Bethany Plays: Pokemon Sun Trainer's School: A New Trick Up Our Sleeve

One thing you will notice is that Rotom marks your next destination with a red flag, so you do at least know in which direction to run.

Fortunately, our stop is literally right next door to the Pokemon Centre.

Guys, you had one job. Whose Tauros even is that? Tauros isn't native to Melemele!

Trainer's School first, then the rest of Hau'oli. I can handle that.

...On the other hand, that's clearly not working.

Smartass.

The polite thing would've been not to call attention to it. Or maybe introduce someone else specifically for the school, like they do a bit later.

This is probably the most elaborate building a Trainer's School has had in the series thus far, having three floors and a spacious outdoor area. Most Trainer Schools have typically been large buildings but otherwise obeying the same design rules as their neighbours- in fact, a few of them look so samey you might not even notice they exist! (Looking particularly at the pre-DPPt games there.)

I should warn you, I'm bad at studying. I should be able to wrangle something, though.

...

You just wanted an excuse to do that again, didn't you?

Literally!

And of course, now we get to this little thing. Starting in XY, the EXP. Share was retooled such that it gave out a lot more EXP than usual. Starting in GSC (RBY had it do something weird and slightly non-functional, as one would expect), the EXP. Share was a hold item that gave the Pokemon holding it 50% of the EXP even if they didn't participate- and if they did, they would also receive their "cut" of the remaining EXP. Either way, the defeated Pokemon had an upper bound on the amount of EXP it would give.

Starting in XY, the EXP. Share turned into a Key Item that automatically gave all Pokemon who didn't participate 50% of the EXP, without taking away from the participant's pot. Also introduced in XY, all Pokemon that participate get 100% of the EXP they would be entitled, rather than a single dollop of 100% EXP being shared equally among participants.

This has the effect of increasing the amount of EXP a single fight awards (if a single Pokemon participates in a fight when the player carries a team of six, 350% EXP is awarded as compared to the same situation in a pre-XY game), and as a result people tend to violently despise the new system. I am not one of those people. RPGs giving all people in the party EXP is otherwise perfectly normal, and the fact that Alola and beyond is also using "curved EXP" (the same Pokemon gives more or less EXP depending on how high your level is compared to it) helps keep everyone fitted to the curve provided to them- the curving is applied after the EXP dollops are doled out. In Alola specifically, this is also complimented by many bosses having fully IV and EVed mons- they slowed down on this later, and that kinda sucks, but it's the least of their problems.

Besides, it gives you an excuse to give EXP to more than just a single team of six. For example, say, if you want to evolve the things you catch.

You kinda just have to talk to everyone to pick out who the three you're looking for are. Three of them are in relatively intuitive places (or, well, once you see them, you have a good guess they're Trainers), but the fourth can be hard to notice.

Despite this, there's no special music or gameplay lockouts or anything. We are free to explore anywhere except beyond the Tauros, leaving the school as often as we need.

Huh, Kukui mentions this now. One of the students in the school is the first Trial Captain we will meet, and since this is a position roughly equal in stature to "Gym Leader" in other Pokemon games, it feels like we should be using this time to develop them instead of just mentioning them.

His advice is just that Pokemon registered as Seen show you which moves are more or less effective, something I already mentioned.

Funnily enough, this advice isn't particularly helpful against one of the Trainers in SM, and three of the Trainers in USUM- you can't find their Pokemon in the wild yet.

I'd say the opposite- fighting Trainers is the best way to find diversity in your Pokedex Seen entries.

Lillie begins a bit of a tradition she'll bear throughout various parts of the game- if we talk to her, she will fully heal us for free. Now, it's not that helpful, but later on when she comes with us in caves...

The school motto on the plaque. There's nothing wrong with being the universal beginning. Just so long as you are universal.

Over on the west side, we can find some tall grass in which to encounter new wild Pokemon. Kukui's advice is particularly aimed at SM players- all three of the Pokemon which can be encountered in SM are found on Trainers here in the School, although I can hardly say their weaknesses are the sorts of things you have on hand yet.

To enter this area, you press A on the gate, it cuts to black as a "gate opening" sound plays, and it reloads when you're on the other side.

They knew which animations they were spending time on.

Magnemite (Sun): They gather in places where electricity is available. They can be found clinging to the steel towers used to support power lines.

First up is a bit of a common find, and a pretty valuable one in many games, too: Magnemite, an Electric/Steel powerhouse. Electric and Steel combine to give an irritating combination of both offense and defence, making it the perfect delete button to some key threats, while having a devastating double weakness to Ground and poor overall moveset that denies it the ability to be a key threat. Particularly early in the game, where Pokemon that can answer Magnemite are few and far between, this guy is good to have in your back pocket, but it'll fall off later on. It probably makes a better example of a "Jeigan" than Rattata. Noah'll pack it, and it'll come in handy more than a few times.

Its Abilities are Magnet Pull, which makes it so opposing Steel type Pokemon are unable to escape (terrible in single player, excellent in competitive where many of the things it's good at dealing with are Steel types) and Sturdy. Sturdy makes it so that it is impossible to defeat Magnemite in a single blow- even the most devastating Earthquake will leave it at 1 HP after the fact. Moves that hit multiple times can bypass Sturdy, but considering how rare and otherwise useless they are, Sturdy elevates Magnemite from a "good" utility Pokemon to an excellent one- it will always get to do something.

Grimer (Sun): A Grimer, which had been brought in to solve a problem with garbage, developed over time into this form.

In earlier games, Grimer was a Poison type Pokemon born from the toxic byproducts of factories and waste management, and was in general a bit of an unpleasant mess to be around. Alolan Grimer has cleaned up its act, both literally and figuratively, and has channeled its poisonous existence into cleaning up the messes that birthed it. In gameplay, Alolan Grimer are Poison/Dark types- the Dark subtype is somewhat strange narratively, but it pairs almost perfectly with Poison in order to neutralise the weaknesses of both types. Alolan Grimer are weak only to Ground moves, and while the two types don't particularly have the greatest offense, it doesn't need offense- it's built to be bulky first and foremost. It's particularly strong as a Special tank.

Its Abilities are Gluttony (seen before but still haven't been formally taught about) and Poison Touch. Poison Touch means that, whenever Grimer lands an attack that makes contact, it has a 30% chance of inflicting Poison on whatever it hit- think of it as reverse Static. If the name seems a little weird, it turns out it's actually a Japanese pun (it can also be read "underhanded trick") that didn't have a 1:1 English phrase to match.

Grimer is actually going to be a member of the team! I don't know how long for- I have another Poison type in mind later, but that one has such a different team niche that I can see the two co-existing fairly harmlessly. Especially since the later one has a slower start.

Now that we have Rotom in our Pokedex, it'll have smart little comments to accompany our catches, as well as adding comments based on catching every Pokemon in an evolutionary line, or hitting milestone percentages in our Island Pokedex completion.

Grimer's initial moveset and stats. It'll hit hard and be irritating to take down, but it'll be slow enough that the opponent will be fighting back enough to make those defensive stats count.

Bite is a 60 power move (stronger than Tackle, weaker than most competitive moves) that can inflict flinching if it goes first, which won't be too likely on Grimer, but it's still a good hit.
Poison Gas is a 90% accurate move that attempts to inflict the Poison status on an opponent. There'll be a full breakdown on status conditions here in the Trainer School, so I'll leave it for there, but suffice it to say Poison is a key feature of dealing with Poison types- as one might be able to tell.

Meowth (Ultra Moon): A royal house that flourished in the distant past brought it here from another region. Meowth is both selfish and prideful.

Our Mum choosing to have a classic Meowth is no coincidence: Meowth has an Alolan form, one of the first examples of an actual attempt to give something to the in-game Meowth to help market it alongside the beloved character from the anime. Alolan Meowth are pure Dark types, sharing the classic Meowth's high Speed and middling attack, but choosing to be biased to Special attacks instead of Physical ones. Meowth is kinda bleh, all told, because it doesn't have the power, bulk or moveset to be properly annoying with its Speed, but Alola does give it a bit more of a niche that didn't have in Kanto. Somewhat. Ray'll hope to make Mum proud.

Meowth has the Abilities Pickup (after every battle, may find a random Bag item) and Technician (gives a 50% power boost when using a move rated at 60 power or less). Technician is good early and otherwise dedicated to Pokemon using priority moves, while Pickup is helpful-ish, depending on how many times you check to see if Meowth is holding something. At low levels, it's probably a Potion or a Poke Ball anyway. Pickup turns into something else on evolution on most Pokemon, meaning it's not common to see some of the really good stuff you can find at higher levels- often too high for casual play.

Zorua (Ultra Sun): This Pokémon has a cowardly disposition, so when it's not around friends, it basically always stays transformed as something else.

Found in USUM's Trainer School, Zorua is yet another Dark type (...I have just noticed there are three Dark types in this one patch of grass), this time a kitsune that was designed as BW's cool Pokemon to match the previous generation's Lucario. Despite having fallen far short of that objective, Zorua is... OK, it's certainly no Lucario in battle either, being only decently good once it's learned all the moves it wants, but the way its offensive stats are weighted means it's difficult to know which category you want to use it for: It's better at Special attacks, but it seems more designed as a Physical mon? Still, though, Zorua won't steer you wrong.

Zorua's only Ability is Illusion, which will disguise it as whatever is the last Pokemon in your party when it is sent out. It's a neat party trick that the AI will fall for, but the same games it was introduced added the ability to see what Pokemon your opponent had in competitive battles, which was hardly the best note to be dropped alongside when you're not even available in the games without external events...

Also introduced in USUM, once you get the Rotom Dex, it will do this scanning effect and give out a chime whenever you encounter a wild Pokemon you haven't registered as Seen yet. I mean... it's OK, I guess?

Anyway, Ailey'll be using Zorua for a bit. It and Inkay are going to have problems, but Anna has Speed while Callie has tricky moves.

Pursuit is a 40 power move that will deal double damage if the Pokemon is using its turn attempting to switch out- it is the only move that can attack a Pokemon that is leaving the field by being switched out. We won't be making much use of it, because AIs don't typically consider switching.

Apart from two great mons and two decent ones, exploring the tall grass just gets you these.

The kid we need to fight is the one up near the start.

Oh hey, it's Youngster Joey! Joey was the name given to the first Trainer you could get a phone number from in GSC- if you added him, he would often call you to brag about how cool his Rattata is, and he became a bit of a meme as a result. Literally every Pokemon game up until now has actually named one of the early-game Youngsters "Joey", possibly in reference to him, but it also might just be a common name the devs like and don't mind recycling.

This isn't exactly one of his better showings.

Especially because of the way the cocoon middle-stages for Bug types worked in the early games. Trainers would typically be given movesets that are "the moves a Pokemon naturally learns"- and all the cocoons know is Harden. Fighting a cocoon is just mashing and mashing as it raises its Defence until it won't go any higher.

Modern games are a bit more sensibly designed, and remember the moves the larva knew, but that Harden only bought it a turn.

Echoed Voice is an interesting move- it starts at 40 power, but it increases linearly if you spam it. On Turn 2, it's an 80 power move, Turn 3 120, Turn 4 160, and then Turn 5 and onwards it's 200. It's probably better early, because that's when you want to be spamming a Normal move, but also fights typically end faster than you get that high early anyway.

You thankfully don't see the EXP scroll, but you do get every single level that your team gains. SwSh was the game that showed all levels at the same time and skipped levels if multiple were awarded at once.

Sounds like you should be learning a lesson about that.

Woodstock and Zapple have you covered. But say... it would be nice if you used any of those moves...

The thing about USUM, in regards to the Trainer School, that the whole "second draft" quality of the story can crop up in all sorts of weird places. The Trainer School actually has a tutorial quality to it absent in SM, where the Trainers are all supposedly teaching things. The quality of their lessons could use work, but they did at least stick to theme.

Poor Joey did not have a great showing. He did not use the move his dialogue implies is his gimmick, and consequently does not actually prepare us for dealing with Poison.

This also feels like a line written for a Trainer who wasn't actually in that grass. With that said, the Trainer School odds were changed so Grimer's odds went from 20% to 10%, so maybe it makes sense?

After the battle, he does an actual tutorial on one of the more obscure interactions, even if it's a bit of a hilarious one because of how it is phrased. Starting in XY, all Grass type Pokemon gained a categorical immunity to "moves that work when you sprinkle powder over the enemy". This includes a set of basic "inflict status" moves common early-game: Poison Powder, Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. Joey is reminding us that, while Grass types are immune to this particular type of move, they are not categorically immune to the Poison status itself, so other moves that inflict Poison still work.

Not only have we not encountered Powders yet in this game (or for that matter, non-Rowlet Grass types), bur most people would typically prefer to Poison opponents with Poison moves rather than Poison Powder anyway- Stun Spore's the best one of those.

USUM also made it possible to click on this. It's legit not clickable in SM.

Healing with Lillie. The weird ending bit kinda throws me off, though- I get it's nervous waifishness, but I'm also not really sure what thought it is she's trying to say. Probably "I hope it's not too much trouble to exercise restraint".

The fourth Trainer to fight is this kid, and he's declared himself the final opponent. No matter, we can deal with that.

The item you saw outside the tall grass on this side. I got it.

The interior design of the Trainer's School. I wouldn't be surprised if this was closer to Japanese schools than Hawai'ian ones, but it's surprisingly tricky to track down what the inside of a particular country's classroom typically looks like. Schools like to advertise the other rooms of the building.

Presumably, I'm the one picking them up. SwSh introduced the ability Ball Fetch, which implies Poke Balls that fail to secure a catch are reusable, so the failure to recollect Poke Balls by our protagonists is ~~the game forcing us to spend more in-game money on replacement Poke Balls~~ implying our protagonists are too lazy to pick up after themselves.

Of all the mechanics the Trainer School is explaining that I haven't, Power Points is one I wasn't entirely expecting. Well, OK, the main reason is that this mechanic isn't going to be a major issue until later on, but it's started now, and we've seen Power Points in effect every time we battle.

When a Pokemon uses a move, one Power Point is deducted from its total. When that total reaches 0, the move can no longer be used. Items to cure Power Points exist, but are typically rare, and never sold in shops. The Alola games have a more lenient Power Point management scheme than most, but once we start learning moves with 15, 10 or even 5 PP, making sure we actually have enough to use on our opponents will be something requiring deliberate thought. This also further improves the utility of Pokemon Centres as opposed to using Potions to heal.

Incidentally, if all the moves a Pokemon is allowed to use have been reduced to 0 Power Points, it will use a typeless 50 physical move called Struggle, usable by no other means. Starting in DPPt for hilarious reasons, using this move deals 1/4 of your maximum HP in recoil damage. Struggle isn't really an option so much as it is the game's way of making sure the battle ends at some point- if one side is using Struggle, I consider both sides to have lost on a moral level.

Oh yeah, petting Woodstock. It turns out there's something to comment on!

Grimer is a sticky, sludgy mess, and your cursor is slowed down as a result. You can still pet him, but it's presumably about as pleasant as petting a real pile of toxic sludge. It's also worth noting that Pokemon whose whole body has an effect like this do not have favourite places to get scritchies: Presumably they can't apply the bonus effect to a place that also applies some kind of other effect.

Ah, that's why Kukui is here at all, then. His engagement will be way up, but I wonder how good he is at remembering to teach the thing you asked him to teach.

Some examples of type charts would be nice! I should probably provide something... How about this one? But for some basic examples:

Dark types are weak to Fighting, Bug and Fairy moves, but are immune to Psychic moves.
Electric is weak only to Ground.
Flying is weak to Electric, Ice and Rock moves, and are immune to Ground moves.

If you want a perfect triangle like Grass < Fire < Water, a good choice is Flying < Rock < Fighting.

...Thank you.

...I can see you have the more helpful book.

Yep, that's the same-type-attack-bonus. 1.5x power, and it's part of the reason perfect coverage doesn't always mean you're the best at offense.

This lady is part of a tradition in early-game areas for giving us our first proper Held Item:

The Quick Claw. This is a fairly good item that relies on chance for its effect to go off, so once we get some better items, we can safely abandon it, but you'll love it when it triggers at just the right time...

There are two essential notes here:

The chance of the effect triggering is 20%.
You move first only in your "priority bracket"- you cannot use this to outspeed a Pokemon using a move with a special effect to go first, or to speed up a move with an effect that makes it go last.

Items only do anything when someone is holding them. Those Potions are just as useless in my bag as they are in a Pokemon's hands.

Someone's having trouble with a persnickety Meowth, huh? Fake Out is learned by Meowth at level 9 and, rather happily, is an example of a move with priority: It goes before most moves, unless the other Pokemon is using something that goes off sooner. It always lands a flinch if it hits first, but you can only use it on the first turn of a battle. It's good for scouting, but you do kinda have to get something good out of delaying the first turn of a real fight.

There are several "stages" of priority, with certain moves having higher or lower stages on a per-move basis, and there are also a handle of Abilities that can mess with priority. If two Pokemon use a priority move in the same "priority bracket" on the same turn, normal Speed rules apply. Fake Out has a priority of +3, which puts it ahead of every damage-dealing move.

And that would be the second Trainer we're looking for.

...Are we sure this kid is in pre-school? We might need to check what she's absorbing from her environment here...

Bonsly (Sun): It does not deal well with water, so it lives in dry locales. Since its surroundings tend to lack greenery, it stands out noticeably.

This is a Pokemon you cannot see in the wild before you see it on a Trainer. Bonsly is a Rock-type Pokemon, and it looks like a tree as a joke about mimicry. It is another Baby Pokemon, and all it's really good at is a high Atk and Def stat- to be fair, the same can be said of its evolved form. Rock types are resistant to Normal moves, which means you need a proper strategy for them early.

(Also, this is a female Preschooler. They are identical to males in every way except appearance.)

My plan: Bite it really hard. And try to Poison or Flinch it, since Woodstock is faster.

Also: Woodstock is huge from this angle.

Well, that didn't go well.

Bonsly's other Pokedex entries go into detail about how its tears are a means of getting water out of its body (since, as a rock, it doesn't like water). It gets Fake Tears early as a result, and Fake Tears is a powerful move, since it inflicts Sp. Def -2 on its opponent.

You know. If it had Special moves (or a Sp. Atk stat).

It can also use the move Copycat to use the last move that was used in a fight- and in this fight, that's usually Woodstock's Bite. It worked far less well for it- Dark does resist itself.

~~A comment on the penalty to friendship for fainting, or just a kid being weird?~~

I mean, you were the one using more than one move.

...Hold on, I think she's cooking with this one. Hasn't quite got there, but you know... she's getting somewhere.

In USUM, Mia is moved over to the classroom. The preschooler reading the book about same-type-attack-bonus is still on the other side of the room, though, so she hides well.

Now that is the sort of mechanic I'd expect to see in the Trainer's School. Berries are the best example of early-game held items you can find, and remain a common sight on many opposing Trainer's Pokemon.

Callie isn't doing quite as well breaking through Metapod as Sam did- funnily enough, it's because she's not Flying type.

There's the use of the Oran Berry. Pokemon will automatically eat their Berries when they get low on HP, and for Oran, that is "at 50%, heal for 10 HP." Only good early game- the Sitrus Berry (at 25%, heal for 25% HP) is far superior when we get more than... roughly 40 HP.

Gluttony, an Ability we've seen on Rattata and Grimer, will make it so all Berries that trigger at 25% instead trigger at 50%. I was honestly surprised to learn that Oran Berries a) heal at 50% and b) don't get a boost from Gluttony.

Which intern let this slip past? Foul Play is an incredibly strong move and one found on many Pokemon even in competitive, and it has absolutely no business being learned at level 9. It has a high base power of 95, equal to many reliable endgame moves, and its gimmick is that it uses whatever your opponent's Atk stat is instead of your own when calculating damage. Presumably, the reason they thought this was OK is because the types Dark is good against- Psychic and Ghost- are usually special attackers with terrible physical Atk stats.

This ignores the possiblity of using a 95 power move with STAB on literally anything else. Inkay's Atk stat is actually kinda middling, a lot of early game mons probably have it beat.

She already forgot why she even learned that move.

Berries are good for anything, apparently!

Not only does she show off Oran Berries- on a Pokemon likely to take enough of a hit to demonstrate- but she also gives us free samples, so we can benefit from them ourselves. Berries are single-use, so after eating them, they are gone for good.

...

(Metapod, and other cocoon-like Bug Pokemon, cannot be fed Poke Beans in Refresh.)

The teacher is on the second floor, and will prevent us from accessing the third. Also, none of the Trainers are on the second floor- it's just Mia that's inside.

First room up here is a staff room, I believe.

The guy in here is still ready to share a tutorial, this time on the Sleep status.

(Yawn actually inflicts drowsy, which inflicts Sleep at the end of the next turn. Close enough for his purposes).

A Sleeping Pokemon is all but helpless, but will wake up in a few turns: 1-3, usually. Unfortunately, there are few moves that allow it to function as a panic button.

Weirdly, this is the far room from the stairs. Convenient for the staff, but...

Although I suppose this is where the older students are taught.

And, rather fittingly, their advice is a little more complex.

She also mentions how one Pokemon might have multiple choices in Ability. Probably the most impactful reason to switch from one Pokemon to a different specimen of the same species.

...OK, you're clearly more advanced than the people downstairs, but your advice is of similar quality.

This guy also makes mention of Lillipup's Pickup Ability, which we can see on Meowth, and gives us a freebie in the effort.

We can't catch a Lillipup of our own until Akala Island, so we'll have to make do with Meowth.

This used to be explained in a short blurb that was always visible, but they put it under a banner to make sure they had room. Fair enough.

Practice is the only real cure.

This is clearly a specialist class on Abilities today.

True: Limber makes you categorically immune to paralysis, no matter how the opponent attempts to apply it.

Although, rather hilariously, there are only two Pokemon in the SM Alola Dex that can have the Ability Limber.

Finally! The explanation on the five core status conditions is the only thing worth reading in the older games' Trainer Schools, why is it tucked all the way up here in Alola? If it was to make a good impression, putting the Grass < Fire < Water chalkboard downstairs wasn't it.

Poison will inflict 1/8 of the target's maximum HP in damage every turn, and will never go away unless cured. It used to also deal damage outside of battle, but that got taken out in BW and now it's mostly just a common form of DoT.

Some moves can inflict Bad Poison, which increases the amount of damage dealt by the DoT over time. Good for Pokemon that try to heal themselves.
Poison and Steel types are categorically immune to Poison.

Paralysis will halve a target's Speed stat, and will make them miss their chance to attack 25% of the time. Will not go away unles cured.

Electric types are immune to Paralysis.

Burn will inflict 1/16 of the target's maximum HP in damage every turn, and will also halve the damage of any physical attack they perform. Will not go away unless cured.

Fire types are immune to Burn.

Sleep will cause a Pokemon to be unable to use most moves. A Pokemon will be woken up in 1-3 turns.
Freeze will cause a Pokemon to be unable to use any move. Pokemon have a 20% chance of thawing out at the end of every turn, and will also be thawed out if they are hit by a Fire-type move, or attempt to use certain hot moves itself.

Ice types are immune to Freeze.

There are a lot of Abilities and moves that not only block status ailments, but also change the way they behave. I am certainly not going through them all, but note that most of them care only about the main trio- Sleep and Freeze, since they are non-permanent and prevent the sufferer from attacking anyway, don't have much to work with. Note that there is no move that is primarily dedicated to Freezing an opponent- Freeze can only be inflicted as a bonus effect to a damaging move. This is what balances its power, and also why it has the fewest moves dedicated to taking advantage of a Frozen Pokemon.

The book mentions the main ways to activate Abilities. This is... a bit of a terrible way of thinking of Abilities, it sounds like something you'd come up with by observation only.

There are purely passive Abilities, like Technician and Klutz, which are always considered active unless somehow suppressed.
There are Abilities that apply special bonuses to a Pokemon, but these bonuses can be played around through conventional means. This includes Illusion and Abilities that apply stat stages.
There are Abilities that activate when a certain event happens- like Hydration, which is active only in rain, or Overgrow, which is active only at low health.
There are Abilities that have a random chance of triggering, like Poison Touch or Static.

Abilities that have a field effect are separate from other kinds, and most Abilities have a battle effect (there is one exception, and it shall be shamed until it finally gets it in the SV DLC). Field effects typically involve changing the rate or type of encounters, but there are also a handful of other ones. Most Abilities with field effects are chosen for making intuitive sense rather than being integral to the Ability's identity- although if the Ability is considered bad, it may just be known for the field effect anyway.

Another one of these littering the outside.

The third Trainer is up in the corner, hanging around the incinerator. I think this is another Japanese thing- I can't imagine Hawai'ians wanting an incinerator around children, as a tropical island. It's certainly not something in most schools that show up in non-Japanese media.

The Lass here is also somewhat interesting, from a "Trainer Class" perspective.

She's not actually a Lass! Well, OK, she is, but her interest in sports has reclassed her into "Youth Athlete", which gives her a slightly higher payout factor. Aside from that, the difference between "Lass" and "Youth Athlete" is largely academic, something Pokemon hasn't really done before, and something I'm not sure they really do again. Wonder why they bothered.

Hey, it is the first opposing Trainer's Pikipek...

And one that came prepared with Echoed Voice, rather than just Peck. Zapple might be in trouble...

Fortunately, what is probably favourable RNG variance saved Zapple from defeat.

...Would you believe me if I told you that was also the only Youth Athlete in SM?

I... believe she's talking about stat stages? And sure, stat stages are good, but you can only master them when you perfect timing.

There's only so basic you can go before it gets too much so.

USUM's take on Hiromi is more direct- she introduces the concept of enemy Trainers using Bag items on their Pokemon. Enemy Trainers have a finite Bag, typically containing only a single Potion of the appropriate strength, but if they use it on an opponent you were having a hard time taking down, well... now you gotta do it again.

You'd think the fact they give Bag Items to enemy Trainers would make players feel better about doing it themselves, but something about the balance still makes it seem unfair for us to do it to them.

...Uh... this seems like a bad idea. Metapod is weak to Rock- not that I think this Bonsly knows Rock moves- and also it kinda breaks the challenge, doesn't it...?

Oh, never mind, it's just Anna up to her old tricks. Aside from asking "what will Anna do", Illusion works just as well on the user as it does the opponent, so do make sure you remember that you have a Zorua and not whatever it turned into.

In the meantime, enjoy a Metapod glaring threateningly.

Illusion is busted on damaging moves- the move must do direct damage.

Surprise! Note that the only difference between a disguised Zorua and one fighting openly is the information the opponent has to work with.

Unfortunately, Anna's Pursuit is still physical, and even with Leer, it doesn't break through Bonsly's defense.

Flail is a move that grows in power the lower your HP is. It is precisely the move you don't want to be dealing with when you are bad at finishing your opponents.

All of Anna's hard work, undone in a single action.

Callie, engage the overkill.

You're gonna need something a lot stronger than a Potion for that.

Or you can plan your team well enough that you don't need them.

She also mentions that some items can boost stat stages, and other miscellaneous effects. Competitive matches don't even allow Bag items, for what I can only presume are obvious reasons.

With Hiromi, Mia and Joey defeated, all we need to do is actually have our battle with the final guy.

...This guy did not deserve his spot, he's just a prick. Rising Star is a gender-neutral class introduced in XY, and it seems to the class people who aspire to be Ace Trainers wind up in. They typically show up early-to-mid game, and bring a bit more class into early fights.

...I'm not sure if this counts. But aside from the humour value, Woodstock does make a good counter-pick to an opposing Grimer. Particularly, the fact that it is a Poison type renders it immune to hostile attempts to Poison you. Sure, its own Poison doesn't work, but...

We win the damage race, NVE or not.

Also we're the faster Grimer, so even with NVE, we can still land flinches with Bite.

May the best Grimer win.

Handily.

Wow, Oatchi's getting up there. But level 7 is an interesting number for Caterpie...

I'd probably say the same thing if I was beaten in a mirror match. Rising Stars give a high payout of x48 Poke.

Now then, I have alluded to the concept multiple times, but we are now seeing our demonstration on everyone's old classic. "Evolution", in the scientific term, refers to when a species collectively adapts to changes to its environment by favouring specimens that do well while culling those that struggle. "Evolution", the Pokemon term, is more scientifically accurate to the process of metamorphosis, to describe dramatic changes in a specimen's individual appearance over the course of its lifetime, but are otherwise unremarkable to the species.

In layman's terms, "evolution" probably could've had a better name, but it's good enough for our purposes, so that's what we're using. With that said, however, it is worth noting that regional forms, like Rattata and Grimer, do represent Darwinian evolution in the series.

The evolution animation is somewhat flashy and accompanied by this theme. You can't skip it- pressing B will actually startle the Pokemon and prevent the evolution. (This is handy in some situations, but not ideal.)

Evolutions typically happen by reaching a certain level. If you are already at that level and you haven't evolved for some reason, you will attempt to evolve next time you level up. Some Pokemon evolve in different ways, which I will explain as we meet examples. For now, the only major different form of evolution method is friendship evolutions, where instead of checking what number our level is, they instead check what number our friendship is.

SM adds a bit on evolution, if this is your first time owning a species, where it is added to your Pokedex. We've already read Metapod's entry, though.

Rotom's comment on evolutions is also different from catches.

Some Pokemon will attempt to learn a move on evolution. Starting with SM, there are two reasons for this, but before now, there was only one:

If an evolved Pokemon's learnset has a move at the level it is now (in Metapod's case, 7) that it doesn't already know for whatever reason, it will attempt to learn it.
Starting in SM, certain Pokemon have a move that they will always attempt to learn when they evolve.

Many moves learned the original way are actually designed to be learned on evolution, particular to give a Pokemon a new move of its new type, and were changed to this new method when it was introduced in order to avoid being accidentally skipped.

I... don't get it?

We can't say he's too bad about grace in defeat, I suppose?

Our very first TM- and it's even TM01! The TM numbering scheme, to this day, does not make any sense whatsoever, and I'm almost not entirely sure why they have it. There are 100 TMs in the game, and since this guy is going to explain TMs, I'm going to let him start.

Using a TM allows a Pokemon to learn the move contained within it. This TM will only ever teach Work Up, though. We need other TMs to learn other moves.

Important note: Only some Pokemon can learn specific moves. While there is some amazing compatibility to be found, it's not like every Pokemon will learn a move in every type.

This is a change that was introduced in BW- in the older games, TMs could only be used once. In order to make sure that their value carried over to competitive and endgame formats, as well as averting hoarding instincts, they made the switch for player convenience. This did result in some balancing issues that the series still hadn't figured out by now- SV more or less seems to have them covered on fixing that.

Now, this isn't the end of the cutscene, but because SM and USUM converge for that next part, I'm showing USUM's Joseph here:

And already he's stopped being an overconfident jerk and actually has something worth showing off- and funnily enough, it's the same topic being taught in the advanced class. How elegant!

Ekans (Ultra Moon): The eggs of bird Pokémon are its favorite food. It swallows eggs whole, so sometimes an egg gets stuck, and Ekans faints.

And that's a new species. Ekans was added into USUM's expansion, but we can't get it until later. This one is just here to show off its cool party trick while not being too threatening.

Even if it means no mirror match.

Right. I was not actually intending for what you are about to see to happen, so I should explain the function of Intimidate: When a Pokemon with this Ability is sent out, the opponent suffers a 1 stage penalty to the Physical Attack stat. This is an absolutely incredible Ability, especially in Doubles formats (since both opponents are affected). Right now, it's devastating.

If you're wondering why Ekans has it, it's usually given to Pokemon that have some sort of lore about attempting to scare either predators or prey in the wild- and Ekan's evolution has a pattern on its body that evokes the "looking like a scarier animal" idea of mimicry.

Like I said: Was not intending for this to happen. But I will gladly take it.

Also throwing up a screen.

...Although that turned out not to be the best play. Wrap is a weak (15 power) move that, if it hits, inflicts a status condition called "bound". At the end of every turn, for 4-5 turns, the target will be hurt for 1/8th of their HP, and they are unable to switch out by conventional means. While this sounds like a lot, the move no longer has its effect if the Pokemon inflicting it leaves the field.

So, you know, your counterplay is to scare away, or even defeat, the guy doing the Wrapping.

His line does not account whatsoever for the possibility you're using Contrary.

If your Pokemon has an Ability that only works in certain conditions, do your best to engineer that condition to happen as often as possible.

His dialogue for losing still sounds just as petty as it was in SM, though.

Back to SM, fighting all four Trainers gets us a comment from Lillie.

Or would have, had the bell not provided us with a different topic.

...I'm fairly sure "Attention, all students" isn't necessary when you're only calling one.

Wait, am I a student?

...Lillie, that is a question. Even the whole "being in the principal's office" thing for misbehaviour is usually something that happens after the kid is caught, not randomly to punish them for something that happened elsewhere. That's a recipe for being wrong.

You seem really interested in the idea of me doing something wrong.

She'll still heal us, though.

Anyway, let's talk TMs. You can see everything that matters about a move on the top screen, and also every Pokemon in your party compatible with the TM on the bottom. Some of this information had to be added in later games, mostly for screen real estate reasons (I think showing which Pokemon can learn the current TM in the Bag is new to this game), but it's all handy to have.

Work Up, in specific, is a buffing move that gives +1 stage to both Atk and Sp. Atk. This move was first used on a first boss that differs based on your starter, and since some of their Pokemon used physical moves and others used special, it's nice and convenient that they had a move that buffs both. Since then, they like to stick it somewhere early, and you can be sure it's good. There are better buffing moves, but they will come later.

For now, it's probably better than what we have.

Huh. They're still leaning on the fakeout thing.

For doing the thing we were asked to do, she asks for the opportunity to have her own fight. And she's a tough cookie, too.

She kinda ropes you into this if you get too close, but you're allowed to back out.

~~Actually, I don't know, it varies based on my own level.~~

Teachers are a Trainer class that appeared first in GSC, and they were really out of the way- there were two in the Kanto region in an area you didn't need to visit (three in HGSS) and another one on a revisit to the S.S. Anne. Aside from those three/four, Emily is the only one in the mainline games. I would not be surprised to learn that the devs had forgotten "Teacher" was a Trainer class that already existsed- particularly since this is another case where they're using a recycled model from a later class.

Although some pre-release prototypes of Gold and Silver include male Teachers, all Teachers in the series have been female.

First up, Magnemite. Emily has actually put in some effort into her team beyond just what she has: She doesn't have EVs or a Nature, but her IVs are flat 15 and a 31 in her Speed. Magnemite only gets 1 point out of that, giving it 14 Spd total, but it counts. In addition to this, she has a defined moveset: Magnemite knows Tackle and Thunder Shock, but not Supersonic. No futzing around with missing that to luck out with.

This is a change made in XY that still catches me off guard: Bite is neutral on Magnemite. Of our current team, it is the only move I have that break through Magnemite's Steel/Electric dual type. Magnemite proved to be quite devastating to my Moon team, on account of depending on Popplio's Water Gun to break through. Litten runs can just set it on fire (I can't tell if it has Sturdy or Magnet Pull, weirdly.)

Well, that's inconvenient.

Fortunately, Woodstock is doing enough damage in return that I don't mind trying to fight through it.

Although perhaps Woodstock should come back and let someone else handle the Meowth.

Meowth has the same IV spread as Magnemite, giving it a healthy 23 Spd. Again, it only got 1 point from the IV, but Meowth is built to outspeed. It has Scratch and Bite: No Growls, and weirdly, no Fake Out. Meowth should know that at Lv. 9.

Not good. Very not good. It also outspeeds, too-

Never mind.

Yeah, that should just about cover it for someone who isn't Zapple.

Yeah, Oatchi will do.

Work Up in action. I don't think it matters, but we have it...

Yeah. We had this covered.

...Although you could use a little less EXP. I like cycling my team, so we'll be seeing more than the team limit of six Pokemon in use, but early on, we don't really have that option so much.

Oh, that could've come in handy against Magnemite. Astonish is a 30 BP Ghost type physical move that has a 30% chance of landing flinch- not actually that great overall, but Ghost has its advantages if you have it on hand. Really, though, it's a move you tend to drop quickly.

I decided to keep it. Sam and Woodstock have Normal, and Oatchi really prefers Leafage and Peck anyway.

Interesting note that supports the idea that maybe they did remember Johto's Teacher class: Emily's class multiplier is x48, which is equal to the payout Teachers had in HGSS (they had x72 in GSC ~~and frankly both of them are too high~~), and not equal to the payout of the Office Worker class from which Emily steals her design.

I love how unamused Grimer looks in the post-fight Refresh with the paralysis effect. Anyway, USUM fight:

The Emily fight was completely retooled for USUM: Instead of her using two Pokemon, she instead uses the starter who was not selected by you or Hau to claim type advantage. Not only that, but Emily has a nasty set of IVs to deal with (identical for all three): 30/10/20/10/30/10. Combined with the starter being an all-around good Pokemon and the limited selection of counters to all three at this point, Emily can make you work for that win.

Each starter only has their Normal move and their STAB move. At level 10, they should also know Peck/Lick/Disarming Voice, but their STAB is enough to worry about. Don't forget about the Ability.

Anything to trim off that bulk is much appreciated, we're going to be fighting it a while.

...Wait, since when did Usagi have Leer?

Oh, right, yeah. Hope this won't get too confusing later.

Ow, already down to half HP.

I decide this is not a situation Anna wants to be in, and switch to Callie. Fortunately, Callie can take enough of a hit to Foul Play.

Good. Two shot. All I need is to...

Survive the third hit.

Phew. This fight has gone rather disastrously for me in other runs- although I don't think Ray was one of them.

Let me actually earn my credentials first. Then we'll talk about teaching while not speaking.

The first major access to a Poke Ball other than the standard type, a freebie set of Great Balls. I think most games typically first introduce them as a single item pickup on the ground somewhere, but they get more generous in later games to get you catching more- it's part of trying to make the games feel more like Pokemon Go in atmosphere.

Poke Balls multiply the catch rate by x1 in the calculation. Great Balls, instead, multiply by x1.5. Compared to catch rate itself, it's not much, but it's something we have a say over.

All I know is, Foul Play good.

We are now introduced to Ilima, the first Trial Captain. With how little we have to go on here and what form the rest of his interactions take, it's hard to get a good read on him. Granted, not sure that'd be helped if he was made more important here, but it would have been something.

...

Uh, did he have anything to do with anything? Behind the scenes, maybe, but I don't even know what he is he is claiming to do. Did they forget this isn't Emily? ~~Was Emily supposed to be Ilima?~~

Kukui mentions, again, our promise as a Trainer.

Considering he came in with Kukui, I have no idea what Kukui told him before this conversation, because it feels like this ought to have been something that was mentioned.

Ilima's Trial is our first mid-term objective, but we've still gotta poke around Hau'oli some more before crossing Route 2 and getting to the trial site. It'll be sooner than you think, but not as soon as it sounds.

Unlike Gyms, this does not usually involve fighting them, but they are somehow involved in the process.

Another thing that happens is that they don't like to tell you ahead of time what the Trial will entail. Suffice it to say that Pokemon battling will be involved.

A good suggestion. One that's a little funnier than he thinks, but we can find enough Pokemon to make do.

I look forward to participating.

With any luck, they'll push it away from the city this time. But who knows. Who knows how it got here...

Oh. It sounds like it's a privately-owned and badly behaved Tauros.

...Are we sure we have no way to more stringently censure him for his negligence?

...Does my graduation need to go out over PA?

Moreover, why am I even graduating? I was just visiting, wasn't I?

We're teleported outside, to have a farewell with all the people involved with this thing. Yes, all of them.

They all shift slightly to show who's speaking. I can't tell by sight which one is which.

I think it's Joey > Mia > Hiromi? It even sorta fits the things they tried to teach us, as relevant, or otherwise, as they are.

Also the other, better TMs.

Even Kukui pitches in!

Woodstock, Zapple, and Oatchi.

And now it is time for us to go set up Hau'oli City. This cutscene still has a bit to go, though, so we're stepping a bit outside the school.

She was out of our sight for two seconds and already went into a moody yuri funk. Crushes work quick with this girl.

She's (somewhat) gotten over her apprehension of Pokemon battling! Seems that little crush won out, and now she's starting to see what everyone else sees in the sport.

And how it comes as no surprise that the person we were before we got our starter is the same as the one after.

USUM does remember that the switched order of events changes their interpretation, and her line is rewritten to convey the appropriate sentiment for the new interpretation.

Lillie heard the situation was going to be dealt with, went to the site immediately, and was suddenly reminded that the process was not instantaneous.

...

Is he your Tauros? I hope I'm misinterpretating that one.

...Well, if I'm a prodigy with other Pokemon, surely this one might be...

Silver linings. Even if they occasionally make the roads impassable. It should've been dealt with quicker than this.

I caught a new friend, does that count?

I'll take your word for it, and hope he doesn't express his affection by ramming.

I think this is also supposed to be a tutorial for something, but I can't tell if it's friendship or affection.

USUM expands on the "will you pet Tauros" thing by asking you where you want to pet it. "Its face" is the correct option.

...You know, it's relevant to Zapple, I should probably cover the main concept of friendship some more. Friendship is a hidden stat from 0-255 that all Pokemon possess, starting at some fixed value depending on their species (for most Pokemon it's 70, but some have it higher or lower for whatever reasons make sense), and the stat raises passively. Every 128 steps is worth one or two points in friendship, and other passive ways to increase it are levelling up, fighting someone important, and using particular items- not Potions and their ilk, weirdly. Friendship is useful only for two moves, certain tutors, and Pokemon that evolve by evolution. Funnily enough, after Zapple evolves, she has no more use for it.

Finally, they chase it away from the city.

"And enrich them in turn."

He's your grandpa, Hau. Besides, it's always good to have the temperament to be a calming presence.

...People ride Tauros? Bet that wakes you up in the morning.

And considering Verdant Cavern is on the other side, it sounds like a particularly good idea.

And it's increasingly sounding less like that's because she's organised and more because nobody else is.

They switch between one another. Honestly, I'm probably going to have to do the real legwork.

Hau runs ahead. He's just like that.

Oh come on, how much energy does one kid have?

...On second thought, he's probably already lost.

Funnily enough, there's a bunch of stuff to do around the Trainer's School in areas that we couldn't visit before, and this is our first opportunity after beating Emily.

In USUM, you can actually sneak past Emily to go upstairs once you've beat the other four Trainers, but her range does more or less cover the stairs but for a little bit...

Kukui's still here. He doesn't like going back to his lab, which is annoying, because it feels like he's supposed to go back there to give us a really good item before the game is over, but he just doesn't.

Third floor has a corner with a recreation sort of library.

This is the only page of the book in SM, but USUM makes it a whole choose-your-own-adventure thing. I was going to cover it, but it went going just a bit deeper than I expected...