Ailey's turn to handle Lana.
Crysantha is surprisingly good for the Wishiwashi- high Sp. Def for Water Guns, and that Giga Drain from the Tutors is a deadly attack.
Genevieve has Zapple's job, and I have no doubt she'll do it with distinction. Getting Electroweb from the Tutors will put her well on her way to being even more effective than Zapple, even.
This thing is not doing anything other than Glare and Screech until it evolves, and even then...
Hawkeye is probably the most important Pokemon on this team. I did not stutter.
Usagi hits hard and maybe Baby Doll Eyes back. I wouldn't trust Z-Splash here, though- it might work out, but I'd rather have her on cleanup than wincon.
Neo promises to have some interesting tricks in store, although I may not commit to this set when better moves are available.
Lana has been moved over to this side of the bridge. And, if you might notice, so have the Trial Gates.
Remember that whole "Lana goes slightly fae baiting you down the river" skit? USUM took that out. Now, it is completely obvious going in that the herding sequence is the Trial.
Complete with explaining the trial ahead of time.
You mean become, right?
It is actually somewhat relevant she mentions that ahead of time.
Also get Lapras right away. Although since the Trial has already started, turning around doesn't seem to be as viable an option.
Incidentally, the fact that Brooklet Hill and Lapras Paddle require Trial Start in USUM is the main reason I didn't show the stuff you can get from them in the main update. Make sure we're all on the same page first.
The Trial itself is mostly the same, but with one main change.
As a narrative change, here's what the camera pan looks like on a clear night. There's one more bit to this, and it's another part of USUM having some issues here.
Remember this scene? Remember how it happened before the second lake in SM? As changes go, seems pretty minor, right?
There are two splashes per lake in USUM. Lana suggests they might contain two Wishiwashi total.
This line also feels a little more appropriate- waterproof or not, dropping him would be problematic. For it.
Oh hey, you're new to USUM...
He won't challenge us at all until we've beat the Trial. Good to remember.
Yep. That's a Wishiwashi, all right. Everything seems normal here...
Eat your heart out, Oatchi.
Oatchi: "...We both won in one action, right?"
The Wishiwashi from that puddle only leave after fighting the Wishiwashi. Not that it changes much, although it might have a minor interaction.
And in the other splash is-
Dewpider (Sun): It crawls onto the land in search of food. Its water bubble allows it to breathe and protects its soft head.
Dewpider? Well, that's certainly new. Dewpider is a Bug/Water type new to Alola we could find in the daytime normally. It's pretty specially bulky, so watch out for that, but it's not that tough. Definitely don't bother with Fire moves, though.
This is why Hawkeye is my king.
As a note, fighting the splashes that are secretly Dewpider are completely optional. We only need to herd the Wishiwashi downstream. This is the major difference between SM and USUM's Trial, and it's actually fairly good at its job of making things interesting.
As we start the second lake in USUM... there is no cutscene with a camera pan to the sky, to show off the clouds settling in. That moody atmosphere SM Lana worked so hard on has been undercut.
Now, here's the secret to the USUM Trial: In each lake, the Dewpider and the Wishiwashi are in the same spots every run. The Wishiwashi is the one in the south in the first pond, and the one in the west in the second pond.
Oh, and proof of concept, these Wishiwashi and Dewpiders cannot be caught here.
Quickly doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and...
There we go.
Lana doesn't say anything for that, not even automatically. Weird.
The Fisherman at the south side of this lake has been moved on top of this cliff, guarding the secret TM. Fortunately, he only has three Magikarp to his name, but still. Irritating.
They got smart and got rid of the free early Scald TM for USUM. More's the pity, especially since there is no replacement TM at all (SM got their copy of Charge Beam just outside, and that wasn't a TM at all in USUM), but the Tutors take out some of the bite of that. Signal Beam alone is most of the way to a replacement there, although there are less good STAB users, the coverage isn't so good, and we can't make it a Z-Move for a while.
I also decided to run back and forward in this grass to check to see if you can catch normal wilds. I didn't try too long, only about a minute, but at that much running around, I feel comfortable saying the encounter rate is turned off entirely in USUM.
Trial Gates are removed here in USUM, too, although it's still a loading zone.
Lana also lost her off-screen teleportation. Basically everything cool SM Lana had that I just got an appreciation for, I'm noticing she doesn't have in USUM.
Granted, I only noticed Lana lost most of her cool stuff by comparing these two sequences.
Time for the big one.
Although the big rainstorm is still cued, there's no attention drawn to it, and Lapras doesn't shiver in terror. Little things.
Huh, strange, the Wishiwashi Schooling happens with the camera behind us. The camera is also zooming out...
...That's a bigger one...
Some of the Totems got replaced between SM and USUM. While the other replacements are completely seamless, this first time, they decided to demonstrate it by having the new guy literally chase the Totem Wishiwashi out of the position. I admire the framing, and it also does a lot of legwork in giving Lana back her mischievous edge- although that does sorta require remembering the original Trial.
There's even a cool bit where you can see a bunch of Solo Wishiwashi jump out of the water from where the splash happened, trying to get away from the Totem.
It's... a giant water-skating spider. And it looks like Dewpider's bigger brother!
Araquanid (Ultra Moon): It has a habit of storing things it values in its water bubble. If its Trainer doesn't watch out, Araquanid will try to put them in its bubble!
Araquanid is Dewpider's evolved form, and poses an interesting replacement for Totem Wishiwashi. Araquanid is heavy on Special Defence, but because Wishiwashi is so much of a monster, it technically had the higher Sp. Def stat. It does, however, have a Bug typing, a better hold item and Ability, a better Totem Aura, and four great moves that combo well to make Araquanid the scarier fight, in my opinion.
That's a +1 Spd, and this time, it's packing an actual IV and EV spread! Although it's clear they didn't want to make it too tough: Its IV spread is 31/1/31/1/31/1, and it has 252 IV investment in Defence and a Bold (+Def/-Atk) Nature- its Def stat is just slightly higher than its Sp. Def stat, with that distribution. Incidentally, its Spd stat is 33 after the Totem Aura.
- Leech Life: Played Pokemon before? Remember this horrible move that Zubat's suspiciously forgotten? They buffed it to 80 BP. Physical Bug, this thing will heal Araquanid for 50% of the damage it deals. It's not the scariest move on its set in context, but trust me, you do not want to have a team that's all weak to Bugs here. Bug is resisted by seven types, you've gotta have at least one in there.
- Bite: 60 BP Physical Dark, 10% chance to flinch. It's probably never going to use this, it's like only coverage for Gastly and flinches aren't great on the Speed stat it has.
- Bubble: 40 BP Special Water, 10% chance to lower your Speed by 1 stage. With STAB, Rain and its Ability, this move is buffed to high hell, and since its Atk and Sp. Atk stats are so similar, this is probably its real winning move. Once again, it having a real Water move would make this a much bigger issue.
- Aurora Beam: 65 BP Special Ice, 10% chance to lower your Attack by 1 stage. This basically just exists because Araquanid exists to play a mean prank on Grass types, and Dartrix is neutral to Leech Life.
- Its hold item is the Wacan Berry, a special lategame Berry that halves the damage of the first Electric move it takes. All that "bring Grass/Electric type" advice? Yeah, hope you didn't follow that too closely this time.
- Its Ability slot is Water Bubble, an Ability unique to it. Its description tells you that it halves the power of Fire moves and prevents it from taking Burns- not that Fire attacks called out as a particularly good pick. It's got one secret trick not mentioned, though: It doubles the power of its Water moves.
Comparing their raw numbers, the IVs and EVs give Araquanid higher defensive stats than Wishiwashi, and less than half of the Sp. Atk. With Water Bubble, it doesn't really lose any power comparing their respective Water Gun and Bubble.
Of course, Intimidate and Glare are the first two things we do.
It's like Ralph Wiggum blowing bubbles on the dome, but it actually works.
Paralysed, it's cut down to 16, which is slower than Wishiwashi, and its own base had we just reduced its Speed normally.
Araquanid's high-HP ally is a Dewpider, full 0s in the secret stats. Its moveset is Sticky Web, Rain Dance, Bug Bite and Bubble. Rain Dance is the white elephant it was on Wishiwashi, Bug Bite is very terrifying if you have a certain plan in mind, Bubble is as scary on it as it is on Araquanid, and Sticky Web is a new and very neat entry hazard. When you switch in while Sticky Web is up, you are inflicted with -1 Spd- something Araquanid highly appreciates. Fortunately, however, it's set up on the ground, so Flying types are immune to it.
Flying types in general are considered to be the top-tier counter to Araquanid- being the only weakness of Bug types not weak to Water'll do that for you. Notice how the freebie Trade was changed into a Flying type that resists Water? Pity about Aurora Beam.
Since Basilissa is getting an extra turn, it decides to use Screech for a -2 Def on Araquanid. Remember, our ace in the hole is Hawkeye. -2 Def is going to make Hawkeye very happy.
Fortunately, if Dewpider finishes us off, Araquanid's attack is sent into the void and is no longer our problem.
Are you ready to rumbullllllll?
Dewpider was not.
Ooh, go Hawkeye. I haven't nerfed its Sp. Atk or done anything to make Water attacks weaker- not that there's much option there, other than maybe investing in Confide.
Look at this beauty of a mon. Imagine if it had a buffing move.
Extra HP might help it survive an extra turn, hopefully. With that damage margin, not likely.
Masquerain (Ultra Sun): Masquerain intimidates enemies with the eyelike patterns of its eyespots. If that doesn't work, it deftly makes its escape on its set of four wings.
Araquanid's low HP ally, Masquerain, is the evolved form of Surskit, and as such, is technically Araquanid's counterpart in this game. Masquerain has a surprisingly decent Special Attack stat backing it up (not that it knows any Special moves here), and while it has 0 IVs and EVs, it has the Timid Nature (+Spd/-Atk) to do what it came here to do. Stun Spore to paralyse and slow you down, Scary Face to reduce your Speed outright, and Tailwind to double both its own and Araquanid's Speed for three turns. It also has Bug Bite, because Berries are for other people.
Oh yeah, its Ability is also Intimidate. There goes some of Hawkeye's damage for free.
This was just a bad idea. Araquanid does way too much damage for this to help, and also losing my Flying type costs me some resists.
Tailwind happens to exactly cancel out the speed drop of Paralysis, bringing Araquanid back to 33.
And there goes some of my Speed.
Stun Spore, that's bad...
That is very bad. Lost my Araquanid wincon.
Fortunately, so did he.
Less fortunately, I'm no longer faster. So long, Hawkeye.
And hellllo, Usagi.
Masquerain outspeeds her, but doesn't seem to have done all that much with its only attacking move.
And Usagi makes sure Araquanid won't be getting up to any shenanigans. That's this fight won.
Sadly, Return was just shy of a oneshot on the Masquerain.
More fortunately, the Stun Spore missed.
Hey, if the entire idea of this fight was "don't bother with Fire", what better way to win than using Fire anyway?
Usagi manages to maintain the smug Oatchi had.
The camera pan to the sky being all clear now is still there, although you notice what USUM never had? A camera pan to the sky being stormy. You can practically feel its absence.
She's less disappointed in you having defeated her Totem this time, although this surprise kinda feels like she's surprised we won.
Because of the way this line kinda makes it sound like a bait-and-switch being set. The whole idea of the bait-and-switch is the main connection to angling that Lana still has.
Ailey's Waterium Z acquired. Less good on her, since her main Hydro Vortex comes from Water Pulse and not Scald, but the Water types she's angling for (pun intended) should make good use of it.
And a Fishing Rod for her, too. There's a lot of new-to-USUM Pokemon to find underwater.
They did at least keep the traditional "fish this big" line.
So then, let's see what the boys are getting up to.
Noah: "Hold on, smashing a Flame Clock real quick..."
Noah also caught the Trial Wishiwashi for his dex.
Night-time stormy effect. Not sure how different it is, though.
With Noah, it's a coin flip whether he believes you're better than you think you are, or he genuinely doesn't understand the idea of a joke. Anyway, the team.
You should never be surprised to see Nimue's screen. And this is a boss that was designed for Nimue's strengths.
PRNDL would make a pretty decent wincon, and Light Screen will help if it doesn't. Shame S.O.S. Battles kinda undermine Sturdy.
Noah has decided to avail himself of the fact that Pokemon can be caught here in Brooklet Hill, and has added a Paras to his team. Why a Paras? No reason. No reason at all.
Melia is more of our "can't lose" than someone we count on.
Gonzales is here for the points in friendship. I would like it to evolve soon.
I think the thing that gives away how slapdash this team is is the fact I forgot to take away the Amulet Coin from Daj. What prize money am I doubling here?
So, how's Wishiwashi going to go down here?
Well, Nimue is getting the chance to show off the power of Leech Seed. Leech Seed may quietly be the best move to use on a bulky opponent, especially one that can't or won't switch out: it inflicts a volatile status ailment on the opponent that damages them for 1/8th of their HP a turn, and heals you for 100% of that amount. Since it is a volatile status ailment, you can switch out to something else and still enjoy the benefits, and since it's not one of the big ones like Poison, Burn or Confuse, basically nothing cures it. Do you know all those Abilities we've been seeing that block and cure statuses, like Alomomola's Healer? Yeah, uh, Leech Seed doesn't count. Wishiwashi can't do anything to get rid of it.
(The only downside of the move is that, if the turn ends and there is no Pokemon on your side of the field, no damage is dealt.)
Oh no. My precious Grass STAB. Whatever am I going to do?
More food?
Don't mind if I do!
Aqua Ring applies a volatile status to itself that heals it for 1/16th of its HP a turn. A little annoying, but 1/8th is bigger than 1/16th. We still win this fight as long as we don't have anyone faint.
And Nimue is doing a shockingly bad job of it.
That's enough mocking them with a Grass type, time to mock them with something that I just caught.
Wishiwashi shows off its Helping Hand, to raise the power of an incoming Water Gun...
Only for Wishiwashi to call my switch and lower my Atk stat. Annoying, but I didn't need that anyway.
Second time's the charm, and-
Again, Wishiwashi? Someone needed to remind Lana that Water types resist Water moves, and Soak is only digging itself deeper.
Besides, Dry Skin breaks this boss. Dry Skin, Water Absorb and Storm Drain, all available from Pokemon that can be caught after entering Brooklet Hill (in total, Paras, Poliwag, Finneon and HA Dewpider) grant an immunity to Water-type moves, something no type proper does. There is some part of me that wonders if the developers thought they were being clever by making sure those Abilities weren't available to us before meeting Lana and forgot that wasn't actually the formal Trial Start. If they were, then them suddenly realising they had to change the Water Trial to both have coverage moves and to prevent you from catching any of the AI-breakers early makes a lot of sense. They also didn't fully fix it- if you claim Lapras and then leave, you can get Finneon, but that requires using Finneon. Besides, they also gave us Jynx and Vaporeon early anyway, I think they knew a Water resist wouldn't save you.
I'll be taking this for myself...
And sitting here, watching you try to Soak me over and over again. Not even Water Gun. Soak.
The baby Wishiwashi knows Feint Attack. It could, if the idea occurred to it, deal a quantity of damage with that. Of course, the Schooling one would probably heal it up even if Leech Seed didn't, but still, it would require Lavos Spawn to notice things are happening.
Sometimes, things that happen at threshold HP forget to happen when gradual damage pushes you over. That's not the case with Schooling.
And here I was thinking this guy getting calculably weaker would cause you to think twice about going to its aid, like all the other Wishiwashi who bailed.
Look at all those moves that don't suit their builds. Spark is Physical, so not really PRNDL's wheelhouse, while Magical Leaf just doesn't fit into Nimue's plans (although it is always accurate).
Lavos Spawn: "My job here is done."
PRNDL: "But you didn't do anything."
Snorlax (Ultra Sun): It doesn't do anything other than eat and sleep. When prompted to make a serious effort, though, it apparently displays awesome power.
...You know the best part?
That was enough for Gonzales to learn the true power of tanking special hits was to just fall asleep. Snorlax is the king of bulk in the GSC metagame, and twenty years have done little to dull the sheer power this thing exudes in a single exhale. Snorlax can and will crush you by rolling over slightly in its sleep, and nothing but the most dedicated of physical hits can shift it.
Lana: Furiously takes notes.
I decided to use the Noah file to see what Lana'd say if you decided to stay.
Although ultimately, I did decide to take this too. I find, if you skip these offers, they just quietly disappear when you do the event they're taking you to- in this case, scaring away the Sudowoodo.
Now then, Ray's turn to do something significantly less rude.
...And that was get hit by the three Magikarp guy. Annoying, but it's the Magikarp guy. Ignoring that completely...
Guardia wishes he could stick around to exploit that Water Absorb strategy (it resists Ice and has Baby-Doll Eyes to make Araquanid a chump), but he wants us to get that Wacan Berry for later use, and both the backup calls have Bug Bite. You do not want the backup to eat that.
Wiingo is basically a Basilissa that can actually do things before it's scared back out. Basilissa and Usagi in the same Pokemon, from a certain point of view.
Veeka might be this team's ace in the hole here. That kinda scares me.
Angry Bird is shy of evolution, sadly, but it does come prepared to show off something cool we can do. Even still, Araquanid came prepared for it. Those preparations were "spam Bubble".
Sirehound is taking on a much more defensive role than Mio. I think, in the end, Sirehound might wind up retiring young and passing the mantle of team Water type to Guardia. But while it's here, it's going to tell the Totems what's what.
Dark types + Leech Life = not wanted. Fur Coat will give it the necessary bulk, but if you thought this was bad, you should see the rest of the team. It was this or a Rock/Ground type- although now I mention it, Dawn might've been nice for a quick cheap shot with SE Rock Throw. I think I just wanted to have Penny on hand in case I needed it for Angry Bird's strategy.
A few daytime shots of the Araquanid attack.
Now then, Araquanid's rematch.
Just as proof of concept, it's +1 Speed. And also, you can see Rain in this window, just to make sure.
That's Guardia after a Leech Life. With Baby-Doll and Leftovers, it could probably last a while here.
Mine now.
And I am not letting you waste it.
Ramming Speed.
Tauros taking those hits just as well. Then again, he was the one enjoying Intimidate.
Once again, I declare that guy to be a problem.
I'm already taking way more damage than I need with one Bubble, I don't need two.
..."Scary". Scary Face inflicts -2 Spd on the opponent. This is way more than I need, but it does ensure that Araquanid is outsped by certain key threats. In hindsight, though, I think Tail Whip was the correct call.
And down goes the bull.
The Sirehound is out to play.
Sirehound has the dedicated plan to stop Araquanid from being a problem, and also one more plan- and part of the reason Wiingo didn't attack with its last action.
Sirehound is the key to pulling off Angry Bird's strategy- and with a move I only learned during the Trial (hence bringing Penny just in case).
Encore is a Normal Status move that applies an Encore volatile status on the opponent. While Encored, you will be forced to use the same move you just used for the next three turns.
And yes, I have a good reason to choose Leech Life as the move that will be Encored.
Angry Bird is ready for the plan.
All it needed... was to take a hit from Leech Life. And specifically Leech Life.
Z-Crystal engaged... Assuming the Flying Pose...
It's time for Angry Bird's Z-Power-
Z-Mirror Move.
Mirror Move is a weird move that only really works if you know it's JP name (Parrot Mimicry). It is a Flying Status move that causes it to repeat the last move that was performed on it by a Pokemon currently on the field. Overall, it's a bit of a weak option, but it became a weirdly really good Z-Move- as a status move, it applies the Z-Power effect of +2 Atk stages.
And then, because Mirror Move is now the damaging move Leech Life, Angry Bird performs the correct Z-Move for it, Savage Spin-Out.
OK, I didn't need to be hit by Leech Life specifically, but Leech Life is the only move Araquanid knows that it doesn't resist.
This is a +2 Atk, 160 BP attack. And I get to keep the +2 Atk for Aerial Aces.
By the way, USUM can get Combusken, and it learns this move. Fairly late, of course, but still. That is something that can do damage.
We're also getting a cameo appearance of Savage Spin-Out. Angry Bird (somehow) spits out web to entrap Araquanid in...
Before suplexing it, dragging it around through the ground deep enough to make trenches...
And then slices right through it.
A cool attack it's honestly kind of a shame there's not a ton of great opportunities to use once we get the proper Buginium Z. Razzly'll see what she can do.
Yeah, it only did half, but that's because there's no STAB or SE powering the real whammy of a properly aimed Z-Move. There's a reason I'll be spamming Aerial Ace and not Mirror Move.
That's irritating.
I probably could've afforded to have Sirehound stick around another turn and apply one more Baby-Doll Eyes.
...Crap, that summoned the Masquerain.
There goes one of those free Atk stages.
There were probably ways to make this work out better. Tail Whip on Wiingo's turn would... probably have been the best of them.
Oh, that's just insult to injury.
Angry Bird wasn't surviving that regardless.
Veeka- tiny mon, big goals.
Sorry, my friend...
Too little, too late.
It doesn't even bother showing that Araquanid's Speed fell. It's not moving anymore.
Huh. Neat. Ray doesn't get the Acrobatics TM, so this is a good powerful move for Veeka to have in her back pocket. Of course, she's holding an item right now, but...
Believe it or not, I taught it over Electroweb. Not only can I relearn it later, but it's Special and only really good for Totems, since Veeka herself is building physical.
Sadly, Veeka can be hit by that.
Not that she seems too fussed about it either way. Although once again with the near-miss...
Hey, might as well show off the new move while you can!
Grubbin: "What part of my body do I contemptuously toss to look smug?"
Charjabug (Sun): Its body is capable of storing electricity. On camping trips, people are grateful to have one around.
But it can evolve out of it! Charjabug is the middle cocoon stage for the Grubbin line, and instead of storing energy to turn into its bug form, it's storing electricity! In addition to being cute, this is conveyed with its unique Ability Battery- in a Double Battle, it boosts the power of allies' special moves by 5325/4096, or roughly 30%. More importantly for us, it is now actually a Bug/Electric type, giving it that resist to Flying and STAB on its Electric moves.
Well, aren't you just the most useful battery ever?
Still, another Trial Complete under our belt.
Next time: Swimming.
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