A Totem awaits us at the top of a volcano. So what do I have on hand that can help?
To absolutely no one's surprise, the lead will be our (surprisingly still freshly) Schooling Wishiwashi. No Waterium Z, curious.
K9 takes up flank, also holding an Amulet Coin. This Trial is going to be a little weird, and he might as well have it at hand.
That's HP Ground there. Flambebe, in spite of her obvious downsides, has a plan to actually be good here.
I mean, how can you not bring Murphy to a battle with Fire types? Maybe if it was a Fletchling-themed Trial, admittedly. That'd be funny, but the Rock Tomb TM would be too good in that case.
Woodstock is... a peculiar choice, but chiefly it resists the non-Fire STAB we'll be facing, Disable might come in clutch at the right time, and if things ever go south, we can always Infestation our way to victory.
Snaggletooth's job is, and always will be, to slap the enemy really hard. It will say more about the rest of the team if she comes out.
...No, he did introduce himself at the Royal Dome, I'm not mistaken there.
...Also, uh... did you, uh... plug up the crater for this field? Or are we on a different "top of the volcano" here? Just saying, all this steaming around the various holes on Akala is giving me anxieties...
Kiawe is a fire twirler, a kind of dance popular in Hawai'i, and his signature ace is the Alolan Marowak, who can say the same.
He is correct on this matter. We will not have control of our character for the duration of this Trial. No Bag Items to heal between fights, no rearranging the party order to share EXP as we please, nothing. We have our lead, we have our teammates, and we have to carry this team to the Totem through whatever gets thrown at us on the way.
This is the only Trial like this in USUM, although there's a second one like it in SM.
Bring it.
Rather than the usual kind of test seen in Trials, we've got a more explicit testing objective here. Not exactly a skill I think quite fits in with Pokemon's demands, but not a million miles away.
The Trial itself doesn't actually play the Trial theme, but rather silence broken up by the crackling torches around us. It's an amazing ambience, especially at night time. There is, however, one main overworld theme here:
When the Marowak perform their dance, they get this short chime to play.
The music plays when they do this circling animation, before culminating in the final yell as they appear in a pose. The only thing that changes between dances is the final pose.
They play the dancing loop every time, and in my first run, I was actually thinking I would have to consider the subject.
No. No, they know their target audience here.
Kiawe is so much of a ham when you figure out the differences, it actually kinda manages to sell the Fire Trial as funny.
After answering a question, you will be challenged by whatever your answer was, regardless of whether it was a correct answer.
Marowak (Sun): The bones it possesses were once its mother's. Its mother's regrets have become like a vengeful spirit protecting this Pokémon.
Cubone has maintained the generally miserable lore detail that the bones it carries belonged to its mother, and Marowak is usually defined by using those bones as strength. I'm not 100% sure this is what Cubone's mother had in mind, though. The Marowaks we can encounter are level 18, and know the moves Flame Wheel, Bone Club, Tail Whip and Growl. No Ghost moves, but keep your Rock types on their toes for that Bone Club it kept from Cubone. It is technically a wild encounter, so it has random IVs and Nature, but strangely, they all tend to have Cursed Body as their Ability. The main distinct Ability it has from its classic brethren, Cursed Body has a 30% chance of inflicting Disable on any move used on it, regardless of contact. This Disable lasts for four turns, same as a standard Disable.
"Somehow I don't see this going my way..."
I was about to make a joke about how much less damage Bone Club does to a Schooling Wishiwashi compared to what the Solo Form took against Cubone earlier, but this one actually missed.
Never let it be said that I am not at least playing in the spirit of the Trial- I am using a hot move!
Sure.
You will only proceed to the next dance if you answered the last one correctly. This Trial may be easy, but it is not that easy.
Oh, and yes, you will fight extra Marowaks if you lose. So, want more EXP or want to conserve your reserves for the Totem?
Hey, down in front, David! When I invited Mariah to watch this Trial, I did not intend for anyone else to be getting involved here.
Fortunately, "the Hiker wasn't there before" is a valid option.
This is around the part where they drop the pretense this Trial is going to live up to its ambience and lean in on the joke.
Hiker David (yes, that actually is his name) is another generic Trainer who gained popularity for how absolutely ridiculous this whole situation is. His relationship to Kiawe is left ambiguous through an overall lack of discussion on the subject, but the fact this man is randomly participating in Kiawe's Trial as an obstacle, and that Kiawe treats him as just another one of his Marowak, goes unexplained. The joke is just good enough for me to be in the camp for "nah, this is better off unexplained."
Magmar (Ultra Moon): The hotter the place, the better they feel. Magmar in Alola are said to be hardier than those in other areas.
His Magmar might prove to be a bit of a scary opponent, owing to its higher sweeping power compared to Marowak, but the lack of active effort betrays them. Hiker David is an ordinary Trainer in every regard, complete with his Pokemon being 15 IVs flat, no EVs or Nature, and no assigned moves, so he uses the kit Smokescreen, Feint Attack, Fire Spin and Clear Smog. While some of those moves are pretty scary, as a kit, Clear Smog (resets the target's stat stages to zero on hit) conflicts with Smokescreen (a move that lowers our accuracy), and that promised sweeping firepower is nerfed by it coming off the back of Fire Spin. Magmar's physical Attack is high enough that Feint Attack is hardly a dud here, though.
Although Kasplashle leads the whole Trial through, I want K9 fighting this guy. Of the Pokemon I was bringing, it's the one I feel most comfortable with sacrificing some HP before the Totem on in the name of "not making this the Kasplashle show", and also getting that double prize money from David's still existent payout.
With that said, as a Rock type, K9 resists both Fire and Poison. If it wasn't built to sweep, it'd be a good idea to have on hand.
Not this time, but that's a cue not to try Howling.
I can see we're not getting K9 out of here, but still. That resist won't matter for the passive damage.
Or, you know, I could point out Magmar isn't exactly great at the whole "physical defence" thing.
This was probably David's best plan (especially since Rockruff can have Keen Eye- although we know for a fact K9 doesn't, David doesn't need to know that), and he pulled it off.
Rockruff just got the donks.
Kasplashle is feeling very excited about now.
He seems to be enjoying this whole song and dance.
Now then... this is probably the dance that cements the Fire Trial as a) a joke and b) actually a funny joke.
They knew exactly the correct way to introduce the Totem Pokemon into the situation. In a Trial that was supposed to be challenging, I would expect to be inside the volcano, and for that lizard to be on a wall in such a way it's hard to tell whether that shape is a rock formation or a living creature.
No. No, they know their target audience here.
All of the answers listed are considered correct, although despite this, the game is not actually playing the "Totem Pokemon draws near" theme. I always remembered it doing so.
Who's ready to face the Totem Pokemon?
Salazzle (Moon): Filled with pheromones, its poisonous gas can be diluted to use in the production of luscious perfumes.
Now that is a scary pose. Salazzle is the ultimate form of Flambebe, and yes, its form is intentional. Its Sun Pokedex entry even uses the word "reverse harem". Less sure I can say they know their target audience with that one. Her high Special Attack and Speed is supplemented by standard Totem stats- 15 IVs in Defence and Special Defence, 1 IV in everything else (Atk IV is still random), the EV distribution is 132 HP/126 Def/252 Sp. Def, the Nature is random, and she has a special S.O.S. gimmick compared to all other Totems. There may be one thing you've noticed that causes issues. Her Speed is 56 (outspeeds everything I've got), and her Special Defence is only slightly higher than her Defence.
Oh, by the way, if this influences your plans, it's got 69 HP. ...Of course it has 69 HP...
Well, now its Special Defence is higher, by quite a margin, too. Totem Salazzle's power lies somewhat handicapped by her choice in kit, though.
- Toxic is the most essential move needed for a Salazzle- this is is the move for inflicting Poison. This is the primary source of Bad Poison in the game, and as a move, it is a Poison Status move with 90% accuracy. It does, however, have a special property: if it is used by a Poison type, it will always hit, to the point of bypassing semi-invulnerability (which will even cause Aerial Ace accurate moves to miss). Thanks to Corrosion, Poison will be a thing you have to deal with here.
- Venom Drench is an uncommonly seen Status Poison move that will give it a useful boon: it will lower your Atk, Sp. Atk and Spd by 1 stage each, but it only works if you're inflicted with Poison. I haven't seen it use it much, which is a shame, because it should want to.
- Torment is a Status Dark move that inflicts you with a permanent volatile status ailment causing you to be unable to use the same move twice in a row. I notice Salazzle seems to love using this move, and it has some valid cause: it's hard to finish her off if you don't have your damaging move. It forgets, however, that this doesn't mean it's in a good position after the fact.
- Flame Burst is its offensive move. A 70 BP Special Fire move, its special effect is that it will cause 1/16 splash damage to any teammates the target has. As indirect damage, it is not impacted by accuracy or type effectiveness, but is blocked by Magic Guard. All of that is academic, of course, since it won't matter here. In this fight, all that she must worry about is it being a 70 BP move in her favoured attacking stat that won't inflict Burn and cause issues with her Poison strategy.
- Her held item is a Petaya Berry, an uncommon Berry that we can only find as a rare drop from a late tree. It will be eaten when she is brought below 1/4 HP, and will boost her Special Attack by one stage. It's a cool idea, but I'm not sure her kit is prepared for it.
- Her Ability is, of course, Corrosion. What else, its job is to keep any Tentacool or Diglett who thought they were being clever honest. ...Not that I know what Diglett thought it was doing defensively in this fight.
Salazzle has a bit of a problem here, can you spot it? It's rather subtle. Individually, every move here is important: Toxic -> Venom Drench, to make sure it survives longer. Torment, to kill your offensive power dead. Flame Burst, a powerful Fire move that won't get in its own way. And a Berry that increases its already formidable Special power when you push it to its limit. This could form the basis for a scary boss... but Salazzle just isn't bulky enough to last. It's making plans for five turns from now, and has no plans how to survive two turns from now, when your Torment is no longer blocking access to your best move anymore.
What better way to beat the third boss than with the second boss? Kasplashle may not enjoy the benefits of Rain here, but it has something better- Scald.
And, you know, Brine.
See above comment about not having a plan for Turn 3. Even if Kasplashle was built like Lana's Wishiwashi and lacked a single attacking move other than Scald, its only hope for seeing Turn 4 is if I decide not to click Scald when the option comes back.
Flame Burst is a huge help to it.
If I weren't a Water type.
This is Salazzle's backup plan, and while I can't deny it at least functions as a plan, it's a plan reliant on the player making assumptions about the battle. Her Salandit has flat 15 IVs (...and a random Atk IV), no EVs, a random nature, and its moves are Poison Gas, Venoshock, Taunt and Scratch. Taunt pairs well with Torment, further limiting your access to non-damaging moves, while Venoshock is a 65 BP move that is probably going to 130 BP because of all the Poison flying around. Having your lead be a Poison, Rock, Ground or Ghost type is a good idea to resist Venoshock, and fortunately, two of those were already good ideas from the word "Fire". Poison Gas is a 90% accurate move for inflicting Poison- normal Poison, but it helps free up Salazzle for other deeds.
Now, what's so special about her Salandit? She won't stop calling them. Unlike Totem Gumshoos, which only had one Yungoos ally, and all other Totems, which have two allies they call depending on how much damage they've taken, Salazzle uses her, uh... "reverse harem" to swamp any player who thinks going for the backup is a good way to keep the heat down. The strategy is foiled by any player smart enough to realise "hey... if I KO the Totem, the ally won't call another one."
I will give the strategy some credit, however... it does actually flow from Kiawe's claim that this Trial is one of observation. Salazzle is an intimidating opponent, no less because she's spawned 11 levels early, but in order to win here, all you need to do is... keep your head cool and realise she's more hot air than danger.
Indeed. What will Kasplashle do? I have so many options, and yet none of them are Scald.
Staying in seemed reasonable. All this poison damage is going to stack up and stop us Schooling at some point, though.
You know, like that. Only getting one more turn myself here.
Of course, if my action this turn is to Brine the Salazzle, then it's a bit less of an issue.
Kasplashle levelled up again here (it is a member of the Fast EXP group, that'd happen even if it wasn't the lead), and tried learning Tearful Look. Lowers the Atk and Sp. Atk by 1 stage each, good to have both options on the table.
But really, the main reason I show this shot is to compare her stats to the Solo Form we saw earlier- 56/18/16/22/16/25, as a reminder. Just think about how high that increase is. Although yes, the Speed has gone down.
Replaced Feint Attack, incidentally. Still leaning all in on that Magic.
Hm... may or may not be able to take the next Venoshock, but probably a good idea to make a tactical withdrawal here.
Who's ready for Flambebe? Dragon Rage would've two shot the Salazzle, and even one hit is 57.9% damage, which outdamages HP Ground.
Poison and Fire, resists both Venoshock and Flame Burst. It's still not solid, but...
She was faster than the backup. Dragon Rage would twoshot these, too, while HP Ground would...
It would have been a oneshot without but, but yeah, I don't think we have to worry about that guy.
Why? I think this is for lore reasons, but 15 BP, 85% accuracy Physical Normal? This is doing none of the damage against anything not literally made of paper. And if it is? Flammable.
I love that image of "I'm next, Totem". But there's one question on the back of my mind... I ran the calcs, using the numbers I had been told about Salazzle's bulk... so in another save state...
While button-mashing my way through to the Totem, I accidentally clicked "left Marowak", so here's the dialogue for choosing incorrectly.
This is the damage that Marowak did with Bone Club. So much power! So much bulk!
Now then, what was I coming back for?
What would happen if I brought the Waterium Z instead of the Mystic Water?
INTO THE VORTEX!
Hydro Vortex is, surprisingly, physically animated, where after the initial water blast, the attacker gets a glint in their eyes, charges in, and flings them around a whirlpool. It's actually pretty cool. But how much damage did it do?
That is a number. Somewhere in the ballpark of... 120-150%?
Yeah, Salazzle didn't stand a chance. Don't worry, the next two Totems won't draw quite a giant target on their backs.
Presumably, the exact complaint that got rid of Scald in Brooklet Hill was Kiawe sending a strongly worded letter to Lana saying "did you see that girl who blasted my Salazzle into a puddle? Can she not?"
All you need to do to win here... is see the golden opportunity laid at your feet.
Mallow shivers slightly.
Bethany walks onto the stage to accept the Firium Z here before we get our Z-Pose.
And of course, the Fire Z-Pose. This one's a little weird, partially because of the camera movements obfuscating it, but also because the hand movements just didn't translate to screencaps nicely. To perform the Fire Z-Pose, you wave your hands up as if fanning flames to burn at a larger size, and then perform this ending pose. I'm fairly sure this one comes more from the Hawai'ians than a visual representation of something obviously "fire", but for the life of me I'm not entirely sure what image this is meant to evoke. Other than perhaps "don't go this way, there is fire here".
Kiawe recalls his Marowak...
And also gives us the ten freebie balls that Trial Captains love to hand out in lieu of a prize TM. This time, we get a nice package of Quick Balls to start skipping the paralysis-weaken combo and just nab, nab, nab. We're about to get the chance to buy these soon, though.
Finally.
The Charizard Glide replaces the function of Fly, and in practice is even more convenient than ORAS's Eon Flute. Now, all we must do is push a button, and we have access to Fast Travel. We can travel to any significant location on Alola's map, typically the entrances of Pokemon Centres, but there's also a few landmarks here and there that earned their own fly points. This is the transitional stage between the Fly HM, which required carrying a Flying type on your team to use, and what would become the Corviknight/Squawkabilly Taxi Service, also known as "what RPGs have been using for fast travel for a few years by now". Still, an essential shift.
Why is it a Charizard? We don't know either- it is the only Ride Pokemon that is not available in the Alola Pokedex, or in SM, at all. The fact that it is Charizard, other than a matter of "Charizard is popular among the devs", seems to be related to the fact that we receive it from Kiawe, the Fire expert. Getting Charizard Glide from Kiawe does provide a trinity of all three Akala Captains granting us a Poke Ride each, but there was no need for this to be a pattern, and Mallow already kinda breaks it by giving us Stoutland Search early (although as a slight spoiler, Stoutland Search does form part of the basis for her Trial). Regardless, of all the Alolan Flying-types that could serve as a local replacement, the options are... surprisingly terrible. You've got Dartrix, Toucannon, Oricorio, and Minior. Toucannon is the closest it comes to being a taxi service, and even that is still stretching things.
(The full list of possible things to fly on, judging only by the Alola Pokedex, is Dartrix, Toucannon, Butterfree, Ledian, Pelipper, Drifblim, Crobat, Fearow, Braviary, Mandibuzz, Delibird, Oricorio, Gyarados, Salamence, Masquerain, Talonflame, Archeops, Skarmory, Minior, Emolga, Scyther, Honchkrow, Dragonite, and Aerodactyl. Of these, the options I would lean towards are Drifblim, Braviary, and Skarmory.)
That will get us access to the next route. Kinda... surprising, how little there is there. There's even a motel back there!
I'll leave that to your expertise, then. Besides, I've got something much more my speed to be getting on with.
...
You don't mean that literally, right?
(Shoutouts to USUM Rotom for being a shade more observant!)
All right, Charizard Glide is going on a D-Pad and is never leaving it.
With Charizard Glide, we can soar to any of the locations labelled with a Wing symbol, regardless of what island we are on- Charizard Glide makes the ferry completely redundant. In order to Charizard Glide, we must be considered "outside", but otherwise, there are no limitations on it whatsoever. Our current Fly points are (italicised entries are available in USUM only):
- Player's House
- Iki Town
- Hau'oli Outskirts Pokemon Centre (this was a bit ridiculous, but...)
- Hau'oli City Pokemon Centre
- Hau'oli Cemetery Entrance
- Big Wave Beach
- Route 2 Pokemon Centre
- Verdant Cavern (There was some major redundancy added here somewhere along the way...)
- Melemele Meadow
- Hau'oli City Photo Club
- Ten Carat Hill (we don't need to Tauros Charge to enter it, but do to leave it)
- Heahea City Pokemon Centre
- Heahea Beach (I don't mind this one as much)
- Paniola Town Pokemon Centre
- Paniola Ranch Nursery
- Route 5 Pokemon Centre (notice how there's no Fly Point for Brooklet Hill, Ilima?)
- Royal Avenue Pokemon Centre
- Battle Royal Dome
- Wela Volcano Park Entrance
In the classic games, you could typically expect to Fly only to the major Cities- RBY even has a Pokemon Centre on a route, but in no game that allows you to explore Kanto is that a Fly point (it would even be really freakin' convenient in HGSS, guys). The DS era dabbled in adding a few locations as Fly points that wouldn't otherwise qualify- namely DPPt's Pal Park, HGSS's Pokeathlon Dome, BW's Victory Road, and B2W2's PWT as the major ones- but ORAS broke tradition hardest by adding a Fly Point to every Route. SM has dialled it back a tad, but started a tradition of adding a much more convenient set of Fly points, allowing access to locations in non-city areas that the player might have reason to return to. Although there is an argument that it can get too convenient at times (the more Fly points there are, the more powerful Pokemon Centres get, and the less capable the game is of throwing endurance challenges at you), more Fly points is also very nice to help encourage the player to explore- since it's easier to reset to a known position if you get lost- and definitely nice for my strategy of cycling team members.
The only thing you have to do to Fly with Charizard Glide is watch a short cutscene. The Eon Flute required physically navigating the overworld to the place you wanted to go to, but that was because that was technically why it was included in the game to begin with, and its function as "better Fly" was secondary.
Next time: Well, I don't see what the three of you are complaining about, Salazzle was a chump!
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