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Black Robe
Sep 12, 2017

Generic Magic User


Explopyro posted:

I think this speaks for itself. Name it snek time!.

This.

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dungeon cousin
Nov 26, 2012

woop woop
loop loop

Blaze Dragon posted:

Arbok, huh? Weird choice, but I guess nothing here was an impressive mon. This is a Gen 3 game though, so shouldn't it be a Seviper instead?

Preparing it for when it evolves I see.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer
Ekaj the Ekans? I dunno.

Solumin
Jan 11, 2013
You obviously caught a Seviper.

Leraika
Jun 14, 2015

Luckily, I *did* save your old avatar. Fucked around and found out indeed.
snek time! is good.

AweStriker
Oct 6, 2014

rannum posted:

Rednammok

This is too good.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer
I've been meaning to ask, actually... how is making a giant robot suit gonna help your pokemon beat the opponent's pokemon? I mean, I'm all for building the giant robot suit, don't get me wrong, but why not make the suit for the pokemon, who are the ones actually fighting?

Though really this isn't unique to this game, Kaiba made that sci-fi deck holder thing to supposedly give him some kind of edge in card games too.

Black Robe
Sep 12, 2017

Generic Magic User


Zanzibar Ham posted:

I've been meaning to ask, actually... how is making a giant robot suit gonna help your pokemon beat the opponent's pokemon? I mean, I'm all for building the giant robot suit, don't get me wrong, but why not make the suit for the pokemon, who are the ones actually fighting?

Though really this isn't unique to this game, Kaiba made that sci-fi deck holder thing to supposedly give him some kind of edge in card games too.

It distracts your opponent and stops them concentrating on the battle because they're too busy being confused.

As your question demonstrates.

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Zanzibar Ham posted:

I've been meaning to ask, actually... how is making a giant robot suit gonna help your pokemon beat the opponent's pokemon? I mean, I'm all for building the giant robot suit, don't get me wrong, but why not make the suit for the pokemon, who are the ones actually fighting?

Though really this isn't unique to this game, Kaiba made that sci-fi deck holder thing to supposedly give him some kind of edge in card games too.

Kaiba's Duel Disk v1 had an actual explanation: he knew Pegasus could know what cards he had by looking at him, so his Duel Disks created giant projections of said cards between them, breaking Pegasus' line-of-sight and cancelling out his Millennium Eye.

I have no explanations of how they'd help here other than "they won't". Remember who's using this, Chobin is specifically interested in completely worthless technology. That Mecha Groudon would not improve his chances in a Pokemon Battle is likely entirely intentional out-of-universe.

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer

Black Robe posted:

It distracts your opponent and stops them concentrating on the battle because they're too busy being confused.

As your question demonstrates.

Heh if you're such a bad trainer your pokemon need to wait for your commands to act. :smug:

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Votes so far!

snek time!: 3
Rednammock: 3
Seviper: 3
Zangoose: 1
lac: 1
Ekaj: 1
Gas Snake: 1
eoj I.G.

dungeon cousin
Nov 26, 2012

woop woop
loop loop

Zanzibar Ham posted:

I've been meaning to ask, actually... how is making a giant robot suit gonna help your pokemon beat the opponent's pokemon? I mean, I'm all for building the giant robot suit, don't get me wrong, but why not make the suit for the pokemon, who are the ones actually fighting?

When I first saw him bring it out I thought "is this thing gonna give his auto sun?"

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012

rannum posted:

Rednammok

FoolyCharged
Oct 11, 2012

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Somebody call for an ant?

rannum posted:

Rednammok

Arcade Rabbit
Nov 11, 2013

Seviper

Admiral H. Curtiss
May 11, 2010

I think there are a bunch of people who can create trailing images. I know some who could do this as if they were just going out for a stroll.
I like Rednammok.

Jade Rider
May 11, 2007

All the pages have been censored except for "heck," and she misread that one.


snek time! is a good time.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Zanzibar Ham posted:

I've been meaning to ask, actually... how is making a giant robot suit gonna help your pokemon beat the opponent's pokemon? I mean, I'm all for building the giant robot suit, don't get me wrong, but why not make the suit for the pokemon, who are the ones actually fighting?

Though really this isn't unique to this game, Kaiba made that sci-fi deck holder thing to supposedly give him some kind of edge in card games too.

I don';t think crosspiece has shown the animation, but when he throws the pokeball....groudon throws the pokeball!

if pokemon special's equally nonsensical pokemon throwing techniques have taught me anything, this has a big effect on battle performance!

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer

rannum posted:

I don';t think crosspiece has shown the animation, but when he throws the pokeball....groudon throws the pokeball!

if pokemon special's equally nonsensical pokemon throwing techniques have taught me anything, this has a big effect on battle performance!

Imagine a pokeball-launching railgun... global poke-lear saturation.

Haifisch
Nov 13, 2010

Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!



Taco Defender
snek time! is all the time when you have an Arbok.

hopeandjoy
Nov 28, 2014



snek time! sounds good to me.

PlasticAutomaton
Nov 12, 2016

Artoria Pendonut


Did you know if you spell Arbok backwards it spells HAIL KOBRA

I'm voting for Rednammok

Kikas
Oct 30, 2012

rannum posted:

I don';t think crosspiece has shown the animation, but when he throws the pokeball....groudon throws the pokeball!

if pokemon special's equally nonsensical pokemon throwing techniques have taught me anything, this has a big effect on battle performance!

Crystal kicking the pokeballs cause the stronger you chuck'em the better your catch chance.
Cue Crystal KICKING GOD IN THE FACE WITH A GREAT BALL :v:

Seviper!

Booky
Feb 21, 2013

Chill Bug


snek time! is a real good name!

Solumin
Jan 11, 2013
I don't think the voting has ever been this divided.

BlackPersona
Oct 21, 2012


Can I shift my vote over to Rednammok? It's a better joke than my idea, haha.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

That shifting vote means Rednammok is the winner!

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Kikas posted:

Crystal kicking the pokeballs cause the stronger you chuck'em the better your catch chance.
Cue Crystal KICKING GOD IN THE FACE WITH A GREAT BALL :v:

Seviper!

i am pretty sure Bruno had nunchucks
i want to say someone punches them
gold used a pool cue...

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Side Course 8: Battle CD Selection 3

Battle SIM



We might have finished the Battle BINGO, but there's still plenty more Battle CDs to cover. And they just gonna get weirder.

Reward: Hyper Potion



This one isn't that interesting, but it teaches you about a certain mechanic.



How fast this battle goes depends on how lucky you get with the multiple hits.



Cause we're gonna be here a while if Wobbuffet doesn't predict correctly.



So you don't go for the strong move until later since multi hit moves only have their last hit reflected back by Counter or Mirror Coat, meaning you can very easily outdamage Wobbuffet. However, since it was looking like I was gonna knock it out easily since it was bad at predicting, I let it hit me back for loads of damage.



Good start.



So yeah, same as before, except Skitty is much worse than Roselia so it's really bad.



Crits are actually bad if it's the last hit, but otherwise whatever.



Reward: Revive




You can probably see how this would go, but in what order?



We'll ignore the Torkoal for the moment to SEE THE FUTURE.



And with the rain, this Overheat does nothing.



Did you remember that Future Sight and Doom Desire ignore Wonder Guard? A nice STAB rain boosted weather boosted Weather Ball will also do a poo poo ton.



We're even bulky enough to drop a Thunder.



Reward: Guard Spec.



Seems easy enough. Of course the trick is damaging Farfetch'd enough so it doesn't trigger its berry.



That's not a good start. If you let Farfetch'd use Substitute every turn, then it'll get down to 1HP and promptly wreck your face. So we need to get lucky with Fury Swipes in order to damage Farfetch'd past the sub.



Well we got 2 hits, 3 hits, then 2 hits again. Cool.



Thankfully it's not the end of the world since Farfetch'd has above 10% HP, so Flail only had 100BP. If it was less than 4%, then it would be 200BP and with +1 Attack, it would one shot you. So try to avoid that.



Ah gently caress you game.



Reward: PP Up, CD 37




Are you ready for MANLY MEN FIGHTING MANLY MEN?



This can be a tricky fight since you need to use Focus Punch on the turns the opponent doesn't use Dynamicpunch, unless they miss, then you'll look like a god. I could use Dynamicpunch myself, but gently caress that.



When you both use Focus Punch, whoever is faster pulls it off, great for Blaziken.



Ah gently caress



Well Breloom can clean up, since it landed Dynamicpunch on Hitmonchan and is faster than Hariyama.



I'm a god, bitches.



Well that was fun. Onto the ne-



This BATTLE CD actually is double sided. Once you've cleared the A side, you're entitled to receive the B side. The B side reverses the attacking and defending sides in the BATTLE SIM. I do hope you make that challenge!



Reward: PP Up




Hope you liked whatever battle you just did, cause now you have to do it again, but with the Pokemon you just faced! Otherwise I'm pretty eh about A and B sides since they're just normal battles with no quick cool strategy to them, so they become some of the longer and more annoying battles, though they do have their moments.



Alright, off to a good start, since the opponent will mainly use Dynamicpunch.



Nice, but now Poliwrath's confused and Breloom is up next. A lot of these A and B side battles are just damage races, since they're usually 3 Pokemon against each other.



Oh okay, apparently Poliwrath is amazing, landing two Dynamicpunches and not getting confused.




...can I keep this Poliwrath? I want to solo the rest of the game with it.



Reward: Max Ether, CD 39




Ugh, these battles. Our Pokemon aren't particularly that great for this, even if they're good attackers.




The main problem is Cradily as well as Lileep, since we're 4x weak to Grass. Remember Cradily's weaknesses? It's FIBS, Fighting, Ice, Bug and Steel. Don't forget it!



The small evolutions basically cancel each other out.



The main focus is on Cradily and somewhat on Lileep.



With Bullet Seed, it's a race against time and if you get unlucky with the number of hits, there's nothing you can really do.



That helps a lot.



Oh okay, guess we'll just win then. That makes my life a lot easier.



Oh yeah, Ancientpower buffs can sometimes be a thing. Little bit lovely, but oh well, we've won regardless.



Reward: Max Ether




Alright, now we've got these guys. This one is a lot easier since we can do something no AI ever does: focus fire. So we can hit those 4x weaknesses easily, so long as we get lots of high hits.




Though it's become tougher since the evolved forms are out first for our opponent.



Bit of a shame, since Anorith usually instantly dies, so anything that switches in also takes a hit, since it's such an easy target.



Omastar is the main threat, since it has the best STAB and stats to use it with. Thankfully they both go after Lileep, who can take a few hits.




Now that the big guys are gone, this battle is basically over.



Especially since Armaldo can be easy bait. Cradily was basically ignored the whole time, ain't the AI great?



Great timing there dumbarse.



Reward: Rare Candy, CD 41




Oh yeah, we're doing A and B side CDs for the rest of the update, probably should've mentioned that!



While Sceptile is faster, we have BIG DAMAGE behind us.



Oh nice, we speed tie with Blaziken, so that was the best scenario.



Charizard beats Blaziken no problem, but since we can't do much against Swampert, here's a flashy move for you.



...uh



Okay there we go, sheesh.



Reward: Rare Candy




Okay, we don't have the elemental beam moves anymore and we're at a immediate type disadvantage, so we'll need to play a bit smart.



Switching will let us get an advantage, since the AI never switches.



C'mon there friend, don't give me that poo poo.



And from here we can just do safe switches for type advantage, though Venusaur and Blaziken still speed tie.



And there we go. Pretty simple battling since there's not much strategy in them. Still, while we've gone through a good chunk of the CDs now, there's still a fair few left and they're not gonna be easy.

Crosspeice fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Aug 27, 2018

Yachi
Jul 27, 2010

Crosspeice posted:


The main problem is Cradily as well as Lileep, since we're 4x weak to Grass. Remember Cradily's weaknesses? It's FIGS, Fighting, Ice, Grass and Steel. Don't forget it!


I'll have to call you on your fib there since Cradily's weaknesses are Fighting, Ice, Bug, and Steel.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Nice, I even forgot my own way of remembering it. Why are any of you here???

Yes, FIBS, of course, is the correct way of remembering.

Explopyro
Mar 18, 2018

Crosspeice posted:

Nice, I even forgot my own way of remembering it. Why are any of you here???

Yes, FIBS, of course, is the correct way of remembering.

I was wondering about this too, Grass really didn't sound right, but clearly I was beaten to the punch (though I didn't remember bug either).

It's really weird to me that some of these A/B side CDs switch up the movesets and some of them don't (I guess this does help keep them from getting stale, a little, and it probably helps keep the challenge fair, but it kind of undermines the conceit that you're playing the same battle from both sides). I don't think I like these quite so much as the "clever trick" style of Battle CDs, but they're still pretty fun.

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

Part 14: Before the Citadark



Yo yo yo, there's more CDs to pick up, so let's go do that. You would never ever come back to this room, or indeed this lab, otherwise.



...ahem. That BATTLE CD features PLUSLE. I was going to give it to DUKING because he has this thing for PLUSLE, but lately he's been completely absorbed in studying wild POKEMON. Actually, I used that BATTLE CD as reference for making a PLUSLE costume. I'd like you to keep that a secret, though. Do you like BATTLE SIMs? You should take that BATTLE CD, then.



Well there is one Colosseum challenge we still need to do...




HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW THIS IS HERE? In fact, how are you meant to know a lot of these CD locations? Maybe NPCs tell you about them, but really who talks to those robot idiots?



Say what?! You not only found CIPHER's secret factory, you also ruined it? Okay! I'll give MARCIA's crew the green light to cover that story. She's been itching to go.



Despite what the text might indicate, this is the earliest you can obtain these CDs, otherwise I would've gotten them earlier, obviously. But admittedly I never actually checked each time, so I could be talking out my loving arse cause no one has bothered to dig up info about these games, but I'M NOT ANNOYED ABOUT THAT AT ALL.



Still, walking around doing dumb stuff is great to purify the many, many Shadow Pokemon we've caught recently, including our adorable shell boy.




Pretty good, level 33, so not too far behind the team.



You might be confused by this nickname by Awestriker, but I guess you're not as caught up on your JoJokes like I am. Cause I always know what my posters are talking about. Every time, yup, haha.




Alright let's make our newest team member less poo poo. His movepool is pretty rubbish though, so I guess I'll give him Spikes.



gently caress me that Defense is beautiful.



It also seems like the Battle CD triggers also apply to the Move Tutor, which is good, cause dril really needs a good Normal move.



Now back to Realgam Tower to cash in those sweet CDs. Spoiler alert, some of them give TMs and while we won't be using a rain strategy in this game, it's still good to have a weather move. Oh it will.



You will enter? Excellent! Will you be entering with the POKEMON in your party? Good, I'll show you in. I hope you try hard to win your challenge.

Colosseum Round 3



It's time for us to challenge the Realgam Colosseum, since it's the only real big thing left to do before the final dungeon. So the only way to actually purify Arbok before then.



Like the Pyrite Colosseum, every Pokemon is the same level, in this case 40, and we gain exp and can use items and all that good stuff, so it's a great way to train our last two team members. Man, it would really suck if you couldn't do that in a Colosseum, right?



Kakyoin is a great partner for Arbok since he can stomach Shadow Half. Arbok doesn't gain exp right now, so I don't care if he faints, I just want that juicy gauge removal.



Since we're using relatively weak Pokemon, this will actually be quite a challenge, but if you just used your team normally for this colosseum, you will of course become too strong for the final dungeon, so tread carefully.



Of course every trainer from now on will have around 4-5 Pokemon, so it does make battles pretty long, but it does make it feel like every trainer is a serious obstacle to get over. We're not easily one shotting these guys anymore and it's making this game a lot better to play.



Kakyoin laughs at these physical hits, but Arbok kinda doesn't.



There will be a fair few times we'll need to pull out the big guns, but I don't think I used any items in this place, so while things got close, I manage to pull through.



See if Arbok had Intimidate he would've survived that, you will nerdily say to me for the rest of the LP.



Oh yeah that first image isn't an error on my part, this is the only place in both games that the game just decides to go widescreen. I have no idea why and I was hoping it wouldn't come up like in Colosseum, like the missing floor bug, but nooooooooope. Of course I'm too lazy to crop them properly. Oh yeah, the TMs in this place are pretty rubbish, so here's Snatch. The CA$H is great though.



I'll forget to give Arbok this otherwise, like I did with Mawuh for most of last game. Hardy is +Atk -Atk, like dril, which is a shame, but oh well.



Hey I didn't know Thick Fat was that good!



Ooh cheeky.



These are some definitely weird battles. I'm liking it.



Well reaching the level of the colosseum is better than getting 5-10 levels higher than it, right?



Mega Kick is weirdly cool.



Phew, not bad overall, Kakyoin is being a great Ice attacker and an alright Water attacker. Surf is a bit of a harder sell in a casual doubles game, but it's better than Water Pulse!



This is the main reason we came here, which says a lot about the TM quality of this place. If you want to make this game slightly more challenging, you can get Brick Break from Pyrite and then just skip the rest of the colosseum challenges. You'll miss out on a good chunk of cash, but that just adds to the challenge, right?

Colosseum Round 4



Sure, Kakyoin does hardly any damage with Surf, but he's still a few levels lower than the opponent. Also 4x weakness is the only reason I bother keeping a Grass move on Portobello, so a small upgrade is appreciated.



gently caress. OFF. I got stupidly lucky hitting it after four Double Teams.



Oh that's scary. Didn't know Ledian even learned that move. But of course, what's it gonna do, Baton Pass it???



Ah. Right. We're in trouble.



...or not? This game is pranking me. And bro, I'm loving falling for it.




If this is meant to be a crazy Baton Pass chain, then this is not the AI for it.



Okay moving on



Hmm, what's the deal here?



Oh right, they all have HM moves. Where did this gimmick team round come from, I'm so confused.



Cool.



Crawdaunt claims another kill at +2. I've never seen Vicegrip do that much.



This is kinda worth it as Iron Tail is kinda cool and some of our team can learn it, like Portobello. But... I could just punch stuff instead??? Pass.



Good boys on both sides for the final bout.



Oh thank god dril is now no longer an embarrassment to his kind.



...hold up.

The AI just switched, which it never does, to pull of a Perish Song SOUNDPROOF strat. This fuckin blew me away! But he then doesn't switch Wobbuffet back in to keep us trapped here, so eh, 6/10.




Well you can gently caress off and all.



So yeah, let's just switch out and make that strategy cute, but overall pretty pointless.



Okay please stop doing all of this.




Yet another Chimecho sighting, this is getting really weird now.



Kakyoin is pretty great, but he really cannot deal with special attacks, even resisted ones, which will be hilarious, but also very scary.



This was super worth it since Arbok is nearly ready to properly join the team.



PIERCING THE HEAVENS



While the team got more levels than I would've liked, they were necessary to stop me losing, so I guess I'll deal with it.



You're right, that is an Aurora Beam hitting Pineapple and not Portobello. The AI in this game really loving sucks.



And our last TM is Solarbeam, whoopee. Right, uh, what else is there left?



I guess I'll do some more Mt. Battle, but after Area 4 there's a bit of a problem. Facade is alright if you've already used up Body Slam.



Ehhhhhhhh, since I'm only using Shadow Pokemon, the ones we got from the Cipher Key Lair are just... too weak. This is because of the level boosts that occur between certain areas. In Colosseum, this place had a nice smooth curve that also made the place super boring to go through since Shadow Pokemon were usually up to par. But in XD it's gone too far the other way and unless you're using your main team to get overlevelled, I'd say anything past Area 4 is actually postgame. Which is over half the loving mountain. At least in Colosseum I could get up to Area 9 no problem and space it out through the game. But here? The levels go up way too quickly compared to the rest of the game, so it sucks how much I'll have to do of this place at once, since it's still pretty uninteresting and repetitive.

Or maybe I'm caring too much about not wanting to be overlevelled in a game that is clearly and specifically much easier than the previous game and you don't really care about this. That's cool too, but I've been using Roosevelt in every fight (or at least tried to) and she got so outclassed so quickly it's actually a huge shame, since I managed to get Sylveon all the way up to the top. And I wanted to at least get past Area 6 before the postgame, since the next couple TMs are actually pretty good. Darn.





Let's wash away this bitter disappointment with our team being completed! Yaaaaaaaay!



Thanks to rannum for the final nickname of the LP! Man that always feels weird to think about...



All this running around doing side stuff has been really worth it, since we've not only purified every Shadow Pokemon we've encountered so far, but the Purify Chamber is at max efficiency! Set 9 uses all Normal types as well!



Rednammok needs some love cause his moveset is of course pretty rubbish, but the only reason I chose him over Beedrill is Earthquake. Seriously, there were some real close picks in this game since you're given some alright choice.



While I go around getting some items, there was one last thing we need to do that was no cooperating with me in the slightest and that kinda blows. I also bought a few too many Net Balls here, but if you're prepping for the final dungeon and you're looking at your ball count, just buy some more, especially Timer and Ultra Balls. You're welcome.



Our boss, MIROR B., dances the days and nights away. He won't quit until he gets all the POKEMON in the world. Huh? What does dancing have to do with POKEMON? That doesn't matter! What I'm trying to say is that our objective is to get every POKEMON in the world!

Miror B. Battle



Of course this isn't the last we've seen of Miror B. Far from it. He's actually very important in this game. Well, moreso than usual.



We have his Shadow Nosepass to catch, sure, but you might be wondering what happens to a lot of Shadow Pokemon you seemingly have no way of finding again if you beat them, like from Peons and such. Well, they find a sweet little home in Miror B.'s party.



That's right, any Shadow Pokemon you don't catch the first time will be obtained by Miror B. and you can find him to then get another chance at that Pokemon. You can do this as many times as you like, which means INFINITE MIROR B. BATTLES. Truly, there is no better Pokemon game.



Nosepass, 255 catch rate (99%, low health, Pokeball), starting moves: Shadow Wave/Thunderbolt, Shadow Mist/Helping Hand, Thunder Wave, Rock Slide

This can be a tricky Pokemon to finally snag for not that great of a reward, since Miror B. might pop up when you're busy doing things and even then, do you really want to go through the Pyrite Colosseum for the fifth time just to get this mon? Well, while its attacking stats are abysmal, it can take hits I guess. Being a stalling Pokemon catcher is never a bad thing, but it just doesn't do much otherwise, since while Rock Slide is appreciated, it barely does any damage with it, same with Thunderbolt. It can't even try Sandstorm and Toxic stall since that TM is postgame, with the actual Sandstorm TM not being in this game, but it learns it soon enough. I guess you can do some Zap Cannon Lock-On shenanigans in the lategame, but every option is just mehhhhhhhh. Just make sure you don't forget to actually catch this thing, I only got it this late since I was hoping Miror B. would appear at the Realgam Colosseum, but no dice.



This is the worst place Miror B. can appear in, since his team changes from where you encounter him, from a bunch of level 20s in Pyrite, to level 20-40 at Poke Spots depending on our progress, to level 40 in Realgam. He never once appeared at Realgam, otherwise that would've been a great time to go beat that place. He has a pool of Pokemon to choose from, along with one Shadow Pokemon that was missed in the colosseum battles, or two missed Shadow Pokemon at Poke Spots. Here's the Realgam team he'll use since it's the most interesting, but do not fret, even though he'll never catch another Shadow Pokemon we've missed, we shall of course see him again. Now if you'll excuse me, I have 3 weak battles to beat.





...alright I'm out of things to do, so make sure you've got plenty of items and balls, because I won't be making any return trips, though you are of course free to.

Citadark Isle



I hope you like this track, cause it's what we'll be hearing for quite a while. Oh yeah, this place is big and definitely not for the faint of heart. Or for anyone who actually likes their final dungeons to be good.



I have this feeling I met you in a port somewhere, but I don't give a hoot about that. I do have a problem when someone shows up here without passage on our boat!



Our first battle of many. Pretty good since Kakyoin and Rednammok have some catching up still, but it is gonna start to wear on us.



And as you'd expect, there's some Shadow Pokemon.



Golduck, 75 catch rate (78%, low health, Net Ball), starting moves: Shadow Rave/Waterfall, Shadow Mist/Charm, Psych Up, Brick Break

God why did I decide to go over every Shadow Pokemon? I must be insane, why are you all enabling me??? If you want to use a Shadow Pokemon on Citadark Isle, then either catch it earlier, or catch it towards the end and use Realgam Colosseum to help it, or you'll be using it as a Shadow Pokemon for the final boss, which can be a good idea for some Pokemon, but that's for later. ANYWAY, Golduck is a perfectly fine Water type that has its positives and negatives. While it doesn't get Surf, Waterfall is still pretty drat good and it learns Ice Beam, gets a free Brick Break and can relearn Confusion if you really wanted it to. Well, aside from that it has Iron Tail, so choose carefully, but it's a perfectly fine mixed attacker that gets perfectly fine moves. And that's it, if only they were all this easy...



Oh god there's so many Shadow Pokemon.



Sableye, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Shadow Blitz/Shadow Ball, Shadow Hold/Helping Hand, Faint Attack, Recover

Oh hey I forgot Glare doesn't effect Ghost types... This little gem gremlin is a bit poo poo, cause its stats are pretty low, but as a physical Ghost type it's not awful. It gets a great movepool and just enough Atk that you won't cry every time it attacks. Just most of the time. As an annoying status spreader that is only weak to Shadow moves... ehhhhh, it gets Confuse Ray soon, Toxic is postgame and Substitute and Swagger are at least something to suggest. Recover is definitely appreciated and with Shadow Ball and Brick Break it has coverage at least. Well, so long as its a Shadow Pokemon, it truly has no weakness. And isn't that what friendship is all about? Ah who cares.



We never see him again. Seriously.



Oh, aye! It excites the sailing man's heart in me! Listen, how about letting me take a ride sometime, huh? That's right! That's the spirit of the man of the sea! I don't know if this is much of a thanks, but I found this in the ship.



Neat. Since we won't be returning to the mainland before the postgame, I'll be counting this CD as a postgame one.



Alright, we've still got some time left in this update. After all, you're not doing anything important anyway, so let's start tackling this place. Let's go left first.




The trainer levels still need to catch up, but BOY will they.



Dead end. Nice.



That reminds me, the speedrun for this game is like 5 hours long. I'm getting close to 50 hours!



Oh hey I know that birb.



Kakyoin is still a great partner for Rednammok, since he takes like FIFTEEN DAMAGE from Earthquake and that is just wonderful.



Dodrio, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball) starting moves: Shadow Blitz/Drill Peck, Shadow Shed/Baton Pass, Agility, Tri Attack

You know what I'm gonna say about Dodrio, it really hasn't changed since we've used it, aside from losing a great tool in Hyper Beam. After all, I know what I'm gonna say about some Shadow Pokemon before the update since I think about it beforehand. Yes I'm that sad. It gets great moves to start with, though it doesn't need to do any Baton Pass nonsense, but it can't do anything else as Steel Wing is postgame. Seriously, it's just a slightly stronger and faster Fearow, which was a slightly stronger and faster Pidgeot. So yeah, I actually have nothing else to say.



Raticate, 127 catch rate (99%, low health, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Shadow Rush/Super Fang, Shadow Down/Refresh, Scary Face, Hyper Fang

Oh hey it's the rat I spoiled for you, cool. Raticate is like Fearow except not Flying, so worse. But hey, it can work out, it just needs a bit of love, as well as the standard TMs you probably already used. Regardless, Hyper Fang is a cool move that has a 10% chance to flinch. Did you remember that? I guess you could use Body Slam instead for more consistency. Then you've got Shadow Ball and Iron Tail and that's it. Well wasn't that fun. I guess you could use Dig and Ice Beam or Thunderbolt to hit 4x weaknesses? Eh, probably not worth it, it's a frail thing and it's not all that impressive cause, well, it's Raticate. So y'know, if you wanna use it, sure, but don't expect a huge amount. But at least you can use it and that's all that matters in this sea of Shadow Pokemon we're about to dive into.



Ah poo poo the floor glitch is back. Curse you totally legitimate Gamecube!



What is wrong with me? I've got to buck up and focus. Hey, kid, what say we battle? Oh, you're a bighearted kid! I'll show my respect and go all out!



Ah poo poo I went all out and knocked out 3 Pokemon in one turn.



Well it's good no one's that bothered by me being here on top secret evil island.



Maybe




Because of all the cool moves some Pokemon get, I forget how garbage their level up movepools still are.



I'm sure I'll get over it. ...hmm? Where is that funky music coming from?

Cipher Admin Theme



But it's okay now. We didn't need PROF. KRANE anyway! I just so needed to be serious just a little tiny bit to get XD001's adjustments just right! It is so perfect now! Purification will so not work on it ever! I'm so amazed because I am so a genius! Oh? You want to see my XD001? Oh, so sorry, that is so not possible! Why? Because...

Cipher Admin Battle







Ah time for the Admin refights, with some actual threatening Pokemon and new Shadow Pokemon! If you didn't get Delcatty last time, along with any other Admin's Pokemon, they're with Miror B. now.



Let's not do this now. Rednammok is getting strong enough that he one shot that Roselia.



Now we're getting to the good mons.



And to the good Shadow moves. Shadow Break has 75BP, 100% accuracy and is an upgrade to Shadow Rush. That's it.



Of course Shadow Panic hits both of us, but hey, that's what the Yellow Flute is for. It's very handy if you get constantly unlucky.



Farfetch'd, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Shadow Break/Slash, Shadow Sky/Baton Pass, Shadow Panic/Swords Dance, Aerial Ace

You think this Pokemon is a joke, right? Well it's true its highest stat is 65 Atk, which is hilariously bad, but by hell they try and make it work. With the Stick and Slash, Farfetch'd has a 33% chance to crit, which with a Swords Dance is nothing to scoff at. Then it gets Aerial Ace and Iron Tail and that's about it, but hey, with the right set up and team support, this Pokemon can work. CAN. This is still a really bad Pokemon, but I'll give points to GS for at least making me think if it's an option or not. The answer is gonna be no most of the time, but for one of you, perhaps... it's a yes. That would make you about as crazy as me though and do you really want that?

Altaria, 45 catch rate (50%, low health, paralyzed, Ultra Ball), starting moves: Shadow Break/Dragonbreath, Shadow Mist/Heal Bell, Shadow Rave/Solarbeam, Aerial Ace

Oh hey it's this mon again, this is the third time in Gen 3 we've been able to catch it and it's still perfectly fine. Starting with Dragonbreath is nice but Dragon Claw is at the end of the postgame. AGAIN. But it has a wide movepool and there aren't a lot of Ice moves floating around, so it should do just fine. I guess you could use it in a sun team, since it comes with Solarbeam for... some reason, then Fire Blast and Earthquake rounds it out nicely. Otherwise, you have Ice Beam and Body Slam, which are nice options, so add what fits your team best and go for it. It might not do as much damage as you'd like, but it can fit onto a team pretty nicely this late into the game by being a floofy defensive birb. And those are some of the best kinds of birbs! Otherwise that Flygon you totally have from the Poke Spot might be a better idea.



Ooh, how I so dislike you! I'll be glad, little boy, when MASTER GREEVIL and XD001 make you pay!



Alright, I think that sets the tone for Citadark Isle quite nicely. Next time, we'll spend all update climbing this drat place. Strap in folks and prepare to Snag.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
This guy's Plusle fetish is beginning to concern me.

Regarding the joke, there's a Clamp doujin where Kakyoin lays an egg containing his and Jotaro's baby. Yes, this is an actual thing; there seems to be some kind of consensus that unofficial JJBA material needs to out-bizarre the core series.

Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Aug 29, 2018

Saladin Rising
Nov 12, 2016

When there is no real hope we must
mint our own. If the coin be
counterfeit it may still be passed.

I loved Robo Kyogre actually being useful, that was amazing.:allears: Citadark Isle is cool, I tried to avoid going back to the mainland unless I absolutely had to. Yes, fighting Miror B. counts as one of the "absolutely had to" exceptions.

The level scaling between Colosseum and Gale of Darkness is kinda hilarious when you compare it. We're on Citadark Isle, which is late-game/end-game stuff, and Lovrina's Pokemon are level 36:


This was our team as of the first two updates in Colosseum:

Wes's team could likely take on Lovrina, although it would be a pretty uphill battle for Wes.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Oh Citadark Island. You sure are like...a quarter of the game?
It's a big boy

Explopyro
Mar 18, 2018

Ugh, I share your frustration over the Battle CDs. They don't seem to be well-documented anywhere, the flags for when they become available are completely arbitrary (even for the ones you can "find" beforehand, there's no way to know when the game will actually let you collect them unless you just keep checking and checking), and I have no idea how the developers meant players to know where to look. I like the CD battles themselves an awful lot, and they're a good idea for a collectible, but how they actually went about hiding them is absolutely asinine.

Citadark Isle is so massive for a final dungeon that I'm not sure it's even appropriate to call it that; how much of the game do we end up spending there? It's got nearly half of the game's Shadow Pokemon in it, too, which was just a wonderful pacing decision that couldn't possibly go wrong.

Still, it's not a bad place and there are some good fights here. The game seems to have finally remembered it should have a level curve, too, although now that it has it's going to start ramping really fast and get off track in the other direction...

Crosspeice
Aug 9, 2013

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Aug 9, 2013

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Aug 9, 2013

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