Sunday, October 13, 2013

Is the Kalos Dex too big?

Yes, believe it or not, this is an honest question. Thing is, I'm trying to get everything, which can be a pain. And since there are so many Pokémon, when you venture out on a new route just about everything you can meet in the wild is new. This results in many rare encounters, many more than in any other game. Right now I'm having trouble finding, wouldn't you know it, a Ralts. I already have one, but I need a second one to get both Gardevoir and Gallade. And I can't find another one! That's rather frustrating. I put up a spare Dunsparce on the GTS in exchange for a Ralts just in case, but I'm not expecting too much out of that.

Anyway, I visited what I could of Lumiose City, where half of the population's job is to tell you you can't go further because of the blackout... while failing to prevent other wandering NPCs from going through. Yes, that happened. This may actually top the row of dancing guys as worst roadblock for that reason alone: it's only a roadblock for you, but anyone else can just waltz in.

Current team: L22 Ivysaur, L25 Combusken

Edit: I'm up to route 6 now, and wow, they weren't kidding when they said the first two gyms were eons apart. Between all the Pokémon hunting and trainer battling I've been doing, with the Exp. Share on of course, the unthinkable happened... Combusken's level got so high it won't listen to me anymore. So I guess Ivysaur is on its own until I get the next badge. Oh well, at least it evolves soon... but that doesn't mean I'll be able to use that Venusaurite just yet, because I still have a long way to go until I get the Mega Ring. Oh well, regular Venusaur will slaughter everything just as well in the meantime.

About the Exp. Share... it's kind of silly, actually. I haven't been doing a whole lot of battling with Combusken because it got 75% experience (Exp. Share + trade boost), even in battles where it didn't fight, so Ivysaur's still not fully caught up. In addition, I've been using these extra four team slots for Pokémon that evolve early, in order to jack up my Pokédex and get those evolutions out of the way for when I get serious about filling the Pokédex. These Pokémon also came in very handy when the time came for me to catch stuff, because Ivysaur and Combusken slaughter absolutely everything.

As a side note, I'm amazed at how early you can get some of these stat-up TMs the gen 5 games gave you so crazy late. Swords Dance can be bought at Lumiose City for $10000, which is still fairly expensive at this point, but later on this won't be a problem. And Hone Claws is just out in the open on route 5 (Combusken learned Bulk Up immediately before I got it, so I never even had the chance to teach it Hone Claws). Meanwhile, I still don't have Rock Smash, which was just about the first TM you got in the gen 5 games, and is apparently very desirable for its overworld effect in this game.

Current team: L30 Ivysaur, L31 Combusken

Edit 2: Parfum Palace gave me a feeling that's hard to describe. It's the same impression I had when I  reached Oreburgh City back when I first played Diamond. That "shit just got real" feeling that no region other than Sinnoh gave me... even before the second gym I have the distinct impression that this is the definitive Pokémon game, the one that is truly, unquestionably superior to all others.

Current team: L32 Venusaur, L33 Combusken

31 comments:

  1. You know what i randomly found in grass near the second gyms location? A Bagon. You know the dex is huge when you find a pseudo legendary before the second gym, hell, you can find axews in the cave right before the grass I'm talking about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Didn't Platinum give you Gible stupidly early, too?

      Delete
    2. After the 2nd Gym, yes. X and Y tops that by letting you get one before the 2nd gym. Thank god the level curve in this is high enough to use pseudo legendaries.

      Delete
    3. I just beat the 6th gym and my shelgon is just a couple levels from evolution.

      Delete
  2. I'm hearing different things about how to get Sliggoo to evo into Goodra
    Some say level 70
    Some say level 64
    Some say level 50 WITH rain...
    Know anything?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd sent you a message via YouTube about the Ralts, if you're interested.

    ReplyDelete
  4. On a different note, with punching some numbers in, I am pretty sure that Stealth Rock was one thing that needed nerfed that was not. So, any observations of that on your end?...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may start crying when the competitive scene really gets started...

      Delete
    2. At least weather was nerfed, and honestly it was the more pressing matter.

      Delete
  5. THANK YOU, SEREBII! Looks like finding the roaming birds in the wild is just a trigger to make them appear elsewhere for a set encounter. So no shadow tag shenanigans are necessary. Which raises the question, though: what if you DO find them with a shadow-tag user as your lead? Do they still flee anyway, or do you just get a chance to catch them then?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, you apparently have to chase them and hope they go to Azure Bay...If so, STILL NO RUNNERS!...
      Also, I caught a Wobbufet so I could test if they still flee for myself...Not to weaken or anything, just to test...

      Delete
    2. It looks like they automatically go there after about 12 encounters with them

      Delete
    3. But it seems you can only get one. At least those who have Fennekin get Zapdos. Chespin gets stuck with Articuno...

      Delete
  6. Slow, do you know what Mega-Venusuar's base stats are? I've searched for a while and the only numbers I found can't be trusted if only for the fact that it has mega Venusaur's base hp at 84-100 which it can't be since it is 80. (becuase it only a form change, base hp can't change)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dude your not even at the second gym and your already in the 30's O.o

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. welcome to a slowflake playthrough buddy. Also slow dont forget the luminoise battle restaurants for grinding, esp after you fix the black out, and no limit, just limited by your cash. I ground my team to 50 after the fifth gym.

      Delete
    2. Oh, the irony of your statement is delicious.

      Delete
    3. I assume the prize money gets better after a while? Because I tried it, and took a net loss of about a thousand.

      Delete
    4. yeah but the exp is well worth it especially because of no rematches and no audinos. money comes easy anyway when you get the amulet coin also theres a castle en route to gym two you can fight once a day and its full of rich trainers. idk why but the restaraunts give out shrooms, do you know anything about what they do slow? i thought they were for move tutors or something.

      Delete
    5. Mine were at level 40 by the second gym. My Blaziken didn't give a shit about what I had to say. In fact it really did not listen to me until I got the last gym badge and at which point it was almost at level 100. Thinking back on it I'm not sure why I even kept it through the whole game.

      Delete
  8. Hey slowflake, can you give us your plans for your team during the main and post game?

    ReplyDelete
  9. FYI Route 12 has your favorite type of joke trainer. The one that makes you feel like performing a fatality, if you catch the drift. And in full 3D f(l)ailing glory.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So, Slow, I found a trace ralts on my first try

    ReplyDelete
  11. Exactly what about Oreburgh gave you that feeling you described?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everything, the ambience, the look of the place. It was unlike anything we'd ever had before in a Pokémon game.

      Delete