Still more to do chatting with people in Driftveil…

Construction on a shortcut to Twist Mountain has started. But it’s going to take a while ’cause digging’s difficult.

And for some reason that means I can’t even get near enough to drag whatever item is hidden there.

On to the remaining hotels…still no explanation for why there are hotels everywhere.

Three years ago, Team Plasma talked me into letting my dear Pokemon go. Ever since, I’ve been staying in hotels as I please. …To be honest, I feel lonely, but it’s a good thing not to have Pokemon who’ll be left behind and feel sad after I pass away..

So, considering Plasma is wrong, does that mean this guy is wrong for not keeping his pokemon for his own selfish reasons, because no really pokemon are totally fine and happy to do whatever you want?

There’s a blocked area. It’s just those, uh, you know like those things they drop to block off railroads while the train’s going through? The things you can duck right under without any problem, whatever they’re called.

Another guy says the Cold Storage thingy is gone, I guess? So I guess their current tourist trap nature is because legitimate industry is gone.

Let’s try getting down there.

Scary MIB guy: I’m very sorry. The Pokemon World Tournament will commence shortly,

Oh, so that’s why the tourists.

but we’re still preparing the area. Oh, you don’t have the Driftveil City Gym Badge yet?

HOW CAN I IF THE GYM LEADER WON’T SHOW UP?!

In that case, how about taking on the Pokemon Gym first?

Screw you, you’re going on the list.

Okay, onward.

Tranquill

No matter where in the world it goes, it knows where its nest is, so it never gets separated from its Trainer.

…uh, what? Its nest is presumably a stationary affair, while trainers wander around.

A parasol lady…

Looks more like she’s dressed for rain, and it’s rain she’s talking about.

Deerling.

Their coloring changes according to the seasons and can be slightly affected by temperature and humidity as well.

Spring really looks best, I think, although summer better conveys its type. Winter is boring.

Shelmet.

When it and Karrablast are together, and both recieve electrical stimulation, they both evolve.

I feel like I should try raising them at some point. So many interesting pokemon, so little time.

And now my magnemite is evolving into magneton.

The stronger electromagnetic waves from the three linked Magnemite are enough to dry out the surrounding moisture.

Its magnets sure look droopy. Well, I guess I found who I’ll be replacing with a zorua.

The magnemite’s really been a pretty disappointing pokemon. It’s not nearly as durable as its type would suggest and otherwise is pretty boring. Maybe I just don’t know how to use it properly.

Let’s head back there now.

Rood: Oh! Thank you!

And it walks over to me before I get it, which is a nice touch.

That Zorua is one of the Pokemon that my lord N relied on as a friend during his journey.

Uh…but I saw his pokemon, and he had the evolved form with him. Then again, I guess between this and the forest bit, it’s confirmed there’s a couple of these guys running around.

It changes so it looks like its foe, tricks it, and then uses the opportunity to flee.

Hm. It’s actually identified as N’s pokemon, and comes at L25. I was considering swapping it with a shiny, but…

Regular version looks pretty good too, I guess.

Onward with it, then.

Oh, so it always pops out as another pokemon from my team, that’s kind of cool. Although not exactly the pokedex’s claim of copying the opponent.

There’s the research lab, now fully stocked with deerling…so fully stocked, in fact, that they want to give me some anomalous one. Shame I already raised one last game. Come to think of it, the pacing here is pretty bad, two gift pokemon right on top of each other. And of course, like with the zorua, I have to trek back and clear a spot for them to hand it over.

And all for a deerling with the serene grace ability. I was hoping for a shiny or something. I understand that mechanically this is more interesting, but…

Oh well. Shiny deerling look almost identical anyway.

I shall uncover the mechanism behind Trainer and Pokemon relationships! Time for more quackery, I guess.

Actually, not even that, she just expresses confusion pokemon obey human orders. It’s a mystery, but apparently not so much of one that people don’t know exactly how effective badges are.

The easiest explanation is that pokemon have strongly hierarchical tendencies. They obey whoever defeats them, and since they assume your pokemon’s obedience means you’re the stronger one, and your pokemon were strong enough to beat them, therefore you’re the strongest. That’s a workable reason, but not a very satisfying one, given how diverse pokemon appear to be. You’d also expect something that gave such importance to strength in determining relationships to be better at judging things, rather than so easily being convinced that because five pokemon under your command eventually took weakened them enough for capture, you must be awesome and worthy of their obedience.

Oh hey a marill. Already have you!

Foongus.

It lures Pokemon with its pattern that looks just like a Poke Ball then releases poison spores.

And why would that lure pokemon in the first place?

Ooh, my zorua just learned foul play! That’s a 95 power dark move, with the caveat that it works off the enemy’s attack stat. Also, I reached the healing house and dark grass.

And my zorua just evolved. Now I have a zoroark. That was fast.

Stories say those who tried to catch Zozoark were trapped in an illusion and punished.

Good thing I got mine by evolution, then.

I would have thought zoroark evolved later than L30…

Hey, a dunsparce just popped out of some rustling grass! The pokedex has been listing it on routes for some time now, but I hadn’t seen any sign of it.

It creases mazes in dark locations. When spotted, it flees into the ground by digging with its tail.

Dunsparce is one of those pokemon that feels like it should be so much more interesting than it is.

And now a leavanny.

Upon finding a small Pokemon, it weaves clothing for it from leaves by using the sticky silk secreted from its mouth.

So, current team:
L29 psyduck
L31 zoroark
L32 sigilyph
L30 servine
L29 koffing
L29 flaaffy

Next up is Chargestone Cave, which I’m hoping against all odds will be redone and have an actual puzzle component this time. For now, I sleep.

In conclusion…

Where do zoroark get their hair ties?