Adventures in Pokemon Y Part 9: Route 7 and the Berry Farm

It's good to have friends. After complaining to one of my friends about the Global Trade System, she agreed to breed a couple Pokémon for me. Thanks to her, I got a Charmander and a Squirtle. I have all three Generation One starters, so my Bulbasaur won't be lonely. I was grumbling because of what people demanded in trade. I searched for Charmanders, and what did people want to trade for them?

Arceus. Mew. Real legendary and hard-to-get Pokémon. This I found incredibly annoying. Look, I do get that Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur are starters and can't really be caught in the wild. I get it. But here's the thing. They are not Legendary Pokémon because you can do something with those three you can't do with Legendary Pokémon: BREED THEM. You can BREED Charmanders. You can BREED Squirtles. You can BREED Bulbasaurs. If you have one, another compatible Pokémon, and a Breeding Center, you can CREATE more of the starters to trade to people. You don't need to demand Legendaries for starters. Yes, I do get that starters are hard to get, but so are Legendaries. And starters are not that hard to get as unlike Legendaries, they are breedable.

I start to leave Camphrier Town when I come to a crossroads. One route goes to Route 7, and the other goes to Route 8. Shauna appeared and told me the way to go, Route 7. Going down the route, we encountered a moment that made me smile a little bit.

There was a Snorlax blocking the road. Just like in the original Red and Blue, you encounter a Snorlax blocking the road. I had to admit, it was nice to see that little nod.

Two men are talking about using a Poké Flute to wake it, but the flute's owner doesn't have it anymore. When one of the men spots us, he explains that the flute can be found in a place called Parfum Palace. Shauna decides to go there to get the flute. She explains the Palace is just past Route 6. She's also hoping that they could learn something about Mega Evolution there. I don't see what you can learn about Mega Evolution at a palace, but it's Pokémon, so I'm just going to go with this.

While going back along Route 7, I noticed a path, so I decided to explore down that way. When I got there, I noticed what looked like a man and a little girl talking...or just standing there facing each other. I got a little closer and they noticed me. The man than asked me if I could take over his Berry field. He says that by planting a Berry, a person can get more Berries. I agree to take over the field (and end up learning the man is the little girl's grandfather), and he shows me how to take care of the field.

Basically, what I have to do is plant a berry in the soft soil, and over time, it'll grow into a Berry Tree which you can pick Berries out of. He gave me some Oran and Pecha Berries to start out with. The granddaughter gives me a Sprinklotad, which is a Lotad-shaped watering can. The grandfather explains that he can't garden like he used to due to his bad back, but the granddaughter explains that she and him live in the house in the corner of the field.

I'll be honest about something. I like Berries. I really do. I often grew them instead of buying certain healing items because it was a great way of saving a little money so I could put it towards other items. Having a Berry Farm for me has both one big pro and one big con. The big pro is that you can get a LOT of Berries just by planting a few. The big con is that with this farm, you have to stick around to make sure your soil is moist and also keep an eye out for wild Bug Pokémon that will try to eat your Berries.

I do like the idea of the Berry Farm, though. If you want a whole lot of Berries, you can use it. This reminded me of the Berry Pots from HeartGold and SoulSilver. I would love if you could also get those in X and Y, so a Trainer on the go can grow some Berries. Yeah, you wouldn't be able to produce as many berries, but it would allow a Trainer to keep an eye on their Berry trees.

For a laugh, I decided to plant an Oran and a Pecha tree. We'll see how that goes. Once the trees bloom, I'll head towards Parfum Palace.

Pokémon Obtained:
Charmander
Squirtle