Text Play: Pokémon Xenoverse #25

Hello, and welcome back to the Eldiw region! This is entry number 25 in my Text Play of Pokémon Xenoverse! 

Now, as is tradition, I wish to warn you of something. I will be spoiling this game. 

As such, I highly recommend that you play the game for yourself before you read these Text Plays. You can download the game for yourself here. Now with that out of the way, let's do this!

Last time, we traveled through the haunted Wild Bull Saloon and captured an angry wild Pokémon called Hangead. With that taken care of, we can concentrate on battling Caspar, Westar City's resident gym leader/prison warden. 

As is tradition, I wanted to prepare a new team of Pokémon to face the man. As usual, my strategy is to use type advantages against him. Since Caspar is a Ghost-type specialist, I wanted to look up what types were strong against Ghost. Evidently, Ghost is weak against Dark...and Ghost. 

Yeah, that amazes me, too. I think that is the only time that happens when it comes to Pokémon types. I mean, you wouldn't exactly have an easy time defeating a Charizard with Fire-type attacks, unless the Fire-type you're using is of a much higher level. I mean, there are plenty of type advantages I understand. For example, Fire is strong against Steel and Grass. Fire can burn and even melt metal, and it can toast grass. Makes sense. Water being strong against Fire. Water can be used to put out fire. Makes sense. Grass being strong against Water. Grass absorbs water to help it grow. Makes sense. Grass and Water being strong against Rock. Water and plant roots can help erode rocks. Makes sense. Rock being strong against Flying. You hit a flying bird with a rock, and it's going to come down. Makes sense.

Sorry. Basically, I get why certain types are strong or weak against others. But Ghost being weak to itself? It's so bizarre to me. I mean, I do understand for the purposes of balance, it would be really unfair for a type to have no weaknesses. But I just can't understand how Ghost is weak against itself. I mean, do ghosts scare themselves? I mean, I am also confused by it being weak to Dark-type attacks. Are ghosts scared of the dark? Don't they like to wander around in the dark? I'm getting off topic.  

Well, I looked Caspar up in the Xenoverse Wiki...yes, this game has a wiki. Practically everything has a wiki these days. His team consists of Lampent (Ghost/Fire), Palossand (Ghost/Ground), Scarphasmo (Ghost/Psychic), and he is also packing a Xenoverse-native Pokémon: X Cacturne (Ghost/Grass). I wonder where the Gym Leaders get those?

Considering we've seen the crazy warpzones leading to the Xenoverse in the past, it can be assumed they find them there. But that aside, it's time to do a bit of team-building.  

This led me to do a lot of thinking about which Pokémon to keep from my regular team. I did consider keeping my Pelipper to counter Lampent, but I dare not use it to counter Palossand. That's because Palossand has the ability Water Compaction, which causes its Defense stat to rise when it is hit by a Water-type attack. Phantump would be handy against Palossand. Thing is, Phantump is also part-Ghost. Which makes it vulnerable to Caspar's Dark-type Pokémon. I don't have any Grass/Dark Pokemon...but I do have a Cacnea in Box 6. At level 32, it evolves into a Cacturne...which is Grass/Dark. Okay, we're in business!

I switched out Phantump for Cacnea. I also switched out my Palossand for Chikaboo from Box 6. Yeah, Chikaboo isn't a powerful Pokemon, and neither is its evolved form: Peckabone. However, I do have a Dusk Stone, which allows it to evolve into the powerhouse Rexquiem. 

To counter Lampent, I wanted a Water/Dark-type. I had to use Ikarium H to fly all the way back to Darkhole Island. We first went there waaaaay back in entry #2. I neglected to fish a lot, and they have Carvanha there, which are Water/Dark. 

That's a failing on my end. That's 100% my fault. I went back and caught me a Carvanha. It's at a low level, which means lots of grinding. But that's alright. It'll make for a much stronger Sharpedo.

I also wanted to make an adjustment to Cacnea. You see, I caught it at Level 25, and it knows the attacks Sand Attack, Needle Arm, Feint Attack, and Ingrain. I went to Memo the Move Relearner in the Pokémon Center (he's always there. In every single one. Does the dude follow us around?), and I asked him to help remember some of Cacnea's old moves. I kept Feint Attack as it's a Dark-type move (And since Cacnea is part-Dark, it gets bonus damage). But then I found myself...at an impasse.

Huh. I should use Cacnea more in "official" Pokémon games. Has a nice move pool. I wanted it to re-remember Poison Sting, as that could be handy. I also wanted it to have a diverse array of attacks. I wanted to replace Sand Attack (I never use it), and Ingrain (you can't switch a Pokémon that uses this attack out), but I found myself at an impasse. Remember, Pokémon can only learn four moves at a time. I wanted to arm it with Poison Sting, Leech Seed, and Absorb. But I didn't want to replace Needle Arm. In the end, I decided to just teach it Poison Sting and Absorb. I do like Leech Seed (I've used it a lot in the past), but against a Gym leader, I want to be able to hit his Pokémon hard. Absorb can help with that, while restoring some HP to Cacnea. I also had Memo re-teach Chickaboo Peck, replacing Fake Tears.

I got started with the grinding. Since Caspar's Pokémon are around Level 37-40, my goal is to get my team to around levels 40-45. It's a bit high, but I do want to have a bit more of a level advantage. The grinding will be worth it. The grinding and grinding and grinding and grinding...

Sorry. I also decided to explore some more of Westar City. I started grinding at a rectangular patch of grass near the exit of the Steelix Gorge. It's a great place to grind up Pokemon. That patch has Miltank. They give lots of XP wen beaten, and you can also get Moomoo Milk from them. Moomoo Milk is a Potion-like medicine that restores 100 HP per use. Every city should have a place like this where you can grind up Pokemon before a Gym Battle. I love this.

I also took the opportunity to explore a bit more of Westar City. I went to the left of the patch of grass I was grinding at, and found this lady near a well. 

She gives me some Fresh Water. You know lady, some other people may need that water, too. I mean, this is a desert. 

Anyway, if you notice, there's also an item box in the screenshot. It's hard to see, but it's just beyond the left. It contains a Dusk Ball. I believe it's a PokéBall that works best at night.  

And that's where we'll have to stop for the month, I'm afraid. I do apologize for how short this entry is. I haven't had as much time to work on this game as I hoped, and I wanted to maintain my regular schedule of putting up these entries on the last day of the month. I do want to go through the Caspar Gym next time, so maybe that will happen. 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 your vaccine/booster! See you next time! 

Pokemon Obtained:

(S.S. Meteor)
- Carvanha
(Westar City)
- Peckabone (evolved from Chickaboo)
- Rexquiem (evolved from Peckabone)
- Murkrow
- Cacturne (evolved from Cacnea)
- Sharpedo (evolved from Carvanha)