Right, with our visit to Kukui done, now we can talk to Lillie and debrief about... well, a lot of things.
There's a really strange moment here: What we are about to see is a build up to SM's climax... but it only happens on USUM, where it is robbed of some of its context. It's really hard to tell if this was an intentional dissonance or not, mostly because of the problem being caused here.
Lillie, who actively decided not to go to the Aether Foundation, asks us our opinion on the President. If she really wanted to know, she would have come with.
As it happens, I can't offer my real opinion, so this is the closest I've got. She's bad news, I'm not compelled to make a habit of travelling to that particular location.
Lillie brushes off that response as... us having not met her. Either this is part of Lillie's continual practice of not sharing accurate opinions on her situation, or this is USUM putting its thumb on the scale to attempt to colour the audience's perception.
If you instead tell her that you swallowed her rhetoric, she tries her hardest to pretend she did too.
Anyway, onto her real question.
Naturally, it's a question the player can see coming, since it's the only thing she ever has in mind.
I'm... not 100% sure if Lillie ever winds up going to Ula'ula's Ruins. Unlike the other three, the player is never compelled to travel in that direction, either. There's a part of me that almost wonders if, in an earlier version of the story, we were supposed to escort her that direction, but they eventually changed their minds and just quietly dropped the matter. Oh well.
This seems a lot more useful and I wholeheartedly support this endeavour.
Lillie steels herself, and plunges to locate a place without assistance.
...Now for us to find directions to follow her.
Put a pin in that one, let's laugh at it together later.
Meanwhile, USUM gives this advice, which is both profoundly unhelpful and unbelievably condescending. One of these days you'll give me a reason not to dunk you.
Yes, Zygarde Cell here, and it was unbelievably distracting during the cutscene.
Just a short distance after, in SM, there is another cutscene.
This is SM's introduction to Samson Oak. USUM already met him, since they are now using him as a Totem Pokemon distributor, which means they get to sidestep this slightly pacing-breaker moment for free. Even if his USUM cutscene was hardly better positioned.
Him and nobody else, I'm afraid.
You know, there's a question I kinda have- is there anyone who started with SM that doesn't know what the deal is with regional forms? In-game, regional forms are treated as just any other Pokemon- while most people refer to regionals as "Grimer-Alola" or "Alolan Grimer", the game just calls them "Grimer". The only thing in the game making it clear that there's more to these Pokemon are the Sightseers.
In SM, he's mostly here to be here, although he does have a few gifts for us.
Don't mind him, he's completely defective. You've got one with like 500% less sass?
You're asking the wrong person.
...If I may be frank, Clemont was never exactly known for creating things that functioned as designed, if they functioned at all. I'm all for being encouraging, but we don't have to lie to his face.
Samson Oak has scattered himself all over Ula'ula Island, and every time we find him, he'll have a nice little prize for us. The one he has at Malie Library is, surprisingly, the most involved of the bunch.
Samson then proceeds to give the least subtle suggestion on how to get to the Library of all time. Rotom does have a map marker, you know?
I... ought to see if that actually works as written with my setup. He's rather brave about the idea that there'll be multiple people trying to use Quick Link in our environment- probably a Japanese thing.
Ula'ula's Malasada Shop offers the last two flavours, Spicy for +Atk and Bitter for +Sp. Def. As a restaurant, though, I'm impressed by the guts of a dessert joint that only sells the Spicy and Bitter flavours.
I think you're putting too much stock in the feelings you get from your tastebuds.
...I feel like these are not sufficiently overlapping jobs to require the same staff. This is a problem, not something to brag about.
(Since Firefighters use Water type Pokemon, it may be that Pokemon allows these two jobs to shift together. I personally think there's still a degree of specialisation between, say, a firefighter's Poliwrath and a surf-and-rescue Mantine).
Well, so long as you don't eat so much that it starts to come back out the top end. Speaking from experience, that's no fun.
Over here is the Sushi High Roller, which is never textually named such, although it does recycle the music from the XY version. I never did the Sushi High Roller in XY, although this one doesn't really have anything distinguishing it from elsewhere.
Similar story with the meals, except this time it's four Heart Scales for any meal and eight if we dine with the Kahuna after beating them.
Whichever, really.
Seen one of those in action in USUM!
...You know, I wonder if this is the in-universe explanation for bubbling spots. As cool as it is, Dhelmise can only be caught super late. A bit of a shame, because it's a Pokemon I like a lot, but at the same time it shares a type with Oatchi's final evo, and I'm not comfortable with how tempted I am to switch to it.
I think he's talking about Bruxish being a Pokemon used defensively. Frankly, I'm alarmed by the possibility of territorial Bruxish- how does one get away from a Pokemon that the rest of the ocean is giving a wide berth?
Also, the idea of Bruxish putting fear into Sharpedo amuses me.
These two NPCs are the only people who allude to the fact this restaurant is named Sushi High Roller. Both require knowledge of a similar location somewhere in Lumiose City.
...Don't think I understand the reference. Maybe if I did go through the XY version, but that was a postgame thing there.
This lady will offer you a Happiny in a Trade- a nice way to get around needing to SOS one, but not really that good for any Totems and it's rather annoying to evolve friendship evolutions once they start too high- and this one comes at level 27. At least we have Isle Avue!
This trade only exists in SM, which I'm mostly OK with. What I'm slightly less OK with is the fact that the Sightseer who offered it was removed entirely, leaving this poor fellow to look like he's been stood up. He doesn't even have changed dialogue to reflect the fact he's now conspicuously a single man at a table for two.
It's actually kinda funny, but still.
The bottom-left corner shows off that we now have access to both Routes 10 and 11. We can freely explore either one now (making this, I believe, the only instance of us being able to visit numbered routes out of numbered order in this game), although it's worth noting that, similar to the situation in Konikoni, we are not allowed to go to our next Trial until we've gone and found Lillie's book.
...I do not believe those describe the same kinds of birds.
We've got another salon behind the High Roller here.
Same services, of course, so all that's new here is the dialogue.
...You know, Malie doesn't have a police station, where are you stationed?
This Punk Girl had the job of trimming any Furfrou that got transferred into SM before USUM came out. They added one to Hau'oli when USUM put Furfrou in the local Dex, but they kept one here for the sake of it.
And a clothing shop behind the Malasada Shop. And it hasn't been too long since Konikoni, either! This feels like a bit of evidence we should've been allowed in Konikoni sooner than "after all three Trials on Akala".
Mood. Not sure what the answer is on that one, though.
...I... get how this could be a valid takeaway, but also wow that is an opinion to have about your clothing.
This shy Collector in the corner is the local Job, and for once, he's actually less convenient for SM than USUM.
In SM, he wants Togedemaru, which we won't catch until after the next Trial. In USUM, he wants Minior, which we can catch before. Now, granted, it's still harder to catch Minior because of its Ability and moveset, but it's not bad, in, say, the way Abra was bad.
This does not sound like a healthy way to express appreciation. Granted, it's probably nice for the Togedemaru, but...
This would be more helpful if we had been to the power plant.
...Also, I think it's distinctive amongst the encounter table there? My memory of that table is it being a mess because of the weird way it's set up.
Minior is a bit indistinctive, but it's kinda cool.
As a matter of fact, I am actually considering using both Togedemaru
and Minior, but not necessarily on files that need them for this job. They're both single stages and not too hard to catch for either file, so there's no reason to avoid them on anybody.
I usually find dirty situations unpleasant to be in. I guess I can appreciate the sentiment?
Found a few nifty pieces for each kid's look. We're about at the point where there's few, if any, clothing options left to acquire, so these might genuinely be the final looks. Well, OK, Ray will get a new hat later this update, but still.
(I think all Bethany got was a new bag. Same with Noah, honestly, maybe he got some shoes...)
Another empty lot. This one was again built up for USUM. Quite frankly... I am not sure what exactly I'm supposed to take away from this building, both in-universe and out.
Welcome... to the Alolan interpretation of a Kantonian Gym.
In specific, this Gym was inspired by the Vermilion City Gym of the Kanto region, as run by the Lightning Lieutenant Surge. Lt. Surge was a veteran of some unnamed war in the history of the world of Pokemon, a history that has not been retconned despite Pokemon currently existing in a more-or-less post-scarcity state, and everyone involved seems to have adopted his mannerisms despite not really understanding what they're mannerisms of.
As a reminder, not only are all of the kids Kantonian, but Ray and Ailey even have a souvenir autograph that LGPE later provided evidence was from the real Lt. Surge. How exactly they interpret this ludicrous situation can only be assumed.
The equivalent of 10 bucks, I think.
...Come to think of it, BW had a tradition of giving the challenger a Fresh Water on entering the Gym. I don't think Kanto ever did that, though.
The Gym Statue is supposed to highlight people who've completed the challenge before, but here, it highlights the staff. In the original games, the only names listed were yours and your rival's, which suggests either the League is relatively new (a not-unchallenged assumption in those games) or that we're ignoring the rest of the names.
The fact Ailey is reading the whole list implies there's not much on it.
...Why do women get in for less than men, and why is the child prize so sharply cut off at 15? I think I understand why all four Trainers around here are females, though.
Also, I love how, juxtaposed with "Child, Under 15", the price for "Pokemon, Up to 6" implies that Pokemon can only get in if they're six years old or less. I'm fairly sure they mean you can only bring six Pokemon per person, but still.
I can assure you, about the only thing this has in common with a Gym is the melody of the musical accompaniment.
Almost perfect. You missed the defining aspect of the Vermilion Gym. To be fair, absolutely nobody liked it.
...Side note, this is also me noticing that it is spelled "Vermilion", with a single l.
Hahahaha... oh, Kanto isn't set in an America, but oh boy does Kanto have the cultural manspreading issues the US is famous for.
...You know what? I would throw an unironic vote to Galar being the main scene of the traditional Pokemon League, as seen thus far in the games. As good a reason as any for Leon to get treated like he deserves shilling.
Nope. Nothing here but trash.
She's not wrong about that one. The Kantonian Gym battles so Kantonian that they use the old Trainer Battle style- if a Trainer spots, you, they walk towards you, and there's no black-screen-border when you're in proximity to one. They do still have the exclamation marks if you manually talk to them, something that was absent in the same situation of the classic gameplay style.
Also unlike the Vermilion Gym, every Trainer only has a single Pokemon each.
The Kantonian Gym Trainers have Serious Natures, 20 IVs flat, and no move assignments, as any other Trainer would. Granted, Gym Trainers were hardly the most challenging of encounters in Kanto itself, but still.
...This joke continues to be slightly confusing the longer it goes on.
I remember hearing, in the vague corners of my mind I'm not interested in tracking down, that there was some pre-release speculation for USUM that the Gym Challenge would appear "proper" in USUM, built on the empty lots SM scattered around.
I never liked this theory for several reasons, but I read this line and see how ridiculous this Gym is and wonder "...is the dev team taking the mick on those guys?"
An example of the Trainers using the "walk towards you" method of getting your attention from Kanto.
A lot of the names used here are masculine in origin, and I'm not sure how many are secretly unisex. This one's one of the more well-known "yeah, it's unisex" (well, well-known to people familiar with Rocky), but the other three are a little harder to come by examples of.
Smoochum on this one.
I missed her defeat quote in Ailey's run, which is a shame, because it's an amazing one. Picked it up in Ray's file... and beat her Smoochum with Candy, so it's currently sandstorming.
Frankly, I think that makes this an improvement as a reaction image.
And also... all Trainers. I agree with the modern design decision to remove it, but it's really not something to have brought back.
...Yeah, I'm going to have to explain the point of the trash cans, aren't I?
Minccino (Ultra Sun): A clean freak that will not allow even the slightest mess, it uses its tail like a mop to thoroughly clean any and all filth.
...OK, first, we've got a new Pokemon. Minccino is a pure Normal type from Unova, it's mostly added to be adorable and to fill some niches Unova needed filling with an all-new Pokedex. The most interesting thing about it is its HA, Skill Link, but that's not something most Minccino are here to brag about.
...I don't think Ailey brought a single Kantonian species to this challenge. I am using Kantonian Pokemon that aren't Alolan forms across the non-Bethany teams, at least: Ailey has a Jynx (...well, she will soon, it actually hasn't evolved at this point in the continuity), Noah has an Alakazam, Snorlax, and Pinsir (as well as Magmar and Magnemite, but they'll be ending the game in non-Kantonian forms), and Ray has Fearow, Vaporeon and Tauros.
Yeah... honestly, not sure I can blame you for that one. Especially if you're basing this on the original RBY.
The Gym Puzzle of Vermillion Gym involves an electrical barrier blockading Lt. Surge from being reached. In order to open the route, two switches must be pressed. The intention is that they are randomly placed, the first switch in a randomly selected trash can, and the second switch in an adjacent trash can. If you find the first switch and do not immediately hit the second switch, the first switch deactivates and you have to find it again in a new trash can. If this puzzle sounds garbage to you, don't worry, it gets worse: it's bugged in RBY. It's even bugged in unique ways between RB and Y. I don't think anyone can begrudge you for deciding not to import the puzzle.
...Imagine actively choosing to hang out here for leisure. This is one of those cases where I choose to be judgemental, a little.
This one's a relatively common kind of Gym Puzzle, although usually they require actual effort to hunt all the Gym Trainers down. Even the most basic real Gym Puzzles would scoff at this one.
"Dallas" is probably the name I'm most surprised to see on a woman of the bunch. Although part of that might be because of the fact "Dallas" is a real-life location name, raising the implication of the existence of a Pokemon equivalent to the location. Her Pokemon is much less interesting.
Although it did teach Hawkeye how to perform Flying Press... why the hell not?
Occupational hazard of standing at the back of the Gym, lady.
Now this I've gotta see.
...You know, I don't think I've ever walked up to the back to get a good look at that decoration. Might as well show it off a bit, then.
This is actually Lt. Surge's battle intro line in HGSS. Also Crystal, but not Gold/Silver- he called us a "little boy" before we got the option to choose our gender.
Surge's opening line in the Kantonian games is "Hey, kid! What do you think you're doing here? You won't live long in combat! Not with your puny power!" I'm not sure if it's the same line translated differently or if Surge has some PTSD that should've been dealt with before he got promoted to Gym Leader.
The leader drifts away from the military joke for the rest of the line, thankfully, because it's far worse in FRLG and... kinda bad in HGSS, too.
Kanto: I tell you, kid, electric Pokémon saved me during the war! They zapped my enemies into paralysis! The same as I'll do to you!
Johto: When it comes to Electric-type Pokémon, I'm number one! I've never lost on the battlefield. I'll zap you just like I do all my enemies in battle!
Somewhat hilariously, Lt. Surge is the only Gym Leader in Pokemon history to use only a single Pokemon in their League Challenge battle. He used a single Raichu in Yellow, to mimic the anime, where his single Raichu was the very Raichu that Ash's Pikachu resolved to defeat without evolving. Every other Gym Battle, including Lt. Surge's more "normal" matches, uses two at minimum.
If you wanted an authentic Kantonian experience, I'd suggest following suit.
...Also, most Gyms have a type speciality. I don't think anything in here shares a type with anything. I will give you (and only you) credit for actually using a Kantonian species, though.
Pity I cannot say the same.
...Did I say "Pity"? Sorry, I think I prefer this. Flying Press has a BP of 100, an accuracy rating of 95%, and its signature Fighting/Flying typing makes it effective on Machoke. The combination nature gives it a bit of a weird coverage set- it's SE on Normal, Grass, Fighting, Ice, and Dark, which isn't an inspiring set of strengths, and loses out on Rock, Steel and Bug coverage. Depends on whether you want that power, really.
...OK, "Arrrgh!" is the only part of that that comes from HGSS. Which isn't exactly the greatest part.
This, though, comes right from HGSS. As a prize for defeating the Kantonian Gym, we get a Kantonian Badge. Instead of the iconic victory chime for defeating a Gym Leader and receiving a Badge, though, we instead receive a key item that has no use other than being a novelty knock-off item from the Thunder Badge.
More HGSS Surge references. In FRLG, the Surge Badge gave all your Pokemon a flat 10% boost in Speed (I don't think Pokemon fans fully appreciate how the fact DPPt onwards took this bonus away changes the maths in difficulty between games) and allowed Trainers to use Fly outside of combat.
...First Kantonian as in "first to clear this Gym", or first Kantonian as in "first actual Kantonian to drop by?"
I'm starting to suspect the drinks being served to non-children are not Soda Pops. (Looks like 70 Plain Beans to me).
Not that I'm too fond of the guy, but Lt. Surge must be fuming to see this.
(The Zzzap! is also something Surge said. There's a surprising amount of references to his dialogue here, I have to wonder how much the Trainers follow suit.)
After completing the challenge, we are immediately booted out of the building. Yup. Definitely not soda the adults are drinking.
Sometimes, after the first clear, you can find that man in red loitering around. He's a character to discuss, but we only get one visit to the place per day. Next time, then. This one's plenty long enough as is.
Anyway, that's quite enough time trawling around the buildings that are not libraries, let's go check in on Lillie.
Well... you gave it a go. Not gonna fault you too hard.
Although I'm impressed with your routing.
In addition to getting lost, she's also suckered into buying an outfit because of FOMO. Yeah, as good at looking after her as Kukui and Burnet was, I think Lillie needed a bit more actual mothering.
Frankly, what you really needed to do was ask someone for directions in the first place.
I can't go five steps without being given directions, so I can't talk, but...
Well, there's also a house the player can't enter, but I guess there's nothing in the way in SM...
This train of thought is suddenly and rapidly interrupted by the arrival of a Mudsdale, and a somewhat familiar Trainer for it.
It's Hapu, here for offering a bit more to the story after her first appearance.
Namely, she and Lillie are going to have some assocations in the near and far future.
...I would like to know why the Mudsdale was charging. You weren't rushing it at anybody in particular, were you?
Not mentioning the Nebby yet. On one hand, the need-to-know basis is pretty valid, but on the other, it's amazing seeing the trust issues of both "not asking others for help as a first instinct" and "not telling others your true reasoning". She wasn't even planning on telling us her name, and we risked our life for her!
Well, glad to hear someone's getting her to those Ruins. Hopefully. I also remember her never making it, but who knows what happens while I'm not looking at her.
And that's them off once again.
Still, though, we're here, we might as well see that actual written record that may or may not be of use. Hopefully it is.
Welcome to Malie Library- what I believe is the third library in the series. Sinnoh had one in Canalave, while Nacrene had one that was more of a Gym/back room of a museum than an actual source of lore. This one's got some decent books, though.
...Do you have a title? An author? A searchable field? At least you gave us a rough idea of publication date and not a cover colour.
She goes upstairs, and Rotom's clue for SM reminds you of that fact, although it seems he's forgotten she didn't say she was going upstairs. No, you're hearing things.
Meanwhile, USUM Rotom takes a club to SM Rotom's suggestion of using the library as a place of learning, and has a yandere-like insistence that we use him as our sole source of information. I'm hearing the same thing you are, right, Samson? I'm free to send him to the scrapheap, right?
I think you understate just how gargantuan a task that is. Admirable, but there's a reason people specialise.
This Sightseer comments about the move Fly. Funnily enough, her other dialogue branches are pretty substantial, despite all routes leading to the same outcome.
"I don't know. Is it?": "Seems like! I got told off for trying it! They said it was some kind of law or something!
...You know, you kinda forget sometimes how horrifying it would be to have several Trainers with no oversight all trying to use the same airspace. It's one of the reasons why flying cars remain firmly in the "impractical" side of invention, and in Alola, Fly is tarred with the same brush.
...I do kinda wonder if the Ride Charizard system is any better, but we, the player, are an outlier and should not be counted. Then again, canon implies that trainers who aren't us get up to the same sort of stuff with the Corviknight and Squawkabilly taxicabs.
"On Charizard": Wow... So everyone just rides around on special Charizard that've been raised for the job? Sounds weird, if you ask me, but I've gotta admit that riding on Charizard would be a blast!
Glad you agree on it being really weird our system of flight is based on Charizard. Maybe we should've taken a leaf out of Almia's book and used Staraptor. Pity Toucannon doesn't feel right as one.
Fly is a 90 BP, 95% accurate Physical Flying move that granted semi-invulnerability on the first turn, and landed an otherwise unremarkable hit on the second. As this Trainer alludes to, it could be used on the field in games prior to SM in order to instantly travel to any location they have previously visited. Many teams went out of their way to fit this move in their core, because of the sheer utility it offered, but those days are over. Now, basically the only thing it's got going for it is that Flying is one of those types that has a kind of terrible set of Physical moves (presumably because prior games could rely on the player using Fly itself for that purpose) and semi-invulnerability being pretty decent against opponents in the main story mode (many of Fly's weaknesses as a competitive move require that the target have human intelligence). You could do worse than Fly, but also it feels like a move you're stuck with rather than a move that's there for good reason, even beyond the games where its field effect outshone its battle one.
Her dialogue implies this TM is in fact a HM for Fly. In-universe, the main difference between TMs and HMs was that HMs could be used infinitely, something that now also applies to TMs. HM moves could not be forgotten except with Move Deleter, but Pokemon that learned HM moves by level up also couldn't forget them, so that seems to be a regional thing, not a thing based on HMs.
...I mean, you're going home, right? I'd think you'd want to keep it, wouldn't you?
They say these pretty proudly, but there's a bit of an unfortunate issue with SM here: You can't read any of the books on the ground floor! What's the point of a library if you can't flick through the shelves?
Fortunately, USUM provided. Although it's not colour-coded, both SM (on the top floor) and USUM follow the "notice this!" rule of being able to read any book that's askew and slightly off the shelves.
The first book looks like a pretty major disappointment...
Except it turns out there's actually something mechanical going on here! Seems like the last borrower of this book wasn't too careful with their belongings.
The lack of sentence case on "old photograph" hints we're probably not keeping this one.
As such. Since she's the one with the actual records of who borrowed books, she'll be able to track it down. She won't tell us where it went, but we can meet the people who got the photo back later.
...Legit, this is just the Polynesians, isn't it? There's a location later called "Seafolk", but no, I think they really do just mean the Polynesians this time. Which kinda disappoints me, since this proves they do know about the original Hawai'ian perspectives...
...I'll be honest, this one's not something I've looked into before and somewhat confuses me now I have to explain it. The first idea it conveys- about how the Island Challenge is "lesser" than a League Challenge (oh boy am I gonna have words about that one when it comes up later) is relevant, while the latter one implies someone having strong opinions about what they have found themselves unable to accomplish. All of the "spring" jokes imply a certain sense that maybe the person discussed here is a Flying type expert, but there's someone else I wouldn't be surprised to learn was meant to be the author of this.
...But somehow, I doubt it's a book if it's their work. Not sure it's a book either way, frankly.
They may also have been friendlier folk. I'd say that's a pretty good thing they were aiming for there either way, you should be trying to push closer to those older ways.
So that's what the Z stands for?
...Still somewhat feels like a retroactive naming...
Our first encounter with Samson Oak is here in the Library. He's shifted over slightly in USUM, so he's no longer in the way of the readable book on this shelf, but still back up in this corner.
Caught and using a few. In fact, all of the ones we've encountered thus far are accounted for between Bethany and Ray, primarily, although Noah's covering Raticate. I expect this pattern to be broken by the end, and not just because Crunch's days on Team Noah are numbered.
The fact I'm carrying around Woodstock and Zapple feel like they ought to be good evidence, don't they?
...Of course you're going to explain it anyway. Why do I even bother answering questions...
He won't give us anything unless we show him an Alolan Persian. Fortunately, everyone not named Ray has gone ahead and evolved one on the backburner anyway, but I'll need to go fetch it later.
...Well that will be something to look out for.
And yes, for Ailey and Noah, this scientist instead talks about the Alolan moon. It's time to get our taster for what the legendary can do.
Heading upstairs starts a cutscene, with a camera pan before settling into this angle that draws ample attention to that highly distinct girl in the back.
If it's as valuable as that, the odds that it'll be on the shelves won't be high. You'd have to access it by talking to a librarian directly.
...Now that I look closer, do I spot the Trial Captain insignia in her hairtie?
...
I am slightly alarmed you know what Lillie's after, but judging by that outfit, there are non-zero odds you're friendly with Ghost types and "being slightly creepy" is your thing. Still, though, I'd like a little bit more before I trust you.
With that said, it sounds relevant, so might as well take in the information, just in case.
Might as well. Way we've sat at this table, we sure can't read it together, can we?
This opening bit is phrased particularly poetically, but the rhyming scheme only works if the creature being described has to do with the sun.
While the Moon equivalent does rewrite the poetry somewhat to try and preserve the patterns, it doesn't commit the whole way down. Pity.
Between the last stanza and this one, I'm just various stages of confused about the natures of the two Lights of Alola. It appeared, like a UB, the Island Guardians battled and lost to it... and then it sorta just became a friendly fixture? I suppose it's a little hard to communicate with things that don't speak a word of your language.
(Ailey and Noah can look out for their legendary beast Lunala instead.)
Well, that explains... some of it.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she just wanted to shill her dad's books, and the fact this is what we were looking for was tangential.
...And? People can own old things! He doesn't need to have been the guy to write it to own it.
...Hey, when did you get a dialogue tag?
But yeah, Acerola really does share a bloodline with royalty. It's pretty implied that their loss of said title was a pretty recent development (ie, her dad spent some amount of his life as King), and it's one that gives me pause, in the face of it all. I mean sure, monarchy stinks, but I'd like to know what office took over their job before I feel too guilt-free on the subject of the loss of Hawai'ian political power.
Likewise, while I will always defend libraries first and foremost, I'm also seeing the state swallowing up the natives' resources in the name of "we do it better".
Anything that might be of use. We'll need resources from anywhere that offers them.
...You're not sharing this with the Aether Foundation, are you?
Lillie tells us that, since she's about to spend the next little while reading, we ought to be good to go to go do our trial without worrying about her.
And reminds us how we go about heading off in that direction. Because of the geography of Ula'ula, Lillie is never going to follow us to Hokulani, so this leg of the journey is ours. Ours and Hau's anyway, if he gets around to it.
There's no need for this to be mutually exclusive, Lils. But yeah... I don't think there'll be much for you up on Hokulani. Maybe we could look into space as an origin for Nebby? I mean, it has a bit of a cosmic sort of aesthetic? Not thinking highly of it.
And I'll be seeing you again sometime later, I can be sure of that.
You can reread Light of Alola by clicking on the still-open book on the desk. I hope someone puts that back at some point. It's hard to check a book out if you can't find it.
I am... wondering greatly what brought that on.
On the other hand, I have better things to do with my time. Like reading the good ones. Still, you won't always know which is which the first time around, it's good to make the best of a bad situation.
...The story of Solgaleo and Lunala's history with the Tapus continues to be... quite interesting in regards to what, if anything, was going through the Solgaleo's mind.
So basically, as long as nature is OK, the Tapus are OK, and anytime they have to fight, that power is drained? Sounds fair enough.
Oooh, that one's foreshadowing. For now, keep in mind that we haven't met Ula'ula's Kahuna yet, and see if you can spot 'em before they mention it.
Not particularly helpful in civil Alolan wars, but for ones against Alola from elsewhere, maybe? I suppose that's more the domain of the UB invasions, but...
...Yeah, that's totally the sort of pun a librarian would make.
Before we go poking around at another building Lillie's trigger was in the way of, we have one last bit up here in USUM...
Over here, we have a little girl worried about... well, it looks like we're about to answer the question "what happens when Pokemon outlive their Trainer?"
Wait a second... my memory might be a bit fuzzy, but didn't we ask that question earlier...?
This event is triggered by bringing over the Left Poke Ball item we received from the Aether Foundation way back after Brooklet Hill. Honestly, it's a bit less confusing because no USUM file is using Dartrix themselves.
This Dartrix recognises the scent of his OT, even if it's not the same person.
...Or maybe Dartrix knew this kid. That's more likely.
...She does know Granddad is dead, right?
Loyal to the end... wait, no, we're past the end. Not sure I'd want that in my guys.
I think Granddad would like that one. Not sure if you have to worry about disobedience, though. Maybe in terms of "Dartrix probably does know better".
Dartrix gives an affirmative hoot. I guess he's decided too.
At this stage, that's about all one can ask, Ailey.
...Welcome home.
All yours.
Depending on how much of a battler he is, depends on whether it even achieved its evolution level. Not always a guarantee.
The Mental Herb is a one-use item that cures the user of any status ailment blocked by Oblivious- Infatuation, Taunt, Encore, Heal Block, Disable, or Torment. Even if it could be naturally recycled, I'm not sure how good I'd call it.
Hopefully the Dartrix handles the death of your daughter better. Or it dies first.
...Admittedly, neither of those sound like things to be hoping happen in the near future, but you know...
Sadly, we cannot report our success to the Aether grunt who gave it to us. Apparently they already wrote the whole thing off. Snorts.
Also in USUM is this guy, who has a spectacular sidequest to find ourselves doing.
I was that kid when I was young, and this is still a weird request. You skip over symbols multiple times in the grid here, what are you even thinking...
At any rate, these coloured shapes are arranged in a line, going square > triangle > circle from the Library south, with black shapes going from in front of the library and white shapes going from where this man is standing.
And there is, in fact, a prize for repeating the exact pattern described in the old man's speech. Remember, you are allowed to pass shapes not in the sequence so long as you do not physically touch the shape- and also that you do actually have to physically touch the shape for it to count.
If you want to offer that impression, do not hedge our means of locomotion. I assure you you do not come off like you saw us correctly.
On a scale of effort to reward, this might just be the worst prize I have ever seen. It's not even bad enough to be funny. If you care enough about efficiency to want to bother with Repels, just Poke Pelago for a Nugget.
I'm walking places with a destination in mind.
Anyway, now we can go check out this other location, which seems to be the "grab bag of everything else".
...Say, where are the residential areas of this place, incidentally?
The community centre really is a bit filled with whoever- it's a weird mix of NPCs to talk to and NPCs that do things. Kinda expected more from a place that has a sign, but what can you do, in the end?
But there are a couple of shops to make use of.
Nice, freebie!
Still absolutely mechanically worthless, but if it's got any spiritual good luck and the like, better to have it than not.
...So, is it a Tapu in specific or just any of them?
...I think I know this kid. I just don't remember where. Heahea City is ringing a few bells, at least. Still, though, sounds like a good game. Need any tips?
This lady is, I believe, judging our Affection, not our Friendship. She wants to give us a ribbon for a high score.
I won't be going for that.
The first room is currently running a community class on Weathers, and is an important stop for Noah and Ray in particular.
There are literally only three examples of such: Tyranitar, Gigalith, and a Pokemon we can find in the sort of place this kid ain't going called Hippowdon.
Also, I love how using Abilities instead of Moves is so commonplace that this kid doesn't think of just teaching the Probopass Sandstorm directly.
Of course, the board also advocates for using Abilities, not Moves, to set weathers. It's actually a bit of a similar story with Terrains and a third type of field effect we haven't seen much of called Rooms.
Rooms are a relatively special field effect, and don't actually have Abilities to set them even to this date. Since Magic and Wonder Room are not available by TM (Trick Room is), they are so uncommon that many Pokemon fans probably don't even remember they exist, and I don't have their effects straight: I'm fairly sure one of them switches Defence and Special Defence stats, while the other one nullifies held items. Their availability, naturally, is pretty similar to the Terrains as moves.
It was also such an effective strategy that it became dominant in the BW metagame to the point that XY had to nerf it- Ability weather actually set weather until overwritten, instead of playing by the same five turns the moves did. It does require stacking your team a bit too much to lean into the type of weather for my liking, but at the rate Ray is picking up Rock, Ground and Steel types, Candy's Sand Stream might be more valuable than it comes off like.
Surprisingly, not much of a lesson on the specifics, even though I don't believe we've ever been properly briefed on it. Honestly, I don't think there's been much of a tutorial on weather outside of its presence in Lana's Totem battle.
Fortunately, I happen to know the answers to such things.
Let's see what we've got...
This lady is here to ask us about the four weather rocks, items that allow the holder, regardless of whether they are using an Ability or a Move, to extend weather from five to eight turns. We have already seen the full set in the Battle Royal Dome, but you know...
Nice to humour her.
Through all four weathers. Fortunately, you don't actually have to score 100%, but still.
I think I could tell the difference between each Rock for myself, thanks.
Fortunately, she is nice enough to actually give us the freebies we kinda started to expect.
It would've been nice if she could've given them all to us in a single bundle, but can't win them all.
She actually has to perform a separate "give item" animation for all four of them. It's slightly ridiculous.
The hard part is knowing when to stop.
...I was hoping for a little more than just learning what they did, but I did just say we never had that formal tutorial...
Fortunately, this is not a daily event in any way. This is always open.
It's always fun when you can eat it in one bite. Until you realise you have just eaten the entire thing in one bite.
We've already seen a Bottle Cap, but only in USUM. We won't be seeing any without Festival Plaza until Poni Island, which will indeed be quite a long time in the future. We also won't be using any in this game, because... well, because the designers did not think their brand new mechanics through.
And fortunately, Hokulani does not- so the observatory can run unhindered!
We picked ours up in Paniola Ranch and have been using it ever since. I wonder if anyone who hasn't been following suit is going to be able to go back and get it- how are they supposed to know where to dig it up from?
In USUM, there's an encounter with a Skull Grunt in here. This one's mainly here to do a little more for building Skull up as a bit hard on their luck.
...If you wanted to make it obvious you were in line, you probably could've stood to be standing a little bit closer.
I always have time to help you blow off some steam. Also I need the EXP badly.
...The Skull pose doesn't look at the best of times, but at this angle, on the girl...
Just a Mareanie. Already seen one on a random Trainer before.
Hardly the most surprising of encounters.
...Now I feel bad for using the Amulet Coin on her. Then again, they always say never to bet what you can't lose.
The Skull Grunt's base payout is 896 Poke, so you're still making a profit even without the Amulet Coin. Plus, it's a nice thing to do.
Still not sure what I'm doing with these, though. Maybe I could start a collection?
So this one's definitely a Bulu Souvenir? Shame, I was hoping Noah could add that one to his collection...
Now for what she came here for: A clothes shop.
Weirdly, it sells only hats in the Sun games and only shoes in the Moon games. Mostly.
In USUM, even in Ultra Moon, they also sell this hat, based on Red's iconic hat from the original RBY. I think Ray'll get to carry it, although I can't explain that price. Almost sounds like a date, but there is no 31st of April.
It's worth mentioning that, if Ray is wearing something that doesn't exist in SM, he'll look like a vanilla SM protagonist when interacting with Bethany and Noah in Festival Plaza.
This kid has a Shiny Stone in Sun, Dusk Stone in Moon. Despite his plight, he won't offer it us until later. The only person annoyed by this is Noah, who needs a Dusk Stone to evolve Eunie. Ailey couldn't get her Shiny Stone for Crysantha from this kid at all.
The fact that nothing in the SM Alola Pokedex evolves by Shiny Stone has been noted.
There's also this Cell at Night. Surprised this place is even open late.
Anyway, got you your Persian.
Round faces are usually looked at fondly in societies due to the idea that this means you're well-fed. Honestly, I'd like to ask a few questions about why we drifted away from that sort of thinking, but I suppose beauty standards gotta have an other to separate from...
That is... Look, I'm not going to question how this works, but I am raising several more eyebrows than any human being has. Are you sure you're qualified to speak on the topic?
I stuck it in Poke Pelago for a day or two. Granted, it probably liked that, but...
The Love Ball is the Cute Charm of Poke Balls: When used, it has a x8 catch rate against a Pokemon that is the same species, but different gender, to your Pokemon, and x1 against all else. The Apricorn Balls range from mediocre to crazy, and it says something that this probably isn't the craziest of the bunch. I'm not likely to use it, though- especially because this will be the only one anyone other than Ray gets. Ray gets two, but only because of that GSC transfer he did earlier. This applies to all seven Apricorn balls, and Samson is going to give us a fair few of them.
GSC glitch: Instead of applying to the opposite gender, they accidentally set it to apply to matching gender. Whoops.
And then he starts to go on a bit about his connection to Samuel Oak, for the SM players. And also a bit of new stuff for USUM.
He was originally said to have designed the Pokedex, and I find it hard to challenge him on that even as the Pokedex has evolved in functionality, but somehow I doubt the present day product particularly belongs to him anymore.
This is the part that's particularly interesting. Blue was the original Rival character in the RBY games, where he was the Professor's grandson and a rather snide and rude fellow who bragged about how much more effectively he's completing the quest's objectives compared to you at every stage. In GSC, however, it turned out that he later claimed the title of Viridian City Gym Leader after Giovanni was ousted (surprisingly, not arrested), and became a much more mellow and reasonable person.
And surely Samson wouldn't drop a line like that without payoff, would he?
An extreme omnivore has use to society if made to eat the garbage, but one should not forget the "omni" part of that. They can and will eat everything else, too, and if not fed, what's stopping them?
...You're doing good work on that. Also, uh, should I be taking notes when raising Woodstock?
Next time: Quite frankly, a lot more areas.
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