Jess

CHAPTER 14: Shattered psyche With Aelita running behind Keta, I decide to follow as well... I descend from the stairs next to the Sheridan Village's waterfall and I find the Eldest again... Eldest: "Yin... Follow Yang, I beseech you. Only together, you can save us. Behind the waterfall. Into the heart of the mountain." Gundham: "I will call upon every ancient spirit to assist us. No need to wor-" San-D, the Patrat: "My abyssal scepter vibrates... I can sense the corruption inside the mountain... Something is abnormal..." Jum-P, the Quilava: "We don't have time to waste, edgelords! Cut the pompous declarations and let's get crackin-" Gundham: "W... wait a second... San-D is glowing!" And within seconds.... San-D, the Watchog: "Oh, you shall face the brilliance of the Mistress of Gyarados and Tamer of the Sea before you, Heathens!" The young Patrat had evolved! And the Watchog that emerged was still wearing the same tribal outfit as it was when I met it, when it was a tiny Patrat. San-D, the Watchog: "I shall scout for danger with my scepter. I will lead the way, Boss.", she said confidently. After that, the Eldest gave me her blessings, which felt weird... A demon accepting blessings, it made my skin itch a bit. Jum-P, the Quilava: "Rubbish! Your skin itches because we haven't had a bath in like 4 days, we keep running everywhere and doing stuff!" Gundham: "Hush up, abominable pest! We have more pressing issues to deal with!" Hidenka, the Nidorina: "Furthermore, we still haven't established what is causing your liking for Water, Jum-P. Or to what extent Water contact would be harmful to you...." Jum-P, the Quilava: "Meh... Whatever, let's go at last! Even though I prefer staying here, next to this waterfall..." With that, we entered the Carotos Mountain... But right as we stepped in, we saw Aelita, who looked stunned... Aelita: "How... This is... A volcano? Carotos mountain's interior was supposed to be a haven for pokemon... Not like th-" Jum-P, the Quilava: "GOD FUCKING DAMN IT BOSS, I DIDN'T SIGN FOR THIS, IT'S SCORCHING HOT IN HERE! fUCK THIS SHIT, I'M OUT!", shouted Jum-P while bouncing up and down as if he was being forced to step onto blazing hot coals... We ran behind him, together with Aelita and found Jum-P next to the waterfall, sighing in relief. Jum-P, the Quilava: "Ahhhhh... Cool... The tiny droplets, the humidity... This is Heaven..." Hidenka, the Nidorina: "Sir, after running some DNA tests on some hair I collected from Jum-P's tail, I deduct that his Water liking stems from his genes... Additionally, his body appears significantly weakened when he isn't properly hydrated..." Gaidoku, the Nidorino *staring at Hidenka in awe*: "I don't understand a word she says, but she is amazing!" Maga-Z, the Pachirisu: "NOT NOW, LOVESTRUCK! So, what did hidenka say?" Kairi Hime, the Bibarel: "In short, we gotta keep Jum-P cool and hydrated." Gundham: "OK, OK, Kairi Hime, you will be using Water Gun aiming high, above the head of Jum-P. MILDLY! We wanna keep him cool, not make him faint!" Kairi Hime, the Bibarel: "I'm on it, Gundham!" Gundham: "And you, Mizumi, will use your tail as a fan to keep his body cool!" Mizumi, the Buizel: "Ya' got it, Boss! Anything for my sparring mate!" Mizumi and Kairi Hime did as I instructed them too, creating a tiny fountain over Jum-P's head, with a fan constantly blowing air on his face. The small droplets were fizzing, evaporating right after they fell on Jum-P's flames, and he seemed to be more cheerful immediately. Jum-P, the Quilava: "Let's go wreck house, guyz! I'm on fire! Or on water! Well doesn't matter, let's go destroy 'em!" Aelita heard Jum-P and smiled... Aelita: "So... Does that mean that you will help me, Gundham? Even without knowing me?" Gundham: "Well... We have to let destiny guide us. Not define us, but show us the way... And sometimes, we have to change it. Even if it means messing with lowly humans, like Team Xen..." Aelita promised to heal our Pokemon whenever that is necessary with her Revival Herbs and Medicine. She already shows signs of a capable Sensei, even with being so young... Soon, as we advanced through the fiery Carotos Mountain, a robotic slithering tentacle emerged from the ground, and grabbed Aelita's ankle. Aelita: "Urgh.... Leave... Me Alone... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CREEPY THING?!" Bun, the Lopunny: "HAIIIIIII-YAHHHHHHHH!" Bun had used a full-power Return on the tentacle, reducing it to a mere pillar of irregular shaped metal pieces. Aelita: "Heh... Thanks, Bun! Looks like your ankle has fully healed!", Aelita said, petting Bun's ears gently. Gundham: "What was this infernal abomination though?..." Right when I said that, in front of an elevator, a... "weird"-shaped machine, emerged and introduced itself to us, as SEC. "Security Enforcer Component, placed under the authority of subject: Madelis". Jum-P, the Quilava: "It was d1Cc shap-" Kairi Hime *closing Jum-P's mouth with her flat, beavery tail*: "WE WILL GET WARNING POINTS, CONTROL YOURSELF!" SEC asked for our Team Xen identification cards, confirming our theories. Team Xen is behind all this... But, since we didn't have any Team Xen IDs, we had to battle SEC... Erimakuma, the Minccino *tucked frightened in my scarf*: "M.... Madeli.... Madelis....", Erimakuma stuttered, her entire body was trembling... Erimakuma, the Minccino: "E... evil Crimsonhaired Woman... No..." Poor thing was frightened to death... As relaxed as she seemed to be since the moment we arrived in Sheridan Village, now she was the exact opposite... San-D, my Watchog hugged her, still tucked in my scarf... San-D, the Watchog: "Relax, little one, nobody can hurt you anymore." Gundham: "Plus, my scarf, the ancient Tanaka artifact, is infused with strong magic. The spirits of a thousand generations of Tanakas are shielding you, young one!", I said confidently, laughing, trying to reassure her... But then, SEC battled us... and sent in a Shadow Salandit... As we battled it, defeating it quite easily, we noticed a dark aura emitting from its body, and reaching like a long, ethereal snake towards Erimakuma... Hidenka pulled my sleeve, in a hurry... Hidenka, the Nidorina: "Sir... Fast... Get Erimakuma out of this place! I thought that her symptoms were indicative of strong PTSD... But apparently, they aren't... It is her incomplete shadowfication. The process is resumed. It got re-initiated by the trauma, enhanced by the close contact with other shadow Pokemon... She isn't safe here!" Aelita: "Hawlucha, take her to the Eldest, fast!" Mizumi, the Buizel: "No. I'll take her out. You all are needed here to fight. San-D's scepter practically holds back the shadow force. She creates a barrier, and I go out and run to find the Eldest... Besides, Sir... I was the first one who saw her in Melia's room..." Hidenka, the Nidorina: "It could work... The shadow waves are practically electromagnetic forces that resonate with the victim's electrical signals that travel through the neurons... A Barrier would significantly weaken those... Buying us time." Apparently, San-D had watched a bit too much Lord of the Rings while she was resting at the Gearen pokmon Center and performed a gloriously majestic "you shall not pass" spell on the dark ethereal snakes that attempted to seize Erimakuma. Mizumi held her shaking body in his arms, always tucked in my crimson scarf, running out of the Cave, as we advanced to the elevator, praying that Erimakuma will be OK... Aelita: "Gundham...", Aelita said, noticing how worried I was as the elevator was taking us deeper into the Mountain, deeper into Team Xen's base... She touched my hand, and stared at me, I was blinking my eyes at an uncontrollable pace, my eyelids shoving away the tears... Gundham: "She will be fine. Demons don't die. We have to keep going.", I said, while my efforts of trying to smile proved to be fruitless... For quite some time, I was empty-minded, battling Team Xen grunts alongside Aelita, who was actually doing most of the work... Good thing that San-D had given commands before again, and she acted as a trainer many times... Because my psyche had taken a huge blow. I had failed to protect another friend of mine. A tiny, helpless creature I promised to take care of... Erimakuma... What had they done to her... Part 17: Carotos Volcano Maze With the mood being quite gloomy, we will conclude this chapter. And we will continue very soon (tomorrow probably), to see what Team Xen is capable of doing... And hopefully, we will encounter Keta again. The mystery unfolds... Till the next chapter, leave your comments below everyone! And enjoy! The team members so far:

That looks good so far. Giving chances to underdogs. I'd also suggest getting a Dustox and a Wormadam-Ground (especially with Ground Hidden Power type). Now that Wormadam learns Quiver Dance by level-up, it can do wonders.

LOL, why does Fell Stinger of my Leavanny work like Sticky Web? I'm so happy about this bug, plus Leavanny can learn Sticky Web anyways, and it saved my ass in the battle vs Hardy after Silver peak. By the way, I can't make an ice boulder vanish... I have literally searched every nook and cranny but no un-enabled crystal remains. And I can't get to the top of glacier, where a ladder exists. What is there and how I get there?

A Bug monotype! I wonder who upvoted it... perhaps it was me., lol get ready for lots of fun, trouble and strategic battle planning! Bugs are a lot of fun. And if you have trouble, I will be glad to help! I'm doing the same challenge myself, done bug and poison and currently doing normal, with a break to do a desolation bug monotype too. i am the bug freak of the forums prolly rip my reputation

@AlilatiasWow, thanks for the help! Looks like I will get an amazing team soon (well, an even more amazing than the one I already have anyways)! I'm glad that beamer grid exists too, so I can travel easily to previous locations if I missed stuff. I am OK with getting a beating, after all a monotype is supposed to be a challenge. And I had a great time with trying to do what initially seemed to be impossible! It's very rewarding, and satisfies my strategic mind's cravings. XD

IIRC the sky field powers up Chatter but also removes the confusion effect. Otherwise it'd be way too overpowered. Oh now it makes sense. Aderyn was OK to deal with, after all, but only thanks to HP Rock Wormadam Trash cloak and Forretress. I also cleared the silver cave, the one with crystal bridges and noticed that Tristan has a bloody Staraptor. The hate towards Bugs continues xD. I would like to get a Dwebble, a Joltik and a Surskit to have stuff to take care more easily of Water, Fire and Flying types, but I am mostly Ok with what I have now. Maybe a Durant would be great to take care of Fairies and Rock types too. But still, not a huge issue anymore. After defeating Connor and Aderyn with such limited options, I am not really scared of anything anymore. As long as I find the move relearner and get access to heart scales tbh. And maybe daycare too.

Aderyn is down by Bugs! Hidden power rock wormadam took down Chatot first by HP spam. She took out Swellow too with Hidden Power rock alternating with Protect to rack up burn damage on her guts Swellow. Emolga almost went down to Light Screen Toxic Dustox which tanked Air Slashes like a beast, even though the U-turn swaps meant I had to predict stuff. Xatu went down to Payback Forretress and Hawlucha went down to Bide by Forretress, after it tanked two Swords Dance boosted Aerial Ace and Drain Punch like a champion. In the end, she only had her Honchkrow and a poisoned Emolga with a quarter of its health. I only had Forretress, Vivillon and butterfree. I use Explosion with Forretress and let Honchkrow live with a quarter of its health too. But then,before Vivillon uses Draining Kiss, Honchkrow uses Sucker Punch and OHKO es,getting moxie boost. I predict another Sucker Punch,since butterfree outsped it in a failed previous try,and I am right. I put it to sleep with Sleep Powder and use Tailwind to outspeed Emolga too in next turn. Then butterfree finishes off both Honchkrow and Emolga with Silver Wind. It. Feels. So. Damn. Good. Aderyn got outplayed. I needed five lemonades to get the victory, but who cares, her team and field is unfair vs Bugs this early in game...

Front loaded is an understatement, lol! If I hadn't completed a Bug monotype run of Reborn to have some experience, I would have given up probably... Please tell me that third gym isn't Rock. I will legit die laughing if that's the case. Trash cloak might be better to face Aderyn after all. I need something to tank some hits. I made a casual first try and wormadam took out Chatot easily. Chatter never confusing anyone helps, but I reckon it is a known issue. Plus, chatter is a crime of a move and shouldn't exist, so I won't complain about that. No siree.

@J-Awesome_OneI checked every cave in game so far and no sand cloak. So, alternative. I checked and got a trash cloak wormadam with rock type hidden power. Metal sound and HP Rock will do some work, hopefully. And I will overlevel Pineco to 39 before evolving it to get Iron Defense. I will destroy that bitch and Caz, the number 1Bug hater.

Again sorry for double post... But new question. Where can I evolve Burmy into sand cloak wormadam? Vejyr and keneph give me trash cloak and I need Rock Blast...

Well, I decided not to give up on my Bug Monotype. So I levelled up my Dustox till it learned toxic. It then tanked an Aerial Ace from that Ace Trainer's Fearow, cuz Dustox is a beast and Toxic poisoned it. I then killed Fearow with some Protect stalling by Leavanny and Vivillon, and finally made it alive to face Aderyn. So, I go to train some more and run into Pineco and Burmy in Route 2. HOPE IS BACK PEEPS! I'll keep you updated, it's more fun this way XD. Either I'll do it without hacking or I won't do it at all!

Yes, I can't even pass the Ace trainer with the fearow in the gym. Time to hack in dwebble and Joltik, this is ridiculous game design. Zero type balance and everyone has a drought vulpix. I get it Caz, you hate bugs and grass types, don't make it that obvious.

Hmmmm that's a pity... Some priority by Ariados would come in handy. Together with Yanmega's Ancient Power... Now I will have to do the typical Stun Spore, Sleep Powder shenanigans again... And hope that some of my special attackers have good Hidden Power typings... But I expect it to be hell even passing through Chatot. Especially if it has Chatter.

@Zargerth And no Joltik either... I start wondering how heavy my sins must be for me to deserve it... LOL! What is her team? BTW I got Dustox now,but no sign of Spinarak...

Sorry for double post, but new question. So, first gym leader is fire Connor in Charlotte's blazing field practically. Then, fiery Vejyr cave. And second gym leader is flying, Aderyn? Caz must truly hate Grass and/or Bug types... Unless I am mistaken and we don't fight Aderyn for a badge yet...

@ArcherEric @BRS swag I had cleared vejyr when I sent my previous message. It wasn't that bad, Vivillon butterfree duo cause they don't get field damage. They carried me. But true, that cave is hell. I laughed ironically when ava asked me to do the battling cause her grass types can't take the heat. LOL, as if my bugs were more suited for the job XD

@BRS swag Thanks! Well, I am kinda the bug junkie of the forums, so I just had to use bugs. You sound like a forretress kind of guy! Both tanky and shares the bug typing.. Eh, actually all I did with swadloon was protect to stall out one turn of sun and bug bite to eat the oran berry, so vulpix doesn't heal. My Vivillon actually killed it with stun spore and psybeams! I wanted to play desolation in ages,but I was wondering if I would get past Connor and vejyr fire cave with only early bugs. But going pretty well, I am just after my first battle vs Scarlett, and only battle I had to try many times to win was with Connor.

@Zargerth I found wurmple in the area where you first meet Hardy, right after defeating Connor. Spinarak is still MIA though... Thanks! Connor is tough, yeah. An early game blazing field and drought vulpix? Too strong! I had to sack my swadloon to protect and bug bite on vulpix to get rid of that annoying oran berry. But it didn't heal my swadloon... Maybe a bug... Pun intended! Also, the rock smash on kricketune and beedrill helped me deal some damage or finish off things. it is my first take on desolation anyways, so it is even tougher, for being a blind monotype...

@J-Awesome_One Thanks! Pity I wasn't recording it. I am on holidays so playing on my laptop and the only pc I have installed my recording software on is my home's pc. So, I was playing just for fun! It took me like 2hours of trying, but I did it... Haha!

@ZargerthI did it. Only swadloon, Vivillon, butterfree, kricketune and beedrill (with a fodder scatterbug to max revive someone).I didn't find wurmple or spinarak. Even searched with different clock day periods. Maybe they are after first gym badge. BTW, butterfree with compound eyes sleep powder is op. Not just wrecked house, but even tanked an acrobatics from fletchinder to shut it down afterwards. I'm glad I didn't fail my Bug Monotype run before even starting it.

Where is wurmple and spinarak? I can't find them anywhere... @Zargerth I also need to run around a lot to evolve my swadloon into leavanny. It has chlorophyll, so it can help.

@Zargerth Then I have to keep trying and hope that RNG parahax and sleep hax and confusion hax are on my side... RIP

Does anyone know where (and if) I can get a dwebble before fighting Connor? I am trying a bug monotype run and it's pretty impossible to defeat Connor with only leavanny, Vivillon, butterfree, kricketune and beedrill...

Haha, I know, I was just kidding No worries! I like the coincidence, it's a good name I think!