New Moderator
With my Snag Machine back, I left to find the Miror B. radar going off. Found him in the cave area for wild Pokemon and battled him. Took down his two Ludicolos and captured his Nosepass. Breloom and Persian managed to do this by themselves (until I swapped out Breloom for Vaporeon to use Quick Attack to weaken Nosepass). I was very impressed with Persian this battle. She dealt lots of damage and survived thanks to Leftovers. The Bonsly had dropped Leftovers when running away on the boat, so I threw them on Persian since I had no better items at the time for her. Miror B. ran off yet again after that.
I put Nosepass in the Purifying Chamber. I then swapped Ampharos for Carvanha with an Experience Share and went to the Cipher hideout again.
When I arrived again, I found Zook waiting for a rematch. His team hadn't even leveled up, so it was incredibly easy to beat him and catch his Zangoose (though it took two Poke Balls). He left forever (or so he claims, apparently I bring him bad luck) and I was left to contend with the two bodybuilder guards. They were about to attack me when Wakin and Gonzap showed up. Wakin had his Gloom put them both to sleep. Give this guy a cookie, he's about the most competent villain I've seen in these games. I then ran inside.
Apparently Shadow Pokemon are being produced here, as evidenced by the creepy boxes being shipped and the eerie music. Cipher ninjas come out to fight as usual. One of them actually caused me to reset the game. Let me explain why in script form.
Guy: *Sends out Seviper and Murkrow*
Me: *Sends out Gardevoir and Vaporeon* *Kills Seviper with one Psychic and has Vaporeon use Water Gun on Murkrow*
Guy: *Sends out Shadow Paras*
Me: Okay, so there's his Shadow Pokemon, I'll beat Murkrow with Shock Wave and have Vaporeon hit his last Pokemon with Water Gun. *Does this*
Guy: *Sends out Shadow Growlithe, which gets hit with a critical Water Gun and falls*
Me: ........WHAT.
That's right, XD has decided to go further than Colosseum did. Now people can have more than one Shadow Pokemon in their arsenal! This is a spectacular feature considering how careful you have to be to catch them and that Shadow attacks are always super effective against pure Pokemon! Now allow me to go to another room and scream insults about doors because I am not looking forward to this coming up again.
In any case, I reset, caught the Paras and Growlithe, finished purifying Nosepass, and caught a Shellder off another Cipher member. I saved on the third floor of the building. Also, this building has more crate pushing puzzles. WHY GAME, WHY DID YOU PUT IN CRATE PUSHING PUZZLES?
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 19:07
SHADOW Pokemon: 35
Purified Pokemon: 31
Only Shadow Pokemon I've missed so far is the Togepi, which I will go back to get from the guy when I finish up here.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
People are seeming to enjoy carrying multiple Shadow Pokemon. I got Beedrill and Pidgeotto from one person, and Tangela and Butterfree (which took two Poke Balls) from another. I eventually met up with the goon that had run off with Gorigan, and got a Magneton from him after two resets. (He drops down and I thought I could grab a shining item before going to heal the first time. Second time, it killed itself in confusion.) Carvanha evolved into Sharpedo after that.
The last guy I fought, on the rooftop blocking a staircase, was a pain. He had a Venomoth and Weepinbell that I had to catch. The Venomoth took five Poke Balls, and I only succeeded because I used a Revive and Hyper Potion on Vaporeon to get some more tries. It didn't help that Breloom missed with Stun Spore and died before it could try again. Thankfully, Breloom had hit the Weepinbell, so that only took two Poke Balls.
After all that, I left to drop off Sharpedo, pick up Ampharos, and create a new set. The Purifying Chamber can have up to nine sets for purifying Pokemon, and I've only needed one so far. After this major flood of Shadow Pokemon to catch, I decided to form another. This one has Sharpedo, Duskull, Lunatone, and Makuhita. Dark beats Ghost, Ghost beats Psychic, Psychic beats Fighting, Fighting beats Dark. I stuck Magneton in it to be purified. My first set has been holding Zangoose ever since I caught it. It's taking a long time to purify.
After purchasing more Poke Balls, I went back and called it a night.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 20:17
SHADOW Pokemon: 42
Purified Pokemon: 31
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Easiest admin yet for me. He started with Lairon and Sealeo, and the Sealeo went down very quickly to Ampharos' Thunderpunch. Slowking came out, got knocked out by another Thunderpunch. Ursaring came out; he and the Lairon were dealt with by Ninetales' Flamethrowers. That left Primeape and Hypno, both Shadow Pokemon. They were the only problem for me since their attacks hurt a lot. By the time I used two Poke Balls to catch Primeape and three to catch Hypno, I only had two members of my team still up.
Gorigan decided to deal with the disgrace of losing by blowing up the factory with me in it. Holy heck what a sore loser. Thankfully Greevil showed up on a TV screen to tell Gorigan to quit his whining and accept that a kid beat him. But it turns out Greevil, mastermind of Cipher, is really... MR. VERICH! WHAT A PLOT TWIST! Oh, wait, you probably don't even remember who he is. >_> Really though, short guy who is rich and that I met in the port with Jovi. One of his bodyguards took out Zook's Zangoose. So yeah, I guess the mayor plot twist of last game just wasn't good enough, now they had to have a second short, old guy really be evil. Greevil told me to come to Citadark Isle before signing off.
Once Gorigan ran off, I picked up a list of all the Shadow Pokemon produced off his desk. Didn't really look at it though because I like to be surprised on upcoming catches. I left the Cipher Key Lair to do some other things before pursuing what little plot this game offers. On the way out, a worker told me a guy with hair shaped like a Poke Ball had stolen the last Shadow Pokemon they made, a Dragonite. Looks like I'll have to chase after Miror B. later.
First, finished with Zangoose in the Purifying Chamber. Then I went to get Togepi. When I returned to the lab, I spoke with Krane, who slid open the floor to reveal a hidden staircase. I guess this was the room Jovi talked about earlier. He let me open the chest there to get a Master Ball. I'm thinking Shadow Lugia will be the one I decide to catch with it. I finished with Magneton in the Purifying Chamber and put Pidgeotto into my team before leaving.
Stopped by Realgam Tower to check out the Tower Colosseum. The Pokemon there were level 40, about five levels above my guys. I got through the first one to get 8320 and TM49, and then the second for 8640 and TM19. After a bit of running around, I purified Pidgeotto at Agate Village, and finished with Tangela in the Purifying Chamber. At this point, Arbok was very close to being completed in the chamber, so I decided to run around in circles at Phenac. There's a kid who runs around the fountain, and out of boredom, I ran after him until I finally caught up and managed to talk to his Castform. Imagine my surprise when it gave me a Battle CD! I guess you have to wait until a certain point in the game before it will do that, because I had spoken to it before with no results. Anyhow, the Purifying Chamber finished with Arbok and I went to Gatheon Port.
Why that location? Citadark Isle is near there, thus it seemed like the natural place to look. Turns out the people at the machine parts store had recently fixed the Robo Kyogre and it could get me to the Isle, despite that place being surrounded by whirlpools. Worked for me! I took it there to find an island with lava spilling from the top.
First guy I fought had a Golduck (took two Poke Balls) and a Sableye. I quickly learned to get used to multiple Shadow Pokemon once more as the next person sent out Dodrio and Raticate. The other trainers on the way to the elevator had nothing of interest, but guess who decided to pop out of the elevator? Lovrina finally shows up for a rematch!
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I took a quick detour to the lab to finish the Purifying Chamber process for Butterfree and Beedrill. Judging by how many Shadow Pokemon I was getting from the island, I would need another set, so I created one using Magneton, Xatu, Ariados, and Houndoom. Electric beats Flying, Flying/Psychic beats Bug/Poison, Bug beats Dark, Fire beats Steel.
The route through the island is a long one. Along the way, I caught from two trainers a Kangaskhan and Banette (both took three Poke Balls) and a Magmar and Pinsir. I returned after a bit to finish purifying Venomoth, Hypno, and Primeape in the Purifying Chamber. Then I made a fourth set consisting of Nosepass, Snorunt, Tangela, and Seel. Rock beats Ice, Ice beats Grass, Grass beats Water, Water beats Rock, simplest set I've made so far. Continued to catch a Rapidash and Magcargo (took two Poke Balls), a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee from a duo of elevator guards (both took two Poke Balls), a Lickitung, and a Scyther (took two) and Chansey (took three). Notice how many balls it has been taking recently? Yeesh! Also, I accidentally killed Hitmonlee once due to it using a new move, Shadow Half. It splits all Pokemon's HP in half (all four on the field) and has to be recharged, like Hyper Beam. My attack was too powerful after it lost half its HP, so yeah. Shadow Half is a royal pain to say the least.
Now allow me to discuss the most ridiculous battle I have ever had. A healing point was given to me halfway through the area that I made use of. But they had a crane minigame like in the mansion (WHY would you put this in the villain's hideout?!) which was slow to get through. So when I emerged on the surface and saw an elevator that apparently was a shortcut to going back to the Robo Kyogre (it was locked from downstairs but could be used here), I was all set to go heal. Two of my Pokemon were out of commission after all. But oh no, nothing's that easy, because Snattle decided to emerge from the elevator and demand a rematch!
He started with Metang and Quagsire. Ninetales took out Metang with one Flamethrower while Ampharos used Body Slam on Quagsire. Quagsire became paralyzed, but it never actually lost a turn from it, so thanks for that game. Scizor emerged, but Ninetales fell to a critical hit from Mud Shot before she could KO it. A combination of Vaporeon and Ampharos took out Scizor, and he sent out Shadow Solrock. Ampharos fell, leaving just Vaporeon and Persian. Water Gun and Bite took Solrock into the red and I caught it. It managed to set up Shadow Sky beforehand.
Now imagine this scenario. Castform has just emerged, and Quagsire fell to Shadow Sky, so out comes another Shadow Pokemon, Starmie. Persian falls, leaving just Vaporeon. Starmie uses Shadow Storm and Castform uses Thunderbolt. This does around 100 damage after Leftovers recovery, I have 175 HP or so max. Seems like a pretty hopeless scenario, huh? If I used a Revive, it wouldn't matter; Shadow Storm hits two Pokemon.
I decided not to give up too easily though. So I began using Hyper Potions. And Super Potions. After nine Hyper Potions and six Super Potions, Castform had run out of Thunderbolt. It was stuck using Weather Ball, and Shadow Sky was long gone by then. In those fifteen turns, Vaporeon was hit with thirty attacks. Not one landed a critical hit. A Thunderbolt near the end paralyzed Vaporeon, but I used a Full Restore after Castform ran out. With Vaporeon now able to last a turn, I used Bite, a Hyper Potion, and one more Bite. Then I threw a Poke Ball and caught Starmie. Used a Revive on Persian, took out Castform with Vaporeon and Persian. These shenanigans took twenty minutes and I am amazed it actually worked. Apparently Snattle was too since he ran off screaming that his plan was ruined.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
I returned from the island to heal up and buy replacement items. My rule of thumb is use the items found in chests and buy the exact amount used. I accidentally bought an extra Super Potion, but I'll just use it after a goon fight or something to save a trip to a healing machine. Went to the Purifying Chamber to finish Golduck and Sableye's purification before heading back.
Finally I meet the fourth Cipher admin. Ardos is the blue-haired bodyguard who destroyed Zook with an Alakazam. He respects my power so decides to go all out. Oh noes!
Right off the bat, things went badly. He started with a Shadow Pokemon, Swellow, and a normal one, Alakazam (note that it had to be normal or Michael would have noticed its Shadow nature when he saw it earlier). Swellow starts with Shadow Sky and then begins using Shadow Break, which is a one hit kill for anything it smacks due to how powerful it is. By the time I knocked out Alakazam, I had lost Ninetales, Ampharos, and Gardevoir. He sent out Kingdra next. After three Poke Balls total, I caught Swellow, and his Heracross emerged. I had to use a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon and a Revive on Ninetales by this point. Kingdra and Heracross both liked using Double Edge for some reason, which thankfully reduced their HP quite a bit.
Kingdra eventually fell, and he sent out a Shadow Electabuzz. I had to use a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon and on Ninetales before I could take down Heracross. Once Shadow Snorlax came out, I used a Revive on Breloom and caught Electabuzz. Breloom was never actually needed thankfully. Snorlax tried to use Shadow End, but missed Vaporeon. Then Snorlax used it on Ninetales. My Ninetales was at full health, 122 HP, and she's pretty bulky. Shadow End took her down to 9 HP (no critical) and then dealt some massive recoil damage to Snorlax. That is one dangerous move. First time I've seen it, so when I saw the damage I was like "WHAT". Caught Snorlax my first try after the recoil, which was a relief.
Ardos said he should have destroyed me when we first met, because now he's let me get too powerful. He left me saying that Greevil would deal with me, and that he would not give up his dream. What dream? Ardos never mentioned a dream. You people are so generic.
Finished with the Purifying Chamber for Dodrio and Raticate before saving and quitting. I think I'm nearly done with the main game.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 27:18
SHADOW Pokemon: 68
Purified Pokemon: 45
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Anyway, with that blocked, I needed to take a side elevator outside. It was locked, so I started to leave the area in hopes of a cutscene. Sure enough, from the elevator, here comes Gorigan for a rematch!
He started with Slowking and Ursaring. Persian did some damage before fainting, letting Breloom come in to Sky Uppercut the Ursaring to kingdom come. Gardevoir finished off Slowking around that time. Aggron and Walrein were next, and Breloom took out Aggron with two Mach Punches (I underestimated Aggron's defenses due to his 4x weakness to Fighting) and finished off Walrein with Sky Uppercut, so Breloom was definitely the most victorious Pokemon. His last two Pokemon, Poliwrath and Mr. Mime, were Shadow Pokemon. Breloom paralyzed both with Stun Spore before falling. After that, it was a matter of whittling away their HP. I used a Revive on Vaporeon when she fainted to them, and was able to catch Mr. Mime and then Poliwrath (took two Poke Balls). Gorigan runs off and hopefully I never see him again because he disturbs me.
After taking the elevator down, I met what is probably the final Cipher goon for the main game. Can't guarantee that but I get that impression. I snagged a Dugtrio and saved before going on my merry way
Once I emerged before Greevil and his guard again, Greevil told his guard, Eldes, to take care of me before using his floating chair to flee. Eldes said that he knew he would eventually confront me, but that he did not want to fight me in these conditions, as it would be meaningless. He then asked if I would still challenge him knowing that. Yes and no options here. This has actually come up before in some parts, but none of them were very interesting (why would I agree to help Lovrina?). I mention this one because this guy didn't seem all that evil to me. I selected yes anyway to begin the fight.
Eldes started with Ninjask and Shadow Manetric. Ninetales was one of my leads, so I had her one-shot Ninjask with Flamethrower. Out came Shadow Salamence, causing me to want to bang my head against a wall. Manetric did a good job of weakening itself with Shadow End (the recoil damage is equal to half the current HP of the user), and after three Poke Balls, I managed to catch it. Out came Flygon. Salamence had been burned by Ninetales using Flamethrower, so I caught that after two Poke Balls. Shadow Marowak was next, and after some Shadow Ends, I caught it with two Poke Balls. While this was going on, I had to revive Vaporeon and then use her Aurora Beam to take down Flygon. This left Vaporeon against Shadow Lapras. I used a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon... and then got hit with a critical Shadow Storm and fainted instantly. I guess that makes up for my ridiculous luck against Snattle!
As you can see, Eldes has four Shadow Pokemon, the most I have encountered a trainer having so far. His Salamence was also a whopping level 50 while my guys were around 43 and Ampharos was 35. So you know what that means: more grinding! I swapped out Ampharos for Rapidash before going out to do so. Even though Rapidash is fully evolved and I have no intention of making it a permanent team member, I wanted to purify it through fighting. Rapidash has always been one of my favorite Pokemon.
I went through the Tower Colosseum to finish up the unbeaten rounds. The third one rewarded me with 12800 and TM23, the fourth with 9280 and TM22. The fifth was a repeat of the first round, and I got a nasty surprise when I discovered the Swellow from the last round was carrying Bright Powder. That or Psychic suddenly doesn't have 100 Accuracy anymore, you tell me! One interesting trainer in the fourth run was a guy who started with Misdreavus and Wobuffett, only to switch from Wobuffett to Exploud. Misdreavus then used Perish Song, which Exploud blocked with its ability, Soundproof. Once Exploud went down, Umbreon came in to use Mean Look on Rapidash, and it went down to Perish Song. Kind of nice to see an actual strategy being used, and that's the first time the computer has switched Pokemon for me.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
After finishing in the Purifying Chamber with Farfetch'd and Altaria, I made a fifth set with Butterfree, Nuzleaf, Spheal, and Magcargo. Bug/Flying beats Grass, Grass beats Water, Water beats Fire/Rock, Fire/Rock beats Bug. Then I decided to fight Eldes again with my level 45 or so team, but this time with Shadow Rapidash instead of Ampharos. I'll explain why in a moment. When I went up to Eldes this time, I selected no to see what would happen. He says something along the lines of, "Unfortunately, I cannot disobey my master's orders" before fighting, but it's a Pokemon game, so But Thou Must choices are expected. At least it cut to the fight instead of making me say yes. >_>
He led with Ninjask and Manetric again while I brought out Persian and Rapidash. Ninjask got a critical on Silver Wind to almost instantly knock out Persian. Rapidash had learned his only move before purification, which is Flamethrower, and I used that to one-shot Ninjask. Persian used Slash on Manetric to weaken it severely while he wasted his time with Shadow Sky. He sent out Salamance. Manetric used Shadow End to KO Persian, and I sent out Gardevoir, which was taken out in one hit by Shadow Rush from Salamence. Breloom emerged to use Stun Spore on Salamence, and then on Manetric. This was the worst part of the match for me. Manetric took five Poke Balls to catch, and I had to stall with Vaporeon using Bite on Salamence while hoping for paralysis or flinch to kick in.
Once Manetric was finally caught, out came Flygon. Then down went Flygon thanks to Aurora Beam, after I used a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon. Marowak was next. I used Water Gun on him, got hit with some Shadow Ends, and that was enough to weaken him significantly. Then my turns were used to use Revives on Breloom, Vaporeon, Rapidash, and use a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon. By this point, Shadow Sky had ended, so I caught Salamence. Lapras came out, and I caught Marowak as well. The fact that they both were caught on my first Poke Ball was amazingly useful.
Here is where my 'strategy' came into play. Lapras likes to use Shadow Sky and then Shadow Storm. Shadow Storm is powered up when Shadow Sky is in effect, so I stalled out the original Shadow Sky to force Lapras to use it again. However, Shadow Storm hits both Pokemon unless you only have one on the field. If you have one, it does more damage to that one. So I had Vaporeon and Rapidash out. Shadow moves always inflict super effective damage to pure ones, but are not very effective against other Shadow Pokemon. Rapidash was taking around ten damage from each Shadow Storm (out of 108 HP) while Vaporeon lost around a quarter of health. So during my turns of using Bite to weaken it (got to flinch it twice) and swapping in Breloom to Stun Spore it, I stalled on Rapidash's turns by using a Revive on Ninetales, Hyper Potion on Rapidash, Hyper Potion on Ninetales, Revive on Breloom, Hyper Potion on Breloom, and then a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon. Lots of item use, but it paid off to be safe, and I caught Lapras after three Poke Balls.
Eldes said that with my powers, I might even be able to beat Greevil. Finally someone has confidence with me! He warned me that Greevil is quite powerful though before lowering the glass wall and leaving. I ran out to heal and save. The room we fought in also had a wide-screen monitor showing two Cipher trainers with a Xatu and a Camerupt fighting. Not sure what that was about...
It looks like I only have one fight left, and it'll be against Greevil. Considering how Eldes had four Shadow Pokemon, I think it's a safe assumption that Greevil will at least have that many, if not more. I'm praying he won't have six, but it's looking bad...
Also, I plan on swapping out Rapidash for Salamence soon. Salamence is going to be the last permanent member of my team. Even if it is late game, I never did come across much to put in the last slot, so why not? Funny thing is that Salamence is also a female, meaning my team will only have female Pokemon.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 29:56
SHADOW Pokemon: 75
Purified Pokemon: 49
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
First thing I did was more purifying. Used the Purifying Chamber for Shellder and Hitmonchan, purified Rapidash at Agate Village, and used the Chamber for Hitmonlee.
Then I decided to start on Mt. Battle with Growlithe in my party to purify. Battles 1-10 consisted of Pokemon from levels 9-13 so they were incredibly easy to beat. Vander had a Zigzagoon, Machop, and Whismur, so lol on him. I got 200 Poke Coupons and a Macho Brace. Apparently you are rewarded items for the first time you clear an area, which is a nice addition.
After that, I left to use the Purifying Chamber for Magmar and Pinsir. I made my sixth set after that. It consists of Magmar, Pinsir, Roselia, and Shellder. Fire beats Bug, Bug beats Grass, Grass beats Water, Water beats Fire. Back to Mt. Battle once that was done.
Battles 11-20 had Pokemon from level 12-15, so still easy. The area leader had a Wingull, Mudkip, and Lotad. Got 300 Poke Coupons and TM03. I then went to purify Growlithe at Agate Village and put Paras into my party for purification.
For Mt. Battle, I find it funny that area leaders get admin music. I guess they're supposed to be epic fights?
I also forgot to mention a silly tactic I had to use earlier. When I was capturing Shadow Dugtrio, I had Vaporeon and Persian out. All they have are attacking moves, so when it got into the red, I decided to switch Persian out. Unfortunately, I forgot about Arena Trap, which prevents both of them from switching. The solution? I used that extra Super Potion on one turn and a Potion on the next while throwing my Poke Balls, and bought a Potion to make up for it later. Silly Dugtrio.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 31:23
SHADOW Pokemon: 75
Purified Pokemon: 56
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Battles 21-30 had Pokemon from level 27-29, which was a huge jump from the last area. The area leader, Taria (last guy's name was Eldof, forgot to say), used Electrike, Furret, and Spinda. Got 600 Poke Coupons and TM34. Stopped by the Purifying Chamber to finish Banette and Chansey.
Battles 31-40 had Pokemon from level 29-31. The area leader, Boyden, used Hitmontop, Wigglytuff, and Anorith. Got 700 Poke Coupons and TM42. Stopped by the Purifying Chamber to finish Lickitung, Mr. Mime, and Electabuzz. Then I went to Agate Village to purify Paras and let him evolve into Parasect. Replaced him with Scyther.
Battles 41-50 had Pokemon from level 42-43, another big leap. The area leader, Calus, used a Marshtomp, Combusken, Mightyena, Grovyle, and Sableye. Got 1000 Poke Coupons and TM30. Stopped by the Purifying Chamber to finish Poliwrath. Made my seventh set by using Banette, Hypno, Beedrill, and Sableye. Ghost beats Psychic, Psychic beats Poison, Bug beats Dark, Ghost/Dark beats Ghost.
Battles 51-60 had Pokemon from level 42-45. The area leader, Hampy, used Solrock, Exploud, Castform, and Lunatone. Got 1200 Poke Coupons and TM50. Stopped by the Purifying Chamber to finish Dugtrio and Solrock.
Battles 61-70 had Pokemon from level 57-61. Since my Pokemon were all around level 45, this was a ridiculous area to attempt at this point. I still decided to give it a go. Had to use a Hyper Potion on Gardevoir on battle 64 and on 67. 65 was crazy for a normal match; I had to use three Revives and three Hyper Potions while Gardevoir used Calm Mind. The area leader, Nocon, used Espeon, Houndoom, Gardevoir, Typhlosion, and Alakazam. I literally won by getting a lucky Mach Punch critical on Houndoom to OHKO it and then using Calm Mind until my Gardevoir had +6 special attack and defense. Took seven Hyper Potions, one Super Potion, and one Full Restore (Alakazam paralyzed me with Thunderpunch). Got 1500 Poke Coupons and TM04.
After the numerous items (and resets) I had to go through for those battles, I decided to leave the rest of Mt. Battle until postgame. I did pay 4000 Poke Coupons (had 5500 total) to get TM13, Ice Beam, and used it to replace Vaporeon's Aurora Beam.
With that done, went to the Purifying Chamber to finish Togepi and Kangaskhan. Made my eighth set by using Dugtrio, Electabuzz, Farfetch'd, and Weepinbell. Ground beats Electric, Electric beats Flying, Flying beats Grass, Grass beats Ground. Then I made my ninth and final set with Arbok, Parasect, Poliwrath, and Swinub. Poison beats Grass, Grass beats Water, Water beats Ground, Ground beats Poison. All of my tempos are maxed out in the nine sets, though I'm not sure if that will actually help with anything. If nothing else, it makes purification quicker I believe.
Ran around for a bit and battled weak trainers to get Scyther purified, and then stopped by the Purifying Chamber to finish Swellow and Snorlax. My main team is quite close to level 50, so I will try to get them all to that level and then face Greevil.
For those curious, my five remaining Shadow Pokemon are Starmie, Manetric, Marowak (all in the Purifying Chamber), Salamence (going to be in my team), and Lapras (special plan for that, will explain next update).
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 35:07
SHADOW Pokemon: 75
Purified Pokemon: 70
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Before the final fight, I wanted to get all of my team to level 50, the same as Salamence. I went through Mt. Battle's area 6 (fights 51-60) twice to get 1200 Poke Coupons each time. Everyone hit level 50, and I got some levels for Grimer while doing so. Just because I could. >_>
My team at this point, all level 50:
Vaporeon: Water Gun, Ice Beam, Bite, Acid Armor
Breloom: Sky Uppercut, Headbutt, Mach Punch, Stun Spore
Ninetales: Flamethrower, Heat Wave, Dig, Confuse Ray
Gardevoir: Psychic, Shock Wave, Calm Mind, Reflect
Persian: Slash, Bite, Pay Day, Faint Attack
Salamence: Shadow Rush, Shadow Hold
However, I was advised by Epyon, who had decided to take a look at Greevil's battle on Youtube, to leave a slot in my party open. Sure, why not? I left Persian in the box and headed to face him.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Enraged that I took his Shadow Lugia, Greevil hopped off his floating chair and finally opened his eyes. Holy heck creepy yellow eyes. >_> Then the real fight began!
He started with Shadow Rhydon and Shadow Moltres. Moltres got me to groan-if he had one, he probably had all three. I sent out Shadow Salamence and Breloom. Breloom was quick to paralyze both opponents while Salamence weakened them. Two Mach Punches put Rhydon into the danger zone, though I had to use two Hyper Potions to keep Breloom alive. Moltres liked to use Shadow Fire, and one lucky critical knocked Breloom out, causing me to send in Vaporeon. Vaporeon began to weaken Moltres with Bite while I threw a Poke Ball at Rhydon. Caught it first try.
Next up was Shadow Exeggutor, which caused me to rage. One Ice Beam took it into red, then I switched in Breloom after I used a Revive and Hyper Potion on it. Stun Spore Exeggutor and then hurl Poke Balls. I used Salamence's turns to use a Revive on Vaporeon, and then a Full Restore on Salamence since she was burned by Shadow Fire. Six Poke Balls later, I caught Exeggutor. What a piece of garbage.
Shadow Tauros emerged after that. I used a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon while Breloom unfortunately fell. I sent out Vaporeon and began tossing Ultra Balls at Moltres while weakening Tauros. Salamence fell during all this, and was replaced by Shadow Lugia. Caught Moltres on my fifth Ultra Ball; during those turns, I used a Revive on Breloom, Hyper Potion on Breloom, Revive on Salamence, and Full Restore on Lugia, who got burned by Shadow Fire. See how many items this took? If I had lacked two Shadow Pokemon, this would have been nearly impossible.
Out came Shadow Articuno, and by this point I have declared Greevil a huge troll. I began to weaken Articuno with Bite while using a Hyper Potion on Salamence and Vaporeon. Eventually Tauros was in red health, and I caught it with two Poke Balls.
His last Pokemon was Shadow Zapdos. Vaporeon eventually fell after weakening Articuno quite a bit. The rest of the battle was conducted with Salamence and Lugia. Lugia weakened Zapdos with Shadow Blast, Salamence weakened Articuno with Shadow Rush. I had to use a Hyper Potion on Breloom, Full Restore on Lugia, a Revive on Breloom, and a Hyper Potion on Breloom. Total items used: 9 Hyper Potions, 5 Revives, 3 Full Restores. Ouch. Also used the Yellow Flute to cure confusion from Rhydon's Shadow Panic, but yeah. Caught Articuno in two Ultra Balls without paralysis, which was lucky for me. Switched out Salamence for Breloom, had it use Stun Spore, caught Zapdos in two Ultra balls. Victory!
Greevil was totally broken after the loss, when suddenly Ardos appears and tells Greevil to blow up Citadark Isle with me on it! What a jerk! Thankfully Eldes showed up and convinced Greevil that this was a stupid idea and that they should just give up on the Shadow Pokemon plan. He also reveals that Greevil is his and Ardos' father, which made me basically go 'what'. Eldes said he hoped to face me again in a more friendly manner, then I went home. Roll credits!
Once the credits were done, I decided to stick my new Shadow Pokemon in the Purifying Chamber. Surprisingly, Lugia got purified instantly. I looked it up after I stopped playing and found that Lugia can only be purified if you have all nine sets on max tempo, so that was convenient.
I walked outside to find Eagun, who wanted to fight me. He used two Pichus, two Pikachus, and two Raichus. Amazing. After I won, he invited me to Orre Colosseum, where apparently people wanted to beat me. That makes me want to go there right away!
I stopped by Gateon Port to buy back the items I had used, and my Miror B. radar went off. Very convenient, seeing as Dragonite is the last Shadow Pokemon in the game, and he happens to have it. I'll try to find him next time I play.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 37:18
SHADOW Pokemon: 82
Purified Pokemon: 75
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Big surprise here; he used five Ludicolos. All of them were level 57 while I had Pokemon at level 50, which sucked. Vaporeon managed to freeze one Ludicolo with Ice Beam, but it defrosted immediately, and Hydro Pump never missed for him as always. My strategy was to use Calm Mind with Gardevoir. Really, not much else I could do with my team in this state. At one point a Ludicolo got a critical with Hydro Pump on Gardevoir, but I managed to make a come back. Overall, I used two Super Potions, one Revive, and three Hyper Potions on Gardevoir. Vaporeon had a Revive and three Hyper Potions, Breloom had a Revive and a Hyper Potion, and Salamence had a Revive and a Hyper Potion.
Why revive Breloom and Salamence? For Shadow Dragonite, which was his last Pokemon. I sent out Salamence to carefully weaken it with Shadow Rush. I was going to paralyze it with Breloom, but I caught it with my fourth Great Ball, which happened just before I was going to send it out.
After losing, Miror B. ran off, and then noticed he had an antenna in his afro and destroyed it. That makes my Miror B. Radar useless now, not that I needed it anymore. >_> I restocked on items and stuck Dragonite into the Purifying Chamber. Then I headed to Orre Colosseum.
I was going to try doing a round, but screw this place. First of all, I was denied entry due to having a Shadow Pokemon (Salamence). So I removed it, and was denied entry for having only five Pokemon (you need six and I didn't have another Pokemon to put in my party). So I stuck Scyther in as filler, and was denied entry for having Leftovers on two Pokemon (Vaporeon and Ninetales, the Snorlax I caught had a second Leftovers equipped). I removed Ninetales' Leftovers and finally went in, only to see that my opponent had Pokemon at level 60. No way to cheese through with superior numbers or items; you each get four Pokemon and items can't be used (unless equipped to a Pokemon of course). So I'm getting to at least 60 before I try that again.
Instead, I went through Mt. Battle some more. Battles 71-80 had Pokemon from level 60-64, but it was an easier set than the previous one. 75 was cheap because he used an Articuno with Mind Reader and Sheer Cold. First legendary I've seen in story mode Mt. Battle and first OHKO move I've seen. Colosseum didn't resort to this stupidity. >=( Even 'funnier' is how Articuno used Mind Reader on Persian. Persian dies to Hydro Pump from a Milotic, Articuno uses Sheer Cold on my other Pokemon, Vaporeon, and just happens to hit. Thanks game! I won my second try with Gardevoir abusing Calm Mind and using two Hyper Potions on her.
The area leader, Naday, used Salamence, Heracross, Machamp, Blaziken, and Gyarados. Ice Beam on Salamence, Flamethrower on Heracross, Psychic on Machamp, Shock Wave on Gyarados twice after a Hyper Beam. So what happened to the Blaziken? Something rather funny. Heracross and Machamp were on the field, I took down Heracross. Blaziken comes out, Machamp uses Earthquake, Blaziken goes down instantly. Then she sends out Gyarados. Genius move. I received 1600 Poke Coupons and TM08.
Once this was done, I decided to do some outside fights for a bit. I fought Cail and saw he had leveled his Pokemon to 50, which is awesome for experience. Out of curiosity, I went to look at the trainers you could rechallenge at Agate Village. All of their Pokemon are level 50 too. I'll check the rest of Pyrite Town tomorrow to see if they followed that rule. I finished with Rhydon in the Purifying Chamber before stopping.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 38:56
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 76
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Since I had to kill some time for Tauros, I did Mt. Battle area 3 again to win 600 Poke Coupons. Purified Tauros then, and that means I'm totally done with purifying. I removed all of the Pokemon in the Purifying Machine sets and replaced them in the computer. Then I went through Mt. Battle area 5 to get 1000 Poke Coupons. Combined with the 2400 I had earned beforehand, I was able to purchase TM24, Thunderbolt, for 4000 and give it to Gardevoir, replacing Shock Wave.
I was worried Mt. Battle 81-90 would have Pokemon at an even higher level. Thankfully, they only ranged from 63-67, which I could handle at this point. The area leader, Ragen, used Regirock, Skarmory, Metagross, Gligar, and Aggron. Twice I flinched Regirock with Bite, and both times, his Skarmory used Whirlwind to swap it out. I can only assume he was either trying to use Hyper Beam with Regirock or he had a brick dropped on his head. Got 1700 Poke Coupons and TM40. I decided to spend 4000 Poke Coupons on another TM24. Persian can learn Thunderbolt for some reason, and it beats Pay Day, so why not. >_>
I decided to try the Orre Colosseum even though I wasn't at level 60 yet (everyone was around 55), but I still got owned. Why? Second round, guy sends out Breloom and Slowking, which make use of Spore and Yawn. When I got rid of Breloom, out came Smeargle, which used Teeter Dance (confuses all Pokemon besides itself, but Slowking has Own Tempo to prevent confusion). I repeatedly hit myself while Smeargle used Lock On and then Sheer Cold to kill everyone. Thanks game, I love Pokemon who use incredibly cheap tactics!
I guess I can try the last area of Mt. Battle to train some more. I get the feeling Orre Colosseum is going to be a nightmare.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
In any case... In battle 91, used two Hyper Potions and a Super Potion on Gardevoir while making use of a Calm Mind strategy. Battle 92, used a Hyper Potion on Salamence and a Revive on Breloom (stupid Sand Veil Sandslash hax). Battle 93 was horrible; the trainer used the three legendary dogs along with Espeon and Umbreon. Had to use a Revive on Gardevoir, and then five Hyper Potions and two Super Potions, because Calm Mind was the only thing that saved me there. 94 required a reset but I beat it without using any items. 95 had me use a Super Potion and Hyper Potion on Gardevoir. Got through 96 with a reset and no items used. 97 required two Full Restores on Vaporeon due to Crobat Sludge Bombing and getting poison luck. Stopped right in front of 98 and will continue soon.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 42:45
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
</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
I beat 98 and 99. 98 required a Hyper Potion for Vaporeon, and 99 required a Hyper Potion for Ninetales. 98 was a Sunny Day team that never took off because I didn't let his Castform set up Sunny Day, so lolz. 99 used all three Regis and abused Explosion, so I had to be careful for her.
The last trainer, Battlus, is ridiculous. First time, I saw his Latios, Dusclops, Salamence, Slaking, Metagross, and Latias before losing. Second time, saw Dusclops, Salamence, Latias, and Slaking. Third time, saw Slaking, Metagross, and Dusclops. All his guys are level 70 while mine are in the high 50s.
Problems here:
*Latios and Latias are ridiculous.
*Slaking uses Hyper Beam which is a guaranteed kill on anyone but Vaporeon. However, when Persian uses Fake Out, he loses two turns; one to the flinch, one to Truant.
*Oddly, Dusclops is the biggest problem. It uses Imprison, which seals any moves it has on enemies. Why is this an issue? It has Ice Beam for some reason, and Vaporeon's Ice Beam is the only way to quickly kill Salamence, Latios, and Latias. My own Salamence has Dragon Claw, but his Latios/possibly Latias has Ice Beam, so...
*I could abuse Calm Mind Gardevoir if it was down to Latios and Latias. Everything else has physical moves to wreck her.
*I did try to abuse Vaporeon's Acid Armor on the third attempt, but when Latios came out, it got a critical Thunderbolt first try. Fantastic.
*I almost did better on my third run, but Breloom missed with Sky Uppercut at a critical moment. Argh.
So yeah, it's not a pretty situation. I'm going to have to hope to get a lucky combination. Salamence and Slaking first would be best so I could Ice Beam Salamence for an instant kill and Fake Out Slaking. If Dusclops comes first, I usually try to Bite it to death as quickly as possible, but that leaves me vulnerable to whatever else is there. So... argh.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 42:57
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, click to show]Back to Battlus. My fourth try (first try today) had him show Metagross, Latias, and Slaking. This was a horrible starting combination since Metagross could abuse Earthquake and Latias is a beast. Restarted fairly quickly.
Fifth try did it. He started with Dusclops and Slaking, I went with Vaporeon and Persian. Switched out Vaporeon for Breloom and used Fake Out to stun Slaking. Dusclops tried to Imprison but failed. Slaking loafed around and Breloom got a very lucky critical on Sky Uppercut to KO it. Persian used Bite on Dusclops beforehand.
Latios came out next. I switched Breloom for Vaporeon, which caused Dusclop's Ice Beam to hit Vaporeon and do just about nothing. Latios fell to Bites and Ice Beam; thankfully, Dusclops was so slow that it did not get to use Imprison until I had taken out Latios.
Salamence emerged, and I did not have Ice Beam anymore. Persian had fallen recently though, so I sent out my own Salamence. For some reason, his lacks a Dragon type move, which means I used Dragon Claw twice to KO it while using a Hyper Potion on Vaporeon.
Latias was second to last. Salamence fell to its Ice Beam while I had Vaporeon use Bite to finally finish off Dusclops. Metagross was his last Pokemon. I used a Revive on Salamence while having Vaporeon and Gardevoir do some damage to Latias. When Gardevoir fell (after setting up Reflect), Ninetales came out. Latias went down shortly due to Ice Beam, leaving just Metagross. He used Earthquake to take out Ninetales, and I sent out Salamence. Unfortunately, Intimidate did nothing due to Metagross having Clear Body, so it wrecked Salamence with Meteor Mash. By this point, I just had Vaporeon and Breloom, but they cleaned up with Headbutt and Hydro Pump.
So what did I get for my struggle? 2000 Poke Coupons and no item. Yeah, they give an item for every round but the last. What the heck game. I left with triumph though.
I was advised to try fighting Greevil again by someone I spoke with. So I went back to see his new, non-Shadow team. He has all level 50 Pokemon which include Manetric, Swellow, Starmie, Granbull, Altaria, and Aerodactyl. Easy enough fight, I won quickly, got some good exp and money, and then watched the credits again. There was actually an additional scene where Michael put his Snag Machine on a desk in the lab and walked away from it; maybe it happens only when you snag all 83 Shadow Pokemon?
Decided to try Orre Colosseum since everyone was 58-60. I still am stuck. The first trainer uses sleep moves that are ridiculously annoying, and the second one abuses confusion, which makes it near impossible to do anything. Needless to say, it does not bode well. Also, I lost a very close match in round 2 because a Grumpig had Bright Powder. This is like Battle Tower except even more retarded.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Battle CD 1: Easy as heck. You get Pidgeot at 50, opponent has Tropius at 50, two turns to win. I used Double Edge, Tropius used Fly, I used Gust. Good game. Got a Super Potion as a prize. Oh boy I can tell these prizes will really be worthwhile!
Battle CD 2: Simple enough. Wartortle vs. Drowzee, both 50, you have Counter and Mirror Coat while he has Strength and Confusion. I messed up first turn by using Mirror Coat when he used Strength, but the pattern was easy after that: Mirror Coat, Counter, Mirror Coat, Counter, Mirror Coat, Counter, boom I win. Another Super Potion was earned.
Battle CD 3: Quagsire, Ludicolo vs. Vileplume, Skarmory, all level 50 with a turn limit of 13. This was a singles match for whatever reason. Started with Quagsire and used Dig. Vileplume was faster and charged Solarbeam, so that missed and it got hit by Dig. Used Dig two more times, it went down, out came Skarmory. Swapped for Ludicolo, Skarmory began to charge Sky Attack. Dive to avoid it, hit, Dive to avoid another one, hit, I win on turn 11. Got a Great Ball, which is fantastically useless to me at this point unless I want to catch more wild Pokemon.
Battle CD 4: Plusle and Minun vs. Miltank and Tropius, all level 50. This was horrible to figure out at first. I tried to use Plusle's Thunderbolt on Miltank, it barely lived, and then Miltank moved before Minun to use Earthquake. Critical hit on Plusle, it's down. Rain Dance is now useless for Minun to use because only Plusle had Thunder. Reset. Second time, tried using Helping Hand on Thunderbolt so Plusle could OHKO Miltank. Tropius uses Swords Dance, and then survives a Helping Hand Thunderbolt with 5 HP to use Earthquake. Third time, used Helping Hand plus Thunderbolt to get rid of Miltank, then used Thunderbolt with both Plusle and Minun to KO Tropius. Finally. Got an Antidote for some stupid reason.
At this point, more CDs were unlocked for me to buy, so I picked up 9, 13, and 17. (All CDs cost 1000 so they're pretty cheap.)
Battle CD 5: Blissey vs. Medicham, both level 50. I used Protect, it tried to use Icepunch. It used Firepunch, I used Softboiled. It used Thunderpunch, I got paralyzed, my Lum Berry healed it, I used Egg Bomb. I used Protect, it used High Jump Kick, KO'd itself. Silly match. Got a Paralyz Heal.
I think that's all I'll have time for today.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 44:21
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
...That's odd. You should've... hold on, let me check.
...
ahahahahaha
oh my god
That's terrible. That is so much worse than I was previously led to believe.
Okay, here's the deal: You can get three special Pokemon from Mt. Battle. But to get them, you have to do all 100 battles, from the beginning, without leaving or using the PC for any reason. And then you get your choice of one of the three. You have to do it twice more to get the other two.
</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
I officially hate whoever designed this game.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Battle CD 6: Sneasel, Pikachu, and Snorlax vs. Primeape, all level 50. Used Icy Wind to slow down Primeape, then lost Sneasel. Pikachu came in to use Wish, fainted. Snorlax used Shadow Ball, was healed by Wish, and used Shadow Ball again for the KO. Got an Ice Heal.
Battle CD 7: Machamp vs. Aggron, with Machamp at level 25. Used Swords Dance twice to avoid Protect and Counter, and then used Earthquake when Aggron used Dig. Instant KO. Got a Great Ball.
Battle CD 8: Zangoose vs. Cradily, both level 50. Used Swords Dance three times and then Slash. Got a critical to bypass its Barriers. Got a Super Potion.
Battle CD 9: Aerodactyl, Hitmonchan, Girafarig, and Hariyama vs. Kecleon, with my guys at level 25 in a double match. Used Mach Punch with Hitmonchan and Wing Attack with Aerodactyl. Hitmonchan falls, Hariyama comes in. Ancientpower and Vital Throw, Aerodactyl falls, Girafarig comes in. Psychic, Kecleon is down. Got a Full Heal.
Battle CD 10: Clefairy and Clefable vs. Aggron. Clefairy uses Protect, Clefable sets up Sunny Day. Clefable uses Follow Me, Clefairy uses Solarbeam. Clefairy uses Protect, Clefable uses Moonlight. Clefable uses Follow Me, Clefairy uses Solarbeam. Clefable uses Follow Me and faints, but Clefairy takes out Aggron with Solarbeam. Got a Full Heal.
At this point, I realized I was missing 11, so I went to search for it. Found 50, 49, 29, and 11 at the crazy scientist's mansion. Jovi also left more diary entries, but they're more amusing then enlightening.
Battle CD 11: Cacturne and Macargo vs. six Shedinja with one turn to beat them all. Cacturne used Spikes, fell to two Leech Lifes, and Macargo set up Sandstorm. Good game. Got a Full Heal.
Battle CD 12: Heracross vs. Swellow, both level 50. Used Endure to survive Aerial Ace, and then used Earthquake since Swellow used Endure and would have gotten a Salac Berry activated if I had attacked it. Third turn, used Reversal to OHKO it. Got a Hyper Potion.
Battle CD 13: Porygon vs. Spinda, both level 50. Since Spinda only had Brick Break, I used Conversion to become a Flying type, and then used Aerial Ace four times. Got an Ultra Ball.
Battle CD 14: Roselia, Skitty vs. Wobbuffet, all level 50. Started with two Sweet Scents to see if it had a pattern, but it used Counter both times. Used Bullet Seed four times, with Mirror Coat doing minor damage. With only 14 HP left, decided to use Magical Leaf three times while it used Counter the first two. The third was a critical hit, so I won without ever using Skitty. Got a Hyper Potion.
Battle CD 15: Castform vs. Torkoal, Shedinja, and Gyarados, all level 50 with four turns to win. Used Future Sight while Torkoal set up Sunny Day. Next turn, Rain Dance, and Torkoal missed with Overheat. On turn three, used Weather Ball to take out Torkoal, and Shedinja fell to Future Sight. Gyarados used Dragon Rage and then fell to Thunder. Got a Revive.
Battle CD 16: Sharpedo and Misdreavus vs. Slowpoke and Slowbro with Slowking as backup, all level 50. Sharpedo only had Thrash, so I used that while using Skill Swap with Slowbro. Unfortunately, this Slowbro must not have had Own Tempo for some reason, because I swapped it to Sharpedo and it still got confused on turn three of Thrash. Slowpoke fell on turn two to Thrash, and on turn three Slowking got nailed by it while Misdreavus used Pain Split on Slowbro. Turn four, managed to use Thrash again, and Pain Split for minimal damage before Misdreavus fell. Since all the opponents only had Confusion, Sharpedo managed to destroy them after hitting itself once in confusion. Whew. Got a Full Heal.
Battle CD 17: Rattata vs. Shuckle, with Rattata at level 5 and Shuckle at level 100 and four turns to win. Used Super Fang first, then it began to Bide. Toxic, it continues. Substitute, Bide does nothing. Super Fang, weakened enough for poison to finish off. Got an Energy Root, which is the first prize that I have not been able to buy in stores.
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Battle CD 18: Nincada vs. Farfetch'd, with Nincada at level 50 and Farfetch'd at 40. Used Fury Swipes three times to break Substitutes and do damage anyway. Managed to wall the one Flail it did. Got a Guard Spec.
Battle CD 19: Rhydon and Golem, Swellow and Flareon vs. Muk and Manetric, Gengar as backup, all level 50 with two turns to win. Golem uses Explosion to instantly KO the first two, Rhydon uses Flamethrower on Flareon as he comes out to get a Flash Fire boost. Then use Overheat on Gengar next turn for an OHKO. I had to do this battle four times. First I made a mistake and thought Rhydon and Flareon could KO Gengar together, but no, Flash Fire is needed. Second and third I missed with Overheat, which is retarded. As a side note, the Flareon's description is that Michael's dad gave it to him. Funny, I thought my Eevee was now a Vaporeon and a girl. >=( <_< Got a Burn Heal.
Battle CD 20: Salamence and Dusclops, Houndoom vs. Wobbuffet and Banette, Wynaut with all at level 50 and four turns to win. This had a stupid strategy to beat. Due to Shadow Tag, I used Scary Face on Banette with Salamence (it had no attacking moves) and then had Dusclops use Ice Beam to knock out my own Salamence. Houndoom came in. Crunch and Shadow Punch on Wobbuffet, it fails with Mirror Coat. Crunch on Banette, Shadow Punch on Wobbuffet, only Wynaut is left, one Crunch beats it. Got an Awakening.
Had to go find 21, it was in the ONBS building.
Battle CD 21: Breloom and Clefable vs. Swellow and Meowth, Mankey, all at level 50. Used Follow Me with Clefable to waste Swellow and Meowth's turn while I had Breloom use Spore on Swellow. Focus Punch, Swellow goes down while Clefable uses Follow Me again. Mankey comes out. Breloom uses Focus Punch, but Meowth and Mankey take down Clefable before I can get it off. Use Spore on Meowth, then Focus Punch it to win. Got a TM01. Finally, something worthwhile.
Battle CD 22: Banette, Plusle vs. Gyarados, Zangoose, all at level 50. Used Snatch with Banette four times to steal Dragon Dances, and then used Shadow Ball twice for the KO. Since Shadow Ball is my only attacking move, I used Grudge twice to let Zangoose destroy it with Shadow Ball, thus losing all its PP for it. Plusle uses Encore on Zangoose's Swords Dance, and then uses Thundershock four times, paralyzing it on the second. Got a Rare Candy.
Battle CD 23: Aerodactyl vs. Kyogre, with Aerodactyl at 49 and Kyogre at 50. Used Protect and then Substitute four times to stall out Hydro Pump and Thunder (Aerodactyl has Pressure). Then used Rest, woke up with the Chesto Berry. Smacked it three times with Ancient Power while it hurt itself with Double-Edge. Got a Mental Herb.
Had to go find 24, it too was in the ONBS building.
Battle CD 24: Manetric and Plusle, Ninetales vs. Scizor and Hitmonlee, Muk, all at level 50 with five turns. Had Manetric use Charge and switched Plusle for Ninetales while the opponents used Protect. Manetric used Spark to interrupt Focus Punch on Hitmonlee while Ninetales used Flamethrower to take out Scizor. Muk comes in, both opponents try to protect while Ninetales uses Imprison to seal Protect and Manetric uses Charge. Spark deals damage to Muk, Flamethrower finishes Hitmonlee, and those two attacks take out Muk on the fifth turn. Got five Lum Berries.
Battle CD 25: Vigoroth and Vigoroth vs. Ninjask and Clefable, Ursaring, all level 50. Used Taunt and Facade on Clefable while Ninjask used Protect. Facade on Ninjask and Encore so it kept using Swords Dance. Then I spammed Facade for the next four turns. Ninjask went down, Clefable had low health, Ursaring used Earthquake to KO Clefable and injure me, Facades finished it off. Got a White Herb.
Only twenty-five more to go. >_> But in all honestly, I'm enjoying the Battle CDs. They put you in situations where strategy is essential to win, with luck only being incorporated a few times (stupid Overheat).
I tried Orre Colosseum once before quitting and lost first round despite getting criticals all over the place. Uuuugh this place is horrible.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 46:04
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
---
"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Battle CD 26: Slaking and Slaking, Exploud vs. Kecleon and Blissey, Dusclops with all at level 50 and eight turns to win. This required a pretty precise strategy since the Slakings only had Double-Edge and Shadow Ball (with Choice Bands) and Exploud just had Roar. Swapped one Slaking out for Exploud while the other tried to hit a Protecting Blissey. Second turn I used Roar on Kecleon while Slaking twiddled its thumbs. Third turn, swapped out that Slaking for the other one. Fourth turn, Shadow Ball on the Dusclops to instantly KO it while Exploud wasted its time. Fifth turn, switched Slaking for the other one due to Choice Band. Sixth turn, Double-Edge to KO Kecleon. Seventh turn, slacked. Eighth turn, Double-Edge to KO Blissey. Got an Ultra Ball.
Battle CD 27: Porygon 2 and Hitmonlee vs. Graveler and Dusclops, all at level 50 and two turns to win. I used Tackle on Porygon 2 with my Hitmonlee and then had Porygon 2 use Conversion 2 to turn into a Ghost type. Then Hitmonlee used Foresight on Dusclops, and Graveler used Selfdestruct (might have been Explosion) to KO everyone but Porygon 2. Got a Timer Ball.
Battle CD 28: Feraligatr and Furret vs. Ariados and Xatu, Electrode and Psyduck, all at level 50. This one stumped me until I figured out the Psyduck had to have Damp as an ability. First turn, Furret uses Helping Hand, Feraligatr uses Bite on Xatu. Second turn, Furret uses Swift, Feraligatr uses Aerial Ace on Ariados. Third turn, Furret uses Helping Hand, Feraligatr uses Surf to KO both. Fourth turn, Electrode tries to use Explosion but can't due to Psyduck's Damp (and that's its only move). Helping Hand and Slash, Helping Hand and Slash, Electrode falls. Then Strength and Slash take care of Psyduck. Got a Timer Ball.
Battle CD 29: Smeargle (lv 48) and Spheal (lv 49), Poliwhirl (lv 50) vs. three Magikarp (identical levels) with five turns to win. I had to restart a couple of times until I recalled that OHKO moves such as Fissure and Sheer Cold (which is all I have on these guys) can only KO Pokemon equal in level or less. First turn, Mind Reader on one Magikarp while Spheal uses Sheer Cold to instantly KO the other one (got lucky with that). Second turn, swapped out Spheal for Poliwhirl, had Smeargle use Fissure to KO the other one. Only the level 50 one is left, so Poliwhirl has to be the one to KO it. Third turn, Poliwhirl uses Mimic to copy Smeargle's Fissure. Fourth turn, uses Mind Reader, and fifth turn, Fissure. Got an Elixir.
Battle CD 30: Shedinja and Raticate vs. Medidite and Medicham, all level 50 with four turns to win. This was a clever fight. First turn, used Endeavor with Raticate (made no difference since both used Detect), Shedinja uses Mimic to copy it. Second turn, Raticate uses Toxic on Medicham, it recovers with a Pecha Berry, Shedinja uses Endeavor on Meditite. Third turn, Raticate uses Toxic on Meditite, it heals with a berry too, Endeavor on Medicham. Fourth turn, Sandstorm, I win. Got an Ultra Ball.
Battle CD 31: Donphan and Starmie, with Blaziken, Electrode, Ninetales, and Metagross in the party vs. Magneton and Rhydon, with Manetric, Magcargo, Aggron, and Victreebel, all level 50 with two turns to win. I was totally stumped until I realized Metagross also had Earthquake. First turn, Starmie wastes time while Donphan uses Earthquake to knock out everything on the field. Metagross comes in. Second turn, Metagross uses Earthquake, Donphan tanks it, Donphan uses Earthquake, Metagross perishes but so does everything else. Got a Full Restore.
Battle CD 32: Linoone and Alakazam, Dusclops and Aggron vs. Gengar and Electrode, Shedinja and Shuckle, all level 50 with five turns to win. Imprison on Dusclops caught my eye quickly and that helped to figure out how to win. First turn, switched Linoone for Dusclops, used Protect with Alakazam. Electrode uses Explosion to only KO itself. Second turn, Alakazam tries to use Trick but falls to a Shadow Ball (he had no other purpose in this fight since Gengar uses Protect), Dusclops uses Imprison. Aggron comes out. Third turn, since all but Explosion on Gengar was hit by Imprison, I knew that was coming, so I used Protect with Dusclops and Counter with Aggron. Gengar got a critical on Aggron but it survived with 15 HP due to being a complete beast in defense. Shuckle comes out, gets smacked by Counter, falls instantly. Fourth turn, Aggron uses Mimic on Shedinja to get Shadow Ball, since I lacked any moves to bypass Wonder Guard. Fifth turn, Shadow Ball as Shedinja tries to attack Dusclops. Got a Revive.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
After that, I was told by the attendant that this was a double-sided Battle CD, so now I could use 34. Huh.
Battle CD 34: Same situation as 33, but reversed; now I had Smoochum, Elekid, and Magby. Still easy though. Fake Out on Chikorita, and then use Confusion twice before getting knocked out. Magby comes in and uses Ember twice (argh Sitrus Berry). Gets a Seismic Toss off on Cyndaquil and tries to use Double Team but falls to Dig. Elekid takes out Cyndaquil with two Shock Waves (it wasted its time using Howl), and then takes out Totodile with two Shock Waves (it survived the first with one hit point). Got a Nugget.
Battle CD 35: Cleffa and Togepi vs. Geodude and Machop, all level 5. This battle was funny yet infuriating because all the Pokemon had was Metronome. First time I tried, Machop got Superpower to take out Togepi first turn, and while Cleffa got Psybeam on Machop, he fell to Geodude's Skull Bash. Second try, Geodude gets Sky Uppercut to instantly knock out Togepi AGAIN and Machop gets Hydro Cannon to take out Cleffa. Third try, got Psycho Boost on Togepi but it wasn't enough to take out Geodude. This was followed by a lot of stat raising moves; Cleffa got Belly Drum, Togepi got Dragon Dance and then Iron Defense. Togepi evaded Machop's Leech Seed while Cleffa fell to Geodude's Blizzard. He used Iron Tail to knock out Geodude but then Machop took him out (I can't even remember what he used). Fourth try was hilarious. Supersonic on Machop from Togepi, Will-O-Wisp on Togepi from Machop. Togepi got Leaf Blade to knock Geodude out of the fight while Cleffa got a critical Peck on Machop. Then Cleffa got a Lovely Kiss to put it to sleep. Insert tomfoolery here. Cleffa used Substitute, Togepi used Sandstorm, Togepi used Icicle Spear and hit four times, Togepi used Ancientpower and got a critical hit plus stat boosts, Cleffa used Poison Fang. When this was all done, Machop had one hit point left and fell to Sandstorm. Got an X Accuracy.
I found I was missing 36, so I went on a big CD hunt. While checking Phenac Stadium again, I found a trainer I had missed the first time around and fought her for the heck of it. Got 44 in there as well. 40 was in a house in Pyrite, 36 was in Nett's room, 42 was in the laboratory where Cipher had held Krane, and 47 was in the Cipher Key Lair. I only found those last two because I recalled a CD appearing mysteriously on Greevil's chair when I returned to fight him a second time, so yeah. I'm still missing some but I think they may be the same case as 33 and 34; in other words, once I complete one, I can use the other side.
Tried Orre Colosseum before quitting. Even with a ridiculous amount of luck in the second fight, I only got him down to Slowking and then lost Vaporeon. Also, Breloom and Parasect in the first fight have Brightpowder and Quick Claw respectively. SCREW this place.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 47:22
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
aww yeah rankings
Some notes ahead of time, this somehow became a Top 50. The further down the list you go, the more vulnerable it is to variation... and my lists tend to suffer variation quite a bit.
Top 50 Games:
1. Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
2. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: FES
3. Planescape: Torment
4. Tales of the Abyss
5. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
6. Starcraft: Brood War
7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
8. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
9. Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn
10. Fire Emblem 9: Path of Radiance
11. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
12. Chrono Trigger
13. Resident Evil 4
14. Final Fantasy X
15. Final Fantasy VIII
16. Final Fantasy VII
17. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
18. Final Fantasy IX (Note: Currently Playing. Subject to change)
19. Mass Effect
20. Tales of Vesperia
21. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
22. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
23. Tales of Symphonia
24. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
25. Fire Emblem 7
26. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
27. Metroid Prime
28. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
29. Super Mario World
30. Final Fantasy VI
31. Golden Sun
32. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
33. World of Warcraft
34. Fire Emblem 8: The Sacred Stones
35. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
36. Perfect Dark
37. Halo
38. Bioshock
39. Half-Life 2
40. Halo 2
41. Call of Duty: World At War
42. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
43. Shadow of the Colossus
44. Jade Empire
45. Super Smash Brothers Melee
46. Warcraft III
47. Xenosaga: Der Wille zur Macht
48. Final Fantasy IV
49. Lost Odyssey
50. Fable
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, click to show]Only did two Battle CDs for now because the second one was utterly ridiculous.
Battle CD 36: Blaziken, Breloom, Machamp vs. Poliwrath, Hitmonchan, Hariyama, all level 50. The only moves the Pokemon had were Dynamicpunch and Focus Punch. I was really lucky with how it went. Dynamicpunch Poliwrath, then Focus Punch for the KO (it wasn't able to retaliate). Dynamicpunch on Hitmonchan to instantly KO due to its weak defense. Missed with a Dynamicpunch on Hariyama, but Breloom wrapped things up with Dynamicpunch and Focus Punch. Got a PP Up.
Turned out 37 was indeed the opposite side of 36, so I got that after.
Battle CD 37: 36 reversed. This was a stupid match. We had more moves than before (for instance, Poliwrath got Surf and Hypnosis) but it still relied on luck. After about eight resets (no exaggeration, the computer haxed me to death each time), I got a winning combination: Hypnosis on Blaziken, Surf, Surf for KO, Hypnosis on Breloom, Focus Punch for KO, Hypnosis on Machamp, Focus Punch, Surf for KO. What, think that's cheap? Just watch what the computer does and you won't blame me for abusing sleep, especially since Breloom has Spore which NEVER MISSES, unlike Hypnosis. Worst CD by far up to this point. Got a PP Up.
I'll do more later, I just need a break after that atrocity.
Hero's name: MICHAEL
Play time: 47:32
SHADOW Pokemon: 83
Purified Pokemon: 83
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
But everything before that is amazing, the end is butchered, and that's what keeps it about equal to KotOR. If the end was done as intended, it probably shoots well ahead of KotOR.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Advanced
Top 50 Games:
1. Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
>>Games
>>Xenosaga
laughing-elf-boy.jpg
Carry on. Your Planescape position is positively outstanding, wish I could get more people to play it.
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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