Pearl Kingslocke: Episode 28

Okay, this is gonna be the day.  It’s gonna be.  I can feel it.  We got up to Cynthia on #24, we’re going to beat her.  It’s going to happen.  Let’s go!

Attempt #25

Anna can finally one-shot Aaron’s Dustox with Psychic, a milestone that has been a long time coming and will greatly reduce its ability to fµ¢£ me over.  Du Fromage is close to doing the same to Beautifly with Flamethrower, but that matters less, since Beautifly can barely damage Du Fromage anyway.

Bertha is pretty easy to beat without losses now.  Flint’s Infernape can still cause trouble, but the rest of his team is straightforward.

My new method for Lucian’s Mr. Mime is to open by switching in Du Fromage, who can basically ignore its attacks, use Sweet Kiss and wait for its Reflect and Light Screen to drop.  In theory this can open up an opportunity for someone else like Anna to jump in and take over.  In practice things aren’t usually so neat, but it still seems like a decent way to spend the first few turns.  Madame Malheur can also apparently one-shot Lucian’s Medicham now, which is a pretty big deal.  I still need luck on my side to beat Bronzong, and this time I don’t seem to have it, but we’re getting closer.

Remember: the further I can get in each run, the more my Pokémon will grow in strength for the start of the next run.  There’s a lot of experience between here and my next shot at Lucian.

Attempt #26

I don’t think I’m ever losing to Flint again.  Even when I completely fµ¢£ up against Rapidash and Infernape and lose half my team (as I did on this attempt), the rest of his Pokémon are just so poorly put-together that it’s easy to recover.  His Steelix and Lopunny have no STAB moves and rely on using Sunny Day to boost their Fire attacks instead.  Drifblim can drain PP with Double Team, but the stronger Anna’s Shadow Ball gets, the less chance it has of actually doing any serious harm that way.

The efficiency of using Softboiled to manage everyone’s HP continues to be huge for my supply situation.  The next time I beat Lucian and have a chance to go for Cynthia, it’ll be at full strength.

Your brain magic isn’t working anymore, bud.  Time to step aside.

Is this the one?  I dunno, I feel like this team still isn’t strong enough… We’ve got lots of revives and hyper potions for mid-battle healing this time, though.  Worth a try!

Is Moon Moon strong enough to take Spiritomb down in two shots…?

Not quite.  But hey, that’s a full restore she won’t be using on Garchomp.

Out of Flash Cannon PP and just took a crit from Psychic… but that’s fine.

Five.

Can I interest you in a rematch?

Not too smart, are you?  Well, to be fair, I’m not sure sea slugs even have brains; they aren’t genius animals.

Four.

We haven’t met Cynthia’s Roserade yet, but like any self-respecting Roserade it uses only special attacks.  It shouldn’t be able to seriously hurt Du Fromage, and we still have 6 Flamethrowers left.

Sludge Bomb might be a problem if it ever poisons Du Fromage, but I’m pretty confident she can heal off poison damage even on top of Roserade’s attacks.

And two bad confusion rolls in a row; that must’ve stung.

Three.

I’m keeping Du Fromage in against Lucario because most of its attacks are special and she’s not likely to be much use against either of Cynthia’s other Pokémon.  Garchomp will eat her up in one bite.  Milotic won’t really be able to hurt her, but with its own massive special defence and Du Fromage’s dwindling Hyper Beam PP, she won’t be able to hurt it either.

Betting on the enemy’s stupidity always pays off.  Except against Bertha’s Sudowoodo.

Two more bad confusion rolls.  Maybe Blissey really is the luckiest Pokémon there is.

Two.

We’re out of PP for Sweet Kiss.  The best we can hope for is to either get off a Hyper Beam or bait out a Giga Impact.

Well, it was worth a shot.

I would really prefer to be doing this with Alex at full HP… but she’s the only Pokémon I’d count on to stand up to Garchomp’s physical attacks, and if she can hit back with Blizzard, this battle is as good as over.

That hurt… but you might’ve overextended there, Cynthia.

Okay, Effie.  It’s now or never.  I don’t even expect you to knock it out, necessarily; just land one good solid hit with Hidden Power.  It’s on recharge from Giga Impact, so you have a free turn.  This is it.  Think back to all the times I rightly called you the worst Pokémon I’ve ever used, and PROVE ME WRONG!

…eh, I guess I’ll take it.

Not that I don’t like the idea of dropping a Giga Impact on Effie myself, Cynthia, but don’t you think that may have been a tactical misstep?

Not bad… but Moon Moon can’t keep this up.  Garchomp is still faster than her and I can’t rely on its next attack missing; I think I have to spend this turn reviving Alex.

You’re really stuck on the Giga Impact button there, aren’t you, Cynthia?  That one was your last mistake.

One.

This position looks good, but I can’t get careless.  I’m not allowed to use physical attacks, and Milotic is a top-of-the-line special tank.  Madame Malheur’s Thunderbolts should do a lot of damage, but I dunno how many hits she can take in return; we’ll need to open with Confuse Ray.

To be honest, I think Cynthia could be rightly pissed off at her Pokémon for how badly all these confusion rolls are going.

OW OW OW OW OW

A full restore from Cynthia puts Milotic back at full health, but the next Thunderbolt…

I don’t think she can win from here.  Madame Malheur will probably lose, but I can keep fighting and this Milotic is not going to take down Alex and Anna, let alone anyone I can revive in the meantime.

Is this, uh… really the time?

For that matter, why the hell do you even have Aqua Ring; surely Recover is better?

Milotic’s tough… but this is over.

I sure am, and the next time Sinnoh’s in danger, you can bet I won’t be the one helping!  I’ll be relaxing at a lakeside hotel, occasionally giving would-be heroes bowel medication to deliver to troupes of wild Bibarel and sending them off in completely the wrong direction!

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Everyone, take a bow!  Anna, Alexolotl, Madame Malheur, Du Fromage, Moon Moon, you all earned it; this wouldn’t have been possible without you!  Effie, you were also here (press F to pay respects).

(Also, if that game time looks like it’s not exactly speedrun material… look, I left the emulator running while I was writing, editing and formatting a lot of these; it’s been a long few weeks, okay?)

But it’s not over until we’ve had one final curtain call – for everyone who couldn’t be here today, but was still a crucial part of this journey.

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And of course we thank, as well, all of those Pokémon who stood ready to serve, but were never called to do so, from Guy Gneiss the level 6 Geodude to Margarita the level 47 Palkia – all heroes in their own way.  Not as cool of a way as those other guys, obviously, but heroes all the same.  Because that’s what the Kingslocke is: a run where anyone, for increasingly bizarre and obscure reasons, can be unexpectedly and uncomfortably made into a hero.

I have been Pokémaniac Chris, proprietor of this establishment; thank you everyone for reading, thanks especially to the noble souls who for some reason continue to support me on Patreon (Name (Required), Miame Irohara, Intonyeon, Leo M.R., Esserise, Hamish Fyfe, James Crooks and, last but not least, hugh_donnetono), and stay tuned for my forthcoming rewrite of the Kingslocke rules, based on these experiences!  I know there are at least a couple of people who want to try this run for Timey Diamond/Spacey Pearl, so I’m going to do my best to have the revised edition ready by launch day later this week!