Adventures in Pokemon Y Part 8: Route 5 and Camphrier Town

Time to explore Route 5! A new route means more Trainers to battle, and more Pokémon to collect! I am so excited! I also think I finally figured out why this site went crazy when I tried to upload pictures.

I decided to spend some time on the route, adding some more Pokémon to my collection, as this route has quite a variety of them. It has been something I had noticed. It does seem to me that there is a large variety of Pokémon in this Gen of games, or it could just be me.

One Pokémon I want to get on this route is Abra. I hate catching Abra, though. Abra only has one attack: Teleport, a technique that allows it to flee from battles. It will use it the first opportunity it gets, so it's one of the harder Pokémon to catch. They are also rare, so it's a nightmare ENCOUNTERING one in the first place. Alakazam is worth it, though. Weak defense, but a regular powerhouse. The Abra line has driven players crazy since Gen One. Took a couple tries, but I caught one, dagnabit!

Abra. Wild ones guaranteed to make Trainers pull their hair out trying to catch them since 1996.

Speaking of the Abra line, I have played the original Red and Blue back in the day, and I distinctly remember Sabrina of the Saffron City Gym being a royal nightmare to deal with, mainly because one of the Pokémon she used back then, her most powerful, was an Alakazam. Back in those days, there weren't really much in the way of Ghost-type Pokémon to counter it, nor did the more numerous Bug types have any really good attacks. This was Generation One, so the Dark type did not exist yet. I had to evolve my Eevee into a Jolteon and level it up until it learned Pin Missile, one of the only really good Bug attacks in those days.

Sorry about that little tangent, it just popped up in my mind. I tend to remember the most random things, ha ha. Anyway, one thing I found on this route was a simple little skate park, including a big ol' bar to grind on. It's a rollerblade park, but unfortunately, you can't really do any tricks on it like in the Tony Hawk series. That would make for one funny Pokémon spinoff series. Why not, they did a game called Pokémon Conquest. What's Pokémon Conquest? It's essentially a crossover between Pokémon and Tecmo Koei's Samurai Warriors series.

Yes. This was an actual thing.

Anyway, this route led to Lumiose City, so I figured, let's go there next. Hit the next gym, and see what further adventures await.

On the way, I found myself arriving in this little town called Camphrier Town. You know, I can't help but think that Camphrier is a pun on "Campfire". When I entered, I got a call on my Holo Caster. Evidently, the Holo Caster was developed by Lysandre Labs to bring some convenience to Trainers on the go. We have gone a long way from the Pokégear phones in Gold and Silver.

Camphrier is a cute little town, with a Hotel, A Pokémon Center/Store. A lady there gave me some Berry Juice. It's essentially like a Potion, but made from berries.

I decided to explore the hotel, which was staffed by one man. One busy, busy man. A man in the hotel gave me a Full Heal. A guest there is visiting Kalos, and saying I should check out his region. Yeah, I'm guessing this was foreshadowing Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Another guest explains to me about this "O-Powers" thing. He claims good things will happen, like my Pokémon getting stronger, or getting more money after battle. And the more I use them, the more they level up, like weapons in Secret of Mana. Neat.

You know, the people in this town are very generous. Many of them give you things if you talk to them. Nice things, too! I got Berry Juice, a Full Heal, and an Ultra Ball. A punk rocker-like woman gave me a TM, TM46. The Thief move.

In the house I got the TM in, I meet a man named Cassius, who runs the PC Boxes here. He looks like he was a member of the Sex Pistols back in the day. Evidently, he was sent by Bill over in Kanto to take care of the Pokémon Storage System in Kalos. As someone who played Red and Blue when they first came out, a mention of a character from the original two games makes me smile a little bit.

I take the opportunity to ask him about the Battle Box and Trays, as they're new features. It's a special place you can put six Pokémon you use a lot in battle. It's a nice feature. You can literally raise a team to battle other players over the Internet, and keep them in that special area. Trays can be used to move groups of Pokémon around at a time, which can really making organizing boxes much easier. Gotta give Pokémon games credit, they put something new in every one.

I got ready to leave town, when I was stopped by a man, who encourages me to visit Shabboneau Castle. Evidently it's a bit of an attraction here, which does make me wonder why there are no tourists all over the place. When I arrive, I encounter Shauna, who was talking to what I presume is a tour guide. When he sees us, he remarks that with the two of us, he's never been this busy before. Evidently this place isn't exactly the tourist trap I assumed it was.

He explains this castle was the manor of a noble family, and the owners gave away a lot of their possessions. Shauna wonders if there's anything in the castle relating to Mega Evolution. He reveals he has no idea what that is, but then is called away to Route 7. A curious Shauna suggests we go there to see what the hubbub is about. I decide to explore the castle a bit first.

When the guide said the castle didn't have a lot of stuff, he wasn't kidding. It's a small castle, which I managed to look through quickly. I did find an Escape Rope, though, so it wasn't a total loss. It was nice, just a bit barren. Makes sense, though. Might as well hit Route 7 with Shauna. It's probably a Snorlax on the road or something.

Pokémon Obtained:
Chomp (Gulpin)
Scrapper (Scraggy)
Greenhorn (Skiddo)
Hydra (Doduo)
Jean-Luc (Furfrou)
Einstein (Abra)
Po (Pancham)