Monday, April 11, 2011

Hey, I actually beat a gym leader in Pokémon Black on my first try!

For the first time since, oh, the game's second city (or maybe the third), I've beaten one of Pokémon Black's gym leaders--Skyla--on my first try.

Oh, and I finally caught Victini (below), the legendary fire/psychic-type Pokémon. Yesterday was the last day to get the Liberty Pass--which gives you access to Victini's hideout, the Liberty Garden--in the US, so I begged the hubs to help me get my DS (back) on line, grabbed the Liberty Pass, found Victini (in the basement of the Liberty Garden's lighthouse) and challenged him to a battle. I caught him on my third try--after tossing many regular Poké Balls, Great Balls and Ultra Balls his way, of course.

Anyway, I'm currently making my way through the mine shafts of Twist Mountain. After I complete that task, I'll probably re-explore some of the game's earlier locations using the HM 03 ("Surf") I recently received from Champion Alder before continuing on with my quest to ... do whatever I'm supposed to do to complete this game.

Are any of you still playing Pokémon Black or White?

10 comments:

rinns said...

I'm on hold with Pokemon White because I'm playing Final Fantasy XII. But dang Twist mountain is annoying without repels. Have you noticed the encounter rate is SO HIGH! every step is a wild encounter!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Rinns! Is this your first time playing through FF XII? How are you liking it so far?

As for Pokemon Black's Twist Mountain and its hugely annoying encounter rate -- oh, yes, I've noticed it. Actually, the encounter rate in pretty much any interior section (cave, tower) of this game is nuts. You're attacked every other step. Ack!!!

It's even worse when you're stubborn like me and refuse to buy Repels. Maybe I'll have to change that sooner rather than later...

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Chargestone Cave is worse....I never used a repel on the first time through any of them, mostly because I was worried I'd miss something. And even still, I missed some. But I finally got a Vanillish. He's well on his way to becoming a Vanilluxe! And I traded a stranger online for a Solosis, which is impossible to get in Black in the wild. I can't imagine doing Twist Mountain in the winter...it was WAY different in the fall. The winter one looks like it would be sooooo much easier.

Bryan Ochalla said...

I don't remember Chargestone Cave for some reason, Justin, but assuming I've already gone through it I'm sure it was a pain in the ass, too :)

Really, any interior space in this game is a pain in the ass when it comes to encountering Pokemans. Why is that? Couldn't the designers have made the encounter rate a *bit* less insane? This is supposed to be a kids game, right??

Oh, and I can definitely say that Twist Mountain in the winter isn't easy -- at least not from an encounter-rate standpoint. I don't remember the encounters being terribly difficult, mind you -- of course, I have a pretty buff crew at the moment -- but every other step or so, bam! Another battle. Ugh.

Thankfully I've made it through to the next city (can't remember its name). After leveling up a bit I'll try to tackle the next gym leader.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Yeah...the giant snowdrift that makes walking all the way to the bottom possible? Not there in the Fall. It's a maze...imagine that encounter rate coupled with not having an effing clue where to go.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ohhhhhh, that! You're going to laugh at me for admitting this, but I'm going to do it anyway: I didn't know about the giant snowdrift -- or, rather, I didn't know you could use it as a shortcut -- until I had gone through the whole basted "level," Justin! So, I basically went through what you went through, even though I went through it in winter and could have avoided all of those damn encounters. LOL!

Viewtiful_Justin said...

HA! That's hilarious. Oh my gosh. But to be honest, I wouldn't have realized I could walk down that slope either if I hadn't just done it in another area.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yeah, I knew you'd get a kick out of that. It doesn't help, I'm sure, that I'm playing on a DSlite and it's not always easy to see everything so clearly. (Of course, maybe I should blame my eyes rather than the DSlite's screen?)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I'm playing on one, too, actually. I tried putting it in my 3DS, but I couldn't handle the resolution change.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that's too bad -- about the resolution difference on the 3DS. At least you kept your DSlite, right?