Adventures In Time Episode I: Pendraflare's Black Time Warp in Ancient Rome [Tip of the Ice-Burgh!]

[Pendraflare]

Well guys, here I am! Now, obviously my Ultra Moon Wonderlocke is still going on (I've well since finished it but have been slow on documenting it, tis what including screenshots will do to you), but there are other adventures I do want to take. Lower scale ones that don't make me hate life every time my Pokémon faint. In that vein, you have Monotypes, which can get repetitive but do have appeal, Mono-Colors, which are decently fun but leave you expecting a lot of the same types, and Scrambles, which can leave you with stuff that could be a complete chore (and believe me, I have seen people complain about what they get). As some of you may know, I first found myself on PokeCommunity in summer 2013 while watching the challenge videos of a member there. And a year later, one challenge I took up is the Time Warp Challenge, which is a fun take and has a story to what it entails, and sets themes to different time periods. I did some in the previous thread before it was remade, and I did two of these in the Azurilland Plays last year - Stone Age for Black, and Pirate Golden Age for Platinum. Credit to the thread goes here. It's a solid mix, lets you look for the things you want to use while placing interesting touches to it.

The era I am going to be doing for this will be Ancient Rome. I was initially going to do this on White 2, but instead decided to back up with the first games, just because, and since we have an ATC presentation based on these games down the road, so let's build hype! I will do something on Black 2 after this for sure (already know what I want to do there). So anyway, let's get on with the rules. Credit to Ahri from The Time Warp Challenge thread from PokeCommunity for some of these.

Spoiler: Challenge Rules

First off, it should go without saying, but legendary Pokémon are not allowed and I can only trade to evolve my Pokémon.

The allowed types for this challenge include: Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel, Psychic, Ghost, Poison. And after three badges, Water-types can be included. So with that, here's a list of all the Pokémon I'll be able to use at the point of every badge:
0 badges: Tepig
1 badge: Roggenrola, Woobat, Drilbur, Throh, Timburr, Sawk
2 badges: Venipede, Darumaka, Scraggy
3 badges: Tympole, Dwebble, Sigilyph, Yamask, Tirtuoga OR Archen, Gothita, Trubbish, Pansear, Panpour
4 badges: Ducklett, Karrablast, Foongus
5 badges: Ferroseed, Klink, Litwick, Elgyem
6 badges: Alomomola, Frillish, Mienfoo
7 badges: Golett, Pawniard
8 badges: Heatmor, Durant
Bold indicates a Pokémon that my final team must have at least one of. I may be missing one or two that I can use there, but this should give you a good idea of what I can go with.

Era Rules: Your legions never back away from any challenge. Play the game in "Set" mode. You are not allowed to run away in wild encounters. You may not buy Repels but you are allowed to use the ones you find. So what this means is:

First off, the battle style must be on Set at all times, preventing me from switching out after knocking out the opponent's Pokémon. This is a rule I just about always have in challenges that aren't Wedlockes so that's no big deal.

Secondly, I am not allowed to run from wild Pokémon. This is a rule that will make this challenge a drag at times, but I'll make do with it. Although this is BW, and with areas like Chargestone Cave and Victory Road, it's gonna be VERY not fun. I hope you guys enjoy watching me rage at all the fast Pokémon that will make my life a living nightmare because of it! Additionally, as it says, I am not permitted to buy Repels but ones that I find are fair game.

"But how do we know you're not fleeing from Pokémon?" Well, you're just gonna have to trust me. I mean, there's gonna be a lot of encounters and I might not record them all, and yeah, you're gonna have to trust me. That's really all there is to it. If I accidentally run from a wild Pokémon and haven't saved in a long time since, then whatever.

Additionally, items cannot be used from the bag in battle, other than Poké Balls of any kind. Outside of battle is fine, though, as are held items. However, this rule will not be in effect until I have two badges. Considering I have to go through the first badge with literally just my starter (which includes a Gym Leader that has a Pokémon that it's weak to), it would be very difficult to get through that without Potion usage. And once I have more than one team member I'll only try to use them until Lenora if they're absolutely necessary.

Also, a bonus rule, not an explicit thing per se, but I am going to be keeping track of the number of times each of my Pokémon faint AND the number of times I wipe. This isn't a Nuzlocke, so I'm free to sack them off to my heart's content, but the amount of times they do drop could make for a fascinating number. In his recent Monotype streams, Marriland counted the number of times that his Pokémon fainted, so I think it'll be a fun little touch here.

For that matter, speaking of wipes, I am not allowed to reset the game upon losing battle. It could very well happen, maybe it won't, but if it does, then I'm gonna have to take it. I know the Hall of Fame doesn't have any explicit ruling against it, but it's still understandable why people wouldn't like it. This rule will no longer be in effect once I arrive at the Pokémon League, though. I don't want to be stuck in the league if I'm just gonna lose to one of the members, and if I'm just gonna lose to them as is I shouldn't have to take the penalty.

Lastly, will I take on the league rematches and Alder? We'll see, depends on how I'm feeling after all's said and done. But right now I am leaning towards it, just to make it feel fully complete. Obviously not deciding that for sure at the moment, though.

So, that's it! Unfortunately, this won't be a story format, since those are a commitment and no easy task. But I will have screenshots, and I'll try to provide clever commentary along the way. If this goes through well I'll do more threads like it here. I hope you all enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

 

[Pendraflare]

Reserve for whatever I might want to take note of.

 

[Pendraflare]

Well, it's time for me to start this up with the first update! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Update #1: Odin's First Tale

So I started the game, chose the girl and named her Minerva.

I mean, we're talking Ancient Rome, what else? :P I was introduced to my so-called friends, the knowledgeable Cheren and the flighty Bianca. We then had the introduction of the game, and then Bianca showed up late to our house, which caused Cheren to reprimand her after knowing for ten years that she has no sense of time.

After setting the battle style to Set and putting the text speed to fast, I chose Tepig as my starter. It was then time for us to get into battle. Despite Cheren suggesting it wasn't the best idea, Bianca said that they're weak and shouldn't cause much damage. Me and her Snivy were speed tied, and I got in the Tail Whip, and she scored a critical hit to get me low on health, but I won the speed tie to finish her off.

Next thing you know, the room had been completely wrecked. Uh, maybe we gave these little guys too little credit? I like how Cheren just calls her hopeless, then heals both your Pokémon like it's nothing and then just gets to it, admittedly. Anyway, he had Oshawott. After a Tail Whip, he was 3HKO'd. The second hit came up short. And Tepig grew to Level 6 afterwards.

So with the battles done, we knew we had to take to Professor Juniper, but not without going to apologize to Mom about the messed up room. They offered to clean up, but she didn't need us to do that. Well, guess they're trying to be responsible! As they headed out, Mom gave me the Xtransceiver. I then had a look at my Tepig: Jolly nature. Certainly feasible there, I mean Flamethrower/Fire Blast are basically the only special attacks that Emboar will ever think of, and they're not until near the end of the game anyway. And this could allow it to get the jump on some slower foes.

I then headed outside. I like the little touch with all the Pidove flying off when you head out! Anyway, going from there to Bianca's house, her dad was dumbfounded at the very thought of his daughter going on an adventure with Pokémon. Her mom was much cooler with it, however, knowing that adventure is a part of ALL life. We then entered the professor's lab, and this professor was...

Thank you, Cheren. But Juniper didn't like his ruining the mood, and suggested him behave formally. Noticing that Tepig was happy with me, I named him Odin, named after from what I read a famous poet from the Roman era. Something like that. Now that she finally had a moment to explain herself, Juniper talked about the Pokédex and wanted us to take on a new journey.

Uh, I think you're asking a bit much from us here. After saying no once again, I finally gave. So I received the Pokédex, and we were free to go. Mom was waiting outside (stalker...) and gave us Town Maps. Ain't nobody got time for that! We then headed north to Route 1, where Bianca wanted us all to take our first step together at the same time. After joining them, I encountered three wild Pokémon in the first patch of grass, a Patrat and two Lillipup. I made my way from there to the end of the route where the two were, and after an Xtransceiver meeting, we arrived in Accumula Town. We toured the Pokémon Center, you all know how that is, and then there was something going on in the square! Some dude named Ghetsis was talking about how Pokémon have great potential and that they should be free from us if we wish for them to make use of it. But it was off the charts strange! Then a weird green haired man from there approached me, and knew what Odin was saying. Cheren talked about our ambitions to complete the Pokédex! And N commented on how many Poké Balls I'll end up using for that, and if they're really happy that way.

So he challenged me with his Purrloin. Not much to this fight, it was literally four turns of Tackle-Scratch exchanges. He commented on how Pokémon will never be perfect beings while in Poké Balls... Hm.

From there, I took to Route 2, and after leaving the gate, Mom called, wanting to talk to me, but had to hang up. And then she came out of the gate!

Did you really have to call me when you were literally 20 feet from me? Anyway, she gave me the Running Shoes, which are a nice touch, but I can't make much use of them while in grass, because I don't want to run into many wild Pokémon while I'm in the grass! After that, I explored the route. There really wasn't much to discuss, I did battle a few wild Pokémon and some trainers, none of which really left me with anything to talk about. Certainly helps when I'm multiple levels above them thanks to all the wild Pokémon I have to fight! At the end was Bianca, who wanted to battle me because her Pokémon had become stronger. I'm not gonna bother talking about her, either, because her Lillipup was OHKO'd with a critical hit Tackle and Snivy folded quickly too.

She went on forward, allowing me to enter Striaton City. As far as NPCs go, there was one who talked about how the Striation Gym Leader always uses Pokémon that he doesn't like. Is that foreshadowing? :thinking: And I was told about the Dreamyard. If I go there, will I be lost in a dream? No, but there were two trainers for me to face. The first one was easy stuff, and then the second one?

BOOOOOOO! YOUR NAME IS YOUNGSTER JOEY AND YOU DON'T HAVE A RATTATA! BOOOOOOO! He had two Patrat and a Lillipup, all of which folded without problems. And Odin grew to Level 13 and learned Defense Curl, which I took over Odor Sleuth. Right past him was a young lady who gave me a Pansage, but I can't use it, although it can learn Cut if I'm not mistaken. So I took it, named it Servant, and deposited it.

We then headed to the Trainer's School. After I showed my knowledge of status conditions, Cheren was studying them himself. Wouldn't we know this stuff already if we know that Pokémon do exist?

No, I'm just showing I would be a better teacher than these guys. Anyway, he wanted to see how effective items are in battle, so we took to it! As he began with Oshawott, I still only had Odin to fight with. We both used Tail Whip to lower our Defense, and my Tackle got him into the red and activated his Oran Berry, while he used another Tail Whip. Another Tackle finished him. Purrloin came after. Tackle 2HKO'd even as he used Growl in between.

Afterwards, he decided to be a nice young man and gave me some Oran Berries. Why, aren't you kind! I talked to more people, and got a couple snazzy Poké Balls from them.

Not sure why you're hiding behind a corridor like that though, man! I tried to go to Fennel's room, too, but apparently she was testing something and had a scary look on her face! That explains why she has that smug laugh in her Dream World art, doesn't it?

Outside the Gym entrance was a weird man with green hair, who noticed that my starter is weak to the Water-type. I had to prepare to face that type, and he entered the Gym. I followed him, and met with Clyde, the Gym guide, who gave me a Fresh Water. Gulp gulp gulp. This place had a menu best suited to the needs of any trainer, apparently!

Why, I appreciate your kind gestures, so I'll take your offer! The first trainer, his Lillipup was OHKO'd by a critical hit Tackle after a Tail Whip. The second one, her Patrat took three turns to fold, and her Purrloin was, well, Purrloin. So there was that. I then went back to take a few more wild Pokémon for a bit of EXP. I then returned to the Gym, where the trio of brothers was awaiting me, and seeing that I chose the Fire-type starter, Cress stepped out, and claimed that I had incredible luck to get to battle the best of them.

Well, I'll certainly hold you to that!

Striaton Gym Leader Cress overview:
Team entering the fight: Odin LV14 - Defense Curl, Ember, Tackle, Tail Whip
He starts off with Lillipup as I only have Odin. I use Tail Whip, as he opens with a light Bite. Him: Full health, -1 Defense / Me: 38/44 HP.
I use Tackle, which does over half, as he goes for Bite again. Him: 30% or so HP, -1 Defense / Me: 32/44 HP.

Yeah, that's "a good attack" indeed. Another Tackle finishes him. Odin grows to Level 15 and learns Flame Charge, which I drop Ember for. This makes it important that I killed those wild Pokémon right before the battle!
Then he uses Panpour. He opens with Work Up as I go for Tail Whip. Him: Full health, +1 Attack, +1 Sp Atk, -1 Defense / Me: 34/46 HP.
He uses Work Up again as I go for Flame Charge. It doesn't do much but gives me a Speed boost. Him: 3/4 or so HP, +2 Attack, +2 Sp Atk, -1 Defense / Me: 34/46 HP, +1 Speed.
I use Tackle, which gets him low, and he uses Water Gun...

Which I live with 2 HP!!! Him: 1/4 or so HP, +2 Attack, +2 Sp Atk, -2 Defense / Me: 2/46 HP, +1 Speed.
He uses his Potion, but it doesn't do him any good, as Tackle does over half his remaining health, allowing me to 2HKO him for the win.
Well, that's a pretty good way to win! I didn't give Odin an Oran Berry because I didn't want it to be wasted if I were to lose. And with Tepig, I was hoping to be able to burn his Potion against that, so I was a little concerned when Tackle from his -1 got him where it was, even if I wasn't surprised by the result. And yet I managed to pull out that big clutch survival, I remember that super-effective attack isn't overly strong per se, but we got it done. So I'm pleased with how this turned out!

So I received the Trio Badge, along with TM83 for Work Up, which is decent. I then left the Gym and met with Fennel, who dragged me into her house.

ALL of them? Hm, early expectations much? She assigned me to go to the Dreamyard and get the Dream Mist. She gave me HM01 for Cut so I could get there! But that will be where I leave this off. Next time we'll take to the Dreamyard and most likely get in some progress alongside it. Thanks for reading!

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Started the game. Chose the girl and named her Minerva.
• New addition to team: Odin the Tepig. Beat Bianca and Cheren with it and was then off on our adventure.
• Arrived in Accumula Town, met with Ghetsis and N, and beat his Purrloin pretty easily.
• Beat the trainers on Route 2, including Bianca in an easy fight.
• Arrived in Striaton City, talked to the NPCs there and beat the trainers in the Dreamyard.
• Met with Cheren in the Trainer's School and beat him handily.
• Beat the trainers in the Striaton Gym, then did a tiny bit more training.
• Beat Cress thanks to a clutch 2 HP survival against his Panpour from +2 Sp Atk.
• Received HM01 for Cut from Fennel.

Spoiler: Team

(M) "Odin", Level 15
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 46, 28, 22, 18, 20, 22
Moves: Defense Curl, Flame Charge, Tackle, Tail Whip
Number of times fainted: 0

Spoiler: Trainer Card

Money: 7796P
Time: 1:00

Trio Badge - Obtained in Part 1 / Pokémon used:

 

[SkylarAlpha]

Odin did great at the Gym!! Definitely a good start to the adventure! ^^

 

[SAF]

Oho~ let's give Odin a big applause for this one *clap clap clap*

As a(n out-of-topic) side note, I kinda wish there was a clapping smiley or something like that

 

[Calaf]

Looks like you're off to a great start! Kudos on beating Cress with your starter alone! ^^
Are there any Pokemon you're especially looking forward to using for this challenge?

 

[Pendraflare]

Spoiler: Replies

@SkylarAlpha Yeah, it was pretty clutch alright, had a feeling he'd live that though. Thanks!

@SAF Yep, well earned for him! And that would be a fun Marril emote haha.

@Calaf Yep, it was tough. But thanks! As for what I look forward to using, there's stuff like maybe Trubbish, the fossils, and possibly Beheeyem. Just a few to name!

So, let's get onto the next part! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Update #2: Dreams and Nightmares!

Last time, Minerva began her adventure and got her first badge. Now she has some Dream Mist to acquire!

Going to the Dreamyard, we made it to the back, where Bianca was looking for the mysterious Pokémon just like I was. We were able to hear it from the back, and it was Munna! But Team Plasma wanted to make those dreams more than we did, apparently! HOPES AND DREAMS!!! They charged at me!

They probably weren't. Not a lot to say about either of these grunts. Odin beat them both with ease. But they persisted, continuing to kick the Munna to try to get Dream Mist out of it, but then Ghetsis showed up.

Yeah, that sounds about right, what they're doing. After they were seeing double double, the grunts fled off in fear. Then the Musharna appeared, and Fennel had seen that for herself and wanted me to return to her house! Having done that, I got the C-Gear, which isn't useful but looks cool, at least.

Oh yeah, and it is pretty cool that you can find this hidden BalmMushroom right here so soon after you get your first badge. But you can't sell it until after you get three, but even so that is really cool. So it was onward to Route 3!

However, you literally need to have two Pokémon to battle these two Twins, or they won't let you pass, so I had to keep Servant in my party. They had two Purrloin, so when I had Servant's turn I just used my Full Heal to stall for time. I decided to wait on the rest of these trainers until I had more than one Pokémon to battle them with. Sure, Odin could have for sure beat them, but I wanted to get something new in on it.

However, before we could get to that, Cheren was ready for a battle! As he used Oshawott, I had Odin. We both opened the battle with Tail Whips. I then went for Tackle and did slightly less than half, as his Water Gun did less than half too.

So I used Tail Whip again as to not get him into Torrent range, and Water Gun got me into the red, but my Oran Berry propped me up. Another Tackle finished him. Purrloin came next, and Flame Charge got him low, and three hits of Fury Swipes had me just short of the red and then he was finished.

He questioned why I keep beating him considering our strength should be equal given the amount of badges we both have. Before we could answer that, though, two Team Plasma grunts blasted through.

Bianca informed us that they had stolen this little girl's Pokémon! So we had to take after them. Right after I healed up, and met with Cheren at the entrance of Wellspring Cave.

We had to deal with this bothersome bunch, who claimed that we don't use Pokémon right and that they want ours. His Patrat used Bide, but I planned for that and got his Defense to -2. Simple work from there, got him to 1 HP...

AND HE USED BIDE AGAIN!!! Lmfao xP After he was finished, Cheren was about to demand them return what they stole, but two more grunts came in. Cheren wasn't having it with their self-righteousness, and we challenged them to battle! As we threw Tail Whip after Tail Whip at their Patrat duo, it didn't take long for them to fold. After Odin gained two sets of 69 EXP, he grew to Level 17, and...

So Cheren refused to listen to their talk about how we're making Pokémon suffer, but they fled with a parting threat. Cheren went to return the stolen Pokémon to the girl, leaving me free to go about.

And the immediate first step after that, I encountered a Roggenrola. Two usages of Flame Charge from Odin got it near 1/4, and after one Poké Ball had two shakes, the second caught it. It was female, so I named it Ceres, after the goddess of agriculture, grain crops, and fertility. There aren't any Grass-types I'll be able to get except Foongus so I guess it works. Anyway, I've used Roggenrola a LOT of times, especially in the first games, so I do know what to expect with using it, particularly for the next Gym. Walking very slow, that'd be the last encounter I would have to take until literally the very last step of the cave where I encountered another Roggenrola. I picked up TM46 for Thief along the way. So after hearing that the stolen Pokémon had been returned to the girl, she gave me some Heal Balls, which are nice even if they won't be useful for very long.

I then made my way back to Wellspring Cave to get my hands on a Woobat. I named her Palatua. I wonder how well this will go. I did use Swoobat in a Blue Mono-Color on Black 2 in early 2017, and it was in rotation with my other six members (with Samurott, Lucario, Gigalith, Glaceon, Eelektross and Tangrowth). It frustrated me multiple times, and I nearly dropped it for good between frozen Opelucid City and Humilau. But ultimately, I stuck with it until Victory Road when someone had to be left behind. So I definitely don't expect this to be a long-term team member of mine but hey. She had a Mild nature, so she's sure to fold to physical attacks, but at least she has Unaware and not Klutz, which would utterly suck. Anyway, back to matters!

I guess you won't want a partner anytime soon? Anyway, as far as the trainers went, there really wasn't much in the way of them dealing significant damage.

There was a School Kid who Palatua had a speed tie against a mirror-match with, and she had Assurance, which wasn't welcoming for me. She fought the last one who had a Pidove and Roggenrola, which didn't have Rock Blast. Speaking of such, Ceres learned that move along the way.

With that taken care of, I arrived in Nacrene City. Cheren was right near, and pulled me forward.

YOU DON'T SAY? Anyway, he gave me some Chesto Berries, and informed me that Fighting-type Pokémon will be great to take Lenora with.
I think I'm gonna leave this off here. So, sorry if this was a little short, but I do want to find fun things to talk about, and not LITERALLY zip through the game and be that guy who does one badge per update. But next time we'll check out Nacrene City and take on the Gym Leader. You'll see what else we end up with on hand. Thanks for reading!

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Went through the Dreamyard and got the Dream Mist from Munna and Musharna.
• Received the C-Gear from Fennel.
• Beat Cheren in a fight that was a little on edge.
• Saved the little girl's Pokémon from Team Plasma.
• Evolution: Odin > Pignite / Evolved after defeating two Team Plasma grunts in a double battle.
• New addition to team: Ceres the Roggenrola
• New addition to team: Palatua the Woobat
• Beat the trainers on Route 3, none of which were much difficult.
• Arrived in Nacrene City.

Spoiler: Team

(M) "Odin", Level 17
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 59, 42, 28, 27, 26, 28
Moves: Arm Thrust, Defense Curl, Flame Charge, Tail Whip
Number of times fainted: 0

(F) "Ceres", Level 14
Ability: Sturdy
Stats: 41, 30, 27, 15, 13, 9
Moves: Harden, Headbutt, Rock Blast, Sand-Attack
Number of times fainted: 0

(F) "Palatua", Level 14
Ability: Unaware
Stats: 43, 19, 15, 25, 20, 26
Moves: Assurance, Confusion, Gust, Odor Sleuth
Number of times fainted: 0

Spoiler: Trainer Card

Money: 13348P
Time: 1:48

Trio Badge - Obtained in Part 1 / Pokémon used:

 

[SkylarAlpha]

Yay for more team members! Looking at your current team, Lenora shouldn't be much of a problem. (Though one can never be certain there).

 

[Pendraflare]

Thanks! You'll find out how that goes later. Unfortunately, I had most of the next update, which covers Pinwheel Forest and the gym, saved as a draft here yesterday, but I went to check on it now and it got erased. x_x I hadn't put any screenshots in and there were some parts I hadn't yet gotten to, but it sucks. Very demotivating. I'll try to have it out tomorrow at the latest but that is annoying.

 

[SAF]

Okay, that's what I'd call annoying. Perhaps you might wanna save your future drafts in the sandbox here (read: The Testing Zone). Don't worry, I won't peek.

 

[DeepSeaPrincess]

Nice, some new members! Hopefully they'll be useful against Lenora. But I mean Odin would probably be able to breeze through on his own

Oh no, I hate it when stuff like that happens...I'm sorry your game decided to be stupid.

 

[Pendraflare]

Thanks! And as for if Odin would take Lenora single-handedly, maybe if I could use items in battle. Either way, you'll find out right ahead!

So I was supposed to have this out on Saturday, but the saved draft went bust and I lost a lot of what I had typed. I had almost everything but the screenshots and a few other tiny gameplay parts. But here it is now. I'll maybe add more screenshots and revise a couple things later, but right now I just wanted to get this out. And hopefully the next part will take quicker to get out than this one did. Enjoy.

Spoiler: Update #3: Sawk It To Them!

Last time, Minerva helped save a little girl's Pokémon from Team Plasma, and made her way into Nacrene City. Now she has the chance to get her second Gym badge!

So there was a bit to do in Nacrene City, not THAT much but I did get a Charcoal from a girl who saw my Tepig. Funny thing is, you can lie about your starter and get a different one of the items. But soon, we were onto Pinwheel Forest. Right near the entrance was the Battle Girl who gave me TM94 for Rock Smash, which was certainly appreciated.

After Ceres took care of a wild Pidove, we came to a wild Tympole. Palatua weakened it down, and I caught it with a Poké Ball! However, I can't use it until I have three badges, so I didn't nickname it yet, but I figured may as well take it for now. After going back to deposit it, Palatua dealt with the nurse and her Munna rather handily. Shortly after that we came across a Sawk, which I figured may as well have my shot against. However, two rounds of Palatua's Confusion got it low and confused it, which after a useless Ultra Ball caused it to do itself in. I then dealt with another Tympole before we made our way into the dark grass...

Where we came across a Pidove AND another Sawk, this one Level 17! They immediately made a statement as the former got Palatua below half with Quick Attack and the latter did Ceres in with two hits of Double Kick. Confusion did okay against the Sawk, and I had to bring in Odin. Palatua was brought into the red as Sawk got Odin near half with Double Kick. We then ganged up on the Pidove with Flame Charge and Confusion, finishing it, leaving just the Sawk. Rock Smash got it lower and the Defense drop as it finished off Palatua with Low Sweep. I had Odin use Defense Curl, as Low Sweep got me into Blaze range but undid my Speed boost. Another hit left Odin with 4 HP as Flame Charge finished it and allowed Odin to reach Level 18.

Unbelievable. That was just brutal. Not wanting Odin to have to go through that again, I used a Super Potion just for good measures. I ran into two Pidove before making it back to the nurse. Shortly after that, I found a wild Timburr, good, that's what I wanted. I used Gust from Palatua hoping I wouldn't OHKO it with a crit... And it did. Gosh darn it. Three Tympole and one Audino later (and Palatua and Ceres reaching Level 16), I found another Timburr. Gust got it short of the red, but it used Bide, and my first Poké Ball failed. Ceres wasn't at full health, so I sacked it off to the Bide. I then caught it and named it Orcus. Gentle nature, which is alright, but it had Guts too, which I'll take.

Then it was trainer time! First up was a Preschooler with the two version exclusive Grass-types, both of which Odin handled pretty easily. There was another Preschooler, whose name was Homer, and despite his Roggenrola scoring a critical hit on Orcus for almost 2/3, Rock Smash 2HKO'd thanks to a Defense drop. D'oh! He then took care of a wild Tympole thanks to confusion letting up. Shortly afterwards we had a Youngster with three Tympole. Orcus took care of one and a half of his trio, including hitting through confusion but then switching out. Palatua handled the rest of them. The next Youngster after that had a Venipede that got in three hits of Rollout thanks to avoiding one Rock Blast from Ceres, but she took that and his Lillipup.

After another Tympole, one of which got Odin down to half health, we then had the Fighting-type trainers to contend with! I used Orcus against them, both of whom used mirror-matches.

And yet they both opted to just use Rock Throw. And Focus Energy. Like, why. This isn't third grade, folks. But I had Orcus smash the challenge rock right near them, so 4900P for me. I'll take that!

I dealt with another Audino on the way out, and then ran into another Sawk! I kept Ceres, who was half dead, in front, and as it used Bide I hampered its accuracy before being knocked to 1/4. I continued to weaken it as it just used Leer and Focus Energy, and three hits of Rock Blast got it from around 1/3 to barely living. I threw the Dusk Ball...

And it worked. Haha, got you back this time. I decided to name it Bacchus. Quirky nature with Sturdy, so that is something I'll gladly take. That said, I don't know if it'll be a long-term team member of mine, but it's certainly something great to have at this time of the game!

The next day, after going back to the challenge rock and dealing with a few more wild Pokémon along the way, I spent some money to get some items. But entering the museum, we had…N! He wanted to see things no one can see, including a future where Pokémon have become perfect...

I felt the same, and he wanted to test me. So he challenged me to battle! There really was nothing for me to discuss about this battle. Bacchus swept him pretty easily. Afterwards, he went on about how Zekrom was the power he needed to make anyone agree with him and find the equation that will change the world. As if he knows the first thing about legendaries!

So we entered the museum, where Hawes, the scientist, showed me some artifacts and skulls, because Unova and Pokémon history is of course appealing! He then left me to take on his wife, the Gym Leader, in the library up ahead.

Once again, the trainers were very little worth talking about. After taking care of a Scientist with a Herdier, Bacchus grew to Level 17 and learned Low Sweep, so that's a plus. When you have three Fighting-types, a Normal-type Gym really isn't tough. I gave Chesto Berries to both Odin and Bacchus to prepare. The whole library gimmick serves a weird circle, though, something about Tepig and sweets and a locomotive. So much circling.

But ahead in the back was Lenora, who was ready to see how I battle with the Pokémon I had. So let's get to it!

Nacrene Gym Leader Lenora overview:
She starts off with Herdier while I open with Ceres. As she gets off the Intimidate, she then uses Leer as I go for Mud-Slap for a scratch and an accuracy drop. This goes on for the next two turns. Her: 93% or so HP, -3 accuracy / Me: Full health, -1 Attack, -3 Defense.
I then switch out for Odin, as she uses Take Down, which hits for less than half as she takes recoil. Her: 80% or so HP, -3 accuracy / Me: 38/65 HP.
I use Rock Smash and get her into the red, and gets the Defense drop. But she hits with Take Down once again.

It gets me into the red, but recoil finishes her. Me: 11/65 HP.
Then she brings in Watchog, who immediately finishes me with Retaliate. I bring in Bacchus, and she uses Leer, but that proves meaningless as I use Low Sweep for over half and a Speed drop.

The next hit finishes her for the win, and Bacchus grows to Level 18.
So there wasn't a whole lot to this fight. As I said before, when you have two Fighting-types, especially one with 125 base Attack, this gets a lot easier. I think Game Freak was a little too nice allowing this thing before the first Gym…

So I got the Basic Badge and TM67 for Retaliate, which is cool and all. But before we had time to celebrate, suddenly there was a boom! Team Plasma was here to steal some bones!!! We had to follow them! Clyde knew the museum was under attack but took a brief moment to celebrate. Never celebrate too early, everybody. Don't be a Marcus Cooper or Leon Lett! A School Girl mentioned that she believed they felt they were doing the right thing. Next thing you know, the grunts were using their smoke screen to steal the Dragon Skull. Plasmaaaa! And it was gone.

Back outside, Burgh showed up, and asked what's up. "What's up?! Someone just walked away with an exhibit, that's what's up!" Lenora answered, which is hysterical. Cheren and Bianca showed up, and after some agreement, the Gym Leaders decided they would take off to Pinwheel Forest while my so-called "friends" stayed. But at least Bianca was nice enough to give me the Dowsing Machine, which is good. It's arguably the best of them in this generation.

So that'll be where I leave this off. Next time we'll give chase to them in Pinwheel Forest. Thanks for reading!

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Explored Nacrene City.
• Had a giant scare against a Sawk and Pidove in a wild double battle that had me on just Odin left with 4 HP.
• Caught a Tympole, but can't use it yet, so it was boxed for the time being.
• New addition to team: Orcus the Timburr
• Beat the trainers in outer Pinwheel Forest, most of which were simple but some damage was dealt.
• New addition to team: Bacchus the Sawk
• Met with N outside of the museum, but Bacchus swept him easily.
• Explored the Nacrene Museum, and beat the trainers in the Gym.
• Beat Lenora in a battle that didn't prove tough for this team.
• Discovered Team Plasma's attempt to steal the Dragon Skull.
• Received the Dowsing Machine from Bianca.

Spoiler: Team

(M) "Odin", Level 19
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 65, 47, 31, 29, 28, 30
Moves: Defense Curl, Flame Charge, Rock Smash, Tail Whip
Number of times fainted: 1

(F) "Ceres", Level 17
Ability: Sturdy
Stats: 48, 36, 32, 18, 15, 10
Moves: Harden, Headbutt, Mud-Slap, Rock Blast
Number of times fainted: 2

(F) "Palatua", Level 17
Ability: Unaware
Stats: 51, 23, 17, 29, 24, 31
Moves: Assurance, Confusion, Gust, Odor Sleuth
Number of times fainted: 1

(M) "Orcus", 17
Ability: Guts
Stats: 52, 34, 24, 17, 19, 20
Moves: Leer, Low Kick, Rock Smash, Rock Throw

(M) "Bacchus", Level 18
Ability: Sturdy
Stats: 59, 54, 33, 16, 32, 37
Moves: Double Kick, Leer, Low Sweep, Rock Smash
Number of times fainted: 0

Storage:
(F) (not nicknamed yet), Quirky, Swift Swim

Spoiler: Trainer Card

Money: 25018P
Time: 2:59

Trio Badge - Obtained in Part 1 / Pokémon used:

Basic Badge - Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

 

[Pendraflare]

Well, time to get the next part out! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Update #4: Tip of the Ice-Burgh!

Last time, Minerva got her second Gym badge against Lenora, the Nacrene Gym Leader. But now she has to take to Pinwheel Forest so she can stop Team Plasma from stealing some bones!

Burgh was right outside the entrance, but before following him in I took care of a few more wild Pokémon on the way to the challenge rock once again. I then entered the forest and we had some trainers and grunts to twist our way through!

As far as all the opponents went, the only one that really did any damage was a Pokémon Ranger with a Herdier that hit Orcus big, but Ceres picked it off. We eventually made it to the clearing where a Team Plasma grunt, after getting smashed, surrendered the Dragon Skull to me.

After all of that, Gorm showed up and said that they can afford to abandon the Dragon Skull, with it being unrelated to what they're actually after.

As Lenora and Burgh showed up, Team Plasma went on more big talk and fled. Burgh headed back to Castelia City awaiting my challenge, while I gave the Dragon Skull to Lenora. Then we had three more trainers, two of which were easy but the last had a Munna that dealt some decent damage with Psybeam and had Moonlight, but Palatua dealt with it after Bacchus couldn't.

All done with that, I entered the gate, and received a Quick Claw from the Hiker there. Then we had the amazing arch that was Skyarrow Bridge.

I have to say, it's always cool when you traverse this for the first time in the game, with the view and how it traverses. From there, it was the entrance to Castelia City!

This city was bustling, alright! After healing up, the first thing I did was take some survey.

I could post an entire long list of things about myself here, but I'll say that I like traveling, creating, cool Pokémon, and Bug-types. And I wish I had more time.

Then we had the Battle Company. Upstairs there were some trainers!

As far as how hard they were went, we had a Herdier that hit big with Take Down, but not enough to stop Bacchus from sweeping it down. And Orcus faced another mirror-match that decided to be an idiot and use Rock Throw. And we had a female Clerk with two Grass-types, but Palatua handled them.

But then we had a male Clerk with three Basculin, and they weren't easy to take, especially when, y'know, the first scores a critical hit on Ceres to get her below 1/3, AND I miss with Rock Blast. I brought in Odin, and it was then that it decided to be dumb. Two hits of Rock Smash finished it after the first got a Defense drop.

Odin was below half thanks to an Aqua Jet that did not even 1/3 total. Ceres learned Iron Defense after that. The second one, Odin did half to before I ended up sacking off Ceres. Bacchus took him from there. He gave me a Scope Lens for my troubles.

On the upper floor, we had more trainers! One had an easy Woobat. The other had a Munna that was backed with an X Special and tried to put Palatua to sleep, and use Moonlight.

But a critical hit Assurance dunked her in. And there was a Sewaddle that got backed with a Dire Hit, and his Tackle scored two critical hits in a row, but Orcus 3HKO'd it with Rock Throw. Smh this AI. Lastly there was one more Clerk who used the elemental monkeys. Bacchus swept that.

The last trainer was a Janitor, the strongest trainer in this building. Despite his Trubbish using Acid Spray twice and Minccino hitting with DoubleSlap four times, Odin took care of him.

At least he gave me the Exp. Share, which is pretty awesome. Having played quite a bit of the 3DS games, particularly XY and USUM, it is interesting going back to these games with the old fashioned crown. Later on, you had this dude in black who was hiding behind a dumpster and just jumped out at me. Scary thing to come about! Anyway, he gave me TM70 for Flash, which won't be that useful. I also played ring around the city with some Dancers who had the elemental monkeys and wanted me to form a dance team for them. They gave me the Amulet Coin, which is cool.

So we then took to the Castelia Gym, where Cheren had just come out of a difficult fight. Burgh followed his suit, but needed us to go after Team Plasma at Prime Pier! Iris was there, with shocking news… They took Bianca's Pokémon! Iris stated the obvious that taking people's Pokémon is really bad, but Burgh had the right idea of where they were hiding…

…And that somewhere would be literally right across the Gym. The grunts claimed that nobody was in there, and one of them challenged me. After Bacchus stomped on him, they gave their epic line. This is bad! Badbadbadbadbadbadbad!

Bad for Team Plasma! Or, Plasbad for short! Following them inside, Ghetsis went on his long talk about how Pokémon are not what we think they are. Oh yeah, for the record, I don't think having a hideout right in front of the Gym was a great idea.

But Burgh objected to their "take what you want from people" approach, claiming that they're going to do the opposite of what they think they will. After all of that, they gave Bianca her Munna back, and left, but Iris wasn't amused. Burgh left me to take on his challenge at the Gym.

Which is where I headed, after some brief prep! First we had some walls of honey to barrel through. The first trainer had two easy ones for Palatua.

The second one scored multiple critical hits against Ceres, who would faint against his Dwebble. That took a few hits for Odin to finish. The third had a Sweaddle that was easy for Odin. The last one had a Venipede that Orcus muscled through and a Sewaddle that Palatua took care of.

After healing up once more, we were met with the Gym Leader, Burgh, whose Bug-type Pokémon were scurrying with excitement about getting to battle me. Alright, let's get right to it!

Castelia Gym Leader Burgh overview:
He starts off with Whirlipede while I open with Ceres. He opens with a Screech to half my Defense, while I go for Rock Blast…

And the first hit scores a critical hit for over half! Two more hits finish him. Me: Full health, -2 Defense.
Then he comes to Leavanny. I switch Odin into a light Razor Leaf. Me: 59/74 HP.
He uses it again and I take another moderate amount before Flame Charge OHKO's him.

And Ceres grows to Level 22. Me: 46/74 HP, +1 Speed.
Lastly is Dwebble. I stay in and use two rounds of Tail Whip as he uses two rounds of Smack Down, the second doing more than the first. Him: Full health, -2 Defense / Me: 19/74 HP.
I then switch Orcus into a weak Smack Down. Me: 57/65 HP.
He uses another weak hit as mine gets him into the red. Him: 10% or so HP, -2 Defense / Me: 49/65 HP.
He uses his Hyper Potion as I get him low once again. Him: 20% or so HP, -2 Defense.

Since this is BW where foes have two Hyper Potions and not one, he uses another as I use Wake-Up Slap. Him: 1/3 or so HP, -2 Defense. Another exchange finishes him. Odin grows to Level 23 and I pass on Rollout.

So I got the Insect Badge and TM76 for Struggle Bug, which isn't quite as good in this generation with only 30 BP, and the only Pokémon I can get that can learn it are Crustle and Escavalier. Upon leaving the Gym, Bianca called on the Xtransceiver and wanted to battle, so that's what we'll do next time. There, we'll make our way north and do who knows what. Thanks for reading!

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Dealt with Team Plasma in Pinwheel Forest and gave the Dragon Skull back to Lenora.
• Traversed Skyarrow Bridge to arrive in Castelia City.
• Did a multitude of things in Castelia City, including the Battle Company and arranging some dancers.
• Dealt with Team Plasma in their hideout.
• Beat Burgh in a battle that wasn't very tough.

Spoiler: Team

(M) "Odin", Level 23
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 77, 56, 36, 35, 33, 36
Moves: Defense Curl, Flame Charge, Rock Smash, Tail Whip
Number of times fainted: 1 (Update #3)

(F) "Ceres", Level 22
Ability: Sturdy
Stats: 60, 45, 40, 21, 18, 12
Moves: Headbutt, Iron Defense, Mud-Slap, Rock Blast
Number of times fainted: 4 (2 in Update #3, 2 in Update #4)

(F) "Palatua", Level 17
Ability: Unaware
Stats: 61, 27, 20, 35, 28, 37
Moves: Air Cutter, Assurance, Confusion, Gust
Number of times fainted: 1 (Update #3)

(M) "Orcus", Level 22
Ability: Guts
Stats: 65, 43, 30, 20, 25, 24
Moves: Leer, Low Kick, Rock Throw, Wake-Up Slap
Number of times fainted: 0

(M) "Bacchus", Level 21
Ability: Sturdy
Stats: 67, 62, 38, 18, 37, 43
Moves: Counter, Double Kick, Leer, Low Sweep
Number of times fainted: 0

Spoiler: Trainer Card

Money: 65102P
Time: 4:41

Trio Badge - Obtained in Part 1 / Pokémon used:

Basic Badge - Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Insect Badge - Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used: