Having beaten Roark, the first gym leader, it’s time to press onward. The next gym is located directly north in Eterna City. Of course, with this being an RPG, the direct path is off limits right now. There is a steep cliff I could climb if I had a bike. Unfortunately, bikes are sold IN Eterna City, so it looks like it’s the long way around for me. Back through the cave, through Route 203, all the way back to Jubilife city, and then head north to go the long way around to Eterna City.
Now that I have the first badge, Bidoof can use Rock Smash outside of battle to clear the way through Route 204. It was a peaceful little path leading right into Floaroma Town. If you can’t tell, the town name is a combination of the words “Flora” (Flowers) and “Aroma” (Smells). As such, the small town is covered in flowers. This is also were I was first introduced to Berries. I can’t wait to start farming berries. Then I’ll never have to buy potions again.
All is not well is this peaceful little town however. It appears the evil Team Galactic is causing trouble. East of town is The Valley Windworks, a wind powered power plant. Team Galactic has taken it over as well as held an employee hostage in order to harness the energy for themselves. Clearly this is a job for an unsupervised 10 year old. Not the police, never the police, actually I don’t think I’ve seen any police…
After beating up some of the grunts to get the key, it’s time to rescue the worker inside. The only way to do that is to defeat Mars, the Team Galactic Commander. I felt a little under leveled for this fight, and I didn’t think to heal before hand, so I had a little trouble with her, but in the end I won and saved the day!
With Team Galactic defeated, it’s time to continue on my journey to Eterna City. We’re almost there now, we just need to pass through the Eterna Forest first. There’s actually a pretty interesting story mechanic when you’re in the forest. At the entrance, a woman named Cheryl asks you to assist her through the forest. In reality, she is assisting you. The whole time she’s with you, all of your battles will be double battles. Even the wild encounters will have 2 Pokémon. On top of that, after every battle, she will heal your Pokémon back up to full health. The downside is that with her in the party, she might kill the wild Pokémon before you get a chance to catch them.
Either way, I finally made it to Eterna City. I’m so happy to finally make it to Eterna City because this is where you can get the Explorer Kit which lets you can play in the Underground. I remember when I briefly played years ago that this was my favorite part of the game. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a mini game where you run around in the underground tunnels digging up fossils and gems and even items out of the cave walls. This is also where you can set up your secret base and play games with your friends.
So after about an hour playing in the underground, it’s time to keep moving forward. I want to challenge the next gym leader, but my party isn’t ready for that. I’m also not too happy with the combination of Pokémon in my party at the moment. So before we go after the gym leader, let’s fill out the party to my liking. Heading all the way back through the Eterna Forest and back to the Valley Windworks, I caught the first two additions to my party. In the grass I caught I wonderful little Pachirisu. It’s this generation’s version of Pikachu, and is just cute as hell. Plus if I remember right, last year’s official Pokémon champion had one and it was a big deal for a long time. I also waited around until Friday so I could catch a Drifloon. I always love to have a ghost type in my party, they always end up being great additions.
I didn’t mention it before, but back in Floaroma you can buy honey to spread on special trees to attract Pokémon. This is very reminiscent of the trees in Gold and Silver that you could head butt to find Pokémon. Though I never really paid much attention to them. This time I’m making an exception because I want a Cherubi. I know most people seem to hate the food Pokémon, but I love them. Also I think they must be stronger than any other Pokémon. Think about it, if you are something that someone could ACCIDENTALLY EAT because they didn’t know you were a living creature, you’ve got to be doing something right just to still be alive.
So let’s see, I have my water type starter Piplup, which has since evolved into Prinplup. I’ve got an electric type with Pachirisu. My ghost type Drifloon. And my grass type Cherubi. There’s also my HM slave Bidoof. Everyone hates him, but you know what, I once did a solo run with a Rattata (otherwise known as the Joey Challenge) and that Rattata was awesome, so maybe I’ll be surprised with Bidoof. That leaves one slot free, and I am lacking a tank character. So I’m going to incorporate my love for the underground, and head all the way back to Oreburgh City to revive my Skull Fossil into the once again living Cranidos.
So with my party filled out, and a little bit of level grinding behind me, it’s time to take on the second gym. The Eterna Gym is a grass type gym, so while I don’t have any fire types to make this really easy, Prinplup and Drifloon both have flying type attacks which are just as good. Before I get to fight the gym leader however, there’s a little bit of hide and seek with the junior trainers. Once I find and defeat the first junior trainer, they gave me a hint to where I could find the next and so on until I defeated them all. Only then could I fight Gardenia, the grass type gym leader. She actually gave quite a challenge, and I think I might have been a bit under leveled. But between Drifloon’s gust and Prinplup’s peck, I had nothing to worry about. Before long, I won and was awarded the Forest Badge as proof of my victory.
With proof of my team’s growing power, it’s time to face off again against Team Galactic. They’ve apparently been stealing people’s Pokémon and now even the bike shop owner has gone missing ever since he went to talk to them. That’s unacceptable, I need a bike NOW!! Also I guess they shouldn’t be taking people’s Pokémon. That’s not nice. But that’s going to have to be a story for another day.
Thank you for following me on my adventure and you’ll just have to wait till next time to see how my battle with team galactic goes.
Current Team:
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| Prinplup | Drifloon | Cranidos |
| Level: 22 | Level: 23 | Level: 20 |
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| Pachirisu | Cherubi | Bidoof |
| Level: 20 | Level: 17 | Level: 14 |
Play Time: 10:03
Badges: 2
Pokédex: 40
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