Okay, so, current team is now:

L21 psyduck
L?? magnemite
L17 audino
L19 flaaffy
L22 servine
L19 koffing

Iris: Your friend…

He’s not dead. I know, I’m sad too.

He seemed pretty mad. Did everything go OK in the sewers?

HE’S mad? What the hell does HE have to be mad at, the killstealing asshole?

So what are you going to do now?

Heal my pokemon and keep exploring, duh.

You ran into Gym Leader Burgh in the sewers, didn’t you?

Yeah, beating him up would also be pretty fun.

Maybe you should go to the Pokemon Gym and see how far you’ve come!

Mm, I think I’ll play in the sewers, I have to level up my lucario replacement.

I’m sure battling will help your Pokemon come to understand you better as a Trainer, too!

And off to update my team.

Back to the sewers! And a grimer appears at least!

Born from sludge, there Pokemon now gather in polluted places and increase the bacteria in their bodies.

Back up to the grassy area. My magnemite jumps from L10 to L19 without seeing any of the pokemon I’m looking for. Back down to check out the relic area.

Huh, just noticed that apparently, tackle now has a power of 50. Why?

A scientist comes over to ask if it’s a coincidence if the sewer and relic passageway are so close together. Uh, yeah? I don’t know what you’re asking.

More gendered comparisons:

The woman looks like she’s naked under the lab coat. That probably wasn’t intentional, it’s just I’ve never known anyone to wear a skirt under a lab coat.

Let me tell you about lab coats! They aren’t there because scientists were going for the trenchcoat look but screwed up because they’re dumb nerds. They’re there to cover you so that when you spill acid or mercury or fire on yourself, you can quickly shuck off the coat before it gets on your fragile tissues.

If you have bare legs, the stuff drips right onto you anyway. Note how the guy has nice long pants half covering his shoes, while the woman has tiny open-topped things! They wouldn’t even let you in a proper lab with open topped shoes, that’s dangerous.

In short, she’s either incredibly dumb or something happened to her clothes and she had to put a spare lab coat on and grab the fancy backup shoes because her real ones melted. Either way she shouldn’t be running around the sewers.

Modern men make sewers, ancient men made these paths…

Women sat at home and had babies…

Seriously, of all the people to avoid using men as a catchall term for human, it’d be educated women.

Have there always been people who just couldn’t get enough of digging holes?

Mind you, educated women probably would know sewers are build for a purpose and not just because.

Okay, so it looks like I can’t get farther from this side. Still haven’t seen that drillmole pokemon, so I’ll run in circles a little.

Oh hey, onix! I think that’s the first ground pokemon I’ve met in the wild?

It keeps spamming stealth rock. God, Nintendo, is AI really that hard?

It also takes a half dozen greatballs to actually catch it.

Opening its large mouth, it ingests massive amounts of soil and creates long tunnels. So then, why does scientist lady think humans dug these tunnels?

Finally, a dust cloud…and it just has another onix in it.

I really, really love my audino. It came with wish and heal bell, so I can use it to keep healing my team without bothering to go back to a pokecenter.

Okay, I’m bored. Probably whatever other pokemon appear here will also appear in later places, so I’m going to head to the gym.

…huh, so that’s completely different. I guess it makes sense that the flighty artist would redo his gym, and also his gym last time was idiotic.

…dammit. It’s totally linear despite how awesome it could have been. There’s one point where you have a chance to go around a trainer and that’s all. Also, and this might seem minor, but it really annoyed me that every time you go into a cocoon, your avatar freezes and gets the started ! bubble before being sucked inside. I’m not startled, game. I and my avatar both already went through this and know what’s about to happen, and every time you show them freezing up and being startled by something that bothers me not in the least they fail to be a proper avatar for me.

At the top is COLORS EVERYWHERE. There’s a shortcut down where you punch your way out of a closed cocoon. That stays open if you leave, which was nice, although it’s not a big deal because it’s not like getting to the top was hard or time consuming.

Current team:

L22 koffing
L22 flaaffy
L20 magnemite
L22 psyduck
L22 audino
L22 servine

Good work back there in the sewers. My Bug-type Pokemon have been scurrying with excitement about getting to battle you. I’d say my Bug-type Pokemon are pretty great! C’mon, let me brag a little! Dwebble’s round little eyes are cute! It’s resilient and reliable! My ace is Leavanny! It’s really the best! I think it’s so sweet how it makes clothes for other Pokemon out of leaves. Of course, I’m really proud of all my Pokemon! Well now.. Let’s get to it!

L24 dwebble
L26 leavanny
L24 karrablast
L24 shelmet

Oh hoo… You are very strong indeed! I guess it’s no surprise I lost. Here! Take this Insect Badge! I think it’ll suit you! Ooh! The Insect Badge suits you even better than I thought it would! If you have three Badges, Pokemon up to Lv. 40 will obey you, including traded Pokemon. And, uh, you know what, I’ll also give you this. It’s struggle bug.

Struggle Bug also lowers the Sp. Atk of the target that was damaged. I’m the best guy to tell you this. It’s the little things that count!

Okay, so my team:
L22 psyduck, fainted.
L22 flaaffy, unused
L20 magnemite, fainted
L24 audino, couple HP down
L22 koffing, fainted
L23 servine, perfect health

Let’s see if I can get out now…

Not by the bridge. Okay, the other side.

Hey, it’s weirdo hair guy.

???: Oh, it’s you again!

Same.

If it’s not an inconvenience, may I have a look at your Pokemon?

Sure, you have an interesting design. And if I can’t trust mysteriously unnamed scientists, who can I trust?

???:I appreciate your cooperation! Oh! How interesting! Your Psyduck seems to display more self-confidence than others of the same species.

Oh, you’re only here for the game’s weird insistence that I’m nice.

And you’re a Trainer with merely three Badges… Fantastic! I’m not sure how you’re doing it, but you’re bringing out the power of your Pokemon!

Mostly battling them until they drop.

Oh, excuse me! I am a scientist. My name is Colress.

Look, if you aren’t going to fight me, produce some scientistic abomination for me to fight, or produce a dungeon for me to fight in, I don’t care.

The theme of my research is: “Bringing out the power of Pokemon.”

With drugs, right?

Bringing out the power of Pokemon! Is it possible to bring out their maximum power through the bond they share with Trainers?

I sure hope not because I view them as extentions of my own will rather than creatures in their own right.

Or is there some other, different method?

Considering I’m kicking ass, yeah probably.

I’d like to test my theory by battling with you.

Yes! Best NPC!

Do you find this acceptable?

LESS TALKY MORE BATTLY

Either way,

Why even ask then?!

I’ll be waiting on Route 4. It’s just beyond here!

NO GET BACK HERE

Also why are you going like fifty feet away first?

Right then, on to that exp.

Hm, the road’s still blocked. Maybe our battle disturbs it or something?

Colress: I’ve been waiting for you! What’s the matter? Interested in what’s behind me? Those are not mere rocks, but the Pokemon known as Crustle.

Huh, that’s kind of interesting.

Observe. With this device I created to energize Pokemon, I’ll…

Haha, they all look so confused! Cuties.

Colress: Those Crustle… Where they just lying here, out of energy, with their boulders on their backs?

Uh…I would assume they were just resting.

Team Plasma said we should recognize the potential in Pokemon

Ooh, are you the inheritor of that? A previous believer who’s taken up the mantle to actually do the plot right?

and liberate them from humans. I disagree.

Oh.

Conversely, it should be humans who bring out the hidden potential in Pokemon!

Look, you’re evidently not very bright so I’ll try to make this simple: that’s what everyone already thinks and does. No one needed to announce it.

Now that I think of it, I never asked your name.

Sorry, I don’t give out my name to people who say they’ll battle me but then just chase away precious crustle I could have fought.

…
…
Farla…
I’ll remember that name.

… yourself.

Well then, I will test you to see if you’re a Trainer who can bring out the hidden potential of Pokemon!

Huh, he just has normal battle music?

L23 magnemite
L25 klink that does nothing but use charge. Occasionally gear grind, but basically just charge forever. I’M PLAYING CHALLENGE MODE!

What’s really irritating is this should have been a hard battle. I don’t have any pokemon that can deal with steel types well and I’m not much better with electric. I have two electric types, they can only be used on the klink and not the magnemite. I have a grass type, which isn’t good against either. I have a normal type, and a poison type. And I have a water type which has to be protected from the magnemite.

I see! Just like the Gym Leaders in each area or the Elite Four and Champion in the Pokemon League, you bring out the power in Pokemon by being kind to them! That’s the kind of person you are. I’m extremely grateful for your help. This is a token of my gratitude.

He then gives me a protein, because doping’s just as good!

Colress: It’s so frustrating! If only we could talk to Pokemon in order to bring out their power! But there’s no way a person like that could ever exist!

Sooo N then. Okay, I liked N. He had a dragon and he got me a dragon. Also, he crushed Douchy.

Well then, Farla. I hope to see you again sometime.

You’re dead to me.