12th September Tuesday - Troublesome World Leaders Tournament!
Hello everyone! So to update you on whats happenened since I last posted...
I EV trained everyone in my team! It is such a long process but it was definately worth it and I can truly see a difference in how they all perform! I ended up raising a Scoliopede to add to the team in the place of Darkrai as she can learn moves I need for type coverage. I had a Scoliopede in one of my playthroughs and I love using it!
So I started making my way through the tournaments. I had significant trouble with the Johto Leaders Tournament for whatever reason - whenever I had to fight Morty which seemed to be almost everytime, I could never defeat his Gengar!! Gah!! But eventually I did it. I really enjoyed hearing the remixes for all the different gym leader themes too, and seeing so many characters I've faced throughout my whole life!
Now, I am really stuck on the World Leaders Tournament. I think where it is so much harder to prepare for, as in the Regional Leaders Tournaments, I could slightly adjust and prepare my tactics due to not every Pokemon type being represented. But in the World Leaders, it could be anything and anyone! I'm feeling quite burnt out from trying and constantly failing so I think what I might do is actually do my Living Dex Team Challenge!! This way, I can take a break, all while raising some different Pokemon and learn more about battling. As much as I love my team, it is true that maybe I need to switch Pokemon in able to suceed! When I unlock the Champions Tournament, I don't mind if I lose too much. I just want to battle those Champions!!
I am writing a whole page all about the Living Dex Team Challenge where I will follow the journey of that team a little more. It'll be a while before I can commit to this though, so please stay tuned!
21 May Sunday - The Completed New Unova Dex!! ~ Learning About EV Training
Hello everyone! I am beyond excited to share that I have finally completed the New Unova Dex!
You can see the video and image over in the Living Dex page, now proudly situated among the "Complete" section.
I completed it on Wednesday night, after completeing the Magmortar, Electivire, and Conkeldurr trades with my Pokemon Black copy. This dex was quite challenging but I'm so pleased to have it done! I was worried about obtaining a Magmarizer, as you cannot obtain it in White 2. Luckily I had Pokemon Black, where the only way to obtain it is by speaking to the Sunglasses Man near Undella Town daily. I was very lucky, as on the second day he gave it to me!
I've only very briefly unlocked the new Nature Preserve area, finding the shiny Haxorus! It looks so cool!
My next goal is to take on the PWT. I wanted to learn how to EV Train so my team stands the best chance, but it turns out in my ignorance on the topic I'm having to spend lots of money, time, and patience on resetting my Pokemon's base stats! I had no idea about all these berries, EV allocation, what Pokemon to battle...but I'm getting the hang of it and it's helping me think ahead to my Living Dex Challenge and Gen IV! I'm very grateful to be doing this in White 2, where I have a Level 10 Berry store in my Join Avenue, and there's a breeder left of Nimbasa who sells these berries too. I'm working on getting the Salon up to Level 10. It's annoying to keep having to trade my Pokemon back and forth with Black to reset the friendship however!
I've done Hiraki, maxing out her SpAtk and spreading the rest among her Def, SpDef, and Spd. I'm now working on Chandelure, again maxing her SpAtk and spreading the rest out apart from her HP. Her and Hiraki are very similar in this way.
For the rest of the team, the stats will be a bit more spread out. I think I will max Mireva's Atk, and Harmonia's Speed, but I'm a little unsure at the moment.
I've also decided to have Cherry, my Jellicent, be part of the team for battling as I can't have Darkrai. She is very good defensively and her ability Cursed Body is amazing! However, this makes my team a little weak to Dark types. Hiraki has Signal Beam, and I was conteplating bringing over Macaroni, my Galvantula, but I find she is similar to Chantelle and Hiraki in that they're fragile SpAtkers! We shall see how we go either way, maybe I will train Macaroni too!
I've clocked up over 100 hours in White 2 now as well. I'm still blown away by how much I've been experiencing in this game!
16 Apr Sunday - Living Dex Progress and Getting Online in Gen V!
Hello! It has certainly been a while since my last update here - I have been playing almost everyday so I have made lots of progress on the Living Dex. I have 91 to go!! I tried to do as much as possible without using my guidebooks and online guides, just using my own knowledge, the in-game Pokedex, and guesswork. I got to about 170 doing this! Though some Pokemon, like Munna, I forgot only need a Moon Stone to evolve. I got it to about level 52 wondering why it just wouldn't evolve! Then as I went to evolve it, I accidently used the moon stone on Skitty which was in the party slot above - which I thought I had to evolve via friendship!
This final stretch of the Living Dex is always really exciting to me. It sounds silly, but my favourite part is going through my guides and serebii and writing down a list of every method to obtain the remaining Pokemon. Lots of things I definately forgot about, such as how Lickilicky and Yanmega need to know certain moves before evolving.
I also decided to use the GTS for some Pokemon which are impossible to obtain otherwise - namely Buneary and Spoink. I could've transferred these Pokemon from Gen IV, but I really wanted to try the GTS out as last time I only used Mystery Gift to get Darkrai. Connecting to these servers is quite a hassle - my Wi-Fi blocks the DNS connection so I take the SIM card out of my phone, put it into an old smartphone, and connect via hotspot to the 4G network in my 3DS!
I connected to the pkmnclassic server for this. I like that you can search on their site to see what Pokemon are up for trade. However I found it a bit annoying that you cannot search for Pokemon in-game that you have not seen, which in White 2, it is impossible to see Buneary. So, I listed my Delcatty to trade for Lopunny then I can breed the latter. I was very surprised that it only took about 45 mins for someone to trade me! For Spoink, someone was already asking for one in trade for Numel. So, it looks like I need to thank AdriG99 for his Spoink, and Richy for his Lopunny! Thanks for aiding my progress in the New Unova Living Dex!
I also used the Mystery Gifts in White 2. It's a little bit addictive, like a slot machine, because you don't know what you're going to get. When I did it in Black last year, shiny Palkia and Giratina before Darkrai. I think having them already at level 100 takes the fun out of using them. But I read the other day you can get those Pokemon in Pokemon Dream Radar if you have the game that corresponds to the gen 4 mascot, so I might try that...I digress. This time in Mystery Gift I got Cloyster, Shiny Dialga, Shiny Giratina again, and Shiny Metagross. I'm going to pretend that it's Steven's Metagross...
When I was small and DPPT were out, no joke almost everyone I knew played it and there was so much battling and trading that I did with friends in real life. But when Black and White came out, I was the only person I knew who played these games, so I never had anyone to trade or battle with. Going on pkmnclassic and seeing the list of Pokemon for trade update and actually trading on the GTS made me feel really giddy!
I'm really hoping to have this Dex done by the end of this month as I will have time off work soon. After, as you can see from the goals below, I'm going to beef up my team and get ready for the PWT!! I really can't wait to experience it to see my favs, and hear these remixes of themes I've not heard before. I always skipped them when listening to music! Then after this, I want to do my Living Dex Challenge. I'm writing a whole page on it, but the premise is that I will randomly roll 6 numbers from 001 - 297, and I must use those exact Pokemon from my Living Dex to defeat the Elite 4! This means if I get #001 Rowlet, I cannot evolve it! I think it will be really silly but a fun challenge, as it's hard to know what to actually do once the Living Dex is complete.
Also, I finally managed to find Uxie and Azelf. They both took a lot longer to catch. I'm still working on Pokemon Dream Radar to catch Landorous. I have no idea when the Professor will be ready!! I can see it now, Landorous is going to be the final Pokemon for the New Unova Dex!
I have rambled quite a bit - enough chatting, back to work! Until next time!
Gen V Journey Recap
Pokemon Black - A New Beginning!
After completing Pokemon Legends Arceus, I had planned to start playing Pokemon Black. I had aquired a second hand copy, and I was really excited because it would allow me to complete a Living Dex as I already had White and White 2. I documented the save that was already there in Dear Alina.
I'd also decided to reset my Pokemon White 2 file, as I literally couldn't remember anything from it, and also obtain the third starter I'll need for the dex - as in White and White 2, I chose Snivy both times and so did Alina!
in Pokemon Black, I played as Touya and chose Oshawott. I made sure to use Pokemon I had never used before in my team, as this was the third (?) time I'd played BW and I always seem to choose the same Pokemon...
I used the DNS exploit for gen V games to get a Darkrai! He might not be legit, and he might not be able to participate in the Battle Subway or PWT, but it meant I could have my favourite in the game. I used this guide by fellow neocities user mirage-island.
I didn't use Darkrai until after I had cleared the game. Darkrai's Dark Void/Nightmare/Bad Dreams combo is formiddable!
On the 10th of June, I cleared the game. I forgot how cool Shauntals room was! I caught Reshiram in just two ultra balls. I decided to add an extra level of hard mode for myself by not catching ANY legendaries with Master Balls...I had also forgotton how hard the Ghetsis fight was, even after N's heal.
It was really nice to absorb the story again after so long. I forgot how good it was, and I never could really appreciate a lot of what was being said when I first played it 11 years ago. I really liked how when finding the six sages, they all had completely different reactions and ideas. In general I liked how this game always played with this sort of concept. When I went on my White 2 file to get a Ditto, I was already very excited as I looked at the map and saw how crazy it looks in comparison to BW. I was in a town I couldn't even remember! Playing Pokemon Black was exciting as I got to see all the differences compared to White.
In the post-game, I really do hate however how the grind for the elite 4 rematch and to finally fight Alder takes so LONG even after clearing every other possible aspect! I hadn't really done the post-game in my previous playthroughs so it was very fun this time around. I realised why Tornadus and Thundurus were so frustrating in PLA - it's because they're roaming Pokemon, of course! It took me a long time but I got them! I got to experience the Landorus encounter for the first time.
I also managed to get the Entralink to work with my Pokemon White as I have 3 DSs, I never knew anyone who had BW IRL so I never got to use it. It's weird to figure out but its so cool to actually fill out Black City/White Forest, and how much there is to do! It feels crazy after having played the boring and lifeless post-games (if you can even call them that) for gen 6 onwards.
Completing the Unova Living Dex was very difficult given the number of Pokemon who needed leel 40+ evolutions and how there isn't a Team EXP Share like in future games where I had that benefit while doing those Living Dexes - but thankfully theres many super strong battles to hellp! I used my White file for version exclusives.
In July, after getting the team to around level 75 and juggling their move sets about, I took on the Elite 4 and Alder. I caught Kyruem too - at first, it wiped my team and didn't move in any pokeballs, but on my second try I caught it in just one pokeball. My luck in catching these legendaries has been disgusting. For me however, the final battle is taking on Cynthia...I looked at the back of my trainer card just before, and she would've been the 666th trainer I fought...
Pokemon White 2 - Here We Go Again! - Finishing the Unova Living Dex
I had almost completed the Living Dex apart from the Tepig and Zoura line which I would need to get in W2, as well as Winter Pokemon. In august I began my playthrough, playing as Mei and choosing Tepig. I was completely enchanted by all the extra improvements, story continuations, how the region had developed since BW, and so on coming straight off the back of BW. I found the detail in the game just astronomical, and I kept getting distracted by all the new features like Pokestar Studios and Join Avenue, and I'm obsessed with getting more and more badges.
I was surprised to see Ingo and Emmet and that you actually meet and fight them, as in BW they're hidden deep in the Subway...
I soon managed to complete the Unova Living Dex!
I was debating doing the New Unova (BW2) Living Dex, as I don't have Black 2 and it is extremely expensive. I think for my Birthday, I will try and get a copy as a treat from me to me. I've been playing Dream Radar to get the Weather Bros.
While playing through, despite having played it once before, I felt as though it was a whole new game. I couldn't remember places like Reversal Mountain so it was such a treat, and I was glad the route taken in BW2 was completely different to BW. I also got addicted to Join Avenue and would check it every single day. The florist makes me very happy, as one of the downsides of gen V is the lack of a berry minigame!!
The Post-game, Raising My Favourite Pokemon, and Working on the New Unova Living Dex
In October I beat White 2. I was worried about my team (Emboar, Jellicent, Swoobat, Crustle, Zoroark, and Haxorus) as they tended to be a bit fragile - though I loved using Jellicent, who taught me a lot about defensive tanks instead of my method of just trying to slaughter everyone all the time - but we smashed the Elite 4. When it came to Iris, I beat her but with only 2HP between two Pokemon. 1hp on Crustle thanks to Sturdy, and 1hp with Swoobat thanks to some crazy luck. Afterwards, I IMMEDIATELY went to N's castle because I didn't even know you could revisit it and I gasped out loud and stopped in my tracks when we got to his room. It was so disturbing.
We fought, and he swept my team so I knew I needed to train up some more. I'm glad this time around, the levels gap from clearing to Post-game isn't as ridiculous. I linked my file to Pokemon Black, and I LOVED seeing all these additional cutscenes in the Memory Links. I was happy to see so many with N, and the silly ones with Elesa and Skyla were so cute! While grinding I visited all the places I hadn't unlocked. As I approached Nuvema Town, I had my team once again swept by Bianca. I love that she had an Emboar just like in my Black save.
I also started working on my Dream Team. I already had Darkrai, Gothitelle, Chandelure, and Hydreigon from Pokemon Black, so i just needed to get Glaceon and Serperior. Though I had a couple of the latter, I really wanted a female one with a certain nature. The story was the same for obtaining an Eevee.
I named Glaceon Hiraki. When I was like 12, I remember looking up the Pokemon movies on the school computers and seeing a synopsis for the upcoming Arceus movie in Japan. This synopsis referred to Dawn as her Japanese name which I thought was so pretty. But being STUPID, i remembered it wrong. Her Japanese name is Hikari, not Hiraki!! However it was too late, I had already names OCs and shit Hiraki. Sigh... I decided to name Glaceon this as a homage to this silly moment, and because Glaceon was such a favourite of mine back then. I raised her alongside Harmonia, which is what I named my Serperior in my first White playthrough in 2011 because I thought N's surname was so pretty.
While training Harmonia and Hiraki, we travelled around the region chipping away at the Living Dex. I was very grateful for all the different level Breeder Trainers around! They made grinding a lot easier, as did the Audinos in the rustling grass.
In December, I got the whole team up to Level 80 and shuffled around their movesets. I was VERY grateful for the funfest missions, because I needed to get lots of Blue Shards for a certain move and there was no way I was going to piss about in dust clouds trying to find them! I took on N, the Game Freak Staff, and finally Cynthia. I beat them all with no fainting >:) I beat the league, with Harmonia, Minerva, and Farfelle being the casualties in Iris' battle after a couple miscalculations. It was Hiraki who took down Iris' Haxorus who I was terrified of!
I also had more DISGUSTING luck with catching legendaries. I caught Reshiram in ONE ultraball, and Kyreum in three. Most other legendaries have been fairly easy too. Virizion gave me a bit of trouble, and I had a horrendous time trying to catch Heatran. She was female, so I really didn't want to reset, but she would not shake the Pokeball more than once before breaking out. I felt hopeless! I jokingly thought to myself, "maybe she's a boujie bitch and wants and luxury ball?" And guess what, she went in straight away. WTF. Mesprit was in quite an obvious place I thought, but I cannot for the life of me seem to find Azelf or Uxie.