As always, I want to warn you all that I will be spoiling this game here. As such, if you want to play this for yourself, I recommend that you download the game at its wiki right here. And with that, let's begin!
I've been doing quite a bit of grinding getting ready for Thor at the Pokéhadron Collider. I chose to add Diglett and Geodude to my team, replacing my Weepinbell and Seadra. Seadra had the type disadvantage, and Weepinbell was out because...well, space reasons. I can only have six Pokémon on the team, after all. After all the grinding, I'm going to hit the Pokéhadron Collider.
We can't get into the Collider from the front door, unfortunately. We'll have to pass through a couple of routes (306 and 307), as there's an alternate entry point at the remains of Nyasa Town. Ahhh, God. Team Olympus just destroyed...everything, didn't they? That awesome arcade down on Rawlins Street...that barber shop with the nice lady that always knew how I liked my hair cut...man, all those memories...all just gone.
I said this in the last entry, and I'll say it again. Be prepared before entering the collider. Because if you go in...you cannot leave until you beat Thor. So, yeah. Make sure your Pokémon are ready for a fight, and you have plenty of healing items and the like. I bought a bunch of Potions and Paralyze Heals for my Pokémon. Thor uses Electric-types, so it's good to prepare for paralysis.
I've also been doing a ton of grinding of my Pokémon in preparation for this whole thing. Once they were powerful enough, it was time to hit the Collider. I traveled through a tunnel to get to the Collider. It was just a tunnel. Just a plain old tunnel. Nothing special. It was at the end of the tunnel that some action went down.
"Not responsible". Yeah, I call BS on this. Team Olympus was swarming Nyasa and had the town quarantined. If they didn't blow up Nyasa Town, then who did? What, did it blow itself up?! Well, according to Thor, it was the scientists at the Collider's fault. They caused some epic screw-up, and Team Olympus evacuated the town. But it wasn't a complete loss. The Time Caller, enhanced somehow by the Collider, was able to summon a being called "Divaevus, the Traveller".
I think Divaevus is a new Pokémon created for this game. There's nothing on Bulbapedia about it. Anyway, Thor (the game calls him Apollo. Yeah, I talked about this in the last entry) claims they can now use this new Pokémon to move anything through time. I was confused for a moment. Wait, didn't they already have that ability with the Time Caller? Why did they need the Collider? Well, you see, the Time Caller can only summon things through time to the present. It doesn't allow its user to travel through time. Naturally, one can assume that Team Olympus somehow used the Collider to enhance
Thor spots me, and we end up battling. He wants a bit of payback for my beating Athena in Onega Town. Let's do this.
1st Pokémon: Elekid (Lv. 22) - Defeats Diglett. Defeats Gible. Defeated by Magmar.
2nd Pokémon: Carvanha (Lv. 24) - Defeated by Luxio.
3rd Pokémon: Luxio (Lv. 24) - Defeats Luxio. Defeats Butterfree. Gets defeated by Confusion's after effects.
Thor is furious. He uses the Time Caller to bring his Pokémon back. However, I get a savior.
We meet at last, Mr. Wilson. And he's a member of the Elite Four! He specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon. Thor does the smart thing and backs off, but warns that Zeus will hear of this. With him exiting stage left, Wilson congratulates me for beating him, as Team Olympus is no joke. I wonder if he knew about my previous encounter with Athena. And Thor was the only member of the team that actually gave me a challenge so far.
Wilson has a past with the Collider. He was a former worker there, specializing in...creating synthetic Pokémon. Hoo boy, there's a mountain of issues with this. Anyway, he came by to see me. Why? Well, the Legend Researcher claimed to him I was a great trainer. Looking at me, he is reminded of someone he once knew...maybe he knew Aria. He wonders if I can run an errand for him.
He wants me to go to Ladoga Town, over in the Chrome Circle. To get there, I need four badges, and a Pokémon that knows the Surf technique. I believe I only have two so far. No problem, I can get those badges at the Gyms in Fianga City and Agassiz City. Well, the Collider is right in Fianga, so we can go hit that Gym first.
The Fianga Gym specializes in Steel-type Pokémon. And the Gym leader is a unique one...because their leader is a robot.
Yup. It's bizarrely appropriate that a gym specializing in Steel-type Pokémon be led by a robot. The robot's name is PK-096. And we'll have to solve a puzzle at the gym to get to it. However, there's a problem. You see, there's a branch you have to use Cut on in front of the Gym. I don't have any way to Cut said branch, so I can't just go inside the Gym.
Aw, well. I still have a bit of unfinished business at the Collider, anyway. The scientists inside are hard at work making crimes against nature. Most of them are very thankful for clearing Team Olympus out of the Collider. One even offers to teach my Pokémon Return. There is always one Grumpy Gus, though.
Heh heh. There are more scientists upstairs, and one of them claimed that they were unaware of the commotion downstairs.
...How were you all not aware of the Pokémon battle going on downstairs?!
Anyway, one of the scientists reveals he used to work for Team Rocket, and was involved in the creation of Mewtwo. He showed me one of the results of the research that was done that led to Mewtwo's creation...and it's a Ditto. The idea that Ditto is an artificial Pokémon is an interesting one. The first Pokémon games had a theme of genetic engineering, and Mewtwo was a Pokémon created through genetic engineering. Whose to say there weren't other Pokémon created in the process?
I have to admit, I was a bit nervous going into this. I only had a couple of Pokéballs, and if I failed to catch Ditto here, I would not get another chance until later in the game. Thankfully, I managed to catch it easily thanks to Butterfree and its Sleep Powder. It was surprisingly easy. Must've been lucky. Huh. I'm not going to complain. If I failed to catch this Ditto here, I'd have to wait a very long time for another shot at one. Having a Ditto is also great, as I can now breed Pokémon. That's pretty much all I use Dittos for. Now I have to find a Day Care Center...
I had been thinking about what to do when battling PK-096. The common strategy to battle Steel-type Pokémon is to use Fire-types. Unfortunately, they're in short supply in my case. I only have a couple of those: Magmar and Ponyta. Maybe Route 308 will have some more. Route 308 leads to Agassiz Town, so maybe there's some Fire-types to get there.
On Route 308, I fought a Trainer armed with a Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Charmeleon he claimed to have gotten from Professor Oak. Yeah, I doubt the man would give a trainer all three original starter Pokémon. I'll have to ask him next time I see him. Maybe he knows somebody who breeds starters for beginner trainers?
I also fought another Trainer who wanted to brag about how beautiful her Pokémon were. After I beat her, she called me awful. Hey, not my fault you cared more about making your Pokémon pretty instead of making them good battlers. Also, I found another goof-up on this Route.
Yeah, the Pokémon you encounter is called Espurr, but that sprite there? That's not Espurr. That's Goomy. Whoops. And it's happened a couple of times. Whoopsie. Route 308 is not a very eventful route. Just travel through, catch a couple Pokémon and battle some trainers. I did discover an item on the way.
It's a pair of Super Potions! Those could come in handy! Never know when you'll need a Potion in this crazy world. Route 308 is a rather long route, one
Partway through, we get a nice surprise.
Welcome to Kariba Town! And yes, it's named after another lake. Lake Kariba is another African lake, located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was created by the building of the Kariba Dam. The town is essentially a giant rest stop on the way to Agassiz Town. As such, it's a very basic town. It has some houses, a Poké Mart, and a Pokémon Center. If you talk to an old man in the Center, he'll give you a Lucky Egg. It's a handy item for grinding. Give it to your Pokémon, and if you battle with it, it'll get more experience points than normal, allowing it to get stronger faster. It can be useful if you're making adjustments to a team, and you want to get new members caught up with the Pokémon you already have.
Interestingly, the town is built on top of the Pokéhadron Collider. It's not as implausible as you think. Check out the Large Hadron Collider in France/Switzerland. It has a ring 17 miles in circumference. It's plausible to have towns around and on it.
I did get a chuckle from one moment. There's this wannabe fisherman who is...having some issues with catching some fish.
...Dude, there's no water there! No wonder you can't catch any fish, man! Come on!
Kariba Town does seem like a glorified "rest stop", but it still has a couple of things to do here. If you have an extra Rapidash, you can trade it to this kid near the Poké Mart for an Absol.
This trade is hilarious. You see, you can get Ponytas pretty easily in this game. Absols are hard to come by. I do have a Ponyta and a Ditto. I can just breed one, raise it until it evolves, then trade it for the Absol. I hope this region has a Day-Care Center. Can't see why it would not have one. There also is a home that has a Corsola.
Unfortunately, the poor critter has seen better days. You're probably wondering why the Corsola's owner didn't take it to a Pokémon Center? Well, it's hinted the Corsola is a wild Pokémon the old man found, and that it has an illness the Pokémon Center can't treat. You can try to catch it, but you need an item called a Medical License for it. It's obtained via the Mystery Gift feature at the game's select screen.
There is one other interesting thing here in Kariba Town...
I got a bike. I'm sure it's fine. Totally fine. I just got a free bike from a stranger hanging around the woods. I'm sure there's absolutely nothing shady about that.
Kariba is a cute little town, but I can't stay forever. I have Badges to get, and Team Olympus is still out there. Got to give them more beatings, too. And thanks to my new bike, I can do it a little faster now!
So far, the bike seems to work perfectly fine. And it allows me to go at a very good speed. Kariba Town splits Route 308 in half. The part of Route 308 that connects Kariba and Agassiz Town is known as Route 308.5. I'd have personally gone with Route 308 North and Route 308 South, but that's just me. The grassy area of 308.5 has a Trick house nearby.
Unfortunately, the door is locked at the moment, so there's no exploring it for now. We continue on the route until we reach a large desert area...and we get a faceful of sandstorm.
You know, geographies of Pokémon regions can be pretty weird. I mean, Route 308.5 has a grassy area that goes straight into a desert, and you get hit by a sandstorm the second you step foot in it. Anyway, there's plenty of Trainers to battle in this place. Fighting them here can be tough due to the perpetual sandstorm. Unless your Pokémon are Rock, Ground, or Steel-type, they will get battered by the sandstorm while fighting Trainers here.
Sounds intimidating, right? You may be thinking, "Is there any way to prevent this happening?" Well, yes. There is. In the desert there is a big ol' rock formation. On the top of it lies a special item that can help with the sandstorm: A pair of Go-Goggles.
What are Go-Goggles? Well, Go-Goggles are an item that when you put them on, they can dissipate weather effects in the overworld, like this here sandstorm. Two questions. One: Who left these goggles here? Two: ...how do the Go-Goggles do that? I mean, I get that the goggles would protect a trainer's eyes from sandstorms, but how do they dissipate it. ...I'm putting too much thought into a game about catching monsters and making them battle each other, aren't I?
The desert area is rather big, but there's no wild Pokémon here to catch. This is odd as desert areas in previous games have had Pokémon dwelling in them. This would have been a great place to catch Darumaka, for example. It's a Fire-type, and dwells in deserts. Not to mention given us something to use against PK-096.
At the entrance to Agassiz Town, there's trouble afoot.
Yup, Team Olympus is up to something. I know they blew up Nyasa Town. Just because they say they didn't doesn't mean they didn't. And is...is that Jake?! What is he doing here? Evidently, he's claiming to be part of...Team Yoloswag? Seriously?! Hey jerkoff, these clowns blew up Nyasa Town!
Funny enough, Team Olympus and I are on the same page regarding Jake. They think he's a moronic clown, too. So they decide to just go up and leave. That. Is. Hilarious. Jake himself is rather mad about it. So, he decides to take it out on me. Yeah, sure pal. I wish the Team Olympus guys were still here just so they could see me whup you. He says if he loses, he'll give me an HM he has.
Vs. Jake
1st Pokémon: Charmeleon - Defeated by Seadra
2nd Pokémon: Aron - Defeated by Magmar
3rd Pokémon: Seadra - Defeated by Weepinbell
4th Pokémon: Scraggy - Defeated by Butterfree
Seadra and Scraggy were pretty tough opponents, but I still managed to pull off the win. Kicked Jake right in the swag, ha ha. Jake rants that Team Yoloswag will be the greatest team ever! Yeah, greatest at making people laugh themselves silly unintentionally. But to be fair, he did keep his promise regarding the HM. I now own HM01: Cut. I can go into the Gym in Fianga now...once I beat the Gym in Agassiz Town.
And speaking of Agassiz, we have arrived!
Also, the humor is dry, too. And before you ask, yes. Agassiz does share the other towns and cities' lake naming theme. This time, the name comes from Lake Agassiz, a glacial lake in North America. It's between Canada's Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, and the U.S.'s Minnesota and North Dakota.
And I think that's where we'll end this entry for now. Next time, we'll explore Agassiz Town, this little desert oasis, and then face its gym. I hope you'll join me then! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!
Pokémon Obtained:
Pokéhadron Collider
- Ditto
Route 308
- Helioptile
- Espurr
Route 308.5
- Sandshrew
- Sandile
- Hippopotas
- Phanpy
- Gabite (evolved from Gable)
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