Elite Four Shauntal and her Chandelure are a phantom pain

All right, Trainers everywhere. I’ve made some progress–and changes–since last I updated y’all on where I was with Pokemon White 2. Y’know, that post from three days ago.

Since then, I’ve learned that my Munna won’t evolve on her own by reaching a select level, and so I’ve given her a Moon Stone to hold in hopes that will help speed up the process. She recently gained a level, going from 62 to 63, but nothing happened otherwise. Not sure if it’s just a random happening. I also made some changes to my team overall, especially once I figured out how easy it is to transfer Pokemon over from my previous Pokemon White galavanting. This involved finding my Nintendo DS Lite, which was sadly at the bottom of a box, bereft and cold, an old thing forgotten in the midst of shinier toys. Sorry about that, my dear friend. Anyways, all I then had to do was go to a Poke Center in both games–Pokemon White 2 on my 3DS, and Pokemon White on m y DS–select to enter some weird chat room thing, and then trade with…myself. Yeah, that part was a little odd, having to switch back between menus that both mentioned a Pauly, but I figured it all out in due time. In the end, I gave away three really low level Pokemon that I never used (or planned to), and took back my three original main staples:

• Trashy, a Garbodor (poison)
• Snape, a Serperior (grass)
• Vick, a Victini (um, fire and maybe psychic)

Before attempting to take on the Elite Four for the very first time, I removed my Terrakion and did some light grinding, getting Trashy up to LV 59, Vick around LV 56, and Snape somewhere near 53. To be honest, I was glad to have them back with me after spending so much time with them last year, but I suspected I really wouldn’t need them, with my now LV 72 Genesect able to just destroy everything in its way by simply spamming Bug Buzz and keeping him healthy and healed. And that plan went swimmingly…until I met Shauntal and her army of Ghost-type Pokemon.

So, just using Genesect solely, I was able to defeat three of the four Elite Four members. With ease. Bing, bang, boom. Oh yeah. They were not exciting fights, but I’m okay with that, as I actually prefer exploring and capturing pocket monsters more than struggling through a back-and-forth type of battle and dealing with what one might call “strategy,” and you get to a ton more of that fun stuff once you “beat” the game, opening up the map and letting new types of Pokemon appear in the wild. Mmm yes. More of that please.

However, Shauntal’s Ghost Pokemon are super strong despite being the same levels as other Elite Four’s teams, especially her Chandelure, which is the second Pokemon out of the gate. I can’t get past it. The blasted thing one-shots my LV 72 Genesect, and my other critters barely get a hit in before fainting as well. Seems like I need a Dark or Ghost type Pokemon myself to deal sufficient enough damage back, and well…I don’t really have one of those at a decent level. Got a Jellicent around its early 40s, but it mostly has Water attacks. Please suggest something better, as I really don’t want to grind several more hours just to get one Pokemon up twenty levels to stand a chance. Is there a way I can turn one of my existing Pokemon Dark of Ghost-like?

Until we meet again, Shauntal.

Readying myself for the Elite Four in Pokemon White 2

If you’ll recall, I finally, after stuffing myself full for the time being from the daily puzzle buffet that is Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask‘s bonus features, removed the cartridge from my Nintendo 3DS and replaced it with…well, at the time, I wasn’t exactly sure. There were many choices. But I can now say I settled on Pokemon White 2, as I was fairly close to the “end” when I last left off, having finished the eight main gyms, but still doing story-related stuff before moving on to the Pokemon League and taking on those dastardly Elite Four.

Well, that story-related stuff, which involved rescuing Hugh’s stolen Purrloin  and and fighting the legendary White Kyurem from threatening the realm and some other points that I kind of glossed over because, well, this is a Pokemon videogame, not the latest and greatest China Miéville novel, is now done, and I’ve crawled through Victory Road, finding myself and my small team of pocket monsters on the Elite Four’s doorstep. However, I don’t believe I’m ready for them just yet. Truth be told, I don’t even remember how I was able to beat them in Pokemon HeartGold. I couldn’t get through them in the previous Pokemon White, where the only solution seems to be grinding, which I won’t do now that I’m on the sequel.

The problem is, as always, I have four very powerful Pokemon on team, one spot-filler, and then an empty spot altogether. Not the most balanced party. For the Elite Four, which you have to fight one after the other with the only chance to heal up and recover taken from items, I need all six Pokemon on my team to be in great shape. Here’s what I’m rocking currently:

Genesect (no nickname) – LV 70

Munna (nicknamed Mona) – LV 62

Terrakion (nicknamed Akion) – LV 53

Emboar (nicknamed Hamstring) – LV 55

And that’s it. I have a low-leveled bird Pokemon as a spot-filler who I dumped both Fly and Surf on to help get around the map faster, but it’s no fighter. Now, I was able to get Genesect so high at a much faster rate due to two tricks: one, since I got him as a special download from GameStop or whatever, he is considered “traded” and thus gains bonus EXP from each fight and two, I gave him the EXP Share item to hold so that he is constantly gaining the stuff. I’ll probably take that item away from him and put it on either Hamstring or Akion to help get them up into the high 50s or low 60s.

But now I’m not certain who I should get for the final two spots. I have the following types covered from my main four: Fire, Fighting, Rock, Psychic, Bug, and Steel. Some websites suggest a Ghost type, like Chandelure, or creating a special Eevee through evolution. I’m kind of looking for a faster solution, maybe a decently leveled wild Pokemon that I can capture via a Pokeball that can still be useful. If you happen to know of a good one, please let me know. I doubt I can take on the Pokemon League with just the above four, and it seems like you really only gain access to better Pokemon and legendary types once you beat the game, which helps me not.

Hmm…maybe I should look into how to transfer previously caught Pokemon in other games, like Pokemon White, as I’d love to get Garbodor (nicknamed Trashy) into the action, as well as Victini (nicknamed Snape) and Serperior (nicknamed Snape); so far, after thirty-some hours, I’ve only ever come across one or two Garbodor, and they were being used by Trainers so I couldn’t steal them away for myself. The nerve. I love me some trash monsters. Hopefully it’s not a complicated process, but I suspect it just might be. Will report back.

Doing it all over again in Pokemon White 2

I firmly believe that there are two types of Pokemon videogame fans: those that play on a surface level, and those that really dig deep. Insert joke here about the  damage-dealing Ground-type move called Dig. Nah. I’m most assuredly the former despite my love for stats and intricate systems in RPGs like Fallout: New Vegas, Borderlands 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Suikoden II, Grandia, and so on. But with the pocket monsters? I just like collecting them to fill out my Pokedex, giving them cutesy nicknames like Birdbutt and Trashy, and then exploring towns for silly side stuff. That’s about it. I don’t have friends that also play to battle against or participate in tournaments or breed to get the best of the best attributes Gattaca style. And I’m not really sure if Pokemon White 2 has the makings to change me in this regard.

But first, I failed. My goal was to jump back into Pokemon White, grind like mad, and defeat the Elite Four before moving on to the sequel. Alas, no. A few test battles against the first member of the Elite Four showed me just how much further I needed to crawl, and it looked dire. There’s actually a limit to the amount of grinding I’m willing to do for a game, and the rewards did not seem to justify the time spent doing battle after battle after battle, resting when needed, and then getting right back to it. No thanks.

So I went into Pokemon White 2 without knowing how Pokemon White ended. After about six to seven hours, I can safely say: it doesn’t matter. At least not yet. Everything plot-wise so far is follow-able; you begin anew, picking your gender, the name of your “rival”, and then a starter Pokemon. Last time, I went with Snivy, the grass-based beast, naming it Snape. This time, I switched things up, picking Tepig, the fire-based one, dubbing it Hamstring. He’s pretty good. And then you’re off, to fight Gym Leaders and keep those pestering Team Plasma grunts at bay. It’s going pretty well. With four gym badges collected, I’ve also gotten further into the game to open that silly side stuff that I secretly croon over.

The two big ones are Join Avenue and Pokéstar Studios. I like them both, but have really only just dabbled in each. For Join Avenue, you become the owner/manager of a long stretch of space between two towns. Here, you can ask people passing by to open shops or visit shops you’ve already opened, and doing so raises the shops’ rank, as well as the overall rank of Join Avenue. There’s a reason for all this, because as the shops increase, so do the benefits. Right now, I have two beauty salons, a cafe, and an antique store opened, ready for business. It seems like a neat idea that I’ll be revisiting in between gym battles to see how things are evolving. The other main side activity is Pokestar Studios, which has the player filming a script for a big theatrical release. You go through a bunch of decisions and then even get to see your film in a theater. I’ve done it once, but plan to sink more time into later. A few other mini-games carry over from Pokemon White as well, like participating in a play and dressing up with props.

If that’s not enough, Pokemon White 2 introduces…Achievements. Well, they call them Medals, but we all really know what they are. You get them for everything: walking, saving frequently, purchasing 10 Pokeballs at once, nicknaming X caught Pokemon, and so on and so on. You even get hint Medals to help you figure out just what you need to do. It’s a nice addition even if, ultimately, just like Achievements, they are meaningless. Unless something crazy good happens if you get them all–I don’t know, I’ve only gotten around 18 or so at this point.

While I picked Hamstring as my starter Pokemon, he’s definitely moved aside to make room for Genesect, a special robotic bug ‘mon that initial purchasers of the game can download for free. It is mighty powerful and considered “traded” so you immediately get a boost to all its EXP earned. Can’t go wrong with that. No way, no how. At first he felt extremely overpowered, but I just got my butt whooped at the fifth gym, so he is not all that and a bag of rice. Need to find some water-based Pokemon to help out in that fight…

I’m already planning for the future, meaning the final battles. I want to keep at least four of my chosen pocket monsters all around the same level, all different in tactics and nature and powers. It’s working out okay so far. I really don’t want to hit the same wall as I did in the previous game, and, as can be expected, a whole bunch of other content unlocks once you finish the game.

For me, it’s a great game to play a little bit of before turning in for the night, so while I’m playing it slowly, I’m also playing it methodically. At least, I hope I am. There’s so much in this game–these games, really–to take in. Layers upon layers of stuff, from berries to held items to the difference between TMs and HMs, to learning a new move or keeping old ones, to evolving or not evolving, to raising a friendly pocket monster, to earning money, to riding a bicycle, to playing mini-games, to using C-Gear, to withdrawing and depositing team members. At times, it’s like getting lost, and the safest way through is just to stay on the main path and do only what is necessary. Again, this is why I’m a surface level player; any more, and I’m just burying myself.

Okay, enough writing; back to training.

Back into the wild to remember which Pokemon I liked

I haven’t posted my haiku review of it yet, but I “beat” Professor Layton’s London Life the other night. And, of course, in an Animal Crossing-esque mini-game made up of fetch quests only, beating the thing is not a terribly difficult mountain climb, but rather a nice walk around the park until the sun goes down and it is time to head home lest a shadowcat eviscerate you. And I sure did take my time, as I’ve been chipping away at fixing Little London’s problems since November 2011. But it’s over. Surprisingly major crisis averted, minute problems of every townsperson resolved, happiness earned, and credits scrolled. The actual main plot through and through is a bit silly and confusing, but I’ll save that for another post. Dangerously, after the credits are done and some ineffectual text plays, I am dropped back into London Life to continue doing all the tiny tasks again and again and again, which is fine, really. But I wanted to play something else for a change.

All of this is to say I took out the Professor Layton and the Last Specter cartridge from my Nintendo 3DS…and replaced it with Pokemon White, a game I haven’t touched in over a year. Shocking, I know. I basically got all the way up to the final fight (or series of fights) and couldn’t beat a certain tier, which meant blatant amounts of grinding, something I wasn’t interested in at the time. And I then put the game aside and forgot about it. Obviously.

But I’m back, and boy was my first few minutes disorienting. First of all, I guess I last saved my progress within some shopping mall, but one that also contained trainers ready to fight. Y’know, not exactly a safe zone, like a health center or neighborhood house. Not knowing this, I immediately went to chat with a young woman nearby. Her name was…Waitress Flo, and she wanted to kick my butt; I guess I had forgotten to previously leave her a nice tip. Alas, many of my Pokemon were weak and low on health, so I had to scrape by. As soon as the fight ended, I got the bleep out of there and took some time to re-learn the menus and what items I had, as well as familiarize myself with my team of pocket monsters.

Only three stood out as memorable, the ones I’ve used since the dawn of time, and the other three felt immediately like space-fillers. But anyways, yeah. My trio of attackers included the following:

• Trashy, a LV55 Garbodor who uses a lot of poison-based attacks
• Snape, a LV 45 Serperior who loves his grassy ass
• Vick, a LV 53 Victini, which is a special non-gendered Pokemon that was only available for a short time

The problem is that these are my only heavy hitters, and after they fall, I don’t have anyone else strong enough to take their places. So now I am looking around my storage box for three worthy contenders, and then I guess I will grind them up to the mid-forties or low fifties via Victory Road and hope that I can take down the Ferocious Four (or whatever they are called) in one fell swoop. If anything, the time spent grinding will help me get back into the groove of the game, as well as continue to grow Trashy into the biggest, baddest pile of punching trash you ever did see. I told the world I’d beat Pokemon White with garbage, and I plan to see that promise come to fruition.

HALF-HOUR REVIEW – Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

Attention fans of monsters and monster-collecting!

My review of the first thirty minutes of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is now up over at The First Hour. Do check it out, as well as click the link on minute #30 to get the full impact of the loss of my goo friend Blues.

It’s not a terribly long experience, the review, but that has to do with the fact that the game’s opening is basically “run up a mountain and grind monsters to a pulp.” I’ve gone a little further since then, getting a platypunk onto my team and equipping everyone with better weapons; however, still haven’t made it through that cave. I’ll be sure to sing it loud and proud the moment Hodor and Team Dream Beam make it to the mountaintop. Until then, heroes!

About time I got my slime on with Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

I finally got to play a bit of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker last night despite purchasing the game a couple weeks ago. That seems to happen a lot with Nintendo DS titles for me. I buy them…and then don’t play them for a bit. I think it’s because I’m less excited to play my portable gaming device when in my own home, as I consider it more of a traveling thing, a road-side companion, a portal that helps pass time. Also, DQM: J was an impulse buy, something I picked up while waiting for Bullet to get an oil change; it’s not like I’ve been dying to try it out, just figured it would be interesting to see how it compared against its forefather, the mighty Pokémon franchise.

From what I’ve seen so far, there’s more visible depth in DQM: J than, say, Pokémon White. The key word is visible. We’ve all heard about the crazy amount of stats and breeding spreadsheets and EV madness and so on for those pocket monsters, but a good majority of that is behind the curtain. You have to go online and read. For DQM: J, it’s all right there. Stats, weapons, learning abilities, and what’s next for your mischievous mole or platypunk. There’s even a monster synthesis option, allowing you to fuse two monsters together in hopes of creating a better fighter. I like that, even if there’s not much I can do yet with my two-monster team. Hopefully things really open up after Infant Isle, and I can focus on grinding my team into something truly monstrous.

Also, while I love the classic sounds and elements from many of the Dragon Quest games…do they constantly need to get reused over and over? Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, Dragon Quest IX, Dragon Quest Wars, this –they all sound exactly the same. Granted, catchy tunes and soundbits, but not after the eightieth time. Save for the level up tune. That one always warms my cockles.

Anyways, I took notes of my first half-hour playing DQM: J. You’ll be able to read what kind of crazy adventures I got into with our young monster trainer Hodor over at The First Hour. Um , soonish. Just gotta, uh, type up my hand-written notes–scribbles, truly–and clean up the review. Not to get too spoilery, but the last two minutes are basically me channeling Darth Vader. Yup. Until then, goo luck scouting those slimes!

What’s what with the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS eShop

Unless it happens to get delayed again, the Nintendo 3DS eShop will soon be available on June 6, 2011, to all us loyal fans that jumped the gun on getting the system. It’ll be accessible through a system update, much like how we all got that OK GO music video with the energetic dogs. Sadly, once we get the new update, that video is gonna disappear. Not really sure why, but it’s a small price to pay to make the 3DS somewhat relevant again. Here’s what is gonna be available for U.S. gamers at store launch:

• Excitebike – 3D Classics, free until July 7, 2011
• Pokédex 3D – “3DSWare”, free
• Super Mario Land – Game Boy
• Alleyway – Game Boy
• Radar Mission – Game Boy

The eShop will, reportedly, update every Thursday, which explains the slim pickings of the launch lineup. One free game, one free app, two games nobody’s gonna want, and a nice stab at nostalgia with Super Mario Land. The addition of an out-of-game Pokédex is nice, especially that it’s free, but it seems like it’s reliant on StreetPass for growing larger and fuller. Fun idea, but probably not plausible. Missing from the list is, of course, Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype Version. Boo to that, as it was gonna be a heavy hitter for the eShop debut, and that’s saying a lot considering it’s not even a finished game yet.

There’s been no word yet from Nintendo about whether next week’s update will include the Netflix app for streaming films/TV, which I’m positive I will try once and not really like considering how quickly the system’s battery life gives out. However, we do now have some details about the free web browser; it’s supplied by Netfront instead of Opera this time around and will not support Flash. The browser will allow you to upload 3D photos you’ve taken with the system’s camera, as well as view 3D images on websites like 3D Porch. Neato? Naaah.

This doesn’t concern me, but many handheld gamers will be pleased to know that you can transfer DSiWare games from a DSi to a 3DS. Except for these titles. However, you can’t transfer files from a 3DS back to your DSi, natch. Some streets are one way only.

Well, at least I’ll have a reason to really use my Nintendo 3DS on June 6, 2011. Here’s hoping this is just the start and slow climb to greatness; I’m now just waiting for a 3D version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, as well as wondering how payment is going to work.

30 Days of Gaming, #4 – Your guilty pleasure game

Hands down, this would have to be Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon White. I openly admit that this game series is very addicting, with so many pocket monsters to collect and raise, as well as tons of extra goodies to waste time on while slowly grinding your team to perfection. The throwback graphics hit home, and I dig that there’s a crazy amount of stats buried beneath every Pokemon, even with I myself don’t pay attention to such minutia. However, as a twenty-seven-year-old, recently married man, I can’t help but feel like, at times, I’m playing a kid’s game. Or something seriously twisted. Also, stuff like this doesn’t help:

So yeah, it’s a guilty pleasure. Always will be, especially as I continue to age. And I’ll keep playing, sure, but only when nobody’s looking.

Today just might be Monster Tale’s day

Monster Tale is an adorable Metroidvania game that, if the Internet is to be believed, comes out today on March 22, 2011. A few months back, I originally saw a projected release date of March 1, 2011, and when that day came and went without so much as a Monster Short Story, I tracked down some peeps at Majesco Entertainment and asked them if they could kindly spoil the release date as all the Internet was then saying was some time in March 2011. The nice peeps at Majesco were nice and got back to me, but they could only confirm that the Internet was to be trusted. A couple days later I noticed that both GiantBomb and IGN had updated their respective pages to indicate that today is Monster Tale‘s day.

Alas, I’m not going to rush out to the stores later and see if it’s sitting high and mighty on their NEW RELEASES shelves for several reasons. 1) I busted up my back golfing over the weekend and cannot physically rush anywhere 2) I’m still plugging away at several other Nintendo DS games, namely Pokemon White and Radiant Historia, which both require devotion and time 3) and lastly, the nice peeps over at Majesco Entertainment asked for my mailing information after I emailed them so that they could put my on the request list.

What does that mean? I don’t really know. But maybe they took a look at my blog and liked what they saw and want to send me a copy to review. I’ll wait a few days to see if anything arrives, but if nothing comes by the end of the month, I’ll most likely go grab a copy so that I’m well stocked for my MoCCA trip to New York City the second weekend of April.

Man, looking at some of these screenshots again reminds of just how adorable this game is gonna be. I’m holding out hope that it’s a crazy deep adventure with a cute skin. Guess we’ll find out soon enough…

How to catch Victini

Victini is a legendary Psychic/Fire rodent-like Pokémon in Pokémon White/Black. It’s also a pain in the 8-bit butt to catch. Here’s a little step-by-step guide to getting victory on your side.

STEP ONE – DOWNLOADING the Liberty Pass

Select MYSTERY GIFT from the main menu screen. Then select RECEIVE GIFT and tap YES. Select GET VIA NINTENDO WFC and tap YES. If your settings are in order, a connection will be made, and a new screen should declare that you can pick up the Liberty Pass at your local Pokémart.

STEP TWO – RECEIVING THE LIBERTY PASS

Head to the closet Pokémart and speak to the deliveryman in blue. He’ll hand over the Liberty Pass to you, and now would be an excellent time to save your progress.

STEP THREE – GO TO THE LIBERTY GARDEN

After earning two gym badges, you’ll be able to cross a huge bridge and reach Castelia City. Once in the city, head all the way to the left without going down any streets or alleys, and you’ll hit Liberty Pier. Take the boat here to the very not-garden-like-at-all garden and get ready to fight some Team Plasma grunts; they have Victini cornered in tower’s basement. Once you’ve defeated all three grunts, you can challenge Victini to a battle.

STEP FOUR – CATCH VICTINI

Not as easy as it sounds. Speak to Victini to begin a battle with it. The legendary Pokémon is level 15, knows some good fire moves, and can be a little tough to wear down to a teeny, tiny fraction of health. Once you have it there, be prepared to throw a lot of Pokéballs. A lot. I went through at least twenty-plus: Heal Balls, normal Pokéballs, Great Balls, and several Nest Balls. Just keep throwing them and it’ll eventually happen, I promise. Or you can try to put Victini to sleep or paralyze it, which my Pokémon team could not do.

If Victini faints, exit the room and re-enter to try again. And don’t forget that the officer at the top of the steps can heal your Pokémon for you.

Best of luck, Trainers!

—

The adorable artwork headlining this post comes from DeviantArt user Aonik.