Last time, finished with the forest!

I make it to the pokecenter, only for Orange to show up and explain them to me. And apparently they’re keeping the combined center/mart aspect. But anyway, now Bunnelby the dumb is on my team too.

Oh boy next door are clothes! With weirdly dramatic music.

Ooh, she can wear a fedora! Men’s rights activism, here I come! Also, they all seem generally good for shading eyes. I approve.

I think I like the dark felt hat with the flower. It’s still pretty, but it’s not as annoying as the one with the movie-star glasses on it.

And a fitting room! Where I discover a new hat does nothing about what’s on the hat and I should’ve bought the pin instead…out of money now, so that’s not an option, but I’ll be heading back to fight trainers, so I can return.

Also, apparently Mom did pack some decent clothes. Serena, after running around that forest in a skirt and tights, you understand what you need to do, right?

Oh my god, it’s like night and day. She looks like someone who might actually do things, instead of look pretty at them.

Let’s check out the minigames. The EXTREME TRAINING one looks like it’s EV training, and I don’t know what the recommended stat layout now that they made it so you only have so many EVs total…unless they changed that part too. It’d be really nice to have something like Monster Rancher, where they have different learning speeds but you can get anything to 999, but I’m sure the people who like the current fiddly black hole mechanics would riot.

And the pokemon niceness one is great. Finally, a way of raising happiness that actually involves caring for them…mostly feeding them berries at their demand, since that’s the minigame I’m best at, powering through all the ranks and then ramming right into utter failure in the next minigame about yarn jumping. Also, fed my pokemon lots of probably bad for them cakes. And I can pet them! Fennekin looks so happy to have her belly rubbed.

Okay, on with the supposed real game.

Trying to exit early makes someone stop me to say I should see her sister the gym leader, but that’s good tradition, as long as I don’t spend the rest of the game being blocked it’s fine.

Okay, exploring! I keep seeing things about drinks, but nowhere to buy them. Someone does say they’ll trade a bunnelby for a farfetched. I’ve already been raising one, so I’ll have to catch another. I think I’ll go out to the other new route, since the pokedex says it’ll be there too.

FUCKING BIDOOF. Fine, game, I’ll catch it.

With nerves of steel, nothing can perturb it. It is more agile and active than it appears. Hm, not bad data.

Azurill. And the first to escape a pokeball! Let the battle commence.

Wow, really putting up a struggle. Even injured and paralyzed it breaks out. Well, let’s get you down to the red then.

A Pokemon that lives by the water. It moves quickly on land by bouncing on its big tail.

And it’s got a second type have they finally realized it’s water nope “fairy”. I already raised this guy and baby pokemon are always terrible, so even the new type isn’t enough to put it on my team.

Hm, goldeen. You know, now that they’re doing the whole animation of the pokemon hitting the ground and making their little circle, they should’ve just animated the water types to blast the ground and create a little pool, instead of still floating.

Sometimes it says I’m getting boosted experience.

Scatterbug’s evolving! Now that’s done with flashy lights and glowing, it seems, and now it’s a spewpa and it also just learned protect!

It lives hidden within thicket shadows. When predators attack, it quickly bristles the fur covering its body in an effort to threaten them.

Also, seems I can’t feed it any more puffs. I wonder how many pokemon can’t eat them? I assume it’s because it’s a bug transition state and not that you can’t feed any evolved pokemon.

I was the biggest fan of Grace–the famous Rhyhorn racer! I even went to faraway regions to watch her races and cheer her on!

Is that Serena’s mom? I’m liking how things are going in this respect.

Then the next trainer asks me if pokemon training is just a hobby or not. I think Serena’s not sure yet. Then his countering riolu knocks out my precious bird.

My pokemon are expressing opinions before battle. Is that some personality mechanic?

Continuing on, I run into a litleo! And it’s a girl, too.

The stronger the opponent it faces, the more heat surges from its mane and the more power flows through its body.

And the mane indeed is pretty hot. I can pet my fennekin’s ears as they vent scalding heat, but touching the little spot on top of its head in the happy friend minigame burns my disembodied hand.

Further on is someone with a flowerlike pokemon that doesn’t appear to be grass. Grass/fairy? Guess I’ll figure out what’s up with that in due time.

And hm, this route seems to continue? Are there two accessible towns from here and I’m only blocked toward one?

But ooh, no this looks dramatic and cavelike some sort of endgame

Is it Victory Road? Do we finally get to see that early on again?!

This gate is the entrance to Victory Road!

YES

Only Pokemon Trainers who’ve collected all eight Badges may pass! So, your total number of Badges is… Oh, I’m sorry, but you don’t have the qualifications needed to take on Victory Road. Please come back when you have eight Badges.

Ah. But soon, Serena will have those badges.

Trying to go forward exposes another way out, but another block:

Where do you think you’re going? Listen up. Taking on challenges may be important. But as for what lies beyond here? You’re not ready to tackle that yet.

Mmmmm foreshadowing. It has been too long, foreshadowing.

Well, I guess I should get back to the actual plot.

First a trade. Seems I no longer need to have the trade pokemon in my team. So, farfetch’d!

The plant stalk it holds is its weapon. The stalk is used like a sword to cut all sorts of things.

Oh, wait, I also passed over the trainer school! In I go.

Someone gives me x attacks. And defenses. Unless things have changed a lot, they’re pretty useless. But not worthless. So thanks for the money! The board explains status effects – apparently poison is permanent again – but nothing about types as far as I can see.

So now for real the gym.

Hey, stranger! Isn’t cruising around town on your Roller Skates the best thing ever? says the person in front of probably the gym. I think this is the one who passed by me. …Wait. Do you mean to tell me that you don’t even own a pair of Roller Skates?! Then how about this: if you beat me in a Pokemon battle, I’ll give you a pair! Ah, nice. I can never say no to a contest, not me! So, how about it? Do you wanna battle? She gives me the option of refusing, though. That’s reasonable.

Whether it’s Pokemon or Roller Skates, speed is important!

Oh, so wait, she’s not the gym leader at all. She’s just some random person hanging out here for no reason.

W-wow! That was amazing! You might even be stronger than a Gym Leader!

You had one pokemon that wasn’t even in the double digits levelwise.

But now I have roller skates! And they autoequip when using the glidy circle control, because they’re also glidey and circular. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Can’t use them in long grass, though.

They interact really weirdly with the directional pad. If you do that, she hops backward to get on a tile and begins walking based on that, because apparently they’re half tile-based movement and half not now.

Okay for real for real the gym.

Leader: Viola
The camerawoman who never lets a single smile escape her focus.

I hope we’ll be getting a balanced batch of gym leaders this time. It’s always annoying when they’re almost equal but make an extra one male instead.

Ah, very nice graphics inside.

Let’s talk to the advice guy.

What’s the hustle, little Crustle?

Actually I’ve been rather slow.

Welcome to Santalune City Gym! So, future Champ, this’ll be your first time challenging a Gym, huh? Are you thrilled? Are you pumped? You should be! No worries here~ You’ve got Pokemon on your side!

Doesn’t everyone involved in this?

And really, they’re the ones who are gonna be doing all the battling.

Yes! Smart game.

Am I right or am I right? Right?

You are so very right.

So I have to slide down a pole apparently. Also, the gym is bug types. And there’s a bouncy web! That’s a cool way of doing mazes. And giant droplets of water on it that I knock off and so on. Very nice.

And my litleo just learned headbutt. That’d be pretty nasty given its head is on fire.

I reached the final trainer but backtrack to knock the rest of the dew off the web. Okay, now the gym leader.

Current team (do we have sprite rips yet?)

Litleo L12
Fletchling L11
Bunnelby L9
Fennekin L11
Spewpa L10

And she’s wearing pants. Rolled up, but pants!

That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you’re up to the challenge… It’s fantastic! Just fantastic! Is this your first time challenging a Gym? Fantastic! Whether it’s the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They’re both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic! This’ll be just fantastic! Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory–I won’t let anything ruin this shot!

She takes a shot, then we get the trainer sprite which focuses on her normally instead of what it did with Pinkie. Viola looks like she’s having fun.

First is L10 surskit. Luckily my litleo has headbutt now. I think I’ll switch her out, though, since it managed to get off a water sport. Fletchling, go!

Then a huge butterfly or moth vivillon. will this be what my spewpa evolves into? L12 Just before I beat it, she uses a potion. Then it knocks my fletchling out with a move called infestation, which does not look pleasant. Bunnelby! Go! Win! Hopefully level up into something less ugly!

But no, infestation finishes her off. Spewpa is the one who wins.

You and your Pokemon have shown me a whole new depth of field! Fantastic! Just fantastic! And then I get nearly two thousand dollars. I think I’ll get the light blue hat.

Young Trainer, you… No, it wasn’t you alone. You and your Litleo have shown me a whole new depth of field. Fantastic! Just fantastic! With that Bug Badge, Pokemon up to Lv. 30 will listen to your orders in battle… Yup, even if you get them from trades!

So…is it still true that if I overlevel my own pokemon they’ll obey me anyway? Or have they finally fixed that weirdness?

And here! This TM commemorates your win against a pro photag like me. It’s infestation! In case I want to be creepy. She explains it also prevents fleeing, as I discovered when I tried to rescue my bunnelby, and that TMs are still usable.

Talking to her again: There are some things that you can only see when looking through a camera’s viewfinder.

There should be a ghost pokemon or something you discover by taking photos!

And there are things you’ll only be able to see clearly by living together with Pokemon. And if, along the way, you find the things most important to you come into focus… Well, that’d be fantastic! Just fantastic!

And I come out behind one of the photos. Looks like I can’t get back that way.

The guy from before is impressed by my badge.

I bet that schmancy-pants professor who gave you your first Pokemon’d be amazed to see it!

Really? I though this was the idea. Also, he’s a little too scruffy for that to be a reasonable description.

I’m told to check out the Luminose City pokelab to find him. Maybe that’s coming up next.

Anyway, now my name is on the pillar as a certified trainer! The only name. My rivals disappoint. Alt-me, weren’t you ahead of me? You are all terrible garys.

And now for what’s really important – the light blue hat. Now I have a light and dark hat!