Medic Plays A Real Pokemon Game for the First Time – Part 12
So I’m off to the Ice Gym, where I hopefully will get my 6th badge. I’ve been leveling up my Pokemon, and now is the time to fight. I have a nice, round party of Pokemon who all have a super-effective move against Ice. Hopefully, I am ready to fight.
However, before I attempt the gym, I want to mention Route 8, the route I took to get to Circhester. Whoever designed Route 8 is, in my humble opinion, an asshole. Seriously, how to people normally travel though this? Most of Route 8 is full of pits and holes, and you have to climb up ladders and avoid tall grass, just to get to the other side. I end up taking a battering just trying to get to Circhester. Thank heavens I only had to do it once.
With that out of the way, I can now take on the Ice gym, which I’ll do in a second after browsing the stores. Hang on, wait, I can customize my hair? Apparently I can. I’ve been using my default character with default hair for the entirety of this game so far, and I can change my hair to match my real life hair? What the hell?
Okay, for real now, I’m gonna fight this damn gym. Beforehand though, I have to do the gym challenge. This gym challenge is the one I suck at the most. You’re basically given two sticks that vibrate when you are near thin ice that you can’t stand on. Thankfully there was no way to actually fail, so I did find myself just winging it. Turns out, the task is far easier when you don’t think too hard and kinda go in random. Of course there are ice gym trainers scattered around too, just to make my life more of a pain.
Luckily, the ice path challenge doesn’t take that long, and I can finally fight the gym leader Melony.
Honestly, this battle had me worried. I started off with Carl the Coalossus, with its double resistance to ice. Her first Pokemon dies instantly, but I then instantly run into a problem: her Darumaka has a move that’s guaranteed to cause a flinch. So basically I can’t attack it. All I can do is swap out and rely on my Salazzle with her greater speed. Once Charm the Salazzle is out, she proceeds to kill the Darumaka and another Pokemon.
In an attempt to save face, Melony sends out the one Pokemon I was worried about: Lapras, the ice and water type, a Pokemon that has always caused me concern, even back in Pokemon GO. Keeping Charm in the fight is pointless, so I recall Charm and send out A Nibble, my Dreadnaw.
And, of course, because it’s her last Pokemon, she Dynamaxes the Lapras. So I Dynamax A Nibble as well. I’m not sure why, but my rock move did way more to Lapras than her water move did. In two turns, the Lapras explodes and shrinks, before fainting. Dreadnaw and I celebrate as we get our new badge.
After the battle though, I run into Sonia and Hop. Sonia treats us both to curry and realizes that, on the wall at the back of the curry place, there’s a piece of tapestry that just so happens to be relevant to the plot. And, fucking finally, Hop points out that maybe the big scary doggo we saw back in part 1 is related to all of this.
Either way, we all eat and chat over curry, before heading to the springs in the middle of the town that only Pokemon bathe in. Sonia talks of a massive, heroic battle, and Hop suggests that we fight, since us ten year olds are heroic too.
Of course, I stomp on Hop’s team, but he is getting a bit better.
Nothing happens, but Sonia is impressed, and heads off to do some more research, while wishing us luck on the next gym. So that’s where we’re going.
When I get to the edge of town though, I run into a Dreadnaw, two Team Yell grunts and… the guy who gave me my bicycle. I chase off the Team Yell grunts, who escape via their Dreadnaw. Turns out, a massive part of Route 9 is UNDERWATER. But the guy gives me an upgrade on my bike that lets me ride on water. Very handy.
The rest of Route 9 is uneventful, but we run into a problem – Spikemuth’s man entrance is locked and no one can get in or out. Well, aside from a secret path that Marnie, the girl Team Yell are deifying, shows me, but only if I beat her in battle. Which, to no one’s surprise, I do easily.
Now I have access to Spikemuth, I need to change my party. Time to find some fighting and fairy types for the Dark gym!
Part 0
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12 <- You are here
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21