian. Wouldn't have been too bad except Silver Wind actually got the stat boosts all across the board which left Pidgeotto doing little damage. Fortunately I kept Sand Attack so things worked in my favor there and I slowly wore it down.

At the end of Route 9 is Glittering Cave, a maze of paths that eventually all seem to meet up at one point at the back. First encounter was a Machop. HAD TO BE A FEMALE MACHOP. Of ALL the things... naming a female Machop was like, the hardest thing ever. I settled on naming Machop [Fighting] after the old WWE superstar, Chyna. Fuck reasons. In the back of Glittering Cave are rocks that can be hit with Rock Smash (two of them contained Old Amber, and for those that have been playing since Gen 1 you know what that means!) The big thing here though is the introduction of the new Team for this Generation. Team Flame. They seem to be completely inconsiderate of other people's happiness and desire to be the ONLY happy people. Alright, fair enough I suppose. Be a bunch of assholes and get grouped up as a team to make else miserable. So they don't run completely typical "team" Pokemon for a change. It was weird seeing Electrike being used by a member as I don't believe any other team has used one of these in the history of ever. After going to the back of Glittering Cave and finding the scientist, he gave me the hardest decision I've had in this entire game so far.

Jaw Fossil or Sail Fossil.

Seriously. Fucking dead serious. This is the hardest decision so far. Jaw or Sail. Not having a clue as to what either of them give me, I made my decision based on this thought. "Which one is going to be most likely chosen more?" Jaws are used for biting or offensive purposes, while sails are typically non-threatening and used for travel or other purposes. Decided to go with the Sail Fossil.

Heading back to Ambrette Town I went to the Fossil Lab and exchanged the Sail Fossil for... an Amaura [Rock/Ice]. I'm not sure how to feel about that, but it's ability might make up for it. Refrigerate is it's ability and it says that all Normal-type attacks are now Ice-type attacks. That's... actually kinda neat. Definitely different. I don't HAVE to run a dedicated Ice-type attack if I don't want to, but I am not immediately putting Amaura, who I named Frills, into my party yet. If someone faints I might put him in though. Rock/Ice seems like something fun to play with.

And that's where I'm at! My current party has changed significantly, as Fennekin, Bulbasaur, Pidgey, and Flabèbè, all have evolved since then. Fennekin into Braixen, Bulbasaur into Ivysaur, Pidgey into Pidgeotto, and Flabèbè into Floette.

Current Team, Level, Type, Ability, Moves, and Held Item:
Lv.24 "Foxfire" the Braixen [Fire] (Blaze) :: Psybeam/Flame Charge/Fire Spin/Howl --- holding Amulet Coin
Lv.24 "Green" the Ivysaur [Grass/Poison] (Overgrow) :: Sleep Powder/Poison Powder/Leech Seed/Razor Leaf --- holding Miracle Seed
Lv.24 "Skysoar" the Pidgeotto [Normal/Flying] (Keen Eye) :: Thief/Sand Attack/Gust/Quick Attack --- holding Sharp Beak
Lv.24 "Sprite" the Floette [Fairy] (Flower Veil) :: Wish/Razor Leaf/Fairy Wind/Lucky Chant --- holding Quick Claw
Lv.23 "Masamune" the Honedge [Steel/Ghost] (No Guard) :: Shadow Sneak/Swords Dance/Rock Smash/Pursuit --- holding Rocky Helmet
Lv.23 "Blooper" the Inkay [Dark/Psychic] (Contrary) :: Hypnosis/Foul Play/Topsy-Turvy/Psybeam --- holding no item

Just a quick update, I went through the second/bottom half of Route 8 (which I've already caught something on), and the only way to catch anything on this half of it is with Rock Smash or the Old Rod (that I was given in the Ambrette Aquarium) as there is no grass. Grass doesn't typically grow on a beach. So I arrive at Cyllage City, pick up the Bike (yay!), discover that there is the second Gym here (which I found out is Rock by talking to people), and then went to Route 10 to do some leveling up.

I caught a Snubbull on Route 10 (which has been changed from [Normal] to [Fairy] type this generation!) which I named Princess. Recalling that this thing was in Gen 2, and having caught it at level 21, I leveled it to 23 to evolve it into a Granbull. So we have "Princess" the Granbull. Yay. What made me mad is that the second encounter on Route 10 was EEVEE. FUCKING. EEVEE. UGH. Could've totally used one of those... nothing I can do though. I've swapped out a few party members for the Gym here, and this is my current team set up that I'll be using to go in there.

Current Team, Level, and Type:
Lv.26 "Green" the Ivysaur [Grass/Poison]
Lv.25 "Hoser" the Panpour [Water]
Lv.25 "Sprite" the Floette [Fairy]
Lv.25 "Masamune" the Honedge [Steel/Ghost]
Lv.25 "Blooper" the Inkay [Dark/Psychic]
Lv.25 "Chyna" the Machop [Fighting]

I'll be taking on the Gym Leader very soon. I think they said his name is Grant? I'll find out soon enough.

Greatly enjoying this .

Away we go! Into Cyllage Gym! It's a tall mountain to climb, kind of neat honestly. I don't think they would have been able to do this type of thing in any of the previous games (except maybe B/W2 but it wouldn't look this good). It's not exactly a mountain... but hey, it's still technically something to climb. You know those walls with the little rocks that stick out you have to climb and they wire you up in that bungee cord and safety harness? It's littered with those walls! I actually think it's pretty neat!

On with the battles! For my team setup, please see my previous post. Blooper and Chyna are still not holding any items, but Chyna's move list is: Strength/Focus Energy/Seismic Toss/Low Sweep.

For the most part, most of the moves are unchanged from a previous post. (2 posts ago from me.)

First up: Rising Star Didier! I can't say I'm familiar with anyone named Didier, let alone that it was an actual name... his first out is a Dwebble. I know Dwebble is a very defensive Bug/Rock type, and since I have Green first on my list, naturally he comes out. I use Leech Seed to go ahead and get rid of Sturdy if it has it, since that's a normal thing Dwebble gets. It retaliates with Rock Blast, hitting the maximum 5 times... ouch. I switch Green out for Hoser and Dwebble uses Rock Blast again, this time hitting only 2 times. Leech Seed gives a portion of Hoser's health back. Time for a Scald! Dwebble's typing doesn't protect it from Water and it goes down. He sends out a Relicanth and I bring Green the Ivysaur back in and, of course, use Leech Seed. Relicanth's Water/Rock typing means it *hates* Grass. However the stupid thing uses Yawn on Green and I really don't want to have something falling asleep... so I switch for Chyna the Machop. Relicanth uses Yawn (again!) which means I switch back to Ivysaur. This is all fine, Leech Seed's just gonna keep sucking away. Heehee. Love me some Leech Seed. So I switch and bring in the Ivysaur into ANOTHER Yawn. Dumbass. I switch again for Chyna. Relicanth FINALLY does something different and hits with Rock Tomb, slowing Machop down one stage in it's Speed stat. Relicanth is now faster than Machop and hits with Water Gun for negligible damage and I retaliate with Low Sweep, lowering Relicanth's Speed stage. Not that it matters, Leech Seed finishes off Relicanth. First trainer down!

There are a couple of dead ends in this Gym, one of them showed me that there's a beautiful waterfall at the back behind the mountain. I see benches at the bottom, so I'm sure it'd be a great photo opportunity!!

Second trainer is Hiker Craig. He sends out a Roggenrola, since I didn't switch my team up I send out Green the Ivysaur. As usual I put Leech Seed down first, this mostly to break Sturdy since I remember Roggenrola tend to have it almost 100% of the time. It hits with Mud Slap which lowers my accuracy. Leech Seed siphons health and then I Razor Leaf the thing in the face and it hits with another Mud Slap, but the Leech Seed from this turn is just too much and it goes down.

Next up, the third trainer is Rising Star Manon! Seriously, what is with these names...anyway, I switched my team up to spread out some of the exp gain and open with Chyna the Machop, and he sends out Solrock. FUCK that's not a good matchup... Rock/Psychic will beat Fighting any day... so I switch to Masamune the Honedge. Hopefully the Steel/Ghost combo can do something about it. Solrock uses Psywave, which randomly deals damage... and takes almost HALF of it's HP. Holy fuck. I give Masamune a Potion and recover 20 HP and Solrock uses Fire Spin. Are you fucking serious!? It also BURNS Masamune. Well, there goes half of it's attack power for the moment. This time I use a Super Potion to put it back to max HP (63 HP) and it uses Psywave again, and then Fire Spin goes off. Fuck my life. I give Masamune a Rawst Berry to cure the burn status and Solrock hits with Fire Spin again, leaving Masamune with 11 HP for the moment. Oh how I wish Fire Spin didn't trap Honedge in there... so I give it another Super Potion and it gets hit by Psywave and Fire Spin again. This sucks. I get hit with ANOTHER Psywave, but this time I get Swords Dance up. C'mooooon let this work. Shadow Sneak.... doesn't one-hit KO. Fortunately, last round the Fire Spin broke, thank fuck. The Psywave this round left Masamune with 9 HP. This is too close for comfort. Another Super Potion and Psywave (which deals 15 damage this time so negligible). I get a Shadow Sneak for the KO. He follows up with that and sends out a Lunatone. Same typing but should be a little less annoying. TO BE SAFE... I switch in for Hoser the Panpour. Hoser uses Scald to deal massive damage and add a burn to it. Lunatone uses Psywave and takes burn damage. Feeling confident I simply Lick the Lunatone and finish off it's tiny fragment of remaining HP. Thank fuck that's over.

The last trainer in this Gym is Hiker Bernard, who opens up with Rhyhorn. Go Chyna, my lovely Machop! Here's a classic matchup. I open with a Focus Energy to boost my crit chance and Ryhorn misses with Rock Tomb. Low Sweep! Not a critical, but over 50% HP and a Speed drop... and it Stomps on me. Another Low Sweep, this one a critical (wish I had that LAST round!) and Rhyhorn drops to the ground. Next he sends out a Nosepass. Oh god, this thing is fucking TROLLISH. I love using Probopass from time to time so I know how much of a dick this thing can be. Thankfully it's only good stat is Defense (which is like, base 140... kind of insane really). I just hit a Low Sweep since Focus Energy carries over. It's Speed drops one level... and then it uses Thunder Wave to Paralyze. Get fucked, assclown. I use a Cheri Berry on Machop to cure the Paralysis while Nosepass uses Rock Throw and misses. Get this fucker some glasses! One more Low Sweep takes care of this thing for the KO. Chyna levels to 26! Yay! The last Pokemon in Bernard's team is an Onix. Keeping the Machop in since I know I can resist Rock attacks this way and still be super-effective. Onix uses Rock Throw and... does like, no damage. I retaliate with Low Sweep scoring a critical hit, a Speed stat drop, AND nearly KOing Onix. After that Speed drop Chyna's now faster and finishes with a Low Sweep.

At this, I head out of the Gym to recharge at the Pokemon Center and stock up on Potions and other supplies. Have I mentioned that I really enjoy the music in Cyllage City?

Going back through the Gym, I stand toe-to-toe with Cyllage Gym's Leader, Grant, the Mountain Cyclist. I reorganize my team to lead off with Hoser, the Panpour. I talk to him and he cracks his neck and thus, we begin.

You are challenged by Leader Grant! Leader Grant sent out Amaura! Go Hoser! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME IT'S A GODDAMN AMAURA!?! WHAT IN FUCK'S NAME. Rock/Ice. I start out with a Scald to hit super-effectively, and in turn it uses Thunder Wave to Paralyze. I take a turn to use a Cheri Berry to remove the Paralysis and Amaura uses Aurora Beam. Thank fuck that's resisted. I go for another Scald and finish off Amaura. Then... he sends in Tyrunt. Oh. Fuck. Me. No. No. No. Tyrunt is Rock/Dragon. IT'S A FUCKING DRAGON. I did not even consider this possibility. I'm gonna use Sprite, the Floette. I know that Fairy-types completely ignore Dragon-types and return super-effective attacks, plus Floette has Magical Leaf... so I think this is going to play in my favor. I hope. Here's to the best. Go Sprite! And in comes Tyrunt. It hits with Rock Tomb TAKING OVER 50% HP NON-CRIT AND SPEED DROPPING. I hit with Fairy Wind and hit super-effectively, only doing about the same damage back. Yeah, this isn't going to work. I need something better. I switch Sprite out for Masamune hoping for a Rock attack. And yes! Tyrunt uses Rock Tomb for resisted damage and a Speed drop. I don't even give a fuck about Masa's Speed stat. It's piss-poor. Besides, she has Shadow Sneak. Tyrunt hits with Bite for super-effective damage and a flinch, but takes damage from the Rocky Helmet. I use a Super Potion on Masamune. Tyrunt uses Bite again. I can't keep this up if it's gonna crit then it's over. I need a resist. So I switch to Chyna the Machop. Grant Hyper Potions. This might be my break! Tyrunt uses Stomp and Chyna returns with Low Sweep, dropping it's Speed. I go for the second Low Sweep now that I'm faster and FINISH OFF TYRUNT. Oh fuck. That got a little scary.

Victory is mine! I received the Cliff Badge, as well as TM39 Rock Tomb. Wait a sec, wasn't this a TM from a previous Generation's Gym Leader? I suddenly feel ripped off... in fact, yes, it IS given from a Gym Leader in Generation 3. Roxanne AND Brock both give you Rock Tomb. The fuck? Oh well.

Now it's time to put my party back to normal and continue on through Route 10! Oh yes, now that I have this badge, I can use Strength outside of battle, so maybe I should go back to Route 8 up top through Connecting Cave and find out what that one item was I couldn't reach...

Before I forget to mention him, in Cyllage City through the use of Rock Smash I caught a Dwebble [Bug/Rock] that I named "Hermit" since he reminds me of those hermit crabs. Cool little guy, might come in handy later.

Heading north through Route 10, it's kind of like walking through Stonehenge. Except it's not. The route is littered with stones in a peculiar fashion, as if some sort of design that can't really be "placed" so to speak. There were a few members of Team Flare through here but they are simply peons to be beaten senseless. Still no idea what they are up to here, though.

The route ends at Geosenge Town, which is kind of like walking through a city built around Stonehenge. Except it's not. The town has a large circular stone pattern around it's outskirts with 3 large stone pillars through the middle. Nice place, I'd like to visit it in real life if it existed. Not much else there though, as it is a town full of stones. Except for this one place northwest of Geosenge where some Flare members were heading... but it looks like just a giant thing of rocks.

Route 11 was incredibly short compared to everywhere else I've been. There IS a Sky Trainer guy on this route but I passed up fighting him because I have only one Flying-type and I don't want to risk losing "Skysoar" the Pidgeotto. However, on this route I did catch a Hariyama [Fighting] that I named "Yokozuna." For those that don't know, Hariyama is the fully evolved form of Makuhita. At least I have a backup Fighting-type should something happen to "Chyna" later on.

Beyond Route 11 is Reflection Cave. What the route lacked in length, Reflection Cave made up for. That place is enormous! However I did catch a Carbink [Rock/Fairy] named "Hematite" here. Yay, more Fairies! I had to be SUPER careful through this place, as wild Wobbuffet lurk as random encounters. Wobbuffet is the bane of Nuzlockes, I swear to fuck. Shadow Tag so you can't run away or switch out? One of the highest HP pools in the game? Only learns Counter and Mirror Coat for offensive moves? It's a punching bag that punches back that you simply can't get away from. Fortunately, the only two that I fought both kept using Mirror Coat when I hit physically. Lots of interesting things and items in Reflection Cave, so make sure if you are playing that you look around really well.

Exiting Reflection Cave takes me to Shalour City, home of the Mega Evolution Guru! His daughter, Korrina, is the resident Fighting-type Gym Leader. I know it's going to be Fighting because she has two Lucario following her at all times. Anyway, it's discovered that two things are needed to perform Mega Evolutions: A particular held item for each Pokemon, and a Mega Ring. Unfortunately though the Mega Guru only has one ring... so I and Caleb (kinda like my rival) had to fight for it. Easy fight... it was almost a snore. This left the decision of who to give the Mega Ring to pretty obvious, however I will only get the ring if I best Korrina in a Pokemon Gym Battle. Guess where that leaves me!

On a last note, I went East to Route 12 and caught a Slowpoke. Slowpoke is a Water/Psychic type and I named him "Dopey" because... that's kinda what a Slowpoke is. I also did extensive EV training using the new Super Training options available.

This catches everyone reading this up to date! I will be doing the Fighting Gym very, very soon.

Current Team, Level, and Type:
Lv.33 "Firefox" the Braixen [Fire]
Lv.33 "Green" the Venusaur [Grass/Poison]
Lv.33 "Sprite" the Floette [Fairy]
Lv.33 "Masamune" the Honedge [Steel/Ghost]
Lv.33 "Chyna" the Machop [Fighting]
Lv.33 "Princess" the Granbull [Fairy]

Time for the Shalour Fighting Gym! I step inside to see... a giant skating rink. Like, rollerblades and shit. This... this is kinda cool. Not what I expected from a Fighting Gym, however, given Korrina's notorious for being a skater? I should've seen it coming. It's really bright and flashy and I like it.

After skating around for a bit I catch up to my first opponent, Roller Skater Shun! He sends out Pancham and I lead with Firefox. Pancham has Mold Breaker which doesn't really concern me too much. I hit with Psybeam for an one-hit knock out. He sends out Throh and I switch for Green. I get a Leech Seed off on the first turn and Throh hits with Revenge which does almost no damage. In fact, so little that Leech Seed completely healed it off. Green gets a successful Sleep Powder off and so using that, I switch out to Sprite. Leech Seed goes off. I have Sprite hit with Fairy Wind for a super-effective hit waking Throh up and causing him to use Seismic Toss. Leech Seed almost finishes him off, but the next turn Quick Claw goes off and I hit him with Magical Leaf for the KO. He sends his last one out, Machoke. I bring out Masamune. Machoke uses Foresight which gets rid of the immunity to Fighting that Ghost gets naturally. This might hurt. I do get Swords Dance though. Then a Shadow Sneak hits for over 50% of Machoke's health. It uses Seismic Toss and I just use another Shadow Sneak for the KO and win.

Next up is Roller Skater Rolanda. She sends out Throh's partner, Sawk (who's more offensive than Throh). I start with Masamune the Honedge and use a Swords Dance. Sawk uses Counter and basically sits on his ass this turn. I go for a Shadow Sneak except they actually switch out!? They bring in Hariyama and this makes me wonder what's going on as Shadow Sneak hits this bulky sumo. I play on the side of caution and use a regular potion. Hariyama uses Knock Off. I'm glad I played cautiously now as that actually did quite a bit of damage. I switch in to Venusaur only to be met with Whirlwind, forcing me to switch in Granbull. I just hit it with a Headbutt and it blows Granbull out with Whirlwind and drags in Machoke. Machoke hits a Low Sweep, taking out Hariyama. Stupid thing is bulky as hell. Sawk comes back out and I bring in Honedge. Had to be a reason it forced a switch on the fucking AI... that like, never happens. I start with a Super Potion in case something is amiss about this Sawk, who just wastes his turn with Counter. I use Pursuit to deal a tiny bit of damage to test out if Counter works (and to break Sturdy if it had it), and it does nothing so I'm save to buff and sweep. Honedge uses Swords Dance while Sawk uses Counter and misses. I set up a second Swords Dance and am met with another Counter. I hit with Shadow Sneak and it's lights out for Sawk.

The third opponent in this gym is Roller Skater Dash. Ironic name, in my opinion. He sends out Heracross. FUCK. This thing I know for a fact is evil. I send out Sprite the Floette. Heracross uses Take Down and nearly takes Sprite out in a single hit... daaaamn. Sprite hits with Fairy Wind for a little bit of damage. I switch into Granbull for the Intimidate attack drop and am met with Take Down again. It's faster so it gets another Take Down while I connect with the winning hit, ending the battle.

Lastly, we get a battle with Roller Skater Kate, who sends out Meditite. I send out Floette again. Meditite uses Feint (which is an incredibly rare move to see used) and I counter with Fairy Wind for an almost OHKO. Quick Claw goes off, except for whatever reason Feint still goes first. I decided since Petal Blizzard is a new move I've never seen before, I go for the overkill and knock out Meditite. She sends out Mienfoo and I keep Sprite in. I use a Potion to see if this thing has any seriously hard hitting moves, but it just uses Fake Out for the flinch that didn't really happen (due to item use). It hits with Swift (for almost no damage) and I counter with Fairy Wind for another near-KO. I just use another Petal Blizzard for the overkill.

Time to go back and rest at the Pokemon Center!

In the middle of the Gym is Korrina... TIME TO DO THIS! I'll admit, I'm fucking terrified of how powerful Fighting-types are anymore, ever since they became a frontal powerhouse in most teams due to their few weaknesses and FIVE -- count'em -- FIVE types they are super-effective against: Normal, Ice, Rock, Dark, and Steel. Time to go in...

You are challenged by Leader Korrina! She opens up with Mienfoo. I send out Machoke first to go ahead and have the epic Fighting vs. Fighting clash. From the front this is in Machoke's favor as she's bulkier and stronger. Let's find out. Mienfoo opens with Fake Out, getting the guaranteed 100% flinch. Mienfoo uses Power-Up Punch, boosting it's attack stat, while I boost my crit chance with Focus Energy. It goes for another Power-Up Punch and I h it with Low Sweep for a critical hit, taking out Mienfoo. Sweet! Let's see what Korrina's second one is... oh god. It's Hawlucha. The unique Fighting/Flying type. It's based on a bird of prey and a Mexican Luchadore. No, I'm not making this up. Yes, it IS fucking dangerous as Flying COUNTERS Fighting. However, I think I'm gonna switch and be safe by sending out Princess the Granbull against Hawlucha to get the Intimidate attack drop. Hawlucha hits with Power-Up Punch for an attack raise to put it at normal damage, taking a Headbutt for around 1/3 health. Hawlucha uses another Power-Up Punch (scoring a crit) for almost no damage and then the retaliatory Headbutt. Hawlucha uses Flying Press which is resisted, eating one last Headbutt and sending it back to the Pokeball. Princess leveled here, so I get a breather (or is it just a moment to contemplate panic at what her last Pokemon is...?) before going up against her...Machoke. Okay. I think I have this for sure. I'm not terribly scared of Machoke, but I do know how it can pack a punch (no pun intended). I decide to keep Granbull in to use Charm on it to lower it's attack stat. Machoke uses Rock Tomb to drop Princess's speed. Machoke uses Leer (wtf??) and I get another Charm off to drop it's attack stat again. Machoke uses Leer again (the fuck, seriously?) and I get one more Charm off, putting it's attack stat to roughly half of what it should be. At this point, having my Granbull with -2 stages of defense, I switch in for Venusaur and eat a Power-Up Punch, boosting Machoke's attack stat up one (putting it at a -2 attack stat). Let's go for the slow, gradual guaranteed KO, shall we? Leech Seed connects, leaving Machoke only able to hit with a Rock Tomb that deals little damage at best. I switch out Venusaur and switch in Sprite the Floette, who eats a Rock Tomb from Machoke (dropping her speed one stage) and gains all of that damage back from Leech Side. Machoke uses Leer to drop Floette's defense one stage, who hits with Fairy Wind. Leech Seed is taking it's toll, slowly but surely, since Floette is still at maximum HP. Korrina uses a Hyper Potion, putting Machoke back to full HP. Sprite hits with Fairy Wind for almost 50% of Machoke's HP (and when followed by Leech Seed, leaves it at around 1/3). Machoke uses Leer to lower Floette's defense again, but it's too late. One Petal Blizzard puts Machoke at low enough HP to be taken out by Leech Seed.

Korrina has been defeated! That Hawlucha was the real concern of her group, yet I'm surprised I didn't see her Lucario (or Lucarios). Oh well, victory is mine! Having defeated Korrina, I'm rewarded with the Rumble Badge and TM98, Power-Up Punch. This move will definitely have it's uses. I can use Surf outside of combat now, too, if only I HAD Surf... I'm sure I'll get it soon. So she keeps talking and... wants another battle at the top of the Tower of Mastery, for the Mega Ring? I thought I was gonna get it by beating her here! UGH! Guess I gotta follow her to the top then!

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE TOWER OF MASTERY... I climb the spire that goes around the inner edge of the tower, going upwards in a spiral. Some guy gives me TM47 on the way up, which is for Low Sweep. I get to the top... and Korrina just hands me the Mega Ring (in the form of a convenient-to-wear Mega Bracelet!). I guess she still wants that fight, but maybe sometime down the road? Either way, YAY MEGA RING AND MEGA EVOLUTIONS! Suddenly, one of Korrina's Lucario comes up to me and wants to fight along side of me. I'm getting a Lucario? Sweet... except... wait... a fucking... second... what.

You are challenged by Successor Korrina! I guess we're getting that battle after all! O_O And BOTH Lucarios are holding Lucarionite to Mega Evolve with! Okay so um... this is different. Korrina gets her own music and everything. Fucking badass. So we have Mega Lucario vs. Mega Lucario. I open up with a Swords Dance and her Lucario hits with Power-Up Punch right from the get-go. Holy FUCK that hurt!! I go for a Power-Up Punch and get a flat one-hit KO. Well, that escalated quickly.

With that all said and done, Lucario joins my team. Since I haven't caught anything in Shalour City, I CAN indeed keep this Lucario, Lucarionite and all. Damn. This is pretty fucking cool, I must say. I named Lucario, the Fighting/Steel type, Anubis, after the Egyptian god that he is supposedly based on. Plus, I like Egyptian culture. 8D Anyway. Looking Lucario's stats over, it says he's caught in the Tower of Mastery, meaning that I still haven't caught anything in Shalour City. Which is even more awesome, cause now I can go fish or something and catch a Magikarp or some useless crap.

I think that's it for this update. I'm going to go to bed now and sleep a bit before work! I'll figure out what I want to do with my party and who I want to use in the morning. I have a lot of Fighting-types now, though. I need more Flying-type and Water-type Pokemon... so fishing might become a thing.

I suck at the gyms, both in video games and reality. I know I'd be left with no pokemons in one of those buildings.

Yeah, Lucario's Steel/Fighting typing still leaves it weak to Fighting-type moves. I did the exact same thing you did: open with a Swords Dance, watch her Power-Up Punch me following with a "WHAT THE FUCK," then finishing it with a Power-Up Punch of my own.

She does get some kick ass music, too. The only music I've heard better than that one at this point is the Elite Four music. I haven't beaten them yet, but I fought one of them and they stay true to their reputations; they cover the weaknesses of their type quite well.

Currently going through Route 12, I picked up the HM for Surf and found out that you get a *FREE* Lapras [Water/Ice] from this Route. Some guy gives it to you. However, since I DID catch a Slowpoke here before I got the Lapras, I can't use it. I DID pick it up, but I immediately put it into the graveyard box since it's a One Time catch Pokemon or whatnot. I named it Nessie, for the record. This makes me sad =(

AltimaMantoid, on 20 November 2013 - 06:06 AM, said:

That sucks because you actually see the Lapras' sprite while surfing with it, where with other pokemon you don't.

I feel this is relevant to the thread.

Current Team, Level, Type, Ability, Moves, and Held Item:
Lv.36 "Foxfire" the Delphox [Fire/Psychic] (Blaze) :: Psybeam/Flame Charge/Mystical Fire/Psyshock --- holding Amulet Coin
Lv.36 "Green" the Venusaur [Grass/Poison] (Overgrow) :: Sleep Powder/Poison Powder/Leech Seed/Petal Dance --- holding Venusaurite
Lv.36 "Skysoar" the Pidgeot [Normal/Flying] (Keen Eye) :: Thief/Agility/Fly/Quick Attack --- holding Sharp Beak
Lv.35 "Sprite" the Floette [Fairy] (Flower Veil) :: Wish/Magical Leaf/Fairy Wind/Petal Blizzard --- holding Eviolite
Lv.35 "Masamune" the Doublade [Steel/Ghost] (No Guard) :: Shadow Sneak/Swords Dance/Slash/Night Slash --- holding Rocky Helmet
Lv.35 "Chyna" the Machoke [Fighting] (Guts) :: Strength/Payback/Rock Tomb/Low Sweep --- holding Black Belt

As you can see from this, Foxfire, Skysoar, and Masamune have all evolved since my last post. Yay!

So Route 12 was nothing special, aside from getting that dead-on-arrival Lapras... There IS the Baa de Mer Ranch but I haven't checked that out yet as I wanted to get to the next town, which is Coumarine City. It's a port town on the beach with boats and such. In Coumarine we have the Hotel, the Seaside Station, the Hillcrest Station, a monorail that takes you to the OTHER HALF of the city (odd city layout for sure) which runs between the two previously mentioned stations, and lastly and most importantly, the Coumarine City Gym.

South of the city is Route 13, which is covered in nothing but red clay and no grass grows. Doesn't mean you can't catch wild Pokemon here. I went there and managed to snag myself a Gible (OH FUCK YES!) as my first encounter. I named Gible [Dragon/Ground] "Cephalos" ... if you've ever played Monster Hunter, you'll get the name reference. I find it quite suiting. While leveling up a little bit here I find out that the Kalos Power Plant is on this route, but it's currently having problems as it's the reason half of Lumine City has a blackout. I'd imagine it's either some idiot running it, a Pokemon is blocking power somehow, or it's just Team Flare being dicks.

After getting everyone to a level I feel is appropriate, I begin my trip into the Coumarine City Gym.

For the record, when I arrived in town I was 100% certain it'd be a Water-type Gym. The badge even looks like a rain drop. BOY WAS I WRONG. It's Grass-type o.O I'm not even worried, Grass is an overall terrible type. It can be annoying but it's really not bad. It has too many weaknesses and a lot of things that resist it, although some pairings can be lethal (while others can have 7 fucking weaknesses).

Anyway, the Gym is a giant towering plant of some sort with vines hanging off of it that you have to climb as you spiral your way to the zenith of this photosynthetic behemoth. There are also vines you can swing on to fly across some of the gaps and netting along the edges of this thing. Pretty neat, actually.

Our first contestant on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?" in this Gym is...Pokemon Ranger Chaise! He leads off with a Simisage (fucking monkeys!) and I send out Firefox. Yeah, this is as good as done. I hit it with Mystical Fire and just knock it the fuck out. Straight up gangster style. THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY. He cries in defeat.

It only just dawned on me that this is a GIGANTIC fucking tree in the middle of the Gym. Like, holy fuck, it's Yggdrasil type big. Like, skyscrapers and shit.

Our second contestant on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?" would be Pokemon Ranger Maurice! Who sends out Ferroseed. I laugh in hysterics as I send out Firefox and just hit it with Mystical Fire again for a KO. It's like, free exp or something. He sends out Lombre. Now THIS is something I actually have to think about for more than 1 second, since it's Grass/Water typing. Oh, wait, no I don't. Venusaur resists both, so I send it out and Mega Evolve my Venusaur into Mega Venusaur and my turn gets flincherrupted by a Fake Out. I've still got Mega Venusaur though. I go to use Poison Powder and... suddenly remember that Grass is immune to Poison Powder now. Oh well. BRUTE FORCE WITH PETAL DANCE. Just one-shot it, why not? Venusaur levels to 37. He goes to send out Carnivine, which is a pretty rare Pokemon (mostly because it's fairly forgettable, too). I decide to retract M.Venusaur and bring in Skysoar. I get the first move and use Fly to launch high into the air and avoid it's Feint Attack. Second turn, I dive back down and hit for a one-hit super-effective kill.

Further along I bump into our third contestant on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?", who turns out to be the lovely Pokemon Ranger Brooke! Foxy lady, to be fair. She sends out Roselia while I lead this one with Chyna. Roselia's faster and lays a layer of Toxic Spikes down, and I just punch it in the face with Payback for a KO. She then sends out Wormadam, and I bring in Green to soak up the Toxic Spikes to get rid of them. The Wormadam looks to be the basic form of it. I switch Green out now that he's done his job and bring in Sprite. Wormadam does some move and I wasn't even paying dick all attention. I use Fairy Wind to deal only minor damage and it retaliates with Confusion which does nearly nothing (8 HP). I decide to see if Petal Blizzard does any more damage and it fails to do anything else. Oh. Maybe I should've been paying attention sooner. Wormadam is using Growth... which gives it +1 Attack and +1 Special Attack, putting it's total at +2 on both. Switching! I bring in Masamune to tank hits in case this gets out of hand as it uses confusion for little damage (17 HP). Wormadam uses Confusion again while I pop up with a Swords Dance to gain +2 Attack. Shadow Sneak for the fucking win as that little Wormadam goes down. Sprite levels to 36. "And now comes the flood of tears of regret!" she says. That's because nobody wins on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?"

Next up on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?" is Pokemon Ranger Twiggy! She sends out an old classic, Gloom. I lead off with Chyna again. I seem to be faster and I hit it with Payback while it uses Stun Spore to paralyze me. Gloom follows that up with a Lucky Chant to keep me from critically hitting while I simply hit it with Rock Tomb instead. Gloom uses Lucky Chant again for whatever dumb fucking reason and I just bury that bitch in boulders. Chyna levels to 36 and wants to learn the move Submission. I skip out on learning it because I don't want to deal with the 80% accuracy for only a +15 move damage trade. She sends out an Exeggutor. This thing could be a problem. I send in Masamune to deal with it though. Exeggutor uses Psyshock (HORRIBLE idea) for only a small bit of damage and I just turn around and hit it with Night Slash for MAJOR damage. And then the Shadow Sneak for the KO before it can go again. Masamune levels to 36.

I head out of the Gym and back to the Pokemon Center to restore my health and then go back inside to climb back to the top to face the Gym Leader. He looks like an old war hero or General of some sort. His name is Ramos, and upon closer inspection he's definitely older. He has a pair of shears in his hands. Let's see what this old man can do. They say with age comes experience...

You are challenged by Leader Ramos! Leader Ramos sent out Jumpluff! Now THERE'S something I haven't seen in a LONG time! I send out Masamune to lead the charge. Jumpluff uses Acrobatics for resisted, incredibly weak damage (it took MORE from the Rocky Helmet equipped than I took from it's attack!) and I get a Swords Dance boost going for +2 Attack stages. Jumpluff uses Leech Seed and I hit with a near-KO on Night Slash. Jumpluff recovers a little HP from Leech Seed. Ramos uses a Hyper Potion to put Jumpluff back at max HP and I hit with Sneak Attack which almost KOs again. More Leech Seed damage/recovery. I hit with another Shadow Sneak to put the fluffy cotton ball down. Ramos sends out Gogoat. Alright, Gogoat seems like it might be the evolved form of Skiddo, so I think I want to send out Chyna here to take advantage of a possible part Normal-type here. So, I do just that and send in Chyna while he sends in Gogoat. It looks pretty cool, I gotta say, and I was absolutely right. It's Skiddo's evolved form. Gogoat uses Take Down and misses while I hit it for neutral damage on a Low Sweep and -1 speed stage. Alright, it isn't part Normal-type, but that's fine. I can work with this. I am now faster than it and hit with another Low Sweep and speed lower and he uses Bulldoze to lower my speed -1 stage as well. Ramos caps Gogoat's health at max with another Hyper Potion and I hit with Low Sweep and another speed drop. Still faster I hit it AGAIN with Low Sweep and it uses Bulldoze which just isn't doing much, but it does drop Chyna's speed again. I finish this thing off with Low Sweep. Now, what is this guy's final Pokemon gonna be? Weepinbell. I send out Firefox. LET'S DO THIS. I'm faster so I get the first hit with a Mystical Fire for a flat-out ONE HIT KO. Ramos is down. That was incredibly anti-climactic, but then again I did get the Fire-type starter and Grass isn't as powerful as it is annoying. Firefox levels to 37 and Ramos concedes defeat.

Ramos seems like a nice old man and I hate having to take him out on "Who wants to get their sorry ass beat?" like I did, but it happens. He hands over the Plant Badge... which looks... like a leaf. Leaves.... can look like raindrops. Fucking hell did I not see that coming. It makes sense now. I will say, it is an INCREDIBLY pretty badge. I also am given TM86, Grass Knot... another repeat TM. Although, Grass Knot is highly valuable in competitive play due to how it works, dealing damage based on the opponent's weight (and it can be fucking *scary* on heavy Pokemon). Lastly, I can now use Fly outside of battle. This means I can FINALLY go back to the berry farms and start growing more berries!

That's it for this update. Next time I'll go check out the farms I passed up on Route 12 and then go to Route 13 and to the Kalos Power Plant.

Just a quick update to mention that I've been doing more EV training and tending to the berry farm for the most part. Been leveling my Amaura in case I need an Ice-type for any reason, and Amaura's got great HP and decent Sp.Atk. for stats. Plus Ice and Rock, despite it's weaknesses together (4x weak to Fighting and Steel), has great coverage. I also have gotten full EVs on Firefox, Sprite, and Frills (the Amaura), so I've also unlocked the Secret Super Training courses that can reward a person with stones. During this, I've discovered that Floette needs a Shiny Stone to evolve, but I believe I'd like to wait til mid-40s to do that because most stone evolutions don't learn any new moves, and I'd like to see what else Floette has before I evolve it into whatever it turns into. Probably a Fairy/Grass type with how it's moveset has been. I'll probably start on the farms very soon and post a more comprehensive update.

tl;dr: Berry farming and EV training.