Chapter 3 – That wasn't part of our deal Blackheart!
Today's adventure starts on a very positive note as I wander aimlessly into Pokemon's giant sandpit. Sandstorm areas are really fuckin' annoying to navigate on account of the weather condition wearing away at your Pokemon – but this area seems to be going out of its way to get on my good side, as it immediately presents me with a Sandile. A Sludge and a great ball later and my party grows once again, this time with the addition of Fey.
Fey - Sandile (Lv14)
With Intimidate (which Fey has) Krookodile becomes deceptively bulky, and provides useful typing and coverage for a stall team. Poison is usually a big part of my game plan, which gives me problems with other Poisons and Steel types, both of whom Fey can demolish in an instant. I can also see the shape of the future ahead and predict that my team is going to have some problems absorbing electric attacks – so a Ground immunity became a high priority for me. Although its supposed to be a blind run – and this point I confess that I've managed to mentally complete a fairly good idea of what my team is going to look like as long as captures go my way. I'll keep the beasts I'll be looking out for later a surprise however.
I manage to stumble into a battle with 'weird science lady' that I am not at all prepared for, I come quite close to losing a Pokemon as punishment. She uses Steel types with electric attacks, which with Fey still under leveled is not a combination I can do very much to. Nox can take hits but can't strike back, and I temporarily forgot that Bogart existed. Fortunately at this point Colette is such a beast that she can absorb super effective Electric attacks and 2HKO back with not very effective Returns. I'm growing to love that bird – which is the point of the Nuzlocke challenge – though I'm still not certain about keeping her long term. Roost is nice, but I don't think I'm going to be hurting for in built recovery in the future.
So I'm wandering through the ruins, smacking down enemy trainers, not thinking too much about it – when all of a sudden, Nox dies. Allow me to explain – I've been using Nox to soak hits because he's so good at it, and get rest off the damage – but a potent Fury Swipe from an opposing Liepard puts his HP lover than I am comfortable with. I switch out, only to be hut by an unexpected Pursuit, chipping off the last of his HM, removing a vital component of my team and perhaps most importantly, meaning that I totally wasted the incredibly precious Rest TM. With the centrepiece of my stall plan now flat on the ground making bubbling noises, I'm probably going to have to reassess. Or not – Colette can still roost, and I can get a better Poisoner later. We'll see.
Start as you mean to go on I suppose, as Fey bites the dust soon after to a critical takedown – that hit hard enough that it would have taken down Colette, so I'm not blaming myself for that particular loss. Fey was still underleveled slightly, so its not like I've lost a whole ton of investment there. Still, I'm now back down to only one bird pokemon with an almost certainly Electric gym coming up in the near future. I really hope there's another screen of sand between now and then.
Turns out that there is; there's the Desert Resort, where the game hands me a perfectly suitable replacement to Fey; Scraggy.
Chen Li - Scraggy (Lv18)
Chen Li doesn't have Shed Skin, which saves me from having to kill myself for blowing that Rest TM, and is just bulky enough to serve as a like for like replacement for Fey; though from a defensive perspective he's pretty much strictly worse. I will keep him around for the moment because I have to, but I'm quietly hoping to replace him with something superior in the not to distant future.
The not to distant future will have to wait however, as the inside of the Desert Resort hands me Damaruka, something that I like a great deal, but cannot justify catching. I am much too careful to spend twenty levels raising a frail, poorly typed Pokemon that knows Hustle – it would miss at a critical moment and get itself killed. Plus, no bulk, which is what we're trying to do here. I'm basically springing forward and dodging trainers right now looking for more capture opportunities. NPC's led me to believe that there's “Relic Castle” up ahead, which sounds like the place to be for catchable Pokemon.
Ask as you shall receive, Relic Castle hands me a replacement Sandile, at a marginally higher level than Fey was upon death. Enter – Echo.
Echo - Sandile (Lv21)
As a like for like replacement, Echo doesn't get much of an introduction. The only point of note is that he's a Moxiecroc instead of my preferred Intimidate version a got another Sandile on the second floor, but it was also Moxie so I didn't bother replacing. Still, cost of doing business. Chen Lee is no longer necessary, and I have to sprint back to a healer so I can start brining Echo up to level. This'll call for a lengthy session of exploring the areas I just sprinted through in detail, and since I'm about to exhaust my image allowance, we'll call it a day here.
Current Party
Bogart - Pignite (Lv17)
Colette - Tranquil (Lv27)
Chen Li - Scraggy (Lv18)
Echo - Sandile (Lv21)
Deceased
Nox - Grimer (Lv24) – Killed by Pursuit when switching out.
Fey – Sandile (Lv20) – Killed by a critical Takedown from a Herdier.
