Wonderlocke Eres' Adventures in Wonderland - Pendraflare's Ultra Moon Wonderlocke: Set Mode + Item Restrictions [Slashing and Mashing]

[Pendraflare]

Spoiler: Replies

@Quoake Thanks! Sableye is pretty cool, yes, and Frogadier is one of the middle stage starters that I happen to particularly like. :3 Hope you enjoy what's ahead!

@AuburnEnigma Yeah, this was ugly. Gible could've been REALLY good... And it is nice that they put the Flyinium Z in Ultra in place of Acrobatics. You'll see more up ahead!

As for my question, I think the Ghost-type is my personal favorite, so it really stinks that you can't get it until post-game. x_x

So, time for the next part! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 5: Boring Extra Side Stuff!

Last time, Eres completed her first Grand Trial against Kahuna Hala, but things really didn’t go the way she hoped they would along the way! Now she has regrouping to do after adding a replacement to her team.

So my first order of business was to train up Igloo. I did a bit of training for him against Rattata and other wild Pokémon at Hau’oli Outskirts. He got things going slowly, but I made do with it. I also sold some items I knew I wouldn’t be using, and entered Ten Carat Hill to get an encounter.

I decided to get it in the farthest hollow though, because Mawile and Carbink I felt could be a little tough to contend with. And I would find a Machop. Bigshot got it below half, and it tried to call for help to no avail. I caught it with a Great Ball. Sending it into the ether, I got a Magikarp. I sent it back…

And I got a THIRD Luvdisc. I decided I don’t want to be here for a while. This time, I took it. It was over-leveled, sure, but what even are the odds I’ll use this thing??? Heh. I decided its name would be Placeholder, lol. Maybe it’ll do something, I don’t know.

After encountering a few more Pokémon that Rotom hadn’t seen yet, I came to another part of the hollow, where the Flyinium Z was. Kahili showed up, did the determined looking pose for the Z-Move, and left me about myself.

This Z-Crystal not requiring Machamp is how Ultra makes up for Acrobatics not being here like in the original. Also, I like how she shows up, shows you the pose, and leaves without even introducing herself. :thinking: I killed a few more Pokémon on the way out, and did some riding around on Tauros with the Soothe Bell to get Supervolt’s happiness up. And after she leveled up…

Yep! That was why I didn’t use her before, so she could evolve at Level 13 and get both Nasty Plot AND Electro Ball.

Anyway, there was some other stuff to do around here before having to progress with the game. Most of what’s ahead is just gonna be optional stuff, mostly stuff that’s new in Ultra. So you can kinda skip most of what’s ahead. Or not. Your choice. I don’t want to tell you how to live your life.

First, in Hau’oli City Hall, this Gentleman doesn’t want his daughter to marry this guy without proving his strength in battle.

His Dunsparce did have Mud-Slap and messed with Igloo a bit, but Pikachu finished the job. As the two got their marriage licenses, the dad went on about how a relationship is like a Pokémon battle and he doesn’t know how to talk these things through easily. But I got a Nugget for my troubles. And he said that their Gastly probably could have beat him, too. Not with only Ghost-type attacks, they wouldn’t!

And there was THIS guy once again, who you end up cleaning the floors of the Hau’oli Mall for. I cleaned up his floor and he gave me TM48 for Round, which is okay.

Rotom even comments on the situation too, haha. Just goes to show how much more involved these games are over the originals! At least to me, anyway.

So I went through the Alola Photo Club thing. As a whole, I get why people don’t find it necessary, but I think it’s cute. After Hau talked about being ready to go Mantine Surfing, I asked, what about Kukui’s boat that he has all ready to sail? He really wanted to ride on a Mantine, though.

Haha, eat that, Kukui! :P Lillie then asked me if I could help her with Cosmog, and I will. But not just yet! There’s a bit more side stuff I wanted to cover.

First though, I do want to point this out. After you’re done at the Photo Club, Kukui literally says that he has his ship ready to sail, but when you go to the dock, the receptionist here says that the ship is undergoing maintenance! So he DOESN’T have it ready to sail??? Yeah, I get that it’s so they make sure you do Mantine Surf, but that’s still kinda silly when you think about it. But I guess it really is a junk heap! Anyway, onto some side stuff!

This NPC was in the Melemele Meadow. He’s talking about his girlfriend and how she wanders off whenever she sees something interesting… Well, she’s not much of a good girlfriend if she literally leaves you to wander off and find her yourself! What a jerk.

This trainer is a fun touch, though. She talks about how different Oricorio forms let her portray different characters. She was pumped and ready to go! But because she had only Peck and Pound, she wasn’t tough for Supervolt.

There was also a Gentleman whose Meowth had disappeared and was eager to FIND IT and LOVE IT!!! So I had to do it for him. Also, anyone else find the options to some of these questions funny? (ie “How is this my problem?!”, “Could I do it later?”, etcetera.) It was hiding under a truck parked next to the apartment, and it ran off. But a nice young lady pointed it out from under a tree. Imitating a cat myself prompted it to come out of hiding! The Gentleman overwhelmed the Meowth with love, which understandably left it feeling exhausted. And it ran off itself. Word of advice, man, don’t get too clingy!

So after that, Samson Oak found me as I was making my way to Big Wave Beach, and talked about the Totem Pokémon for a bit, and how if I get enough Totem Stickers he’ll give me special Totem Sized Pokémon. Those will apply like gift Pokémon, but I only get to use one if I so desire.

Him aside, I continued down to Big Wave Beach, and met with the young lady in charge of the beach and Mantine Surfing. She was ready for us to surf on her Mantine, so surf on her Mantine we shall! I had my turn on it, and ended with 30,487 points, which is alright.

With that, we ended up on Heahea Beach, and after Hau didn’t know whether to say “Land ashore” or “Land ahoy”, he suggested us look for Professor Kukui and Lillie. But first, the attendant dude, amazed with the previous high score being bested, gave me a Star Piece and 9 Beach Points. Not bad! And I learned the aerial move Lanturn 360, which will help a lot with getting points. Rotom popped out, called me a clever girl, and had the Akala Pokédex installed.

Up to the lower right hand side to the Tide Song Hotel, there were some Pyukumuku, and Hau didn’t want us to interrupt their sleep. Aw, way to be considerate.

As we entered Heahea City, Professor Kukui and Lillie were at the dock. And Olivia and Mallow met with us, and suggested Kukui find a shirt that goes with that lab coat of his lest he scare people off. Yeah, they have a point. They looked forward to seeing me face them and their trials, so we’ll have to make our way to them! I guess that’s where this will be left off.

QotD: Of the extra things I covered here, did you miss any of them in your first playthrough of the game?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• WT: Ten Carat Hill: Machop > Magikarp > Luvdisc “named” Placeholder
• Evolution: Supervolt > Pikachu after training and happiness.
• Did a whole bunch of random side quests.
• Went to the Alola Photo Club in Hau’oli and was invited to Mantine Surf.
• Mantine Surfed my way into Akala Island and made way into Heahea City.

Spoiler: Team

“Marvel”, Level 17
Ability: Shields Down
States: 52, 48, 30, 36, 30, 46
Moves: Ancient Power, Confuse Ray, Defense Curl, Rollout

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 17
Ability: Flash Fire
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 39
Moves: Flame Wheel, Growl, Stomp, Tail Whip

(M) “Kermit”, Level 17
Ability: Torrent
Stats: 50, 27, 23, 38, 25, 47
Moves: Growl, Lick, Quick Attack, Water Pulse

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 17
Ability: Stall
Stats: 47, 35, 34, 26, 33, 24
Moves: Brick Break, Detect, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 16
Ability: Static
Stats: 38, 23, 22, 23, 21, 39
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Shock

(M) “Igloo”, Level 15
Ability: Slush Rush
Stats: 43, 30, 33, 10, 17, 20
Moves: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Metal Claw, Night Slash

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 59320P
Alola Pokédex: 28 Registered
Time: 6:52

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

So not really a lot to talk about here. This part was mostly me doing extra stuff en route to Akala. If this stuff interests you then there’s that, the only thing I got was a Luvdisc, which this time I didn’t send back. Again, it may do something. Maybe not.
Anyway, next time we’ll explore Heahea City and progress through Akala Island. Thanks for reading!

 

[AuburnEnigma]

QOTD: Yep, most of it to be honest :p if you look through a walkthrough of the game, it actually tells you about City Hall and Lost Meowth for after you become Champion (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

Olivia intrigues me actually - she's introduced to us as being a kind kahuna deep down, then in her shop it's all about how she doesn't have a boyfriend, but then at the Pokémon League her dialogue is about how 'your puny little Pokémon are going to go down in one hit!' That just seems jarring to me.

Best of luck with the next part!

 

[Pendraflare]

Haha, yeah, feels like these side things are things a lot of people tend to glance over. :P And I did know about the City Hall, but on my first playthrough not the couple to be bit. There was the part on the Meowth after becoming Champion that I do remember, though. And as for Olivia, I'll say that is rather weird in a way, being single and then getting tough. I don't know, maybe it does feel at least somewhat like development to me. Or at least a sign of strength.

Ready for more? Because I am! Let’s get on with it! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 6: Hau ‘Bout Them Cowboys?!

Last time, Eres did a bit of extra stuff before she made her way on Mantine to Akala Island. But now she has a whole new island to explore!

It didn’t take long for Lillie to stop us and ask for my assistance with Nebby, in getting to the ruins with her. But first she had the Tide Song Hotel to attend to.

Someone important? Hey, maybe you can give me advice on what girls like?!?! Nebby got sad when told to go back in her bag, because it likes me and wants to play with me! Maybe.

In the meantime, though, I decided to get Eres a new outfit. This one is definitely more on the edgy side, but I find it a fun touch for the time being. I did some matters in Festival Plaza, including getting a PP Max in one of the lottos. I met with Lillie in the hotel, and she missed her meeting thanks to Team Skull.

You speak for me, man. Can I find a pretty girlfriend here?!

And then we had Sina and Dexio! In the original, they were there for the Zygarde subquest, but since you can get Zygarde in the post-game the cube isn’t a thing here. But after Sina being as full of herself as ever, she suggested me challenge her. It’s on!

Igloo walked through this battle. Smoochum was OHKO’d with Metal Claw and Glaceon just used a very weak Quick Attack as I 3HKO’d her. She gave me a Full Restore, and they called back to XY. Then they were off.

Onward to Route 4! My encounter there was an Eevee. Tfw you find an Eevee in a Wonderlocke and you’re forced to trade it Supervolt’s Static paralyzed it and I weakened it with Electro Ball, and I sent it off into the ether.

And in its wake I get a Sandygast. Not bad! I decided to “name” it Santom. Unfortunately, they can be tough to use early on since they get little good and don’t evolve until Level 42. But maybe I’ll use it. There wasn’t too much to discuss with the trainers – we had a Bellhop who Igloo handled his Fomantis, a Sightseer whose Kantoian Rattata was 2HKO’d with Supervolt’s Electro Ball, and another Sightseer who Bigshot OHKO’d with a critical hit. But then we had the Pikachu Valley!

This place is pretty entertaining. This trial guide right here gave me a Pikachu frame for my photos, and nearby was another trial guide who quizzed me on what I know about Pikachu. In exchange I got a Pikachu outfit. It’s charming, but not one I’ll go out of my way to put on my character or something. Also there’s that trailer that can have Pikachu come out of it endlessly, which makes for a good laugh.

Also, this Cook right here has a Cutiefly with Leftovers. That caught my eye when I first noticed it, and it’s entertaining. And no, you can’t steal it from him, sadly. I know that in Aquablade11’s blind Ultra Sun Nuzlocke he tried to do that with another Cook’s Pokémon late in the game, to no avail. Igloo OHKO’d him with Metal Claw.

After dealing with the Crabrawler in the berry pile behind him and getting a few confusion berries and the like, we proceeded into Paniola Town!

It didn’t take long before we were met with Hau, who liked the idea of a battle that made us feel like cowboys in a real old-fashioned Western showdown! As I was healed up, we got down with it. He was ready for his team to go in after having eaten a bunch of his mom’s special pancakes. Hey, if I win, can I have some?!?! Also, side note, I do like how Hau keeps his starter Pokémon outside of its ball in this game. Really shows that he added a nice touch to him in these games!

Anyway, as he opened with Brionne, I started with Pikachu. I used Electro Ball for a little less than half, but he used the Z-Move, Breakneck Blitz, which did JUST over half.

After this, he then hit with Aqua Jet, which got me into the red, and Static triggered, while I got off the Nasty Plot, but that would be meaningless as I'd have to switch lest he kill me with Aqua Jet. I brought in Frogadier… And he used Disarming Voice. A weak Aqua Jet preceded a weak Water Pulse. I used another Water Pulse, which got him into Torrent range, but he got fully paralyzed.

I got him into the red and confused him, but he hit through it and used Pound to get me below half. I got him just short, and he hit through confusion again and Pound got me to 1/4. Quick Attack finished him and got Frogadier to Level 18.
Pikachu was next. I switched Ponyta into a crit Quick Attack for 1/5.

Then he used Electro Ball, which scored ANOTHER critical hit for one point above half, and Flame Wheel didn't OHKO him. Quick Attack got me to 1/4, but another Flame Wheel finished him and Frogadier grew to Level 19 and learned Smokescreen over Quick Attack. Also, minor, but I do want to point out that I at one point thought that Smokescreen was abbreviated as “Smoke Screen”. In the DS era it was “SmokeScreen”, which I kinda liked more. Anyway, then we had Noibat. I switched Sandshrew into a weak Bite and after a Tackle for 1 HP, Icicle Spear killed him with one hit. Eevee was last. He used nothing but Quick Attack as Night Slash got the 3HKO for the win.

As for Paniola Town, there was, well, a house where a bunch of Magmar were making stuff for one.

And one of them had a nice, toasty Quick Ball from, well, somewhere. I like this line because it pokes fun at things like how your bag has infinite capabilities and you wonder how you’re able to pull them out. And things like that.

One other thing that Ultra adds is this bit with an Alolan Vulpix that Team Skull messes with as it won’t give over a Bottle Cap! AND IT WANTS TO JUMP IN THE WATER! NO! DON’T DO IT! YOU HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO LIVE FOR!!! I stepped in and got the grunt out of the way (his Rattata was easy work for Marvel). They stepped aside, and the lady taking care of the Vulpix thanked me, but the poor fox ran off. ;_; She let me go about my business afterwards, but suggested me return.

Next up was Paniola Ranch. Which has its share of moderate difficulty. To start, there was the Madame with the infamous Carbink, but she’s not so tough when you’ve got a Steel-type at your disposal. And then you had Mallow, who gives you Stoutland for your Ride Pager. I’ve gone on record before as not being a big fan of this as far as an item searcher goes, though, compared to the Dowsing Machine in Gens V and VI.

I knew about this situation here, with this Tauros who gets feisty, and even bringing out the mistress of the ranch, a Miltank, couldn’t get it settled! So I had to battle it. However, I wanted to tread carefully against this opponent, as I knew it had something that had the potential to end in disaster. The Tauros used Rage, and Bigshot hit it with Flame Wheel and scored a critical hit…

Which is exactly what I didn’t want!!! As you can see, Anger Point maxed its Attack. I was able to live a Rage and get it low, but another hit would kill me, so I had literally no choice but to switch and hope it wouldn’t use Pursuit.

Which it did. And another death, just like that. I brought in Igloo, who lived a Horn Attack and was propped up by the Berry Juice before killing it with Icicle Crash. Sheesh! I got a Scope Lens for my troubles, which was something I dealt with when I first played through Ultra Sun when I was desperate against Totem Ribombee after having lost to it twice, and my Alolan Golem I gave those Scope Lens after getting them in this fight so I could OHKO it with a critical hit. Wonder if they’ll be of any use here.

So I went to get my encounter, a Lillipup. Knowing these things could have Take Down, Supervolt cut its Attack with Charm and weakened it with Thunder Shock. And it was caught. After she learned Thunder Wave over Thunder Shock, I bid farewell to Bigshot and sent the Lillipup into the ether.

And that was what I got in exchange. Tentacool is never bad per se, that great Sp Def stat can be a big help even if it doesn’t hit super hard in the long run. Maybe it’ll be good for something. I decided to “name” it 80-Ton. I attended to Festival Plaza, including getting ANOTHER PP Max at a lotto, and decided to regroup for my plans.

Heh, I do like when Rotom asks these questions and I can give answers. Yes, Eres would rather chill inside a Poké Ball than enter the Rotom Dex! It sounds painfully interesting. xD

So with that, I decided that Hairball would be the newest addition to the team. The only real chore I think will be getting its happiness up for a bit since it starts at none. That and having Klutz so it can’t use any items other than Z-Crystals. I decided, let’s see where it gets me.

Back to Paniola Ranch, I led with her against a breeder with a Mudbray, who I then switched in Gemstoner for. I 3HKO’d him with Night Shade as I switched into a failed Double Kick. And he learned Feint Attack which I decided to drop Brick Break over for now. After getting the Amulet Coin right past the nursery, there was a dude doing sit-ups under his truck. Uh, what? Anyway, Marvel kept spamming Ancient Power against him, even with his Magnemite resisting Rock.

I even got the boost! However, I didn’t feel safe staying in, so I had Supervolt finish him. “I would have won if I didn’t lose!” YOU DON’T SAY??? The last trainer was a Gentleman with a Sableye. Marvel ended up getting it low on health, but it had Night Shade to go through my good defenses.

Oh yeah, and that didn’t help, either. But at least I scored a critical hit as he did that, and Supervolt finished him for some more EXP.

The last thing there was for us to do here was go to the nursery, where the lady in charge gave me an egg. And Rotom here was eager to have it hatch, so it immediately activated a Roto Hatch, which surely helps. I mean, for the record, Roto Hatch lasts a whopping 30 minutes!!!

And it hatched into an Eevee! Because I have Gift Clause on, it means that I am free to keep this Eevee and use it as a team member. I decided to name it Visionary. And it had a Timid nature, which is good because quite a few Eeveelutions are mostly special oriented. So it’s a good potential choice! But this is where I’m gonna leave this off.

QotD: With Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee out, how excited had you been for the game up to its launch?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Explored Heahea City, and beat Sina pretty easily.
• WT: Route 4: Eevee > Sandygast “named” Santom
• Beat the trainers on Route 4, all of whom were pretty easy.
• Arrived in Paniola Town, and beat Hau in a battle that did provide a few scares courtesy of his Brionne.
• Explored Paniola Town and did some stuff there.
• Met with Mallow and got Stoutland for my Ride Pager.
• Death: Bigshot the Ponyta / Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
• WT: Lillipup > Tentacool “named” 80-Ton
• New addition to team: Hairball the Buneary
• Beat the rest of the trainers in Paniola Ranch.
• Notable moments: Gemstoner survived against a Mudbray despite ending low on health, and likewise with Marvel against a Gentleman’s Sableye with Night Shade.
• Gift Pokémon: Visionary the Eevee / Egg from nursery helpers

Spoiler: Team

“Marvel”, Level 19
Ability: Shields Down
States: 57, 53, 33, 41, 33, 50
Moves: Ancient Power, Confuse Ray, Defense Curl, Rollout

(M) “Kermit”, Level 19
Ability: Torrent
Stats: 55, 30, 25, 42, 28, 51
Moves: Growl, Lick, Smokescreen, Water Pulse

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 19
Ability: Stall
Stats: 51, 39, 37, 28, 36, 26
Moves: Detect, Feint Attack, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 18
Ability: Static
Stats: 41, 26, 24, 25, 23, 44
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave

(M) “Igloo”, Level 18
Ability: Slush Rush
Stats: 50, 35, 38, 12, 19, 24
Moves: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Metal Claw, Night Slash

(F) “Hairball”, Level 13
Ability: Klutz
Stats: 39, 25, 18, 15, 22, 29
Moves: Baby-Doll Eyes, Defense Curl, Foresight, Pound

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 58396P
Alola Pokédex: 32 Registered
Time: 8:16

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 1 – 17
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 40
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 6
Cause of death: Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
You were a big shot horse with big hooves, but you pushed one foe a little too far and that allowed it to take advantage of you. Seems you weren’t the top member of the ranch after all…

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

Title reference: As an Eagles fan I don’t even know why I’m making that title reference, especially after Sunday night. x_x
Well, this was a rather interesting update… Going into that battle with the Tauros I thought to myself, “it’d suck if I were to crit this thing.” And that was what happened. There really wasn’t anything else I could have done, though, which sucked. At least Hau went over decently despite some close calls on that end. As for our new recruits and additions, as I said, Sandygast is interesting but a chore to use early on, while Tentacool is, well, Tentacool. And so is Eevee. I hope the Buneary will do me good, you’ll see if it does or not.
Anyway, next time we’ll head north and probably take on the second trial. Thanks for reading!

 

[AuburnEnigma]

Shame you lost Big Shot, and to Pursuit too :( the only good thing about Buneary w/Klutz is that you can potentially put a bad item on it (like a Black Sludge) and use Switcheroo to swap it to your opponent, but that's only as an egg move sadly.

TMs and Move Tutors are probably going to be crucial for Hairball - I can see from the Move Tutors that it can get the elemental Punches (which are normally egg moves) and Iron Tail as well, Heal Bell is also a decent option.

As for QotD: kind of moderate, I mean I knew I wasn't going to be getting the games on release, but they do look interesting, so maybe in about 6 months or so I'll take a look at it. I'll stick with USUM for now though.

 

[Pendraflare]

Thanks! But what really sucked about that Pursuit was that it came after something that's such a freak coincidence which you don't see often. And sadly Lopunny doesn't get Trick, so yeah haha. And as for Move Tutors, well it does get quite a few of those! As for me, well, I already have Let’s Go Pikachu, and haven’t played much of it at all and I know that it’s gonna get in the way of me getting out these updates, haha. But it is cute so far!

Well, more coming. Enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 7: On The Araquanid!

Last time, Eres made her way through Heahea and Paniola Town en route to her next trial, but she has a tough road ahead!

And that starts with Route 5, where my encounter was a Grubbin. Not hard to catch at all, and I sent it off into the ether.

And I got another Eevee! This one had a Lonely nature, and I did say that I allow two Eevee for this playthrough because they’re so common over WT. I decided its name would be Enlightener.

We then had trainers to go through. The first was a breeder who had a Ledyba with Mach Punch, but even that didn’t do 1/4 to Igloo. She wasn’t tough to beat. But then we had a double battle with two Twins. Their two Grass-types buffed up first turn but Supervolt and Hairball went all in on the Petilil with Thunder Wave and Pound to chuck off around 1/4.

Electro Ball almost finished off Petilil from there, but Hairball finished it. It took a couple exchanges before the Cottonee was finished. From there, Hau had just lost a battle… And this guy was plenty scary. He accused Hau of not caring about the battle scene!

He liked that I was being wary, and introduced himself as Gladion. Working in Team Skull, he was out for battle with me, and threw me straight in.

As I began with Hairball against "Zubat", I used Pound hoping for a good hit. I did not get one, not even 1/4 as the Illusion wore off into Zorua and Feint Attack did one point over half.

I switched Kermit into a Feint Attack for less than 1/3. Water Pulse got him to 1 HP before Feint Attack got me near 1/3. Another Water Pulse finished him, and Hairball grew to Level 16.
The real Zubat was next. I switched Marvel in, Shields Down activated and I was dealt a weak Wing Attack. I used Defense Curl to shield from a weak Bite, and Rollout got the OHKO.
Lastly was Type: Null. He used Pursuit for 6 HP…

And Rollout missed immediately. I was slower, and went for Rollout again, enduring three Pursuits before the third hit killed him and got Meteno to Level 20.

Gladion then felt he wasn’t fighting strong enough opponents, and called out Hau claiming that he doesn’t want to have to try while he can’t beat Hala. Two Team Skull grunts reprimanded Gladion for his incompetence. Hau was relieved after they had left, and had training to do! Rotom fould Gladion to be scary and asked if I agreed.

Eh, I like seeing his responses. Anyway, we also had a Rising Star Duo up ahead with two Flying-types. They talked about combos that can only be used with two people, but Hairball and Igloo beat them without much of a sweat at all. There was also a breeder with two Bug-types, but Hairball handled his Paras while Gemstoner took care of his Spinarak.

After selling some items, I had some training to do. And happiness boosting. This came out of it.

Hairball evolved into Lopunny! And learned Return, which is nice since it’s max happiness upon this evolution. Also, Rotom asked me if I wanted to take a photo with the new evolution. Sure!

Haha, Eres keeping her eyes closed while Hairball is in the happy pose. Anyway, I entered Brooklet Hill, where Lana was waiting. And she added Lapras to my Ride Pager. However, after a bit of searching for a wild Pokémon, I found out that you can’t get them here until you beat the Totem.

So I ended up leaving. There was more preparing I had to do! My team wasn’t that great on the Special Defense front as far as taking these kinds of hits go, so I had adjustments to make.

I did some Mantine Surf to get BP for the necessary tools, which was helped once I got Primarina Twist for breaking the Heahea Beach record.

The first was the move Bounce, which Araquanid is weak to. I taught this move to both Hairball and Kermit for good measures. The second was getting vitamins, as those such as Protein and Zinc would be critical to withstand its rain-boosted hits and mash away at it. I also picked up the TMs for Protect, Light Screen and Reflect while I was at it. And finally…

You may think I’ve completely lost it going with this. Call me crazy, I thought, but this being a throwaway team members might not be quite as much of a throwaway if I can use it properly. Confide will drop its Special Attack, which it needs to do the big damage it does.

We were ready to go back to Brooklet Hill, and Lana formerly re-invited me. I beat two easy trainers, and then we had some Wishiwashi to drive out of the stream. They were simple work for Supervolt. Then there were some Dewpider to follow outward as well.

The first one was simple for Hairball, and the second one called upon an ally and did get Kermit near half, but was bested. Again, Hairball took it from there, though.

After dealing with a Fisherman who had three Magikarp, we found TM57 for Charge Beam. Shame because this move was Scald in the original… But I think they got the idea that the move made some Water-types a little TOO powerful early on. xD Then again, Brionne gets Water Pledge, so in this game it’s not that massive a loss. I carried on to the Totem’s Den. Lana commended me in succeeding in drawing it out, and knew I had to seize victory against it. After some Festival Plaza matters, I took to Lapras into the water, and a storm started brewing. A gigantic fish looked ready to attack…

But another big creature bumped it out of the way! That’s a really cool bait and switch, as the fake totem gets busted out. I do like how it’s executed. Anyway, it was then time for us to face one big, nasty Totem Araquanid!

As the Totem Aura boosted its Speed, I opened with Pikachu. I used Charm to half its Attack as it used Bubble, which almost OHKO'd, but I got a meaningless Wiki Berry to prop me up before it called upon its ally Dewpider. I then switched into Luvdisc, who took 1/4 from Araquanid's Bubble and near the same from Dewpider's.

I used Confide to weaken Araquanid's Sp Atk, and Araquanid used Bubble to get me low, and Dewpider used Bug Bite…

Which stole my Wiki Berry! Uh-oh! I used another Confide to get its Sp Atk to half, and Bubble got me to 1 HP before Dewpider finished me with Bug Bite. I then brought in Lopunny, and Bounce did decent, around 1/3, but Araquanid unfortunately used Leech Life and healed a bit of health. To make matters worse, Dewpider's Bubble lowered my Speed, but I was still faster. Below 2/3, I switched Sableye into a duo of Bubbles, Dewpider scoring a critical hit and leaving me at 1/3.

Araquanid got me into the red with Bubble and propped my Figy Berry, and Dewpider used Bubble and got me to 1/4, but I was able to get in a Night Shade and get Araquanid below half. I switched Lopunny in again, and Araquanid's Bubble was weak but Dewpider did narrowly under half my remaining health with its.

Down to 15 HP, I then used the Z-Move, Supersonic Skystrike, which finished off Araquanid, and got Lopunny and Sableye to Level 21. And as the latter learned Fake Out, Dewpider used Bubble…

Which thanks to that level-up I lived with 2 HP!!! I brought Frogadier into a Bubble, but missed with Bounce and had my Wiki Berry stolen. The next one OHKO'd, though, and Pikachu grew to Level 21. There you have it.

So, that was tough. Lana was surprised by what had gone on…

Yeah, again that is pretty cool. So she gave me the Waterium Z, and the Fishing Rod. Now I can catch water Pokémon! That’s cool. She saw me back to the PMC, and talked about Kiawe’s trial and some Sudowoodo near Paniola Ranch.

What a battle, though. I had to say goodbye to our emergency ranger in Placeholder, and brought Igloo back after he was boxed for that fight. Then heading to Paniola Ranch, I used my Waterium Z on the Sudowoodo, and they headed off!

The Ultra Recon Squad was right behind. I will say though, I don’t think Sudowoodo do a good job at mimicking plants the way they do. If they had flowery heads, maybe they would… And then Soliera challenged me so they could get some data about Pokémon. To save you guys the time, Igloo made easy work of her. It was pretty one-sided until she healed and then used Charm, but even following that and a miss three more attacks, including a five-hit Icicle Spear, killed her.

So they thanked me despite their battling skills not being great. They stepped aside, and the Youngster commented on how they were “weird people” but thanked me as well for clearing the road. He gave me a Mystic Water for my troubles.

The last thing I did, upon finding out in the SSWL Discord server from the Nuzlocke forums, was get a Water Stone from the Nursery. I heard that you can get one of these three stones if you show them the Eevee that you hatch from the egg they give you. I think Vaporeon is the one that’d suit me best right about now, considering it’ll help for what’s literally straight ahead. Enough has happened here, so that’s where I’ll leave this off.

QotD: Have you used Dewpider’s evolution line in-game at all? If so, would you say it’s as overpowered as some have suggested?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• WT: Route 5: Grubbin > Eevee “named” Enlightener
• Beat Gladion in a battle that overall was pretty manageable.
• Beat the rest of the trainers on Route 5 with little difficulty.
• Evolution: Hairball > Lopunny after training and happiness boosting.
• Did lots of preparing for the trial up ahead.
• New addition to the team: Placeholder the Luvdisc
• Entered Lana’s trial, including beating Totem Araquanid in a very tough fight.
• Death: Placeholder the Luvdisc / Bug Bite from Totem Araquanid’s ally Dewpider while at 1/49 HP after Bubble from -2 got it to that from 7 HP.
• Other notable moments: Gemstoner surviving multiple attacks from both Araquanid (at -2 Sp Atk) and Dewpider to get Araquanid in prime finishing position for Hairball, who did so after a ganged up on switch in, and then leveled up and survived a hit from the Dewpider with 2 HP.
• Cleared the Sudowoodo out of Paniola Ranch, met with the Ultra Recon Squad again, and beat Soliera in a simple fight.

Spoiler: Team

“Marvel”, Level 20
Ability: Shields Down
States: 60, 56, 35, 43, 34, 53
Moves: Ancient Power, Confuse Ray, Defense Curl, Rollout

(M) “Kermit”, Level 20
Ability: Torrent
Stats: 57, 32, 27, 44, 29, 55
Moves: Bounce, Growl, Smokescreen, Water Pulse

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 21
Ability: Stall
Stats: 56, 43, 41, 31, 39, 29
Moves: Fake Out, Feint Attack, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 21
Ability: Static
Stats: 47, 29, 28, 29, 26, 50
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave

(M) “Igloo”, Level 20
Ability: Slush Rush
Stats: 55, 40, 42, 13, 21, 26
Moves: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Metal Claw, Night Slash

(F) “Hairball”, Level 21
Ability: Klutz
Stats: 61, 45, 43, 26, 51, 53
Moves: Baby-Doll Eyes, Bounce, Quick Attack, Return

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 74426P
Alola Pokédex: 33 Registered
Time: 10:21

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Waterium Z – Obtained in Part 7 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 1 – 17
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 40
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 6
Cause of death: Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
You were a big shot horse with big hooves, but you pushed one foe a little too far and that allowed it to take advantage of you. Seems you weren’t the top member of the ranch after all…

(F) “Placeholder”, Level 20
Obtained in Part 5, Added to party and died in Part 7
Cause of death: Bug Bite from Totem Araquanid’s ally Dewpider while at 1/49 HP after Bubble from -2 got it to that from 7 HP.
Somehow, I had a feeling that you could be an unlikely hero. And yet, you were. While you weren’t here for much, you did put out the deterrence to allow us to scrape through the mutant spider. Thank you for your not so loving service.

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

Title reference: On the rack.
Well, I can’t say I didn’t expect this to be a difficult fight, because I did. But I made it, and without losing any significant team members. But that Confide courtesy of Placeholder did work for us. Had it not been for that, Araquanid could have killed Gemstoner for sure, and Hairball would not have made it. So I’m glad I took the steps needed to do it. But you guys will see how well this thing fares me as a Lopunny. I mean, some may remember a certain Klutz Lopunny I used back in 2015, and this is a similar deal.
But anyway, next time we’ll go to the Battle Royale Dome, and maybe take on Kiawe’s trial if we have enough room. Thanks for reading!

 

[AuburnEnigma]

That was close! Who would have thought that Placeholder would save the day? (Answer: not me)

I'm at about the same point in my UM playthrough, you've just reminded me to head back to the Ranch with that Eevee as I'm currently using a Lombre that I think could use some evolving....

QotD: I did actually use one in my US playthrough - it's great but I wouldn't say it was OP. It has an awesome Ability in Water Bubble, but the typing means that it can still be susceptible to an easy knockout. Mine had Liquidation, Lunge, Ice Beam and Stockpile; but I only ever really used the first 2 attacks - Lunge in particular is very good in this game.

 

[Pendraflare]

As for me, I used Araquanid in an Ultra Sun Water Monotype I did in January. It was pretty good, it hit REALLY hard with its Water-type attacks and had Mirror Coat to save us from Hau's Raichu at the very end. But it did have its drawbacks such as being weak to Flying. Not to mention it doesn't have a whole lot to use aside from the Water Bubble, I mean its Leech Life really wasn't that great. I remember having a weird moveset when I entered the league.

But being able to update this is something that I'm thankful for, so how about I give you more of that? Enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 8: The Draft Lottery!

Last time, Eres completed her second trial against a very tough Totem Araquanid. Now she has to move forward and take the suggestion for the Battle Royale Dome!

So for that I crossed downward to Route 6. What I found was a wild Rattata. I sent it off, and got a Palossand that was overleveled. And then I got a male Salandit. And an overleveled Murkrow. And a Caterpie. And then…

A Beldum! That’s pretty good, or at least it will be when it evolves. Definitely worth considering! I decided to name it Simulator. As for the trainers, they weren’t that hard, none of them seriously put any of my Pokémon in danger or anything. Though Marvel did miss with Rollout twice in a row against a Bounsweet, like come on. And then there were these guys!

Yeah, sorry Hapu, but these guys aren’t familiar at all. These numskulls put on their fancy pose and threw a Drowzee out at me, but Igloo OHKO’d it with a critical hit Night Slash. Hapu was about to put the last stomp on them, but they fled. She sent off the Drifloon besides her… What an independent creature!

Then we entered Royal Avenue! After healing up, there was a kid who wanted courage and I gave some to him. And the actress Meredith once again, this one using the Psychic-type Oricorio, but Supervolt killed that without any problems.

Here’s a dialogue change, in the original he says “Let’s go bury our sorrow in the crowd”. Here he actually sounds more determined! That’s not a bad change if I do say so. Entering the dome, we were ready to sign up as we were met with the Masked Royal. Four trainers, pick their Pokémon, and get in a big battle. He rounded up Hau for the last member, and with Gladion in on it, we entered the arena.

The battle was on! I used Hairball in the face of Hau’s Popplio, Gladion’s Null and Kukui’s Rockruff. Hau and Gladion hit me for moderate damage while I hit Brionne for almost half before Kukui got him below that. I finished him. After that, Kiawe, who was impressed with what he had just seen, invited me to his trial in the hopes of me giving him a scorcher.

Another dialogue change from the original here! There, Gladion says that he and Null have to make it on their own, but I like the dialogue change here.

Then we had Route 7. I found a Staryu while fishing, caught it with a Dive Ball, and…

Riolu. That evolves into something really darn good, but not sure if it’s what I want to HAVE to use. Regardless, I “named” it Rumination. Also, now that I have a Fishing Rod, I can go back and get a few more Pokémon to trade off. I went to Paniola Town for one and caught a Magikarp…

…And got ANOTHER fish in return! This one I “named” Honcho. And then onto Kala’e Bay, where there was a Wingull to catch.

Which would give me another bird instead. I “named” it The Peck. Lastly was Melemele Sea, where fishing got me another Luvdisc, and in its place came…

A SHINY DRAMPA!!! Now, if I didn’t mention in the rules, this falls under my Jackpot Clause, where if I find a legendary, Ultra Beast, or obviously hacked Level 100 shiny, I have to send it back immediately but get a bonus catch in any area of my choosing. So I sent it off and got another Pikipek. Which I sent off for a Furfrou which was overleveled.

And that was the last result. Sure, whatever. I decided to “name” it Undermined. From there, I went to get my bonus encounter from that shiny Drampa, as I caught another Magikarp.

Hey, that’s pretty cool. And it had Megahorn, Play Rough and Zen Headbutt. I “named” it All Seer. I also went back to get TM46 for Thief in Verdant Cavern.

And then after a quick round of Mantine Surf, progressed on to Wela Volcano Park, since I figure there’s just enough room to get in that last stretch before the Totem. My encounter was a Fletchling, which I caught. And I traded it off…for another Fletchling! But I allowed myself to send it back, because I had just used one in another big challenge I did earlier this year on X (my Rainbow Wedlocke, which I HAVE beaten the game in and started on Azurilland before it was shut down, and should get back to posting here). So I sent it back and got a Ditto. And got another Eevee for that but I sent that back. For a Swinub that was over-leveled.

Aaaaand a Magikarp. Well, I was bound for it eventually. Named it Sleeper. I did some Festival Plaza matters and then took on some trainers.

Oh yeah, and this dialogue from an NPC came up. Tis a hard life.

Anyway, onto those trainers! The first one had a Kantoian Meowth that was easy for Igloo.

The second was an Ace Trainer with a Noibat that was OHKO’d with Igloo’s Icicle Spear, and then his Kadabra disabled it. No big deal, Night Slash OHKOs like a boss. Then he went on about how he needs friends for his Kadabra to evolve… Awwwww… ;_; The last trainer had a Roggenrola that Hairball took on despite not really having much for it besides a resisted Z-Move.

Then I decided I wanted to add a new team member in preparation of what was ahead, most notably the Totem. And with that…

Yep, I decided on the Eevee that doesn’t gain boosted EXP. But it still could be very effective with what it can do. I had a lot of training to do, including using vitamins to get my team’s stats up some, and getting more EXP to catch them up. But I was preparing for the Totem, which we’ll take care of in the next part! This is where I’ll leave this off.

QotD: Have you ever received a Level 100 shiny off of Wonder Trade? If so, what was your reaction?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• WT: Route 6: Alolan Rattata > Palossand > male Salandit > overleveled Murkrow > Caterpie > Beldum “named” Simulator
• Beat the trainers on Route 6, including Team Skull.
• Went to the Battle Royale Dome and won, and was invited to Kiawe’s trial.
• WT: Route 7: Staryu > Riolu “named” Rumination
• WT: Paniola Town: Magikarp > Wishiwashi “named” Honcho
• WT: Kala’e Bay: Wingull > Pikipek “named” The Peck
• WT: Melemele Sea: Luvdisc > SHINY DRAMPA > Pikipek > overleveled Furfrou > Yungoos “named” Undermined
• Jackpot Clause WT: Magikarp at Melemele Sea > Absol “named” All Seer
• WT: Wela Volcano Park: Fletchling > Fletchling > Ditto > Eevee > overleveled Swinub > Magikarp “named” Sleeper
• Beat the trainers at Wela Volcano Park.New addition to team: Visionary the Eevee.
• Immediately evolved it into Vaporeon with a Water Stone. Then did some training for it.

Spoiler: Team

*Note: Some of these stats may not be explicitly correct, as I did not take team pics in this point. The last spot I had them was before entering Wela Volcano Park and adding Visionary to the team. They should be back up and correct in the next part.*

“Marvel”, Level 22
Ability: Shields Down
States: 65, 61, 38, 46, 37, 58
Moves: Ancient Power, Confuse Ray, Defense Curl, Rollout

(M) “Kermit”, Level 22
Ability: Torrent
Stats: 62, 35, 29, 48, 32, 59
Moves: Bounce, Growl, Smokescreen, Water Pulse

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 22
Ability: Stall
Stats: 58, 44, 42, 33, 41, 30
Moves: Fake Out, Feint Attack, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 22
Ability: Static
Stats: 48, 30, 29, 30, 27, 52
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave

(F) “Hairball”, Level 21
Ability: Klutz
Stats: 61, 45, 43, 26, 51, 53
Moves: Baby-Doll Eyes, Bounce, Quick Attack, Return

(M) “Visionary”, Level 13
Ability: Water Absorb
Stats: 57, 19, 25, 37, 33, 26
Moves: Baby-Doll Eyes, Sand-Attack, Tail Whip, Water Gun

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 91210P
Alola Pokédex: 47 Registered
Time: 13:06

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Flyinium Z – Obtained in Part 5

Waterium Z – Obtained in Part 7 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 1 – 17
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 40
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 6
Cause of death: Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
You were a big shot horse with big hooves, but you pushed one foe a little too far and that allowed it to take advantage of you. Seems you weren’t the top member of the ranch after all…

(F) “Placeholder”, Level 20
Obtained in Part 5, Added to party and died in Part 7
Cause of death: Bug Bite from Totem Araquanid’s ally Dewpider while at 1/49 HP after Bubble from -2 got it to that from 7 HP.
Somehow, I had a feeling that you could be an unlikely hero. And yet, you were. While you weren’t here for much, you did put out the deterrence to allow us to scrape through the mutant spider. Thank you for your not so loving service.

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

Title reference: Well, with how many Pokémon I get in this part, and trying to find the right one to use, as if they're being drafted, it's a fit. And "lottery" fits with the shiny that I get xD
So most of this was getting new Pokémon and thinking about what’s ahead. Beldum is a real eye-catcher, even if it’s not very good to start and I already have a Steel-type. And all those Water-types, too. And yet I chose the safer pick in Vaporeon, despite it not being the one that a lot of people would want to see. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Especially considering the added layers of difficulty with a game like USUM and no bag items in battle. I will also say the shiny Drampa was really cool to get ahold of, but I obviously sent it back and got the bonus catch. Absol is interesting but too frail and could be tough to use with Set mode. x_x And I like pointing out the small things that get changed around in the game.
Anyway, next time we’ll take on Kiawe’s fire trial. Thanks for reading!

 

[AuburnEnigma]

Funny how you're preparing to take on the Fire trial and most of your WTs brought you Water types :p

Vaporeon is an interesting choice, you don't tend to see the Gen 1 (or Gen 4 for that matter) Eeveelutions being used. I remember going through one of the Gen 4 games with a Flareon that by the end bossed almost everything and was my first ever Poke to reach lvl 100 *sigh* those were the days.

QotD: I've gotten a few via WT in my time. A lot of them come from users like AusLove.tv who just send hacked shinies through, but I don't mind them as hey, they can still be counted in the shiny Dex :) Usually I just re-trade them though.

 

[Pendraflare]

Yeah, I did get quite a few Water-types, but how that fared me up ahead, we'll get to shortly! And Vaporeon does have quite a bit to use, so that's a big help even despite the not getting boosted EXP. Someday I'll use a Flareon though... Someday.

As for WT'd shinies, I don't really care. I know that when Marriland would get them in his Wonder Trade Wednesday streams, he would send them back as someone else might like them more. I'm not like, say, Verlisify who will release them on the spot, but other people might find them more exciting. I personally don't care much.

But now onto the next part! Took a little longer than I would've liked, but here goes! Enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 9: Thieves’ Leaves!

Last time, Eres took part in a Battle Royale and then caught a whole bunch of Water-type sendoffs for some new recruits before making her way to Wela Volcano Park for her next trial.

After training up one of them, Visionary, my new Vaporeon, it was time. I mostly trained at Wela Volcano Park because there were a lot of Pokémon weak to Water. Roto Exp. Points helped in that regard. Once Visionary was Level 22, it was time.

So we watched three Marowak dance, and we had two pictures. The middle Marowak was different. I led off with Kermit, because he was who I wanted to have up front for Totem Marowak, and you’ll see why I’m doing this. But I switched him out for Marvel, who thankfully only had to take two usages of Tail Whip before Rollout 2HKO’d.

This second dance is different than in the original. I don’t remember what that one had but I know it had different options. Anyway, then there was Hiker David, whose Magmar tried to get in the way of Marvel with Smokescreen, and lived an Ancient Power. But he was still handily 2HKO’d, and Kermit grew to Level 23. One last dance. This time, the choice was between the Pokémon that was big, the Totem, the one with the bone, or the cheery one. It was the big one! Totem Marowak! Here we go!

As the Totem Aura doubled its Speed, I opened with Kermit. I began with Thief, but it used Detect and thus was blocked. Then it called its ally Salazzle. I used Thief again, and it didn’t do much at all, and Cursed Body activated… But watch this!

HA! No Thick Club for you! Salazzle used Torment as Marowak hit with Brick Break for over 1/3. Marowak used Detect, and I hit Salazzle with Water Pulse for a big hit before it hit with Venoshock to get me into the red!

I then switched into Gemstoner to take a light Venoshock for 1/5 and absorb Marowak's Brick Break. Marowak used Detect, as I hit Salazzle with Shadow Sneak to finish it. Both Sableye and Frogadier gained levels. I decided to stay in, and after a Flame Wheel for less than half my remaining health, Thief hit good to get it below 1/3 with a critical hit, but not without Cursed Body disabling it.

After two more Shadow Sneaks, and a Flame Wheel getting me into the red sandwiched in between them, it was dead. And Gemstoner and Kermit both gained another level.

Well done, team. With that, I obtained the Firium Z, which was very good. And Charizard for my Ride Pager, which is great for flying. And some Quick Balls, those will help for catches down the road.

En route forward to Route 8, I met with Mr. Mohn, who granted me access to Poké Pelago. Yay! Now I can farm tons and tons of berries! I like how he actually introduces himself and gives you access to it in this game.

Next up was the Dividing Peak Tunnel. We met with Soliera and Phyco, who had STRONG aura readings and noticed I had more Z-Crystals. Yes, I’m looking to master them! They wanted advanced technology, something we had but they did not. After that, I encountered a Kecleon, which I caught with a Quick Ball and sent into the ether.

A Wimpod. Just imagine if I had caught one of THOSE to trade for this… Unfortunately, it was a Modest nature, which was less than optimal. Nevertheless, I decided to name it Emergence.

Now we’re on Route 8! I decided to fish in the hopes of getting a Magikarp to send off, but instead I got a Wishiwashi. It was resilient, my Quick Ball only getting one shake and it avoiding a Thunder Wave, but I had to tread carefully as to keep it from killing it or calling for a higher level Wishiwashi that could go Schooling. But I caught it and sent it into the ether. I received a Metapod which I allowed myself to send back.

And I got an Oricorio! I decided to name it Sweetener. Then the Ultra Recon Squad had met with Colress, who I like that they kept in Ultra because he actually does something in the post-game. And he gave me TM43 for Flame Charge, which is cool but I can’t use it right now. Later on, Hau was talking to a girl about Festival Plaza, and they knew I had done quite a bit of work with it. Yes, because the basis of my adventure is what it lives off of! I am NOTHING without it!!!

And of course I was so happy that THIS bit was kept. :P And I decided to turn on his TV, which showed a commercial for the Alola Photo Club. Then it was trainer time! I beat two Golfers who used birbs that were new additions in Ultra, and a Scientist that used two fossils that were new here as well, neither of them were tough. I also did some berry farming.

This Rising Star’s Stufful was a little scary, considering Visionary got it below half after it used Bide but it was teetering on the edge. Thankfully, another Water Pulse killed. I then dealt with another Rising Star who had a Trumbeak, which I threw Igloo out against forgetting that it could use Rock Smash… Which it didn’t. Ironically, Visionary had almost killed it but I wanted Igloo to gain more EXP. After an easy Backpacker, I then took to the water and faced two Karate Dudes, and I had Hairball and Visionary up. One of the Machop used Focus Energy, and Visionary used Baby-Doll Eyes or something like that. Both my team members above half, and I went for Bounce with Hairball. Visionary used Water Pulse to get the Level 21 one below half. But…they had No Guard. Both of them.

And they both ganged up on Hairball. Double crit. Dead Lopunny. The second was meaningless but goodness. Supervolt had Charm to use against the weaker one and they were soon finished, but that was brutal. I didn’t think that either of them would have No Guard, let alone that they would both gang up on Hairball like that. So I had to say goodbye to Hairball.

I then decided to add Red Rover the Litten to the team, since a Fire-type would help, especially for what’s ahead. I got in some EXP for it and did some Festival Plaza, including getting a PP Max at one of the lotteries after getting a lucky bonus draw. Much was done in between that.

I also took on the Route 8 “kahuna”, Ace Trainer Eileen. Supervolt’s Electro Ball was looking at a 3HKO on her Fletchinder, so Visionary took care of that. As for the Fearow, I got in a Baby-Doll Eyes and was able to comfortably take her Z-Move, then Igloo had no problem with her. Then more training! I decided to put off Red Rover’s evolution a little longer so it could gain more EXP, and there were trainers on lower Route 5 to make do against! Red Rover took on this Charjabug and used the Z-Move after Fake Out to kill it. Right after THAT was when I decided to let him evolve. Soon after was an Ace Trainer. Her Goomy wasn’t very tough for Igloo, but then her Sylveon decided to do Sylveon things.

Before this Metal Claw, she scored a critical hit Draining Kiss. Igloo was at 1/5 and would get beat to the punch with another hit if I stayed in. I brought in Red Rover to try to get the jump on her with Fake Out, but…

Yeah. That happened. A failed attempt to finish her left me in killing range of another usage of Swift, having taken that twice. I had to get Marvel in, and she kept using Draining Kiss against my Rollout.

And that happened. I was in killing range of another hit, but I didn’t miss, and finished her for the win. Plenty of levels were gained from her. There was a Hiker, but he was easy work thanks to Red Rover’s Z-Move on his Makuhita, and Visionary on his Mudbray.

Then we had one more trainer to get through, the trial guide. He led with a Slowpoke, and I started with Supervolt. I didn’t get the pic, but Electro Ball got the OHKO with a critical hit. Cool. B) As for his Mr. Mime, I switched in Marvel, and which of his Z-Moves would he fire out?

Shattered Psyche, that’s what. It got Marvel to 1/3 and triggered Shields Down. I couldn’t stay in, so I brought in Red Rover as he used Reflect.

Long story short, I whittled him down starting with Fake Out, and eventually got the jump thanks to the Z-Move while he was below half. Also, I like Eres’ “thinking” pose in this stance, haha. :thinking: He gave me TM96 for Nature Power, which is okay, but nothing that great.

After more Festival Plaza shenanigans, I decided that’s where I would leave this off.

QotD: How would you say this trial in Ultra compares to in the original?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• Finished training up Visionary, then took on Kiawe’s trial in a battle against Totem Marowak that was difficult. Both Kermit and Gemstoner would wind up in the red, but I won without any deaths.
• Received Charizard for my Ride Pager, and met with Mohn and was granted access to Poké Pelago.
• WT: Dividing Peak Tunnel: Kecleon > Wimpod
• WT: Route 8: Wishiwashi > Metapod > Oricorio “named” Sweetener
• Beat the trainers throughout Route 8.
• Death: Hairball the Lopunny / Ganged up on by Karate Family Samuel and Guy’s Machop duo, both of which scored critical hits, the second while at 16/64 HP.
• New addition to team: Red Rover the Litten. Trained it up. It evolved into Torracat after defeating Youngster Caleb’s Charjabug.
• Beat the rest of the trainers on upper Route 5.
• Other notable moments: Ace Trainer Alexis’ Sylveon proved a massive annoyance, including scoring a critical hit on Igloo, Red Rover being afflicted with its Cute Charm, and a low-end damage survival courtesy of Marvel. Trial Guide Bronson’s Mr. Mime took a bit to wear down, too.

Spoiler: Team

“Marvel”, Level 25
Ability: Shields Down
Stats: 73, 69, 43, 53, 42, 65
Moves: Ancient Power, Confuse Ray, Defense Curl, Rollout

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 24
Ability: Stall
Stats: 63, 48, 46, 36, 45, 33
Moves: Fake Out, Night Shade, Punishment, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 25
Ability: Static
Stats: 54, 34, 33, 34, 31, 59
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave

(M) “Igloo”, Level 25
Ability: Slush Rush
Stats: 66, 49, 52, 16, 25, 32
Moves: Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Metal Claw, Night Slash

(M) “Visionary”, Level 24
Ability: Water Absorb
Stats: 98, 32, 42, 64, 59, 45
Moves: Aurora Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Sand-Attack, Water Pulse

(F) “Red Rover”, Level 24
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 67, 59, 36, 45, 36, 56
Moves: Bite, Double Kick, Fake Out, Fire Fang

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 109022P
Alola Pokédex: 51 Registered
Time: 16:38

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Flyinium Z – Obtained in Part 5

Waterium Z – Obtained in Part 7 / Pokémon used:

Firium Z – Obtained in Part 9 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 1 – 17
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 40
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 6
Cause of death: Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
You were a big shot horse with big hooves, but you pushed one foe a little too far and that allowed it to take advantage of you. Seems you weren’t the top member of the ranch after all…

(F) “Placeholder”, Level 20
Obtained in Part 5, Added to party and died in Part 7
Stats: 49, 18, 26, 27, 35, 46
Cause of death: Bug Bite from Totem Araquanid’s ally Dewpider while at 1/49 HP after Bubble from -2 got it to that from 7 HP.
Somehow, I had a feeling that you could be an unlikely hero. And yet, you were. While you weren’t here for much, you did put out the deterrence to allow us to scrape through the mutant spider. Thank you for your not so loving service.

(F) “Hairball”, Level 22
Stats: 64, 47, 44, 27, 55, 55
Obtained in Part 3, Added to party in Part 6, Died in Part 9
Cause of death: Ganged up on by Karate Family Samuel and Guy’s Machop duo, both of which scored critical hits, the second while at 16/64 HP.
You had long hair. And long jumps. And long strength. But not long survival. And you were downed by long hits.

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

Now that was one fun Totem battle. I’m honestly curious as to how many people have pulled the Thicc Trick (that’d be using Thief on Totem Marowak to steal its Thick Club and cut its Attack to half) in any playthrough, let alone a Nuzlocke where you can’t use bag items in battle. But that karate duo, that was brutal. I thought nothing of No Guard, or at least not that they would gang up on Hairball like that. So much for her, she had great Speed and had helped well against Araquanid. The Fire-type might do me well up ahead, but you guys will find out. That Sylveon was very scary too, so much damage and so little Special Defense to barricade it with.
As for my new recruits, Wimpod is pretty common but Golisopod is strong, although I’m not wild about that Modest nature. Oricorio has good use, though, but I’ve used it multiple times in the past so I’d rather not. So, how will we get past Totem Lurantis? Will my newly added Fire-type be enough or will I throw something else into the picture?
You’ll find that out next time where we take to Lush Jungle. Thanks for reading!

 

[Pendraflare]

Well, I feel bad that this took longer than I wanted it to, but so much has gotten in the way. x_x But here it is. And Happy New Year, everybody!

Also, while I was about to post this, I discovered that the site I've been getting my team sprites for has been weird so they're not working properly. I'll get it fixed later but for now I just wanted to get the update out. Anyway, enjoy.

Spoiler: Part 10: Slashing and Mashing!

Last time, Eres completed her third trial, but she faced difficulty soon after that! Now she has answers to attend to.

And I decided there would be not one, but two new team members I would throw into rotation: Simulator the Beldum, and Santom the Sandygast. Even if the latter was weak to Grass, there was something I could try to make of it. And with Metang resisting Grass and being able to learn Iron Defense, which I soon taught via Move Tutor, I would be well equipped for this battle. But I had some training to do. Wasn’t simple, but eventually Simulator would evolve into a Metang. For the gist, I did training in Ten Carat Hill and against some Furfrou. And Wela Volcano Park since there were multiple Pokémon weak to Ground. Once I was all prepped with that, it was time to enter the Lush Jungle!

Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a swim in some hot water right about now! It was trial time. We had items to find: a Mago Berry, some Honey, and a Big Root. First was the Mago Berry, in the leftmost tree, which after picking up and leaving, the Fomantis seemed happy that their berry wasn’t taken. Then there were flowers to take honey from. The honey I was looking for was in the yellow and pink flowers. The Fomantis were joined by a happy Comfey! In the last area were some Sudowoodo, or so-called trees that look like Sudowoodo. Lana was chilling out here too, and the “Sudowoodo” I was looking for was the one to the right of her. I took a Big Root from it, and after I left, they ganged up together and were a good group.

So we returned to the entrance, where Mallow and I were joined by Kiawe and Lana. Using the Mago Berry, some of Lana’s Fresh Water, the honey, and a Thick Club to stir them (Kiawe must have gotten a new one after Kermit stole his Marowak’s), we had a recipe on our hands. And a Big Root thrown into the mix, combined with some of Mallow’s super-special secret spice, and we had a Super Mallow Special ready to slurp down. Or it caused a unique aroma to waft around the area. And suddenly, a giant pink creature got behind me… And facing it, it was Totem Lurantis, ready to shake down!

As the Totem Aura boosted its Speed, I began with Metang. It used X-Scissor for 1/4 my health… AND I FORGOT BATTLE ANIMATIONS!!!

Nevertheless, I used Iron Defense to double my Defense, and gained Leftovers before it called upon its ally Kecleon. Lurantis used X-Scissor again, but I hit Kecleon with a weak Metal Claw that turned it into a Steel-type before it used Sunny Day and Leftovers got me right near 3/4. Lurantis used Solar Blade for a light hit.

Following that, I hit Kecleon with a super-effective Brick Break for a nice hit that turned it into a Fighting-type, as it then used a weak Dizzy Punch. Lurantis used X-Scissor for a decent hit, and Metal Claw came short of killing Kecleon but got me an Attack boost and turned it into a Steel-type. It then hit with Ancient Power for an okay hit. Lurantis used X-Scissor for a small hit as Kecleon was finished with another Metal Claw. It used X-Scissor again, and I used Rest to get to full before the sunlight faded. After waking up, I was at 3/4 and hit with Metal Claw for a light hit. I took another moderate hit before Metal Claw unfortunately got it to the range of calling its ally Comfey.

Lurantis hit with X-Scissor for an okay hit, and Comfey used Sunny Day before I hit it with Metal Claw for a big hit. Lurantis hit with X-Scissor again as Comfey used Floral Healling to get it to full before Comfey was dead to a Metal Claw.

I then switched Torracat into an X-Scissor for 1/5, and after a Solar Blade got me below half, the Z-Move, Inferno Overdrive, got the OHKO for the win.

So with that, I had defeated all three of the trials on Kahuna Island! I received the Grassium Z, which Mallow joyfully demonstrated how to use, and she then tried to persuade Lana and Kiawe to try some of the Mallow Special, but they both refused.

Mallow, I’m not so sure if people would like food that’s made for Pokémon… Then Kukui showed up and gave me a near useless TM, and invited me to the Dimensional Research Lab to learn something new before my next trial.

But first, I had some item buying and berry farming to do, and an encounter in Lush Jungle to get! It was a Fomantis, which I sent into the ether for a Pikipek. That I allowed myself to send back…

And in its place was a SHINY MEWTWO!!! Well, this falls under Legendary Jackpot Clause, so it has to be sent back, but it’s still fascinating. That is, unless it’s hacked. Which it very well could be. I mean, what sane person is gonna Wonder Trade a shiny legendary, lmfao. And that for a Caterpie. Return. And for that…

A Cubone! Alright, that’s not bad. I can make do with it, especially since I stole Totem Marowak’s Thick Club earlier! I “named” him Renewal. And to get that bonus encounter thanks to Legendary Jackpot Clause, I caught a Morelull and sent it off.

Roggenrola is cool, but slow Pokémon like this can be a little tough to use when you can’t heal in battle. That aside, I named it Mountaineer.

I then got the chance to change my Festival Plaza’s name since it reached Level 20, and changed it to Wonderland – I mean, what else am I gonna name it in this challenge? Haha.

I also never got my Brooklet Hill encounter since in this game you can’t get one until after you beat Totem Araquanid, so I caught a Poliwag. In its place I got a Grubbin that I named Rocket.

Soon after, I returned to Heahea City, where Lillie was trying to train Nebby right outside the Dimensional Research Lab.

Yeah, my trials were pretty tough. I did luck out. As we both entered the lab, upstairs was Kukui, who had his wife Professor Burnet to teach me about the Ultra Wormholes and what they could potentially be about! And how Lillie ended up where she is now. So we were suggested to go to Diglett’s Tunnel once we were done.

Oh, Rotom, haha. Anyway, as we left, a giant hole appeared in the sky! …But it disappeared before Hau could see it. Anyway, we made way to Diglett’s Tunnel. Or Hau was off to get malasadas first. After scoring a Roto Friendship from the Loto, we entered. And found a Diglett that I caught and sent off. First was a Mimikyu…that was over-leveled. And I sent that back for a Wimpod. Yeah, why couldn’t I have gotten this Adamant Wimpod instead of a crappy Modest one?! Eevee. Litten. And finally…

A Hawlucha. It was already nicknamed Gewalter, and had a Brave nature and the OT Hilahila. If I had known better I would’ve thought that was the one you can get for the in-game trade on Route 2, considering that trainer’s English name is Hila. Maybe it is. Whatevs. With that taken care of, I made my way through the cave. There were three Workers and none of them were tough, though one had an Archen that stole Visionary’s Iapapa Berry.

But at the very end of the cave was Team Skull. They were pissed off after being jumped by some Diglett, and took their anger out on me and Hau. His Eevee, along with Gemstoner, did the work, but Red Rover got the last jump to kill the Ekans. As they fled like the runts they are, Hau thanked me and said he feels more at ease when fighting alongside me, and gave me a Max Ether. Cool, I guess.

Right outside was Route 9. I was met with Looker, who liked Alola because we were in a peaceful place, unlike the DS era regions where the bad guys want us to wake up in a world without spirit…or a world where only one can use Pokémon. Well, those are absent, but there are idiots who think that they can expect to be taken seriously! For keeping me up with his time, he gave me a Thunder Stone. Will I end up using that on Supervolt? You’ll have to find out! Anyway, up ahead was a Police Officer who had a Herdier – because of course he did – and Gemstoner’s Bulldoze put in good work. I then had an encounter to get, and it was a Wishiwashi.

Unfortunately, it was Level 21, and I was REALLY hoping to not get that because I knew I’d have to contend with a Schooling form. My Quick Ball had no success, and after four straight turns of it using Feint Attack as I tried to hold that off, it then used Aqua Ring, which would make this even more annoying. I got it rather low, and the Timer Ball didn’t quite get it done. Soon after, Water Pulse confused it, and got it out of Schooling range… But Aqua Ring propped it right back out of that. Thankfully, my next Timer Ball caught it.

And in exchange was a Ledyba, joy. But with all the exchanging I’ve done I can’t complain too much. I “named” it Irrelevant. I then dealt with a Fisherman, and his Chinchou did big damage to Santom, but Protect and Leftovers got me out of killing range of another hit. And yet he used Confuse Ray, and was finished. Supervolt had to take care of his Tentacool, though.

Next thing you know, we were in Konikoni City. I did enough this part. Right after healing up, Rotom said that I should save the game… So I did. And that’s where I’ll leave this off.

QotD: When do you think the announcement for the 2019 Switch game will be made?

Spoiler: Quick summary

• New addition to team: Simulator the Beldum. Trained it and it evolved into Metang.
• New addition to team: Santom the Sandygast
• Went through Mallow’s trial and beat Totem Lurantis with relative ease thanks to Iron Defense stalling and a well-timed Z-Move.
• Was invited by Kukui to come to the Dimensional Research Lab.
• WT: Lush Jungle: Fomantis > Pikipek > SHINY MEWTWO > Caterpie > Cubone "named" Renewal
• Legendary Jackpot Clause WT: Morelull in Lush Jungle > Roggenrola "named" Mountaineer
• WT: Brooklet Hill: Poliwag > Grubbin "named" Rocket
• Met with Professor Kukui and Burnet in the Dimensional Research Lab and learned about Ultra Wormholes.
• WT: Diglett's Tunnel: Diglett > overleveled Mimikyu > Wimpod > Eevee > Hawlucha already named Gewalter
• Beat the trainers in Diglett's Tunnel, including Team Skull.
• WT: Route 9: Wishiwashi > Ledyba "named" Irrelevant. Then beat the two trainers there.
• Arrived in Konikoni City.

Spoiler: Team

(M) “Gemstoner”, Level 24
Ability: Stall
Stats: 63, 48, 46, 36, 45, 33
Moves: Fake Out, Night Shade, Punishment, Shadow Sneak

(F) “Supervolt”, Level 25
Ability: Static
Stats: 54, 34, 33, 34, 31, 59
Moves: Charm, Electro Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave

(M) “Visionary”, Level 24
Ability: Water Absorb
Stats: 98, 32, 42, 64, 59, 45
Moves: Aurora Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Sand-Attack, Water Pulse

(M) “Santom”, Level 25
Ability: Water Compaction
Stats: 64, 35, 51, 45, 31, 12
Moves: Bulldoze, Giga Drain, Protect, Sand-Attack

(F) “Red Rover”, Level 24
Ability: Blaze
Stats: 67, 59, 36, 45, 36, 56
Moves: Bite, Double Kick, Fake Out, Fire Fang

“Simulator”, Level 25
Ability: Clear Body
Stats: 66, 43, 62, 37, 51, 33
Moves: Brick Break, Iron Defense, Metal Claw, Rest

Spoiler: My Trainer Passport

ID No.: 189455
Money: 104762P
Alola Pokédex: 61 Registered
Time: 19:53

Normalium Z – Obtained in Part 3 / Pokémon used:

Fightinium Z – Obtained in Part 4 / Pokémon used:

Flyinium Z – Obtained in Part 5

Waterium Z – Obtained in Part 7 / Pokémon used:

Firium Z – Obtained in Part 9 / Pokémon used:

Grassium Z – Obtained in Part 10 / Pokémon used:

Spoiler: The Departed

(F) “Pouncer”, Level 1 – 11
Stats: 36, 23, 17, 12, 16, 22
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 3
Cause of death: Died from Pursuit from Totem Raticate while at 21/36 HP and trying to switch out.
As our first death, I don’t even know why I threw you out in that battle to begin with. It’s a shame because there was so much you could have done in these early stages but I forced this onto myself. It’s a tragic shame you couldn’t pounce further than you got to.

(M) “Inklet”, Level 1 – 12
Stats: 30, 17, 23, 20, 12, 23
Obtained and added to party in Part 1, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: Bug Bite from a wild Caterpie while at 4/30 HP, after a critical hit Gust from a Butterfree while at 26/30.
There were things you could have done down the road. But in the end, that Butterfree came from nowhere and made a sudden ink mess out of you.

(F) “Clinger”, Level 1 – 15
Stats: 45, 30, 24, 22, 23, 18
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 4
Cause of death: OHKO’d by Revenge from Hala’s Machop after it was hit with a Dragon Rage.
With so much early power, I had a lot of hope for you to make the push for us, but you were overwhelmed and clung onto too hard.

(F) “Bigshot”, Level 1 – 17
Stats: 45, 41, 25, 31, 24, 40
Obtained and added to party in Part 2, Died in Part 6
Cause of death: Pursuit from Pokémon Breeder Wesley’s Tauros from +6 Attack while at 13/45 HP and trying to switch out.
You were a big shot horse with big hooves, but you pushed one foe a little too far and that allowed it to take advantage of you. Seems you weren’t the top member of the ranch after all…

(F) “Placeholder”, Level 20
Obtained in Part 5, Added to party and died in Part 7
Stats: 49, 18, 26, 27, 35, 46
Cause of death: Bug Bite from Totem Araquanid’s ally Dewpider while at 1/49 HP after Bubble from -2 got it to that from 7 HP.
Somehow, I had a feeling that you could be an unlikely hero. And yet, you were. While you weren’t here for much, you did put out the deterrence to allow us to scrape through the mutant spider. Thank you for your not so loving service.

(F) “Hairball”, Level 22
Stats: 64, 47, 44, 27, 55, 55
Obtained in Part 3, Added to party in Part 6, Died in Part 9
Cause of death: Ganged up on by Karate Family Samuel and Guy’s Machop duo, both of which scored critical hits, the second while at 16/64 HP.
You had long hair. And long jumps. And long strength. But not long survival. And you were downed by long hits.

Spoiler: Extra thoughts

I will say that I did catch a break against Totem Lurantis. Even if it meant me bringing out a Steel-type to hold off its physical rawpower, it helped. That was my idea, build the defense, get rid of the allies, get it cornered, and then go in for the kill with the proper tools. I had a good feeling about the Z-Move getting the OHKO, considering when Marriland did one adventure on stream he had a Gallade that got the OHKO with Inferno Overdrive without scoring a critical hit. My main worry was that Comfey using Floral Shield to double Lurantis’ Defense, which could have made this very drawn out. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
As for my new recruits, the one I’m most excited about is Grubbin. A bit unoriginal to claim, but Vikavolt is a massive favorite of mine and I actually haven’t used it in USUM before now.
You’ll find out what comes next when we hopefully make way to the Ruins of Life. Thanks for reading!

 

[AuburnEnigma]

Nice work with Mallow - I actually feel that Totem Lurantis is right up there in terms of difficulty so the fact that you made it through unscathed.... you're doing very well indeed.

Olivia should be pretty easy to beat. Funny thing is that she seems to be the first Rock-type Leader in Pokémon that doesn't have a 'Rock' themed name (everyone else excluding Grant had a name that sounded like 'Rock' in some form - Brock, Roxanne, Roark; even Grant's name is from Granite which is a type of rock).

As for your ToTD: I'm thinking end of May/early June - with a (just under) 6 month lead-up to the usual mid-November release.