It has been nearly 3 months since my last post! Crazy how time flies, so much has happened since then! I did neglect this Sword playthrough until Christmas, but I found the time to beat the main story and the post-game which is neat. I don't remember many of the battles though... I usually make sure every Pokemon gets one fight so nobody sweeps anyone, which was doable. I think Leon made himself lose by setting up Sand with his GMax Charizard using Max Rockfall against my Dynamax'd Toxtricity only to be KO'd by it? The post-game legendary battles were actually quite difficult? My team does not handle Zamazenta that well it would appear. But it's done!
What is left for this playthrough? Quite a bit actually! I'll list it below:
- Complete the Pokedex - as you'll see at the bottom I've caught 234 Pokemon out of a possible 401 (including Galarian Slowpoke which is technically a DLC Pokemon) so I have a ton to evolve and raise up!
- Defeat Morimoto - something I sometimes forget to do but he's a fun fight usually
- Clear the DLCs - I haven't actually bought them yet for this file (as it's on my OLED) but I thought I'd wait until I beat the story + did the Pokedex before starting this! This will be new content for me too as I never did beat the DLCs when they were relevant
DLC content includes beating the story, completing their respective Pokedex and (if it's not too much hassle) beating their strongest trainer. That would be Mustard and/or Honey in the Isle of Armor, and the Galarian Star Tournament in the Crown Tundra! Honey might be a skip depending on how easy it is to get the Watts to upgrade the Dojo to unlock her, we shall see. If the Pokedex requires me to capture the previous generation's legendaries I may leave it as I don't want to grind too much and would like to move onto other games. When I come to beat BDSP I might come back to grinding out the legendaries as I'd rather do it via the Dynamax Adventures than hunting for shards in the Grand Underground. Beyond that... that'll be it! Sword file complete, and I can move onto another game.
The Team:
Grohlrilla the Rillaboom, Level 68
♀
Wood Hammer, High Horsepower, U-Turn, Darkest Lariat
My trusty starter, I haven't used a Grass starter on it's own through to the end in a loooooooong time! It was actually pretty good - fast enough to get quick KOs when needed, bulky enough to tank a hit if it didn't knock out the opponent in a single hit, had decent coverage especially once it reached its final evolution. Wood Hammer recoil does suck a bit but it wasn't the end of the world. I can't say it was a super exciting Pokemon to use? Might be because of the gap I took in playing through the story but I just don't remember being wow'd by it. Still cool though!
Phantom the Dragapult, Level 70
♂
Dragon Darts, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, U-Turn
This was a funny Pokemon to use - Dreepy was not actually
that bad to use? The game throws enough Fighting and Normal types with poor coverage at you to make Infestation + Quick Attack / Bite combo a slow but useable way to win, and then you get Drakkloak which is workable. Dragapult is as incredible as you'd expect it to be with solid coverage and strong moves, it's great! It does take a lot of effort though to make it just serviceable though - traded experience and not caring about over-levelling essentially.
Fey the Hatterene, Level 70
♀
Psychic, Draining Kiss, Magical Leaf, Dazzling Gleam
Hatterene was a solid addition to the squad - Hattena started out a bit weak and Hattrem was fine to use, but Hatterene? Fairy types be busted. Draining Kiss did so much damage let alone Dazzling Gleam and Psychic! I don't think I ever really used Magical Leaf. Shame it was really slow but the bulk helps a lot, can't be perfect. Also a big shame that all the Fighting types either have no coverage for Ghost types, or know a million Dark moves that make my witchy gal a pain to use against them.
Huginn the Corviknight, Level 69
♀
Brave Bird, Revenge, U-Turn, Iron Head
The ol' reliable for Galar throughout the story. Pure Flying is so good and then Flying/Steel is incredible! Gets strong moves from the get-go and never lets up until the end of the game, where it's a bit weak but it's so tanky that I really do not mind. Iron Head was nice in place of Steel Wing but not necessary, I do wish I'd gotten a Body Press TR though as Revenge wasn't great to use by the end-game. Was my wall against the Legendary Wolves, who are terrifying by the way!
Crackle the Toxtricity, Level 69
♂
Overdrive, Nuzzle, Boomburst, Sludge Bomb
The second ol' reliable for Galar - I've never not had one of these dudes on my team because it's honestly incredible. The Toxel stage isn't even bad! Belch + the bajillion berries you get early on is a killer combo, Nuzzle makes capturing wild Pokemon a breeze and it hits like a truck. Sludge Bomb TR was incredible but Overdrive goes brrr in this game honestly. I love it.
Avalon the Sirfetch'd, Level 69
♂
Throat Chop, Leaf Blade, Swords Dance, Brick Break
Fighting types are incredible in Galar, especially from the moment you clear Ballonlea. Hop has two Normal types on his team, the last 3 gyms are either weak to you or have Pokemon that are, Macro Cosmos has a bunch of Steel types to annihilate, it's beautiful. Sirfetch'd lacks good Fighting STAB until around that time (Revenge is do-do and Rock Smash doesn't do a lot very quickly) but it evolves fast and critical hits come very easy for it. Grass and Dark coverage is also amazing, so yeah! It's good, use one if you've not for whatever reason.
Pokedex: 234 / 401
Current Play Time: 27 hours
