Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is the seventh entry in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse!
Before we continue on, I do want to, as usual, make a warning. I will be spoiling the heck out of this game.
So, please keep that in mind before reading this. If you want to play the game for yourself, you can download it here. And with that out of the way, let's go.
Last time, we started out on our journey through String Forest. I noticed in the last entry that it was an odd forest. Green, but very snowy. It also had some poisonous patches. Continuing on through the forest, we find a... quite foreboding sight.
Yeah, there's totally nothing creepy about this. We should totally not expect a monster to try and eat us or something like that.
And just like in any good horror movie, the monster does appear. It's yet another X Pokémon, the third I believe we have encountered so far: Garvantula.
I wonder if this big spider is the reason why there's so much snow and hail here. It would make sense. When I captured this fellow here, I discovered that it was a Bug/Ice type. It's an interesting combination. I don't think I've ever seen this combination of Pokémon types before. I mean, there are what? Around 900 "official" Pokémon species now? Add on the potential new Pokémon of Scarlet/Violet, and...yeah. You'd have to have a computer brain to remember them all.
I can imagine that this guy was also responsible for those strange Joltik we saw around that building in the last entry as well. I mean, they did not look like the standard Joltik. And Joltik is the pre-evolution of Garvantula. It would make sense.
So, how did this family end up in this mess? Well, they were camping in the forest when it started to get colder and colder. The X Garvantula had captured the family and basically planned to freeze them to death. One of the children, Lucas, invites us to visit him in Stellato Town. I just may have to do that. Make sure everyone's truly okay. I can imagine this family's going to have plenty of nightmares about that big ugly spider. I do not blame them. I'm not creeped out by spiders, but...yeah.
Natalie, who I presume is the mother, gives me a Lappa Berry in gratitude. Leppa Berries are the main ingredients in Star Siders. The other one of the boys is Nadir, and he gives me TM07 (Hail). I think that X Garvantula knew Hail, which would explain why the forest was hailing.
Nadir also gives us some advice: if we continue on here, we'll get to Route 6, and then land in Milkiway City. Considering the space theme of this game, it's not hard to guess what the city's name is referencing. The city is evidently a small kingdom as well. It also hosts the third Gym we'll have to beat to continue on.
I went back to the Pokémon Center in Stellato Town to get healed up. When I returned to the String Forest, something changed.
The snow on the ground, the hailing...it stopped. It's all gone. It's almost like catching that X Garvantula magically ended the winter in this forest. Weird.
Remember the frozen item boxes we saw in the last entry? Well, they're all thawed out! We can open them!
For example, that box in the last screenshot, next to the gnarled-up tree. It contains a Pecha Berry. I really wish this game had Berry Pots like in HeartGold and SoulSilver. Growing berries on the go is so convenient. If we go the way through the forest like we did last time, we find another formerly frozen box.
It contains another Pecha Berry. It's kind of not surprising to me. We're in a forest, so it does kind of make sense that we get Berries here. I just wish the boxes contained stuff like Ethers, Full Restores, and Revives. Those are hard to come by (not to mention expensive if they're sold in shops), and maybe we can just look in trees for Berries.
Remember the poisonous area of the String Forest? Well, there's a man standing in the center of it.
Rupert the Hiker here will take you back to Stellato Town if you want. But I don't want to go back there, I want to go to Milkiway City. Traveling further into the Forest, I found a familiar area.
Hey, those weird Joltik are gone. I wonder what happened to them. Did they vanish when I captured that X Garvantula? The scientists here are doing some research, so we can't come in at the moment. Maybe we can later in the game. I'm playing blind for the most part here.
I headed to where the X Garvantula attacked.
Man, it looks a little different without the snow everywhere. And since the box there is thawed out, we can open it. It's another Pecha Berry.
Right below is the entry area to Route 6.
All we have to do is head eastward, and Milkiway City, here we come!
The Route itself is short and pretty straightforward. There are a couple of items one can get here.
This box contains a Figy Berry. Right near the entrance to Milkiway City is a rocky ridge you can walk over.
You have to use Perseum H to break the rock in front of the box there. The box there contains TM62 (Acrobatics). The first thing you see when you enter are a couple of what look like wheat fields with Miltanks in them. You can encounter wild Pokémon in the fields. You can't catch the Miltanks, though. They are owned by a man named Toby. Well, his family owns them, but same deal.
You see that box there in the screenshot? There's another bottle of Moomoo Milk in it. We head right, and we see the entrance to the city proper.
That guard there clearly is rocking his best Ragnar McRyan from Dragon Quest IV cosplay. Milkiway City has, naturally for a supposedly ancient kingdom, has the vibe of a medieval-era European town. Heck, they even have bards playing here near the entrance!
The tunes ain't bad, but it's a shame they do not know "Freebird". That song rules. I managed to find the Pokémon Center here. I didn't notice it at first because it blended in with the other buildings.
I think that's actually pretty neat. It does make sense that different places would have Pokémon Centers that look different. Anyway, the nurse? Maid? outside correctly deduces that this is my first time in town, so she gives me a welcome gift: A bottle of Moomoo Milk, fresh from the farm...presumably my family's farm. Huh. Anyway, she warns us that the inside of the Center is a bit different from the usual.
It's really not, as you can see. It just looks a bit more rustic. I think it actually looks...kind of nice.
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The PokeMart here does look more like an outdoor kiosk, which fits the aesthetic of the town. I kind of find it funny that's inside a building, though. A kid here will also give you a Premier Ball. You can get these for free at PokeMarts if you by 10 Pokeballs at once. I also learned something interesting at the Center from one of the people there. You know the Pokémon Bremand?
Yeah, that one. Well, the one we caught is one of four different forms. Interesting.
Anyway, wandering around town and talking to people, I learned that one of the royals here is a Princess Vanilla. That sounds like the name of a Dragon Ball character. I expect that her parents would be named something like King Chocolate and Queen Pecan or something like that. Since there are royals here, they likely live in a castle or something like that. So, where would it be? Well, there's a gate to it in the northernmost part of town.
The guards don't really say anything. Nor do they even try to stop you from going through the arch. You'd think they'd be in trouble for that kind of thing. I mean, I could be an assassin, for all they know, and they just let me walk on in! I don't think these two will be employed for very long.
When we first come into the grounds, the first thing we see are the Royal Gardens.
Huh. You'd think they'd be a bit more...elaborate, considering they're royal gardens, after all. Maybe Princess Vanilla isn't into that kind of thing. Who knows?
There are a couple of small grass spots just outside the gardens on both sides that have wild Pokémon in them. According to a maid next to the one on the left side, the Princess likes to play with wild Pokémon, hence the grass spots. It gives the impression that Princess Vanilla may actually be pretty young. The trip through the gardens isn't long. It's literally a short walk to the front of the castle, which is also a Pokémon Gym.
Considering the Princess's love of playing with wild Pokémon, it does make sense that the Princess would have a Gym in her castle. I would not be surprised if her team of Pokémon she likes to use as a gym leader are wild Pokémon she tamed. When we first enter the castle, we're met by this fellow.
I think we've seen this guy before, at the past two gyms we beat. he seems to have an interest in us, as he's encouraging us to succeed. He informs us that the Princess specializes in Fairy-type Pokémon. Fairy-types are vulnerable to Poison and Steel. The idea is that these Pokémon are vulnerable to the same things that real monarchs are: poison and steel. And to face her, we have to pass through three trials. You head upwards and there's this big ol' door.
The guard next to us tells us that this door is the entrance to the first trial: The Trial by Fire. If we pass through this door, there is no going back. Evidently, we have to tackle all three Trials at once.
So, yeah. We'd better make sure we are absolutely ready before we pass through that door. So, let's look around the town to help mentally prepare. To the far right the castle is this dude here.
He dreams of being essentially Princess Vanilla's personal bard. He gives us an Air Balloon. This item you give to a Pokémon to make them float in the air. Near the bard is a house in which a clown resides with their Hikiloo.
Talking to the sad clown (his name is Elmer) reveals that he tried to use a TM on his Hikiloo. However, it didn't seem to work. So, he'll let me have it. It's TM49 (Echoed Voice). There's also a golden nugget in the trash bin nearby. In the Pokémon games, a Nugget can be sold for a lot of money. Which makes me wonder why Elmer would just have this in a trash bin.
Above that house to the right is the home of a Move Tutor.
The person inside (Fae) says they'll teach a move to a Pokemon of a Trainer that has the Sugar Badge. I'm assuming that this is the badge you win from Princess Vanilla. Makes sense. There's another significant house to the left and slightly below the castle gate.
The woman inside wanted to catch a Sparkowl. Thing is, she was driven away by a flock of them, and she really wants one. She'll give you a Quick Ball. If we go further down and to the left, we find this little alleyway.
The box there contains another TM: TM51 (Steel Wing). That'll be a handy attack to teach a Pokemon for facing Princess Vanilla. Inside the house next to the box is a woman who found something in a cake. If you answer "yes" to her asking if you want it, you'll get a Meringue Update. This little chip will allow evolution of Swirlix into Slurpuff. I wonder how that chip got into a cake?
Anyway, if we go further down and to the left, we find another significant house.
This one houses a pair of guards. In a nice little touch, when you talk to them, their speech is written in a Medieval/Old-English style. In their house is a trash can that contains a Destiny Knot. If your Pokémon holds this item, and it ends up being infatuated, the Pokémon that caused it will become infatuated with your Pokémon, too. I get the feeling that this thing would be used a lot in Pokémon breeding, and that...disturbs me.
Anyway, I want to get ready for Princess Vanilla, so I went back to the Pokémon Center to see what I got. Fairy-type Pokémon are vulnerable to Poison and Steel. I have an Ekans with Poison Sting, so I could bring that in. My Blingrimm is Steel/Poison. Would be perfect, but it knows no Steel or Poison moves. My Beedrill is Bug/Poison, and it knows Poison Sting. I have an Oddish that knows Acid. Gastly is Ghost/Poison, but it knows no Poison-type moves. I have a Zubat that is Poison-type. Maybe it can learn Steel Wing? And I have a Grimer that knows Poison Gas. I have options, but I'm not sure which to pick.
And I think that's where we'll stop for now. Next month, I hope to get a team ready to face Princess Vanilla! 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, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
Pokemon Obtained:
(Milkiway City)
- Roselia
- Flaaffy
- Minccino
(String Forest)
- Ditto
- Kungfur
- Heracross
- Hystearic
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