Medic Plays Pokemon Violet – Part 5

So I’ve been playing Pokemon Violet for a bit now, and I have realized that there’s more to life than unlocking Pokecenters so I can fly to them. Now it’s time to make some actual progress, and that involves going to the next gym. Mostly so I can start catching more Pokemon and have them listen to me.

The next gym, located in Artazon is a grass gym, with an addiction to Sunflora. Seriously, there are so many statues of them lying around. They’re about as obsessed with Sunflora as the previous gym was with Smoliv. And, of course, just like the bug gym, the grass gym has a challenge for you. There’s a bunch of Sunflora scattered around town and I need to catch them all.

Thankfully this wasn’t a hard task. Only two of the Sunflora run away from you, the rest are asleep and, once woken up, will happily follow you around. It’s a cute minigame that, thankfully, didn’t take me too long.

Once that is done, it’s time for the gym battle itself. I’m fighting a guy called Brassius, who is an artist and the local gym leader. He has been watching me from the top of the village windmill, and jumps into play almost as if he’s a super hero.

Anyway, battle time. Brassius sends out a Petilil and a Smoliv as his two Pokemon and they are both incinerated by Flaffle the Houndour, using the move Incinerate. That was to be expected. However, Brassius then sends out a Sudowoodo, which is a stone type, not a grass type. I instinctively swap Flaffle out for Ringo, because grass counters stone.

But Brassius has a trick up his sleeve, and the Sudowoodo terastalizes into a… grass type. I should have just stuck with Flaffle, because he would have taken down this now-grass-type Pokemon with ease. Instead, I have a pretty boring battle of grass versus grass. Of course, Ringo wins, since the Sudowoodo uses the same move three times in a row, to little effect.

The match is now over and I have earned a gym badge. Brassius spews some nonsense about how artistic the battle was, gives me the badge and sends me on my way. I am then approached by one of the Elite Four, a guy called Hassel. He basically says he’s been watching me and that I should train harder should I ever challenge the Elite Four. Pretty fucking obvious, mate.

Since I’m nearby, I realize I can find a Titan nearby. After a bit of map-checking, I realize there’s a massive crab hiding nearby in some rocky alcoves. In my first encounter with it, the titan dies pretty much in one hit, then runs away to heal. Just in time, Arven appears to give me a hand, not that I need it currently. Predictably, we fight the titan again and it happens to have one of those special herbs. Another small victory, and it’s followed by a good old magic herb sandwich.

Arven actually gets a bit mad that Miraidon keeps on eating my sandwiches, but then he actually explains what he’s up to. Turns out, Arven’s best friend, his closest Pokemon, is old and ill, and potions and all that haven’t worked. Arven believes that the herba mystica will help revitalize his best buddy. And, from the looks of it, it DOES look better. I get a Miraidon that can now speed boost, and Arven’s pet opens its eyes for the first time in a long while. So we’re both happy.

With a gym and a titan out of my way, I decide I want to do some more catching. After all, that was the whole reason I did the gym battle. But I also need to power my Pokemon up a bit, they’re all still a bit too low…