Fairy Run, with a Twist~

[Orasha]

Monotype runs are one of my favorite things on the forums (they're the reason I decided to finally make an account), so it's no wonder that I'm here. I'm currently doing a few other monotype runs: procrastinating on grinding my Dark team to be able to beat Noel, and an Electric run that so far is being walled completely by Florinia. However, I didn't really document those at all, so I figured I'd start another run. I kind of wanted to do Psychic or Bug, but both of those are currently being done, and done well, so I decided to go with a type I hadn't seen on the forums at the time: Fairy. 

Since I waited before joining and haven't checked the boards a lot, Wolfox has also started a Fairy run. That's okay though, because that's where the "twist" comes in. As you may have guessed from the tags, I've allowed myself to use any Fairy type, and any Pokemon from the Fairy Egg Group. So this really isn't  a Monotype challenge, and might even be heresy. I chose this twist for one simple reason: it gives me more Pokemon to choose from in the early game where fairy types are scarce. It also has the side effect of differentiating my run from Wolfox's. 

 

Non-fairy types in the fairy egg group are as follows: 

Spoiler

Chansey, Blissey, Plusle, Minun, Audino, Pikachu, Raichu, Hoppip, Skiploom, Jumpluff, Shroomish, Breloom, Skitty, Delcatty, Roselia, Roserade, Casform, Snorunt, Glalie, Froslass, Pachirisu, Cherubi and Cherrim. (Also Phione and Manaphy, but they aren't in the game so they don't count)

 

While some of these are useful, most are pretty meh or downright useless, and a lot get outclassed by Fairy types later on, so I don't think it decreases the difficulty too much. 

 

I'll also be trying to get maximum reputation points with everyone, which means defeating Solaris and Dittoceus. 

 

Since weather is b0rken at the moment, I'm using Waynolt's excellent select weather mod, which also comes with a choose your own starter mod. After looking through the Monotype Availability Guide, and the Fairy and Fairy Egg Group lists, I was torn between three pokemon: Shroomish, Marill, and Togetic. After much deliberation, I chose Marill; I can get a Togepi much later in the game, and while Breloom is the only Fighting type I have access to, I have other Grass Pokemon I can use, whereas Marill is the only Water type I could potentially have. 

 

After picking an avatar I like (the black girl with the punk hair) and choosing a meaningful name (Morrigan, after the Phantom Queen of crows and fate from Irish mythology, since the Tuatha De Danannan are in many ways just really powerful fairies), I set out to Reborn City. After soft resetting a bunch to get a Marill with Huge Power and a Pachirisu on the bridge, I blitzed through Victoria and Cain's starters. Exploring the Peridot ward gave me more pokemon: Cherubi, from the rooftop garden; Budew, who was attracted to my Rose Incense, and Igglybuff, who I rescued from an attempted pokenapping. At this point, I was a little leery about leveling up Budew or Igglybuff, since I wanted them to evolve at specific levels. So until I picked up the Soothe Bell at the Salon, both were just riding around, hopefully gaining friendship points from steps. 

 

Outside one of the factories, I ran into an insufferable character, Fern. He went down easy to Pachirisu's Charms and Bides, and Cherubi's Growth-boosted Tackles. After being forced to team up with him later, we faced two important Meteor grunts: Aster and Eclipse. They were more difficult. Marill got a bubble beam off on Magby before being taken into the red by Elekid's shock wave. I switched in Pachirisu, who absorbed Elekid's attack, and luckily Magby was concentrating on eliminating Fern's pokemon. Magby went down to Sparks (and a Vine Whip from Snivy), and Fern and I ganged up on Elekid until it fainted. After narrowly escaping getting blown up by Julia, it was time to face the mistress of explosions herself. 

 

Team Before Julia: 

Raiju 

Lv.17
Volt Absorb
-Spark
-Bide
-Quick Attack
-Charm

 

Jinmenju

Lv.17
Chlorophyll
-Morning Sun
-Tackle
-Growth
-Leech Seed

 

Manannan

Lv.17

Huge Power

-Tackle
-Bubble Beam
-Rollout
-Water Sport

 

Kechibi

lv.8

Competitive

-Charm

-Sweet Kiss

-Pound

-Misty Terrain

 

Kodama

lv.7

Natural Cure

-Absorb
-Growth
-Water Sport

 

Julia was pretty difficult, as she usually is. It certainly didn't help that I was only using 3 party members. Helioptile went down to 2 field-boosted Sparks from Raiju, and she sent out her first Voltorb. I switch into Manannan, who used Rollout. I figured if she stuck to Sonicbooms I'd be able to out-damage her, and possibly take out her next Pokemon (or die to aftermath). After one Sonicboom, she decided to use up both her potions, and voltorb went down. She sent out Emolga, who managed to get off a Nuzzle on my Marill, but is 1HKO'd by Rollout. Marill was in the red and paralyzed, and Julia was going to send out her second Voltorb, so I countered with Jinmenju. I was fully prepared to lame it out with Leech Seed + Morning Sun, but she opted to use Rollout instead. I boosted with growth and then tackled Voltorb into submission. Luckily, Aftermath didn't KO Cherubi. Blitzle was next, so I sent in Raiju once more. After healing Cherubi and Marill with super potions (while she barely does any damage with Quick Attacks), I went on the offensive and KOed Blitzle out with field-boosted sparks. 

 

Finally, it came. Electrode. Possibly her most annoying Pokemon. I decided to stall her with Cherubi's leech seed + morning sun combo. She missed a couple attacks, I actually got up to full health, which allowed Cherubi to boost with growth. When I ran out of morning Sun's, Electrode was in the red and Cherubi was at 34 hp. I decided to switch to Marill, since I didn't want Cherubi to get KO'd by Aftermath. Marill tanked 2 sonicbooms and the aftermath, but survived with only 5 hp left! Being overlevelled and stall tactics certainly made up for my lack of party members.

Well, that was the first gym! I'm actually at Aya currently, so I'll be writing up progress every day until I get caught up, and then updates will probably be less frequent. What do you think so far? Is this challenge too  h e r e t i c a l  for you? Would you like there to be some amount of roleplaying/kayfabe in the write ups, or would you prefer I just stick to discussing teambuilding and writing about the important battles? If you have any other feedback or suggestions, let me know! 

[Satoshi]

Really a different type of playthrough you are doing. Well I will keep an eye on your progress. Good luck though  

[Wolfox]

mone egg group runs, now THAT is interesting! good luck!

[Jess]

1 hour ago, Orasha said:

I kind of wanted to do Psychic or Bug, but both of those are currently being done, and done well

We should take this compliment, right @Zellorea? 

@Orasha You reminded me to update my run today, since real life took the best out of me and my spare time this whole week. Thanks for that!  

Truth is I am lazy AF and hate the fights vs Blake and Terra.

 

Good luck on your "twisty" fairy run! I have thought of adding Flygon to my Bug mono and justifying it by saying that it is in the Bug egg group ages ago, but didn't do that after all!

Great minds think alike  

Edited June 9, 2017 by Jess

[Zellorea]

7 hours ago, Jess said:

We should take this compliment, right @Zellorea? 

Indeed

Thanks, and good luck on your mono Fairy/Fairy egg group!

[Orasha]

22 hours ago, Jess said:

We should take this compliment, right @Zellorea? 

@Orasha You reminded me to update my run today, since real life took the best out of me and my spare time this whole week. Thanks for that!  

Truth is I am lazy AF and hate the fights vs Blake and Terra.

 

Good luck on your "twisty" fairy run! I have thought of adding Flygon to my Bug mono and justifying it by saying that it is in the Bug egg group ages ago, but didn't do that after all!

Great minds think alike  

 

No problem!  And it's definitely a compliment; your run in particular has made me want to try out Bug teams. Speaking of Terra, I can't imagine how annoying her field effect is going to be for my mons...

 

Thank you and everyone else for the luck! I certainly needed it today against Aya, but that's a story for later!  

[Orasha]

After having defeated Julia, Victoria told me about some weird situation in Obsidia: plants were attacking everyone! Before I headed there, I healed everyone and battled some more on the Opal Bridge. After Florinia convinced the officers to let me, I did some exploring. I picked up a Friend Ball at Critical Capture for later, got the Soothe Bell and some nice massages for my Pokemon, and solved a puzzle in the candy shop for a Swirlix. I finally had a full team of six! 

 

A massive crack in Obsidia forced me to go through the slums, but before I could enter, Victoria blocked my way. There isn't much to say about this fight. Ralts went down to Swirlix, Pachirisu took out Makuhita, and Azumarill KOed her Pignite. After taking down Victoria, I set the weather to windy and picked up a Hoppip. I wasn't going to use it anytime soon, since it first learns a Flying move at level 34, and I had much better grass types. 

 

The slums were pretty underwhelming (especially after Victoria had made such a big fuss), but my Pokemon were also a tad overlevelled, so... Some box shenanigans happen and I ended up fighting a gang of Scraggys and Scraftys, but man oh man do Fairy types trivialize that encounter. After exiting the slums, I went the only way I could go: into Coral Ward.

 

Coral Ward was a pretty depressing place, though not uneventful. After I answered some questions, a blind girl gave me the data on the Misty Field. That would turn out to be extremely useful, since Igglybuff knows Misty Terrain. In fact, it would turn out to be quite an important part of my strategy. I also rescued a Skitty, partially because its in the Fairy Egg Group, and partially because its so darn cute. It's a shame its stats are so garbage.

 

After defeating a sad fisherman, Cain rescued an Oshawott and decides to battle me, because this is a Pokemon game so of course he does. Much like Victoria, he went down easy insert innuendo here thanks to Roselia and Pachirisu. I didn't write down anything about the battle since it was a complete cakewalk. And with everything exhausted in Coral Ward, I headed back into Obsidia, since the path was clear. There's another Salon, and they wanted me to spy on the other one. It sounded like a good deal to me at the time; Igglybuff didn't have that high of a friendship score, so maybe another spa trip would give him the happiness needed to evolve. 

 

After I headed north, I picked up Cut from Florinia, and I completed my espionage. Before I proceeded to take on the first PULSE Tangrowth, I evolved my Igglybuff. Took long enough. At the time, I thought he would be super useful in the upcoming battle. 

 

My team before Tangrowth consisted of: 

Kechibi

lv.20

Competitive

-Disarming Voice

-Sweet Kiss

-Pound

-Misty Terrain 

Manannan

lv.21

Huge Power

-Tackle

-Aqua Tail

-Rollout

-Water Sport

Keukegen

lv.21

Unburden

-Fairy Wind

-Cotton Spore

-Endeavor

-Round

Raiju

Lv.21

Volt Absorb

-Spark

-Nuzzle

-Quick Attack

-Swift

Jinmenju

Lv.21

Chlorophyll

-Morning Sun

-Magical Leaf

-Growth

-Leech Seed

Kodama

lv.21

Natural Cure

-Mega Drain

-Growth

-Leech Seed

-Magical Leaf

 

My plan going in was to use Kechibi as a suicide lead, setting up Misty Terrain and possibly getting off a Sweet Kiss before getting KOed by PULSE Tangrowth's Poison STAB. Then I would bring in Kodama to use field-boosted Magical Leafs (leaves?), which would hopefully do good enough damage even with Tangrowth's stats and typing. My team had a pretty big weakness to Poison (as to be expected), as well as no effective way to counter Grass. Grass also nullified my main stalling tactic. 

 

After a few attempts, it was clear my plan wasn't sound. Tangrowth refused to stay confused for more than one turn, and even a field-boosted Magical Leaf did almost no damage. So I decided to change things up a bit: Raiju would lead with Nuzzle, Paralyzing the PULSE monstrosity, and would use Swift until he was KOed. Then I would bring in Kechibi to confuse it (though after a few attempts, Tangrowth would still only stay confused for one turn. I'm not sure if I just had really bad RNG, or if that was part of its ability, or what), then I would bring in Keukegen to Endeavor it down to low HP, and finish it off with Kodoma, or, more riskily, Manannan. 

 

Even with the new strategy, the battle was difficult and I had to reset a few times. Roselia just didn't have an effective way to deal damage, and Tangrowth could simply Mega Drain for a net gain in health. Manannan's massive attack stat was only useful if it could KO Tangrowth on the first hit, and I lost one match to a magic pixel. 

 

Finally, the plan worked (though Kechibi's part was basically useless). Pachirisu paralyzed Tangrowth and chipped away with Swift, Swirlix managed to Endeavor it down to critical HP, and paralysis allowed it to get off one Round before being KOed. Tangrowth was at extremely low HP, so I gambled and sent in Azumarill. This time, the Tackle managed to KO it. 

 

With Team Meteor dealt with and Obsidia returned to normal (well, closer to normal than it was before), I decided to do some sidequests. First I rescued a Happiny, who I thought would be useful later on (more on that later), and trade a Furret for a Castform. Castform has crappy stats and, despite having a cool ability and looking cute weird front-butt aside, generally sees no use. But he was my only source of Fire STABs, and that was extremely useful in the short-term. Castform also had good synergy with Cherrim. 

 

In order to get to Florinia, I had to battle through the whole trainer's school. Thanks a lot, Fern. I picked up a coin case, which will come in handy later, and answered the questions correctly, allowing me to proceed. Its at this point that I first realized something interesting: 4 out of my 6 party members gain boosted experience. On the upside, that makes grinding a lot less painful. On the downside, I might have to actually use Common Candies. 

 

It's time to take on Fern again. 

 

Pachirisu led and took down Lombre with Nuzzle and Spark spam, which caused Fern to use his potions. I left Raiju in to Nuzzle Servine, and he's able to get one Quick Attack off before being KOed by Leaf Storm. Next, I brought out Kechibi, set up Misty Terrain, and confused Servine with Sweet Kiss. The Jigglypuff manages to get Servine into the red with small damage from Disarming Voice and Servine hitting itself in confusion. However, one Leaf Storm hit Kechibi pretty hard, so I had it set up Misty Terrain again, and it was KOed by another Leaf Storm. I sent out Roselia to finish the job with field-boosted Magical Leaves, and Servine falls. Finally he brought out his Roselia, who I responded to with Castform. Castform got seeded setting up Sunny Day, but he managed to bring Roselia to extremely low HP with Embers before being KOed. Roselia is still out, so I bring out Kodama for a mirror match and KO him with Magical Leaf. 

 

My team before Florinia

Hitodama

lv.22

Forecast

-Ember

-Sunny Day

-Hail

-Rain Dance

Kodama

lv.23

Natural Cure

Rose Incense

-Mega Drain

-Growth

-Leech Seed

-Magical Leaf

Manannan

lv.23

Huge Power

Sea Incense

-Tackle

-Aqua Tail

-Rollout

-Water Sport

Kechibi

lv.20

Competitive

-Disarming Voice

-Sweet Kiss

-Pound

-Misty Terrain 

Raiju

Lv.21

Volt Absorb

-Spark

-Nuzzle

-Quick Attack

-Swift

Keukegen

lv.21

Unburden

-Fairy Wind

-Cotton Spore

-Endeavor

-Round

 

Florinia was interesting. I started out with Kodama, who got Sunny Day up before Maractus used Pin Missile, trivializing the damage. Ember made short work of the little cactus, but not before Flo used one of her super potions. She brought in Breloom, and I responded with Kechibi. Kechibi got Misty Terrain up (though Mach Punch brought her down to around half HP), so I brought in Keukegen. Misty Terrain increases the Sp. Def. of Fairy types, trivializing Mega Drain, and Mach Punch isn't very effective against Fairy types. After a field-boosted Fairy Wind brought Breloom to low HP, Flo used another Super potion. However, after two more Fairy Winds, Breloom was knocked out. Ferroseed was up next, so I responded with Castform. Due to Ferroseed's massive weakness to fire, I decided to forgo setting up and just attack with ember. Ferroseed was brought to around half HP, but seeded Hitodama. Unfortunately for Flo, Hitodama's next ember was a critical, KOing the little iron bugger. Cacnea came out next, so I set up Sunny Day. Pin Missile striking 5 times and leech seed forced me to use a Super Potion, but one ember brought Cacnea into the red. I thought it was finished, but then Hitodama missed... and was KO'ed by pin missile and leech seed. I sent out Kechibi to set up Misty Terrain and stall, and while she did get the terrain up, she was KO'ed by Sand Tomb and its damage over time. I brought out Roselia, who finished Cacnea off with Magical Leaf. 

 

Cottonee was a massive pain, who managed to KO Roselia and seed Manannan, but it finally fell. Last but certainly not least was  her Cradily...I had not been looking forward to this. I switched to Keukegen, who Endeavored Cradily down to 8 HP before being taken out. I sent out Manannan, since Cradily didn't know any grass moves, and tried to KO it with Rollout. In retrospect, I should have used Aqua Tail, since Cradily survived with 1 hp and used Recover. Unfortunately for Cradily, two more turns of Rollout KO'ed it.

 

Honestly, Florinia was a little easier then I expected. Even with a few misplays and some bad luck, I was still able to achieve victory. Florinia handed me the badge, a TM I'll probably never use, the PULSE dex app, and informed me that other wards were under attack by massive plants. My forays into Jasper and Beryl Ward will have to wait for tomorrow...

Edited June 11, 2017 by Orasha
Basic spelling errors

[Orasha]

Before heading into Jasper, I payed a visit to the girl who had been snubbed by her Snubbull (ba dum tiss). Granbull is a pretty good physical attacker, though its generally overshadowed by Azumarill. He does have some interesting moves though, like the ability to learn Close Combat through breeding, the elemental fangs, and Outrage. 

 

Jasper Ward was completely overran. Given that they were in shambles, I decided to help the police. That's probably the only time I'll ever say that. Team Meteor was there as well, but weren't really a match for me. Fast leveling rates + boosted experience meant I could basically steamroller everything they had. 

 

I was not looking forward to the next PULSE fight. Taka's Chatot is a massive pain, and I had a hard enough time with the last Tangrowth, and it didn't have other Pokemon to support it. Of course, this time I actually had a fire type, but still, I was nervous, okay? 

 

My team (very little had changed, so its spoilered)

Spoiler

Manannan

lv.26

Huge Power

Sea Incense

-Tackle

-Aqua Tail

-Rollout

-Play Rough

Hitodama

lv.26

Forecast

-Weather Ball

-Sunny Day

-Hail

-Rain Dance

Kodama

lv.26

Natural Cure

Big Root

-Giga Drain

-Growth

-Leech Seed

-Magical Leaf

Kechibi

lv.25

Competitive

-Disarming Voice

-Sweet Kiss

-Round

-Misty Terrain 

Raiju

Lv.21

Volt Absorb

-Electro Ball

-Nuzzle

-Quick Attack

-Swift

Keukegen

lv.25

Unburden

-Fairy Wind

-Cotton Spore

-Endeavor

-Round

 

My plan was to get rid of Lileep with Manannan (using Play Rough), then bring out Raiju to deal with Chatot, and then take out Tangrowth with Hitodama or with Keukegen's Endeavors. I decided that if I had to soft reset too many times, I would switch Kodama out for my Cherrim, since Cherrim could set up Sunny Day for Castform. 

 

I had been all worked up for nothing, because Taka went down as planned on the second try. I probably could have beaten him on the first try, but I had absolutely atrocious RNG, both Azumarill and Pachirisu hurt themselves in confusion like 3 times in a row, it was ridiculous. 

 

After defeating Taka, I ran into a rather impetuous girl with pink hair and a Salamence. Yeah, its just soooo terrible that I managed to defeat the bad guys first, cry me a river. I finished up my business in Jasper, rescuing a girl for a department store sticking and saving some policemen. Then it was time to head into the Beryl Ward. If it was anything like Jasper, I thought, it would be easier than I originally anticipated. 

 

After entering the Rhodocrine Jungle, I was contractually obligated to fall for a pretty obvious trap (though, in fairness, I actually did fall for it on my first playthrough). It looked like I was going to be stuck in the cage and need rescuing myself, but Fern came along... Goody. It was time for the infamous "begging" section. And you know what? I actually did it. I actually begged Fern. I mean, having a positive relationship value with Fern probably won't matter in later episodes, but you never know...

 

After losing my dignity (and, I suspect, the respect of those reading), Fern lets me out. I gotta be honest, I didn't expect him to keep his word. 

 

Freed, I continued to explore the forest. There was a wrecked library with a helpful healer inside, as well as a Growlithe and a dead police officer. I continued my exploration, finding items, more police officers, and some switches to flip. After defeating some more grunts, it was time to take on Taka and ZEL yet again. I wasn't exactly looking forward to this one either. 

 

I forgot to write down their moves at this point, but I was rolling with 

 Manannan

              Hitodama

    Inugami

           Jinmenju

         Raiju

     Kodama

 

I started out with Jinmenju and Hitodama. Jinmenju used Sunny Day, followed by Hitodama's Weather Ball (boosted both by Jinmenju's ability Flower Gift and the sunlight) to OHKO Glaceon. The rest of the battle was fairly difficult, with Castform putting in serious work. However, I had to restart once, due to horrible RNG with confusion. Sorry I don't have a more detailed summary of that fight, I didn't end up write it down apparently :/ 

 

After the battle, one of the Meteors is caught and apprehended by the police I saved! And... it's someone who I've never met. But he's apparently the pink-haired girl's father, and none to pleased. Well then. 

 

Next up: Corey.

 

I know I've been saying it a lot this installment, but I really wasn't looking forward to this battle. Even with the increased amount of Pokemon that I had to choose from, most of them were weak to poison, and the ones that weren't didn't have a proper way to deal with Poison types. I had a couple of options to change the field around, and my strategy was going to revolve around that. 

 

My team for Corey (Spoilered since I forgot to write down their movesets again :/ That won't happen later, I promise): 

Spoiler

        Raiju

Manannan

             Hitodama

   Inugami

           Keukegen

     Kodama

I led with Raiju, who took Skrelp out easy enough. Corey sent out Croagunk, so I responded with Manannan. Play Rough missed, and Manannan was brought to low yellow HP by Venoshock. Play Rough scored a critical the next round, though, OHKOing Croagunk. Corey brought out Grimer, and I responded with Hitodama and set up Sunny Day and then Rain Dance to change the field to a Rainbow one. Then I hit Grimer with a rainbow-charged Weather Ball, OHKOing it. Corey sent in Skuntank, so I switched to Keukegen. My plan was to get off an aromatherapy and then hit him with a field-boosted Round. He got off Aromatherapy, but two Acid Sprays took him down. I sent in Inugami, but he got 2HKOed by Acid Spray as well. Rain Dance ended, and so did the Rainbow Field, but at least the field was just Corrosive now and not Corrosive mist.

 

I sent out Roselia to stall out Skuntank, which could have been real bad, but instead of using Incinerate he used Pursuit and Acid sprays... Leech Seed + Mega Drain managed to get him down to red HP. Corey used a potion, but Roselia brough Skuntank down to red HP, and he used Incinerate, KOing Roselia. I sent in Raiju, who finished the skunk off with Electro Ball. Corey sent out Nidorina, who KOed Raiju, so I sent in Manannan. Manannan was damaged heavily by the Corrosive Field, so I used a potion. Then I used Rollout, 3HKOing her. Next up was Corey's Crobat...unless he managed to OHKO me, or if Manannan missed, I was going to do excellent damage with Rollout. Instead of attacking, the idiot used Nasty Plot, and to top it off, Rollout got a critical! Crobat was OHKOed!

 

That battle was a wild ride, KOing 4 of my Pokemon and teaching me several new things (for instance, that Rainbow Field only lasts as long as Rain Dance, and that it returns the field to a Corrosive State, not a Corrosive Mist state). Despite some poor plays on my part, like sacrificing Inugami needlessly to Skuntank, I think it went pretty well. So far, even though he's generally considered a poor Pokemon, Castform is really pulling his weight in this playthrough. He has great utility, being able to respond to numerous different types and being able to set up the Rainbow Field, as well as good synergy with Grass Types. 

 

Corey told me to meet him on the Beryl Bridge, where he set his Pokemon free, monologued for a bit, and... well, you know what happens. Afterwards, Fern sets him up as a terrible person (I would argue he's worse than Bennett. Like... even though Bennett is terrible, I can at least feel bad for him and sympathize, to a point. With Fern, there are no redeeming qualities). After we both hear an explosion, Fern runs off. Since Corey didn't give me a badge or a TM or... anything, really, it looks like I have nowhere else to go... 

 

Next Time: Rumble in the Jungle (field)! Entomology versus Mythology! 

[Orasha]

Hey everyone, just so you know, I'll be using screenshots when we get to the the Bennett and Serra battles and after that. I'm not sure how many I'll use or what, but they'll be on the table starting then. 

 

Anyways, before going to the Opal bridge, I decided to finish some sidequest stuff, like cleaning the library for a Gothitelle (gimme those sweet, sweet relationship variables), and getting a Growlithe from the police officers; I'd be getting my mystery egg soon! I was mildly apprehensive. On a normal playthrough your Mystery Egg is probably a good Pokemon to add to your team (even if you've never used it before), but the chances of getting something I could use for the run were...slim. I basically had a 4/18 chance (Azurill, Cottonee, Togepi, and Shroomish would all be available, though Azurill would be slightly less useful). 

 

So I made it to the bridge, and it seemed as though someone had bombed it from underneath. Now who do you think could have done that? 

 

After some slight exploration in Northern Obsidia and Lapis, I walked enough steps to get a Growlith egg, and immediately trade it. I was never that good at telling what eggs are based on their art, but I thought mine was a Cottonee  At the time, it was night, which prevented me from trading a Sunkern for a Mime Jr. just yet. And in terms of gangs, I decided to go with Magma, for a whole host of reasons: 1. They're badass enough to battle Aqua to a standstill even with a type disadvantage 2. I never owned Sapphire but played Ruby a lot and 3. I was using 2 or 3 Grass types in rotation, so it made the most sense (I know that Azurill could have soloed the Magma gang if I wanted, but that might have overlevelled it and I didn't want that). 

 

After I had ran around for a bit (sped up with Flame Body Slugma from the game corner in party, and the Alt key), my mystery egg hatched! Dun dun dunnnnnn.... It was a Cottonee after all (and a female one at that)! That was probably the best luck I've ever had in this game. Of course, due to my plans for Whimsicott at the time, I wouldn't be using her for a while. But Whimsicott became extremely important to this run. I'm not sure how I would have made it through without the little fluffball. 

 

Since I was playing late at night and wouldn't be able to catch a Sunflora for a while, I decided to advance the plot until morning (my sleep schedule is terrible, but we can talk about that later). I picked up a Spritzee from the flower shop, and she came with Wish as an Egg Move. That certainly makes it easier on me; the less breeding I have to do, the better. I also helped my new gang pals rob an old lady for a Pokemon I'm not even going to use. And after a cop no-sells her, he gives me a bike voucher. I feel a little bit bad about that. But those sort of mistakes happen when you're a silent protagonist. 

 

After talking to Victoria and meeting Shelly for the first time, as well as seeing whatever Shade is doing... what Shade does I guess, I learned from Aster and Eclipse that Team Meteor was behind the bombing! Quelle surprise Victoria rushed off to stop them and I followed to save her butt.

 

After exploring the cave a bit and picking up Rock Smash, I listened to Solaris drop some plot-critical information, and then rescued Victoria from Aster and Eclipse. It was a double battle, but at least Victoria helped. I regret to inform you that I don't have a lot to say about this fight (or that I even documented my team for it), because it was incredibly dull and not difficult in the slightest. Seriously, Pignite sweeped like 3 of their Pokemon with Rollout, it was hilarious. Probably the best my teammate's AI has ever been. 

 

Victoria left to go comfort Shelly, but I decided to get a lot of breeding out of the way. First thing was catching a Plusle or Minun that knew Encore. Then I caught a female Sunflora (it was finally morning), and bred it to get a Sunkern. While I was waiting for that egg to hatch, I bred my Plusle and Cottonee. While all that running around was going on, I decided to raise Hoppip. I thought its Acrobatics, which Jumpluff learns at level 34, would come in handy for Shelly. 

 

I also had plans to chain-breed Protect onto Spritzee (it was some extremely long and convoluted plan, I think I was going to try and breed it through Pineco>Paras>Hoppip>Spritzee). Unfortunately, I hadn't done enough research to know that TM breeding through the father was only available prior to episode 14, so I wasted a lot of time catching a Pineco. I also learned the hard way when I tried to breed Thunder Wave onto Chansey. So Spritzee/Aromatisse were going to be running a different cleric set, which actually turned out to be super useful anyway. 

 

After a ton of running around, I returned to Victoria and Shelly, who had me case out an orphanage. Unfortunately for all the children there, its also a mental hospital and run by a walking stereotype questionable psychologist. After trouncing an orderly and getting advice from possibly the weirdest of the children, Anna, I headed back to Shelly's gym. Anna's advice really seemed to help Shelly out, so its time to battle her for my third gym badge! 

 

Or it would be, but Victoria gets in my way. It was pretty uneventful, fairies having an advantage to fighting and whatnot, and I didn't want to write out my team at that point anyway (old me was lazy). Her Hariyama did KO a couple of my Pokemon thanks to Belly Drum, but she eventually goes down and lets me take on the gym leader. Victoria reminds me of a helicopter parent; even though Shelly agreed to battle me, Victoria wants to protect her from herself. 

 

With Victoria out of the way, I get through Shelly's puzzle after a few tries (with no guide either, I must be playing this game too much...). 

 

I know I say this constantly, but I wasn't looking forward to the battle with Shelly. I wasn't even sure whether I should be worried, but I battled her for probably 3 hours on my mono-dark run before I was able to beat her. It was... not fun. Hopefully nothing like that will happen in this playthrough (he says, forshadowingly). 

 

My team for Shelly (the Bug Busters)!

 

Manannan

lv.32

Huge Power

Sea Incense

-Play Rough

-Aqua Tail

-Rollout

-Aqua Ring

     

Raiju

Lv.32

Volt Absorb

-Electro Ball

-Nuzzle

-Sweet Kiss

-Swift

Hitodama

lv.32

Forecast

-Weather Ball

-Sunny Day

-Hail

-Rain Dance

Keukegen

lv.32

Unburden

-Draining Kiss

-Aromatherapy

-Endeavor

-Round

  

Inugami

Lv.32

Rattled (I probably should have shuffled to Intimidate but I think I was low on Ability Capsules at the time)

-Headbutt

-Bite

-Roar

-Heal Bell

Butoh

Lv.32

Technician

Twisted Spoon

-Confusion

-Reflect

-Icy Wind

-Light Screen

 

Before going in, I suspected Manannan was going to be the star player. He could ride the Rain Dance with Aqua Tail, hit the bugs with Rollout, and as a physical attacker wasn't affected by the constant SpAtk lowering qualities of Struggle Bug spam. 

 

I led with Manannan and Raiju. First turn her Prankster Illumise did Rain Dance (as it always does), Raiju Nuzzled Masquerain, who hit Manannan with an Energy Ball, which he tanked to OHKO Illumise with Aqua Tail. Shelly brought out Wormadam-T. I used a Lemonade on Manannan, Raiju KOs Masquerain with an Electro Ball, Wormadam uses Mega Drain on Manannan, and Shelly brings out Heather the Yanmega. I switched Manannan out for Hitodama, who turned into its Rain form, only to be OHKOed by Yanmega's Giga Drain (sigh). Raiju Nuzzles Yanmega, and Wormadam uses Giga Drain on Raiju, and I send in Keukegen. Next turn Raiju Electro Balled Yanmega to low yellow HP, but Keukegen outspeeds everything and misplays with Endeavor, failing. Wormadam hit Swirlix with Mirror-Shot, and Yanmega used Struggle Bug. 

 

Shelly used one of her potions on Yanmega, Raiju used Electro ball on Yanmega again but it didn't do that much damage (thanks Struggle Bug!). On the plus side, Keukegen Endeavored Wormadam down to low hp, but was then KOed by Wormadam's Mirror Shot. I brought out Butoh, while Shelly used a potion on Wormadam. Butoh used Icy Wind, and Raiju was brought down to red HP by Yanmega's Ancient Power. Next turn Butoh used Icy Wind again, KOing Yanmega, and Raiju got a critical with Electro Ball, bringing Wormadam down to red HP, but in return, Wormadam KOs Raiju with Psybeam. I bring out Manannan. Shelly brings out Anorith, who gets a critical on Knock Off on Butoh, bringing him down to extremely low HP. Luckily, Butoh is able to KO Wormadam with Confusion, and Manannan's Aqua Tail, boosted by the rain, OHKOs Anorith. Shelly sent out Volbeat as the rain stopped. 

 

I used Butoh's turn to heal Manannan (possibly seen as cheap, but the AI gets to use healing items so I don't care), which was a good choice since Volbeat's Struggle Bug KOs Butoh. Manannan uses Rollout on Volbeat, and I send out Inugami. Volbeat uses Dazzling Gleam (a weird move to use on two Fairy types but you're the gym leader, Shelly), Rollout takes Volbeat into the yellow, and Inugami's Headbutt almost KOs, but Volbeat survives with a magic pixel and regains with leftoevers. Next turn, Manannan tanks a Dazzling Gleam to KO it with Rollout. 

 

All in all, Shelly was still pretty difficult (I had to reset like 4 times), but CERTAINLY more doable than during my Dark run (as to be expected). In hindsight, I should have saved Hitodama for after I KOed all of her Pokemon with Grass moves, but oh well. Misplays don't really matter if I win in the end, right?  

 

Next Time: Showdown in the Shadows! Will I be able to exorcise Shade's team? Or will a loss haunt me for the rest of my days?  

[Jess]

2 hours ago, Orasha said:

Victoria rushed off to stop them and I followed to save her butt.

Upvoting for your amazing progress and mostly for the quoted part. Join the club of Victoria's haters!

[Orasha]

15 hours ago, Jess said:

Upvoting for your amazing progress and mostly for the quoted part. Join the club of Victoria's haters!

Thanks! And yeah, the first time I played through, I didn't mind, but every successive run she gets more and more annoying to me. 

[Jess]

38 minutes ago, Orasha said:

Thanks! And yeah, the first time I played through, I didn't mind, but every successive run she gets more and more annoying to me. 

She earned a lot of points for being revenge-focused in Episode 16 (Devon Corp raid), but till that moment she ws just dead weight trying to impede our progress. I like her new personality, but her old one sucks...  

[Orasha]

24 minutes ago, Jess said:

She earned a lot of points for being revenge-focused in Episode 16 (Devon Corp raid), but till that moment she ws just dead weight trying to impede our progress. I like her new personality, but her old one sucks...  

I haven't made it that far yet but I'm looking forward to it. And I completely agree; the nail in the coffin for me was the battle before Shelly. Shelly specifically tells us she's up for the battle, but her word isn't good enough for Victoria. It just felt very condescending to me. 

[Jess]

Just now, Orasha said:

I haven't made it that far yet but I'm looking forward to it. And I completely agree; the nail in the coffin for me was the battle before Shelly. Shelly specifically tells us she's up for the battle, but her word isn't good enough for Victoria. It just felt very condescending to me. 

Oops, I spoiled it to you... I'm sorry...  Well, good thing I said nothing else!

[Satoshi]

4 minutes ago, Orasha said:

I haven't made it that far yet but I'm looking forward to it. And I completely agree; the nail in the coffin for me was the battle before Shelly. Shelly specifically tells us she's up for the battle, but her word isn't good enough for Victoria. It just felt very condescending to me. 

Dont loose hope. Take some time to strategise and glory will be yours

[Orasha]

4 minutes ago, Jess said:

Oops, I spoiled it to you... I'm sorry...  Well, good thing I said nothing else!

Don't worry about it! I think I've spoiled myself for bigger things anyways, so it's okay! 

 

1 minute ago, Satoshi said:

Dont loose hope. Take some time to strategise and glory will be yours

Well hopefully my Fairies will be able to get there  I have high hopes. I've got something particularly devious planned for the future. 

[Satoshi]

6 minutes ago, Orasha said:

Don't worry about it! I think I've spoiled myself for bigger things anyways, so it's okay! 

 

Well hopefully my Fairies will be able to get there  I have high hopes. I've got something particularly devious planned for the future. 

Good luck for the future progress then  

[Orasha]

Shelly told me that I needed to tell Ame about Corey's death. How Gossip Gardevoir (or any other news team, to be honest), hadn't reported on it by now, I have no idea. Before progressing the plot, I decided to get some exploration out of the way, now that I had Rock Smash. With mining rocks available, I had the ability to add Chansey or Whimsicott to my team. And with Link Stones around (both in the field and for purchase), Aromatisse and Slurpuff were options too! 

 

With that figured out, I went to tell Ame. Well, I would have, but Fern beat me there, and wants to get wrecked again. Par for the course, really. My team was the same except everyone was level 33 now, and I switched out Swirlix and Granbull for

Kodama

Lv.33

Poison Point

Big Root

-Giga Drain

-Growth

-Leech Seed

-Toxic Spikes

 

and 

Jumpluff

lv. 34

Leaf Guard 

Rose Incense (Yes, I didn't read the fine print on Acrobatics and had an item on Jumpluff for... way longer than I should have. Oops)

-Acrobatics

-Leech Seed

-Sleep Powder

-Poison Powder

 

My strategy was to lead with Castform, set up Sunny Day, switch to Jumpluff to deal with Ludicolo, and then back to Hitodama or Butoh to take out Roserade. In practice, I used Jumpluff to deal with Roserade and switched to Hitodama to take out Servine. 

 

With that done, I decided to do a ton of sidequesting, sticker gathering, and breeding out of the way. With every Pokemon that I wanted to use trained to the right level, I went and talked to Cain. My team at this point, with some talk about how I was using them, since I was finally able to use some strategies other than "hit the opponents with super-effective attacks and STABs." 

Ittan-momen
Lv.35
Prankster
Meadow Plate
-Energy Ball
-Encore
-Substitute
-Leech Seed

An excellent stall Pokemon, Whimsicott is also my source of Grass type coverage. Rest assured, with Encore, Substitute, and Leech Seed, he is VERY annoying. Encore is slightly less useful against the AI then it would be against human opponents, but that's because AI in Reborn rarely set up. It still has its uses though. Whimsicott's blistering speed also makes him a good revenge killer. 

Butoh
Lv.35
Technician
NeverMeltIce
-Confusion
-Reflect
-Icy Wind
-Light Screen

Mostly a placeholder until I get Ralts, Mr. Mime is still my only source of Psychic STABs, and Icy Wind is a good coverage move. The dual screens are there for emergencies, but his mediocre speed makes them difficult to set up reliably.

 

Manannan
Lv.35
Huge Power
Sea Incense
-Play Rough
-Aqua Tail
-Rollout
-Aqua Ring

As always, the main physical attacker with great mixed bulk.

Hannya
Lv.35
Aroma Veil
Big Root
-Moonblast
-Draining Kiss
-Aromatherapy
-Wish

Aromatisse is usually used as a cleric; however, Protect isn't a TM in this game, making her options more limited. I decided that I would run Draining Kiss over Calm Mind for three reasons: 1. Draining Kiss allows recovery independent of wish against anything Moonblast can't KO 2. I already have Fairy STAB attackers, and once I get Ralts Aromatisse has no use as a setup sweeper and 3. Wish passing means any bonuses from Calm Mind would be extremely transitory. I'll probably replace Moonblast with Misty Terrain when she learns it, turning her into an even more useful support Pokemon.

Hitodama
Lv.35
Forecast
Heat Rock
-Weather Ball
-Sunny Day
-Hail
-Rain Dance

Castform is still good utility, with a sun-boosted weatherball OHKOing most things that are weak to fire. His crappy stats are just starting to show, though. 

     

Raiju

Lv.32

Volt Absorb

Zap Plate

-Electro Ball

-Nuzzle

-Sweet Kiss

-Swift

This plucky little squirrel generally paralyzes and attacks, which is fairly good utility. He's become less useful over time, and like Hitodama, will probably be switched out soon.

 

In Box

Spoiler

Yep, I'm still training him. At level 49 he learns U-turn, turning him into a potent stall Pokemon with Sleep Powder + Leech Seed + U-turn. Combined with Whimsicott's Substitute, this allows me to reliably stall out almost any Pokemon. 

Despite my work breeding Heal Bell onto her, Chansey will probably never see use. She requires Seismic Toss to even hope to deal damage, and Reborn's lack of Thunder Wave or Toxic as TMs hinder her effectiveness. She can't even learn Wish, and so she is outclassed in every way other than stats by Aromatisse. 

Roselia is a useful defensive Pokemon, able to switch in to Poison attacks that so plague my team. However, since TM breeding isn't in Reborn anymore, she longer has access to powerful Poison STABs. While I might use her on and off in the near future, eventually she'll be stored in the box forever, outclassed by other Pokemon. 

As a side note, I was really digging my team at the moment. It was more of a balanced or defensive team, which are archetypes I don't usually play (I generally prefer hyper-offense with the maximum amount of type coverage). Its a fun change of pace. 

 

Cain wasn't that hard: I led with Ittan-momen, who OHKOed Dewott with Energy Ball. He brought out Nidoking as a response, so I seeded it before being OHKOed by Poison Tail. I sent out Manannan, who tanked a Thrash (why Cain didn't just use Poison Tail again, the world will never know), and OHKOed Nidoking with Aqua Tail. He sent out Grimer, so I switched Butoh in, who OHKOed the blob with Confusion. He sent in Venomoth, I sent out Raiju, hit him with Thunder Wave, and then spammed Electro Ball until it fainted. 

 

After the battle, Heather appears, and Cain runs after her, conveniently not giving me what he promised to give me. Why does everyone keep cheating me out of stuff?! 

 

After a bunch of yelling, Heather gets kidnapped and Cain and Shelly decide to rescue her. I follow along because I have nothing better to do saving people is the right thing to do. On the bright side, I get teamed up with Shelly! After a bunch of double battles and running up and down 5 flights of stairs like 20 times (my character must be in amazing shape), Heather and the rest of the interesting children are liberated and we escape to the railnet. Unfortunately for us, the door is locked and I need to beat Shade to open it. On the one hand, I think Anna is throwing me a bone by giving me another badge, but on the other hand, why couldn't she just ask him to turn the power on? 

 

My team for Shade was the same, except everyone was level 37, except Raiju who was level 38. He also replaced Swift with Super Fang. 

 

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty tired when I faced Shade and didn't write down a detailed record of how it went. Basically, I led with Raiju, who paralyzed and KOed Gengar and Banette both. He brought out Doublade, so I responded with Hitodama, who set up Sunny Day and KOed it with Weather Balls. I kept Hitodama in for Rotom, but he ended up fainting, and I brought in Ittan-momen for the revenge kill. I almost KOed Trevenant with Jumpluff (and, in hindsight, if he wasn't using an item he probably would have), so I brought in Ittan-momen for the revenge kill again. Manannan survived a Hidden Power Electric to OHKO Chandelure with Aqua Tail. Really basic, really brutal, and not that difficult. 

 

Next Time: Battle on the Beach! Fighting versus Fairies! 

Edited June 13, 2017 by Orasha
I should proofread better

[rayyan]

You should probably also get a slurpuff. Rest is great. I never thought you could get past Corey in a fairy egg group mono run. 

 

[Orasha]

14 hours ago, rayyan said:

You should probably also get a slurpuff. Rest is great. I never thought you could get past Corey in a fairy egg group mono run. 

 

I've considered using Slurpuff, but I have Pokemon that do his job better. I also don't really need Rest since I'm using Wish-passers. 

 

I was very lucky in my battle with Corey. His AI waited so long to use Incinerate on Roselia, and Azumarill using Rollout was a massive gamble. If Crobat had attacked instead of setting up, I would have lost. Surprisingly, my most difficult fight so far (I just recently defeated Radomus) was Noel. He gave me more trouble than Aya, it was crazy. But I'll get to that story eventually  

[Orasha]

My team (including those in rotation):

    

Ittan-momen       Butoh       Manannan        Hannya  Hitodama   Jumpluff        Raiju          Kodama

 

After defeating Shade, he shows me a vision of the orphans being kidnapped, so I rush over to the underground as fast as I can. Victoria tells me I need to go to Apophyll Academy somehow, since her master has the TMX Strength. Why I just can't...call the police or something, I don't know. Pretty sure Sigmund's legal grounds for taking the orphans went away the second he collaborated with a terrorist group to get it done. 

 

In Coral Ward, I arrive just in time to watch as Cain uses Grimer to surf across the poluted water. Why can't I catch a grimer and get it to do that? Not fair. After losing hope leaving, I run into Amaria, who wants us to help her with a factory. Since I have nothing better to do, I decide to help her. 

 

Amaria is kind of a badass, so she makes an ice bridge by combining waterfall with icebeam. If that combo doesn't create a Field, I'll be disappointed. We end up getting separated and I fall into a hole. After a somewhat tedious puzzle, I emerge one rare candy and one ditto richer. I also explore the basement, finding a TM, a PULSE readout, and magnet powder. That'll come in handy later. 

 

I was in a rush when I faced ZEL at Blacksteam factory, and I don't remember much about how the battle went. I know Hitodama set up Sunny Day and then OHKOed Glaceon, and then dealt some good damage to Espeon (which forced ZEL to use her potions). He was definitely KOed by Future Sight, and I revenge killed with Ittan-momen. For Umbreon I brought out Manannan, who got confused and then hurt itself from confusion for like 4 turns in a row, before finally taking Umbreon out with 2 Play Roughs. For Muk, I initially brought out Raiju to paralyze it, which he did, and then he did crap damage with Electro Ball until fainting. Then I brought in Ittan-momen; paralysis allowed me to set up SubSeed, and Muk went down to the stall. 

 

 

Solaris is a sore loser, but Amaria rescues me. She also gives me her boat, allowing me to go to the Apophyll Academy. Apophyll is pretty easy overall. In fact, most of my Pokemon are getting closer and closer to the level cap; I might actually have to use Common Candies soon. After facing the trainers and getting another department store sticker, I go to listen to Kiki's lecture. I feel a little bad saying that I want to be a student since I have more pressing concerns, but oh well. After the lecture, I run into Victoria and talk to Kiki. It turns out that I must test my might in order to fight her, and I have to go through Cal, a former gym leader. 

 

I gotta be honest folks, I really hate the Pyrous Mountain puzzle. I don't even consider it that difficult, it's just annoying and time consuming, and its never really made sense to me. I actually prefer Shelly's puzzle to this one. So after following a video and making my way through, its finally time to take on Cal. 

 

Weather is bugged in Episode 16, but every time I go to Apophyll beach it starts raining, and it was still raining when I fought Cal. To be honest, it feels sort of cheap. I know I could change the weather to normal, but every time I go inside and come back out, it starts raining again. Who am I to argue with the will of Arceus? 

 

Everyone on my team is now level 40, and Mr. Mime replaced Confusion with Psychic. For Cal, I boxed Whimsicott and led with: 

Jumpluff
Lv.37
Leaf Guard
Sky Plate
-Acrobatics
-Leech Seed
-Sleep Powder
-Poison Powder

 

Cal's Infernape went down to the Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Acrobatics Combo, and  used one of his ultra potions. I had pretty good RNG; Infernape didn't wake up the whole time. He sent in Typhlosion, who began charging Solar beam, I responded with Manannan and he was OHKOed by Manannan's Aqua Tail. He sent in Magmortar, so I responded with Jumpluff. Jumpluff outsped him to get off SleepSeed. After using Acrobatics, Jumpluff got burned and Magmortar woke up, so I used Poison Powder. Then Jumpluff fainted. I sent in Raiju, who took down Magmortar with Super Fangs and Electro Balls, even after Cal used his last potion. He sent in Delphox, so I brought out Hitodama. He transformed in the rain, and 2HKOed the fox with Weather Ball. Castform proceeded to take out Charizard, and Aromatisse 2HKOed Blaziken. 

 

I return victorious, and Kiki agrees to battle me. Victoria is not happy, since Kiki is sick and apparently this is like Yugioh where your health can seriously be drained from the fighting of other things. Weird. She stands in my way, so I have to beat her again. 

I'm still a tad overleveled, so Victoria goes down easy. Its not even a noteworthy battle, so I didn't write down what happened. 

 

My team for Kiki: 

Hannya lv.41

Manannan lv.41

Raiju lv.40

Butoh lv.41

Ittan-momen lv.40

Hitodama lv.41

 

Their moves haven't changed.

Kiki went down pretty easy. Manannan tanked through Machamp (who Kiki used a potion on) and Gallade pretty easily, Butoh OHKOed Toxicroak and 2HKOed Hitomonlee, Raiju paralyzed and Super Fanged Lucario to red health before being KOed, and Kiki used her last potion. Hitodama used Sunny Day, creating a Rainbow Field and bringing Lucario to low HP with Weatherball. However, he was KOed by Aura Sphere. I brought out Ittan-momen, who revenge killed Lucario with Energy Ball. She brought out Medicham, and Ittan-momen was able to SubSeed for 2 turns before I switched into Aromatisse, who got the final KO with Moonblast. 

 

Kiki collapses so we don't get a badge. I'm getting flashbacks to Corey... Victoria then points out that Cain is missing and that I should go find him, so I head to Azurine Island. After exploring for a bit, I run into Aster and Eclipse again! 

 

My team

Spoiler

 Kodama, Lv.38

Ittan-momen, lv.42

Butoh, lv.42

Hannya, lv.42, replaced Draining Kiss with Misty Terrain, and carries an Amplifield Rock

Manannan, lv.42, replaced Aqua Ring with Double Edge

Jumpluff, lv.39

Ittan-momen OHKOed Solrock with Energy Ball, and Lunatone used Rock Slide, making Kodama flinch. They sent out Rhydon and switched Lunatone out for Milotic, and Milotic gets hit with Energy Ball for large damage. Kodama OHKOs Rhydon with Giga Drain, and they send out Magmar. I switch out Kodama for Manannan, and Ittan-momen KOs Milotic with another Energy Ball. Magmar hits the Whimsicott with Fire Punch, and they send out Lunatone. Ittan OHKOs Lunatone, only to be KOed by Fire Punch. Manannan OHKOs Magmar with Aqua Tail but is burned in the process. They bring out Electabuzz, and I send in Jumpluff. I switched Manannan out for Kodama, and hoped to outspeed Electabuzz with Jumpluff; the electric pokemon outspeeds me and hits Kodama with Thunder Punch, and Jumpluff puts it to sleep. Electabuzz gets seeded and continues sleeping, and Kodama and Jumpluff spend the remaining turns whittling it down with Giga Drains and Acrobatics. 

 

Next up is another battle with Taka to rescue Cain, so I switch out Jumpluff (I seriously have to rename him at some point) and Kodama for Raiju and Hitodama to better deal with his Pokemon. 

 

Taka goes down pretty easily, but unfortunately I didn't write down anything about the battle, other than Hitodama setting up Sunny Day and OHKOing Klefki with Weather Ball. Sorry about that. 

 

After freeing Cain, its time to head back to Apophyll and face... Solaris. And his Garchomp. But that'll have to wait for tomorrow! 

 

NEXT TIME: Impossible Battle! Will we be able to dent Garchomp, or will Meteor's leader OHKO my entire team? 

[Orasha]

Ah, Solaris. If he didn't have 3 full restores, I could definitely beat him with the stall tactics I have now (mainly by baiting him into using Dragon Rush, switching in Whimsicott after the KO, and using Prankster Encore to facilitate setting up Sub Seed). But I only have 5 encores, which means 15 turns of wearing him down. I just don't think its feasible. In hindsight, its possible that putting Garchomp to sleep with the help of Focus Sash would cause him to use a Full Restore, and I could chain that with Sleep Powders until he was out. Unfortunately, I don't that save anymore, so I can't even test the theory out. 

 

After checking around on Bulbapedia for useful Egg Moves, I saw that Igglybuff can learn Perish Song! That thing everyone cheeses Solaris with. Unfortunately, it has to be chain bred through Politoad, who I definitely can't access. But wait, isn't Perish Song one of the Egg Moves Igglybuff can come with in this game? A quick check in one of the guides confirms it tentatively, and I check some of my other runs to see if I got one. 

 

And I did. I'm not sure whether trading between playthroughs is frowned upon or not, but I did it anyway; Igglybuff already receives an exp boost in the main game, and its not like I was going to use it in my other profile anyways... Yeah, you don't have to beat Solaris, but I'm trying to get the maximum amount of relationship points with everyone. I also didn't realize that I could have stalled him out in other ways, but the world will never know if that would actually work. . 

 

After spending quite a long time getting Jigglypuff trained up, its time to take on Solaris. Focus sash + Perish song and Prankster Substitute made it pretty easy. Thank Arceus for Jigglypuff. There's also a lot of plot in this section, including Kiki's death (why couldn't she have given me the badge), Cal's betrayal, and Taka being revealed as Solaris's son! 

 

After everything blows over, Victoria gives me the Strength TMX, but I can't use it since I don't have a badge. Great. To get it, I'm going to have to beat Aya, Cain's sister and another Poison specialist. Greeeeaaaat. Speaking of Poison Specialists, Cain decides that I have to beat him in order to get the key to the Byxbision wasteland. C'mon Cain, just think of the children, why are you wasting time? 

 

Cain got absolutely wrecked. Venomoth got outsped, put to sleep, and then Acrobatic's to death by Jumpluff (and also made Cain use both his ice creams). Mr. Mime took out Haunter, but not before taking a Shadow Ball. Samurott went down to Energy Ball, Muk was KOed by Mr. Mime, and Azumarill tanked a poison tail by Nidoking to OHKO it with Aqua Tail.
 

Ah, the Byxbision wasteland. What a weird place. Somehow everyone's graves are here, in addition to being in the Beryl Cemetary. Extra weird. I do some exploring and decide to brave the Byxbision Grotto without Flash so that I can get Mawile. I consider forcing myself to get a female Mawile so I can chain-breed Seismic Toss onto Chansey, but ultimately decide against it. Without access to status TMs like Toxic and Thunder Wave, Chansey really just won't pull her weight enough, especially when I have access to Special Walls like Aromatisse and Florges. The Nurse Pokemon just doesn't seem worth it. 

 

After what seemed like days, I finally caught a Mawile with passable IVs, and she even had Sheer Force, so I didn't need to use any ability capsules  After training her up to be level equivalent with everyone else, I decide its finally time to take down the Aqua Gang's leader. Since I put it off for so long, he goes down easy, and I get a Houndour, who immediately gets thrown in the box. I continue to train Mawile to level 45 so she learns Iron Head, and then use a Common Candy to take her down to level 44 before facing Fern. 

 

My team (Specifically designed to counter his): 

Hitodama
Lv.43
Forecast
Heat Rock
-Weather Ball
-Sunny Day
-Hail
-Rain Dance

 

Manannan
Lv.44
Huge Power
Sea Incense
-Play Rough
-Aqua Tail
-Rollout
-Double Edge

Kodama

Lv.42

Poison Point

Big Root

-Giga Drain

-Toxic

-Leech Seed

-Toxic Spikes

     

Raiju

Lv.42

Volt Absorb

Zap Plate

-Discharge

-Thunder Wave

-Sweet Kiss

-Super Fang

 

Butoh
Lv.44
Technician
NeverMeltIce
-Psychic
-Reflect
-Icy Wind
-Light Screen

Hannya
Lv.44
Aroma Veil
Amplifield Rock
-Moonblast
-Misty Terrain
-Aromatherapy
-Wish

 

Honestly, Hitodama could probably solo his team other than Krokorok, but I wanted to spread the experience around. 

 

Castform set up Sunny Day and OHKOed Ferrothorn the next turn. Krokorok came in, so I switched in Kodama...but it had Fire Fang, so she was OHKOed. I sent out Manannan, who tanked a Fire Fang and OHKOed the crocodile with Play Rough. Next up was Roserade, so I sent in Butoh. Psychic brought it into the red, but didn't KO, so I set up Light Screen while he healed. Another Psychic, another heal, and I set up Reflect as well. Then I KOed with Psychic. For Scyther, I sent in Raiju. I paralyzed him and then used Discharge until it fainted. Next up was his Serpior, so I sent out Hitodama to set up Sunny Day again. Serprior managed to take out more pokemon then I'm proud of, but Manannan outsped it and KOed it with Play Rough. 

 

Now all that was left was Aya... But I think I'll save that for later! 

 

NEXT TIME: Watch out for the Waste! A Desperate Strategy May Lead to Victory! Then, Pugilism at the Power Plant! Sigmund or Sirius, who will it be? And then: Aggression in the Reflections! 

[Orasha]

So... Aya. Oh man. Let's get right into it! I brought everyone down to level 43 with Common Candy just in case. 

 

Hannya
Lv.43
Aroma Veil
Amplifield Rock
-Moonblast
-Misty Terrain
-Aromatherapy
-Wish

     

Raiju

Lv.42

Volt Absorb

Zap Plate

-Discharge

-Thunder Wave

-Sweet Kiss

-Super Fang

Butoh
Lv.43
Technician
NeverMeltIce
-Psychic
-Reflect
-Icy Wind
-Light Screen

INTRODUCING:

Futakuchi!

Lv.43

Sheer Force

Iron Plate

-Crunch

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Baton Pass

Jumpluff (Who I still really needed to rename at this point oops)
Lv.43
Leaf Guard
Sky Plate
-Acrobatics
-Leech Seed
-Sleep Powder
-Poison Powder

 

Manannan
Lv.43
Huge Power
Sea Incense
-Play Rough
-Aqua Tail
-Rollout
-Double Edge

 

The strategy I had coming in was risky. Basically, Raiju was there to hit Tentacruel hard, while Hannya would set up Misty Terrain. Even if it was KOed, as long as it set up Misty Terrain, that would give me 8 turns where I didn't have to worry about Aya's terrain hax. Misty Terrain also nullifies the effects of Poison Spikes (since status doesn't work under it), which cripples her strategy even more. 

 

My first attempt ended in failure, though I was pretty close. A misplay (status doesn't work in a Misty field) and bad luck (Futakuchi missed with Crunch at a critical juncture) ran out the Misty field, and after it expired she easily swept everyone. And she just continued to sweep me, for about 7 or 8 tries after that. My strategy was flawed. Raiju just didn't have the power to take out Tentacruel quickly, costing me valuable time, and having to switch Manannan in to deal with Nidoqueen cost me time as well. I did some thinking and switched out Raiju for Ittan-momen.

 

 

Ittan-momen
Lv.44
Prankster
Meadow Plate
-Energy Ball
-Encore
-Substitute
-Leech Seed

 

This time, I led with Hannya and Manannan. Aya's team prioritizes setting Spikes, which I hoped would allow Manannan to freely OHKO Nidoqueen. I was right; Tentacruel and Nidqueen spent their first turn setting up Toxic Spikes and Spikes, so Manannan was able to OHKO Nidoqueen, and Hannya set up Misty Terrain. Aya sent in Gengar, so next turn I switched out Hannya for Butoh. Tentacruel used Muddy Water, hitting both, and Gengar hit Manannan with a Shadow Ball (which a Misty field weakens), and the Azumarill hit Tentacruel with Double-Edge. Gengar then outsped everything to hit Manannan with Sludge Bomb, leaving him with a magic pixel of health, but Butoh OHKOed the ghost with Psychic. Tentacruel set up a second layer of Toxic Spikes, and Manannan manages to KO Tentacruel with Double-Edge before fainting to recoil damage... 

 

Aya responds by sending out Dragalge and Drapion, so I use Hannya. Butoh outspeeds her Pokemon to hit Dragalge with Psychic, but it only takes about 1/3 of hits HP. Drapion hits Butoh with Poison Tail, bringing Mr. Mime to like 1 HP, and Dragalge finished it off with Sludge Wave, which also brought Hannya to low yellow HP and took away about 1/5 of Drapion's HP. Its a good thing Hannya survived, because she KOed Drapion with Moonblast. Aya sends out Venusaur, and I respond with Jumpluff. I switch out Hannya for Futakuchi, while Jumpluff hits Venusaur with Acrobatics for about half of its HP (it would have been more without an item, but I seriously didn't remember that Acrobatics is powered up without one... FML). Venusaur and Dragalge team up on Futakuchi, hitting her with Hidden Power and Hydro Pump, bringing her to critical HP. 

 

Futakuchi uses Sucker Punch on Dragalge, but it deals very little damage, and Jumpluff nearly KOs Venusaur with another Acrobatics. Venusaur KOs Futakuchi with Power Whip, causing Dragalge to hit Jumpluff with Hydro Pump, though it doesn't do much damage. I bring out Ittan-momen. Aya is cheeky and uses a potion on Venusaur; meanwhile, Ittan-momen seeds Dragalge, Jumpluff hits Venusaur with Acrobatics again, and Dragalge hits Jumpluff with Dragon Pulse. Next turn, Aya uses her last potion on Dragalge, Ittan-momen makes a substitute, Jumpluff KOs Venusaur with Acrobatics, and the terrain returns to normal, dealing pretty massive damage to Ittan-momen (though the substitute prevents him from getting poisoned if I remember correctly). 

 

This is it. Dragalge is her only Pokemon and its a 2 on 1. Jumpluff tries to put Dragalge to sleep, but misses, and the seahorse KOs Jumpluff with Sludge Wave. Luckily, Ittan-momen is behind the substitute. I bring out Hannya, but I know its useless, and Ittan-momen sets up another substitute. My only hope is to KO her with SubSeed. Dragalge is faster than Aromatisse, and KOs her with Sludge Wave. I continue using Substitutes until Ittan doesn't have enough health left. Dragalge is at critical HP. As long as I can survive this turn, and maybe the next turn, I can win. So I caved, and used a revive on Butoh. Don't hate me please. As it turned out, I didn't even need to use revive, since Dragalge hit Ittan with Shadow Ball, barely doing any damage. I don't know if she ran out of PP for the move, or if she was just too cocky, but the next turn Ittan encored her into using Shadow Ball, and took her out with Leech Seed damage. 

 

That was... stressful. Probably the hardest battle I've had so far. In retrospect, if Jumpluff hadn't missed with Sleep Powder, I definitely would have won without using revive just in case. And if Dragalge really had run out of Sludge Waves, then it still would have been a "clean" win. I still don't know how I feel about using a revive, but oh well... On a more positive note, Aromatisse is an absolute lifesaver. Without those 8 turns a Misty Field, I don't think I would have been able to beat Aya. The capability to shut down your opponent's field hax is amazing, especially in gym battles. Mawile was less useful than I expected, but hopefully she'll be able to help shut down future Fairies, like Noel's Clefable. 

 

Now that Aya has given us Strength, we can finally rescue the kids! And by we, I mean Cain and I, since its more double battles and more weird partner AI. In the power plant, I let Sigmund keep on keeping on, since I want Saphira kidnapped. I go up the stairs, and its time to get Sirius that was a bad pun and I should feel bad.

 

My team: 

 

Manannan
Lv.45
Huge Power
Sea Incense
-Play Rough
-Aqua Tail
-Rollout
-Double Edge

Hannya
Lv.45
Aroma Veil
Amplifield Rock
-Moonblast
-Misty Terrain
-Aromatherapy
-Wish

Butoh
Lv.45
Technician
NeverMeltIce
-Psychic
-Reflect
-Icy Wind
-Light Screen

 

Keseran (I FINALLY REMEMBERED TO GIVE IT A NICKNAME WHOO)
Lv.45
Leaf Guard
Sky Plate
-Acrobatics
-Leech Seed
-Sleep Powder
-Poison Powder

Ittan-momen
Lv.45
Prankster
Meadow Plate
-Energy Ball
-Encore
-Substitute
-Leech Seed

Futakuchi

Lv.43

Sheer Force

Iron Plate

-Crunch

-Sucker Punch

-Iron Head

-Baton Pass

 

Oh Sirius. Hitmontop hit Manannan with Fake Out, much to my annoyance, and Chandelure used Heat Wave, which scored a critical on Manannan, much to my greater annoyance, and Nidoking used Thrash on Hitmontop. Chandelure and Hitmontop teamed up to take out Nidoking with Sucker Punch and Psychic, Manannan brought Chandelure to critical HP with Aqua Tail, and Cain sent out Samurott.  Sirius healed Chandelure, and Hitmontop hit Manannan with High Jump Kick, almost KOing him. Samurott used Night Slash (why?! Cmon Cain) on Chandelure for about half its HP, and Manannan KOed Hitmontop with Play Rough. He levels up, and I replace Double Edge with Superpower. I switch Manannan out for Hannya, but she gets ganged up on by Manetric and Chandelure and KOed. Luckily, Cain remembers Samurott has water STABs and KOs Chandelure with Razor Shell. I send out Ittan-momen, and Sirius sends out Seviper. Greeeeaaat. 

 

Cain switched Samurott out for Venomoth, and while Ittan-momen scored a critical with Energy Ball on Manetric, he got taken down by Ice Fang and Poison Fang. I brought out Butoh. Manetric burned Venomoth with Fire Fang, Butoh hits Seviper with a Psychic, nearly KOing it, but Seviper retaliated with Poison Fang for the KO. I send out Futakuchi, who KOed Manetric with Sucker Punch. Meanwhile, Venomoth used Giga Drain on Seviper. It was probably meant for Manetric but still... Luckily his AI was better next turn, as Venomoth hit Seviper with Psybeam, but was then KOed, but it was okay since Futakuchi scored a critical with Iron Head, KOing the snake. Siritus sent out Honchkrow and Probopass, and Cain brought out Samurott; Honchkrow's Foul Play brought Samurott to about half HP, while Samurott hit Probopass with Razor Shell. Probopass paralyzed Samurott, and Futakuchi took about half of Honchkrow's HP with Iron Head. Then Sirius KOed Samurott with Brave Bird, while Probopass hit Futakuchi with Magnet bomb, but the recoil from Brave Bird allowed Mawile to easily KO the crow with Iron Head. I switched Futakuchi out for Keseran, but Probopass is a total pain and managed to KO both Jumpluff and Azumarill. Luckily, Cain KOed Probopass with Mud Bomb. 

 

Phew. Sirius was more annoying then I remembered. That can mostly be attributed to my team's inability to hit electric types for super-effective damage. I suppose I could have brought Pachirisu along, but his Manetric has good coverage moves so I'm not sure how well that would have worked. Seviper was also extra annoying, especially because he was levels higher than my pokemon. 

 

With the orphans rescued again, its time to go to the railnet. This is one of those puzzles that I heard bad things about before I played Reborn, but I honestly never found it too difficult. I would seriously prefer the Railnet to Pyrous Mountain. It's really not that bad, IMO. The railnet has tons of goodies, including the Move Relearner's key, a guy we can rescue for a sticker, Flash, and most importantly, the corrupted Pokeball. 

 

Everyone and their mom uses Gardevoir in their playthroughs, and this run is no different. She outclasses Mr. Mime in basically every way. Besides, it was at this point in the game that I started to get an idea. A wonderful, beautiful, awful idea. It won't come online for a while, but once it does... Let's just say it'll be a little different. Also, eventually I'll be using a nonstandard set on Gardevoir, so don't hate me too much for using her, okay?  

 

After training training Ralts to be level equivalent and going to the Move Relearner for an early Moonblast and Healing Wish, it's time to hop back on the plot train. Heather runs away, and so does Cain (again), and the rest of the orphans go to Charlotte's house. Anna isn't feeling well, so we have to pick up medicine from Spinel town. But to do that, we first have to get through the forest of lost framerates Chrysolia woods puzzle. 

 

I also pick up an eevee, and soft reset until it comes with Wish as an Egg Move. At this point, I really wasn't sure whether I was going to use Sylveon. Pixilate makes it a beast, but we won't be able to teach it Hyper Voice for a while, and with no Shadow Ball or Psyshock TMs, Sylveon loses out on valuable coverage moves. The best replacement would probably be Trump Card, which can reach INSANE attack power, but I wasn't sure. 

 

I did a fair amount of running around, levelling up Eevee to be 46 so it learned Trump Card, and then sticking it in the daycare center with Ditto. Of course, I was a massive idiot and forget that you can't pass down moves from the father through Ditto, so it turned out to be completely useless. Luckily, all that wasted time allowed me to train every relevant pokemon to be a good level for Serra's gym. I also picked up an Audino and a Dedenne, but I don't really think I'll be using either. Without access to its mega-evolution, Audino is outclassed in every way as a Wish-Passer by Aromatisse and Florges.  Not to mention it would require breeding to get one with the right moves... And while Dedenne has an interesting movepool, I don't think there's space for it. Also its stats are pretty trash. 

 

After learning my lesson about breeding and Ditto, I decide to just evolve my level 46 Eevee into Sylveon, and have the Move Relearner teach it relevant Fairy moves. I eventually decided on a set of Misty Terrain, Trump Card, Swift, and Wish.

 

Now its time to take on Bennett and Serra. My team for Bennett (I decided to start using screenshots at this point, so check the spoiler for those )

Spoiler

And since we're using screenshots now, most of the battles will be in spoilers from now on as well. For Bennett, the plan going in was to OKHO Larvesta with Manannan, and then switch in Hitodama to set up Sunny Day and wreck house. Will it work in practice? 

 

VS BENNETT

Spoiler

Manannan easily took what Larvesta could dish out and OHKOed him with Aqua Tail. He decided to send out Dustox next, so I switched Aonyobo in instead. The moth survived a Pyschic with a few HP and set up Quiver Dance. Bennett used one of his Ice Creams, but it was basically a waste cause Gardevoir KOed it next turn. 

Next up was Vivillon, so I sent out Kasha the Sylveon. Vivillon outsped him to hit with Signal Beam, but even though it was boosted by the field, it did little damage, and Kasha set up Misty Terrain. Then he tanked another Signal Beam, used Wish, and switched out to Castform. Hitodama took about half of his HP from another Signal Beam, but was healed thanks to Wish. Castform set up Sunny Day while Vivillon hit it with Signal Beam again. Next turn Bennett used Draining Kiss instead, and Castform KOed Vivillon with Weather Ball.

Bennett sent out Masquerain, and I took a risk, hoping to outspeed it and OHKO it with Weather Ball. While Hitodama was faster, he only took Masquerain into the red, and was subsequently KOed by Hydropump. 

I sent out Kasha for the revenge kill, predicting Bennett would either use an item or use Roost. I was right, and I hit Masquerain with Trump Card. Masquerain was able to set up Quiver Dance and wasn't KOed, and Misty Terrain wore off. While Kasha didn't go down to Signal Beam, it did confuse him, and he hurt himself, so I switched Sylveon out for Futakuchi. Signal Beams also confused her, but she tanked them to KO Masquerain with two Sucker Punches. 

Bennett sent out Butterfree, so I sent out Hannya, who set up Misty Terrain again, used Wish, and switched to Aonyobo. A field-boosted Moonblast, that was also a critical, OHKOed Butterfree.

Now there was only Venomoth, so I kept Aonyobo in and OHKOed it with Psychic. 

 

Even with a few misplays, and being a little underlevelled, Bennett couldn't handle me. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise though, Fairy does resist Bug, after all. 

After witnessing Bennett get stomped, El decides that he's Elite Four material. Yeah. Right. El offers to be Bennett's master, and they leave to provide peace and security to their new empire... or something. 

 

So it turns out due to file size I won't be able to talk about Serra yet, so..

 

NEXT TIME: Aggression in the Reflections! Also, probably going to do Sigmund and Steelix as well, and maybe Abra. Stay tuned! 

[rayyan]

Good luck on your run and with your gardevoir without which reborn isn't complete 

 

[Orasha]

On 6/16/2017 at 11:59 AM, rayyan said:

Good luck on your run and with your gardevoir without which reborn isn't complete 

 

Thanks! And yeah, it wouldn't be a Reborn run without using Gardevoir  

 

Sorry for the delay everyone, I should have the next installment up later tonight or tomorrow!