Let’s consolidate all friends codes on Act’s post!

Back to catching pokemon!

Ah, a new pokemon, fletchling. Male, though. I run. And another one appears, this time female. Once again, a battleless capture.

Fletchling are apparently the tiny robin pokemon, and a normal-flying type. Really, game? You put this and pidgey in the same patch of grass?

These friendly Pokemon send signals to one another with beautiful chirps and tail-feather movements.

And now a zigzagoon, again female. It’s like this patch of grass is every low-level pokemon they’ve got. Peacefulness again wins the day.

It walks in a zigzag fashion. It’s good at finding items in the grass and even on the ground.

Now a scatterbug. Boy, though. And immediately after, a girl appears.

When under attack from bird Pokemon, it spews a poisonous black powder that causes paralysis on contact.

A weedle has appeared that won’t let us leave peacefully. Battle commencing. Not much of one, though, it wastes time on extra string shot attacks.

Now the same is happening with a zigzagoon.

Well, I have six pokemon and nothing new seems to be appearing. I guess I’ll continue the plot and see what the people ahead want to say.

Oh! Hi, Lady S! says Pinkie. Come learn how to catch Pokemon with me!

The game really should notice I’ve already managed.

Calem’s mom and dad are amazing Trainers! That’s why he knows so much about catching Pokemon and battling.

He replies with, You can talk about my parents if you want, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me. Nice. I’m going to show you how to catch one now, so watch carefully!

Dear god it’s a ragged bunny thing. Basically an ugly version of bunary. I christen thee Bidoof 2.

Pinkie is amazed enough to switch to spiky white: Wow! The Pokemon went INSIDE the Poke Ball?!

…

Seriously, Shauna? Did you forget already?

So I guess you get a choice. You can have a competent girl trainer. She can be the child of legends, cool as a cucumber, knowledgeable about everything, and a worthy rival…

Or you can be a girl yourself.

But you only get one.

I mean, it’s an improvement over BW, where the roles of knowledgeable and pathetic were set no matter what you did. But while they can apparently imagine a girl who’s competent, an incompetent boy is still off the table, so that half of this equation is just as set.

(If a girl chastising a boy hurts too much to contemplate, they could also have just made both rivals be opposite gender. You pick a boy, you get Serena and Pinkie the Incompetent. A girl, and you get Calem and Bluey the Incompetent. That’d have felt perfectly natural – most kids are friends with kids of the same gender.)

…but I’m sorry, I interrupted.

Your Chespin is in a Poke Ball, right? Anyway, I’ll share some Poke Balls with you two.

Excellent. I expect to be using those up faster than usual.

I gain…unknown number of pokeballs.

Poke Balls! Music note. Do you think I can catch Pokemon with them, too?

If you throw a Poke Ball at a Pokemon around here, you’ll probably catch it. You lie, alt-me, I always catch them.

OK! If I find a cute Pokemon, I’ll throw lots of Poke Balls at it, and then we’ll become friends! Music note.

Catching a wild pokemon makes your pokemon stronger, too. Be seeing you. So I guess they wanted to make it clear.

Okay fine I’ll get one. Ugh.

They use their large ears to dig burrows. They will dig the whole night through.

And yet still not a ground type! I suggested that way back with bunary.

Current team

Scatterbug L5
Fennekin L7
Fletchling L6 (she’s learned quick attack!)
Pidgey L3
Weedle L3
Zigzagoon L4
And my first non-rival battle right outside the forest, explaining the concept of eyes meeting.

I enter the forest, where a sign reminds me to look for dropped items.

Pinkie appears behind me. Wait up! Musical note. Let’s walk together! I feel like something exciting will happen if I stay by you! Musical note. Then she says she’ll heal my pokemon. Dammit, game, this again?

Oh, a caterpie! But it’s a boy… Well, I’ll catch it anyway, I’m not planning to raise any past pokemon this run.

Now I’m back on the route everyone else is. It’s actually done very nicely – they run ahead, the orange voice even tripping another trainer and ending up in battle.

I could make my way through a forest like this in my sleep, says alt-me. Indeed.

First, I’ll observe, says timid study boy.

Oh! Hang on one second, Lady S! Music note. She runs into a patch of grass. Look what I found, Lady S! I’ll give it to you! I love puzzles, so I watch everything more closely than you might think! And music note.

She gives me a paralyze heal. What a nice NPC. I wonder if this is supposed to be telling us about hidden items? But I didn’t see any clue here at all. At least she’s got some more competent traits now, though.

Huh. All the sprites turn their heads as part of their idle animations, but apparently that doesn’t factor for trigger trainer battles.

And hm. His scatterbug doesn’t waste any turns on string shot. Is the AI actually varied?

Ah, and now orange voice has caught up with me, to chatter about dance. Backtracking, he must have beat the other guy because I can’t fight him.

Panpour… You know, I hate the monkeys, but I’ll grudgingly admit their early inclusion is nice, letting people get a diverse team no matter which starter they picked, and also allowing the possibility of having a good elemental pokemon even if you don’t want to use a starter.

The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. It waters plants with it using its tail.

Now Alt-me wants to know if I need more pokeballs. Always. He gives me another one.

And ooh, a trainer has a pikachu! And apparently they’re rare.

Now Pinkie is complimenting how many pokemon I have. Good NPC. She also only heals if I ask, so I have the option of playing normally.

Another trainer helpfully reminds me that potions can be used during battle. I’m really liking the setup of this game so far – it’s giving the information it needs to without stopping me every few minutes, sitting me down and giving me a detailed lecture.

Hm, Pinkie just said she wants a pikachu but hasn’t seen one. If we find one, does she get it? If I’d seen on earlier, would she have said something different?

I think I still have a bunch more I can catch, in fact. And indeed, a pansage!

It shares the leaf on its head with weary-looking Pokemon. These leaves are know to relieve stress.

Hm, all three of my raised pokemon are now L7:

Fletchling:

24 HP
12 Attack
11 Defense
11 Special Attack
10 Special Defense
14 Speed

Scatterbug

23 HP
11 Attack
12 Defense
10 Special Attack
9 Special Defense
10 Speed

Fennekin

25 HP
13 Attack
13 Defense
15 Special Attack
16 Special Defense
15 Speed

Incidentally, her nature is relaxed, but she’s also quick to flee.

A pansear.

Very intelligent, it roasts berries before eating them. It likes to help people.

You know, isn’t that one of pikachu’s entries?

Kakuna!

Almost incapable of moving, this Pokemon can only harden its shell to protect itself from danger.

So I assume it still only knows harden.

I then wander for ages until I actually find a pikachu.

It raises its tail to check its surroundings. The tail is sometimes struck by lightning in this pose.

So, you got here first, says Alt-me as I decide to finally exit the forest. Seems like I’m neighbors with someone who has a lot of potential.

Orange: The way Pokemon move–it’s just incredible! I want to show off some of that spirit when I dance!

Green: Tierno… Could you think about something besides how Pokemon move for once?

Pinkie: We’re all here! Let’s go to Santalune City! Music note. Yes, let’s, that’s where I can get more clothes. Pants!

And when I move they all start moving on their own. I’m really liking that, it makes them seem more real.

Pinkie: What are you all going to do?
Green: Why, look for Pokemon, of course! The professor did ask us to complete the Pokedex, after all. And furthermore, different Pokemon prefer living in different places. To put it another way, it’s a chance to find different Pokemon than the ones in the forest!
Orange: I’ll bet different Pokemon will use different moves. I sure want to see lots of moves.
Pinkie: What are you gonna do, Calem?
Alt-me: I’m going to go to Santalune City’s Gym and take on the Gym Leader. So you know, Pokemon Trainers test their strength by battling with Gym Leaders in each Pokemon Gym.
Pinkie: Wow! You sure know a lot!
Alt-me: I learned a lot from others. Here, I have something for you guys–“Adventure Rules.” I wrote down 10 different tips every Trainer should know. Here’s on for you.

And indeed he hands me them, advising me to check them out if I’m confused. And then he runs off!

Pinkie: Oh, this is great! I’m going to spend some time getting to know my Li’l Chespin! Music note. Where are you going, Lady S?

FOR PANTS

The others just advise me that pokecenters heal. I also need to go to one to redo my team and get the dead-weight off.

Ooh, and here is the setup where there’s trainers but you can dodge them by going in tall grass just out of their sight.

And someone just went by me in a weird outfit. Enemy team?

Okay, reached the next town. I’m moving at a crawl, but I’m moving!