Time to explore the deserty place.

Oh, the duosion evolved into reuniclus. At L41? Huh, that’s pretty sudden after the last evolution.

They use psychic power to control their arms, which are made of a special liquid. They can crush boulders psychically.

So I guess I’ll use that elgyem then.

Drifblim

They carry people and Pokemon, but the wind can catch them, so there can’t be a fixed destination.

Oooh, now I have a ferrothorn! It looks freaky.

By swinging around its three spiky feelers and shooting spikes, it can obliterate an opponent.

Grumpig.

It uses black pearls to amplify its psychic power. It does a strange dance to control foes’ minds.

Spoink.

Using its tail like a spring, it keeps its heart beating by bouncing constantly. If it stops, it dies.

Morbid as ever.

Skorupi

It lives in arid regions and
can go without food for a year
while waiting for prey.

It’s poison/bug. It totally should be poison/rock, though. That’s what I thought it was when I first saw it, and it’s a much more interesting type combo.

I really like the design, also.

Skarmory

The damn thing won’t get in a pokeball and leech seed kills it. I’m having a lot of problems with catching pokemon, actually. I’ve already completely switched to ultraballs, but they just keep popping out and then getting killed by the sandstorm or whatever.

There’s some abandoned building that’s apparently called Strange House, so I guess ghosts? Deserty ghosts? The furniture inside is twitching. And also, blocking doors. All that’s appearing are raticate, though.

There seems to be only one open entrance. It leads down into a library, where tiny, easily pushed aside chairs are treated like they’re heavier than boulders. I mean, come on, I can’t even use strength to move the tiny plastic chairs?

Okay, a gothita just appeared. And now a golbat.

The shelves in the back say just A lot of books from other regions are stored on the tall shelf. Let’s try the others, then:

There are Pokemon called Hypno. Each one carries a pendulum that it can swing to make people drowsy. It has been said that a Hypno once hypnotized a child and took it away…

Bah, can I complain here? The pokedex originally said that child-stealing was just something hypno did. But the remakes had a single hypno do it once, and ever since then it’s been like that incident is what everyone’s thinking of rather than hypno as a species being freaky kidnappers.

There is a Pokemon called Darkrai in the far Sinnoh region. To protect itself, it drives people and Pokemon away with terrible nightmares.

There is a Pokemon called Cresselia in the far Sinnoh region. Its wings shine like the crescent moon and keep nightmares away.

Some Pokemon know a move called Dream Eater. With this move, a Pokemon attacks while the target is asleep and eats its dream. It restores HP equal to half of the damage inflicted on the target.

Okay, so I guess the theme here is dreams?

There are Pokemon called Drowzee. They put others to sleep and eat their dreams. Eating nightmares can upset their stomachs.

And there’s one final bookshelf that’s blocked off and also has an item next to it.

Going up, I exit through a previously blocked area, and also another door is open. Huh, actually all the lower floor doors are open, though the upper remain blocked.

My klang is such a good tank it actually ran out of moves before fainting and ultimately killed itself with struggle.

(Truly, I am the kindest trainer.)

Ooh, banette. And it’s using a lot of moves I don’t recognize.

A doll that became a Pokemon over its grudge of being thrown away. It seeks the child who disowned it.

As you may recall from the Halloween fic. What always bugs me is that this is the evolved form of another pokemon, and how can a discarded doll evolve? Is the idea that the shuppet is fusing with an angry doll?

Aaaand now there’s a hiker standing in the middle of this room. Dead center.

Oh, but he’s just a trainer and now the perky music happens.

What’s this? A vistior? Ooh, I’m so happy to meet someone else here! Could I ask you to be my opponent in a long-awaited Pokemon battle?

Uh…so are you normal or not?

He’s just got a numel and sigilyph.

This house… Doesn’t it seem like the furniture just moves itself?

I don’t know how you can miss the fact it’s also wiggling around in plain sight.

No! It’s not me! I’m seriously not moving it!

Sometimes my avatar is really dumb.

Okay, so that’s all for this room. The other room door is still open, but there’s furniture in the way. When I try to go upstairs to go around, that’s blocked too. So I go up by the far right stairs, and some girl blinks into existence in front of me.

An everlasting dark dream… An endless dream of darkness… Dad, Mom, Abra… Where are you…?

And she blinks back out.

There’s no one in the next room…But things have moved so I can go downstairs again? And when I come up things have moved around again to block the middle level.

Huh, that seems to have reset everything, actually. Dammit.

Okay, figured out how to get through the library. It’s rearranged so the last shelf and item are accessable. Item’s a dusk stone!

Some Pokemon have the Forewarn Ability. A Pokemon with this ability is alerted to one of the opposing Pokemon’s moves. High-power moves will be recognized first.

Yup, and now the upstairs is open.

Empty room with rare candy…

Downstairs, upstairs again, blinky girl.

In the dark dream… I heard my dad’s voice… Forget about the Lunar Wing… Please stay here with me…

In the center room, it looks like a normal room, without the rug all twisted up and such. In the center is the lunar wing.

GAH THE GIRL JUST APPEARED BEHIND ME

Oh… The Lunar Wing… I can’t take it now…

OH GOD SHE’S GOING TO KILL ME FOR TAKING IT

But it’ll be OK… Please return the wing to the Pokemon… I was waiting on the bridge so I could return it myself…

Ooooooookay so I guess I’ll meet Cressilia? It’s times like this you really see how important it is to have set key items.

Huh, gothorita.

According to many old tales, it creates friends for itself by controlling sleeping children on starry nights.

Look at that thing.

It’s either getting molested by its dad or it’s from a broken home and chasing after pedophiles because at least that’s attention. It’s a child presenting itself as mature and creepily sexual, why would it be messing with kids? It’s an entire species in need of a call to whatever Japan’s version of child protective services is.

In related news, the people making up new pokemon really need to get laid and/or put on some sort of watch list.

But back to the plot.

Okay last room, someone’s in the center here again. And they won’t look at me…

Okay, finally turned around.

You… Who are you? There is another person here besides me? We don’t need any trainers here!

Uh… It’s some psychic girl who is crazy or possessed or whatever. Also for some reason she’s got a L40 drifloon despite there being perfectly good drifblims right outside. Then a L40 spoink.

She explains, This house… It brims with fear, sorrow, defeat… So many feelings fill these walls, giving rise to a mysterious energy. Well okay then! Have you considered knocking it down?

I guess I’m done here.

Oh hey, now it’s summer. Summer is very red. Also, suddenly two skarmory jump me at once. Neither gets in a damn ball.

And hey there’s Bianca.

Bianca: Hi there, Farla! Um, you know what? There’s something I want to investigate here in Reversal Mountain. But the wild Pokemon here are really tough, and I’m having trouble with them! Could you come with me? Please?
[!]
Oh! Don’t worry! I’ll take care of healing our Pokemon, OK? Ready? Let’s go!

Oh hey, a rotation battle. I guess it’s so Bianca won’t be involved in trainer fights.

Pools of water in the walls.

Oh damn, a dust thing just formed behind two trainers. Well, so much for getting an item.

Have you heard of the Magma Stone? They say it lies in a volcano somewhere and has something to do with Pokemon. You put it somewhere…or remove it from somewhere…and it’ll summon some Pokemon. No one’s that clear on the details.

That was some pretty good NPC hinting there! Much better than explain everything tutorial mode.

Huh, and there appears to be water on the level up? And that annoying thing where the dowsing machine points to an item on another level. Upstairs I go then.

Okay, so Bianca won’t battle as long as I face trainers individually.

You see these pointy stones you find here and there? Are you aware of them?

That’s a weird battle introduction. Not particularly weird for the game or anything, but still.

Droplets of water containing lime keep dripping down for hundreds of years. Then they harden into stone cones. Those are what we call stalagmites!

Oh, so it’s totally irrelevant. Sure.

Some other guy gives me false swipe. Considering the trouble I’ve been having catching pokemon, that’d be useful. None of my pokemon can learn it. Not the slashy zoroak, not my leaf-blade using serperior.

And now my elgyem is evolving into beheeyem. God, those names are impossible to spell.

Apparently, it communicates by flashing its three fingers, but those patterns haven’t been decoded.

So for all we know this is human intelligence and we just can’t understand it?

Hey, did you know Bianca doesn’t have a run sprite? They just make her walk sprite go super fast.

Okay, at the end. Oh! Undella Town is right through here! I want to keep looking around a bit more. What do you want to do? Shall we say bye for now?

Yeah, I think I’m done.

OK, then! I want to do a little more research about where Heatran might be! Thank you for coming with me! Be careful on the rest of your journey!

Outside is a construction site, where I find a shiny stone!

On the beach is two heart scales and two pearls. You know what would be cool? If those items reappeared every now and then on the sand. I just like when new stuff appears.

Apparently there’s some people called The Riches who aren’t here anymore except one guy who wants expensive items from you. I don’t have anything to his liking, it seems.

Some guy thinks I’m rich because I’m there and gives me a prism scale. Apparently this evolves certain pokemon. Is this to get milotic? Another tells me there’s some freaky abyssal ruins around.

I can buy the Poke Balls sold here, because somewhere, somebody is making them. Thank you, person I don’t know, making Poke Balls somewhere!

So is this guy just really ignorant, or is this a deep secret? Do shadowy corporations control everything in this world, hiding their very existence from the ordinary folk? Does evil lurk behind the innocent facade of a pokeball?

Okay, now into the aquarium! …And it’s not open yet.

Okay, let’s try leaving.

Gary: Wait up!

ARG

You’d better be here to fight and not partner.

Let’s see how well we’ve raised our Pokemon!

Okay, acceptable.

He’s got an unfezant, a L45 emboar, L43 simipour.

…that’s it? Goddamn. You suck!

Gary: Great! If we’re this strong, Team Plasma will run screaming when they see us!

How will that get me experience?

I won’t let them get away, though!

Okay, that works. Bit sadistic, though, aren’t you?

Her Purrloin… I’ll get it back for sure!

Because I’m just saying, about the only thing that could redeem this is if Failry takes a flying leap off the slippery slope and becomes the big bad I need to stop.

So, Farla! Keep helping me out! Also, continue to work hard on the Pokedex!

God, would people shut up about that? You know what Blue didn’t have? People saying “save us from Team Rocket, but btw, catching a fearow is really important too, so feel free to dick around in the grass instead.”

You’re the one who was officially asked to complete it, after all!

Instead, Blue had my rival bragging about how much he’d accomplished, and since he was a dick, you wanted to catch up with him.

Failry leaves at last.

Oh hey, tangela!

Many writing vines cover it, so its true identity remains unknown. The blue vines grow its whole life long.

So, GSC is three years after RBY. RSE is I believe set several years after that with DPP still further on. Then BW, and then this is another two years after that.

At no point in this time has anyone dissected a damn tangela