4th Gen Recent Happenings Thread

[TwilightBlade]

So I ordered a used Platinum cart from eBay about a week ago and I finally got it in the mail today only to discover that it's one of those fake reproduced copies. It plays fine and all but I'm mad that I got tricked with a fake game when I wanted a real one. Anyway I started the game and decided to go with Piplup as my starter and I might switch it with Lumineon later on depending on how I'm feeling. I got through all the minor sub-plots in Twinleaf and Sandgem and moved on to Jubilife where I met Looker and got all kinds of items before battling my rival at Route 203.

 

[955561976]

I've just beat the Hearthome City Gym with a team including Haunter, Shinx, Golbat, Grotle, Floatzel and Kadabra. It took far too long! Anyway onwards towards my sixth Gym badge!

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Well quarantine is really messing with my head, because my Sword team never really picked up off of the ground once I hit the Wild Area. Spent the last week and a half trying to plan a team and get something cohesive together, and finally I have managed it! I built a Platinum team, had to do some additional prep to get the team going but nothing too difficult. The team has a theme - they all have a blue element to them (Togepi is iffy but it still works) so I named them after the shade of blue I thought they fit the best! If you are an expert on blue, forgive me if I'm actually wrong on the names.

Anywho, the main prep involved speeding through HeartGold to nab myself the Extrasensory Togepi egg (because using one without a single good move for like 30+ levels would kill me) and also checking in on my Diamond save file to grab the Riolu egg, trading them over to Platinum to be a part of my team alongside Piplup and a Shinx I caught! I have not trained the Togepi yet, I didn't need 4 low-level team members so soon! I'll likely begin training it once I've cleared Floraroma Town/gotten to the Old Chateau since Gastly grinding with the Soothe Bell sounds like a dream. I've cleared up to Roark, Riolu is surprisingly strong (I would like a Lucario before Gardenia, but I think I'll have to settle for one before Fantina instead) and Shinx got Spark surprisingly early (unless I got the levels it learnt Bite and Spark the wrong way around from my Diamond playthrough). Prinplup has been the glue holding all the grinding together (god I miss grinding, Sword/Shield forced Exp. Share is gnarly).

The Team:

Azure the Prinplup, Level 16
Pound / Peck / Bubble / Metal Claw

Tufts the Shinx, Level 13
Tackle / Leer / Charge / Spark

Dodger the Riolu, Level 13
Quick Attack / Return / Force Palm / Endure

Brandeis the Togepi, Level 1
Extrasensory / Growl / Charm

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Please forgive the double post, it seems reasonably dead in this thread.

I've finally made my way to Eterna City and beaten Gardenia! The Team Galactic problems in Floraroma Town were pretty easy to manage thanks to Riolu (Inner Focus putting in work vs. Fake Out Glameow/Purugly), and I also nabbed the TM for Pluck, which I taught to Prinplup. I did some training in Eterna Forest with and without Cheryl, and promptly gave Riolu the Soothe Bell to help speed up evolution (just need the bike and I'm ready to rock and roll).

Gardenia was a nightmare to defeat, because Cherrim was wrecking my team and being a pain in general (since I have a phobia of Riolu or Togepi being KOed and making happiness even more annoying), but I was able to win purely thanks to Luxio! Intimidate + Charge spam meant I could tank Turtwig's hits before KOing it with Spark and Bite. Cherrim and Roserade fell the same way! But yeah, this team hates Grass types at the moment. Now I could use Cut outside of battles, I headed to the Old Chateau and used the Gastly's there to train up Togepi to level 18. I might get it to 22 with the rest of the squad, or just shove the Exp. Share on it and clear out the Galactic hideout in Eterna City. Who knows? But once I get that bike it'll be time to grind those steps for Riolu and Togepi, and grab myself a Lucario and Togetic. Be ironic to evolve my egg babies on Easter Sunday!

The Team:

Azure the Prinplup, Level 22
Grass Knot / Pluck / Bubblebeam / Metal Claw

Tufts the Luxio, Level 22
Tackle / Bite / Charge / Spark

Dodger the Riolu, Level 22
Quick Attack / Return / Force Palm / Rock Tomb

Brandeis the Togepi, Level 18
Extrasensory / Yawn / Charm / Metronome

 

[Drummerdude]

About a week ago I started a game on Soul Silver since over the last few years I had only experienced Gen II via the Virtual Console and I've been bored with so little work to do from home. I went with Cyndaquil as my starter and quickly captured my second team member, a Ledyba. I traded it over to Platinum to teach Air Cutter via Move Tutor (which actually took a few days to acquire 6 Blue Shards) and it actually made Ledyba somewhat useable. I caught a Wooper before my battle with Falkner and didn't have many issues there. After getting through Union Cave I finally got enough Watts on my PokeWalker to get my fourth team member, a Magnemite. Bugsy was a breeze and even Whitney didn't put up too much of a fight.

Before tackling Morty I ran to Mahogany Town and caught my fifth team member, Girafarig, which was so helpful against Morty and Chuck. After beating Jasmine and Pryce I tried to go to Blackthorn City but was blocked until I thwarted Team Rocket in Goldenrod City. I don't believe that was the case in G/S/C. Anyway once that was taken care of I hurried to Blackthorn to catch my final team member, a Teddiursa. It didn't take too long to evolve it and get it semi close to the rest of my team to challenge Clair who was definitely the most difficult gym leader. Her Kingdra almost took out my entire team because Hydro Pump never freaking missed. After passing the test I grabbed the Master Ball and beat up on some Kimono sisters before heading to Whirl Islands, getting confused for a hot minute on how to get to Lugia and then saving in front of Lugia. I've been resetting for a shiny for a few days now and we'll just have to see how long I am willing to keep it up.

Lv39

Lv38

Lv40

Lv40

Lv39

Lv37

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Back at it again with the Platinum progress! Been playing fairly consistently since my last post, and have currently made it to Route 212 near the Trophy Garden with my woefully under-levelled team. Since my last post, I crushed Jupiter with Luxio and Charge boosted Spark attacks and got Togepi up to the same level as the rest of my team, evolving it into Togetic in the process! Riolu also evolved into Lucario, something I am very much grateful for.

I obtained the bicycle and cycled on down to Wayward Cave, nabbing Majorelle the Gible and TM26 Earthquake for my effort. I began training up Gible as I made my way to Hearthome City, nabbing my sixth and final team member in the process - Cyan the Eevee, who I traded to Diamond (alongside a Heart Scale and Rare Candy) to evolve into Glaceon and re-teach it Icy Wind for STAB (because screw waiting until level 36 for Ice Fang). With this complete I got the entire team to level 25 and took on Fantina! Prinplup 2HKOed Duskull with Bubble Beam, Haunter was a slight pain with confusion + sleep but Togetic took it down with Extrasensory, and a combined effort of Gabite and Luxio defeated Mismagius. My god is that Mismagius terrifying, more so than Whitney's Miltank in my eyes.

I wrecked Barry with the squad and made my way to Solaceon Town, clearing out the ruins and the Lost Tower as well for any goodies I could find. The trip to Veilstone was uneventful, although the strength of my team has been most admirable so far! Glaceon in particular has been hitting stupidly hard despite Icy Wind being rather... lacking (better than Powder Snow I suppose). In fact, I'd say my weakest team member has been Prinplup all things considered. Even Togetic feels like it hits harder, and it has no STAB! And Hustle.

Anywho, I made it to Veilstone and immediately took on Maylene when my team was level 28-29, not my smartest move. Prinplup barely lived Meditite's Fake Out -> Drain Punch -> Confusion to 2HKO with Pluck -> Bubble Beam, Lucario was KOed by a mix of Gabite's Earthquake and Luxio's Spark, and Machoke was 2HKOed by Glaceon's Icy Wind. I made my way to Pastoria, through my favourite grinding spot that is Route 214, and immediately took on Barry at the gym and won despite the level differences. I'm currently clearing out Route 212 and will likely grind to about level 34-35 for Crasher Wake, since I think Level 31-32 is a bit too low! That and evolving Prinplup soon would be marvellous.

The Team:

Azure the Prinplup (♀), Level 31
Grass Knot / Pluck / Bubble Beam / Metal Claw

Tufts the Luxray (♂), Level 31
Tackle / Bite / Charge / Spark

Dodger the Lucario (♂), Level 31
Shadow Claw / Return / Force Palm / Rock Tomb

Brandeis the Togetic (♂), Level 31
Extrasensory / Yawn / Fly / Defog

Majorelle the Gabite (♀), Level 31
Earthquake / Dragon Rage / Slash / Sandstorm

Cyan the Glaceon (♂), Level 31
Icy Wind / Quick Attack / Bite / Sand Attack

 

[Ignition]

The quarantine and the above runs motivated me to play through Platinum again.

Went through the usual tutorial/beginning stuff until I got to choose my starter. Even though I love all 3 starters (my favorite trio in fact), I 90% use Chimchar. This time I decided to go with Turtwig.

After battling Barry, meeting Cyrus, getting our Pokédex, and saying goodbye to our hometown, I headed towards Jubilife City. While battling the beginner Trainers, I caught a Bidoof who would serve as a HM Swiss Army knife while also helping Turtwig stay around the level of future bosses.

Once I got to Jubilife, got all of the Key Items including the Pokètch. Went to the west and got the Fishing Rod. After that, I battled Barry with his Chimchar and Starly. Once I reached Oreburgh, I went to the mines to battle some miners and get Roark to come to his Gym.


After stocking on Potions and getting all the items in the city, I went to challenge Roark. I switch between Bidoof and Turtwig so the former could keep up. After defeating Onix, Turtwig learned Razor Leaf. This helped as mine has a Lonely nature and a much lower SpA thank Attack so Absorb would’ve been less than ideal. Cranidos flinched us twice but we managed to secure a win with a crit.

After returning to Jubilife and running into Galactic for the first time, we headed north for Floaroma Town.

On the route prior, both Turtwig and Bidoof evolved into Grotle and Bibarel respectively. We battled through yet another wave of Galactic and ended up facing Mars. Bibarel managed to pretty much solo the fight including her infamous underleveled Purugly.

Once we saved the girl’s dad, we went theough Eterna Forest with Cheryl. Once we arrived to Eterna City, we went through the yet again for items before Barry shows us the statue of Dialga/Palkia (fun fact: it’s meant to look like both of them) and meeting Cyrus again along with the Champion, Cynthia. After that, we faced Gardenia and her Gym. Surprisingly, Grotle soloed the Gym Battle after one Curse. We went to Galactic Hideout to rescue the Bicycle Shop owner with a big sense of deja vu. For Jupiter, Bibarel took out Zubat and weakened Skuntank with Defense Curl + Rollout while Grotle finished it off. As thanks for that, we got not only a bike but also an Egg from Cynthia. I saved before getting the Egg so I can soft reset in case I get Hustle. Thankfully, I got Serene Grace first try and called that good for one day.

Team:
Grotle (lvl 24)@ Quick Claw
-Razor Leaf
-Bite
-Tackle
-Curse

Bibarel (lvl 23)
-Cut
-Rollout
-Defense Curl
-Rock Smash

Togepi (lvl 1) @EXP Share
-Growl
-Charm

 

[Ishiftyounot]

So since my last post, I began the fun that is grinding my team up to level 35 in preparation for Crasher Wake, because oh boy was I under-levelled and I don't get why or how! Route 214 putting in work with those improved trainers (the one with the Wormadams, the collector with 6 Pokemon from the Great Marsh, and the Eeveelutions collector are AMAZING) and the grind was still long, but could've been worse. I cleared out the Pastoria gym, Prinplup evolved into Empoleon and I took on the gym leader! Gyarados fell quickly to Luxray, Quagsire was 3HKOed by Gabite, and Floatzel fell to Empoleon. Easy stuff.

I did the Team Galactic shenanigans with the bomb, and quickly realised I'd not explored the Great Marsh at all this time! I think in Diamond/Pearl you find Defog there, but my team was complete and I wanted to make some further progress so I left it. Cynthia gave me the SecretPotion, which I used on the Psyduck's, and made my way to Celestic Town. That route is also a favourite for grinding, the Ace Trainers give good exp. with their teams. In Celestic Town I beat Cyrus quite handily, since Empoleon and Glaceon ruin his day with their typings, and I got Surf! So I headed for the Fuego Ironworks and nabbed Flamethrower and enough shards to teach Lucario Ice Punch via the move tutor! I then headed to Canalave.

Canalave and Iron Island weren't too exciting, Barry was no issue as per usual and the extra training on Iron Island pushed my team to a reasonable level of about 38. I also grabbed a Shiny Stone to evolve Togetic into Togekiss! Right when it was beginning to feel pretty weak. I cleared the gym, pretty much one-shot all of Byron's team with Lucario and Empoleon, and saved.

The Team:

Azure the Empoleon (♀), Level 39
Grass Knot / Pluck / Surf / Flash Cannon

Tufts the Luxray (♂), Level 39
Strength / Bite / Charge / Thunderbolt

Dodger the Lucario (♂), Level 39
Shadow Claw / Return / Aura Sphere / Ice Punch

Brandeis the Togekiss (♂), Level 40
Extrasensory / Air Slash / Fly / Flamethrower

Majorelle the Gabite (♀), Level 40
Earthquake / Dragon Rage / Slash / Dragon Claw

Cyan the Glaceon (♂), Level 39
Icy Wind / Ice Shard / Shadow Ball / Rock Smash

 

[Ignition]

After leaving off at Eterna City, I went back to the Old Chateau to pick up a few items and catch Rotom until I realized the appliances are locked behind an event in Gen 4 so I boxed it with defeat.

Took my way down the Cycling Road and got Togepi to ~ lvl 16 so I could put the Soothe Bell on it to raise its happiness. I took a small detour to Waycard Cave for more experience and a couple of items like Shards and the TM for Earthquake.

After that, I went back to Oreburgh Gate to pick up the TM for Brock Break. Afterwards I went to the first of many trips to Mount Coronet, but not before Dawn gave me the Vs. Recorder and Dowsing Machine. After another ominous encounter with Cyrus, I head to Hearthome City. Before that, however, I caught my next team member: a Ralts and equipped it with the EXP Share.

Once I got to Hearthome, I immediately went to the Contest Hall to meet Mom again as well as initiate the event to get Fantina to her Gym. Once I got down with that, I went through both the city and the park to get my typical item scavenger hunt out of the way.

Once I was done with that, I headed to the Ghost Gym. With Grotle's Bite, I wasn't too worried. After the first Trainer, Ralts leveled up to Kirlia. Knowing that a lot of Haunter and Gastly would be here, I put it in the front of my part. Switching between it and Grotle, I made my way to Fantina but not without the occasional Confuse Ray and Curse hax.

I forgot I had Togepi in the front of my party when I started the Gym Battle but I don't recall Duskull having anything scary for it. After putting it to sleep via Yawn, I switched into Grotle and finished it with 2 Bites. Next came her Haunter who I did the same thing but with Kirlia instead of Grotle. Finally, her ace, Mismagius, went down after Togepi got not only a Yawn but a Gyro Ball from Metronome. Thanks to pretty much our weakest link, we got our 3rd Gym Badge. As a reward for it, Togepi evolved into Togetic after the battle!

After healing up, I went east to get to Solacean Town. I was stopped by Barry who wanted another battle (as rivals do). Bibarel finished Staravia with Rollout, while Kirlia KO'd Roselia & Monferno despite being underleveled. Finally, Grotle beat Buizel.

I fought the Chansey on the next route to close the gap between Kirlia/Togetic with the rest of our team. Once I did that along with the Trainers on the aforementioned route, I went to Solacean Town, got the Pokémon History app for my Pokétch, and went to the Unown "dungeon" for items. Before leaving, I went to the Lost Tower. Afterwards,I went north, and do the usual training to get to Veilstome where I saved.

Team:
Grotle (level 28) @ Quick Claw
-Razor Leaf
-Bite
-Tackle
-Curse

Bibarel (level 28) @ Amulet Coin
-Cut
-Rock Smash
-Rollout
-Yawn

Togetic (lvl 28) @ Shell Bell
-Metronome
-Yawn
-Charm
-Encore

Kirlia (lvl 28) @ Odd Incense
-Confusion
-Magical Leaf
-Calm Mind
-Double Team

 

[Drummerdude]

Well since everyone else is playing Platinum I guess I will too while I SR for Lugia. That's called multitasking.

I chose Piplup as my starter since it has been quite a while since I last used it. I also caught a Starly and a Bidoof to use so Piplup doesn't get too over leveled. I made my way to Oreburgh City without too many issues apart from my fight with Barry on Route 203. Starly didn't have Wing Attack yet and his Turtwig maxed out it's defense with Withdraw so I could barely hurt it. Once I reached Oreburgh City I headed straight to the mines and met with Roark. Obviously the gym battle was easy since Roark got swept by Piplup's Bubble. Unfortunately Piplup went from Lv15 to Lv17 in the gym battle so no Metal Claw for me.

I returned to Jubilife City and beat up some Galactic Grunts before heading north to Floaroma Town. I went to the Valley Windworks and the Floaroma Meadow to defeat some grunts so I could get some Honey. I slathered the two available trees with the Honey looking for a new team member. The first tree yielded nothing (which I guess is a thing) but the second gave me my second team member, a Combee! I put more Honey on both and went to bed. When I woke up this morning I found a Burmy and a Cherubi waiting for me...which is great since Cherubi is my third team member!

I should be able to make some good progress on both SRing for Lugia and in this run of Platinum during "work" today.

Lv17

Lv13

Lv9

 

[Drummerdude]

After painfully training Cherubi I went to the Valley Windworks once more to take down Team Galactic. Mars was a struggle like she always is. Fortunately Bug Bite got rid of the Oran Berry which made it slightly easier for Prinplup. I headed north through the Eterna Forest and into Eterna City. I decided to go ahead and get the gym out of the way which was not too tough thanks to a newly evolved Vespiquen. With my new badge I cut my way into the Galactic building and climbed to the top to take on Jupiter a much easier fight than the Mars fight. Once I got the Bicycle I tried to skip as many trainers on the mini Cycling Road until I caught my fourth team member, a Gligar! I taught it Earthquake, explored the Wayward Cave with Mira, evolved Cherubi into Cherrim, and ventured east to Hearthome City.

I didn't bother exploring much as the gym battle was my primary goal. Gligar's Faint Attack was helpful and was definitely the MVP of the gym. Cherrim took down Duskull with Petal Dance, Gligar defeated Haunter with Faint Attack and literally everyone had to fight Mismagius. I think I "hurt myself in confusion" 10 times fighting that freaking ghost. I eventually won and and tried to head east again but got stopped by Barry in a rather simple fight. I made my way to the Hallowed Tower on Route 209 and, in essence, talked to myself 32 times in order to get Spiritomb, my fifth team member, to appear. Once I had captured it I traveled to Solaceon Town and explored the ruins before continuing on to Veilstone City. I ran right through the city to Route 214 to grab the Razor Fang since it was night and I evolved my Gligar into Gliscor. I took a break after the evolution.

Lv30

Lv31

Lv30

Lv31

Lv30

 

[Ishiftyounot]

Haven't really been playing as much in recent days, but it is fantastic to see so many more people playing Platinum as well! Some very cool teams shaping up, with some unique choices. Anywho, I have at last made some progress and gotten myself ready to take on Team Galactic at Mt. Coronet and Spear Pillar, although whilst I'm a higher level than I was in Diamond, I'm starting to feel the low levels now (don't remember being this level before, but it has been a long time since I played Platinum).

So, progress! Once I spoke to the professor and heard a bomb go off, I rushed to Lake Valor to take on Saturn. His team wasn't too difficult, always liked seeing him use Toxicroak, fed up of Bronzor at this point though. With Saturn dealt with, I repeated the process at Lake Verity with Mars, and was then sent off to the icy routes and Snowpoint City. I do not enjoy these routes, it's where the slowness of Gen 4 REALLY sets in. Slow walking, hail takes a billion years to do anything between turns, it seems like everyone has a stalling move, it's gnarly. Good for training though! Which is what I did, all the way to Snowpoint. Even grabbed HM Rock Climb from the snow and taught it to Gabite.

Snowpoint has nothing to do really except the gym, so the gym was where I went! Empoleon and Lucario killed everything, Candice wasn't too difficult. Hardest opponent was maybe Abomasnow, since it knew Focus Blast? Froslass in hail was a smidge annoying too I guess. Anyway, did that, met Barry at Lake Acuity after his defeat at the hands of Jupiter (seriously?) and then got the fun grind of the Galactic Warehouse. Which, funnily enough, didn't take that long to clear. Neither did the HQ, and although Cyrus got a lucky freeze with his Sneasel I still came out victorious thanks to Lucario and Glaceon. Saturn also fell quickly, although my hubris at using Glaceon vs. Toxicroak made things a smidge irritating.

I then went to Oreburgh, sold some stuff, bought some Max Repels and saved ready to clear out Mt. Coronet.

The Team:

Azure the Empoleon (♀), Level 43
Grass Knot / Pluck / Surf / Flash Cannon

Tufts the Luxray (♂), Level 43
Strength / Crunch / Charge / Thunderbolt

Dodger the Lucario (♂), Level 43
Shadow Claw / Return / Aura Sphere / Ice Punch

Brandeis the Togekiss (♂), Level 43
Psychic / Air Slash / Fly / Flamethrower

Majorelle the Gabite (♀), Level 43
Earthquake / Dragon Rage / Rock Climb / Dragon Claw

Cyan the Glaceon (♂), Level 43
Ice Beam / Water Pulse / Shadow Ball / Rock Smash

 

[Drummerdude]

I tried talking to most everyone in Veilstone City before heading to the gym where Spiritomb and Vespiquen's Gust did work against the four fighting trainers. Maylene was pretty easy also. Vespiquen took down Meditite and Gliscor one-shotted Lucario with Earthquake. Spiritomb's Ominous Wind didn't do as much against Machoke as I hoped so I put it to sleep and knocked it out with Dream Eater. Fun fact: Even though Dream Eater is a Psychic type move I always assumed it did neutral damage regardless of type. Like it was typeless or something. I am not very smart.

I returned to Route 214 and beat up on the trainers and trained at a snazzy restaurant for a bit before heading into Pastoria City. After beating Barry I decided I needed a little more training so I headed west to Route 212 and trudged my way back to Hearthome City before flying back on a little Starly. Cherrim did most of the work in the gym and after changing some water levels I battled Crasher Wake. I kinda cheesed the start of the battle by sending out my poor puny Starly against Gyarados to take the Intimidate so Gliscor could use Rock Tomb to slow it down for Vespiquen's Power Gem to finish it off. Prinplup tried its best against Floatzel but Cherrim had to come in and take out both Floatzel and Quagsire with Petal Dance.

After the battle I witnessed the most anticlimactic explosion of all time and gave chase to a lone Galactic Grunt before ignoring all that to go visit Cynthia's grandmama. Once those pesky Psyduck were out of the way I headed north towards Celestic Town and evolved Prinplup along the way. There wasn't much happening in this quaint town except for another lone grunt who stood no match against my new Empoleon. Once I took down the Galactic Leader inside the Celestic Ruins I took a break.

Lv38

Lv37

Lv37

Lv38

Lv37

 

[Ishiftyounot]

And like that, I've completed Platinum! In decent time too, I haven't beaten a Sinnoh game in years.

Mt. Coronet was an easy trek to complete, and served as good grinding for my team. Jupiter and Mars weren't challenges at all thanks in-part to Barry, and I got to relive the fun of Distortion World puzzles. Cyrus was a decent challenge - Houndoom fell to Empoleon, Luxray narrowly beat Gyarados, Glaceon smacked Honchkrow and Crobat pretty hard and Weavile fell to Empoleon at the end. I caught Giratina in the Master Ball (oh the nostalgia) and made my way to Sunyshore City! Cleared out Volkner's gym, felt woefully under-levelled at the funky level of 45 versus his level 46-50 squad, but we did okay. Gabite beat Electivire and Raichu, Glaceon beat Jolteon, Luxray and Lucario beat Luxray I think?

Victory Road was a fun lil treat to do, where again we were under-levelled. Not sure how I managed that, maybe younger me grinded a lot, maybe my memory is hazy. But I only just hit level 50 after clearing the entire place out + using the 8 Rare Candies I had in my possession. Gabite also finally evolved! I took on Barry one last time - Staraptor lost to Luxray, Torterra fell to Glaceon, Rapidash fell to Empoleon, Floatzel was beaten by Garchomp, Heracross fell to Togekiss and Snorlax was wrecked by Lucario. I saved and then took on the Elite 4!

Aaron was pretty easy, with a combination of Luxray, Togekiss and Garchomp leading the way versus him. Yanmega and Vespiquen were beaten by Luxray, Scizor and Heracross were roasted by Togekiss, Garchomp tanked an Ice Fang to beat Drapion. Easy stuff!

Bertha was trickier, because Empoleon actually kinda sucked versus her. My starter beat Whiscash with Grass Knot, but fell to Hippowdon's Earthquake after failing to secure the KO with Surf. Glaceon took it out, alongside Gliscor. Empoleon was revived and returned to KO Rhyperior and Golem with Grass Knot.

Flint wasn't too tricky, but again Empoleon kinda sucked versus him. Houndoom was KOed by Surf, but Flareon was able to KO it from half health with Overheat. Garchomp then cleaned up versus his entire team, it was a massacre.

Lucian was a pain, to put it simply. Mr. Mime and Lucario traded blows before he switched it for Bronzong, the most annoying Pokemon against my team. Togekiss was the only one with super-effective moves versus it, and Bronzong liked using Calm Mind. I got enough chip damage on it though for Empoleon to clean up with Waterfall though. Gallade fell to Luxray of all Pokemon, Alakazam left Garchomp with 1HP but was KOed in return with Crunch, Espeon took out Empoleon but lost to Glaceon and Mr. Mime was defeated by Lucario's Dark Pulse.

At last, Cynthia! Empoleon beat Spiritomb with 3 Flash Cannon's, good start. Garchomp failed to KO Glaceon with Earthquake so we 0HKOed it with Ice Beam. Roserade was KOed by Lucario and Togekiss (I forgot it had Extrasensory), Luxray barely beat both Milotic and Togekiss, and her Lucario lost to Garchomp. And I won!

Loving the current playthroughs going on from Drummerdude and Ignition, shall keep looking back here! Think my next few playthroughs shall be in the Gen 3 threads, but we'll see how my exams go first.

The Team:

Azure the Empoleon (♀), Level 51
Grass Knot / Waterfall / Surf / Flash Cannon
Notes: My trusted starter, who honestly felt kind-of bad to use for a good chunk of the game. Steel is not a great offensive type, it had an okay-ish moveset for the most annoying parts of the game and it felt weak towards the end of the game. However, it was a solid defensive powerhouse and Piplup was my original starter choice when I first began playing Pokemon (my first game was Sapphire, my first owned game was Diamond with this cool penguin) so it was nice to come full circle. It did alright.

Tufts the Luxray (♂), Level 51
Strength / Crunch / Charge / Thunderbolt
Notes: My first capture, borderline-mandatory Electric type, and an absolute beast for Sinnoh. It and Staraptor are what everyone seems to use on their Sinnoh teams, and for good reason. Charge is such a good move! Intimidate is an amazing ability! It hit hard, was reasonably bulky and fast, and knew decent enough moves. I liked it a lot, it helped versus some very tough matches. Cannot complain.

Dodger the Lucario (♂), Level 50
Dragon Pulse / Dark Pulse / Aura Sphere / Ice Punch
Notes: I haven't used Lucario in a Sinnoh game for a long time, perhaps ever (I'm not the biggest fan of the species) and for the most part it was really good! Return hit stupidly hard, Fighting was a good type to have and it evolved earlier than I thought it would. Towards the end-game it kind-of suffered, and against the Elite 4 it was pretty much useless, but I liked it. Good all-round Pokemon, glad I picked it up.

Brandeis the Togekiss (♂), Level 50
Psychic / Air Slash / Fly / Flamethrower
Notes: An inferior Staraptor, it pains me to say. I got a Hustle one which sucks as-is, but it just never felt super strong? I'm glad I got the HGSS one with Extrasensory, because boy would this be a grind if not, but it wasn't an amazing team member. It was useful at times, and I thought it was pretty cute, but for my Flying type in Sinnoh I don't think I'd choose it. Staraptor is just too good.

Majorelle the Garchomp (♀), Level 51
Earthquake / Crunch / Rock Climb / Dragon Claw
Notes: Well this thing was really good! I wished it evolved sooner than just before the Elite 4, but even then Gabite felt plenty strong, if a bit frail. Earthquake and Dragon Claw were great moves early on for it, the typing was solid and it just looks cool, you know? I again don't know if I'd use it again - the babying process was massive - but it was good, probably the MVP of my team if I had to pick one (I don't think this team had one though).

Cyan the Glaceon (♂), Level 51
Ice Beam / Water Pulse / Shadow Ball / Rock Smash
Notes: My verdict on Glaceon is that it's surprisingly good! It hit so damn hard even with just Icy Wind, and once it got Ice Beam + coverage it rocked. Was reasonably tanky, maybe a smidge slow, but if I needed things to die it would kill them. Was also nice to use another Eeveelution - I only have experience properly using Umbreon and Sylveon. So this was a nice break, and my second major Ice type I've used (other one being Vanilluxe in White).

 

[Ignition]

Congrats to @Ishiftyounot ! Your run was interesting to watch and can't wait to see your future play throughs.

I've done a lot since my last update. After doing my usual item scavenger hunt, I went south to battle a couple of Trainers as my only direct counter to Marlene was Kirlia's Confusion. While down there, I grabbed a few items such as the TM for Dig and a Magmarizer.

Once I completed my mini grinding, I went to take on Maylene. After learning Psychic and having the Odd Incense, Kirlia managed to OHKO both Meditite and Machoke. With her ace Lucario, I had Grotle use a couple of Curses before whittling it down with Razor Lead and ended up getting back to back crits.

With my 4th Badge,I go help Dawn fight off Galactic and investigate their storage with Looker to get the HM for Fly. Using the aforementioned HM, I taught it to a Staravia I caught for Defog and flew back to Hearthome so I can head south and get some experience for Wake.

On my way east towards Pastoria, I took a detour to the Pokémon Mansion to do the 5 maid battles. After defeating them in the preferred limit of 8 turns and battling the EXP juggernaut that is Blissey, my Grotle evolved into Torterra! I've used it once in the past but that was a long time ago so I'm excited to use one again especially with its new Ground Type and STAB Earthquake.

With my starter fully evolved, I continue into the muddy area (which I hate) in between me and Pastoria. I went to check out the Shard Move Tutor guy and taught Kirlia Ice Punch as it was literally my only option. Before arriving in Pastoria, I got a Dawn Stone to evolve Kirlia! With 2 new buffs, my newly evolved Gallade was looking like a fun team member. I've used Gardevoir in the past but never its counterpart so I'm intrigued in its potential.

After arriving in Pastoria, I immediately went to the Great Marsh. After looking up encounter rate tables online, I prepared to waste a lot of time for my next team member. After 45 minutes of soft resetting and 27/30 Safari Balls wasted, I finally got my 4th team member: Skorupi. I immediately gave it the EXP Share and left the godforsaken Great Marsh.

After getting my team prepared for Crasher Wake, I was stopped by Barry who insisted we battled. Togetic took down Staravia in 2 Ancient Powers, Gallade sliced down Roselia with Psycho Cut, Skorupi barely finished off Buizel with Pin Missile, and Torterra EQ'd Monferno into oblivion.

Once Barry runs off, I go heal and get ready to take on Wake. His Gyarados went down to Togetic's Ancient Powers, Quagsire fell to Torterra's Razor Leaf, and Floatzel lost to Gallade's Psycho Cut.

Once we got the Fen Badge, I had to chase a Grunt who had a hand in the.bomb in the GM. After chasing him away, Cynthia arrives to give me a Secret Potion to help the Psyduck. Once I flew back to them, I bought a few Moomoo Milks before Cynthia gives me a charm to give to her grandma in Celestic Town. So glad I got a Staravia with Defog.

Once we got through that route, I went to the ruins to check out them out. Afterwards, Cyrus comes spouting his perspective of the world to which he challenges me to a battle in an attempt to prove him wrong. Sneasel and Golbat were no problem thanks to Gallade but Murkrow surprisingly gave me a few problems. It outsped everything and the only Pokémon who could hit it w/o being KOd was Togetic. But after Amovent Power hax, we managed to win.

Cynthia gives us Surf as thanks before pointing us to Canalave City. Before that, I went around to parts of Sinnoh where I've already been to get some items, TMs, and Pokémon via Surf. Luckily for me, my last 2 captures were in the same place: Fuego Ironworks. After dealing with the maze on the inside, I caught Magnemite and Magmar. Afterwards I went to the Pokémon Mansion to grind up Magnemite where it evolved into Magneton. Then I traded with my second 3DS to evolve Magmar into Magmortar. Once I was done grinding them up, I flew to Jubilife & saved.

Was going to optimize movesets but I was falling asleep so I saved it for the next time I played. As a result, my team doesn't have the most optimal movesets especially the last 3 that I caught in this session.
The team:
Torterra (lvl 36) @ Quick Claw
-Razor Leaf
-Earthquake
-Bite
-Curse

Togetic (lvl 36) @ Amulet Coin
-Ancient Power
-Yawn
-Charm
-Encore

Gallade (lvl 36) @ Odd Incense
-Psycho Cut
-Drain Punch
-Ice Punch
-Double Team

Skorupi (lvl 36) @ EXP Share
-Bug Bite
-Toxic Spikes
-Acupressure.
-Scary Face

Magnezone (lvl 36) @ Shell Bell
-Spark
-Magnet Bomb
-Thunder Wave
-Sonic Boom

Magmortar (lvl 36) @ Black Glasses
-Fire Punch
-Feint Attack
-Confuse Ray
-Smokescreen

Honorary mention:
Bibarel: Cut/Surf/Rock Smash/Yawn

 

[Drummerdude]

I always enjoy everyone's Recent Happenings posts and it's a shame more people don't post like they used too.

Since I got Surf I took the time to do what I believe is everything I could do in terms of trainers and items around the region including finding multiple Rare Candies and visiting the Fuego Ironworks. After that mini-vacation from the plot I returned to Jubilife City and surfed west to Canalave City where I once more trounced Barry in a way some may deem cruel. He suggested I train at Iron Island but for maybe the first time in my life I chose to just tackle the gym right away. Empoleon's Surf and Gliscor's Earthquake made quick work of all the Steelix and Magnemite as well as Byron's team of Steel types.

After my victory Barry urged me to go to the Library but he wouldn't let me in until I went to Iron Island first. I had no idea that was a thing. So off I went and I teamed up with Riley to stop Team Galactic getting an egg that apparently takes forever to hatch so into the PC it goes. My time in the library was cut short by an explosion on the opposite side of the country so I guess I'll be the only one to see what's going on. Saturn's team was pretty easy now that I've deemed Vespiquen my Bronzor killer with Attack Order. With one lake down I flew back home and ran to Lake Verity to take down Mars again in a much easier fight than the Windworks battle. Next up is Lake Acuity near Snowpoint so I flew to Celestic Town, ventured through Mt. Coronet and took a break once I stepped out in the snow.

I've played through D/P/P probably too many times but I've noticed this time just how much verticality is in these games. I guess Game Freak couldn't do anything really like it before so they went all out. So many routes have multiple tiers or paths you can take simply by going up or down stairs.

Lv44

Lv44

Lv43

Lv44

Lv44

I think only having 5 team members at this point has caused me to be really over-leveled.

 

[nel3]

after slowing down on gen8 sword, the occasional closing tasks to work on Y save file pokedex entries and some secret base flag count to 500 flags. ive started to put some time to raise my Furret to 100 from lvl66, currently at 72. i finally figured/discovered out what the pokeball seals were and how to use them in HG, im also going back to the daily events to an extent to try and level up my Furret with gym rematches. ive been doing a fair amount of pokewalker progress (not tricking the PKwalker) and got 12k watts added to it. currently 97 watt away from 65000 level up and on my slow way to 100k watts. the save file is old ie 7 yrs old but it a reliable fall back game when im in the mood for an older game, Silver cartridge battery is dead and never bothered to replace.

 

[Storm the Lycanroc]

After days of waiting I've finally received a copy of Pokemon: Platinum Version I ordered on eBay. Before starting this playthrough I decided to set some rules for it.

1. All the Pokemon on my main team will be given a nickname themed after the stars and constellations visible in the night sky. Figure this is a fun way to give them personality and to archive their achievements.
2. Whenever I challenge a gym I'll only use the same number of Pokemon the gym leader has.

Upon starting a new game I debated whether I should choose Turtwig or Piplup since they're more appealing than Chimchar. I ended up choosing Piplup since penguins are adorable.

I spent the first couple of hours around Jubilife City exploring and catching various Pokemon for my team. I went into the Oreburgh gym with Polaris, Virgo, and Leonis. I was defeated the first two times due to Cranidos only using headbutt. That one dinosaur would either one shot my Pokemon or make them flinch with headbutt. It wasn't until my third attempt when Cranidos missed and Polaris was able to get a critical hit to win the battle.

Afterwards I headed back towards Jubilife City and battled Team Galactic with Dawn. I easily made it to Floraroma Town and decided to catch a Buizel by the Valley Windworks before calling it a night.

Current Team:

Polaris (Piplup)(M)

Aquila (Starly)(M)

Leonis (Shinx)(F)

Virgo (Budew)(F)

Carina (Buizel)(F)

 

[Drummerdude]

Resetting for Lugia is making me lose my sanity. But I've could committed far too much time to give up.

I did my best to get through the snowy routes as quickly as I could and arrived in Snowpoint City which has almost nothing apart from the gym so off to the gym I went. I had realized a little earlier that three of my Pokemon are weak to Ice which is no bueno but it does give Empoleon a chance to shine. Destroying the snowballs was surprisingly easy this time around since I usually struggle with it and before I knew it I was challenging Candice. Vespiquen took care of Sneasel and Abomasnow with Attack Order to kick things off the right way. When she went to Froslass I thought I had the answer with Spiritomb's Faint Attack. Unfortunately Blizzard 2HKO'd it. Fortunately Empoleon's Flash Cannon connected which put an end to the usually annoying ghost. Cherrim came out to take down Piloswine and win me another badge!

I had to teach Rock Climb to my HM Slave Empoleon and I was too late to help Barry out at Lake Acuity. Before returning to Veilstone City I headed back through the snow to get the TM for Ice Beam. Only problem is I forgot to bring Starly with me instead of Bidoof. Which was less than ideal. Once I had walked back to the Pokemon Center I flew to Veilstone and completed the Galactic HQ without anything of much interest occurring. Next up was Mt Coronet and the climb itself wasn't too bad. Once I made my way to top I solo'd Mars and Jupiter with Empoleon thanks to Barry's team getting knocked out before he could use an attack every turn. Worthless.

After the rather cool cutscene with Giratina I found myself in the Distortion World which is something I always look forward too but then get disappointed when I get through it in less than 10 minutes. Cyrus was waiting at the end and we had our third battle. This freaking guy. The fight started off well with Houndoom, Weavile, and Honchkrow going down without putting up much of a fight. Then he sent out Gyarados. Here's the thing. Sinnoh is kind of a pain if you don't have an Electric type because every trainer in the game has either Gyarados or Golbat. Fortunately I have Gliscor with Thunder Fang. Unfortunately Gyarados knows Ice Fang. Didn't end well. Cherrim's Petal Dance did so-so damage but again...Gyarados knows Ice Fang. I ended up sacrificing Vespiquen and my little Starly to revive Cherrim to finish it off. Finally all that was left was Crobat. I went with Spiritomb in hopes of putting it to sleep and winning with Dream Eater. Crobat obviously out-sped it and used Confuse Ray and since in these games when you are confused you hurt yourself 99 out of 100 times Spiritomb literally did nothing. Super. Empoleon was able to tank Crobat's moves and after hurting itself three times in a row got off a critical hit Surf that allowed an Aqua Jet the next turn to finish it off. Cyrus stormed off and so did I as I took a break after that frustrating battle.

Lv50

Lv48

Lv47

Lv48

Lv48

 

[Storm the Lycanroc]

Today in Platinum Version I headed over to the Valley Windworks and battled Mars. Her Purugly wasn't to much trouble since Virgo used Stun Spore to slow it down. From there I was able to whittle down its health with Leonis dealing the final blow. She gained enough experience to evolve into a Luxio.

Next I headed northwards along Route 205 into Eterna Forest. I met Cheryl at the entrance and had her tag along while exploring the forest. Since she automatically heals the players Pokemon I spent some time leveling up my team. Polaris and Aquila evolved into their respective forms and made my team a little stronger.

I arrived in Eterna City and viewed the statue with my rival. Afterwards I made preparations to challenge the gym with my team consisting of Polaris, Aquila, and Leonis. Can say this was a pretty easy match since Aquila only had to use Wing Attack on most of Gardenia's Pokemon.

Afterwards I headed towards Team Galactic's headquarters and battled my way to the top floor. Jupiter was a lot tougher than I first expected due to Skunktank being just that, a tank. In order to beat it I had to use every member of the team: Aquila's Intimidate cut it's attack in half, Virgo used Stun Spore to paralyze it, Leonis brought it's health down using Spark to the point Skunktank used it's berry, Carina was able to finish it by using Swift and Quick Attack. After all that I decided to call it quits for the evening.

Current Team:

Polaris (Prinplup)(M)

Aquila (Staravia)(M)

Leonis (Luxio)(F)
Virgo (Budew)(F)
Carina (Buizel)(F)