(note: next chunk pasted from the original "pokeplans" file on my work computer. Dates left as-is rather than attempting to create back-dated blog entries for each.)
(9/28/2009)
Ack. Mt. Airy Fair is THIS weekend. And I haven't replaced any of my stock.
I didn't really accomplish as much as I should have, just grew a mess of Berries, tracked down a bunch of rematches, and spent way too much time running around Meteor Falls looking for Bagon. That place is so full of Golbat that the whole team's up to lvl 60 (and Jubal's at 62). I also ran into Steven, and was dumb enough to talk to him when my team had already spent most of their attacks and were down HP. He wiped the floor with me, of course, but since I hadn't intended to get into that particular battle, I simply soft-reset without saving.
The stupid thing was, I'd been running around back there because Bulbapedia had Bagon appearing only in the "Back Room" of Meteor Falls. Well, the Back Room wasn't the inner cave where Steven was. Exploration revealed that there was more to Meteor Falls than I'd discovered previously -- including a tiny little chamber, mostly water, which contained TM 02 Dragon Claw. This, it turned out, was the "Back Room", and I caught me a breeding pair of Bagon. I named the male Fafnir, with plans to raise him with good attacks for breeding.
I also took a turn or two through the Safari Zone extension areas, and caught me some Mareep. My plan is to breed the female with my Raichu from the latest LG game, which will give the offspring Body Slam, Thunder Wave, and most likely Thunder too, since that's a TM. Then I'll raise me an Ampharos, by hard-core training and battling via Macho Brace, to bring with me when I go back to the E4. Because I want to give them a solid thumping, and a decent Electric type will give me a much better chance. Meadow having Thunder really didn't get me that much, so her slot will go to the Ampharos.
In fact, I'm kinda contemplating a secondary team, which I've never done before. I did pick up the Beldum from Steven's house, naming it Tungsten, but I'll save it for breeding since Tympany is already levelled. But I want to raise Fafnir, and there's also my revived Anorith, Cambrian (which should be good against Sidney's Dark types). I've never bothered to face any region's E4 more than once or twice, tops, so this'd be a new experience. This time, I should make sure I can deal with both Water and Ice. Especially Ice.
Still need to grab the Berries and items from Sam's game (and I've got 15 Pokemon to catch for permanent trades there). Plus I can swap through my LG Pokes, for 'Dex credit for what I've already caught or raised in those games. Might as well bring over the higher-order Berries from LG, too, since there's not much I can do with 'em there. I'm not sure I have the patience to complete the GIII National 'Dex, but I can at least maybe raise enough to get my Jhoto starter. Not sure it actually takes having all 200 Hoenn Pokemon, since Terrell got his, and his regional 'Dex is only at 175. Maybe he traded, or got an egg?
But I do want to solidly beat the E4, and also to defeat Steven, as well as raising at least a few more Pokes. So, still plenty to do.
(9/29/2009)
I did mention I'd caught some Feebas, right? Seven of them, actually -- four females and three males. All with names, and in Premier or Dive Balls.
I'd already picked one of the females as my prospective contest entry, mostly because the rest had paired names, and taught her Surf, Dive, and Waterfall. Only problem was, Lilium's nature turned out to be completely unhelpful: Careful, which dislikes dry flavor, the very same flavor I needed to feed her tons of to max out her Beauty. Plus, the Careful nature raises Sp. Def and hinders Sp. Atk, not great for a Milotic, or for her moveset.
But I hadn't grown that whole bushel o' Berries for nothing. Even as much as I suck at Berry Blending, I was able to blend up a pile of Indigo Pokeblocks from Hondew berries at the four-way table, which were both Dry and Bitter. She didn't love 'em, but she didn't hate 'em either. Only lvl 23 feel 19, but that was enough to max both Beauty and Smart. And a few other Pokeblocks, to minimally increase the other conditions. Of course, this maxed her sheen as well, so she'll never be real Cute, but hey.
Hoenn contests allow attack combos for increased points, and Surf/Dive or Dive/Surf are both possible Beauty combos. With that and max Beauty, Lilium won the Normal ribbon on her first try, and each of the other three on her second try. That makes her my second Master Ribbon-winning Pokemon, and the first I caught and raised myself. I'm wondering if she can repeat the feat in Sinnoh....I left her the Splash attack, since I vaguely remember that it was useful in Sinnoh contests. I'll need to look up the effects of her attacks in Sinnoh contests before I do anything irreversible.
(OK, here we go....
Splash (Cute) More hearts for low voltage
Surf (Beauty) 2 hearts, +2 if first in turn
Dive (Beauty) 1 heart, +3 if another Pokemon appeals to the same judge
Waterfall (Tough) 3 hearts, no added effect
That might actually work; an attack that gives more for low voltage is a must in the higher rank contests of Sinnoh. Plus, since someone else always picks the same judge in the higher ranks, Dive should work well too. A basic appeal is always good to fall back on, so Waterfall is good. And Surf should be a good opener if I can nail the visual and dance rounds well enough.
What I should do, probably, is duplicate this attack set in one of the males, and breed a contest-ready offspring before Pal Parking Lilium -- most likely to Pearl, where I need all five Master ranks to get my trainer card star. It'd be neat to have a two-region contest champion Milotic!
The only other thing I did last night (actually in the wee hours of the morning, when I'd woken up coughing) was to get Meadow up with the rest of the team, at lvl 60. I'd thought Wally would make a good Exp farm, but he apparently only fights on specific days, because he hasn't wanted to battle me since the weekend.
Next goals: Give another try to the E4, and breed that Mareep. As long as the E4's levels haven't heinously increased after the initial battle, I should have a bit of an easier time. I'd like to defeat them solidly with my original team. And even if I don't do any other trading, I can at least bring over Sparks and do some breeding. Those neglected water routes near Dewford should make for some great training, plus I can look up the rematches around the Dive areas, and do that Sea Current route from Pacifidlog back to Slateport that I never bothered with.
Another thing -- Other than non-Hoenn Pokemon, and the Battle Frontier, nothing else has happened, plot-wise. I haven't heard a word about Kyogre or Groudon since the Sootopolis incident, or about Maxie and Archie either. And I've even seen Latios! What gives? I think I've got to haul myself to the peak of Mt. Pyre to trigger the quest for Kyogre and Groudon. Somebody mentioned doing that, maybe Steven or Wallace. Hopefully that'll also get the necessary things moving to get me access to the Regis. With my team as high as it is, I should be able to nab all of them. So that's another goal: Get all my legendaries.
As a side note, I did download Oak's Letter, but haven't yet gone for Shaymin. The challenge there will most likely be not fainting it before I can get it in a Ball...
(9/30/2009)
Stayed up waaaaay too late last night. I forgot how much time the E4 take, much less contests. And trading. Oy, the trading!
Just for kicks, I went and got Lilium Normal rank ribbons in all the other contests. The Cool category took multiple tries and was hard as crap, and the others were close, but eventually I got them all.
Then I thought, hey, the team's all at lvl 60 now, let's trounce the E4. Well, it wasn't the solid trouncing I'd wanted....if anything, Drake and Wallace were actually HARDER this time around. And I still had to use Coriolis -- this time for Wallace's Ludicolo, who would just NOT go down. And if Coriolis hadn't had Rest (and me the Blue Flute) that wouldn't have worked either. >_< Still, I didn't have to use potions/revives as much. Eh.
So then I figured I'd do my trading to grab berries out of LG and get Dex credit. Except, in a fit of whimsy, I decided hey! why not battle myself while I'm here?
It was indisputably an ultimate dork moment -- not only was I having a Pokemon battle against myself, but I had the equipment to even make it possible. Still, it was fun in a silly kind of way. The best part, I think, was getting to see all my hand-raised Pokes from both teams in action from an opponent's view. As I pretty much expected, the Emerald team scored a solid win, since they were so much higher in level. The LG team did make a good showing, though, taking out everyone but Jubal and Tympany, with Jubal in the red. I didn't use potions or revives on either side, and tried to battle each side as if I'd never seen the other team before. Good nerdy fun.
With that over with, I got down to business with the trading. I gave my caught Pokes in LG all the berries above Sitrus (i.e. the non-useful ones), along with a bunch of items (elixirs and rare candies and the like), then rotated through the trades. But I started this at quarter to 11, ignoring how long all those trades would take -- three hours. It was nearly 2 AM by the time I was done, which was absurdly later than it should have been. My priorities are obviously wacked.
I ended up keeping a lvl 46 Gengar in Emerald for potential breeding, along with trading Sparks over to breed with my Mareep. So I'm now in a position to breed and raise that Ampharos, but I won't be tempted to mess with the E4 again for a while. Say, when the whole team is at lvl 70, which might take too long to actually happen.
I'd still like to bring in Sam's stuff, though, and then see where my Hoenn 'Dex is and how much time and effort it'd take to get it to where I could get the Jhoto starter. It'd be nice to accomplish that without resorting to plundering JD's Pokes.
(10/2/2009)
Yep, priorities definitely completely wacked. Stayed up way too late again, then spent too much of the night coughing. So today I'm giving that Five-Hour Energy stuff a try. >_<
Told the Thursday crew about my Pokenerdiess, and got properly laughed at -- but not without understanding. All us geeks have our obsesssions, after all.
While downing Medivka and tea after getting home, I decided it was time for some breeding. So I dropped off Sparks and my Mareep over at the DayCare, and figured out that the stretch of Verdantuf, Rt. 117, Mauville, and western Rt. 119 make for a nice long unobstructed 134-step run. A dozen or so trips back and forth by Mach Bike, and I had myself four Eggs.
Here's where I made my first mistake: With Gossamer, Jubal, and the four Eggs in tow, I kept biking until the first Egg's status was "it's making sounds! it'll hatch soon!" and then headed for New Mauville, because I like hatching things in appropriate places. Only, I'd forgotten how friggin' high the encounter rate is there. I was racking up maybe a half-dozen steps between wild Poke battles. Both Gossamer and Jubal had earned a level by the time the first couple Eggs had hatched, and Jubal earned most of another while I got the other two hatched. And this was including the use of about a half-dozen max repels, too.
Mind you, I saw three or four Electrodes while running around there, but not a single Magenton. Good thing I got the 'Dex credit from LG. >_<
But finally, I had my new batch of Mareep: Shiny (f), Beacon (m), Luma (f), and Lucia (f). I was disappointed to see that they hadn't inherited all of Sparks' moves, but they did get the important ones -- Body Slam and Thunder, along with Thunder Wave. As each one hatched, I threw on Exp Share for two encounters. This raised them all quickly to lvl 9, whereupon they learned Thundershock (I knew there was a reason I'd loved Sheepish so much!). I figure it'll be easy to make up the EV's later via Macho Brace.
Then came the choice of which one to train. Getting them all so quickly to lvl 9 let me see which stats were increasing fastest. Beacon and Lucia had disasterously low Speed. Between Shiny and Lucia, it was Shiny who had the better nature -- Naughty, which also likes Spicy flavor. And most of their movesets were in the Cool category. So Shiny it was (though, I would like to think of a better name, since I was thinking "shiny" as in the 'Verse, and she is not a shiny Pokemon).
At lvl 9, I figured she'd be able to one-shot pretty much anything on the early routes. I gave her the Macho Brace and took her out between Petalburg and the Woods. She didn't quite one-shot everything, and the Brace was lowering her Speed too much to get in the first hit. I withdrew all the vitamins from my PC that my main team couldn't use anymore, and fed them to her; went to Slateport and bought a few more. Then, with Shiny at lvl 13, I got bored and decided, let's go try some Contests! Maybe she could get the Master Ribbon in Cool!
This, of course, meant Pokeblocks, and lots of them. I will need to replace some Berries this weekend. Between generous helpings of Pokeblocks made with Pomeg (spicy-bitter), Kelpsy (dry-sour), Qualot (spicy-sweet) and Tamato (spicy-bitter), I got her condition pretty decent in all categories, and near to maxed in Cool. Then it was time to try some Contests.
It was also time to go to bed, but I ignored that and kept going.
Shiny had varying degrees of success with the Appeals round in the different contests -- Cool in particular didn't go as well as I'd have liked -- but her high condition netted her the ribbon in all of them anyway. I'm considering trying for all the Super rank ribbons as well. Training should also continue, to get her up to the point where I can take her over the water to Dewford. So my little Mareep should keep me occupied for a while. I plan on replacing Thundershock with Thunder Punch, but otherwise keeping the moveset she's got. There should be lots of time at Fair, as long as my battery doesn't give out.
(10/7/2009)
Work is crazy and I am so damn TIRED. Been getting up at 6:30 AM for the last three days to verify the forecast refreshes. Had to hit the 5-hour Energy stuff agin. argh.
But since I'm waiting for the new V7 appset so I can recreate SLR...
I really didn't Poke as much over the weekend at the Mt. Airy fair as I'd thought I would, but I did get Shiny all the Super rank contest ribbons between crocheting. There was only one of them that she had to try more than once (can't remember which, now). Saturday night, with Traci doing all her Facebook games beside me, I went for the Hyper and Master rank Cool ribbons, and got them with hardly any trouble -- again, more for her condition than her moves, but hey. And once again, the artist dude offered to paint her, and gave her the "you've been painted" ribbon, for a total of 13.
Back out in the Contest hall, I noticed a bunch of people standing around the Berry Blender tables. I had lucked out -- the Blending Master was in residence! No matter which Berry I put in, no matter how badly I did, I was getting Level 50-plus Pokeblocks (though the feel was also very high, around 43 mostly). Still! what luck! So I blended until my Pokeblock case was full, fed some to my team, and blended some more, then did that again. Who knows when he'll appear again?
Still no Mirage Island though. I have to wonder what I could have done with one of the really rare Berries -- Leichi, Starf, or Enigma. Ah well.
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to pick up the SP since, what with having to fall into bed at practically 8 PM to be able to hoist my ass up by 6:30 in the god-awful morning. Tonight I visit Mom and have to load EIM when I get home, then tomorrow I have to get my allergy shot, go to Dave's, then process the HT dimensions when I get home. And Julie's talking about working overtime to get caught up with our V7 testing. argh again.
So, dunno when I will get back to training Shiny (who might keep that name now that she's got her portrait up). I think I left her at lvl 20, and she did evolve to a Flaffy, but the first trainer along the Dewford water route proved to be at lvl 26 -- too high. So the plan is to get her up to lvl 30, evolve her to learn Thunder Punch, then hit the water and fight all the swimmers between Petalburg and Slateport. With the Macho Brace on, she should earn her Effort Ribbon by the time she approaches the level of the rest of the team. I will probably want to level them all some more before I try the E4 again, though. Probably to lvl 65 or, better yet, 70. I can't try the E4 too many more times, or their levels will increase...should ask Dave about that.
Also. I did go up to the peak of Mt Pyre awhile back, to see what was up with Kyogre and Groudon. Sure enough, Maxie and Archie were there, giving back their Orbs. Then they just walked away. One stopped and said "Rue..." then kept walking, and that was it. Sheesh. So I guess I should look into revisiting Mt. Chimney and the Seafloor Cavern, to see if the legendaries are waiting for me. I have no idea what triggers the quest for the Regis, but their caverns aren't open. I think I'll work with Shiny first, to get her levels up to where the underwater areas will be a good training ground.
(10/8/2009)
I got back from Mom's and finished the EIM load in time to get a little Poke-ing in. Plus, well, stayed up past 11. But I'd already taken my meds so that actually worked out better -- while playing I got most of the coughing out of the way. Slept straight through the night.
Shiny had progressed beyond where the levels of the wild Pokemon around Rustboro were doing her a whole bunch of good, so I made the rounds to collect some Berries (fighting a few rematches along the way) then headed for Slateport to train on Rt. 110. But then I saw the Trick Master's house and thought, eh, why not. Turns out this was the final puzzle. The trainers in the house were around lvl 45, so I used the opportunity to get Meadow and Jet up to lvl 62.
Then I headed west, forgetting that it was Rt. 117 next to Mauville that I was thinking of, and what should have appeared but the Altering Cave. The cave was thick with Zubat of about the right level, so I brought Shiny back out and set to training. When Shiny levelled, I noticed this had really helped her Speed, so I continued for another level. During this I attempted to feed her a couple Protiens I had sitting in my Bag, and it said they'd have no effect. That meant she was approaching her max EVs. When she'd gained another level (and 4 more Speed points) I ran over to Slateport. Sure enough, Shiny had earned her Effort Ribbon.
This brings her to lvl 26, which is probably enough to hit the water to Dewford. If I get any time tonight, I might try that....if her EVs are maxed, it's all about the Exp from here on in. Pity I don't have a Lucky Egg....
(10/10/2009)
eData is being a pain again.
Did I ever not have time to Poke on Thursday. Got back late from Dave's, then ran into critical failure trying to process PROJ. Ended up hauling IT out of bed at 1 AM and staying up 'till 7 AM getting CPA back online, plus handing the issue over to the rest of the team. Tried to sleep during the day but woke up every hour from dreaming about the whole mess.
When I finally was able to crawl out of bed Friday afternoon, Gabriel and Mandar had traced the problem to an HT entry that tried to assign a new child project to another child. So other than having to reprocess PROJ and re-load the data that got dumped all was well. Except now eData doesn't want to work.
Needless to say I didn't go to gaming -- stayed home and happened to catch the first couple episodes of Stargate Universe instead. It's actually pretty damn good. And between then and today, got some Poke-ing in.
Friday I mostly ran around finding places to level up Shiny to lvl 30. Today I took her down the water to Dewford, and from there over to Slateport. Fought all the trainers, including those in the above-water cabins of the Abandoned Ship. Then, just for giggles, I took the SS Tidal from Lilycove to Slateport. Ignored Scott blathering about the Battle Frontier and just went the rounds of the trainers.
In Slateport, someone said something about checking by the Weather Institute. I remembered something about that from the web, so I flew on up there and dropped in. The scientist said that they'd been picking up abnormal drought on Rt. 115, just north of Rustboro. I dutifully flew over to take a look. To my surprise, I stumbled on a new cave entrance, which proved to be Terra Cave. Inside was Groudon, in all its grouchy glory. I saved, just in case, and captured him with almost no trouble, especially given that Groudon was at lvl 70.
I decided that Shiny needed to be lots higher in level before trying for Kyogre. While looking in the Match Call list for rematches, I noticed that six of the eight Gyms had re-opened, and their leaders were ready for a rematch. Again to my surprise, the rematches were two-on-two. So not only did Shiny get a bunch of Exp, so did Tympany and Meadow.
After all that, I went looking in the wrong place for Kyogre, and ran around Shoal Cave for a bit instead. With Shiny at lvl 48, I went back to the Weather Institute and found out the right place to go, and went there. Had to backtrack to the Pokemon Center and grab Hugh, as it turned out Marine Cave was underwater.
I didn't get Kyogre on the first try; it took Shiny down with one hit before she could get in a Thunder Wave, then just as I'd finally gotten it down into the red it used Double-Edge. Fortunately I thought to save before the attempt, so I hope the next try will go better. Probably I should go in with Meadow and see if I can paralyze it with Thunder.
I also tried to nail Latios with Thunder Wave, but at the time he was too much higher in level than Shiny. I'd like to get him in an Ultra Ball if I can, and hang onto my Master Ball.
later: It took a few tries, but I nabbed Kyogre. Latios remains elusive...I am considering raising Alfred, the Golbat I caught in the Cave of Origin, to max out his Speed so that he can throw Mean Look at the darn thing. With any luck I can get him up to a Crobat while I'm at it.
After that I swung by the other couple Gyms that were ready for me, ran around the back of Meteor Falls and zapped a horde of Golbat, and chased down a lot more rematches. At the end of all that, Shiny was all the way up to lvl 60. Before going back to the E4 with her, though, I want her at least up to lvl 65, along with everyone else. Then maybe I can give them the solid trouncing I wanted.
Dinner is making suspicious noises, must go....
(10/12/2009)
I should know better than to start growing Berries on a Sunday. The Lum were only just taller this morning. Still, I replaced some of the berries I spent on the Blend Master. And he's due for another appearance tomorrow. I should look into what to feed Gossamer and Tympany. Pity Jet's sheen is maxed.
Other than growing a bushel of Berries, I also got Jubal all four ranks of Tough ribbons (though the artist dude did NOT offer to sketch him, as he didn't finish the appeals round in the lead). His moveset didn't turn out to be all that great for contests; I think it was only his condition plus the Scarf that got him the ribbons, really.
I also finally did the trading to bring in Sam's berries and items, along with the not-in-Emerald Pokemon (except, for some weird reason, I seem to have overlooked Lunatone). This time I timed it -- each trade, from talking to the lady at the counter to being out of the room, takes about 8 minutes, if one is paying attention. So alltogether it was about two hours. After all that was over and done with, I checked the Pokedex. Turns out I have only 35 more to go for the Hoenn 'Dex, not counting Latios and the Regis. Which isn't at all bad, after having gone through the full GIV National 'Dex.
Shiny is at lvl 61 and counting, though it's getting difficult to keep finding battles, especially since Wally doesn't seem to want to fight me. I need to look up both Wally, and the SS Tidal -- was battling the onboard trainers just a one-time deal, or can I milk them for Exp on every trip? And what days does Wally fight on?
(10/13/2009)
So last night I finally gave in, and went to take a look at the Battle Frontier.
It's huge and full of buildings and random people, but there's not much there that's really interesting if you're not into the whole battling thing. There was a Sudowoodo to catch, and the Artisan's Cave, where you can trip over a Smeargle every couple steps. They were good for training, too; Shiny's now even with the team, at lvl 63.
Despite being thoroughly unenthused, I gave a couple of the facilities the old college try. The first one, which I think was the Battle Palace, didn't let you command your own Pokemon. Instead, they'd choose moves according to their nature, from three categories: offensive, defensive, and "odd". Evidently my Pokemon don't have the right moves for their natures. I didn't make it too far.
The Battle Pyramid was actually kind of fun, for the first few floors. This involved exploring in the dark, while fighting the occasional wild Pokemon and up to eight trainers, and snagging items from the floor. But they take away your bag, so you don't have access to your own items, and you only get three Pokemon. And as you ascend the Pyramid, the wild encounters increase to the point where you can't take more than a few steps between encounters, and you can't run away anymore. I made it to the top, but it was frustratingly difficult. And you can't catch the wild Pokemon, because you don't have Pokeballs. Goodness knows I'm not gonna see an Electabuzz anywhere else.
On the plus side, this seemed to trigger a couple more events -- Lilycove's cleanout sale and the Energy Guru's sale are upcoming, in addition to the Game Corner service day and the Blend Master's appearance. And I did catch a Sudowoodo and a couple Smeargle.
What I really need, though, is an Exp farm to get the whole team up to lvl 65 so I can try the E4 again. At least Wally did want to battle last night -- maybe it's on the same day the E4 were last defeated?
(10/15/2009)
According to Bulbapedia, Wally can be fought "several times a day". No idea if that's every day, or whether it relates to the E4 at all. I think I beat them first on a Monday, and second on a Tuesday; and I got two or three battles out of Wally this Monday. Coincidence?
One thing that's becoming painfully clear is that it's going to be a lot of effort to raise those last 35 Pokemon without a good Exp source. Especially if I want to get them all the way up to lvl 50. The SS Tidal appears to have been a one-time deal, which is very disappointing. Rematches have been hard to come by, too. I may have to hit a few hitherto-unexplored areas, like the other bits of the sea current route, or the underwater level of the Abandoned Ship.
However, Shiny and Gossamer are even with Jubal at lvl 65, and everyone else is at lvl 64. I'll give the E4 one more try when the whole team is lvl 65. After that, I think I want to EV train Alfred for Speed -- KO a bunch of Zubat with the Macho Brace on, basically -- and raise him to a Crobat. Hopefully he doesn't have a contrary nature. If I jack up his speed enough I shouldn't have to get him much higher than lvl 45 or so for him to out-Speed the roaming legendaries.
Also -- I went and got Meadow a couple Cool ribbons, just for giggles. Her moveset was not at all geared towards Contests, so I dunno if I she can aspire to the Master Ribbon. I let the Blend Master pass, and missed the Lilycove sale; but I did go by the Energy Guru and net a whole bunch of half-price vitamins, mostly Carbos for Alfred.
(10/16/2009)
Wally didn't seem to be up for a battle yesterday, but I still managed to do some levelling. This was mostly accomplished by surfing repeatedly along the sea current route, trying to reach the Dive spot leading to the Sealed Chamber. The currents shunt you in different directions, so there's only one path that will get you there. Again, I have no concept how long things take, because I felt it necessary to translate all the Braille in the chamber using the chart in the FR/LG guide.
"First comes Wailord. Last comes Relicanth."
"In this cave we have lived. We owe all to the Pokemon. But, we sealed the Pokemon away. We feared it. Those with courage, those with hope. Open a door. An eternal Pokemon waits."
Of course, I'd forgotten to bring both Hugh and Sockeye, so I had to go back and get Sockeye, then surf back to the Chamber. Went up to the first inscription with my party in the right order, and ta daaah! three doors opened.
First I went to the Desert Ruins. Another inscription there read "Left, left. Down, Down. Then use Rock Smash." So I walked left twice and down twice and had Meadow use Rock Smash. The inner door opened, and Regirock was on the other side. It was a moderate pain to catch, and I had to reset once. Hugh's attacks were too strong, so I had Sockeye use Yawn and then whittle it down. I had the thought again that maybe I could nab the Regis in Premier Balls, but that wasn't working so I fell back on Ultra Balls. A handful of tosses later, and I had me a Regirock.
Next I went out to the Island Cave. The instructions there were to "Stay close to the wall. Run around one lap." This proved ineffective, or I wasn't doing it right, so I ditched and went to the next one.
That was the Ancient Tomb, which said, "Those who inherit our will, shine in the middle." I grumbled mightily and went to fetch Phosphor, came all the way back, then stood in the middle of the cave and had Phosphor use Flash. Behind door #3 was Registeel. And Registeel did NOT want to stay in any kind of ball. Even paralyzed or asleep, with its HP in the red, it just shrugged off the Ultra Balls like they were mere Poke Balls and as if it were fully healthy. I had to reset I think three times because I'd thrown all 21 of my Ultra Balls without catching it. Finally, the damn thing stayed in the 9th-to-last Ultra Ball. So I had my Registeel, but it was after midnight. >_<
Luckily I had done the contest thing right after getting home, rather than after all this running around for Regis. Meadow not only won the Master rank Cool ribbon, but actually came out ahead in the Appeals round and got herself a portrait into the bargain. I was kinda surprised, even though she did score the voltage bonus.
So the next item on the Pokegenda is to get in to catch Regice. According to Bulbapedia, the lap needs to be counterclockwise....doesn't say if you have to run it. I hope not, because I wasn't able to run and stay along the walls.
Then, as the whole team is now at lvl 65, I can give the E4 another try. Hopefully that'll go well, but even if it doesn't, the next project will be to raise me some Pokes for the 'Dex: Alfred first, so I can nab Latios; then Samson, Atomic, Fafnir, Cambian, and my brand-new Lileep, Permian.
For an insane moment a day or so ago, I was actually tempted to buy another Emerald cartridge, simply to be able to raise different team Pokemon. O: Hopefully that moment has permanently passed, even if I don't know how else I'll get enough Exp without fighting a million wild Pokemon.
WHOO ARCEUS AT TRU NOV 7-15! And it's downloadable to both D/P and Platinum, so I can get two!
(10/19/2009)
The moment of insanity hasn't passed. I am still tempted to buy a second Emerald cartridge -- not just to raise another, different team, but to catch my own Latias instead of just scrounging Terrell's, without having to restart.
Gaming was cancelled Friday, so I was able to go back and catch Regice. It took damage a lot more easily than the other two, so much so that I KO'd it on my first couple tries and had to reset, but it didn't take more than a couple Ultra Balls to get it.
Then I set out to EV-train Alfred. First I maxed out his Speed EVs via a couple Carbos and defeating 150 Zubat in Altering Cave with the Macho Brace on. But I didn't think things through before feeding him two of all the other vitamins; I divided the rest of his available EVs between Defense (Silcoon and Cascoon weren't easy to find, but gave 4 pts each with the Brace) and Sp.Defense (much easier because almost everything on Rt. 114 raises Sp. Def.) A quick trip to the Effort Ribbon lady verified that he was as EV'ed as he was gonna get, so then it was off to level him a bit. Fortunately the Pokemon breeders on Rt. 117 were in a mood to battle a few times each, so I got him up to lvl 50 without too much trouble.
I also got Wally to battle again, so Jubal is at lvl 67, and the rest of the team at lvl 66. The annoying thing, though, is that when calling trainers up for matches, they keep throwing my "2-win streak!" at the Battle Palace in my face. >_< It's almost enough to make me go back and try again...but only almost.
Regardless, with Alfred trained and levelled to learn Mean Look, it was time to go a-hunting me a Latios. In no time at all, I had it paralyzed and down to a sliver of HP -- but the darn thing was even more reluctant to stay in a ball than Registeel had been. Worse, it kept using Refresh, and getting rid of the paralysis -- that's a bitch of a move to put on a roaming legendary. As if that weren't enough, its psychic attacks were super-effective against poor Alfred. I ended up resetting several times, not only to conserve Ultra Balls but so that Alfred wouldn't end up hating me.
Finally, persistence paid off: Latios didn't KO Alfred, and stayed in an Ultra Ball (which means I get to keep my Master Ball). I named him Cloud (Latias would be Skye), cheered, and turned my attention to Fafnir.
Fafnir gained his first level on Whismurs, who add HP; then I trained him some in Granite Cave, hoping to catch a Nosepass, but no dice. This would mostly raise Defense, with some Attack from the many Makuhita. From there I moved to Rt. 114 to get him some Sp. Def, but he seemed to have some trouble there. And of course I hadn't had the foresight to check IVs before I started, so I've no idea if he just has poor IVs. Too late now! The nice lady didn't give him an Effort Ribbon yet, though, so I should most likely check to see what'd give Sp. Attack -- probably Shuppet -- and go do a couple levels of those. Once he's got his EVs, I can swap the Macho Brace for an Everstone (he's already trying to evolve at every level) and just powerlevel like crazy.
From there I should really move on to the other starters or the fossils, but I have an urge to breed a Whismur. Extrasensory would be too hard to get, since I'd have to level a Nuzleaf really really high, but Snore might be doable. A moveset of Uproar, Hyper Voice, Rest, and Snore would be amusing...the noise attacks to do damage, Rest to regain HP, and Snore to do damage in the meantime. Or Supersonic, instead of Uproar.
Gotta pick up prescriptions tonight; hopefully my prednisone is ready, and the antibiotic will do some good for my skin, at least, if not my lungs. Luckily I already have food in the house, so no need to shop (though I probably should).
