So I've never really liked the whole 'start new game, get intro by Prof. that you've never met and wake up in your room' thing. I mean is this a dream? What exactly is going on? Can the Prof. see you? If so, how do they not know if you're a boy/girl etc... I think they nailed the intro for ORAS though. First off, you get the old-timey graphics that remind you you're playing a remake, then the camera pans out to show off a first-person view with you holding what looks like a GBA (omg this is a remake). They do away with the awkward conversation with the Prof. by making it that you're registering your info on your PokeNav after watching an intro video on it. Then you leave the truck
after spending 10 minutes in there soaking in every second into the bright light of the open world (which didn't make sense because I was playing at night).
I played Sapphire religiously as a kid so I know all/most of the dialogue so I instinctively smash A before reminding myself to take it easy. After snapchatting several hilarious jokes involving the Machoke and the Mom to my friend it's time to check out my room. Sweet Snorlax doll /
chair (oh what you can't even sit on it?), better go set the cloc... the DS set it for me? The future is now!
Ok skipping ahead, I pick Treecko and save Birch. I name my Treecko
Bridgestone and head out to crush May, too bad I beat her so badly because the backdrop was beautiful. Now it's time to learn how to catch way overpowered pokemon via the DexNav! Too bad Bridgestone ohko'd the Poochyena with a crit, I heard it gets a good move or something.. I decide I need to catch something though but I still don't quite understand the DexNav so I catch
Petros the Wingull in preparation for all the Flying/Surfing I have to do later. The cutscene with the Beautifly is a really nice touch as you walk into Petalburg! This is where I learn you can use the DexNav on overworld Pokemon, I really like this as it makes you feel like Ash checking out literally everything in the Anime haha
*fast forward through Wally catching Ralts etc*
Petalburg woods looks awesome, especially with the rays of light coming through between the trees. I decide to try out the DexNav again and OH SHIT a lv14 Slakoth! I really don't want to catch it but surely it will give some sweet exp. right? I legit would have lost to this thing if it weren't for Truant... I battle the Aqua Grunt and prepare myself for the sweet, sweet Great ball I've earned, except he gives me the Exp. Share..? I learned my lesson in Y so that thing gets turned off. I make my way to Rustboro to take on Roxanne. Even though grass beats rock, this battle always used to give me trouble somehow so I grind the gym traine... Mega Drain at lv14 gg Roxanne.
I want a Nincada so I can get the all powerful Shedinja, maybe I'll take this opportunity to learn how the DexNav actually works. 5 minutes later I have a Nincada with Bug Buzz and a Tailow with Boomburst! Lucky I'm not using the Exp. Share, we wouldn't want the game to be too easy right, GF? I humiliate the Grunt in Rusturf Tunnel with my level 5 Nincada and head to Devon Corp
to collect my reward they send you on a mission? Some thanks..
I marvel at some more graphical upgrades (mostly Mr. Briney's boat) on my way to Dewford. I go to Granite Cave to grind some more but there's a bunch of tools blocking an entrance (I thought we were done with this in BW) so I head for the gym. I never understood why Brawly's gym was so dark, is it because Granite Cave is nearby? In ORAS his gym is actually a gym which makes even less sense, normally those places are lit up like crazy so everyone can check themselves out in the mirror. I make my way to the back of the gym where the exercise equipment is and it's just treadmills and bikes, where's the bench press bruz? Brawly is as soft as his gym and Petros makes easy work of him. I head back to Granite Cave and find Steven, I make sure 3D is on full and take in the cave painting (which looks amazing!)
Moving on to Slateport, not much has changed here so I decide to check out the Contest Hall. They tell me I need a Contest Pass which can be found in town, I spend
ages looking but get bored and decide to leave, only to be stopped by Lissia. I laugh every time she does that twerk dance thing (how is this in a kids game?) and send some more snapchats to my friend. I feel obligated to take part in a contest so I enter with Tailow (she's going to get boxed real soon, may as well give her something to do before that) who gets awarded coolest in show! This where we meet our next team member; Belle the Pikachu. I give her the blue dress to get Icicle Crash and move on
The Trick House is pretty cool, I have trouble finding the Trick Master because in these games you don't get the small flash of light hinting at where he is. I over-prepare for the battle with May since that one always gave me trouble. Bridgestone handles Wailmer (where does she catch this?) and slows Combusken down with Rock Tomb so Petros can get a 2hko, Shroomish goes down after missing Leech Seed. I make my way to Mauville and, holy shit, is this place big now! I check out every square inch before I show Wally he's still a scrub, I then send Nincada into Wattson's gym to Mud Slap our way to victory.
*fast forward to route 111*
I meet Aarune after leaving the Fiery Path. He ends most of his sentences with "___, see?" which in my head makes him sound like a 1920s gangster. I'm not interested in Secret Bases so I quickly made my way for route 113, this is probably my favourite route in the whole game! I was playing at night, and the background during battles was beautiful. You've got white ash-covered trees, with more ash falling from the starry night sky. I DexNav chained Skarmory for a while there just to enjoy the backdrop as much as I could, ended up with a nice Drill Peck Skarm that I didn't end up keeping very long. I quickly made my way to the next amazing piece of scenery; Meteor Falls. I was really happy to see that the layout hadn't been changed (unlike Granite Cave) and had just received a direct graphical upgrade. Long story short; saved Cozmo, battled team Aqua on Mt Chimney, went down to Lavaridge and whooped Flannery with Petros, I then trekked back to Petalburg to face Dad (stopping by Slateport to nickname my newly evolved Shedinja 'Cicarne' ('sick-are-knee', what my little brother used to call Cicadas) )
I honestly had to use some real battling tactics to beat Norman. Petros could swap between Protect+Water Pulse to beat the first Slaking, but he was too slow and weak to beat his Vigaroth (and I needed him alive for the last Slaking) so I switched in Cicarne to take the 140BP Retaliate, then switched in Bridgestone to Mega Drain him to death, brought Shedinja back in to take Slaking's Retaliate, and finished him off with Petros. GG Dad. I grabbed the Surf HM and headed for route 118 where I was met by Steven, when Latios came to pick us up I realised this must be where I get Latias! I wasn't prepared so I made Latios take me back so I could grab a Timid ralts, flew back and began the tedious task of SRing Latias...
After a good two days of destroying Matt's Sharpedo over and over, I finally had an ok
Latias (scroll down
shameless trade thread plug) which I named
Zakuro. I kind of regretted spending that much time on it as it definitely distracted me from enjoying the game, but I'm also pretty happy to have a useable Latias with my OT (even though I'm going to play through again with a different OT so...). I was a little disappointed with the scenery of route 119, I was expecting something similar to the swampy route 14 in Kalos, with overhanging trees and stuff. The route is meant to be a rainforest but it's too open, I know it's because that's what it looks like in the originals but the technology was so limited then... Rant aside, I kicked Team Aqua out of the Weather Institute and picked up a Castform, I named it Giaan (channel 7 Melbourne weather girl) and it became my pseudo fire type. May surprised me with a battle before Fortree but I still whooped her. Belle was a beast against Winona with Spark + Icicle Crash.
*fast forward to Mt. Pyre*
Not much has happened since my last gym battle. I checked out the Safari Zone which seemed ok, I much prefer the RSE Safari as this is one is a bit boring tbh.. I was pretty happy with my team so far as I reached Mt. Pyre, except for Giaan who sucked without weather up which meant I was constantly healing her from using Sunny Day turn one to beat things. I decided I would replace her with a Vulpix, but why settle for just any old Vulpix when you can DexNav a Drought one?? It took me about half an hour to do but I finally found one, I was hoping it would be a male so I could name it Andras (after
Andras Fox, one of my favourite producers) but it was a girl, so I named it Andrea instead. I really lucked out on her, she came with Heat Wave, had great IVs and HP Electric. After following Team Aqua to their hideout (which is one of the coolest places in the game imo, particularly the entrance) I decided Andrea needed some grinding so I let her clean out the base by herself and high tailed it to Mossdeep. I chose to hold off evolving Andrea because she was crushing the water routes with Hidden Power and staying alive thanks to Drought, I had to backtrack to route 123 to find the Gyaradosite for the Mega Stone Guide I'm doing where she had an Epic battle against a Ninetales, after which I decided it was a good time to evolve her. Tate & Liza were easily taken care of thanks to Petros' Surf (Zakuro made a cameo appearance), it was then time to explore the ocean with Dive
By this time I was way behind schedule due to my Latias endeavors, as well as some irl stuff, so I was getting keen to power through the rest of the story and get my guides done. The Seafloor Cavern provided somewhere to grind Zakuro as she was sitting a good 10 levels below everyone else at this point. Cue Dragon Breath spam and a lot of dead Golbat + Aqua Grunts. Archie let Kyogre loose on the world (pretty cool cutscene) and I had to find my way to Sootopolis, while diving I found that there are underwater trainers and decided that the music that plays when you talk to them is my favourite in the game. I tried to explore Sootopolis but everyone had locked their doors to hide from the rain (wimps), on to the Cave of Origin it is then... After a long winded speech by several characters, it was decided that it was my job to stop Kyogre from drowning everyone. I don't understand why it was needed but I had to ride on Kyogre like a Dolphin at Sea World to get to the bottom of the trench(?) to battle it, instead of just doing business in the Cave of Origin. I'm not complaining though because that part was cool as fuck! I had Bridgestone ready (was going to troll Kyogre with Cicarne but decided mega evo vs primal would be ~
cooler~), Kyogre does its big transformation, I mega evolve and click Leaf Blade, OHKO... Which is fine because I wanted to SR it later anyway. It felt weird not capturing Kyogre though, like the dialogue after the battle seemed awkward. Oh well, I don't have time for chit-chat, I want to be Champion already! I spend a few minutes finding the post-CoO mega stones, head to Sea Mauville (and spend a good while reading all the book and notes that tell the backstory. I really enjoyed it here. The whole place probably received the best upgrade with these new games imo) and finally make my way to Ever Grande
There are a couple of Ace Trainers wondering how to get up the waterfall, I thought I'd rub it in their stupid faces by commanding Zakuro to take me up right in front of them (oh yeah, Latias had to become a semi HM slave with Dive + Waterfall because I forgot Pelipper can't learn them, smh). I healed my Pokemon, made sure I had enough healing items and set out for the long journey through Victory Roa... Oh I'm through already? That was fast. At least Wally surprised me at the end (I knew he was coming, I just didn't know when) and put up a pretty good fight in the end. I mean, Mega Zakuro swept him but she was on really low health by the end of it so... Anyway, onto the final challenge, the Elite 4
Honestly, I was a little nervous for the Pokemon League as I hadn't specifically prepared my team for any of the members. That's ok though, right? It just means I might actually be challenged here. Well here's the battles:
Sidney:
- Sceptile VS Mightyena. Turn 1: I Swords Dance to mitigate the Intimidate drop, Mightyena Swaggers (Sceptile at +3)
- Turn 2: Sceptile mega evolves and fights through confusion to KO with X-Scissor
- Turn 3-6: Sceptile snaps out of confusion on turn 3 and sweeps.
Phoebe:
- Andrea VS Duclops. Turn 1: I flinch with Dark Pulse and grab a 2hko!
- Turn 2: Sableye comes out and I Calm Mind, Sableye nearly ohkos with a crit Foul Play
- Turn 3: KO with Flamethrower
- Turn 4+5: KO with Dark Pulse
- Turn 6: Dark Pulse misses the OHKO by >10%. Dusknoir retaliates with Thunder Punch which leaves Andrea at 1HP!
- Turn 7: KO
Glacia:
- Andrea VS Glalie. Turn 1: KO with Flamethrower
- Turn 2: Walrein comes out and tanks a Solar Beam, he goes for Sheer Cold but misses(!!!)
- Turn 3: KO with Solar Beam
- Turn 4-6: KO with Flamethrower
Drake:
- Petros VS Altaria. Turn 1: Petros tanks Dragon Pulse like a champ and OHKOs back with Ice Beam
- Turn 2: Salamence comes out. OK really not sure what to do here, haven't checked the moveset online, original Sapphire Salamence can't hurt Pelipper so I should be OK... oh he has Thunder Fang, GG.
- Turn 3: OK I guess I'll send Sceptile in, should I Swords Dance and hold off mega evolving (the right move) or should I mega evolve straight away and use Dragon Claw (the wrong move)? I chose the latter! I get some good damage but 'Mence KOs with Dragon Rush
- Turn 4: I'm only a little worried here. You're up Zakuro, finish him with Dragon Breath!
- Turn 5: Hmmm Kingdra, I should mega evolve. Wait, what do you mean I can't mega evolve?? Guess I'll go for the 2HKO with Dragon Breath
- Turn 6: I get the 2HKO but not without taking some good damage
- Turn 7: I forgot he has two Flygon left, if Zakuro goes down it's all up to Belle who has to hit Icicle Crash twice to win. Oh cool Zakuro OHKOd Flygon
- Turn 8: Oh cool she did it again
OK those battle were alright (not really). I'm ready for Steven, the only thing is that I like having my party in the order I caught them so they enter the Hall of Fame like that, that means facing Skarmory with Sceptile...
Steven: (can't remember turn orders, or even if this is exactly what happened. I just know I won with just Bridgestone in the red...)
- I switch out and give Skarm a free turn to set up Spikes.
- Andrea takes Skarm down to Sturdy and takes a weak Aerial Ace in return. Kept spamming Flamethrower to KO after Steven wastes a Full Restore
- Aggron comes out and I switch to Zakuro who takes big damage from Stone Edge. I use Hidden Power (ground) which knocks him to 1HP (thanks Sturdy), Aggron KOs back with Dragon Claw
- Petros goes out to revenge kill, is then met by Cradily. I don't have anything to get rid of this stupid plant thing so I use Ice Beam and hope for the best. Cradily uses Ancient Power and gets the stat boosts. I go for Roost to try and stall out Ancient Power but Cradily gets the KO anyway...
- Out of my 3 options I go for Cicarne, I was going to save him for Metagross but I figured I should try and stall Ancient Power out with Phantom Force so Andrea can come back in, too bad I'm slower so Cradily gets the swift KO. Andrea comes out, I don't want to risk dying to Ancient Power so I just go for Flamethrower and get the KO!
- Armaldo comes out and I go for Flamethrower again, it misses the KO and Armaldo gets the KO with Rock Blast
- I just have Bridgestone left now, I know Armaldo has X-Scissor but I can't kill it and Metagross without boosting. I go for Swords Dance and mega evolve and tank X-Scissor. I get the KO on the next turn
- Out comes Metagross and ofc it's going to mega evolve. It gets in a quick Bullet Punch which does a low amount of damage but looks like I'm close to KO range, I hit with Earthquake. Steven heals as I hit again, on the last turn he doesn't go for Bullet Punch(!!) allowing me to finish him off with Earthquake. I've done some loose damage calcs since the battle and still can't figure out how I survived all those hits...
And that's it, I'm the Champion and enter the Hall of Fame. Might as well post the team...
Bridgestone @ Sceptilite
Lv 57 - Naughty
- Leaf Blade
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
Petros @ Never-Melt Ice
Lv 51 - Bashful
- Fly
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Cicarne @ Focus Band
Lv 52 - Mild
- Shadow Snaek
- Dig
- Phantom Force
- Hone Claws
Belle @ Light Ball
Lv 52 - Naughty
- Wild Charge
- Icicle Crash
- Dig
- Flash (lol)
Zakuro @ Latiasite
Lv 48 - Timid
- Dragon Breath
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power
- Shadow Ball
Andrea @ Black Glasses
Lv 56 - Naughty
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Calm Mind
After that I watched the credits roll and reminisced as the game showed me which Pokemon were by my side at certain points in the game. Then May comes out of nowhere with a battle back at that gorgeous pond we first battled at. She nearly swept me with Mega Blaziken but Zakuro was able to come in and tank a Shadow Claw and KO... I also really loved the way the Delta Episode gets teased at the end of the credits. I've been playing through that now and it's fucking epic so far. I'm at Rayquaza at the moment and won't be advancing until RNGsus decides to give me a break. I have no idea what to expect next as I haven't spoiled myself yet apart from fighting Deoxys so I'm excited to move on and enjoy that, also so I can start all over again and play through with a different team (don't worry, I won't do a big write-up of that playthrough though haha. Unless I do a Let's Play or something... hmmm)
And that's basically my journey through Hoenn. I had been looking forward to these games since they were speculated years ago and had high hopes once it was officially announced, I really think GF did a great job combining elements of the old games to generate nostalgia, while putting a modern twist on the games, even if they are a bit easy. Bring on Pokemon Z imo