Editor
Also, I hope you're doing it the right way. That is, non-story mode's Mt. Battle, but with a team from story mode. <_<
Also also, yes, it's extremely easy. I think I mentioned before, but I just brought in Kyogre and spammed Surf against everything. It was basically 2-3 hours of mashing A. Good times.
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I did not know a Pokemon who used Dive would be vulnerable to Surf. More fun facts.
Name: WES
Play Time: 46:31
Snagged POKEMON: 48
Purified POKEMON: 45
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Name: WES
Time: 47:01
Snagged POKEMON: 48
Purified POKEMON: 45
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
After doing that, I used my three Time Flutes on Raikou, Metagross, and Tyranitar. So that's the main game done! All that's left is to get that Ho-oh... Though it's kind of a silly thing to do since I have no way of transporting it to my GBA/DS games.
Name: WES
Play Time: 47:50
Snagged POKEMON: 48
Purified POKEMON: 48
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Why would you even play Pokemon Colosseum if you have no way of transporting Pokemon to the GBA games, much less buy it?
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I also evolved Makuhita into Hariyama and Slugma into Macargo. No real reason to since there isn't a Dex in this game, but it makes me feel more complete, or something. Gotta evolve Remoraid, Meditite, Swablu, and Quilava, then all my Pokemon will be at their top level. Yaaaaay.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Evolved Meditite into Medicham, Swablu into Altaria, Quilava into Typhlosion, and Vibrava into Flygon (forgot to mention that one yesterday). So only Remoraid is left... at its spectacular level 20.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I'll start a third run, but only go forward until everyone hits 70. Then it's time to try getting Ho-oh.
Actually, Remoraid was at 24 (forgot I had trained him while purifying) and he evolved into Octillary at 25, so that wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. All my Pokemon are at their highest forms.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I started the Ho-oh challenge. Basically, it's Mt. Battle (100 fights) except you get to choose single or double battle. I chose single, which means I get three Pokemon to face my opponent's three Pokemon. Their levels are scaled to 70.
I beat the first ten fights without a problem. Espeon and Houndoom swept each team, earning an extra continue for each perfect I got (meaning I have 10 right now). All of the Pokemon were not evolved, except a Slaking the last trainer had that tried to use Solarbeam on Espeon. What?
I got 42 Poke Coupons which is really lousy. Suspended there; apparently you can't save permanently, only suspend. The game loves to ask if you want to suspend too. It asks after you win a fight, before you go to the next one, and gives you a menu to choose from. Oh and every time you get coupons it asks if you want to. Does the game really want me to stop playing that badly?
Random nitpicking question: why does my game have severe slowdown whenever a Vibrava is in a fight? Doesn't matter if it was mine or the opponent's, if a Vibrava is out, the game takes several seconds to continue. Usually it's much faster.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Advanced
I am now a MAN OF DESTINY!
---
Seriously, knife him, hard. I recently started playing Type 1, so now I have a reason to carry around my big-ass pocket knife. ~Zergboy
New Moderator
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
The 20th guy was a pain though. I sent out Espeon, he sent out... Wobbuffet. I could have let Espeon die for a switch out, but I wasn't about to let Espeon die pointlessly or lose a potential continue that easily. So I used Helping Hand with the occasional Reflect to PP stall out Mirror Coat. During that time, I learned it had Mirror Coat, Counter, Destiny Bond, and Safeguard. It liked to keep Safeguard up, so whenever it lost a Safeguard I'd take that chance to use Psychic. The second Psychic caused a special defense drop, and the third killed it. Pretty lulzy and silly. His Graveler and Delcatty, on the other hand, fell to one Psychic apiece.
Got 85 Poke Coupons. Suspended after that. Got 25 continues and 80 fights to go.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Fight 30: Leader used Larvitar, Rhyhorn, and Baltoy. What a joke. 170 Poke Coupons earned.
Fight 39: Lost my first Pokemon. Espeon used Psychic on a Corsola, barely failed to kill it, and got a Mirror Coat to the face. Houndoom died later to a Karate Chop from Machoke, but I still won.
Fight 40: Leader used Grovyle, Swellow, and Marshtomp. I thought Marshtomp was still a pure Water type, but apparently not, so Ampharos got KO'd due to my stupidity. 340 Poke Coupons earned.
Fight 41: A Flaaffy with Bright Powder was used, since one of my attacks missed and there could not have been any other reason. Cheapskate.
Fight 50: Leader used Quilava, Medicham, and Bayleef. Managed to win with no difficulties. 680 Poke Coupons earned.
Fight 52: Thanks to a combination of Confuse Ray from a Grumpig, and then a Howl and Stomp from Loudred, Houndoom went down.
Fight 60: Leader used Sneasel, Golbat, and Seadra. Ampharos swept them. Earned 1360 Poke Coupons.
Fight 64: A combination of Banette using Nightshade and Granbull using Strength took down Houndoom.
Fight 67: Most annoying Wailord ever. Used Amnesia, then spammed Water Pulse, getting confusion on Suicune and then Espeon when I switched. At low health, used Rest and then Snore. Had a Liechi Berry to raise its attack at low health for whatever reason. I hold much hatred for it.
Fight 68: Suicune went down after a beating from all three Pokemon.
Fight 70: Leader used Walrein, Manetric, and Slaking. Espeon took them all down. Earned 1530 Poke Coupons.
Got 4207 Poke Coupons, 70 continues, and 30 fights to go.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
I dunno, I think it's gonna be close. <_<
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
Fight 72: Ampharos got confused by Milotic's Water Pulse, hit itself in confusion four times straight, was deeply in love the fifth one, got hit with a critical Twister, and fainted. I won that round with Suicune at 5 HP.
Fight 73: An Umbreon with Hyper Beam? Ahahahahaha.
Fight 80: Leader used Groudon, Electrode, and Castform. I sent out Meganium first for free Solarbeams from Drought. Castform managed to KO Meganium, but Espeon easily cleaned up. Earned 1700 Poke Coupons.
Fight 87: A Crobat had Shadow Ball and used it to KO Espeon. What.
Fight 90: First time I lost. Leader used Wailord, Regice, and Registeel. Ampharos took out Wailord and damaged Regice before fainting. Suicune killed Regice with Mirror Coat (why did it have Thunderbolt?). Then Registeel had Amnesia, Iron Defense, Sandstorm, and Toxic. Despite attacking to the point of nearly running out of PP for Suicune and Espeon, never got a special defense drop or a critical, so it eventually outstalled me. Used a continue to fight Wailord, Regirock, and Registeel. Wailord and Regirock fell to Ampharos, Houndoom got a critical Flamethrower to kill Registeel in one hit. Take that you fruit muffin. >=( Earned 2550 Poke Coupons.
Fight 92: A Walrein knocked out Meganium with Ice Beam.
Fight 94: A Toxic, Confuse Ray, and Digging Umbreon stalled Suicune to the point of fainting.
Fight 95: Worst fight ever. Espeon fainted to a Latias that Suicune managed to KO. Suicune took out his second Pokemon (can't remember what it was) and fainted to a Dragon Dance Gyarados with Frustration. So I sent out Ampharos, Ampharos survives, uses Thunderbolt... and Gyarados hangs on with a Focus Band. Whoever came up with that item should be shot repeatedly in the head. Used a continue and got lots of revenge. Espeon got a critical on Electrode, a special defense drop on Miltank, and fell to Gyarados. Ampharos got hit, Static activated, Ampharos used Thunderbolt, good game you cheap jerk.
Fight 96: An enemy Ampharos got a critical Thunderbolt to KO one of my guys.
Fight 98: A Latios knocked out Suicune and then fell to Houndoom. Houndoom fell to Salamence, Espeon finished it. Thankfully, Espeon managed to KO Flygon in time.
Fight 99: Wobuffett knocks out Ampharos with Mirror Coat despite me paralyzing it first. Boo.
Fight 100: Leader uses Gardevoir, Altaria, and Kyogre. I led with Espeon, but switched to Houndoom while Gardevoir used Calm Mind. Gardevoir gets a critical with Thunderbolt, but Houndoom survives with 5 HP and destroys it with Crunch. Altaria uses Earthquake to finish Houndoom, but it gets weakened by Crunch first, allowing Espeon to use Psychic for the KO. Kyogre misses with its first Hydro Pump, and fails to knock out Espeon with the second, so Espeon's third Psychic takes it out.
In total, I earned 12707 Poke Coupons. Had somewhere around 90 continues when I finished. Got Ho-oh for my troubles.
Which means... Pokemon Colosseum is completed! Booyah! Here are the final stats...
Name: WES
Play Time: 52:09
Snagged POKEMON: 48
Purified POKEMON: 48
</spoiler>
So tomorrow I shall start... Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness! Oh boy! >_>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Also, you're crazy. After all that you need to pick up a GBA-GCN Link Cable. <_<
So tomorrow I shall start... Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness! Oh boy! >_>
While I approve of this because it will annoy xp, I also disapprove of this because you could be playing the superior Metroid Prime Trilogy.
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
While I approve of this because it will annoy xp
Imma let you finish, but Xenosaga III is the greatest game of all time. Of all time.
---
xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
*The professor gets kidnapped early on.
*You fight a team of six goons that are hilarious.
*You get a Poochyena and Ralts.
*One of the new admins has pink hair and is, to put it nicely, a female dog.
*Miror B. shows up again.
*Some old-looking guy at the beginning is really evil, in tradition with Colosseum.
So this should be a fun recalling experience! I got near to the end of the game last time, but stopped, not sure why. Here we go again!
We open up with a cutscene of a boat with a sailor and a captain. Shadow Lugia appears out of nowhere, takes the boat, and knocks the two men overboard. It is extremely narmful due to their "=/" expressions.
Cut to-whoa snap I have a Salamence! Level 50 Salamence versus a level 50 Metagross. I use Earthquake, it is a critical and KOs Metagross instantly. Dang I rock!
Oh wait turns out that was just a battle simulation. I'm really just a short, red-haired kid with a level 10 Eevee. I check my Eevee to find it is a female (1 in 8 chance of that, so I got lucky) and has a Serious nature. Whee.
So my character (I went with the default name, MICHAEL) finds Professor Krane and his mother, Lily. We live in a laboratory and I apparently have a young sister named Jovi who has gone missing. I leave to look for her and come to a creepy old mansion. Some short guy with spiral eyeglasses named Chobin attacked me with a Sunkern. Then he realized I'm not a robber and let me in. I found Jovi, who quickly realized that I must be lost and that I need her to take me home. But she is adorable looking so she gets away with it. =3 The professor that lives in this place apparently invents great devices such as refrigerators that use up all their power when someone opens the door, sandals that make people's feet hurt, and vacuum cleaners that blow the dust out of the back after sucking it up. What a guy.
When I returned with Jovi, Krane gave me... a Snag Machine! They took five years developing it since the last Shadow Pokemon incident (IOW, when Colosseum took place). Got to see Michael put it on and had to resist laughing at the cheesy grin and how silly the device looks. Big robotic arm is go! I was then given 5 Poke Balls and told it was time to test it out in a practice run.
That practice run kinda didn't happen, seeing as Cipher goons came out of nowhere to kidnap Professor Krane. One guy named Naps (you can see their names still suck) sent out a Shadow Teddiursa. The headset Michael wears has a scanner (OVER 9000 joke goes here) that allows him to see when a Pokemon is a Shadow Pokemon. Krane tells me to throw a Poke Ball, so I do and capture it instantly. Easiest Snag ever! Naps freaks out and the goons stuff Krane in a truck before driving off. Apparently their timing was horrible for us because they were very close to finishing the Purification Machine, but my mother, Lily, rallies everyone together to continue working on it. She then sends me and Jovi to get a machine part at Gateon Port. Fetch quests are fun!
When we got there, Jovi wound up bumping into a muscled mohawk guy named Zook. He sends out a Shadow Zangoose to attack her, but a short, bald guy with a cane stops by. He has two mysterious men with him that wear sunglasses. One has red hair, the other blue, and the blue-haired one fights off the Zangoose with one critical Psychic from an Alakazam. Zook runs off. FATALITY.
We go to the machine shop and find that the owner is gone at the moment. The sailor there offers me a choice of five items for my Eevee: Water Stone (Vaporeon), Thunder Stone (Jolteon), Fire Stone (Flareon), Sun Shard (Espeon), or Moon Shard (Umbreon). For the first three, you just use the item on Eevee to evolve. The other two require it to be in your inventory and to level up Eevee once since it loves you from the start. Espeon may be my favorite, but I recalled the Ralts and wanted to use that as my Psychic type. That and I just went through a game with Espeon and Umbreon. So instead, I chose to use Vaporeon. I usually see Vaporeon, Flareon, and Espeon as girls, so it was going to be one of those, and I rarely find Water types I like to use. Vaporeon is awesome anyway.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
With that all done, I went back to the laboratory to hand over the machine part. Lily suggested I go to Agate Village to purify my Shadow Pokemon until the Purification Machine is complete. I head there to find it looks very similar to how it did in Pokemon Colosseum. One woman gave me TM09 Bullet Seed after I defeated her. Note that this old woman was with a Poochyena. In Colosseum, there was an old woman who was with a Mightyena that she called her boyfriend. Draw your own conclusions from this.
So I found Eagun, who went to put a bunch of trainers in front of the Relic Stone so I could fight to purify my Pokemon. By the time I got to the end of the gauntlet, Teddiursa and Ledyba were ready for purification. Then Eagun fought me with his oldest friend... a level 12 Pikachu. How did his Pikachu lose 38 levels after five years? In any case, I purified the two of them, and then ran around with Poochyena until he could be purified too.
After that, I stopped by Mt. Battle at Eagun's suggestion to meet Vander. He told me he had seen suspicious men going to a supposedly abandoned Cipher laboratory in the desert. I went to the location to see the truck they kidnapped Professor Krane sitting at the front. Jackpot!
When I went to the door, however, six men came out with different colored uniforms. The Hexagon brothers have this witty dialogue (paraphrased)...
Resix: Sound off!
Blusix: One!
Browsix: Two!
Yellosix: Three!
Purpsix: Four!
Greesix: Five!
Them: ...Hey, we're missing someone, aren't we? Oh well, he'll show up later. Let's get that brat over there!
Each of them had a Shadow Pokemon to snag. I got Houndour, Spheal, Baltoy, Mareep, Gulpin, and Seedot respectively, all level 17 (quite high for this point of the game). Then I went into the side building to strip it of items (just a small room with some treasure, not part of the main lab), came back out and heard this...
Resix: Sound off! One!
Blusix: Two!
Browsix: Three!
Yellosix: Four!
Purpsix: Five!
Greesix: Six!
Resix: Seven!
Blusix: Eight! ...Hey, wait a minute! Now there's more of us!
Yellosix: Be careful, brothers! There may be spies amongst us!
Well I laughed in any case. Refought them for some purification and went into the main lab. It has almost exactly the same design as it did in Colosseum, except you have to go the opposite way due to a certain elevator being locked and needing an ID Card. On the way through, I snagged from Cipher ninjas (THEY RETURN) to get a Spinarak, Numel, Carvanha, and Shroomish. By this point, I had overheard a girl with pink ponytails demanding that Professor Krane help to prevent XD001, the ultimate Shadow Pokemon, from being unable to be purified. She struts off, and Krane begins to lecture Naps on why Shadow Pokemon are bad. When I arrive there, I beat Naps again. He actually acts somewhat sympathetic to our cause, though I find it more amusing to believe he needed saving from Krane's lectures. >_>
As we head out, the girl with pink ponytails stops us. This girl, Lovrina (yes that's her name) says that she can't let us go, it would be so not cool. She's one of those girls who puts "so" every chance she gets into her sentences. Then she fights. First admin battle go!
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
So Lovrina ran off, I picked up a Data Rom she left on the ground, and I took Krane back to the laboratory. We learned that the Purification Machine was done! It is actually called the Purify Chamber, but yeah. I'll explain how that works in a bit, but for the time being, I stuck Delcatty in it and went on my merry way. The technology guy at our lab could not read the Data Rom, so I was sent to Pyrite Town to look for some of Krane's old friends.
I arrived there to see a girl named Marcia run out of town. She was Duking's daughter in Colosseum. And then I saw Rogue Cail of all people, that guy who had the Shadow Furret in Colosseum. His Pokemon somehow deevolved between games but oh well. Fought everyone I could, and then visited several locations. In the jail, saw a Team Snagem member who was interested in the machine on my arm. Hrm. As I rounded a corner, I saw some more familiar faces. Trudly and Folly, remember those guys? No? Don't blame you for that! They're the goons who tried to kidnap Rui and served Miror B. in Colosseum. Good times. I visited Duking's house but he wasn't there at the moment; instead, Silva was temporarily in charge while Duking was looking for wild Pokemon in Orre (a place that has never had them before). At least Silva apparently isn't being kidnapped/beaten up anymore.
I made it to the ONBS building, which is where Krane told me to go. This news station replaced the hideout Miror B. had used last game. It certainly looked a lot nicer than last time. At the receptionist desk, I found Megg, Nett's sister from last game. She even had her Shroomish with her still. Nett and Secc, if you recall, are the hacker kids who helped out Wes a lot. They went on to make ONBS, which is a news program that is dedicated to telling the truth. It was cool to see them all back again. Even Bitt showed up (Nett's friend).
While there, I escorted a little girl to her mother and was given a Soothe Bell, which was nice. I also noticed a healing machine in the third floor hallway. How long before this place gets attacked? I dropped the Data Rom off with Nett and went to look for Duking so I could see wild Pokemon.
So yeah, I arrived there and got 10 Poke Snacks. Left one on a stone and went to the oasis location to find Duking again. He asked me to trade him a Wooper, Surskit, or Trapinch if I got any. Sure whatever. He told me where the third and final location was, and I went there to find Trudly and Folly again. And as I walked in on them, guess who walked in on us? If you guessed a guy with a huge afro, you are right! Miror B. returns to fight!
So yeah, it doesn't seem like Miror B. is in Cipher anymore; he seems more intent on making his own group to steal Pokemon. He sent out three Lombres and a Shadow Voltorb (wut). Caught the Voltorb without a hitch. Miror B. and his goons left, allowing me to pick up a radar that tracks where Miror B. is located. Hmmm. I got an email from Nett asking me to return, so I headed back to Pyrite Town after swapping a purified Delcatty with Voltorb in the Purify Chamber.
When I got back to ONBS, I found the security guard knocked out! Oh noes the building is under attack by Cipher what a shocking development! Apparently they took Megg hostage and went to find Nett. On the way up, I caught more Shadow Pokemon. A Makuhita was first. Then my spot monitor for wild Pokemon went off, so I left the building under siege to go capture a Sandshrew. Hardcore decision right guys?
When I got back, I found a person with a Vulpix. Insert much happiness, as I love Vulpix and Ninetales to bits. Then I caught a Duskull and a Ralts. The Ralts took three resets to get a female, as I did not want a male Gardevoir in my team. Only time I care about gender in this game. >_>
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
He started with Loudred and Girafarig. Houndour and Vulpix took down Girafarig. He then sent out Shadow Mawile. Houndour and Vulpix both fell while weakening his Pokemon, and Flaaffy paralyzed Mawile for the capture. Raichu was his last Pokemon, and it went down quickly enough.
Nett explained that he had learned a ship full of Pokemon (the S.S. Libra) had been taken by Cipher and was being used for their plans somehow. He would try to get back the data despite it being wiped. Also, Phenac Town was about to be attacked by Cipher. But oh noes Marcia went to Phenac Town! Looks like I have to go there next to save her! Stopped there for the day though.
So let's talk about the Pokemon I've caught so far. I have purified Teddiursa, Ledyba, Poochyena, Houndour, Spheal, Baltoy, Mareep (now Flaaffy), Gulpin, Seedot (now Nuzleaf), Spinarak, Numel, Carvanha, Shroomish, Delcatty, and Voltorb. I purified Delcatty and Voltorb with the Purifying Chamber, everyone else through fights and walking. I will purify Vulpix and Ralts through fighting, while Makuhita, Duskull, and Mawile will probably get stuck in the chamber. I caught one wild Pokemon, Sandshrew. It actually came with a Quick Claw that I gave to Shroomish.
My current team is Vaporeon, Vulpix, Flaaffy, Shroomish, and Ralts. I have Houndour in my sixth slot, but he will probably be replaced since I want to focus on Vulpix. I'm trying to avoid using anything I used in Colosseum, so I may wind up replacing Flaaffy too. Funny note: those five in my team are all female. In Colosseum, I had five males and one genderless Pokemon (Suicune being the latter). I only reset for Ralts, so it's mostly a coincidence.
Notes on the four I am positive on: Vulpix will be able to evolve since you get a Fire Stone later. I will wait until at least level 29 since it learns Flamethrower then. Shroomish will evolve ASAP for fighting moves. Shroomish actually had a really epic moment earlier on. It used Bullet Seed, hit the enemy four times, and got critical hits on three of them. Holy heck.
I'll give my stats now. Since I know at least Kenri hasn't played this game, I'll put up one more post tonight to explain differences between Colosseum and XD.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 8:27
SHADOW POKEMON: 20
Purified POKEMON: 15
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Awesome choice is awesome.
I also scaled the lighthouse to find a female bodybuilder (they always creep me out in looks)
asdfghjkl I HATE THOSE NPCS
One woman gave me TM09 Bullet Seed after I defeated her. Note that this old woman was with a Poochyena. In Colosseum, there was an old woman who was with a Mightyena that she called her boyfriend. Draw your own conclusions from this.
Thanks for that.
Just... thanks, CG7.
</spoiler>
---
"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
Vaporeon was my favorite of the original three when I was a kid. I watched the anime, saw it disappear in water (it could turn invisible in the anime), and was entranced with it. But all the Eeveelutions are great.
asdfghjkl I HATE THOSE NPCS
So do I. But I will mention one that was hilarious. When saving ONBS, I fought a lot of Cipher members in various rooms. They were usually freaking people out and telling them to surrender or beating them up (poor Secc). An exception was a room with a female bodybuilder. She said that a member had tried to attack her, so she had to send him packing with 'friendly persuasion'. "Can you believe that they'd attack a defenseless girl like me?" I lol'd.
Thanks for that.
Just... thanks, CG7.
No problem. Thought you might like to know. =) >_>
Okay! Let's talk about the differences in Colosseum and XD.
Hero: Wes was awesome. Best Pokemon hero ever. Blew up buildings, had an Espeon and an Umbreon, drove a motorcycle, was a veteran. Michael is not nearly as good. He starts with an Eevee, rides a moped, is short, and is a kid that many people laugh at seeing. Blah. At least Jovi is cute. Oh, and Michael's father is dead according to what Krane says, so yeah.
Villains: Lovrina is retarded. But Colosseum's villains set the bar really, really low. I can't imagine XD will make them worse.
Music: I can totally understand people not wanting to play these games. However, I highly recommend listening to the soundtracks. Both are great. Colosseum had a lot of epic themes while XD has ones that are simply fun to listen to. Miror B.'s new theme is very catchy, the Cipher admin theme is pretty awesome, and I like the new Cipher member fight music more than Colosseum's. I can't really place one above the other, they both excel in different areas and are worth a look.
Catching Pokemon: Instead of having Rui tell you what Shadow Pokemon are, you have a scanner to do it. They seem to have better catch rates in this game. Out of the 20 I have caught, only Delcatty took more than one Poke Ball. I haven't paid much attention to the wild Pokemon thing, but I'll take a more detailed look later.
Battling: When you have just Eevee, you fight single battles. When you get Teddiursa, double battles start. Argh. The AI has stopped liking to target one Pokemon until it dies, like in Colosseum. It also seems to have taken a rock to the head. When resetting for Ralts, I used Vulpix and Houndour against Kadabra. First time, it used Confusion on Vulpix. Next two times, Confusion on Houndour. Last time, Psybeam on Houndour. *Slow clap*
Purification: A lot quicker in this game from what I've seen so far. You can still battle, walk, and use massages to help purify. Instead of Hyper Mode, we have Reverse Mode, which is lame. It shows up more often when closer to purification and can be called out of. It hurts a Pokemon at the end of the turn (like a very minor form of poison) and does not up their critical rate like Hyper Mode did. The one good thing is Reverse Mode activates AFTER they attack. Hyper Mode would interrupt the attack, wasting a turn. This change is very useful.
Purifying Chamber: New method for purifying! You put one Shadow Pokemon and several normal ones in a Set, walk and battle for a bit, and come back to find the Shadow Pokemon purified. They purify more quickly if you set up the Pokemon in a certain way. I have only one set up right now, which has Numel->Ledyba->Poochyena->Baltoy. See why this is good? Fire beats Bug, Bug beats Dark, Dark beats Psychic, Ground beats Fire (Baltoy has two types and only one superior type is needed). So that purified my Delcatty and Voltorb quickly. Makuhita is sitting in it now.
Animations: Battle animations are mostly the same, but I have been getting to see new Pokemon in this game. I love Vaporeon's Sand Attack animation. It glares at the opponent, its head fins pointed forward like horns, and then slaps sand at its opponent with its tail. It is worth noting that I find myself laughing more than I should be at XD's human animations. If you ever get bored, search on Youtube for the video of Professor Krane being kidnapped. The way he gets dragged off to the truck is hysterically bad. The opening scene is also pretty lolzy.
Names: THESE GAMES. That is all I have to say. THESE GAMES.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Makuhita was done in the Purifying Chamber shortly after I started, and Vulpix got purified afterwards from walking. I went to Phenac, only to be told I was the millionth visitor, here have a free Battle CD case, now go to Realgam Tower and have fun! So yeah, went there, got treasure lying around, heard CDs had been stolen a while back, headed to Phenac again.
After talking to everyone, it became clear the residents were acting suspiciously. I found a Music CD that a guy let me have since apparently it is 'girl music'. Justy at the Pre Gym basically lol'd at my statement about Cipher planning an invasion. So I went to the Mayor's House and found a woman housekeeper. Gave her the CD to listen to, went upstairs, found a letter from the Mayor to Justy that said Cipher was replacing residents. But oh noes the housekeeper is in Cipher and attacks! Caught a Snorunt from her and went downstairs to find another goon. Caught Pineco from him.
Outside, I saw six Justy clones come out. No prizes for guessing who they are. I beat Greesix, Purpsix, Resix, Blusix, Yellosix, and Browsix once again. They each left a Battle CD for me to collect after that. I also defeated all of the impostors hanging around the city. During all this, I purified Ralts and had Mawile and Duskull be purified in the Purifying Chamber. Ralts evolved into Kirlia instantly.
Once I entered the Pre Gym again, found some more Cipher members. Caught a Natu, Roselia, and Meowth from them. Kept the Meowth in my party since I like Persian. Houndour also evolved into Houndoom, so I swapped him out. Apparently all the residents are being kept prisoner below the Pre Gym, but I need an elevator key to free them. Only one place I hadn't been yet: Phenac Colosseum. Beat down another Cipher to get inside, capturing a Swinub as I did.
Once inside, two more goons were there. Caught a Spearow and Grimer. Then I met another admin. Lovrina is the only one I remembered anything about, so when I heard Snattle's name and saw his appearance, much lulz were had. He's totally ridiculous. I had to fight a Cipher member before I could face him, and I caught a Seel, but that won't matter due to what happened next.
Despite the stupid name, Snattle is a pain. He sent out Lanturn and Quagsire first, while I went with Vulpix and Breloom (Kirlia had fainted last battle). Breloom took out Quagsire in two Mega Drains, and he sent out Shadow Lunatone. It used Shadow Sky, which is a total pain in the rear end. It deals damage like Sandstorm or Hail to any non-Shadow Pokemon. Even worse, when I defeated Lanturn, he sent out Castform. Shadow Sky powers up Weather Ball. I had to use two Hyper Potions on Vaporeon, my last Pokemon, to take out Castform. By that point, he sent out Metang. I used a Revive on Breloom, but Shadow Wave took Vaporeon and Breloom to 5 and 3 HP, and Shadow Sky killed them. I could have probably brute-forced my way through the fight with items if not for Shadow Sky.
So I reset. I'll switch out Meowth for Houndoom for this fight and train a bit since I'm about two levels under his guys, and prioritize disabling Lunatone. I did use Thunder Wave last time, but it only got paralyzed once out of about ten turns, which is lame. I'll try it again tonight since I have to go to college shortly.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
While thinking it over, I realized Houndoom would be a poor choice due to Quagsire and Lanturn. So I decided to keep Meowth in as I went to train, after purifying Snorunt in the Purifying Chamber.
I went to Pyrite Colosseum and did all four battles. All Pokemon were level 20 and nothing special. First time, I won 3040 and TM31. Second time, 3040 and TM12. Third time, 2880 and TM41. Fourth time, 2880 and TM05. Fifth time was a repeat for 3040. By that point, Meowth was ready for purification. After a few more battles, Meowth evolved into Persian. Roselia and Pineco were purified in the chamber. I stuck Grimer into it before calling it a night.
So far, Colosseums in this game seem almost identical to the previous game. They even kept the same music, with one exception; the final fight music is the previous game's admin theme rather than the lame first half they had before. I approve.
Oh, I also went back to that crazy scientist's mansion and found a crane room minigame. You basically ride around on cranes to reach a Battle CD and some notes from Jovi. She notes there is a secret room back at the laboratory. I will have to search for it at some point.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 12:49
SHADOW POKEMON: 28
Purified POKEMON: 24
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I led with Breloom and Persian. Completely wasted the guy before Snattle and captured Seel. Then I fought Snattle, who was incredibly easy thanks to being at his level now. Quagsire went down first turn, and Lanturn didn't last much longer. Castform fell to a Mach Punch and Slash. By this point, Persian had sadly fainted from Lunatone, so I brought in Vulpix. A single Flamethrower took out Metang. Lunatone was already weakened by Stun Spore and a couple of Bites from Persian, so I started throwing Poke Balls. Took three to catch it. (I forgot to mention that Meowth took two yesterday.)
With that silliness finally done, Snattle ran off, Marcia thanked me, and the cameraman had recorded me fighting. Not a bad result. I picked up the Elevator Key and used it to free all the hostages, including the mayor and Justy. I went around town to get items from people and gather information. Apparently they had seen suspicious people heading to a location in the desert and Cipher wanted to keep them quiet because of that. I finished with Grimer in the Purifying Chamber before going to investigate.
Well, I tried to investigate, only to be bogged down by the sand. This scooter sucks. (I know I said moped before but the game calls it a scooter. ?_?) Went back to learn that I should see Nett. I go and find an old man and his granddaughter there. Apparently they had lost a new Pokemon and were worried about it. Looked at a picture and it's a Bonsly. Oh boy I love how useless baby Pokemon are in games before their generation! They ask me to find it, so I agree and head to the machine shop to get additions to my scooter.
Turns out the old man in charge is at the crazy scientist's manor, so I head there. Chobin challenges me (thinking I'm a burglar again, sigh) with a Sunkern and Gyarados, beat him easily. Then the scientist demands that they bring out 'something' and Chobin returns... in a mecha Groudon. What. And then instead of fighting me inside it, he uses it to throw Poke Balls. *Facepalm* Beat down his Gyarados, Sunflora, Hoppip, and Tropius without issue. Then they finally realized I'm not a stranger and let me in. Disappointed with how the mecha Groudon did (I didn't even fight it!), the scientist says to have the mecha Kyogre scrapped. I'm sure this won't come up again. I find the guy inside the mansion and he teleports me to the machine shop to fix up my scooter. Which means I have to walk back to the mansion and fight Chobin AGAIN to get the items inside. I hate it when the game takes you to locations without asking.
Also, when my scooter was being fixed up, I saw myself beating Snattle on the news. Talking to NPCs has a lot of them commenting on it and saying you're a hero, which is kind of cool. =) I took out Ampharos and stuck Spearow in my party for some manual purification. Lunatone finished being in the Purifying Chamber, so I swapped it for Swinub.
Going to the desert again, I found... a wrecked ship? It's the S.S. Libra, that ship that got taken by Shadow Lugia at the start! Apparently Cipher has been taking Pokemon from it to turn into Shadow Pokemon. I go inside it to find crate pushing puzzles. This was in no way tedious or stupid. When I got to the top, I found two Cipher goons and a weird looking guy named Gorigan. He had one of his goons hold me off while he and the other one left for their hideout. After a short battle where Kirlia evolved into Gardevoir, I was approached by a worker who apparently had made the ship wreck his home. Good to know this game covers the hobo community.
He let me rest for a while and then asked if I could investigate some noises in the ship's hull since they kept him up at night. Insert more crate pushing. I did get a Fire Stone down there, so I evolved Vulpix into Ninetales due to it having learned all the moves I wanted from leveling up. At the end, I found the missing Bonsly. Since it would flee when I ran, I walked slowly towards it. Slowly, slowly, slowly... BEEP BEEP BEEP. Email noise! A woman who wants to interview me for a book she is writing contacts me at exactly the wrong moment, causing the Bonsly to flee. Thanks lady.
I told the worker it was a Pokemon, and he thanked me before I left. Or at least tried to leave. Three Team Snagem members were waiting right outside the exit, and one named Wakin had his Gloom use Sleep Powder. On me. Finally, someone with common sense! I fall asleep and he jacks my Snag Machine.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
So remember how I was whining about Justy spamming Double Team in Colosseum? The four trainers before him only used that move (and Absorb once), and Justy himself abused it too with his Cacnea, Sandslash, Gligar, and Nosepass. Thankfully, Gardevoir had Shock Wave and Persian had Faint Attack, so they tore through the challenges (those moves can't miss unless the opponent uses Fly, Dig, or Dive). Justy rewarded me with a Lum Berry and TM32. He also said that he hadn't been defeated since five years ago. Hurray for more Wes references.
After purifying Seel in the Purifying Chamber, I went where the Snagem guys had run to. It turned out to be a Cipher hideout, and an old friend was waiting there. Zook (guy who Jovi bumped into at the beginning of the game) trashed the Snagem member, causing them to run off. Zook then challenged me to a fight. He was simple, except for the Shadow Zangoose. Had to take that out quickly since it could one-shot some of my guys. Most infuriating is that I couldn't catch it because I lack my Snag Machine. Rage face goes here.
After beating him, the way to the Cipher lair was blocked by two bodybuilder NPCs, so I left and got an email from Secc. Apparently he wanted my help with finding an informant who had fled from Cipher. I went to the Outskirt Stand to look for him, only to find Miror B. This time he used Lombre, Lombre, Lombre, Nosepass, and Ludicolo. The Nosepass was a Shadow Pokemon, but guess what I still can't catch? *Head meets desk*
Once Miror B. ran off, I met with the informant. He told me where the hideout was... which I already knew, so thanks for nothing. But then he told me where Team Snagem's old hideout was. He then asked me to take a Shadow Togepi, but my party was full, so I decided to come back. Which reminds me now that I forgot to actually go back to him, so I am an idiot. I need to head back to pick it up. At least I got to fight Willie again, with the music he had in Colosseum. He used two Zigzagoons and two Linoones, to keep up with tradition.
By this point, Spearow was finally ready for purification, so I took him to Agate Village. He evolved into a Fearow instantly. I also finished up Natu in the Purifying Chamber. That was all the Shadow Pokemon I had to purify at the moment, so I stuck Spinarak in my party with an Experience Share (got it from the mayor of Phenac) so I could evolve it. Then I put four Poke Snacks at each of the wild Pokemon locations because the Bonsly that had run off later was apparently hungry. I was hoping it would show up if I did that.
By the time I had waded through several Team Snagem members in the hideout, Spinarak had evolved into Ariados, causing me to swap it with Natu. I found the Bonsly and returned it to the little girl, which made for an awww moment. I then caught wild Pokemon, which were an Aron (two Poke Balls) and a Surskit. Natu evolved into Xatu, and I proceeded to catch more wild Pokemon, which were Gligar, Hoppip, and Zubat. That Gligar took seven flipping Poke Balls despite being paralyzed and in yellow health. Worst thing I've had to catch yet. My last two snacks at the oasis spot got eaten by a Munchlax, and its trainer gave me ten snacks and an Energy Powder to make up for it. The others were a Sandshrew, Zubat, Gligar, and Zubat, so nothing special to catch there.
When I reached the room with Gonzap, I found him scolding Wakin for bringing him a useless device because it would not fit on his arm. lol pwned. Wakin battled me with a Gloom, Gloom, Mantine, Forretress, and Grumpig. Ninetales and Ampharos (I swapped her back in after Xatu) tore him apart. Then Gonzap fought me, with admin music. Colosseum had him with the generic theme so I'm glad they finally gave him some boss music. He used Electrode, Nuzleaf, Vileplume, Whishcash, and Skarmory. Very easy to beat. Nuzleaf and Whishcash both used Hyper Beam for some crazy reason.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears