Preserve the Wilderness: Cyaloom's Pokemon Black 2 run

[Cyaloom]

Hello and welcome to my Pokemon Black 2 Run! Cyaloom style.

Some background:

This is something that I thought I could do in my free time when I am not roleplaying and that wouldn't last too long.
So, does anyone remember one of my first posts on the forums, in the (now presumably dead) Monotype thread? It was like this:

Now that I have an account I can talk here about my Flying-monotype in Pokémon Platinum, but I've beaten the league already.

I've beaten the league with:
Gliscor, L. 47
Swords Dance, U-Turn, Thunder Fang, Earthquake
Staraptor, L. 46
Endeavor, Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, Close Combat
Crobat, L. 47
Wing Attack, Fly, Toxic, Bite
Togekiss, L. 47
Wish, Flamethrower, Aura Sphere, Air Slash
Yanmega, L. 47
Detect, Ancient Power, Silver Wind, Giga Drain
Gyarados, L. 48
Dragon Dance, Ice Fang, Waterfall, Surf

Now I'll try to complete the challenge by beating Team Galactic inside Stark Mountain.

As you can see the levels were rather low compared to those of my opponents in-game. It's not like playing certain hack roms *coughDarkRisingcough* but it certainly made the game more challenging and entertaining.
This is basically my playstyle, at least with Pokemon games. I try to avoid that long and tedious process known as grinding and jump into the battle with what I have.
Now I'm taking this whole idea one step further (maybe too far), replaying one of my favourite Pokemon games, and sharing my run here in this topic.
I hope you'll enjoy it!

Rules:
This is not a Nuzlocke or a monotype. I'll have just two simple self-imposed rules from the start:
1. I can't use Legendary Pokemon in battle.
2. I can't knock out any wild Pokemon; only catch them or run away.
Actually I might add or change some rules during the run, but those two cannot be changed.

Current team:

Crobat, Lv. 55
Poison Fang, Acrobatics, Haze, Fly

Krookodile, Lv. 53
Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 53
Force Palm, Aura Sphere, Swords Dance, Shadow Claw

Serperior, Lv. 53
Giga Drain, Leech Seed, Coil, Leaf Blade

Starmie, Lv. 53
Thunderbolt, Surf, Psychic, Ice Beam

Chandelure, Lv. 53
Curse, Will-o-wisp, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 1: Tackle spam

The game begins in Aspertia city during a sunny yet cold day of Autumn: I am informed that a girl with a green hat has come here to give me a starter Pokemon and a Pokedex, and another boy from the town joins me in my quest to find her. We arrive to the lookout and, right there, amazed by the view, we find Belle, who lets me choose my companion from her three starter pokemon.


The starter I chose is Snivy, as I have always used oshawott in my previous runs and I have also tried out Tepig, but I have never tried Snivy. Of course, as soon as I try to leave, the boy challenges me to a fight and uses his Tepig. He says he had raised it from an egg, but that would mean that he could predict the future and pick his companion accordingly... He can't know which starter I pick before I actually do that... Anyways, the boy from now on is going to be my rival!
And before I forget, his name is the default one: Hugh.

The fight was a continuous Tackle spam, in which Tepig was prevailing, but the accuracy of Snivy let him win the (very close) battle, thanks to a critical hit.After that, we were taken to the Pokemon center and our Pokemon were healed. I obtained the running shoes and my town map, then Hugh's sister gave me a second map that I had to deliver to my rival. Belle also showed me how to catch a Pokemon in the grass patches of route 19.
Snivy's nature is Hardy (so it's neutral), and the moves are just what you would expect at this stage. I'm eager to evolve him into Serperior and try him out:

(this screenshot was taken at Fioccesy Ranch)

I was about to reach Fioccesy town when Alder stopped me and decided that he would train me up at his house, which I arrive to after healing my Pokemon at the pokemon center.

How did you know?
My mission now is to deliver the map to Hugh, who is in the nearby ranch, and then let Alder train me in his house.
Of course getting to Hugh wasn't that easy and fast, and Snivy was still level 5, so he only knew Tackle and Leer. With this stellar moveset and the smallest level advantage over my enemies, I jumped into the first trainer battle of Route 20, defeating the enemy level 4 Patrat with some good old Tackle Spam.
That is when Snivy learned Vine Whip and helped me beating the rest of the trainers in the route. But there is still one thing I find weird...

15 PP!? GF is genius.

I finally reached the Fioccesy Ranch and spent quite a long time in the tall grass before going any further. After seeing all of the Pokemon in the area, I was able to find and promptly catch a new team member, a Riolu.
The nature is neutral, the ability is rather helpful against Fake-out users (normally Liepard, so that is nice), and the moves... I'm sure he'll get better ones in the future.


After healing my newly caught companion I was ready to explore the ranch deeper and find my rival.
Hugh approached me not that long after I came back to the ranch. Thanks to Riolu's Quick attacks, Snivy easily defeated the weakened Tepig granting me the victory...


OMG the world is about to end!
...Only to see that there were other problems to deal with: the ranch's owner seemed to have lost his Herdier, and this made Hugh freak out (very noticeably) for some reason.
What happened exactly and how will the two trainers handle this situation...?

The Team

Snivy, Lv. 8
Tackle, Vine whip, Leer

Riolu, Lv. 6
Foresight, Counter, Quick Attack, Endure

Edited February 26, 2016 by Cyaloom

[Tomas Elliot]

Eh, did my own endeavor with Ar Tonelico motivate you into doing this? Regardless, best of luck for your run: the fifth gen games are something I myself would like to play once again in the future...

[Cyaloom]

Replies:

Tomas Elliot:
While I had already planned to start doing this, your own run was actually one more reason to begin. Fifth generation is actually one of the most appealing for me to play, as we don't have tons of extra mechanics (Gen 6) but there is a high Pokemon variety and lots of things to do as well. Also, I have both White and Black 2 on cartiridge.

Shia:
Well, this might not be as entertaining as a Nuzlocke (with very emotional moments) or interesting as a Monotype, it's more like an actual challenge for myself, which takes my abitual playstyle one step further. But the fact that it's something different and fresh may also make it more enjoyable to follow as well, I hope!
Also, thank you!

Part 2: Tackle Spam 2.0, read: Quick Attack Spam
Last time some events in the game made our rival Hugh go crazy, and it's time to shed some light on a Pokemon that went missing in the Fioccesy Ranch.
Thanks to the trainers in the area our Riolu was able to grow to level 9, without learning any new move and having to rely on Quick Attack to inflict some damage (because, let's face it, Counter is so unreliable here). Despite not having a Fighting move at his disposal, our fighting-type defeated all of his opponents, sometimes with the help of Snivy, who eventually obtained one more level and learned Wrap.

We arrive in the northern part of the ranch, near a river, and the Herdier is finally found, with a suspicious man.

OMG I am so scared!

So Team Plasma, who was planning to conquer Unova two years before in Black and White, has now returned with a different uniform and is now trying to take away some random Herdier from a farmer, instead of making something more interesting. Either this grunt didn't have nothing better to do, or Team Plasma is "becoming something irrelevant".
This man runs away after giving us TM21, which contains Frustration, and we can finally return the Herdier to its owner. Hugh manages to scold him as he didn't take care of his Pokemon, and they left, leaving me alone in the groove. But, at least, now I can get back to Alder.

How beautiful.

Alder sees what's inside my bag again and notices I have one map, so he lets me enter his house and decides that I should battle his other students. Their Panpour and Pansear are easily defeated by Snivy and Riolu (all they did was spam Lick). When I am finally allowed to leave, I get my Medal Box and get to know that I can finally challenge my hometown's newly open gym, lead by Cheren!

Due to the relative lack of trainers, this battle might be harder than normal, even if this is only the beginning of the game! The Aspertia City gym is the next milestone; what is the outcome going to be?

The Team:

Snivy, Lv. 10
Tackle, Vine whip, Leer, Wrap

Riolu, Lv. 10
Foresight, Counter, Quick Attack, Endure

Edited November 4, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Tomas Elliot]

In the OP, the line you made to separate the "current team" part from the bulk of the story is too long and is deforming the page, albeit not by much. Please shortne it a bit ;-;

[Cyaloom]

Reply:

In the OP, the line you made to separate the "current team" part from the bulk of the story is too long and is deforming the page, albeit not by much. Please shortne it a bit ;-;

Done. But I wasn't noticing any problems, even on mobile.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Cyaloom]

New part is now up, sorry for double posting

Part 3: Work up abuse

The first Gym is often an easy fight; Pokemon are slowly coming out of the "Tackle Spam phase" and learning new moves and strategy isn't really needed. The two trainers in the gym, in fact, were fairly easy fights. However Cheren was not that merciful.

Let's go! (again and again)

I battled all of the available trainers with my two Pokemon, Riolu and Snivy, but I still had to do multiple attempts to win, because of the move Work up. It raises Attack and Special Attack of the user, and can become very dangerous if you give it to a rather bulky Lillipup with a Stab Tackle that (this time) is nothing to laugh about. With fights like this one where it's a matter of who hits harder, Cheren had a rather big advantage.

After Patrat was nearly killed by Riolu and was finished off by Snivy, we were both down to our last Pokemon. Lillipup proceeded to use Work up but, unlike in the previous attempts, I hindered him with Leer and Wrap and, after some Vine Whips, Snivy prevailed.

I won the battle and obtained my first badge, and as soon as I came out of the Gym, my rival was ready to battle Cheren.

Calm down, man!

After seeing my new badge, the hiker that was previously blocking the way challenged me to a mirror battle with his own Riolu against mine: but thanks to a critical hit, I won.

My Riolu is in the top percentage of all Riolu!

Finally I was able to reach Virbank City, see two people arguing in front of me (Roxie and his father), and explore the Complex, where I was able to get some new team members, a Magby and a Magnemite.

I'm not that happy with the natures, of course, and I have already used these Pokemon in previous runs so I might also replace them later. Magemite will be useful against Roxie and Magby can help me with Bug types, that are used in Castelia's gym, and Venipede, that might appear in the upcoming Poison-type gym.

There are a lot of trainers in the area, who I am currently battling to get stronger for the upcoming Gym battle. If Cheren's gym has already given me trouble, is this one going to be even worse...?

The Team

Snivy, Lv. 14

Tackle, Wrap, Vine Whip, Leer

Riolu, Lv. 12

Feint, Counter, Quick Attack, Endure

Magby, Lv. 13

Ember, Faint Attack, Smoke Screen, Leer

Magnemite, Lv. 13

Supersonic, Tackle, Sonicboom, Thundershock

Edited November 10, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Cyaloom]

Triple Posting...

Part 4: Smooth Sailing
...for now, at least.

After some training in the Virbank Complex and after defeating all the trainers, I entered the Gym and battled against Roxie to get my second badge. This time, the fight was very easy: one single Pokemon was able to almost defeat the gym leader without any help, and without any level advantage.

Bring it on!

It is obvious to see which Pokemon I am talking about: thanks to Sonicboom and its Steel typing, Magnemite granted me the victory, actually sacrificing himself so that Riolu could finish off Roxie's Whirlipede without being harmed, and get some needed Experience. Riolu obtained two levels from that battle alone, finally learning a good move, Palm Force, which of course has 10 PP. GF is genius.
When I came out of the gym, I got involved in Pokewood. First I watched a rather boring film, then I acted in a different and more successful version of it with the help of Brycen and the director.

This guy is rather weird, both in the way he speaks and in the way he looks like.

When we were finally out of there we found Team Plasma hanging around with Hugh and Roxie. I had to fight one grunt and he used a level 14 Patrat... a pushover, honestly. I also had to beat another grunt that escaped near Route 20 (again, an easy fight). Only when that was done with, I could sail to Castelia City, followed by my Rival, of course.

I still haven't battle all of the trainers (who are a lot in this city) or progressed with the story, but I got myself a Bike, explored the City, and caught a new friend:

This Pokemon is meant to be more of an attacker so I can't really complain with the nature. I was lucky enough to get it at level 15 and with Moxie, which I think is a cool ability to have (unless I can make use of multiple Intimidate-wielding Pokemon like I did in my Platinum run).

I have, though, got to know that Team Plasma seems to be hiding somewhere near the Sewers, and that I'll have to help Hugh beating them (of course, he looked for them around the whole city while I was trying to get Sandile). Next time, we'll finally progress with the story here in Castelia City, and train up our team in the sewers. Because that is such a good place to stay.

The team:

Snivy, Lv. 16
Growth, Leaf Tornado, Vine Whip, Tackle

Riolu, Lv. 15
Quick Attack, Palm Force, Counter, Endure

Magby, Lv. 15
Leer, Smoke screen, Ember, Faint attack

Magnemite, Lv. 15
Thundershock, Thunder wave, Sonicboom, Tackle

Sandile, Lv. 15
Bite, Sand Tomb, Sand Attack, Torment

Announcement:

Due to "in real life" stuff and all the trainer battles that are waiting for me, the next update will most likely come out this weekend, maybe even during the next week.

[Cyaloom]

New update! I have one new friend and that's it; I had to make a fast update.

Part 5: Mr. Internet Explorer
Remember how I said "train up our team in the sewers"? Well, there are only three trainers inside (and three more in the Relic Passage). The same could be said about the Battle Company. And because of this the team is starting to look underleveled, at least for me. But they were still helpful in a different way: Snivy finally evolved into a Servine!

Thanks, Relic Passage trainers! (I guess)

First things first: me and the rival defeated two Plasma grunts in the sewers, met Burgh, and then another man.

It's Mr. Internet Explorer! (kind of an overused joke actually)

After that encounter I entered the Relic Passage, defeated the trainers and tried to catch a wild Onix for some reason. After ending up in a bad situation with that Onix, I got a Woobat instead...
Only to replace it for another (hopefully more useful) bat.

In this game Zubat can actually shine, because of the level you can find it in the wild. Zubat already knows Wing Attack and is not totally useless, and is going to evolve into a very fast and overall great Flying-type Pokemon that I really like, too. Nature and Ability are nothing special but also aren't bad at all.

I visited the Castelia Garden (which is full of Cottonees) and the rest of the sewers; then cleared out the Battle Company. I also entered the Gym but the first trainer had two level 20 Sewaddle, and, altough they put up an easy battle for my Zubat, they made me realize that at this time of the game, things start to get real.

The upcoming gym leader won't be easy. I have to prepare myself (more than my team. I can't train them deliberately).

The team:

Servine, Lv. 19
Leaf Tornado, Growth, Vine whip, Tackle

Sandile, Lv. 18
Sand tomb, Bite, Torment, Sand attack

Magby, Lv. 15
Leer, Faint attack, Ember, Smokescreen

Magnemite, Lv. 15
Sonicboom, Thunderwave, Thundershock, Tackle

Riolu, Lv. 18
Quick Attack, Palm Force, Endure, Counter

Zubat, Lv. 17
Astonish, Supersonic, Wing Attack, Bite

Zubat why are you the only one that is moving erratically!?

Edited December 8, 2015 by Cyaloom

[AuthorReborn]

To be fair, Zubat does need to keep itself in the air without any sort of strange magnetism. Also I do expect this run to heat up quite soon, so I look forward to that.

[Tomas Elliot]

My Riolu is the best Riolu.

NO YOUNGSTER JOEY JOKE. I AM SO DISAPPOINT.

You were supposed to say, "My Riolu is in the top percentage of all Riolu!"

This aside, this playthrough is looking good, keep it up

[Cyaloom]

Thank you for the feedback! Things are going rather well here and in a moment you'll see why.

Part 6: What a pleasant surprise!

As I said before. This happened at level 19, which is much earlier than I expected (usually my Pokemon that evolve by happiness do so between levels 25 and 30).

That is a great way to start off. It happened while I was searching around Castelia city for other trainers, which I've found in the Game Freak building (where Riolu evolved) and in Route 4 (including the fishermen). I've also visited the Liberty Garden but there is nothing noteworthy in that place: no trainers, no items, no wild Pokemon. Of course, once I had beaten all the trainers I could I headed to the Castelia Gym, in which there are only three trainers. Zubat and Lucario handled them without many problems but the bat Pokemon still hadn't evolved into Golbat.

This is one of the biggest obstacles you'll find in a challenge like this: not being able to evolve your Pokemon before an important battle even though you were so close to do so. But against Burgh, that is only going to be a minor nuisance, because of the help of an old friend of mine.

I started with Zubat, who took care of the enemy Swadloon while taking only minor damage from the enemy Razor Leaf. Dwebble was dealt with by Lucario with multiple Palm Force, and Burgh's ace Pokemon, Leavanny, was out against my Magnemite.

Magnemite has always remained at the same level (15) since I defeated Roxie, as I planned to replace it and as it wasn't really needed. But thanks to its typing and stats, it managed to paralyze Leavanny and weakening him before fainting (something that I wanted to happen, as the other teammates will get all the experience). Zubat took the place of Magnemite and easily defeated the weakened Leavanny, finally getting to level 22 and granting me the third badge!

Right after the fight. It would have been easier if Zubat evolved sooner but... this right here is the interesting part about this challenge.

I can finally head out to Route 4... except that "Mr. Internet Explorer" (I still don't know his name) stops me and tells me that he wants to battle me in Route 4. Which was previously blocked by some weird stones. Now that we get there, this scientist introduces himself as Colress and moves the rocks, which turn out to be Crustle, out of the way with some sort of electronic device.

They look like they are sleeping, and you wake them up like that...

After that we also battle Colress, who seems to be a Steel type expert: his Magnemite and Klink are handled by Sandile and Lucario without much hassle. After the fight, we can now proceed in Route 4 and Desert Resort.

So, first things first, I cleared out all the trainers in Route 4 and got the TM28 (Dig, can be very useful for Sandile and Lucario), then reached the Desert and started battling the other trainers... and that is where I am now...

The desert is a hostile and hot place (also I despise deserts in all Pokemon games and in reality too) that we need to explore to get stronger... the next gym leader might be like Cheren, especially if the level difference starts to show. On the other hand, we have many trainer battles ahead of us: Route 4, Lostlorn forest, and the Desert.

The team:

Golbat, Lv. 23

Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Astonish

Sandile, Lv. 22

Sand Tomb, Embargo, Bite, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 21

Force Palm, Counter, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 21

Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Growth

Magby, Lv. 15

Smokescreen, Leer, Ember, Faint Attack

Magnemite, Lv. 15

Thunder Wave, Thundershock, Tackle, Sonicboom

Keep flying, Golbat!

Announcement:

I'm also putting here a poll (if I can, as it's my first time creating one there might be some errors) because there is one feature of Black 2 that can screw up totally with the rules and the objective of this run, and I'd like you to choose what to do.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Tomas Elliot]

I voted "I can battle them only once" because it is the most fun-preserving option. However, IIRC there are a few ones (like the breeder right outside Castelia) who are impossible to avoid, so yeah... Just try and use Fly when possible, instead of walking down that road, ok?

[Cyaloom]

I voted "I can battle them only once" because it is the most fun-preserving option. However, IIRC there are a few ones (like the breeder right outside Castelia) who are impossible to avoid, so yeah... Just try and use Fly when possible, instead of walking down that road, ok?

Actually that one trainer you mentioned is avoidable. There are other trainers that I can only avoid with Surf (Route 6 and 11, I think) but I don't remember of breeders you couldn't avoid. That would be very annoying. Edited November 11, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Cyaloom]

Wow, this poll is so helpful.
Jokes aside, I thought that I could keep it and let you change your votes depending on the situation, as right now I'm not terribly underleveled.
Also, I need to remember not to reply right away, to avoid double posting. Oh well...

Anyways, here is a rather fast update, featuring two new friends.

Part 7: Nimbasa City
Last time I was in the Desert Resort training up my Pokemon by battling against various opponents. Of course, fairly easy battles.
After that I headed towards the Join Avenue and become the manager of that place before arriving to Nimbasa city. The first thing I did was battle Ingo and Emmet, alongside my female counterpart. The levels of the enemy Pokemon were rather high but we won anyways.

That'll certainly happen again. See you soon! ...I like doing Multiple Battles

After that I entered the stadium and didn't find anything interesting, then I entered the building to its right... The Pokemon musical building...
I don't want to dress up my Servine... get away from me...
I had to try it out and, well, I put on like two things and called it a day, before being able to exit again.

I tried to explore Route 16 and Route 5, beating some trainers and finding the first Hidden Grotto with Bianca (who also gave me HM02, Fly!). Technical details: Those small places between the trees usually have a item (sometimes it's hidden) and, more rarely, a Pokemon with a hidden ability that you can fight and catch. Here, though, there should always be a Minccino. Luckily, these events can be "regenerated" (5% probability every 255 steps taken...).

I got myself a Minccino with the hidden ability, Skill Link, but I don't think I'll use it.

Here he is, anyway. The Quiet nature and the fact that he's male makes everything worse, but I guess he has his uses.

I also explored Lostlorn Forest, where a suspicious man staring at a log decided to talk with me about Zoroark and then gave me TM95, then walked away and...

Oh, that explains everything.

After that strange encounter I was defeated by a DoubleTeam-spamming Pikachu clone (Emolga, of course) and decided to get a new Pokemon that could help me, as I had no super effective attacks to hit it with and Elesa had two of them (from what I remember).
FYI I don't really like Emolga. It helped me in Reborn, but it's so annoying to fight against just because they spam Double team.

Meet my newly acquired companion: I caught her in the Desert resort just because of the existance of Emolgas, but she might help me even later thanks to her ability.

Calm nature is not good, but we have a great ability, Sturdy, and Take Down. Also the level is fairly high for a wild Pokemon.

Well, next time I'll beat some other rogue trainers and possibly enter the next Gym!
I'm expecting kind of a hard challenge because of the Emolgas though...

The Team:

Golbat, Lv. 23
Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Fly

Sandile, Lv. 24
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Bite, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 23
Force Palm, Counter, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 23
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Growth

Dwebble. Lv. 21
Smack Down, Sand attack, Faint Attack, Rock Polish

Magnemite, Lv. 15
Thunder Wave, Thundershock, Tackle, Sonicboom

Edited November 11, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Tomas Elliot]

Uh... Can Emolga touch Magnemite at all? Just level that fella up and use it...

[Cyaloom]

New update!

I'm starting to see a majority in the poll so that is nice.

Also, unknown person who is giving me reputation points for every update, thank you.

Uh... Can Emolga touch Magnemite at all? Just level that fella up and use it...

Well, I picked up a new Pokemon for that, and it's because of it that I won. You'll see in this update...

Part 8: "Couldn't get away!" and a long technical explanation
You see, in Route 5 and 16 there are wild Liepard (among other things) with levels that are on par with my team and that often don't let you run away. Very frustrating, also because I can't KO them and don't want to use all of my Poke Balls. The same could be said about Lostlorn forest, but this time there weren't any interesting Pokemon for me, except one...

Now onto the gym challenge! Last time I was still training my squad in the nearby routes; now I've also cleared out the previous Gym a.k.a. the rollercoaster building, the gym trainers (who surprisingly didn't have any Emolga) and a female Clerk that also let me ride the Ferris wheel with her, after defeating her in a Pokemon battle.

She'll be mother soon

Now, the fight against Elesa was almost on Reborn levels of difficulty at first. All of her Pokemon were faster than mine and would hit hard. I tried to get some safe switch-ins by predicting the AI but it wouldn't really matter. Then I came up with a great idea: getting a new Pokemon that could give me the upper hand. I headed to Lostlorn Forest and caught her almost immediately, and I also got lucky with her ability. Meet Prankster? (yes that is the actual nickname I gave her):

Cottonee is so useful in this kind of run just because I can abuse her ability. Regardless of the levels of the Pokemon, she can always go first and paralyze (or poison) the opponent, unless it uses a priority move. Because of her role, the nature here is not so important.
Now, you might ask why I didn't use Magnemite to paralyze my enemies... Well, it has Magnet Pull and not Sturdy, making it unable to perform this role (unless it can endure an attack without any help, which is impossible when the level difference starts getting high).

So, I sent out Prankster? first, and she was able to paralyze both Emolga and Zebstrika with Stun Spore, while enduring Emolga's Volt Switch rather well.
After going down to Zebstrika's own Volt Switch, I sent out Sandile to deal with the enemy Flaaffy and later with Zebstrika. Servine then took care of the paralyzed Emolga with Leech Seed and some Leaf Tornadoes.

This actually makes me more handsome! (cit)

After that, I ran into Team Plasma again on my way to Driftveil city, who I defeated with the help of my rival. I also beat Charles in a Rotation Battle, this way being able to access the Drawbridge, and then the city, where I found for the first time someone from the "old" Team Plasma, who remained faithful to N. Hugh, of course, intervened and tried to chase the new Team Plasma grunt while the other guy told me that I could visit him in a house in the city. (The one on the hill).

So, we arrived to Driftveil city, where the fifth gym is, but first of all, in the next update, we'll also visit Route 6 and the old Team Plasma house. And, after that, we'll challenge the Gym, and hopefully get out fifth badge soon^TM!

The Team:

Golbat, Lv. 25
Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Fly

Sandile, Lv. 28
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 25
Force Palm, Counter, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 27
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Growth

Dwebble, Lv. 24
Smack Down,Bug Bite, Faint Attack, Stealth Rock

Prankster? (Cottonee), Lv. 21
Stun Spore, Cotton Spore, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain

Edited November 12, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Tomas Elliot]

I still don't get what move could Emolga possibly use to inflict any damage on Magnemite/ton (because well, it wouldn't have killed you to grind some more )

[Cyaloom]

I still don't get what move could Emolga possibly use to inflict any damage on Magnemite/ton (because well, it wouldn't have killed you to grind some more )

First, I already defeated all the trainers available before catching Cottonee. Second, my Magnemite has Magnet Pull (my bad) and last, I find Cottonee more reliable because of Prankster...

One more reasoning is also that I didn't plan to use Magnemite in the future, but hopefully get a different Pokemon.

[Cyaloom]

It has been a long time...

Part 9: The infamous Paraflinch strategy!
So, I have explored Route 6, beating all of the trainers and reaching the entrance to Chargestone cave, which was open. At first I was surprised because I thought the cave was supposed to be closed like in White, but then I remembered that the cave became partially accessible in Black 2, so I entered and got myself this:

Too bad it evolves at level 36, which is actually fairly late for the next gym.
I didn't beat the trainers in that area due to relative lack of time; I preferred to just beat the Gym first.
I also got myself a Water Pokemon so that I could use Surf.

Nothing special, also if I wanted a Marill I'd have caught Azurill in Fioccesy Ranch.

Also, last but not least, here's a special Pokemon I received as a gift from the former members of Team Plasma:

Being N's Pokemon, he'll get more experience, effectively making the challenge a lot easier. So, I can't use this Pokemon in battle. Also I have Sandile already.
Well.. although I had to box Zorua, there was a positive thing that happened:

And, in Route 6...

Two evolutions, not bad.

With our newly evolved companions and Route 6 cleared, I just challenged the gym right off the bat. I needed something interesting to put in this update.

The battle started with a mirror match between our Krokorok: Clay's one defeated mine but got defeated as well because of Crobat.
Excadrill was sent out later, and I immediately paralyzed the threat with Cottonee, abusing Stun Spore and the ability Prankster. Cottonee was replaced by Crobat, who confused Excadrill, this way pulling off the Paraflinch strategy. With Excadrill severely crippled, Crobat was able to weaken it and let my Lucario finish the gorund-type. Clay's last Pokemon, Sandslash, was handled by Servine, granting me the fifth badge.

With the gym challenge out of the way, Clay invites me and Hugh to the newly opened PWT, and then walks away, telling us that he'll be waiting there.
I'll be going there too, but in the next update...

The Team:

Crobat, Lv. 27
Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Fly

Krokorok, Lv. 29
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 27
Force Palm, Counter, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 30
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Slam

Dwebble, Lv. 24
Smack Down,Bug Bite, Faint Attack, Stealth Rock

Prankster? (Cottonee), Lv. 21
Stun Spore, Cotton Spore, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain

Announcement:
As you might have noticed, currently I'm relatively busy. This should go on until december: during this time I may not be able to post updates as frequently as before.

[AuthorReborn]

Yay, progress! I am looking forward to see how your run progresses. Also good work on getting Lucario since happiness evolutions always seem to take forever!

[Cyaloom]

Reply:

Yay, progress! I am looking forward to see how your run progresses. Also good work on getting Lucario since happiness evolutions always seem to take forever!

Now you have to explain why this wild Riolu evolved at level 19 and the Togepi that I raised from an egg in Platinum evolved around level 30.

Part 10: The Driftveil Tournament and Chargestone Cave
Last time I had just defeated Clay and earned my fifth badge. I was then told to head south and visit the PWT as there was a tournament about to start there. Before entering the competition, though, I decided to take a look at the Relic Passage, where I've found a new companion.

Adamant Sturdy Boldore at level 30 (so on par with my highest leveled Pokemon). And she's holding a Hard Stone. If she wouldn't evolve by trading, this Pokemon would be perfect. But... while, being a Rock type, she'll get work done in the next gym, I don't actually think that Boldore can be useful in the long run.
Great catch nonentheless!

I have also visited the room where Volcarona is located, greeted the Pokemon and then ran away. This is because Volcarona doesn't learn any interesting moves until much later in the game (as it's supposed to evolve from Larvesta at level 59), it's very hard to catch, and it's at level 35 (meaning it could do severe damage to my team). I'll most likely come back later, armed with Dusk Balls.

Finally I entered the tournament with Crobat, Servine and Krokorok. Their levels didn't get changed like with my opponents, giving me a strong advantage. After beating Hugh and Cheren without many problems, I found this guy (again) in the final:

Great Krokorok sweep, and I defeat Colress. This way I win the Driftveil tournament and get 1 BP as a reward (and also a medal).
And in the end, I also hear that Clay wanted to build the PWT to get more money for the city and, of course, for himself.

After exiting the building me, Hugh and Cheren randomly see a Plasma Grunt and, of course, our rival immediately chases him down. We then find ourselves in the Plasma base, also called the Plasma Frigade. We beat up a multitude of grunts until their superior comes out.

He then tells the Shadow Triad to get us out of there, and we are left on the pier; the Plasma Frigade had also gone in the meanwhile. But there is something that Cheren remembers that can actually be an interesting information: in the ship the climate seemed much colder. Team Plasma is not kidding around, after all.

With this out of the way I can finally head towards Mistralton City. Cheren was also kind with me as he wanted to give me the HM03 (which contains Surf). As I am about to enter the Chargestone cave, another interesting event happens:

This right here is, of course, Cobalion. After meeting this Pokemon, Rood from the former Team Plasma approached me and tried to explain why I met that legendary Pokemon. Maybe Cobalion was seeking my help...

I finally entered the cave... We have levitating stones, strong trainers and Joltik everywhere. And also someone talking from out of my sight:

Let's admit that, this place might be annoying to go through, but it looks fantastic.
I was able to beat all of the trainers, and Boldore did a great job in most fights. All of my Pokemon (except Cottonee, of course) obtained some levels and sometimes even new moves.
And with a stronger team and a new companion, we can finally come out of the cave, in Mistralton City.

I immediately meet Prof. Juniper, who gives me a Master Ball, and Skyla, the gym leader of this town. In this game I can challenge the gym right away, or head to Celestial Tower to make my team stronger, and possibly add a new member... in the next Part.

The Team:

Crobat, Lv. 30
Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Fly

Krokorok, Lv. 32
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 31
Force Palm, Bone Rush, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 32
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Leaf Blade

Boldore, Lv. 31
Smack Down, Power Gem, Iron Defense, Rock Slide

Prankster? (Cottonee), Lv. 21
Stun Spore, Cotton Spore, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain

[Cyaloom]

Really fast update... I'll try to redeem myself next week.

Part 11: Celestial Tower

So, I have explored Route 7 and Celestial Tower, fighting many strong trainers and finding many strong Pokemon... Most trainers here had Pokemon with the levels of my team or even slightly higher... *difficulty intensifies*

I've been able to add the data of Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus to my Pokedex thanks to a man whose house is in this area.

Then I've reached the top of the Celestial Tower, where I tried to get a new Pokemon for the team:

Decent stats and nature, with three immunities. Litwick is supposed to be my wallbreaker, although it's a hard Pokemon to raise.

I also did that, though it seems that ringing the bell doesn't do anything immediately.

So, thanks to all the trainer battles my team gained two or three levels: this means that we are almost on par with the next gym leader's Pokemon levels. Now all that is left to do is challenge Skyla and earn our sixth badge.

The Team:

Crobat, Lv. 33
Bite, Wing Attack, Confuse Ray, Fly

Krokorok, Lv. 34
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 33
Force Palm, Bone Rush, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 33
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Leaf Blade

Boldore, Lv. 34
Smack Down, Power Gem, Iron Defense, Rock Slide

Litwick, Lv. 33
Hex, Will-o-wisp, Flame Burst, Exclusive

Also notice that our starter still hasn't reached the final stage (Serperior).

Edited November 21, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Cyaloom]

Person that gives me Reputation points for every update I post, thanks.

Part 12: The Plane ride
The last thing left to do in Mistralton city was to challenge the Gym and the leader, Skyla, master of Flying-type Pokemon. Despite not having an electric-type, things went rather well anyways.

The first Pokemon was Swoobat, who was able to almost defeat my Krokorok; who survived with a glimpse of HP and hit back with Crunch, doing the same amount of damage to the enemy. Skyla tried to use a Hyper Potion (although Swoobat could have defeated Krokorok first) and my companion was able to hit Swoobat with another Crunch, this time being able to defeat once and for all Swoobat.

The next Pokemon was Swanna: I sent out Boldore and used her abilty Sturdy to survive a Bubble beam and hit back with Rock Slide. Swanna survived so I switched to Lucario, healed Boldore with a Hyper Potion, and repeated the process: Swanna couldn't survive the second Rock Slide that Boldore used after her ability was activated once again.

Skarmory was then seeded by Servine and weakened so that our new friend, Litwick, could do the final blow with Flare Burst. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the Candle Pokemon endured Skarmory's hits; also because of the Bold nature.

The Sixth badge is now mine! I also got TM62 and a free plane trip as a gift.

And here we go, headed towards Lentimas Town!

Near the town there is also Reversal Mountain and the Strange house, which I visited.

In that house not only there were some interesting items (especially for Litwick) but also the ghost of this girl, who also let me keep the Lunar Wing. That item is connected with the legendary Pokemon Cresselia, who I may catch after beating the League.

This is the inside of Reversal Mountain, that Bianca (who I may accidentally refer to as Belle, the italian name) wanted to explore: that is also the next thing to do on my list, as I have to get to Undella Bay (and hopefully get a certain Water type).

The Team:

Crobat, Lv. 34
Bite, Acrobatics, Confuse Ray, Fly

Krokorok, Lv. 36
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 34
Force Palm, Bone Rush, Endure, Quick Attack

Servine, Lv. 34
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Mega Drain, Leaf Blade

Boldore, Lv. 35
Smack Down, Power Gem, Iron Defense, Rock Slide

Litwick, Lv. 35
Hex, Will-o-wisp, Flame Burst, Shadow Ball

Edited November 23, 2015 by Cyaloom

[Monochrome_Complex]

Oh I was doing a water run in white 2 recently, I have all the badges and need to challenge the league. Some of the later fights post 7th badge can get kind of tough. Your team seems rather solid at this point. Also, see if you can beat other stages of the Driftveil tourney post game. It's challenging but fun.

[Cyaloom]

A Reply:

Oh I was doing a water run in white 2 recently, I have all the badges and need to challenge the league. Some of the later fights post 7th badge can get kind of tough. Your team seems rather solid at this point. Also, see if you can beat other stages of the Driftveil tourney post game. It's challenging but fun.

Thank you. I might consider documenting the Postgame too and compete in the PWT tournaments, but also starting a brand new game could be an option, assuming I have enough time.

This is another one of those fast updates, but something quite important happens.

Part 13: Undella Town (and another evolution)
I've explored the entire Reversal Mountain with Bianca, fighting all of the trainers with her help and making my companions gain one or two levels each. And, in the end, we had another evolution:

Finally our starter is fully evolved, and has also learned Coil as the icing on the cake.

The only Pokemon that currently are not fully evolved are Krokorok, Litwick (and Boldore, whose evolution is made impossible as I can't trade).

As I arrived to the other exit of Reversal Mountain, Bianca stopped following me and returned to do her work while I walked outside and reacher Undella Town. I was able to get a new teammate there, which I may use only in the future.

Decent nature and stats, but it's level 38 (slightly higher than my team's levels). This gives me a bit more freedom with my team's composition. Also, Starmie can be a great Pokemon to have thanks to its good stats and typing.

I also tried to beat some trainers on the nearby Routes and near Undella bay, and there the levels of the enemies were up to 5 levels higher than that of my team, but still didn't really put up a difficult challenge.

Next time then, it'll be time to fully explore those areas and then make some progress!

hopefully

The Team:

Crobat, Lv. 36
Bite, Acrobatics, Confuse Ray, Fly

Krokorok, Lv. 36
Sand Tomb, Embargo, Crunch, Dig

Lucario, Lv. 36
Force Palm, Bone Rush, Endure, Quick Attack

Serperior, Lv. 36
Leaf Tornado, Leech Seed, Coil, Leaf Blade

Boldore, Lv. 36
Smack Down, Power Gem, Iron Defense, Rock Slide

Litwick, Lv. 36
Hex, Will-o-wisp, Flame Burst, Shadow Ball

Edited December 13, 2015 by Cyaloom