Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry number four in my Text Play of Pokemon Xenoverse!
Before we proceed, I do wish to warn you all. I will be spoiling this game.
As such, I recommend that you play the game for yourself before you read this. You can download it at the developers' site here. The site is in Italian, but the game is obviously playable in English. My Italian is...well, non-existent is a kind way to describe it, so thank goodness for that.
Before we continue on, I wish to apologize for putting this up late. I mistakenly assumed that April had 31 days and I wanted to put this up on the last day of the month like I always do with these entries. So, it looks like May will have two this month. Now back to the game. With Team Dimension defeated for now, they decided to not just flee the library, but it looks like they fled the whole town!
Good riddance to bad rubbish there, I say. Which means we can explore the town! Yay! And since the Library was cleared out, that means that people can use it again. Also, there's a TM hidden in one of the shelves.
It contains TM04 (Calm Mind). It's a stat-affecting move. A Pokémon that uses it, well...calms its mind, somehow raising its Special Attack and Defense Stats. I'm guessing the idea is that it uses meditation to increase its focus and make itself better able to defeat its opponent, kind of like the end of the final fight between Frank Dux and Chong Li in Bloodsport.
I think it's a Psychic-type move. Anyway, with Team Dimension gone, the Day Care center is open for business once again. Next to it was this one guy who made me chuckle.
Heh heh. Dude, you left your Pokémon in a Day Care Center, places that specialize in breeding Pokémon. What did you expect? That actually makes me wonder. In universe, are there campaigns to get stray Pokémon spayed/neutered to prevent swarms of wild Pokémon, similar to such campaigns in our world? I mean, that would make sense.
I'll have to remember to come back here sometime. I'd love to breed some Pokémon, but I don't have a Ditto yet, and I have no idea where to get one in this game.
Across from the Day Care Center is a mini-PokeMart. In front of it are a football player (American-style, not soccer), and a baseball player, arguing over which of their sports is better.
You can talk to each of them. They'll ask you if their sport is better than the other. If you tell the football player football is better, he'll give you a Muscle Band. If you tell the baseball player baseball is better, you can get a Scope Lens. The funny part is you can do this with both of them at the same time. The Muscle Band is a headband that can slightly boost the power of physical moves. Moves like Tackle, Low Kick, etc.
The Scope Lens boosts the critical hit-rate of a Pokémon. Basically, it increases the odds that a Pokémon's move will suddenly cause some extra damage. In an actual Pokémon battle between trainers, a critical hit can be the difference between victory and defeat. When catching wild Pokémon, though...it can be a pain. Speaking from experience here.
We head back to the entrance area, and head right. There's a guy standing next to the parked bicycles. He asks me if I want to join the "corporation". I think he meant "campus".
I think that's one of Ginger's buddies. He gives out a Super Potion. We move a little further ahead, and we encounter Alice again.
She's happy that I'm still on campus. Well, I wanted to explore this place some more, so why not? She had heard about my Trishout undergoing Terrestrial Evolution. Presumably she heard about it from Ginger or one of those two guys hanging around him. She believes I'm going to challenge Ginger at his Gym. Well, to be fair, I'm going to have to at some point, so...yeah? She offers to face me in a preliminary battle, because she wants to see if I have what it takes to face him. Sure, why not? Every little bit of XP helps.
One thing I noticed about this battle is that Trishout stayed in its Terrestrial Evolved form. It seemingly did not change back from its original form after battling A and B earlier. Strange. Pokémon using certain items to evolve into new forms is nothing new. It's been a thing since Gen 1. But in those cases, they evolved into new creatures. For example, Geodude, Graveler, and Golem are considered separate Pokemon. Trishout's evolution seems more similar to Mega Evolution, but it never returned to its original form. Did it have to undergo this to become stronger? And what if I chose another starter instead of Trishout? What if I chose Shulong instead?
Anyway, I managed to defeat Alice. The battle convinces her that I can take on Ginger, but she gives me a Revive just in case. That's awful nice of her. Further to the right, there's the exit of the town. However, there's a bunch of guys blocking it. They won't let us leave until we tackle Ginger's gym. Fair enough, we have to conquer it at some point. Another one of Ginger's buddies is hanging out nearby.
He gives out a Rare Candy. I don't really use these, but I appreciate it anyway. There's really not much else to this place, besides the Gym. I admit, it's a bit disappointing. I mean, I don't remember ever seeing a college town in an "official" Pokémon game, so it's kind of sad that this is the closest to one in an Pokémon game, official or otherwise. Anyway, let's hit the Gym! The Gym is essentially the main university building.
It's a nice-looking building. It does have that university-vibe to it. Although, I can imagine it would be quite awkward if you're quietly studying in the library while a gym battle is going on, and then you end up under a shelf because somebody had the bright idea to command a Pokémon to use Earthquake. The lady wearing the white coat and glasses on the left is looking for a Hikiloo. She'll give you a Chigami in exchange. I'll have to catch an extra Hikiloo for her.
When we enter the building, this guy is standing there.
He doesn't reveal his name, but he is rooting for us. He informs that, appropriately enough, the jock-like Ginger specializes in Fighting-type Pokemon. This gym has a special challenge. We have to find a key for a classroom in the lockers.
But I am admittedly jumping ahead here. We need to build a team to face Ginger first. Since he specializes in Fighting-type Pokemon, I'll need to arm myself with Psychic, Fairy, and Flying-types. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.
My Wingull is Water/Flying and knows Wing Attack, so I can keep her on the team. My Shawkbird is also Flying-type. She knows Roost and Peck, so I can keep her on the team for fighting Ginger. As for Sandygast and Phantump...well, I admit, I'm kind of mixed on keeping them. Both of them are partially Ghost-type. Ghost-type Pokémon tend to be immune to Fighting-type attacks, and they're both Ghost (Sandygast is Ghost/Ground and Phantump is Grass/Ghost). They both know Ghost-type attacks. Phantump also knows Absorb and Leech Seed. A great combination to wear down opposing Pokémon.
I decided to look over my collection of Pokémon to help me decide who to bring in to face Ginger. Luckily the Porygon Center next to that nurse in front of the flowerbed is free to use.
I only have a couple of Pokémon that are Psychic-type, though: Inkay and Puppillon. They are both Dark and Psychic-type Pokémon. Puppillon does know Confusion and Inkay knows Peck, so that's a start. As for Flying, well...I got options there, too. I have a Taillow that knows Peck. And for Fairy? I have a Reindear that knows Fairy Wind.
I ultimately decided to bring Reindear, Puppillon, and Taillow on my team. Covers all of Fighting's weaknesses. And I kept Shawkbird because it also is a Flying-type.
While grinding, I remembered that the lady in front of the Gym wanted to trade her Pokémon for a Hikiloo. As such, I caught an extra Hikiloo to trade. When the trade completed, I found myself owning this little fellow here.
It looks like a ghostly butterfly. And it's a Fairy-type. I am very strongly tempted to keep this guy on my team to battle Ginger. So, I decided to try grinding him up for a while to see how he worked. Chichi is an interesting little Pokémon. I managed to get it to learn Razor Leaf. A nice little surprise.
And I think that's where we'll stop here for today. As I said earlier, I am a bit disappointed in the layout of Newtron City. It's clearly meant to be based on a college town, and I feel there was some unrealized potential here. I would have loved to have seen fraternity and sorority houses here that maybe all specialized in certain types of Pokémon. Maybe bookstores here that sell books and delis that can sell foods for your Pokemon. Just a thought. I think there was some potential to make a really cool-looking town and the developers squandered it here. A shame.
I have some grinding to get done. Next time, we take on Ginger, hopefully! Wish me luck! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated/boosted! See you next time!
Pokémon Obtained:
(Newtron City)
- Chigami (obtained by trading a Hikiloo)
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