This update will mostly be poking around in areas we don't need to be in, but we will have to progress the plot to do them all. And with a boss battle, too!
We're starting in the simplest one of the bunch: The Abandoned Megamart. It is more or less identical to its Trial state, with no items to find, but there is one exception:
There genuinely isn't a back room. Somebody here is gaslighting us, and I'm not sure who. Probably the Mimikyu.
Ailey's turn in the Abandoned Megamart. This Trial is mostly identical to the SM one, but with two major differences.
The first is that basically every moment in the original, including the entry, now has dramatic camera angles.
You get a better look at the hauntings and so forth, but mostly it's just extra ambience.
Now then, time to get started on the Ghost-type Trial. This is one of those cases where there's not a loading zone behind there.
Again, I know why- it's because Ghost types love liminal spaces like this- but why are we letting kids into abandoned buildings when they were destroyed by the gods we actively worship?
...Should've checked to see what he'd say if I came over before checking in on the Aether House.
Anyway, since I plan for two of these Pokemon to evolve before I start the Trial, I'm just going to show you the six Pokemon I brought with. A Dark type, a Ghost type, and two Normal types, alongside a Pokemon good against the Totem's non-Ghost typing and a Pokemon that's purely here for one of her moves.
...I'm not sure if the difference here is because the two sites have different designs or if we just never get to see the one that's still open at this angle. I think this does explain why I always visit the open Megamart through the right-hand door even in Pokemon.
This Trial is... interesting. Well, so far, we've seen a lot of engaging with our surroundings or completing tasks assigned by the Captain- often both. Acerola's Trial functions slightly differently, and makes use of a mechanic you'd be surprised to see come up.
Tapu Village is a very small settlement- in many regards, this is basically a glorified Route Pokemon Centre. In context, one gets the impression this used to be a lot more expansive a location than it now is, but at this point, the only indication it's a location is the name.
That's certainly one reason. I thought they were going to mention the other thing, though.
Yeah, Kukui told me about it. It's really something, though, to see the entrance to this place in a village like this.
The Elite Four are incredibly important people in the world-building, being stronger than the Gym Leaders and forming part of the onslaught of the Pokemon League Challenge. At the same time, though, they are also traditionally Pokemon's least developed characters, with every region including at least one member who doesn't appear until the player attempts the League Challenge, and usually multiple- in fact, it is often the exception to see Elite Four members outside the League Challenge.
Galar may have been onto something when they decided not to bother.
The Trial Guide is back, so at last we can make our way past the barricade!
Thank you, Miss. Do kinda wish you could've got on that sooner, but oh well.
Ghost types- weak to Ghost and Dark. We don't have a lot for new options before the Trial, so hopefully what we've got covers us.
Route 12 is probably the biggest Route in the game in terms of physical space, and we're going to meeting a lot of new Pokemon before we get to the next town.
...Gesundheit?
Huh. Well colour me surprised. What this graph is showing is the Pokemon's EV distribution, with the blue colour being, I believe, a Pokemon with the maximum 510 EVs earned. The stats sparkle if you have the maximum 252 EVs, too. This sort of thing is very nice to have on hand, and I can't believe I'm actually learning something from an in-game sign. I thought most of that information would have soaked in by now.
...They're not wrong.